Hi. New chapter!
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Danny was torn.
His unnaturally bright eyes darted from one threat to the other, indecisive of which one to pay closer attention to.
On one hand, dogs were vicious and feral. He's only encountered a few in his short life, but every single one them had a merciless bloodlust. It may have been their owner's twisted ways that made them that way, but then again, it wasn't like he knew this one's owner all that well either. But, dogs were predictable. It's easy to deduce a dog's movements and attacks, regardless of intelligence.
However, on the other hand, this man reminded Danny of the main analyzer from the GI-the lab. New people were unpredictable, and Danny knew first hand just how ruthless and manipulative humans could be, despite all appearances. So Danny's not going to judge the man on the fact that he's older because he's learned that adults of all ages can be bloodthirsty.
He stared down with the two beings in front of him for a bit longer before he was snapped out of it by Batman. Danny mentally scolded himself in forgetting that there were two others in the room, or well, it was more a dark and gloomy cave. Sure, Danny had the instinct to trust Robin, but he was still wary around Batman. Ripping his eyes off the black dog and older man, he turned to the Dark Knight.
"Danny, this is Agent A," Danny tensed and glared at the older man. He growled slightly, lowering to a defensive stance. Batman, seeing this, corrected himself, "Also known as Alfred, he's a close family friend." Danny stopped growling and dropped his defensive stance, but chose to narrow his eyes at the man, still tense. "Alfred, this is Danny, the special guest I informed you about." The Caped Crusader said, gesturing to them as he introduced the boy and the butler.
Danny's eyes shifted over to Robin, looking for any hint of a lie, seeing none he looked back to the older man, scanning his body language for any trace of malicious intent. Deciding the man could be trusted, his eyes snapped to the dog, now the biggest threat. The boy narrowed his eyes at the large gray dog, who tilted its head to the side in consideration of the boy. Danny tensed at the movement, eyes growing brighter in preparation of an attack.
A hand was placed on his shoulder, making him jump and look to the owner of the hand, who turned out to be Batman. The man gently and slowly led Danny closer to the dog. When the boy realized what the Dark Knight was attempting to do, he stopped, causing his back to hit the man's legs, unconsciously Danny grabbed onto part of the man's cape and clutched it tightly as if to keep from moving further. Batman smiled reassuringly at the boy.
"He's not going to hurt you." The Caped Crusader said. Danny's narrowed eyes grew brighter at the statement. The large dog walked carefully forward towards the duo. Alfred and Robin watched curiously from the side. Danny's focus shifted to the other two every once in a while, seemingly to make sure they hadn't moved. When the dog was within reach of the young boy he sat down, dark eyes glancing from the boy's guarded face to his master.
Batman carefully and gently grabbed one of the boy's cold hands and removed it from his cape and placed it on top of the dog's head. Danny didn't resist, but he kept his hand stiff and clasped his eyes tightly shut. When he felt the texture of fur beneath his hand he held his breath. After a moment when nothing happened, he opened his eyes slightly to look at the animal.
The dog simply nuzzled slightly into his hand, causing Danny to open his eyes fully and relax, tilting his head slightly in wonder. The motion was mirrored by the dog. Danny glanced back at Batman, seeing the reassuring smile had turned amused.
"Danny, this is Ace. He helps Robin and me with fighting crime." The confusion grew in the boy's face. His eyebrows furrowed at the man.
"Fight crime?" He asked. Robin and Batman shared a look, unsure how to explain this simply.
Danny, seeing the look, frowned in mild anger. They were looking at him like he was stupid. He's not stupid. He waited patiently for them to explain, trying to ignore the irritation of their assumptions. The irritation grew every second they remained silent.
"Vrei să răspunzi sau să stai acolo, presupunând că e prea prost să înțelegi de ce voi doi luptați împotriva crimei?" (Are you going to answer or sit there assuming I'm too dumb to understand why you two fight crime?) Danny asked, unable to convert his question to English. Robin looked to the boy, taking in his frustrated body language.
"Nu cred că idiotul tău e greu de explicat." (We don't think your stupid, it's just hard to explain.) Danny's irritation disappeared and was replaced by wonder. He knew that the two heroes could speak his language, but being told and hearing for yourself were completely different. Robin smiled, amused at the change.
"Suntem ceva numiți vigilanți, lucrăm în afara legii pentru a urmări în fiecare zi criminali. Salvăm oamenii. Deci, faceți totul oameni costumați pe care i-ați întâlnit până acum." (We're something called vigilantes, we work outside the law to prosecute criminals every night. We save people. So do all the costumed people you have met so far.) Danny tilted his head again.
"Cei colorați?" (The colorful people?) Robin nodded in response. Boy Wonder glanced back to Batman, who was only slightly following the conversation, and Alfred, who looked completely lost. The teens gaze shifted back to the small eleven-year-old.
"Danny, poate ar trebui să vorbim în limba engleză. Aceasta ar ajuta la construirea vocabularului." (Danny, maybe we should speak in English. It would help build your vocabulary.) Danny's bottom lip stuck out and he slumped slightly in disappointment. Robin chuckled softly at the display.
"Nu vă faceți griji. putem vorbi în continuare, în special în jurul echipei. Am putea să vorbim despre ei în fața lor." (Don't worry. we can still speak it, especially around the team. We'd be able to talk shit about them to their face) Danny giggled and Batman came up to the two and smacked Robin on the back of his head. The Boy Wonder let out an indignant squawk before cringing at the mild bat glare the man was giving him.
"Language. Just because I'm not perfectly fluent doesn't mean I can't mostly understand you." The teen smiled apologetically at his mentor.
"So, what now?" The bird asked.
"Well, we have to tell him about our identities and let him get used to that and the mansion." Robin nodded. Both of them turned back to the boy, only to find the spot he occupied empty. They both looked around and found the boy sitting cross-legged on the ground by Alfred with the Great Dane's large head in his lap. Danny was giggling quietly as the grey dog nuzzled his cold nose into the boy's palm.
Robin chuckled again and crouched next to the boy. Giving one more glance back to his mentor and one at the butler, he removed the domino mask, revealing blue eyes. Danny watched him remove the mask with fascination.
The two looked each other in the eyes. 'I know him. From somewhere. He feels familiar.' Danny was shaken from his thoughts by another larger figure crouching on his side. He turned to Batman and watched him pull the cowl off of his head, revealing black hair and blue eyes. Danny looked between the two a few times before speaking.
"Family?" The two looked at each other.
"I'm his adopted son. My name is Richard Greyson. Or Dick. He's Bruce Wayne." Danny's brows furrowed at the names. He knew that name. He just can't remember from where. The feeling greatly unnerved him, it's never happened before and he didn't like it.
"Are you ready to go upstairs?" Bruce asked. Danny, still feeling uneasy about his lapse in memory, nodded.
The dog lifted his head and licked the boy's cheek, eliciting a giggle, before standing and walking to Alfred. The trio also stood, Batman, offering his hand to the eleven-year-old, who carefully took it, allowing the duo to lead him out of the cave.
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It took Danny longer then he'd like to admit getting used to the large house. He's never been in a mansion before, his previous...location...wasn't exactly...large and his home at the Fenton's was fairly small seeing as the Fenton's occupation didn't pay all that well.
The two had changed from their costumes and proceeded to show the boy the room he could stay in. It was painfully large in his eyes. Large spaces made him nervous, but he pushed the feeling down and looked around the room.
There was a very large bed centered against the furthest wall, laying on top the bed was about a dozen organized pillows and an extra blanket on top of the duvet. There were two doors off to the left wall, where Danny figured led to a closet and a bathroom. Directly across from the doors was a four drawer dresser next to a large window overlooking the edge of a forest. The overall color scheme was beige and brown like any guest room would be. There wasn't anything remarkable or anything that stood out, yet at the same time, the elegant furniture demanded attention to all of their intricate designs. His eyes lingered on the carved patterns in the dresser and small desk that sat next to it. A small squeeze from Batman-Bruce brought his gaze to the man. He smiled down at the boy.
"I will go and see if Dick has any small clothes from when he was younger that you can borrow. And if you want you can decorate the room. Dick's room is just across the hall and mine is next to his." Bruce kneeled down to be closer to his height. Bruce's hand let go of his and both settled on Danny's shoulders.
"Danny, it's very important you don't go outside the mansion." Danny's face fell.
He knew it. He knew that it wasn't going to last. That he may have been rescued from one prison only to be thrown into another. Hell, there was a huge chance he wouldn't be able to leave the room.
Bruce, seeing the boy's expression, quickly assured him. "You will be able to go out, just when someone is with you. So most of the time, you're going to stay here with me or Dick along with Alfred or when neither of us can be here you'll come with us to the Watchtower or the Mountain." Danny hugged his middle. His large green eyes looked at the man.
"No more prison?" He asked. Bruce shook his head.
"Not as long as I or Dick are around."
"Promise?"
"I promise." Danny smiled and hugged the man around his neck. After a moment he felt him hug back lightly and carefully.
"Thank you."
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I'm starting off saying that I'm sorry if the Romanian is wrong. I used google translate and that isn't always the best.
Also, this one didn't have much to do with the plot, it was a transition into Danny's new situation and life with the Batfamily. Next time, it will be along the same lines, explaining how he will adjust to living in what I like to think of as Batman-approved witsec.
Thanks for reading!