Dragonweyr Station

The Matron of Gadly House turned away from the windows as the Waynes pulled away. With a relieved sigh the woman sunk into her desk chair with gratitude. Terry had been hard to place. Years had gone into getting that boy with the ones who could train him and protect him. The Phantasm had bribed, killed, stolen, and blackmailed dozens of people to place Terry with Bruce.

The miniature copy was so much like her love that it had destroyed her mission. Beyond was everything they could have had. He was half hers... and half his. New technology had given her ways to give him skills he shouldn't have.

Andrea Beaumont mourned the loss of so many children even at this one success. But Terry was personal. Waller had needed a maternal donor with positive connections to Bruce. The Beyond experiment was modled after one created by the League of Shadows with a few tailored differences.

The host family was hired to give Terry a few home comforts and to test his resolve. Project Rebirth had somehow muddied the waters of the Batman primed replacement. Waller had given her carte blanche with Terry the second the damage was revealed. Their scrambling had left Terry alive, but his trust was severely impaired. His grudge against Batman and the Waynes was an ill kept secret. Everything would have to be resolved by the Batman in the end.

She just hoped they'd understand Terry's mindset once the whole Robin issue came up. Her boy... he was no bird like the ones before him.

Wayne Manor was hardly the bright, glittery, and guady place he'd pictured it as. The mansion was both impressive and humble at the same time. It was almost as if the house had taken on the personalities of its long time owners....

No. It wasn't that. There was something else about Wayne Manor that was almost recognizable. A feeling like he had come... home.

That was just too eerie though.

Terry dismissed the thoughts and tightened his grip on the bag as he followed the Waynes into the house. Damian followed them in and secured the doors before powering on the lights. The entry hall was impressive in ts pale cream walls and almost homely grandeur.

It made absolutely no sense to the twelve year old.

The preconceptions he'd developed had absolutely no place within this building.

"Something wrong?" Bruce asked.

"I want answers." Terry drawled, shoulders stiffening as he gave the men pointed looks. "Real answers that actually make sense. You're not the kind of people who just adopt a kid without a reason."

Damian gave Bruce a shrug.

"You're right." Damian stated, "However, you were not adopted as you seem to think."

Bruce was just about to speak up when Damian halted him with a single gesture.

"We have the same biological father, however due to Father's advanced age I have been named your primary guardian." he continued on, ignoring Terry's paling features. "You were adopted by the McGinnis' without Father's knowledge or consent. If we had known sooner, the problems you have faced would never have occurred. You're biological mother and adopted family wanted nothing to do with you."

Terry's heart sank, his lips thinned and then Damian nailed in the final words.

"You are a Wayne and you belong with us."

Something vicious twisted in his gut at those words. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as everything he knew was ripped apart and savagely altered.

His natural instincts screamed that Damian Wayne was lying. Rational thought pre-empted action and dismissed the notion.

His breathing was too stable. His body didn't tremble. Yet...

Bruce grabbed for his coat and hung it over the child's shoulders as Terry was carefully guided to a chair. The boy reacted much as Bruce would've to an unexpected shock when he wore the cowl.

Damian remained far from apologetic. The former assassin had demolished just the first set of lies. There was so much more to unravel before they could consider Terry's future in their world.

Yet, how was he going to explain this to his father?

Bruce had not known about Terry, nor had Dick.

There was no Alfred to comfort the knowledge that Damian had delivered to them all. A fast blow across the back of his head brought him out of his thoughts. A dark glare from his 'mentor' forced him to wince slightly.

"That is NOT how you tell someone news like 'that'." Dick said sternly. "Geeze and that reaction of his... Damian, I really hope you know what you are doing."

'So do I.' the former assassin thought. "I'll do whatever I can for him, however I will not allow Terry to remain embroiled in lies and illusions."

'It would be so much worse if I did.' he conceeded internally. "He needs to trust that we will not lie to him."

"That you won't hesitate to rip away everything he knows?"

"Yes." Damian answered.

"Why?"

"Terry needs the truth. He is so like Father that anything less then this will never make it past his own convictions."

(tbc)