Chapter 4: Babysitting

By: Galadeidre

"Hey, Ace." Terry knelt down to greet the dog at the front door. "Been waiting for me long? Is the old man down in the cave?"

Ace gave a bark and wagged his tail.

"Good boy." Terry stood up and walked down the stone steps that led to Bruce Wayne's secret cave. He noticed Wayne typing on the main computer, the small chip right beside him.

Ace had followed him down the steps and now darted past him to his old master.

"You're late," the old Batman muttered without looking behind him.

Terry set down his backpack and shrugged. "Sorry about that. I had to talk to Max after school. You know, I told her about that little girl that I rescued from the water last night. When I said that there was no record of her ever existing, she looked it up for me. Turns out even her great hacking skills are pointless. It's as if this girl's dead to the whole real world."

Bruce turned towards him with thoughtful eyes. "I'll have to take a look at that. In the mean time, I want to show you this. I noticed a symbol on the chip when you left. Does it ring a bell?"

"J C? Dunno about any software companies with the letters J C."

"I thought as much." Bruce turned around to the computer screen. "And it's been quiet so far. I don't have the slightest clue of where the Doc's going to strike next."

Terry knelt down again to stroke Ace's fur. "Maybe another weapons facility?"

"Doubt it. Besides, with the original chip in his hands now, he's got the strongest weapon possible. I just don't understand why he hasn't attacked or anything."

"Maybe, he's waiting for the precise moment to place his plan in action."

"You mind telling me the plan?"

"Couldn't tell ya."

Bruce sighed. "I can't figure out what he's trying to do. Is he just biding his time, or is he having complications, or what?" He rubbed his temples.

Terry noticed. "You should rest. It's not like you to be so uptight about a dilemma like this."

"This isn't just any ordinary dilemma. The whole world is at stake. If the Doc releases this chip into the mainframe and is able to crash several programs, he might as well take over the whole world. It would be easy for him to do. This chip's like a virus in a virus in a virus. It can't be stopped, it can't be hacked into, and it can't be reprogrammed."

"That kinda sounds impossible."

Bruce looked at him sternly. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, if you think about it, if it couldn't be stopped, it'd be invincible. If it couldn't be hacked into or reprogrammed, how was he able to make such a device in the first place? There's got to be a weak link to this chip somewhere. Like a loose end or something. It couldn't be impossible to stop. Maybe just very difficult, but not impossible. There's gotta be a weakness. I mean, if he built it. All electronic devices have a weak point somewhere…right?"

"You have a point there." Bruce turned back around and inserted the chip into the computer. A huge file popped up with numbers and information. "But I don't see any weakness anywhere as of now," he muttered as he skimmed through the mass amounts of information. "I hope you're right, though, or we're gonna be in a world of terror."

Terry smirked. "We already are."

Suddenly, Ace started to bark, glancing at the stone steps.

The doorbell rang.

"A visitor?" Terry asked, glancing at his old mentor. "This late at night?"

It was clear the old man was as shocked as Terry was. "I wasn't expecting company."

"Let's hope it's good company." Terry grabbed his backpack and walked up the steps, Bruce following.

I had no idea why I was standing here. Why did my mind tell me to come here, of all places? I wanted to leave, but…I guess my feet just wouldn't move.

I was still tired. I was still drained of energy and my body was telling me just to collapse onto the ground. I didn't want to be here anymore.

The door opened and I knew my chance to collapse had passed. He was standing at the door. Terry McGinnis was his name. I knew that, but I didn't know how I knew. I'd never seen the guy in my life.

He was shocked, that was for sure. "You…"

I had almost forgotten that he didn't know my name. At the moment, I couldn't even remember it.

His expression changed from surprise to worry. "I'm surprised the doctor let you go already. It's only been a day. Come on in." He stepped to the side to allow me inside. I slowly walked in. I still didn't know why I was here.

I looked around. The place was very very clean. There was hardly a spot that was covered in dust. But it was quiet. Too quiet to be his house, that was for sure.

"You don't live here," I spoke softly.

He grinned. "Nah. This is Mr. Wayne's house. Bruce Wayne. You've heard of him, right?"

I had, and I nodded.

"Terry."

I turned my head to the old, serious voice that had just spoken. An old man was standing by the door, a cane in his hand. He wore a nice, clean suit and his face was worn with wrinkles everywhere. From what it seemed, I guessed this man was Mr. Bruce.

"Oh, um, yeah." Terry grinned again and nodded towards me. "This is the girl that I was talking about. You know, the one from the docks. I'm sorry." He turned his head towards me. "I never caught your name."

"I…It's Birdie." The words came out before I was able to stop them. Yes, my name was Birdie. But why did I feel like I was hiding something?

"Well, Birdie," Wayne muttered. His face had softened a bit. "What brings you here?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't answer, considering I didn't even know why I was here. I looked around again and said, "You have a nice place, Mr. Bruce."

"Thank you."

There was an uneasy silence, but I didn't seem to mind. I liked the silence. I don't know why, but I did.

"Hey, Birdie," Terry finally spoke. He knelt down to me. "You're folks are probably worried about you. How about if I take you home?"

"I…I don't have a home." That wasn't entirely true. I lived with my dad, who had raised me up ever since my mom had died in a car accident. I was an only child, so once my mom had died, I was all that my dad had left. Right now, though, I didn't want to see my dad. I didn't know why.

"You don't have a home?" Bruce asked. He walked towards Terry and me and gave me a small smile. "Well, I can offer my house to you for a while."

I looked up shocked. Why was he letting me stay?

"Mr. Wayne. Are you sure that that's a…a good idea?" Terry asked. He glanced at Mr. Wayne.

"Of course it is. That is if you want to cope with an old man the whole day." Mr. Bruce smiled at me again.

I didn't know what to think, but my mouth seemed to know. "I'd like that very much, sir." I wanted to smack my mouth for saying that. He was a rich man and he didn't even know me. Why would he have any reason to house a young thirteen-year-old girl like me? A girl who didn't even know herself?

"Well, it's settled then. Terry, if you don't mind, could you fix up one of the rooms for Birdie?" He looked down at me. "You can stay here as long as you like. I don't often get company anymore, and it's rather lonesome at times."

"Well, I guess I can keep you company." I had to smile at him this time. Suddenly, my whole brain started to shut down. I could feel it. My knees buckled and I collapsed to the ground. I was really tired. My eyes were starting to droop. I didn't realize how much effort it had taken to keep me standing upright just long enough to find Mr. Bruce's mansion.

"Birdie?" Mr. Bruce knelt down to me and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Sleepy…" I managed to mutter, and then my eyes closed and my vision went black.

Terry shut the door closed behind him and met Bruce's gaze in the dimly lit hallway.

"Is she still asleep?" Bruce asked.

Terry nodded. "Yeah. Poor kid, though. I kinda feel bad for her. Looks like she's gone through a lot."

"Most likely. Come on into the kitchen. We need to talk."

"Talk? About what?"

"About her." With that, he walked down the hallway, Terry following.

Bruce sat down at the table as Terry poured coffee for the both of them.

"So." Terry passed a mug to the old man. "Why do we need to talk about her?"

"Haven't you noticed anything different about her?" Bruce gazed sternly into Terry's eyes. "She's not normal."

"That's for sure." Terry took a sip of his coffee and set his mug down once more. "Actually, yeah. I've noticed plenty of weird things about her."

"Like?"

"Well, for starters, remember when I told you about her being a little too heavy for her age? I mean, she's pretty thin."

"Go on."

"You told me to carry her to the bedroom, right? I did that, but it turns out she is really heavy. And it's not the normal heavy, either. It's like she's got thirty-pound weights tied to her or something. What's more, it's as if she's cold blooded or something. She's like an ice cube."

"I got that impression when I looked at her." Bruce leaned back in his chair, the mug between his fingertips. "I don't think she even realizes it. It's a miracle she's not blue. She's much too pale to be normal."

"I've noticed that, too. So, what are you gonna do about it?"

"Nothing for now. I can't do much. Besides, we've got another problem in our hands. We'll worry about Birdie later. Right now, we've got to find out the Doc's whereabouts."

"Any leads?"

Bruce shook his head. "Not yet. I'm still analyzing the data on that chip. Haven't found a weak point yet, but I might sooner or later." Bruce looked at his watch. "It's getting really late. Why don't you head on home? I'll call you if you're needed."

"Sure." Terry stood up and started to walk towards the doorway. He stopped and turned around. "You gonna keep Birdie around? You know that's a high risk you're taking."

"She'll be fine here. I'll worry about her. You just worry about getting some rest and then getting ready for tomorrow night. I want you to try tracking down Ghoul and the others. They might know something."

"Sure thing. 'Night. Have fun babysitting." With that, he smiled, walked out of the door, and drove home.