"Max! What is it?" he fallowed her down the stairs and down the corridor, jogging briskly after her. She turned into a room on the right, which was rarely used, he fallowed after her, pulling off his cowl as he reached to open the door.
"Ma…"He fell silent as he looked in disbelief at what he saw. Was the figure in front of him real?
"Bruce?" he asked in little more than a whisper, his voice trembling. Max smiled but Terry didn't see it.
"Terry" said the old man firmly
"Bruce!" his eyes filled with long lost tears, he swiftly covered the few feet between the two of them, throwing his arms tightly around the old man, almost knocking him of his feet. Max made a soft sound, but Terry didn't hear what it was, she left the room, closing the door firmly behind her. Terry held the old man tightly, burying his head in his shoulder.
"Well, I don't know what I was expecting, but I don't think I was expecting this" said Wayne. He couldn't help but be honest.
"I thought I'd never see you again"
"Terry"
"I knew you weren't dead, I knew, I, I thought I'd never see you again"
"Terry"
"Where have you been" he loosened his grip on the old man and stared at him for a moment. "You haven't changed a single bit," he said in astonishment.
"But you have" said Bruce. He looked at the boy he had seen only hours ago, but it wasn't the same boy. His hair was slightly longer, he was much more muscular and he stood eye to eye with the old man. "His eyes" thought Wayne, they were darker, much more focused, much, stronger. Over his right eye there was a scar, it was an old scar and it had healed well. It was strange; he had seen Terry just yesterday, now he had an old scar on his face. His face, which looked much more rugged but still the same Terry, only older. "How are you Terry?" he said smiling, thinking of nothing else to say to the man in front of him. Man? Terry? A strange sensation filled the old mans heart "Batman" he thought as the still vibrant red on Terry's chest caught his eye. What had happened to the rookie kid who needed his guidance so badly? The kid who had a lot to learn.
"I'm good," he said, smiling back, "despite everything, Max filed you in?"
"Pretty much, Blight is running the city, this is the Rebel base, the rebels who you are working with to take back the city and protect the citizens, that's about all I got out of her before she went to find you"
"And?"
"And that's it, she left out a few details I take it?"
"Well, not long after you disappeared, blight made an appearance back on the scene. He bought out the authorities, took over Wayne Enterprises and pretty much used the company to take over the city." Wayne looked at Terry and listened carefully to what he was saying. "I'm sorry Bruce, I tried, really I did, but I couldn't stop him taking the company"
"Its ok Terry"
"He hired all the Jokers going to work for him, he used splicing and venom to create his 'enforcers', corrupt police, jokers, anyone going who was willing to sit at his right hand rather than lay in his path. He started clearing the streets of people, driving people out of their homes, taking everything they had for his own" There was a bitter tone in his voice which he did not attempt to disguise. "We try our best, I try my best, but Its so hard just to stay alive, we are hunted every day, most of the rebels have 'warrants' out for their arrest, some have death sentences awaiting them if they are ever caught."
"I take it you're one of them"
"You take right, I was the first, then Barbara, soon after, Max"
"Barb?"
"Yeah, she was the first, there have been a few since then, me and Max have been lucky, so far" well, Max has, he thought, but he didn't dare tell the old man, not yet if at all.
"What does he want? What does he expect to gain from all of this?"
"Power"
"Power?"
"Yeah-it's the only thing he cares about, he sees himself almost as a God, he wants everybody else to as well." Sounded like Powers alright.
"You've had such a struggle, I'm sorry I wasn't here for you" Terry looked up at the old man, but he didn't look at Terry.
"What happened to you?"
"I don't know, I fell asleep and I woke up 7 years in the future. I can't explain it, I just don't know"
"Freaky" laughed Terry, Bruce looked up at him,
"Same old terry" he thought, "managing to put on a smile even after all of this".
"So" he sounded more cheery now. "Do you want the standard tour? Or you hoping for the detailed one?"
"Huh?" Bruce was a little confused for a second before he caught on to what Terry meant. "Oh, what ever you feel like"
"Down there is the kitchen, the school had one so we figured we might as well put it to good use. Through here is the hospital wing, we're pretty self sufficient, we have medicine, a blood bank, dentist and they are even capable of performing some major operations"
"Wow" said the old man, who was genuinely impressed as they walked through what was once a high school. "So you have pretty much everything then"
"Yup, and through here is the best part" he walked across the hall before pushing open the door.
"A games room?" the old man raised an eyebrow at the grinning former teen.
"Keeps morale high" explained Terry as he waved back at one of the kids playing a video game in the room.
"I can't help notice you are secret identity, or lack of" said the old man as Terry pulled the door closed, realising that Terry was still wearing the Batsuit, but not the cowl.
"There's no point Bruce, besides, people here are more bothered about staying alive that who Batman is, the novelty wears off after a bit, its hard to keep a secret like this when you are with these people all the time, plus, I don't think many people would trust either Terry or Batman if they didn't know why one was running off to and the other knew all the bases secrets without being told".
"What about you mother and Matt? If Blight wanted to get to you he could go after them…"
"No, I managed to get them both out of the city a long time ago"
"Where are they?"
"I don't know. I kept track of them for as long as I could, last I heard they were in London. That was 4 months ago, haven't heard since. With them safe there was no need to keep my identity a secret, there was no one to protect by keeping it.
"I get it, but what happens when this is all over and you have to lead a normal life again? Do you continue being Batman when everyone knows who you are?"
"Trust me Wayne, I'm not thinking much past the next few months at the most"
"Why?" his question fell on deaf ears, Terry didn't reply.
"So, as you can see we have pretty much everything we need, and everyone, as well as doctors, nurses and surgeons we have teachers, technicians, martial arts and self defence teachers, mechanics, scientists…" Bruce let the question drop, but was curious as to why it went unanswered. "This is the control room". It was a large space, but most of it was taken up with computers, machines and monitors. Bruce figured it had been the main hall when the building was still a school.
"Hey Terr" said one of the guys in the room,
"Hey Mo" said Terry. "Wayne, this is Morris Tibs"
"How do you do" said Wayne.
"Pleased to meet you". Wayne recognised two of the people in the room, one was Maxine, and one was Chelsea Cunningham, Chelsea waved and Max kind of blinked in their direction to acknowledge them.
"This is Ryu, Ken and T.J," said Terry, introducing everyone to Wayne. "These guys are pretty much the Rebel forces"
"What's left of them" interrupted Ryu. He was a tall man, Taller than Terry, with dark skin and even darker eyes and dark brown hair. He looked rough, but Terry assured Bruce he was a good man. Then there was Ken, he had sleek black hair, which hung, below his ears, he had a pale face with brown eyes and he was much smaller than the other guys in the room. He smiled at Bruce who returned the gesture, much to the surprise of Terry. Morris was also a big man, he wore a white tank top with army like trousers, his skin was a light brown and his head was closely shaved. T.J was shorter than the others with dirty blonde hair; he didn't seem interested in anything other than the blaster in his hand,
"I think I can fix it" he thought allowed.
"And that's Chelsea" said Terry, I think you already know her." Wayne nodded his head slightly.
"Hey Ter, nice job on the supplies man" said Ryu.
"Yeah McGinnis" said T.J, Mind you, He's only saying that 'cos he knows he couldn't handle one venom sucking freak, let alone eight". Wayne Lifted an eyebrow in Terry's direction, Terry was laughing with the others,
"Sure he could" said Terry,
"Oh, you would stick up for him over me McGinnis, it's because I'm black isn't it?!" They laughed,
"Your not Black T" laughed Terry,
"Oh, so now you got a problem with white people?!" shouted T.J, Trying his best not to laugh. He was failing. By now everyone in the room was trying little to show their amusement at the argument unfolding in front of them, Max's eyes were starting to water she was giggling so much. Wayne could see what Terry had meant by morale, it was important to these guys to be able to keep their heads up.
Terry slept like a log, as usual; God knows he needed the rest. Bruce however lay awake thinking. What had happened, where had he been for the past seven years? Why hadn't he changed if he had been gone all this time? What had Terry been through? He knew there was something Terry wasn't telling him, but what? Why hadn't Terry wanted to talk about his future, "not thinking much past the next few months"? What did that mean? That wasn't like Terry.
The next day, he woke to find himself in a sleeping bag with an old pillow and two blankets over him. It wasn't too comfortable, but at least it was warm.
"Knock knock," he heard a voice as he got up, he opened the door.
"Miss Gibson, good morning"
"Morning, I figured you wouldn't feel much like socialising, so brought you over a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, I appreciate it" She smiled and turned to leave. The old man thought of how many smiles he had seen since he had arrived, he wouldn't have expected it; everyone was turning into a Terry he thought to himself. "Do you know where I can find Terry?"
"Sure, same place he always is when he isn't eating or sleeping"
"Oh? And where would that be?"
"Down the hall, take a left then your second right, the door straight in front of you, you can't miss it. It's a training room; he's been in there 20 minutes already. Do you want me to tell him you're coming?"
"No, its ok"
"Ok then, but that's where you'll find him pretty much any time"
"HA!" there was a thud, "HAYA", another thud…."HA!"...One hell of a big thud. Bruce pushed open the door to find Terry going to work on a suspended punching bag-which he noted, looked pretty worn out. He watched as Terry spun around and planted a kick near the top before landing comfortably and upper cutting the bag several times with tremendous force. He looked very focused, Bruce noticed because he had never known Terry to be so big on mental discipline. Sweat glistened on his face and on his bare chest. He wore a white sweatband on his forehead; his hands and wrists were tightly and neatly taped in white. His trousers looked to be those of a black gi, around his waste was a red belt, tied neatly but slightly to the side. He could see more now how much Terry had built up, he still had a lean frame and broad shoulders, but he looked very different. He had a strong physique before, but what Bruce saw on him now made him think back to his days of twenty something, if he were that age now he'd be quite jealous.
"Max told me I'd find you here" he said finally.
"Remember this?" asked terry, not taking his sharp gaze off his target. Again he uppercut the punching bag, this time using all the force behind his knees before bringing his left fist from behind his right ear in a smooth motion, swiftly striking bag with the back of his fist.
"Yeah". Terry moved quickly, going from the swing with his arm, turning his torso then his waste right around before again striking the bag with his left foot. "So, you remember your training after all this time?"
"Does it ever go away?"
"I guess not"
"And it's a good thing, that move for one has saved my mutt many times, not to mention the numerous others I learned from you".
"Don't mention it" Bruce replied in his usual deep tone. He watched Terry train, there were times when he was speechless watching the kid, his abilities, his speed his strength, his agility. "Only one thing" he reminded himself, "He's not a kid". He was careful not to interrupt Terry's training, but he couldn't help wonder "What's he like when he's angry?" He wouldn't like to be in his way when he found out, he thought.