saga/title/fandom: Identity chapter 5 (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 5 Masquerade

Terry climbed onto the motorcycle, waiting for Max to climb on behind him. Max paused for a few minutes as she took at look at Terry on the motorcycle.

“In good shape isn’t it?” Terry smiled proudly of how well the motorcycle had cleaned up.

“Sure Is.” Max could see the motorcycle was in good condition but couldn’t help thinking about how great Terry looked on it.

“Jump on.” Max’s eyes lit up as she readily accepted Terry’s invitation. Max hugged Terry tightly round the waist as Terry sped along the roads, getting a thrill from feeling the wind rushing at her. He laughed at Max’s little shrieks of excitement as they went round bends. He’d forgotten how much he used to enjoy solitary rides before being Batman had become such a huge part of his life. Using Bruce’s car was one of the perks of the job but the motorcycle held a lot of memories for Terry. He turned his head slightly to look back for a second at Max who had wrapped herself around Terry as close as possible, leaning her face against his back with her eyes closed to savour the combination of the fast speed and the close contact with Terry. It felt right to have Max that close to him. He sighed as he wrestled with the notion of telling her how he felt.

As they pulled up outside the night club, they stared in amazement at the club’s exterior. Its appearance looked slicker than the average nightclub that permitted people who were under twenty-one years of age. Max was already imagining what inside the club looked like as she read the name of the club, which had been projected onto the front wall in special green lighting that changed colour occasionally.

“The Web…yeah this is the place.” Max looked over at Terry who was also admiring the club.

“You know Max, I can’t remember the last time I went to a club, but I’m sure the last one I went to didn’t look like this!”

“Yeah, I know…it’s pretty schway…I don’t know Tina that well but I’m glad I got an invitation!”

“The club seems schway, but I’m not too sure about the people inside.”

“Don’t worry McGinnis, I’ll protect you,” Max said, before winking at Terry.

The club was buzzing with Hill High students and some other guests. The lighting inside the room changed colours and created designs across the walls and the dance floor in time to the music blearing out of the speakers.

“Ooh Terry, I don’t know about you but I feel like dancing…”

“In a bit Max, let me have a quick look around first.”

“Oh right, I forgot…business…”

“But that doesn’t mean you need to miss out on my account.”

“But Terry…”

“No buts Max, I’ll meet you on the dance floor in a few minutes, promise.”

“Hmm, well ok, but I’ll be timing you, if you’re not back in 20 minutes, I’m coming to look for you.”

“Deal. Now go impress everyone with those moves!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Max made her way to the dance floor, where she had soon created her own little spot. He watched her dance for a while, almost hypnotised by the way her body was moving in perfect rhythm to the music. Ok McGinnis, snap out of it, got some work to do first.

Terry turned on his earpiece to talk to Bruce.

“Bruce, I’m here, just about to scope out the area.” A girl that was checking out Terry stopped smiling, thinking Terry was talking to himself. Terry turned to see the girl in the spliced effect outfit give him a weird look before walking off to catch the next good-looking guy. He moved into a quieter corner.

“Ok Terry, I’ve found out that there have been a few reformed Jokerz out of juvi in the past few months. There is no clear evidence that any of them have returned to their former lifestyles but it may be that whoever it is, is keeping a low profile.”

“I’m checking the premises for any suspicious behaviour, so far just the normal partying thing happening.”

“It’s early yet. Just keep you eyes and ears open.” Terry switched off his earpiece and started to walk back to Max.

He walked around wondering who were hiding underneath the masks and costumes. He hid behind a guy dressed in black when he caught sight of Blade with Nelson, expecting Dana to appear any minute.

“Nelson, can you go get me a drink?” Blade was positioned in a statuesque pose in a short pink dress with a matching feather bower and knee high boots, her hair glamorously styled.

“Ok Blade. I’ll be back!” Nelson kissed her before walking off in his rehearsed android manner.

“Nelson! If you say that one more time you’re leaving this party alone!” Blade pulled a disgusted face then shooed him away to get her drink.

Terry watched, trying to guess who Blade was supposed to be but finding Nelson’s take on cult icon of the 1980s/90s, The Terminator, quite humorous as he was doing a bad voice imitation and clearly lacked the intelligence to play the part, although Terry had to admit he had the bulky physique right. Terry realised the guy he was hiding behind had now turned to face him and was glaring at him.

“What you doing behind by back twip?”

“I was just wondering where you got your costume from?” Terry had to stop himself from laughing when it clicked who the guy was dressed as.

The guy looked smug. “Yeah, well I think I look much better than that Batboy in this outfit, I fill it out, the chicks love it.”

“Right…anyway, gotta go, someone’s waiting for me.” What planet is he on! Terry laughed loud when he was out of sight, not believing that the guy had thought he’d looked good in that poor excuse for a Batman suit replica.

He meandered through the crowd on the dance floor, looking for Max. He smiled as he found her but became irritated on seeing Trent leaning in close to talk to Max above the music. Trent soon sensed Terry being there. Terry looked at Trent’s costume, quite a close copy of the outfit worn by Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars Episode 2 movie. He’d even gone so far as to give himself the hair braid extension and of course a light sabre, which was also closely copied.

“Nice costume,” Terry said as he approached Max and Trent.

“Thanks Terry, I see you and Max are matching tonight.”

“Yeah, Max’s idea. I trust her with that kind of stuff.”

Max looked at him, remembering his doubts about her choice of costume. “Why thank you Terry!”

Terry smiled weakly. Trent could sense the awkwardness and took that as his cue to leave.

“Anyway, gotta be going guys, got some friends waiting for me.”

“Bye Trent.” Max waved but Terry just nodded in acknowledgement of him leaving.

“Terr, you didn’t have to be so cold!”

“I wasn’t, I just don’t know him that well. Did you see that costume? Are his family rich or something? Anything from those old movies and at that kind of quality costs hundreds of creds or something!”

“I know, he got his costume late too…I don’t know how he managed to get a schway costume like that.”

“You think he looks schway?”

“The costume does, sure.”

Terry felt a little jealous but knew that he was overreacting. Another song with a sensual feel to it came on as Terry and Max were standing in silence.

“So McGinnis are you going to dance with me?”

“In a bit Max, let’s get some drinks first.”

They went to get some sodas and found a table. Terry slumped onto the sofa chair and Max sat beside him.

“Is something up Terr?” Max sipped her soda, focusing her attention on him.

“Nothing. Things seem ok, no sign of troublemakers yet.”

“I meant with you.”

“Oh…yeah, I’m fine, why do you ask?”

“You’ve been acting a little strange… ” She removed her shades and placed them on the table in front of her.

“I’m ok Max, I guess I used to enjoy parties more, but when you’re tired…”

“We haven’t been here that long, it can’t be that you’re tired…come on, drink up, I’m going to get you on that dance floor. Trent won’t be there this time, not that I see why you have a problem with him…but it will just be me ok?”

“I don’t have a problem with him. Give me a few minutes and then I’ll dance with you, ok Miss Gibson?”

“Ok, that’s good McGinnis, but you’re gonna have to give me a few minutes, I have to go to the Ladies room. When I get back you better be ready to show me what you got.”

“Sure.” He flashed her a confident smile, which she returned before heading off into the sea of people.

Max, I’m tired, tired of not being able to say how I feel. There’s so much going on right now. If I can just get to the bottom of this stupid Jokerz thing then maybe I will have time to clear my head. What would Bruce say about me having feelings for Max? He’d probably say she’s a distraction. Still, he never stopped me dating –

“Dana!” Terry sat up in shock, almost knocking over his drink.

“Hey Terry.” Dana was dressed in a figure hugging black dress, just below her knees and black high-heeled shoes. Her hair was tied up neatly in a very sophisticated way and the peals around her neck plus the black evening gloves gave her a certain elegance. Terry was dazed by the vision. Dana then saw Terry look oddly at the black stick she was holding in her hand with the cigarette in it.

“It’s an old-fashioned cigarette holder.”

“Oh….right.”

“Just for show of course…Chelsea came up with the idea for the costume, she said retro is the in thing at the moment. She thought it would be cool to come as people from big fashion moments in cinema. I’m some girl from some movie, um…can’t remember the name, something to do with Tiffany’s and she’s come as that ancient sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe.”

Dana did look gorgeous, but it was a temporary lapse of stepping out of reality. Dana had dumped him. Dana was the girl who hung around with people like Chelsea and Blade. Dana was a nice girl, maybe she just hung out with the wrong crowd.

“You look good.”

“Thanks Terry. I like your costume. The computer guy right?”

“You know who I’m dressed as?”

“Sure, Max rented the movie on a girl’s night in once. Max being really into computers and all, wanted to watch it. She said the sequels weren’t so good though…”

“Makes sense. She was the one who got me to wear this. I didn’t really want to come.”

“Oh really… ” Dana looked down. She was always aware of how close Terry and Max were, it seemed that since the break up, they’d been together even more than before. Chelsea and Blade had been insistent that she spent more time with them, taking her into their fold. They’d always talked about Dana’s potential to be real A list material. Max was never keen on being around them so naturally this caused a gap between Dana and Max, plus Max had known Terry longer.

“Been working overtime, gets me tired… ” Terry’s sentence trailed off. For a moment, there was that feeling of déjà vu as they both remembered the times when Terry had said he was too tired to go out or he’d have to work extra hours.

“Terry, I know things ended badly, I was really angry. I hope someday we can be friends but right now things are just…too weird.”

“I understand.”

Max was making her way back to Terry through the crowd, being shoved here and there by all the dancing people in their costumes. When she finally found a clear opening in the crowd, she took her opportunity to squeeze through. She could see Terry in the near distance with a pretty girl talking to him. She stopped and watched as the girl bent down slightly to kiss Terry on the lips, not passionately but clearly with feeling. It was enough to send Max into overload. Max stood still. By now the people were closing the gap in the crowd and bumping into her as they were dancing away. She let them shove her from side to side as she remained frozen. The girl turned and walked away. Max then realised the girl was Dana.

“How could he resist her when she was looking like that. Maxine, you’re such a fool. I thought it was over with him and Dana…I don’t understand. He wasn’t exactly fighting her off. Damn it McGinnis, why did you make me fall for you. Ok Max…deep breath…you’ve seen Dana and Terry do that kind of stuff before, nothing out of the ordinary…everything is just fine. Why isn’t this working? Oh man, I gotta get outta here before my head explodes!”

She turned and shoved her way through the crowd to get out as quickly as she could.

Chelsea had dragged Dana to the other end of the room to lecture her.

“What were you doing Dane?”

“I was talking to Terry, Chels.”

“You really need to work on this whole being broken up thing. You can do better than Terry.”

“I don’t know…”

As Max got nearer to the exit, she saw Dana there with Chelsea. Now what am I gonna do? Before Max could find an alternative route, Dana had made eye contact with Max. Dana looked at Max, dressed to match Terry. She smiled sadly. Max knew she couldn’t get around the situation without seeming like she was ignoring Dana. Part of her didn’t want to be rude to Dana as technically they were still friends.

“Hey Max.”

Max took a few seconds to reply. “Hey. You look really nice.”

“Thanks, Chelsea’s idea.” Chelsea smiled, as the spotlight was now on her. She faked bashfulness as all eyes were on her floaty white halter neck dress.

“You look great too Chelsea. Listen I’m actually feeling really ill, can’t stay… ” Max had done as much as she could of polite small talk.

“You ok Max?” Dana’s face showed genuine concern.

“No…Dana, will you tell Terry I had to go home? I feel too sick to stick around.”

“Sure Max.” Max swiftly left. Chelsea tapped Dana on the shoulder to get her attention.

“Now where were we…Dana, this whole Terry thing…”

“You know what you’re right, I don’t know if me and Terry could have worked.”

“I saw you Dane, what was the kiss about?”

“It was a kiss goodbye Chels.” Dana couldn’t hide the regret in her voice, but she had to admit to herself that her relationship with Terry was now history.

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