A Chance

-3-

Danny nodded, still hiding behind his arms.

"You're not with the Guys In White anymore, no one is going to hurt you." Batman said, and again Danny was approached with words he didn't understand, he might as well be speaking a different language.

"Can you look up?"

Danny squeaked and buried his face further into his arms. It's a trick. It's a trick. It's a trick. It's a trick.

"It's alright, it's okay to look up, you won't get hurt."

That meant nothing to the scared halfa. Literally nothing, he had no idea what he was saying.

Batman was getting concerned by the lack of response he was getting from the boy. Then an idea popped into mind. He almost threw it out immediately.

Batman sighed, unfortunately he had no other options at the moment.

"Stand up."

Batman almost winced as the boy scrambled to his feet. Favoring his wounded leg and still shaking, his head was still down but he was at attention. The boy had obeyed.

Batman did not want to play with the boys emotions, he knew the only reason the boy obeyed was out of fear. But this was the only way to get the child to respond.

Danny stood silently, begging his body to stop trembling. Batman gave him an order, he was going to do whatever it was Batman wanted without question if it meant escaping punishment.

"Sit on the bed."

Danny's eyebrows furrowed for a second, wondering what a 'bed' is, then realized the man probably meant the table. Danny hoisted himself up and sat quietly, letting his legs dangle again no matter how much he wanted to curl into a little ball at that moment.

Batman then came up to him and Danny couldn't help but shake in fear. He leaned back a little, fear forcing him away like the negative side of a magnet. His breath caught in his throat and a sob escaped his panting lips. Danny sucked in a gasp and covered his mouth with a hand, eyes wide as they stared down into nothingness and terror grabbed him.

Batman rose an eyebrow and sighed sadly. The Dark Knight reached up slowly and gently pulled the boy's hand away from his mouth. The child flinched but allowed himself to be moved, his trembling continued.

"I want you to eat this ok?" Batman said softly, almost like a whisper, almost... sadly. He slid the bowl over, lifting it to rest it on the child's lap. Then The Dark Knight took a small step back to give the boy some breathing room.

"You're not in trouble. I'm not going to hurt you because you made a noise or because you looked at me." Batman said, eyes boring into the small child to see if anything he said made it through.

Danny blinked away tears, his wrist tingled where the man had gently grabbed him. He... he wasn't in trouble? But... but he broke the rules. What are the rules then?

This must be a different faction of the GIW, they had different rules. He needed to figure out the rules fast, but obeying every command was a given. Apparently this 'Batman's standards for speaking, eating, and looking were different, that would make things difficult.

Danny then noticed the aroma that filled his nose, his eyes refocused and he observed the bowl that was placed in his lap. The teal bowl was filled with white mushy-looking stuff, and it smelled heavenly.

Batman said he had to eat it.

"I understand you don't trust me right now, and that's ok. You've been through a lot." Batman said, watching the child contemplate while hope quietly stirred in his heart. "But you need to eat."