Chapter Text
"She's our best hope." Diana said, a pinched look in her eye.
Hal scoffed. "How much use can a Goddess be that no one remembers? Diana, she doesn't even have a name."
"Diana's right. She's our best hope," Clark said.
Damian scowled from where he'd taken up his post by the door. They were in a small room on the watchtower, listening as heroes ran the halls and prepared for war.
Of course, they wouldn't know of the lunacy their leaders were considering.
Of all the half-witted, poorly thought out ideas, asking an old, forgotten goddess for her blessing in the fight against an invading squadron of aliens was the most imbecilic plan he'd ever heard. Not only was the goddess a being that no one but the Amazonian princess had any knowledge on, but the plan relied on her being willing to place a protection on one Dick Grayson.
Truly idiotic.
"How do we know if she's powerful enough to place any form of protection on anyone?" Hal demanded.
"Do you doubt my word?" Diana spat, insult in her eyes.
Damian clenched his fist. Hal was correct to question her, but Damian felt his reasoning for doubt was plebian at best.
No. The problem wasn't lack of power. What if she was too powerful? Frankly, to ask a Goddess of family for protection was one thing, but not one person seemed to consider the danger of asking a possibly powerful Goddess to bless a man who didn't have any living blood relations. What if she was offended by the idea? What if she only viewed blood as family? How old was the idea of family of choice?
The consequences would be on Grayson's head.
At least Damian knew that his father would put a stop to it. Of course, he would think through the consequences of such a poor plan -
"She's right." Bruce stated.
"What?" Damian exclaimed, and several eyes flashed to him. "Father -"
"We're wasting time." Bruce sent a dangerous glance Damian's way, but Damian did not allow himself to be cowed by such a look. "This is the best option."
"I assume you will go with him?" Diana questioned.
Damian rolled his eyes. "Of course not. I -"
"You will remain here." Dick interrupted as he stepped into the room. He was decked out in his full Nightwing gear, and he was wearing a winning grin despite the fact that he was trying to walk to his possible doom without his Robin. "You're not going near that cave."
Frustration built in his chest. "But you are?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I am." Dick said, but he gave Damian a soft look. It read I'll be fine and I need you to listen to me and I want to protect you and I know you don't like it and I'm sorry and a slew of other things that Damian simply did not want to understand. He crossed his arms as Dick stepped further into the room.
"Someone needs to go with him." Diana said. "She's a goddess of family. Her blessing will come from the strength of his familial ties."
All the more reason I should go. Damian thought.
Bruce and Dick shared a long look. Perhaps to the others in the room, it was a fast, indecipherable look, but Damian caught the pull of Dick's mouth and the tightness to his father's jaw. However, it was Bruce that said "Red Hood and Red Robin."
Damian's eyes widened.
Grayson was as good as dead.
It wasn't fair. Todd and Drake both had acted as though they mourned deeply, but Damian could not help but doubt their sincerity. Damian was mature enough to recognize that such doubt was not fair in the face of such an extreme situation, but he was also angry enough not to care. The moment Dick had returned from Spyral and answered all their prayers, the two acted as though Dick's return was a curse. Instead of being grateful that he was alive, they'd turned their backs on him.
Now they'd be the reason he returned to the grave.
"A bond of brothers." Diana said approvingly. "This will please her greatly."
This was unacceptable.
When the three of them arrived, it was in a bitter silence.
When Dick had tried to fill in the other two, Jason had stalked off to the back of the plane, and Tim hadn't waited long to follow. Dick would have insisted if he hadn't known that Bruce had filled them in. Instead, he stayed in the front and tried to ignore the pit in his stomach that had steadily grown into something just a little bitter and full of self-loathing.
They stood outside the cave, and even there, Dick could feel the air on his neck standing up. The magic inside was insurmountable.
Dangerous.
"Look," Dick said, "I know this isn't -"
"Isn't what?" Jason turned on him, eyes hard. "Isn't necessary to win? Isn't a good use of time?"
Tim said nothing.
"Jason." Dick sighed.
"There's a fucking army of those - those - whatever the fuck those things are, and we're here making sure that you have protection? Just you?" Jason snarled. "Can't have the golden boy risk breaking a nail, right? Who cares about the rest of us?"
"Jason, no -"
"Come on, Jason." Tim interrupted. "The sooner this is over the sooner we can do what we have to."
His words weren't as biting as Jason's, but Dick couldn't help but clench his jaw at the blatant disregard in his tone.
The two started to head toward the entrance, and Dick took a deep breath before following.
When Dick stepped inside the cave, he found himself squinting into the darkness before switching on night vision. The magic in the air was so heavy that Dick felt like he was breathing in water, drowning in something heavy and sacred. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. The closest he could think of was Zatanna. When the magician cast her magic, he'd sometimes feel a prickle or a strange warmth that would tickle as it passed him by.
Suddenly, it was too thick. It felt like an eel pressing down his throat (like a pill, not a pill, stop), and Dick gagged, his chest burning. He stumbled before stopping, knees trembling.
"Hurry it up, Dickface!" shouted Jason, but Dick didn't have the words to reply.
A voice echoed in his mind.
Thy soul is long-suffering, gray one.
Dick blinked slowly, clutching at the air in front of his chest. Incoherent thoughts warbled through his mind, one after another, but he knew one thing. The Goddess was here.
Come further. I beseech thee.
The pressure suddenly lifted, and Dick sucked in a large breath, spots in his vision. However, he steeled himself.
There was a throne room. Rising out of the ground were stone stalagmites that rose up and twisted until they formed a throne so large that any sane human being would have needed stairs to reach the seat. With the night vision on, Dick couldn't quite see colors, but he could tell that the walls were covered in paintings, carvings, and writings in languages far too old for records.
Dick continued to survey the room when he caught Tim's gaze. He had a twisted look on his lips, but it was the slight tension in his shoulders that made Dick's big brother radar go off.
"Tim -" Dick started, but Tim turned his head away in a sharp motion that said all he needed to.
"Not now, Dick." Tim stated coldly.
"But you -"
"Just call the goddess." Jason snapped.
"I will! I just -"
Jason whirled around from where he stood, suddenly stalking toward Dick like he was a deer to be skinned. "Shut up, Goldie! Just fucking stop. What you did - That shit - You can't fucking do that shit and then act like you care. You don't. You're just a fucking hypocrite."
Jason opened his mouth to continue when the ground beneath their feet began to rumble.
YOU DARE SPEAK TO THE ELDEST THIS WAY!
The heavy magic suddenly returned tenfold, but it wasn't centered on Dick.
Jason crumpled to his knees, gasping.
Tim looked up, a look of genuine fear on his face as his breath too stuttered in his throat.
IN MY DOMAIN, YOU DARE DISRESPECT ME? YOU SPEAK TO YOUR OFFERING SUCH?
Jason bent over at the same moment Tim had to go down on one knee.
The ground shook beneath their feet again, and Dick turned his gaze toward the throne.
YOUR VERY BEING IS FORFEIT FOR YOUR FOOLISH TONGUE, YOUR DISRESPECT, YOUR IGNORANCE!
Dick threw himself down at the foot of the throne, pressing his forehead to the cool, stone ground. "It is my fault! Let me take the punishment!"
The ground stopped shaking, and Dick squeezed his eyes shut as he heard deep, gasping breaths behind him.
She'd released her hold on his brothers.
SPEAK.
Her voice still had thunder in it, but at least her ire was no longer directed at the two behind him.
Dick wet his lips, and let out a slow breath. He was all too aware of how much weight his words would carry - for better or for worse. "Their disrespect comes from my failure. It is the responsibility of the eldest to lead his brothers in how they act, is it not?"
So it is.
"Then for my failure, I ask that the punishment be mine."
Very well.
"No!"
Dick's heart dropped.
Damian dashed forward, brushing past Jason to fly to Dick.
"It is not Grayson's fault that these - these - these ignoramuses choose to act like -"
"Damian, enough!" Grayson snapped.
Damian fell silent.
"I told you to stay back." Grayson whispered.
Damian bowed his head, but when he spoke, his voice was still loud enough to be heard by all. "I did not trust them with you. I knew they would fail you."
"Oh, that's rich." Jason muttered.
Silence.
Dick shot a glance toward Damian. The boy was kneeling, his hands flat on the floor in a tense position that almost mirrored Dick's own. The idea that the boy had rushed in to save him left Dick dizzy with anxiety. Last time the boy had done that -
Last time -
There was so much blood.
Gray One, you came here as father, brother, and offering, yet you kneel as failure. Dick felt his face heat, and he clenched his hands into fists. Your child is disobedient. Your middle brother has a foolish tongue, and your youngest brother is filled with resentment. Their failings are yours. Your crime is that of inaction. It is the eldest's purpose to share their wisdom, and so that shall be your punishment. Your chance to speak is past. Now I choose.
Then his chest began to burn.
Dick choked on his cry, barely managing to suppress the noise as it felt like his skin began to burn from the inside out.
There was a little, distressed sound behind him, but Dick couldn't pay it any mind.
Now go, and stain my presence no more.
The ground beneath their feet rumbled once more, and Dick thought Thank you. Thank you.
He didn't know if she heard him, but he didn't waste time finding out. He stumbled to his feet and grabbed on tightly to Damian's shoulder, eyes scanning Jason and Tim compulsively before pressing them forward. His heart was beating hard and fast, the area around his heart pulsating as a painful reminder of how colossally he'd fucked up.
But they were alive.
That - That was more than enough for Dick.
"What the fuck, Dickhead?"
"Language." Dick murmured halfheartedly from his seat in the plane.
That was the wrong thing to say.
Jason was vibrating with anger, his muscles taught with tension. He'd pulled off the hood, and even with the domino mask on, it was obvious how much anger was there. His face was twisted into something ugly and bitter (and just a little hopeful). He looked ready to kill.
He spun on his heel and disappeared into the back.
There was enough silence that Dick thought he could slip into sleep, but Tim spoke just before he did.
"We didn't get the protection."
Dick glanced over. "That's okay."
"It's not." Tim bit out. Just a little tension slid out of him before he whispered "It's not."
"I'll be fine."
Tim didn't say anything. He didn't have to.
When the plane landed, and they disembarked to meet Batman, Dick gave him a giant smile and said "Guess who's ready to sneak onto an alien ship?"