Wayne Manor

2100 Hours

Dick and Barbara crept down the creaky back stairs of the house. It was one of the doors hidden behind a panel in the wall on the top floor of the manor. It was the floor designated for storage, by Bruce and Alfred, with plenty of small extra rooms and with no one living there. It also wasn't being patrolled and Dick was able to access it from the small crawlspace in his room behind a large dresser that led between the walls and went up. So, they went up, and then down, and were now headed towards the library as quietly as possible.

Dick had his sword strapped to his back, and Barbara was carrying a fire spoke from one of the sitting rooms they passed. He also had half a mind to grab his dad's leather jacket, grasping it tightly before thinking better and leaving it hanging on the desk chair. Barbara was dressed in his school uniform, although the pants were a little too tight apparently, and she had her hair pulled back in a tight bun. Finally on the first floor, Dick led Barbara to the door.

He glanced over at her. "Ready?"

She hefted the spoke up and grinned. "I'm ready."

He grabbed the handles of the door and flung them open. "I have Machates!" he announced, looking into the room for the first time in hours. Percy and Annabeth were still standing quietly there, though clearly not happy about it. Alfred was with them, and he still looked worn and tired, and seemed to have convinced the ghost-woman and Pony-tail to let him sit down. Dick reached back to grab Barbara, pulling her forward.

The ghost woman leapt toward them, stopping so she was several inches away from their faces. Her loose, greasy hair swung into her face and her eyes had no pupils. She looked frightening but Dick steeled himself and looked into her eyes. He felt a wooziness overtake him and he wanted to keep staring into the grey. She leaned back suddenly and crossed her arms, looking like a pouty teenager. He shook his head, frowning.

"You say this is Machates?" she asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Dick blinked. "If you have to ask… you must not be that important."

The ghost girl scoffed. "You be quiet! I am about to tell a story. I am Philinnion. I have returned from the grave before to be reunited to Machates and I was interrupted then. Now, Forethought has brought me back and said he has Machates and will return him to me if I will bind all men. But he lied! Forethought lied!" she hissed, curling her hands into fists. Her hair seemed to get limper and Dick suddenly realized that she wasn't sweaty; she was wet, as if she'd been drowned, and her ghost form seemed to be reflecting her body. He wondered if there was a grave out there somewhere in Greece, hidden beneath roads and buildings, that was flooded with water and lifting the bones from their resting place.

Philinnion went on. Her hands seemed to elongate and something began to wrap up around her waist. Her clothes looked wet and soggy, dripping ghostly water onto the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Annabeth begin to work on Percy's binds. She must've freed them earlier in case something happened.

"And you!" she pointed a strange crooked finger at Dick. She was still beautiful, almost even more so. And Dick found he couldn't look away. He knew he needed to see what Annabeth was planning, but he couldn't make his neck turn away.

"You! You lied too! You've brought this disgraceful girl child into this house to trick me! I am not tricked! I am not a fool! I am Philinnion, brought forth by Death himself to serve Forethoughts plans!"

"Hey!" Barbara snapped. "You think I'm disgraceful? Look at yourself, serving some idiot who thought he could trick you!"

Philinnion jerked back, suddenly surprised by Barbara's outcry. "Are you saying I am the disgraceful one?"

"Well, duh," Babs cried out impatiently. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the ground. "I mean, did he come back from the grave twice for love?"

Philinnion frowned, tapped one sharpened finger against her chin. Ponytail was staring at Philinnion in shock. "No, he did not."

"Exactly!" Barbara said, "He didn't! So why are you serving him? What's he got on you?"

Philinnion actually looked stumped, pouting a little as she glared at the floor in thought. "He doesn't even have Machates."

"He lied to you, Philinnion. You deserve better than that," Barbara said. "You deserve better than a man who lies to you. I think, you know, personally, you should get rid of his ass and do your own thing. Look for Machates, sure, but experiment and have fun a little. This is the twenty-first century."

Philinnion seemed to be taking a moment to consider, her monstrous appearance fading the longer she seemed to think. Behind her, Ponytail had clearly had enough. He lunged forward at Barbara, and just before Dick could heft his sword up, Annabeth thrust herself forward and ripped her dagger into his arm. The monster exploded into gold dust as Barbara shrieked in surprise.

Dick scurried up over the expensive couch toward Philinnion, pulling his sword from his back strap made up from his backup school belt. He lunged toward the suddenly monstrous ghost, flipping over her gracefully and holding his sword out so it ran straight through her head. She exploded in a screech for help, the gold dust settling around them like feathers. Percy grabbed Alfred up.

"We need to get out of here," he said, "those monsters she had patrolling are going to be after us in a heartbeat."

Barbara was stilling staring at the gold dust horrified. Her hands were taunt and she kept grasping and ungrasping the hand that wasn't holding her fire spoke. "You killed her?"

Annabeth looked over at Dick sharply. "She's a mortal?"

He paused, struggling to stick his sword in his back strap. "Um, yes? She's a friend though. And Babs—."

Barbara's head snapped up to meet him from Philinnion's gold dust. "Richard John Grayson, what the actual hell is going on?"

"She's not dead," he said gently, wincing at the tone his friend took. "Well, not really. Well, okay, technically she was a ghost so she was kinda dead but no, she's not dead."

"I'm not following," Babs said.

"It's complicated," he sighed, exasperated. They couldn't waste time explaining every little thing. There was still a hoard of monsters beyond the door and they needed to get Barbara and Alfred to safety. The butler was still quiet, staring at Dick with a seriousness he often didn't hold.

Barbara threw up her hands. "Everything is complicated. You're not even bothering to try!"

"Miss Barbara," Alfred said, picking himself up and moving forward to place a hand on both their shoulders. Both of them looked up at him, Babs's furrowed angrily and Dick's looking like he'd rather be anywhere else than there. "I'm afraid there are forces here at work that we cannot explain. It will take time, and Master Dick needs to help… Miss Annabeth and Mr. Percy."

Barbara looked between all three of them. Her eyes finally landed on Dick's sword hilt that rose just above his shoulder. She frowned and turned her face away, looking to the ground. "I want to help. Whatever it is you're doing, I want to help."

"That's a terrible idea," Annabeth deadpanned.

Percy was looking between Barbara and Dick as if trying to figure out a way to mediate this. Dick, despite having only known his brother a short time, noted that Percy was incredibly good at getting people to work together when they didn't want to. He was good at making people understand, and existed as an adequate mediator between differentiating parties. In that case, the parties would be himself and Annabeth. The blonde demigod had her hands on her hips, her curled hair falling so loosely from her ponytail she might as well have just taken it out. Her lips were a thin line and she analyzed Barbara with narrowed, grey eyes.

Dick found it particularly ironic that Barbara was here. She'd manage to insert herself into their quest without even trying just because she was a good enough friend that she'd come to the manor just to figure out why he wasn't answering her calls. He certainly hadn't meant to ignore her, but he'd found that he'd probably ignored everyone and it wasn't like he hadn't thought about or missed them, it was that he was so preoccupied with everything else. He'd placed Robin and Gotham on the back-burner; that'd never been his intention.

A sudden though sprung to his head. "Babs, you can come."

Percy looked a little surprised. "She's not clear-sighted."

"She can see my sword," Dick replied honestly, touching it gingerly with his fingers. "That has to count and we can explain everything on the go."

Annabeth was shaking her head. "We can't, Dick, as much as I know you'd like to bring her. It's not that I don't think we can or should, but she can't see the monsters properly. She'd be more likely to get hurt than anything else."

Dick huffed. "Child of law, remember! Bab's dad is Commissioner Gordon of the GCPD. It's not really our choice?" He sounded too shaky as he asked that, trying to sound confident.

Annabeth and Percy hesitated, glancing at each other. Percy reached forward to gently touch his girlfriend's shoulder before she sighed and looked back up at them. Barbara had remained tastefully quiet, only glancing at the doors every now and then as if waiting for more monsters. They all were. Dick could hear things off in the manor, but they still hadn't come their way. Maybe they realized their leaders were gone and they'd scatter. Alfred still stood there, ever the stoic presence.

"The GCPD?" Percy asked quietly.

"Like, the whole operation," Babs said, "He sometimes works with Batman."

Percy glanced at Dick, who made a motion with his head to not do that, and then at Barbara. "It's Dick's quest, so I'm leaving it up to him. Annabeth, you should too. I know you don't like it, and it's nothing personal I understand, but this isn't our job right now. If the prophecy says that Barbara is a part of this, then we don't really have a choice. Dick is right about that."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at Percy. She took out her dagger, spinning it around in her fingers before gripping it tightly at her hips. For a split second, Dick thought she was going to stab her boyfriend, but then her shoulders dropped and arms hung. "Fine. Fine. Dick is right about that. And you're being annoyingly wise and… logical."

"Maybe you should call me wiseboy now," Percy joked, a small smirk donning his face.

Annabeth shoved him lightly. "I think I'll stick to seaweed brain."

Barbara perked up, looking at Dick. She poked him with the fire spoke and grinned. "So, what is this quest?"

"You'll have to explain later, Master Richard," Alfred said suddenly, finally speaking up. They all looked over. "You must be going now. Exit through the terrace as you typically do when you attempt to sneak out, it will be the best option for you right now."

Dick blushed at the mention of his nightly escapades and bit his lip. "Right. What about you?"

"I'll be in the basement," Alfred replied honestly, referring to the cave.

Dick sighed and nodded. Right. They needed to leave. He shoved himself into Alfred's arms, giving him a long hug. "I'll call, alright? Stay safe." He felt a loving hand on his hair, brushing it back.

"I should be saying that to you."

Dick grinned, pulling away from his grandfather-like figure. Alfred gave him a small smile back, ever the most posh as he could be. Sometimes it was for better or for worse, but Dick could take it. They escaped from the terrace, climbing down the ivy laden trellis to the grounds below, landing on small pebbles. The Wayne Manor gardens were generally immaculate, and were even this time of year, but the gardeners were gone, leaving the grounds bare.

The grounds of Wayne manor went back for many acres, more back then to the side. The gardens were made up of interlocking walled areas with pathways in between. To an outsider, it was a maze of ivy and brick, but to Dick it was a friendly and familiar environment. Even still, the actual gardens were further back from the large entertaining space backing the manor and they rested to the left of everything, still more or less to the side. Back beyond them, and the manor itself, is all woods. It's hilly and annoying to walk around. There's some hidden things, a well that leads to the cave, a fire pit Bruce and his parents used to use, and some old buildings Alfred says have lost their history. It all eventually slopes down to a river. There's no dock, because neither Bruce nor Dick were particularly into boating.

Dick supposes he should be now, but it just doesn't capture his interest. So he pulls them into the maze of gardens, not in the obvious direction, because it's a real possibility that they would be expecting two sons of Poseidon to head toward the river.

"Where are we going?" Annabeth asked, looking around them. The walls of the gardens were several feet taller than all of them, Dick especially, and mostly covered with Ivy and flowers. Dick turned them into the one with the large fountain, the water only a drizzle as they stopped.

"I think they expected us to head toward the river," Dick said honestly, "So we're here for now."

"There's a river?" Percy asked, perking up.

"That's exactly why I didn't go there," Dick said, pointing at Percy's peaked interest.

"And why does the river matter?" Barbara asked, looking at Dick with narrowed eyes. Her face is scrunched up in suspicion and he really doesn't want to regret vouching for her. It doesn't matter anyway— Barbara was the Child of Law from the prophecy. And he was the Bird of Sorrow, which wasn't as cool or as compelling as Child of Law. Whatever.

"You know the Greek gods," Dick says hurriedly, "Like the whole… myths and everything." Thunder rumbles through the sky and Dick scowls because how else is he supposed to explain it? "Yeah, like you know, Poseidon and Athena and Ares and all those guys?"

Barbara nods slowly. "Yeah, I do."

"Cool," he said, "They're real. John Grayson wasn't my real dad, it was Poseidon. Like the Greek god Poseidon and all. So like, you know Wonder Woman and everything? How she talks about the gods, yes, okay, cool, she knows them and they are definitely real and alive and kicking and we have a quest to keep Prometheus from, like, killing all the demigods and then destroying the Earth possibly." He feels himself practically saying everything in one breath, worried that Barbara would not believe him. But she's always been open and accepting, especially of him because she was just the type of person to understand and not judge. He loved her for it.

He hoped it would apply to the situation now.

"Prometheus like the Titan?" she asked.

"Yeah," Dick replied, quietly. "Like the Titan."

Barbara looks away, into the roses that need to be trimmed, and then back at him. She flips the fire spoke in her hands. "How do you get yourself into these messes, Mr. Grayson?"

"It's a talent, Miss Gordon," he replied, a small smile breaking through his face.

She sighed a little, huffing a long strand of red hair from her face before she tied it back. "Alright, then let's go. I'm sure there's still a lot to tell me, and we need to get out of here."

Dick finds himself looking toward the Manor. He can barely see the tip of its silhouette on top of the walls. He hopes Alfred is okay, and that he made it down to the cave. He probably did, and the Manor would be clear by the time Bruce came back. If it wasn't, Dick was sure Diana could handle it. Right now, they needed to had West. He turned back to their group. Percy is casually explaining the mist to Barbara, who is looking at him a little like he's crazy; it's a fair assumption, but she's committed now.

They needed to get to a car. Some sort of transportation out of the city that would be discreet enough for them to pass by unseen and not high tech enough so they couldn't be sensed by monsters. He scowled at the fountain beside them and the water trembled a little. He felt Percy's sudden confused look toward him, but he kept his gaze steady away from the group.

"The garage," he said suddenly, "We can take a car and get out that way. We'll have to move quickly." He wonders if Alfred is okay. He wants to turn back, but he knows he can't. But…

"You guys go. Babs, you know where it is right?" he turned to her, blue eyes dark and serious. She takes him in and nods.

"Where are you going?" Percy asked. He's messing with Riptide-in-pen-form, twisting the cap in his fingers anxiously. It looks like a nervous habit and come to think of it, Percy was pale. He clearly hadn't liked being bound and Dick is surprised that he'd remained calm, or at least hadn't done anything, in the several hours he'd been knocked out in his own room from touching a sword. Not a whelming way to go out.

He looked up at the moon. It was covered in a haze of clouds, rising above them slowly. The sun had gone down, finally. "I'm going to check on Alfred. I'm an idiot for just leaving him. That's…" he was going to say that 'that's not me' because it wasn't. Robin wouldn't leave someone like that. And he was Robin, not just Dick Grayson. And certainly, Dick Grayson would never just leave someone like that either. He had to go back. He steeled his gaze. "I'll go check and make sure he's okay and get some food for us. Just in case we can't stop. I'll meet you in the garage."

Annabeth frowned at him. "Be safe. We'll meet you there."

He let out a small sigh of relief. "I'll see you in twenty minutes."

And then he disappeared.

Camp Half-Blood

Earlier that Day

"How many do you count?"

Piper handed Jason the binoculars. "A good five thousand maybe. They're all in the fields across the street. What do you think the mortals are seeing?"

Jason frowned, peering through magical lenses. He scrunched up his face to the side a little, and Piper found it very cute. He held on to the tree with one hand, just toeing their magical border, and with the other held the binoculars to his face. He appeared deeply troubled. And Piper didn't blame him. The army had appeared swiftly that previous night, camping outside of Camp Half-Blood. It was clearly Prometheus.

"Who even knows," the son of Jupiter muttered, "We need to tell Percy, Annabeth, and Dick."

"What's even going on in the world anymore?" she asked, her voice surprisingly bitter. Chiron had summed up for most of them the general gist of what was going on. And suddenly, they were in contact with Wonder Woman. Well, Chiron was. And either way, it was serious enough to involve the Amazons… and that meant the Justice League. Piper wasn't sure how she felt about all that, because that meant this really was bigger than them; they had been saying that it was bigger than them the whole time, but not once had she believed it.

Maybe it was because everything in their past was bigger and better than the thing before it. More evil, more powerful, more devastating. It was like they lived their lives on a TV show, but it was just a really crappy one where they all power upped until the next season's baddie rendered everything useless. And she supposed Prometheus, of all the Titans, was not the worst. He was not as powerful as Kronos, nor was he a fighter as Hyperion. He had neither the mass and stretch of Gaia nor the revering power of the Giants. But he had foresight and knowledge and he could speak.

He could twist words for himself. He was noted to be eloquent and sharp witted. He dressed like a businessman or like he was attending a gala. Piper had never once met the Titan, not really, because he'd apparently slunk back to whatever rock he'd escaped from to avoid the wrath of the gods. But she'd heard enough from Percy, and even from Annabeth. Chiron had noted, in passing, the Titan was witty. It hadn't been a comment of nostalgia or one of fondness. It was an observation, like saying that flower was a nice shade of pink or that that car had no front left tire. Mundane and in passing.

Piper knew the power of words better than anyone. But it was different. She could say any combination of words, sentences, phrases to get people to listen to her. Give me that car was not as eloquent as reciting a speech to fight in a battle.

Piper was no Elizabeth, but she'd fight with her words on the tip of her dagger like poison.

"—at least five thousand, could be more or less. Frank has told me the Roman camp is clear, it seems they've only targeted us for now. But that could change any day now. Our next step is to manually secure the border, stationary guards should be several hundred feet apart and in sight of each other. We can't risk a breach to the line, and we definitely need to make sure we're doing hourly rotations—."

"Do we even have campers to spare?" another counselor said pointedly, "It's so close to the end of the year, and a lot of kids have already been pulled. We just don't have the man power to fight an army of five thousand."

Jason frowned. "Agreed. But the Roman camp is allowing themselves to give us two cohorts. It's all they can spare for now until they know they're safe for now. There's a good several hundred of us here. That puts us almost squarely at a thousand," he said, looking around the ping pong tables. Everyone shifted uncomfortably. He knew it was a stretch to ask the Roman Camp for help, but Chiron had given them the go. Reyna had been compliant and the Senate had only had two days to discuss before they agreed to send two full cohorts, each at about 480 soldiers.

"We don't have a choice," Piper said, "Prometheus and his army aren't after the gods, not until we're out of the way. They're after us. We're not fighting for anyone but ourselves. Between you and me, I want to live."

Jason gave a small smile of thanks and she winked at him, leaning back into her chair. "Piper's right. And with Percy and Annabeth gone with Dick, we're down three powerful demigods. Right now we're on the defensive anyway. The monsters can't get within the border."

"And their quest is to get… something from the goddess of protection? What's she gonna give us that's gonna protect us from a five thousand monster army led by a Titan who can see our possible moves?" Travis Stoll asked, flipping his small bunched up paper ball back and forth in his hands.

Jason bit his lip, glancing at Piper for help again. The Daughter of Aphrodite winced and looked away, unsure of how much she could say. Most of them had been there for the discussion, but Chiron had brought those two aside and had clearly dictated how out of depth they really were. Finally, it was Piper who spoke up.

"Whatever it is, it's powerful. Once they get it, we'll be able to move on and go forward to protect ourselves. They can do it, they've made it through everything else," Piper said, finally looking away a little. Her mind flashed with the thought about Percy— the look he and Jason held that said they knew one day there would be a monster they couldn't beat. Piper couldn't imagine either of the two demigods getting defeated by anything. And she desperately wished for Dick to make it through too. He was smart, brilliant, and resourceful. She knew there was much he was hiding, but if Percy and Annabeth trusted him, so did she.

Travis kind of nodded, finding comfort in the fact that someone had given him an answer instead of the actual content of that answer. There wasn't much to be said. The quest was more or less straightforward, head west to find Soteria.

But Soteria wasn't exactly a Goddess you heard from. She wasn't really found in their everyday life, and she certainly never once had affected Travis or Piper or any of the others directly. She wasn't even like Iris, who few had met but whose services were used by almost all. She obscure, if that was the right way to put it. And maybe they did worship her, in small ways, but who knew?

Certainly not Piper.

She looked over the table. There was a steady feeling rising among the counselors— a feeling or readiness? Or perhaps anger. Piper supposed that the demigods had never been targeted before as directly as this, nor had anyone gone through the demigods to get to the gods. Sure, the Giants had to the gods. The demigods, to them, had been mosquitos in the summer; annoying, small, and hardly worth their time. Except they'd proved they were worth it; they'd always been alive, kicking and fighting and living lives they hadn't chosen.

But now they were being targeted. It was them. Maybe, yes, so the gods would be useless. But this time it was them. They were the aim, the goal. Prometheus in the Titan War had been testing things. A failsafe. He wanted to see what he could pull, what he could do. But where Kronos had failed, Prometheus would succeed.

But not if they didn't fight. And as Piper looked over the table, she could feel the anger. They were being targeted. They were in their own war, for themselves.

"So," Jason said, "We fight?"

Everyone looked at each other. Clarisse stood up, the bottom of her spear hitting the ground with a thud.

"We fight."

Wayne Manor Garage

Barbara had never noticed how scary the garage was. She'd only been in a couple of times, but generally it was during the day and everything was lit up. The cars sat beneath long yellow lights as if to amplify their importance. It was long and narrow and there were two sets of ten cars parked evenly spaced apart. There was the one black Lexus that Barbara had been in herself, a limo, and several sports cars that had probably never once left the garage. On the other side was an older looking car, from the eighties, a few from the fifties and a neat Rolls Royce that Barbara wanted to ride in to prom.

It was empty when they entered and she led them to the back, in the darkness, where they'd have a good chance of escape if something happened to stray and find its way to the garage. She gestured for Percy and Annabeth to follow her, sneaking behind the Royce and passed the brightly colored cars from ages past. They followed silently, watching around them.

"We're safe in here, right?" Annabeth asked Barbara, turning to look at her. The blonde curls fell over her face and she brushed them from her eyes.

"Should be," Barbara whispered back, "This is where Dick told us to meet him. He wouldn't have picked this if he didn't think it'd be secure." Her words gave herself more assurance then she thought it did Annabeth. The blonde haired girl turned back away and frowned into the darkness, narrowing her eyes as if to find something that wasn't there.

"So," Barbara began, "How do you both know Dick?"

They glance at each other before Percy opens his mouth. "My dad is Poseidon too. We're technically half-brothers… but we only just met."

Barbara looks away, feeling suddenly awkward and intrusive. "I didn't know John Grayson wasn't Dick's dad, he always…"

"He just found out," Annabeth said sympathetically, "You couldn't have known. I don't think he really had a chance to process before he left for camp."

"That does make me feel a little better, heh. So, who's your… dad? Or mom?"

"Athena," Annabeth answers, looking directly into Barbara's eyes. It gives the redheaded girl a good chance to look at them. They're grey, almost a dark unholy blue like summer storm clouds. They're knowledgeable but also tired and they make Barbara feel like she wants to challenge the girl in front of her. Not in a bad way, but there's a quick-wittedness in Annabeth's eyes that Barbara feels she wants to match. "She's the goddess of wisdom."

"Wow," Barbara breathes, "That's cool. My dad is Commissioner Jim Gordon and my mom is Barbara Keane. No one important, you know."

"I think the prophecy thinks otherwise. And Dick does too, and I trust him," Percy said seriously. The dark haired boy shifted around and almost melted into the floor, his ready squat falling so he was sitting on his butt with his elbows on his knees. "And mortals are important too. We wouldn't have gotten very far without them."

Barbara looks away, biting her lip, and grips her spoke tighter. It's somehow become her lifeline to this strange story. She's unsure of what exactly is happening but is also extremely hyperaware to all the things going on around her. The sweat rolling down Annabeth's forehead from the heat in the garage, Percy's tired gaze at a Camaro, and the strange humming filling the air around them.

She glances out the window, toward the hazy moon, and shivers despite the heat. The garage seemed to have sucked in all the hot air from outside and Barbara feels overwhelmed by it. She feels overwhelmed by everything, by Dick's life now, and the apparent monsters, and the fact that she was going on a quest by two beings who weren't even completely human with only a fire spoke and some old clothes of Dick's. She feels so different than who she was only 24 hours ago. She hasn't talked to her father, but how can she even begin to explain this?

And Dick. His father was a god. He was going on this adventure to do what? Save the Earth? She didn't know what to think. She didn't even realize her breath was quickening until Annabeth laid a hand on her shoulder and stared at her worriedly. The humming has gotten worse and the moon in unbearably white.

"Everything's so different than I thought," she whispered, stuttering to breath.

Percy, Dick's half-brother, sat up and patted her on the back. "I know how you feel. I was twelve when I found out the gods were real. Annabeth was even younger. It's strange and different and… weird."

"I'm fifteen," she said, "barely. Dick like… just turned fourteen. It's just all… a lot to take in. And I mean… how? How is this even possible? Like, I guess I know about it all because, duh, Wonder Woman and all, but she just seems so beyond it."

"It kind of just is," Annabeth sympathetically, "They just exist. There's a lot we could go into but… now's just not the time. And I understand the feeling."

"Dick will explain when he gets back," Percy said, glancing at Annabeth. "We'll tell you about our quest. Thanks for wanting to help. You're not the first mortal."

"Ariadne, right? That's someone," Barbara said, thinking of the little knowledge of Ancient Greece she remembered. She wasn't much for history herself, preferring math and computers and things that were logically run. People and history were things of the past, but this whole world bred in history. It was steeped in it. To the gods that existed to the people standing in front of her. Barbara had gone on a field trip to Gettysburg back a long time ago in middle school. She'd stood in front of the monument and looked up at some General that had died and thought about her program she was downloading back at home. History did not mean much to her.

She knew it meant a lot to Dick. She knew he'd been proud to be a Grayson, to be Rom. She knew he would have loved to learn where his family came from and why they were performers and why they were who they were. She had thought silently to herself that his strange fascination with his history was probably due to the fact that his parents were not around to answer the questions. The answers were not readily available, and thus more mysterious. She's never said that though, and kept him talking when he would talk about it all. He enjoyed it. And she enjoyed watching him enjoy it.

And here she was wanting nothing to do with her mother. Keane? What kind of name was that anyway?

Annabeth smirked a little at her. "Yeah, Ariadne. You know your Greek history?"

Barbara blushed. "I prefer math. Thanks for geometry though."

Annabeth laughed quietly and then leaned to whisper something into Percy's ear. The boy smirked, glancing away, and then nodded.

It was silent from then on out. Barbara settled behind her car, waiting for some sign of Dick. Percy and Annabeth talked silently a little to themselves, Barbara picking up the general idea of all of this. But she waited, and her thoughts began to wander.

"Where's the party, did I miss it?"

Barbara slammed her fire spoke into the concrete, cracking it. Dick flipped back, skidding across the floor.

"Whoa!"

She blinked. "Oh my god, Dick. I'm so sorry!"

The boy straightened and laughed, standing taller than he was. "All's fair. I'm alright. Are you guys okay?"

They all wearily stood up. Annabeth gripped the edge of the car and glared at Dick. Barbara wiped the sweat off her forehead and scowled in his direction. The boy held his sword up high, the blade almost touching his shoulder, and grinned at all of them. The heat seemed to grow heavier in the garage and Barbara desperately wished she just wasn't there right now.

"We need to get out of here," Percy said, "and start heading west. Was Alfred okay?"

Dick turned to look at his brother, eyes heavy. "Huh? Yeah, he was fine." He twisted to show a navy backpack on his back. "Brought food and clothes." He held up a set of keys. "And we need to get out or something."

"You're tired," Annabeth said apologetically. "I'll drive. Which car?"

"I have no idea which keys I grabbed," Dick answered honestly, rubbing his eyes. Why did he feel so weary? He could usually go days without worrying about sleep, not that it was good for him, and it wasn't like he hadn't slept for several hours after touching the sword. He scowled into the concrete floor.

Annabeth turned from him and clicked the unlock button on the keys. Thankfully, Dick hadn't grabbed one of the sports cars. As cool as they were, they could only sit two people and Bruce had taken enough girls on dates in those for him to want to avoid them at all cars. It's one of Bruce's 'work' cars— dark, black, with bullet-proof glass and plenty of safety measures to rival a rollercoaster. Dick breathes a sigh of relief enough though Barbara looks disappointed. She nudged his shoulder.

"We have to go driving in one of the Royce's one time," she whispered, leaning down a little to talk into his ear.

He grinned lazily. "After this quest, I promise."

She laughed. "Deal."

Annabeth and Percy dragged them toward the black Lexus and stuffed them in the back. Dick had no complaints, he slouched down in the seat and gripped his sword tightly to himself. Barbara leaned against the window, shoulders hunched back. The laughter from her face was gone, and Dick suddenly felt bad for dragging her into this.

They pulled from the garage, peeling out of the long driveway through the Palisades. The moon was hidden in the sky, and the lights of the city outshined even the stars. The clouds hung in the air, drifting along the highway, following their sleek black car out of the city. Annabeth, for having more or less grown up in camp, made an excellent driver. She sped out of the city and soon the lights of even Gotham's suburbs and docks became blinks in the distance. Dick dozed in and out of sleep and a hazy-awareness. Barbara had drifted off to sleep before they'd even left the city. And Percy, who's green eyes pierced the darkness outside, had not spoken anything but low whispers to Annabeth.

Dick glanced over at his friend. "Babs?" he whispered.

"Hm?" the redhead hummed, rolling her head in his direction.

"Thanks for coming," he said, pausing only briefly over his words, "This must be so weird."

"I'm co'fused," she said through sleepy fog, "Bu' you're m' frien'."

"Thanks Barbara, you're my friend too," he said, and reached over to squeeze her hand. The girls lips twitched into a half smile before she shifted and fell asleep again. He turned away from her, covering up his arms. It was still early in the night. They passed small New England towns and pleasant little bridges. Dick shivered. The quaint towns felt engulfed by the darkness and he felt a slow dread building up. Did they know what was coming?

He didn't know. He leaned back into the seat, watching the moon disappear and reappear through the clouds. He wondered how the team was doing. Bruce had said they were handling to 'mortal' side of the situation, to put it lightly. Wonder Woman told him to worry about his quest. Did she know everything? Was the League working with the camp? Was the camp alright?

Dick closed his eyes, seeing his mother's blurred face in his vision. He couldn't help but feel angry at everything. Maybe not at his mother— but he did feel a little discouraged by that. Had she meant to ever tell him? He couldn't answer that, no one could and he wouldn't ever know the answer. He needed to let go and not dwell. He could worry about the team, and the League, and the world. He shouldn't worry about something that happened almost fourteen years ago.

He woke up around 2 in the morning. He blinked through a daze and looked around. Barbara was still silently passed out in the back with him, her feet resting against his thighs. Percy was also done, his head lolled back against the head rest, drool slipping from his mouth. Dick pocketed that blackmail for later. He hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep. He stretched a little, yawned, and turned to look outside. The land was mostly hill and in the distance of an orange glow in the darkness, he could see a city?

"Pittsburg," Annabeth said in the front, glancing at him through the back mirror. "We're almost through Pennsylvania."

Dick slowly sat up in his seat, careful not to wake Barbara. The girl only shifted a little. He winced. "Oh," he whispered back. "You're driving fast."

The light of a streetlamp illuminated her shrug and her blonde hair before they blew past it.

"So," she said lightly, "that's the sword?"

He didn't looked down on it. His fingers tightened around the hilt and he nodded. "Yeah, this is it. I… don't know how to explain it."

"It doesn't have the mist around it," Annabeth said, "Not if Barbara can see it clearly. Where'd you find it?"

Dick closed his eyes to think. "I just saw it on the wall when the Echidna attacked the manor. I fought her and… she died or whatever. But I got hurt, I honestly didn't even think about it until the other day. I don't know how I didn't see it before, but Mr. Wayne… Bruce's dad, collected like old swords so there are always a ton around the house." He wondered how that had worked— most of the swords would've just been normal iron swords, not celestial bronze or imperial gold. If they were, they would've been in a demigods hands or unrecognizable to a mortal. Maybe Thomas Wayne could see through the mist?

Dick wondered briefly about the implications of that before he realized Annabeth was talking.

"—can you not see it? It has to be magical in some way. What does the writing say on it?"

Dick blinked. "I don't know, but it's definitely magical. It's not Greek?" He squinted down at the sword through the little light the streetlamps provided, but couldn't make out any of the words. He didn't understand. "How could it not be Greek?"

"What makes you say it's magical, aside from the obvious?"

"When I touched it, and when I noticed it in my room. I saw the sword and pointed it out and Barbara said that she hadn't even noticed until I said something. And when I touched it, I passed out for like hours… that's why it took me so long to get back to you guys," Dick explained, sitting up fully.

"I was wondering," Annabeth said, glancing at him in the mirror again. "What happened when you touched it? Dick, you have to tell us these things?"

"Yeah," he whispered, "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

"What happened, Dick?"

He closed his eyes to think. He pretended he was talking to Aqualad, to the team, about a mission. It was a mission report. "I was in a castle. Really ancient, like pre-medieval. There was this tall throne facing away from me, and someone was sitting in it. Everything looked like it'd been abandoned for years. There was light from the windows, and they were strange; narrow, but open toward me. Like a trapezoid. I walked forward toward the man in the throne. He was old and withered, like a rotted body but he was alive. Barely breathing. He wore a really heavy wool coat… like it had been cold. I think it was hot, but I don't remember feeling really anything.

"He had a trident in his hand. When he talked, it was in a language I didn't understand at all. I told him I couldn't understand him. Then he said in English that 'Destiny is yours. Take it up.' I asked him if this was a message from Poseidon, but he just kept repeating 'Take it up'. Then he touched the trident on my forehead and I woke up hours later to Barbara shaking me," Dick explained, thinking hard about the dream. The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

The man was so old and strange and withered, like he'd been waiting for something and just simply couldn't let himself die.

Annabeth didn't say anything for a long time. "It wasn't a message from Poseidon, he's a lot less subtle than that. If he wants you to know something is from him, he'll have the messenger tell you."

Dick thought long and hard about that. "But then what about the trident?"

"That… is strange," the girl murmured, mostly to herself. "Do you remember anything else?"

"It just happened when I touched the sword, that's all," Dick replied. "And aren't I taking up my destiny by going on this quest?"

"You'd think," the blonde said dryly, "Demigods don't just have dreams with random people telling them to take up their destiny. There's a connection somewhere. I'm trying to think about any other stories or myths that have people with tridents but…," Annabeth shook her head, "I'm afraid I'm useless here. I'll have to ask Chiron, we can send him a message. This has to do with your sword too. It has a history and it ended up at Wayne Manor for a reason, for you."

"How could Mr. Wayne have known to get it?" Dick said, dread settling in the pit of his stomach. If he was always meant to get this sword, and if it was at Wayne Manor just so he could get it, then destiny had determined his life long before he had ever lived. It implied that he'd never been meant to life with his parents, that John and Mary Grayson and his whole family were going to die so he could be adopted with Bruce. Dick didn't like how that made him feel. He felt cheated, yes, and angry. But what could he do? He couldn't go back in time and stop them— if they were meant to die so he could move into the Manor for a sword, then there was nothing he could do.

He felt like a pawn.

"Destiny," Annabeth answered, glancing back at him. "You said he liked old swords? Then he probably was gonna buy it."

"Yeah," Dick said, scowling into the dark. "I guess you're right."

Annabeth didn't speak, and Dick didn't say anything either. He wanted to wallow right now, and get through this. He let go of the sword, suddenly feeling wary, and leaned into the crook of the seat and the car door. They passed by a couple of small motels and rest stops, but Annabeth hurled through the streets, not even bothering to stop. Eventually, the sign for Ohio came up. The roads became annoyingly hilly and Dick sword he saw a sign for 'Barnville' every fifteen minutes. He ignored it, closing his eyes to try to sleep again.

"Dick?" Annabeth's voice broke him through the almost-sleep. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Annabeth," he answered automatically, his voice a little raspy. He swallowed. "Just tired. Do you want me to drive?"

Annabeth paused. "Dick… how did you come to live with Bruce Wayne?"

He hesitated. "My parents died and… he went through something similar when he was around the same age. I guess he saw something in me. He took me in. Why?"

Annabeth cleared her throat. "I was just wondering. You didn't tell me your name, you know."

"Dick Grayson," Dick said, "Richard, technically. That wasn't a lie."

"Thanks, Dick," Annabeth said, "My last name is Chase. My dad's a college professor. History."

Dick found himself lightly grin. "I kinda like history, but I never have time to study it. Both my parents were acrobats."

"I'm not even clear on what we have and haven't told each other," Annabeth answered honestly. "What's your favorite band?"

Dick opened his mouth to reply before he paused. He realized he didn't have an answer. "Um, I don't know. I don't really have time between school and… extra-curricular's and all." It was an honest truth— Dick didn't know what is favorite band was. Between the team and school and simply being Robin, he rarely had time to listen to music casually. "You?"

"Being a demigod doesn't really give you a chance to… enjoy music like that," Annabeth, her voice a little embarrassed. Dick found himself nodding.

And then… what did he actually enjoy? Aside from school and the team, what did he really do on his off time? Code? But that was a Robin thing. Acrobatics had to become a Robin thing, because no one could connect Robin and Dick Grayson together. He liked math, but that was a school thing too. Both Dick and Annabeth paused to reflect a moment. Dick found himself groping for everything he could. Sometimes he hung out with Wally and they played video games, but Dick rarely ever played just by himself. He didn't enjoy reading all that much, and he wasn't particularly into sports.

"My mom liked Bob Dylan," Dick found himself saying. "I don't really… listen to music, but I remember listening to Bob Dylan."

Annabeth switched into the left lane, pressing on the gas. "My dad likes Enya."

"That's cool… thanks for talking with me," Dick said, "And for… being understanding about this."

"I've been on a lot of quests, Dick. Honestly, I… I'm tired."

"I'm sorry," he said, "I shouldn't have asked you and Percy to come. I know something happened to you in the Giant War and I just… ignored whatever it was that was obviously still affecting you and—."

"What happened to us wasn't your problem, Dick," Annabeth said seriously. "And we needed to come with you. You're our responsibility and Percy would've come anyway, he cares about you a lot. We are dealing, but… just don't worry about it okay. It's not your responsibility."

"I should've thought about how you felt!" he winced, glancing at Barbara and Percy. Neither moved.

"I'm impressed by your ability to recognize that, seriously," Annabeth said, "But we wanted to help."

Dick turned away. "There's a lot you still don't know yet. I ignored how I was feeling about leading a… quest and just went for it. That isn't fair. I'm sorry."

Annabeth looked back at Dick through the mirror, eyebrows furrowed. "I understand. And thank you for realizing that. I forgive you, even if I don't think you really did anything wrong."

Dick felt his shoulders fall and nodded. Even if Annabeth didn't think he'd done something wrong, it still felt good to hear that. "I have to learn how other people see things too."

"You're really perceptive," she said, "and that's a good thing to have in a leader. I think you'll be fine."

Dick grinned, settling down in the seat. Slowly his eyelids began to fall and he felt himself relax into the seat.

To be continued...