So while I had this chapter in my Docs for years, I just couldn't figure out how to end it. There was just something about it that felt off you know? But I couldn't really think of anything else, so I finally decided to just, add a little bit more and call it a chapter.
Now, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be posted, mainly because I hadn't even started it. I have ideas on how I want this to go, but some of the plot points are making me rethink some stuff wondering if some of the characters would be too ooc in order for said plot points to happen. And while I really wanna go straight to point C, I need to make it to point B. The journey to Point A to Point B and then to Point C is making me scratch my head a bit because well. It has been a few years since I worked on this.
But sometimes that's the beauty of fanfiction. You just go where the story takes you.
Anyways I hope you enjoy this short chapter! Thanks for staying this long!
Edit: I forgot Damian's vegetarian not vegan. Fuck.
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When Terry was eating his lunch, he didn't comment on which dining room they went to, or even the little bits and pieces that were wrong with it. If Jason's claims were true, then Terry wouldn't be surprised if the youngest and his dog damaged some of the things in the manor and they didn't want to rat the kid out. Honestly, he would rather be told about that so he could start getting things replaced.
Getting the main kitchen remodeled so many times got him savvy with the old phone. And actually talking in a formal manner to get a group of people to remodel the ruined kitchen. Now that he thought about it, the company probably knows him by name at that point.
That wasn't the point. The point was Terry knew what the kitchens were like. What the dining rooms were like. And the fact he was herded into the one he was currently eating wasn't suspicious at all.
Note the sarcasm there.
But he had to give the old man kudos for the meal. It was quite delicious. Terry never really had a vegetarian diet, but as it turned out the youngest brother did. The meal was purely vegan though. When asked if Terry was okay with what the man had in mind for the meal, Terry said he was okay with trying it.
He was honestly a bit surprised by how good the tofu was. There was one time he had it, and that was when he and Dana went to a Japanese restaurant. She ordered miso soup and offered him one of the tofu cubes in the soup. It didn't taste the greatest. But the way the older man made it? Terry might have second thoughts on the food. However there was something about it that was familiar...
"So how do you like Alfred's meal?" Superman fan asked.
Mentally filing the name away for the old man, Terry answered. "It's really good. What's the recipe if you don't mind me asking."
"Teriyaki tofu fried rice, with sesame seeds and an herbal blend I have created." Alfred answered as he set down a fresh container of iced water. "As for the vegetables I put in peas, carrots, leaks, and bell peppers."
The teen nodded at this. "Honestly this is probably the best tofu I've had. Where did you get it?"
"Actually, I made it."
Blue eyes blew wide. "You made it? Oh wow."
With a smile, Alfred nodded. "Yes. I'll admit it took a while, but I managed to find just the right consistency that everyone came to like."
"Alfred," the sweatshirt teen spoke up, "pretty sure never making tofu for a good majority of your life gives you some leeway."
Jason shrugged. "I was just impressed by how good he made it on his first try. I remember trying to make tofu once and it was a disaster."
The smallest snorted. "Not surprising since it's you."
Jason faced the boy, probably making a face, and said, "and you can do any better."
"Of course I can." He scoffed.
"Come on guys, can we just have a nice lunch?" Superman fan asked.
"No." The sister smirked as she popped a piece of carrot into her mouth.
"You know that that's never going to happen." Hoodie kid shook his head. Wait since when did he get soda?
Terry wants soda.
He's also slightly less positive that they were planning on lacing any of his food or drink. This is not related to his desire for soda.
Sitting back to continue eating his lunch, Terry watched the group interact. They all acted like a big family. They loved to tease each other, joke around, and it was clear that they really loved each other. He was still a bit unsure if Alfred was their grandpa since they used his name and not the actual title of grandpa. Maybe a good family friend?
Wow okay the youngest really likes to threaten with weapons.
"You know," Terry spoke up, "since you're all guests here, I highly suggest you don't break anything or you know. Scratch anything. I also would like to not have to deal with blood getting everywhere because someone decided to actually go through with their threats."
They all stopped for a brief moment. Probably because they forgot where they were. Maybe for just a minute they thought they were back home. Terry supposed that if they were serious about protecting him, then this would be considered unprofessional. He would give them some leeway because for one thing at least two of the five of the siblings were underage. Which honestly? Why bring them in?
But what does Terry know, he has only been Batman since he was sixteen.
The moment came and went as they went to apologize. And everything became... tense.
They still haven't told Terry shit about Bruce. So Terry's pissed about that. Unfortunately he's trying to play the long game so he'll just have to tamper down his anger.
And the youngest looks very glum...
Chewing on a slice of bell pepper Terry began to think.
Both him and Bruce spent their childhoods watching The Gray Ghost. Bruce watched them when they originally aired; Terry got the chance to use the old VHS tapes and the player. And if Terry remembered correctly, not only did Bruce have some of the tapes, but some of the merch.
"What are you thinking about?" Superman fan asked, bringing Terry out of his thoughts.
That also reminded him. "That other than Alfred and Jason, I don't know your names." Terry stated with a bland tone of voice.
He smirked when Superman fan's face heated up. It grew when the man facepalmed. Jason laughed.
"I'm Tim." Sweatshirt hoodie teen said.
"Cass." The sister nodded.
"Damian." The boy's tone was short and clipped.
Finally the hand was released from the man's face as he said, "my name's Richard, but I liked to be called Dick."
Wow okay that was unexpected. Without his permission an eyebrow rose.
The man, Dick, blushed. "Look, my parents thought it was a nice tradition and it feels weird if someone calls me Rick. "
Terry nodded in acceptance. "Well, Rick does sound like the name of a... real Richard."
Terry smirked as snickers filled the table.
Slowly the chatter died down and it was quiet. Terry once again glanced at the youngest. He almost looked like a kid at a party their parents forced them to join.
Turning to the boy, Damian, he asked, "have you ever seen The Gray Ghost?"
The boy slowly shook his head. "I have not."
On one hand, not that surprising. On the other hand, Terry gasped dramatically. "You never saw The Gray Ghost?" He asked, putting a hand on his chest as if wounded. "This is a travesty that we must mend!"
It was honestly hilarious to see how Damian's face screwed up as if he was annoyed but didn't want to show it. With a nice dosage of trying to be tolerant. It honestly looked like Matt when they had to meet their Great Aunt Philis.
Oh god he was going to be Great Aunt Philis. This was going to be great.
Letting his grin grow, Terry said, "okay so after lunch we're going to go watch The Grey Ghost. I'm pretty sure there's at least one tape with some episodes on it."
Mirth filled him as Damian's face screwed up further.
"That is... unnecessary." Damian politely declined.
"Oh no I insist!" Terry pushed. "After all, The Grey Ghost is amazing! He's a hero that fights crime with his detective skills. Of course there's times where he has to fight with his fists, but he mainly saves the day by using his head."
It was fun to see how the boy's resolve was crumbling like Matt's when encountered with Aunt Philis.
"... fine." He pouted.
Terry absolutely laughed in victory. "It won't be bad. Trust me." He grinned.
"I can grab it for you if you like."
The sharp sound of a wooden chair scraping against wooden floors made the teen snap his head over to a figure. A figure that shot straight up, hand raised and shouted, "I'll get it!" As if a young child in school.
Bewildered, Terry just stared at Dick. "Do you even know where it is?" He asked.
"Ah, er, it can't be hard to find?"
As it turns out, it took two hours.
Two. Hours.
And Terry was locked up in the big living room. The. Whole. Time.
On the bright side he was able to lounge and read a good chunk of the uncut Les Misérables Jason had chucked at him.
So when a breathless Dick ran in, yelling "I GOT IT!" on the top of his lungs, Terry looked up from his spot in the book.
The man had a bit of sweat worked up, and if the sweat and heavy breathing didn't indicate his run over, the slightly flushed face really tied it together. Dick looked so accomplished, bright determined smile stretching wide, and in his hand was lovingly worn vhs.
Terry raised a single eyebrow, unimpressed.
"'Not that hard to find' at all huh?" He mocked.
The flush grew darker as Dick's smile dampened. Well, a second later the smile came back in full force. "Well I got it!" He chirped.
With a determination of a child wanting to make things perfect for their parent, Dick not so subtly ran to the vhs. As he was getting everything together, the rest of his siblings came in with more vhs tapes. Honestly it looked like they went and grabbed the whole series.
Sitting up from his lying position, Terry moved to allow more room on the couch. It would be good to show trust after all. For wasn't it trusting to let strangers sit next to you on a couch?
Meh, it was Gotham. You never really trust any strangers who magically appear in your boss's home and claim to be new employees. With their kid brother and pet dog.
A pale hand pat at the couch seat. Blue eyes staring straight at green eyes. An inviting smile. A disgruntled scowl.
A stand off.
Damian was the first to break, scoffing. Terry showed his pleasure in winning by letting his smile grow a bit. The kid huffed as he gracefully plopped down onto the couch cushions.
How the hell someone could gracefully plop down Terry would never know. Especially a kid.
Turning from the kid, Terry watched as the others got comfortable. Dick pressed play and the tape started.
They waited a bit and...
Terry quickly grew confused.
The Toho signature fades onto the screen in black and white.
"Uh," Terry tilted his head, "The Grey Ghost was made by an American studio? Not a Japanese one?" He said as the thundering pounding that was meant to represent footsteps came from the speakers.
Quickly they were shown that it was a Transworld release and it was the Americanized Godzilla: King of the Monsters while Godzilla's roar was heard.
It was quite as Raymond Burr began his narration as the sprawling devastation of a destroyed Tokyo reminiscent of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
"Not... that I don't mind watching Godzilla, but I thought we were going to watch The Grey Ghost?" Terry said, taking his eyes away from the screen to see Dick covering his face in embarrassment.
"Honestly I would prefer to watch the original Gojira and not the American version." Jason stroked his nonexistent beard. He looked like he was enjoying this blunder. "But I'm pretty sure we don't have that on vhs, let alone one with English subtitles."
For a moment Terry filed the usage of "we" from Jason.
"Well we can still watch this?" Terry said, trying to make things better for the older man. "I mean, isn't it cool to watch the movie that got Raymond Burr the opportunity to get out of his villain typecasting."
He got blank looks.
"... Raymond Burr? Canadian-American actor? He used to get a ton of villain roles before shooting his parts for the American edit in three days! Or well, it was said he did it in one day, or even six days. To be honest I don't remember."
"You know a lot about this guy huh?" Tim said with this... weird look on his face.
Terry gave him an equally weird look. "I did a project for school about the original Godzilla movie and the American version of it. Now that I think about it I think I traumatized a bunch of kids."
Now that he thinks about it, didn't Bruce have a similar experience when he was a kid?
But to be honestly fair the history of how Godzilla was created was pretty horrifying and Terry definitely cried.
God does America fucking suck.
So they all continued to watch the movie as Terry ran commentary of the movie. Like trying to remember which scene was made with special effect miniatures, which scenes were footage from the Japanese military drills, fun horrifying facts about near death experiences, and how the monster's roar was created. And as the movie ended, he lamented that the Americans cut out Dr. Yamame's speech about the horrors of nuclear weapons.
Everyone in the room was quiet.
"Well. That was pretty good for an American cut don't you think?" Dick hesitantly asked.
"Oh totally, especially since it was cut in like, 1956 I think." Terry reassured him. He paused for a second and then said, "I think that's also the same year Toho made the second Godzilla movie but don't quote me on that."
"I'm going to quote you on that." Jason smirked.
Don't grimace don't grimace don't- ah hell Terry grimaced.
Stretching, the eighteen year old stood up.
Welp. That was fun. He turned to Damian to flash a small smile, saying, "I'm sure the vhs tape with the first episodes of The Gray Ghost is around here somewhere. I'm telling you, it really is a good show."
It was kinda cute, seeing how Damian was scowling. Like a small kitten. But green eyes flickered to Terry's face then back to the tv screen. The scowl turned into something more reminiscent of a pout. "I will take your word for it."
Terry's smile grew.
He then turned back to the group. As he stared at them he tried to think.
According to Jason the commish tasked them with watching over him. It would make sense for them to do it here at the manor with Mr. Wayne's permission, as his mom's house definitely couldn't fit them all. They would be more likely to take turns. That would probably make it less secure as there would be an opening when they trade off shifts. Not to mention the manor had better security than his home.
But was Terry really going to be cooped up here this whole time? His mom was probably sitting beside herself with worry over the fact that Terry hadn't been able to talk to her yet. Who knows what was going through Matt's head. And god Dana.
Terry frowned to himself at the thought of her. She had asked for him to stay safe. She had her worries about the gala because she was right. Gotham did have a history of Galas Gone Wrong. Honestly Terry probably should've just kicked that damn gun out of the Spaceman's hand.
And yet... it was some sort of portal gun. It had done something to Terry, so who knows what would've happened had he kicked it.
And Bruce... Bruce looked so afraid. He thinks the last time Bruce looked afraid was...
A hand settled onto his shoulder. This time Terry automatically grabbed the person's wrist. His mind was too occupied by so many thoughts he didn't stop his body from reacting.
It was Dick. Again. There was that look in his eyes. One that Terry couldn't place.
"Hey," the man said, "I didn't mean to startle you. You just looked a little lost in your thoughts there."
Deep breath McGinnis. Deep breath.
Slowly he let his grip go. "Sorry about that." He apologized.
He... wasn't exactly sure what else to say.
Dick smiled. "It's alright."
Even though Dick said that, Terry had a feeling that it wasn't. This whole situation felt very wrong. For a moment he wondered if he shouldn't be playing the long game like he had planned.
Terry was always a bit impatient.