Chapter 4: Predetermined Fate

"This doesn't look good..." Max said as she walked towards the lifeless body.

"No kidding..." Bruce replied.

"Somethings' wrong! Ter, Say something!" Dawn said as she shook him hard. "Snap out of it, Terry!"

"It's like there's no sign of life in there...." Bruce said. The batsuit stood on it's own, blood dripping, with Terry still in it. They couldn't remove the cowal from his head and it wouldn't budge.

"Terry, if you hear my voice, make some kind of signal that you're still alive....!" Dawn cried. One of his fingers twitched, and the suit just magically disappeared back into the case, letting Terry fall to the ground. Dawn kneeled down to him to help him up. He was covered in blood and his wounds looked enormous. "Oh, God, Terry!!!" Dawn shrieked in fear.

"We have to do something!" Max and Bruce then helped her get him onto the table, and as they were doing it, Dawn thought of the vision with Terry. It's the same one...they're predictions of the future....I get it now....I saw Terry get hurt...and I didn't say a thing....I coulda stopped it....

"What have I done...?" Dawn said as she buried her face into her hands.

"Dawn, this isn't your doing.." Bruce explained.

"No, you don't understand....It's all my fault...I showed him how....and I saw this coming in my vision...."

"You showed him...?" Max repeated.

"Yeah...Well, not directly, never thinking about him ever trying it....he never knew the side-effects to them..and I never told you about the other part I saw in the vision where it had Terry all wounded like this..."

"So, how do we fix this?" Bruce demanded. Dawn's face went even further into her hands.

"I don't know....I've never had to deal with the problem...." She replied.

"Isn't there a reverse on this in the book?" Max asked.

"No, there's nothing....There's nothing we can do...Nothing I can do...." Dawn responded, then feeling tears coming. She then thought of something. She looked over at Terry's Batsuit, and then looked at him, having something click in her head. "Wait, Bruce....Look at the suit, and then look at Terry....notice something?"

"The same marks, but that's what happens when he is hurt badly..." Bruce replied.

"Yeah, but something went on right after Vega left. It was like he was talking to someone and was mentally attacking him....That's the power of what happens when you don't use the dousing right. It takes emotions and distorts them many times over and is turned into emotional pain and fear......Terry's wounds also look like they're coming in from the inside..."

"What are you getting to, Dawn?"

"I'm saying, when he did the dousing trick, he was mentally hurt, therefore, that's where the wounds came from....from the suit itself...."

"That's crazy...."

"It's not Bruce....Look, I have an idea...it's a longshot, but I think it might work, if we just fix the batsuit, Terry's wounds will heal as well...it's worth a try. If we don't do something now, we're going to lose him...." Dawn explained. Bruce was silent. He looked over at Terry, who was still laying on the desk, then glanced back at Dawn. "Let's start. I'll work on the suit while you hold Terry down...I imagine it will be very painful for him."

"Thanks, Bruce." She said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!" Terry shouted at the top of his lungs while Dawn held him down with all her strength. "C'mon, Ter, you've got to hang in there....I know you can. Just bare the pain!" Dawn grunted. Bruce worked long and hard on the suit, trying to repair it as fast as possible so Terry could have less pain. He looked over at Dawn as she held him tight, but then something about her that seemed strange. Dawn felt like she was losing all her energy in her body, and before she knew it, she was out cold. Bruce stopped working and quickly went to her aid.

"Dawn!!" He said. Bruce began shaking her, but it was useless.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn slowly opened her eyes and looked up. A sky? She asked herself. But I thought I was at the bat cave....where in the world am I? Did I die..? She got up, and then suddenly, she saw something fly over her. Dawn looked up, not to find a bird, but a man, with wings on his back. There were many people with wings. I don't understand...what is all this? She turned to see a massive tree not too far away, but then, she saw a figure under it. Dawn then ran over to it, going past a bridge. Once she got close enough, she found that it was Terry, holding his legs in, and his face buried in it. Dawn walked over and stopped in front of him.

"Terry....?" She asked. "Let's go...Bruce and Max are waiting..." There was no motion for the reply. Something didn't seem right to her. Dawn crouched down to get a glimpse of his face. He was shivering...not a cold shiver...but a scared shiver. His eyes were black, and it looked like he wasn't going to move. Just then, there was an earthquake. Dawn fell to the ground, and then noticed that the whole place was burning.

"What...?! What the....!" She went over to Terry and began to shake him. "Terry! You've got to get up! This whole thing is burning!" But once, again, he wouldn't budge.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"It's been too long," Bruce said, as he still continued to work on the suit. "We need to bring at least one of them around, or they'll both die!" Max growled and went over to Dawn.

"DAWN!!!" She shouted. "Wake up! Get you're act together!!! Go and save Terry!!! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!!!!" Max then, got so irritated she began to slap Dawn.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"TERRY!!! DAWN!!!" Dawn looked up in surprise. Is that...Max? She thought "Terry, Dawn! Come baaaaaack!!!" Suddenly, there was a flash of light that surrounded the two. The area that they were in began to crumble and they fell right in, plunging to the bottom.

"Terry!! Come on!!! LISTEN!!!!" Dawn shouted as she held onto Terry even tighter. "TERRY!!!" The color then returned back to his eyes and before they knew it, they were flying up towards the light. But....how? Dawn said. Dawn looked around and saw nothing that was carrying them, but they were going back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn's body began to slowly slide off Terry, and eventually, pulled Max to the ground. She awoke and the two gasped. Terry slowly opened his eyes and sat up. After the LONG, hard, painful "surgery", everything had come to an end. The Batsuit was finished, and Terry's wounds had vanished. Dawn took off his bandages and saw that there wasn't even a scratch on him. Max sighed in relief, but then she heard Dawn grunt, because she felt the pain of her cheek from when Max had slapped her while she was unconscious. Max then realized it, and lowered her head.

"Hey, Max...." Dawn groaned, and Max started to laugh nervously. Dawn's frown then turned into a smile. "It's all because of you." Max looked at her with a confused look on her, then Dawn went to her and hugged her saying "Thank you!", because they could've died. Once she was done, she looked over at Terry, who seemed to be fine, but then went back to the frown.

"Well, it looks like your little theory worked, Dawn." Bruce smiled. Dawn wasn't paying attention because she was distracted by Terry with some anger. The two looked at each other in silence. Bruce looked at the two, noticing they were making no movements. "Umm, excuse me....?' Dawn broke out of her trance.

"Oh, sorry..." She said, while Terry scratched the back of his head.

"Terry...." Bruce asked. "Do you feel any pain at all?"

"None..." He replied. Terry looked at Dawn to see that she had a somewhat angry look on her face. "Dawn, I know what you're thinking, and I don't even want you go there...I know what I did!"

"Terry, you-"

"Borrowed you're book? Yeah, and the only reason why I did was because I wanted to become stronger so I could take out Vega myself. I don't need you to worry about me!"

"Cut it out you two!" Bruce said firmly, but they continued.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who said you were going to get Vega?? He's mine, and you're not going to take him out! And besides, what makes you think that you can use that trick?! You almost killed yourself because of it! Not knowing the proper instructions for it-!"

"I don't care! I wanted to finish him off and I just didn't need you around or anything! You don't help at all!" Terry said angrily.

"Guys, stop it!" Max shouted. Dawn was silent, and then her anger flared, making her slap Terry in the face.

"What is your problem?! Why are you being so pig-headed?? And YOU DO need my help! Without me, you could've died tonight! I was scared because of that and I was really worried! You know, I shouldn't even have saved you! I shoulda left you there to die!" Dawn said, feeling tears drop, and she ran upstairs to go to her room. Terry just stood there.

"I'm bailin'...I have no reason to be here." He stormed off.

"Wait a minute. Aren't you going to apologize to Dawn?" Max asked.

"Apologize?? She's the one that slapped me!"

"You're the one who made her come to that. Dawn never hurts out of anger like that. You really made her angry her enough to even hit you. If you ask me, you deserved it. Afterall, she DID save you and figured out how to heal your wounds. Without her; you'd be dead." Terry was still, but denied it inside of himself, walking off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terry slammed the door shut after he walked into his room. He was so angry, that he punched the wall. Terry sat on the side of his bed and ran his hand through his thick, black, hair and made a sigh. What am I doing...? He finally thought. I made Dawn cry....Bruce was right. If it weren't for her; I'd be a gonner. I don't know what came over me to even say those things to her. What was I thinking? I was sucha jerk to her.... He then got back up. I should go apologize, Terry thought. I don't know....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn paced in her room back and forth. She looked at the phone, but then turned away.

"No, I shouldn't..." She said to herself and then realized something. "Wait! He's the one who should call and apologize! Why should I call him?!" Dawn crossed her arms. "I'm not going to worry about him right now anyways. I should be thinking about how I can stop Vega....Right...." She said as she looked through her spell book on her bed. She paged through, and all of a sudden, she felt a gust of wind that made her back shiver. Dawn stopped, and slowly looked around. She then looked up and saw that a man was coming from the top, lunging at her. She let out a scream in fear. He took his sword out and thrusted it at her. She dodged out of the way to let the sword stick into her bed. The man kicked her off the bed, and Dawn encountered by pulling the bed sheets to make him fall over.

"Who...who are you?!" She asked.

"Where is the sacrafice?" He answered, lunging at her once more. She jumped away from him.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She replied.

"Then you shall die, Batgirl!" He shouted.

"Wh, what did you just say?!" Dawn asked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So, you're deciding to come back here to apologize?" Bruce asked on the telephone.

"Yeah. I think Dawn deserves it and it's better this way then on the phone..." Terry replied.

"It's good that you're going to make-up....Because if you didn't.....I'd have to kill the both of you." Bruce grinned.

"Ouch...That's harsh." Terry smiled. Suddenly, Bruce heard a loud scream. "What was that?! Was that Dawn??"

"I think it was. You better get over here right now!" Bruce said. He got up from his chair and walked upstairs as quickly as possible.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn slammed her back up against a wall hard. She came back at the man with a hard punch. Just then, four other men came in and helped out in attacking her. Dawn took a lamp stick and used it as a bow. She slammed the bulb side at one of them and missed. She brought it back up, and thrusted it at one. It kept missing until a man used his sword to cut it in half. He pushed her back into the wall, and took her by the hair. She held his hand firmly, and just as she was about to be cut by the sword, she jumped out of the way. Dawn kneed him into the stomach, following with a inside-out creasing kick, missing yet again. Two men took her by the arms and held her down.

"Now tell me Batgirl....where is the sacrafice? We know you know where he is...!" One of them said as he used his claw to slash her arm. Dawn let out a scream in pain.

"......Who's HE?!!!" She asked.

"Don't act stupid! If you don't tell us...you're gonna regret it!" One said pulling out his sword. Dawn used her legs and kicked them backwards. She then rolled under the man's legs, following a kick into his back. Another from behind pulled her by the hair once more. She held his hand and did a spin kick by his feet to knock him over. He encountered by kicking Dawn in the face. She rolled back and fell into the sofa.

"Do you think you at that boy could stop the reunion? Once we find the sacrafice, we can proceed and enter the Promised Land. Vega expects the sacrafice pronto!" The man said while the rest of them came up from behind. Dawn took the sofa by her hands and threw it at them. She followed up by using an axe kick. One rolled away and got up, by only to be slapped by Dawn's foot. She got on her two hands and performed a helicopter spin kick. She got back up and punched the man in the face to fall back down. Dawn then stepped on his chest with one foot and the other went onto his face. She twisted hard and he let out a scream in the biggest amount of pain. She jumped off him. He held his face and looked up at her to see her in her fighting stance.

"My...my beautiful face is ruined.....You bitch! I'll make you suffer!!! Get her!!!!" He shouted, while the others started to gang up on her. Meanwhile, Bruce walked upstairs quickly to see what was going on. Ace went ahead of him and went straight for Dawn's room. He barked consistantly and tried to claw on the door. Once Bruce got to it, he tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Dawn!!" He shouted so she could hear him. Dawn got up, and looked over at the door.

"Bruce!! Help!!" She shouted, but another man kicked her right into the stomach.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terry rode his motorcycle as fast as he could over to Wayne Manor. He took a lot of shortcuts, and made sure that nothing got in his way. Please, Dawn, he thought to himself. Please be all right. If anything happens to you.....I'll never forgive myself...ever.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Another man took his sword and was just about to slash Dawn, but she quickly rolled, only to get hacked into the stomach. Once she looked up, she saw one of them doing an arial in the air, so she rolled out, and he jumped onto the boards that supported the cieling. Dawn then ran up the wall quickly, and used it as a push off to hit him with a flying sidekick. She used a punch to knock him off. Dawn jumped off it and was about to stomp right on him. He saw her and then crouched together with his feet on top. Both of their feet touched, and he pushed her back up in the air. Just as Dawn was coming back down, she noticed that he had his sword at hand. She caught onto one of the boards, and swung herself hard over to the wall. Dawn then pushed off of it once more into a backflip and then used a tornado kick. She fell to her knees, feeling like she was going to faint. Her eye sight was blurry, but then she shook it away. A guy came up from behind her and elbowed her in the back. Dawn fell onto the floor. She back-kicked him, and took his sword. She went up to him and knocked him out. She turned to one that was trying to get up from the wall, but she turned him around and stuck the blade inches from his face.

"All right! What I wanna know is what you people are talking about? What sacrafice?" Dawn said.

"I won't tell you!" He retorted. Dawn tightened her grip on his neck and held the sword even closer.

"TELL me!"

"......It's the reunion of the lost souls! A sacrafice is needed for this reunion!"

"....Reunion of the.....lost souls?" Dawn repeated. He pushed her into the corner of the nightstand and he walked over to her. Time to erase your memory..... He used two of his fingers from each hand and pressed them against her head. Dawn stood there still, as if it never happened and looked like she was gone mentally.. The man smiled and he used a spell to transport him and the rest of his men out of her room. She slid down against the nightstand, exhausted from the battle. Suddenly, the door bursted open, and she saw that Ace was sniffing around for any bad guys. Bruce followed him in, and then saw Dawn. He walked fast and kneeled down to her level.

"Dawn, what happened?" He asked.

"It was Vega's.....henchman.....They attacked..." Dawn replied.

"What??" Bruce asked. Terry then arrived and found the two. He ran up to them and kneeled close to Dawn.

"Dawn! Dawn!" He said. He picked her up into his arms.

"Let's get her into a different room." Bruce said. Terry nodded and they walked out. He placed her in the room next door, laying her on the bed. He pulled out a chair and sat it next to the bed.

"How did it happen?" Terry asked.

"An attack from Vega."

"Vega?! But why?"

"...They wanted the sacrafice..." Dawn said weakly as she sat up.

"Dawn, save your strength! We need to treat those wounds." Terry said.

".....The need the sacrafice for...." Dawn repeated. "the reunion of the lost souls...They know who we are.....and they thought....we had the sacrafice...."

"What's that?" Terry asked.

"Let's talk about this tomorrow. Right now, Dawn needs to rest. I'll go get the bandages." Bruce said. He walked out of the room with Terry following, but he stopped. He turned back around to see Dawn settling back in the bed slowly.

"Dawn..." He began. She looked up at him. "Look....we need to talk."

"..?" Dawn replied.

"....What I said earlier.....I...shouldn't of said those things. I really didn't mean it..I was just so angry."

"....."

"I do need you. You're not a weak partner and I'm glad to have you..."

"........"

"Aren't you going to say something?" Terry began, but Dawn was still silent. "C'mon, Dawn. Hit me! Bash me! I don't care! If it makes you feel better!"

".....Who are you?" She asked. Terry looked at her in silence.

"E, excuse me?" He answered.

"I'm afraid I've never met you before."

"Dawn, it's me....Terry."

"I'm sorry...I don't know you." Dawn said. Terry was shocked. She....She has amnesia...

"Dawn, stay here...I'm going to go get Bruce." He said and walked downstairs real fast. When he was gone, the phone rang that was next to Dawn, and she picked it up.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey, sweetheart." A voice said.

"....Josh?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah...Listen, I heard what happened today at school....are you all right?" He replied.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just a little tired, that's all."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I should be okay....Thanks for asking.."

"Well, I had to know if you were all right. It's not like it was asked by anyone. Plus, I wanted to cheer you up."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Dawn....?" Bruce talked to her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Do you know your name?"

"Why wouldn't I? It's Dawn Grayson...Bruce, why do we have to do these stupid tests?"

"There doesn't seem like there's anytihng wrong with her." Bruce said, turning to Terry.

"That's not possible. Just a while ago...she didn't know who I was." He replied, and then looked at Dawn. "Dawn, say my name."

".....I don't know you're name. I've never met you before." Dawn replied.

"Dawn, cut the crap...you know who I am, and you're just acting stupid!" Terry said, starting to get angry.

"Wait a minute, Terry." Bruce said. "I think she really doesn't know you. She looks clueless when she looks at you."

"How can THAT be?" Terry asked.

"Terry..." Dawn said, thinking.

"Do you remember me now, Dawn?"

"I know!" She said. "It's....a shortened word for a certain amount of areas that are owned on property!" The two fell over in japanese style in disbelief.

"That's 'territories'!" Terry corrected her.

"Oh...well, then....a chicken, with sauce and stuff!"

"That's teriyaki!"

"Maybe it's....." Bruce began. "That old Chinese technique....I think it was called Xi Fa Xiang Shiatsu....."

"What's that?!" Terry asked.

"Using the pressure of your fingers...and then the use of the pressure points to manipulate memory." Bruce asked. "Dawn, did anything happen to you?"

"Yeah...One of the guys that attacked me used his fingers on my head....and then....I felt a little refreshed." Dawn replied.

"That's it!" Terry said. "So then, how do we cure her?"

"Don't know...But in the meantime, we're going to have to try to get her memory back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You guys both look slagged." Max said as she saw Dawn walk in. "Long night last night?"

"No, just got beaten up several times." Dawn said as she slouched into her seat.

"So....any luck with Vega yet?" Max asked.

"Yes...and no." Dawn replied.

"Well, you guys better get some sleep."

"You guys?" Dawn repeated.

"Yeah, you and Terry."

"'Terry'? Who's 'Terry' ?"

"Well, let's start with the guy right behind you." Max replied. Dawn turned around and jumped back in surprise. "Wh-what are you doing here?!"

"Um...I go to school here." Terry replied.

"So, she really did forget you." Max said to Terry.

"She doesn't remember a thing about me." Terry sighed. "Bruce is still trying to work on it."

"Why don't you try doing things she's familiar with in order to get her memory back?" Max asked.

".....Well....Wait....She might say something if....hmm...." Terry thought. Dawn put her head down on her desk, but then suddenly, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She looked up and accidentally met the lips of Josh. What was even more suprising, she didn't let go of the kiss. Terry looked at her in surprise and then looked away, pretending he didn't see it.

"Morning sweetheart..." Josh greeted.

"Morning, Josh." Dawn replied.

"Listen..Uh..I was wondering. After school, do you wanna go hang out for a little while at the cafe?"

"The cafe? Sure." Dawn asked. Terry then turned around. "Wait a minute, Dawn! Aren't you forgetting about work?"

"Who ARE you?!" Dawn asked. Terry fell off his chair in annoyance. Dawn smiled. "Yeah. I'll see you there." Josh gave her his boyish grin and sat at his desk. Dawn then thought of the angel vision. Could he be....? She thought. Could he be the one? Dawn saw an image in her mind where Josh had wings on his back, but then snapped out of it. Wait a second, Dawn! That's completely stupid! An angel....Hah! I don't think that was a vision...it was probably a mix of vision and dream...so the angel was a dream...yeah...that's it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"In other words....She doesn't know who I am." Terry explained. "So...that's why I'm asking......C'mon, Nelson. Beat the crap outta me."

"I'd love to....but I won't. Give it up, Terry...surrender Dawn to me." Nelson replied. Terry looked at him weirdly.

"Exuse me?!" He asked. "She's not my girlfriend, remember!"

"Whatever! I know you have some feelings for her." Nelson replied, and then he began to think, going into a daydream. "A new love is about to be born."

"Terry? Who's that?" Dawn asked

"Heh..Just someone deservedly forgotten." Nelson replied, holding her in his arms, and then returned to reality when Terry stomped his foot onto Nelson's head.

" Think what you want....Don't you think you could....BEND a little on that?" Terry asked.

"I said NO!" Nelson replied as he hit him on the head.

"Please! Trash me! Cream me! I'm begging you!" Terry pleaded as he kicked him in the face.

"Heh...." Nelson replied and then decided to attack him. "I'll rip YOUR HEAD OFF!!!

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Terry replied

POW BAM KRAK! SLAM!! *Nelson is knocked out*

"Ahh! You idiot! I'm supposed to be the one who collapses!" Terry said angrily. Just then, two guys from behind said "We'll help you!", and kicked Terry into the wall unexpectedly.

"Oh, Terry! We heard about you situation! We think you are very brave to do this...You are so good to Dawn! It's so sweet!" One said as he continued to assist the other one in beating up Terry to a pulp. Just then, Dawn walked in and looked at them all in surprise.

"What are you all doing?" She asked.

"Dawn! Isn't it lovely?!" The other guy said as they showed the beaten-up Terry. She stepped back in fright.

"EEee! kill it!" Dawn said.

"Who are you calling 'it'?!" Terry asked in his angry tone.

"And who are you again?" Dawn asked.

"TERRY! TERRY MCGINNIS!!!" He retorted.

"Hmmmm...." The one guy said, thinking he needed more of a beating to help Dawn and then threw Terry to the wall.

"Hey! Don't pick on this poor weakling!" Dawn demanded. "I'll fight you if you want!"

"HEY!" Terry began. "You keep outta this!"

"And why should I, weakling?" Dawn asked.

"Who do you think I'm TAKING this for anyway?!" Terry asked. "You know something?! I'm sorry I ever said you were cute!" Just then, something had triggered in her mind.

"Said....I'm cute?" She repeated.

"eh?!" One guy began. "Say it again, Terry!

"I'm sorry I ever said you were cute!" Terry repeated. Dawn thought of that saying and it ran through her head a millions times.

"She's responding! Terry--make it meaner!" The other said.

"Now that's something I'm good at!" Terry began*now this was a really hard thing to come up with...don't know why I wanted rhymes, but I did* "Macho Chick! Built like a stick! Dumb as a brick! Thighs are too thick! Can't even kick!"

"You cad! " Nelson shouted and hit Terry on his head."How can you say that to Dawn?!"

"I thought you were dead." Terry said. The words repeated in Dawn's mind and it was coming back to her.

"TE--TE--" She began and then, she said. "TERRY, YOU JERK! ", and she slapped him across the face. He fell over and hit his face on the ground.

"A...about time you...began...to remember...." He groaned as he shook his head.. "The....crap...I take...for you..."