I was pacing across the living room. I couldn't let Ian Peek tell them. It was me who was Batman so I should tell them.
"Mom, Matt, there's something I need to tell you," I said.
"After the show, dear," Mom said.
"It can't wait," I interjected.
I couldn't wait. I didn't want to tell them but I had to.
"I..I'm Batman."
I expected Mom to tell me that I was grounded for life but instead of that I heard...laughter?
"Seriously!" I threw my hands in the air. "I am."
"Oh Terry, please."
Matt took the remote and changed the channel.
"And now the moment you have all been waiting for." The sinister face of Ian Peek appeared on the screen.
God. I hated that son of a bitch. I tried to stop him. I couldn't. The least I could do was hope that he didn't target the old man. He did too much for this city for his own life to have been turned into a media circus. He didn't deserve it.
I'm so sorry, Bruce, I thought to myself. I'm sorry for everything.
"Who is it? Who is it?" Matt shouted eagerly.
I couldn't take it.
Nearby there was a bathroom. As cowardly as it was, (and this is from Batman), I ran to it and locked myself in. I couldn't believe what I was doing. Why was I hiding? That's not what Batman does. That's not what my father wanted me to do!
"It can't be! Terry can't be Batman!" Mom's anguished voice broke me. "This has to be a fake!"
I heard footsteps. Someone was knocking on the door.
"Terry? Are you..." Matt faltered. "Are you Batman?"
I couldn't say anything.
I curled up in a fetal position. For the first time since my father died, I cried.