Back In Time

1155 Hours

Location unknown

Year 2051

"McGinnis!" the all too familiar harsh, gravelly voice sounded over Batman's comm.-link. "Answer me this instant!"

"All right!" Terry McGinnis, the teenager who now donned the suit of the Bat exclaimed. "Just because I was a little late in reporting doesn't mean you have to make me go deaf, Wayne. I have been Batman for over a year already. I know how to take care of myself."

"Location and statistics," Bruce Wayne, the owner of the harsh voice demanded. "I've told you time and time again to report every two hours. What if you get hurt and I do not know where you are? I don't want to have to tell your mother about it."

"Sheesh, I'm sorry, okay?" Batman took a deep breath. "I just stopped two bank robberies, put out a fire, and stopped a gang fight. I'm now following this guy whom I saw stole one whole lot of metal parts. I don't know for what."

"Location?" Bruce repeated.

"I don't know," Batman answered. "I'm in the van. Can't see. Tell you later."

"McGi – Batman cut off the connection to the Batcave, and to Bruce.

"Sometimes, Wayne, you behave like an old woman," he groused. "Oh no, van's stopping." Batman activated the camouflage device that Wayne had invented, and blended with the van's walls.

The doors opened and a wave of bright light flooded the interior of the cargo hold. Four huge, burly men started unloading the metal parts, oblivious to Batman's presence. When they finished, the vigilant crept out, and took in his surroundings.

"This is not in Gotham," he muttered as he realized he was in a natural cave so large it was as tall as a nine-story building and bigger than a football field. "Outskirts probably. In the forest."

Another close inspection showed a power generator and a made-shift lab. A man in black leotard was already assembling the metal parts that were stolen. Unnoticed, Batman glided over to hang onto a stalactite and observed what the criminal was doing.

The parts that were stolen fitted together perfectly like a hand into a glove, making Batman wonder how they knew what to steal. I can find that out later, he thought, right now I'll see what they're doing.

"Boss, you sure this thing's gonna work?" a bald man asked nervously. "What if it blows up or something like that?"

The man the baldy called 'Boss' stopped his work for a moment and address his helpers. "Yes, Will, I know it will work. After all, who's the scientist here?"

"Well, if you say so, Boss." Will shrugged.

"Now, I'll have all of you to watch this thing while I'm gone. The portal has to be left open for me to return," the Boss reminded.

"Eh, what are you going to do again, Boss?" Another thug asked.

He shook his head in defeat. "You really have to get your memory checked, Ruddy. I'm going back in time to kill the Batman. Figures the Batman now is his kid. So if I kill his Dad, there's no more kid. Understand?"

Ruddy rubbed his head. "Uh, I guess so, Boss. Yeah."

Kill Batman? Terry's mind screamed. That means Wayne! Without him, I wouldn't have been Batman. But that's not the point. The point is he's going to kill Wayne! A growing sense of panic threatened to overwhelm Terry. He couldn't imagine ever living without Bruce, so close the two had become.

No, I will never let Bruce come to harm, he vowed. I'm going with that guy and stopping him.

Turning his attention back to the Boss, as Batman had come to think of the scientist, he noticed that the guy placed a green crystal in the already assembled parts and hooked a cable up to the power generator.

"Remember, keep this thing going," the Boss repeated as he threw a switch and a rip in space-time began between two metal rods. "Wish me success, my boys." He stepped into the rip.

Batman glided into the rip just as the Boss's men chorused, "Success."

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0015 Hours

Gotham City

Year 2000

It seemed like an eternity before Batman was dumped unceremoniously onto the roof of a building. He shook his head, trying to clear the ache in his head. He didn't know what happened during his trip here, for his senses were sort of frozen in time and his brain was not working.

"Okay, Boss, where are you?" Terry tapped the side of his cowl to activate the magnifier in his eyepieces. A quick search revealed no one nearby. "Oh no, now I have to search for a thug and keep him from killing Batman at the same time."

Terry crossed the roof and stood at the edge. "Well, might as well start the search and get back before Wayne goes ballistic on me." After a brief thought, he corrected himself, "Yeah, right. Like he isn't going to strip me of the mantle after me cutting him off like that."

"Robin, I'll take down Joker. You stop his men. Do it fast, and no showing off, understand?"

"Okay," the eighteen year old concurred. He watched his mentor's strong, intimidating form crouched at the edge of the roof of the warehouse at Gotham Harbor, and felt a sense of fear go through him.

He remembered how the second Robin, a.k.a. Jason Todd, had died at the hands of Joker's evil. Stop it, Tim, Robin scolded himself. In this job, there is no place for fear. He performed a simple mental exercise Batman had taught him to keep his mind empty.

"Now, Robin," Batman growled. "I'm timing your progress. Let's go."

They jumped down to confront the Clown Price of Crime.

_____________________________________________________________

"Okay, I thought I saw him," Terry mused. He landed on the rooftop of what was obviously a warehouse, and retracted his wing gliders. "No boats here. He couldn't have gotten away."

A few seconds later, Terry spotted the Boss entering the warehouse he was situated on. "So there you are." He jumped down lightly and followed the scientist in, then stopped short in shock and surprise.

There, in front of him, looked like a scene right out of the myths he had heard. A man who was obviously Batman was in a standoff with whom he seemed to recall was called the Joker. Off to one side, Robin battled six armed men.

That must be Tim, Terry mused. Let me say hello. He ran forward and punched a man who had turned to fight him, forgetting for the moment he had to deal with the Boss first.

"Goodnight." Terry quipped as he broke another man's nose. He turned and saw that Robin had the situation under control and was tying up the Joker's men. Batman had also handcuffed the Joker himself and was dragging him along when he joined Robin.

"Who are you?" Terry was so awed by the Batman that for a moment, he didn't hear the question. He was fascinated by the mysterious and dark force that radiated from the vigilant.

"Who are you?" Batman demanded again. "Answer me before I lose my patience."

"B-Batman," Terry stammered. He had gotten his control of his brain back. "Yeah, I know you're Batman. Why don't we hand these crooks over to the cops first and go somewhere where I can tell you everything?"

Batman nodded, accepting Terry's proposal. They waited until the GCPD arrived, then left silently. Terry followed the duo to the top of what he recognized as the Gotham City Library.

Batman looked around to make sure no one was around, then faced Terry. "All right, now talk."

"I know you're Bruce Wayne, and Robin," Terry nodded towards the teenager, "is Timothy Drake."

The Dark Knight gave no sign of shock or surprise, although Robin did gasp. Moving close to Terry, he grabbed him and hoisted him up to eye level with him without any visible effort.

"Tell me who told you that." Batman's voice was a controlled menace, like a caged animal waiting to be released. "You have five seconds."

Robin placed his gloved hand on Batman's arm. "Hurting him won't get us any answers. Let him down first."

Batman released Terry and took a step back, crossing his arms over his chest. His calm demeanor gave no indication of the panic he was feeling inside. How did he know our identity? Damn! Will Alfred be in danger? Will Dick and Barbara be all right?

"I am Terry McGinnis, from Gotham in the year 2051. You," he nodded at Batman, "are an eighty year old man suffering from a weak heart. I found out your secret and persuaded you to let me become Batman as your heart couldn't take the strain this suit," he pulled the fabric of his suit a little, "caused."

Robin's eyes grew wide. "That won't happen!"

"It will." Terry sighed. "Tonight, I chased a man who came back to kill you. So if there's no more Bruce Wayne, there's no more Batman. And Gotham now and in the future will be overrun by crime."

"Don't kid me, McGinnis." Batman narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Should I believe him? Will I really become like that?

"Hey, you see a young Batman, don't you? If you want proof, I can show you your cave. I can even tell you what happened between you and Dick Grayson, and even quote some of your speeches."

Batman almost smiled. I make speeches? Well, maybe the kid is right. It never hurts to be prepared for any eventualities, even though taking the trouble to time travel to kill me seems a bit farfetched.

"Prove you know me in the future," Batman said.

"All right, you asked for it." Terry thought hard about what the old Bruce Wayne he knew always said. "Always prepare for any eventualities. You give me your best, then you give me more, and I make the rules. That enough?"

"This is unbelievable!" Robin exclaimed, grinning.

"All right, so let's say I believe you. Who is this man trying to kill me?" Batman demanded.

At that, Terry blushed behind his mask. "Uh, well, you see. I was following these guys that were stealing metal parts. They assembled it in a cave. I was kinda far, and it was dark, so I didn't really see his face."

Batman shook his head. "I can't believe I'm going to let you take the mantle. Didn't I teach you to identify crooks?"

"Well, you did. But I didn't listen. Anyway, let's just do something about this guy trying to kill you, okay?"

"Follow us to the cave. You have your ways of traveling, I presume."

"Sure!" Terry stood at the edge of the roof and spread his gliders just as a small wind started blowing in his direction. "I just hope we'll stop this guy. I won't let you die, Wayne. You mean too much to me," he whispered and jumped off.

Batman and Robin followed suit and entered the Batmobile; Batman giving no indication he had heard Terry's whispered words carried to him by the wind.

_____________________________________________________________________________

0100 Hours

Batcave

Year 2000

"So you're saying you followed the man to the warehouse. He was preparing to kill me when you showed up," Batman repeated what Terry said.

"Uh-huh. I totally forgot about him when I helped Tim." He squirmed under the Dark Knight's stare. "Sheesh, I'm sorry! I've only been in this business for over a year!"

Batman crossed the cave to the high-powered CRAY Batcomputer. "All right, so now we have to draw him out. This is going to take some careful planning."

"I hate it when he says that," Tim muttered under his breath.

_____________________________________________________________________________

0100 Hours

Batcave

Year 2050

Bruce was slumped in the chair in front of the Batcomputer, resting, when he had a weird feeling. His thoughts were involuntarily drawn to the year when he was about thirty years old. It seemed there was something familiar in that memory to his present life with the McGinnis kid.

McGinnis! That's right! Bruce sat up straight in the console chair. How can I have memories of him fifty years ago when I only met him last year?

That made Bruce realized that the only way for him to have memories of Terry was that Terry had went back into the past. "I'm going to kill you when you get back, kid."

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0230

Crime Alley, Gotham Alley

Year 2000

Batman had gotten the help of Jim Gordon and some of the uncorrupted police officers of the GCPD to help him in his plans. Renee Montoya, Harvey Bullock and a few other officers posed as crooks in the condemned building. Batman had entered and was overpowered somehow, and was now tied up to a metal pipe running horizontally over his head.

Robin and Terry were in another building just across the road; Robin keeping a lookout for the Boss in the streets outside, Terry making sure no one came into the building they occupied.

After an hour and a half of waiting, the man Terry called Boss sneaked down the road leading to the building Batman and the GCPD were in.

"Hey Terry, he's here. Let's get ready," Robin whispered.

"Got it." Terry and Robin made their way to the skylight of their targeted building, looking in. Hiding in the shadows of some crates was the assassin.

He rolled some gas capsules out. Soon after, Gordon and his men were unconscious. So was Batman, the Boss presumed. He walked to the bounded Dark Knight and put a gun to the vigilante's head. "Sayonara, Batman. From this day on, Batman will be no more!" he declared to no one.

But just before he could pull the trigger, the breaking of glass surprised him. He looked up as glass pieces rained down, followed by two forms in suits. Something black whirled over his head and severed the rope that bound Batman.

Fully expecting the Dark Knight to slump to the ground as he was unconscious, the Boss turned his attention to the two figures that disrupted his plan. "Now what do we have here?" he smirked.

"You mean who," Robin corrected, grinning. "I'm Robin, and he," he indicated Terry, "is Batman."

"You must surely jest," the Boss chortled. "There cannot be two Batmen in this time, unless-

"-Unless I am the Batman from the Future," Terry finished for him. "It's over. I found out your plan to come back to this time to kill the Batman. I will never let it happen."

The Boss steadied his gun at the two young vigilantes. "Say goodnight, kiddos. I can't say it hasn't been fun, but I want to get this over and done with."

Robin grinned even more widely; Terry even giggling. "What's so funny?" the Boss demanded.

Even as he spoke the question, a huge shadow loomed over him, its head and pointed ears overshadowing his own shadow. Trembling, the Boss turned, to see the Batman glowering down at him. The fear in him was evident as he slowly crumpled to the floor.

Robin and Terry relaxed, assuming that the Boss was too scared to do anything. But to their surprise, he got up and made a wild dash for the exit.

They were reaching into their utility belts when a bola whirled past them and twirled itself around the man's legs. His momentum caused him to fall forward, hard, and knock his head against the ground, and brought him to dreamland.

At that moment, the GCPD got up and dusted themselves, smiling. "Good work, Batman, and you, Robin," Gordon said. He turned to Terry. "So, you're the future Batman eh, son? Good luck working for your 'Dad.'"

Batman gave Gordon a glare, at which the old man just grinned at his old friend. Before he went, however, Terry stopped him. "Commissioner Gordon, could you please tell Barbara to send some of her men to the Clock Tower? I will hand this man and his crooks to her."

Jim Gordon stared at Terry. "My Barbara is going to be commissioner?"

Terry nodded. "Yes sir, she is. And a good one at that."

Jim chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "All right, son. Her men will be waiting, I hope."

____________________________________________________________________________

0430 Hours

Gotham State University

Year 2000

"Well, the portal's still open. I have to go now, or Wayne will really go off on me like a hundred atomic bomb," Terry joked, then realized his mistake. "Oops."

"Thank you, McGinnis. Without your help, this man may have really killed me and Gotham will be overrun by crime. I owe you one," Batman said.

"I'll try to get my future self to visit the future Bruce sometime soon," Robin promised.

"Thanks. Ok, see you guys in the future!"

As Terry stepped into the portal, Batman whispered, "Thank you, son."

____________________________________________________________________________

0500

Batcave

Year 2051

"Okay, Wayne, I'm terribly sorry I went off for the whole night without informing you. I know you're going to strip me of the mantle, but I'm not going to give it up so easily," Terry said as he entered the cave.

"McGinnis!" Bruce's voice boomed from everywhere. "I need to talk to you."

Terry approached the Batcomputer. "Uh-huh?"

Bruce swiveled around in the chair, pretending to be furious. "I have a right to explode at you. You flowed this man somewhere, went back into time, and caused me so much worry!" At Terry's horrified look, his face softened into a smile. "Thanks Terry."

"Huh?"

"I know I haven't been exactly an easy person to work for, but that night over fifty yeas ago, when you stood at the edge of the library roof, I heard what you said, every word of it. I want to thank you for what you did, for even taking the trouble for saving the life of an old coot."

Terry smiled at Bruce's choice of words. "Yeah, old coot," he echoed, then grew serious. "I love you, Wayne. Thanks for being the 'bestest' Dad anyone could have!"