《A New Beginning》Chapter 10

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Danny laid on the large bed in the room he had been given staring up at the ceiling. It had been about three weeks since he came here and was currently about two in the morning and Danny hasn't been able to sleep. He huffed and sat up in a jerky motion before grabbing the (considerably thinner compared to the duvet) blanket at the foot of the bed and the smallest pillow the boy could find and dropped them on the floor before jumping off himself, landing quietly. The top of the bed reached his shoulders and was slightly lifted off the ground, so Danny grabbed his supplies and crawled underneath. He crawled to the wall and put the pillow against it curling up and pulling the blanket over him. He fell into a dreamless sleep.

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Dick traveled back up the stairs after he was told to go get Danny for food. Bruce had said he was worried that unless someone went to go get him the boy wouldn't know he was allowed to come down and Dick was inclined to share that concern.

Dick softly knocked on the door before slowly opening it. The teen's heart skipped a beat when he opened the door to an empty room. He opened the door fully and stepped inside looking around at every corner. He walked around and opened the closet and bathroom, looking inside. Looking around the room once more, panic growing. Dick went to the window and found it locked, he started walking to the door, ready to call for Bruce but stopped short at the sound of shifting fabric. The teen held very still, waiting for the noise again, and after a minute the sound repeated. Dick walked towards the bed and got on his hands and knees, bending down to look under the furniture. He let out a small huff of laughter when he found a lump of blanket and pillow against the wall. Dick slowly crawled to the lump, reaching his hand out to gently shake the boy awake. The boy shifted grabbing his hand and settling back down. Dick let out another huff of laughter and tried to unlodge his arm, successfully rousing the boy.

The eleven-year old's glowing eyes illuminated his face in green light, he looked confused for a moment before he looked back at the teen shyly. Dick smiled at the boy and the two climbed out from under the bed, sitting on the floor.

"Hey. What were you doing under the bed?" Danny looked down and played with the end of the blanket. He shrugged uncertainty.

"More comfortable." He mumbled. Dick nodded, filing away the information to mention to Bruce later.

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"Do you want to go downstairs to get breakfast? Alfred made chocolate chip pancakes." Danny raised his head to face the teen and tilted his head and looked up at him with large green eyes. Dick smiled at the familiar display. The boy looked back down and rubbed his eyes.

"You tired, buddy?" Dick asked. Danny made another shrugging motion. After a minute he apprehensively looked up at Dick seeming as if he wanted to ask something. Dick waited patiently for the boy to ask his question.

Danny went back to playing with the edge of the blanket that was over his shoulders and practically swallowed up his small form, pooling in his lap. He took a breath before speaking, "can I turn human?" He said quietly, pronouncing each word carefully. Dick's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"'Turn human?'" Danny didn't look up when he nodded.

"Yeah, Danny. You can turn human if you want." Dick said although he didn't quite understand what he was agreeing to. He should ask Bruce about that later too.

Danny smiled at the teen before a blinding white ring appeared at his waist. It split into two, one moving up, the other moving down, leaving a black haired, blue eyed boy in its wake. He was wearing bloodied and torn jeans and a dirt-covered NASA t-shirt. His black hair was greasy and grimy, and his pale skin was streaked with mud and blood. He was barefoot. Dick stared at the boy for a minute in shock before swallowing the lump that formed in his throat. He grabbed the boy's exposed forearm, looking over him.

"Are you hurt?" He asked worriedly. Danny shook his head. Dick let out a sigh of relief and stood up, not letting go of Danny, making him stand too. He led the boy to the bathroom.

"Why don't you clean up a little before we go. I'll go get some clothes for you and leave them outside the door, okay?" Danny nodded and walked cautiously inside the bathroom to shower while Dick went to wait outside of the bedroom in the hall.

About ten minutes later Danny emerged from the room wearing a too-big navy blue sweatshirt and black sweatpants that were slightly large and dragged underneath his bare feet. Dick smiled and kneeled down, rolling the edges of the sweatpants up enough so Danny wouldn't trip over them. When Dick straightened, he held out his hand for the boy to take. Danny huffed.

"'M not little kid." He mumbled. Dick raised his eyebrow.

"You sure? You're so tiny I couldn't tell." Danny let out a sound of indignation and looked at the taller male with a pout. Dick simply laughed at the display.

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"The pout isn't helping your case," Danny huffed again and grabbed the teen's hand, mostly out of worry of getting lost. The two made their way to the dining room, Danny trailed behind slightly, looking around as they walked.

Bruce looked up from the newspaper he was reading when he heard Dick and Danny enter. He briefly looked at the two, doing a double take when he caught Danny's darker hair and blue eyes. He looked between his ward and the boy. After a few scans, he set down the newspaper, standing up.

"Alfred made breakfast. I have some business to tend to." He gave Dick a meaningful look, tilting his head to the door in the indication that he wanted to talk to him alone. Dick led Danny over to where Alfred was still cooking bacon and the boy peered over the counter and watched the butler who pulled the boy's hand away from the spraying grease and pulled a chair over, helping the boy stand on the chair and watch.

The two Bats walked outside the kitchen and went to Bruce's office. Dick started to explain, "He asked if he could 'turn human'. Oh and I found him sleeping under the bed, he said it was more comfortable. But Bruce, I know him from somewhere. I swear I do." Dick said earnestly. Bruce sighed and nodded, glancing back at the way to the kitchen.

"Do you have a piece of hair?"

"Creepy." Bruce glared at him, clearly unamused. Dick rolled his eyes and shook his head, "no, but his old clothes had blood on them." Bruce nodded and grabbed a letter opener. Dick seeing where this was going, held his hand out and Bruce made a shallow cut in Dick's palm and covered the letter opener in it. Dick grabbed a tissue and went to grab Danny's bloody clothes and gave them to Bruce.

"I'll run DNA, but I need you to stay with him today. I have a meeting at the Watchtower."

"But I thought I was going to the mountain for mandatory 'team bonding.'" Dick rolled his eyes slightly at the prospect. He thought it was a waste of time. They weren't a soccer team, they didn't need "team bonding".

"He's coming with you," Bruce responded as if it was no big deal.

"He's coming with me? And do what, participate? Why can't he stay here with Alfred? Not like he's going to be alone."

"Yes, he's coming with you. I don't know what he will do, maybe he'll watch or maybe he'll participate, it's up to him as long as he stays with you. I don't want to risk leaving him here and Alfred has work to do. He is most likely being hunted right now by people who have technology we are not familiar with."

Dick nodded, "when will the DNA test results be ready?"

"Tonight, we can check when we get back."

The teen hesitated, glancing back to the way they came, "do you think it's him?"

Bruce sighed, "I don't know. Maybe. You go back, let him know I'm going to start the test, then we'll leave in about an hour." Dick nodded and left to the kitchen, but Bruce stopped him.

"Dick?" Said boy paused to look at his guardian. "Try not to get your hopes up, okay? I don't want to see you hurt." Dick smiled at his mentor and nodded before leaving and Bruce went down to the cave.

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Dick smiled at the scene in front of him. Danny was standing on the edge of the chair in front of the stove, the sleeves of the sweatshirt rolled up to his elbows, flour was caked along his arms and was streaked on his face as he tries to flip a pancake. Alfred was standing next to him with his hands out in preparation of the kid falling off. Pancake batter was on the stove top and all over the counter, and a plate of somewhat burnt bacon was on the table.

Dick knew that Danny wasn't a young child, he was only five years younger than him, and the teen knew that the boy had gone through traumas that were beyond unspeakable and only something that a full-blown adult could only imagine in their nightmares, but it was incredibly hard to view him like that.

The boy was really small for his age in both weight and stature and looked even smaller in the ill-fitting clothes, and the way he looked at everything like a toddler would, with wonder and curiosity. His limited English doesn't help either.

Danny flipped the batch of pancakes and looked over at the butler, smiling. Alfred smiled back and said something quietly to him. Dick walked up to the two.

"Hey Danny, we have to go to the mountain today. Why don't you clean up and we can eat then get ready." Danny nodded and hopped off the chair, landing soundlessly on the ground and then running to the bathroom to wash off the flour and pancake batter. He came back a minute later and sat at the table.

After eating and getting changed or-for Danny-transforming back into his ghost form, Batman dropped the two off at the mountain before heading to the Watchtower.

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