A few hours later
Unknown apartment

Terry slowly opened his eyes to peer at his surroundings. < Where am I? What time is it? That sun is way too bright. > he thought as he notices the sun streaming in around the edges of the window shade. < Who are these people and how did I get here? > He saw Kenny and realization started to set in. As he continued to look around he recognized a few more faces he'd known well a few months back. He did not, however, recognize the seemingly unconscious girl half draped across him

< Okay, I remember meeting Kenny outside the Zone. The Zone, I drove there; where is the car? Okay, don't panic. One thing at a time. Where am I... and where are the rest of my clothes? > As he started to sit up he finally realized he was only half dressed. His lower body was covered, but his shirt and jacket were missing. The fact that his pants were undone and riding low on his trim hips was a bit worrying, but he had bigger concerns, namely the car Bruce had loaned him for commuting and the mundane tasks he performed in addition to his Bat duties.

As he sat up and peeled off the strange girl, pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place.

Terry stood up and gingerly stepped around the seemingly endless sea of sleeping bodies as he searched for the rest of his clothes. A quick glance at his watch informed him that he was already so late for school that going at all would be pointless, not that he could focus on learning anyway. Deciding that heading home for a long, hot shower and a quick nap was the best course of action, he gave up the search for his shirt, shrugged into the leather jacket he managed to locate and headed for the door.

Once on the street, he amended his plans. Locating the car was the top priority while showering slipped to a distant second. Food failed to make the list. Fortunately, Pammy, or whoever, lived just around the corner from the Zone, so locating the car was far easier than Terry feared it might be. The reaming Wayne would have given him for losing the car would certainly wipe away all of Terry's romantic notions, but it seemed a rather drastic solution to the problem.

Later that day
The McGinnis apartment

While Terry's body argued strongly for sleep first and a shower second, his mind's argument, that his mother would be mad enough knowing he'd missed school and that reeking of smoke and alcohol would only worsen the situation, won out.

Once in the shower, Terry tried to remember events of the previous evening. The only thing that came to mind was Bruce. Bruce had been so close, smelled so good, and been so gentle while tending his injured shoulder. The urge to kiss Bruce was so overwhelming, the urge to touch and be touched so overpowering. The mere memory was making him hard even now. Terry wasn't quite sure how he'd managed to hold back last night.

As the steaming water poured down on him, Terry realized there was no reason to hold back now. He happened to glance down as he reached to take hold of himself; the sight before him caused a cold chill to engulf him. < What the... >He didn't remember much of last night and had no idea where he had acquired the multitude of bites, welts and other marks scattered over his lower abdomen and upper thighs. Well, he had an idea; he just couldn't recall the circumstances. < That girl lying on top of me this morning, what was her name? Do I know her? Great! What next? > Drawing a total blank and having neither the energy nor the will to think about it any longer, Terry quickly finished washing and turned off the water. Exhaustion overcame him, and he was lucky to make it to his room before collapsing, still wet, in a heap on his bed.

That afternoon
Wayne Manor

"Where can he be?" Bruce wondered aloud as he waited for Terry to arrive. Terry wasn't late, but that morning Bruce had received a somewhat frantic call from Mrs. McGinnis. She wanted to know if he knew where Terry was or what he might be doing. It seemed Terry wasn't home when Mary awoke that morning. She had gone to work thinking that Terry had left early for school. When the school had phone her at work inquiring why Terry wasn't in class, Mary had gone from pleased that Terry might actually be focusing on school to fury over his having fallen back into old, bad habits to high anxiety over his safety in about a minute flat.

Although he had assured her that Terry must have a good reason and was surely safe and sound, he really didn't have a clue where the boy could be or what he could be involved in. He'd tried to contact Terry but received no answer. As he sat in his study mulling over the possibilities, he heard the signal from the gate. After verifying the presence as Terry, Bruce released the gate and stood to make his way to the door in time for Terry's arrival.

The two met in the foyer. Just as Terry turned from closing the door, Bruce bellowed, "McGinnis! Where have you been?" Terry had the foresight to come up with an excuse; two actually, one for his mother and one for Bruce. Sadly, in the presence of the Wayne's towering fury, he couldn't for the life of him remember the story he had worked out on the drive to the manor.