***PETER***

"He's not gonna be able to do that stupid poison trick on you again." Gwen lays her head on my shoulder as we watch over the Gotham waterfront from the roof of Grayson's building. "Don't worry, Peter," she says. "You're smarter than he is. You are."

"Thank you," I say. "So are you."

Gwen giggles into my ear, then straightens up and peers through her binoculars. "They're in position," she says - not so much to me, but to Felicity, who's piped into the camera feeds from her spy station in Grayson's apartment.

"Copy," says Felicity. "Still can't believe they're actually gonna talk to that fat-ass creep."

I raise my own set of binoculars so I can get a glimpse of what Gwen's seeing. Barry, Kara, and Grayson are on the sidewalk in front of the cannery, waiting for Penguin to emerge. In the background, illuminated by the sunset, Aquaman quietly slips into the water between the cannery and the next building so he can start his part of the mission. "Good luck, man," I whisper.

"You know I don't think any less of you for what happened, right?" Gwen asks.

"The more you tell me that," I say," the more I'm gonna dwell on it."

"Guys?" To our right, Oliver lowers his bow, allowing its attached arrow to touch the edge of the roof. "Not that your heart-to-heart isn't important, but it's wrecking my concentration."

"Yeah, mine too," says Thea over our earpieces. She's perched on the roof of the next building over, the one between this block and the cannery. Two layers of sniper-archers named Queen - that was my idea. Thea and Oliver both accepted said idea with surprising enthusiasm when I presented it.

"At least I'll be closer and I'll have better aim," Thea had said. "I dunno about you, Ollie, but there's this one guy in purple who works for the Avengers - you could take some tips from him!"

In response, Oliver tugged on Thea's red hood, looking like the playful big brother he was (and prompting all the current and former Robins to leave the room so they could laugh their asses off out of sight) and saying menacingly, "Speedy, you have failed this outfit!"

"I'm sorry," I say. "From now on, I'll stick to my usual motor-mouthed sarcasm."

"That, we can all enjoy," Gwen says with feeling.

"Tell us something we don't know," says Barry. He looks our way, and through the binoculars, I see him wink. Even after selecting himself some new, clean clothes in Wayne Tower's super-wardrobe, he's already returned to his Flash outfit. Kara is herself bedecked in full Supergirl gear, and Grayson is wearing, for the first time since we've met him, his Nightwing suit. It's mostly black, with a bright red, roughly chevron-shaped bird symbol (like the kind on his hoodies and T-shirts) emblazoned on the torso. All very skintight - I can't help but stare, if only for a second or five. And, to cap it all off, he's got his domino mask on, his hair falling in front of its wing-shaped sides.

"Your first superhero crush, Peter?" Gwen nudges me lightly.

"Get out of my head!" I whisper harshly, nudging her back.

"No, no judgment," she says, and I turn to see her smiling hugely. "I kinda have a bit of a girl-crush on her myself."

"You were talking about Supergirl?" I ask.

Gwen's grin expands, her eyes twinkling in unbridled amusement. "Who were you talking about? Barry?" She laughs at her own joke. "No, no, Barry's too much like the big brother you never had. So then it's-"

"Yo," Grayson calls out on the party line. "Our belle of the ball has arrived."

Sure enough, Penguin's waddling out of the front door of the cannery as Grayson speaks. I'm surprised he's coming out that way - wouldn't he take the helicopter sitting almost dead-center on the building's rooftop? But then again, Grayson did tell him, when he called him earlier, that they needed to talk on the waterfront, in plain view of the late-afternoon tourists strolling around. Some of them are no doubt making tracks for some of the many restaurants to either side of the cannery. The thought makes my stomach rumble audibly. I don't have Barry's metabolism, but after running on the treadmill for almost fifteen minutes while fueled by Olivia-induced fear, I've burned enough calories that I'm afraid my muscle tone might have diminished just a bit.

"So." We hear Penguin because Grayson's got his phone out and is pointing it right at him. "You're back. And you're not even pretending that you're not recording this. What kind of undercover cop-types are you?"

"I'm off-duty," Grayson remarks.

"And we're not recording," Barry says.

"Cross our hearts and hope to die." Kara does exactly that as she speaks.

Penguin crosses his arms over his flabby front. "Do I have any choice but to take your unfailingly polite word for it?"

"Listen, here's the thing," says Grayson. "We could have you turned in to the proper authorities for your poisoning of the water, 'cause that has an impact reaching far beyond this city. But instead, we're gonna ask you one favor for our silence on that matter."

Penguin shakes his head. "Whatever that favor is, I'm sure I can't-"

"Tell us where to find the Toyman and the Trickster," says Barry.

"And the Joker!" Damian reminds him. (He's in the apartment with his Robin brothers and Felicity - and Constantine, who's been, in no uncertain terms, steamed about his paranormal expertise no longer being necessary.)

"And the Joker," Barry says hastily.

"I have no idea," Penguin says - a little too quickly. Even an amateur detective like me (at best) can tell he's lying. Whether by commission or omission, that's a little less clear.

"Nice try," says Grayson. "Look, your illegal toxic-waste dump is all but done anyway. We got a guy going out and cleaning up the mess as we speak." He makes a gesture with his hand and forearm, like waves on water. "We're doing you a solid-"

"A what?"

"A favor," Grayson says.

"Jesus, someone get this guy an Urban Dictionary, stat," I say. "Or, on second thought...don't."

"...before the authorities catch wind of your little scheme," Barry continues. "Try explaining your way out of this one, huh, Puffin?"

Gwen nudges me again. "He's been hanging around you too long."

"Look," Kara says. I have to adjust my binoculars to catch sight of her stepping closer to Penguin, holding out her hands just a tad bit like she's beseeching him. "These guys we're going after - they need to face justice for crimes they committed in their hometowns." She looks up at Barry, who nods along with her as she adds, "His and mine both. It's...well, I'm not gonna lie. It's kind of, uh, personal."

"I don't do personal," Penguin says hastily.

"Oh, my dear Penguin," Grayson says, coming up and clapping the guy on his beef-side-sized shoulder. "I thought we agreed not to lie to each other."

Penguin sags, his bluff called. "But what makes you think I'd know where your enemies are?"

"You're smarter than you look," says Kara. "And you look like a smart enough guy as it is. A crime boss like you, no way you're not wired into the city!"

"Flattery will get you nowh-"

"Would it help if I apologized for calling you 'Puffin?'" asks Barry.

Penguin seems to re-inflate upon hearing this. "Let's say I do know where to find those two villains."

"Three," Gwen corrects him. Kara nods once, then repeats Gwen's one word.

"No, two," Penguin insists. "The Joker's safely locked up - he's been locked up for eight years. Whatever business you're involved in, he's not part of it." He looks up at the sky. "The Toyman and the Trickster, on the other hand, they're in town, and-"

"Tell us something we don't know," I mutter. Thankfully, none of our people parrot that to him.

"If you wanna find them," Penguin continues, "go to the ferry terminal. They're trying to save this city, believe it or not...for their own selfish reasons, of course." He looks up again - why does he keep doing that? "Which is also the same reason why I've been dumping Venom into the bay. This city thrives on chaos, but the brand of chaos favored by Venom's inventor is a little too apocalyptic for our tastes."

"Guys, heads up," Felicity says. "There's a strange drone coming into our airspace. I'm trying to identify it right now. Stand by..."

"Venom's inventor?" asks Grayson. "That would be...Bane?"

"The bald man with the mask and the horrible Sean Connery accent?" laughs Jason.

I look up at Oliver. "Do you see that drone anywhere?"

"No," he says. "Speedy? You have eyes?"

"I see...something drone-y," Thea says, her voice crackling a little more than usual. "God, I sounded like Felicity just now."

"No worries," says Felicity. "As long as someone sees it."

Gwen points silently out towards the waterfront. I look through my binoculars again until I catch sight of the drone coming in off the water. It flies slowly over the cannery, and I look for any kinds of symbols or other identifying marks. There are, however, none to be seen.

"Something's not right," I say. "Oliver? Thea? Should we shoot it down?"

"The drone?" Oliver asks, then shakes his head. "No, let's hold off a sec."

On the next rooftop, Thea sets up to fire an arrow. "I'm with Peter," she says. "This baby is bad news, I can feel it."

"Thea, stand down!" Oliver barks, loudly enough that I'm sure it can carry all the way to the cannery.

"Ollie, don't tell me-"

"Guys?" asks Barry. "What's happening?"

The drone moves out from above the cannery and crosses over the space where Penguin's talking to our friends. I push the binoculars into Gwen's hands and, fueled by Spidey-senses and adrenaline, launch myself off the roof, landing thirty feet behind Thea.

"Peter?" she asks, turning around and staring at me in confusion. "Peter, what's-"

"Fire!" I yell, pointing at the drone as I keep running. "Fire! Now!"

Over my head, I watch as Oliver shoots his own green-tipped arrow at the drone. That's when I know it's too late.

The drone dodges Oliver's shot and makes a few of its own. Not with arrows, though. With bullets.

"What are you waiting for?" I bellow at Thea.

Instantly, she spins around and fires a red arrow at the drone. As she does so, I fire weblines from both my wrists, crossing them so they connect in midair right in the arrow's flightpath. I'm counting on it helping carry me into the air beyond the roof, just a little bit. It wouldn't be far with my weight, but it would at least let me come into easy range to snag the drone and pull it down.

Which is what I do.

The drone falls to the ground, smashing into smithereens on impact. To prevent myself from doing the same, I fire onto the nearest streetlight, using it to swing myself safely to the sidewalk. I can't resist somersaulting when I land, and I expect Barry, Kara, and Grayson to enjoy watching me do this little trick.

They don't, though, because they're busy looking at Penguin as he lies on his back, bleeding from a number of bullet wounds to his torso.

Kara stands over him, shaking her head. "It could've been worse," she says.

While Grayson makes a 911 call, Penguin grabs Kara's ankle and repeats, in a gurgling whisper, the same location he gave us earlier. "Ferry...terminal...basement..." Then he lets go of her and his body slackens.

"Is he dead?" Barry asks.

Kara gives a solemn nod. Grayson catches sight of this, then says into his phone, "No need for sirens, by the way. It's a homicide now."

Thea runs up and joins us. "What now?" she asks. "Are we going there? To the ferry terminal?"

I'm already getting out of my street clothes and putting my mask on. "Let's finish this," I say. "Someone get my stuff and bring it back to Grayson's place, okay?"

"You mean someone not here right now?" Grayson asks.

Thea taps her earpiece. "Felicity, how quickly can you hack the ferry terminal cams?"

"How long have you known me?" Felicity laughs. She's the only one we can hear, which to me suggests she's muted everyone else. I'm sure at least some of them are cussing like sailors at us for leaving them behind.

"Grayson, you know the city best," says Kara as she leaves Penguin behind. "Lead the way?"

Grayson sets off. "I bet T&T are the ones who killed him," he says as we follow him. "They don't know the shitstorm they've just brought to Gotham. The balance of power around here is pretty fragile...but you guys don't care about that. Let's go! We've got ass to kick!"