"Today has sucked. It can't suck any worse than this." Terry complained, keeping his dead down while kicking a rock. It was becoming strangely cathartic. Dana was mad at him, teachers were yelling at him, and Matt was being nosy and annoying. It was becoming an every day thing, not to mention very tiring. More than anything, Terry needed sleep. Or to disappear. He tried learn how to walk without limping after long nights of crime fighting. He didn't want to give being Batman up. Even when it was beginning to take it's toll on his youthful body and mind, but he wasn't about to let it do the same to his spirit.

"C'mon Ter, it can't be that bad. Ok, maybe it is, but don't worry. I've got every thing taken care of." Max said.

Terry looked up and raised his eyebrow at her. Max rolled her eyes, then ran a hand through her pink hair. Every time Max said something like that, she kept her word, but there was always an 'On one condition' with her. She was a good friend and was there when you needed her. Having her being his "sidekick/assistant" took a lot of the stress off being Batman, and he could talk to her about a lot of things that he couldn't tell Bruce.

"I mean it. While you were passed out in half the classes, I took the liberty of writing down the assignments for you. Besides, you looked so peaceful. If anyone were to tap you on the shoulder, you would have hit them. As entertaining as it would have been, I couldn't do it."

"Max, you're a goddess."
"I'd thought you'd say that."
"So today will be half decent?"
"One can only hope."
"Shway."

Hamilton High's eight-hour school sessions seemed much longer after sleepless nights. The teachers seemed to be even more boring, and the homework pile seemed twice as high. When Terry wasn't sleeping or hoping for the bell to wring, he was wondering if a fight with Inque was less punishment. All Terry wanted to do was get home and get some sleep. Three to four hours a day just wasn't going to cut it. If he didn't get any sleep soon, he was going to snap. He silently hoped that the padded room would have cable television.

*Ring, ring* Both teenagers stopped walking.

And no phones.

"Damn it!" Terry yelled. He stomped his foot hard against the sidewalk, scowling. Terry exhaled and picked up the cell phone from his jacket pocket, restraining from throwing it into the street. He gave the 'talk' button a reluctant push, and closed his eyes. It was going to be a long day.

"Yeah?" Terry asked. 'Please don't be him... please don't be him.' He silently prayed.

"Terry, get over here now." Bruce's voice boomed.

'Of course.'

If you knew Bruce, and God help you if you did, you know some of the things that he'd usually say or do. Fifty percent of what Bruce said was a command. Twenty percent was sarcasm-laced fact, ten percent was a vague compliment or greeting, and the other twenty percent was nothing at all. Sometimes the silence was nice. Other times it made Terry's skin crawl.

"Alright Bruce, but why-"
"Just get here!" *click*
*click*

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the coffin." Terry muttered. Max gave a snort and elbowed him lightly.

"Ouch. So what did your dictator want this time?" She asked. Max had both heard and met Bruce, and not one of those encounters was a pleasant one. She could definitely sympathize.

"He didn't say, he just wants me to get there. Must be pretty important if he didn't explain it. Wayne's been acting pretty strange lately."

"Strange? He's the epitome of it"
"He's just been stranger than usual"

"The old man is never going to give you a break, is he? He'd probably wake you from the dead to do more orders."

"Or he'd wake up from the dead to give me orders."

Max opened her mouth in mock shock and gave him a light slap against his left arm. "Terry! That's mean. That's hilarious, but that's really mean. You must have bad karma or something. Anywho, just give me a call if anything interesting happens. Give details,too!"

"Alright!" Terry voiced when running across the street.

Terry paid the cabbie his twenty bucks and climbed out of the cab, and walked toward the gates of the manor. The manor was huge, dark, and had lots of windows. It gave off the impression of a haunted house, from the inside out. While it looked like it could be possible, very few lights in that mansion were on. Ace, who was a few feet away from the fence, woke up and started barking. Walking up to the gates of Wayne Manor, and pushed the intercom button.

"Bruce, it's me, Terry."

No response. The gates didn't open, either. Terry rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying not to fall asleep.

"Mr. Wayne...C'mon, open up!"

The gates creeked open, and Terry patted Ace's head. The black great dane followed him, and the gates closed behind them. Terry cracked open the large mansion double doors and peeked in.

"Wayne? Are you there?"

Terry kept his backpack on his shoulders and had his hands as fists by his sides. He was ready to fight just incase anything was about to happen. He opened the door, letting both him and Ace in. Looking around, he shivered. The lights were off, but since it was still daytime, he could still see a few things.

A painting on the wall, two people. Terry squinted and recognized it. It was of Bruce's parents, Thomas and Martha. Terry just walked into a few rooms with the doors already opened, and looked in. Still no sign of him. Ace trailed foreward, and disappeared into a dark hallway, and he couldn't hear the hound's running anymore. Even though he's known the dog for months, it was another thing to add to the 'creep factor.' Even though he wanted to run, something in his mind wouldn't let him.

Terry walked up a seemingly endless flight of the stairs, and sped up when walking through a hallway. All these rooms. He's only been in half of the rooms of the manor, and each tour given was interrupted. Terry wondered just how many there were. He walked into one of the larger bedrooms and just looked around.

"Where the hell are you?" he thought out loud.

'Maybe he's around. Maybe he's in the batcave. Or maybe he's...'

"Right here."

Terry jumped about a foot off the floor. With pale blue eyes wide and his hand to his chest, he tried to catch his breath.

"Bruce? You scared the hell out of me!"
"Hmm. That wasn't my intent."

Bruce walked slowly out from a dark corner of the room, and towards Terry. The sunlight's rays from the window was the only light in the rooms, and everywhere else was pretty dark. Bruce's face was pretty expressionless, but the midnight blue eyes slightly glittered.

"Yeah, well... are you ok?"

Bruce nodded, and put one of his hands in his blazer pockets, while the other held his cane. Terry raised an eyebrow and took a few steps forward. "Bruce....you called me over here, and it sounded pretty important. Is there a new case? A new dreg?"

No response. Just a slow-blinking gaze. If Terry's legs didn't seem stuck, he would have ran out of the manor screaming by now. Bruce has been acting even stranger, if possible, for the past two months. Terry couldn't put his finger on what was going on, nor was he sure that he wanted to know.

"Not anything? I mean, if it wasn't that then why would you call me? I haven't sleep right for weeks, and you just- mmpphh!"

Bruce wrapped one still-powerful arm around Terry's body, and pushed the younger man's body closer to his. Bruce pressed his mouth against Terry's and closed his eyes. Terry's eyes went wide, and his heart was racing.

'Oh..man. I can't.. I shouldn't..this isn't right...'

A big warm hand slid under his black t-shirt, rubbing the small of his back. Terry's eyes closed. Bruce felt the soft but hot skin, and grazed his fingernails in circles against his flesh. He slipped the hands around to Terry's chest, feeling up a slightly muscular torso. Bruce rubbed his thumbs in circles over the nipples, and starting trailing licks and kisses over the Adam's apple. Terry gave a moan and ground himself against the older man. His hips thrusting forward, his eyes began to roll in the back of his head. "Ohhh... more. Don't stop." He rasped. Terry didn't think that he'd be able to last any longer, but he didn't want this to stop.

At all.

A soft pink tongue trailed back up to Terry's mouth, flickered between Terry's lips, and gave off the taste of classy red wine. Terry parted his lips and allowed the tongue more access. Terry's mouth slightly tasted like apples and Hershey kisses. Sweet, hot, and vibrant.

Bruce's eyes flew open, and he let go of Terry. Using his cane, he stepped back. The look in his eyes was as if he had found something.

"Bruce...I..d-didn't know you w-would do that..." Terry gasped. Trying to catch his breath, his eyes were still hazed with emotion. Bruce gave him a quick heart achening look, and then his face went back to it's usual solemn expression. This wasn't going to be easy at all.

"That...shouldn't have happenned." Bruce said and stepped back.

Terry only blinked. The young man felt as if he was just kicked in the chest. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Things just couldn't get any stranger than this. Or any more painful to experience. Bruce just turned around, took his cane and walked downstairs to go to the Batcave.

'Even if I wanted it.' Bruce thought to himself wistfully, and walked downstairs to go to the Batcave.