Chapter Text
Three days after everyone had packed up their stuff and left the Tower, they had somewhat made themselves at home in Bruce’s safe-house. Bruce and Leslie had left for Gotham a while ago but Dick was still in contact with the billionaire as they worked on finding a new space for the Titans. Bruce had offered to let the safe-house be their new base but Dick insisted they needed their own place. Rachel and Gar didn’t really understand why it was such a big deal, but the others, especially Donna, agreed with Dick. And they supposed that the house was a little crowded with seven people in it right now. It wasn’t like the house was a mansion after all and Rachel already was feeling a need for more privacy.
Jericho had left not long after they returned to the house to go see his Mom. Though they didn’t see or talk to her, they had heard from Bruce that she was beyond grateful to have her son back. Rose left with him, wanting to spend time with her newfound brother and also wanting see her own Mom. She didn’t really give an explanation besides that something personal had come up and she had to go deal with it. As much as everyone wanted to know, they respected privacy.
“Aren’t you going to do anything about these boxes?” Dick looked up from his work on his computer to look down the hall from his spot in the living to see Rachel standing by the door that went to his room.
“Like what?” He asked as she came over to him. Gar, Jason and Conner, who were in the room with him teaching the clone how to play video games, looked over to listen in on what they were saying. Donna, who was on the couch beside Dick, also lowered her book and turned her attention to what was going on.
“Unpacking them.” Rachel suggested, coming to a stop across from the detective.
“We won’t be here long and there’s nothing in there that I need.” Dick responded, then turned his attention back to the task he was doing before Rachel interrupted him.
“You still had unpacked boxes in the Tower. What was the excuse then?” Gar wondered, joining the conversation.
“I grew up moving around constantly. The only time I fully unpacked was when Bruce took me in.” Dick explained, not even looking at Gar so that the green-haired teenager would realize that he wanted to drop the subject.
For a minute, it went silent and Dick thought he would be able work in peace, but then Gar said, “I still can’t believe Bruce Wayne is Batman.”
Dick barely bit back a sigh. It didn’t take long after they were rescued for them to realize that Bruce is Batman and the only thing the others who did already know could do was confirm it. Rose and Conner, having not really cared about Batman and other heroes or know about other heroes, didn’t care that much about Batman’s identity. Rachel and Gar on the other hand were surprised and shocked. Mostly Gar. When Rachel thought about it, she saw that considering Bruce had taken both Dick and Jason in and had the money to get the equipment that they all needed, it all made sense. Gar still apparently had a hard time wrapping his around the whole thing.
“Just promise you won’t freak out if he ever comes back around.” Dick told him. “While Superman and the Flash are pretty good with fans freaking out over them, Batman is not.”
“Yeah, Batman is not good with people, at all.” Hank threw in as he and Dawn entered the room. Donna stayed silent but nodded in agreement, as did Jason.
At the mention of the other heroes, Gar perked up. Conner also suddenly gave them his attention at the word ‘Superman’. Dick hadn’t had a chance to call Clark and let him know about his clone, but he knew he would have to soon. Clark needed to know and Conner clearly wanted to meet the alien. Before anyone could say anything though, they heard the sound of a door opening followed by both Rose and Jericho coming into the room, backpacks hanging off their shoulders.
“Hey losers.” Rose said with a grin as she dropped her bag. Jericho, who was right behind her, was also grinning and raised his hands to sign at them and though he didn’t know for sure, Dick was sure that he said the same thing his sister did. He was starting to recognize some signs.
“Rose. Jericho.” Dawn said in shock.
“What are you guys doing here? I thought,” Dick started, then stopped. When Jericho and Rose had left, they didn’t say if they were coming back and no one asked. As much as Dick cared about Jericho, and had come to care about Rose as well, he knew they had been through so much and if they just wanted to go home to their normal lives, they had every right to that.
Rose and Jericho exchanged looks, then Rose turned back to face them and said, “Well, we talked and we decided that, if there is room, we might be better off here.”
“Of course there’s room.” Dick responded with a smile, turning back to face them. Jericho and Rose both beamed at that, but only Jericho came over and hugged him.
“Welcome back you two.” Hank added with a grin of his own. Jericho looked over at him, then when over to hug him too. The older vigilante froze a little in shock, but his smile quickly grew and he returned the embrace. As Dick watched and looked over at everyone in the room, he felt a sense of peace come over him that he hadn’t felt since Garth died and wasn’t sure he’d ever feel again. It was like their family was back together again, and he was beyond grateful.
2018TITANS2018
Dick made his way to the kitchen for a glass of water. It was almost one in the morning, but he was still wide awake despite going to bed three hours ago. He had been tossing and turning constantly, his mind running through everything that had happened over the last two weeks.
After the somewhat got settled into their temporary house, they all had a very long, and a little emotional, talk about everything that happened before Slade kidnapped the majority of them. They talked about what was going on in their heads when Dick confessed how Jericho really died. How Hank, Dawn and Donna realized how they were wrong to blame him solely for their friend died. How Donna hid the details of Garth’s death and her own lies.
Rachel also revealed her own issues with her powers and why she kept it a secret from Dick. And, though they had to prod him and he was extremely annoyed with them for making him, Jason, reluctantly, told them about his own issues being with the Titans, and the others finally apologized for how they treated him before Slade attacked. As awkward as it was, and as much as Dick, and probably the others, hated having to open up like that, it was necessary and would hopefully bring them all closer.
After filling his cup with water, he took a few sips but before he could actually finish it, he noticed something strange outside through the window. There was someone in the backyard, sitting on the bench. He didn’t think that much of it, figuring that it was just someone else having a hard time falling asleep, but then he saw that the person was a redhead. Looking a little closer, he realized that it was Kory. She was back.
He slowly and silently opened the door and walked outside. He couldn’t see her face at all, but he could see her posture and the way she was staring up at the sky. She seemed upset about something. Upset and deep in thought. Part of Dick wanted to approach her, ask her what was wrong and find a way to fix it, but he wondered if she just wanted to be alone for a little while and that was why she hadn’t come into the house yet. How long had she been out here anyways?
“What are you staring at?” Kory suddenly asked, shocking Dick as she didn’t look at him or seem to hear him at all.
“I was just wondering if I should leave you alone or ask you what’s wrong.” Dick responded, taking another few steps closer to her.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?” Kory wondered, turning her head so she could see him.
“I’m a detective.” He explained, shrugging his shoulders. Though it was a simple answer, Kory didn’t ask for more details. She simply turned her head back to look up at the sky.
“When I was gone, right before I came to the Tower, I met up with an old friend of mine. Faddei. He was my royal guard on Tamaran.” Kory revealed after a minute or two of silence.
“Royal guard?” Dick questioned, finally coming to stand right beside the bench where she was sitting.
“I got all of my memories back.” Kory told him, looking back over at him. “I’m actually Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran, heir to the throne.”
Dick stared at her in shock, his mouth actually dropping open a little as he sat down beside her. Kory chuckled a little as she asked, “Did I seriously make you speechless?”
Her words seemed to snap him out of it a little and he said, “What did Faddei want?”
“To bring me back so I can take the throne.” Kory replied. Dick still appeared to be having a bit of a hard time processing everything that she was saying, but wasn’t rendered completely speechless again.
“Why didn’t you go then?”
“Because Rachel needed me.” The alien explained, causing Dick to nod in understanding. He would’ve done the same thing in her shoes.
“How can one girl enter both of our lives and suddenly have us wrapped around her finger before we even know it?” Dick suddenly asked, only now realizing that he would do anything for the teenager even though she had literally been a stranger that showed up at the station where he worked needing help only a few months ago.
“I have no idea.” Kory responded, shaking her head and the two laughed a little at the fact that Dick pointed out.
After they calmed down a little, Dick asked, “So what now?”
“I can’t go back.” The redhead mumbled, looking down at the ground. Dick suddenly grew worried about what all happened when she was gone.
“Kory?” Dick said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“My sister Blackfire, Komand’r, she staged a coup. She killed our parents, everyone that was loyal to me and took the throne. She even managed to gain control of Faddei. I, I had to kill him.” She admitted, her head dropping more and more with each word. Dick felt his heart break at her pain-filled voice and her words. No one deserved any of that, least of all Kory.
“I’m so sorry Kory.” He said, unable to really think of everything else to say. When she didn’t respond or look at him, he squeezed her shoulder and added, “It’s not your fault.”
“You don’t know anything about it.” She shot back, glaring at him.
“I may not be royalty and I may not know what kind of life you and your family had, but I do know what it’s like to lose your entire family and being somewhere other than home.” He replied somewhat harshly.
Kory froze at that. Dick never talked about it but when she was hanging out with Donna, she had told her about how Dick’s parents died and how he became Robin. However she had forgotten about it until now. Looking over at him, she quietly asked, “What did you do to get through it?”
“I learned that family isn’t always blood. A lot of times, your family is just people you love. And before I knew it, I had a new family.” Dick answered. “Not going to lie, when I realized that I had a new family, I felt guilty. Like I was betraying my other family, but I knew that they would’ve wanted me to be happy and to have that family.”
Looking back over at her, he said, “I don’t know what your parents were like Kory, but I’m sure that’s what they would want for you too. And you deserve it.”
“I think that’s going to be too dangerous. Komand’r will eventually come after me, to make sure that I can never be a threat to her rule.” She told him, glancing back down at the ground.
“Well, she’s going to get quite a surprise if she does.”
Hearing that, Kory snapped her head back up to face him and said, “It’s too dangerous.”
“Have you seen our lives? Danger is what we were trained for.” Dick pointed out with a grin. Kory wanted to argue further, but seeing the look in his eyes, she knew that he wouldn’t listen to her. That he had already made up his mind and nothing was going to change his mind. And she knew, that once the others found out about what was going on, they would side with him.
“You know, for as cold and distant as you acted when we first met, you’ve got a soft heart.” Kory said, nudging him a little with her elbow.
“Don’t tell anyone. It would ruin my reputation.” He responded, his smirk widening a little.
With a smile, she placed her head on his shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”
The two then sat quietly beside each other and watched the stars until they started to disappear as the sun came up and they finally fell asleep.