Pairing: Dick & Kory

Other Characters: Donna Troy, Trigon & Angela

Dick enters the house with clenched fists, ready to confront, to fight, even die to get Rachel and Gar out of there, but what he finds is nothing. It's still. Quiet. He already knows what Kory will say and what Donna will do to him, if they get the chance. He tried his luck and he got through the shimmer, and maybe it's for the best that they didn't follow behind. Because he's a selfish prick who doesn't want the women he cares about in the same room as a demon, he doesn't care what they can do. He can only worry about two of them at a time and Rachel and Gar are with said demon, so they win.

The door clicks shut behind him and he takes in the setting he left only hours ago. Remnants of the shattered table remain scattered across the floor and glass from the broken picture frames he and Gar crashed into crunch beneath his boots.

Blood. Specks of blood stain the rug, blood that wasn't there when he left. "Rachel. Gar." He calls. "Rachel," his heart is shrinking, clenching as though it's being closed in a vice.

The air in the room shifts, thickens. He isn't alone. There's a static forming around him, sharp and biting, tugging the hairs all over his body towards it. He takes a few steps forward, but each step seems to take more effort.

"Welcome home," a man's voice says. A voice that can only belong to Rachel's father.

"Show yourself, you fucking coward," Dick growls, clenching his fists so tight his nails dig into his palms.

The veil he didn't know was there drops, revealing Rachel, Gar and Angela behind it. Trigon stands in front of them as though they belong to him, and Dick's blood begins to boil.

"Dick," Rachel cries, but Angela has her arm.

Gar is tucked behind Rachel, and he can see the fear, but he can't move to them, he can't move at all. He wills himself forward, but limb by limb stiffens, ignoring his commands even as Trigon approaches him. Still, he's too angry to be afraid, too desperate to panic because his eyes are trained on the teenagers and they need him.

"Dick Grayson," the man's voice is inside his head this time.

"What are you going to do?" Dick goads, narrowing his eyes on the demon. "Huh. Kill me? Go ahead. It won't end there."

"Oh, I don't want to kill you. What kind of man do you think I am?" Trigon tilts his head, taking Dick in from head to toe. His face cracks wide open with an impressive grin. He moves closer, so close the tip of his nose brushes against Dick's cheek. He breathes him in, deep and long before exhaling. "I like this one." His eyes find Angela briefly. Then he drags his thumb across Dick's forehead, collecting the tiny beads of sweat forming there, and examines it. "I know there are more where you came from."

"What are you doing?" Rachel asks, and steps forward, panicked. "Leave him alone."

Trigon holds his hands up in surrender and his voice is playful when he responds, "I just want to get to know him, that's all," he returns to Dick and leans into his ear. "I want to find all the dark little corners. All your secrets, regrets, mistakes. Your shame." He shivers with excitement and pulls back.

Dick is breathing hard, so hard his throat is dry. The man's smile is insolent, and his demeanor boasts self-importance. He isn't as unique as he thinks he is. Dick has seen him time and again in different forms with different powers. Bad guys are all the same. They want to rule or destroy. Their desires are cliché. Basic. Predictable. They lack nuance, diversity, and his fucking patience. "I'm going to kill you." He promises.

Trigon clucks his tongue. "Unrealistic," he says simply, and regrettably. "Start small. Lower the expectation that this will go any other way than I want it to and you can avoid disappointment. I would start with; survive the night, and work my way up," he flashes a grin that fades all too quickly, giving Dick a glimpse at the thing beneath the meat suit.

"Dick, you okay?" Gar's voice breaks into the room, quietly, and distressed. "What do we do?"

"I'm okay." Dick says, with as much calm as he can muster, but the boys fear makes him want to explode because while Bruce may have thought it a good idea to expose him to all the fucked-up shit in their backyard, he wanted to shield them, despite their gifts. And when they found Angela it became a possibility. He wanted normal for them. Mundane. Vanilla. He still does. This shouldn't be their life. "You don't do anything, OK, I'm going to get you out here. I promise."

Dick pulls, and strains, and grunts until the veins in his neck are bulging.

"Dad, please," Rachel is desperately trying to unpeel herself from Angela.

"Shhh," Trigon drags out, until Rachel's cries die on her lips, and she is still and unsure if she should only be afraid for Dick.

And Dick wants to rip the smug-faced demon apart piece by piece. He can't wait. He can practically hear bone breaking, he can feel warm blood on his fists, taste the metal on his tongue, and he won't stop, he'll keep going until there is nothing left.

He is in a simmering, trapped rage, and the sensation is not new to him. At the asylum he was trapped in a chair and locked in a drug fueled fantasy, unable to unleash all the ugly bubbling up to the surface. But he got his chance once they escaped.

He squeezes his eyes shut momentarily, trying to focus his mind, because he will get that chance again. This fiery sensation climbing him like a jungle gym will fall on Trigon's head, he vows.

Trigon crosses the room to hold Rachel against him. "Don't worry, sweet child," he strokes her hair, but Dick sees her tear filled eyes on him. "I know how much you care about this one," he nods over his shoulder and then to Gar, "and that one," then he turns to the front door. "and the one outside," looking down at her with furrowed eyebrows, playing the concerned parent, he softens his voice. "I won't hurt them, any of them, but I will need something from you in return."

Rachel pulls away and nods. "I'll do anything,"

"No, Rachel, don't." Dick pleads, roaring against his invisible restraints. And he starts to move his fingers and his foot presses forward. His body is responding to him, unlocking.

"Good." Trigon says, spinning on his heel to face Dick. "Go to sleep."

"Dick." Dick is still. Expressionless. "Dick?" Rachel calls. His eyes are open but they're empty. He's staring into nothing and Rachel can't stop the tears because this is all her fault. She takes his hand into hers, but he doesn't hold it back. "What did you do? Why isn't he moving?"

Trigon exaggerates a huff. "Remember when I said I needed something from you and you said anything?" he tilts his head and his face hardens. "Don't touch him again," his voice is layered, and beneath it she hears a monster. "I can't have you talking to him or touching him, or he could get trapped forever." He strokes her face. "You don't want that, do you, for him to be a prisoner?"

"No," Rachel cries, turning her face to move from his touch.

His face relaxes, and his tone is light again. "You have my word, I won't break anything," he bends his knees to level his eyes with hers. "I promise."

Rachel glances at Dick and his fists are clenched so tight his knuckles are blanched. "Is he in pain?"

"No, no, no," He sings. "No, my child," he lets go of her shoulders, and his eyes fall on Angela.

She comes up behind Rachel and hugs her shoulder, resting her chin in the groove of her neck. "Your dad's doing this for you. If Dick passes this test, he can come with us. You won't have to split up, don't you want that-?"

Rachel glances at Gar. "Yes, but-,"

"You want to control what's inside of you, right?" Angela strokes Rachel's cheek, and then moves into her hair where she combs her fingers through it, soothing and reassuring. "Only your father can help you do that," she hums, "without him, you could really hurt them one day. You wouldn't mean to, but you would." Angela rubs her arm next. "Look what happened with Gar when he tried to comfort you – what you did to your friend, Kory."

Rachel's head snaps to her mother, and her eyes are wide, and filling with tears. "I didn't mean to,"

"Sweetie, I know," Angela coos. "You didn't mean to make her crazy, but that's why you need mommy and daddy." She cups Rachel's face. "This way, Dick can come with us, and Gar – and your father, he can fix Kory, too. Undo what you did to her. Would you like that?"

Rachel blinks away the tears, sniffing. "Would it hurt her?"

"No, honey," Angela laughs. "Your father heals. Cleanses. Renews. He saved Gar. He was dying and your father brought him back. We can all be together, on the same side. Don't you want that? You wouldn't have to choose."

Trigon is nodding, and his eyes are soft, and concerned.

Rachel swallows, and then shakes her head. "I don't know. I think so."

"Everything is going to be fine." Angela rests her head on Rachel's shoulder. "You believe me, don't you?"

Rachel feels a searing panic building in her chest. Everything is not going to be fine, but her father did save Gar and she did hurt Kory, and she finally found her mother.

But she's felt unsafe before, she knows the feeling intimately, and she feels it now. It isn't enough to have it all if she can only have it like this. Dick, Kory and Gar protected her and kept her safe when she had no one, they accepted her even when she was terrified of what she was.

She can feel her mother drawing circles in her palm and she knows the only way to protect them back is to play along. She turns in her mother's arms and hugs her tight.

"Oh," Angela's sigh is orgasmic. "That's it."

Rachel's eyes land on Gar who has crammed himself between the wall and the piano. His frown lines deepen with a question for her, until she smiles, and then he nods, and she hopes he has his answer. He's still with her. He knows her. He trusts her. She closes her eyes and holds her mother tighter. "Mom."

"I've got you." Angela whispers, stroking the back of Rachel's head.

Trigon slaps his hands together, and then wipes a faux tear from his eye. "Perfect," he says, "one big happy family," he clears his throat, rolling his shoulders back and returns to Dick. "Hi Dick. Let's have some fun, shall we?"

Then stillness. He's isn't quite as far as Dick seems to be, but he is gone.

Rachel peels herself away from Angela. "What's he doing – is he – inside Dick's head?"

Angela's smile widens. "He's going to teach you all of this, everything you need to know," she claps her hands in excitement. "You have no idea, Rachel. The things you can do, how powerful you really are."

Rachel swallows. Maybe she can do this. She's touched Dick's mind before, and Gars and Rita, even the frozen girl in Chief's lab. She's seen things, felt things and most recently, felt - Kory.

She focuses on Dick. She watched her father touch him and wonders if maybe that's how it works, touch used as a gateway to something more than just feeling, but a door into the mind. If she can figure out a way to stay once she's in the door, maybe she can help Dick out.

She swallows and takes a step, but she's hauled back by her arm. "Ow," she cries, rushing her hand over her mother's.

"What are you doing?" her mother asks, her face turned to stone.

"I just wanted to make sure Dick was OK." Rachel's insides turn cold and the hairs on the back of her neck stand when she meets her mother's eyes. There is a look in her eyes she's seeing for the first time, a darkness, a black glare pooling behind the blue. This woman is not her mother, not anymore. Maybe she never was, not like Melissa. "I'm sorry."

Her mother's features relax and her mouth breaks into a smile. "It's okay, sweetheart." She pulls Rachel into her. "It's okay. It's all going to be perfect. You'll see. All you have to do - is wait."

Kory's throat burns with effort as she screams, blasting the shimmer with the last bit of fire she has inside of her, but it simply ripples in response. "Fuck." She roars.

Donna stands beside it, and she can feel the heat rippling. "Is it more shimmery?" She quips. "I feel like it's more shimmery, huh," she stands back eyeing it closer. "well fuck you, shimmer." She turns to Kory.

The shipowner with the best color lips, and killer boots is quiet, her forehead is marred by worry, and her fists are clenched almost as tight as her jaw. This woman whom she's just met does nothing to mask her panic, she's exposed and vulnerable and doesn't care. Donna's feeling a little panicky herself, but one of them needs to stay enthusiastic and she has enough enthusiasm for them both. "We're getting in there." She assures.

"How?" Kory swallows. "I don't have anything left, and your little whip is no help,"

"My little whip?" Donna raises her eyebrows, amused. She could respond, she wants to but realizes her coping mechanism being 'a little banter' is clearly not in Kory's skill set. She's only getting angrier. "OK, let's think – we need a plan."

Kory's pacing now. "We can't even get past this thing,"

"But when we do, we'll need a plan – we need to know what we're up against, before we rush in half-cocked."

"You mean like, Dick?" Kory opens her palms, and strains, willing fire to bolt from her hands but it simmers to nothing.

Kory's tone is unforgiving, and Donna can't blame her. He can't seem to get it into his thick skull that people care about him, and therefore, he can't just run off, or away whenever he feels like it. She can't wait to save him, so she can kick his ass, amazon-style. "There must be a reason Dick got in, like maybe, Trigon wanted him to. Just him."

There it is again, Kory's jaw clenching and her eyes glossing over, and Donna realizes everyone she cares about is inside that house. They're literally the only people on Earth she has and Donna's heart sinks at the thought. Earlier at the house, all she saw was a danger, but now, between discovering she's some intergalactic warrior tasked with saving her world, and theirs, and watching her will fire from her being to get inside, she realized danger and dangerous was not the same. And dangerous was exactly what they needed.

Donna steps into Kory's view with her hands up, and Kory stops pacing. "We don't know each other, OK, but we care about the same people, so we need to work together. I have something I think may be strong enough to break us through, but it's back in the truck."

Kory scoffs. "We can't leave." There's a challenge in her tone.

Donna huffs and her shoulders sag. "They're alive,"

"How do you know?" another challenge, geez, she's unyielding.

Donna figures she may as well share seen as all they have is each other. Besides, Kory has already shown her hers, and trust must be reflected, Diana taught her that. "I can," she shrugs inconsequentially, "I can hear their heart beats. Everyone is still alive," she says, quickly adding, "for now."

Silence fills the chilly night air and Kory is unreadable, dammit.

"You can hear their hearts," Kory says, without incredulity, as she twists her ring back and forth. "OK, then."

"We need to go now." Donna moves towards the woods. "Do you think you can trust me?"

Kory nods.

What Donna doesn't share is that one of those heart beats has slowed down, bordering on bradycardia, and two have risen significantly higher since Dick went in there. But bad news wasn't going to help, so she swallowed it down, and hoped she and Kory would be enough. "OK, warrior woman. Let's haul ass."

Donna starts running once she's sure Kory is going with her, and they dive into the woods.