It was the next day that Danny REALLY started to trust Batman, after all, he had fed him and save him from the GIW. But this was special, because spoilers.

Danny was sleeping in his clean white room in Batman's infirmary. He wasn't quite used to the bed he was given yet but he was grateful anyway, for it and the food he had a few hours before. Apparently Batman had to go somewhere, and Danny was alright with that. He knew he was safe here, Batman promised he was. His heart started to lift, maybe it wouldn't be too bad to lean on someone else for a while.

Maybe.

Danny then heard the whine of an ecto-gun.

Fear struck through the halfa like lighting, his head popped up from his clearly vulnerable laying position. He had been trying to take a nap, but he was still rather shaken so sleep didn't come as much as he wanted it to.

The white haired boys thoughts immediately went into pure panic. Danny scrambled down under his bed, his bad arm and leg protesting But he ignored it with the raw adrenaline running through him.

Daring a glance the boys worst fears were confirmed.

In front of the closed door were the Guys In White.

Danny froze, his body unable to move, his breathing stopped as his world fell apart around him. He was not safe with Batman. Years of torture and pain flashed through his mind, thinking that it was all going to happen again.

Agent O and A smiled sinisterly when they saw Danny, their cores flaring with joy. Danny was frozen to the spot with terror. Agent A stepped forward towards the cowering halfa. He flicked out the weapon and a long glowing green line slithered from the hole, Danny's breathing caught in his throat as he recognized the device.

The agents arm went back and Danny screwed his eyes shut to await the blow.

With a crack of the ecto-whip Danny cried out as the stinging rope wrapped around him. The halfa was yanked forward through the bars of he bed, jostling his injuries and infringing new ones across his body.

He was now splayed across the floor with his body twitching, he moved to get up but his hand was stomped on. Danny cried out again and tried to curl in on himself once more.

The second agent brought out a different gun and fired it point blank at Danny. Instead of a bullet it was a net, an ecto-net. It burned Danny's skin worse than the whip, his clothes began to singe and he tried to keep his skin away from the acid like net. The net was tugged forward and it jerked the boy into the net, he yelled in pain but Agent A clocked him on the head, silencing him.

Danny was dazed by the blow but otherwise remained relatively quiet as he was dragged through Batman's cave.

Danny's mind could barely comprehend what was happening. Batman promised he would be safe, but the reality of himself being dragged by his tormentors and Batman nowhere in sight was beginning to sink in. He should not have gotten his hopes up, Batman wouldn't want a half ghost freak like himself, so might as well give him back to the GIW.

The net was white hot against his skin, he wrinkled his nose at the smell of burning flesh, turning into a grimace as the pain began to register. Danny just hoped he would be knocked out so that he would not have to feel more pain.

The agents paused when an elevator lit up and made a pleasant 'ding'.

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-

Bruce Wayne straightened his tie, he sat comfortably at his desk in his office at Wayne Towers. Unfortunately the company couldn't run itself, he suppressed a sigh but only half succeeded. This day promised to be very boring, something Bruce later found out was false. But at the time he rand a hand over his face to wake him up and looked over a few employees notes. Simultaneously wondering how in the world he was going to continue building trust with the poor boy in his intermarry.

His mind obviously not in his work, Bruce went to check his phone to see if Alfred had visited the boy yet to bring lunch. His hand landed on an empty desk, his icy stare looked down and saw his phone wasn't there. He cursed his lazy mind and checked his pockets, then the ground after finding nothing.

Scrunching up his face in distaste, Bruce stood and grabbed his jacket from his chair and keys from his pocket. He exited his room with a small whooshing sound, his attendant looked up expectantly.

"I'll be right back, I left something important at home." He informed her with a small smile, she nodded and went back to diligently typing on her computer (totally not playing Tetris).

Bruce smiled to himself when he realized that while he was home he could check on Danny himself. He wondered if he should share his identity with him, he might have too if it made the boy trust him more. The billionaire had to admit his skill level with children wasn't as high as it should be and he knew his hard hearted counterpart Batman could be a little scary. Bruce Wayne would probably be a better choice for this mission, he was sure Batman only scared the child.

The pondering billionaire climbed into his (think of a fancy car cuz I know nothing of cars) car, scanning it for a quick second to see if he had only left his phone inside it. When he came up empty handed he put his car into drive.

As he drove through Gotham he thought about all the things that could go wrong if he wasn't careful. Maybe he should bring in Dick anyway, Danny would probably have an easier time trusting his easy going ward than his more stoic demeanor. Perhaps he should call in Black Canary, she sure knew how to deal with traumatized kids better than Bruce.

He turned into his driveway and saw Alfred open the manor doors. Bruce left his car running and went to greet his old friend.

"Hello master Bruce, I assume you are here for something and nothing dramatic has caused you to return from work early?" Alfred greeted as he stepped aside to let Bruce in, Bruce nodded his greeting and affirmation.

"Nothing too serious Alfred, Danny has been on my mind, so much so that I forgot my phone. Do you happen to have any idea where it is?" Bruce asked as he scanned the counters and tables for his phone. "How is he by the way? Did he ever fall asleep?" Bruce asked as he walked briskly around the table, looking under chairs thinking he'd dropped it on the way out of the house.

"I don't think 'sleep' is the most appropriate word but he has yet to utter a peep so I assume he is resting Master Bruce. I have not seen your phone sir, perhaps it is down stairs?" Alfred suggested, really meaning the batcave.

"Probably, I was up kind of late last night." Bruce admitted with a huff as he continued to scan the area. Alfred gave him a knowing look.

"Sir, I do not think four a.m. is a 'kind of up late' time." Bruce waved him off with a smile as he entered the study and entered the keys into the piano that opened the grandfather clock.

Bruce stepped in and straightened his tie again, he didn't want to disturb the boy but perhaps he could be introduced, the boy might warm up to him more if he wasn't in the dark Bat-suit. The elevator hummed evenly as it descended into the bat cave

The door slid open with a chime, Bruce went to step out but was startled to find two men in white coats dragging a silently crying Danny in a glowing green net.

Bruce's ears filled with the sound of rushing blood as his anger escalated to a new high. Unnaturally fast in his business suit, Bruce was on the two men in seconds.

One man backed away with a small gun in hand, while Bruce threw a punch at the man holding Danny. The man had to drop the gun connected to the net to dodge the blow, a nasty sneer on the bald man's face. Bruce recognized them as GIW agents, he'd fought many of them to get to their prisoner -the almost dead little boy- a few days ago. Bruce pushed a surfacing question away as he diverted a left hook and delivered his own punch to the man's unprotected side. The Agent fell to the side but rolled into a standing position.

On instinct, Bruce twisted around to find the other man firing a strange green net over him. His arms came up to block it, the net was too small to capture him but it distracted him. Bruce expected the glowing rope to hurt or do something but it didn't. The man Bruce fought first grabbed a corner of Danny's net and started running, Danny whimpered as the green net stretched over his skin. The second man followed after them, messing with something on his wrist.

Bruce threw the net off and bounded after them, barely keeping the lid over his outrage. He winced as a green blast came from somewhere in front of him and hit his shoulder. His suit was singed and his shoulder stung but he ignored it in favor of finding the shooter.

His almost wild eyes scanned his dark caves for any white, he heard a pounding of feet to his left and Bruce lunged. The agent was knocked to the ground forcefully, his head hitting the cave floor with a smack. Bruce stood quickly, realizing the agent had been knocked out, and ran after the second agent.

He saw the agent who was dragging Danny fumble with a small device on his wrist, suddenly the agent and Danny disappeared into thin air.

Bruce kept running but cursed, slowing a little, unaware of where the man was. Bruce pulled a batarang from his belt, readying it to be thrown. What? You thought he would break his own rule? A lightbulb went off in Bruce's head.

"Danny?!" Bruce yelled hoping Danny would respond.

There was a muffled cry to his left, Bruce set off again with renewed vigor. His mind was filled with worry and indescribable anger. The muffled cry became less muffled as he drew closer.

"b-b-bat... m-man-n..." Came the whimper, the disgusting smell of burning flesh hit Bruce like a wall. He stopped when he entered a seemingly empty room and looked around frantically, letting his nose and ears doing the guiding.

"Shut it scum!" The invisible agent harshly whispered. A thud sounded-then a whimper from Danny, they were moving. The agent didn't see Bruce fallow them.

He rose his hand primed for throwing, then paused. Something told him to wait, frowning he listened to his instincts, lowering the batarang and pocketing it. If he were to hurt this man he wanted to do it with his fists.

Bruce kept silent as he stalked the man who made almost inaudible shuffling sounds. Suddenly the man and Danny were visible again, Danny's face was up against the rope and it was burning him. Small licks of smoke curled around Danny as his body was slowly being burned.

Then man was fumbling with his wrist again, then he became see through but not invisible. For some reason Danny failed to become see through, so when the man walked through the wall pulling Danny along he was stopped. His arm was yanked back, he turned to meet Bruce Wayne's hate filled eyes.

Bruce swung a fist at him but he ducked, Bruce followed with a leg sweep that went though the mans legs. The man smiled as he remembered his intangibility, he ran at Bruce and tackled him, becoming tangible at the last second. Bruce was knocked to the ground with an audible "oomf."

A fist connected with his face but Bruce didn't feel it, he surged upward to throw the man off. The man tumbled sideways and Bruce kneed him in the groin and punched his face in quick succession.  The man crumpled like a sack of potatoes. Not missing a beat Bruce basically flew upwards and ran to Danny.

Bruce untangled Danny from the net as carefully as he could and threw the net to the side. The billionaire had to stop himself from embracing the small child, the boy looked like he was reliving his worst nightmare. The vigilante looked at Danny's new injuries, Bruce felt his heart lower as he realized he failed to keep his promise. Danny had been hurt.

The little white haired boys face had a crosshatch burn on it, his hands also with burns and his clothes smoldered in places where the net had touched. Danny didn't meet his gaze, his chest rising and falling rapidly and shallowly. His little hands squeezed his good leg as tears began to make their way down his cheeks.

Bruce felt horrible. He searched his mind for the right thing to say.

Danny kept his head down, sniffing in tears and resisting the urge to shrink away from the cowl-less Batman. Danny shifted to hug his arms instead of his leg and rested his legs out, waiting for something to happen. They... they were stopped?

"I'm so sorry Danny, this never should have happened. I don't know how they got in here but they will never be able to again." Bruce put a hand through his own hair, wanting to say more, wanting to comfort the child. When Danny looked up, confused by the apology, he saw the man's fiery red core turned into a violet purple, sad and fearful.

Danny just nodded numbly, it was bound to happen, the GIW were practically obsessed with him. He was not surprised the GIW came for him, but what stuck out to the little halfa was Batman's response to him being caught again. Batman had rescued him, he really meant it. Batman did not want to hurt him.

Danny suddenly jumped up and ran to the cowl-less Batman, and hugged him.

Bruce was startled into silence. This boy, who barely trusted him, was hugging him. Forgiving him for breaking his promise.

Finally Bruce wrapped his arms around the small boy, sinking down to his level and letting everything else disapear. His purple and blue faded away, being replaced by a warm yellow. Danny started shaking as his tears fell with near silent sobs.

The little white haired halfa hugged tighter as he realized this person might be the only person who would ever care about him. He didn't want to let him go.