Yesterday, I opened my sister's window shutters for them and, immediately, I was BLINDED by the FRIKKIN SUN.
Kadzait: She looked like a vampire, shading her eyes and everything.
IT WAS PATHETIC.
Kadzait: Yes. Yes it was.
Disclaimer: I do not own ANYTHING in this story except the plot. Nor do I own the song that is sung here. That would be owned by the YouTube-r 97Ventus.
Ch.13: Once Lost, Now Found
Metropolis: October 18, 18:45
It was another normal day for Superman. He got up, went to work at the Daily Planet, battled a few bad guys here and there, and kept his appearance of Clark Kent up. Yes, Superman had been having a normal day. At the moment, he was battling a gigantic robotic worm. Ultra-Humanite had made it to destroy the city. Superman had defeated him easily, but accidently crushed the remote control for the stupid thing. Instead of stopping and shutting down like he thought it would, it actually went haywire and started destroying the city more than it already was.
Superman had driven the robot to the park, where everyone had cleared out. Now all he had to do was destroy it. Easier said than done, actually. Its armor made it nearly impossible to penetrate. It was also resistant to heat and the cold. Actually, this thing was made so Superman couldn't defeat it. It sucked beyond human comprehension. Superman was very tempted to call in Batman. He knew Bruce was in town doing some business, and it wouldn't hurt to call him in, right?
The Man of Steel dodged another laser beam from the worm. Oh, did I mention that the stupid thing had a laser on it? No? Well, now you know!
Superman dodged it a few more times before he countered with his heat vision. That didn't work either. Superman growled, and punched the stupid thing. The worm fell to the ground with a loud crash. Superman dusted his hands off with a smug smirk. Then the worm twitched.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
The worm got back up again, and the drill on its "beak" twitched.
"Well crap…"
Superman was back to playing cat and mouse with this stupid thing.
Right when he was about to call in for backup, a figure blotted out the sun for a split second, before dropping out of the sky. The white cloaked figure had a sword made of ice in their hands and it went straight threw the worm's armor as he fell down his back.
The robot let out a screech, and the figure landed on the grass. He immediately started slashing at the worm from the bottom. His moves were fluid and graceful, but at the same time, sluggish. The figure moving probably had some injuries, but the worm was not able to touch him.
The figure flew into the air above the worm, and then dropped down. His sword went straight into the laser before he pulled the sword down, cutting the robot up more. The worm continued to screech, trying to get this person off. The figure cut a big enough hole in the worm's head before hopping in. The worm screeched loudly, being killed from the inside. Superman watched in shock as it finally powered down, and fell; the figure jumping out before it crashed into the earth.
Superman didn't do anything but stare as the figure walked up to the robot, and kicked it some. It powered back on, but the person stabbed the worm multiple times in a row before being satisfied. His sword disappeared and he backed up from the robot. He stared at it for a little while.
Superman landed on the ground behind the figure.
"Thank you." He said. The figure didn't show any signs of hearing as he walked away. Superman walked forward, and reached out to grab the person. The figure ducked and somersaulted, not wanting to be touched. Along the way, his hood fell off. Superman gasped at the boy in front of him. It was…
Danny.
Superman couldn't believe the damage to Danny's face. He recognized the burns around his eyes to match exactly that of the one's that he had when the Red's attacked, only worse. They were exactly the same, and even in the same place, but this was a deeper wound. You could almost see Danny's skull. A bad cut was on his lip, and his skin around his lips was torn and a little bloody, like someone took a rope and gagged him, and not taking it out for a long time. Bruises littered every other space it could, and some minor cuts were scattered about also. Superman didn't doubt for one second that he had even more under his hazemat suit, probably even worse than his face. He also noticed the poor kid was starved, his ribs sticking out painfully. Danny was also very pale, and blood was sticking to his hazemat suit.
Superman reached out hesitantly. "Danny…"
The hybrid immediately got up from the ground, and started running. Superman took to the air and followed. He noticed Danny wasn't running as fast as he could. From fatigue, the Man of Steel guessed. Danny looked as if he hadn't eaten in forever.
When Danny disappeared off the charts, he still wasn't exactly up to weight, and lost it easily with too much work. This was probably killing him. And Superman knew for a fact Danny wouldn't even think about stealing, though he wouldn't care if the boy did at this moment.
Superman was easily catching up when Lone, the black Amarok with a malformed jaw and red eyes, appeared. Danny grabbed his scruff, and hopped on, still running. Lone started running faster, easily outrunning Superman. The Man of Steel cursed, as Lone headed for the dense forest just outside Metropolis. Superman wouldn't be able to find them with an aerial view, and he wouldn't be able to keep up with the wolf within his element. The forest was dense, and Lone knew exactly what he was doing.
Superman watched helplessly as Lone ran straight into the forest, not once looking back. Danny didn't either. Superman stopped at the tree-line, and looked into the forest. He couldn't see them anymore. Danny had gotten away. He didn't know why the Ghost Boy ran. The boy knew him. He had even stayed at his house a few times when Batman was busy, and Danny and Dick had nowhere else to go, if Canary wasn't too busy herself.
Superman decided to let Batman know. The Team was going to have a full weekend movie night to relax and unwind.
…
Ok, so the adults made them take the weekend off to just relax or, and the threat was, 'if you don't, we won't bring you into the field for the next week.' The kids went with the two days instead of the full seven days. The Team would be at the Cave after school and start then. He didn't know if the Team would actually enjoy the weekend with worries of Danny, and their mental health, but it would be the perfect time for Batman to look for Danny without any interruptions.
Superman pressed his com. "Superman to Batman."
"What is it, Clark? Do you need help?" The Dark Knight asked.
Superman shook his head, though he knew Bruce couldn't see it. "No. The threat's neutralized. I had some… outside help."
He could practically hear Bruce's eyes narrow. "From who? You never called in for backup."
Superman thought about how he should bring this up. "I didn't have to. The boy saw and helped out."
Bruce was now suspicious. The Man of Steel could practically hear it. "What do you mean, 'the' boy?"
"…Danny…"
Batman was with Superman in costume faster than Flash could hope to accomplish.
When the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight had met up, Batman was in interrogation mode, but Superman knew he was just scared for Danny. Superman told him all he saw and knew. Then, Batman was off into the forest after calling Robin and telling him he wouldn't be home to see him off because he had some important League business to attend. Technically, it was important, but it wasn't League business.
Superman sighed as he watched Batman run into the forest, hoping Danny hadn't gotten too far, or that he had hurt himself further. Batman better find him fast, he only had about an hour of daylight left.
After Danny Left...
Lone ran as fast as he could away from Danny's pain. The boy was probably hallucinating again. The worm thing was defiantly real, and was destroyed, but Superman was not. The Man of Steel was dead, as well as everyone else.
Danny had been seeing the people he loved these past couple days. They'd shout mean things, tell him he was worthless, that it was all his fault they were dead. And because Danny was a part of the animals and the animals were apart of himself, they saw them too.
Lone jumped over a fallen log, and heard Danny grunt in pain. Lone cursed the G.I.W. They were sick monsters that didn't deserve to live on this earth. Or at least, that's what Danny called them. One of the ways he slowly got over his pain was classifying the G.I.W. as monsters so he didn't see people the same way he saw he the G.I.W. because if he saw people the same as the G.I.W., he'd fear everyone, and that would not be a pretty sight.
Lone slowed down, and came to a stop. Danny slipped off his back, and patted his shoulder. "Come on boy, before I completely lose it."
The wolf and the halfa walked side-by-side through the forest. They came to a clearing and Danny sat down. Lone laid down behind him, and let the boy lay against him. Lone felt Danny's skin ice over. Isis had been numbing his emotions a lot lately, so he could forget the pain for some time before it came back. The next thing Danny did didn't surprise Lone one bit. He'd been doing it a lot lately.
This place always looks the same
There's nothing here to rearrange
But it's alright with me
I close my eyes and I'm alone
And I don't feel it anymore
If you could remind me of just who I am
Then I could begin to understand the way I feel
Another day has come and gone
It didn't think to last so long (last so long)
And I can stay right here
Make my bed and shed a tear
For all I haven't done
If you could remind me of just who I am
I could begin to understand the way I feel
If you could remind me of just who I am
Then I could begin to understand the way I feel
Is there a place for me that I don't have the eyes to see?
Can you take me there, down any road away from here?
Maybe this is all I'll ever be and all I'll ever know…
And I don't feel it anymore
If you could remind me of just who I am
Then I could begin to understand the way I feel
If you could remind me of just who I am
Then I could begin to understand…
Danny just trailed off. The Amarok and the hybrid sat in silence, listening to the birds sing.
Then it was broken when Superman appeared. Again.
Danny tried to keep his eyes averted from his obvious hallucination. Lone nuzzled his hair, trying to keep him calm. If he failed, Danny would be a sobbing mess until an hour after the hallucination stopped. And his visions took their sweet precious time.
"You're such a freak."
Danny didn't respond, looking at the ground like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"Why can't you do anything right?"
Danny bit his lip. Lone continued to nuzzle him, trying to keep him earth bound, but he just knew this time the vision would win.
"Do everyone a favor and die."
Danny brought his knees to his chest. Lone whined at him.
"The only person that loves you is your pathetic animals, which are you. So, the only person who loves you is yourself. Selfish much?"
Danny's eyes became glassy. Lone got up from his spot, and tried to get Danny's attention.
"Come on Phantom, the only reason we kept you was for your powers. No one is ever going to like you for you."
Danny sniffed.
"You're so pathetic."
Over time, the vision just got worse and worse, and Lone could do nothing as Danny burst into tears and started sobbing, saying he tried, to ask for forgiveness, trying to convince himself that what Superman said was not true.
Lone sat whining behind Danny pathetically as the boy cried into his hands. He hated seeing Danny like this.
"This is all your fault, you little shit."
Danny cried harder, not bothering to try and make the words retreat from his mind.
That was the last straw for Lone, and he lunged forward. Of course, he passed right through the image. He growled, snarled, and barked at the image but the vision's attention was drawn completely to Danny who was, as predicted, a sobbing mess. When Danny was like this, he thought everything the visionsaid was true, and Danny always beat himself over it when it was done because the words lingered in his mind, and eventually he believed the words.
No wonder Isis froze his emotions.
"Stop crying, you little shit."
This continued a lot longer than the others. Lone continually switched from trying to make the vision disappear, to trying to calm Danny down. Neither worked to Lone's dismay. Eventually, the sky darkened and Danny remained on the ground. Superman had a smug smirk on his face and continued his insults and his excuses to make Danny's life worse.
Lone walked up to the boy, sat by him, and nuzzled his hair for a good long while, before he disappeared, knowing he could do nothing more to help.
A little while later, Superman disappeared, and Danny brought his knees to his chest, still crying. Every word Superman said lingered in his mind, and brought a fresh wave of tears to his eyes, and sent a pang of agony to his heart.
(You little shit. You little shit. You little shit. You little shit.)
He heard a snap, and looked up. Batman was standing in front of him now. If Danny had been paying attention, he would've noticed the concern written on the Caped Crusader's face and hesitation to come forward, but before he could notice he retreated back into little hole.
"Another one?! Haven't the Fates played with my mind enough today? Are you going to gonna call me a little shit too? Oh that would be great! Rub it in even more, would ya!" Danny continued his sobbing, waiting for Batman to say something.
"What do you mean Danny?"
For now, Batman wanted to see how much information he could get on the situation before addressing it, though he really wanted to rush forward and comfort his adopted son.
Danny didn't come out of his hole he had dug. "Isn't it painfully obvious?! You're here to make me miserable! Wanna know the sad part?! I listen! I always listen! And now I'm talking to you! I must be desperate for some attention!"
Now, Danny didn't like attention, or at least a lot anyway. All you had to do was give him a little here and there and he was happy, but it had to be positive. The Dark Knight was sure he hadn't had any of that for a while.
"Danny, you make no sense right now." Batman said. He expected the boy not to look up.
"Now you want me to talk! Last time we had one, you called me a failure, and pathetic, and an accident waiting happen! Like a ticking time bomb! Let's see how many buttons we can push till he brakes! I love this game, how bout you? Oh, and the best part! YOU'RE DEAD! I'M TALKING TO A FRIKKIN DEAD PERSON! AND IT'S NOT EVEN THEM! I'M A TOTAL NUT!"
The Dark Knight wanted to slap the kid. He wasn't surprised Danny thought he and everyone else was dead though. It was expected. The kid woke up to happy world, when he had been through war and saw every one of his friend's die a not so peaceful death. Unless you count being blasted by a disintegration beam and dying by fiery explosion that blew up a whole city a happy death, of course. He also knew Danny would automatically assume they were dead. It would also make sense why Danny ran earlier in the day. He thought the Man of Steel was another illusion. Obviously, he had been having them for quite a while now.
"Danny, the Justice League and your friends aren't dead." Batman explained calmly.
Danny looked up with an almost crazed smile. "Of course they're not! I'll go look for them right now! AND THEN FIND OUT THEY'RE DEAD!"
Batman was quickly losing patience. He wanted to quickly get Danny back to stable ground so he could check out his wounds. He wanted to see how he should punish the G.I.W. (Don't ask, the G.I.W. are the only people cruel enough to put a metal band around a kid's head that burned till you could see his skull.)
"Danny, I'm the real and very alive Batman. All you have to do is touch me." Batman bent down, and stuck his hand out. Danny looked at it fearfully, and scrambled away. That had probably never happen in one of his hallucinations.
"Danny, work with me." Batman said, refraining from using the word 'trust'. That always sent Danny through a loop, and scared him even more.
Danny just stared at him for a long time, and then he looked back down at Batman's hand. Slowly, he crept forward, till he was right in front of Batman. He bit his lip as he reached his own hand out. He had almost touched Batman when he jerked his hand back. Batman remained calm and looked at him.
"What is it now?"
Danny looked at him with glassy eyes. "I don't want you to disappear…"
His voice so quiet that Batman almost didn't catch it.
"Why would I disappear?" The Dark Knight asked.
Danny shook his head. "Cause you're the only one that's listened."
Batman tilted his head. "Then work with me. Just place your hand on mine."
Danny shook his head, and was about to retreat back into his hole. The doubts were practically whispering in his ears, and Batman could see it. He had to do something fast. Danny had a vice grip on this scenario.
"N-No, y-you'll d-disappear. I-I don't w-want you to g-go." Danny started crying again. He didn't know what overcame him, but Batman reached out and shook the boy by the arms. Danny yelped, and grabbed Batman's forearms.
And then another reality Danny thought was real came crashing down around him.
"Do I feel dead to you?" The Dark Knight asked.
Danny trembled as he took the cloth from Batman's suit and felt it between his fingers, through his own gloves. Batman remained silent as Danny got used to the new touch.
Danny continued to put pressure on Batman's forearms, making sure it wouldn't disintegrate on him. (It was stupid, but he delusional right now. Sue him.) And then, he was crying again.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't come home. I'm sorry I worried you. I'm sorry I ran away. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" he continued to chant the two simple words, even as Batman brought him into an embrace, and stroked his back. Danny clung to his arm, almost like he needed to.
The Dark Knight didn't know how long they were like that before he calmed down some. Then, even though he didn't want to, Gotham's protector broke the embrace. Danny reacted better than Batman thought he would. Danny just clung to his forearms again, needing the touch to prove that this wasn't some fantastic dream.
"Show me the wounds."
Danny looked at him startled.
"What?" He squeaked.
"I know you have more wounds. Let me see them." Batman said.
Danny gulped, and released Batman's arms, but making sure their knees were at least touching before rolling up the cuffs of his sleeves.
On his wrists were the same burns Batman had seen before, only worse. The bone was clearly seen, and pretty much all the skin was gone. The blood had clotted, making the bleeding stop, but it had been not too long ago, maybe only two days ago. He wondered how Danny held out with so much blood loss.
Then Danny showed the burns around his ankles. They were just as bad as his wrists, if not more so. The blood had clotted probably only a day ago, at the most. It was amazing he could walk.
Then Batman investigated the burns and scrapes on Danny's head. He carefully moved Danny's head to the side to analyze each side of his head, but Danny always had an eye on his hand, watching it, and waiting to see what would happen. (Waiting for the indivertible slap.) When Batman finished, the hybrid almost audibly sighed in relief.
"Show me your torso."
Immediately, Danny was scared again. He didn't want to show Batman his torso, which could only mean bad things. Danny shook his head.
He was not going to show his abdomen to the Dark Knight. He would go down kicking and screaming before he did.
"Danny, I need to know how much damage is done. So I can help you." The Dark Knight explained.
Danny trembled, his thin frame practically being rattled. "I-I'm fine. All good here! Heh heh…"
Batman was not about to fall for that. He was not the world's best investigator for nothing. Though you could be a drop out in the first grade and know it.
"Danny…" He said warningly. Danny's jaw trembled. He was on the verge of tears again, and Batman knew why. For some reason, Danny thought that his mentor would see him differently if he showed. Danny always knew what you were thinking. All he had to do was look at your face, and see what you thought about him. You never had to tell him. You could put on the best mask you could, and he would still know. And Danny thought the wounds on his torso made him different.
"Danny, I will not see you any differently than I do now. I want to help you, but I can't if you refuse it." The Caped Crusader said.
Stray tears fell out of his eyes, and Danny choked on a sob. This was something his already messed up brain could not comprehend. People always wanted something from him. There had to be an ulterior motive.
"Remember before you were taken?"
There was a minute before Danny nodded.
"You lived with Dick and I, and you were happy. You let me help you when you needed it. Let me do that now." Batman said.
There was a minute while Danny thought. Too many things were going on inside his head and made his memory fuzzy, but he did remember.
There was another minute as Danny tried to convince himself it would be ok. He failed that job miserably. Then, he just did it without thinking. The halfa just slowly pulled the zipper down and let it drop to his sides. He waited for Batman's judgment.
The Dark Knight was disgusted.
At first, Danny thought it was directed at him, and started to regret his decision, but then anger slowly mixed in with it, and the hybrid finally noticed it wasn't directed at him but the people who did it. Yet, he was still waiting for rejection.
Danny was thin, that's what Batman noticed first. You could count each of his ribs, and the skin was stretched tightly on him. His chest was also severely bruised that his skin almost appeared black, purple, and blue. Scrapes stood out clearly across his bruises and pale skin. There was also a burn, an ecto-ranium burn to be exact, going around his waist all the way around. But what stood out most was the Y across his chest and torso, over an old scar that healed quite a while ago. It was a clean cut, and still slightly bleeding, the blood not clotting like it should.
Batman brought Danny closer so he could look over his almost black shoulder and to his back. It was just as bruised and cut as his torso. You could clearly see his spine, just as you could his ribs. The detail was very exact and disgusting to say the least. What stood out was the clean cut across his spine. You could see his vertebrates gleaming in the moonlight.
The G.I.W. were dead. Every last one of them.
"Danny, why did they cut on your spine?" Batman asked, masking any emotion in his voice.
Danny started shaking again, probably thinking the worst. "They took the device off, and I had to get away before they put it back on after they worked out the kinks. I'm sorry! Please don't hate me!"
Yeah, Danny was thinking the worst.
Batman sighed. "Put your shirt back on, we're heading back to the Cave."
Danny was thrown through a loop. "The Cave!?"
Batman held him down from struggling. "The Bat-Cave. No one's there. Just calm down. I want to get your wounds patched up before they get infected."
Danny sniffed as he put his shirt back on. "Too late."
Batman immediately took off his glove, and felt Danny's neck, putting him on edge. He obviously didn't like anyone touching him there. But Batman did not care. Danny's neck felt almost normal. His exact temperature was 49.3. That meant Danny had a small fever, gradually getting worse.
"Danny, we need to get you back to the Bat-Cave." Batman said and helped the teen up, helping him walk back.
Earlier, Danny was ok. But now that he had been thrown through so many scenarios in the course of an hour, fatigue, fear, and starvation were slowly crushing him. It felt like the world's problems were on his shoulders and it was slowly getting heavier. He needed it gone.
Batman called in the Bat-plane. He knew Danny loved flying. It didn't matter what kind of flight it was, it always soothed the kid.
The jet was there in a few minutes, and Batman helped Danny climb into the seat next to him.
The teen was exhausted. The bags under his eyes were a lot more visible than they were a few minutes ago.
As they took off, Batman radioed Superman.
"Did you find Danny?" Superman immediately asked.
"Yeah. He's beat up pretty good, but I got him. We're heading back to Gotham." Batman briefed.
He heard Superman let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Give me updates on his condition when you can."
Batman nodded. "Will do. Batman out."
The Dark Knight took his hand from his com and focused on flying home.
Next to him, Danny's eyes had dropped considerably, but he refused to fall asleep. But that was a mission in itself. The plane was slowly lulling him into a blissful sleep. His eyes opened again, as he closed them a minute ago.
"You're exhausted, Danny. Go to sleep." Batman said.
Danny shook his head, too tired to say anything.
Batman sighed. "This is going to be a long night..."
It was a quiet fly home, and Danny continued to fight sleep. Batman continued to hope Danny would pass out. If he didn't, it would make it all the more harder for him to get the wounds patched up. He'd need to take Danny to the med bay. Before Danny was kidnapped again, the boy had a fear of places mildly similar to a lab, though he had been getting better. This probably set Danny behind by at least a year. And they didn't even know him for a full year!
Batman landed the plane in the hanger, and got Danny out. The hybrid was about to pass out, it was so obvious. So Batman had to take the teen's hand and lead him through the hallways, since Danny seemed incapable of doing that himself.
Right when the Dark Knight thought it wouldn't be that bad, since they were only a few yards away from the med bay, Danny stopped and Batman cursed.
The teen had a better sense of smell than most. He could smell the antiseptic in the air, even before they made it to the med bay.
"Danny, you have to go into the infirmary." Batman said gently.
Danny was wide awake now, and he out-right refused to go into that hell hole that caused him so many bad memories.
"This is going to help you. Work with me." Batman said and tried to tug Danny forward, but the halfa stayed rooted to his spot. He started shaking with fear, and started fighting against the older hero. He did a heck of a good job too, Batman had a hard time keeping the kid where he was.
Finally, he got a good pull and hooked his arm around Danny's waist and hoisted him into the air, and carried the struggling teen. Danny had started screeching things like 'no' and 'let me go', but the Dark Knight did not put him down. Danny kicked and hit Batman without any ghostly strength, but that didn't work. But he out-right refused to add too much strength to the point where he could do some serious damage.
The Dark Knight set Danny down on the bed once they were inside.
The hybrid immediately started sobbing in fear and his shoulders tensed until it hurt. Memories flashed in his mind and refused to go away. He felt Batman hug him again, and he clung to the Dark Knight with a vice grip. This was too much for his already exhausted mind and broken down body.
Batman felt extremely guilty for literally dragging the teen into the med bay, but the wounds were horrendous. They had to be taken care of, and most of the serum was in here. The dose he had in his belt would not cut it. The kid obviously feared for his life, and that could be a dangerous thing.
After a while, Danny calmed down to soft cries, but they did not cease. He was still frightened, and that was not going to help the Dark Knight one bit. Danny still held onto him like the scared child he was, and the Dark Knight needed to go get the antiseptic and the serum.
"You're going to have to let go." Batman whispered.
Danny shook his head. "M-Memories… L-Lab... You little shit..."
The older hero sighed. Every time he didn't need them, the memories showed up.
"I'm not going far. I just need to get a few things. You can watch me." Batman explained.
Slowly, Danny's grip became limp, and Batman pulled away. Danny watched him with a careful eye as Batman got everything. Gauze, alcohol pads, the serum, bandages, and a rag. (Hey, never know if he's going start bleeding again.)
The Dark Knight put all of his medical equipment on a metal tray next to Danny's bed. The metal tray clattered as the things were put on it, and Danny flinched visibly. Batman hated to see the strong kid that had looked death in the face so many times, so scared. It showed how easily someone can be broken. But it also showed that with a little help, the person can rise from the ashes and start again, just like a Phoenix.
Batman grabbed one of the alcohol pads and started wiping the wound on Danny's face, the burn. Of course, Danny immediately grabbed his wrist, trying to make him stop, but his mentor was patient and carefully pulled his hand away from his wrist. Danny's other hand gripped the bed with a death grip, and he tried to move his head away. Batman placed his free hand on the side of Danny's head to keep him still, both of Danny's hands tried to pry it away.
"This is going to hurt, but it's mandatory."
Danny stopped fighting, but held onto Batman's wrist with a varying grip, depending on how much it hurt. A few times, Danny started crying again. When he was done, Batman put the serum on Danny's burns and cuts. The bruises were going to have to heal themselves. The serum worked for open wounds, nothing else, sadly.
The wounds on Danny's face started healing, the effects of the ecto-ranium disappearing.
The older hero decided to do Danny's torso and back last, since it would the hardest, even though it was the one causing the infection.
The Dark Knight did the same thing he did to Danny's face, and applied it to his wrists and ankles. It didn't hurt as much as the teen's face had, but it still stung.
Then came his back and chest. Danny eased his shirt off his shoulders, and waited for the inevitable. Batman gently placed the alcohol pad on one of the points of the Y.
Immediately, Danny's hands had a vice grip on the Dark Knight's wrist, breathing heavily, eye's wide in pain and fear.
"Let go." Batman said calmly. Danny's grip became harder. One look into the teen's eyes, and the older hero knew the hybrid was not really with him. His mind was far away, in a place he did not want to be. Batman moved his free hand to lift Danny's chin so the teen was looking at his face, though he was unseeing to the things around him.
"Pay attention to my voice."
Worked every time. Danny started to come back.
"That's right. Pay attention." The Dark Knight urged.
After a while, Danny was completely back in the Bat-Cave.
"Danny, I want you to tell me about your last mission I sent you and the Team on." The Dark Knight instructed.
Danny started to, hesitantly, tell Batman about the fight against the Injustice League. Danny's grip on Batman's wrist loosened, and Batman started to slowly wipe the wound down. Of course Danny felt the pain, but he kept his mind on the mission, like Batman wanted.
The Dark Knight continued to quiz Danny all throughout wiping down his wounds, and putting the serum on. A few times, Danny almost fell back into a panic-state, but Batman caught it quickly, and brought him back. When he was done with that, the Dark Knight put some gauze around Danny's chest. It was easy going from there since the older hero continued to ask questions as he did the same to Danny's arms, which were badly bruised and scraped.
When he was done, Danny was exhausted again, and he had to help Danny out of the med bay. The tense teen slowly began to relax the farther away he was from the med bay.
Batman made Danny sit in a chair while he went and changed. When the Dark Knight came back, he was Bruce Wayne, and Danny Phantom was Danny W. Fenton.
The kid was only wearing a black short sleeved shirt that was now extremely baggy on the thin teen, and some sweats. His arms showed all the gauze that was on, and his face was still bruised.
Bruce led the tired teen to the elevator. "You wanna go to bed?"
The teen shook his head.
Bruce sighed. "You're exhausted and it's ten o'clock."
Danny continued to shake his head.
"When was the last time you slept?" Bruce asked.
The teen shrugged. Bruce rolled his eyes. It was amazing Danny was still awake, and moving.
"And why do you refuse to go to bed?" Bruce asked.
"I'm hungry."
Ah yes, the excuse. Bruce had to admit. It was simple but it worked so well.
Bruce sighed, and when the elevator opened, he led Danny through the dark halls and to the kitchen.
Alfred was there. "Good evening Master Bruce. Master Danny."
The butler stopped short, and looked at the beat up, scrawny, exhausted, mummified kid.
"I'll go get something for you to eat..." He said before beginning to work around the kitchen.
Bruce nodded in acknowledgement before setting Danny at the table.
Alfred got Danny some food, and the teen ate a small amount. His stomach couldn't hold so much food in one go.
After, Danny continued to refuse sleep. So, Bruce let Danny lay on the couch in the living room to watch TV. Danny was wrapped up in a blanket with a cold, wet rag on his forehead to reduce the fever. Of course the billionaire joined him. He sat at the end of the couch with Danny's head in his lap.
Over the course of thirty minutes, the two silently sat, Danny getting more and more tired each passing minute. You couldn't resist sleep forever.
When Bruce noticed that Danny didn't even seem aware of anything going on around him, he picked the bundled up teen, and headed for Danny's room. The exhausted teen passed out halfway there.
Bruce opened the door to Danny's bedroom, walked over to his bed, laid Danny down, and put the covers over him. Danny just happened to be set down in the middle of his stuffed animals.
That's right. He had them. But each one was of the thirteen Totems he had. They were symbolic, and Danny couldn't part with them to save his life.
For awhile, Bruce just leaned against the bed post and watched his adopted son. Danny's face was almost peaceful.
Almost.
There was something holding him back from getting a good night's rest. Bruce had no doubt it was his memories, and he sighed. The halfa was most likely going to wake up screaming later in the night, remembering very clearly the livid dream he had had. And you know what sucked the most? Before the G.I.W. kidnapped him, he had almost completely stopped having the nightmares.
Bruce sighed again, before ruffling the sleeping teen's hair some before heading to his room. Yes, he wasn't really tired, but he might as well get some. It was going to be a very stressful time ahead of them.
Bruce woke up when he heard Danny's scream, his very terrified scream. Immediately, he was up and running to Danny's room. When he came in, he expected Danny to be on the bed. The teen was in the bathroom, puking up the small amount of food he had in his stomach.
The billionaire was by the halfa in an instant. After Danny had stopped heaving, Bruce wiped his mouth with a rag, since Danny had immediately started sobbing. Expectantly, I might add.
Bruce picked up the kid and brought him back to his bed. Danny was going on into very vivid detailed recount of his nightmare, though sometimes Bruce lost him through his sobs, but he got enough.
Danny's nightmare was of the G.I.W. getting him again, along with the Team and the entire Justice League. The agents killed the humans, did experiments on the ones with powers, causing them to die too, and Danny was the only one who lived, to have more experiments done to him. (Of course there was a lot more details to that, but I'm not going to type that since it's very… graphic.)
Bruce whispered comforting words in Danny's ear, and rubbed his arm. Danny was completely different from the person he was three weeks ago. Compared to three weeks ago, it was easy. Now they'd have to start all over. At least Bruce didn't have to completely regain the boy's trust again.
Bruce laid Danny down, and the hybrid grabbed the first animal he could; Isis. Immediately, Danny's skin iced over, his tears froze on his face, and he started to fall back asleep. Bruce sat next to him, running his hand through his adopted son's hair. Once Danny was completely and utterly unconscious, ge grabbed the teen's laptop and began hacking into the G.I.W. facility computer.
Reason #1 was to look up everything they did and get them shut down.
Reason #2 was to look up everyone involved in Danny's torture so the very ticked off Dark Knight could visit each and every last one of them personally.
If anyone wants to listen to that song, go to YouTube and type in 'Balto Who I Am' and click the one by 97Ventus. It's an amazing song.
Kadzait: You are FRIKKIN CRUEL!
So I've been told... -.-'
Kadzait: Can't you write something happy for once in your life?!
Those stories never turn out good with the way I write them.
Kadzait: *face-palm*
Thanks to these people for favoriting and/or following: JinxedCrisis, Juuchi Fuyu, and First Lady of the West.
Reviews:
Em: DADDY-BATS TO THE RESCUE! And, personally, I don't think Danny could even try to do a Ghostly Wail with the amount of strength he has. But yes, the Wail is TOTALLY AWESOME. XD And Hahahaha! Yeah, Danny needs some good things in his life right now. Will he get good things? Probably not. And oh shoot, that is a good idea! But I don't think he'd do it again! This takes place after De-Stabilized and I don't think he'd be stupid to do it again. But THAT WAS A FANTASTICO IDEA! And I love you too (in a not gay way)!
Sina Xiel: If I posted this too early, you could-a just waited till you had enough sleep, you know that, right? XD Hope your headache went again! And I am 13 (between you and me)! And yes, that did mean he broke out, sleepy-head. XD
Kilppari: YOU'RE ALIVE! And I hope you did good on your exams (I'm homeschooled and don't have to take too many exams or standardized testing! WOO!)! Hahahahahaha! I loved your comments on all the chapters! And I have no idea why "Baby Cakes" reminds you of Vlad. Personally, it reminds me of Ember a little. And SOMEONE WHO APPRECIATES MY SARCASM! YES! And I am a girl! And I love you too (in a not gay way)! Hahahaha! A lot of people are gonna kill the G.I.W., including Batsy. He's ticked off. Go ahead and hit some League members. I don't care! XD And chill, just glad you're back! WHOOP WHOOP!
ThePurpleSuperCow: Heh heh heh... I COULDN'T RESIST MY VERSION OF FAILSAFE! And I feel like that all the time... Hugging Danny would be awesome...
GreenDrkness: I try to be as unexpected as humanly possible. XD
KuriMaster13: I'm confused... Do you mean that in a bad way?
Hitomi-tama: Awww, thanks!
Supaherolena02: Hahahaha! Come back to life please! XD And I pretty much stayed up half the night watching two movies: Anastasia and Peter And the Wolf. Both were good. I also had ice-cream and she made us salmon. I also showed her pictures of Batman antagonizing Superman. XD (Superman: Haha! You're greatest enemy is a clown! Batman: Your greatest weakness is a rock.)
Azorawing: He really does and WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'FOR ONCE'?! (Kadzait: Dude, chill. Go back to looking at stuff for your birthday. Me: Ok... Let's hurry up and get this done. I HATE making wish lists.)
LeanneKS: You think this is the best version of Failsafe ever written? *dies of happiness* And Hahahaha! He escaped! Don't worry bout it! And for your questions: It really all depends on the length of the chapter. One time it took me 5 hours for 10 pages. And I update (in my time zone) at around 7:45 to 8 in the morning. And hahaha! I'm a morning person against my will. It sucks. XD
BringbackDannyPhantom: I hope this chapter answered your question but if it didn't, he escaped all by himself. And yes, he did think he was all alone. It was sad.
Heather: Yeah, pretty much. He wouldn't have showed up in Humanity and the other ones I skipped (I can't remember what they were) had him so little, it was almost like a cameo and that's no fun. XD
Bibbledoo: Don't know if you've read this far, but again, your reviews were HYSTERICAL and I enjoyed them thoroughly! XD
Lee: Awwwww, thank you thank you thank you! That means so much!
FareyaWH: Is that a good reaction? Please tell me that's a good reaction.