Laceration
Chapter Two
First Meeting
"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen-
"You're letting me go now?" Danny asked as Damian started to unbuckle the jacket from around him. Danny let Damian pull it off and slowly worked out the kinks in his shoulder. Danny had no idea how to deal with this. That picture was enough for him to believe that he knew the person in front of him very well at one time.
"You didn't do anything wrong," Damian said looking at him. "And you staying here isn't helping, clearly."
"Right," Danny whispered as he slid off the bed and stood up. He brought his hand up and made it turn intangible. Damian watched him carefully. He knew Danny could fight back, and that his shield was up. He did not want to fight his boyfriend. But he would if it came to it.
"I have a place we're going to stay in Gotham," Damian said. It was the first place that Danny stayed at. "I've fixed it up a bit from…"
"I've been there before then," Danny cut him off. Danny let his hand become solid before looking up at Damian.
"Yes, you have," Damian whispered as he packed up a small bag. "It's the first place you stayed when I found you."
"Where'd they go?" Superman asked looking at the computer. Flash looked at him before shaking his head.
"No idea, Damian dropped off the radar," Flash said. "Bats isn't helping either. He told me to leave it alone."
"Phantom is powerful; we can't just let him be till we know for sure he's not a threat."
"This is your idea of a safe house then?" Danny asked as Damian opened the ally door.
"You had no complaints about it last time," Damian muttered as he unlocked the apartment door. Danny slowly followed him in and put down the bag of his clothes that Damian had brought him.
"Okay, fine then, why did you bring me here?" Danny asked. Damian looked at him.
"Because you needed help," Damian said as he pulled out the couch. "The bedroom had been turned into a medical room of sorts, so if we crash here, we just kinda sleep here." Danny looked over the small room and the cabinet.
"So it's a rest area for heroes basically," Danny mumbled as he gently set his bag on the table. He closed his eyes.
"Is it a burn or a bruise?"
"An…incision."
"I was injured," Danny whispered looking over to Damian who dropped the sheets to the floor. He turned to Danny with a smile.
"You remember?" Damian said with a slight surprise. He had hoped that being somewhere familiar would jog something.
"Not…I'm not sure," Danny whispered looking around. Damian had fixed the place up a little since then, but the area was still the same. "It's there, but then it's not."
"You were injured; it hadn't been healing well," Damian said as he walked up to Danny and gently pressed his hand against Danny's chest.
"There's something there, but I haven't really…" Danny looked away. "I was afraid to look and see what had happened."
"You had been captured and escaped, then on the run," Damian started looking at Danny's eyes that were glued to the floor. He hadn't been able to really look Damian in the eyes since they were in the Watchtower. "You were stealing food and supplies from a local store."
"Doesn't sound like something I would do," Danny said sending a small glare at Damian.
"You were desperate and hurt. You were trying to survive," Damian explained before gently reaching up to Danny's face. Danny watched the hand carefully. Knowing that the man in front of him was in love with him was a bit odd, but something was also telling him that he had been in love as well. "I decided to help instead of sending you to the police."
"I guess that makes sense," Danny whispered looking down as Damian gently rested his hand on his face. Danny closed his eyes again. Something was digging at him. He jerked back and into the wall making Damian jump lightly.
"Danny?" Damian asked watching the hybrid carefully. "Danny, you okay?"
"No, I…" Danny grabbed his hair and pulled. "I can't…" Damian slowly made his way over to Danny and gently wrapped him in a hug hoping that it would work. It always worked before.
"Your name is Danny Fenton. You're safe. You're in Gotham," Damian whispered.
"My name is Danny Fenton, I'm safe. I'm in Gotham," Danny whispered as Damian gently rubbed his back. "I'm safe. I'm in Gotham."
"Yeah, you are," Damian whispered back. "You're going to be alright." Tears were gathered in both of their eyes, but they knew that as long as they had each other, they could take on the world.
"My head hurts," Danny whispered slowly as Damian backed away from him slowly. "I've heard that before."
"Yeah, it was something I found that helped you with the nightmares," Damian explained. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"Not sure," Danny mumbled feeling so lost. Damian gently put his hand on Danny's shoulder in comfort.
"Just take a breath," Damian whispered. Danny looked up at Damian with confusion. "You'll be alright."
"So, you want my help in finding Masters?" Hood asked leaning against the wall and staring at the lady in red.
"He hurt a good friend of mine," she said crossing her arms.
"I thought you hunted him back in Amity," Hood said turning his stare into a glare. Valerie looked down before taking in a breath.
"I was young and idiotic. I know I made a lot of mistakes back then," Valerie growled. "But I've seen you and Phantom working together. Hell, I've read that most of you guys with Batman work with him. You guys have been protecting him for a while now."
"Danny's like a little brother to me, and considering he's dating my adopted brother he's got one hell of a protection squad," Hood said pulling out a gun and pointing it at Valerie. She took in a breath knowing this was her fault. She should have listened back in Amity, and maybe none of this would have happened.
"Look, I just want to help. He got me the job with Waller if that's your problem with me," Valerie said trying to remain calm. She needed friends. She was afraid that ARGUS might have been compromised. "Danny was there wherever I needed him. Even when I didn't know I needed him. He was still there, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to be there when shit hits the fan now."
"We sharing a bed then?" Danny asked as Damian sat down on the pull out. Damian looked up at him realizing that it may be a problem.
"I can take the floor if you feel uncomfortable," Damian suggested looking at Danny carefully. He hadn't really taken the fact that there weren't more than one bed in this place.
"No, it's fine," Danny whispered sitting next to Damian on the bed. "I'm guessing we shared one…before."
"Yeah, when you first stayed here, you were by yourself. I just went back to the manor," Damian said. "I would come to help change your bandages every day. I had hoped that it wouldn't scar over too badly. It could have been worse."
"You said that they got me in a lab," Danny whispered running his hands together. "That's…something happened."
"You were tortured," Damian said shifting a little closer to Danny. "They ran experiments on you."
"I can take a guess," Danny whispered closing his eyes. If he looked then it would be real, and he did not want it to be real.
"You were hiding here in Gotham when I came across you, and then I started helping you. I would move you to safe houses to keep anyone from tracking you," Damian said. "The paranoia started getting to you along with the nightmares. I managed to help you with those too."
"And then we got together," Danny whispered looking down at the floor. He was unsure of how to feel about that. He had no idea who this person was, but there was still evidence that they had been together. Dick had shown him pictures and even told of a few stories.
"That was much later," Damian smiled. "It was you who started it in my defense."
"Alright," Danny whispered. Damian turned to him sadly. Danny always shot back at him when he blamed him for something. Danny wasn't one to just let things go. He loved to banter.
"Wanna watch something?" Damian asked getting up and pulling out one of Danny's favorites.
"Sure," Danny whispered as he laid down. Damien turned back and nearly stopped breathing for a moment as Danny got settled.
He was on the right side of the bed. Damian knew that it would come in time, but he was certain that Danny would remember everything. Just the little things like which side of the bed was his was still the same. And he didn't even need to be told.
The only thing that he was worried about was the pain he would have to remember as well.
Bruce glared at the screen of a smug looking Vlad Masters. He was loose again claiming that he had been possessed by a ghost that made him do the bad things he was accused of. Bruce sighed knowing he had something to do with it.
Danny was only gone for four days, but he was unconscious for nearly two weeks. Bruce knew Damian had been hurting the entire time. That his son was beating himself up for not noticing the signs that something was wrong.
Bruce knew that there hadn't been any. There was nothing Damian could have done, but his son was still beating himself up about it. Hopefully taking Danny and hiding him away would help fix some of that.
"Anything?" Clark asked coming up behind. Bruce glared at the screen.
"No, ARGUS is still investigating, but Waller released the files," Bruce said pulling up the files of the compound where they had found Danny.
"Why's Waller being helpful all of the sudden?" Clark asked looking over it. Bruce smiled a little.
"She has a soft spot for our ghostly friend," Bruce said pulling up the information on the Ecto Projects that Danny had started. "He's been helping her shut down the Guys in White from a distance while providing her with the necessary information on ghosts in order to properly ensure safety."
"So, you trust Danny still? Even after finding out that he's been working with her?" Clark asked looking at him confused.
"I wouldn't, but he had told Damian. He didn't just do it without anyone knowing. He told the one person he trusted the most," Bruce said. He turned to Clark with a sharp look. "Danny has been though enough to know the best people to trust and I bet the only one who truly knows everything from both sides is Damian. And I do trust my son when it comes to Danny."
Danny woke up to the feel of something warm against his back. He felt a little off, but it was familiar. Very familiar, and it was nothing like when he was dating Sam. He remembered sharing the bed with Damian. He shifted slightly and looked behind. Damian was turned away from him, but his back was pressed against Danny's.
Danny turned back around and looked at the wall that looked like it hadn't been painted in a while. He could feel the familiar tug in his head from his memory trying to come back. He felt like he was missing something. That something was wrong. He closed his eyes tightly when a shot of pain went through his skull. He felt like he was drowning.
"You think that'll work?" Phantom growled punching the glass. Valerie knew this wasn't going to end well.
"Of course, Little Badger. I've perfected the operation. It'll only take a few weeks, and then you'll be mine," Vlad smirked as he walked across the hall. "And just to ensure it, I've captured a friend that you'll kill once this is all over."
"It won't work," Valerie shot hitting the glass as well. Waller should be locating her and Phantom soon. Waller had the tracker that could and Valerie knew that Robin wouldn't be taking Phantom's disappearance lightly. Everyone would know in a few hours.
"You underestimate me," Vlad laughed glaring at Phantom before a light came on above him. Phantom closed his eyes as it started flashing.
Danny shot up with the memory and was breathing harshly. Damian was up right with him feeling the bed shift violently when Danny got off and started pacing.
"Danny? You there?" Damian asked seeing the look in Danny's eyes. He wasn't responding, but he was moving back and forth constantly. This was something that Damian knew how to deal with. He could help, but he just hoped it wasn't pushing Danny too far too soon. "Alright, just stay there for a moment."
Damian walked into the small kitchen and grabbed two mugs and started the kettle for tea. He grabbed the only one Danny would drink and set them out waiting for the water. He walked back into the living room where Danny had stopped pacing and was now sitting on the bed with his head in his hands.
"It was Vlad," Danny whispered looking up at Damian. "Wasn't it? He's the one who did this?"
"Yes," Damian answered as he leaned against the doorway. "He had Valerie as well which is what got Waller involved."
"Thank you," Danny smiled at Waller. "This is amazing; I could change the way we do research into ghosts without having to worry about getting captured."
"Yes, well, you're a lot more level headed than some of those Leaguers. Especially Superman," Waller said as she handed him the files on his friend and father. "Both of them have been valuable to my organization. You've held up your end, and I've held up mine. I don't want this to be the end of this relationship though."
"That's fine, Ms. Waller; just, I would like a short break from all of this for a couple months. Damian has something planned, but he won't tell me where we're going," Danny smiled remembering the secrecy that Damian had been having for the past few days. "I'm kinda excited."
"Good luck to you both," Amanda smiled. "And you can call me Amanda."
"She works for the government," Danny whispered looking up at Damian confused. "Why did I…?"
"She managed to bend a few laws and get you protection. She pulled some strings and you were able to ensure your own safety and that of the Ghost Zone," Damian said. Danny looked ready to scream or cry, and Damian wasn't sure which one he would prefer. Danny being angry was always hard since he was hardly ever angry, but him crying was easier to deal with even if the repercussions were nightmares.
"So I made a deal with the devil?" Danny sighed pulling his hair a little. Damian walked closer and kneeled down in front of the hybrid. He gently pulled Danny's hands from his hair.
"No, you did what you had to in order to survive," Damian whispered gently. "Everything you've done was to protect this world and the Ghost Zone. You never really made a deal with the devil even if that's what everyone else thinks. You ensured that everyone was safe."
"Then why does it feel like I made a mistake," Danny said looking at Damian. "Something's wrong."
"Maybe there was something else you knew that you didn't tell me, but I know you well enough to know that every decision you made was the right one," Damian said gently tracing Danny's knuckles. "You're just getting things out of order. Maybe that's why you feel like that."
"You like your tea with brown sugar," Danny whispered making Damian pull him into a hug. "I remember that too."
"Alright, you're not allowed to ever try to make tea again," Damian said with a laugh as he poured out the watered down and over sugared brew. Danny smiled at him.
"Hey, you didn't really give me much of a chance," Danny defended himself as he sat down. "I got the sugar right." Damian stopped what he was doing to turn to Danny who was smiling at him.
"You're trouble," Damian said narrowing his eyes. Danny only grinned before standing up and wrapping his arms around Damian and kissing him.
"Clearly, now, what do you want to do about it?" Danny asked gently nipping at Damian's neck. Damian grabbed his arms and dragged him into the living room.
"Well, it's coming back, just not in order," Damian whispered. Danny shivered slightly leaning against Damian. "You remember anything else about the lab he had you in?"
"Electricity," Danny whispered. "He shocked me. There were flashing lights and some kind of radiation."
"Radiation?" Damian asked pulling away slightly. They tested for a lot of things, but no one thought about radiation.
"I don't know," Danny whispered hanging his head and running his hands through his hair. "I can't…"
"I'll let my father know. He might find something in those files that ARGUS sent over," Damian whispered pulling out his phone. Danny nodded before his stomach growled making Damian look over to him. "And breakfast."
Read, Review and let me know what you think and like about this story. Maybe tell me what you wanna see?
Also planning on Twenty chapters for this, maybe more. This might turn into a trilogy depending on how I want to wrap this up.
Also I'm already up to like chapter eleven or twelve. Believe me, it's coming to a bouncy ride.
Another thing, I love reviews, and it makes me happy and want to write more and post faster sometimes, but you guys seem to kinda lack the motivation to actually review, and it saddens me greatly. So remember, the more reviews the faster this updates. Not joking, the more reviews, the more go I have to continue writing it, and then the faster the updates...(remember, chapter eleven or twelve is what I'm writing, so there's plenty of wiggle room for me to kill everyone...XD)