A/N: FallenAngelx3- maaaaaaaaybe... am i making you wonder about what's going on? because if i am, then i'm doing my job right ;D
Lenorathetrekkie- well Bruce has no proof to tie Spellbindeer to this, and proof, afterall, is the detective's best friend. As for Spellbinder's plans... can't reveal anything yet, but this should start the ball rolling.
So this is a long chapter, so brew some coffee if you want to read it at night. i wanted to incorporate some characters that seldom show up on the show, so i hope you don't mind a bit of dragging, but the good kind of dragging i hope. if you haven't noticed yet, i've been messing with Ter a lot so far and we're hitting a climax right now and in the upcoming chapters. hmmm, this is actually going to be much shorter than my last fic. *shrugs* oh well. enjoy! btw, feel free to tell me which chapters are your favorite so far (and if possible why). I like knowing what readers really respond to so i could improve on my writing. i'm digressing again... just read on...
"We were supposed to have a life together, Terry… how could you leave me?"
"Dana, I didn't," Terry's desperate voice replies as Dana starts backing away.
"You did; you left me every time that phone rang, every time someone else needed you, and every time I asked you to stay." With fists balled up in anger, she continues backing away from Terry.
"No; Dana, please, don't do this." He takes a step towards her, but he doesn't seem to be getting any closer. "Dana, I love you."
"That's the lie of the century," she cynically spits. "If you did, you would have taken care of me. But you didn't. I'm not sorry, Terry. I'll never be sorry." Turning, she starts walking into the darkness.
"No! Dana!" Terry finds himself yelling as he runs after her, but his legs suddenly weigh him down. The harder he runs, the more he struggles, and the farther away Dana gets. "Dana!" He calls out at the top of his lungs before his eyes shoot open making him realize it was just another nightmare.
Lying on his stomach, he lets out a very tired and irritated sigh. Looking at his clock, he realizes he's barely had an hour of sleep. "Son of a bitch; why now?" He groans as he covers his head with another pillow.
His body is aching from the strain he's been putting it through, and his brain is giving him a harsher punishment with a headache that has gotten worse since last night. After feeling the throbbing for a good fifteen minutes, he decides he's had enough and gets up to fetch some pain killers. He rummages through his giant first aid kit underneath the sink and pulls out a bottle of Tylenol with codeine, the good, strong prescription stuff. He hates taking it because of the way it makes him zone out, but that's exactly what he wants to do now.
"Just to get a few hours of sleep," he convinces himself with a sigh. He swallows two pills and shuffles back to his bed hoping this will work.
His eyes close but they don't catch any sleep yet. Rolling over on his side, he tries getting comfortable by punching his pillow a few times before laying still and listening to himself breathe.
"Terry," a voice suddenly whispers making Terry's eyes shoot open and look around. Thinking it could have been a dream, he closes his eyes and sighs. "Teeeerry," the voice taunts. "Terry, stay awake."
This time he's sure the voice isn't part of his dream and the realization makes him sit up and look around. "Hello?"
"Hello," the voice answers, startling him.
Terry shoots out of bed and rushes to the closet to check if anyone is in there. Finding it empty, he walks out into his living room but no one's there either. He checks the door's locks for any signs of tampering, but finds them intact. Starting to freak out, he takes a few steps away from the door before bumping into someone behind him. Startled, he spins to find Melanie smiling up at him.
"Stay awake Terry, stay awake," she chants with her clear blue eyes locked on his wide ones.
Covering both eyes with the heels of his hands, he rubs them for a second before running his hands through his hair. However, when he opens his eyes again, he discovers Melanie missing.
"Melanie?" He carefully calls out, walking into the living room, but finds nobody there. Confused, he rubs the back of his neck as he walks back to his room.
"No, Terry," she suddenly speaks up. Spinning in place, Terry sees her sitting on the couch this time and still wearing an eerie smile. "Stay awake, Terry. You have to stay awake."
"What the hell is going on?" He desperately asks freezing in place.
"Stay awake," she repeats ignoring him. Getting up, she walks towards him. "It's all in your dreams, so stay awake." Standing in front of him, she rests a hand on his chest making him gasp.
The touch is what brings him back to life. When his eyes shoot open, he realizes he's still in bed. Still affected by his dream, he scrambles to his feet and puts a hand on his chest where Melanie had touched him. Gasping for breath, he runs out of his room to make sure nobody else is in his apartment. With everything remaining untouched, he scratches the back of his head as he looks over at a clock. He managed another hour of sleep, or what should have been sleep instead of a nightmare.
Suddenly feeling angry, he pounds a fist on the wall behind him before resting his back against it. He slides down to sit on the floor and covers his face with both hands feeling more frustrated than ever. The pain killer hasn't worked; everything is still screaming in pain and yearning for rest.
He needs help; he's desperate for it, and Jazz is his only option left.
A few sleepless hours pass before Terry's phone rings startling him. Hesitating, he picks it up to read his mother's number before he answers. "Yeah, mom?"
"It's Matt," the voice replies.
"What is it?"
"Oh, I'm fine, how are you?" Matt rhetorically asks irritated by the way Terry asked his question.
"Not now, Matt. I'm not having a good day."
"Look, I don't care about your day. I'm calling to see if you can pick me up."
"No," Terry curtly replies.
He knows that unless his mother specifically asks him to, Matt isn't allowed to ask for a ride. Since Matt turned into a teenager, Mary has been overprotective of him, which means Terry has to follow her rules regarding his brother.
"You haven't even heard me out," Matt complains.
"Are you mom? No, so I don't need to."
"Mooom," Matt calls out, "I told you he wouldn't believe me!" After a few minutes of shuffling, Mary's voice swaps in for Matt's.
"Terry, Matt needs a ride," she quickly explains. "Now I'm busy, so work it out with him."
Tiredly rubbing his eyes, Terry waits for his brother to come back on. "What is it, twip?"
"I need you to take me to Josh's house tonight. Mom won't let me use public transportation at night," Matt explains saying the last part loud enough for Mary to hear.
"What time?" Terry asks ignoring Matt's comment.
"Seven."
"Fine. You better be ready when I come over," Terry replies before he hangs up without saying any farewells.
He shuffles to the kitchen and opens the fridge door to take out the foil wrapped casserole. That's when he realizes his mistake: he's meeting Jazz at seven. He quickly picks up his phone again and calls his mother back.
"Yes, Terry?" She replies, sounding a little annoyed.
"I forgot; I'm busy at seven. I can't pick Matt up."
"Is there any way you can do it earlier? I have company coming and the last thing I need is Matt pulling pranks."
"Six-thirty then?"
"Hang on," Mary replies pulling the phone away from her ear. Terry can hear his brother and mother talk from a distance before she comes on. "No, he's finishing an online project with friends and won't be done till seven."
"You're killing me, mom," Terry complains rubbing his head.
"Can't you delay your plans? What do you have that's so important anyway? Is it Mr. Wayne?"
"No," Terry sighs. Jazz would understand if I'm late, right? "Fine, I'll be there at seven."
"Thank you, Terry. Do you need anything else?"
"No, bye mom."
Another reason Terry is glad he took his bike out is not having to sit in traffic. Easily weaving in between the gridlocked cars, he manages to make it to his mother's apartment in under fifteen minutes. Parking the bike on the street, he quickly heads into the building and up to the apartment. He rings the bell and leans on the doorframe as he waits for someone to answer. A moment later, the door swings open with Matt standing on the other side.
"Good, come on," Terry says straightening up.
"Bye mom!" Matt calls out and follows his brother to the elevator.
"What time am I supposed to pick you up?"
"Eleven," Matt replies before his brother frowns at him. "Ten-thirty," he corrects rolling his eyes. "You know, Josh's brother lets him get away with a lot of things."
"Well, today's your lucky day," Terry starts as they ride the elevator down. Matt frowns at his brother not understanding what he means. "If you breathe a word to mom about what I'm going to show you, I'll tell her about your after school arcade trips. Got it?"
Sensing a pretty juicy secret is coming up, Matt's grin widens to an impossible size before he asks, "how'd you know about the arcade?"
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Terry replies with a raised brow.
"This better be worth it," Matt agrees as the elevator doors slide open. He follows his older brother outside to discover the best secret he has to keep. His eyes go wide when he spots the blue motorcycle parked across the street. "No way!" Matt exclaims, laughing. "Didn't mom tell you to-"
"Yeah, yeah; it's why this has to be a secret, genius. Now put this on," he says handing the helmet to his brother. "I'm only doing this because I'm already late, so don't expect a repeat."
"You say that now," Matt says as he climbs onto the bike.
"I'm serious. Hold on tight."
Kicking the stand up, he turns on the ignition key and slowly eases into traffic. Although he's going a lot slower than he usually does, he still manages to drive in between cars making good time. As they wait at a light, Matt taps Terry's side.
"What?" Terry asks turning his head.
"Your phone's ringing," he replies. Terry forgot to disconnect the Bluetooth device embedded in his helmet before he let Matt have it.
"Don't answer it," Terry replies looking back up at the light.
Ignoring him, Matt presses the answer button. "Hello?"
Taken aback, Jazz stares at her phone for a second before putting it back up to her ear. "Uh, hi. Who is this?"
"You're the one who called, lady. You should know."
"What the-," she says scowling. "I know who I'm calling; who the hell picked up?"
"Matt, get off the phone," she hears Terry's faint voice order.
"Hey, was that Terry?" Jazz asks.
"The girl is asking for you," Matt says to his brother. There's a moment of silence before Matt speaks again. "Are you Jazz?"
"Yeah."
"Terry's gonna be a few minutes late. Is there a message you want me to pass on?"
"No, but you need to work on your manners."
"It's not like I know you."
"You're lucky you don't," Jazz replies, letting her temper get the better of her.
"Whatever," Matt says hanging up. "So who's Jazz?" he asks Terry as the light turns green.
"A friend."
"I like her," he replies with a grin. "Can I meet her sometime?"
Rolling his eyes, Terry ignores his brother and starts driving the last few blocks. That's when a sudden bout of vertigo hits him. Afraid for Matt's safety, Terry quickly slows down and pulls over.
"Hey, why'd you stop?" Matt asks, but Terry doesn't reply as he puts a hand to his head. "Ter?"
"Just give me a second," Terry snaps, rubbing his temples. 'Not now, please, not here,' he pleads as he squeezes his eyes shut. Breathing deeply, he opens his eyes to see if his senses are back. Looking around, he's relieved to discover that the dizzy spell has passed.
"What's wrong?" Matt asks sounding a little worried.
"Nothing, just a headache," Terry replies as he revs the bike and takes off again. The short trip ends when he parks in front of Josh's building a few minutes later. "Be ready by 10:30."
"Whatever," Matt replies taking the helmet off.
Scowling at the fourteen year old, Terry watches him jump off the bike and walk into the building. Glad his obligation is done, he slips his helmet on and gives Jazz a call as he speeds in the direction of her apartment.
"Hello?" She cautiously answers, hoping that rude boy isn't the one calling.
"Hey, sorry about that."
"And who was 'that'?" Jazz asks, relieved to be talking to Terry.
"My brother."
"So that's the elusive sibling. Somehow I'm not surprised."
"He's going through a phase. So why'd you call?"
"I was wondering where you were."
"I was dropping the little twip off at his friend's place," Terry replies. "Sorry I'm late."
"I don't mind; I managed to get some quality time with Zee, so all is well. How long are you going to be?"
Before Terry could reply, a second wave of vertigo hits him and this time it's worse than the first. His bike comes to a skidding halt resulting in car horns blaring and a few curses thrown his way, but he ignores the protests and rips his helmet off to grab his head.
"Terry?" Jazz asks when she hears the commotion. "Hello?"
Terry doesn't move as he waits for the world to stop spinning, but after a few minutes pass with no relief, he starts getting worried. He pulls out his phone from his pocket and switches speakers before holding it up to his ear. "Jazz?"
"Terry, what's going on?" Jazz asks, sounding worried.
"Nothing," he lies, closing his eyes. "Listen, I don't know how long I'm going to be, but I'll make it. I promise."
"Okay," she carefully replies. "You sure you're fine?"
"Yeah. I'll see you when I see you."
After he hangs up, he slowly lifts his head and puts his helmet back on. He knows he can't sit in the middle of the road to wait for his head to clear. Looking around, he figures Max's apartment is closest; so making a decision, Terry eases back into traffic and as carefully and slowly as he can, manages to make it to her apartment just as his headache gets worse.
He stumbles off his bike, and, with a hand supported on either a railing or a wall, he makes it to Max's door. Leaning on the frame, he vigorously rings the bell before it swings open with Max standing on the other side scowling at him. However, before she can reprimand him, she realizes the trouble he's in.
"Terry? What's wrong?" She asks, standing aside.
"I—I'm not sure," he stutters, walking in and dropping his helmet by the door. Seeing the trouble he's having just to stay upright, Max takes his arm and wraps it around her shoulders offering support as he moves towards the couch. "Can you drive me to Wayne's?"
"Don't you mean a hospital?" She asks, watching him flop down on the couch and hold his head in his hands.
"No." He figured if Spellbinder is behind this, a hospital would be the last place he wants to go. He'd rather have Bruce make that call after he examines him.
Although she hesitates, she eventually nods. "You think you can make it to the car?"
"Yeah," he says.
But when he tries to stand, his legs give out from under him, leaving him to collapse into an unconscious heap on the couch. Alarmed, Max hurries to his side and gently shakes him. When he doesn't wake up though, she rushes to find a neighbor who will help her move Terry to her car.
- to be continued - reviews welcome -