𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓟𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓭 || D. Grayson

ᴄᴏɴꜰᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴꜱ

~Dick's POV~

"She can probably feel you staring, y'know? Zaria has developed a sixth sense probably since she was a baby."

"I'm not staring."

"Yeah, and I'm not leader of the Star Sapphires," Carol rolled her eyes and handed me a mug full of coffee. "Y'know, when I first saw Zaria, she used to have literal stars in her eyes... But, over the years, those stars have dimmed the moment she started losing control of her rage and everyone started labeling her as a threat or a monster."

"People fear what they don't understand," I shrugged, watching from the porch as Zaria, Kory and Ryand'r sparred in the backyard. "And she still has stars in her eyes, Carol."

"It's not a metaphor, Dick. Her eyes literally shined like stars when I met her."

"Wait, you're serious?"

Carol leaned against the porch railing, her gaze never leaving Zaria as she spun midair, dodging Ryand'r's strike before countering with a glowing construct blade.

"Dead serious. It was the first thing I noticed about her. Like she carried the galaxy in her pupils. Bright, radiant... untamed. Hal said it was a Tamaranean trait sometimes, but with Zaria, it was something more. Like her Lantern bond enhanced it. They were this perfect shade of red, so full of innocence and promise, until one day it just... disappeared."

I sipped the coffee, letting the heat bite at my tongue while I watched her movements. Precise. Lethal. Beautiful. The kind of beauty born from surviving hell and refusing to stay down.

"When?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know," Carol admitted. "Could've been when Bruce started isolating her from you guys, could've been when she fought Krona, when the Guardians started experimenting on her behind Hal's back... All I know is that before she died, something inside her was gone long before that."

I didn't look away from Zaria. Her laughter rang out as she blocked Ryand'r with a spinning kick, the sound sharp but real.

"Is that why Hal's so protective of her?"

"Hal's protective of her for infinite reasons since he laid eyes on her, Dick. It just got worse after her trial," She sighed and we both sat on the steps. "He was a Lantern for only eight months when he found her... And he was the only one willing to defend her when the Guardians wanted to lock her away. Everything she went through, he was always there... That's his baby."

"She's not a kid anymore," I muttered.

"But she'll always be his kid," Carol gave me a look over the rim of her cup. "He held her when she died, y'know? And God, did it break me when I saw her lifeless in his arms... but I'm positive that it broke him even more. I think he finally realized that he can't protect her from everything." Carol's voice softened, almost like she was confessing something to herself. "When Nekron spat her back out... Hal didn't let her out of his sight for weeks. Only people that he trusted to be with her were Kyle, Kory and I."