Incision

Prologue

Show me a Hero and I'll write you a Tragedy.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Damian slammed the door to the apartment that he had bought as a safe house. It took him a few months to get it set up so his father didn't know about it, but it was worth it. Especially when he found Danny over a year ago, he needed somewhere for his friend to stay.

They had met while he was on patrol without Batman. Danny had been stealing food from a local market, but no one could figure it out. Robin wanted to know who was desperate enough to steal food and other supplies. Sometimes there was money left on the counter after, but never enough to cover what was taken.

But nothing of real value had been taken, and Batman figured it should be left to the police, but Damian thought otherwise, and since there hadn't been anything big in the past few weeks, he would stake out the building and see if their thief came around.

That's when he noticed Danny. Danny had been the one stealing, but there was something off about his movements, and Damian knew that the teen was injured severely and probably needed medical attention. He went to go down when suddenly the teen vanished into thin air.

Danny was running and he knew there wasn't much time before he either got the attention of Batman or…them. He couldn't keep going without resting, and he hoped that Gotham was crime ridden enough that they wouldn't notice right away that something was off.

He slipped into the store silently checking to see how much money he was able to get from the streets. He only had about six dollars, but he would leave it for the store. He knew it wasn't enough, but he needed to change the bandages and get more food for the week. He knew it was dangerous, but as long as there were no security cameras he should be okay for a little while longer. He already felt better, and hopefully it would only be a few more weeks before he could leave again.

That hope was short lived when a shadow fell over him while he was grabbing the larger bandages from the bottom shelf. He felt his throat constrict before looking up. His heart fell when he realized it wasn't the Batman.

It was the new Robin. The one that caused many criminals to run away in fear. The one who they were afraid would cross that line.

Robin kneeled down next to him cautiously. Danny held the bandages tighter. His powers were damn near inaccessible at the moment till it healed. He hoped. He had the basics, but even that may not be enough to get away from the hero.

"Would you like some help?" Robin asked making Danny weary. No one ever offered to help him; he was a runaway with no future.

He's heard that enough.

"Listen, you can't keep doing this," Robin started. "These people need to make a living too. If it was a bigger store, I probably wouldn't care as much, but then again, they have security. So again, would you like some help?"

"That would be nice," Danny answered slowly rising up with Robin following suit. He held the bandages close to his chest. "They need changed…I haven't been able to…" Robin held out his hand for the bandages.

"Not from here, follow me," Robin ordered before turning around and heading out. Danny put the bandages down before following the other teen and hoping like hell he didn't end up dead.

Or back in that lab.

"Where are we going?" Danny asked when they started down an alleyway. Robin kicked over a door before walking in. Danny looked around before realizing that the little shop was next to apartments that had definitely seen better days.

"A safe house. You can stay there for a couple days," Robin informed as he opened one of the doors. The room was bare except for a couch that pulled out and a small table. There were cabinets along the wall, and when Robin opened one, it held almost enough medical supplies to stock an ambulance.

"Thank you," Danny whispered wrapping his arms gently around himself. He could use a good cleaning, and this was more than enough to get him by. Robin turned to him.

"Your chest is injured, correct?" Robin was curt, but not unkind. Danny looked away from him.

"I can get it myself."

"I'm helping," Robin insisted pulling the bandages and wraps from the cabinet and pulling some antiseptic just in case. "Is it a burn or bruise or?"

"An… incision," Danny whispered feeling vomit in the back of his throat. He could still feel the hands.

"Alright, take off your shirt. You're going to need cleaned before we change this. The bathroom is down the hall, but I would like to look at it before you go," Robin said as he pulled what he believed he would need. He couldn't believe he was sacrificing a safe house for some random kid. Of course, Batman had already found it, so it didn't really matter in the long run if anything happened.

"Alright," Danny sighed. He needed something, but Robin was suddenly in front of him after he removed his shirt and was already taking off the bandages with careful hands. Danny felt fear crawl up his spine at the closeness that the other boy was at.

He couldn't breathe.

"Oh my god," Robin whispered as he finished. He held a slight fear when he revealed the top of the lines, but even his grandfather would never do something like this to another person.

There was no honor in it. You kill something, but you never torture unless there was something to gain. But this wasn't just torture, this was experimentation.

"What happened?" Robin asked looking into haunted eyes.

"They figured it out," Danny whispered staring at the hero. "And I couldn't get away."

Damian flinched with the memory. It was the first time he really had a leap of faith in someone. Danny was quiet, and did whatever it was that was asked of him. A couple months later, Damian let him know who he was, and told him his story.

In return, Danny told him how he tried to do the right thing. How he wanted so badly to be a hero, but all he got was hate. He wanted nothing more than to help, and he would have been fine if they had just listened.

No one ever listened to the ghost though. Damian hoped that one day he could help the kind soul who tried everything he could to save those he cared about, but failed in the end. He hoped he could help him be the hero that Damian knew he was.

"Danny? Are you here?" Damian called as he walked into the living room. This condo was much nicer than any of the other safe houses, and was much harder to hide from Bruce, but he managed. It helped when he was able to put everything in Danny's name.

"Yeah, I'm in the kitchen," Danny yelled. Damian smiled. He wasn't sure what the big deal was with being gay or bi, but Danny was nice enough to help him figure it out. Bruce didn't need to know anything about it, and Damian only hoped that this one thing could be kept from Bruce for a long while yet. It was something that was all him. Something that felt like it was all his own. Without outside influence.

"What are you doing?" Damian asked as he walked behind the hybrid. He had been trying to get Danny to change into ghost form since he was healed enough to use more than just the basic powers, but Danny was afraid. Damian understood that fear, but something was going on, and he had a feeling that Danny might end up involved.

Who knows how badly they damaged Phantom when they were experimenting.

"Well, I was making pizza if you want some?" Danny smiled at him before leaning against the counter. "I thought you were going to come later."

"I think Father is trying to figure out where I'm running off to," Damian said with a hint of worry. He did not want the Batman to interrogate Danny. Danny was not ready for that.

"That sounds like fun," Danny laughed, but Damian could tell he was nervous. He was a very bad lair. "The pizza should be done in a few minutes."

"I can think of a few things to do in those few minutes," Damian grinned mischievously before grabbing Danny's hand and pulling him into the living room again. Danny was smiling as Damian started kissing his neck.

"This normally turns into something much longer, and if you burn my pizza, you're ordering and paying for the…holy crap," Danny complained and moaned as Damian pulled him down on the couch.

Nightwing stared at the screen where Bruce had asked him to follow Damian and see where the kid was running off to. Bruce was concerned that he was out doing something bad, that he might be taking things too far again.

However, on the screen were clearly two people completely at ease with other in the same sense that he was with Kory. Now, he just needed to figure out a way to tell Bruce that he probably has nothing to worry about when it comes to Robin going too far, but Damian taking things too far with whoever he was with. Nightwing needed to figure who this girl was before Bruce decides to crash in there and see what exactly is going on.

"You are so lucky my pizza did not get burned," Danny grumbled. Upset that Damian stopped with the timer to the oven went off and glad that he had food. Damian laughed as he snatched another piece off Danny's plate. "Will you get your own!" Danny pulled his plate away from the thief. "There's plenty in there."

"Doesn't taste as good unless it stolen from your plate though," Damian defended as the door bell rang. They both froze. No one should know this place is here. Even when they ordered take out and had it delivered, it was always next door where no one lived and Danny would just phase though the walls. Damian stood up and glared at the door when the bell rang again.

"Who could…?" Danny started only for Damian to raise his hand for Danny to be quiet.

"Stay," Damian ordered before heading for the door. He wished there was a peephole, but he also knew that those could be dangerous as well. The bell rang again before someone knocked on the door.

"I know you're in there, Damian," Grayson called and Damian now realized why it had been easy losing Bruce's tail. Grayson was following him. He should have known that the both of them had been in on it.

"What do you want?" Damian growled out as he opened the door. Grayson stood there expecting to be let in once the door was open.

"We are not doing this in the hall. I know you have a girl in there, but we seriously need to talk," Grayson informed pushing at the door only for Damian to growl at him again.

"You followed me," he accused. "Why can't you just leave me alone for a little while?"

"Cause Bruce is worried, and you know how he gets when he's worried," Grayson taunted pushing the door back looking at the room. Danny was sitting on the couch still glaring at the new comer. Grayson swallowed realizing that maybe a teenage pregnancy was not something he should be concerned about anymore. It did explain why Damian was being extra careful. "I was not…"

"You tell anyone, they will not be able to find your body," Damian threatened slamming the door shut. Danny stood up nervous about someone having figured out where he was.

"I'm pretty sure Bruce would not let that happen," Grayson said realizing that Damian was protective of someone besides himself. Now Grayson needed to know why this kid of all people. "I'm Dick Grayson."

"Damian's older adopted brother who likes to stick his nose where it doesn't belong. I figured," Danny crossed his arms. Grayson turned to Damian waiting for introductions since the other teen clearly wasn't to tell him who he was even though he clearly knew who Dick was.

"Why did you show up instead of just telling Father where I was?" Damian asked covering for Danny. He was not going to let them get near Danny. Danny was his.

"Well, I was going to see if I could get an excuse from you, but this wasn't really what I was expecting," Grayson said looking back at Danny. He needed to know this kid. He knew exactly what he seen through that window not half an hour ago.

"Great, you've successfully invaded my privacy, now leave," Damian demanded pointing towards the door while glaring at Dick.

"You know, I have to tell Bruce something," Dick said knowing that he was going to pay later when they all went out on patrol together. Something big was going down, which was why Bruce had asked him to come. He didn't want to, but no one was sure what else to make of it.

"Tell him you lost me," Damian suggested before opening the door again. "Now leave."

"Fine, but I'm going to find out who your boy toy is," Grayson pointed to the teen who was standing at the couch glaring at him as well. After Damian slammed the door for the third time that day, Danny glared at him.

"You're going to break that door eventually," Danny said smugly. "You got caught."

"Shut up," Damian growled glaring at Danny before turning towards the kitchen.

He wanted to keep the lives he lived separate from each other. At least until Danny wanted to patrol with them. He was teaching Danny some defensive and offensive combat. Danny was a quick learner who also had his own style.

He even showed a few things he picked to Damian who was interested in knowing that ghosts also had their own fighting styles. It was hard to pick up since gravity was a major factor.

Now, Grayson knew about him and Damian was worried about Danny.

"You gonna be okay?" Danny asked as he gently traced over the cape on Damian. Damian sighed as he finished pulling his gloves on.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just really don't want to have this discussion with my father ," Damian said as he looked at Danny. He hoped to get Danny out there someday. From the stories he told, he knew how to be a hero; all he needed was someone to believe in him again.

"Tell him to fuck off," Danny suggested with a smile. Damian glared at him.

"I would never be allowed to leave the mansion after that," he informed pulling Danny closer to him. "How are the nightmares?" Danny looked down between them where they were pressed together.

"I've only had one so far this week, so they're getting better. My powers don't feel like they're trying to overwhelm me anymore," Danny whispered. "I…If you're not in trouble and can come this weekend, I would like to see if I can change."

"Really?" Damian smiled. He had read as much as he could about The Phantom of Amity Park, but there was so little he could get access to that wouldn't raise any flags that it was nearly impossible to even believe that the hero existed. There were no newspaper or articles about the heroics of the ghost, but there were plenty that painted Danny in a very bad light.

"I think it would be good to know if my other half is good, and maybe work my powers a bit more," Danny said as he looked back up at Damian before reaching for the hero's mask on the table and putting it on him. "I mean, I know you wanted to see Phantom up close since you couldn't find anything, but…maybe it's time I stopped trying to hide."

"You don't owe anyone anything, Danny," Damian pressed. "You never did. That's what made you a hero."

"Maybe I owe myself something," Danny smiled before pulling Damian close and kissing him. Damian leaned in with a smile as well.

So edited this in mobile and am having just a blast...not. my phone is an ass and this stupid site wouldn't let me create a new doc for it...so here's my precious story that is completely written. All Thriteen chapters of her I'm so proud.

The more reviews the faster an update...unless miss 6BlueSweaters gets it beted first...