YaaaYYYYY!!

Finally! This chapter did not want to be written. I had imagined this scene forever and when I started it was going down easy. Then the world ended (almost literally this time) and college became online and everything sucked (still sucks) and FINALLY HERE WE ARE. HAVE AT IT YOU HEATHENS!

ALL 20,292 WORDS OF IT.

On a more serious note, I'm assuming that if you've gotten this far you're okay with heavy angst and themes and stuff.  Just letting you know it doesn't really let up this chapter, but as always it is chased by fluff so I hope you guys are okay with that. Its not all happy, but it gets there eventually.

That being said, the beginning of this chapter kinda backtracks, starting when Dick and Alfred went into Danny's room cuz of the cyber GIW attack.

So without further aidu, let the angst and fluff (yes it does exist) commence!

Danny bolted upright as the door opened, not yet comprehending where he was, only that he had been asleep and now the door was opening and that meant something bad was going to happen. The ground was soft somehow, it made it difficult to move but that didn't stop Danny. His legs went immediately up to his chest and he used his arms to scoot backward out of the weird mesh he woke up in. He had to climb on top of another squishy thing before his back was finally to something solid. There he huddled with his hands over his head and waited, watching as not GIW agents but the oldest and youngest Guardian went around the room.

Agent A... the uh... Alfred type of Agent A was coming closer. Danny ducked his head into his knees, hoping the Guardians didn't want him for anything even though that was the only reason they would be here. Guardians didn't do experiments or hitting, so Danny was very nervous and cautious as to what the Guardians were supposed to do with him. Danny wasn't sure he wanted to find out, only knowing it would be different from the GIW but it was still probably going to hurt. He was just an evil ghost after all, humans weren't supposed to be nice to him.

"We didn't mean to startle you, Master Danny," Alfred's voice spoke in the English then went away. Danny just sat very still, trying to understand what the word 'startle' means and why he kept putting the word 'master' right before his name. Bruce and Dick didn't do that, it was only Alfred, what was it supposed to mean?

Danny jumped when Dick's voice spouted next to him, speaking in that one language Danny understood. "Sorry Danny, everything is fine. We didn't mean to wake you up, you can go back to sleep if you'd like."

Well, that was okay with Danny, he didn't know when he was supposed to wake up anyway so this was good. Danny's hands went into his hair, curling his arms up and over so his fingers brushed against the bare nape of his neck. Oh, the cape was gone. He was on a bed with pillows and blankets. Yeah, it was a good thing the Guardians were here, they gave him soft things and dark places to hide, they were nice for some reason. They were better than agents, at least Danny liked them better than agents, but making them happy seemed impossible!

Danny just kept his head down, unsure of what to do while Dick and Alfred went around the room. They were being weird, they weren't doing anything with him or to him, just... existing near him. Danny didn't like that, it heightened his senses, trying to perceive the threat before it attacked. He liked knowing when it was coming, but these Guardians were all wrong and bad, they didn't do normal human things like giving ghost pain.

"Its okay Danny, we're uh, just checking the room. Alfred lost something important and we think he left it in here." Dick's voice explained and Danny flinched. He must have noticed Danny's unease, but now what? That was the moment Dick was supposed to attack him like any normal human would, but instead he got more words and no hitting. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you, I promise."

Danny just continued to sit, hands shifting over his neck, rubbing at the many scabs and scarred track marks that crisscrossed over the sensitive skin. He didn't much care about what Alfred had lost, he only cared that they were with him in the same room and for some reason weren't hitting him. He had to keep reminding himself Guardians don't do that. Guardians don't hit ghosts when they do bad things like sit or flinch when they're not supposed to, even when Danny doesn't do what they say like look them in the eyes. Even when he runs away and hides, they didn't hit him... He wasn't sure what to do with that.

The small halfa wasn't paying attention to how long the Guardians stayed in the room with him, but they eventually left, they must have found whatever Alfred had misplaced. Does Alfred get in trouble for misplacing something important? Danny never had something to be in charge of before, but he was sure if he was the GIW would have punished him if he didn't take care of it how they wanted him to. But again these were Guardians, not GIW, they don't hit.

Danny was still trying to wrap his mind around that. They don't hit? Why not? Their explanations don't make any sense at all. Humans are supposed to hit ghosts! Ghosts are bad and humans are good, the GIW was doing the right thing by hitting, but the Guardians hate the GIW? Humans aren't supposed to hate other humans, they're supposed to hate ghosts!

In the safety of his solitary confinement, Danny whined and fell over onto more soft pillows. He moaned his frustrations into the fabric, his breath making it hot. Everything was so wrong! Ghost scum needs to be hit! Why does Bruce say no hitting?! Why is he safe?! Bruce must be an evil human, he's a traitor to humans, that's why the GIW and Guardians don't get along. They're enemies, evil humans against good humans. Somehow the evil humans got Danny, rescuing him from the good guys.

This was all very confusing... Bruce and Guardians must be bad humans because they help ghosts and they are bad, and they hate the GIW who are good. This makes more sense, Bruce was definitely broken if he's evil. Maybe that's what the black is, maybe the black means evil!

Danny sat up with that thought, eyes wide with sudden anticipation and nearly gasping aloud.

Maybe... maybe Danny did know how to make them yellow.

He looked down through the soft blankets he was allowed, finding the one fabric that didn't fit with the maroon and creme themed bedding. He reached for the cape, dragging it to his person and laying it in front of him.

The cape was something that represented the evil Guardian humans, it was black, it wasn't GIW and it was GIVEN to Danny. Danny had a certain thought earlier, when he was outside with Batman. (That was a scary moment, super scary.) But the idea was that he needed a collar, but the Guardians hate the GIW. Danny needed a collar that was the Guardians, not GIW. That would make them happy right?!

Danny pulled at the capes two ends, making it long and thin and the silky fabric bunched up. If he could get this around his neck, maybe that would make the guardians happy! Like the GIW collar, it would show everyone who he belonged to, who was in charge of Danny. He fingered the fabric, slowly nodding his head at its texture. It would feel good around his neck, instead of hot electric metal that was heavy his neck would be protected from the open air and grabbing hands. It also wouldn't hurt, just like the Guardians want! This collar doesn't zap when he does things wrong and the GIW needs to hurt him for it. It was just fabric, no pain. The Guardians would like this, it made sense and Danny really hoped it would work. He didn't want to keep being in danger all the time, he wanted to learn the rules!

He really wanted the Guardians to be happy, even if they were evil humans, Danny was evil too so they were supposed to be nice to each other. Good humans were nice to good humans, the GIW never hurt each other, they only hurt Danny who is evil and needs it. So it makes sense that evil humans be nice to evil ghosts.

Danny picked up the cape from either side, pulling it taut by spreading his arms as wide as they could go. Determination screwed over Danny's face. This was a good idea.

So he lifted his arms and ducked his head so the length of cape was now behind him, then he brought his hands forward, pressing the fabric to the back of his neck. Danny felt tingly, the fabric on his neck did feel good, like an itch that was being scratched. He liked this. Danny made quick work of looping the fabric around his neck, going around once with each hand because the cape was long. He messed it up once, he looped it the wrong way with one hand and it actually undid the loop. He was frustrated and had to start over, but luckily the second time was much better.

Danny knew how to make a knot, there was another tying thing too, something about bunnies and valleys? Danny wasn't sure about that but he knew to make one end go through and wrap around the other. Danny synched the knot tight, not too tight, but tight enough there wasn't a whole lot of space between the fabric and his neck. He didn't like the air, it made his neck feel all prickly and vulnerable. So tight was good, but the fabric didn't like being in a knot, it kept coming loose.

Frowning, Danny sat up straighter, trying to look down at it while he worked. He tied the knot again, but this time he made a second one too, right on top of the other one. It left a lot of cape out though, Dany wasn't sure he liked how it draped over his front. He shifted in his seat as he grabbed the fabric collar and twisted it, having just enough space to move the knot around to the back if he angled his neck enough. His grip slipped when the fabric didn't want to move anymore, it made Danny tip over and he hit the soft bed with a light 'thump'.

Annoyed, Danny got to his hands and feet, his long white hair dangling even more annoyingly in his face. Danny blew at the hair or at least tried to, it didn't work very well so Danny twisted to his rump and slid off the bed. Then he grabbed the two drape-y ends of the cape and yanked, trying to further twist the fabric collar. Danny wasn't expecting the force to pull at his neck, it surprised him and for a second instead of fabric, it was a hand, cinching around his throat and blocking his air. Danny stumbled to the side, wide eyes blinking away the memory as he frowned. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

Danny didn't have any more coherent thoughts after that, the door busted open and every single nerve in Danny's entire body lit up in terror.

Bruce was shouting, simple English words, but they blew past Danny's ears because Bruce was roaring, stomping forward with hands outstretched.

It was all Danny could do to stay in place, completely frozen as Bruce came thundering into his space. Bruce was angry, Bruce was scared, Bruce was pink and panic panic panic. Danny felt his presence like the entire world was about to come crashing in, his throat closed and his body trembled. Danny's hands were wrenched from the ends of the cape, held solidly in one of the big Guardian's hands.

A scared cry clawed its way out of his protected throat, every inch of him warning him he was in danger, every instinct of self-preservation firing off at once. It was too much. Danny was suffocating, he couldn't scream. It was too hot, too warm he couldn't even feel his powers, it was too hot! The keeper's large form was just there, too much, all over him like he was on fire.

Then the big man's free hand was grabbing at his neck and Danny could not handle that.

Every touch felt like lightning striking his skin, flaying his nerves and demolishing any sense of fighting back. Danny couldn't take it, he couldn't fight back. His hands were trapped, gripped hard in the keeper's hand. They trembled to do something, to stop this sudden attack on his sensitive neck. Everything was pulling and yanking, jerking violently and it burned.  His throat was on fire, squeaking out frail attempts of fear and barely drawing in enough air to keep the darkness at the edge of his vision.

Danny was crying, all the touching around his neck hurt and he hated it but that's what good guys do. Danny will just have to wait until it's over and hope he survived. He hated that he always survived. He hated waiting until it was over because that means it would happen again.

A hand was on his shoulder now, sending another strike of fear coursing through the child. His frail body was shoved and Danny tried to keep calm enough to stay conscious. He wasn't sure why, he usually begged for unconsciousness when he was with the GIW. And now he was in danger, he was in so much trouble and Danny didn't understand and nothing about this made any sense but he needed to stay awake.

Suddenly his hands were free, and Danny whined because now he had to keep his hands from helping him all by himself. Keeper didn't want his hands to do anything. No hands, bad hands, bad ghost scum. Both of the Keepers' hands were now at his neck, pulling at the cape and every slight tug shot another round of lightning fear skittering about his body.

Finally, the cape gave away and his neck was free. The air felt like poison against his sensitive skin and a new fear filled Danny with absolute horror. His entire body felt numb, adrenaline trying to curb the pain he knew was about to be delivered. He was warm, too hot, each of his shoulders found a firey hand latched on. Bruce was staring at him with a gaze that burned, screaming danger and spitting more English fire-words in his face.

Danny could only stare back in terror, eyes frozen wide but unseeing. Then something felt released, not his shoulders or the burning stare from Keeper, something like his legs buckling yet he remained upright. It was something to do with his legs, he knew that much. It was really warm, it was spreading down each leg in a weird tickling sensation... whatever it was was apparently wet.

Danny looked down slowly at the same time the keeper did, finding his pants to be soiled.

Bruce said something under his breath while Danny didn't have any. Danny had no idea what to do, this was probably the single worst thing that could happen. Guardian Dick (was he part Keeper too?!) said waste goes in bathrooms in toilets, not in corners of rooms and probably not in pants either. He was getting the floor wet with his filth and somehow he knew that was a bad thing, especially since he had peed without permission.

So Danny looked up, waiting for Keeper Bruce to do what needed to be done. Danny needed to be punished for this, hitting, zapping, anything and everything. Danny did a very bad thing and it was already clear Bruce was not Guardian right now. He was Keeper, and Keeper hurts just like GIW.

Confusion cautiously rose above the terror that had engulfed his mind as Bruce's heavy hands went away. The man let go of his shoulders and took a few slow steps backwards, hands remaining outstretched but now with his palms up.

"Danny, I'm not going to hurt you."

The small halfa's chest shuddered as air seemed to finally get through to his lungs. He was scared to move but the tears were falling again, he didn't know when they stopped before but Kee— Bruce— Bruce was getting blurry so he blinked rapidly to clear his vision. Danny was shivering, he couldn't stop shaking no matter how much he knew he shouldn't move, but it didn't seem to matter to Bruce.

The Guardian— he was Guardian right now— folded his legs under him, kneeling on Danny's level with his hands still in view. "I promise Danny, I did not mean to hurt you or look like I was attacking you. I just— I needed to make sure you were okay, you shouldn't have things around your neck like that. I'm so sorry I scared you, I don't want you to be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you."

Danny's arms came up, swiping over his eyes as he tried to swallow the sobs that were trying to escape through the lump in his throat. His entire body was shaking so bad, he needed to sit or something, hide somewhere dark where Bruce couldn't reach. It was less scary in small dark spaces, no hands or big people, just him and him being alone was safe. But he wasn't supposed to move! He wasn't sure what Bruce wanted of him right now, good humans would leave him in his pee and do something else more horrifying because scum like him are disgusting and he's supposed to stay that way. But evil Guardians are nice and don't do good human things. Bruce was being Guardian right now, which means he's supposed to be nice and Danny had no idea what that was supposed to be!

"It's okay to cry Danny, I know you're scared. Nothing bad is going to happen, even if you run off again." Bruce promised, his blue eyes were staring at Danny, staring very hard.

Danny definitely wanted to hide, he wanted to run off so bad, back under the table in the shadows that were good. Instead, he crouched right where he was, not moving his feet because he didn't want to move in his soiled pants. He put his forehead on his knees, hating the smell that assaulted his nose in this position but it was a safe position where his hands could hide his neck. He continued to sob, tears leaking down to add to the mess that was on his pants and on the floor.

For a second Danny ignored Bruce and he allowed himself to acknowledge the fear that had taken over his body.

That was very scary, oh man that was so scary. His body was all tingly and hot still but his legs were so stiff, feeling frozen in place because of the pee all over them. It was disgusting. He was disgusting. He was so scared. That was really scary. Danny was expecting electricity, either the prod or the chair or even the collar despite the Guardians hating it. The electricity always hurt so bad, so so bad. Oh man, that was scary. Electricity is scary, but Bruce going for his neck like that? That was scary.

Danny's butt fell to the floor, it didn't have very far to fall but Danny collapsed, stuttering in air he couldn't quite get into his lungs fast enough. Oh man, that was terrifying. That was so bad, Danny had just been trying to do a good thing! No good things for ghosts, ghosts don't do good things which is why he peed himself because he's bad.

Danny propped his elbows on his knees, rubbing his face with his forearms to rid himself of that awful tingly feeling and all the tears that were making his face itchy. Nothing was making sense, Danny just continued to be wrong all the time. There was no backing out of it now, Danny needed to ask what to do because he couldn't handle guessing again and being wrong.

"P-plea-please..." He whimpered quietly through what his trembling allowed, "w-wh-what-what d-does... G-Guard-Guardian... w-wa-want g-ghost t-to do?" He hid behind his arms, suddenly becoming aware of the pain in his heels. All his pains were coming back, which meant the adrenaline was fading but he was still shivering uncontrollably. Danny started sucking in lungfuls of air, gasping as his shaking made it harder to breathe.

"I... I would like to clean you up..." Bruce's voice said, but he was hesitant and Danny didn't know why. "But I want you to be calm first, and not because I said so, but only when you are ready to be calm. Is there anything I can do to help calm you? I know you like rubbing your face against things but I understand if you don't want me too close right now."

Danny was already shaking his head, both to answer and rub his face against his arms. No, Danny had enough of hot and bodies and touching. Danny also wanted to be clean, but Bruce said he had to be calm first, calm in his own time. Bruce wasn't going to do anything to him until he was calm.

For some reason that helped, Danny could already feel some of his muscles relaxing. Danny could do this, he had time, he just needed time that's all. Danny would be okay enough to go get clean if he just sat there for a moment. He wanted to rock back and forth, but he didn't want to do that in his soiled pants, the pants that were now touching the ground because he was sitting.

Danny started rocking anyway, using the balls of his feet to push himself forward and backward. This was fine, Danny had his neck covered by one hand and the other was in his hair, gripping and pulling rhythmically. This was okay. This was okay. This was okay. This was okay.

Danny was breathing out of his nose now, he was biting his lips and a constant whine emanated from his throat that sang in tune with his ragged breathing. It was kinda scary... his breathing was hampered by the shaking all over his body, but at least he could breathe at all. The shaking made it hard to rock back and forth, sometimes his grip in his hair would suddenly yank too hard or he'd let go entirely, even the hand over his neck seemed to be spasming. Sometimes his breathing spiraled into half sobs, sometimes just whines and sometimes he just breathed. He liked breathing.

"Alright, that's good Danny, that's good." Bruce's voice filtered in, "Just keep breathing."

So Danny did that, it made Bruce happy (he assumed, obedience usually ended with at least some yellow in cores, though that red-orange would be there too, like a fire) and it was helping the heat that was still tingling everywhere. Danny hated heat, heat was bad for ghosts so it was good for humans. Good for humans to hurt ghosts.

His rocking slowed as his temperature went down, being curled up in a ball wasn't exactly helping but he would never surrender safety for the sake of temperature. He was breathing better now, the tremors still wracked his body but they seemed tamer now. This time it was a real cold shiver that raised goosebumps all along his back, it seemed to go down his spine and he peaked out an eye to see if he could spot what made that happen. He didn't see anything other than Bruce still kneeling a few feet away. Nothing cold was near his neck, his hand would have felt it.

Pushing that mystery to the side Danny let go of his hair, letting the tired limb fall to the ground so he could move to stand.

"You ready Danny?" Bruce asked, having noticed Danny's movements. Danny quietly gave a small nod, the permanent frown on his face deepening when he realized he would have to let go of his sensitive neck. "Okay, just don't push yourself if you arent ready, we can stop anytime you need. We can head to the bathroom whenever you want so you can take a shower."

Danny pulled himself up slightly, taking in another deep shuttering breath. Bruce was staring at him but Danny didn't want to look, Danny just wanted the nice Guardian voice and not the big angry threat hurtling towards him like one of the GIW's robots. Danny did look up to the side though, seeing the bed to his right.

The child moved slowly, every limb and movement felt like stone, like fragile glass. One wrong move and he'd shatter. He kinda wanted to shatter, just let go for once and not do anything until the humans went away.  He forced himself to keep moving though, tiny movements were better than no movements, don't make Bruce angry again.

For a second he was scared he was taking too long, but then he remembered that Bruce said he had time so it was okay. Danny didn't want to move any faster, his limbs were still twitching weirdly and the shaking wasn't helping that either.

He got to his hands and knees right in front of the bed but had to stay there for a moment, arms bracing himself against the floor as he gasped for breath.

Why is everything so scary? This is fine, Danny was fine.

His stomach rolled uncontrollably and Danny swallowed a whine. Danny did not want to throw up, so he continued to practice breathing, right there into the floor. His forehead rested on his forearm, both of which were hot and sticky with sweat. When did he start sweating? Eventually the nausea passed and Danny swallowed enough times he deemed it safe to move.

(He didn't really, he wanted to never move again. He'd be content just lying here on this floor for the rest of his ghostly life.)

But Danny sat up as fast as he dared and reached for the bed, grabbing and pulling but that only dragged the blankets to him. He fumbled for the actual bed, seeing movement from Bruce out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't suppress the full body flinch, his breathing hitching at the same time. His fist tightened in the soft bed blankets and the fear gave him enough adrenaline to pull himself up.

"It's okay, I'm not going to come any closer if you don't want me to." Bruce's Guardian voice said, "I'll go to the bathroom and you come in when you're ready, alright?"

Danny was confused now, Bruce was going to leave him in the room alone? Why? Not for the first time Bruce was being confusing, but Danny could hardly do anything about that so he just nodded his acceptance. Somehow Danny's weight shifted feet without his consent and his other hand to come up to grab the bedding to steady himself. He could hear Bruce's footsteps leaving, heavy and hurried. Danny let out a small breath when he heard a door open and Bruce disappeared through its threshold.

Danny's eyebrows twisted as he shoved his face between his hands and into the bed. Everything was so tense and hot and tired. All his limbs felt wobbly and heavy, resting his head on the bed was a very nice feeling.

But all of that paled in comparison to how confused he felt. Bruce was letting him calm down, for some reason he wanted Danny to be calm before the water thing... 'shower' he called it.

Water things with the GIW were never good, the only good thing about them was that the water was usually cold and Danny liked cold. Water things left him wet though and it always took a while to dry off unless they needed him dry for something else. Water things usually involved not breathing though, underwater was dark and sometimes it was so deep and scary...

Another shiver traveled down Danny's spine, he hated water things. But the question was is it Keeper or Guardian doing the water thing? 'Shower' doesn't seem like a bad thing, it sounded like rain, a rain shower. You can't drown while it's raining unless someone holds your face in a deep puddle. But if Keeper returns then shower could be something else, Keeper would find a way to make shower hurt. Good humans make things hurt no matter what they were, ghosts need to be punished.

Danny trembled in place, fists so tight over the blankets it hurt. What was he to do? Danny didn't want Keeper, didn't want to risk making Guardian so angry he becomes Keeper. But Guardian wanted waiting and calm and how was Danny supposed to do that if Guardian was going to become Keeper and hurt him?

Danny needed to calm down, he was supposed to do what Guardian says, make Guardian happy to keep Keeper away. Danny blinked his eyes open rapidly, finding more tears were escaping. He lifted his aching head to watch the bathroom doorway, he imagined Keeper running out, shouting in angry English and lots of touching and pain. Danny quietly whimpered with a wince and looked away.

His eyes caught the black and yellow fabric of the cape and he flinched away from the offending thing. The last time Danny tried to make Guardian happy he turned into Keeper. But then again Guardian didn't say he wanted the Guardian-type collar for Danny, Danny was just being a stupid ghost.

This time he did know what Guardian wanted, he wanted Danny calm and to go to the bathroom to do 'shower'. Bruce was going to be there too, like the agents watching during water things. Bruce would tell him what to do, just like the agents did during water things.

They'd tell him to get in the water place, or just toss him in, and all the pipes would gush water until the tank was filled up. Sometimes they put a lid on it and there was no air, but other times they didn't but they'd chain him to the ground out of reach of the air. Then they'd do things to the water, sometimes it would hurt Danny and sometimes it wouldn't. Sometimes an agent would get in the water with him, except he'd be wearing something weird, it kept him dry and he could breathe, contrary to Danny who couldn't do either of those things. Then they'd shoot things in the water at Danny, that always hurt but they were always trying to make it hurt more. Needless to say, Danny blacked out a lot during those. He hated not being able to breathe, water felt tight and heavy when he was in it and it was not okay.

But this was Guardian doing 'shower', Danny didn't know what to expect. Well, he supposed he didn't have any reason to know what to expect, even if it hurt. It shouldn't matter if Bruce was Keeper or Guardian, he was supposed to listen and do what he's told. But Bruce was hard to know what to do, he didn't say what he wanted like the GIW did. He also wanted impossible things that Danny didn't know how to do or should be hit because he shouldn't do. Danny didn't know what was going to happen and that scared him, but that would only change once he went into the bathroom with Bruce.

So Danny let go of the bed, taking a deep breath to start walking. He contemplated flying, Bruce Guardian said he could fly if his feet hurt, but that was a while ago and he didn't say he could now. But Guardian was always sad when Danny was hurt, as weird as that was... But was it worth the risk of provoking Keeper if it made Guardian happy? His gaze slipped to the discarded cape on the floor and he shook his head. No. No no no. He couldn't risk it, he took a risk with the cape and it was the worst choice. Stupid choice. Choices were so dangerous. But on the other hand, sad didn't make Guardian Keeper, only anger, so Danny could risk making him sad.

Right?

All risk is bad. All choice is bad. All is bad. Ghosts is bad. Danny is bad. Monster. Freak.

Danny felt another tremor run through his body, his hands shaking even worse. He didn't know what to do with his hands, he wanted to grab something. His hands grabbed each other, but that didn't feel right, so he let go and his fingers latched on the edge of his shirt. He pulled a little and that felt okay, the shirt was kinda stretchy and it made the back move up his neck and that was always a good thing.

Maybe that's what Guardian didn't like, maybe Guardian didn't want his neck covered, he needed it for something and got angry when it wasn't available. That's why he didn't have a shirt when he was with the GIW, they didn't like how he would use it as a barrier between his sensitive skin and their sharp things and fists.

Danny, of course, didn't like that, he wanted that feeble protection of his sensitive parts. Thankfully the GIW let him keep his pants most of the time, but now Guardian was giving him more clothes ...but if not for protection... then what was it for? Bruce was so backwards, wanting safe and soft clothing but also pain and touching.  It was impossible to tell which one Bruce wanted at any time and Danny was always wrong, like the GIW game. But now it was called Guardian game and Danny accepted that fact, his life was only pain and that was only expected. Guardian would come back for a little bit and things would be okay and alright then Keeper would return to remind Danny he was evil and needed hitting. It was the same game.

Danny shook his head and kept tugging at the bottom of his shirt, taking a deep stuttering breath before he took his first step in the direction of the bathroom. Nothing matters except what makes Bruce happy. Danny didn't know the rules to the new game, but that's okay because he didn't know all the rules to the old game either. If he had known the rules he wouldn't get hurt all the time. But he also knew the rules was that he needed to get hurt all the time.

This was normal and okay.

Danny was fine.

Danny was fine.

Danny was still frightened.

He kept his calm all the way to the bathroom, trying to find that dull sense of mind that took him when things got too hard. Like when the Alfred Agent A was... helping(?) his feet, he liked being able to ignore everything and still listen to whoever was in charge. Danny had no control over whenever that happened, but he found it usually happens around times when he has been overwhelmed. Right now felt like one of those times. But Bruce made him calm down, he couldn't go into that weird but nice state if he was calm.

Did Bruce plan that? Did he not want Danny to go into that silent obedient state? The GIW seemed to like it, they liked to bat him around and make him do bad things when he was obedient like that. Then maybe Bruce Guardians did not like it because the GIW liked it, like the collar.

UGH. He was thinking in circles! He needs to stop making assumptions! If Bruce hasn't said it then Danny can assume nothing. Bruce said calm down and go to the bathroom to get clean. So that's what Danny is going to do. He needs to stop thinking.

He stepped one foot onto the tile floor and the halfa snapped back to reality. He froze where he was, hands having pulled his shirt straight down so tight the back of the shirt was digging into his neck. His wide eyes looked up at Bruce who was sitting on a weird thing.

Bruce did the up-lip thing— smiling— and shifted in his seat slowly. His core was not yellow like the smile, it was very very pink and purple and a dark dark blue made little knives in it. Yeah, Guardian was sad, and that was better than angry. He ignored the presence of the fear and panic since he had no explanation nor was it relevant.

"Hi Danny, you feeling a little bit better?" Guardian Bruce was asking. He had a small square in his hand, it wasn't exactly a square, more like a rectangle.

Danny took a deep breath through his nose, trying to ignore that most times rectangles with buttons meant electricity. Danny forced his legs to walk forward towards the big man while he nodded stiffly to the question. It was super weird not to be dragged everywhere, he wasn't sure how he felt about walking everywhere on his own. What if he did it wrong?

Bruce's eyes went down, finding Danny's hands that had resumed yanking on his shirt, or maybe he was looking at the spot on his pants where he peed, but it felt even lower. Was he staring at his feet?

"I'm sorry you walked on your feet, do they hurt?" Bruce asked another question, this time his face making little lines that meant he was sad even if his core said it for him. His core actually spoiled into a brown color, but it was more like spots, giving a sickly look to all the fear and sadness inside the big man.

Danny didn't know how to respond to this one, his feet didn't hurt too bad, the perks of accelerated healing his evil ghostliness gave him. Not to say they didn't hurt, it was just manageable along with everything else trying to hurt him. But he still needed to answer, Bruce might not want a spoken one.

The halfa ended up shrugging one shoulder up as he shifted in place, looking down at the bandages where they were stained yellow along the inside of his limbs.

"Is that 'a little bit'?" Bruce prodded verbally, sounding light but also... reverent.

Danny nodded slowly, still looking away from Bruce. The bathroom was like Guardian (And Keeper?) Dick's bathroom, it was big and had tall counters and the toilet was far away. There were mirrors too, they just reflected the walls though. They were nice walls. They were not white. Bruce was sitting on something weird though, it was a giant bowl, like a tank but really really weirdly shaped and it had holes in some places. It was weird because the space it filled was square but the tank-thing was oval-ish, so the corners were like counters, one of which Bruce was sitting on.

"Okay," Bruce spoke. Danny's attention snapped back as his big hands were suddenly moving, albeit slowly, but moving nonetheless. "How about this Danny, I know you're probably not up to talking right now and I don't want to push you so I think you can use numbers."

Danny was puzzled, eyebrows twitching with the new development. Numbers? What was Bruce meaning? Then Bruce's hand was lifting and Danny fought not to flinch. A single finger speared the air and Bruce was looking at him carefully, like he was trying to not stare but needed to stare. "I'll try to ask yes or no questions, lift one finger for yes, two for no." The hand mimicked his speech, a second finger popping up next to the first. But then so did a third, "I understand you might not have an answer that is yes or no, you might not know or don't understand the question. Three fingers will mean you do not know, four will mean you don't understand. Does this work for you Danny?"

The child stared at the fingers, confused as to why this was happening but obeyed anyway. He let one hand go of his shirt and raised one finger to show Bruce his compliance. His other hand twisted his shirt even more as if to make up for the loss of his second hand.

Bruce nodded and smiled again, "Fantastic, we can practice. Do you know how to take a shower Danny?"

Danny felt a new tremor of fear spike up his spine, a reverse shiver that started down below that traveled up and made his shoulders rise around his neck. He quickly held out two fingers, unsure what 'practice' entailed except that he needed to get this right. The anticipation for water things was bad, but with this number thing, he was finally getting something to do that would keep Bruce from going Keeper. Or turn into Keeper.

Bruce's core turned even more blue, although there was a flash of red somewhere in his throng of colors. Danny wasn't sure what to make of that, and then reminded himself he wasn't supposed to be doing any thinking right now, only obeying. Maybe be could get into the obedient state without being overwhelmed, that would be nice.

"Alright, that's okay," Bruce said, his hand lowering with his palm facing Danny again. "I'll help you. Dick is very worried though, he wants to see you but I want to know if you want to see him."

Not for the first time, Danny was confused. At this point, he accepted that he would always be confused with Guardians. Maybe eventually he'll learn but that was not right now and right now was scary not knowing.

Danny put up three fingers. He wasn't sure he wanted to see Dick but Dick was nice. He liked the smaller Guardian. He moved a lot but he also spoke a lot and that was nice because then Danny would know what to do. But here it was Bruce doing things, Bruce was doing the water thing —shower— with Danny, like Dick doing coloring things. That experiment was only Dick, so this must be only Bruce.

Then Danny winced, because dang it. He wasn't supposed to be assuming things anymore. He switched his fingers to four, he didn't know what Bruce wanted, he needed more words to understand. Why was Dick worried? Did Dick know of Keeper? Did he not like Keeper and got worried Keeper hurt Danny because Dick doesn't hurt Danny? That was confusing, and probably not true. Stop assuming things.

Bruce was frowning and Danny ducked his head between his hunched shoulders. His core wasn't helping things, it was sad and scared but sometimes it was angry and that was just as confusing as everything else!

"It's okay Danny, I can explain, you don't have to be scared to admit you don't understand something. It's very good that you tell me when you don't understand, then I will help you understand and you don't have to be scared anymore." Bruce spoke, his hand was out again, this time palm up like Danny had seen before when Dick asks to hold hands. Danny did not want to hold his hand, Bruce's hand was big and hot, he could already feel the prickles of unease traveling across his skin.

He put up two fingers like a defense at the same time he shook his head, taking a few tiny steps back to evade in case he grabbed at him anyway. Danny didn't realize he was still moving backwards until his back hit a cupboard, he was also breathing hard and the shaking was back, evident in his one trembling outstretched hand. He realized that hand was in danger and he tucked it close, fingers latching onto the edge of the head hole of his shirt.

Danny's eyes were wide as Bruce slipped to the floor and onto his knees, still that single hand outstretched with his palm towards Danny. "It's okay, it's okay Danny. Remember I'm not going to hurt you. I understand if you don't want to speak right now but what made you say no? I don't want to scare you Danny but I need to know what scares you so I don't do them."

The halfa child found his butt on the floor again, back to the cupboard and eyes on the man in front of him. Bruce's face was twisted weirdly again, this time his core was... bubbling... It was an odd thing, it wasn't writhing like it was when he was mad, it was literally making bubbles and popping like boiling water. It was thick though and made no sound, but Danny could imagine the sounds well enough. It was so weird, the colors were all hot pink and purple, but when the bubbles popped they were blue and faded back into pink and purple until it bubbled up again and popped.

Then there was Bruce's question, what made him scared and say no. Danny really didn't want to speak, he wasn't sure about his assumption that he could only speak when both Guardians were near, and even then he just didn't want to risk anything.

Danny spoke anyway.

"H...hand... you—you want my h-hand..." Danny curled up a little bit tighter, the hand he had near his neck moving up to wrap what he could around it. His green eyes flickered across the man trying for eye contact but studied his core instead. "I... I say I say n-no." Then after a few seconds, he added a quiet and desperate, "...please."

Bruce was frowning still, that weird frown that made his face scrunch and his core flared with that dark blue. "What did I do that made you think I wanted your hand?" He asked softly, lowering his hand that had been out.

Danny demonstrated this, he let go of his shirt and thrust out his hand with his palm up. He pulled his hand back soon after, just to be sure Bruce didn't take it for real. "I-I don' w-want..." He mumbled after, pressing himself harder against the cupboard.

Bruce blinked and the weird lines went away, "Oh. I'm sorry Danny, I wasn't trying to touch you or make you give me your hand. I'm proud of you for telling me this and saying no when you didn't want it." Danny was distracted by his core, a vibrant shade of yellow-orange struck through the chaos of pink and blue. Danny stared, then lifted his gaze up to meet Bruce's eyes. Bruce was... proud he said no? He was happy Danny ran away from touching?

Orange must be pride or something like it, yellow-orange definitely was pride, he was happy and proud Danny did something.

Bruce was happy and proud Danny did something.

Danny felt something light in his chest, he was blinking fast and suddenly he felt weightless despite his tush remaining firmly to the ground. Bruce was happy Danny did something.

Danny succeeded. He made Bruce yellow! Danny had no idea what to do now that he actually did it. He actually did it!

His face felt weird, muscles moving in a way he didn't recognize. Bruce was smiling, which started off a chain reaction of yellow in his core that looked like sparks! Danny was doing it! He was making Bruce yellow!

"Yellow!" Danny shouted, pointing to Bruce's core to show off his accomplishment, totally innocent that Bruce could not see his hard work. "Bruce yellow!"

"Yes." Bruce's smile was more happy, more yellow, there was so much yellow! "I'm very happy right now because you are happy. This is the first time I've seen you smile, its a very nice smile Danny."

Then Danny blinked because that sounded familiar. Dick said something like that once, he was happy when Danny was happy, Guardians wanted to protect Danny's happy. He didn't notice but his smile went away, his face feeling more normal that way. "I s-smile make you smile?" He asked, pointing to himself then to Bruce.

Bruce didn't say anything for a moment but then nodded, "Yeah, smiles are contagious you know, if anyone smiles at anyone usually they'll smile back."

Danny's brows furrowed in deep thought, Agents smiled at each other, but they smiled at Danny too but Danny never smiled back. Good guys smile at bad broken things when they are evil, it makes them yellow. Bad guys smile at bad broken things... and are yellow when bad broken things smile back. Huh. Confusing... but manageable.

"I'm really sorry I scared you, Danny. I don't like scaring you. Does it show that in my core?" Bruce surprised him with this question, Danny wasn't expecting any questions about cores, or specifically what Bruce's core showed.

But... looking back on it, to any instance where Bruce scared him... Bruce was never yellow like the GIW was when they scared him. He was either just red or just blue.

"Why red... wh-when scary?" Danny found himself asking, having forgotten to actually answer Bruce's question.

Bruce was confused by the jump, his core said so and Danny wanted to hit himself for it, but the big man answered anyway. "I wasn't angry at you Danny, I'm never angry at you. What happened earlier..." Bruce grew uncomfortable, his core shrinking a little like it was trying to hide. "I was angry at myself and the GIW. I was scared you were hurt and it was the GIW's fault you were hurting, but it was also my fault that I couldn't protect you. Then I was angry at myself because I couldn't make you feel safe enough with me that you resorted to hurting yourself. I never want you to hurt yourself, it would make me very sad."

Huh. Danny's eyebrows narrowed and his lips slightly pursed because that wasn't right. Danny didn't mean to hurt himself, the cape had been tight but it wasn't too tight, it had actually felt good. All the choking was because Bruce had been trying to pull it off of him. Bruce had also been very angry at the time, not sad.

He refrained from pointing that out though, just like he refrained from asking about Keeper even though his curiosity was almost through the roof. How was Bruce both Guardian AND Keeper?!

He did, however, realize the only time Danny was ever physically hurt or jostled was when the GIT attacked or Keeper.

That might of made him feel good about Bruce but the Keeper attack reminded the boy the reason he was in the bathroom. His soiled pants were on the ground again and he didn't like it. He frowned at his pants and his bad body for peeing at wrong places and times. Bruce didn't like him in soiled pants either, he wanted to clean him with whatever a shower is. Danny looked up, one hand still around his neck in a protecting warm while he picked at the bandages that were on his legs with the other. "Wh-what is... shower?"

Bruce was blindsided by the blatant change of subject, actual surprise flashing in his core. The man blinked a few times, then shifted in place because his knees were probably not feeling good. Danny knew how fast it hurt to kneel for a long time. "Well, a shower is how people clean themselves. There's water that comes out of a spout and it rains water on the person taking a shower, so that's why it's called a shower, like a rain shower." Danny nodded along, at least that assumption was correct, the only one so far. Bruce then moved an arm, pointing across the room to a big... cube thing. Oh no. "That is the shower in this bathroom, they don't all look like that but this one is pretty big because you're living in the family rooms of the house, guest showers are smaller."

Danny didn't like either of those options. It was a cube, it had one glass wall and the rest were slippery wall. If it had been all glass walls it would have been just like the GIW water tank. Oh no. He was going to have to get in it, wasn't he? Danny wanted to say he was scared, to say he didn't want to and run away. But he didn't, he sat and stared at the water cube that was going to hurt him. If he ran Bruce would catch him and make him shower anyway, it would hurt more and for longer period of time. A tiny voice poked at his brain, reminding him about the very recent time Bruce was actually happy Danny ran away from something. Bruce was only happy and proud Danny ran away from touching he didn't want, he said nothing about anything else like water things he didn't want. And Danny can't assume anything.

Even if it seemed like Bruce liked knowing what Danny wanted Danny was also very aware of what Bruce wanted. Bruce wanted him clean and Danny would rather get it over with than drag it out and make himself super scared and then make Bruce Keeper because he was being bad. Making Bruce happy was the only goal Danny cared about so he was going to do it no matter what Danny himself wanted.

"Wh-what h-happens... i-in sh-shower?" Danny asked, his voice squeaking and higher than he meant it to be.

Danny missed Bruce's frown at his sudden show of fear, he was too busy watching the water cube like a hawk. He didn't dream often, but sometimes it would happen while he was awake too. He didn't want the water trap to stand up and run at him and then swallow him in a bottomless pit of water where air was super far away and everything was dark. That... that was not good.

"You have to take off your clothes to get wet first, then you get some soap and put it in your hair and on your body. Then you scrub with your hands or a loofah to get rid of all the dirt and stuff that has collected in your hair and on your body. Then you rise with the water again and make sure all the soap is gone. Then it's over and you turn the water off, you get out and dry off with a towel. Then you get dressed in new clean clothes." Bruce finished.

That was a lot of steps, Danny was supposed to do all of that by himself? Inside the water tank? What was a 'loofah' and was it the thing that was supposed to hurt?

"I got you some special soap that won't sting your eyes and there's a nice fluffy towel ready for you when you're done. Alfred is going to drop off some clean clothes for you to get dressed in once you're dry."

Danny wasn't too sure about all of this, this sounded dangerous and scary, a lot of room for messing up and doing wrong things. What if he did a thing out of order? What if it takes too long? Was he supposed to be fast? What if he goes unconscious before he's done? Did loofahs hurt? Normal soap stings eyes? Why didn't Bruce want his eyes to sting? What if he didn't finish a step all the way? There was a lot, a lot-a lot.

"Are you ready Danny?" Bruce asked, "It's okay if you're not, we can take this as slow as you need."

Okay, okay. Okay, so it wasn't timed, no time stress. That was good, 1 out of 326 questions answered. This is fine. This is very fine. Nothing he hasn't done before. Okay well scratch that no he hasn't done this before. What's going to happen?!

Danny nodded to Bruce's question anyway, tearing his gaze from his inevitable tomb and wobbled to his feet. Danny wasn't ready, he didn't think he'd ever be ready, but the sooner he started the sooner it would be over and then something else can happen that wasn't drowning. More time means more pain.

"Okay, I'm going to go turn on the water now while you can take off your clothes if you're ready. I'll make sure the water is nice and warm," Bruce spoke, shifting to his feet as well and walked over to the water cube.

Danny stayed by the cupboard counter thing, one hand pressed against it so he could stay standing. He didn't think he could stand on his own. Usually he was dragged to these kinds of things, they'd just hurt him if he struggled and he was usually too weak to walk at all. Then they would tear off his clothes and toss him into the empty glass cube. Then they seal the top or an agent would jump down and chain his hands together and his feet together and tie both of those to the bottom hook. Then the water would be pumped in and Danny would have to wait for the water to get high enough to swim, then he'd try to swim as much as he could before he got tired or the chain would keep him below the water level. Then it would begin.

The sound of water pumping through pipes then hitting the ground jolted Danny from his memories, the two mixing together. The room was white, even though this time he could walk into the cube. His clothes were still on, there were no agents to take them except for the dark form standing facelessly by the water cube. It wasn't moving so Danny would have to do it himself.

He took off his shirt first, already missing the feeble fabric he used to protect his neck. Then he took off his pants, they were a bit stiff from the urine but Danny got them off fine. He forgot about the second pants, 'boxers' Dick had called them, but he took that off too. All that was left was the bandages over his legs and feet. Was he supposed to take those off too? Danny wasn't sure but Bruce mentioned scrubbing his body so that must mean everything. Besides, wet bandages were not nice, they were annoying and sad because they were still bandages but could not be used anymore. So he unraveled the bandages, the cold floor both a shock and a relief to the tender bottoms of his feet.

Now that that was over Danny was vulnerable, no clothes and no collar, no hiding spaces or running away. He felt numb as he walked to the shower cube with the dark form looming over. The man shrouded in shadow had a hand on the sliding glass door handle and smiled down at Danny. At least Danny was doing good so far.

The shadow said something, voice low, almost quiet, and incomprehensible through the fog. He only heard the hissing roar of water battering down the shower cube floor. Danny reached the threshold of the glass door and paused, staring down at the lip of concrete that made up the floor of the GIW's water cube. The large dark being was next to him, crouched but not touching, it was pointing to things. A long arm unfurled, it pointed to a red bottle with weird designs on it, growling through the cotton about 'soap'. Then the pointed finger shifted to a fluffy thing hanging on a hook. It was a ball of net, Danny realized, the dark creature next to him murmured the word 'loofah' and harsh consonants like a hissing shh- that was a part of some other word.

Danny was watching the water, it roared in his ears.

The halfa child numbly stepped into the shower, heart thudding much too loudly in his ears. His body was promptly engulfed by warm and wet air and felt instantly drained of energy, completely missing more low words coming from the dark shadow.

The sound of the door closing made the child's heart jump in his chest and he spun around to face the exit of his torture. The sudden movement made his head spin and his arms darted out for balance. Danny sharply sucked in a breath but found the air to be uncomfortably hot and moist. He gave a cautious whimper as he looked around and tucked his bottom lip into his mouth. His hands curled into anxious fists when he discovered the ground was already covered in water, then a shiver of horror cascaded down his spine when he felt that the water was hot.

His toes curled away from the hot water, but there was no escape because the cube was going to be filled to the brim. He looked up, found the ceiling and a light shining down, no lid... there was a space between the cube wall and the ceiling, about a foot wide. Danny could fit in that, he could get out once the water was high enough, he wasn't chained down this time. So Danny forced himself to take another closer to the spout that was high up and shooting down bullets of hot steaming water. The sooner he got used to the hot water the sooner Danny could swim in it and escape. Danny took another step and stopped, the spray hitting his feet directly.

Why was the water so hot? This must be his punishment, hot was always bad. The heat burned the sensitive skin of his legs that had already been burnt by the ecto-whips, he fought to stay still, the water was so hot! A new horror crawled down Danny's spine, realizing this was the point. He couldn't escape even with the hole at the top, this hot water was meant to incapacitate him, heat always made him lethargic and with this hot of water covering his entire body? He might as well pass out now and be done with it. 

But Danny did nothing. He was supposed to wait here, wait for the water to fill up the cube and drown him. Then he had to start on the tasks and hope he did them correctly before it was all over. He wanted it to be over, he wanted it all to be over.

Danny didn't know if the black being was still there or not, he only felt the heat and the wet and it was terrible. The water was so loud, the edges of his vision were tunneling and everything was so hot and dizzy. Hot, hot, hot, and dizzy and weak and everything was so bright. Why was it bright? The ground rolled under him and Danny stumbled into the wall, he slammed his hands against the surface, finding some trace amount of coolness. He bowed his head against it, trying to soak up the cold that was rapidly fading.  The edges of his vision were gone now, the roar in his ears was now a faraway waterfall, his labored breathing taking over, everything else was ignored or couldn't be heard through the cotton. The darkness was closing in, or was that the water over his head. The steam, the unrelenting, unforgiving heat was leeching his energy, his will. The water was going to win.

Danny's legs buckled as his eyes slid closed for the sweet cold land of unconsciousness to claim him.

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-

"Alfred... I'm not cut out for this." Bruce murmured into his phone.

Bruce had taken care of traumatized children before, heck, he was with Dick through all of his trauma and grief. Even as Batman himself, while he wasn't the most approachable he could still comfort and calm down panicked children.

But Danny was like a whole different type of traumatized.

And Bruce just kept. on. messing. up.

He glanced over at the unconscious child, the result of his terrible handling of the boy's trauma, even after he thought they were doing good. He should have stopped this whole thing when he saw how Danny was acting. He had tried giving Danny control of the situation but it was clear Danny wasn't ready for that, but Bruce wasn't ready for this.

Danny had gone catatonic the closer he got to the shower, Bruce should have stopped him. But he didn't. And it ended in this mess.

Bruce had closed the shower door for about one minute before he heard the sound of skin meeting the tile floor. He wasted another fifteen seconds wondering if he should open the door, he even spoke just outside of it so Danny could continue to have his privacy. Another fifteen seconds and Bruce cautiously opened the door after receiving no response or any sound at all from the child.

He was unconscious on the wet shower floor, naked body sprawled awkwardly and face almost passive in his sleep.  Bruce had sworn under his breath and shut the shower off, checking around the boy's head for any blood or injury from falling. After confirming there were no injuries he quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped the boy up.

After that Bruce had no idea what to do. Sure cleaning the boy while he was unconscious would be helpful and skip past whatever this was that made the boy so scared he fainted. But that wouldn't get rid of the problem, a problem Bruce didn't even know what it is. Also boundaries, Danny was very aware of his personal space and he would probably know and not take to being cleaned while he was unconscious kindly.

But the boy was now wet with more than one fluid and Bruce had no idea what to do.

So he set the burritoed halfa on the rug in front of the bathtub, making sure the kid was comfortable as he could be. Bruce himself sat on the lid of the toilet that was on the opposite side of the boy, head in one hand as he called up Alfred in the other. He had texted the family group chat earlier, Dick was asking about Danny and of course Alfred needed to know what was going on. But now he was speaking because he really needed to hear Alfred's calm voice right now. Alfred always knows what to do when it comes to the things Bruce doesn't (and then some).

"What seems to be the problem Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, his voice indeed holding that Brit calmness Bruce depended on during missions.

"He passed out in the shower." Bruce decided to be blunt and concise. "I don't know why but I can assume he's probably had some bad experience with water or small enclosed spaces. Maybe even both."

"And where is the child now?" Alfred asked with that same calm lilt.

"Out of the shower of course, he's still a mess and even more wet now. I wrapped him in a towel and he's resting on the rug right now." Bruce rubbed his forehead, feeling a deep sigh in his chest that felt more like a pit of despair. "I don't want to cross any boundaries while he's vulnerable like this but I don't see a way out of this that's positive in any way."

"Needless to say Master Bruce the hard part is hardly over, but I believe what you and the little master could use more of is communication. I have mentioned rules before, yes?"

"Yes but--"

"The boy needs stability, if you continue to tiptoe around each other you're destined to remain on this path that goes nowhere fast. I believe you both need to speak more. You, Master Bruce, need to tell the boy exactly what you expect of him and exactly what he should expect from you. He also needs to be able to communicate what it is that is bothering him. We are not mind readers, we cannot fix a problem we cannot identify. It would be even worse to mislabel a problem and try to fix that, such mistakes of that sort would be detrimental this early in his recovery."

Bruce sighed and nodded, "Yes, I'll try to avoid that, if I haven't messed any chance he has of recovery already."

"Master Bruce, I grow weary of saying this time and time again but you continue to put the weight of the world on your shoulders." Bruce winced at the butler's clipped words but nonetheless soft delivery. "The choices of others that lead to undesirable consequences are not your fault, nor are they your responsibility. The horrors the boy has lived through are over, you are never to be blamed for the terror someone else has chosen to deliver. He is a resilient child, he has lasted this long, I have no doubt he will make it sir. Regardless of however many times either of you stumble."

Bruce had nothing to say to that, nothing good at least. Alfred really was the best. "I really appreciate that Alfred, but..."

"But you still have doubts." The British man finished for him.

"I've just messed up so much, the mistakes I've made and the ones I'm making right now... how is he supposed to get better when I'm obviously not right for this? I'm making things worse."

"Master Bruce, you are not perfect. There is no possible human on heaven nor earth that would be able to navigate this boy's trauma perfectly. You will make mistakes and you will learn from them just as any human would. All you can do is try, Master Bruce. That is all anyone can do, and it is all the boy needs."

Again Bruce was struck speechless. He was staring off into space, still contemplating his pseudo grandfather's words when movement caught his eye. It was actually a sound but he hadn't been pulled from his thoughts until the motion started.

Danny was waking up.

"Danny is waking up now." He informed the butler. He felt his anxiety spike and he leaned back to take a deep breath, "I will try." Children are stressful, traumatized children even more so, but Bruce still hated that it made him feel anxious. He couldn't lose his control like he did when Danny was strangling himself. Bruce worked hard to be in control of his body to deal with stressful stimuli, he needed to be able to think clearly enough to make the right decisions. Its what made him a good vigilante, it saved lives. Rash decisions and half baked plans led to disasters, along with things like impulse control which he was trying to teach Dick. Bruce should probably practice what he preached, goodness knows children have that weird sense of fairness they demand. Of course, life wasn't fair, and out of everybody Bruce knew this first hand, as did Dick and even Danny (though whether he was aware of it or not was the question).

"Very good Master Bruce," The butler praised, and not a second later as to not give Bruce time to hang up, asked, "I suppose the child wouldn't have any preference of treat would he?"

A treat. Bruce closed his eyes briefly to thank whatever higher being bestowed Alfred to this household. "No, I suppose not. Thank you."

"Let me know when I should deliver the boy's clothes, Master Bruce."

"Of course," Bruce replied swiftly and hung up. He slipped his phone into his pocket and waited, watching trepidatiously as the boy took stock of his surroundings.

The bundle kept moving, his feet were kicking at the towel trapping him but not in a desperate sort of way. His hands traveled up the inside of the cocoon and latched onto the edge of the towel that was around his neck. His head was turned away from Bruce and Bruce didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Bruce remained still as Danny slowed his movements, then the bundle of towel and small child burst into a flurry of action. With the tiniest squeak of alarm his arms yanked up, opening the towel like a tent and his head moved to look inside.

Danny was checking if he was touched while unconscious.

After a few seconds of that, the child lowered the towel and finally looked over to Bruce. The boy's eyes widened as he recoiled with his back to the tub, tiny white knuckles gripping the towel too hard pulling the towel closer.

Bruce made sure to keep calm and still, if he had to move at all he made it slow and non-threatening. The boy was avoiding eye contact again, but it was very clear he was watching Bruce for anything violent. "Hey buddy, you alright? Does your head hurt?"

Danny's shoulders scrunched and his head ducked like he was trying to become one with the bathtub. Then he started shaking.

"It's okay Danny, you don't have to be afraid." Bruce started, eyebrows furrowing as his own fear was trying to claw up into his mind. "I'm sorry about the shower, I should have realized you had bad experiences with water."

Communicate is what Alfred said, but how was he supposed to get Danny to do that? The kid wasn't exactly talkative when bad things happen. Danny's shaking is what really concerned Bruce though, it was like the boy was going into shock. At least he had the towel that could sorta act like a shock blanket, but he knew from experience those blankets were heavy and actually helped settle whoever was in shock. This towel wasn't doing much for Danny, and he could safely guess neither was being naked under it.

"I'm going to get up now and I'm going to get you a drink," Bruce spoke slowly, rising from his seat just as cautiously with his eyes on the kid.

The little halfa just trembled in place.

Bruce turned away from the boy, focusing on methodically grabbing a plastic cup from under the sink (small paper cups were on hand but that wasn't going to last long for the kid with that tense of a grip) and filling it with cold tap water.

He turned around slowly, lumbering cautiously over to the kid before crouching down three feet away. "You know I won't trick you with vinegar and I never will. This is cold water from the tap, you can drink as much of it as you like, or none at all. It's yours." Bruce knew he was staring too much but he was desperate for eye contact, he really wanted to know how Danny was reacting to all of this and his eyes were the biggest giveaway. He slowly reached out one hand, holding the plastic cup around the rim and set it on the ground just shy of the boy's towel-covered feet.

Bruce counted it as a win when the boy didn't flinch or whimper, but non-reaction wasn't exactly good either. He didn't want to cause another dissociative episode. So he moved back, giving the boy his space, and started talking.

"I'm not going to force you to take a shower Danny, if there's another way you would prefer to clean yourself then we'll do it. I want to help you feel safe, and if that means going away I will." Bruce was hoping his words were getting to the child, they most likely wouldn't if he was in a dissociative episode, but he could try. Just try. "I also understand you're scared right now, you're scared because there are no rules here and you don't know how to keep out of trouble."

That got a reaction.

Danny turned slightly away, a shoulder coming up as if to shield him from the adult. Bruce frowned, weighing his options from here when one of Danny's hands darted out and grabbed the cup of water. It wasn't elegant in any sense, first he had to extract his arm out of the towel burrito and that took some fumbling and yanking. When he finally got it out it was clear the boy was terrified with his trembling hand holding the cup close to his chest, but even then the water inside sloshed a little like it was in the middle of an earthquake.

Bruce was glad he finally took the water, so he sat up straighter, internally wincing but not backing down when another quiet whimper came from the child. "We're going to start off with three big simple rules okay? Rule Number One; it doesn't matter what you do or if one of us gets mad, even if you brake a rule, no one here is ever going to hurt you. Rule Number Two; if you're scared of anything you need to tell someone, either me, Dick or Alfred. You will never get in trouble for saying when you're scared or if something scares you. When we know something scares you we will either explain it so it isn't scary anymore or we'll make it go away. And then here's Rule Number Three; you're not a prisoner here, if you want something specific or you would like to go outside all you have to do is ask. It doesn't matter if it's clothes or a toy, or if you want to take a trip to California, there's nothing I won't say no to." Bruce smiled for a second, remembering Dick asking for an elephant when he was younger. Bruce had almost said yes. "Anything within reason though, but you won't get in trouble for asking for anything. You are not trapped here and I can and will do anything to help you not feel trapped."

At some point during Bruce's speech Danny raised the cup to his lips, but with his wide cautious eyes averted to the ground he wasn't able to drink much. He sucked on the lip of the cup, tilting it occasionally (or it was just the tremors) so that the water would reach his lips and he'd make little noises. Bruce thought it was very cute, but he was able to read the boy's face as he spoke. Danny was getting a little overwhelmed with these three rules, but he was also relieved to have rules now.

Bruce decided to make it less confusing. "So those are the long rules, they might not make much sense right now but I can make them simple. Short rules are easier to remember anyway. So Rule Number One; no one will hurt you no matter what. Rule Number Two; tell someone when you are scared so they can fix it. Rule Number Three; tell someone when you want something."

He had put up his fingers with each rule he listed, his heart breaking inside at each simple rule that were supposed to be basic facts of life. Danny was staring at where Bruce assumed his core to be, and that gave Bruce an idea. "Danny I'm not going to lie to you, and you can check that right here," He tapped his chest and was rewarded with a quick flicker of real eye contact before the boy shoved his head down. However, Bruce could see a peak of his green eyes staring at his chest which made him feel a little better. "I'm not going to be perfect at making rules, they might not even make any sense to you, but what I'm trying to do is make you feel safe and be in control of your own life. You have a life Danny, it's precious and young, I want to protect that. The GIW should never have hurt you but they did, and I'm so sorry they did. I want to try to fix it if you'll let me. Do you want to try with me, Danny?"

The small halfa stared, then his hand holding the cup started to move, relaxing and squeezing in a way Bruce had seen him do before. It was a relaxing technique, the first one Bruce had seen so far since the boy woke up after the disaster in the shower.

Then he looked up right into Bruce's eyes and with a bob of his messy white hair he nodded.

Bruce felt his insides shudder in relief, it wasn't a cure-all, but it was the right direction.

"That's fantastic Danny, I'm glad." Bruce smiled, "Now I want to have a conversation with you so I'm going to try, but if you don't want to you don't have to try... Do you see what I'm doing with the rules?"

Danny blinked a few times, eyebrows scrunching his forehead in an adorable show of confusion and determination. When it was clear Danny wasn't going to answer but had finished thinking, Bruce explained for him.

"See Rule Number Three says if you want something you can ask, but that also means doing something; asking. You can always try, whether you succeed or not depends on all the variables of the situation. Rule Number Two says you can speak when you're scared, again giving you an option to try but you don't always have to succeed. And Rule Number One is the most important, that's why it's number one, it means that whether you succeed or not when you try will never get you hurt. There is no punishment for trying and failing, there's no punishment for not using the rules all the time. It would help me and you a lot if you did, but I'm just asking for you to try and I want you to know that trying is a good thing and failing isn't a bad thing. Does that make sense?"

"N-no hu-hurting?" The boy's battered voice with such an innocent plea made Bruce's heart ache but he swallowed that down and nodded. The child's face cleared, eyes widening and absentmindedly looked down in thought.

Then Bruce had a problem, he had no idea what to say next. Where was he going to go next? With that out of the way, the only thing Bruce could think of was the shower and he had no idea how to approach cleaning the boy up in a non-panic-inducing way.

"I-I want..." A tiny voice spoke up.

Bruce snapped to attention, staring almost in wonder at the curled up towel burrito boy. Danny's head ducked at the sudden movement but he took in another shaky breath to speak again.

"I w-want to... to t-try sh-shower... please."

"You want to try to shower again?" Bruce wasn't questioning him as much as he was flabbergasted. Danny just had a traumatic experience with the shower not fifteen minutes ago, and the kid wanted to go again? Bruce hoped it was because he wanted to try instead of whatever sick rule the GIW engrained into him.

Danny's cup moved over his mouth again, his breath making ripples in the water. He nodded shyly as he shifted in place.

"Are you sure?" Bruce asked with his eyebrows pinched in worry. Then he realized what he might be implying and decided now was the time to panic and overcompensate. "I mean I don't want to stop you from trying but you don't have to take a shower. If you want to try something else we can Danny, you have options. You could try a bath, or if you just don't like water at all you could just wipe yourself down with a wet towel."

Danny's shoulders scrunched and his mouth frowned deeply as he continued looking away, looking at the shower Bruce realized. But he shook his head again and set the cup on the ground next to him.

"Okay, if you're sure." Bruce shrugged but his worry didn't go away.

Danny started moving under the towel, obviously still trying to cover himself while he struggled to get to his feet. Bruce thought it was adorable, but he worried the boy might trip and fall on his face or something.

"Do you need help?" He asked, hand twitching as it instinctively wanted to reach out but he caught it. "Or can I trust you to tell me when you need help."

Danny shot him an odd look, it was full of fear yet right behind it was something hopeful, but it was all clouded by caution and confusion. Bruce held his hands up, getting to his feet easily and backing up a few steps in case Danny needed the space.

The child wobbled to his feet and Bruce again realized how tiny this boy was. The towel was more like a dress on the kid, covering from his shoulders to almost all the way to his feet. It couldn't have been the most maneuverable covering since Bruce had actually burritoed the boy. Having had tucked in a large margin of the towel into the tight wrapping around his torso, to keep it in place Danny had to hold onto that lip of towel. But when he had moved to take the cup he had pushed the towel around too much, undoing most of its tightness now unveiled by gravity.

Danny struggled with the towel and Bruce stood there stupidly, wondering if he was allowed to help or if the kid would be more sensitive about his personal space since he was unclothed. Bruce was about to offer his service when the kid finally figured it out, but the ending product not the greatest for coverage. He wore it more like a cape now, the two ends held together by his hands fisting the towel near his neck. Like Bruce's own cape it was great when he wasn't using his hands, but if Danny wanted to hold anything he'd have to open the towel and expose himself.

Danny seemed to realize this too and he looked at Bruce (well, Bruce's general direction) uneasily.

"I'm not going to touch you, remember?" Bruce spoke, still unsure of how blunt he should be with this topic. He didn't want to stir up bad memories but he hoped to bend it into a better experience with less... truama. "You have your privacy and I won't ever breach that. If you're uncomfortable at any time you can tell me to go away and I will. I promise you're safe here Danny."

The small halfa seemed to agree, giving the man another odd look under his head of scruffy white hair. Then he started to make his wobbly way over to the shower.

Bruce followed the slow child, wondering if he should surpass him and get to the shower first. But that might be intimidating, putting two things he's scared of together right in front of him, but he knew from personal experience it was no fun to have a threat both in front and behind him.

Bruce slid to a confused stop as Danny paused his walking. He turned to Bruce and the big man barely had time to lean back (attempting personal space) when the boy lunged for him. It was more of a lurch actually, like he tripped over something. In that time the small halfa had freed one hand under his towel and was reaching for Bruce's hand. Once he knew what the kid was doing Bruce leaned down slightly so the boy wouldn't have to reach so far. Their hands connected and Danny's tight squeezing hand still tried to be close to Danny as possible, resulting with a clingy child leaning on his leg. Bruce rolled with it though, feeling apprehensive but reminding himself not to think too much. 

Bruce just stared down at the little head of white hair, feeling warm when realizing that the kid had actually sought him for comfort. He still had to walk slow but he didn't dare move any faster than the boy was. It did worry him that the kid was clinging to him more the closer they got to the shower. Was Danny really up for this?

Then Danny flipped the script, Bruce was reaching for the shower sliding door so he could turn the water on when Danny left his side and put himself in front of the door. Bruce stopped, confused because the boy seemed to be shielding the door from him for some reason.

The small halfa stared up at Bruce, eyes wide and chest suddenly heaving. Bruce knelt down, allowing his worry to show on his face as he questioned the boy. "What's wrong Danny?"

A noise came from the back of the boy's throat and his shoulders scrunched again but he didn't move. His eyes darted down to the floor, caught between challenging Bruce with eye contact or staying low and submissive.

"Rule Number One remember?" Bruce said gently, leaning forward ever so slightly so he could remain in the boy's line of sight. "You won't get in trouble for asking for anything. If there's something wrong or anything you'd like, I'd be happy to help you."

Under the cape towel Danny's hand tensed over the ball of fabric he had gathered and he tugged it over his mouth, a simple refusal to speak. The detective had seen this before, and he wondered if the pattern would remain the same. Danny usually speaks after hiding his mouth. It was rather contradictory, but it was a pattern than had been upheld so far.

Another squeak came from the boy and he curled back. To Bruce's delight the towel came down a little, revealing his mouth slightly panting and moving, but to Bruce's concern, the poor kid couldn't seem to make any sound.

"Wa-ater." The boy choked out, clearly having trouble getting the words past his throat. "H-h-hurts..." The towel came up to hide his mouth again but Bruce was patient and was rewarded. "T-too h-h-hot. N-no no h-hot pl-please."

Bruce frowned deeply, then tried to discern if it was just the heat that hurt or the water itself. "You like cold water?"

Danny nodded his head, releasing a breath like a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry I made it hot the first time, most people usually like warm showers, I should have asked which you preferred." Bruce apologized sincerely, then had a different thought. "Would you like to turn the water on so you can get it to the temperature you like?"

Danny jolted in place but Bruce didn't want to call it a flinch, it was more like a surprised shiver. With his head still down Danny glanced at him through the corner of his eyes, seemingly judging Bruce's offer. Then he nodded.

Bruce nodded with him, smiling and gesturing to the sliding door behind the child. "Alright. Behind that door is a handle on the wall, turning it left gives you hot water, and turning it right gives you cold. To turn on the water you just pull out the nob."

Danny slightly relaxed, crisis diverted, though when he turned around he struggled to slide the glass door out of the way without losing his towel. Bruce was amused and grabbed the end of the rod and pulled for him, surprising the child but it didn't spook him horribly.

Danny hesitated to step inside for some reason, hands back under the towel and breathing audibly shaky. Concerned, Bruce again knelt down next to him, wondering if Danny would ask on his own or if he should ask what was wrong. "You okay Danny?" He decided on, a less direct way of asking what was going on with the boy. He internally sighed though, if it wasn't one thing it was another.

"B-box..." The child stuttered and his whole body shivered. He turned to Bruce, looking very much like a lost scared child. He leaned into Bruce, or more accurately; he leaned away from the shower, eyeing the small room trepidatiously and gripping the towel even tighter. "D-does the shower box drown me?"

Bruce blinked, not ready for that at all. "No, no the shower can't drown you. See?" He leaned forwards and pointed to the grated drain, "all the water drains away, and the water would escape out the cracks between the door and the wall. Look down here," He pointed to the ground where the door met the floor, indicating the two-inch slope of porcelain. "The water can only get that high if the drain is clogged, and Alfred makes sure all the bathrooms are in top condition so this drain definitely isn't clogged. No drowning."

Danny physically wilted in what Bruce chose was relief. Then the child made a little noise and seemed unsure what to do next. His eyes flicked between the shower and the door rapidly before slowly releasing the towel around his shoulders. He shied back into the shower as he presented the towel to Bruce, shoulders bunched around his neck and one free hand fisted there as well.

Bruce tried to ignore the scarring but there were just so many. His curled up arm covered most of the main center scars, though it didn't do much for the ugly Y shaped one. His formerly broken collarbone was hidden as well, so that left Bruce to take a look at the newest pains. The random cuts had faded or shrunk, a few burned areas still looked tender, but otherwise not much was visible. The bruises, Bruce decided, would have their own category of cataloging because they were everywhere. Some shaped like rods or whips, pinpoints that couldn't be anything other than some sort of cattle prod. Others were more... organic shaped. From this level, Bruce could clearly see the ugly ring of blue and purple bruises around the poor boy's neck, made by large hands that just made the boy look even smaller. Bruce nearly grimaced at the rest of the bruises, his body aching in sympathy because of course, he knew what being beaten to a pulp feels like. The pure blunt force trauma this boy had to go through...

.5 second examination of the boy's injuries done, he grabbed the towel from the boy's shaking hand. The child made no move to cover himself or turn away and something sunk in Bruce's chest. He didn't even know he hoped the boy's sense of privacy hadn't been shot but he was clearly wrong. A tiny part of him had wanted the small halfa not to have gone through something like that even if it had already been verbally affirmed yesterday.

Bruce raised a hand placatingly, "It's okay Danny, I'll give you some privacy." As the big man stood up he saw the boy go rigid. Frowning, he opened his mouth to console the poor child but whatever he planned to say left his brain when Danny lunged at him again. Danny grabbed the nearest limb he could find, which happened to be Bruce's leg, and fisted the clothing, stuffing his face into the fabric with a drawn-out whimper.

Bruce was at a loss for words, this was not the reaction he thought Danny would have. With Danny on his leg like this Bruce couldn't crouch down to talk to him face to face, so Bruce would have to make this work.

He let his hand ghost across the boy's wild white hair, attempting to comfort without sparking any more fear. "Hey, Danny, buddy. It's okay, it's okay. What's wrong bud?" He finally let his hand sink into the boy's hair, carding his fingers through and cradling the small boy's head. Danny clenched harder, holding the big man's leg like he was afraid Bruce was going to leave.

Hold on...

"Danny, I think I know whats going on, but I need you to speak to me, buddy," Bruce said, running another hand through the boy's wild hair. "I'm not going to go anywhere until you say so, okay?"

A sniffle came from Danny and Bruce lifted his hands so the boy wouldn't feel pressured to keep his head ducked. But Danny kept himself pressed against his leg, hovering his head close like he was afraid he would be ripped away from the man. With another sniffle, Bruce caught two watery green eyes peeking up at him.

The boy gulped loudly and he ducked down for a moment. Bruce waited patiently, suddenly aware the feeling against his leg was tiny breathing body. Danny's head twisted a few times, rubbing his face on Bruce's pant leg as he trembled. Another spike of emotion struck his heart because Danny was actually using him to calm down. Then Danny looked straight up and Bruce was hit with big shiny pleading green eyes. "S-stay? Please?"

Bruce sucked in a breath, heart swelling even more because how on earth did this kid just knock Dick's puppy eyes out of the park?

"Of course," Bruce promised, "I won't leave you when you need me."

They both seemed to realize it meant more than just the shower, that Danny wouldn't be alone to face the world that had been so cruel to him thus far anymore.

Danny's eyes were wide with surprise, his entire form almost jerking backward at the very notion he would be listened to and helped. His mouth opened again, but this time only a few dry squeaks came out and his fists clenched Bruce's pants tighter. The little halfa shoved his face into Bruce's pant leg again, this time in a way Bruce might have called a hug. It didn't last too long and Bruce didn't reciprocate in case that wasn't what the boy intended. When Danny finally moved to look up it was right at the shower's handle.

Danny asked if he would stay in the shower with him and Bruce had complied. It was mildly infuriating that these type of things kept happening, where he had no idea whether the actions of the boy was due to newfound trust (which was very unlikely if the past 24 hours have anything to say about it) or a sick and twisted logic drilled into him by the GIW. And now that scenario involved a shower and a naked traumatized nine-year-old.

Bruce internally sighed, not sure if HE was comfortable with this, but Danny needed him and if that meant being in the shower with the kid then so be it.

Bruce shuffled into the shower, his hand instinctually behind the boy's back but he refrained from touching, still unsure how Danny would react to such a thing in this type of situation. It probably wouldn't be good and Bruce had no intentions to messing up too horribly again. In his mind's eye he could see the future implications if this didn't go well, but he could also see how it would go well.

He internally shook his head, that's all the thought Bruce was going to allow this situation because it was go time.

It only took a few steps for them to get to the shower handle and Bruce reached up while an inquisitive Danny watched and twisted the showerhead to the wall. That way neither of them would get instantly pelted when Danny turned on the water.

When Bruce lifted a hand to invite the boy to turn on the water like he promised, his heart broke a little. Danny was looking up at him, again wide-eyed in surprise like he wasn't expecting Bruce to keep his promise. After a few seconds of staring, the little halfa turned back to the handle and took a breath before one white-knuckled hand let go of Bruce's pant leg. His slightly shaking hand grabbed the handle and with another second of hesitation, yanked the handle to the right.

Water instantaneously started pouring off to the side, arching a little before it hit the wall and cascaded down to the floor. Bruce heard Danny's breath catch, and just as quick as the water the boy was even more firmly attached to his leg. This time the pressure felt less 'hug' and more 'keep away from the threat'.

"It's okay Danny, I moved the showerhead so we don't get wet until you're ready, but the water isn't going to hurt you." Bruce murmured, then briefly touched the boy's shoulder to gain his attention. Danny flinched at the touch but his head shyly tilted upwards. Bruce put on his best reassuring smile and reached his hand out to the stream of water, letting it run over his hand. "See? It's alright, nothing bad is going to happen, I promise."

Danny stared at him, then at his hand. Again his eyes were wide with what could have been fear or shock, but Bruce saw a tiny spark of fire in those eyes. The little halfa took a few deep breaths and slowly detached himself from Bruce's leg, taking small tentative steps towards the water.

Meanwhile, Bruce walked over to the other side of the shower where the soaps were on a low seat-like ledge. Danny squeaked at his sudden movement and followed him, one hand latching onto his pant leg while his head bounced back between the water and Bruce. Then with a quiet nervous whine, the little hand went away.

"It's okay Danny, I'll stay here in the shower with you but I won't actually shower with you," Bruce said, visually checking the ledge before sitting on it. He was glad the large shower was big enough for the water not to hit over here, it was a good spot for him while Danny showered. Then he realized his wording might be confusing to the boy and when he looked up Danny had his shoulders hunched again and eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Bruce smiled gently and leaned down to roll up his pants, "I just mean that I don't want to get wet, I'm not going to take my clothes off."

Danny traded his weight on his feet while Bruce finished folding up his pant legs to just above his knees. Luckily he wasn't wearing his long sleeve shirt, he had traded the Batsuit for much more casual wear, but with the GIW on their case, he might want to invest in a more low key suit. Anyway, Bruce put his hands on his thighs and faced the nervous boy.

Danny shuffled over seemingly in a haze, shoulders hunched and hands curled up near his neck. Bruce noted that Danny seemed to be doing that a lot lately. When the boy stopped in front of him Bruce smiled and praised him.

"Good job Danny, I know this is scary but you're being very brave right now." He eyed the shower door though, wondering if Danny would freak out if he closed it or not. "Would you be okay with the shower door closed?"

Danny's eyes sparked with fear, but he didn't make any move to answer yes or no. His eyes danced between the two and Bruce shook his head. "That's okay, you don't have to, we can leave it open this time." Small steps, Alfred had said. The mission (miracle) right now was getting Danny used to the water (the GIW would drown him?!), they would have to deal with the other details another time.

"I'm going to move the showerhead now, but you don't have to get wet until you want to." Bruce stood up again and moved to reach the showerhead, Danny had since pressed himself against the closed side of the sliding shower door. Bruce didn't aim the water into the middle of the tiny room, instead keeping it off to the side so Danny had ample room of non-wet area but still enough room to be fully under the raining water. Bruce returned to his seat, picking up the kid-friendly soap and showing it off to Danny. Luckily Alfred had thought ahead and brought in some tear-free soap once he knew Danny would be staying here. "Whenever you're ready you can get in and I can help you with the soaps."

Danny nodded but hesitated to leave the safety that was the far wall from the water. One hand went up to his face and his fingers hid his mouth like he was nibbling at his fingernails. Then the hand retreated and Danny glanced up at Bruce. "...Safe?"

Bruce nodded with a smile, again getting up and he approached the water. He crouched next to the stream, his feet hitting the cold water he had since forgotten was cold. He held out his hand into the water again and with his other hand he beckoned Danny over. Danny's frown deepened but he obeyed with a few tiny steps of bare feet just shy of the water on the ground.

"Here, just feel the water." Bruce putting his other hand into the water, letting them both get wet as he smiled at the boy next to him. "It's nice and cold, it doesn't hurt at all."

Danny watched him carefully, eyeing his hands and his chest (his core), searching for a negative reaction. When he found none or decided he had searched enough he turned his stare on the water. Then he tentatively reached out one hand, letting the back of his hand feel the drops first. He flinched at first but then after a few seconds he plunged his hand deeper and turned it around so his palm was facing up. He pulled back his hand and looked down at his feet. Eyes narrowed in what must have been concentration, he cautiously dipped his toes into the splash zone. Danny's whole body froze, a gasp escaping his parted lips.

He quickly looked up at Bruce, pleasant surprise written all over his face. His chest heaved and his eyes stayed wide in wonder as he slowly integrated himself with the water. It was slow, Danny definitely took his time getting used to the water.

For a while Danny had refused to put his head under and only did it once Bruce had done it himself. With his head now dripping wet, Bruce had stepped out of the shower to grab for a towel to dry himself so his shirt didn't get too wet, not realizing Danny had taken a deep breath and stepped under the stream of water behind him. Bruce came back to a trembling red faced Danny who didn't know he could still breathe or step out if he wanted.

Bruce quickly told him he didn't have to stay under and Danny retreated from the water. They took a little break after that, Danny had taken to curling up against the dryer shower wall to reclaim his breath and his senses. Bruce waited with baited breath, hating every moment he couldn't coddle the poor child who sniffled and hiccuped where he was hunched against the shower wall.

They remained that way for a few minuets, until Danny started moving, using the wall to help himself up. He cautiously approached Bruce, head down and holding one arm with a grip so tight it looked like it would bruise.

Bruce had to verbally confirm he wasn't in trouble and that it was entirely okay to take a break. His hate for the GIW going up one more tick mark because Danny was expecting some sort of punishment for his freak out. Danny finally seemed to relax once Bruce reminded him of the rules and he even got a tiny conversation out of it. Apparently Danny didn't like closing his eyes under the rain of water as it reminded him of drowning. Once Danny was feeling up to it Bruce showed him how to tip his head back while he stood at the edge of the water so he wouldn't feel so panicked.

The rest of the shower wasn't too bad, he decided to 'reward' the boy with a less intense activity like introducing him to a loofah.

Danny spent a few minutes playing with the ball of spongy lace, face stuck in an adorable expression of intrigue. When it came to the actual washing Danny seemed glad to do it himself even though he was hypersensitive to Bruce's instructions. Danny and Bruce elected to a more controlled version of showering, washing each limb or section of the body at a time because Danny didn't like the feeling of the bubbles on his skin. (He muttered something about acid or some type of 'ecto'-goop?) (Bruce had nothing to say about that) So Bruce had to give Danny instructions to make sure Danny knew when one task was over and another began. That helped settle a few of Danny's nerves, but the kid still tried to get through the tasks as quickly as possible at the sacrifice of being thorough. Weather he knew it or not. The poor kid was decked in layers of grime, a simple pass of the loofah was not going to cut it.

That had struck a nerve in the boy. The first time Bruce had to tell him to rewash a limb because he hadn't gotten all of it, it nearly sent the boy into a panic attack. Bruce was able to calm him down again, reminding him of the rules and praised him for his bravery and obedience thus far. Danny even decided not to take a break despite Bruce's offerings, but he was much more cautious after that. Danny started checking with Bruce to see if his scrubbing passed his judgment before rinsing.

It wasn't said by Danny, but they both set clear boundaries regarding Bruce's involvement. Bruce was only there for instructions and to reassure Danny the shower wasn't going to fill up and down him (apparently, the GIW never drowned their own men, so his presence was pivotal in keeping Danny calm). Needless to say there was a healthy distance between the two, but despite fearing his touch, Danny nearly asked Bruce to wash his hair.

As enticing as messaging his own head was, Danny refused to put his arms over his head. He didn't give Bruce an explanation but Bruce didn't need one to understand. Bruce suspected Danny had only allowed it because Bruce had rubbed his head before and it hadn't been a bad experience. He was glad that had at least worked, with a background like Danny's first experiences were important for long term recovery.

Soon enough Bruce was shutting off the water after asking if Danny wanted to play in the shower a bit more and getting a firm no. Bruce could tell by the wincing every now and then that Danny didn't like washing his injuries (though they desperately needed them), but the contented relief on the boy's face once he was all wrapped up in a towel told Bruce he was also glad to be clean.

Alfred has long since came by and dropped off Danny's new clothes, informing Bruce he would have some brownies done and in the kitchen by the time they got out of the shower. Bruce had thanked him and now he set about instructing Danny how to dry off and get dressed.

Danny was excellent at drying himself, efficient if not a little glad. Bruce had to help with his hair again, Danny was adimant that the towel stay off his head (more likely obscuring his line of sight) so Bruce had to improvise. He wrapped his hand in the towel and rubbed as hard as he dared to dry the boy's wild white hair— which was turning much more silver now, he was almost sure it was glowing. However Danny refused to brush it and Bruce agreed, sensing Danny was at the end of his rope of patience for testing his limits right now. So he let the hair go wild, deciding that was a beast he wasn't going to be able to tame.

Once Danny was dry Bruce told the boy he wanted to put new bandages on his feet. Even when given an out Danny complied and allowed Bruce to wrap his feet while he sat on the counter. After that he got dressed all on his own, Bruce almost needing to remind him about the boxers but Danny quickly redirected his hands. Bruce saw an instant difference once Danny was fully clothed and he shoved that observation to the back of his head.

He walked up to Danny and knelt down, watching fondly as Danny examined his new shirt like it was the most interesting thing in the world. It was one of Dick's old shirts, it had a tie-dye spiral from the middle and was a little too big for the tiny boy's small frame. Danny's hands clenched the bottom hem, stretching the fabric out as he stared.

"Hey Danny," Bruce spoke to get his attention and the boy released his shirt instantly like it was hot. Bruce tried not to wince, already wishing for the day Danny didn't feel attacked any time he was talked to. He put his elbow on his knee, trying to look more conversational rather than threatening. "It's okay, it's a fun shirt isn't it? It has lots of colors."

Danny nodded shyly, letting his fingers pick at the bottom of the shirt.

Bruce smiled. "You did very well Danny, I'm proud of you for trying something difficult. How about we go down stairs for a treat? Alfred made some brownies while we were in the shower. I think you should have some."

Danny was completely bewildered. He blinked rapidly as his eyebrows stretched up in surprise then scrunched down with that 'I don't know what this means, should I be afraid of it?' look and Bruce suppressed a chuckle.

"Do you like chocolate?" Bruce asked instead, but the smile was real.

Danny shrugged his shoulders, frowning.

Oh, Danny probably forgot what chocolate is. Instead of anger, this time Bruce was sad. "It's a flavor, it can be a candy or a drink or a solid like fudge. Brownies are like little cakes of chocolate, usually with chunks of chocolate in it and no frosting. Would you like to try some?"

One of Danny's eyebrows went up inquisitively, it was adorable, and it was even cuter when Bruce realized Danny didn't know he was doing it. Danny nodded anyway and let one hand come up to pull at his shirt sleeve.

"Alright, would you like to walk down stairs or can I carry you?" Bruce asked, having learned letting the boy decide between two options was good if they were to get anywhere. Asking the boy directly what he wanted was begging for either a panic attack or really long super awkward silence.

Danny's inquisitive eyebrow left as he thought through his given options. Then he lifted both arms and made grabby hands. Bruce smiled and complied, telegraphing his movements before he hoisted the boy to his arms and stood up. Danny grabbed his shirt in one fisted hand while the other grabbed at his own shirt collar.

That reminded Bruce of the unfortunate event that had landed them in this particular scene. He was glad Danny wasn't scared of him anymore, or at least not more than he already was, but he wasn't quite sure how to approach the boy's earlier attempted suicide. Bruce had been paying close attention to their interactions and he couldn't spot anything that even hinted at suicide except for the constant effort to keep his own hands near or around his throat.

He would have to talk to Danny about it, for many reasons, but that would rather wait. Danny was content for once and Bruce could use a few brownies himself. They both needed something positive to sate their emotional demand for more energy. Panic attacks and the like were very emotionally draining, and while Bruce hopped the brownies would revive Danny (and give positive reinforcement for the difficult and scary task that was the shower) (and possibly reintroduce Danny to being a kid), he himself was looking forward to people he didn't have to tip toe around.

Yes, that would be nice. Danny needed some down time that wasn't filled with pain or panic. It was just brownies with the rest of the family. For once Bruce didn't think anything could go too wrong and he was right.

Hullo hullo! Lovely to see you all again!

Quick little rant here, sorta, I kinda need to get something off my chest.

(Warning, personal stuff ahead)

I honestly feel terrible it's taken this long for me to update anything, I wish I could write faster. Ngl I really do suck at writing, especially dialogue and I tend to ramble and elongate simple scenes. It's really frustrating not being able to write as well as I want no matter how hard I try because I actually have a literal writing disability. I haven't said much of it till now except for a few times to a few people, but writing is extremely difficult for me even if I enjoy it and stories. I love you readers much more than I hate my writing, in fact I wouldn't write at all if it weren't for you readers and I hate the fact I have to make you guys wait so long.

It's called Dysgraphia, in the simplest explanation it's Dyslexia except with writing instead of reading. It's it's more descriptive explanation is it's a motor memory problem. My hand and muscles do not learn very well, learning things physicslly is a giant tUrd. I can't learn instruments (pianos are pure murder to my brain), I can't take tests involving lots of matching, I can't even program my body into remembering how to hold a pencil. Seriously. I hold it different every time. Now matter the class or how it's taught I cannot grasp certain concepts, especially in writing because there's just too many variables and intricate parts. You know all the weird words for words? Verbs, adverbs? Stuff like that? Yeah I know jack squat about that despite all of my English teachers throughout the years attempts. Sentence structure is and will continue to be a friggin foreign language to me. I hate that I both can't learn it and it holds me back. I can't spell well at all and for the longest time I spelled phonetically cuz my brain and my hand couldn't grasp all the rules of English spelling. All the way until 6th grade. (11-12 years old)

It's really annoying, I was homeschooled that year because of bullies (you'd be surprised how much one gets bullied for not being able to spell correctly) and I had to get a tutor. It's not all bad though, sometimes I forget I even have it. And you'd think it would come up a lot more since I draw (literally a hand thing) but I mostly draw from my brain and I never ever draw something the same way twice, literally impossible for me to do. Sometimes my hand and brain don't cooperate and no matter how many lines I draw or how long I attempt to draw it just won't work out. Sometimes my hand will get in physical pain and it's almost a literal pain to organize my thoughts into words.  I love words and I love stories but I know I will never get to the level I wish to be at.

It's very frustrating because no one expects it, as humans we all assume whoever we meet can read and write just like they can because they're human. Especially here because we all literally write stories, but I absolutely hate putting my own thoughts on paper. It rubs me the wrong way because my thoughts are too chaotic and sporadic for my hand to keep up and I'll end up with a super long rant like this one that's super disjointed and terrible to follow. Even while texting my fingers don't always remember where all the letters are so Autocorrect is both my best friend (when it realizes what I'm saying) and my worst enemy (when it can't tell what I'm trying to say).

Okay ngl I don't know where I was going with this. Uh, my brain and hands are dumb, writing is awesome but unwieldy, I love you guys too much to stop. Yeah. So I don't purposefully mean to make you guys wait too long, either it's writers block or my brain is deciding it wants to eject the English language into space. I can tell you after a few months of working on this chapter and editing out the wazoo it is not a perfect chapter nor will it ever be. I'm honestly not sure why people like my writing so much when I'm so freaking bad at it. It's a freaking miracle anyone can understand my stories.

Anyway, rant over, I'm tired, my hand is starting to ache and my brain wants to stop thinking about words.

Good luck in the real world friends, I cannot give you any idea when the next update for anything will be up. But I will continue to try.