Danny doesn’t know why he let himself get taken by the anti-hero. He knows that the man is technically a bat, and that a lot of them usually don’t welcome people like him, but he was hurt and tired and just wanted to rest. He could’ve slipped as soon as Red Hood turned his back, went intangible and straight through the wall. He had enough energy to do it and escape, even though it would’ve made him more suspicious, but he couldn’t bring himself to. He doesn’t even know why.
He let Red Hood check on his wound, even though it was pointless, as he would heal just fine in around a day. It was the reason he was looking for a place to hide out in the first place, so he could transform and heal a lot faster. His human side healed much slower, still more than the average human, but not nearly as good as his ghost side. But then he got found in that alley after… He didn’t want to think about it. He honestly wanted to forget all of that happened and believe it wasn’t real.
If only it was that easy.
Danny rubbed his forehead a bit, trying to get rid of his headache and the painful thoughts causing it to worsen.
He hadn’t transformed, because he had a feeling there were cameras in the place. He should’ve left, but he didn’t move from under the comfortable blanket he had found laying over a crate. He felt too warm and too safe for the first time in a long while to want to leave, a tired haze taking over most of his time as he laid there switching between a conscious and unconscious state.
Now though, he was much more awake, staring blankly at a wall as he remained on the ground. His bones were somewhat sore from the metal flooring he slept on, but he felt more rested than he did in awhile. He didn’t know what time it was, but he didn’t bother to check by trying to look outside. He felt like the light outside would make his headache worse, even if this city seemed to always be shrouded in darkness.
He subconsciously wondered if Red Hood was actually coming back to check on him like he told him. Should he leave before then? What if he brought his batclan thing with him? He’d probably be fine enough to fight his way to an exit to escape, but he’d most likely suffer more injuries, which wouldn’t be fun. Yet at the same time he wanted to stay, to trust Red Hood. He had an odd aura, obviously touched by too much death, but there was this feeling that he wouldn’t hurt Danny. He probably shouldn’t believe that feeling, trust never got him anywhere.
Sighing, he slowly turned onto his other side and curled up into himself, trying to both comfort and shelter himself from the world to get away from all of the difficult thoughts and feelings plaguing his mind. All of it was making him tired again.
Before he could drift back off once more, he heard almost silent footsteps approaching. His first instinct was to jump straight from the comfortable heap he was in and get into a fighting stance, ignoring the other urge to transform. He would if it was a ghost, but he doubted it, as ghosts don’t normally walk and his ghost sense would’ve gone off already. Another thing he picked up was that it was only one pair of footsteps, which caused him to relax by a fraction, but he was still tense, waiting intensely for the person to appear out of the shadows. He can see in the dark better than normal humans, this shouldn’t be so hard.
Finally, a light switched on and Danny let out a breath he was unnecessarily holding when he saw the familiar red helmet. He stayed standing up, although he let himself ease out of the fighting pose, and waited for the man to walk the rest of the way. Danny had a mini debate in his head if he should dip now or not, but he decided it was practically already too late, and that he would run at the first signs of danger.
Red Hood stopped for a second as he saw Danny, before continuing forward.
“Honestly, I’m a little surprised that you’re still here brat. It’s a good thing I actually remembered to bring you something to eat, because I’m sure you’re hungry by now.” Hood sat down a container that looked like it had spaghetti in it, and Danny heard his stomach growl loudly, causing him to realize that he was in fact hungry. “Knew it.”
Danny scowled at the smugness in the man’s voice that could be detected even with the voice modifier, before picking up the container and opening it up. His eyes widened and his mouth immediately watered as he smelled the delicious food. He didn’t even wait to think about the possibility of it being poisoned as he took the plastic fork Red Hood was holding out and began scarfing down the food. He may not need as much nutrition as other humans anymore, but he realized that he still needed something, and right now he felt like he needed a lot of something. When was the last time he ate?
Danny was already half way done with the food in a minute, not caring how he looked at the moment.
“Jeeze kid, was you starving?” Red Hood asked, and Danny swallowed a bite so that he could look up and give him a quick glare before going back to finish the rest of the amazing food. “You’re probably going to hurt your stomach with how fast you’re eating.”
“I’ll be fine, I have a tough stomach.” Danny said quietly as he wiped his mouth, remembering all the times he ate ectoplasm. “Thank you by the way, it was pretty good.”
“I figured with how fast you were eating it.” The older man said, taking the container and placing it to the side, before crouching down to Danny who was sitting on the floor once more. “Now, let me check that wound of yours.”
Danny didn’t argue or fight him, just moved his arm back and looked away, somewhat uncomfortable. He flinched a little when he felt a gloved hand touch his side, right where the scar of the wound could be seen. He hadn’t even thought about how that might look, forgetting that cuts aren’t supposed to heal that fast.
Red Hood thought the same thing as he stared astonished at the fading scar on the teen’s side. This proved that the kid was truly a meta, though there was also the possibility that he was an alien or something, either way Hood wouldn’t be surprised. After a few more seconds he pulled back, and walked over to the crate with the other stuff he laid there and pulled out a shirt, throwing it over to Danny.
“I brought you that because I know that shirt’s uncomfortable with the huge rip and blood all over it.” Red Hood said, and Danny stared for a second, stunned. He wasn’t used to this, somebody helping him without having to be asked or needing something in return, it was weird. -He didn't like the feeling that came with it.-
Then he broke from his shock. “Know from experience?” He asked with a small smirk, trying to hide his embarrassment. Red Hood hummed and turned around, and Danny quickly removed his very dirty shirt and changed into the pitch black shirt that was about two sizes too big for him. Danny made a quick note that it was probably Red Hood’s, and he didn’t know how to feel about that, thoroughly confused. Why was the anti-hero being so nice? He knew that regular heroes could sometimes be seen going above and beyond to help people, but vigilantes and anti-heroes didn’t really have the same reputation.
“You done yet?” The anti-hero in question asked, shifting from one foot to another.
“Oh, um, yeah.” Danny stuttered, about to die the rest of the way from embarrassment. “Thank you, again, but why are you helping me?”
Red Hood turned around, and although he was wearing a helmet, he could visibly see one of the eyes lower and the other rise. It was oddly expressive. “Why wouldn’t I? You need help and I’m willing to give some. It’s not that difficult.”
Actually, it was a lot more difficult than that for Red Hood. For one, this teen was clearly not a human, or at least completely human. The fact that the teen didn’t seem bothered to hide it with the sharp teeth and glowing eyes, although they weren’t glowing now, was not safe. There may be laws protecting metas and others like them, but that didn’t stop some Gotham people and rogues from discriminating against them. It was the main reason Batman didn’t like new metas coming into the city, not because he didn’t like them, but because somebody always seemed to get hurt.
The next thing was that Danny appeared homeless, or perhaps even had an abusive home, because he would’ve gone back yesterday after Red Hood checked on him if he didn’t. He didn’t exactly know, but having a possible meta wandering the streets of Gotham with bright green eyes? That seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.
The last thing was, well, complicated. Red Hood felt responsible for the kid’s well being now. Worrying a lot more than he should be. He hoped he wasn’t taking after the old man.
Danny didn’t need to know any of this of course, that would probably freak the teen out and make him run. Which is the last thing that Red Hood needed at the moment. He would try to get the teenager to trust him a little bit, and then he’ll start asking the more important questions like the whole glowing eyes and injury thing.
Danny, who wasn’t able to look into Red’s thoughts, shrugged from the answer. “Whatever.”
Not too long after that, Red Hood left, stating that he had other duties he needed to attend. Danny thought that this would be last of him, but turns out Danny was completely wrong.
Red Hood came back every day, sometimes two or three times. He would check up on him, drop off some food and even some clothing every few days, and then leave again. A few times the man stayed to talk for a bit, and even though Danny wouldn’t ever say much, he stayed and talked anyways. He gave him a few books to keep him from being too bored, which Danny loved, because he was starting to become somewhat stir crazy.
A few days ago he brought him a pillow and a thin mattress to lie on, making Danny have a slight melt down and feel guilty. He didn’t have an explanation on why he felt like that, because he never once asked for the anti-hero’s help. Maybe he really was unused to such kindness.
Danny found himself looking forward to each visit from Red Hood, enjoying the company that he’s been missing. A voice in the back of his mind told him to leave, to not trust the vigilante, but he found out that there was a louder voice telling him to stay. It was obvious which one he decided to listen to. He must’ve really missed comfort in order to stay with a complete stranger, a dangerous one at that.
Danny was reading a book that Red Hood said was his favorite of all time, called Pride and Prejudice, and was actually enjoying it, when the man himself came back.
“Is it good? I don’t know if it’s your taste, but I assume you must like something because you’re reading it.”
Danny didn’t glance away from the book, instead he just shrugged and replied casually. “I never considered this my taste before, but it seems boredom can do stuff to you.”
It’s been about a week now, and over the course of it, they both have gotten a lot more comfortable with each other. Red Hood was surprised the teenager hadn’t left yet, but at the same time he was glad to see him there everyday. He had a growing feeling he was becoming attached, and he couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not, or if he should let himself. It was weird, really, how much Hood was starting to care about Danny.
“Whatever brat, be glad I let you borrow that at all.” Red Hood said, and Danny sniffed.
“You’re still calling me that? I already gave you my name, unlike somebody.” Danny finally looked away from the book, looking at Red Hood with one eyebrow raised.
“I’m going to keep calling you that because it’s true.” Danny’s eyebrow lowered at that, now glaring at the man, amusement showing through the playful scowl.
“If anybody’s a brat, it’s you old man.” A smirk grew on the teen’s face, watching as Red Hood’s eyes narrowed.
“How the fuck am I the brat when I’m letting you stay here and giving you shit for free? I’ll have you know that you’ll never find a better deal than this in Gotham kid.” Red Hood tried to say it playfully, but with his voice modifier it came out pretty serious sounding, and for once the anti-hero wished he had taken off his helmet.
Danny rolled his eyes, the shit eating grin never leaving his face. “You’re the one who brought me here and then continued to bring stuff, I didn’t ask for anything.”
“Only because I’m the kindest, most cool, and greatest of all vigilantes in Gotham.” Hood waved his hand and stuck out his waist while laying his other hand on it, adding to the dramatic flare he was trying to give off. He may be spending too much time with Nightwing lately, but couldn’t bring himself to care when Danny snorted, amused.
The smile on Danny’s face slowly faded, leaving a more solemn look. Red Hood was confused with the quick mood change, but quickly got serious as well, readying himself for whatever the kid was about to say.
It was a few tense seconds of silence, before Danny awkwardly cleared his throat and glared at the floor. “I- um,” The younger boy began, trying to find the right words. “I want to say thank you. You’ve done a lot for me the last couple days and I don’t know how to repay you, but I just want you to know that I appreciate everything.”
Red Hood’s eyes widened and he could feel himself smile slightly from the teen’s words. “You say thank you a lot, you know that?”
Danny shrugged, looking up at the standing man before looking over at a wall, face turned away. “It just means that I truly am thankful.”
Red Hood didn’t know how to respond to that, his mind going a million miles per minute trying to decipher all of these emotions he was feeling, some of them making him soft and mushy. So much for being tough and unfeeling.
Danny didn’t know what to say either, but he knows that he has grown attached to Red Hood. He’s only known the man for a week and he already feels like he could trust him with his life. Technically half life, but the point is that Danny knew that it was going to hurt when he finally had to leave. When all of his past mistakes caught up to him and ruined everything again. He thought that maybe it was better if he left sooner than later, before he became too familiar with Red Hood and something bad happened to him too.
Before he became something more than a stranger.