When We Never

Chapter One: He Didn't Know

He didn't know. He didn't know why he was making a four hour drive in the middle of the night, to Metropolis of all places.

'You haven't even told Dana yet,' a cold voice reminded him. 'Rachel is your past.'

"It doesn't matter now. I'm only fifteen minutes away," Terry muttered to himself.

'Your past, Terry,' the cold voice reminded him. You promised yourself that your future wasn't with Rachel, but with Dana.'

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Rachel gaped at the remaining dregs of her stone-cold coffee.

"You idiot," she chided herself. "You should know by now the only man a girl can trust is her Daddy."

'At least Robin has a good daddy,' she thought. 'Terry tries, at least.'

She propped her elbows up on the table and buried her face in her hands. "You never should have left Gotham," Rachel scolded. "Then you wouldn't be sitting here crying over a broken heart."

Rachel sighed miserably. It had been two days since Jesse had called with his breakup message, claiming he had met someone else. And here she was, still crying like a child who had lost her mother in a crowded place.

"Moron," Rachel whispered angrily. "It's obvious Jesse didn't feel the same way you did."

She reheated her coffee and padded quietly, barefoot, into her living room. Rachel coiled her body into a ball on her safe, familiar couch and cried a little more.

There was a loud knock at the door. She glanced up, surprised.

Rachel wiped her face with the sleeve of her bathrobe and went to answer.

It was Terry. Not thinking, Rachel threw her arms around him, clinging to his broad shouldered form desperately. He hugged her back, though a little reluctant.

'Dana,' he reminded himself.

"Terry," Rachel whispered. "Should I have known you were coming? I don't even know what time it is. I'm such a mess right now," she babbled.

Rachel did look like she was in a bad situation, Terry noted.

Eyes normally vibrant jade were dull and bloodshot; her hair shaggy and unkempt. Clothes that usually clung to her voluptuous form hung from her frame loosely.

"No, it wasn't planned, Rach," Terry said gently. "My watch says it's five a.m. in Gotham, so it's two here. You do look awful. What happened?"

"Oh, nothing I shouldn't have seen coming," Rachel replied shakily. "The guy I was seeing dumped me, is all."

"Rachel," Terry breathed. "I'm sorry. Are you OK?"

"I will be. But thanks for caring, Terry." She smiled weakly. "There's some coffee if you want it. Let me get you something to eat and a blanket for the couch."

"It's fine," Terry told her. "You wanna take a walk or something?"

"That would be nice," Rachel replied. "Just let me clean up a little, OK?"

Terry nodded and flopped his tired body on the couch. He'd had no idea seeing Rachel like this would break his heart, too. 'Dana is my girlfriend,' he told himself harshly. 'Rachel made it clear when she left it was over.'

But it didn't stop him from wanting to take Rachel in his arms and hold her until the world didn't hurt her anymore.

Terry wondered how Robin had felt about Rachel's breakup. His daughter had always like Jesse as he recalled.

"He'll never be you, Daddy, but he's nice," Robin's sweet voice assured him. That was Robin though, the sweetest kid in the world. Terry couldn't remember her saying anything negative in all of her twelve, nearly thirteen, years.

"I should go and look in on her," he murmured. "It's been a while since I've seen her."

Terry rolled off the couch and was at Robin's door when Rachel came into view.

"Terry… please don't wake her. Robin hasn't been sleeping well lately. She's pushing herself too hard in school and she noticed how much crime has risen lately."

"I always come home. She knows that," Terry protested gently.

"Please, Terry." Rachel moved closer, laying a soft hand on his arm. "Let's take that walk, alright? We'll tell Robin you're here later."

"OK," Terry agreed quietly. "I can't believe she's almost thirteen."

"I know," Rachel sighed.

Terry followed her out of the front door and waited as she turned the key in the lock.

It was a clear night outside, the stars shining down on them brightly. The air was cool and brisk, tickling them softly.

"When Robin was a baby I used to take her around the block to get her to fall asleep. The air is calming, you know?" Rachel offered quietly.

"Yeah, it's nice out here," Terry replied.

They walked on in the silence a while longer.

'That's the nice thing about Rachel,' Terry mused. 'No need to fill the silence with mindless chatter.'

He found himself taking her hand. She didn't let go.

(Sigh) Just when I get my ongoing fics down to two, I have to go and start writing a new fic…Another sigh Not that I don't enjoy writing immensely! It's my life…practically.

You know the drill…R&R!