The phone rang and Terry groaned in annoyance. He checked the clock and saw that it was six pm, so he's slept for just over five hours. Felt like less. He picked up the phone, and closed his eyes again. "Hello?"

"Tell me again how I let you talk me into this."

"Mattie?" He yawned. "What's your problem?"

"You for one, bum. For two, I let you talk me into going to business school."

"And you're graduating at the top of your class. So problem?"

"You'd get it if you knew what a real job was like."

Terry rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up. "So I'm supposed to feel bad my fiance is loaded? Psh. Not everyone gets chances like you're about to get Matt. You are going to run one of the biggest companies in the world, and you're barely twenty-one."

Waller had told Terry he had Bruce's heart, but not his 'magnificent' brain. Matt it seemed, had that. The twerp had skipped a total of three different grades over the years, breezing through courses Terry had struggled with even before taking his night job. When Bruce realized how well Mattie could manage those sorts of things, he'd offered to prep Wayne Enterprises and hand it over to Matt.

"Exactly! I'm not going to know what I'm doing. No one will think I know what I'm doing. My entire life has been decided!"

"It's a job Matt, and an opportunity. You don't have to do it."

"I would have to be crazy not to do it!"

He groaned. "Matt. Just breathe for a sec. You're freaking out, and I get it. This won't be easy to step into. But you will. You can handle it better than you think. And, well, I might even be able to convince Mr. Wayne to let you pick his brain."

"Really? Cause that might help."

"I'll talk to him."

"Soon."

"Yes Twerp, soon. He'll probably go for it. After all the Powers crap Mr. Wayne does want to be sure the next Wayne Enterprises President will meet his standards."

"Okay. Ter?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. You're okay, even for a jobless bum."

"Shut up." Terry hung up the phone and got up. He really should have gotten up earlier, he was supposed to make dinner and Dana would be home soon. He stuck with the basics. Whole wheat pasta and a farmer's market tomato sauce(Because god forbid they eat something with preservatives) full of mushroom chunks.

He heard Dana come in as he drained the pasta. "Hey. How was work?"

"Annoying." She peeked at their dinner and smiled. "Lucky for me some red wine will go great with that. Want one?"

"Can't. High alert stuff goin' on. I have to get an early start tonight."

"I'm off tomorrow. We can share some when you come back in the morning."

"Wine with breakfast?"

"... We'll make mimosas. And I'll make crepes..."

"It's a date." He smiled and kissed her. "But sleep in till I wake you. In case the night runs long."

"I can do that."

He left for the manor by 7:30 and let himself in. He used to ring the bell, but about eight years ago Bruce decided he didn't need to be bothered answering the door every night. It still felt weird to have the key to this place.

He made a B-line for the study and was surprised when he didn't find Bruce. He was always waiting in the study. Still, Terry was early. So he checked the kitchen, the dining hall, Bruce's bedroom and even the bathrooms.

"Bruce, where are you?" He called out in the house as he went. Nothing. Damnit. He might have gone downstairs. He's not supposed to do that alone. "Bruce!"

Then he saw a door open.

"Right here." Bruce stood in the doorway. "Time got away from me..."

"What are you doing in there?" He walked up to Bruce, and couldn't help but look inside. Terry had gone into this room once, and borrowed a suit. He learned later that the D.G. the tux belonged to was Dick Grayson. He still thought it was weird a grown man had his initials on his tag.

"Remembering. Go on. You should see if Kent managed to learn anything."

"Right. You sure you're okay? I can ask him from here, they might not need me right away."

A long stare was Bruce's only answer.

"Right. I'll go. I don't know how long you were remembering, but probably too long. You should eat. Sleep for once too."

"If Kent doesn't need you right away, you should read the computer's files on the Anti-Life Equation. You'll need to know all you can to deal with Darkseid and Luthor."

"I will. Come on Bruce. I'll heat up the soup for you. It'll only take a few minutes." He started walking Bruce to the elevator.

"Don't bother. I can still feed myself."

"I know. You just seem to be having a bad day Bruce... Did Diana say something to mess with you?"

"I told her about Tim, she wanted to know why I left the League. I'm just dwelling on it."

"Then... why were you in Dick's room?"

"It was shortly after that Dick and I stopped talking. I said things to him I regret, and we haven't spoken since then." Bruce didn't look up as he spoke, and he always did. Bruce just was not the kind of person to stare at his feet as he walked, he always looked forward. Terry could just feel the shame radiating off the man, and it was kind of freaking him out.

Bruce had admitted to quite a few very intense decisions that were arguably very immoral, with really no regret. Bruce was okay with most of his bad choices because no matter what happened, he knew he had done the best he could with the information he had. He realized he truly hated seeing Bruce like this.

"Because he refuses to... or because you do?"

"Some of both I imagine." The elevator took them down, and Terry walked Bruce to the kitchen despite the older man's continued he had seemed to give up, because he sat at the small table while Terry grabbed the soup from the fridge. "Neither of us were very good with talking things out..."

"Doesn't mean you shouldn't. You felt better after Tim came here to talk, right? After all the Joker stuff was over."

"... Tim told me he forgave me. It helped."

"So you should try to do the same with Dick... tell him you're sorry. Give him the opportunity to forgive you too."

"I'll consider it."

"Uh-Huh." Terry put the soup down and got Bruce a glass of water.

"Just go."

"Alright. I'll check in if I run late." With that he left for the cave.

A/N: That took longer than I expected. I had to pick up extra hours at work this week and it kept me busy.