Chapter 8: Trust and Secrets

I'm pretty sure Batman was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him.

"Jamie! I didn't know you were back!" He stammered. Wait a minute. I knew that guilty tone! I heard it at least once a week from Terry giving an excuse to Dana as to why he bailed on her. Oh. My. God!

"You have got to be kidding me." I face-palmed. I could not believe it took me this long to figure it out. And here I had bragged to Terry that I would figure it out. Some detective I was. I walked over to him and punched his arm.

"Ow! What was that for Grayson?" He exclaimed, rubbing his arm. Yep. That was definitely Terry. No one else called me Grayson.

"For not telling me about this, McGinnis!" I hit him again.

"Ow! Again?" He pulled off his cowl to reveal a very annoyed Terry. "Its not like I really had a choice. Bruce told me I wasn't allowed to tell you."

"Why? I think I would have a right to know about this!" I gestured to the symbol on his chest.

"Because your father didn't want you to know." Bruce said from behind me. We both jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance.

"And once again, why?" I turned to him with a sigh.

"You'll have to ask him." Bruce stated simply. Just once I'd to have an actual conversation with him that had more than vague one sentence answers.

"You know what," I said, "I've had a ridiculous day even without this whole thing. I'm going to bed. I'll deal with this," I gestured to Terry again, "tomorrow. Goodnight." I left the kitchen before either could respond. And I didn't even get any food. Damn it.

Even though I was exhausted, my mind was reeling over the fact that Terry McGinnis was Batman. Now that I knew, so many things started to add up. The reason Batman had seemed so familiar to me. Terry's weird devotion to "helping" Bruce, his constant excuses to Dana about missing things, and him always falling asleep in Family Studies and Chemistry. It must be hard to lead a double life.

This whole thing also explained a lot about Bruce. His reclusive behavior, why he was so in shape in his seventies, and his very stern demeanor. It was obvious he was the original Batman. How Terry managed to become Batman was still a mystery though. Along with why wouldn't Dad want me to know about this? That bothered me more than anything else. Possibly the coolest thing about my family and he didn't want me to know about it? Why? I fell asleep with even more questions than answers.

My alarm went off way too early for my liking the next morning. I went through my usual routine, half asleep as always. I made my way to the kitchen, gave Bruce a halfhearted "Good morning" and started making breakfast. Wait. Bruce? Where was Terry? He was usually the one waiting for me so we could go to school. Why did everyone seem to want to surprise me in the kitchen lately?

My groggy mind went through possible reasons for Bruce to be here. I almost never saw him in the morning unless he had a meeting at Wayne-Powers. I was pretty sure I hadn't hurt the car I drove from the train station and I made sure the garage was closed. Then I had put my stuff away, went to the kitchen to get... Oh yeah. I can't believe I forgot about that!

"Look, if you're worried about me telling anyone, I promise you can trust me. I wouldn't do that to you and Terry." I started, fully awake now.

"I know. I'm not worried about you. I'm here to give you your present." He said. I had forgotten about my birthday present. My birthday felt like weeks ago. He stated walking out of the kitchen and I followed.

He stopped at the garage door. Now I was intrigued.

"This is from your father." he said.

He opened the door and ushered me through. At first I thought in horror that Dad had gotten me a car. Then I saw it and I couldn't help but give a squeal of happiness. Before me stood my very own motorcycle. A Ninja H4 to be exact, one of the fastest bikes in the country. I walked up and admired it. It was absolutely gorgeous. The entire body was a deep royal purple, my favorite color. On the gas tank where the Ninja emblem would normally be, my name was stenciled in silver. Two helmets matching the bike color sat on the seat.

"That can't be mine!" I looked at Bruce in disbelief. There was no way Dad actually bought that for me.

"Well it isn't for me." Bruce joked. That is something I'd never get used to. "I suggest you hurry if you want to get to school on time." He warned.

"Good point." I said. Bruce handed me the starter card. "See ya Bruce!" I said with a smile and then I was gone. I may have broken a few few speed laws, but the risk was so worth it. I couldn't but smile at all the looks I got when I pulled into the school parking lot. I headed inside with a huge grin on my face.

"You look happy for a morning." Max commented as I walked into AP Statistics. I smiled at her.

"I just got my birthday present. My dad really out did himself." I told her.

"How so?"

"I'll take you for a ride at lunch." She gave me a questioning look, fully aware that I hated driving. I just smiled.

The thrill of my new toy didn't distract me long. My mind wandered back to Terry being Batman. It still bothered me that Dad didn't tell me. Why wouldn't he tell me? I was more than trustworthy. Now I wondered what else he had been hiding from me. He had to have some kind of involvement in this all, probably as a Robin. I understood if he didn't want to remember his time with Bruce, but I had a right to know about my own family's past. It wasn't like I was going to start running around with Batman because I knew. I had zero desire to be a superhero. When I thought about it, I wasn't mad that Bruce and Terry hid it from me. I was hurt and angry my own father didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth. If he was going to hide the truth from me, I was going to hide that I knew from him.

As I went through the rest of my morning classes, I noticed Terry gave me a nervous glance once in awhile. I wished he'd realize that I wasn't a twip who would reveal his biggest secret. I finally stopped him in the hall before lunch.

"Listen McGinnis, your secret is safe with me. If I told, I would be in much trouble as you, considering I live at your base of operations. I thought we were good enough friends for you not to question if I'd tell. So please stop looking so worried." I told him.

"I do trust you." He said. "But if you figured it out, how much longer until someone else puts it together? I don't want anyone innocent getting hurt because of Batman. That's why no one knew besides Bruce. The risk is too high." Terry explained.

"The only reason I found out is because you were dumb enough to keep your suit on in the house and not disguise your voice around me. I only know because of my knowledge of Bruce's stubborn independence and your cockiness. No one else is going to question you helping Bruce because no else knows him. So stop being dramatic and quit worrying," I told him. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to show off my present." I walked away towards the parking lot.

He followed me outside. I could see Max and Dana on the front steps waiting for me. I continued to my bike and they followed. Terry stopped in his tracks when he saw it. I couldn't help but laugh.

"That's what you got?" He asked in disbelief. I nodded. "I'm jealous." was all he said.

"Here." I handed Max a helmet. "We'd love to stay and chat but I promised Max I'd treat her to lunch." I said through my helmet. I started the bike and took off leaving Dana with a jealous Terry. Max clung to me the faster we went. I didn't bother to slow down. We got to the restaurant in record time. God, I loved this bike.

We got our food and claimed a table outside. For fall, it was unusually warm.

"So I'm guessing there's another reason you wanted to go out for lunch." Max started.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked.

"You've been scowling at nothing all morning. Something is obviously wrong" She stated.

"Have you ever found out a secret about someone and it changed your whole view of them?" I asked.

"No. Is that what happened at home this weekend?" She asked with concern. Max was an amazing friend. She and Anni would get along so well.

"I guess you could say that. I thought this person trusted me but now I'm not sure what else they could be hiding from me."

"Does this person know that?"

"No. They don't even know I know the secret." I sighed. This would be easier if she knew.

"You should probably tell them that you know." She suggested.

"The thing is, it isn't directly their secret. They're just the reason the other person couldn't tell me."

"Okay. Can I ask who this was?"

"No." I said bluntly. She looked a little surprised. "I mean, I want to tell you, but it's not my secret to tell. Plus I'd get in more trouble than I already am." I elaborated. A slight uncomfortable silence fell around us.

"So anything interesting happen to you this weekend?" I asked, breaking the tension.

"Not really. My mom and sister argued over dinner, then my dad showed up wanting to "talk" to Mom, which ended in another argument. I would've taken the Golem attacking the dance over being at home." She sighed.

"A golem attacked the dance?" I asked. This was news to me.

"You really are out of it. That's all anyone has been talking about today. Dana told me about it Saturday night. Apparently Batman showed up and fought it. Then they discovered Willy Watt was controlling it so now he's in juvie." Max told me. That explained why to the pier was closed.

"We should head back if we don't want to be late for English." Max suggested. We paid for our food and made it back to class just in time. The rest of the afternoon went relatively fast and I was relieved to leave. I walked in the door and was greeted by the sight of Bruce and Ace waiting for me.

Twice in one day? Normally I didn't see the man until dinner.

"Hello." I greeted hesitantly. Ace wagged his tail. At least he was happy to see me. Bruce didn't look as pleased.

"Now that you've had some time to think, we need to talk." He said, skipping the pleasantries.

"I suppose we do. But about what exactly? I've pieced together enough to answer the most obvious questions. I know you used to be Batman, the legendary Bat-cave is somewhere around here, and my uncles and Dad were all probably Robin at one point."

"Yes. But there is much more to it than that. Follow me, its time you knew the family secret."

Next up: Jamie gets a better understanding of Bruce.

Story time: The reason this is late is because my laptop charger broke and then my laptop died. And since my laptop is the only place this story is stored, I had to wait until my new charger came to post this.

Fun fact: Bruce was more than willing to tell Jamie about Batman when she first came to live with him, but Dick asked Bruce not to tell her, and wouldn't say why he didn't want her to know.