By: Faita

“There’s a reason why these proverbs have been around for so long McGinnis,” Emily told him as the two of them walked down one of Gotham streets. They both had their coats’ zipper up and their hands in their pockets as their boots crunched slightly on slow melting snow.
“Not my fault they don’t make sense. What did that last one even mean?”
“ ‘Fall seven times, stand up eight,’ means the same as ‘try, try again.’ You get up, fall, get up, fall, get up, fall, get up, fall, get up, fall, get up, fall, get up, fall, and get up. It means for every time you fall, you have to get up one more.”
“Fall off a horse gotta get back one, so to speak.”
“Yea, but the Japanese version sounds wiser, and, less smelly,” she told him. They heard a scream coming from down the street and they looked at each other.
“I’ll get changed, you go see what’s up,” Terry said and Emily nodded. She took off in the direction the scream came from and Terry took off in the opposite direction. Emily steadied her breathing as she ran and her ears told her where the continuing screams were coming from. She finally came to a mild group of people gathered around something, giving plenty of room between them and the object at the center of their attention. Emily caught her breath as she walked closer, an over weight woman near by screamed again. Emily walked even closer and saw a gray; hairless beast crouched in the middle of the street before her. Her eyes widened in surprise. Bruce had shown her the tapes from Terry’s vid-link so she could learn more about the enemies, and Terry. She took a step closer to the beast; she knew this creature, this shivering, grotesque monster. She could hear it whimper, asking for help, and heat.
“What have you done to yourself?” she asked to everyone’s surprise. The creature looked up and her; and its lizard like face turned into the image of surprise. A tear fell down his scaly face, a human tear.
“Emily…” he said in a voice she almost couldn’t recognize. She walked over to him and knelt in the snow before him. Even crouched over he loomed over her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and chest the best she could.
“I’m so cold,” he said.
“Help’s on its way.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said. She tightened her grip.
“I know,” she said as Batman landed on the ground behind the monster. He had a blanket slung over his shoulder and an injection tool in his hand. Her eyes asked him to help. He nodded and pressed the tool to the beast’s back. He fell asleep leaning against Emily; she tried not to let him crush her. Batman laid the blanket on the giant reptile.
“An ambulance is on its way,” Batman told her.
“Won’t be soon enough,” she groaned as the creature’s weight slowly began to crush her. Batman smirked and tried to help lift him up.
“Sorry.”

Niklas walked slowly over to Terry in the hospital corridor. Terry stood beside Emily who was sitting on a chair with her knees up to her chin. She was lost in her own thought.
“I really hate walking in hospitals. They see a guy with a cane and sunglasses and immediately think he’s an invalid and wanna help,” Niklas told him.
“Yea, I hate that about hospitals too, always wanting to help people,” Terry responded smirking. Niklas pouted.
“When you’ve been blind as long as I have, you learn to dislike ‘help’.” “I bet. So did you get a hold of her?”
“Yea, her dad is doing some work in Washington, she’ll be here in about 45 minutes.”
“I’m sure she’ll be glad to see him.”
“How is he?”
“He’s human now, he should be fine when he wakes up. But he’s still in pain,” Emily said looking at one spot on the floor.
“The worst kind of pain too,” Terry added.
“Even when he was a lizard, I could see the regret in his eyes,” Emily said and sniffled slightly. Niklas knelt by her side and placed a hand on her face so he could look into her eyes. He took off his sunglasses so she could see the gray were his pigmentation should have been. She leaned forward and cried into his arms. Terry frowned sadly. He opened the door to the hospital room and walked in. When the door closed behind him all he could hear was the beeping from several machines and the sound of his footsteps. The only light shone onto the hospital bed and its inhabitant. Terry leaned on the board signifying the foot of the bed.
“Ya know ya broke her heart,” he said and laughed a little to himself. He looked at the motionless body in the bed and sighed.
“You two musta been the greatest of friends. Man, you really didn’t seem like you had any friends. I’m surprised you were willing to kill her,” Terry said and fell silent.
“I pleaded for her life,” a voice said from the bed. Terry looked up at him in surprise.
“But they felt she’d prove stronger then I am, believe it or not,” Zander said and smiled slightly. It was the first time Terry had seen him smile.
“Oh I believe it.”
“Is she alright?”
“She should be crying in Niklas’ arms in the hall.”
“She cried in my arms once, broke my heart.”
“Hm, she seems to have cried in everyone’s arms but mine.”
“You’re lucky, it’s not fun, seeing such a strong person break down like that.” Terry sat down in a chair beside Zander’s bed.
“How did you two meet anyway?”
“A dojo, when we were four. We were on the same level, on everything actually. We were so equal, Kobra thought she’d be good to help me grow stronger.”
“Was she?”
“Oh yes. So, how did you meet her? A mutual acquaintance though Wayne?”
“Yes, she’s living with him now.”
“It was weird, watching her grow more and more like Bruce as the years went on.”
“Did he like you, Bruce?”
“Heavens no.”
“But he didn’t know about your Kobra connection.”
“Emily explained Bruce had a sense about people, this nature ability to feel what they would become. Old fool was always straight on too…”
“Indeed. Kirai, she died on that ship.”
“I know, I found her remains. My blood was cold, but not my heart. I gave her a proper samurai burial. She would have wanted it.”
“Why are you suddenly acting so-?”
“Human? I’ve always been human, despite Kobra’s attempts. Who I was, was not who I was.”
“Which makes Emily right, and Max wrong.”
“Max? Oh heavens Max! You have to get her here! My lord all of the things…”
“Don’t worry. Emily apologized for you.”
“Good old Emily.”
“Good old Emily.”
“Good old ‘hey let’s not telling her anything’ Emily,” Emily said standing in the doorway looking at Zander.
“Oh! Ah, Emily, he woke up!” Terry told her smiling. She shoved him playfully in the shoulder and leapt at Zander, hugging him tightly and laughing, he laughed too and hugged her back.
“Don’t you go reptilian on me again,” she told him.
“I won’t, I’ve learned my lesson,” Zander responded. Terry smiled at the picture of friendship bliss. So what if she was half alien and a super hero? So what that he was raised to kill most the people on earth and then turned into a giant reptile? They were friends, and glad to see each other safe.
“If this meeting didn’t have such a weird story to it I’d be touched,” a voice from the doorway said. The three people in the room looked toward it and saw a girl standing there. She walked over happily and hugged Emily and Zander at the same time.
“Niklas get your butt in here!” she yelled, making the others laughed. Niklas entered the room and slowly made his way to the other three and they all shared a group hug.
“Man it’s good to see us all together again!” the girl yelled. Terry smiled seeing them all so happy but he couldn’t help but feel a little left out. He heard Aisha whisper something and saw Emily’s head pop out of the group looking at him.
“Who him? Oh that’s just Terry McGinnis, works for Bruce,” she said and stuck her head back into the group. The four began to talk so much what was being said and who was saying it could not be distinguished.
~~ Just Terry McGinnis? Just Batman? Just the guy who saved Zander? Just the person who has saved Emily Grayson from certain death on multiple accounts? ~~ Terry thought a little angered. He also didn’t appreciate his entire existence being summed up as “works for Bruce.” He could argue with Emily about that later, now she looked too happy to get mad at. Aisha turned around where she was sitting on the bed and looked at Terry.
“Well don’t be afraid, I won’t bite, Zander might, but I won’t,” she said and received a playful slap on the shoulder. Terry walked over and stood between Aisha and Niklas, who was sitting in a chair. He looked at Emily who was sitting in a chair directly in front of him. Emily stood up and turned around so her right shoulder was right in front of Terry’s left.
“Aisha, Niklas, Zander, I’d like to introduce Terrence Eugene McGinnis. He is 17 years of age and is a senior at Hamilton Hill High School. He has a girlfriend named Dana Tan and his friends include Maxine Gibson, Jared Tate, Chelsea Cunningham, and his enemies include Nelson Nash and at times, myself. His parents divorced three years ago and he moved in with his father, Warren McGinnis, until his untimely death eight months ago. He then moved in with his mother Mary McGinnis and nine year-old-brother Matthew. He has an after school job working for billionaire Bruce Wayne after an encounter where McGinnis saved Wayne from a band of unruly Jokerz. He is approximately six feet and weighs about 140 pounds. His hair is black and no, those baby blue eyes aren’t contacts,” Emily said to the crowd. They all laughed and Terry rubbed his head slightly.
“Quite the memory you have,” Terry said.
“Emily has never forgotten a thing!” Aisha told him.
“Nothing I haven’t later remembered,” Emily said looking right at Zander.
“So when do they let me out of this place?” Zander asked.
“When they find a place for you to go,” Terry answered him.
“You can stay at the dojo,” Niklas offered.
“Middy is running it now,” Emily told him sitting back down in her chair, leaving Terry standing alone.
“Oh, I’m sure she’d be glad to have me there,” Zander said sarcastically.
“She doesn’t blame you for Maddy’s death, it wasn’t your fault you were raised in Kobra,” Niklas told him.
“Besides, Maddy chose to go,” Terry added.
“She was a good teacher,” Zander said.
“The best,” Emily added. Terry remembered when Bruce had said that; Emily said it the exact same way.
“Wait, how does Terry know Maddy?” Aisha asked.
“Oh, I must have left that out. McGinnis here was taking lessons from her, now he’s taught by Middy,” Emily said.
“Are you sure Middy won’t mind, Niklas?” Zander asked him.
“One hundred percent positive. If I’m wrong may God strike me blind,” Niklas said and the others laughed.
“I’ve never met a blind man without a sense of humor,” Aisha said.
“I’ve never met a blind man,” Niklas said to the others’ surprise.

“Oh God what time is it?” Emily asked as she and Terry walked into her bedroom. They were both walking half asleep.
“Some time between ‘Mom gonna yell at me’ and, ‘Mom gonna kill me,’ I think,” Terry answered.
“You hope,” Emily corrected him as she slumped onto her bed. He sat down next to her.
“I’m too tired to move,” he told her.
“You can sleep on the floor.”
“You’re too generous,” he said sarcastically as he lay down on the floor by the side of her bed facing the door.
“I’m only generous when I’m awake,” she said crawling over to her pillows and smiled as she cuddled up with them.
“That sounded like a bet to me,” Terry said. Emily shoved one of the pillows near the end of the bed and it landed on Terry’s face.

“Terry, could you please go get your brother? I have to take care of Matt,” Terry heard his mother’s voice say. Terry opened his eyes and saw his mother standing in front up him. He had to look up to see her. Her hair was longer and she held a noisy one year-old with fuzzy black hair on his head.
“But, Matt IS my brother,” he told her, his voice sounded so young. She frowned.
“Don’t play games with me Terry, now go get Deacon, it’s time for supper” she scolded him and walked off.
“But I don’t know a Deacon,” he told her though she couldn’t hear him. He looked around and realized he was in an apartment that was so familiar to him, but he couldn’t place it. He heard a boy yelling in joy from behind him and he ventured through the living room following the sound. He was barely taller then the sofa. The sounds came from a room behind a door that was opened a crack. Terry opened the door enough just so he could see inside. There was a young boy sitting at the foot of his bed, holding a controller for a video game in his hands, and staring at a screen, that was giving off the only light. Terry’s eyes studied the boy’s face; he looked like Terry had when he was 12. The boy saw Terry and turned his head to look at him.
“What do you want?” he asked angrily. Terry hesitated.
“Mo-Mom says it’s time for dinner,” Terry told him. The boy huffed angrily and turned off his video game. He walked toward the door in the darkness and opened it further. He stopped and looked down at Terry who was staring at him.
“What?” he asked narrowing his eyes.
“Who, who are you?” Terry asked.
“What are you dumb? I’m your brother, Deacon,” the boy answered and shoved Terry harshly as he walked past him. Terry regained his balance and watched the boy walk away.
“But I don’t know a Deacon,” Terry said.

“McGinnis!” Emily yelled as Terry gasped and opened his eyes. He was on his back and looking directly up at Emily who was leaning off the bed looking down at him worriedly.
“McGinnis are you alright?” she asked him. He sat up and shook his head, regaining his bearings. He looked at Emily and nodded.
“God you scared me half to death.”
“Emily you’re an atheist.”
“It’s a figure of speech. You just started screaming and yelling. You must have had one heck of a nightmare,” she said. He thought about his dream and nodded. They fell silent.
“There’s still an hour or two before dawn, take your shoes off, loosen your belt, maybe they were too tight,” she told him. He nodded again and did so. Emily took the top quilt off of her bed and gave it to him. She got off her bed and got a few more pillows from a closet as Terry folded the quilt in half and got inside it. She gave the pillow to Terry and made sure he was comfortable before sliding under the sheets on her bed. They were silent for a bit trying to calm down after the unexpected incident.
“Who’s Deacon?” Emily asked suddenly to Terry’s surprise.
“What?” he asked astonished.
“Deacon. You were yelling that name.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t know a Deacon,” Terry answered and rolled over onto his side so his back was to the bed.

Emily sat in the chair in front of the batcomputer; she had one leg draped over an arm of it. She looked around, as if looking for something to do. Terry had taken Bruce to some meeting, so Emily had the house all to herself, even Ace was gone. She leaned forward and pressed a button on the keyboard.
“Oracle you there?” she asked.
“No I went for a walk,” a female voice said sarcastically. Emily smirked.
“Hey Cas. I hope I’m not disturbing any world saving.”
“Nope, shouldn’t you be out doing something?”
“Bruce grounded me.”
“What for?”
“For five broken ribs,” Emily answered rubbing her chest. She had gotten in a fight with a runaway bear and lost.
“Ow. So what can I do for you Emily?”
“You can cross reference Terrence McGinnis with Deacon.”
“You could do that.”
“I know, but I was lonely.”
“Good enough, just wait a sec.”
“Come up with anything.”
“I didn’t mean an actual second,” Oracle said. Emily smiled and waited.
“Wow,” Oracle said and the batcomputer filled with pictures and text. Emily’s eyes widened as she read them.
“Oh my God…”

“Are you sure I should be here?” Zander asked. He, Terry, and Niklas stood by the balcony of a crowded ballroom dressed in tuxedos. Women in fancy dresses and elder men in tuxedos standing around talking surrounded them.
“I don’t think any of us should be here,” Terry said looking around. They were the only ones in tuxedos who didn’t have cloud white hair. He caught the eye of an attractive blonde in a slinky light blue dress and she smiled at him. He turned away and started searching the crowd.
“Where are the girls?”
“I wouldn’t call them that when they’re around,” Niklas warned him.
“Why not?”
“Because it is so Scooby- Dooish,” Aisha said from the balcony behind them. Terry and Zander turned around to look at them. Their eyes widened in surprise and they stood there in awe for a few moments. Niklas finally turned around with a large smile on his face.
“They’re frozen stiff aren’t they?” he asked. Aisha smiled.
“Sure are!” she said walking over and knocking on their foreheads. They blinked and shook their heads.
“My God Aisha you look great!” Zander said as she walked over next to him.
“Heh, I know,” she said and laughed slightly.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked her.
“Sorry Zander, but I promised Niklas the first dance in the changing room,” Aisha said as she lead Niklas out onto the dance floor. Terry and Zander looked at each other in surprise.
“Changing room?” Terry asked. Emily walked up behind them and put a hand on one of their shoulders.
“Girls don’t have a problem changing in front of blind guys,” she told them.
“Lucky fool,” Terry said watching Niklas and Aisha dancing.
“Niklas has the best life out of everyone I know,” Emily said. The three of them watched the crowd thinking to themselves.
“Well,” Zander said removing him from under Emily’s arm so he could look at her, “would you care to dance?”
“And be the second choice, heavens no.”
“Then I shall invade the snack tables,” he said and bowed and walked off in the direction of several tables covered with hundreds of dollars worth of cheese and crackers. Terry turned around to look at Emily.
“Well, you’re my first choice,” he said extending his arm, “shall we dance?”
“Sorry McGinnis, but you’re someone else’s prey,” she said turning him around and pointing out the attractive blonde in a slinky light blue dress walking over to them.
“Eep,” Terry said. Emily laughed.
“Her name is Vicki Stanton, a rich snob.”
“Unlike yourself.”
“I’m not the one thinking ‘fresh meat’.”
“You better hide me.”
“Oh no, you have to learn to fend for yourself McGinnis.”
“But I’m scared,” he said as Vicki got closer. Emily laughed slightly and squeezed Terry’s shoulder supportively.
“Stay low, keep alert, always have her insight, and don’t laugh at your own jokes,” she said and gave him a push in Vicki’s direction.
“Hi,” Vicki said to him in a sexy voice. Emily walked further onto the balcony but not so far that she couldn’t hear them.
“Uh, hiya,” Terry said nervously.
“Hi I’m Vicki,” she said brushing her shoulder against him slightly.
“I’m gay,” Terry said causing Emily to burst out laughing from behind them. Vicki’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh, I uh, I think I hear my name being called. Bye,” she said and walked off in a rush. Emily ran over to Terry laughing as hard as she could.
“I don’t believe you said that!” she yelled at him.
“I don’t either! It just, came out!”
“So did you!” she said and started laughing some more. Terry let her finish, almost beginning to laugh himself.
“I gotta tell Dana and Max you said that,” she said leaning her back against his shoulder and putting a hand on her forehead, trying not to start laughing again.
“That’ll make Dana know I only belong to her.”
“Or make her laugh her ass off.”
“That went without saying.”
“Man Max is gonna be sorry she missed this.”
“Well Zander isn’t her favorite person in the world,” Terry said looking in the direction of snack tables.
“Ya know I’ve never been mad at him.”
“Even when you found out he was gonna kill millions of people, yourself included.”
“We have a heck of a relationship don’t we?”
“The four of you are the weirdest bunch of friends I’ve ever seen.”
“But we’ve never lied to each other,” Emily said shifting so their shoulders were close and her head rested on his shoulder. She wrapped a hand around his arm. He looked at her a little surprised.
“McGinnis, have you ever heard of Oracle?” she asked as a vocalist began to sing a song and more dancers moved to the middle of the ballroom. A male vocalist joined her.
“Weren’t they like fortune tellers in ancient Greece?”
“I’m talking about the person who has endless supplies of information.”
“Never heard of him.”
“Well, Oracle told me something today.”
“What?” Terry asked. Emily lifted her head off of his shoulder and looked at him, he looked back a little worried.
“She told me about Deacon,” Emily told him. He backed away from her in shock.
“You, you checked up on me?”
“Why didn’t you just tell me McGinnis?”
“I, I don’t know,” Terry said and looked at the ground sadly. Emily walked over to him and lifted his head with her hand slowly.
“McGinnis, whatever Deacon did isn’t going to effect what people think of you,” she told him. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
“I gotta go,” he said and walked away. Emily watched him walk away worriedly.
“That was SO cute!” Aisha yelled as she hugged Emily from behind and rocked her.
“Oh don’t you have some guy to seduce?” Emily asked her.
“Only guy I got my sights on just walked away,” Aisha said and hugged Emily tighter.
“Wait, Terry! You like Terry? He is taken you know?”
“I know, Dana something…”
“Tan.”
“Whatever. A girl can dream though. He is a babe though, I mean, woof!”
“You have a one track mind don’t you Aisha?”
“Pretty much, so why does he look pissed?”
“Cause he has a family,” Emily answered.
“Well we all have that problem,” Aisha said. They heard a throat being cleared and turned around. Niklas and Zander stood there, Zander looking at them chewing on a piece of cheese. Aisha sighed and smiled.
“Well most of us.”

“Not going to jump, are you?” Emily asked walking from the shadows of a balcony higher above the ballrooms. Terry leaned against the railing.
“Can’t get rid of me that easily Grayson,” Terry told her and leaned off of the railing.
“One can dream,” she said walking closer. She still had her dress on and her hair down, but now she wore her usual coat over it.
“So am I ever gonna meet this Oracle person?”
“Unlikely, I’ve never met her.”
“But-?”
“Oracle isn’t the kinda person you meet…”
“She some kind of ghost slash super hero?”
“No she’s human, that was kind of her problem. She got shot through the spine, paralyzed her.”
“Ouch.”
“Didn’t stop her from still helping the vigilantes of the world.”
“Still?”
“Yea, she was Batgirl, once.”
“What!”
“What you think Babs and I were the only ones? Cassie, Oracle, was the last Bat standing.”
“I didn’t know that…”
“Geez she was great, no one could touch her, for awhile. Then that dude, but she was still great. It was like a ballet, a very shway ballet, only with blood.”
“Wow, who shot her?”
“Some punk who got lucky. I’ll have to tell you her story when we have time.”
“We have time now,” Terry told her. Emily took a step toward him.
“No we don’t McGinnis. What happened between you and Deacon?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“I don’t care!” she yelled and grabbed the cuff of his jacket. She held his hand in both of her’s.
“I really should know McGinnis.”
“I know, I know. Fine Grayson, you win.”
“I have a tendency for that.”
“Indeed. Well, Deacon is, was, whatever, my brother. Elder, by two years, looked just like me. Lesse, when I was 14, he was 16, I was walking home from school, this is in the old apartment, it was bigger then the one we’re in now, Mom and Dad were still married. Well I was walking home and around the corner I heard yelling. I sped up a bit and around the corner I saw my brother, but, but he was beating up this… this… old woman. She was on the ground, unconscious. He was holding her purse in his hands. He stopped and looked at me, then we heard sirens. He ran past me so fast, the cops were there, the woman woke up, like I said I looked just like Deacon…”
“That’s why you went to juvie?”
“Yea, since I didn’t have the purse, but she identified me, it was only three months. When I got out Deacon had run away, I was the last to see him,” he explained. Emily held his hand tighter and they were silent for awhile.
“Do you still want that dance?” she asked him. He smiled and her and held her in his arms. They began to dance to the distant music from the ballroom. They were alone on the balcony with only the moon and the stars to light them. In the distance they heard a police siren blaring.
“We should go,” Emily said leaning away from Terry. The sirens were getting closer.
“No,” Terry said and pulled her closer, “for now Blaze and Batman don’t exist.”