It's All Relative
Chapter 2: The Past Resurfaces
By Teala373
Ace gave a great, whining yawn as he stretched and found a spot to rest on the floor. It wasn't at all exciting for him to watch his master and young apprentice repairing the damage Inque had caused to the bat suit. He was more interested in the roar of jet engines. The engines firing up meant the large bay doors would open. This was his time to shine, as he would stand guard to make sure no one snuck in… or out.
"I think we're making some progress," Terry called out over the bat server's main terminal, "I'm reading we're back on-line."
"Good. Try to get the auxiliary power up while I finish the hard wiring," Bruce Wayne lifted his soldering helmet and reexamined his work. Silver threads touched his raven hair and a few lines graced his stoic face, but other than that, he had hardly aged from his nights of flying through the city with partners at his side.
Terry lifted his eyes to glance at him and wondered if he would age as gracefully. Bruce certainly didn't look like a man that had to turn over his cowl for sitting at the main computer consol.
"Why did you really give up being Batman?"
The question caught Bruce slightly off guard. He completely removed his soldering helmet and gave Terry his full attention. "When you first came here, you said you could take the reins because you could do things I could not."
"Yeah, I remember. You were throwing in the towel because you had to use the kidnapper's gun to get Bunny out of there", Terry narrowed his eyes and lifted the corner of his mouth in a smirk, "but I'm not buying it. Surely one little mishap wasn't the reason you demoted yourself to my sidekick."
Bruce sighed. He didn't want to admit he needed Terry, so he told himself it was that he liked Terry. Terry was often some odd combination of Dick, Barbara and Tim. And there was something else. Bruce was never completely sure what it was. It was more than his wanting to help him after his father had been murdered. It was more than wanting to save him from dying recklessly in his quest for revenge. Bruce felt an odd connection to this boy. However, sometimes his boldness grated on his nerves.
"I'm going to need a point, McGuiness."
"Alright, alright", Terry held up his arms in mock surrender, "The point is that you're not that old, you're in good shape and you have all your wits about you. I know you have to use the cane for your knee, but the bat suit's kinetic enhancements kind of take care of that for you. After you told me about your background, I can understand how hard it was for you to pick up that gun, but I don't see it being enough to throw in the cowl."
It seemed like an eternity before Bruce took a seat in the large chair in front of the main computer consol and began speaking. "You're right, Terry, but I never told you that the Vreeland kidnapping incident was the entire reason I passed the cowl".
"Then what, then?" Bruce was an intimidating man, but Terry was unfazed by it – especially when he wanted information.
"The real reason I retired is because life caught up with me."
Terry knew better than to pry further. Bruce wasn't much for heart to heart talks. He had his fatherly moments, but talking about his own cape and cowl days were restricted to hard facts. Besides, Terry wasn't the new Batman for nothing. Lined up to the right of the original Batman suit were three others.
At some point, other people had worn them. One outfit was for a man shorter and slimmer than Bruce. One was clearly for a woman and the other for a young boy. There were others who had donned suits, but when Terry had met Bruce, he was alone. An occasional phone call or letter from the Fox family were the only contact Bruce seemed to receive outside of Wayne Corp. Whoever had worn those suits were now gone. Terry got the sense that there had been others as well, but he knew little more than the fate of John and Martha Wayne, which led Bruce to become Batman. He knew nothing else of people who had once been close to Bruce.
The shrill ring of the phone cut through the awkward silence. Terry went back to his work while Bruce answered the phone. He tried to concentrate on the terminal in front of him, but his ears were picking up Bruce's end of what appeared to be a very interesting conversation.
"Yes… yes, of course. I'll have a room waiting for you… I'm sure you'll enjoy meeting him. He's quite like you… I wouldn't go that far… No. I haven't heard anything further… we'll discuss it more when you return… Yes. I'll see you then… Good-bye."
Raising an eyebrow at Bruce as he returned, Terry inquired about the call.
"An old friend is returning."
"Sounds like a pretty close friend… which I find amusing because you seem to work pretty hard at having no friends."
Normally, Terry's bold sarcasm was met with a tight smirk, but this was the second time this evening that Bruce actually seemed bothered by it. Deep lines appeared on his brow as he turned his gaze and breathed a long, sad sigh
"He is… my son, you might say."
Stepping back in shock, Terry turned to follow Bruce's gaze towards the original Batman suit and the three mysterious suits lined next to it. As if in response, the light over the black and blue suit flickered angrily.
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"Dick, there's something I really need to talk to you about…"
"Babs, I'm sorry. I have to go. It's an emergency."
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"NO! No… it's… it's okay. I have to run. We'll talk later."
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"So, are we going to define 'son' or am I going to have to look it all up myself?" Terry had originally told himself not to say anything about the matter for the rest of the evening and try again tomorrow, but his curiosity got the better of him.
As he worked on upgrading the system in the bat suit, questions and possible answers kept running through his mind. He felt a strong determination to learn more about Bruce Wayne's secrets. He didn't know why, it was just a strong urge that rose up inside him.
"He was my first ward," Bruce began as his fingers clicked away on the computer keys. He knew he would have to discuss it sooner or later, and it was better to tell him now before Dick appeared. "His parents had also been murdered… I took him in thinking I could help him…"
Terry set down the computer chip he had been inspecting and turned towards Bruce. Bruce, however, didn't turn to face him. At first, he only talked about Dick Grayson. He told him about his journey from an orphan, to Robin, to Nightwing…
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"Are you okay, Dick? You've been so stressed…"
"Yeah, Babs, I'll be alright. I'm… uh… helping Bruce with a big project and it's really taking up all our time. I keep telling him that we shouldn't have to do everything…that there are other people out there that can help, but he won't listen. He never listens…."
"Is everything okay with you two?"
"No… yes… I don't know. It's hard. He's very driven… very focused… I want something else. I don't want all the same things anymore."
"What things?"
"Things like… Oh! My pager! Babs, I have to go! It's an emergency."
"Don't worry about it. Just go. We'll talk later."