"Hey, Dana."

Terry walked to his girlfriend the next morning as he entered Hamilton High School. She was standing with Max, who seemed to be trying to tell her something, but they stopped arguing once they noticed Terry coming up to them. "Terry, I'm sorry... but I'm sick of Mr. Wayne taking up all of your time. I'm your girlfriend, I should be taking up at least some of your time..."

Terry's mouth dropped open, and he couldn't believe he was shocked. "Dana, I thought we talked about this-,"

"I know we have." she interjected. "And we've broken up because of it before, but this time I think it's over for good. I should be going out with a guy who actually cares enough to be with me-,"

"I do care about you... Listen! Next time Mr. Wayne calls, I'll ignore him completely, okay?" Terry exclaimed, ignoring Max's surprised look.

Dana sighed, looking down at the ground, letting Terry put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Terry. I don't want to deal with this anymore." She broke away from his grip and walked down the hall, away from him. The bell rang for first class.

"Shit..." Terry cursed under his breath, watching dejectedly as Dana walked away.

"I told you she'd get tired of it eventually..." Max told him. "And don't tell me you'd actually let Gotham be destroyed to be with your girlfriend." She asked, one eyebrow raised jokingly.

Terry sighed. He knew Max was right... he couldn't just ignore Mr. Wayne and his responsibility as Batman... it was a choice he had made. Saving his city was more important at the moment, even though it killed him to just let Dana go. "Maybe she'll get over it later..." he told himself aloud, being hopeful.

He heard Max snort. "Yeah right... She's serious, Terr. I tried persuading her otherwise, but she wouldn't listen to me." She sighed. "Now, if you'll excuse me... I can't be late." Max waved to him and walked to class, leaving Terry standing there in the hallway.

At this point, he didn't care if a fire alarm went off. He walked to his locker with his brown backpack slung over one shoulder, not caring that the late bell had rung already. He hastily pressed his combination buttons, and as the locker swung open a piece of paper fell out, fluttering to the floor.

He bent down to pick it up, and all it said was:

Meet me on the roof during lunch.

It wasn't signed, and he didn't recognize the handwriting. Knowing that Dana dumped him anyway, he wasn't hopeful it was from her. He shrugged it off, placing it in his pocket and gathering his things. He closed his locker and walked to first period, thinking up a likely excuse as to why he was late, along with another excuse for why he would eventually end up falling asleep during the lecture.

-----

He walked up the steps to the roof during lunch. Knowing that Max would be either in the computer room or the library and Dana wasn't speaking to him, he didn't really feel like eating anyway. He brought his backpack with him, but didn't tell Max or anyone where he was going.

He pushed the door open, and walked into the sunlight. He started walking towards the end of the roof near one of the ledges, sidestepping bird dung and trying to shield his eyes from the blaring sun. He didn't see who was waiting for him until he got near enough to the end where the shadow of a nearby tree let him see more clearly, and he gasped as he noticed Melanie Walker sitting on the edge, her legs dangling over the side with her back to him.

She looked exactly the same... same clothes, same blond hair, nothing about her appearance seemed to be that different. He remembered that last time they spoke... she had given him a note, well Batman a note since she didn't know his secret, and Terry had forgotten about it until he was entering a club with Dana one night. He reached in his pocket to grab the right amount of creds for the entrance fee, and he noticed the crumpled piece of paper. Dana had asked him what it was... and he told her the truth, that it was nothing. He then dropped the note in the garbage, not even bothering to read it. Weeks later, he had to ask her about the Royal Flush Gang as Batman, brushing off the question she asked about if Terry read the note. He hadn't gotten any answers about the RFG since she wasn't a part of them at the time, living with her brother Jack and working a demeaning job as a waitress... but he had solved the kid napping case anyway without her help.

He wasn't really in the mood to speak to Melanie again. She had turned out to be Ten... and he couldn't deal with that, knowing that deep down she was raised to be evil. He was about to turn around to leave when he heard her softly call his name. He sighed, turning back around to walk over to her. "What do you want, Melanie?" he asked her, more forcefully than he really meant it to sound.

"I just want to speak to you again, that's all." She replied, still on the ledge hugging her knees to her chest. He noticed she looked miserable, but didn't really care. He began to walk away again.

She jumped off the ledge and ran towards him, stopping once she was close. "Terry... just listen..."

"I'm going to be late for class." Terry replied coldly, not turning around or stopping. He knew the bell hadn't even rung yet, and wouldn't for at least ten minutes.

"I'm sorry..." Melanie whispered to herself, loud enough for him to hear. He didn't change his pace, and made it back to the roof exit, opening the door and disappearing down the stairwell.

Melanie hugged herself as if she was cold, even though the sun was still shining, the atmosphere still caked with humidity. The sound of the door closing took over her thoughts.