Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Beyond or any of the referenced story lines or characters therein.

Author's Note: Thank you for all of your continuing support and kind reviews! :D Some comments and responses -

Nequam-Tenshi: Yes, Bruce would currently be part of the Justice League, but I do not plan on involving them in this fic in any way, aside from alluding to, or naming other characters within their ranks. :)

Dark Secret1: Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm very glad you're enjoying the story, your review was encouraging; made me smile! ^_^

As I haven't updated in a long time, due to the Holiday Season, I will be posting another chapter within the next couple of days instead of waiting the traditional week. Keep watching for it, and enjoy ~ !

Warp Element

Tracking

Future-side

Connor watched the data feed with heightened interest. It was absolutely true that Batman was the acting guinea pig of his initial warp experiment, but it still astounded him that the microscopic probes he'd injected into the boy's blood actually worked across the time-space continuum. Then again, he'd made them of the same technology that he had used to create the larger machine, even if they were simplified, sending only snippets of biological information instead of actual physical objects.

The bright splotch of violet color on the screen was the Bat himself, seemingly unharmed but for a rather erratic heart rate, most likely from the shock of being in a completely different time stream. He was probably disoriented and quite afraid. Either that or he was participating in some rather continuously hair-raising or stressful activities, which didn't really surprise the genius, considering the fact that this was the Batman they were talking about.

"Batman?" Jack lumbered into the dimly lit monitoring room, focusing rather jealously on the little purple splotch of life force identifiable as their vigilante. He almost wished he had his plaything back. The superhero had been a rare commodity, and the strength he had drained from the young and vibrant spirit was already waning, and returning to its host. Unfortunately, Jack didn't get the benefit of maintaining his victim's vitality unless he killed them, and Batman was far from dead, as evidenced by the information on the screen.

"How did you guess?" Connor drawled sarcastically, his face twisted into a rather demonic smirk. "Yes, dear friend, that is out little Bat. Or perhaps in this case – Lab Rat."

Jack nodded. He didn't always understand Connor and his little experiments, but he knew whatever he did was important to their master plan, and at some point or another, the man would monologue about it. Connor liked to talk, bragging about his scientific accomplishments, so he tended to do so to his friends, instead of subjecting himself to such temptation at the benefit of his enemies. It wasn't that the large, life-stealing man really minded. In fact, a lot of Connor's endeavors were quite interesting, but until they were explained, Jack always felt somewhat in the dark.

Connor stared fixedly at the screen, and then pursed his lips, gesturing to the lighter signatures within their guinea pig's immediate vicinity. "The dimmer sparks around him are completely separate personas. But there's one…" Connor pointed to another life force – not quite as bright as Batman's, but much brighter than the dull blobs surrounding it, and of a shade quite similar to that of the hero's. it had less of a violet hue to it, tending towards a navy blue, but it shimmered with flashes of amethyst distinctly similar to the Tomorrow Knight's. "It's strange. I don't think I've ever seen two life forces so similar, unless…"

"They were related." Jack finished, interrupted Connor's musings. That was one thing he did understand. Since he devoured people's spirits, he had come to the quick realization that family members shared a distinctly similar flavor unique from anything else around it.

Connor frowned, contemplative as he zoomed in on the two figures of similar radiating energy. "That's impossible though. For the shades to be that similar, it would either have to be someone in the immediate family – not even a grandparent could be that close in spectral hue. Am I right, Jack?"

The large man nodded, knitting his eyebrows together in the same feeling of confusion that Connor was now voicing. "I doubt the dreg's parents were even born back then…" he mused. "Let alone old enough to associate intelligently. And you'd think that Batman would be smart enough to avoid any contact with his family anyway, lest he completely destroy his future."

"Unless he doesn't know they're his family." Jack pointed out. He certainly wasn't the brains of the operation, but he had decent ideas every now and then, and by the way Connor glanced at him in surprise, he knew this was one of the better ones.

"Jack, my boy, you may actually have something there. But that still leaves the mystery open as to why this soul seems so advanced. Children don't appear so bright and defined like that. And I know my sensors are working correctly." He furrowed his brow again, turning from the monitoring equipment and gliding into another dark room where his machine sat, doing naught else but collecting dust. He needed to fix the time warp, but so far, he'd been too distracted by Batman's erratic progress through the past to really concentrate on it. And so far, nothing had been screwed up. At least, not that he had noticed. Perhaps there were small things changing along the way, but nothing yet disrupting the entire stream of time.

Jack watched as Connor ran his hand over the sleek machinery, and then turned away. "The plan still needs to be carried out." He muttered. "And to do that, we need our time warp." The larger man nodded in agreement, his eyes child-like and blank.

"For now, though, I think we shall lay back. Monitor Batman's progress. Eva needs time to mend as well. I don't want to leave her behind." He flexed his hand, balling it into a great fist. Batman was going to pay for crashing their unveiling party. If he hadn't gotten involved, then Eva wouldn't have gotten hurt, and everything would have worked out perfectly.

But then again, it still could. Despite the fact that Batman's presence in the past was probably altering time around him as he contemplated his next move, it also gave him a 'get out of jail free card' in the sense that there was no longer anyone left to track him down and prevent his ultimate triumph. He smirked. Perhaps misfortune could work in his favor after all. But he did need Eva. If his girlfriend wasn't outside the reaches of time and space when he altered the past, then she would be altered along with it, and he couldn't let that happen. He needed her well – and soon – so that he could pull this off.

A little bit of stress gnawed persistently at his resolve. There were unknown constraints around his project. If things didn't work out, then his plans, and the entire past, present and future were at risk.

"Max, I'm really worried." Dana said, sighing for what seemed like the millionth time. Her eyes were bloodshot and glazed, and the beautiful African-American girl next to her could clearly see that her acquaintance hadn't slept well last night. "I know Terry has a habit of disappearing, but not like this." It hadn't taken the girl long to discover the news from Mrs. McGinnis about Terry – the fact that he had gone completely A.W.O.L. without a trace two nights ago.

The pink-haired Max wasn't exactly sure what to say to that statement. She knew what was going on, but she also knew that she couldn't in a million years breathe a word of it to the girl, lest Bruce Wayne take it out on her hide. Besides, there were some secrets that only Terry was allowed to tell, and either the boy would come clean, or the secret would – for lack of a better phrase – die with him. Max flinched at the thought, hoping it didn't come to that. Instead, she stared dismally straight ahead, no longer occupied by whatever she'd had going on her laptop. She'd been just as distracted and concerned as Dana, and the both of them had fastened together with some sort of strange, unspoken contract, worried out of their minds over the disappearance of the boy.

Dana looked down, staring blankly at the hem of her sky-blue dress. Her eyes began to take on a hard look, and finally, she set her mouth in a hard, grim line. "I think I'm going to speak to this Mr. Wayne." She said.

Max looked up at her, startled by the resolve she heard in the girl's voice. "Dana, I'm not sure if…"

Dana stood, shaking her head. "Don't try to dissuade me, Max. I'm tired of it. I know how much the Wayne guy matters to Terry, but this is really going to far. It doesn't make sense. Terry is so dedicated to him, and the man acts as if his disappearance is just a part of his job!"

You have no idea... Max opened her mouth, quickly trying to cover for Terry and Mr. Wayne both. "Dana, please. This isn't Bruce's fault. You know these things just happen in Gotham, and Mrs. McGinnis has called the police. There's really no reason to…"

"No, Max!" Dana shouted, tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm tired of standing by the sidelines. I've let so much else just slip by, and watched Terry be consumed by this man and his job. I'm tired of fighting with him. I'm tired of being brushed off as second. If Mr. Wayne is always the reason he's leaving me behind, it's about time I got to know Mr. Wayne."

Max was surprised as the girl's resolve, and watched as Dana's manicured fingers clutched tightly at her white, designer purse, the keys to her convertible resting inside, a tantalizing temptation. They were outside for lunch at the moment. It wouldn't be hard to just walk to the parking lot…

Max laid a hand on Dana's shoulder, knowing where this was going. "Please." She said quietly, and her friend's head lowered, her black hair obscuring her face from view. "Please, just wait until school is out. I'll even go with you, if…"

"No." Dana said quickly, though her resolve was as shaky as her voice. "No." She repeated. "I'll be good and wait till after school, but this is something I have to do alone."

Her hands gripped the tan, leather steering wheel, her knuckles turning white as she clutched tightly to it like it was her last lifeline. Perhaps it was. Perhaps this would be the last time she would ever see the light of day. Perhaps, just like Terry, she'd enter the great, mysterious Wayne Manor and never come out. Perhaps…

Dana shut her mind off to these silly imaginings, taking a deep breath as she stared at those huge, wrought iron gates. She hadn't dared press the intercom yet, instead turning off the sleek, white vehicle and sitting, staring in horror and agony up at the great, grey mansion. What else did she have to lose? The old man had already taken Terry from her. Maybe if she got sucked in too, she'd at least get to see her boyfriend more.

Taking another gulp of air, as if it were her last, she pressed the button, and spoke. Her heart fluttered fearfully in her chest, but somehow, she managed to keep her voice steady. "Hello?" She sounded a little more timid than she would've initially wished, but let go, staring at the speaker, waiting for a response. It seemed an age before the old, gruff voice broke over the intercom, and growled at her, but it was a welcome sound.

"If you're the girl scouts, I already said I didn't want cookies. Go away."

Dana scowled at that, and her next comment was much steadier, and she even managed to slip a little attitude into it. "No, I'm not the girl scouts, I'm Dana Tan."

Another long, seemingly endless pause accentuated the conversation.

"And you expect me to know who that is? Go. Away."

His words were firmer this time, despite the fact that he knew exactly who she was. He stared down at her from the large, floor to ceiling windows he had spotted Terry from before the boy had stolen the suit. She was a pampered and spoiled little girl. She wasn't meant for this life. Truthfully, he'd never seen her before, and had only heard her name as mentioned by Terry. But she was weak. She shouldn't be Batman's girlfriend. She was too vulnerable, too delicate, too…

"Open the gate!" Dana demanded, being as authoritative as she ever had in her life. "Look, I'm Terry's girlfriend. Let me in! I have a right to know what's going on!"

Bruce watched as her face turned harsh, and she glared mercilessly up at the mansion, her eyes scanning the walls. He backed up from the windows, contemplative. So many comments and insults roiled in his brain. He should be down in the Batcave right now, locating Connor. He should've been telling Dana to get lost and get the story from McGinnis' mother. He should've been doing something. He should've been doing anything other than what he was about to do.

He hesitated, sighing as he leaned heavily upon his cane. Ace's great, liquid ebony eyes stared up at him calmly, and he whined, wondering why Bruce was undecided. The Master was never undecided. Ace cocked his head to one side, his thin, ropy tail sweeping back and forth lightly in a momentary motion of encouragement. He shuffled his paws, circling the elderly man, waiting impatiently for some signal. Inwardly, he almost wished Bruce would let him out to run after this white monster that sat in front of the gates, causing so much trouble. He'd attack it. He'd get rid of it. Then everything would be better again.

Bruce frowned, rubbing Ace absentmindedly behind the ears, and then pressed the button.

The gates opened.

Dana turned on her car again, and drove forward.

She was even more apprehensive now, clutching the steering wheel with pallid hands. This was it. This was the day when she finally unraveled the mystery of her boyfriend's job. She eased to an insanely controlled stop quite a few feet before rounding the proper curve that swept past the front door and back out onto the incredibly long dirt driveway. She stared at those double doors suspiciously through the windshield, and then, with a deep breath, slung her small, white, leather bag over her shoulder, and exited the safety of her vehicle.

Despite the fact that it was such a sunny, charming day, everything felt gloomy around this disheveled old place. Dana's eyes scanned the somewhat unkempt, wild garden, and wondered when the last time a hired hand had been out here. She shivered as her own personal rainstorm seemed to envelope her, a black, gloomy cloud consuming Wayne Manor. It astounded her how this man used to be so popular. He wasn't charming, he was absolutely horrifying. But Dana wasn't going to let that hold her back. With one last harried glance around, she stood up straight, and advanced on the doors.

She didn't have the chance to knock.

He was waiting for her.

The door on her left opened only a crack, but his piercing eyes still cut through her like a hot knife through butter. Refusing to let her fear show, she pursed her lips, fingernails digging into her bag.

"What do you want?" Bruce said bluntly, gruffly.

"I want to know where my boyfriend is." She responded, still sounding much more timid and desperate that she would've previously hoped.

"Why did you come here? You could've gotten that information from Mrs. McGinnis. Why ask me?"

Dana took a deep breath, and Bruce again, was forced to realize how fragile this young, very pretty girl looked. She was slim; most likely never worked out, and of course, had that perfect, glistening black hair. She was your typical popular teenager. She shouldn't be involved with Terry. Not with the risk that he carried as Batman.

"Because I already know he's gone. I want to know why." Her eyes narrowed as she considered the older man. This had to be the bravest thing she'd ever done in her life.

Bruce regarded her coldly, measuring his options. It would've been so easy to just throw her out in the cold (so to speak), dismiss this, and be the cantankerous old man he was supposed to be, but he found himself letting her in. Dana wasn't as surprised as he was at his own actions. "I can't tell you everything." He confessed, his voice grim and solid. He didn't offer the young woman a seat, or any refreshments. He let her stand; right here in the foyer of the grand mansion. He wasn't sure why he was confessing this. Perhaps, after all these years he was finally getting soft. Maybe he'd become tired of relationships dying before his eyes. Maybe it was because of Tim. Maybe it was Barbara, or Dick… but whatever it was, he found himself talking, when he most likely shouldn't have been. "When Terry got himself into this mess, he took up the secret as well. No one, not even his mother, knows. He's keeping you safe. Just know that, and let him be. If he hasn't told you, then he's trying to protect you."

Dana's dark eyes widened in surprise, and she opened her mouth, dumbfounded. That hadn't quite been the answer she was expecting. "What do you mean, he's keeping me safe?"

"Not just you." Bruce said coldly, turning his back on the young girl. She bit her lip, still consumed by her own personal storm cloud. She wanted to shrink, she wanted to hide away, to believe that whatever was happening was just a simple disappearance, that Terry would be here soon, and everything would be normal again. But life was becoming more twisted and riddled with holes and speculations with every word the old Wayne spoke. Casual instinct told her to back down, but she was tired of leaving things be. She took a deep breath, calming her raging fears and doubts. "He keeps Gotham safe." She whispered.

"Sometimes." Bruce turned, glaring. He didn't expound upon what he meant – that sometimes Terry kept Gotham safe, and sometimes, he saved the world.

Dana lowered her head, studying the floor, her eyebrows knit together in absolute confusion. "I'm… I'm not sure I understand…?"

"Then ask Terry." Bruce interrupted, shuffling away slightly, his voice grim.

Dana was possessed by a sudden and uncharacteristic fit of rage. "When? When he's dead? When I can't do anything to…"

"He's not dead!" Bruce whirled on her with speed that she wouldn't have thought possible. Shifting his weight painfully, he raised his cane, pointing it at her. The end came inches from her face, and her soft, dark eyes widened as she backed up, stunned into silence. "You listen to me. What Terry does is great. It's his place to tell you, not mine. If he doesn't…" Bruce clenched his teeth, closing his eyes, and lowering his walking stick, leaning heavily upon it again. "…then it's not my place to fill his shoes. But he's not dead."

Dana nodded, and Bruce peered at her through narrowed eyes. "Hn." He grunted almost inaudibly and turned away. "I'm not lying when I say Terry disappeared on the job."

"But the question is," Dana mumbled. "What job?"

Bruce looked back up at again, and she averted her nervous gaze. After a moment of silence, she turned back to him, pleading with everything she had. "So Terry's gone, and there's nothing I can do?"

"You can endure." Bruce answered, almost immediately. "You can trust in him, and know that he will come back, for you, if no one else. If there's nothing I hear more of when he's complaining about the job, it's the fact that he doesn't have enough time to see you. Share the same confidence in him that he shows in you. Give him something to come home to."

Dana nodded fervently, astonished at this revelation. While she had been continuously complaining about not getting to see Terry enough, he'd been doing the same about her? Bruce turned away from her again, and Dana found herself standing awkwardly in silence. So, with a slight nod and a quiet thank you, she took her leave, closing the door behind her with a soft click. Upon entering her convertible again, she didn't even bother to turn the key, caressing the steering wheel thoughtfully as she became lost in thought, staring blankly at the dashboard. Had she really been giving Terry grief all this time when he'd been out protecting people? And what did Bruce mean by that? And besides that, how was Terry protecting people?

After a few moments of silence, she turned the car on, thoughts screaming in her head like angry hornets whirling in a painful hurricane of doubt and confusion. As she rounded the drive and began the long trek back out of the forbidding gates she entered through, the radio fell into commercial, blabbing on about some new medicine or another, and then lapsing into news and weather. She really didn't pay too much attention until one bit caught her attention. She turned it up a little, watching the gates approach in the distance. "…seems to have disappeared. Crime last night ran rampant, and Gotham's famed Tomorrow Knight was no where to be found. He hasn't been documented as seen since two nights ago during the mysterious break-in at the Powers' abandoned mansion. Reports are still speculative as to whether or not he has completely left Gotham unprotected, or is preoccupied elsewhere. Statements from Commissioner Gordon say that the police still have everything under control, whether or not Batman is around, but the public polls aren't quite as confident..."

All noise faded from Dana's ears as she slammed on the brakes, her eyes wide and scared. Her hands shook with the possibility of what had just occurred to her. Suddenly, everything seemed to click somewhere in the back of her mind. There had been so many clues, so many signs…

He always disappeared at night.

He was constantly tired, bruises and cuts that hadn't been there the day before characterizing his well-muscled body. She was his girlfriend. It was hard not to notice these things during their more passionate moments.

Even more evident than that had been watching him slowly transform from the juvenile delinquent he had been into this dashing gentleman she barely recognized. It wasn't as if she didn't appreciate or like the change, it had just been different. Sure, his grades still sucked, and he was still an absolute dork, but he'd made a complete u-turn behavioral wise. He had suddenly become… respectable. At first she'd just thought that it had been because of his father's death, but then, all of the signs had begun around that time – which was also the first time she'd brought him to Mr. Wayne's house. Terry had been ranting about how the old man was the only one able to help…

And then, there was always that one time…

She shivered as the vision of rats filled her mind, seared into the back of her eyelids. That had been a nightmare it had taken a long time to recover from, and even then, it still haunted her. But she'd never really considered the circumstances. She'd only been gone an hour or so before Batman had come for her, and somehow, he'd known exactly where she was. He'd known. He'd been concerned. And no one could reach Terry until after Batman had left. And besides the rats, there had been other clues – like Batman's strange and sudden interest in Chelsea's incarceration in a questionable juvenile delinquent facility, his destroying the android that had become a little too obsessed with Howard, his involvement in both situations Willie Watts had created, his part in making Venom an illegal enhancing drug, him saving Max from the Jokerz that had taken a deadly interest in her… the fact that the gang of Jokerz in the club had gone after Terry, and then he'd disappeared altogether, leaving Chelsea to care for her while he 'talked to the police'. She'd thought he was being insensitive when she woke up in the hospital and no one seemed to be able to get a hold of him. But he hadn't been insensitive. He'd been battling the Joker. The Joker's return and disappearance had been all over the news. Hadn't she noticed Terry's being upset over the entire ordeal?

Why hadn't she put it all together before? Batman had been involved with so many circumstances around the high school, and Terry had never been around to see them. He'd always shown up suspiciously right after Batman had left. It seemed impossible that she hadn't noticed, hadn't figured out the secret. It was so freaking obvious!

Dana slowly turned around in her seat, scanning the foreboding mansion again, just like she had before entering the gates. This time, Bruce didn't back away from the window. Dana's pleading eyes found his grim face, and stayed there. She couldn't tell if he was staring back at her, but he knew. She knew he did. She could feel it. But it wasn't possible. Her brash, joking boyfriend was the Batman? This young man that she had known since the beginning of high school, and had been dating for over almost two years? It couldn't be possible, but somehow, it all seemed too right, too evident.

Terry was… Batman?