saga/title/fandom: Identity chapter 4 (Batman Beyond)

author: Girl_Gambit

rating/genre:(PG-13) - Drama/Romance

warnings: violence, language

summary: Terry hasn't had time for himself lately, things seem a bit of a mess. It's a T/M fanfic - but i don't hate D

comments/disclaimers: I don’t own any of the characters, they were the creation of DC comics. This is a fanfic inspired by the Batman of the Future series, credit to the creators.Author’s note: This is my first Batman fanfic, it’s quite a daunting task, but I look forward to any constructive criticism on improving my writing as I’m an amateur at this. I haven’t been watching the show that long but it made an impact on me enough to want to write something. I apologise for any mistakes.

Chapter 4 Neo

Terry opened his eyes and looked at his alarm clock. It’s 11am! Guess I should be getting up if I’m going to go get a costume for this stupid party. I’m in a costume every night, and now I’m going to a party where wearing a costume is part of the entrance criteria…well no one can say my life is boring. He lazily pulled himself out of bed and went to take a shower. After he was dressed and feeling fresher than he had in days, he made his way to the kitchen where is mom was cleaning up.

“Hey there Sleeping Beauty, I was wondering when you’d make it into the land of the living.”

“Hey Mom, was really tired, sorry.”

“Well don’t worry, your pancakes are in the microwave, there’s some coffee left if you want it.”

“Thanks Mom,” he said before giving her a hug. He noticed that his mom was dressed to go out. “Where you heading off to?”

“I’m going shopping, Matt needs new shoes for school and then we’re going to have lunch at the Pizzeria. We’re not going to Cheesey Dan’s but don’t tell him that. He goes there too much, he needs a break from those video games. I don’t suppose you want to come?”

“Mom, I would, but I can’t, I’m meeting Max today. We’re going to a costume party later, we need to get costumes…”

Mrs McGinnis smiled. “Is that the party that you said would be, what was the word…‘lame’?

“Yeah well, Max really wants to go, she wanted someone to go with, I felt sorry for her…”

“Hmm, well I’m just glad you’re getting out, I don’t like seeing you moping around the house. Since you broke up with Dana you hardly go out. It’s a good thing you have Max to keep you from becoming an old man before your time… plus she encourages you to get more of your homework done.”

“Yes, I know Mom.” Terry had forgotten that he had a test Monday but he knew that studying was not on the cards tonight. It would have to be a last minute cramming session with Max on Sunday night. “Listen Mom, don’t worry about cleaning up, I’ll do the dishes etc, you and Matt go have a nice day.”

“That’s sweet of you Terry… I could get used to this.” She kissed him on the cheek and called Matt.

“Aren’t you coming Terry?” asked Matt with a look of excitement on his face.

“Sorry, going out with Max.” Terry saw a slight look of disappointment on his brother’s face. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you out on Sunday, you and me ok?” He ruffled his brother’s hair affectionately.

“Ok, but you’re going to miss out today. I’m going to play on that new game. ‘Intergalactic Racing’ rips!” Terry laughed to himself, little did Matt know.

“Come on Matt, time to go,” Mrs McGinnis called. As Matt ran out of the front door, Mrs McGinnis turned to Terry.

“I’ll make it up to him, I’m taking him for ice-cream, he can play ‘Inter whatever it is’ with you tomorrow. Have fun with Max, tell her I said hello.”

“Ok Mom, bye.” Terry looked around at the mess and almost wished he hadn’t volunteered to make it disappear.

Max was sitting in the Lunar Café sipping her café latte. She had her laptop out on the table in front of her but had got sidetracked from her assignment. She was checking the recent news and looking for patterns to see if she could work out what Batman might be encountering tonight. She caught sight of a shot of Batman in action and zoomed in to take a good look. You certainly wear it well Terr. Max hadn’t realised that a cheshire cat grin had crept onto her face as she was studying the picture. Being lost in her thoughts, she didn’t feel the presence of someone behind her.

“Hello Max!”

“Aaagh!” Max jumped, but was relieved to find that it wasn’t Terry. “Trent! Did you have to creep up on me like that? You could give a girl a heart attack!”

“Sorry, am I interrupting something?” He smiled, looking at her laptop screen.

“No, nothing at all. Take a seat. I’m just waiting for Terry.” Feeling embarrassed she closed her laptop and started drinking her coffee in a faked casual way. She looked across at the boy in front of her. He hadn’t been at Hamilton Hill long and seemed to have a small group of friends, but was the quiet type in general. Max had seen him several times working late in the lab and he’d been pleasant enough to talk to. If he hadn’t been so quiet and bookish, Max was sure that girls like Chelsea and Blade would be trying to snap him up. His brown hair wasn’t overly neat and his glasses partially hid his emerald eyes, which often had a far away look. Perhaps what made him distinctive was his smile, maybe because he smiled so little it just grabbed you when he did.

“So Max, you going to the party tonight?”

“Not sure, I don’t have a costume yet.”

“Who were you planning to go as? Wait, let me guess…Batgirl right?”

“Hey, I’m not a fan or anything, I mean who gets all sappy over a guy dressed as a Bat! I just happened to be looking for something on the net and the picture just popped up. He does good in Gotham, sure I admire that…but that’s as far as it goes. As for wanting to be Batgirl…you gotta be kidding!”

“Ok Max, no need to get defensive. So have you got any ideas?”

“No. You?”

“Nah. I’m just lucky I’ll be able to get in. I usually wouldn’t get an invite, but with it being pretty much an open party and a costume needed, who’s going to know it’s a quiet guy like me.”

“Don’t sweat it Trent, all that social group stuff doesn’t mean a thing. A party is a party, go to have a good time.”

“Yeah, thanks Max. I have to go now, better get a move on if I want to find something to wear.”

“Ok, see ya Trent.”

As Trent was getting up to leave, Terry entered the café and spotted Max chatting to Trent. He didn’t like the way he was looking at her. It was more his paranoia than anything else. Terry knew Max often worked late in the lab with Trent and he didn’t like it. Max wasn’t the type of girl to be thinking about guys all the time, she was more interested in being successful but he knew that at the end of the day she was a girl and she had a need to be with someone deep down, just like he did. If Terry was honest, Trent seemed harmless. Terry walked over to the table as Trent was saying bye to Max.

“Hey Max,” Terry said enthusiastically. Max looked at him suspiciously.

“Hi Terry,” Trent said first. Terry felt bad about almost ignoring him and said hi back. Max watched Terry watching Trent walk away.

“He’s a nice guy Terr.”

“I don’t know him that well so I can’t say.”

“He spaces out now and again, but he’s good on conversation when you give him a chance.”

“I guess you’d know more than I do with all those late night sessions in the lab.”

“Very funny Terry. So anyway, I think we should go for something simple but stylish for this costume party.”

“As long as I’m not going to be dressed up in a pair of tights with my underwear on the outside…”

“I think most of the vintage costumes will be gone by now, it’s kinda late to be looking. We’ll probably have to improvise from what we find.”

After a two hours of going to and from different costume shops, Terry was feeling tempted to stay at home.

“Max, I don’t know about this.”

“C’mon Terr, it’s not so bad!”

“I guess if I look stupid so will you…”

“Me look stupid? Not going to happen. You’ll see.”

“So where are we meeting? You want me to pick you up? I’m sure I can get Wayne’s car for the night.”

“Ok, pick me up around 7.30pm?” Terry nodded in agreement.

“I was thinking Terr, what happened to that motorcycle you used to have?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, not that I don’t like the old guy’s car, but it would be really schway to go on motorcycle tonight.”

“Sometimes I worry about you Max.” Terry gave Max a confused look, hoping she’d explain.

“Nothing to worry about, it’s just nice to have a change now and again. See you later Terr.” Terry waved at Max as she walked away.

Terry made his way to the Batcave to find out if there was any extra information on what could happen that night. As he entered, Bruce turned around in his chair. He looked Terry up and down and then what appeared to be an almost smile became noticeable on his face. Ace was looking at Terry curiously, recognising his scent, but puzzled by his appearance. He came up to Terry and started to sniff at him and walk around him.

“It’s ok boy, it’s Terry. He’s just experimenting with a new look…although I’m not quite sure what that is.”

Terry looked at Bruce seriously. He was not in the mood to be the butt of the jokes but it was rare to see Bruce even attempt to smile or make a joke so Terry didn’t retaliate with an insult. “Hey, you wanted me to go to this party, if I had my way I’d be at home or on standby in case something happens.”

“Being there allows you to detect any early signs of a problem and with your disguise, hopefully you can do it without causing a stir but if Batman is needed…”

“Don’t worry, I’m wearing the suit underneath, I didn’t think they’d allow me in with the backpack without wanting to check what’s inside.”

“Good. Now I’m giving you this earpiece in case you need to contact me, it’s small so no one will notice you’re wearing it. That way you can speak to me while you’re not Batman and update me if need be.”

“So any news on what’s going on with the Jokerz lately?”

“Not really, but my gutt feeling is that there is a new person involved somewhere, someone giving the Jokerz directions. It seems they like attention these days, they like being seen. Of course, it may be that they won’t be at the party, but they could be in the area. I will be checking for activity back here to give you new information as I get it. I’m going to run a check on the Jokerz members on record to see if I can get a profile for a possible new leader. If there is someone new directing the Jokerz, it’s going to be someone who’s respected by them, possibly someone with some kind of authority, likely someone who’s worked with them before.”

“Ok, I’ll keep a look out for new faces. I better go. Max will be waiting for me.”

“Just make sure you don’t get it scratched.”

“Huh?”

“The car, you want to borrow it don’t you?”

“Actually, not tonight Bruce. It’s going to be the old Motorcycle, I only hope I can get it started.” Bruce gave him a look, which Terry recognised as the ‘I’ll never figure these kids out’ look. Terry shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s Max’s idea, I love your car!”

“Get going McGinnis.”

Terry parked outside Max’s house and hurried to the front door, his long coat flapping behind him. Max was already at the front door, having heard the motorcycle pull up. She opened the door just as Terry got there. His jaw dropped slightly in surprise at the door being opened so suddenly and then his eyes widened as Max appeared at the door. His eyes took in the outfit that clung to every inch of Max’s body. The black sleeveless top made of a smooth material with a slight shine and tight black trousers of the same material, both accentuated her curves in all the right places and her comfortable heeled shoes gave her a sexy stance as she stood in the doorway. He felt safe hiding behind his dark shades, which prevented his eyes from giving away his attraction to her. Max knew instinctively when a guy was looking at her in that way and dipped her black shades to look at him in a chique, Hollywood style way.

“You like?”

“Um, yeah,you look….”

“Looking good yourself McGinnis. I’m loving this coat on you.” She stepped towards him to pull back his full-length black coat. “The all black look works for you.” She looked at his tight black top, which highlighted his athletic form and then down to his sides and smiled devilishly. Terry became a little nervous at the way she was closely inspecting him and a little hot under the collar. The layers of clothing he was wearing definitely weren’t helping him to cool down. “I see you wore the accessories.” Terry looked down to his sides.

“It’s a good thing these guns don’t look realistic, otherwise we’d probably get arrested at the door.”

“Stop being so uptight Terr, relax.” She tapped his face reassuringly and then put on her belt with the imitation guns in the holsters. She glanced up at him for a second while she adjusted her belt. Terry’s serious expression was making him look even more in character, if not too tense.

“Let’s hope we don’t get mistaken for the bad guys tonight.”

“Terr, I thought I explained this to you, the people in this movie are good. The guy you’re dressed as was supposed to be the chosen one to restore everything back to order.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now. And who are you meant to be?”

“Well, I’m not really anyone, I’m just Max. The outfit is Trinity’s because I like it but the pink hair just screams Max!”

“What was that movie called again?”

“I’ll explain another time. I think we better get going if we’re going to get to this club.” She shut the front door and took Terry’s arm as they walked towards the motorcycle.

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