#Nightwing imagines

[downthe-f4ndom-rabbith0le]

Always Been You (Dick Grayson x Reader) - Chapter 9

Always Been You (Dick Grayson x Reader) Reader Insert: she/her pronouns Word Count: 4983 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?

~~~

Y/N sat by a fire pit alone, stoking the flames absent-mindedly as her mind raced with the events that occurred on the beach.

In that respect, she couldn't recall much, but she remembered an unfamiliar power coursing through her - how strong she felt when it took over. And that was another thing, she didn't feel like she was the one in control.

Y/N stared into the fire and thought of the white flames that encased her and her lance before. She'd felt another presence in them, coaxing her, guiding her to using the new power.

'But who are you,' she whispered.

'Hey.'

Y/N flinched as she turned to find Dick standing there, both hands carrying two legs of lamb. His head tilted as he gave her a confused look. 'Who are you talking to?'

'No one,' she answered, shaking herself back to reality. 'Just... clearing my thoughts.'

Dick nodded in understanding. 'Oh, okay...' The two awkwardly looked at each other in silence until Dick held up the two lamb legs and said, 'So... you hungry?'

As if her stomach was listening, it growled loudly before she could give an actual reply. The two chuckled at the comedic timing.

'I think that was answer enough, don't you? Y/N asked, happily taking one of the lamb legs off Dick's hands. She hadn't realised until now how hungry she actually was. The smell of the lamb had her salivating so she took a massive bite from the leg and almost groaned with delight.

'Whoa, someone's hungry,' Dick said amused before taking a bite of his own out of the moist meat. 'Whoa!' he exclaimed. 'This is really good!'

'Much better than MacDonalds, right?' Y/N asked.

With another mouthful of meat, Dick replied, 'You bet!'

It didn't take long for Dick and Y/N to finish their meal, although if Y/N had kept up with time correctly, there was only three or so hours left until sunrise. The fight had gone on longer than she'd imagined, but then there was that whole point of the battle she couldn't recall. It frustrated and scared her to think that she could forget something so important so easily.

A hand on her shoulder brought her back out of her thoughts to see a concerned Dick looking at her. 'Hey, where'd you go just now?'

Y/N shook her head. 'I don't know, really,' she answered. 'I just... I was just thinking about the beach. I don't really remember what happened down there.'

Speaking of it, Y/N's gaze drew to the beach just down the stairs she was situated atop. She saw the fires of the lanterns the Guard that Calliope had set up, saw their light reflect off the dome that still stood around the whole of the mountain Themyscira sat upon. But that just meant she saw the wall of darkness all but pressing up against the dome.

No doubt the monsters remained in case the dome broke down, but they also didn't appear to be doing anything but waiting. What was Echidna planning? That unknown answer was the one that scared her most.

'Well, to put it plainly, you saved all of us,' Dick answered matter-of-factly, his gaze also moving to the beach.

'Don't mess around with words, Dick,' Y/N warned, though her threat was weak at best. There was no heat behind her words, no animosity, just truth. 'I meant... what happened to me down on the beach? When, you know...'

Dick hummed in understanding. 'Yes, that... Well, I don't have the answer specifically, all I know is that you had this... power that just... I don't know, it was like nothing I've ever felt or seen before.'

Y/N chuckled. 'That's saying something considering all we've been through, too.'

Dick let out a soft chuckle, the kind that could warm even a freezer up. 'I'm glad you can find the humour in all this. I can't imagine what you must be feeling all things considered.'

The honesty in his words caused Y/N to face Dick, and she found an equally honest expression on his ridiculously gorgeous face. She spared him a grateful smile before she looked down to her hands that fiddled with the stoker once more.

'I have a theory, you know,' she said. 'About what possibly happened to me.'

'And?' Dick encouraged.

'And... I think it wasn't my power that helped us just now.'

'What makes you say that?'

'When I... blanked, I do remember hearing a voice. It wasn't clear but I know the voice was guiding me, telling me exactly what to do. The most clear statement from the voice, however, was a question: But who are you? I think it was Athena herself speaking to me.'

'Athena?' Dick was stunned. 'You mean, the goddess of warfare and wisdom, as well as your ancestor, technically?'

Y/N nodded. 'I know it sounds crazy, but who else could it be that held such mighty power when it comes to weaponry and warfare.'

'Apart from Ares, no one else but Athena, I guess...' Dick gave Y/N a confused look. 'Why would Athena want to possess you for you to then use her power? If she wanted to help so much, why didn't she just fly down and help us herself?'

Y/N rolled her eyes. 'First of all, Gods don't have wings, Dick. They don't fly down, they would just... appear. Secondly, I don't know why she would want to help us, but I do know Gods never help without a reason.'

'Or a price,' Dick added solemnly.

Y/N nodded, recalling the power she'd held. The danger it possessed if she wielded it wrong. The scene of the monsters simply disintegrating into nothing but minuscule dust particles replayed at the back of her mind constantly.

'I'd like to think she'd help us because we are her blood and bone,' Y/N said, curling her fingers inwards to form frustrated fists. 'But her power... I don't know if I can wield it as she does. So precisely and destructively. What if someone innocent gets hurt because I can't control it. Goodness, I can't even remember half the battle just now; how am I supposed to control the power if I can't control myself?'

'Okay, whoa, ease up,' Dick said, holding his hands out in a "calm down" manner. 'I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself here. You don't even know if you still have the power. What if it was a one time thing?'

'But what if it wasn't?' Y/N argued.

'Then we will cross that bridge when we get to it,' Dick answered cooly, without hesitation. 'Look, Y/N, you are not some tyrant who uses power to harm others. In all the time I've known you, I don't think you're even capable of harming innocents. Your worst fears of yourself, they are never going to come to fruition because you're-'

Dick cut himself off and Y/N couldn't help but notice the red flush creeping up from his neck. The intensity of which his blue eyes were looking at her made her feel simultaneously vulnerable and impenetrable. The silence that hung between them had her heart stuttering. Out of hope, out of fear, she couldn't tell the two apart anymore.

'I'm...?' she asked, not daring to try and finish that sentence, It was silly really. They were in the middle of a war and here she was thinking about all the almosts, all the close calls. The moment back on the balcony before Echidna decided to wage her war on Themyscira. It was stupid, but Y/N couldn't help it. Even after all this time, she couldn't help it when it came to Dick Grayson.

'You're... you're the best person there is,' he finally finished, but his words sounded strained. As if he had planned something else to say. 'You're a good leader, Y/N. You are strong and compassionate and I've never known anyone else to hold onto their resolve and values as much as you can. If it's Athena's power that possessed you, then, well, I couldn't think of anyone more suitable to wield it.'

Y/N wasn't sure why she was surprised anymore. Her heart deflated at his words, or more so at the words he didn't say. She couldn't believe she was still hoping after all this time that he would ever say what she wanted him to say, to feel all that she felt for him and more.

But she wasn't some heartbroken eighteen-year-old anymore. Dick was right, she was a leader now, and they had a war to win above all else.

So she smiled her gratitude, but couldn't help a chuckle as she said, 'Athena's not a demon, you know. I don't think gods "possess" people.'

'Well what would you call it then?'

Y/N shrugged. 'I don't know. I just... I don't want the women to think I'm weird, you know?'

'Too late for that I'm afraid, Princess.'

Y/N glared at Dick at the mention of her title, but eventually dropped it and sighed. 'I more meant I don't want them to think I'm a god or something. I don't want them to fear me.'

Dick looked thoughtfully down at the beach for a moment before returning to look at Y/N. 'God or not, everyone should be right to fear you. I mean, you're an actual Amazon warrior who can lift cars above her head with one arm and can fly with just a single thought. Who wouldn't be a little fearful of you?'

'Are you really trying to make me feel better?' Y/N flatly asked.

'I'm getting to that point,' he countered. 'What I'm trying to say is, yes, you are terrifying to certain people. But anyone who knows you and cares for you knows who you truly are.'

'And what's that, Grayson?'

'A good person,' Dick answered, eyes locked with hers. 'A true leader with a heart of gold. Echidna messed with the wrong Amazon, and she's gonna regret it. I just know it.'

Despite his joking demeanour, Y/N could tell he was being sincere now. Better yet, he was being honest, and while it didn't appease the fear in her heart, she appreciated his kindness.

Another thing she frustratingly loved about him.

She smiled at him. 'Thanks. I really needed that.'

Dick smiled in return. 'I know you, Y/N. Just like you know me. I'll always be here to help keep your head on straight.' With a tired groan, Dick stands up. 'Speaking of which, you should probably get some sleep before the sunrise. Who knows what Echidna has in store for us next.'

Dick offered his hand to help Y/N up, to which she graciously accepted. He pulled her to her feet and the two of them walked to the tent that was setting up cots for soldiers not on duty to sleep on until it was time to get up.

At the first empty cot they found, Dick said, 'You take this one. I'm sure there is another one nearby.'

'Thanks,' Y/N said, offering him a sweet smile. 'And thanks... for before.'

'Don't mention it,' Dick replied, but instead of walking away he continued to stare at her. It was like he was contemplating his next move. Just as Y/N was going to go to bed, he swiftly stepped close enough to her to place a kiss on her forehead.

The action caught her so off guard she just froze, aware of nothing but his lips on her skin. Even when he stepped away, his kiss felt like it was burning into her forehead.

'Goodnight, Princess,' he said softly, and then he was turning away and striding down the aisles of cots in search of an empty one.

Long after he'd disappeared from her sight, she still looked on into space, fingers delicately pressed to her forehead. What in the name of Aphrodite was that about?

~~~

Y/N didn't remember falling asleep, only that one moment she was frozen with confusion over her conflicting emotions regarding a certain dark-haired batboy, and the next she was waking up at the first ray of sunshine.

Y/N sat up and threw her legs over the side of the cot. Her muscles ached slightly, but that was possibly the cot's fault. It really wasn't the comfiest of bedding to use. But they were at war, so they would have to make do.

It suddenly struck Y/N how quiet it was. She looked around her; everyone was still asleep. She strained to hear for any outside noise but could not register any. That's odd, she thought, and so stood up and made her way outside the tent.

Even when she had first entered the tent, there were Amazons sitting around chatting and laughing and cooking. In general, there had been a huge commotion even in the early hours of the morning. But as she stepped out of the tent, it alarmed her to see nothing but white fog around the campsite they had set up in the streets.

What in the world... Y/N walked around the fires that had long since died when they should've still been burning. She noticed the absence of warriors heavily. Where is everyone?

A thought had her running for the stairs that lead down to the beach. She could barely see the next step as they came up, but she didn't care. Some horrible feeling inside her said something was wrong.

Distracted, Y/N tripped on the last step and landed face first in the sand with a heavy thud. But she didn't waste time getting up as she spat out sand and scrambled to her feet. There should've been torches, but the fog was too thick even almost standing next to them.

Y/N walked slowly through the fog, unsure what direction she now was heading. I really should've brought a weapon, she thought, berating herself at how vulnerable she felt.

After a few metres of blindly walking, she saw a torch stand through the fog. She ran for it, but upon closer approach she noticed the flame had gone out. Y/N looked into the pit in which the flame would've been burning, and found still warm ashes sitting there.

This went out recently. Now Y/N was really regretting not bringing a weapon. She spun around blindly, expecting an attack at any point. But what was she going to do if they did? I need to get back to camp and wake everyone up.

Just as she took a step in the direction she thought the stairs were, she kicked something quite solid, almost tripping over it. She had to bend down to see through the fog to see what it had been.

To her horror, it was the body of an Amazon. Well, just her torso that is. As Y/N inspected closer, she found more body parts scattered nearby. Blood and guts littered and stained the beach, and Y/N finally realised that it wasn't just the parts of one body she was looking at. It was the entire Guard they'd assigned to watch the dome.

Y/N covered her mouth to stop her from both screaming and throwing up the lamb she had only a few hours ago. What could've done this? Unless...

A growl emanated somewhere in the fog, and Y/N put aside her disgust and picked up one of her dead comrade's swords. Again, she spun around in anticipation of an attack, but she couldn't tell where the sound was coming from. It sounded everywhere and nowhere all at once.

She backed up and to her relief her feet met with stone. The stairs. Y/N took a step up backwards, keeping her eye and sword aimed on the fog in front of her. She was trying to be quiet, but the fog made the steps slightly wet. One step she didn't quite make, and her foot slipped down, causing her to yelp in fear. Y/N quickly balanced herself, but she'd given herself away.

A giant dog-like creature leaped from the fog, its fangs bared sharp and ready to bite. Y/N reflexively put the sword up as a block and pushed the hound off. When it lunged at her again with an open mouth, she plunged the sword into the roof of the hound's mouth. It howled in agony, but Y/N only pushed the sword even more until it pierced the creature's brain.

It fell lifelessly to the ground as Y/N pulled the sword out. As she did, she noticed the fog clearing slowly and revealing more hounds and other creatures waiting on the beach. They stared up at her hungrily, snapping their jaws as if imagining how she would taste when they got to her.

Y/N didn't wait to find out that answer, instead turning and sprinting as fast as she could up the stairs and back to camp. She heard the howls and hisses of the monsters, felt the stairs tremble with their paws and hooves. Y/N ducked as a giant wasp-like monster swooped at her, but she just swiped at the monster's wings and didn't look to see it plummet to the earth.

As she approached the top of the stairs, she cried, 'Get up! Get up!' Assume offensive stations!' But as she reached the city, she was horrified to see that the fight had already begun. The fog had been a hiding place for the monsters, as well a way to keep everyone but her asleep, it seemed. Giving them enough to infiltrate the edges of the city.

The dome hadn't held, and now they were well and truly under attack.

Remembering the creatures that followed her, she turned and began slicing her sword at any that came near her. She sent some tumbling back down the stairs, knocking others down as well. But they just kept coming.

'Princess, look out!'

Y/N turned around to find some warriors about to roll a barrel down the stairs, so she dove out of the way as they did. The creatures howled as they were taken out and rolled back down the mountain. Out of nowhere, a flaming arrow arced over the mountainside and landed perfectly on the still-moving barrel, causing an explosion that sent monster guts and marble stone flying everywhere.

Y/N looked to her left to see archers lined up on the roofs of houses, some flaming, some normal. They aimed at those on the ground, as well as the giant insects and harpies that flew in the sky.

Y/N caught the eye of one of the flaming archers, no doubt the one who'd blown the barrel up, and gave a nod of approval. The warrior returned the gestures, then returned to her duties.

'Keep this up! Don't let anymore up the stairs!' she called to the barrel soldiers.

'Yes, Princess!' they replied, already moving onto their next barrel filled with, Y/N figured, explosive powder.

Satisfied that the area was being taken care of, Y/N looked to the skies. The harpies and insects were dropping rocks and attacking from on high. The screams of her friends compelled Y/N to run towards a tall pile of rubble and leap onto a harpy flying by.

The creature screeched and spun around in the effort to shake Y/N off. But Y/N gripped the scruff of the harpy's neck nape and pulled backwards. The harpy, midair, reared up like a horse, but still Y/N held on. Now with a better grip, Y/N guided the harpy to fly high and forwards. Guiding the harpy with one hand, Y/N used the other hand to slice and stab the other harpies and insects attacking her friends.

One by one, they plummeted to the ground. The insects splattered while the harpies either fell on the rubble or they were killed by nearby warriors.

A certain large gathering of hounds on the ground caught Y/N's attention, and as she flew the harpy closer she saw what brought the hounds there. Quickly, she plunged her sword into the harpy's head and leaped off it as the creature fell lifelessly to the ground.

She tumbled right into the middle of the gathering and pressed her back up against the meat that drew the hounds there. 'You sure know how to pick your battles, Grayson,' she said as she spun around with her sword at the ready.

'Hey, it's not my fault I'm so appealing,' he countered, that arrogant charm of his unfaltering even now. 'Though I have to admit, this isn't the target audience for my charms.'

'Gods, you know no shame, do you?'

'I know, it's both a flaw and a super power.'

Y/N rolled her eyes. 'Less talking, batboy, and more fighting.'

Simultaneously Y/N and Dick swung out at the hounds, causing them to leap at the two of them. It didn't take long for them to behead the creatures, leaving the two of them standing in the middle of the circle of death heaving for breath.

Dick finally broke the silence when he turned to Y/N and said between gulping breaths. 'Batboy? Really? That's low, even for you.'

Y/N shrugged. 'Sorry. Slip of the tongue.'

Out of the corner of her eye, Y/N noticed something was happening to the slaughtered hounds. It looked like green energy was being sucked out of them, slowly causing them to completely disintegrate.

'What's happening to them?' Dick asked, coming to stand beside Y/N.

'I don't know,' she answered, eyes following the trails of green energy back to the camp. A cold stone feeling settled in her stomach. 'But we better go find out. Come on!'

Y/N and Dick ran back through the damaged streets towards the camp, leaping over fallen statues and jumping over giant holes in the cobblestone ground. Y/N had never been more grateful for her call to evacuate the city two evenings ago. Who knew how many more bodies, how many more innocents would be lying dead on the streets with their fallen warriors.

Y/N and Dick raced around the corner but stopped at the sight that greeted them. The energy from the hounds - along with the other monsters, both fallen and still fighting - wasn't just going anywhere. It was being sucked and sourced into creating something larger than all the monsters Echidna sent. The last of the energy from its fellow monsters finished the third head of the serpent-like dragon creature, causing that stone cold feeling in Y/N to spread over her whole body in terrified realisation.

'Hydra! Take cover!' Y/N cried as she grabbed Dick's hand and dragged him towards a building that had pillars out the front.

The monster reared its three heads back before spitting out fire all over the camp. Y/N and Dick ducked behind a pillar just in time, but Y/N felt the heat of the flames at the pillar's edge. Dick must've felt them too, as he quickly pulled Y/N into his chest and held her close. Y/N instinctively clutched onto his back, and there they held each other until the heat died down and they could move.

Y/N took a peep of the damage that had been done. Warriors - friends - that hadn't taken cover were melted into the ground, the walls of buildings, into carts too. Some laid screaming from where the flames had just caught them. The flames had been so intense they'd melted off the body parts unfortunate enough to be caught.

The screams threatened to consume Y/N. She couldn't take her eyes away from them all. But one girl caught Y/N's eyes. She laid just a few metres away from where Y/N stood in the safety of the building. She was on her stomach, crawling towards Y/N, towards safety. Her head was partially burnt, leaving behind only tufts of brown hair. Her legs had melted off, and still she struggled.

As the warrior's eyes met Y/N's, and she reached out with one hand and cried, 'Princess! Help me! Help me, please!'

Y/N realised what the warrior meant. She'd saved them all on the beach last night, she could pull off another miracle again. But Y/N couldn't feel any power surging inside her. In fact, she'd never felt more powerless in her life. Athena was not coming to help them this time, and there was nothing Y/N could do about it.

But I am here. I can help.

Y/N shook herself out of her thoughts and made to go down the steps of the building. 'I'm coming-'

Y/N stopped when the hydra slammed its foot down on the warrior, spraying her blood and guts all over Y/N. It took Y/N's brain a moment to compute what just happened, and even after she did, Y/N did not move. The image of the warrior pleading to her to help froze her; the feeling of blood and guts all over her made her want to hurl, but she was - for the first time in a long time - too scared to move.

The world had gone quiet, all senses but her sight had gone numb.

'Y/... /N... Y/N!'

One moment she was staring at where the warrior had just been squashed, the next Y/N was rolling along the bloodied cobblestone streets, Dick's arms around her.

Once they'd stopped, Y/N looked to where they'd been standing to see another foot of the hydra's standing there. She'd been so out of it, she almost ended up like the fallen warrior.

Y/N's attention turned to Dick as he placed a hand on her upper arm and heaved her to her feet. 'Come on, we've got to move!' he cried, dragging her to follow the other warriors who were fleeing the camp area.

It was like his touch activated her senses once more, as she was able to regain balance and a sense of surroundings in order to run alongside Dick. Together, the two scrambled through the city, following the remaining warriors that fled for the palace. The palace possessed ancient magic that dispelled any unwanted visitors. Y/N hoped that included unwanted and unexpected hydras.

As they drew closer to the palace gates, Y/N recognised Calliope was the one holding them open, ushering everyone. 'Hurry up, get inside!' she cried, then she turned and spotted Y/N and Dick. Relief softened her expression, but her eyes quickly widened as her gaze drifted somewhere behind them. 'Hurry, it's right behind you!'

Both Dick and Y/N turned to briefly look at the hydra. It had turned the pathway they'd just run on into a scorched wasteland, nothing but burning houses and scolding hot rocks in its wake. Its triple green gaze fell on the two of them and reared its three heads, ready to strike.

Y/N and Dick didn't wait to see what happened next, as they turned back around and sprinted with all their energy and will to survive to the gates of the palace.

'Come on!' Calliope called, and soon she was joined by others.

'Keep going!'

'Run faster!'

'Hurry!'

'Come on!'

They'd reach the gates as the hydra blew its fiery attack. Y/N, Calliope, Dick, and whoever was nearby gripped onto the palace gates and yanked them as hard and as fast as they could to close them.

Calliope yelped as some of the flames squeezed through the gap of the closing gates, stumbling backwards before falling into a crouch with her hands tucked tight to her chest.

Everyone stood back from the gates, waiting for fire or smoke or the hydra itself to burst through the gates. But no matter how much it attacked, nothing came through.

'We're safe,' one of the Amazons nearby said with immense relief.

'For now,' Y/N added, turning to crouch with Calliope. 'What's wrong? How can I help?'

In the time Y/N had known Calliope, she had never seen the brave warrior cry. But her she was, crouched, almost folded in on herself, offering her burnt and blistered hands out to Y/N with tears pouring like waterfalls down her flushed and dirty cheeks.

Horror and guilt tore through Y/N like a sword to the heart, piercing what she thought was a soldier's composure. She reached out to Calliope's hands and gently cradled them, avoiding actual contact less she cried more.

'I am... I am sorry, Calliope,' Y/N murmured softly, unsure how else to express the pain she felt for her friend. The pain she had caused her friend.

Y/N looked to the crowd that was huddled in the courtyard of the palace. There were, by the looks of things, less than one quarter of the warriors that were based at Y/N's camp standing before her. That including the injured, the barely standing, the barely breathing. She could hardly tell if anyone but herself and Dick had come out of the hydra encounter unscathed.

Princess! Help me! Help me, please!

Y/N swallowed the stomach acid that threatened to come up and stood up, addressing the crowd. 'Anyone here a medic?' Three girls put their hands up. 'Good. Take General Calliope and any other injured warriors to the Palace Infirmary and assist with their care. Everyone else, head to the kitchens and find some food. Then get some rest. I will... I will...'

This is where her mind went blank. Even with all her training, all her experiences with bad guys and death, she couldn't unsee the poor girl, who couldn't have been much older than herself, reaching out to her, expecting Y/N to save her. She couldn't unsee the blood, the guts, the melted bodies.

She couldn't see what their next step was.

'You heard the Princess,' Dick suddenly interjected. 'Now go.'

The remaining warriors nodded their heads in agreement and scurried away, many helping the injured to the infirmary as they went. One of the medics and another warrior came to collect Calliope, who still cried with pain.

Her howls echoed well and truly past when she left the courtyard, leaving Y/N feeling more empty and sorrowful than she'd ever been.

~~~

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[gay-dorito-dust]

How’d they react to you calling them bro or dude whilst in a pre-established relationship…(platonic/romantic)

Dick: he’s insulted.

Gutted.

He will try to give you the silent treatment for such a shameful thing but ultimately fails as he ends up being the one pawing at you for attention.

‘Do you still like me? Or did you just run out of cute nicknames to call me?’ He’d say one night as your both cuddling in bed together. ‘If it’s the later then I can help you find something, just please spare me and don’t call me dude or bro anymore.’

He’d rather you call him Richard-wait, no he hates that even more because to him you’re not meant to use his fully name, only cutesy nicknames that’d make a grown man sick to his stomach. Nothing else would suffice other than Dickie bird, handsome, babe, hunk, honeybun or anything that wasn’t his name.

He’s go mad or would act delusional and say that everything was fine when everyone could tell that it wasn’t. People who know him have personally came to you and begged you to stop calling him dude/bro because he kept talking their ears off about how his beloved partner is torturing him, which ends up torturing them even more upon hearing about his relationship issues.

Dick would even consult Hayley on what he did wrong, only for Hayley to look at him with those big, big eyes of hers. This was not her level of expertise unfortunately. (Head empty, no thoughts. She can’t do her abc’s guys it’s a real tragedy.)

Jason: ‘I just had my tongue down your throat just now and you had to go and ruin the mood by calling me bro. What the fuck.’ - Jason at some point.

It’s a whole mood killer for him to be honest.

He’s calling you things like chipmunk or sweetheart but here you were calling him dude and bro. He knows for a fact that he’s well and truly out of the friend zone because the shit you’ve done together isn’t platonic in any sort of way.

Thinks Roy had set you up to call him dude or bro behind his back. (He hasn’t)

Jason is petty and will get his own back by referring you as ‘just a really good friend’, ‘buddy o’ mine’ or even worse than both of those; ‘chum.’ 💀

When you go low, Jason was more then willing to go to the depths of fucking hell to the point it had become a game to see who’d call out just how stupid this all was, and at the both of you for ever thinking that this was an excellent idea in the first place.

You’ll probs get punished…I’m just going to leave it there and let your minds guess what that ‘punishment’ was exactly.

Damian:

As much as Damian hates it when you call him Dami, he hates it when you call him dude or bro even more, if that’s even possible.

Damian hates it when you call him dude or bro. He’s not your dude or bro, he’s your partner and he expects no less then darling, my heart or my beloved.

So you calling him dude or bro is more than enough reason for him to give you the silent treatment.

‘Until you learn that I am your partner, I won’t want to be anywhere near you if you’re going to keep calling me your bro or dude. It is a disservice to who I actually am to you.’ He says with a huff and beckons Titus to follow, only for the Great Dane to be left confused as to why his human parents were at a disagreement over something silly.

Also Titus, Ace, Jerry, Alfred the cat, Goliath and BatCow are children of divorce because I said so.

So it’s bests that you apologise while you still can because Damian can hold a grudge unlike any other. Even if you didn’t, you’d still crack first before Damian and quickly put an end to calling him dude/bro.

He just thinks being called a dude/bro when in a pre-established relationship is an insult.

He can take a joke but not when it’s aimed at his relationship. He’s well and truly devoted to his relationship -if we’re to completely ignore the whole being Robin thing- that it might as well be an insult towards him too at this point.

[aangelinakii]

STRATEGY.

— hey boy, imma get ya.

summary : you've been plotting on dick grayson ever since your friend jason introduced the two of you when he was round jason's at the same time as you. you're gonna get that boy, one way or another.

note : don't ask about my obsession with new years eve parties ??? i've never been to any so don't question it too much, it's just a very very perfect setting

and also another note : also looked up roy harper's birthfay AFTER i wrote rhis and it's in november apparently whixh i didn't realise when dick was wearing a t-shirt soooo sorry about continuity stuffs

the first time you met dick grayson he almost slammed a door in your face.

much to his dismay, jason had given up his apartment to celebrate roy's birthday — something about a gas leak or other at his own place, and not wanting to harm his daughter, let alone his friends — and you'd offered some help setting up.

although it appeared someone else had done so, too.

someone you didn't know, didn't recognise — but took the same turns along each street from the moment you noticed him.

part of you wondered whether he was reverse-following you, trying to cut you off at some point by turning around and slitting your throat...

sounds quite normal for gotham, actually.

but when he turned up into jason's dingy apartment complex, and led you up the stairs to jason's floor, you realised it wasn't just a coincidence; you really were going to the same place.

the dark-haired man stopped outside jason's door and rapped his knuckle against it before pushing it open. "the help is here!" he bellowed inside, which was followed by a tumble of footsteps.

this could have been your moment to squeeze in through the crack in the door behind him, but something awkward tugged at your stomach and you couldn't seem to announce yourself the normal way.

jason's expression, however, glowed with recognition at the moment his friend was about to shut the door behind him.

"woah, woah!" he gasped, struggling past his friend to catch the door mid-slam. "don't be a bad guest, dick."

for the first time, he turns around.

wavy black hair, getting lengthy enough to frame his forehead but still short; strikingly peaceful blue eyes, like pools of mediterranean, which stared apologetically into yours as jason peeled the door back open to allow you in; his bicep bulged from beneath its white short-sleeve as he held a hand out to shake yours. and did jason call him... dick?

unclear whether he was being derogratory or merely speaking to him, your fingers skimmed against his palm to take his hand.

well... what a name. what a face.

for about an hour after that, you and dick — who you soon found out was technically jason's brother, though you didn't ask how you can technically be brothers — helped jason hang up streamers and blow up balloons to celebrate roy's birthday.

the party went smoothly, with a few drinks and at least one person keeping an eye on lian at all times, but, even after, you knew dick grayson would be yours.

not sure how, not sure when — but he would be.

that brings us here, to new year's eve a good entire year later, a drink in your hand, although just a couple before this in your system. your apartment's the victim this time, and roy had to leave early to spend the rest of his new year's with lian.

you're lingering in the kitchen area, eyeing the sticky residue of beer that had been spilt on your counter at some point in the night, though you're trying to not care too much.

breathing out a controlled sigh, you take another sip of your mixer, feeling a little dizzier as you pull the cup away from your lips.

but, this time, someone's standing on the other side of the counter, grinning lopsidedly despite himself. dick's mostly showing off the whole apartment his muscles, aside from the glittery waistcoat that covers his pecs, he's got a rainbow flower garland strewn messiky around his neck and some shiny cardboard crown that matches the angle his smile's at.

"having fun?" you just about manage to hold in both a laugh and the liquid you just drank.

his smile widens and he reaches out onto the cluster of unopened cans and bottles for a new one. "like you have no idea — look at me!"

although he's picked up an already-opened can of canada dry, dick doesn't seem to notice as he gestures to his interesting outfit, which you're quite sure he didn't walk in here wearing.

where his original shirt went, you have absolutely no idea, but it will be found eventually.

mirroring his smile, you pluck the can from his hold and replace it with a can of ginger ale, the metal tab still intact, weighted with the slosh of liquid inside. "if we had a competition, you'd win best dressed!" you assure him as he picks at the tab.

he glances back to the rest of the apartment; sure enough, there are some clothes strewn along the floor, but everyone seems to be wearing at least something and chatting, drinking or dancing.

taking a sip of his ginger ale, dick moved around to your side of the counter with a shiver — you recognise the reaction to the carbonated, tangy flavour.

when he reaches you, he's closer than he usually stands, and you try to remember if you ever saw him with a can of something alcoholic. if so, any other situation with him like this would've been a win, but you take a step back, bottom hitting the edge of the oven. in turn, dick turns to lean against the drink-strewn island counter.

"i feel like i haven't seen you all night, have you just been camping out here by the drinks?" he asks with another sip of his canada dry. despite the loud music, which may have been switched from the playlist you first put on now that you think about it, you can hear him perfectly.

as you try to reply, mimicking his coolness, your voice falls too quiet, and you have to raise it slightly. it makes you feel a bit self-conscious in front of him, but if dick's noticed or shares a similar sentiment, he doesn't let on.

"no, i've just been... around." you gesture vaguely around the flat with your drink hand. "you know what it's like to host."

dick's nod is accompanied by a bright smile that doesn't seem to be wavering. "yeah, you never really get to relax."

your eyebrows twitch, gaze wandering back to the tipped beer bottle. "you have no idea." it's more of a throw-away comment, more to yourself than anything, but dick's attentive.

now that you know him, he always seems to be — apart from when someone is trying to enter the same apartment building as him, and has been for the past twenty minutes.

he follows your eyes, and rakes his own along the destruction that's come to your kitchen counter, but glances back, expression unwavering. "i'll stay a bit later, help you clean up?"

later?

it's barely time to count down to twelve, and after that people probably won't leave until three. sure, he's buzzed now, but is he going to be able to survive until that ungodly hour?

still, you send him a smile and thank him, just in time to be whisked away to dance by megan and kory, though you don't keep his offer in mind.

later comes in the form of a spiked blur, the slurred attempt to sing along to the club classic that's come on, a few spilled drinks on your floor and an entirely new year.

by now the music's turned down, but just loud enough to catch the whispered words sung by a hushed britney spears. although the lights are still down, the absolute dregs of dawn is illuminating your front room, a sort of murky turquoise. wally's passed out on the couch with one shoe hanging off his toes, and you're pretty sure someone's in your bed, but you haven't checked.

eyes dry and pinched in exhaust, you rub incessantly at a patch on the floor of your living room with a damp flannel, glaring a hole into your wall.

distant, footsteps approach, but you don't register them until a pair of legs are standing in your eye line.

"(name)?"

with an achey blink, you peer up at the one other person awake.

dick's still shimmering in the half-light, his vest more than anything, but his garland's tucked into his back pocket, spilling down the back of his thigh. even from down here you can tell he's got rings beneath his eyes.

he crouches down to your height, that smile still lingering upon his lips, though his drinks should have worn off ages ago. he offers a cup out to you— no, a mug. warm, still steaming, and your eyes water as he holds it beneath your chin.

"i've just finished up with the counter," he hums, voice soft and slightly hoarse. "my bet's on wally for the spill."

from behind, there's a snort from the couch, and you both send abashed glances back, only to find wally burying his face into one of your cushions.

note to self: throw that one out.

when you turn back to dick, your hand leaves the cloth on the floor, fingers finding the loop of the handle like they've been longing to sit like that all night.

"what have you made?" you ask, blowing cool air along the surface of the amber drink, voice croaking.

"found some chamomile in your drawers when i was looking for your cleaning spray." dick stands to his full height and holds a hand out for you, palm up. for a moment you just stare at it, still blowing on your drink, but his fingers spread as if to state their presence again, and your free hand takes it. "figured we could both use some."

his hand in yours brings you back to your first handshake, except that time he wasn't pulling you up from your knees on the hard ground of your flat, free bicep rippling beneath its tan flesh.

for a year now, you've been telling yourself your little slow-burn plan was working — with every little flirtatious comment, every little lingering smile, he was surely falling for you — but here, him so casually taking your hand and not letting go until reaching the island counter, something stirs and you realise it's been backwards this entire time.

not your flirtatious comments; his.

not your lingering smiles; his.

grateful for a proper seat, you slide onto one of the stools, and dick takes his place standing on the other side of the counter, where his own steaming mug sits.

his finger runs along the rim of his cup and he runs his eyes over the apartment space, ignoring the addition of one dozing wally west. "i'd say we make quite the team, you and me," and he takes the curve of the handle in his grip.

you wish.

"to clean apartments?" you half-snort, realising your throat seered as you did so, and gingerly lifting your chamomile up to your lips. "thought you were more of a street-sweeping type."

opposite you, dick stands straight, his own mug raised, but his lips are stretched in a smile instead of kissing the heat of the herbal tea.

after a moment, he hums and finally sips his drink, though his eyes avert as if in thought.

own fingers drifting along the design on the side, you watch dick in intrigue; the cogs in his mind can practically be seen working, turning with each beat of a second, until, finally, he glances at you — but it's a moment lost too soon, as his gaze settles into the depths of his mug.

"so," he begins, reaching carefully, uncertainly for his mug again. "start your year off right?"

a laugh comes out without warning. "how? i'm not sure some random people sleeping in my house is how i'd usually start off my year, but to each their own."

dick's mouth upturns, but it doesn't quite reach the curve of his eyes. "no, like, when the countdown went." sheepish glance up. "did you meet anyone?"

"meet anyone?" you repeat, an eyebrow twitching.

"sure." dick gives a half-shrug, lifting his mug back up to his lips.

beats pass as you scrutinise every inch of his expression — he's suspicious, but you can't place anything to comment on. "no," you respond dismissvely. "i didn't meet anyone."

still determined to stare elsewhere, dick nods, jutting out his bottom lip in understanding as he places down his tea once again.

"why?" you hum. "did you meet anyone?"

"did i meet anyone?" he repeats, like you had, but he continues before you have a moment to comment on it either. "no, just mostly stuck around jason and wally. it's not like i'm gonna kiss them."

at this, you let out a snicker and dick's smile seems to reach his eyes.

your soft laugh dies out. something by pitbull is buzzing now from the tv's speakers. you take another small sip but you can feel dick's sweet gaze on you still, and you dare to meet his eyes, your smile growing, but you attempt to bite it back.

"what's up?"

dick doesn't respond, but his lips wobble slightly as he reaches up for the crown still perched atop his black waves. gold between his fingers, he reaches out for you, and the cardboard slips down over your eyes as he places it upon your own head. his knuckles brush along your brow bone as he adjusts it.

although he doesn't speak, there's almost no need for him to.

something in his lake como eyes has changed, all whilst looking at you.

oh, yeah. you've got him.

[freakingholland]

Lovebirds times two - YJ!Dick Grayson x fem!reader

A/N: Is this another fluffy fic that contributes to the “Dick Grayson looks gorgeous and can have any woman” trope? Maybe! (yes) But we deserve happy Dick alongside happy Spitfire, okay? I’ll write something agst-ish some time I promise!

Warnings: not proofread! fluffy af, a couple of swear words, slightly suggestive dialogue but nothing nsfw. If I missed anything, please let me know!

Summary: Heroes do get to attend weddings every once in a while. It's especially exciting, when it's a dear friends' ceremony.

Word count: 1.4K +

If you enjoyed my work, you could buy me coffee here: Ko-fi.com/freakingholland

questions/requests/ideas here! - rules here

my AO3 archive is here

masterlist

_

“I love these two with my entire heart but HOLY FUCK— I really don’t feel like getting ready today…” you whined sheepishly as you were in the middle of putting moisturizer over your freshly washed face. You and your significant other were in the middle of your preparations for your dear friends’ wedding. It was Artemis and Wally’s big day.

“Don’t even get me started. I told you we could get somebody to get your makeup and hair done. You can’t complain now.” Dick responded with slight frustration in his voice. It was obvious that he wasn’t actually mad at you, just not necessarily content with the fact that despite being in a committed relationship for so many years you still had trouble with making use of the benefits that came along with dating one of the Wayne’s sons.

“No, no don’t get me wrong babe I would appreciate that, it’s just— I feel a bit lazy today, wish I could just snap my fingers and get ready magically. If you know what I mean.”

“—plus, I don’t trust people with my face and hair, being comfy in my own skin is my top priority for today. I can’t wait to get there and have fun with our fam. I’ve been really looking forward to tonight.”

Dick walked over from the sink where he was previously finishing brushing his raven, still slightly wet and disheveled bangs. He had a towel wrapped tightly around his hips as he had just gotten out of the shower. The entire bathroom smelled like his strongly, yet freshly scented cosmetics. Seeing Richard in his work uniform and in his Nightwing suit is one thing, but seeing your partner clean and well-rested in the comfort of your shared apartment is another thing. Regardless of your lengthy relationship you still felt butterflies circling around in your stomach at this rare sight.

He wrapped his arms tightly around your hips and rested his chin in the crook of your neck, tickling you with his hair.

“Me too hun.” He responded while exhaling deeply against your bare, moist back. His warm embrace prolonged for another couple of seconds. You could easily tell Dick also felt sentimental about being home and being able to enjoy normal life. Whatever normal life means.

“Kay- I’ll let you do your thing now.” Before leaving the bathroom to start dressing up Dick took your face in his calloused hands and planted a quick kiss on your forehead. Dick crinkled his nose.

“God you’re pretty.” He was shaking his head on his way to your bedroom.

With a genuine smile on your face, you continued with the preparations.

*

You did not let slight sluggishness take over your body and you managed to get ready within an hour. Dick didn’t have the opportunity to see your outfit yet, after he had finished getting ready, he slumped on the sofa to watch TV and kill some time as he patiently waited for you to get ready. You walked into your living room and as soon as your partner heard your shoes click on the floor, he quickly turned to examine your look for the festive night.

“Oh wow- love. You look fantastic.” He quickly got up from the sofa to take a closer look. He soaked up the joy that you brought him with just your groomed appearance and a genuine smile, while eyeing you up and down with a huge grin plastered across his unwearied face.

Dick was wearing a black tuxedo paired with a white button up shirt, a black bowtie, and black oxfords. He also sported a watch with a black leather strap.

“You don't look too bad yourself sir…”

“—who am I kidding, GOD I love your hair! It’s so shiny!”

He chuckled at your answer and swept a strand of his thick bangs to the side.

“I think we should speed up this whole wedding thing and actually rent out a venue, you know?” you continued. After you said that your and Dick’s eyes laid on your engagement ring.

Dick sincerely cares about your wishes when it comes to retaining of your personal aesthetic, it took him a couple of visits at different jewelry shops in Gotham to choose a proper engagement ring. Despite knowing you well he still needed someone’s assistance - or rather mental reassurance that he’s making the right choice. That’s why Dick invited Bruce to participate in the important opting. They ended up choosing a white gold band with a small emerald-cut sapphire.

Talk about cheesiness. But the said cheesiness is one of the reasons why your bond was and is so strong. Your lives don’t stray from the hardships and sorrow in spite of the additional, demanding chapter that is your partner’s and your service as a literal heroes. Both Dick and you have your problems and traumas, but the two of you putting in the effort to communicate well, be patient and to keep your spirits up is what works well - as your relationship’s binder.

“And my hair is all that it takes for you to say that?”

“—I’m starting to get worried that we might be together just because you think I’m so fucking sexy.”

“We’re also together because of your humbleness…” Your answer caused Dick to roll his eyes. The grounding remark didn’t stop him from giving you a peck on the lips. As your lips parted, he threw a quick glance at his watch and slowly started going towards your kitchen. He went to grab a set of keys that was lying on the island, as well as a previously prepared bag of necessities such as band aids and emergency trainers.

“Are we ready my beautiful lady?” he offered you his arm in a jokingly chalant manner. You quickly grabbed your clutch bag and a coat.

“Ummm, I think we are now.” After double checking if you have everything that both of you needed to comfortably celebrate among your dearest companions as well as your precious gift, you started walking towards the door of your apartment.

*

Your best friends’ wish was to get married in Gotham City regardless of it being your usual work location. The ceremony was set to take place in a small palace, close to the border of the city. When you had arrived at the scene it was drizzling, the air felt very humid and had a pleasant earthy scent. But said weather didn’t interfere with the charm of such a special evening.

After the lovely wedding ceremony everyone drove to a beautifully decorated restaurant. The tables looked very minimalistic, even so the entire place was filled with beige and light pink flowers – carnations, lilies, roses. Artemis’ effort really paid off because the place looked both elegant and warm. Partially because of a gentle glow that bathed the entire area.

The newlyweds were beaming with happiness. They looked physically relaxed now that the official part of the evening was over. They were making sure to spare some time for every single guest, whether it was to chat with them or to take a picture. Right before one of the hot meals you managed to catch them and take the two to the side, in order to give them their special gift.

Both of them teared up when you and Dick handed them a large oil painting of the pair, which was based on a photo from a trip that the four of you went on a couple of years ago.

“There is no way! You guys! That’s beautiful, I really don’t know what to say…,” said Wally. Artemis was so taken aback that she remained silent while her now husband continued his thanks. Their eyes were glistening with happy tears and that warmed your heart.

*

You twirled with a slight laugh escaping your lips. Dick’s strong arms quickly embraced your figure to keep you closer to his warm body.

“I’m so glad we chose that photo for the painting. They were in awe.”

“I was in awe when I saw you in that outfit. You’re right, I’m getting us a venue tomorrow.”

“And you laughed at me when I complemented your hair!” you playfully smacked Dick’s chest. He couldn’t help but chuckle at your faux mad expression. That was the Y/N that he fell in love with.

He slumped his shoulders to close the distance between you two as you softly swayed to the rhythm of a slower song.

“I’m so glad that I have you angel.” He leaned into your ear and whispered.

“Soon to be Mrs. Grayson. All mine.”

-

If you get the “god you’re pretty" reference I love you.

Stay whelmed xx

Tori

[serafilms]

song 69! loser of the year (simple plan) + dick grayson requested by @celamoon (2023 spotify wrapped event) (this works so perfectly holy shit?? also hi cressie ilysm i’m such a big fan)

you make me wanna shut it all down, throw it all away, ‘cause i’m nothing if i don’t have you

Dick Grayson has no shortage of blessings.

He wakes up every day with a full head of silky hair, skin glowing and a bank account fuller than that house on Full House. He has a great job (that he doesn’t even need. Thanks, Bruce) and great friends, old ladies love him and even his smile has been known to make a few people faint.

He’s a celebrity. His life is great. He’s on top of the world.

So why is he still staring at his phone, waiting for the screen to light up?

Because of you. You, his good friend of three years and silly little crush of one.

Yesterday, his life was perfect. He’d met up with you in the city because you’d promised to help him get his new tux for the next gala. He’d made a few jokes and got to see your smile, and got to meet a few fans on the street. Then, when the two of you were sat in a coffee shop, he looked over at you and his heart stopped.

The sunlight was caught perfectly on your face, lighting up your eyes and bouncing off your hair and god, he was so down bad.

Well, no time like the present, he’d thought.

The conversation lasted about one excruciating minute, before you were throwing a few bills on the table, giving him an apologetic look and walking out the door.

“I’m in love with you,” he’d said.

“I need to think about it,” you’d replied.

His world has slowly been crumbling ever since.

Yeah, his hair and skin are still perfect, his bank account is still loaded and everything else in his life is totally fine, but none of it seems as useful anymore.

His phone buzzes and Dick lunges for it.

Jason: hey

Jason: when r u coming for the gala

Jason: damian’s extra homidical today

He frowns down at the screen. That doesn’t seem good. He shoots back a quick idk and promptly mutes the conversation so he isn’t baited again.

He’s alone with his thoughts for long enough to start thinking about his next move. Dick is starting to think you’ll never give him an answer, and you’re just ghosting him now to avoid rejecting him. Therefore, the obvious solution would be to move far, far away from Gotham. Nightwing will just have to relocate. The Bats will be fine without him.

Maybe Hawaii? No, still too close. Somewhere in Europe, maybe? Or is that too high profile a place for a celebrity? Australia seems nice. The sun would be good for his tan. He could live in a little house by the beach. Learn to surf. A simple life.

Without you, he doesn’t think he has much need for any luxuries. He’d give it all up for you if you wanted, he’d give it all up if he didn’t get you anyway. He’s nothing without you. Money or not, he’s a total loser.

There’s an incessant knocking on his door and he groans.

“Oh, come on, Jason! Did you really need to come to my apartment to drag me out?”

He makes his way to the door and throws it open, preparing to see the face of his annoying younger brother. His scowl drops instantly.

You’re standing there, all dressed up, a bouquet in your hands.

“Hi,” you say, smiling shyly, “I was wondering if you might need a date to the gala.”

Dick grins, grabs you by the waist, and pulls you in for a kiss.

He guesses he won this time.

[dark-night-hero]

We're just friends with Richard Grayson (twt ver.)

[ⓒdark-night-hero] 2024° ;D

[thenyoumightaswellwrestleangels]

And you were trapped in this curse (before you ever even knew)

Day 5 of The Long Halloween - event masterlist here

pairing: dick grayson x reader (gender neutral)

length: 8.3k

genre: horror, fluff, hurt/comfort

warnings: mermaid dick grayson, witch reader, talk of burning at the stake like one time vaguely, reader almost drowns once

a/n: the trapdoor works bc it's magic and that's the only thing we need to know ok ?? anywaaay here's the one we've been waiting for here's the one we're excited for

"Just one more thing," the mariner says as he tosses the keys to you, watching as you catch them and glance towards the boat that you've just bought. "Don't go in the water."

"Yes," you respond bluntly, watching as your new houseboat bobs and rocks in the waves and tugs at the ropes securing it to the wooden dock. It's a mass of tangled cords weaving through the darkness, and you thumb the keys in your hand as you look back to the mariner. "I know… I've heard."

"Good," he nods firmly, spinning on his heel and beginning to walk away, toward the endless labyrinth of shipping containers and dockworkers and boats pulling in and out of the harbour. "Make sure you keep it in mind. Don't go in the water… for anything."

You watch as he walks away, slipping into the mess of the docks and vanishing from sight, leaving you alone to climb up onto the plank and into your boat - into your new home. It's dark inside, of course, old and musty and crumbling. But it's tucked away in an inconspicuous corner of the docks, away from the city and the police and the witch hunters who walk the winding streets of Gotham. It's safe, or as safe as you can be, practicing the illegal arts. 

A larger wave crashes against the side of the boat and you sway on your feet as the wooden vessel rocks and groans with the movement, the water beating against the sides constantly - as if it's alive, as if it's trying to pull you further under. You know the stories told about the Gotham Harbour - you were warned when you fled to this place.

"Don't go in the water." people say. "There's something out there."

You'd asked around, of course, poked and prodded and peeled back layers of the tall tales that were spun in the darkness of the docks. You're not afraid of it - not the way that the others are. You're a creature of the night, yourself, of course, and things that move in the shadows don't scare you too much these days. It's humans who do the scaring, with their threats and their leering and their witchhunts.

They were small stories, at first - silly little anecdotes that the workers used to tell when their ships pulled into the docks. They would claim to have seen something moving in the water - glimpses of a shimmering, shining, fish-like tail seen out of the corner of their eyes and the faint sounds of a song sung through the fog, tempting and alluring, buzzed through their ears.

But they were harmless - just little stories the sailors would tell for fun to keep one another awake at night while they worked. They were all so sure that it was just tricks of the night and the mist… at first.

But then the casualties started. Sailors began to go missing from ships as they pulled into the harbour and some of them began to swear that they would watch their friends just walk right off the edge of the ship, stumbling and lurching like they were being pulled by something invisible.

"There's something out there," they'd swear. "And it's after us."

But nothing could be proved, of course, and none of the workers hauling illegal magical goods in and out of Gotham by the shadows of night wanted to be caught, so no one went to the authorities. And people just kept… disappearing.

And over time, naturally, the stories began to grow. The size of the tale began to double, then triple, until the tales told of a huge, serpent-like, scaled appendage that had the strength to crack the hull of a ship with one swipe. For some of the smaller vessels, the huge tail would wrap around the body of the ship, snapping it in half and dragging it to the bottom.

It glowed, they said, bioluminescent blues and greens and violets lighting up the water, a shimmering, shining beacon of death moving silently through the blackened depths.

But, you think pointedly as your boat rocks and sways and you swing the door open to let the sea breeze fill the stale interior. It's all speculation - some twisted story to justify the ships that suddenly began to go missing, some kind of hallucination that the survivors spun in the wake of trauma.

As you walk back outside to lean against the railing of the boat and peer into the murky depths of the harbour, you remember what the mariner had said to you when you bought the boat, watching as you'd counted out bills in front of him, both of you insisting on a cash-only transaction.

"The ships still come in and out," he'd said lowly, his arms crossed as he stared out towards the rolling waves. "But folks are getting antsy - scared. Some of the buyers want their shit moved other ways. You know, coming through the city on trucks instead."

"And does that work?" you'd asked absently, stacking money neatly as you half listened.

"Not really," he'd admitted. "It's all still taken to the docks, and… well, you know."

As the boat rocks and you shake your head in an attempt to rid yourself of the conversation, you can't help but let the mariner's words spin around your mind just a bit more. You can't help but picture it in your head - dockworkers, moving through the thick fog that filters through the night, wandering off the wooden edge and into the water like those sailors, pulled and pulled and tugged under by something monstrous. 

Droplets of rain begin to fall from the darkened, thunderous sky and you shiver as you stare down into the water for a moment before crouching. Slowly, carefully, you stick your arm through the railing of your boat and let your fingers dip just below the surface, feeling the icy waters for a moment before pulling back and inspecting your hand.

"Don't go in the water," people had said. "There's something wrong with it. There's something cursed about it." You hum in thought as you try to rub warmth back into your fingers, the freezing sensation from the water sticking to you and travelling up your arm as the rain begins to fall steadily. 

You've heard the stories, you know what Gotham is - a festering breeding ground for illegal magic, with its waters serving as a dumping ground for the pollution that comes with it. Years of it have turned the harbour into a magical chemical wasteland, and you shudder as the coldness seeps further into your skin and begins to turn your fingertips blue. 

"Don't go in the water," people had said, lest you find yourself developing a glowing blue-green tinge and struggling to breathe in air above water - lest you freeze over and stumble back in and fall down into the depths.

Don't go in the water - it will never let you out.

Below the surface of the water, two milky blue eyes stare forward - stare at you. Afternoon rolls into night and days roll into weeks and he watches, lets his tail swish through the water, sending waves crashing against the side of your boat. The vial that you'd been dipping into the water slips from your grasp and into the depths below. But you just sigh, mostly unbothered, before filling a second vial with the murky, darkened substance. 

You're not like the others, he finds - you're not scared of him the way that the others are. You're curious, instead, and it's a curiosity that he finds himself mirroring throughout the days, watching you as you study the water, filling vials upon vials with it and bringing it into your little floating home.

But there is, he realizes over time, still a fear in you. As he haunts the waters underneath your boat, he sees the way you shrink away from the dockworkers - the way you back away from the lights and noises of the city and keep to the relative safety of your boat. He sees your fear and recognizes it - sees it the way that he sees his own.

He knows, somewhere deep and intrinsic, that you're hiding from the same world that he is. And that curiosity in him becomes bravery as he watches you dip that second vial into the water and he sees your fingers, once tinged blue-green and frozen from the polluted waters. They look healthy now, warm and nimble as they pop the cap onto the vial. He stares, as much as he can with his milky, clouded eyes, down towards his own hands and wonders, ever so hopefully, if you can help him, too.

So he watches. And you, in turn, watch back. You begin seeing it, every now and then and out of the corner of your eye - glimpses of a large, powerful, scaled tail. Flashes of that glowing blue-green hue. Whispers of a song over the breeze. And that curiosity that he's become so fond of as he circles your boat in the darkness of night, trying his best to watch you - he finds that curiosity mirrored as you lean over the railing, eyeing him through the rippling waves. 

It's late one night, the moon hanging low in the darkened sky as the waves roll through the harbour, when he swims idly through the waters underneath your boat. He wonders, ever so curiously, if all people like you are so clumsy as you drop a vial you'd been working with, the dropper in your hand falling into the waters below and sinking towards the bottom. You sigh, a long-suffering sort of thing as you grip onto the railing and try to balance with the boat's swaying and rocking. 

You're standing slowly, your hand still wrapped tightly around the wooden rail when something crashes out of the water towards you. You lurch back a bit, your feet unsteady on the damp wood, but a strong arm wraps around your waist and keeps you upright while you stare at the being in front of you.

The creature haunting the Gotham Harbour, the monster of the deep, the serpent stalking the waters and pulling sailors to their deaths. Here he towers before you, his arm retracting away from you so that he can prop himself up on the railing of your boat and let his lengthy, scaled tail swish through the water beneath him.

You slip towards him as the force of him - as the weight of his enormous finned tail tips the boat ever so slightly and brings you closer to him. He looks down at you, leaning forward with his human torso as his eyes, milky and blurred, stare down and you grip onto the railing between the two of you in an effort to keep yourself upright.

When your knuckles brush against the jagged scales, though, an intricate pattern of blues and greens and violets scraping against your skin, he hisses and bares sharped, razor-like canines at you.

But you just blink, tipping your head back to look up at him - at his eyes and the white swirls clouding them over. Because you know what it looks like when magic rots you from the inside, when it eats away at you and turns you into something nightmarish. And you've been studying this water - you know of the pollution and the poisoning and the horrors that it causes. 

So you reach, out of instinct perhaps, towards him. You reach as your eyes sweep over his hair, bluish-black and dripping, over the water droplets that run down his abs and towards the gills covering his ribs, twitching and fluttering and struggling. You reach, and you're not all too surprised when he hisses again and lurches away from you.

But he reaches a cold, wet hand towards you instead of fleeing further and all but throws something at your chest, making you stumble back with a huffed breath and grab it before it falls. And it's the vial, you realize numbly as you stare down at it in your hands - the one that you'd dropped. His claws, you notice slowly, have hit you, too - ripping through your shirt just a bit and prompting little trails of blood to ooze out, darkened by the blanket of night that covers the two of you. 

"You -," you begin, but the creature is already pushing himself away from the railing, diving gracefully back into the water with a deadly silence and leaving you with your head spinning and your lungs burning as you stare at the water where he once appeared. 

Admittedly, the next time you drop something over the edge of your boat, it's more intentional than it usually is, and you crouch rather close to the water with your arms wrapped around your knees while you wait to see if he'll show up again. Sure enough, it's mere moments before he propels himself out of the water and drops the lost object onto the wooden deck, staring toward you with those milky, vacant eyes. 

You stand slowly while he stares, his arms propping him up on the railing while you move towards him. He stays still, this time, tense and unwavering as you step closer and look at his faded, unfocused eyes.

"I can help you," you say, pointing first at your own eyes and then at his. "Let me?" He just stares, though, white, glazed eyes looking on as the gills that line over his ribs twitch and shiver, morphed and altered by the harbour waters, forgetting the feel of the clean, cool oceans. He can't leave, you realize. Gotham Harbour has ensnared him, turned him into a monster that could only ever exist and survive here. 

He disappears as you study him, slipping back into the murky, blackened water and leaving you sighing, your shoulders slumping in momentary defeat. 

But then you hear it, a faint banging sound coming from inside your home - and you lurch, moving to rip open the door.

You see it then, the trapdoor that you have partially covered by a rug and the latch trembling with the force of something shoving at it from underneath. You move forward in a rush, after staring and blinking and letting your mind reel for a moment, to unlock the latch and let the trapdoor swing up and open, wrinkling the rug and covering it in that cursed harbour water as the creature pulls himself up through the opening and leans on his arms to look at you.

You stare, mouth slightly open as you take in the creature in front of you, letting his tail swish and move in the waves beneath him and dripping water onto your floor. 

"…Help me," he says slowly, and his voice is smooth, soft and sing-songy in a way that makes you walk towards him and fold yourself down onto your knees to look at him face-to-face.

"You can speak?" you ask in lieu of a response. He frowns, his dark, water-slicked brows bunching together as he stares in your direction. 

"There is a part of me that's human, after all," he says quietly. You huff out a breath and reach for him ever so slowly, letting your fingers hover for just a moment before making contact with his cheek. He makes a surprised little noise, jerking his head away from you for a second before shifting on his palms and leaning back into your touch.

"Thank you," you murmur quietly as you trace a finger over his brow bone before letting your forefinger hook under his chin so that you can tilt his head slowly and look at his eyes. 

"Can you… fix it?" he asks slowly, a hesitance in his smooth, silky voice.

"I can," you respond simply, smiling ever so lightly even though you know he probably can't really see it. "I said I'd help you… and I will."

It's a slow process, of course, to begin to heal and change him after that, bringing the colour and life back to his eyes. It's weeks of him pulling himself up through the trapdoor in the bottom of your boat to let you poke and prod at him, giving him various vials to drink from and coaxing him to tip his head back so that you can drop strange liquids into his eyes.

It's difficult for him, you know, odd and uncomfortable and frightening. So you don't mind, really, when he hisses and snaps his teeth and grabs your arm to dig his blue-black claws in until blood runs down your skin. He doesn't mean to, you know. So you let him.

And it works, much to his delight - the magic you use on him begins to soothe the symptoms of the polluted water. He's still this thing, of course, he'll never go back to being a regular mermaid, but he's not in pain - not the way he was before. His eyes don't burn and his head doesn't feel light and dizzy anymore, riddled with haziness and pain. 

Eventually, the white milkiness fades and his irises shine blue once more - it's not the blue they used to be, you're sure. They're vibrant and glowing and unnatural, but they're blue and they're his and he can see the world through them, finally. He can see you - really see you for the first time. 

"Hi," you breathe quietly, a smile flitting gently across your lips as you watch him blink rapidly, his eyes glancing quickly around the space to take in his surroundings properly for the first time in so, so long. 

And then, of course, his eyes find their way back to you, kneeling on the cold, wooden floor so that you're at eye level with him and looking at him with those big, hopeful eyes of yours. He reaches for you, then - he can't help it, not when you're kind and gentle and staring at him like he's something precious. You let him, though your brows shoot up in surprise when he leans forward.

"You're beautiful," he says lowly, close enough to you that his breath touches your face. You make a small, surprised sort of sound and glance away from him, but he reaches for you with a firm hand, cupping your cheek and smashing his lips against yours in a firm kiss. You make a high-pitched, surprised noise somewhere in the back of your throat and when he pulls away you shift on your knees, clearing your throat and looking at him in bemusement. 

"Thank you," he says simply, and you nod and hum in mock understanding.

"I'd like to, uh, I'd like to try fixing your gills a bit, too - if you'd let me." The grin that he gives you in response to your request makes you bite your lip in immediate regret.

"I think I'd let you do just about anything to me now," he says flippantly. You sniff indignantly and rub a hand over your face harshly, but cold, smooth fingers wrapping around your wrist stop you. 

"Oh, that's just…" but you trail off as he pulls up your sleeve slowly, revealing dark, crimson welts where he'd dug his claws into you so many times. You stay still as he stares, holding your breath as he runs a delicate finger over the cuts and looks unblinkingly down towards them.

"It's… it's ok," you say slowly. "It's alright."

"Seems like such a monstrous thing to do, doesn't it?" Dick says, ignoring your words. "To hurt the thing that's trying to help you." When he looks up at you then, you take notice of his clear, unblemished eyes for the first time. They're sharp and flashing, the deep blues and violets swirling in them as they draw you further, further, further in. 

He looks… dangerous, you realize sluggishly. He looks a bit like a wild animal, and as the waves beneath your boat crash against the wooden hull and water sloshes up from the opening onto his torso and your floor, you think, rather distantly, about the stories of the creature who haunts the harbour - who drags people to the depths. 

"Are you?" you ask quietly as your heart hammers against your ribs. "Are you a monster?" His grip on you tightens and you find yourself entranced by the shimmering colour of his eyes - a part of your mind begins to panic, begins to try to break away, but you find that you just… can't. 

"Oh, I wasn't always," he murmurs lowly. "But I think I am now. I think I was turned into one, don't you?"

"No…" you respond slowly, placing your hand over his where it grips your wrist and watching as the touch seems to shock him out of whatever trance he'd been in. "I think that's up to you." He blinks at you for a moment then, reeling, it would seem, from the entire interaction before he looks back down and sees the way he's gripping your arm, the cuts blemishing your skin there, oozing thin trails of red over his hand. 

You sigh in relief, much to your own guilt, when he wrenches his hand away from you and steadies himself as water sloshes up against him. As he breathes deeply and runs a cold, blue-tinged hand through his hair roughly, you stand and turn to rummage in a chest for bandages and ointment and whatever else you need.

"I didn't -" he starts.

"I know," you cut him off, tucking yourself into a chair some distance away from him and rolling up your sleeve so that you can dab at the wounds gently. "It's alright."

"Then why won't you look at me?" he asks, and there's a harsh edge to his voice that makes you pause. It's a divergence from his normal smooth, silky voice that wafts over the breeze and has sailors stumbling towards him in a haze. It's wavering, now, jagged and honest and it makes you huff out a breath.

"Careful," you quip, but you still don't look up. "You sounded almost human there." You hear him sigh quietly and the waves rock the boat as he shifts his stance and pulls himself up and further out of the water. 

"What are you doing?" This time you do look at him, throwing down the bandages that you'd been unravelling as he pulls himself further into your boat, letting his tail propel himself out of the water until he's laying almost on his back on your floor, propping himself up on his elbows and tipping his head back to stare at your ceiling as he drips water onto your rug.

"You're overextending your welcome, Dick," you say eventually, but there's a distinct lack of bite in your voice and his lazy grin proves that he knows that it's not a real jab, not when you say his name so sweetly - the name that he's whispered against you like a secret all those nights ago.

"I'm looking at your home," Dick responds easily, and you follow his gaze up toward the dried herbs hanging from your rafters.

You sigh, then, rolling your neck to try to ease some of the tension as you gather your first aid kit and bring them back toward him. He watches out of the corner of his eye as you kneel beside him once more, your knees hitting the soft rug with a dull thud as you begin unravelling the bandages once more.

Dick rolls onto his side to face you, though, propping himself up on just one elbow and reaching to take the bandages from your hands and coax you into giving him your arm. 

"You're a bit hot and cold, aren't you?" you observe quietly, your voice a low murmur as he takes your injured arm so delicately in his hands and begins wrapping the bandages over the damaged skin.

"I don't mean to be," he answers honestly. You just shrug.

"I don't mind… I think we all are sometimes," you say honestly. He glances up at you, the blue of his eyes shimmering as he draws his brows together.

"You've only been kind to me."

"You haven't known me that long," you point out, but he just shoots you a scathing look.

"You might… just not give yourself enough credit," he offers as he finishes bandaging your arm, securing it and smoothing his hands over it to ensure that everything is as it should be. "I think you're a good person," he says earnestly.

"I think you're a good person, too," you reply easily, but he freezes at your words for a moment before he pulls his hands away from you and rolls onto his back, letting his shoulders thump against your rug as he lays his hands over his stomach.

"There's not much of me left that could be seen as a person," he says quietly, and as his tail swishes, it bumps against the side of the trapdoor opening. Glancing at it for just a moment, you wonder how big it really is - how far down into the icy, blackened depths it really goes.

"I don't know," you start, and your teasing tone has him narrowing his eyes at you as you raise yourself up to shuffle closer on your knees and lean over him, bracing your hands on either side of his head as you look down at him scrutinizingly. "Your eyes look pretty good to me. Almost human."

He makes a face at that, wrinkling his nose as he lifts his hands off of his stomach to let one wrap gently around your wrist and the other smooth over the back of your thigh where you're still leaning over him.

"I don't care for being human," he huffs. "Just not… this." You let your eyes flicker over his torso at his words before they settle on the gills lining the sides of his ribs. He watches, one hand still trailing up and down the back of your thigh as you shift your weight slightly. When you place one hand overtop of the gills ever so gently, your palm just barely brushing against them, you watch as they twitch and move. 

"I said I'd help you with that, didn't I?" you murmur, looking down at the way they move underneath your touch. 

"That was -" he starts, and he looks away with a bashfulness - with a guilt that doesn't look like it belongs. "That was before I hurt you."

"Oh, I don't mind," you respond easily, shifting your weight back onto your palms where they now rest on either side of his head again. "Just as long as you never look at me like that again." You lean down as you speak, comforting the guilty look in his eyes with a kiss on his cheek that has him sighing underneath you. 

"I think you should keep it unlocked," he says quietly, and you hum in confusion before glancing at the lock of the trapdoor and grinning just a bit.

"What, you planning on dropping by?" you quip, but one of his arms slides around your waist and he pulls you closer to him, your thighs widening as he tugs you down. 

"Probably," he answers easily, and you huff a bit.

"What if something else decides to come pay me a visit, hm?" You say it mostly as a joke, but Dick's look sours and you catch a glimpse of his sharp, deadly canines as his lip curls in unhappiness.

"I won't let that happen," he offers firmly, his grip on you tightening. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"Well," you say, a bit breathless. "I guess I have nothing to worry about, then."

"You're distracting me," you murmur, sighing long-sufferingly when you're met with nothing more than a watery giggle in response to your chastising. You're sitting on the edge of your boat, cross-legged to keep your feet from touching the water as your hands flit over his gills to check the progress of their healing. 

But his hands roam over you, too, smoothing over your ribs and twirling your hair through his cold fingers as he watches you work. Below you, somewhere in the impossible, twisted depths of the harbour, his massive tail thumps against the underside of the boat and tips you forward until your forehead knocks against his chest and he giggles again in that tantalizing, siren-like way of his.

"Really, Dick," you continue as you plant a hand on the smooth, cold skin of his chest to steady yourself and huff in mock annoyance. "You should be much better now. Is it… do they feel different?"

"Of course," he answers quickly, but when you purse your lips in annoyance, he grins flippantly and you feel his twisted gills twitch under your fingers. "They do," he assures gently, a bit more serious this time. "I… I feel like I can breathe again. I feel like…" 

He stops then, looking out towards the docks and the endless, tangled maze of shipping containers and docked boats as you watch him. You smooth your hand more firmly over his side as another wave rocks the boat and you wonder, with a bit less concern than perhaps you should have, if it's him that's churning the waters down below - or if there's something else down there in the blackened depths. 

"You're free now," you supply for him when he doesn't finish speaking, and he starts in surprise and snaps his gaze to you, looking at you imploringly with those widened, twisted blue eyes.

"Free?" he asks haltingly.

"Mhmm," you nod slowly. "It's… I don't know. It's this place, isn't it? It's that water." You reach up as you speak, smoothing his bluish-black hair out of his eyes and pressing your lips together as you consider how to explain it - how to define the twisted curse of this place that you've both found yourselves trapped in. 

"It's like, once you're here," he begins, pausing and looking out towards the vast harbour, the endless darkness of the water seemingly swallowing the sunlight that touches it. "Once you're here… you can never really leave."

"It's… yea. Something like that," you agree, chewing your lip as you roll his words over in your mind. And it's like he knows - it's like those impossibly blue eyes can look right through you when he stares, because he taps his finger against your hip and you blink up at him.

"What about you?" he asks softly. "What curse is keeping you here?"

You open your mouth to respond, to say something in comfort as the twisting trap of the harbour looms behind you, but a noise on the dock startles the two of you.  By the time you realize that it's a couple of dockworkers wandering too close to your secluded little safe haven, he's already slipped from your grasp, disappearing into the icy, cursed waters below and sinking to somewhere where you can't follow.

Huffing a bit, you stand and stretch and stare out towards the water for just a moment before heading inside. And as you look out, as you stare and hope and wait, you see the ripple of something breaking through the surface - you see the shimmering, finned tail pop out of the water just enough so that you know… he's still down there. He's right underneath you, haunting the waters that he now calls home. 

"I'm going to start keeping that locked again if you don't stop doing that," you say breathlessly as you put a hand over your heart. The trapdoor at the bottom of your boat had just been swung open rather abruptly, slamming against the wooden floor so that he can pull himself out of the water.

"Why are there so many people searching the docks for you?" is all he says in response, his eyes flashing as he stares intently towards you. You just sigh and move to sit next to him, crossing your legs on the plush carpet and leaning on your palm as you look at him.

"They're witch hunters," you say simply. "This is illegal, you know."

"But you help people," he presses, something swirling in his eyes as he leans closer to you in anger. "What will they do to you when they find you?"

"Haven't you seen the smoke?" you shrug, leaning back and blinking as the intensity rolling off of him in waves makes you dizzy. "They're witch pyres."

"What?"

"It's a death sentence," you explain patiently. "If they can prove that someone's using witchcraft, it's… there's a death penalty. They're just hanging around to see if they can catch me. They can't arrest me without proof."

He stares at you, then, for a moment long enough that you shift where you sit and sigh deeply. But then he turns to stare out of one of the glazed windows, eyeing the flickering shadows of the world outside as if every one of them is a threat.

"Why not stop, then?" he asks quietly, keeping his gaze on the window.

"Stop?" you splutter. "Why would I?"

"Because you'll die," he says firmly. You smile gently, a bit too at ease with the whole thing than he is.

"We all die for something," you say softly. "I may as well die for living." He looks back at you, then, something large and sad and haunting in his gaze as he stares down at you. A bit of water sloshes up onto your floor as his tail trashes through the water below and you cock your head to the side in question as you wait for him to speak.

"I thought that once, too," he says slowly - haltingly, like the words scrape at his throat on their way out. "I thought that, when the poachers caught me - when they shipped me to this place like cargo. And when I escaped… I thought these waters would kill me."

"But isn't it better," you respond softly, smoothing a hand over his heart as he looks down at you with furrowed brows, his hair dripping water down his face. "To die free, in the seas, instead of in a cage?"

"That's what I thought," he nods.

"And now?" you ask slowly. A frown tugs at his lips and he sighs as he looks down at you, his lips pressed together into a thin line. 

"Now I wonder… if this is what this place has turned me into… what will it do to you?" You straighten at his words, huffing out a breath in surprise as he stares imploringly at you. But then you clear your throat and let your gaze rake over his figure. Glancing at the gills that now sit healthy and fluttering, at the crystal clear gaze of his eyes and the steady beating of his heart.

"Don't say it like there's no going back," you say instead of really answering. "I can't turn you back into what you were before, but you're whole again now, aren't you? You're free, remember?" He just sighs at that, though, and lets his eyes close as he leans forward to press his forehead against yours. Droplets of water drip from his face onto yours, leaving tangled trails of shining, cold wetness over your cheeks.

"But what will you do, then?" he asks quietly. "If I'm not here to keep you safe?"

"I'll be alright," you whisper back, smoothing a hand over the back of his neck to rub soothing circles into his skin with your thumb as you let your eyes flutter closed.

Dick's hand finds your waist and he tightens his grip, his fingers pressing in as if you'll disappear if he doesn't hold on. He thinks of it - of the wide blue seas, of the breeze and the rolling waves and sun beating down. He thinks of the freedom beyond this tangled web of darkness and something painful tugs at his heart.

As he opens his eyes and tilts his head back to look down at you, small and alive and looking up at him with a trust that he's never known before, he wonders if perhaps this is the real curse of Gotham. It's not that you can't leave - it's that, suddenly, you find that you never really want to.

But, of course, the stories have continued to rage on outside of your little safe haven, and whispers spread through the tangled streets about the creature in the deep… and now those stories include you. People have begun speculating that there's a witch practicing in the harbour, and stories tell of someone helping the monster of the water, making him stronger and more powerful and more capable of harm than ever before. 

And you hear them, of course, the tales and the rumours and the fear that begins to spread. It seeps into your home, oozing through the wooden planks and wrapping around you at night as you sit alone, no longer finding company in the blackened waters below.

You sent him away, you remind yourself. You gave him freedom and now he's gone. It's a fact that you remember with a startling zip of panic one night, when the moon hangs low and your breath fogs in front of your face as you wind through the maze of the docks quickly and quietly.

It's not often that you leave your boat these days, but it has to happen sometimes - and judging from the glinting stares of the dockworkers, you're not the only one who knew that. You know that you're being followed - you know how this night will end. The law may have to wait for proof to see you dead, but the poachers slinking around the docks and hauling illegal cargo aren't bound by such rules, and the menacing cloud hanging over you proves that. 

You freeze suddenly, jerking yourself out of your thoughts as you stare out at the dock in front of you - at the raging water beyond and the poachers that you can see just beyond the shipping crates. You have nowhere left to run, you realize haltingly. There is no safety to be found for you on this cursed night.

You think idly, as you stare out towards the abandoned waters, about what he'd said to you before you'd sent him away. You'll die for this, he's promised. If you set me free and you stay behind, you'll die in this cursed place.

Of course I will, you'd thought. But you hadn't expected it to be so soon. A thunderous wave crashes up onto the wooden dock and you consider, for just a moment, how lucky you may be to die free, standing on the edge of this curse and leaning out towards the open seas. 

And then you hear it, the dull footsteps and the jeering of approaching poachers, violence dripping off of them and staining the space between you all. You see it, the glint of a knife being pulled from somewhere hidden, the rolling shoulders of a man succumbing to fear.

And then… and then…

The huge, finned tail of a creature born of cursed nightmares and vengeance, breaking the water's surface to arch high overhead and make everyone stumble to a halt. You think, rather alarmed, that you really, really hadn't realized just how much of him he'd kept unseen - you notice it for the first time as the sheer size of the scaled tail fills the sky above you, the shimmering, thick fins blocking out the moonlight and casting a great, swallowing shadow over the dock in front of you. 

And then it moves, swift and powerful enough to send a gust of wind in your direction, tearing through your hair as you watch the tail smash through the wooden dock between you and the poachers. They scream, panicked and stumbling as the dock splinters and cracks and crumbles underneath you all, and the tail simply raises again to slam down a second time, now aiming directly for the men.

You hear it, as you stumble and misstep, the wooden planks collapsing beneath you - you hear the sickening cracks of the poachers being slammed by the tail, crushing them as they scream.

But then the wood under your feet finally gives way, and you find yourself plummeting into the icy, darkened waters below.

And these waters, you recall in a hazy, far away sort of way, aren't fit for humans - even ones like you. Dark and cold and murky, it burns and freezes and blurs out your mind and thinking. Stay out of the water, you think as you sink further down, down, deep towards the bottom, the faint lights of the dock disappearing above.

Stay out of the water - or it will never let you out.

You notice it in a sort of trance, as if it's happening to someone else and you're watching through a window - you can almost feel it, the arms that wrap around you, cold and firm. You can almost feel the water move around you as he begins to pull you up, out of the impossible depths and back towards the surface, towards the light and the warmth of the open night sky.

The water is impossible to see through, dark and muddy and hazing your vision, but you can see, through the cloudy ripples, the bioluminescent glow of his tail - like pinpricks of light, blue and violet and green, swirling all around you. 

You let your eyes try to follow the lights, but they twist and move and spread so far away that they fade into the depths, and the sight has you choking out a gasp and spluttering as the toxic water begins to fill your lungs - it has you reeling as you wonder, yet again, just how monstrous his figure really is.

But then the trapdoor of your boat is being slammed open from underneath and he's pulling you out of the water to lay you onto the plush rug in your home, letting you cough and splutter and gasp for breath. You tremble and shake, the cold from the water seeping into you and freezing you from the inside out as your lungs struggle and burn from the air you're trying to gasp in.

Dick's learned, though, you think distractedly as you watch him pull himself up and out of the water after you. He understands the witchcraft that you do and the potions that you make. It doesn't take long for him to have you pressed against him, curled into his chest as he brings vials to your lips gently, urging you to drink until your lungs begin to expand properly and your eyes focus on him.

By the time your mind begins to clear again, your chest rising and falling in a steadier pattern as your breathing evens out once more, Dick's laying on the rug next to you, curling around you in a protective sort of embrace, and you sit up just enough to see the beginnings of his tail winding around you as well until you're in a makeshift sort of nest. As your eyes follow his tail through its twists and curls and settle on where it continues down into the murky water, you can't help but think back to the impossible power of it that you'd witnessed before. 

"Don't move," he murmurs sternly, tugging you back down to press you against his chest again. You're still shaking, trembling from the cold that still lingers under your skin, and the sight makes him frown as he swipes a thumb over your lips as they stay stained blue from the freezing temperatures of the water. His skin, as he shifts against you, you're sure doesn't help - always cold to the touch, always inhumanly freezing. 

"Just let me get something," you respond quietly, your voice raspy from the strain you'd put on your throat and lungs. A frown tugs on his lips, but he lets you stand on shaky legs and take just a few steps away from him to snatch the blanket off of the back of your armchair before you're stumbling back to him. That frown of his doesn't begin to ease until he's got you pressed against him again, the blanket tucked securely around you and his hands flitting around, smoothing down the fabric and tucking in the corners.

"I thought you were gone," you admit softly, your face pressed against his chest. His hands still a bit before he's smoothing a palm over the back of your hair and pressing a kiss to your forehead. 

"I wouldn't leave you like this," he responds gently, his voice soothing in that soft, slow way of his. "I couldn't leave you to do this alone."

"But what about you?" you push. "Don't you want to go home?" Dick sighs at that, wrapping the blanket tighter around you where it's begun to slip off of your shoulder. 

"There's something about this place," he muses, like there's a point that he's sidestepping - like there's something that he doesn't want to admit. "I guess I couldn't really find it in me to - there's something about… I don't know, this place. This city and this harbour and… and you. It's like I'm rooted here."

"I'm… sorry," you offer gently. He just places a soothing kiss to your cheek and squeezes you gently in his arms as if to say it's not your fault. This isn't your curse. This isn't your trap.

"I think…" he begins slowly, smoothing a hand up and down your spine. "That there may not be anything for me out there anymore. Not… not with this curse of mine" He glances down at himself as he speaks, at his twisted tail and the way the scales ripple and catch the light. You may have healed his pain, sure, but not even you could turn him into what he was before.  He's this monster now, warped and twisted and deadly… and that's just the way it is, he thinks. 

"I suppose," you respond slowly. "There's no breaking curses like ours. Maybe there really is no escaping this place."

"But is it so bad?" he offers gently, crooking his forefinger under your chin to make you look up at him, to sweep his thumb over your bottom lip once more and feel the warmth returning to you, flushing your skin. "Is it so horrible to share a curse like this?"

"No," you murmur as his lips find yours, soft and gentle and cold to the touch. "Maybe it's not."

"And besides," Dick adds, a humour seeping into his voice that has you narrowing your eyes in suspicion. "It seems you clearly need something lurking in the water to look out for you."

"Um… do you need to deal with that?" The woman you're speaking to is staring at the trapdoor in the bottom of your boat with a concerned sort of shock as the hinges rattle and the lock creaks.

"What? No, no, it's -" you say as you slam your foot onto it, stomping the wood aggressively. "It's just the waves." She's looking at you like she doesn't believe you, and the banging sound that's coming from the trapdoor isn't helping much, you're sure.

"Alright, I - um, that's right. I - I have your payment here," the woman continues politely, handing you an envelope. You flip it open to count the bills in it quickly, keeping one foot planted firmly on the rattling trapdoor. It may be illegal, this practice of yours, but condemning witchcraft has yet to make it unhelpful. Even now, months after your move to Gotham, you have a steady stream of customers slipping into your boat and asking for your help. 

  "Ok, come back soon!" You call as the woman makes a hasty exit after you've approved her money, glancing back to the trapdoor with a scared sort of look before she disappears. 

It's once she's gone, then, that you lift your foot and unlock the latch before stepping back just in time for Dick to throw the door up and open with a loud bang. 

"Why did you lock it?" he huffs as he pulls himself up, catching the towel that you toss to him.

"I always lock it when I have customers," you sigh good-naturedly, sitting next to him and watching as he hastily dries off himself, keeping the polluted harbour water away from your rug. "We really… we really can't be seen like this."

"I don't know what you mean," Dick sniffs indignantly, but the sly look that he shoots you as he tosses the towel aside says otherwise. You let him get away with it, of course, doing nothing but settling further and letting him sprawl himself across your lap. 

"I'm serious," you say, but you begin to card your fingers through his hair gently as you chastise him and you watch as he lets his eyes flutter closed, his tail swishing through the water below you and rocking the boat in soothing movements. "All of us have to be careful. There are rumours of a purge going on - people are even talking about bringing the vampire hunts back."

"Vampires?" Dick opens one eye to squint up at you. "In Gotham? That can't be true."

"You'd be surprised," you murmur, but you shush him nonetheless, letting him close his eyes again as you smooth over his furrowed brows with your thumb. 

"You're not… you're not really upset, are you?" he says slowly - quietly, like he's afraid of the answer.

"With you?" you respond easily. "No, never." You lean down to kiss him, then, delicate little things placed first on his lips and then across his face as he relaxes against you. You both know, by now, that you're not really upset. How can you be? When you have a home and a practice and a rather vicious guard dog who loves you so much.

How can you be upset? With this life that you've built for yourself and this curse that you've tamed.

[sanguineterrain]

For the drabbles!!

Can you walk? I need you to walk for me! With Dick, if that sounds interesting to you!!

Loved the Drabble you posted, you’re a talented writer!

thanks very much nonnie 🥺❤️ wanted to switch it up and whump dickie boy >:)

"can you walk? i need you to walk." - dick grayson x gn!reader. tw: injured dick, bullet wound, reader tasers a bad guy. dick's not dead i prommy!! Loosely based on the Nightwing 2021 comics.

prompt lists are here! i reblog all fics to @sanguinelibrary

****

You wake up to the beeping of the distress signal. Instantly, you're awake, fumbling for the comm bud to put in your ear.

"—in, do you copy? Nightwing needs help, he's—"

"Where is he, Babs?" you ask, flinging the sheet off of your legs and jumping into your suit.

"Blüdhaven City Hall."

"What the hell? Alone?"

Barbara sighs. "Yes. I didn't know until the mayor texted."

Anger flares. You tamp it down because Barbara hasn't done anything wrong, and it's not fair to snap at her for Dick's stupid choices.

Besides, the anger is only to mask the chilling fear that bubbles up.

You stick to the rooftops like Dick himself had taught you when you were first getting the hang of the vigilante thing. You're more like Barbara in that you prefer to stay on the sidelines and help.

But if Dick is in trouble, you're there.

Your heart pounds; you can barely hear the instructions Barbara's giving you as you approach City Hall.

"Is he conscious?" you ask, interrupting her.

She doesn't answer at first.

"Oracle," you press, gritting your teeth as you descend down the roof access stairs. "Is he awake?"

"I don't know. I lost his comm link."

The fear sharpens. Your heart beats so fast, you're afraid you might collapse.

"He's alive, though. His suit vitals are still elevated."

You run faster, flying down the stairwell. It takes some searching to find Dick since his mask camera is also destroyed, according to Barbara. But you manage to track him down relatively fast.

Dick is bound to a chair, puddles of blood at his feet. You rush over and pull at the knots without thinking, growing frustrated when they don't turn loose.

"Blade on your left side."

You startle hard at Dick's voice. He lifts his head slowly and you stifle a gasp at his face. One of the lenses of his mask is cracked. His cheek is bloody and nearly black with bruises. His suit is torn and dirty.

They'd left him for dead.

"I found him, Babs."

You hear her sigh of relief. She starts to organize your exit route. You're only half listening as you slice through the ropes with the blade you forgot you had in your left pocket.

Dick's arms hang at his sides even after you free them. They'd done a number on him.

He watches you as you free his legs next.

"Suit looks good on you," he says, head lolling. "Peak design, if y'ask me."

"You're so stupid," you say, bowing your head so he can't see the tears that sting your eyes. "This was an idiotic thing you did, Dick."

"Alias names only in the field," he reminds you.

You yank the rope harder than you mean to and free his legs.

Dick has to use his whole body to push himself off of the chair. Even so, he stumbles, and you rush to catch him. Your heart jumps to your throat. Of course he'd hide how bad his injuries are.

"Oracle, call Batman."

"No," Dick grits, shaking his head. "Don't call him."

"You can barely move. I can't carry you myself."

You wish you could. As furious as you are, you'd carry him home.

"Am I calling him?" Barbara asks in your ear.

A door slams somewhere upstairs. Cold sweat erupts all over your body. Dick looks at you, and you know he heard it too.

"Guys, am I calling Batman or not?"

"No, we can do it," you say against your better judgment. "Can you move?"

Dick nods rapidly, though you don't totally believe him. You sling an arm under his arm, then wrap your other arm around his waist. He puts nearly all of his weight on you, though you can tell he's using what little strength he has left to try and shift his weight.

The two of you go like that, Dick half limping. You try not to think about how his blood stains your suit.

You move slowly, which unfortunately means that the goon upstairs catches up to you. He pulls out a gun, and Dick shoves you aside before you can advance. He pays the price for it when the goon shoots his leg.

Dick screams.

Quick as Flash, you grab an escrima stick and charge the taser to two thousand volts. Then you ram it into the goon's gut.

He drops like a sack of potatoes. You don't check if he's breathing.

"We don't kill," Dick says as you return the stick to his back holster.

You harshly cut the goon's shirt with your blade and tourniquet Dick's bullet wound. He hisses in pain.

"I didn't kill him," you snap.

"You could've. What the hell was that?"

"That was me stopping him before he blew your brains out!" you shout. "That was me making sure the commissioner doesn't have to fish your body out of the river!"

Dick's head thumps against the wall. His suit is slick with blood. "That wouldn't have happened."

"You could've died tonight, Dick! Why can't you get that through your head?"

His eyes close for too long on the next blink. You kneel in front of him immediately, shaking his shoulder. He grunts.

"Dick, no. Wake up. Don't do this, you gotta stay awake for me."

"'M awake," he says groggily. "I'm..."

"Oracle," you say, panicked. "Vitals."

"His heart rate is sluggish; he's lost a lot of blood. You have to—"

"Dick," you say, shaking his shoulder again. "Dickie, you gotta get up. Can you walk? I need you to walk for me."

"'Kay," he whispers, barely lifting his arm.

"Okay, I've got you. Ready? One, two—"

You lift him and stagger under his full weight.

"Sorry," he murmurs, and you feel sick.

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize. I shouldn't have yelled, I'm sorry. Stay awake, okay?"

He hums. You manage to establish a decent gait between the two of you. Dick stumbles along, trying his best to walk independently.

You're almost out of City Hall when Dick collapses. This time, he doesn't get up.

"No, no. Wake up, Dick, wake up. Come on, come on!"

You shake him as hard as you'll let yourself. Dick doesn't stir.

"There's so much blood," you say, your hands sticky with it. "B-Babs..."

"I'm sending help right now. B's on his way, okay?" She sounds just as wrecked as you feel. "Just hold on."

You cradle Dick's head and suck in gasping breaths, keeping pressure on his thigh.

That's how Batman finds you, shaking and hunched over his son.

[hanluex]

Something really really painful sad with dick Grayson but happy ending

♡ I’M SORRY — DICK GRAYSON

bf!dick x fem!reader | wc : 0.7k words | content : possible grammar and spelling mistakes, lowercase intended, angst, established relationship, mentions of an accident, mentions of blood, crying | request : um i mayhaps have forgotten the happy ending part, so a part two soon hopefully 😭

“wow, this is all your fault. i can’t believe you, y/n.”

dick grayson mumbled under his breath playfully, enjoying the disgruntled expression on your face.

“babe, i said i’m sorry!” you whined, pouting as you grabbed your boyfriend’s arm. “honest mistake, my bad.”

the two of you were invited to a charity ball, and you hadn’t realized you left the invitation back home until you were at the venue.

fortunately, you were a couple of blocks away from your apartment, which was why you two were walking back, with dick grumbling the whole way.

“we should’ve taken the car. i told you we should, but no!” dick stifled his smile, looking away so you couldn’t see his façade. “you insisted we walk. who even walks to a charity event?!”

you frowned, disheartened. “i’m sorry, babe. i didn’t think taking the car was necessary,” you confessed sincerely.

dick smiled, unable to keep up with his charade any longer. “i was just joking, love. gosh, you are so fun to play around with,” he stated, chuckling at your look of betrayal.

“you are such an idiot. i hate you!”

“now, you better take that back because we both know that’s a lie.”

you fastened your pace, walking away from the brunet. "nope, i'm being very honest." you laughed, amused by his reaction.

"y/n, come here!" dick called, chuckling as he followed you. "babe!"

the traffic lights turned red, causing the cars to come to a stop. you continued teasing your boyfriend as you crossed the road, sticking your tongue out in a mocking manner.

dick laughed as you did a little dance in the middle of the road, amused at the extent you went to make him laugh.

a loud zoom made the brunet freeze in his place, watching as an oncoming bike increased its speed despite the red light.

just as he opened his mouth to warn you, his gaze was filled with the slow motion image of the bike hitting you, your body being thrown a few feet away at the impact.

fuck, fuck, fuck. no, please, no. fuck, no.

"y/n!" dick yelled, his heart beating harshly against his chest as he ran towards you.

his breath quickened as he saw the blood, shakily taking out his phone as he kneeled next to your half-conscious body.

"i called for help. they said they'll be here in ten minutes."

the phone fell out of his hands, immediately reaching out to hold you in his arms as tears filled his vision.

"oh, baby." he touched your face gently, hot tears falling from his face to yours. "no, please."

you blinked softly, in a dazed state. "dick?" you called out, causing the brunet to nod in reply, more tears falling down his face.

"you have t-to talk to m-me, babe. how e-else am i g-going to stay a-awake?"

"i c-can't." dick cried harder, feeling your hands on his face. "i'm so sorry."

"richard, t-take … take a deep breath, p-please. calm down, o-okay?"

"how can i stay calm? y-you are … you—"

you felt lightheaded. "i'm sorry," you apologized, wiping away his tears. "i got blood all over you," you added.

"is that what you are worried about?!"

"i know this is your favorite suit."

despite your attempt at a joke, dick cried harder, feeling worse as he was supposed to be the one to console you.

yet here you were, lying in a pool of your own blood, still having time to make lighthearted jokes about the situation.

dick grayson ignored your words as you assured him you were fine, rambling away about anything and everything under the sun.

he didn't even know what language he was speaking in, let alone what he spoke about. he just rambled, hoping you'd stay awake until the ambulance came.

"i l-like this view." you interrupted his chattering, smiling through the pain. "r-really good an-angle of y-you."

"not the time, y/n."

you heaved a breath as you reached out to hold your boyfriend's hands, groaning quietly as the pain became unbearable.

"does it hurt bad?" dick asked softly. "is there anything i can do for you?"

you took a deep breath, wincing. "i-if i don't m-make it, i h-hope you know how much … m-much i love you. and if p-possible, look out for jay b-because—"

"no! don't give me this 'last word' talk." dick shook his head. "you'll be fine, and you will be the one to look out for jay because he'll listen to no one except you, and only you can handle him."

"babe, please—"

"no, just no. i will not let you leave me. if you even think about dying, i'm going to kill you."

"i love you, richard grayson. so fucking much, i do."

taglist : @maverick-wingman (to be added, please send a dm or ask!)

[dc-and-arfrona]

Night Time - Headcannons - Batboys

—

Bat Boys x GN!Reader

Type: Fluff

Word Count: 2.3k+

Masterlist

Summary: Your gifts to them after a night of patrol. 

—

Jason Todd - Home Cooked Meal

After a long and exhausting night of patrolling Gotham City, Jason Todd, the Red Hood, returned to the sanctuary of his home, a mix of weariness and anticipation coursing through his veins. He opened the door and was immediately greeted by the enticing aroma of a home-cooked meal that filled the air.

As he entered the kitchen, he found you, the person who held his heart, standing there with a warm smile on your face. The sight of you preparing a delicious feast tugged at Jason's heart, washing away the fatigue of the night's battles.

"Welcome home, Jason," you said, your voice filled with affection. "I thought you could use a good meal after tonight."

Jason's lips curled into a grateful smile, his eyes reflecting his love and appreciation. "You always know how to make me feel at home, Y/N. Thank you."

He joined you in the kitchen, stealing a taste of the dish you were preparing. The flavors exploded on his taste buds, a testament to your culinary skills. With every bite, he felt nourished not only by the meal but also by the love and care you poured into it.

As you both sat down to enjoy the meal together, the exhaustion from the night's battles faded into the background. The warmth of the home-cooked food mirrored the warmth that enveloped the space between you, strengthening the bond you shared.

In those moments, Jason realized the true meaning of coming home—finding solace and comfort in your presence, in the simple act of sharing a meal together. The home-cooked meal became a symbol of the love and care you bestowed upon him, a reminder that amidst the chaos of their lives, he had found a haven in your arms.

As you exchanged smiles and conversation, the weight of the night's battles lifted from Jason's shoulders. In your embrace and through the flavors of the meal, he found peace—a respite from the darkness he fought against. He cherished these moments, knowing that they were the threads that wove their lives together, creating a tapestry of love and support.

And so, in the glow of the kitchen, Jason Todd and you discovered that the simplest acts—a home-cooked meal and the shared moments around the table—could heal wounds, rekindle spirits, and remind them of the love that burned bright in their hearts. In each other's presence, they found a home—a place where they could truly be themselves, nurtured by the warmth of love and the taste of a home-cooked meal made with devotion.

Dick Grayson - Pillow Fort

After a grueling night of patrolling Gotham City as Nightwing, Dick Grayson returned to his apartment, his body weary but his spirit alive with anticipation. Little did he know that you, his partner and love, had prepared a surprise that would chase away the weariness and envelop him in warmth.

As he stepped through the door, he noticed a soft glow coming from the living room. Curiosity piqued, he followed the light and discovered a sight that brought a wide smile to his face—a cozy pillow fort filled with blankets, fairy lights, and a collection of his favorite movies.

Dick's heart swelled with joy as he realized what you had done. The thoughtfulness and care behind the gesture warmed his soul, washing away the fatigue of the night's battles. He couldn't help but feel a deep appreciation for the effort you had put into creating this haven of comfort and relaxation.

"You've outdone yourself, Y/N," Dick said, his voice filled with awe. "This is amazing."

You stepped out from behind the fort, a playful grin on your face. "I thought you could use a little relaxation after tonight. Come on, let's unwind and enjoy some movie magic."

Without hesitation, Dick joined you in the pillow fort, sinking into the softness of the cushions and reveling in the cozy atmosphere you had created. The dim lighting, the warmth of the blankets, and the presence of the person he loved turned the living room into a sanctuary—a place where the weight of the world could be momentarily set aside.

As you snuggled close, laughter and whispered conversations filled the air. You shared stories, whispered secrets, and basked in the comfort of each other's company. The movies played in the background, but the real magic was the connection between you and Dick.

In those moments, as they lost themselves in the embrace of the pillow fort, Dick realized the true meaning of home—a place where he could find solace and love, where the weariness of the night could be cast aside in favor of moments of pure joy and relaxation.

Together, you created memories—moments that would be etched in their hearts forever. In the gentle glow of the fairy lights and the soft whispers that filled the fort, Dick Grayson and you discovered the power of simple pleasures—a pillow fort and movie night became a symbol of their love and the sanctuary they had created together.

As the night wore on, Dick's weariness transformed into a profound gratitude for the person who had brought this beautiful moment into his life. With every laugh shared and every stolen glance, their love grew stronger, nourished by the comfort of the pillow fort and the magic of movie night.

And so, in the embrace of the fort, Dick Grayson and you found respite from the darkness of Gotham, a safe haven where their love could bloom. In each other's arms and in the flickering light of the movies, they discovered the true power of home—a place where they could be themselves, surrounded by the warmth of love and the gentle embrace of a cozy pillow fort.

Tim Drake - Coffee 

After a long and demanding night of patrolling Gotham City as Red Robin, Tim Drake returned to his residence, a mix of exhaustion and appreciation coursing through his veins. He opened the door, expecting to find a familiar mess of books and gadgets scattered about. Instead, he was met with a pleasant surprise.

The house was impeccably clean, everything in its place. The sight instantly eased the tension in Tim's shoulders, a smile of gratitude gracing his lips. He could see your thoughtful touch in every corner, in the tidy rooms and the polished surfaces.

As he made his way to the kitchen, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air. Tim's senses awakened, and he spotted a cup waiting for him on the counter—a steaming mug of decaf coffee, perfectly prepared to his liking.

Tim couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth and love. The consideration you had shown him, taking care of the chores and providing him with a comforting beverage after his patrol, touched him deeply. It was a testament to the bond you shared, a connection that extended beyond the mask and cape.

With a grateful sigh, Tim settled into a chair at the kitchen table, cradling the cup of decaf coffee in his hands. The warmth seeped into his palms, matching the warmth he felt in his heart. As he took a sip, the rich flavors danced across his taste buds, providing a moment of solace and comfort.

In that quiet moment, Tim's weariness faded into the background. The clean house and the cup of decaf coffee became symbols of your love and care, a reminder that amidst the chaos of their lives, he had found a haven in your presence.

As you joined him at the table, Tim's gaze met yours—a silent expression of gratitude and affection. He didn't need words to convey his appreciation; the gentle smile on his face said it all.

Together, you shared a peaceful moment, savoring the quietude and the gentle companionship. The clean house and the decaf coffee became touchstones in their relationship, reminders that even in the face of darkness and danger, love could create pockets of serenity and understanding.

And so, in the gentle embrace of a clean home and the comfort of a cup of decaf coffee, Tim Drake and you discovered the true meaning of love—a partnership built on consideration and support. In each other's presence, they found a sanctuary—a place where they could recharge and find solace, nourished by the warmth of love and the taste of a perfectly brewed cup of coffee.

Damian Wayne - Night Cuddles 

After a long and challenging night of fighting crime as Robin, Damian Wayne returned to the comforts of the Wayne Manor. As he entered his room, a familiar sight brought a small smile to his face—the bed was made with precision and care, a soft glow emanating from the bedside lamp.

Beside the bed, his loyal companion Ace, the Bat-Hound, eagerly wagged his tail, sensing his return. Damian's heart swelled with warmth, knowing that you, the person who held his heart, had prepared everything for a night of peaceful rest and the comfort of shared cuddles.

As Damian approached, Ace jumped onto the bed, settling himself in anticipation. Damian couldn't help but appreciate the thoughtfulness behind your actions. The meticulously made bed and the calming ambiance set the stage for a moment of respite—a sanctuary from the trials of their crime-fighting endeavors.

Climbing onto the bed, Damian wrapped his arms around Ace, feeling the softness of his fur against his fingertips. He couldn't help but feel a sense of serenity, a calmness that washed away the weight of his responsibilities.

And just as he settled in, you joined them on the bed, a gentle smile on your face. Damian's eyes met yours, a silent expression of gratitude and affection. The world outside may have been chaotic, but here, in this moment, he found solace and a sense of belonging.

With Ace snuggled against his side and you resting against his other, Damian experienced a moment of tranquility. The warmth of the embrace and the comfort of shared affection brought a sense of peace to his heart. The trials and tribulations of their lives seemed to fade away, replaced by a profound connection—a reminder that love could thrive even in the midst of darkness.

As Damian drifted off to sleep, the bed made with care and the nightly cuddles with Ace and you became symbols of comfort and security. They were reminders that, no matter the challenges they faced, there was a haven waiting—a place where he could find solace, embraced by the love of those closest to him.

And so, in the gentle embrace of a perfectly made bed and the soothing presence of Ace and you, Damian Wayne and you discovered the true meaning of love—a sanctuary built on trust, understanding, and shared affection. In each other's arms, they found a respite—a place where they could recharge and find solace, surrounded by the warmth of love and the unconditional support of their loyal companion.

Bruce Wayne - Bath 

After a long and relentless night of protecting Gotham City as Batman, Bruce Wayne returned to the solace of Wayne Manor, his body aching from the battles fought in the shadows. As he made his way to the master suite, he was met with a sight that filled his heart with gratitude and anticipation.

You, the person who had captured his heart, had prepared a luxurious bath, the warm water cascading from the ornate taps, filling the room with a soothing ambiance. Candles flickered, casting a soft glow that danced along the walls, creating an atmosphere of tranquility.

Bruce's eyes met yours, and a genuine smile played upon his lips. The tension that had gripped his body began to dissipate, replaced by a sense of calm as he realized the depth of your thoughtfulness.

"You've outdone yourself, my love," Bruce said, his voice filled with appreciation. "This is exactly what I need after a night on patrol."

You stepped closer, your presence comforting and grounding. "I thought it would help you relax and ease the weariness from your body. Let me take care of you, Bruce."

Without hesitation, Bruce shed his suit, the weight of the night's battles fading with each discarded piece of armor. He stepped into the warm embrace of the bath, the soothing water enveloping his tired muscles. As he settled, you joined him, the fragrant scent of bath oils filling the air.

Silence settled between you, broken only by the soft lapping of water and the steady beating of their hearts. Bruce's eyes met yours, conveying a depth of gratitude that mere words could not express. In your presence, he found a sanctuary—a respite from the darkness that consumed his nights.

As you gently washed away the dirt and fatigue from his skin, Bruce allowed himself to lean into the tenderness, embracing the vulnerability that came with allowing someone to care for him. The weight of the cowl and the burden of Batman were momentarily set aside, replaced by the intimacy and comfort of the moment.

In the quietude of the bath, a connection deepened—an unspoken language of love and understanding. You saw beyond the mask and into the vulnerable heart of the man beneath, tending to his physical and emotional wounds with gentle care.

And as the warm water enveloped them, Bruce Wayne and you discovered the power of love—a force that could heal the wounds of the night and soothe the weariness of the soul. In each other's presence, they found solace—a place where they could truly be themselves, embraced by the love and care of the person who saw beyond the façade.

In the realm of tranquil baths and shared intimacy, Bruce Wayne and you found a haven—a place where they could find respite, supported by the warmth of love and the understanding that they were not alone.

[fandomgirlz01]

My Place In This World Pt. 2

Fireworks

Dick Grayson X Reader

Imagine on my fandom instagram?: No

Prompt?: No

Request?: No

Requested prompt?: No

Edited: Yes

Word count: 8,463 

Ko-fi

Masterlist

Warnings here

You can listen to the story be read out loud here.

Post Date: December 14th, 2023

Post Time: 10:41 pm

Summary: Growing up in Haly's circus and losing their parents in the same night makes the reader and Dick closer than anyone else. Together they go through life having one another's backs though every life change, even eventually becoming Robin and Blue Jay together. What happens when feelings have changed and slowly start to be revealed? 

Y/n’s Pov: 

“Time runs short. You must awaken,” a weird ominous voice speaks. 

“You must awaken now!” The voice shouts and my head shoots up as I open my eyes. 

We all awake with a gasp as we find ourselves locked up in pods. I try pulling at my arms only to find that they’re restrained above my head. I try wiggling my feet only to find that they too are restrained. 

Looking back up, I see the clone standing in front of us just staring at us with a very stoic look on his face. I look over to my left to see Dick next to me and he looks at me. He silently asks me if I’m okay and I nod before silently asking him the same thing, feeling pleased when he nods. 

“What? What— what do you want?!” Wally yells out, making me turn to my right to see him before looking back at the clone. 

“Quit staring. You’re creeping me out,” Wally continues to yell at the clone standing in front of us and I shake my head. 

“Uh, KF, how about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?” Dick calmly asks in a soft tone and I hum in agreement. 

“Listen, we only sought to help you,” Kaldur states in a calm and soft voice. 

“Yeah. We free you, and you turn on us. How’s that for grat—” Wally berates the clone and I roll my eyes. 

“Kid, please, be quiet now,” Kaldur interrupts as he turns to look at him. 

“Yeah. KF, quiet. Even I know now’s not the time to get angry, and I’m the most angry person here,” I add onto Kaldur’s words and Dick scoffs. 

“Blue Jay. Stop. You are not,” he pointedly says with a roll of his eyes. 

“Enough. I believe our new friend was not in control of his actions like we are,” Kaldur cuts in and I look over at Dick with a light smirk when I see him pop out his lock pick from his glove. 

He nods at me and I nod back before pressing the small button in my glove. My lock pick pops out as his had done and we both start quietly working on our shackles. 

“Wha— what if I… what if I wasn’t?” The clone asks in a hesitant tone and Wally’s eyes widen. 

“He can talk!” he shouts in shock and I roll my eyes. 

“Of course he can, KF. He may be a clone, but—” I go to defend it in an annoyed tone, but the clone cuts me off. 

“Yes, he can,” he comments in anger as his fists clench at his side. 

“And I thought I had anger issues…” I mumble with another roll of my eyes. 

“Jay…” Dick warns and I stifle a giggle as I shrug when Dick gives me his disapproval look. 

“Not like I said it,” Wally defends himself and I chuckle, shaking my head. 

“You might as well have, KF,” I exasperate with a roll of my eyes and he huffs. 

“The genomorphs taught you telepathically,” Kaldur asks, changing the subject as he turns his head to look at the clone. 

“They taught me much. I can read, write. I— I know the names of things,” the clone tries to convey what he knows. 

“But have you seen them? Have they ever let you actually see the sky?” Dick asks but pauses for a moment. 

“Or the sun?” I finish Dick’s thoughts, making him look at me before looking back at the clone. 

“Images are implanted in my mind, but no. I have not seen them,” the clone answers in a melancholy tone and I frown. 

“Well, you deserve to see them and feel the heat from the sun,” I tell him in a sympathetic tone, still frowning. 

“Do you know what you are, who you are?” Kaldur asks and the clone seems to stand a little straighter. 

“I am the Superboy, a genomorph, a clone made from the DNA of the Superman created to replace him should he perish…” the clone starts to explain, but pauses. 

“To destroy him should he turn from the light,” the clone finishes explaining and Dick turns to look at me. I frown at him and he shakes his head before looking back at the clone. 

“To be like superman is a worthy aspiration, but like superman you deserve a life of your own, beyond that solar suit, beyond your pod, beyond Cadmus,” Kaldur tries to get our point further across to the clone. 

“I live because of Cadmus! It is my home!” The clone angrily shouts out as he argues back. 

“Your home is a test tube. We can show you the sun,” Dick starts to try explaining what else he can have and I smile. 

“Uh, pretty sure it’s after midnight, but we can show you the moon,” Wally adds on and I roll my eyes in annoyance at the boy for the millionth time. 

“Robin’s point is that we can show you how to have a real life outside these walls,” I add on and Dick smiles softly at me as Wally rolls his eyes. 

“We can show you, introduce you to superman,” Kaldur tells him and for a moment it looks like the clone is thinking about it. 

“No, they can’t,” another voice speaks up, making the clone turn around as we all look up. 

“They’ll be otherwise occupied,” the scientist creepily tells us as he, Guardian and another scientist walk in through the door. 

“Activate the cloning process,” he demands the other female scientist as he and Guardian come to a stop. 

“Pass. Batcav’s crowded enough—” Dick comments and I have to hold back a giggle. 

“Tell me about it, Rob. With you, me, Bats and now Batgirl, I can’t take on any more added to the team,” I agree with him, playfully rolling my eyes and he smirks as I hold back my laughter. 

“And get the weapon back in its pod!” The male scientist demands again as he looks at Guardian, who then starts towards the clone. 

“Hey, how come he gets to call Supey an it?” Wally whines out and I sigh, shaking my head. 

Guardian walks up behind the clone and puts a hand on his shoulder. The clone watches him walk up from the corner of his eye until he touches his shoulder and turns to look at Kaldur. 

“Help us,” Kaldur tells the clone one last time. 

The clone then shoves Guardian's hand off of his shoulder and turns to look at him. He gives him a glare before the scientist walks up behind him. 

“Don’t start thinking now,” the scientist exasperates as he walks past the clone and the genomorph on his shoulder jumps off onto the clone’s shoulder. 

The genomorph’s horns glow and the clone's eyes widen before becoming void of emotion. The scientist moves to stand in front of the clone and comes to a stop. 

“See, you’re not a real boy. You’re a weapon and you belong to me! Well, to Cadmus. Same thing. Now get back to your pod!” The scientist tells him as the horns continue to glow. 

The clone then turns and starts to leave. The door closes behind him and the scientist turns to the woman at the computer station. She types on the keys for a minute before a metal arm with prongs on the end pops up in each of our pods. 

They launch forward towards each of us and before we know it, there’s a shock flowing through our bodies. We each scream out as it seems to last forever. The scientist starts to speak, but it’s hard to make out what he’s saying as we all continue to scream out in pain. 

The scientist talks to the head genomorph that we fought earlier on, but again it’s hard to hear anything as we scream in pain. The pain continues on and on for a while. I look over at Dick and frown harder, wishing I could stop his pain. 

Then I look at Wally and tears well up in my eyes. Last I look at Kaldur, who seems to be whispering something and I wonder what he’s saying. Slowly black starts to take over my vision and closes in slower and slower as I start to feel utterly drained. 

“Sir, this one can’t handle the cloning process. She’s lost far too much blood,” the lady scientist calls out as my eyes droop more and more. 

“Then don’t worry about cloning her. Just get rid of her now then,” the emotionless male scientist barks out and the lady nods solemnly. 

“Don’t you dare touch her. You lay a hand on her and I’ll never let you have a moment of peace again,” Dick growls out in anger and I try to formulate some words to try to comfort him, telling him I won’t go down without a fight, but the words won’t leave my mouth. 

My tongue turns and turns in my mouth, but the more effort I make, the more tired I feel. I look over at Dick one last time before there’s a loud banging noise, making us all look over to see the door being ripped open by the clone. It sparks as he holds it over his head before throwing it aside and suddenly the pain that was flowing through my body stops. I feel a little bit of life flow through me as Kaldur lets out a sigh of relief when he sees the clone and he walks in ominously. 

“I told you to get back to your…” the main scientist starts as he turns and looks at the clone. 

The clone only ignores him and continues towards us, pushing Guardian to the left and the scientist to the right, making them all go flying back into the walls. He stands straight over the scientist, all big and tall. 

“Don’t give me orders!” The clone seethes out before turning and walking closer to us. 

“You here to help us or fry us?” Wally asks and the clone glares at him. 

“Huh, I don’t seem to have heat vision. So I suppose helping is my only option,” the clone smugly tells Wally. 

It’s quiet for a literal second before there’s a loud hiss to my left, making me turn weakly to see Dick finally release himself from his shackles. As soon as his arms and legs are free, his pod opens. He quickly jumps down and starts to rub at his wrists. 

“Aha. Finally, lucky Batman isn’t here. He’d have our heads for taking so long. Right, Jay?” Dick jokes but stops when I don’t reply. 

He slowly turns and looks around before looking up at me. His face falls when he sees me looking down at him tiredly. I give him a soft smile and his eyes widen as he shakes his head. 

“Seriously, that’s what you’re worried about?” Wally deadpans, making Dick look at him. 

“The whole league will have our heads after tonight!” Wally finishes as Dick doesn’t even really listen to him, he just rushes over to the panel with all the buttons and pushes one. 

After he pushes it, there’s a faint buzz before the pods open. Dick then turns to the clone, who looks at him. 

“Free Aqualad. I’ll get Blue Jay then kid mouth,” Dick orders and my vision slowly starts to swim some more. 

“Don’t you give me orders either,” the clone angrily seethes at him before taking a leap over to Aqualad. 

The clone breaks Aqualad’s arm shackles and he falls forward into the clone's arms. Kaldur lets out a small ‘thank you’ before smiling at the clone. As he helps Kaldur the rest of the way, Dick climbs up to the top of my pod and again pops his lock pick out from his glove. 

He quickly picks up where I left off on picking the lock and soon my hands come free along with my feet. I stay in the pod and lean tiredly against the wall of it. Dick quickly climbs down before looking back up at me and I shake my head before sluggishly motioning to Wally. 

Dick gives me a worried glance before nodding at my persistent look. He then goes and climbs up Wally’s and helps him get out. Once Wally is out they all jump down to the floor and the others start to run. 

“Guys, hold on. Blue Jay’s hurt!” Dick yells out, making the others come to a stop. 

They all slowly turn around and Dick now has his back turned to me. They all stay quiet for a moment as I lean against the wall. 

“What do we do? I can’t hack and carry her,” Dick quickly explains through a fearful tone and Kaldur smiles softly at him before he walks over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“I will carry her. You just worry about hacking. I promise Blue Jay will be safe with me,” Kaldur assures Dick, who nods before looking at the floor for a moment as Wally puts a hand on his shoulder in comfort. 

Kaldur jumps up into my pod and slowly picks me up. He holds me tight before getting ready to jump down, but I stop him. 

“Please make sure he’s alright, Kal…” I whisper out and he chuckles lightly. 

“You are the one hurt and you are making sure he’s ok. You two really are two birds of a kind…” he tells me and I smile weakly at him as I shrug. 

“I love him, what can I say?” I whisper out super quietly as my vision starts to really fade now. 

“You have my word, Blue Jay. You both will make it out okay,” he tells me softly before everything becomes completely dark. 

Dick’s Pov:

Kaldur jumps down with y/n in his arms, but her eyes are closed. I scramble in my utility belt for a moment before finding what I need. Wally gives me a confused look when I pull it out, but I quickly walk over to Kaldur and y/n. 

“What’s that?” Wally asks as I quickly put the tab on y/n’s neck. 

“Heart monitor. Batman made it after the last time she was injured on a mission. He made it so we can make sure she’s still doing ok as we make our way outta here,” I explain as I open my holo computer up on my arm. 

“Woah. That little patch is a heart monitor?” he asks in astonishment and I nod. 

“Yup. Sends the stats right to my computer here so I can hack and monitor it at the same time,” I tell him as I make my holo computer pop up and his eyes widen. 

“That’s so cool! Me and Flash have ours in our suits,” he tells me and I nod in agreement. 

“We have them in ours too, but for some reason hers hasn’t been working, hence why Bats made this… backup,” I explain as I start typing stuff in to bring up the monitor on my computer. 

“So she’s been hurt before?” Wally asks and I swallow back my emotions. 

“Yes. Four missions ago she was hurt badly. Had to be hospitalized for a few days. We’ve been trying to fix hers, but we just can’t figure out why it won’t work after that one mission,” I explain as I continue to type before finally pulling it up. 

“She’ll be ok. She’s a fighter. If you want, me and the Flash gang can take a look to see if we can figure it out for you guys,” Wally tells me and I look up at him in thanks. 

“We should be good to go, but we gotta be fast. She needs medical attention soon,” I tell Kaldur and he nods. 

“Ok. Let’s go then,” he agrees with a nod and before I know it, we’re all running past the scientist who unfortunately seems to wake up. 

“You— you’ll never get out of here! Your friend’s gonna die!” he shouts to us as we run past him. 

“I’ll have you back in pods before morning!” he finishes off as we just make it out of the door. 

“That guy is not whelmed. Not whelmed at all,” I tell Wally as we both come to a stop. 

“What is it with you and this whelmed thing?” he asks as I throw four explosive batarangs. 

“Inside joke with Blue Jay…” I tell him as I begin running again. 

The wing dings perfectly hit the pods before exploding as we continue running away. We quickly catch up to Kaldur and the clone only to keep running. 

“We are still 42 levels below ground, but if we can make the elevator…” Kaldur starts to explain the plan as he runs with y/n in his arms. 

We make it down many halls before we hear a gowling, making us come to a stop when we see the big genomorphs coming our way. We turn around and look behind us to see the bumps on the walls start glowing a bright red. Soon more of the genomorphs start popping out of them and coming towards us. 

The one behind us bangs on the ground quickly, making us all turn and jump back. The clone quickly jumps up and hits one in the face as we run to get around them. The clone quickly stands, ready to fight some more before one punches him down into the floor. 

Kaldur, Wally and I jump over the one and land on the other side before turning to watch the clone start fighting. I look down at my computer and watch y/n’s heartbeat, letting out a sigh of relief when I see it’s still semi-steady, even if she’s passed out. 

“Superboy, the goal is escape, not to bury ourselves here,” Kaldur shouts out to the clone and he continues to fight. 

“You want escape?” Superboy yells out as he turns back to look at us. 

“Aha, yeah, that’s the whole point. Not to mention we have an injured party who needs medical attention soon,” I shout after Kaldur as I point to y/n. 

“Aha!” Superboy yells out as he turns and continues to fight the huge genomorphs. 

“Let’s just keep going,” Wally states and Kaldur hums, nodding in agreement. 

“Kid, take Blue Jay. I need to pry the doors open,” Kaldur tells Wally, who nods before taking y/n from his arms. 

Kaldur walks up to the doors and I turn to Wally. He gives me a look as I hold my arms out. 

“You sure?” he asks and I nod. 

“Yeah. Can’t hack anything right now anyway. I can get us up the shaft so you can climb,” I tell him and he nods before hesitatingly putting y/n into my arms. 

I nod in thanks to him before he takes a leap, landing on the side of the shaft and I shoot my grappling gun. I hold onto y/n with a single arm as tightly as I can while we shoot up the elevator shaft. Superboy grabs onto Kaldur and takes a big leap. 

Once at the end of my grappling gun, I swing lightly before landing on the side and keeping y/n with me. Once on the side, I plop down for a moment and just hold y/n a little closer as I watch Superboy and Kaldur get to about halfway up the shaft before they both start to fall. 

“I— I’m falling,”  Superboy says in shock before they start to fall quicker. 

My eyes widen in shock before I reach into my utility belt and grab a batarang. I quickly toss it at the wall they’re about to fall past and Kaldur reaches out to grab it as he grabs onto Superboy as well. 

“Superman can fly,” Superboy comments in sadness as he and Kaldur hang from the wall. 

“Why can’t I fly?” he solemnly asks as he looks up at Kaldur. 

“Don’t know, but it looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Still cool,” Wally tells him from beside me now and it’s quiet for a moment. 

My mind quickly wanders to what y/n would have said. She’d probably agree with Wally before making some joke about how it’s cooler then what Wally can do. I hold back a laugh at the thought as Wally helps Superboy down so he’s on the ledge with us. 

“Thank you,” Superboy calmly tells him with shame in his eyes as Kaldur hops onto the ledge right behind him. 

“How’s Blue Jay doing?” Kaldur asks, looking at me and I sigh. 

“Not good. I’ll have to add a bandage around her wound, but I can’t do it here. I need solid ground first,” I inform him and he gives a curt nod. 

“Ok. How much farther until we are out?” he asks me and I go to answer before there’s a loud sound coming from above us. 

“This will have to be our exit!” I quickly shout out and Kaldur nods. 

“Superboy. Help me with these doors!” Kaldur tells him and he nods. 

Together they each kick at one door and they both cave in. I grab onto y/n before we all rush though the new opening in the wall just before the express elevator quickly passes us going down. We all turn back for a moment watching as it passes. 

We then turn back to hall only to see more genomorphs start rushing towards us while growling.  Kaldur takes y/n from me before we all quickly turn to the right and start running again. 

“Go left! Left!” Superboy yells out and we do as he says, turning left before continuing to run. 

“Right!” he yells out again as we again do as he says before coming to a dead end. 

“Great directions, Supey. You trying to get us re-podded?” Wally angrily asks as he turns to Superboy. 

“No. I- I don’t understand…” Superboy replies with confusion laced in his tone. 

“Don’t apologize! This is perfect!” I shout and they all look at me in confusion. 

“How can this be perfect?” Wally asks and I smirk. 

“Take the vent off and we start crawling…” I inform them as I rip the vent off the wall. 

“Ok. You do that, but how exactly do you plan on getting Blue Jay through the vents?” Kaldur asks and I pause a moment. 

“Uhh… here. Tie her to my waist,” I quickly tell him as I pull out a small bit of rope from my utility belt. 

“How exactly is tying her to your waist gonna get her though?” Wally asks in clear confusion and I shrug as I finally close my holo computer. 

“Best thought is that I pull her along as we crawl,” I reply with a shrug. 

“That doesn’t really sound like it’d work to me,” he comments and I shrug. 

“Got any better ideas on how to get her out?” I ask as anger flares up inside me and he throws his hands up in surrender. 

“You're right. Only plan we got, so let’s do it,” he agrees and I sigh. 

“Sorry KF, but it’s that or leave her behind and I’m not too fond of leaving her behind,” I tell him and he nods, putting a hand on my shoulder. 

“I know, Rob. I know. We got this. Let’s get going,” he tells me and I nod as Kaldur now hands me the rope. 

I take it and pause a moment before hesitantly tying the rope around myself. I look at Kaldur and he gives me a nod of confirmation. 

“I’ll be right behind you. I’ll make sure she sticks with you. Do not worry,” he tells me and I nod, taking a deep breath before climbing up into the small air shaft. 

Once inside, I turn around and Kaldur quickly passes y/n up to me. I slowly pull her though before turning back to start crawling as best as I can. Kaldur climbs in right after us and quickly props y/n up against me so she’s not full on laying on the bottom of the air shaft. 

I continue to slowly crawl, trying to keep her from moving too much. Soon both Superboy and KF are following us in and we all slowly keep crawling. 

“Ah, at this rate we’ll never get out,” Wally comments after a while of crawling. 

“Kid, not now,” Kaldur sternly tells him. 

“Shh. Listen,” Superboy tells us and we all pause to listen. 

Suddenly there’s a sound coming and we all quickly figure out that it’s genomorphs crawling after us. I look at Kaldur and he nods. 

“They can’t find us, don't worry, just follow me. I have a plan,” I tell them and we continue crawling for a few more minutes. 

Soon we find another way out and I pop the grate off before sliding out. Kaldur then slowly slides y/n down to me and I pull her down the rest of the way. I set her down against the wall for a second before pulling my holo computer out and connecting it to the panel on the wall. 

The others all climb out and I continue to type on my computer for a second. I take a quick look at y/n’s monitor before pausing to fish my kit out. Once I have it, I hand it to Wally. 

“Here. Wrap her wound for me while I do this. You do remember how to do it don’t you?” I ask him as I hand him the first aid kit and he nods, taking it from me. 

He walks over and starts wrapping her wound as I turn back to my computer. I work for a minute before he tells me he’s done and he hands me the kit. 

“Thanks. That should keep her from getting worse then she already is,” I comment as I put the kit away and he nods. 

“So what are you hacking now?” Wally asks just as I’m finishing up. 

“I hacked the motion sensors,” I proudly tell him as I smirk. 

“Sweet!” he says as he throws his arms up. 

“Still plenty of them between us and out,” I explain as I start hacking to find a faster way out. 

“But I’ve finally got room to move,” he states as he puts his goggles over his eyes before rushing off. 

“Ok… I guess we’re moving now,” Kaldur comments and I nod as I stand up. 

“Robin, I’ll carry Blue Jay. You pay attention to those sensors,” Kaldur tells me as he picks y/n up and I nod. 

Wally runs in front of us and we all run up the stairs after him. He takes out some genomorphs that are coming down at us and I keep my eyes on my holo computer. 

“More behind us!” I shout out behind myself and Superboy stops. 

He turns so he’s facing the genomorphs that are coming before stomping and making the set of stairs so it breaks off. He then turns and catches up with us as we continue to run up the rest of the flights of stairs. Wally continues to run and just as we all round the corner of one of the many halls, the room starts flashing red. 

An alarm of some sort starts going off and we watch as Wally tries to skid to a stop before banging into the door that just closed off. He flies back and lands on the floor as we come to a stop next to him. 

“We’re cut off from the street,” Kaldur tells us as Wally rubs at his head. 

“Thanks. My head hadn’t noticed,” Wally comments from the floor, still rubbing his head. 

Superboy just walks around Wally and to the door. He then pulls his hand back and punches at the door. Nothing really happens, so Kaldur hands y/n to me before going over to help him. 

They both pull at the door from either side and nothing happens, so I set y/n lightly on the ground, leaning her against the wall. I pull my holo computer up and stick the plug in the USB before quickly starting to try to hack into the door. 

“Can’t hack this fast enough. If Blue Jay were here, maybe I could, but I can’t,” I exclaim before I turn my holo computer off just as a growl comes from my right, making me look up. 

I quickly take a look around and find a door. I pick y/n up and walk over to it. 

“This way!” I yell out to the others as I kick the door open before running through. 

We all run through and come to a stop when we see a whole army of genomorphs in front of us with Guardian standing in the front. We all turn around when we hear more walk up behind us and we all take a fighting stance. Suddenly all the genomorphs' horns start to glow and I’m slowly sinking down to the ground as does Kaldur and Wally. 

As I sink down, I keep as tight of a hold on y/n as I can and lay her on the floor before falling onto my back. Just as my back hits the floor, everything seems to go dark. 

~Small Time Skip~

After what feels like forever, my eyes slowly open and I blink. I sit up and quickly look over y/n, who’s still unconscious. I quickly pull up my holo computer and check her vitals before letting out a breath of relief when she’s still semi stable. 

Once I know she’s still doing okay, I start to stand with the others and feel a little dizzy. I hold a hand to my head for a moment as the dizzy feeling goes away. 

“Feels like fog lifting,” Guardian says as he holds his head. 

“Guardian?” Kaldur asks as he looks at him and Guardian stands straight. 

“Go. Get her out of here. I’ll deal with Desmond,” he tells us as he nods at y/n. 

“I think not,” comes Desmond’s voice from behind Guardian, making the Genomorphs all part as Guardian turns to look at him. 

“Project blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus,” he sinisterly says as he holds up a vial with blue liquid in it. 

He takes a step back before pouring the liquid into his mouth. He starts to groan and his bones start to make loud cracking sounds as Guardian slowly moves back to us. Desmond tosses the vial to his left and it smashes against the ground. 

He then starts writhing around in pain all while still groaning and soon he’s throwing himself down on the ground. He hunches over in a ball before his body seems to grow, ripping his lab coat the more he grows. His skin starts to rip and his teeth become like fangs. 

I look at Wally, who looks at me in fear before looking at Blue Jay. Like I read his mind, I quickly bend down to gently pick her up once again. Once I’m standing straight, there’s a loud roar that Desmond lets out as he too fully stands, but now he’s a giant, tall blue monster. 

He stands there in his monster form, breathing heavily as we watch him carefully. He stands straight and Guardian stares at him for a moment. 

“Everyone back!” Guardian shouts as he uses his hands to hold us back. 

He then runs off towards Desmond, who just backhands him and he goes flying to the side before he hits the wall face first. 

Superboy is the first to react and he launches forward at Desmond with a primal yell before punching the new monster in the face. Desmond just punches back, but Superboy again throws another punch of his own and quickly gets the upper hand. He lands a few punches, but again Desmond gets one in, making Superboy fly back. 

Superboy quickly recovers after flying back on his back and spinning. He lands and quickly moves into a crouched position before jumping back up. He starts like he’s going to slam him into the ground, but Desmond jumps at the same time and they both crash though the ceiling. 

“Okay. That’s one way to bust through the ceiling,” I comment before grabbing my grappling gun. 

“You think lab coat planned that?” Wally asks and I shrug as before me and y/n shoot up though the hole. 

“I doubt he is planning anything anymore,” Kaldur comments as we land at the top. 

Kaldur grabs Wally and leaps through, landing right behind me. Once we land back in the lobby, we watch as Desmond grabs Superboy. He throws him and he comes flying at us. 

Wally and I quickly move out of the way as Superboy flies past us. He collides with Kaldur and they both go flying back. We quickly run over to them and Wally helps Kaldur up as I reach a hand out for Superboy. 

“Robin. Get y/n somewhere safe,” Kaldur tells me and I quickly nod before turning and looking around the room. 

I run over and set her down behind one of the pillars before checking her stats one last time. I frown when I see the small influx of a change making her less stable. I sigh and shake my head before turning my holo computer off. 

“Stay with me for a little longer, Jay. We’re almost out of here,” I tell her as I lean my head against hers for a moment before sighing and standing. 

“I’ll be right back. I promise,” I speak out to her even though I know she won’t say anything back. 

With one last sigh I walk back over and we all stand in a fight position, waiting for Desmond to make a move. When he does, we all move forward; Wally runs in first and goes under his legs, making Desmond turn to look at him. He looks back at Wally for a moment before turning just as Kaldur and Superboy jump together to punch him in the face. 

Wally goes down on all fours, making Desmond fall back and trip over Wally. He lands with a loud thud on the ground and Wally stands straight. 

“Learned that one in kindergarten,” Wally comments as I jump over him and throw a couple wing dings at him. 

Desmond turns and blocks them with his arms before coming face to face with Superboy again. He growls, jumping up and slamming Superboy into the pillar behind him. Superboy fights back but Desmond quickly stops him and throws his own punch. 

Kaldur takes his water bearers out and quickly uses the water to try pulling Desmond’s arm back from Superboy. However, it doesn’t work when Desmond just pulls Kaldur to him. Kaldur quickly switches his water bearers from rope form to a mace form while in the air and tries to slam it down onto Desmond. 

Desmond reaches up and wraps his hand around the mace before pulling Kaldur to the floor. He slams down onto the floor and Desmond throws Superboy into another pillar. Superboy falls to the ground and a piece of the pillar falls on top of him. 

Wally runs around and past Superboy over to where Desmond starts to fight with Aqualad. Desmond picks Wally up mid-run and flings him around. Kaldur tries to hit Desmond from behind, but he swings Wally around and throws him into Kaldur. 

Both Wally and Kaldur fly back and slam into a pillar behind them. I watch as they both fall to the floor before Aqualad is standing back up. He quickly starts to try fighting again, but once again gets slammed into a pillar. 

I watch the top of the pillar start to break away from its support system and my eyes widen as I get an idea. 

“Of course!” I speak out in wonderment as I pull up my holo computer and a holographic map of the pillars pop up. 

“KF, get over here!” I yell out to Wally, making him look up at me. 

He quickly comes over and I start to go over the plan with him as the others continue to fight off Desmond. The holograph blinks red, pointing out to him the breaking points of each pillar. 

“Got it?” I ask him as I pull my arm down with the holograph disappearing as I do. 

“Got it,” he confirms with a nod. 

“Go,” I firmly command him just as he takes off. 

Superboy now is getting lifted by Desmond as Wally races over and grabs his face. I quickly rush over to y/n and check her signs one last time before turning back around. 

“Got your nose!” Wally playfully sings out as he holds up a piece of skin he ripped off of Desmond. 

Desmond growls as he throws Superboy aside and heads for Wally. He starts to chase Wally around and I quickly start to pull up the hologram again. 

“Superboy! Aqualad!” I yell out to the two across from me and show them the hologram. 

“Come and get me, incredible bulk!” Wally yells out before running again and leading Desmond where he needs to. 

Wally keeps Desmond distracted for a moment as Superboy and Aqualad come over to me. I quickly show them the hologram again before explaining. 

“This one and that one,” I point out the pillars that need to be taken out. 

Both Superboy and Aqualad give me a firm nod before rushing off to the pillars. As they run off, I quickly pull out some chalk and run to the center of the building. Superboy takes his pillar out first, then Aqualad takes his pillar out and Wally gets Desmond to take out the one behind him.

“Sorry! Try again!” Wally taunts Desmond before running off. 

I quickly go to the middle and draw an ‘X’ in chalk and Aqualad makes a puddle over the top of it with his water bearers. As I stand, I quickly throw some explosive wing dings at my pillar. Wally then runs over and skids to a stop before turning back to look at Desmond. 

He goes after Wally, but Superboy comes in from behind and lands a punch, making Desmond fall on his back into the puddle with a loud thud. I rush over and pick y/n up before going to stand next to Kaldur.

Aqualad then leans down and electrocutes the puddle, which in turn electrocutes Desmond. Together we stand watching him growl and wither in pain for a moment. 

“Move!” I yell out as I press the button to activate the wing dings in the pillar. 

They beep as we all run for cover before doing what they’re made to do and exploding. The whole ceiling starts to give way and Desmond lets out a roar as he looks up at the piece of ceiling that’s falling. The whole building starts to crash around us after Desmond gets crushed and we continue to run for cover. 

I quickly drop down and cover y/n as Superboy grabs Wally and drops down over him. Aqualad drops down over me and we all wait until the rubble settles before Superboy punches his way through. Once he has a hand through, he grabs onto the piece that’s still above us and shoves it off. 

Slowly we all stand and look around at all the rubble. We all breathe heavily as we slowly calm down from the moment. 

“We… did it,” Kaldur says in shock as he looks over at me as I quickly sit y/n up against the side of some rubble. 

“Was there ever any doubt?” I ask him as I look back at him and rub my neck. 

Wally looks at me and we smile at one another before swinging our hands up in a high-five. We both quickly cringe though as we feel pain flow through our ribs. Superboy walks over to Desmond still under the rubble and we follow him. 

“See…” Wally speaks up, making Superboy turn to look at us. 

“The moon,” Wally finishes as he motions up at it and we all turn to look at it. 

We all stare up at the moon for a moment, but I look away before I go and sit down next to y/n. I pull her into my lap and hold her close as the others continue to watch the moon. 

“Oh. And Superman. Do we keep our promises or what?” Wally asks and I look up when he says it to see the whole league fly in behind him. 

I sigh in relief and stand with y/n in my arms when I see Bruce being lowered in by Green lantern. Bruce steps off and stops next to Superman as all the other members stand around us. There’s a moment of silence and the heroes look over us all before Superboy is stepping forward. 

He walks up to Superman, who has a cold, parental glare on all of us. Superboy stops and takes a moment before lifting his ripped shirt to show the S symbol on his chest. Superman falters ever so slightly in shock before straining up. 

“Is that what I think it is?” Bruce asks Superman, who stays quiet. 

“He doesn’t like being called an it,” Wally informs them through the side of his mouth as he walks up beside Superboy and uses his hand to hide his mouth from Superboy. 

“I’m Superman’s clone,” Superboy interjects in a matter of fact tone. 

Everyone seems to have different reactions, but all stay quiet nonetheless. The eyes of Batman’s mask narrow and I hold y/n a bit closer. 

“Start talking,” he tells us and the whole league starts to move around. 

“Bats. Can we get y/n medical first, please?” I ask him as I walk up to him and he frowns. 

“What happened? How’d Blue get hurt?” he immediately asks and it’s then I’m thankful for my domino mask as it hides my eyes welling up with tears. 

“We don’t have time to talk about it. Can I just tell you later? Her pulse is very faint,” I tell him and as if he reads my mind, he nods and turns around for a moment. 

“Arrow!” Bruce shouts, making the archer in question turn around to look at him. 

“Do you think you can take Blue Jay to medical?” he asks him and Green Arrow walks over to us. 

“Of course I can, Bats,” he tells him with a nod before coming over to me. 

He holds his arms out to me and I back away a little, not wanting to leave her. He sighs and turns to Batman, who sighs and walks over. 

“Robin… she will be ok,” Bruce tells me as he places his hands on my shoulders. 

“I promise, Robin, I’ll make sure she’s taken care of. You have my word,” Green Arrow tells me and I take a gulp before handing her over to him. 

He smiles gently at me before turning and starting to walk away with her. I quickly try to follow, but Batman holds me back. 

“Hold up, Robin. I promise we will both go be with her after, but first, you boys have some explaining to do,” Bruce tells me as he holds onto my shoulder with a firm hand. 

“Ok…” I whisper out, bowing my head down. 

Kaldur, Wally and I stand with our retrospective mentors. We quickly all start to explain ourselves and when we finish, they nod before telling us to wait aside. I huff as we walk off while our mentors have a quiet conversation. 

“This is insane. I should be with Jay right now. I wish we could leave already,” I groan out and Kaldur nods solemnly at me. 

“I know, my friend, and I wish you could be there with her, but Arrow will take good care of her and you’ll be with her when all this is over,” he tells me in a soft tone as he grips my shoulder and I sigh. 

We all stay quiet for a moment as we all try to hear what’s being said, but our mentors know us well and keep quiet. Superboy just keeps looking at Superman, who seems like he doesn’t know what to do. Soon, though, Superman comes walking over to us and stops in front of Superboy with a sigh. 

“We’ll, uh, we’ll figure something out for you,” Superman starts. “The League will, I mean,” he quickly adds on. 

“For now, I’d better make sure they get that Blockbuster creature squared away,” he tells him in a cold tone before turning and flying away. 

“Cadmus will be investigated, all 52 levels, but let’s make one thing clear—” Batman starts as he walks up behind us, making us all turn to look at him. 

“You should have called!” Flash cuts him off and Batman very clearly squints his eyes in annoyance, making me hold back a laugh at the thought of what y/n would have said. 

“End result aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, endangered lives and over everything, Blue Jay got injured,” Batman informs us. 

“You will not be doing this again,” he tells us in a very straightforward tone. 

“I am sorry, but we will,” Kaldur states in a very clear tone and I take a step forward. 

“Aqualad, stand down,” Aquaman demands in a very stern and angry tone. 

“Apologies my king, but no,” Kaldur starts and Aquaman almost looks shocked for a moment. 

“We did good work here tonight. The work you trained us to do. Together on our own we forged something powerful, important,” Kaldur explains as he takes a step forward as he stands his ground and we follow his lead, standing straight. 

“If this is about your treatment at the hall, the four of you—” Flash starts to defend the mentors. 

“The five of us, and it’s not!” Wally angrily cuts his mentor off before his tone softens. 

“Batman, we’re ready to use what you taught us. Or why teach us at all?” I speak softly as I step forward and hold my hands out in confusion. 

“Why let them tell us what to do?!” Superboy angrily asks with his arms crossed. “It’s simple,” he continues as he uncrosses his arms. “Get on board or get out of the way.”

“Batman, you know Blue Jay would be on our side,” I add in as we all stand talking in front of our mentors, but they all stay quiet and Batman gives his famous glare that I know all too well. 

July 8th 8:04 EDT

Dick’s Pov: 

“This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We’re calling it into service again. Since you four—” Batman starts to explain to the four of us standing in a line in front of him, but I hold up a finger. 

“Five, Bats. You know Jay will want in when she’s better,” I add and he sighs, nodding. 

“—you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms,” he continues to explain. 

“Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary��s in charge of training. I… will deploy you on missions,” Batman explains and I roll my eyes behind my glasses. 

“Real missions?” I ask him and he takes a step closer to us. 

“Yes, but covert,” Batman curtly answers me. 

“The League will still handle the obvious stuff. There’s a reason we have these big targets on our chests,” Flash speaks up from behind us, making us turn to look at him as he points to the symbol on his chest. 

“But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly,” Aquaman takes over explaining with crossed arms, making us turn to him and Batman again. 

“The six of you will be that team,” Batman tells us and I smile. 

“Cool! Wait. Six?” I ask in confusion and Batman looks behind us, making us turn around once more. 

“This is the Martian Manhunter’s niece, Miss Martian,” Batman introduces as Martian Manhunter and a girl version of him walks up to us. 

“Hi,” she nervously says as she uncrosses her arms and gives a small wave. 

“Liking this gig more every minute,” Wally comments in a sly, charismatic tone and I raise an eyebrow at him. 

“Ow! What was that for?” Wally asks after I slap him on the head. 

“You know Blue Jay would have done it for that comment, so until she’s fully rested and back, I’m doing it for her,” I tell him with a shrug and he gives me an angry look. 

“Rude!” he groans and I chuckle as he just straightens up. 

“Uh, anyway. Welcome aboard. I’m Kid Flash,” he immediately changes his mood, making me roll my eyes. 

“That’s Robin,” he adds on as he introduces me and I give her a peace sign as I walk out from behind Wally. 

“Aqualad, it’s cool if you forget their names,” Wally continues to introduce each of us. 

“But I thought there were five others?” Miss Martian asks in confusion and I nod. 

“Oh, there is. You’ll meet Blue Jay later. She was injured so she can’t be here, but don’t worry you’ll definitely get to meet her,” I inform her and she smiles softly. 

“Well, I’m honored to be included,” she adds on, clasping her hands in front of herself like prayer hands. We all walk closer to her to talk a little more except Superboy and I turn around. 

“Hey, Superboy!” I call out and he looks at me. 

“Come meet Miss M!” I tell him as I wave him over and he turns before walking over to us. 

He comes to a stop and closes off the little circle we’ve made. Miss Martian’s outfit starts to change so the colors match Superboy’s shirt and she looks at him shyly. 

“I like your t-shirt,” she tells him and he just gives a small smile in response. 

I reach up and elbow him in the side as Wally zooms around so he’s on his left. Wally wraps an arm around his shoulder as we all smile softly at her. 

“Today is the day,” Kaldur says, making us look at him. 

To Be Continued…

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Always Been You (Dick Grayson x Reader) - Chapter 6

Always Been You (Dick Grayson x Reader) Reader Insert: she/her pronouns Word Count: 2946 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?

~~~

'...Starting tomorrow, we prepare for Echidna's war,' Queen Hippolyta announced to those in the War Chamber.

After Echidna's kraken attack, the Queen had called for an emergency meeting in the War Chamber to discuss matters. Generals and their lieutenants discussed the right protocols and procedures they would instruct their soldiers to carry out over the coming days. It was well past midnight now, but no one in the chamber looked as if sleep would come easily when they returned to their own chambers.

'For now, head back to bed. Hera knows we are going to need all of our energy to face what lies ahead.' Everyone simply bowed their heads in understanding and left the chamber. Except for Y/N.

She was staring intensely at the small sculptured map of the entire island - as if trying to commit every stair, every mountain, every grain of sand to memory - when a hand on her shoulder pulled her from her trance.

'You too, my dear,' Queen Hippolyta said gently. 'You have endured much tonight. Go. Rest.'

'What? No.' Y/N shook off her grandmother's hand and stood up tall, but she could not help rubbing her tired eyes as she strained to keep them open. 'We should be preparing now, Grandmother. Echidna will certainly not be resting before she tries to destroy all of Themyscira. I will not let her.'

'I know, dear child.' Queen Hippolyta gently cupped Y/N's face and turned her attention away from the map. 'But what good are soldiers if they do not rest? We have three days - there will be plenty of time for sleepless nights then. For now, I am telling you to rest.'

Y/N had to admit she was exhausted. She had been training all these months, but hadn't been in a real fight with real danger since she'd left the team. Her body was already starting to ache, and so she conceded. 'Is that an order from her Royal Highness?'

'It is an order from your grandmother,' the queen replied with a soft smile. She brought Y/N's forehead to her lips briefly before she finally let go. 'Rest. Our work begins tomorrow.'

Y/N nodded then headed for the War Chamber doors. Now that she'd acknowledged it, her exhaustion was now weighing on her eyes more heavily, and the thought of falling into her crisp linen bed sounded heavenly.

As soon as she opened the door to leave, however, she was met with, 'So what did you talk about?'

Dick Grayson didn't look an ounce tired as he pushed off from his place on the wall and sauntered up to her. Damn, had he waited there for three hours? It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting to her bed and he certainly wasn't going to stop her now.

'Nothing you need to worry yourself about,' Y/N deflected as she made her way down the corridor. She was hoping her stern tone would hint that she was in no mood to talk, but Dick Grayson was not one to read such obvious signs.

'What's that supposed to mean?' he asked, following swiftly after her. 'You woke up every general and their lieutenant to discuss what then? A new uniform?'

'If you want to make jokes about my people's future existence, then we definitely don't have anything to talk about,' Y/N bit back, increasing her pace as she turned around a corner.

'Then what did you guys talk about in there?' Dick insisted. Y/N had to give it to him, he was persistent. 'Look, I want to help. But how can I if you won't talk to me?'

'Just because you caught me tonight, does not mean I am obliged to answer your every question.'

'Catching you? I saved your life! Speaking of which, I think a "thank you" is at least the minimum you can say to me right now. Which, by the way, you're welcome for. But if you won't say it, then tell me why I can't possibly help you with this.'

'Because this doesn't concern you,' Y/N replied, reaching the spiral staircase that led up to floor of her chambers. She started her ascent as she continued. 'This isn't your war to fight. You weren't even meant to be here.'

'So what do I do then?' Dick asked, his tone offended as he still followed her up the stairs. 'Just jump on a sailing ship tomorrow and head back to Blüdhaven like none of this ever happened?'

'Oh, so that's where you've settled down. How noble of you.'

'I'm being serious, Y/N.' Dick grabbed Y/N's wrist with a grip tight enough to halt her charge, but loose enough to let her know she could escape any time. She had just reached the next floor when he did, leaving him two steps below her eyesight.

'So am I,' she hissed back, but her anger was superficial. Her bed was just down the corridor and Richard bloody Grayson was doing everything in his power to stop her from reaching it.

She tugged her wrist out of his grip and looked down at him with a glare so severe she hoped he would catch fire. 'Go home. To your life of freedom and abandonment, to the girl who undoubtedly is waiting for you in your disgusting apartment, to the team, I don't care! Just go.'

The pair stood looking at each for the longest time. The window beside the staircase entrance allowed the light of the full moon to shine onto Dick's flawless, sharp face. The pale light cast shadows under his eyes, hollowed his cheekbones. And for the first time since coming to the island, the cocky glint in his eyes wasn't there.

It was the most serious Y/N had ever seen him, even when they were both on the same team together doing the most craziest and dangerous missions that either of them could've died on.

He was telling her the truth, and that one fact made her soften her glare.

'Why do you hate me so much?' he asked, his voice cracking slightly as if he were on the verge of tears.

This took Y/N aback.

Hate. She'd never used the word in association with Dick. Even when he left, even when he never came back, even when he never spared her another thought or word. She wanted to slap him, tell him he was stupid because how could she ever hate him after she'd spent so much time feeling the very opposite for him?

Y/N didn't hate Dick Grayson, but she couldn't forgive him for what he'd done either.

'You left me,' she finally said, voice low so as not to release all her emotions at once. 'You left all of us behind as if we were nothing. As if we weren't family. You left when we - when I needed you the most. What? Did you expect me to just be waiting for you when you decided to come back? Were you ever going to come back, Dick? Well?'

He had no reply, only a face expressing a full range of emotions. Shock, sadness, guilt, shame.

The last one gave Y/N her answer.

It wasn't until Dick reached for her cheek that Y/N realised she was crying. She was too shocked to bat away his hand as he wiped her cheek gently, smoothing away her tears. Despite the cold night, his hand was warm, and in her moment of weakness, Y/N allowed her eyes to close for just a moment and lean into his touch.

Once or twice she'd dreamed of a moment like this, where Dick would hold her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. But that's all it was, a dream.

Remembering herself, Y/N pulled away from Dick's hand and hastily wiped her tears. His hand hung in the air for a moment longer before letting it fall to his side in defeat.

'I should go rest,' Y/N said after an eternity of silence. 'We start preparations and training at dawn. I will make sure someone sets you on your way early tomorrow. It will be as if you never had come to Themyscira.'

'But I will remember,' Dick said gently. 'I will know what is happening.'

Y/N nodded in agreement. 'But it is not your war to fight.'

Dick stared at her, the blues in his eyes swirling like tumultuous waves as if battling with himself. Eventually he nodded and took a step down.

'We both leave at dawn, then?' he asked.

'So it would seem,' Y/N answered.

'And I will never see you again?'

Y/N hadn't contemplated this, but now that it was out there, there indeed was a high chance that they would never see each other again. Not only him, but the rest of the team, her mother.

Y/N swallowed the lump in her throat and said, 'It is a sacrifice every warrior offers up before every battle.'

It wasn't a straight answer, but it was enough for Dick it seemed as he said, 'Then I wish you the best of luck, Princess.'

Y/N didn't like how distant he sounded when he used her title. It wasn't him, it wasn't her. All of it was wrong, but had it not been herself that insisted he call her by such? To put distance between them? To communicate her anger with him, and make it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him ever again?

She'd dug her own grave, and so now she must lay in it.

'You too, Nightwing,' she managed to get out, and then Dick was descending, leaving Y/N alone with her jumbled thoughts and emotions on the stairs. She'd been exhausted before, but now she was wide awake.

Y/n stayed at the top of the stairs well after Dick's footsteps stopped echoing, unable to move over the threshold of the past into the future. She'd just unofficially said goodbye to her best friend and the love of her life. So much was left unsaid - maybe for the best, or possibly it would be her biggest regrets if she didn't make it through this war.

Y/N finally managed to pull herself away from the staircase at that thought. I must rest now, she told herself as she finally made it to her chambers. Tomorrow, I have a war to try and win.

~~~

T minus three days until Echidna's War

Y/N doesn't remember when she fell asleep, but she does remember taking a long time to do so after her conversation with Dick. All that had been said - all that hadn't been said - had left her tossing and turning for a long time after she slipped into her linen bed.

However, she was very much awake the moment she felt warm sun rays bathe her skin.

Her eyes flew open as realisation shocked her into action. I'm late! Y/N looked out the window briefly and saw the sun high in the sky; it was well and truly past dawn.

Faster than she'd ever done before, Y/N dressed in her warrior uniform, grabbed her sword that she always had on hand in case of an emergency, and sprinted through the palace and down to the training grounds.

The other women were never going to let her live this down if they were to survive Echidna's war, but they were not going to survive by sleeping in. It only appeared to be early morning, but the warriors would've been working for a solid few hours by now. Precious hours that Y/N had wasted sleeping in, instead of training or making blockades or literally doing anything more helpful.

By the time she reached the training grounds, she was the most out of breath she'd ever been in her life. Y/N quickly spotted Calliope supervising a group of young warriors as they practised using monster nets against some wooden dummies.

'Well look who finally decided to wake from their beauty sleep,' Calliope said with a smirk as Y/N approached her.

'I slept pretty bad last night,' Y/N explained. 'And no one came to wake me up. Where is the group I'm meant to be taking?'

Still smirking, Calliope pointed to a large crowd seemingly gathered around one person. Whoever it was, they had to be interesting, as women and young girls were enamoured with whoever was talking.

'Who is that?' Y/N asked, unable to see the instructor through the thick crowd.

'The reason you slept bad last night,' Calliope answered smoothly, and Y/N felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment and shock.

Not wanting to be teased any further, Y/N staunched over to the crowd and forced the women to part so she could reach the front of the crowd. And there in the centre on the ground, pointing at seemingly random points on a map of Themyscira, was Dick Grayson.

'...Now we don't know specifically what Echidna is going to throw at us,' Dick said to the group, 'but my guess is she is going to send big and small creatures alike. With the small creatures, I suggest setting up traps here, here, and here where the passages are narrow and there is only one way out. We'll lure them into the passageway and then take them out from above.'

'What if they can fly?' one soldier asked.

'Then we lure them to places like the caverns on the east side of the island. Or we make nets to secure the creature's exits out over the passages that have no roofs. Let's go scout those areas today and start setting up what we need weapons and equipment wise there. Any questions?'

'I do,' Y/N found herself saying, finally drawing everyone's - including Dick's - attention to her arrival. 'What do you think you're doing?'

Dick stood up and made to step towards her. 'Y/N, I-'

'Give us a minute,' Y/N directed at the crowd, and they all quickly dispersed at her stern tone. When everyone had either started their own conversations or started sparring to kill the time, Y/N finally addressed Dick.

'What in the name of Hera do you think you're doing ordering my soldiers around?' she seethed, though she was more angry at herself still than him. 'I thought I told you to go home. You're meant to be on a ship sailing back to Blüdhaven by now.'

'I was,' Dick agreed, and that seriousness from last night returned to his stupidly beautiful face once more. It made him look older, wiser. He still looked good, much to Y/N's chagrin. 'But what you said last night got me thinking that... that maybe I need to stay.'

'What?' Y/N couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was he mad? 'Dick, this isn't some silly little mission to complete. We are preparing for war.'

'I know that,' he insisted. 'But... all I've done since Wally's death is run away. It's true; I left the team, I abandoned you - all because I was too scared to try and be brave. Brave... like you.'

Y/N was too shocked to respond, so Dick continued.

'You may hate me, Y/N,' he said, and the look in his eyes surprisingly pained her, 'but I want to stay, I want to help.'

'If you're doing this to make yourself feel better, then you can just leave now-'

'I'm not, Y/N,' Dick interrupted her, now looking into her eyes with such sincerity she knew he was telling the truth. 'I'm doing this because it is the right thing to do. I also just can't accept that I will never see you again. You're too important to me, to the world, to leave behind.'

Y/N's breath hitched as Dick took a step closer to her, never once breaking eye contact. 'I won't abandon you. Never again.'

Those words alone almost broke her facade of cool and uncaring. He meant it. He truly meant it. If he had not just said the words, she would've seen it in his eyes for it was there - the same sentiment.

He would not leave her. Regardless of Themyscira's fate, he would not leave her.

Her Dick Grayson was back.

She regathered her composure by taking a small step away from him. He might be back, but Dick would have to prove himself still if he wanted her back in any capacity.

'Just because I was late, that doesn't mean you take over my training,' she muttered grumpily.

Dick chuckled. 'I didn't steal them. I spoke with Queen Hippolyta herself. She thought it would be a wonderful idea if I stayed to help.'

Y/N sighed in defeat. 'Of course she did,' she muttered. She made a mental note to have a word with her grandmother later about this.

For now, she - and now Dick, it seemed - had a training to conduct.

She spun around to the slightly dispersed crowd of warriors and called out, 'All right. Everyone, grab what you need for the scout today. Half of you will go with Nightwing here to the East Caverns and map out our traps there. The rest of you will come with me to the Northern Passages between the mountains. We leave in ten minutes.'

'Yes, Princess!'

'Well, then, Nightwing,' Y/N said as the group dispersed again to gather their equipment, 'are you ready to go win a war?'

Dick flashed her his signature smile, though his eyes had a renewed sparkle and Y/N wondered if it possibly was because of her.

'Always, Princess.'

'Don't call me that.'

'Oh, but I insist, Princess.'

'One more remark and I'll order the warriors to set you up as bait for the monsters.'

'Whatever you say... Princess.'

--------------------

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[gay-dorito-dust]

How these guys would react to having their face held…

Dick smiles out of habit and pushes his face even further into your hands, humming in content.

He loves it when you held him, however that may be, as it was the one thing he looked forward to the most when coming home.

He’s prone to frequent bouts of fatigue with patrols and the like, but it was moments like these where he could truly appreciate your touch and the healing properties they have on him.

‘I could spend forever here in your hands.’ He’d sigh as he allowed himself to relax within your touch.

‘Oh really? Is that so?’ You raised your brows, watching as the features within his face relaxed into a one that showed you just how exhausted Dick looked. You could see the toll his job his job took but you knew that Dick was too devoted, too attached to what he does to ever give it up, no matter how constantly drained and tired it made him.

You respect his decision to keep doing what he was doing but there came times where you’d just wish he would take a breather from it all, even if it was just for a second, you just wanted to take the weight off of Dick’s shoulders and put it aside for a moment while you work the tension out of his aching muscles.

‘Yeah.’ He responded, feeling himself sink further into sleep. Dick loved what he does but some times he resents it for leaving him with little to no time to spend with you, at least not without him falling asleep five minutes within the interaction. Time with you was sparse and all Dick wanted to do was spend as much of it as he could to make up for the fact that he was barely home at all during the day.

He knew that he prioritised being a hero over your relationship too often and he couldn’t help but feel a tremendous amount of guilt over it during your relationship. You didn’t deserve to wait up for him every night to make sure he was okay, not while developing heavy eye bags of your own and a lack of a sleeping schedule.

He just hopes that one day you too will realise that you better then what he’s giving you and put yourself first, but you were too selfless to ever do that and he could feel that through the way you trace his features with your fingers with featherlight caresses.

Jason stiffens beneath your touch and goes unresponsive for such a long time that you were worried that you had accidentally crossed a boundary.

So just as you were about to remove your hands from his face, Jason quickly reaches out to grasp your hands and pull them back to cupping his cheeks as he then proceeded to nuzzle his cheek against your palm.

‘Stay.’ He whispered. ‘Please.’

Your heart broke at his plea but obeyed as you began to stroke his cheeks with either of your thumbs, feeling him gradually relax under your touch until he was practically a puddle in your hands.

‘I’m sorry.’ He whimpered, burying his face into your hands so that you didn’t see his tear stricken red face. ‘I don’t deserve this. None of it.’ He adds, cursing himself for being so pathetic but your touch practically broke him in the best way.

In your hands Jason felt as though all his broken prices were being put back together again through love, warmth and patience and that was enough to make him breakdown into tears.

Physical affection is a foreign concern to this poor man, and in due to that Jason is naturally going to be skeptical and on edge the moment the pads of your fingertips explore his jawline, before slowly coming up to cup his cheeks. ‘I’m right here Jaybridie.’ You utter softly as you felt his grip on your wrists slack a little. ‘I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere because nowhere is more important than staying here with you. Just take your time.’ And stay with him you did.

Damian is another one who’s not use to soft touches and sweet affection.

So he’ll initially be on guard when he saw you coming his way with your hands outstretched to cup his cheeks, but will huff and reluctantly rest his face in your palms, he’s extremely stiff while doing so and looking away from you out of initial embarrassment.

‘Get on with it.’ He’d mutter, acting as though such acts or moments of tenderness and vulnerability were beneath him, when in actuality Damian loved the feeling of you hold his face as though it were porcelain. He loved the fact that despite knowing his upbringing you still treat him with a love, kindness and warmth that he has never been shown before.

To Damian it was clear that you didn’t care if he was the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, grandson of Ra’s al Ghul. You only cared about him, Damian Wayne and he could feel that care through your touch as he vowed to cut through anything and everything that intended to harm you.

Your touch brings him a sense of calm, serenity and peace that brought him back from the brink a plethora of times, especially in moments when his arrogance and brashness would resurface. Damian was thankful for you being in his life, a true guiding light in his darkest moments, and he couldn’t think of any possible way to thank you for everything you’ve done for him but he’ll surly try.

Bruce feels the tension behind his eyes and in his jaw sooth themselves under your touch.

His eyes would slowly close as he brought his calloused hands up to gently stroke the inside of your wrists. Bruce needs no words to describe how he felt because he feels as though his expressions and the noises of content made it clear how much he appreciated you being here with him.

‘You look tired.’ You commented, tracing the weary lines on his hard face with your eyes as he observed your face and the way it showed most of your innermost emotions whether you were aware of this fact or not.

Bruce knew that you worry and that you worry a lot about him in particular when it came to whether he was sleeping enough, eating enough and keeping himself safe whilst fighting on the streets of Gotham. Bruce knew he was as stubborn as mule when it came to his life choices and that you were only just worried about him because you cared for him, but sometimes he wished you would redirect all this effort towards yourself because he oftentimes didn’t think he was worth of your worry, nor your care.

Bruce felt as though he should be the one taking care of you rather than you taking care of him. It’s not as though he hates it, it’s just you’ve shown him on countless occasions of your care towards him, and on even more occasions you have shown him of your unwavering dedication towards him. Bruce also feels like he should be the one paying you back for all the hard times where you stood by his side, watching him practically work himself to the bone and almost into a comatose if you didn’t step in and deal him away from the computers.

For you’ve proven time and time again that you weren’t so easily swayed into leaving, and that was made more true when he felt comfortable enough telling you that he was Batman and the dangers that would come with knowing such knowledge. You however only shrugged and told him that by his side, you were the safest you’ve ever been or will ever be.

‘More so than usual?’ He asked in a way that it might as well have came out as an indignant huff.

‘And by more so than usual you mean constantly, then yes, yes you are more tired than usual.’ You replied as you ran your thumbs under his eyes and across his eye bags as if to emphasise your point. Bruce only huffs as he watched you take in all of him with nothing but love and affection in your eyes and your touch.

John would most likely bite your hand out of an inherent need to be a teasing little shit.

Will boast about the fact that you just wanted to touch up his stubble. He wasn’t lying but you wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that and instead say; ‘in your dreams John.’

‘Oh I’m sure I am in yours.’ He reply with confidence as he winked, causing you to lightly pinch his cheek as punishment for his cockiness. ‘I hate you.’ You’d say as you push your fingertips through his stubbly beard, enjoying the way it deliciously tickles your skin, almost as though they were little prickly kisses.

‘No you don’t sweetheart, try as you might but you and me both know that for definite that you love me.’ John would state in a matter of fact tone. Once again you hated how right he was, but kept your lips sealed shut as not to give him any more ammunition to tease and contradict you at any given opportunity than you’ve already have.

The air between you is playful and light in comparison to how cynical, sharp witted and sarcastic he usually is on a daily basis. It was a welcomed change as you allowed the blonde to pretend to bite your hand, only allowing for his teeth to barely graze your skin before pulling away with a sly smirk as you scratch at his stubble.

[aangelinakii]

DICK GRAYSON MASTERLIST !!

imagines . . .

TALK.

— swimming... fountains? (dick grayson x gn!reader)

BREADWINNER.

— (try not to) kiss the cook (dick grayson x gn!reader)

SEA SALT AND SCALES.

— you wanted to be where the people are, now you're there (pirate!dick x mermaid!fem!reader)

DOCTOR'S ORDERS.

— an apple a day keeps the doctor away (soccer player!dick x doctor!gn!reader)

DICK'S CORNER.

— 1-800-cute-barista (barista!dick x gn!reader)

ON THE RIGHT BEACHES.

— what an uptight (and hot!) lifeguard (lifeguard!dick x gn!reader)

SUMMER'S END.

— keeping it quiet till i head back (dick grayson x gn!reader)

BAD INFLUENCE.

— bad idea, right? (dick grayson x anti hero!gn!reader) REQUESTED

STRATEGY.

— hey boy, imma get ya (dick grayson x gn!reader)

headcanons . . .

DATING DICK GRAYSON

AS THE INBETWEENERS

ABC'S

AS YOUR BEST FRIEND

[stephstars08]

The two characters I would write the most about would be Jason Todd (Red Hood) and Dick Grayson (Nightwing) since they are my two favorites!