Jason paced back and forth in his apartment. What else was he supposed to do!? He was sure that there was a better option but his brain was coming up blank. The injured kid was in his bedroom at that moment, laying on the bed and still unconscious like he had been ever since Jason had found him.

The police were a no-go. Everyone in Gotham knows those guys were corrupt. Any hospital or orphanage was also out of the question. Hospitals would call it in, and orphanages might not pry into his background, but at this point, almost all of them were just a front for traffickers. And he was not letting that happen to this kid.

Then of course was the big Bat- not like Jason would ever talk with him anyway, but he might take care of the kid. But that would bring up the Meta problem. Bruce had a very strict rule on Metas in Gotham. Sure, he might find out who did this to the kid, but he wouldn't be able to permanently solve the problem. Not like Jason was planning to.

Jason clenched his hands and growled. He needed to take care of this kid himself until he could find a better option. He still needed answers as to why the pit seemed to react to him so much, anyway. It hummed every time he was near, and not only that, but the pit led him to the kid in the first place. So far he hasn't wanted to strangle him or anything, but the kid also has been unconscious the whole time.

Jason has had the Pit under control for the last few months. He hadn't gone into a pit rage which is good, hadn't tried to murder his replacement again… but that was beside the point. He needed to make sure that when this kid woke up Jason didn't end up trying to hurt him. Jason would never willingly hurt a kid, and right now, all the Pit wants to do was murder the shit out of whoever hurt a kid that badly in the first place.

Jason didn't get to see the full extent of the kid's injuries. Part of him was glad he didn't. If he did, he was worried he might have gone into a Pit rage then and there, especially with how Leslie was acting about it. He had no idea what the kid went through. The experimentation on metas was illegal but that didn't mean it didn't happen. And that was probably what happened to the kid.

Then, of course, there was the collar. He needed to find someone to get that thing off of him, and soon. Jason had a couple of ideas of who he could call but he didn't want to do so right away. He needed to find out what that collar was doing to him specifically, first. And that would require talking to the kid.

Jason stopped pacing to tangle his hands in his hair and pull, trying to distract his racing mind with the pricks of pain. He was going to wear a hole in the ground at this point. He was also probably going to anger the man downstairs, seeing as it was four in the morning.

Leslie hadn't prescribed any medication for the kid. She said that it would be too risky to just give him something and hope it would work with his unknown metabolism. But she did say that he would need lots of rest and that Jason probably should be very careful around him.

Jason had finally convinced himself to sit down when a crashing sound came from his bedroom and a strangled sound of pain. Jason's eyes widened as he rushed down the hallway towards the room he had left the kid in. He opened the door and it took a second before his eyes locked onto the kid.

The kid had scrambled into the corner of the room. His eyes were wide and terrified, and they glowed a bright green that lit up the room with a dull light. The Pit again.

Jason paused. The room was cold, very cold actually, enough to make Jason shiver as he stared at the trembling dark-haired teenager. Jason could feel pure terror being emitted from the kid, like waves of energy. It actually made Jason feel scared from just being around it. Like it was affecting him. Forcing him to feel an emotion that was not his own.

Jason bit his lip and spoke in the softest voice he could muster, making an effort to keep the cracking out of his voice. "Hey, it's okay." He stepped slightly further into the room causing the kid to flinch back, and Jason felt part of himself break.

"I don't want to hurt you." He tried again. "You're safe." The kid made a strangled sound of fear, he looked like he was conflicted between placing his head in between his knees and hiding, or staring at Jason making sure he didn't sneak up on him. Watching the danger won.

Jason paused for a moment. Letting the kid watch him for a moment. He just hoped that it would make the kid a little less scared of him if Jason didn't get any closer. He eventually went down to kneel on one knee, still a good ten feet away from the kid. The kid still flinched anyway.

"I found you in an alley, do you remember?" Jason asked. The kid didn't make any movement to respond. His arms were wrapped so tightly around his legs that Jason wasn't sure if they were going to break under the pressure.

Jason had his hands where the kid could easily see them. "One of my friends fixed you up." The kid flinched again. "You're hurt. We needed to help you." Jason decided that asking the kid any questions about what happened to him right now would be a huge mistake.

Jason stayed where he was. He didn't want to move any closer, but he could barely see the kid as it was. "Can I turn on the light?" He asked. Jason jerked his head in the direction of the light switch behind him. He didn't want to move his hands. The kid shook his head, and it was the first full reaction Jason had gotten from him so far. Even if it was a negative one.

"That's okay, we'll leave it off." Jason sighed. The kid's eyes after a little bit of staring slowly started to wander around the room. They landed on the window for a second before immediately glancing back at Jason, as if making sure he hadn't moved when he wasn't looking.

Jason tried not to show any reaction, but he knew that if the kid made a dive for the window he would have to grab him. Not only was the kid hurt and wouldn't survive out in the streets of Crime Alley, but it was also a three-story drop and there was no fire escape outside his bedroom. The kid would fall to his death.

But if Jason grabbed him there was no way the kid would trust him. But in any case, Jason was prepared to get up anyway. He didn't think that the kid would be faster than him with the number of injuries he had. Jason was between the kid and the door which meant the only other possible escape would be the window. It's not like the kid could fly or anything.

When the kid took another glance at the window Jason spoke up, causing the kid to flinch again.

"Do you want some food?" the kid made no move to respond so Jason continued. "You seemed really malnourished, it would be good to have some food for you…" Nothing again. Jason bit his lip. Dick would know what to do here.

"I promise I won't do anything bad to it. You can watch me grab it if you want. Or I can eat some first…" Jason waited for a response. Just when Jason didn't think he was going to get one, the kid nodded his head. Jason tried to keep the smile off his face, he didn't want to scare the kid.

"Do you want to come with me, or stay here?" The kid shook his head. Jason assumed that meant he wanted to stay. "Okay, that's fine. You can wait here." Jason slowly got to his feet and the kid shrunk back a bit, but didn't flinch.

Jason glanced at the windows one more time. They were already locked, but it shouldn't be too hard for a kid to unlock them. He couldn't just tell the kid not to try and escape so he opted for: "Don't worry. No one can get up here. It's a three-story drop and there are no fire escapes. No one is coming after you." The kid stared at him for a moment more but did nothing else.

As Jason slowly walked out of the room, his mind went back through what he said… Shit, it sounds like he has kidnapped him and that no one can find him. Did he kidnap him? Not like the kid had a choice in the matter. But Jason was the safest place right now… Who was he kidding, living with Jason was definitely not the safest place.

Jason ran his hand down his face while standing in the hallway before glancing back at the door. He left it slightly open. He assumed it would make it easier for him to hear if anything happened, but still left the kid with some privacy.

Jason's kitchen was sparse. Very sparse. He normally didn't eat much at the house and he needed to buy more groceries. Especially if he was going to be feeding this kid for the foreseeable future.

Jason opened his fridge. He needed something fast, so he could get back to the kid before something happened. There was some leftover Chinese food in the fridge in a container. That would work. He reached in and then put it in a bowl he had grabbed from the cupboard before he put it in the microwave.

He listened closely for any sounds from the room, but all he could hear was the soft electronic hum of the microwave reheating the old food. Jason jumped when it beeped. Not that he would ever admit it. He pulled it out with a sigh and grabbed a fork. He highly doubted a kid in this state could use chopsticks. Hell, Jason could barely use chopsticks.

On his way back to the room he made his steps purposefully loud so that the kid could hear that he was coming back and not be jump scared when Jason returned. Jason slowly pushed open the door and it creaked causing Jason and the kid to both wince. "Hey, I… brought the food." He held up the bowl.

He was glad and slightly disheartened to see that the kid was still in the same place on the floor that he had been when Jason left. His eyes once again locked onto Jason. "Can I come over there?" The kid tensed, once again looking Jason up and down, his arms still wrapped tight around his legs. "I just want to give this to you… You should eat. It will get some of your energy back."

Jason made a move to step closer. The kid waited for a moment, his hands clenching and unclenching before he gave a slight nod. Jason smiled slightly before stepping further into the room. He ended up placing the bowl and fork in front of the kid before moving back swiftly.

The kid's fingers twitched indecisively toward the dish for a long moment before picking it up. He poked at it for a bit, looking skeptically between the food and Jason. Jason was about to remake the offer to try it first to prove it wasn't poisoned but then the kid finally decided to place a bit of it in his mouth.

The kid kept looking up at him, as if checking to see if this was okay or not. Looking for approval from Jason that he was allowed to eat. Or that he wasn't allowed to eat. What the hell happened to this kid?

He took another bite, once again checking to make sure Jason wasn't… mad? Attacking him? Approving? He had no idea. Something flared in Jason: the feeling of needing to 'help, reassure, protect'. Jason slowly crouched down in front of the kid, causing him to tense again, his glowing eyes boring holes into Jason. "Look, I would never hurt you."

The kid stared into his eyes, and a flicker of something flashed. Hope, maybe? "And I promise that I will never let anyone ever hurt you again. I would never let this happen to a kid, and you don't deserve whatever these people did to you. And if they wanted to get to you, they would have to put me in the ground first. You're safe here. I don't know what happened to you and you don't need to tell me, but I promise I won't leave you."

The kid stared at him for another long moment before his eyes welled up with tears. Suddenly the kid leaped at Jason, startling him. Jason almost had the instinct to push the kid off, but then he realized the kid was hugging him. Squeezing onto Jason as if his life depended on it. Which it probably did.

The kid let out a broken sob and Jason's heart shattered. He quickly reached up and wrapped his arms around the kid's back. "It's okay…" He shushed. "It's okay… You're safe."

Authors notes

Beta read by the amazing gamma_radio!

awwww the poor boys! Danny has been through so much! good thing Jason is here for him. Also, I really tried to get Jason in character here. Even if he is a bit more uptight around the bats when he is helping kids he is much more calm and openly caring. Anyway, I hope it looks good!

There was so much attention on this story I decided to post this chapter a week early. Normally updates for this story would come out about once every two weeks similar to 'A Little Oversadowing Never Hurt Anyone' this chapter was also a bit longer than my normal ones but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Please tell me what you thought of this chapter. Comments give me the life and inspiration I need to continue. You guys are so amazing! Have a good week.