"Terry! Wake up! You're going to be late for school!"

"Mmhp?" Terry muttered as his mother shook his shoulder.

"Come on Terry, breakfast in ten minuets."

"Yeah Terry!" Matt bounced into the room, and onto his brother's bed, shaking his shoulder hard. Terry swiped at him and Matt ran off laughing.

"Matt, did you pack your backpack?" Mrs. McGuiness followed her youngest son.

Terry pushed himself upright, he felt sore and achy and his throat hurt, he must be coming down with something. He sighed and pushed himself out of bed, his muscles protesting leaving the warm comfort of his bed, and his head pounded as he sat upright. Automatically he reached for the jar of painkillers beside his bed, and stumbled into the bathroom, he drank a glass of water and took the pills, then went back into his room to get dressed.

"Terry, are you alright?" His mom asked, as he slid into his kitchen chair.

"Fine Mom," he muttered, pouring a glass of orange juice, the last thing he wanted was her fussing over him right now. He still needed to figure out who had manufactured the chemical from the night before. He had managed to obtain a sample of the residue off his suit, before he had showered down in Bruce's biohazard shower. He tried not to wince as the orange juice hit the back of his throat, but it felt raw and tender.

"Rough night?" Max grinned at him, shaking him awake after Terry fell asleep during lab.

"Yeah, and I think I'm getting sick," He confessed.

"Then stay away from me! I don't want your germs," Max laughed and held her binder playfully in front of her face, but Terry wasn't laughing. Oh… you really are sick."

Terry shrugged, "I'll live, its lunch time right?"

"Yup,"

Dana joined them at the table, looking in dismay at the chicken nuggets that were being served. "Do you think these have ever seen an actual chicken?" She asked, squinting at the quivering chunks of fried meat.

"This is why I've gone vegetarian," Max said, pulling out a salad she had brought from home. "I know this is real."

"Hey Terry, you going to eat those?" Howard had already eaten his.

"No, you can have them." Terry pushed the nuggets towards his friend, he wasn't feeling very hungry, he had begun to feel sicker as the day went on.

"Ter, are you okay?" Dana asked, gently putting her hand on his arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He forced a smile, "Just not hungry for processed chicken."

"I don't blame you," She said, taking a bite and making a face.

Across the room there was a loud commotion, several of the jocks had started tossing bits of chicken back and forth to one another, to see who could catch the most pieces in their mouths.

"Looks like Nelson finally found a good sport for that big mouth of his," Howard joked, looking disappointed that fewer people had heard his witty remark. It wasn't often he got in a good insult at Nelson, Max had smiled but Dana seemed focused on Terry, and Terry seemed focus on the tabletop. Howard sighed to himself, it would have been nice to have a girl like Dana pay attention to him like that, and Terry didn't even seem to appreciate it, he wasn't even looking at her! But Dana didn't seem to mind, she just reached out and gently stroked Terry's hair.

Terry lay his head on his arms, and for a moment let himself be perfectly content. He wished he could lay down in a big soft bed and just sleep for about a thousand hours, with Dana lying next to him, stroking his hair, just like this.

"You're the best Dane," he muttered sleepily.

"Don't fall asleep McGuiness, you still have three more classes." She reprimanded him, but her hand never stopped moving. "Can you come to the game tonight?" She asked.

"Yeah, Mr. Wayne gave me the night off." Terry still couldn't believe his good luck, and while he would have rather spent the time sleeping then watching Nelson show off, at least it would be time spent with Dana. Then his cell phone rang. Dana looked at him in dismay, and saw her afternoon with Terry slipping away.

"Be right back," Terry promised, and prayed that it wasn't Bruce calling him in to work. "Hello?" he answered, when he was out of range of other students.

"Terry, I just finished tests on your suit."

"And?"

"The chemical is extremely hazardous but the virus is not a contagion, it needs to infect people directly. Last night, did you breathe it in?"

"Uh…" he tried to think back, but everything was a little blurry.

"Are you feeling okay today?"

"I'm a little under the weather, but nothing serious."

"Terry, I think you've been infected. I need a blood sample right away."

"I'm in school!" Terry said, saying good bye to his afternoon with Dana.

"Go to the nurse, I'm sure they'll send you home. They still have sick days right?"

"Not without calling my mother."

"I'm sending the car for you."

Terry sighed, "I'll be outside in twenty minuets." And he went inside to give Dana the bad news.

"Hey!" Dana cried out with surprise when Terry appeared at the game. "You made it!" She smiled. "How was the dentist?" The only excuse he had been able to come up with…

"Not to bad," He sat down next to Dana on the bleachers. Bruce was testing his blood, and he didn't want him out patrolling while he might be seriously ill. He had told Bruce he had gone home to rest. The old man probably knew better. "How's the game?"

"Not so great, two of the players got sick in school today, so they're short a few, and Nelson's been slagging, but the other team isn't doing very well either. It's been kind of lame…" The game went on for a few more minuets, when suddenly Nelson got slammed into a side panel, and didn't move. The anxious crowd jumped to their feet. The trainer rushed out, and Nelson was carried off. "That doesn't look good," Dana said.

"No…" Terry watched, not feeling completely sorry for the large brute. "Want to get out of here? Get a bite to eat?"

"Terry… I don't feel very good… can we go home?"

"Sure, what's wrong?" He felt a moment of panic, was Bruce wrong, had he passed the virus onto Dana?

"I dunno… my throat just feels kind of scratchy, like I'm coming down with something, I just want to go home and get some rest. Sorry, I hate wasting your day off but I don't want to get you sick."

"No problem," Terry kissed her forehead, it did feel rather warm, his stomach tightened but he didn't say anything, just helped Dana to her feet and wrapped his coat around her as he walked her to the car. "You going to be okay to drive?" He hunched his shoulders, the cool breeze was getting to him, he hoped Dana didn't notice.

"Yeah, it's just a cold, I'll be fine." Terry felt his stomach knot tighter.

"Alright," he gave her a kiss on the cheek, and walked towards his bike, but not before flicking a tracker onto her bumper.

"Terry, explain to me again what you're doing," Bruce sounded annoyed.

"I'm just following Dana home, makes sure she gets there safely, I'm worried the fever could worsen suddenly." He drove his bike in between two cars, "then I'm coming to the cave."

"You should be in bed resting, until we have a more solid lead."

"I might not have time for that!" Terry insisted. Dana pulled off her exit ramp and he couldn't follow her any longer, it would have been to obvious, but he had the tracker programmed with an alarm to go off if the car stopped before a pre-programmed destination. He rode to Bruce's house, trying to ignore the cold wind whipping at his bare arms.

"Take a look at that," Bruce was hunched over a microscope, barely noticing as Terry entered the cave shivering. Normally the cool cave didn't bother him, but after the rather cold bike ride, Terry had no reserves left to keep his body warm. He tried to hide his shaking hands, as he bent over the lens. Inside, it looked like cells were being massacred.

"What is that?" he asked, through chattering teeth.

"That's your blood."

"Oh…"

"In a contained environment the cells are being destroyed at a much higher rate than they are in your body, but we still don't have much time to find an antidote."

"Any luck with that?"

"None so far,"

"Dana got sick, your wrong about it not being contagious." Terry said quietly, "Now it's not just me at risk."

Bruce shook his head, "that's not possible. If she's sick, it must have come from another source." Terry's cell phone rang, it was his mother.

"Hi Mom,"

"Terry?" her voice sounded anxious. "Matt just got home from school, he's not feeling well and he's running a high fever, I'm taking him over to the Clinic. I was just calling to see if you were sick."

"I'm okay," Terry lied. "I'm with Mr. Wayne right now, call me when you know more about Matt."

"Alright, if you start feeling sick, please come home or go to the Clinic."

"Okay." Terry hung up and grimaced, "Matt's sick now. I'm telling you I'm contagious!"

"Not unless you've contaminated the entire city…" Bruce had flicked on the television.

"In breaking news, a mass epidemic has broken out amongst the cities youth, officials are reporting an overflow in hospitals and medical clinics across the city, as concerned parents are rushing their kids in for treatment. Unfortunately, as of this time the virus is unknown. Mostly the symptoms seem to be that of the flu, but there have been several reported cases of victims fainting and some cannot be revived. Fear and panic are beginning to set in. So far the virus only seems to have affected school-age children, and experts are rushing to find a link. The virus is reported to not be airborne, but most of the schools have been closed as a precaution."

Bruce turned off the TV and turned to Terry solemnly, "Terry, you should know, I believe this virus causes the human body to begin to breakdown, and causes a high fever. This virus, if left uncured will kill its host."