Interaction(s): None"Terry!" The voice persisted, invading every square inch of Terry’s skull. Each time it spoke his name, the voice increased in urgency and volume.
“Terry!”
Only that wasn’t Dana’s voice. Dana had broken up with Terry almost two months ago. It wasn’t anything unusual for the pair to go on a break. The couple had been in a hot and cold relationship for nearly seven years now, but Terry had always thought they’d end up together in the end.
At least until he became Batman.
The cowl had put a severe strain on their relationship. The last straw had been Terry’s apparent lack of support for Chelsea after the latter had been discharged from Elliot Memorial. A victim of the deranged doctor known to the media as the Mad Hatter. Chelsea’s body had been operated on against her will, and it had nearly killed her. With her father dead, her mother working all hours of the day and a boyfriend who was unable to comprehend the damage the Hatter had done, Chelsea was left virtually alone. Thus, Dana had opted to try and fill in and had expected Terry to follow suit.
Obviously, he had not.
“Terry! Wake up!”
A pair of hands shook Terry’s shoulders. The insistent voice belonged to Terry’s current girlfriend, Melanie Walker. The couple had what some might describe as a torrid past. Their circumstances had never aligned, and when they had both had responsibilities pull them apart. But Terry had to admit, the last six weeks had been the best of his life.
Shooting up from the bed, Terry caught Melanie off guard. She scurried backwards while Terry came to rest. His heart still pounding from the nightmare version of Dana. A cold sweat covered his face and back. Sinking his head into his hands, Terry sat in silence for several moments, cradling his face between his palms before he began to move. Gingerly at first, then Terry began to gently massage the sides of his head. Slowly, he dragged his hands down his face before finally lifting his head up to look at Melanie.
“That must have been some nightmare,” She teased. Her humoured tone masked the genuine concern behind her words. “Even I didn’t even make you sweat that bad last night.”
Terry scoffed. Still, the line had elicited a smirk from him.
Taking a deep breath, Terry leaned back and laid back down against his pillow. Melanie quickly followed suit. Wrapping herself around him, she placed a leg atop Terry’s left thigh before lowering her head onto his chest. Welcoming the intimacy, Terry responded by wrapping his arm around Melanie. Steadying his breathing, Terry closed his eyes while his hand slowly began to trace the small of Melanie’s arched back.
Looking down at the mass of blonde hair that was currently moving slowly up and down with each breath he took, Terry couldn’t help but wonder how he could have been so lucky. Melanie rolled her neck back, turning her icy blue eyes to look up at Terry. A smile crossed her face that almost implied she knew he had been watching.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, her own hand running up and down Terry’s bare chest. He let out a heavy sigh before responding.
“Today marks five years since my dad died,” Terry stared blankly towards the ceiling before continuing. “I still remember that night, clear as the moment it happened. I never got to say goodbye. Never told him that I loved him or that I was proud of him. My last moments with my dad were a fight.” He paused again. The image of everyone he cared about dead was seared into his mind’s eye.
“In the last moments I saw my dad alive, I abandoned him.” Terry stated, “All to go to a stupid club.”
“How did he die?”
The question weighed heavily on Terry. He knew what the official answer was. The answer his mother and brother had to live with. The Jokerz forced their way in, a robbery gone wrong the report had said. Terry had later found a flash drive hidden among his father’s possessions. The flash drive contained evidence that incriminated his father’s employer, Derek Powers of authorizing the creation of bioweapons and soliciting black market buyers. This was what had gotten Warren McGinnis killed. Not the Jokerz, not a home invasion.
“Jokerz,” Terry answered. “Home invasion gone wrong.” The lie was perfectly rehearsed.
“Shit,” Melanie replied. “Do you think if you had been home he’d still be alive?”
The question gave Terry pause. Dana had never asked him that.
That’s not fair. You can’t keep comparing her to Dana.
Terry shook his head. It wasn’t an honest answer. Had the Jokerz actually been responsible, he knew full well that he could have kept his father alive. But Powers’ fixer was a different story. Terry had only been able to best the man thanks to the advantages provided by the Batsuit he ‘borrowed’ from Mister Wayne in his quest for vengeance.
“He lives on in you y’know,” Melanie replied as she turned over to her stomach. Her hand cradled Terry’s chin, making the young man’s eyes meet her own. “You might have been mad at each other in that moment, but he knows you love him, and I can guarantee he never stopped loving you.”
Terry managed a weak smile.
“You’re going to be a doctor, Terry.” Melanie continued, “Think of all the lives you’re going to touch. Think how much more suffering there could have been if you had been home that night.”
She had no idea the truth to her words. Had Terry died that night, Powers could have succeeded and spread terror across a good portion of the known world.
“I’m not saying your father’s death is a good thing, I’m not even trying to say it was fate, but life does have a funny way of making sure we’re exactly where we need to be.”
“I didn’t know you were such a philosopher.” Terry teased looking towards the digital clock beside his bed. “Especially before nine in the morning.”
“You move around as much as I have, books become your only friends.” Melanie replied. Though she was smiling, there was a certain sadness behind her eyes. Terry understood that, though. Melanie had moved around her entire life. It was a casualty of her parents being leading members of the Royal Flush Gang. An international group of aristocratic thieves. Due to her family’s chosen profession, Melanie; like Terry, had also done time in juvenile detention. Except, Terry had put her there.
Batman had apprehended Melanie along with the rest of her family.
“You know books right, bound pieces of paper you read to learn things.” Melanie added, snapping her fingers to bring Terry out of his thoughts. “Earth to Terry! Thought I had you woken up already.”
“I’m still a little sleepy,” Terry smiled mischievously.
“Is that so?” Melanie replied. Placing her hands on Terry’s chest, she swung her hips over his pelvis. “I think I can help with that.” She whispered in Terry’s ear, pressing her lips to his neck.
An unexpected knock on the bedroom door caused the pair to freeze. A second knock quickly followed as the voice of Terry’s mother could be heard from the other side.
“Terry?” Mary asked, “Are you awake?” When Terry didn’t answer immediately, Mary knocked a third. A little louder, a little harder this time. Apparently, the door wasn’t closed properly because it swung open revealing Melanie on top of Terry.
“I’ve got breakfast wait-” Seeing the two young adults, Mary froze. Swiftly turning on her heels, she muttered a quick apology.
“I-I-I didn’t know you had a guest.” A hand covered her eyes. “Breakfast is waiting downstairs when you’re dressed.” Mary’s voice called from down the hallway while her footsteps retreated towards the stairs. Melanie let out a snort. She looked towards Terry before suddenly thrusting her hips, resuming from where they had been interrupted.
“Seriously?” Terry asked, raising an eyebrow.
“With me, Terry,” Melanie smiled seductively. Running a hand through her hair, Melanie tucked it behind her ear before leaning down and whispering to Terry. “It’s always been now or never.”
Ace lay curled up beside Bruce’s feet. The large dog was perfectly content to remain beside its owner while the older man’s hands flew across the keys of the large workstation before him. Roman Sionis was shuffling his accounts around again, trying to hide a large sum of money. A hundred and fifty million had been emptied from the Wayne/Sionis accounts. Sionis had tried to cover it up. He had disguised the transfers as grants, bonuses and scholarships. It might fool accounting, though it was far more likely accounting was in his pocket, but it wouldn’t fool Bruce Wayne.
Sionis had never been the generous type, and he had never been good with money. In all the years since Roman’s father, Richard Sionis, had performed the merger with Wayne Enterprises, the Sionis family had never just handed out money. Bruce didn’t have to look hard to at his ailing company’s financial records to see that no employee had received a bonus in twenty years.
Except for Richard and Roman Sionis.
A sum of fifty thousand here, a cash-out of a million here. But one hundred and fifty million dollars. Standard operating costs for a crime lord in Gotham City. But one hundred and fifty million dollars? That was something special. Sionis was planning something, and Bruce was confident he knew what it was.
It wouldn’t be the first time a crime lord had placed a price on the Batman. The Falcones had tried it, the Malronis too. Harvey Dent had even put two on Bruce’s head while the Joker had attempted it during one of his more saner moments.
But for the sum of money that Sionis had used, it wasn’t just a hit. It was a spectacle.
Ace suddenly jumped to his feet. His ears alert, hackles raised. A low growl echoed through the cave, causing some of the bats to screech in protest due to having their slumber disturbed. Gripping his cane, Bruce turned his chair slowly. The aroma of bacon, eggs and hollandaise sauce slowly wafted towards the old man. But there was something else. Something familiar.
It was subtly tropical but distinctly exotic. Flora with hints of vanilla and notes of honey layered with sandalwood. Bruce Wayne had rubbed elbows with numerous women throughout the years, he knew an expensive perfume. But only one woman in his life who wore this scent. Only one could afford it.
“A detective’s work never ends it seems.”
“Talia.” Bruce replied warmly.
“Hello, Beloved.” The woman replied. She stepped out of the shadows, approaching towards Bruce bearing the tray of food he had smelled initially. “I thought we might share a meal.”
“Smells delicious.” Standing up from his chair, Bruce motioned back towards the elevator. “But perhaps we’d be more comfortable upstairs.”
“The cave will suffice, Beloved.” Talia motioned towards the small table off to the side. The table had been set up by Terry to eat at between patrols. “I come bearing news of your successor.”
“I’m already aware of the hit Sionis has placed on Terry,” Bruce responded while easing himself into a chair. Talia sat down across from him, shaking her head while she crossed her legs.
“I am not referring to your errand boy. I speak of your son.” Talia clarified, giving Bruce pause. “He is a man now. A man whose heart has turned cold from the neglect of his father.”
“You may have given Ibn al Xu'ffasch my face, but he was never my son.”
Talia inhaled sharply at Bruce’s words, pausing to choose her own carefully. “I didn’t come to argue semantics, Beloved. I came to warn you. Ibn al Xu'ffasch is coming to claim what is his. Your errand boy won’t be enough to stop him.” Rising from her chair, Talia smiled at Bruce.
“Enjoy your meal, Beloved. I do hope it is not the last we share together.”
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