It's All Relative

Chapter 7: The Prodigal Son and a New Mystery Return

By Teala373

Waves and waves of memories washed over Mary McGuiness, showing her life as Barbara Gordon. A program run by the machine helped her mind balance the overload of information and adjust to it. She saw her father. She saw the scenes that the voices belonged to… and then she remembered. She remembered her fear for her unborn child when she learned of her pregnancy. She remembered going to Wonder Woman for advice… but then she remembered no more…

"Warren…" her voice trailed off. Her eyes became distant as she searched her memory for him.

"What is it?" Wonder Woman asked as the machine powered down and Mary's eyes fluttered open.

Mary stared blankly up at the ceiling. "Warren… I have no memory of Warren… I have no memory of our wedding, of the car accident…"

The Princess's eyebrows furrowed together. "Not all of your memories will return. That… may take time…"

"Terry isn't Warren's child…" Mary continued staring at the screen as pieces slowly feel into place. "When did Warren and I marry…"

"Do you remember the reason you were afraid for Terry?" came a stern voice.

"Yes."

"Warren always loved you and wanted to protect you. He agreed to take you in and help you raise your child as his own, in safety, away from the bat… They would come and feed you lies and take you away, take Terry away."

Mary focused her eyes on Wonder Woman's determined ones. She went to say something, but a calculation began to run in her head as memories connected together. Her head began to spin. She needed to go home.

"I-I have to go home… I need to find Terry…"

"You should rest."

"I'll rest at home. I just need to know where he is." She wasn't going to tell the Princess what she had deduced. She knew the Princess would help her, but this was something she had to do on her own.

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Bruce did not like how his research on the McGuiness family was going. He couldn't find anything suspicious on either Warren or Mary McGuiness. Their records didn't indicate anything unusual. He began moving on towards trying to find Matt's biological parents.

He had a difficult time finding any information. He was beginning to think that the information had been erased. He cross-referenced hospital birth records with the date of Matt's birth and the area the McGuiness family. He weeded through hours of information until one distinct name leapt off the screen.

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Matt watched his mother sit on the couch and stare angrily at a spot on the floor.

"Hey, Mom. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, honey," she continued to stare at the floor, "everything's fine."

"Um, is it okay if I stay over at Jason's tonight?"

"That's fine," she looked up at him suddenly. "Do you know where your brother is?"

"Terry?" Matt laughed. "He's either out with Dana or earning brownie points down at Wayne Tech."

Mary's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Wayne Tech…"

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Dick was surprised to find Bruce answering the front door of Wayne Manor. He thought for sure he would find Bruce in the bat cave.

"What's the special occasion?"

Bruce grinned and nodded in Ace's direction. Ace, for his part, didn't seem to need much of an introduction to Dick Grayson. He recognized his scent. It still lingered, albeit faintly, on several items in the house and cave.

Dick eyed the cane Bruce was using. "And what's with this? Did you finally snap a jump line?"

Evading the question, Bruce took a seat and motioned for Dick to do the same. "I'm glad you arrived first. I think I know what Tim wants to talk to us about."

"I've been fine. How are you?" Dick deadpanned as he sank into the couch.

"You haven't been fine and I know you don't want to talk about anything you've been doing since you left."

A corner of Dick's mouth went up. "Yeah, and I'm sure you know what all those things are. At least give me the dish on the new bat. Not all of us sit in front of a super computer till all hours of the night."

Bruce smiled to himself. He should have known better than to try and get right down to business.

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Terry walked into his house to find the same scene his brother had witnessed earlier. "Mom?"

"Where have you been, Terry?"

He had never heard her voice quite so stern. She almost sounded like Bruce when he was at the height of his intimidation.

"I pulled a double shift at work and then I made a few stops on the way back… Are you okay?"

She continued staring at the floor. "I just had a very long day. Just go to bed."

He stopped mid-stride. Normally his mother wasn't so gloomy. "You sure?"

"Don't push your luck. Bed. Now."

Too tired to argue, he went to his room. His mind spun. He had never seen her like this before. She was normally had a positive disposition, even in dark situations. She was always a ray of light when there was none. He was concerned, but he would confront her when he had more time and strength.

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There were definitely awkward moments, but for the most part, the conversation went well. Bruce could see, though, that Dick was stressed. He showed him to his room and told him to relax. He could see the relief flood over his eldest son's features as he admitted he could use a nap.

Bruce took the opportunity to swiftly make his way back to the cave for further research. Had anyone been present, they would have thought he had been moving rather quickly for someone who had to rely on a cane.

He began opening several windows and toggling heavily between them as he began looking deeper into Terry's past.

Tim had contacted both him and Dick saying he needed to meet with them. He needed to put closure to the past so he could move forward.

Dick had confessed that he still wasn't completely over Barbara and was beginning to think he never would be. He admitted that she lived in his heart as though she were not really dead, but alive somewhere, waiting for him to find her.

Terry had told him his mother had woken up in a hospital bed after a car crash, pregnant and amnesic. He also told him that Warren wasn't his biological father.

Then there was what he had just learned about the biological parents of Matt McGuiness.

And then there was the case that refused to die. Barbara Gordon had been so fragile the last time he had seen her. She had left the manor and disappeared. Ted Kord died trying to finish the case they had been working on together. Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Flash helped him close the case of Barbara's death. Or did they?

Something told him that all of these things were relative.

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A woman stood over a grave in Gotham's public cemetery.

"I've buried you twice, my friend," she whispered towards the cold, gray stone, "but it shall not all be in vain."

Pausing to place lilies in the vase near the stone, she walked towards another grave that ironically was not very far away.

She smirked as she looked at the name engraved in the more bluish stone. "There's no one in there," she whispered into the wind.

From underneath the ornate sleeve cuffs of her coat, thick metal bracelets flashed.

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The first of the several windows Bruce opened were of the Themescyran embassy's digital security tapes. When Wonder Woman had initially showed them to him, she was unaware that he had copied them.

When he had first viewed them seventeen years ago, all he saw was that Barbara entered the embassy 30 minutes after he had last seen her. It synched with Wonder Woman's story. The second piece of the tape showed her leaving around 2:30 a.m. Wonder Woman had said she stayed several hours talking to her about a personal problem she had been having.

Bruce grimaced, knowing now what that problem was.

Sighing, he restarted the tape and began watching the time that passed in between when Barbara had entered and exited.

He almost missed the two men who entered slightly off camera. He hadn't seen them before because he hadn't been looking for them before. He was looking for them now. Because now, he trusted less than he had ever had before.

He then kept going over Barbara's exit from the embassy. He was trying to see if it was a doctored image. He tried to see if it was just a reversed image of her entering. He tried to see if the receptionist's movements skipped. He looked for anything that indicated Barbara had not left the embassy at 2:30.

Everything was matching up perfectly. He couldn't make it work. Closing his eyes, he racked his brain.

"That's an unusual bracelet. Very ornate."

"Yes, it was a gift from Wonder Woman. Don't worry, I told her I still wasn't excepting her offer."

The sudden memory ripped through Bruce's thoughts and he practically jumped as Barbara's voice rang in his head. Once receiving the bracelet, Barbara was never seen without it. She always wore and had been wearing it when he last saw her. So why didn't he remember seeing it in the video?

Going over the tapes again, he saw that all of Barbara's jewelry was missing. He theorized it had all been edited out because it would have been too difficult to reverse the images. The tape was altered. Barbara hadn't left the embassy at 2:30. Whenever she did leave it, Bruce doubted it was through the front door, or a door that was covered by a security camera.

Closing that window, he brought to the forefront a window containing the news article of Warren McGuiness' death. There were no public pictures of any McGuiness family members save for this one. Bruce had seen the article and the picture before, but just like with the tapes, he hadn't been looking for then what he was looking for now. He increased the size of the image and studied it intently.

The hair was styled and colored different. The glasses and what must be contacts to change the eye color from blue to brown changed the look of the face. Of course, it was the beard, streaked with gray, which was really throwing the look off. The average person wouldn't have seen it, but Bruce wasn't the average person.

He recognized Ted Kord.