Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Beyond or any other Batman related characters. Terry and Bruce are just being borrowed because I love them so much. Ok? Ok.

A/N: This is my first Batman Beyond fanfic. I sure choose a controversial pair to write about, eh? Feel free to tell me what I did wrong. smile

Just as Terry McGinnis pulled his bike up the drive of Wayne Manor rain came down in sheets, falling across his shoulders and pelting every muscle on his back with large balls of hail. He ran inside and slammed the door behind him with a loud thud, sighing and shaking his hair out on the plush carpeting without a care.

"Raining?"

He looked up at the sound of the voice and glared. "No, I just jumped in your pool outside. I thought, 'Hey, it's twenty-three degrees out. Why not take a swim in some moldy green water?'"

Terry threw off his jacket on the back of one of Bruce's leather couches and kicked his shoes into the middle of the room. He growled and shook his hair again until he was satisfied enough to look up at the man who'd made him Batman.

"What?"

Bruce's face remained impassive but he could tell something was up. The older man coughed. "Your…you have clothes to change into in the cave, remember?"

Terry's looked down at himself and when he looked back up at Bruce his eyes had softened and he was smiling. "Oh yeah. I forgot."

Bruce smirked just a little and he directed Terry with a turn of his hand. Terry just shook his head and left him alone in the upstairs foyer while he coughed a little louder and ran a hand through his hair.

He really needed to take a shower.

He sighed, closing his eyes.

It was a hassle just to try and keep a straight face with Terry these days, even when he knew he didn't have to. Just one raised eyebrow or one small smirk lit up the boy's face until he…

"I just checked. The news says it's comin' down in sheets and the hail's getting bigger with each one that comes down. I think I might have to stick around a while."

Bruce ran his tongue across the roof of his mouth before he spoke. "Of course. There is plenty of room. You'll have to call your mother first."

Terry eyed him oddly and then shrugged. "No big deal. She'll probably just be jealous I get to sleep in one of those big ol' canopy beds from the turn of the century. You know, girls."

Bruce smiled. "Your mother is as far from being a girl as one could be."

Terry smiled back and he had to tone his own down to keep Terry's from getting any larger. "Yeah, I guess. So…no Bat tonight, yeah? I get to sleep."

"Of course…unless you want to."

Terry gave him a crooked grin and shook his head. "Unless I want to…Bruce you're…hey, that was kinda funny. You been holding out on me?"

Bruce moved himself a few steps so they were closer together and frowned. "Since when do you call me Bruce?"

"Since, like, forever."

"Well…just…don't do it in front of your mother."

Terry frowned and scratched his head. "Oh...kay. You sure are weird tonight. I think I might just be too tired."

He yawned and stretched his arms up in the air, revealing that he hadn't changed out of his wet shirt from earlier. Bruce sighed. "You didn't change."

"Huh?"

"Your clothes, they're still damp. You can…"

Terry put his arm on Bruce's shoulder. "Are you okay? Tired? I can help you to bed or something if…"

Bruce pushed his arm away and growled, "I'm fine. I'm not an invalid."

"I just…"

"Goodnight Terry."

Terry frowned and watched Bruce disappear into a black hallway, sighing when there were no more footsteps. "I was just…being nice."

"There are rooms upstairs that are empty. The one on the…end…is the cleanest."

"I…"

"Goodnight McGinnis."

Terry started to walk towards the voice when he heard a growl from Bruce that made him stop.

"Don't. I…it's late and I'm not myself. I shouldn't be around y…anyone…right now."

"Okay. Goodnight then."

There was no answer and Terry ran a few steps up the stairs to check out the scenery, not aware of the pair of eyes following his every move.

The top floor of the manor was older and had a thin sheet of dust lying across everything he stepped on, which made his path much easier to follow even in his bare feet. He walked to the end after a total of twelve rooms and opened the door to reveal a contradiction of the area outside.

The room was spotless and new, had a large television on the wall with a DVD player, CD player, and VCR all together beside it. Terry ran his hand over the screen and came back with it clean, making him frown.

Who was this for? Did Bruce come up here then?

He turned on the light and gasped when lightning struck outside at the same time.

He walked over and sat on the bed, putting his face in the comforter to see if it was new and smelling Bruce's after-shave.

Yeah…it was his room.

Bruce had given him his room?

He peeled back the comforter and felt silk under his fingers, making him grin.

The Batman had red silk sheets.

Heh.

Terry shook his head and peeled off his shirt, tossing it to the floor. Then he pulled off his jeans and kicked them into the pile as well.

Clad in only black boxer briefs he walked over to the closet and opened it to reveal a row of suit jackets and a row of shirts and a row of…normal shirts.

Hmm.

He saw a bright blue t-shirt and took the material in his hand, pulling just a little and catching it when it fell. The shirt sat scrunched in the palm of his hands and he shook it out, eyes squinting in confusion when he knew why the shirt had caught his attention.

It was his shirt.

He hung it back up and closed the closet door, turning off the light on his way back to the bed.

He lay on his back staring at the ceiling to try and process the information.

Bruce had given him his room.

Bruce had one of his shirts hung up in his closet.

So…

He cursed, grabbing for the phone.

He hadn't called his mom.

He dialed and hummed a little, drumming his fingers against the bed table.

His mother's voice came through his ear and he was glad Bruce didn't have a videophone in his room.

"Hello?"

"Hey, ma…it's me. I got stuck here at Br…Mr. Wayne's. I'm gonna stay the night."

He knew she trusted him, of course.

The reason she paused was because of "Mr. Wayne."

"Stay? Terry are you sure…you're not going to bother him? He's an old man and…"

"I'm sure, mom. Really. Bruce offered. It's cool. It's the weekend anyway and I have to be here in the morning to drive him to the Wayne/Powers meeting in the morning anyway so…it's easier."

She sighed. "Okay honey. I just…I worry."

He smiled. "I know, mom. But I'm fine. Tired, but fine."

"Oh…then you get your rest, honey. You can't make that man late for his own company meeting."

Terry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah…I know. Goodnight, mom."

"Goodnight honey. Sweet dreams."

"You too."

He hung up the phone with a smile on his face, closing his eyes as the sound of the rain came in his earshot.

Just as he was falling asleep he heard someone breathing and heard feet scraping along the carpet.

He yawned and opened his eyes. "Bruce?"

"I…I thought you were asleep."

He sighed. "I was. You…what's goin' on?"

He couldn't see his boss in the darkness but knew he was close. "I just…wanted to make sure you found everything okay."

"Yeah. I'm…found everything okay? What was there to find?"

A pause.

Long, long pause.

Then a hand on his arm rubbing back and forth in a friction. "I…I worry about you sometimes, Terry."

There was a heat streak burning up and down his arm by now and he could feel the warmth from Bruce's hand making its way to his cheeks. "Worry? About me? I'm fine, Mr. Wayne."

He heard a sigh and the hand was taken away.

"I…still…still I worry. I…I just wanted to make sure you were all right. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

Terry lie confused as he heard Bruce make his way out of the room and into the hall with out his cane.

His breathing was labored and he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

Say he was sorry?

He slid out of the bed and went to catch him before he was gone only to find an empty hallway.

"Damn."

"You shouldn't care what I think. Take care of yourself first."

Terry turned and frowned at the way Bruce was leaning up against the wall without a cane, still able to get around. "Doesn't your…whatever it is that's wrong…hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure don't act like it."

He felt an arm grab hold of his and pull the two of them together. "I'm…fine," Bruce whispered, their eyes less than an inch apart and lips…

Terry kissed him by impulse and nothing more, and wasn't at all surprised to be pushed back with such strength that he fell onto the floor.

"I…"

"Goodnight Terry."

Terry licked his lips and remembered what had just been there a moment before, and tried not to have a nervous breakdown.

He'd kissed his boss.

A fifty…okay sixty-year-old man.

Okay, breathe McGinnis breathe.

Shit.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

He smiled suddenly.

Well at least now he had something to apologize for.