Pawn of the Sea

Chapter 3

The messages came almost at the same time. Garth had been meeting with Arthur in his private quarters when the first call came through. It was Batman on a private link requesting help from Atlantis in looking for Nightwing.

Batman stated that Dick’s police uniform, gun, and duty belt had been traced to the bottom of the river close to where he had disappeared, but there was no sign of the man. If Dick was still near water, or God forbid, still in the water, Bruce hoped that the Atlanteans could help.

Arthur readily agreed to do anything he could, signing off with Batman.. If he noticed how Garth had grown tense and pale at the news he didn’t seem to notice but he couldn’t help but notice Garth’s reaction to the second message that chimed in. It came on the private computer that he had been using at the conference table as the two men looked over some trade agreements. Garth moved quickly, leaning over the back of a chair to reach his laptop and open the message, hoping that perhaps it was news from the Titans regarding Dick.

An obviously disguised voice came over the channel of a darkened screen. “We are members of “Atlantis Only” and this is a message for Prince Garth of Sheyharis, Atlantean ambassador to the surface world.”

The screen cleared and showed a very clear picture of Dick, naked to his shorts, and bound. He was shivering uncontrollably and writhing in obvious pain. Garth sucked in an angry and frightened breath as the voice continued.

“We order that Ambassador Garth, and Arthur, King of Atlantis, cease and desist all contact with the surface world. If you do not cancel all trade agreements, peace treaties, and close the Atlantean embassy, we will be forced to execute the prisoner.  You have forty-eight hours to save him, Garth.”

The camera zoomed in close to Dick’s pained face and then the transmission cut off. Arthur was immediately on his communicator, dispatching his people to try to trace the transmission. He turned his attention back to Garth, who still stood frozen, staring at the blank screen. The back of the metal chair he had been gripping now bore two dents where Garth had squeezed it in anger. Suddenly, Tempest lived up to his name by picking up the chair with a sudden blast of power and flinging it across the room.

It was a behavior that was very unlike him and Arthur took a moment to study the young man before he spoke.  “So I was right.”

Garth looked to the floor and then slowly brought his gaze up to meet Arthur’s. It took all his resolve to forget that he was no longer the shy boy with little self-confidence. Arthur always seemed to bring that boy out of him. No, he was a man now and he loved Robbie. Gods, Dick! Where was he? “Yes, Dick and I are together,” he finally spoke, raising his chin defiantly. “We are in love.”

“How long?” Arthur asked, keeping his voice even, trying to hide his distress.

“Six months.”

“Were you ever going to tell me? Does HE know?”

Garth knew immediately that the HE was Batman. “No. We were going to tell you both while I was here. I thought you deserved to hear it from me.”

Arthur nodded. “I see.”

Garth began to quickly gather up his things, obviously getting ready to leave.
 

“What are you doing?” Arthur laid a hand on Garth’s shoulder.

“What do you mean? I have to find Dick! I need to go now!”

“You know who’s behind this, right?”

“Braden,” Garth answered firmly. “I knew he had become very involved in this Atlantis Only nonsense, but I didn’t know he had gone this far.”

“He is a wild card and I’ve had a difficult time reigning him in.”

Garth pulled from Arthur’s firm grip. “I must go. I’m sure I can find where Braden is keeping him. He has underestimated my powers.”

“He was always jealous that Atlan chose you.”

Garth fingered the scars over his brow. “He should not be so quick to envy me, but I should be able to use that against him.” He looked back at Arthur. “I really must go. You’ll send out the alert from here?”

“Of course.” He moved to halt Garth again. “Wait.”

“Yes?“ Garth asked impatiently.

“We must tell the Bat about this.  He deserves to know who has his son and why.”

Garth opened his mouth and closed it again. “Time is wasting.”

 

 “Yes, I know, so I will tell him, but you will owe me for this Garth, make no mistake about that.”  If the situation had not been so dire Arthur would have laughed at the look of utter relief on Garth’s face at not having to deliver this news to Batman. “He will want to know why they chose his son and I will have to tell him the truth.  I will not lie to Batman.”

Garth sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “You are right, and thank you.  This is really not how we wanted to tell either of you, believe me.”

“Well, then perhaps honesty in the first place would have been wise,” he replied reproachfully.  “Now, as you said, time is wasting.”   Arthur let go of him and Garth turned to the door again. “Oh, and Garth?”

“Yes?” Garth turned back to his mentor yet again, not bothering to hide his frustration.

“Good luck. I hope you find him, and that you are happy together.”

“Um, thank you,” Garth replied, not even bothering to mask his surprise. He quickly made his way to his own rooms to get his uniform and start looking for his lover.

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Dick didn’t have the strength to do anything but lie there and shiver. The jelly man had really zapped him good, but he also knew the creature had held back. Dick figured it must be able to control the doses of toxins it injected or he would have been dead by now.

Dick let his mind wander to take it off the pain and the cold that were threatening to overwhelm him. He smiled a bit to himself when his thoughts drifted to Garth and how they had first gotten together.

They had been alone at Titan Tower, Dick because he had to been forced to use some of the vast vacation time he had amassed from the police force, and Garth, to take a small rest from some intense negotiation meetings at the embassy.

They were sharing a pizza and catching up with each other when a distress signal had come through from the US Navy. A Naval submarine had lost power in the Mediterranean Sea and sunk to the bottom. The crew had less than twenty-four hours of breathable air and the navy didn’t think they would be able to rescue the sub in time with the equipment available to them.. Could the Titans or JLA lend a hand?

Garth looked at Dick and winked. “Sounds like a job for me. Care to join me Robbie?”

Dick grinned and shrugged. “Sure, I’ve got nowhere else to be.”

They signaled back that help was on the way and began to prepare for their mission.

Hours later they were landing a helicopter on an aircraft carrier not too far off the coast of Italy. They found the commander of the ship and were briefed on the situation.

The commander wanted to know the plan, but Garth had just smiled and began walking to the edge of the deck. “Don’t worry, sir, all your men will come back safely. I would suggest a tow line and perhaps something to help keep the submarine on the surface when it comes up. I won’t be able to hold it indefinitely.”

The man had stared at Garth like he had grown two heads. “Hold it?” But Tempest had already moved away, ready to get started.

Nightwing patted the commander on the shoulder. “You don’t want to know.” He moved over to where Garth stood. “So, man, I guess I’ll wait up here while you do your thing. Call me if you need any help.”

“You’re not coming with me?”

“Uh, Garth, dude, not from Atlantis, remember? Even if I wore my SCUBA gear I couldn’t go that deep.”

Garth smiled. “Do you trust me, Robbie?”

Dick looked slightly shocked. “Of course I do. You know that.”

“All right, then. You’re coming with me.” Garth quickly pulled Dick into a passionate kiss, and as he pulled away from his surprised friend he threw them both over the side of the carrier leaving several stunned looking sailors on deck.

Dick didn’t have time to react to the kiss. His body reacted automatically to the sudden freefall and he gracefully positioned himself in a classic diving pose to hit the water. He felt Garth hit the water beside him and was shocked when Garth grabbed his arm and yanked him under.

Dick struggled to get back to the surface, but Garth hung on and kept swimming downward. Dick finally realized he was able to breathe and that the water pressure and cold were having no affect on him. He smiled when he figured out that Tempest had cast a spell on him with the kiss. He wondered if the kiss had really been necessary, and then decided he didn’t care. It had been a nice kiss. He gripped Garth’s hand even tighter and let the mage pull him into the depths. He knew that Garth was still by far the fastest swimmer, even with the spell, and there was no time to waste.

Finally they reached the stranded sub and Garth let go of Dick’s hand, signaling him to stay back. Nightwing watched Tempest in awe as the purple glow of his magic surrounded him. Garth was a beautiful sight in his own element and Dick had never really gotten to see him in action like this before.

As Dick watched Garth stir up the water into a strong current he couldn’t help but admire the man’s gracefulness and confidence. Why had he not noticed this before? The current began to lift the sub off of the ocean floor and Garth stayed even with it as it rose. All Dick really needed to do was follow and watch.

And watch he did. And after a time he realized that he was getting turned on. By Garth. One of his oldest friends in the world. What the hell? Where was this coming from? Was it the kiss? Dick knew that was just a spell. Or was it? Was Garth purposely trying to entice him? No way, Garth wouldn’t do that? Would he? Garth wasn’t interested in guys, or was he? But, damn, he had a great ass.

Before Dick could come to any conclusions they were back on the surface and he was unceremoniously plopped back onto the carrier by a huge wave, that was most certainly Garth’s doing. He felt completely normal, which led him to believe that the kiss really hadn’t been necessary to cast or un-cast the water breathing spell. Hmmm.

The grateful sailors were offloaded from the ailing sub and Nightwing and Tempest were thanked profusely for their help, refusing the Admiral’s offer of dinner. They climbed back in their helicopter with Dick at the controls and lifted off. Garth let out a deep breath and slumped next to the window.

“You all right?” Dick asked over their head sets.

“Mmm, yes. Just tired, that took a lot of energy.”

“You made it look easy. You didn’t really need me down there at all, you know.”

“I wanted you there,” Garth replied cryptically. “It may have looked easy, but it really zapped me. Plus, you know how much I hate to fly.”

Dick nodded thoughtfully and began to form a plan. “Hey, Garth, is there anywhere you need to be in the next few days?”

“I have a meeting with the Japanese ambassador on Thursday, but that’s it. Why do you ask?”

“Bruce has a villa right on the water in Palermo, which is very close to here. How about few days of R and R?”

Garth studied Dick closely for a moment. Three days in an Italian Villa on the sea with Dick Grayson. Sounded like a dream come true to him. He couldn’t read Dick’s expression (damn the bats), but knew Dick had been watching him closely ever since the kiss. “Sounds great, Nightwing. Let’s change course.”

“Roger that,” Dick answered as a little thrill of anticipation ran through him. He knew that his relationship with Garth was about to change forever. He flicked a switch and radioed ahead to have the villa ready for them.

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