Chapter 2-Starting Over...and Her

Firewing's debut was huge. Terry had warned her the whole school would be talking about it Monday morning and he was right. She heard several people talking about it as she crossed the parking lot of Gotham High. Terry was waiting for her at the gate. Rachel tried very hard not to blush, but failed.

"So about last night, you were really good…for a rookie."

"Thanks," Rachel said. It did not help her blushing situation; she imagined she looked like a cherry.

"Who do you have for homeroom?" Terry continued, obviously thinking he could salvage the conversation. Before Rachel could answer, Terry's friend Max called him over to her locker.

"Terry. Just the guy I wanted to see."

Terry, however, continued walking.

"I know you heard me!"

He rolled his eyes and turned.

"I need to borrow him for a sec," Max said to Rachel.

"If this is about Firewing, Rachel already knows."

"Oh. Wait a minute, I've never seen you before, which must mean you're new. How could you possibly know about the identity of Firewing…unless…"

Terry gave a false cough. "Nightwing's daughter."

"Oh…So you're Gorham's new hero? I'm so rude, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Max."

"Rachel."

"Do you get compared to your father a lot?" Max asked. Rachel was surprised Max wasn't writing everything down.

"OK, Lois Lane, I do occasionally get compared to him."
"She's way better. I know from experience," Terry muttered.

Max looked confused.

"She kicked my butt," Terry said bluntly.

This made Max smile. "Male ego alert."

"I'm going to go find Dana," Terry grumbled.

He walked away, Rachel's eyes following him.

"Who's Dana?"

"His girlfriend. You'll like her; she can be pretty nice, although from the way you were looking at Terry, maybe you won't."

"I do NOT like Terry," Rachel said defensively.

"I've known you for like five minutes and I can tell that you do. But I won't tell. I don't think Dana deserves him, even if I am her best friend. She's not mine, though. I suppose Terry would be if I had to choose a best friend, since I know what he has to deal with every night and he tries so hard to be on time for dates with Dana…"

"I get it Max," Rachel said, smiling.

"Right, sorry. I ramble a bit sometimes. But Terry could do so much better, I swear. Dana is kind of conniving, really. Always trying to make Terry feel guilty about something or other…"

"You're rambling again."

"Sorry." Max smiled apologetically. She glanced at her watch. "We'll be late. Who do you have first period?"

"Social Studies with Mrs. Montgomery," Rachel said, consulting her new schedule.

"Same class me, Terry and Dana have. Come on, you can sit between me and Terry so Dana will be jealous…"

"He would never like me. We're friends."

Nevertheless, she followed, happy to have another new friend.

As it turned out, Rachel had every class except gym with Terry and she had that with Max and Dana, who seemed nice enough, though Rachel was secretly jealous of her. All the same, Rachel felt very confident as she parked her car in Bruce's garage and headed inside to get a snack and do her homework.

"Have a good first day?" Bruce asked. He was sitting at a computer, typing away at an e-mail to Clark.

"Yeah. Exceptionally good for a transfer student's first."

"I wouldn't know. Get a snack and do your homework."

Rachel grabbed a granola bar and trudged up the stairs wearily. She was tired from her three workouts the day before and the robbery she and Terry had stopped.

She flopped down on her spotless white quilt. This had always been her room at Bruce's, ever since her first visit as a two year old. The room had always been painted buttercup yellow. Bruce had offered to paint it a different color when she moved in, warning her she might get tired of it over the next two years.

"It's so…cheery. You like blue, don't you?" he'd asked.

"Yes, but it's alright, really."

She didn't like asking for things, especially because he had been willing to take her in. It didn't seem right to just expect things, even though Bruce had seemed happy to get her anything she might need.

"Just bring me a progress report and I'll be happy to help you out, providing your grades are good," he'd offered when laying out the rules for her.

Rachel pulled out her Geometry book to start her homework for Chapter 9. At her old school, they'd already reached Chapter 11, but already she liked Mr. Williams better, so it was better all around.

She worked for about an hour and a half, completing her math, English and Social Studies homework.

Then an odd incident occurred. A black cat with white feet (A/N It looked like it was wearing socks) leapt onto her bed and mewed right in her face.

"Can I help you?" Rachel asked the cat playfully.

The cat licked her chin with its sandpaper-like tongue, jumped back to the thickly carpeted floor and walked out into the considerably large hallway.

'Maybe I'm supposed to follow it,' Rachel thought.

She rolled off her bed and arrived just in time to see the cat spring into Terry's arms, where she purred contentedly.

"Hi," Terry said

"Hi. Um, what's with the cat?"

"She's for you…if you want her."

"For me?" Rachel inquired.

"My brother Matt found her, but it turned out he's allergic to cats and my mom wanted to take the cat to the animal shelter. I told her I'd take care of it. I just thought you'd like having a pet around her besides Ace."

"Does she have a name?"

Terry shook his head. "Thought I'd leave that up to you. I already checked with the old man and he said it was fine."

"Thanks so much, Terry," Rachel squealed, flinging her arms around his neck.

"Right," he mumbled, but surprisingly let the cat drop to the floor and held her back.

Rachel pulled away, suddenly remembering he had a girlfriend.

Terry noticed the look on her face. "Something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. It's just, after my dad died, my mom always kept a cat in the apartment. I had to leave Tigger with the Logans because my mom was so attached to that cat and it almost hurt to look at him. I miss her so much, Terry."

"I know how you feel. I don't have my dad, either, Rach. Is it OK if I call you Rach?"

Rachel nodded. "I don't mind. My Daddy called me Rach."

"Finish your homework?"

"It was easy. Did you finish yours?"

"Yeah. Hey, um, I was going to go out on patrol early because I have a date with Dana…Want to come now, or will you just meet up with me later?"

"Let me go change," Rachel replied. She gathered her new cat and went back in her room, smiling slightly at the hug they'd shared not five minutes before.

After they had been out patrolling for an hour, they came across the Joker gang.

"Looks like something's going on," Terry said through their communicators as if Rachel hadn't already noticed.

"Look, it's Batman and his bird-brained friend," remarked one particularly stupid looking gang member.

Rachel wasn't going to tolerate being made fun of. She attacked without mercy, throwing emerald starbolts left and right. She stopped only because a cowardly member threw a container of knock-out gas at her, making her fall.

"Firewing!"

Running forward, Terry caught her neatly, but already Rachel was pale and cold. Terry set her down carefully amongst crates of various sizes and turned to face the Jokers. The gang had vanished.

"Cowards," he grumbled. He lifted Rachel easily. "Let's get you home."

Terry laid Rachel down on her bed, making sure she'd be comfortable. Bruce had instructed him to press a cool washcloth to her forehead to wake her. Terry wandered down the hall, opening several doors before he found Rachel's bathroom. He found a washcloth, dampened the corner of it and brought it back to her room, carefully holding it so it wouldn't drip.

Terry pressed it to her pale forehead gently. It did the trick immediately because Rachel opened the brilliant jade eyes she'd inherited from her mother.

"Terry?" she asked softly.

"Do you need anything? Are you alright?"

Rachel nodded. "What happened?"

"We were fighting the Jokers and one hit you with knockout gas. I was worried; you were so pale and cold. Are you sure you're alright?" Terry demanded.

"I'm fine. Go on, you'll be late for your date with Dana." After a moments silence, she added, "Thanks for being there Terry."

"Always."

February 20

Odd night. I was fighting the Jokers, that much I remember. According to Terry, I got hit with knockout gas. Bruce didn't want me to go to school today, but I had to. After making sure I was going to last the night, Terry went off on some big date with Dana. I was jealous and I couldn't stop thinking about him. I know I hardly know the man, but he was so concerned about me, it was adorable. But he does have a girlfriend, one who really doesn't deserve him, but he seems to be happy with her. Then again, he did something very sweet yesterday, aside from making sure I was OK. He brought me a little kitten, black with white feet. I call her Belle, which is French for beauty. Terry seems to be everything I've ever wanted. I just wish I could have a shot with him.

Rachel

Aww…poor Rachel. R&R!

-iluvrobbie