Hi. This is 22,024 words long (sans AN). I hope this makes up for my absence, I ain't done yet world. Hopefully you guys won't have re-read the whole story for this new chapter but yeh, enjoy! I'm excited cuz next chapter we get to meet some characters we didn't in the OG and they don't dramatically impact the plot but they're still kinda important. They're not OCs, hint, they're ghosties. 

Danny realized he liked being held. At least, how Bruce holds him. The GIW holding hurt, they grabbed hurting places and made it hard to move. Bruce holding was still somewhat restrictive, but it was warm and didn't hurt as much (if at all). It wasn't grabby, it was holding, like he was... um... well he couldn't quite place it, but the nice warm feeling from Bruce and his arms made him feel safe. The GIW never held him like that. He liked Bruce's holding.

He did not, however, like stairs. Thankfully he could be held while going down stairs, but even then it was still a bit jarring with the bump bump bump of each step going down. His hand holding his shirt near his neck tensed that much more every time they thumped down another stair. Also thankfully, stairs were not forever.

Danny sank further into Bruce's holding, enjoying the warm despite his inclination towards coldness because this was a nice warm and not a mean one. It wasn't burning like the water and it wasn't danger like the agents. It was such a different warm, he was sure being clean and out of the shower had something to do with it. He remembered... something, he wasn't sure what it was, but it had the same feeling of clean and safe and warm. Fluffy towel... red hair... kind eyes and giggly smiles. Safe, warm, and happy. He didn't want the nice feeling to go away.

He rested his head against Bruce's chest, bringing up his little fist that held the edge of his shirt and brought it to his nose, trying to keep the safe-warm-clean smell near and present. Pulling his shirt this way covered his neck and it further settled how safe and warm he was right now.

He watched the hallways lethargically, for the first time every nerve in his body wasn't screaming he was in danger or was on alert. So he watched everything pass, not quite taking in details but observing enough to compare to what he knew.

And sure, he had watched the hallways before but he'd been preoccupied and tense. He had scanned the walls for threats, taking in his surroundings— but unless they were actively going at him he ignored them. Only moving things hurt him (unless it was the zappy chair), and nothing on these walls moved so of course he didn't pay too close attention. But now he could because he was safe and warm and it was still startling to see so much color instead of the stale white and grays he'd grown used to with the GIW.

He didn't want to think of GIW hallways, he wanted to replace them with these hallways. Sure they were still windy-twisty like a maze, but it didn't feel dead or that something dangerous was around every corner. There was no blood on these walls, there was no white, nothing blinding and nothing bland. These walls were so pretty, so much to stare at, so much color and—

Whoa! Is that a tree?! In the hallway?! It's so tiny! Is it a tree? It doesn't have any wood... but it's all green and leafy! It's a tree! But it's not a tree! It has suuuuuper big leaves! And there was stringy grass stuff all along the bottom... or top —he corrected— of the pot.

Danny stared at it as long as he could, twisting in Bruce's arms just to keep looking at it.

"What is it, Danny?" Bruce spoke, startling the boy out of his fascinated stupor.

Danny huddled back down in the Bruce hold apologetically, fingering at his shirt's head hole that he covered his mouth with. He hummed uncertainly, not really sure what Bruce was looking for as an answer. What's what? Was he upset he covered his mouth? No that couldn't of been it, Bruce hasn't gotten mad about that yet. It was probably because he moved, stupid ghost. Holding was not for moving, it was for staying still, and Danny just went and ruined it. Was Bruce going to put him down? Danny wasn't supposed to get nice things if he fails. He technically never got nice things ever. At least with the GIW that was true. Except the new rule from Guardians said nothing bad would happen if he fails. He was glad to have rules now, but he wasn't so sure they were rules. Rules had punishments if broken, these rules specifically didn't. Danny had no idea how he was supposed to follow rules if there wasn't anything (painful) to remind him to follow them.

"Did you find something interesting?" Bruce asked instead of putting him down like Danny expected. Bruce was looking down at the little halfa as he continued to walk.

Danny's shoulders scrunched around his neck, humming nervously as he absentmindedly started sucking on his shirt. He kept his head down and stopped moving like he was supposed to, waiting for Bruce to do something. Then he froze and his eyes widened as he saw ANOTHER little tree that's not a tree just sitting there along the wall. He watched the little tree that's not a tree go by (without moving at all this time) and Bruce followed his gaze.

Once they passed the little tree that's not a tree, Danny looked over to find Bruce's core had a sudden surge of yellow. Oh, he did it correctly then! He messed up the holding before, but now he fixed it! Bruce was doing the thing— smiling— and that made Danny happy. Don't move during holding, that was okay, it made Bruce happy. Even if Danny wanted to see the little tree that's not a tree he was used to not being able to do what he wanted. Danny was content never seeing the little tree that's not a tree if it meant making Bruce happy. He never imagined he'd be able to see the plant later when he was able to walk these halls himself, or that if he asked Bruce would indulge him. The concept of freedom and want was still too foreign for him to get a solid grip on.

Danny's stomach fluttered anxiously, because now instead of going through the middle of the hallway Bruce approached the wall, stopping right in front of a third little tree that's not a tree! Danny's eyes widened even more, staring at the little tree that's not a tree before he looked up at Bruce, his shirt being yanked from his mouth by the movement.

"Is this what's got your attention?" Bruce's smile was gentle, the lines on his face said so. Danny nodded, fist rhythmically clenching at his now wet shirt edge near his neck while the other did the same to Bruce's shirt. Was this a good thing? What were they going to do? It wasn't going to try to kill Danny was it? Or was Danny going to have to kill it?

"What's so interesting about it?" Bruce asked, the yellow in his core pulsing a bit brighter and with a stronger hint of lime around the edges.

Bruce was happy right now though, Danny reasoned. Dick promised they weren't happy when Danny was hurting so that means when they ARE happy there is no hurting. There is no hurting right now because Bruce was happy, in fact whatever was going on was a good thing. Safe maybe too? He was still being safe-warm held, and he could still smell the clean from his shirt.

Danny's shoulders scrunched up anyway, "...um... tr-tree?"

Bruce then crouched down, the Bruce hold now much closer to the floor and the little tree that's not a tree. The big man used his free arm to reach up and touch the little tree that's not a tree. "This is a plant, a decorative plant that lives inside. It has a special name but I don't know it, I bet if you asked Alfred he could tell you."

Danny was in awe, he wanted to touch the plant too! Bruce was touching it, but Bruce was a human and Danny was not. Can Danny touch it too? He looked at the plant longingly, anxious fists letting go of their respective fabrics but he held them in his lap instead of reaching like he really really wanted to do.

"Would you like to touch the plant, Danny?" Bruce asked, still smiling as the yellow in his core overwhelmed the lime green. And purple-pink? Well there were lots of colors in the cores all the time, Danny always paid attention to the obvious ones. There was dark green too, some blue, and always that ring of black in the back that sometimes took over.

Danny gave Bruce a wide-eyed glance, just to make sure, and he dared to hope. His eyes must have asked for him because then Bruce nodded once and pulled the plant even closer. Danny's chest filled with delight, but also caution, because that's never happened before. The GIW never paid attention to when he would ask for things, and if they did they would always do the opposite to teach him ghosts can't ask for things. Things like stopping the pain when they electrocuted him or giving him water, or please don't cut him open today. They always cut him open and electrocuted him more, or gave him vinegar instead of water.

Danny— a ghost— just asked Bruce— a human— for something dumb (and even without meaning to) and Bruce said yes!

Danny stared up at the green fronds, the leaves on their stalks almost towered over him even if he was still being held by Bruce. He slowly reached over with one hand, fingertips grazing the slightly fuzzy stalk. He was completely enamored and his chest felt all fluttery. He poked at the big leaves, watching them sway and seeing all the veins in the light.

Danny was gentle as he brushed the palm of his hand along the grassy bit that was at the base of the plant. It was soft! But he had to be careful, these tiny thin grass plants were alive too! He didn't want to break them, Danny would be sad. Bruce might not like that either.

Danny shivered at the thought of Bruce's angry shouting and thump thump thumping closer all big and scary-like. Bruce was holding him right now though, there would be no thumping, just grabbing and shouting. Danny did not want to go through that again. He made sure to be gentle to the plant, better safe than sorry. At least here he wasn't tricked into being bad. Yet. Danny would only get punished if he actually did something wrong and so far he's only done two things that bad.

Not wanting to dwell on that for longer than he had to, Danny refocused back on the vibrant green plant. It was very pretty, it wasn't at all like the green in his blood. It was more... earthy, and real, but it still felt like something. Like it was alive.

It was alive. He could feel it. It wasn't like a ghost or a human, but all the same the plant could feel and wanted to live! Plants... plants live outside though... Plants need sunshine! Was this plant sad it didn't have sunshine? Was it hurting because it doesn't have sunshine? Was the plant trapped and bad and that's why it was inside and has no sunshine?

The plant didn't LOOK unhappy, it was so green! But maybe it was like Danny, it was surviving anyway. He gently patted the plant one last time before pulling his hand back, frowning. He would be gentle to the plant, like Bruce was gentle to him.

But why would Bruce be nice to him if he was punishing this plant?

"You okay Danny?" Bruce asked, confused by the child's sudden shift in demeanor.

Danny spooked. He wasn't sure why, but he was calm and peaceful in one moment and then all the alarms were blaring in his head as loud as his own screaming. The safe warm happy was gone. He flinched and shoved his head into Bruce's shirt while the rest of him braced for a hurting grab he was sure would come. He did this to the agents a few times, they couldn't hurt him if he was so close to them they'd hit themselves, but then the only way to hurt him was to yank him away from the agent he was attached to and that hurt.

"It's okay." Bruce rumbled above him and Danny felt the weird gravity sensation he later realized meant he had stood up. Danny flinched again with a tiny whimper when a big warm hand touched his arm. He had been expecting a grab, but the warm hand just rubbed, not even curling around his spindly, very grabbable limb. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Continued Bruce's calm crooning voice.

Danny let loose a tense breath, wincing again when his own warm breath just blew into his face. He didn't want warm right now. The hand on his arm went away and he relaxed a little, slowly letting one of his own hands (which was aching for some reason— but small pain like that was easily dismissed) pick at Bruce's shirt until he had a handful. He rolled his neck a little, just in case movement wasn't okay. When he wasn't met with hitting (which he wasn't totally expecting from Bruce, especially in this hold, but one can never be too sure) or shouting words he relaxed even more, letting his head rest against Bruce instead of pressing. When Danny felt safe enough he cracked open his eyes and saw a curl of pink in the man's core. Except it wasn't pink. It was like purple... but pinkish, it was right in between. He had seen this color before, it was even in the box of color sticks.

"What's wrong buddy? Remember, you can tell me anything and there's no punishment for asking questions." Bruce reiterated gently, moving his arms in a way that shifted Danny to a more secure hold. But still, it wasn't a hurting hold.

Danny felt his face heat up and he hunched even more to be small. His hand let go of Bruce's shirt to rest over his mouth, just his fingertips on the weird space between his top lip and his nose. Then he dared to speak, and not without exceeding hesitation. "Uh... um... plants, b-bad? Hurt plants?"

Bruce's eyebrows furrowed as he frowned, "I'm not sure I understand your question, Danny."

The child flinched even though he knew he wasn't going to get hit or anything. He just wanted to be small because smaller targets are harder to hit. Even if he wasn't going to get hit in the first place, small was safer. Smaller was safer, and Bruce wasn't going to do anything bad to him. Danny was okay. He was okay.

The GIW hit him when he asked questions. The GIW hit him when he had to answer their questions. The GIW hit him when he had to start over because the hitting ruined his answer. The GIW hit him when he talked. Even when they asked for it. They hit him a lot.

Bruce had never hit him before.

He took a deeper, shuddering breath, staring down at his fingers he moved to his lap. "Pl-plant need sunshine... no sunshine in here, bad plant? P-punish plant?"

Bruce blinked and shook his head. "No, no Danny the plants aren't hurting, I'm not punishing them for anything by bringing them inside. Some plants like shade, in fact, some will die if they're in the sun. They still get all the nutrients they need in here and they get watered every day. They're green and healthy, not hurting at all." Bruce walked swiftly over to another plant and leaned down a little to be sure Danny saw how bright and alive the green the plant was. "See? Healthy plant." He moved on down the hallway to another one, showing him this one too. "The plants are happy."

Danny stared at it for a while. Plants don't have cores, but Bruce does. Bruce was not lying. So Danny nodded his acceptance, but his worried frown didn't go away.

Now that that was settled, Bruce started walking again. Danny couldn't help but notice though, the pinkish-purple in the man's core was writhing like a fish in the rather calm sea of black and yellow. Bruce is so weird.

Danny looked up at the man's face but found that he was looking down at him, their eyes met for the briefest of moments before Danny squeaked and ducked his head. In front of his bowed head, a spike of blue slashed through all the other colors then retracted slowly. Then a dark green appeared and Danny almost forgot what that meant, but it came back, dark green meant hope.

"Dick is excited to see you," Bruce spoke rather awkwardly. Danny stayed silent because it wasn't a question and Bruce wasn't asking him to speak.

Danny did like Dick, he was smaller, smaller was always safer. Even if he was bigger than Danny, he wasn't as big as Bruce or the agents. Dick was a growing human. Humans do that, they start small then get biiiiig like Bruce and Agents. Did Danny grow? Danny always felt small... maybe growing was just a human thing.

But human things were also things like hitting and hurting ghosts. Dick never hit him, and even if he did yell that one time it wasn't AT Danny.

Well, he was chased that one time but that had been a mess of an event and Danny didn't really want to count it because he was punished for his badness afterward anyway. Though later Dick said it wasn't a punishment, but Danny knows. Punishment means he did something to deserve the hurt. Lab tables with all the sharp tools and gasses are just hurt. They don't need a reason when it comes to lab tables, the fact Danny was a ghost was reason enough. But that didn't mean they wouldn't use the lab table as punishment. They liked his insides for some unfathomable reason, but it was undeniably true. Here though, he was glad he was on the lab table only once so far, and they had made him sleep. They hadn't even opened his chest up while he was asleep, and he knew this because his Y scar was still the same as it was before so they couldn't have cut it open again. He wasn't sure what the point of lab table punishments if they didn't open him up and hurt him. Neither of which happened.

It made him realize how weird this all was. Danny had been with the Guardians for... how long? And he only was on the table ONCE and no one had punished (beyond the table) him for ANYTHING until he tried to collar himself. But even then it was just shouting and grabbing but nothing HURT him. He didn't understand that, he didn't understand a lot of whatever this was. There was so much... nothing. No hitting, no shouting (mostly), no pain unless the GIW was involved, and that one time on the table. So weird. Even what was happening right now, he was being carried! Gently! Right after he had done something bad! And... and... Bruce said something about a treat? Treats were good things, right? 'Choke a lot' or whatever he had said. He uh, he was ignoring his own interpretation, he knew it was wrong and Bruce said it was a good thing so Danny was holding onto that. Besides if Dick was there it was more likely to be safe.

Danny sighed through his nose, his mind already having a pre-made argument against the safe because why not. But he was tired, tired of arguing in his head. Too brain-tired. He was tired of thinking. In fact, everything was tired.

"Here we are." Bruce speaking jolted Danny out of his thoughts, bringing him back to reality where they were entering the big table eating room.

Danny felt better when he saw Dick sitting where he sat last time they ate at the table. Yes, Dick was here, that was good. As Bruce moved forward towards where Danny had sat before, Dick made eye contact with Danny. Danny stared back because Dick was so bright. He was so light and his smile was so big and his core had to be on fire or something because it was shining yellow so much.

"Hey, Danny! You clean up nice! Did you enjoy the shower?" Dick jumped straight to talking as Danny was set in his seat. It was so nice and more safe feeling than silence or even Bruce talking that Danny wasn't frowning. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning either.

He kept staring at Dick, so confused and oddly delighted by the older boy's sudden brightness that he completely missed Bruce leaving him in his seat. His hands still wanted to do something though, he kept them in his lap, scrunching his pants methodically. Danny nodded to Dick's question, the shower wasn't bad like GIW water things and he liked being clean even if he didn't like scrubbing. He wasn't exactly sure what 'enjoy' meant, or if he was supposed to enjoy the shower.

But his nod made Dick celebrate with long "Woohoo!" words that startled him a bit. At first, he thought Dick was in pain, even his brightly glowing yellow core pulsed white for a moment, but these howls were nothing like Danny's own howls of pain, and nothing (that he could see) was causing it. But once he realized Dick was fine, in fact, better than fine, Danny relaxed again.

Bruce sat in his own chair, letting out a little sigh as he did so. "We had a few bumps but it turned out alright." He told Dick in English, but Danny was so enthralled by Dick (well, enthralled by his yellow core) he completely missed the language change. But then Bruce started speaking again and Danny started paying attention, a creeping feeling crawling across his neck because Bruce wasn't talking to him. He was clearly speaking to Dick using the language Danny couldn't understand very well, probably talking about him just like the agents did. It made Danny shrink in his seat, wanting to avoid the words being talked over his head because he didn't want to be what they were talking about. But he paid attention to their cores, always their cores, they told the truth when he didn't understand what they were saying.

"He seemed interested in the house plants on the way here," Bruce said, the words meaning nothing to Danny's ears. His core soured into blue and a bit of red appeared as well while his mouth kept making the English words that didn't make sense. "Then promptly asked if the plants were being punished by being inside."

Danny blinked slowly at Bruce, feeling himself tense up because Bruce was tense. Red was never a good sign in a core, no matter how brief. Dick's yellow core retained its yellow self but it recoiled like it got hit, the shiny glowy went away. That had to be a bad thing, but Dick was still smiling. It was a different smile though, the lines on his face no longer said 'happy'.

"Well, at least you cleared that up, right?" Dick responded in English and Danny felt a bit sad for some reason. Curiously enough though, the pink-purple sunk into Dick's core, invading the yellow like a leech.

Danny was slightly frustrated he didn't know what they were saying, but he was used to being talked over and simply waited for them to do something to him. While he understood their first few words the rest of their sentences were lost on him and he gave up trying to understand. His eyes blinked slowly and he rubbed one with a curled up fist, the action going unnoticed by his two guardians.

"Yes," Bruce dipped his head at the same time he rubbed the side of his face. "He was alright after the shower, but something obviously happened between there and here because he's scared of me again."

Dick sighed, "Well that part just takes time won't it?" His gaze slid over to the child sitting patiently with his head ducked. Danny was eyeing them, dull green eyes slowly flicking between their cores. He was so small and fragile, yet so unbelievably strong. Danny deserved the world and as many hugs as he could take.

"Danny hasn't... tried anything else has he?" He asked slowly.

"No," Bruce responded quickly and sounded exactly how Dick relaxed internally, then Bruce continued. "If anything, the opposite is the problem. He's very careful about his body."

"That's..." good? Dick's open mouth paused as he tried to find the right word. They were trying to get Danny to relax not become hyper aware of his safety. Which he seemed to have been doing beforehand too. If normal Danny was paranoid about sitting in chairs, what was hyper aware paranoid Danny like?

"-different." is what he went with. At this point, Danny was just as confusing to the heroes as the heroes were to Danny. Then Dick shook his head like he was physically ridding himself of dark and confusing thoughts and smiled again as Alfred came in with a tray of mouth-watering brownies.

He squirmed happily in his seat, watching Alfred set down the tray on the table. "Let's just eat brownies," he said as Alfred slid a nice warm gooey square of chocolate onto his dessert plate. Dick had a bite in his mouth (forgoing any utensils) before Alfred served Bruce his brownie, then he looked at Danny who still had his head ducked but was obviously watching the moving butler for anything threatening. Something odd settled in his gut next to the brownie, and he didn't like it. Danny wasn't paying attention to Bruce and Dick at all, it was the complete opposite from normal paranoid Danny. Until it clicked.

Danny was waiting. Waiting for them to finish talking and do something to him because of course the GIW would talk over his head about things he didn't understand until they started hurting him. Dick hated how his eyes looked so dim and tired, his attention was here but it wasn't here. He was waiting for the adults to finish talking about him while he was in the room, to finish talking in a language he didn't understand. Dick's gut flipped unhappily.

Dick swallowed before speaking, his brownie still in hand as he spoke. "And we probably shouldn't talk over Danny's head like this. We need to teach him English, not use it against him."

Bruce sighed, sounding strained. "I am trying."

Dick's eyebrows knit together, taking another look at his adoptive dad because that wasn't a tone that often came from him. His shoulders were slumped uncharacteristically, he still had one hand over his face and he was staring at the ground (or table in this case). He looked worn out emotionally, and while Bruce wasn't one with the best handle on emotional issues he always tried his best. Poor guy looked like he just ran an emotional marathon, something his emotions weren't athletically trained for.

Dick's heart felt for the man and he leaned over to pat his shoulder, "It's okay papa bat, I can handle Danny right now."

Bruce leaned back to stare at his adopted child with a frown. "No, he needs both of us. I'm not leaving you alone with him again. Together, remember?"

Dick smiled ruefully, but not without genuine gratitude that Bruce had remembered. "Ya know, this would be a lot easier if we both weren't heroes." He remarked with a smirk.

Alfred lightly scoffed as he delivered Danny (who ducked rather violently at his approach) his brownie. Dick felt his stomach twist as he recognized the fact Danny had been expecting something harmful from the butler, maybe even because they were talking over him.

"I'm afraid the lack of any capes wouldn't deter such action, Master Dick." Then Alfred went back to the kitchen, returning with three cups of milk to give to each of them.

Dick smiled at that too, then focused his attention on Danny, who was staring at his brownie with considerable intensity. It was honestly adorable, but he was obviously wary of the brownie, like it was going to come alive and attack him any minute. Even with his eyes alert to the apparent danger that the brownie was, he still had those tired dim eyes that were used to such things being dangerous.

Dick switched back to the language the kid understood better, hoping to bring him back to the present situation without a scene. "You like the house plants, Danny? They make the house more homey don't they?"

The halfa startled, surprised at suddenly being addressed (and not attacked— physically) with words he understood. He stared up at Dick, blinking away the haze that had descended upon him while he had waited. It took him a second to actually understand the question, he hadn't been totally paying attention because he never needed to before. That thought alone should have made him scared but he found himself oddly numb to it, and he recognized the feeling. However, it didn't take him long to nod along, but even in the language he understood he wasn't sure what 'house more homey' meant.

"And hey, look!" Dick gestured to his plate, probably meaning the brown square he'd been given. It looked like poop, but not, and it was a square, AND it smelled good instead of bad. "You have your treat! Alfred makes the best desserts. And meals. And pretty much everything."

Danny stared at his 'treat'. This was a treat. What was it supposed to do?

He didn't mean to be anxious, he knew this was supposed to be a good thing, a happy thing. He just left that haze he got into when he waited for the talking to be over and for the pain to start and there wasn't any pain. He was still waiting for it, but it wasn't coming... probably. It was just really hard to remember this was Guardians and not GIW. The GIW liked to throw him into things blindly and let him suffer when he did it wrong, then let him keep suffering when he did it right because he was supposed to be suffering. Guardians were better because they explained things... mostly. They explained, but that didn't mean Danny understood. Although nothing ever really hurt him... at least nothing he didn't deserve. There was a whirlwind of possibilities in his head and he wasn't sure what to expect.

He looked up at Dick, silently pleading for answers because this was getting scary.

Dick's core rippled and the pink-purple returned, closing in on all the other colors like it was suffocating them. He was frowning now, but a gentle smile quickly returned as Dick lifted up his own square, it had a corner gone though. "It's okay. You eat it, Danny. It's a brownie, it's made of chocolate and eggs and flour and sugar, and probably a lot of other ingredients. But you bake it and eat it! It's really tasty and fun to have every now and then." Dick smiled and showed off his brownie square then put the square in his mouth.

Eat the treat.

Danny looked down at his treat. The brownie couldn't stare back.

Okay, easy enough, Danny could do that.

He resisted the urge to... to... well he didn't know what, he was feeling very weird right now. There was a new war in his head, but it was the old war. The war that had started ever since Danny was told he was safe. This whole 'safe' thing was a new element the GIW never touched, they never pretended to be safe, he just knew that's what they weren't. But now guardians promise safe and Danny has no idea if it's true. And Danny had just come back from the waiting haze to find that he wasn't being hurt when he was expecting it, it was off-putting.

There was too much going on in his head, for the second time he felt tired in the head. He needed to stop thinking so much, he was working himself up when there was no clear reason to be scared or worried. The treat must be safe, Dick was happy so that means no hurting right now, the nice Agent A had given him (the ghost) the same brownie as he gave the others (the humans) so if it was safe for the humans it would be safe for Danny. They weren't going to trick him.

Well, they could. Blood blossoms didn't hurt humans but they hurt ghosts.

But Danny was too tired to be scared of being tricked. If he was tricked then he was tricked. He'd scream in pain if it hurt and wait for it to be over. If it didn't then he wouldn't scream in pain and wait for something else to happen.

Danny picked at his brownie, feeling it squish under his probing finger and finding it to be warm and spongy. His other hand reached up for his shirt edge near his neck as he continued to poke at the brownie, picking off a clump that seemed to be gooped together. He picked it up, the warm brown goo was squishy between his fingers but it held well enough. The halfa brought it to his mouth, not yet eating it but looking up at Dick just in case.

Dick nodded encouragingly, picking off a clump of his own brownie exactly as Danny had and putting it in his mouth happily. He even hummed in pleasure, eyes squinting in that happy way. Danny looked down at his clump then up at Bruce. Bruce was using a sharp silver thing, Danny had been given one before but he hadn't touched it (not knowing it's purpose/function). Bruce smiled at him too, putting both the silver sharp thing and the brownie on it in his mouth. Danny watched quizzically, utterly bewildered and waiting for Bruce's mouth to bleed and hurt. But nothing happened, Bruce's core didn't show even a hint of white and his mouth didn't bleed and there was no pain in his face. He swallowed the brownie and even stabbed the brownie square to deliver more brownie to his mouth.

Huh, so it just transferred food to the mouth. Why would Bruce use it when Dick just used his hands? Maybe small humans aren't allowed to use it? But he, a ghost, was given one before. What? Well, it doesn't matter for now. He had a task to fulfill at the moment.

Danny breathed in and stared at his clump, then he put it in his mouth.

His eyes went wide.

He stared at nothing as the taste really set in, the rest of his body completely freezing at this new sensation. Danny couldn't even put it into words, all trains of thought absolutely crashed. There was so much happening in his mouth, his tongue felt on fire but it wasn't pain. Maybe. Kinda. He was scared for a moment because it did hurt, he had subconsciously been expecting it to hurt and it did. But then it stopped hurting. And all that was left was... something.

He blinked his suddenly wet eyes rapidly as he remembered to breathe and looked at Dick. Dick was smiling fondly, core pulsing with that worry color but also happy yellow too. Both the dark green and the light green edged around the main colors. "It's good, isn't it? You like it?"

Danny didn't know what else to do other than mimic what Dick had done earlier. He hummed his satisfaction, making a long happy "Mmmmm!" sound. Danny looked down at his brownie, picking the entire thing up in his hand as he marveled at this ugly poop thing that tasted like good. He approved of this treat, it was good is what it was, good tasted like this. He lifted it to Bruce, repeating his happy "Mmmm!" sound because it was good!

Bruce smiled, nodding along and making his own "Mmm," But then also talked. "Alfred makes great brownies doesn't he?"

Danny lifted the brownie into the air in celebration like he'd seen Dick do, unsure what to do with this happy feeling in his chest but letting his body just do. He made more humming happy sounds and cradled the brownie in his hands, deciding this was the best thing ever. So he ate it, he ate it and tasted the good again. It was such a good warm and it was a good mushy and... and... it was just so good!

He tried not to eat it too fast, wanting to savor every bite and deciding he'd shower a thousand times over if it meant he'd get a brownie afterward. His tongue was exploding in a good way, he had been so startled at first that it had hurt but now it didn't and it was all good. But even if it did hurt every time he'd do it just to taste the good that was after it.

He was so enthralled he didn't realize he was making a mess with his brownie, it was all over his hands and his mouth and he was going to lick them but Alfred stepped in. Danny dropped his brownie back onto his plate like it was hot, figuring he had done something wrong. The older human presented him with a white thin thing, Danny just stared and waited for it to hurt him.

That's when Dick and Bruce explained it to him so he calmed down a little. He wasn't going to get hurt -Guardians said so. He watched Dick use the white thing (it was called a napkin) first, even though Dick didn't have a big mess like Danny. He copied Dick carefully, looking to Bruce to be sure he was finished and did it right.

At Bruce's nod, Danny set the napkin down and realized he had a cup of the white stuff he'd seen before. Milk, he remembered it being called. He grabbed for it, setting it in his lap, and a little surprised it was cold.

He brought the drink to his lips, nearly spilling when the taste wasn't quite right. He examined the white drink just to be sure it wasn't something else. It wasn't bad different, but the sweet was gone and even the cold made it taste different. He looked up at Bruce, eyebrows furrowed in confused fear.

Bruce looked confused too, then he looked down at his drink and his face cleared. "Oh, sorry Danny, this is regular milk, I gave you warm sweetened milk last time, it was to help you sleep better."

Danny considered this, nodding his acknowledgment of Bruce's words. Bruce was nice, he answered questions without hurting him. Dick was great too, he did happy things and talked good words.

He drank the milk, surprised when the brownie taste mixed with the milk, and suddenly all the warm sticky was gone but the cold fresh from the milk was like another explosion for his taste buds. "Mmm!" He hummed again, cheeks bulging, full of milk he forgot to swallow while he'd been concentrating on the taste. He set the cup down, swallowing quickly before attacking his brownie again.

This time he made sure not to make a mess though, he had to clean it up with a napkin the first time and that hadn't hurt, but maybe next time they'd hurt him because maybe using the napkin more than once was bad. Though... maybe not? The GIW was all about making him hurt, and again the Guardians seemed to be the opposite. Not only did they not hurt him, but they were also even making him happy!

So weird. So... so unexpected and odd. Danny considered again the fact they might not be human at all, no human was this kind to him, to a ghost. But, they had cores, ghosts didn't have those, and he knew for sure humans had them so they had to be humans.

Really really weird humans.

Dick and Bruce were watching with kind, almost sad, smiles. They were thrilled Danny was reacting so positively to the treat and the milk. The boy really came to life, for once acting like an actual child who was messy and loud and didn't have a care in the world. It warmed their hearts but made them clench as well. It was such a different Danny than what they've seen and encountered. They wanted this Danny to stay, the Danny that felt safe enough to make messes and was happy.

This happy child Danny was not going to stay. Realistically this was just one happy moment between the boy's active terror of them and his past trauma. Danny would have more happy moments like this, eventually (hopefully) happy moments (and even days) would become the normal, but that wasn't a realistic expectation just a few days after freeing him of his captors. And even then, the GIW were still making efforts to ruin the boy. As far as first few 'recovery' days go, these were definitely not the best. But for now, they basked in the delight the child had in the sweet treat.

Danny really liked his treat, but he was also really tired. His brain was tired of thinking and his body tired of moving. As excited as he was it was a lot of excitement he had never really felt before, he used up all his energy being excited and now he was crashing. The brownie was warm in his hands but it was also warm in his tummy. He only nibbled halfway through his brownie when his eyes started to droop tiredly. The little halfa lethargically bit tiny bits of brownie off -not even chunks- as he failed to fight to keep his eyes open.

He was crashing for sure. It would happen a lot with the GIW, where they used him too much that he just couldn't stay awake anymore no matter how much they zapped him or shook him. He wouldn't be more than a rag doll then, but here he wasn't being zapped or grabbed and shaken. Here he could curl up and sleep because his body was telling him to because he was going to become unconscious no matter what. The guardians weren't stopping him, and they wouldn't be able to keep him awake if they did start shaking him.

And a little tiny part of his brain said they wouldn't try, hoped they wouldn't try. Guardians said they wouldn't touch him without asking, well, Dick had said so, but Bruce also kinda said it during the shower, Bruce had said he wouldn't touch at all. He really liked the idea of that, but he wasn't sure he could trust such a promise. He found himself holding onto that tiny hope anyway, because this time his hope wasn't fake. The GIW would always hurt him, but the Guardians... they kept being nice to him. Really really nice. Maybe they didn't do the game where all the expectations are flip flopped and Danny is left to writhe in pain for whatever rule he had assumed was right was actually wrong at that moment in time. So far none of the rules had flip flopped. It was... it was nice. Weird, but nice.

Along with that hope was fear, because rules had never lasted this long before. Rules had never stayed the same long enough for Danny to follow them and keep himself safe. It was always pain and that was the game. But here the rules were followed and didn't change (so far at least). This had never happened before and new was always bad. Except here, again. A lot of things didn't happen here. Weird.

He let the thoughts of rules float away, he was tired and the humans were being so super nice right now. Too tired to think of rules, of how to survive them, he didn't need to. These humans didn't hurt. They promised. He liked humans that didn't hurt. It felt... it felt like good warm. Good like the brownie.

Eventually, after ten minutes of sleepily picking at his delicious brownie, he set the treat down and drew his legs up to his chest. He wrapped his arms around his ankles and set his cheek on his knees, eyelids already solidly closed.

He drifted off just like that, not realizing Dick and Bruce were watching.

They saw the boy's energy slowly fade out until he stopped attempting to eat and curled up right there on the chair and fell asleep.

Bruce and Dick stayed carefully still.

But that didn't stop Dick from nearly squealing in excitement, practically radiating how much he thought the scene was cute without saying anything (as to not disturb said scene). The excited acrobat squished his hands on his cheeks, mouth opening to 'awwww' but doing so noiselessly. Danny was just too cute. Bruce watched fondly as well, they must have done something right because this traumatized child felt safe enough to sleep in their presence.

Although, Danny had fallen asleep in their (well... his) presence before, right after the GIW almost snuck off with Danny. Danny had no rules or promises then, Bruce had barely interacted with the boy beforehand and not all of it was fantastic. So maybe falling asleep near them wasn't a sign of trust as much as it was just his body shutting down. Bruce worried about the amount of brownie he ate, or how much he eats at all. Danny needed more food if he wanted to keep his energy for activities.

It suddenly occurred to Bruce that Danny fell asleep after being happy over brownies. Being happy had exhausted him.

Bruce made a mental list of important things for Danny, and at the very top he put 'eat a lot more food'.

Alfred came and collected their dishes (quietly enough that Danny was left undisturbed) and Dick got on his phone. Bruce asked Alfred to bring him his laptop so he could do some work there while Danny slept. Poor kid needed it, but Bruce didn't want to chance him waking up badly to being moved. So they all stayed there in the dining room, a small ghost kid silently sleeping in his chair while Dick texted excitedly to Wally and Bruce researched the information the GIW gave him.

And what a weird trove of information he was given...

These files were the ramblings of a mad scientist. And Bruce would know, he tangos with mad scientists all the time. But these weapons were also... modified. Half the information was from one mad scientist then the other half was written by the GIW. He could tell by the way the information was talked about and the 'modifications' to the original weapons.

And they were ghost weapons for sure, specifically designed to subdue, capture, or otherwise incapacitate (and even exorcise) a ghost. The weapons, pre-GIW-modifications were weirder but more scientific. These were tools, not weapons.

The scientists who were not GIW were a couple to his surprise, named Madeline and Jack Fenton. The name felt familiar, an odd prickle at the back of his mind saying this was important, but he didn't know why or how. But knowing the real scientist's names was a mistake on the GIW's part. He'd hold off judgment until he met them, but already they seemed saner than the GIW put together. Their notes were much more focused on the science, and there were hints of actual fascination and intent to protect humans rather than obliterate ghosts. The same could not be said for the GIW, every modification was cutthroat (almost literally) and to the point. They wanted ghosts gone.

The Ghost Shield file was almost self-explanatory, and the least GIW-modified. It could keep ghosts in and keep them out, even going underground in a large bubble so even if the ghost phased through the ground there would still be a shield to stop them. The GIW modified it into a taser-shield, to physically harm any ghost that touches it.

The Spector Deflector was a belt, made to ward off ghosts' ability to 'overshadow' them. It was worn by all GIW agents and modified to zap any ghost who even touched them. Bruce got a little sick when they noted that putting a Spector Deflector ON a ghost (they specifically mentioned Danny, or at least the serial number they gave him) it caused them to 'mimic' excruciating pain to trick the human into removing the Spector Deflector so they could have their full power back. They mentioned Danny 'reverted' when wearing the sector deflector, but failed to elaborate on what exactly that meant.

The Ghost Peeler wasn't actually all that bad from what Bruce was expecting. It was a suit, a portable suit formed to look like a blaster. When fired it actually latched onto the wearer to make a combative ghost-proof suit. Once in suit form the gun then does damage to the ghost when fired upon. It apparently takes off... layers... of a ghost. It is meant to battle high-tiered ghosts, the blast strips them of their lies and tricks, even their life-force. Life-force meaning the ghost's entire being, the life they hold onto after death. The Ghost Peeler weakens them to the point of easy capture. On low-tiered ghosts, it just... disintegrates them.

The Ghost Gloves are able to interact with ghosts who are invisible or intangible, even being able to take a ghost out of a human they are overshadowing. It can reach inside a ghost, and the ghost is powerless to stop it. even going so far as to reach inside a ghost, grab their insides, and pull them out. Danny was again mentioned as a test subject.

Clicking on the next file is something Bruce recognized, labeled Booo-marang. Its function is a tracking device, locked onto Danny's ghostly signature specifically. But it gave no clues as to why the giant ghost dog Dick nicknamed 'Cujo' was after it. With nothing more to learn, he moved on.

Blood Blossoms. This was a big file.

Bruce felt everything else disappear as he dove into the information. Natural ghost repellent. Natural ghost shield. Natural ghost weakener. Natural ghost destroyer. It was an all-in-one, and the GIW was squeezing every last drop of ghost agony as they could get from this weapon. They made it into a grenade that instantly vaporizes ghosts on contact. They made it into a liquid form when sprayed on ghosts acts like an acid that deconstructs the ghost and eats through them like candy. They've made it into blades, guns, shields, electricity. Anything and everything they could possibly weaponize with the stuff. And Danny was the test subject for them all.

Bruce's heart ached for the boy, taking his eyes off the screen that just wrote horror after horror done to the child sleeping soundly next to him. Danny really was small, he was just a child, beaten down and dehumanized at the developmental stage where he should have been coddled and taught and loved. Instead, he was a science experiment, an inhumane one. And those monsters wanted him to believe Danny was the malicious one?!

Bruce focused back on his laptop, if he stared any more at the kid he was sure to wake up with the amount of pure anger radiating from Bruce right now. There was one last file, the one that had appeared later than the others, the one titled 'Fair Game'.

He clicked it open and found a map of the facility.

Well no, it wasn't the same facility Bruce had rescued Danny from, it was a different building. It gave no location for this building (something Bruce sorely desired), in fact, the file was very bare like it was thrown together last minute.

This building was all one floor and definitely GIW made. It was more of a maze, but instead of rooms for experimenting, there were rooms for containment. There were more storage rooms and manufacturing rooms, nothing like the facility Batman had run through when he found Danny.

Then there was a list, a list of prisoners.

Pandora, Vortex, Nocturn, Fright Night, Frost Bite, Desiree, Amorpho, and Technus. These were all names of ghosts, none of them rang any bells except for Pandora. Bruce would have to ask Diana about that one. Below the list was some text, barely a few sentences long.

The Ghost Zone is sick, they are killing it. We do not expect you to care for us and our kind, but what they don't understand is our worlds are connected. Death will always be connected to Life. Kill one and you kill the other. If you truly care about the halfa you rescued you will stop the GIW from destroying the entire fabric of the universe. There are whispers of plans, Time is running out.

Beware Penelope Spectra, Walker, and the Halfa who cannot be trusted. There is little hope left. The little halfa is all that is in between our worlds and oblivion.

And that was it. Nothing more. This file wasn't made or given by the GIW. It was a call for help.

Bruce jumped in his seat at the same time Dick dropped his phone when Danny shouted. With their attention now on Danny, they realized he must have been whimpering quietly in his sleep until now, both having been too distracted to take notice until he shouted. The small ghost was now curled up in the corner of the chair, feet scrambling against the cushion like he was trying to get away from something. His eyes remained closed but his head was thrown back and his hands dug at his throat.

Bruce was instantly out of his seat, reaching for the distressed child who was clearly still asleep. Bruce was a fool for thinking Danny would sleep soundly, especially if the last two times said anything about it. Even just waking him up was a dangerous adventure on its own. Bruce wanted to fix that, but right now Danny was still asleep and still freaking out. Night terrors weren't exclusive to night time, right? Just sleeping? Heaven knows Dick had nightmares, and a few bad ones too, but nothing that kept him from waking up like it did with Danny.

"Danny, Danny wake up!" Bruce hesitated to shout so he urgently talked, willing the boy to awaken from his nightmare.

It was no use, the boy's whimpering was growing louder and more desperate, barely forming words like 'no' and 'please' through all the gasping and whining.

Bruce pulled the chair away from the table so he could crouch in front of the kid. To Bruce's further concern the movement jostled the distressed child but he still didn't wake up. Dick appeared by his side, looking tense and feeling useless.

Then Danny started clawing at his throat, creating dark lines with each finger.

"Danny no!" Bruce didn't want to freak him out any more than he already was but he couldn't allow Danny to hurt himself any further.

He grabbed the boy's wrists, trying to be gentle, and felt the kid's quick fluttering heartbeat under his fingers. He didn't pull them too far away, letting the kid huddle but now his clawing hands couldn't reach his exposed neck.

Danny continued to whimper breathlessly, panting and struggling and still asleep.

Bruce looked around for a moment, Dick was still at the ready by his side and Alfred was still in the kitchen. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, maybe some way to wake the kid up. Water? Bruce knew the kid already had a bad experience with water and he didn't want to get him wet all over again, especially if it didn't help his current panic.

That was the only thing he could think of besides waiting it out, Dick even shrugged his shoulders when their eyes met and asked the silent question. Bruce, still at a loss with what to do for Danny, tried rubbing the boy's wrists (the only comforting action available to him at the moment) to settle him back into pleasant sleep if he wasn't going to wake up.

Danny didn't change at all, instead, his whole body trembled and he started throwing his head back into the seat.

Dick came to Danny's side, refraining from touching like Bruce was, and instead settled for trying to talk to the kid. He started talking about colors, he talked about the colors in the room and what colors he supposed would be in their cores. Dick had no idea of course, and it was a generally useless tactic since Danny wasn't actually looking at anything, but the idea of calming him down and or bringing him back into the waking world with gentle subliminal reminders of where he was was not a bad idea.

Bruce decided to take a more direct approach with the much more pressing issue of Danny increasing the force of banging his head back. The back of the dining chairs was not padded. He fought not to wince with every 'thwack' of the kid's head against the hardened wood. Bruce moved Danny's wrists into one of his hands thus freeing the other while Dick droned on beside him. Touching Danny was probably just as bad as an idea, but it was the only one that seemed to be the least damaging. Danny did take comfort from touch, just only sometimes.

Bruce rested his free hand on the kid's bony shoulder, judging his reaction to see how the boy would take it.

He flinched of course, but the head slamming did not get faster or slower or more vigorous. It was safe to proceed, Bruce concluded as Dick kept muttering soothing praises that were useless to Danny's deaf ears. His big hand dwarfed the boy's shoulder, he didn't have to move far for his hand to brush against the boy's cheek.

"Come on Danny, you can do it," Bruce murmured, letting his thumb rise to where Danny's cheek would brush against it as he thunked his head back and forth. His brows furrowed as not even this elicited a response from the child. Touching Danny's face and being so close to his neck would have definitely gotten a reaction from him if he were awake.

Bruce tried to ignore how he had promised Danny he wouldn't touch him, how right now he was breaking such an important promise to an abused child.

Danny suddenly jerked beneath him. Bruce's heart leaped into his throat. The small halfa flinched harshly to the side, nearly colliding with Dick who scrambled backward as to not get hit by the flailing child.

Bruce's hand went with him, but now he was touching Danny's scarred and sensitive neck.

Something horrible struck right through Bruce into his heart. He couldn't describe it nor name it, all he could feel was Bad. Wrong. Probably the worst thing he could have done.

Bruce quickly took his hand away. But it was too late, the second Bruce's hand made contact with the child's neck the boy froze completely.

Something foul crawled up from the pit of Bruce's stomach. He was not supposed to touch Danny's neck. Danny wasn't breathing. Bruce messed up.

Danny was more tense than a bowstring, eyes still shut and eyebrows drawn up in fear. He didn't yank on his trapped hands and even his feet had stopped scrambling against the chair.

Bruce let his hand hover, his gut writhing with uncertainty. Dick waited tensely at Danny's side, anxiously wondering what they were supposed to do next.

"It's okay Danny, you're safe," Bruce decided eventually, speaking quietly but making sure he was firm. While he spoke he ever so slowly moved his hand to again brush the back of his fingers lightly against the boy's cheek. "Come on back, buddy."

Danny flinched at the touch, eyes flying open and chest heaving like he was coming up for air. Bruce moved his hand away quickly, relief crashing through him with the success of waking Danny up. Danny's wide teary eyes were on him until they both looked down at where Bruce was restraining the boy's hands.

"Bruce," Dick warned from his side, but Bruce could see it.

Danny whipped his head around to look at Dick, apparently startled by his presence, but it only heightened the fear written all over his face. Fear that was very real, not from whatever nightmare the child's subconscious had cooked up. Though he doubted there was much fiction in those nightmares.

The child whimpered, sinking down but being sure not to pull on his hands. "I— hhn— I-"

Bruce knew he should let go of the boy's hands, he promised, but he was hesitant still. Danny was still prone to hurting himself and Bruce couldn't allow that.

"It's okay Danny, it's okay. You had a bad dream, yeah?" He talked instead, crooning lightly.

Danny visibly gulped, bringing his gasping breathing to a halt until he started up again. He said nothing, just stared. He started to tremble.

Bruce rearranged his grip on the kid's hands, instead of holding his wrists he held his fingers in each hand, trying to lessen his touch while still keeping them away from his neck. Bruce's hands were too big, or maybe Danny was too small, the child's hands were swallowed in his own. He rested his thumb over the boy's fingers to 'hold' them, feeling even them shake in fear.

"It's alright Danny, no one is going to hurt you," He paused for a second, trying to word this next bit carefully. Danny just sat and trembled, waiting for whatever bad thing he thought would happen next. Resigned to his fate but still fearing it. Bruce hoped Danny would soon come to learn he should never expect that from Bruce. "I promised no one would hurt you," Is what he said, gently moving the boy's hands like it was proof, "and that includes yourself."

Danny's eyebrows twitched, wide eyes flicking down to his less-than-restrained hands. He seemed confused but was completely compliant. Compliant in the sense that he would let Bruce do whatever he wanted to his body, he wouldn't fight back or protest. He wasn't talking again either. Bruce internally cursed. He didn't want Danny compliant with manhandling like he knew the GIW liked, he wanted Danny to tell him what was wrong. This would all be so much easier if Danny just talked to him.

"You were asleep here Danny," Dick explained, leaning forward to rest on the arm of the chair but stayed far enough back as to not loom over the child. "We didn't move you because you needed the rest, but a few minutes ago you started thrashing. You were hurting yourself and me and Bruce got really scared and wanted to stop that." Context was a good idea, Dick was great with startled and panicked victims. Getting them grounded in the situation was pivotal in a do-or-die situation. While this wasn't 'do-or-die' exactly, getting Danny to be here in the moment (where he wasn't getting hurt) was the main problem.

Danny didn't react. His eyes flicked from one person to the other, never settling on one for more than a few seconds. Occasionally he looked down at his 'trapped' hands. Danny was ever so slightly pulling back, shoulders moving up and back hunching like he wanted to just disappear.

Bruce let out a slight sigh, it was worth a shot. He shouldn't have done it anyway, but it had been necessary. 'Trapping' his hands was a major problem for Danny right now, but Bruce valued Danny's safety first. He wasn't sure Danny thought the same way, but that just meant he would have to make sure.

Bruce ducked his head, staring and maintaining the boy's eye contact to make sure this question got through. "If I let go of your hands Danny, will you hurt yourself? No one wants to see you hurt."

Bruce stayed hopeful as Danny again looked down at their hands. He felt the tiniest bit of pressure from the small hands, but it was gone soon after. The billionaire couldn't tell if the child was attempting to hold on or pull away. Danny looked up again, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks as his breathing picked up. "Won't! Pl-please...! I wo-won't... please."

Bruce gave him a nod, slowly letting go of the boy's hands. It's not like he was actually holding them in the first place, it had been more like the tiny hands were just resting in his giant but gentle fists. But just that action seemed to classify as 'captive' to Danny.

As soon as Bruce's hands went away Danny's shot straight to his neck.

Both Bruce and Dick cried out and lunged for him, thinking Danny was about to claw at himself again. They were quick, but Danny saw them coming and was quicker.

The little halfa thrust his arms out, giving Bruce his wrists again as he pressed himself against the back of the chair and whimpered.

Bruce, now confused, hesitated to touch the offered hands. Danny was expecting something bad, and it had looked that way too. His stomach sank and his soul hurt. Dick was equally confused, now gripping the arm of the chair way too tight, and looked rather constipated.

That seemed like a good idea, his hands were in easy view for Danny. Bruce set his hands on the chair, nice and flat, and not grabbing. He then leaned down in an attempt to get eye contact with the kid, he found them to be squeezed shut. Bruce's heart tore just a little bit more.

"It's okay Danny, you're okay," Bruce spoke softly, adding another tick mark on the 'moments Bruce messed up with Danny' tally. That's gotta be what? Six now? If not more. "I shouldn't have lunged like that. I'm sorry. I'm not going to hurt you. Can you look at me please?"

Danny's eyes did open, but he only glanced at Bruce before going down to his hands. The kid gently sobbed, not retracting his hands. He was waiting for them to do something.

"It's okay, you can keep your hands if you want. Nothing bad is going to happen Danny." Dick made himself smaller, resting his head on his hands on the arm of the chair. Danny flicked his eyes his way for a second before looking down at his own hands. Then he ever so slowly pulled his arms back in, watching Bruce's general direction for any sudden movements through his tears.

Bruce let him take his time, he needed to give him back his security. "I'm not going to take your hands or restrain them in any way, I promise. I will only do that if you're trying to hurt yourself or someone else. I don't want anyone hurt."

Danny gave him no acknowledgment, but his arms finally curled up with him, his hands huddling close to his neck. Bruce caught the sense it was more protective action than anything else. Bruce should have known that the first time instead of traumatizing the boy more.

His legs started to ache to be in a crouched position for so long but Bruce only shifted his footing a little, feeling nervous of all things. "Listen, Danny, I want to protect you. I want you to feel safe and happy. It really scared me earlier when you had the cape around your neck, and just now you were trying to claw your own throat out. Can you tell me what's going on bud?"

Danny did seem calmer now that he had his hands back, but still, he struggled with speaking. "Y-you... guard-d—" he was cut off by his own whimper, ducking his head once again to hide behind his arms.

"Remember? Rule number one, I won't be mad, no one is going to hurt you no matter what you say." Bruce egged him on, desperately needing the kid's cooperation. He did glance at Dick, realizing he hadn't had time to tell him about the 'rules' he gave Danny, because Dick looked like he wanted to say something but he stayed quiet.

Danny continued to shiver in place, barely shifting if only to keep himself tucked into the corner of the chair or wipe at his eyes or nose. "Were you having a bad dream before we woke you up?" Dick prompted, hating the silence and the awkward waiting.

Danny took in a shuddering breath and gave him a small nod, his stuttering little voice rose up. "In-In head... I- I dream of- of going ghost. Hurt neck."

Bruce's eyebrows furrowed. Dick looked at him, asking if he knew what 'going ghost' meant but Bruce couldn't answer. It was the first he heard of such a term, and with his bad English, it was slightly adorable. He had his suspicions though, two to be exact. Despite the term's adorableness, neither of Bruce's predictions were particularly good ones.

Going ghost. A bad feeling curled in his gut. It sounded like death. Either Danny was intentionally trying to die, or someone else (prime suspect: GIW) had killed him. He had dreamed about himself dying and becoming a ghost, that much was clear, but the unnecessary comment at the end gave him another thought. Was Danny trying to tell him how he died?

He couldn't work on assumptions like that though, so he answered what he could.

"You're safe now Danny, no one is going to hurt your neck," Bruce promised, trying to be sincere. But he had to clarify.

Bruce swallowed painfully. "Are... are you trying to hurt yourself?"

Next to him, Dick grew tense.

It took a second, but Danny's eyebrows furrowed just as Bruce's had. He seemed confused. He shook his head, just barely enough for Bruce to notice. "Neck... w-white collar." He tried to explain, angling his head up to show the scars. Quickly enough he covered his neck with his hands, looking down rather blankly. "They want ghost so they can give pain and cutting. Collar does zap and zap and zap until going ghost. They hurt neck to make going ghost when they want going ghost. Want going ghost for e-experiments and hurting. That's what going ghost is for." Danny curled up just a bit more, hugging himself as Bruce realized this child was telling him how the GIW killed him.

Bruce had nothing to say, he was still trying to figure out how to respond, to find the right words, to say anything that would make this okay. But just as no words came to him, nothing was going to make what this child just said okay.

'Collar does zap and zap and zap until going ghost.'

Those people had electrocuted a child into dying.

On purpose.

It made Bruce sick when he realized he had seen this happen. Or some variation of it. When the GIW was making off with him when Bruce was gone and Cujo had appeared. He saw Danny fight back until that collar was around his neck and electrocuted him into submission. Beside him, Dick was having a similar revelation. His son's face going stormy for a second before it was replaced with a more heartbroken look. Bruce hated that collar. Bruce hated that the GIW had continually used the tool they killed him with as a form of control.

But Danny didn't stay silent long, he only paused to take a few shaky breaths. His watery toxic green eyes glanced at Bruce and Dick, looking sheepish, almost guilty. "G-guardian no... no collar?"

That Bruce could work with.

"No Danny, we will never put a collar on you. You will not die." Bruce affirmed, feeling the need to hold the boy. He could not.

The child looked confused for a moment, and that just tore at Bruce's heart. His mouth opened but he couldn't seem to find the right words he wanted to say, "I- you- no- col-" he went silent again, brain churning. The little halfa clutched his head, so confused by the simple rule. He was looking down at seemingly invisible equations like it would give him the answer.

Whatever it was he was looking for he must have found because his eyes went wide and he looked up. The pure hope shining in the child's toxic green eyes was enough to send Bruce's heart melting all over again. "N-no going ghost?" He breathed, like it was too good to be true.

"Danny we would never force you to go ghost," Bruce said with as much authority as he dared. "That's a fact, not a promise."

Because promises could be broken. Facts were unchangeable.

Danny's eyes widened and he deflated like he had been holding his breath. One corner of his mouth worked its way upwards but it looked like it didn't know what it was doing and made him look twitchy.

He was trying to smile.

Then his eyes closed and the worried wrinkles smoothed out, with just enough baby fat from this angle to show just how young he was. His white head of hair nodded gradually, a few deep breaths loosening the tense muscles the boy had clenched in fear.

Bruce smiled and felt his own tense muscles relax, he finally said something right. But his heart broke a little bit more. He had just told the kid they would never collar him and kill him. What a low bar he had reached.

Dick slid over to him, pressing himself against Bruce in an almost hug. Bruce smiled down at him, glad for his presence even if he preferred Dick not to have to deal with this heavy stuff. He couldn't see but he knew Dick was smiling, radiating his own sunshine that pushed Bruce's darkness back. 'The lowest bar is easiest to reach, but makes the next rung that was so far away a lot closer!' His boy wonder had said to him once. Sure its context was actual trapeze work but Bruce found himself remembering it and applying it here anyway.

That thought reminded him, as much of an optimistic soul Dick was, when it came to Danny's freakouts it usually freaked Dick out too. Dick's optimism with Danny seemed to dip and skyrocket with his emotions. Even Bruce himself, while having better control over his emotions because of age and maturity, his emotions were on the same roller coaster. As a father, Bruce really would rather have Dick somewhere else not experiencing Danny's intense emotional breakdowns. But as Batman and a father, he was glad his partner and son was here, glad they were doing this together. Because Danny was going to be more than just a rescued victim in their lives, Bruce brought him upstairs, the GIW were onto them. This wasn't going to end quietly and whatever storm was coming their way would be much easier to deal with as a team rather than anything else.

Staring fondly down at his son, he looked over to Danny. The little halfa was still clutching at his neck, content with just sitting there and enjoying the fact he wouldn't be killed. Which... raised a few questions. The fact he can be killed into being a ghost meant he had to be alive first, and the way Danny said it made it sound like he had been killed multiple times. Which meant he had to be alive after every time he died. That hosted its own storm of questions Bruce wanted to ask, but this really wasn't the time for that. But the mere fact Danny was so afraid of dying and becoming a ghost made Danny's 'attempted suicide' very confusing.

He was always so careful about what hurt his body, like right now, he was covering his neck protectively. The only time Danny hurt himself was while he was sleeping having a nightmare. But when Danny had the cape he hadn't been asleep, he had been woken up moments prior but he was very aware and paranoid like usual. It just didn't fit with previous situations. And there was the efficiency of the choking tactic, it would have taken forever.

Yes, Danny could have choked himself out with that cape but if he was looking hard enough he would have found a lot easier ways of killing himself. Telling Bruce that the GIW killed him with that collar to make him a ghost would not explain why he would mimic such action himself unless he really really wanted to die. Which Danny, as explained before, has not shown signs of doing or feeling. Bruce did not want Danny to feel the need to kill himself. Which... can ghosts even die by suffocation?

That was the ultimate question, could Danny actually die? If Danny was killed multiple times while with the GIW did they have a way to un-kill him? Why would Danny attempt to die if he knew he couldn't be killed? Why was he so careful about things hurting him if he was willing to hurt himself? Too many questions that needed dangerous answers.

Danny was frowning gently as he covered his neck, not actually holding but lightly rubbing his bruised skin. It seemed to calm him and now Bruce kinda understood why. He had been dreaming about his death by electrocution around his neck, he was probably rubbing away the lingering feelings of pain his body was still sending him even though there was no collar or electricity. Bruce himself knew that feeling well enough waking up from his own nightmares.

Glancing over at Dick, Bruce realized that Dick really wanted to hug the boy, Bruce could relate. Danny wasn't entirely happy at the moment and they both wanted to fix that. Even knowing they weren't going to kill him didn't stop him from being distressed by his nightmare. Bruce and Dick wanted to soothe him, to hold him and make all the sad go away. It was agony to know Danny wouldn't take well to that. He wasn't sure how to fix it without making the boy more scared of them.

But he was sure about one thing. All this confusion, miscommunication, and assumptions, it all had to stop. Bruce was done beating around the bush, he needed a straight answer before they could move forward anymore.

"Danny?" He prompted gently, "I have an important question I need you to answer." He waited until Danny looked at him. The halfa's gaze was wary but hopeful, an odd combination Bruce felt bad for throwing a wrench into.

Bruce shifted his footing again, nervousness crawling there way back into his emotional forefront. "When I found you with the cape tied around your neck, were you trying to kill yourself?"

Danny's eyebrows scrunched, apparently confused. Dick tensed next to him but didn't say anything.

Bruce took a deep breath. "Do you understand what I mean? Were you trying to stop yourself from breathing?"

Danny nodded.

Bruce felt his heart clench in physical pain. Dick practically whimpered next to him. He had hoped, but...

"Danny... I-"

Then Danny shook his head.

Bruce stopped mid-word, trying to figure out what both a nod and a shake could mean. He could feel his frustrations bubbling up again. What he needed was a straight answer, in words. "Could you explain please, Danny?"

Danny frowned and looked confused himself, but now he was watching Bruce with full wary-ness. Bruce hated not being able to know about his core and what it told.

"I think he was nodding to your 'do you understand' question, but the shake was to the killing himself part. Right, Danny?" Dick interjected, looking between his mentor and the small halfa.

Bruce could only hope that was the case, and relaxed when the boy nodded to Dick's question.

The child's frown moved to one side of his mouth, eyes lowering to the ground. He rubbed his neck again and his mouth opened hesitantly. "Guardians... are safe, no collars no hurting. GIW is collars and hurting. GIW give me collar, I am theirs. Guardians take collar off, I am not GIW." He spoke carefully and methodically, like he was testing the words out themselves. Then his eyebrows furrowed as he looked up at Bruce, "but Guardian don't want give ghost Guardian collar? I am not Guardians?"

"Oh," Bruce hadn't even... what? The same collar that killed the kid was the one that labeled him their property. Bruce taking it off made him free from the GIW. Bruce refusing to give him a collar made him think he didn't belong to Bruce. But the whole idea of needing a collar to belong to someone... was an uncomfortable topic at best. "...I didn't think you wanted a collar, the GIW hurt you with a collar, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Plus," Dick added, looking as uncomfortable as Bruce felt about this topic, "people don't really... use collars on other people. They use them on pets, animals, but you're not a pet or an animal. You're Danny, who is a person, you should never have a collar."

Danny only looked more confused and refused to look at them as he shuffled uncomfortably in place. "G...GIW want collar, guardians do not." Danny spoke more as if he were explaining it to himself even though this seemed a simple enough idea to understand. "but... i-if no collar... GIW will come and put collar on ghost." He looked up at Bruce, eyes pleading, "Ghost need collar."

Bruce was beginning to see what the boy was meaning now. But before Bruce could promise that ghosts didn't need collars Danny spoke again, but it seemed to be something both of them weren't prepared for.

"I want-" Danny's mouth snapped shut, eyes widening and body freezing.

This was the first time he said 'I want' unprompted. He had only said it once before with Bruce in the shower, but that time Bruce had asked him what he wanted, Danny had simply obeyed. Every other time he had been pleading desperately like a madman, not expecting to be listened to, actually expecting to be punished for asking for anything.

Ghosts weren't worthy of asking for anything, ghosts weren't worthy of being given anything. Ghosts get hurt when they ask for things. Ghosts get hurt when they want things.

So Danny waited. He knew guardians said no hurting all the time, but was this too much? Did he go too far? Was this the time they were going to stop being nice because he's a ghost who thought he could have wants when he knew he shouldn't?

Bruce said nothing, as he wanted to know what Danny wanted. Dick stayed silent next to him, knowing if he waited long enough Danny would speak because that's how he worked before. Bruce then (slowly, as to not spook the ghost child) lifted up two fingers, reminding the boy of the second rule. Danny could say 'I want' as many times as he wanted. Needed. Danny needed to say want at this point.

The pause and subsequent silence prodded Danny on, but the child continued to stare and spoke cautiously like they would change their mind mid-sentence and start beating him for wanting anything. "I want... I want Guardian collar."

As soon as the words left his mouth he cringed, jerking back with his arms curled around his head as he braced for impact, "Please..." he whimpered between his clenched teeth.

Bruce blinked and Dick blanched. This was not how he thought this would go, for sure. Now the question is, was it a good idea to fuel Danny's brainwashed need to be... collared by whoever had him?

Danny watched them warily as he waited for them to hit him, but they did not. They were letting him speak, waiting maybe? The GIW never let him speak, unless they wanted to hit him, but they didn't need him to speak for them to hit him whenever they wanted. The silence with the guardians was terrible though. Danny didn't like the waiting, so he spoke. Maybe he could convince them not to hit him if he explained. Guardians did seem to like explaining things.

"I did not want... going ghost. I am ghost now." Danny was tense, but again adopted a look of thoughtfulness, now stiffly staring into nothing as he cautiously talked in splinted words to Bruce and Dick like he was trying to reason with them. "Neck ... hurts... happy-broken blanket soft, not like GIW metal collar. Guardian gave ghost happy-broken blanket, it makes neck feel safe. It soft and good warm to neck. I like it." That last line seemed to be Danny talking to Danny, an assessment of sorts that he was admitting to himself. Then his eyes glanced over at Bruce and more sheepishly he said. "I want to make black Guardians yellow, I want Guardian collar. Not going ghost."

"You..." Bruce trailed off, the prices finally clicking together. In Danny's mind, he was still trying to make them happy by doing stuff he knew made the GIW happy, like wearing a collar. Putting Dick's cape around his neck, something black and yellow, two things that were exclusively the 'Guardians', had given Danny a 'Guardian' collar.

Then Bruce freaked out and pulled it off of him and made him wet himself in fear.

How is this kid not screaming in terror every time he even looked in Danny's direction?

"You were trying to give yourself a guardian collar." Bruce stated, finally feeling like he understood the kid.

Danny nodded tensely, now that it was phrased like that he hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for trying to give one to himself when it clearly had to come from the guardians, not just Danny claiming something of theirs to claim him on his own. Thinking about it now, it was pretty stupid. Stupid ghost scum.

"By putting Dick's cape around your neck tight enough to choke." Bruce murmured to himself.

Ghost scum. Danny ducked his head with a squeak of fear.

Bruce lifted his hands and shook his head, "I didn't mean to-" Danny flinched at his hands movement and Bruce sighed and put his hands down.

This was a wreck. But a productive one. Danny hasn't been attempting suicide. The relief was spellbinding, but the weight of a child wanting a collar of all things... to label him as Bruce's... just set differently on his chest.

"He's angry at himself Danny, and the GIW." Dick spoke, something Bruce arched his eyebrow at. Dick didn't even spare him a glance, keeping his eye contact with Danny who was listening intently. "He doesn't want to hurt you or see you hurt. He was trying to save you when he thought you were being hurt but he ended up hurting you himself. He could have avoided giving you pain and that's why he's angry. Right, Bruce?" Dick turned to him, smiling with a serious tone. Danny turned his gaze on Bruce as well, peeking out over his arms he had placed over his knees to hide his face.

Bruce blinked at being put on the spot. He was suddenly hyper aware of keeping his hands flat to assure Danny he wasn't going to grab or lunge.

"Yes, I'm not angry at you Danny." Bruce confirmed, "I am so sorry I hurt you and scared you when I thought you were in danger."

Danny sucked in a tight breath, staring at Bruce like he had grown a second head. It hurt Bruce to know even that simple truth was something so outlandish for him not to trust. But Bruce wasn't finished.

"I'm... not opposed If you want something around your neck," he started slowly, carefully picking his words. "I just don't want it to be a hazard. I don't want you to choke, even by accident. I don't want you to get hurt by something that's supposed to help you."

Danny stared at the man behind his arms, completely frozen.

Danny was also extremely stupid. These were the Guardians. The opposite of the GIW. Of course their collar would do the opposite of a GIW collar. This collar was supposed to not be scary or hurt or make him go ghost. It was like them, soft, the good warm, and... and caring. Of course Bruce wouldn't want the guardian collar to hurt him because he didn't hurt him.

It made so much sense, yet no sense at all.

Danny was soon consumed by the overwhelming fact these humans cared about him. They wanted him safe so bad even their collar was safe!

He continued staring at Bruce, not at his core, but meeting the human's cool blue eyes. His vision got blurry but he didn't dare blink, his cheeks tickled with the warm tears falling down once more.

At the sight of tears Bruce felt pained, opening his mouth to speak to figure out what he did wrong again but couldn't find any of the right words. He just made Danny cry again, just by telling him he wasn't angry at him and didn't want him hurt.

"Aww," Dick cooed next to him and Bruce shifted to look at him weird because Bruce making Danny cry (again) by saying the wrong thing (again) wasn't exactly cute. "It's okay Danny, are those happy tears?"

Oh. Bruce relaxed slightly. That makes sense... sadly. Danny even nodded, finally breaking eye contact with Bruce to rub at his eyes with his forearm, breathing in a few deep hiccuping breaths.

"Guardians are so, so nice." He said to himself, a new wave of tears jerking his body as he sobbed with relief.

Bruce smiled sadly, a little overwhelmed himself. Maybe they finally did it, they finally got through to him that they meant it when they said they wouldn't hurt him.

It was probably too soon to tell accurately if it was true, but he knew for sure this was a huge step in the right direction even if it didn't last. Danny believed them. (This time)

But now confronted with a crying happy child Bruce couldn't resist at least trying.

"Danny, can I hug you?" Bruce asked, refusing to move his hands just in case even though he desperately wanted to scoop up the child. He hoped his core shone bright with... whatever color would make Danny trust him. Yellow maybe? Yellow was important to Danny.

Danny sniffed a few times, blinking warily at Bruce. He understood he wasn't going to get hurt (this time) but why did the big guardian want to touch him so much? His core writhed in dark green, the color of hope- he remembered.

Last time Danny said no to something with hope it turned black. Black was the broken color. Danny didn't want to break anyone.

He nodded, his skin feeling raw and tingly.

The kind Guardian smiled, but didn't move yet. He said something, his hands moved a little, turning around to face him open for grabbing, except he kept them down still and not lunging.

Again, Guardian Bruce said something, his voice was all deep and soothing somehow, but Danny was distracted by his core.

The dark green shifted brilliantly from dark to light, to shining yellow so bright. It was so bright, it was almost white. Like that time he saw Dick's core so yellow, he had been so happy it looked like it hurt.

"Danny? Danny, are you okay?"

The small halfa blinked, eyes flicking up from the man's core to his eyes that were all concern and kind.

Danny nodded again and wrapped his arms tighter around himself even though he was already in a pretty tight little ball.

"Are you sure? I'm going to pick you up now. You can say no at any time and I'll put you down. I'm only going to touch you or pick you up if and when you want me to." Bruce kept his eye contact, still being all soft and sincere.

Danny had never had so many options before. He had two! Yes or no. He told the GIW no all the time and it was always the wrong answer, sometimes he even said yes just to see if they were kinder if he went willingly. They still hurt him, they still beat him as if he had said no.

Bruce wanted him to say yes or no, and it mattered. Bruce would listen to him.

Even if he said the wrong one, Bruce wasn't going to hit him for it. He thinks, not entirely sure but so far there's been no hitting. He wasn't sure if there was an answer that would be wrong, Bruce had never hit him even when he did give him answers that made him unhappy. If there was a question that had a wrong answer meant for hitting, Bruce hasn't asked it yet.

Danny nodded again, swiping at his eyes one last time because the tears making his sight blurry was really annoying when he was trying to watch Bruce just in case.

Bruce leaned forwards, stretching his arms out but not really grabbing. His hands stayed low on the chair seat and went under Danny. Bruce was warm. Bruce was human.

Danny kept his eyes open, feeling hyper aware because he could feel Bruce's fingers curl up over his back slightly. Then Bruce tugged backwards and Danny was sliding off the chair and into Bruce's arms.

Danny was immediately pressed into Bruce's chest, sitting on one of the man's big arms while the other made sure he was secure. Danny found himself next to Bruce's core again, he watched it swirl in happy-bright happy-bright. It glowed kinda like ghosts do.

"Thank you Danny." Bruce muttered into his hair.

Danny stayed very still, Bruce was holding him tight and everywhere. Even his head was smushed against him. His heart thudded anxiously because now it was a warm trap and why did he not think of this possibility sooner? The agents only ever used the warm trap to hurt him.

Wait no. No. Dick had explained. Warm traps were hugs here, and like everything that was guardians, it didn't hurt. Hugs weren't supposed to hurt, and... and this warm trap- hug- it wasn't hurting.

Danny let himself relax, remembering that sometimes, especially Bruce, the warm touch from a human was good. Like when he touched his hair, or the kinda hugs when Danny would cling to him without permission- which he had yet to get in trouble for, but apparently there are lots of things like that here. Oh and the Bruce-holding. This was really really similar to the Bruce-holding. Bruce-holding was safe.

He remembered Dick saying hugs were both people holding each other though, if Bruce asked for a hug that meant Danny had to hold him as well, right? Danny didn't want to mess up a hug, not while guardian was being so soft and kind.

Danny leaned in, shaky hands reaching to clench over Bruce's shirt, attempting to get even just a little bit closer.

"Oh, buddy." Bruce rumbled above him and somehow the hug got even tighter. It surprised Danny, but once he squeaked in fear that the arm would never stop getting tighter (and then it would hurt a lot and then his body would break and the agents would laugh and laugh and poke his broken body and then squeeze and squeeze again until he was in even more pain) the hug stopped but Bruce would rub his one free hand along Danny's arm and side.

Danny really liked this, but the back of his neck prickled in familiar unease. He still felt so vulnerable, so out of place and in danger with no collar on.

Bruce promised he could ask. And Danny had already asked. Bruce said yes. Could Danny ask again? Maybe Bruce forgot. Though usually reminding the agents of things got him hurt... no. No Bruce was his guardian. Bruce wouldn't hurt him for asking... again.

Could he ask again?

Maybe he should ask first. Bruce promised he could ask once for sure, he could use it to ask if he could ask again. Bruce wasn't going to hit him. Maybe.

Danny gathered his courage, trying to remind himself the warm trap was a hug and not a trap. He just had to ask a simple quick question. Bruce wasn't going to hit him.

Right?

Danny curled up anyway, just in case,

"Brusse?" He tentatively spoke, hoping he was loud enough for the man to hear. Or maybe not, if Bruce didn't hear him it's okay, not being heard had a much higher chance of no hurting.

The tight lightened a little, the warm head on top of his head lifted and Danny got the distinct feeling Bruce was looking down at him.

Oh yeah that's right, Bruce liked eye contact. That would be a lot of neck bending though, and Danny didn't have his collar yet.

"Yes Danny?" He forgot how Bruce's chest rumbled, and it felt nice. Like a... like a... dangerous thing, except not to Danny, some type of protector? Guardian.

Yeah Danny was real creative with these names.

"C-can..." Danny just had to say it, anything that would happen will happen and Danny had to deal with it anyway. He snuggled smaller into Bruce's chest, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to see his core go red if this was the wrong move. "Can I ask again?"

Bruce was quiet for a moment, then asked his own question. "Again?"

Danny nodded into the chest. Bruce didn't sound mad, but he was confused. Bruce had waited and let him explain things before, maybe Bruce was going to let him explain again.

"C-can I ask qu-question more?" Danny tilted his head up hopefully, but refused to open his eyes.

"Of course, you can ask anything as many times as you want." Bruce rumbled happily.

Relief trickled down Danny's spine, loosening his tense muscles that had been prepared for rejection and hitting.

"What did you want to ask again?" Bruce spoke, sounding only curious. His warm hand stayed rubbing Danny's small arm and shoulder.

Dread pooled in his stomach, the relief from earlier gone as he went terribly still. If the hand moved any higher then Bruce would touch his neck. The GIW used to do that too, nicely touching him and making him relax before striking right where it hurt. Bruce wouldn't do that. Right? Because that would mean he was being punished and everything he said before was a lie. Danny wouldn't even know if he was lying because he wasn't watching the man's core. Stupid stupid ghost.

The hand came up again, spreading along with it burning skin that shot every nerve with danger. Danny's eyes wrenched open, gasping in a few tense breaths as he watched the man's core. Bruce made a concerned confused sound, the hand came up once more and Danny couldn't help but pinch his shoulder to his cheek so he wouldn't be touched on his neck.

Bruce's hand went away, staying lower on his arm while Bruce softly but urgently apologized. "Sorry, I'm so sorry Danny, I'm not going to touch your neck I promise. Breathe."

Danny's chest shuddered as he took in a few fresh lungfuls of air, slightly relaxing because now the hand was gone. He kept his cheek and shoulder together though, just in case, because if Bruce really wanted to touch his neck he could just force his feeble attempt of protection away.

Bruce promised he wasn't going to touch though. Bruce... Bruce kept his promises. Sometimes. Maybe.

Bruce and Dick kept on telling him to tell them when things made him scared. He was listening, Bruce had listened to him when he asked his question, they'd... they would listen to him now.

His neck ached, reminding him what he needed to ask again. Bruce was very distracted every time Danny got upset over something and then had to listen to him and then fix it. He hoped Bruce didn't get tired of listening to him and fixing him and then start beating him instead. The GIW certainly thought beating him was easier.

No. Not GIW. Kind guardians listen and fix, they don't hurt, they don't hit.

Danny tightened his hold on Bruce's shirt, pressing into the kind man because he wanted more. He didn't want the kindness to go away.

"C-can I please- please have guardian collar?" He just really really wanted it. He wanted the safe they kept saying they had, he wanted the kind they kept giving. Guardians promised a safe and kind collar, just like them. Danny needed it.

"Of course." Bruce murmured, the hand left his lower arm and lifted past his shoulder and neck. Danny was confused and kind of scared, thinking this was the moment it all crashed down and Bruce would take his neck and hurt him. He flinched in surprise when fingers carded through Danny's albino hair.

Danny stayed still, fears melting away as Bruce was kind and soft with him. Danny leaned into it, comforted by his guardian. He was listened to, his neck would be safe soon. He'd be the guardian's soon. He would be safe. Maybe the kind would last forever, like the agent's hate.

"Let's go ask Alfred, he'll know what to make it out of that wouldn't hurt you." Bruce spoke and then everything was moving. Danny squeaked and tried to stay still and Bruce maneuvered from hugging on the ground to hugging and walking.

Danny opened his eyes, not remembering closing them, and melted more firmly into Bruce's hold. Because that's what it was now, Bruce-holding was hugging. He liked it.

Danny spotted Dick walking beside them, smiling and core wiggling with joy and quite a bit of black. It confused Danny, why would Dick be feeling broken now?

"Yeah!" Dick agreed to Bruce's plan, keeping relative eye contact with the halfa as they walked to some unknown destination. "There's loads of things you can put around your neck. There's necklaces, scarfs, chokers- uh, those don't actually choke you though they're just really tight but you can totally breathe and everything. Okay maybe we shouldn't try chokers but it's still an option if nothing else makes you comfortable."

Dick rambled on about a few things one could put around their neck, and Danny was stunned by how much he knew. He knew a lot of things about stuff around necks, apparently there's even a shirt with a collar already built in! 'Turtle necks' he called them. Danny didn't know what a 'turtle' was but the 'neck' part seemed pretty on the point. Dick must know everything!

After moving through a few passageways Bruce slowed to a halt, his free hand on Danny's back where Danny had shifted to squish face first into the man's chest. "Alfred, we need to find some neckwear for Danny."

Danny tensed. Because it was really happening, Bruce was really getting him a guardian collar. Something scary rose in his chest, his heart, it kinda hurt and that's bad but this was a good thing. It hurt like... like the brownie, it was good but scary. Like the white yellow. Is this what Dick felt like with the white yellow? Looking down at his own chest he couldn't find his core, that was annoying because Danny wanted to figure out what this feeling was.

"I believe we would find most neckwear in Master Bruce's closet." Alfred said, sounding further away. Bruce was walking again as Danny scowled down at his disappointing non-existing core.

They walked for a while in happy silence, Danny happy to be held and Bruce happy to hold him. Dick trailed along with them, doing something weird with his walking like jumping every step (skipping, his brain suddenly supplied) or sometimes even just straight up running ahead.

Danny flinched when Bruce jolted, but then it made sense and Danny frowned. The stairs were back. Stupid stairs.

Danny's head shot up though when Dick sprinted up the stairs, it didn't even look like he was touching the ground!

Bruce chuckled and the feel of the sound made Danny relax. "I don't know if you've noticed yet Danny but Dick likes to do weird things for fun."

Weird? Danny had heard the GIW use that word before, Danny had even used it to describe Bruce and Dick. Because guardians were weird. They weren't like agents that make sense, therefore, weird. They must know how weird they are. That's good, that made Danny feel safe because Danny was called weird too.

Luckily they made it to the top of the stairs, Danny was never dropped or dragged along (being dragged up or down stairs hurt a lot) and like last time Bruce kept holding him even once they got to the top. Hm, maybe it was a rule to not let go of holding until the destination was reached.

Dick was up ahead talking to Alfred and they both entered the room Danny had slept on top of Bruce in. When that happened the first time it was scary, he wondered if he would be able to do it again, because Danny might like it this time, especially if Bruce was doing the nice holding.

But now Bruce and Danny were following and they completely ignored the bed, but that was okay, Danny was getting his nice guardian collar.

Dick and Alfred went into one of the doors, Bruce followed and Danny was introduced to the smallest room he'd seen in the house. Which wasn't saying much considering all the rooms were huge and easily larger than his cell with the GIW. This room in particular was just smaller than the other rooms Danny had seen in the house.

It was filled with so much stuff too, that probably made it seem smaller. A lot of it was clothes.

Alfred and Dick were next to some racks, long prices of fabric dangling from the hooks. Bruce stopped next to them, giving Danny a good seat to the selection of fabrics. Were these the guardian collars? They were so long and big!

"Here we are Danny," Bruce said, and yeah, these were apparently Guardian collars. Weird. Perfect.

Dick was rifling through the rack, tossing aside fabrics that didn't meet whatever internal criteria he had. Were there rules for which collar Danny had? What was he looking for?

"How about this one Danny?" Dick turned and held up a long solid red fabric, smiling and offering it to him.

Danny didn't really understand why his opinion mattered but Dick was giving him the fabric so he should probably take it. He reached from Bruce's arms for the fabric, taking it from the excited acrobat.

Danny held the fabric in his lap, feeling it's slightly fuzzy texture and frowning in confusion. How was he supposed to put this around his neck?

"Do you like it?" Dick suddenly asked.

Danny's head shot up, confused and scared as to why he needed to speak. He needed the collar, now he has one, why would Danny like it? Was he supposed to say yes? What happens if he says no?

Danny didn't know he was becoming more tense, his grip on the fabric made his knuckles white as he just stared at Dick in increasing panic.

Dick's face fell, a slash of blue and pink striking through his core. "Hey, it's okay, we want to get you a scarf or anything else that you want. You have to like it, that's a requirement."

Danny was still slightly confused, but felt comforted anyway. He had to like it? Okay, Danny could like it. He gathered the red fabric close, that's how he showed it was his, if he kept it close he liked it right?

Dick was frowning at him though. Danny ducked his head, wondering what he did wrong.

"I didn't mean you have to like this one, I meant that whichever one you choose you have to like it." Dick reasoned, but Danny blinked back blankly. Dick huffed and turned back to the rack of long fabrics. "Like, I could use any of these scarves," he held up a blue one, "but I don't want to use just any of them, I want to use the one I like the most."

He put back the blue one before searching a bit more, finding a black one with a yellow oval on it, inside the yellow oval was the thing that was on Bruce's chest that looked like a bat. Dick grinned and held it up triumphantly, Bruce sighing behind him.

"See this one is my favorite, I like it, so that's the one I use the most. We want to figure out what you like so you can use it the most." Dick explained, putting the black scarf over his head like a very ineffectual blanket.

Dick's face was beaming, kinda like his core, Danny wasn't sure he could do what Dick was asking though.

"...how like it?" Danny hesitantly asked, how was he supposed to know if he liked a certain scarf?

"Well there's colors, lengths, texture, you can test them all if you want." Dick listed off before diving back into the fabric jungle.

Danny sat confused until Dick came back out, holding aloft a ton of... feathers?

"See there's even scarves made from different materials! This one is Selinas, she likes feathers sometimes." Dick held out the feather pile for Danny. Danny wasn't sure he wanted to take that one but he did so anyway.

The feathers were kinda scratchy, made him itch too. He didn't know he made an uncomfortable noise until Bruce shifted around and picked up the mess of feathers from his lap to deposit it to the ground.

"Yeah I don't think he liked that kind, how about we stick to just the fabrics for now." Bruce nodded to Dick and Dick nodded back.

Alfred was still going through his side of the fabric rack, he came over with a few different lengths of fabric.

"How about these, Master Danny? I've chosen some quite different from each other so you can single out which characteristics of a scarf you like better."

Danny was presented with four different scarfs, one was thick and multicolored in stripes with long dangly strings at the end, another was entirely black but really fuzzy. One was white with tons of flat sparkling things on it, he liked running his hand over it but it would be much too scratchy on his neck. The last one was also multicolored but less intense, it wasn't too fuzzy or scratchy and thin.

Danny was given time to go through each one and test their texture and color and lengths, Bruce and Dick and Alfred coaching him through figuring out what he liked or didn't like about them.

It was an entirely bizarre experience, but Danny couldn't say he hated it. At one point Bruce got tired of holding him except instead of setting him down he simply sat down with Danny in his lap. It let Danny sit with his back to Bruce and he layed out all the different scarves on the bigger man's legs and it was kind of... fun. Alfred said he was old and couldn't sit on the ground with them but he never stood too close as to loom over him and Bruce. And when he did have to get close he would give it to Dick to give to him because Dick was going back and forth between them and the rack and he always crouched or knelt when he was close to Danny.

They were so kind to him. They tried so hard to be sure Danny wasn't scared of them. He wasn't hurt when he chose something else than what was offered. They actually listened when he said he didn't like the super fluffy or scratchy, or when he threw out all the white scarfs without even testing their texture. He did grow nervous though, there didn't seem to be a scarf that he liked, what would happen then?

"Oh oh oh!" Dick came back from wayyyy far behind the rack, holding something black and yellow in his hands. "What about this one! It's not fluffy or scratchy and it's black like you like, even if there is patches of yellow."

Danny did say he liked black, they had also noticed he didn't like blue without him saying anything. He never said he liked yellow, but he had also never said he didn't like it either.

It was rather long, the stripes where big and even and it had little strings on each end. There was also a weird symbol near one end, it was entirely too complicated for Danny to understand but it might have been some sort of animal?

Dick seemed to know though, pointing at the imprinted animal as he shuffled his folded legs excitedly. "See, it's a Hufflepuff scarf! That's why it's black and yellow, that's their house colors."

Danny had no idea what a 'Hufflepuff' was or why their house would be black and yellow but he was inclined to agree that it was a good scarf. It was black and yellow, just like his guardians. Guardians were the black to the GIW's white, and the yellow was what he wanted them to be, and what he felt. Happy and broken.

It also had very good texture and wasn't too thick. Usually he didn't like the strings on the end, but these wouldn't be around his neck. He fingered the fabric, messing with the strings and lifting it up to his face. It didn't smell of anything in particular, it smelled kind of old and unused. He liked that though, that meant no one was using it, he could use it and no one would be upset.

Danny really liked this one, but he wasn't actually sure how well it would do around his neck. Everyone else seemed to notice this was a special one, all pausing and waiting for Danny's verdict. They were surprised when Danny carefully took the scarf and placed it behind his head, letting the fabric touch the back of his neck.

Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

Danny feared it would be too scratchy and thus irritating, or too silky and mimic the cold slick metal the GIW used. It could be too thick, making him feel suffocated and hot, or too thin and give more of a phantom feel of touch to his neck that was absolutely terrifying. Danny had all thrown away scarves like that, scarves he otherwise would have used.

The fabric settled on his neck, Danny trepidatiously folded it around, making sure to cover as much as his neck as possible. It was a heavy presence, but not overbearing, in fact he felt the need to circle it around again so he'd have another layer between his neck and the outside. But for now he played with the ends of the scarf, trying to detect any danger from around his neck.

Some of them took longer to realize, some that weren't scratchy in the beginning became irritating after a few minutes. This one did not.

He kept his grip tight on the ends as he scrunched his shoulders, trapping the scarf around his neck. He leaned over and bumped his head into Bruce's chest, hoping this one wouldn't be ripped away from him like Dick's happy-broken blanket.

"Th-this one... I like this one please."

Dick was smiling at him, glad to finally have picked one. He could feel Bruce smiling at him as well, a hand reaching up to his hair that Danny no longer feared.

"Okay, you can have this one. I'm glad we found one you like." Bruce said, gently brushing some hair away from Danny's eyes.

Alfred came over and to everyone's surprise he lowered himself down to his knees in front of Danny. "And if there is ever a time it begins to irritate you, young master, we can always find another."

Danny nodded his thanks, though he wasn't entirely sure why. He brought the ends of the scarf up to his mouth, brushing the soft strings over his face and lips because they were soft and felt nice.

"How about we settle that more firmly around your neck Master Danny?" Alfred spoke again, gesturing to the scarf Danny liked.

Danny's brow furrowed as he tucked the scarf away protectively and looked to Bruce.

"He means to fold it so you don't have to worry about it coming off. It won't hurt at all, though he might touch your neck by accident." Bruce warned.

Alfred nodded and raised a flat hand, "I will do my best to not touch your neck Master Danny."

Oh, this was how they put the Guardian collar on them. That was fine, it was only once anyway. Alfred would... Alfred would be gentle.

He nodded hesitantly and extracted himself from Bruce's hold, sitting upright and unwinding the scarf from around his neck. He handed it off to Alfred, hoping it wouldn't hurt too bad.

Alfred nodded back at him and shook the scarf out before folding it and then looped it around Danny's neck.

Danny's eyes squeezed shut, one hand grabbing onto Bruce's arm tightly. He, of course, didn't see what Alfred was doing but the fabric was tugged gently a few times, Alfred's hand brushed against his face lightly once and then his entire throat was encompassed by the scarf.

"There, how's that Master Danny?" Alfred asked as he sat back on his heels.

Danny blinked his eyes open, surprised by the lack of any pain. Though he shouldn't be, putting on GIW collars hurt, this one didn't because guardians are soft and nice, he should have seen that coming.

Looking down, the scarf was indeed wrapped neatly around his neck. There wasn't a knot but it looked and felt secured anyway, the most folded part just below his collarbone so he could look down. It was very good, but it needed something more.

"Tight." Danny said, sure of it.

Dick looked alarmed, "It's okay Danny, we can make it looser, as loose as you want."

Alfred was already reaching for him but Danny jerked away while shaking his head. That wasn't what he meant.

"Want tight," he said, retreating back into Bruce's chest, hoping Alfred didn't grab anyway. He looked up at Bruce, hoping this question was okay. "More tight please?"

Bruce didn't seem to like it, his gut sank and Danny mentally prepared to live a life with a collar not tight enough, but then Bruce nodded. Danny was again blindsided by actually being listened to. He had... he- a ghost- had wanted something, and then got it.

Bruce tapped his arm to get his attention and Danny jolted back into his brain, remembering he still had to let himself be touched by Alfred again. That was fine though, Danny was getting what he wanted and it was so... nice.

"An easy fix, you yourself can adjust the tightness if you'd like Master Danny. Though one would caution not to be too tight." The older man warned, core gently swirling like it always did, a fond orange yellow glowing between all the other colors.

Indeed the adjustment was quick, all Alfred did was keep one part still and pushed the other one up, now it was all the way around his neck and definitely tight enough.

"It might come loose on its own every once and awhile so there is no shame in needing to adjust it." Alfred spoke some more, giving Danny a look that Danny kind of had to believe. Alfred was nice.

He nodded, something inside that he didn't even know was coiled uncoiled and let him really relax. He sank back into Bruce, turning and wrapping his arms best he could around his guardian. He liked his new collar, he liked that it was black and yellow, he liked that it was soft and tight and very Guardian. He liked the guardians.

"Alright," Bruce said, hugging Danny to his chest like Danny was something... something Bruce cared a whole lot about. "How about we go back downstairs?"

Danny wasn't in charge but he nodded anyway, for once not scared when Bruce (gently) manhandled him so he could hold him while walking again. Getting up from the floor was kinda hard, Danny was momentarily afraid he would be dropped, but Bruce's arm was too strong and held him tight. The good tight.

Dick popped up next to them, excited about something Danny didn't catch. He did say something about colors though.

Soon enough Danny was back down stairs, in a room with a bunch of soft-looking chairs with big cushions. He wondered what those felt like, wondered if he could ask. Well he supposed he could ask, it was more of a matter of should he. Bruce had said any questions were okay, telling them when something bothered him was important, but testing the softness of a chair? That wasn't important. Besides, Danny was set down on the floor in front of a short table. Ghosts aren't allowed on nice soft human things. Even though Danny had been on a bed (a very soft human thing) since coming here but he decided he had permission for that since they wanted him there, he must not have permission to sit on the soft chairs.

That didn't bother him, but he wondered what happened to Dick and Alfred. Somehow during their descent Dick and Alfred had disappeared and Danny wasn't sure where they went.

Bruce had set him on the floor before going to sit in one of the cushiony chairs, he sank into it while the leather made a faint 'poof' sound. Danny tried not to stare longingly, he had the rug on the ground and that was still leagues better than the cold tile or cement ground the GIW had him on all the time.

Danny wondered what they were doing here, he silently gathered up his courage to ask until Dick and Alfred themselves returned with some fanfare (courtesy of Dick).

Dick came running into the room, papers flapping about in his hands but none escaped while the box of color sticks was held in his other hand. He was smiling, his core bright and nothing out of the ordinary, nonetheless Danny hunkered, surprised by Dick's sudden energy and found himself anxiously latching onto the tails of his scarf.

Dick did slow down, reaching the small table Danny was at and happily plopping down on the other side. He set the paper down and dumped all the color sticks out, pushing them all towards the middle.

Danny looked down at the blank white paper in front of him, remembering what Dick had asked him to do last time he was given the paper and color sticks. He looked up anyway, just to be sure that's what Dick wanted.

"I was thinking since we got interrupted earlier we could try to figure out your colors now." Dick said as if Danny had asked his question out loud. Danny blinked in surprise, wondering if Dick could hear his questions without him actually saying them. That would be kinda cool.

He nodded with him, taking a considering glance to the pile of color sticks and then to Bruce who still sat on the comfy chair. Bruce wasn't paying attention to them anymore, he had his black rectangular box and he kept tapping on it. Danny wondered what it did if it didn't do things like hurting ghosts.

"Cool, I remember we got most of the rainbow down, primary colors and all of that, I'm wondering what these other colors mean, the pink and like the shades in between and stuff." Dick said, somehow talking and going to town on his own piece of paper with a few different colors.

Danny picked up a green color stick, deciding that if coloring and talking things out and actually learning things were guardian experiments, he rather liked them.

And that's exactly what happened, Danny tried to explain the cores best he could and all the colors inside and Dick made a little chart (also made like a circle) and labeled each color they knew for sure. Danny didn't know how to write the colors in English, but he made his contribution to scrawling a tiny messy Romanian 'pain' into the white space surrounding the circle.

Alfred came over with a plate of weird food things at some point, crackers he called them, and Dick got distracted and started teaching him how to write the colors in English. Danny was happy to be learning more English. The crackers were even good, and Dick kept telling him how it would all go to waste if Dick didn't eat them all so Danny had to help. Danny was happy to help.

It wasn't until later when something bad happened. At least, Danny assumed it was bad.

Bruce, who had so far been rather quiet, sat straight up at the sound of a beep from his box.

Danny's color stick snapped in half as Bruce's core roared into a fiery red. Dick had been talking but he cut himself off mid sentence at the sound of the beep, eyes locking onto Bruce first before glancing at Danny. Danny barely remembered Dick's assurances last time his color stick broke but that wasn't what Danny was worried about.

Still focused on his box, Bruce abruptly stood up. Danny flinched back and clutched at his scarf even though Bruce couldn't immediately reach him.

Dick was alarmed as well, looking tense and his core swirled in an infectious purple. "Bruce?" He prompted, even though he seemed to be scared of the answer.

Dick was scared, what was Danny to do? Bruce was being scary again and Danny didn't know what he did wrong.

Bruce must have noticed Danny cowering, but instead of yelling and coming after him he took a deep breath and his core settled into just a smoldering ring of rage behind every other color. It lapped at the sides, daring to overtake everything else again at a moment's notice.

Bruce raised a complacent hand, trying to settle Danny's nerves. "It's alright, everything's fine." Bruce couldn't manage to smile, something that made Danny more confused and scared. He turned to Dick and raised his box. "I think I know what this is,-"

"Are we having company?" Dick asked anxiously, looking at Danny once more.

Bruce shook his head, "I don't think so, but perhaps you should show Danny the gardens."

Dick's brow furrowed, "the... the gardens?"

Garden, that sounded like outside. Danny was going outside? Why would Bruce getting angry mean Danny goes outside? Danny wasn't sure he wanted to go outside, but with Bruce angry like that Danny would much rather do whatever he said.

Then Bruce switched gears completely, changing into English to tell Dick the secret introductions Danny couldn't know about.

"Yes, they thought it wise to give me some of their gear, I'm going to make sure they regret that choice, but I don't want Danny to see it and think we're going to use it on him. Especially if proximity matters. Once I get it to a secure place he can come back. They just dropped it off at the front door so I doubt it's an actual attack."

Dick scrambled to his feet and ran to the man. Danny tried not to freak out. "What if it's a trick? You'd be tied up dealing with them while Danny is just chilling outside?"

Bruce laid a hand on the acrobat's shoulder, "I trust you chum."

Dick's core tossed itself around, various colors swishing around rather violently. He eventually nodded to Bruce, looking like he just accepted a mission Bruce was sending him on.

Dick came back over and sat down, making his face all soft and speaking Romani to relay the part of the instructions Danny was allowed to know. "It's okay Danny, it's okay. Bruce is just angry at something else, remember? He kinda does it a lot. He just had a package issue and now he's gotta go fix it. You and I though, how do you feel about going outside?"

Dick's smile was beaming at him while his core writhed with too many emotions for Danny to pinpoint one as the most prevalent. Danny found himself rocking back and forth on his bum, hoping all the tense would go away soon.

But apparently he was going outside, so he nodded. Guardians like nodding. Guardians were also treating going outside like it was nothing, like they did it all the time. The last time Danny had been outside it was when he was all hurt and the GIW had grabbed him and it was awful. Danny didn't want to do that again, but he didn't want to say anything while Bruce was angry.

Bruce said the questions wouldn't make him angry, but he didn't say he could ask questions while he was already angry.

Dick smiled more real and held out his hand. "Come on, I'll show you the best tire swing known to man."

Danny hesitated but then gave him his hand, his other holding onto the strings of his scarf and keeping it near his mouth. Dick would be out there with him this time, and they hated GIW so maybe the GIW would stay away. Danny had already seen Dick beat up agents before.

Dick would be there, Dick would keep him safe while Bruce was angry somewhere else.

Danny was tugged out of the room, colors and English writing lessons forgotten. Danny was going outside, regardless of everything else he found himself to be excited for such a trip. He couldn't quite relax though, still unable to relax because Bruce was angry and Dick was tense.

Danny was still confused by how getting what you wanted made you angry like Bruce. Maybe they did it wrong, maybe it was full of the wrong stuff. Agents had gotten mad when certain materials didn't arrive in time for certain experiments, they usually took that anger out on Danny. But here Danny was being taken away from the angry man, so it was possible he was going to beat up whoever messed up instead of Danny.

He squeezed the scarf tails in his free hand, tugging on it a little to remind himself he had his collar, he was guardians now. GIW couldn't get him now if he belonged to someone else, also Bruce was really good at not hurting Danny, he wouldn't start just because something minor like this went wrong.

But he couldn't shake the lingering feeling of dread. The GIW had gotten into the guardian house before, they were nearly able to take Danny twice. The GIW wouldn't actually care if he had a guardian collar or not, they'd just take it off and put theirs on anyway. Dick would help, but Dick didn't win every time, Danny could still be taken from Dick. It was scary, Danny didn't have anything that would actually make the GIW go away.

The guardian collar wouldn't stop them, but maybe, maybe Bruce would. Bruce had stopped them before, both attempts of taking him were only attempts because Bruce showed up. Bruce was able to take him from them.

Sure Bruce got angry a lot and that was scary. Bruce got so angry when he thought Danny was hurting himself. They kept on saying he wasn't angry at Danny, he was angry at the people who hurt him, at the things he was scared of. If Bruce didn't beat up Danny when he was upset, what did he do?

Maybe... maybe Bruce would go beat up the GIW. That would be nice. See how they like it.

That thought made his insides happy, something cold but undeniably right settled in his soul.

And then Dick opened a window door and the outside was right there. Danny was still nervous, but last time Danny hadn't actually been allowed outside. Now he was going there on purpose with permission and Dick. Now, the only thing Danny could think was how beautiful the outside was, and how much he had missed it.