Hey MistFits, long time no read. I've been mega busy over these past couple of months. Still getting my health together but I've also made the decision to go to school and get my degree so time has been limited. Anyways, here is the newest chapter - hopefully by chapter 5 this story will be wrapped up. I'm going to start work on The Ditch next and will hopefully have it up by this weekend. Also, this was a rush job so please excuse any possible grammatical errors. I tried to edit as efficiently as possible.

Until next time!

Part IV

Her Choice

"What the hell are you doing, Max?" demanded David in wrathful bafflement while his dark eyes glared down the daughter who stood between the two men in prevention.

"Move, Max!" commanded Terry as the teen took a voluntary step forward to try and maneuver the best friend behind him for protection. There was no way in hell he'd let this pitiful excuse of a father come in here and force Max into a world she wanted no part in. Just who did David think he was? Gibson might have gotten his way deceitfully or forcefully in other things, but not with this. McGinnis's advancement, however, only pissed off David more as he saw it as an aggressive move against him and began to raise a fist. Terry's lids narrowed in preparation…

"SHUT UP!" came Max's voice in a loud bellow that commanded pause from the two of them; though whether that pause was out of respect, shock, or curiosity, was currently unclear.

Lost for words, Terry tilted his head a little and reached out a hand, taking Max's palm before whining, "Maaax…" What was she-?

But Max snatched her hand from him and gave the best friend a hard look before turning the stare to David – whose own smirk of assumed victory was quickly wiped from his face under the apparent rebuke directed towards him. "I have had it!" she declared hotly, practically ripping her fingers through her pink locks in exasperation. God knew she was so tired of fighting; tired of pulling cemented teeth with her father, tired of trying to make him and Diana understand how their foolishness was keeping her drained, tired of pretending and falling in line with wishes that weren't her own. "Don't I have a say in this?" Max questioned, facing her father who frowned a moment at her question.

A say? A say? Never had Mr. Gibson allowed anyone to have a "say" in his matters; they only signified the presence of opinions that could question or attempt to dismiss his own. In his line of work, no one could be given the opportunity to stop the man's plans. That kind of power was solely his. However, David Gibson was not beneath making others feel, if for a brief moment, that they had control…if the result could benefit him. David grimaced yet coughed and stood upright, making an attempt to relax his posture to offer her some form of confidence. "Of course you do, Maxie," the swindler so easily lied.

Max raised a doubtful brow however, knowing how rare it was to have her father make any attempt in hearing what someone else had to say. "Really?"

Hook, line, and sinker. Looked like Maxie was going for the bait – and that pleased David; having someone fall into his manipulative clutches. Surely he'd have the boy out of the apartment and Max agreeing to move to Florida within the next five minutes. "Really." David gave her his infamous smile – a smile lined in deceit.

With a deep breath, Max took a step forward and gave her father a hug – it obviously caught him (Terry as well) off guard as the older man stiffened for a moment…before wrapping his large arms around his youngest daughter and squeezing her tight. In the sudden, unexpected moments like this, she really believed he loved her…but like that love, the daughter knew it would not last – it would swiftly fall under the force of David's need for power and control. As he was now, she knew they could never really be a family; and that broke her very heart to the core. Max's fingers clenched against the fabric on his back before her voice whispered, "I'm staying…"

She expected a yell or some kind of vocal outburst of disapproval – what Max hadn't expected was the arms suddenly recoiling from around her and large hands gripping her arms to the point she felt like they would pop. David shoved her away from his body and looked into her eyes with an emotion of anger that the Oracle didn't even have words in the human dictionary to describe. This reaction…David's grip intensified. Obviously he'd underestimated Max's resolve – and was not happy about it. "You little, ungrateful-!" The sound of a distant growl could be heard but Max couldn't even pay attention to it. Ace stood to his feet, head low, and a snarl reverberating in his throat. All she could do was watch the frightening display of her father with appalled eyes; practically frozen in disbelief. Still his selfishness and blindness left her dumbfounded.

Terry hollered out, "HEY!" and made a leap forward but Max looked back over her shoulder and commanded him to not move. "STOP!" she yelled to him, making his feet practically superglue to the floor. Was she still hoping to fix this on her own? Did she actually think that David was going to let this go anymore after such a response? Shit.

"You would do this to me?" David demanded, shaking her roughly to the point that she struggled in his grip. "YOU would do this to ME?! Out of all I've done for you?!"

Oh no he didn't! He was not trying to pin her as the bad guy?! "AND JUST WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" screamed Max as she wriggled in his grasp and locked her nails into his flesh in trying to tug away. Her countenance radiated of anger, pain, and disappointment – all emotions she knew too well when it came to him. There was no fixing this: Max could see that clearer now than ever before. How much of an idiot had she been? "You fucked some other woman while married to mom, you abandoned us! What have you ever done for me, dad?" she critiqued harshly. "Not a damn thing. Do you honestly think I'd LIVE with someone as disgusting as-?!"

"BITCH!" David bellowed as he shifted and looked to be raising a hand.

That was it! Max may have wanted to try and handle their differences but it was plain to see that was an impossibility. There was no convincing this massive, power hungry bastard. Terry wasn't there when David struck her once, he'd be damned if he let the older man get away with it a second time! The secret hero was at her side in an instant – throwing one arm around her waist, he pulled as his opposite fist flew out and landed a solid hook right in David's jaw. The force of the strike caused Mr. Gibson to immediately stagger and release the violent hold on his daughter, Terry shoved Max back so she fell on the couch hard before commencing in delivering the old man an ass kicking he so desperately needed. Nobody laid a hand on Max.

Ace padded over to Max's side, sniffing the girl and giving her comforting quick licks before turning in front of her for the wrestling males with a growl and poised for attack posture.

David stumbled against the kitchen counter as McGinnis laid multiple blows upon him. "Bastard!" he said between punches. "Don't you EVER. FUCKING. PUT YOUR HANDS. ON HER. AGAIN!" Gibson reached out and gripped Terry's collar, then kneed the teen in the gut roughly as McGinnis leaned forward and hacked with widened eyes. But the vigilante, though hurt, had taken on villains far worse than David Gibson – and the rage of Max's unnecessary pain only fueled McGinnis's violent judgment against her father. The two tossed around the apartment, knocking over furniture and breaking countless valuables as they each exchanged hits and grunts.

"IMMA KICK YO ASS, BOY!" David roared.

"FUCK YOU!" and an uppercut was Terrence's answer.

Max watched the combative exchange take over the apartment as she called out to try and get them to stop, but it was no use. The testosterone had taken over and right now she had been placed on the backburner. The fight had her on edge – primarily because even though every hit was well deserved against David, there was a slight twinge of guilt about it…and she hated that. David drove Terry into the front door and McGinnis grit his teeth at David's falsified belief that victory was his. Gibson pulled back a fist directed for the disruptive young teen when a feminine voice low and hard hissed through the air, "Ace…"

A vicious set of growls erupted from behind the interlocked men and David Gibson stiffened for a brief moment; noting the teenage boy's look of satisfaction, slowly, he turned and came face to face with the sight of hell's hound. The contrast of those whitened fangs against its tar black body only made the true frightening appearance of the Great Dane all the more worrying. As much as Ace might have screwed over Terry, the Dark Knight (much like Bruce) was still his master. The dog crouched on its hunches as if preparing to leap for the jugular and David held his breath. "Maaaax…" the father called out to his youngest child, releasing Terry and shimmying to the side as McGinnis straightened his collar and walked past the dog after giving it a grateful pat on the head and checking up on Max, whose unamused eyes were locked on David's. "Call him off…" He couldn't believe she had commanded the dog to turn on him in the first place.

"Let's get something straight," Max started, ignoring her father's pleas.

"Max!"

"I don't belong to you," she continued, causing her father to give her a strange look. He opened his mouth to speak but Max cut him off with a raise of a hand. "I'm your child, not your property. And I'm sick of being treated like it. Everybody else might ask 'How high?' when you say 'Jump', but not me – not anymore. I'm done being angry and afraid of you."

David furrowed his brows and tried to move forward but Ace's sudden bark of warning made the man think twice. "I'm only doing what's best for you!" he declared irritatingly.

Max gave him a disbelieving look. The daughter rolled her eyes and shook her head in dismissal of his words. Max couldn't say for sure whether or not David actually believed he was trying to take care of her through his behaviors, but she was done being a pawn for what everyone else thought was best for her. Maxine stood to her feet and Terry immediately reached out to help her up. His face and arms were bruised, and there was a cut on a cheek that lightly bled, but other than that he seemed completely unbothered by the signs of battle David bestowed upon him; which naturally gave the Neo-Batman's pink haired Oracle and dearest friend relief. Max huffed and motioned around the apartment, the two teens, and finally pointing at David himself. "You call this 'what's best' for me?" For the first time, David Gibson was speechless – without words to console his daughter…without words to make this swing back into his favor.

Silence filled the apartment save Ace's somewhat quieted growls and Max let her mind finally let go. The teen girl bit her bottom lip and held herself protectively in her signature move as Terry's phone began to ring. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the communication device and glanced at the screen. Max watched her best friend with interest as McGinnis's expression tensed and he shot her an informative look. Recognizing the message behind it, Max nodded her head approvingly and Terry relaxed a little, touching her shoulder in thanks, before moving back towards the window and answering his call.

With the "distraction" gone, David finally made a move to turn this around in his favor. "Max, Baby Girl. I know I've got problems, and I know I haven't been the best role model – but honey I miss you. I just want to have my family back. I was only hoping you wanted it back too."

Max shook her head. "I wanted it back for years. But fact of the matter is: as long as you're like this we can't have it back. I'm so tired of being the last pick – I'm tired of not mattering until it's beneficial for you."

David inhaled sharply. "Max-!"

"I can't, dad," the pink haired brain dismissed, looking to the floor. "I'm not going to Florida with you. I'm not going to start over to only go around this same mountain."

David clenched his jaws and struggled to keep his temper intact. There was only one way left to get her to see his way. David folded his arms and revealed something that only he and Diana had discussed. "Honey, your sister is moving out of Gotham." Max's eyes widened. Diana was WHAT?! What did that mean for Max? Why hadn't Diana said anything to her? David breaks it down, "Your mother lives upstate, and you can't afford the rent here by yourself. No matter how you look at it, you're going to have to move somewhere, you're going to have to leave your friends behind-."

"No she's not," Terry suddenly interrupted as he came back to Max's side and wrapped an arm around her waist possessively. "Max has a place to stay." Both Gibson's looked to the boy like he'd just threw ice water on them.

David snorted through his nostrils disapprovingly. "If you think I'm going to condone Max staying with the likes of you-!"

"Not me," interrupted Terry with a roll of the eyes. Though, it's not like McGinnis's family would mind the intrusion…or perhaps that Terry himself would. "My boss."

And just who the hell did this kid think he was? "Your boss, who?" scoffed David with a disrespectful chuckle. "The manager at Turbo Burger? Or maybe it's some geek at the VRROOM."

McGinnis's brows lowered dangerously. This old prick was going to get his ass kicked again if he kept pushing Terry. "No. My boss, Bruce Wayne." David's laughter was cut off like someone sucker punched him right in the gut before gawking at the boy whose expression was now smug. Bruce…Wayne?! As in Wayne Powers?! How in the hell?

David wasn't the only one shocked. Max turned and looked up at her best friend with mild surprise. "Bruce is really okay with that?" David's knees barely buckled. His daughter knew Wayne? And on a first name basis too?!

Terry nodded and offered Max a small smile to ease her worry. "Definitely, Kitten. That was him." He rubbed her waist and turned his attention back to David. "Max doesn't need you. You aren't her only source, anymore. I'll take care of her from now on."

David's breaths picked up a little with his control slipping between his fingers. "Maxie. I…I…"

"I'm sorry, dad," the young woman answered. "It's over…Maybe we can still make our relationship work another way…"

Having finally known defeat, David stood upright and snatched his jacket off the kitchen counter before slipping it on roughly. He'd never lost before; never knew the experience of not having complete control over any situation or person that so pleased him. But now he had no more grasp over his own daughter, one of the few people whose influence he never should've struggled to maintain. It was disconcerting, uneasy…pointless. "There's no longer a point," Mr. Gibson answered honestly, making his way towards the door while keeping a watchful eye on the beast lingering before him. Once he'd safely reached the portal of the apartment David Gibson cracked his neck and took hold of the doorknob before looking back with a grin. "Have a nice life, baby girl." The words were cold, even long after he'd opened the door and disappeared behind it.

McGinnis pulled Max into a comforting hug, whispering apologies to her for the hurt she must have been feeling – and for his part in playing in it. Then, Terry pulled back and touched her cheek. "Look, there's been a-," he struggles to find the word, "—disturbance. I gotta go, but I'll leave Ace here with you in case that prick tries to come back." Max flinched at the word "prick" and Terrence couldn't help with wince in regret. He guessed that was still a touchy topic…considering… "I'll come back and pick you up, okay?" He was already heading to the bathroom to change back into the suit.

Max exhaled. "Yeah," she called out softly to him. Somehow her insides were swirling with emotions, but physically the girl had become numb. Maybe it all hadn't really settled in with her just yet.

When Batman returned fully geared up for his "nightly" duties, he made a beeline straight for the window. Time had whizzed by, and though he had no regret on being there for Max, he knew he needed to step on it in hopes of catching the T's before they could cause any more trouble - lest he'd never hear the end of it from Bruce AND Commissioner Gordon. "Ace, stay!" he commanded in his "business" voice. The dog barked in response. Halfway out the window, the Bat paused at the feel of something take hold of his fingers. Looking down, Max had his hand within hers – but she wasn't looking at him, only staring at the floor.

"Thanks," the rebellious beauty stated to him, "for being here for me. I really needed it."

Terry's look softened at the hurt she was trying to mask – being able to decipher it plainly out of the bond they shared – and he bent forward, taking Max's chin and gently forcing her eyes for his whitened out ones. "Hey," he cooed as she looked at him. "I'll always be here for you, Kitten. Always. Okay?" Max nodded. Feeling that response wasn't appropriate enough for his confession of loyalty, Batman leaned in and swiftly flicked his nose against Max's; and when the girl giggled, he grinned in approval. Much better. Then, without another word, Batman jumped from the window, initiated his jet boots, and headed for where he'd left the Batmobile; disappearing from sight. With a sigh, Max closed the window and looked at her destroyed apartment. Men.

Gibson began straightening up the mess her brawlers had left behind until the apartment was neat once again – void of a few objects in some places, but nevertheless neat. The future Batman's Oracle plopped down on the couch and Ace jumped onto the furniture after, laying down with his head on her lap. Max stroked the massive canine's skull and thought back on the previous events. She was finally free. David's sudden dismissal of his part in her life had pretty much solidified that. Yet there was still this lingering flitter in her head that when David walked out the door, telling her to have a good life, that Max swore she saw a brief glint of sadness in his eyes…sadness at potentially losing his daughter forever.

And that…that was what broke her to the core. That is what made Max pull Ace close to her and finally shed the emotions that had been swirling inside of her.

To Be Concluded…