A Chance

-6-

The little halfa's grip dropped at the sight, eyes as wide as dinner plates. Dick and Bruce exchanged glances above him, each letting the boy slip through their grasp as the child wandered trepidatiously over to the window.

"...Moon!" Danny exclaimed in a happy whisper, finally getting that word he was after. The bright crescent shape waxed high in the sky as low splotchy clouds obstructed his view of most things. His hands pressed gently against the glass and his wide eyes soaked in everything they could get themselves on. Plants were dark green, shadows were black, there were... trees! Tree is a word too! He was so high up, he could see a glowy horizon but the longer he looked the more he figured out it wasn't the sun. Besides, the sun and the moon can't come out at the same time! That's silly!

He pressed closer to the glass, until his breath fogged it up. He scowled and moved to the side, only to have his annoyed huff make more fog on the glass.

That's when he noticed talking behind him. His head twisted around, instantly wondering if what he was doing was okay.

Bruce and Dick were talking again, but this time there was that old man with them...

Agent A!

A whimper escaped his parted lips and he placed his back to the window.

This drew the group's attention... oh no oh no oh no!

Dick's core almost violently turned purple. He started walking forward twards the halfa, his face written with the fear told by his core. Danny backed away from the approaching boy, his heart fluttering anxiously in his chest, sliding along the chill window surface.

"No no, its okay Danny, remember? Safe." Dick crouched again, still advancing and hand outstretched.

Danny remembered this action, maybe it was some type of order. So he swallowed thickly and inched close enough to place his hand in Dick's awaiting palm.

"Can you tell me what scared you?" Dick asked, looking at the small experiment in the eyes, not even paying attention to the gentle ministrations his hands were giving Danny's arm. The child's acidic eyes were darting all over place, sparkles were dancing before them and everything was getting kind of numb and dizzy.

"Breathe, Danny." The halfa didn't even know his breathing had gotten so off, but he sure noticed when Dick took his captive hand and placed it on his chest, obnoxiously mimicking breathing that he could feel through his hand. "In," Dick sucked in, puffing his chest out and resultantly raising the hand. "Out," his chest deflated, his hand going down with it. "In," Danny's chest started to follow the rhythm, he didn't know why though, he didn't particularly care either. "Out... good."

Danny was really tired now, his eyes kept drooping, his limbs wanted to rest and not move for a long time. Dick still held his hand to his chest, but now he was rubbing his hand while it was on his chest.

"You remember Agent A?" Dick asked. Danny's eyes flew wide open, cautiously waiting for the older kid to continue. "He has two names too, his name is Alfred. He is nice too, he only wants to help."

Danny was confused, mouth opening silently before he breathily asked, "...Wh-wha-what is... n-nize?"

Dick's face twisted into something Danny couldn't identify, but his core turned green. Did Danny do something wrong? "Nice is something good, like kind, both mean the same thing."

"G-good...?" Danny whispered, pointing weakly to Dick with his free hand.

Dick's face lost its odd look, it eased, some of the lines were going away and his core became less green. "Yeah, we're all good Danny, the bad ones are the Guys In White, they shouldn't have been treating you that way."