Work Text:
“I’m fine, I swear.”
Sickfic - Hiding Injury - Scars
The world was bright, quiet, even peaceful in some places. Barbatos hated it.
Over a millennia ago, Barbatos had worshippers around the globe. His followers helped show people the truth and had temples made in his image.
There was a dark, towering one that Barbatos favored. This was where Barbatos chose as his home. He lets his shadows seep into the ground, claiming it as his own.
As the centuries past and humans evolved, his worshippers diminished. It was only a few, he wasn't worried. He was Barbatos, a God, it was impossible to forget him.
Barbatos was proven wrong, other than a small group of hidden worshippers, he had no one. His great temple was torn down, but he'd already imprinted on the land. It was still Barbatos' and always would be. Though his power was deteriorating, he used what was left to spread his shadows across the land and spread some of his darkness into the hearts of everyone who lived there. Barbatos would not be easily forgotten.
The small group of worshippers grew, but they did not spread his message. Barbatos' power was barely a spark, growing little by little with each new worshipper. Then an idea came to Barbatos.
He watched a young boy with darkness in his heart. The boy had potential. So Barbatos gave him a test, he had the boy fall into a cave that had formed under the destruction of Barbatos' temple.
The cave still had Barbatos' creatures, they were quick to awaken when the boy dropped in. They flapped and screeched, terrifying the boy. Yet the boy did not scream, instead he covered himself in Barbatos' shadows. Potential indeed.
Not long after the test, something else decided to test the boy. Barbatos didn't recognize it, it could be another God or just a misguided human. Barbatos still wasn't strong enough to help as the boy watched his parents die. All Barbatos could do was wrap the boy in his shadows, protecting him from being hurt too. The boy glared at the being that killed his parents and Barbatos let all of his power show through the boy's eyes. The mugger ran and Barbatos decided, this boy would be his prophet.
The prophet grew under his watchful eye, training for a cause the boy did not yet know. When the boy, now man, was strong and Barbatos deemed him ready, he sent a sign. With his limited power, he was unable to show his true form to the man like he'd done with his prophets in the past, so he transformed into one of his creatures and flew through his window. His prophet stared at him in shock, he'd gotten the message.
His prophet went all around the world, training, becoming the best. When he finally returned to Barbatos, he was ready. His prophet dressed in his image and fought the crime that filled Barbatos' city. His message was spread, people learned to fear the bat or worship him for saving them.
Barbatos could feel his power begin to return.
His power wasn't yet at full strength so when Barbatos saw another young boy with darkness in his heart, and a descendant from Barbatos' past followers, he decided to give his prophet a nudge. The boy was loud and bright, he'd do well as a messenger of Barbatos.
His prophet took the boy in after the boy too witnessed his parents die. The boy's darkness grew and Barbatos preened. He tried to kill the man that had caused his parents death, but his prophet stopped him.
The prophet did not favor killing, Barbatos understood why that was. He may not agree, after all it was a pleasant way of worship, but he'd let his prophet figure that out on his own.
Afterwards, the boy soon joined his prophet in his fight. It seemed Barbatos was right, the boy served well as a messenger. He was bright and he drew attention to him, more of the humans noticed his followers and more worshiped him.
Another follower soon joined, Barbatos hadn't picked her himself, but he approved. She had darkness in her heart, but she was smart, calculate. She knew what she had to do and did it. The girl taught herself to fight and didn't ask permission to join the fight. Barbatos was proud, she's his truest follower. She might not be yet, but one day she could be his oracle. Figuring out what would happen next before anyone else and the best person for his other followers to go to for information.
As his messenger grew, he made friends and began spending more time away from Barbatos' domain. His messenger's heart wasn't filled with as much darkness and he didn't bring in as many worshippers.
When his prophet kicked the boy out, Barbatos understood it. Unexpectedly, this was exactly what his messenger needed to get back to work. He became darker and hateful, he wasn't quite a messenger anymore, but he was a good follower.
Without a messenger, there wasn't as steady a flow of worshippers so Barbatos went searching for another. What he found wasn't the same as the last. He was loud and brash, but with a heart filled with such a darkness that he drew Barbatos to him. This boy tried to steal from his prophet, but before the boy could finish Barbatos whispered into his prophets ear.
His prophet found the boy and soon he took him in too. This boy was violent and reckless, his darkness only grew as he fought with the prophet. This messenger brought worshippers with fear, while the first had used hope. Barbatos quite liked this one.
The Pale Man came though. A demon that had been around almost as long as Barbatos himself. He attacked one of his followers in her own home, injuring her and taking her father. Her injury was permanent and the trauma cut into her deeply. For a moment she lost herself, she was unsure and didn't know what to do next. For the first time, she needed Barbatos' help and so he whispered in her ear, "Oracle." She'd know where to go from there.
Then the Pale Man took his messenger and tortured him, Barbatos screeched for all of his city to hear. His messenger was too far and Barbatos' power too low, he could do nothing to help. He lost another messenger that night.
His prophet brought his messenger's body back to Barbatos. He surrounded him with his shadows protecting him from anyone who'd dare disturb his fallen follower.
But soon a crack was made in reality and Barbatos took a chance. He used all the power he'd acquired over the years and slipped through the crack to pull his messenger back. The boy was different, broken, he couldn't be his messenger now, yet Barbatos still covered him in his shadows and protected him. Giving nudges and whispered words to the right people till soon the boy wasn't just breathing, but truly alive.
The boy was truly changed, he was angry, darkness literally surrounded him entirely and he was not afraid to kill.
Though the boy wasn't his messenger, he was still Barbatos' favored follower.
Still, Barbatos needed a new messenger now and this one was easy to chose. The boy had been his worshipper every since he was a youngling. Though his prophet and other followers didn't know it, the boy knew everything about them. He knew exactly what to say to get the boy to do what Barbatos wanted. This boy was sneaky and smart, he had to be careful. So, as the boy slept he whispered to him, "Batman needs a Robin."
He didn't seem to immediately get the meaning, instead trying to get his original messenger to return to Barbatos. Eventually, the boy figured it out though. His prophet didn't seem to immediately agree to Barbatos' choice, yet relented.
This boy was quiet and stealthy, not usually what Barbatos looked for in a messenger, but it would help the boy's survival.
Another girl joined afterwards. Barbatos hadn't chosen her and she didn't try to appear in his image, Barbatos wasn't sure what to think.
She had a lot of darkness in her heart, yet was loud and bright like his original messenger. She was also violent and reckless like his favored follower though. And regardless of not dressing in his image, he was in her heart. She'd been worshipping him since she was a youngling too.
Barbatos didn't give her any nudges or whispers, deciding to just wait and watch.
The girl helped his followers, then also tried going against his prophets rule by trying to kill her father. She backed down the same way he'd seen his past messenger did.
Her goal was accomplished, her father was locked away in the modern dungeon in Barbatos' city. He expected that to be the end of it. Then she returned joining the fight.
Barbatos thought she would serve well as his messenger, but he already had one so he let her be. Still, he kept an eye on her, he didn't want the same to happen to her as that had happened to his follower she was so alike. He would not ever let her meet the Pale Man.
Ruin came to Barbatos' city not long afterward. His messenger was forced to leave and his prophet struggled fixing things by himself.
Thankfully, a young girl came to Barbatos' city. She was already drenched in darkness and seemed to have similar morals to his prophet. He gave her a small nudge, introducing her to his oracle. It would not take long for her to become another follower after that.
Barbatos' city was able to be rebuilt, fixed and made large, dark, and towering again. It was almost like the original temple that stood there.
Eventually, his messenger was forced to stop being Barbatos' follower. It infuriated Barbatos to see that happen, but he knew trying fight it would only hurt the boy. So instead Barbatos gave a nudge to the girl that he knew would fill the position well.
She was indeed a brilliant mix of loud and brash. She spread his message with hope, while also using fear. Barbatos didn't understand why his prophet didn't seem to agree.
She strived to prove his prophet wrong, yet brought war to Barbatos' city instead. He was still careful to wrap her in his shadows and protect her the best he could while preventing as much damage to his city as possible.
To be truthful, Barbatos quite enjoyed the bloodshed, it reminded him of the past when sacrifices for him were made. It would be quite beautiful if it weren't for the destruction to Barbatos' home that came with it.
With all the fighting in his city, Barbatos hadn't noticed the danger that was targeting his latest messenger. He protected her from the Pale Man, but didn't notice the human danger that surrounded her too. Her heart was already stuttering by the time Barbatos got to her. He felt it as her dark heart stopped, but he was not going to let that happen to another of his messengers. He wrapped her in his dark tendrils and forced her heart to start again. He forced the man hurting her away then pulled the girl away from the building and to somewhere safe.
She left Barbatos' city after that, but she was alive so Barbatos didn't mind. He still could feel the darkness in her heart and the way she still worshipped Barbatos even when so far away.
Then, Barbatos' favored follower returned. Barbatos was overjoyed and he was quick to help him succeed in his efforts to fight the wrong in Barbatos' city. He was more violent and deadly than before. Each criminal his follower killed felt like a sacrifice and Barbatos' power flourished.
More followers came and went, each causing Barbatos' power to grow. Some were born into the darkness like the young girl, some were pushed in later in life. Not all Barbatos had scouted out, instead forcing themselves into the fight. They all worshipped him in different ways, protector, mentor, leader. It was the powerful he felt in eons.
As Barbatos grew more powerful, he realized he now could adventure outside of his home once again. At first he'd used it to further protect and watch over his followers. Then, he grew curious.
Barbatos wanted to know more of the new world that existed outside of his city and he wanted to learn why his followers fought the people they did. So, he decided to test it.
He took up a human name, Neal Caffrey, and tried life on the opposite side of his followers. He did not kill out of respect for his prophet, but he did steal, forge, and anything else that was illegal to these humans.
Barbatos did not expect the connections he'd make under his human guise. Mozzie and Kate didn't worship him and definitely weren't his followers, yet they cared for him.
Then he was called home again, his prophet had been killed, but Barbatos would return him. He got his human guise caught by the police and, with a show of how truly powerful he'd become again, used a shadow to make it appear as if he were still there.
Barbatos found his prophet in the past where he should not even exist yet. Barbatos chased him through time, nudging him in the right direction until his prophet finally returned home.
Barbatos watched over how things were in his city now. The girl that had been his messenger was not finally using his image. There was also a new messenger that he had not chosen holding the position. He was violent and spread his message solely with fear. Barbatos approved of the changes and was glad to have more followers.
Once his prophet was back in place in his fight against the crime in his city, Barbatos decided he could return to his human guise.
That's when he discovered Kate was gone. She was not his follower, but she was one of the few people that cared about him, not because he was a God, but for him. To find that she'd turned on him was an ultimate betrayal. She may not have know it, but she'd just angered a God. Though the Pale Man was able to escape his clutches, she was no demon and she would feel his ire.
The humans trying to put him back in their dungeon would get in the way of that revenge so, Barbatos worked something else out. This time he'd try working on the same side that his followers did.
It was interesting to see what life was like for his followers and Barbatos found that the life of his human guise was not unpleasant. It was strange to be in a place with so little worshippers and followers though.
Peter did not seem to care for Barbatos' prophet at all, Jones admired his prophet and followers but did not worship them, and Diana didn't seem to feel one way or the other. She seemed to just be irritated when they got in the way of a case or on the street.
He was able to use his followers skills to help this guise, whether it was his latest messenger's artistic talent, his original messenger's charm, his oracle's calculative mind, and even his prophet's manipulativeness.
He spent over a year with them, which was definitely changed Barbatos' view on humans. Maybe humans that didn't worship him or follow him could still be useful. Though Barbatos wouldn't call them friends, they were acceptable company.
As Barbatos learned how to perfect his guise, he found out humans laughed at each other's misfortune.
So when a sickness spread through all of the humans in the office, Barbatos laughed. Peter sniffled and glared, "How are you not sick yet?"
Barbatos smirked at the man, shrugging, "I'm secretly a God and can't get sick."
"Just you wait, Caffrey," Jones grumbled. "Soon you're gonna catch it too."
Barbatos chuckled, "Nope."
The humans rolled their eyes, but didn't bother arguing further.
While the humans he surrounded himself with were quite smart, they didn't seem to figure out that Barbatos didn't get sick or hurt once since they met him.
The longer he'd known them and even after he started seeing them as friends, in the loosest sense of the word, they still didn't know.
After being assaulted with an attack from the current criminal they were chasing, Peter looked to him worriedly, "You're not hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine, Peter," Barbatos told him.
Peter squinted at him, carefully searching for any kind of wound, "You better not be hiding an injury, Neal. If you are, you'll be on house arrest for a month."
Barbatos rolled his eyes, "Not even a scratch on me."
Peter still didn't seem to believe him, but let it go as they hid behind a wall to avoid another attack.
As time went on, Barbatos really did begin to enjoy his time in his human guise and the humans surrounding him, but that didn't seem to matter anymore.
Jones stopped in the middle of a sentence, staring at Barbatos' forehead. "Where'd you get that scar?"
"What scar?" Barbatos questioned.
"That one on your eyebrow," Diana answered, now looking at it too.
Peter was now squinting at it, "I know you didn't have that yesterday."
Barbatos reached up to touch his eyebrow, there was a definitely a scar there. His shoulder tingled, Barbatos knew if he lifted his shirt, there'd be another there.
Barbatos did not scar, but he did base this form off of his followers appearances. If his follower was hurt or in distress that could be the cause of these scars.
Blood seeped through the shirt, the white fabric around his heart stained red.
Peter immediately straightened up, "Neal? Are you okay? What's happening?"
Barbatos didn't spare him a glance, "I'm fine, I swear."
"Neal-"
Barbatos ignored him in favor of staring at the blood. Someone was hurting one of his followers, Barbatos would not stand for that. Shadows surrounded him as his anger flared.
A dark look was in his eyes as he turned to Peter, "I have to go."
Peter tried to argue and when that didn't work chased after him as he left. Peter wasn't able to follow for long as Barbatos melted into the shadows. Barbatos then looked on as his prophet tried to figure out how to get his original messenger out of the machine he was stuck in. The machine would destroy everyone there if it went off, but the only way to stop it was to kill his follower. He wouldn't let that happen.
He gave a nudge to the bald man standing in the room and then wrapped shadows around his followers, he would not let this kill them.
A small pill was forced down his follower's throat. His heart stopped. Barbatos shadows squeezed tighter. His heart started again.
Yet another follower was hurt when Barbatos should've done something about it.
That would not happen again, even if that meant he couldn't return to his human friends.