A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating. The new term started and somehow between coursework and work-work, it's busier than last year, so…I will try to update every other week, but it may even go down to once a month. Anyways, thank you those who reviewed, or put this on alert or favorite. I appreciate CC and I take comments seriously, so thank you to those who review ~ with love, depressedchidlren

Chapter 25: Decisions

Matt stomped his feet as he walked alongside Miguel toward the boy's home. "It's not working; we've got up our game!"

"What's not working Matt?" Miguel's mom asked.

Uh oh! Matt thought about it quickly and he knew his face was getting warmer as the woman looked between them for an answer—he had thought she'd be far enough ahead of them not to overhear. "Uh, well getting people to see how awesome Soldier Sam is." He flashed her a smile and Miguel mimicked the look. The woman looked at them skeptically before continuing to walk on.

The two boys looked at each other and sighed in relief, but Matt couldn't help but frown. If he was going to be Robin someday, because he just had to become Robin to help Terri, then he'd need to learn how to lie better. He added it to the list of things he needed to learn to better help his sister.

Miguel and Matt had been working to convince Terri that Batman was needed for the past week. It had started the Monday after the Stalker incident:

All day Matt had been surrounded by his classmates and the older students. They all wanted to hear how Batman had saved him from the creepy Stalker. Even during class they had asked him, and he just couldn't deny anyone the opportunity to hear how awesome his sister was—not that he told anyone she was Batman—which got him in trouble a few times. It wasn't anything too bad, but Matt had this letter he needed to give Grayson about how he was disruptive during class.

He didn't mind the attention, but he was happy that it had finally settled down. Most of his classmates had already left with their parents or older siblings, and the big kids were doing their extra-curriculars; so Matt was finally left alone—except for the teacher watching all the students as she waited for them to be picked up.

Matt was waiting for Terri to come to pick him up from school, but since Hamilton Hill was across the city, it took a while. Once Terri picked him up, with her friend Dana—who was the only one with a car—they were going to go wait for Mr. Grayson at the airport. He was supposed to get in soon, and then they would all have to wait for Mr. Grayson's younger students to be picked up by their parents, which meant he would have to wait for that too.

Matt scuffed his sneakers against the cement and looked around the mostly empty school yard. That was when he noticed Miguel with his head bowed and staring at his Soldier Sam toy. The boy had been quiet all day, maybe because Matt was surrounded by a bunch of people?

Frowning, Matt moved over toward his first friend at this school, "Hey Miguel," he got the boy's attention and he looked up at Matt in surprise.

"Oh…hey Matt," he fidgeted and Matt sidled up beside Miguel before he threw his arm over the other boy's shoulder.

"We haven't talked all day! Are you waiting for your mom? Does she normally pick you up? What did you do over the weekend?" Miguel got all quiet and flustered when Matt asked him lots of questions like that, and it was pretty funny to watch, but the boy always tried to answer Matt's questions.

"Ah…my mom usually picks me up, yeah, but I'm waiting for my abuela." He shuffled a little self-consciously and Matt nodded his head slowly.

"What's she like? Is she old-fashioned?"

Miguel nodded slowly, "Yeah, she was in that movement where people retraced their roots and she got really into that and stuff." Like always, Miguel had warmed up to the questioning and was beginning to communicate more freely.

Matt grinned broadly and just nodded his head. He was about to ask about something else, like if he had visited their ancestor's home or something, but Miguel spoke up this time, "I-I know," he started nervously and shrugged out from under Matt's arm, "you've told everyone a lot of times, but…um…" he looked really nervous but then he looked back down at his Soldier Sam action figure and nodded his head determinedly, "Batman's really brave, and the costume's really scary but…" he grimaced again and looked Matt dead in the eyes, "Didn't you think Batman would do everything possible to keep you safe?"

"Yeah…" Matt murmured and narrowed his gaze at his friend, "You saw under the mask right?" He knew Miguel said he had been so scared and hadn't seen Batman well enough, and had just seen Soldier Sam instead of whoever Batman was, but Matt wondered if that was really the case. "I mean…" Matt dropped his voice and looked around the school yard, "the Soldier Sam stuff was a lie to keep you and Batman safe, right?"

Miguel swallowed thickly and looked around as well before he nodded slowly. Matt nodded again, and figured that since Miguel had met Terri so close to when he had seen under Batman's cowl, then he knew Terri was Batman. Or he hoped, but he'd test it first. "You know…" Matt began slowly, "Stalker said some weird stuff about Batman being a girl."

Miguel tensed up and looked around the school yard in an almost panic, "Y-Yeah?"

"And when I hugged Batman, I could tell," Matt blushed a little, that sounded wrong, but he knew it was his sister hugging him. Miguel blushed and looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"B-But you don't know who Batman is?" he asked almost disappointed.

"Actually," Matt whispered back, "I do, and you do too, right?" he was taking a big risk here but he hoped he was right.

Miguel looked up in surprise and then relief before his expression turned suspicious. However, before anything else could pass between them, Dana's white car pulled in front of the school gates and Terri hopped out. Max was in the back and Matt blushed because he knew he'd be sitting back there with her—Max was just so cool and fun!

Matt quickly shifted his focus to Miguel who was watching Terri with wide eyes and his grip on his Soldier Sam was loose enough that it could fall out of his grip. Terri gave them both a smile as she came closer, though her eyes flickered between them for a moment with a little bit of concern. Miguel looked down at the ground then while blushing brightly.

Matt leaned in, "Will you help me protect Batman?" he whispered and Miguel looked up at him in surprise. However Terri was there and Matt just looked up her pointedly. Miguel gave a little smile and nodded his head before looking back down at his action figure.

"What was that about?" Terri asked as she ruffled Matt's hair. He batted at her hands.

"Nothing!"

"Uh-huh," Terri looked at both of them with an expression that said she hadn't bought his excuse. Miguel began to blush brightly and fidget in place.

"Miguel has a crush on you, happy!" Matt then began to stomp off toward the car which left Miguel behind next to Terri.

"Ah-hahaha," Terri laughed uneasily, "Have a good day Miguel," she said before hurrying after Matt.

When she caught up with him, Mat was caught around the middle, "Just because I say you have a crush on Max in front of her doesn't mean you should do the same to others," she teased before tickling him a little.

Matt couldn't help but begin laughing even as he squirmed away. Terri eventually let him go and they made it into the car with Dana and Max, who were smiling at them in amusement. When they got all settled in, Matt waved goodbye to his friend who was still blushing, but at least Miguel waved goodbye too. Tomorrow he'd introduce Miguel to Operation Continued Crime Fighting—no, that sounded stupid, maybe it should be Operation Convince Batman? Nah, that was stupid too and too obvious, hmm… well whatever he'd call it, he'd get Miguel in on it too.

They had been going over to Miguel's house every other day, and on off days they'd go to Matt's to enact the plans they had made. So far, they hadn't really gotten anywhere. Sure there were reports of pointy-eared people flying across the night sky, but Matt knew they weren't Terri. He also knew that these flying things were just for show, they weren't actually doing any crime fighting, which made him wonder what they were? Were they a something Mr. Wayne made to replace Batman, or keep up the illusion of there being a Batman?

Part of Matt couldn't help but wonder if Terri could even be Batman anymore; had Mr. Wayne revoked all Batman privileges from her because of what she said. She did kind of call Mr. Wayne—because Matt still believed he was the original Batman—a freak with a vendetta against crime; though she also called herself that too…so Matt was a little confused by that.

They were finally at Miguel's apartment, and after Mrs. Diaz let them in, they immediately went to Miguel's room. She called after them that she would be making some snacks, but Miguel was quick to say they didn't need any.

Once inside the Soldier Sam themed room, Matt flopped down onto the other's boys' bed in despair. "Why isn't it working!" he lamented while rolling onto his back. Miguel looked at him with a frown but just sat down on the bed near the headboard.

"Well, what do you think she's worried about the most?" Miguel asked almost tiredly. They had been wracking their brains over this for a while now. Since Terri didn't have work last week, she would sometimes walk them to Grayson's where they were going to spend the afternoon. During those walks, they had tried to convey how necessary Batman was to Gotham. One time, Miguel even pretended to explain to Matt how he had fought his fear of the Kobra thugs:

"But how come you weren't scared?" Matt insisted, "I mean, I knew Stalker wasn't gonna hurt me for a while there, and I wasn't all that scared until he said he'd hurt me if Batman didn't show, but the Kobra guys, they were gonna hurt you from the start, right?"

Miguel looked down at the ground nervously, and Matt could practically feel Terri's unease with the turn of the conversation. Miguel began to blush and looked down at his action figure, "Well I kept thinking, what would Soldier Sam do, and he wouldn't be afraid, but then when Batman showed up and that one guy had a knife to me," Miguel fidgeted and bit his lip.

"What? What?" Matt pressed.

"W-well," Miguel shrugged and was blushing more, "Batman was brave too. I-I mean, for all Batman knew, they knew what Batman looked like from that thing they put on me," Matt nodded his head and focused on Miguel. Part of this act was earnest, because how schway was it, but also he wanted his sister to think this wasn't sort of planned.

Miguel shyly looked up, still blushing a little, "Because Batman came, even though they might have known who he was," there was an awkward spacing around the pronoun that Matt ignored, but Terri flinched at, "well, I knew nothing bad was going to happen to me, and Batman was even braver and better than Soldier Sam."

"Cool," Matt breathed before he began smiling, and threw his arms up and behind his head, "I guess I felt the same too when Batman showed up. It's like I knew nothing bad was gonna happen 'cause, you know, the Batman was there now." Matt grinned more broadly and Miguel nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Miguel murmured, "It's like…" he started and bit his lip in thought, "Like Batman just kind of means that everything's gonna be alright—"

"'Cause he's there to kick the bad guy's butt!" Matt cheered before sobering and looking around bashfully because there were people staring at them from across the street, "Plus," Matt shrugged after the people turned away from looking at them, "Gotham just felt safer with Batman back, ya know?" Miguel nodded his head in agreement, but Terri picked up her pace and moved past them.

"It doesn't change the fact that it's because of Batman that new villains show up threatening us all."

Miguel's shoulders slumped and he sighed in defeat, but Matt glared at his sister's back and folded his arms over his chest. "It's not about real danger, it's about the hope Batman stands for." Matt frowned and his arms fell by his sides, "It's about the hope that there's someone looking out for Gotham and standing up for all us."

"Like a guardian angel," Miguel suddenly piped in.

Terri laughed wryly and looked back at the boys, "Batman is supposed to strike fear." Matt frowned at her and Miguel furrowed his brow; they were both about to protest, but Terri amended her statement, "Yes, strike fear into the bad guys, but Batman also lives in shadow and preys on people. He's not exactly a guardian angel, and a guardian angel would make sure no harm came to its charges, but all Batman seems to—"

"But that's what Gotham needs!" Matt interrupted, angry that his sister wasn't getting it. "We're not like Metropolis or Dakota Fields with flashy heroes that are visible," Matt lost steam and didn't know where exactly he was going with that, "We don't need a Superman or Static, we need Batman because…because," he didn't know how to say what he was thinking.

Terri was frowning at them and shook her head as she turned back around and continued walking toward Mr. Grayson's, "You two are gonna stop the super talk when we get there, right?" She glanced over her shoulder at them, and Matt and Miguel nodded their heads dejectedly.

Matt kicked the ground and had his arms folded over his chest. Miguel was staring down at his toy before he cautiously looked up, "Superman and Static keep fighting for their cities, even if their villains attack it too. They don't give up just 'cause…" Miguel trailed off and looked down at the ground. Matt saw that his sister had tensed, and he had a bad feeling so he quickly blurted a denial out.

"What! Batman's not gonna give up, just 'cause Terri's being-being a stupid jerk" he couldn't think of anything else to say, "about Batman, doesn't mean he's gonna listen to her!"

Terri just shook her head and kept walking, and the boys knew their attempt had failed.

Matt sighed as he looked up at the ceiling, "She's afraid of putting me in danger and more people in danger." Matt rolled over onto his stomach again and folded his hands under his chin as he looked over at his friend. "She thinks she'll put us in more harm and that to fix Gotham, big things need to change." Matt sighed again and Miguel absentmindedly moved Soldier Sam's missile launching arm up and down.

"Have the newspapers worked?" Miguel asked, and Matt groaned as he hid his face.

They had thought that maybe he should start leaving up newspaper screens that showed the crime reports so Terri would see that more people are getting hurt and killed because she's not out there protecting them. "Mr. Grayson keeps finding them and changing them to a new screen."

Miguel perked up, "But they could work if she saw them right?"

"Yeah," Matt said and sat up, "but Mr. Grayson's not gonna let that happen. He doesn't like talking about crime either." Matt folded his arms over his chest.

"But," Miguel began with a frustrated look on his face, "more people are getting hurt 'cause she's not out there, she has to know that. Gotham's safer with her, even if the crime doesn't go down, less people are getting hurt and killed."

"I know," Matt reassured, but Terri didn't seem to, or if she did, she didn't care—which Matt highly doubted.

Miguel frowned and laid back slightly, "So what do we do?" he asked. Matt didn't know anymore.

"Have you told her you know?" Miguel suddenly asked and Matt looked up in surprise. Has he told Terri he knew she was Batman?

"No…" Matt shook his head and looked down at the sheets, "I…I don't think she wants me to know and it wouldn't be good," Terri would just worry more, or at least that's what Matt thought. "I'm not gonna say anything until I'm strong enough to be Robin," he murmured and Miguel's shoulders slumped slightly.

"It's so cool you're gonna be Robin," he murmured before sighing heavily. Matt frowned and realized that maybe Miguel wanted to help Batman out too?

"Well…" Matt began, shifting slightly, "Maybe there can be another hero, like Nightwing but not?" Miguel perked up before paling and shaking his head.

"I-I'm not much of a fighter," he boy looked down at his sheets embarrassedly.

"I could teach you, or maybe you could be like Gear?" Matt suggested as he thought of the meta-duo from Dakota fields, "He has all those tech stuff and he doesn't do too much up front fighting, plus you're smart enough," Matt reasoned and Miguel blushed slightly before nodding slightly.

Matt had already begun some self-defense training. He didn't do as advanced stuff as Terri did with Mr. Grayson, but Mr. Grayson was teaching him some stuff a long with Terri. It was kind of funny, Mr. Grayson always frowned when Terri taught him a "dirty move," but he never stopped Terri from teaching them to him.

"I can still teach you what I've been learning though," Matt stated as he hopped off the bed. He was smiling broadly at the other boy but then a thought occurred to him and his eyes widened, "and maybe you can ask your mom if you can start learning gymnastics with me?"

Miguel sat there thinking about it for a little while before he grinned over at Matt and nodded his head.

All the way across town, as the two ten-year-olds plotted and planned, Terri was walking into the manor from the garage. Wayne wasn't far behind her. Terri walked stiffly and moved over to the window where she could hear Ace barking loudly. He was running around the front of the house and looked almost mad. "What's gotten into Ace?" Terri asked as she looked back over at Wayne who was moving toward the kitchen.

"I'm not sure," the old man paused in his walking and frowned.

"Maybe it's a squirrel?" Terri asked doubtfully and Wayne shook his head.

"Let him in, he must think there's an intruder." Terri nodded and moved toward the front door. She opened it and stood to the side as the dog came barreling in. His nose was immediately set to the ground and he began sniffing around like a blood hound.

Terri looked around briefly herself and grabbed a cane from the umbrella holder by the door. She followed after the dog and kept her eyes open for anything, but nothing was out of place that she could see. Ace began scratching at one door, and Terri moved to open it for him but it was locked. Frowning, Terri pulled out a bobby-pin from her pocket and quickly picked the lock and opened it for Ace—perhaps it was a habit from being in a gang or even being Batman, but she was always sure to keep a bobby-pin on her for such occasions.

Ace sniffed around for a little bit but then he started sneezing and left the room. Teri doubted the room had been opened for years, so why did Ace think someone was in there?

Terri closed the door behind her but didn't bother locking it again. Ace kept sneezing for a while as he followed behind Terri who finally entered the kitchen to see the old man looking over a spreadsheet on his mini-computer. Terri positioned herself diagonally from him and leaned against one of the counters.

"Nothing," Terri commented, and when the old man looked up at her doubtfully, she shared his sentiment. "Ace ended up scratching at a door on the second floor; it was locked." When Wayne frowned, she felt the same; this didn't add up and if Ace thought there was an intruder, there had to be one. Ace was lying on the floor by Wayne's side with his muzzle resting on his overlapped paws, but he kept sneezing, and Terri could now see that there was dust on his nose still.

Terri set the cane she had with her against the counter and retrieved a washcloth from the sink lip. Once she wetted it, she walked over to Ace and crouched down beside him. She didn't like hearing her shoes clack across the tile, but she didn't really want to walk around without shoes on—she had been doing too much of that lately. She supposed what she didn't like was how the clacking echoed in the kitchen and just made the place feel lonelier.

Ace growled at her a little but allowed her to gently wipe the dust off his nose. "What is he?" Terri asked.

"A Great Dane mix," Wayne remarked, "Although I think his DNA has been tampered with," Terri looked over in time to see the man frown.

"Why do say that?" she looked down at the black dog and tentatively reached her hand out. He growled lightly but did not snap at her.

"I found him when he was a puppy several years ago."

"So…?" Terri looked down at the dog and Wayne sighed.

"Great Danes have a life expectancy of three years."

Terri winced and rubbed the dog behind his ears, "But he's as healthy and young as ever, right?" she asked and Wayne nodded. Ace leaned into her touch and his tail began to wag lazily; that was a good sign.

"Exactly," Wayne droned and Terri frowned a little.

"Could be whatever he's mixed with," she didn't sound too confident, and when she looked up and over at Wayne, he gave her a doubtful look.

"I'm fairly certain he was bred for fighting," Wayne shook his head. Terri grimaced and continued petting Ace. The implication was clear to her. Whoever bred Ace wanted a fighting dog that would last a while if it survived the fights.

"But you got away from those nasty people, right Ace?" she almost cooed, and Wayne gave her that displeased noise, which made her grin over at him.

"Oh come on," she started, "With you around he needs someone to pamper him," she teased and continued rubbing Ace's head. "Isn't that right, Ace?"

Wayne just shook his head and Terri laughed a little before standing up and moving over to the sink to wash her hands and set the wash cloth back on the sink lip.

"Well, if you don't think he'll be around much longer, maybe you should breed him?" Terri remarked for nothing else to say—she didn't want to think about the meeting they had just come from, she didn't want to because then she would start thinking of how suspicious it was and...and she wasn't Batman right now so she couldn't do anything about it.

She moved over the fridge and opened it as Wayne likely gave have her a look, "What are you doing now?" he asked almost exasperatedly.

Terri turned around and smiled a little, "Making you dinner because I have a feeling you've been eating soup for the past week."

He glared at her and she just smiled more broadly, "Admit it," she teased, "You've been throwing yourself into your projects and have been forgetting to actually make something other than instant soup." He glared at her more, but didn't remark; probably because she was right, and if he tried to lie she'd know.

For Terri's part, she was actually a little concerned about him. She would wake up in the middle of the night and call the old man to make sure he had taken his medicine and ate; usually he hadn't done one of the two things. It wasn't that she ever planned to wake up then, just that she would wake up in a sort of panic and just had to check in on the old man; if only to make sure he wasn't working himself to death with his projects. She wondered if he had been like this when he was actively Batman? Probably. Terri suddenly felt sympathetic toward Alfred; he probably had to remind Wayne to take breaks, like she felt like she was always doing now.

"I'm not a child."

"No," Terri consented as she started heating up a pan, "But when you work on your projects you completely forget about everything else." She flashed a smile over her shoulder to hopefully reduce any offense she might have made. She then put a little oil at the bottom of the pan and put a chicken breast into it. "Besides, soup has too much sodium in it."

She heard Wayne make a noise at the back of his throat in annoyance. "I can take care of myself, McGinnis."

She just hummed skeptically as she pulled out a few vegetables to steam. She then filled up a pot with water and set in the steaming basket with the vegetables. In response to her hum, Wayne made that annoyed noise again.

She had just put the pot on the burner when Wayne spoke, "McGinnis," he almost snapped and she turned toward him in surprise. His face was set and he was looking at her almost concerned.

Terri raised her eyebrow and moved to peer over his shoulder, "What are you working on anyway?" she asked because she didn't want to know what he wanted to discuss, and she'd hold it off as long as she could.

"Accounts," he replied tersely before sighing, "At least the ones I still have access to."

"So what? You're balancing the company's check book?" she asked skeptically before turning back to the stove and turning on the burner with the vegetables. She then moved to cover the pot.

"Believe it or not, but I find this relaxing," he replied almost defensively before he spoke again, "McGinnis," he had calmed, but it made her still in her actions. "Stop trying to distract yourself with pointless things and just spit it out."

Terri turned and sighed heavily. He knew she was suspicious of Power's new medical project because he himself was suspicious, but he wanted her to say it. "Okay," she sighed again before turning back to the food to make sure it didn't burn, "I don't buy Powers suddenly wanting to cure cancer."

She imagined Wayne was smiling slightly in a way that said he agreed and was sort of proud she did too. "Especially progressive degenerative cancer," Wayne added.

Terri nodded, "Yeah, he has to have some ulterior motive," she reasoned and looked over her shoulder to see Wayne nod his head with that smile in place. "I mean," she began as she turned back to the food "it would be great if he really did want to cure cancer, but there has to be some personal gain here—it's not cost effect, at all," Terri said as she grabbed spatula to flip the chicken over, "and the procedure is so experimental that it just doesn't seem feasible."

"At least with our current medical technology," Wayne commented and Terri nodded her head as she looked back over at him.

"Exactly, I mean, they're talking about creating a whole new body out of a mutated DNA," she shook her head again. "I just can't see it happening or becoming cost effective for Powers to actually be promoting it like he is."

"Which means personal interest," Wayne agreed, and Terri sighed heavily in relief now that that had finally gotten off of her chest. Wayne looked amused, likely because she was thinking like him, thinking like Batman.

She found a dish towel and threw it at him, "Oh shut up," she folded her arms over her chest as the towel harmlessly fluttered to the ground and Wayne chuckled before sobering and regarding Terri seriously.

"Perhaps you should have another week off," he looked down at his spreadsheet and Terri looked away. She knew he was offering her the time off so that she could make her own decision about being Batman without having to be around all of it.

Terri shook her head and checked on the steaming vegetables. They were low sugar and vitamin k vegetables, they made Terri so not looking forward to getting older. She put a little bit of garlic powder onto the vegetables along with a little bit of pepper, but Wayne needed to lower his salt intake so no salt on anything.

"Keep talking like that," Terri began as she seasoned the vegetables, "and I'll think you need to go to the psych ward and have your head examined," not that that didn't already need to happen; being Batman couldn't have left him terribly sound, and he probably wasn't to begin with to go around dressed like a bat—but then, what did that say about her?

"Very funny, McGinnis," he commented dryly and Teri flashed another smile over her shoulder.

"I thought so," he just shook his head in response, so Terri focused back on the food. She lowered the heat on the chicken and covered it before turning back around.

Terri moved to sit down diagonal from Wayne at the table set up in there. She just had to wait for the water to boil and steam the vegetables while the chicken cooked through, so she didn't have much else to do.

The old man got up and went to the kettle and put it on the stove before moving around the kitchen slowly to make tea, "I am serious though," he commented, and Terri looked over at him. "Perhaps you should take more time off."

"What, and have Matt and Miguel trying to change my mind about Batman?" she rubbed her face and groaned slightly. She needed to make this decision on her own, and the more Matt and Miguel tried to guilt her into being Batman the more…she wasn't sure if it was helping her or just annoying her.

"What?" Wayne looked at her in surprise, or as surprised as he could look, and she sighed. She hadn't seen him in over a week so he didn't know about that new and disturbing development.

"Yeah," she sighed, "apparently Matt and his friend have taken it upon themselves to change my opinion of Batman," she rolled her eyes, though Wayne was frowning slightly now while he waited for the kettle to whistle.

He was probably thinking the same thing she was, and that was whether these boys knew she had been Batman. She knew Miguel knew, but Matt…Terri was beginning to suspect he knew. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, and part of her wondered if the boy just hoped she'd let him be Robin or something, which she wouldn't ever let happen. If Matt knew she was Batman, he became a target, even more than he was regardless of knowing; besides, he was kid, and kids weren't always the best at keeping things secret. So she vainly hoped he didn't know.

Wayne sat back down in his seat, expression now thoughtful, "Well, I suppose your brother was saved by Batman and wouldn't be too thrilled with your comment." Terri nodded slowly to his reasoning, but the old man didn't have anything else to say—he didn't seem as concerned as he should be.

Terri pulled out her minicomputer from her purse. She pulled up a local newspaper and began to skim through the articles as a slightly strained but not too uncomfortable silence settled between them. She was just moving over to the sports section when Ace perked up.

She saw him stand and begin sniffing the ground again. Frowning, Terri got up and grabbed the cane she had been carrying from before. Ace began to run while growling, and she kicked off her shoes to follow after him. Ace ran over to a wall and began pawing at it and Terri frowned. She moved over to the window and…was that a blue man? He just walked through the wall marking the border of Wayne's property.

"What is it?" Wayne asked from some place behind her.

"I don't know…" Terri turned around with her brow furrowed. Ace growled once or twice more at the wall before turning around and plodding back over to Wayne, who absentmindedly pet the dog.

"What did you see?" Wayne pressed with a severe look.

Terri moved back into the kitchen and put back on her shoes before she checked on the food. She wasn't sure what she saw, and these mundane tasks helped her calm down a little. As she flipped the chicken over again, she spoke, "It was a blue man," she lowered the heat further before replacing the lid, "who just walked through the wall outside."

Wayne immediately began frowning, but before he could move down into the cave, the teapot started to whistle and he made a quick cup of tea while looking around them. Terri caught on and began to examine the corners of the room for cameras or bugs. She found one, but Wayne shook his head, which meant it was probably one of his—the paranoid old bat.

"Ace," she caught the dog's attention, "the intruder, remember where he went?" she asked, even though he probably didn't understand her. He cocked his head to one side and Terri frowned.

Well, she may as well do a perimeter sweep, if Ace couldn't help her pinpoint where the intruder went "Are all your cameras like that one?" she asked Wayne who nodded. So she just had to look for cameras that didn't match the one she found. "Well, watch the food, I'll go look for any." He nodded his head and began to sip his tea as if acting calm. She knew he was probably freaking out at the fact that some intangible person had been in his house. Did that mean they had gone down into the cave? But they couldn't check that now, they had to check for any cameras first.

She checked the ground floor at the front of the manor—nothing there. She moved to the top of the stairs and didn't see anything again. She moved to where Ace had gone when he first came into the manor, and she found one camera. Finding a decorative chair in the hallway, she pulled it so it was under the camera and then she climbed onto it to take it down and quickly cut off the signal. Wayne would probably scan it and see who might have bought this camera. She continued to look but she wasn't finding anything out of place.

Walking back into the kitchen, she saw Wayne had put the food onto a plate but was just staring at it. "I only found this one, and I checked around the clock extensively." Wayne nodded, and held out a small camera he must have found in the kitchen.

"You should eat," Terri stated as she sat down. He gave her a look that said, how the hell was he supposed to eat when someone had been in his home planting bugs? "Because," Terri added on, "once you go down there, you know you'll throw yourself into your projects and forget to."

He glowered her, and Terri raised an eyebrow in return, "I'll check the security cameras if it'll put your mind at ease," she offered and Wayne scoffed.

"You haven't made your decision yet, and I don't want you to be swayed by nostalgia," perhaps that was half meant as a joke, but Terri could hear the seriousness underneath the words all the same.

"If I give my decision, it will be made on my own without any doubt," she reassured before standing up and heading toward the doorway. She turned back and saw Wayne reluctantly pick up his fork and begin to eat. Smiling, Terri turned and moved toward the clock.

Once she was down in the cave, she didn't spare a second look toward the line of suits, and moved over to the super-computer. Once there, she typed in the access code and pulled up the security feed. The cameras were set to record if they saw movement, and stay recording—some sort of motion sensor the old man had put into them for when he was away from the manor. She quickly found the cameras that "saw" something, and she replayed the recordings. She frowned. The intangible man had just walked calmly past Ace who was trying to bite him, but the dog literally went through him. Then the man just walked around the house, walking into one room and then another.

The man only put cameras into the ones that were well-maintained and Terri glared at the screen. What the hell was going on? Then the man's last camera, before Ace ran after him, was in the upstairs hallway—the one Terri had found. Likely he was slowly working his way back towards the living room, which was lucky for them. Terri shook her head and asked the computer to make a list of the rooms the intruder was caught in. Terri then crossed off the ones with no camera in it. The rooms were listed by what wing they were in with a number that apparently corresponded to the blueprints of the place, which the computer graciously pulled up for her. It was tedious work, but she was almost done.

Terri leaned back when she finished the list, and looked at the screen again. Her brow furrowed when she saw a file labeled police reports—figures the old man had a way to get those. She wondered if crime had dropped at all since she started her hiatus, and clicked on the file.

Upstairs, Bruce wondered what was taking Terri so long. He had finished his meal, and had washed the dishes because, despite what the girl might think, he did know how to take care of himself.

Ace was at his heel as he made his slow way toward the grandfather clock. By the time he made it down the stairs, Terri had stopped scrolling through the police reports and was just sitting in the chair. It took one look for him to deduce what exactly happened and what the girl must be thinking now.

She didn't look over at him until he was right behind the chair. She was just staring at the newest suit with her brow furrowed slightly. She blinked and looked over at him before standing up so he could have his chair.

"Even if crime doesn't stop," Terri began as she made her way over to the case the suit was in, "less people are hurt and killed, right?" She stopped mid-way and looked over at him.

He just nodded his head and the girl nodded her head too. She bit her lip for a moment and glanced back at the suit before looking at the ground, "Matt can never be targeted again," she whispered, and although that was unlikely given that he was targeted once by an enemy, they could do what they could to prevent that from happing again.

"We can do our best," he replied quietly and Terri just nodded her head slowly before looking back over at him.

"Gotham needs a Batman," her voice was a little raw but there was determination in her voice too.

He felt his lips twitch up at the corners. He knew Terri was the right choice in successor, and now she'd only become a better Batman for making this decision on her own. Nodding his head once, he replied, "She does."

Powers glared at the screen, his skin began to flake off again as he glared at Peek speaking on the screen. He had hoped the clip the Australian worm had gotten would be more incriminating; instead, it was just incriminating toward himself. Wayne and that little bitch he was grooming suspected him of personal gain in his attempts with Lake at finding a way to live in a new, disease free body.

He didn't care to hear about what kind of dog the old man had, or any of that other drivel. What had Peek hoped to get from that segment? What salacious gossip could he have gotten? He growled and threw an energy blast at the screen when the segment finally ended. All Peek had had to say about the clip was whether the McGinnis girl was acting as a concerned daughter or lover. It was a complete waste of time—Peek better have something good the next segment.

TBC