A Chance

-9-

Danny had no idea what this 'drawing' thing was, but it must be some sort of activity Dick wanted him to do. The acrobat released his hand and stood up, motioning for Danny to follow with a small smile. Danny wasn't sure, he liked it under the table if it meant no keepers, but then again these keepers were weird and nice and he didn't feel in much danger. So Danny slowly got to his feet, stepping out of the shadows of the table and into the light near Dick.

"Come on, there's paper in the office but the crayons are somewhere in my room I think. I also need to get dressed, so why don't you wait here for a minute?" Dick said to Danny before turning tail and walking out of the kitchen/table area at a pretty fast pace. Danny trailed behind with his hands together, shoulders a bit scrunched because he was confused and already missed the shadows under the table.

Also he had no clue what Dick just said.

So he just continued to follow, but Dick was walking fast and was headed for the stairs. The acrobat's core flashed light purple when he looked over his shoulder to find Danny behind him, in which the halfa squeaked and shrunk back, realizing he might have made a mistake by following.

Dick paused on the first step of the stairs, hand coming up to placate the boy in a kind gesture. "Hey it's okay, I'm just going to my room to get dressed, you can stay down here, I don't want you to hurt your leg again by going up all these stairs."

It took a few seconds of deciphering but Danny finally understood the order Dick was telling him. Stay here, yeah he could do that. He searched his face for anymore hidden messages, like WHERE exactly he should stay, by the wall? By the stairs? Right where he was in that exact moment? Could he sit down? Danny's hands fisted nervously and he kept his head lowered, deciding to stay exactly where he was until told otherwise.

He didn't see Dick's reaction, but he assumed it was the correct decision because Dick's feet thumped up the stairs.

Danny should stay completely still, but his nose was itchy, and besides, the sooner he moves after Dick leaves means more time to pretend he didn't move when he gets back. The small halfa quickly reached up to itch the side of his nose, looking up slightly just in case Dick came down unexpectedly. He did not. So Danny stayed still after the itch was scratched, eyes examining the floor and wondering how long exactly he was supposed to stay like this.

He was more relaxed than he'd been in awhile, just standing there, but he realized Alfred was still around, and he was in a very open area. Big open areas were for robot fights, being left alone was a precursor to the big voice in the sky saying 'Begin'. Danny resisted the urge to shuffle his feet, or flinch at every tiny sound. There was a ticking coming from somewhere and he could feel his anxiety rise as his face drained of blood. Ticking meant boom, and boom meant heat and pain, then his skin would be like the burnt bread.

The child's tense and stiff body was swayed by a sudden wind, making his acidic eyes go wide. Wind comes from movement, movement could mean a wide range of things... dangerous things. Danny slowly turned his head over his shoulder, not daring to blink.

He saw nothing.

Nothing was amiss, nothing was moving, nothing could have made that gust of wind.

Danny shuttered and shivered, eyes darting around the eerie hollow mansion.

The wind blew again, making him finally close his eyes as a certain smell rammed up his nose. He took an involuntary step back, shaking and watching the empty hallway with wet eyes.

His gaze settled on the table in the kitchen, the innocent mahogany table. It started to shake, or was that him?

Out of the ground rose a GIW agent, pale and transparent.