A Chance

-11-

Hi, small AN up here. I posted a thingie asking about weather you guys wanted chapter 11 super duper long and later this week or short and rn. If you can't tell yet, this is the smaller chapter, chapter 12 (if all goes well) will be definitely 10,000+ words posted next Sunday while this one is 6,000+ so here ya go!

Dick had been in some terrifying places before, some not quite places, but events. Some were very personal, some were downright scary, others were just plain bad.

This was one of those 'I'm scared crapless right now' moments.

He hadn't been able to identify this emotion at the time, he was a little busy being scared crapless. Mostly because it wasn't for himself, he was worried about Danny. Sure, he'd been worried about others before, goodness, he was ROBIN for heaven's sake, he worried about tons of people all the time in all types of situations. This, however, was a whole new level.

Dick didn't know how to fight ghosts, much less two-ton ghost DOGS. He didn't know how to protect Danny, how to keep the giant jaw from snapping him up within the remaining two seconds until they got the immersive crash course in ghost dog digestive systems.

But that was all in the background of Dick's mind, at the forefront was this:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Through all of that, with the milliseconds counting down till the beasts open maw gobbled them, Dick felt in slow motion. His hand tightened over the arm he grabbed and yanked Danny up and backward. The child was easily lifted off his feet and was tossed over the bed.

The second Dick let go of the kid he curled to the ground, tucking and rolling with the boomerang in one hand.

That's when everything seemed to snap back into the right speed.

Danny yelped as he tumbled over the bed, landing on the floor with a thud that went unnoticed because the dog completely bulldozed the floor. The wood groaned and crackled under distress and destruction, splinters flying up in every direction. Dick landed in a crouch, arm hitching backward to throw the very convenient weapon he already had in his hand. The dog was a horrible mess of barks and growls as it tugged it's head free of the floor, snarling as it looked around at the separated boys, not yet deciding which one to go after.

"HEY!" Dick shouted, grabbing the ghost's attention when it sniffed in Danny's direction. Both ghosts jerked at his shout, the dog snapped its head to the acrobat while the little halfa stumbled back. Dick felt a little twinge in his gut at that, he probably really spooked Danny, but right now his main goal was to keep the ghost dog away from Danny. "Danny run!"

The dog lunged, jaw seemingly unhinged and eyes ablaze in an unholy fire. The vigilante chucked the boomerang into the air, aiming at the dog who definitely couldn't avoid a collision with his impromptu weapon. Dick moved to dodge, but it was deemed unnecessary as the dog jerked UP to catch the boomerang, only for the boomerang to fly through its jaw and twist around.

Instead of heading for Dick the boomerang sailed straight for Danny, the boy was frozen to the spot, eyes wide as they took in the object careening towards his face.

Miraculously, Alfred was there, grabbing the child's shoulder and pulling him out of harm's way. Poor Danny seemed to be in shock, he didn't react to Alfred's hold on him, or the fact he was being half-buried and shielded by the butler himself.

The dog landed solidly in a low crouch, growling dangerously as it's burning eyes followed the boomerang. Dick was equally enthralled, even though he was definitely too close to the ghost dog who could definitely eat him. His focus was on Danny, and apparently so was everyone else's.