024. Family - Terry & Matt McGinnis (Batman Beyond)

"Slag."

He said the word softly. It could have meant a thousand things. It was just a generic slang term, a colloquialism used by teens. For him, it meant so many things.
How could you leave me?
Why did you let them do it?
How could you have fallen for THAT?
Or perhaps,
I'm so sorry I failed you.
Please forgive me.
Or maybe even,
Goodbye, Dad. I loved you.

He turned from the stone monument, unable to meet it's eternal gaze. When the arrangements had been made, his family had questioned the design. But he'd always know that there had to be something for the Old Man. Behind him crouched a great marble angel, it's hands cupped. Leaping from it's fingertips was the stone form of a great black Bat.

"Are you okay?" a young voice asked him, and he turned. Sixteen years ago, he'd have slapped the speaker upside the back of the head, and called him 'twip'. Today, he simply did not reply. He stared at his brother for some time, then stepped past him, gesturing for him to follow. Silently, as Brothers, they entered the great house on the hill.

It was old still, a house buried in memory and antiquity. Only the wires were modern; the trim still wood, and the old grandfather clock stood in the parlor, as it had since the first heroes of Gotham walked the halls.

"Terry?" his brother asks, and Terry halts before the clock, remembering how he saw it once. An antique, with a small black bat beating frantically against it's glass face. "Matt. I need you to listen to me." he said solemnly, and looked at his brother. He was thirty two now, and his brother twenty four. A grown man, but to Terry, always his little brother.

"Ter..." Matt began, and Terry shook his head. "Listen!" he said sharply, and the voice was not his own. It was heavier, darker. It was powerful. Matt drew back, surprised, but when Terry moved the hands of the old clock, and the whole structure swung smoothly from the wall, he followed his brother into the darkness.

"What is this place?" he asked, his voice hushed, as though afraid to disturb whatever haunted the great caves. "It's where I live." Terry stated, again in the voice that wasn't Terry. It was someone else. "This is it." Matt said, a small sigh of relief, and Terry looked at him.

"The Secret. Max knows. Dana knows. Mom and I...you never told us. Mom's always worried about you, Ter...but Dana told me once...that you're a good man. That I should be proud of you." Matt stated. "Dana's too good to me." Terry smiled, briefly, and walked into the darkness. Matt hesitated, and the he heard his brother's voice, that dark voice once more.

"Lights."

The room brightened slowly, from the distance, as great lights turned on overhead. A giant robotic dinosaur. A massive penny. A veritable museum of cases, each carefully labelled and dated and sealed. And then a sleek black jet. A sleek black car. A sleek black motorcycle. In the distance, variations on the theme, older models with outdated tech. Behind Terry, a massive computer, with only a single worn leather chair before it. "Schway..." Matt whispered, feeling eight years old again.

"When I was sixteen...Dad was murdered by Derek Powers, for learning something he never should have. I came to Bruce Wayne, demanding he help me set it right." Terry stated, and with a hand, slowly spun the chair around. He sat down, and steepled his hands, looking at his brother.

"He did, in a manner of speaking. I stole the suit, the first time...after that...Gotham needed Batman. Needed him. But he was too old. So he let me do it. After a while...I was Batman. I've been Batman for half my life, Matt...and for half my life, he was here, in this cave. Talking to me, every step of the way. This is his place, Matt...and mine." he said softly, then fell silent, as if struggling with something.

"Terry...why did you show me this?" Matt asked, knowing his brother had to have some reason. It wasn't just that the Old Man was dead now. It was something more. Terry stood.

"Two reasons, Matt." he stated, and stepped away from the chair, waving for his brother to follow. He did, and they stopped before a line of cases, each holding a suit. "This was his family." he stated, and started at one end.

"Dick Grayson...first Robin, then Nightwing. Tim Drake, Robin. Barbara Gordon...the former Commissioner Gordon...was Batgirl." Terry smiled slightly. Now the Commissioner was Maxine Gibson...and she had a very good working relationship with Batman. "And they're my family too." Terry stated, stopping before the original batsuit. Matt stared at it, almost in awe.

"He was really something..." he murmured. Terry nodded. "More than just Batman. Years ago...a woman named Amanda Waller took it upon herself to be certain that Bruce Wayne's legacy did not die with him. She found a likely couple, and under the guise of a flu shot, she rewrote the husband's reproductive DNA to match that of Bruce Wayne. Somewhere... somehow...she wanted Batman to live beyond Bruce Wayne." he stated, and looked at Matt.

"Terry..." he began, and Terry shook his head. "The husband was Warren McGinnis, and the wife was Mary. Mom and Dad. Amanda Waller chose them to be the parents of Batman. She planned to have them assassinated when I was eight...same as Bruce's parents. But the person hired to do the job couldn't do it...and then you came along. TWO sons of Bruce Wayne and Mary McGinnis...Waller walked away. She let us go...and still...I came back." Terry sighed, almost bitter about it. Matt shook his head. "NO." he said flatly.

Terry smiled a little. "Matt...He's just our Biological Father...mom and dad raised us. That'll never change. But this man...was still my Father. He raised me after dad was gone...made me a good man...a doctor...a hero." he said softly. Matt swallowed. "So...what's the other reason? Bruce Wayne was our father...that's one. Why else did you drag me down here, Ter?" Matt demanded angrily.

Terry stepped to the suit beside the Batsuit, a black and blue affair. "I've discovered that I can't do this alone. They're too dangerous to go without a partner these days...and I won't be young forever." Terry stated. He opened the case, and took down the angular black mask. He held it towards his brother. "I need your help, Matt." he said solemnly.

Matt shook his head. "You want me to be your slaggin' sidekick?!" he demanded, and Terry shook his head. "Robin was a Sidekick...Nightwing was a partner. I need a Partner, Matt. And you're the only one I've seen who can do the job. All that training stuff I got you into...I always knew Bruce would be gone one day...and I knew I'd need help. Help I could trust. Family." Terry said firmly. Matt stared at the mask in his brother's hand.

"I can't...I dunno, Terry...this is a lot..." he began, and Terry nodded, putting the mask back. "When you're ready to make up your mind...just let me know. That's all I can ask." he shrugged, and closed the case. Matt backed away.

"I gotta go...Mom's expecting me for dinner." he said numbly, and turned, taking the stairs two at a time to get back into the rambling mansion, replete with the ghosts of the past.