Meeting Terry
And here we meet Terry. Trust me, Ariel won't like him in this story (no pairings except maybe TerryDana). Enjoy!
"Any homework?" Bruce questioned as a sixteen-year-old Ariel entered the Manor.
"Math and Spanish," she stated, dropping her backpack on the floor before giving Ace a hug as the Dane mix came to greet her.
"I thought you had four subjects a day," Bruce said confusedly.
"I do. Today was Math, Study Hall, Spanish, then Gym." She rolled her eyes. "No me gusta la escuela."
"I understand Spanish, you know." She grinned sheepishly.
"Oops." He smiled slightly as she picked up her backpack and went up to her room. Pulling out her Algebra 2 textbook, she began the assignment. Hearing the door close, she knew Bruce had gone for a walk, as he had been prone to doing these days.
Just as she finished the last problem, she heard the door open and frowned, looking at the clock. That was the shortest walk Bruce had ever taken. Getting up, she went downstairs to see what had compelled him to return so soon. What she saw made her run back into her room, grab his medicine bottle, and race down the stairs.
"Ariel...?" Bruce managed as she pulled him over to the couch, the boy who had helped him following.
"I'm right here, Bruce." She handed him the pills and a glass of water, which he took without hesitation. He relaxed and she let him rest against his shoulder. Then she looked up, recognizing the boy as Terry McGinnis. "McGinnis?"
"Swan?" Bruce had insisted on keeping Ariel's real last name so that she wouldn't be bothered. "What are you doing here?" McGinnis asked confusedly.
"I live here," she snapped. She had never liked him all that much. "What about you?"
"Jokerz chased me up here. We fought them off." He frowned as Ariel heard a squeaking noise. "Do you hear that?"
"Yes." She stood up slowly and leaned Bruce back against the couch carefully so as to not wake him. "It's coming from the clock." She went over to it and realized what was making the noise. "A bat."
"A bat?" McGinnis made his way over and raised an eyebrow. "What's a bat doing in your clock?"
"I've seen bats all over the place here," she admitted before pulling on the glass, "Help me get the thing open, McGinnis."
"It's Terry," McGinnis snapped, but reluctantly began pulling as well. Suddenly, the clock swung open and the two teenagers fell backward as the bat, which really hadn't been trapped, fluttered into a cave. "Ladies first," he said mockingly, pushing her forward. Ariel hesitantly looked back at Bruce before starting down the stairs into the cave.
"I thought I knew every inch of this place," she said as McGinnis followed her.
"Guess you thought wrong." She glared at him, but then froze in front of a display case. A black mask with pointy ears stared at her blankly and she took in the red bat symbol on the costume's chest. A faint memory stirred in the back of her mind.
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Batman," she whispered.
"Do you realize where we are?!" McGinnis hissed. "We're in the Batcave!"
"Oh, wow," Ariel muttered, backing away from the display case. "Bruce was Batman," she realized. "He lied to me."
"About...?" McGinnis inquired.
"Bruce told me that when I was two, my parents died. Batman saved me and brought me to him." Her fist clenched tightly. "When I was older, I asked him if he knew Batman. He said no."
"Huh. Wonder why he didn't tell you?" he commented, looking around the cave.
"I don't know," she admitted, pushing a strand of dark hair out of her eyes.
Suddenly, McGinnis fell to the floor and Ariel whipped around to find Bruce glaring at both of them.
"Get out!" he snapped at McGinnis, who did so quickly.
"Bruce, I-" she began.
"What gave you any right to come down here?!"
"I didn't know I wasn't supposed to," she explained, eyes wide.
"You should have! I don't want you ever coming here again!" She backed away, tears filling her eyes.
"I-I'm sorry." He softened upon seeing her crying.
"Ariel..." She ran up the stairs. "Ariel!" She ignored him and locked the door to her room, burying her face into her pillow and sobbing silently.
Ace looked up from his spot in the corner of her room and padded over, leaping onto the bed and licking her face gently. She smiled weakly and reached up, scratching behind his ears.
"Thanks, Ace. Glad to know someone still loves me." The doorknob rattled and she gulped.
"Ariel, we need to talk," Bruce's voice came through the door, calm and steady. She hesitated, then enveloped the door with her telekinesis and unlocked it. Slowly, he stepped into the room.
"Come to yell at me again?" she snapped, turning away.
"Hear me out before you jump to conclusions." She reluctantly turned over to face him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"You never asked." She glared and he smiled. "Okay, you did ask, just not in the way I expected." He then sighed. "Ariel, Batman hasn't been a part of my life for twenty years now. And I need you to understand that."
"You saved me?" He nodded. "And I repeat, why didn't you tell me? I could've handled it."
"I didn't want you to be involved with this."
"And who else knows?" she asked.
"Barbara, Tim, Dick..." he listed.
"You've got to be kidding me!" she groaned and buried her face into her pillow as he smirked. "I'm living in a bloody conspiracy," she muttered, her voice muffled by the pillow and Bruce merely patted her head, chuckling softly.
"That reminds me." He picked up the vidphone on the bedside table and began dialing.
"What, another conspiracy?!" Ariel complained and he gave her a glare before turning back to the vidphone. An unfamiliar violet-haired woman came onscreen, looking rather confused.
"Bruce?"
"Hi, Rachel. I know a meta-human with similar powers to yours and she needs help in controlling them." Ariel waved when Rachel looked in her direction and the older woman rolled her eyes.
"I don't know, Bruce..." Rachel hesitated.
"Well, do you have anything better to do?" He smirked slightly as Ariel muffled a laugh and Rachel glared at both of them, then sighed.
"Fine. Does she have any control over them at all?" she questioned.
"I can do minor things like turn doorknobs and stuff, but that's about it," Ariel spoke, taking the phone from Bruce.
"We've got a lot of work to do, then. I'll see what I can do," Rachel promised.
"Thanks. We'll set up a time later. Bye." Bruce hung up and the vidphone turned off.
"What's a meta-human?" Ariel asked.
"Someone with powers." He watched in amusement as she attempted to jump off the bed, but ended up tripping and falling. "You okay?"
"Ow," a small reply came and he rolled his eyes before helping her up and leaving the room with her following.
FYI, Ariel's met Dick before, but he and Bruce are still not on speaking terms. She knows Barbara and Tim because Barbara does routine check-ups on her (you know, to make sure Bruce hasn't driven her insane yet or anything) and, somewhere along the line, introduced her to Tim. Any other questions, R&R!
