Disclaimer: I'm not getting any money out of this, I just did it for fun. Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin (& CO) are property of DC and Spiderman and Black Cat (& CO) are Marvel's. The Ticker is mine.

Spidey Meets the Bat-clan
(and vice versa)
By: Erika Smith

Later that night at the batcave, Terry was training with Bruce before going on patrol as Robin. Terry needed it. He wasn't used to throwing batarangs as much as he was to just shooting them out of his suit. Batman explained carefully how to throw one of the older ones.
"You see, you flick it like this to open it, hold it like this, and then throw. Got it?" Terry looked at it and took it . He looked up at Bruce.
"I think so, " he answered. Terry flicked it, held it how Bruce said to, and then tried to throw it at one of the stalactites. It grazed the edge of one of them.
"Hmmmmm." Terry turned to Bruce.
"Not good enough, huh?" Batman looked at him. Yup, Terry thought, he's not that impressed. "Show me how you do it, then." Batman looked at Terry, took a batarang out of his belt in a lightning motion and the batarang flew out of his hand faster than Terry could see, hit five stalactites, and came back around behind Batman. Casually Batman put his hand up without looking and caught it. The batarang disappeared into his utility belt.
"Whoa." was all Terry could say. Batman handed him several batarangs. "Here. Practice with these." Terry took them and started practicing. By the time they were ready to go on the rounds, Terry was pretty good with the batarangs, knew what was in Robin's utility belt, and how to use the tools of the trade therein.

Hours Later...

The warehouse was dark, lit only by a single flashlight. Inside, several guys stood around with guns. Two very well dressed gentlemen (if you can call drug dealers gentlemen) stood near the center discussing the price of cocaine.
"One million dollars for the shipment, and it's all yours," the first one informed the second one. "A real deal." The other inspected some of the merchandise carefully, pinching up a bit and smelling it.
"Yeah, it seems to be good enough stuff for the price," he said judiciously. "When's the next shipment scheduled for, anyway?" The second guy waved his cigar nonchalantly as he spoke. A voice came out of the darkness and chilled the room by thirty degrees.
"There's not going to be another shipment." It came out deeper than the ocean and as cold as ice. The second guy looked like the jury just informed him that he was found guilty on all counts.
"It's the Bat! Get him!" The first well dressed dude ordered. He looked around. Only five of his guys were there. The flashlight flickered, died.
"Uh, Boss?"
"Turn on the lights, you morons!" There were muffled sounds of action, but they neither of them could see a thing. Fear. It began to eat at them, knawing at their throats. The first guy heard his customer saying something.
"Hey, let go! I ain't done nothing!" Scuffle, silence. That did it. The first guy ran blindly through the room towards what he hoped was the door. He bumped into something he couldn't see. Something solid and...


"You did a good job-for a rookie, " Nightwing told Terry (as Robin), smirking. Terry turned around, arms folded, and said, "Excuse me? " He noted Nightwing's expression.
"Well, you couldn't find a barn in a field in broad daylight, " Terry retaliated. Nightwing tilted his head to one side and grinned, "Don't take it so hard. I'm always like this. Ask him." He hooked a finger at Batman, who was watching the docks through binoculars. Terry looked at Batman, looked back at Nightwing. He had to be kidding. Bruce was harder to talk to as the Minotaur (when the monster's hungry) when Bruce was Batman. He's easier to talk to when older. Maybe he mellowed out over the years. Nightwing had to be kidding. Dick grinned even bigger. He was kidding. Terry smiled.
"Well, I was kidding too," Terry admitted. Actually, Terry admitted to himself, Nightwing was pretty cool. He definitely had a sense of humor that Batman didn't. This was more fun than he'd imagined. Bruce was a lot scarier than even he'd imagined. He shivered. It was odd the way you would actually start to feel sorry for the bad guy. When he turned, Batman was gone. "Whoa! Where'd he go?" Terry asked Nightwing. Nightwing had lost his casual stance before and was starting toward the skylight. "Take the third window on the left, and jump in when you hear broken glass." Nightwing moved off silently into the darkness and disappeared. "Ok," Terry muttered to himself, crawling to his position. He'd barely gotten time to get comfortable before a loud crash interrupted the previously quiet night. Terry launched himself through the window, and rolled over the floor pulling himself standing right in front of one of the smugglers. Terry threw a punch at the guy as he ducked the one the thug was throwing for him. Score! Terry turned for another one...and almost got beaned by a crowbar. He ducked as the metal whistled overhead, then threw himself backward as he grabbed an arm and threw the guy over his head into the wall. The guy slid slowly down the grimy wall. Score again! Something thudded behind him. Terry whirled, but only caught a glimpse of a thick-set dude with muscles like Arnold spin and splat on the ground face first at his feet. Batman looked at him briefly, then stuck his fist up, catching another dude behind him. Terry hadn't even seen the guy that was behind Batman. He resisted the temptation to whistle. When Terry looked around, the only people standing were Batman, Nightwing, and himself. Whoa. "You know," Nightwing commented as he started tying up the smugglers," you really should watch your back better. If they'd have been smart enough, they would have beaned you from behind. End of you. " He looked at Terry and grinned. "What you really need is what Batman and I've gotten from this really cool store." "What's that?" Terry wasn't sure what to think about this one. Dick's grin widened. "Eyes in the back of your head, of course." Terry didn't get a chance to answer. "Let's go." Terry went. Bruce's voice sort of had that effect on people.

Peter felt he needed to relax, and the best way to do that was web slinging. It was fun to swing through the cool, dark night. Cleared up the cobwebs. A figure appeared out of the darkness. It had white hair and..."Black Cat?" Spiderman landed on the roof she was on. "What are you doing in this town?" Black Cat got up, startled: she had been sitting down, her long hair catching the wind. Her hands traveled to her hips as she told him, "I could ask you the same question." She tapped her foot impatiently at him and crossed her arms. "Well? Cat got your tongue?" "I...came to get some fresh air away from JJ's press releases." Her eyebrow climbed into her hairline and her mouth twitched ever so slightly. "Actually, I decided to take a vacation. It's nice to meet your neighbors, you know?" Black Cat couldn't help it anymore. She giggled, and eventually worked her way up to full blown laughter. "You know, Spider? I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here to crack me up. Probably die of boredom." She wiped her eyes. "I'm glad I'm of such help. Maybe I should get into a comedy act for a living. Of course," he added looking at his brightly colored suit, "I'm not sure they'd let me wear my superhero costume. Maybe no one would take me seriously again!" He put his hands to his face in mock horror. "Spiderman, I'm not sure anyone has taken you seriously in your whole life!" Now Black Cat was laughing so hard she had to sit down. "Hey! I've been taken very seriously! All the newspapers talk about how menacing I am! And, " he added conspiratorially, " as you know, everything in print has got to be true or they wouldn't print it." Black Cat had started to get control of her laughter until that last remark. Now the laughter escaped again. Peter reclined against an air vent and waited until she could speak again. "Feel better?" He asked. "You have no idea." She straightened up. "So, I hear there's a lot of criminals to catch around here-plenty to go around. Her eyes sparkled. Spiderman bowed and gestured with his hands. "After you."

"Here we go, first catch of the day," Spiderman remarked as he strung a thief to the rafters in a store selling fishing equipment. "And it's a BIG one. " Black Cat, trussing up another one on the floor, looked up and stared at Spiderman's catch critically. "Yeah, I suppose it is too big to throw back. Make sure it doesn't escape." The thief made noises. "Don't worry," Spiderman reassured the guy on the ceiling, "I'm not going to make a trophy out of you." That didn't seem to make him any happier. "Well, I guess we can fish another day. See ya!" Spidey waved as he crawled along the ceiling to the back door and flipped down in time to walk through the door before Black Cat. "Hey, Black Cat, nice job." Spiderman told her as they walked in the back alleyway behind the store. "Yes, we do make a good team, don't we?" She edged closer to him. Spidey stiffened suddenly. His spider-sense had come on like the eruption of a volcano. Now if only he could figure out where it was coming from... Black Cat looked at him strangely as he searched the surrounding area. "Spider, what's wrong?" Spiderman saw a black ball hurtling their way. "Incoming!" Spidey shoved her and himself out of harms way. The explosion blew a new pothole in the street. Spiderman leaped to his feet and saw...a guy in a red suit with a time bomb on it. "So, who're you?" The guy looks like a total reject. Spiderman couldn't imagine where the guy got a tailor to make such a silly outfit. At least he'd made a costume that didn't have Dare Devil's colors-he had more imagination than that. "I am... The Ticker!" Well, he certainly had an ego. It just ached to be popped. "Where'd you get that costume anyway, on the black market for free? Or did you steal it from a bombing expert after he threw it out?" Spiderman was trying to keep the attention on himself so that Black Cat could sneak in from the rear. The Ticker's face turned as red as his costume. "How DARE you, you worm!" The Ticker threw another bomb Spidey's way, but Spiderman shot out his webbing, caught the bomb in mid flight, and threw it back at The Ticker. "Is that the best you can do? Dare Devil can do better than that-and he's blind!" The Ticker's face suddenly curled into a feral grin. Uh-oh. That's not good. Spiderman decided it was time to end the pep talk. Black Cat jumped The Ticker from behind. He struggled, but wasn't as strong as she was with her enhanced strength. "Get 'em boys!" Thugs streamed into the alley in large numbers, like rats. Spiderman shot webbing at the first row, but the ones behind had pulled their guns and started shooting at him. He ducked, twisted, and shot webbing again while landing on a couple more. Suddenly something black streaked his way. Spiderman dodged, but got thrown into one of the buildings-hard. A shotgun was staring at him, both barrels obscuring what little vision he had left. The guy laughed hollowly as he cocked the gun. "Say goodnight, creep." "Wait! Did you clean that out?" The thug chuckled and said, "Nope." Spiderman edged his hand closer to the gun. "You do know, of course that firing a dirty gun can be dangerous? It could blow up in your face!" Spidey knocked the gun out of the thug's hand and webbed him to the ground. "Hold it!" Spidey froze. Then a boom sent Spiderman flat on his face. Well, he had told the guy it was dangerous to not clean his gun. However, eating dirt was not one of Spidey's favorite pastimes. Now he really hurt. Of course, it wasn't as bad as getting beaten up by Scorpion or Doc Octopus, but it still wasn't fun. He managed to roll over and do a kip-up, but no one was there except the guys he'd webbed. And the one that nearly blew himself up. Black Cat wasn't there. "Black Cat? Are you there?" No answer. Blast. That went well. Spiderman dusted himself off as he looked around for some clue as to her whereabouts, while waiting for the bozo the wonder nerds to wake up and 'Tell all'. "Looking for something?" The voice startled Spiderman with its low, deep quality. He searched for the owner, but came up blank. "Who and where are you, and why do you want to know?" Boy, that was a mouthful. Something detached itself from the shadows. It was black itself, but slowly turned into a dark silhouette of...a bat? "Whoa, who are you? If you're planning to blow me up like that other guy, I don't feel like that just now. I'll take a raincheck." Another two figures came out of the shadows. "Um, it was really nice to meet you, but I've gotta go catch some idiot in a red suit with a bomb on it. " Spiderman turned to go, but found a restraining hand on his shoulder. A strong one. "Where can we find this...person?" Spiderman turned and looked him in the eye. "If I knew, I'd hardly be looking for him, now would I?" The first guy out of the shadows seemed to get taller. "You would be Spiderman, right?" Spidey looked startled. "How do you know my name? I don't even know you." The guy cocked his head to one side. "For one, it was relatively obvious by the costume. And for another-I make it my business to know." "So, that makes you, what, Batman?" "Yes. I'm the...guardian of this city." "Oh, good. I've found the authorities." "So, about The Ticker?" Spiderman scratched the back of his head and waved the other hand. "Well, he left and seems to have taken a friend of mine with him. Other than that, I don't know. However," the webbed dudes started groaning, "I'll bet they do." Batman had already seen something white behind Spiderman, though what it was, he hadn't been sure. Now he saw heads sticking out of the mass of white stuff. Batman strode over to the imprisoned thugs, and pulled a batarang. With it he cut a guy off the main lot, grabbed the part of shirt front that was showing, and picked the guy up to face height. The thugs feet hung a foot above the ground. "Where is The Ticker?" Spiderman hadn't known Batman's voice could get that scary. Apparently the thug thought so too. He was trying to disappear in the webbing he was currently tied up in. "Uh, I don't know. Really!" Batman raised a hand slowly and balled it up into a fist, pulled it way back... The thug's eyes were now as big as saucers. He tugged frantically in his bonds then squeaked, "He's goin' to the condemned house on Kelwark and Newman! That's all I know! He don't tell us much! Oooomf!" Batman had dropped him. "Let's go." As if to punctuate his remark, he pulled out his grappler and shot it at a building. Spiderman shot his webbing along with the other two of the party, and followed them skyward.

Batman pulled his binoculars and watched the condemned house across the street. It seemed to be pretty quiet. Spiderman had gotten to meet Terry and Nightwing on the swing out there, and now they sat around watching the house with Batman. Terry yawned. Boy, was he tired. And sore. Stake outs were pretty boring. Batman put his binoculars away, pulled a grappler, and shot it at the rooftop across the street. "They've flown the coop." Spiderman looked at the house. "Do you suppose Cockroachman took up residence after The Ticker left?" Batman looked at him with a piercing gaze. Spiderman shrugged. "Well, there is a light in the house, " Spiderman pointed out. "Yeah, " Nightwing added," they're having a party without us." They all swung onto the roof opposite, and snuck in through the windows. "You know, I think it's more fun sneaking in through the air vents," Spiderman volunteered as they sneaked down the hallway. Nightwing's eyes widened. They had split up: Nightwing with Spiderman and Terry with Batman. "You mean to tell me you FIT through an air vent?!" "Hey, " Spiderman raised his hands in a 'don't blame me' gesture, "It's all about thinking small." "Well, I guess you think pretty darn small, then." Spiderman grinned. "Takes one to know one." "Not necessarily," came a deep voice from the shadows. Nightwing and Spiderman jumped, though Spiderman jumped higher. "Were you trying to scare the living daylights out of us?" But Batman was already moving on. Spiderman ran to get even with Nightwing. As they jumped through the window, Spiderman asked, "Is he ALWAYS like this?" Nightwing grinned. "You're lucky. You're seeing his more communicative side tonight." Spiderman contemplated that for a moment then said," If that's his better communicative side, he must be more than silent most of the time." "Bingo."

When they got to their destination, Nightwing realized what made Batman move so fast. Wayne Manor had already been hit, and, unfortunately, Barbara had answered the door. Alfred had kept a very straight face when he explained to Batman what had happened, especially when he noticed the visitor. And, He handed Batman the ransom note. Spiderman asked if the owner was in. Nightwing admired Alfred's straight face when he answered in the negative. It just had to be hard for Alfred not to laugh. Batman read the note, and put it in his utility belt. "Let's go," was all he said. His cape swirled as he turned. Later, outside an abandoned warehouse, Batman was busy with his binoculars again. "Mind letting us know what's up?" Spidey asked. "There he is." "Where?" Batman pointed. "By the trash cans." Spidey looked hard, and thought he saw a shadow move around by the area indicated. "So, what's the plan, or are we all in the dark up here?" "We ask him a question." Spidey had been looking over the building at the shadow. When he looked where Batman had been sitting, he was gone. 'Well', Spidey mused, 'at least he can't get away. I have a tracer on him.' He'd slipped it under a fold of Batman's cape, where hopefully no one would see it. Suddenly, Batman was back again, with the guy who had been waiting for the pick-up. Batman grabbed the guy by his shirt front and growled, "Where's the Ticker?" The guy squirmed in his grasp a and told him, "I was just mindin' my own business, freak. So leave me be. I don't know nuthin'!" "Wrong answer." Nightwing nudged Spiderman and whispered, "No matter what happens, don't interfere. Batman won't kill him." Spiderman looked startled, and even more so after Batman dumped the guy off the roof. He got smaller and smaller, until Batman shot out a grappler that caught the guy's feet. Batman let him think about it for awhile before pulling him back up. When the guy's face came over the top of the edge of the building, his face was white as a ghost. He was eager to spill the legumes, and did. Off they went again, after tying the guy up to the roof, so's he didn't warn anyone.
"Let's go." And they were off again. Terry wasn't used to this much swinging around, so his arms were getting tired. Spiderman swung easily, and had to wait for the bat-clan often. The bat-clan had to swing, land on a building, then swing again. Spiderman didn't need to worry about that. However, he adopted the bat mode of travel so that they'd stay together. Finally, they reached their destination; an old fort just outside of Gotham city. It was set far back in the trees away from the road. When they got within a hundred yards, they hid behind the nearest trees and watched as guards marched past. Batman turned to the group. "We'll split up; Nightwing, you and Spiderman take the front door. We'll take the back," he indicated Terry by pointing briefly at him. Batman melted into the shadows, Terry following. Spiderman watched admiringly. "Wow. How does he DO that, anyway?" Nightwing's mouth twitched. "It helps that his suit is black, instead of bright red and blue." Spidey sighed. "I guess you've got a point, there. But it STILL looks good." They scurried behind a tree. "Does tall, dark, and scary ever dress up as Count Dracula for Halloween?" Nightwing thought about it. It would be funny, but... "No." Nightwing surveyed the guards. "What we need is a distraction." He eyed Spidey speculatively. "With that flashy outfit, it should be easy to distract them." Spidey stood up and dusted himself off briefly. "You want flashy, you should see Electro. His outfit would shock you." Then he was gone. Nightwing wondered what costume could be brighter than Spiderman's. Spiderman snuck up to the last line of trees on the side of the building. A guard wandered around the side, but by that time Spidey was already stuck to the wall like a house fly. As the guard walked past, he heard a very soft thwip! and suddenly found himself all tied up. Spiderman hauled in his catch, webbed the guy's mouth shut, and webbed him to the wall. As Spidey rounded the corner of the building, still high up, he laughed to himself. They never look up. When he got to the front, he flipped down in front of the startled guards and asked, "I'm sorry, but I'm lost. Could you please tell me where the Ticker's hideout is?" They raised their guns to fire, but a nightarang (AN: Batman's are batarangs, so this makes sense, right? ) came by and hit the guns out of their hands. Spidey webbed some of the guys who came storming out of the fort. It looked suspiciously like they'd been sleeping on the job. When Spiderman turned to thank Nightwing he saw a pile in the back of the closest tree to the fort. "What's that?" Nightwing whirled when Spidey pointed, a nightarang out. When he saw the irregular blob, he put the nightarang away and shrugged. "Just a couple of guys that wanted to blow my brains out." Nightwing started past him, but Spidey stopped him. "How many is a couple?" The pile was halfway up the trunk to the first branch. Nightwing looked back, then started walking forward. "Ten." Spidey, alongside as they slipped through the hallways, whispered, "THAT'S a couple to you?" They came to an intersection, Nightwing as point, Spidey as rearguard. "You get used to it."