Author's Note: One more chapter down. twirl Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

The next day, after school, Samantha went to the arcade with Terry, Max, and Dana. They had barely gotten there when Terry pulled Dana aside.

"Look, Dana, we need to talk." He told her.

She stiffened slightly. "Yeah, we do."

"I want to apologize." He said. "It wasn't fair for me to expect you to make the transition from no work to work so easily. And I haven't always treated you as well as you deserved. I know I've done the vanishing act a few times, and it just wasn't right."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh, Terry…Just the apology makes it a little better."

"That's not it, though." He went on. "You are going to have to make the transition. I can't always be around now, Dana. And being with me means having to put up with that."

She nodded. "I understand. And I can do it…As long as I know I'm not just wasting my time."

He kissed her, then, and they walked back to Samantha and Max. Terry went to go grab them a pizza and Dana flung her arms around Samantha.

"I don't know what you said to him, girl, but it worked." She told her. "Thank you so much."

Before long, though, Terry came back with an irritated expression.

"Sorry, girls." He said. "Wayne beckons."

Dana glared at him. "What about the talk we just had, Ter? I thought it was going to change."

"Dana, I told you you had to adjust…" Terry started.

Dana shook her head. "And I said I would. But you said you were going to try, Terry, and you still aren't."

He sighed. "I'll call him and see if it can wait."

"Don't you think you're over-reacting?" Samantha asked when Terry walked off.

"No." Dana replied firmly. "After his big speech about not treating me right, he still goes off and leaves. I need to make sure he's not all talk."

"It's not that easy, Dana." Max told her.

"It's a job." Samantha agreed. "You can't just snap your fingers and get out of it. You have to get that."

Max peered at Samantha, looking vaguely surprised.

Terry came back before she could say anything, though. "Dana…"

Dana waved her hand. "I don't want to hear it, Terry. Have a nice life, okay? Maybe you'll find something who can deal with all talk and no walk."

She stormed off and Terry gazed hopelessly after her. Finally, he glanced at Samantha and Max. "I…have to go."

Samantha gave him a hug. "I'm calling you tonight."

Max caught up with him as he walked off. "Does Sam know about you?"

"No." He replied. "Why?"

"You should have heard her defend you back there." Max said.

He glanced behind him. "I did." He said softly.

Samantha sat across the table from Bill, munching on a slice of pizza. "I like it when I'm too lazy to cook." She informed him.

"Pizza's good." He agreed, then stood up and slipped into his jacket.

"You going to work?" She asked.

He nodded, then headed out the door. Samantha sat in silence, chewing contentedly. At least she had gotten some kind of response. She heard the doorbell rang, so she dropped her pizza back onto her plate and went to answer it. She was surprised to find Mary McGinnis there.

"Hi, Mary." She greeted.

"Hello, dear." Mary said, looking flustered. "Is Terry here with you?"

Samantha frowned. "No. I haven't seen him since the arcade. Why?"

"Well, it's just, he didn't come home after work." May replied. "I phoned Mr. Wayne, and he said Terry was on his way home. That was over an hour ago."

Samantha's frown deepened. "I'm sure he's fine…Maybe he stopped to talk to Dana. They had a fight, you know."

Mary shook her head. "I phoned Dana, and Max as well. Neither of them have seen him."

Samantha fidgeted. "I was gonna head out, anyway…So I'll check around at all the places he likes to hang out, okay?"

Mary looked relieved. "Thank you. Do you have our number?"

"Yeah." Samantha grabbed her black trench coat from the coat rack by the door and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. "Let me give you my cell so you can call me in case he comes home."

Mary took the number gratefully. "Thank you again, Sam."

"No problem." Samantha told her. "I'll call you when I find him."

Samantha took the elevator down the stairs, then started walking towards Wayne Manor. That was the last place Terry was supposed to have been, so maybe she could track him from there. She was a bit worried about Terry…Dana breaking up with him seemed to seriously depress him. Samantha didn't want anything to happen to him.

Ara? She asked. I need your help.

You always need my help. He replied. I'll meet you outside the gates, liren.

Samantha smiled. His usage of the Cheysuli word for their relationship meant he felt bad for being harsh with her about her feelings for Terry.

I don't feel bad. He interrupted. I just decided he might be good for you. You need to socialize.

Not this again. She said with a mental sigh. Terry likes Dana. It's obvious.

Terry isn't with Dana. He reminded her.

"Shush." She thought aloud, earning her a strange stare from a fellow pedestrian. "Bill…" She muttered under her breath. "I really need a car."

She held her trench coat closed to prevent it from flapping open as she picked up her pace to a run. When she finally made it to Wayne Manor, her wolf was waiting for her. She stood for a few minutes, panting, then took a deep breath.

"Okay." She commented. "Let's start this."

She dropped the mental shields that kept her from hearing every animal's absent thoughts. Immediately, voices crowded her mind.

"Quiet, please!" She begged, aloud as well as mentally. "I need you."

The voices slowly silenced and she continued. "Has anyone seen him?" She focused on Terry, remembering to view him from all senses so the surrounding animals would understand.

We have. A sparrow called.

Samantha made her way over to them. "Where did he go?"

Straight down the road. The sparrow replied. Then he turned.

"Thank you." Samantha told the sparrows, then went down the road.

Once there, she repeated the process. Everywhere she went, at least one animal had noticed Terry walking. The trail led her back into town, and towards their apartment complex. Then it suddenly veered off into the seedier parts of Gotham. Somewhere between the movie complex and a few restaurants, the path was lost. No more animals had seen him.

Samantha sighed as she sat down on the curb.

Now what? Arabus asked from where he was hiding in the shadows of a nearby alley.

I think Sam's done all she can. Samantha replied, standing up and joining him.

She pulled her black choker out of one of her pockets and slipped it around her neck. Ferinus smiled. "And now it's my turn."

She swung herself up onto the fire escape, nimbly climbing up to the roof. Arabus followed, carefully placing paw after paw onto the ladder rungs.

"I could make his footprints light up." Ferinus commented absently. "Or we could try to catch his scent."

Or, we could head to the place that seems to have started smoking. Arabus told her, looking at a building off in the distance. The one with a rather large fight going on.

"But Terry…" She protested.

Could be chowing down somewhere. Or he could be there. Thought of that? Besides, you're a Guardian.

"I know." She sighed. "Let's go."

They made their way over to the building and quietly snuck in. Inside were a whole bunch of men wearing masks that looked identical to the ones worn by the party crashers a few nights ago. In addition to them, however, were smoky black creatures that looked like human shadows, but Ferinus knew to be demons. Fighting amongst the men and demons was Batman. His arms were chained behind his back, and the remains of chains a few feet away from him said his legs had probably once had the same treatment. Regardless of his handicap, he was fighting well, and seemed to be winning, for the moment.

"Let's go." Ferinus told the wolf.

Arabus immediately jumped out of the shadows, snarling, and pounced on two of the men. Ferinus hesitated for a moment, creeping silently to a position behind Batman. She then darted out to his side.

"Hiya Batman." She greeted, grabbing the chain with one hand.

He frowned as she tugged him closer by the chains. "You helping me or them?" He demanded.

"Helping you, luv." She replied. "Kamara."

Fire leapt around her hand, causing the chain link she was holding to melt.

"There you go." She informed him.

"Thanks." He said, then promptly shoved her down.

"Hey!" She protested, then silenced when she saw a demon go sailing over their heads. "Oh. Thank you."

They separated and took out the rest of the men and demons together.

"What are these things?" Batman muttered to himself, forgetting she was there for a moment.

"Liconous demons." She told him. "Not very powerful. But there're a lot of them."

He stood from where he had knelt by one of the bodies, looking at her. "How do you know about them?"

"I know lots of things. Or haven't you noticed?" She joked.

"Why…how are you here?" He demanded.

"I was looking for someone else. Kid that's gone missing. His mother was worried." She replied. "Ara saw the building, and here we are."

"Ara? That's your wolf?" He asked.

"Arabus. Ara for short." She answered.

He frowned for a moment. "At the party…"

"The crush thing?" She asked cheerfully. "Not really true. At least, not for awhile. Or the luv thing? Been hanging around a friend too much for that."

"No." He said. "The you helping people thing. Who are you? And what do you want?"

She considered. "What do I want? Right now, a nice hot bath. Discussions later, luv. I don't know if I can trust you yet. I don't see you so eager to tell me your secrets." She waved. "We are going."

Ferinus and her wolf ducked out of the door that he hadn't realized they had been edging to. He cursed and followed them out, but they were no where to be seen.

"You get all that?" He asked.

"Yes." Wayne replied. "They're not there?"

"Nope. Take a look for yourself." Batman shot his gaze around. "Maybe she's got an invisible spell or something."

"Maybe." Wayne said noncommittally. "You better get home. Your mother's worried sick about you."

"Thanks." Batman muttered sarcastically.

He went a ways away, then ducked into an empty alley to change out of his suit. He also ripped up his clothes a little to give him a good excuse for being gone. He had been on his way home when the police scanner in his backpack picked up a kidnapping. He had donned his suit and headed off to the appropriate place, but found it already taken care of. Before he could get far from the scene, though, he had been hit with something very similar to a stun gun. He had awoken in the empty building, with no clue how long he had been out. The first thing he had done was contact Wayne, then attempt escape. Halfway through the process, though, the building stopped being empty.

He stopped suddenly, giving a sharp turn when he heard someone call his name.

"Sam?" He asked.

"There you are!" She said, running up to him. "I've been looking for you…We were worried."

"You were looking for me?" He blinked.

"Your mom asked if I had seen you, then told me you didn't get home after work. So I went out to look." She peered at him, taking in his appearance. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I got jumped." He admitted, glancing down. "Well, actually, some old lady got jumped. I decided it would be a smart idea to try and help her. Not really. When I finally figured out where the heck I was after I woke up, I started home. I'm all right."

"That was brave." She told him, then felt his head. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." He replied, nodding. "Only thing hurt is my pride."

She grinned a bit. "Come on, let's get you home."