TW: implied/referenced torture and experimentation, implied starvation, graphic description of panic, blood, kidnapping, ANGST (so much angst guys I am so sorry)
Authors notes
Guys, I think this is the angstiest thing I have ever written, I'm so sorry! Make sure to pay attention to the trigger warnings. The first two sections are Danny's POV from the last two chapters with some new content at the end from Jason's POV
Danny was fading and he knew it. He couldn't stay in the sky much longer. He needed to hide. Everything hurt; he could feel his energy draining as he flew away as fast as he could from that horrible place.
He made a strangled sound of pain as he flickered again and lost altitude before he grabbed his bearings and readjust himself.
He can't go back, could never go back - but his core was sputtering. He had been at nearly no energy ever since they captured him, and the horrible collar kept zapping him every time he used too much of his power. He needed to run, but at this point, he was going to fade before he got anywhere.
The number of ghosts he saw fade, that he felt fade in that horrible place. Soul sucked into their cores only to be used up for more pieces of weaponry to use against others. He was fading and he knew it. He couldn't stay in the sky much longer. He needed to hide.
Danny had no idea where he was. He hadn't known where he was for months, maybe even years. Everywhere around him was a gothic dark and tastes like poison. He could sense the unease and darkness around him. Danny landed not so gracefully in front of an alleyway, tripping forward enough to fall flat on his chest. He groaned in pain.
He looked down. There was ectoplasm dripping from burns and blasts he didn't remember getting. He could barely feel the light sting in his knees from when they skinned themselves on the asphalt. Everything felt so far away and dulled. He wrapped his arms around himself trying to stop the bleeding before it got any worse.
He couldn't fade. Someone would find his abandoned core if he faded, it would all be too easy to find with the right scanners, let alone it being a glowing orb made of ice. And they would take him back. He couldn't do that, he could never… he needed to hide. He knew they could track his ecto-signature. He could hide it in his human form, but they knew what his human form looked like, too. But no one else did. And if they couldn't track him then maybe no one would recognize him.
A flash of Danny's transformation filled the alleyway for a split second. He prayed to Clockwork that no one saw. He felt suddenly more aware of the blood filling his throat. The pain in his vocal cords. He hacked up a weird mixture of green and scarlet onto the ground in front of him. He felt like he used his wail… but no, they cut up his vocal cords. He couldn't use it anymore… could he?
Suddenly he felt a presence watching him, searching for him… He had no idea what it was but it terrified him. He crawled across the alleyway probably smearing a mixture of blood and ecto behind him. But he didn't really care. He needed to hide. He took a moment to get his bearings and lift himself enough that he could stumble over to the back of the alley.
There was a dumpster at the back, pressed against the wall that Danny couldn't get behind. There was no way he could use his powers to stay invisible in this state, so he pressed his back against the wall in the corner.
There were footsteps. Boots hitting the ground. They didn't sound like any of the GiW standard-issue shoes they wore. Danny would recognize that sound anywhere. But the steps of whoever was looking for him were getting closer.
Danny clutched his chest and hid as far back as he could. Please no, please don't notice, he silently begged. I can't go back. I'll do anything. As he pressed himself further in, pain flashed. He stifled a whimper. Please let them not have heard that. The footsteps had stopped abruptly.
Danny held his breath. "Hey." A man's voice called out.
He heard Danny, he knew he was there. He was going to grab him and take him back. Please just leave me alone to bleed. No. He knew he whimpered in fear, and his hand whipped up to his mouth to try and stop any more sound.
Danny couldn't breathe. His throat suddenly closed. His lungs weren't taking in air. This was it. He had freedom for five minutes before he was going to get thrown back. And now that he made it out, it was going to be so much worse.
The man said something more. Danny didn't hear it over the sound of the blood rushing to his ears, which was surprising seeing as the amount he had lost.
The man got closer. Danny felt his frame shaking, yet paralyzed with fear. His core started flickering again, trying to regenerate himself faster than he could bleed. Trying to protect himself and keep him alive. The good that'll do.
His wrist was grabbed and pulled and Danny let out a strangled cry. His throat screamed in agony at the sound. He tried to pull it back. No! NO NO NO NO NO! Please! The hand was gone as suddenly as it appeared. Danny yanked his own back to his chest so fast that it made his head spin. He tried to look up. But he couldn't. He could feel the sputtering pulse of his core trying to keep up, but it was no use. He fell forward and everything went black.
)-(
Danny woke up somewhere soft, and that was the first problem. Nowhere Danny woke up was soft. Underneath him felt like velvet, a feeling unfamiliar to him for who knows how long. His whole body ached, but the ache was weirdly dulled. This was wrong. Something was wrong.
Suddenly Danny remembered. He escaped them! He made it out! He was free! He paused ...But he got captured again, didn't he… Danny felt his core twist in fear as he scrambled off of whatever he was sleeping on. He was pretty sure his eyes were working as a night light at this point.
Suddenly there were footsteps rushing toward the room he was in, and the door was thrown open. Danny scrambled to get away, pushing himself into the far corner of the room, as far away as he could get from the open door.
A man stood at the door, his eyes locked onto Danny. Danny was frozen. Not willing to move a muscle. The man said something softly to him, but he didn't register the words.
The man stepped closer. If only Danny could just disappear, but his core was too weak to do anything. He could never do anything. They would always get him, always hurt him, always find him– "I don't want to hurt you." The man spoke again, he was holding his hands out in front of him. "You're safe."
Danny was not safe, he was never safe. There was a man here who had found him. He was going to send him back there, and Danny couldn't do anything about it.
They always told him that he was fine, that they couldn't hurt him because he was just a ghost. That he was faking. They would tell him over and over again that they weren't hurting him, that this was for science. No, he could never be safe again.
"-Can I turn on the light?" The man's voice cut through the panicked haze of Danny's thoughts. He was asking Danny a question? They didn't ask Danny if he was okay with anything, why would this man ask Danny what to do? He didn't understand, but he clung to the gift of choice being offered. He craved it. No, Danny didn't want the light on. Humans can't see in the dark, so the man couldn't see him, and Danny wanted it that way.
Danny shook his head.
"That's okay, we'll leave it off." That was a surprise; he listened to him?
Danny scanned the room, trying to find something, anything that could be of use to him. He could see better in the dark than a human could, so he finally took stock of his surroundings: There were windows in the room. Danny might be able to make it to them. But there was no way he could climb out in time. The man shifted and Danny's gaze snapped to him to make sure he wasn't moving any closer.
"Do you want some food?" The man looked unsure as he asked this. "You seemed really malnourished. It would be nice to have some food for you." Danny stared at him with mild shock.
"I promise I won't do anything to it. You can watch me grab it if you want. Or I can eat some first…" The man tried. Danny's stomach cramping at the mere idea of eating. He honestly hasn't felt real hunger in longer than he could remember. Maybe he should try. He nodded.
The man smiled slightly in… relief? Once the man left Danny wanted to move. He wanted to look around the room, maybe try and escape, but his body felt like lead. He could barely move his fingers more than to tap on his knee.
His brow creased as he scrunched the fabric under his hand. He was wearing sweatpants. He couldn't remember the last time he had worn sweatpants. Normally he would be wearing a hazmat suit similar to his Phantom one, but no, It was gone. He was wearing soft fabric that didn't rub the wrong way on his skin. It was warm, too. It made him feel safe.
Danny was gently petting his leg, too mesmerized by the texture until he was snapped out of it by the sound of loud footsteps returning. Danny's head snapped up to the man. He was in the doorway, holding a bowl that was steaming gently. Warm food.
He offered the bowl. "Can I come over there?"
Danny tensed. Danny didn't want him any closer – no more people, no more hands. He curled in on himself. Not Like he could stop him from getting any closer anyway. "I just want to give this to you… You should eat. It will get some of your energy back." The man stepped forward and Danny only watched him.
However, when he approached, Danny felt something unusual. It seemed like ectoplasm. The energy of emotions swirling around. Earlier, Danny had been so weak he could barely feel it. It almost felt like he was radiating death.
The man placed the bowl down on the ground in front of Danny and moved to give Danny space.
His gut clenched in pain as he glanced down at the bowl on the ground. Slowly, he reached out and took it tentatively. It's not like the man couldn't force him to eat it. He might as well eat on his own terms. And, Danny realized, if he kept the man happy and he wasn't working for the GiW, maybe he would keep Danny instead of sending him back.
Danny slowly pulled the bowl in his lap and grabbed the fork before poking the food bit. Danny glanced at the bowl and then back at the man who had been wringing his fingers together. Danny hesitantly tasted, his nose scrunching slightly at the sensation before he placed it fully into his mouth. It was like heaven after so long. But, as he tried to swallow, he remembered how much pain his throat was in.
Danny looked back up at the man to make sure he wasn't angry, that Danny hadn't done anything wrong. But as he looked at the man, he felt him radiating concern. Danny stared for another long moment. It felt as if a ghost was concerned about him. The feeling was seeping into Danny's bones. His core. It was strange.
The man leaned a little closer to Danny, and this time he didn't flinch; he was too focused on being able to feel the energy around him.
"Look, I would never hurt you," the man said. Danny could feel that it was true. 'help, reassure, PROTECT' It was like it was smothering him. Cocooning him up in a blanket of security. Was this how mother ghosts helped their children when they were scared? Pushing their own emotions onto them to calm them down?
Danny stared at the man – was he really safe? Was he really not going to be hurt? "I promise I will never let anyone hurt you again." -help- "I would never let this happen to a kid, and you don't deserve whatever these people did to you." -reassure- "And if they want to get to you, they'll have to put me in the ground first." -Protect- "You're safe here." -help- "I don't know what happened to you and you don't need to tell me," -reassure- "but I promise I won't leave you." -PROTECT PROTECT PROTECT-
The man wanted to help, and Danny felt safer than he had in ages; he didn't care if this was a trick. Danny jumped forward and wrapped his arms around him, gripping so tight that he wasn't sure if he was going to hurt him. But he felt it in his core. He was safe. He wanted to be protected. He wanted to go to the big powerful scary ghost, curl up, hide from the world, and let him protect Danny from everyone who wanted to hurt him.
The man wrapped his arms around Danny in return, surrounding him in a blanket of security and safety. Danny wasn't sure when he started sobbing. But he just clutched him tighter.
"It's okay… You're safe."
)-(
Jason held the child as close to his chest as he could as he shook and sobbed with grating breaths. Jason had no idea what to do next. He was better at talking to kids when he was Robin. But now… The kid's whole body shook.
It almost seemed like the sounds of crying hurt him. Every hitch, every breath, made him wince in pain. But he still clung while Jason tried to tell him over and over again that he would be okay and that he was safe.
He could feel worn-down nails clutching his back, like the kid was terrified that he would be put down or Jason would leave. But Jason just continued rubbing his thumb onto the kid's shoulder while he waited for him to calm down.
With every sob, Jason felt the need like never before to protect this kid. Jason could see green at every hitch of his breath but immediately pushed the feeling down again. If he went into a pit rage right now, he could hurt or kill the kid, and he would never let that happen.
After who knows how long, the kid started to calm down, his arms going limp. Jason was careful not to move too much. But the kid was starting to pass out. He waited for a few minutes until he could hear his breaths start to even out before he stood up with the kid in his arms.
Shit, this kid was way too light. Like he has hollow bones, kind of light. For some reason, the kid didn't stir like Jason was expecting him to. He just remained curled up in his arms as Jason slowly moved him over to his bed.
After a few careful steps, he placed the kid down gently, the blanket disregarded and thrown on the floor. Once the kid was on the bed and Jason started to pull away, the kid made a keening sound of pain and clutched onto Jason tighter to stop him from leaving.
For some reason, that sound made Jason instantly want to crawl into the bed and hold the kid until everything was better. Green flashed in his eyes again, and he hated it. If the green keeps showing up he might hurt the kid. He can't let that happen.
Jason tried to pull away again, but the kid made the same sound. Broken and painful. Jason's heart ached. "Hey… It's okay. Nothing is going to happen." Jason tried but the kid still didn't let go. "I'll be just outside."
Jason wasn't about to pry the kid off of him. But he might scare the kid more if he laid in the bed with him. Jason's heart kept sinking. He should leave and let the kid get some rest.
There was another keen. And Jason broke. "Okay, I guess this is happening," he breathed. He slowly climbed into the bed next to the kid, and the kid instantly curled into his chest. It almost sounded like he was purring. Jason slowly raised his hand and put it on the top of the kid's head. "It's okay."
Authors Notes
Beta read by gamma_radio! Thank you so much I don't know what I would ever do without you on these stories!
I am so sorry, Danny has been through so much... Jason has a lot to work with. He also has to work out why he keeps seeing green when being protective around the kid... I wonder why. And poor Danny just wants protection from the world behind the scary dead vigilante that wants to keep him safe. I hope that no one is mad that there isn't a lot of new content in this chapter. But Danny's POV is pretty important. And there will definitely be new content for the entirety of the next chapter. Hope I didn't let anyone down
ALSO Just to clarify Danny is 15 almost 16 in this fic. He is as old as he was when he was in the show. Everyone was wondering and Danny being mute can't really clarify for himself in the fic just yet.
Please tell me what you thought, your comments help me so much and I always read every one of them! They also give me inspiration if I ever get writer's block, so if there is something you want to see in the fic in the future let me know! It's so cool to see how people want things to go. Or any theories they may have. I love you all so much! Have a good week :D