Chapter 8

Disclaimer: …really?

The next day Terry rolled over on the bed, realizing that Jeanette wasn't there, he sat up looking around the room, and rubbed his eyes with his good arm before walking out of the room into the hallway. Terry blinked walking down the stairs, "Jeanette?" he called out before walking into the dining room to see Bruce sitting at the table, "She went to the store." He said looking at Terry with folded hands, "What?" he asked knowing the look all too well, "Terry, you need to sit." Terry sat down looking at him, confused, "What's going on?" "You need to be careful," Bruce said as Terry rolled his eyes, "I'm serious, she might not seem dangerous, but she is the daughter of a very dangerous criminal." "Jeanette is nothing like her," Terry said, "she protected me that day."

"I'm not saying she's dangerous, I'm saying her mother is, you need to be careful of who you fraternize with. Jeanette has shown signs of psychosis, even with her time here with me, she never acted on it, but she will at one point or another. Cassata is a completely different story, once she finds out her only living daughter is here, she will rip apart this mansion, and possibly kill anyone who stands in her way."

"I won't let her."

"Are you willing to throw your life away for a girl?"

"Jeanette has been a friend of mine since Pre-School."

"To me it seems like she is more than just a friend."

Silence.

"I've warned you numerous times about bringing a girl into this lifestyle, McGinnis. It will not work out, she will get hurt, or worse, murdered, and you'll snap. Jeanette needs to be sent home once you are healed, I will not have another father at my throat for years for placing his only daughter in danger."

"Unlike you, I won't put Jeanette in danger."

"Listen to yourself, McGinnis. If you want to protect her, you will not keep her here when you are healed."

"She's better protected here than she is out there with her foster parents."

"I will not tolerate this."

"I can't send her out there, Bruce!"

"This is the end of the discussion, Terry, she leaves once your shoulder is healed." Bruce said as the front door opened. Jeanette walked quietly by them into the kitchen letting the door swing closed behind her, Terry looked at the door, then at Bruce, "Nice going." He said going into the kitchen behind her as Bruce closed his eyes with a sigh rubbing the front of his head.

Jeanette stood in the kitchen mixing batter as she heard footsteps behind her, she stirred quicker, then scraped the batter onto the hot pancake top. Terry stopped beside her watching her, her eyes never left the cooking batter, "How much of that conversation did you hear?" he asked as she flipped them, "Enough of it," she answered watching them still, "it's ok, I'll go home once you're healed." "I don't want you to." "Well you don't have much say in that do you?" she asked looking at him from the corner of her eye, "It's better off that way." Terry grabbed her belt loop pulling her towards him, "I told you, I wasn't going to lose you again," he said, "Terry, it really doesn't matter." She said pushing away from him going back to watching the batter, "It does to me." "Only to you, I don't want to put Bruce and Ace in danger," she said taking the pancakes off and handing him the platter, "take these out." Terry sighed walking out of the kitchen putting the platter down on the table. Jeanette walked out with plates, silverware, juice, syrup, and fruit placed them on the table, whistled, Ace came running into the dining room sitting by Bruce as she placed his dog bowls by him, she patted his head and he began eating. Jeanette sat across from Terry, who looked at her with sadness in his eyes, she put her head down looking at her plate, Bruce reached for the platter along with the syrup, "Do you want some help?" Jeanette asked as Bruce looked at her, "I've got it." He said she gave a nod before helping herself.

After breakfast was finished, Jeanette went back into the kitchen to start cleaning dishes. Terry leant against the stove watching her, she was starting to distance herself, even Ace knew as he laid by her feet waiting for her to scrape left over food onto the floor for him to eat. Jeanette felt Terry's eyes on her, she wished he wouldn't look at her sometimes, it was making it difficult for her to detach, not that Ace was making it any better by lying by her feet whimpering, "No, Ace." She said making him wag his tail at the fact she said his name, he stood up barking at her earning a knee to the chest making him yelp, "No!" Jeanette yelled making him put his tail in between his legs. Tears welled up in her eyes, she quickly wiped them away as he slunk out of the kitchen, whimpered looking at her, then walked away still whimpering, I'm sorry, Ace. She thought to herself feeling tears roll down her face, she wiped them away again, which was when she felt an arm wrap around her, she froze.

"Don't do this." She whispered, "Please, don't do this to me."

"I'm not letting you go, Jeanette."

"Terry, please."

"I'll talk to Bruce. I don't want you outside of this house, you're safer with me than you are with Colby and Ciara, I want you to stay with me." He said turning her around to face him.

"I'm not putting Ace, Bruce, and you in danger, Terry. I want to stay, but I can't stay." Jeanette said putting her forehead on his, placing her hand gingerly on his shoulder, "I caused this injury, I don't want to put you in anymore danger, and I don't want to lose you again either, but leaving is what I have to do, it's better than watching you be put into the ground." Terry fell silent as she gave him a soft kiss on the lips, "I'll be out soon, I'm almost done with the dishes." Terry let go of her jeans as he walked out of the kitchen, Jeanette shook from head to toe, tears falling hot and steady down her face, she leant against the sink, put her hands over her face, and started crying.

Bruce sat by the kitchen door as Jeanette cried, Terry had gone upstairs to the bedroom, Ace laid under the table sleeping. Bruce started to roll towards the bat cave when he heard a drawer in the kitchen close, he stopped, he heard Jeanette whimpering still, but Ace had moved, his ears were pricked forward looking at the kitchen door. There was no movement for a while until Ace whimpered running into the kitchen, Bruce followed seeing Jeanette sitting on the floor, Ace licking her face barking and whimpering, Bruce got closer to see blood had pooled around her, "TERRY!" Bruce yelled as Terry ran into the kitchen, "JEANETTE!" Terry yelled pushing Ace out of the way, "JEANETTE!" he yelled again, "Bruce, call an ambulance." He said as Bruce wheeled away quickly Ace took his spot putting his nose under Jeanette's hand whimpering. Terry noticed wet blood still gushing out from her leg, he quickly grabbed a towel off the rack, pushing down to help stop the bleeding, his eyes never leaving her face, 'But leaving is what I have to do', were the words that echoed, Not like this, Jeanette. He thought to himself as a paramedic rushed in, "What happened?" "She cut herself on her leg with a knife." He said standing as another rushed a gurney in, "Has she been responsive?" "No." Terry said as they lifted her, they quickly put an oxygen mask over her face, and attached her to a heart monitor, "We will have to stich her on the way," one said to the other as the other nodded, "will you be riding with her?" "Yes." "Let's go."

"McGinnis!"

Terry stopped and turned, "Be careful." Bruce said as he nodded, he jumped into the back of the ambulance.

Bruce watched the ambulance pull away when he felt a gun pressed to the back of his head, "You're so stupid for sending your only protection away." "I might be, but at least my daughter isn't in the back of an ambulance."

"Small price to pay to get you alone."

"If you're going to kill me, get it over with."

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you, you're going to deliver a message for me. You'll tell that boy of yours to stay away from my daughter; if he doesn't there will be hell to pay."

"I've already told him she has to leave."

"You're not listening, Wayne, he is to stay away from her for good. I don't want problems, you don't want problems, and she is to stay home with Colby and Ciara once she is released. Is that understood?"

Bruce fell silent briefly as he felt the barrel push harder against his neck, "Yes." He answered feeling the barrel disappear, "Good, explicit orders have been given to my son as well, he will be watching their activity at school. If Lucas sees anything he considers as him attempting to make a move on her, there will be no hesitation in taking him down." Bruce sat quietly as he heard the click of heels walk past him, Ace let out a low growl, he placed his hand on his head as the door opened and closed, "He's not going to like that." He said as Ace let out a low bark in response.

Terry sat in the hospital room Jeanette was in, she was sleeping, cleaned up, and stitched up her heart monitor beeping slowly; the nurses were in and out of the room constantly checking on both of them knowing he had injured his shoulder. One started to change out the sling when the door opened revealing Colby and Ciara, "My baby!" Ciara said running to her adopted daughter's bed side, Colby's eyes fell on Terry, "She'll be ok, ma'am," The nurse said gently placing Terry's arm back into the sling making him wince, "as for you, your arm will need at least 10 days in the sling." The nurse stood looking over at Jeanette as Ciara stroked her hair, "I'll be back momentarily to wake her up for her medicine." She said walking out of the room. Terry avoided Colby's eyes for a few minutes until he felt his hand on his shoulder, he groaned feeling a tight squeeze, he stepped in front of him opening the door, Ciara watched perplexed while Colby left after him, closing the door behind him. The two men stood outside the room, Colby glaring at Terry, "Before you say anything," Terry said, "none of this is my fault." "You don't think I already know that? I had a visit from her birth father, he's told me everything, and I was also told to keep you away from her." Colby said not easing up the look, "What?" Terry asked narrowing his eyes, "I suggest you listen, her mother is not a force to reckon with, and my guess is she's already threatened Bruce. You know I don't like you, but for whatever reason my daughter has feelings for you, she will not be happy about this either." "I can't leave her by herself." "She won't be left alone, she's been un-enrolled at Gotham High, Ciara and I will resume home schooling her again." "You can't do this to her!" Terry said clenching his fist, "I have, there's nothing you can do, and she is safer at home." Terry glared at him, Colby tightened his fists, but Terry stormed past him. Colby waited until Terry disappeared from sight to go back into the room, he opened the door to see Jeanette sitting up, her green eyes locked on him, "Where's Terry?" she asked as he looked at Ciara, who looked away, "He went home." Colby said curtly, "Without saying good-bye?" Jeanette asked, "Yes, obviously he doesn't care about you as much as you thought." Ciara winced at the words as Jeanette's heart broke in her eyes while Colby looked at her. Colby leant against the wall in silence as the nurse entered again with Jeanette's medicine, along with discharge papers, "You're all set to go home, dear." She said as Jeanette swung her legs over the side, the large bandage covering the stiches bulging out, "Your bandage will have to be changed twice a day, shower with it off, and we suggest putting on an anti-bacterial to help it heal, the stiches should dissolve in about a week or so." Jeanette nodded silently, Ciara grabbed her daughter's hand as she put her head on her shoulder, Colby opened the door, and all three walked out.

Terry opened the door to the mansion so roughly that it slammed shut causing Ace to bark wildly before skidding to a halt, then running back to Bruce, who was sitting in the dining room, "How'd it go?" Bruce asked, "Fine." Terry said going up the stairs to his room and slammed the door shut. Terry sat in the bedroom looking at the clothes piled in the corner; Jeanette had obviously brought a few weeks' worth with her, thinking Terry would be out of commission for a while. The clothes ranged from long-sleeved sweatshirts to fishnet outfits, all different colors, he had guessed she was planning on going clubbing a few nights, but most of them were clothes that fully covered her body. While Terry sat on the bed his phone pinged at him, he reached over to the nightstand to see that he had a text message from Max asking what was going on, he didn't respond, instead he threw it on the bed unanswered, he was not in the mood to speak to anyone. Colby's words still buzzed angrily in his head, he had once again been banned from seeing Jeanette, which in his mind was not an ideal situation, but neither was putting Bruce in danger. Terry groaned hearing his phone ping again; he picked it up to see that Jeanette had messaged him, he opened the message.

Jeanette: Thanks for saying bye to me.

Oh great. Terry thought to himself before responding.

Terry: I'm sorry, I was upset.

Jeanette: yup.

Terry hated that, the one word answer, always had, and it usually pissed him off so much that he never answered, but he wasn't going to let it sit, when he went to reply the phone pinged again.

Jeanette: I need my clothes; they're in your room.

Terry: I know, I'm looking at them. How am I supposed to get them to you? We aren't allowed to see each other.

Jeanette: I guess just leave them outside of the house.

Terry: Ok.

Terry waited for a reply, but none came, he stood up with a sigh walking over to the clothes, he threw them into an empty gym bag, threw the bag over his shoulder, and walked downstairs, "I'm leaving Jeanette's things in front of her door." He yelled through the large mansion before closing the door behind him.

Jeanette sat on her bed in her bedroom with the door closed hearing Colby and Ciara talking to two other people in the living room in hushed voices, only occasionally one would raise a voice higher than the other before getting told to be quiet again.

"You're being ridiculous!" she heard Ciara say, "You can't keep her away from McGinnis even if you tried."

"Sh! She can hear you."

"I don't care! The three of you need to grow up! Sorry to group you in that, Adam."

"It's alright, but I agree with Ciara, she's a strong willed girl, she's not going to listen to adults." Adam responded as she heard her mother tap her foot against the tile, "Gee, wonder who she got that from." "Don't look at me! That's all you, Cass." "Thanks, honey." Cass said with a sigh as silence fell between the adults, "Let's be reasonable here," Ciara said, "we've reduced the risk of her running into him at school, but threatening his life is not something that's exactly acceptable. Wait, why am I having this conversation?" "Because the well-being of our daughter is at stake?" Cass said posing the statement as a question, "Well, how is he putting her into danger? It's not like he's throwing her out there fighting alongside him, I never minded Terry, he's a good kid at heart. I don't think Bruce would let him take on his persona if that wasn't the case. Jeanette isn't a child anymore, she's fifteen, she's going to do what she wants whether we want her to or not. No offence, Cass, but you haven't been around for her whole life, trying to play the mother role now isn't going to do anything except piss her off. I've raised her from day one, you two abandoned your own son and daughter, you left both of them in mine, Alyssa's, Dick's, and Colby's care we are their parents, not you." Jeanette heard silence but felt tension that she could cut with a knife, she inched closer to the door to see if she could hear anything else, but nothing happened for a few moments, "Fine, do what you want then," she heard her mother say quietly, "but you're making a mistake." "The only mistake made here was letting you step foot into my house." Ciara snapped, "Get out." Jeanette heard a soft scoff before the front door opened and slammed shut. Jeanette carefully opened the door before hobbling out of her room, Colby was shaking his head, Ciara was glaring at the front door, "Mom?" Jeanette said causing Ciara to blink then look at her, "You heard all of that didn't you?" Jeanette nodded slowly before Ciara sighed walking over to her giving her a hug, "I'm sorry, baby girl, I never meant for you to hear any of that." "It's ok," Jeanette said with a smile, "you're my real mom anyway." Ciara smiled back at her hugging her tightly.

TBC…