This is some weird mix of New 52 and preboot
Shameless promotion of Dick/Kory
omg too many updates, but I felt bad because I've been neglecting this story. So.
"Diana, did you hear?"
"Of course I heard, everyone did."
"Everyone heard what? About the Nightwing thing?"
"Green Arrow, you scared me. And how did—."
"Like Diana said, everyone heard."
"But Flash only—"
"Yeah, we're talking Flash."
"And with the way everyone's talking about it..."
"The Green Lanterns? What—"
"We heard. Well, everyone did."
"Okay! We've gotten that."i
"Gotten what? Oh, are you talking about the Nightwing baby crisis of two thousand and s—"
"Nightwing's baby crisis?"
"Kara, when did—"
"No! It's true, then? I had our whole lives planned out, he would propose on a—"
"With Starfire too, man. Can you imagine how hot that baby's going to be?"
"Extremely!"
"Ha!"
"I thought he and that Batgirl were better."
"You mean Oracle? She dumped him, I thought. Like, twice."
"Plus she's like, way older."
"Yeah, but—"
"They were kinda cute. But isn't she going out with that Luke Fox guy anyway?"
"I kept forgetting his name, but yeah, that's it!"
"Batwing! He's pretty cute."
"I thought that was David Zavimbe?"
"Besides, have you seen N and Star together, like, they make dream couples seem like they need therapy. It's so cute!"
"Huntress, are you okay? You look like you just found out that you had a kid with an alien."
"Too soon, Hal. But really, you okay, H?"
"Yeah, yeah, great, people, I'm fine, but..."
"What?"
"Batman is a grandpa now."
A riot nearly breaks out.
Dick gets himself under control quickly, it's just that he's got a kid now that he has no idea how to raise and Pop Haly, his godfather and surrogate grandfather, is dead and —
He's kind of an expert in pulling himself together.
"Jack is dead," he tells Bruce, and really? World's Greatest Detective and you didn't know? "He left me the deed to the circus, and I kind of manage it now."
Bruce looks — probably only to Dick and Alfred, since a slight lift of his brows are the only indication he gives — shocked, but he doesn't press the issue, a fact Dick is immensely grateful for.
It's just...Pop.
He was always there when Dick needed him — after the fall, when he needed to escape the prison that was Wayne Manor, Blüdhaven, New York, Chicago, and he can't remember a time in his twenty three years that Pop Haly hasn't been present for at least a part of. He'd been a constant in a life where there were few.
On the bright side, Mar'i has stopped crying...making him the only Grayson in tears.
Hm.
Hm.
Hm?
Mar'i is a Grayson, he realizes. He's not the only Grayson in tears because he's the only one period, but because...he's crying and the other Grayson isn't.
Dick almost laughs. It makes him want to cry again. He's not the last of his...family.
Well, that's not exactly true — he's got Bruce and Alfred and his brothers (almost all of whom have attempted to murder him at some point, but he still really, really loves them) and the extended family of superheroes and circus folk, and all the civilians he's met and loved and befriended, but something about not being the last of his blood family is...startling.
Pleasantly so.
Suddenly he remembers him and Kory laying on the roof of Titans tower, maybe sixteen going on seventeen and too aware of the world, talking about their future.
What it entailed.
What it didn't.
Dick had nearly popped the question that night (too young, he'd thought but resolute in his belief that she was the only for him, only for them to be engaged a few months later). He remembers pointing out and naming all the stars, showing Kory all of the ones he could, because they weren't the ones visible from Tamaran.
'What is a power couple?' she'd asked, because she'd heard Vic call Clark and Diana one. Kory had always worried about taking figurative things too literally, and literal things too figuratively.
'It's like...like an amazing couple who gets everything done but, mostly, is amazing,' he remembers explaining, and it sounded confusing even to him, so he'd added, 'like us.'
'It is...an alien and a warrior, then?' she'd asked as a follow up, and yeah, Dick could kind of see where she was coming from with that.
Probably not the best analogy,
'Sometimes,' he admitted (and was that...? Yes!), 'but not usually. Sometimes it's— Oh, look! Pleiades!'
'Why is it called that?' Kory had inquired, and Dick had to strain his astronomical knowledge to find the answer.
'Named after these seven sisters in Greek mythology,' he said. 'A lot of stars are named after heroes, though.'
'Oh,' she'd replied thoughtfully, 'that is also common practice on Tamaran. Where is the Nightwing star?'
He laughed. And laughed. And laughed. 'There isn't one. The heroes are from a long time ago.'
'Have they run out of stars?' and Dick had sworn he had never loved anyone so much. Would never be able to love anyone more. Couldn't if he tried.
'No,' Dick said, trying very hard not to picture a star named Batman (how majestic) and failing miserably. 'But maybe they're out of heroes.'
He had no doubt that Koriand'r had her own star somewhere. She deserved a million.
'If,' she'd begun softly, before correcting herself and nudging his shoulder, and smiled at him, 'when we have a child, they will be worthy of a place among the stars.'
Dick's heart would have stopped had they not already discussed if they would ever want kids — 'Sure', he'd conceded earlier, flashing a shy grin at her and squeezing her hand, 'with the right person.'
'A real night-star,' he said, before laughing at it. He'd never been one to resist a pun.
Oh.
He'd forgotten that.
He doesn't know how, but he had.
Dick looks at Mar'i, and he sees Kory.
This is what his future entails.
"And," Koriand'r says, already missing a familiar weight in her arms, "you delivered her safely?"
"Yes," Galfore affirms, clapping her on the shoulder like Tamaran has not been destroyed and she is still a little gyermek. "And?" he prompts, green eyes sparkling.
She grabs his arm, clutching it and meeting his gaze. "How was he?"
Galfore laughs heartily at her eagerness, grabbing at his girth. "As usual," he offers, making his wording as vague as possible. She stares at him even longer, making her eyes even bigger the way Dick taught her. "He was well. Although...he looked like he swallowed a kifog when I told him! Ha!"
She smiles, picturing Mar'i staring at him blankly and Dick staring back, equally confused.
"Princess," Galfore says, and he is either in a story telling mood or prepared to offer advice. She would accept either one gladly. "You could join them — you should. Your sister will not think to look for you, or for Mar'i, on Earth. I believe that you know so, in your vm'enak. You are just afraid."
"I do not know what Komand'r will do," Kory sighs. "That is the problem."
"But," begins Galfore. "You know what you should do. Do not be afraid, it does not suit you."