Chapter Text
Gar woke up on the wrong side of the bed, light shined into his eyes as he tried to open them. Crap, what time is it? ‘11:38am’ his clock read, I guess I should get up. It’d been two weeks since the team was kidnapped by HIVE, two weeks since Tara… He wanted to curl up in a ball at the thought, but he knew Donna would just be annoying about it later. Doesn’t she know I don’t need to be babied, he rolled his eyes and started dressing himself.
When he left his room, he didn’t like the hall he walked into, it reminded him too much of what Tara had done. She didn’t do anything, he reminded himself, and made his way towards the stairs. The family room/kitchen/dining room he descended into was busy with activity. Dick was making eggs and chatting with Kory ( his girlfriend ), while Donna was finally catching up on one of those cartoons that was ‘too old for him.’
“Gar!” she exclaimed, “you’re supposed to tell me when you come downstairs, remember? Arcane’s still a bit too intense for you.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he rolled his eyes. He hated being rude to her, but he was so sick of everyone treating him like a baby. Maybe if they hadn’t sheltered me so much, I wouldn’t have been so scared by Tara. She just wanted to have sex with me, if I’d just been ready she would’ve never… He blinked back tears. The others were staring at him.
“Gar…” Donna started.
“So what… uh… what’s for breakfast?” He turned to Dick, trying to quickly derail the serious conversation he was sure was incoming.
“I’m making eggs for Kory if you want some,” Dick said, before receiving a pointed look from Donna, “but I think Donna wanted to talk to you.”
“Yeah, sure, I want eggs,” Donna is so gonna yell at me , “could you just scramble mine?”
“Sure…” the older Titan responded hesitantly, looking to the girl on the couch for approval.
“You can’t just ignore me, Gar,” her voice was soft but he could hear the anger hidden beneath.
“Sure, I can,” he looked over to see Dick shaking his head as he turned back to the eggs.
Gar felt a hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry to interrupt this lovely situation, but I’ve got an announcement to make.” It was Vic’s voice, coming from just above his head.
“What’s up, Victor?” Kory asked, as she chewed her freshly fried eggs.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Donna chided, Gar rolled his eyes. Why does she think she gets to be our mom?
“I think I’ve figured out how to help Raven,” Vic paused for effect, “but it’s only available on Themyscira.”
****
Donna was taken aback by the mention of the ‘paradise island’. Diana had refused to call it by its true name all throughout her childhood, the only way Donna learned it was from extensive research. So to hear it so casually said…
“Themyscira?” Kory’s mouth was still full of food, just finish chewing it’s not that hard.
“Apparently it was some secret island of warrior women? At least that’s what I gathered from HIVE’s notes,” Vic explained.
“It was created by the minor goddess Hippolyta to serve as a utopia for her women, the Amazons. It’s where my mom– where Wonder Woman, was born,” Donna drank in the shocked faces of her teammates as she explained. The island was a rare myth, even in ancient Greece. Her mom had told her that Athena sent agents to kill any who talked of it, my grandmother… It was weird, even for Donna, to remember that her mom was a goddess. The child of Hyppolyta and Athena. It was hard to wrap her brain around.
“Oh, so Diana should be able to help then,” Kory, finally , gulped down the last of her eggs.
“She hasn’t been there in nearly a century and a half. Hippolyta told her before she left that she would never be allowed back. After the second World War, she tried, but she could never find the island.”
“Well shit,” Vic took his hand off Gar’s shoulder.
“What else did you expect?” the younger boy spoke, his head resting on the counter, “things don’t ever fucking work out…”
“Language!” Donna snapped. She didn’t really care about him swearing, but she didn’t know how else to react. She’d spent the last two weeks desperately trying to get through to the boy, and nothing was working. He’d shut everyone out, she was starting to get really worried.
For a while, the room was silent. She figured nobody knew what to say. Kory was standing behind Dick, her arms loosely around his neck as he scrambled Gar’s eggs. Vic was on the couch, seemingly blinking back tears. Gar sat in a stool at the counter, walking his fingers across the marble. Well fuck.
“You know what, fuck it! I’ll call my mom and see if she can help,” Donna decided.
“That sounds like a solid plan,” Dick delivered Gar his scrambled eggs, “Kory and I should get ready for our trip to Gotham.” Kory rubbed her hand along his jaw as he said it. An outsider would assume the action was sensual, but Donna had known the two long enough to know it was a calming touch.
“That’s fair,” She gave them a soft smile, “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Dick replied. She knew he was terrified to return to his home city. He and his dad had gotten off on awful terms. Apparently they had a massive argument that caused Dick to leave the city at sixteen, and she knew they definitely hadn’t talked in the last four years. In fact, Dick hadn’t spoken to anyone in Gotham since they formed the team together. It seemed like he just wanted to put the city behind him entirely.
“We’ll be fine,” Kory assured her. Donna had volunteered to go with Dick, since they were emotionally very close. Kory would sometimes go to her to know how Dick was doing or how to help him, it always warmed her heart to know she could help. Dick had turned down her proposal, though, saying that someone had to be there for Gar. Which was fair, she supposed.
The two walked up the stairs, to get ready. Leaving Donna, Gar, and Vic to stare at each other in silence.
“Well this is stupid,” Gar said finally, jumping from his stool, “I’ll be in my room if you need me.”
Donna and Vic locked eyes and, when the green boy finally walked out of earshot, the cyborg spoke, “Is this how he’s been everyday?”
“Pretty much,” Donna replied, staring at Gar’s plate he’d left on the counter.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so stuck in the med lab, I just couldn’t give up on finding a cure for Raven’s condition.”
“I know,” she said, grabbing the boy’s plate and putting it in the dishwasher, “I’m not sure it would’ve made much of a difference regardless, he’s closed himself off from everyone…”
“I hate seeing him like this.”
“Me too…”
“I… should get back to the lab. Maybe I can find an alternative cure,” Vic rose from the couch.
“Wait, before you go. What would we be looking for on Themyscira?”
“A flower that can be made into a curative tea. It’s called Hygeia’s Scabbard. Or, to more directly translate it, Hygeia’s Vagina.”
“Of course it is,” Donna said with an eye roll, “I’ll stick with ‘Scabbard’.”
“I figured,” Vic smirked at her, “you okay if I go back to the lab now?"
“Yeah… I need to talk with my mom.”