1. Prologue (1/2)

ok look, i've fallen down the batman beyond hole, and found the appalling lack of matt mcginnis fics. i read this one amazing fanfic on called partners by iitra that has matt as a major character and you should read it too. anyway, hope you enjoy this!

prolouge

it had happened so fast, he didn't know what was going on. one minute he was with his older

other and the next he was swept away by a screaming crowd. he somehow managed to escape, but his big

other wasn't in sight. there was smoke, fire, loud booms, and he thinks he heard some guy yelling about "freedom" and "the man" or something along those lines.

and they finally were able to have some time to hang out at cheesy dan's.

he wouldn't admit he was scared, no, he had to keep on a

ave face. batman was

ave, he wouldn't be scared. neither would terry.

so matt ended up hiding in the bathrooms. didn't know if it was the girl's or the boy's, but it didn't matter at the moment. he had to keep safe. matt had thought he heard terry say that when they got separated, although it could've been someone else's older

other who said that. he wasn't sure.

he couldn't help but feel that this was similar to that time where that strange hunter kidnap him and batman came and rescued him. honestly he probably shouldn't think about that, as it would probably jinxed him, but thankfully no kidnapping happened. batman did rescue him, like last time though. matt was probably the last person in the building when batman came for him; he was being held in batman's arms like last time too.

unlike last time, however, matt had found out the identity of batman.

it was a mistake, honestly, he didn't mean to do it. he just sort of grabbed onto batman's mask when an explosion ripped him from batman's arms. with the mask.

when he saw batman's face, he just couldn't believe it. it was terry, his older

other. his older

other that works all the time. the older

other whom he hardly sees anymore.

batman. terry. one and the same.

so, like a total twip, the first thing that came out of his mouth was "i want to be robin."

he watched as terry's face morphed from shock into something else that he couldn't quite understand. it wasn't blank, but it wasn't quite like anger either. however that was the only thing that he could think of when he saw that face.

with the harsh, deep voice that was associated with batman, terry said one word. "no." he then yanked the mask out of matt's hand, quickly put it on his face, gathered matt into his arms, and left the building in what matt thought had to be the fasted speed he ever went.

it almost felt like he wasn't even in his body as he was carried outside. it was strange. feeling like he was outside of his body, but not seeing it.

however he could still see batman go back to fight a large guy (the name mad stan floated through his mind) with a lot of explosives. he watched as they fought. as batman got hurt, as batman won, and as batman disappeared.

for terry to reappear with a face that any desperately worried older

other would wear.

"matt!" he had yelled out while running towards him. "oh thank god! there you are! are you okay?" he had asked this a little too loudly as he knelt down to check to see if he had any injuries.

from what matt could see, terry got some scratches and what looked like what would be a

uise, but that could be from the stampede of people who ran away. from falling down onto some loose gravel; from the de

is of the ruined building. certainly terry did not got any of it from fighting the villain of the day, no sir. after all, how could terry fight someone like that?

"i-uh, yeah. i'm fine." matt managed to stutter out.

terry pulled matt into a hug, and whispered into matt's ear, "we'll talk about this later."

"i'm sorry." he couldn't help but say.

terry pulled back in shock. his gaze softened and he said, "it's okay. you didn't mean to. let's go home."