I've been looking for a color to include this general plotline in for a while, and finally I just decided to use this as my last drabble because it was too good of a plot to pass up. I think I managed to do it justice, which is really all I can ever ask for anymore. XD

And I think a couple people mentioned it (Kyoko did for sure ;) ), but I decided that I will keep adding colors when I feel like it, because I have like the most perfect idea for Black and I really can't pass it up at this point.

I'm just too addicted. :)

$4$

Every night you cry yourself to sleep
Thinkin', Why does this happen to me?
Why does every moment have to be so hard?

- "Won't Go Home Without You," by Maroon 5


Violet.

It took Dana a long time to get used to it.

She still wasn't truly used to it, in the sense that she found any of this normal, but she no longer spent all of her nights staring up at the ceiling, wondering fearfully what Terry could be doing right that second.

When she first found out, Dana absolutely hated the mask. She really didn't know much about what he did- she just knew it put him in danger.

She remembered vividly remembered Batman rescuing her from that creepy rat kid in the sewers, and she was always grateful to him for that. She knew what he was going was worthwhile- in a way, he was saving Gotham, one mugging at a time.

But that didn't mean she wanted her boyfriend to go out and risk his life every night.

She didn't tell him as much, but he knew she hated it. That didn't stop him, though- Dana doubted if there was anything that ever would make him stop.

It was a game they played- they got back from work, ate dinner, went to bed, then he would fake sleep for an hour, slip out of bed, change into the costume and leave.

And all the while, she would fake sleep and pretend as though never knew he was sneaking out of the house.

It was killing their relationship, she realized one night as he silently slid into bed around 4 a.m. (must've been a bad night). She didn't want to be selfish, but she knew then that she couldn't handle being a 'superhero's' girlfriend.

She wasn't strong enough.

One night, she couldn't stay in the apartment- she had to get up, move, do something instead of just lying there, thinking about Terry and the costume and that ugly mask. She threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, her well-worn boots, along with a jacket and purse.

She didn't go anywhere at first, content to wander the dark, empty streets with no particular destination in mind.

It would be easier if she and Terry broke up, Dana decided as she crossed the block into Old Gotham. She obviously would keep the secret to the grave, even if they started dating (or married) other people.

She wasn't a bad person, she reasoned. She just knew she couldn't stand to be that girlfriend that stayed up every night, waiting for her boyfriend to- hopefully- come back in one piece.

She walked down the streets and into the seedier parts of Old Gotham, and in the back of her mind she knew she was getting closer to Crime Alley. Bruce Wayne- Terry's former boss, and now current partner at Wayne-Powers- kept Crime Alley from being destroyed by bigger and (in her opinion) better buildings.

She wondered if Mr. Wayne knew that Terry was Batman. Probably not.

She stopped in the middle of the street, amazed to find Terry standing not that far ahead.

It wasn't actually Terry- he was wearing the costume- but he was just standing there. Not fighting anyone, or risking his life, or doing any number of the usual idiotic things he did while wearing the mask.

Dana watched silently as he set a white carnation on the ground, crouching to touch the grimy cement with his fingertips. There was something strangely intimate about the gesture, and Dana felt her heart clench painfully in her chest in response.

"He can't be here anymore," Terry said, voice low but just loud enough for it to carry so she could barely make it out, "But he always thinks about you, just like I always think about my dad. We did this for you."

She couldn't see his face, just the shadow of his figure and what little soft lilac color reflected off his profile from the bright violet neon lights across the street. Even without being able to see him, Dana knew what Terry looked like- it was the same expression he wore every year he visited Warren's grave on his birthday.

In that moment, Dana understood why Terry took on this never-ending job. He wasn't doing it for himself, but for everyone else. It was selfless, not selfish, and even if she could never fully understand what made him get up every night and risk his life, she respected it a hell of a lot more than she had did previously.

She loved Terry always, but it wasn't until then that she finally started to love Batman as well.

$4$

I think the whole thing is a little iffy, but I really really wanted to finish this before I completely lost interest and then forgot about it for a month. Or more. :/

I know not many of you are Dana/Terry fans (God knows I'm not… which I think is like half the reason why I don't think this was as up to par with my other drabbles in here), but I wanted to try it out because she's the only one that I could see in this situation.

I think I did okay, but I'm still not completely sold.

Before I forget, I did tons more of unnecessary Wikipedia researching to confirm that:

1) Old Gotham was really the section of Gotham I was remembering,

2) Crime Alley was the name of the 'street' where Bruce's parents were shot, and

3) because I couldn't 100-percent remember/find a good picture of the flowers that Bruce always laid on the ground, I looked up flower meanings and white carnations mean 'remembrance.' Yeah, I was that desperate.

The things I do for you people… XD

Anyway, I'm going to declare this as Complete, but I promise that eventually I will upload Black and hopefully White, and after that whatever random color strikes me. :)