Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Beyond; it belongs to its creators. I gain nothing but a writing outlet and writing/editing experience.

Summary: Terry could have just as easily received Bruce's spliced X instead of Y; if so, would it have all started with Matt instead? But the world, particularly Gotham, needed a Batman again. The Jokerz overran the streets, businesses were ruining the world. Pride and avarice were destroying Gotham, and Gotham needed its symbol of hope and justice again.

A/N: So got inspiration much faster than I thought I would, and apparently all it takes is laughing hysterically at the series and some fever induced dreams… Anyways, thank you all for reading, reviewing, and putting this on alert or favorite. This chapter is a little choppy, and for that I apologize but it smoothed out quickly. Please enjoy ~ much loved, depressedchildren

Chapter 14: Finding a Home?

The night before had been hellish, until their case manager swung by to tell them she had found a home, which would take them both in. Terri couldn't believe their luck. Someone actually would take both of them in! However, she was still steaming over Wayne's rejection—because that's what it was, wasn't it? The logical part of her brain saw why he didn't want to take them in, why he couldn't if he wanted to keep them both safe. But the majority of Terri just wanted to scream and lash out at the old man.

Was she not good enough? What had she done to prove herself unworthy? She may be new to the Batman thing, but had she done anything wrong yet? What about all the time they've spent working on the suit in the Batcave? What about their bonding? She knew he had trust issues but she had hoped by now she was exempt from that.

The logical part of her was telling her it had nothing to do with her competencies as Batman, and yes, maybe there were some trust issues involved, but it was more so on the side of Matt than her. But Terri didn't want to hear any more logic; because of the old man's stubbornness and distrust, Terri was almost separated from her brother, and still may yet be.

She was just fortunate for this Mr. Grayson taking them both in. Though…as the case manager began talking about Mr. Grayson, she wondered if she was lucky. He sounded strict and more often than not the kids got put back in the system within a few weeks because they broke one of his rules.

Either way, they were moving to his place today. Most of their things at their mother's house would be moved into a storage unit, though Wayne had arranged it, so there was some hope that whenever their mom woke up it would all still be there. It pissed her off that he was willing to do that for them but he still wouldn't take them in … Though, the logical part of her wondered if she really would want to be around the bitter, old man twenty-four-seven; he could be a real pain in the neck and was hard to get along with, how would living with him work out?

Matt shifted anxiously beside Terri and she looked over at him. The boy was acting like he hadn't said anything to her yesterday, but last night, out of the corner of her eye she had thought she had caught him looking at her guiltily. Terri still hadn't fully shaken what he had said because it was so true. The logical part of her brain begged to differ, but she shut it down; just like she did whenever it defended the old man.

Terri forced a small, stiff smile, and squeezed her brother's hand. They were in the back seat with their bags while their case manager drove them to Grayson's. Matt tried to smile up at her.

Things were still a little tense between them, or perhaps it was just Terri? No matter what the logical side said to her, she still felt responsible for their situation, and although they were thankfully not being separated it was still her fault they had to live within the foster system.

Matt didn't seem to feel guilty any more about his comment from the other day, at least not after the case manager said there was a home that would take them both in. So maybe he was just nervous about this Mr. Grayson—Terri felt nervous too but she was trying to not show it.

Soon they were outside of a gym with what looked like an apartment on the upper floors.

An older man came out of the building as they pulled up. He was intimidating! One eye was covered in a patch, and he held himself stiffly like there was a remnant of an injury that kept him from relaxing. His hair was graying and the wrinkles on his face made him look grave, like Wayne. In fact, a lot about Mr. Grayson reminded Terri of Wayne. The way he held himself said he had seen combat in his time, the calculation in his lone eye reminded her of the old man, and finally, the gravity in his expression suggested a lonely and bitter life, like the old man…. Maybe she was just so angry at Wayne that she was seeing aspects of him in others?

Nervously, they got out of the car and the social worker introduced them. He then gestured with his head toward the door, "I'll show you the living area and where you'll sleep."

As they entered the building, it immediately split into two with stairs separating the areas. To the right of the stairs was a cinderblock wall with open double doors. There were mats set up along the floor, a few trampolines, those gymnastic rings, and that beam thing, plus a slack rope.

"Woah!" Matt exclaimed and if not for Terri's hand on his shoulder, he would have gone into the gym—and likely straight for the trampolines. Mr. Grayson smiled almost imperceptibly, although the light in his eye suggested he was amused, and he began to head toward the steps.

"You can check out the gym after you get settled in," he stated and Terri could feel Matt practically vibrate with excitement next to her. Terri looked to the left of the stairs as they began to climb, though her view was cut off by the ceiling/floor. From what she had seen, there was a line of lockers, a maintenance room, and likely a door leading to a basement.

Once at the first landing, they turned to face the rest of the stairs, though there as a door on their right. Mr. Grayson opened it and let them in. There was a moderate sized living room with a kitchen to the left of it; it was separated by the wall but had an open doorway. There was also a half bath that cut into the back right corner of the living room. "Bedrooms are upstairs but this is the living room and kitchen." They then proceeded onto the next floor, and once at the landing, they found a door to their right.

It was a dark hallway with four doors and one window at either end of the hallway. "This is my room," he gestured to the first door in the hallway; naturally it was next to the stairs—likely to discourage kids from sneaking out. Mr. Grayson walked down to the second door and opened it, "this can be Matt's room." It was a small room with a bed and dresser already in it, but there wasn't much else to it. It had one window and there was enough room for a desk but not much else would fit in it.

The next door was the bathroom, also very small but at least this one had a shower in it. The last door lead to another small room which was outfitted the same as Matt's, though there was a wooden rod that ran across one side of it close to the wall, "You can hang suits there." Terri nodded her head in thanks, and didn't question how he knew she had suits—he likely had seen her on the news.

He nodded his head in return and then walked away with the social worker to figure out the final details. Terri sighed and sat down on the bed heavily. It was a twin sized bed, but it was comfortable. Terri set her bags down on the floor beside her before she lay back and stared at the ceiling. There were two windows since it was a corner room, but there wasn't much else to the place.

She heard footsteps and propped herself up on her elbows to look up; Matt was in the doorway. She sat up and held open her arms. Matt jumped into them and she lay back down. She figured he'd want a hug, even if he may or may not blame him for their situation.

"He looks like a war vet," Matt murmured, "It's kinda cool."

Terri chuckled slightly as she stared at the blank ceiling and Matt stared up at it too. "He'll probably be strict," she stated, and for the hundredth time since the other day, she wondered why Wayne had not adopted them. Pushing aside her more volatile emotions, she tried to come up with reasons why he rejected her in her time of need. Sure, she didn't want Matt getting involved with the Batman stuff, but…it hurt and made her desperately try to find a reason for why…Was it because she looked like his mom? Was it really just because of the logistics?

The silence stretched for an undeterminable amount of time as Terri wondered about that and about what life with Mr. Grayson would be like. But this silence was nice and comfortable…perhaps it was just her imagining that things were still tense?

Terri turned her head and pressed a kiss against Matt's temple; at least they were together. "You know we'll have to go back to school…" Her school had open enrollment so she didn't have to go to a new school but Matt would have to.

"Do you think I can still hang out with my old friends?"

"Oh I'm sure you can," Terri reassured as and brushed at some of his hair, "Though I'm sure you'll also make plenty of new friends at your new school."

"You sure?"

"Yeah,"

Dick smiled slightly to himself before he proceeded back down the stairs. He'd give the kids a few more minutes before he laid out the rules. He'd finally have a family again… they were going to be his family, or at least he hoped.

Once he got down to the first landing, he moved into the kitchen where he busied himself with making a cup of tea.

Even before he became Nightwing, he had wondered if people like him and Bruce could have a life outside of the life. Then after all the trials he had faced as Robin and Nightwing, particularly while he was on the Team and with the Titans, only made him question this future set out for him by Batman.

Sometimes he had naively hoped he could find someone outside of the superhero life to settle down with but he could never trust a civilian, and then with the other heroines, he felt like he would always see a reminder of his vigilante days and wouldn't be able to put it behind him. His relationships, whether as Dick Grayson, Robin, or Nightwing, always fell through…like Bruce's. He was afraid of becoming like the old man, but distrust and paranoia had been ingrained in him…he couldn't open up to another person, particularly on the level of intimacy required in starting and maintaining a family.

Then, after that last confrontation with the Joker…He finally gave up the life and gave up on Bruce.

Could he say Bruce betrayed him, or had Bruce made a careless mistake that nearly coast Dick his life? Unconsciously a hand drifted up to his lost eye…he never bothered replacing it with one of those cyber-machines, he wanted the empty socket to be a reminder…a reminder of what his faith in Batman and the life had done to him. But when Dick finally got out of the hospital, he took his bloody, bullet filled Nightwing suit Alfred returned, and hung it up as another reminder, and he never returned another one of Bruce's calls.

The whistling kettle roused him from those dark thoughts, and he quickly grabbed the rest of the fixings for tea. He still wasn't sure how Alfred made it, but he was able to make a passable cup after all these years. He then sat down heavily with his cup and watched as steam curled off of the pale liquid. The hot touch of the porcelain barely bothered him, decades of crime fighting and acrobatics had left heavy callouses on the pads of his fingers.

After he gave up the life he had decided…well, as much like Bruce as it was, he decided to take in kids that needed a home. In one way, he could inculcate trust with them, trust that he was hard pressed to find with the civilian women he had dated. But more importantly, around them he could rediscover who Dick Grayson was, not the Boy Wonder or Nightwing, not Bruce Wayne's adopted son. He could be himself, whereas in his romantic relationships he had always found himself putting on a…not a front, but he had to act softer than he was and show interest in things he no longer cared about.

Perhaps that was why he signed up to foster children, he wouldn't adopt them like Bruce—there was no escape for them then…should things fall through. He would be a home for kids as long as they needed one, and they could earn each other's trust gradually or he could remain closed off from them because it was clear they would be gone in the next week or two (usually because of their own instability). He had had fourteen kids in his home since he started, but none of them had bonded with him…or he felt he couldn't bond with them. Years of ingrained distrust he supposed.

Though that hadn't always been the case…

A fun, light laugh echoed through his mind and a smile tugged at his lips. That girl…"the Bride" he had been able to trust her almost instantly, even though she might not have trusted him right away. He smiled slightly at that and a hand came to rub at the juncture between his chin and throat—the scar had long since faded from existence, but in his memories, he could feel the thin slice her batarang had given him when he hadn't responded with the "message received" bat-code.

He could still vividly remember taking down a cobra storage bay with her. He took down the lights, she took down most of the guards with his help. They moved flawlessly in the dark through speaking bat-code she must have learned to better help with the ground work she did for her batman. He could almost hear her telling him to slow down while they were careening down a hallway toward an air duct to hide from a good share of henchmen.

"Matt, slow down!" Dick furrowed his brow at that. That should have been: "Robin, slow down! I'm running in these stupid sandals, remember!"

Dick stood up abruptly at "the Bride's" voice again, there was that almost indulgent light tone she had used with him, "We should at least check in with Mr. Grayson." He had been taking a shot in the dark, he hadn't honestly believed Teresa McGinnis would be "the Bride." Their eyes had been similar and yes something in her voice had reminded him of her, but he had only said it was Terri to Barbra to convince her to move his name to the top of the list. …Or maybe he had just hoped Terri would be her…the girl who did ground work for Batman in the future…he had given up on seeing "the Bride" again, on teaching her, after the first few decades he began running this gym. So it had really just been a faint hope that he would ever see her again.

And then a few days ago, he had been flipping through different news stations when he saw those eyes. Normally he would have gone onto the next channel because she was connected to Bruce, but then she spoke and he could have sworn it was that girl…the girl with whom he had been able to joke about Bruce Wayne. And desperately he had hoped it as all true and not coincidence. Terri had a connection to Bruce which was the only way to have a connection to Batman, and those eyes…they were "the Bride's."

"But I wanna check out those trampolines!" Matt whined, which immediately brought Dick's racing thoughts to a halt. They were in living room. Grayson looked around him and noticed he must have spilled his tea when he had hastily stood up. Moving to grab some napkins, he began to sop up the hot liquid. He managed to dispose of the napkins before the kids came into the room.

It wasn't in him to smile, especially after the revelation he just made, so he nodded his head. "Do you two want anything to drink?"

"Umm…I'm fine," Terri answered cautiously; though Matt had his lips pursed and was humming.

"Soda!" the boy's eyes were alight with mischief and Dick found the corner of his mouth twitching upwards. He was a lot like that kid when he was his age.

"No," Terri quickly shot down the option, "you'll be bouncing off the walls, especially after pancakes you had with your syrup this morning." So the kid swam pancakes in syrup and was a sugar fiend…good to know.

Dick couldn't help it, he began to chuckle and the siblings looked up at him astonished. Was this what a normal family was like, how normal siblings acted? "How about some juice with no added sugar?"

Matt sulked with his arms folded over his chest and Terri rolled her eyes, "That sounds good," she answered for the boy and Dick nodded his head.

Once he got the container of juice out and two glasses, he set them on the table. "Help your selves, and the aquifer is good in this part of Gotham," Dick stated as he sat back down. Matt quickly hopped onto a chair and began pouring himself some juice while Terri shook her head indulgently at her brother's antics. Could she really be "the Bride?" Dick wondered once more for his lingering doubts; she wouldn't know about him being a Robin or Nightwing if she was…

Matt made a slight face as he began to drink the juice and Terri sat down next to him across from Dick.

"I suppose while we're all here I'll explain the house rules." Terri nodded her head slowly with a serious set to her face. Matt took one glance at his sister and immediately donned a serious look too.

Dick gestured to the fridge, "First, there is a chore chart there, we'll each do a more or less equal share of the cleaning that is within our physical abilities. Second, there is a grocery list there, if you need anything you write it down." Terri nodded her head along with Matt. "Terri, because you are older, I will expect you to get groceries from time to time." She nodded again, "especially when my students are close to a competition.

"Speaking of my students, when they have the gym it's theirs; otherwise you two are welcome in there provided I am supervising or I've cleared you to work out alone."

Dick could tell Terri wanted to ask a question but she nervously raised her hand like she was in school, "Um...sir?"

"You don't have to raise your hand, and you don't have to call me sir."

Terri ducked her head for a moment and blushed while Matt snickered at her. She briefly glared at her brother, though there wasn't much heat in it before she looked back up at Dick, "Could I go running down there without supervision?"

Dick narrowed his gaze slightly and tried to get a read off of her eyes. She seemed to be sincere, "Running only, yes; though it's about sixteen laps to the mile." Terri nodded her head again.

"Now, more general rules." Dick folded his hands together and stared at Terri for a moment. "I expect you in by ten every night unless you have cleared with me ahead of time that you will be coming in late."

Terri visibly stiffened at this, "Si-Mr. Grayson, I have an afterschool job that sometimes requires me to stay out late. Then other times, an emergency comes up and—"

Dick held up his hand to stop the girl. That was the Batman time table they had all run on, even Alfred, but it was wrong—he knew this now. "When you're working its midnight," Terri was about to interject and Dick knew what her excuse would be, "And if you are held over you call me, I don't want to hear anything from Bruce Wayne. Likewise, you can tell him you have school and a brother that require just as much attention as this job." Batman can do his own ground work and patch-ups, Terri had family and school to focus on.

"Speaking of your commitment to school and your brother," Terri paled slightly, "Dinner or breakfast you eat together every day, and if you start failing courses…" Terri looked like this was going to be the last nail in the coffin, "You tell Wayne you're not working for him until your grades get back up and stay up."

"I don't know if that is going to be poss—"

"It can be possible and if Wayne wants to take it up with me…" Dick smiled almost darkly, "by all means." He'd give the old man a tongue lashing and hang up before he could even respond. Dick didn't want to hear too-little-too-late apologies; he was going to rip the old man a new one ensnaring another kid into this life—hell two kids! (Whoever the poor sap filling the cowl was, Dick wished the poor soul the best)

Terri was looking at him in an uncertain sort of way, "Did you know Way-Mr. Wayne?" were you affiliated with Batman? Was the question lurking under the surface, or at least that was what Dick was reading into—particularly if she was "the Bride."

"I knew him well enough, kid." Matt was staring between them with the excitement only younger siblings could get when they think their older sibling is about to get reprimanded—he had hated when Tim gave him that look.

"Look…" Dick sighed, "I know you're being groomed as his heir," much like Dick had been, though he was mostly supposed to take over Batman, not the business like Terri—it would seem, "but…he only accepts his own work." The girl looked down with a hard expression on her face; perhaps she had already seen that in Bruce. "Even if he's training you to take over Wayne Powers, in his mind, he's the only one good enough for that job." He's the only one good enough to be Batman, and everyone else who tries just falls short. It was a universal lesson, in all aspects of Bruce Wayne's life, anyone trying to fill in for him always fell short in his eyes.

"So I know he'll push you to keep cramming down business law and he'll run you ragged on errands, but he can't take you away from your family or school. Those things are important in life too."

It was silent for a long moment and Matt just stared at his empty glass… "So…" he broached, "when's my curfew and can we go in the gym?"

Terri and Dick, unknowingly, gave the boy the same deadpan expression, really? That was his first reaction? "Eight."

"Aww, man!" Terri gave her brother an incredulous look.

"What could you possibly be doing that would keep you out past eight?" the boy straightened out of his slouch and was about to respond when he stopped and furrowed his brow.

"Well, it could happen!"

Terri rolled her eyes and stood up, "Come on, I think you need to expend a little energy."

Mr. Grayson finished his tea behind him them while Terri made Matt walk out of the room and then up the stairs so they could get changed. Terri wasn't sure what to make of Grayson's speech. She had seen that side of Wayne when she was going through the obstacle course or doing maintenance on the various bat-gadgets. He was the same way when they were going over interview questions…like she hadn't done good enough…like he was never satisfied with what she did.

Terri watched Matt race into his room and she continued down the hall toward her room. Once in there she switched into her work-out clothes and absentmindedly applied more deodorant.

Terri felt like the old man kept that side of himself, his constant disapproval, fairly secret, so how did Mr. Grayson now about it? She was half tempted to pull out her mini-computer and do some quick research on him, but she stopped herself. She could just ask Wayne up front what was his and Mr. Grayson's past; it definitely didn't sound amicable. Then that way she wouldn't be invading both men's privacy. Though…did she really want to get into that kind of conversation with Wayne? She was still so pissed off at him, and she had a feeling if she did try to talk to him she would probably end up screaming at him and saying pretty awful and petty things. Maybe she should just hold her tongue around him, give him the silent treatment for a while?

Matt was pounding on her door by the time she started retying her shoes so she could get down to the gym without wrecking her socks. "Yeah, I'm coming."

Terri sighed as she stood up and began following the practically vibrating ten-year-old down two flights of stairs and into the gym. She wondered still…how did Mr. Grayson know Wayne? Was he a Robin? The infamous Nightwing? Or did he just work closely with Bruce Wayne and had seen his nastier side? It would be kind of cool if he was related to the Bat-family; he could give her pointers and she could complain to him about Wayne…though maybe she could do that already?

She'd try to meet his rules, but she wasn't sure if she could. She supposed she could tell Wayne what Mr. Grayson had told her, that she had a commitment to school and family…but then…could Terri stand turning on the news and discovering she could have prevented some crime?

She bit her lip as she contemplated this while Matt raced off into the gym ahead of her. Mr. Grayson was already in here and he had some sort of special gymnastic slippers on. He nodded his head toward Matt who looked like he was planning to dive head first onto one of the bigger trampolines. Terri quickly raced over to him and caught him by the middle while he was doing a head-first jump.

"Not so fast!" she called and Mr. Grayson began walking over toward them.

"Aww! Come on Terri!" Matt flailed around before he gave up and just hung in her arms. Terri slowly set him down, though she kept her hands on him lest he race off.

"I'm sure there's some rules before you start jumping on that," Terri had always been a bit leery of trampolines, she had heard of so many people breaking bones and even killing themselves on them, and she could just see Matt doing something that ended with his neck needing to be in a splint. She also imagined that with these trampolines one could get a lot of height, which was probably why there was about twenty feet of space before reaching the ceiling.

"Exactly," Mr. Grayson had his arms folded over his chest, "Even if the springs and edges are padded they can break or dislocate what lands on it given enough height, and you'll get height on those," he gestured back to the trampoline. "So you need to make sure you're aware of your surroundings, where you're going to land, and how to catch yourself if it looks like you're going to land badly."

Matt gave a disgruntled and defeated look, "That's gonna take forever!"

"Better safe than sorry," Terri chimed in, and Mr. Grayson had that slight smile of his again…it was like they amused him.

"Well let's start with a summersault."

Matt's eyes lit up with a sort of angry excitement, and he scoffed, "Summersaults?! That's easy!" he then proceeded to launch himself forward with his head sticking straight out. Terri grabbed her brother by the middle again while dual echoes of "No!" rang through the gym.

Mr. Grayson's eyes were wide and he looked dumbfounded at what her brother had been about to do. "Chin tucked to chest!" Terri harshly whispered, her heart felt like it was up in her throat.

"Exactly," Mr. Grayson was still staring at Matt in horrified amazement, "Terri, could you demonstrate for your brother how to do a summersault without breaking your neck."

Matt sat down grumpily with his arms over his chest while Terri did a proper summersault and then a recovery summersault to show him how it could be used in other scenarios—that got her a surprised gasp from Matt.

Terri moved over next to Mr. Grayson who was instructing Matt on how to go about a summersault. He had more patience than she would expect from a bat-relative, that or years running a gym mellowed him out. Mr. Grayson gave Matt room to practice and after five Terri found herself glancing at Mr. Grayson out of the corner of her eye, he was doing the same to her. "This is going to take a while," he stated exactly what Terri was thinking so she just nodded emphatically.

"You know some gymnastics," Mr. Grayson commented after Matt failed at another two summersaults, though at least he was keeping his chin tucked to his chest. Terri nodded again, although she didn't think he was asking her a question, "I can teach you a thing or two," he offered, like he was testing the waters.

"I'd love that," she could certainly use it as Batman.

Mr. Grayson gave a slight smile, "I'm afraid I can't demonstrate though…there's a bullet lodged in my spine so…" Terri nodded her head and wondered how he got that injury. Was it Bat-family related or just one the unfortunate facts of life that comes with living in Gotham back in the days of the Joker?

"I'll do my best to follow." Mr. Grayson nodded and moved to another long mat while Matt continued his summersaults with a determination that surprised Terri.

"Show me what you know," Terri smiled at Mr. Grayson, maybe he wouldn't be so bad after all? She then proceeded to flip her way down the mat.

TBC

A/N: So…does that explain how Grayson sort of knew but doesn't know Terri? And neither of them can really confirm if the other is connected to Batman without exposing their actual connections. Eventually they'll figure it all out, but there will be a lot of second guessing. Hope you enjoyed ~ with love, depresedchildren