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castrian-amore · 8 months ago

Text

Stellata Notte(C’è finalmente libertà)

Death Defying(Danny Fenton x Dick Greyson), DC X DP, Space AU, Unfinished, Chronic Illness, Please see ao3 for full list of tags

Gift fic for @nikki-pondtheauthor

2/? Chapters | Chapter Length: 10,162 words

Chapter 2: When the Welcomes of Star Systems Sing

Dick Grayson was born at approximately 20 Darths and 4 Tiths on the 3rd rotation of the calendar year on the planet of Isman. The planet where his family’s business had taken them for the moment with the intergalactic Haley’s circus. It had been a normal day for them. Land the ship and begin to set up outside of the city capital. Of course his mother had gone into labor and even though she hadn’t been performing that night any hope of the Flying Grayson’s performing at all for the next little bit would have been ruined in general.

The circus was originated by the Humans of the planet of Earth centuries ago but there was little care in the world now where it originated. Now it had shown the detailed and impressive physiological feats of many races from across the galaxy and the various star systems throughout. They were a wonderful mix of new and old and ancient. Forgotten performances of praise to gods no one knew the names of. Dangerous acts of high intensity swinging, and of course that had been how Dick Grayson had grown up.

He was used to the strangeness of the universe and known life having lived and grown up alongside them, many questioning whether or not it was fit to have such a fragile little thing to travel with them. Many watched as the Grasyons taught Dick the very basics of the trapeze. They taught him how to fall. How to catch himself and how to react at a moment's notice. His parents had taught him the ins and outs of the performances and so when it was time for him to perform he would do so flawlessly, and thus two became 3. Of course Dick had loved it growing up around such wonderful and kind people.

He learned various languages and methods of communication from across the galaxy. He learned of the stone people and their precious stones they used to convey emotions because they could only make one face and one tone with their voice. Stone used to clearly display their mood.

He met the kryptonians who looked so similar to himself and yet vastly different in a way that he enjoyed. He met a few Amazons, one of the only species to be able to facilitate one species with all of their residing members having both male and female sex organs they could choose whether they wanted to carry or to impregnate someone themselves. It was interesting and as Dick grew and learned he found himself staring at the miracles that beheld him in space traveling with the circus. He got to watch miracles of life and the misfortunes of death from several of their residing species. What he hadn’t expected was for him own parents to leave him too soon as their show went on and the accident happened upon the planet of Krypton.

No one had expected them to die or for their technology to malfunction around them. No one had expected any of it, and yet here they were. Dick had watched his parents die and thus he was left with no family around him. Humans spread too far and thin across the galaxies with no true planet to call their home, they were known as a wandering race anyways.

Dick thought he might have to find new partners to continue to afford to live and eat aboard the ship not knowing where he would turn too scared and confused about what he had witnessed convinced someone had targeted his parents for something, that had to be it right? It couldn’t have been in an accident? They had done this same routine a hundred times and it seemed no different to them that they couldn’t do anything about the accident.

But it had been just that, an accident.

So Dick sat on a bench inside of the ship staring out the window at the landscape of krypton underneath the red run. What could he do after all? What was he going to do? He had only been brought from his reality now once more at the door opening to his room. Haley stood there rubbing the back of his neck.

“There’s someone who wants to meet you Dick..”He spoke softly and gave the man a small smile. Dick had glanced back to see another human in a business suit. He gave a gentle sad smile and walked over.

“May I sit here?”He motioned at the free spot in the window sill. The two sat in silence for another moment and Dick wasn’t about to be the one to break it before the man spoke again.

“My name is Bruce Wayne and my home resides here on Krypton… I am sorry to hear about your parents' young Grayson,”He spoke genuinely and as Dick stared up at him he saw a matching expression. The man held sorrow in his eyes and a soft smile filled with regret.

“Thanks…”Dick whispers out, pushing down his feelings and staring back out the window.

“How are you holding up?” Dick gave a shrug at that one. How was he holding up? How was he holding up against the crushing weight of the worlds resting upon him now. Everyone asked if he was okay. Everyone apologizing to him for his loss. Everyone repeating the same lines over and over again and some slightly different than others but at the end of the day he saw it all for what it was, a facade of caring.

No one offered to take him on as a foster. No one offered him a job to hold onto in the meantime so he had a way to feed himself. No one offered him anything but their sympathies and false promise of hope and dreams that they would never fulfill. Of course they did. Why would they help the now poor orphaned Flying Grayson who was the only one lucky enough to not fall to their deaths.

Then there was this guy, and Dick was so sure he was going to offer him nothing but sympathies and apologies and wishes of things he didn’t even want. Dick didn’t know who this man was or why he had been there talking with him in the first place but that didn’t mean anything to dick did it? This man meant nothing and would mean nothing to him because why should he? He had to be like everyone else right?

“Holding on,”Dick curtly replied, pulling his knees to his chest and gazing fixed out the window in a quiet daze as the thoughts ran rampant through his mind.

“Your parents gave an amazing performance, You did too,”he offered and in a way it was more blunt and stating fact than him trying to actually calm down Dick. It was a quiet comment that he had done his performance well as if that was all there had been to it. Another performance. Another compliment and job well done. What did this man want?

“And? The systems still failed, they died.”Dick ripped the tears wanting to form in his eyes for a moment trying to hold it together and then he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder as he looked up at him.

“But you’re still alive and kicking aren’t you,”he offered that same longing smile. A smile and eyes that hid the fear behind them and the quiet intonations that he knew what Dick was going through.

“I guess..”He curtly replied.

“Do you have anything you want to do when you get older?” Bruce gave him a gentle smile. “I wanted to be a pod racer. You know the ones they do on that desert planet just a few darths away from the Kraison system? Have you heard of it? There’s an entire league and they even stream it. It’s still pretty cool if I do say so myself.”

“I haven’t heard of it?” Dick replied softly as the other pulled away. ‘I don’t think I do.. I just wanted to perform with my parents.” Dick looks out the window then down to his hands. “I can’t do that anymore.”

“I think you can use that though, can’t you? Do you like the stars? You like traveling?”Bruce smiles.

“Yeah?”

“Then let’s live one day at a time until you figure out what you want to do. How you want to move on. Moving on from anything is a big task after all isn’t it? Mourning is an even bigger one that is going to take time. Maybe spending some time out in the stars and planet will help, but maybe with a new group of friends.”

“What are you saying?” Dick slowly looked over at the man. His hair black and slicked back in his formal suit and eyes glistening with a plan as he glanced over at Dick gently giving him a smile.

“If you’ll have me. I think I'd like to see if you’ll allow me to take you in as your foster parent. No need to call me dad. No need to feel pressured into my lifestyle. You just will have the freedom to do what you want alongside me for a while and go to school, and study, and maybe figure out a new life one step at a time.” Bruce gave him a smile and stood up offering his hand out to Dick.

A young Dick Gray son new to the world and scared at the news of his parents death and finally looking at the single person he felt as if wouldn’t betray him in the eyes. The man with an old soul and plenty of money as well as the unshaking urge to continue pushing forwards no matter how hopeless things seemed to get.

Dick had learned many things from him. Now where to begin…

9 YEARS AGO

“We are gathered here today to celebrate our graduates of the Federation Academy. All of these students are hard working, responsible members of the federation. We would like to take this time to announce our top graduates in their fields of study and their new ship assignments,”The President beamed. The Federation Academy. The high school was only for the best of the best and the only school allowed to take students from any walk of life and allow them to immediately enroll within the Federation ships.

The classes allow for those who aim for certain fields to focus on them and join within the ranks of the ships where they can build their careers and press on.

“May I present for the top of the Medical Field Classes Jazz Fenton.” The fiery red head walked on the stage giving a bright smile as she waved and took the certificate allowing the media to take a good look and their cannon shots of her. She was charismatic and good at what she did. Able to not only fix you up in a heartbeat physically but mentally. It also made her a dangerous opponent to fight though. Dick couldn’t count the times she used knowledge she learned from who knows where to take down opponents twice her size with secret techniques and things about their physiology No one would normally know. He knew she had a brother she barely got to see and other than that they briefly had interacted. She stepped off the stage exiting to the right of it to sit down in the designated spots.

“M’gann M’orzz head of our Interspecies Relations!”

She gave a polite nod to the class and gave a big wave to everyone. She was always so friendly so the fact she landed top of her class there was no surprise to him. Dick got along well with her and helped her adjust. He had briefly met her uncle J’onn on one occasion alongside Bruce. He was very straight forward but caring in comparison to M’gann who liked to do her own thing and was very animated. He hasn’t been to Mars in a long while. M’gann always said she would show him around if he ever decided to visit.

“Koriand’r of Tamaran top of her class in Civil and Interplanetary Defense!”

Dick had always had a thing quietly for Kori. He had tried to make moves but turns out she wasn’t interested in him back and in turn they still remained close friends as Dick had been the one to first befriend her and help her learn the way of life on Krypton. It had been a tricky situation for all of them.

“Dar’ith Kal’halium,” the man took a breath with a smile as the Greviaan walked on stage with his 4 tentacle like legs.” Head of the class in Engineering and ship design!” An award that would later find itself in Tim’s hands and it would be Dick in the crowd happily clapping at the man with a smile. Dar’ith was a kind soul and he found himself often in trouble a lot more than one would think. He would get to involved with work he forgot to not only take care of himself but he commonly got so distracted he would almost always accidentally drop something or almost hurt someone because of it. Dick would laugh and help him before they moved on.

“And lastly, the top of this years class not only as a whole but also top of the class in Interplanetary piloting in small grade, multi-warp, and long haul capable vessels, Dick Grayson,”the Kryptonian introduced him as he saw his family in the crowd cheering for him loudly. Still a few years before the accident that would end up Driving Jason away from the federation. Dick walked the stage taking the certificate, giving his charming smile across his face and giving a small nod of thanks to the headmaster as they stepped off to the side.

“Everyone give a round of applause for the tops of the classes!” The crowd cheered loudly and Dick looked over at all his friends standing beside him. He couldn’t ask for better people. “We welcome these young souls into the Interplanetary Defense Federation with open arms if they so choose. We have already reviewed words from 4 of them who would like to enlist so now I will read out their ship assignments.”

The crowd began to quiet down and now this was what Dick was nervous about. Ship assignments. His focus was to be a captain of a ship but there was no way he would be given a ship at just 18. Which meant he would be assigned to a ships defense pilot squadron. He knew which one he wanted. The I.D.F.S Unrelenting. The newest ship in the fleet fitted with a long haul multi-warp engine and it’s own 10 small grade defense patrol if needed. It was built for the soul purpose of exploring deep space. Though he didn’t think he’d mind the I.D.F.S Trinity either. Both were newer and the most technologically advanced ships but the catch 22 but even being 18 most humans weren’t allowed for long haul flights and there were rumors of the I.D.F.S Unrelenting to be released on a long deep space mission. It was the largest ship in the fleet after all and it seemed best to go and explore with all of it’s abilities.

“Jazz Fenton will be stationed on the I.D.F.S Trinity! Koriand’r of Tamaran will be on the I.D.F.S Starfire! Dar’ith Kal’halium on the I.D.F.S Krisme the space station orbiting here around Krypton. Dick Grayson will be stationed on the I.D.F.S Bludhaven.”

Dick’s heart fell… the Bludhaven? He was top of his class! He excelled in everything and yet Jazz Fenton beat him out for the Trinity! The BludHaven was an older single-warp long haul ship with a small 4 ship defense grouping. Still, the crowd cheered and Dick fought the disappointment in his eyes and his heart about where he was stationed. The BludHaven was a patrol ship around the outer galaxies centered on the dying planets and maintaining a close bond with the edge of the universe with the rest of the galaxy. It was far away from most people and commonly required a smaller multi-warp capable ship to get to it despite the fact that it, itself was not a multi-warp ship.

Of course he didn’t get it. Of course he never truly would.

5 YEARS AGO

“Dick.” A broke voice called out to him through heavy breaths of smoke.``Dick get up!” There were flames everywhere and Dick was fighting the smoke inhalation as he choked on his own words trying to form any semblance of a sentence to get his thoughts together. He could feel the blood trickling down his face and almost getting into his eyes as he sat up looking around him painfully aware of his throbbing skull and knowing there must be a concussion there. Dirk was already pulling him to his feet with a panicked look across his smooth features Tentacle tightly wrapped around his wrist.

“What’s happened?”

“Someone’s attacking the ship! We’ve got to go! All the other defense pilots were taken out and the captains called for a full evacuation!” Dirk pulled him along the stubling man being dragged behind in his uniform. Both of them trying to blend in with the crowd his mind was trying to work and he pulled himself from Dirk’s grip.

“No-- I have to get to my ship,”he shook his head. “Someone’s gotta help defend the escaping pods none of them are equipped with weapons.”

“This ship is a patrol ship! It’s stationed amongst mining colonies, it’s not meant for things like this!” Dirk tried again to pull him.

“So what?!” Dick flinched as the ship rocked and both of them were roughly thrown into the wall another call for the evatuation filling his ears as he coughs some more his lungs still burning. “So what? Dirk what happened to the other ships? Their pilots? My squadron?”

When Dick had been stationed out here he struggled with finding a place because they had brought him out to replace the old squadron leader. They apparently didn’t seem worth it to promote from within and it had taken him a year and a half before his squad finally started to respect him. He had been the youngest squadron’s leader in the history of the Federation. It had been why they had sent him out there, to try and keep the place from falling apart even as he learned of his groups and the ships nefarious duties. He kept quiet about. Desperately trying to underhandedly sabotage the illegal shipments they let through. Take proof of the bribes and mysteriously send it to command. The ship knew there was someone causeing issues aboard and ruining their entire legal operations but Dick maintained a facade he knew Bruce helf onto far too well.

Bruce always did far more than he let on, having shown Dick his personal space station he had nick named the “BatCave”. Based on old art he had found in the old Earth Archives of an animal that had existed too long ago. Bruce apparently had been apart of a secret society trying to weed out the bad guys within the Federation and across several planets landed himself the name of “Batman”, Specifically on the planet of Gotham. Dick had done it with him for a short while but balancing that and the Academy had not been easy.

Now though, here on the BludHaven? Dick had ended up doing as his father had. They had given him the nickname of “Night” Because he appeared during the sleeping hours of the ship. Dick didn’t quite understand it but he took the name and ran with it. Keeping his little side hobby of ruining the ships underhanded and nefarious purposes were difficult, and he despised most of the people on the ship.

“Dick,”Dirk was pulling him from his thoughts. He shoved a set of bracelets in his hands looking away before walking off. The identification tags. He stared at them. These were his squadrons tags. He was the only one left. That meant there was only one more person able to protect the people. The bridge, he had to get to the bridge. He pushed past the people running towards teh escape pods. He went agains the currents fighting way to get to the bridge. Melinda. She had helped him and if she was ordering a ship wide evacuation he had to know.

“Mel!”He screamed as he pushed his way through the crowd as the doors to the bridge opened. Mel was in rough shape. She had several gashes from expected explosions throughout the ship and she was barely holding on to the captain’s chair as she looked back at him.

“Dick,”she smiled weakly. “I thought I sent Dirk to get you out of here?” Her slightly blue tinted skin gleamed in the light. She had come from a water based planet and had gills normally covers in a thin film to protect them as well as webbed fingers and mere holes for ears with electronic adapters connected through her skull to process sound without overwhelming her.

“You know I don’t listen,”He laughs before he watches her stand and then immediately collapse as he rushes over to catch her. “What’s going on Mel, talk to me?” He urges her.

“It’s a pirate fleet. They caught on that the ship was causing problems and interfering in their trade practices of Sprint. No longer aiding in it.”She coughs weakly and Dick’s eyes widened seeing her cough up the green blood of her species. He looked her over eyes widening finding the

“So they’re taking care of the issue,”He finishes quietly looking out the main bridge window, seeing the several ships. He pauses as he is yanked down to her level.

“Dick,”she starts obviously struggling to breathe. She grabbed his wrist tag and pressed the small button on the side not letting him react. “I name you Captain of the I.D.F.S BludHaven under emergency order code 67901.” She let go of his wrist as the tag flashed red then green.

“Mel, what are you--”

“Shut up and listen to me,”She breathed out collapsing more into his arms. “You are one of the kindest and more caring people I’ve ever met. You care for everyone no matter what and you have a heart a gold and you are one of the best leader’s I’ve seen in the field even when you know that your underlings hate you.”

“Mel, stop. You’re talking like you’re going die!” Dick pulled her close trying to stop her bleeding trying to fight the tears welling in his eyes.

“I am. Stop this.”She uses the last of her energy to push him away. “Go get your fighter ship. Protect your people. They’re your responsibility now. I’m going to drive this ship into these bastards and let this ship go down with glory, in flames.”

Dick paused, wiping his eyes before she weakly slammed her hands on the captain’s chair forcing herself back up as she gave him a final smile. Dick gives a firm nod and a final salute. He hadn’t planned on being captain at only 22 years old. It would not be overlooked as he tried to ignore the pain still edging behind his eyes.

He took a deep breath and turned on his heels and ran towards the ship's bay.

“Kai!”He called out as the AI of the Kryptonian inventor appeared.

“Yes Dick?”It greeted.

“Prepare bay doors for emergency fighter ejection, Is the NightWing ready?”

“She is always ready in case of an attack. Though, the captain put the entire ship on emergency evacuation so I must insist you return to the evacuations Shuttle pods.” Dick held up his wrist.

“No, I’m piloting the NightWing. This ship is set to blow. I’m protecting those transports from the attacks. Give ‘er all the firepower you can.”

The small blue light and scan passed over his wrist as the AI nodded. “Very well then Captain Grayson. I will move her over as you change.”

Dick was already stripping from the standard uniform and into the pilot's gear as quickly as possible. “What percentage of the ship has gotten to the escape pods?”

“Approximately 89%. It will take another 5 minutes to finalize the rest of the ship minus those who have already been recorded as dead.” Kai appeared in front of him, handed over the head piece for the suit and he slipped it on behind his ears.

“Can you connect me to the bridge?”

“Of course Captain,”Kai nodded as he watched it patch him through.

“Mel, I know you can hear me. You have to wait 5 more minutes for the final ships to get out of here. Give them everything we got. I'm about to head out myself okay? Hold on for just a little longer.”

“Oh trust me Dick, I’m holding on with whatever life I have left.” Dick laughed softly trying to ignore how weak she sounded but she was a stubborn one wasn’t she?

Dick climbed into the NightWing as the tops shut and he gave a heavy sigh flipping the controls before he sighs. “Broadcast to the shuttles and this ship.”

“Of course,”A pause from Kai. “Connected, now broadcasting.”

“This is Captain Dick Grasyson of I.D.S.F BludHaven enacted to my position from emergency protocol 67901. Get on those transports as fast as possible and get out of here and jump. Until all ships have warped out of here I will be acting as cover as the last of my Squadron’s Protection Unit. I know this is scary. We will make it through this, and listen to me. I will not let anything happen to the remaining shuttles as best as I can. We will get through this. This is the Nightwing. Comms out.” The communication shut off as he felt the purr of her engine start and watched her come to life in front of him.

He shot out of the bay and it had been a long time since he’d had to do active fighter maneuvers but it proved just how good he was at it, not even the slightest bit rusty.

Still, as the last shuttle still standing left the local space and all enemy fire was on him he stared at the BludHaven, watching her dive headfirst into the main Pirate ship. He watched her explode. Eyes closing as he took a final deep breath.

“Kai, how’s the warp corp?”

“Holding and steady.” His ship rocked as the blast of the Bludhaven finally reached out. “Wait! Losing power! If you need to jump, do it now.”

“On it,” Dick flipped the switch trying to ignore the damage reports now filling his vision as he took another ship and his head moved and hit the glass. Another shock sent down his spine. Fuck, no not yet. “Enable warp.”

Dick barely pushes the button before he blacks out, praying he wouldn’t crash.

ONE DAY AGO

“Dick, this isn’t looking good!”Tim’s voice was frantic from down inside the engine bay. The man had to have been running back and forth with his tools like a madman. “How are they getting so many hits? Why aren’t our shields operating at full capacity.”

“You’re telling me!”Dick hissed out gripping the sides of the pilots chair firmly as he wove them in and out of the way to the best of his abilities trying to avoid what he could from the debris field coming their way. The rings of a planet long since lost to a comet or asteroid having run it through and yet somehow the rings still maintained their shape, probably would end up drifting eventually and cause even more problems but this wasn’t his system and it wasn’t his problem. His problem right now, was the fucking pirates hot on their trail.

They could keep up which was a concern in itself on so many levels. He didn’t know how to take it so that someone could keep up.

“We need to jump,”Jason commented sliding over to push more buttons so Dick could focus on steering the ship in front of him, he just wished they could have left her on autopilot mode and went on with the even with little to no worry but yet here they were being attacked by something, or well someone. A group of people more than likely with their own impressively fast ship.

“You’re telling me! We need to lose them before we can jump!”

“We’re only going to have one jump!”Tim’s voice exclaimed. “I only think we can make it one more jump before we lose warp capabilities!”

“We need to lose them then,”Dick mumbles under his breath. “I need to try out our stealth mode, that's the only way. They only found us because we took them off. We need to turn them back on.”

“You want to jump while in stealth mode! We haven’t even tested that!”Tim’s voice cut off at the end of the radio as Dick heard a squeal and probably the sound of Dick falling.

“Do we have another choice!”Jason pressed. “I’d like to live long enough to go on a date. I promise my girlfriend once she got back from her mission by the way!”

“You’re saying that as if I didn’t cancel a dinner with Bernard for this!”

“Will both of you shut up!”Dick hissed out at his siblings who went quiet at Dick’s stress. He always held his cool. He took a deep breath and gave a sigh. “I’m sorry. Tim, buckle up. You too Jason. We’re initiating stealth mode.”

“On it!” Tims voice echoed and cut off and soon enough the doors to the cockpit opened with a small hiss and in ran Tim who almost practically fell into one of the chairs as he buckled up.

“Initiating spy initiative,”Dick calls out as Jason flips a few switches. “Now.''He and Jason press the designated buttons as they move and feel the ship shutter for a moment and immediately Dick moves to initiate the Warp drive procedure. “Opening coolant vents.”

“Initiating warp corp,”Jason replies.

“Coordinates?”

“The Earth System. We should be able to make it to mars and get a full run down on the ship there,”Tim quotes. “No other system is close enough for us to be able to safely make.”

“Delightful,”Jason grumbles as Dick gives them a smile.

“Come on Jay! You said you wanted an adventure!”

“That was you Dick,”Jason rolls his eyes and Dick smirks.

“Huh, that it was, wasn’t it?” A smile crosses Jason’s face.

“Shut up Dick. Press the goddamn button before we get shot down.”

“Alright alright!”Dick laughs and looks at the joystick in his hand as he presses the button and the three of them are welcomed with the familiar feeling of the FTL drive activating and they soared through the galaxy on their way to their intended location. Mars.

However, they fell out of hyperspace too soon. The entire ship jostled and sparks flew through the cockpit as Tim hopped up without a word and bolted down to the engine bay.

“We have a problem. I don’t care what planet it is but you need to land this ship now!”

“What do you mean Tim?”

“We’re about to lose most of her power capabilities.”

“Nearest planet is that desert planet. I’m still on stealth so asking Barbara isn’t a question,”Dick hisses out as he switches their flying back to 100% manual. Out of all of them DIck was the pilot of the family. Jason the Brawn and Tim was the brains of their little trio, and when they had Damian, well he was a little bit like all of them in his own unique way. Not that Dick let him fly the ship after all.

The two of them buckled and Dick praying Tim would at least be holding on down there he prepped her for landing the ship as they entered the atmosphere picking up the readings of the city below. A small port with seemingly one of two bigger buildings and a shipyard and boy was she shaking and it was taking everything with in Dick to not want to fight her so much as she landed with a small his and no sooner did he put the breaks on her for full final landing initiative did she shut off completely the emergency backup lights overhead picking up and the stars blinking above them.

This was not how this mission was supposed to go. Jason and Dick bolted for the engine bay where Tim was coughing having seemingly just put out a fire.

“So uh.. We may have a few things to repair,”He gave a sheepish smile and Dick groaned quietly, turning on the balls of his feet to head up to the cockpit. Of course they did. Of course he was going to be off planet for a bit.

At least he met a handsome stranger who kept up with his bad jokes.

At least the man had listened to their concerns and took them seriously and more importantly hadn’t ratted them out.

At least he was breathing.

At least he was alive… for now.

At least they had made it to the next star system in one piece.

At least they were Wayne's.

CURRENT

“LOOK AT ME!”Jason shoved Dick into the wall, hands grasped on his shirt. “Leave the kid to me! I know you’re fawning over him. I know that look in your eye where you want to wage war, but who here has fucking first aid training.”

“You.”

“Who here is the only one of us qualified to drive a multi-warp long haul vessel?”

“Me.”

“Exactly,”Jason shoves him towards the bridge as Dick fights the memories of the fires and Mel bleeding out in front of him and watching the shuttle transports explode around him as he tries his best to defend them. Right… Dick took a deep breath. This would be for naught if Danny dies. He had just gotten to the stars; he couldn't die yet. Dick stares at his hands and the blood of the sick friend dying as he watches Jason pick his lip body up to move him.

Warp. Yes, they had one job. He had one job. Jump them to the next system. Dick wiped the blood off his hands with a handkerchief as he walked to the main bridge moving to sit down as he heard the doors open and close behind him not long after. Of course Tim was coming along to the Bridge with him. He takes a deep breath as he stares at the systems in front of him moving to adjust what he needed to as he entered the coordinates for the next major system over, the only one they’d be able to make a warp too and fast. He turned off the spy systems now that they were closer to mars.

“I saw that look,”Tim begins.

“Not now Tim… we’ll talk about it later.”

“You always want to talk about stuff later when it comes to yourself, Dick. Why not now?”

“Because Danny is dying!” Dick spins around to look at him. “You and I both know we don’t have the medical equipment on board to take care of him Tim!”

“Jason is a talented Field medic! He can make someone live with a fucking single roll of gauze and some bullshit medical supplies! If he’s going to survive anything it’s going to be because of Jason!”

“That’s not the point! He’s not a miracle worker! He’s not a fucking medic, a science officer! He was supposed to go to the Federation focusing on Interplanetary Defense, not the medical field!” Dick rubbed his face. “I’m jumping this conversation is finished.”

“No it’s not,”Tim rolled his eyes and turned in his chair clicking the button to allow for security as Dick did the same opening a coms to the room Dick knew Jason would be in.

“Get strapped in this is about to be a bumpy ride to the Greshin Moons.”

“Why there?!?!”Jason called back.

“Closest place with human capable doctors and engineers that can work on this beast,”Tim replied before Dick had time too. “Besides, isn’t that where your girlfriend is stationed?” A smirk could be heard in his voice.

“Jumpin in 5, 4,3--”

“Damn he is in a Pissy mood,”Jason replied. “But yes she’s on one of them, but I’m also supposed to be on Krypton so how about we don’t--”

“1,”Dick finishes as the pull of the warp corp surrounds them as the ship shakes as he hears Tim hissing over the stats on the engine in front of him before they land and the entire energy of the ship flickers and a small explosion is heard from the engine bay.

“FUCK”He heard Tim exclaim before standing up and rushing to assess the damage as Dick ignores it and hails the tower of the port on the first moon of Greshin. Dick was partly thankful the names of the moons were literally just 1, 2,3,and 4. Greshin was a Gas Giant afterall and yet somehow had an entire city built within the highly toxic gasses of the city. The top of the spire just barely visible through the clouds of smoke. He ignored it, heading straight for the main port.

“Central command on Grenshin Moon 1, this is Dick Grayson of Wayne Enterprises on the “Sleeping Bat” entertaining act 4 section 5 of the Federation support code. We would like to request emergency medical aid to meet us upon arrival for a critical human male.”

“Heard that Grayson. Your request is confirmed. Land in sector 7-93.”

“Copy.” Dick didn’t mind the Greshin moons that much. They were filled with a nice group of more beastial races but he didn’t care too much because they had good engineers and were loyal to the Federation most importantly which meant there would be minimal questions as they didn’t like to avoid themselves within the conflict of the federation and the surrounding planets. The only reason why Jason had an issue with the planets was because during his little separation from the family for a little bit he smuggled a lot through the Greshin moons and so most of the authorities on the planets like to give him problems. He wasn’t quite sure what the man did exactly but he would manage he presumed.He had too because Danny seemingly had no other choice did he?

Dick did as he was told though and landed the ship meeting Jason by the doors of the bed bay. As the doors opened they were greeted with the familiarity of the Greshin people. Their dark fur in a wide array of colors overed the body and they had a gurney by them as Jason rushed Danny over to it, setting him down on top and immediately moving to follow. Dick was about to follow until Tim grabbed his arm and shook his head.

“Wait, we need to move. Let’s get our ship fixed. It’s going to take them a second to stabilize Danny anyways let alone think about when he will awake. Jason can stay with him for now and Jason has his tag on so we’ll be fine.” Tim looks at him calmly. “Come on Dick, I don’t think I’ve seen you this mellow in a while.”

“Oh be quiet,”Dick sighs softly, giving a small slightly forced smile as he followed the others knowing exactly where they were headed. “You just want me because Hai’ta’l likes me better than you.” Dick elbowed Tim in the side and Tim responded with a push.

“She does not!”

“Does too! We always get a discount from her! Also your translator working properly?” Dick teases softly as he moves to switch his on. Hai’ta’l didn’t speak English; her particular specifies of insectoid origins didn’t have the capabilities to make the noises that could produce the language. Instead Hai’ta’l spoke through a series of clicks and hisses with her mandibles and even if the name they had given her didn’t completely fit it was the closest translation of what it meant or even the sounds equal to in the english language.

‘Yeah I upgraded it a little too so it’s not so like-”He stopped for a moment trying to think about how to phrase his next sentence as they walked across the jungle-like planet watching one of the Greshin swing onto the next platform above them. “Laggy? I guess?”

The planets of Greshin were beautiful and lush humid planets with lots of oxygen but low enough levels that Humans could still thrive just fine. The planet was filled with large trees and shrubbery with most of the cities being built off of cliff sides of amongst the trees themselves. The carnivorous plants and Jas’i’as lives below them so living amongst the trees was the safest way to traverse the planets. All of them sharing in the similar jungle like environment. The beastial Greshin people who lived there came in a variety of colors of fur and similar yet different features. Most of them had teeth to fit that of a human as they were omnivores and skilled specifically in medicine. Their planets held some of the rarest plants and 20 incredibly different trees with healing and separate factors to assist in healings.

This had been the best place for Danny.

A lot of the people of Grenshin used their claws to climb up and down the trees as well as swing to various platforms amongst the trees, however as they had delved into space exploration and began to travel amongst the stars they had made their lands far more accessible to travelers as well as several different species moving to live amongst the trees as the Greshin did. He knew on the 3rd Moon they were having a Federation sponsored event on the medicinality of the herbs of the Greshin moons and how they could be used and incorporated into the Federation Medical campaign and treatment over all, and it would also talk about how to maintain and keep the plants alive on various ships and even them having talks of the Federation taking spores and roots back to Krypton for the International Greenhouse. Dick only knew of that because Jason always shared what Jazz was doing, always in a constant state of bragging and being proud of her and rightfully so. They cared a lot about each other.

Dick had been discharged after the BludHaven incident at his request. He wanted a break from the Federation but as far as he knew his friends were still involved and wanted him to come back but Dick hadn’t been with the federation for almost 4 years and he didn’t know how to feel, He liked working with his family, and the federation had given him an upgraded version of the Nightwing and now it sat in the garage of the Bat Cave collecting dust. In this day and age most ships didn’t need a large protection squadron and that left the ships like the Nightwing obsolete used for war and quick in and out bombings and raids and things and that wasn’t something he wanted to involve himself in given the current chaos of the war he foresaw coming.

He didn’t want to kill people because his commanders deemed a life less than. He didn’t want to hurt people. He took a deep breath. They showed up to the large warehouse built on the sturdy platform near the shipyard that Hai’ta’l used as her place of operations. Her beloved warehouse where she worked on her ships.

“Well, I did not think I would see you two for a while,” Her form appeared in the doorway her mandibles clicking as her head cocked to the side on her double jointed legs.

“You know us, we have a tendency to break things!” Dick smirked.

“You do have an uncanny tendency to break things,”Tim agreed.

“You’re not innocent yourself tiny Microwave.”She smirked looking at Tim who admittedly was about 3 inches shorter than Dick and about

“It was one time!”Tim exclaimed and she laughed softly at him, motioning them inside.

“What happened this time?” She asked moving to her desk as they moved to sit down and Tim pulled out his blueprints and set them down and laid them out in front of her.

“I can show you this, but you’re going to need to see this yourself in person to see what the damage is,”Tim replies shyly as she looks over the blueprints in front of her.

“Were you commissioned by the federation for this?”

“Yeah,”Tim rubbed the back of his neck for the moment looking away as she poured over the blueprints.

“I can tell from how technologically advanced it is, shit Tim. I know you’re one of the head designers for Wayne enterprises and all but what the fuck? This is insane? You want me to work on this?” Dick gives a nod.

“Not super concerned, we have an injured person with us . We need to get home soon but he needs to heal as well so us spending some extra time here isn’t too much of a concern.” Dick explains.

“Tim, you’re going to have to work on this with me.”

“Oh yeah, that’s kind of not the worst part?” He looks away. “We jumped and definitely broke like a lot more stuff? Uh, we had it patched in the Earth system but like it was just barely patched?” Hai looked at them and gave what amounted to a sigh.

“Yeah you’re helping me with this. Are you guys doing your usual payment methods?”

“We can double it if you fast track it too,”Dick commented. “Tim, if you want to stay here I can go get the ship while you go over the specifics of what needs to be fixed. “ Tim gave a nod as Dick stood up exiting the building as he started back towards their ship and moving it over as Hai opened the bay doors so they could get the ship in. Dick stayed around to watch Hai’s reaction to the damage trying to stop himself from Cackling as he heard the horrendous screech coming from Hai as she saw what she was working this.

“How did you even warp?!?!”

“He was a very good mechanic?”

“Very good mechanic?!? I need to meet this fucker! He did this out of scraps. Imagine what he could do if he worked on an actual ship and with actual parts instead of just---”

His communicator pinged.

“What’s up?” Dick asked as he walked out of the hangar into the outside.

“It’s about Danny..”Jason began. “I don’t even know how to explain this, but you need to see this.”

“What?”Dick frowns, a small panic filling his chest as he begins towards the large white buildings built around the tallest tree with windows lining the sides of it. The hospital. Plants grew up the sides of the building. Dick was hurrying towards it. “What happened?”

“Dick.. he’s fine mostly but this is just-- we need to get him to Krypton. This changes everything Dick..”

Panic filled his lungs and he began to bolt for the hospital adrenaline filling his system as he pushed for the building and almost burst through the doors as the nurse seemingly was there expecting him as she held her hands up.

“Take a deep breath, come follow me.” He does as she says, catching his breath for just a moment before he moves to follow her into the scan room.

Jason was staring at his full body scans in front of them. The holograph projecting everything in front of him.

“Dick,”Jason greets before the nurse shuts the door and Jason gives a nod and the door is locked and then the doctor walks in through the other one locking it behind him.

“What’s going on…” Dick was on edge hand going for his phaser on his waist Jason shook his head stopping him.

“Dick, don’t this is too important.” Jason warned.

“Hello, I’m doctor Lalir,”she introduced herself. “That is my main nurse Fismin.” Fismin gave a curt nod. “We’re here to talk to your about your friend. The injured one you call Danny.”

“Yeah?” Dick crosses his arms and looks at the holograph.

“The first things first is that this is what his body normally looks like under a standard scan, we were able to replicate what it should look like based off of scans we already have,” the holographs flickers just slightly as it shows his bones, nervous system, organs and all in 3 separate layers.

“This is what his showed up as,”The form flickered and it almost all became static for a moment before he could pick up little bits and pieces.

“Why is it so distorted?” Dick frowns.

“Well, we weren’t completely sure so we started running some more tests, Taking blood, fixing him up, etc. Then when he tested the blood we saw it was highly radioactive. The radiation dies off quite quickly when exposed to standard oxygen for some reason and it disperses to the air but it still almost permanently leaves the blood with an almost green tint to it. Then we did other tests.”

“And?” Dick was concerned. Radiation permanently fused to his blood? What could do something like that?

“He apparently is so infused with radiation he gives off the same levels within his body that are similar to a warp core. The power inside of him is also like that. He’s undergoing surgery right now, but we have our staff members who we trust enough to work on him wearing radiation suits and being careful while taking care of him. We were able to get a clear picture of his leg to fix it as well but we believe that was likely only due to the fact that we zoomed in incredibly close to the bone and it was far away from his chest where the radioactive energy seems to be centered.”

“What does this mean? Is he still human?” Dick frowns. More scans replaced the ones in front of him.

“It seems he carries the meta gene and as a reaction to high and intense levels of radiation it seems it activated his recessive genes, and when he was in this high stress event of high radiation levels he absorbed it and bonded with it.”

“He’s a walking warp core,”Jason seems to finish. “The guy is a walking, living radioactive warp core inside of a human body. He thrums with energy and electricity and I’m not sure if he knows the extent to which he is but he must know something went wrong? He mentioned an accident right?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t tell us anything just that it fucked up his leg,”Dick bites at his nail hesitantly as he thinks for the second anxiously. “Do you think that accident was this? What could have caused this though, something of this level.”

“Another warp core?”Fismin suggested. “The only thing I can think of with that much exactly and condensed radioactive energy is may there was a crack in the warp core casing? Maybe it shattered when he was near it and consumed him and he only survived because his body bonded with it rather than anything else?”

“Maybe..” Dick hums,” You’re right about getting him to Krypton. This is a medical mystery, but at the same time he doesn’t deserve to become a walking test subject.”

“We agree,”The doctor gave a smile. “That is why we are limiting contact with him and those who want to see his records need my permission to open them, and as soon as he is finished being under our care I will see to it his records destroyed.”

“Is he dying though, how are his cells holding up?”Jason decides to ask next as he looks calm and serious.

“It appears they are withstanding the radiation incredibly well,” Another hologram appeared on the screen of the blood. “These white blood cells you see here? They normally react to intruders and fight of diseases. The white blood cells bonded with the radiation and now it seems the further away from the body they go the less radiation they carry and the faster the cells seem to die.”

“So if he ever loses that radiation with in him?”

“He’ll die, at this point that focal point of radiation centered in his chest around his heart is what’s keeping it moving. If his body loses that radiation then this body will begin to do septic and try and kill him.”

Dick rubs his face anxiously. Of course it would. What the fuck. “But he’s fine for now? He’s going to be okay?”

“Yes, but there is a problem you all need to be aware of. This radiation in his blood? It means unless you can find another cursed soul to have this flowing through them? No one can donate blood and I’m not even sure we can make synthetic blood because of how fast the radiation fades. His lungs are also failing him. It seems on his planet he inhaled so much smoke and dust it seems to have permanently damaged them beyond what I can do here. Because of his radiation I can’t even build any synthetic organs either.”

Dick had felt like he should have expected that from how he coughed and how worn he seemed overall.

“What if you build a small containment device and you put something radioactive in it? We can offer some money in the meantime for you can begin to study it but even if you have to keep the synthetic blood in the chamber it’s important he has a backup because none of us have radiation in our blood.” Dick suggested.

“That could work but it would take time.”

“Something is better than nothing,”Jason agrees. “The reason I think we should get him to Krypton is because what if there’s more to it than just he’s radioactive? What if we’re missing something here? We need the resources to make sure he’s okay. We can have him live a normal life there and he’ll be safe from harm. If we need to get him out, all of us own several conservation planets, we hop from planet to planet.”

“That could work but he just got off Earth. I doubt he’s going to want to remain on another planet for very long,”He laughs softly.

“Okay so how about this..”Jason begins slowly. “We go to Krypton next. We get our scans and we tell Danny what we’ve found. If he wants to stay, he can stay. Otherwise.” Jason pauses with a smirk,”Otherwise you can take a ship and go show him some of the other planets. Dick felt his cheeks get hot.

“Shut up Jay,”He hisses softly.

“What, you can have a crush, all of us have had them,”He smirks and moves to unlock the door before leading.

“Fismin, do you have a waiting area?”He asks quietly.

“Yes of course Sir,”he gives a smile and the Doctor removes the information, locking it up as Dick was shown to the waiting room. It was only another 20 minutes before he was shown to Danny’s private room close to the top of the tall tree, his eyes glancing out the window in awe as he turned to Danny knowing he was asleep.

“See. I told you. You’re out of there aren’t you? You’re free!”He smiles gently. “When you’re awake I’ll help you explore the galaxy.” Dick pulls his chair to the bedside of Danny’s unconscious form. “When you’re awake I’ll show you all of my favorite spots. My favorite planets. The best planets for food. I’ll show you my home on Krypton and at Wayne Manor. I’ll show you my favorite spots to eat and I can introduce you to amazing life forms you’ve never met or encountered before.”

“You’re kind.. Did you know that?” He sighs softly as he moves to take his hand gently tracing over the gentle lightning like scars over it, and now that he was paying attention he realized the other’s scars wound up both his arms. “Shit, you don’t have clothes do you?” Dick rubs his face, Maybe the other could just borrow clothes from Tim until he could get some of his own? Dick could take him clothing shopping, though admittedly shopping on Krypton for clothing was better than anything else. Maybe they could do a full makeover for him once they got back to Dick’s home planet. He gently smiled at the thought. He was sure he could get Kori and M’gann in on it as well and maybe if he was lucky he could get Kon in on it. There were plenty of people he was sure would love a makeover day.

He paused for a second. Did Danny have any experience with ice planets? He smirked and smiled thinking about Danny seeing snow for the first time, or any of the ice planet animals with their layers of fur and fat and that made him smile thinking of Danny in one of those obnoxious Parka’s that always made him laugh. It was silly.

God, Dick was falling hard wasn’t he? He felt like he was on a planet crushed by the gravity that was his heart and keeping him so forcefully continatained all he could think about was how beautiful and resilient Danny was. The man was obviously malnourished and far too skinny right now and yet hadn’t pressured any of them for money offering to help without a care in the world besides the fact they didn’t know if they were bad people.

Danny had the air of nonchalance about him that made him so easy to talk to that even if you had done something so awful he might just say he forgave them and move on with it all. He wore a beautiful smile despite how often he coughed and knew he would eventually fall to his lungs if they couldn’t figure out something. He wondered how Danny’s eyes would look reflected in a pool of water and in a way Danny’s eyes were beautiful hazey green and now with the radiation flowing through him their color made more sense and even how his hair seemed to deny gravity just slightly it also made sense.

There had been such a short amount of time working together, there had been such calm collected conversations between them about topics and where Dick had known quietly about his sister he had kept quiet. He didn’t want the others to know yet and he for sure was not about to tell Jason’s fiery girlfriend he almost got her little brother killed. He knew Jazz would fly over in a heartbeat if she knew Danny was here but he couldn’t risk making a scene. He wanted Danny to be healthy when they met again and in a way where Danny and Jazz could catch up in a way they had never been to before because they could never talk to one another.

Dick wanted to give Danny everything. He thought that he would never meet someone so beautiful and so kind again and his soft mismatched hair was cute and knew he probably needed it cut and how he felt himself with a smile and didn’t let anything stop him was adorable.

Dick wanted to give Danny the universe but he knew he couldn't not really not truly, but he could give him a new life of adventure and smiles and good food. He could give Danny clean air and clean clothes. He could give Danny friends and maybe more family than his own. He could give Danny maybe his love if they evolved that far. Dick didn’t care at this point if Danny would ever develop feelings for him and maybe that was because right now all he wanted was to be with Danny and for Danny to be his Friend. He just desperately wanted to be Danny’s friend and to him? Nothing else mattered.

So he began to talk about Krypton to his sleeping form, unaware he began to stir.

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