Chapter Four
This is insane! Max thought to herself anxiously for the hundredth time that minute as she crouched next to Matt when they arrived at the front door of the Manor. Everything was quiet except for the casually chirping of crickets and the soft wheezing of several of the water sprinklers that had been left on to hydrate the thick lush green grass in the yard during the night.
She held her breath as Matt used his private key Terry had given him to quietly unlock the front door. Since Matt had known the password to the front gate, the alarms on the exterior and interior of the mansion and been disarmed. Max had been wary when she spotted several security cameras but Matt assured her that Terry only had them for show. After hearing a soft 'click' he pushed the door open and they both scurried inside securing the door closed behind them. He pressed his back against the wall to avoid creating any unnecessary shadows that could get them discovered. Reaching over, he grabbed Max's hand firmly in his.
"Stay close," he mouthed and she nodded.
Silently they maneuvered down the hall towards their destination. The mansion's library. As they moved swiftly Max couldn't help but to notice how much the Manor hadn't changed in ten years. There were new portraits on the wall and the marble floors looked relatively new, but other then that nothing really looked unchanged. Seriously lacking a woman's touch, she thought to herself wryly. Once they arrived to the bottom of the carpeted staircase leading up to the second floor they crouched down together making sure not to linger in the light that was coming in the windows.
"Ok, here is where we separate. I'm going to go to the library and use the passage way to get to the bat cave and you will distract Terry," he murmured.
Max started to have her doubts about the whole plan.
"We never discussed how exactly I'm suppose to distract him. I can't exactly go parade in his bedroom and announce myself," she said sarcastically.
Matt paused for a moment, his face appeared that he was in deep thought. Down the hall the Granddaddy clock alerted them that it was now one in the morning.
"If you can't get to him then get him to come to you. Cause a distraction of some sort. The longer you hold his attention the less likely that he will catch me," he explained.
"How long are you going to need?" she inquired.
"Ten minutes. If I can't pull this off then I guess we both know how I'll do as Batman," he mumbled with a small smile before turning to walk away.
She grabbed him abruptly stopping him dead in his tracks. His eyes met hers curiously. When she didn't say anything he was started to fear that she was having second thoughts and he was about to ask her when she flashed him a tender smile.
"I know you can do this, Matt. I have faith in you. Just be careful," she warned softly.
"I will. I promise." He flashed her a grin before disappearing up the stairs.
Max looked around for a way to draw Terry to her and smiled in awe when her eyes rested on a old one of a kind crystal vase perched on top of a marble pedestal in the foyer. The moonlight that poured into the sky light roof cast a bluish glow over the beautiful vase causing it to sparkle. The top and bottom was trimmed in gold adding to its beauty. It was much too rich for Terry's taste so it obviously belonged to the lady of the house. The thought of Melanie made Max grin deviously as she drew closer to the antique with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. She knew it was juvenile thing to do but, hey a distraction was a distraction, right?
Terry was climbing into bed when he heard the sound of glass shattering come from somewhere inside the house. Melanie sat up in bed with a terrified look on her face.
"Ter, did you hear that?" she whispered her face ashen with terror.
Not bothering to answer her he grabbed a gun he kept in his top dresser.
"Stay here and do not come out," he ordered firmly.
"Terry, it's too dangerous," she protested.
"Stay here, Melanie," he growled before disappearing out into the dark hall.
After making sure the floor that his bedroom was clear of any danger he made his way down the stairs slowly, his eyes scanning the dark for anything out of place. He froze as he caught slight movement in the shadows near the foyer. He tensed as he saw a shadowy figure with its back to him. Squeezing the gun tighter he approached the figure and pressed the muzzle of it against the small of the intruder's back.
"Slowly turn around and I'm warning you, no sudden movements."
Terry's husky angry voice was so close to her ear that it sent chills up her spine. She turned around slowly and had to try hard not to focus on his bare chest or the fact that he was standing so close to her. Slowly she pulled her eyes away from his body and met his surprised gaze. She could see the question in his eyes and her mind began to race as she pondered how to keep Terry distracted for ten minutes without him getting suspicious. Her eyes casually lowered back to his chest and in that moment she got flashes of very x rated things she would love to do to distract him. Silently she kicked herself mentally for letting her thoughts stray and forced her eyes back up to his face.
"I guess I was never good at discretion," she joked weakly.
He chuckled softly putting the gun away.
"No. You weren't," he agreed. He looked over and saw the smashed vase and winced inwardly as he realized that Melanie was going to be devastated when she saw the condition that her most prized antique was in.
"You can tell your lovely wife that it isn't exactly smart to place an expensive antique in a place where 'accidents' can happen," she said casually causing a grin to stretch across his lips.
"Why do I get the feeling that it wasn't an accident?" he smirked with his arms folded across his chest.
Max shrugged feigning innocent as a comfortable silence settled between them.
"So who hired you? One of my competitors or was this done by one of the members on my board?" he asked gruffly.
A look of surprise flashed across her dark pretty face.
"After everything we been through do you honestly think I would sell you out?" she asked feeling slightly hurt.
His blue eyes pierced through her.
"People can change in ten years," he said evenly.
"Paranoia really doesn't suit you, McGuiness. I think I liked you better when you were," she stopped abruptly flushing as she realized what she was about to say.
The words lingered in the air like lost hope. He could see she was hurting and his expression softened. He had a chance to make things right between them at least as friends and he wasn't about to let the opportunity go to waste.
"Max, about earlier tonight, I apologize. I should have never kissed you. After the way we left things I didn't have the right to go and open doors that you already closed," he said quietly.
"Who said I closed them?" she asked softly.
A glimpse of hope surfaced in his eyes.
"So why did you come here? To tell me that you regret what happened tonight between us? Because I don't. I regret hurting you, but I don't regret wanting you as much as I did. As much as I still do, " he asked gently.
His words made her knees go weak and her mouth to go dry.
Don't fall for it Max... a little voice inside her head pleaded.
Max inhaled deeply.
"No. Everything that happened tonight was a mistake. I should have never come here, but I couldn't help myself. Deep down I had this urge to see you again. I guess it's kind of silly to say this after ten years, but I need closure," she said softly.
"So you really are leaving Gotham for good?" he asked flatly.
The glimpse of hope that had been in his eyes disappeared.
"I have a life waiting for me back in Europe. Believe it or not I did learn how to adapt without all the terror and drama Gotham had subjected," she said with a bitter hard edge in her voice.
"I guess you learned to adapt without me as well," he said sadness in his voice.
"No. That is the one thing that I can say that I never learned," she whispered avoiding his gaze.
Terry felt his heart lurch inside of his chest. He could see it in her eyes. He could hear it in her voice. She was still in love with him. The realization made him want to kiss her until she was breathless but he couldn't until she knew the truth he had hid from her all of these years.
"Max, there's something I need to tell you. I want to make things right between us, but I can't help but to feel it's too late," he started.
"It's never too late," she whispered reaching up and touching his cheek tenderly.
Her mind was blank and her pulse was racing. The way he was looking at her was almost as if he...no it couldn't be... was it possible?
"Max, I should have told you this ten years ago," he started.
Max wanted to scream when the moment between them was ruined when Melanie's honey coated voice drifted into the dark hall.
"Terry?"
He could here his wife's soft footsteps drawing near.
"Goodbye, Terry," she whispered for the second time that night before disappearing down the hall.
"Was there an intruder? Do I need to call the police?" she asked rushing over to him.
Terry shook his head feeling a overwhelming sense of loss wash over him. He had been so close to telling her the truth and once again she had vanished out of his life. He sighed heavily as he faced his concerned wife.
"There's no need to call the police. Whoever it was is already long gone," he said with a touch of wistfulness in his voice.
Max raced down the driveway under the cloak of darkness. A block away she spotted Matt's car and looking over her shoulder cautiously she double checked to see that she wasn't followed before sliding into the passenger seat. Five minutes later Matt joined her tossing the suits into the back seat.
"That was a close call. He didn't suspect anything did he?" he asked as he sped away into the night.
Max shook his head.
"No. He had thought one of his competitors or members of the board hired me to break in," she said softly.
Matt laughed.
"It's just like Terry to suspect espionage and mutiny," he chuckled.
Max smiled faintly as she stared out of the window at the dark quiet city of Gotham. The city from where she was sitting looked deceiving. Max knew that there was nothing quiet going down in some subway tunnel where a woman was most likely being assaulted, or across town where an atm machine was probably being knocked over by drug induced Jokers. She knew that in some back alley or in some home right now there was someone innocent being terrorized. She couldn't leave now. She had to make sure Matt could handle the responsibilities of being the new dark knight. The city was in a desperate need for a savior and she was going to see to it that Matt would rise to the occasion to be that savior. After that she swore to herself that she would leave Gotham and never look back.
Terry was heading back up to his room when he heard a noise come from his library. Frowning he walked down the hall and pushed the door open and found the room dark cold and empty. Something was off, but he couldn't place his finger on it. As he neared the book shelf it was only then that he saw what was out of place. Two of the books that he removed to open the trap door was mixed up. Pulling the books back he stormed down into the bat cave he switched on the lights and looked around. He heard the soft flutter of several bats who disappeared deeper into the darker parts of the damp cold cave. He exhaled deeply. He rarely went down into the cave after he retired the bat suit.
Speaking of suits...
At the edge of the cave his eyes narrowed on two bare mannequins and a slow haughty smile spread across his lips. Suddenly he knew why Max had been inside his mansion, but it was obvious she had help and he had his suspicions of who it was. Besides Max, there was only one other person who had found out about his secret identity. Walking back up to his bedroom he reached for his phone and dialed a number. After a few rings the line picked up.
"This is Gotham commissioner Dana Tan, how may I help you?"
Terry smiled at the sound of the familiar voice. It had been several months since he had last spoken to his former girlfriend.
"Hey, Dana. It's Terry. I'm sorry I'm calling you so late. I need a favor."