Title: Sono Collegati

Author: Prodigette

Rating: NC-17

Fandom: Batman Beyond

Pairings: Terry/Bruce, other m/m & m/f

Type: Angst, First Time

Archive?: Sure! Just let me know where!

Disclaimer: I only play with them. *g*

Thanks: Souljah, DragonLady, and Lurker

Summary: You choose your own path.

Note: This story was revised for more of a beginning, continuity, etc. This story ties in a lot of the 'Berry' vignettes.

Sono Collegati
by Prodigette

Terry was surprised that he managed to keep his eyes open. It was only two in the afternoon, and he didn't nod off once. He was only running on four hours of sleep and several cans of Red Bull soda that Max snuck him during each class. There were a few bumps and bruises from the earlier battles with the Jokerz, but they didn't seem so bad now.

Terry had seen Dana in his Recent History class an hour before, but she refused to talk to him. The reason was another cancelled date. Terry had tried to spend more time with her, but the responsibilities of his job always got in the way of things. Hopefully she'd talk to him soon.

Terry could hear his English teacher talking, his classmates yawning, and the ticking of the clock that was always fifteen minutes fast. But none of this seemed to bother Terry now. Max gave him a knowing smirk. Her desk was across from his, so he could see anything she did from the
corner of his eye. He could see the mischief in her own eyes, and could only shake his head.

Terry watched Mr. Gordon with a good amount of amusement. Every time the older man spoke, he would pace the floors reading his books as if each one was written by Shakespeare himself. The older man could be very melodramatic at times, but it was entertaining to say the least.

With salt and pepper colored hair and chiselled features, Robert Gordon was a handsome man in his late forties, but he always spoke as if he was sixty. A lot of the female students and teachers seemed to show up each day only to see him.

There were certain rumors about him, but Terry could see the gold band on Mr. Gordon's left hand more than clearly. It was a shame since Terry liked older men. The topic of Mr. Gordon came up several times in Max and Terry's gossip sessions. The first time being when Terry told her about his bisexuality. She didn't seem surprised at all.

"Writer William James once said; 'The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.' Who here can tell me what that means?" Mr. Gordon asked, looking around the classroom. Other students shifted uncomfortably in their seats, and others tried to look invisible.

When dark green eyes focused on him, small bolts of pleasure shot to Terry's groin. He bit his bottom lip to keep from groaning.

"Mr. McGinnis, would you care to tell the class your interpretation of the quote?" Mr. Gordon asked, walking towards his desk.

Terry sat up straight and made an attempt to shrug his shoulders casually. "Sure. Uhm... I think it's saying that you can change and stuff?"

Mr. Gordon sighed. Pulling off his glasses, he rubbed at his eyes. "We're going to have to work on your grammar later. Care to be more specific?"

Terry narrowed his eyes in thought and tilted his head. "Yeah. I guess he's saying that a person can change only if they want to. Is... that right?"

Mr. Gordon gave him a small smile. "That's correct, Mr. McGinnis. Class, that is what life is about; choice. That's what Mr. James was talking about. The only being that can *truly* change your life is you."

Hearing the bell, Mr. Gordon gave another put upon sigh. "Class dismissed. Read pages 105 to 110 of the book tonight since we'll discuss it tomorrow. Mr. McGinnis, may I please speak with you for a moment?"

Terry picked up his backpack and walked forward towards the large desk. "Yeah, sure." Mr. Gordon turned around to erase quotes off of the blackboard, humming a tune to himself. The students were leaving the classroom in droves, except for Max.

'You okay?' She mouthed. Terry nodded, then motioned for her to leave the room before Mr. Gordon would turn around.

"Ms. Gibson," Wide eyed, Max and Terry froze. "I assure you that your friend here is in the best of care." With that, Max meekly left the room. Terry always managed to feel very small under the older man's green gaze.

"I'm pleased to say that you've risen your grade to a C minus. You've also been awake a lot more. Is... there any particular reason why this is?"

Terry shook his head. "Not really," Terry lied, "I've just been working a little harder. I wanna go to GotU sometime."

Mr. Gordon nodded slowly. "Ah, I see. I attended Gotham University back in the early 20's. It's a fine school. Well, let's make a deal here. If you can raise your grade to at least a B minus, I'll write a letter of recommendation for you. Can you handle that?"

Terry smirked and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I can."

Another small smile graced the older man's lips. "Good. Then I shall you see tomorrow." Terry waved him goodbye and walked out of the door with a smile on his face. He was a little confused, but he was also very happy.

--------

Max, by the door, listened in on everything that was said. When footsteps came closer, she ran to hide beside the lockers, where she wouldn't be seen.

"Bwah chicka bwah." Max said from across the hall, smirking when Terry came out of the room.

Terry rolled his eyes. "Max, nothing happened."

"Uh huh. I think he knows that you like him." She said, walking towards him. Max had been speculating that something had to be going on since Mr. Gordon focused his attention more on Terry than his other students. Even more than the A students.

"He doesn't know that I like him because I *don't* like him." Terry added when Max started to smirk again.

"I heard *everything*, Terr. He doesn't just give out recommendations like that. Something's gotta be going on there. Are you doing something with him that I don't know about?"

There was a sigh. "No, Max."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Well, are you taping it?"

Terry snorted. "Not really. He's *married*, Max."

"So? It's never stopped you before. Besides, it could get you a higher grade. Before you know it, you're gonna be playing 'Teacher's Pet' while he has a ruler."

Terry shook his head, his light-blue eyes looking ahead. "Nice image, but it won't happen too soon. Wayne's got me on a tight leash this week. I gotta train again."

Max made a face of horror. "Oh God, he's not doing that thing with the blindfold and the balls again, is he?" Her eyes widened when she realized what she said. Terry just stared at her.

He paused, before speaking. "Max, I swear, you've been hanging around me for *way* too long. The training was a year ago, and I *still* have bruises from those tennis balls"

Max walked with him towards the main door of the school. "Sounds like the old man is a sadist."

Terry sighed. "You have *no* idea."