Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 18:13:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Adventures of a Real Dark Knight 29 Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!! Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox. Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros. X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. Star Trek and all related characters created by Gene Roddenberry. Copyright Paramount Studios. I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered. In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life, you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!! I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks. jmsotc@yahoo.com Chapter 29 Spending Time with NSYNC The next morning we awoke with the doorbell ringing. "Are you expecting anyone?" I asked Lance. "No. I wonder who it could be." "Stay here. I'll check it out." I pulled on my bathroom and went downstairs. I checked the peephole and to my astonishment waiting on the other side of the door was JC, Chris, Joey and Justin. Joey was holding a large white box, of what, I did not know at the time. Wiping my eyes, I opened the door. "Good morning, guys. What can I do for you?" "Did we wake you up?" Chris asked. "Um, yeah. But that's okay. What's up?" "Well, now that you are and hopefully Lance is," JC yelled the last part, "we can spend some time visiting." "Come in," I invited. "Have a seat. I'll go up and tell Lance you are here." I trudged up the stairs and walked over to the bed. I sat down and Lance leaned over, grabbing at my robe. "Take that off and cuddle with me. I could use some more cuddling." "As nice as that would be, I don't think the guys would feel right sitting downstairs waiting for us." "What?" Lance asked. "The four singers in your band are downstairs waiting to visit with us. Imagine that." "Imagine that," Lance repeated. "I guess we better get up and get dressed." "We could go downstairs naked if you want. But they haven't seen me naked before." "Correction, Justin did." "Yeah...and he ended up going straight not too long after that, remember?" "Oh stop it. You're gorgeous without clothes on." "Thanks...but I think you are biased in that you love me." "If I didn't love you, I would still think you are gorgeous naked." "You are also gay. Most gay men think that if someone has a penis they are gorgeous." "I don't know if the gay community is all that now." "Believe me, they are," I replied standing up. I walked over to the dresser and dressed. "Is everything okay?" Lance asked. "You seem a bit upset about something." "I don't know. I guess it's because of so much going on. We have so much opposition at times...the gay community, I mean. And at times I really would like to just give up. The gay community as a whole does not seem to be worried about the stereotypes that the heterosexual community has about them. In fact, they go out of their way to make the stereotypes true." "Where in the hell did this come from?" Lance said coming up behind me and giving me a hug. "Last night everything was wonderful. What happened?" "I had a dream," I said. "So?" "My dreams are very real, and tend to have some basis in fact. It's not so much predicting the future, but taking a truth and making it personal." "What was your dream about?" "We have guests, Lance. I'll tell you later." "Are you sure? I could send the guys away for a while if you want." "No, that's okay. They want to spend some time together. That's what we'll do." "Okay." I finished dressing and went downstairs as Lance dressed. I walked into the kitchen to find the guys hanging out and the white box opened to find an assortment of pastries. "Yum! Doughnuts! Keep this up and I may have to marry all of you!" The guys started laughing. "Seriously, though. Why in the world do you want to spend time hanging out with me?" "Are you kidding, Eric?" Chris said. "You helped us a while ago. We were getting to know you and we liked you." "We still like you," Joey replied. "And we want to keep that friendship alive." "Riiiight," I answered. "Anyways...do you guys want something to drink? We have juice, milk, and I could make some tea." "Tea? In Florida? What are you thinking?" JC sarcastically said. "Iced tea, goofball. Although, a cup of hot tea and a cream stick does sound delicious." "I thought you liked cream sticks anyway," JC said. "I do." Then, it dawned on me that he wasn't referring to the pastry cream stick. "Shut up, JC!" I feigned with anger. The guys busted up laughing again. Lance entered the kitchen. "Hey, guys," he replied. "Well look who finally woke up," Justin said. "Not a rough night last night, was it?" "Actually it was very restful and comfortable," Lance said winking at me. I smiled at him. "What would you like to drink, Love?" I asked him. "Orange juice." I got everyone's drinks. "Let's go out on the patio." I put the drinks on a tray and Joey grabbed the box of doughnuts. We went out onto the patio and everyone found a spot. Lance sat down and had me sit on his lap, as there were no more chairs to sit on. "You really need to get more chairs," Justin said. "I don't know," I replied. "This is awfully comfortable." "It sure is," Lance replied. Everyone kind of smiled. "So what has been going on with you guys?" I asked. Everyone shared things going on. Everyone, that is, except Justin. He managed to get up and go to the bathroom, as it was getting closer to his turn. Being a psychologist, as well as my new mutant outlet of my mutation, being able to sense other's feelings by blending my molecules with theirs, I could tell something was wrong. The only way to find out if something is wrong is to ask. So I did. "Things have been kind of strained with Justin and Britney lately," JC said. "Really? Like what?" I asked. "They just haven't been getting along. They've tried to work things out, but it doesn't look good." "Is Justin dealing okay? Or does he want someone to talk to?" "I don't know," Joey replied. "He has been shutting us out." "It's like he doesn't want to deal," Chris added. "I'll go talk to him." I stood up and went into the house. I stood in the living room waiting for Justin. The toilet flushed, the sink water ran, and the bathroom door opened up. Justin walked out and descended the stairs. Watching him I remembered what it was I fell in love with. But I also remembered it didn't work out...Justin isn't gay. He was under the control of a vampire's spell. "Hi, Justin," I said. "Hey." "Can we talk for a few minutes?" "Sure, Eric." I sat down on one end of the couch and he sat on the other end. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked. "Justin, the guys told me about what has been going on with Britney. Are you okay?" "Yeah, I guess." I looked at him and relaxed. I felt my molecules blending with him, just the fraction of my molecules stretching out, nothing noticeable. I felt the hurt and pain he was going through. Something was obviously wrong. He was not okay. The sadness was a bit sadder than just a break up. Part of him was hurting. No matter what I did, part of me would always care for Justin. Part of me still loved him. And I couldn't bear to see him so sad. "No, you're not," I replied. "You're right." Tears welled up in his eyes. He started sobbing and I leaned over, placing my hand on his shoulder and rubbed it. "It's okay, Justin. Let it out." Justin started crying and leaned over to me. I took him into my arms and held him. His whole body shook and shuddered. Whatever happened, this was hurting his heart. "It will be okay, Justin. It will be okay." Outside, JC looks over at Lance. "What is it that Eric was going to tell me the other day?" "I'll let him share it with all of you, when he's ready to." "Do you know?" "Yes." "And what was that shit going on at the awards thing?" Joey asked. "Who was that guy? And why was he trying to kill you guys?" "That's part of what he is going to tell you. Just be patient, please?" I opened the sliding door and Justin and I exited. "Are you okay?" JC asked Justin. "Yeah. I will be." Justin took a seat. JC looked over at me. "What's your big secret that you wanted to tell us?" "They were asking," Lance added. "It's okay." I moved over to Lance's legs and sat on the cement between them. "They should know, especially after the awards ceremony." I took a deep breath, feeling the nervousness and butterflies that I felt when I came out to my family, the same nervousness that came from speaking to a group of strangers about a sensitive subject. "At the awards ceremony the man who attacked Lance and I, his name is the Penguin. And he was hired to kill us." "What?" JC responded. "Bull!" Chris added. "Why would anyone want to kill you?" Joey asked. "The only thing I can think of would be the teen center. But no one knew more about it until that night. And if it's because you are gay, well...that's just plain wrong." "No. The Penguin didn't try to kill us because of our sexual orientation. "For a long time now, actually since I moved to Los Angeles, I had been busy doing late night excursions aside from my job as a psychologist." "What do these excursions entail?" Justin asked. "You remember what happened with Turic. And all of you remember the Huntress. I had been working with her, training with her and patrolling with her slaying vampires and stopping dangerous crimes before anyone could get hurt." "But why haven't we seen you in the papers?" JC asked. "You haven't seen me in the papers because nobody knew it was me doing the things I had been doing. I had been doing them...as Batman." The group remained silent. "I had been Batman for a long time. I had been fighting crime, hunting vampires and keeping a watch on you. Do you remember the night with Catwoman?" Joey nodded. "That was me." "You mean..." Justin said. "I was Batman the whole time we were dating? Yes. I was and still am Batman." The guys looked at me incredulously. "I don't believe it!" they all said in unison. "Okay. Wait here." I went upstairs and changed into my suit. I walked downstairs and out onto the patio. Everyone's eyes widened and jaws dropped, everyone but Lance, since he already knew. I went back upstairs, changed into my normal clothes and returned to the group. "Why are you telling us this?" Justin asked. "And why now?" "After what happened at the awards ceremony, I knew that you guys needed to know the whole situation so you would be on guard. At first I thought that you knowing would put you in danger. But after what happened, all of you were put in danger and you didn't know what was going on. Had you been aware of what I am, you guys might have been on your guard a bit more, and ultimately you would have been safer as you would have been prepared for the possibility of someone trying to hurt one of you. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier. I probably should have." "It's okay," JC said. "You were looking out for everyone's best interests. You didn't mean any harm." "Are we still friends?" "Of course we are!" Chris replied. "Why wouldn't we be?" "Yeah! It's cool to have a superhero for a friend!" Joey added. "And I'll bet it's neat to be dating a superhero," Justin replied, although it was a bit more quiet, like something was bothering him about that fact. "Yeah," Lance replied. "And in case you guys forgot, I used to date Jessica, you remember? The Huntress? The vampire slayer?" "Yeah, yeah," the guys replied. "Have you guys heard from her?" JC asked. "If I remember, you two both were in contact with her." JC was referring to Lance and I. I didn't have the heart to tell them that she believed I was guilty of murder. I don't think they realized the whole implications of them knowing I was Batman. "So what would you guys like to do?" I asked, changing the subject. "Enough with the serious stuff. We should be enjoying ourselves. Do you guys want to swim?" "Nah," they replied. "Let's go out and just do stuff!" Lance replied. We all agreed and went out. We went to the movies and enjoyed an early afternoon matinee. Then we went to lunch and afterwards several rounds of miniature golf. Lance was very affectionate with me in public. I was surprised, pleasantly so. He would hold my hand, kiss me, touch me, and show some kind of affection towards me. We had a great time. That evening we returned to Lance's house and we had a barbecue. After we ate, the guys left. I took the dishes in and loaded the dishwasher. Lance cleaned up outside and I went out to help him. "I can take care of everything," he said. "No, I can help." "Did you enjoy yourself today?" "Yeah. I always enjoy myself when I'm with you." "Awww." Lance tossed some of the napkins in the trashcan. "How about with the other guys? Did you enjoy your time with them?" "Yeah. They are great. You are lucky to have friends that stick close by you." "They are your friends, too." "Yeah. I know. It's just that...nevermind." "What? What were you going to say?" "No, just forget it." "Eric, tell me. What were you going to say? We can't keep secrets from each other." "It's just that...Jessica and I aren't close any more." "Okay. What's the problem with that? She lives on the other side of the country. Friendships lose their intenseness and closeness with time and separation." "But our friendship ended just before Thanksgiving." "What do you mean? Did something happen?" "Yeah." I turned and walked over to the edge of the pool. I stuck my hands in my pockets and my eyes watered up. Lance came up to me and put his arms around me. "Tell me," he whispered. "A month before I left L.A. there was an explosion. It turned out that Dr. Israel and his assistant, police Lieutenant Harrison, died in the fire. The surveillance equipment survived the explosion and it revealed that Batman caused the explosion. Basically, Batman killed them." "First, if you did, they were bad people. Their motives in life were not to truly help, but to harm. Second, did you actually do it?" "No," I exclaimed. "Of course not! How could you believe that?" "I don't believe it. But I do know you get upset awfully easy. Things bother you. You are a very sensitive and caring man. Things that Dr. Israel did bothered you. It's possible you could have reacted violently, though I know you enough that you wouldn't react violently without good reason." "Yeah." "And I trust you," Lance said, turning me around and kissing me on the cheek. "I love you." "I love you, too." Suddenly, a body came flying over the wall enclosing the pool and patio. We turned and the body stood up, revealing a man with a bumpy forehead and fangs. "A vampire!" I said. "Get in the house! Don't invite it in!" Lance turned and ran into the house. I looked at it, ready to fight it if I had to. To Be Continued... So Eric told the guys. They reacted better to the fact that he's Batman than they did to when he told them he was a mutant. But, again, there were different circumstances and he didn't give them time to ask questions like he did this time. No matter what, we should always make ourselves available to answer questions others have about us, especially when we reveal something that is personal and integral to ourselves, whether we are coming out to somebody, telling our parents we are dating, or that we fight crime in a costume that resembles come kind of animal. People can't adjust and learn if they don't have the opportunity to ask questions and learn. That's one way we can help heterosexuals understand us...make ourselves available to answer questions they may have. Oh, and what about the way Justin is reacting? What in the world is that all about? More good stuff to come.