Work Text:
It was red. Red and smelled bad, and was all over his humans' faces.
"Dam- D-D-ami-" Maya stuttered painfully, trying to crane her neck around, reaching for the younger boy a few feet away. Damian didn't respond. Damian didn't move.
And after a few seconds, Maya didn't either.
Goliath's whimper was involuntary, but quickly drowned out by the roar he let loose as he leapt after the masked men he knew did this.
They would pay for hurting his humans. Hurting his Damian and his Maya. For daring to lay even a finger on either one of them.
But he knew that making them pay wouldn't make his children any better.
He crawled back to his humans; they were still in their terrifyingly prone forms. That red substance was melting across the ground now, and Goliath could see it seeping from a gash in Damian's side. A deep cut on Maya's head.
And that's just from the wounds he could see.
He leaned down, chuffed at Damian's cheek. Perked his ears when he felt his little human's breath ruffle his fur. Repeated the action with Maya, overjoyed for the same reaction.
Breathing.
But they needed help, and he knew he couldn't give it to them.
But he knew who could.
Quickly, but carefully, he scooped Maya and Damian into his arms. Settled them against his chest and took to the skies.
The flight to Gotham didn't take long, relatively, but right now it felt like every second was an eternity.
He swooped lazily over the city's skyscrapers, searching below him desperately. He had a destination in mind, of course, but he wasn't about turn down any help he came across first.
He was just about to focus on the manor on the hill when he saw it. A shock of yellow. A symbol of purple.
Damian always scolded him about being impolite, and brash, but right now, as he dropped loudly onto the roof, scaring the one he was seeking help from, he couldn't care less.
Batgirl jumped, "What the-"
Goliath whined. Begged. Pleaded. Held his children out desperately.
Please help them. Please save them.
Batgirl's eyes dropped, then widened. But she did as Goliath hoped, and jumped right into action.
"Batgirl to Red Robin, or whoever can hear this broadcast. I need a vehicle at my location, stat. We've got a medical emergency." She didn't wait for Goliath's permission to grab for Maya, already tearing her cape off to press against her head wound. "Two injured, both children. Severity as of yet unknown, but there's clear signs of blood loss..."
Goliath whimpered again, focused on holding Damian as tightly as possible.
Batgirl glanced up at him then. Her eyes darted quickly to Damian, then back up at Goliath, and she smiled. "Don't you worry, sweetie, we'll take care of it from here."
Goliath lowered his ears. Groaned quietly.
"Trust me." Batgirl promised, lifting Maya into her arms, even as Red Robin and Black Bat appeared behind her. "I don't know what's happened, but it'll take way more than that to kill little Damian there, okay big guy? He'll be fine, and so will his friend here." Another smile. "You did good."
Goliath was reluctant, when Black Bat jumped forward, arms held out for Damian. But even as he dropped his boy into her arms, Red Robin was there, rubbing his arm comfortingly.
"Come on, Goliath. You can stay with them the whole way too."
Goliath’s ear twitched. He knew of Damian’s family, his boy talked about them often, but how did they know of him?
He narrowed his eyes, sniffed at this Red Robin. He didn’t know him, how could he know his name?
He realized quickly, though, that he didn’t care. The girls were getting away with his babies, and he didn’t want to be left behind. So he snatched Red Robin up, threw him onto his back, where Damian normally sat, and took off after them.
~~
It was days. The longest days of his life, he felt.
He met the others. The Titus and the Alfred. They were nice, friendly. Just as worried as he was, and there was a comfort in that camaraderie. He met the cow, and she seemed very unimpressed with him, but her concern for Damian was clear, and that was enough for him.
He met the people. Red Robin was Tim. The one with the helmet was Jay. Batgirl was Steph, and the quiet one was Cass. The last one to arrive, and the one most desperate to get to Damian’s side, was Dick. The one Damian called Grayson. The one Damian talked about all the time.
Batman was…Batman. The other humans kept calling him Bruce, but. It was Batman the whole time. Only when he ran his fingers carefully through Damian’s hair, took gentle hold of Damian’s hand, did Goliath question his true identity.
But he met them all – Even the butler, and he and the cat seemed to be the ones who kept it all in order – and neither Damian nor Maya ever woke up.
It was driving him crazy. He wanted to howl, to bite and hurt and maim. He wanted to force his children to wake up. Tried to, the one day, kept pushing at Maya’s hospital bed so roughly, he almost toppled it over, and Batman almost shunned him for it. It was by the grace of that Grayson fellow that he wasn’t, that he was allowed to remain with them.
Not like he couldn’t defeat Batman easily, if he needed to.
“They’ll wake up.” Dick promised, after Batman had stomped off, as he took his own place between the two cots once more. That was something Goliath noticed, beyond him and the animals, the one there the most was Dick Grayson. A hard pattern to decipher, since it seemed all the other Bat-people were always there too, but. Goliath noticed. Goliath saw. “They’re getting better you know, even if you can’t see it.”
Goliath snorted, and sat on his haunches. Sitting protectively over the dog and the cat, who were curled up together at the end of the beds.
“They’ll wake up.” Dick said again, quieter, like he was talking to himself, not Goliath. He frowned then, and reached out to take Maya’s hand, since he was already stroking Damian’s. “They’ll…they’ll wake up.”
Goliath was starting to doubt it.
The days turned to a week, and he could sense the worry mounting. Not just for the children, but for him as well. Steph, Cass and Tim all suggested he come patrol with them, help them find who hurt their kids.
It was Jay who finally convinced him, and the Red Hood who he patrolled with. Jay liked to talk, and, apparently, they made a formidable duo.
“Damian would be proud of you.” Jay whispered one night, on a rooftop as they watched a quiet city below. “He’d be real damn proud.”
Goliath didn’t like how he said it – because it sounded like he was starting to lose hope. It sounded like they were all starting to lose hope – but didn’t grumble about it.
And it was after a bad night for them. He and Hood, they’d run into some trouble. He’d been shot a few times, and Hood lost his helmet and had a bad black eye at least. They were in an alleyway, checking each other over for more, worse, injuries, when a loud signal went through Hood’s communicator. No one spoke after the long tone, but Hood seemed to know what it meant, as he immediately turned towards the alley mouth.
“Gotta get home, big guy.” Was all he said as Goliath scooped him up and took to the skies. “As fast as you can.”
They seemed to arrive last. Everyone else was already there, and swarming the medical bay, where Damian and Maya were.
“Fuck.” Jay whispered as he dropped from his back. Goliath felt fear surge through his system, as Jason practically ran ahead of him. “What happened?” Jay demand as Goliath scurried after him. “Are they…did they…?”
The crowd parted and exposed the beds, and Goliath expected the worst.
But instead, it was the opposite. Instead, it was the best. It was the only thing Goliath wanted.
His children were awake.
Or at least, they sort of were. Maya still seemed mostly asleep, but she was propped up, leaning into the crook of Cass’s neck. But she seemed to be responding, every time someone spoke to her.
Damian was more awake, though just barely. His eyes were half lidded, and he was tucked into Dick’s side. Dick, who seemed to be talking nonstop, and had silent tears streaming down his face as he ran his fingers up and down Damian’s arm.
“...And we wouldn’t have known.” Dick was saying softly, glancing up to Batman as he hovered between the beds, checking the medical machines for both patients. “We wouldn’t have known if Goliath hadn’t brought you two home.”
And Goliath doesn’t know why, but it didn’t hit him, not until Damian’s tired eyes looked up in search. Until those tired eyes found him, and he croaked, “Goliath…?”
His kids were alive. His kids were okay.
And he knew he wasn’t supposed to, knew Batman would probably get mad, but he rushed forward anyway. Practically threw the other family members away to get into his children’s space. He was gentle, though, as he chuffed at Damian’s hair, as he crept up Maya’s cot and licked at her face (and at Cassandra’s too, for good measure).
“He’s been at your side this whole time.” Dick murmured, kissing at Damian’s hair as Goliath turned back to him. Goliath lowered his ears and softly leaned forward, until he could press his nose to Damian’s forehead. “He was really worried about you guys, Damian. We all were.”
Goliath lingered there, until he felt tiny, cold fingers stroke at his cheek. “You big baby.”
And Goliath couldn’t help but lower his head to Damian’s lap, make sure his tail was settled in Maya’s, and snort in agreement.