Author's Notes:

No. I am not dead.

Yes. This is an update.

Thank you to Phoenix-Inferno18and BoredJester for reviewing recently and reminding me of this.

To answer a few questions you maybe having:

No. Danny's family is not dead. This is half mentioned in one paragraph somewhere. No one is dead.

I can't write in hugs if characters are dead.

Yes. I have edited and updated a few chapters (a while ago actually). The chapters I have worked on no longer have author comments at the bottom.

Am I going to update again soon? I have no idea. I am sorry. I am stuck on this story and am working on so many things right now. (Answer my question at the bottom of this chapter and maybe help me out).

Do I plan on abandoning this story? No. I am just really stuck on this story and am working on a ton of personal projects besides my job(s) and volunteering.

Anyway. Take a deep breath. Here is the chapter. Three years after the last one.

(Cyborg's POV)

After Robin had given Danny the hoodie he hadn't taken it off. He would pull the hood up and leave it there for the whole day. It made reading his expression a bit more difficult at times, but hey, at least it seemed to help make him more comfortable. Anything that helped do that was alright in my book. Any bit of healing was a welcomed change.

It was weird, his progress wasn't coming along nearly as quickly as it should. He was gaining strength but very minimally. He was eating more, maybe not as much as he should, but it was consistent. Yet he still hadn't gained any weight back. What worried Raven and I the most though was the wound on his side. It wasn't infected or red and inflamed, but it hadn't seemed to close up at all.

Raven and I planned on measuring it and taking some more detailed photos to try and better track his progress the next time we changed his bandages. It was probably only due to our daily ritual of cleaning the wound that it hadn't gotten infected, but still, it shouldn't be nearly this severe.

That was just one thing on the to do list. The Tower had been having some bugs recently. Nothing too serious, just some flickering of lights caused by some freak power surges. The elevator also was about 15 seconds slower than normal. It probably was caused by the lightning storm a few days ago. One of the converters on top of the roof was in need of some TLC, which may have lended a hand in helping the problem develop. Either way, Titans Tower is a High Tech, State of the Art, building where a team of kick-butt superheroes lived. It need to be in top condition at all times. Anything less than that ran the risk of being a major security threat. While I'm sure the Titans could hold their own, it sure sucked everytime a bad guy interrupted movie night to try and raid Robin's sock drawer.

Which was why I was currently on top of the roof attempting to rewire the fried bits of converter.

"Cutters please."

Gently the cutters were placed in my outstretched hand.

"Thanks Danny."

"W-welcome."

Beastboy suggested that I bring Danny out with me. He said something about Danny liking it up here. Glancing at him it seemed like BB was right. Danny was taking in the view and seemed to be enjoying the sun and slight breeze. It definitely looked as though our favorite spring loaded patient was much more relaxed up here.

"Cyborg." Robin's curt voice came in over my communicator.

"What's up?"

"An alarm went off at North Regional Bank on 8th. We're going to check it out. Beastboy said you were wrapped up in some important maintenance. Are you coming with us?"

"Nah, if it's okay I'll be staying here. When I am finished with this I have to check to see if it's connecting through the tower right."

"Alright, we'll call if we need you. Be ready to head out."

"Okay."

Glancing up I saw Danny peeking at me curiously, he ducked his head as soon as he met my eyes. A habit that didn't seem like it was going away anytime soon.

"Looks like the other Titans are going out, it's just the two of us for now."

Nodding, he handed me the wrench. Huh, how had he known I would need that next?

"Alright now we just need to go down and check in with the main computer." I explained as I handed the wrench back and Danny began packing up the tool box.

Danny only nodded in response. I picked up the tool box and he slowly limped behind me into the elevator.

"Soooo, how are you liking it here so far?"

"I-it's nice."

"Yeah. Giant tv, fully stocked kitchen, and a killer view of the sunset. We have it pretty good."

An awkward silence followed as Danny anxiously tugged at his hoodie sleeves, his eyes connected to the floor.

Pitching us back harshly, the elevator jarred to a stop and the lights shattered above us cascading glass to the floor.

In the dark all I was aware of for a brief moment was Danny's harsh breathing and the crunch of glass underfoot. Converting a piece of my shoulder into a light I turned it toward Danny. He was slouched against one of the walls holding an arm over the area of his still healing side.

"Danny. Are you alright?" I asked softly.

With his head down he nodded jerkily and steadied himself a bit further on the wall.

Glancing at him quickly I pulled up a schematic of the tower on the computer in my left arm and cross referenced it to the latest data feeds from before the blackout.

"It seems as though one of the generators had a power surge and overloaded the system. Basically, we need to flip the breaker."

Danny nodded again. "H-how are we g-going to get out of the elevator?" He question breathlessly.

"No worries, I've got this covered."

Reaching up I removed the top panel door from the ceiling of the elevator opening up to the dark shaft above us.

"Alright man, hold on okay? I'm going to have to lift you up to the top of the elevator okay?"

Worriedly Danny looked up at me and after a moment nodded jerkily to me. Gently, I took hold of him and lifted him above my head, where he shakily grasped the edges of the opening and pulled himself through.

I then pulled myself up after him. The elevator had stopped halfway down from one of the floors. Forcing my fingers through the seam of the outer elevator doors I managed to get a grip on the doors and with a burst of strength I got them open. The elevator shook as I did so and Danny flinched harshly, he had one hand covering his side again.

"Okay, Man. Here we go."

Danny and I climbed up and into the hallway.

"Haha, want to take the stairs?"

Danny didn't respond, he was hunched in and against the hallway wall in the dark, he had his arms wrapped around himself and his chin touched his chest.

"Danny? How are you doing buddy?" He still didn't move. "Danny. Can you hear me?"

His gripped on himself was pretty tight and his breathing was uneven.

"Danny? Danny."

Gently, I reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. Flinching roughly, then flinging himself back he lost his footing and fell to the ground.

His head shot up and he stared at me with wide, frightened eyes.

I held my hands up before backing up a few steps and crouching to the ground so that I would be closer to his eye level.

Clearly, something had shaken him, thinking back I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it could have been. Could have been the dark, being briefly trapped in the elevator, or maybe even the pain to his side.

"It's alright," I spoke gently, trying to be as reassuring as possible. "You're alright."

Trembling slightly he nodded. Without any help from me he stood up carefully and leaned heavily against the wall, both hands now on his side.

"Are you okay Danny?"

Harshly he let out a raspy breath, "Sore."

I cringed, it was probably about time to give him a new round of pain meds. Poor guy.

Luckily the elevator had stopped on the twelfth level so we didn't have too far to go. That is unless you were injured and in massive amounts of pain.

We hadn't bothered with the wheelchair today because the rooftop converter was only one hallway and one elevator ride away. With Danny's side the way it was it wouldn't do any good to have him walking so far. Not that the wheelchair could have made it down a dozen flights of steps anyway.

"Alright, let's figure this out. I don't really want to leave you alone in the dark, but I doubt that you would be very thrilled to be carried down about a dozen flights of steps."

"I-I'll be fine." Danny insisted.

Danny did not look fine at all. He was shaking, pale, and his breathing was uneven.

"Okay. How about I get you back down to the infirmary, we can get your pain meds and get you all set up back in bed. And then I'll go down and fix the problem."

"Okay." Danny replied softly.

"Okay cool, I'm going to have to carry you down there, okay?"

(Danny's POV)

Being touched made me nervous. Extremely nervous. But I nodded to Cyborg anyway.

"Okay, I'm going to lift you up now."

Gently, Cyborg wrapped a hand around my shoulders and one under my knees and slowly picked me up into a bridal carry. The pain tearing through my side and the anxious fear coursing through me from temporarily being trapped in a small enclosed space was enough to make me forget any shame or embarrassment that would come from being carried by the older teen.

"Alright man, can you take a slow breath for me? Just like Raven showed you?"

I closed my eyes and focused on taking a slow breath. It came out shakily the first few times, but eventually I got it. Though the shaking didn't stop.

"Okay, better. Here we go."

Cyborg carefully navigated the hallway to the stairwell slowly. It didn't pull at my side as much as I would have thought. I relaxed slightly back into him.

My head felt foggy and my body seemed heavy.

This felt familiar. Why did it feel familiar?

Cyborgs steps echoed distanly as we descended the stairs.

In the darkness Cyborg missed a step and we fell through the air for one terrible moment before he regained his footing. The action pulled horribly at the stitches on my side throwing me off.

"Nehhhh." I bit off the moan that escaped me.

"Okay, Okay. You're just fine Danny. We're going to take a break for a minute okay?" Cyborg spoke softly.

A crackled voice came from Cyborg's arm, but I couldn't focus in it.

The pain flaring up made me feel like I was burning alive or about to be torn into pieces from the gash. It made it hard to stay conscious. The panic was building up and I was slipping.

Blurry white hands were all I could think of. White hands, white walls, white coats. I clenched my eyes shut. What was happening?

Wait...They told me not to move. I should have listened. It always goes by faster when I listen. I could feel the icy metal table underneath me. The restraints holding me around my arms. Not again, not again. No hold still. It will be over quicker that way. Hold still, hold still.

Something wasn't right. Something was off. What was it?

The smell. That's it. The smell was different. It smelled like… motor oil? Not like sanitation chemicals. Why was that? What are they doing? Was it part of another one of their experiments? Where they toying with me again?

Don't look. Don't look. You don't want to know. You don't want to see this part. DON'T LOOK.

Memories of burns and blades drowned out the moment. Why was this happening? WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY LEARN FROM THIS?! When will it stop?! What will make them stop!? Please stop!

I couldn't help it. I opened my eyes.

At first it was dark. Which was different. They didn't like the dark. Everything was always well lit. At all hours. They never turned off the lights. I could still feel the metal underneath me and the incision still burned painfully. But it was dark. And it smelled like motor oil. This was different. But why?

A light flashed red and suddenly the lights were flooding the room. White lights, that revealed white walls, in a small white space.

I looked down at myself. There were hands holding me.

Screaming, I tore myself away from the man and fell roughly. The corner. My corner. I hurriedly shoved myself into it and pulled knees up and covered my head with my arms. My side stung horribly and I could feel shirt soaking up some blood. That meant the session had ended right? They should leave me alone for a little while.

Why was a man still here then?! Please no! Not so soon after the last one! The man was talking quietly. I should listen! It's always worse when I don't. Listen! Listen! Listen! No don't! You don't want to know!

(Cyborgs PoV)

I cringed after I recovered my balance from my little slip. Poor Danny, that must of hurt. Danny seemed to tense and freeze before he began shaking horribly.

"Cyborg?" Robin asked through our communication line. "What's going on? Why is it dark?"

"Is Danny okay?" Beastly chimed in worriedly.

"Everything is fine. Can you guys run down to the basement and reset the system? A nasty power surge tripped up the whole thing."

"On it!" Robin replied.

"Okay great. Danny and I are in the stairwell. We're fine. Danny's pain meds are wearing off so he's not very comfortable right now."

"Okay everyone let's do a quick sweep, just to make sure nothing got in while the system was down." Robin instructed. "Beastboy check the outside around the building. Raven you start at the top, Starfire start at the bottom. And I'll reset the system. Cyborg stay put with Danny and we'll work on getting Danny back to the infirmary when we're done."

"Alright, no problem there."

I didn't have to see Danny to know that he wasn't too happy. He stiffened in my arms and stayed like that for awhile.

Only a moment later the lights flashed on. The next instant Danny let out a heart wrenching scream and dove out of my arms. Scrambling he threw himself in the corner of the landing. He was shaking horribly and his arms were covering his head and he was hyperventilating.

Kneeling down in front of him I spoke quietly.

"Danny. Danny. It's alright. Hey man, it's okay. Can you take a deep breath for me Danny? Danny? Can you hear me?"

Author Notes:

Do you see?! Do you understand?! I have held this chapter back for over a year because I can't figure out how I want to get Danny out of the dang stairwell! This is the worst cliff hanger ever. I am so sorry.

So, thoughts? Comments? Ideas on how to get Danny out of the stairwell? Let me know. I love your input dear readers! Also, if you review this I get an email that I can see on my phone at work and it just makes my whole day!

This scene is the one that I have been looking forward to writing since the beginning of this story and I am so glad that I am finally sharing it. I hope you liked it.

On a totally unrelated and personal note:

I have been focusing on art lately. I paint. I also have been trying to sell prints of my artwork. Somewhat kinda, not so successfullyonline and really successfully in person at local fairs and shows and things (I only do them near the end of the year). It doesn't pay the bills or anything but I was able to buy some really nice snow tires last fall because of it.