Batman walked the halls of the bat-cave, in suit and brooding.

Alfred had just notified him that the boy he and Dick saved was awake, and terrified. When Alfred suggested that he try a calm him himself Batman thought the butler was going crazy. Batman is not a calming sight, but Alfred had reasoned it was worth a try considering he might remember it was he who saved him.

What disgusted Batman was the boy's injuries. Besides all the scars he could see through his ripped clothing the boy had collar and muzzle! His blood was a mixture of green and red, obviously meta human. But Batman was not good with kids, maybe he should ask Diana or John for some help. They seemed better with traumatized kids better than him, but he hated asking for help.

Ruefully nodding to himself Batman reached his computer and typed some stuff into it, not bothering with sitting down. Martian Man Hunter appeared on the screen.

"John." Batman stiffly greeted

"Batman, did you need something?" John asked, a little worried. Batman does not usually call from his cave, and when he does it usually serious.

"Yes, I've recently rescued a boy from a science lab, they were using him as the guinea pig. The boy had many injuries so I brought im to my cave,  I put him on life support but when he woke he tore it off. He's showing signs of severe trauma and something along the lines of PTSD.  I was hoping with your abilities you could calm him down enough so I can take care of him and maybe ask a few questions." Batman relayed with narrowed eyes, disliking the fact that he needed to call for help.

"I see," The Martian nodded in understanding, "When should I come over?"

"Now would be good, but if that's not possible for you I can do it whenever you are free." the caped crusader said.

"I can come now, just let me find someone to replace me on Watchtower duty." John said. The martian reached for something on his side of the screen and his face disappeared.

Satisfied, Batman headed to his zeta beam tubes to meet the Martian. A few seconds later the tubes flashed a bright white and Martian Man Hunter stood in its center. John walked forwards and shook hands with Batman, each nodding to each other in greeting. They set off to Batman's infirmary

"How long ago did you save him?" John asked as they marched down the long, echoey cave catwalks.

"Almost three days. He seems to have advanced healing capabilities, more than likely meta." Batman replied. In the time he rested and how swiftly the boy got out of life support Batman suspected the boy had superb healing abilities. Not even Flash would be able to get up that quickly if he had the same injuries.

"And he's showing signs of extreme stress?"

"Yes. I never saw him but Agent A went in to check on him, to his surprise the boy was awake. The boy did everything he could to get away from Agent A, he was shaking and curling in on himself. His breathing was shallow and fast." Batman said.

Batman hoped the boy could get over his fear. Batman would never show it or tell anyone, but, he had grown attached to the boy in the few hours he had been with him. He reminded Batman of Dick, of how scared he was after his parent fell.

They came up to the boy's door. The door looked innocent enough but Martian Manhunter could already feel a presence in the room, a chaotic one.

"No name?"

"Not yet."

Batman opened the door and almost immediately Martian Manhunter dropped to his knees like a rock. The Martan was clutching his head, his mind searing with pain. The white haired boy yelped and curled in on himself under the bed.

Batman knelt next to the Martian, something was obviously wrong. "John? Whats happening?" He asked stoically.

"His emotions... so raw... too... much... fear..." John closed his eyes and tried not to scream in pain. The boys terror was defining to his telekinetic mind. He could not shut it out, the boy's screams and pain laced through the Martians mind. He struggled to remain upright, and felt a hand on his shoulder steadying him.

Batman's eyes widened a millimeter before narrowing again, was there really so much fear in the boy that it overwhelmed Martian Manhunter just by being in the same room?! Batman shot a glance at the boy, who was underneath the bed, cradling himself and shaking uncontrollably. The white haired boy whimpered in fear when their eyes met, the boy quickly closed his eyes and turned his head away. As if not looking at him would make him go away.

Thinking quickly, Batman got the Martian on his feet and helped him out of the room, closing the door behind him and half dragging the Martian to his computer so he could sit down. John, now sitting at the batcomputer, released his head and swiped his brow that had begun to sweat.

Batman waited expectantly in silence, John paused to catch his breath.

"That was the most terror I've ever felt in one person. It overpowered me, I could not even shield myself from it." He started, Batman's eyes narrowed.

"What is he afraid of?"

The Martian took a deep breath before diving into his explanation. "You, me, everyone. As far as I can tell it's everyone and everything, but mostly people, and out of those people, adult males." The Martian looked up to the Dark Knight warily. "Whatever they did to him in that lab definitely scarred him. I'm not sure he can come back from that." The martian admitted.

Batman looked to the ground in thought, rage flared up inside of him. The boy looked so innocent, so small and fragile. He looked like Dick did when he was younger, fresh from the trauma of loosing his parents right in front of him. Determination screwed over his face for a second before Batman schooled it into a scowl instead.

"What can we do to help him overcome his fear?" Batman asked.

"Sometimes you can not. But I would try to gain his trust, maybe let him know that one man at least, yourself, would not hurt him. He might open up to the idea of nice humans. Something he obviously has not encountered before." Martian Manhunter offered.

"Hmn." Was Batman's reply, he was lost in thought. How to get a panicked boy to trust you when he freaks out anytime an adult is near would be tricky. He'd saved enough kids before but this was was traumatized to a whole new level. It wasn't going to be easy.

"If that is all Batman, I should be going now." John stood on unsteady legs and nodded his goodbye.

"Of course." Batman returned the nod in thanks, but no one would catch him dead saying it out loud. A bright flash signaled the Leaguers exit and Batman turned to look in the boy's direction.

Batman's mind churned as he thought of a way to gain the trust of a terrified boy.

-0o0o0o0oNANANANANANANANANANANABATMAN!! o0o0o0o0-

Batman was in front of the mysterious boy's room, holding a bowl of mashed potatoes and a cup of water. Besides helping the boy trust him the food was to fatten him up. He was as skinny as a twig, no doubt the GIW rarely fed him.

Inside the room, Danny was still a little shaken by the experience with the green skinned man. Danny held onto his broken arm so he wouldn't shake, his mind swirling with ideas and scenarios. He didn't know what happened to the green guy but he looked in pain.

Danny shivered as he remembered that he looked at the black core man in the eye. Surely he would be back to punish him. But when the small halfa accidentally looked into the dark man's eyes he only saw confusion and worry, not the typical GIW feelings. Green guy himself was odd, his core was like an ameba, changing shape and doing weird things like suddenly changing to a purplish white. He was in pain and Danny had no idea how. 

Danny sat under the bed with his arms wrapped around his drawn up legs, the only sign of his terror the slight uncontrollable shaking of his head. The door swung open and Danny immediately ducked his head in his arms with a sharp intake of air. No doubt they were mad he had looked at the man and done something to the green guy. Danny didn't even know what he did but he felt like it was his fault.

The little white haired halfas breathing got shallow and his body convulsed again as terror returned to his being. The back core man had entered the room, he could tell without looking by the sounds. His boots sounded heavy on the ground when in reality the room was virtually silent. Danny's voice betrayed him as it whined, he was so tired of being afraid and beaten.

"I'm not going to hurt you." A dark voice said. The man's voice was grumbly but somewhat calming, and very serious.

Danny shied away as Batman got closer and crouched down to his level. Danny knew all of this without looking because he could feel his core coming closer, heck he could almost HEAR it.

"I brought you some food, I assume it's been a while since you last ate." Batman said, at the same time something clinked against the tile floor. A bowl and cup.

Danny just then noticed the aroma that filled the room. He lifted his head so that just his eyes peaked out. The teal bowl was filled with white mushy-looking stuff, and it smelled heavenly. Danny immediately chastised himself, he could not afford to be tricked again.

"I understand you don't trust me right now, and that's ok. You've been through a lot." Batman pushed the bowl forward and he himself scooted backwards, now sitting crisscross on the floor opposite to where Danny was curled up.

Danny stared at the steaming mashed potatoes, the scent became stronger as it was pushed towards him. Danny suspected drugs. They would drug him for the really big tests, the tests that even they had to admit needed weeks of recovery. It was the only time they gave him food, all the other times he would just throw it back up. But Danny could not find any foul or bitter scent in the food Batman gave him, it must be clean.

Deciding he should give it a try, Danny let his good arm snake out and grab the bowl. Once it was close enough he grabbed for the water too. Danny watched Batman the entire time, looking for any hint of aggression in both body language and his core. But the writhing mass of darkness never stirred a different color.

Danny sat up, his back to the wall and bad arm hugging his stomach. His good leg was bent to his chest and his bad leg was stretched out. A more relaxed position than Danny would have liked, but if Batman planned on hurting him he could dodge with somewhat success.

Danny methodically grabbed the spoon and brought the potato filled utensil to his mouth. Now that it was in his hand he could not resist, He hadn't eaten in months. As soon as the food entered his mouth he knew it was good food. It was warm and mushy, having subtle tastes of butter and salt. Was that onion? Danny was so enthralled by his food that he nearly forgot that Batman was there.

"Can you speak?" The dark voice asked suddenly.

Danny flinched and nearly dropped his spoon, a few specks of the food splattering onto the floor. Danny shrugged his shoulders with a fearful look in his green gaze, watching for any indication of anger Batman might have.

The halfas talking when he was younger is what caused the GIW to start using the muzzle. Also because he didn't speak English, he spoke Romanian. When he didn't see any violent intentions from the Dark Knight the white haired boy went for another spoon of potatoes.

"Do you have a name?"

A nod, but Danny eyed him wearily, why would he ask that question? The little experiment brought the cup up to his mouth, his hand shook despite his attempts to calm himself down. Some of the water sloshed out and onto his shirt. Danny scowled at the liquid and punished the others by swallowing them whole.

Batman, a little flustered by the lack of verbal response, tried a different tactic.

"Do you want me to call you by that name?"

A shrug again, the halfa wasn't used to answering all these questions. Danny had a very specific lifestyle, one that didn't include answering questions. Or having a bed, or food, or basically everything that was going on right then. It was all very confusing and concerning for the child.

"I won't hurt you, nor would Agent A." Danny cowered at the mention of his long time tormentor, then realized he was talking about the old man Agent A, but the fear was still there. The small halfa had no idea why the black cores man was saying this, it could easily be a lie. Because the truth was that everyone wanted to hurt him. "I have a friend, his name is Robin. He's a little boy like you, well, a bit older. But he's had some traumatic experiences too. Would you like to meet him?"

Danny pushed away the food, suddenly not hungry. He blanched and the world swam but he remained upright.

Three men in one day was good enough for Danny, he didn't want to see anyone else. What if this Robin person hurt him? Were they trying to lure him out of being under the bed to drag him off to do more painful experiments? What if it's all some elaborate trick to hurt him?

Danny could not take that chance. He shook his head, nearly seeing stars.

The middle of Batman's core turned a deep shade of blue, Danny assumed he wasn't happy that he didn't take the bait, but the sadness seemed genuine and less... angry. Danny wondered if he would force him to anyway, that's what the GIW would do if Danny didn't do what they wanted.

"He would never hurt you, and neither would I." He said again in a softer tone.

Danny quailed and his limbs scrunched to his body. He didn't trust this guy for a second, except for the food, he wasn't lying about the food. But the rest Danny believed was a lie. No human would ever be that nice, there had to be some down side somewhere.

"I don't know your name or how old you are. But I am truly sorry you had to experience what you did when you were with the Guys In White." Danny flinched at the name and saw Batman's core enveloped by blue, not even a hint of black anymore. "I am not the Guys In White, you don't have to be afraid of me or anyone here. You never should have been subject to the Guys In White, and for that I'm sorry. To be your age and have those horrible memories and experiences. I probably only know and felt a fraction of what you went through. I know you don't want to trust anyone anymore but will you please give me a chance?"

They stayed like that in silence, each mulling over the words Batman shared. Batman himself was surprised at his words, it seemed so out of character to apologise and plead with a child. At first Danny was unable to believe it to be true, but with a quick check to the man's core he realized Batman was telling the truth.

When people lie they are afraid someone will find out, their cores would signal this lie with a stripe of purple. Batman had no flash of purple in his core the entire time he talked. Danny was overcome by the sincerity of the apology that Batman didn't have to give. Danny took a shuddered breath, and spoke.

"D-Danny..." His own voice was scratchy and uncooperative, rightly so since he hadn't used it in a few years. Batman's core turned to back with a singular stripe of yellow. His permanent frown lifted, becoming a line, then a line with one end sticking up. Danny himself started smiling, a small closed smile but a smile nonetheless.

"Thank you Danny."