"Percy,", a faint alluring woman's voice called. "Percy."

     "Hello?!", Percy turned swiftly panicked. "Who's there?!"

     "Percy... I'm over here.", the voice called again.

     Percy panted as he ran in the direction he thought the voice was coming from. He didn't know where he was. His surroundings were an endless field of dandelions and grass, an endless meadow.

     "Where is 'here'?!", Percy shouted as he ran.

     "Percy, stop running..."

     Percy stopped in his tracks as he turned and turned, watching his surroundings. He watched for any signs of a person or something alive.

     "Why, Percy?"

     "Why what?!", Percy struggled to stay on his feet as his legs ached.

     "Why do you continue living?", the voice asked.

     Percy fell to his knees as he panted heavily. The grass around him turned black, withering and spreading like a plague. "I...", he struggled to reply. "I don't know."

     Percy felt like he'd been running for hours when he felt it's been less than that. His lungs ached for breath as it became harder for him to breathe. It was like the oxygen in the air was slowly diminishing. In only a few moments, Percy's eyes became heavy and he struggled to keep them open. He fell to his knees before falling onto his stomach on the soft grass limply with his eyes closing slowly. His thoughts were filled with death. He thought this would be the end. The end to all the suffering he had endured for so long. To the end of all the pain he had kept within himself.

     "Perseus Jackson, the sea cannot be contained, but you already knew that, didn't you, Young Demigod? So, can you contain your abilities? The fear you hold only makes you more of a danger than you already are."

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

Percy jolted awake, his eyes wide as he sat up. He let out ragged breaths of panic while he tried adjusting his eyes to the light. His body ached all over and he felt covered in sweat. He felt disgusting. He was sure he had died, but now he was here, sitting on something soft, most likely a bed.

"Percy!", a voice shouted, though it sounded a bit muffled to him like he was underwater.

The raven-haired teen turned his head to the side, only to notice someone sitting in a chair. His vision was blurry, and he felt lightheaded as he groaned from the brief pain. Someone stayed with him while he slept? When did he even fall asleep? His mind was blank as he tried gathering his thoughts and memories.

"Wha—", Percy was interrupted when he fell into a coughing fit.

"Are you okay?", the voice asked, now clear to his ears. Not knowing who it was made Percy weary and uneasy, feeling that it could be a threat, especially since he recognized it.

The person must've sensed Percy's cautiousness because they sat next to the demigod carefully while whispering soothing words of 'you're safe' or 'you're okay'. When Percy looked at him, he realized it was Dick who had stayed with him. The older started rubbing the younger's back in gentle circular motions, trying to comfort him.

"What happened?", Percy muttered, almost demandingly.

Dick watched Percy for a moment before he spoke, stopping himself from rubbing his back anymore. "You passed out when you got back. Alfred made sure you were comfortable though."

Percy turned his head to face Dick, meeting his mesmerizing sky blue eyes. He averted his eyes when the older gave him a small smile though, not returning it.

     This action made Richard frown, but he didn't complain.

     "Look, kid—", Richard started.

     "I'm not a kid.", Percy glared at the man.

     "Really?", He looked over at Percy. "Could've fooled me."

    "I'm seventeen."

     "And I'm nineteen."

     "Huh, thought you were at least my age.", Percy scrunched his eyebrows together while looking at the man.

"Guess I just have dashing good looks.", Dick remarked with a serious expression.

     They both were silent for a moment, staring at each other before they chuckled.

     Percy held out a hand with a small smile. "Percy Jackson."

     "Richard Grayson, but you can call me Dick.", he accepted Percy's hand and shook it with a soft smile of his own, ignoring the demigod's snort of amusement. "It's finally nice to meet you. You know, properly."

    "Right,", Percy folded his legs and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, avoiding eye contact. "Sorry about that, was having a rough time."

     "Don't worry about it. We're just glad you came back, we were worried.", Dick got off the bed and faced Percy. "Want to eat? You skipped... well, you skipped multiple meals."

     Percy shook his head. "What time is it?", he changed the subject as he looked at a window to check, however, the curtains were closed.

     Dick rose his wrist to look at a watch before he spoke. "It's eleven forty-five pm, you slept for exactly eight hours and thirty-two minutes."

The sea green-eyed teen stared at him, giving him a questioning look.

At the silence, Dick looked at Percy, giving him the answer to his questioning gaze. "You passed out, so Alfred said to keep an eye on you. We thought you'd sleep longer."

"Right...", Percy trailed off.

     "You didn't meet Tim yet, but he's here. Well, he was visiting friends. You can meet him in the morning.", he gave him a small smile.

     "How many people live here?", there was curiosity in Percy's voice, nothing like the demand that was in it moments ago.

     Dick hummed as he seemed thoughtful, his small smile now gone. "Four of us, as of now anyway."

     "There were more?"

     "Used to be five of us... but that's a story for another day.", Dick changed the subject as he breathed deeply and shook his head with a smile. "I doubt you'll be able to sleep since you got your eight hours. Want to watch a movie and chat? I'm sure we'll be able to do some amazing commentary."

     "Depends.", Percy raised an eyebrow at the man. "What movie?"

     "Favorite genre?"

     "Don't have one.", Percy deadpanned.

     Dick looked at him incredulously. "Seriously?"

     "Very serious."

     "Well, we have to change that."

"Any recommendations?", Percy stood up and stretched, popping his back with a yawn as he looked at Dick.

"Well...", the man trailed off.

Percy and Dick were now seated on a couch in front of a huge flatscreen TV. Both of them had a Batman mug in their hands, both being blue but stylized differently. For instance, Dick's cup was blue with a black Batman symbol while Percy's was blue with a navy blue silhouette of Batman.

Supposedly, Dick had a collection of mugs themed with this.. bat guy. Percy didn't know him or recognize him, he figured it could've been because of his lack of an outside life. He never really was caught up with trends or whatever kids were into nowadays.

The blue-eyed man had placed a blanket over Percy's shoulders after he brought them hot chocolate. Percy snuggled into the blanket and sighed in content at the warmth while Dick smiled at the green-eyed teen's actions.

The Jungle Book played on the TV screen, both had settled with a Disney movie and Percy found the Disney movies to be right up his alley. He may never admit it, but he found comfort in children's movies. They were innocent, opposite of what he was, but it was refreshing to him nonetheless.

     Percy looked around the room, his mind and eyes wandering from the movie. He could blame it on his ADHD, but he was curious to look around. He caught every detail, every picture frame, every color, and yet, something felt to be missing. His eyes caught on a picture frame with Alfred, Mr. Wayne, Dick, and two boys that he didn't recognize. The one seeming to be aged between Dick and the other seemed to have an easygoing smirk with eyes that sparked for trouble. The youngest was a boy who had a reluctant but perceptive smile, his eyes revealing just how smart and wise he was. The three boys were quite similar in the blue eyes and dark hair department, much to Percy's surprise. They were celebrating something, he just didn't know what.

     Percy couldn't help but smile fondly at the picture. He knew the importance of moments like those, moments that you should hold onto forever. Moments that filled you with so much joy that you couldn't stop smiling. Dick looked the happiest in the photo, he realized. The one in the photo was nothing like the careful Grayson that was beside him.

     Dick glanced at Percy, capturing what had the teen's attention. His expression turned to one of grief, but a small reminiscent smile made its way to his lips. "We were celebrating Tim's birthday.", he clarified, if the party hats and the decorations didn't already give away that it was someone's birthday.

      Percy's eyes lingered on the photo before his head whipped to Dick, facing the older. "You seem happy there...", he whispered.

     "Well, it's not the same with Jason gone. You'd have gotten along with him, I'm sure. He's always been an easygoing kind of guy. He had demons, but most people do.", Dick's soft smile wavered, glumness entering his expression for a moment. "That being said, he was always a trouble maker too, never really listened."

"He sounds like someone I know.", the demigod looked back at the photo before he looked back at his mug. He fiddled with the handle, staring at the liquid that sloshed against the insides of the cup.

Dick exhaled deeply as he straightened, averting his eyes as he mused the demigod's words.

"You must love... whoever this is.", Percy stared at his mug, changing the subject.

Dick turned his head toward the younger with a disbelieving chuckle. "Wait, wait, you don't know who that is?"

"Should I?", Percy met Dick's eyes with an innocent tilt to his head before looking back at the mug. "It's a man dressed as a bat, but what's with the ear things? Do bats have that? That's so weird, maybe they're antennas."

"That's Batman. He's a crime-fighting hero here in Gotham.", Dick tried his best not to laugh, masking it by setting his lips in a thin line.

"Oh... That's real original. Why not just go with The Bat? I'll call him Bat-dude then. No wait, I'll figure something out."

—————

I know this isn't the best, but I haven't written in a while.
Anyways, thank you for reading!
Have a great day!

—Alistair