Chapter XI: Considering

When the camera in the batsuit began working properly again, the only thing Bruce Wayne saw was the dusty old doll warehouse in Old Town. . . .Until something of interest caught his eye and his camera angle.

The former Batman leaned back in his chair.

"Hitting the nail on the head again, huh Bruce?"

Ace looked up at his master then felt Bruce scratching behind his ears, watching the scene unfold between the two lovers.


"Whatever was in that needle was enough to stun her, but there weren't any major damages to her physically or to her mental capacities."

"So she's not showing any symptoms of the drug, doctor?"

"Well, drowsiness is the only definite thing I can see."

"But that doesn't mean something long term isn't occurring. It'll still take a few days, maybe even a week, for the drug to get out of her symptom. She still needs to detox. Just make sure she follows orders."

"Drink plenty of juices. Take the meds you gave her. Rest. I think I got it."

"She sounds like she's in good hands." The physician smiled at Terry McGinnis then left the hallway.

"I hope."

"Hope is a muscle–exercise it more, McGinnis."

Bruce Wayne appeared in the hallway. Even in his age with a bad leg, the old man still seemed to have his inhuman agility. The younger Bat's hand rested on the doorknob.

"The doctor says she'll be okay, she just needs to rest a few days."

"I see. Though getting her to rest may be a bigger fight."

"What was in that needle exactly?" Terry asked in a low tone when they noticed that a nurse was making rounds in a room down the hall.

"How Spellbinder hoped to create a new crime wave. His mind control device combined with a liquid form of Angel Proctor's drug made a powerful way to control people mentally. Sans the love element."

"100 pure mind control. No filler. Great for criminals."

"The Love Doctor's actions kills our therapy about them as lovers. She wanted to kill him."

"He used it in on Angel Proctor. The report on her says she was doped on Ira's concoction."

"And again I ask–why Max?"

"Guinea pig."

"Guinea pig? No revenge? No vengeance?"

"I would guess Angel Proctor was too concern about herself to think about getting back at Maxine. I think Ira Billing figured out that Pinky was Maxine and started following her."

Then Bruce Wayne mumbled to himself. "Hence the missing file."

"What's up?" The younger Bat's head snapped from his daze.

"Have you been in to see her?" The older Bat asked Terry.

"Not yet, I was going to go in until I saw you."

"Hmm."

A ring interrupted them, "Go on. I need to talk this."

Terry left Bruce Wayne outside to take his urgent phone call.

The younger man walked into the room to find themselves staring at an empty bed.

"What the-?" Terry's face covered itself in shock when the door shut behind them.

He spun around, ready in a fighting stance when the curtains started flapping wildly in the wind.

"Hi." A pink-haired woman in hospital garb stood there, arms folded.

"Max!" Terry walked to her, "What in the heck are you doing out of bed?"

She brushed pass him, "Proving to you that I can hold my own. Just like I did in the warehouse."

The young man growled, "Stubborn. That's what you are–plain stubborn."

Tossing the words over her shoulder, Max answered. "You won't let me be Batgirl, I have to do something. Unless Mr. Wayne, the greatest boss in the world, changes his mind."

"You endanger yourself in Old Town because you couldn't just let me or the cops handle Billing. You need to stop trying to be a superhero. You think my job is easy. Stop trying to prove a point here."

She had just managed to make it on shaky legs back to the edge of the bed when his words stuck her.

"At least you're respected. I'm not. The world doesn't look at you as an annoyance."

Terry cross the room, grabbing her by the wrist. His annoyance was showing, nostrils flared.

"Max, annoyance or not, I was worried about you. Don't you think I care about you?"

Before she could answer, her legs gave out again. All her energy went into standing up for so long behind the door. She grabbed onto Terry's shirt. Automatically, Terry steadied her by the waist, keeping her from falling into a heap of hospital clothing on the cool tiles. She latched onto him, arms tight around his neck.

"So you do care."

She whispered suddenly, her lips near his ears. It was as if a revelation danced in her ears.

"Yes! Don't you think I love you?"

His answer came out of his anger, his pain, his heart.

The admission prompted Max to search into his eyes, there she was being tossed in the strange sea again.

"Terry, do you really feel that way? Because if you don't, I can't go on feeling the same."

"The same? The same about what?" He demanded.

"About you."

If Terry wasn't the one holding Maxine Gibson up, he would have fainted.

Strange questions probed his heart.


Bruce Wayne cleared his throat loud enough so that the two looked up at him, again placing at least a few inches of space between them. The older man hobbled into the room halfway.

"Am I'm interrupting?"

"No. . . " Terry helped Max sit back on the bed, his stare avoiding hers.

"I was just helping her back to bed."

"Sorry, Mr. Wayne, you can't a girl like me down." Max smiled, the storm behind her eyes passing.

Bruce Wayne took a chair by the bed, words directed to Max.

"I think you need you rest. And by rest, I mean actually laying down with your eyes closed."

"Fine." She held her hands up in a surrender gesture. "I'm sleeping, I'm sleeping already."

Wayne chatted with Maxine for a few more minutes, communicating some well meaning advice about her recover. ("I can always have the nurses strap you down if you don't sleep willing. And don't try hacking.

I have the computers here tapped too.")

When the two men stepped out of the room for a moment, Bruce gave his protege a calculating look.

"She's be fine considering."

"Her pig-headedness?"

Wayne fought a smirk when his mood turned serious.

"And have you considered what you've been. . . . considering?"

"Considering? What am I considering?"

The older man's eyes narrowed.

"Wait–are we talking in code again?" Terry shrugged, confused. "What are you saying?"

Bruce Wayne placed a hand on Terry's shoulder, looking eye to eye with Terry McGinnis.

"A bit of advice, Terry: Don't be alone."

"Okay. . . " The younger man answered

"I think the risk you wanted to take is sitting on the other side of that door. Give her a chance."

Bruce removed his hand and leaned on his cane.

"Oh, and take the day for yourself. If it's urgent, I'll call."

Terry just looked at Bruce Wayne hobble to the elevator.

Now he was wondering if he should take the move Wayne proposed or just stand there with his mouth agaped.