Brothers?

GROUNDED

We headed back in the Batmobile. You could have cut the tension with a knife. I opened my mouth to try and explain when Batman looked over with a glare. I decided it was in my best interest to keep my mouth shut for now. I felt Damian shift beside me, I looked over and could only hope he could read the apology in my expression for getting him in trouble. He gave me a slight grin, barely an upturn of lips and a look that clearly said worth it. I gave a slight nod, and glanced over at Batman. He was watching the road with a scowl on his face. We made it back to the BatCave and jumped out of the car, and waited for the shouting to start. Bruce took his uniform off and just stood there waiting.

We shifted nervously wondering what he was waiting on, when I heard what sounded like a motorcycle. It came into view a few moments later and when I realized who was riding I felt the blood leave my face. Oh crap, Dick's going to be furious at me, especially after what happened last time I left the Manor. He parked the bike and got off, and took his mask off, and yep, he's not happy with us.

He paced in front of us for a minute before stopping and looking over at Bruce, who looks at Damian and says "Damian we've had this conversation about you sneaking out before." "What were you thinking?" Damian opened his mouth to answer when I cut in and say "wait, it's not Damian's fault." "I wanted to go out." "He tried to talk me out of it, but I insisted, so he went with me to make sure I would be okay." That was stretching the truth a bit but I really didn't want Damian in trouble for my mistake. Bruce looks at him for a moment and says "fine you still snuck out and your grounded for a week." Damian nods and starts toward the entrance to the Manor. I reach out and touch his forearm and whisper "I'm sorry." He gives a smirk and glances back at Bruce and Dick and says softly "I'm not." Damian turns and walks away.

Bruce stays where he is keeping some distance from us. Dick strides forward and stops right in front of me looking down, his blue eyes exactly like my own flash with anger. He takes a breath then explodes "I can't believe you left the Manor again, after what happened last time!" "Not only did you put yourself at risk you pulled Damian into it." I opened my mouth to protest that I would never have let anything happen to Damian but Dick cuts me off and says darkly "I'm not done." I shut my mouth with a clink of teeth and fill my eyes flash green. I look up at him and give him an impatient look that clearly says 'get on with it.' He takes a frustrated breath and says "look Danny, I know it's been hard on you, and your getting frustrated with being cooped up here, but you can't just take off, Gotham's a dangerous City even for someone with powers." "Not only that but your suppose to be in a facility somewhere recovering, what if someone had recognized you and put it together that you are Phantom." "Do you have idea what it would be like to have your identity exposed, not just for you but your friends and family too?" I started having flash backs to Freakshow and the reality Gauntlet. Dick must have seen the distress on my face because his face softened. He sighs heavily and says "Your grounded for two weeks." I nod feeling uneasy about having upset Dick. I turn to make my way toward the entrance to the Manor when I feel Dick grab my left arm and something cold snap close on my wrist.

Immediately I felt my senses dull, my strength diminish, and my core was being suppressed, which made me clutch at my chest and cry out in surprise and pain. I looked down at my wrist and stared through the haze of pain I recognized the cuff I had helped Bruce design for Vlad, if they ever needed a way to restrain him. The problem was it was designed for Vlad who's ghostly core had never completely developed. His core was just enough to allow control of fire and lightning but only for limited amounts of time. It was why I'm ultimately more powerful, and why Vlad had stopped developing powers early on and why I haven't yet, and probably wouldn't for a long time. The cuff was not designed for me and it HURT. I looked at Dick, I couldn't keep the look of betrayal off my face. He sighed heavily and said "I know your used to having your powers Danny, but I can't trust you to not take off again." "I will remove the cuff after two weeks."