As always, *-* = thoughts.
************************************************
There was no celebration dinner this time.
After a short but intense discussion with Dr. Tikkainen, Bruce and Mary had both gone home. Mary was trying to figure out how to tell Matt what had happened; Bruce was trying to figure out what he should do. He'd refused to make any decisions on Bat-oriented issues until he could see how Terry felt about the matter. It hadn't been easy to do, but he had forced himself to wait and see. Now he was wondering if he should have bothered even as he warned himself not to jump to conclusions yet. Terry had just woken up from a six-week coma, after all. Some disorientation was to be expected. It was possible that he'd wake up in the morning and remember everything. Or almost everything, anyway.
Possible, but not likely.
So, Terry had amnesia. Bruce knew from personal experience that it wasn't going to be easy for the boy. There were plenty of people who thought that amnesia was just something hack writers used for lack of a better plot and that it never occurred in Real Life. A lot of cops he'd known had thought of amnesia as another way of getting out of testifying and was caused by greed or cowardice conveniently 'erasing' the inconvenient memories. But this was the real thing. If this wasn't the result of having just woken up, Terry was in for weeks, maybe even months or years, of being haunted by fragments of memories, running into people he should know but doesn't, and night after night of interrupted sleep as the memories filtered back through his dreams. It could slow down his physical recovery considerably.
Dr. Tikkainen had given them the standard amnesia speech- don't push him to remember, don't let him push himself, just let it all come back as it happens. If he asks a question, answer it honestly.
But what if he asked the wrong person the question? Terry possessed some very dangerous information; if he asked his mother about some of his cases... Bruce winced. He'd been on the receiving end of a Mary-rant once, after Tim's first visit to Wayne Manor after the Joker's final death. Ace had attacked Tim- Bruce was still kicking himself for not foreseeing that- and Terry had intercepted the attack. That had landed him in the hospital too, but only the ER. It had taken fourteen stitches to fix the damage. Not until they reached Terry's house did Bruce realise that nobody had called Mary to tell her. The resulting explosion had been spectacular. Bruce had been impressed by Terry's quick thinking in explaining that Ace had tried to attack a man who wore the same after-shave as his former owner, reminding Mary that Ace had been badly abused as a pup. He'd used the same story at the hospital and used it again when Animal Control investigated. It had probably saved Ace's life, but it hadn't saved Bruce from the type of dressing-down he hadn't heard since he was younger than Terry. It was very easy to see where Terry had gotten his temper.
But this wasn't solving the problem. In fact, he wasn't sure there was a solution. He could hardly watch the boy day and night to guard against any slips. He couldn't just assume that Terry wouldn't remember, either. And ordering him to not discuss any memories that came back until he'd cleared them with Bruce was right out.
*-Or is it?*
Bruce was disgusted with himself. The answer was so obvious- which was probably why he'd missed it. One of the reasons the media had been so rabid about the story was because Terry was Bruce Wayne's personal assistant. As such, he was exposed to the upper workings of Wayne Industries on a daily basis. Naturally, he'd come across some highly sensitive information. Telling Terry- and the doctors and Mary, of course- that there was a risk of corporate espionage would be enough to guarantee discretion. Assuming, of course, that Terry's personality hadn't been drastically altered; that had been known to happen after brain injuries.
The story even had the benefit of being true. Terry had been approached more than once with bribes and even threats to get him to divulge inside information. The bribes had been laughed at, as well as some of the threats. On one memorable occasion Terry had needed to break the man's nose; the man just couldn't seem to understand that Terry wasn't intimidated. On another, Terry had allowed himself to be kidnapped because he was afraid that the incompetent kidnapper was going to hurt himself. Bruce, remembering Sid the Squid, hadn't been able to get too angry.
So he had a plan. Not much of one, but better than nothing. Now all he had to do was figure out what to tell Terry if and when he asked about Batman.
It was going to be a long night.
************************************************
Mary sighed as she turned off Matt's light. His ideas of amnesia were based on Saturday morning cartoons and he had been disappointed to learn that another blow to the head wouldn't bring Terry's memories back. He'd gotten quiet after that and gone into his room. When she'd gone to check on him, she'd found him asleep amidst a pile of old pictures. Two piles, actually; he'd dug up an old file folder and carefully labelled it "Terry's Memory- Visual Aides". Some of the pictures they knew Terry had liked were in there, as well as at least one picture of almost every member of the family. She'd noticed one omission that seemed intentional and approved. There were a few things it would be better if he never remembered and [I]That Woman[/I] was one of them.
She'd picked Matt up, sighing as she noticed how heavy he was getting, and put him to bed. At least she could do that for one of her boys.
Mary sat at the kitchen table, cradling her mug of tea in her hands. Stan had wanted to come over, but had been very understanding when she'd said she needed to be alone for a while. Max had also been tactful, disappearing after Mary had told her what had happened. The girl had probably gone to tell Dana and anyone else who crossed her path. Mary didn't mind; it just meant fewer people she'd need to explain to.
She couldn't help worrying about what this would mean for Gotham. It was bad enough on a personal level, but ever since she'd accepted the fact that her son put himself in the line of fire every night she'd also accepted the fact that the city really did need him. With him out of commission, things could get as ugly as they had been a few years ago. Worse, because even if the Jokerz did get wiped out, they now had splicers, Big Time, Spellbinder, Shriek, and so many others that she couldn't think of at the moment.
Suddenly she wished that she'd told Mr. Wayne that she knew. The poor man had looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders as he left the hospital. It had to be as hard on him as it was on her; after all, although he'd never admit it, he'd practically adopted Terry as another son. And Terry was the one carrying on his legacy. Maybe it wasn't fair to let him carry all that on his own when he didn't have to. But... telling him without discussing it with Terry first felt like a betrayal and Terry had had enough of those already, even if he didn't remember them. Even if he didn't know about all of them.
Also, she worried about what would happen if Terry remembered some of his adventures as Batman without realizing what they were. There had to be a way to convince him to talk things over with either her or Mr. Wayne first, but it had to be something that would seem natural. She didn't want Terry worrying like she and Mr. Wayne were doing. Maybe she could say that he knew company secrets... She smiled. That would be perfect. Unless Terry had woken up with a huge personality switch, if he was told that he had to keep some things secret, he would.
Mary took a sip of her tea, then grimaced. It was luke-warm.
*Next time, less fretting, more drinking. ...Hmmm.... I wonder if I could design a better wheelchair for Terry?*
**********************************************
Max sat in the police car, feeling like five different kinds of idiot but also strangely proud. She'd just taken out three Jokerz. Okay, so one of them had accidentally knocked out his friend when Max had ducked at just the right moment, but she counted that as just good planning on her part.
What she hadn't counted on was the cops showing up and arresting her for disturbing the peace.
She hadn't meant to get into a fight. She'd left Chelsea's place meaning to go work off her frustration by kicking some major butt at the arcade. Instead, she'd turned a corner and come face-to-face with those three dregs. When she saw them, the last month and a half had come crashing down on her- especially the last few hours. Seeing Mary's haunted face when she returned from the hospital, hearing that Terry's problems really weren't over yet, having to be the one to tell Dana and Chelsea and mop up their tears... She'd just exploded.
But she'd won. So what if she'd been arrested? She'd just call her sister and-
*Uhoh.*
Her sister was out of town until next week. And she knew that the Old Man had flagged certain names to sound an alert on the Batcomputer if they showed up on the police scanner. Terry had hinted that the Commish had done something similar for her personal computer.
Which meant that in a few minutes, two of the scariest people in Gotham would know she'd been arrested, and for what.
*I. Am. So. Dead.*
*************************************************
Same Bat time, same Bat channel!
************************************************
There was no celebration dinner this time.
After a short but intense discussion with Dr. Tikkainen, Bruce and Mary had both gone home. Mary was trying to figure out how to tell Matt what had happened; Bruce was trying to figure out what he should do. He'd refused to make any decisions on Bat-oriented issues until he could see how Terry felt about the matter. It hadn't been easy to do, but he had forced himself to wait and see. Now he was wondering if he should have bothered even as he warned himself not to jump to conclusions yet. Terry had just woken up from a six-week coma, after all. Some disorientation was to be expected. It was possible that he'd wake up in the morning and remember everything. Or almost everything, anyway.
Possible, but not likely.
So, Terry had amnesia. Bruce knew from personal experience that it wasn't going to be easy for the boy. There were plenty of people who thought that amnesia was just something hack writers used for lack of a better plot and that it never occurred in Real Life. A lot of cops he'd known had thought of amnesia as another way of getting out of testifying and was caused by greed or cowardice conveniently 'erasing' the inconvenient memories. But this was the real thing. If this wasn't the result of having just woken up, Terry was in for weeks, maybe even months or years, of being haunted by fragments of memories, running into people he should know but doesn't, and night after night of interrupted sleep as the memories filtered back through his dreams. It could slow down his physical recovery considerably.
Dr. Tikkainen had given them the standard amnesia speech- don't push him to remember, don't let him push himself, just let it all come back as it happens. If he asks a question, answer it honestly.
But what if he asked the wrong person the question? Terry possessed some very dangerous information; if he asked his mother about some of his cases... Bruce winced. He'd been on the receiving end of a Mary-rant once, after Tim's first visit to Wayne Manor after the Joker's final death. Ace had attacked Tim- Bruce was still kicking himself for not foreseeing that- and Terry had intercepted the attack. That had landed him in the hospital too, but only the ER. It had taken fourteen stitches to fix the damage. Not until they reached Terry's house did Bruce realise that nobody had called Mary to tell her. The resulting explosion had been spectacular. Bruce had been impressed by Terry's quick thinking in explaining that Ace had tried to attack a man who wore the same after-shave as his former owner, reminding Mary that Ace had been badly abused as a pup. He'd used the same story at the hospital and used it again when Animal Control investigated. It had probably saved Ace's life, but it hadn't saved Bruce from the type of dressing-down he hadn't heard since he was younger than Terry. It was very easy to see where Terry had gotten his temper.
But this wasn't solving the problem. In fact, he wasn't sure there was a solution. He could hardly watch the boy day and night to guard against any slips. He couldn't just assume that Terry wouldn't remember, either. And ordering him to not discuss any memories that came back until he'd cleared them with Bruce was right out.
*-Or is it?*
Bruce was disgusted with himself. The answer was so obvious- which was probably why he'd missed it. One of the reasons the media had been so rabid about the story was because Terry was Bruce Wayne's personal assistant. As such, he was exposed to the upper workings of Wayne Industries on a daily basis. Naturally, he'd come across some highly sensitive information. Telling Terry- and the doctors and Mary, of course- that there was a risk of corporate espionage would be enough to guarantee discretion. Assuming, of course, that Terry's personality hadn't been drastically altered; that had been known to happen after brain injuries.
The story even had the benefit of being true. Terry had been approached more than once with bribes and even threats to get him to divulge inside information. The bribes had been laughed at, as well as some of the threats. On one memorable occasion Terry had needed to break the man's nose; the man just couldn't seem to understand that Terry wasn't intimidated. On another, Terry had allowed himself to be kidnapped because he was afraid that the incompetent kidnapper was going to hurt himself. Bruce, remembering Sid the Squid, hadn't been able to get too angry.
So he had a plan. Not much of one, but better than nothing. Now all he had to do was figure out what to tell Terry if and when he asked about Batman.
It was going to be a long night.
************************************************
Mary sighed as she turned off Matt's light. His ideas of amnesia were based on Saturday morning cartoons and he had been disappointed to learn that another blow to the head wouldn't bring Terry's memories back. He'd gotten quiet after that and gone into his room. When she'd gone to check on him, she'd found him asleep amidst a pile of old pictures. Two piles, actually; he'd dug up an old file folder and carefully labelled it "Terry's Memory- Visual Aides". Some of the pictures they knew Terry had liked were in there, as well as at least one picture of almost every member of the family. She'd noticed one omission that seemed intentional and approved. There were a few things it would be better if he never remembered and [I]That Woman[/I] was one of them.
She'd picked Matt up, sighing as she noticed how heavy he was getting, and put him to bed. At least she could do that for one of her boys.
Mary sat at the kitchen table, cradling her mug of tea in her hands. Stan had wanted to come over, but had been very understanding when she'd said she needed to be alone for a while. Max had also been tactful, disappearing after Mary had told her what had happened. The girl had probably gone to tell Dana and anyone else who crossed her path. Mary didn't mind; it just meant fewer people she'd need to explain to.
She couldn't help worrying about what this would mean for Gotham. It was bad enough on a personal level, but ever since she'd accepted the fact that her son put himself in the line of fire every night she'd also accepted the fact that the city really did need him. With him out of commission, things could get as ugly as they had been a few years ago. Worse, because even if the Jokerz did get wiped out, they now had splicers, Big Time, Spellbinder, Shriek, and so many others that she couldn't think of at the moment.
Suddenly she wished that she'd told Mr. Wayne that she knew. The poor man had looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders as he left the hospital. It had to be as hard on him as it was on her; after all, although he'd never admit it, he'd practically adopted Terry as another son. And Terry was the one carrying on his legacy. Maybe it wasn't fair to let him carry all that on his own when he didn't have to. But... telling him without discussing it with Terry first felt like a betrayal and Terry had had enough of those already, even if he didn't remember them. Even if he didn't know about all of them.
Also, she worried about what would happen if Terry remembered some of his adventures as Batman without realizing what they were. There had to be a way to convince him to talk things over with either her or Mr. Wayne first, but it had to be something that would seem natural. She didn't want Terry worrying like she and Mr. Wayne were doing. Maybe she could say that he knew company secrets... She smiled. That would be perfect. Unless Terry had woken up with a huge personality switch, if he was told that he had to keep some things secret, he would.
Mary took a sip of her tea, then grimaced. It was luke-warm.
*Next time, less fretting, more drinking. ...Hmmm.... I wonder if I could design a better wheelchair for Terry?*
**********************************************
Max sat in the police car, feeling like five different kinds of idiot but also strangely proud. She'd just taken out three Jokerz. Okay, so one of them had accidentally knocked out his friend when Max had ducked at just the right moment, but she counted that as just good planning on her part.
What she hadn't counted on was the cops showing up and arresting her for disturbing the peace.
She hadn't meant to get into a fight. She'd left Chelsea's place meaning to go work off her frustration by kicking some major butt at the arcade. Instead, she'd turned a corner and come face-to-face with those three dregs. When she saw them, the last month and a half had come crashing down on her- especially the last few hours. Seeing Mary's haunted face when she returned from the hospital, hearing that Terry's problems really weren't over yet, having to be the one to tell Dana and Chelsea and mop up their tears... She'd just exploded.
But she'd won. So what if she'd been arrested? She'd just call her sister and-
*Uhoh.*
Her sister was out of town until next week. And she knew that the Old Man had flagged certain names to sound an alert on the Batcomputer if they showed up on the police scanner. Terry had hinted that the Commish had done something similar for her personal computer.
Which meant that in a few minutes, two of the scariest people in Gotham would know she'd been arrested, and for what.
*I. Am. So. Dead.*
*************************************************
Same Bat time, same Bat channel!