Chapter 2: Mental and Physical Pain

"Dawn, I know you wanted to take him on, but tonight wasn't the right time..." Bruce said as she came out when she took off her suit.

"It was the perfect time. I had an actual shot at him and I let it get passed me..." Dawn said.

"We'll try again later, okay. You need a little patience..." Bruce told her. She shook her head and walked upstairs to go to bed. Terry came out of the shadows, completely confused over the whole thing.

"Aren't you guys ever going to explain ANYTHING to me??" He asked. "Who's 'HE'. What's going on with Dawn?" He asked. Bruce turned his chair around to the computer and became silent. "Bruce, c'mon. I need to know. Tell me what's up." Bruce looked at his keyboard and pressed a button. On the screen, appeared the guy that Dawn had fought with earlier.

"I should've really told you the truth as to why Dawn was here...it wasn't because she wanted to live here in Gotham...Before Dawn came here, something had happened where she lived. She lived in New York with her parents, Dick and Raine Grayson..." Bruce began to explain.

"Dick? Dick, as in, Nightwing?" Terry asked.

"Yes. A man, going by the name of Vega, was ordered to kill her family, and...was successful. Dick and Raine tried to go up against him, but no one was any match for him. Not even Raine, being a powerful ancient as she was, wasn't able to stop him. Tammy, Dawn's younger sister, and her went to go hide in separate places...Dawn waited, while she hid. She heard a lot of screaming that night. When everything was silent for a while, she quietly went downstairs to see everything...and found her family covered in blood with wounds everywhere on them. They finally brought Dawn over here so I can take care of her, and so that Vega would never try to harm her or find her....It's never been the same for her."

"....Dawn never told me any of that. In fact, she never even mentioned her family. Why?"

"She thought it was too painful...Didn't want to open it to discussion because it would just mentally kill her." Bruce explained.

"Poor Dawn..." Terry said as he lowered his head. "I better get going...I just hope she cools off by tomorrow morning..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn stood outisde on her balcony and watched the ocean. The wind, slowly breezing by her felt very calm and nice. She sighed. Suddenly she saw someone's face pop up right in front of her. She stepped back in surprise to find Josh holding onto the balcony.

"(Gasp)! You scared me, what are you doing here?!" She asked.

"Why, Dawn, I came to see you, of course, who else?"

"How did you know where I live?"

"I talked around with some people and one finally told me." Josh grinned.

"For a new student, you sure aren't shy." Dawn said.

"Go for what you seek; that's my motto."

"....So, what do you want, Mr. White?"

"Nothing, just to talk..." Josh said as he walked over the balcony towards her. "I've noticed you, Dawn. You're beauty has captured my eyes....your smile, your hair, your eyes....I thought your were the most beautiful thing I ever saw today...."

"....My, aren't we trying to be the romantic type..." Dawn said, uninterested as she walked away. Just before she could close the glass door, Josh stopped. her.

"Dawn, wait.." He said. She turned back to look at him. "I know that we've just met, and I would like to get to know you better....I was hoping that maybe...that you would like to go on a date with me..? And maybe....if you're planning on going, to be my date for the prom....?" Dawn was silent.

"...I don't know Josh...I don't think it's a good time for me right now to give you any kind of answer..." She replied.

"Just think about it then? I'll wait for you at the entrance at school afterwards if you change your mind, okay?"

"...fine." Dawn replied. He smiled again and leaned in fast to give her a sweet kiss on her lips. She was stunned over it, but was more stunned with herself, who actually kissed back. During that moment, Terry noticed Dawn on the balcony and also saw Josh kissing each other. He scolded in anger and walked off, trying to pretend it didn't happen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Are you serious??" Max asked. "Did he really??"

"Yeah, he did..." Dawn replied as she got one of her books out and opened it up.

"You don't seem to happy with it...are you going to meet him after school?"

"I dunno. I've got too much on my mind right now to really worry about that."

"I'd go if I were you. Josh seems like he really likes you. You should also go with him to the prom. It was as if he was listening to our conversation from yesterday. And if you ask me, he's a nice catch..."

"Just don't tell Terry about it." Dawn said.

"Why?"

"...I don't think it's a good idea. Especially knowing he came by Wayne Manor...I still wanna know how got in there in the first place without getting noticed...and then Terry would tell Bruce, and I'd get killed."

"That, and Terry would be EXTREMELY jealous."

"Why would Terry be jealous? He has Dana."

"I dunno...Whatever."

"Just forget the subject. I don't even wanna hear it today..."

"Hear what?" A voice asked. Dawn and Max turned around to find Terry there.

"Terry! We were just talking about-" Max hesitated.

"Physics! I didn't wanna hear another thing about it today because of that stupid test...right, Max?" Dawn pushed in.

"Oh....Are you still mad about last night?" Terry asked as he sat down next to her, changing the subject in his whispering tone.

"Of course I'm still angry....But I'm not going to discuss this matter until LATER." Dawn said as she crossed her legs. Terry then pulled out a piece of paper.

"I thought maybe you might wanna look at this..." He said, handing the paper to Dawn and Max. "It's a letter I wrote to Dana telling her how sorry I am." Dawn read it thoroughly, with Max looking over her shoulder.

Dear Dana,

I know that these past couple months have been rough between the two of us, and I thank you so much for supporting me this whole time, even though it meant we spent less time together. Yesterday, you had every right to be mad. It's always, 'my job' this, and 'my job' that. I'm extremely sorry for what I have been doing, and I want to make it up to you, and try to make this better for the both of us. I want to sit down with you and talk to you so we can work it out....together. I hope you take this and think about it. I love you lots as always.

Terry

Dawn looked at it and then glanced up at him.

"So....what do you think?" Terry asked.

"I think it's good." Max complimented. Terry then looked over at Dawn. "What about you Dawn? Does it get the 'Special Dawn approval' award?" He asked. Dawn glanced down at the paper.

"It's very good, Ter." She replied. "I think it's gonna get her." Terry grinned.

"Good." He said.

"I think, after you do that, you should give her a call. That'll show that you're really trying with her." Dawn suggested.

"Yeah, and then sweet talk her." Max added.

"Hm....I think I'll try that. Thanks guys." Terry thanked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was time for gym, and the boys were doing some gymnastics while the girls were playing softball. Terry was just doing a flip off the vault and landed perfectly. The guys began to clap and cheer.

"Amazing, McGinnis!" One guy said.

"It looks like you've studied gymnastics for a long time.." Another said.

"Actually, it was karate." Terry corrected him. He sat down and the rest of the guys watched the girls play their game. Two guys came up to Terry and sat down next to him.

"So, level with us, McGinnis...." One said. "I know you have been going out with Dana, but what about Dawn? How far have gotten with her?" Terry looked at him in surprised.

"What?" He asked.

"Don't play innocent with us. We know you work with her...I mean, c'mon, what a chance to work with a girl like that."

"I bet you made out with her...."

"HELL NO!" Terry retorted.

"Liar.....And I bet you've even done it to her once or twice....right?"

"With a dorky chick like THAT?!" Terry asked. She was just then up to bat, laughing and chatting with the other girls, Terry just watched, his heart thumping for some odd reason.

"Man, is she hot." The one said.

"Yeah...I'd like to go out with her!" Another said.

"She's not hot." Terry grumbled. "Besides, she's already got someone she likes." He turned his head away from the game and all of a sudden, the ball Dawn hit went backwards. Everyone looked back from the field to see that the ball hit Terry in the cheek.

"Hey, McGinnis," One said. "You've got karate reflexes, right?" One asked. "How come you didn't dodge the ball?"

"I had something on my mind." Terry groaned, as the ball slipped from his face, as if he didn't feel it...but he did.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I'm sorry..." Dawn said. "Does it hurt?" Terry was silent as he waited for the nurse to come in. "Oh, forget it! I've already apologized like a million times."

"Okay." Mr. Tilmitt said as he came into the room. "Let's take a look at that wound....Hmm...the impression of that baseball...Dawn hit it, right?"

"Huh?" Terry asked. "How did you....?"

"With an impression that deep, a bruise that big...who else?" Mr. Tilmitt asked.

"Man. You mean she even hits a BALL like a savage?!" Terry asked.

"WHAT?!" Dawn blurted out. "It was your fault for not paying attention!!!"

"But so what...eh? What's wrong with being active?" Mr. Tilmitt said.

"Macho..." Terry mumbled to himself.

"But...But...." Dawn repeated.

"It just means you're healthy!" Mr. Tilmitt explained.

"Or sexless." Terry added in his low tone.

"Would you SHUT UP?!" Dawn shouted at him.

"All right. Settle down, now. I have to apply the disinfectant...so hold still." Suddenly, a teacher came in. She was in her early thirties and she was very pretty, a woman that Mr. Tilmitt liked. Once he saw her, he wasn't paying attention and cracked Terry's neck to the side so it would stay there. Dawn looked at him in shock.

"Hello Miss Satsuki." Mr. Tilmitt said.

"Umm...Doctor?" Terry began.

"I just thought I heard something." Miss Satsuki said and then turned to Terry. "Are you all right, Terry?"

"Oh, he's fine....he'll be okay." Mr. Tilmitt replied.

"Doctor?"

"That's good...Here's the books I borrowed. Thank you again for letting me borrow them."

"You're welcome."

"Doctor!!!!"

"Hm? What's the matter, Terry?" Mr. Tilmitt said as he turned to him.

"My NECK!!!"

"Another injury? What'll I do with you, Terry?" He then flipped it to the other side and, Terry couldn't move it from the other side.

"I'm going to get you something to drink, all right?" Mr. Tilmitt said and left.

"DOCTOR!!!" Terry said and then just gave up. "Forget it....I'll do it myself later." He got up and left, with Dawn following.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Three o'clock, Dawn read her watch as she took her bookbag out of her locker. School was out and it was time where she could go meet Josh. She had her doubts. Dawn thought about how ticked Bruce would be if she were late. I'm always on time, so maybe this time he'll slide it, she thought. When she shut her locker, she found Terry coming up to her, with his neck still in the same position it was earlier.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

"Umm, actually, Ter...." Dawn began. "I have some business to take care of so....could you cover for me from Bruce until I get there?"

"Business?" Terry repeated.

"Yeah. I need to do something. Okay?" She asked.

"All right. I'm gonna go drop off that letter now, before Dana gets to her locker." Terry said and walked off. He was so excited, anxious to see the look on Dana's face. Terry walked down the halls, and just as he was about to reach her locker when turning the corner, he saw something. There were two people in front of Dana's locker, kissing. It turned out, once Terry was able to see their faces, saw that it WAS in fact, Dana and another guy. Terry's heart sank. Seeing that image just shattered him into millions of pieces. He took his letter, angrily crumbled it up, and then threw it out, walking away with a broken heart.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn walked out of the school and looked around. No Josh, she thought, frowning. Maybe he was just setting me up or something. She then decided that she should walk home without Terry, thinking he already left. She started her walk and then she heard, "Hey! Dawn!". Dawn turned around to find Josh running up to her.

"I didn't think I'd find you..." He huffed.

"Sorry. I didn't see you, so I thought I'd walk home." Dawn explained.

"So, it looks like you changed your mind, I see." Josh smirked.

"Yeah, I did." She responded.

"Well, I hope you're hungry. I wanted to take you somewhere that I think is the coolest." Josh said, taking her by the hand and they walked to a small cafe that was a couple blocks away. They got a seat in a booth and ordered their drinks.

"So..." Dawn began when she sat back in her seat. "What made you decide to come to Hamilton High, anyway?"

"Tons of reasons..." Josh replied. "I wanted a better school to be at....My parents wanted to move...plus, I heard that in this school, there are a lot of pretty girls...and man, I heard so right. Especially you...You're queen of them all."

"Well, thanks," Dawn blushed. "I don't get that compliment very often."

"But, lemme ask you somethin'....How come, a pretty girl like you, doesn't have a popular boyfriend? I heard that Nelson guy, he really likes you."

"Nelson?? No...He's not my type. Nelson is a complete jerk. I've slapped him a couple times in the face for him asking me out on a date a lot, taking no for an answer, AND yet he still keeps coming back. But the reason why I haven't had a boyfriend is because I haven't found Mr. Right....I know he's out there, right under my nose, I just...haven't looked hard enough. That's my problem."

"I see." Josh said. Time flew by fast and once Dawn looked at her watch to see that she had been talking with him for two hours. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no! My boss' gonna kill me! I'm sorry, Josh, but I have to get going. I have some work to do." Dawn said as she gathered her things and was just about to leave.

"Bye Dawn." Josh said and kissed her again on the lips, this time, it was even more sweet than the last, but suddenly, something rushed through her body and she felt something weird.. "I'll see you around." She looked at him, stunned, then nodded her head and running out the door to get to Wayne Manor, trying to not worry about it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"She'll be here..." Terry reassured Bruce as he sat in his chair.

"By the way..." Bruce said as he looked at him. "What happened to your neck?"

"You don't wanna know...." Terry groaned. Suddenly, The doors bursted open with a rather exhausted Dawn. She dropped to her knees, feeling like she couldn't make another step.

"I'm...here....don't....start anything....yet...." She puffed heavily.

"You're two hours late....why?" Bruce asked.

"I had a couple errands I needed to work with." Dawn lied. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Bruce asked.

"Something happened to me." Dawn began. "I...I don't really know how it happened, but it did....I had...supernatural powers."

"That's a laugh." Terry chuckled, while Dawn looked at him in a very scary look. "There's no way you coould have super-powers."

"I'm not lying!" Dawn replied. "I broke a light on the way over and slammed people into walls without effort....It was so weird."

"Oh, c'mon, Dawn. Do you really believe this? Even for you..." Terry began. "C'mon, I'll prove it to you in an arm-wrestling match."

"You're on." Dawn said as the two laid on the floor. Bruce shook his head in disbelief. "Ready.....Set......Go!!" Before, Terry knew it, his hand was down, and the rest of his body went right through the floor. He laid there, stunned, but then got back up.

"That was just luck..." Terry said and then got back into his laying position."One more time!

*slam*

"One more time!

*slam*

"One more time!

*slam*

"I'm not finished yet!"

*slam*

"Somebody up there really likes me!" Dawn said, after beating Terry so many times.

"You should have quit while you still had a little pride left." Bruce said as he smacked Terry upside the head.

"I better get going. You guys keep on talking and do your thing. I've got some work of my own to work on." She said and walked upstairs, leaving the two confused.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Too much, Dawn thought to herself as she flipped through pages of a big, fat, old book. Not likely to work in this day of age....Too stupid.....Grr! How will I ever find it?! Abruptly, something had caught her eye. She looked at it carefully and smiled. Perfect, she thought. Dawn marked the page in the book and brought it downstairs into the batcave. Time for my plan, Dawn thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"....Dawn?" Terry called out as he walked down into the batcave. There was no answer, so he went in and noticed her silent, but facing the glass case with the Batgirl suit in side, and with her hands pressing up against the case. She was so silent, and so still. Dawn concentrated hard on the suit, thinking about all the different buttons and gadgets used, mentally using them over and over again. Terry glanced at her confused, having no idea what she was doing. She looked so sad for some odd reason and it was bothering Terry. He suddenly went up to her and made a funny face. She was caught off guard and her first reaction was to slam his neck down to the ground.

"What do you want???!"

"Hmph. You don't seem down too down." Terry said, as he laid on the ground.

"Surely you don't expect me to believe that you came to cheer me up?" Dawn said in her casual tone.

"And why shouldn't you believe it?" Terry said as he got up, noticing something. "Hey. Hey! My neck! It's cured!"

"In that case...since you're neck is better...do you have a moment?" Dawn asked.

"Sure." Terry replied as he held his neck.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn wanted to train herself by fighting Terry, so she used all her might to throw out some kicks. All Terry did was jump out of the way. It began to frustrate her because he wasn't doing anything. "C'mon! Fight back!!!" She said.

"But..." Terry began.

"How can I work out any stress....if you won't fight back?!" Dawn said as she threw out more punches.

"Dawn...." Terry began. "Don't you ever get tired of being angry?"

"You're the one who gets me this way! And besides....That's MY business!" Dawn said as she kicked, but again, missed.

"Okay. But y'know..." Terry said. "...You're cute when you smile." Dawn stopped, a little hesitant and then Terry tripped her to fall to the ground. He walked over to her and then pressed his finger on his forehead.

"Blew it." He said and walked off, whistling.

"That...." Dawn said. "That was dirty! That didn't count!"

"Dawn?" He called to her before he left. "I forgot to tell you....Bruce has been asking for you...."

"Oh...?" Dawn said, as she got up.

"And I was wondering...what were you just doing now?"

"With what?"

"With your suit."

"It's something my father taught me a long time ago...It's called dousing."

"Dousing? What's that?"

"It's a form of technique used for concentration....I don't just want to use the Batgirl suit anymore....I want to become it when I fight."

"But Dawn....it's just a suit....It's nothing like a mechanical machine."

"Yeah, I know. It may be a suit....but I want it to obey my every thought so I can become quicker when the upcoming battle comes against Vega..... I want to be prepared for him." Dawn said as she looked back at the glasscase.

"Speaking of being prepared," Bruce said as he walked down the steps. "You both better go suit up. I found Vega's right near the St. John's Church..."

"Church??" Terry asked.

"Yeah, now get out there...." Bruce said and sat in his usual seat. Terry got into his Batman suit and by the time he got out, he still saw Dawn where she was. "Aren't you coming?"

"Oh, yeah..." She said. She concentrated on the glass, and all of a sudden, the suit transfered right from the case onto her body. Bruce and Terry watched her with peculiar looks on their faces.

"This is gonna be fun...." Dawn said aloud and ran into the batmobile, waiting for Batman to come in. He followed her in, jumping into his seat and turned it on.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"There they are...." Batgirl said walked over to a window from the top of the church. "just like Bruce said."

"But of all places to steal...why a church?" Batman asked.

"Good question...." She replied.

"Let's go find out."

"Right." Batgirl answered and the two set off

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Did anyone find it?" Vega asked the men as they ripped the place apart.

"Not yet..." One said.

"I got it!" Someone finally answered. Vega turned around and walked to the guy that called out. The man looked at him and gave him the object. It was a mirror that had jems on it.

"This is it...." Vega awed as he held it in his hands. "This is exactly what we came for and now we're partly done. Good work." Suddenly, there was a break of silence by two men being thrown into the wall from guarding the door. Both Batman and Batgirl came running in.

"Aren't you being a little rude on taking things from a church? Or tell us that you're making confession...." Batman grinned.

"Stay outta this, Batman...You have no right to barge in on our operation!" Vega retorted.

"Wanna bet?" Batgirl replied. "You guys ain't goin' nowhere until we get answers."

"Really....?" Vega said in his sly evil voice. "We'll just have to see about that!" He charged at her with extreme force, but it seemed that Dawn was too quick. She was on a turbo mode and it didn't seem normal for her because it didn't seem like herself. Wait a minute....Batman thought. She's using her dousing technique. He then got in to help her fight. She was on a role. What really caught the men off-guard was that her baterangs appeared out of nowhere and hit them without her even using her hands to get them out. One, after the other, kept falling to the ground. Eventually, when they were all on the ground, Batgirl looked around to see that something was missing....Vega.

"He's gone...!" Batgirl said, shocked.

"Vega disappeared again..." Batman said.

"I'm going to go look for him...!" She said, just as she was about to leave.

"Wait!" Batman called to her. "We don't have to go after him now. Besides, we retrieved the item that they were looking for and he's probably long-gone. There's no way you'll find him." Batgirl looked down at the ground in disbelief.

"I knew I coulda had him....I just need him to stick around so I can get to face him..." She said as she clenched her fist. "How are we ever going to beat him if he keeps disappearing?!"