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downthe-f4ndom-rabbith0le · 3 days ago

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Always Been You (Dick Grayson x Reader) - Chapter 11

Always Been You (Dick Grayson x Reader) Reader Insert: she/her pronouns Word Count: 6347 Warnings: death, violence, fighting, bloody wounds, angst, infuriatingly oblivious love interest, slowburn Spoilers: Young Justice Seasons 1-3 plot partially, but it ended in 2022 so catch up.

Y/N Prince - miracle daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor - and Dick Grayson - first adoptive son of the Batman himself - have been best friends since day one. They went to school together, trained together, kept each other's alter ego secret from everyone else, and they founded the Young Justice alongside their friends together.

But as time progressed, Y/N and Dick grew up and Y/N found herself wanting more than friendship with Dick. But he never seemed to indicate that he reciprocated her feelings. And when Wally died and Dick abandoned the team, Y/N realised he never would. So she heads to the one place she knows will help her become a stronger warrior so that one day she can take her mother's place: Themyscira.

Two years after his leave, Dick reaches out to his old friends to help him with a mission. But when he finds out Y/N left too, he chases after her in the hopes to bring her back.

However, when the two finally reunite, it isn't as warm as he hopes. Not to mention Themyscira becomes under siege as they go to war against Echidna, the Mother of Monsters in Greek Mythology, and her army of monstrous children.

Will Dick and Y/N be able to put their past behind them and save the Amazonians' homeland? Or will they fall, unable to tell one another their true feelings?

~~~

In the early moments of the morning - at the point where the sky has lightened enough to know day is coming but the sun hasn't broken the horizon just yet - Y/N sat on the balcony edge of the Strategy Room staring out over the rippling ocean.

Her eyelids were heavy from the long and sleepless night of planning and preparing for what was to come at dawn, but she forced herself to look out. To take in the serenity and peace one more time before she broke it. A yawn threatened to slip out, but now was not the time for rest.

Y/N let out a sigh, her mind spinning with thoughts. So much to do, so much to consider. Her, Dick and the other generals had spent the last few hours discussing and preparing the best way to dispose of the hydra and it was a solid and stable plan.

And yet Y/N's stomach churned with uncertainty, her fingers gripped the marble balcony edge as if bracing for the impact that was to come. Because it would come, she just didn't know in what form it would.

You have the makings of a True Warrior, Y/N... All you have to do is lead...

Y/N let go of the balcony for a moment to inspect her open palm. The conversation between her and her grandmother played over in her head. Despite knowing her heritage, Y/N couldn't quite understand how she of all people could possess such a power as the one she'd wielded the other night. She wasn't her grandmother, and she most certainly wasn't her mother.

'A True Warrior, huh?' Y/N muttered to herself, returning to overlook the ocean. Y/N felt no power flow through her, not even a shred of it. But her grandmother was right about one thing: she had to lead today, regardless of how it would turn out.

Looking out to the horizon, Y/N thought of her old home. Her apartment in Washington DC; her mother's home just a few blocks away; the now destroyed Justice Mountain; the Watchtower. She thought about the people and pets that occupied those spaces of her life. The fond memories she shared with them, and the memories that she would possibly never get to make with them if today turned out badly.

Her heart yearned for the loss that hadn't happened. It was only hitting her now, on the final day of Echidna's war, that she may never see all of her loved ones again without even a chance to say goodbye.

Because today was the last day of the war. Y/N would make sure of it. One way or another, it ended today.

'It's beautiful. I can see why you like it here so much.'

Y/N didn't have to turn around to see who was speaking to her, and a small smile crept onto her lips. Okay, maybe her grandmother was right about one more thing.

Y/N twisted in her seated position to see Dick standing a few steps behind her admiring the ocean, but also smiling at her. Since he'd arrived, he'd worn nothing but the clothes that had been on his back. Just jeans, a plain white t-shirt, a jacket and boots. But now he wore Amazonian armour specifically tailored for him. Leather and steel guards covered his broad chest and strong wrists, and his feet were adorned with leather sandals similar to the women.

To Y/N's amusement he wore a skirt too, made of separate strips of leather and studded with steel. His escrima sticks hung in a loop on the skirt, but in his hands he held a helmet. He looked straight out of an Ancient Greek painting. If Y/N didn't know any better, she would've thought he was a demi-god.

'Indeed,' she replied and twisted around to jump down from the balcony and walk towards Dick. Looking him up and down, she couldn't help but say, 'Wow, I never thought the day would come that I would see you in a skirt, Dick Grayson.'

He chuckled as well, swishing his hips slightly to emphasise the skirt. 'Neither did I, but I kind of get the hype now. Very breezy down there, it's good!'

Y/N shook her head but couldn't help but smile. 'Surprisingly, it suits you. Maybe when you go back to Bludhaven you should change your Nightwing costume to incorporate a skirt.'

At the mention of his home, Dick's smile dropped a little, as if remembering why he wore a skirt right now. But he fixed his smile and nodded. 'Sure. When I get home.'

He looked over her shoulder, nodded to the horizon. 'You don't get views like this back in Washington DC, hey.'

Y/N twisted to see the sun had finally peaked beyond the horizon and the sky was layered with reds, oranges and yellows as the sun slowly but surely rose.

'You sure don't,' she agreed, but her sights were set on something that laid beyond the horizon. Something she wasn't sure she'd ever see again. 'But that doesn't mean I don't miss it.'

A soft and gentle sea breeze blew up from the waves crashing up against the mountainside way down below. Y/N breathed in the salty air and closed her eyes, steeling herself to start the day.

'Would you ever go back?'

Dick's sudden question had Y/N opening her eyes to see him looking at her, his expression half-serious and half-anxious. As if he was scared to hear what she had to say but had to ask her anyway.

'As in go back to Washington DC?' she asked. 'To Man's World?'

He nodded, and Y/N found herself struggling for an answer. 'I don't know, Dick,' she finally responded. 'If we survive today, I... I don't know.'

The look on Dick's face told her that wasn't the exact answer he was looking for, but he nodded silently in acceptance. 'We should go and get everyone into position. The sun will fully be up soon.'

He was right, they said that at dawn they would set their plan into motion. But her grandmother's voice whispered in the back of her mind.

Whether he knows it yet, he loves you. And I think you better tell him how you feel in case this war goes further south. Don't you?

'Wait!' Y/N grabbed Dick's wrist as he turned to walk away.

Stopping in his tracks, he turned around, confused. 'What is it?' he asked.

Y/N really couldn't believe what she was about to do, but if there was one thing that she'd learnt while living there it was that her grandmother was always right.

'If today goes badly,' she started, forcing her erratic heart to calm down because it was beating faster than a hummingbird flapped its wings.

'It won't go badly, Y/N' Dick interrupted. 'You can't think like-'

'If today goes badly,' she insisted, cutting him off. 'I don't want to have any regrets.'

Dick looked down at her curiously, the slightest tilt of his head sending a loose strand of hair falling across his forehead. 'Regrets? What do you mean, Y/N?'

Y/N's throat threatened to close up, the usual fear she had when approaching this topic forming a ball in her throat, clogging the words up. But instead of letting it, she swallowed thickly, kept her eyes locked with Dick's. She kept holding onto his wrist to ground herself, to make sure he understood what she was about to say.

'I love you,' she said, her voice so breathless and fearful and relieved all at once. The words had come out so softly that, in her mind, she thought she hadn't said them at all but imagined it.

But Dick smiled and said, 'I love you too, Y/N. You know that hasn't changed since we met.'

Her heart sunk a little at his misunderstanding, but instead of going with it, she shook her head and said, 'No, Dick, I mean that I love you.'

She watched him, watched as he went from happy to confused to truly realising what she'd said. His smile gradually faded until he was just looking at her wide-eyed and speechless. It was a heart-wrenching, gut-sinking look, but Y/N wasn't done.

'You don't have to say anything back, Dick,' she explained. 'But I have spent too long denying this. It's partly why I am here and why you're now in this mess. Because I was too afraid to tell you how I really felt. If my fate is to die today, then I would feel more content knowing that you knew the truth. That I feel you bring out the best in me. That I get butterflies every time you laugh with me. That I will do everything in my power today, even if it means dying, to see that you get home to Bruce and the others because I love you. I just wished I had found the courage to do so long before now.'

After all that, Y/N took a steadying breath in and when she breathed out it was like all the weight held in that one secret finally lifted from her. It was such a relieving feeling that she could've cried, but instead she just smiled because even if he didn't feel the same, she was finally telling the truth after so many years of lying and suppressing.

Dick's expression was unreadable. She couldn't tell if he was angry, sad, indifferent, because he just kept staring at her with a slightly opened shocked mouth. But if he wasn't jumping for joy, there could only be one other option.

He doesn't feel the same.

She could sense tears were building and she really didn't need that in that moment. She had a war to go fight.

So she cleared her throat and said, 'That's all I wanted you to know. We should go now. They all will be waiting for us.'

As if he had been lost in his own thoughts, Dick mindlessly said, 'Right...'

Y/N quickly brushed past him but heard his slow foot steps following her soon after. The rejection wasn't as painful as she thought it was going to be. But, subconsciously, she'd made peace a long time ago with Dick's un-romantic feelings for her.

But something felt different now, inside Y/N. A new sense of reassurance and certainty that wasn't there before. Whatever it was, it spurred Y/N on towards the palace courtyard where the remaining warriors and generals were probably waiting for them.

One way or another, this war ends today.

~~~

The dawn had fully risen now, casting the quiet island in rays of warm hope despite their city's ruins. Y/N was crouched atop one of the buildings back near their destroyed camp, eyes locked onto the beast that had desecrated it.

Y/N wasn't sure what she expected from a hydra, nor from any monster child of Echidna, but even monsters had to rest it seemed. The tents they once slept in were piled and structured in a way that resembled a nest of sorts where the hydra now huddled and slept soundly in.

From where she crouched hidden, the monster almost looked harmless. Until she looked around at the scorch marks on the walls of buildings cobblestone streets. The screams of her fallen sisters still rung in her mind, but she gripped her sword tighter to ground herself. Their deaths will not be in vain.

The first phase of the plan only involved Y/N and a couple adept warriors so she hid alone. It was still early morning, and this part of the city was still drenched in shade. She had to wait for the signal.

She hated the waiting, if only because it left her with her thoughts too long. Dick was hidden somewhere around the nest as well, and she could've sworn she felt his burning blue gaze on her.

While Y/N had made peace with her decision to tell him, she couldn't help but wonder how he was feeling right now. Was he angry? Sad? Disgusted even? Or maybe - like the good soldier he was - he wasn't feeling anything at all. Maybe, like it had always been, Y/N thought about him too much, while she had never crossed his mind like that.

Come on, stop that now, she scolded herself, turning to her shield that was propped up against some rubble. She needed to distract herself, get her head back in the battle ahead. Dick Grayson would not be the reason she lost them the war.

Y/N caught her own eye in her reflection on the shield. She wore a helmet like Dick had held, and a similar outfit too. However, her armour gleamed black compared to the usual steel the other warriors used. It was obsidian-infused steel, forged specifically for the Princess of Themyscira a millennia ago.

The leather and studs of her skirt were dark too - it was as if she were a shadow, a wraith. Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt - according to their myths - possessed armour just like it. If her grandmother was telling the truth, it was also blessed by Athena.

As she looked at herself, Y/N felt both the strength of the armour, but also the weight and pressure that came with it. She was no Athena, nor Artemis or even Wonder Woman. But she was the Princess of Themyscira now, and she'd be damned if she didn't try to fight for her home.

Y/ Npressed her sword long ways and flat against her front, the hilt pressing against her chest. 'Athena, bless us,' she whispered with her eyes closed, praying that her plea reached the goddess' ears. 'Mother... help us.'

When she opened her eyes, a flickering light from across the courtyard flashed at her. It was Dick, twisting his shield this way and that to catch the sunlight.

He was flashing the signal.

Y/N stood up, as well as the other warriors who had been hiding, and she raised her sword high. 'Aim!' Those with bows and arrows notched their arrows into the string and pulled back. 'Fire!'

Eight arrows released simultaneously, and the few seconds they flew silently was that brief moment of the calm before the storm. Everything was quiet and unmoving. But when the arrows pierced the hydra's scaly hide, the air thundered with its roar as it roused from its slumber.

But it wasn't up just yet. Y/N called out again. 'Aim... Fire!'

Another round of arrows flew down to the monster, and this time it was fully awake, clawing its way to its feet, all three heads hissing with fury. The central one seemed to spy Y/N, and as its open mouth lit up with fire, Y/N ran along the rooftop screaming, 'Move!'

Y/N narrowly missed being burnt to a crisp as the hydra fired at her, the fire burning so hot that when she snuck a glimpse behind her she saw it had melted the marble. She hated to think what she would've looked like if she hadn't moved.

Y/N leapt from that rooftop to the next, banging on her shield like a madman with her sword. 'Hey ugly! You hungry? Come catch us!'

Whether the creature understood her or not, all three heads gave her a furious glare that told Y/N she had gotten their attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dick and the other warriors of their group either running along the rooftops like her or down on the cobblestone streets.

Dick bashed his shield too, screaming, 'Hey! Over here!'

The left head lunged at Dick but his acrobatic skills helped him easily avoid the attack. The other warriors started doing the same, keeping the hydra looking and lunging in different ways. Constantly being disoriented.

Just what they wanted.

'Keep it moving!' Y/N called out, then started running along the roofs again, banging her shield. The others followed suit, being as loud and obnoxious as they could. The hydra did not appreciate its food running away, so it chased after them all, bulldozing through any building that did not accommodate its size.

Y/N saw the right head open its mouth to blow fire down the street at the warriors on the ground. They wouldn't survive the heat, nor outrun its reach. So she stopped for a brief moment to throw her sword at the monster. Her aim was strong and true as it pieced one its eyes, causing the hydra as a whole to stop as green blood leaked from its wound. It tried clawing out the sword but it was embedded too deep to get any purchase on it so it only managed to scratch and harm itself even more.

In its agony, it spewed fire everywhere, unable to guide its attack in so much pain. Y/N dodge-rolled out of its range once more, but one of her skirts tassels caught fire so she ripped it off before it could catch any further.

'Keep going!' Y/N called out. 'Get to the training grounds now! I'll keep it distracted!'

Y/N leapt down from the roofs finally, with nothing but a shield to protect herself, and stood before the hissing hydra. She felt the heat from the fire still spewing from its right mouth, squinted at the morning sun glinting off its talons and serpentine scales. But she just raised her shield in front of her and banged her own guarded wrist against it, over and over again. The resounding clangs that reverberated through the street drew its five remaining eyes on to her miniature figure.

And yet, Y/N didn't feel small as the monster of myth encroached on her. In fact, she'd never felt taller, stronger.

'Hey!' she screamed up at the hydra. 'Hey, ugly! You hungry?'

The monster bellowed in response, getting more aggravated with her every second that passed.

'You'll have to catch me first,' Y/N said, then slingshotted her shield at the left head. It made contact with its temple and rebounded into the central head. The impact it made sent the central head colliding into the right head as her shield rebounded back at Y/N.

If it wasn't pissed off before, it certainly was now as it reared onto its back legs, hissing and blowing fire every which way in anger. Y/N didn't waste a second more as she turned and bolted up the street. The way the houses around her rattled along with the street told her it was following her. Just as planned.

As Y/N looked around she couldn't see Dick or any of the other warriors much to her relief. Now she just needed to make it to the training grounds to finish this off.

She narrowly dove out of the way from a blast of fire and smelt singed hair as she kept running. Too close, she thought, but the street started to make an incline as marble stairs replaced flat ground. Almost there.

Just as Y/N went to climb the stairs, a large claw came crashing over her head and onto the stairs, crushing them into rubble and blocking her path. Y/N turned to face the hydra, which now sneered down at her with its small victory. With the stairs up the hill in ruins and the hydra's body blocking the way back in to town, Y/N was soundly trapped.

But she was the daughter of Wonder Woman and the Princess of Themyscira; she would not be so easily beat.

Before it could open its mouth to fire at her or eat her or both, Y/N leapt above the hydra's head just to land on it again and use it as another jump pad to leap higher.

She'd forgotten what it felt to fly, to not be weighed down by gravity and her own limitations, and so Y/N found herself smiling as she arced above the mountainside then back down again to land on the top of the stairs to the training grounds.

The hydra below hissed in fury, sinking its claws further into the stairs and began its ascent up the mountainside. Y/N didn't wait for it to reach her, instead choosing to run across the empty field as fast she could.

But she could hear the hydra reach the top, felt it chase her as the ground thundered beneath her feet. She just about reached the very middle of the training round when she felt it tower over her again.

Y/N leapt high again, as it made to squish her beneath its talons, arcing backwards this time to land atop the right head of the hydra. With one hand she clutched a horn on the hydra's head, with the other she hastily pulled her sword out of its injured eye, fluid and green blood leaking from it more as she did. It howled in agony, thrashing its head from side to side and almost sending Y/N falling to the ground.

But she held her ground, plunging her sword into its other eye. As it writhed in pain, the central head lunged at her with an open mouth, to which Y/N reefed the sword out of the eye to slice its vulnerable tongue off. Just as the third struck out at her, Y/N leapt onto its head and plunged her sword into its head.

The piercing screech that she extracted from the beast almost sent Y/N deaf, but she leapt one more time off the hydra completely, landing far away to see the now blind, tongueless and brainless hydra heads flail about in agony. All that was left was to finish it off.

Y/N dropped her sword and raised her shield above her head, allowing her power and strength to build up and concentrate before slamming the shield down on the ground.

The sound of the impact was like thunder, booming throughout the area as if a bolt of lightning struck the ground. The ground cracked around the shield, then spiderwebbed its way towards the hydra. As it did, the ground fell away, sending the hydra hurtling down into the depths of the mountainside. It screeched and roared and hissed as it fell, but no matter how much it clawed for purchase, there were no walls nor ground to cling onto.

So it fell, and a resounding thud rattled the ground as it connected with the bottom.

Y/N waited for the dust and her heart to settle before she dared look over the edge. The hydra laid unmoving at the bottom of the pit, every inch of its body pierced by rocks and spikes. The three heads splayed out unmoving, and the sight of the lifeless eyes allowed Y/N to sigh with relief.

Hundreds of rushed footsteps alerted her to more company, but when she looked behind her she was glad to see her warriors, her sisters, and Dick running towards her, cheers now echoing across the training grounds.

Calliope rushed at her, legs surprisingly healed, and embraced her. 'You did it! You actually killed a hydra!'

'No, we killed a hydra,' Y/N corrected her as she pulled away. 'If it weren't for you guys setting up that pit, I'm not sure how else we would've defeated it.'

'Are you kidding?' Dick said, drawing her attention to him. He looked weary underneath his helmet, but his smile was radiant as always. And his eyes shone with an adoration that Y/N hadn't ever noticed before. 'You singlehandedly blinded, cut off its tongue, stabbed its brain, and sent it into the depths of Themyscira. You did that, Y/N. You won us this fight.'

As Calliope and everyone around them cheered and hugged in celebration, Dick and Y/N shared a look that spoke volumes of relief and joy and everything around them faded. Dick took a step closer and that one movement had Y/N remembering what she'd told him before the battle and her heart stirred up again.

He opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off as the ground suddenly shook so badly as if it were an earthquake. Y/N grabbed on to Dick to hold herself up as others fell over. When it settled, Y/N and Dick shared a confused look.

'What was that?' Dick asked, but the ground shook again, harder this time.

Y/N turned towards where the shakes were coming from and saw dark clouds forming over the ocean as a whirlpool seemed to form in its depths. A green light emanated from the whirlpool and slowly, rising from within it was Echidna, but also not. She didn't look human anymore, more like her monstrous children as scales replaced her skin and her hands were more like talons. With a great leap that shook the ground again and sent waves lashing at Themyscira's shores, she landed on the edge of town, decimating homes and shops as she did.

She stood taller than all the buildings in town, and with a great big swipe of her hand, Echidna knocked marble columns down and roofs off houses. But she didn't seem to care what she destroyed as she slowly made her way towards the palace.

Towards Y/N's grandmother.

'We haven't won the war yet,' Y/N said, turning to speak directly with Calliope. 'Take half of the crowd to look after those who have evacuated and hidden themselves in the northern caves. I'm going after Echidna.'

'I will not leave you, Princess,' Calliope tried arguing, but winced slightly as she took a step towards Y/N.

'You are in no condition to fight,' Y/N stated. 'I will take a handful of warriors, but if I am to not return from this fight, it is you I place my faith in to keep everyone alive.'

'But Princess-'

'Please Calliope, do as I say and go. Go!'

Calliope looked between Echidna and Y/N a few times, frustration and understanding warring on her face. Eventually she nodded, then turned to those near her and started spouting instructions.

'Andromeda! Celeste!'

Two women amongst the chaos emerged and stood before her, ready to take orders. 'Gather the remaining warriors and follow me. We're going after Echidna.' All they did was nod before leaving to rally those that remained.

'I'm going with you,' Dick said, coming to stand beside Y/N, determination hardening his beautiful features.

'I can't ask that of you, Dick,' she said facing him.

'Then don't.'

Dick raised his hand to gently cradle Y/N's neck and head, and in that one gesture she felt completely disarmed despite her holding a sword and shield.

'We started this journey together, we will finish it together, too.' he said, and Y/N knew what he meant.

He meant that from the very beginning he was by her side, when they first met at Bruce's mansion and she judo flipped him. That they had stayed by each other's side through the good and the bad, the horrific and the beautiful. And he would stay now. Regardless of if he reciprocated her love for him, their bond ran deeper and stronger than any complicated feelings could ruin.

Y/N had never felt more grateful, so she nodded her head, not daring to speak of her gratitude in case she cried.

Andromeda and Celeste came up beside Y/N and so Dick dropped his hand as she faced them the warriors that stood ready to fight behind them.

'We are ready when you are, Princess,' Andromeda said.

Y/N nodded, then looked out over all the women that watched her, looked up to her, awaiting her command. No doubt they knew death awaited most of them, perhaps all would not survive Echidna's wrath. But they would not be able to call themselves Amazons if they gave up without a fight.

Silently, Y/N raised her sword above her head and watched as slowly each and every warrior raised their weapon with her. Even Dick beside her raised his escrima sticks in solidarity.

'For Athena!' Y/N cried out.

'And for Themyscira!' the warriors cried in response.

And with that Y/N turned and began running for the palace, Dick and Andromeda and Celeste running beside her with hundreds of women warriors following behind in a stampede of steel and strength.

Y/N lead them through the decimated town, wandering through the devastation Echidna had left in her wake. It didn't take them long to reach Echidna, who stood just outside the enchanted palace gates.

'Echidna!' Y/N cried out as she threw her shield up at the giant goddess.

The weapon bounced off her effortlessly, but it did make her turn around, and it was then that Y/N was able to take in Echidna's new form.

Almost as tall as the palace, she looked down upon their small army with green snake eyes, a forked tongue flicking out here and there. A black tail with a talon on the end curled up behind her as if readying to strike. Now that she was closer, Y/N spotted fangs poking out of Echidna's mouth as she sneered in disdain and anger.

'Stand down!' Y/N continued. 'End this war now and we will spare you!'

'Spare me?' Echidna said, her voice sounding more snake-like than her original voice. 'Like you spared my children? I warned you I would make sure your kind never lived a day after I was through with you. Well... that day has come!'

Echidna held her hands out to the army and green liquid seemed to pool from her hands then flow like tar waterfalls to the ground. From the pools rose monsters from the initial battles, gnashing their teeth in absolute hunger. Without hesitation they charged at the Amazons, and the two sides collided in a mighty clash of steel and teeth.

Y/N palmed off a rat-like creature as it leapt at her face, then swung her sword at a striking serpentine monster, effectively slicing its head off and dissolving it to goo once more. However, it didn’t matter how many they killed off, the pools of tar were infinite and so the monsters kept coming.

Y/N spotted Echidna above punching at the enchanted gates in an attempt to open them. Her impact sent the invisible walls shuddering, and Y/N swore she heard glass fracturing with another punch. The world thundered as Echidna struck the gates one last time, and the protective dome that had kept the cornerstone of Themyscira safe for millennia finally shattered. With no enchantment left to face, Echidna kicked the gates down and wandered into the palace courtyard.

‘No!’ Y/N sliced at the surrounding monsters, trying to escape their onslaught but they seemed to understand her urgency and kept coming to stop her.

Out of nowhere, Dick leapt onto the back of an equine-like monster, bringing one escrima stick around its neck and pulling on either ends of it back towards him. He effectively severed the creature's head, leaping to the ground as it dissolved into goo. Andromeda and Celeste came swinging in too, knocking back the remaining monsters to clear the space around them.

’She’s broken through the gates. We must not let her reach the Queen,’ Y/N said, breath haggard and forehead dripping with sweat.

‘We won’t,’ Dick said, and the certainty in which he spoke made it sound more like a promise. He looked briefly around him. ‘Everyone else can deal with this. Lets go, we have a goddess to kill.’

Y/N nodded, then turned to Andromeda and Celeste who nodded their confirmation that they would follow. ‘Let’s go then,’ Y/N said, and she leapt just enough to gain some momentum before thundering back down to earth and slamming her shield into the ground. It was enough to knock over the oncoming wave of creatures, clearing a path through to the gates to the palace.

The four of them ran to the gates and was greeted by the sight of broken statues and walls, of destroyed gardens and, most horrifyingly, lifeless warriors who’d stayed to protect their queen. The blood that spilled from them only angered Y/N more, and so when she saw Echidna about break down the last doors before she reached the palace’s centre, she launched herself from where she stood with a battle cry on her lips and flew at Echidna with her sword raised.

Echidna turned just in time and batted Y/N away, slamming her into a nearby wall. Y/N grunted from the harsh impact, but quickly pushed herself off the wall and charged again.

‘Feeble demi-god,’ Echidna hissed, punching at Y/N this time and sending her high into the air. ‘You think you can defeat me?’

Though struck with pain, Y/N pointed her sword down at Echidna as she came flying down. As Echidna made to swipe at her, Y/N timed a hard slice to the goddess' palm, cutting from the base of her fingers to her wrist. The goddess hissed with disdain as YN landed on solid ground again. An arrow fired into Echidna’s cheek, earning an annoyed wince from the goddess. Y/N turned to see Celeste, a well-trained archer, had gotten herself into the best possible position atop a broken chunk of wall.

She notched an arrow quickly and sent it flying, this time landing near Echidna’s eye. She hissed again and made to lunged at Celeste when a spear pierced her upper arm. That drew a more pain-filled cry from Echidna as she clutched at the wound, smearing green blood over her hands. Y/N followed Echidna’s angry glare to find Andromeda almost opposite in height to Celeste on the opposing broke walls of the palace.

Y/N’s heart almost stopped beating as Dick leapt from pillars that rose high above Echidna - how he got there, Y/N didn’t want to know - and on to Echidna’s shoulder. ‘Hey Monster Lady!’ he cried into her ear, narrowly missing a talon as she clawed at her shoulder. Using his acrobatic skills, he swung from one shoulder to the other and managed to land a few blows on her vulnerable cheek. He looked so small, so ridiculous, Y/N would’ve smiled were they not in the situation they were. But a sense of pride filled her as she watched the three of them. It made her actually begin to believe they could do it. They could defeat Echidna.

‘Enough!’

Echidna’s tail whipped quicker than lightning, and before Y/N knew it Celeste was being impaled by the giant talon on its end. A broken cry had barely fallen from Y/N’s mouth before Echidna was grabbing hold of Andromeda and crushing her in her bare hands. Dick leapt from Echidna’s shoulders before she could grab him, he didn’t fall fast enough to avoid her whacking him into a nearby wall. The impact was so hard that large pieces of rubble fell off with him as gravity pulled them both down.

‘Dick!’ Y/N cried as he and the rubble hit the ground, dust spiralling everywhere so she couldn’t see anything. When the dust finally settled, she saw him lying down on his stomach, his bottom half pinned by heavy rubble.

He didn't move.

Furious tears spilled down Y/N’s cheek as she surveyed her fallen loved ones, as she looked back up at Echidna with an ire she hoped would burn the goddess to hell. Only able to see red, Y/N cried out in agony as she leapt at the goddess again, sword at the ready. With only Y/N to deal with, Echidna easily swiped Y/N into a nearby wall. Y/N clawed herself out of the hole she’d made and launched herself at Echidna again, managing to land a few blows on the goddess’ face before being punched into the air again. This time, Y/N cried out from the pain that rattled through her bones, from the muscles that were no doubt tearing and snapping.

‘I am Echidna. Mother of Monsters!’ Echidna bellowed, and as Y/N started her descent, the goddess landed the final blow as she punched Y/N into the ground.

Y/N could barely manage a scream as her body seemed to light on fire in agony. Get up. Get up! She mentally screamed at her body to move but her limbs did not respond. Even breathing was an effort as blood dripped from her mouth down her throat excruciatingly slowly. All she could do was look up at the broken roof above her, and Echidna as she leaned over her unmoving body.

‘You never stood a chance,’ Echidna hissed, although the words came in different volumes. No doubt Y/N’s hearing was busted, but she still understood the monster above her, the taunts she presented. ‘The Amazons will die today. As soon as I kill your precious queen, the gods will know to fear my name. Say hello to your dear grand-uncle Hades for me, now.’

Y/N waited for the final blow to come, to see darkness and welcome it. But she was dealt an even worser fate. Echidna left, her steps vibrating through the ground, but they became softer and softer the further away she became. Get up. Get up! Y/N couldn’t let Echidna win, not when they had so much to save, so many lives on the line.

But Y/N could feel her injuries catching up to her, felt the blood pooling in her lungs faster, felt all the broken bones and torn muscles. Echidna had broken her, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Athena… Mother, please… She was sure no one heard her prayers, not even the almighty Zeus would waste time on a measly person such as herself. Someone who had failed her people and therefore condemned them either to death or a life worse than death under the rule of Echidna.

But she did selfishly wish for one final thing. Echidna had punched her so much that Y/N laid in a crater of rubble. She couldn’t see Dick, couldn't check if he was okay. She highly doubted it after seeing Celeste and Andromeda be killed. Echidna had no mercy it seemed, and for that Y/N mustered up one last tear to fall down her face as she prayed by some hope that Dick would live.

As it did, her eyes closed, her chest stopped rising, and her body stopped feeling.

~~~

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