A/N: So many kind reviews! this is a great start! Olena, no, Jazz is just an employee, that's why she wishes she could fire Becky. Kingdomheartsandichigolover, hope this satiates a bit of your Batman need. Patricia, glad you're indecisive ;). FallenAngelx3, i hate to torture you, but all i can say is read on... Enjoy!

Emerging from the subway station, Terry looks around the almost deserted sidewalk before heading in the direction of Jazz's apartment. He decided to ditch his car for the evening hoping to surprise Jazz with the place he wants to take her. With hands in his pockets and a sly grin on his face, he takes his time walking the five blocks to her building. Allowing his mind to wander, he finds himself imagining how the evening might go. Either Jazz will turn it into a comical mess because of tense awkwardness she won't let go of, or she'll try to come up with a creative excuse as to why she has to break their… date.

Why did that word pop into his head? Frowning, he lowers his gaze to the floor. He could never see her as a date... could he? He only asked her out once way back when they first met, but that interest quickly died after they started working together. He wasn't even thinking of her in that sense even after she left, but he can't deny something's changed. He shakes his head hoping those thoughts will fly out of his ears leaving him alone. With only two blocks left, though, his phone suddenly buzzes to life in his pocket. Taking it out and reading the caller ID, he can't help but wince before answering it.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?" Bruce's gruff voice asks.

"Westside; I thought I asked for the night off."

"Next time ask Spellbinder for one. Suit up; he should be close to your area."

"How close?" Before Bruce can reply, Spellbinder suddenly speeds by riding his familiar wasp vehicle with four police cars in close pursuit. "Uh, never mind," Terry replies before hanging up and running into a secluded alley to change.

Looking back at the clock hanging on the wall, Jazz lets out an annoyed sigh sinking deeper into her chair. Terry so far is fifteen minutes late. She looks down at her phone, but same as the last five times, there are no calls or messages. With another sigh, she rests her chin on a fist and rolls her eyes.

"Figures he wouldn't show," she mutters to the cat sitting across from her on the kitchen table.

Sick of waiting, Jazz figures Terry must have either forgotten or is unexpectedly occupied meaning the evening is off. Getting up, she heads to the fridge to make a sandwich but ends up realizing that she's out of milk and eggs. Taking another quick look at the clock, she decides to make a quick trip to the convenience store. Ruining her carefully primped hair by pulling it up into a pony tail, she grabs her bag and heads out the door.

Batman finally catches up to the strangely clad criminal by a rooftop not too far from when he first saw him. He manages to tackle Spellbinder off of his wasp, landing hard on the rooftop.

"Waste of my time," Batman grunts as he pushes himself off and takes out a pair of flexicuffs.

"Allow me to make it worth your while then," Spellbinder replies as he elbows Batman in the face. He scrambles to his feet when Batman falls back, and runs to the edge of the roof to wait for his wasp to pick him up.

Cursing under his breath, Batman quickly regains his footing and runs after Spellbinder; but when he's a few yards away, Spellbinder suddenly pulls out a gun and fires hitting Batman in the shoulder. Letting out a short cry of pain, Batman hesitates and looks at his shoulder to find a needle sticking out. After he pulls it out though, his vision begins to blur, and he finds himself staggering to the ledge and holding on to it for support. From what he can tell of the hazy image in front of him, Spellbinder is still pointing the gun at him. Taking out a batarang, he tries his best to concentrate on his aim, but when he throws it, he misses by a foot. Before he could try again though, darkness claims his mind and he loses consciousness tipping over the edge.

With her bag of milk and eggs in tow, Jazz starts heading back to her building, but the strobing red and blue lights of the police cars catch her attention. She stops to look around but doesn't find Batman anywhere near the cop cars. Shrugging with indifference, she figures the cops can handle it; so she doesn't hesitate to turn and head in the opposite direction back to her apartment. When she goes to put her earphones back in her ears though, a large black mass suddenly crashes on the parked car beside her, spraying glass everywhere. Startled, she falls back dropping her bag and stares with wide eyes at the dented and mangled car. She looks around the empty street before getting up and cautiously walking over to the car. Her mouth drops in surprise when she finds herself staring at an unconscious Batman.

She turns her gaze skywards in time to find Spellbinder on his wasp and quickly dropping down to her level. Thinking quickly, she takes out her switch blade from her bag, and when Spellbinder is close enough, shoves the small blade between a hinge and into his vehicle's power lines, robbing him of a chance to do what he set out for. With his sparking waspmobile unpredictably jerking, Spellbinder curses under his breath as he tries to regain control before making his escape up into the night sky. Once he is out of sight, Jazz lets out a sigh of relief and turns her attention back to Batman. Before the cops can get a hint, she hooks arms under his shoulders and drags him off the car and into the alley just behind her.

Laying him in the shadows behind a dumpster, she makes a quick examination of his limbs to make sure nothing broke after the long fall. That's when the needle he was shot with falls out of his hand and rolls over to Jazz's feet. Frowning, she picks it up and studies it before putting it away in her bag. She then tried to shake him awake.

"Hey, come on, wake up," she whispers gently slapping his face, but he doesn't move. Frowning, she takes a look out of the alley to find they're still alone. She brings her eyes to Batman's belt and nervously wrings her hands together. 'Please don't shock me,' she mentally prays as she slowly brings her finger down and presses the call button on his belt. Unfortunately though, after pressing it, a bolt of electricity courses up her arm, making her jump back and grab her hand.

"Son of a-!" She shouts putting her burnt finger in her mouth, but luckily the attempt wasn't in vain.

In a few minutes, she could hear the powerful engine of the Batmobile approach before parking itself a few feet away from the two. Getting up, she walks over to the car only to stop with hesitation as she stares at the closed canopy. For it to open, she has to place her palm on the scanner, but if the car doesn't recognize her print, she's in for a worse electric shock. There is a chance that Bruce erased all her access data, meaning the car will only recognizer her as a threat. She turns to look back at Batman still lying on the floor unconscious. Figuring he's been tranquilized, he will need to get back to the safety of the cave.

Letting out a low whimper, she turns back to the car, takes a deep breath and holds it, then extends her palm placing it on the palm reader. Wincing in anticipation, she waits for the result and is surprised to find the canopy slide open invitingly. Breathing a sigh of relief, she jumps in and calls the cave hoping Bruce will guide the car back. However, after waiting several minutes with no reply, she figures Bruce isn't near the cave and she'll have to be the one to drive the car back. Jumping out, she moves back to Batman's side. Throwing his arm over her shoulder and placing a hand behind his back, she struggles to pull him up.

"This is when 200 lbs of muscle is a bad thing," she grunts as she drags him to the car. Throwing him halfway into the cockpit, she blows a puff of air up to get her long bangs out of her eyes before she awkwardly eases Batman into the rear seat, one they had installed for her long ago. Jumping back into the driver's seat, she closes the canopy and sets off in the direction of the cave.

Darkness… everything that surrounds him is shrouded in it… he's starting to panic because he can't move… he needs to move because something is coming… he doesn't know what it is… it just keeps coming… closer… closer…

"Hello, Batman," Blight's glowing, green face suddenly appears before his laugh sets Terry over the edge, literally.

He finds himself free falling in the darkness, and when he hits the bottom, his eyes shoot open while the rest of him leaps off of the gurney. With his breath still laboring, his wide eyes take a look around to find that he's within the safe walls of the damp cave. Throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, Terry grabs his throbbing head as he tries to remember what happened. He notices his mask and gloves have been pulled off and an IV sticking out of his hand.

"I'm assuming we're done here," he hears a familiar woman's voice say somewhere in the distance. Quickly realizing its Jazz's, Terry rips the IV catheter out of his hand and rushes over to the source of her voice. He hurries up the steps and reaches the main floor of the cave in time to see Jazz halfway up the flight of stairs leading to the exit.

"Jazz! Hang on!" He calls out making her stop and face him.

"Oh, you're up," she says, unable to hide her earlier aggravation; but she doesn't move down to meet him, so instead he starts heading up to her.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," she shrugs. "You fell off a building and I brought you back here. How are you feeling?"

"Little sore," he replies rubbing the back of his neck. "Listen, sorry about tonight-"

"That's fine. I didn't expect you to make it anyway," she lies looking away. "Anyway, it's getting late."

"I'll give you a ride; it's the least I could do."

She looks up at him, then shifts her eyes to someone behind him. Terry turns his head to follow her gaze and finds Bruce seated at the console glaring up at the two. "No," Jazz finally replies. "I'll be fine."

Before he could change her mind, she hurries up the rest of the stairs and out the door leaving him a bit angry. He knows Bruce must have said something hurtful, or probably warned her to stay away from Terry; either way, he feels Bruce had no right to upset her like that especially since she helped him. Heading back down to Bruce's level, Terry glares at his mentor as he approaches him.

"What did you say to her?" He asks accusingly.

"Nothing that concerns you. What happened tonight?"

"It does concern me when she runs out like that," Terry continues crossing his arms in front of him. "What did you say?"

Ignoring him, Bruce turns away and faces the monitor. "I analyzed the needle you had and it looks like nothing more than a basic tranquilizer, but we need to find out why Ira tranquilized you in the first place."

Terry, however, turns Bruce's chair so they face each other. "Bruce, what did you say?" He asks for a third time clearly infuriated.

For a moment, the two men glower at each other before Terry gets the hint that Bruce isn't willing to talk. With clenched fists, Terry turns away and storms off toward an alcove. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Anywhere away from here," he shoots back without stopping.

- to be continued - reviews welcome -