Spellbound

It was a bright Tuesday morning as Eliana walked with Dana in the school halls. Many students were conspiring with each other, and Eliana couldn't help but wonder what rumor was going around this time. "What's with all the chatter?" Eliana asked her friend. Dana gave her a shocked look, "You haven't heard?" Eliana shook her head cluelessly.

"It's about Chelsea. Last night, something strange happened. She walked into her house, grabbed an expensive statue, and chucked it into a river. Her dad chewed her out big time," Dana explained.

Eliana knew Chelsea was an attention seeker, but her actions didn't make any sense. "Why though, I mean that doesn't sound like a Chelsea thing to do?" She inquired. Dana shrugged, "Apparently she zoned out on her dad and doesn't even remember doing it."

Okay, now something was definitely wrong. Then appeared Commissioner Gordon appeared along with some officers. Eliana watched as they made their way into the office of the school's psychologist, Dr. Ira Billings.

As the school bell rang and everyone was leaving to go to class, Eliana walked closer to the office. "Hear about Chelsea?" Terry asked, joining her side. Eliana nodded, "Yep, and something's going on."

The duo cracked the door open and listened to the conversation being held. "We wouldn't even look into this mysterious man with the eyeball story, but the girl's father has influence and asked that we check it out. I wanna hear your opinion first, doctor," Barbara stated. 'Man with an eyeball, what on Earth?' Eliana wondered. That was definitely not in the rumors she was told.

Dr. Billings didn't share any concern over the situation, "To be frank, this is Chelsea's pattern. She commits these destructive acts for attention and then claims they aren't her fault. Unfortunately, by humoring her stories, her father encourages her behavior," he dismissed. He wasn't wrong about some things, Chelsea was one to create events in her favor, but this whole ordeal was a little extreme even for her.

The Commissioner sighed and stood up to leave, "So in other words, she made the whole thing up." Dr. Billings nodded in agreement, "That would be my opinion. I'm sorry for wasting your time." Quickly, the duo shut the door and pretend to be going into some lockers.

As Commissioner Gordon was leaving, she gave them a long stern look before leaving. "This seems something worth looking into," Terry commented. Eliana was in full agreement.

Apparently, Bruce did not see the situation investigation worthy as the teens explained their suspicions to him that evening. "I don't buy it, I mean, Chelsea's flaky, but she's not stupid. She's not just gonna make up a guy with a magic eyeball. It's too crazy not to be true," Terry told Bruce. "And it's Gotham, this city is a magnet for crazy," Eliana added.

Bruce, however, still didn't care, "Leave it alone. She's just a troubled kid lashing out at Daddy. There's nothing for you both to get involved with."

"Guess you're the expert on troubled kids. You collect them after all." Terry shot back without thinking. After seeing Bruce and Eliana's death glare, he cowered bashfully. Eliana huffed before making her way to the batcave, with Terry chasing after her and apologizing.

Not long after, there was an alert pertaining to a robber at Gotham's historic arts museum. Batman and Nightwing flew their way to the museum and were surprised to see an older man running with a historical dress on the roof.

The man ran towards a figure dressed in a red spandex suit with black swirls who was waiting on a weird yellow hovercraft. They landed on the roof and now had an up close view of the strange figure. "What the heck are you?" Batman questioned.

The mysterious figure didn't respond but handed the old man a gun. "I'll hold them off for as long as I can, now get out of here!" Mr. Deakins announced. The figure flew away as the heroes were running away from the array of gunfire. They took cover behind a wall before Batman pulled out a batarang and threw it at the gunman. The gun fell out of Deakins' hands, and after a bit of hesitation, he leaped onto Nightwing. They rolled on the ground, trying to pin one another.

"I don't want to hurt you," Nightwing warned. But Deakins paid no attention as his focus was on subduing the enemy. Having no choice, Nightwing used her legs to launch Deakins off her. Deakins crashed into the wall and became disoriented.

"Wh-what's going on?" Deakins asked, distraught. The duo eyed the man suspiciously. "You tell us. Who's your partner in the spooky get up," Batman interrogated. The man shook his head in confusion, "I-I have no idea." And they could tell it was the absolute truth.

~8~

"With this second report of this Spellbinder hypnotizing citizens, the police have reopened the case involving Chelsea Cunningham," the TV reporter broadcasted. Bruce turned off the tv, and Terry sent him a triumphant smile. "Told ya so," Terry gloated.

It wasn't every day Batman was proven wrong.

Bruce hummed sarcastically, "Now suit up and get out there. Find out who this Spellbinder is," he instructed. "Can't now, we have a formal event to attend," Terry informed. Jared, a friend of Terry's, had invited Terry to come to his mom's wedding. Terry had offered Eliana to come as his plus one, which she happily agreed.

Terry pulled out a black dress suit jacket, "I hope you don't mind. I found this in the closet upstairs. Way retro." Terry looked at the initials in the jacket. "Who's D.G?" he asked. Bruce gave him a look and walked away.

"It belonged to my father, Dick Grayson." a voice answered softly. Terry turned his head, and his breath was taken away. Standing there in a long navy blue dress with hair down and curled was Eliana. It took him a moment to register what she'd just told him.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Eliana." Terry stumbled as he started to take off the jacket. Eliana waved her hand, "No, no, wear it please, I insist." He shook his head, "No it's your fathers, I'll just grab something else." Eliana sighed and walked closer to him. She pulled his hands away from the jacket and held them.

"Terry, that thing has been sitting in a closet for decades. It's about time it sees the light of day. It deserves to be worn, and besides, you do it justice," she teased. Terry blushed at the compliment but was still unsure. "Please, Terry, it would mean a lot if you wore it," she silently pleaded. With some more debate, Terry nodded in agreement.

"Now, we have a wedding to get to," Eliana announced, linking her arms with Terry. "You look beautiful by the way, I've never seen your hair down before.....you should wear it like that more often," Terry said. Eliana looked down shyly at the flattery. "Thank you," she said humbly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, will you all please raise your glasses as it is my pleasure to introduce your hosts, Mr.and Mrs. Jim Tate," the announcer toasted. Everyone raised their glasses, and the couple walked down the grand staircase, cameras, and spotlights on them. Everyone cheered in joy, Jared's being the most enthusiastic.

"Here here!" Jared toasted. "I thought you were against this wedding," Terry stated. "I was, until my new step-dad bought me a new car," Jared grinned. They all chuckled. "Those rocks from the grom too? Guy must be loaded!" Terry asked. Mrs. Tate was wearing a very heavy and expensive diamond necklace. It definitely looked like it cost a fortune. "Way to go, mom!" Jared cheered.

Then, all of a sudden, Mrs. Tate pushed her groom away in fear. She then looked at her flowers and threw them as if they were made of spiders. She looked at her surroundings paranoid before screaming and running away. Terry and Eliana watched in concern before running to suit up. There was a good chance Spellbinder was behind Mrs. Tate's strange actions.

And they were right, as the duo was running down a flight of stairs, they saw Spellbinder exit through a window.They made it outside to the alley way before retrieving their suits from their motor

Meanwhile Mrs. Tate managed to get up onto the hotel's balcony and was ready to jump. Batman and Nightwing were flying right to her. "Wayne, you still alive?" Batman inquired. "Very funny," Bruce said, unamused. Batman and Nightwing swooped in and grabbed Mrs. Tate's dress after she jumped. But whatever she was seeing made her claw and ripped her dress ti shreds, trying to escape from their grips.

They turned to see Spellbinder coming straight for them. They couldn't exactly move and ended up being flown into by Spellbinder's hovercraft. Mrs. Tate began falling but managed to grab the edge of a train track. Batman and Nightwing, however, were whipped into some buildings. Mrs. Tate recovered and ran along the train tracks, ripping off her expensive jewelry.

To make matters worse, a train was heading straight for her, and even though the breaks were pulled, she would still be run over. While Batman dealt with Spellbinder, Nightwing flew towards Jared's mother. She flew her out just in the nick of time.

Mrs. Tate just continued to scream and hit Nightwing to get away from her. Nightwing eventually delivered Mrs. Tate to worried Jared and Mr. Tate before flying off after Batman and Spellbinder. "Switch on your vid-links," Bruce instructed. They both did as Batman landed on the hovercraft. Nightwing was trailing behind and watched how Batman and Spellbinder fought. Spellbinder held his palm in front of Batman, and there was a flash of light.

Then, almost robotically, Batman stood up and dove off the craft. Nightwing watched in disbelief, and Batman continued to fall in a diving formation. "BATMAN!" Nightwing yelled as she dove down. She knocked into him, and they crashed into a bus stop. Their suits were ripped up and ruined as they panted from adrenalin. "Are you okay?" Nightwing asked. Batman nodded in exhaustion, and even the mask couldn't hide Terry's terrified expression.

Both Terry and Eliana groaned in discomfort as they treated their wounds. They had some bruises and cuts and minor concussions, but would live to survive another day. "The vid-link captured that flash of light just before your little vacation, so I took a closer look," Bruce said.

They all watched the footage as Spellbinder's hypnotizing eyeball put Terry into a trance. Then, it showed a tropical place with a waterfall. "Somehow, this information was fed directly into your brain. Where it then played back before your eyes," Bruce explained. "I swear I could smell the water," Terry said, stunned. "With such advanced technology and his knowledge of the human psyche, this mad man should be considered very deadly," Bruce warned.

After all, the brain is the most powerful yet dangerous weapon.

~8~

The next day after school, Terry was called to Mr.Billings office. He wasn't sure why the doctor wanted to see him, but he went reluctantly. Terry knocked on the door and opened it, "You wanted to see me?" He leaned against the frame with his arms crossed. "Mr. Mcginnis came in," Billings greeted.

But Terry just stood there, not saying a word. "No big deal, I know the past few months have been hard with your father passing and you moving back in with your mom. I wanted to see how you were doing," he said kindly.

At the topic of his life, or more so his grief, Terry immediately shut him down. "Uh huh, alright, that's it?" He turned to leave. Mr. Billings walked towards him, "I don't bite Terry, have a seat," he persuaded. Terry eventually caved in and walked into the office. "I hear you're working for a billionaire that must be exciting........tell me all about it,"

Later the night, Eliana and Bruce were down in the batcave, looking over some files. They were in the middle of going over the victims of Spellbinder when there was an alert for an intruder. Bruce readied his cane, and Eliana grabbed some batarangs just in case. They walked out of the grandfather clock and were stunned at what they saw.

There, collecting all of Bruce's expensive items off the shelves and stuffing them a bag was Terry with a big, hungry smile.

"Terry!" Eliana cried out in shock. But the boy paid her no attention as he continued to stuff his bag. Bruce used his cane to tug at a trophy Terry was holding. "Terry snap out of it!" Bruce yelled. They were in a tug of war until Terry's strength managed to send Bruce falling to the ground. As Terry ran to collect more items, Bruce launched his cane in the air. The cane landed right in front of Terry, causing the boy to trip.

Finally getting out of her frozen state, Eliana decided it was time for her to get involved.

In order for Terry to snap out of whatever trance he was stuck in....he'd need a big blow to knock him to his senses. "Terry, if you can hear me, I'm sorry," Eliana called out. She ran at Terry, jumped, and did a tornadoe kick to the teens head. That seemed to do the trick, and Terry fell to the ground dazed before blinking profusely. "Telling tales in school, were we?" Bruce teased.

It turns out that Terry had been in a trance where he was on a shopping spree trying to collect food in time before the timer ran out. "All I remember is going on my way here and then nothing," Terry remarked. "I've done some digging and found out that all Spellbinder's victims had one thing in common, Dr Ira Billings," Bruce presented. "Both Chelsea and Jared were seeing them," Terry connected. "And so was Carrie Deakins, the auction manager's son," Eliana added.

It was all starting to come together. "So Billings found out which families had access to valuables by speaking with the kids at school," Terry recounted. Eliana nodded, "And your session with him provided him another heist." Terry froze and looked at the both of them, "Then that means he'd be -"

Bruce pushed a button, and the front gate camera was shown. There on his hovercraft was Spellbinder waiting for Terry. "Here, waiting for you," Bruce finished. "Well, he'll be in for quite a surprise," Eliana joked as she ran to suit up. "Well, I do hate to disappoint," Terry smiled before also suiting up.

Spellbinder was beginning to become impatient, waiting for his errand boy. There was a thud behind him, and he turned to see Batman posing with arms crossed. "Expecting to see someone?" He quipped. Spellbinder moved his hovercraft and flung Batman off. What he didn't account for was Nightwing flying right behind him, as she stuck a short circuiting batarang on the vehicle.

The hovercraft started to smoke and go haywire, causing Spellbinder to be thrown to the ground. He could only watch as his means of transportation crashed into flames farther away. The duo began to race after Spellbinder as he fled into the woods. They stopped in a clearing and looked over their surroundings. "It's over Billings. We know who you are," Nightwing shouted. There was an echoey chuckle, "I'm glad that makes you feel superior, but you haven't caught me yet."

"I don't get you doctor, you're supposed to be helping kids. How could you take advantage of them?" Batman sneered. They saw a clip of Spellbinder, but then he disappeared once more. "Ha, you wanna be my therapist now.....get to know me," he eerily. They looked up in the direction of his voice but were blinded by a bright light. The heroes cried out and clutched their masked eyes. "What's happening?" Bruce asked.

They looked around paranoid, but nothing was happening. "Nothing he got us but we seemed to be fine," Nightwing reported. "Put on your vid-links so I can see," Bruce ordered. They did so and continued to look around. "We're okay. Everything looks normal," Batman said calmly.

But everything wasn't normal because soon after he said that a hand burst out of the ground. Then, a zombie pulled itself out of the ground. It looked like they were in a horror movie as several more zombies crawled out of the ground and surrounded them.

Nightwing cried out in alarm as one zombie grabbed her leg. She quickly kicked the monster away. Back in the batcave, Bruce watched incredulously as the duo just punched and kicked air, "Terry, Eliana, what's going on?!"

They continued to defend themselves from the bloodthirsty zombies desperately. "For years, I fought the demons off the heads of those ungrateful little snots. For their codling parents, pat their garbage men more than me. Now I'm taking what I've earned," Spellbinder revealed. The duo became overwhelmed as more zombies piled on them. Their hearts were beating fast from fear.

"Terry, Eliana, listen to my voice. Whatever you both are seeing, it isn't real," Bruce said, trying to snap them out of the illusion. They tried listening to their mentor's voice but were knocked to the ground by Spellbinder, who unbeknownst to them had hit them with a tree branch. "That felt pretty real to me," Nightwing groaned. They were completely drained of energy. They weren't sure how long they could keep fighting for.

As more hits were planted on them, it wasn't looking good. "I need you both to look around so I can help," Bruce advised. They looked around as much as they could. While they saw zombies, Bruce saw what was actually being presented. "Block now," Bruce shouted, as Spellbinder was about to hit them once more with a branch.

They did as instructed, and Nightwing swept her feet under Spellbinder. Bruce tried to warn them once more, but he was too late. Spellbinder threw a boulder at the duo's head. Their mask visions became staticky before returning to normal. "Report! Mcginnis, Eliana report!" The duo shook their heads before recovering. "We're alright. The visions are gone," Nightwing said thankfully. "We're going after him," Batman growled in anger.

They ran farther into the woods, trying to track down Billings. "Signals are breaking up, I'm looking for another frequency," Brcue informed. They ran until they found Spellbinder at an edge of a cliff with his arms raised. "We found him," Batman exclaimed joyfully. They scurried towards him, but just before they could touch him, Bruce yelled at them to stop. They did just in time as Spellbinder was just a hologram.

A snap behind them alerted Spellbinder's presence. They ducked, and Spellbinder fell over the edge. His hypnotizing technology was damaged as he clawed the rocks to prevent falling. Batman used one hand to grab Spellbinder's hand before using the other to rip off his mask to reveal a guilty Ira Billings.

"Then Batman and Nightwing tied Dr. Billings up and disappeared," Terry innocently explained to Commissioner Barbara Gordon. "And your Mr. Wayne's new assistant?" Barbara pointed a finger at Terry. "Your father was Warren Mcginnis?" She asked after seeing his nod.

Terry nodded and looked down sadly at the mention of his father, and Eliana rested a hand on his shoulder for comfort. Barbara looked between him and Bruce. "Stay out of trouble, kid," she advised before walking away.

Eliana could sense a big talk between her, Terry, and the commissioner in the future.

~8~

Later that same night, Terry was in his room catching up on some homework when his mom peeked in the door. "Terry, sweetie, there's someone here to see you," Mary informed. Terry raised an eyebrow in question before Eliana walked into the room carrying a bag. He immediately took notice that her hair was down in its wavy long way. "Hey, what brings you by?" Terry smiled. Eliana smiled back, "I came here to drop off a present for you."

Now that made Terry more attentive, what could she have possibly given him? She handed him the bag and gestured for him to open it. He did so and gasped. He held up her fathers jacket, the same jacket he wore the other night to the wedding, in surprise. "Wha-wh-" Terry stumbled. "I brought this to you because........I want you to have it," Eliana revealed.

Terry stood up so quickly blood rushed to his head. "No way I can't keep this, Eliana, this is your dad's jacket," Terry stated. "I'm well aware of that, Terry," she rolled her eyes. "That's exactly my point. Wouldn't you want to keep this in memory of him?" Terry just couldn't understand her motives.

Eliana sighed and sat on his bed. "Terry, I have many momentos of my parents already. That jacket had been sitting in a closet for decades. Seeing you wearing it made me realize that something as important as that shouldn't be collecting dust in a stuffy closet for many more years. Like I told you before, it deserves to be worn and who better person to entrust it with than you," Eliana said earnestly.

She then looked at him panicky, "If you don't want it, you don't have to keep it. I don't want to force you into anything." Terry set the jacket down and grabbed her hands. "It's not that...it's just..... are you sure?" He asked softly. Eliana squeezed his hand, "I'm more than sure. All that I ask is that you take good care of it."

Knowing its history and importance, Terry didn't hesitate in promising to do so. "And don't even think about repaying me in any way cause you don't have to, and I'll kill you if you do," she added menacingly. There was a beat of silence followed by laughter.

After they calmed down, Terry gave Eliana a bone crushing hug, much to her shock. "Thank you," he told her so quietly she almost didn't hear him. She hugged back, feeling warm in his arms before they pulled back. "Well, I better get back to the old man. Lord knows if I don't drag him off the batcomputer, he'd stay there all night," Eliana quipped as she stood up. Terry chuckled at the snide remark.

Then she did something that made his breath hitch. Before she turned to leave, Eliana planted a kiss on Terry's cheek.

He watched her leave his room with a big, fat, lovey smile on his face.

It was at that moment he knew.....he was in love with Eliana Grayson.

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