Chapter 6: The Decision

Dawn had awaken a couple hours later on a couch. Everthing came rushing back. Where's Terry? She thought. He saved me....he was the angel in my vision...Dawn walked down the steps into the batcave, with Terry sitting on the table. His wings were still out, and his face was buried into his hands in shame. She walked closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder, but he removed it, refusing her comfort. Bruce then walked downstairs and sat in his chair and faced the two.

"This is very...odd." He began. "What happened to have Terry become like this? Did any of them do anything to you?"

"I didn't see anything that happened, but my guess is that they put some kind of fluid in him and he's probably turning into a monster. They must have done it when I fell off..." Dawn replied.

"No....They didn't..." Terry said softly.

"Then...why do you have wings on your back?" Bruce asked.

"....Because I was born this way....." Terry replied, feeling even worse.

"You were....born with them?" Dawn repeated.

"How?" Bruce asked.

"I guess it was an inherited thing. I discovered them when I was very young. My mother has them, and Matt probably does too, but doesn't know about them yet..."

"Then...you must be....A Dertorian." Dawn said.

"A what?" Terry asked.

"Dertorians lived as people with supreme powers, powers that could have surpassed the Gods way back when." Bruce said. Suddenly, Dawn got images of a place where there were many Dretorians. It looked like it was a very beautiful and happy place. "They grew very proud of their newfound powers.." She continued, just recieving the information as if she were reading a book. "But it was not enough....They used their powers and created a machine that takes human strength and changed it into engergy.... It made them omniscient and omnipotent. They sprouted wings apon their backs and even changed their shape. However....The Gods became jealous over it and decided to destroy the Dertorians....using more than enough power to cause destruction to Earth....Only a few were spared....a few to tell the story as to what happened on that tradgic day...." Dawn then wobbled a little, from seeing the intense images of fire and burning of the Dertorians. That was the same thing with....where Terry almost died...that's where we were.

"Where did you learn that?" Bruce asked. Dawn shook her head.

"I...I dunno...It just came to me...Probably apart of the visions..." Dawn said, then turning to the depressed Terry. "That means...somewhere along your line of a family tree...was a surviving Dertorian. So why did you hide them from us...? From me...?"

"I was embarrassed...I couldn't show them to anybody....too ashamed to say anything to anyone about them....I would've been considered a freak....the thought of rejection.... I should have never brought them out into the opening...." He said as he turned away. Dawn walked up to him.

"I think there's nothing wrong with them...actually I think they're beautiful...." Dawn blushed. Terry then looked up at her in surprise.

"....."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Ter." Dawn said. "If it weren't for them, I would be laying on a pile of sharp rocks." She then gave him a hug, to soothe him of his depression. His face began to blush a little, having Dawn that close to him. "I promise I'll keep this a secret, if you want me to...."

"Thanks Dawn..." Terry said, a little relieved, making the hug a little tighter.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Come to us..Come help us....!" A voice said. Dawn looked around in the darkness. She turned herself around in circles to look for the person, but there was absolutely no one there.

"What do you want from me?" Dawn asked.

"Come to us....Come help us....we need you...." Another repeated. Dawn, who was completely frightened of the whole thing. Thinking it might be Vega, she called out to him.

"All right! Vega, if you're doing this....you win! I'm scared now! Just please make it stop! I don't want to see OR hear anymore of this!!" She said, her voice quivering. "I know you're trying to do this just to torture me and it has worked! Now that you've tortured me enough, please stop!!! Just quit it!!!" More voices came to her, repeating the same thing over and over again. Dawn dropped to her knees and held her ears again. All of a sudden, she began to spin in circles. She couldn't stand it....The voices kept getting louder and louder, making Dawn's ears feel like they were going to rip, like they were using nails on a chalkboard. She kept going faster and faster, never knowing when she'd stop.

"EYAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" She shouted.

Finally, she woke up, sweating. Dawn breathed in heavily. She put her head on her knees and began to cry. I can't stand this anymore...I can't go on like this....If this keeps this up....if this keeps this up....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terry was sleeping peacefully. He hadn't had a chance to get an early sleep like this. When he was sleeping, the phone next to him on his nightstand rang. His eyes opened slowly as he looked over at his phone and clock. The clock showed 4:32 a.m on it and Terry groaned. Don't tell me that Bruce wants me to go back out there again...I just got to sleep an hour ago! He picked up the phone and answered. ".....Hello?", but there was no answer. All he heard on the other line was sniffling and crying. "Who is this?"

"Hi Ter...." A voice spoke up. Terry sat up against the bed post and actually put to the phone up to his other ear.

"........Dawn?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's me...." Dawn said as she wiped her eyes.

"Dawn, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"My eyes are a little tired, that's all." She lied. "My eyes always get watery when I'm up this late...."

"You sound like you were just crying."

"No, I wasn't." Dawn denied once more. "Listen....um...Don't worry about picking me up tomorrow...okay?"

"Why not?"

"I'm just going to be a little late to school...don't worry about me, though. I'll be okay."

"What's going on, Dawn? I need to know...."

"I'm okay...really. I'll explain it to you tomorrow..I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Dawn said. "I better go, okay? I'm sorry I got you up so late just to tell you..."

"That's okay...." Terry said. "Bye....."

"Bye." Dawn said and hung up, while Terry still had the phone up to his ear, then placing it on the hook. He sighed. I wonder what that was all about? He thought. She seemed like she was really hurting....I know she didn't want to tell me only because she probably doesn't want the help....I just want to try to comfort her. She's been through so much...She's not alone either....Dawn has me....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Bruce?" Dawn called out when she walked around. He heard her voice and he walked out of his room. He saw her and the called her name. Dawn turned around to find him right there. "What's the matter?" Bruce asked.

".....I can't sleep." She said. "There's something that has been bothering me that I needed you to check on the computer....please?" Bruce looked at her and smiled....something that was very rare. He walked downstairs with Dawn following and went into the bat cave. He sat in his chair and turned it on.

"What did you want to check out?" Bruce asked.

"My background as an ancient." Dawn said. Bruce, surprised, searched through it and came up with a whole history of it. "What do you think you might find in the history?"

"I'm hoping to find out if my hypothesis is right..." Dawn said. She skimmed through paragraphs until something caught her eye. "I was right....'Ancients have the power to see into the future. They start at an early age of seventeen, and at times the visions can be painful' ....So, it wasn't Vega who was making me see those things....it was all me all this time and I never even knew it."

"Didn't Raine ever explain anything to you about the Ancient's history?"

"No. She was supposed to...but she never got the chance to." Dawn said as she lowered her head.

"Oh...." Bruce replied. "Dawn, I've been thinking this matter over for quite some time now....This has gotten to be a little hard on you, so I thought maybe you should get out of town for a while until this whole thing blows over...or maybe even longer."

"Why?"

"Because. Maybe it's best if Terry takes down Vega instead of you....and you're only making yourself suffer by staying here in Gotham with these visions...If you read carefully, the visions will diminish if you move away from that area. So, if we get you out of here, it should keep you safe. I can arrange a place for you to stay at, if you want." Dawn stared down at the ground. She didn't want to go away so Terry could take on Vega, but then, if she went, then she wouldn't have anymore visions of him or anything else. And Terry wouldn't have to keep trying to save her...risking his own life...and always carrying her burden.

"I think that's a good idea..." Dawn finally said.

"Are you sure?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn arrived to school the next day, feeling like her head was going to blow. Too many things have happened lately, she thought. First, it was Vega that came here for a world destruction as a reunion....then, I get these pounding visions that make me feel like I should kill myself then go through the agony. And now, I find out that Terry is a Dertorian....why....is everything around me causing me to think so much? I mean, yeah, people think a lot, but THIS is rediculous! It's like all these things are coming at me like a bullet. Max then came up to Dawn while she was walking.

"Hey, Dawn." She greeted her.

"Oh...hi, Max." Dawn replied.

"What's wrong, Dawn?"

"Nothing..." Dawn said. "I'm just a little tired..."

"You look it. Have you been getting any sleep?"

"No." Dawn groaned. They walked into class, finding Terry there, waiting. He walked up to the two, with a concerned look.

"Hey, you two...." He said, then turning to Dawn. "Hey, you called and said that you didn't want to be picked up this morning....What's going on? Is something the matter.....? Was it...something I did?" Terry asked, thinking about last night. Dawn shook her head.

"No....it's not that." Dawn replied. "I just needed to be alone....It's just that something happened last night that really got to me. I'm sorry if that offended you in any way." Dawn explained, giving the hint of the visions to Terry. He then got it and nodded.

"I see." Terry said.

"...What?" Max asked, looking at the two. "What happened last night?? Tell me!"

"I'll tell you later at lunch, okay?" Terry said. They got into their seats when the bell rang and all that Terry thought about was Dawn. These visions have probably gotten worse and worse for her....he thought. Poor Dawn. I wish there was something I could do to make them stop. If these visions keep up the pain....who knows what would happen to her. They've got to last for a while. If only....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So, what happened to Dawn last night?" Max asked Terry, when they sat down to a lunch table. "Dawn has these visions that she gets...They're very painful events that she sees that comes from the future."

"Was it like the time in class where she couldn't see anything?" Max asked.

"Yeah. They've been happening a lot, making Dawn suffer. She sees a lot of things and it comes to her all at once. Some of them aren't visions at times, they could just be there to torture her and have no reason to be there at all." Terry explained. Dawn then came up to them, setting her books down and looked over at them.

"Hi." She said.

"Hey..." Terry said as he put his hand on her shoulder for comfort. Dawn, to him, looked very tired.

"Hey, Dawn, did you do that Spanish assignment last night?" Max asked, changing the subject for her. "I didn't have my Spanish dictionary with me, so I couldn't find the error on it....could you help me translate?"

"Well, lemme take a look at it." Dawn said. Max handed her the paper. She looked at it carefully and said, "It looks like that that the verb 'decir' wasn't conjagated it in the present tense...Does that seem right?" Max took back her paper and looked at it.

"Oh, I see. I never noticed that before. I guess I'm not as sharp as I used to be...Thanks." Max said with a smile.

"You're welcome...I missed that the first time around I did the homework too." Dawn said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"We're running out of time..." Terry began as he and Dawn walked down the stairs into the bat cave. Bruce looked over at them in silence. Dawn sat down and sighed. "And it seems that Dawn's visions are getting stronger....Hopefully, once we defeat Vega, they'll stop."

"These visions will never go away, even if we do kill Vega." Bruce said.

"How do you know that?" Terry asked.

"Because they're a trait.....I can't get rid of them..." Dawn said. "Just like being a Dertorian is your trait...There's no way I can get rid of it." Dawn said. The whole cave went silent.

"Terry, there's also something else Dawn and I have to tell you." Bruce said, breaking the silence. Terry looked at Bruce and then at Dawn. "We've decided, after a talk last night, we thought it was best that Dawn should leave town and start a normal life in another area. This has been too hard on Dawn and the visions won't be as bad if we moved her somewhere else."

"What? No, you can't...If you move Dawn somewhere, Vega will be sure to come after her. She's better off being here. I'll protect her, no matter what. Don't you trust me?"

"Terry...." Dawn said in her soft tone.

"Terry, it's not that you can't do it, but it's just that this seems like the best solution."

"Will she ever come back?"

"Probably."

"I don't like 'probably'. I want to be reassured that Dawn will come back."

"Terry, then thing is, I will be able to start my life over in a place that I might be happy in...don't you want me to be happy?" Dawn asked. Terry looked at her in silence."I do want you to be happy but....Nevermind. You go do what you want. I'll be happy with whatever you decide."

"Really?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah." Terry replied. She wrapped her arms around him and said, "Thanks, Ter...Thanks for understanding." He hugged her back, but he felt really awful. Dawn was leaving and she might ever come back, and Terry couldn't bare that.