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It was noon, and you were finishing up your homework.
You were struggling with a certain question.
It never came as naturally to you compared to your friends.
Every spider-person had an advantage that was stronger than their other powers.
For example, Gwen had stronger super-hearing than others. However, her art skills weren't very good.
Miles had other powers others didn't have. Both the invisibility and electricity powers were limited to miles. However, he struggled with Spanish.
You were blessed with better agility, but you struggled a bit with math.
You debated on asking one of your siblings due to how close their rooms were to yours, but you quickly shook that thought away.
Despite all their attempts to get close to you, you still didn't trust them.
Dick's smile finally reached his eyes, but it was very strained.
Tim started conversing with you but tended to look too deeply into basic conversations.
Damian got too protective of you and tended to guard you too often.
Sometimes you just wanted peace and quiet.
Bruce was too quiet, and you weren't ready to accept him as part of your life.
You don't want to, anyway.
You haven't trusted Alfred in years. Not after learning what he did to his daughter, Julia.
You sighed, putting down your pencil and picking up your phone.
You scrolled on social media, which quickly got boring.
Just as you were going to call it a day and go take a shower, you got a notification from a news app.
Sandman was on the loose and was causing chaos.
You were already preparing yourself for the aftermath.
You dreaded having to clean up the mess, especially right after a day of working on schoolwork.
And you had just gotten most of the sand out of your suit from the last Sandman attack.
At least it'll take your mind off school.
You got up and went to pull out your suit from a secret compartment.
Although your secret identity was no longer a secret, it gave you a slight peace of mind having your own secret compartment.
After getting in your suit and getting your web shooters ready, you crawled out your window and left without telling anybody.
You knew at some point someone in your family would know you left, but you'd rather die than ask them for help.
They've scolded you for not asking for help so many times that you lost count, but you preferred working alone.
It made it easier to think.
You made your way to Sandman.
It wasn't long until you were in front of him, intimidating him.
Usually, fighting is a blur.
It's almost always the same every time.
Punches were thrown, kicks landed, and quips were thrown around.
By the end, you were left with bruises and scars yet again.
Sure, it's a nice feeling being able to help everyone and (at least attempt to) help get villains and bad people rehabilitated and changed, but actually fighting gets boring sometimes.
Everything feels the same.
This time felt different.
You got to take your frustrations out on a villain of the week.
You know you shouldn't call them villains of the week.
Miles had told you about his cautionary tale and how his life fell apart for quite a bit due to the 'spot situation.'
After a few quips here and there and attacks coming from both sides, you had finished up Sandman's slightly short reign of terror.
The whole time you had your spidey senses going off, and you had a feeling someone was watching you.
It was normal to have people watching you fight; for one, people were nosey, and second, news channels had reports on it, and sometimes you'd have a fan in the crowd.
However, the feeling felt more familiar than usual.
That feeling was reinforced once you saw a black and blue costume in a crowd.
Nightwing, or worse, your brother. You sighed once more, already preparing yourself for his irritating voice and even more annoying self.
"Hey, Spidey!" You rolled your eyes at his words.
He's been trying out nicknames ever since he found out about the nicknames your friends had given you.
You scoffed, "Don't call me that."
"Oh, come on, that one isn't that bad!" You stretched slightly before wincing at a cut that was just healing.
Dick's face quickly changed from his natural smile to a concerned look.
"I'm fine. I'll be perfectly fine in about half an hour."
"You shouldn't be afraid to ask for helpâ"
"I'm not a child. You don't have to treat me like one."
Just as Dick opened his mouth to speak, you swung away, still wincing.
He tried not to think of how much you've grown.
How your tiny hand used to wrap around his finger, how you seemed so much smaller.
How you used to draw on the walls, and how he used to hear you sing made-up songs while walking around the manor.
How you used to spend hours talking about your interests, things you no longer did.
It felt like he blinked, and suddenly 15 years had passed, and you were somehow fighting villains 10x your size.
You were no longer the 3-year-old girl begging him to play tag with you.
He no longer saw you playing in the garden, or sneaking cookies from a cookie jar, or organizing your plushies.
No longer did you look at him like he was the coolest person you knew.
That spot was reserved for Hobie, anyway.
His hands trembled seeing you put yourself in danger for the safety of others.
He's seen you come home with countless scars and bruises all over your body.
You don't cry for them anymore.
You don't ask him for help with anything anymore.
As much as he misses you being a little kid, he knows deep down he didn't know you well back then.
He saw how you used to look at everyone sadly.
How you saw everyone enjoying being around each other while you were alone.
He saw how you'd take care of stray animals (and get scolded by Alfred because of how you could've gotten rabies).
He saw how, despite never being loved, you had so much love to give.
The way you help lost kids find their parents, the way you treated animals that had gotten hurt by cruel humans, the way no matter what trouble life had thrown at you, you'd always get back up.
The truth is, it didn't matter if you were a spider-person or not.
Either way, you'd find a way to help others.
It's ironic how everyone else in the family did the same thing and arguably put themselves in more danger due to not having powers like you.
He's seen and heard those days where you were bleeding out due to being stabbed, attacked, or shot.
He's heard you let out a cruel shriek while you were pulling out a knife out of your side.
Your cry still haunts him to this day.Â
He's walked into a bathroom to see you passed out in a tub after cleaning yourself off.
And if he's picked you up and tucked you into bed like he had when you were 5, that's no one's business but his.
He snapped out of his trance and noticed how you had left already, presumably to the manor.
He made his way back as well.
He didn't notice how you didn't go straight home.
You went to feed stray dogs, specifically your favorite one.
Pav took you to go feed dogs with him a while back.
You thought it was a fun activity and took a liking to it.
It's not like the dog food was extremely expensive, and even if it was, you always had enough money.
Your favorite dog was one that looked and acted like you.
Its fur was the color of your hair, and it had the same eyes as you.
The poor puppy would follow around other dogs.
The other dogs would play with each other and ignore the puppy.
The more you got closer to it, the more it would cling to you.
Unfortunately, you couldn't take it home just yet.
You were scared Damian's dog, Titus, would attack it.
Maybe you could ask Bruce to make a room for it.
It'd just have to wait for you.
It was late at night, and you were lying in your bed stitching up your suit.
It was very ripped and was slightly falling apart, but you were planning on going to the spider society soon anyway; you could go ask someone who makes suits to make yours again.
Right as you were going to go to sleep, your door opened and your father walked in. You turned your music down.
"Y/n, I've been calling you for half an hour," Bruce grumbled, as if he had just woken from a nap.
You shrugged, letting out a casual "oops."
Bruce rubbed his temple, letting out a deep sigh, as if he was hesitating to speak to you.
"You're coming with me to the league tomorrow."
Your eyes widened in bewilderment. "What?"
"Late in the afternoon. Be prepared."
He left as soon as he came.
You groaned; you were hoping for a day off tomorrow.
You put the sewing kit down and started cleaning up your mess.
After doing your nightly routine, you hopped into bed and hoped going to the league wouldn't be too irritating.
The next day, you went on with your regular day until late afternoon.
You would have honestly forgotten about going to the league if it wasn't for Bruce reminding you over and over again.
You wish you could've forgotten how you had to go.
Your body hurt, and you wanted to take a fat nap after a long day of helping people with crime.
You reluctantly agreed to go with Bruce, assuming he just wanted to spend time with you.
You agreed with only a few conditions: Bruce would not refer to you as his daughter, and you would not take your mask off and would be as anonymous as you could.
Thankfully he was fully on board, due to him being the same with his anonymity.
At least, before his identity was revealed to the others.
As you got into your suit, taking note of how somewhat mangled it was, you made your way to the Batcave.
As soon as you got there, you saw him already in the Batmobile waiting for you.
You sat down in the backseat and put in your earbuds to ignore the uncomfortable silence.
You took a small nap, not noticing Bruce's disgustingly sweet smile.
You woke up whilst Bruce was parking his car.
You yawned, wiped off your sleepy drool, and pulled down your mask, preparing to get out of the car.
Once you got out, you let out a stretch. You walked out of the car and entered the building alongside Bruce.
You could see him contemplating something, most likely how to talk to you.
You didn't put much mind to it, too busy focusing on the actual building and how fancy it looked.
If Bruce was talking, you weren't paying attention.
You walked into the building, not bothering with holding open the door for Bruce.
You walked slowly, hoping Bruce would walk in front of you and lead the way.
You were too stubborn to ask him, so you were glad he did it anyway.
You followed him and looked at your surroundings quite a bit.
You were too scared to touch anything and break it.
Before you knew it, you were in the same room as the other members of the Justice League.
Bruce, or well, Batman, as you would refer to him for the sake of the other members, walked in before you.
You stood beside him, looking stiff due to how awkward you felt.
He began introducing you to the others.
"This is Aranea, Aranea, this is the Justice League." You noticed how Superman wasn't in the room.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you all."
You attempted to change your voice so the others wouldn't recognize you.
By the look of their faces, you assumed they didn't figure it out.
Sure, most likely they didn't know who you were (outside of costume, at least), but you never know!
As the others greeted you, you sat down. There were 3 open seats, and one of them was Bruce's.
You sat down next to him and noticed how the one to your right was still open as well.
You sat down and put your hands on your lap, as if to keep track of them.
You were too scared to touch anything or speak too loudly.
An anxious atmosphere took over the room. Wonder Woman spoke up, clearing her throat.
"As soon as everyone's here, we can begin."
Just as you were about to speak up, Superman walks in.
"Speak of the devil," Green Lantern says, making Superman chuckle.
Superman started apologizing: "I'm sorry, something came up."
You looked at him, starstruck.
Sure, you knew Superman was in the Justice League.
It wasn't new information to you.
You heard about it from practically everywhere.
The news, your family, and newspapers. It was no surprise.
But seeing the man you idolized for years, literally since you were a kid, in person? You couldn't help but be starstruck.
He waved to you, and you waved back, mouth slightly agape.
He sat down next to you and put his hand out for you to shake it.
Despite you wearing a mask that covered your entire face, he could've sworn you had stars in your eyes.
You quickly shook his hand, your sudden enthusiasm a stark difference from the hesitance you had just a moment ago.
"Oh my gosh, I'm such a big fan! Like, the biggest. It's so exciting to meet you!"
You started rambling, not noticing the amused stares from the others.
In this moment you weren't 16-year-old Aranea, who felt like the world was a burden on her shoulders; you were a 6-year-old who watched Superman saving others on TV when she could.
You were 6 years old and defending Superman against kids your age and adults who insulted his actions.
You were a little kid running around with a Superman cape and wishing you could be older and like Superman.
You were 6 and arguing with Dick over how Superman is cooler than Wonder Woman.
The more you rambled, the more you noticed how Superman wasn't judging you like others had done.
After a minute or two of your ramblings, you took a look around you and saw everyone else staring.
You quickly stopped, dropping the hand you were shaking for a while.
You quickly covered your mouth, noticing you had dropped your act of being quiet and careful.
Most of all, you hadn't noticed how your voice went back to normal instead of the slight change you had done.
"...I spoke too much, didn't I?" You covered your face in embarrassment, despite wearing a mask.
"No, it's fine! I'm used to it." Superman patted your head as an attempt to calm you down, which only made you feel worse.
Wonder Woman cleared her throat, which made you sit up and focus.
"Alright, Aranea. You may be wondering why we invited you here."
You sat up. "Yes, ma'am?"
"Well, Batman informed us that you knew something about the strange wormholes that keep popping up, along with strange variations of villains."
You shuddered as you remembered the time there were two green goblins working together.
The mess that day was crazy.
"Yes, they're from other universes. They're called anomalies."
"Do you have any idea on how we can stop them?"
"Not really, I didn't pay much attention when Miâ" you stopped yourself, realizing you almost said Miguel's name. "...A Spider-Man from a different universe explained it."
"You should've paid attention," Bruce grumbled.
"No shit, Sherlock," you growled back.
"If you did, we would already be done with this." He took a sip of his coffee (where'd he get that from?).
"I was a kid!" you argued defensively.
"So were all the robins, and they all paid attention."
"Yeah, with training all their lives! I was brand new to being a vigilante!" you argued, voice cracking a bit.
An uncomfortable silence took over the room.
Suddenly you weren't so happy about the fact Superman was rubbing circles on your back to calm you down.
Green Lantern spoke up. "How about a 5-minute break?"
"Fine by me." You got ready to leave, only for Bruce to speak up yet again.
"You're acting like a child." A tense moment of silence passed before you spoke again.
"...I shouldn't even be here, should I? Aren't I too young? Didn't you guys kick out Shazam for that?"
They froze up as if they were caught doing something bad.
"How do you know about that?"
"That's classified," you said, your tone so cold it threw everyone off guard.
Before they could demand an answer from you, you left.
The truth is, you found out about it through Dick telling Tim and you eavesdropping out of boredom and curiosity.
It's kind of hard not to pay attention when everyone spoke so loudly to fill the void that was your absenceâby the time you had come back, they had started speaking among themselves.
It was mostly them talking about ways to talk to you.
You were a defensive wall with your guard up.
That's how they perceived you, anyway.
"Bruce, how did you even find her?"
"That's classified." You started entering the area through the window as quietly as you could.
It was times like this you wished you had miles of invisibility.
The only reason you got caught being secretive was because you dropped a bag of chips you had gotten from a corner store nearby.
Everyone turned around to see you sitting upside down, almost like a bat.
You sheepishly got down from the ceiling, feeling everyone's eyes on you.
Hal chuckled at the similarity between you and Bruce.
"Y'know, you guys are so similar. Are you sure you aren't related?" Hal joked.
You tried not to roll your eyes at that. "Definitely not. What do I look like? A nepo baby?"
That earned you a few chuckles from others in the room (and a stone-cold face from Bruce), so you called that a win.
Once you all settled down, you sat down again.
Bruce was next to you again, but you wouldn't look him in the eyes.
You couldn't if you tried, anyway.
After everyone sat back down, Wonder woman speaks again.
"We have suspicions the Joker is planning something with them."
"The anomalies we had mentioned earlier, or at least with someone who is in control of them."
You couldn't think of a possible cause of the problem.
When anomalies escape, they are usually dazed and confused.
You would be too if you were dragged into another universe that was different from yours.
Anomalies don't choose where they go.
Your heart dropped when you thought of something that could be the root of the problem.
You were trying to deny what you could. It couldn't be The Spot; it just couldn't! He was being held captive in a force field.
He's been trapped for a year or two now. How could he leave?
Miles escaped that one time, but that was because of his powers.
How could the spot escape? You felt yourself trembling and the world spinning.
As your breathing sped up, Superman added onto what wonder woman said.
"Dark spots have been spotted everywhere."
You tried to hide your fear behind your felt mask.
It must've worked because all you got was a concerned glance from Bruce.
"Along with the suspicious spots, they've been mostly spotted in areas the Joker had freshly left. There's not much proof, but there's something going on. I just can't prove it."
Out of instinct, you reached for your watch under the table.
You would've immediately contacted Miguel to ask about what has been going on or if the spot really had escaped.
However, you didn't want to explain to everyone what the watch was used for.
Especially since if you did, your voice would shake out of nervousness.
You would have to wait until the meeting was over.
The meeting was finally over.
It took over 3 hours, and it was now late out.
You had tried to pay attention, but they moved on from the Joker teaming up with anomalies quickly.
They moved from one topic to the next, and you had spent the whole meeting thinking about how the spot could be connected.
As soon as you got to the manor, you ran past your siblings and made your way to your room.
Everyone looked at you confused, and a couple called out to you, but you didn't notice or care.
Once you got in, you locked the door and ran a hand through your face.
You changed out of your suit and into something more comfortable.
Once you were changed out of the suit, you sat down at your computer chair, pulled out your watch, and called Miguel.
You try going to sleep and instead contact him in the morning.
However, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't.
Your anxiety over this was leaving your tired body restless.
It wasn't until what felt like hours that you finally fell asleep.
Unfortunately, Miguel called you around 15 minutes after you fell asleep.
"I saw you called 3 times," He grumbled.
"I did. Why didn't you pick up?" You spoke halfheartedly.
"Different universes have different time zones, remember?"
"Oh, right. I'm sorry for waking you up."
"It's alright, mija. What did you need?"
"Do you know if the spot could've escaped?"
You heard a rustling in the background of the call. almost as if he could be sitting up in concern.
"I was at a meeting with the league. We have suspicions that the Joker is attempting to team up with the Spot."
You spoke, your voice almost trembling.
A moment of silence takes over; you can tell he's either confused or thinking.
"I can check the cameras. I'll let you know if I find anything. Go to sleep."
"Alright, Dad, goodnight."
"Goodnight, mija." The call ends, and you fall back asleep.
You woke up and hoped that you would check your notifications and have an update that you were wrong and that you didn't have to worry about anything.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on your side that morning, or ever.
You woke up to a notification from the work group chat.
One that was placed by Miguel.
It said, "Attention, everybody. Spot has escaped, and we don't know for how long he has been free or how he escaped.
If you have any questions, concerns, or know any information, feel free to contact us. Be on the lookout for Spot."
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