Part 12

"Jason Todd, I presume." Edward Nigma smirked as The Red Hood walked into the old room that he and Two-Face had set up a rendezvous with the notorious mercenary.

"Riddler, you always were the smartest bad guy Bruce and I ever went up against, guess I shoulda figured that you'd know who I am by now."

"Flattery will get you nowhere boy, now, to the business at hand…"
"Joker; we want weaknesses, plans, whatever it takes to take the clown down." Two-Face growled, leaning forward in his seat.

Jason smirked and sat in front of the two villains, propping his feet up on the table between them.

"Whoa there Harv, what's in it for me if I spill the Joker's beans?"

In a flash, Two-Face had Jason held by the scruff of the neck, "How about you keep your face pretty boy?"

"I'd still be hotter than you Harv." Jason smirked. Dent drew his gun at this, but was stopped by Riddler.

"Let us act as if we are older than Toddlers. Now, Jason, you and I both know that you aren't as aloof as you act. You miss Bruce, and you want revenge, I can sense it…"
Riddler smiled smugly as Jason scowled.

"What are you saying?"

"If you help us to take this 'Clown Prince of Crime' back off of his throne… You can have the honor of taking him out of the picture… Permanently."

Jason's eyebrows rose, "What makes you think I want Joker dead?"
"Don't kid yourself Jason, you want him dead as much as Batman did. The main difference is…" Riddler rose slightly from his chair and stared Jason straight in the eyes.

"… You'll do it."

Jason scowled further, then looked back at Nigma.

"I will."

"Excellent! Now, about Joker's secret weapon…"

"Ace." Hood answered coldly.

"What?"

"I was snooping though Joker's rooms, I found Ace of Clubs of the Royal Flush Gang locked up in a giant tube; that tube is connected to a gun in Joker's office… I watched him take Superman, The Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman down… Driven insane by psychic waves emitted from Ace's powers."

"Just like him to do what he wants through another without conscience… I'd be impressed if I didn't hate him so much."

"Excellent, now we know what we're up against." Riddler stood up and walked toward a door in the back of the room.

"We'll be in touch."

Dana walked into her house after Commissioner Gordon dropped her off, hoping and praying her parents weren't awake, she exhaled with relief when she wasn't instantly berated by her father upon walking through the door. Her relief wouldn't last long, because when she turned the light on, she saw that her living room was torn apart. It looked as if a bomb had gone off. She gasped, and dared to think the worst had happened.

"Mom? Dad?" She called into the empty house, she searched all around, but only to find no one home… Increasing her worry level to 11.

Reacting on instinct, Dana threw on her Batsuit again, and channeled into the radio, "Mr. Wayne! Terry! Answer me!"

In the Gotham of the past, Bruce and Terry received Dana's call, Terry answered first, "Dana! What's the matter?"
"Terry, my parents! They're gone! And-."

Bruce interrupted, "Dana, calm down, what's happening?"

Dana composed herself, took a deep breath and spoke.

"Okay, I spent too long at Mrs. Waller's, and when I got home, the house was slagged and my parents are gone… I'm scared…"

"Do you have any idea who could have done this? A family enemy?" Bruce asked, scowling through his metal cowl.

"No one I know of!"

The Batmen and Nightwing landed on the ground nearby the old Gotham City park.

Terry rolled his eyes and thought, "As if we didn't have enough going on here, now we have to worry about Dana?" He could tell that Bruce was thinking about the same thing, when he heard sounds in a nearby clearing.

"Bruce, try and keep Dana calm, I have something to investigate."

"Don't wander too far McGinnis…" Bruce said.
"We don't want to lose two Batmen after we just got one back." Said Dick, still holding Raven (Who was still unconscious.).

The Tomorrow Knight ran off toward the talking, switching on his cloaking device. As he neared it, he recognized the voices, it was Harley, Selina, and Barbara.

Terry made himself known, "Girls!" He called to them.

They reacted, Barbara drawing batarangs, Harley raised razor-edged playing cards, and Catwoman just turned, folding her arms.

"Hey! Calm down!" Batman turned his cloaking device off, and the two younger women sighed in relief.

"We've been looking all over for you three!" Terry exclaimed, walking closer to them.

"Good to see a friendly face." Barbara said.

"Phew, it's just bat-hottie!" Harley grinned.

"'We'? Who else is with you Terry?" Catwoman said, leading the other two closer to Terry.

"Three others, we're trying to find everyone we can so we can meet with some people over in crime alley."
"People? Who might they be?" Barbara inquired.

"Basically everyone who isn't Joker."

"Mmm, perfect. I've wanted to pay the old villain gang a visit." Catwoman purred.

"Dana, you're absolutely certain that your family has no enemies?" Bruce requested from Dana over the radio.

"Positive…"
"Then we can assume there's someone who knows who you are already."

"Oh god…" Dana was close to tears, she hadn't been Batgirl for a day and she already let her identity slip.

"Calm down Dana, your parents aren't dead… Yet. Though all this is leading me to wonder if their disappearance is connected to this dimension somehow."
"Bruce, even to a newbie, that sounds a little far-fetched." Said Dick, helping the conscious Raven to her feet.

"That may be, but even the most far-fetched of options are still options."

At that moment, Terry and the three girls walked back onto the scene.

"Hey guys, look who I found!"

"Was wondering where you three ended up." Nightwing smirked.

"Nice to see you too Nightie!" Harley said excitedly, then paused and looked at the giant metal Batsuit behind Nightwing.

"Who's the metal guy?"

The three girls wandered onto the scene.

"Barbara, Harley… Selina… it's good to see you three again." Said Bruce, sliding the metal cowl from his face.

Upon seeing Bruce's aged face, all three girls' hearts skipped a beat. Even 40 years older, Bruce's stoic expression lingered, instantly recognizable to anyone who had ever been in the company of the original Batman.

"Bruce?" Asked Barbara nervously at the sight of her deceased mentor, "It can't be…"

"Yes, and it can, reunions can continue later, we need to find a place of residence, we're all tired, and trying to coordinate a group of seven is more trouble than it's worth." Bruce declared, returning his metallic cowl to its place on his face, turning and motioning for the others to follow him.

"He's right, come on." Terry nodded, following Bruce as the others did.

Once they were moving in a steady direction, Bruce re-tuned into his radio to continue his conversation with Dana.
"Dana, you need to go to Maxine Gibson's home, and tell her everything about this little endeavor." Bruce uttered into the speaker. Terry butted in, "What? So Max can help Dana, but you don't approve of her helping me?"
"Not now!" Bruce barked, startled, Terry got off the frequency irritably.

"Alright, I have some questions to ask her anyway… Thanks Bruce." She said, turning the radio off.

Max paced around her living room, hoping and praying that Terry was going to contact her, she sighed and slouched into her couch. She felt a breeze from the open window behind her and turned to close it, then was met with a shock that knocked her off her seat and onto the rug.

"Terry?" She asked, getting up at the sight of the black, pointy-eared figure in her living room.

"Max, it's me!" Said Batgirl, stepping into the light and taking her cowl off.

"Dana? What are you-? How did-? Where did you get-?" Max paused, "Girl, you got some explaining to do!"

Dana put her hands on her hips, "All I wanna know is; how could you have mistaken me for Terry!"

"It's dark, the pointy ears, and you're wearing heels!" Max said, smiling a little.

"True, but I don't think Terry has these!" She said, motioning toward her breasts.

Max laughed, and Dana laughed with her. For a moment, she had forgotten that her parents were missing and Terry was in another dimension… She supposed she just felt too comfortable speaking to Max.

"Alright Dana, enough jokes, how did you find out about Ter's secret? And more importantly, where'd you get the Batsuit?"

Dana sighed and began to explain the whole story to her friend.

After a few hours, Bruce, Terry, Dick, Selina, Barbara, Rachel, and Harley had found a safe house on the other side of town.

Once they had all settled in, they separated to rest before their meeting with the other resistance.

Terry sat on a chair in the underground room, he closed his eyes and thought about if he'll ever get home…

"Hey kid, you alright?"

Terry snapped back to reality, he looked up and saw the tall, hourglass figure of Catwoman standing in front of him.

"I'm alright…" Terry said, Selina sat next to him, "Good." She said.

"I can see why he keeps a picture of you." Terry said leaning back.

"Who?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Bruce." He said, pointing to the old man, who had stepped out of his Batsuit.

"Oh really?" She smirked, looking him over.

"Yeah, I see 'em on his computer back home."

The two of them just looked on at Bruce, who was standing alone, inspecting his suit.

"He looks in pretty good shape, how old is he in your dimension?"

"Late 70's, early 80's… I never really asked."

"You know Terry, you do look an awful lot like he did, and you're almost as good a fighter. You two related?"
Terry raised an eyebrow, "Nah, if we were related, I'd have to be his son… and I KNOW that's not true."

"Just sayin' kiddo, now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to re-introduce my self to tall-old-and handsome over there." She grinned, and he mirrored it, watching her leave… Or more specifically, following his teenager instincts, watched her butt leave.

Bruce pushed a button on the arm of his metal suit, it dispensed a bottle with several small, white pills in it. He opened it and took one of the pills, then returned the bottle to its place. He turned around to see Selina standing behind him, he was still taller than she was.

"What are those for?" She asked, pointing to the pill bottle.

"My heart." Bruce muttered, walking past her toward a window-well.

"Don't act like you aren't happy to see me, Bruce. Young Bat over there tells me you keep a picture of me."

Bruce closed his eyes, "I keep several pictures, not just of you."
"Oh… Why?"
"They're reminders of all I had missed over the years… Things I don't want Terry to miss…"

"You act like you're his father." Selina joked, circling around the old man. Bruce's eyes flickered for a moment, hinting that he knew something that no one else did.

Selina's mood went from flirty to concern, "Bruce… Is there something you haven't told the boy?"
Bruce straightened up, "I see no reason to tell you… What do you care?"

Selina put her hands on her hips, "I care!"

"It doesn't matter, as soon as this ordeal is over, Terry and I will bother your dimension no longer."

Selina grabbed Bruce's hand, "Bruce Wayne… I haven't seen your face in two years, seeing you now, even forty years older, is far from a bother…"

Her face was incredibly close to his, though his expression remained the unyielding face of Batman, his eyes stared back into hers, then both sets of eyes closed as Selina pulled him into a kiss.

Once they pulled away, "All these years and you've still got it…" She grinned, her hand on his face. He looked back, "Some talents, you never lose."

Terry watched the scene from afar, secretly grinning to himself at how even an 80-year-old Batman had more game than he did. He then returned to his own train of thought, wondering if Dana and Max were alright, and if he would ever see them again.

Nightwing walked up to him, and leaned on his chair. "Even 80 years old, Bruce still has it… How does he do it?" He asked, half-joking.

"You're in an awfully good mood."
"Don't see a reason not to be!"

Terry kept looking on, while Nightwing sat next to him.

"It's just great to see good ol' Bruce again…"
"I see him every day, guess I kinda take him for granted."
Dick folded his hands. "Fierce exterior aside, he's a great man… One of the greatest men that ever lived."
"Yeah…"
"I don't know how a world could go on without him."

"Or someone like him."

"Right…" Dick looked away, "We still need to find Starfire, Cyborg, and Changeling… Raven and I are going to find them, you in?"
"Sure, if it gets me some exercise." Terry pulled his cowl on and stood up, following Nightwing to the door where Raven waited. Then he felt a large, heavy hand on his shoulder, he turned to see the glare of Bruce.
"Where exactly do you three think you're going?"
"There are three more of us Bruce, we need to find them." Dick said while Raven nodded.

"Fine, but you have to be back in an hour, I contacted Deathstroke again and told him where we were…"
"Got it."

[Finished this at 12:05 AM guys, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated! Note: All loose ends WILL be tied up, believe me, this story is FAR from over.]