Chapter 2-Low On Battery

Dick felt on his game. His senses were sharper than they'd ever been. The anger was there hidden deep within, waiting to come out. When he looked at those Agents in White he couldn't help but ball his fists. They had something to do with the murder's. He felt it in his bones.

Batman and he had been staking out and following the vehicle. It shipped straight to AXION labs before taking an off route course into the forest. They decided to leave the shipment alone in favour of following the truck. It took them deep into the forest into a government sanctioned base.

Batman signalled with his hands and Robin complied. They turned on their sensor scramblers before hooking under the truck. It was a simple ride from there to the hanger where they stored the cargo. The two timed their rolls so they were behind two large crates.

There were two guards on either exits. Dick didn't even need to be told what to do. He looked at Bruce and nodded. The two shot their grapple hooks to the metal bars above. The noise echoed in the large storage walls. The guards looked on alert, moving with their guns and looking upwards. Almost at the same time the two heroes dropped onto their victims, chocking him until they were unconscious. Dick pulled them aside.

"Check for an id," Bruce said.

"I could just hack," he pouted.

Bruce just sent him a look. Dick took the id and pouted. They both quickly went on their way using the id to get into the building.

"We need to find a control station," Batman said, looking at the controls on his wrist.

From years of working together they didn't need more than that. Robin and Batman separated. Dick spent the majority of the next few minutes exploring the white hallways. Everything was oddly pristine, dust being a hard thing to find. Most of the furniture was white with the occasional black highlight. The agents seemed lazy enough, walking in pairs and chatting amiably. This definitely was a research lab. Most military focused ones would have more trained soldiers. Still they were oddly well armed for a research facility, their guns looking custom made.

Dick finally found the room. He went in through the air vents and narrowly dodged a pair of guards. He silently crawled through the narrow space and saw one guard inside. Perfect. Jumping down he knocked out the man in a swift blow.

"I'm in," Robin said into his comm

"Get control of their systems."

"On it," Robin muttered as he broke through several high end encryptions. Hacking usually took hours but there were always perks to being insanely rich. He had the best technology and the right skills.

"I'm in, there's 5 levels below us. They're holding the power source in level 5. It's a circular room, which means the surveillance will make it hard for us to evade cameras."

"It's not a stealth mission anymore," Bruce sighed. "Once we're there incapacitate and observe for our next move."

"Gotcha."

"Meet me at level 4."

Dick took the man's access card. It would at least get him down one lift and then he'd have to hack the rest. He didn't want Bruce winning again. The man always did.

Once he reached the second lowest level, he looked at the monitor on his hands. It tracked Bruce's location. They both had one to find eachother. He dropped behind Batman and ducked behind a metal bench.

"So what's the plan?" Dick asked scanning the room.

Batman put his hands onto the metal floor and narrowed his eyes. He quietly knocked on it.

"Get the nearest ectoplasmic source," he ordered.

Dick peaked above the table and saw more than a dozen scientists working computers and machinery.

"There's a lot of people," he said.

"Not up for the job?" Batman asked.

"Are you kidding, I was born for it."

Dick pinpointed a cylindrical device on one of the tables, the inside glowed a bright green. It seemed the substance wasn't something valuable enough to be stolen when left out in the open, but useful enough to work with the right equipment.

What followed was a very calculated set of movements. Dick rolled under one of the tables before rushing out and grabbing the object, just narrowly out of sight as a scientist walked by. He slicked back to Batman and handed him the device.

"What are you going to do?" Dick asked.

Bruce didn't reply, and Dick just watched closely. The man ripped open the metal floor. Dick knew he would never get used to Bruce's inhumane, somehow still human, strength. Once the awe had died down he looked under the peeled metal and found circuits.

"This whole place is powered by a grid," Batman said as he pulled two wires and cut them. One leaked a diluted green substance, sparking with electricity. "Ectoplasm as an energy is volatile. Not enough and it's useless, too much and it's destructive."

Batman may not have been smiling, but Robin wore a hugely evil grin. Oh this was going to be chaos. Bruce plugged into the pure ectoplasm and they waited for a few minutes. Suddenly the whole floor was on red alert. Sirens rang and machines sparked dangerously as people evacuated.

Bruce rushed out in the chaos, putting in a usb drive into a computer. He may not have gotten the files he wanted with the electrical failures, but the data itself shouldn't be corrupted until a few hours.

"Come on let's go down!" Dick urged impatiently.

"Secure the power source, I'll be with you in a minute," Bruce replied busily as he went through several encrypted files.

Dick didn't have to be asked twice. He placed an explosive on the black glass and broke into the final floor. As he swung down he realised how empty it was. Save for the circular pod in the middle that seemed to be lowering and draining a diluted green liquid. He noticed a human figure in the middle, tall, extremely thin and connected to several tubes from the ceiling.

As the liquid receded below the figures face, he took in a painful breath, coughing and dangling painfully from the tubes holding him up. As if on cue the tubes disconnected, a depressurising sound hissing as the body dropped limply.

Dick caught the teen with great effort and laid him down as gently as he could. The teen was coughing out liquid, white hair draped across his mostly naked body. Suddenly bright eyes opened, glowing a toxic green. Something familiar twitched in Dick's mind. This teen looked like... no. No he couldn't be.

Danny?

No, his brother had blue eyes and black hair. His brother was dead. But this was a facility studying ghosts.

"Y-you're not one of em," the sickly teen drawled.

"Danny?" he whispered.

The teen's eyes grew wide. Dick slapped himself for his slip up.

"H-how do you know my name?"

Dick looked away. "We researched you o-of course! We are trying to save you after all," he lied.

Dick shook himself from his daze. He wasn't doing this right now. Whoever plugged a person into a machine and made them look like the walking dead were sick people. He had their victim in his arms. For now he wasn't a grieving brother.

He was a hero.

"I'm Robin and we're here to save you."

The teen scoffed, a look of disbelief crossing his features. Robin frowned, his heart twisting. It looked exactly like the face his brother pulled when he wasn't buying shit. He shook his head as Batman walked up behind him.

"Perfect timing. I don't think I can carry him," Dick said.

Batman nodded, putting a hand under the skinny teen's legs and shoulders before picking him up.

"Oh hello prince charming," the teen said sarcastically.

Batman didn't even deign giving that a reply. Several armed soldiers entered the room. Robin jumped in, throwing his projectiles into their guns and jumping on their faces. With Batman carrying a body, it would be harder to leave.

Dick thought that it had been rather anticlimactic after how hard infiltraton was. They managed to slip out into the forest and soon reached the Batmobile.

"I-I'm really out..." the teen whispered in shock as he was laid down.

Batman stood up and ran through his new data.

"What were they using you for?" he asked.

The teen looked up, green eyes glowing with sadness.

"I'm an iPhone charger," he replied with a snort. "What do you think I'm in here for?"

Dick coughed slightly trying to cover up his laughter, but Bruce saw right through it. He turned his attention right back to his brother. Despite the amusing quips he looked so frail, like he would break apart with the slightest touch. Dick hadn't remembered him being so delicate looking before. Their whole family sported the lithe muscular build of an acrobat. Now he just looked brittle, uneasily thin and waspish. Dick felt sick.

The distant sounds of vehicles sprung them back into action. Bruce quickly picked up the teen and threw him over his shoulders. The only sound made was a pained grunt from Danny.

"I always thought prince charming would be a little more careful," Danny groaned.

"Now is not the time," Bruce said quickly. "Keep your head down and your mouth shut and you'll come out of this alive."

"Alive is a strong word," Danny replied before the glare he received shut him up. "It's alright pretty sure I'm going to pass-"

Before he could even finish that sentence his already dropping eyes closed and he fainted. Dick looked at Bruce with a worried frown and was giving a tight squeeze to his shoulder. That was about the most assurance he'd get from Batman right now.

"Move to the south quadrant," there's an exit there."

The trip out hadn't quite been as easy as they imagined. Batman had to made do with kicking anybody close by. The teen in his arms seemed to be coughing, and coming in and out of consciousness. Dick exerted himself making sure any more stranglers didn't come close.

They only managed a moments reprieve when they both got into the Bat mobile. Dick held his brother half awkwardly on his lap and the other half on the seat.

"You really need to think of getting more seats," Dick said.

Bruce snorted. That was a no then. They sped away quickly until they were on the road and a safe distance away from the men chasing them. Their cars, no matter how fast would not match up to this one.

It wasn't until they were a safe distance away that Dick noticed the metal poking into his chest. He pushed his brother forward, his brother, who was not dead. He took in an agitated breath when he noticed his sickly pale body and the six different holes embedded into his back. They were at least the size of a tennis ball each, hollowed into his back with metal plates that had welded painfully to his skin. He hugged his brother closer, feeling a wave of guilt bubble in his chest. He should have kept tabs on Danny, made sure he was alright.

"Oh hey Wonder Boy," the teen rasped, eyes half lidded.

He looked around for a second before laughing. Dick was surprised when his brother seemed to latch onto him like a high strung koala.

"So we're really escaping," he let out a breath, before taking a closer look at the vehicle. "In a tank?"

"Bat mobile," Dick corrected.

"Oh right you're that vigilante," Danny replied giving a look at the silent man beside him.

He seemed to finally notice where he was sitting, an with a wince of pain moved to sit so that he wasn't on top of Dick. Dick didn't know if he liked that. With how broken and tired his brother looked, he almost didn't want to ever let go.

"Do you know what they wanted with you?" Dick asked.

"A lot of things, none as fun as being rescued by tall dark and handsome here," Danny answered vaguely.

Dick snorted. His brother had changed but his quips had not... well they took on a oddly flirtatious tone but he knew Danny didn't really mean them.

"So if we're playing 20 questions, how about you answer one of mine," Danny finally spoke up. "Why did you save me."

Dick didn't like the way Danny seemed to narrow his eyes, looking every bit ready to fight them. Not an ounce of trust rested behind those alien green eyes, but he saw the fear hidden by quirky jabs and flirty comments.

"There's been a rise in ghostly activity around the globe. Whatever those scientists were doing with you it has something to do with the crisis."

"Oh so it's a crisis now," Danny replied, tone bitter and snappy. "Not when I told everyone it was a few years ago."

Bruce didn't give him an answer, instead the doors opened and he stepped out. Dick got out first before helping his brother out, noticing the way his legs shook with exertion. The look Danny had on his face as he was up close with a luxury private jet was astoundingly similar to Dick's. He felt the guilt bubble ever so slightly in the background. His brother should not have been hurt, he should have protected him... even if he did leave him.

"Wow," was all he said as he walked into the luxury jet.

Dick looked at Bruce as they entered the plane. He gave the man a look that asked a multitude of questions at once. Bruce replied with a reluctant nod, but only after he threw Dick a small chip. He gave his mentor a look of disgust, but the firm line Bruce's lips sat in made him relent.

"So are you going to tell me why you're looking at each-other like that?" Danny asked with a quirked brow.

"You'll want to sit down for this," Dick replied.

"Oh trust me, my ass has sat down for long enough," Danny insisted.

Much to his ire, Dick had to firmly push his brother onto the seat, placing the little gadget on the back of his arm with another shot of guilt. Danny didn't regret sitting. Luxury liners really did have the comfiest seats. He felt like he was getting it dirty.

Dick found himself bursting with anticipation. He had never revealed this identity on purpose before... well Wally knew but he had told him early on. Now he had gotten so used to hiding this identity that it made him uneasy to give it away. The idea of being Dick in front of his brother would ruin the illusion of calm he had managed to keep... well what little of it anyway.

Without a word he took of his mask.

Dick sucked in a harsh breath as his brother blinked so entirely still. The imaginary wall that had been in front of the older teen broke almost instantly and he lunged forward. Dick froze, his first instinct much to his shame being to defend himself from an attack. The attack didn't come, instead long thin arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him close.

"D-dick," the teen breathed shakily.

Dick didn't cry, just froze into the embrace not knowing what to do. His brother however was trembling, thin body somehow standing up despite the shaking. He heard sobs, felt the wetness on his neck and shoulders.

"I'm so sorry," the teen apologised again and again.

Dick still felt a part of himself blaming Danny for leaving that day. He never knew what made his brother leave him like that, alone and scared when he should have been with him. Despite this nagging resentment, he felt his heart twist too and he finally hugged back, before gently pushing his brother away.

"You don't have to apologise," he said with a huff.

He was met with a broken, haunted expression. This had to be the first time he'd ever seen his brother cry. Danny had always tried to be strong. Even when he had broken a bone falling in practice he hit his pain down and kept his eyes shut to hide away the tears. To see him so emotional was unexpected.

"I-I left you," he said, as if speaking it loud seemed to stab a dagger through his heart.

Dick wished he had insisted that Danny didn't have to explain himself, that he was in too far a brittle state to say anything, but his voice betrayed him and he let his brother continue. A question he had asked himself through sleepless nights was finally going to be answered. The selfishness inside of him had won. He had to know why.

"I was weak... lost in grief when I should have been strong... should have been strong for you," Danny admitted.

Dick caught the teen before he fell down and slowly lowered him into the seat again. He sat on the seat in front of him, squeezing his brother's hand and then turning to Bruce who nodded and left. Dick turned back to his brother. His eyes were downcast, looking so guilty and haunted.

"I'm sorry that you had felt the need to be strong," was all Dick managed to say.

He had always hoped, hoped beyond reason, that there was a noble, justified reason his brother had left him that night. He had concocted a million different scenarios, ones in which Danny had been forced by unfortunate circumstances to leave him. To know that it had happened because he was grieving was too real. It broke the fantasy he had created, and the weak resentment grew ever so slightly.

"I-I don't deserve this," Danny said weakly, head buried in his arms. "I don't deserve to be saved by you."

"Everyone deserves to be saved," Dick said, parroting Bruce, but this time he meant it.

He could see that his brother didn't buy it, but Dick didn't push. He walked over to his brother and helped him buckle up before taking his own seat.

"You should get some sleep. It's a recliner," Dick said, smirking a little. He was just happy to see a small smile form back at him. Maybe... maybe he could have his family again.

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Ok it's been a while, and here's another chapter. I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed! Wow didn't expect so many people to jump onto this story. I unfortunately am having a hard time finding a job right now and really that's my priority so unfortunately chapter updates won't be often. But again thanks to everyone who reviewed and read. I very much appreciate it!