ROGUE| DICK GRAYSON

li. rowan's destiny

"You can't give up."

Abaddon's eyes landed on the cell across from hers. The prison in the pit was rarely ever silent, but that night was an exception. The only occasional sounds were screams from the crowd watching the fight.

The girl could feel the dirt, sweat, and blood clinging to her skin. It had been about three years since she left Earth and it hadn't been easy. Her hair was matted, and she smelled since they were only allowed to take showers about once a month. It wasn't even a refreshing shower as she had to undress in front of two guards and they just poured about three buckets of water on her. 

Don't even bring up the fact that there were no toilets—just more buckets in the corner of everyone's cell.

The only time she was going to get the delicacy of toilets and real showers, was when she had a ball to attend which was about twice a year.

Rowan looked back to the man that spoke to her from across the pathway, "What did you just say?" Her voice was croaky as she hadn't had water in about a day.

The man sighed. He had ram horns at the top of his head and his skin was red. He almost looked like the depictures of Satan on Earth, "I said, you shouldn't give up."

"And, why not?" She leaned forward in her cell to have a better view of him.

"You're the hero." The man spoke quietly, "You're supposed to save us from them."

Abaddon's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "No. I'm supposed to kill all of you."

He chuckled for a beat, "You're Abaddon; the bringer of chaos and destruction. You're killing the gods, that's your destiny."

"What's the point?" She dryly laughed at the man, "I'm designed to be a weapon for somebody. What's the point of being a hero to some when everyone else thinks you're a villain?"

The man sighed and shook his head, "You're expected to bring chaos. You are the only one to decide who you shall defeat."

For the first time since she arrived, she showed a sign of weakness. Her bottom lip wavered slightly and her vision became blurry. 

Rowan whispered, scared her voice might crack, "What if I can't do it?"

"Oh, honey," He reminded her of Jude, the guy from the circus, "You're forgetting how far you've come. I remember when you first arrived with that one girl. She was terrified, but you? You were protecting her even if you were scared. You're not designed to be a weapon."

"Then, what am I made for?"

He was silent for a beat, "You were created to be a protector." 

Rowan sat in her cell for a few hours after their conversation, trying to decide what to do. If she could somehow break free, she would try to help a few of them who deserve it. 

"You want a way out?" Her head turned to see the old witch who had a dead daughter because of Rowan. Somehow, she was still alive.

The brunette tilted her head, "What does it mean to you?"

"Oh, nothing." She had a wicked grin on her face, but Rowan couldn't question her on it as five people walked out of the doorway from the pit. There were three guards in all; two of them dragging a man, and the other was walking with a huge guy. 

The one that was dead was the man from before who was kind to her. Abaddon's eyes softened for a moment, but it quickly vanished. She watched as he got dragged the other way, away from the cells and toward the morgue where they gave the dead to the cannibals. 

The burly man who also came in was huge. His muscles had to be the size of Rowan and since he was so tall, he had to bend down to walk in the prison part of the pit. 

His name was Mimon the Giant. He was supposedly slain by Ares in the war, but he survived somehow and was sent here to die over a thousand years ago. He wore animal skin and was barefoot as he walked to one of the larger cells at the very end. He somehow had a nice bed, but Rowan assumed it was because he had been there so long and bribed the guards. 

Rowan and Mimon never fought as the gods assumed he could defeat her in a second. They knew that having one overpowered prisoner would make the crowd bored, so they made sure they never fought each other. They were the reigning champions.

As Mimon walked by he made eye contact with the girl. He smirked, causing the girl to unintentionally shy away. That was the one creature that she was terrified of.

Also unknowingly, the witch began to smile.

Rowan stood in the West household. Artemis and Wally called everyone from the original team to come over because they had a surprise. 

The brunette crossed her arms as everyone else looked around awkwardly. There had been some tension between everyone recently as Rowan and Dick was not cool with each other and neither was M'gann and Conner.

"So, guys," Wally stepped forward with Artemis in his hold, "We have something we wanna tell you."

Rowan was really hoping that Artemis wasn't pregnant.

"We're engaged!" Artemis stuck out her hand and showed everyone her ring. It was beautiful as there was an emerald wrapped in gold.

Dick laughed excitedly and hugged Wally, "Congrats, guys."

"Well done," Kaldur stated, proudly.

Rowan stayed in the back with a smile on her face, watching everyone else. She felt like she was invading something private. She wasn't there for any of them in two years, why would they want to have her there? Maybe inviting her was a mistake?

Superboy stood next to her as they watched everyone as they laughed and smiled. He held a beer in hand and took a sip, "Doesn't it feel like we were just sixteen yesterday?"

Rowan nodded and took the beer from his hand, chugging it. She didn't care if she was underage, "Tell me about it."

"Aren't you eighteen?"

"Technically, I'm twenty if you wanna count Olympus years."

Superboy shook his head, "So, you're the same age as the rest of us?"

"I guess."

The two were silent as they stood there. They had nothing to say to each other, but it wasn't awkward. The two best friends felt like they were watching through a window. They were right there, but nobody could quite remember. 

"We have cake!"

And just like that, the two best friends left the window and walked through the door together.