Danny's dull green eyes fluttered open.

He was, in fact, not, fully dead.

Still in the same bloodied room, with the same pain, and the same fear that controlled him. Danny was alone, he was always alone, he prefered it. Danny hated the GIW, but he feared them more than he loathed them.

Danny tried to ignore the pain in his leg but it was persistent. With an annoyed huff Danny slowly sat up to face his leg that was demanding attention, almost wishing it to be chopped off. They had done that once, but it was a finger, not an entire leg. The finger had grown back due to his enhanced healing abilities but it was pale and weak.

He winced as pain sliced through his side, almost forgetting all his other injuries. Grimacing, Danny pushed the stars away from his vision and focused on the injuries he needed to fix. He was going to bleed out if his leg wasn't tended to. He was sure his left arm was broken, the left shoulder also bleeding profusely because of the robot, and his ribs were in a horrible state of bruises and breaks. He could feel the massive (he asssumed) black bruise under his muzzle, his jaw aching and a thin strip of red-green blood trickled down his forehead.

Danny's core turned to a sickly green, grossed out with the sheer amount of blood that was supposed to be inside of him but wasn't. Even though seeing much of his own blood over the past 4 years had hardened him from such unpleasantries.

Danny slowly scooted himself to the wall, leaning up against it so he could find some comfort in the contact with the wall. Danny needed something he could hug onto, something he could use to keep from clenching his hands for too log. Nervous habit had him hugging his legs, but he couldn't do that this time because his leg was unable to function, as was his entire left side. Both appendages  burned at any movement what so ever.

Danny made a pained face as he was able to tighten the makeshift bandage that he made with his shirt. It was a feeble attempt, but it might have just saved his life. He sighed, tired of his endless pain.

He laid his head back, his long white hair flopping to the side, hoping his advanced healing could fix his leg before he bled out.

He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

-0o0o0o0o BECAUSE IM BATMAN o0o0o0o0-
(HISHE anyone?)

A jarring sensation woke the sleeping halfa, immediately he was set on edge, well... as much as he could be in his broken state.

His core flared a deep purple, his gaze flickered fearfully to his cell door, the origin of the sound. Although rested his mind was sluggish, he had to blink a few times to steady his swimming vision.

BANG.

Danny involuntarily jumped, sending new pain up his leg and down his shoulder into his broken arm. The harsh lights above him were flashing red and alarms were blaring loudly. Neither of witch helped his still swimming vision, the sounds and lights hurt his head. The little halfa bent his head down, trying to find some way to block the noise out. Whatever it was it couldn't possibly be related to him.

BANG.

Danny felt his panic rise into his throat, what if it was? His thoughts thickly shifted through ideas. Could it be a new robot the GIW wanted him to destroy? Or... another side of him offered... a new robot the GIW wanted to destroy him?

BANG.

The door crashed to the floor, the hinges coming clean off and dust from something flew into the air.

Danny's eyes widened with fear as a large man stood in the doorway. He was tall, and broad chested, a bat symbol covered his torso. A black cape hung around his shoulders, dark pointed ears crested his head, but that is not what worried Danny.

His core... it was molten black.

Danny was frozen with terror. It was writhing, seething almost, Danny had never seen a black core before. It terrified him of what it could mean, and never would he ever guess he was about to be rescued. He had little time to ponder because loss of blood had his brain and body shutting down.

Danny's vision began to tunnel, not sure if it was because of fear or blood loss, it could have easily been both. He could only see the man's dark core as he moved about, getting closer and closer, bigger and bigger.

The sirens were too loud, Danny attempted to cover his ears to keep the noise out, but only his right arm responded. His blood splotched hand made it to his ear and it took all of Danny's energy to keep it there. He groaned in pain through the muzzle, reminding him of his broken arm and ribs, not to mention how mangled his leg was.

Something rattled at Danny's feet, his mind groggily focused back onto the man, who was still just a black mass in Danny's swimming vision. The black core man was doing something to his chained feet, probably coming to take him away for an even more horrible experiment. Words were being said in a low, growly, voice, but his ears didn't hear them, they were full of the sound of rushing blood and sirens.

The little halfa tried to shy away but his body was stiff and unresponsive, only able to shift his head to the side and make his body a little closer to the wall. Danny wasn't sure what was going on but he wanted to get away from the black core man. The white haired experiment was sure the black cored man was going do something harmful to him.

More muffled words began making it to the halfas ears, someone was talking, another figure strode in. Dannys half lidded -but small pupiled- eyes found a new core to study, a core much smaller and lighter than the first. But the colors were muted, a black sheen covered the light colors underneath.

Danny's curiosity was what kept him awake, hoping that if he was awake for a second longer the answer would magically appear.

Something shuffled next to Danny, he made out the sound of cloth. Soon his world got a whole lot darker as something black surrounded his being. New waves of pain shot through him as he was lifted up off the floor. Danny's eyes were wide with terror but he couldn't seem to see anything except the man's writhing black core. He wanted to back away from it, to flee from the shadowed core witch was now right next to his face.

In a delirious state Danny (contradictory to his previous thoughts) feebly moved a hand to try and touch the dark substance, curious if he could touch it, only to be blocked by a faintly glowing wall. His pounding head was resting on something hard yet soft, his legs dangling loose over some type of bar.

Pain over took him, it suddenly didn't matter where he was or who was there, all he knew was pain.

-0o0o0o Robin? TO THE BATMOBILE! o0o0o0-

Barely coming out of dark land of sleep, Danny weakly opened his eyes, his chest fluttering with struggled breaths. It was dark, but lights were flashing on the ceiling of wherever he was, passing and then coming back like the light source was moving, or maybe he was? The halfa could see tiny buttons and metal things, his first thought was the experimentation table, but the thought was negated by the softness under his numb body. He was too confused and scared to notice his muzzle was gone and had a hasty but tight bandage over his bleeding leg and shoulder.

Through his muddled and confused thoughts he managed to turn his head to the side. A figure sat in a chair with his back to him, a bald head with two little points to the side. it was the black core man, he was driving.

With his head slightly clearer, Danny's core flared with uncertainty and fear. Who was this man? Why was his core black? Would he hurt him too? Danny eyes began to tear up, would his pain ever e-

"We need to get him to a hospital." A voice cut through his thoughts.

The voice was unnaturally loud even though it was said normally. It was a young voice, sounding concerned and somewhat sad. Danny could not see the voices owner though.

What was a hospital?

A grisly voice answered, belonging to the man shrouded in darkness. "Negative, the hospital is too far away, and his injuries too severe to leave unattended for a second longer." The elder mans fists clenched onto the steering wheel. "We'll take him to the cave. Agent A can help him much better than any hospital doctor can. Besides, a hospital would ask questions."

Danny felt panic rose into his throat, making his chest burn with the need to cry. Where was he going? To Agent A? Agent A was one of the worst agents Danny had ever been with, he was the one who came in all the time to beat him up. Agent A would NOT help him.

Danny's voice betrayed him as he let out a whimper. His eyes streamed with hot tears, he wanted to wipe them away but his arms were secured to whatever he was laying on. The car silenced at his moan, the man in black cast a quick glance at the broken boy in his back seat.

After a few more minutes of silence Danny fell asleep from the stress of pure terror running through his body, hoping to wake up from this awful nightmare.

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-

When he finally woke up Danny was very confused.

For one, his face was covered in something, it actually wasn't that surprising as he was used to the muzzle, it was confusing because it wasn't a muzzle. It was a tube of sorts covering his mouth and nose, it was hooked up to a machine somewhere next to him and he couldn't help the panic that came with it. Was this an experiment?

He could not move his arms or legs. In fact his entire body felt numb, he couldn't feel anything. Was he dying? Was he supposed to not be feeling anything?

The second thing that got his mind churning was the ceiling. It was white, so he figured he must be in the experiment room. But here didn't seem to be any scientists bending over him, he couldn't see the black core man nor the smaller black cored kid. Then where was he and what was happening to him?

A dull throbbing headache pounded on Danny's skull, he frowned as his chest rose and fell more quickly as his panic rose. His wide eyes were dilated in panic, his eyes were almost shaking with how quickly he was looking left and right, trying to take in his surroundings even with his prone body strapped to the table.

Wait a second...

It wasn't a table, there was soft padding under him. Neither was he tied down, there were no leather straps over his chest or legs, but there might as well be with how heavy and tired he felt. The little halfa tried to raise and arm to his head, or simply move at all. It was not that he was pinned down, he was just too weak to hold anything up. He didn't know if he should be relived or not.

He was startled by the sudden realization that his neck felt cold, the fresh air gave his neck a tingly feeling he had never felt before. Danny managed to lift his good arm to his face, where his heavy hand met an oxygen mask. He lowered his hand and felt his neck...

The collar was gone.

Dannys entire train of thought stalled.

His collar... was gone?

They never took the collar off, its what kept his powers in check, to keep him from escaping. It turned orange for the training room so he could use some of his powers but that was as close as he got to freedom from the soul sucking collar.

Did the black core man do this?

Danny had no idea.

Danny slowly sat up, finding he had more energy than he thought, along with his body felt like pins and needles, like he'd been asleep for a long time. The little white haired halfa pulled the oxygen mask off and took the IV from his other arm. His whole body felt like a truck had hit him, ran over him, then hit him again. Maybe not a truck, but he knew what it felt like to be hit and run over by a vehicle.

He was shocked to find he was on a bed, a thin, hard bed, but a bed nonetheless. The GIW did not, under any circumstances, give soft surfaces to sleep on.

The little experiment, feeling uncomfortable on the plush cushion, jumped off the bed. Unfortunately, the bed was higher off the ground than he anticipated and his legs weren't as strong as he remembered. When he landed his leg stung and he had to limp forward to catch his balance, putting a hand on the wall for support.

Dannys dull green eyes looked around blankly, the hand still on the wall because the darkness of sleep hinted at the edges of his consciousness. The room was bare save it be the bed, life support, and himself. Everything was white, not a speck of green or red blood. Danny's eyes narrowed, actually, it wasn't pure white, it was a creamy white color, not the blinding kind of white he'd gotten used to.

He decided it must be a new room, maybe the black core guy put him in here. For what purpose Danny had no idea, but with his type of past he had a few horrible thoughts.

Pain struck his leg and shoulder, reminding him he should be laying down.

Wincing, Danny sunk to the floor, his good arm holding his bad one, and stretching out his still healing leg. His ribs seemed to have  healed, as well as his no longer throbbing head. His left arm was not good though and his leg was still bleeding, but also bandaged. Without the collar it's like his healing powers went into overdrive, now that he was free from its soul gripping grasp he could feel something like power flowing through him again. It was a comforting feeling.

Danny examined the soft cloth that covered his leg with a tilted head, eyebrows drawn up in innocent confusion. The bandage was wound tight and good, the dark splotch in the middle was not spreading and actually looked pretty dry. How long had he been here?

Danny was puzzled, the GIW did not, in any circumstance, ever bandage his wounds. This must be someplace else, the black core man couldn't possibly be GIW, this was too kind.

Given no warning the door to his new room opened.

Danny panicked.

He jumped in fright with a yelp, he scooted backwards, trying to hide from the man he thought to be an agent. His panic filled eyes spotted the area under the bed. He dove between the bars of the bed, putting himself in the shadows and the bars between him and the threatening man. The movement agitated his already hurting body but he ignored it in the rush of adrenaline that spiked through him.

Now able to get a good look of the man (of course only glances, never full eye contact.) Danny could tell that he was old. His core was slightly yellow, but mostly blue and purple. It seemed passive, not flaring or writhing as the other cores the halfa had seen. It was calm like a small stream, gently burbling past.

The man paused, seemingly confused at the little boy's actions.

Danny was equally as confused, he had never seen someone so calm, or old. The man had receding white hair and his outfit was very sharp looking and formal. Danny then noticed a thin line of black inside his core, encompassing  all the other colors. Danny frowned, he needed to figure out what the black meant.

But first he had to deal with this man who Danny had no doubts wanted to hurt him.

The old man collected himself from his stupor after Danny had hid under the bed. He walked gently forward to the frightened child, hoping he could explain things.

Danny's heart sped up as the man neared, then the man crouched down to Danny's level. The little white haired boys breathing became shallow and quick, his limbs started shaking in fear, his mind numb with terror. Danny quickly averted his gaze, burying his head in his arm and cradling his stomach with his broken arm, trying to hide his injuries as to not appear more of a target than he already was.

Danny would have said something to make the man go away, but like looking people in the eye; talking would get him in even more trouble than looking at people. When Danny was younger and not yet accustomed to the ways of the GIW his witty comments got him in so much trouble.

The old man took in the curled up boy and frowned, a blue coming to front in his core.

"Don't be frightened young sir. I am not here to harm you. You have lost a considerable amount of blood, it would be beneficial for you to trust us." His voice was indeed old, and had an accent that Danny could not place. But it had a strength to it that hinted at years of knowledge and experience behind it.

Danny curled into a tight ball, ignoring the burning pain in his leg and arm. He must be lying, the old man must be lying. Everyone wanted to hurt him, this man was no different. Dannys capacity to trust ended where he knew men would hurt him. He trusted people to hurt him, he trusted no one to be nice to him.

"I am Agent A," the old voice continued. "Batman brought you here so you can be safe." Newly dubbed Agent A said to the scared halfa.

Danny didn't understand. 'Safe' and 'Danny' had never been in the same sentence except for whispered wishes deep in the night, in the dark of his old bloodied room. As well as the negative connotation; Danny was never safe.

Danny didn't know how to deal with nice people, so he kept himself in his ball of pain. And who was Batman? Was he the black core guy? Why would he want him to be safe?

Agent A frowned, this was not good, the boy reacted badly to words that should have calmed him, the little white haired boy only tightened his position. Maybe Batman had a friend who could sort this out, if the simple old butler scared the boy then Batman would terrify him.

Besides, the boy was going to hurt himself if he kept that position any longer. The boy would need fresh bandages if he kept moving and agitating his wounds like this. Agent A felt like if that were to happen the boy would not understand that they were trying to help and probably panic even more. Agent A recognized his mere presence was an issue for the boy, he did not trust him. It did not give the old butler much hope.

"I will be leaving now, I'll see if I can get master Batman to help you. If you need anything just ask." Agent A said in a kind tone. He paused for a moment, a false hope thinking he could revive an answer. He stood, straightened his jacket, then left through the light door.

A small click signified the closed door.

Once he was gone Danny let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. His panic didn't leave him though, he was thrust into a whole new type of scary.

Danny didn't know what to make of the new ...odd... Agent A. He was nice, but Danny didn't know how to respond to nice. There was no such thing as a nice human.

The little white haired halfa let his muscles relax, holding his arm again and letting his leg out of the fetal position. His mind was far away, thinking about this 'Batman' guy. Who was he? Why did he take him? Why was he so concerned with Danny's health? Would he start to experiment on him too? Would agent A? Too many questions and not enough answers.

One thing was for certain though: Danny liked it underneath the bed. It was dark, dark was the opposite of light, and light was pain. Whenever Danny got hurt his core would flash white. 

White was the color of pain.