Into Rain
a Batman Beyond story
by Merlin Missy
Copyright 2006
PG

DC and Warner Bros. own the toys. A part of the R 'Verse, set as a missing scene from "The Signs of Air and Water," but familiarity with either isn't necessary. Thanks as ever to dotfic for the beta!

Summary: Terry has concerns about Max's new boyfriend, but he and Warhawk never did like each other much. Post-Epilogue

Max checked her watch as the waiter came by to ask if she was ready yet. Grumbling at her lunch date's punctuality, she ordered the tuna melt with a salad instead of fries and some cranberry juice. The waiter left the second menu.

As she sipped her water glass, she saw him come through the door. She put on a smile and waved him over to her table.

"Hey," said Terry, slipping into a chair. "Sorry I'm late."

"Business?" she asked, giving the word enough emphasis to make sure he knew what she was asking.

"Traffic. And business. Wayne-Powers stuff."

The waiter came back with Max's juice. Terry ordered a cheeseburger and a soda, and then they were alone.

"How's the old man?"

"Old." Terry wiped his face with his hand. "If you want to come see him again, do it soon."

"I will." She took a drink. "How's Dana?"

"Fine. She's getting a promotion next month."

Max smiled. "Good for her. Tell her I said congratulations. And speaking of, any plans for little McGinnises yet?"

"Not yet. Promotion. Besides, I don't know if either of us is ready."

"You'll do fine." She placed her hand on his. The old Terry, the one she knew a lifetime ago, would have jumped at her touch. The man before her didn't have complete control, not the way the old man did, but he possessed a stillness that she wouldn't have believed back when they'd been young. "So why are you in my town?"

"Lunch. I'm starving."

"Terry."

"I wanted to talk to you."

"That makes a nice change," she couldn't help saying. She saw the hurt look in his eyes. "Sorry. Neither of us is good at talking about some things."

Her hand was still on his; he took it and held it gently. "Look. About your new boyfriend ... "

Max went cold and pulled back her hand abruptly, setting it in her lap. "That's what this is about? I don't get a call until your wedding, and I don't get another one afterwards until I start seeing someone you don't like?" She bent over angrily to get her purse. "You are just like him."

As she stood he took her arm. "Max, don't do this."

"Don't do what? You don't get to decide who I date, McGinnis."

"No kidding. You make your own choices. You always have."

"That's right." People stared. She ignored them.

"I just want to make sure you're all right."

"I'm fine," she said.

The waiter came back with her salad.

Terry said, "Stay for lunch. Please?"

She glared at him. Then she sat down and allowed the food to be set in front of her. She unwrapped the fork from her napkin and stabbed a tomato angrily. "I don't care what you have against him. I like him." One of the bad things about hanging out with other costumes was that she never knew who knew what secret identity. Of course, Rex had gone to the wedding, so presumably he'd gotten an invitation somehow.

"I do, too."

"Bull." She dropped her voice. "Every other mission, you came back ranting about how big of a jerk he was."

"So you went and looked him up? Thought we were out of high school by now."

She stabbed some lettuce. "He's not that bad. He's sweet, when he tries. Kind of like you." Her eyes flicked to his face, but even without a mask on, Terry was unreadable.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt." The word "again" floated between them unsaid.

"He's a good man." Okay, so she'd based a lot of that impression on the research she'd done on him after he'd called that first time, but he hadn't done anything to make her change her mind. She sat back in her chair. "Out of curiosity, would any guy in our ... line of work ... make you happy?"

"Plenty of them. Did you hear there's a new Flash operating out of Central City these days?"

She snorted, and covered that with another drink. "First, yes. And he's just as subtle as the old one was, so I've narrowed down his secret identity to two people. They're both ten years younger than we are. And second, are you nuts?"

"I was just saying, there are a lot of single guys in the business."

Her eyes narrowed. "So I don't have to worry about being an old maid. Thanks."

"Max ... "

The waiter brought their sandwiches.

"What do you want, McGinnis? I'm not going to break up with Rex on your say-so." She bit her lip, but since he didn't react to the name, she figured he already knew. She took a bite of tuna melt while Terry pulled the onions off his burger.

"I want you to be careful."

"I always am."

"Do you know what you're getting into?"

She dropped her voice to a fierce whisper. "Yes. I do. I've gone on a few dates with one of the handful of people on the planet who understand what it's like to be me."

His voice dropped to match. "Since when have you been a half-alien in love with a princess who's married to someone else?"

She clenched her jaw. To his credit, his eyes lowered first. "Sorry," he said.

"I am not and have never been in love with you," she told him slowly. And it was almost true. True enough for today, anyway, for the gold ring on his finger and the memory of Rex's mouth on hers from last night.

"Has he told you about her?" He picked up his burger and started to eat.

"He didn't need to. I've met her, remember?" Back in the Cave, back in the day. Max wasn't sure how long Terry had officially dated her, only knew then and now that the Atlantean princess was an awkward fit in the shadows of the Batcave. She remembered the old man watching them, remembered wondering what he saw, whom he was thinking about who never fit there either.

"I mean, has he told you about them?"

She shrugged. "Not really, but I know the story. They had a thing. She left. Went to Atlantis to get married and pop babies. Am I close?"

"You've got the high points. So you don't mind?"

"Mind what? League-types are always shacking up and breaking up. That's how Rex happened in the first place, wasn't it?"

"I just thought you'd object to being the rebound to some little blonde you don't like much." And there was not even a trace of humor in his eyes as he said it. She felt her cheeks grow hot, and knew "again" was making a repeat visit to their unspoken conversation.

"Shut up."

"He's going to break your heart, Max. He's not going to mean to. He'll do everything he thinks he ought to do so you don't get hurt, and he's still going to hurt you. The second she sets foot on land, he's going to stop noticing you exist. If you don't believe me, ask anyone else who knows them."

"And if they tell me you're full of shit?"

"Then you can come to my place and kick my ass. I'll give you a free shot."

"It'll only take one shot."

"I worry about you," he said.

"No, you don't," she shot back. "If you did, you'd call. We'd talk. Hell, we'd work together now and then. I'm across the river, not across the planet, and you work with people across the planet so that's no excuse either."

He pushed away from the table. "You said you wanted space."

"Well, maybe I'm tired of space! Maybe I liked having you around, knowing you had my back." She felt the old tears start coming back, and ignored them. "Maybe I miss you sometimes, all right?"

"I miss you, too," he said. "I miss knowing you had my back."

"Don't screw this up for me," she said. "Please. I like him. He likes me. We don't have to lie to each other. It's nice. Really nice."

"I ... " He stopped. "I'm glad. For you. I'm glad he's good to you."

"He is. He really is." They'd patrolled together, and it had been like old times, and there could be so much more.

"Just promise me you'll be careful, all right? Humor me?"

"I'll be careful." Her lips twitched. "I promise."

"You know that if he hurts you, I'm gonna have to kill him, right? And they'll definitely kick me out after that. Well, probably. I mean, Superman tried to kill him once and he's still in, so that might just be a first offense kind of deal."

He grinned. She grinned back, reluctantly.

She looked at her watch. "I need to go." She drained her juice in two swallows. "Call me, okay? We'll talk. Tell Dana she works too hard, and tell Bruce, well, you know."

"Yeah. I know." To her surprise, he stood up and hugged her. She let herself hug him back. This was her Terry, the one she knew after high school, before the Bat became so deeply a part of him he forgot how to be himself. This was the man she missed. Letting go was hard.

"Bye." She left the table, and the bill too. Terry was a damned billionaire and could pick up lunch. She tried not to think about things as she walked back to the office, and succeeded right until she reached her desk and saw the message light blinking. Voicemail from Rex, asking if they were going out tonight.

Max stared at her phone.

Terry knew her, knew how to work her, knew how to play her, and if he didn't want her seeing some guy he didn't like, he knew what to say to make her have second thoughts. What made it worse was when the things he said were absolutely true.

Max deleted the message. She'd call Rex back later, but she decided she would call a few old friends first. Just to check.

The End