Three year old Danny was walking happily along in a crowded place, a boy was walking next to him. They looked identical despite the fact that one was four years older than the other. They both had the same brilliant blue eyes and raven black hair, both a little short and lanky for their ages.

Danny looked over to the older boy, but he didn't recognize him, he had no name. He wasn't even sure what his face looked like, every time he looked he only saw a blur and a faint blue. Someone called out to him, they both looked up. A man and woman stood far away, near a big yellow and red tent. Both of their faces were blurred but he felt like he knew what they were. The man was calling for them.

Danny's older doppelganger ran to the man, yelling joyfully for Danny to do the same, but Danny stayed. In a daze, Danny watched as the older boy was held happily in the arms of the man who shared their dark hair. Realization hit him, this was his family, a mother, a father, and a brother.

But it was all to soon taken away.

The dream... the memory... took a twisted turn as Danny felt invisible hands grabbing him, his family's faces contorted into faces of worry and anger even though they didn't even have faces. Danny tried to fight back against the hands that were taking him away from his family, clawing at the air where he felt grabbed. He cried out for his family, tears pricking at his icy blue eyes.

His mother yelled his name as he caught one last glimpse of his family. His mom's hand was stretched out for him, her mouth agape with her cry, but he was too far away. His vision slowly went black, the last image his mothers pained blurry face seared into his mind.

......

He was sitting now, in a place filled with kids. He grumbled and griped, speaking only Romanian. Danny frowned at all the kids around him, he wanted his family back, he wanted his mother and father and nameless brother.

A woman with hair like his mothers' came to him. He liked this woman, she had pretty purple eyes and wore a weird blue suit. A large man came with her, in an orange suit with black hair. They walked together like his parents did, happily and with another kid. But instead of a black haired blue eyed boy in their arms it was a girl with long red hair.

The man set the girl down in front of Danny and all the other kids seemed to fade away. The girl looked at him oddly, like she wasn't sure of something.

"Go on Jazzy! Meet your new brother!" The big man said with a loudly energetic voice. The girl, Jazzy, looked to her father and back to Danny, obviously still unsure. Danny felt the same way. New brother?

Danny wanted his real family, he pouted and screamed when they took him away, they kept saying things but he never understood what they were saying. But he couldn't possibly be mad at them, they got him away from all the other annoying kids who would tease him for his background with... what was it? Ack- acro- aro- something with an 'a' and a 'c' sound.

The scene changed quickly with a flash and blur of colors. Everything was moving too fast!

He was in a dark room, full of odd machines and lab equipment, he was still three. He walked around gawking at all the big stuff, and when you're three years old everything is big and interesting. Danny's attention was caught by a dark hole, he ran to it, finding the perfect place to hide from his new parents and sister, he wanted his real family. He didn't hate this family, he just wanted his old one.

He sat inside the weird hole, crying silently to himself. He wanted his brother, he wanted his mother, he wanted his father. But he could not find them, he probably wouldn't recognize them, he didn't even know their names.

He cried himself to sleep, waking up stiff and sore in the odd position. He stood on unsteady legs, his hand pressed against something inside the hole.

Danny saw a flash of white.

Then pain.

His body erupted with unfathomable searing heat, like lighting stuck his bones. The pain was so intense it felt like a thousand suns were heating up his body all at once and somehow he wasn't burned to ashes, even if for a moment he wished he was. Sparks were everywhere, his screams hurt his throat, but it only happened in an instant.

Danny stumbled out of the hole. When the pain subsided he looked down at his body.

He didn't look much different, his clothes changed color, and his skin did too, it was a lot darker, but he was supposed to have light skin. Fear gripped him like a leech. What would his new parents think? He ran out of the lab, stumbling over the stairs until he wasn't even touching the ground anymore! He screamed in fright, flying higher and higher until he hit the ceiling, but then the ceiling wasn't there and he was upstairs. Through his blubbering and panicked state he somehow got to his room and hid himself from the world, not daring to come out. Afraid of the judgment that came with it. What was wrong with him?! What was happening!?

When Jazzy came in and saw his odd clothes and different hair and eyes she screamed and ran to her parents. Danny hid under his bed, he didn't want to scare anybody, he just wanted his family back.

Jazzy's parents came in, they looked through the room and tried to find Danny, when the woman looked under the bed. Danny scrambled away, trying to hide himself but the woman pulled him out by his leg.

She had a kind smile, he stopped crying, now only sniffing. She cradled him and told him everything would be alright. That she didn't care that he was half ghost, that she adopted him for him. Danny smiled, happy now his new family accepted him for was he now was.

But the happiness only lasted so long.

......

Fast forward a year and a half later, Danny was five.

He was messing around with Jazzy, he held a stuffed bear and was floating just out of reach of Jazzy who jumped up to reclaim her toy. They were both giggling, enjoying the game, when they heard the doorbell ring. Danny floated down, the familiar white ring changing his colors and Jazzy ran to get her parents.

Jazzy's mother opened the door and a bald man with a white suit was in the doorway. They exchanged hello's and he stepped in. He was tall and his face was sour, but once he saw Danny a snake-like smile split his face. Danny shrank back, he didn't like this man one bit.

Jazzy's dad came in too, talking loudly like always, no one noticed the man in white grab a gun behind his back. Danny did though, he tried to shout a warning but the man whipped out his gun and three bullets embedded themselves into Danny's new family.

Three bodies hit the floor, Maddie and Jack looking at each other with shock etched into their frozen faces. Jazzy was looking at Danny, her bear still in her now lifeless hands.

Danny stood frozen to the spot, not fully registering what just happened. The man in white grabbed his arm and shoved him in a small confined space.

In a mad rush of events he had the collar, the muzzle, then he saw red. Next came the cores, all the floating yellow and red cores, trapped in the cycle he learned quickly.

His life was on a fast track, all the experiments and beating were done in quick succession. A scalpel impaled him here, a fist connected with his face there. A robot smashed his head against the floor, a gloved fist buried itself in his gut. Whip marks fresh and bleeding rubbed with salt, agonizing pain as they dissected him alive.

GIW agents surrounded him, all of them with sick smiles and some type of weapon in their hands, Bruce was with them. He was the worst one of them all. He beat him black and blue, breaking every bone in his body. His core was contorted into a booger yellow, streaked with red.

Danny wanted to believe it was someone else, that Bruce would never do this. But the pain felt all too real. He wasn't sure what was reality, and what was nightmare.

All he knew was pain.

......

But it wasn't over yet.

A swirling green mist surrounded Danny, he stood unharmed and confused. The wind shoved his white hair around, a reminder of the feeling Bruce had given him by ruffling his hair. He could clearly see the green swirls in the sky, purple rectangles were also in the mix, they looked like doors. He frowned at the void of green and purple, when he heard someone shouting.

"Danny-" the voice was faint and sounded urgent, almost like a harsh whisper. It was like it was coming from all directions, he couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

Danny's head swiveled around to the source of the voice, but saw nothing but green mist. He was suddenly cold, he shivered, so cold his breath fogged in the air. He wrapped his arms around himself and squinted into the distance.

There. A shadow of a person, at least, it looked like a person- its legs were all wonky. The shouting grew louder.

"DANNY!"

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-

Danny woke up with a blood curdling scream.

His body was on fire and his limbs were tangled in the soft mesh of blankets. A cold sweat made his body slick as he pulled and yanked until he tumbled out of bed, his mind ablaze with the utter terror running through his nerves. He had no idea whether he was scared of his nightmare or of the punishment for screaming, it didn't particularly matter because either way he was doomed.

The small halfa landed on the floor with a thud, his foot still caught in the sheets. He kicked it away and frantically searched for anything that could save him. His wild eyes found the dark crevice under the bed and he wiggled himself under, taking solace in the shadows that hid him. His breathing was shaky and much too fast, his eyes were wide, darting left and right at a pace only known to panic.

That was the worst dream yet, the images filled his mind, consuming his thoughts. He whimpered and cradled his head, digging his fingers into his hair and attempting to curl even though under the bed was very squished. Blood, GIW, guts, pain, robots, GIW, ...Bruce...

He barely heard the door to his room open, but when he recognized the sound of pounding feet he cried out and slammed his eyes closed. He didn't want to see Bruce, he didn't want to see his angry red core, or how it would turn yellow because he was happy he was in pain. He didn't want- he didn't want- he didn't want-

There was an odd thump and Danny squeaked and shuffled away from the noise, feeling the man's presence rather than seeing it. His body burned with pins and needles, sweat made him cold, and his mind was numb with terror.

"It's alright Danny, everything is okay." Bruce's dark voice said, "Did you have a nightmare?"

Danny didn't do anything, afraid that if he did his world would fall apart.

"I figured you would," Bruce's disembodied voice said, Danny's eyes scrunched and his breathing broke into a sob. "Everything is going to be okay Danny, no one wants to hurt you."

The small halfa shook, his head shifted from side to side as his limbs trembled and his breathing barely got any air to his lungs. He curled on the floor, hands moving to over his ears. Lies... Lies! LIES! His mind going fifty million miles per hour, replaying the nightmare in his head. If his mind went any faster he was sure he would scatter into millions of pieces, dust in the wind, gone, invisible like the ghost he was. Everything was pain, everything meant punishment, everything was not okay!

His ears roared with the sound of rushing blood, too loud for him to make out any more english words. His mouth gaped, his throat was on fire with the electricity they would push through him, lighting up his nerves and skeleton. A scream tore from his throat, guttural and scared, too afraid... too much pain... too much... too much...

"Danny-!" Bruce's voice sounded faint, far away, like he was shouting in a fog or through cotton.

Danny liked that.

The child's body sat there trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, his eyes stretched wide open but completely unaware. His knees were up to his chest and his hands still cradled his head, his throat sore and burning from overuse. He huffed, his chest pumping erratically as he began to lose feeling in his extremities. His fingers went first, he could feel their presence on his head but he could not feel his hair or skin.

"-N-no-noh-noa-no-w-ow... no... noh-" His eyes slammed shut again, opening drunkenly and seeing nothing as his gasping pleadings grew steadily louder. "-no-! noh! n-ow-no!"

"Danny!"

He was silenced, no, no, no, no, no...

"Danny?!"

Shh. Quiet. The world was fading away.

He only felt pain, his breathing was too shallow, his chest seized up and his throat closed. The shaking was getting worse and he lost all feeling in his limbs. His mind was blank, only fear was left and it was consuming him. He started to convulse, adding to his already trembling body, he was trying to breathe but it wasn't working. His green eyes were unfocused and wide, but the pupils were dilated to minuscule proportions.

Then there was warmth, a violent tug, then even more warmth... everywhere.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no...

run...

RUN...

RUN!

Another scream forced its way out of the child's gaping mouth, there was warmth everywhere, it was hot, it was hot, it was hot. Hot... bad, electricity... bad, s-scream... bad... bad scream.

He couldn't get away, nothing was listening to him, no, no, no, no, no, no...

Nothing was changing, just constant pain, it was everywhere and nowhere, in his mind and all too real, he couldn't make sense of anything, nothing. nothing. nothing. nothing.

Someone was talking, there were words in the air. It echoed and screamed, it whispered and spoke softly. No, no, no, no... not the same... not the same...

Fire poured itself onto the halfa's back, he screamed again, but nothing came out, no air, no air, no air. The pressure, the fire, it didn't let him suck in! Too hot! Too hot!

WHAM.

Air flooded Danny's lungs like a strike of lightning.

The child gasped at the sudden return, overwhelmed and overexerted. He held a fist to his chest and coughed violently, his lungs burning like stoked coals from the lack of oxygen and his throat tearing him a new one from being mutilated like that. He was extremely dizzy and tired, everything felt so incredibly heavy and the world felt like it was moving beneath him, like even his body was far from him.

He just breathed.

Air in.

Air out.

Compress.

Relax.

He had no idea how long he did this, but eventually his mind started to clear, the roar in his ears wasn't as loud and when his skin tingled and he actually felt it. His eyes opened drunkenly, flaring open before shutting them tightly, too bright, too bright... But... he needed to see, he needed to know if his punishment was over or not.

The agents... they would... they would... He wasn't sure what they did, he didn't remember it most times... but it was like the nightmare continued, it was all pain, no matter what. Right now the pain was subsiding, or at least it was no longer being dealt, so that must mean it was over. Right? But he was laying against a warm thing, warm meant body, body meant agent, agents mean white, and white means pain.

"I-hh I-" His throat protested its use, he coughed violently and wetly, the rest of his body spasming along with it. The child settled to just breathing tensely for a moment before trying again. "I-I- s-saw-sawrry-wrry-rry-"

"Shhh... It's okay, it's okay..." The voice said from somewhere above and a warm thing, a hand, ghosted across his arm.

Danny flinched jerkily, his entire body lighting up in fear for a moment before he crashed back down and felt even MORE tired. His closed eyes twitched as his chest continued to pound deeply for air, wheezing really as his throat felt swollen and stung terribly on every intake of air. He was on his side, splayed limply across something lumpy, he would have moved himself, but he knew he couldn't even if he tried. There was open air under his face, he was leaning over something and his hair was dangling annoyingly in front of his thus itchy nose.

The warm hand pulled at his shoulder, the rest of his body turning with it, running into a wall, er... a warm wall, a body. Danny whined in protest, but only a few whimpering squeaks came from his marred throat.

"Shh... shhh... it's okay Danny." The voice was so soft, it held so much promise. The warm hands moved his limp form, bringing him up against the warm wall, giving Danny a new wave of dizziness and electing a rattling cough from his palpitating chest. Sluggishly, the weak halfa was able to bring a hand to his face, where he itched his nose and coughed into his hand, but it fell soon after, a tired groan exiting the boy.

He breathed heavily, leaning against the warm wall and letting whatever happened happen. The small experiment couldn't bring himself to care anymore, the only thing he could do about his situation was whine, and that's what gave him a muzzle. Danny felt another warm thing by his feet, he was being held on both ends, cradled by a bigger form, and it was rocking him. The sensation was familiar and not unwelcome, it went back and forth, from side to side, calmly with the voice above rumbling a gentle 'shh...' when his voice squeaked out any whine or whimper.

Danny's body curled as another cough wracked through him like an earthquake- accordingly his fist came up to cover it, but something warm and wet landed on his skin. The taste in his mouth told him all he needed to know but he forced his eyelids to flutter open weakly, having the energy to only look down at his lightly fisted hand for a second or two.

There was a splatter of green blood stark against his dead skin.

Danny's eyes closed and slumped against the warm wall, groaning as he was much too tired to deal with internal wounds.

The rocking felt nice, it calmed his frazzled nerves, his aching body and numb mind. His eyes stayed limply shut, too tired to do anything but exist in this moment, thinking of absolutely nothing. The sensation of rocking made him feel like he was somewhere else, somewhere safe, because with the gentle too and fro his mind was given something like vertigo. He liked being somewhere else, somewhere else meant no pain, even if it didn't exist.

His cotton stuffed ears heard the door open again, he might have felt scared but he couldn't bring himself to react, he couldn't do much of anything and he was alright with that. The footsteps were somewhat familiar and a clinking sound with a slight slosh made it through the dimming fog. There was a liquid nearby.

"A water for the young master." The elderly voice said quietly, not terribly close but definitely not far away.

"Thank you Alfred, set it on the bedside table." The deeper voice replied in the same quiet manor.

Danny whined into the warm wall, a shirt he realized, slightly curling his body closer to it as the warm hand left his legs, but it soon returned to dig under them.

"It's okay Danny." The gentle voice said, then the small child then felt the dizzying sensation of being picked up. His breathing hitched as he was pushed closer to the warm clothed body, anything that wasn't being held dangled heavily into the freezing air. He felt so stiff and so rubbery at the same time, like his bones would crack under any pressure but also hold up the entire sky in sheer spite of breaking.

Then Danny was down, sinking into more warmth and random movements that settled his limp form against the warmth that cradled him. The rocking resumed, the warm hand rubbed up and down his lower leg, the tingling sensation shooting across his body every time the skin brushed against him. It was uncomfortable for awhile, but when the hand stopped and moved somewhere else Danny whined at the loss.

"Everything is going to be fine Danny, you're safe." The dark voice murmured- whispering, but not quite.

The hand moved up to his arm, rubbing gently there for a bit while Danny melted into the feeling, relaxing into the warmth around him.

"I have some sweetened warm milk as well Master Bruce." The old voice said, jolting the child out of his equilibrium.

Danny attempted to open his eyes again, but they were sticky and it took way too much effort. He got one open, his face contorting in an effort to gain complete control over his eyelids and finally opened the other. The first thing his eyes noticed was the core right next to him, it was pure black. He stared at it for a moment, watching the darkness swirl right in front of his face.

He should grab it, squeeze it, watch it burst and break in his fingers.

...

What?

No. He didn't even know if the cores were an actual thing to TOUCH, why would he want to break them? Where had that thought come from?

Danny took in a deeper shuddering breath, closing his eyes again for a brief moment to feel his numb body. The child was then able to shift his head some, angling it upwards as his eyes flicked opened and found Bruce's face. Bruce's face was so serious, there were so many lines on it and it was sour like his core. But when Danny's eyes caught Bruce's his face did a 180, the lines went away and his lips turned upwards, his eyes barely squinting.

"There he is..." Bruce said softly while his eyes crinkled at the edges. His big hand left the child's arm and came up to the boy's face, gently pushing away some damp albino hair from his sticky forehead. A frown twitched onto his face when the halfa flinched away at the soft touch. "Are you feeling a bit better?" He asked once his hand moved back to his arm, this time just resting instead of rubbing.

Danny didn't answer, this man had shushed him when he tried to speak before, he had to follow the rules. But didn't they say earlier they wanted him to speak? Well... both of them had been in the room at the time, and from what Danny could tell Dick was not present. He supposed the speaking rule must have both keepers present for it to be in affect. They did say 'we' after all.

The man's core flared dangerously in the proceeding silence- but did not change colors. Danny eyed him apprehensively, Bruce's face had lines again, but his lips were still tilted upwards and the crinkles were gone. "Let's get you sitting upright," he said, shifting his hands slowly across Danny's body. The child stayed limp as he was moved- not like he had much choice in the matter- and was more properly propped up against Bruce's chest. His arm cradled his backside and his other arm rested on the part of his lap that wasn't occupied by Danny.

"Here," The man rumbled and Danny's breathing hitched as the man bent over, his free arm reaching for something Danny could no longer see because he was now bent in half. "Have something to drink." His body retracted and his hand came back with a cup full of a clear liquid.

Danny's heart shuttered and sank.

No, no, no, no, no, no! He thought he was doing so well! He followed all the rules! Of course his nightmare would get him in trouble, he knew he wouldn't be able to escape it for long, but he was just too tired to deal with punishment, he'd black out before the whole cup was empty and waking up in his own filth afterwards was always unpleasant.

The child's toxic eyes began to water, staring at the cup as pure dread and fear tore through his tired soul. A whine rose from the back of his throat and he recoiled deeper into the man's cradling arm. Bruce was speaking, saying some things Danny couldn't decipher, or just wasn't paying enough attention to understand, he was busy shaking his head, muttering pleadings under his breath and eventually twisting to bury his face in the crook of the arm that held him.

"Danny, hey- speak to me buddy, what's wrong?" He made out Bruce's voice eventually, a few of the words were more familiar but some were still a mystery.

"I-I-Ih, I-m so-sor-rry... I'm sorrwy..." The halfa blubbered, the tears falling down the sides of his face and his head started to burn with the heat of emotion.

"Hey it's alright, you're fine Danny, you're not in trouble." Bruce spoke, shifting a little in his seat which sent even more panic through the child.

"Pl-pl-plase-please- n-no-no-no vin-vingr-gar-!" Danny whined pathetically, his hand coming up to clutch onto the fabric in case he needed some leverage to get away. He really didn't want to puke again, he didn't want the taste in his mouth or how it would feel in his stomach, it made his pee hurt too.

The male holding him stopped talking, or maybe he was talking, Danny didn't know, he was too busy sobbing into his chest and arm to really notice, and much too scared to care.

"Danny. Danny listen to me."

"Listen to me ghost scum."

The halfa froze, closing his mouth to at least stem the flow of sobbs, his eyes blinked wide and rapidly, holding his breath for a moment just to be sure he heard right.

"Danny, it's okay. Come on out."

He tensed, knowing deep inside that it was an order, but for once he held back, he stayed put, and felt hot as he knew he would get in trouble. He was already in trouble though, the vinegar and nightmare told him that.

"Danny..." The man sounded tired and annoyed, but the small experiment just then registered the dark core held a deep blue inside. "Turn around Danny... please."

The halfa thought for a moment, still tense and panicky, but he let himself contemplate. Bruce said please with an order, Dick did that before, and when Danny followed it made the older boy happy. If whining about the punishment didn't make it go away maybe if he made Bruce happy he'd forget to punish him. Besides, he would be forced to drink it if he refused and it would be a lot more painful that way, maybe he'd add acid like the GIW did when he rebelled.

He extracted himself from the crook of the man's arm, twisting in place with his head bowed and his heart pounding in his ears. The arm that was around his back shifted, the palm of his hand rubbed his back, going up and down and in circular motions that made Danny want to hiss in displeasure but he didn't want to further upset the man. The hand paused near his lower back and the man slightly leaned forward. He was trying to see under his hair, Danny realized.

"This is water." Bruce brought the cup closer, slightly shoving it into Danny's lap and into his hands, not letting go until Danny's trembling fingers curled around the cup. "Its clean water, I'm not trying to trick you." When the halfa did nothing but hold the cold cup he said one last thing, "Just try it... please? Its not vinegar, I would never give you vinegar."

Danny's hands were really cold now, the liquid- the water- was condensating on the outside of its container, a small glass cup. It looked like one of those cylindrical containers the scientists used for chemicals, but this one didn't have any measurements on it and it was much too stylish. It was more narrow near the bottom and the top had some smushed parts, smushed on purpose he realized, it was decorative rather than functional.

"Just try it." Bruce's voice reiterated above him.

The halfa gently raised the glass to his mouth, his breathing making the liquid ripple in the small container. He watched the clear liquid as he slowly tilted the cup, barely causing it to move at all before he tentatively stuck his tongue out to taste the liquid, wincing as he braced for the horrible taste.

He nearly jerked back when he realized it was actually water.

It was water.

And it felt so good on his sore throat.

Danny let out a little appreciative noise, it sounded weird with his face stuck inside a glass but he was focused on the water and how much he poured into his mouth. His breathing was amplified by the confined space, it sounded funny (funny as in odd- he had no desire to laugh), but every time he swallowed the water would slosh and make more weird noises before he returned to breathing. The water felt great on his throat, even if it did taste like blood at first, it eventually washed away and Danny was incredibly mystified.

He leaned back, tilting the cup with him as he emptied the container of its contents, sucking at the glass a little just to be sure. Liquid in small amounts was always difficult, it could be invisible sometimes and tricky. When he couldn't get anymore water from the cup he set it down, his head abuzz with the odd neck angle he was in moments before and his face felt hot in the absence of the cold aura of the cup. His fingers curled around the remaining coldness of the glass and he glanced at Bruce, his core regained its inky black self apparently. That guy was so weird.

"Good job Danny." Bruce said, his free hand rubbing along the child's leg for a moment before it stilled. "Good job."

The child absolutely glowed with a touch of pride, not realizing his cheeks actually were turning a bright shade of green. He had praised him like that before at the stairs, no one ever said he did a good job after an experiment or trial, he wasn't quite sure if he liked it or not but it was another thing the GIW didn't do that Bruce did do that made him happy. The man's hand came closer, gently grabbing at the empty glass cup, Danny relinquished his empty drink and settled his heavy head against the man's torso.

He closed his eyes and breathed, his air regulation had ran out the door when he started drinking and now that his stomach had something in it he felt the need to be still. He was really tired he realized, everything felt heavy again but it wasn't that dangerous pass-out heavy, just a tired heavy.

"Danny?"

A weak whimper left the child's parted lips in acknowledgement, his chest jerking at the break in his hasty breathing and much too tired to realize Bruce might not have wanted a verbal answer.

"Do you think you can drink this too? It's warm sweetened milk, it'll help you sleep." Bruce explained, replacing his empty fingers with a warm cup.

Danny didn't like warm, cold was much better, but the scent was off with this drink, and when he opened his eyes groggily he realized it wasn't water at all, it was white. White? Was this punishment? White means pain! Hold on a second, Bruce didn't know that though, well how could he not? If he said he was not GIW and he wore all black, then how could he not know white means pain?

Ugh, this was too much thinking for the tired halfa, so he accepted the drink regardless of what was inside it. He raised it to his lips, looking down blankly at white liquid that was now rippling because of his breathing. It brought an odd smell with it, something he couldn't identify, something buried and hidden. He rested the lip of the cup on his bottom lip, carefully tipping the cup and took a small dash with his tongue.

It was... sweet...

It was almost overpowering, but the white substance -milk as Bruce called it- was indeed warm and quelled the brunt of the sweetness. It was such an odd drink, and it made his belly warm. It didn't hurt, or at least not yet, and he found he didn't dislike the taste.

He took a few more laps, swallowing small amounts in between his breathing. It echoed in the cup, this one wasn't glass, it was made of something else but he couldn't see out of it. He decided he didn't care, he was just going to drink this warm... milk... sweet stuff.

His eyes eventually closed, resting his head against the man's chest, barely realizing the arm cradling his back and the small swaying motion had returned. The child barely registered the warm cup being taken from his lap where his hands nearly dropped it, he just felt warm and solid, tired and entering a nice blissful, peaceful rest.

5772 words.