Danny's dull green eyes fluttered open.

He was, in fact, not, fully dead.

He was still in the same bloodied room, with the same pain, and the same fear that controlled him. Danny was alone, he was always alone, he prefered it. Danny hated the GIW, but he feared them much more than he could ever hope to stand up to them.

Danny tried to ignore the pain in his leg but it was persistent. With an annoyed huff Danny slowly sat up to face his leg that was demanding attention, almost wishing it to be chopped off. They had done that once, but it was a finger, not an entire leg. The finger had grown back due to his enhanced healing abilities but it took forever and it felt weird to use it.

He winced as pain sliced through his side, almost forgetting all his other injuries. Grimacing, Danny pushed the stars away from his vision and focused on the injuries he needed to fix. He was going to bleed out if his leg wasn't tended to. He was sure his left arm was broken, the left shoulder also bleeding profusely because of the robot, and his ribs were in a horrible state of bruises and breaks. He could feel the massive (he assumed) black bruise under his muzzle, the metal pressed against it quite uncomfortable, his jaw was aching and a thin strip of red-green blood trickled down his forehead.

Danny's core turned to a sickly green, grossed out with the sheer amount of blood that was supposed to be inside of him but wasn't. Even though seeing much of his own blood over the past 4 years had hardened him from such unpleasantries.

Danny slowly scooted himself to the wall, leaning up against it so he could find some comfort in the contact with the wall. Danny needed something he could hug onto, something he could use to keep from clenching his hands for too long. Nervous habit had him hugging his legs, but he couldn't do that this time because his leg was unable to function, as was his entire left side. Both appendages burned at any movement whatsoever so he really couldn't do that at the moment.

The halfa made a pained face as he was able to tighten the makeshift bandage that he made with his shirt. It was a feeble attempt, but it might have just saved his life. He sighed, tired of his endless pain.

He laid his head back, his long white hair flopping to the side, hoping his advanced healing could fix his leg before he bled out.

He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

-0o0o0o BECAUSE I'M BATMAN o0o0o0-

(HISHE anyone?)

A jarring sensation woke the sleeping halfa, immediately he was set on edge, well... as much as he could be in his broken state.

His core flared a deep purple, his gaze flickered fearfully to his cell door, the origin of the sound. Although rested, his mind was sluggish, he had to blink a few times to steady his swimming vision.

BANG.

Danny involuntarily jumped, sending new pain up his leg and down his shoulder into his broken arm. The harsh lights above him were flashing red and alarms were blaring loudly. Neither of which helped his still swimming vision, the sounds and lights hurt his head. The little halfa bent his head down, trying to find some way to block the noise out. Whatever it was it couldn't possibly be related to him.

BANG.

Danny felt his panic rise into his throat, what if it was? His thoughts thickly shifted through ideas. Could it be a new robot the GIW wanted him to destroy? Or... another side of him offered... a new robot the GIW ordered to destroy him?

BANG.

The door crashed to the floor, the hinges coming clean off and dust and smoke from some type of explosion flew into the air.

Danny's eyes widened with fear as a large man stood in the doorway. He was unbelievably tall and broad chested, a bat symbol covered his torso, his giant gloves fists clenched at his sides. A black cape hung around his shoulders and dark pointed ears crested his bald head, but that is not what worried Danny.

His core... it was molten black.

Danny was frozen with terror. It was writhing, seething almost, Danny had never seen a black core before. It terrified him of what it could mean, and never would he ever guess he was about to be rescued. But he had little time to ponder any of the events going on because loss of blood had his brain and body shutting down.

Danny's vision began to tunnel, not sure if it was because of fear or blood loss, it could have easily been both. He could only see the man's dark core as he moved about, getting closer and closer, bigger and bigger.

The sirens were too loud, Danny attempted to cover his ears to keep the noise out, but only his right arm responded. His blood splotched hand made it to his ear and it took all of Danny's energy to keep it there. He groaned in pain through the muzzle, reminding him of his broken arm and ribs, not to mention how mangled his leg was.

Something rattled at Danny's feet, his mind groggily focused back onto the man, who was still just a black mass in Danny's swimming vision. The black core man was doing something to his chained feet, probably coming to take him away for an even more horrible experiment. Words were being said in a low, growly voice, but his ears didn't hear them, they were full of the sound of rushing blood and sirens.

The little halfa tried to shy away but his body was stiff and unresponsive, only able to shift his head to the side and make his body a little closer to the wall. Danny wasn't sure what was going on but he wanted to get away from the black core man. The white haired experiment was sure the black cored man was going do something harmful to him.

More muffled words began making it to the halfas ears, someone was talking, another figure strode in. Danny's half lidded -but small pupiled- eyes found a new core to study, a core much smaller and lighter than the first. But the colors were muted, a black sheen covered the light colors underneath.

Danny's curiosity was what kept him awake, hoping that if he was awake for a second longer the answer might magically appear.

Something shuffled next to Danny, he made out the sound of cloth, then his world got a whole lot darker as something black surrounded his being. New waves of pain shot through him as he was lifted up off the floor. Danny's eyes were wide with terror but he couldn't seem to see anything except the man's writhing black core. He wanted to back away from it, to flee from the shadowed core witch was now right next to his face.

In a delirious state Danny (contradictory to his previous thoughts) feebly moved a hand to try and touch the dark substance, curious if he could touch it, only to be blocked by a faintly glowing wall. His pounding head was resting on something hard yet soft, his legs dangling loose over some type of bar.

Pain overtook him, it suddenly didn't matter where he was or who was there, all he knew was pain.

-0o0o0o Robin? TO THE BATMOBILE! o0o0o0-

Barely coming out of dark land of sleep, Danny weakly opened his eyes, his chest fluttering with struggled breaths. It was dark, but lights were flashing on the ceiling of wherever he was, passing and then coming back like the light source was moving, or maybe he was? The halfa could see tiny buttons and metal things, his first thought was the experimentation table, but the thought was negated by the softness under his numb body. He was too confused and scared to notice his muzzle was gone and a hasty but tight bandage was over his bleeding leg and shoulder.

Through his muddled and confused thoughts he managed to turn his head to the side. A figure sat in a chair with its back to him, a bald head with two little points to the side. It was the black core man, he was driving.

With his head slightly clearer, Danny's core flared with uncertainty and fear. Who was this man? Why was his core black? Would he hurt him too? Danny eyes began to tear up, would his pain ever e-

"We need to get him to a hospital." A voice cut through his thoughts.

The voice was unnaturally loud even though it was said normally. It was a young voice, sounding concerned and somewhat sad. Danny could not see the voice's owner though.

What was a hospital?

A grisly sound answered, belonging to the man shrouded in darkness. "Negative, the hospital is too far away, and his injuries too severe to leave unattended for a second longer." The elder man's thicky gloved fists clenched onto the steering wheel. "We'll take him to the cave. Agent A can help him much better than any hospital doctor can. Besides, a hospital would ask questions."

Danny felt panic rose into his throat, making his chest burn with the need to cry. Where was he going? To Agent A? Agent A was one of the worst agents Danny had ever been with, he was the one who came in all the time to beat him up. Agent A would NOT help him.

Danny's voice betrayed him as he let out a whimper. His eyes streamed with hot tears, he wanted to wipe them away but his arms were secured to whatever he was laying on. The car silenced at his moan, the man in black cast a quick glance at the broken boy in his back seat.

After a few more minutes of silence Danny fell asleep from the stress of pure terror running through his body, hoping to wake up from this awful nightmare.

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-

Danny felt numb.

It wasn't a drugged numb, no, he would have known if it was drugs. His tired closed eyes remained closed, tightening just a little when he noticed the hard surface he was on. He was on a table, most likely the experimentation table. He was probably in the middle of an experiment right now if any of his other observations had anything to say about it.

He recognized the thing over his mouth and nose, being so used to the muzzle he was not surprised by its presence. But it wasn't a muzzle, he felt cold clean air pushing its way into his mouth and down into his lungs. It was an oxygen mask, like the ones used in some of the GIW experiments- although it was rarely oxygen being shoved down his throat.

Danny couldn't feel much of his body. He knew where he should be feeling pain, but he felt none, just numbness. He debated on moving, but the agents didn't like it when he moved during a surgical experiment. The only reason he was even considering moving was because something felt off. He couldn't hear any of the scientists, or the clinking of metal tools, nor even see the constant harsh light above him through his closed eyelids.

The small halfa ended up attempting to move, if only to figure out what was going on.

He wiggled his shoulders, finding only his right one followed instructions and tested its muscles. He didn't find out much but his fingers twitched and he thought it worth the risk to slightly loll his head to the side. His lower half didn't move as much, but he felt something was covering his wounded leg. His left arm and shoulder were encased in some hard bandage that he couldn't make sense of. It restricted all movement on his left side, but it wasn't the cold ecto-cuffs that held him down during experiments. The small white haired halfa then felt a slight pressure over his left side and his ears found another person's breathing rhythm beyond the loud oxygen mask.

Someone was bending over him.

The child froze, filled with a sudden desperate need to at least pretend to be asleep again. He should have known better than to move. Idiot ghost scum. Now he was going to pay for it.

His muscles tensed uncomfortably, even though he knew that being limp would ease the pain of most physical tramas, his mind was too congested with fear to pay attention to anything else.

Nothing came to hit him though.

Then something cold slid onto his skin.

The child sucked in a breath as he realized what was happening. His eyes squeezed tighter, and he licked his lips nervously, ready to bite his lip to keep from screaming if he had to. he was prepared for the pain, to have the blade slice into his skin. Through his pain prepared thoughts he wondered why he would need an oxygen mask but there was no room for rational thought, fear often took that ability from him.

He swallowed thickly, head twitching as he needed to move his neck to use his dry throat. His tiny chest rose and fell faster and faster, his breath fogged up the oxygen mask in sync and a beeping noise to at his side grew louder. The small experiment attempted to will himself to remain still. He was used to this, he was cut all the time, there was nothing out of the ordinary here.

The scissors made their first 'snip' and Danny finally stilled.

There was no pain.

...What?

He let out a shaky breath, eyebrows knit in both confusion and worry. Something must be wrong, he wasn't feeling any pain. The halfa's frozen chest heaved with another panicked breath, his mind numb and dizzy with confusion.

A hand was suddenly placed over his other shoulder and the scissors paused. The child flinched before he forced himself to calm his shaking and jerking. He was expecting to be punished, no reason to panic.

"It's alright, no need to be scared young sir." An old, stern- yet soft, voice said.

If it were possible, Danny was even more petrified.

The man over him sounded old, he didn't recognize his voice at all, and unless he wanted a swat to the face he sure as heck wasn't going to open his eyes to see if he could recognize him visually.

Then the scissors continued, snipping away at some fabric thing over his left shoulder.

It wasn't long until the last of it was cut away and his arm and shoulder were free. Cold air slid over his bare skin, that's when Danny noticed he didn't have a shirt. That was ok though, because they took his shirt off a lot, so he wasn't worried about that.

The small halfa was only worried about the hands that were now busy slipping the oxygen mask off of his face.

The child was at a loss, he hadn't felt any pain at all during this experiment. What could possibly be happening? The uncertainty was nipping at him. He wasn't sure what to do, how was he supposed to act to avoid a beating?

"How does your left shoulder feel?" The old man asked, cutting through the halfas thoughts.

Danny's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to swallow his parched throat, eyes shut tightly in confusion. He should answer, but he wasn't allowed to speak, he knew that much at least. Speaking was against the rules no matter what. It was a trick, they always asked questions but if he ever answered he would be rewarded with either a slap to the face or a few zapps from the collar. The familiarity of the trap sent a trickle of relief through him, he knew how to avoid this.

The child let the silence drag on, then the old man spoke again.

"Let's sit you upright." The old man said. Danny obeyed instantly, feeling proud of himself for recognizing the trap and avoiding it correctly, the man moving on with new orders was the highest praise Danny ever got.

With his good arm, Danny slowly lifted himself up, becoming more calm with the familiarity of an order. He let his legs dangle as he sat up straight with his head bowed. He laid his hands in his lap softly and found the thick fabric like the one that had been on his shoulder was on his wounded leg. He resisted the instinct to pull away and flinch when a gentle hand landed on his arm. His body didn't listen very well but at least he didn't fully evade the hand, that would have been bad. The agents had this sick game, they would want him to flinch, they thought it was funny, but then they'd get angry when he did. It was a confusing and terrifying game, when he expected to be beaten they laughed, and when he expected them to laugh he got beaten. He really hopped this wasn't that game...

Danny kept his head bowed but allowed his eyes to crack open, as long as he wasn't looking at the old man he was allowed to open his eyes. He stared at his hands, his left side still felt numb and tingly, but it was more from prolonged sleep than pain. He right arm was fine, besides the bruise at his elbow that told him where he used to have an IV.

The hand on his arm left, he could see wrinkles and found the hand was rather thin. The man now out of sight, Danny used his ears to tell him what was going on. He could hear shuffling, like the old man was walking somewhere, the sound of his shoes on the tile quite familiar. He heard the old man rummage on a counter or something, then faucet of some type. Not long after the faucet turned off the old man returned.

"Can you open your eyes young sir?" The elder asked. Danny obeyed, his eyes were already open but he assumed the man was asking for him to make his eyes visible for an eye exam. The only time eye contact was permitted was during eye exams, which he thought was what was happening.

His eyes fluttered up, ready for the blinding light to cross over his eyes like they usually did during an eye exam. But the old man held no such light in his hand, only a small cup of a clear liquid.

Danny's eyes widened as he realized the trick too late.

He shoved his head down and closed his eyes as quick as he could, breath catching in his throat as he braced for impact.

"It's alright." The old man said again, and the small halfa recalled the old man's balding head and wrinkled eyes. The old man's hand gently grabbed his good one, causing a jolt from Danny, and slipped a plastic cup into his smaller hand. "I am not here to hurt you, you need not worry about such things anymore."

Danny bit down the urge to recoil, letting himself sway away from the old man but keeping within reaching distance. He would surely be hit if he were to attempt to evade anything. He deserved the vinegar in his hands, it was scentless and it was the only liquid the GIW ever gave him, it amused them and when he refused to drink it they would always force it down his throat, or get some acid and pour that down his throat. The child shuttered and his grip on the cup tightened, the old man had given him the cup but he hadn't told him to drink yet. He had to be sure that's what he wanted, because if he drunk out of turn then it would be one hundred times worse than not drinking at all.

The old man's words didn't make much sense though, and in Danny's fear he only saw a few things about him. He had a receding hairline, a wrinkly face and his eyes were a word Danny did not know the meaning of. His mouth had done something the child had seen only the agents do when the halfa disobeyed, he didn't know what it was called but from their cores he could tell it was something they did when they were happy. Their lips would twist up, Danny didn't know how to do that, but the way the old man did it made it seem sad instead of happy.

Something wasn't right here and the uncertainty of it all sent fear shivering down the little experiment's spine.

Another thing that frightened him was the old man's core, he only got a glimpse of it but it was enough. It was slowly swirling blue and yellow, an inky black ring around them. There were other colors, orange, a tiny bit of red, even some green. He didn't know what half of those colors meant, so he focused on the ones he did know the meaning of. It was an odd core, because it was a gentle core. Unlike the writhing ones attached to every scientist and agent, this one was like a gentle stream calmly burbling past. The elderly man wore something like an inverted GIW suit, instead of all white with black accents, it was all black with white accents.

The black had to mean something. The other man had black in his core too, what did it mean? Was it connected to the dark clothing? Was he in a different faction of the GIW?

Despite his years experience with constant pain and ill-willed men, Danny began to shake. The man that stood over him still had a gentle hand around his own, but that did little to console the scared halfa. The tiny experiment trembled, his hands shaking and his breathing becoming raspy.

Nothing was making sense, the old man seemed to be playing a game with him. He wasn't hurting him, it had to be a trick, some type of test that involved the vinegar and orders, that had to be the reason.

And he was failing.

"It is alright young sir, I am Agent A an-" Danny stopped listening after he said that dreaded name.

Fear tore through the small half ghost like ectoranium.

Danny scrambled away from the man, the liquid in the cup sent flying as he fled. He whimpered and scooted as far away as possible, tucking his legs closer and leaning back to get as much distance as he could between himself and the agent. Unknowingly, the panicked halfa got dangerously close to the edge of the infirmary bed, until the ground under him disappeared completely and he plummeted to the floor.

He landed with a smack onto the tile, he grunted as it agitated his wounds that were now very much apparent thanks to his spiking adrenaline. His grunt turned into a choking sob as he continued to back away and hide from the awful agent. He hung his head and wrapped his arms around his head, digging his fingers into his hair and keeping his legs close, becoming as small as possible.

But it was too late, he was already down, Agent A would never ever pass up an opportunity to hit him while he was down- he wouldn't ever pass up an opportunity to hit him at all.

He didn't care that this Agent A was an old man who had been gentle with him moments before. Any and every act from Danny from then on would be subject to Agent A's discipline, which was as good as constant punishment.

Danny sobbed, his shoulders shaking with new fear, his once numb with tiredness body was now numb with adrenaline. He was prepared, he was always prepared for a beating.

Wherever he was, whoever he was with, was still GIW. There was no escaping them, no escaping the pain, only surviving.

Agent A is the only agent Danny would ever run from. It didn't matter what the little halfa did or how good he was at obeying, Agent A would beat him an inch to his second death and laugh. His only chance was to hide, but even then those chances were little to none, but it was worth trying.

-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-

Alfred really had been trying, he was being as gentle as he possibly could, but he didn't expect the child to wake up while he was taking the temporary cast off his arm and shoulder. The way his broken bones healed was nothing short of a miracle, and while his leg remained damaged Alfred thought to free the confined limb from its no longer needed prison.

But then the boy woke up. At first Alfred thought he was having a fit while sleeping, but the way he reacted to his touch was unmistakable. And now the boy was downright terrified of him, so scared he probably hurt himself in that fall. From his observance he knew any attempt to calm the boy now would end with more fear and whimpering. Alfred was not sure he was in a position to care for the boy in this state, he was clearly disturbed by his presence alone. Perhaps Batman could find someone who was capable, perhaps even the Bat himself.

Alfred gazed sadly down at the crying boy, "I am sorry if my presence has upset you young sir, do try to calm down. Batman will come in a moment."

The child made no sign that he heard him, only wetly crying in the corner of the room. Alfred sighed and picked up the cup from the floor, he set it on the counter and grabbed a few paper towels to wipe up the water. Once that was finished he swiftly left the room, closing the door behind him gently.

The butler walked down the cold Batcave halls till he found himself at his destination.

A tired Bruce Wayne sat in a comfy customized office chair, staring at the giant screen in front of him, a blue hue lighting his features.

The butler came up next to his friend, noticing the ragged state of his pseudo son's unruly cowl hair and tired eyes. "Master Bruce," he called the man to attention. Bruce looked up expectantly, a nonverbal greeting passing between them. "The child has awoken."

Bruce perked up almost violently, he swiveled around with a vice like grip on the armrests, meaning to get up. "How is he? Is he still up? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" The vigilante grabbed his cowl from the desk but was stopped by his butlers raised eyebrow.

"It seems he is in as good of health as he can be at the moment, but undoubtedly and emphatically terrified sir." Alfred declared.

Bruce ran a hand through his hair before pulling his cowl on and grunting unhappily. "Not surprised, considering where we got him from." Batman made to leave down the hallway but again was stopped by his faithful butler.

"Master Bruce, as much as a good idea it is to calm the boy by seeing his savior, might I suggest a friend who knows how to deal with strong emotions?"

Batman narrowed his eyes, he didn't really want to drag anyone else into this. The little experiment was his to help, not anyone else's. "You're thinking of Martian Manhunter."

"Just an idea sir." Alfred nodded.

Batman scrunched his nose in thought, it really wasn't a good idea to ignore advice from the old man, but he was probably right. If the kid was scared of ALFRED of all people... then yeah, maybe a big man in a black bat suit wouldn't be the most calming sight.

"Fine. Only if it helps the boy."

Batman turned back to the computer with a huff and Alfred walked up to join him.

Knowing the detective liked knowing things rather than not, no matter how heavy the information was, the elder spoke up. "If I may sir, an observation I made while with the boy."

Batman was instantly intrigued, and although his cowl covered it, Alfred believed he saw his face crinkle in worry. "What did he do? I've looked at the files, he could be quite dangerous." Batman, of course, meant the boys supernatural abilities. Batman had only been able to decode a few of the files the GIW had on the child, but what he had so far was not promising. The experiments and lab reports at the facility all declared the boy's ghostly status, but the blood test he ran himself told the other half of the story.

The child used to have a family, a happy one. But now it was gone and the boy was reduced to a lab rat at an incredibly early age- which could both hinder and improve the process of rehabilitation.

The Dark Knight pulled up the security feed of the infirmary room, watching intently as he saw Alfred enter casually into the sleeping boys room.

"None of that," Alfred said dismissively, the child was in no state to do any harm to anyone but himself. "He was shaky but complacent, until I introduced myself that is. True, he was afraid before, but not out right terrified like he was after." Alfred said, sadly eyeing the footage of the child trembling.

"Hm, you introduced yourself as Agent A right?" Batman asked while continuing to stare at the screen.

"That is correct sir." The butler responded helpfully.

The child on the screen fell to the floor in a sobbing heap, his terror clear as day.

The Caped Crusader huffed through his nose, an indication he was annoyed. "The agents in the facility have alphabetical system, he must have had a bad experience with the agent who claimed the letter 'A'."

"Then perhaps we should refrain from the use of code names." Alfred suggested. Secret identities would hardly help the child trust them, and as much trouble their young acrobat gave them in the manor, it would be nice to see the young ward have something to do besides video games with his speedster friend. Of course, once the boy in their infirmary wasn't terrified of humans.

"For now at least." Batman replied gruffly, the feed cutting off as Alfred left the infirmary and the vigilante switching tabs. "I'm calling Martian Manhunter now."

"I'll wait upstairs. Young Master Dick's school should be ending soon." With that the butler walked off, leaving the vigilante to his call.

Bruce only had to wait a few seconds before the Martian 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 was usually serious.

"Yes, I've recently rescued a boy from a science lab, they were using him as a test subject. Since I rescued him he's been unresponsive until a few moments ago. He is emotionally unstable currently and 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 we can schedule another time." The Caped Crusader said.

"I can come now, I just need to 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 Manhunter 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 quickly after, Batman was not one for dallying.

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

"Almost three days. He was sleeping without medicinal help during that time, Agent A was present when he woke up." Batman informed, keeping relevant information the brunt of his topic.

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

"Yes." The Dark Knight grunted. "Agent A went in to check his bandages, to our surprise his wounds had healed except some of the more major wounds. Agent A was in the process of changing these bandages when the boy woke up. Agent A described him as complacent but shaky, he was not terrified until he introduced himself. I suspect a bad experience with a person with a similar name is at fault. But considering he was in that facility for four years I am not ruling out PTSD." Batman said, nearly giving the hallway in front of him a batglare and imagining it to be the face of the sick people who did this to the child.

The Martian simply nodded his acknowledgment.

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

"No name?" Manhunter asked, noticing Batman had left that detail out, or at least didn't acknowledge it.

"Not yet." Batman grunted and swung open the door.

Martian Manhunter dropped to his knees like a rock. The Martian was clutching his head, his mind searing with pain. The white haired boy yelped and curled in on himself even tighter in the corner of the room.

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

"His emotions... raw... too much..." 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.

Upon the alien's struggled words 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 breaking down in the corner of the room, cradling himself and shaking uncontrollably. The white haired boy whimpered in fear when their eyes met for a second, the boy quickly closed his eyes and turned his head away with fresh tears streaming down his cheeks. 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, allowing John the moment to catch his breath.

"That was the most terror I've ever felt in one person." The alien said while regaining his breath. "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 both physically and mentally. I'm not sure he can come back from that much mental damage." The martian admitted morbidly.

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 had when he was younger, fresh from the trauma of losing his parents right in front of him. Determination screwed over his face for a second before Batman schooled it into a scowl instead.

"Is there anything we can do?" Batman asked. He was no expert on mental health, but all he needed was a chance, this boy was going to be ok someday and Batman was going to make sure of it.

"Sometimes there is nothing one can do, insanity is not out of the question." Martian Manhunter said, although, even as he said it he knew Batman wouldn't accept it. He sighed. "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 thought provoking sound of deep thinking, in other words, 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 taking 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, nursing the beginnings of a migraine.

"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.

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