A/N: So, we are back. In a quick recap and SPOILER if you didn't read the last chapter (and why haven't you?), our beloved Tai Ji has died fighting against Shriek and King and Batman is left to grieve.

But, soon, the time of grieving will be over and what will come next?

Chapter 6: Survivor's Pain

Dawn had just started to break and it couldn't have seemed gloomier for the Dark Knight. The police arrived in time to get the Walkers but they found no trace of King or Shriek. The villains even abandoned their freight ship and all of the equipment left on board. But none of that was on Terry's mind as he walked up arrived at the front door of Gotham Police Headquarters. Ignoring the police and other random spectators staring at him, Batman carried Tai Ji's body and laid him out in front of the door. He looked around at the officers.

He said nothing.

He called Commissioner Gordon ahead of time to let her know he was coming and waited until she and Bennett came running out. They saw Tai Ji's body, which made both of them pause with looks of surprise. They took notice of Batman's expression and deduced what happened.

The Dark Knight looked at them both… and said nothing. He stared hatred at Bennett but said nothing. He backed away and took to the sky.

A mile away from the police department, Batman stood on a rooftop, overlooking his city. He was wanted to scream. He wanted to yell. But what he really wanted was for Shriek and King to come and find him, so they could settle this.

"Terry?" Bruce's voice came over the intercom.

Terry didn't answer.

"Terry, talk."

Batman was silent for a few seconds more. He finally found the ability to form and verbalize words again. "He's dead."

"I know."

"He's dead." It was his first time saying it out loud. And it hit him like a ton of bricks now. It was real. "Bruce… they killed him… THEY KILLED HIM!"

His outburst was surprising but expected. "Terry, calm down!"

"No! There was no reason for that! No reason for any of this! I mean… what was that even for?! Killing Tenzin?! What'd he have to do with this?! He was only there because of me! Because I couldn't do it alone! He's only dead because of me!"

"That's not true and you know it!"

"Says you!" He stopped. Only one course of action made sense now. "I'm going after them!"

"No, you're not! Not yet!"

"What?! You gonna shut the suit down?! Won't stop me! I know where they were! I'll track them down and I'm taking them down!"

"McGinnis!"

"I'm going!"

"MCGINNIS! CALM DOWN!"

Terry paused, breathing hard for anger and shaking out of delayed shock.

"I know you're mad but this is NOT how you deal with this! You find out where they are and then what? You'll rush in and get yourself killed!"

Terry sighed and did his best to compose himself. "What would you do?"

The first Batman went silent for a few seconds. That was a really good question. It had been a long time since Bruce was in a situation like this. He shook his head. "Times like this… I had to step back for a minute."

Terry scoffed. "Well, you had Alfred. The Commissioner, Drake. Even Selina Kyle. And Grayson, even though you never talked to most of them."

"Maybe that was my error," Bruce said under his breath, just out of Terry's ear shock. His mind went back to the current problem: he needed to Terry to calm down. He thought of a way… not his favorite but it would work. He looked up at the screen. "Go home, rest for a while. Then, go see Max."

"What for?"

"You need a break. You get some rest and I'll use everything I can to find out what they are up to."

"I thought Batman doesn't take breaks."

"Batman's girlfriend isn't supposed to know his identity. Things change. Go."

Terry almost smiled. He cut the comlink and headed for home for a couple of hours of rest.

Of course, resting at home was easier said than done. Terry went home and made himself comfortable but he didn't really get any sleep. His emotions were still running high and his adrenaline was still going. He just laid in bed, trying to relax but he just couldn't. He got up around 10 and found his mother and brother eating breakfast. He walked over and sat down.

"Hey, look at the loser!" Matty teased.

Terry just scoffed but smirked. He didn't have it in to respond this morning. His brother may annoy him but, after last night, nothing meant more to him than to hear his little brother insult him. He was actually happy to hear it.

Mary could see that her oldest son was different this morning. "Terry?"

He looked at her.

"Are you okay?"

He opened his mouth to answer but couldn't. He had no idea that this was affecting this much but he couldn't help it, either. It was nearly impossible to mask it, no matter how hard he tried.

Mary could clearly see something was wrong. She looked at her youngest son, "Matty, go to your room for a minute."

"Aww," Matt whined. "Why?"

"Go."

Matt groaned, "Fine." He got up and left the table and went to his room.

Mary leaned over and looked at Terry. "Talk."

Terry sighed. Naturally, he couldn't be completely honest with his mother but he could be honest enough to her and let himself free of a little emotional weight. It would be good to get some of this off of his chest, for now; he could let it all go later. "Umm… last night, uh…" He knew he had to choose his words carefully. "A… friend of mine… he died."

She gasped and sat back. "Oh, Terry. I'm so sorry. A friend from school?"

"No, umm… someone I met through the job."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Was he a good friend?"

He paused. What a good question. But when the hero thought about it… "We had a rocky start… but, yeah. In the end… he was a good friend." He stared off into space, "A real good friend."

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry. What happened?"

He sighed. Here was the part where he had to come up with something. "It was just an accident at his job."

"Oh, goodness." She put her arm on her son's arm. "Are you going to be okay?"

That was the key question. He looked all around the kitchen, his mouth agape. He had no idea. He closed his mouth and continued staring at nothing.

"Terry?"

"Yeah, yeah," he lied. "I'll be okay." He wasn't sure if that was the truth or not. He slowly stood up. "Umm… I'm gonna go to Max's for a while, Mom. Then… I'm probably gonna go to Mr. Wayne's."

"Terry…" she stood up. "It will be okay. I know it."

He sighed. "Maybe."

"Your friend may be gone… but, in the end, at least, he knew you were friends."

He sighed. He, actually, did have that. He looked at her, "Thanks, Mom." He nodded, "See you later."

"Take care of yourself, sweetie."

He nodded and left the apartment.

On his way to his girlfriend's house, McGinnis called the genius teen and informed her of the situation. Instantly, concern entered her mind; she knew how hard he took loss, even if Tai Ji was once an enemy. When he arrived at Max's apartment, Terry knocked on her door. She opened it before the second knocked connected all the way. She saw him standing there with a forlorn look on his face. She really had never seen him look like that before.

"Terry," she threw her arms around his neck.

It took him a few seconds to recognize the embrace but he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist.

She knew he wasn't crying but he didn't have to for her to know he was deeply hurt on the inside. "It's okay, baby. It'll be okay."

Terry wasn't so sure. Shriek was dangerous sure but to kill Tai Ji like he did was cruel and ruthless, even for him.

She released the embrace and took him by the hand, "Come on. Get inside."

They sat on her couch, total silence. Terry had his hands clasped in front of his mouth. No matter what he did the image of Tai Ji's face was frozen in his mind. Even when he tried not to think about it, it came flashing back. It reminded him of when his father died.

And, just like that night, he knew the image would never go away.

"Terry?" Max asked.

He remembered where he was and blinked back to the present. "Huh?"

"I was asking if you were okay… I guess that kinda answers the question."

He sighed. He was finally around someone he could be completely honest with. Max had always been that person for him; he never took that for granted. He looked at her, "I'm sorry, Max. But… no, I'm not okay." He stared off into space. Tai Ji's face came back to his mind. "Not at all…"

"It'll be fine."

Had it been almost anyone else saying that, he would've gotten mad. But he couldn't be mad at her; per usual, she was just trying to help. "It won't be fine. Not this time. Shriek's gone insane. I mean… he just killed Tai Ji… just like that."

"Terry…"

"And I couldn't save him… I should've tried harder…" He stopped. "Why?" His anger at the situation was coming back to the surface; not at Max but just at the situation. "Why didn't I try harder?" He suddenly, stood up and began to pace, aggressively, "Why didn't I try harder?! I could've thrown another batarang, taken out the sound generator on his hand! I could've flown faster! Made the Walkers move faster! Or better yet, I could've NOT left him to fight those maniacs by himself in the first place!"

"Terry…" Max was desperate to get him to calm down.

He opened the fountain of his frustration. He couldn't shut it off right now. It was building up this entire time and he had to let it out, anyway. "And King?! He just stood there! Tai Ji didn't have anything to do with this! Why'd he just let that maniac kill him?!"

"Terry… please…"

"I mean… they're both nuts, I knew that! But to go this far! Tai Ji didn't have anything to do with this! Why'd they kill him?! Why?! What was the point of that? Why would they kill him?" He tried to catch his breath. "I shouldn't have brought him into this! That was all my fault! All of it! He's dead because of me!" He wrapped his arms around his head, "Because of me!"

"Terry, no…"

He threw his arms down and roared. "Oh, come on, Max! Come on! We both know it! If it hadn't been for me going to Bennett in the first place, he'd still be alive! This is all my fault! They killed him because of me! And it shouldn't have been him!" He stopped. "Why wasn't it me?"

Her mind screeched to a halt, "What?"

"Why him? Not me? Tai Ji was in a cell! Locked down! He had nothing to do with this! They're supposed to be fighting me! I should've taken that hit… Not him!"

"Terry…" Now, she was the one who couldn't breathe regularly.

"I'm the one who makes these sacrifices! I know the risks! He was already answering for his crimes! He was brought into this and died for it! This is not fair! Not fair when it should've been me!"

She jumped out of her seat, "STOP SAYING THAT!"

He stopped immediately at her outburst.

"Just stop! Okay?! Stop saying that! I'm sorry about what happened to Tai Ji! You know I am! But that shouldn't have been you! It should never be you! DON'T… DON'T EVER SAY THAT!" She tried to catch her breath. She shook her head, "I get that because of this life you could… that you could…" She couldn't speak it out loud. She decided to just move on with her point, "but don't ever say it should be you! It never should be! It can't be you, Terry."

He paused and got his breath. He didn't mean for his rant to go like that but he couldn't stop it, either.

"I don't know what I'd do without you! I can't even think about my life if you're not there! I need you there! I lov…" She gasped.

They stared at each other, both hearing the admission that almost was. Max walked a few feet away from Terry, turning her back to him and cupping her mouth with her hands. They both took a minute to let the high emotions die down.

Max turned back to face him, "Just… don't say that." She turned back around, catching her breath still.

Terry walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "Max, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Despite everything, the feeling of his arms wrapped around her made all the difference and calmed her down. "It's okay… just… let's try and figure out what they're up to and how to stop them, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

They sat down and Max pulled out her laptop and she got to work, checking police reports and the like. Terry leaned over and did what he could to get his mind off of Tai Ji. He looked over at his girlfriend and remembered the fear he saw in her eyes just a second ago. He put the whole situation out of his mind and focused on Max. While she worked, he moved to the far end of the sofa, towards the wall; he wrapped his arm around her waist, and slid her closer to him, sitting her in between his legs. He rested his chin on her shoulder and kissed her cheek. It was almost a hypnotic trance he put her in. Max stopped working, closing her laptop and setting it on the floor. She leaned her head back on his shoulder, closing her eyes. They didn't get any work done. They didn't want to. They needed to stop. To take a breath. To take a moment. Just be with one another. It was a moment they both wanted. A moment they both needed.

Who could say how many more of these they would get?

Shriek and King watched at Blackwell's crew continued working on their project.

"Do you think that they have any idea what we are really up to?" King asked.

Shriek laughed. "Are you kidding? All that we left on the boat will have them scratching their heads like monkeys."

"Perhaps. I just know that Batman is very tenacious. And he seemed to take our killing of his comrade rather personally." He paused. "I wonder why."

"Who cares?" He walked to King. "In a couple of days, he won't matter. Gotham won't matter."

"Indeed."

Blackwell walked up to them. "Okay… that's all the really heavy lifting. The rest should be up by tomorrow night."

"Good work, my good man."

He chuckled. "You guys were right about keeping Batman occupied. No sign of him anywhere."

"We told you," Shriek said.

"Well, I gotta say… you guys are little out there… but the payoff from this job looks worth it. I can't wait to get my cut."

Shriek chuckled. "Oh, trust us…"

King smirked, "You will."

After an afternoon of solitude, including food and much needed sleep, night had set in Gotham. Terry and Max were both lying on the couch, Max resting her head on Terry's chest. The hero wasn't really feeling much better but the break was what he needed.

Terry looked to see the darkened city sky and knew he needed to get back to work. He looked down at his girlfriend, "I have to go see Wayne."

She looked up at him, concerned. She was going to speak but Terry preempted her.

"It's gonna be alright, Max. But… I have to go."

She nodded.

They got up from the couch but, just Terry started for the door, Max pulled him by his shirt, causing him to turn around right into a kiss from the dark skinned girl. There was a lot of passion in the kiss. Max pulled back and stared into Terry's eyes.

"I'll see you later," he said.

She nodded, "Okay."

After arriving at Wayne Manor, Terry went down into the Batcave. He saw Bruce sitting at the computer as usual. They stared at each other in silence.

Terry knew he had to apologize for how behaved with his mentor earlier. He snapped on Wayne and he didn't deserve that. "Bruce, I…"

"Reacted the same way I would have," Bruce finished. If anyone understood Terry's emotions, it was Bruce. He not only wasn't hurt by Terry's reaction; he was relieved to see it. If the teen had pretended everything was fine, Bruce knew that he was liable to blow and make costly mistakes. This showed Bruce that Terry had his head on straight. "Don't apologize. You didn't do anything but have a natural reaction: anger."

"Still…"

"Let it go, Terry. We have more important things to concern ourselves with."

Terry sighed. "Got that right." He shook his head, "What the heck are they up to?"

"I still don't know. We need to know what they stole. Unfortunately, all we have are the small sound generators the police confiscated from the freighter. They wouldn't need a thief like Blackwell to steal something like that."

This was getting maddeningly frustrating for Terry. He wanted to know what the slag was going on and he wanted to know now. But, in truth, they only had one lead, and a slim one at that. "We need Bennett to tell us."

Bruce sat back in his chair, pressing his fingers together. "You're right."

"I'm sorry?"

He turned to face the young teen. "No sign of King, Shriek, Blackwell, any of his known associates, or anything in almost 24 hours. We know they stole something big enough for the NSA to get into a grant a criminal a temporary pass and for Bennett to even show up. All this… and we don't know anything. And, personally, I'm getting tired of it."

"What are you thinking?"

"I wanna know what Bennett knows." Bruce paused. "Now."

Music to Terry's ears. He turned and went for his suit, "Don't have to tell me twice…"

"Terry…"

He stopped.

Bruce stood up. "I don't care what it takes. Lean on Bennett. Hard. He had his chance to do this the nice way… but now… he does it our way."

Terry smirked. "Are we showing him that we play dirty?"

Bruce smirked. "Absolutely."

"Like I said…" Terry turned around, "You don't have to tell me twice."

A/N: Alright, now, it's time for answers. And Bennett better be ready to talk.

Next Chapter: Secrets Revealed

Batman confronts Bennett about what he knows and continues to hunt for his adversaries. Meanwhile, King and Shriek are just about ready to enact their final plan. What will it be and how far are they about to go? All sides are gearing up as this will all soon come to a head.

Be here for it!