Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[The story is from Nico's point of view with some awkward accidental switches in there because I suck]

Nico felt like an idiot. He left Camp Half-Blood using his preferred method-- shadow travel. His intended destination had been his room at his father’s palace in the Underworld, and this definitely wasn’t it unless Hades had done some major redecorating since he had visited last. This seemed to be the surface world still since it was loud and awake-- the very thing he was trying to escape. He just wanted to be alone. Was that too much to ask?

He couldn't tell where he was by his surroundings-- it looked just like any other city to him. Granted, he hadn’t been to very many cities that he actually had time to pay attention to the scenery. He was sure that most cities didn’t feel this… sinister, though. There was something very dark about this city, and he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. As he stood, surveying the filth and the haze of the pollution-filled sky, it hit him. This city reeked of death.

Nico walked out of the alley he had landed in and spotted a cemetery across the street. It seemed that the fates didn’t completely hate him after all. He knew he'd be able to protect himself surrounded by the dead. The cemetery was his best bet. As much as he wanted to spend time being angry with himself over his inability to do anything the simple way, he had to protect himself first. He pushed his self-loathing off for the time being and made his way across the street.

No one even spared him a glance as he climbed over the fence. He skillfully hauled himself over the barrier and dropped to the ground on the other side with a soft thump. Nico looked around to see if there was a guard or something around before moving further into the cemetery. He didn't want to deal with the law at the moment if he didn't have to-- after all. Based on the condition these graves were in, there hadn't been proper management for a long time. It was disappointing to Nico because he knew better than almost anyone else that there were still souls attached to those graves.

He kicked a pinecone with a shoe telling himself that this was all his fault because he had tried to take a leave of absence. He had just wanted to get away for a little while because the summer campers were starting to move back in and things were getting crowded. The extra people brought extra rumors, and the stares got worse. Their gazes felt like they wanted to dissect him. There were also the whispers that they thought he couldn’t hear. The feeling of being on the outside looking in, even in conversations that he was actively involved in.

They had been interested in him once, but the amazement of the Titan War was long gone, and everyone slowly forgot how he helped save the day. Nico hadn't expected to be worshipped, but he also hadn't expected for them to go back to avoiding him entirely, either. In retrospect, he should have known that nothing had fundamentally changed about his status among them. He was not guaranteed their respect, only their tolerance. It sucked, but that's the way of the world.

He guessed they remembered how he could reanimate corpses and speak to the dead. Powers that were taboo in hundreds of cultures all across history. He couldn't really blame them for wanting to keep their distance. It was human nature to avoid death, after all. Maybe he should be concerned for the people who had stuck around. The only ones that stayed were the ones who had powers that rivaled his own-- deadly and awe-inspiring powers. Like Percy with his ability to create his own personal hurricanes or earthquakes or Thalia who could summon lightning at will.

The rejection was a hard pill to swallow so he had decided that it was better to be alone. After all, he had done well for himself for the most part. Minos doesn't count. Nico had been young and impressionable. He'd done everything for him, unknowingly helping him with his scheme to exchange a soul for a soul and finally get revenge on Daedalus. The only things Nico had gotten from Minos were trust issues and a greater knowledge of his abilities. It hadn’t all been for nothing, at least.

As he walked through the unkempt cemetery, he felt strangely drained. He didn't know how far he had traveled, but it had really taken a lot out of him. It felt as though each limb weighed twice as much as it normally did, so it took twice the effort to do anything. He'd have to find somewhere safe to rest for a while before he tried to shadow travel again. He had no idea how many jumps he could make in a row before it was too much, and he wasn't eager to find out.

The son of Hades took out a square of ambrosia and bit off the corner. It tasted like his mother's homemade apple pie-- a little taste of home. It was his favorite comfort food when he was a child, though Maria had always saved it for special occasions. However, his mother had seemed to find most occasions special; she was funny that way. Nico remembered how much she celebrated life every day. She treated every day like a gift and vowed not to waste it. Somedays missing her almost killed him.

As he looked at the writings on the gravestones, a flash of fear went through him. He stumbled up to the nearest grave and tried to decipher the inscriptions. His exhaustion and his dyslexia made it almost impossible to read what was on the stones. Luckily, the inscription at least seemed to be in English. That was a huge relief. He had no desire to find himself back in China anytime soon. The culture shock was real.

"Ok, so not China." He muttered under his breath. He settled down in front of the grave. He put his head on his knees to try to suppress the incoming headache from the failed shadow jump. Nico took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do. He went through the survival checklist of what he had to work with. It wasn’t much. He hadn't taken much from camp-- not having much in the first place. He had never stayed anywhere long enough to have the chance to be materialistic.

He didn't know where he was and had nowhere to stay for the night. He also didn't have money to pay for a hotel or to send an Iris Message-- not that he would have either way. He wasn't old enough to rent a room and there was no one he wanted to IM. Spending the night in the cemetery didn't sound all that appealing, but he figured that he'd have to make do. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. He'd look around in the morning and see where he was and whether or not he could shadow travel home. It was late afternoon as it was. He was in for a long night.

He didn't really know how long he just sat there in that position, but eventually, the silence and the heat of the day made it hard for him to stay awake. In an effort to not fall asleep, he moved back into the shadows of the building that he now realized was an ancient mausoleum. He was going to try to figure out where he was, but he drifted off, feeling safe being in the center of his element. Someone would be crazy to attack the Ghost King in a cemetery.

Late that night, he was awoken by the sounds of receding footsteps, whispering, and shovels cutting through dirt. For some reason, he felt an indescribable amount of rage. The rage helped to wake him up and, when I was able to think properly, he could recognize that these emotions were not his own. However, that left him to wonder whose feelings they were. The idea of sharing feelings with another person had always freaked him out. It sounded annoying and confusing-- a design flaw.

After a couple more minutes of trying to find the source of the signals with his deathly powers, he could tell that the feelings were from a spirit whose grave had just been disturbed. The woman, Mavery Johnson, was giving the people who stood by her grave an ear full. Not that they could hear her. Mavery was going on and on about how the men were going to go to hell in a handbasket and that their parents should've tanned their hides more often when they were kids. Her screeching voice was enough to make Nico want to gouge out his eardrums. The son of Hades decided to make it his personal goal to somehow get her to shut up.

Before Nico could make a move towards the grave robbers (mainly to make Mrs. Johnson shut up), a dark and foreboding voice called out to them. He nearly laughed, I didn't have access to tv, but even I knew that this was a really cliche scene from a spy movie of some sort. If this man knew he was being cliche, it didn't reflect in his voice.

"Haven't you ever heard of letting the dead rest in peace?" The man said in a not-so-questioning tone. His voice was deep, almost gravelly, though it didn't sound like a smoker's. More like a smooth rumbling sound. From his place by the mausoleum, he couldn't see the speaker. Nico took the risk of moving into a standing position, finding it difficult as his muscles were stiff from disuse and the cold night on the ground. It hadn't been his intention to fall asleep, but hey... with great power comes the need to take a nap.

By the time he'd gotten to my feet, the braver of the two robbers had started to speak, "...man I-I don't think they will miss it none." He said shakily. As he was shifting, he had missed the first part of the first word, but Nico figured it didn't matter too much. As the robber spoke, the souls of Mrs. Mavery called him every curse word she knew. She called him a sissy, a no-good thief, a coward, and a couple of other things that would make all the modern-day teenagers laugh hysterically. Though he was no modern teenager, and in his opinion, she had given it right to 'em. It was unfortunate that they would never know.

"Drop the loot and fill up that hole or go to jail. Your choice." The foreboding voice responded, unimpressed. Really, an ultimatum? Not even an interesting one at that. Whoever this guy was, he didn't seem overly scary to him, just some dude in the shadows. However, some dude in the shadows could move mountains if no one called his bluff. Nico spoke from experience.

"Right away!" The first thief said again. The next thing he heard was shovels working furiously to replace the disturbed soil. I felt the soul of Mrs. Mavery thanking someone she called The Caped Crusader before her spirit returned its consciousness back to the underworld. Nico couldn't help but wonder who would call themselves a Caped Crusader. It sounded a little lame to him. The demigod hadn't heard the Caped Crusader leave, but he could hear the two men talking in hushed tones, so he assumed that he had gone. Too bad, Nico had been interested in maybe catching a glimpse of this mystery dude. He briefly wondered if the mystery man actually did wear a cape. Then his mind went off on its own little tangent about how annoying it must be to wear a cape.

Nico backed himself further back from the robbers so that they didn't stumble across him as they left. By this time, he was thoroughly frozen and he wanted to warm up. Nico still hadn't the slightest clue of where he was, and he knew he would have to go into the death-soaked city to find answers. The son of Hades, with his great judgment, decided to take a walk through town. Had he known just where he had landed, he would've reconsidered.

Nico snuck his way around the grave robbers towards the edge of the cemetery, looking for the way out. He pulled my aviator's jacket close to his body and shivered to preserve what little warmth he had. He was hardly ever warm-- even in summer. It was almost as if his body didn't produce heat. When people felt his cold skin, they usually figured that he didn't feel the cold. It was actually just the opposite.The Apollo campers told me that it was because I didn't eat enough, but Nico wasn't too sure. He could put away several happy meals in one sitting then go a week with nothing. When one fended for themselves, you ate when you could, and as a demigod, he knew not to eat too much in case of a battle.

He trudged, shivering, to the front gate where he quickly hauled himself over the fence, landing virtually silently-- call it a super power. Choosing a direction at random, he continued his exploration of the city, finding it odd how little foot-traffic there was, even at this hour. Nico traveled down several separate streets, changing directions on a whim. As he walked, he began to get the feeling that someone was watching him. Nico's demigod training kicked in, and his senses went on overdrive. He couldn't hear anything or sense another person nearby, but he had been through enough scrapes to trust his instincts. Being a demigod child of a powerful god, Nico naturally assumed that it was a monster of some sort.

He quickened his pace and kept his hands in his pockets, where he kept his backup weapon, a 6-inch silver dagger, disguised as a tourist minted coin with the Roman colosseum engraved on the front. If anyone were to see it, they would merely think that he'd been to Italy. He held the coin firmly in his palm, waiting for something to jump out at him at any moment. A sword wouldn't be of much use in such close quarters anyway. He passed a shop on the corner that read Downtown Gotham Post in big, bold letters. That's when he got a sinking feeling in his stomach. He was stranded in the worst city in America, with someone stalking him. With his luck, it could be Scarecrow or even the Joker. He just hoped that it wasn't the Riddler-- he would be dead before he could figure out the answer to anything he asked.

Nico clung closer to the buildings, hoping that the shadows would help to hide him. He kept moving-- not really knowing what else to do. Every once in a while, he would stop to pull his coat around himself or to sneeze. He vaguely hoped that he wasn't coming down with something. The last thing he needed was to get a cold that drained his energy and made him vulnerable. Plus he'd never hear the end of it from Demeter who would insist that he needed to eat more grains or something like that.

He walked another block. There was one of Gotham's banks at the end of this street, right across from a run-down drug/convenience store. Right before he even reached the end of the street, the alarms in the bank went off, and a group of 3 dudes wearing a lot of face makeup ran out into the street. This night was certainly turning out to be entertaining if nothing else.

It only took him one glance to know that these were some of the Joker's lackeys. Nico started to back into the small space between the bank and the apartment complex, but as fate would have it-- he stepped on a beer can with a loud crunch. He looked sharply towards the Joker's goons to see if they had heard it. Unfortunately, they had and were starting to walk towards him slowly, in a threatening manner. They were all tall, 2 of the 3 were beefy, and the third was slim, but he looked odd, with a lot of muscle in his shoulders and virtually none in his legs. He made for an odd sight, though he didn't stay to ponder it for long.

He wasn't about to stay and try for a diplomatic solution-- the demigod turned and ran back the way he came just as fast as he could. Could he beat these guys? Sure! You know, if he had a sword that worked on mortals and he hadn't recently made a failed shadow jump. He cursed himself as he ran through the quiet streets of Gotham City. So fighting wasn't an option so he would just have to hope that he could outrun them. Fat chance.

Nico took turn after turn at top speed, the thugs slowly falling further and further behind. he prayed silently to every god and goddess He could think of to help me escape. He must've offended someone because the next corner he took led me to a dead end. he pivoted on my heels to go the other way, but the thugs hadn't been as far back as he had thought and had blocked his escape. Nico backed up until his back had nearly hit the wall. He wasn't a match for 3 beefy goons with weapons, he was about to get mugged, and he knew it. The thought made him really angry, he had survived so much in the past year, and now he was going to be beaten and/or killed by a bunch of mortals. The shadows swelled around him so subtly that he almost didn't notice. Almost.

Nico gritted his teeth as he sized up the men in front of him. He was gonna die for sure. He shivered mostly from the cold and excess adrenaline. Nico was scared, though he would never admit it. People were sometimes the worst monsters of all.

"So kid, what is a little boy like you doing out alone in Gotham? Don't you know that it isn't safe?" Said...Charlie. For some reason, the thug seemed like a Charlie.

"No one mentioned it." He deadpanned. The only response he got was a cold sneer.

"Well, consider this a free lesson in Gotham street smarts." The next guy... maybe a Kevin said. He and the other two guys started to move closer. Nico braced myself against the wall-- this was the end. Hopefully they would send him to his father quickly. He wasn't sure if he was quite ready for that lecture, though. The thugs pressed in suffocatingly close. Nico was unprepared when the first blow came to his side. The thug's meaty paw caught him in his solar plexus. He collapsed onto all fours with a groan. He clutched his ribs, trying to protect them. He waited for another hit, but instead of a blow, like he was expecting, he heard one of the thugs grunt and fall to the ground.

Nico peeked over to see that it was the unnamed thug that fell. Both Charlie and Kevin were looking towards the rooftop behind him in fear. Nico took that chance to duck into the corner behind some crates. Just as he had, a bright light shone in Kevin and Charlie's faces. It momentarily blinded them and made his corner seem even darker by comparison. Nico pressed his back against the wall to wait and see what would happen. A tall, dark figure leaped off the roof and kicked Charlie in the side of the head. Charlie stumbled and fell, hitting his head hard on the ground as he went down. Instinctively, Nico knew that the man wasn't dead, nor was he in any danger of dying.

Kevin ran at the man in a cape with a small pocket knife out. The man with the deformed ears knocked the blade out of Kevin's hands then elbowed him in the side of the head, effectively knocking him out. It didn't even seem like it had taken too much effort on his part. He gave the oddly attired man a once-over, then decided that this was probably the Caped Crusader that Mavery Johnson was talking about. So, this is the Batman, then?

"Who are you?" Batman asked, turning to look at the demigod-- who was still crouched in the corner. He slowly stood up from his position and pressed his back against the wall. He was in unfamiliar territory. All of his instincts were shouting at him that he was still in danger and that this man in front of him was still a possible threat. Nico tended to trust his instincts. Though trusting his instincts didn't make him smart and he ended up mouthing off.

"I don't have to tell you," he said defensively. Batman didn't seem to like that response and took-- what he interpreted to be-- threatening step forward. Nico pressed himself further into the wall. It wasn't out of fear but more out of wariness that he wanted to distance himself from this man. He wasn't a match for this guy if he decided to strike. Plus, Nico had no way out other than past him. As it was, he appeared to be at his mercy.

"Where are your parents?" The person in front of him moved on as though he hadn't spoken. Nico didn't reply for a few moments, pondering on what to say. What would get him out of here the fastest? Unfortunately, he had no clue.

"It doesn't matter." He finally said angrily. Batman seemed surprised at his hostility.

"It does matter-- if you don't have any," Batman replied unemotionally. He got right to the point, which didn't quite track with the theatricality that Nico had come to expect. The bluntness of the statement caught him off guard, and I found himself responding emotionally.

"That isn't any of your business, now is it?" He asked heatedly. Nico didn't see how this was any of his business. Why did he get involved with all the crime and stuff on the streets? What was the story behind the Batman?

"Gotham is my city-- that makes it my business." The thought made Nico want to laugh-- the man thought he owned the entire city. Was this true hubris?

"Just leave me alone, alright? I have everything taken care of." Nico said, moving to leave the alley. his plan was to make it as far as he could before the man tried to stop him then either try to make a run for it or continue negotiating the man's curiosity. He'd do whatever it took to stay out of the system.

"Yes, you proved that quite well a couple of minutes ago." Batman retorted. That made Nico angry-- this man in a bat suit had no right to criticize him since he had no idea how well he could actually take care of myself when he was fully operational. Instead of retorting-- he stiffened. Batman waited silently for a response, but Nico just resumed his course. Nico edged around Batman and then walked swiftly in the opposite direction of the vigilante, trying to put as much distance between them as he could. Surprisingly Batman didn't even try to stop him. It seemed that he wasn't as trapped as he had thought.

Nico walked for maybe an hour longer before someone else decided to interrupt my peaceful and freezing walk. He got lost in my own thoughts and accidentally started into the street, without realizing that a car was already headed his way. Luckily the driver was able to slam on the brakes in time not to crush him. He stumbled back onto the sidewalk. What was with the near-death experiences tonight? Were the fates trying to tell him something? Surely there were easier ways than this?

When the vehicle came to a stop, Nico leaned against a lamp post for support, trying to figure out how to breathe again. The car parallel parked right in front of him, and he braced himself to run if need be. This was still Gotham-- danger came in all forms. His misgivings weren't soothed in the slightest as a man got out of the driver's side. The man was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair and blue eyes. Nico recognized him from a newspaper he would see every once in a while. The man that nearly ran him over was none other than Bruce Wayne, the billionaire. Perfect. The last thing he needed is to be in some news article as the almost victim of a car accident.

"Hey kid, you ok? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" He said he sounded genuinely concerned, "Hey, you don't look too good."

"I'm fine," he replied warily, watching the man curiously. Nico never looked very good-- he knew that. People often reminded him that he happened to resemble a fresh corpse.

" Where are you headed? I could drop you off? It's the least I could do." He said.

" Uh, no it's ok." Nico backed away uncomfortably. He wasn't born yesterday-- this could very easily be a new scam or kidnapping ploy. He didn't trust billionaires when he didn't know where they got their money. And sometimes not even then. Wayne had Wayne Enterprises, of course, but what did WE even do? Nico didn't really know much about Gotham but every once in a while a crazy Bruce Wayne story would get passed around camp-- usually by the Aphrodite cabin. They all seemed to be placing bets on who he would end up dating next. That didn't sit well with Nico.

"Really? Where are your parents?" He asked, looking around as though searching for his guardian.

" I think they went to the drugstore-- they should be home in a little bit. I live just down the street." Nico lied easily. Mr. Wayne looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He gave him a judgemental once-over and Nico could just feel that this man wasn't buying it.

" You're not with your parents, are you?" He asked with sympathy in his eyes. Nico didn't reply-- knowing that he had been caught. Bruce took his silence as an answer.

"Are they..." he trailed off. Nico looked away, knowing he meant dead. He steeled himself before glancing back at the billionaire. He eyed the older man with suspicion. What is his play? He had been in the game long enough to know that there always was one. Was there somewhere he was going with this or did he just get his kicks out of bullying orphans?

"My condolences. Here, why don't you come and live with me? I have more money than I need and too much space. I also promise to try and stay out of your hair for the most part. It just wouldn't be right for me to leave you out here on your own." Bruce said, making hand gestures that you would often see business people make. Nico was about to refuse when Mr. Wayne struck home.

"Come on, it's not like you have somewhere else to go." It was true. The people at camp didn't want him and he was getting tired of not knowing where he would sleep next to or where he would get his next meal. Nico was just tired of the energy it took to live in this world.

Nico stood there staring at Mr. Wayne for at least a minute, just trying to come up with a reason to say no. Well, beyond the fact that he didn't know him. He couldn't come up with anything and that surprised him. He thought through the pros and cons, a place to sleep, not as much privacy, food to eat, less freedom to go places on a whim, always knowing that he would have a place that he can go where people will at least accept him, or go to the place full of people like him where no one truly accepted him. He made up his mind. He wanted a fresh start.

"Ok, on one condition," He said warningly.

"Name it," Bruce assured him.

"There is this summer camp that I go to every summer, I would still like to attend," Nico said apprehensively.

"That can be arranged."

{This was first posted in 2017, go easy on it.}

Chapter Text

Nico prayed to Hades, Hermes, and Hera to make up his background papers as he rode in the back seat of Mr. Wayne's car. To his surprise, Hades felt it necessary to speak directly into his mind. It was something that the god had recently discovered and he had not done it often. It tended to give Nico a massive headache if the connection was open for more than a minute.

"Nico, I approve of your decision. Your cover is that you and Bianca moved to America from Italy in 1998 when you were 5. Your mother and sister died in an apartment fire and your dad became distant, not caring if you came or went. Eventually, he committed suicide and you ran away. Your father's name was Haden. Understood?" The god debriefed him. Nico confirmed that he understood and he felt his father's presence leave his mind.

"I never did get your name," Bruce said suddenly. That felt like a red flag, but Hades hadn't warned him against this mortal. If anything happened, he still had his dagger on him and he could probably manage to shadow travel far enough away if he had to. For now, he would just wait to see what was going to happen.

" Nico, Nico Di Angelo."

"Well, Nico, why don't we head down to the station and get you registered?" He asked, Bruce seemed genuinely happy at the idea. Nico just nodded solemnly-- what else was he supposed to do? Then a thought occurred to him.

"Who else lives with you?" Nico inquired. Bruce seemed surprised that he initiated the conversation, but answered the question as though it were as normal as breathing.

" Well, there is Alfred, my butler, and dear friend, along with 4 other boys. I hope you don't mind." Bruce looked over at Nico in concern. Nico didn't know how he felt. The only experience he had with a sibling was with Bianca but he was pretty sure that their relationship hadn't been normal. He'd never dealt with brothers before, though.

Not too long after that, Bruce was pulling up to what seemed to be a social worker's office. It was run-down and seemed like it was in desperate need of repair. Bruce told Nico to stay in the car and went inside to get the papers in order (Idk how that works). About 20 minutes later, Bruce came back with a triumphant look on his face.

"Good news, I now have official custody of you. I was going to go to work, but it seems like my day has just been completely booked up." Bruce smirked in Nico's direction, who uneasily returned the gesture. It felt foreign on his face.

"That didn't take very long," Nico noted with a confused frown.

"I may have streamlined the process. Money talks around here." Bruce smirked playfully. Nico decided hen that he was beginning to like Bruce. He was easy to be around, with his easy-going attitude. He just hoped that the rest of the family was as bearable.

" Well, at least now you can't back out when you meet the others." Bruce laughed lightly.

" What do you mean?" Nico began to grow concerned. Bruce made them sound like wild animals, not boys. He had known monsters to turn demigod into animals before. Heck, Circe turned his cousin Percy into a guinea pig a couple of years back. It wasn't so much of a stretch if you thought about it.

" They are all good boys, it's just that they can get a bit... rambunctious at times. None of them are related by blood, I adopted them all at separate times. Well, Damian is my biological son, but that is too complicated to get into right now. I think you'll like the boys once you get used to them. Though they like to show tough love, so don't be offended if they poke fun at you at first." Bruce said reassuringly. Nico nodded, glad that he had been warned beforehand. It sounded exactly like his relationship with Thalia and Percy.

" Before we get there, are there any allergies or disorders that I should be aware of?" Bruce asked.

"Well no allergies that I know of, but I have ADHD and Dyslexia pretty badly." Nico decided that it wasn't in his best interests to lie. Bruce nodded in understanding. He then put the car in park and announced that they had arrived. Nico hadn't even realized where they were. In front of him was the largest house he had seen. Hades's palace doesn't count.

" Wow." Nico breathed. Bruce chuckled.

"Com'on, I personally like the insides better." Nico wordlessly followed Bruce to the front door, where Bruce rang the doorbell. Nico decided not to comment, as not to make a fool out of himself. Why would he ring the doorbell to his own house? The door was opened moments later by a tall man that seemed to be in his late 50s.

" Welcome home, Master Bruce. Who might this be?" Nico assumed that the man was Alfred. Alfred opened the door to allow them to enter. Nico thanked him as he entered and was given 'not a problem sir' as a response. Nico's eyes widened at the formal greeting. The only ones that treated him like this were ghosts. It felt wrong in this setting.

" Hello Alfred, this is Nico Di Angelo, he will be staying with us from now on. He will need a room and clothing if you wouldn't mind." Bruce explained. Nico respected that Bruce treated Alfred as a friend and not merely a servant.

"Not at all, I will go shopping with him tomorrow evening if he is up to it." Both men looked at Nico in askance and he just shrugged. Nico had never really gone shopping before. Alfred looked him over once and nodded to himself as though he saw what he was looking for. Nico looked at Bruce with widened eyes. Bruce smirked at him knowingly.

" This way, let's meet the others." Bruce started to head down a hallway before Alfred called to him.

" Master Bruce, Master Richard, and Master Damian are in the living room. Master Jason is in his room and Master Timothy is in the library." Alfred said helpfully.

" Thanks, Alfred. Nico, why don't you wait here while I go and get everyone together." Nico just nodded, glad that he wouldn't have to do four separate introductions.

"Hey, Richard!?" Bruce called out as he walked down the hallway.

"Yeah, Bruce?" An older boy, judging by his voice, called from somewhere else in the mansion.

"Could you gather Jason and Tim in the living room? I have something to tell you all."

"Uh, yeah sure. Just give me a sec." A couple of seconds later he could hear the sounds of someone, probably Dick, going up the stairs. Moments later Nico heard a crash and a shout. Then a door slam. Then he could hear more footsteps traveling farther away and into another room. This time there was no crash. About a minute later he could hear several pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs.

Bruce came back into the foyer, where Nico stood, "Ok you can wait for a little way down the hall. Try not to be offended by anything the boys might say. They might not be immediately in favor of another person living here. They'll get over it in about an hour or two." That didn't really help his confidence. He reminded himself that this was only going to be over the school year. He'd be at camp the rest of the time. Bruce walked down the hallway and Nico followed a little ways behind, his steps staying silent out of habit. Nico stopped a couple of feet from the end of the hall while Mr. Wayne kept going.

"So, father, what did you wish to talk to us about?" Nico could only assume that that was Damian. His voice suggested a younger boy, but his manner of speaking was sophisticated. This made him feel a little insecure, it wasn't like he had really had a formal education. His vocabulary was fairly limited. How were they going to react to him?

" I have taken in another boy, age 15," Bruce announced (work with me people, I know he wouldn't be 15).

"Another child, father?" Damian said. Nico could almost picture the boy crossing his arms.

"Oh be quiet, demon spawn. He's older than you!" One of the boys that Nico hadn't heard before spoke.

" Shut up Todd!" Damian responded.

" Who is this 'new boy' Bruce?" Dick cut back in.

" His name is Nico Di Angelo. I found him on the way to work this morning. He's been through a lot, so be nice. Ok?" Bruce said pleadingly.

" Yeah, sure." Said another new voice. Nico decided that this was probably Tim.

"Where is he, Bruce?" Jason asked.

"Nico? Why don't you come in now." Nico steeled himself before entering the room. The sight he was greeted with wasn't exactly what he was expecting. There were 4 black-haired boys sitting on assorted couches and chairs with Bruce standing in front of the tv. He also felt slightly unnerved that all the eyes in the room were on him. Nico said nothing as he analyzed the people in front of him. He had endured creepier silences among the dead, and his father's stares were far more intimidating.

The oldest (or at least the oldest looking), who he assumed was Dick, stood up to greet him, holding out his hands. Nico obliged him in a brief handshake. Dick was surprised at how cold and bony his hands were. Nico immediately struck him as very unhealthy, with his sunken cheeks skinny build, and pale skin.

"I'm Richard Grayson, but you can call me Dick. That lump on the couch over there is Jason Todd." The boy with white bangs nodded to him in a 'wassup' sort of way. Sort of like how the Ares kids would once you earned their respect. Nico wondered if he had given Jason any cause for that greeting or if that was just something he did.

Dick continued, "That boy right there is Timothy Drake." Nico maintained an impassive look as Richard continued, "And the demon spawn on the ottoman is Damian Wayne." Tim dipped his head in greeting and Damian just stared. Nico was odd, they all could tell. There was just something about him that made them all nervous. He himself wasn't too intimidating, with his small stature and overall health. His clothes were hanging off his body.

"Er, well I'm Nico Di Angelo." He said, gauging their reactions. Luckily, there wasn't one and he felt his muscles relax. They must not have heard about the manhunt when he and Bianca 'ran away' from the military academy three years ago.

"Ok, you all get to know each other. I have some work that I need to take care of. Dick, you and the others will be in charge of giving Nico a tour." Bruce said, fixing each boy in his gaze individually.

"Don't worry, Bruce! What's the worst that could happen?" Dick asked slyly. Nico got the feeling that there was more to that comment than he could understand. Bruce glared at Dick in a suspicious way before exiting the room. Nico suddenly felt like a child who was left with a babysitter who let him play with knives. He was curious and they seemed to be the type that would love the Stoll brothers. It was a good thing he had always been on good terms with the Hermes boys.

"Where did you come from? Your voice doesn't sound fully American." The boy, Damian asked from his place on the ottoman, crossing his arms. Nico bristled at both the question and the tone of his voice, it was almost hostile.

"Damian! Be nice!" Dick scolded.

"Oh shut up Grayson, you know you're curious too!" Dick glared at his younger brother but did not respond.

"Venice, Italy," Nico replied simply. He didn't mind disclosing this to them, seeing as they could already tell he wasn't American.

"Really? Does that mean you speak Italian?” Tim raised an eyebrow at him, curiously.

“Yeah, It’s my native language. Though I haven’t needed to speak it in awhile. I’m a little rusty.” Nico admitted. Hopefully, this was all backed up in his papers. Tim seemed satisfied with his answers and gestured him closer.

"Come sit down with us." Nico wearily complied, sitting down on a black leather recliner in the corner of the spacious room.

"Do you mind if we ask some questions? You can skip some if you want." Tim inquired, leaning forward so that his elbows were propped on his knees. Nico pondered for a minute, he was going to be living with them, shouldn't they know at least a couple of things about him?

"Ok, shoot."

" What is your favorite color?" Tim asked almost immediately.

"Seriously, Drake?"

"Black." Nico interrupted before there could be an argument.

"What is your favorite subject?" Nico almost laughed. Considering his school records and his 80 years stuck as a 12-year-old, he hadn't really ever had a proper education.

"Uh, skip."

"Ok, favorite game." This time Jason asked the question. This was a tricky question, Nico had to pick between capture the flag and Mytho-Magic. Deciding that he'd rather keep Mytho-Magic as his own special escape, he said that he liked to play capture the flag.

"How about your favorite childhood memory." Dick took his turn. Immediately Nico tensed. The anger he felt towards his father when he learned about his dip in the lethe resurfaced. He had no 'childhood memories’. Vaguely he wondered why they had jumped from simple surface-level questions to his childhood, but it didn’t really matter.

"Pass," Nico said gritting his teeth. Thankfully, the others didn't protest.

" What is your favorite hobby?" Surprisingly Damian had been the one to speak. Nico looked at him appreciatively. He hadn’t expected Bruce’s mini-me to be at all interested in anything he had to say. This was a pleasant surprise.

"Sword fighting. Greek-style." Nico said truthfully. He smirked slightly as he saw the looks of excitement and shock on his new brother's faces.

"Interesting.” Damian conceded.

" Oh no, here we go again." Muttered Jason.

" Who taught you?" Dick asked curiously.

" I wish to see your practice." Damian interrupted.

" Well, there is an instructor that teaches it at the summer camp that I usually attend. My sword is in my cabin at the camp."

" Why aren't you there now?" Tim cut in.

"Well, the camp director allowed me to come back to Gotham for the week. All my stuff is still at camp. I need to tell the director about the new setup and retrieve my clothes." Nico said looking at Dick asking his questions wordlessly.

" Well, just let Bruce and Alfred know and they will figure it all out I'm sure," Dick sighed and stood up, stretching as he did so. "Well, Nico, want a tour? We will show you your room too." Dick offered. Nico nodded and followed the boys through the manor. It was a lot to remember and he was sure he would get lost more than once in this maze.

The boys spent the next couple of hours just showing Nico around and sharing stories. Nico began to feel more relaxed and comfortable around his new siblings. By the end of the day, Nico felt almost as close to these boys as he had been with Percy before the whole Doors of Orpheus event. By Nico's standards, that was saying something. With one particular boy, the relationship was probably closer to the post-Orpheus Doors incident.

When Bruce came out of his office he found that all the boys, and Alfred, were in the kitchen. Dick and Tim were setting the table, Jason and Damian were cutting up and measuring them as Nico dictated them. That's right, Nico was cooking.

Alfred was positioned next to Nico, to supervise. Nico appeared to be cooking some sort of Italian dish, without a recipe in front of him. Bruce was surprised that Nico could so accurately (or at least confidently) remember the recipe without anything to reference. Bruce was also highly impressed by how quickly Nico had inserted himself into this family. His boys, though they tried, weren't the most accepting bunch. This was no small feat.

Being careful to wait until Nico's hands were empty so he wouldn’t drop anything, Bruce made his presence known. Though not before he snapped a couple of pictures with his phone. What? He liked to look back through them sometimes during particularly boring business meetings.

"Well, this is interesting! I've never seen you all work together on anything before." Tim's shoulders tensed, Dick looked up sharply, Jason muttered a suppressed curse, and Damian took a quick intake of breath. The only two who didn't react were Nico and Alfred.

"Alfred, could you put the serving bowl over here please?" Nico asked as though nothing had happened-- he was too preoccupied with the food. He had mentioned that he had ADHD, and Bruce knew that a symptom of ADHD was hyperfocus. People with ADHD could often tune out just about anything while they were in a state of hyperfocus. Was that what this was? He had done extensive research on the disorder a few years back because he had suspected that Jason might have had it.

"Certainly, Master Nico." Nico seemed to cringe at the title, but it was hard to tell from this angle. Nico poured a large pot of fettuccine noodles with a thick creamy sauce into the bowl. Alfred brought the bowl over to the table, where he had laid other dishes that Bruce recognized to be some of Alfred's specials. He guessed tonight was a special night, so it made sense. It wasn’t every day you added a new member to the family.

Nico turned around, taking off a gray apron. He caught Bruce staring at him and immediately looked away. He suddenly became very invested in folding the apron just-so. Bruce eyed him curiously but decided not to comment. Once the apron had been folded, Nico’s hands went straight to his skull ring, twisting it anxiously. Was he just stimming or was he nervous? From his paperwork, Bruce knew that Nico had been through a lot. Did he have anxiety? He decided to keep his eye out for any signs that Nico had any other mental health conditions, just to be safe.

“What’s wrong?” Nico asked finally, shaking Bruce out of his thoughts.

"Nothing, I was just wondering who taught you to cook." Bruce used that to cover up his blunder. He hadn’t meant to stare at Nico so long, he was just trying to figure the strange boy out.

"Oh... well, wait until you try it to call it cooking." He said, his face flushing in embarrassment but his features relaxed immensely. Bruce noticed that Nico purposefully avoided the question.

Though his hunger outweighed his curiosity and all of the smells began to get to him. Bruce motioned towards the table and everyone sat down in a seat. That was the night that they all learned that Nico was a really good cook.

[For those of you who are coming on from Wattpad, this will be a bit different from what you remember. I am editing things so that they flow better and fit my current writing style. I am not changing any main plot points, though. It is mostly cosmetic stuff.]

Chapter Text

That night, he laid in his bed staring at the white ceiling, unable to sleep. Nico had a feeling that something big was about to happen. Something that he would be needed for. He couldn't explain how he knew that, he just knew. Is this how Percy felt all the time? Always knowing that he was doomed to be a part of a prophecy? Nico didn't like it much himself.

Eventually, sleep overtook the son of Hades, after hours of counting swords and shields in his head and reciting Mythomagic stats. Surprisingly, he could still remember most of them, though he would never admit it to anyone else if they asked. Nico had picked up the card game shortly before he entered the casino. The ideas of gods and monsters had always called to me-- even back then. It was a sick irony now that he could look back on it. He really should have known, even back then, that something was wrong.

When he finally did fall asleep, he was pulled deep into a demigod dream. In the dream Nico was running through the Underworld, searching for something. He felt like he desperately needed to find it, whatever it is. It was as if someone's life depended on it, which was very well possible. Nico felt both anguish and hope, an odd combination. As he ran, he recognized the path leading to Elysium. It occurred to him that he was probably searching for Bianca, his dead sister. The disembodied feelings became more real with this realization and he raced through the beautiful fields, searching for her. Nico searched for a long time but he couldn't find her, he couldn't even sense her soul nearby. He could barely push down his disappointment.

Nico left the Isle of the Blessed feeling depressed. He let his feet guide him through the familiar fields of asphodel. As he walked, he bumped into a particularly bright spirit. Nico stumbled back a couple of steps and looked towards where the soul had been but the scene changed before he could catch a glimpse of the spirit's face. Their familiar presence faded as he found himself somewhere else.

This time, Nico was in his family's old hotel, sitting on the hardwood floor, trying to teach Bianca how to play Mythomagic-- his favorite game. At first, everything was fine, his mother chatted with Hades, the fireplace glowed warmly, and the rain outside had lightened to a slight drizzle. It was perfect. Though, when anything gets to be as perfect as that moment had been, things could only go downhill, and they did. The tone of voice his parents were using in their discussion had changed. Father got up off the couch and started speaking to Maria in English, a language that the siblings didn't really understand very well. Hades was pacing and seemed agitated.

In the middle of the discussion, Hades lunged towards Maria and yelled, "NO!" Then there was only fire. Nico woke up with a pathetic yelp, cutting off just as soon as he opened his eyes. He breathed heavily, trying to calm down. He could still feel the flames-- even in his waking state. Nico finally got his breathing under and he surveyed the room as a force of habit, looking for the exits and for anything unfamiliar. Nothing seemed to be amiss, though the room was still unfamiliar to him.

He rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed, considering what the dream could have possibly meant. Who was the unidentified spirit? Why was he searching for Bianca? Nico was abruptly cut off from his musings by the sounds of the doorknob turning and tumblers clicking. He must have woken someone up. Oh, Fiddlesticks.

++Dick Grayson++

Bruce and the boys had just come back from patrol and were going into their rooms for the night when Dick heard a muffled shout coming from Nico's room. Dick moved quickly down the hall and quietly opened his new brother's door. He found Nico sitting on the edge of his bed with his arms on his knees and his head in his hands.

"Hey, are you alright?" Richard expected Nico to be startled but he simply glanced up before returning to his previous position. Dick stepped into the room, closing the door so he could lean against the door. He recognized this scene. They'd each been in this position at least once. None of them really had the best backgrounds. Sometimes he would still find himself sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting for everything to feel alright again.

"I'm fine." Nico lied. If Dick wasn't Nightwing, a protege of the Batman, he might've believed him.

"I heard you shout, you wanna tell me another?" Richard gave him his best 'big brother' glare. Nico looked up at Dick with a well-disguised wince.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Nico said truthfully. Without either of the boys noticing, the shadows in the room were shifting, as if responding to Nico's duress.

"Now that I believe," the older boy hesitated, "You know that you can trust us, right?" Dick said, crossing his arms. His voice was more scolding than warm, but you could see that he cared by the look in his eyes. Nico simply nodded in response. The truth would have been no, and they both knew it. However, Dick was willing to let this slide. He doubted he would have trusted people he had just met either. Trust issues come with trauma.

" It was just a nightmare." That was only partially the truth. Somehow nightmares with scenes of the future or the past were somehow worse. Dick nodded, sitting in the rolling chair that was at Nico's desk area.

"Was it about your family?" Nico didn't answer, he didn't need to. His silence was answer enough.

"I still get nightmares about my parent's death," Dick said. He thought that if he could establish a common ground with this secretive boy, he might have a chance at him opening up more. Plus it always felt good to tell people about his family, like they would never be forgotten.

"How did they die?" To Dick's surprise, Nico actually seemed interested in the conversation. Dick went on to explain how his parents died and how Batman had caught the man responsible and locked him up. Nico was a very good listener and waited until the end to comment.

" Batman eh?" Nico scoffed, kind of in a disbelieving way.

" Yeah. You know, the guy who cleans up the city in a suit and has bat ears?" Dick said, using his fingers to imitate the ears on Bruce's cowl. Nico chuckled, feeling more relaxed than he had in a while.

"Yeah, I've met him."

"You did?" Dick didn't sound really surprised.

" Yeah, last night. He kept me from getting mugged." Nico didn't mention their conversation. Dick got the underlying message and didn't press him.

"Ahhh, you were lucky then." Nico just nodded, "I'm going to bed now. You know that we all have sob stories, we're all going to want to know yours sometime." Dick said as he moved towards the door.

"Yeah, I know. It's just... my life is really complicated."

"I get that," Dick nodded appreciatively, Nico got the feeling that he really did understand, "How about we just ask you questions and you can skip if you need to?" Dick asked as he opened the door. Nico considered it and, seeing no harm, he nodded. Dick exited his room and closed the door. Nico crawled back into his bed and promptly passed out.

The next morning, all the boys came down for breakfast except Nico. Breakfast was held in the informal dining room, attached to the open concept kitchen. The room was spacious enough for a full-sized kitchen along with a semi-long table long enough to fit the entire family.

" Should I go wake, Master Nico?" Alfred asked Bruce as he filled up his coffee cup. Bruce was about to answer when Richard cut in.

" Nah," Dick interrupted, "he didn't sleep well last night."

" How would you know, Grayson?" Damian asked incredulously. Leave it to Dami to suggest that Dick was a stalker.

" I sat up and talked to him for a while. He had a nightmare and said that he didn't want to talk so I told him about my parents." Bruce watched Dick all throughout the time he was speaking.

"Did he tell you anything about himself?" His Batman side was showing. Bruce was also generally concerned about his well-being, but also just really curious by nature. He was kind of worried for Nico, he was so obviously underweight and so secretive. Plus, he was almost mugged the night before, he had to have been hurt from that encounter, Batman had witnessed the cruel blow to his ribs. He wantedto connect with the boy sooner rather than later so he could start helping him.

"No, though he agreed that if we ask questions he would answer most of them and skip the ones he wouldn't answer." The family considered the deal. It was better than nothing.

"Well, it's a start." Jason put in, stretching.

"Any ideas about what to do today? Like what should we do with Nico?" Tim asked. The boys shook their heads and Damian sat silently, picking at his breakfast.

"Any ideas Dami?" Richard inquired, mainly trying to get his attention but also caring about his input.

"No. Father, are we going to tell him?" Bruce looked at each of his sons as their gazes turned to him. He set down his coffee before responding.

"Let's see if he can figure it out by himself. There is something different about him. I can't quite put my finger on it." Bruce sat back in his chair and intertwined his fingers. Everyone nodded in agreement. The rest of them, excluding Damian, had found it out on their own, Nico should have to as well. It was basically a rite of passage at this point.

After breakfast, Dick had been the one elected to go wake Nico up. His brothers tagged along just to see Nico's reaction. They were hoping for some free entertainment, preferably at Dick's expense. Dick slowly crept into the newbie's bedroom, to find that Nico was lying peacefully on his side, facing away from them. Dick left the door open so his other brothers could watch. Dick glanced back at the door, where his siblings shooed him on. Richard sighed and made his way quietly up to the bed.

He took a deep breath before grabbing Nico's shoulder firmly. What happened next, no one was expecting. Nico twisted in his bed like he was a cat in midair. Without even opening his eyes, he caught Dick in the side of the head with strong backhand. Dick stumbled back in surprise, clutching his right ear that was now ringing. Nico had a very powerful slap for someone of his demeanor. The boys were also disturbed by the fact that Nico seemed to not even wake up during that event. He had protected himself in his sleep. Nico woke immediately after, and in one fluid motion went from being on the bed to being on his feet and over 4 feet away. He looked cornered and disoriented-- his eyes were half shut but he was balancing on the balls of his feet.

"Woah! Nico calm down! Remember? You're at the Wayne Manor!" Dick tried to get through to him. Nico's eyes stopped moving erratically and settled on Richard. He sized up the situation immediately and relaxed his stance. His face turned apologetic.

"Um err, sorry I didn't mean to do... that." Nico rubbed the back of his neck and seemed to be trying to make himself smaller than he actually was by slouching his shoulders and shuffling his feet anxiously.

"What was 'that' exactly?" Jason asked, stepping into the room. Nico's eyes flashed, but whether that was in anger or fear, Jason couldn't tell.

"It was a uhhhh..." Nico paused, seemingly trying to find the right word, "a defense mechanism." The boys shared a dubious look.

"Really? Where did you learn that?" Tim stepped into the room, Damian following closely behind. Nico's eyes flickered to Tim and settled on him for a bit longer than what was necessary. The boys took that as panic while he was trying to think of a response.

"Just years of experience. I've been fighting since I was little." Nico replied. That was maybe stretching the truth a bit. He had been fighting since he was 12, and he was now 14 or 15... who knew for sure? Though Nico figured that you had to give him some credit for his time out of time.

"Still, that was a very interesting move." Dami finally spoke up, his tone of voice was hard but there was a genuine interest in his eyes. Nico didn't respond, rubbing his knuckles intently.

"You ok?" Richard asked politely. Nico nodded and wrapped his arms around himself protectively.

"Yeah, you?" Dick nodded. There was an awkward lull in conversation where no one knew what to say.

"Nico, how old are you again?" It was Jason who asked the question this time. They all knew what Batman had told them, but it was a simple icebreaker.

"15, why?" Jason shrugged nonchalantly.

" Just wondering. You're one year older than Tim. When's your birthday?" It was an innocent question but Nico tensed and his eyes grew guarded. Immediately they knew that Nico was hiding more than they had originally thought. What possible harm could there be in telling them his birthday?

" Nico? Do you not know your birthday?" It was Richard who asked the question. It hadn't even occurred to the other three that he might not know what his birthday was. They were thinking more along the lines of secret identity or something else more elaborate. Dealing with people with powers tended to make their suspicions blow way out of proportion.

Nico didn't respond. He shuffled uncomfortably-- obviously unsure of how to respond. These actions in themselves gave them the answers they needed. The boys shared pained looks. They couldn't imagine not knowing their own birthday. It did beg the question at just how long he had been on his own. Did he really not have anyone in his life who could remind him?

"Where did you live before this? Didn't you live with anyone else?"

"Well I stay at a summer camp sometimes over the summers but I don't really have a place to stay otherwise. I never really stayed anywhere long enough to get to know anyone." Nico shrugged. It was mostly true, after all. He couldn't very well tell them that he spent most of his time in the Underworld. Plus there was the fact that Nico wasn't sure if Hades even remembered his birthday.

" I'm sorry..." Jason trailed off awkwardly. Just because he knew what Nico had gone through, didn't mean he knew how to comfort him. It was true that Nico didn't know what day he was actually born. Bianca only knew the year: 1928. So Nico kind of adopted Halloween as his birthday, partly as a joke and partly because it was memorable.

" It's not your fault," Nico said curtly, "I chose October 31st as my birthday."

"Halloween," Tim observed.

"Yeah."

"Any particular reason?" Nico sighed and moved to the closet where there were a couple of spare sets of clothes. He grabbed a pair of black sweat pants and a black long-sleeved shirt. They were both pretty big but they were the only black clothes he had. Plus they looked warm and clean. They would do for now at least.

"None that I would care to discuss. Let's just say that someone that I used to be close to gave me the idea." Nico left them all standing there as he went into his connected bathroom and shut the door with finality. The bat brothers looked at each other and then left the room. They were no closer to learning anything important about Nico than they were before. Without any further discussion, they all followed Tim to the library downstairs. It was basically a study, but for the entire family. They scattered on the couches in the center of the room. There was a lot to talk about regarding their newest housemate.

" Does anyone else think that it is a little strange that he has a defense mechanism for when he is sleeping? I don't think that that is a normal response for people who have lived on the streets. When it comes to fight or flight, they typically choose flight." Jason stated matter-of-factly. He should know, having come from the streets himself.

"Yeah, I find that most curious as well. I also can't believe that he learned sword fighting at a summer camp." Damian agreed.

" Well, you were trained by assassins so is it really too big of a stretch?" Tim asked.

" I'm sure this isn't the same."

"Come on guys, knock it off. I think that, once he learns the secret he will come around. We can't expect to know everything about him on the second day." Richards reasoned, "I say we drop really subtle hints and while he figures it out, we test his abilities until then."

"And how exactly do we do that?" Damian asked, crossing his arms. Dick smiled almost evilly, making Damian sorry he asked.

" One, two, three, four... I declare... A PRANK WAR!" They exchanged smiles.

" Deal! What are the rules?" Jason asked.

" Nothing that could cause serious injury, every man for himself, and none of that bathroom stuff like the hair dye in the shampoo, and we'll wait until Nico gets some new clothes." Richard listed. There were protests when he added the second rule but Dick was adamant. Then he thought of something, "Oh, and try not to do anything too humiliating to Nico, I'm not sure how well he would take it."

"Got it!" Tim said. The others nodded, however reluctantly. "Hey, you think we should send at least one of us out with Nico to make sure he gets something other than black?"

"It couldn't hurt." said Dick with a shrug, "I wouldn't mind going with him."

"Ok, Alfred was talking about taking him this evening I think. Try to imagine him in a tux!" Jason said chuckling. That made the others chuckle too, none of them could imagine Nico in a tuxedo.

"What do we do until then? I don't think it would be too fair for us to get such a head start for making plans." Jason said reasonably. Dick nodded appreciatively, he was surprised that Jason wasn't already going around the manor to set things up. He got really into prank wars.

" Well, we can show him our 'hobbies'," Dick suggested. His brothers looked at him in horror. Dick laughed when he caught their expressions, "relax, I meant gymnastics, hacking, and such. Not the extracurricular activities." They all relaxed simultaneously. Dick rolled his eyes, he wasn't an idiot.

"I can show him the computer I'm building!" Tim said happily.

"I could show him the gymnastics equipment and the trapeze."

"I would not mind showing him my sword collection."

"Yeah, maybe he'd enjoy Xbox." Jason said, surprisingly interested. Usually, he wasn't into the whole getting-to-know-you thing.

Richard smiled, "Let's do it. Tim, you go first. He doesn't seem to be the type that would be very big into computers so that might take the least amount of time." Tim nodded agreeably, "Jason, why don't you go next, you two can play until lunch if he wants then we can show him the rest afterward." For once everyone agreed on something. What Dick was saying made sense, and they were all curious about Nico.

Tim left with Jason, presumably to go find Nico. Damian left to go shower. Dick grabbed a book on software from one of the shelves and picked up where he left off. He wanted to finish this article before he started his chores for the week, to clean all the windows on the third and fourth floors, and clean his room. They may have a butler but they still all had chores that they had to do. It wouldn't be fair to leave the entire house to Alfred.

++Nico++

As Nico stepped into his bathroom, he mentally kicked himself. Why did he have to be so dramatic? he was supposed to be able to lie so easily. They ask a simple question like when his birthday is and he loses it. I took a deep breath to calm his nerves before stripping and getting into the warm shower. Nico had to have it just warm and not hot so that he wouldn't freeze when he got out. He was cold enough as it was since his body had a hard time generating much heat in the first place.

As he got cleaned off, he tried not to look at his scars. There weren't too many by demigod standards, but there were way too many in the eyes of any mortal. The scars that he did have were more prominent than most demigods too. It was like his skin contrasted with the lines, making them stand out. Nico absently prayed that the Wayne family would never find out about them because they would take more than a little explaining.

He finished up quickly, drying off and slipping on the change of clothes he had grabbed. They were small, but they still hung off his skeletal frame. Nico had to roll the waistband of the sweatpants several times to make them fit right. As he brushed his teeth with the provided supplies, he was careful not to look at himself in the mirror, knowing full well that he was nothing much to look at.

He dried his hair as much as he could before heading back out into his room. Luckily, the others were no longer there. He decided that he liked them for the most part ( Nico got along with them better than he ever had with anyone else). Nico also knew that he would often need time to escape and be alone, that was just his inner introvert speaking.

The night before, Bruce had agreed to take him to camp to get the rest of his things and to assure his camp director that he was alright. Nico wasn't surprised that no one had Iris messaged him yet, though he did feel sort of offended. He had told Bruce that he should wait for him by the Delphi strawberries stand and that camp was just over the next ridge. He also told the older man that he would rather go in alone, claiming that it was in order not to draw too much attention to himself. Nico doubted that the others would know much about Bruce Wayne, but there weren't adults there often. Also, Bruce probably wouldn't approve of the camp itself either. That isn't if he was even allowed in.

Nico took a deep breath at his door, preparing himself for the social interaction. He slowly pulled it open and moved into the hall. He traveled quietly down the halls and to the stairs. Nico eased down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Alfred was nowhere to be seen but Damian was there doing the dishes. For some reason, that surprised him Damian seemed like the kind that would be against chores. It seemed to fit into his sanctimonious personality. Perhaps it was more a credit to Bruce's parenting, he could get Damian to do chores. It was impressive nonetheless.

Because Damian did not acknowledge his presence, Nico assumed that he hadn't heard him enter. He decided to make his presence known, "So, where are..."

Nico was cut off by Damian throwing the plate he had in his hands like a frisbee. It was only due to his demigod reflexes that he was able to catch the plate before it hit him in the gut. Nico's hands hurt from the impact and he was surprised to see how accurately Damian had thrown it. The demigod was really lucky to have caught it. It would have hit him right in the ribs. He hoped that the display had seemed cooler than it was because he doubted that he could do that again. Not that he would want to, his heart was now racing and his breath was unsteady. Damian was staring at him as though he had just spilled his guts about his lineage.

"So, as I was saying, where are the others?" Nico asked, setting the plate down gently on the counter. The son of Hades hoped that, if he ignored the event, he could avoid questioning. he should have known that Damian wouldn't let it drop so easily.

"How... how did you do that?" Damian frowned. A wave of anxiety crashed over Nico but he managed to reel it in before he replied.

"It was luck..." He chuckled as though he couldn't believe what had just transpired either, "I doubt I could do it again if I tried." Damian glared, squinting suspiciously.

" . Well, I think that Drake wanted to show you his computers." Damian grabbed the plate that he had thrown off the counter and put it back in the dishwater.

"Uh ok, where is he?" Nico asked, glad to avoid further questioning.

" Check his room, you recall where that was, correct?" Damian said without turning. He sighed internally and left the room. Nico was getting a little tired of the boy's attitude anyway.

Chapter Text

Nico headed back upstairs after grabbing a pomegranate (why they had one was beyond him) sort of as a joke but also because he actually enjoyed the fruit. He also grabbed a napkin, the things were really juicy sometimes.

Nico wondered why Tim felt any particular need to show him his computers. In all honesty, computers sort of baffled him. They hadn't existed before he went into the hotel, therefore he had no idea how they worked. Beckendorf had shown him how to turn one on before and explained the concept of the internet, saying that it was the internet that the monsters could sense. He also explained that his computer wasn't connected to the internet so it wouldn't emit a signal that the monsters could sense.

Nico got to Tim's door and knocked lightly. Moments later Tim opened the door and practically dragged him inside. The inside of his room was well-organized. He had 2 shelving units in his room, both filled with what he could only assume were computer parts. It reminded him of the Hephestus cabin back at camp.

"Wow... this is way too technical for me," Nico said as he slowly spun to accentuate that he did find the room interesting. He honestly was interested, even though he couldn't tell the difference between a mouse and a hard-drive.

" Don't worry, I won't try to get you to learn this stuff," Tim said, smirking. He plopped into a spinny chair and spun around like a little kid. Nico smiled wistfully, he wished that he hadn't missed out on a lot of his childhood (lack of monsters trying to kill him for instance).

" Well, what did you want to show me? What do you do with all these parts?" Nico figured that, if he got Tim on a roll, he wouldn't have to talk very much and would learn more. As Tim started to speak, Nico knew that he was right.

"Well, I build computers. I start with..." Nico tried to listen, but his ADHD and the fact that Tim wasn't speaking English made it really hard to pay attention. Tim seemed to get this because eventually, he switched to using less technical words and using more analogies. That would've been great, you know if Nico knew anything about modern-day pop culture. He didn't know anything about movies like Independence Day and how inaccurate the hacking scenes were. Though as Tim kept talking, Nico developed a sort of respect for the art of building and operating computers.

After Tim had shown him everything that he wanted to, Jason came in and asked if Nico wanted to play a game on Xbox. That, of course, led to a long explanation that he had no idea how to operate the controls.

" How have you not played Xbox?" Jason yelled incredulously.

" I just never have, ok?" Nico replied with a slightly defensive tone.

" Well, you are now! C'mon! I'll teach you."

"Ha! This I gotta see!" Tim said, jumping off his spinning chair.

"Shut up Drake!" Both Nico and Jason said together. They smirked at each other playfully.

"So... you were going to teach me how to play... the box?" Jason laughed and grabbed Nico's shoulder, steering him out the door. Nico tried not to shudder at the physical contact, though he didn't think he succeeded, as Jason quickly let go and glanced at Nico curiously. Luckily, he didn't question it.

" Ok, so this button..." Jason gave him a quick tutorial on what buttons to push and what the idea of the game was. Basically, you were trying to kill the other player using strategy. If there was one thing that Nico knew inside and out, it was death. In the first couple of games, Jason crushed Nico. What Jason didn't know was that Nico had just been getting used to the controls and learning about the map. In the next two games, Nico did much better, still not winning any. In the last two games, Nico crushed Jason, having familiarized himself with the controls and the map. Nico was also very skilled in strategy, being fresh out of a war.

"How...?" Nico's head snapped towards the direction of the voice. He saw that everyone except Alfred had congregated in the game room to watch. He had been too focused on the game to pay attention to what had been going on around him. Was it normal for the whole family to watch Jason play video games or had they done something to attract their attention? Tim had been the one that spoke. He was frowning at the screen as if trying to make sure that what he was seeing was real.

"You did not just get beaten by a newbie!' Tim grinned at his older brother smugly. Jason growled at him before turning off his controller. He took the controller out of Nico's hands and went to put them away. Nico just hoped that he hadn't made Jason too mad. He had just been trying to play a friendly game, after all.

"Are you losing your touch, Jay?" Dick raised an eyebrow at his younger brother.

"Shut up both of you! I lost on purpose!" They all knew he was lying. Nico couldn't tell if he was actually angry or not, since his back was to him. Dick and Tim didn't seem bothered by Jason's behavior and Damian had already left. Bruce was watching Nico carefully and the demigod was very uncomfortable under the older man's gaze. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and hurriedly left the room without a word. He didn't know what to say. He walked out into the backyard and made his way to the part furthest from the manor. He kicked a stone that he stumbled on, taking out all of his anger on that poor stone. Nico sat himself down beneath a weeping willow and put his head in his hands.

Then his father decided to grace Nico with his presence in his skull. As if he didn't already have a horrible headache.

"You need to be more cautious, Nico. If you make them too suspicious of you, they might go digging into your past and find that things don't add up. You cannot risk exposure. You need to use your head." The god put in his two cents worth.

"Yes, father." Nico felt his father's presence leave. He shrunk back against the tree in defeat. Why couldn't he do anything right? Hades still seemed to think that he was twelve. He had grown and matured a lot since then, but Hades didn’t give him credit for that.

Nico heard footsteps approaching. They sounded almost like a high-heeled shoe but the pitch wasn't right, it was much too deep. It must be a man's dress shoe. That means it was either Bruce or Alfred. Nico didn't want to talk to either of them so he pulled himself up into the willow and hid among the branches.

" Nico? Nico, are you alright? Where are you?" It was definitely Bruce. Nico was confused that Bruce sounded genuinely concerned. Bruce walked into the grove, looking virtually everywhere except up. This confused Nico because Bruce seemed to be a very smart man, smart enough to look up. That was when Nico decided that Bruce was simply pretending not to know where he was. Knowing this, he climbed down as quietly as possible and leaned against the tree trunk.

"Nico, why did you walk out? You did nothing wrong." Nico nearly snorted, when Bruce said that he'd done nothing wrong if only he knew. He didn’t address the question, instead preferring to avoid the subject.

"Come off it Bruce, you know where I am," Nico called. Bruce's shoulders slumped slightly and he turned around.

"How'd you know?"

"We're in Gotham City and you looked everywhere except up." Bruce chuckled and looked at Nico out of the corner of his eye slyly.

"You're pretty smart you know?" Bruce said suddenly. Nico snorted in derision. "No! It's true! I've seen it and you've only been here two days. Also, if you need something you will have to let me know, I'm not so great at the fathering thing so..." Bruce trailed off awkwardly.

" Yeah, I'm not used to having a father so..." Nico replied, trying to reassure Bruce. Bruce smiled and jerked his head in the direction of the manor. The gesture clearly meant for Nico to follow him back. Nico reluctantly pushed off the tree and walked to stand in front of Bruce.

"Come on, it's time for lunch. Then I believe that Dick and Damian are wanting to show you their hobbies." Nico followed Bruce inside and sat with the other boys wordlessly at the table. Tim and Damian seemed to be in an argument about ninjas and Richard was arguing with Jason that Deathstroke was worse than the Joker. Why the boys had a preference was beyond his grasp.

"What do you think Nico?" Jason said suddenly. Nico looked up from the soup that he had been playing with.

"Err about what?" Nico asked.

"Who's worse? The Joker or Deathstroke?" Dick butted in. Nico looked back and forth between the two. They seemed to be serious about their question. Though Nico had no idea who either of those people were. Yes, he knew that they were Gotham villains, but that was about it. He just shrugged and hoped that they would drop the subject. No such luck.

"You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?" Damian asked incredulously.

" Well err, I'm not from Gotham originally. I don't have much of an idea about the criminals around here." Nico avoided eye contact and scratched the back of his neck. He stopped as soon as he realized that he was doing it. It was a habit that he had picked up from Percy.

" Oh, I see," Dick said. His voice seemed strained but it was hard to tell.

"Well Nico, I called your camp and they are shipping your items here. They should be here sometime in the next two days." Nico's eyes widened. He had forgotten that Chiron had a phone.

"Thanks."

" No problem. I also thought that I should let you know that there is a gala tomorrow night. You will be expected to attend and you will probably be interviewed." Nico tensed. He did not like the sound of that.

"Dear gods help me," Nico whispered to himself. He took a bite of his soup even though he didn't have much of an appetite at the moment.

"Now, I know that this is out of your comfort zone, just try to smile a little and hang around the boys. Ok?" Bruce advised watching Nico closely. Nico couldn't find any words so he just nodded solemnly.

" Don't freak out. We'll all be there. You can hang with me if you want." Dick offered. Nico glanced at him, judging if he was making fun of him or not. Deciding that he wasn't Nico nodded his thanks.

"Ok, I'm finished. Nico, do you want to see my hobby?" Dick asked standing. Nico nodded and followed Dick out of the room. Nico allowed himself to be led to the gym area on the second floor.

++Dick++

"Ever done any gymnastics?" Dick asked heading into the bathroom to change. Nico shook his head and began to explore the room. When Dick came back out, he found Nico looking at the boxing mats. He seemed deep in thought. As Dick got closer, he could see Nico sneer at the mats, as though he detested the idea of fighting.

"Hey Nico, over here." Dick gestured with his arm towards the hanging rings. Nico's head snapped in his direction and he came back over to where Dick was.

"Do you know what those are?" Dick asked, gesturing up at the rings, hanging from the ceiling.

" A death trap?" Nico asked, staring at them with mild concern in his eyes.

Dick chuckled lightly, not knowing that Nico was being serious, "Haha not quite, they’re gymnastic rings. Watch." With that, Richard skillfully mounted the rings and started doing simple swings and flips to get warmed up. As he went, he started performing more and more complicated stunts. It was all Nico could do not to gape at the boy doing crazy stunts in front of him. He made it look so effortless. When Dick came back down to the Earth, he grabbed a water bottle and chugged some of it.

" That was really cool. Where'd you learn that?" Dick was surprised at the praise, Nico didn't seem like the type to openly give compliments.

" Thanks. I was an acrobat when I was a kid. I performed with my family, The Flying Graysons. I never stopped practicing, even after they died." Dick waited for all the normal responses, like 'I'm so sorry!' And 'my condolences'. What Nico said surprised him even more.

"Mary and John Grayson, right? The only people to successfully perform the quadruple flip? They seemed like... err they would be... great people, I bet they would be proud." Nico had to cover for himself, he had almost hinted that he had met them. That would have taken a lot of explaining. Nico had actually met them in Elysium, while he was searching for Bianca.

"...Thanks, Nico. I always hate it when people would say 'I'm sorry' you know?" Nico nodded to show that he did know.

"Yeah, it never seems to quite cover it does it?" Nico agreed wistfully. Richard and Nico spent some more time in the gym, bonding. Nico just got along a lot better with Richard for some reason, and Dick got along well with Nico too.

" Well that was nice, I think that Damian was going to show you his katanas, then you, Alfred, and I, will be going shopping."

" Ok, where is Damian's room again?" Nico asked turning to leave the gym. Dick found it somewhat odd that Nico didn't question why Dami had swords or why Dick was going shopping with them. He decided not to question it and instead reaffirmed where the Demon brother's room was.

++Nico++

Nico followed Dick's directions to get to Damian's room. When he got to the room he knocked on the door and got a gruff 'enter' in return. He hesitantly complied.

"Oh Nico, it's you," Damian observed, looking up from polishing one of his swords. Nico didn't respond, since the answer was obvious. Damian set his katana, now finished polishing it, back on the rack.

" I wish to show you my sword collection and maybe show you how to handle a katana; no doubt in which style you are unfamiliar with." Nico took several paces into the room, studying it. Upon his examination, he found several odd cuts and scratches on the wall, ceiling, floors, and doors.

"Come this way." Damian led Nico over to his rack of swords that was fixed to the back wall of his walk-in closet. If it hadn't been for the weaponry, Damian could have easily used a much smaller space for clothing.

" Quite the collection you have. Tell me, what is the purpose of the shape and width of the blade?" Nico was genuinely curious about the possible advantages that a blade like this might have. He and Damian got into a long and intelligent discussion about swords and the advantages and disadvantages of using certain blades. Damian was even able to teach Nico the proper stance for using a katana. He had to admit that Nico was a pretty fast learner and a rather intelligent swordsman. Neither of those qualities was evident under normal circumstances or in regular conversation. Damian feared that he may have seriously underrated and underestimated Nico di Angelo.

Chapter Text

After Damian showed him his collection, Dick came upstairs to tell him it was time to go shopping. This was something that Nico was thoroughly dreading. He had never imagined in even his wildest demigod dreams that he would ever go tux shopping. Though since the gala was tonight, and it seemed that he was going to have to attend many other public functions, Nico reluctantly let Dick lead him to the car where Alfred waited. Alfred opened the back door of the car and Richard motioned for Nico to get in. Nico cautiously got in, thanking Alfred as he went. Alfred closed the door behind Dick and got in himself.

Nico looked around at the interior of the car, noting that everything was very high in quality. He guessed that he shouldn't be surprised, it was Bruce's car. He absently wondered whether or not Bruce picked the interior for vanity's sake or for his image. Bruce didn't strike him as a vain man, or a man that had a big ego. Why would he have Custom crystal cups in his limo? Nico stared out the window, caught up in his own thoughts about camp and how their transportation was never as nice as this car.

"Nico?" Dick tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"What?" Nico asked, sitting up straight and looking at Dick curiously.

"I was just saying that we'll be there soon. We'll probably need to get you an entirely new wardrobe. Oh, and some dress clothes." Richard said. He seemed to be waiting for Nico's reaction.

Nico sneered at the thought of dress clothes. His annoyance only got worse when Dick added, "Oh! And some clothes that aren't black. Maybe blue?"

"I don't wear blue," Nico said stubbornly, glaring at Dick. Dick seemed surprised by his reaction, or maybe his glare, it was hard to tell. Nico really didn't like blue, simply because it was Percy's favorite color and the boy was obsessed with it. Percy and the Stolls had dyed all of Nico's grey clothes turquoise back at camp a couple of weeks prior and Nico was still mad. He wasn't even sure how they managed it because grey doesn't really change colors usually. Maybe they had gotten the Iris cabin in on it. Those kids were obsessed with tye-dye and color theory.

"Err ok. Maybe red then?" Dick seemed to be grasping for any color that he could get him into. Nico thought about this for a while before slowly nodding in acceptance. If he had to wear some color, red would probably be the one he hated the least. Dick smiled as though he had just won a major award. Nico's mind wandered down the scales of the shades of red.

Nico felt the car slow and he figured that they must be here. His thoughts were confirmed by Dick mere seconds later. When Alfred had parked the car and let the boys out, Nico reluctantly followed his brother into the mall. He had never been to one before and really had no idea what to expect. When he entered the building, his first impression was how many people were there. It was a Monday, didn't most of these people have jobs? He also didn't like how bright the place was, there weren't many shadows to use and it made him feel exposed.

"Com'on Nico, we'll get this over with as quickly as possible," Richard said, almost reading his mind. Nico nodded and followed Richard into a store that he forgot to catch the name of. In this store, He got a couple of pairs of jeans (2 blue and 3 black), 5 shirts (2 being black and 3 red), and another black military jacket (because Dick insisted on it).

The next store that they went into had dress attire. Nico got 2 sets of dress clothes before being allowed to leave the store. By this time Nico was getting somewhat irritable. He allowed himself to be dragged to two more stores before he had had enough. Nico excused himself to the restrooms, getting away from most of the people for at least a few minutes. He slipped himself into one of the single stalled rooms and just stood by the sink. Nico let himself (for lack of better words) calm down from the hustle and bustle of the shoppers. Sort of like recharging his batteries. He wasn't used to being around so many living mortals.

He was so out of it that he didn't realize that he was getting an Iris message until Percy yelled at him. Being startled, Nico scrambled back from the sink, hand going to his pocket for his sword. When Nico looked up, he could see the message hovering in front of the sink and that Percy looked mad.

"Nico! Where in Hades are you? I was worried sick! Chiron IMed me and told me that someone had taken you to Gotham! Gotham of all places! What are you doing there? Are you alright? Did they kidnap you!?" Percy yelled. Before Nico could reply, Percy started yelling again. Calling him irresponsible and acting like what Nico assumed a mother would. Nico felt attacked, it wasn't Percy's place to decide where he could go. He never seemed to care before now. Nico's temper flared at what he saw as hypocrisy.

"Percy! Shut up! I'm fine I've been adopted by some big shot and I'm not coming back to camp for a while." Bruce called Chiron to get his stuff transferred. Nico hadn't considered that that would raise any red flags.

"What? Nico, you have to come back to camp, people here are worried about you!"

Nico snorted, "Percy, no one at camp cares about me. They all think I'm a freak. I'm starting over here. They are mortals so don't IM me unless there is an apocalypse. Don't ruin this for me ok? I actually have a family that doesn't hate me." Nico then cut off the feed before Percy could reply. He sighed and exited the bathroom. Then he left with a suspicious batboy who had thought he heard voices in the single stalled bathroom. Dick also knew for a fact that Nico didn't have a phone.

On the way back to the manor, Dick could tell that Nico was feeling depressed, though he had no idea why. Was it the clothes? Dick had tried to make sure that they got items that fit his current style as much as he could. He had even gotten him some cargo pants and some graphic tees while the younger had been in the bathroom as a surprise. Dick decided to tell him about the prank wars in hopes of getting his spirits up.

" So, Nico. The others and I have decided to hold a 'welcome to the family' prank war. You in?" Dick asked leaning forward anxiously in his seat, a mischievous smile plastered on his usually innocent face. Nico looked at the older boy suspiciously. Nico had gotten a lot of training from the Stolls on pranks, but something told him not to underestimate his new brothers. Hesitantly, he agreed. The look on Dick's face was enough to make him regret consenting. Nico felt like he may have signed his own death warrant, and he knew what he was talking about.

"What are the rules?" Nico asked, hoping that there were some ground rules already laid out.

" None of those bathroom pranks, dyeing of clothes, and nothing that could cause injury... I think that's it." Richard said listing them off as the brothers had agreed on them.

" Since it is already late, we will start the war tomorrow," Dick added as an afterthought. Nico grinned evilly, which left a lot of options open still. He was going to have a lot of fun. Dick seemed really creeped out at Nico's smile.

"Oh no, what have we done?" Richard said as Nico just smirked knowingly. Alfred pulled the car into the manor's drive and the boys both headed inside. Once inside they were swarmed by the other three boys. After some chatter, they all agreed to start the prank war the next morning.

Nico excused himself from the group early and headed to his room to put away his new clothes-- the conversation with Percy still fresh in his mind. He couldn't believe that Percy had the audacity to think that he could boss him around. Nico didn't take orders from anyone, much less that upstart son of Poseidon. He sighed, he had started to sound like his father again. Percy's disapproval almost made Nico want to stay even more. Percy didn't even know what he was talking about. No one at camp cared about him. No one, not even his own biological family wanted him. Bianca had left him for a group of immortal man-and-brother-hating-maidens, and his father told him that he was disappointed in him several times.

When he thought about it, he couldn't come to accept that the Wayne's wanted him either. They had such a big family already, why would they want him? They especially wouldn't want him after they learned his secret. They'd drop him back on the street and then he'd be alone again. He could go back to living in the Underworld, but it was really lonely down there and he was always walking on eggshells around Persephone and Demeter when they visited. A few hours passed before he slipped into a fitful sleep. Of course, he dreamed.

This dream was different than most of his others. This time he was running through the streets of Gotham, desperately running from someone. He ran down the street but it felt like he was running through molasses. He turned the corner and came up short at the sight. He saw Dick lying in the street with Batman kneeling over him. Jason and Tim were standing over him as well. Damian was yelling at Batman. Nico couldn't tell what he was saying. He tried to approach but he was dragged into a different scene.

In this part of the dream, Nico was stuck in place, being an unwilling bystander. He was planted on a roof, watching an odd group of boys in front of him. They were all wearing hero get-ups and watching the streets silently. Nico saw that the night was calm and there really wasn't any reason for him to be there. Suddenly, an acute sense of danger washed over him and he knew that these boys were in grave danger. He opened his mouth to warn them but moments later the roof exploded, scattering the boys every which way.

Nico awoke with the need to save these strangers and that his new family was in danger. He sat up in his bed, threw off the covers, and slipped into a pair of black cargo pants (these actually fit) and a long-sleeved (supposed to be skin-tight) shirt. He put on one of his new pairs of shoes. He tightened his belt and grabbed his military jacket and camp necklace before going out into the hall. He had no idea where he was planning on going. He didn't know who those people were in his dreams. He didn't even know if this was a demigod dream or a regular dream. Why did everything have to feel prophetic?

He found himself right outside Dick's door. The dream of Batman standing over him was too vivid to push away. He needed to know that he was alright. Instead of trying to go in and risking waking him, Nico practiced one of the new skills that he had discovered. He thought of it as 'Soul Searching'. He pressed his hands on Dick's door to steady himself and he reached out with his mind to see if he could sense Richard's soul in the room.

Soul searching would be best described as thermal imaging. Nico couldn't tell what objects were in the room, or what the room looked like, but normally Nico would be able to 'see' the person's soul. A soul would appear as a humanoid blob of color. Sort of like colored ghosts or thermal imaging echoes. They had no definition, except maybe a silhouette. At most, he could tell whether they were male or female. Without anything to clue him in, Nico could still tell whose soul he was looking at, even if he had never met the person. The skill had come in handy many times before.

After several minutes of searching, Nico concluded that not only was Dick not in his room, he wasn't even in the manor. Neither was Bruce or the other boys. Alfred, however, was still in his room. Nico was feeling panicky now, where were they? Were they ok? Why weren't they in the Manor? Nico traveled through the pitch-black manor (he always could see in the dark) until he got to a room on the second floor that he could escape from through the window. The boys had shown it to him when he first arrived as a spare guest bedroom.

Nico could always shadow travel of course, but he didn't know how much more he would be needing his powers that night and didn't want to take the risk. He jumped down from the balcony, tucking and rolling to safely disperse his momentum. Looks like all that time spent at camp had been worth it after all. He cloaked himself in shadows and ran several blocks towards the main city.

Nico had no idea where to start looking, Gotham was a large and crime-ridden city. Taking a risk, Nico used his powers to search for Dick anywhere in the city. Nico instantly felt a stab of pain in his brain, he had never attempted a search this big before. It took a lot of concentration to keep up the search despite the pain.

Luckily, Nico was quickly able to pinpoint Dick's soul. Dick's soul was a glowing blue color. Around him, there was a green blotch, Damian. Next to Damian, there was a charcoal grey soul, Bruce. Then one crimson red one, Jason. The last was a bright cherry red, Tim. Nico let the search drop and raced towards their general direction, being sure to keep his footfalls as silent as he could. It was a cool night, seeing as it still was the fall season in Gotham. Nico shivered, despite the clothes that he had picked out specifically for their insulating properties.

Nico felt on edge as he slunk around Gotham's creepy streets. Several times he had to completely cloak himself in shadows to avoid the detection of your average petty crook. Every so often, he would stop and re-adjust his course to follow them to their new location. They were moving around quite a bit. After quite a while of searching, Nico came upon the area that he sensed them at. If his powers weren't failing, they should be just around this corner. Nico silently edged himself up to the corner, glancing around it cautiously. He didn't want Bruce to catch him and get mad at him on his second day at the manor.

To his surprise, no one was on the street. Nico conducted his search again but came up with the same results. The five of them were on that street. Nico, being the ground - dweller that he is never thought to look up. If he had, he may have found out the secret that the batfam kept so closely guarded.

Feeling confused and somewhat angry, Nico made a small shadow jump to the cemetery where he had first landed. Nico didn't feel like going home quite yet, and he wanted to see if he could still sense souls. His powers had yet to fail him before tonight. He stepped numbly out of the shadows of the mausoleum, relaxing as he walked through his own element. As he walked, a thought struck him, the other boys were orphans, were their parents here? Would it be wrong of him to check?

Nico walked through the cemetery, as though he were as comfortable as an actor was on a stage. He searched through the stones until he found the right ones. There he stood in front of the tombs of Mary and John Grayson. He loved speaking to the couple. They always told him great stories about their circus days and asked about their little boy. Nico would always have to tell them that he hadn't met him yet but he hoped that one day they would. It seemed to Nico that the fates were kinder to the Graysons after they had died, as they brought him right to their son.

Nico stood and was about to walk out of the graveyard but two voices called out to him. He turned, compelled to listen to what they had to say. The voices were pleading, asking for attention. They sounded desperate. Nico could sense that the voices were not a danger and followed them. As he did, he approached a large tombstone that read the names of Bruce's parents (for story purposes they were buried in the cemetery). He knelt by the base of the tomb and could hear their spirits calling out to him, asking him to watch over their boy. Nico, being the hero he was, promised that he'd try.

Nico stood and checked his watch, seeing that it was well past time to get back to the manor. Deeming it safe, he shadow traveled back to his room, collapsing on his bed as soon as he had slipped out of his heavy clothing. Almost instantly he was asleep. he had overused his powers tonight and it was definitely taking a toll on him.

Luckily for him, he was asleep only minutes before Bruce came in the check on him before laying down the mantle for the night.

Chapter Text

The next morning started early for Nico, he was awoken by the sounds of his tumblers aligning and the creak of the door hinge. At first, Nico thought that it was an intruder, but when he soul searched and was notified that it was Jason in his room. The use of his powers made his headache worse. He had really used them too much the night before and his body was going to punish him for it.

Nico closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep as he remembered that the prank wars started today. Nico had to fight to keep the smirk off his face as Jason struggled to get to the bed without making noise. The floorboards were old and they creaked very easily-- which was both a blessing and a curse. At the moment, Nico had no complaints.

Suddenly, there was a weird feeling and his hand and Nico could distinctly smell shaving cream. It didn't take a genius to realize that Jason had put shaving cream on his hand, hoping that he would smear it across his own face. When Jason dragged the feather across his upper lip, Nico made sure to shift and grunt, trying to make it authentic. Jason tried it again, receiving the same results. The last time, Todd got careless and leaned close enough to Nico's face that he could feel Jason's warm breath in his face.

This time, Nico brought his hand up and smeared the cream right down the middle of Jason's face, being sure to get it all off on the older boy. As Jason realized what had happened, Nico was already locking himself in his bathroom, getting ready to shower, having left his change clothes in the bathroom the night before. As Jason was muttering curses, Nico was humming happily as he stepped into the shower. When he left the bathroom, he was surprised to see that Jason had left. Though, Nico suspected that he hadn't left without leaving him a surprise. Nico suspiciously looked above the door to see if Todd had left anything there, surprisingly, he hadn't. These were no amateurs.

Nico walked carefully through his room, looking everywhere for potential traps. He was surprised and suspicious when his inspection came up negative. He slowly headed for the door, intending in going downstairs to breakfast which was probably going to start soon. As Nico reached out to touch his doorknob, he hesitated. He stared at the doorknob for a minute, trying to decide if such a mundane item could be rigged. After a minute, Nico felt silly. It was just a doorknob, the Stolls had never done anything with doorknobs except put superglue on them. Nico couldn't smell or see any super glue on the handle. Nico stood there for another minute, debating using the door or going out his window.

He decided that he was acting like a fool and reached out to grab the handle. He had almost grabbed it when he felt the hairs on his arm stand up as he got closer to the handle. Static electricity. Jason had electrified his doorknob. Ok, at least now Nico didn't feel like a fool for being overly cautious. To make sure he was right and it wasn't just static, Nico touched the back of his hand to the knob. The idea was that, if the door was electrified, his muscles would contract and his arm would bend away from the door and break the circuit. Just as he suspected, his hand jerked away as soon as it touched the handle, he rubbed his stinging hand.

Nico looked around his room for things that he could use to wrap his hands with. He figured that it wasn't very high voltage, but touching the knob to try to open the door meant accepting a defeat. Nico wouldn't let that happen. Nico crept over to the trunk at the end of his bed, searching for his non-conductive combat gloves They were made with cotton, nylon, and polyester which weren't very good conductors. Once he had found them, he went back to the door. The gloves didn't have fingers so he put his hands on either side of the knob-- being sure to keep his fingers straight-- and twisted. When it opened, Jason jumped at him and yelled 'HA!'. The rest of the batboys were there as well, watching on in amusement.

Nico laughed as he saw Jason's smirk drop when he saw the gloves on his hands, "No way! How did you not fall for that!?" Nico glanced at the other boys who also seemed very surprised as well. Oh great, he blew it again.

" I uh, had a friend a while back that loved messing with electricity and there are two boys at the camp I go to that love pranks. I have a lot of experience with being pranked." Nico said, embarrassed that all the attention was once again on him.

" Well boys, we can up our game! Nico seems more than ready to handle it." Dick said wrapping one arm around Jason and the other around Damian. None of the boys missed how Nico grinned evilly. The boys called a temporary truce to eat.

"Ok guys, we have to add some rules: all pranks are to stay upstairs until after the gala, and no pranking during the gala either," Dick said after breakfast. Dick held up his hands to stop the protests from both Jason and Tim, "by request of Alfred."

" Fine." The two boys said dejectedly. No one dared defy the will of Alfred in this house. Not only would you get it from Bruce (or so I am told), you would also get a lecture from Alfred about courtesy and manners. Once was enough, according to Jason.

"Ok, I'm going to the orchard," Nico said. Without waiting for a reply, he pivoted on his heel and made his way out to the back of the house. Nico had to do some planning. He had been shown around the grounds during his tour and decided that the orchard would be the most private place at the manor. It was also really nice to be a part of nature for a while and pretend that he was free of the supernatural world for a while.

Nico remembered something that Beckendorf had been designing before he died. It was a mosquito-killing centaur. He wasn't good with machinery but had always been great at assembling things with instructions. He figured that, if he could recreate the automaton, it would be great to set it loose on his brothers. He just needed to call in a favor.

Nico used a hose by the greenhouse to make a rainbow that he used to contact Nyssa. She said something about a curse and said that it would take her a couple of hours to replace the celestial bronze with copper or plastic, and the arrows with Nerf darts. Nico thanked her and told her that he would be by that night to get it. Until then, he was going to have to keep the others occupied. Nico was about to head inside to go and start phase one, but he was stopped by the first monster he's come in contact with since he'd been there. This monster, though, wasn't quite as frightening as it probably should have been.

"Demigod!" Nico turned, grabbing his skull ring that Chiron had sent. When he looked, he was confronted by a dracaena (sp?).

" Sssssurrender now Demigod! Kronossss will return and overthrow the godssssss!" Nico stared at her in confusion, his fear turning to wariness. This poor thing was obviously very lost. It had been well over a month since the last titan battle. How she had gotten so far off course was a mystery.

" Um, sorry to ruin your party, but we already sent him back to Tartarus. Go root for some other evil being." The snake woman eyed him suspiciously.

" Are you ssssssure?" It asked, her snake-like trunks twining around anxiously. Nico nodded seriously, almost having a civil conversation with her. He didn't know why she should believe anything he told her, but she didn't seem to think twice about it.

" Oh, ok. I ssssssupport... " the woman trailed off in thought.

"Hades?" Nico suggested helpfully, "he is the most feared god!"

" Yessss! I ssssupport Hadesssss!" She hissed.

" Good! Me too!" Nico said, trying not to laugh.

" You do?"

"Oh, of course! He is the greatest!" Nico desperately hoped that the other gods would either realize that he was biased or that he was doing it as an act of self-preservation. Gods tended to get jealous very easily.

" Very well, fine demigod. I ssssshall go and create the posssstersssss now!" She said, raising her spear as though it was a protest sign.

" Posters?" He asked-- now thoroughly confused.

" Yesss! All enemiesss will cower in front of my terrifying possssstersssss!" The dracaena left the yard, talking to herself about how she was going to find posters at the bargain mart. Nico stood still for several long seconds, trying to understand what had just transpired. He shook his head finally, deciding that he would rather not know. He was worried that, if he began to understand monsters, he might develop a taste for demigods.

"Nico!" Nico looked back towards Bruce and Dick, who was running his way, looking concerned.

" Yeah? What is it?" Nico asked once they got within earshot.

"Who was that?" Dick asked, gesturing in the direction that the snake woman had just left. He didn't seem scared so Nico guessed that he didn't see her actual form. That was a blessing at least.

"Oh her? She was just a confused old lady who asked if I knew where a bargain mart was." With that, Nico left two very confused bats in his wake. Nico made it safely through the house and to his room without falling prey to any traps. That's not saying that the other boys weren't trying. He had work to do.

Nico grabbed his elongated spring that he took from an old car and a whipped cream pie and set to work. When he had finished, the spring was attached to the floor. On top of it was the pie. The spring was bent so that when released it would shoot the pie at the door. There was a string attached to the doorknob, which ran through a hook in the wall. The string then ran across the room to his bedpost, where he has embedded a dagger. When the door opened, the dagger would cut the string and send the pie flying. He had just finished setting it up when a knock came from the door.

" Yes?" Nico called out curiously. Then Bruce's voice came from outside his door, requesting entry. Nico frowned at the door, if it really was Bruce, he was going to have to disassemble his trap. Nico used his soul searching ability to look through the door and saw Dick standing out there. It was a prank.

"Hold on, I've got to take down the water balloons. " Nico lied. Dick chuckled in Bruce's voice. Nico replicated the sounds of what he thought would make his lie plausible. After a couple of minutes, he called out, "enter."

The tumblers clicked and the door was thrust open. Dick stood in the doorway, a nerf bow in hand. Before Dick could fire, Nico's contraption did its work. Just as Dick released the arrow, he was caught in the chest with a pie. Nico had slightly underestimated how high the pie needed to

The arrow that Dick had shot caught Nico right between the eyes, making a very loud automated explosion sound. Both boys fell to the floor, looking at the other dumbfounded. Slowly, the pair busted up into laughter. Nico had never laughed so hard in his life, he almost enjoyed the feeling. Though he would deny it if anyone ever asked.

Dick sat up and smiled at Nico, "This is so not asterous." Nico looked at the boy in confusion before deciding not to ask. Hearing the commotion, the other boys rushed onto the scene. It took them a couple of moments to take in what had happened but they were all surprised at how clever the pie contraption was. They never would have guessed that Nico was capable of coming up with something like that. What surprised them the most was that Nico was laughing.

His laugh was angelic, nothing like Dick's creepy yet endearing cackle, or Joker's sadistic evil laugh. The batboys all enjoyed his laugh and made it a goal to hear that laugh more often. Nico's laugh put everyone in a good mood (even the demon spawn).

" So, how did you get a pie stuck to your chest, Grayson?" Damian asked, trying to conceal his smirk. All the batboys knew very well how it had happened, they just thought it would be interesting to hear Nico's side of the story.

"Well..." Dick recounted his end of the story step by step. He made it sound a lot more dramatic than it actually was, but he put undue emphasis on the exaggerated parts so that no one mistook them for a fact.

"...Nico said that he was going to take down the water balloons. Once he said to come in..." Dick trailed off. Nico glanced up. The other boys were looking at Dick in confusion as well.

" How did you know it was me?" Dick asked.

" Hmm?" Nico asked, pretending to not understand while he desperately tried to figure out a plausible cover. He looked at Dick's shoes. The soles were bright blue. He could say that he saw them under the door. He had always been quick on his feet.

" You know, how did you know that it wasn't Bruce?"

"I could see the soles of your shoes from beneath the door." Nico lied smoothly. Dick nodded, accepting the answer. Dick went on to recount the rest of the story. The boys worked together to clean up the stray pieces of pie and to disassemble Nico's trap while Dick went off to shower. After they had done that, they made a temporary truce to have a meeting in the library.

" Ok," Tim said eagerly, holding several different colors of markers. Along one of the walls was a whiteboard, where Tim had written each boy's name, "This is the scoreboard, so far Nico is up by two, with Dick in second with one prank." Nico looked at his opponents, they all were looking at the board with determination. He figured that he would become the main target, he would have to watch his back.

"Alfred has requested that we hold off on any more pranks until after the gala, so we don't ruin anything. So I propose a truce until tomorrow and 6 A.M, to be enacted now."

"Why six?" Jason complained, "Why not just until the party is over?"

"So no one gets a head start Todd! Duh!" Tim growled, using Damian's name for his brother.

"Shut up Drake," Jason growled. Timothy glared at Jason angrily. Those two always seemed to just be angry at each other. Jason was always just angry in general. It wouldn't take much for things to escalate. There was some bad blood between the two of them for some reason and it seemed pretty serious.

"Stop asking stupid questions!" Tim snapped. Then Jason lunged, hands outstretched. The two boys rolled across the floor, ending with Jason on top. Not thinking, Jason put both of his knees on Tim's chest. Nico instinctually knew that he had to break them up. He knew that Jason's body weight would crush Tim's ribcage. In all likelihood, he would puncture his lung and could have serious internal bleeding, if the rib cage didn't completely crush his organs. Instantaneous death. Without hesitation, Nico lunged forward and shoved Jason off of Tim. Everyone except Nico froze as Tim laid still on the floor groaning and clutching his chest. Nico immediately knelt and forced the younger boy's hands away from his chest. Nico set his hands on Drake's sternum, feeling for any breaks.

Nico didn't pay any mind to the strange looks that he was getting from all the bat kids. Once he had determined that the worst that had happened was a bruised rib, Nico stood and glared at Jason, surprising them all.

"Are you stupid?" Nico's voice was cold.

"Wha--?" Jason's mouth opened to form a question but Nico cut him off.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing? You are almost twice his size. Do you have any idea what kind of damage a person your size could do?" Nico was snarling now, he turned away from the now scared Jason and offered Tim and hand up. Tim accepted it warily, being gently yet firmly, pulled to his feet.

" You're lucky that you only got a bruised rib," Nico sent another cold glare towards Jason, "It could have been much worse." With that, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and exited the room. The rest of the boys were left speechless-- Nico's words were like a slap to the face. The middle child hadn't said so, but they had all gotten the message. Jason could have killed Tim.

++Batfam++

"Are you ok?" Jason cleared his throat. It was hard to tell if his voice was thick from emotion or disuse, but either way, they could tell he was taking Nico's warning seriously. they all were.

" Yeah... I'm good." Tim assured him. Tim was a little shaken by the event himself. He could have died? The group left to talk the even over with Bruce to see what he made of it all.

" I really could have..." Jason trailed off wide-eyed. He knew what it was like to die and he wouldn't wish that fate on Tim, even if he was bitter about being replaced. They had recounted the scene to Bruce and he had agreed with Nico's assessment of the situation.

" What Nico said was right. You boys need to be more careful sometimes. Though as to how he knew all that, I'm not sure."

" Father, do you think he could have had training of some kind?" Damian asked.

" I don't know but I intend to find out. I was researching him on the bat computer, he was in a military school with his sister a few years ago. They ran away and his sister was later sighted at a museum with some other teens. They trashed the air and space exhibit. Later, the same teens were spotted in New Mexico but his sister was nowhere to be seen. I have reason to believe that she died sometime on that journey. "

" But father, where was Nico in all of that?" Damian asked again.

" I have no idea. From the day he ran away from the academy he was missing and presumed dead. Somehow, he just dropped off the grid until he was spotted in New York's central park with two other teens a little while ago. Both of them had been seen with his sister before she disappeared. One has been the subject of multiple manhunts." Bruce replied. The boys took a couple of minutes to take that all in.

" Wow, that's a little suspicious," Dick said. He knew it was more than a little suspicious, but he wanted to give Nico the benefit of the doubt. There was a brief minute of silence while Bruce scrolled through some data on his computer and no one else knew what to say.

" Where are the two other teens now?" Jason asked. He still seemed shaken but was coming around quickly.

" One has been spotted in just about every forest preserve in the country, while the other one is still in New York. Manhattan I believe."

"Why don't we ask him about it. Say something like you did some research and saw that he had a sister?" Tim asked. Bruce shook his head and opened his mouth to give a reason but was cut off by Dick.

" No," Dick said, "if he wants us to know, he'll tell us. Pressing him will only make him clam up." Bruce nodded in confirmation.

" Go on boys, go and bond with him. The faster he trusts you, the faster we get answers. Don't be mad Jason. He was probably more worried about Tim than he was angry at you." Bruce shooed them all along.

++Jason++

The boys found Nico sitting outside, beneath a weeping willow. Nico stood as he saw them approaching. For a moment Jason thought that he was going to make a run for it but Nico stayed put.

" Hey, Nico," Dick called out as he led the rest of them towards the boy. Nico just nodded in reply, he seemed to be gauging everyone's body language to see where they all stood. Jason couldn't blame him, he was doing the same thing to him.

" Hey, guys. I'm uh sorry. I overreacted. I was just concerned." Nico muttered as he glanced at everyone, in turn, his eyes settling at last on Jason. Jason understood that Nico was asking for forgiveness. Jason nodded, relieved that Nico wasn't mad at him anymore.

" It's ok, we get it. You were right, though. Why don't we kill the next 2 hours with a movie before the gala?" Dick said calmingly. He glanced at everyone in turn. Everyone consented.

" What is your favorite movie, Nico?" Tim asked as he walked back into the manor. Nico stiffened, he had never seen a movie.

"I don't have one." He replied, his voice somewhat strained. Jason glanced at him curiously. How did he not have one? It stands to reason that he might not have one, obviously, he hadn't had the best upbringing and with his time off the grid and such. Nico was an Interesting case that he hoped he could someday find the answer to.

Chapter Text

[Edited October 14, 2023]

The boys went inside and settled down on the couch. The others were arguing about what movies to watch while Nico watched on with carefully disguised amusement. He didn't recognize most of the names of the different movies they mentioned, and wouldn't dare try to hazard a guess as to what they were about, even with the vague plot points the boys seemed to be factoring into their decisions. The others had learned quickly not to ask his opinion on things that have to do with modern pop culture as it usually led to long explanations and uncomfortable questions. It seemed that they had all decided to bypass him in their decision-making process altogether, which was fine by Nico.

Eventually, they all decided that it had been a while since they had watched Disney's Hercules. If they had known just who they had in their presence, they probably wouldn't have dared breathe the name of the animation, much less suggest that they all spend the limited free time they all had to watch it. Had Nico known what he was in for, he may have refused to see it entirely. He had no idea what he was in for when they loaded the disc and pressed play.

While the previews were playing, Jason and Dick grabbed popcorn and other snacks. Everyone else took a spot on the couch, having little arguments about who got there first. Nico found a spot on the edge of the group in an armchair by himself so that none of the others would feel obligated to sit with him. It also kept him far out of reach of any accidental touches that he'd much rather avoid. Dick laid out all the snacks while the rest of the boys relaxed and watched.

They seemed so comfortable together and it made Nico wish that he could have had that sort of a relationship with Bianca before she had died. When they were young, Bianca had always taken care of him, acting more like a mother than a sister. They had never gotten the chance to just be siblings and it was times like these that he wondered what he had missed out on. He felt guilty thinking about it, but sometimes he felt like he had spent most of his life as an only child. There was no one else out there in the world who understood so entirely what it was like to be him, and it was lonely.

As the movie kept going, Nico got increasingly agitated. He had begun to realize that there was nothing accurate about the film except that the hero was a guy named Hercules. At one point in the movie (the part where Hades first appears). Nico got really angry. It was all Nico could do to sit still and not scream at the TV. He wasn't doing so great at the sitting still portion. He didn't have the patience for long films or anything that required him to pay attention to the same thing for a long period of time. He decided that he wasn't that big of a fan of movies.

The boys either must've seen his reaction or they too got bored of the movie because Dick turned it off before it was finished and they all decided to go play hide and seek instead to 'get out their excess energy' and the sugar from the snacks. It seemed kind of juvenile to Nico, but the other boys seemed excited so Nico went along with it. He felt a little self-conscious as the roles were assigned. Aren't we a little old for this?

Richard was 'it' first and was going to give them all two minutes to hide. For some reason, the boys felt the need to ban the vents and the chandelier as hiding places. The son of Hades couldn't tell if they were joking or not. The vents seemed far too small to fit an entire person and the chandelier definitely should have been out of reach. Then again, he had learned that Dick had been an acrobat so maybe he could reach the chandelier somehow? In any case, he had never considered them as potential havens so he would have no problem following the rules.

Even before the countdown started, Nico knew exactly where he would hide. As Dick counted, Nico snuck off to a hidden area he had found when looking for places to set up his pranks. The Wayne Manor had a safe room. There was a panel in his room behind his dresser that led to a small space that was just big enough to fit one full-grown adult. It was plenty spacious enough to fit a teen like Nico. Dick would never find him there. Well... not unless he already knew the secret room existed.

Nico himself had found it by accident when he had been putting his new clothes away in his drawers. He had pulled one of the drawers all the way out because it was misaligned on the rollers and had found a small space behind it. Needless to say, he was excited by the find. It would be a great place to store godly supplies, his personal belongings (he had learned to hide everything during the time he spent in the Hermes cabin), and anything of value.

Nico hurried into his room, hoping that his brothers hadn't known about the safe room. This would be pretty embarrassing if they already knew. Who knows, maybe all the rooms had them and he had only thought he'd found a secret space. If that were the case and he was about to be found, he might just shadow travel somewhere else just to spare himself the embarrassment of being found first. It may be cheating, but it wasn't like hide and seek was a matter of life or death. He resolved to wait until the last possible second to use that trick and to only go so far as to move to another room in the hall.

He removed the bottom and back pieces of the 3 drawers that were in the way of the panel. This way, he could get in and out whenever he wanted. He did this as quickly and quietly as he could, setting the drawer parts beneath his covers on his bed. He had just slipped the panel closed as he heard Dick's feet racing through the hallway. Nico heard the door to his room open, he had to suppress his breathing. Dick searched through his closet and every other logical place in his room before humming in confusion and leaving. Nico just smirked to himself and slipped the panel back open slightly to make sure that there was room for airflow. The room wasn't all that spacious and he had no desire to die from CO2 poisoning.

He used his soul-searching abilities to watch Dick get close to the other boys and eventually find them. It was a lot less taxing within the confines of the manor than it was on the streets of Gotham so the headache wasn't nearly as bad. It felt more like a dull pressure than an aching pain. Maybe if he used the skill in small settings like this, he could build up his tolerance to the pain and strengthen his powers so that it wouldn't take as much energy in the future. At least, that is how he justified wasting his energy on some kids' game.

Soon, everybody had been found except Nico. Deciding that he didn't want to surrender his secret room so soon after he'd found it, the son of Hades crawled out of his hiding place. He then carefully closed the panel and slipped the drawer pieces back into place. He crept out onto his balcony, leaning back against the railing, watching his door. He knew that they would eventually make their way back up here.

When he used his powers, he saw the brothers turning the place upside down looking for him. He smiled to himself and waited for them to come to find him. After an hour, they finally came back into Nico's room and found him sitting on the balcony railing watching the streets. There was hardly any traffic around this neighborhood, but Nico didn't mind.

"What!? I already checked here! Where were you?" Dick exclaimed incredulously. Nico smirked, turning to the door. He replied,

" That is for me to know, and you to wonder at eternally." Nico quoted. (I read that in Siblings in Everything but Blood). Nico laughed at their array of expressions, shocked to see that Dick seemed to be the one most put out by Nico's win. He never would have expected Richard to be the sore loser of the bunch.

They'd found him just in time, though. They maybe had another hour before it would be time to start getting ready for the gala. Not long later, Nico was all dressed up in a nice white button-up, fancy jacket, and slacks. He even had cufflinks, which Tim had had to teach him how to use properly. It had been a surprisingly comfortable interaction, which helped to soothe his frayed nerves at least a little bit. It only helped for a short while. By the time they were all supposed to be ready, he was, once again, very, VERY, uncomfortable.

After the first half hour in his outfit, the son of Hades had decided to send the guy who had created suits to the Fields Of Punishment. Maybe he could make one for Charon.

Luckily, everyone else seemed just as uncomfortable as he was so no one poked fun at him. It was oddly vindicating to know that the others hated these things, too. If people who had been attending these things their whole lives were still anxious about it, Nico would cut himself some slack.

He sat in his room on his bed, examining the centaur automaton he had gone and gotten just after the game of hide and seek had ended. The automaton was exactly how Beckendorf had described it, but it had a plastic exterior instead of metal. Nico decided to keep the blueprints and to use them in his cover on how he came to have them. He would say that a friend of his at camp designed it and gave it to him as a going-away present when he was 'adopted'. It could have just come with the stuff that Chiron had sent over from camp, after all.

He looked appreciatively at the special Nerf arrows that the centaur shot, the tips were designed so that they exploded on impact, spreading glitter over anything or anyone they hit. In his opinion, it was pure genius. He wished he'd been born with the ability to make cool contraptions like the children of Hephaestus could. He'd be a menace to society. Nico stashed the robot in his secret room before heading downstairs to wait with the others. He came up behind the bunch and wasn't all too perturbed when no one indicated that they'd noticed him approach.

" So, boys Diana Prince will be here tonight, she is coming early to help set up the party."

"Who's Diana?" Nico asked, startling Tim. He was highly amused at this, he hadn't even been trying to be stealthy

" We need to put some bells on you!" Dick exclaimed. Nico glanced in his direction, unamused.

" Diana who?" Nico repeated.

" Diana Prince," Tim replied. When Nico gave no reaction he continued with a frown, "Wonder Woman? You don't know about her? Have you been living under a rock?" Tim asked incredulously.

"Sorry, I didn't really have access to the news where I was. I didn't get out much, either." The others exchanged looks with one another, which Nico struggled to interpret.

"Well, she is a part of the Justice League. You know... Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Wonder Woman... them?" Nico gave them a look that said he didn't know about them. Immediately, he knew that his honesty on the matter was a mistake. Dick raised his eyebrows and Damian's permanent scowl deepened.

"Just how off-the-grid did you have to be to not hear about the Justice League?" Damian asked, seemingly to himself, "Even I knew about them when I lived on top of a literal mountain. Statistically speaking, it's almost impossible not to at least have heard of them at this point. Even on accident."

"It just wasn't all that important to me, I guess."

"But you lived in New York, right? Like New York City, New York?" Tim pressed.

"The camp I spent some of my summers in was around Long Island, actually."

"Still, that's like... Super Hero Central. How did you not know about them?"

"The camp I went to didn't allow outside technology, so it wasn't really uncommon for major events to occur while we were at camp and we'd only learn about it when we went home to our families," Nico explained, filling his story with just enough white lies to protect himself. He didn't know what he'd do if they continued to press the issue. There was only so much scrutiny his fabricated life could withstand.

"But what about when you got home, then? Wouldn't your parents have taught you about them? Wouldn't your dad have talked about them with you? Couldn't you have seen it online somewhere?" Dick asked, sounding bewildered.

"Maybe, but that's not really how my father and I operated. We didn't talk about anything important, really. And I didn't really have anything to access the internet on when I was at home," Nico admitted.

"Nico, if you don't mind me asking when was the last time you were on the internet?" Tim asked cautiously.

"I don't really use technology much," Nico shrugged, "My father was pretty... traditional." The demigod had no idea what he meant by traditional, but it sounded like the right thing to say. The others seemed to be satisfied by the answer as they let the matter drop. It probably had more to do with the fact that the doorbell rang than them having sated their curiosity, though.

Bruce appeared from the depths of the house as if he had been summoned and opened the door to reveal the third and lesser-known aspect of his least favorite goddess. She stepped in with a smile on her face until she spotted Nico.

Her smile dropped immediately and a look of shock replaced it, "Nico?"

Everyone who had been looking at Diana now looked at Nico. Nico crossed his arms and glared, "Lady Diana," He said curtly. Diana pursed her lips at his tone, her face grew apologetic.

Logically, Nico knew that this was not the same aspect of the goddess that conned his sister into joining her band of immortal hunters, but that didn't make him any less angry. Diana looked at him with regret and sadness. She knew just as well as anyone that children of Hades were good at holding grudges.

"You two know each other?" Bruce asked. His voice sounded suspicious.

"More than I'd like to," Nico said gruffly. His brothers looked at him with various looks of surprise and indifference.

"Nico! Be polite!" Dick chastised.

"No no, he's fine. We have a ah... complicated history." Diana soothed, avoiding eye contact with Bruce. Nico kept watching Diana as she was led inside and her coat stored somewhere by Alfred. Then they all congregated in the foyer, awkward silence hung thickly in the air.

"Nico, look. I know that you are still upset and with good reason. Though remember what your father said about grudges." Nico just stared for a minute, processing the fact that she had taken a quote from Bianca and accredited it to Hades. It left a sick taste in his mouth.

"Don't bring my father into this." Nico wrinkled his nose. He wasn't even sure how Diana had known about that conversation. Did their oath to Artemis give Diana special permission to their memories once they died? That wouldn't be the weirdest thing he'd heard but that didn't mean that he liked it. It felt like a complete invasion of his privacy. Of Bianca's memory.

"You're right. I didn't mean to overstep," Diana backtracked.

"That's enough," Bruce interrupted. His voice took on a cool tone that left no room for discussion, "I don't know what's going on here, but people will start showing up soon. Let's try to have a pleasant evening. you can hash out whatever this is later."

"I don't want to talk about it later."

Diana sighed, "Look, what happened was not my fault, can we restart? I'm not saying that you can't be angry and that you have to pretend to like me, but... I don't want there to be hostility between us either. Can we... if it's okay with you, act like this is the first time we met?" Nico considered it for a tense moment, staring Diana down and trying to determine if she could be trusted. What she had said was true. The aspect of Artemis known as Diana Prince was not to blame for Bianca's death. For that fact alone, he'd give her one chance. Just one.

He slowly reached his hand out to Diana, who smiled at him gratefully. She took his hand and shook it twice, she had a firm grip. The son of Hades ducked his head as he felt Bruce's gaze boring into him as if Nico was a puzzle to be solved. Curiosity was practically flooding the room around them. Luckily he didn't have time to stew for long.

Minutes later, the flow of guests started to arrive and they were all dragged to the door to greet them. It was all Nico could do not to run at how many people there were in one place. Diana stayed by him the entire time, knowing him better than any of the Waynes did. She knew how uncomfortable he was, and she had a lot of experience with demigods. Several thousand years worth, in fact.

Her connection to Artemis and the demigod world was complicated. Diana wasn't really another Aspect of Artemis exactly. It was more like Artemis had given one of her separate slivers of consciousness a new identity with powers and a totally new life. It was still part of the moon goddess, yet it was still mostly independent. This version of the goddess had no such vows of chastity or maidenhood. However, the distrust of the male population remained the same.

Diana kept close to Nico, subtly putting a hand on his shoulder whenever someone addressed him directly. She was also there for the short interview with the press.

Diana gained a portion of Nico's respect when she successfully pulled him out of completing the interview. The reporters were asking highly personal questions that left him feeling sick and humiliated. Every time a reporter asked an inappropriate question Diana would step in and do her best to either redirect the question or help him answer in a way that wouldn't embarrass him too much. He was sure that she was no stranger to the press and he was grateful for her assistance. The last thing he needed was to make a spectacle of himself.

"Thanks." He muttered, flustered. Diana laughed lightly, and Nico decided that he liked this version of Diana. She didn't seem anything like the goddess that convinced his sister to join the hunt. She didn't hate men, talk down to him like he was stupid, or call him 'male' or 'boy' all the time. It was refreshing. She especially didn't look like Artemis wearing the ankle-length black dress, black high heels, and her wrist guards. Diana had turned her lasso into a fashionable belt and she wore a plain silver tiara instead of her traditional one with the red star.

"My pleasure. I at least owe you that." Nico chuckled before heading off to find a secluded corner to hide in. He stayed in his corner for nearly an hour before anyone bothered him. A girl with long blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail approached him cautiously, her posture suggested confidence and her gaze was fierce. She was a fighter, no doubt about it. She was wearing a forest green knee-length dress with matching wedged heels. He didn't recognize her.

"Hey, so you're Mr. Wayne's new kid, right?" She asked, coming into range. Nico nodded politely. He hoped this conversation wouldn't last long, he didn't have much charge left on his social battery.

"And you are?"

"Oh! I'm Artemis. I am a friend of Dick's we both went to Gotham Academy together." She explained, her voice a little gruff, probably from over-use. Nico nodded simply. He found her name funny but he didn't dare mention it. She seemed like the type to get mad about stuff like that.

[Ok, I know that they should have gone through the Reach stuff but in this story, they haven't. The story will mostly focus on Nico's life and not on the Young Justice team. They will make a couple of appearances though. I did this because [Spoilers] Wally must live and I don't want the lasting resentment towards Dick.]

"You're not very talkative are you?" She asked the question teasingly, but not in a mean or condescending way.

"No, not really. Sorry." Nico didn't know why he apologized, he just felt like he should. Artemis smiled lightly then drifted off. There was something interesting about her, but Nico didn't care enough to investigate.

Nico began to tire of the party shortly thereafter. Diana noticed this when she was making her rounds through the crowd of guests. She sought him out and told him that Bruce wouldn't mind if he skipped out early at his first gala. Nico nodded and asked her to tell Bruce for him. Diana gave a kind smile and assured him that she would. Just as Nico was getting to the base of the stairs, something had to interrupt his escape. In this case, it was an evil cackle. Not just any cackle though, one from his least favorite clown. Well, probably Gotham's least favorite clown.

" BRUCIE!" the insane Joker called waving the gun in his hands around. Bruce was at the center of the congregation, looking up at the Joker angrily.

He called out, "What do you want, Joker?"

"Oh, I want to play of course! There was absolutely nothing on at the movies! Can you believe that!?" He cackled again.

" Leave here Joker. Leave before I call in the Justice League." Diana warned, standing protectively in front of Bruce. Nico was suddenly glad for the Amazon's presence. Had Bruce known that something like this would happen? Is that why he enlisted Wonder Woman's help?

"Ooooh! I'm so scared!" Joker cried, looking terrified for almost a full second before bursting out into laughter. Diana took a step closer warningly.

" Ok! Ok! I'll leave... but not before I meet this new member of the family. You got another child and didn't think to tell his Uncle J the news?" Bruce stepped up beside Diana. The hair on the back of Nico's neck started to stand on end. This psycho was there for him.

" You leave him alone, Joker," Bruce growled. Nico felt like he was in a very vulnerable position. He slowly crouched so that he was behind the crowd. Nico made his way over to a very shadowy corner. If he had to, he could shadow travel out, though he really didn't want to in case someone were to see him. Nico was surprised when people actually shifted to try to give him more coverage as he made his way to the corner.

" Oooh! So mean, I only wanted to say hello! Where is he anyway?" Nico had almost decided to Shadow travel before he was spotted when a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped directly in front of him, completely blocking Nico from sight. Nico took the risk of closing his eyes and used his powers to see that the guy was named Oliver Queen. He was one of Bruce's associates, Nico seemed to recall hearing something about him being from Star city. A friend then.

"Keep low, kid," Oliver whispered discreetly. Nico dipped his head slightly though he knew that Oliver couldn't see him. The Joker made a humming noise of disappointment.

"Hiding is he? Very well, I'll catch him some other time." Joker then raced straight out the front door, laughing loudly. Oliver quickly turned around and helped Nico to his feet, though he didn't need it. Nico allowed himself to be led through the crowd to where Bruce and Diana stood, looking for him.

" Nico!" Diana called as soon as she spotted him. Bruce turned and looked in the direction she had indicated. Once he spotted Nico he smiled and looked relieved to see him. Nico was surprised by this for some reason, though he supposed it was a normal response.

"Good, you're alright. I think Joker has successfully crashed this party, what do you think?" Bruce asked, looking at him. Nico smirked and nodded. He was so done with this whole affair.

"Where did you hide?" Diana asked curiously. She was asking if he had used his powers. He subtly shook his head. Diana took a moment to look relieved and then started dusting off his pristine jacket.

"Behind him," Nico replied, jerking his head towards Mr. Queen. The man was about the same height as Bruce and of a similar build. A look of understanding passed between them. They were definitely more than just business associates, then.

"Ah yes, Oliver Queen. Thank you very much for your help." Bruce said, shaking his hand.

"Nothing you wouldn't have done for Roy," Oliver said, smiling wistfully. Bruce nodded in confirmation then turned to announce that the party was over and thanked everyone for coming.

As people filed out, Diana pulled him aside, "Does Bruce know?" Nico didn't have to ask about what she meant. He shook his head.

" No, and he will have to guess it on his own. I'm under an oath of silence from my father." Nico replied. Diana nodded in understanding. It had been something that Hades had insisted on when he'd left to live with the mortals. Bruce and the others could guess his secret, But Nico couldn't tell them outright. Once they knew, however, he'd be free to tell them whatever he wanted.

"You all good?" Dick asked in concern, coming up beside the Amazon. He looked over the younger boy carefully. Nico wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for, but he didn't mind it.

" Yeah. I'm fine," Nico said calmly. He didn't say anything else which surprised Richard.

" Weren't you scared?" Tim asked.

" Not really, I was at the very back of the crowd." This got their attention. All of the boys were afraid of the Joker. They were mostly afraid of him because he had tortured and killed Jason, and had tortured the rest of them at one point or another.

"This wasn't your first life-or-death situation, was it?" Bruce asked, already knowing the answer. Nico's expression became guarded and Diana tensed next to him.

" No." He answered shortly. Bruce nodded. Nico lived on the street for a while, it wasn't really unreasonable to think that he had happened into one before. He'd even seen Nico almost get mugged in that alley.

"How close have you ever come to dying?" Tim asked. Nico chuckled, though no one besides Diana knew why. He was so tempted to say that he was an embodiment of death but he figured that they wouldn't appreciate his humor. Those sorts of jokes got one checked into asylums nowadays. The nearest one really didn't suit him anyway.

" Well, one of my friends almost slit my throat," Nico said, not thinking about how bad that would sound out of context.

" Yes, do not forget the numerous times you played capture the flag," Diana added helpfully. Nico nodded in agreement.

" Ok but technically, that was only a flesh wound. Not bone, no arteries." Nico said pointing at her for emphasis.

" What!" Dick cut in. His voice was laced with horror. Diana chuckled lightly, having now realized that they may have made things worse.

" Why would your friend want to slit your throat?" Tim asked incredulously. Nico winced in the memory,

"Yeah... I may have been asking for that." He muttered.

" What?!"

"Well, he didn't mean to, I came up behind him while he was practicing on one of the dummies at camp. The swords are dull but with enough pressure..." Nico trailed off. They all got the idea. What they didn't know was that Nico was fabricating nearly the entire story.

"Ok, then what is this I hear about capture the flag?" Bruce asked, watching Nico with interest.

Nico glanced at Diana who just shrugged, "Well one of the other kids wasn't very sportsman-like and stabbed me with a pocket knife."

" What? Where?" Dick asked curiously. Nico lifted the hem of his shirt just enough to show them the scar on the very edge of his torso, missing everything even remotely vital. The scar was actually from an Ares kid who decided that Nico had cheated by using shadow travel to get across the creek.

" What happened to the boy?" Bruce asked. Nico hadn't planned for this part. He shrugged.

" I think they got arrested. I was sent home even though I really wasn't too hurt." Nico yawned involuntarily.

" I think he said it guys, time for bed," Diana said. All the boys groaned, even Bruce. Though they all did what the scary Amazon said. It was an eventful night and they all needed their sleep.

Chapter Text

Nico had spent a week at the Wayne manor now. The prank score was up to:

Nico- 5
Dick- 5
Damian- 4
Jason- 3
Tim- 3

After the gala, Nico was too tired to use the centaur figurine and he had still yet to find the perfect moment. He just hoped that he would get the chance before the prank war ended and it was too late. Nico had grown rather close to his new family, they accepted him. This begged the question of whether or not he would ever be able to tell them his secret without violating his oath. He had seen what had happened to some of the people who had violated their oaths and it wasn't pretty. He had no desire to meet the same fate. Because of this, he had spoken once more with Diana and they discussed their world and if he should tell Bruce.

Diana seemed adamant that he should. She assured him that Bruce would still accept him, but Nico wasn't so sure. Nico couldn't tell him outright, that was an invitation to be smote down where he stood. No, he would have to help Bruce guess it for himself. It was a good place to start. If he changed his mind about telling him, there would be no harm- no foul.

Things were not completely great, however. Damian had just yelled at him to pick himself up and become someone. Granted it was said in a moment of passion and Nico wasn't sure if Damian meant it or not, but it still had to have been a thought that the boy had had before. Did they all think that? Sure, Damian didn't know that he had turned the tide of the war that could have ended the world. If he knew that, things would be different. Even as he tried to convince himself that Damian was wrong, he found himself believing it.

After the fight, Nico hadn't said a word, he just looked at the youngest Wayne boy with unfeeling eyes before walking out onto the street. He needed to blow off some steam. He was going monster hunting. No one had ever commended him for his brains, remember. He wished he could have told Damian off, telling him that he probably wasn't going to survive long enough for education to matter anyway so he should get off his back.

Nico was so absorbed in his anger that he didn't realize that he was being followed until someone had grabbed him. The person was 3 times bigger than Nico. He didn't stand a chance. Nico tried to fight back but a damp cloth was held over his nose. Eventually, he had to breathe and he passed out quickly after that. He really shouldn't have gone out alone. What was he thinking? This was Gotham, not New York. This city came with its own breed of monsters.

Nico woke up on a thin mattress in a dark room. There was one dim light in the center of the room and it was slowly burning out. The walls were your cliche moldy concrete, with a large metal door on the other side. Nico couldn't comprehend anything else about the room because the drugs were still in his system and he couldn't think straight. As he became more aware, he could tell that there were voices in the distance. One of the voices was very distinctive, Nico had no trouble recognizing it. He had been captured by the Joker. Nico checked his pocket and was relieved to find that they hadn't taken his dagger-coin. It was the only weapon he had that would work on mortals.

" Well let's see if our guest of honor is awake yet, shall we?" Joker cackled, his voice getting closer by the second. Nico briefly considered pretending to be asleep but he decided that his acting skills weren't that good. The door was thrown open wide. There stood Joker in all his psychopathic glory.

" Ahhh! You're awake! Good, I want to talk to you a little before Batman comes and spoils our fun." Joker grabbed Nico roughly by his trapezius muscle and dragged him to his feet. That hurt, a lot. Nico knew that the trapezius muscle was the one that the EMPs were supposed to pinch in order to wake up an unconscious person. It woke them up because it hurt a lot. Nico gritted his teeth and refrained from attacking Joker. His men had guns and Nico wasn't bulletproof. It was times like these that he wished he had taken on the Curse of Achilles. Joker dragged him in that manner through his warehouse and into an open storage space. There were several armed guards stationed throughout the room. Fighting his way out was not an option.

Joker brought him in front of the group and threw him to the ground. Nico growled in annoyance and slowly picked himself up, wiping away all the dust from the nasty floors. It smelled like mildew and made Nico feel like sneezing. It was cold and Nico pulled his jacket around himself tighter to conserve his body heat. Did he not have the money to pay for AC? He had robbed enough banks for that, right?

" Ooooohhh! This one has spirit! I like him, I may just keep him for my entertainment." He laughed, watching Nico closely.

" I am NOT entertainment. " Nico growled.

" HA HA HA HA HA!" Joker busted up startling him, "You say that as though you have a choice." He smiled in a sinister fashion. His lips were stretched to the limit, showing absolutely every tooth. It was sickening to watch.

" Oh, I do have a choice. You'll have to kill me before I will become your entertainment. " Nico challenged. He had no fear of death, why should he? He was aware that he probably wouldn't get out of this situation alive, he wasn't hoping for the big bad bat to come to rescue him.

" Ah, bold words... though they are all bold at the start. Yes, I like you, you're interesting." Joker took out a gun and pressed the barrel to Nico's head. Nico didn't flinch, not even when Joker pulled the trigger. The hammer clicked harmlessly down, Nico wasn't dead. He couldn't help but wonder what the Waynes would have thought when they found his body if he had actually just died. Would they blame themselves? Would Damian? Would they curse Batman for not getting here in time?

"MARVELOUS!" Joker exclaimed suddenly, "you must hate yourself a lot!" Nico frowned at the Joker. He didn't want to die, he just wasn't afraid to, there was a very large difference.

"Not particularly. I mean, not enough to want to die. I just don't fear the afterlife." Nico replied, folding his arms.

The Joker's normally cold gaze sparked in interest, "Really? And just why not, may I ask?"

Nico shrugged, "How about I just don't care?" Joker stared at him and Nico sighed, "How about I almost died before and it felt peaceful?" Nico said in the tone of a statement but the form of a question.

"Ah, so I'm not the first to get their hands on you? Pity." Nico growled at the man in front of him-- his face heated up at the thought of belonging to someone in that sense. The very idea of it made him sick.

"I am not your property!" Nico yelled. His voice became cold, his eyes blazed and the contrast between the two was enough to send most sane men running. Unfortunately, Joker wasn't sane. The Joker motioned for his men to leave the room. Nico absently noted that Harley was nowhere to be seen.

"You really should watch your mouth you know... I could kill or torture you in so many different painful ways. You Wayne's are always so impolite." Joker was whining by the last part.

"Oh really? I'm not afraid of you." Nico said truthfully. Joker made him uneasy but scared wasn't the right word. Joker made him sick more than anything. Yes, sick. That is the right word. Everything about the Joker made Nico sick. The color of his hair, his unnaturally pale skin, the huge smile on his face, the scars that created the excessive curve of his lips, his empty eyes, and his hoarse voice. The way he walked, the way he took control of a room, and the way he formulated his words all made Nico's skin crawl in disgust. His laugh grated on the demigod's nerves until it was all he could do to keep from ripping out the Joker's vocal cords and silencing the clown permanently.

"What, none of that 'Batman will save me' nonsense?" Joker teased annoyingly.

" Please, no one cares enough about me to search for me. Especially not some dude dressed up as a bat." Nico snorted. He was sure that Batman had more important matters to attend to. Why would he be concerned about an orphan?

" I care about you! You're making my life interesting! It gets boring with all those people screaming in terror and begging for their lives. No one fights back! But you, you've got fire in your eyes." Nico glared, not liking how this was sounding. He almost sounded like a child admiring their new toy. He was not a toy. If he was, he would probably have been recalled due to a painful death hazard.

" What is your name? If you don't tell me I'll just figure it out some other way."

"Nico." Nico figured that Joker was right, after all his name was in the papers this week just for becoming a part of the Wayne bunch.

" NEEKS!" Joker cried.

" Absolutely not," Nico said, but his words were wasted on the Joker. The playfulness had left his eyes and something scary had taken its place. Nico could only guess that he had said something wrong.

"Oh? I don't think you understand your situation here. You don't get to say no." He said simply. Joker grabbed a length of wire from a shelf. Nico began to back up, starting to get a grasp on just what kind of situation he had found himself in. The Joker was planning on keeping him.

Normally he wouldn't be so worried because he could just Shadow travel out, but the Joker and his men were mortal and so were the Waynes. That would be way too hard to explain and would probably count as exposing himself and violating his oath. He couldn't take that risk. He had to get out of this himself, it seems. Nico backed up until he had hit a storage shelf. He had nowhere to go and the clown was still advancing. The Joker pounced on him, throwing him to the ground. The creep then tightly bound his hands behind his back. The Joker dragged him back to his cell-- the wire cutting into his wrists the whole way.

The Joker tossed him in and shut the door. Nico landed ungracefully on the mattress, nearly banging his head on the wall in the process. Nico was still in shock by the sudden mood swings of the troubled clown. He curled into a ball and waited for something, anything, to happen. He hoped that he wouldn't have to stay here long, he was cold and uncomfortable. Plus he had no interest in having another conversation with that maniac for a good, long while.

Not even a minute later, an explosion sounded across the compound. Nico heard the cell door being unlocked and he mentally prepared himself for another meeting with the Joker. Though when the door opened, he saw a man in a black bodysuit with an oddly shaped blue emblem on his chest. The figure stood and entered the room. He immediately went to Nico's side and undid the bonds which had made his wrists raw already, just from the walk to the cell. The suited man, who had introduced himself as Nightwing, helped him up and led him through the building.

Nico was brought back through the room where he talked with the lunatic. The Joker was still there except this time he was fighting Batman. Nico was sort of surprised to see him. Did he take care of everyone or was fate just screwing with him again?

" Awwww! Leaving so soon? Well, be sure to come back and spend more time with your Uncle J!" He yelled as he was dangling in Batman's clutches.

Nico growled, "You're not my uncle." The vigilante, Nightwing, grabbed him gently by the back of the neck and pulled him out of the warehouse as the Joker just laughed maniacally. Nico didn't fight, not feeling threatened by the new masked figure. Batman finished the Joker off inside before coming to check on Nico.

" What were you doing out here?" Batman growled.

Nico sneered at him, "Oh, I was just out for a stroll. I thought it might be nice to get in a car with strangers who offered me candy." Nico's words absolutely dripped in sarcasm. His voice was cruel and demeaning, his eyes were once again ablaze. Batman just watched him silently. The son of Hades dropped his gaze to his wrists that were raw and bleeding. They looked worse than they were, the gashes weren't deep enough to be fatal and the bleeding had already slowed to a trickle.

"The police will be here soon, I'm sure that Mr. Wayne is worried. I have to tend to a robbery, Nightwing, finish up here then meet me over there." Nightwing nodded silently. The big bad bat used a grappling hook to get to a nearby roof before disappearing.
"He was asking if you were alright," Nightwing stated after they had waited a couple of seconds in awkward silence.

" How about: 'are you injured'. Then he doesn't sound attached or chastising. " Nico had learned the word from Annabeth during one of her many attempts to 'home school' him. Nightwing simply nodded and handed him over to the police when they came. Nico had returned to being silent.

" Ah, you must be Nico. Mr. Wayne is worried." a man said as he came up to the pair, "Thank you, Nightwing, we can take it from here." Nightwing gave the man a curt nod before following Batman's trail.

" Hello, son. I'm Commissioner Gordon. Just call me Mr. Gordon, ok?" Nico nodded in an unconcerned manner.

"Can you take me home now? It's probably really late. " The commissioner nodded and led him to his police cruiser. The drive home was basically silent with officer Gordon asking a couple of questions every now and then. The trip to the manor took way too long for his liking, he just wanted to go to sleep. Nico was ashamed at how easily he had been taken. He had been careless, not paying attention to his surroundings, not grabbing his weapon, not defending himself. It was sloppy. He decided that he would train harder, Joker wouldn't be so lucky should he ever try that stunt again.

Bruce had a gym and Nico knew how to use it. He was also thinking about an idea that he had had for a while now. He wanted to learn something new in order to improve his fighting style. He wasn't sure what yet. As of right now, his style was completely traditional greek. It was comfortable, but it got to be predictable when you fought beings that have been using that style since they were born, thousands of years ago. He didn't want to change to a new style, he just wanted to update his own. He decided that he was going to search for a new style using any means necessary. Perhaps even tech, if he got that desperate. He was not going to die by a monster's hand and he wasn't going to be the Joker's entertainment. He wasn't going to be anyone's entertainment ever again. He swore it to himself.

"Here we are." Gordon coughed, breaking him out of his thoughts. Nico exited the vehicle and started to walk up the drive. He could sense that Gordon stayed by his cruiser, standing up against it. Nico walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. Almost immediately, it was opened by Alfred who looked unsurprised to see him.

"Master Nico! I am very glad that you do not seem to be harmed. Go into the living room, the others are congregated there. I will bring a first aid kit for your wrists." Alfred said, waving warmly at the commissioner, who waved back then got into his car and drove away. Nico did as he was told, though reluctantly. He heard their voices as he reached the living room. He didn't pay much attention to their words as he approached. He walked silently into the room to see Damian sitting on the cushioned windowsill, staring out at the garden. The window wasn't facing the driveway so he wouldn't have seen the son of Hades enter.

Dick was standing by him glaring down on his brother. Jason was also glaring at Damian from his place on the sofa. Bruce had his face in his hands as though he had just facepalmed. Tim was sitting next to Jason staring at the floor. They had obviously been fighting but Nico couldn't bring himself to care.

"Wow. If this is how you act right now, I'd hate to see you at my funeral." Nico said flatly. He had meant it as a joke but it sounded bitter, even to him. All their eyes shot towards him. He was surprised by the looks of relief on their faces. He hadn't thought that they would be that concerned about him. Alfred showed up with a first aid kit and forced him to sit on the couch while he wrapped his wrists. He watched the older man's work intently he didn't even notice when the butler applied the disinfectant, his mind too far detached from his body.

"Are you ok, Nico?" Bruce asked after a few moments of silence. He didn't get a reply so he asked again.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'll be fine. It's not fatal." The fifteen-year-old turned his attention back to the bandages. The bat family shared looks between them. Was he just in shock or was he really just this unfazed?

"That's good. What did the Joker want with you?" Bruce pressed on gently. He figured the boy was just in shock and wasn't really processing everything yet. Nico's expression darkened and he shuddered involuntarily.

"Are you hurt anywhere else, Master Nico?" Nico shook his head.

"You sure you're alright Nico?" Bruce asked laying his hand on his shoulder before almost instantly retracting it. This made Nico frown. Bruce didn't seem to have a problem with touching his shoulder before, why did he this time? Yeah, Nico's shoulders were bruised by the Joker but Bruce wouldn't know that. The only ones that could possibly know that was the Joker himself, maybe Batman, and perhaps Nightwing. Unless Bruce was Batman, he shouldn't know. (Cause he didn't have the right build to be Nightwing and he sure as heck isn't the Joker.

"Yeah... I'm fine. I'm gonna go to bed, night everyone." Nico said hesitantly, a curious frown still on his face. Everyone bade him good night and headed off to bed. Nico entered his room, still confused. Bruce can't be Batman, can he? No, Batman wouldn't be a playboy. Or would he? It would be a pretty good cover. Plus he owns Wayne Enterprises, he has the means to get all the cool gadgets. Nico thought about it late into the night, finally deciding to investigate his idea. For that, he was going to have to run into the big bad bat again. This time on purpose. He had decided that it was better to follow up this lead and to be wrong than for it to be right and him being used as bait or leverage later on.

Later that night, Nico was woken up by people talking softly in the hallway. Nico, seeing the perfect opportunity to use his centaur, hurried to retrieve it. He used his powers to see that his brothers were at the end of the hall in a huddle, roughly 8 ft down the hall. He set the centaur down on the floor and set it to 'follow' mode. He opened his door, leaving it open for the centaur to follow. He could just barely hear it shuffling. He walked down the hall, not looking up as though he didn't expect to see anyone.

"Nico?" Dick asked in confusion. Nico's eyes snapped up and he made sure to put a guilty face on. He was in luck, they were all still in position.

"Oh, hey. I was having trouble sleeping so I was just going to go see if I could find a book that I could read." Nico lied kicking the hardwood floor lightly as though he were nervous.

"You can't read." Damian jabbed. Nico tensed. He hadn't told him that. It was all he could do to keep from lunging at the arrogant boy.

"What? Damian! Of course, he can read!" Timothy countered. His gaze turned towards Nico, "can't you?"

Nico glared at Damian's rage making his skin crawl, "No I can't read! Who even told you that?" Nico felt betrayed. Bruce had no reason to tell Damian that he couldn't read. It had to be Bruce because he was the only one he had told. Nico hit the button on the remote that would start the countdown for 3 seconds. Damian opened his mouth and started to speak. Nico hit the deck. Everyone stared at him in confusion until the centaur started screaming: " Die Vlacas! In the name of Seymour!" And started shooting his special darts. Nico had met Seymour before and was aware of his fondness for sausage.

After that, chaos ensued. To his endless amusement, the very first dart hit Damian right in the mouth. His mouth filled with pink glitter. Damian doubled over, cursing and spitting pink glitter out of his mouth immediately. The next dart hit Jason on the side of the head, as the boy had turned to stare at his hacking brother. White glitter-covered his head in a thin layer. Tim was nailed in the chest by both yellow and red-colored darts. Not even Dick remained safe, his black shirt was nailed by a blue dart and it spread out on his chest.

The darts kept firing for a couple more seconds, spattering his brothers with green, orange, and purple glitter. Then the centaur shut itself off saying: "Mission Complete". Nico picked himself up off the floor, grabbed the automaton, and launched himself into his room, bolting the door and shoving a chair under the handle. He could hear his brothers yelling but he just sank back in his bed. Then came the sounds of arguing and then silence. They must have all gone to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a fun day.

The anger at Bruce, and annoyance at Damian still fresh in his mind.

Chapter Text

Needless to say, the brothers had been shocked to find out that Nico couldn't read, as they had all known how to read for most of their lives. Well, Dick couldn't read English for a while but that was different. What was the bigger surprise, the centaur death machine or learning that Nico was illiterate-- it was hard to say. The glitter assault left them all standing in shock for several seconds, listening to Damian spit and curse.

"That stupid, illiterate, piece of... " Damian said when he had gotten a majority of the glitter out of his mouth. Before he could finish his undoubtedly vulgar sentence, however, Jason had pinned him to the wall, getting right in his face.

"You deserved everything you got, demon spawn. He's done nothing to you but you've decided you didn't like him since week 2? Are you scared of him? Being replaced? Is that what this is?" Before Damian could answer, Jason dropped him in the hallway and stalked away. They all knew that he was going on patrol to blow off steam.

++Damian++

Damian picked himself and glared in the direction that Todd had left. He avoided looking at his brothers, pushing past them and slipping silently into his room. He knew Jason was right. They all did. Insecurity, that’s what this was. He was the newest addition, he would be the first to be replaced. His brothers didn't like him that much anyway. The only one that he really got along with was Dick, who hadn't said a word when Jason was chewing him out. Dick had actually yelled at him earlier that day for being too harsh on Nico.

Looking back on it, perhaps he had been too harsh. He certainly hadn't realized how much it would hurt Nico-- it actually never crossed his mind that it might be offensive. Sure, he had been jealous of all the attention Nico was getting, maybe that had influenced his actions. Then he wondered why he cared. The old Damian wouldn’t have cared about whether or not he hurt someone’s feelings. Nico couldn’t read, that was the cold hard truth. Why should he feel guilty for telling the truth? Those thoughts made this current Damian uncomfortable. That was his mother's logic seeping though.

Damian scowled at himself as he got ready for bed, carefully slipping off the glittery garments, he should be able to properly control his emotions. He was an assassin after all. His mind kept drifting to the disappointed face of his mother when he did something she was displeased with. He imagined that she wouldn't be too proud of him right now either. She’d be disappointed for not defending himself to Jason-- not for saying what he did. She would have agreed with his statement. Talia didn't stand for weakness or disability and would not show Nico any mercy. He didn't want to be like that. Damian wasn’t proud of his heritage like he had been once. He was strong, yes, but he was also cold.

When he woke the next morning, he still felt like a jerk. Calling him out on his inability to read had been a low blow. He could tell that it really bothered Nico too, the boy had every right to be angry with him. Jason had been right, he had totally deserved the glitter in the mouth. Damian figured that maybe Nico and the others would forgive him if he played nice. If he apologized and tried to make it up to him. He didn't want to be mean-- to cause a rift between himself and yet another sibling. He had to fix this.

The reformed assassin showered, taking a little longer than usual as he thought about how to get back in his sibling's good graces. He stood there in the warm water just thinking. The water only served to make him sleepy again so he turned down the temperature. Maybe he could help him to read and understand other intellectual topics. Nico was cunning and sly, he was street smart, but he lacked a significant amount of book knowledge. If he ever got into the vigilante gig, he would be far behind.

He dressed in jeans, a dark-long sleeved shirt, and his red hood-less jacket. He headed down the stairs, not realizing that it was only 6 AM. He trudged into the dining room only to find it empty. Deciding that it was pointless to just wait there for an hour, he headed into the room where he pictured him teaching Nico, the library. He might try to set it up for a session or get some ideas on a curriculum. When he got there, he was surprised to see Nico already there. He was fiddling with the old projector that had been out of commission for a while now. He was about to tell him that it didn't work when Nico turned the machine on. To Damian's surprise, the film actually appeared on the wall opposite the machine.

Nico messed with a couple of other buttons and the film started to play. It was some man in a lab coat mixing chemicals in beakers, why the Wayne manor had anything of the kind baffled Damian. Nico watched the film for a while, looking satisfied. He then shut the film off, putting it away neatly in a protective case.

It was at this point that Damian found his voice, "How did you get that to run?"

Nico's eyes shot towards him, looking cornered. His body tensed as though he had been caught red-handed. He relaxed only slightly when he saw that it was Damian. Though his eyes remained guarded, his body relaxed and he continued to tidy up. Damian couldn't blame the boy for being cautious around him. He had never given Nico a reason to trust him. It hurt, but it was what he deserved.

"I straightened a couple of gears and cleaned it up a bit. It really is in pretty good shape considering its age..." Nico trailed off. Damian wondered what he was thinking about but decided not to ask. Nico would share if he wanted to.

"Sure... look, Nico. I'm sorry. To make up for my bigoted attitude, I would like to offer to teach you in the subjects that I can." Damian proposed. Nico looked at him with interest. He seemed to be judging if he was making fun of him. Deciding that he wasn't, Nico nodded gratefully.

"It isn't that I don't know how to read... I'm dyslexic. I literally can't read." Damian winced. When he had overheard Bruce speaking to Alfred about possible accommodations, he never considered that Nico had such a disorder.

"Ok, I understand. Do you wish to start now?" Damian asked, gesturing towards the sofa and the coffee table. Nico looked at him in both surprise and amusement.

"Might as well," Nico replied. That was how the two boys got pulled into studying some of the classics. Damian had been brought up on the classics by his mother since he was little. It was one of the things he knew inside and out. He decided to start with 20,0000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was a tale full of adventures and futuristic themes, many of which mankind has achieved since the publication of the novel. [ Damian has a skewed idea of fun, remember.]

Since Nico couldn't read, Damian elected to read it aloud to him. Both boys caught themselves being dragged into the story and they read much further than they had first intended. Nico loved the thought of an adventure though he wasn't too keen about it being under the water, someplace he could never go. Damian got animated as he read the story aloud, he made his voice change as he read, adding to the overall effect of the scenes. Nico was hooked on every word, he had never read/listened to a book before, he actually really enjoyed it. Having someone read it for him made it seem so much more exciting. Not that he really had anything to compare it to except for Annabeth occasionally reading aloud an excerpt from an architecture book.

The boys only realized that time was passing when they heard footsteps coming from the floors above them. At that point, Damian put the book down and told Nico that they could continue later. Nico agreed with an expression that Damian would almost describe as happy. Maybe content? On the way to breakfast, the two boys talked about the story until they reached the dining room. Everyone else seemed surprised to see the two talking after what was said the night before. Maybe Jason had finally gotten through to Damian. The two boys even sat next to each other at the table. No one dared mention it, thinking that it might break the peace.

++Nico++

Nico ate a fairly decent breakfast that morning. He never ate very much-- not usually being very hungry. He knew that he would need his energy for the exercises he was planning on doing. After he had eaten, he excused himself and headed up to the gym. He had some training to get started. He began with the stretches that he had been taught at camp. After that, he went to the pull-up bar and just started working out. He lost count of how many he did, he just went until he got tired and bored. After that, he went to sit-ups so that he could give his arms a break. He ended up doing about 80 of those, figuring that he would start with that and work his way up. Nico felt weak because other demigods had passed him on the number of reps but he was doing impressively for mortal standards. Well-- considering his condition.

Nico went on for maybe another hour doing random exercises that he had been taught at camp and such. He chose several that he would get rid of and planned a routine in his mind. At the end of his workout, he did some cool-down stretches. He felt good, not any stronger, though he understood that it would take time. As he was leaving, Richard came in and gave him an odd look. Nico was grateful, though, when he didn't comment. Nico crept through the manor, trying not to run into anyone. He made it to his room without someone talking to him. When he got there, he headed towards the trunk at the end of his bed. He was itching to get his sword out, even if it was just to polish it.

It had been a while since he had used it, which was surprising. He had only had one monster encounter since he had moved to Gotham. Nico figured that this city must be bad enough to ward off monsters as well as mortals.

"You're right." His father's voice boomed in his mind. Nico fell off his bed in surprise, landing on his funny bone, it was nowhere near funny. Nico growled and he sat back upon his bed.

"About what?"

"Gotham has a protective field around it from monsters. They can spawn within its borders but they can not enter on their own. Dionysus declared that he could always sense crazy just rolling off that city in waves. He set a shield around the city so that Gotham won't be further corrupted by monsters. Star city, Bludhaven... all of them with vigilantes are protected too. No need in asking the World's Greatest Detective to hunt down the gods." Hades elaborated.

"That's... convenient. How was I pulled here?"

"The city doesn't exclude demigods, nor nature spirits. Though most stay away of their own accord. Though, as to why you landed here... call it failure or call it fate-- whichever suits your fancy." Nico couldn't tell if he was joking but he didn't think so.

"Can I let them know who I am, father?" He wanted permission, but he would take acceptance.

"I don't approve, but I can't stop you. I believe they will discover you either way. If you plan to go through with it... be smart about it."

"Father?" Nico asked, not understanding quite what his father was telling him.

"Make them swear on the Styx. Much more binding of an oath. They cannot discuss it with anyone that doesn't know already until or unless it becomes common knowledge. Understood?" Nico sighed, his father still thought he was a screw-up. He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he answered.

"Yes, father." He felt his father's presence leave and he slumped against the headboard. Feeling angry from his father's lack of faith, Nico grabbed his jacket and headed out into the backyard, not really thinking about how strange it was that he didn't come across anyone else. Not even Alfred. He walked into the grove of weeping willows that were growing at the edge of the Wayne Estate, his favorite place. He stopped beneath one of the trees, looking up at the closest branch. It was about 3 feet higher than he was. With his heightened demigod skills, he was able to jump and grab the branch and pull himself up.

Nico sat on a thicker branch a little higher up, with his back against the trunk. He held his skull ring in his hands, beholding the simple human skull design. The eyes were emeralds and the rest was pure stygian iron. If he focused, he could feel how cold and parasitic the ring was. There was a reason that only children of the Underworld could touch the blade. Stygian iron tended to suck the life essence out of anything it had prolonged exposure to. Anything but a Hades child. Probably because they seemed dead to most mortal instruments anyways. The ring probably couldn't tell the difference between him and a corpse. He bet that if he ever passed out, he would be like the drunken fools in mortal folklore that were often buried alive.

The sky, which had been cloudy since he had first got there, suddenly started pouring down rain, with no signs of letting up. Nico, hating water, immediately shadow traveled to his room. He didn't think that it might seem odd that he never went back through the house, but luckily none of the bats were watching the monitors, they were attending to a hostage situation downtown.

Nico laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He got bored very quickly but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't watch tv, that transmitted a signal to a satellite. So did phones or computers, he couldn't read, and he couldn't write. He laid there for what felt like an hour but was really only 20 minutes. With so many enjoyable things prohibited to him by nature, it was hard to find things to do outside of camp. Normally, Nico would go raise some dead people and train but that wasn't really an option. Plus, he had already worked out that morning and didn't want to overdo it. Nico just wanted to be alone, so he could recover from his dad's insults and regain his composure.

Nico looked around his room, he had yet to do anything to customize it but he didn't have the materials for that. He hadn't been there long enough to make a mess so he didn't have to clean. The only thing in his line of sight that wasn't reading material was a plain black sketchbook. So, naturally, he decided to try his hand at drawing. He laid on his stomach on his bed, trying to think of ideas on what he could draw. He eventually made up his mind that he was going to draw Bianca as he last saw her: strong, confident, and alive.

[I am no artist. Please do not judge my lack of art knowledge.]

He started with her torso, slowly working his way up to her arms. Before he could start on her face, however, he moved back down to her legs. He positioned her in a stance that he imagined the other hunters would use. Next, he used colors he found on his desk to finish up the details of her clothes. Finally, he started on the face. This part took him a long time to complete. He wanted to get it exactly right.

As he worked, he never thought about how he had never drawn anything before. He never wondered why he was able to draw so well without practice. He just got absorbed in the thoughts of his sister, and the need to create her likeness. Only when he was finished did he realize how crazy it was for him to do that. It was true that he used to sketch back at the hotel, but he must've forgotten that he could when they dipped him in the lethe. He felt bile rise up in his throat as he thought about Alecto tossing him into that damnable river. He lost everything except the memory of his sister.

What else could he do that he couldn't remember? Is that how he could do the splits? That certainly hadn't been in the typical camp curriculum. What about his affinity for memorization? That definitely wasn't a trait he shared with most demigods. What else didn't he know?

[TW: Panic Attack]

Without realizing it, Nico's heart was beating faster and his breaths were becoming more and more shallow. Tears leaked out of his eyes, he was having a panic attack. His thoughts drifted on to the endless possibilities of his former life. Were there close relatives or friends that he had forgotten? Had he actually been good at a subject in school? Had he been interested in a sport or some other hobby?

Nico pushed his chair back away from his desk, heading almost automatically towards the light grey velvet couch that sat along the far wall, next to the window. He collapsed onto it, now consciously trying to take deeper breaths. He clenched and unclenched his hands together, wringing them as he did so. His hands finally settled on his skull ring and he found himself twisting it. Normally, that would turn it into his sword, but he willed it not to, having learned the trick from Minos. He found the action to be therapeutic, its familiarity calming him immensely.

After an unknown amount of time, his heart slowed down to its normal rate and he could breathe normally again. He sat in his position, curled up on the couch, for some time. He simply did not have the will to attempt to move. He didn't know for how long he stayed in that pose, his tears had long since dried on his face. His only hint that time was passing was the slight darkening of the clouds that he could see through his window. Eventually, he stood up, not out of regained confidence, but because of necessity. He had to use the restroom.

Once he had done his business, he made his way back over to his desk, where he had laid the drawing. He looked at his handiwork, in awe of his hidden talent. He searched his room for a suitable place to hang it. He must have searched for half an hour before he realized that there was a corkboard hanging right in front of his desk. Hiding in plain sight. Criticizing himself, he carefully tore the picture out along the perforated line. He found a box of tacks in his drawer and stood on his desk in order to hang it up. It was nice to keep her likeness around-- like she was still here protecting him somehow.

Chapter Text

Nico carefully climbed down off of his desk and sat gently in his chair. He sat there, staring at the new blank page sitting there before him. He wanted to draw something else. He wanted to see if his new talent was a fluke of the mist or something. He still had motivation, but he no longer had any inspiration. He sat there for several minutes just trying to come up with things that he could draw but nothing sounded all that appealing to him at the moment.

Then another idea for a picture came to his mind. It was going to be of Percy and Annabeth. He wanted to portray them as the happy, care-free people that he had always known them to be. He decided on drawing them at the very moment that the war ended. Both in battle armor, their helmets long since discarded, holding each other like nothing else mattered. Nico started with the form of Annabeth, her hands in Percy's hair. The curves, shading, and depth came naturally to him. He automatically knew what to do to get the picture how he wanted. When he was satisfied with her figure, he moved on to draw Percy.

The picture took him several hours to complete, which he did all in one sitting. He didn't stop working until it was complete and even then he couldn't stop moving. After he had tacked up the piece he cleaned up all his art supplies, made his bed, and put away the rest of the clothes that Chiron had sent him from Camp. There wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Even after had finished all the little tasks he could think of, he could still feel himself tingling with nervous energy but he wasn't sure why. Sometimes he would just get these sudden waves of productivity where he felt like he could take on the world, but usually, they dissipated fairly quickly. This time the feeling wasn't going away.

Nico paced for a few minutes, trying to expel some of the energy. Every time he paused for more than a few moments he could feel the pressure start to build up in his muscles and his chest so he had to move again. Why couldn't he calm down? What was happening to him? After a while of just pacing and looking for little tasks to do like picking up paper scraps or organizing his dressers, Nico could feel himself coming back down off of the wave of anxiety. He felt drained. How could he go from having so much energy to being so empty?

Nico glanced at his drawings numbly. It was like he was inside a fishbowl. Everything was softer and slightly distorted. The thoughts were there, they just weren't as loud as they usually were and they were a lot slower than normal. Was this what it was like to think like a normal person? His eyes started to process his art. Drawing reminded him of Rachel, and how Percy told him that she drew Luke from her dreams. Then Nico got an idea, what if he could draw out the people he sees in his demigod dreams? He can make sure that he can recognize them. He told himself that he would do that the next time that he saw someone new in his dreams. After this fog went away.

Nico plopped back down in his chair. He didn't know just how long he sat there in thought, but it must've been a long time because the next thing he knew Dick was coming in to get him for dinner.

++Richard++

He was out on patrol with his brothers and Bruce basically all day. Dick kind of felt bad leaving Nico at the manor on his own, but Alfred was supposed to keep him occupied if need be. There was also the fact that the Joker and Harley had set up several different traps and bombs under the banks around the city. Bombs that needed to be located and disabled before they went off and took a fair portion of the city with them. That didn't really give him much choice-- he had responsibilities.

They got back about an hour before dinner. Each boy changed and showered before heading upstairs. They all parted ways, electing to go do their own things. Dick decided to go check on Nico. According to Alfred, he had not seen the boy all day. That meant that he had not eaten lunch that day and it was very nearly time for dinner. That was slightly concerning, as it had seemed that Nico hadn't even sought out food. Was that why he was so small? Did he just not eat? He must be hungry by now.

Dick walked down the hall toward the boy's room, scanning the passage for traps. That boy was one of the best pranksters he knew (granted he had never met these fabled Stoll brothers). Nico had proven his skills in trickery and trap-making over and over again. He had also applied himself as a decent actor while he pulled off these pranks. He would make an interesting Robin-- though perhaps an unconventional one.

Dick approached his door, carefully opening it to gaze in. Nico was sitting at his desk almost glaring at the blank paper in front of him. Dick stepped in cautiously, still wary of a prank. He was only 2 pranks away from getting ahead of Nico, he would not jeopardize that chance. The newest addition made no sign that he saw or heard him enter. Dick coughed lightly and Nico's eyes snapped towards him. The younger boy blinked a couple of times in surprise before seeming to fully grasp what was going on. Was he dissociating?

"Oh hey." He finally managed.

"It's just about time for dinner. Alfred says that you didn't eat lunch? Are you ok?" Nico's eyes widened dramatically as he turned to look at the clock in the corner. When he saw the time, he cursed in Italian. He basically called himself a moron.

"Yeah, everything is good. I just didn't realize what time it was. Where were you all today anyway? The manor is never this quiet with all of us under the same roof." Dick wondered just how long Nico had been glaring at the paper. From his angle, by the door, he couldn't see the pictures pinned above his desk. As Dick moved into the room to stall for a little bit while he thought of a plausible excuse. As he did he caught right of the picture Nico did of Bianca. The lies died in his mouth and all of a sudden he was speechless. Nico frowned in confusion at the older boy before following his line of sight and blushing. He had never had anyone look at his art that he could remember and did not know if anyone would like it or not. It didn't help that Dick didn't say a word as he looked over it. Nico felt his heart sink. He hated it, he just knew it. He let his gaze drop to the floor as he waited for the criticism to come.

"Nico! How long have you been drawing?" He asked in surprise. That reaction caught Nico off guard. Did he actually like them or were they just that bad?

"Ummm about five hours." He said timidly, his gaze traveling over Richard trying to gauge his reaction.

"No... I meant total. What age were you?" Dick reaffirmed.

"So did I. I just started a little over five hours ago... I know they aren't very good but I only just started so I guess that that can be expected..." Nico rambled trying to say all of the negative things himself before Dick said them for him.

"What? There is no way that you just started, Nico! These are really good!" Dick replied incredulously. Nico winced, in truth, he might not have just started. Without his memories, he would never really know for sure. The compliment built up his self-esteem, if only a little bit. Dick sat down in the chair that Nico had vacated. He sat hunched over, his elbows rested on his knees. He gave Nico a critical once-over.

"There is no way that you just started drawing. that looks like you have been drawing for years. What are you hiding?" Dick decided to try a new approach. Come right out and say it. Nico glared at him and then at his pictures. A wave of anger unlike any that he had ever felt before bubbled up inside him. He wasn't really all that angry at his brother's doubt, it just acted as the catalyst to bring all the rest of his anger to the surface. He was angry at his own inability to answer a simple question. He was mad at his father for stealing his memories. He was mad at the fates for his crappy life. Most of all, he was mad that his father only seemed to see him as an errand boy or a baby (though that was more of a constant anger in the back of his mind).

"I'm not lying. I don't know how I know how to do that, I just do!" He crossed his arms angrily.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Dick's voice had gone from accusatory to confused. This didn't seem like something that people normally forget. Did Nico have amnesia? That would also explain why he didn't know his birthday. Dick made a mental note to bring this up to Bruce later so they could figure out a way to help him.

Nico growled and turned angrily away from Dick. He stormed across his room and out onto his balcony. He could tell that Dick had not followed him but he could also feel his eyes burning into his back. He had to blow off steam but he didn't want to take it out on Dick, it really wasn't his fault. Deciding that he needed space and that using the stairs was just too bothersome, he got up on the railing, only being on the second story in the first place, and jumped. He could hear Richard give a yelp of surprise and lunge towards him, really being too far away to really be of much help.

As he fell, it almost felt peaceful. As he approached the ground he tucked his legs to his chest and came out of the fall in a perfect roll with enough momentum to keep running after he got up. He had learned the trick from his experiences with the lava wall at Camp Halfblood. After he came out of the roll, ran around the manor just as fast as he could and he was down the block before the manor door even opened. He ducked into an alley and shadow traveled a couple of blocks down before he started walking.

He just wanted to take a walk and he was sure that the others would not have allowed him to after what happened last time. He knew that he could protect himself but of course, the rest of the family didn't know that. He couldn't expose himself to the mortals. Though this time he had come up with a way to avoid that. he would just use his silver dagger. It was unconventional but it wouldn't raise too many questions if he got caught with it. Having learned his lesson well from last time, stuck to the shadows more and paid more attention to his surroundings.

Night was falling, so the shadows were getting stronger and darker. It was almost perfect for shadow travel. He looked at the sunset, if he left now, he could make it to camp before the campfire. He debated it for a little while but ultimately decided to stay in Gotham. As he walked, he ran into someone that he hadn't thought he would again for a long time. Pamela Isley. She looked different than she had before. Her pale skin now was tinted green. Her ruby red lips now looked to be green as well. She had also traded in her lab coat for a bathing suit made out of leaves. Nico briefly wondered how that worked before deciding that it wasn't important.

She knelt in front of one of the mansion's front yards. She seemed to be cooing to the wilting rose bush, calling it things like: 'baby's and 'sweets'. Something about her aura was also strange. As he soul searched her, he realized that her soul had been infused with half that of a dryad's spirit. (sue me, I changed it). The dryad seemed to have gone mad when their souls had fused, thus turning Pam into a hardcore environmentalist. She was also somewhat immortal in this state. Dryad never truly died, they were reincarnated. Human souls aren't able to be reincarnated, thus the dryad part of her souls would fight to live, it would probably end up sustaining the human part of her soul for as long as it could. Without thinking, Nico approached her. She was too caught up with the plant to notice him until he spoke to her.

"Hello Pamela, long time no see." Pamela turned her unnatural eyes towards him with a look of confusion laced with distant recollection. It was now if he briefly wondered if he had made a poor choice.

"You are familiar. State your name, stranger." She was much more formal than he remembered to. Must've been a fairly old dryad. Pamela wouldn't have as much time as he had first thought.

"It's me, Nico di Angelo." Recognition struck Pam hard and she fell back from her crouched position, or the bush might have told her something (It was impossible to tell). She sprawled out on the sidewalk for a couple of seconds before picking herself back up.

"My word! I do remember you! You're the boy that stopped by my exhibit with that nice young boy with the reed pipes. You didn't have a green bone in your body, much less a thumb." Pam recalled almost fondly.

"Yes, that was me. I still really don't. I just don't have much skill with plants," Nico admitted, shifting almost uncomfortably in his place. Last time she saw them she had given them both a potted Easter Lily. Grover's had flourished. Nico's had barely lasted a week.

"Yes, well the entire world can't have a green thumb, unfortunately." Pamela looked sorrowfully at the dying roses.

"Look, Pamela..." Nico started.

"It's Ivy now, Poison Ivy." She interrupted heatedly. Nico simply raised one of his eyebrows at her. She averted her gaze, though more in a way that said that she wasn't mad than she was apologizing.

"Really? When did this happen?"

"I would really rather not get into all the details. I really just want to save this poor guy. Someone put roundup on it. The nerve of them! Trying to kill something so pure!" Ivy drifted off, kneeling back down to be level with the bush she stroked a couple of its leaves longingly.

"I can't help, I'm sorry. I would probably only make things worse. I hope you can save it, Ivy. Have a good night." Nico said in parting. He moved around the crazed woman that he used to know and headed further into downtown Gotham. As he kept going he felt an irrational urge to punch something. So naturally, when his least favorite clown popped up right in his face, Nico didn't hesitate to clock him in the nose. It was more of a reaction than anything else. Joker obviously hadn't expected that response because he fell right on his butt and stayed there looking at Nico.

He sat, looking up at the boy. Blood flowed freely from his left nostril but he did nothing to stunt the flow. Joker started cackling all at once, his body wracked with laughter. He sprawled out on the pavement laughing, while Nico stood silently, watching the scene unfold. Nico has his fists clenched and his feet spread in a defensive stance. He must admit that the clown had given him quite the shock. He hadn't meant to punch him, not that he regretted it. He had just been mad that a respectable person such as Pamela Isley could have gone so insane. Gotham truly was a twisted place.

The Joker slowly composed himself, still sitting where he fell. His smile had not dimmed in the slightest, in fact, Nico notices, it seemed to have grown. The clown stood and brought himself to his full height, standing about a good 4 to 6 inches taller than Nico, who had only recently hit his growth spurt. Nico stood at a solid 5'6 and was still growing. The Joker must have been 6' at least. Everything in his gut was telling him to run, but he didn't. Instead, he stood there watching the clown's blood drip onto his lime green shirt.

"You've got quite the punch there kid. But why did you hit me? I was just walking along, minding my own business..." Joker was cut off by an irritated Ghost King.

"We both know that you never mind your own business, so cut the crap, would you? I'm not in the mood." He spat, meeting the Joker's gaze, undaunted.

"Ooh! Feisty tonight are we? Did someone leave the toy out of your happy meal?" Joker called at his own joke while Nico glared at him.

"No, I'm not quite that ticked off... yet," Nico replied snarling. Joker smiled genuinely, having taken his comment as sarcasm.

"You do have a sense of humor!"

"No, I just really hate careless McDonald's workers." Nico sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. He was not having this conversation with a die-hard circus performer.

The Joker laughed hysterically again, much to Nico's annoyance, "So you do like happy meals!? Aren't you just full of surprises!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can't afford much else and I might as well have something to entertain me." Nico grumbled. That wasn't entirely a lie either. He didn't have too much mortal cash on hand at any one time, you tended not to get robbed that way. He couldn't really afford much other than fast food and he preferred McDonald's.

"Ahhh I see! So tell me, where is your real family? If we really are 'cutting the crap' as you put it, we both know that Brucie isn't your real dad." Joker grinned and sat on a nearby crate. Nico's eyes flashed in anger. It wasn't anyone's (especially not this freak's) business where his parents were. He also had trouble believing that he was talking about his family to a high-profile criminal.

"They're dead." He dead-panned. Nico made a move to leave but Joker grabbed him by his upper arm and pulled him back. When their eyes met, Nico could tell that he was still talking to a calmer version of the Joker. One that was almost civilized.

"Oh, don't leave now. We are just getting to know each other!" He whined like a little child.

"I do not wish to get to know you," Nico replied matter-of-factly. The calmness in the clown's eyes disappeared and Nico knew that he was now talking to the dangerous version.

"Well, that's not very nice! I think I need to teach you about respect." Before Nico knew what was happening, Joker had pulled a crowbar out, seemingly from thin air. He still had a tight grip on Nico's arms and he saw no way to force his way free. He would have to rely on the single dagger he had concealed in his jacket pocket. As Joker shifted his grip to his collar, Nico reached into his jacket pocket and palmed the dagger. When Joker swung down towards his head with the crowbar, he brought the now full-sized dagger up to meet it.

Sparks flew and the shock was enough to force the Joker to lose his grip on his collar. Nico pulled back several feet, leaving plenty of space between them. He didn't have time to turn and run before the clown was swinging at him again. This time, he didn't wait for the blow to connect. He lunged forward and slashed Joker across the chest. The gash was small, barely even a scratch, but it was enough for the Joker to stumble back and into the crates, he had perched on before. Not waiting for him to stand, Nico, got up and sprinted back towards the manor. He didn't know if the Wayne's were searching for him still or not but it seemed to be his best bet to get back there.

He couldn't use his powers, the Joker is a mortal. Also, he didn't want to waste his energy in case he were to fail and travel to China. He could hear the mad clown keeping pace with him just a little ways back. He pushed himself to run faster until he was going at his top speed. As he ran, he saw Ivy still knelt by the dying plant. If she was still his friend, she might help him. If not, she could make his situation worse. He decided as the Joker cackled maniacally behind him, that he would have to risk it. He couldn't keep this pace up all the way to the manor and he didn't know if the clown could either.

When he got within earshot he called out to her breathlessly, "Pamela! Pam! Ivy! Help! He's tryna kill me!" He cried, still running. Pamela looked up from her baby with a look of confusion plastered on her face. Her intelligent eyes took in his situation in a matter of moments and in an instant she waved her hand towards the two. Vines wrapped roughly around his body and he had a sinking feeling that he had chosen wrong.

He just hoped she would make his death quick.

Chapter Text

Nico had a sinking feeling that he had made the wrong choice by calling out to the crazed woman that he used to know. He felt the vines wrap around him, forming a harness that supported him as he was lifted into the air. He looked down to see what Ivy was going to do with him now. He should have known not to let his guard down. That was the first rule back at Camp Halfblood next to technology is bad.

His fears weren't ausaged as he looked back down towards the ground. From his awkward position, he could barely see the two villains below him. It seemed like Pam chewing the Joker out-- though he couldn't be entirely sure. The man in question had been wrapped tightly in a certain dying rose bush and was currently lying on his face in front of an angry Pamela. Joker didn't seem concerned about his current situation-- if anything, he seemed to be amused. He was calmly staring up at Ivy from where he lay, saying that he was only trying to have some fun.

"I don't care. You are not to touch that boy, you hear! He is mine! You touch him and I will feed you to my babies!" Nico wasn't sure where this possesiveness had come from since she had been mostly indiferent to his presence before. Maybe it was because she knew him before her transformation? Whatever the case she seemed to have accepted his presence for some reason or another. At least, he hoped that she had accepted him and not just decided he would be her entertainment now.

After a while of talking, Joker was finally released and disappeared into the night. Once, he was out of sight. Ivy brought him back down and set him gently on the ground. Ivy eyed him over in the same way that she had the rose before. It was half intruige and half pity. She folded her arms and studied him for a few moments longer than what was comfortable while Nico busied himself by plucking thorns out of his jacket and brushing off the dirt. He wanted to say something but the looks she was giving him was unsettling and he couldn't bring himself to speak.

"Did he hurt you?" She asked at last, returning the rose bush to it's previous proportions.

"No, I'm ok." She tilted her head at him before pulling some petals out of his hair. Nico stiffened at her approach but relaxed whenhe realized what she was doing. Just because one gamble paid off didn't mean that the next one would. He would still have to be careful. This was not the Pamela that he had once known.

"Thanks, Pam... err, Ivy," Nico said awkwardly.

"Anytime. The plants seem to think you're one of them. A dandelion, perhaps?" She mused, sizing him up, "They seem to want me to place you under my protection-- which they have never done before. I don't know what makes you so special, but I trust the Earth's judgement." The villainess seemed bewildered by him. "Come to me if you need anything, I mean it. The plants told me you don't have parents? I guess I'll be your momma now, Momma Ivy. I like that." Ivy's eyes got mischievous but in a playful way. Nico didn't have any idea how to respond to that proclamation. He just nodded and thanked Ivy again before heading back towards the manor, leaving Ivy to care for the plants.

He had almost made it back to the manor when he was stopped by one more unwelcome face. This time, it was Batman. He had just turned the corner-- headed back towards the Wayne manor when a chastising voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Mr. Wayne called me again tonight. Saying once again you were missing. You need to stop doing this, I have more important things to deal with." Nico closed his eyes to use his soul-searching abilities. Was Bruce Wayne Batman? If he wasn't-- who was? After a second or so, he got the answer he needed. Ha, he knew it. He kept up the act that he didn't know who it was, pivoting slowly on his heels, finding Bruce leaning against a fence nearby.

"Yet, here you are. If I didn't know better, you protected this family too much." Nico pointed out. Batman ignored the remark. It was hard to take this being seriously, knowing who was behind the mask.

"Are the Waynes not treating you right or something?" Batman asked gruffly.

"If they did, I sure as hell wouldn't be going back, now would I?" Nico asked, gesturing with his entire arm towards the manor in the distance. He didn't want Bruce to think that he was doing anything wrong. In fact it was very much the opposite. Well, as far as his own personal experiences, at least.

"Then why do I keep meeting you under these circumstances?" He asked critically. He seemed to be picking at him as if trying to get him to confess what was troubling him.

"I just needed space." He shrugged uncomfortably. He knew that it sounded dumb when he said it out loud. The this is that Nico washardly ever around very many people for any extended amount of time so this was a big change from what he was used to. The culture shock was a bit too much to deal with all at once and he needed space to think. He probably needed more space than other teenagers because he had so many other sides to his life that he was trying to balance. The six people in the manor seemed like too many sometimes.

"Find a better place to blow off steam, maybe the gym. The streets of Gotham are no place for a kid." Then Batman walked off into the night. Dramatic much Bruce? Nico walked slowly, allowing Bruce time to get back to the manor before him. He got the manor a couple of minutes later and walked up to the front door. He didn't even knock before the door was being opened by Alfred. He looked at Nico, his face remaining kind.

"Welcome back, Master Nico. Next time you choose to leave, might I request that you use the stairs? You gave Master Richard quite a fright." He spoke just as he might when asking one of the boys to do him a favor. Not chastising or anything. Nico gave him a small smile and nodded his agreement. Nico sidestepped Dick-- who was watching him suspiciously-- and continued his journey up to his room. On his way up, he was stopped by Bruce. He acted relieved to see him, which both amused and annoyed Nico. It wasn't like he didn't already know he was fine. They met in the corridor that led from the private entrance into the foyer that held the stairs that lead up to the bedrooms upstairs. Down this corridor was Bruce's office/his private study and the supplies closet.

"Oh good, you're alright! Batman just told me about your encounter with the Joker and Ivy a couple of blocks down?" Bruce looked interested and confused. Nico recognized this as a way to get the inside scoop without being suspicious. It was a good strategy-- or it would have been if his cover hadn't already been blown. There was a reason that Nico liked Bruce better than Batman, and this highlighted those reasons very plainly.

"Yeah, it's a long story." Nico stood awkwardly in the hallway as Bruce's gaze rested solely on him. Bruce was wearing a pair of black sweat pants and a white T-shirt. If Nico didn't know better, he would have thought that he had been working out.

"Well, I've got time, and according to Batman, you and I need to chat." Nico could tell from the tone of voice he used that it wasn't a question-- it was an order. Nico frowned, thinking about the time that his father had used that same tone with him. It hadn't been a very fun conversation. It had been after he had dug up the flower bed to try and speak to his mother's spirit. The very thing that Hades had ordered him not to do. That conversation had quickly turned into a shouting match and almost ended in Hades incinerating him in his rage. He wouldn't have rated that very high on his favorite father-son moments.

Bruce led the way to his study and opened the door for the young demigod. Nico took a couple of forced steps into the room and he felt Bruce come in behind him and shut the door. The clicking of the knob only served to increase his anxiety. The memories were coming on stronger now and he was remembering bits and pieces of the conversation with Hades and the acrid smell of the melted tree. He ahdn't realized how much he was not over that until now. He steeled himself and tried to shut out the sounds of his father reprimanding him for trying to see his mother. Hades had always been terrifying when he yelled, even to the other gods.

He was overstimulated. With all the change, the socializing, the realizations, the unadressed emotions, and the two encounters with a supervillain that wanted to own him as a pet-- he had finally reached his limit. Without him noticing, Nico had become really tense and was holding his breath, he waited for Bruce to do something, anything to break the tension. The memories and the voices of his father had faded into the background of his mind but he still wasn't calming down.

He didn't understand what was causing this. Was he afraid of Bruce or was this just the memory? Why was his heart beating out of his chest? Was he dying? Would he even be able to tell if he was dying? Could he sense himself dying? The situation didn't help him narrow down what he thought might be causing the breakdown. Was it something else that was causing this? Was he still upset about his drawings? Was it his run-in with the Joker? There were so many things that had happened to him recently that he couldn't be sure. All he knew is that he wanted the world to slow down.

Nico kept his head tilted toward the floor, avoiding eye contact. He didn't want Bruce to notice or take advantage of his vulnerablility. Would he perceive this as weakness or guilt? Did it matter? It didn't help that he already knew that he was in trouble. He knew that he shouldn't have left the house and wandered the streets of Gotham. Somehow, knowing that he were in the wrong was worse. YHe had to accept whatever came yohis way because he deserved to be stuck with the consequences of his actions.

Would his lack of eye contact make him think that he wasn't listening? Should he look at him or would that be seen as defiance? Nico didn't know what made Bruce mad-- which was stressing him out. He didn't know how to make the situation better or talk his way out of this one. Bruce wasn't Hades. Bruce might be the forgiving type, who knows? Whether he was the forgiving or strict type didn't really matter because Nico would have to accept the lecture and the punishment either way. He wouldn't disappoint Hades or Bruce by trying to get out of this, he would do the right thing this time, and take it in silence.

Bruce moved around his desk, sitting down heavily in his seat with a long sigh that Nico took to be a sign of disappointment. Laying his hands folded on the desk, he opened his mouth to speak and Nico started to panic, expecting the only venom. He braced himself.

"We need to talk." Bruce continued talking about how he can't run away like that as Nico's panic slowly set in. It hadn't started out badly, but it still could turn into Bruce shouting at him. Hades had always started off controlled and reasonable before Nico would say something wrong and he would blow up at him. Hades had gotten better since Nico started spending more time with him-- he just wasn't used to dealing with living beings. Especially not ones whose emotions were so dependent on him. Whatever the case was, Nico had had some pretty intense fights with his father over the years and he had no reason to suspect that Bruce wouldn't be the same.

"I know you could do whatever you wanted on the streets, but now you have a place to stay, rules to follow. You need to stop running away when someone upsets you. You aren't the only one with feelings in this house. I don't know if you realized it, but you scared Dick really badly jumping out of the window like that. You could have been hurt." Bruce went on like that, making Nico feel really selfish and immature.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare him." He apologized meekly. The apology sounded childish and weak, even to him. Immature.

"I know, you didn't, but you have to understand that running away from your problems isn't the answer," Bruce responded. Nico bristled, he certainly knew that. That was the same thing Hades had told him when he announced his intention to leave camp to live in the Underworld. That had led into a long argument about whether or not Nico had ever- not run from his problems. It had ended in a stalemate. Hades had told him that thinking that leaving camp would change anything was naive and stupid. He didn't care how much Nico hated it at camp or the fact that he wasn't wanted there. He didn't care if there was no point in him staying at camp since no one would spar or train with him anyway. He had insisted that Nico needed to face the other campers and give them a chance. Nico argued that he already had.

"Are you listening to me?" Bruce asked. Nico nodded though he hadn't been.

"What's the matter? This isn't really that big of a deal. Nothing to cry over." Bruce sat back in his chair. He hadn’t realized it, but there were tears in his eyes. He wiped them with the palm of his hand and then stared at them blankly. Was he really crying? Seriously?

"It's nothing, please continue," Nico assured him breathily. He tried to calm down, after all, Bruce was right. This wasn't anything worth crying over. He tried to take deep breaths but his mind had taken over and his thoughts were running out of control.

[Panic attack]

Now it wasn't just about Bianca, it was about his betrayal of Percy and how selfish he had been to sacrifice such a friendship for information. It was about the campers ignoring him for things that were beyond his control. It was about his own infinite solitude, since the only people who cared for him were people who were required to care. It was about his own miserable existence and his limited opportunities to improve his life due to his short life expectancy. It was the selfish feeling of having these thoughts and not taking other people's troubles into consideration. It was all of his problems crashing back down on him at once so hard that he couldn't breathe.

His heart sped up and his breathing got shallow as his throat constricted. His muscles in his arms and chest started clenching. He felt as though his skin were crawling with the tension that only he could feel and he resisted the urge to rub his arms. He began having to swallow continually in order to relieve some of the pressure in his throat. His head started to pound from the stress, the rushing in his ears throbbing in time. He lost focus of reality, nothing else but his panic mattered.

He was too busy trying to breathe and calm down to hear what Bruce was saying or to realize when he had stopped speaking. His breaths were getting more shallow, not being physically capable of taking a deep breath anymore. He was no longer paying too much attention to what was going on around him until Bruce stood up. All he could think of was breathing.

++Bruce++

Having 4 troubled boys, Bruce easily recognized it as a panic attack. He just had no idea what caused it. He was shocked, to say the least, to see that, in the middle of his lecture, Nico had started gasping for air and his eyes were wide and unfocused. He stood up to move towards Nico, but the boy's eyes snapped towards him with such fear within them that he stayed back. He had dealt with this sort of thing before with kids he found on the street, Nico was probably reliving a traumatic event related to being on the street for so long or maybe even being abused.

Knowing this, Bruce slowly raised his hands into the international sign for surrendering. Nico watched him wide-eyed, his pupils were wide and he seemed to be having trouble focusing on anything. He looked back to the ground and clutched his chest taking one uneven breath after another, tears streaming down his face. One fist balled up his shirt and the other methodically rubbed his thigh. This was a self-soothing technique that Bruce had seen many times before.

It was obvious to Bruce that something about the situation had caused this, but he couldn't, for the life of him, think of anything that might have scared him so bad. As far as he knew, he hadn't made any threatening gestures or said anything fear invoking. He finally opted to put the theorizing to the back of his mind and focus on calming the panicking boy down. Nico backed up until he leaned against a wall and then slid down it until he was crouching.

Bruce slowly made his way towards Nico who curled in fetal position on his knees and holding the back of his neck. He was actively trying to take deep breaths and it would work for a few seconds before he would be overtaken again. Thoughts flashed through his head so quickly that he didn't have time to register them. The one constant one was just continuously screaming about how pathetic and weak he was. It was overpowering.

"Nico... Nico hey! I need you to calm down. I don't know what is wrong but I need you to calm down for me, ok? Just breathe. You're not in any danger." Bruce tried, soothingly. As an afterthought, he added, "I'm not mad, I promise. You're not in trouble." Nico sucked in a breath and held it, resetting his lungs for a moment so he could actually get a deep breath. It took a couple of tries before he was able to break the cycle of hyperventilation and regular breathing but he got there eventually.

"May I touch you?" Bruce knew that this was an important question ask. Some people in a panic attack couldn't take the stimulation of being touched or maybe touch was what had caused it in the first place. Not every person wanted to be touched after an attack and he needed to make sure that he wasn't going to make things worse for Nico. The son of Hades shook his head-- no touching.

"Ok, that's fine. I won't touch you." He promised. he respected his request, but it did make him curious. Why did he not want to be touched? Was it the overstimulation, a normal touch aversion, or a touch aversion caused by trauma? He obviously had trauma, and from what they knew about him, some of it had come from his father. According to Nico's documentation, his mother had burned to death in a house fire. His father and his sister managed to make it out in time. Several years later his father committed suicide and left the children a trust fund that sent them to the Military Academy. There was a lot of time between when their mother died and when their father committed suicide, and from the hints that Nico has made, they didn't sound like it was a pleasant experience. Had their father abused them? If so, how?

Obviously, there are many types of abuse, neglect, emotional, physical, sexual, etc. Perhaps it was neglect? Nico had mentioned that his dad nearly burned him alive after locking him in his room. Was that more commonplace in his house than he had let on? Was he afraid of being locked up? The thought of someone treating their child like that made his blood boil. Just what had Haden (Hades's alias) done to him? He swore to himself that if it came to the worst... he would never rest until he found Haden's grave and spat on it.

In the background, Bruce heard footsteps coming down the hall and heard someone enter the room. It was good that someone had dragged him from his thoughts because he had a large urge to punch something but that probably wouldn't be a good idea with Nico being in the state that he was in. Bruce didn't dare look away from Nico who was still coming down off the panic attack. Luckily, his brain was starting to regain some control over his actions. He was beginning to realize that he was not in a dangerous situation after all. His muscles were still tense but his breathing slowed down significantly and had been getting increasingly deeper.

Alfred knelt down, handing Nico a glass of water and after a few sips, he finally seemed to remember where he was. He looked at each of them individually with a faint blush on his cheeks. Nico pulled himself up into a normal sitting position and pulled his knees up to his chest, his head resting on his knees. He stayed like that for several minutes. Bruce almost thought he fell asleep when he suddenly said,

[End panic attack]

"I-i'm sorry. Just a... Bad memory." He said weakly. Bruce held his hand out to Nico who eyed it warily at first before taking it and allowing himself to be helped up. Bruce helped Nico sit down in the nearest chair before going around his desk again and sitting down. Alfred remained in the room near the door. Nico wouldn't meet anyone's eyes.

"Ok, Nico. I really need you to tell me what just happened," Bruce said gently.

"I uh. Just remembered something my uh... father did a little while back." Nico replied, being purposely vague. It wasn't really about his father but he didn't want to or couldn't tell Bruce about any of the other stuff just yet so he had to make something up. When no one said anything he realized that they were going to force him to explain. He tensed, he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to tell the truth but he also would feel guilty if he lied. Seeing another potential breakdown, Bruce quickly clarified.

"I just want to know the trigger for now. I don't want something like this to happen again." Nico relaxed somewhat.

"Uhh, well uhh." Nico floundered for the words and it occurred to Bruce that he might be embarrassed.

"No answer is a stupid answer," Bruce reassured him softly. He didn't want to interrupt the boy from saying what he needed to say.

Nico breathed, "I... my father... uh was never... happy with me. He called me immature and naive a lot because I was. He lectured me about the same way you were. There was one specific instance I was thinking of, but I don't want to talk about it..." Nico trailed off.

"Are those the only things?"

"Yeah, it's just..." Nico physically shuddered, " I was also remembering one time when I was out on the streets and got backed into a corner by a bunch of criminals. They mugged me and left me there to die so... yeah." He added, hoping that he hadn't overdone it. It was sort of a true event, just without the supernatural aspects.

++Nico++

Bruce's jaw and fists clenched and his eyes darkened. When Nico looked up he mistook Bruce's anger as being directed towards him and he winced. He hadn't expected this response and didn't know what to do to make him less angry so he did the first thing that came to mind, damage control. He instantly tried to cover up what he said to lessen Bruce's anger. Nico fiddled with his skull ring which he had taken off and was now rolling it between his fingers. He had gone too far with the explanations. After a few moments Bruce took a deep breath and let the subject drop.

Silence fell over the group. Luckily the silence only lasted for about a minute before Bruce spoke up, "Nico, I still would like to know about what happened tonight a few blocks down.

"So, Batman said..." Nico had to hold back a snort as Bruce started to speak, "that you seemed to know Poison Ivy already as ah... Pam was it?"

Nico, who was regaining his confidence by the second, decided to play along, "Yeah. She used to be Pamela Isley. I don't know how she turned into... that exactly, but that isn't the same Pam."

"How did you first meet her?"

"Well, I went to an Envirothon thing with a friend of mine and she had a table set up there talking about plants and harmful chemicals and such. She really liked my friend who is a nature enthusiast as well so by default she liked me. Good thing too." Nico told the partial truth. It was all true except that it wasn't only by default that Pam liked him. He had been able to talk with her about how dead and decaying organisms provided fertilizer for plants. She had been impressed by his knowledge of organic fertilizers. That was the only reason she liked him. That and the fact that Persephone had turned him into a Dandelion before. Not fun. Bruce/Batman only nodded. Nico figured that he was mainly portraying his alter ego at the moment. Alfred had remained in the same position for the whole discussion.

"So Ivy is now your..."

"She thinks that she is my mother figure. She said to come to her whenever I needed help." Nico confessed, knowing that Batman probably already knew that anyway.

"Strange." Nico could only nod. Then he yawned and was dismissed to bed. He walked down the halls side-stepping anyone he came across before entering his room and collapsing on his bed. He was out almost immediately. The adrenaline from the panic attack had long since left him and he felt exhausted.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Nico woke up exceedingly early. It was 5 AM, and he wasn't in the mood for life today. He took a shower, and then got dressed and took care of his personal hygiene. He risked a glance and the mirror and was surprised to find that he wasn't repulsed by what he saw. Instead of the corpse that usually greeted him, he was met by an actually presentable figure. His hair was still in his eyes, the natural breaks making it look semi-spiky [see Viria fanart]. His cheeks still were tight but no longer looked hollowed. His skin was pale but it at least sort of had his olive glow again. There were shadows beneath his eyes, but they no longer looked bloodshot. If he put on a couple more pounds, he might even be considered attractive.

He didn't dwell on his reflection for long, being well aware of the story of Narcissus. Plus, he really wasn't much to look at. Sure, he wasn't ugly, but he wasn't going to be a heart-throb anytime soon, that's for sure. He finished up quickly before sneaking out of the house and into the garden. He really didn't want to face anyone just yet. Last night had been embarrassing. Just thinking about how pathetic and vulnerable he must have seemed made him cringe. That wasn't the impression he had wanted Bruce to have of him. He had probably just reaffirmed that he couldn't take care of himself in Bruce's mind.

He left for the orchard, dodging Alfred on his way out. He didn't really feel like talking to anyone yet this morning. He didn't want to take out his bad mood on Alfred. That would not go over well for anybody. When Nico got out to the orchard, he climbed up in a tree and just sat there-- staring at the manor through gaps in the leaves. He studied the classic gothic design with vague interest-- not understanding the design types but appreciating it nonetheless. The estate itself was massive-- it must cost a fortune. It definitely didn't seem like a place that he would belong.

Nico eyed the three-story mansion apprehensively and wondered if he should stay. He was dangerous. What if he panicked again and lashed out? What if he attracted the Joker again-- or monsters for that matter? Could he really justify staying there despite the risks? He should never have taken Bruce up on his offer. He did it for selfish reasons-- because he was tired of his hardships. Shame washed over him. He should just return to the underworld. At least there, no one could get hurt by him or the monsters he attracted. Hades wasn't so bad. Sure, he had his moments, but who didn't? He was a lot better than he used to be.

Nico considered it for a long time but couldn't come up with the conviction to actually leave. Whether he admitted it or not, he was beginning to get comfortable here. The manor may not look like somewhere he belonged, but it felt like he did. He didn't want to leave this all behind.

Nico sighed aloud from his place in the tree, having realized that he really did not want to leave the manor. He knew he should, but the Wayne's were in little danger from the monsters, considering the protection field, and besides, they were the bat family-- they could take care of themselves. Having decided that he wouldn't leave, for now, he relaxed and watched the sunrise. It wasn't until well after 7:30 A.M that anyone came looking for him. Luckily, Alfred had seen him leave for the orchard, so they didn't have to go out on another manhunt. Bruce decided that it was past time for Nico to learn........

Self-defense. Yes, he had shown that he had pretty good reflexes and knowledge about ancient sword fighting, but they had never seen him in an actual fight. With all the villains around, it was critical that he learns how to protect himself. Especially if he was going to be a part of this family-- they were high-value targets, and they needed to know how to deal with those situations so that they didn't escalate. There was the added benefit that it would be good for their relationship. Admittedly, Bruce didn't know much about bonding, but training with the other boys always seemed to do the trick; maybe this would be just what they needed.

Bruce got dressed in athletic gear and headed out to the orchard, making sure that he didn't silence his footfall out of habit. He didn't really want to startle the boy. He easily spotted Nico, his black attire standing out against the colorful fall leaves. It was kind of wet and chilly outside, and Bruce worried that Nico might catch a cold. How long had he been out here? He approached the tree where Nico had taken refuge. He stood still underneath, knowing that Nico had most likely seen him coming. When Nico didn't come down, he called out to him.

"Com'on Nico, you're going to catch a cold, and then Alfred will be upset with both of us," Bruce said semi-teasingly. He heard shuffling from above, and leaves fell as Nico made his descent. Soon he was holding onto the lowest tree branch, only holding on by his hands. He let go and quietly dropped to the ground.

Bruce gave him a questioning look, "Can't afford to annoy Alfred," was all Nico said.

"Walk with me." Bruce motioned for him to follow him deeper into the grove. What about catching a cold? Now it was Nico's turn to look at Bruce questioningly; the manor was the other way. Bruce wasn't looking at Nico and therefore did not see the look. Nico didn't feel threatened, and his intuition remained silent, so he allowed himself to be led wherever Bruce wanted to go. After walking a short distance, they came upon an old abandoned sitting area. Bruce took one bench and motioned for Nico to take the one across from him-- reluctantly he complied. Once settled, Bruce leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. This seemed to be the start of a serious discussion. He was probably going to ask about last night, the son of Hades realized, his heart sinking.

"What about annoying Alfred?" Nico asked. Bruce smirked but didn't respond to the question.

"Nico, I think it's time you learn self-defense," Bruce said gently yet firmly. Nico had to resist the urge to scoff.

"I can defend myself." Nico countered. Bruce pursed his lips, not wanting to get in an argument.

"Look, maybe you can with a sword or whatever, but you won't always have it on you. You need to become proficient at hand-to-hand fighting styles too. Especially if you keep deciding to make more trips into town." Bruce pressed more firmly this time.
"I..." Nico started before Bruce interrupted.

"This is not up for discussion. I am more than willing to train with you. It will give us time to get to know each other, and I will personally feel much better knowing that you are able to take care of yourself."

"Fine," Nico replied finally. He knew when he was losing an argument. This wasn't worth fighting about anyway. This was Batman he was talking to. He could potentially get some serious training out of it.

"Great! Let's go inside and eat, then we can hit the gym. The other boys will be in there too. They all practice self-defense too."

"Why?"

"Because we get a lot of people coming after us for some reason or another. Dick was kidnapped so many times I lost count, and there have been numerous armed robberies at the manor. We've all needed to learn how to protect ourselves if we need to. That's the price of being rich and famous in Gotham." Bruce shrugged nonchalantly. Nico considered this. It made sense. Even if he wasn't Batman, he probably still would have learned some form of self-defense over the years. Bruce wasn't a fool, though the media tried their best to prove otherwise.

++++

"Show me what you've got," Bruce said, standing in the center of the ring. Nico stood on the outside, looking at the ring distastefully. He slowly stepped in and immediately felt inadequate. He stood there, with his sweatpants and long sleeves black shirt feeling tiny next to Bruce. This wasn't exactly what he had pictured, though he really should have seen this coming. This was Batman, after all. Nico imagined that he had more of a sin-or-swim curriculum.

"What? Do you want me to fight you?" Nico asked incredulously. Bruce didn't respond, and Nico whistled and said, "Ok, I'm doomed." Damian chuckled from the sidelines where he stood with the others. They had all come to watch him die, it would seem. Without warning, Bruce charged. Nico fell into a fighting stance almost without thinking. As he approached, Nico tensed, ready for the fight to start. It was a good thing his instincts were taking over because, if he had been thinking, he would have run the other way.

Bruce made to tackle him, but Nico jumped straight up and over Bruce, kicking his feet down as he passed underneath. Bruce sprawled on his face, having been expecting to make contact, while Nico turned his own fall into a forward dive roll. Nico had enough momentum to roll up into a standing position. Almost immediately, he was in a fighting stance. Bruce picked himself up and faced the battle-ready Demigod. Bruce realized that something had changed in Nico's eyes, he was not just sparing-- he was fighting for his life. Bruce wondered just how often Nico actually had to defend himself. He obviously knew something about defense and fighting if he'd pulled off that move before.

He and Nico circle each other, looking for weakness. Bruce lunged suddenly, hoping to make contact with a right hook. Nico blocked Bruce's punch, and his fist connected with Bruce's face hard. Bruce stumbled back a few paces. Naturally, Bruce was going easy on Nico because he was not up to Batman standards. Even still, he was holding his own, which was more than any of them had expected. Bruce and Nico sparred back and forth for a little while, getting used to each other's style and adapting to fit them.

Nico was trained, Bruce realized. He was trained professionally, not by some summer camp. Or at least not any normal ones. His posture and moves were too advanced to be self-taught, and he was adapting to Bruce's styles better than even Richard had at the beginning. He definitely had fighting experience, but who would train a child so young? And why? Obviously, he knew of a few people who had done just that. The League of Shadows, the Court of Owls, The League of Assassins, The Light, and even superheroes would take on young proteges and train them to fight. However, Nico didn't seem to have much idea about what was going on in the hero world. Was he that good of an actor, or did someone else train him?

Eventually, Bruce caught Nico across the face with another right hook, and Nico fell to the ground with an 'ompf'. Bruce was about to make sure he didn't hurt him too badly, but Nico just started laughing. Nico rolled over on his stomach and pushed himself up, still chuckling.

"That was fun. It's been a while..." Nico trailed off, the grin disappearing from his face. He seemed to be remembering something unpleasant.

"Since what?" Bruce asked. Nico looked over at him, his expression bitter.

"Since I've sparred for fun." He said before moving out of the ring. He went over to a bench and grabbed a water. Bruce wrapped a towel around his neck and followed. Dick and Jason got in the ring and started trying to kill each other while everyone else just watched.

++Nico++

When Nico got cooled off, he left Bruce to stand by the edge of the ring. Dick seemed to have the upper hand for the moment and was doing flips around Jason, who was throwing punches just a little bit late. They were obviously holding back, and he thought he knew why. They didn't want to overdo it with him around. They still didn't want to show him their true abilities in case he were to guess the secret.

"And they call him the 'boy hostage'? Nico asked. He knew the secret, but he had to act like he didn't.

"Yeah, well, he wasn't so good when he was little." Bruce didn't miss a beat coming up with the lie. Except for the fact that Nico could sense who he was, he would have no idea that Bruce was the Batman. Everything was so well hidden that he would have taken months to figure it out on his own. Thank the gods for powers... sometimes. The demigod nodded and had to hold in a snort. Bruce looked at him weirdly, and Nico acted like he was coughing. Bruce handed him a water bottle, which he refused, and they watched the match in silence.

The match ended up with the boys having each other in a headlock, and Bruce ended up having to separate the pair. Then Damian and Tim went at it. Nico was more interested in seeing the Damian fight than Tim because he seemed well trained, even without fighting. The match was close, but Damian ended up winning. Tim didn't seem happy about that, and I could understand why. Damian was the younger of the two. I doubted Bianca would have been too happy if I had beaten her in something either.

Bruce watched Nico the entire time, but he wasn't quite sure why. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be in awe of these guys or if he looked sick or something. When the fights were over, they all stood in a circle, and Bruce started critiquing their performances. The criticism that he gave was constructive and touched on both the pros and cons of each boy. It was much better than Hades' system, which was only listing the faults. This one, at least, didn't totally destroy anyone's ego.

"Dick, go for the easy knockouts, don't play around too much, and waste your energy. Jason, you get sloppy when you're angry at Dick, stay focused, and you'll start getting the advantage because your style is more consistent than his. Tim, you think too much, which causes you to hesitate. Let muscle memory and instinct do some of the work. Damian, don't be so aggressive. We don't fight to kill." Everyone went completely still as though Bruce had spilled their greatest secret. Nico didn't really think much of this since he had always been trained to kill. The group exchanged concerned glances before their eyes settled on him. Nico tried not to notice.

"Nico, at your summer camp, were you in danger of dying?" Bruce asked, putting it bluntly. Then Nico understood-- they thought that his summer camp was what had trained him to fight. They weren't wrong, but he couldn't have them thinking that. He wasn't sure what they would do to the camp if they knew.

"No. Why?" Nico frowned in confusion.

"I guess my question is: where and why did you have to fight, other than sparring." He inquired. He froze, trying to think of what he could or could not tell them. There was nothing he could think to say that would make his situation any less suspicious.

"That's... complicated. I always have to fight for survival." The demigod shugged.

"Why?"

"Please don't ask why, because I can't tell you. As for where, well, that is also complicated... basically anywhere that I've spent an extended amount of time at." He answered as carefully as he could. He didn't get smited, so he guessed he didn't say too much.

"Why can't you tell us? Will someone hurt you?" Tim asked. Nico considered this for a minute.

"I guess you could say that. Let's just leave it as I can't, ok?" Nico crossed his arms uncomfortably. He didn't like the looks that they were giving him. Their eyes were suspicious-- they didn't trust him. He couldn't blame him. he had only been here for about a month-- not even a whole month. He woulddn't trust him either. There was also the fact that this was the Bat family he was talking to. They had caution and suspicion drilled into them for years of coure they were going to be suspicious.

"Well, since we're sharing secrets, do you all have something I should know?" This may not have been the best time but the question was out of his mouth before he could even consider filtering it. It was too late to back down now. Tim's face looked like a fish, and it reminded Ncio of Percy when he did his fish impression. If the air wasn't so tense, it would have been funny.

"Who told you?" Jason growled. Nico raised his eyebrows at him, tying to appear unimpressed. Maybe if he acted like it wasn't that big of a deal, they wouldn't react so badly. He didn't even have a way to justify why he knew the secret at all. This was a mistake.

"Wait, we don't even know that he knows it." Tim reasoned, watching Nico.

"What? That he prowls around dressed as a bat, and the rest of you are involved? That secret is the one we're talking about, right?" Nico clarified.

"How could you possibly know that? Did someone tell you? Who have you told?" Damian was glaring at him and had his arms crossed. Nico had never seen him look so much like Bruce before this moment. He was literally a smaller version of Bruce.

"No one told me; I figured it out. I haven't told anybody either, and I don't plan to." Nico replied hotly. Damian glared right back at him. It would have turned into a staring match if Bruce hadn't intervened.

"How did you figure it out?" Bruce asked, eyeing the son of Hades. Maybe he had seriously underestimated this child. How had he figured it out without them even knowing he was looking?

"I can't tell you that; just know that there is no way someone else would know." He replied. Nico knew that this was a small consolation, especially if they didn't believe him. There was no way that he could come up with a convincing lie about how he figured it out and that would only make them more suspicious of him. All he could do it hope that they would take his word for it. It was a lot ot ask of them since he had only been there for a short time.

"Why do you have so many things that you can't tell us? You know our secret. We should know yours." Jason asked, annoyed.

"I agree, but I would be killed if I were to tell you, and I am more afraid of them than I am of you. Though, if you guess my secret on your own, then I could speak somewhat freely about it. Until then... my hands are tied." Nico explained.

"How do we know you aren't lying?" Damian asked suspiciously.

"Hint 1: Ask Diana Prince. She can vouch for me; she knows of the agreement I made," he said, "She knows a lot about me and can assure you that I am not a threat to you."

"Is that how you know her? Your secret?" Dick asked curiously.

"Not exactly. You see... she had a part to play in my sister's death. I have always been good at holding grudges, and it has almost gotten me killed many times."

"What else do you know about us?" Dick was the only one who didn't seem mad at him, which he was grateful for. Nico was uncomfortable enough knowing that the other four people in this room were upset with him.

"There are a lot of things I know about you, all of you. If you figure out my secret, I can and will tell you everything." Nico promised.

"We can protect you, Nico. These people you're scared of won't be able to hurt you with us around," Bruce assured him.

"Normally, I'd say you were right, but these people are a little more powerful than your average criminal. If I break this oath... well, there are things worse than death. Trust me, I should know." He said, thinking of how horrible the field of punishment is.

"Why should you know? Have you ever broken an oath such as this before?" Tim asked. He shook my head and shuddered involuntary, thinking of the spirits he had seen who had.

"No, but I've seen some of the people who have. It isn't pretty."

"So there are more people who have taken this oath?" Bruce asked.

"Well, sure. Lots of people like me take these types of oaths. They are all for different types of things, but most of us have taken one at one time or another. Mine is just that I can't spill my secrets unless given permission or they become common knowledge for this family. The oath is binding."

"What is an example of another oath?" Tim asked. Nico thought about, trying to decide how to explain it in a non-supernatural light.

"Well, oaths of revenge... where you swear that you will do everything in your power to get even with the person who slighted you. Or an oath of loyalty which is self-explanatory, or an oath of truth, just to name a few, which lets someone know you aren't lying." He explained before taking a drink of his water bottle.

"My cousin once swore he wasn't a thief. He was telling the truth, so he survived." He said after a short pause.

"Cousin?" Nico nodded but didn't elaborate. Family was a touchy subject.

"Nico, who can give you permission to spill your secrets?" He winced. He hadn't thought they would ask that. Nico Shook his head. He couldn't tell them that the person he made the oath to was none other than Hades the Greek god of the Underworldd-- they'd send him to Arkham for sure.

Chapter Text

"Who, Nico?" the boy in question fell silent. He certainly couldn't tell them that the god of the underworld was the only one who could allow him to tell them his secret. He also couldn't tell them that said Greek god was his father, which is why he was the one he made the oath with. That wasn't an option. So, he couldn't tell the truth. At least, not all of it. Though Nico was getting tired of having to lie for the gods. He wanted to have just one thing in his life that wasn't complicated-- that wasn't shrouded in mystery or lies. He wanted to tell the truth.

"It doesn't matter. There are only two ways that I can tell you. If they let me or if you guess. They aren't going to let me so you better guess." He said before leaving the room, completely done with being interrogated. Nico didn't hear them follow him so he assumed that they were still in the gym discussing this new info. Let them talk. They probably didn't want him around right then anyway. He had probably just lost all their trust-- something that could have easily been avoided if he had better impulse control. Why couldn't he keep his mouth shut?

The son of Hades just really wanted to talk to Percy or Annabeth, or someone who he didn't have to lie to. He didn't have to make sure he didn't say something wrong to him in case he got smote. They may still not be close with him, but at least they trusted him to some extent. He and Percy had been working on their relationship a little bit. They were better now. Percy understood why had done what he did at the doors of Orpheus. There was still tension, but the son of Poseidon had mostly forgiven him now. Percy wasn't really one for holding grudges. Nico was so lost in thought that he rammed his shoulder into a wall while turning a corner. He stumbled back a few paces and glared at it.

"Why are you in my way stupid barrier made of drywall and plaster!?" he hissed at it, he had always wanted to say that. It wasn't as satisfying out loud as it had been in his head. He heard a chuckle behind him and he turned around to see Dick standing there. Turns out that Alfred wasn't the only one who could appear suddenly. Nico took comfort in the fact that he didn't seem to be angry with him. Maybe he hadn't totally ruined things with the Waynes just yet. Or maybe Dick just didn't hold grudges.

"What did the 'stupid barrier' ever do to you?" He wanted to know.

"It existed. What do you want?" Nico shot back. Dick shrugged and pushed off the wall.

"I want to know what is bugging you, mostly." Nico eyed him. Why was he interested? Hadn't Bruce warned them to be cautious around him? Why would he care about whether or not anything was going on with him? Dick seemed to be genuinely curious so Nico decided to humor him.

"I'm just frustrated. I didn't want to ruin your trust in me earlier. I want to tell you what is wrong, but I can't," he started, "Now I doubt that Bruce will let me leave to see a friend from camp. I can't blame him, but I haven't seen him in a while." Nico said with a sigh. He rubbed his hand down his face.

"Do they know your secret?" Nico shrugged in response, it wasn't a lie. He had no idea if Percy knew that he had taken an oath of secrecy or not. "Is he at camp?" Again he shrugged.

"If he was he would have tried to get in contact with me by now," he said, knowing that he didn't have any mortal means of communicating, "He would know that I wasn't at camp. He must still be in Manhattan." he reasoned. Nico didn't mention getting in contact with him at the mall, because he couldn't very well tell Dick about Iris messages. Or that he was the subject of another manhunt like Nico was after we fled the military school.

"Can you call him?" Without thinking, Nico violently shook his head no. Richard looked at the younger boy in confusion and some concern. His voice went gentle as he spoke, "ok, ok... no calling." Nico felt silly, Dick probably thought he was afraid of the device itself now.

"Yeah, nevermind I'll just send him a letter I guess. He will get it when he gets back to camp, I'm sure." he said, thinking of iris messaging him later tonight. He'd have to actually send a letter or something and wait for a long enough time for it to have actually made it to Percy to keep the others from getting suspicious, but at least he could talk to someone for now. It was better nothing, that's for sure.

That night Nico waited until the others left on patrol to IM Percy. He was in the middle of dinner and was stuffing his face with pizza. This was nothing new-- the boy could eat like one of his father's creations. Though this told Nico that the older demigod was definitely at camp because he would never eat like that in front of Sally.

"Percy!" he called. Percy's eyes shot up from his food and his eyes widened almost comically at the sight of him. did he really look different or was he just surprised. Nico looked down at his outfit. It was a simple black t-shirt and a pair of dark gray sweatpants. Maybe he did look a little odd.

"Nico! Chiron told me you were actually being adopted? I thought this was temporary!"

"Yeah. Bruce Wayne adopted and I've been living with him and his family for a while now."

"So you're living with mortals?" Percy scrunched up his nose. He had lived with mortals way longer than Nico had. Longer than most of the kids at camp had. He of all people had a reason to mistrust mortals. Smelly Gabe hadn't exactly been a good experience from the hints that Percy had dropped over the years. The son of Hades felt it fitting that man had been turned to stone.

"Yeah." He didn't elaborate-- feeling awkward. Nico didn't want to talk about the situation he was currently in. He knew that Percy wouldn't react well to knowing that Bruce was suspicious of him. Percy's loyalty would be the death of him someday. Apparently his apprehension was clear because Percy frowned.

"Why did you IM me? Are you in trouble? Do you need help?" Nico waved away his question. He didn't want him to get the wrong ideas. Bruce may be mad at him right now, but Nico didn't think that he was in any real danger. Wouldn't Bruce have done something to him already if he were angry? Wouldn't he have already tried to force it out of him as Batman or lecture him as Bruce? Nico wasn't sure what constituted normal punishments these days. It had been a long time since he had had parental figure around to enact discipline. Hades' version of a punishment was to send him to his room at the palace. Was that a typical father thing to do?

"I'm fine, Percy. I just wanted to let you know that I am ok. The adoption was pretty unexpected but I don't think I'm in danger here. I'm in Gotham, with Bruce Wayne, not a bad set-up if you ask me." He mused, gesturing around the room. He didn't share any of his other concerns with Percy-- he didn't want to worry him. Plus, anytime he brought up things from his past, people gave him a pitying look. He couldn't stand that look.

"Don't scare me like that again, especially with everything going on." He said sternly, suddenly serious.

"What? Percy, what's going on?" The son of Hades asked, not entirely sure of what he was talking about.

"You know, with the monsters?" Nico stared at him blankly, "The monsters aren't staying dead." He lost focus and sank into his thoughts, Percy kept talking but he didn't hear him. Horrible images of invincible monsters crossed the younger's mind. Then he felt a glimmer of hope...Bianca. He could bring her back.

Nico cut the connection with Percy after a hasty farewell. He grabbed his backpack and then shadow traveled to the doors of Orpheus. He pulled out a reed pipe that he had taken from a fallen satyr during the war. At the time, he was planning on putting it in the attic with the other artifacts but he had never gotten around to it. Nico held it to his lips and played the worst-sounding note he could. It wasn't so hard-- he sucked at musical instruments.

The rock split and the stairs to the underworld appeared. Nico didn't hesitate to continue his journey-- he was on a mission that he could not fail. Nico walked straight past Cerberus and the checkpoints and past the fields of punishment and asphodel to Elysium. It wasn't exactly a happy reunion. He searched for hours and hours to find Bianca, but he couldn't. Nico felt my heart crush in on itself like a tin can, she had tried for rebirth. Bianca was gone. He walked back through Elysium and into asphodel, mindlessly watching the spirits who forgot who they were. Now he would never see her again, even after he died, maybe it would be kinder to go to asphodel.

He passed most spirits by without a second glance. They didn't know who or where they were. They were lost to time. Their faces were of little consequence to him. There was one, however, that caught his eyes. She was looking about the place, her reddish/brown, frizzy, hair framing her face. Her skin was dark, cocoa brown, and unblemished. Something about her stuck out. Her eyes didn't look lost, she knew why she was here-- she remembered her past. But why?

Nico felt connected to her, more than he had with anyone ever before-- his instinct was to protect her. Her aura was that of death, but also something colder. She was a child of Hades or some death god at least. If the Roman demigods actually do exist, like that one soul in Elysium had told me, then she could be a daughter of Pluto. He had claimed to be a son of Mercury, died at the hands of a cyclops. Either way, she was his sister and he was here to help. She may not be the person he had come for, but she was better than leaving empty handed. She was a second chance.

He went to the spirit, "You're different," the spirit looked up at him with beautiful, almost golden eyes, "You remember your past."

The spirit watched him. Nico could see that she was curious-- eyeing him carefully. Normal souls were not curious, "I came here looking for my sister, but I couldn't find her. I was hoping to bring her back from the dead." Nico wasn't sure why he was telling her these things but he felt the need to say it.

"You're my sister too, you deserve a second chance. Come with me." He held out his hand to her and she took it. Nico dragged her across the barriers of the different afterlives and out the gates. Cerberus barked but didn't dare leave his post as the son of Hades ran off with his new-found sister. He took her back to where the doors or Orpheus were. This time, there was a sign above the door that read exit.

He didn't know if this would work as a means to bring her back but he knew that she deserved a chance and this was it. Ncio pointed towards the stairs, "Go, I will be right behind you. Don't look back until I say, you hear?" The girl nodded. Nico told her not to look because this was the same exit that Hades told Orpheus to use to bring his love back. The one condition had been that he could not look back until they were both out of the Underworld. Orpheus turned around too quickly and his wife remained dead. This was so close to the same story that he decided it couldn't hurt to not look.

After what seemed like forever they reached the top and they walked out into the cold air. The girl stood in front of him, solid again, inhabiting her own body. She had yet to turn around and the doors closed safely behind him.

"Ok, you can turn around now, I think," he said, checking to make sure the doors were really closed. The girl turned around to face him, her face was even prettier with blood flowing in her veins again. Her eyes were a little scared and also full of wonder.

"Thank you, I had almost forgotten what it was like to be alive. I am alive, right? I feel alive." She asked watching him carefully as she ran her hands down her sides to see if she was real, though ghosts could still touch other ghosts and themselves so...

"Yes. Do you remember your name?" He asked, knowing she would be disoriented. This was a lot to take in for both of them.

"Yes, my name is Hazel. Hazel Levesque and I am..." she trailed off.

"Are what?" he coaxed.

"You won't believe me..." Hazel looks back at the sealed doorway, "on the other hand, maybe you would. I think I am a daughter of Pluto, the Roman god of the dead." He nodded.

"Very good, you remember more than I thought you would. I am Nico di Angelo, son of... Pluto." I caught myself. I didn't think that it was wise to tell her that I was a Greek. There must be a reason that the two don't mix. Right?

"You're a child of Pluto too?" He eyes widened hopefully. I knew that look. It was hope. The hope that you were no longer alone in the world. It was then that he knew he had made the right decision.

"Yep."

"Where am I now? This certainly isn't Alaska." She said looking around.

"Alaska? Why in the god's names were you in Alaska?" Nico asked, having heard from his father that Alaska was the land that the gods cannot reach. How had she ended up there of all places? Hazel hesitated before she eventually gave in and told her story. It ws a long and sad tale, and Nico could tell that she had left a lot out, but he didn't pry. She would tell him when and if she was ready.

"My mother was mad at Pluto and moved us there. Gaea made her do it though, put voices in her head." Hazel defended.

"What would the Earth primordial want with your mother?" He asked. It wasn't like she wanted a kid that emanates death, right?

"She needed her, to use me," Hazel said quietly, looking away from him and into the light-polluted sky.

"Why would she want a child of death?" Nico asked, thoroughly confused.

"Death? I am not a child of death?" Hazel asked, now also confused.

"Can you not raise the dead?"

"Like zombies?" She asked, looking slightly green.

"No, just raise skeletons and talk to ghosts. If you can't do that, what can you do?" He asked, interested. Hazel looked conflicted for a moment before sighing. He had a feeling she was about to tell him something that hadn't been a part of her earlier story.

"I can summon things of value. Like precious metals or stone. Though, whoever touches them besides me or my mother dies a painful death." She said sadly.

"Why?"

"When I was close to being born, Hades offered my mother a wish. She asked for all the riches under the Earth." Hazel explained.

"Foolish woman. A greedy wish comes with curses." He growled. Hazel continued as though he hadn't said anything.

"Pluto warned her that it might have horrible consequences, but she didn't care. I was born with the curse of being followed by cursed money. It pops up wherever I go. Just look there, another one." Hazel pointed at the ground behind him, there was a diamond ring sitting on the grass. He slowly stepped away from the trinket and allowed Hazel to pick it up.

"Handy, if you want to kill someone greedy," Nico said humorlessly. Hazel nodded sadly.

"Yeah, but I don't." She whispered. There was an uncomfortable silence between them as Nico digested this new information. Where could he take her that she wouldn't endager anyone?

"I'll need to take you to Camp soon-- sometime this week at the latest. There they can help you learn how to defend yourself. You can learn to control your abilities." Nico suggested. Hazel nodded numbly. She was overwhelmed and her thoughts were a jumbled mess.

"Where will I stay beforehand?" Hazel asked. Nico already had someone in mind for that.

"Time for you to meet a slightly crazy... friend... of mine I guess. She acts more like a 'mother figure' really." He said grinning at how interesting this was going to be.

"Um, ok? Lead the way I guess." Nico reached out and grabbed her hand and in seconds we were a couple of blocks away from toxic acres. He had just pictured Ivy when he traveled so she should be around here somewhere. Hazel leaned against the wall to recover from the jump. He really should have warned her beforehand. They were standing in a dark, cold alley that had vines literally covering the walls. Ncio leaned over to the vines, hoping that this would work, he knew that plants talked to Ivy, but did they talk to each other?

He said to it, "Tell Ivy that Nico needs to ask her for a favor, please." he felt kind of stupid talking to a vine, especially when Hazel looked at me like he had lost his mind. However, in a few minutes, Poison Ivy herself rushed into the alley. Her hair was kind of frizzy and her dress looked a little ruffled. Nico walked out of the shadows so Ivy could see him. As soon as she had spotted him she was checking him over for injuries.

"Nico! Are you ok? I told you you could call me for help! Is that clown bothering you?" She mother henned.

"Yes, Ivy, I understand you care about me. I don't see why, but I know. I called you here because a friend of mine needs a place to lay low for a little while until I can move them. Will you help us?" He asked in a pleading voice. Ivy looked him over before glancing at Hazel, who had retreated from the shadows a little ways. She obviously didn't know what to make of his woman, but she didn't make it too obvious on her face.

"Nico, are you in trouble? You are like one of my children, I wanna keep you safe." Nico silently thanked Persephone for turning hin into that dandelion all that time ago.

"I know, I promise I am not in any big trouble. Definitely not in trouble with the law. She just needs to hide from her parents until I can get her out of town." He explained with a little white lie.

"Ok, she can stay with me at toxic acres, if she wants. I have an inhaled antidote that you both need to take so that you can be there without dying slowly."

"That would be nice. I would much prefer not dying." He said somewhat conversationally. Ivy continued as though he hadn't spoken,

"This one will allow you to come and go as you please. Come on now, before the bat comes to check on me." Ivy handed us two flowers, each held the antidote. All we had to do was allow the plant to attach to our faces for a couple of seconds and breathe in. It was a terrifying concept, but a necessary risk. Nico went first so that Hazel knew it was safe. Normally, he wouldn't have trusted Ivy, but she seemed to think of him as her kid. There was also the fact that she had no motive to hurt us yet even with the vines adorning the walls. Not to mention Nico felt sort of connected to her, it must have been his inner dandelion. Either way, he trusted her.

The antidote smelled like roses and he didn't die or pass out, so he assumed Ivy hadn't tricked them and they both followed her deep into toxic acres. He was definitely happy that He had taken the antidote. This place felt toxic just by the way the air settled on his skin.

"This way, you two." Ivy beckoned us towards the least run-down condo. It was completely overgrown and there were no windows. All the windows had tree limbs sticking out of them, some of the limbs had mutated fruits on them. Hazel was watching him, looking nervous about being here. It must have been quite a shock seeing all the skyscrapers and cars and stuff. She wasn't too surprised by Ivy, having seen her own powers. Nico gave her a reassuring smile, which felt foreign on his face. Nico lead the way, following Ivy into her house that might as well have been a part of nature.

There were trees and flowers manifesting themselves on practically every level surface there was. Even on the chandeliers, which made the lights dance eerily on the walls. This was his kind of place. He wasn't so fond of the plant life but the place was dark and gloomy, reminding him of home. Though, the smell was certainly something he would have to get used to. It didn't smell bad, the scent was just a bit too strong for his taste. Too...earthy.

"Nico dear? That door straight down the hall is yours if you ever need it. The last door on the left, Hazel, is yours. If you need anything, just ask." Ivy pointed down the hall and Hazel hugged him-- catching him off guard. What was that for?

"Thank you again. Be safe, got it?" She said before turning and heading down the hall. I guess that was goodbye. It made sense that she would need some time to adjust, so Nico tried not to feel hurt. This was a lot to take in. He could giver her time.

"Yes ma'am," He said sarcastically. Ivy poked him on the shoulder. When he looked at her, she curled her finger, beckoning him into her living room. Nico followed her curiously. She looked around him as if seeing if she was being watched before smiling at him with a slightly green-tinted smile. Nico thought her enamel was combined with chlorophyll. He didn't like the mischief in her smile.

"Sooooo," Ivy purred mischievously, "Who's the girl? A girlfriend, I hope?" She wiggled her eyebrows conspiratorially. Nico snorted in complete disbelief.

"No! No! Nothing like that! She's my... half-sister. I'm pretty sure that she would be my half-sister... either way, we're related." He replied.

"Awww, I like her. You could have been cute together. You will bring your... ah... significant other over when you get one?" She sounded like an actual mother now, excited about her child's life. Nico would have laughed had he not been blushing. He hadn't really had much time for a relationship recently.

"Err, sure." He agreed. Ivy smiled and kissed him on the forehead. Nico stared at her for a couple of seconds, completely at a loss. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the words.

"I uh. I should get back to the manor." He said finally before turning and abruptly walking out of the house. When he was outside, he wiped his forehead clean of her green lipstick and he shadow traveled back to the manor. Nico landed in his bathroom, just as he had planned. He laid down in bed, wearing just PJ bottoms as Bruce came in to check on him. He pretended to be asleep until he left and soon after that, he actually fell asleep. He was too tired from all the shadow jumps in a row to even dream.

Chapter Text

Nico woke up the next morning to someone calling out to him.

"Nico!" The voice was familiar and insistent. It came again, even louder this time,

"Nico!" He woke up with a start and automatically had his hand on his sword which was still in ring form. He looked around his room, desperately trying to find the source of the sound. His eyes landed on a glowing image out on the balcony. It was Percy. He had iris messaged Nico and was trying to wake hime up. Nico threw on his jacket and some shoes and headed out onto the balcony.

"Percy," he yawned, "what do you want? It's really late, couldn't this wait?" he asked tiredly. Nico absentmindedly hoped that no one had heard this-- it would be too hard to explain. He doubted that the bats would let this one slide off as part of his oath. They were the suspicious type, and they wanted answers. He just wishedheI could give them those answers.

"Well, I just wanted to check-in. I know you are living with mortals, so I had to make sure you were alone." Percy said, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Fair enough." He didn't mention that he was surprised that Percy had thought of that-- the son of Poseidon always got offended that people underestimated him. Nico couldn't say he blamed him. Though, in their defense, he does some pretty bone-headed things sometimes. It especially didn't help with how much time he spent around Annabeth-- the girl could make Einstein look dumb.

"How's it goin'? You left in a hurry yesterday and then I didn't hear back from you. I was starting to get a bit worried." Percy said, looking every bit as concerned as he sounded. Nico was sort of surprised to hear that the older boy had been worried.

"Don't be. I can handle myself. What's going on at camp?" Nico asked to avoid the argument-- and because he was genuinely curious.

"I beat Clarisse on the climbing wall, and Athena's cabin won capture the flag. The Stolls painted the Ares cabin sort of pink and camo-y." Percy smirked at the thought. Nico couldn't help but chuckle at Clarisse's reaction to that. Though how they got past the landmines was beyond him.

"Serves them right. All's good here too. They suspect something is up, but I don't think that they are close to the truth yet." Nico decided to tell the truth-- Percy would know that he was lying if he had said everything was fine. They were demigods, and nothing was ever really okay.

"Will you be allowed to tell them? Nico, this is your father we are talking about." Percy cautioned. He knew that HAdes didn't take kindly to people crossing him He was patient, for a god, but even he had his limits.

"I know, Perce, I know. Father will let me explain it to them as long as they figure out my secret on their own. I just have to get them to swear that they won't reveal our race." The son of Hades explained.

"That's good at least. Do you think they can figure it out?"

He thought about it for a minute, "Yeah, they're really smart people. Like, Annabeth level smart. Plus, I met Diana. Like the incarnation of Artemis, Diana."

"Diana? What was she doing there?" Percy asked incredulously. Before he I could answer, the image went away, and the mist spoke.

"Please insert another drachma for another five minutes." A pleasant voice requested. Nico plucked a coin from his nightstand and threw it in. When the image came back, he saw Percy frantically searching his cabin for a coin.

"Percy, I had one. Sit down." Percy stopped searching and returned to his place on the bed.

"So, about this Diana woman?" He continued.

"Relax, Percy, it was just one version of her. The Diana Prince version, Wonder Woman." He admonished. Nico doubted Percy had much idea of who Wonder Woman was, but to his surprise, Percy just nodded appreciatively. Then he remembered, Percy actually had an education. He probably learned about her at one of his many schools in history.

"Oh, that makes more sense. Did she recognize you, do you think?" He asked.

"Yeah, we agreed to act like we had just met since it wasn't even that part of her that got her killed," He said-- still a little bitter.

"She won't sell you out, will she? Can she be trusted?"

"No, she's under oath too," Nico assured him, "She won't sell me out." He nodded, seeming relieved. There was a pause in the conversation and Nico's mind wandered. His thoughts slipped to Bianca and how she wasn't in the underworld anymore. She had to have chosen rebirth.

"Nico? What is it?" Percy asked after a few moments. He hadn't realized that he had zoned out but there was no denying that he had.

" I just... I couldn't find her Perce." Nico said, hoping he would get the idea. This was Percy, though-- he should have known that it wouldn't be that simple.

"Find who? Who were you looking for? "

"Bianca. I couldn't find her." He said, tears welling in his eyes. It hadn't been the plan to cry. He hoped that the lighting was bad enough that the larger boy couldn't tell, but he wasn't betting on it.

"Oh Nico, I'm sorry. Are you sure she's gone?" Percy knew how much it meant to him that he could always talk to her in the Underworld.

"Yes, she's gone. She didn't even say goodbye." he sniffled-- trying desperately not to cry in front of Percy.

"Wow. I will be over there in a jiffy." Percy said decisively.

"What? Percy, you can't come here!?"

"And just why not? I am coming over to Wayne Manor tomorrow. I will bring my mom's cookies, back-up supplies and yell at you for leaving without saying goodbye. I'll just say I'm a friend from camp or something." Percy was picking up speed now.

"Hold on, Percy, you can't just pop up out of nowhere in Gotham city and appear at their house!" Nico exclaimed in alarm.

"No, I'll ride Blackjack. I'll just say that you forgot some things at camp and I offered to bring them to you. Then Mr. Brunner" Percy made air quotes, " will have told me where you were and it won't be weird."

"Oh, it will still be weird, but not nearly as suspicious." He allowed.

"Yeah, see? This could work. I'll only stay a couple of hours and then go back to camp." Percy said excitedly.

"But..." Ncio was about to protest that he really shouldn't come, but he was interrupted.

"See you soon, little cousin!" Percy promptly waved his hand through the mist and severed the connection. Nico grumbled to himself about being called the little cousin. He was several times his age-- he was not little. This was going to go over poorly with Bruce. Nico sighed and walked back inside to his bed. Nico was going to lay down, but he really didn't feel like falling asleep anymore. He wandered over to his desk, to where his drawings were, and he decided to draw Hazel. Nico drew her how he thought she might look in modern clothes.

Nico drew her in sweatpants and a T-shirt, her knees pulled to her chest. He drew her face so that it was looking at something next to her since he wanted to capture her profile. Her hair was the tricky part, catching the correct curls and style. He drew himself sitting next to her, with his legs laying as though he were in a chair. It was several hours before he got it exactly how he wanted it. Nico pinned the picture to his board and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 5:30. He didn't see much point in falling asleep again so he left his room and headed through the house and out into the garden. The crickets were chirping, but they were the only sound besides his footsteps.

Nico headed to the grove of trees and he found himself drawn to an evergreen-- which he climbed. He sat in that tree for a long time, watching the sunrise. He hardly ever get to see something so beautiful. He let his mind wander to his new life. If someone had told him that he would be adopted by a billionaire, taken in by a female plant villain, introduced to the bat fam, and live in a city where monsters even avoid, he would have said they were crazy. Not to mention he brought a long-lost, Roman, sibling back to life.

Nico watched the lights turn on one by one in the manor as the sun began to rise above the clouds. He knew he should be going back inside, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was comfortable where he was in the tree. His mind drifted to thoughts about Percy. He was going to be here today. His mind sped through all possible outcomes for how this would work out. He regretted that he didn't stop him when Nico realized that most options lead to Percy destroying something or Bruce getting mad.

"Nico?" A voice called from the ground. He had been so caught up that he hadn't noticed Damian coming out from the manor.

"Coming," Nico called back, taking one last look at the fading sunrise.

++++

After breakfast, he had another 'lesson' with Damian, where he continued to read 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. He found the story entertaining enough, usually, to hold his attention-- and Damian was a great narrator. Nico had found it easy to listen to these readings before, but now he could not concentrate.

"Alright, spill." Damian said, slamming the book closed. He had finally gotten fed up with the older's fidgeting.

"What?"

"Your constant movement is highly distracting. Your concentration also seems to be directed elsewhere. I would like to know what has you so enamored." Damian crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowed. The words so easily came from his mouth and Nico felt that they'd never sound right coming from his own mouth.

"I don't know. I just miss my friend from camp." He decided that he might be able to convince Bruce to let him invite Percy. He might get an idea of how likely that was if he ran it by one of the boys first. They had lived with Bruce the longest. At least that would give him a plausible reason for Percy to appear on their doorstep.

" I'm certain my father would allow it. Unless..." Damian trailed off.

"Unless?"

"Does this friend of yours share your secret? Will he be able to guess our identities?" Damian seemed cold now. Nico knew he was still upset that he had figured them out but wouldn't tell them how. He looked away-- wishing again that he could reveal his secret. All this tension wasn't good for his nerves.

"He knows my secret, yes. He can't tell you what it is either. Though, he would not be able to figure out your secret like I did. He does not have the means. " Nico admitted, giving them another little bit of a hint. The way that he learned their secret was something that only he could do.

"I see. You should ask father." Damian stood and exited the library. It hurt that his family still didn't trust him, but he didn't have time to didn't dwell on it long-- he had an iris message to send. Nico IMed Percy and told him to belay coming over and told him his plan to ask Bruce if he could come. Percy agreed and said that he'd show up in the Gotham Cemetery by tomorrow night if Bruce said no. They were going to meet up one way or another, but they would rather have permission. Nico told him that he'd see him soon and cut off the message.

Nico would have gone and asked right then, but Bruce had a meeting this morning. He would have to wait until he got back to ask. In the meantime, the son of Hades decided to go and visit Hazel. He went up to his room and locked the door. He then went into his bathroom and locked that door as well. It would give him some time before anyone got suspicious. Nico shadow traveled a couple of blocks away from Ivy's place so he could walk the rest of the way. He couldn't risk letting Ivy see him use his powers. Toxic acres didn't look any less volatile in the daylight. Piles of glowing green goo leaked out of steel drums and into the gutter. Bright neon plants overcrowded the place, glowing with toxicity. The houses were mildewed and molded from the elements, and the roofs and porches were sagging.

Tons of crows lined the roofs of the decrepit buildings. He didn't notice them at first because they were so quiet. He didn't know that birds could be that quiet. Nico also wasn't sure how they were surviving the toxicity but he didn't want to know either. Their eyes sparkled with intelligence that made his skin crawl. Some things were better-left unknown.

He made his way through the toxic neighborhood to Ivy's house. When he got inside, he was greeted with an odd sight. Hazel was wearing jean shorts-- much shorter than what would have been deemed acceptable for her time. She did look a little uncomfortable, so he supposed Ivy had made her put them on. Momma Ivy indeed. Don't get me wrong, they weren't by any means provocative by today's standards, they reach halfway down her thighs and aren't extremely tight like the Aphrodite cabin wore them. She was also wearing an olive tank top that fit loosely and hung down quite a ways past her waist. She looked very nice, though nothing like she had when he found her.

She and Ivy were standing in what probably used to be the living room. There were shelves and tables all along the walls that were covered in plants and gardening tools. A huge vine had climbed up the walls and pushed through the ceiling. It had no doubt taken over the second floor by now. Nico wouldn't have been surprised if Ivy had told him that the vines were the only things keeping this place together.

"Now, this one likes a lot of water, ok? Use this and make sure that the soil is nice and soaked... there you go!" Ivy cooed over Hazel's shoulder. She was apparently teaching her about her babies.

"Morning, Ivy," Nico called out, making his presence known. Ivy glanced up from her work and gave him a strange cat-like grin. Nico smiled back-- it felt foreign on his face but Ivy didn't seem to notice. Hazel also looked over at him and gave him a wide smile.

"Nico! What are you doing here?" Hazel called in a not-unkind way. She didn't turn her attention away from the plants for more than a second, though. She seemed to be treating them as though they would be set off by the slightest error. With Ivy's plants, you never knew.

"I came to check up on you. Ivy, do you mind if I borrow Hazel for a little bit?" Nico had planned on asking her if she had any idea if there was a camp for Romans. There probably was, but he didn't really know how to go about finding it.

"Not, not at all. Though Nico, eat some more vegetables-- your complexion needs it." He dragged Hazel off to the rooms Ivy had given them. They went into Hazel's room since it was brighter. Poison ivy had grown up over his curtains, effectively sealing them shut.

"What is it, Nico?" Hazel asked once we were in her room. Nico glanced out of one of the windows as he was closing the door behind him. He could see the crows from where he stood. All thoughts about the Roman camps left his mind for a few moments.

"That sure is a lot of crows," he commented. Nico didn't think much of it, but Hazel froze. She turned to see what the other demigod was talking about and-- though he couldn't actually see her face-- Nico could tell that she had paled.

"Have they said anything?" She asked softly. Nico frowned-- crows don't talk.

"Said anything? They're crows. They don't talk." He approached her cautiously-- trying to get a glimpse at her face.

"Mine do." She muttered it so softly that he wasn't even sure that she had spoken. When he came up beside her he could see just how bad the birds had shaken her. She looked almost as pale as she had as a ghost. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused. Then all of a sudden she wasn't there anymore. Her face went slack and her eyes closed. Her breathing evened out. It was almost as if she had gone into a trance state. Nico kind of freaked out-- though he'd deny it if you asked him now.

"Hazel? Hazel talk to me!" He grabbed her shoulders but she didn't make any indication that she had heard him. Was she having a seizure? Nico couldn't sense that she was in mortal danger, so she wasn't dying, but that only made him feel a little better. What was he supposed to do in this situation? How could he help? Was it something that he did? Was this a mortal or a mythological problem? Can he take someone who technically doesn't exist into the hospital? He could pray to Hades, but then the god would know what his son had done and he might have to take Hazel back. He couldn't risk it.

After a few tense moments of Nico just clutching her shoulders and muttering her name-- she came back around. As soon as she glimpsed his face the tears started to fall. The son of Hades was shocked to say the least.

"Hazel? Are you ok? Can you talk to me?" Hazel nodded. She was shaking pretty badly. Nico grabbed a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders before kneeling in front of her so that he could see up into her face. She pulled it tightly around herself and buried her face in it for a few moments.

"Sorry I just... had a vision I guess. I guess the crows triggered it." She wiped her eyes with the blanket and took a shaky breath.

"What kind of visions? Like a flashback?" He didn't like the sound of that. If things like this happened in battle, she could die.

"Yeah. It was a vision from my past. My last day-- my last night." Those words seemed to have a special meaning but he didn't pick up on it. Nico was curious, of course, but he didn't press her for answers. She seemed pretty shaken up already and he didn't want to cause any more damage.

"What did you see? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but you can talk to me." He offered. He didn't want to push her, but he wanted her to know that he cared and that she could come to him with these things.

"It was the night I died. The night that the crow made me a promise." She started. Hazel explained everything to him -- everything that had happened from the night Pluto gave her a birthday present to the night where she sank Alcyoneus back into the pit. She told him about her mother and her deal with Gaea-- the voices and the possessions. She told him about the island that didn't exist and the boat that would take her there without a sailor or a map to guide it. She told him about the pit and the gems she was forced to create for the giant. She told him about the time where Gaea had taken her mother to the island and held her hostage there. She told him about the final ride and the crown that had landed on her stern. Hazel told him about how she took his words as a promise and that gave her the strength to make that night the last night that she let Gaea use her. Then she told him about how she ended it all.

"All that and you ended up in asphodel?" Nico said once she had finished. Hazel shrugged non-committaly.

"I made a deal. My mother didn't deserve eternal damnation and I didn't deserve elysium. I made a deal that we would both go to asphodel. It was the best I could manage."

"I'm not sure I would have done that," Nico admitted. Hazel eyed him for a few moments, calculating her answer.

"You saved me-- though you knew you weren't supposed to. I think you need to give yourself more credit." Nico considered this. While he appreciated the sentiment, he was also very sure that he wouldn't have done the same. Not for Marie Levesque-- but maybe he would have for Maria di Angelo.

"Maybe," he conceded, " I hope I'll never have to find out." We talked for a little while longer about our mothers before he felt like he had been gone too long. They never did get back to talking about the Roman camp.

Once Nico knew that Hazel was ok, he said his goodbyes to Ivy and headed out of the house. When he was far enough away, he shadow traveled to his bathroom. An hour had passed from when he had left. Nico unlocked his bathroom door and settled down at his writing desk. He felt inspired to draw. He decided to draw a portrait of Pamela.

Nico started with her torso, just the portion that was in the leotard. Once he was satisfied with that, he moved on to her legs. Her boots were hard to get just right because he wanted them to be symmetrical to each other. He wasn't sure how long he was at it, but it felt like too long. When Nico finally got them the way he wanted them, he moved on to her shoulders and neck. He almost gave up when he couldn't get her neck to be proportional to the rest of her body. What felt like an eternity later, he finally got the neck to be the way he wanted it. Her head wasn't all that hard. Nico just used one of her mug shots from a newspaper clipping as a reference. Her hair was only slightly more complicated and he finally finished it and put it on his wall. He had just finished putting up the picture when someone knocked on his door. Nico pinned the picture on his wall and hurried to open the door.

"Yes?" he asked, poking my head out into the hall. Bruce was standing there in his business suit.

"Damian said you wanted to ask me something?" Bruce raised his eyebrows. The demigod frowned, he thought Damian was against the idea. He definitely wouldn't have guessed that the younger boy would have gone out of his way to mention it to Bruce for him.

"Yeah, I wanted to know If a friend of mine from camp could come over," Nico admitted, opening the door wider, seeing this wasn't going to be a simple 2-minute check-in.

"Well, I don't see why not. Does he have means to get here on his own?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah. It's just, I haven't seen him in a while." He explained. Bruce's features softened.

"Is he like you?" Bruce asked. Nico frowned-- had he figured out the secret already?

"Like me, how?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Well, Is he under the same oath? Will he be able to figure out our secrets?" Bruce parroted the same questions Damian had asked. At times like these, it wasn't hard to see that Damian was his biological son.

"He does know about my oath, but no, he will not be able to guess your secret," Nico replied. Bruce eyed for him a moment and Nico got the distinct impression that Bruce was trying to decide whether or not he could take him at his word. It hurt, but Nico understood it. He hadn't given him much reason to trust him. The billionaire was right to be cautious.

"Very well, I will call Mr. Brunner tonight and see what can be arranged." He gave me a small smile, and Nico returned it, "Dinner will be ready soon, I imagine." Bruce announced before swiftly leaving the room. Nico went into the bathroom to get water for an iris message. He had to tell Percy the good news.

Chapter Text

True to his word, Bruce called Chiron later that night and arranged for Percy to come over for the weekend. Nico didn't know how Chiron made that seem like a normal affair but he wasn't about to question it. When you've been alone for three thousand years, you probably pick up a trick or two. Chiron said that he would be there sometime around noon the next day. Nico found himself giving his brothers a shortened version of who Percy was and explained to them that the manhunts were all false alarms and such. It took, some doing and he wasn't sure that they completely bought it, but they drop it.

The bat boys actually seemed interested in the son of Poseidon-- which surprised Nico. Richard seemed excited to meet Percy, Tim looked a little suspicious, and Jason and Damian really didn't care. The group sat together in the living room and watched a horror movie marathon after dinner, and ate junk foods. Well, the other boys were watching the movie. Nico kept zoning out thinking about what would happen if monsters attacked the manor. They were two powerful demigods, after all. That was bound to attract some attention.

While he wasn't really paying attention to the movies, he was partaking in the snacks. Soda was new to him and he really enjoyed it. The more sugar-- the better. Bruce had warned him that caffeine tended to make people with ADHD tired so he had one that didn't have caffeine in it to be safe. He had to be awake for when Percy got there. He wasn't the only one whose sodas were restricted. For some reason, all sodas and sugary drinks were strictly prohibited if your name was Richard Grayson. No one would let him have any sugar whatsoever, and no one would tell Nico why.

By the middle of the third movie, Dick and Damian were curled up tightly in their blankets. Tim had left early, and even Jason was clutching a pillow. Nico had gotten restless and was sitting upside down on the couch with his feet hanging over the back of the sofa. He wished they had chosen a different genre. Horror movies weren't really all that thrilling when you knew how unrealistic they truly were. In fact, it made the whole experience annoying for him and he was having trouble keeping himself occupied. It wasn't even scary.

Mrs. O' Leary was scarier than any of the jump-scares. Luke had been scarier than any of these possessions. Minos had been worse than any of these ghosts. The zombies that protected Hades palace were scarier than the ones in the movies. The grim reaper was a friend of his and was as pretty as cupid and fair in his dealings. Someone being disemboweled was nothing he hadn't seen either in the war or in the fields of punishment. Cheap scares on a screen just didn't do it for him anymore.

Nico watched, unconcerned, as the protagonist stepped into the room without turning on the lights. The malignant spirit's theme song started playing in the background. Nico sighed inwardly-- why did no one in these stories grab a knife or a weapon of some kind or at least turn on the lights first, though he guessed it wouldn't really help against a poltergeist or ghost. These idiots deserved to die. If he or Percy made these kinds of mistakes, they would undoubtedly have been dead years ago.

As it approached the end of the movie, the protagonist had finally done something right and completed the exorcism of her little brother. Nico rolled his eyes-- it wasn't scary to me. Hades' anger scared him. Percy, when he was the eye of a hurricane, scared him. Annabeth, in general, scared him. Spirits, ghouls, and ghosts don't scare him anymore. It seemed to have some sway over the bat family, though. Nico doubted that they were very scared but it had definitely had an effect if their positions on the couches had anything to say about it.

"Whooo! Glad that's over. Scared Jay?" Dick stood and stretched, having a good time teasing Jason lightly. Jason had a blanket around his shoulders.

"No!" Jason cried indignantly, his chin jutting out like a child's. He crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue. Then, to be extra childish, he threw his pillow with accuracy that only a bat can achieve in Dick's face.

"That was sufficient, " Damian admitted.

"I wasn't really scared," Nico admitted-- twisting his skull ring.

"Probably because you weren't even watching" Dick looked at him knowingly. Nico frowned-- he had been watching. Mostly.

"Wwat do you mean?"

"Do you couldn't stop moving the whole time. It was obvious that you weren't paying attention," Jason elucidated. Nico blinked a few times. He hadn't realized that he had been moving enough to even catch their attention, much less annoy them.

"Sorry." He apologized uncomfortably. Dick shrugged easily.

"If you aren't into it, then you aren't into it. Don't worry about it. Next time you can pick the genre." Nico gave Dick a soft smile and nodded. That sounded nice.

"What are you planning on doing when Percy gets here?" Dick asked, changing the subject. Nico shrugged he hadn't put much thought into it. He had a feeling that there was going to be a lot that they needed to talk about-- though the bat boys didn't need to know about that.

"I don't know. We'll probably talk and I might show him the grounds or something." Nico replied. Dick nodded but I had a feeling that he was just accepting that answer so that he could ask something else.

"Is he dangerous? I know that all the manhunts were called off-- but still. He has caused a lot of trouble for one teen." Dick asked cautiously, obviously trying not to provoke the younger boy. They didn't want to know what Nico looked like when he was mad. If even Wonder Woman was trying to stay on his good side, then they probably should too.

"Only to people who threaten him or the people he cares about. He is the most loyal and selfless person I know. Also, he doesn't eat seafood." He mentioned off-handedly. It popped into his brain and out of his mouth before he could even process it.

"Err... ok?" Richard replied in an unsure tone.

"How long have you known him?" Tim questioned.

"Since I was twelve. I met him around the same time I met Diana." He replied-- leaving out the part about it being the exact same time and place.

"How did you meet Diana?" Jason broke his silence. He had been perching on a recliner, cleaning one of his knives. Now that he officially knew the secret, they had lost all secrecy about their abilities and training. It was amazing to see what these mortals were capable of.

"Let's just say that I was in a tight spot, and she got me out. Then she inadvertently got... a friend killed. I've been known to hold grudges." Nico gritted his teeth to leave it at that. He was itching to tell them how mad he still was, but he knew that it wouldn't make sense for him to be mad at Wonder Woman.

"Was this friend someone special to you?" Damian inquired. Dumb question-- of course they were. Nico didn't have many friends in the first place, after all.

"Skip."

"Ok, bedtime, guys, we have to get up for patrol in a couple of hours since we can't do it while Percy is here." Dick reminded everyone yawning again so that the words sounded a little garbled.

"Yes, mother!" Jason teased, his eyes twinkled with mischief. Nico headed off through the halls without bothering to find the light switches. He didn't need them anyway. Once he was a couple of feet down the hall, he shadow traveled to his room, changed into some comfortable PJs, and crashed on his bed. Nico had no idea that Dick had turned on the lights only moments after his jump. There was no way he should have been able to get through the hall before Dick had turned on the lights. That was when his secret finally started to unravel before them.

++Dick++

"Nico?" I called into the somehow empty hallway. Jason and Tim stopped arguing over who had to put the dishes away.

"Dick, what is it?" Damian asked, trying to mask his confusion with his uncaring tone. He couldn't stand sounding even slightly emotional or human.

"I don't believe it. He isn't in the hallway. He had just started walking down it. It couldn't have been 5 seconds between when he went into this hallway and when I turned on the lights, and he was already gone."

"That's impossible. Unless he has some form of teleportation or super speed?" Jason reasoned calmly, coming to stand by me in the doorway.

"Not super speed." Tim interjected, "he doesn't have the appetite." I nodded. Nico hardly ate enough to satisfy a normal person, much less a speedster with a high metabolism. We needed to keep an eye on that-- it was starting to get concerning.

"Ok, then he must have a form of teleportation. He has powers, then. That may have been the key to figuring out his big secret." I couldn't help but be suspicious that Nico was trying to mislead us.

"Doesn't this seem too easy to you?" The demon spoke up. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought this might be an attempt to distract us from the truth. He obviously couldn't fake teleportation, but who was to say that he was telling the truth about the rest of the hints he gave us?

"Well, Nico did seem to wish that he could tell us himself. Maybe he is purposely dropping hints for us to figure it out." Tim suggested, hopefully.

"Perhaps, just keep an eye out for strange behaviors. Watch this Percy kid too. He was the boy Nico said, almost slit his throat." I warned before heading off to bed myself. I had some time before patrol so I decided to look through the list of every known metahuman on the bat computer. There were quite a few in our system, and I was sure that there were several more that we didn't even know about yet. Most of the ones that we knew about had only been documented because they had been arrested.

I looked through the list and found several with abilities that could mimic teleportation but none of them made sense for what I knew about Nico. He obviously wasn't a speedster. There hadn't been any lights or sounds that I had been able to distinguish either so it probably wasn't wormholes or portals. This also ruled out light and sound travel. He didn't have any of the indicators of being a metahuman such as mutations of the body or accidental power discharge that seemed to be common among metas who were just learning how to use or control their powers. Nothing really fit. What was he missing?

Was he not a meta at all? Was Dick looking in the wrong place? Of course, there were several different ways that he had seen people come across amazing powers and abilities. There were aliens, magicians, Atlanteans, science experiments gone wrong, genetic mutations, and technological advancements that were so advanced that they looked like magic to the untrained eye. There was even a half-devil on the Teen Titans team. Virtually nothing was off the table. Was Nico even human? He seemed very human to me. Just like a very troubled boy-- nothing like the stories Damian told about Raven.

What are you hiding, little bro? A short while later, and no closer to the truth, I changed into my Nightwing suit and checked all my gear and coms. Everything was good to go.

++Percy++

For Percy, not everything was good to go. Blackjack wanted donuts upfront for flying into Gotham, and Percy didn't have any. So, he decided to take Mrs. O' Leary instead. Greedy pegasus. The son of Poseidon came out of a Shadow in an alley, feeling the sickness he always felt after a shadow jump. Nico had mentioned that monsters couldn't go into Gotham, but Percy hadn't realized that that applied to Mrs. O' Leary as well. Even though she was domesticated, Mrs. O' Leary still counted as a monster.

Percy dismounted, grabbing his backpack and slipping on his dark blue hoodie. It was at least ten degrees cooler in Gotham than it was in Manhattan. He sent Mrs. O' Leary back to camp, resolving to travel the rest of the way on foot. He wore jeans, a pair of converse with Dr. Schols innersoles for added comfort when running from monsters. He also wore his camp shirt and his dark blue hoodie. His camp necklace was always there, and he never lost Riptide.

He had packed ambrosia and nectar, overnight clothes, a packet of drachmas, and some of Nico's only belongings from camp in his backpack. He had very little mortal currency on him, and, by Nico's insistence, he carried a steel knife that would work on mortals. It didn't bode well for the demigod that he had to protect himself against mortals here. Suddenly it was a whole lot harder to figure out who was going to try to kill you.

Percy walked the short distance across the city limits into Gotham. Nico was still halfway across the city from him, and it would be a long walk. Still, they weren't expecting him until that night anyway. He would have taken the car, but Paul still didn't let him drive it after the pegasus incident. He passed the time playing the game that he and his mom always played on the way to Montauk. You would try to complete the alphabet by finding the letters on signs and things you passed as you drove. He had liked to joke that his dyslexia meant that he was always on hard mode.

He completed the alphabet three times over before it got boring. It was about that time that Percy wished he had taken the car. Percy stopped in the entrance of a nearby alley to sit for a minute and drink some of the water he brought. After a lot more walking, Percy spotted the cemetery. It was the type of place only Nico could appreciate. The son of Poseidon found it ironic that Nico would give him a landmark like this but he wasn't going to mention it to him. he didn't know how the younger boy would take it.

It was about 4 O'clock by his watch, and he decided to head for Wayne manor. Time to meet the mortals who managed to pin Nico down for a little while-- a feat no other people alive had ever really been able to do.

++Nico++

The doorbell chimed right around 4:15, and Alfred got to the door and led an astonished-looking Percy into the house. He led him into the living room where the rest of us sat.

"Hey, Nico! This place is incredible!" Percy said as soon as he saw the son of Hades.

"I know! Err, Percy meets Bruce Wayne, Richard Grayson ("call me Dick"), Jason Todd, and Damian Wayne. You already met Alfred Pennyworth." Nico gestured to everyone in turn. It was interesting to see the bat boys sizing up Percy while Percy sized up the bat boys.

"Hey, I'm Percy Jackson. I go to summer camp with Nico. Speaking of which. How could you leave without saying goodbye?! Dude, we almost sent Thalia out looking for you!" Percy directed at Nico-- who winced.

"You didn't? Right?" He asked hopefully. Percy shook his head. The smaller boy sighed in relief.

"Who is this, Thalia?" Damian asked suspiciously.

"Another one of our friends from camp. She has a short temper and is really overprotective." Nico explained. Percy nodded in agreement.

"Well, welcome to the manor Percy. Nico, dinner will be at 5:00. Don't worry Percy, Nico told us about your dislike of seafood. I believe pasta is on the menu for tonight?" Bruce looked at Alfred for confirmation.

"Yes, Master Bruce."

Nico led Percy up the stairs to his bedroom-- an air mattress has been set out since his bed is a little too small for two boys. He stashed the godly foods and the extra drachmas that Percy had brought in his secret compartment, and Percy brought him up to speed about the latest goings-on at camp. There wasn't all that much going on. Just the usual drama between the cabins and such. A few new campers had been brought in-- all children of minor gods like Hebe or Iris. there hadn't been as many claimings recently. Whether that was because the gods had slowed down or because they were going back on their oaths, it was hard to say. Percy seemed disturbed by it.

"I thought this oath would last a century at least before they broke it," Percy complained. This oath meant a lot to him-- to the demigods at camp. There were so many full-timers at camp that wouldn't have had anywhere else to go if it hadn't been for camp. He had saved lives with his wish. Nico could definitely understand why he was upset.

"I don't know, Percy. It doesn't make sense that they would have just stopped all of a sudden. There has to be something else going on." Nico insisted. Percy nodded but he didn't seem convinced. Nico wished that he had the confidence to reassure the older boy but he couldn't. Conversation moved onto other things like capture the flag and before they knew it, it was just about time for dinner, so they began to head down. Nico briefly showed him where the other boy's rooms were before they got downstairs.

When they got to the dining room, there was an extra place set next to Nico's at the table, and they took their places with the rest of the boys being close behind. Dinner went rather uneventfully, except for the fact that the bat fam insisted on asking Percy all sorts of questions. Percy seemed uncomfortable with all the attention on him, but there wasn't much that Nico could do to help. The Waynes were curious and persistent.

"So, Percy, what do you like to do at camp. Nico hasn't told us much about it." Bruce asked from his place at the head of the table. Nico picked at his food and tried to seem busy. He prayed that Percy wouldn't say anything too revealing. That wouldn't end well.

"Uhh... I like capture the flag mostly-- or horseback riding." Percy replied with a hint of secret humor in his voice. Nico smirked.

"Oh yes, Percy is quite gifted with horses." He chuckled lightly. Percy scratched the back of his neck, thinking back to Blackjack, no doubt.

"Isn't the game where that kid stabbed you with a pocket knife?" Tim directed at Nico.

"Hmm? Capture the flag? Yes, still a fun game, though." Nico speculated. Percy nodded in agreement.

"Also, what about where Percy almost killed you?" Damian questioned. Percy's eyes widened and his gaze shot to Nico.

"You told them about that? Great, they probably think I'm crazy now."

"Don't worry about it; I told them you didn't mean to. It wasn't your fault I snuck up on you." Nico explained, letting Percy know he had altered the truth.

"I know, but still..." Percy grimaced, going along with the made-up story, "it was bad." The conversation lulled as the bats digested this new information. Finally, Bruce spoke again,

"You say you're good with horses?"

"I'm pretty good, I guess," Percy admitted with a noncommittal shrug.

"He's being modest." Nico cut in, "He's one of the best in camp. The horses seem to like him."

"And they don't like you?" Jason asked sarcastically.

"Not really, no." he admitted, "Though I'm not really too fond of them either." Dinner finished up not too long afterward and they were dismissed. Dick invited us to watch some more scary movies again and the two demigods agreed and joined the rest of the boys in the living room. Nico was just curious to see how Percy would react. He had seen some horrible things too-- was he desensitized like Nico was?

Percy was a bit creeped out by the possessions, probably remembering Luke, but he wasn't all that scared like the mortals were. The pair exchanged hushed commentary throughout the duration of the movie. Percy mainly kept asking the son of Hades whether things in the movie were possible or not and he explained death concepts to him. In the end, he and Percy were laughing at the stupidity of some of the characters.

"I know! She should have totally died in that accident. Airbags are good, but not that good." Nico agreed to something Percy had said.

"Yeah, and that falls into the creek? They should have at least broken something." Percy pointed out.

"Imagine if Annabeth was here. She'd probably gawk over the bridge." Nico mused.

"Or explain the mathematics behind the stunts and such." Percy looked thoughtful.

"Whose, Annabeth?"

Chapter Text

"Whose, Annabeth?" Dick asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Percy's better half." Nico teased. Percy blushed but didn't deny it-- he knew better.

"She's my girlfriend. She's pretty much a genius." Percy scratched the back of his neck. Nico nodded in agreement.

"Really? What's her favorite subject?" Dick asked-- interested. He was a people- person. He liked socializing, meeting new people, and listening to people talk about things they were passionate about. Sometimes his energy really impressed Nico-- who would just as soon fight a hellhound as attend a gala.

"I don't know, Architecture? Why?" Percy frowned. He was caught off guard by Dick’s interest in his girlfriend. It was a good thing that Percy wasn’t the jealous type, or the question could have been bad. Dick had no intention of dating Annabeth, either. As far as I knew, he was too married to his work to put any serious time or effort into a partner. He was no threat to Percy's relationship status.

"Richard here is a math genius himself." Jason came up behind him and ruffled his hair. Dick protested and swatted his hands away.

"Really? I like PE myself." Percy joked good-naturedly. Nico didn't respond because he couldn't remember taking classes before the military academy, and his first semester there was abruptly cut short. Since then, getting a formal education had seemed unnecessary. He could get all the practical knowledge that he needed from Camp or from the Underworld and he doubted that he would be able to live among normal people being a son of Hades. Mosters would follow him no matter where he went. Why did he need a GED?

"What about you, Nico?" Tim asked. Nico cursed internally.

"What? What is my favorite subject?" He clarified-- partially to buy time and partially because he wasn't sure that they were still on the same subject. Tim nodded in affirmation.

"Well, none of them were enjoyable for me." He shrugged, "Even PE sucked at the military academy." Jason chuckled,

"I bet." Before they could talk anymore, Alfred came in.

"I think it is high time the young masters retire to bed." The group of boys all consented, though reluctantly, and left for their respective rooms. So far, so good. Nothing bad had happened and they were halfway through Percy's visit.

The demigods didn't immediately go to sleep when they had gotten ready for bed. They started off talking about the Waynes and what it had been like for Nico to live there but then, the conversation turned to the prank war.

"You set the centaur mosquito killer loose?" Percy laughed hysterically. His laughter was contagious, and Nico found himself laughing too. It was pretty funny when he thought about it.

"Yeah! You should have seen their faces! Man! It was great!" He said, remembering Damian's face, "It was right after Damian spilled to the other boys that I couldn't read," Nico admitted. He described the conversation before the prank and the big apology the next morning.

"So he's reading to you?" Percy asked, surprised.

"I know, right?" Nico chuckled with a nod. Percy shook his head in disbelief. It was soon after that that they started to get tired and finally laid down for bed. It was at this time that Percy noticed the younger's bulletin board with his drawings pinned to it.

"Nico?" came his questioning voice.

"Yeah?" He said as he settled on his bed.

"Did you do these pictures?" Nico looked to see what Percy was pointing at though-- he had a pretty good idea already.

"Yeah," the son of Hades responded shortly, watching the other boy intently for his reaction.

"Since when could you draw?"

"A couple of days ago, though I seemed to know what to do, so... maybe I did it before... you know," Nico admitted.

"Before your father had your memories erased?"

"Yeah."

"Oh... I'm sorry." Percy must have heard the discomfort in Nico's voice.

"Don't worry about it-- you're fine." They both silently went to bed after that, neither one of them knowing what to say to make it better. There really wasn't a way to make it better. Though what happened had happened and there was nothing that either of them could do about it now. Nico fell into a dreamless sleep-- something that surprised him.

He would have thought that the fact that the visit going smoothly was the calm before the storm. He was right, but not in the way that he was expecting. The next morning he was woken up by someone putting their hand roughly over his mouth. Nico startled awake, reaching to push the hand away before seeing Percy hovering above him. His expression looked grim, and he gave Nico the universal 'shh' signal. When he was sure that the younger demigod wouldn't speak, he took his hand away.

"What's going on?" Nico whispered. Percy shrugged and carefully pulled him out of bed. The son of Hades allowed Percy to silently lead him to the window. He pointed down towards the street, and Nico saw a bunch of thugs with clown make-up on outside the house-- spread across the lawn. He hadn't been planning on making a news appearance this morning and he wasn't looking forward to it.

"They're in the house!" Percy murmered. Nico grimaced-- If there wasn't fighting or shouting, then the Wayne's must be detained and the Joker giving his evil monologue. Or maybe they weren't even awake yet. Nico dismissed that theory-- Bruce always got up super early. He just have already been captured. Too bad he could be Batman all the time. If Bruce and the others had been captured, then he had to either hide (which wouldn't help the Wayne's) or find a way to contact Batman's friends for help. Bruce couldn't fight the Joker without drawing suspicion, and it was impossible to be two places at once, so that left mehim with the need to call for help. He needed Wonder Woman.

Nico didn't know If he could shadow travel to the Bat Cave, having never seen it before, so he didn't want to try and bring Percy. Plus, he didn't think Bruce would appreciate it if he revealed his identity. Since Nico wasn't taking Percy, he needed to find him a place to lay low from the goons. The son of Hades eventually settled on hiding him behind the secret panel where even Nightwing couldn't find him. He'd probably be safe there. After Nico was sure that his cousin was safe, he focused hard on the Bat Cave and just prayed that he would land in the same place. He stepped into the Shadows and felt the familiar sensations of weightlessness and the piercing cold.

Nico stepped out of the shadows and nearly cried-- he had made it! The fates don't completely hate him after all! Nico ran through the cave-- trying to find some sort of computer. Luckily, it was huge and hard to miss. Now he just had to figure out how to work it. Nico hit a random button, and it turned on. A disembodied voice asked him for his name, so he told it. This technology was so much more advanced than he had expected. This must be cutting edge because he hadn't seen anything like it before-- though he supposed that didn't mean too much.

"Recognized, Nico Di Angelo. Please state your problem." The female voice requested. The screen stayed black but there was a audio wave that moved with the computer's voice. Apparently this was the only interface He was allowed to access. That was probably for the best because He had no idea what he was doing with this century's tech. He might set off a bike or something on accident while he was trying to find a call button. Could you even make calls on a computer?

"Uhhhhhh what?" Apparently, the computer recognized my confusion (which I found highly disturbing) because it clarified.

"What do you need?"

"Oh, contact Diana Prince, tell her it's urgent." he requested, "And that she needs to be alone." he added it as an afterthought. he hoped that the computer's recognized the command, otherwise he might just expose Bruce's identity to the world. It wouldn't take much more than a simple Google search to find out who he was and even a child could piece the puzzle together from there. Nico waited several minutes until the screen lit up and Diana Prince's welcome face appeared.

"Nico? What's going on?" Diana inquired. She knew it had to be serious if Nico was in the Bat Cave-- as she was sure that Bruce never would have allowed that this soon after his adoption. Nico explained everything to her, and when he was finished, she was nodding thoughtfully.

"You were right to contact me. I will be there momentarily." She winked conspiratorially. With that, Nico tried to find the exit because he was feeling pretty dizzy after shadow traveling with no food and high stress. Now that he thought about it, he could have just Iris messaged Diana instead, but he guessed that he at least wouldn't be found here. Plus there was also the possibility that the thugs were still searching the house. They might have heard him talking to her and found him. This was probably his best option.

Nico walked around the entire place looking for the exit and started to panic when he couldn't find it. He would have though that there would have been something to indicate an exit of some kind. Did Bruce really have to be this mysterious all the time? What was the point? Nico sat in the chair in front of the Bat Computer-- trying not to pass out. He really should have eaten something first. Or maybe there was something about the cave itself that made it hard to shadow travel into. Either way, it took a lot more power and energy out of him than it should have.

"Nico?" A concerned voice called out. He looked up and sighed in relief to see Bruce alive and Diana smiling kindly.

"Oh, thank the gods!" Nico stood up shakily. Did he have low blood sugar? Could his powers cause that? Whatever the case he was trembling.

"What? You didn't think Diana would save us?" Bruce raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, It's not that. I just couldn't find my way out. I thought I was trapped." Bruce put his hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Just as he did, the floor seemed to tilt, and the demigod's stomach lurched.

"Speaking of which, how did you find your way in?" The floor was still tilted, and his brain was sending danger signals to his stomach. The world got a little fuzzy, and the floor rushed at his face. It wasn't until later that he was told that he had fainted. Highly embarrassing if he did say so himself. When he woke up, he was lying on a cold metal table, and there were distant voices. His head ached, and he was exhausted-- more so than he should be if the Bat Cave were still in Gotham. It took him a moment to realize that his jacket was missing and with it his only accessible weapons, cash, and the last remnant of what he had of Bianca.

Nico couldn’t comprehend where he was. Questions without obvious answers flooded through his head. Where am I? Where is Percy? Is he ok? Where were Diana and Bruce? Was I in trouble for coming down in the cave? Nico closed his eyes and tried to keep his heart rate down. It wouldn't help if he panicked now. Unfortunately, the heart monitor he was hooked up to shrieked with his increasing heart rate, alerting the possible captors of his awakening. Nico was too frightened to think logically, or he would have known that he had passed out in the bat cave and was probably safe.

I heard people getting closer, and I decided I didn't want to stay until they got here. He sat up and started pulling wires off. Nico could hear the footsteps were closer now, they were running, probably to make sure that he stayed there. He pulled out the IV and slid his legs over the side of the table. He had to get out of there before they reached him and put him back out. His stomach did backflips as he pulled himself into standing position.

"Nico, calm down! You're going to hurt yourself." A voice said from his right. He was too late-- they had arrived. Suddenly there were people at his side. He glanced up into their faces and was relieved to see that it was only Diana and Bruce. He was still at the cave. Bruce lifted him by his biceps and sat him back on the table like he weighed next to nothing. Nico didn't resist now that he knew who it was.

"Are you ok?" Bruce asked hesitantly, probably knowing how silly that question was. Diana handed him his jacket and he took it gratefully.

"Where's Percy?" He ignored the older man's question. He pulled his jacket back on and pulled it tightly around him, comforted by its familiarity. He patted the pockets almost unconsciously. Everything was still there.

"He's upstairs. He wouldn't leave until he saw you were ok. Loyal, that one." Bruce nodded approvingly. Nico nodded with a small smile-- the panic was just starting to wear off.

"That's what he's known for."

"You had really low blood sugar when we found you. You passed out and almost hit your head on the floor on your way down. I'll check your vitals and if they all check out we can go back upstairs, ok?" Bruce asked, already pulling out the equiptment. Nico nodded and allowed Bruce to check him over. A short while later, Bruce led him out and into the study. Diana brought up the rear. He tried not to look surprised, but Bruce wasn't watching him-- luckily. He led the demigod through the house and into the living room. Percy's eyes landed on him, and he jumped up. Everyone else stood as well. They were watching them with interest.

"Dude! You disappeared for like, an hour! You ok?" Percy looked calm on the outside, but his eyes were a raging storm. The bat family must've noticed it, too, for they were giving him a wide berth. It was a good idea to give the enraged son of Poseidon as much space as they could right now. He wasn't sure why he was this angry. He hadn't really been gone all that long, had he? Had the bat family tried to convince him to leave before seeing him?

"Yeah, I'm good," Nico replied. Diana settled lightly on a couch near him. It was comforting that she was sticking around-- he needed an ally who understood what was going on with him right now.

"Thank God. Dude, I fell asleep hiding and had a bizarre dream. They just found me a little bit ago." Percy's eyes grew dark, and Nico could feel his anger. He probably dreamt about the younger boy on the hospital bed and assumed the worst. Typical. It would certainly explain why the older boy wouldn't leave until he saw him. Hopefully he would get the chance to explain it all to him later. He didn't want the older boy to ger the wrong idea about the Waynes.

"Yeah, Perce? You'll have to tell me about it later." Nico said to let him know he understood.

"Yeah. Look, I gotta go, my mom's gonna flip on me. This ended up on the news and everything. I'll talk to you later." Percy stood to go. Nico nodded, and Alfred showed him to the door. He tried to imagine the conversation that he was going to have with his mother when he got home. Nico didn't want to be him right now.

"Does he usually fall asleep in dangerous situations?" Bruce asked.

"This isn't really that dangerous by his standards. He was kidnapped when he was twelve, taken across the country by his captor, got in a gun fight with said captor, and nearly died several times." Nico reminded them.

"Where was he?" I inquired, wanting to know if they found my secret compartment.

"He was in the pantry." Nico blinked, then frowned.

"What?"

"Yeah, we found your buddy in the pantry. Asleep, in a tree, during a hostage situation." Jason listed everything suspicious about that event.

"In the pantry..." Nico mumbled thoughtfully. He then shook my head in bewilderment, "I have no clue how he ended up in the pantry. The last place I was with him was in my room when I told him to hide."

"That reminds me. Just how did you manage to end up in the Bat Cave?" Bruce crossed his arms and watched him in analytical interest. Immediately he could tell that Bruce was seething. Nico shrank in on himself-- uncomfortably. He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to diffuse this situation. He couldn't tell them the truth and he wasn't going to insult him with a lie.

"I can't tell you that. I just knew that we needed help, and that was the first place I could think to find any." Nico said truthfully.

"I'm getting a little tired of you saying you can't tell us things," Jason growled. Nico refused to meet anyone's eyes, which he could feel boring into him. His tone hurt, and the overwhelming silence was deafening. He hated it when people were angry with him. it felt like he spent most of his life with people being angry with him. He hated it.

"What did you see on the computer?" Dick asked finally, breaking the awkward silence.

"Nothing really. Some woman asked what I needed, and I told her to call Diana. Then I tried to find the exit." He recalled. They probably had cameras in the cave. This was probably just a test.

"Nico, when I found you, you said 'thank the gods' are you polytheistic?" He slowly nodded. The surprise on their faces made him well up with shame. They were going to give him a lecture on theology. At camp he had heard so many different stories of demigods who had been lectured about their religion. He didn't want to deal with that right now. He couldn't ostracize himself from them like that.

"Bruce, the cave felt different today. What was that about?" Diana cut in randomly. Did she have ADHD?

"I installed magic dampeners a few months ago. Could that have something to do with that?" He allowed for the deviation. Diana raised her eyebrows.

"What did you do that for?" Bruce waved her question away.

"Nico, do you parents have anything to do with this?"

"Bruce, he cannot tell you more, and you cannot ask it of him. Any more, and his life will be in danger." Diana interrupted.

"We can protect him from these people." Jason spat in annoyance.

"I'm afraid you don't yet know what you are dealing with. Trust me when I say that you cannot expect him to tell you anymore. You have all the clues you need." Diana assured Bruce.

"Can't he keep giving us hints?" Tim asked curiously. Diana shook her head regretfully,

"He would be foolish to jeopardize himself further. He is already close to breaching his vow as it is. He has risked more than his life to tell you as much as he has."

"Is that true?" Bruce questioned gently. Nico watched his shoe as he scuffed it across the floor. He nodded silently in affirmation.

"I absolutely will not answer any more questions," Nico said, not looking at them. He turned and left the silent room, heading back to his bedroom. He didn't feel very well still-- probably from the magic dampeners that Bruce had installed. He didn't have any energy so he decided to take a nap and wasted most of the day that way. Nico only got up to use the restroom or get a drink, then he went right back to sleep.

Chapter Text

It was a long time later when someone interrupted my sulking. That someone happened to be Bruce-- who I still wasn't all that excited to see. I just needed to be alone for a little while. Was that too much to ask for?

"Nico, if we guess, can you tell us if we're right or wrong?" I shrugged, not really knowing. I supposed that I would be able to. I wasn't telling them and at that point it would become common knowledge which would mean that he is no longer bound by those rules.

"Probably." Bruce eyed him for a moment before apparently deciding not to comment.

"So, we've all had a long discussion and here's what we know: your father was neglectful, your mother is dead, your sister died under suspicious circumstances after you ran away from your old school, you know Pamela, you have nearly died several times, you held a grudge against Diana, your friend from camp has gotten expelled almost every year and was the subject of several manhunts, you're not afraid of death, you're afraid of being tied down, and you're polytheistic. Am I missing anything? Oh yeah, and you can probably teleport." Bruce sounded somewhat accusatory as he listed off these things, and I choked when he mentioned teleportation.

"Teleportation?" He tried to sound surprised.

"Yes, Dick reported that you were in the hallway one moment and gone the next. Oh, that reminds me of one more thing, your skin is ice cold." He didn't respond.

"So, your guess?"

"Are you a Metahuman?"

"No? Wait, what's a metahuman?" Nico asked in total confusion. Bruce explained the concept to him and Nico found it almost laughable. He wasn't some experiment gone wrong. He was closer with a mutant but that still wasn't even close. He was confined to the terms that he was familiar with. Nico doubted that gods or mythology was even on his radar at the moment. He needed a little extra push and Nico didn't mind providing it.

"No, you have all the clues you need, though. Do some digging, and I bet you can piece it together. My religion is more important than you think." I then ended the conversation by walking into my bathroom to take a hot shower.

++Bruce++

With the last push from Nico, Bruce went to the Batcave to research polytheistic religions. Considering Nico knew Diana (who was Greek), it wasn't all that hard to find the most probable one. Nico had something to do with Greece, perhaps even its mythology. It was improbable that Nico was a god or a monster, so that didn't leave many more options. He could have been a Satyr, which was unlikely since he didn't have horns or a green thumb. He could be a cursed soul, or several other humanoids but they didn't seem quite right either, but he was far too solid for that. The last thing that seemed the most likely was that Nico might be a demigod.

If he were a demigod, it would completely explain his polytheistic ways, how he knew Diana and his parental issues. Apparently, Demigods were hunted and killed by monsters so that would explain his sister's mysterious death, the mysterious summer camp (that Percy also attended), his multiple near-death experiences, and his knowledge of sword fighting. Bruce found an article on the deep web written by one man named Rick Riordan on modern-day demigods. First was a description of tell-tale signs of demigods. They were: ADHD, Dyslexia, and disciplinary issues. All of which seemed to apply to Nico.

Bruce was quite shocked to see a complete series about Nico's best friend Percy Jackson on the site (also written by Rick Riordan) and was even more surprised as he began reading. The book explained how Percy was raised in a poor environment with a loving mother and an alcoholic stepfather. As he read, he was informed of monsters, of gods, of quests, and prophecies. Granted, Bruce didn't read the entire book, but what he did read gave him an idea of the hardships of a demigod's life, and he realized that Nico was lucky to be alive. Perhaps Nico did know how to take care of himself.

It was impossible to deny now. All of the timelines matched up. Percy's story matched up to real-life events at the times that Riordan had said. Bruce had even met Percy and the resemblance between that Percy and the Percy that had been at the manor was uncanny. There was no way that they weren't the same Percy. That meant that there was no way that Nico wasn't a demigod or a mortal that could see through the mist. If the teleportation theory was holding true, though that made it clear that Nico was a demigod-- and probably a powerful one at that. He'd run the theory by Nico at dinner tonight.

++Nico++

Nico reluctantly joined the others for dinner when the time came. As they all ate, Bruce was acting kind of smug so he guessed that meant that the older man had figured out his secret. It was about time. Hopefully, he was right this time or this was going to be embarrassing for them all. Nico ate as though he suspected nothing and waited for Bruce to bring the subject up. Finally, after dessert, Bruce brought it up.

"Alright, I have done a little digging," Nico couldn't help but smirk at the wording, "and I am ready to guess as to what you are, Nico." I made the go-on gesture. All of the Batboys watched either Bruce or Nico like they didn't want to miss a single piece of the action.

"You're a Demigod." He said with certainty. Immediately the boys were saying how that was impossible and making other noises of disbelief. Nico, on the other hand, said nothing. Bruce raised a hand for silence, "So, Nico, am I right?" He looked at the other boy's skeptical faces and knew that this was about to be a fun explanation. Hopefully, they wouldn't end up sending him to an asylum for this.

"I'm Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades, the god of the Underworld," He said in a slightly tired voice. After his proclamation, there was silence. No one seemed to really know what to make of that. Nico's heart sank. They didn't believe him. They were going to say that he was making it up or something. That's the last thing he needed right now.

" You're being serious?" Damian eyed the older boy skeptically. Nico nodded.

"I read part of that book about your friend, Perseus? It seems like monsters follow demigods around." Bruce said, implying that he, too, was potential prey.

"Yes, though I promise I wouldn't have stayed here unless I could find a way not to endanger you all. Gotham is protected from the monsters by Dionysus, the god of wine. Because this place already has enough problems of its own, he decided to shield it. So, no monsters can enter the city limits, but they can be spawned here." He explained as best he could. HE was in no way an expert on monsters or the way that they worked. Bruce nodded as if the explanation satisfied him.

"And if you couldn't have found a way to protect us?" Jason asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I would have disappeared a long time ago."

"We would have found you eventually," Damian said matter-of-factly.

"I highly doubt that. Yes, you are all competent detectives, but I know how to keep myself hidden." He smirked to himself, thinking about how they'd never find him in the Underworld.

"Nico, your sister, was killed by a monster, wasn't she?" Bruce asked gently. He automatically felt uncomfortable.

"Not exactly. She died saving the members of her quest from the giant automaton named Talos."

"Talos?" Damian questioned.

"Long story."

"Why don't either of you appear in the system before your term at the military academy?" Bruce inquired. Nico chuckled humorlessly. He had been hoping to avoid this line of questioning for a long time yet. This was going to be more explaining than he had the energy for.

"We do-- you're just not looking back far enough."

"How far back is far enough?" Dick questioned, frowning.

"1930s roughly. I don't remember the exact date."

"That's impossible," Tim chimed in, "that would make you about 90 years old."

"Clearly, you are lying." Damian crossed his arms accusingly. Nico wasn't offended and chose to ignore the comment.

"Roughly 90 years old," he agreed.

"How did you not age? Are you immortal?" Nico hummed in amusement. That was an interesting question. He hadn't thought that that might be how people perceive him. Though he supposed that it made sense. Even before Thalia was officially immortal he had seen her as an immortal because of her time spent as a tree. Even knowing how old she would have been hadn't mattered. To him she would always be ageless.

"Ha! Not even the immortals aren't completely immortal, but no, I'm not immortal."

"What do you mean immortals aren't immortal?" Tim cried out incredulously at the same time Dick asked,

"If you aren't immortal, why did you stop aging?"

"There is this place in Los Vegas called the Lotus Casino and Hotel. Once you sign in, time basically stops. I was in there about 80 years, but it only felt like a few months had passed inside." Nico explained.

"Like a real-life Hotel California.” Jason mused.

“A what?”

“Nevermind. Why were you there in the first place?" Nico explained how his mother died and the events that lead up to his and Bianca's incarceration. They remained silent through his explanation which was disconcerting. It was a lot to get off his chest. A lot that he hadn't really told anyone else. Not even Percy knew the full story. For some reason, he felt like he could tell them.

"Hades didn't want me to know this, and he reacted badly when I found out.” He continued once they didn’t say anything when he finished the story. He went on to explain how Hades had wiped their memories and stuck them in the casino.

"80 years later, Alecto the fury came and got us out disguised as a lawyer. She enrolled us in the military academy." After that, He explained to them how he was captured by Dr. Thorn and how Percy and the Hunters of Artemis saved us. That was where he stopped because he didn't want to get back into the broken promise and Bianca's death.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Dick started, "But I thought Athena and Artemis were maiden goddesses. How could they have children."

"They are. Athena was born from Zeus's skull, and her children are born from her thoughts. Artemis doesn't have any children." I explained.

"What about the Hunters of Artemis?" Dick asked.

"Oh! They're not related to Artemis. Bianca became a Hunter. The Hunters of Artemis are an all-female group that worships Artemis and goes around hunting monsters with the goddess. I can't say I'm a fan because my sister abandoned me for them, and they got her killed on her first quest ever. To be a Hunter, you have to swear off having any relationship with boys ever. In exchange for the oath, they are made partially immortal. The Hunters cannot die unless killed in combat."

"Sounds nice." Dick nodded appreciatively.

"Yes, Artemis's oldest huntress is over 3,000 years old. Her name is Phoebe. There used to be a girl named Zoë Nightshade. She was one of the Hesperides guarding the tree of golden apples. She was much older than Phoebe. She was placed among the stars when she died."

"The golden apples of Heracles?" Damian asked.

"The same myth, yes. I'd rather not talk about that story, though. He was a real jerk to Zoë. He was the entire reason she joined the hunt." Damian nodded, satisfied.

"That old lady from bargain mart. She was a monster, wasn't she?" Dick asked.

Nico couldn't help but look at him in surprise, "You could see her?"

"Yeah, she wore florals. Why?" the demigod chuckled.

"Yes, she was a monster. You only saw what the mist allowed you to see. She's actually a Dracnae. A snake woman. I tricked her into thinking we were on the same side. She still thought the war was going on. She's making Hade's posters now, I think."

"What war?" Jason asked skeptically.

"The war that caused Manhattan to become a dead zone for a day and destroyed a good part of the city. The Second Titan War. Percy led us to victory against Kronos, who was possessing Luke, a son of Hermes. The mist covered up the craziest things, but people still saw the automatons duking it out in the street afterward." Nico smirked, remembering Annabeth showing me a headline in a newspaper.

"You fought in a war?" Tim asked incredulously. The son of Hades nodded seriously, and the subject was abruptly changed.

"What is the mist anyway?" Bruce asked.

"It is a magical veil that keeps mortals from seeing all the supernatural happenings around them. Though, the mist doesn't work on everyone." By this time, he was getting rather tired of explaining himself.

"Ok, ok enough questions for today. We need to adjust and process what we have heard. We can ask more questions later. It's about time that we all go to the living room and watch a movie as a family." Bruce said with a mischievous smile. That was how Nico was dragged into a Star Wars movie marathon. As they watched the movies, Nico realized that a lot of the tension had been lifted through his revelation. They knew that he wasn't lying to them because he had some sort of malicious intent or something. They could trust him again and once again Nico felt comfortable in their presence. He was glad that they were able to work it all out so simply. He didn't want to have to move on again, he was finally starting to get comfortable.

Chapter Text

Nico went to bed late that night with the Imperial March song stuck in his head. Err... the one that came on when Vader came in.

As he slept, he dreamed. In his dream he was walking around the camp-- which was in chaos. The camp counselors were running everywhere-- seemingly looking for someone. Nico had no idea who they were looking for so he decided to go to the big house to find an answer. When he got there, Chiron was on the phone with someone and he was trying to sound calm.

"It's ok Mrs. Jackson. I'm sure he'll turn up. Yes, if I hear anything I'll let you know." Chiron hung up the phone with Sally Jackson and rubbed his palms down his face.

"Oh Percy, where are you?" Chiron murmured to himself. The son of Hades felt his heart drop. Percy was missing. He heard footsteps on the porch and Annabeth came into the house.

"Has she seen him Chiron?" Annabeth sounded on the verge of tears and he hated to see her so distraught. There were bags under her eyes. It was painfully obvious that she hadn't slept well recently. What was going on with her?

"No, child. I'm sure he'll turn up, he's a strong hero. Go and get some sleep. You need it." Chiron tried to soothe the girl he saw as a daughter. Annabeth didn't even seem to hear him.

"What about the gods? Have we heard anything from Olympus yet?" She waved his concern away. She was hyper-focused and there was little that could distract or dissuade her now.

"No, the gods are remaining silent." Annabeth huffed and stormed out of the room. Chiron seemed to age 300 years in a matter of minutes.

"Oh, Perseus, where are you?" Nico woke up in a cold sweat-- a lingering feeling of dread building up in the pit of his stomach. This could not be happening. He threw the covers off and raced out of the room without even bothering to change. Where is Percy? He must have been kind of loud because he soon heard several sets of feet shuffling around as he raced down the stairs. Nico was about to head out to the greenhouse when someone called out to him.

"Nico? What's going on?" Bruce called tiredly.

"I have to call camp!" The demigod said, his voice betraying his urgency.

"Is everything alright? Are you hurt?" Nico moved into the kitchen to find something to make light with since it was dark outside. Bruce's question didn't even register.

"Nico, calm down and tell me what's wrong?" Bruce pressed. Nico heard the others reach the kitchen but he couldn't be bothered to look. He didn't find anything in the kitchen to make a rainbow so he moved on to the living room. There was a crystal vase so he grabbed that and brought it into the kitchen.

"Nico stop." Bruce grabbed my shoulders tightly, holding the boy in place, "What is going on?"

"I have to contact camp." Bruce looked confused.

"With a vase? You know you can use my phone, right?" Nico waved his hand in annoyance and pulled out of the older man's grip.

"Demigods can't use phones! Are you trying to get me eaten?"

"Eaten?" One of the batboys asked in the background. He couldn't tell which one and at the moment he didn't care.

"Then how are you going to contact camp?"

"I need a rainbow!" Nico hissed angrily, not caring that he was sounding like a raving lunatic.

"A what?" There were a lot of things that Bruce could roll with. This was not one of them. With all his years of experience, he could not figure out the correlation between rainbows and sending messages. Was this a demigod thing or had Nico just lost it?

"I need a freaking rainbow!" The son of Hades was highly agitated now. Bruce seemed to understand what he was doing with the vase and asked Tim to go get a prism from the knick-knack cabinet instead. Once he had the prism in his hand he started to calm down. Nico set the prism down in front of a lamp and only allowed himself to breathe once a rainbow had formed. He plucked a Drachma from his pocket and tossed it into the light. Someone cried out in surprise when the coin didn't hit the table.

"Oh Iris goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering, show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood." The rainbow distorted for a moment before an image of Chiron reading in a wheelchair replaced it.

"Chiron!" Nico called. He looked up from his wheelchair and seemed to be surprised to see him.

"Nico, my boy. What seems to be the matter? You seemed distressed." Chiron looked concerned.

"Where's Percy?" He skipped pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Wha- I sent him home this afternoon. Why?"

"I had a dream Chiron. He never made it home. He disappeared."

"Nico?" It was Bruce now, "it was probably just a dream.

Chiron finally seemed to notice the Waynes, "Oh, on the contrary. Demigod dreams often predict the future. You haven't... felt anything, have you?" Chiron seemed concerned. Nico shook his head and he sighed in relief, "Thank the gods. Nico, I'll call Sally first thing tomorrow, I promise. Try to go to sleep. If he really has disappeared, he'll need you to be in good shape."

"But if he is about to disappear, then I need to find him now and stop it from happening. What if it was a warning! I have to find him." He pressed.

"Absolutely not. You're not going anywhere at this time of the night. You don't even know where he went. You wouldn't know where to look." Bruce cut in.

"What do you mean no?" Nico turned to look at the older man but Chiron drew his attention back to the IM before an argument could break out.

"He's right, my boy. We don't know when or where he was going to disappear. Or if he is going to disappear at all. We can't just have you going into battle on nothing but a whim. Especially not without backup. If Percy is going to disappear as you say, then we can't risk you disappearing too."

"Maybe I would be able to stop it." Nico bit out through clenched teeth.

"And maybe you would die or disappear yourself." Chiron countered. His voice was getting harder but Nico pressed his luck.

"But Percy--"

"Is fully capable of taking care of himself and he wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger like this. Stay where you are, Nico." Chiron's voice became stern. Nico had never heard the old centaur sound that authoritative. He hated how young and insignificant it made him feel. How could he stand up to this 3,000-year-old teacher? He had taught heroes that outclassed the son of Hades in every way. There was no winning. Chiron swiped his hand through the image without waiting for a response. They both knew that Nico wasn't going to defy one of the only men he respected.

"Nico, do you mind telling the rest of us what the hell just happened?" Bruce said, both tired and annoyed at the same time. Nico opened his mouth to explain when the last member of the family decided to make his presence known,

"I believe these types of explanations can wait until tomorrow. Wouldn't you agree, Master Bruce?" Alfred stated dryly.

"Sure Alfred." Bruce said defeatedly, "Alright, off to bed all of you."

Nico did not sleep. He spent the rest of the night laying in bed and considering the consequences of Percy disappearing. The oceans would suffer because of Poseidon's grief, Camp would be miserable, Annabeth would be miserable, he would be miserable. Sally and Paul... Rachel... Bob. Percy had touched so many lives up to this point. It was impossible to tell just how far the ripple of his disappearance would travel. Nico felt like throwing up.

He groggily hauled himself into his bathroom and sat up against the side of the bathtub. He didn't want to have to make a break for the toilet if he did end up getting sick. He rested his head on his knees and tried to keep his breaths even. He didn't want to start hyperventilating now. He needed to be doing something. He should be doing something. If Percy ended up disappearing tonight and he actually knew about it ahead of time and did nothing-- he didn't know how he could live with himself. Especially if Percy turned up dead. How could he look Annebeth in the face and tell her that he ignored his gut because Chiron told him to? How could he ever show his face at camp again? If the campers didn't hate him before, they would now.

That's when the tears came. He should have just left and dealt with the consequences later. Yes, he may have died, but that would be better than never knowing if there had been anything he could have done. Was there still time to go searching? Where would he even start? Was he too late? All he really knew is that Chiron had sent him home. He could be anywhere between Long Island Sound and Manhatten by now. That was a lot of space to cover and he was only one person. There was no one he could can this early either. And what if he ended up being wrong and had gotten everyone all worked up over nothing? No-- he couldn't do that.

Nico was finally able to return to his bed and get a few fitful hours of sleep. When he did wake up, he barely spared enough time to change into regular clothes before he raced outside to the greenhouse. He couldn't wait any longer. the anxiety at the pit of his stomach was eating away at him. He had to know. As soon as it was light enough to create a rainbow, Nico Iris Messaged Chiron.

"Nico! I hate to say it, but Percy is indeed missing. He never made it home last night. Sally's going to file a missing person's report. I still have hope, but will you check the Underworld?" Chiron looked older than Nico had ever seen him. He bit back the urge to say 'I told you so'. That wouldn't help now and Chiron already seemed to be feeling horrible as it was.

I nodded grimly, "Yeah, sure Chiron. I'll get everyone I can on the job. Do Thalia and Annabeth know?"

"No, I'll tell Annabeth at lunch. I have little doubt that Annabeth will ask Thalia to look out for Percy herself." Nico nodded in agreement.

"I just wish I could've prevented it."

"We couldn't risk it, Nico. Go, check your father's domain." Chiron advised. Nico nodded and cut off the call. He headed back inside. Once Nico got to the dining room, everyone had already gathered at the kitchen table. They all looked up as Nico came in and Bruce's gaze was expectant. He sighed, not really ready to explain the frenzy he was in the night before. He didn't have the emotional energy for a long and involved discussion this morning.

"So, I guess you want to know about last night." He avoided eye contact with Bruce.

"That would be nice, yes." Batman agreed. The son of Hades figured that was the persona Bruce was most like now. This must be an interrogation, then.

"Well, I had a dream that Percy disappeared. Demigod dreams show events that either are happening or are going to happen. This morning, I contacted Chiron and Percy has, in fact, disappeared." He sat down heavily in my seat.

"Is there anything we can do?" Dick spoke up. Nico shook his head.

"No, not even the gods will do anything because, if my dream is correct, then Olympus is on lockdown."

"There has to be something we can do." Tim said reasonably, "We can look for him."

"You could, but first I promised Chiron I would check the Underworld," He explained.

"You think he might be dead?" Bruce sounded unsurprised at this, people don't normally disappear.

"I didn't sense him die but that doesn't mean too much."

"You can sense people when they die?" Jason seemed more interested than disgusted which was something.

"Yeah, I can also reanimate the dead, talk to and summon ghosts, shadow travel, and I know a lot of facts about death and how to kill people," He admitted. The last thing he wanted to do was to taint his image in these people's eyes. They didn't know how much of a freak he was yet. Would they still harbor him if they knew? Batman had a strict no-kill policy and Nico's powers were a direct violation of that. Would that mean that he wouldn't let him use his powers? Would he get mad or punish him if he did? Did killing monsters count?

"So you know that I..." Jason trailed off.

"That you died once before? Yes, Thanatos wasn't very happy with Ra's over that. Don't worry, I haven't been sent to collect your soul yet." Nico said passively. He wanted to spare their feelings and his reputation but he didn't have the energy to censor himself at the moment.

"Wha...? Sent to collect my soul?" Jason sounded appalled now. Nico waved his hand dismissively and picked at a strip of bacon with a fork.

"Yes yes. Hades sends me out to help Thanatos collect souls who cheat death and ones who escape back into the land of the living. Anyways back to Percy. I'm going to the Underworld to search for him." He announced.

"You most certainly are not." Bruce countered firmly. Nico was surprised, he hadn't expected to be opposed.

"What do you mean no? I have to see if he's dead or not!" He cried indignantly. Nico wasn't sure what he would do if Bruce forbade him from going. What would Bruce do if he defied him? Would the punishment be worth it? There was no way that Nico could just not check. He owed the camp that much at the very least.

"You're not going to the Underworld! Do you hear how crazy that sounds?" Bruce argued. It was then that he realized what was wrong. Bruce didn't understand that he could stay or go as he pleased. Nico laughed lightly at the misunderstanding.

"Don't worry about me, I go in and out of the Underworld all the time! I practically live there most of the time, especially during the school year when the campers are at school. I'm not in any danger." Nico assured the older man. Bruce looked uncomfortable with the amount of time the demigod spent in the Underworld.

"Are you sure?" He questioned skeptically.

"Well, mostly out of danger. It depends on what kind of mood the furies are in. Usually, they leave me alone." He said thinking about how Alecto hated me wandering around the different fields.

"Nico," Bruce said, his tone laced in a warning.

"I'll be fine." He sighed.

"What about your father?"

Nico hesitated at that, "What about him?"

"Are you in danger from him?" Bruce asked seriously. Nico thought about it for a minute. He might be upset that they guessed the secret but he couldn't be sure. He was sure that Hades would be furious if he found out about Hazel, though. Was there any way that he would know? He should be in and out quickly enough that he wouldn't know that he was there. He shouldn't be in danger.

"I don't think so, I haven't done anything to piss him off lately. He might not be so happy that you all know the secret but I don't think I'll be in danger." He replied after some thought.

"Are you planning on leaving now?" Bruce asked, accepting his answer. Nico nodded, "when should we expect you back?"

"Hard to say, time runs differently in the Underworld. If I'm not back by nightfall, something probably happened and you will need to contact Diana." He said-- knowing that Diana could understand the mythological world a lot better than the bat fam. Nico said his goodbyes then ran through the shadows made by the fridge. On the other side of the shadows, was Hades’ Palace itself. More specifically, he was in front of the doors to the throne room. Nico had no idea how he had gotten here since he had been picturing the fields of asphodel. He was about to turn to sneak away when the doors were opened by the dead confederates. At the far end of the throne room, Hades beckoned him in. So much for not seeing his father.

"Nico, I see that the Wayne's have figured it out." Nico bowed respectfully. The god of the Underworld was annoyed.

“ You said that they could figure it out as long as I got them to take an oath of secrecy!” Nico defended himself. He didn’t think that this was a fair criticism.

“Yes! If they figured it out. I didn’t tell you that you could basically lead them to the secret!” He bellowed. Nico averted my gaze and seethed in silence. There was no point in arguing with a god.

"Yes, father," He said tiredly.

"Do not forget to have them swear to secrecy. It would not do for your secret to get out to anyone else."

"I won't fail you, father."

"Hmm," Hades didn't sound convinced, "Yes, well. What brings you to the Underworld? I presume it isn't to remove any more souls?" Hades' voice was cold and his eyes were hard and narrow.

"Look, I..." Hades cut his son off with a wave of his hand.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. It is unacceptable to bring people back to life, you of all people should know that. I presume that she told you her origin as a Roman?" Nico nodded, still afraid he was going to be turned into a grease spot. Hades would be perfectly within his rights to do so. He had almost done it once before already and it was for a much smaller infraction. Had he finally pushed his father's patience too far?

"Congratulations! You just became her sponsor. If she does anything dishonorable, you both shall pay for it. Do you understand that Nico? You're lucky, I have the right to smite you for this."

"Yes, my lord, I understand," He replied-- relieved.

"Fortunately for you, I am very pleased to see my daughter alive again. Thank you for giving her a second chance." Hades said in a sentimental tone. Nico dipped my head, accepting the praise. He was no longer too confused by his father's shifting moods.

"Good, now just what brought you to the Underworld."

"I wanted to see if Percy Jackson had died," Hades growled at the name, he still hadn't gotten over being beaten on his own turf.

"He has not entered my domain," Hades said distastefully.

"Thank you, father." Hades made a shooing motion that Nico took as a dismissal. He bowed again and began to leave the room. Before he could Hades called out to him, "and Nico, if you come here without your body, I will be very displeased."

Nico shadow traveling to his room at the manor. He collapsed on the floor, happy that he made it out of there alive. He laid on my floor breathing heavily from both adrenaline and the amount of effort 2 long shadow jumps directly in a row took. To the Underworld no less. His mouth tasted like metal and his tongue felt like lead. He heard footsteps coming through the hall and Bruce entered the younger's room with a stack of blankets. When his eyes landed on Nico, he hurried over to kneel beside the son of Hades. His face looked concerned and the demigod wondered just how bad he looked.

"Are you alright?" Nico nodded weakly. He needed nectar and ambrosia but he was a little too tired for speech. Bruce picked him up bridal style from the floor and began to carry him out of the room. He tried to struggle but the adrenaline rush was fading, leaving him exhausted. It was all he could do to stay awake. He wanted to tell them to give him ambrosia but he was fading in and out of consciousness and only caught a little of what was going on.

"Is he alright, father?"

"What happened to him?"

"My word, go lay him in the sickbay please, Master Bruce. I'll be there momentarily." Nico hated being seen like this, especially around these people, but he couldn't resist in the state he was in. Bruce took him down to the dimly lit Batcave and laid him on an empty table. Why was he so tired? Was he really just that weak? So weak that he couldn't make two shadow jumps back and forth from the Underworld? Being in the Batcave only seemed to make it worse. Maybe it was something about the cave itself, but soon he was hardly able to keep his eyes open.

Alfred came into his line of sight but he couldn't see what was holding, making him feel a bit panicky. He was struggling to keep his eyes open which was also making it hard to see. Bruce propped the table that was supporting his upper body up so that he could see what was happening. Alfred was messing with a bag of clear fluid that he had never seen before. He hung it up on a rolling stake so that the liquid flowed through a tube. On the end of the tube, there was a needle. Alfred took the needle part and started to move closer to me with it. Nico started struggling weakly, not having any idea what an IV was.

"Nico, calm down, this is supposed to make sure you get all the nutrients you need. We have no idea what those teleportations did to you. I don't want to sedate you, but I will if I have to. Neither of us wants that so just try to relax. Trust us."

Nico chuckled dryly, "Trust can get you killed where I'm from. Especially if you trust someone with your life." Bruce didn't try to calm the demigod down anymore, he just explained what they were doing until he fell asleep. He woke up sometime later, still weak and a bit dizzy. He did feel somewhat better than he had, but it was also clear that he needed nectar and ambrosia. He needed someone to come and get all these wires and stuff off of him. Nico got impatient and pulled a clip off of his index finger and the machine started screaming at him. In moments Bruce was at his side and gently holding his wrists to keep him from ripping everything off.

"Hold still for a second. I'll help you get these things off." Nico relaxed onto the hard surface.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked as he removed the tube from my arm.

"Weak. I shouldn't be this weak." Nico sat up and his vision swam.

"Weak? You did just teleport twice in a row."

"Shadow travel," Nico corrected, "and that shouldn't have made me this tired."

"What could be causing it?" Bruce frowned.

"I don't know. It's worse in the Batcave."

"It's worse?" Nico nodded.

"It might be the magic dampeners that I installed. They are meant to level the playing field if a magical being were to enter the cave. I thought it would just prevent them from using magic or powers. I didn't realize that it would drain your magic passively." The vigilante made his way to a control panel along the wall and pressed a series of buttons. Nico couldn't tell what he was doing from where he was, but he hoped he was doing something about the stupid magic dampeners.

"There, I took them offline. but with a flick of a switch, I can turn them back on if I need to." Bruce glanced back at Nico-- who was already looking more awake.

"That's better," he replied, "Thanks for the medical attention and everything but I only really needed some nectar and ambrosia." Bruce looked at him in confusion so he explained the godly foods to him.

"So you eat a little and you heal, eat too much and you spontaneously combust?" Bruce asked, appalled.

"Pretty much." he agreed, sitting up. Bruce shook his head, apparently deciding not to question it.

"So, what did you find out while you were in the Underworld?" Bruce asked. Nico explained everything that happened except why Hades was mad at him. He told him it was because he forgot to have them swear on the Styx. At which point in time Bruce asked about the oaths and agreed to take an oath as well.

"Well, at least Percy isn't dead," Bruce said as Nico finished his explanation. The son of Hades nodded in agreement.

"Come on, you've had a busy day. Let's go eat dinner and you can explain those weird face-time things you do. Bruce smiled and began leading the way back up to the manor.

Chapter Text

Nico had a distinct feeling that his life was about to get very complicated. Percy's disappearance had to mean something. There was no way any mortal could have taken him, was there? It had to be something mythological. It had to mean something. That's what the fates like to do. They like to mess with the Son of Hades' brain. He did not appreciate it as it made things a whole lot harder for Nico.

For one, he would have to move Hazel a whole lot sooner than he thought he would. If this was the start of something big, he needed to get her to safety while he still had the chance. Though he still had some questions and reservations, it was clear that he couldn't waste any more time. He needed answers to the questions that he still had about the Romans, the Roman camp, and the protocols that he would have to follow and he needed them soon.

Last night Bruce had kept him up late to retell the story about his trip to the Underworld and about the godly foods. When he finally did go to bed, he fell asleep fairly easily and woke up really early this morning so that he could move Hazel quickly. Nico shadow traveled to toxic acres and quickly made his way to Ivy's place. He had to hurry before the Wayne's noticed that he was missing. He didn't like sneaking out, but he couldn't exactly explain Hazel to them yet. THey wouldn't understand and it would put the daughter of Pluto in danger-- well more danger than she already was.

The lights were already on when he arrived. Who knew that Ivy was such an early riser? The son of Hades knocked on her surprisingly solid door and waited impatiently for Ivy to open it. When she did, she was wearing a really short pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Her hair was in curlers and she was holding a cup of coffee. She was barely awake, which would be dangerous for the person who bothered her, usually. The children of death were the exceptions, apparently.

Ivy didn't say anything-- probably too tired anyway, and just let him in. Nico moved down the hall to Hazel's room and knocked on her door. There was a noise from inside followed by a 'just a moment!'. A couple of minutes later Hazel opened the door. She wore jeans that were baggier than most kids wore nowadays and a ratty Metallica t-shirt that was probably Ivy's. It looked good on her, the light grey material contrasted nicely with her skin.

"Nico? What's up?" Hazel yawned and stretched, moving past him and into the hall. Nico followed her back into the kitchen. Once she had grabbed decent breakfast and was sitting at the table eating, Nico explained the situation. Nico told her about a his friend's disappearance and how he needed to move her now while he still could.

"So hold up, you want to take her to California? Just how are you planning on doing that?" Ivy cut in, reminding the two that she was still there.

"I have my ways," Nico said cautiously. Just because he liked Ivy doesn't mean that it was smart to let her in on everything. She was still a supervillain after all. If he couldn't tell Bruce, then he certainly couldn't tell Ivy.

"Now that, I believe." Ivy agreed, finishing off her coffee.

"Where am I supposed to go once I get there?" Hazel asked, taking a bite of her cereal.

"I'm not sure but I know some people we could ask. One of them won't be too happy about it but they might help." Hazel nodded, though she didn't seem all that reassured.

"Alright, let me get my things. Thank you Ivy! You've been such a great host." Hazel hugged the plant woman and left for her room. Once she left, Ivy glared and pointed at him with one of her manicured nails,

"You keep her safe, you hear? She's family now too." She threatened, somehow scarier when she was tired. Nico nodded solemnly. A short while later, Hazel came out with a small pack. It was old and probably Ivy's. The pair left toxic acres and hid in an alleyway nearby. It was there that Nico used a broken bottle to create a rainbow while Hazel stood guard at the end of the alley. He had no idea where to take her so he had to call for help. Unfortunately, this help would come from his father.

"Father." Nico greeted him respectfully. Hades looked up from his newspaper that he swore had moving pictures.

"What do you want?" Hades said in an almost bored tone.

"I wanted to know where I needed to take her. I know that it's in California, but I have no idea what else I have to do first." Nico admitted.

"First get her a letter of recommendation. Diana Prince should be able to do that. Then take her to a place called the wolf house. You must not land anywhere close, drop Hazel off a mile or so away. She should be able to make it there on her own. Once she passes the trials, she will make her way to the camp she will know the way. You will use the cover of being an ambassador of Pluto. Talk with the praetors and convince them to accept her." He ordered. Nico thanked him before cutting the connection.

HE called Hazel back from the edge of the alley, "did you talk to your friend?" She asked curiously. He nodded and relayed his father's message.

"Are you sure you're ok with this? It's a pretty long jump." HE nodded.

"Yeah, I've got some ambrosia and nectar just in case." Nico took Hazel's hand and repeated 'near the wolf house' over and over in his head until I felt himself dissolving into shadow. They reformed in a forested area and he felt a little dizzy and almost fell down. Hazel helped him sit down gently and he ate a bit of the ambrosia. Nico drank a sip of nectar, savoring the taste.

"Are we here?" Hazel asked in a small voice, "something feels funny."

"I think so." He responded, "What feels funny?"

"I don't know, something makes me want to go that way. Hazel pointed in a random direction. Nico couldn't see anything that told him that that was the correct direction. He didn't feel any particular tug in his own stomach. Was is like a beacon for Romans? Was this a trap?

"Are you sure? Do you think that's where the trials await?" Hazel nodded, her gold eyes focused on something he couldn't see. It was strange, this sudden surety. Nico was sure it had something to do with magic but he didn't know any more than that. It was always magic.

If it weren't for the fact that he didn't feel the attraction myself, he would have expected monster activity. Sirens and many other monsters lured people to their deaths using such feelings, scents, or sounds. Percy had told the son of Hades the story of how Medusa had put him and Grover in a trance with the smell of food and how cyclops could mimic voices. Nico wanted to point this out to Hazel, but she spoke before he could.

"Yes. I must go on alone." Hazel said, sounding sure of herself. He didn't like the idea of leaving her here without knowing she was safe and he was about to protest but something stopped him. Instead Nico agreed.

"Ok, be careful. When you get done with the trials, pray to father and he should tell me to go get you. I'll bring your letters of recommendation as I come." Nico explained. Hazel nodded that she understood, her eyes watched him carefully. They were, metallic and shining-- so unlike his own back orbs. How was it possible that they were related?

"I'll be careful, I promise. I'll see you soon?" She asked, grabbing her pack. He nodded in affirmation, "take care of yourself ok? I hope you find your missing friend." Without waiting for a reply, Hazel trudged off through the woods and towards the wolf house. Nico watched her go until she got too far away to see before he shadow traveled back to his room. When he got there, he found Bruce waiting for him.

"Ah, Nico. So good of you to finally join us. Care to explain where you were?" Bruce crossed his arms over his chest and locked his steely blue eyes on the demigod.

"I can't, I was carrying out orders from my father," Nico said, not really lying.

"Look, Nico, you can't keep going out like this. I need to know where you're going and why." Bruce rubbed his hands down his face.

"Fine. I went to California to guide a lost soul." He explained.

"California?" Bruce looked uncomfortable. Nico doubted that it would help if he mentioned that it was a monster hotspot because of the eucalyptus trees. He probably wouldn’t like that much. Nico should have thought the older man would have been more curious about the lost soul part but maybe he just wasn't interested in the afterlife. For a man who was so surrounded by death, Nico guessed that it made sense.

"Yeah, why?"

"That's the other side of the country. What would you have done if you had gotten in trouble?"

"Fought it off if it was a monster, plus I could have gotten to an Underworld entrance. There's one in Hollywood." Nico said matter-of-factly. Bruce sighed but apparently decided that this argument wasn't worth fighting because he ended it abruptly.

"Alright, just tell me where you're going from now on, ok?" Bruce sounded defeated. Nico nodded in reluctant acceptance. Bruce left the room, gently shutting the door behind him. Nico rubbed his hand down his face and took a deep breath before heading off to shower. Nico took a long time in the shower imagining what trials Hazel might have to go through. To be honest, he was worried for her. Nico knew she could curse greedy people but that might not help. He wished he knew what the trials were and he wished even more that he could help her.

When Nico finally got out of the shower, it was some time around noon. He headed downstairs to eat lunch with the others. When he got downstairs he was relieved to see that he wasn't the last one to arrive. Jason and Damian were still missing. Nico took his seat next to Dick to wait for them to arrive. Alfred and Bruce usually insisted that they wait until everyone was present before they ate but that didn't always happen with these boys. Especially not if your name was Timothy Drake. That boy practically lived off of coffee and adrenaline.

As they waited, Dick started asking him questions about the gods. Nico was pleased by his curiosity and described each of the olympian gods and their domains as best he could. Of course, he often got off-topic, due to his short attention span and the enormity of the topic. There were just so many different ways to take the conversation and so many rabbit holes to explore. It was hard to keep everything straight in his mind.

Nico told Dick about the big three and their children, about the infamous Stoll brothers and their father, and Athena and her children. He seemed especially interested when Nico told him about how young some of the kids at camp were. He described the Aphrodite kids and Silena, the Hephestus kids, the Apollo kids, and their parents. He had gotten halfway through them all before he realized that the two missing members of the family had shown up and everybody was listening intently to him.

"Apollo went through a bad haiku phase..." Nico trailed off. He felt his face heat up from all the attention on him.

"Go on Nico, we're all very interested." Bruce encouraged.

"Err ok?" He said-- unsure, "Well Apollo writes the worst haikus ever. Though his talent with medicine and instruments is unmatched by any mortal of god. Aphrodite appears as whoever you find most attractive and adjusts constantly. No one really knows what she looks like normally. Ares has quite a temper. Percy challenged him to a duel when he was twelve and won." Nico looked back fondly on that for a moment before a soft cough brought his attention back to the others again.

"Oh, sorry, where was I?" He asked.

"Just finished describing Ares." Damian supplied. He nodded in thanks.

"Ah, yes. Next, Demeter. Crazy cereal obsessed goddess who hates my father and thinks everyone should be a farmer." Nico scowled, "Persephone hates me too after I dug up part of her garden. That was also the time I was almost burned to death. My father almost liquified me. Later on, Persephone turned me into a dandelion, which is why Pamela like me so much. Thinks I'm a freaking plant." He muttered.

"Hades was going to liquify you?" Bruce sounded appalled. He nodded-- unconcerned.

"Yeah, I'm surprised he didn't. I basically dared him to do it too." He admitted. Bruce looked really upset now but he didn't comment.

"What about Diana? She's an Amazonian, not a goddess." Dick pointed out.

"That's complicated." Nico grimaced. His was nowhere near the best person to be explaining this to them. Chiron or Annabeth would have done a much better job but he did his best.

"Then just try to explain it as best you can." Bruce pressed.

"Well, of the gods and goddesses can divide their consciousness up into parts. They can be in multiple places at once. Diana Prince is an aspect of Artemis-- though not remotely similar in personality. I don't know how it works, that's just how I understand it." He explained. He felt like his answer was inadequate and he wished again that he could have given him a better answer than that but magic had never been his strong suite. Nico may know a lot about the powers of the gods and their domains, but he knew very little about the confines of Greek magic. It would be like asking Annabeth to win in a spelling bee.

"You're right, that's complicated." Bruce chuckled appreciatively. The resident demigod nodded in agreement. Alfred came in with sandwiches and the topic of discussion turned to more pressing matters, school.

(I know that school would have already started but I really don't care. Making it completely realistic takes away some of the fun of writing fanfiction. Your leniency on the matter would be appreciated. Thanks!)

School was going to start in early November and Nico had no idea how that was going to go. He hadn't exactly had a steady education before and was probably way behind normal students his age. Bruce said he would arrange for a tutor and was going to see what accommodations could be made for his dyslexia and ADHD. Nico, however, would rather just not go to school altogether. Formal schooling was a waste of time. You spend all your time in a big brick building with other students only to get information (that you may or may not ever use again) shoved down your throat. Then you have to regurgitate it onto an exam and then forget most of it right afterwards. Nico had never done well at school. He learned through doing things and schools severely lacked curriculums that catered to that style of learning. That's why he had done so well in the classes he would attend at camp. He got to learn through experience.

Maybe there was some way to prove to Bruce that this wasn't going to be quite as easy as he thought it would be. First of all, Nico was so out of date on so many subjects that he would essentially have to start over. Plus there was the mythological side of things to consider. It wasn't really an issue if a monster showed up to the manor around the Waynes-- they knew his secret. It would be a totally different matter if he had to do it in front of a tutor. Plus Nico needed a really flexible schedule and tutoring didn't sound like it would allow for that.

After lunch, Nico went out back to his favorite spot in the grove, planning on IMing Annabeth to see how she was doing. He took the prism with him, finding it to be a much more efficient way to make a rainbow than using mist. The son of Hades settled beneath the weeping willow and set the prism in such a way that he could form the rainbow. Nico tossed one of his drachmas from his dwindling pile into the light and called upon Iris to show him Annabeth at camp. When the image appeared, he was behind Annabeth looking at what seemed to be a counselor's meeting. Even Thalia was present. It was Chiron that noticed him first.

"Ah, Nico! I've been expecting to hear from you." Everyone turned to see him and he was met with looks with varying degrees of surprise, distrust, and indifference.

"Chiron." Nico greeted respectfully. Annabeth stood in front of him, her eyes intense and expectant. She was obviously about to interrogate the biologically younger boy but Chiron called out to her before she could,

"Hold on, child. Sit down and he can tell you what he knows." Chiron said gently. Annabeth reluctantly sat down but her intense gaze stayed on me-- as did most people's.

"Well, I'm sorry to say that I don't know much. The good thing is that Percy isn't dead. The bad news is I haven't been able to locate him either. I have a couple of contacts I can talk to but their assistance would be limited." He reported, thinking about the Wayne family. Annabeth sighed in a mixture of relief and dismay.

"I'm sorry Annabeth, I'll do what I can," He promised.

"I know. Thanks, Nico. We have Grover conferring with all the nature spirits, the Hunt is out searching, Sally called into the mortal police, and we still have nothing." Annabeth sounded tense.

"Give it time, child." Chiron soothed. Everyone could tell that 'giving it time' wasn't something Annabeth was willing to do.

"Who are your contacts Nico?" Annabeth asked curiously. He winced and decided it was best to lie and shut down further talk.

"Let's just say that they are trustworthy. They were pretty clear that they were to remain unknown. I'd rather not die so I'm not going to tell you who they are." He said stretching the truth. The bat fam is trustworthy and they are very private. The only thing he lied about was being in danger. He didn't think that Bruce would ever hurt him, but he also wasn't willing to put himself in a position where he would find out.

"The mighty Ghost King is scared of these people?" Clarisse taunted.

"Oh yes, very much so," Nico said unashamedly. Clarisse was stunned to silence. HE smirked internally like that. Unlike her, his self-esteem wasn't wrapped in a big ego. People didn't like him so it didn't matter to them what he did. It was both a blessing and a curse.

"Alright, I was just curious. If you think we can trust them... well I trust you." Annabeth reasoned. Nico was touched that she said that. Not many people trusted a child of Hades, he dipped his head in gratitude.

"That is all I have to report. I'll IM you or Chiron if I learn anything else." He abruptly cut off the message. With so many people out searching, we should definitely be able to find him. Right? Now he had to IM Diana. Nico didn't want to IM her while she was in the middle of something. He briefly considered having Bruce contact her, but then he would have to tell him why and the son of Hades couldn't very well expose the Romans like that.

He sat there under that tree and deliberated for a long time. Before he could muster up the courage to make that call someone came into the grove and was heading towards the weeping willow. A few seconds later, Damian stuck his head through the leaves.

"Am I interrupting?" Nico shook his head.

"No, I was just thinking."

"Well, if you are done, I was wondering if you are ready to continue with our reading?" Again Nico nodded. Damian hummed and left to go back to the manor. He knew that Nico would come in when he was ready.

Nico watched him go. He no longer wanted to talk to Diana today and resigned himself to contact her as soon as he could the next day. Nico headed inside and found Damian in the library reading a different book. When he saw me, though, he pulled out 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and they picked up where they had left off. Nico felt relaxed by the story and allowed himself to be carried away. He had no idea how long the session lasted but they were called to dinner before they had stopped. He found himself enjoying these sessions with Damian more than he liked to admit.

Dinner that night was steaks which were really good. During his time there he had been taught proper etiquette and felt more comfortable at galas and formal events. Dinner was going really well until we had an unexpected visitor. One that-- unfortunately-- only he could see. A ghost popped up in the middle of the table and scared the un-living daylights out of the Son of Hades. Nico scooted his chair back making an ungodly screeching noise and glared at the ghost.

"Nico? What's wrong?" Bruce asked quizically.

"There's a ghost in the table," He said angrily. Nico recognized that this wasn't an ordinary ghost. This spelled trouble.

"What?" Jason asked disbelievingly.

"There's a freaking ghost in the table!" He growled, "An eidolon."

"An eidolon? What is that?" Bruce seemed to be inspecting the table looking for the anomaly. He, of course, wouldn't see one.

"They possess people and make them do things, anything. When possessed by one the victim's eyes grow cold looking. If he possesses me, he can control my powers. That would be bad." Nico said shortly. The eidolon in question was eyeing his sword warily. It was surprising to him that it didn't seem to go after the Wayne's. Maybe the monster didn't know how much bigger of a threat they were than he was. If it really wanted to cause some damage, it should go after Bruce.

'What do we do if it gets control of you?" Bruce questioned, standing now.

"Strap me down, keep me in bright light, and call Diana. Don't listen to a word I say until she gets there." He warned. Minos had taught him a lot about eidolons when he was in the labyrinth. Nico couldn't carry out Minos' plans if he was possessed, after all. It was then that the eidolon made its move. It was faster than Nico was expecting and he felt his consciousness being pushed aside before He knew what had happened. Nico was only able to manage a short 'no' before the spirit took over. That's embarassing.

"Ooohhhh a Son of Hades! How exciting." Nico heard himself say. The Wayne's were watching the demigod cautiously. Bruce slowly stood up.

"Puny mortals. You won't be alive much longer, yes that will be nice." The eidolon stretched and disengaged his sword and brought out his silver knife instead-- the one that works on mortals. Nico tried desperately to regain control of his body but it was no use. Unwillingly, he moved closer to Bruce. The eidolon was only restricted by the skill of its host. Luckily, he only had the knife as a last resort-- he didn't know how to properly weild it. It was a good thing too because just then his body tried to stab Bruce but he was too quick for the eidolon. Someone grabbed Nico from behind so he stomped on their foot making them hiss. Luckily, they didn't lose their grip. Unfortunately, the eidolon nailed them with an elbow to the ribs and they let go.

It was like Nico wasy hyped up on adrenaline. The eidolon didn't have any signals going to their brain that forced it to stick to the limitations of the body. He could access hysterical strength on a whim and leave Nico's body wrecked. It also wasn't getting any pain signals either. Nico could get stabbed and the eidolon wouldn't care until the host died. It was a desperate situation.

The eidolon managed to get in a couple of good cuts here and there but the bat family was able to pin him down and disarm him fairly easily. This was both good, and sort of pathetic. Jason punched Nico in the face and he could feel a bruise forming.

"Ah ah ah! Whatever you do to my host only hurts him. I can't feel a thing!" The eidolon taunted. The lucky part is that it wan't Nico's own voice that came out of his mouth. It was clear that there was another entity at work here. Jason looked really angry now. He grabbed Nico's jacket collar and pulled the younger's face closer to his own.

"You leave him alone!" The eidolon chuckled, his face was contorted into an ugly snarl.

"You just try and make me!" It challenged. They gladly accepted the challenge. Bruce grabbed the demigod's upper body and Dick got his feet. The eidolon struggled its hardest and they dropped him several times. One time the spirit tried to roll Nico off the edge of the catwalk to his gruesome death. Bruce and Jason stopped it in time but Nico was internally screaming-- thinking that he was about to die. he stalagmites would have made that a very painful way to go.

Tim and Damian had gone on ahead to call up Diana so hopefully, she could get here soon and get this thing out of his head. Nico wasn't sure exactly what she could do about it but it was worth a shot. He didn't have any good options, after all. He hated feeling like a prisoner in his own head-- he felt helpless and weak. He hadn't felt this useless since Hades had flashed him to his room and taken Percy prisoner. It was a feeling he never wanted to revisit.

The three oldest bats wrestled him onto the table. Jason and Bruce pinned him while Dick hurried to strap him down. Bruce flicked on the really bright light and both the eidolon and the demigod hissed in discomfort. The eidolon thrashed around, straining against the restraints, hurting Nico's joints. Why he didn't just go to a new body was beyond him but Nico was thankful for it nonetheless. His wrists were rubbed raw and bleeding and his eyes burned from staring into the light. He wished that the eidolon would look somewhere else so Nico could see somewhere else, but he refused.

"You're hurting the host." The eidolon ployed, calming only momentarily. Bruce looked conflicted, "I could make him cause himself a lot of pain if you don't let him go. Plus, the light hurts our eyes." The eidolon said the last part with clear disdain. Bruce seemed to consider it and Nico was desperately hoping that he wasn't going to let him go. He could deal with some sore joints, bruises, and raw patches-- it wasn't going to be the end of the world. But if the eidolor used his powers to get to Camp Half-Blood, then it could cause some serious damage.

"Dick? Do we have any blindfolds?" He asked. Nico felt relief wash over him-- his eyes were actually burning. A few minutes later a blindfold was slipped over his eyes. This clearly maddened the eidolon because it started spitting curses in Greek and fighting even harder against the bonds tying him down. Nico actually felt his eyes starting to water from the stining and burning in hs wrists. Nico didn't even have the mental capacity to feel embarrassed.

"Is he.. crying?" Jason sounded confused.

"I warned you! I will hurt the host!" The eidolon sounded cold and sadistic now.

" Get the straps. I'll turn on the magic dampeners. Maybe that will help somehow." Bruce ordered. Nico felt the straps tighten painfully around everything and a new strap was added across his forehead. It hurt, but not as much as when the eidolon was fighting the straps. The spirit still strained but it couldn't get enough leverage to hurt him too badly, so it settled itself with making his wrists raw and bloody. The eidolon also yelled profanities in every language it knew until his throat was raw and painful. At some point, they shoved a gag in Nico's mouth and shut the monster up. After that, they must have left the cave because Nico couldn't hear them anymore.

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed with his wrist aching as they did. The eidolin didn't feel muscle fatigue so it hadn't paused once in its pursuit to make his life hell. When you are in constant pain, time is irrelevant. Sometime later he heard people come back down and he could feel his heart rate start to rise. Though he knew he could trust them, Nico couldn't help but feel trapped. With the way he was tied up, he truly felt like he was an experiment and he started to panic internally.

Nico heard voices getting closer-- several voices. The only voices he recognized were Diana and Bruce. The rest were foreign and that did not bode well for him-- his panic started to rise. Who were these people? Why would Bruce bring these people here? There was too much going on. too many things that were out of Nico's control. he didn't even have control over his own body. There was no way he could fight or defend himself in this condition. He was completely at the mercy of these people and he hated it.

INico heard a man's voice comment, "His heart rate is dangerously high."

Another chimed in, "He is frightened by us. " His voice sounded smooth and calming and it may have been comforting at another time. Right now, it was just another potential threat.

"Come on, we need to calm him down," Diana said reasonably. HE heard her footsteps come closer.

"Hello? Nico, don't be afraid. It is just the Justice League. I would take the blindfold off but with that foul spirit in there we can't risk you staring straight at the light. I see it's already made a mess out of your wrists." He could feel her fingers ghost over his right wrist and he hissed internally.

"What is doing this to him?" Another new voice asked.

"They are called eidolons. They possess... basically anything humanoid. You can hurt the host without hurting the eidolon at all." Diana explained.

"Ah yes, I've heard about them. Nasty creatures. Can we get rid of it without hurting the boy?" Yet another voice asked.

"We should be able to." Someone took hold of the gag and started to pull it out.

"What was the gag for?" yet another person asked.

"The eidolon wouldn't stop yelling at us. It was making him lose his voice." Bruce explained.

"Well, let's see if we can get the foul spirit out using the lasso," Diana said, pulling the gag from his mouth. Surprisingly, the eidolon remained silent. Maybe it knew what was about to happen. and maybe it was looking for another host. Nico hoped they would hurry.

"Hmm, not so talkative now are you?" Nico felt something get threaded underneath his right arm and get tightened. Nico was confused but he couldn't ask questions. he just had to trust that they were trying to help him. How he hated relying on other people. Other people always let you down eventually.

"What do you want with Nico?" Diana asked with authority. The eidolon hissed and growled, resisting. The lasso stung a bit but it seemed to be hurting the eidolon more.

"He is a strong host." It replied at last.

" Why are you hurting him?" Diana questioned.

"I was showing the mortals what I can do. They are no match for me. Even this powerful demigod will fall to me." It hissed, pleased with its power.

"You will leave this host and never return. None of your kind will inhabit him again. Swear it on the river Styx!" She ordered. The stinging of the lasso was turning into a slight burning sensation.

"No," it hissed. Diana repeated the request twice more before it complied. By now the burning sensation was becoming unbearable.

"I swear to leave this body. No eidolons shall possess this host. I swear it on the river Styx." Thunder rolled in the distance signifying the completion of the pact. Nico felt the being leave and all he could think to do was to get that lasso off.

"Get it off! Get the rope off. It burns! Get it off!" Nico cried hoarsly as soon as he had control of his own mouth. Diana hastily unraveled the rope and he sighed in relief. The blindfold was soon removed. It took him a minute to adjust to the lights. As his eyes were adjusting Bruce removed the restraints and Diana helped him sit up. It was a painful task but it made him feel less vulnerable and that was all that mattered to him at the moment.

The first thing he did was take his jacket off to see why the rope had burned. He was shocked by what he saw. There was an angry red outline on his arm from where the rope had sat. It had burned him through his jacket. Nico touched it and winced-- it was extremely tender. It wasn't the only placeeither-- his wrists were in poor shape.

"The lasso burned you?" Diana sounded surprised. Nico looked away from his wounds to see the oddest congregation of people in front of him. There was a green man, a man in a red and yellow bodysuit, one in a blue and red uniform, one wearing a shirt of orange scales, Diana, and Bruce. He looked over each and every one of them in turn. He didn't bother responding to Diana, the answer was obvious.

"It's never burned anybody before." Diana sounded perplexed.

"Great, I broke the laws of magic." he sighed sarcastically. Diana handed him flask which he took a small sip of. Nectar. He poured some of the godly drink on his arms and watched as the burn turned into light pink color. The golden drink mixed with the blood on his wrists and started to turn a shimery red-gold. It would have been beautiful if it weren't so painful.

Bruce watched the demigod carefully, "I thought you said Gotham was protected?"

"It is, to some extent," Diana answered for him. Nico nodded.

"Yeah. Monsters can spawn within but they can't enter from the outside." He elaborated. The nectar was already woulding to repair his throat and his voice didn't sound quite as scratchy as it had moments before. Nico cautiously took another sip of nectar. The green man began to approach him-- he tensed and watched him with suspicion. He seemed to understand the son of Hades' distrust. Something about him made him wary, besides his green skin. Nico had seen blue Hypoboreans before-- green skin was nothing.

"May I address your wounds?" Nico looked at him in confusion and glanced at Bruce for help. He gave the demigod a slight nod. Nico decided to trust him. Surely if Batman says something is ok, it is, right?

"Sure, I guess. Thanks." he said, allowing the stranger to approach. The rest of the heroes spread out in sort of a circle around the table. Nico tried to ignore their existence.

"I am Martian Manhunter, you may call me John Jones or J'onn if you like." He said in his soothing manner. He nodded absently.

"I'm Nico di Angelo. Just call me Nico." he introduced himself. J'onn and Diana worked together to apply nectar and bandage his wrists. Nico still wasn't sure why they were all here.

"We are all here because Batman called Diana during one of our meetings. We all decided to 'tag along' as you say." J'onn explained. He had read my mind. Nico wasn't really all that surprised. The dude was green and a Martian. It stands to reason he has other abilities too.

"What else can you do?" he asked him curiously. The man in blue with the S on his chest seemed surprised by something.

"I can shift my density so I can go through solid objects and turn invisible." J'onn seemed pleased to have someone interested in him. Nico could understand the feeling.

"Cool," he said, genuinely meaning it. After his wounds were taken care of he tried to stand but collapsed. He would have hit the floor if the dude in the red bodysuit hadn't caught him. He set Nico back on the table gently where the younger boy clutched his knees. His joints ached.

"Owww," He muttered under his breath. HE thanked the guy in the red suit and did a quick soul search. Barry Allen.

"No problem I'm Flash." He smiled a blinding white smile. Diana gave him some more nectar and ambrosia.

"Yeah, AKA Barry Allen." He said, unimpressed. Now everybody except Bruce and Diana was surprised.

"How did you know that? Did Batman tell you?" He looked a little annoyed. Nico shook his head,

"I was able to find out his identity too," he assured the speedster.

"Seriously? He had to tell me!" Barry seemed very put out. He looked at Bruce for confirmation and he simply nodded.

"Do you know who I am?" The man with the S asked. I soul searched him.

"Clark Kent." His soul felt different for some reason, but Nico couldn't put his finger on it.

The last man finally approached, "Arthur Curry." Nico said before he could ask. He nodded in confirmation.

"Right. I'm not human though, I'm Atlantean." Nico raised his eyebrows at that.

"Cool. Sorry if I seem like I don't like you. It's just..." he trailed off, not sure how to say that the god of the seas tries to kill me when he goes on boats.

"Believe me, I understand," Arthur assured him. He must have an idea of who he is then. Did Diana tell them? Did he guess? Did it really matter?

Then a thought occurred to him, "Did you know that Percy Jackson disappeared?" Nico asked curiously.

"Posideon's boy?" Arthur sounded surprised.

"Yeah. He vanished 2 days ago. No one knows where he went." the demigod explained.

"I'll have my people keep an eye out for him," Arthur promised. Nico thanked him. There is nowhere that we aren't searching. We should find him within the week.

"Posideon? I didn't think he existed." A man wearing all green questioned. He had a bow slung across his back.

"Oliver Queen. A pleasure to meet you again." He nodded in greeting.

"Yeah, you always seem to be gettin' into trouble, don't you?" He started, "anyway, what is this I hear about Posideon?" He wasn't as surprised that Nico had guessed his identity. If he could get Batman, he could get anyone.

"Posideon runs the whole sea but Atlanteans and merfolk do his bidding most of the time," Arthur explained.

"Huh, typical," he muttered under his breath. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Careful Nico, the council is still not too happy with you," Diana warned. He couldn't help but rolled my eyes, though he did shut my big mouth. I had just survived a possession, I wasn't so eager to face death twice.

Chapter Text

Even after all the godly food he ate, Nico had to be helped to his room. The eidolon had left his joints sore and fragile, and he wasn't able to support his full weight very well on his own. He was utterly humiliated. His body was used to physical exertion, but this was on a whole other level. Nico wasn't sure exactly how much damage the spirit had caused, but it seemed like he was down for at least the next day or so.

With the godly foods, he healed faster than even most enhanced beings did. He would be right as rain by tomorrow evening at the latest. Normally that was more than fast enough for his needs, but the problem was that many of the heavy-hitters weren't going to be home during that time. Alfred was going to England for a week to visit family, and Bruce had a last-minute business trip. They weren't going to be here to help him recover or to deal with any potential monster threats. He had dealt with far worse on his own before, but it's just easier with help.

The boys weren't going to be completely alone, though. Diana volunteered to watch over them while the heads of the house were gone. Nico liked Diana, but it's weird seeing her so often. He understood that she isn't really a part of Artemis, but he had a hard time over how human she acts. She was a lot less formal and condescending towards men than the other aspects of Artemis. Diana was also more motherly and compassionate. She was a whole lot easier to get to know. He wasn't complaining; it was just weird.

Weird or not, the son of Hades was glad she would be there. He didn't want to admit it, but he was going to need some assistance. He was still sore and bruised from the restraints, and doing everyday tasks was a bit difficult. Mainly, he didn't want to make his brothers take care of him. He'd feel bad to push that on them. He knew they would if he needed them too, but it would be uncomfortable to accept help from them in this capacity.

Nico stared at the ceiling tiredly, trying to remember what had happened after the exorcism. After he had fallen, Bruce had picked him up and had taken him to his room because he couldn't walk very well. It was embarrassing, but probably for the best. When they had gotten back to the room, the demigod passed out from exhaustion almost as soon as he had been laid on the bed. He had hoped that he would at least catch a break that night, but that was not the case. As he slept, he dreamed.

Nico dreamt that Hazel was in a forest clearing, surrounded by wolves. They didn't seem to be especially hostile, even if one of them was as tall as Hazel herself. The daughter of Pluto-- to her credit-- didn't even seem fazed. She was even speaking to the biggest wolf. He couldn't tell what she was saying, but the wolf seemed to respond. Well, it didn't respond with words, but he got the distinct impression that it had replied in some way. For a group of infamous predators, they all seemed rather peaceful.

The main pack was spread out in the grass, sleeping on each other, grooming themselves and others, play fighting, and generally relaxing. Some wolves were circling, probably on guard duty. It was like seeing the Hunters of Artemis as wolves. Maybe this was the Roman equivalent. Since Nico couldn't communicate in their language, he would have to settle on observing Hazel's body language. There was no discernable danger, and Hazel seemed relatively safe, so Nico let his mind wander from the odd scene and into a blissful and dreamless sleep.

Nico woke up with mixed feelings. He didn't feel that Hazel was in danger, but he also wanted to know that she was ok. She wasn't going to join the pack and become a semi-immortal wolf, was she? He wasn't sure if he could handle being left like that again.

Although he was still tired, he climbed out of bed. He took a quick shower and changed into a set of loose clothes. He didn't need anything that restricted his movements right now. He was still stiff, but a lot of the pain had gone away overnight. He could hear his brothers getting up and getting ready in their rooms, and he could even smell some food that he couldn't identify coming from downstairs. He briefly considered going down to eat but ultimately decided against it. He wasn't sure that he'd be able to keep anything down at the moment-- he'd woken up to his stomach churning.

Since he didn't want breakfast and socializing didn't appeal to him either, he needed to find something else to occupy himself-- so he decided to draw. It didn't take him long to come up with the subject matter either. He was going to draw Hazel with the pack of wolves. He had never really done much with animals before, so it took him a long time to figure out the facial shape and the proportions of the body parts. He used the back of a failed sketch as a place to practice. He knew that he probably wasn't going to be able to finish in this setting, but he wanted to get started on it while he had the chance.

As he was sketching, Diana came into the room-- presumably to check on him. She came in quietly, and the demigod didn't hear her come in at first. He noticed her only when she rested her palm on the desk by his elbow. Her other hand perched on the back of his desk chair. She was glancing over his sketches which made him want to hide them. He knew he had only just started trying to draw wolves that morning, and he should feel ashamed for his lack of competence, but he did anyway. If Diana thought they were bad, she didn't say so.

"I thought you'd be resting. After all, possessions take a lot out of you." She sounded like a concerned parent. Not as much as Ivy, but still. Nico shrugged and turned back to his notebook. Diana continued looking over his shoulder as he drew. Nico erased the haunches to start again for the fourth time.

"I am pretty tired. That's why I didn't come down this morning," he admitted, looking up from his work again. This conversation was stealing all of his motivation. It seemed that he wouldn't be learning how to sketch wolves today after all.

"Your eyes are sunken. How did you sleep? Did you have a nightmare?"

"No, not really. It was just... a weird dream." he didn't know how to describe the dream. Nico couldn't think of the words. He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I see-- Nico, your burn! Has it gotten worse?" Diana sounded appalled. He was wearing a t-shirt which revealed the rather nasty-looking burn on his arm. The burn did look worse, but it hadn't started hurting yet. Diana grabbed his arm gently to inspect it.

"Why is it worse?" he asked the amazonian woman.

"It looks like a pretty bad burn. Oh my! It must have burned you deeper than I thought!" Diana sounded horrified.

"It's not hurting," he replied. It was weird that it wasn't hurting. The coloring was dark and angry. The skin was blistering and raw, but he only felt like he had gotten a mild sunburn.

"Maybe it hasn't caught up with you yet." She suggested hesitantly. She obviously didn't know what we were dealing with here either. Nico absently hoped that it would just decide to start hurting at some point-- it didn't look enjoyable.

"What could be causing this? Is it a magic burn?" Nico had only ever heard about magic burns-- he had never seen one in person. Supposedly they occur when two beings with conflicting magic types use their magic on each other, and it burns them. Was Diana's magic not compatible with his own? They were both Greeks, weren't they?

"Oh, of course! You are a creature of death and darkness! That is the exact opposite of the lasso, which radiates truth and life. I should have known you weren't compatible with its magic!" Diana began apologizing profusely, which Nico didn't want to listen to. He knew she hadn't done it on purpose-- and they both knew it had been their only real option.

"Diana, you had to get the eidolon out. There was no other way to do it. The burn doesn't hurt, don't worry about it." the son of Hades stood to get some of the nectar Percy had left him. He poured a small bit on his arm, and the dark burn turned a bit lighter. It would take time to heal this wound.

"I'm so sorry! You need to tell Bruce about this first thing in the morning." Diana stood to go. Nico shook his head.

"I'll tell him when he gets back. He doesn't need to be distracted by this. I'm not in pain, so this can wait," he argued. Diana reluctantly agreed and left him to finish up his work. Nico hoped that she wasn't just going to tell him herself. It really wasn't a big deal, and this trip was important for Bruce's company. He needed to be focused on that right now. He'd already caused Bruce a lot of grief this week-- he didn't want to make a big deal out of something that he could handle himself.

++++

The next morning was rather uneventful. The prank war had dwindled to nothing over the last couple of weeks due to everything else happening, so we officially declared it to be over without a winner. Nico was too focused on the lasso mark to really care about the competition anyway. It had begun to burn.

Nico poured more nectar on the burn, but it had no effect. He knew that he should tell Diana, but it never seemed to be a good time. The first time he went to tell her, Dick was having a lively conversation that he didn't wish to interrupt. Then Tim was asking her questions about her armbands and lasso and what she knew about magical artifacts. Nico could never find the right time to bring it up. So, the business trip passed by, and Bruce came back.

At first, he was going to tell Bruce about the mark's progression, but he seemed more relaxed than he had been in a long time, and he didn't want to ruin it. As the pain got worse, the demigod would keep trying to bring himself to tell Bruce, but he couldn't do it. Ultimately, he decided to keep it to himself unless it got dire. It would turn out that that was a huge mistake.

Nico stayed in his room for a few days after Bruce got back because his arm hurt so bad that he couldn't hide it. The mark itself didn't seem to be changing, but the pain was slowly increasing. By the second day of staying in his room, the bat fam was starting to get suspicious. Bruce finally seemed to decide that enough was enough because he came to find his middle son himself. He barged into Nico's room to find him lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He sat up when the older man came in. His head swam since he hadn't drunk much the last two days. He was feeling the effects now.

"Hey, what's going on? We haven't seen you much the past couple of days. Is something wrong?" Bruce crossed his arms and waited in the younger's doorway for a response. He wasn't mad, though his body language made it seem like he was. Nico had to remind him of this fact, so he didn't feel attacked. As he had explained to him before, he just didn't know how to approach the subject. He probably thought it was an emotional thing rather than an injury.

Nico got out of bed and was about to reassure him that he was fine when his legs gave out. Bruce grabbed his bad arm to steady him but backed off when Nico cried out in pain. He landed on the floor in a sitting position, clutching his arm to his chest and rocking gently. His teeth clenched as white-hot pain flashed through his arm, shoulders, and neck.

"Nico? Are you ok? Talk to me. What's wrong?" Bruce was kneeling beside the younger boy-- looking worried.

"My arm, it burns," he said through gritted teeth. Bruce gently pulled off his jacket and gasped when he saw the mark.

"Is that the same burn from a few days ago? How long has it been like this?"

"It's the burn from Diana's lasso. I would have told you sooner... but it didn't hurt much before," he explained.

"That wound is from her lasso?"

"Yeah, Diana feels awful about this. I'd rather she not know that it started to hurt." Nico said, holding his arm to his chest.

"But she may be the only one who can fix it." Bruce pointed out, "I've never dealt with solely magic wounds. I don't want to make it worse."

"No, she doesn't know how to handle this either. I've tried ambrosia and nectar, but they only helped so much."

"You have to get someone to help you. This is out of my area of expertise." Bruce admitted.

"I'll go to the Underworld tonight and see what my father knows about it." Nico agreed. Bruce looked like he was going to argue, "he's the only one that may know how to fix this." Bruce sighed in defeat.

"Alright, just be careful, you understand?" Nico nodded grimly.

"I think I'll nap until then." He stood and laid back on his bed. He needed to wait until dark so that it would be easier to shadow travel. He couldn't risk an accidental trip overseas right now.

"Alright, just let me know before you leave." the demigod nodded in agreement, and Bruce left. Nico sighed, dread settling on him. He was going to be in so much trouble when Hades sees this.

A couple of hours later, he was notifying the family that he was going to be gone.

"When shall we be expecting you again, Master Nico?" Alfred asked, having arrived home only an hour earlier. He barely stopped to drop his bags in his room.

"I don't know. One, I don't know if this will be an easy fix or not, so there's that. Plus, my father is not going to be happy about the whole possession and magic injury thing either." He added reluctantly.

"Define: not happy." Jason crossed his arm skeptically.

"I don't know; he'll probably just lecture me about how careless I am," I spoke with the taste of spite on my lips.

"Why does he think you're careless?" Bruce frowned.

"Because I am. I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud of-- stupid things. Things that could have and should have gotten me killed. My whole life has been one preventable event after another, and the one common factor is me doing something stupid." Maybe that wasn't entirely factual, but that was how he felt. There were certainly many events that were his own fault when it came down to it-- enough to fill a book or two. He certainly hadn't given Hades much reason to place his faith in him over the years.

"That doesn't make sense. I've never seen you like that?" Bruce cut in again.

"I've grown up a lot since then-- matured quite a bit. I don't do a lot of the stuff that I used to do. When I was little, I like to run from my problems and blame things on people even if the situation was out of their control. I blamed Percy for my sister's death even though it was her own choice that got her killed. I ran off into the legendary death maze with a murderous ghost because I had expected Percy to keep an impossible promise and almost got killed or captured dozens of times because of that. So many of my problems could have been avoided." Nico explained tiredly. He didn't like to think about those times. He was very aware that he had been naive and stupid-- just like Hades had said. He cringed at who he used to be.

"What did the murderous ghost want from you?"

"He wanted revenge on the man who had eluded him-- eluded death. He wanted me to kill for him, and in return, I would get my sister back. A soul for a soul."

"Is that like a human sacrifice?" Tim asked, looking a little green.

"Yes and no. After Bianca died, I would trade my own soul for hers, but Hades doesn't trade with souls that he is going to collect anyway. Then I was going to use Daedalus' soul-- as he had cheated death for thousands of years." Nico admitted, clutching his arm and wishing that they'd just let him leave already.

"But you didn't?" Damian inquired.

"No, I realized what he was really trying to do in the end and put a stop to it. Bianca is where she belongs." Nico couldn't bring himself to tell them that she had tried for rebirth. That was a whole discussion that he didn't have the heart to go into right then.

"You'd have traded your would for hers? Why would you think that Hades would even allow that?" Dick spoke up softly.

"If you knew me when I was younger, you would understand. I was idiotic, a pushover. Bianca was the strong one. She always seemed to know what we needed. She joined the Hunters at the first chance she got. She was tired of taking care of me, I guess. Hades seems to forget that I'm not the same person I was when I was 10." he spat-- the memories left him feeling bitter. Without realizing it, he had pulled out the Hades figurine. The last thing Bianca had ever given him.

"What's that?" Dick asked gently. Nico looked down and was angry to see what it was.

"It's... nothing just a piece from a game I used to play." he shoved it back in his jacket pocket. Nico had taken to keeping it there after the necklace chain had broken.

++Bruce++

Now Bruce understood-- this version of Nico wasn't the original. This Nico had been shaped by his father's expectations and the hardships he's been through, becoming a person with low self-esteem and high-powered abilities. He had been fun-loving once, playing that card/figurine game. Hades and his sister had convinced him that that wasn't good enough for them to keep around, and he adapted to that rejection. No wonder it has taken him that long to get accustomed to them. This was a personality that had been given to him by other people second-hand.

++Nico++

"Alright, I'll be back soon," he said, trying to be reassuring. Nico stepped into the shadows and pictured his father's throne room. When he opened his eyes, he saw his father staring him down. His face flickered, but it was so quickly that Nico couldn't be sure he actually saw it.

"Nico, what brings you back again so soon?" Hades sounded judgemental as always.

"Father," he greeted, "I was wondering if you knew what was happening with my arm." Nico looked at him for permission to approach. The god beckoned his son forward. As he got closer, the faces in his father's clothes writhed more furiously. It was like they were calling out for his help. Nico and Percy had tried that before. They had dissolved Hades' cloak in the River Styx. The god had a new one by the next day. There was no shortage of monsters in the world.

Nico removed his jacket carefully and presented his burned arm to his father for him to look at. The god gripped his arm tightly, and Nico winced. Hades inspected the burn thoroughly for a couple of minutes-- his grip painfully tight. His face was unemotional, which made the demigod want to scream in frustration. Did he know what it was or not? after a long and uncomfortable silence, Hades spoke.

"A magic burn, it would seem. How did you get it?" Hades questioned. Nico explained the entire event to him, though it was really the last thing he wanted to do right then.

"So Diana's lasso can burn my children?" His voice didn't change, so it was impossible for me to tell what he was really thinking.

"Yes, father." I acknowledged, "Do you know how to heal it?" He asked hopefully.

"Hmm, the cure just might be more painful than the wound. You must drink from the Phlegethon River. It heals all wounds. The fields of punishment can access it." Hades advised, "Nico, be careful. If that had been somewhere more serious than your arm, I'm not sure you would have been able to make it this far."

"I understand, father." He bowed before leaving to find the river of fire. Finding the river wasn't all that hard. You could see the orange glow basically everywhere. Nico took the long walk to the river, listening to the cries of the damned all the way. When he reached the water's edge, he stared vacantly at the flames for a while before deciding that he had no choice other than to drink it. If his father had wanted him dead, there were easier ways to do it than this.

Now that he was in the fields of punishment, his arm was getting more and more painful by the second-- it was becoming unbearable. He finally gave in and dipped his hands in the river, surprised to actually feel a strong current. When he first took the flames in his hands, it felt freezing-- which surprised him. Nico gulped the weird substance down before it started to feel like regular fire.

It was horrible tasting. It tasted like charcoal and chili peppers. It took all he had not to cough it all back up. He sat back and watched as the lines in my arms receded and began to heal. Nico sighed in relief as the burning sensation subsided, leaving his arm free to move again. he drank another mouthful just in case, and then he shadow-traveled back to the manor.

"Nico! Did you mean to land in the salad?" Bruce teased. He had indeed landed with one foot in the salad bowl.

"Umm, not really, but this works too, I guess." he chuckled lightly. He carefully made his way back down onto the floor. Bruce gently gripped his bicep to make sure he didn't fall over.

"So, did Hades know what to do?" Dick asked. The son of Hades told them all about his meeting with his father. It had gone better than he had expected.

"Firewater? How does that work?" Tim asked, puzzled. Nico shrugged-- honestly at a loss. There were some things that he had decided that he didn't need to know, and that was one of them.

"I don't know-- it tastes pretty bad."

"You drank firewater? Are you insane?" Jason eyed him incredulously.

"No, the Phlegethon River heals wounds. It is meant to keep those in the fields of punishment healthy enough to endure their sentences. It keeps you alive even on the brink of death." Nico explained, sitting down at the table.

"For some people, their punishment is to be submerged in the river for eternity."

"Lovely," Damian commented.

"It's still better than the lethe." He shivered from the thought of that milky-looking river. He could go several lifetimes without seeing that place again.

"You sound like you have experience with this," Damian questioned.

"I do. The lethe wipes your memories. All of them, if you're not careful. My father had my sister and me dunked in the river after we watched our mother die. That is why I can do things without remembering how. I hate it."

"So you really had just learned that you could draw..." Dick realized. Nico nodded in agreement. Dick winced at the memory of the argument.

"Your father sounds like a wonderful man," Bruce said through clenched teeth.

"He's better than some..." the demigod defended. Hades hadn't been the best father-- maybe-- but he was better than many of the other gods.

"Oh really? Who?" Bruce countered.

"Well, Hermes' kid, Luke, started the second Titan War because he felt neglected. Nemesis took her son's eye in exchange for a wish. Ares scares the crap out of his kids and has probably fought them at some point. Just to name a few right off the bat. I'm really quite fortunate." he replied.

"Took her son's eye?" Bruce was at a loss for words.

"Yeah, he wished to make a difference in the world, so she took his eye. The higher the wish, the bigger the price. He helped us win the war by betraying Luke. He's the reason the minor god's children get recognized. Ethan Nakamura-- made it to Elysium." He felt that he was doing the demigod a disservice by explaining this so briefly, but he didn't want to get into the semantics of the gods and their children right then. That conversation could go on for hours.

"Wow," Jason spoke finally. The family was silent for a few long moments as they took everything in. Nico had shared a lot, and they weren't sure how to feel about it all. Eventually, the conversation changed to how the Joker escaped again and what to do about it. Nico was just glad that the conversation was off him. He ate dinner with the family and decided to go to bed early.

That night he had another strange dream. He was shown the Roman camp-- paradise if you ask him. Nico was taken through the beautiful encampment to a place where two people, a boy, and a girl, were fighting.

"Reyna, we have to call together the senate! The monsters aren't staying dead." The blond boy pressed.

"You've only seen one case of this. I will not alarm the people without more evidence! Confer with Octavian and see what the gods advise." Reyna suggested. The boy nodded in reluctant agreement and left to see this Octavian fellow. The leaders of the camp, no doubt. He was going to need to meet them to enter the camp. He needed to be able to enter the camp to visit Hazel. Nico watched the female sink into a seat at the head of a long table, stuck her hand into a bowl of Jelly Beans, and pulled out a handful. It looks like someone else had a sweet tooth too.

She ate a few one by one as Nico studied her. He couldn't tell where she was from by looking at her. The one thing he could tell is that she knew more than most did. Her eyes held a wealth of knowledge and also sadness. It intrigued him. Who was this Reyna? What was her story?

The dream faded out, and Nico woke up. It was only noon, and he was still barely able to lift his head. He couldn't have gotten up even if he had wanted to. He would visit them tonight if he felt better. Right now, he felt really drained and easily fell back asleep and slept in late. The bat family must have known he needed it. They woke him up around noon to work on training. By then, he was feeling a lot better.

Training consisted of Bruce giving him a crash course on hand-to-hand combat styles. So far, He was still weaker than Tim, the most recent bat to enter training-- considering that Damian had been trained by someone else first anyway. These mortals are crazy. If a demigod went through this type of training, they'd be unbeatable in a war. That was his intent. Nico wanted to be able to fight his own battles. He was tired of being the damsel all the time.

Today they worked on weightlifting and subsequently flexibility. Almost all of his weight is composed of muscle mass, but he is so tiny that it would be hard for anyone to tell. Nico did fairly well with the weightlifting, and the flexibility wasn't all that hard either. When they moved on to integrating his flexibility back into fighting, he began to have problems. It just didn't feel natural.

With swords, your feet were typically planted firmly on the ground, so using kicking moves was very foreign to him. Bruce was having difficulty finding analogies that he understood, with his limited understanding of pop culture. He ended up just having to demonstrate just about everything. Sometimes he had to do it multiple times until Nico got it. He was grateful that this didn't seem to annoy the older man even when Nico himself got frustrated.

Nico had problems focusing during a fight on move sets. Usually, he kept track of his opponent and his friend's positions on the battlefield, not fancy moves. Bruce said that he had to start thinking more while he fought and anticipate the opponent's moves. He frequently tells him that The fights on instinct alone, which is normal for demigods. It had kept him alive, but it wouldn't lead him to mastery. Therefore, Bruce decided to teach Nico a choreographed move set. This was partly to get him more comfortable with the moves and partly because it would teach him that it was ok to be maneuverable in a fight.

He said that Nico would eventually start to speed the setup until it looked fluid and that once I could do it without thinking, He could use any of the moves during a fight in whatever order. They would transition into his muscle memory. It sounded promising when he said it. We worked until dinner on his focusing abilities and made considerable progress. Nico also learned the start position of the set. All in all, it had been a productive day.

Chapter Text

Nico decided to wait until the next day to travel to the camp. He hoped that the image of the camp in his dreams and his attachment to Thalia would be enough of an emotional anchor to get him there. If it didn't, there was a very high chance he could end up in China again. That was a risk that he would have to take.

He told Bruce that his mission from his father required him in California again, and Nico had to convince the older man to let him go. It took a lot of convincing and talking about the different emergency protocols that Bruce had in place for if anything were to go wrong. Some of those protocols seemed to be created specifically for him. For instance, NA 2147 was his code to override the magic dampeners in the Batcave, and NA 3896 would let him into any of Bruce's safehouse around the country (many of which he had been forced to memorize). Bruce was very thorough and wouldn't allow him to go off on his own before he recited all of the emergency contact numbers, a list of safe houses in and around California, and the address of one of the safehouses in China just in case.

It was annoying, but Nico also had to admit that he understood where he was coming from. Bruce dealt with super-powered people all the time as Batman, and he knew very well the potential dangers that were involved with magics such as Nico's. He had also seen what Nico's powers could do to him when he overused them. He had every right to be cautious. When the son of Hades had finally gotten permission, it was well after lunch. He decided to shadow travel as soon as possible and left around 3 pm. He landed in what seemed to be a grand amphitheater and was grateful that it seemed to be empty—sort of.

Only mere seconds after he arrived, he was confronted by an armless statue whose special effects arsenal consisted of sulfur bursts and a strict handle on the rules.

"You! Graecus scum! How did you get here?" An angry-looking statue had popped out of nowhere and was interrogating him. Nico had been ready for angry Romans, monsters, scared Chinese people, or something along those lines. He had not been prepared for this.

"I..." The impatient thing cut me off.

"Never mind. You know that weapons are forbidden past the Pomeranian line! Give them to my assistant. Where is that girl? Julia?!" The being called. He barely even stopped to breathe. Did he need to create? He wasn't exactly alive, but he was still a god of some kind. Did he still breathe? A young girl came skipping over with a tray, presumably for weapons. There was already an odd assortment of weapons on the tray, such as a handgun-- it looked like a modern model-- a gladius, a weird-looking glove that might channel magic, and an odd-looking coin.

"Well, put your weapons in the box, boy." The statue said impatiently.

"Everyone will be weaponless?" He asked as he slowly moved to take off his sword. If the answer were no, then he would have to leave. There was no way that he was going to meet a group of armed Romans empty-handed.

"Yes, yes. Do I look like I tolerate rule-breakers? Anyone who crosses the Pomeranian line must be unarmed." The statue said even more impatiently. Nico decided to do as he said. As long as he stayed inside the lines, he had a chance at survival.

"Your knife too." He sighed. Nico dropped it in the bin.

"Very well, I am the guardian of New Rome. Terminus, god of boundaries. What brings you here, graecus?"

"I wish to speak peacefully with the praetors. I am an ambassador of Pluto. I would appreciate it if you asked them to meet me here." He asked politely. Terminus seemed to consider this-- his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I have already informed them of your presence. They should be here in a couple of minutes." The god poofed out, leaving Nico coughing and gaging. The smoke smelled like rotten eggs. True to god's word, a couple of minutes later, he could hear a group of people approaching. He should have known that they wouldn't come alone. There seemed to be several footsoldiers and a strange-looking boy with teddy bears on his belt with the two people from his dream. Nico decided he didn't like him, on sight.

"Greetings, intruder. Please explain to us why we should not have you killed for trespassing." The girl, Reyna, called out when she saw the son of Hades. Her soldiers were standing in a formation behind her and the blond boy from his dreams.

"Ahh, greetings, praetors. Believe me; I did not wish to intrude. My father, Pluto, sent me here to scope out the camp. His daughter is undergoing the trials as we speak and will soon be requesting to join the army. I suppose he wished to know the facilities." Nico shrugged. He was trying to come off with the message that he was just following orders. Romans seemed to like the obedient soldiers.

"I see. Terminus has informed us that you claimed to be an ambassador of Pluto?" She questioned, coming several steps closer. She seemed regal, for some reason, older beyond her years.

"That is correct." He confirmed.

"If this is so, you might be able to explain what is going on with the monsters." Reyna prompted.

"Ah, so you've experienced it here too," he murmured.

"It is occurring other places as well?" Reyna questioned.

"Death is universal. The monsters just aren't seeming to stay dead. Monsters don't seem to be the only thing either." He agreed. Nico couldn't very well tell them that the recruit was one of the undead.

"Oh really? Are all animals coming back as well?" The teddy bear boy scoffed. It was strange to him that this boy wouldn't believe the possibility of rebirth. It wasn't like it was unheard of in the myths, especially from someone dressed in a child's bedroom.

"Octavian," Rayna warned. The boy scowled but shut up anyway, though it was clear that he didn't respect her authority.

"Praetor, would you mind taking this conversation... somewhere more private?" HE suggested, motioning deeper into the amphitheater. Reyna hesitated momentarily before looking at the blond boy for his thoughts. He shrugged.

"Very well. Jason and I will accompany you alone. However, I must warn you, should you try anything, the consequences will be severe." Reyna warned.

"Noted." He assured her, Nico had no plans on starting anything. Reyna led him through the passageways, Jason followed along behind them. It was meant to seem like a casual group, but it was really just another formation. Reyna stopped in a room that looked like a miniature colosseum. For senate meetings, no doubt.

"Alright, is this private enough for you?" Jason asked suspiciously.

"Yes, thank you. You were right, Jason. The monsters aren't staying dead. Though, I'm sure Octavian couldn't show you anything from the gods about it, though, could he?" Nico jumped right in.

"How could you know that? Were you listening in on us? Who are you?" Jason looked angry.

"I had a dream the other night. You two were arguing about informing the people about the monster's deaths. You settled for consulting a boy named Octavian. I am assuming that Octavian, and the one with the stuffed animal obsession, are one and the same. I didn't really want to listen in on you, but you know demigod dreams." He supplied. The pair nodded, somehow satisfied.

"How about you tell us who you are?" Reyna suggested.

"I am Nico di Angelo."

"Just Reyna."

"Jason Grace." It was then that it hit me. Jason had the same eyes as Thalia.

"Jason, you aren't a child of Jupiter, are you?" He asked, trying to hide his disbelief. No way he and Thalia were blood siblings. A Roman and a Greek in the same family? Was Zeus out of his mind?

"How did you know that?" He asked defensively.

"Lucky guess. Your eyes are a dead giveaway." He covered my mistake easily. Jason looked uneasy, but the answer satisfied him for now.

"So are yours. Pitch black." Jason told me, looking uncomfortable. His eyes sometimes looked like a solid mass of black in certain lighting. In good lighting, Nico's eyes appeared coffee brown instead.

"Yeah, it's just the lighting. It makes me look kind of intimidating sometimes though, it's useful sometimes." He agreed.

"I've never met another child of the strongest gods." Jason continued.

"I like to call them the big three, myself. I've met two others. One was a drifter, who made me promise not to tell people about who she was, and the other was my sisters." He chose to leave Percy out.

"Sisters?" Jason asked, surprised.

"Yes, one was blood-related. She died before we realized who our father was. Then there is my half-sister, the one who wants to enter this camp." He explained.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Jason sounded like he understood his pain. Nico knew then that he was thinking of Thalia-- he doesn't believe in coincidences. He waved him off.

"Anyway, you said that it wasn't just monster coming back quickly." Reyna cut back in.

"Right. I've seen at least one demigod be able to come back from the dead." He reported. The teens in front of him stared in disbelief.

"How is that possible?" Jason finally asked.

"I don't know. My father has me searching for clues." he lied, "I was hoping that you might know something I could use to help me." He reasoned.

"What about your sister? Is she on this case too?" Reyna questioned.

"Definitely not. Her powers don't have to do with the dead-- it would seem. Pluto wanted to keep her safe, so he wants her to come here. I have her letters of recommendation if you wish to see them."

"I will take them, and her admittance will be reviewed." Reyna agreed. Nico handed her the documents.

"You mentioned that you knew the gods didn't respond to our questions," Jason spoke up again.

"Yes, it would seem that Olympus is on a sort of lockdown. No prayers are going through." The son of Hades explained.

"That would explain why the auguries being answered." Jason agreed.

"I agree. Nico, are you wanting to join the army?" Reyna asked suddenly.

"No, I'd rather keep acting as an ambassador for Pluto, if you don't mind." There was no way that he could join the Army. Even if he wanted to, they would figure him out somehow eventually, and he would be in trouble. There were also too many rules. He didn't do well with structure.

"Very well. You may come and go as you wish... for now. There may come a time where that privilege is revoked." Reyna informed him. Nici nodded in acceptance-- he had expected as much. It seemed like there was something big on the horizon, and trust was going to become a commodity.

"Where do I go to get my weapons back? I really must be going. My father will be expecting my report." He checked my watch. It was almost time for dinner, and he didn't want to be too late. While Bruce had drilled him on the emergency protocols, he didn't want to worry the older man for no reason.

"Here, we will lead the way." Jason chuckled in a less than humorous manner. The trek to the place where we left the others was silent. It would seem that Octavian was either asleep or meditating. He was awoken, and they led him the rest of the way out of the no-weapons zone. Terminus seemed less than happy to give him his weapons back.

"Thank you very much. I shall be off now." Nico promptly stepped backward into the shadows of the pillar behind him, and shadow traveled home. He wasn't dead, so he was pleased by how the meeting had gone. Nico arrived back at the manor-- in his seat this time. Dinner was well underway by now, and basically everyone had finished eating.

"Ah! Nico. I see you're getting better with your aim. How does that work anyhow?" Bruce asked, genuinely curious.

"The shadow traveling? Well, I picture a place in my mind or an address and will myself to be there. I... wish to be there, almost." He explained.

"What is the actual traveling like?" Damian questioned.

"Well, it's very uncomfortable. It's cold, there are screams of the lost souls all around you, and your body undergoes a lot of G-force." Nico tried to describe it as best he could. The first time he had taken Percy, the son of Poseidon, hadn't liked it all that much.

"That sounds... horrible." Dick sounded appalled.

"I've gotten used to it."

"How?" Bruce sounded concerned.

"I guess that I've just gotten used to it through years of exposure. Plus it's not as bad as listening to the damned souls in the fields of punishment-- trust me. My room is right above them."

"Wow, aren't you just a ray of sunshine?" Jason took a drink of his soda. Nico must have been more tired than he thought because he found it very hard to remain awake for the rest of the meal. He finished part of his meal before dismissing himself to his room to take a nap. Of course, he dreamed. This timehe dreamt that Octavian was warning the praetors that he was a Greek spy.

"How can you let him come and go as he pleases?! Are you insane?" Octavian was shouting at Reyna. Silver and gold bloodhounds sat at her sides. Those were new and Nico didn't think that he liked them all that much. There was something especially sinister about those ruby eyes. They seemed to have minds of their own.

"No, Octavian, I am not insane. I am simply keeping my enemies closer. He will have to prove that we can trust him like everyone else." Reyna assured him. Reyna sounded far older than she seemed, but Nico knew better than just about anyone that appearances can be deceiving. Was this wisdom won through age or experience? The years that shown through her eyes didn't give him any clues.

"Very well. Though if this goes wrong, this was all your idea." Octavian threatened. Reyna's hounds growled viciously, and Octavian retreated. Reyna sighed tiredly.

"Do you really think this Nico guy can be trusted?" Jason asked, coming out from the hallway.

"I think I will want my hounds around when we meet him next time. Then we will know if he is lying or not." Reyna replied.

"I don't think he's telling us the full truth, at least." Jason sat at the long oak table in the center of the room. The fireplace cast a dull light around the dim room.

"Agreed. I don't sense that he is a threat, however." Reyna said thoughtfully.

"I sense a lot of darkness, but that may just be because of his heritage." Jason agreed, "He seems dangerous, but I don't exactly feel... threatened. You know?"

"I do as well. We'll have to keep an eye on him." Reyna speculated. Jason nodded in agreement. Reyna's hounds turned to look his dreamwalking form dead in the eyes, and he awoke in a cold sweat. It took him a moment to realize that someone was shaking him roughly. It was Bruce, and he must have been trying for quite a while because the entire family was gathered around him. He tried not too feel too bitter about them entering without permission, it was probably just out of concern. They wouldn't normally invade his space like that.

"We thought you were in a coma." Damian announced. That was a sobering thought, but he was too tired to comprehend it.

"Yeah? Cool." He said sleepily.

"You can't seriously be tired. You slept for 3 hours." Jason insisted.

"Time is fluid in dreams. Plus, demigod dreams aren't very restful." Nico explained.

"I need to go to camp. There a couple of people in the Hypnos cabin that I think I need to talk to." He said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Why?" Bruce sounded confused. His face showed that he was worried the the son of Hades was hiding something important. He wasn't wrong.

"They can help with dream control." That technically wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. He didn't just want them to teach him how to control his dreams, he wanted them to tell him how to talk to others through their dreams. It would be a way to talk to Hazel long-distance, or Annabeth, or even Percy.

"You think that they will help?" Bruce questioned skeptically, Nico couldn't blame him. The children of minor gods were often the type of people that only did things for their own personal gain. Making deals with them, especially children of Nemesis, could backfire in horrific ways. Not all of it came from he temperament of their parents, either. A lot of that hatred and anger stemmed from the way that they were still being treated by both the gods and even the other demigods. With so many super-powerful and famous demigods at camp, it was hard for anyone else to get recognition and the children of minor gods were basically ignored entirely. It was completely unfair and Nico sympathized with them. Even he'd rather be hated than ignored.

"Oh yeah. They're pretty nice. I just need to talk to Clovis." Nico assured him. The children of Hypnos were different. For one, they probably didn't even notice the injustice because they were asleep so often and even if they did, it wouldn't bother them too much. Children of Hypnos were content to be ignored and many actually preferred it because then there wouldn't be anyone to pull them out of their dreams.

"Can't you just Iris Message him?" Dick cut in.

"Not the Hypnos cabin 'cause... here. I'll just show you why." Nico knew that he didn't need to IM the cabin, but he wanted to make sure that the boy in questionwas even still there. He was talking about his mom sending him to boarding school at some point so it was possible that he had been sent away already. Nico went into mhisbathroom and turned on the light. He set the prism on the vanity and through some currency through the rainbow that appeared on his vanity.

"Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me the Hypnos cabin, camp half-blood." A milky image formed that slowly cleared. It gave way to the vision of an entire cabin of kids who were fast asleep in their bunks. White noise was coming from somewhere and someone said something that sounded like cornbread.

"CLOVIS!" I yelled, startling the bat fam.

The boy closest to us shifted and whispered, "That's my name, don't wear... me...out." And fell back into a deep sleep. No one else in the cabin even acknowledged the sound.

"See." I gestured.

"Are they all asleep?" Jason questioned, sounding creeped out.

"Yeah, we sometimes have to remind them to eat and shower and all that—quite the dependent bunch. The only way you'll get help from a child of Hypnos is to be there in person. Stay too long, and you'll pass out too." Nico watched their sleeping forms for a couple more moments before swiping his hand through the image.

"So all they do is sleep? Doesn't that mess with their so-called demigod instincts?" Bruce pressed.

"Well, what they're really doing is dreaming. They can contact any other sleeping person through their dreams. They can send or receive messages this way. As for the instincts, they never really get this lazy until after they get to camp that I have seen. I actually brought one of the youngest Hypnos girls to camp, Stacy. She was fairly alert then." He recalled. Bruce nodded thoughtfully.

"That branch, at the back. What was dripping from it?" Tim asked, breaking his silence. Nico glanced at him, not really comfortable with the attention-- or the question.

"Water from the river lethe."

"Wait, the river that wipes your memories? Why is it at camp?" Jason asked suspiciously.

"Well, it only wipes your memories if it touches your skin. Plus, we can weaponize it if we needed to." He countered. Nico knew that it sounded bad but it made sense in a way.

"Fair enough." Tim accepted.

"Weaponize it?" Bruce questioned.

"Sure, coat your arrows or blades with the stuff. Anyone you touch forgets everything. I've never used it. I was against it, but my opinion got overruled. I wouldn't wish that on anyone except maybe Kronos or other supremely evil beings. Percy and I brainwashed a titan once." He mentioned offhandedly.

"You what?" Bruce asked in shock.

"Oh yeah. We told him his name was Bob. Long story. Kronos is the worst of them, though."

"You sound like you've met him." Jason chuckled. He sat on the side of the younger's bathtub.

"Well, not personally. Though he did lead the titan war." He said, bitterness coating his voice.

"Wait, like Kronos. For real? The titan?" Came his incredulous reply.

"Yes. The titan of time. We lost a lot of good Demigods in that fight. I felt many of their souls leave their bodies myself. Silena, Beckendorf, Michael, Luke, Ethan, Castor, and so many more. Died too young." Nico rested his hands on either side of the sink and into the rainbow as he spoke. It felt like he was telling himself about the heroes of the war.

Dick rested his hand on the son of Hades' shoulder, and their eyes met in the mirror.

"Tell me about them-- the demigods in the war." Bruce said tentatively.

"Alright, but let's move to the living room at least. I won't talk about them in my bathroom." Nico said adamantly.

"Ok, let's go."

"Ok, first up: Selena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite. The traitor." he started, "She was... seduced... I guess by Luke Castellan. So she became a spy for him when he betrayed us. She switched sides for us after he became the host for Kronos. She died pretending to be Clarisse, a daughter of Ares. She died a hero."

"Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephestus. Selena's boyfriend and the real reason that she changed sides. He died on a mission that he and Percy were on. He blew up Luke's ship and half of Kronos' army along with it. Percy made it out, but Beckendorf didn't and Percy thinks that it's his fault to this day."

"Michael Yew, son of Apollo. He died when Percy blew up the bridge. The waves he called up broke the foundations and the rigging of the bridge, creating a gap between Kronos's army and our own. In either Percy's wave or the collapse of the bridge, Michael fell off. Percy feels responsible. Michael had talent, and he was brave." the demigod's hand went to the beaded necklace around his neck. His fingers habitually fiddled with the beads from the summer of the titan war. It seemed like it had happened an eternity ago, but not even a year had passed yet.

"Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis." Nico continued.

"The boy who traded his eye for a wish?" Damian asked, for once not sounding skeptical. He nodded in agreement.

"He was in Luke's... Kronos' army. He almost killed Annabeth and tried to kill Percy twice. In the end, he attempted to kill Kronos himself and was flung off the top of Olympus. He got his wish, though. Percy was given a wish at the end of the war-- the offer of godhood. He turned it down and instead made the gods swear that they had to claim their children by age 12. So no more demigods would feel abandoned, like Luke or Ethan." Nico's voice was dry-- he couldn't let himself cry or he wouldn't be able to stop. So much pointless death.

"Luke. Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. He felt abandoned by his father. He felt used by the gods, which isn't uncommon for people like us. Having begun to reform in Tartarus, Kronos latched onto his dreams and convinced him to help him rise. So he did. I won't get into the entire thing-- the entire story spanned over 5 summers. He took Kronos into himself and became his host. In the end, he killed himself to save the rest of us. He died a hero's death after all." Nico leaned back in the chair. He absentmindedly brought out my dagger and picked at the engravings. He didn't want to make eye contact right now.

"Castor, one of the twin sons of Dionysus. The only demigod children the wine god had that I know of. I don't know how he died. I just felt it when it happened. There are many more like that.-- where I felt them die, but I didn't know how. Missy, daughter of Demeter. Ty, son of Ares. Jayden, daughter of Apollo. Sarah, unclaimed. Allen, unclaimed. Justice, unclaimed, from Kronos's army. And so many others. Half left unclaimed, if not more. The gods have gotten better at keeping their promises, but they are forgetful beings. They will soon forget again." He finished.

"You felt them all, didn't you?" Bruce asked. His tone made it a statement.

"Every death during the final summer of the war, yes. And many even before that. Enemies, friends, strangers-- I felt them all. Death is universal-- it doesn't choose sides. I burned their death shrouds and begged my father to grant them passage." Nico's voice sounded hollow, even to himself.

"Nico, can you feel people dying all the time?" Bruce asked gently. Something wet dripped onto his hand, and it wasn't until then that he realized he had started crying. He didn't bother wiping the tear away-- there was no shame in mourning such needless loss.

"Not anymore. Now I only feel it if it's someone I know or if they're close to me, I've learned to block the rest of them out, but it took years of practice. Mrs. Dial, a couple of blocks over, is dying right now. She feels at peace, having lived a long and purposeful life."

"That's horrible!" Dick cried out, his face scrunched in both horror and disgust.

"Why? She's happy about it. She is a pure spirit. She'll make Elysium for sure."

"Is there anything we can do?" Dick asked.

"No." he snapped, "it is her time. You'd do well not to cheat death." Nico sighed apologetically, "I'm sorry, but the fates have cut her string."

"They actually do that?" Jason asked, horrified.

"Oh yes. They know that you aren't dead." Nico pointed at him.

"What are they going to send you to collect me?"

"They might."

"Will you?" Jason --observed me he would go for self-preservation, he knew-- just as any human being would.

"No." Jason still looked horrified.

"How are you still sane, feeling all that death? Listening to the screams of the dead and the lost. How do you manage it?" Bruce questioned, sounding disgusted and fascinated at the same time.

"After a while, you're just desensitized to it, I guess. I can sense when their time is up-- I just do my best to help them move on. People may hate me for my powers, but they are often necessary." the demigod admitted.

"Hate you?" Tim spoke up.

"Oh yeah, half of the camp hates me for what I can do. They call me a freak and a monster. I don't care."

"That's horrible," Dick whispered. He shrugged. It hurt, but it didn't matter.

Chapter Text

TW: Death, mention of suicide, mention of murder, derealization.

"Nico, I was wondering, are you able to tell how people died?" Bruce asked around a piece of steak. Alfred would have tutted in fatherly displeasure if he had seen him.

Nico considered his answer carefully, "It's not one of my powers, necessarily, but I have found that I am pretty good at figuring it out."

"What do you mean by that? How have you found that out? Have you been practicing?" Jason spoke up.

"I guess you could say that. Sometimes I would go into the DOA lobby and try to guess how people died. I guess you could call that practicing." Nico shrugged and cut himself off a bite of steak-- missing the pointed looks that were passed around.

"Dead on arrival lobby?" Damian frowned.

"Yeah," Nico swallowed before the steak was quite chewed enough and he pulled a face, "It's a recording studio in Hollywood. It's really a secret entrance to the Underworld."

"There are secret entrances to the Underworld? Isn't that... a bad thing?" The son of Hades frowned. They should know that there are secret entrances by now. He could have sworn that he had mentioned it before.

"Yes? They're not exactly secret. Orpheus used one, Psyche, Thanatos has his own, and there were many more when the Labyrinth still existed. As for your concern about the security-- my father isn't exactly worried about people trying to get in to the Underworld. Trust me, it is much harder to leave." The room became silent and Nico knew that he had made them uncomfortable. He decided to continue eating as though nothing was amiss so that they would go about their business.

"I want to see how good you are identifying cause of death. I want to test you on a couple of pictures after dinner if you wouldn't mind." Nico didn't mind. Thankfully, the topic of discussion strayed away from him for the rest of the meal. It wasn't that he didn't like their curiosity or the feeling that they genuinely cared about his life, it was more that anything he told them made them uncomfortable or could put them in more danger. Not many sane people invited death into their homes.

After dinner, Bruce led the procession of curious boys down to the Batcave. He took a couple of minutes to pull up some pictures on the screen-- each one of a crime scene-- that contained a dead body as the centerpiece. There were a few gory ones, a few open and shut causes of death, and a few eerily clean scenes as well. There were also a few where you could very clearly tell that they came from Gotham and had run into the wrong Villain at the wrong time. More than one had joker smiles cut into their faces.

"So, tell me-- step by step-- what you look at when you try and see the cause of death." Bruce prompted, waving at the pictures on the screen.

"Can we focus on them one at a time? I need to see a bigger picture." Nico questioned. The first picture in the lineup shifted to take up most of the screen. It was a middle-aged woman, probably mid-'30s to 40, would be his guess. Her body laid in the middle of an office cubicle. Her skin was pale but her body wasn't stiff yet. She hadn't been dead for long, but her blood had either reded below the skin or drained out.

"Do you want me to solve who killed her or how she was killed?" Nico doubted that there was enough evidence in this one photo to determine who had killed her, but he would have tried if Bruce asked.

"Just work on how for right now."

"Ok, no signs of bruising or discoloration on her neck or arms. It probably wasn't much of a struggle." But, I speculated, there was a fairly large gash in her side, which seems to be where the blood all around the body had come from. It shouldn't have been deep enough for her to bleed out. Her blood should have clotted to prevent that much blood loss or she would have been able to seek medical attention. It would have taken a long time for her to lose enough blood from that wound for it have been fatal. Someone would have found her by then and gotten her help. Though he supposed it could have happened at night when no one would have been around to help. That would fit some of the evidence at least.

"Do you have a diagram of the entry wound?" Nico asked-- wanting to see how deep the wound was. Maybe it didn't look as bad as it was at face value. If someone had sliced from below her, they might have made a deeper incision under the skin than what the first image showed.

"Yeah, hold on a sec..." Bruce searched through a file for a couple of minutes before selecting the right picture. The diagram appeared next to the previous image, which adjusted its size to display the diagram. It wasn't much deeper than he had originally guessed. This shouldn't have been fatal with medical attention. This didn't sit right with the demigod.

"That wound, something's not right," He muttered.

"What do you mean?" Bruce sounded like a teacher, though Nico supposed he was in a way. Is this how he had taught the other boys?

"It isn't deep enough to warrant that much blood loss. If her organs were functioning properly, her blood should have clotted or she should have at least been able to seek out assistance or call someone." He pointed out.

"So what, did she just lay down and bleed to death?" Bruce pressed. Nico considered this but it didn't seem likely. Most people had survival instincts strong enough to pull them to action when they were in danger like that. Even people who didn't want to live anymore were unlikely to just lay down and die. Plus, there wasn't a weapon by the body that would have suggested that she had harmed herself. This must have been either a horrible accident or a murder.

"Possibly, but I doubt it. Did this woman have a history of depression or suicidal tendencies?" Nico asked, trying to collect all the data.

"Yes, she has had clinical depression throughout most of her life. But was in counseling and medicated for it and was doing better." Nico considered this for a moment. He was formulating a theory in his head and it fit most of the facts.

"What is with the office building? Is this her workplace?" The one thing that wasn't adding up to him was the motive. She had to have been attacked if she were just left for dead like this. If she was doing better and there was no weapon at the scene, it was unlikely that this was something she did to herself. People didn't often commit suicide at their places of work either, though it wasn't undeard of. It didn't fit the usual female suicide either. Typically females are more considerate to the people that will find their body and tend to go for options that aren't as bloody, gory, or traumatic (of course there are exceptions to this rule). None of this was tracking for him. He felt comfortable concluding that it wasn't suicide.

"May I?" Nico reached for the computer. Bruce gestured towards the screen in permission. Nico clicked on the picture of the crime scene again, though it took him a few seconds because computers were unfamiliar to him.

"She was murdered. I don't know what the motive is or anything, bu I know that she didn't do this to herself." Nico flipped through the photos again, more for something to distract him from Bruce's gaze than because he actually need to see them again.

"Go on..." Bruce pressed.

"I think that she knew her killer. the angle of the slash is upward and right-handed unless they were facing her from behind. They would have had to have gotten within a foot of her for them to be able to pull off that angle. There weren't any signs of struggle either."

"And why didn't she call for help?" Nico had an answer for this one too.

" I think she tried and was prevented. I don't see a cell phone with the rest of her belongings and once she was stabbed she may have been to shocked to think about or reach the phone on her desk."

"And what caused her to bleed out. You said it yourself that the wound shouldn't have been fatal. Why was it for her?"

"Because of her antidepressants. Many antidepressants act as blood thinners and prevents blood from clotting. Even small cuts and bruises can become a big deal. This theory is also supported by the fact that she bled out very quickly. Her skin was pale, but I could tell by the fact that the blood hadn't spread out very far that she hadn't been dead very long. Does that make sense? Can you see what I mean?' The bat family stared at the son of Hades for a lot longer than what was comfortable, and he didn't like it. Something about his assessment put them off, but he didn't know what it was. Was he wrong? Were they disgusted? Impressed? Both? Nico hated the silence and the not knowing, so he broke it with a question laced in insecurities.

"What? Am I right?"

"Yeah, I've just never seen someone figure that out so quickly." Bruce crossed his arms and looked over the images himself as if seeing them for the first time.

"I'm a child of death. Therefore, I have a huge advantage." The son of Hades wasn't sure that that was true, but it made sense. He said it more to placate them, than to stoke his own ego.

"Even still, the way you pieced this together was very logical and well thought out. I'm impressed. You'd make a good addition to our team if you wanted." Bruce proposed. Nico frowned-- having no idea what he mean by 'our team' did they have a sleuthing team or something? That sounds kind of lame in the way that Mythomagic was lame. A cool concept to those young of mind and heart. Nico was neither-- not anymore.

"Like... as in being a vigilante too?" He clarified. It at least made more sense than a sleuthing team.

"Well, not right away, of course. Lots of training comes first. You would appear as a consultant, for now, maybe even for the young justice team." Bruce explained. Nico didn't bother replying to the last part, too hung up on the consultant part.

"So I'll be like an on-call coroner?" His words sounded flat, even to him.

"I was thinking more of a detective sort of thing, but yeah, pretty much. Just until you've trained up, you may know melee combat and weapons, but you still have a lot to learn." the demigod didn't deny this. He had seen what he and the boys were capable of. But, unfortunately, Nico was nowhere near their level, though he hoped that one day he would be.

"Detective, I like that," He admitted.

"What will we call you?" Damian cut in. He only had to think about it for a couple of moments. There were many appealing names, but only one truly fit who he was.

"Ghost," Nico replied with a smug smirk. It was perfect.

"Ok, why ghost, though?" Jason sounded judgemental. "Spooky already taken?"

"I'm known to all ghosts and undead being as the Ghost King. So it's got meaning to me. Plus, if I'm to be this coroner, I might as well have an alias that fits the bill, you know?" Bruce nodded in agreement, though he didn't seem to know what to make of the "Ghost King" statement.

"It certainly does suit you." Nico didn't know whether to grin or be offended. He decided, for the sake of the mood, to nod agreeably.

"What about a costume? He needs something with body armor if he's not going to be doing as much fighting. Something more protective than maneuverable." Dick pointed out, eyeing the younger boy up.

"Preferably black. It will make it easier for me to blend in with the shadows. Perfect camouflage." the boy in question put in.

"Ok, but you've gotta have the bat symbol somewhere," Tim added.

"If we could make it be made of protective armor, the chest would be a good place to put it," Nico suggested.

"What color?" Dick smirked at him, knowing my particularity about colors.

"Grey, it would make a nice contrast." The son of Hades feigned ignorance about the meaning behind Dick's smirk.

"Ok, any other preferences?" Bruce asked-- having been making a list this entire time.

"Just that it isn't too heavy, no tights, no cape, and that I can easily move my arms. I don't expect to need to fight, but I want to be prepared." Nico insisted. One never knew when you would need to fight a hydra, and one should always be prepared for that eventuality. Just because there were fewer mosters in Gotham, didn't mean that he was safe.

"I think we can work with that. Is a domino mask ok? It has its own night vision software, but we can take that stuff out." Bruce asked as an afterthought. Nico nodded, not really minding either way. He had better night vision than most people anyway.

"Alright. Nico, are you planning on going to camp tonight or tomorrow morning?"

"I'll go tonight. I may need to stay overnight if they are teaching me, because time is fluid in dreams. Who knows how long I'll be there?" He pointed out. They exchanged glances but didn't say anything, apparently either deciding they didn't want to know or that it wasn't worth the existential crisis.

"Alright, be careful. No later than tomorrow afternoon, you hear?" Bruce warned. He wanted a guarantee, but he couldn't give the older man one.

"I'll try. I'll have Annabeth or somebody wake me up by then. I'll contact you if something comes up." The demigod assured him. He nodded, looking reluctant. Nico stepped into the Shadows and found himself at the Hades table.

Of course, the only ones in the Pavillion were a couple of Ares kids who were arm wrestling. They didn't even notice him as he walked out. Nico was used to going unnoticed, and he was good at it. Usually, only Percy, Thalia, or Annabeth ever caught him at it. It made it hard to put anything past them.

He walked out of the dining pavilion and continued straight through camp towards the wing of cabins for the minor gods. He was glad that they added this wing after the war, though, in his opinion, there should have always been a wing for the minor gods. To him, that just made sense. However, he wasn't about to fight with progress.

Nico waved at Hestia as he passed, gaining a few odd looks from the half-bloods who couldn't see her. Nico was used to the odd looks, too. Though they still bothered him sometimes on bad days. Today was a good day, though, and he was able to ignore it. He reached the cabin but hesitated to go inside-- he felt like he was forgetting something. Nico pushed away from this thought and stepped inside the homey cabin. They were all literally just how they were earlier he wasn't sure if any of them had even bothered to roll over.

"Clovis?" Nico questioned as he wandered through the rows of bunks. He couldn't remember which one belonged to the counselor. Nico didn't bother trying to be quiet. They wouldn't wake up unless he screamed in their ears. It was then that he realized what it was that he had forgotten. He hadn't told anyone to get me, so that he didn't end up sleeping in here for a week. Bruce would have a cow if he did that. He'd probably show to camp himself and Nico would die of embarassment.

Nico decided that hee would IM Annabeth to remedy that problem and explain his plan to her. He had come up with the idea to try and contact Percy through his dreams.

"Annabeth?" He called out to her while sitting in her bed at her cabin, looking on her laptop. Her head shot up, and we made eye contact.

"Oh, my gods! Nico! Have you found anything? Has any of your contacts seen anything?" He raised his hand to stop her stream of questions.

"No and no. I'm in the Hypnos cabin. I'm hoping he is just asleep somewhere like Grover was when Morpheus got to him. There are many mosters or gods that could have put him under in some way."

"Do you think he's passed out somewhere?" Both relief and panic battled for dominance in her tone. Ncio didn't want to give her hope where there wasn't any, but some hope was better than none. However, he wouldn't lie to her. Not about this-- this was too important.

"I don't know. If he is, I might be able to contact him through his dreams. I figured that the Hypnos kids would be our best shot. If I don't come out before dinner, please come and get me." Nico requested.

"Alright, good thinking," Annabeth said.

"Thanks. Don't worry, Annabeth, we'll find him." He assured her.

"How can you be so sure?" She asked, mainly to herself. He probably wasn't meant to hear it at all. But, supposed to or not, he responded. The son of Hades felt that it was his job to comfort her while Percy was missing. It was the least he could do for the son of Poseidon. Nico also knew that normal comforting wasn't a skill that he possessed, soheI used the next best thing, gallows humor.

"Because he has to be around for you to kick his you-know-what." Annabeth chuckled, and Nico felt accomplished. Comforting wasn't his strong suit, but sarcasm and dark humor were. In this life, you had to have dark humor if you wanted to keep your sanity intact.

"Oh, and Annabeth," Nico started as an afterthought, "you can't help Percy if you starve yourself or develop insomnia." Beating around the bush worked with Annabeth, but you earned her respect best by getting to the point. But, of course, she didn't respect a sugarcoat either, which the son of Hades could also respect.

"I know Nico-- I promise I'll be at dinner. You can fill me in on what you've learned." Annabeth smiled wistfully. He knew she was hurting, and it hurt that he didn't know how to help. However, at that moment, staring into her face, Nico knew they would figure this out. Annabeth doesn't fail because Annabeth never gives up.

"Of course, see you then." Nico swiped his hand through the message and sighed heavily. He wanted to feel hopeful about this plan, but he just didn't think that Percy had been put to sleep. Nico didn't buy that theory for a minute. Something larger was at play here. For instance, the dead weren't staying dead, demigods disappearing, recruitment had pretty much stopped, and Olympus was closed to the public. Nico doesn't believe in coincidences, but he does believe in the fates. They were screwing with him. With all of them, he was sure of it.

Nico finally found Clovis and roughly shook him awake. It took a few minutes before the son of Hypnos became coherent enough to notice that someone was trying to get his attention but Nico was persistent.

"Wha- death dude? Sorry, Nico. What do you want at this ungodly hour of the night?" He said sleepily.

"Clovis, it's morning already." Nico replied, electing to ignore his comment about him being 'death dude'.

"Ungodly hour of the morning then. What do you want?" The children of Hypnos weren't known for their punctuality or their spatial awareness. Their lack of focus, however, was legendary.

"Teach me dream manipulation," There was no time for beating around the bush in here. By the time you've come to the main point, they're asleep again.

"I already did!" Clovis protested-- Nico frowned.

"No... I just now asked you to."

"Oh, I guess it was a dream." See, the fates were screwing with him. Nico rubbed his forehead, wishing that life wasn't as complicated.

"Well, this is real life, and I need you to teach me dream manipulation."

"Fine, grab a pillow." He took one from a girl who had stockpiled like 6 on her bed. He sat on the floor next to his bunk. Clovis started off right away, interested in getting him out of there so he could go back to sleep.

"Okay, dreams are fluid, like water. You add yourself to a dream, and it causes ripples. Just like water." Clovis started to trail off, so he asked him a question.

"Are these ripples...bad?"

"Huh? No, you can use the... ripples, if you will, to manipulate the dream. You can fold the ripples or expand the ripples. Even reform the ripples." Clovis explained. The way he spoke sounded like he was always about to yawn it made it very hard to keep Nico from yawning himself.

"What does that do?"

"Folding makes them shorter, expanding makes 'em longer, and manipulating is what you want." But, Clovis said, "dreams aren't linear, so they can be broken, and bent, and all that." He waved his hand expansively, without really clarifying anything.

"How do you do that?" Nico had to repeat his question because Clovis was watching the lethe drips. Nico glanced over the branch for a moment but didn't let his gaze linger. Lethe made him anxious and panicky. he wanted nothing to do with that branch. Ever.

"Well, first you have to know who or what you want to see. Then, you have to have a certain goal in mind." Nico frowned at this, wasn't the goal to see the person in the dream?

"What kind of goal?"

"Well, say you wanted to know what a certain daughter of Hecate thought of you; your goal would be to hear what she says about you." Clovis elaborated. It was no secret that he had a crush on Eve Hallows of the Hecate cabin.

"How does that even work?" This was making no sense to me. What if I don't have a specific question, but he still wanted to see that person. the son od HAdes wanted to ask, but he could tell that Clovis had latched onto a train of thought, so Nico didn't want to interrupt him.

"Well, it's like entering a question in a search bar on your computer. What was she saying about me? Well, then the dreams frequencies will show you any conversations she's ever had about you."

"Clovis, I'm from the 30s. I don't understand computers. Or... radios?" Nico was pretty sure radios were frequencies. Their family had a radio at the hotel, but he never understood how it worked or anything. Nico was too involved with his card games and such-- even after they moved into the Lotus Casino and Hotel. There was a surprising amount of people in the casino who played mythomagic.

"Ugh... fine. You focus on what it is you want to know and who you think has the answers. Before you fall asleep." He tried again. Nico sort of understood it now. He didn't know how it all worked, but the concepts were easy enough to wrap his head around. You had to come at it abstractly. Because time, space, and reality were all warped and fluid in dreams, you could learn how to manipulate it to your advantage. It was sort of like how he would manipulate the shadows.

"Ok, what if I wanted to talk to someone else in my dreams?" Nico questioned, thinking about both Percy and Hazel.

"That is a bit harder to learn. When you first start, you have to be in dire need. Then, later on, you'll be able to do it on command."

"Ok, dire need. What else?" He pressed. Clovis took forever in this sleepy state.

"Then you need to have a specific question in mind. The most important topic you want to bring up with that person. Dreams tend to react more to emotions and moods. If you are desperate, angry, hopeful, happy, etc. Your chances of going through are better. Works on passion." He explained through yawns.

"Do you think I could try it now?"

"Yeah, just spread out on the floor. Who are you going to try and find?" Clovis laid back down.

"Percy," Nico replied, but Clovis was already rolling over. Nico laid down too, and since everything about that cabin is designed to help one sleep, he had no problem falling asleep. Nico focused as hard as he could on Percy, channeling all his worry into it. Falling asleep made it difficult to hold on to that but he managed. The image in his mind shifted from a pitch-black to a milky white. Either he was failing, he was being blocked, or Percy was dead or dying. Nico was probably just failing-- this was harder than he thought it would be. Then he focused on Hazel, using his concern for her wellbeing as the emotional portion.

The image shifted from the milky color to an Image of Hazel building a makeshift fire while being observed by the big wolf. Hazel was completely at ease, which was disconcerting, considering how it looked from the outside. Hazel's fire smoked for a couple of moments before she sighed in frustration. Seeing that she was alright, he let the image drop. the demigod didn't really have a choice. The image and control of the dream were slipping out of his grasp.

Nico felt someone shaking him awake, "Nico? Hey, it's time for dinner." It was Annabeth. The son of Hades nodded and allowed her to help him up. She sat with him at dinner, which drew some looks. Chiron probably only allowed it because he knew they were discussing Percy. Half the camp probably knew it, too, because people were constantly looking over at them. It made him feel like a fish in a clear bowl. all of the faces peering in at him and wondering what was going on inside his head. It gave him a new perspective on aquariums.

Nico told her everything he had learned about dream traveling, which sort of short-circuited her brain. Annabeth accepted magic, monsters, gods, and all that without a problem. But, somehow, dream manipulation was too much for her. Nico guess the part about dreams not being linear didn't make sense to her. She was still trying to think of them chronologically. What she wasn't accounting for was that time is fluid in dreams.

Annabeth told him about her conversation with Thalia and how the Hunters had been told to stay at camp. Thalia and the rest of the girls were on their way to the camp. The girls were surprised to hear about a sudden disappearance. After Artemis had accepted Percy as a decent male, they had all begun to look fondly towards him and, subsequently, Nico.
Their tolerance for the son of Hades was probably more due to Bianca than his relationship with Percy and Thalia.

"Thalia says that she hasn't heard anything, but she's requested permission to search for him. Artemis seems to be keeping distant contact with her Hunt." Annabeth observed.

"Hades is still around, too, but he seems agitated. That might just be me, though." Nico admitted-- it was no secret that his relationship with his father was rocky at best. It was getting better, but it was a work in progress. Annabeth nodded.

"What about your contacts?"

"They're busy people. They haven't gotten back to me yet. I plan on checking up with them again tomorrow." Nico lied. What that actually meant was: they have hero things to do, but we are planning on doing a mass search tomorrow.

"Thanks, Nico. I really appreciate your help." Annabeth brought her goblet of blue coke up to her lips. Whether she admitted it or not, Annabeth was quite the sentimentalist.

"No problem. He's my cousin, and I want him back safely just as much as you do. Thalia does too, though she'll deny it if we asked." Nico joked lightly with an air of wistfulness. Thalia was concerned too, but her worry came in a much more destructive way.

"Yeah, I know. It just sometimes seems like I'm one of the only ones searching." She confessed. Nico nodded in agreement. He knew what she meant. It was easy to feel alone when you were on a mission and you didn't have control.

"I have to go, Annabeth-- I'll check in again if I find anything or come up with anything else to try."

"Alright."

"You gonna be ok? I can stay if you need me to?" He offered. Nico had no idea what made him make such an offer offer, but he was surprised to realize that he meant it. Nico would stay if she needed me to.

"I'll be alright." She assured me.

"Ok. Bye, Annabeth." Nico used the shadows beneath the torches and traveled back to the manor. His last glimpse of Annabeth was of her staring longingly into the goblet.

It was well past dinner when he got back to Gotham. Nico told Bruce and the boys that he would have to go back to have Clovis help him practice, and he explained the basics of what he had learned. They seemed interested, even if they didn't completely understand the concepts of people connecting their dreams. Nico wasn't sure that he even truly understood. He then went to his room, feeling sleepy from how much time he had spent in the Hypnos cabin and the shadow traveling. He really needed to keep ambrosia on his person if he were to make any more accidental trips to China or if he overestimated his abilities.

It was late when he got back and he was very tired and groggy. It shouldn't take him long to fall asleep tonight. He'd try to manipulate his dreams again tonight and see if he had better luck. Maybe he would try to get Hazel again. He wanted to know what was going on with the wolves and how her trials were going. He knew that she could do it, but he was still curious.

That night, once he went to sleep, Nico tried again to see if he could connect to someone's mind. He focused on Hazel and, unfortunately, got Jason instead. There wasn't any particular reason that Nico could discern. He's just the last person he had happened to think of before he fell asleep. Nico found the two of them in the actual Roman Coliseum in Italy. He looked around, confused and somewhat agitated; he got even more so when he saw the ambassador of Pluto.

"You? Why are you in my dream?" He was more confused and suspicious than mad, which Nico decided to take as a good sign. At least he hasn't decided that he hated him yet. Also, confusion he could work with, anger would be much harder to placate.

"It honestly wasn't my intention." Nico assured him, making the 'I surrender' gesture.

"So you did this? You aren't just in my dream?" Jason's tone was becoming accusatory.

"As I said, I didn't mean to. I'm having a child of... Somnus teach me how to control my dreams. I obviously don't know what I'm doing." Nico explained. Somnus was the Roman god of sleep. He was grumpy most of the time, or so he was told. He punished more than nurtured, which was very unlike Hypnos, who was mostly helpful.

"Obviously. How do I know you aren't trying to spy?" Jason narrowed his eyes and pulled himself to his full height. Nico could tell that he was just trying to do what he felt was right, but he couldn't help but be annoyed by his attitude.

The smaller boy shrugged, "You don't, I guess. I wasn't trying to see you. I was trying to see my sister. You're just the last person I thought about before I fell asleep. I guess that's how it works." Nico shrugged helplessly.

"So, you were thinking about... me?" Jason inquired. Nico eyed him warily-- he didn't want him to get the wrong idea about what that meant, though he wasn't sure what the right idea was.

"Don't make it weird. I was just wondering how long it would take you to hate me." Of course, Nico had actually been wondering how long it would take to get him to trust him but still.

"Why would I hate you?" Again, the suspicion was back, but this time it wasn't because he was prying.

"I don't know. Pretty much everyone does. They don't like my death powers or my father. They think I'm a freak. I guess I could be." Of course, everyone couldn't be wrong about him, could they?

"Who are they?"

"My mortal family mostly. The loner demigods I come across, clear-sighted mortals, etc." He covered for himself.

"What kind of powers do you have?"

"I can summon souls, reanimate corpses, converse with the dead, touch spirits and ghosts, control shadows to an extent, and that's about it." Nico decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell him about the fact that he could order people to die or that he collected lost souls.

"Oh," Jason said shortly.

"Oh, I can control rocks when I need to," Nico added as an afterthought.

"You'd be fun to have on my team for war games," Jason commented, ignoring how creepy and unnatural his powers were. Nico was grateful that he hadn't brought it up. It was a tired subject and he hated it.

"War games?" Nico asked, interested.

"Oh yeah, we split into teams and try to raid a base and get their banners. It's epic. We even have an elephant." The Praetor responded proudly, slowly getting comfortable around him.

"A what now?"

"Hannibal, the elephant." Jason clarified.

"Oh, I have got to see that." Nico laughed. He couldn't help himself. The idea of an elephant on the battlefield was just too absurd.

"Maybe next time you can." He offered.

"Really? You'd trust me enough for that?" Nico was surprised, to say the least. Romans were not usually very trusting people.

"Where better to get to know a person's character than on a battlefield?" Jason countered.

"Touché."

Chapter Text

The next morning he woke up to find that the bats once again had trouble waking him from his shared dream. They, of course, wanted to know what he thought was making him sleep so deeply, like if he had some medical history that might explain it. Nico didn't know much about any of that so he played dumb since he couldn't tell them about his prophetic dreams. That would not go over well and he did not want to learn about the new psyche wards that some of the older demigods at camp had talked about.

"What do you mean you can't tell me I thought we were done keeping secrets?" Bruce said, exasperated. He took a seat on one of the couches at the rest of his adopted family awkwardly made their leave-- figuring that this was a private conversation. Nico knew that he wasn't trying to make him feel guilty-- or he hoped he wasn't-- but he couldn't help but feel bad about it. It wasn't like he wanted to keep secrets from them. He had spent years lying and withholding parts of the truth, only to end up lonely. He didn't want to be that way anymore.

"Not even close," Nico sighed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He still didn't feel fully awake.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, this secret could cause World War 3. I also have several other secrets but those aren't nearly as dangerous." The sound of Hades wanted to do anything else but discuss the restrictions involved in demigod life, but here he was.

"I don't understand. How could a fifteen-year-old pissibly know secrets dangerous enough to start a world war?" Bruce leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees.

"I can't explain. Look, I'm on the brink of something that I need to go one of two ways. One: I need them to trust me so that I can maybe act as a mediator between two groups of two heavily armed, highly powerful, skilled, people with family issues. Two, they can think I'm a spy, kill me and everyone else I care about, and cause WW3. I know what I have to do and I need you guys to let me do it." Nico used hand gestures to punctuate his points.

"Are you in danger?"

"Always."

"Does this have anything to do with the disappearance of your friend?" He asked. Nico wasn't sure how to answer that. If he told him too much, Bruce might figure it out. He wasn't the smartest person to have tried to keep a secret from Batman, after all. He had to play it safe-- safer.

"I sure hope not, that could get really ugly. WW3 would start without question." The son of Hades knew that the Greeks would try to destroy the Romans for stealing Percy. It would be a bloodbath.

"Nico, I want to know when you leave to go these places and you will at least have a communicator of some sort." Bruce started laying out conditions.

"Monsters are attracted to signals. Internet and satellite seem to be the worst." the demigod protested.

"I understand your concern, but I want to be able to get to you if I need to. That is final." He stared the boy down until he gave in. Nico didn't stand a chance.

"Alright fine."

"Good, now let's get lunch. Someone slept through breakfast." Bruce teased to ease the tension.

"My, my. I wonder who that was." Alfred said from the doorway. Nico rolled his eyes at the pair of them, not really feeling all that annoyed. He was getting used to the ways things worked around here. Teasing was a sign of affection, not a hint about his inadequacy. This family was growing on him, he was surprised to realize that he considered them family.

"Breakfast?" Bruce asked.

"Indeed." The butler agreed.

"Alright. We can continue this conversation later, don't you think?" Bruce asked as he stood to go. Nico nodded and pulled the covers off of himself. He left for his closet to grab a change of clothes as Bruce and Alfred retreated to the dining room.

...............

Today was the fourth training session between Nico and the famous Batman. After the heroes learned his secret, he no longer had to hold back. Nico showed them the full extent of his physical capabilities that he had obtained through various means. Bruce had insisted that they had needed to know what experience Nico alaready had so that they could help him build on the knowledge that he already had. bruce also wanted his medical records so that he could be aware of anything that might come into pplay down the road. He had the records for all of his boys including dental records. Batman was nothing if he wasn't thurough.

Nico, however, didn't have medical records or really any other records for that matter. He didn't know whether or not he had seen doctors while he still lived in Italy and, if he had, he doubted that there were still records of it. Knowing that, Bruce wanted to create a new file for him-- a private file. Nico-- equally curious and cautious-- allowed them to draw some of his blood to analyze it. Considering gods technically had no DNA, Nico was interested to learn what that meant for him. He was confused when it turned out that he had all 23 pairs of chromosomes. The son of Hades decided not to question the magic and let the batfam puzzle over it. They were especially confused on how gods could not have DNA but still pass on traits.

During this training session, Nico was going to learn how to use a staff as a weapon. Bruce wanted to see if his battle instincts applied to all forms of combat. Bruce's teaching methods tended to lean towards the side of 'sink or swim'. Much like Hades, actually. The god of the Underworld told him what he wanted from his son and he had to figure out how to do it on his own. the god claimed it made the demigod less dependent.

Right now, Nico was barely holding his ground against Bruce in the ring. He was on the defensive and it was all he could do to keep from getting hit. The demigod blocked what would have been a headshot and re-directed the blow towards the floor. He saw the opportunity to hit Bruce in the shoulder and took it, only to be blocked by Bruce's staff. The vigilante didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat.

The two of us had been trying to find each other's weaknesses for a solid 5 minutes now and we were still no closer to beating each other than we were when we started. Nico suspected that the bat was going easy on him, but he couldn't be sure. Bruce charged the youth without warning. He had only enough time to spin out of the way to prevent from being body slammed. The extra force sent him off balance, since he hadn't made contact, and he fell to the floor.

Knowing that he would die if he got back up, Nico quickly got on top of him and held one end of the staff to his right temple. Given enough force (which Nico physically couldn't generate) he could kill him. He would have to weigh a lot more and be a lot stronger for that, though. Plus, the angle he would have to aim at was nothing like it was now. The son of Hades just hoped he could bluff Bruce into believing he could pull it off.

"Yield," he warned warned. Bruce had tensed when Nico set the staff against his head.

"And if I don't?" Bruce taunted.

"Then prepare to have one hell of a headache." Nico lifted the staff threateningly. He didn't plan to hit the older man, as he didn't want to bring the man's wrath down upon him.

"Ok, ok! I yield. Jeez, you mean business." Nico got off of him and pushed him up off the floor and shrugged. The goal was to win. Winning meaning to incapacitate the opponent without causing fatal damage.

"Would you have hit me?" He asked, putting away the weapons. He didn't sound upset, but he was an expert at maintaining a poker face.

"If you were really the enemy I would have," he admitted.

"But what about right then. If I had refused, would you have hit me?"

"No, I just would've pretended to hit you. Then claimed you were unconscious and that I won anyway."

"Good. At first, Damian would have hit me. Dick plays with his fights, Tim is sometimes a bit timid, and Jason is now much too prone to killing. Can you sense his body count?" Bruce asked as he unwrapped his fists.

"No, only that he should be dead, and how he died," Nico turned up his nose at the thought. He was glad he couldn't see Jason's body count. Nico didn't want to know who has killed before and who hasn't. In a city like this, the numbers might drive him insane. His answers seemed to have interested Bruce.

"I have several questions about death if you don't mind." Bruce now lead the younger boy out of the cave and into the study. The demigod shrugged to say that he didn't mind and they sat on the couches facing each other. Alfred brought them water bottles before promptly disappearing off into the house. Nico wondered if the man had his own for of sixth sense or a special surveillance system in place so that he would know when they needed things. He wouldn't put either option our of the realm of possibility.

"Ask away." Nico waved the older man on.

"Ok, so tell me about the infamous Underworld." Nico frowned. That ws too broad of a question for him to even attempt to answer.

"What about it?"

"The entrances, the rituals, the fields, everything." He clarified, "I read a bit about Percy's first quest. It seems like he went to the Underworld too?"

"That stalker... err sorry, scribe Rick freaking Riordan wrote those stories, didn't he? The guy must have found a way around his oath. He couldn't talk about the demigods because of his oath unless it became common knowledge. So I guess he wrote about it until it had become common knowledge. Sneaky devil." Nico muttered, mostly to himself. The demigods at camp were no stranger to the man named Rick Riordan. He was strange. He liked to hang around and ask questions and take notes. Most people left him be, but Percy took pity on him and once spent an entire afternoon talking about his quest to find Zeus' lightning bolt. Little did he know at the time, but the 'harmless' camp outsider took detailed notes. Soon it was a bestseller.

"What?" Bruce looked perplexed. Nico waved him off-- he didn't have time to unpack all of that.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just talking politics. Anyway, where was I?" Bruce frowned but seemed to think better of questioning it.

"The Underworld?"

"Oh yes. Well, there are several common entrances to the Underworld. The Doors of Orpheus in central park. A recording studio in Hollywood, and a couple of others. There are special ways to get into, and out through, each entrance." He started.

"Central park? Hollywood?" Bruce exclaimed in surprise. Nico nodded in agreement.

"The Doors of Orpheus will only open to music. The recording studio will only let you in if you have enough drachmas to bribe the ferryman or you are dead. Percy ended up having to bribe him during his quest. I don't have to use these entrances because I can shadow travel." The son of Hades continued.

"That's convenient."

"Very. Anyway, once you get into the Underworld, there are many beings and monsters to look out for and avoid." He advised, "Before you can truly enter the realm of the dead, you must pass by Cerberus, who makes sure you're really dead. If you make it past him, you have to watch for the Keres, the eidolons, the kindly ones, etc."

"Kindly Ones?"

"The furies," He whispered, not really wanting to invoke their name. Bruce's mouth formed an 'o' shape.

"Continue, please." He pressed.

"Well, one of the rituals in the Underworld is the judgment. You stand in front of a court and they decide where to place your soul based on who you were in your life. Sometimes, Hades has a say in this process."

"What about other religions? No one really follows the Greek pantheon anymore."

"The mortals see whatever afterlife they choose to see. Only the people in the fields of punishment see it for how it truly is. Though, they still probably interpret it as hell."

"Ok," Bruce nodded in understanding, "tell me about the fields."

"Let's see, there's the field of punishment. That's where the souls who have been especially horrible during their lives go. People who disrespect the gods go there. Unless you've messed with Athena or Zeus. Then you're going to be turned into a monster. Like Lycaon the wolfman and Arachne and all those people." The demigod elaborated.

"Then you have the fields of Elysium. People who have done great things in their lives end up here. Achilles, Perseus, Jason, and a fair number of mortals make it into Elysium. If you chose rebirth, and achieve Elysium in the next life, you can achieve the Isle of the Blessed. That is reserved for heroes mainly."

"Finally, you have the fields of Asphodel. This is where you go if you aren't a really bad person, or if you haven't done enough good in your life to get to Elysium. A majority of people will end up there. Those spirits forget their previous lives and eventually fade. It takes several centuries for a soul to start to fade though, so it's not really a common occurrence."

"Does it bother you to know that they don't remember who they were? That those souls in the fields of punishments undergo constant pain?" Bruce asked.

"Mmmm." I hummed, not knowing how to answer. I had never really thought about the soul's continued existence after I left the Underworld, "I only ever really think about it while I'm in the Underworld. Only the really bad people get sentenced to the fields of punishment. Hitler and people like him." Nico paused, gathering his thoughts. It was at this point that he realized that he had gained an audience. Jason and Dick had settled themselves down on the couches. Nico continued, ignoring their presence.

"I think it may have been easier for me due to the first experience I ever had with spirits. It was at the end of the summer known as The Titan's Curse. Percy had come back from his quest, with two fewer quest members than they had started with. One of the people he lost was Bianca. The other was a several thousand-year-old huntress, Zoë Nightshade."

"Sometime during his quest, a bunch of skeletons was grown from the teeth of an ancient being. Atlas, the titan who was supposed to be holding up the sky, was the one who planted and watered the teeth. Atlas had captured Artemis and forced her to hold the sky in his place." Nico said, working backward.

"Anyway, those skeletons are hard to kill and don't stop until they find their prey. The perfect hunters. A couple of them had followed him back into camp. Since they were human skeletons, the camp's borders wouldn't keep them out. Percy and I were in the dining pavilion at the time. He had just broken the news to me that Bianca had died." He took out the Hades figurine and set it gently on the coffee table.

"She died in the junkyard of the gods. She was grabbing it for me. She died over a stupid figurine. Hades, the only one I didn't have. Ironic right?" Nico stared at the statue for a couple more moments before continuing.

"When Percy told me, I was angry. I had been having dreams telling me that she had died but I had refused to believe them. While I was yelling at him, the skeletons found us. I couldn't just let them hurt Percy so I screamed at them to go away. The ground opened up from beneath them and they fell into the crease. My powers scared me so I threw the figurine at Percy and I ran." He grabbed the Hades model and examined it as he spoke.

"I ran into the forest, which even the older campers aren't allowed to go in unarmed. I had a sword, but it wasn't balanced. I ran until I was out of breath and I sat down to rest. While I was sitting a ghost popped into existence in front of me. The first one I had seen. His name was Minos, King Minos of Crete."

"Owner of the Cretin Bull?" Bruce inquired.

"The very same. I told him everything and he offered to help me find a way to get her back. He took me to the mouth of the labyrinth. Of course, had I known the dangers within, I never would have entered. Minos was persuasive and claimed to have my best interests at heart. I followed him in."

"He and I spent a long time in the labyrinth and in the Underworld, which lies below the labyrinth. He taught me how to use my powers and found my stygian iron sword. I thought he wanted to help me. Under his teachings, I grew cold. Children of Hades are the best at holding grudges. It's our major character flaw. Our fatal flaw. I was angry at Percy, father, Bianca herself, the fates, Artemis, Zoë, and especially myself."

"Turned out later that he was only using me." Nico finished off his story.

"Using you?" Dick spoke first.

"Yes. He used me to get to Daedalus. Got me captured by the enemy forces in exchange for bringing him straight to the inventor. Daedalus had stored his animus, his soul, in an automaton. They chained me up and dragged me through the maze. Kelli the espousai. It was a miracle they didn't kill me when I refused to join the army."

"What happened?" Bruce prompted.

"They took me with them when they went to collect Daedalus. He had offered Percy and Annabeth up to them. In exchange for what, I don't know. Percy and Annabeth never got around to telling me. Long story short, once Daedalus saw that the monsters weren't going to hold up their end of the deal, he helped us all escape using his wings."

"Hell, that would be fun! Not the whole running from monsters thing, but flying? Cool!" Jason said, smiling.

"Not if you're a child of Hades or Poseidon."

"What do you mean? Are you afraid of heights?" Tim inquired.

"Surprisingly no. But flying to any children of the big three except Zeus is dangerous. If he knows you're in his turf, he will shoot you down."

"So no flying," Damian stated grimly.

I nodded, "Or sea travel."

"That sucks."

"You obviously survived this." Damian pointed out.

"Yes, Zeus was probably deciding whether to shoot me or Percy," Nico said, only half kidding.

"What happened then? When you landed, I mean." Tim cut in.

"I think it is high time that you all come in for dinner. I think you've picked through the poor boy's brain quite enough for one day." Alfred came back into the room. He took their bottles before retreating.

"Yeah, he's probably right." Bruce eyed the demigod with appreciation. Nico stretched and excused himself to take a shower.

Chapter Text

Dinner was a good time, happy and full of the brothers trying to outdo each other. It was quite interesting to watch.

They ate and laughed until there was a loud banging on one of the windows in the kitchen. Everyone instantly went still and exchanged glances. There were a number of things that could have been, and very few of them were good. Bruce slowly got up to go check it out. You could tell he had shifted into Batman mode by the way he held himself. He carefully left the dining room, holding just a steak knife in his hands. A steak knife was a formidable weapon in his hands.

We all anxiously watched him go, ready to back him up if we needed to. As he entered the other room, the banging came again and again. There were a couple of long moments of silence that seemed to stretch for an eternity before Bruce called out,

"Hey, ah Nico? I think this is for you?" Nico frowned as the others looked at him curiously. He met Dick's eyes and shrugged in confusion. Nico marched into the kitchen, expecting to see some monster but instead, there was a giant golden eagle. There was a scroll clasped in its talons. He slowly approached the window and slid it open. The large, magic, bird, shrunk to the size of a normal bald eagle and perched on the sill. He took the letter from it and asked bruce to grab a piece of meat or something.

Nico unrolled the parchment and was confronted by an immediate problem. It was written in Latin. Definitely Roman then. Bruce came back in, followed by the rest of the family, holding a bit of steak. He gingerly handed it over to the demigod, seemingly wary of the bird. Nico would have found this laughable if he weren't kind of anxious himself. How had Reyna known where to find him?

The son of Hades held out the treat and the well-trained bird of prey plucked it from his hand. After having received his payment, he started his return journey home. Nico watched him leave, wishing that the letter was in a language he could read. If he told the Romans that he couldn't read Latin, he might as well hold a sign the read 'fraud'. He stared at the parchment, longing to see something that made sense. Then, it happened, the more he stared at the paper, the more words he found that he understood. Right before his eyes, the words became legible, and he could read Latin. He had no idea how that worked but he was grateful for it nonetheless. he began to read.

Ambassador of Pluto,

The legion is in great need of your assistance. Jason Grace, as I'm sure you remember as one of our praetors, has gone missing. I am commissioning you, as proof of good faith, to search for his soul in the Underworld. We do not believe he has perished, but the possibility has to be ruled out.

Do this, and as long as your sister gets a sponsor, she will be accepted as a probatio member. I hope this letter found you in good health, and may the gods be with you.

Reyna, Praetor of New Rome.

Nico read over the letter to make sure that he had the facts straight. Jason really was missing and Reyna really had come to him for help. He found it hard to believe that this was a coincidence. Two children of the big three for two separate camps go missing at about the same time?

"Is that... Latin?" Bruce sounded disbelieving, which he could hardly blame him for. It was supposed to be a dead language, after all.

"Yeah. I need to make another trip to both the Underworld and California. It seems that another Demigod has gone missing. I've been asked to make sure that they aren't dead."

"Why do you have to go back to California?" Jason butted in.

"The demigod wasn't part of camp half-blood. He was surviving with a rogue group in California. They don't like Iris messages, so I'll have to report to them in person. Hence the giant, magic, eagle, thing." Nico gestured to the window that the bird had perched in. He hated having to lie to them like that, but this was bigger than any of them and he saw no other way around it.

"When will you be doing all of this?" Bruce questioned, shutting and locking the window.

"I'll leave tomorrow morning," He replied. Bruce thought this over for a couple of seconds before nodding slowly.

"Alright, but you're taking a phone, just in case. I don't care what you say, I need to be able to get to you if you need us." Bruce insisted.

"Fine." Nico gritted his teeth. It wasn't worth arguing about. Besides, I'm almost sure he is more stubborn than he is. He had to be to put up with Damian.

"And when you get back, you will be explaining what you've been doing. I expect every trip you've made to be accounted for. There will no longer be any secrets." Bruce finally put his foot down. Nico knew he would eventually, but this was really bad timing. There was too much going on right now-- too many important secrets that he still had to keep.

"You do realize that there are things that I cannot tell you?" Nico pointed out.

"No, I don't. I need to know what is going on." Bruce countered. Luckily they were interrupted by Tim before they could get into an argument.

"How did you know that the eagle was magic? It looked normal to me?" He asked.

"What are you talking about? It was 3 feet tall and freaking gold." Damian countered. Nico could tell that there was a fight coming.

"Guys stop, the mist works better on some people than others. If you've seen a lot of magic, it's less likely to work on you. Sometimes you never see through the mist, no matter what. Some people are born clear-sighted. It all depends." He broke up their bickering.

"Can people change what the mist shows you?" Dick helped the demigod by changing the subject.

"Yes, some are better at it than others. Children of Hecate are particularly gifted at it. I can do it to some extent, and Thalia is really quite good." He replied.

"Cool," Tim sounded interested, "Is there any way that you could make it so I can see them too?"

"I don't know. The bigger the monster or event, the thinner the mist is. You might just not have been able to see something as minor as that bird." He suggested. Tim shrugged. Jason muttered something that he didn't quite catch but it made Tim scowl at him. Predicting another fight, Nico excused himself to go take a shower. He stood in the shower and thought about what could have happened to our two missing, very powerful, camp leaders. Someone had to be behind it but he didn't see anything to gain from this except to confuse alarm both camps.

Nico guessed that they did take away two major figureheads of the camps, but then why not take Reyna and Annabeth as well? Both females were just as necessary to run the camps. If they truly wanted to cripple the camps, they would have taken them too. Unless they were counting on the females being too emotionally compromised to be effective leaders. If that were the case, they clearly didn't know Annabeth. Plus, Reyna and Jason didn't seem to have that sort of relationship. Or, he could just be blind. Annabeth insisted that all boys were when it came to girls and their feelings. He guessed it was true since he had never understood Bianca when she got emotional.

Nico decided to put the questions that he couldn't solve at the back of his mind to be thought over again later. Since Percy hadn't been dead, he was hoping that Jason wasn't dead either. He seemed like a decent guy, maybe a little too uptight at times, but he is a Roman. Plus, they were sort of cousins too. Especially if his theory about him and Thalia being related were true. Jason looked to be about the same age as Thalia, but she had been a tree and now she was immortal so he was probably a lot younger biologically. Could the same god fall in love with the same person in two different forms? Did the two sisters both attract different aspects of Zeus? Nico really wanted to know.

He got out of the shower because the water had started to turn cold. He changed into nightclothes and went to bed early since he knew he would need his energy for the next day.

Chapter Text

[Jason Grace, not Jason Todd]

The next morning Nico packed a bag with godly food, a couple of changes of clothes, his dagger, a pouch of batarangs (which he could throw fairly accurately), some drachmas, and some water. He wasn't planning on staying too long, but he didn't know how many times he could shadow travel in a row. He needed to be prepared to stay the night somewhere if he ran out of energy. Hades had warned him not to over-extend himself when it came to his powers as he wasn't sure quite what would happen. It was possible that he would melt into Shadows like Hitler had-- leaving no trace that he had ever existed in the first place.

The son of Hades ate breakfast with the batfam and explained that he had packed provisions in case the 3 or 4 shadow jumps in a row proved to be too much. With luck, he would be back by tonight though it was more likely that would be back by tomorrow afternoon instead. After breakfast, Nico said his goodbyes, and his brothers wished him luck. Bruce reminded him that the phone only had one number in it so he couldn't get confused and gave him the address of a safe house that he had in California should he need it.

After Nico had said his farewells, he headed to his room to find a dark corner. He had to go to the Underworld first and just pray that the Romans would allow him to stay at their camp if he needed to-- though he wasn't hopeful. First was the Underworld, then the Roman camp, then back. It might end up being 4 jumps if he had enough energy to go see Hazel. Really, he should just skip visiting Hazel, but he wanted to see her. It had been a while since he had heard from her and he wanted to make sure that she was still ok. He owed her that much.

Since it had been faster last time to just ask Hades first, Nico would start there. If Hades didn't know, he would search for Jason's soul himself. Nico pictured the grand entry hall in his mind and he felt himself dissolving. Nico reemerged from the darkness and shivered. No matter how many times he did it, the sudden cold chill always got him.

Nico didn't want to stay in the underworld for long so he wasted no time in entering the throne room, where Hades usually keeps a small portion of his consciousness. This part of Hades was talking to Persephone, who had come to spend her term in the Underworld. As he approached, the demigod could tell that they were talking about Pamela.

"Nico," Persephone greeted with slightly less disdain than usual, "I see you have allied yourself with that crazed dryad-human hybrid. I like her, don't you dare hurt that woman."

"I wasn't planning on it, ma'am," he responded, trying to be civil. Persephone looked at him suspiciously before storming out of the room.

"What did you want, son?" Hades said tiredly. Persephone and her mother did that to him.

"I just wanted to know if Jason Grace died?"

"That roman boy? Has he disappeared too?" Hades didn't really sound surprised.

"Yes, father. The Romans asked me to check for him here." Nico replied.

"They would, wouldn't they," Hades muttered disdainfully. Nico didn't know what his father meant, but he didn't question it.

"Reyna promised Hazel a probatio status, as long as she had a sponsor if I did this for them. It seemed to be a good trade." Nico defended himself.

"Indeed, good work." Hades nodded approvingly. Nico couldn't believe what he had heard for a moment. Did he approve? It wasn't often that Hades voiced his opinion-- in approval or otherwise. Nico's chest filled with pride.

"Thank you, father."

"As for your missing praetor, he has not shown up down here. Here, take a letter from me saying it as well. The Romans wouldn't dare refute the word of a god. They are too obedient." Hades held out his hand and a rolled-up scroll appeared in his palm. He tossed it to his son.

"Thank you, father." Nico hesitated before continuing, "The Waynes are getting suspicious, and they want me to tell them everything when I get back. What should I do?" Hades grimaced and he felt his stomach sink. He knew that Hades was going to tell him to disobey the mortal, but Nico didn't want to do that. Bruce had done so much for him and he didn't want to repay the older man with lies or disrespect. He didn't want to try the man's patience and find the limit of the man's charity.

"You mustn't tell them yet, at least not until Hazel gets to the camp. You cannot afford any complications, there is more than her safety on the line." Hades reminded him of the consequences he had accepted by reviving her, "Here, this scroll will tell them that I have strictly forbidden you to tell them until a certain event has passed. Do they still think I'm abusive?" Hades held another scroll in his palm. This one was ash-colored.

"Yes, I haven't told them that..." Nico was about to tell him that he hadn't gotten around to revealing the truth to them yet but he was cut off before he could finish.

"No, no." Hades interrupted, "This could work to our advantage. Besides, by mortal standards, I probably am." He admitted.

"Father..." Nico started, not having any real idea of what he was going to say. Hades didn't treat him badly per say, and he was certainly doing better about being involved in his life, but he still would be what Bruce considered to be a good parent. Though Nico would take Hades over almost any other god as a parent if given the choice.

"It doesn't matter right now." Hades waved his son's concerns away, "This does not change the fact that you had better not let them find out about Hazel, I lost her once and I will not tolerate losing her again. Do you understand?" Hades pointed his finger at Nico and the demigod remembered the last time he had done that. He liquified a tree in a matter of moments. Nico wasn't in danger of being liquified anymore, but it did drive the god's point home.

"Don't let them find out, I will know. Do not disappoint me." He finished and handed his son the second scroll.

"Yes, father." Nico bowed before proceeding back out into the entrance hall. From there, he shadow traveled to Camp Jupiter. Nico had been thinking about his father's words rather than a place to land and it had pulled him astray. Nico ended up in a dark and creepy shack with an altar in the middle of it. He had better night vision than most people but he still couldn't see very well in this place.

Nico cautiously took a look around before pushing open the door. he could see the town in the distance so he assumed that he was in some kind of forgotten temple. The son of Hades walked into the light and squinted. He looked above the door to see what god's temple he had trespassed upon and was angered to see Pluto's symbol above the door. This run-down shack of a temple was dedicated to his father. There were three such temples in the field. One that was only slightly more well-kept was for Poseidon-- no Neptune. The last was huge and perfect, dedicated to the king of the gods. No wonder Jupiter was the most powerful, he had an entire camp that worshipped him.

Nico struggled to keep his anger in check. He calmed himself down before he turned to go into the village. When he turned, however, he was greeted by Octavian. Nico took a sharp breath-- having been startled by the creepy stuffed animal sacrificer.

"Oh yes, your father isn't respected around here." Octavian pointed out gesturing towards the sad temple with his ceremonial knife.

"Yes, I am aware. Death has never been very popular." Nico agreed, regaining his composure. He couldn't let this boy know how uncomfortable he made him. The son of Hades knew this boy's type and he wouldn't put himself in a position that Octavian could take advantage of.

"What do you want coming here? There are no positions of power open, especially not for the likes of you. No one here wants a child of Pluto around."

"That does seem to be the trend." Nico muttered then louder, "I am not looking for power, I have all the power I need in the Underworld." he lied. Nico couldn't do much of anything in the Underworld-- not that there really was much to do in the first place. Hades ran a pretty tight ship and between Cerberus, Thanatos, and the Furies, Hades had pretty much all the help he needed.

"Then why are you here?"

"Right now or in general?"

"Both."

"Well, I came here in search of a safe place for my sister to train. Right now I'm looking for your praetor. Why are you here?" Nico fired back cooly. He knew that these answers wouldn't satisfy the boy's curiosity, but he also knew that he wouldn't press the issue either.

"Hmm." Octavian stormed off.

"Interesting. There are very few people who can under his skin like that." A voice came from behind the temple. Nico turned around to find Reyna and her greyhounds, "I had a hunch I would find you here."

"That goes for one of us. I didn't quite mean to land in that disgrace of a temple." He replied. He probably should have been more diplomatic, but he was annoyed. It wasn't fair that Hades was so disrespected. The Romans didn't understand just how much Hades did for them-- for the planet.

"Yeah, Pluto isn't our most honored god. Years ago one of our former praetors tried to have the people clean them out and fix them up, but they called him a radical." Reyna admitted.

"I see."

"Any good news?" Reyna prompted.

"Yes, Jason is not dead. However, I have no clue where he is. Here, Pluto was feeling generous so this is a scroll declaring it." Reyna took the scroll and eyed her silver hound for a couple of moments before nodding.

"Very well. You have kept up your end of the bargain. Your sister will be accepted here. I do have a couple of questions, however. For one, why doesn't she stay in the Underworld like you?"

"Pluto thinks that things will get a little too hectic in the Underworld, with all of the escaping souls, for him to train her. He wanted me to find a place where she'd be safe." The dog bared its teeth but didn't react.

"Uh-huh." Nico could tell she didn't buy it. He felt bad for lying, but he also couldn't tell her the truth. Nico decided to clarify instead.

"Well, Pluto did send me to find a place where my sister will be safe." He assured the praetor. Her metal hounds relaxed.

"Alright, Mr. Di Angelo. Thank you for your service to the camp. You are welcome to stay and watch the war games?" She offered.

"No, thanks. Octavian was right that no one here will want a child of Pluto around."

"I wish I could argue, but you're right. The people here aren't often very accepting." She agreed.

"I understand, praetor. Thank you for the offer, however."

"It was the least I could do. I presume you'll keep us updated?"

"Of course!" The ambassador of Pluto replied readily. He had already been planning to keep her informed anyways. Reyna smiled gratefully, but the smile didn't meet her eyes. She was running out of hope.

"Farewell, then. Gods be with you." Reyna then started the long trek back to the city. Nico watched her go for a while, wondering how it was that she came to power. When she disappeared from sight, Nico went back over to the rickety old Pluto temple, it was time to go home. He had wanted to see HAzel but he also knew that he only had enough energy to make one more trip. Hazel could take care of herself and he still planned on finding her in his dreams. It wasn't ideal, but he would have to make do.

When Nico got home he was quite tired. He landed in the study and didn't have much time to get to a couch before he passed out. The son of Hades hoped they would find him, preferably Dick. For some reason, Nico got along better with him than the others-- and it seemed that his adopted brothers felt the same way. Dick had a way of befriending all of them, despite how different they all were. It surprised him to think about it, but Nico had really begun to care about his adoptive brothers.

As he fell asleep, his dream self was taken to where ever Richard was, as he was the last one he had been thinking of when he fell asleep. He was in a huge cave that was well furnished, obviously a base of some sort. This one looked a lot more inviting than the bat cave, brighter and furnished. Richard was in his Nightwing outfit and was standing in a large group of teens each one dressed in a costume based on their mentor and powers.

[Spoiler in parentheses if you are behind of young Justice!]

(Wally is not dead, I refuse to accept it).

There was an Atlantean, a girl with green skin, a boy who looked suspiciously like Superman, a boy in a yellow Flash uniform, a boy surrounded by blue and black armor, and a girl in a magician's outfit. That was just what Nico could see, who knows who else was in this base. The teens were talking to a group on the screen. There was a girl with the wonder woman symbol on her chest, a girl in a bee outfit, a fish boy, and a couple more that Nico couldn't see from this angle. Quite the assortment they had there. They were probably more dangerous than they looked.

(This is a mission that never actually happened. I am not great with remembering every mission the young justice team went on or what happened in them. It has been a long time since I watched the show and I no longer have Netflix).

"They were all dead when you got there?" Nightwing confirmed.

"Yeah, we have no idea what happened." Tim's voice came from the screen. Damian was probably with the Teen Titans and Jason was probably still at home.

"Could you determine the cause of death?" Nightwing asked.

"No, they just seemed to have dropped dead. However, there are signs of a struggle." Tim reported.

"Are you sure that even you couldn't find anything?" Richard sounded surprised. Tim was a great detective and it was rare that he would ever come to a dead-end or not have the answer to something. Nico found it odd that he didn't find any clues as to how they died. They were probably dealing with a professional killer then.

"Yeah, they don't have any noticeable wounds, no bruising, and no obvious murder weapon," Tim replied.

"Are you all still at the scene?"

"Yeah, no one will find this place for a while. We can keep it protected until you guys get here."

"Do you think it would be good to bring in our consultant?" Nightwing questioned.

"Ghost?" Tim confirmed. They were planning in consulting with him. Nico was flattered that they had enough faith in his abilities to think that he might be able to solve a case that had stumped two veteran vigilantes.

"Yeah, we know his general location. It shouldn't take us long to find him." Nico figured that translated to: he's either home, in California, or the Underworld, but we know how to contact him.

"Wait, who is this 'ghost' dude and why do we need his help?" A blond girl in a green crop top asked, crossing her arms. The flash look-alike put an arm around her comfortingly. The girl relaxed a little but she still seemed a little skeptical about the whole situation.

"Calm down Arty," Dick teased, the blond girl hummed in response, "Ghost is our newest consultant. He is really good with determining causes of death and basically anything else that's related to dying. If anyone can figure out how these guys died, it's him." The son of Hades thought that was high praise, considering he had only really shown that he could solve one puzzle. Though he guessed he could always ask the victim's souls if he absolutely had to.

"Alright, call him and get over here. We'll keep it on the low until then." Tim said.

"Understood," Nightwing replied and cut the feed.

"Nightwing, is this 'Ghost' very dangerous? Can he be trusted?" The Atlantean asked.

"Yes," Nightwing replied before leaving the room presumably to find Nico. The demigod in question began to wake up to the feeling of someone shaking him. He opened his eyes and saw Bruce standing over him.

"Hey there, sleepyhead. We didn't realize you were back." Nico at up and rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, I passed out just about as soon as I landed." He stretched his sore muscles. Bruce handed him a pouch of ambrosia and he took it gratefully. With one bite Nico felt the energy flow through his body. He'd be right as rain in a few minutes.

"Come on, get up." Bruce grabbed him by the upper arm and helped him stand up, "Richard needs you out in the field."

"Yeah, I saw it in my dream. He needs me to determine the cause of death." Nico agreed following Bruce to the entrance to the Batcave.

"Right. We have created the basic components of your costume, so you can wear that for now. We still have to add on the bat symbol but we'll leave it off for now while you're acting as a consultant. You're not officially part of our team so we can still use you for infiltration work later if we need to." Bruce explained as we reached the cave's museum.

"Ok?" Nico said, not fully understanding what he was saying.

"Don't worry about it for now. You will have a smaller utility belt than the rest of us. it has four small pockets. One for your dagger coin, one for drachmas, one for your phone, and one for the godly food. The rest of your suit is made out of pieces of kevlar and reinforced cotton. It should be fine for consultant work." Bruce continued, reaching a work table. Nico's uniform laid on the table. There was a pair of black cargo pants with reinforced knees and many zipped-up pockets. There was a pair of black boots as well. The soles were built like tennis shoes, allowing for maneuverability. His shirt was black, long-sleeved, and was reinforced on the chest and back with kevlar. Next to the outfit lay a simple domino mask and a pair of long black gloves.

[If someone wants to draw him in it, feel free. I can't draw worth anything]

"Wow." He breathed. It was certainly the nicest thing anyone had ever given him.

"Go get suited up. Richard needs you at Mount Justice as soon as possible. It took us a while to find you." Bruce handed the demigod the belt from a shelf and shooed him towards the bathrooms. It didn't take very long for him to change, the costume was meant for someone a little fuller than he was, though. Nico guessed Alfred had just been planning ahead. He had gained some weight with Alfred's three meals a day service. Nico skin finally looked olive again and he could actually look at himself in the mirror without cringing.

The outfit was comfortable and surprisingly flexible. He wouldn't have too much trouble fighting in this if he needed to. The shoes were a little stiff, but they were designed to move like a tennis shoe so it really wasn't all that bad. He put the domino mask on last and looked at himself in the mirror. Nico felt strangely stronger in this outfit. When he looked in the glass, he couldn't recognize himself, which he guessed was the point of the costume.

The son of Hades met Bruce back outside and he nodded approvingly, "Hmm, it suits you. Come, I'll take you to the zeta tube. It is a mode of transportation. It will take you to Mount Justice where you will join the team. Don't give away that you're connected to Nightwing or the others. Don't talk too much, we haven't trained you too much in interrogation tactics and you might say more than you realize." Bruce coached.

"Okay, anything else I should know?" Nico asked as he checked to make sure he had everything. Nico hadn't really been planning on talking to them too much anyway. He was excited to go on the mission, not so much, to meet this new team. He was sure that they were nice, but connecting with people was a lot of work and Nico didn't really see the point in trying if he was only going to see them every once in a while.

"Tell them that Batman brought you in. I sent you through some weird telephone booth. Nightwing will brief you on the detail of the mission once you get there." Bruce explained.

Nico stepped into the tube.

Chapter Text

When the disguised demigod walked out of the blinding light, he saw the same group of teens standing in front of him. He hadn't been expecting a welcoming committee and was rather put off by all the attention. In retrospect, he should have expected this reaction-- it wasn't every day that the bat boys called in an outsider to help them do their jobs. Nightwing approached Ghost first.

"Welcome, Ghost we need you on another case." Nico decided to roll with the lie.

"Nightwing," He greeted, "good to see you. Batman told me that you would brief me?"

"I'll explain it on the way. We have to travel on a plane to get there. I know you don't like them, will you be ok?" The son of Hades figured that Zeus would be too caught up in whatever had locked down Olympus to bother with him. Or at least he hoped that he would be-- if not, this was going to be a very short mission.

"Yeah, I should be fine. Lead the way, we can do introductions later." Nightwing motioned for the consultant to follow him and took off at a brisk pace. Nico didn't put too much effort into keeping up. Instead, he allowed himself to fall a little behind and take in the mountain. He had to admit that he had been curious about where Nightwing spent his time when he wasn't at the manor or the cave. Granted he had seen part of it in his dream, but this gave him a better picture. It was a nice base, though he would expect little else from Batman.

"Kaldur, Artemis, Wally, M'gann, and I will head out to meet the others. The rest of you stay here and hold down the fort." Nightwing ordered. The people he designated followed them to what Nico presumed was the landing platform. He was confused when he didn't see a jet. Instead, there was a large red hunk of metal sittin on the landing platform. It took all he had not to gasp when that pill-shaped thing expanded into a full-sized ship. Ghost followed Dick up the ramp and onto the ship where he sat in one of the seats. Everybody else filed in and took their places. The green-skinned girl got in the pilot's seat.

It may have just been him, but Nico was shocked by the amount of technology on this ship. They had touch screens, voice-activated sensors, and it was even a telepathically operated ship. Maybe this was normal for people in the 21st century? To him, it was a bit overwhelming. He hadn't been around people who had normal childhoods. Even at Camp Half-Blood they had limited access to technology. In truth, Nico wouldn't have known what was normal or not.

Once they were in the air, the briefing began, "Ok, Ghost. We are headed out to a crime scene where we need you to determine the cause of the death of some scientists. They had been working on a cure for some type of new poison. We believe that-- in order to keep the scientists from concocting a antidote-- someone had them killed. " Dick explained. Nico had never been involved in such an elaborate investigation before and he had to admit that it gave him a fair share of adrenaline.

"And we know they weren't killed by poison because...?" Nico started. He needed all of the information in order to create a clear picture of what had happened to the scientists.

"The poison causes people to bleed from the eyes and nose. The victims didn't show either symptom and a rudimentary chemical analysis of their saliva and blood show no suspicious substances was in their system at the time of death."

"I see. Anything else I should know, going in?"

"No, we have a large team out in the field already so the scene has been secured. You shouldn't have any... distractions."

"We'll see about that." The consultant muttered under his breath. He was no longer in Gotham, monsters were a much bigger threat now. The gods never really visited Gotham, so there weren't many demigods there to attract monsters. Out here it was a different story. He would consider a monster attack to be a pretty big distraction. Nico saw many of the other team members exchange confused looks.

It wasn't long before they reached the island where the lab was. It was small, but could still hide an entire laboratory with ease in the dense forrest. M'gann landed the ship in a tall-grass-filled clearing and the group of uniformed teens cautiously off-loaded. They were greeted by the Wonder Woman girl and the girl who looked like a bee. Dick and the two girls exchanged a short greeting before Dick introduced Nico. The group was led into the nearby building and through the halls towards the place where the bodies laid. Ghost had analyzed the halls for clues as they passed, but all he noticed was that they were strangely clean. Like they had just been mopped or something. Like hospital floors, Nico wrinkled his nose at the thought.

They finally came to a dead-end hallway where the other group of heroes that he had seen before were gathered. They all came to varying forms of attention or readiness as their group approached. Nico spotted Tim at the front of the group.

"Red Robin, show Ghost to the bodies and assist him in any way you can. The rest of you will brief us on what exactly happened here." Nightwing took over.

Tim lead his brother through some double doors into a lab-y looking room. Inside were two dead bodies, sprawled out on the floor. Nico surveyed the room briefly, looking for hints. The lab seemed to be used for chemical testing of some sort. There were bottles of weird liquids in a clear-doored refrigerator behind him. There was one of those stainless steel metal lab tables with wheels in the center of the room.

"Have any luminol?" Ghost directed towards Red Robin. Bruce had been giving him lessons in forensic science for weeks now and it was all starting to pay off. Nico had insisted that he didn't need to know how to properly work a crime scene because he could speak to the dead, but now he was eating those words.

The vigilante pulled a small spray bottle and a black light out of a black case and handed it over. Nico gently misted the floor around the bodies as Tim turned out the lights. Nico shined the black lights over the floor and came up with smears of glowing substances that could have been a number of different substances. He took a picture with a camera he had found in the black case for documentation. Luminol would only illuminate the smears for about 30 seconds so he wasted no time. Ghost leaned down to the floor and cautiously smelled the smear and got a nose full of chlorine-- possibly from a cleaning agent like bleach.

"This area has been cleaned recently. Maybe they were hiding evidence like blood." Ghost noted aloud.

"If that were the case, then why would they leave the bodies? Unless... it wasn't the victim's blood." Tim reasoned. Ghost hummed in agreement, stepping over the first corpse. Tim turned the lights back on.

On the table was a rolled-up towel, which Nico documented with the camera. It occurred to him that that would be a pretty good place to hide something. It looked unassuming and discarded-- unimportant-- but looks could be deceiving. Nico carefully made his way across the room towards it. He didn't want to walk over any important evidence. If this was used to clean up evidence, there was still a chance that they could salvage some DNA from it.

By now, the team that had flown here with him were coming into the room. They spread out along the wall and stayed out of the demigod's way, which was appreciated. Nico was still an ADHD teenager and he did not need them distracting him or disturbing any evidence. Nico carefully unwrapped the towel, which was dry to the touch. This meant that it likely hadn't been used to clean up any liquids recently. There was nothing on it except a bit of blood. Two thin pale streaks, to be exact.

That was suspicious. You'd have lost more blood from a nosebleed or even picking off a scab. Plus, there was no blood visible on the bodies. Nico paused to think for a moment. What did he know?

Firt of all, Tim had said that they found no signs of a struggle. That ruled out anything to do with blunt-force trauma and meant that the scientists had likely been taken by surprise. Maybe they had even known their attackers or the killers had disguised themselves.

"How did they gain entry to this room?" Ghost directed this question to Red Robin again, presuming that he would have the most detailed knowledge of the scene.

"They used a keycard. They stole it off of one of the other scientists who reported it missing this morning. We believe that the killer killed them sometime last night because when a keycard goes missing, it will no longer grant you access to this building." Ghost nodded along in understanding.

So they knew how the men had gotten inside the building, but they still weren't sure on the cause of death. There was no blood so no major entry wounds, so where had the blood come from? Was it the killer's or the victim's? If one of the victims scratched their attacker, they would bleed. However, they would more likely hold the towel to the wound, causing a blood spot, not a streak. Plus, they wouldn't leave their own DNA behind. Not if they were as professional as he suspected they were.

I moved to check under the victim's fingernails just to be sure. Both the victims had been wearing gloves, meaning they couldn't have, realistically, scratched their killers. But then why was there cleaner on the floor? Nico picked up the luminol spray and nightwin got the lights. Ghost sprayed the luminol on the scientists hands and found that the older man had a substance on his gloves that was probably bleach like what he found on the floor. It was likely that the man had cleaned the floor himself and not the killers. So this piece of evidence was irrelivant. Nico took a picture anyway, just in case more evidence came up later.

If the blood on the towel wasn't the killer's then it must have been the victim's. What could be used to kill someone almost bloodlessly? More importantly, was the murder weapon still in the lab? Most of the chemicals here cause people to foam at the mouth, bleeding from the nose, or other noticeable deaths. Tim would have checked for that already but the son of Hades decided to ask anyway.

"We're sure that none of these chemicals got to them?"

"Yes." Tim said, having entered as well, "we did a field analysis on their saliva, a bit low tech, but accurate. None of the chemicals here were ingested." That certainly narrowed down the list, though there was still the possibility that something had gotten into their bodies using a different method.

"What are your deductions?" Nightwing asked, having come up behind his younger brother without him noticing.

"Well, we've ruled out most of the usual causes of death in violent crimes. Whoever did this was obviously a professional. I've found the victim'sblood on the towel."

"How do you know that it was the victim's blood?" Asked some kid with green skin. He seemed young, a naive kid like he used to be. Nico humored him and answered the question.

"A professional killer would know better than leave any DNA behind," the consultant replied.

"Oh." Came the soft response.

Nico began looking over the counter to maybe see something useful. In the sink, there was a handful of syringes. This in itself wasn't all that suspicious considering the types of experiments these men were doing. What caught his attention, however, was that only two of them had water inside of them and that the sink itself was bone dry. Ghost carefully lifted one of the two up, looking carefully at the substance inside. It looked just like water. There was no water in the bottom of the sink or on the faucet head.

Nico pulled out the plunger and carefully smelled the contents. Just as he thought, it wasn't water in the syringes, but hydrogen peroxide. Having formulated a theory, he went back to the bodies and spent the next 15 minutes examining every inch of their upper body. At one point Ghost had to take off one of the victim's shirts. It was then that he found his entry wounds. It was small and perfectly circular. If you weren't looking for a needle entry, you probably would have missed it. The injection had been made directly into his jugular, but it had been so far down on his neck that it had been covered up by his turtleneck. Seriously, who wore turtlenecks anymore?

"I've got it," Nico reported, standing.

"No way, if the proteges of Batman couldn't figure it out, how could you?" A girl wearing a green bra thingy and cargo pants, Artemis he thought her name was, sassed.

"Let's just say I'm good friends with death," Nico smirked at his own joke. He actually hung out with death quite a lot. These people didn't seem to find hims quite so funny.

"So, you have a conclusion?" Nightwing prompted.

"Yes, these men were injected with hydrogen peroxide. The bubbles that the hydrogen released in their veins caused their heart to stop. Your heart can't pump air or hydrogen. They could have done the same thing by injecting regular air into their bloodstream." Nico explained. Artemis wrinkled her nose and a couple of others looked uncomfortable, but there wasn't anything strange about that.

"Good work, I'll let you know if the tox screens confirm your conclusion," Nightwing said as he began to head out of the room. the son of Hades followed him along with the rest of the team. Nico knew that Nightwing was giving him a hard time just to make it look good for the team. They boarded our separate modes of transportation and headed back to the base. Nico should have expected the in-flight interrogation.

"So, how do you know so much about death?" Artemis pressed. Nico eyed her uncomfortably. He didn't really want to get into his past with her-- or anyone else for that matter.

"I have always been good with death. It helped that my father and I had similar interests. I was able to pick up the tricks of the trade before he died." the demigod answered vaguely. They settled in for the rest of the flight. Nico was grateful that we spent it in silence since dealing with living people was not his strong suit. Give him a corpse any day of the week.

Once they had landed, they were greeted by the big bat himself. Ghost approached him first, unafraid. He guessed it surprised his temporary teammates at how comfortable he was around the Caped Crusader. Oops. Nico decided to ignore it unless someone asked him about it. It was better to pretend nothing was wrong than to make a big deal out of it.

"Ghost." He greeted. He used the typical Batman voice.

"Batman. It would have been nice to know where I was going before you chucked me into a nasty old telephone booth." Ghost chastised, of course, the veteran vigilante didn't respond.

"What was your verdict?"

"Death by hydrogen peroxide injection. A very professional hit. Do I get to know why someone wanted those poor souls dead?" Batman glared at the demigod, "didn't think so."

"Go back to Gotham. Here, that compensation we agreed on." Batman tossed him a pouch. Nico was confused, he hadn't talked about any pay. The look Bruce gave him said to go with it so he did.

"You paid him for that?" Artemis cried out.

"A guy's got to make a living somehow. Doing favors for free leaves you hungry." Nico said as he tied the pouch to his belt. Batman gave his newest protege an approving glance.

"You're a horrible person." Artemis crossed her arms.

"You're not the first person to tell me that. I just see it as: I help you, I get to eat." Nico replied-- unashamed.

"Enough. Kaldur, take him to the zeta tube. The rest of you will complete your mission reports." Batman ordered. The dark-skinned boy with gills and webbed hands lead him back to the weird light teleporter thing.

"Thank you for your help, I apologize for the rest of the team," Kaldur said, he sounded very diplomatic.

"It's alright, not very many people appreciate my skill set." Kaldur hesitated for a moment, looking uncomfortable

"Sorry to pry, but just how much did Batman pay you?" Nico opened the pouch and smiled. He was curious as well and he reached his hand down into the bag. Ghost smirked as he pulled out one of Alfred's famous chocolate chip cookies, "Shhh, don't tell Artemis." he grinned slyly. Kaldur's face was priceless.

"Go in peace, friend." the son of Hades smiled at the odd dismissal and stepped through the tube. Nico walked out into the Batcave, where Alfred was waiting on him. Nico held up the cookie triumphantly for him to see.

Alfred gave the boy a small smile, "Mission accomplished, I see."

"Yup," Nico took a bite of the cookie, "and totally worth it." He didn't know how they compared to Sally's blue cookies, but they were delicious to him.

It was about half an hour later when Nightwing and Red Robin came back to the cave. Bruce had come back a while earlier and had started training him in hand-to-hand combat. The demigod still had a lot of room for improvement but he could hold his own in a fight. Nico was advancing faster in training than the other boys had, but he credited that to the fact that he was half-god. He had a huge advantage with his heightened senses and demigod powers. Nico was learning to hone his senses more than he had ever been taught at camp. It was hard, but it was rewarding.

"Hey! Nico!" Dick called after he had changed into his civilian clothes. Bruce stopped the fight as his oldest approached.

"Yeah?" the son of Hades asked, getting a drink from his water bottle.

"What was up with you and Artemis?"

"I don't know, she was being kind of pushy and I got annoyed." Dick chuckled quietly.

"You didn't exactly make a good first impression."

"Well, I'll try not to piss anyone else off next time. I didn't even really mean to make her mad. Though making it look like I took money didn't help." Nico pointed out.

"What was really in that pouch?" Tim asked, having finally changed as well.

"One of Alfred's cookies. A fair trade if you ask me." Both boys nodded in agreement.

"We'll work on your people skills later," Dick said, about to head up to the manor.

"Or we could just not," Nico replied.

"What do you mean? You need to know how to be diplomatic." Tim started, about to go off on a tangent, he was sure.

"Yeah I know," Nico interrupted, "I just mean that I might be better if I didn't get friendly with your team. The less they know about me, the better."

"I see your point. We'll figure that all out later. Right now I'm hungry and, if my watch isn't on the wrong time, dinner should be soon." With that, we all headed upstairs as a family to dig into some of Alfred's cooking.

............

The conversation was limited at dinner, most of us just dug in. It had been a long day for all of us. Bruce told us about an off-world mission that he would have to take part in for a short while. During his absence, we would be staying at our individual team headquarters. Normally, we'd stay with Alfred, but he had some ill family in England to attend to. This meant that they would all be relocating this week.

Nico would be going with Dick and Tim to the mountain under the cover of needing protection. He wasn't quite looking forward to it, but he wasn't necessarily dreading it either; it would give him a chance to examine different fighting styles. He was interested to see what special abilities Dick's teammates had. Very few of them looked human. Not even batgirl, who was a confirmed human.

Nico packed some regular clothes, non-descript t-shirts so that they wouldn't recognize his style. He would sadly have to leave his aviator jacket at the manor for the time being. Nico packed a few pairs of sweatpants, some black skinny jeans that sort of fit, and his converse. Along with all of that, he packed his weapons, uniform, and godly supplies. Always be prepared.

He also warned Annabeth that nobody was supposed to contact him unless he contacted them first. The last thing he needed is for this team to decide he was a threat and interrogate him due to an IM. Artemis was already suspicious of him and he didn't want the rest of them to hate him as well. Nico didn't really care, but it would make things easier if they liked him.

The son of Hades packed and left his bag by the door so he could grab it in the morning. Alfred was leaving early tomorrow morning. Bruce would be leaving around noon, so the rest of us would head to our separate headquarters or safe houses soon after Bruce left. It would just be for one week, so Nico wasn't all that concerned. Though, a lot can happen in a week. Nico wasn't sure what to expect from this week at the Mountain, but he knew it wouldn't be boring.

Chapter Text

Bruce woke Nico up the next morning for breakfast, insisting that he needed to get an early start even though he still had several hours before he needed to leave for the mountain. Bruce considered himself late if he wasn't ready at least two hours early. He wasn't complaining, though, he wanted to be wide awake and at the top of his game when he finally went to the mountain. Nico showered, packed his toiletries, and went down for breakfast. Alfred had already left but he had prepared some pastries and sausages that could be heated up. The man really did think of everything.

Nico ate a few raspberry scones and some sausages. They were good, but his stomach didn't like grease all that much so he only ate a couple. After breakfast, he packed some granola bars in his bag, predicting that he wouldn't want to have meals with the others. He preferred to avoid social situations whenever he could, unlike Dick who was a social butterfly-- even despite being the first protege of Batman. It always amazed Nico just how well Bruce and Dick were suited to each other when they had first started out. They had a chemistry that wasn't really seen with the rest of the proteges. There was just no beating the original Batman and Robin.

Dick and Tim were excited to spend that time at the mountain with their team and showing their resident demigod around their base. Damian, on the other hand, was moody about the group being separated and Jason was Jason. He was saying something about reaffirming his turf. Out of them all, only the son of Hades seemed nervous. He didn't really want to go and be stuck in an enclosed mountain with a group of teenagers that he didn't know. Granted that, physically, he is a teen as well, but there weren't exactly a whole lot of shared life experiences that he would be able to relate to, and he had already left a bad impression on Artemis from his first mission.

Despite Nico's wishes, noon came and Bruce had to leave for his mission. Damian and Jason had already left for their separate headquarters, though not before saying goodbye. Nico almost wished that he could have gone with Jason instead, but Bruce didn't want Jason corrupting by Nico and making him think that it was okay to kill people. Nico already agreed with Jason, but he wasn't going to tell Bruce that. He understood why Bruce held the belief that all life was sacred, but he himself couldn't afford to share in that ideal. If he started letting monsters live, he would be lunch.

Nico quickly, and somewhat reluctantly, changed into his Ghost uniform and stood by the other two proteges to wait. They explained that he should come through 20 minutes later so it wouldn't look like he had come from the same place as the bat boys. It was a smart plan, but it just meant that Nico had more time to stew over what he thought was going to happen this week. He honestly had no idea what to expect and it wasn't making it any easier for him to want to go. He had pleaded with Bruce to let him stay at the manor, but the man wouldn't budge. With Nico's track record of getting into trouble, he couldn't exactly blame him.

Truthfully, now that Bruce wasn't here to force him, Nico was debating not going through the portal at all. He didn't want to go through the long-winded introductions and have all those people psycho-analyze him. He didn't want to have to keep up a facade for that long or have to watch what he said in case he would slip up and reveal too much. Just being around that many people was going to be exhausting, now he had an entire rule book to remember along with it.

Twenty minutes passed a lot faster than they should have and soon he was forcing himself to walk through the zeta beam. IT was an odd sensation-- like his entire body had been turned into a carbonated drink and then back again. It was over quickly and Ghost came out on the other side to find a decent crowd gathered. He tried not to show his apprehension as he made his way over to the group he hoped that he looked more at ease than he felt. Nightwing took the time to introduce everyone, which was pointless because Bruce had already debriefed him on who everyone was and he could soul search for their names, but it was a necessary evil.

"Ghost is going to stay here with the team for a few days for his own protection. He has some people who are angry with him for lending us a hand so he'll be staying for a week while things cool down. Be patient as this is uncomfortable for us all." Dick finished. Nico could definitely see how Nightwing was considered to be one of the best in the business. His speech left no place for confusion and recognized the team's apprehension as well as stated the necessity for this setup. He had managed to pacify all parties.

"Why does he have to stay here? I'm sure he has other options." Artemis protested.

"He..." Ghost cut Nightwing off. He really should have been playing it safe and let Nightwing handle it, but his anxiousness made him act up more than he normally would. It was harder for him to maintain a filter when he was nervous or emotional.

"Believe me, if I had another option, I'd be there. It's too people-y around here for me." Artemis glared at the consultant which Nico pretended not to notice. Normally he would have returned the gesture in kind, but he wanted to seem unaffected as Ghost. He didn't want anyone to know what got to him so that they couldn't use it against him later on. This was not the tone he had been trying to set.

Nico suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to run, like he was being watched. Not only did he feel watched-- but he felt seen in a way that was deeper than visual. He supposed that he was being watched, but this felt different somehow. Nico looked at the group in front of him, someone was a threat. But who? The demigod didn't see anyone looking suspicious so he decided to bring his discomfort up to Dick. he would know what to do.

"Whose doing that?" Ghost asked aloud, resting his hand on the back of his neck to try and rub the tingly feeling away. It didn't really hurt, but he had this intense sensation all throughout his skull like something just wasn't right. His instincts told him that he was in danger and Nico tended to trust his instincts. Something was not right but he couldn't, for the life of him guess what it was.

"Doing what?" Tim asked in confusion.

"I don't know, they're messing with my head," He crinkled his nose, starting to feel a little panicky.

"His heart rate's increasing." the Superman look-alike stated matter-of-factly.

"I wonder why?!" Nico retorted angrily. Nightwing watched the consultant in concern for a couple of seconds before turning to assess his team.

"M'gann, it's rude to read people's minds without their permission." Nightwing directed this at the green-skinned girl.

"I'm sorry, it's a force of habit." She didn't sound all that apologetic, but she did sound embarrassed. Nico guessed Nightwing didn't reprimand them much.

"What was she doing?" Nico shuddered as the horrible sensation left. He was still wary and really wanted to leave the room. He felt vulnerable, for some reason. Like someone had gotten too close to something that he was trying to protect. It would not be good for any of them if she had reached his memories and discovered the identities of the Bats or discovered that he was a demigod.

"She's a telepath, remember? She can read your mind." Artemis cut back into the conversation. Her tone sounded like she thought he was an idiot. She probably did think that as everyone else seems to. Ghost glared at her with the most unimpressed look he could manage. He really wasn't understanding the animosity here. Was this really all because of him or was there something else going on here? Sure he hadn't left the best impression, but that didn't explain why they were so wary of him.

Nico decided to take a closer look at the team to see if he could notice anything that would explain their paranoia. As he paid more attention to the team instead of his own feelings he could see that there was certainly a lot of tension in the air, even among the members of the team. There was a clear divide between the younger and the older teammates that was punctuated by Miss Martian herself and another little green boy. They were obviously the only thing keeping the sides together at the moment, or at least it wasn't Nightwing. Something major had happened to them and they still weren't over it.

"Well, she had better just stay out of my mind. I don't like people prying into my life." Nico hissed, seething. He hadn't expected a warm welcome, but he wasn't ready for a mental assault either. Was this how they greeted all of their guests? He understood that there had been something that happened to them that had brought about paranoia, but that didn't excuse their actions. He hadn't done anything but help so far so they didn't have the right to trespass on his mind.

"What did you see M'gann?" Artemis ignored the newcomer. Ghost felt almost ill, wondering what the weird telepath had seen. Nico almost wanted to find a way from keeping her from speaking but he stayed silent and still. He did glare at her though, telling her that he didn't want her talking about his private life. She couldn't look straight at him, so she turned to look at Artemis instead. Nightwing seemed pained as well and Ghost knew that he wasn't going to stop her-- it wouldn't have fit the picture that they had of him. They saw him as a detective who was always looking for knowledge, so it would be strange for him to prevent her from sharing relevant information. Either that, or Nightwing wasn't on good enough terms with them to make such a request anymore. It was really hard to tell.

"I saw a camp full of kids, a river of fire, a river of... milk maybe, a group of girls who sort of... glowed silver, and a man with screaming faces sewn into his clothes." She reported, obviously confused about the images. Nico felt somewhat relieved that that was all she saw.

"A river of fire?" Artemis sounded incredulous. The rest of the team muttered questions about the images. Most of them looked disturbed or confused.

"I don't know, that's just what I saw." The martian shrugged helplessly.

"You really shouldn't poke into other people's minds. You just might see things that you can't unsee." Ghost warned, thinking about some of the fights he'd been in and his memories of the field of punishment.

"Hmph, we've all seen some bad stuff dude. Quit telling us what we can and cannot handle." Artemis scoffed.

"Ok, but I don't pry into your life so you can kindly butt out of mine." Nico countered, sick of being here already.

"How are we supposed to trust you if you won't tell us anything about yourself?" Artemis countered.

"I keep secrets to protect myself. Batman trusts me enough to let me stay here. Doesn't that mean anything? And how am I supposed to trust you if you don't respect me enough to let me share things at my own pace?"

"He could just be keeping his enemies closer." The archer countered, completely ignoring the last part of his defense. Nico didn't have a good response that wouldn't jeopardize his cover.

"Look, I don't want to fight with you. I'll stay out of your way if you stay out of mine." Nico proposed. He knew that the blond wasn't satisfied with his answers, but she nodded reluctantly. The team had been watching us back and forth like a tennis match. The son of Hades had a feeling that they were more entertaining than any tennis game ever played.

"Anyway, you'll have your own room while you're here. Red, will you take him there?" Nightwing moved on, ignoring the built-up tension. Nico followed Tim from the room and sighed audibly once they were out of earshot. That had not gone at all as he hoped it would.

"Don't worry, they'll probably leave you alone," Tim said as he showed Nico to a small, plain room. It was furnished much like a motel would be. Ghost set his bag down on the floor and sat on the bed. Now that he was here, he didn't know what to do. Was it even worth unpacking?

"Someone will come and get you when we're ready to eat," Tim said as the older boy settled in.

"I think I'll just stay in here tonight," Nico said, wanting to avoid the team as much as possible. He had hoped that he would have a nice time and at least make some new acquaintances on this trip, but that no longer seemed like a possibility.

"You have to eat, besides, that will only make them more likely to poke into your business." He retorted.

"I don't care," he replied. Tim pursed his lips, obviously not happy with the other boy's decision. He mumbled something to himself that Ghost didn't quite catch as he left, shutting the door behind him. Being alone in the room got boring rather quickly, though he guessed that it probably had something to do with his having ADHD. Though he had never been formally diagnosed, he had noticed that he acted a lot like some of the demigods at camp who had been diagnosed. It seemed likely that he also had ADHD considering his demigod roots and what he could observe with his own two eyes. It wasn't like they exactly had a term for it when he was little. After Nico had gotten out of the casino, hospital trips didn't seem very important anymore.

To stave off the boredom, Nico decided to draw, having brought his sketchbook. He started to draw the bat fam. He started with Bruce in the middle and the other proteges on either side of him. He didn't add himself because he wasn't officially a member of the team yet. That would just be a dead giveaway that he was with them if his sketchbook was ever stolen. plus there was the fact that Nico di Angelo used this sketchbook too and he didn't want to have to explain to people who the sixth figure was if people saw it. That would be hard to explain.

The drawing probably took him a good three hours to get the outlines of their bodies how he wanted them. the demigod took a short break to use the restroom and stretch before he would start to add color. That would probably take him another hour with all the shading he would have to do. Luckily, their uniforms were made out of planes of solid colors. That makes it so much easier. The problem would be to get the shades right for each costume and making it appear like actual fabric.

He eventually came back to the picture and filled it in piece by piece. Nico was halfway through Batman's cape when a knock came at the door. He closed the sketchbook and stuffed it and his colored pencils under the covers.

"What?" Nico called out, not bothering to sound nice. Kaldur's voice came from the other side of the door,

"Your presence has been requested for dinner. My friend, will you join us to eat?"

"Not tonight, thank you. I'm not hungry." He called back, which was true-- he wasn't at all hungry. Nico figured that they had sent the most diplomatic member to try to invite him to join the group. It was a smart move, but Nightwing was underestimating his resolve to keep to himself.

"Very well. You may join us in the kitchen if you change your mind." He could hear Aqualad retreat down the hall. He knew his brothers had sent him to try and convince him to eat with them, but Nico really just didn't want to be around them. He didn't want to have to lie about his entire backstory and then maintain that lie. He didn't want to get in another fight with Artemis or possibly with anyone else on the team, and he definitely didn't want to see the mind-reading girl again.

Nico pulled the pencils and his sketchbook back out and continued on his drawing. He got to Nightwing's emblem before he was interrupted again. The door to his room was forcefully opened and the actual Nightwing came in. Ghost was surprised by the display of force, it wasn't really Nightwing's style, after all.

"What did the door do to you?" He asked, confused.

"I thought you would have locked it." He said by way of explanation. He shrugged dismissively and returned to the drawing.

"Why didn't you come to eat?" He asked loitering in his doorway.

"Gods, can't a guy just not be hungry? Does there have to be a reason he doesn't want to eat?" Nico replied heatedly. This was honestly ridiculous.

"For you there does." He admitted. Nico didn't respond, not knowing if he was talking about his supposed alter ego who did jobs for food or Nico himself. Ghost, of course, would be hungry-- Nico just wasn't.

"I'm not hungry tonight," He repeated with finality. Nightwing sighed and leaned against the door frame.

"I will report you to Batman if you don't eat. I know you don't want him on your case." Nightwing threatened. It was true that, as Nico, he would not want him on his case. Ghost, he figured, could care less about what the big bad Bat wanted from him.

"Ok, number one: he doesn't care. Number two: I take more clients on than you think. Number three: Batman doesn't have time to bother with me, even if he did care." Ghost countered. Nightwing glared at the consultant silently. He knew that he would probably be right if his younger brother were really just a consultant.

"I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast. You aren't skipping that." Nightwing relented.

"Yeah, I am. Granola bars." He motioned to his backpack. Nightwing made a noise of annoyance before leaving. Ghost felt like he had accomplished something. It normally took a lot to annoy a bat. Maybe there was just something about him that others found especially annoying. Maybe he would regret letting him stay at the mountain after all.

Nico changed into comfortable pajamas before he went back to his drawing, finally getting to work on it in uninterrupted peace. He had finally finished it by the time he started hearing people coming down the halls. He guessed that meant it was time to go to sleep. He decided to stay up a little while longer and ponder about where Percy and Jason had gone as he lay in bed and listened to the others get ready for bed.

It was strange that the two male leaders from both camps had both disappeared the same way at close to the same time. He would think that it was a monster that got Percy, but they would be bragging about it and the news would have spread. Probably with Jason too, he seemed to have a lot of experience under his belt. That was the other thing, they were both strong fighters, what could possibly overpower them? Even then, who would want to? This was too much of a coincidence to not be connected. It didn't make sense no matter how he looked at it. Nico was sure that he was missing something, but he wasn't sure what it is.

The boys didn't have that much in common either. At least not much at first glance. They were both: males, leaders, teens, and demigod children of the big three. Nico wasn't really a leader, but he fit the rest of the categories, would he disappear too? He hoped not, he didn't want the bat fam or Hazel to freak out. But that leant credibility that their disappearances had something to do with their positions in their respective camps. The only reason Nico could see to steal them is to try and cripple the camps. Would Reyna and Annabeth disappear next? What was the motive behind this? Was it connected with things not staying dead? What being could do this?

Questions like these ran through his head until he eventually fell asleep. Strangely, he didn't have a dream that night. He couldn't say that he wasn't thankful. The next morning he was woken up to the sounds of shouts in the halls. He quickly got up and changed hurriedly into black jeans and a T-shirt as it was a more practical outfit for battle. He put on my mask and slowly crept towards the door.

As Nico got closer to the door, he could hear a group of people arguing. It sounded like a speedster, the green fish dude, and someone else that Nico couldn't recognize. They sounded like they weren't dying so he went and laid back down on his bed. He wasn't tired, but he didn't want to get out of bed either. He especially didn't want to leave his room.

Eventually, the argument died down and the hall was left in silence again. Nico assumed that they had all left the hallway. He didn't really want to eat with the group, but he was hungry. The demigod started to prepare himself for social interaction when someone knocked on his door.

Ghost checked to make sure his mask was on, "Who are you and what do you want?" he tried to sound indifferent, though he felt that it ended up sounding more terrified. Perfect.

"It's Nightwing, may I come in for a minute?"

"Sure," he called, sitting on the edge of his bed. Nightwing closed the door behind him, "What's up?"

"We are leaving on a mission in a couple of minutes. We just found out about it. You'll be staying here with our ah... newer members, for lack of a better word. Some of them are a little high-strung. Especially after--" Nightwing cut himself off as he pretty much waltzed over to the desk and peeked at his drawing. Nico glared at the back of his head in half-hearted retaliation. He really should have closed the sketchbook last night.

"So basically, trying to avoid confrontation would be easiest?" He asked, more like stating his preference on the matter.

"Just try not to do anything too creepy. Oh, one of them has full-body armor that literally has a mind of its own. It like's logic." Nico couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at that. He didn't see how that would be relevant, but he supposed it was still good to know.

"Anything else?" He asked, ready to kick his brother out of his room to be alone. Nico liked Dick-- after he had fully woken up. Nico was not a morning person like these people.

"Stay away from the tech, and you can train with them if you want. I don't recommend it, though. You might like to watch, I guess." The son of Hades nodded, He wasn't stupid enough to fight them, and he had no intention to watch them spar either.

"Alright. See you later, Ghost. Make sure to eat something substantial today, ok? Granola bars don't cut it. Anything in the fridge that isn't marked is fair game." He said as he walked out. Nico followed him to the entryway, to close the door after him. There was a boy staring at them from down the hall. He was... Hispanic maybe? Nico avoided his gaze and moved to shut the door. He closed the door harder than he intended, making more of a slamming sound. Oops, now they're going to think he's angry at Nightwing or something. Great.

Today was going to be a horrible day, he could feel it. The fates were probably watching him and laughing, knitting their huge pairs of socks that Percy had told me about. He could feel them smirking at him, knowing exactly what kind of day he was going to have before he knew it himself. Thanks, ladies, you suck.

Chapter Text

It took a while for Nico to convince himself that food was important. More important than avoiding super-powered kids and more important than privacy. He risked conversation to head out to the kitchen. The batboys had shown him a diagram of the layout before he had come so he could basically find his way around without having to ask for directions.

He found himself in the kitchen, and luckily there was no one there. He could eat in peace. Nico grabbed some cereal from a cabinet and some milk out of the fridge. After some searching, he found the bowls and spoons. Ghost sat at the island to eat-- hoping that no one would come in while he was there. Of course, he was sadly disappointed. The green-skinned boy and the youngest flash look-alike came in, looking for food.

"Look dude, it's the death dude. The... what are they called?" He continued before his companion could even attempt to supply the answer, "Consultant! So do you just go around everywhere tellin' people how people died?" Impulse, Nico thought that was his name was apparently very curious by nature. He asked his questions almost too quickly for their guest to hear.

"First of all, I have a name. But basically, yes I help to determine causes of death." Nico replied patiently.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry." He said speeding towards the fridge. Ghost had been told about the speedster's metabolism and he was disgusted to see it in action. He was amazed that the boy didn't choke.

The green boy eyed the consultant somewhat warily before following Impulse to the fridge. Nico washed the bowl and put it back where he had found it. HE was about to leave the kitchen and escape back to his room when he ran right into Wonder Woman's apprentice-- literally.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Nico moved to step around her when the boy with green skin and gills stepped in his way. The demigod would have thought that the boy had been intentionally blocking his path if he didn't know better. Whatever the case was, he found it strange.

"You're Ghost, right?" The girl asked, sounding interested. He was already tired of answering questions, but he figured that it was understandable that they would be curious. This was part of their jobs, after all. He decided to humor them for the time being.

"Yes," he replied shortly.

"The tox scans came through for the last case, you were right. It was the peroxide."

"I know." Ghost hadn't meant to sound cocky, but he had been sure of the cause of death. He wouldn't have given Nightwing his report if he hadn't been sure.

"What do you mean you knew? Were you that positive that you were right?" Her voice had gotten icy and he wished that he hadn't said a thing.

"I'm sorry if you don't like my answers, but yes. I was sure I was right." Ghost admitted, moving to walk out. Her voice stopped him again and he bit back a sigh.

"How? How did you know?"

"How do you get good at anything? I have experience." Nico slipped between the two heroes before they could ask him any more questions. He understood that they were curious, but he didn't want to answer their questions. He didn't know what he could and couldn't say and he did not want to be the reason for any major secrets being leaked. The son of Hades had almost made it to his room when the Hispanic boy from the night before called out to him. Nico wanted to scream at how the fates wouldn't leave him alone, but that might have 'creeped them out' so he didn't.

"Hey uh... Ghost! Why don't you come to watch us spar?" The disguised boy froze, why were they being so weird? People usually kept their distance from him, why were they trying to get closer? There wasn't anything about his appearance that made him look particularly approachable, yet these people kept bothering him. Nico just wanted to be left alone, is that too much to ask for? He reluctantly turned to look at him to see if he was joking. The hero didn't seem to be kidding, and that really surprised him. Why would they want him infringing on their 'team bonding' or whatever it was called? Unless they just wanted to study him, which seems more likely.

"No, thank you," He said curtly, turning away when the boy called out to him again.

"Come on, Nightwing asked us to make sure you socialized and stuff." He said waving him over. So, Dick had set this up, typical. This wasn't their idea, but the team didn't really seem to be against it either. Nico guessed that was a good sign.

"Come on, Hermano. It's not like you have anything better to do." He pointed out. Nico was caught off guard by the use of the word hermano. Didn't that mean brother in Spanish? Was he calling him his brother or was he using it like bro? Either way, it was more friendly than the demigod was comfortable with. It took him a lot to warm up to people and it frustrated him when other people didn't show as much caution. First, it was Bruce when he took him in the day they had met, now this boy was calling him bro after the first time they spoke. Even though he didn't like it, he had to admit that they had a point. He really had nothing else to do as long as he was stuck here. Team bonding it is then, yippee!

"Alright, fine. I'll go change and meet you in the training room." Ghost said, not thinking about how he shouldn't know what the base looks like.

"Do you know where it is?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah, uh... Nightwing gave me a map last night." he covered for himself. He nodded, accepting his answer. He went to his room, grumbling under his breath the entire way. Nico changed at his own pace, hoping that they would start without him since he wanted to see how they fought before they saw him fight.

Nico made his way to the training center and saw that the speedster and a boy in blue body armor were fighting. His guess was that that was the alien suit that liked logical thinking. He didn't see the Hispanic boy around, but no one was really missing from the group either. Ghost did a subtle soul search and found that the Hispanic boy was the one in the blue armor. That was very interesting. Nico sat near the doors and watched the fight, unnoticed. Jaime was at odds with the armor, you could see that he was sometimes holding back. His opponent, the non-stop mini Kid Flash II was cocky. He was taking needless risks and opening himself up for attacks. It was ok to do that here, against someone he knew and who was holding back. He'd be in trouble in a real, all-out, one-on-one fight.

He could just be playing around with his friend, some playful sparring, but Nico couldn't tell. Soon enough, Jaime shot out a weird blue staple-looking thing and pinned the speedster to the wall. It looked painful. The team congratulated Jaime and helped Bart after that. Hmmm, another Allen. They really should have checked on Bart first as he could have been concussed or something. He seemed to be alright, perhaps they experienced blows to the head on a regular basis? It was possible, in this line of work. Bart was able to get up on his own after they removed the staple. Bruce had also told him that the speedsters have a heightened immune systems and their bodies repaired themselves faster than the average person.

Next up to fight was the young green boy and the bumblebee girl. Nico watched, amazed as the battle started. The bee girl shrunk to the size of a person's hand. She was almost impossible to see from where he was seated. If it weren't for his soul-searching ability, he would have thought she had teleported.

The next most surprising thing that happened was that the green boy turned into a crow. He turned into the actual animal, though oddly it was still green. When he had soul-searched him, he had seemed to be completely human but he appeared to be Martian judging by this skin's unusual color and his shapeshifting abilities. Where had that all come from? He seemed very young for a hero, though Nico supposed that whatever had happened had made it impossible for him to live any semblance of a normal life. It made sense that he would find a line of work that better suited his special abilities.

He tried to snap the girl up in his beak, which Nico just knew could crush her hands, feet, or maybe even her neck if he hit it just right. Nico watched, ready to intervene if he needed to. Though there wouldn't be much anyone could do for a broken neck. Hopefully they were all experienced enough to know better, but accidents still could happen, no matter how skilled you were.

The girl was graceful in the air, though she seemed to get too caught up in one battle and ignore most other things. It was an easy mistake, everyone does that every once in a while. The problem would arise when it became a habit to block out everything else. Battles did not consist of one on one fights. Your enemy will not fight fair so you have to be aware of your surroundings.

Garth was obviously practiced at using his shifting. His transformations were quick, fluid, and seemed to not to take too much of his concentration. However he seemed prone to overcompensating. If he needed a bigger animal than that crow, he would go straight to an elephant rather than something like a horse or a rhino. In battle, when you have to watch your energy expenditure, there was such a thing as overkill. He ahd done just that second prior by turning into an elephant. If he had been successful with his attact, there wouldn't have been much to pick up of bumblebee lady afterward. Just a grease spot to mop up. Nico rather hoped that it wouldn't come to that.

He finally caught her as a cat and laid down on top of her. She shifted back to full size, in which he turned into a potbelly pig that was probably around 200 something pounds. Yes, he had successfully pinned her, but now she was at risk of her ribcage collapsing, especially with her small demeanor. Nico knew that he had to step in before she was no longer able to surrender. He was moving before he even realized what he was doing. Ghost shoved the green pig off of the female hero. Garth shifted back into a boy as he tumbled to the floor.

"What is with you people and that move?" the demigod growled to himself, fuming. The team was scattered around the room now, waiting to see if he was a threat. It was a good thing that he hadn't promised Nightwing that the wouldn't freak them out because he would have broken it. Tim was watching the scene grimly from the side of the platform. Nico was sure that he hadn't been there before so he must have seen the danger as well and moved to intervene. He was the only one not in a battle-ready stance.

"Do you realize that with a person her size, even if she's getting all the vitamins and minerals she needs, does not have the bone dexterity to hold up a 200 pound pig?" Nico asked calmly, too mad even to shout. The boy slowly shook his head, looking sheepish with all the attention on him. He was young so of course, he wouldn't have known that.

"How would you know?" The Wonder girl asked.

"How would I know... I'm only the consultant for how people die. I'm only the person Batman called in to help you solve those murders. How would a... what did you call me? Death dude? How would death dude know anything about death, right?" Ghost ranted angrily. She seemed taken aback by his tone but she recovered quickly.

"Oh come on, it's not like she would have died." Wonder girl retorted.

"Oh, and you would know, wouldn't you? Yeah, of course, you would know more about death than I would. Pardon me, I'll just tell Nightwing that they don't need my help anymore, you've got your own death expert around." Nico replied, my voice rising again. Ghost momentarily made eye contact with Red Robin whose face was impossible to read. Was he going too far?

"Look, I'm fine. No big deal." The bumblebee girl stood up.

"That's not the point. The point is that he could have collapsed your ribcage, crushing your internal organs, causing major internal bleeding, you'd be dead before we got you off the platform." The demigod explained, trying to show them how little actions could cause huge tragedies.

"You're not, serious... are you?" The green boy asked timidly.

"Yeah, he's kidding, right?" Wonder girl looked over at Red Robin who shook his head.

"I'm dead serious. With that much weight concentrated on a single area, bad things can happen. Especially when your sternum is attached by cartilage which is not as strong as bone." Nico replied immediately. There was silence after he made that chilling declaration. Everyone was exchanging eye contact in disbelief.

"How do we know you're not just trying to scare us?" The green dude... Lagoon maybe? Called out suspiciously.

"I am trying to scare you. Death is not a laughing matter and I don't think you should take it lightly. You may have powers and skills, but you're not invincible. Everyone and everything has a weakness. Usually, they have more than one; in their personality, their plans, or... their anatomy." he gestured to bumblebee, "You have got to protect your weaknesses."

"Can you help us?" Bart butted in.

"What?" Nico asked, taken completely off guard.

"Can you, you know, make sure we don't almost accidentally kill someone again?" He asked quickly.

"I can teach you a couple of things on human anatomy, yes." the son of Hades agreed slowly.

"Will you?" He asked, seeing his little loophole. Nico looked at Tim who just shrugged. Real helpful Drake.

"Fine." He sighed. That is how he got dragged into teaching them weaknesses in human physiology.

.........

"So we all know the basic weaknesses, the eyes, the phalanges, the stomach, etc. But I'm going to show you some more specific things to either aim for or avoid." Nico started, "First, I need an assistant. I will not be using these moves on you, don't worry." Nico said, trying to be more welcoming than he had been. Bart volunteered. It seems that there was a really good reason that they called him Impulse.

"Ok, right here," He gestured to the spot on Bart, "is your solar plexus. It really hurts to get punched there but doesn't leave any lasting damage-- knocks the wind out of you." The team had formed a semi-circle on the platform to watch.

"When you are figting with a weapon, try to avoid the center mass if you aren't trying to kill your target. There are a lot of important organs in there that you would want to keep intact. However, if you are going for the kill, center mass is preferable. Especially if you are using something like a gun that you have to aim." The group looked uncomfortable by this, but he didn't regret sharing the information. It was something that Ghost would likely share with them due to his line of work so it was in character.

"Do not try and hit someone on their temples, you could fracture the cranium and send fragments into their brain. You don't know your own strength, you could easily apply too much force without meaning to. Most of you have enhanced strength, regular humans are fragile compared to you." Everyone was stone-faced, Nico knew that they had probably used moves like these before without considering the danger.

"Do not hit someone in the throat," Ghost mimicked the motion on Bart, not actually touching him "they will be alright at first, but their esophagus could swell up and block their airways. A slit at the base of their throat and some tubing-- like a straw or something-- would have to be inserted so they can breathe." He pointed at the base of his throat, the area they would have to cut into.

"Do not try to drown someone to the point of passing out. You may expel the water, but their lungs could refill themselves and drown them from the inside-- dry-land drowning. Hospitalization would be required immediately."

"Alright, that's enough for now. It's lunchtime." Nico pointed to the clock above the door. The team dispersed, talking about how gruesome his descriptions were. That was the point.

"That was certainly interesting," Tim said after the others had all left.

"Well, it's stuff they should already know," the older boy replied. Red Robin nodded in agreement.

"Well, they are each trained separately, when their mentors get time to spend with them. Their skills are... uneven, to say the least. There isn't time to do any fine-tuning." He explained and Nico nodded in understanding.

"Coming to lunch?" He asked on the way towards the door. He was walking backward to watch the son of Hades.

"You'd tell Nightwing on me if I didn't," Nico replied, trying to sound annoyed. He actually kind of liked people looking out for him like that, though it was often inconvenient. It was new and it made him feel wanted and included.

"You'd still skip, despite that." He pointed out.

"Touchè."

"So? Are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming, jeez." He followed him to the door.

"Do you think they noticed anything?" Nico asked, pausing.

"About?"

"When I shoved a 200-pound pig," Nico replied with more than a hint of sass.

"They will probably pass it off as adrenalin or something." He waved it off. Nico nodded in agreement, people could do amazing things on adrenalin. Je wonder what these teens could do on adrenaline. He doubted that he wanted to find out. They walked into the chaotic room that was the kitchen and waited until the others cleared out. Once the team had grabbed their food and dispersed to go their separate ways, the two Wayne boys grabbed their own food.

"Hey, Ghost. We have something cool to show you later." Tim said softly. Nico frowned at him in confusion.

"Ok?"

"Don't worry, you'll love it." He said smirking. Nico nodded, but he was suspicious. Maybe the boys were up to some prank plot or something. You never knew with them. Nico sat at the counter and ate a bagel. As he ate, he began to feel an odd kind of homesickness. It wasn't the manor that he wanted to see, it was Hazel. Nico wanted to check on her, he hadn't heard from her in so long-- or Annabeth for that matter. For all he knew Percy had been found.

Nico felt like he wasn't doing enough to help Percy. He and the Waynes had spent an afternoon cross-checking places Percy had been or schools he had attended and found nothing. He had fallen off the grid. Nico can't say he was surprised, based on the fact that he was hardly ever on the grid. Nico had checked in all the logical places, and even some illogical ones, and he hadn't turned up anywhere. That line of thinking, of course, sent him down memory lane and he began thinking about all the times that he had spent with Percy at camp. Capture the flag, watching Percy climb the lava wall, watching the canoe races, etc. Nico heard a lot about Percy from Tantalus in the Underworld too. Boy did he hold a grudge.

Nico had been lost to the world long enough to have finished his lunch without even realizing that he had still been eating. He got up and cleaned his dishes and put everything away. He left time at the table to finish eating. Had this been the manor, he would have stayed with him and chatted, but he had an appearance that he was trying th maintain. He had made it as far as the door when the chaos started. There came some screaming from the living room and shouts of surprise, and then battle. The two Wayne boys exchanged glances before they raced towards the sounds of fighting.

We found the enemies in the hangar where the water could be accessed. The same hangar where the Martian's telepathic ship was stored. More and more of the team members were pouring into the hangar, but unfortunately, so were the monsters. Greek monsters. Telkhines, the ugly seal-dog hybrids. Nico bet he had drawn them to the mountain. The son of Hades should have known better than to stay somewhere unprotected for so long. Happy Harbor isn't part of Gotham so it isn't protected within Dionysus' protective barrier. It can only be entered by sea, thus the Telkhines were the only ones to show up so far. He drew his sword, seeing no choice but to reveal Ghost's secret.

The team's weapons weren't working, except for wonder girl's lasso since it was magic. The disguised demigod jumped into the battle, and immediately all the Telkhines left their current battle and came after him. There must have been over 30 of them and there were more coming up from the sea. Nico took out three or four at a time with each swing of his blade. He could feel the power of that much death rushing through his blade and into his own reserves. It was like an energy drink was injected straight into his bloodstream.

"Ghost, what are these things? How do we kill them?" Red Robin called, fending them off with his staff. Nico guessed the vigilante knew that he couldn't keep up the facade of being human anymore either.

"You can't! Just keep them from swarming me!" the demigod called. Tim began driving the horde back and breaking them up into smaller groups. Technically the team could kill the demons by breaking their necks, but he didn't want them to go anywhere near the beasts heads. They'd probably get a horrible infection if they were bitten.

If he was being honest, it felt good to kill something. It had been a while since he had fought for his life, it was really quite exhilarating. Waded through the ranks of the sea demons, killing anything and everything that got in his way. He felt powerful, especially since he was in uniform. This must have been how Percy felt on the banks of the River Styx after he had taken on the curse of invincibility.

"Ahhhh god--!" He cried as one bit into his calf. Nico sliced its head off, but the damage had been done. He could feel the blood run down his leg. Luckily, he had remembered to not say gods, but he wasn't entirely sure that they would have noticed either. Everyone was busy with their own battles. The pain just made the son of Hades angry and all he knew then was that none of these monsters would get the chance to bite anyone else. His mind and body worked together on a mixture of instinct and adrenalin. All he knew in that moment was rage and death. Gold powder flew everywhere instead of blood and his sword was literally humming with power.

Eventually, he had killed every last one of the horrible creatures and he stood, breathing heavily, in the middle of a pile of gold dust and startled teens. Nico hooked his sword to his belt and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. The demigod walked out of the powder until he got to the edge of the battleground, where he stomped his boots to get the dust off. Moster dust was almost impossibnle to get rid of, though eventually it would fade away without a trace if left alone. Nico could feel everybody staring at him and he tried his best to avoid looking anyone in the face, brusing himself off instead.

"Are you going to tell us what the hell that was all about?" Wonder girl cried out indignantly. Nico almost laughed, they did come from hell, the deepest part of it.

"Nope, I've been here too long already. Red Robin, tell Batman I said thanks, but it has become too risky for me to stay here." He said as he began to walk out.

"No, hold up. You can't just walk out like that. Who sent those genetically engineered seal things? Why were they only after you?" She demanded. Ghost almost breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't see it as magic, she saw it as science. That was a first.

"Remember Batman said that some powerful people weren't happy with me helping you? Well, that was them not being happy. If I stay, I put you all in danger."

"Where will you go?" Jaime asked, his armor still primed for battle.

"Gotham has some powerful people. They'll have to come to an agreement before either one can come after me. That could take days." Nico replied, knowing what would happen if this were a real situation. Lying was much easier if you knew actual facts about the topic.

"How did they find you here?" She asked.

"They followed my scent I guess. I really don't know. I killed them all so none of them could lead them back here. You should be ok for now. If they come back, breaking their necks is the fastest way to kill them." He replied.

"How would you know that?" This time she wasn't being sassy, it was a real question.

"This isn't the first time this guy has come after me. Last time, I didn't have my weapon. I have to go pack now. Tell Nightwing that I will be lying low so that he doesn't come after me." Nico said leaving the hangar. He didn't want the older boy to worry and he needed make sure that Nightwing didn't come after him. At least that would make sense to the team. What he really didn't want is Nightwing dropping in on him with the person he was planning on hiding out with. You want protection from monsters, you hang out with a monster. It was high time that he visited Momma Ivy.

Nico walked quickly to his room and packed up. The only things that he had taken out were a change of clothes and his sketchbook. He made sure to remake the bed, to be polite. He changed out of the uniform and into a simple black hoodie that read 'Straight Outta Gotham' on the front. He wore some camo cargo pants and tucked away his sword in the pockets. Nico kept his combat boots on to complete the look before he ducked out into the hallway. He kept the mask on in case he met anyone on the way out. This wasn't his typical style, but he couldn't have them connecting Ghost with the Wayne's newest addition so it was necessary.

Nico could hear voices in the hangar, one of them sounded like Nightwing. He raced at full speed towards the zeta tube, knowing his older brother try and make him stay. He traveled to Gotham before he had stopped asking the team questions in the hangar and he shadow traveled away immediately after that. His destination: Toxic Acres.

Chapter Text

Nico needed to check in with his friends and self-proclaimed mothers more often. Ivy wasn't even his real mother and she went ballistic when he knocked on her door. He knew that she felt protective over him to some extent, but he had underestimated the extent to which her attachment extended. Would she start making him call her mom? Even though he may not have much memory of Maria, he didn't like the idea of calling anyone else by her title. Even in death, she was still his mother after all.

"You! Where have you been? Where is Hazel? Do you know how worried I have been?" She ranted for longer than he thought was necessary but he wasn't about to stop her either. She was pacing too, which made the demigod kind of nervous. Was he supposed to talk, or just let her be? When she had finished, she stopped in front of Nico and grabbed him in a bone-crushing hug. He could barely breathe until she let go. Maternal gestures were so far out of his realm of expectation that he had absolutely no idea how to react. Was this going to be their normal now? How did he feel about that? Ivy didn't give him long to ponder over it.

"Well?" She pressed.

"I'm sorry. Life has been a little hectic," he said lamely. He wasn't sure what else he could tell her without giving away too much. She may be protective of him, but he doubted those protections extended to the Waynes and they definitely didn't extend Batman or the other heroes. Anything he told her could be used against the other people he cared about. She may be civil or ever motherly to him, but she was still crazy and still a villain. He needed to be careful.

"That's no excuse! Where's Hazel hmm? If she's hurt I swear on mother nature..." The son of Hades cut her off. No need to swear on Gaea if they didn't have to. Especially with this much vegetation around. Ivy's plants had probably grown at least 3 inches since the last time he had seen them and he couldn't help but wonder if that was their natural growth rate or not. If you had the ability to make plants grow at will, would you even bother to wait for them to grow naturally anymore? He knew that he wouldn't, but Ivy seemed to have more patience.

"She's fine, honest. She's probably safer than me right now."

"Oh? And just why, pray tell, would that be?" Ivy eyed him suspiciously.

"It's not important, really. I was just wondering if I could stay here for a day or two." Nico asked, knowing she'd probably let him. he liked his odds with her being this protective over him.

"Oh very well, you know I can't turn you away if you need help. Won't Bruce be looking for you, though? I don't need him getting Batman on my case." She asked, leading Nico back to the room she had given him. The trainee vigilante had prepared a response for this, luckily, and was not caught off guard.

"Nah, he's on a business trip and won't know I'm missing for a little while. My brothers might, though, but they'll never think to look here. I have to call a couple of people and they don't need to know about it just yet." He admitted. Ivy gave him the disappointed mom look and Nico almost felt guilty.

"Fine, no more than two days without contacting your family. I'd like you to stay longer, but no need to worry your brothers." She pointed a pale, green-tinted finger at him for emphasis. He nodded, that was better than he had hoped. He wasn't planning on staying any longer than tomorrow afternoon. If he did need to stay longer then he would let his brothers know since there was no way he was going to disobey Ivy. Not at Toxic Acres. He didn't have a death wish, despite what the Joker thought.

"I'm going out to protest the construction of a new apartment complex that will cause acres of trees to be needlessly bulldozed. I'll be back in a while. If you go anywhere, leave a note-- are you bleeding!?" She asked in horror, staring at his leg. Nico had completely forgotten that the stupid sea demon had bitten him. The pain had dulled to a throb and it had basically stopped bleeding.

"It's nothing, really. I'm fine." The demigod assured her as she pushed him down into a kitchen chair. He didn't bother standing up knowing that she'd only push him back down again. She was too agitated for him to risk upsetting her further. It looked like he was going to be treated whether he wanted to be or not. He just hoped that she wouldn't ask him too many questions.

"Show me, I'll decide if it's 'nothing' or not." She snarked. Nico rolled up his pant leg to reveal a fairly deep bite mark. It was much worse than he had originally thought and it actually was still bleeding. She glared at the boy who could only smile sheepishly in reply. She stormed off into her cupboard, loudly cursing him all the way. It would have been funny if she weren't mad at him.

"Macho teenage boys... 'its nothing'... don't even think that it might be infected!" Nico only caught bits of her rants here and there but he got a gist of it all. Ivy returned with a bowl of what smelled like antiseptic, some bandages, and a damp cloth. She silently cleaned the dirt and monster dust away from the wound, not even asking why it glittered. Then she carefully applied the antiseptic to the wound and Nico hissed. Hydrogen Peroxide. That stuff hissed and bubbled white on his skin and stung like a thousand papercuts at once. Granted, Nico hadn't had much experience with papercuts.

"Oh hush, you. Remember, you said it was nothing." She muttered frostily. The demigod thought she was more worried than angry, "What did this? Did you lose a fight with a pit bull or something?" She poured more peroxide on the wound until it wasn't bubbling quite so much.

"Or something." he agreed. Ivy shook her head and gently wrapped it up with cotton pads, gauze, and bandages. Thankfully, it wasn't too thickly bandaged and he couldn't hide it under his pants. It would look suspicious otherwise. He'd just pour some ambrosia and nectar on it once he got home and it would be all better. Until thin, he would allow himself to be doctored.

"Alright, leave a note if you go out and be careful on that leg. This is going to be a peaceful protest, I should be back tonight." She said as she prepared to leave. Nico nodded his understanding. She kissed him on his forehead before she left-- something that he wasn't sure he would ever get used to. The son of Hades closed the door behind her then wiped her 'forest green' lipstick off while he surveyed his room.

There wasn't much light, but there was enough to make a weak rainbow. The curtains were overgrown with actual poison Ivy so he didn't mess with it. There was part of the tree sticking up in the corner of the room as well. It had basically decided to grow up through the house. Nico had hung his jacket and backpack on the thickest limb as he did not want to hurt a plant at Ivy's house. tossed a coin into the poor excuse for a rainbow and asked for Annabeth. His IM popped up in Sally Blofi's apartment, right in front of the two women crying on the couch. He almost cut the call before Annabeth spotted him and it was too late.

"Nico!" She stood up off the couch and roughly wiped away her tears.

"I'm guessing you have bad news?" Nico asked timidly. He definitely wasn't in the mood to hear that Percy had died. He didn't think that he could hold himself together long enough to get back to the manor and he did not want to get into his complicated family with Ivy of all people. It would be nice if he could temporarily turn off his emotions until it was more convenient for him, but he wasn't so lucky.

"No, thank the gods, I'm just worried." She replied sniffling. Sally handed her a tissue, which she accepted. Nico felt like he had intruded on something private. He really should have ducked out while he had the chance.

"Well, that's good at least. He still isn't dead, that's good too. He still can't be found in the dream world either, though. It's like someone took him off the planet or something."

"What about if he ran into Morpheus. He made Grover sleep for months." She pointed out, but he could tell that she wasn't hopeful.

"Maybe, but then why hasn't he been killed in his sleep or something? Also, Morpheus has a long reforming period. It isn't likely that he would be back yet." he reasoned, Annabeth nodded along in reluctant agreement.

"Alright, I'll be headed back to camp in an hour or so. I'll IM you when I get there. I think Chiron wanted to ask you something." She said, settling back down on the couch. You could already see the toll that the stress was taking on her body. She was gaunt and there were dark lines under her eyes. Nico might have to ask the people in the Apollo cabin to look after her.

"Alright, you stay safe. Don't worry Sally, he's strong. He'll be ok." his words seemed hollow, even as he said them he felt like a liar. Nico had no idea if it would be ok or not. He just knew that Percy had to be alive, for all of their sakes.

"I know, Nico. Thank you for everything you're doing. Percy is lucky to have such great demigods watching his back." She smiled warmly, but there was a deep pain still in her eyes. Nico gave her a weak smile back before cutting the connection. Nico leaned back and wished that he had had better news to give them. Though in this situation, maybe no news was good news. Percy had been missing for months already and there was no telling when he would resurface if ever.

Nico had been planning on meeting Reyna, but he figured that he'd have to wait until after Annabeth IMed him so that she didn't accidentally meet Reyna. Iris messages would be hard to explain to the Romans. Especially since they didn't believe in Iris. He laid on the bed and stared at the fortified ceiling, waiting for Annabeth to IM him. The ceiling was covered in thick foliage from the tree and branches spread out under the plaster, supporting the sagging roof. Without the tree, Nico was sure that this house would have collapsed by now. His mind wandered as he imagined what it must be like for a tree to undertake such accelerated growth. Did their cells multiply faster? If so, what would look like under a microscope?

After a while Annabeth finally Iris Messaged him but something was wrong. She looked to be in a state of shock-- her face pale and slack. There were tears in her eyes but they remained unshed as if she hadn't yet decided whether or not to cry. Nico stood up to get closer to the IM to get a better look at her. He was concerned that she had gotten herself hurt and she was going into shock from the pain. Paleness was never good from a medical standpoint.

"Annabeth? Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm not hurt. What do you know about the Mark of Athena?" She jumped straight to the point. The son of Hades paused, hoping she didn't mean what he thought she did.

"Annabeth, why do you need to know?" I knew very little about the Mark of Athena and none of it was good. Demigod children of Athena muttered about it in clusters in Elysium. They had all died trying to find it. She held up a shiny silver coin and he felt his heart drop. Being assigned to the mark was almost always a death sentence. Some of the chosen turned back and survived, but no one had ever completed the quest alive. Several had gone mad and were never the same again.

"Nico? What is it? Is it bad?" She pleaded with the son of Hades.

"Athena gave you that coin, didn't she?" Annabeth nodded reluctantly. It didn't look like it had been a pleasant meeting.

"There's a... quest that special children of Athena are chosen to go on. So far, almost none have survived and none have completed it. That's basically all I know." Nico explained, hoping she'd have the sense to stay away from it. Annabeth was pretty sensible, unless it became a matter of pride-- her fatal flaw. If Athena issued the quest, he was worried that she had pushed all the right buttons to get Annabeth riled. No one could get under your skin quite as badly as your family.

"Look, can you not tell anyone about this for now? I want to learn more about it first." She looked a little calmer now, the tears were gone from her eyes.

"Yeah, alright. I'll ask around, see what I can find out." Nico promised. Annabeth nodded her thanks and cut the connection. He just hoped that she would have the sense to stay away from it all. If they had any chance of finding Percy, they needed her to be focused. Nico briefly consisdered misleading her in order to keep her from folloing the mark, or at least buy them a little time before she left them for a suicide mission. He dismissed that idea almost immediately-- he didn't want to tamper with the hands of fate or possibly put Annabeth in more danger on accident. No more secrets and no more lies.

The sun was going down and the room was getting darker. In a couple of minutes, it'd be perfect for shadow travel and there were some things he still needed to do before he rested for the night. Nico went out into the kitchen and left a note for Ivy telling her he was leaving and would be back late. No need to scare her any more than he already had. Nico grabbed his pack and his jacket and prepared to shadow travel. Or, he would have, had he not heard voices outside.

The demigod peeked out the window and saw the young justice team outside with gas masks and suits that covered their exposed skin-- presumably to keep it from coming into contact with Ivy's more dangerous children. Nightwing was crouched on the porch, looking back towards superboy who was crouched behind him. They hadn't seemed to notice Nico yest so he slowly backed up to where the note was and tore off the area where he had signed his name in case they came inside. Then he shadow traveled away before they could come to search the house. They might find his things, but he hadn't left anything in his things that would lead them back to him. He just hoped that they hadn't tracked him there somehow.

They had probably just gotten wind of her little protest and had to come to Gotham to stop her since Batman wasn't around. Hopefully they hadn't tracked him there somehow because that would be hard for him to explain. Especially since he was the newest Wayne kid and he was apparently spending his free time with a known Supervillain. Even if he somehow had time to switch to my ghost uniform, he would have a lot of explaining to do sincce Nightwing and Red Robin knew who Ghost really was.

Nico emerged from the shadows in California, right outside Hades' shrine and he was surprised to see that Reyna was there waiting for hum. She didn't speak at first, letting Nico give her his report unprompted. It would have been daunting if Nico hadn't already prepared what he was going to say. Lucking she didn't have her hounds with her.

"He's still not dead, and I still haven't had any luck locating him," The self-appointed ambassador of Pluto reported. She nodded as if she expected as much, though her shoulders were more slumped than usual. Her partner's sudden disappearance was taking a less visible toll on her than it did on Annabeth. Nico vaguely wondered if this was because she wasn't as attached to Jason or if Reyna was just that good at putting up a front.

"How did you like the eagle messenger?" Reyna smiled thinly. Nico could tell that she had sent it just for laughs. He couldn't fault her-- it had been pretty funny and it looked like she needed the laugh. They could all do with something to help them relax with everything that was going on n the world right now.

"It scared the crap out of the mortals I was staying with," Nico replied honestly, chuckling lightly. He fiddled with his skull ring absentmindedly-- thinking about the look on Bruce's face that night the Eagle landed on their windowsill.

"Oh gods, I apologize. I was not aware that you were living with mortals?" She looked at him curiously but didn't press him for details. She probably understood that family was complicated when it came to demigods. She gestured for him follow her into the bustling city.

"I have a family that I stay with from time to time. It is refreshing to forget demigod life for a short while. I took care of it, they saw a carrier pigeon or something." He felt the need to explain a little bit to start to build a trust with the suspicious praetor.

"Effective." Reyna praised. Nico shrugged, uncomfortably as he wasn't used to being praised. Thinking back on it, he figured that the proper response would have been to thank her, but it hadn't occurred to him at the time.

"Have your people had any luck finding him?" he asked curiously.

"None. I was rather hoping that you had some good news."

"Nope, fresh out of that, it would seem." Nico sighed. That seemed to be the trend as of late.

"Will you stay for dinner? We can discuss this further." Reyna questioned as thye reached the edge of the town.

"I would like to, but no, I have people back home expecting me. I've been staying with the mortals, recently. They think I'm at a party." He smirked. It was a plausible lie, or it would have been if he had been anything like your typical teen. Hopefully Reyna couldn't tell just how out of character that would be for him.

"I see. You are rather busy, jumping all over the place." Reyna noted. The son of Hades knew she was trying to figure out what on Earth could possibly be taking up all his time if it wasn't Camp Jupiter. He couldn't very well tell her that he had two other lives that he had to work at to keep mostly separate. Having three roles and identities took a lot of effort.

"Yes, I make myself busier than I need to be." Nico agreed, trying to lead her off the scent. It seemed to work, for now.

"Don't we all. Here, you must try this hot chocolate. My treat." She said walking up to a stand. He tried to tell her that she didn't need to buy anything for him but she handed him a cup anyway.
Nico couldn't refuse, not wanting to be rude.

"Thank you," The son of Hades said politely and took a sip. It really was a wonderful cup of hot chocolate, "this is really good!" he said, taking another sip. It had been quite a while since he had hot chocolate last.

"Yes, it is my favorite." She agreed.

"I'll keep a lookout for Jason, with all of us looking, we should be able to find him." He reasoned as they made their way deeper into the city. The house ghosts popped in and out of existence as he passed. The people seemed to notice something strange about that, but they didn't seem to have linked it to his presence yet.

"I hope you are right, son of Pluto." She sighed. We walked for a short while after that before he decided that it was time to head back. The pair parted company at a dark corner where he promised to bring her news as soon as he got any. Nico shadow traveled back to Toxic Acres and carefully made his way to Ivy's house. The team shouldn't still be there, but that doesn't mean that they weren't staking out the place or that they hadn't left behind something else that could monitor her activities. Nico did a soul search, and the only one there was Pamela os he guessed that she didn't get arrested then.

The demigod slowly walked down the street towards the house and he had his hood up, to hide his identity from potential stalkers. He quickly slipped in the house, pulling his hood down once the door had closed behind him. Ivy looked up from where she sat at the counter, reading a book on botany.

"There you are, I was wondering where you got off to." She smiled warmly. Nico hadn't realized it, but he had spent quite a bit of time with Reyna and it was already 11 o'clock on this side of the country.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I lost track of time."

"No, you're alright. I just wanted to make sure you got back alright. Have you eaten? There's fruit and vegetables in the fridge in case you want anything. There are bread and thing like that in the pantry. I'm headed off to bed so I'll see you in the morning." She bid him goodnight.

"Thank you so much, Ivy. I'm really grateful for the help." He said sincerely. She had helped him out more than she could realize.

"Don't mention it, what are moms for?" She winked and he couldn't help but smile.

"Hey Ivy..." Nico started, a theory forming in his mind. She paused her retreat at the bottom of the staircase.

"What is it?" Her voice was calming for some reason.

"My cousin, Percy Jackson, recently went missing. He still hasn't been found. I was wondering If you could listen for any news about him?"

"Oh Nico, I'm so sorry. I'll try and help however I can. Can you get a picture for me? I'll ask around." She promised. Nico nodded, relieved that there was someone that could get even some of the villains to help us. The more people looking, the better. At this rate, somone was bound to find Percy sooner or later.

"I'll have one by tomorrow."

"Alright, go get some sleep." She shooed the demigod towards his bedroom.

"Ok, ok. I'm going." Nico went back to his room, though he had no intention of sleepingmjust yet. He pulled out his sketchbook and started on that sketch of Percy. It took him several hours to get it right. His hair and his trouble-maker smile were the hardest. The son of Hades worked all night and into the early hours of the morning. It wasn't his most elegant piece, but it got all of Percy's distinguishing features, which is the important part.

It was probably around 4 in the morning before he collapsed onto his bed. He fell asleep fully clothed, which was ok because the room was a bit chilly. October was almost up, November weather had set in early. He fell asleep thinking about Percy's symmetrical face, but he still had no luck seeing him in his dreams. He couldn't find Jason there either, for that matter. Nico did manage to find Hazel, however. Our dream world connected and her figure appeared.

"Hazel! How are you? Are you ok? Explain everything." Nico asked quickly.

"Slow down, Nico. I'm fine. I'm in Sonoma with Lupa. She's been training Demigods here for centuries. We pass her tests and then we can travel the rest of the way to the camp." She explained. It made sense, Lupa had reared Romulus and Remus, it seems fitting that she would keep up the role.

"Are you close to finishing the training?"

"Lupa thinks that I will be ready to move on in a day or two. Will the camp accept me?" She sounded worried.

"Yeah, as long as you get a sponsor, you'll be in on probation. Just follow the rules and you'll be fine." Nico assured her. They let Octavian in, after all.
"Thanks, Nico. Have you found your friend?"

"No, not yet, though we have a lot of people looking for him."

"I hope you find him soon. Be safe alright? Lupa says that there are bad things stirring. It doesn't sound good." She warned. Nico didn't like the sound of that but he was grateful for her warning nonetheless.

"I'll try, sis. You be careful too, I just got my sister back, I don't want to lose you again." Nico couldn't look her in the eye. He wasn't really a touchy-feely kind of person. Hazel seemed to understand because she didn't mention it.

"I will, promise. I have to go, pack life starts early." Hazel smiled, somewhat wolfishly. It was honestly a little disturbing, and toothy.

"Alright, I'll see you again soon," He promised, some to myself than to her. Hazel faded out as she woke up and his own dream faded into blackness and he woke up.

Chapter Text

Nico woke up to find a dim light coming through the plant-covered curtains, and he groggily wondered where he was. It didn't take him long to remember and the events at the mountain made him cringe. That definitely could have gone better. There wasn't a lot of light coming through the gaps in the curtains so he guessed it was probably still early, though he couldn't really get a read for what time it was just by that alone. He sat up on the musty bed and rubbed his nose to keep from sneezing. Nico didn't really have allergies, but the amount of pollen in this place was ridiculous.

Nico could hear Ivy down the hall fondly cursing at her plants. It was an odd thing to listen to, but somehow also endearing in a way. The demigod stood and stretched, his muscles tight from the lumpy mattress and the fight the day before. It had been a while since he had used his sword and he could feel that coming back to bite him now. The mattress was understandably worn down, which didn't help matters. It wasn't like Ivy had guests often, so she had probably never felt the need to get better mattresses.

The son of Hades changed out of the ridiculous hoodie that he had worn yesterday and slipped on a long sleeve black shirt. It was chilly in that room because the plants had infested the air ducts, stealing all the warmth but he couldn't blame them. It got pretty chilly outside in Gotham. Though he wished they had saved some heat for him, as he was already shivering. The cold drove him into putting the infernal hoodie back on for the leftover body heat. He didn't have another pair of pants to change into since the other pair had a bite mark in them, so he was stuck in the army-style cargo pants. He hadn't packed for the entire week at the mountain, having talked to the boys who said they had a method of washing his clothes. The clothes were nice, but they weren't exactly inconspicuous and he didn't want to be noticed right then as he made his way back to the Wayne Manor.

Wayne Manor. The house of the Waynes. That thought gave Nico a pause because, until that moment, he hadn't really realized that he was technically a Wayne too. If he wanted to, he could change his name to Nico di Angelo- Wayne. That just wasn't right. He decided to put a pin in that line of thinking to pick up later-- he had things to do and places to be. He knew that it was high time that he headed back to the manor as the boys were probably getting worried by now. They were supposed to check in regularly in events like this, but that wasn't really possible without tipping Ivy off about the Bat's identity. Why else would someone like the new Wayne boy have a direct line to Nightwing?

Nico would have headed back to the manor as soon as he left the mountain except for the fact that: 1) he didn't want to be alone in that huge house, and 2) he wouldn't have been able to do what he needed to do because Bruce probably had ways of knowing if and when the boys left the house. He knew he was safe with Ivy and that she would stay out of his business. She wasn't a conventional mother, maybe, but she was pretty good by demigod standards. Sort of like a slightly crazy, plant-obsessed, villain version, of Sally Jackson.

Nico slung his backpack over his shoulder and went out into the living room to find Ivy concentrating on some of her more... poisonous specimens. She had warned him not to get too close, not knowing if the immunization that she gave him covered these specimens. Nico headed into the kitchen and grabbed a red apple. It was probably the best apple he had ever tasted. The son of Hades set his bag down on a chair, wanting to make sure Ivy knew he was leaving and hadn't been taken. He laid the portrait of Percy out on the table for her to use as a search parameter. Then he walked back into her living room. Nico thought that 'living room' was a rather fitting name for it because the room was so overgrown with ivy and other foliage that it could be considered a living organism itself.

Mico watched over Pam's shoulder as she took toxicity tests and soil samples. It was really quite an interesting process. If he had any skill with plants, he'd want to try it himself. Pam turned around, gingerly holding a test tube full of soil. When she finally noticed him, she almost backed right into her shelf of plants. It was just luck that she hit her head on a hanging flower basket before she did. She muttered in annoyance as she rubbed her head. Her hair was more frizzy than it normally was, or he thought it was at least.

"God Nico! Don't sneak up on a girl like that!" She chastised. Moving past him to set the samples on a lab table in the corner.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Ivy hummed as she fiddled with some test tubes and some equipment that was veiled in a thin layer of dirt.

"So, did you want something?" She asked after she had entered one of the samples into her... machine of some sort. He didn't know what it was, or what it did, but it looked important.

"Yeah, I just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving. I don't want my family to worry." He said gesturing towards his pack, which was visible from where we stood.

"Oh... alright. You be careful now-- Gotham isn't the safest of places. If you need my help, tell a tree or something. They speak to me." She smiled fondly at the tree growing through the center of her house.

"Err... talking trees. Got it." He nodded, trying to absorb this new information. Ivy laughed good-naturedly and gave him a hug.

"Be careful. Remember, you can come over whenever you want." She assured him. He told her that he would and grabbed his bag out of the kitchen.

Nico did a quick soul search as he pretended to make sure he had everything to make sure that no one was outside. He was surprised to find that there was a small group of people across the street and one block to the left-- most likely waiting to see who came out of the house. It was a certain group that he definitely didn't want knowing that he hung out with a Supervillain and dressed in bodysuits. He would have to walk right past them to get out.

They must have tracked him here somehow, or seen his belongings in the house once he and Ivy had both gone out the day before. He doubted that they would stake out the house on Ivy's account alone since she hadn't even gotten into trouble at her protest the night before. Did they have a tracer on him? That would be such a Batman move. That would mean... he knew where he had been going in California. Di Immortals!

Having no choice except to keep up appearances that he didn't know they were there-- both for the Team's sake and for Ivy's, Nico threw up his hood and confidently walked out onto the porch. He made a split-second decision, turning right instead of left and traveling further into Toxic Acres. The son of Hades walked for a little over a block before he ducked into a random decaying house. He hoped that they would think that this was his hiding place or something, and move in towards the house slowly. Hopefully, that would give him enough time to find any tracking devices.

Once he got inside, Nico threw his backpack onto a nasty couch and emptied its contents onto a sagging floor. He squatted down beside it and started to go through it all. Some nectar, ambrosia, two sets of clothes, his Ghost uniform, his phone, and his weapons all fell out. He rifled through the junk, taking only what he thought he would need. Nico turned his sword back into its ring form and put it on his finger. He checked out the old coin before putting it in his pants pocket. The rest of his belongings he picked through as quickly as he could-- trying to find the tracking device. Everything was clean, so he decided it had to be the phone.

He could sense the team getting closer by the second so he stuffed everything else in his pack except the phone and his domino mask. He was going to try something he had never done before. He raced to the back of the house towards the back door & I hurried out into the overgrown yard. He threw his backpack over the back fence before climbing after it. It would seem that his training was paying off because it wasn't too hard for him to maintain his balance when he landed.

He didn't want Dick to catch him because the Waynes wouldn't approve of his friendship with Ivy. That cat was probably already out of the bag by now, though in case it wasn't, he didn't want to get caught red-handed. After all, maybe they were just monitoring Ivy, and he was just in the wrong place a the wrong time. Stranger things had happened, after all.

Nico decided that the shadows behind the fence would have to do so he focused on his secret room in the Wayne manner and shoved the pack into the shadows. The bag disappeared, and he could only hope that it had landed where he had wanted it to. Nico kept the phone, mask, and weapons on his person, though, just in case he needed them. He knew that the team was still in the house, surveying, so he took off in a dead sprint back towards the gates of Toxic Acres.

Nico only slowed down once he had gotten to the gate because if they had seen him, Kid Flash would have made an appearance by then, unless they wanted him to think that he had lost them. He had to slow down because it wasn't normal for a kid to be sprinting through the streets, even in Gotham. Nico walked as purposefully as he could through the streets of the city, keeping his hood up and his hands in his pockets-- keeping his fist closed tightly around his silver dagger in case he got jumped.

It was fairly busy down on this side of town. People were walking around and enjoying one of the first sunny days that we had had in a while. The people were tense, nobody looked anybody in the eyes and there were very few women and no children out by themselves. Well, except for Nico. The son of Hades walked at a quick pace, knowing that the team wouldn't be able to follow him on the ground. They were supposed to be a covert ops team. That means that they would have to follow him from the rooftops or change into civilian clothes costing them valuable time.

The bad thing for him when being in a crowd is that using his soul-searching ability gets too disorienting. He'd have to get into a less crowded part of town in order to use the power with any accuracy. Right now, he had no idea if they were even still following him or not. He had to assume they were, just in case. Nico crossed the street and changed directions at random, trying to throw them off his trail. The demigod ducked into a laundromat at one point and took the phone apart looking for a bug. He, unfortunately, found one or so he thought. It looked like it was only connected to the phone by two wires, and Tim had told him how phones ran entirely off of a... hard drive? Yeah, a hard drive and programmed software shouldn't have needed any extra attachments.

Nico didn't want to take the chance that it could be a bug so he used his knife to cut it out. He tossed it into an open washing machine while a woman wasn't paying attention and he ducked back out onto the street. Nico sped through the run-down part of town and traveled until he found a mode of public transportation: a bus. He was pleasantly surprised when he saw that a woman was driving it and it looked like she was expecting. This was a godsend because he didn't think this plan would have worked on a guy. Nico ran onto the bus, trying his best to look afraid. He needed the driver to believe that he was in danger and needed her help.

She asked for payment so Nico leaned over to her so he wouldn't be overheard, "Please, I got separated from my parents and these people are following me." Nico looked at her pleadingly. Women were more likely to take care of children, their maternal instincts would kick in. It helped his cause a lot that she was pregnant as well since her hormones could make her feel things more intensely-- including protectiveness if he was lucky.

"Them?" She discreetly gestured at the two people who had begun heading towards this side of the street. It was Wally, Superboy, and Richard in civilian attire. The son of Hades nodded hurriedly.

"Ok, sit down in that seat right there. Take my jacket, it's an old one anyway and I have several more. Where are you headed?" She closed the bus doors and pulled away from the stop without waiting for anyone else to board. There was a rowdy bunch of punk teens in the back, covering their conversation.

"You can keep your jacket, ma'am. Thank you, though. I'm supposed to meet them uptown a little way. Near the cemetery. It's our meeting place if we ever get separated." he replied easily and she nodded. Sometimes it scared him how well he could lie.

"We'll be within walking distance from the cemetery at my next stop. Can you get there on your own?" She didn't take her eyes off the road for an instant.

"Yeah, I think so. I really appreciate this, by the way. I was about to be in some real trouble." Nico thanked her. He may not have been in any physical danger, but he was grateful at this woman's willingness to help a teenager she had just met. Not many people would have done that especially not in Gotham.

"Don't mention it. Literally. I'm not supposed to allow people on for free, no matter the circumstances. Though I feel like there's a need for more human decency in this world." She replied.

"Gotham needs more people like you." He said truthfully. The woman smiled gently, her eyes still on the road. Nico sat back and looked out the window as she drove. He was the first one off at the next stop. Luckily, Nico recognized the area from the couple of times Bruce had taken them all into town for something or other. Weekly public appearances seemed to be a necessity in maintaining their image with the media so Nico played his part in it all.

Nico wasted no time in heading for the cemetery, though of course, he wasn't actually looking for the cemetery. He was going to use it as a landmark to get back to the manor. He made it to the cemetery pretty quickly and soul searched to see if he was still being followed. He was happy to find that he wasn't-- he had finally lost them. Nico headed into the cemetery, deciding that it was probably ok to shadow travel back to the house now no one would notice his sudden disappearance.

Nico went behind the same mausoleum that he had found on that fateful day several weeks ago. He walked into the shadows, picturing his room at the manor. He emerged in his chilly room, which was just how he had left it. The bed was not made, the bathroom door was left ajar, and one of his sketches of the Joker laid out on his desk. It would good to be back in a familiar space after everything he had gone through these last few days.

The first thing he did was change out of that outfit and into some of his normal black clothes. Nico reunited his combat boots and his mask with the rest of his uniform from his bag, which had arrived safely. The demigod stuffed the clothes he had been wearing in the panic room to keep them hidden from Batman. He threw his other clothes from his stay at the mountain in the hamper to be washed later. Then he unpacked completely and cleaned up his room, just to feel like he had accomplished something.

Then it was time to attend to his own hygiene. He washed off the soles of my boots in the bathtub because they had gotten soil and residue on them from Toxic Acres. The last thing he needed was for Batman to run a chemical analysis on that. Nico did make sure to then go walk in the grass and dirt out back so that they weren't suspiciously clean either. It was a lengthy walk so that it also wasn't obvious that he was out there for anything other than relaxation. After that, he took a hot shower with a lot of strong scented soap and shampoos to make sure that he didn't smell like Ivy's place either. He slipped into normal clothes and took cologne to the clothes that he had hidden in the secret room. He'd rather wash them, but he couldn't risk them being seen. Plus, he had no idea if the toxins could transfer to the other's clothes in the wash. They weren't immune to Toxic Acres like he was and he didn't want to give the whole family a rash or something just as uncomfortable.

After he was all taken care of, he went down into the Batcave and put up his suit in its locker that they each had. Nico figured than an alert had been sent to Batman or somebody that someone was in the Bat cave so it didn't really surprise him when I heard the zeta tubes in the Batcave announced the Arrival of Nightwing and Red Robin.

"Dude! Where have you been?" Richard called once he'd spotted the younger boy. Nico decided to play it all off as if it wasn't that big of a deal.

"I was in California. You should know since y'all put a tracker in my phone." He glared.

"What? A tracker in your phone?" Dick sounded genuinely surprised which meant that it was probably all Batman's doing. Nico nodded.

"That's weird, Bruce usually puts them somewhere less obvious."

"Well, maybe he didn't think he had to since I'm not very tech-savvy." he countered.

"Maybe. Speaking of which, how did you find it?"

"I figured he would do something like that so I checked through all my clothes and stuff and didn't find anything. Then I decided that he would've bugged me somehow so I decided to look through my phone and see if anything looked weird," he explained, omitting certain parts of the truth.

"That's actually really smart..." Tim praised, he looked amazed.

"Thanks. Anyway, I found this lottle box that was connected to the ah... hard drive with two wires." A look of realization passed over Dick's face, "I remember you telling me that a phone only needed a hard drive and the software. So I figured that that wasn't either of those things." he finished.

"Huh... that's pretty cool actually." Dick admitted.

"Yeah, neat. So, what were those things that attacked you at the mountain?" Tim asked, "They weren't seal-dog hybrids, were they?"

"They were, of a sort. It's more like they are seal-dog-demon hybrids more than anything else. They're called telkhines and, according to Percy, they are the real reason Mt. Saint Helens blew up." He replied.

"What?!" Dick asked, incredulously.

"Percy was helping Hephaestus out by killing all the Telkhines that had taken over his forge in Mt. Saint Helens. They threw lava on him to try to kill him and somehow he blew up the volcano. He disappeared for quite a while after that, we though he was dead." He summarized. Nico decided that it would probably be easier not to mention the Labyrinth, Calypso, or Typhon. He'd tell them about all that later... maybe.

"Ok... I'll buy that I guess," Dick spoke mostly to himself. It was a lot to take in and he hadn't even told them most of it.

"What did you tell the team about me?" Nico asked curiously.

"I told them that you were on your own for now, but that we would see if we could get you to go back," Dick replied cautiously, watching him for his reaction.

"I don't think that going back would be a good idea. The monsters can get to me there. Those were some low-grade monsters. I don't want to try and deal with the Kraken or something with a bunch of teens that don't know what is happening and don't have weapons that work." he reasoned. Dick pondered this for a while.

"Ok, what are you going to do? It's not a good idea to leave you here all by yourself all day either. We still have at least 3 more days after this that Bruce and Alfred are going to be gone." He pointed out.

"I mean, I have places I can go to stay safe. I can go back to camp for a couple of days, go to California where they also have a safe place, I can go to the Underworld, or there are a couple of other places I can go to as well. I have a lot of friends." Nico did have a lot of friends, more than anyone knew. Besides the obvious ones like the Waynes and Ivy, he knew several people in China from his accidental trips there and he knew people all across the United States too. There was Luke's mom, whom he knew from when he had to ask her about the whole blessing thing. She thought that everyone who came through her front door was Luke, though. Poor woman, she still waits for him to come home.

He also knew Rachel's dad because he once had a dream that Rachel had been attacked and he had to make sure she was alright. Nico had told him that she had forgotten some things at camp and that he came to drop them off. He told the demigod that he could stop by to see Rachel whenever, which he thought was generous. Nico guessed that her father hadn't really minded that he looked more corpse-like than human.

Nico knew one guy in Arizona because there was a Labyrinth entrance in his back yard. He's the paranoid type, ex-military who thinks the whole world is out to get him. He'd probably help Nico out if he asked him. Then there was an elderly widow who made the best peanut brickle he'd ever tasted. She lived in Alabama and he had met her after he had shadow traveled into her indoor pool. A rather wealthy lady, and very lonely. She didn't even ask him what he was doing in her house. She loved it when he visited her since her kids all had families of their own. Her name was Louisa.

Then, of course, there was Sally Jackson. She had enough troubles of her own without demigods popping in and out of her apartment, though. Nico would never go to her place unless it was a serious emergency. He couldn't put her in danger like that. If something were to happen to her... Nico didn't think he would ever be able to live with himself. And that was assuming that Percy didn't end him himself.

"Be that as it may, we need to know where you are," Dick replied.

"I'll stay around here, the manor if I have to. I won't go back to the mountain and risk endangering that team. I won't do it."

"Ok, so that leaves your camp. There's no way that we're leaving you here on your own." Dick crossed his arms stubbornly. He had taken off his mask and Nico could see in his face that he wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Fine, camp it is then." he sighed in defeat. Nico had needed to check on Annabeth anyway.

"Alright. We'll spend the night here and you can head off to camp in the morning. There's some stuff we need to talk about."

Chapter Text

Nico bolted awake from the horrible dream, breathing hard. His dark hair was plastered to his hairline with sweat though he felt chilled to the bone. It had been a long time since he'd had a dream like that-- so vivid and... important. That was undoubtedly Hera-- the Queen of the gods and she was imprisoned. Nico ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath. Even if the Queen of the gods was in danger or captured like everyone was saying, Nico didn't think that it was his place to try and intervene. This seemed like something that needed a quest so unless he was drafted into a quest, this was someone else's problem-- probably Jason's if he was the one to get the vision.

It was somewhere around 5 in the morning and he decided to get a shower before all the warm water ran out. Then he headed over to the docks to watch the naiads braid each other's hair and listen to the soft lapping of the water against the shore. Nico let the conversation he had overheard come back into his mind. Hera was everywhere, it seemed. If Hera sent Jason here, was she going to send Percy to Camp Jupiter? If so, why wasn't he there now? Had he been sent there in the time Nico had been gone? Similar questions crowded his mind as the camp started to wake up.

One of his main questions was whether or not he would be able to help Hazel get to Camp Jupiterif Percy was there and causing unrest. Or if he even had time to get her moved since he was becoming so much more involved in the world of Superheroes. We weren't even sure whether or not Bruce would let him go to California again. He needed to be able to come and go as he pleased now more than ever. There was so much still riding on him and he needed Bruce to understand that.

Nico had just begun heading back towards the amphitheater when a huge bronze dragon burst out of the trees. With wings. Nico stood frozen, awestruck by the sheer size of the wings. Then he realized that there was someone on the automaton's back. It took a simple soul search to find out that it was one Mr. Leo Valdez-- the newest (and apparently boldest) son of Hephaestus. How he managed to do something that the entire Hephaestus cabin had failed to do was beyond him. The son of Hades' next thought was that the archers were going to shoot him down. That would certainly be anticlimactic.

Nico started to sprint towards the area where the dragon was headed, knowing that that was where their defenses would likely set up in anticipation of another raid. Just as he suspected the children of Apollo were all standing in a semi-circle, pointing their bows to the sky when he arrived. He still had time to intervene.

"Wait!" Nico shouted running up to them. Will turned around to see who was yelling.

"What is it?" He yelled back over the sounds of people prepping for battle.

"Leo's on that thing!" Will looked back up to the sky and squinted until he spotted him.

"Gods! Is he insane? Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" He shouted frantically. It took a couple of seconds, but the archers all relaxed their stances. By this time, the dragon was almost to the main part of camp. Nico saw more and more people pouring out of the cabins and gawking. Nico scanned the crowd for Annabeth until he spotted her by the Zeus cabin looking towards the sky. The son of Hades pushed his way through the crowd until he reached her. Her grey eyes were trained on the dragon. She was either admiring the handiwork or looking for weaknesses. With her, she could be doing both simultaneously.

"Is someone... riding on it?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Nico came up to her and Jason. They turned to look at him and, to his relief, Jason didn't seem to recognize him. Either that, or he was a much better actor than he had originally given him credit for. His eyes didn't betray anything.

"Leo Valdez is on it."

"He's what!?" Jason exclaimed, looking back up to the sky. Eventually, the dragon landed and the people all crowded around it. Since it didn't seem to be attacking, and Nico didn't care to hear the rest, he dismissed himself. Nico needed to go tell Chiron that he was headed home so the old centaur wouldn't wonder. He was probably too stressed to even realize the coming and going of the campers, but it was the polite thing to do.

After he told him that he was leaving, Nico shadow traveled to the living room at the manor where all of his brothers were waiting for him. He was surprised because he was only expecting it to just be Richard and Tim. Nico opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but before he could utter a word, Dick leapt up and yelled,

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Nico was frozen in shock for a couple of seconds before he actually realized what Richard had said. Was it Halloween already?

[I know this isn't his canon b-day or whatever, just go with it. Also, all the days are messed up, I know.]

Dick handed his younger brother a small box, wrapped in Batman-themed wrapping paper which made Nico smirk. He wondered if Bruce knew that the boys had this. Nico looked at them in confusion as he couldn't remember the last time he had been given a birthday present. The last person who knew about his birthday had been Bianca and she hadn't been in a celebratory mood for his last one. Nico opened it to find an old-looking paper. Nico carefully sat set the box on the coffee table, keeping the paper in his hands to examine.

As he read it, he found that he couldn't believe his eyes. He backed up to the nearest couch and slowly sank down onto it as his brain processed everything. He didn't know what he had expected, but it wasn't this. They had found his birth certificate-- the original one, not the one Hades fabricated for the adoption. The one that his parents had probably gotten at the hospital back in Venice when he was born. It was proof of his existence before the Lotus Casino-- a link to his life before the gods messed it all up.

The boys were asking him questions but Nico wasn't paying them any mind. He skimmed down to the date of birth, almost desperate to know the answer to one of the most common questions. The paper said that he was born on January 28, 1924. He had a birthday and he couldn't think of anything to say that would describe how he was feeling. He tried to come up with the words but nothing could quite cover it so he just kept silent.

The son of Hades didn't realize that he was crying until he felt someone gently lay a hand on his shoulder. Richard sitting on the floor next to him, giving him a comforting smile. He handed the demigod a tissue which was accepted gratefully. Nico looked around at all of his brothers-- his chosen family. Tim was smiling broadly, Jason was looking smug, and even Damian looked pleased so Nico didn't feel embarrassed about the tears because he knew they understood. They could understand how important it was to him to have a little piece of his past to hold onto where there were so many unknowns. This was an anchor to not only Bianca but Maria too.

"Thank you, guys. This is the best thing anyone has ever done for me." Nico murmured croakily, meaning every word. He hadn't been given many things in this hurricane of a life-- certainly nothing that had been this meaningful.

"No problem, dude. What are brothers for?" Dick replied giving Nico a playful shove, he nodded and cracked a small smile.

"I mean, we have to be nice sometimes or you wouldn't stick around for us to mess with." Jason cut in, cutting all the tension. Nico laughed happily.

"You'd all just hunt me down if I left." He replied.

"You know it." Dick agreed. Then he ruffled the middle sibling's hair, standing up. Nico shoved the older boy's hand away and stood up, his legs still shaky.

"Come on, let us go and play video games and watch movies to celebrate," Damian suggested. They agreed readily but then started arguing over what game to play. They eventually decided on Halo and the sons of Batman spent the better part of the day playing that.

Nico preferred playing as Flood since you got to use a sword and were trying to kill everyone else. We played several different versions of the game, and Nico was proud to say that he didn't do poorly on any version. He was also alright with admitting that he only won a couple of times, too. The other boys were really good at this game and by the time the game ended, Jason had the most kills, Damian had the most assassinations, Tim had the most assists, and Dick kept getting into vehicles and crashing them. Well, either that or he ended up getting the best vehicles and blowing everyone up. Nico kept sneak attacking his opponents or getting lost on the map. The demigod blew himself up a couple of times too, but it was still fun.

After that, they ordered out for pizza, which was a rare treat. Alfred usually didn't let us get pizza since it was so unhealthy and he so enjoyed preparing meals for us to enjoy. They got two large pizzas one cheese and one pepperoni. No one would let Dick order a 2 liter of soda either saying something about sugar and stray batarangs so they all drank water or something not nearly as sugary.

After they ate, they decided to go fight and work out in the Batcave for a while. They mostly wanted to see a fight between Nico and any of them. So far he had only been fighting against Bruce in practice rounds so they were all curious as to how he would measure up when paired against one of them. Nico was curious too though he had a feeling that this was going to end badly. Nico couldn't get them to teach him gymnastics or anything like that, but Nico did manage to convince Jason to teach him some moves for when he's fighting monsters. This was the compromise that they came to when Dick brought up that they shouldn't really spar in case someone got injured. It was a busy week and their chief nurse/doctor wasn't around right now.

So instead of sparring with Nico, Jason was going to teach the newest recruit how to fight to kill. Of course, Nico would never use the moves on a person though, just on monsters since those were the types of beings that you had to kill. Besides, they never truly died so you never truly killed them either so Nico wasn't sure if they even counted to Bruce or not. That was a question that he would have to ask when Bruce got back. He didn't know what he would do if Bruce said that monsters did count, though. He couldn't just stop killing them to abide by Bruce's no-kill rule.

"Ok, I'm going to show you some defensive moves first. Come over here for a second." Jason said after he had climbed into the ring. Nico moved closer until there was only a foot or so between the boys. He motioned for the younger boy to turn around. Nico glared at the antihero suspiciously but slowly complied. He had to trust that Jason knew his limits and wouldn't do anything that would push him too far.

Suddenly, he grabbed Nico roughly from behind and pulled the son of Hades into a headlock. If Nico hadn't trusted him, he would be freaking out by this point. Instinctively, Nico's hands had gabbed his arm in an attempt to pull it away from his esophagus. Jason was taller than he would be able to strangle the younger boy pretty effectively if he wanted to. It was easier if you were taller than your victim if both parties were standing. Otherwise, the killer would just have to be in a position that would put him higher than the victim's head.

"Ok, in this position, your objective would be to either flip me over your shoulder. Or bring your knees all the way up to my head. Let's try that one first." He instructed. Nico felt that this was going to be harder than it sounded. Jason was insane. Despite his misgivings, Nico cautiously shifted his weight off his feet and Jason tightened his grip choking him for a second. Nico shifted his weight back and Jason loosened his arms again. The son of Hades coughed once because of the uncomfortable feeling left in his throat. Jasons chuckled at him, making him screw up his face in annoyance. Unfortunately, Jason couldn't see the younger's face at this angle.

"You gotta do it quick so they don't have time to react. Don't worry about them dropping you, that would actually be the best-case scenario because then you'd be out of their grip for sure. Try it again." He said. The demigod huffed in annoyance but did as he was told. Nico pushed his feet up off the floor and used Jason's grip as leverage. Nico brought his knee up by his ear and connected with his brother's head. Jason grunted and dropped the younger boy on his back. Nico rolled away for a couple of feet before getting up.

"Good, just like that except harder. Hopefully, you'll be in uniform and have the reinforced kneepads. I won't bother with the other method because I don't think you could do it to me." He explained Nico nodded in agreement. Jason wasn't being demeaning, not this time; he didn't joke around when it came to fighting since our lives were no laughing matter. No one understood that better than him.

"Probably not." Nico agreed, "What about if they have a knife to my neck or a gun to my head?" he asked, figuring that that would probably be a more likely circumstance. Especially If Joker got a hold of him again.

"Ok, come here again." Jason took out one of his guns and took out the magazine and checked several times to make sure that it wasn't loaded. He put the safety on for good measure. Nico went back over to him and turned around. Jason grabbed him with one arm around his neck and the other holding a gun to his head. Even though he had seen the antihero empty it, Nico couldn't say he enjoyed it being so close.

"Ok, in this situation, your first priority is to get the gun away from your head. Since your arms aren't tied or pinned, you're going to want to bring one hand up to push the barrel towards the ceiling. Most likely they will try to grab the gun, taking their other hand off of you. If you can grab the gun away, do it. If you can't, run and get to the nearest cover. Ok?" Nico nodded as best he could.

Jason's grip on him tightened to the point where Nico couldn't move, but not tight enough to choke him. Nico took this to mean that the older boy was ready so the demigod made the first move, just like Jason had told him to. Nico brought his hand right up and pushed the gun to the ceiling. Jason's other hand moved from the younger's throat to his shoulder in the struggle. Nico twisted from his grasp, leaped off the platform, and launched himself behind a metal stairwell.

"Good, though I still would have been able to shoot you." He said. Nico didn't doubt it. It wasn't like he was exceptionally fast or anything.

"Why don't you teach him how to shoot?" Dick suggested, "Demigods use guns too, right?" Nico nodded, though there weren't very many of them. You could only use bullets once.

"Yeah, but I don't really want to shoot anything. During a battle, monsters don't exactly give you time to reload. Also, I don't want to waste the bronze like that." They nodded in understanding.

"Ok, then how about you watch me try to kill Dick for a while?" Jason offered. Dick glared at him but didn't back down.

"Alright." Nico agreed. He enjoyed watching them fight. Dick's fighting style looked like a dance almost-- theatric, but with purpose. Jason's was more brutal but equally fascinating to watch. His movements were precise and thought out, sometimes a little scrappy. You could learn a lot about a person from their fighting style. As Nico watched the boys try and kill each other, he saw that Bruce had been right, Dick did 'play with his food' and Jason always fought to kill. Dick fought for fun, Jason fought to survive. It was obvious as he watched them now.

Dick used acrobatic moves that were effective, but not always necessary, energy-consuming. He did a flip when he could have just jumped and a somersault when he could have simply dodged. He could afford to do that because he usually had backup and wasn't usually in danger of dying, on the street, he would have used moves based on efficiency. Dick didn't get hit as often as Jason, but he didn't land as many blows as he could have either.

Jason didn't move around a whole lot when he fought and always stayed up close to his opponent, at least in hand-to-hand combat. Jason would have a better chance of landing a blow to a vital area that way. His habits of staying more stationary meant that Dick could hit him more easily, but not in the most effective places. He had learned that from years on the streets. Get in, kill the guy, get out. You don't have time or energy to waste.

With their odd styles, they made it harder on themselves than they did each other. Nico watched as the fight continued on with neither brother getting the upper hand and both of them getting frustrated. Eventually, Jason got a lucky hit in and managed to pull Dick into a headlock. The match was over.

"Hey guys, we should be getting back to our bases, it's getting late and the teams will be wondering," Tim suggested, having been lifting weights for practice. Damian had been throwing ninja stars at targets and they were still embedded in them. Bruce had promised the son of Hades that he would start moving him on to other forms of training soon, but the older man wanted to make sure that he had his lessons in hand to hand committed to muscle memory first since those skills transferred into so many different forms of fighting and combat. Walk before you can run, and all that.

"Yeah, I was planning on going on patrol tonight. There have been some dealers selling to kids that I need to take care of." Jason agreed, heading off to change into his uniform. The other boys wrinkled their noses. Whether it was from the thoughts of what Jason meant by 'taking care of' or that there were people dealing to kids, it was hard to tell. Nico was more disturbed by the latter, personally.

"Yeah, ok. We have to get there before everyone else is asleep so we can tell them that Ghost is coming back for two days." Nightwing moved away to change too. Damian had changed earlier, preferring to practice in his uniform. Damian's suite was new since his last one had gotten virtually shredded on a mission and he claimed that he was breaking it in.

Soon they were all telling the demigod goodbye and leaving for wherever they needed to. Nico didn't mind staying in the manor alone, actually, it would give him a bit of time to try and find a place to set up HQ. He was planning on finding some secluded place that he could hide out in. If the team ever decided to do their own digging, he needed to have a little place of his own that he could claim was his base to pacify them. It couldn't even really need to be much more than a bedroom really. He didn't really need a lot of space to be a consultant. It also wasn't like he could use a computer either... even with Gotham's protective barrier he wouldn't want to risk it.

The plan was to go scout out Gotham for suitable hideouts tonight and see if there was any place he could use. Nico put on his suit and headed upstairs to get some things from his secret room. Ghost strapped his sword to his belt and put the dagger coin in one of his many pockets and some drachmas in the other. Then he waited until dark to leave on his quest. Nico shadow traveled to the gates of Toxic Acres first so that at least he would have a landmark. He walked down the main street, away from Ivy's territory. There were a lot of abandoned buildings around here, and most of them were spoken for. Gangs, villains, and criminals of all other sorts were holed up in those places. So that was out of the question.

Even if he managed to find an empty one, he wouldn't be there often enough to make sure that no one would rob the place and he didn't have the manpower to have a turf war. He was supposed to be cover after all. He also didn't have enough of a reputation yet for people to be afraid of him or even take him seriously so intimidation wouldn't really work either. He really needed to work on that if he was really going to become this criminal consultant that the team all thought he was.

The next thing Nico thought of was the storm drains. They had to have landings and such down there for the maintenance crew, didn't they? No one would think to look for him down there. If he had to, Nico could always use his geokinesis ability to push back part of the wall to create an un-mapped landing. The son of Hades had learned about that ability when he closed one of the entrances to the labyrinth on Kronos. It wasn't easy and also not very reliable so he didn't use it much.

The drains in Gotham were largely due to a large amount of rain they got annually so he had no trouble slipping in through one. After that, it was about a three-foot drop (subtracting the 5 something feet that were hanging) in order to get to the ledge by the shallow stream of rainwater. It actually wasn't horrible down here. It wasn't too cold and it didn't smell bad either. Ok, it smelled like mildew, but there was a slight, constant, draft that blew the scent away. No place was going to be perfect and he didn't exactly have the time to be picky.

Nico had his flashlight out and decided to walk until he found the first landing. He could always shadow travel out if he got lost. It was quite a way to walk, as it later turned out. 15 minutes and 12 storm drain later, Nico found a decently clean landing, which means that it was frequently used. That wouldn't work since he couldn't risk using the drain systems if someone might stumble upon him on accident. Speaking of which, it was about this time that the demigod became aware of another presence.

Nico did a soul search and found a human presence a little further down, watching him-- a man named Slade Wilson. The son of Hades pretended not to notice him and headed back the way he came, doing another search every few minutes. They were definitely following him now, though Nico couldn't say he wasn't worried. When he got to the nearest drainage pipe, he jumped to catch the rim. Ghost pulled himself up and crawled out of the drain. It would probably be too small for his stalker to follow, but Nico decided that he should act like he could and take evasive maneuvers.

Nico had no idea why someone would be hiding out in the gutters unless they were villains or other criminals so guessed he had trespassed on someone's turf. @#%!

Chapter Text

So once Nico had determined that this guy was definitely following him and not just headed in a similar direction, he decided that he needed to try to evade him. Well, that wasn't exactly working out for him because Nico caught a glimpse of the man in a shop window and it was Deathstroke himself. He also knew that Deathstroke wasn't the type to accidentally get spotted so he had to assume that the masked man had wanted him to see who was following him. He was trying to scare the boy and it was working. Nico had heard the stories that Richard had told about the mercenary and Nico wasn't very interested in meeting the monster himself.

That being said, it looked like he wasn't going to have much of a choice soon. So his goal right now is to find back-up so that he may not die. Ghost didn't want to shadow travel until he had to because while Deathstroke didn't realize that he had powers, then he still had an advantage. That might also mean that Deathstroke's interest may move from wanting to know who crossed his path to wanting to recruit and/or dispose of him. Even if he managed to escape tonight, Deathstroke may decide that it would be worth his while to hunt the demigod down. With everything else that was going wrong in his life, he couldn't afford to have any more problems to deal with so he had to escape.

The goal at the moment was to find trees. Lots and lots of trees where he could call Ivy and hopefully she could come to help. He would just have to come up with a good reason for her to care about his alter ego but he was sure that he could come up with something since his life depended on it. Nico saw a park about a block ahead of him and ran for it. Of course, he knew that he couldn't outrun Deathstroke, but hopefully, he would have enough time before the mercenary caught up with him to tell the trees what he needed to. After that, Nico would just try to stall him until help arrived. That was probably the only way he would have a chance at surviving this.

Nike must have been on his side tonight because he made it to the park and immediately ran over to the nearest tree. It probably looked idiotic to an outsider, but Nico didn't have the time to worry about what he looked like at the moment. Nico whispered to it, hoping that Deathstroke wasn't close enough to overhear him, "Ivy? I'm a friend of Nico's. I've been searching for Percy, but now Deathstroke is after me. Please send help!" The disguised demigod begged before turning to flee deeper into the park. He had lost some ground and time with the pit stop but hopefully, he could still keep ahead of him for a few more minutes to give the plants time to relay his message to Ivy.

His luck ended as he only made it a few steps before something hit him solidly back and rope twined around him like a living thing. Even though it only tied his hands together, he fell to the ground with the force. Nico rolled onto his back and saw Deathstroke taking his time to advance. He was clearly enjoying this. As he got closer, Nico began to get more and more afraid. He was tall and had broad shoulders. His orange, black, and, gray uniform fit tightly to his body, and he could see that he was clearly very muscular. Also, he was missing an eye. What caught the son of Hades' attention was the huge knife in his hands.

"What were you doing in my territory?" He asked once he had gotten within a few feet. Nico had started to push himself back away from the mercenary with his feet, but he stepped on his ankle to keep the smaller boy in place. Ghost's face twisted in pain underneath all that weight since Deathstroke wasn't exactly a light man.

"I didn't know it was yours or I never would have gone there," Nico said truthfully. Only an absolute idiot would mess with Deathstroke on purpose. The mercenary pressed down harder on the younger's ankle and Nico was worried that he was going to break it. Nico hissed and turned his face away to try and hide the tears building in his eyes, even though the other man couldn't see it due to his mask. Nico wasn't used to prolonged pain-- he was used to 'kill or be killed'.

"Well, now that you know where I hang out, what do you think I should do with you?" He took his foot off Ghost's ankle and knelt next to him, eyeing him with a cold and calculating gaze. It was a rhetorical question, he knew since Deathstroke was planning on killing him no matter what he answered. Nico was not liking his chances that Ivy would find him before Deathstroke took him off the first census he would have been on since the thirties.

"I never wanted any trouble. I just was looking for a place to hang out. If you let me go, I won't tell anyone where you are." Nico pleaded. He wasn't afraid to die, though he was afraid of dying a painful death. Nico doubted that Deathstroke would make it easy for him -- he'd probably make an example out of him.

"Is that so? Why should I listen to anything you say?" He set the flat of his blade on his captive's cheek who froze like a deer in headlights. Sure he had been in life or death situations before, but this seemed different.

"Because I know you will kill me if I ever say anything." He was grasping at straws now and he knew it. This wasn't the Joker, who would drag out a rivalry for the heck of it. No, Deathstroke was much more efficient and he wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

"Why would I let you live when it's so much easier for me just to kill you now?" He asked as he trailed the knife down towards the demigod's throat. Nico started to panic-- what could he possibly say that would make it worth it to the older man to spare him?

"You mean what can I do for you?" Nico asked, for clarification.

"There you go, you catch on quickly." Nico couldn't tell if the mercenary was being sarcastic or not, but he figured that he had more imporant things to worry about than his pride. He also wasn't sure what he could do for the mercenary that would keep him alive so he started rambling to fill time.

"My name is Ghost and I usually tell my clients how someone died or how to kill someone. I collect information too, though I haven't been doing much of that lately." he rambled, making up little white lies as he went to make himself sound more useful. Hopefully he would come up with somthing that would make him important while he prayed that Ivy would show up soon.

"Clients, eh? Who are these clients?" He flicked the knife and made a quick cut on his jaw. Nico winced but managed to keep quiet, it felt like a long papercut. When he didn't respond at first, Deathstroke decided that he needed some prompting so he slapped him across the face, "Clients! Who are they?"

"Whoever pays! Young Justice, Poison Ivy, anyone who pays." The son of Hades managed, his jaw sore and throbbing. He could feel blood dripping off his chin, and it sparkled darkly on the grass. Deathstroke stood up and surveyed the park for a moment, Ghost hoped that meant the murderer was letting him go, but he wasn't optimistic.

"How much would they have to pay you to find out my location?" Deathstroke's eyes betrayed nothing that he could work with. This man could stand up to Alfred in the terms of poker faces.

"It isn't for sale," Nico assured him readily. The assassin nodded in agreement.

"Right, well. The kiddy league probably doesn't know about your diverse clientele, am I right? They wouldn't let you stay out on the street if they did-- furthering the criminal underworld. Let's go see what they're willing to give up to save you, then. Shall we?" Deathstroke kicked him in the head and he fell unconcious. While unconcious, he dreamed. This was strange in and of itself because he didn't think that people dreamed after they were forced unconcious because it wasn't like his brain had entered REM sleep or anything like that. Magic dreams apparently didn't care about what was humanly possible.

Nico saw Hazel sitting at the edge of the wolf camp, and he could tell that she was asleep because of the fuzziness of the dream. You know, the dream-like quality of the picture. He sat down beside her and she glanced over. She smiles when she sees that it's her brother.

"Nico! I was worried that something had happened to you. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm ok." He lied easily. He was most certainly not ok. She gave him a doubtful look but apparently decided not to press it for which he was glad. Nico had no idea what he would have said to her otherwise.

"Are you done with the trials?" He asked, mainly to keep the conversation off of himself.

"Yes, I'll be headed off to camp tomorrow morning. Will you be able to come with me?" Nico thought about it for a minute, trying to decide if he liked his chances of getting out of this alive or not.

"No, I don't think so. Can you make it by yourself?"

She looked unsurprised, "Do I have a choice?" She asked, though not unkindly.

"No, not really. I'm sorry, I would go with you if I could." He apologized, feeling guilty. It wasn't like he had planned on getting himself captured, though in retrospect he probaby shouldn't have put himself in such a precarious situation while he was in the middle of so many important things.

"I understand, I'll see you after I get there?" She said in more of a question than a statement. Nico nodded, though he wouldn't dare promise her anything. He knew just how heartbreaking a broken promise could be.

"Bye Nico. Take care now, will you?" She said standing and he stood up with her. Nico didn't know why he did it, but he pulled Hazel into a quick hug. She returned the gesture without question or hesitation. That was the first time he had hugged anyone since... probably Bianca. The bat boys often hugged him, but he had never really initiated anything before.

"You be careful, alright? Father will kill me if I let you get hurt." She laughs and Nico chuckled along. Hades may not kill him, but he'd probably ground him for the rest of his life. All that paperwork...

"Alright, I'll try." The dream Hazel faded out and Nico could feel himself starting to wake up too. He guessed that meant that he wasn't dead, then.

When he woke up, he found himself tied down to a very uncomfortable chair so tightly that it was painful. Ghost was unarmed and had a throbbing headache-- it felt like his brain was made of cotton. He could feel the bruise forming where Deathstroke had kicked him and he could hear his blood pumping in his ears. The bright lights blinded him and he had to allow his eyes to adjust. He squinted as he looked around the room to try and see anything useful. His sword laid on the floor in the corner of the room, along with his utility belt. Luckily his mask was still on. His hands were tied behind him, and his feet were tied to the legs of the chair. There was no way he was getting out of here without help.

Deathstroke came into the room not long after he woke up. He didn't seem surprised to see the younger boy awake, though Nico wasn't sure that he would have been able to tell either way. He pulled out a length of cloth that looked to be from an old shirt and he came towards his victim, wadding it up. Ghost squirmed in his seat as he had no idea what he had intended to do with that cloth, but he was sure that he wouldn't like it.

"Open your mouth or I will have to force it open myself." He said, getting really up close and personal with him. He had one shin resting against the chair between the boy's legs and the other on the outside of his left leg. Nico could hear the man's breath by his ear and it made him shiver involuntarily.

When the demigod didn't immediately open his mouth, the assassin threatened me, "Don't make me ask twice." Nico opened his mouth and Deathstroke forced it open wider and stuffed the cloth in. Nico gagged and tried to pull away so the mercenary pushed his neck up against the back of the chair and incapacitated him that way. Ghost tried to push the wad out of his mouth with his tongue but it was caught against the back of his teeth.

"Let's call that mini-league of yours, shall we?" Deathstroke went over to his computer array while Nico tried to figure out how he was going to explain this to the bat family. Maybe he'd just tell them that a dream convinced him to go there. Still stupid, yes, but not as strange as him wondering the streets of Gotham for no reason. Though the costume bit was going to take a bit more explaining.

A couple of minutes later, Deathstroke's display lit up and Nico saw a sleepy Young Justice on the monitors so he guessed it was still nighttime then. That's good at least; that means that he wasn't unconscious for too long.

"Deathstroke, what do you want?" Dick asked with an edge to his voice.

"I want to help you of course. You see, I found something of interest in my territory tonight. They claim to have done work for you guys before?" Deathstroke cut straight to the point.

"Who?"

"He goes by the name Ghost," Deathstroke stepped out of the way of the monitor, "I think you'll recognize the name?" By moving out of the way, Deathstroke was allowing the team to see him in the background. Nico wanted to cloak himself in shadows and never come out again-- how embarrassing. He saw Nightwing's face flash with something like surprise before falling back into a passive mask.

"Yes, we've worked with him before, what do you want with him?"

"With him? Nothing. I want to meet up with you to... chat." Deathstroke sounded smug. Nico didn't know what was worse, getting captured by Nightwing's stalker or being used as leverage to get Nightwing to spend time with his abuser. This was definitely a worst-case-scenario if you asked him. He decided that, if it came to that, he'd just use his powers to get himself out of it. He didn't want Dick to have to pay for his mistake.

"Why should I?" Deathstroke had probably been expecting this so he came towards the consultant, drawing his knife. Nico started to struggle as much as he could since he had deduced that he was either about to die or be tortured in an effort to get Dick to concede. In all honesty, it was a pitiful effort-- Deathstroke obviously had experience with holding people captive.

The assassin walked around behind the demigod, which did nothing for his already frayed nerves. He grabbed his captive's hair and used it to pull his head back so that he could only see the crusty ceiling tiles. The son of Hades cried out in both pain and protest, but the noise was pretty much lost through the gag. Deathstroke braced the back of the boy's head on the chair and Nico found himself unable to move-- tears of both pain and fear crept back up into his eyes, making his vision blurry. Deathstroke brought the knife up to the younger's head and by this time he was freaking out.

"If you don't, this young man loses an eye, slowly. I suggest--" he was cut off by a vine as thick as Deathstroke's leg wrapping around his waist. Before he could do anything, the vine flicked him into the wall like he weighed no more than a fly. Ivy had finally shown up. Plants tangled around Deathstroke as he tried to get up. He was spitting curses and trying to rip the vines away but more took their place until all you could see of the career killer was his face and hands. It would have been laughable if Nico had been in the mood.

Nico felt someone slicing away at the ropes holding his hands and he hoped it was Ivy. As soon as his hands were free, he pulled the gag out of his mouth and Ivy freed his legs. The whole process took a matter of seconds. Ghost grabbed his weapons in the corner and hastily waved at the monitor, which displayed a thoroughly confused YJ team, before following Ivy out of the warehouse. Nico thanked her hastily and at the next intersection and they parted company. She just yelled that he owed her as she headed back towards Toxic Acres. When she was out of sight, Nico shadow traveled to the cemetery. From there he could find his way back to the manor. If he had been thinking straight, he would have tried to go straight to the manor but near-death experiences had a way of frying your brain.

Because he was stressed out and overstimulated, Nico accidentally transported himself into a mausoleum. Instead of leaving straight away, he sat down in the darkness for a few minutes, catching his breath and trying to process everything that had just happened to him. Nico massaged his jaw, which still hurt from the gag, and rubbed the back of my neck. The cut on his jaw had scabbed over and his forehead had stopped throbbing so hard, though he was certain that he had a bruise. He may have come out worse for wear, but at least he had made it out. Nico yawned as the adrenaline faded away.

When he felt up to it, he used his sword to cut the clasp on the door and used a good amount of his remaining energy trying to shove open the door. Eventually, it gave and he was able to force it open. Nico walked outside to see that he had been stuck in a really old mausoleum. It was so old that the name had worn off. Whoever this had belonged to, thei family obviously never visited or paid for the upkeep anymore. It was abandoned. Then it was as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head. What better place for an anti-hero like him to set up shop except in a cemetery? It wasn't like the dead would mind.

Nico left the cemetery after doing a soul search for Deathstroke even though there was no way that he could have tracked him after he shadow traveled. Nico did not want to run into that man again in his lifetime. Luckily he was not around and Ghost made it back to the manor without a fuss. He expected to see at least one of my brothers there or something but the manor was empty. They probably couldn't get away because they were trying to track down Ghost. Jason and Damian probably didn't know about this whole thing yet either.

The son of Hades decided to make sure that the others knew that he had made it home safely by going into the Batcave and putting his suit up. There was some kind of sensor in the cave that told them when someone was in the cave. After tonight's escapades, his brothers would be expecting him to come down here, though he didn't spend much time in the cave, exhausted and in pain.

Nico headed off to bed, where he fell asleep almost immediately; it would seem that being a hostage really takes it out of a person? He knew that he was going to be in some serious trouble the next morning but he had his excuses all planned out so he should at least survive the encounter. He was not looking forward to Grayson going all mother hen on him, though. He was never going to let this go.

............

Nightwing's POV

What the hell was Nico doing outside the Manor at night? And as Ghost, no less! He was beyond lucky that Deathstroke hadn't carved him up on sight. He would bet that the Fates didn't hate him as much as he thought they did. It wasn't just that fact taht he could have died that bothered the eldest brother, though. He was also worried about how much Nico had given away. Deathstroke was anything but a fool and Nico could have easily said more than he thought he had. It was clear that Nico told the assassin that the team knew him, what else did he tell him? For that matter, what did he show Slade? Does he know that Nico has powers? Does he know his identity? Does Ivy know his Identity?

It had certainly surprised the heroes who were staying at the mountain to hear the alarm that meant that our computer systems were under attack. Things had been a little quiet around here lately and Dick had foolishly lowered his guard. Apparently, that had just been the calm before the storm and what a storm it turned out to be. Richard was surprised that Deathstroke bothered to contact him around the team, though. He was usually much more subtle than that. He liked to play games and enjoyed watching Dick squirm under the knowledge that Slade was after him again.

What took the cake, however, was when Slade stepped aside and expose Ghost. There was Nico, a gag in his mouth, tied to a chair. The whole deal. The strangest part was that Nico's facial expressions didn't really show how scared he was, even when Slade threatened to carve out his eye. The only thing that gave him away was the tension in his body. Even still, the tension wouldn't have been obvious to anybody who hadn't been around Nico when he was calm. How he acted as Ghost didn't count. He was never calm around people he didn't know or like.

He guessed the only thing more surprising than Ghost tied to a chair, was the fact that Poison Ivy saved him. What was up with that? Deathstroke and Ivy typically left each other alone, so why the sudden interference? Dick knew that Ivy had known Nico before she went crazy, but that doesn't explain why she helped Ghost now. Did he have her on speed dial or something? Not much about this situation made a whole lot of sense and he knew that the team was just as confused as he was because they talked in hushed tones while he spoke to Deathstroke. None of them had really gotten to know Ghost, but he had made an impression. The team was pretty divided on the topic of the young anti-hero. Some hated him, some liked him, but most of them we just wary.

While Nightwing had talked to Deathstroke, it had been really hard for him to keep the surprise out of his voice. He knew that if he showed the slightest interest in Ghost, Slade would never leave him alone. to protect his brother, he had to pretend to be an indifferent third party yet still be righteous about saving their informan's life. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem for him, but he had been so worried for Nico's well-being that neutrality had become almost impossible. He just hoped that he hadn't come across as nervous as he felt.

Dick was grateful that Nico had been able to get out on his own because it saved him from having to meet up with Deathstroke. Those meetings almost never ended well as the assassin always either tried to sway the protege to join him or capture him and Dick wasn't in the mood to deal with that while Nico's life was on the line and he didn't have Batman or the Justice League to back him up. Deathstroke had the ability to make Nightwing feel like a newbie and made him question his judgement and abilities. Nightwing was never at his best when facing Slade.

Nightwing would have gone to check on Nico right away, but the team assured him that the young cosultant could take care of himself-- especially if he had Ivy in his corner. Tim promised that, if he didn't show up at the mountain by tomorrow, they would call the other and they would all go looking for him. Dick still wanted to go find him right then, but he had to do as the team suggested. If he didn't, they would get suspicious as to why he was so concerned about this one anti-hero. Well, he was more of a hero, but the team didn't know that.

Dick's anxiety was relieved only slightly when I got a notification that someone had entered the Batcave. At least he had made it home, was he alright? Was he panicking? Was he injured? Dick wished again that he could go check on him, but he guessed that the next morning would have to do. After all, the younger boy probably wanted to be alone to recover some. However, Dick wasn't really sure that he cared about what he wanted at that moment. He had gone and almost gotten himself killed and Dick ahd the right to be worried.

He ahd even considered sending Jason home to check on him, but the antihero probably wouldn't pick up his phone if he was working. Jason usually went off the grid during the times before missions. Or he might just be ignoring him, you never knew for sure with Jason. No matter the case, it took him a long time to get to sleep with so much on his mind. He just wanted to know that his brother was ok, and then he could relax.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Nico woke up early from a strange dream he couldn't remember the details, but he knew that it had been about Hera and the quest. It had seemed important at the time but it was all fuzzy now. Still, it was disturbing and he knew that it would be pointless to try and fall asleep again, though he was still tired. He got up and went to his bathroom to shower and try to ground himself from the chaos of the last several days. It felt like he hadn't been able to slow down since Bruce left and his luck didn't show signs of improving.

Nico showered and changed into clean clothes-- it helped more than he thought he would. It was peaceful and comfortable in the manor and he considered for the millionth time just staying as he reluctantly packed another overnight bag for the mountain. When he was finished, he hauled his bag down to the kitchen to search for a granola bar. He packed a few more just in case he wanted to skip an awkward group breakfast or something and ate one for breakfast before heading down to the cave to grab his uniform.

He didn't think he'd need his uniform, but it couldn't hurt to bring it along just in case. The son of Hades sat on the training platform since he still had an hour or so before the people at the mountain would be expecting him and he was all packed. It was a habit of his to either run late or be ready hours in advance-- there was no in-between. Since he was ready, there was nothing left for him to do except sit and dread facing his brothers. They were going to strangle him and finish what Slade started. Eventually, the silence and stillness became too much for him to stand so he busied himself by drawing Deathstroke as he had appeared when he had been standing over him. Nico worked on it until he got a text from Dick.

Dick: You coming?

Nico: Yeah, on my way. (or that was what it was supposed to say).

Nico packed his sketchbook into his bag and headed over to the zeta beams. It took him a moment to remember how to operate the system but he had soon figured it out and had selected the mountain as his location. when he stepped through the beam, he found the entire team waiting for him on the other side. This time they were all abuzz; talking amongst themselves in hushed voices and glancing at him discreetly. Ghost waved awkwardly, not quite sure what to say. Most of them had seen him tied up by one of their most dangerous villains only hours earlier after all.

"Dude... you're friends with Poison Ivy? That's totally crash!" Mini flash II raced around him as he came down the steps; how the boy didn't trip was beyond him.

"Crash?" The son of Hades wrinkled his nose. Nico thought he had gotten caught up with the lingo of this age, but he had never heard anything like that before. The speedster said it like it was a compliment, but a crash was something you tried to avoid. It didn't make sense. He looked at the others for assistance, presumably, they would know what it meant.

"Don't worry Hermano, that's a good thing." The blue beetle dude said from where he stood among the group. Nico hummed in response since he wasn't sure what an appropriate response would have been. Instead, he decided to address what was said.

"Friend isn't the right word. I asked her for help and she came through. Now I owe her a favor." The demigod replied shortly. He didn't really want to get into his relation with Ivy. He might say something that might compromise her or himself-- and subsequently the bat family. The less said about the woman, the better.

"What kind of favor?" Artemis piped up, narrowing her eyes at him. Nico didn't know how to interpret the look. Was she suspicious of him or angry with him? He could understand either reaction, but it didn't make it any easier for him to relax.

"I don't know. Whatever she needs from me, I guess." Nico really had no idea what Ivy would ask of him if anything. She might forget about his debt to her and it would never come up again. That was wishful thinking.

"You got yourself into debt with a supervillain. Great going, genius." Artemis growled.

"I needed help quickly and I knew Poison Ivy was in the area. What would you have had me do?" Ghost returned, crossing his arms. He felt himself getting defensive. It was true that the setup wasn't ideal, but it was also true that he had survived only because he had made the decision to bring Ivy into his affairs. He also couldn't understand why Artemis would be so concerned with what kind of trouble he found himself in since she didn't even seem to like him. What did it matter to her who he associated with?

"Wait for us to come and get you!" She spat. She had always been passive-aggressive towards him but this seemed different. This was almost hostile and Nico didn't think he had deserved it. Yes, it had been stupid for him to get captured like that, but he had done the best he could with the resources that were available and he made it out alive. All in all, he was proud of how he handled it-- though he wasn't about to tell her that.

"He was going to torture and kill me! I didn't have time to wait for you guys to come and try to find me! If I hadn't mentioned that I had done work for the bats, I think he would have cut my head off as soon as he caught me." Nico bit out, indignant that he was being chewed out by another teen hero. The other members were watching them with either interest or unease. Probably both.

"Are you ok, my friend?" Kaldur'ahm interjected before Artemis could build up steam. Ghost waved away the Atlantean's question; he didn't want to talk about himself or his feelings. Next thing you know, they have a psychiatrist looking him over and suggesting things like 'group therapy'. They probably weren't too far from that as it was. The demigod saw that Kaldur was about to insist he answer, but luckily he was cut off by Tim.

"How did you contact Ivy?" He asked carefully, knowing that the demigod was already agitated. Luckily, Nico liked Tim.

"I asked the trees to contact her. The trees speak to her." He explained. Murmurs broke out in the group and Nightwing silenced them. Turning his attention to his younger brother, he started to speak,

"How did you know to tell him about us?"

Nico assumed he meant Deathstroke, "I didn't, I was just trying not to die. Talking was my only option since I was tied up and all." he pointed out. His thoughts drifted to what Thanatos had threatened to do to him if he died. It had been funny then but, it wasn't so funny now. Nico didn't really want him to throw his soul into the River Styx.

"You are thinking of the... grim reaper? I believe that is the term?" Miss Martian cut in, her eyes were glowing green. Ghost had been distracted by the questions and he hadn't realized that she was in his head. Before he could protest, she continued, "and a man, the same man as last time, yelling at you? He is yelling at you for... dying?" She sounded either appalled or confused, it was hard to say. Nico was frozen. What she had seen wasn't a real event. He had been thinking about how mad Hades would be if he showed up in the Underworld without his body. How was he supposed to explain that to a bunch of superheroes?

Instead, he just waited, seeing as too much time had passed for his retort to carry any weight. They were all staring at him now, and he had no idea what to do. Miss Martian approached him, seemingly in a stupor. Her eyes had stopped glowing now, there was concern and curiosity in her eyes now. Nico was honestly a little creeped out. Was he supposed to say something? Had she seen something else in his mind that had compromised his family and she was taking it all in? What was she going to do when she reached him?

"What are you doing?" the demigod backed away a few feet and the Martian paused. Nico glanced at Nightwing who was watching M'gann closely. Great, real helpful Dick. That name was sounding slightly more appropriate now.

"Who is that man? Why do you think about him so often? The faces in his cloak... who are they?" She a few feet away from him now, looking at the consultant for answers.

"It doesn't matter. That wasn't a real event anyway. I thought I had asked you to stay out of my head. Next time, I'll show you why you should have stayed out." The son of Hades said taking another step back.

She ignored him, "Why won't you let people help you?"

Nico stared at her, "Trust issues. Plus, I don't even know you. I'm really not sure what makes you think that it's ok to ignore my wishes and invade my thoughts whenever you feel like it."

"You wouldn't have called us, even if you thought you had time, would you?" She accused, ignoring the rest of what he had said. He didn't know what to say to that, He probably would have tried to call Jason first... since he wasn't part of the team. Though he would have called someone.

"You guys wouldn't be my first choice for help, no. But I would have called someone. Despite what it seems like, I don't want to die." Nico didn't like this, it felt too personal. He felt like this girl was psychoanalyzing him and it made his skin crawl.

"Who would you call first?" Now she was just curious. Ghost couldn't very well tell her that he would have called the infamous vigilante Red Hood. They would lock him up for that, or try to grill him for info on the antihero. So, Nico answered her question with a question.

"It doesn't matter now, does it? Please just stop asking me questions about this. I'm alive, I'm fine, and I'm done talking about myself." He crossed his arms, hoping she got the message.

"My apologies." She said backing away, it didn't seem like she was too sorry though. She turned and walked back towards the group. The weird green dude with frills on the side of his cheeks put an arm around her waist. He thought he heard him call her... angelfish? Nico wrinkled his nose, but he supposed that-- to each their own.

"Are you done with this interrogation? I came back on your request, I don't need to be questioned." Artemis coughed but Nico elected to ignore her for the time being. He was sure that the archer wasn't always like this, her team wouldn't have bonded with her if she had been. Something had changed her mindset the first time, it could be done again. Nico had seen this a lot in other demigods, especially ones that came from bad home environments. He saw this in Clarisse even now, after all these years. The son of Hades was an outsider to her so of course, she wasn't going to be friendly right off the bat. He just needed to give her time.

"Maybe don't get into life or death situations and we won't have to." Artemis countered.

"That's kind of in the job description though, isn't it? With Clients like mine, I know that safety isn't a guarantee. I made that choice and I will deal with the consequences just like the rest of you, alright? I need you to stop treating me like a child and start seeing me as a peer." Nico countered.

"You are a child." Artemis crossed her arms. Nico locked eyes with Nightwing who subtly shook his head. He didn't want him to talk about how he was born in the 20's and literally wasn't a child. This was frustrating.

The demigod sighed, "Sure. Fine. But that still doesn't invalidate my point. Especially since I am not the youngest here."

"Though you are the most inexperienced."

"Also not true." Nico shook his head. She was certainly jumping to a lot of conclusions.

" I call bull."

"That's your prerogative." Nico waved away her remarks easily. If she wouldn't listen to the truth, that was her business.

"Nightwing!" Artemis turned to his older brother as if she expected him to back her up.

"I'm staying out of this." he raised his hands in surrender.

"Real helpful," she muttered, "I bet your parents are really proud of you." She directed the second part back at their consultant.

"I wouldn't know. They're dead." Nico shrugged, "Are yours proud of you?" Nico knew it was a low blow, but she had pushed him to it. He was sick of the questions, the hostility, and the invasion of privacy. Nico knew Artemis came from a family of villains and he figured that she must be the black sheep of a family like that. It stood to reason, at least. It also made sense that she wouldn't want people to know about it. No matter where she went, she must feel like she didn't belong. He of all people could understand the feeling.

Artemis stood struck dumb for a few moments before simply turning and stalking out of the room without a word. He wasn't all that worried about her; she was strong and could handle a lot more than a small jab. The team, however, did not share his thought process. Most of them looked uncomfortable, some were confused, and the rest were livid. Only Dick and Tim were emotionless; though only on the outside. Nico figured they were angry too, by the stiff ways that they held themselves. He had clearly struck a bigger nerve than he thought.

"What did she do to you to deserve that?" That was the superman clone. He believed his name was Connor.

"Yeah, that was pretty low." Kid Flash spoke up, "Her family is a touchy subject."

"I didn't know. I didn't think that would affect her that much. I was simply turning her question back on her." Nico replied evenly.

"Some nerve! Coming into our base and then attacking one of our members." This was the red-eyed, green-skinned dude. Lagoon?

"She was attacking me!" Nico countered, incredulous. "Look, I can leave if you want, but I think Deathstroke may still be looking for me." Nico said, getting tired of this.

"You can stay here for the next couple of days." Nightwing said. Ghost felt that there was a silent 'but' tagged on the end of that, though he doubted that the older vigilante would want to get into it here.

"Did you have to bring her family into this?" Tim spoke up, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"She brought mine into it! It was only fair. Plus, I don't have room to judge her on her family, whoever they may be."

"What does that mean?" Kaldur frowned.

"My family is made up of very bad people. Murderers, thieves, rapists, child support evaders, incestual marriages, etc. My grandfather was a cannibal, my great grandmother set one group of her children against the other so that they'd kill one another, I could go on, but you get the gist, I think." He had greatly condensed his family's history. Even having left out quite a bit, it sounded horrible.

"Are you..." one of the girls looked embarrassed to ask. She was wearing a magician's uniform, that's all he knew.

"Am I what? I'm not a criminal if that is what you were asking." Nico figured that that eliminated well over half the list. She shook her head. The demigod thought back over the list, the only thing on that list that sometimes wasn't illegal was the incest. With gods though, he wasn't sure that it really counted.

"Incestual? No! No, I am not." He chuckled, relieved. She nodded, blushing. He must admit, it could have been a bad question to ask if he were. He'd imagine that it would be a touchy subject.

"So are you staying here or not?" Connor cut in impatiently.

"Yes, it would seem so. Just until the dust settles."

"Fine." Connor said shortly. Nico could tell that he meant anything but that. Why did telling people the truth make them so angry? The teens started to move off to do their own thing. They were casting glances at him and muttering to each other as they walked away. Great.

Nightwing told him that he would use the same room as he had last time before he left to go do something or other. He didn't even stay to talk to him or make sure he was alright. Apparently, Nico hadn't just hit a nerve, he'd hit an artery. When he reached his temporary room, he shut the door behind him and leaned his back against it. He felt like screaming. Instead, he sighed, laid back on the bed, and rested an arm over his eyes. He considered his brother's uncharacteristic silence.

It had been the first time they had gotten a chance to talk since the Deathstroke incident and Nightwing didn't even ask if he was had been injured. Sure, Nico had stepped over a line with Artemis, but he didn't think the whole team should have gotten involved with their little disagreement. It didn't make sense. At camp, if one cabin had a problem with another, they would work it out between them. Their allied cabins didn't choose up sides and make a war out of it. Why couldn't he and Artemis have problems without everyone else choosing sides? And why did his brothers seem to overlook everything that Artemis and the team had done and said to him that had been out of line? Couldn't they show him sympathy for that?

Instead of defending him or at the very least listening to him, they began ignoring him. The son of Hades could handle a lot of things, but the silent treatment wasn't one of them. He could handle people screaming at him and calling him horrible things-- at least then he could tell that people knew he existed. What really got to him was when people refused to acknowledge his presence. He'd been invisible for so long that, now that he knew what it was like to be seen, he didn't want things to go back to the way they were before.

Nico hated it loneliness and, more than anything, he hated feeling non-existent. It was like what he imagined being a ghost would feel like. He could see and hear everyone else but no one could hear or see him. He might as well not even exist. That's why he believed Asphodel to be worse than the fields of punishment because at least in punishment someone knew who you were. Ghost sat up on the bed, knowing that he didn't want to just sit there, but he didn't feel like doing anything else either. Nico sat down at the desk and set his sketchbook out on the tabletop. He opened it to an empty page and set out all of his pens and pencils. Then he sat there and waited for inspiration.

He finally got some after he had slipped back into thinking about the shouting match from earlier. Nico was planning on drawing Artemis' face as he had seen it before she left. It was not an easy draw-- either technically or emotionally. It made him feel really bad about what he said. He regretted throwing her insecurities back in her face like that. He'd apologize when he got the chance. He finished drawing her hairline just as someone opened his door. He turned to look at the door and saw Nightwing just standing in the doorway.

"Yes?" Nico shut his sketchbook to hide his drawing.

"Are you coming to lunch?" Dick's voice was formless and he couldn't get a read on what the older boy was thinking. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. Nico could feel the back of his neck and his shoulders starting to tighten and his throat became dry with anxiety.

"I don't think that would be a good idea. I'm not anyone's favorite person right now." Dick didn't reply, but he didn't move from the door, either. Nico guessed that it was time for lunch. He felt his throat tighten and he forced himself to swallow, though it hurt to do so. He shoved his sketchbook into his backpack and zipped it up. He wanted to make sure that Dick knew that his drawings were off-limits. Especially now that the older wasn't even speaking to him.

Nico left his bag on his bed. Taking a deep breath, he walked past Nightwing out the door. He went to the kitchen where part of the team was already located. He hesitated at the doorway but Nightwing pushed him in. People looked his way and conversation slowed to a stop. He glanced around at everybody, feeling the tension in the room build. No one was speaking to him anymore it seemed. It hurt more than he thought it would. He moved a little way into the kitchen before leaning on the counter, about as far away as he could get from them. It was more because he didn't want to bother them, than being afraid of them. He had caused enough trouble in the two short times that he had been here. Nico was going to try his best to not make them hate him any more than they already did.

They had apparently decided to ignore him because conversation started up again but Nico didn't bother paying attention. It wasn't any of his business what they were talking about. He just focused on the sick feeling in his stomach. He was being given the silent treatment by the entire Young Justice. Who knows, maybe the Justice League was next.

Nightwing eyed him wearily. When he saw that the younger wasn't planning on grabbing food for himself, he sighed and grabbed the boy something out of the fridge. He then chucked a thing of yogurt at his face. The demigod barely managed to catch it against his chest. Nightwing moved on like nothing much had happened and got him a spoon. Everyone in the room had gotten quiet again so Nico just silently ate the yogurt, avoiding eye contact with everyone. He was feeling very anxious with all of their eyes on him. Even when they had looked away, he couldn't help but feel the weight of their eyes. It felt like every move he made was being monitored which made him feel even worse.

He quietly threw the empty yogurt container away and was about to walk out of the kitchen when Nightwing blocked his exit. He didn't say anything, but his meaning was clear: he was not leaving this room right now. Nico backed up a couple of steps and went back to his position by the counter. He wanted to throw up. He felt bile rise in his throat and he had to swallow it down. No one was speaking to him. No one was looking at him and no one was acknowledging his existence. He felt invisible. His own brothers weren't even talking to him anymore.

Connor looked over at the consultant in confusion, he must have an elevated heartbeat or something. Superboy whispered something to M'gann who looked over at Ghost and shrugged. Nico just hoped that she would know enough to stay out of his head. He didn't want to traumatize another member of the team. He didn't think she would like a look at the fields of punishment much, but he didn't want her snooping into anything more vital either.

When everyone had finished eating and had filed out, then Nightwing let him leave. Nico went straight back to the room and found the door left ajar. He went inside and found nothing really out of place that he could see. He briefly entertained the idea that maybe it had drifted open, but he quickly dismissed that because he could remember hearing a click when Nightwing closed it. Someone had been inside. Ghost looked through his belongings and found that nothing was missing. And nothing obvious was out of place. So they had come in and what... just looked around? Who was in here? What were they looking for? He thought he had accounted for everyone at breakfast, but with so many of them, he could have lost count.

The son of Hades sat on his bed, feeling violated. They had probably gone through his stuff and violated his privacy. What were they hoping to find, anyway? Then a thought struck him. There were two important items that he hadn't seen when he had gone through his bag. His Hades figurine and his camp necklace. His heart rate sped up and he could feel the bile rise in the back of his throat. He snatched the bag back up from his bed.

"I swear to all the gods..." He trailed off as he searched through it. He couldn't find either of them. Out of all the oddities in his backpack, they manage to pick out the two most important items. Nico sat back on the bed, wondering what he should do. Why did they want those items? What drew the team to them? Nico wandered out to the living room where a majority of the team had gathered. Once again, their voice slowly stopped as they realized that he was there.

"Someone went into my room and took two items. I want them back." Nico said, sounding deadly calm. It wasn't intentional, but he had no intention of changing his tone either.

"No one took anything man, calm down." Said a large man called Mel... Mal? Whatever.

"Don't tell me that nothing is missing. I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't say anything unless I was sure. They're valuable and I want them back." He must have looked pretty intimidating because he pursed his lips and looked at the others for help.

"I wouldn't have thought you would have anything valuable?" Someone asked. Nico hadn't seen who spoke but he answered anyway.

"Sentimental value."

"I wouldn't have pegged you as the sentimental type either." Nico didn't bother dignifying that with a response.

"Someone probably got revenge." One girl... Kathryn? Kara? Something. Suggested.

"I never stole anything. If someone wants revenge, they can come yell at me." He countered.

"What are you going on about now?" Connor came into the room. The demigod knew he had probably heard the whole thing, but he humored him anyway.

"Someone went into my room and took two items from me. I want them back. Now." Ghost was beyond furious, and he thought they could tell as he wasn't exactly trying to hide it. Nico hoped that the shadows weren't drawn to him as that would be the perfect thing to cap off a perfect morning.

"Ask Nightwing." He shrugged.

"If you haven't noticed, he's not exactly speaking to me right now."

"I wonder why." Lagoon snapped. Nico bit back a retort that would have started a fight. Instead, he elected to ignore him.

"Fine, asking Nightwing then. I just want my stuff back guys." He said tiredly as he stalked out of the room. Nico walked into the arena area where he found Nightwing and Kaldur'ahm training. He stood silently by the edge of the platform, waiting for them to finish. It was really close, up to the very end. Dick and Kaldur ended up in a stalemate, calling it a draw. Nightwing must have been really off his game. They both went and got drinks, ignoring him. When they came back by, they stopped in front of the consultant.

"What is it you need?" Kaldur questioned politely.

"Someone was in my room. They took two valuables. I just want them back." Nico said softly, he didn't like how it was Kaldur who had spoken to him first. If the items hadn't been this important, he would have just left it alone.

"What did they take?" This was Nightwing finally talking to him. He knew that Nico never had much, so he had never been a materialistic person. If his younger brother was bothering him over some items, he knew they had to be important.

"My figurine and my beaded necklace." He replied. Nightwing's features softened. He knew how much that figurine meant to Nico. It was the last thing he had of Bianca. The necklace reminded him of how many things that he had survived and linked him back to the other demigods. They could have taken anything else and he would have been ok.

"Ok, we'll get them back. Do you have any idea who might have taken them?" Kaldur'ahm asked. Ghost shook his head, looking at his feet. He'd really rather not make a big deal out of this.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to cause any more problems. I just really need those." Nightwing nodded, he understood.

"We'll find them. I think it would be better if we looked for them without you." Nico didn't question it. As long as he got them back, he didn't care how it happened. The son of Hades went back to his room and absentmindedly colored in Artemis' uniform. He had finished the lighter green arrow when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." he closed his sketchbook. Nightwing appeared in his doorway. He came over to the younger's desk, fiddling with one of the pockets of his utility belt. He finally got it open and set the two lost items on Nico's desk. Immediately the demigod grabbed the Hades figurine and looked it over, trying to see if anything was broken, it wasn't. Nothing seemed to be missing from the necklace either. What had they been planning on doing with it anyway?

"Thank you, Nightwing." Nico said, relieved. Dick gave him a small smile and clapped him on the shoulder.

"No problem. I know those are important to you." He left, closing the door behind him. Nico put the necklace on around his neck, no longer caring to keep it hidden. The easiest way to make sure it isn't lost or stolen is to keep it with you 100 percent of the time. He also slipped the figurine into the pocket of his jeans. He went back to the drawing of Artemis, now at least feeling comfortable again. He still wasn't happy that his privacy had been invaded, but now that he had the items back, he was willing to let it drop. Nico finished the drawing with a few hours until they might call him to dinner.

The son of Hades didn't want to be around them, knowing that one of them had been in his room, but he didn't have a choice if he wanted to avoid causing a scene. Nico also didn't like eating around people that he wasn't comfortable with. It was silly, but he just always felt like he was being watched. Instead of just lounging around his room for the next few hours, he decided to go to their gym space and maybe exercise a little bit. It wouldn't be very strenuous stuff, just enough to ease the tension in his body. Nico needed a distraction from the silent treatment.

He wasn't sure if Nightwing was still giving him the silent treatment or it had ended when he gave him the figurine. He hoped that it had ended, because he wasn't sure he could handle another day of it. How long did silent treatments usually last? Bianca used to give him the silent treatment all the time. That only really lasted for about two minutes at a time. Luckily, there wasn't anyone in the gym and he had free reign of whatever machine or equipment he wanted to use. Nico surveyed the room, trying to decide what to do first. Nothing really caught his eye until he spotted a huge raised platform in the far corner of the room, with computers lining the walls next to it. He made his way through the assorted machines over to it, wanting to see what it was.

When he got there, he turned on the computers and hit a button at random. At first, Nico didn't notice what it had done until he looked around and saw a ninja standing on the platform. It looked so real that he instinctively got into a defensive stance. When it didn't move for a minute or two, he hit another button to see if anything changed. The next button he hit changed the ninja to a person dual-wielding escrima sticks appeared on the platform. Nico continued hitting random buttons until he found one that displayed a holographic sword fighter. He stepped onto the platform, and the hologram began to move around, taking up a starting position. He guessed the next question is whether or not it can make contact.

[This is the same type of holographic fight simulator that they used in the good Teen Titans]

Nico took up a starting position across from it and waited to see what happened. He was expecting for it to make him take the first move, but it lunged at the demigod and he barely managed to block the attack. After a few seconds, he managed to switch to the offensive, driving the swordsman back. Nico slashed at his head, but the warrior managed to deflect it downwards. He brought his swords down towards Nico's head but he managed to block. Nico pushed him back and managed to slice him across his abdomen. There was no fanfare, the match was just over. The hologram fizzled out and the demigod heard one coming up behind him.

He turned around to find another fighter, but this one was using a knife. Nico backed off the platform to see what that was all about. Apparently, he had selected the 'assorted medieval' option on accident. He fiddled through the options until he found the one labeled 'mob'. He figured now was as good a time as any to try other fighting styles in a real battlefield situation. This was a controlled environment and he wasn't too far away from medical assistance if he needed it. Why not experiment and see what he liked or wanted to learn more of? All of the other boys had their gimmicks and he wanted to see what specialized fighting felt like in a prolonged battle.

Maybe he could try dual-wielding-- he had always wanted to do that. He Iooked around the room until he found an assortment of weapons in a repurposed closet. There weren't any swords for Greek or Roman styles, but there were plenty of katanas. Nico grabbed two that were about the right length for him. Nico figured that he might as well try them out. What better time than when you were facing a hologram?

Nico went back over to the computers and started the program. A group of faceless soldier holograms appeared on the platform. He got up on the pad and jumped into battle as they came at him almost immediately. Since Nico hadn't had any experience with this style, he found him relying more on his instincts rather than trying to predict his enemy's movements. It was a less efficient way of doing things, but he needed a little while to adjust to using his two arms independently of one another. He was surprised to find that he enjoyed the challenge and after a while he found himself adapting to the style.

The son of Hades ducked a roundhouse kick that was aimed for his head while also managing to cut the back of his opponent's leg. Nico knocked a punch aside with the flat of his blade while stabbing the hologram in the gut. He sliced one person's neck with his blades crossed and slammed the ends of the swords into two other people's heads. This method opened up a whole new world of possibilities when it came to combat. Not only could he more easily use combo moves, but he could also block and counter more easily. He could certainly see the appeal that a more mobile form of combat would bring in battle.

Nico had to admit that he was starting to get attached to this way of fighting. It was most certainly not Greek or Roman, but it felt good. He kept going and going until the program announced that the system was going to shut down due to it overheating. It was probably a good thing because he hadn't been able to find a good time to escape and shut it off yet and was out of breath. It had been a while since he had been able to really let loose and lose himself to a battle. It was nice to be able to explore a new weapon and he would definitely see what Bruce had to say about him learning dual wielding when he got home.

Nico sat down heavily in the center of the circular platform, trying to catch his breath. He was feeling better than he had in several weeks; and more exhausted. Batman definitely needed one of these in the Batcave and he planned on asking about it when he got home. But right now, he needed a shower.

Nico was hot and sweaty so he got up to grab a water from the little mini-fridge in the corner of the room. The waters were the only things in it not marked 'KF'. He drank almost the entire bottle as he put the katanas away in storage. They had been surprisingly well balanced for his size and strength. He went back over to the edge of the platform and sat down. He hadn't realized that he had an audience until then because he tended to look at his feet when he walked. someone coughed and Nico looked up and found a decent chunk of the team scattered around the room on different exercise machines watching him. Nico froze in place.

"You beat the record. By a lot." Wally informed him, sliding off the stationary bike he had perched on. Nico raised his eyebrows; he hadn't been aware that there was a record.

"Sorry?" Nico replied, not sure what the speedster wanted from him. Nico finished off the water bottle.

"Dude, don't be sorry. The last record was set by Nightwing years ago. It is way past time for someone to break it." The demigod shrugged; he hadn't meant to break any records.

"How did you learn to fight like that, my friend?" Kaldur'ahm asked from his place next to an elliptical. There was something different in his eyes that wasn't there before, something akin to suspicion.

"I've never learned to fight like that. I've never actually fought with two swords before." Nico replied truthfully, eyeing the Atlantean curiously.

"Come on, man," Wally said incredulously, "you can't seriously expect us to believe that?"

"I don't know what to tell you. I've always had to sword fight to stay alive, but I've never used katanas and I've never dual-wielded." He repeated. The son of Hades didn't know what to tell them other than the truth. Though we all know how that worked out earlier.

"Then how the hell did you manage to do that?" He asked, sounding suspicious.

"I just let my instincts take over. Once you get good at fighting, you can adjust to a lot of different styles of combat. A lot of the strategies stay the same. and a lot of them change. I figured that I might as well try it out in a place where I'm not really at risk of dying." he explained. A few of them nodded along to this, understanding.

"Well I'm going to go shower." He said and leave before anyone can ask him any more questions. He vaguely wondered how they knew he was in there. Did they hear him? Were they stalking him? Were they all just coming in to train?

Nico went and took a slightly colder-than-usual shower so that he didn't smell bad and to cool off some. It had been a while since he had fought like that and it certainly gave him a workout. The challenges in the arena at camp were hard, but nothing like being out on the battlefields, up to your neck in enemies. Capture the flag was probably the closest they could get without casualties. He got out and dried off, towel drying his hair as best he could. Ghost changed into a clean set of clothes in time for Nightwing to get him for dinner. He guessed his older brother was still mad at him because he didn't say very much on the way to the kitchen. However, this was still better than the silent treatment.

They went to the kitchen again for dinner and he found that over half the team was gone. He guessed they all had other things to do in their free time. It made sense that they wouldn't all be there all the time. This time when he came into the room, everyone just ignored him. It was easier this way, but it just made him feel insignificant. Nico grabbed an apple off the counter and another bottle of water from the fridge and stood at his spot by the counter as he ate. It wasn't enough since he had just burned all of those calories in the arena, but he didn't want to take something someone else wanted and upset them. He'd eat granola bars later.

After everybody left, he went back to his room for the night, wondering where Artemis had gotten off to. She had probably gone home. He would have gone back to the manor if someone had said that stuff to him. It did make it hard to sleep that night, though. He just couldn't seem to fall asleep no matter what he did. Nico even attempted sleeping on the floor. Around 3 am he gave up and left his room. He didn't want to just wander the mountain, so he got dressed and headed to the room where the Telkhines attacked.

Nico hadn't expected to find anyone in there, especially not at this hour. He had closed the door behind him and already walked several yards into the room before he spotted Artemis watching him from the ledge by the water. He froze in his tracks.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were in here, I'll go now." Ghost said, starting to turn around.

"Wait! Ghost, I want to talk to you for a minute." She called out, not unkindly. She was watching him imploringly, her legs dangling in the water. He nodded, it was the least he could do.

"Look," The demigod started as he got close, "I'm sorry about what I said..." she cut him off.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. You were right."

"I was... what?" Nico was so surprised that he wasn't sure that he had heard her correctly.

"You were right, about my parents." She continued, "They're both criminals and aren't necessarily proud of me. Well, my mother isn't a criminal anymore, but my dad and my older sister are." Nico nodded, unsurprised. People in Gotham often had unhappy beginnings. Yes, he had finally realized that she was the girl from the gala. She was one of the sponsored kids at Gotham Academy.

"Yeah, I'm sorry to have been so rude about it." Nico said lamely.

"Me too. I stopped being mad a couple of hours ago." She gave me a small smile.

"I'm sorry." He repeated.

"I'm sorry too."

"Do you want to start over?" He asked, pulling a move from Diana's book. Artemis gave him a grateful look.

Artemis shoved one hand out for him to shake, "I'm Artemis."

"They call me Ghost." He took her hand.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the team found their resident archer and the visiting oddball locked in mortal combat on the hologram platform. It was interesting for Nico to fight against someone who was using a long-range weapon. It definitely required one to be light on their feet and it tested his reflexes in ways that he wasn't used to. While having your opponent further away did give you more time to come up with a counter, the projectiles could be fired in rapid succession and traveled faster than a blade would be swung. It was certainly an adjustment and he was having difficulty getting in close enough to attack.

The earliest risers had heard the sounds of explosions and shouting and came to the gym to investigate. Whatever they had been expecting, it wasn't Ghost and Artemis trying to kill each other. Connor ran through the room and shoved Ghost away from Artemis, getting hit in the back by an exploding arrow in the process that left sizzling holes in his shirt. Ghost wasn't sure if the hero had meant to or not, but Connor had shoved him with enough force that the consultant ended up tumbling all the way to the wall.

"Stupid barrier," he muttered under his breath as he pushed himself to his feet. He brushed himself off and moved to collect his sword that he had dropped near the edge of the platform. He glanced around to see who else had been drawn to the noise. Some of the other early risers included: Miss Martian, Nightwing, Red Robin, Kaldur'ahm, and a couple of others who he couldn't remember.

"Relax, Connor. We were just sparring. We don't hate each other anymore." Artemis stretched languidly. Ghost rubbed the shoulder that had had a brief run-in with the wall. It was a very solid wall, though I wouldn't expect anything less from Bruce.

"Seriously. You didn't have to hit me so hard." Nico agreed.

"You were fighting." Connor pointed out, still not convinced that everything was ok.

"Yeah," Artemis agreed, "thanks for the concern, but I'm fine. I can beat him up anyway." She smirked at her opponent. Nico stuck his tongue out at her, which made her laugh. She had a nice laugh. It was certainly better than her snarl.

++Megan++

From the short time we had been around this 'Ghost', I never would have thought that he could be playful. To me, he had seemed very stuck-up and deadly serious all the time. It had been very disconcerting for a boy his age, granted that I did not know his actual age. He seemed to be around 13 or 14, at most? His features suggested youth, though I am not so great at judging things based on human biology. Martians didn't age the same and we could always morph our bodies into any desired form.

I never would have thought that he would stick his tongue out like that, a gesture often connected with impudence. It was a childish gesture that did not seem to fit his earlier character. Then I was further confused by the fact that such playfulness was directed at Artemis-- a person he had engaged in an argument with the previous day. What had occurred that made them suddenly friendly again? The intricacies of human behaviors were hard to understand, but I had found that I didn't have to follow them all to be accepted by the group. They preferred me as I was.

++Nico++

I was feeling pretty good after the sparring match with Artemis, and the things getting smoothed over with the team. Even Nightwing seemed to be more at ease again, which was good. Nico wasn't sure that he could have handled much more of the tension. He had begun to worry about whether or not things would go back to normal once they got back home but now he wouldn't have to worry about it.

Though Artemis, Nightwing, and Red Robin had all forgiven him, the rest of the team wasn't so quick to forgive. They still didn't seem to know what to make of the demigod and were giving me strange looks or avoiding looking at him all together. Even Kaldur was giving the son of Hades a wide berth, which Nico found disquieting. It was hard to stomach all of the tension, but Nico hoped that they would come around now that Artemis had.

Artemis had invited him to breakfast in front of the entire team as he had just begun sneaking off to his room. Ghost didn't want to decline, but he didn't want to go either. Nico somehow found himself agreeing reluctantly, and that was how he got himself into the situation he was currently in. Next time, he resolved, he would decline. A few minutes prior...

Breakfast had just been announced for the people who were still at the Mountain. Nico had gone into the kitchen, grabbed a bowl of cereal, and stood in his corner. Everybody except the two Flashes were gathered with their food. Ghost wasn't sure where they were, but no one seemed worried so he ignored it. For two of the fastest people on Earth, they were very rarely on time for anything, though they were usually early when it came to meals.

It had only been about 5 minutes before they both zoomed into the room together. Somehow, one of them hit Nico's hands and made him dump cereal all over himself. He was not pleased.

The pair stopped and high-fived before Ghost cleared his throat. The entire room froze and turned to look at him. The demigod's hair was dripping with milk, and there were fruit loops all over him. he had set the bowl down, but the spoon was still clutched tightly in his hands. Mini flash II was gone in... well a flash. And the other one was sputtering apologies. Everyone else was staring at the consultant in tense silence, trying to guess what he was going to do.

To tell the truth, Nico had no idea what he was going to do. Luckily, the son of Hades was saved from having to decide by Artemis losing her composure. She burst out laughing, startling pretty much everyone. The ones that didn't know that they were on good terms again were glancing at Ghost nervously.

Nico pulled a fruit loop out of his hair and that set her right off again. Ghost glared at her but she didn't see him with here eyes shut tight. The demigod set the fruit loop on the end of the spoon and aimed it at her while her eyes were shut. He flung it at her, and by some miracle, he managed to hit her in the forehead. Her eyes shot open and she stopped laughing-- her face said you dare?

It was Nico's turn to laughed now, until she threw her toast at him like a frisbee. Unfortunately, mini flash II came running back into the room at that very second and it caught him in the side of the face. He skidded to a stop behind Connor and frowned, crumbs all over his shoulder and the side of his face. He grabbed some blueberries from the fridge and started chucking them like bullets from a machine gun while everyone else ducked for cover.

Soon it was an all-out food war like the one Percy had told him about in Hoover Dam. Luckily, no one had any burritos here. No one needed their skulls knocked off. Though it would seem that muffins could be just as dangerous. Connor was hit in the chest by a flying muffin and he fell back into the counter with an 'oof'. M'gann was continuously phasing in and out of a solid state, allowing food to pass harmlessly through her and onto the people behind her. Nightwing had found his way onto the top of the refrigerator and was simply causing chaos by throwing well-timed marshmallows into the fray. Tim had already gone down under a few boxes worth of cereal and he was just lying there motionless. Artemis had grape jelly in her hair and a smile on her face and Nico had a piece of peanut butter toast stuck to his chest and was still dripping with milk. No one had made it out unscathed.

It only ended when they had gone through just about everything on the table and the counters. By then, the kitchen was a mess. There were different types of cereals and different juices on every surface. A muffin had crumbled all down the front of the fridge. Parts of different berries looked like paintballs on the walls and appliances.

If the JLA came in and saw this... they'd all be dead. Despite their looming deaths, the team was scattered around the large room in piles of dirty, tired, and satisfied people. There was nothing like a good, friendly food fight.

"Great, how are we supposed to clean this all up?" Middle child flash grumbled. The magician girl stood from her hiding spot beneath the table. Nico was pretty sure he had seen some food fly on its own during the fight, and he thought it was because of her. Ghost hadn't seen her do magic before, but her outfit sure fit the bill.

"Magic, Wally. Duh!" She said before saying something really weird. It definitely wasn't in any language Nico had ever heard of before. All of the mess disappeared in an instant and everybody was clean again. Ghost decided to act like he hadn't noticed the use of Kid Flash's real name, he was sure that he wasn't meant to hear that.

"Thank you, Zatanna." Kaldur said as he brushed the invisible dust off of himself. She smiled, happy at the praise. Soon after, the group dispersed to do their own things, people talking about the battle as they went. This was when Nightwing and Red Robin decided to corner him. They pretty much dragged their brother back to his room and locked the door behind them. Ghost brushed himself off, indignant. Without any preamble, Nightwing started asking him questions about the Deathstroke incident.

"What were you doing out of the house at night?" He whispered angrily. Luckily, Nico had thought of a good lie for this beforehand.

"I had a dream." he lied. Nightwing got a knowing look.

"Still, that was stupid. Deathstroke is no one to mess around with. He could have killed you and there was nothing any of us could have done." He chastised. He was forgetting that Nico did, in fact, have powers. If worst came to worst, he could have shadow traveled. Nico just didn't want Deathstroke to know that he had powers.

"Yeah, I know." The son of Hades sighed.

"Batman knows," Tim spoke up. Nico cursed under my breath. Great, just great.

"I guess he would have found out eventually." he pouted. Nico had been hoping to avoid the lecture this time around. This time, it was going to be much more serious. His stomach churned at the thought. Nico knew that Bruce wouldn't hurt him or give him an outrageous punishment, but he hadn't had the best experiences with male figures of authority or power. Well, besides Chiron. Chiron was great.

"What kind of favor do you think you will owe Ivy?" Tim continued.

"I'm really not sure. She knows that I suck with plants, though, so she probably won't ask for my help with that." Nico shrugged.

"How does she know that, exactly?" Dick raised his eyebrow in question.

" I knew her before she became Poison Ivy. She's actually a really great lady." Nico assured them.

"She's a supervillain." Dick deadpanned.

"So?"

"Nevermind." He sighed in exasperation.

"Batman will be home tomorrow morning," Tim said. Nico nodded to show that he had heard him. Dick got a beep on his hologlove and he checked it.

"Wonder Woman got back from her mission early. She'll be coming here in a couple of hours to train with the team." Dick checked his watch.

"I thought that she would be off with the League on the off-world mission?" Nico asked, confused. Tim shook his head,

"She had another mission that she had to take care of. Will she recognize you?" He waved off Ghost's confusion.

"I'd imagine she'd know it was me the minute she laid eyes on me. Why would that matter?" He asked. She already knew that Bruce was Batman. She could keep a secret.

"It doesn't really. I was just curious." He shrugged.

"Ok, am I supposed to act like I know her or not?"

"We'll call ahead and tell her the situation. It might make the team trust you more if Wonder Woman is on your side." Dick reasoned. Ghost nodded; that made sense.

"We'll come and get you when Diana gets here. Wait for her to approach you." Tim advises as they turn to go.

"Alright, I think I'll just stay in here and sketch for a while." Nico motioned towards the desk. They nodded before leaving the demigod to his thoughts.

The son of Hades didn't know what he wanted to draw. Maybe he could draw a picture of Leo with his dragon. He thought it out for a while in his head, trying to decide if he could actually do it or not. Eventually, he decided that he might as well try since he didn't have anything better to do instead. This sketch ended up being the most complex picture he had attempted yet. It had the smallest details and standard-sized parts that he had to make look three-dimensional. He was pretty sure that several hours had passed before anyone had come to get him, and he still wasn't even halfway done.

There came a firm knock on his door. Nico had just finished with the outline and sectioning off the different parts. He was now working on adding the larger details, like the bronze plates on Festus. That was the hardest part. It was sort of overwhelming when he thought about it. It would take a lot of attempts before he would get it how he wanted it, that is for sure.

"Yes?" Ghost called out. Nico stretched and closed the sketchbook.

"Wonder Woman will be arriving shortly, I have been asked to come collect you," Kaldur'ahm said from the other side of the door. Nico stuffed his sketchbook in his backpack before heading towards the door. Kaldur was on the other side, waiting for him. The usually freindly- looking Atlantean was unreadable and it made Ghost hesitate. He blinked and the look was gone and Nico guessed he had just imagined it.

"Why do they always send you? Do the others still hate me?" He asked the older boy as they walked. Kaldur hesitated only for a moment before responding,

"I cannot speak for the team. I know that some of them find you rather disquieting, however. I presume that many are still angry with you, yes." He explained. Nico was at least thankful that he did not lie to him.

"I see..." to keep the conversation going, Nico tried to make light of the situation, "So you're just one of the ones who can stand me then?"

"The team is suspicious by nature. They will grow to accept you now that Artemis has." He made excuses for them. Nico noticed that his guide did not take a stance on how he felt about him. It was rare that one could find a truly neutral person. Nico didn't like it. You never knew where you stood with a neutral person.

"Well, soon it won't matter. I hope that I won't have to come here again."

"I would not bet on that... I must admit that I would not be surprised if Batman tried to recruit you. You'd be an interesting addition to this team." Ghost didn't think so, but he was grateful for the image. It was certainly food for thought.

"I guess we'll just have to see," he replied. We walked the rest of the way to the zeta tubes in silence. Ghost came up to stand beside Artemis, who didn't seem to notice him at first. The group was all clustered in front of the portal thingies, talking. He guessed it was always a group event to greet people who came in. Strange. It seemed like a lot of people were always coming and going.

Several minutes later, the zeta tubes whirled to life, announcing Diana's arrival. She greeted the entire group, asking questions about the Justice League mission as she went. The team filled her in with as much as they knew. Eventually she 'spotted' Nico at the back. He was sure that she had noticed him as soon as she came in, having been informed of his presence earlier. When she saw him, she didn't look surprised, but she raised her eyebrows.

"Ghost?" She asked, creating a cover story as she went.

"Diana, a pleasure to meet you again." Nico shook her hand when she offered it to him. She smiled like she was greeting an old friend. The rest of the team gawked. Ghost enjoyed the looks on their faces and wished he had a camera.

"Likewise, what are you doing out of Gotham City?" She continued.

"Well, I helped these guys determine the cause of death in one of their cases and suddenly, my life is in danger. Batman figured that sticking me here would be my best option." He told a half-truth.

"Who was after you?" She frowned. Her confusion seemed genuine so he guessed Dick didn't tell her his cover story.

"You know that guy I told you about who was producing seal dog hybrids? Yeah, him." She would probably understand the reference to Telkhines.

"Yes, and he's had a run-in with Deathstroke recently." Nightwing interrupted.

"Thank you for that. Why don't you go tell Batman while you're at it." Nico grouched, knowing that he already had.

"He knows." Red Robin cut in. Ghost faked a glare. It didn't phase him in the slightest.

"Deathstroke? What have you been up to that got you involved with him?" She sounded appalled. Nico glared at Nightwing for real this time. He hadn't been planning on explaining the whole incident to her.

"I'll tell you later. I made it out, I'm fine. I just owe Ivy a debt." He tried to placate the scary amazon.

"You...? You know what? I'm not even going to ask." Diana shook her head. She looked at him in motherly disappointment, something that he had not experienced since Bianca.

"How do you two know each other?" Connor asked from his place at the back of the group. Leave it to him to ruin the mood.

"That is a long and somewhat painful story. I don't think this is the proper time or place to get into all of that history." The team seemed to accept such vague answers. It probably helped that she is Wonder Woman and part of the JLA.

"Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it." Nico agreed.

"So, how about we all go and start on today's training session?" Diana started walking towards the training room before anyone could protest. We all followed her in, single file. Diana stepped up onto the platform and invited us, one by one to come up and spar with her. Many of the YJ team were at home for the weekend or during the days so there were probably only 10 of them there. Wally and mini flash II had gone home or were just not here now. As had bee girl, Zatanna, Lagoon, and several others that he couldn't remember the names of. She went through the first half of the group before taking a break. Diana went to go get water and she came back and sat next to Ghost once she had. The pair drew some stares from the team, but Diana didn't seem to mind.

"Do you wish to spar with me?" She asked, taking a drink. Nico watched her, trying to judge if she was serious. When she seemed to be, he considered her offer. The team had all seen him fight off the sea demons, beat the hologram record, and then watched him spar with Artemis. He guessed that there wasn't really anything left to hide in terms of combat skill. He just wouldn't use his powers.

"Will you be using..." He forgot the word so he gestured to it. Her... lasso. That's it. He was not looking forward to getting another magic burn. Diana seemed to understand this.

"No, just my sword and my wrist guards." She assured him. He nodded. At least he wouldn't have to drink firewater again any time soon.

"Alright, promise not to impale me?" He teased. Diana rolled her eyes.

"I promise."

When the break ended, Nico found himself on the platform, facing Diana. He had been forced to retreat to his room to 'retrieve' his own sword as it would be hard to explain to them that he had a magic item that transformed into his skull ring. He didn't wear the Skull ring at the mountain because the team might recognize it from when they saved Nico at the galas.

Everybody was snickering because they thought that Diana was going to cream him but the joke would be on them. The son of Hades knew that he could at least hold his own for a little while. He knew her fighting style, traditional greek, which would give him a leg up on the rest of them before the battle even began. Nico was probably (read absolutely) going to lose, but he was going to last longer than they thought. Probably because they all figured he'd be out after a minute.

The two greeks got into their well-practiced stances and circled one another. Diana had gone the extra mile and taken her magic lasso off completely for this match. Nico was grateful for the gesture, though it did confuse the YJ. A few of them snickered and said that it was because she was going easy on the consultant. Only Nico's brothers knew the truth.

All at once, Diana sprang at him. She forced the Son of Hades to go on the defensive as she struck out rapidly. He was able to block every hit, but it was going to be difficult to get anywhere this way. His only chance would be to put her on the defensive. He just had to wait for the right opening.

After about 30 seconds or so of blocking and dodging, the opportunity presented itself. Nico knew that this was his only chance so he took it. Diana had raised both her hands up to bring the sword down towards his head. He Spartan kicked her in the stomach as she began to bring the sword down. It was like kicking a refrigerator, but she stumbled back foot or so. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Before she could fully recover, Nico managed a blow with the flat of his blade to the side of her head. It would only stun her, but that was all he needed. By the time she recovered, he was swinging again. Now it was his turn to be on the offensive. Nico swung and slashed, making sure to stay close enough to Diana that she couldn't get enough momentum behind her blade.

Eventually, we were both just standing still, exchanging blows. It was no longer a fight, it was a performance. Moves and counter moves. For a long time, neither one of them got the upper hand. The first one to make a mistake would be the first one to 'die'. It didn't take long. Nico overcompensated and lost his balance. Diana used this opportunity to sweep the demigod's feet out from under him. The computer declared that he had failed and the team cheered.

Nico didn't know if they were happy that he had lost, or that he had made it that long. He imagined it was a little of both. The son of Hades laid on the ground re-learning how to breathe properly again while Diana stood there breathless. That had been a good fight. One-on-one fighting was always harder than fighting off a horde because a group of people usually panicked and/or made stupid mistakes.

"That was a good fight, I am impressed." Diana helped him up. He stumbled a couple of steps on his feet while he made his way off the platform. Tim handed him a bottle of water and he accepted it with a nod.

"Thank you. I've been practicing." Ghost replied after he took a long drink.

"I can tell. I need another break before we continue after dinner." Diana announced. The people who had not gone yet groaned but they all left for the kitchen. More time must have passed than he thought. It was already 6:30.

"You coming?" Artemis called out before she left the room. He gave her a hesitant thumbs up and she rolled her eyes.

"I see you have patched things up," Diana said when it was just him and my brothers left. Nico nodded in agreement. His breath was coming back to him now.

"Yeah, I just had to prove that I wouldn't reject her." Diana nodded, unsurprised. Artemis' temperament was legendary.

"Good for you. No wonder Thalia tolerates you." Diana smiled. Nico laughed outright at that. 'Tolerates' was probably the best word for our relationship. That or tough love.

"Come on, let's eat." Nightwing led the way to the kitchen. Nico was starting to feel welcome around the mountain and it felt nice. He was glad that everyone was getting along again. It was a little rocky at first, but he felt that he was earning his spot. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be worth it. After all, there's no point in crying over Spilled Fruit Loops.

Chapter Text

After dinner, the team and their visiting consultant all went back to the arena area to watch Diana spar with the rest of the team. Everybody had their own strengths and weaknesses, which was to be expected. The problems seemed to be that their styles and levels of mastery varied wildly from one protege to the next. It was apparent to the demigod that these kids hadn't had a lot of organized training and they were suffering for it.

The fact that there was a different mentor for each hero and said mentors were rarely free from their own duties to spend time teaching and training with their sidekicks meant that these kids had to teach themselves most of what they knew. It was a miracle to Nico that more of these heroes didn't end up worm food. He had been trained in a number of different places, and by many different mentors himself and it had taken him a while to catch up to the other demigods when he started spending more time at camp. He couldn't imagine what the other group training sessions must look like.

"This isn't much like what you're used to, is it?" Diana came up beside him as he was watching Nightwing and Red Robin go at each other in the ring.

"You could say that." Ghost agreed with a grim smile.

"Where did you learn to fight, anyway?" Artemis approached him and handed him a water bottle-- though he had long since stopped sweating, "Hydrate or die-drate" She said in explanation when the son of Hades raised his eyebrow at her. He accepted the bottle.

"I've trained with a lot of different people, but most of what I know now comes from experience," Nico replied vaguely. He didn't want to give them anything that would make them more suspicious of him.

"Experience?" Artemis pressed. Luckily he attention was pulled away by a certain speedster who came up beside her and started talking about school or something of that nature.

"You had better escape while you have the chance," Diana murmured in my ear, "I'll see you back in Gotham, ok?" She returned to the side of the ring and Ghost retreated from the gym unnoticed. He returned to his room and finished the sketch he had started earlier. It took another couple of hours before it looked at least presentable, but he still wasn't happy with it. He would have to do a lot of touch-ups before he would feel comfortable showing anyone. By this time, it was getting really late.

Nico went to sleep that night ready to go back to the manor in the morning. It has been a long week and he was ready to relax. Of course, he hadn't gotten a chance because that night he had the most terrifying dream yet.

It started in Yellowstone National park. The Hunters of Artemis had set up camp in the forested area. Thalia was pacing in front of the fireplace spitting curses that would put a sailor to shame. Her sisters were watching her in wide-eyed confusion. Artemis herself was watching her lieutenant in concern.

"The boy knows how to take care of himself. I am sure he is fine." Artemis spoke up. Thalia didn't pause for a second.

"I already lost one cousin. I don't want to lose another." Thalia stopped for a moment, staring into the fire. The flames were reflected in her blue eyes. Artemis stood beside her, resting her hand on her shoulder. What did that mean? What other cousin did she lose?

"I understand." Artemis nodded. Thalia sank slowly to sit on the ground. She looked worried beyond her years.

"Can you not Iris message the boy?" Pheobe questioned from the other side of the fire.

Thalia shook her head, "If the dream was correct, he was taken by a mortal. I can't risk IMing him. Luckily, he was taken by a specific mortal. One of Gotham's worst villains. Deathstroke." Nico wanted to stick around a little longer and see just what Thalia planned to do, but the dream began fading to black. Then he became aware of someone shaking him and he became aware that he was still lying in bed and time was passing. He needed to find Thalia! He couldn't afford to be sleeping on the Job!

Ghost shot up in bed very quickly, almost head-butting Nightwing in the process. He felt bad about almost giving them both a concussion, but he didn't have time to stop and apologize for it. He had to get back to the manor and hope that Thalia had the sense to head there before doing something brash. He didn't want to bet against the hunters, but Deathstroke was a force to be reckoned with and he would rather the two never meet. He doubted that all the hunters would make it out-- certainly not with their pride intact.

"Whoa there! What's wrong?" His older brother backed away from the side of his bed. For some reason, Ghosts' mask was on his face, though he was pretty sure that he hadn't gone to sleep with it on. Nico threw off the covers and swung his legs over the edge of the bed-- grateful that he had slept in sweat pants since the mountain was quite cool. When Nico actually bothered to take a look around the room, he could see a few of the less hostile members of the team watching him. He vaguely hoped he wasn't talking in his sleep-- that would be embarrassing.

"What are they doing in here? For that matter, what are you doing in here?" He asked in confusion as he moved to collect his back from his chair.

"I couldn't wake you up. They heard me talking to you and came to see what was up." Nightwing explained.

"Is it normal for you to sleep that heavily?" Kaldur'ahm asked from his place by the desk.

"It's starting to be." Ghost muttered to himself as he found his boots and started lacing them up.

"Why did you wake up so suddenly?" Miss Martian questioned. She was a couple of steps in from the doorway. I

"Because my cousin is going to kill me!" The son of Hades replied, too overwhelmed to care about being nice. He didn't have time to answer a lot of questions at the moment, he had to get back to Gotham and keep Thalia from ripping his new home to shreds. He doubted Bruce would like all the publicity that would bring him.

"Just where do you think you're going? Deathstroke might still be looking for you." Red Robin spoke up from around the head of the bed. how Nico hadn't noticed him before was beyond him.

" It doesn't matter. If I don't go back, my cousin will hunt me down and she might just meet Deathstroke herself. That would not be a pleasant meeting, I can tell you than right now." Ghost packed the rest of his measly supplies into his backpack.

"Your cousin would take on Deathstroke?" Miss Martian frowned. She wouldn't be alone, but he didn't bother mentioning that. He didn't feel like having to pass off the Hunters of Artemis as a street gang again as he had with Bianca. He doubted having gang affiliations would help his reputation among the heroes.

"Not unless she thought he was threatening me." Nico shouldered his pack and tried to move past his brothers-- who were trying to keep him from leaving.

"Can't you just call her?" Tim asked. Had he forgotten about Demigods and tech or was this to appease the team?

"She doesn't have a phone."

"Heathen!" Artemis said jokingly. The consultant smirked at that, despite the danger he was in.

"I have to go and see her before she gets herself into trouble!" Ghost insisted, making his way towards the door.

"Wait! I'm coming with you. Deathstroke might still be looking for you." He reasoned. Ghost couldn't think of a good enough reason to decline, so he nodded hesitantly.

"Good, she's looking for him," Nico replied heading out the door and past Connor who was leaning on the wall.

"Your cousin is looking for Deathstroke? What is she planning on doing? Fighting him?" Artemis asked, having followed him out.

"Something like that," He agreed, " It appears that she got wind of the whole 'hostage' situation."

"How?" She frowned.

"Trust me, she has her ways."

"How do you know that she knows?" Connor asked suspiciously. Ghost eyed him with discomfort-- he must have been eavesdropping Anyone who didn't think that he was smart needed to think again. We made it out of the hall and into the huge living room area. The team was still following him, and he hated having the entourage.

"I have my ways," Ghost replied cryptically.

"You mean you have powers?" He pressed. Everyone stilled and Ghost considered his next words carefully.

"Not really, powers per se... I just see the future in my dreams every once in a while. It's not like I can control it." He lied. No reason to tell them anything freaky about himself when he didn't need to. Connor frowned but he dropped the questions. Nico almost breathed a sigh of relief, but he felt that that wouldn't help his case.

Nico said his goodbyes and headed through the Zeta tube and out into the nasty old phone booth, Dick right on his heels, now in his civvies. From there Nico shadow traveled the pair straight to the manor. They arrived in his bathroom-- from where he could hear rustling in his bedroom. He took off his mask and stuffed it in his backpack before creeping towards the open door. HE soul searched and found that the entire hunt was spread throughout the manor. Family reunion time it is.

Nico motioned for Dick to stay where he was while the demigod slowly crept out of the bathroom. Artemis herself was in his room, in her 18-year-old form. She was quite intimidating in this form. She was searching through his wardrobe as if he would be hiding in there.

"Err, my lady?" Nico said, unsure of what the best way to approach her would be. At once, every bow in the room was armed and raised and pointed directly at the son of Hades. He lifted his hands in surrender and eyed the nearest hunter, hoping she wouldn't lose her grip and turn him into a pincushion.

"Where did you come from, boy?" Artemis asked as she lowered her bow.

"I landed in my bathroom." He jerked his thumb to the open door. Artemis curled her lip at the thought.

"Thalia had a dream that you were in grave danger." Artemis stared at him accusingly like it was his fault for escaping death.

"I was, milady. That was two days ago." Nico lowered his hands, seeing as they probably weren't going to shoot him. They were going to let Thalia shoot him when she finally heard that he was here.

"I see." She replied shortly, "Pheobe, go and fetch Thalia."

"Yes, m'lady." The huntress disappeared down the hall. Nico hoped that he wouldn't get lost in the labyrinth of hallways. He had gotten lost a few times since he began staying here.

"My adoptive brother is in my bathroom right now too. He knows everything and is under oath and all that. I just wanted to make sure you didn't shoot him." He told the man-hating goddess.

"Very well. Come out of there, boy." Artemis called. Dick slowly came out of his bathroom and eyed the group in front of him. He didn't say a word, instead opting to observe. The girls eyed him right back.

"You might want to stand back," Artemis warned Dick. Nico supposed that anywhere within ten feet of his younger brother was the danger zone.

"Why?" He was genuinely confused.

"Nico!" A scream from somewhere in the manor answered his question.

"God's help me," Nico muttered under his breath. Richard wordlessly distanced himself from the younger boy. Nico looked around the room, trying to see if there was anywhere he could hide. He knew that there was no point, but he couldn't help it. He had just survived a life or death situation a few days ago and he wasn't all that anxious to be in another one so soon. When you grow up a Demigod, you get into the habit of fight or flight responses.

Down the hall, Nico could hear someone pounding up the stairs. By the sound of it, they were taking them two by two. Hopefully, she would need a second to catch her breath in which he could explain himself. He wasn't putting much stock in that possibility though. She was an immortal huntress now, maybe that excused you from cardio.

Seconds later, two sets of footsteps were coming down the hall towards us. Nico shifted in his place, re-thinking coming here in person. If he hadn't been to the mountain before, and he didn't think that she was after Slade, he would have IMed her. Then he would have avoided her wrath.

Moments later, Thalia used the door frame to swing herself sharply into the room. She surveyed the gathered people before her eyes landed on her cousin who waved meekly and tried for a small smile.

"Hey, Thalia... how's it going?"

"What the actual Hades Nico!? Last I knew, you were kidnapped by some dude in a mask." She was seething. In her anger she had taken several steps towards the smaller boy, backing him up against the bookshelf behind him. He put his hands up in both surrender and to protect his face. He didn't mention the fact that he had also been wearing a mask. Since she did not bring it up, perhaps the mist kept her from seeing it. Perhaps he had somehow gained Hecate's favor? The gods weren't always very nice unless they needed something, though.

"That was two days ago. If I had known that you saw that, I would have Iris messaged you immediately."

"You have 10 minutes to tell me everything. Sisters, my lady, could you leave us? You too, boy." Thalia requested. The hunters and Richard left the room and closed the door behind them. Nico was thankful that Thalia had not been rude when she had referred to Richard as 'boy'. He had done nothing to them.

"Thank you, for coming to look for me. I appreciate it." Nico said once everyone had left.

"What are cousins for? Now, spill." So he did. Nico told her everything that had happened after he got into the storm drain. He used the dream excuse to explain why he had been there. He also left out certain things, like Slade using him for ransom and the fact that he had almost had his eye gouged out. Nico also left out the team and where he had gone after the whole thing. She seemed satisfied with his answers.

"You've been busy, huh Nico?" Thalia whistled appreciatively and Nico nodded in agreement. She didn't even know half of it. She didn't even know half of the stuff he was involved in on the Greek side. She didn't know anything about the vigilante gig or the Roman camp either.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Very well." She sighed, adopting the older way of speaking that many of the older hunters still used, "have you heard anything on Percy?" She settled down on his couch. Nico sat on the edge of his bed, facing her.

"Nothing. I was going to consult Grover and see what he could tell me, but I didn't get a chance to. Any idea where Grover is?" he figured that if anyone knew the whereabouts of the new lord of the wild, it would be Artemis.

"I think he was going to meet Gleeson Hedge in one of the forest preserves. He requested Grover's assistance. Chiron would know, you should ask him." Thalia supplied. It amazed him how old and how young his cousin seemed simultaneously. Her speech and temperament were like a teen's but her confidence and the way she takes control of a situation resembles someone much older. He didn't know If he would ever truly understand her. Probably not, since she is immortal and regular demigods don't live that long. She will be here long after he was dust.

Not long after that, the hunters all came back in to collect Thalia. Thalia gave her cousin a hug and a punch in the arm before she headed out. They were going to check the midwestern region of the country for Percy next. He rather hoped that he would be there. Once they had all left, Dick and Nico worked out in the gym for a while, waiting for the other boys to come back. They were all due back at the cave by 3 pm. That way, they could all tidy up a little bit and make sure that Alfred doesn't have to do a whole lot of work when he gets back. That wouldn't be fair of them.

At exactly 2:59 pm and Damian came through the Zeta tube and Tim was hot on his heels. Jason would be using one of the disguised zeta tubes around the city to get here, so he would probably be a little late. Well, he would probably be late because he didn't care about punctuality, to be honest. While they were waiting, an image started shimmering before him. Nico caught a glimpse of blond hair before it winked back out.

"What was that?" Tim asked. Nico frowned at the space where the IM had been and shrugged.

"I'm not sure, it seems like someone at camp is trying to get a hold of me."

"Batman installed some kind of magic disrupter down here, do you think that is the reason that they couldn't get through?" Dick suggested. If Batman had created a magic disrupter, it would make sense that IMs would be blocked. However, why did he even have the disruptors in the first place? They had to be a recent addition since he had always been able to shadow travel into the cave before. Or was that the reason he had always felt a little slower in the cave? It would make sense if Batman had them installed earlier with how many magical people he dealt with. He would have a contingency plan, of course.

Did he put them down here to ward against him or his fellow Leaguers? He decided to play calmly with his brothers, to try and get more info. "That could be it. When did he install those?"

"I don't know. It couldn't have been more than a month or two ago." He admitted. That would have been just after Nico moved in. He couldn't have known about his powers at that time so why did he have them installed?

"I'm going to go upstairs and see if I can reach them myself," Nico said, already heading towards the catwalk.

"Ok, Bruce will be back soon though so try not to wander off on any missions or anything." Dick teased. The younger boy gave him a sloppy salute before heading back up to the study. Almost as soon as Nico stepped through the door an Iris Message popped up in front of him. Annabeth was crouched down and it looked like there was a brick wall behind her.

"Hey, Nico! I've been trying to get in contact with you! What's going on?" She said accusingly like it was his plan to keep her waiting.

"Sorry, I was in an IM deadzone."

"IM deadzone? Is that even a thing? Never mind-- tell me later. What do you know about Egyptian mythology?" She asked glancing around, doing a standard surveillance check.

"Uhh... they weigh souls in a scale against the feather of truth and any soul deemed unworthy is eaten by Ammit the devourer. Uh... their death god is called Anubis. Uh... has the head of a jackal..." He started listing off random things that he knew since he wasn't sure what she wanted from him.

"No, I mean... do they exist?" She was looking at him with some kind of foreign seriousness. Her face looked like what he would expect from someone who had just asked how to disarm a nuke.

"I... I don't know. The Greek Pantheon exists, I guess the others could too?" Nico said in a non-committal way. It wasn't like he could tell her that the Romans existed. That could lead to war!

"That's what I was afraid of. Do you know, did the Egyptian gods have demigods?" She asked.

"No, I think they were more... parasites than parents..." he replied after considering her question. The Egyptians always believed that their pharaohs possessed the spirit of one of the gods in their bodies. If the Egyptian gods still existed, it would make sense that the same rules would apply.

"Ok, thanks, Nico. You've been a great help." Annabeth said before cutting through the message.

"Nico?" He could hear the deep voice from behind the secret door. Batman had returned.

Chapter Text

Bruce came through the secret passage at a quick gate-- the pendulum in the fake grandfather clock knocked up against the weights with an uncomfortable, metallic bang. He had clearly been in a hurry if he had such an uncharacteristic disregard for the house. Alfred would normally have gotten on his case for being so careless with antiques, so it was a good thing the butler wasn't here yet. Nico took a few steps back, giving the man his space until he knew whether or not he was angry.

The older man stopped short as he spotted the son of Hades, who had retreated to the other side of the desk. Dick and the others filed into the room after him during the pause. Bruce was staring at Nico for several seconds too long. His jaw worked like he was trying to figure out what to say. That was understandable at least. A mixture of emotions was flickering across his features-- anger, relief, and many others that Nico had trouble placing.

'He's probably going to yell at me, that's surely what I deserve', Nico thought to himself. After a while of indecision, he sighed and just started towards the younger boy. The demigod raised his arms in a feeble attempt to ward him off but the larger man grabbed him anyway. To Nico's surprise, he pulled him into a hug-- he guessed he had worried Bruce more than he thought. After a few seconds, he let go of Nico and gripped his shoulder comfortingly. The demigod looked up into his face to try and get a glimpse of what he was thinking. His features didn't give him any clues.

"I'm glad you're alive. When I heard that you encountered Slade... well, naturally I feared the worst. He's one of the most dangerous men alive. You are... beyond lucky to have survived." He said with an air of seriousness. Nico couldn't help but feel guilty at how much grief he must have caused Bruce. He wasn't trying to cause trouble, again, but here he was. It was a wonder that Bruce had put up with him as long as he had, considering how much trouble he tended to get in. Nico knew that he couldn't be easy to deal with.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go and get myself into trouble. It's just... I had a dream and I wanted to check it out. I usually do things on my own anyway..." The son of Hades trailed off weakly. He knew it was a lame excuse, but the truth would be even worse.

"Not anymore you don't. That's not how things work around here and you know that. We can't afford for something like that to happen. If there was a hostage situation or Slade shows up again..." Bruce trailed off, leaving out the part that we were all thinking. Nico knew he wouldn't be so lucky the second time around.

"I know, and you're right. I wasn't thinking and what I did was reckless and stupid." Nico admitted.

"You're damn right it was, " Bruce sighed and rubbed his face, "I just need to know that you're safe. And when you can't be safe, that at least you're prepared."

"How do you prepare for Slade?" Richard cut in, sounding tired. Nico was curious too. Slade was in a league of his own when it came to danger. He may be human, but he wasn't as easy to goad as the gods were. He didn't get emotional, monologue, or rely on others to fight his battles. Nico may face monsters that come straight from storybooks, but Slade was something even more dangerous and that scared him.

"We're going to train him," Bruce said decidedly. Nico froze as he processed that. He was going to be trained by Batman? That would certainly give him an edge, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to fight like the others did. He was hardwired for ancient combat, not martial arts. Would his demigod instincts help him with other forms of fighting?

"Father--" Damian started, though whether it was to protest or agree it was hard to tell.

"If he is going to stand a chance against, not only Deathstroke but other Gotham villains, he's going to need to have formal training." He announced firmly. Bruce glanced at the demigod for his reaction and Nico just nodded. If this was what Bruce thought was the best course of action, he wasn't going to disagree. Plus, he'd never turn down lessons on anything that might save his life one day.

"Bruce--" Nico spoke up as the older man had started for the grandfather clock. He was probably going to check his gear and do some repairs to his suit after his mission.

"We'll talk more about your little adventure later." The older man waved him away. The son of Hades could tell that Bruce was still cooling off, so he didn't press his luck. Nico nodded in acceptance, having already guessed that he wouldn't have gotten off the hook so easily.

"When is Alfred coming back?" Tim asked as Bruce had begun to pull the clock shut behind him. The boys all paused to listen for the answer, anxious for the old man's return. The manor just wasn't the same without him.

"Unless plans have changed, he should be here two days from today. Please try to keep the place neat until then." He replied before retreating into the cave. Everyone left to go their separate ways. Nico went back up to his room to shower and polish his sword. Just because he wasn't fighting monsters or playing capture the flag anymore, didn't give him an excuse to let his sword collect dust.

He'd learned over the time that he'd had the sword that the spirits trapped in the blade tended to get restless if he ignored them for long stretches of time. The blade itself had been tempered in the waters of the Styx, sealing souls of those who broke their oaths into the blade and giving the sword the ability to kill people with even just a touch of the metal to their skin. If Nico concentrated, he could even seal the souls of his enemies into the blade as he killed them. He'd discovered this by accident at one of the times he had been summoning the dead to find Bianca. A stubborn spirit kept trying to get to his offerings and he'd accidentally sealed them inside his blade.

He'd never tell the others how the blade works, though. There were a lot of things that he realized they could handle. He didn't think a blade made of cursed souls would bode well with them and he didn't want to make them uncomfortable. Of course, if they asked him to tell them more about the blade, he'd be happy to oblige, but he wasn't going to offer the information. He had a nice set up at Wayne Manor, and he had finally settled in-- he wasn't going to jeopardize that if he didn't have to.

It amazed the half-blood how normally the other boys treated him. He was the only one that had powers, fought with an ancient fighting style, came from the early 1900s, and could speak to and /or summon the dead. He was sure that it helped that they deal with metahumans, magic, and other powerful beings as a hobby, but he felt that this was different. It was different when the magical being lived with you and knew about your death, has spoken with your dead relatives, and couldn't seem to go a day without something supernatural happening.

He was also surprised that they hadn't asked him more questions about death. They had asked him tons of questions about the underworld, the pantheon, and what it was like being a demigod, but they rarely asked about death itself. It was possible that they were the type that preferred for the experience to be a surprise, but Nico suspected that it was more likely that their reluctance was because the subject of death hit just a little too close to home. Jason had been resurrected, after all.

Nico took a long shower to try and help him relax. It had been a taxing week and the talk with Bruce was still weighing heavily on his mind. It wasn't just the consequences that were bothering him either. Nico couldn't get the feeling of Deathstroke's hands in his hair out of his mind. He'd been trying to ignore it since he'd been rescued, but it was no use. He could hear the man's cold voice in his ear and every once in a while he would blink and flinch as he saw the knife hovering inches above his eye.

None of it was real, of course, but that didn't help him relax. That was the closest he had come to being killed in a very bad way. Usually, he could count on his death being quick. The Joker and the men at the gala had threatened to shoot him, which was definitely scary, but they were relatively clean and quick deaths. Slade had been planning on dragging it out and making him suffer every second of it until he sent him to his father-- express shipping.

When he eventually got out, he changed into a pair of sweats and an oversized black hoodie. He pulled the hood up and his hands back inside the sleeves. His heart was beating quickly and he knew that he needed to figure out a way to calm down or he'd have a panic attack. He desperately wanted to avoid having another one of those, so he decided to see if polishing his sword would help calm him down. He had always found the process calming before, so he hoped that this time was no different.

{TW: Character Death, Puking, and a Panic Attack upcoming!}

The son of Hades set his sword out on his desk and pulled a trunk out from beneath his bed, which is where he had stored most of his demigod things. The trunk had some drachmas, nectar and ambrosia, a prism, a Camp Halfblood t-shirt, and his polishing equipment. He pulled the items he needed out before sliding the trunk back under the bed. He laid it all out neatly on the desk before he realized that he didn't have his cleaning cloth. He had thrown it in the laundry a while ago and he figured that it had just been left with the other hand towels by mistake.

He went downstairs to look in the laundry area and found it in a pile of washcloths in a bin by the washer. He was relieved that he could find it, because he hadn't wanted to dirty one of the better towels and deal with Alfred's wrath when he got home. He could also feel his anxiety bubbling up inside him and he needed to start relaxing or he would have a meltdown. Fate was not on his side. When he went back upstairs, he found a sight that tipped him over the edge.

Damian was sitting in the chair by his desk, seemingly passed out. Well, Nico thought he was passed out, at first. When he looked closer, his brother was dead. The cloth fell out of Nico's hand, but he hardly noticed. In desperation, he pulled the chair out and knelt in front of him, frantically searching for a pulse, though he knew there wouldn't be one. When he came up empty, he let out a strangled yelp and pushed himself back away from the body and into the space between the desk and his doorframe. He couldn't take his eyes off of his brother's limp form and the floodgates opened.

He could feel the bile rising in his throat, so he pushed himself up along the wall and stumbled into his bathroom. He managed to find the toilet before he lost whatever food he'd eaten that morning. His throat burned and his mouth tasted like rotten meat by the time he had emptied his stomach. He collapsed back against his vanity and the panic began to set in.

His throat, which was already burning, began to close up and Nico found it impossible to swallow. His mouth was dry and getting drier with how heavily he was breathing. his vision was blurry with tears and he couldn't breathe out of his nose. He pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes and held his breath for a few moments to try and quiet himself. He didn't want one of his other brothers to hear him and see Damian.

In an effort to find some sort of relief, Nico stood up and turned on the water in his sink. He splashed cold water against his face and cupped his hands together to collect enough to wet his mouth and throat. He swirled some water around in his mouth and spat it out, but he couldn't tell if it had helped with either the dryness or the taste. He patted his face down with a hand towel and took a few moments to force himself to breathe evenly.

It worked for a few moments before his chest seized and he lef out another strangled sob and sank to his knees. He lost control of his breathing again and lost focus on anything other than how overwhelmed he was. Everything was too much, the lights, the feeling of his clothing on his skin, the throbbing in his head from his hyperventilating, the tightness in his throat and chest, and the stinging of the tears that were still rolling down his cheeks. He could even swear that he could hear a high-pitched buzzing, though he knew that the room was quiet it occurred to him that the sound was his own blood.

Nico got onto his knees and folded himself over into fetal position, wrapping his arms around his stomach and shutting his eyes against the light. When he felt the tingling of the panic bubbling up into his shoulders, he began rocking himself gently, his forehead tapping the cold tile floor with a soft thud. This soft rocking helped him to regain some control over his breathing again, though he was still hiccuping and couldn't get enough to satisfy his burning lungs. He was starting to get light-headed.

It was at this point that Nico knew he had to involve Bruce. He was going to pass out and then Bruce wouldn't know what happened to Damian. Nico still couldn't see straight, and his legs were shaking an almost comical amount, but he managed to make it back into his bedroom and to his bedside table where he kept his phone. He grabbed the device, collapsing gently onto the floor next to his bed once his legs could no longer support him.

His dyslexia and the tears in his eyes made it almost impossible for him to see the screen, but he typed out something that he hoped would bring Bruce to his room, and he could figure out the rest from there. Now all Nico could do was wait. As he sat there, his eyes settled on Damian and he was sent headlong back into a fit. He pulled himself back into the bathroom and shut the door, putting a barrier between himself and the disturbing scene.

The son of Hades found himself back in the fetal position and rocking as he waited for Bruce to get there. He didn't know what he was going to tell the older man once he got there, but Nico was pretty sure he was in massive trouble. Bruce could look past him getting himself into danger, Nico knew, but now his carelessness had endangered someone else. Damian was dead because he had left his sword out in the open.

Was Bruce going to kick him out? Would he take away his weapons? Would he put him up for adoption since was now a known figure?

These thoughts send Nico into another wave of stifled sobbing and hyperventilation until he heard his bedroom door open and Nico held his breath in fear. There was a long pause and Nico knew Bruce was inspecting Damian's body. Nico let out a shaky breath as slowly as he could so it wouldn't make noise. A few moments ago he had wanted Bruce's help, now he wished he could fit down the shower drain. There came a soft knock on his bathroom door and Nico held his breath and shut his eyes tightly. His legs were tingling from the uncomfortable position and the rest of his body was still shaking. Even his teeth were chattering uncontrollably.

"Nico? Are you in there?" Nico couldn't find the breath or the will to reply, "Nico? I'm coming in!" Bruce eased open the door, but Nico didn't bother to look up. A moment later strong arms had encircled him and Nico hiccuped loudly, still trembling. Bruce shushed him gently as he pulled the smaller boy into his side.

"I'm sorry!" Nico's voice came out like a yelp.

"I opened his eyelids to see if there was any movement and it was like they were glazed over. Nico, what happened?"

"My sword. He must have touched it," Nico tried to take a deep breath, "It kills instantly."

"Can you save him?" Bruce's voice was fragile.

"Me?" He was surprised Bruce would even suggest such a thing since he was the reason Damian was in this situation, to begin with. Bruce rubbed his back rhythmically and Nico used that to get his breathing under control. They sat there for a few moments as the older man seemed to be waiting for Nico to regain his composure a bit. When the boy started to breathe steadily and his teeth had stopped chattering, Bruce continued.

"You're the only one who even has a chance. Your father is the god of the Underworld. You're friends with death. You're his only chance." Nico knew he was right, but he wasn't sure if What Bruce was asking for was possible. He'd brought Hazel back, but Hades wouldn't stand for it if he did it a second time. Still, he couldn't stand the idea of sitting idly by and letting Damian stay dead. He couldn't stand it if he didn't try to save him. Hades wouldn't help him, but Thanatos might.

"I'll do everything I can," he muttered breathlessly. he wasn't sure that he had enough energy for a long shadow jump, but he wasn't going to let that get in his way. If they were going to successfully bring him back, he would have to hurry.

"I'll put him in a stasis pod to try and preserve any brain activity." Bruce started to stand to retrieve Damian when Nico started forming a plan. Once he had come down off of the panic, his mind had started functioning again, though slowly. He felt like he had run a marathon, but he was having coherent thoughts again, at least.

"Alright, I'm going to grab some food and... do you know if we have any... dodgeballs?"

"Sure...?"

+++

A short while later Nico was equipped with 4 days worth of granola bars and several water bottles. He had also taken a bite of ambrosia, which would hopefully give him enough energy to get to the Underworld.

"If you are going to be gone for more than a day, let me know." Bruce had ordered.

"Ok, but time runs differently in the Underworld. I might not be able to tell." Nico warned him.

"How long do you think you'll be?" He leaned against the wall across from the stasis pod.

"A day or two at most? I'm not sure."

"Ok. Two days." He pushes himself off the wall.

"You go. I'll tell the others what has happened." Bruce left the demigod standing in front of the frozen body of his little brother. His tone left no room for discussion so he did as he was told and shadow traveled to the Underworld. The son of Hades popped out in front of the Underworld gates. He was met by the three snarling, Doberman heads. Cerberus growled at him until he realized who it was. Then, he was wagging his non-existent tail in delight.

"Hey, buddy! Look what I brought you!" Nico smiled, though he didn't feel very happy, and slipped the ball out of his backpack. Cerberus barked in excitement, sounding like something broke the sound barrier. He held out the ball for all of the dog's heads to sniff. Once they had, he threw it off somewhere to the right, and Cerberus bounded off after it, shaking the ground as he went. After Cerberus was gone, Nico was able to walk right past the gates and into asphodel. His plan was simple really, go to the palace and ask his father if he could speak to Thanatos. If that didn't work... well, he'd have to think of something else.

The demigod shadow traveled from the gates up to his father's palace, knowing that time was running out for Damian. Nico walked through the main hall to the throne room, thinking about how he was going to phrase his request. When Nico got to the throne room doors, the skeletons opened them for him and he stepped into the hall. Before he had taken two steps, he was stopped by the sound of his father and Persephone arguing. Demeter could be heard shouting obscenities from behind a closed door that, if he remembered correctly, led to the kitchen. Hades had barred her from entering the throne room.

"Could you please Take your mother to Olympus for a couple of days so I can get something done around here?" His father pleaded. Hades sounded silly and Nico managed a small smile. The lord of the dead was pleading with his wife over his mother-in-law. That was such a mortal thing to do.

"Only if you let me grow a garden in the Fields of Punishment." She countered. Apparently, this was a new set of conditions because father looked perplexed.

"What? Why would you even...? Nevermind. Only if they're poisonous." He sighed in resignation. Persephone considered this restriction before agreeing.

"Nightshade it is then." She stood from her throne and exited the throne room through a side door, giving orders to the undead soldiers as she went.

Hades sighed and rubbed his face, "Come in, Nico. I know you're there." He sat up straight again and set his eyes on his son. Nico moved out from behind the door and approached his father.

"Father," he bowed respectfully.

"What brings you back here?" Hades got straight to the point.

"I came to ask if you knew where I could find Thanatos."

"That is a strange request. Though perhaps not from you, one part of his consciousness is with the judges, as it is a slow day on the East coast." Hades replied. Death had many more slivers of his being than the other gods did. After all, his work never stopped. Nico politely dismissed himself and made his way to find the judges. They were likely in session, but Nico had hoped he could grab Thanatos without causing a problem.

When the demigod got to the judgment hall, he found that they were in fact, in session. Nico could hear the judges asking the newly dead (well, relatively new) a series of questions. Most of them asked the deceased about their life-- they needed to be sure that they were sending the person to the right field. After they had chosen, it was permanent. Judgments were unpredictable things. Some could take as little as ten minutes while others could take hours or even days to complete. Nico hoped this would be quick.

He sat down outside the judgment hall doors and waited for that session to end. He would have to talk to Thanatos between cases. This must have been an easy judgment because the Judges had soon called for a recess. Thanatos was the last one out of the hall and Nico grabbed hold of his cloak as he passed.

"Nico? What are you doing here?" Death frowned. His voice was smooth and comforting, audiobook companies would probably kill to get someone with his voice.

"I need a big favor from you, you're not going to like it." Nico launched into a disorganized explanation of how everything happened. It was hard for him to keep it all straight because of how emotional he had been. Thanatos was silent throughout the story, which was both nice, and a little disquieting. Nico couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"You're right, I don't like it." He sighed and rubbed his face. The son of Hades could feel his stomach drop as he anticipated his answer.

"It was not his time to die, so the fates have likely left his string alone. It is hard to say how long his string will stay intact while his soul is in the Underworld, though. You will need to hurry." He was talking in a lowered voice, which added to the urgency of the situation.

"Does this mean you'll help me?"

"Yes, but I require something of you in return." He warned.

"What do you need me to do?" Nico asked warily, he did not want to get roped into something suicidal, Death didn't always have a good idea of what human bodies could survive since he’d only ever seen what ended them.

"I need you to travel to the edge of the pit, you will carry a sliver of my scythe with you. If the doors of death are in Tartarus, the sliver will glow. I need you to come back and tell me what you find. Beware, you will need to anchor yourself outside of the cavern, or the pit will suck you in." Thanatos explained.

"If I do this, will you restore my brother's soul to his body?" Nico asked, to make sure the terms of this agreement were clear.

"I will see to it personally. Your brother will be alive again by the time you return to the Waynes. Nico, be sure the anchor is strong, if you fall in, you are most surely dead." He warned.

"You swear on the river Styx?" Nico pressed-- a matter this important needed to be sealed with a stronger oath than a mere promise.

"I swear on the river of Styx that, if you return to me with the knowledge of whether or not the doors of death are in Tartarus, I will personally restore Damian Wayne's soul to his body." Thanatos took the oath. The ground shook signaling the acceptance of the oath.

"I swear on the river Styx that I will try my best to retrieve the information and return it to you, in exchange for Damian's soul." Nico gave his part of the oath and immediately felt a weight on his chest, a promise left to keep.

"Go, I will work on finding Damian. Take this rope, it is strong and should hold against the force of the pit. As long as you are careful, you should have no reason to fear." He handed the hero a coil of rope that he produced out of nowhere. Nico took the rope and slung it over his shoulder.

"One final thing," Thanatos said as he held his scythe between cupped hands. When he brought his hands away, there was a black gem resting on his palm.

"This will tell me if the doors are in Tartarus?" Nico asked as he accepted the jewel.

"Yes. Now hurry." Thanatos shooed the boy away and the demigod wasted no more time. Nico ran as fast as he could to the cavern, though he was sure that his legs would give with every step. When Nico reached the entrance, he searched everywhere for an appropriate anchor. There were several trees in the area, so he settled for a thick, healthy-looking tree to use as the anchor. He tied the rope around the tree using the same types of knots the campers used to tie Mrs. O' Leary to a chariot two Christmases ago. It had to be strong to support the weight of a charging hellhound and a sled full of demigods.

Once he was sure of his knot, Nico looped the rope around his waist a few times and tied it with the same knot. He gripped the sliver tightly in his hands before he slowly made his way into the cave. It looked just like a normal cave, stalactites, cold draft, etc. Well, except the giant black hole at the very back that had voices issuing out of it. Whispers and screams were coming from the dark that made his stomach churn. Luckily, he didn't have anything in his stomach left to lose.

Nico took a few cautious steps closer to the chasm and glanced at the diamond. It wasn't glowing yet, so he took a few more steps, not wanting to get too close if he could avoid it. The gem still didn't glow. Nico sighed and walked up as close as he dared to the edge of the pit. He had reached the end of his rope, so he had to stop. He continued to lean forward but couldn't get much closer. Once he had got within 5 or six feet, the jewel glowed white, changing color completely. The son of Hades gripped it tightly in his hand-- satisfied that he had upheld his end of the deal. Just as he closed his hand around the stone, the vacuum that was Tartarus decided to turn on.

The pull of the pit felt like it was trying to strip him of his soul. The force was strong enough to knock him off his feet. his head smashed against a stalagmite on his way down and for a second all he saw were stars. The demigod blinked a few times and tried to force himself to his knees. It took him a few tries, but he finally got to his knees and stayed upright. He'd have to get out of danger before he would have time to really examine the injury, but a simple probing of the area didn't reveal any blood.

Nico forced his way through the wind, stopping every so often to catch his breath. His head ached and he was pretty sure he had gotten a concussion. He slowly but surely crawled and pulled Himself out of the cave. Nico collapsed onto the grass outside the cavern and immediately the pull stopped. He rolled onto his back before immediately rolling back onto his side when a wave of dizziness hit him. He took deep breaths as the feeling subsided temporarily. Unfortunately, the feeling returned every time he tried to sit up. Nico stuffed the stone in his pocket to free his other hand up.

When the dizziness had become manageable, Nico turned his attention to the rope around his waist. He untied it and pulled it off so he could stand up, which ended up being harder than he had expected. Well, standing up wasn't the hard part, it was walking in a straight line and not throwing up. Nico made it as far as the tree before he had to take a moment to catch his breath and settle his stomach. He untied the rope from the tree and slowly looped it back in. He tried to hurry because he most likely had a concussion and would need someone to check it out.

He coiled the rope up and slung it over his shoulder. Then he slowly made his way back towards the judgment hall, though he had to stop several times along the way to catch his breath. It had probably been half an hour before he got back to the hall. When he got there, Thanatos was waiting for him outside. He stood up as he saw the boy approaching. He came up to meet the hero and took the rope off his shoulder.

"I was starting to get worried. What happened?" He asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Nico explained everything to him and handed the diamond back to him. Thanatos nodded like the news didn't surprise him.

"I suspected as much, but I had to be sure. Thank you for holding up your end of the bargain. When you go home, you will find that your brother has been restored."

"Thank you." Nico sighed happily as he felt relief wash over him. Nico may have been the reason Damian had gotten into this mess in the first place, but he also got him out of it.

"How about I take you home. In this condition, you might end up in China." Thanatos offered. Nico didn't have the energy to protest so he nodded.

"Yeah, sure."

"Bruce nearly shot me when I appeared in front of him." Death smirked. We both knew that he had a no-kill rule.

"What happened?"

"I went over to Damian's body and restored his soul before leaving. Bruce kept asking me questions, but I didn't know what you would have wanted me to tell him so I didn't reply. After Damian started breathing again, he was more occupied with that." Bruce was not going to be happy about the intrusion, but Nico would explain it when he got back.

"That's nice. Can you take me back? To my room, if you can, please?" He asked. Feeling nauseous and tired. The infirmary would have been better, but Nico didn't think Bruce would appreciate that much.

"I shall try. You might pass out though," He warned. The son of Hades nodded to show that he had heard him. Nico wouldn't mind passing out for a while and escaping this massive headache, but he knew better. Falling asleep with a concussion could be the end of you. It wasn’t anything ambrosia and nectar couldn’t fix, but he wanted to be sure.

"Here we go." Then darkness and screams filled his senses. The wind ripped at Nico's clothes and the cold numbed his entire body. In moments, it was over and Nico was back in his room. Nico hobbled into the bathroom and collapsed by the toilet. He dry heaved for a while, but there wasn't really anything left in his stomach for him to expel.

"Nico, I'll go and get Bruce then I need to go back to the Underworld. I need to assist with the judgment of a certain soul." Thanatos apologized.

"Thank you. I'll be fine." Nico assured him Thanatos nodded in agreement. He gave the hero one more glance before disappearing. A short while later, Nico heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He wanted to move to his bed, but he got dizzy when he tried to stand up so he just stayed where he was. at least this time Bruce wouldn't walk in to see him in the middle of a panic attack. The footsteps were coming closer and Nico was both worried and relieved at the same time. He was afraid that they would freak out over his condition but hopeful to see that Damian was ok again.

"Nico? You're back! I was worried something happened to you. Are you ok?" Bruce came in with Damian, alive and well, hot on his heels.

"I got a concussion." The son of Hades said with a goofy smile. Once he saw that Damian was ok, everything was alright again and the fatigue and anxiety started catching up to him. The adrenaline and nervous energy that he had been running on were wearing off and he was about to fall asleep.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up. Then I want to know everything." Bruce tried to help the demigod up but he was too disoriented to get his feet underneath him.

"I'm tired. Can I sleep first? I just need some ambrosia and nectar." Nico asked as they helped him into his bedroom.

"Yeah, sure. I don't think you'll be of much use to us until you get some sleep. You've earned it." Bruce agreed and helped him get to the bed. Bruce pulled out some of the ambrosia and nectar from a pouch Nico kept in the trunk under his bed and handed it to him. After he had taken as much as he dared, Nico got his shoes off and crawled under the covers. He was asleep before he knew what was happening.

Chapter Text

Nico found Hazel in his dreams, though whether it was from a vision or a concussion-induced fever dream, he wasn't sure. She was walking through the beautiful forum with a drink in her hand and a dark purple shirt with familiar letters: SPQR. As she got closer, Nico could tell that she was wearing a cord around her neck with a little lead plate that read probatio. He was relieved to see that the Romans had kept their word. Hazel was safe for now.

Nico approached her, excited to finally talk to her again. Hazel grinned brightly as she saw him coming. She moved to meet her brother in front of a stone bench where they sat to talk. It surprised him to realize how happy he felt to see her. She had become so important to him in such a small amount of time and it surprised him. He was worried, too. He didn't want to get too attached too quickly. Part of him was convinced that she would eventually leave him too.

"Oh Nico, I'm so happy to see you! I wanted to thank you for bringing me here. I know you didn't have to." Her face was full of life and her smile made it all worth it. He may not have been able to save his biological sister, but he could save this one.

"Don't be silly, you're my sister! So, how is legion life treating you?" Nico pressed on, interested to hear about how the Romans did things. From what little he had seen of the Romans, they had been organized, strict, and militaristic-- nothing like the Greeks he was used to. He imagined that life with the Romans would be harder than with the Greeks, at least when it came to training. The retirement plan sounded nice, though.

Hazel took the bait and started telling him all about her new life. Nico relaxed into the bench as she told him everything that she had done and seen since she had gotten to camp. She talked about the cohorts, the initiation, the village, and even some of the other campers she had been introduced to. Nico hoped this meant that she would have the chance to start over here. She deserved to be someplace where she could be herself and start to heal from her past life.

The tone of the conversation shifted as Hazel brought up the cursed jewels that still followed her around. Nico had hoped that the protective barrier of the camp would slow the curse some, but he would have known better. There were few things powerful enough to defend against a curse. With the amount of precious metals and gems in the camp, Hazel was attracting everything from denarii and weapons to diamonds and rubies. It wasn't exactly ideal in such a crowded place.

"I think Octavian suspects. What if someone finds one of the gems and takes it? I don't want anyone else to die because of me." Hazel seemed to age a hundred years in a matter of moments and the son of Hades rubbed her shoulders in an effort to comfort her. He wished that he had some idea of how to help her, though he was out of his depth. Magic had never been his strong suit.

"You'll have to be careful. I'll see if I can find anything that can help. In the meantime, have you ever tried controlling the metals yourself?" He asked, a theory forming in his head.

"Controlling it?" Her voice shook. All at once, the answer crashed down on him and he wanted to kick himself. Of course she had tried controlling it. That was how she had died-- shredded by the gems that Gaea had so wanted for her son Alcyoneus.

" I mean. can you send it away the same way you can draw it to you?"

"I don't know but I can try." She replied with a frown. Nico nodded and asked her to keep him informed.

"Hey, Nico?" Hazel called as he was getting ready to leave, "Octavian can't reach the gods anymore for his predictions. Things are getting tense around camp. Do you have any idea what is going on?" Hazel asked hopefully. Nico froze. It wasn't like he could tell her the giants were rising. No one would believe her, first of all, and he didn't want to start a panic. Things would happen as the fates decreed them and bad things happened to people who messed with fate. Olympus closing was literally the worst thing that could possibly happen right now, in the demigod's time of need.

"No, but look, I'll come to you soon and we can test your abilities. I'll see you soon." Nico kissed her lightly on her forehead before forcing their dreams to separate. He sank into a space that was halfway between sleep and consciousness.

When he finally woke up, it was dark outside, and he was completely disoriented. What time was it? How long had he been asleep? Were people still awake downstairs? Nico looked at his clock but his brain couldn't compute what the time actually meant. He needed a few more minutes to let his brain wake up. As he got up and stretched it felt like he was moving through syrup and his eyelids were heavy.

The son of Hades didn't want to bother anyone if they were asleep so he decided to just stay in his room. Sitting still didn't suit him, so he started pursuing something to do. He looked through the books on his bookshelf, though he wasn't really looking to get anything as involved as a book. Then he considered going down to the cave to practice, but he doubted that Bruce would approve right after he came home injured. The only other thing he could think to do was draw.

Nico settled down into the chair at his desk and pulled out his sketchbook. He wasn't sure what he wanted to draw, but he figured if he just started a picture, something would come to him. With that in mind, he brought his pencil to the page and started sketching. Nico drew a picture of the entire bat family perched on the roof of the court building. It was his favorite picture he'd ever drawn.

He got so caught up in what he was doing that he didn't realize that someone had come into his room. Nico kept sketching until they loudly cleared their throat. The demigod startled badly, breaking his pencil lead. He cursed lightly as he saw the dark line that ruined the gradient of his shading.

He was about to give the intruder a piece of his mind, but when he swiveled to face them, he was greeted by none other than Damian Wayne standing in the doorway. The difference between the assassin trained by the League of Shadows and the boy that stood before him now was striking. He didn't have his usual confidence. His shoulders were scrunched, he was slouching, and he wasn't glaring at him. For a moment, all Nico could do was watch him.

"Hey." He said at last, though even this was unlike the Damian he was used to.

"Hey." Nico said, finally realizing that he was being rude, "come on in." The son of Hades gestured to his room. Damian stepped inside and closed the door gently behind him. He seemed to have something important on his mind. Nico set aside his pencils and shut his sketchbook to give the younger boy his full attention.

"I wanted to talk to you about... you know... dying." He settled down onto the couch and Nico sat in the armchair close to him. The older boy watched Damian carefully, curious as to what he wanted to say. Nico can't say that he was surprised that the boy wanted to talk. After all, it isn't every day a mortal visits the underworld and comes back to life again. It made sense that he would have questions. The demigod motioned for him to continue, the least he could do is give him some answers.

"So, what happened? How did I die?" He asked. Nico frowned, he thought that he had explained what his blade could do. He figured that it couldn't hurt to explain it again, so he told him everything that happened from his death to when Bruce found the demigod in the bathroom. Was a good listener and didn't speak until the end. Whether that was from disgust. apprehension, or shame, Nico couldn't tell.

"What would have happened if you fell into the pit?" Damian asked at last. Nico was caught off guard. He had expected him to ask questions about death itself, not about the mission to the Underworld.

Nico hesitated, trying to think of an answer to his question. "No one knows for sure. I would have been sucked into Tartarus. I would either have been killed by the fall or by the monsters within. Not even the gods dare go near the pit." He replied at last.

"You risked your life to save mine," Damian said it as a statement, but it was clearly meant as a question.

"Of course. I was the reason you were in that position in the first place. I had to fix it." The older boy assured him. Damian pursed his lips.

"Thank you. I guess I'm indebted to you now." Damian sighed. He seemed utterly defeated.

"Oh really? Well, if you continue to homeschool me, I'll call us even. After all, I couldn't let my brother go down without a fight." He reasoned. There was no way that Nico wanted anyone to be in debt to him. Well, maybe Thalia. Her annoyance alone would be enough.

Damian gave me a small, grateful smile, "I can do that."

"How long was I out anyway?" Nico asked stretching.

"A few hours. The others are watching horror movies downstairs. I know they don't scare you, but..." Damian trailed off, his offer caught in his throat.

"Yeah, let's go join them," Nico said, standing up. Damian gave him a small smile and the pair headed downstairs to join the others.

None of us slept that night.

The next morning the boys all ate breakfast together before heading down to the gym. The ambrosia and nectar had done the trick and he was feeling up to training. He couldn't afford to be falling behind the others right now, not with the new threat that was on the horizon. Besides, training would help distract him from the fact that he had another lecture to look forward to. He wasn't naive enough to think that he had heard the last about the Deathstroke incident.

As the other boys started warming up, Bruce pulled Nico aside to talk. He had been hoping that he would wait until after they had finished training before saying anything, He wouldn't feel like being around people after this and it would make the whole day less enjoyable. Couldn't he have just waited?

"Look Nico, you had all of us really worried." Bruce started softly, "First you disappear off all sensors in the house. We thought that maybe you had gone to camp or something."

"Bruce--" Nico started, but the man in question held up a finger to stop him. Apparently, he wasn't done.

"Then you get captured by Slade Wilson and he threatens to out your eye. You managed to get yourself out of it, but now you owe Poison Ivy a favor. She's a terrorist, Nico," the older man hissed, "You could have died and there wouldn't have been a damn thing any of us could do. You have a family now. You can't just do whatever you feel like anymore." He lectured.

"I-" Nico started but trailed off when he saw Bruce open his mouth to speak. It would just be better to let the man get it all out.

"You need to understand that you're not infallible." Nico pursed his lips, no longer interested in defending himself. he assumed that infallible meant something along the lines of invincible. He didn't know what to say because he was filled with shame and rage.

"Believe me, I know. You and everyone else always seem to feel the need to remind me. As if I don't know I'm a disappointment. Thank you." The son of Hades turned to walk back over to his brothers, planning on warming up and getting this over with. He was right, he didn't want to be there anymore. He could have just left and colled off in his room, but he knew that wouldn't be the mature thing to do. He needed this training, whether he felt up to it or not.

"Nico, that's not what I meant." Nico ignored the head of the household and started stretching. Bruce sighed and gave the teenager a pained look. Nico pretended not to notice and looked away. He didn't know what hurt more, the suggestion that he had disappointed the vigilante, or the fact that he might deserve it.

After they had all warmed up, they stepped up to the wrestling mats. Bruce took Richard on first and neither were holding back. Even though he needed to focus on their moves, Nico was too upset to really pay attention. His mind kept drifting back to what Bruce had said and he would get angry again. He tried to shove it down, he couldn't afford to be emotional right now. When it came to be his turn, he was paired with Jason. The pair stepped up to the mats and faced off. When Bruce blew the whistle Jason lunged. Nico dodged to one side on instinct alone. Jason pivoted to face the younger boy again.

'Focus' said a familiar voice in Nico's head. His father had joined the party.

"Shut up." The demigod muttered under his breath. Jason lunged again and caught Nico around the waist while he was distracted. Nico grabbed a fistful of his brother's shirt and drove his knee repeatedly into the older boy's stomach until his grip weakened and Nico shoved him away. Jason was not easy to shove. Nico brought his hands up the way that Bruce had shown him and took up his fighting stance.

'Better, but there is still room for improvement. You are letting your emotions cloud your judgment.' His father commented unhelpfully. Nico gritted his teeth. He guessed the rest of the gods and his brothers should all just join in so he could complete the whole set.

This time, Nico didn't wait for Jason to strike first, he threw himself at the older boy with all of his pent-up rage and shame giving him strength. Nico tried to punch him in the face but Jason caught his fist. He was expecting that, though, and he aimed a knee at his ribcage. Jason let go of the smaller boy in surprise and he backed away a few steps to regroup. Once he had, Jason tried to roundhouse kick the demigod, but he ducked in time. As Jason was turning to face him, Nico punched him in the jaw and brought a knee up to his chest when he stumbled. Bruce had told him to use his bony knees and elbows whenever he could because he wasn't exceptionally strong yet. He certainly wasn't strong enough to match up with any of them.

Jason blocked it and shoved the smaller boy away. Nico was a lot easier to shove. This didn't win the demigod any advantages, but he could see that Jason was warier of him now. Anger boiled up inside him again, how was it that he could take on these huge monsters but not someone who is normal-sized and powerless?

'These boys are smarter than monsters. Go for the knees.' Father suggested. Nico glared, hoping he could sense it. Jason was used to fighting up close and personal. If Nico tried that, he would lose.

The pair circled each other, looking for the opportunity to strike. Soon Jason lunged at him again and grabbed the younger by the shoulders. Nico grabbed him by the wrists and tried to pry his arms off but they wouldn't budge. The son of Hades growled in anger and frustration, why was this so hard? It took Nico a moment to realize that Jason wasn't fighting anymore. He was simply holding him in place. Then Nico started to realize that he was talking to him as the rush of blood in his ears quieted.

"Nico! Nico calm down! You're making the shadows go insane!" The demigod stopped struggling and stared at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Look behind you!" Damian called. Nico turned and found that one corner of the gym was completely filled with shadows. He tried to banish them but nothing happened. The shadows weren't coming from him.

"That isn't me," he said, stepping away from Jason. Seconds later, Thanatos stepped out of the shadows, fully cloaked in his robes to hide his face. He beckoned to him with his hand. Nico hopped down off the mat and trotted over to him. Nico figured that if he was bothering him in the land of the living, it was serious. At the moment, it didn't even occur to him that this would frighten the others. To Nico, death was a friend but the others still saw him as something to be feared.

"Nico! What are you doing?" Bruce hissed. All at once, the anger welled up inside him again. He turned around to make a retort but stopped when he saw the petrified faces of the bat family. The anger diminished as he realized what they were thinking. They thought death had come for one of us-- which wasn't an unreasonable assumption. It wasn't exactly uncommon for Death to ask for his help with collecting escaped souls. Nico blended in better than Thanatos did in these days so it was often just easier to send a demigod. The fear that Thanatos was here for one of them was a rational one. Jason and Damian were deathly pale, both sure that their times were up.

"I'm talking with death..." I motioned for the cloaked figure. The others simply stare at me, dumbstruck. Only he knew for certain that death was not here to collect their souls. Death wouldn't come here just to do that. He'd call him to the Underworld or have Hades tell him through his thoughts.

"I say," came a familiar voice, "Master Nico, if you wish to invite guests, please give Master Wayne prior notice."

"Sorry Alfred," Nico reply with a small smile, "I didn't expect company." He turned and approached Thanatos who laid his hand on the demigod's shoulder. From where he stood Nico could tell that unease swept through the others. They probably thought that Thanatos was here for his soul, as if Hades would ever allow that to happen.

Thanatos leaned down close to his ear and spoke softly, "Nico, I have been captured by the enemy. Soon, there will be none of my energy left to collect the lost souls. Death itself will weaken."

"What do you need me to do? Where can I find you?"

"Dear boy, there is nothing you can do. I believe this is a task for someone else. I sense that you will be needed elsewhere very soon." Thanatos murmured cryptically before stepping back into the shadows and dissolving. Nico frowned and stepped away from the corner, which was no longer cloaked in shadows.

"Nico, what the hell was that all about?" Bruce had come up beside him, a dagger clutched tightly in his hand. Nico gritted his teeth, children of Hades were notorious for holding grudges, after all. As he took in the situation a bit more and his anger diminished and was replaced with disbelief. Had Bruce planned on attacking Thanatos with a dagger? The son of Hades frowned, staring at the dagger. He decided not to question it and answered his question instead.

"My stepmother wants to see me." He lied. It wasn't like he could tell them that people were going to stop dying and cause mass panic, now could he? That would be irresponsible.

"Stepmother?" Bruce frowned, looking uncomfortable at the implications.

Nico sighed, "Persephone?"

"She sent the grim reaper just to tell you she wants an audience?" Bruce asked, sounding suspicious.

"No, she sent Thanatos," He said sarcastically. He turned around and stalked back to the mat.

"What did she want from you?" Bruce pressed.

"She probably wanted me to talk to Ivy about poisonous plants. She is decorating the fields of punishment, after all." He spun a plausible story as he went. He used facts to make it easier to remember. The Stolls did wonders for teaching him how to create a convincing lie.

"Decorating the fields of punishment?" Bruce muttered under his breath. Nico stepped back up onto the mat and looked around at everyone else, who were in varying stages of disbelief. Jason and Damian looked like the cat that ate the canary. Nico couldn't tell if Tim was spacing out or staring into his soul, and Dick was watching Bruce for the proper reaction. Clearly, no one knew what to think about this. Even Alfred had disappeared during the excitement.

"Are we going to finish this or not?" Nico asked gesturing at Jason. They all composed themselves and Jason and Nico faced off again. Bruce blew the whistle and the fight began again.

'You know that this fight won't prove anything to Bruce.' Hades spoke up again, 'Win or lose, he knows that you aren't ready for the field. You haven't beaten any of them at their full strength yet.' Nico growled to himself mid-punch. Bruce won't change his mind because he was right, Nico hadn't been cautious enough that night and it could have gotten him killed or forced Nightwing into a meeting with his abuser. Just because he had managed to get himself out of it without exposing his powers, doesn't mean that all is forgiven. He knew that what he had done was irresponsible. Even when he thought he was being smart and taking the initiative, he was wrong. He'd almost gotten himself killed over an honorary base that wouldn't even be used. His mood plummeted.

From that point, it wasn't too difficult for Jason to win. Nico headed upstairs and took a quick shower. After that, he went back to his room and laid on the couch.

'What's done is done. It does not do to lay around and feel sorry for yourself.' Hades muttered pointedly.

"Really? What would you have me do?" he asked thin air. A piercing pain shot through his skull and he knew his father was angry. Nico hissed and clutched his head in pain.

'Do not speak to me in that way. I am not the one you should be angry with.'

"Thanks for reminding me that I am a disappointment." Nico huffed with half-hearted sarcasm. he was not eager to feel like his brain was being split in two again.

'Get up.'

"And do what?" The demigod shot back.

'Get up, now. ' His father's voice had turned into a growl and Nico found himself afraid. Hades didn't typically have such big reactions so Nico was worried that something was wrong. Had he just gotten news of something he needed Nico to take care of? It was hard for him to fathom that he had really made the god angry enough with just that short conversation so there had to be something else bothering him.

'Tell Bruce you are headed to the Underworld. Then go to Hazel. She will need your help to control her powers.'

"Is everything ok? What's wrong?"

'You're sitting here and feeling sorry for yourself. It isn't doing anyone any good.' Hades returned, though it wasn't really a response. His son nodded, though he didn't know if the god could tell. Nico left for Bruce's office, hoping that he could convince the older man to let him so soon after the last disaster. Though the last thing Nico wanted to do was to talk to Bruce, he marched down the hall and knocked on the door. He heard a faint 'enter' so he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Nico, what do you need?" Bruce asked, setting his pencil down.

"I'm headed to the Underworld now. I'll be gone for a few days, I suspect," Nico told him. He phrased it like a statement, hoping that Bruce would get the sense that he was needed there and that this wasn't just his idea.

"No, you're not going anywhere. All these secretive trips have to stop." Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, probably out of frustration. He looked extra tired today and Nico hated to think that he was somehow the source.

'Your sister needs your help to understand and control her powers. It will be more dangerous for her to try and figure them out on her own. You need to be there.' Hades insisted.

'Please, Bruce. I need to go." Nico didn't elaborate. He didn't want to get into the Roman camps or Hazel at the moment. That would take hours to explain and he didn't think anyone present had the patience for that kind of explanation at the moment.

"What did I just say? No." Bruce seemed to be getting angry and Nico wanted nothing more than to turn around and back out of the office right then and there. He didn't know how normal families worked, but he assumed that this would be considered arguing, which he knew you weren't supposed to do with your parents or guardians. It was a sign of disrespect, which was not what he was going for.

'Your sister needs guidance. He doesn't understand the stakes-- what is resting on you and your sister. You need to go to her.' His father's voice was firm and Nico knew he wasn't going to be dissuaded very easily.

'He said no,' Nico protested in his mind, 'I thought you were telling me I need to be more responsible.'

'This is being responsible. This mortal doesn't know what the stakes are.'

'Neither do I!' Nico protested.

'You're going. Even if that means sneaking out.' Hades insisted.

"Stop doing this to me!" Nico groaned out loud and pressed his palms to his temples.

"Doing what?" Bruce sounded annoyed.

'Do not defy me. Hazel needs you to be there for her. You must either convince Bruce to let you go, or you must disobey him. Your choice.' Hades would not relent.

"Why can't she figure it out? She's smart and strong." He reasoned. Another stab of pain raced through his skull. Nico hissed and clutched the bridge of his nose.

'She is, but even you could not figure out your powers on your own. You had help. Does she not deserve the same courtesy?' The god of the dead returned.

"My teacher turned me over to the enemy," Nico mumbled. More pain coursed through his brain. Nico got a nosebleed and Bruce stood up behind his desk, where he had apparently been watching the one-sided conversation. The oldest Wayne handed him a box of tissues. Nico took it and held one up to staunch the bleeding.

'That is beside the point and you know it.'

"Nico? What is going on? Who are you talking to?" Bruce's voice cut in again.

"Look Bruce, I have to go. If you don't allow me, I will have to go anyway. Please don't make me disobey you." The son of Hades sighed as the pain went away. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes to try and get some relief for the headache he still had.

"Why is it so important that you get to the Underworld?" Bruce questions. He now realized that Bruce is kneeling in front of him, looking up into his face. He was examining the younger boy for injuries, no doubt.

"I don't know. My father is insisting that I be there." Nico rubbed his forehead and wiped away the tears that had pooled in his eyes and the blood that dripped from his nose.

"You are in contact with him now?" Bruce sounded unhappy with that news.

"In my head." the demigod managed.

"Can he hear everything you say?" Bruce frowned. Nico shrugged and shook his head-- he really had no clue.

"Is he hurting you?" Bruce asks evenly.

"It hurts when he is angry," He admitted, "I don't think he means to hurt me." Bruce gritted his teeth.

"Why is he angry?"

"I didn't want to be irresponsible again." At the moment, that seemed like a perfectly good response, but it probably didn't make sense to anyone else.

"What does he want you to do that's irresponsible?"

"He wants me to defy you. I don't want to be in trouble. Stop making me choose." Nico said to no one in particular. Bruce pursed his lips and a less intense wave of pain formed in his skull. He hissed and massaged his temples.

"You are stuck," Bruce observed, "you can't please either one of us without displeasing the other." Nico nodded in agreement. Bruce sat back on the floor, probably dirtying his suit.

"Alright, I won't make you choose today. You can go. Hades, if you can hear me, I need to be able to reserve the right to let him wander. The last time he almost died. I can't help him If I don't know where he is."

'Almost what?' Hades asked in surprise. Nico felt him combing through his recent memories. Then an almost unbearable stab of pain pierced through his skull and Nico cried out in pain. He would have collapsed to the floor if it hadn't been for Bruce caught. The man caught him and sat him back up. It felt like his brain was being sawed into little pieces from the inside. Another wave of blood gushed from his nose.

'What in Tartarus were you thinking?'

"I'm sorry." Nico managed. He was scarcely sure he had said it out loud. Hades didn't seem to realize his pain, or he would have tried to reign in his temper. Nico guessed that answered the question of whether or not his father could see him.

"He didn't know, did he?" Bruce deducted. Nico shook his head and Bruce winced.

'Very well, tell him that I will let you know if it is an emergency or not.' Then my father's presence vanished from his skull and Nico sighed in relief.

"He said he will tell me when it is an emergency." Nico relayed his message. Bruce nodded, satisfied.

"Is he still here?" Bruce asked. Nico shook his head.

"Do you know if he meant to hurt you?" Bruce asked the million-dollar question.

"I don't think so," the demigod replied honestly. He and his father were never on good terms, but he had never done anything like that before. He had never intentionally hurt his son.

"Master Bruce? Is everything alright?" Alfred appeared in the doorway.

"I think so. Could you get Nico some painkillers please, Alfred?" Alfred nodded and was off.

"When will you be heading to the Underworld?" Bruce inquired.

"Tonight, probably. He won't be too happy if I delay my trip." Bruce nodded and set himself down in the other armchair. A short while later, Alfred came in with some pills and a glass of water. Nico downed the pills and sat back in the chair.

"Does he speak to you often?" Bruce asked, sitting on the edge of his desk.

"No. Just when he needs something or he is mad at me."

"Needs something?" Bruce asked. Nico shrugged, though he knew what he wanted to know.

"So he never sends Thanatos to come get you?" Bruce questioned.

"No, that's Persephone's thing. That and turning me into houseplants." Bruce laughed like he was joking.

"Wait, no kidding? She turns you into houseplants?" He nodded.

"That's why Ivy likes me." Bruce laughed at that. The son of Hades chuckled as well, knowing how ridiculous it sounded.

"God, your life is so messed up." He chuckled because there wasn't much else to do. Nico nodded in agreement.

"You don't even know the half of it."

Chapter Text

Nico decided to wait a little while before leaving to go see Hazel he'd leave in the afternoon so he could be there while she was eating lunch. He wouldn't be able to stay long, because of the gala, but hopefully, they would have enough time to look into her powers a little more. While he waited, he wanted to train some more. Just because things hadn't gone well that morning didn't give him an excuse to hide in his room all day. Thus, the rest of the time was spent training gymnastics style with Richard.

The pair worked on flexibility and stretches for a while before Richard showed him some tumbling moves. Nico wasn't sure that he could ever do those sorts of things, but it was nice to imagine that he could. Plus, he enjoyed watching his older brother. There were few times where Richard was more relaxed than when he was performing. The oldest brother started off with the basic cartwheels and handsprings then he progressed from there. He was so precise and fluid. The son of Hades had no idea how someone like himself would ever be able to pull that stuff off. HE was so entranced that he forgot to pay attention to the ways that his body moved in order to replicate it.

Finally, it was Nico's turn to do some of the basic moves. They started with the basics since Dick didn't want to overwhelm the younger boy. If you weren't comfortable trying something, you were likely to get hurt. Dick needed to help Nico build his confidence before they would try anything harder. Nico found that he could do the cartwheels and the rolls and that sort of thing, but he had a lot of work to do on the other skills. Dick got right into showing him how it was done and the demigod found himself enjoying the exercises. They spent a few hours on various tumbling exercises, getting Nico used to the idea of taking his feet off the floor. When they finally took a break for lunch, he was really tired.

Tim must have been tired too because he fell asleep at the table. The guys had been going on patrol most nights and it was really wearing Drake down. They each did their own things at night, patrolling their own territories and that sort of thing. Dick patrolled Bludhaven, Damian was with the Teen Titans, Jason was in his turf, and Drake was with Bruce. Nico usually stayed home and tested himself on the cause of death puzzles on the bat computer, under Alfred's supervision. This week had been particularly busy for them all.

Jason was staking out his claims this week, even though Bruce didn't approve. The pair were on the out again and Hood was staying in his safe houses. Nico had heard them fighting a few nights ago and he couldn't decide who he agreed with. As a child of Hades, Nico didn't have anything against Jason killing the bad guys, though he also understood that killing was against most people's moral codes. He was torn because he understood both sides of the argument. Perhaps he was more cut out for the anti-hero life like Jason was, though he didn't think he could kill a human unless it was a life or death situation. To be honest, it was something he had put much thought into.

After practice, the pair ate lunch in the cave while looking over current case files before Nico went to go shower. He laid out a suit on his bed for when he came back so that he wouldn't have to worry about what to wear in his rush to get ready for the charity event. Why Bruce insisted on holding these things was beyond him, but he supposed that it was important to keep up his image with the public. Bruce was the biggest philanthropist in Gotham and there were a lot of charities out there that could use the proceedings from tonight. So, Nico would play ball no matter how much he hated it.

Nico showered quickly, rehearsing what he was going to say to Bruce. He knew that the demigod was leaving, but he didn't know the truth about where he was going or why. Nico hated having to lie to him like this, but he needed to keep Hazel a secret until he knew that she was safe with the Romans. It was also important that no one knew that Hazel was dead, he didn't think that Bruce would approve of him tampering with the laws of nature like that.

Nico dressed in his typical black attire and hung his sword from his belt. There was no reason to hide it where he was going. He grabbed some godly food from his stash as well. You never knew when you were going to need it in a tight spot. He glanced around his room once more to try and think of anything else he needed, but he couldn't think of anything. He shut the door behind him as he made his way to tell Bruce he was leaving. As he headed down the hall, he passed Richard who seemed to have just gotten out of the shower himself.

The older boy called out to him before he made it to the stairs.

"Where are ya headed ghostly?" Dick rubbed the towel around his neck through his hair to catch some of the droplets before they fell to the hardwood floor. He didn't use that nickname very often, but Nico was always caught off-guard when he did. It was a play on his vigilante name and it felt wrong out of context.

"My father wants me to do something for him again," Nico said watching some of Dick's wet hair fall across his eyes. He vaguely wondered if that was annoying.

"Are you still coming to the gala? I know the last one wasn't fun, but this one could be better." He assured the younger boy. Nico doubted that any gala could possibly be fun, but it would probably be hard for it to be any worse than the last one.

"Yeah, I should be back by then. You think Joker will show up again?" The demigod stuffed his hands in his pockets. He did not like that clown one bit.

"I don't know. He's been pretty quiet lately. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll have something better to do." Nico nodded but he wasn't convinced. This was probably just the calm before the storm.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Hey, what's wrong? You not feeling the aster today?" The taller boy asked, eying him over in concern. His gaze reminded the son of Hades a little of Thalia-- the electric blue eyes, the knowing look on his face, the confidence.

"Aster?" Nico decided to ignore his question to figure out what was with the little phrases he always says.

"You know, opposite of disaster?"

"Is that really a word?" Nico asked, confused. English wasn't his first language and it was so complicated. Dick smiled broadly at the smaller boy.

"No, sadly, it isn't. I thought it was when I was first learning English. Alfred always says I butcher the English language." He admitted. The demigod smiled, imagining Alfred saying that in his posh accent.

"What was your first language?"

"Romani. We can talk about that later though. Was English your first language? I know you said you immigrated from Italy, but I thought that that may have been a part of your cover?" Richard asked, trying to be diplomatic.

"No, that was all true. I learned Italian first, then Bianca and I taught ourselves English in the hotel. Mother and father would sometimes speak English in front of us at the hotel, but we weren't anywhere near fluent back then. I hated learning English." Nico wrinkled his nose, thinking about all the homophones. He hates homophones and all the contradicting rules. For instance, Arkansas does not sound like Ar-Kansas.

"Me too." Richard laughed easily.

"We can talk more at the party if you want, but I have to go," Nico said, motioning towards the stairs.

"Sure. We can compare childhoods!" Richard seemed to be genuinely excited by the idea. He looked pleased and it made the son of Hades happy to know that he was somehow the cause. The pair parted ways and INicocontinued on down the stairs to talk to Bruce. He found the man doing paperwork in his office. He didn't notice the intruder until Nico knocked on the door frame to get his attention. His eyes snapped up from his desk, but he relaxed when he realized who it was.

"Hello, Nico. Are you headed off?" He asked turning his head back to the papers on the desk. The other boys told Nico that Bruce was was a workaholic and not to take it personally, but it didn't feel to great.

"Yeah. I'll be back tonight." Nico said, turning to leave.

"Oh, be careful, would you? You always seem to manage to get hurt somehow." He gave the younger a teasing look. Nico gave him a small grin and nodded. He found a dark corner and shadow traveled to Camp Jupiter. Nico stepped out of the shadow of a boulder and looked down into the valley. It wasn't where he had meant to land, but it would do.

He had landed on the outskirts of the camp. In the valley, one of the cohorts was being led through their paces. Orders were being shouted in Latin and the troops were rushing to follow the commands. The Romans were very disciplined and their maneuvers were very interesting to watch. They had formations and battleplans laid out for certain occasions. It was a strategy that they had used since ancient times. Just like the Greeks, they were comfortable in this style. Nico wondered what it would be like to put the two groups against each other. Would either side be able to effectively adapt?

He watched the drills for a few more minutes before he tore himself away and began making his way into the city in the search for Hazel. If he had known that he would be coming back os soon, he would have asked her what her schedule had looked like so he would have known what I good time to come see her would have been. Hopefully someone in the city could tell him where to find the fifth cohort. As he walked, his mind was drawn back to the drills in the field.

The Greeks made up plans as they went and rarely used formations. They were disorganized, but that disorganization meant that the Greeks were adaptable and self sufficient. They wren't used to being in a place to rely on others. It was up for debate as to which method was superior. Though the Romans were probably more intimidating, the Greeks were more unpredictable. Nico hoped he would never see a battle between the two.

The son of Hades didn't know where to Find Hazel so he shadow traveled to the city to look around. He walked down the streets, watching the veterans and their families. It made him wish that the Greeks were so advanced. It would be nice to have the expectation of making it to adulthood. There weren't very many campers above their teens at Camp Half-Blood. Those that were stayed at camp year-round.

Nico found Reyna in the middle of a group of teens in purple t-shirts, shouting orders. With each order, people cut off from the group to carry out the commands. Most of these people had several lines on their arms. They must be officers. He stood patiently a little ways back from the group. Reyna ran through her roster, noticing the intruder halfway through. She continued with her duty without acknowledging his presence.

When she got done with the roll and moved to meet him. "Nico? What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to speak to Hazel. Do you know where she is?" He got straight to the point.

"Is that all you want? I was hoping you may have information on Jason." Her words sounded controlled. She was trying very hard to hide her disappointment. Nico bit his tongue to keep from spilling everything.

"I'm sorry," He said, walking along beside her through the town. Reyna nodded, accepting his condolences. He wished he could put her mind at ease, but he also didn't want to make matter worse. If he let on that he knew where Jason was, he could end up leading the entire Roman Legion back to the Greeks and cause the next world war.

"The Senate is pressuring me to either find news about his whereabouts and retrieve him, or call for an election." She explained. Nico felt honored to be her confidant, but he didn't know what he had to offer her in return.

"What are you going to do?" He decided to take the bait.

"If I call for an election, I fear that Octavian will get the nomination." She continued.

"Ok, I can see that he wouldn't be a thrill to work with," Nico allowed, "But he is well-liked among the people it seems."

"Yes." She agreed.

"What is the problem with him?" R3eyna's lips quirked upward as if she was amused by his choice of words.

"Octavian is very persuasive and we don't often see eye to eye. If he gets elected, I'm afraid progress will come to a halt. I need you to fund Jason soon so that doesn't happen." She watched Nico carefully, her eyes were pleading.

"Is there any way to find someone else until Jason can be found?" He didn't think whatever the hell Hera had planned would be over anytime soon.

"Are you offering?" She countered, pausing in the center of the agora. The son of Hades spluttered for a moment, unable to form a proper response. She smirked, amused by his reaction.

"That wasn't very nice." He chastised when he realized she was only teasing.

"Your reaction was worth it. You do not jump at the chance of power, not very Roman if you ask me." He gave her a small smile.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It's a strange thing. Come, Hazel is training right now. I'll take you to the fields of Mars where you can wait for her." The ambassador of Pluto followed her through the city and out to the edge of a large field. He sat on one of the hills and watched the trainees practice from a distance while Reyna returned to the agora to finish up some other business. Nico desperately wished he could tell her the thruth, the weight of his lies were starting to weigh heavily on him.

Nico watched the legionnaires complete their drills. Each new order was different formation and each person had their position within the group. He was pleased to see Hazel, with her hair sticking out beneath her helmet, among them. She seemed to be learning fast, Hades would be proud. He hoped that she would be prepared for whatever threat was approaching them. He doubted she would have as much time to train as she needed.

After about half an hour, they finished up drills and started to go their separate ways for the time being. Nico made his way over to the group and was surprised when even the biggest soldiers backed away from him when he came close. He tried to keep his face neutral, but he also wasn't sure how he should feel. Were they repulsed by him? Should he be offended? Were they confused by him? He wasn't dressed in the Roman shirts or armor. He certainly didn't look like any of them, that was for sure. Maybe that it what made them back away from him. Considering many of them were twice his size, this reaction surprised him.

Nico picked his way through the group towards his sister. The legionnaires he passed paused to watch him cor a few moments before going back to whatever it was they had been doing. Out of curiosity, he looked around at soldiers as he passed. As he did, he realized that they weren't looking at his face, at least, not at first. Most of the, were looking at his black skull shirt or his cursed sword. Nico didn't wear a purple shirt like everyone else, and he highly doubted they had ever seen the likes of his sword before either. No wonder they were watching him. His appearance practically screamed tourist. Nico elected to ignore the looks and continued to look for Hazel who had caught on to the fact that everyone had gotten quieter and she was looking around for anything of interest. When she spotted her brother, her eyes widened in surprise and she smiled.

"Nico? What are you doing here?" She asked. There was a hushed chatter that broke out among the crowd as she spoke.

"Hey, sis. Reyna told me this is where I'd find you. Are you free soon? We need to talk." He explained, mostly for the crowd, so they knew he had permission to be in the camp.

"Yeah," Hazel took off her helmet, part of her hair scrunched relatively flat against her head, "I have an hour for lunch. I'll meet you by father's temple?" She suggested. He nodded in agreement and stepped into her shadow to shadow travel. He didn't want to walk through the crowd and have them watch him walk all the way to his destination. He stepped out of the shadows behind the temple and waited at the base of the temple for a while, just pondering life. When it became clear that Hazel wasn't going to be quick, he decided to check out the insides of the temple a little better. Maybe he would bring an offering later and leave it on the altar. Something non-perishable.

Nico moved through the cramped space, observing the layers and layers of dust and grime coating every surface. One of these days he would really have to come here and clean it up. He was disappointed at how blatantly disrespectful the shape of the temple was. The building was little more than a garden shed, with a Life-sized statue of Pluto that was overgrown with lichen and ivy and a faded welcome mat at the base of the statue with a small stack of diamonds on it-- a gift from his sister, no doubt. Ivy and moss coated the walls and the floorboards were splintering and creaking beneath his feet. The torches in the corners had long-since burnt out and the windows were coated in dust.

Nico didn't like the idea that the monument to his father would fall into disrepair. Hades had helped him save Olympus only last year. WIthout the god of the Underworld, the titans would have razed Olympus and the Greek pantheon to the ground. He deserved so much more respect than the Romans showed him. With this in mind, Nico began ripping at the ivy, tearing it off the statue and the walls. He carefully scraped off lichen with his sword and wiped the dust off the windows with a clump of moss he had pulled off the walls. The light made the room look bigger and less disgraceful.

As he was cleaning the statue, Nico found a ladder behind a marble statue that lead up through the roof. He managed to push open the rusty trap door, grateful that Bruce had made him get a tetnus vaccination, and climb up on the roof. He crouched on his knees and slowly made his way over to the edge of the roof. Once he got there, he dangled his feet over the edge and just enjoyed the view. From where he was seated, he could see the entire field of Mars, people bustling through New Rome, and the replica senate building. Rome was so advanced and refined. They had elected officials, senate hearings, a form of government, and an entire functioning city with its own college and everything.

The Greeks were an old summer camp with a monster-infested forest inside. They had counselor meetings around a ping pong table with cheese whiz, a mansion that no one really ever used except Chiron and Dionysus, and no formal schooling except in combat-- certainly no retirement plan. Nico allowed him to fantasize about what life would have been like if he had been brought to New Rome instead of Camp Half-Blood. Would he have been happier? Would Bianca still be alive? Being alone for the first time in ages, Nico allowed himself to consider the daydream for a while, though it only served to open old wounds.

After a while, he spotted Hazel coming his way and he shook himself out of his thoughts. He had to put on a happy face, for her. When she finally reached him, he could tell that she had a satchel over her shoulder and her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. When she got within earshot he could hear her muttering expletives to herself, but he decided not to mention it. She was probably just frustrated about something from the drills. When she got to the front door, Nico called down to her.

" I'm up here." Hazel had to squit to see him when she looked up, shading her eyes with her hands.

"What..." she began to ask, then she thought better of it, "How did you get up there?"

"There's a ladder behind the statue inside. Come on up!" He invited her, glad to finally spend time with her. Moments later she had opened the trap door and hauled herself up. She carefully made her way over to her brother and settled down by his side. She set the satchel between them and pulled out a sandwich from the bag. She handed him the other.

"Here," he accepted it, " I thought you might be hungry.

"Thank you," Nico said taking a bite.

"So, how had legion life been treating you?" He prompted, interested. She went on to describe some of the drills and the war games. They didn't sound quite as fun as capture the flag, but he still wanted to watch.

"So, you had something you wanted to talk to me about?" She prompted, finishing off her pb&j.

"I came by to see if you had gotten a chance to practice with your powers." Hazel shook her head.

"I haven't had much free time lately. Do you want to try it while you're here? I don't know if I want to be alone in case something... goes wrong."

"Sure. Is there any place where we could practice easily?" Nico questioned, "Somewhere out of the way?"

"We could go by the unicorn pastures. No one really goes there very often." She suggested. The son of Hades considered this about it for a moment before agreeing. She would know the camp better than he would.

"Ok, lead the way," He said moving to get off the roof. Hazel followed him close behind and they climbed down the ladder one at a time. Then we headed back outside and to the unicorn fields. We went off to the far end of the stables somewhere where people didn't go very often.

"Ok, show me what you've practiced," Nico said, gesturing to the ground around us. Hazel looked at the ground and held one hand out, palm down, over it. Within moments a gold Denarii rose from the ground. Moving her wrists, Hazel levitated the coin into the air before her. Nico watched, amazed. When he thought about it, he realized that she had a lot more practice than he gave her credit for. She had died calling all those cursed gems to herself, after all. She probably had the worse teacher though, necessity.

"What can you do with the coin? Can you just summon it or can you do other things too?" he asked, watching the coin float.

"Let's see..." Hazel turned her hand over and the coin floated into her palm. She curled her hand into a fist. Her brother watched in fascination as the coin bent and folded in on itself as if were made of clay.

"Amazing," He whispered, on the edge of a smile. Hazel blushed but she seemed pleased by the praise.

"I used to be able to summon tons of gems at a time," Hazel remembered wistfully.

"Well, you haven't been alive for very long, give it some time and practice," he assured her, knowing that she just needed to remember what the power feels like. She nodded and moved to lean on the fence of the corral. He went to stand by her, looking at the odd creatures grazing in front of us.

"Their horns are metal, right?" Nico asked, seeing them glint. Hazel nodded, her eyes fixed on the nearest unicorn.

"The shavings have magical properties."

"We should probably get you back to training or you'll be late," Nico said pushing away from the fence. He could tell that Hazel wanted to stay and watch the unicorns, but she followed his lead. The pair started heading down the gently sloped hill and towards the picnickers who had begun to pack up their things. They had gotten halfway down the hill when there came a shout behind them and the sound of a gate latch. The two turned in time to see the unicorns had spooked and pushed open the gates. A stampede had started.

"Run!" Nico shouted, catching people's attention. The children of death took off down the hill but the unicorns were gaining fast. Nico tripped and thought that this was the end. He closed his eyes and braced for impact. He didn't even have time to consider shadow travelling away. He just hoped that Hazel would be able to make it to safety.

"Stop!" A frantic voice yelled. When he didn't feel the crushing weight of hooves, Nico opened his eyes to see Hazel running directly at the animals. Nico reached out a feeble hand to maybe try to grab her but she was out of his reach. Nico pulled himself to his feet, ready to grab her and try to shadow travel out of there, but to his surprise, the wild animals slowed to a stop in front of his sister.

"Nico, a little help?" She asked having her arms outstretched as if she was a fence herself. Nico didn't know what she wanted him to do, but he scrambled to stand beside her. His footing was unsteady and his heart was racing in his chest.

"What are we doing?"

"Help me drive them back. I have their horns but I need them to stay together." Her voice was tight. Nico didn't wait for any more instructions, together they drove the unicors back up the hill and into the pen. Hazel lead them by their horns and he made sure that they stayed grouped together. The son of hades helped by running around the herd and made noises and waving his arms around. Under other circumstances, he would have felt ridiculous but as it was, he felt useful.

Some of the bystanders joined in and helped them push the startled beasts back through the gate. Once the door was safely latched, the people around them started cheering. Nico looked around and saw that Reyna was among the spectators. She seemed impressed with Hazel and she gave him a small smile and a nod, which he returned.

++++

"Hazel Levesque, due to your quick thinking and selflessness, you were able to save bystanders from a stampede. It would be an honor to induct you into the legion, so long as you have a sponsor and a cohort who will take you." Reyna announced, in her senatorial garb. Reyna had given Nico black robes and forced Octavian to show him how to wear them. He was grateful that no one from Camp Half-blood was here to see him now. He was literally wearing bedsheets. Nico wasn't sure exactly what happened, but Hazel was vouched for and was accepted into the fifth cohort. The brand looked painful and he could see tears forming in her eyes as the symbol was burned into her skin. This was a barbaric practice and he was glad that the Greeks stuck to necklaces.

After the ceremony, the paor talked for a while in the gardens of Bacchus before he got a call. Nico didn't realize what it was for a while, having never really had a phone before.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Nico where are you? I thought you were going to be home by now?" Bruce asked, sounding very Batman-like. Nico cursed under my breath in Italian, It hadn't even begun to get dark here yet and He forgot about the time change.

"How many languages do you know?" Hazel asked, not really understanding cellphones and that the people on the other end of the line could hear her too.

"Too many," He replied.

"Who are you talking to?"

"My sister," The son of Hades replied, knowing that they would probably think of Bianca.

"You get service in the Underworld?" He sounded both appalled and interested.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you someday. I forgot about the time difference. I'll be there in a few." Nico told him before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Hazel asked as her brother slipped the infernal device back in his pocket.

"The father of the mortal family I stay with. I was supposed to be home a while ago." He explained, making sure that he had everything he needed. He kissed Hazel on the forehead.

"Be careful and good luck. I'll be back when I can. Stay out of trouble until then, ok?" HE teased. Hazel promised she would and he shadow traveled back to the manor. Nico landed in the living room and swayed a little bit.

"... that answers that question."

Chapter Text

After Nico landed in the living room, he had to rush upstairs to get ready for the gala. There were guests already arriving and he was supposed to be helping his brothers greet the guests at the door. It looked good to the partygoers who would be donating tonight. The entire evening was designed to entice the guests into signing checks to help families who were looking to adopt afford the process. It was a foundation that Bruce had started after he had adopted Jason-- a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises.

It was important to Bruce that this night went well, the foundation was in the red, and it was costing Bruce money to keep it open. These donations would make a dent in what was coming out of Bruce's personal accounts-- the accounts he used to fund his vigilante work. The tax benefits he got from his own charitable donations helped, of course, but every little bit helped. Bruce had once explained that he was trying to teach other Gothamites how to help themselves by setting an example. This attitude had gotten him a philanthropist's reputation among the people of Gotham. He'd been on news stations all over the country for the work he was doing in Gotham.

Because of how important this gala is several members of the Justice League were in attendance tonight. Nico wasn't sure who Bruce had invited, but he was sure that Diana would be there. He was interested to see if he could spot them out of costume. Of course, the demigod could cheat and soul search them, but that would ruin the fun. Galas were such dull affairs if you were young, and even more so if you were a hyperactive demigod who didn't understand most of what people were talking about. Nico knew nothing about current events, politics, or technology so his brothers would usually give him a crash course on major events so that he could keep up the conversation. Nico would rather play tug-of-war with Cerberus.

Nico was grateful that he had already laid out his outfit for the night. He scooped it off the bed and changed quickly. He washed his face and brushed his teeth before he hurried back downstairs to join his brothers in greeting the guests. Jason wasn't with them, of course. He was spending the night at one of his safehouses in the city, out of sight of prying eyes. Nico looked each guest over with a critical eye. Many of the people had been at the last gala but there were several new faces as well. The new people eyed him with vague interest before continuing with the festivities.

Bruce left the boys to greet guests as he gave the welcome speech. Not too long after, Alfred shooed them into the ballroom to mingle while he stayed at the door. For the first hour, it was their job to talk to the donors and get them interested in the foundation. It certainly helped that we were all technically adopted and could speak as to how important the work that the foundation does really is. Nico would never have imagined that he would be able to keep up a conversation with people like these.

A few months ago, he would have made a fool of himself. During the time he had been staying with the Waynes, however, Bruce had taught him the ways of talking with the elites. He was now able to fake an aura of belonging and polite indifference just like the people who had been rich all their lives. It was easier to deal with these people when you weren't trying to be yourself. It was almost like being an actor on a stage. It didn't matter if you believed the performance, as long as the audience did.

The gala was a drag and Nico found himself wanting to escape. Just because he knew how to talk to these people, didn't mean that he enjoyed it. In fact, he hated it. They were shallow, their tongues were barbed, and you had to constantly watch everything you did. Bruce had once equated them to barracudas, and Nico could see the resemblance with the toothy smiles and ruthlessness. People just weren't his thing, especially not these people. He was just grateful that there weren't any reporters there this time. They were on the lawn, but Alfred wasn't letting them in the house.

After the first hour of mingling, Dick found him and they started to chat about their native countries and early lives. It would seem that neither of their lives had been very happy.

"My parents were acrobats. The only acrobats in the world who could pull off a quadruple flip. They were known all over the world as The Flying Graysons." He led the way over to the punch bowls. One was alcoholic and one wasn't, for the designated drivers and because there were a surprising number of minors at the gala. Richard ladled out the punch and handed his brother glass. Nico accepted the sugary drink gratefully and took a sip.

"I think I've heard of them," Nico said.

"You probably heard about their tragic accident." The way he said accident made him think that it wasn't so simple.

"Was it not an accident?" Dick simply shook his head. Nico pursed his lips and took a sip of the punch.

"My mother was murdered too." The son of Hades told him, "Zeus was trying to kill me and my sister Bianca. Hades protected us but he couldn't save her."

"Do you remember her death?" Dick asked, his voice a little rougher than usual. The younger shook his head,

"No, Hades wiped my mind clean. It wasn't until years later that I found out what actually happened." Nico went on to tell him all about trying to summon Maria and the image that came forth instead.

"That's--" he trailed off, not even sure where to begin.

"Yeah." Nico interrupted, knowing what he meant.

"He cursed that poor girl. What happened to her?"

"That was the oracle. He cursed her so that the oracle could never move in from that body. She became a mummy and, until recently, the Oracle's spirit remained trapped inside her."

"Until recently?"

"Yes. There was one woman who tried to break the curse before it was ready and the spirit of the oracle drove the poor woman insane. She's still alive, sprouting odd predictions here and there. She really is a sweet woman just a little creepy."

"You know her?"

"Yes, May Castellan. She was Luke's mother."

"The boy who ended up as Kronos' host?" Dick clarified.

"Yeah. Hermes left him alone with his crazy mother and it made him hate his father. She is still waiting for Luke to come home. Any young boy that enters her house could be Luke, for all she knows. I visit her sometimes."

"Dude that's weird."

"Is it? I guess it depends on your definition of normal." the demigod pointed out, "Anyway, years later another girl came along and freed the spirit from her curse, taking the Oracle of Delphi into her own body."

"What the hell?" Dick muttered under his breath, "Possession always freaks me out, no matter how many times I see it." Nico nodded in agreement, it could be very unsettling.

"Well, she has complete control over her body and all that. The oracle sometimes just speaks the future through her."

"That's still creepy." The son of Hades shrugged. It wasn't as creepy as summoning the dead. Nico was about to ask Dick about life at the circus, but they were interrupted by a familiar face. It seems that the Young Justice were here as well. Wallace West, followed by Artemis came up to chat with Richard. It seemed that Artemis still didn't know who he was.

"Hey man! It's been forever! Who's this?" He talked too fast. If anybody had spent much time around a speedster, they'd be able to spot him in an instant.

"This is my little brother, Nico." The son of Hades wasn't sure if Wally really didn't know who he was, or if he was just pretending. He had figured that Dick would tell him since he already knew everyone else's identities. Maybe they just hadn't gotten around to it.

"Dang dude! Bruce adopted another kid?" Dick chuckled and Nico shifted uncomfortably.

"I guess four weren't enough." Artemis agreed. Dick grimaced at the mention of Jason. Just because he was back, didn't mean that the pain of losing him had disappeared.

"Just four, now." Dick reminded her. Artemis seemed to get the feel of the situation and she blushed.

"Right, I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Come on Nico, we should probably mingle for a little longer before the speech." Bruce always gave a thank you speech. The two drifted away from the ginger and his girlfriend and rejoined the party. A short while later, Nico found himself off to the side of the gathering, taking a breather. Bruce found him shortly thereafter. Bruce made sure to check in on each of the boys throughout the night. He knew that they would each rather be on patrol or alone in their rooms-- anywhere

"How are you doing?" Bruce came up beside Nico at the edge of a large crowd. He had his winning smile plastered on his face.

"When is this over?" Nico asked as a response. Bruce's smile became genuine and he patted the teen on the shoulder.

"Not soon enough." He replied before moving off into the crowd again. Nico couldn't help but agree.

Throughout the night Nico was approached by many different members of both the YJ and the JLA. Only Diana knew that he was Ghost, which made it fun. There was just something really satisfying to knowing things that you shouldn't. When he got bored he would try to pick as many of them out from the crowd as he could. He spotted Kaldur pretending to be a waiter and serving finger sandwiches with Miss Martian. Wally, Artemis, Diana, and Oliver Queen were partygoers like the bats. Conner was nowhere to be seen, but Nico wasn't complaining. He didn't think Superboy liked him much, and the feeling was mutual.

Though the party was pretty quiet for the first half, it didn't last. That night, it was a good thing that the Justice League was there. Apparently it was illegal to have a normal party in Gotham. Nico had been accepting a ham and cheese finger sandwich from Kaldur when someone burst into the room and fired a few shots into the ceiling. They were physically dragging Alfred with them who seemed unharmed, though a little flustered. Nico was glad to see that the old man was ok, he pitied any burgular that dared mess with the butler.

Before the demigod could do anything, Kaldur had a hold of his arm. Nico looked at him in confusion.

"Come with me, hurry." The son of Hades decided that his only option was to follow the hero in disguise. He hurried the newest Wayne to the back of the room where a large part of the Young Justice had assembled. They were trying their best to look nervous, and if he didn't know better, Nico might have bought the act. There was a reason that Batman allowed them to do this job for so long, they were good at it. They had gotten him out of the center of the action without causing suspicion or raising alarm. These intruders wouldn't spot them unless they were really looking closely.

The only problem is that now he couldn't see what was going on. He had no idea where the gunmen were or where any of his siblings were either. He supposed it didn't matter, since he wouldn't be able to do anything if he wanted to maintain his cover, but it was still unsettling. He supposed he would have to leave in the hands of the heroes for now.

The YJ had already grabbed Tim, but there were no signs of Dick or Damian anywhere. Nico hoped that that meant they hadn't been in the ballroom when the intruders came in, but he also wasn't sure where else they would be. There were more robbers pouring through the door every moment and soon there was one for every three guests. They moved quickly through the crowd, looking for purses, jewelry, etc. Anything of value.

There came a shout from one of the thieves and Dick was pulled out of the crowd to the center of the room. They were rounding Bruce's kids up, probably as hostages for when the police finally got involved. No one wanted to get the Wayne kids hurt, that was a career ender in the Gotham police department, epecially with how close Bruce was to Commissioner Gordon.

Nico shared a look with Drake and knew they were on the same page. If they stayed together, they'd find them both sooner rather than later. They needed to buy the JLA time to do whatever they were planning. The gunmen taking hostages complicated things for the heroes. The son of Hades gave Tim a quick nod before he moved carefully away from the Young Justice, ignoring their orders to come back. He moved as carefully as he could, trying not to draw their attention by moving too quickly. The men were making their way through the crowd and he knew they'd find him soon.

The found Damian next and they dragged him into the middle of the room, shoving him to the floor. Nico was glad that Damian had to keep up his cover or he would have picked a fight with all of them at once. Three down, two to go. Nico don't know where Bruce got off to. Maybe Alfred had alerted him before he got caught and he managed to get to the cave. Nico had to hope that Bruce hadn't been caught, he wasn't a threat in his Bruce Wayne alter ego.

The men were getting closer and closer to Nico's position and he mentally prepared himself. The people around me didn't seem to notice that he was here, they didn't give away his location. He watched the intruders who were getting closer every second. It was only a matter of time until they caught him and dragged him to the center. He just hoped that the heroes had come up with a plan by now.

Suddenly, there was a hand over his mouth and a strong arm wrapped around his stomach, effectively pinning his arms to his sides. The son of Hades tried to pull away but whoever it was was a lot stronger.

"Don't struggle. I'm here to help." Someone's voice spoke in his head. Once Nico had stopped struggling, the hands released him and he turned around to see Martian Manhunter. That explained the voice in his head, at least.

"I'm truly sorry to have startled you, but I could not risk you alerting them to my presence." He apologized. Nico nodded slowly, it made sense. In the next moment, the hero was no longer tall and green. He shifted into an exact replica of the demigod. He pointed behind a column and the real Nico moved to hide behind it. Only moments later martian manhunter was dragged into the center of the room in his place. It would have been a great plan if Nico hadn't been spotted a few minutes later.

"Wait! Here's another one. I thought you said there were only four? Do they have twins?" A guy asked, dragging him into the middle of the room as well. Even his brothers looked surprised, so Nico guessed they weren't informed of the plan.

"No, there aren't." The boss man said coming up to examine the pair.

"There's only supposed to be four of them. Find the last one. Then we'll deal with these two." He decided. His boys broke off to scour the room. Eventually, they found Tim and he joined the group.

"Now, which one of you is the real Nico di Angelo?"

"Do not respond," Manhunter warned telepathically. Nico glanced at him and found that he was returning the gaze.

"Well?" We both remained silent.

"Fine, I'll shoot you both." He leveled a gun at his chest. Nico looked down the barrel and time slowed down. Seconds seemed like hours.

One, A million thoughts went through his head, none of them good. If he died, neither camp would have any idea what happened to him. They'd wonder until one of them finally got their hands on a newspaper or something.

Two, in one second, my life would be over. I didn't even have time to feel scared.

Three.

"No!" One of his brothers called out as he pulled the trigger. Nico closed his eyes, expecting pain. When he didn't feel anything, Nico opened his eyes and found Superman planted firmly between him and and the gun. Martian Manhunter had reverted back to his true form and Nico's brothers had moved to surround him. Batman was there as well, standing right behind his children. Suddenly he could breathe again. He gasped and Dick wrapped an arm around his shoulder comfortingly.

The JLA moved through the crowd and stood between the Waynes and the gunmen. Black Canary and Flash started evacuating people. Canary pined them back with her screams while Flash raced them out onto the lawn faster than any bullet. The YJ, who were now in uniform, lead the Wayne boys away from the fight that was sure to happen. Nobody messed with their family and gets away with it. Kid Flash walked with Dick on the way to the kitchen. Dick pretended to be shaken and KF pretended to buy it. The batboys sat at the table and just let it sink in, or pretended to. Kaldur And M'gann got out water for us and they accepted them gratefully.

"Are you ok, Nico?" Kaldur asked in that formal way of his.

"Yeah, I'm ok." The boy in question replied after taking a sip of his water.

"Dude, you almost got shot." KF looked incredulous.

"That seems to happen to us a lot." They didn't respond for a while.

"So, what's your story? Where did you come from before this?" KF pried. Artemis elbowed him in the ribs and he looked scandalized.

"Hell." he deadpanned. Dick choked on his water which started the rest of them laughing, the tension melted away. It ws then that Nico was sure they would be ok, this was just a minor bump in the road. The YJ was just staring at them with confusion. When the laughter died down, Nico answered the question as best he could.

"My mother died in Italy so father moved us here. He died not long after, he killed himself out of grief. Not even a year later my sister died in a gang. I lived on the streets for a while until Bruce picked me up. Now I live here." He explained. It was really condensed and as close to the truth as he could get without putting them all in danger.

"Wow. That sucks man." KF replied. Nico chuckled grimly, way to sum it up.

"That is, indeed, very sad."

"You asked." he shrugged. They remained silent. There came a crash from the other room, it sounded like the chandelier had fallen to the tile floor. Nico looked sharply up at the door.

"You're safe," Artemis assured him, misunderstanding his interest. Nico wasn't scared of the fight, he wanted to watch it. He nodded and picked at his skull ring. He momentarily lost himself in his train of thought while the rest of the group talked. They left him to his thoughts for a while until the Justice League came into the room to collect their sidekicks and check on the Wayne boys.

"Where's Bruce?" Kaldur asked Batman when he came in. Nico smirked for a moment before schooling his face into an unreadable expression, just like Batman had taught him.

"He made it to the phone to call the police before they knocked him out. Alfred is with him. I told him that you all were watching his boys." He replied in his alter ego's voice.

"Are you all ok?" Batman directed this at the batboys who nodded, "Good, I'll take care if things with the police. You should go check in with your father." The group didn't hesitate, they all stood up and started to leave the room. Nico made it halfway to the door begore something, predictably, went wrong.

'Are you ok?' Hades spoke in his mind. Nico tripped over his feet and had to grab a chair to steady himself.

"Nico?" Dick came up beside the younger boy.

"I'm ok. I just got a little dizzy." He said. His brothers didn't look convinced.

"Come on, let's go see Bruce." They lead him out of the room and they climbed the stairs. When they got to the top they stopped to talk.

"Are you ok?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, my father caught me off guard. He can speak directly into my mind when he tries. He never picks a good time, though."

"Creepy, but ok." Tim shrugged. Nico supposed that they had probably heard stranger things. The boys went to their rooms to change and go to bed. They'd had a busy day. When he got into bed Hades spoke to him again.

'Are you alright?'

"Yes, father."

'Did you go to see your sister?'

"Yes, father. She has successfully joined the legion."

'Good.' Then his voice was gone.

That night, Nico dreamt of Jason, Piper, and Leo. They had returned to the camp. Jason remembered his past, remembered who he was. Piper had taken over the Aphrodite cabin. Leo had started to build his master project with his siblings in bunker nine. While he was glad that things were finally changing for the better at camp, he realized that he couldn't go back thre anymore. Even if Jason hadn't completely remembered him yet, he would when he saw the 'Ambassador of Pluto' again. It would enrage the Greeks and they'd hate him even more. Looks like they'll have to do the rest of this on their own. However, there was something that they wouldn't be able to do.

Nico woke up around 5 am with this realization that neither the Greeks nor the Romans knew about the doors of death. The monsters would stop dying If someone couldn't shut the doors. Someone had to go where not even the gods dared go. Going to Tartarus was suicide, but it was also the only way he could see for the demigods to win this war. It was scary, but Nico suddenly knew what he had to do. He had never been as scared in his life as he was right them. He would die, but it would give the others a chance to live.

Nico would have to think about this carefully. There were details that he would need to take care of-- plans that needed to be made. Nico needed to be sure that he had a way to close the doors. For that, he needed Thanatos, and Thanatos was missing. For now, he would just have to do some research and preparation. If he went in blind, he'd never survive. Nico went back to sleep with a new sense of purpose. He would save his friends. He would make both camps and his father proud.

Chapter Text

Nico woke up the next morning with a new sense of purpose. He knew what he had to do, but he still had to figure out how to do it. There were a lot of skills he had picked up over the years as a solo demigod that he knew would come in handy, but he wasn't so arrogant to think that he was prepared for Tartarus. There was a lot he would still need to learn before he could even think about making the leap. He needed a plan.

The demigod had woken up earlier than usual so he used that time to take a quick shower and then compile a list of skills he thought he would need in Tartarus. He was sure that Bruce and the others would have more ideas, but he wasn't about to let them in on his plan-- they'd never let him go through with it if they knew about it. Nico wrote down the first things that came to mind and tried not to get discouraged by the thought of having to go through the process of learning all these things. It was one thing to know what you needed to do, it was entirely another to actually do it.

On the list he wrote:

Reconnaissance skills
Wilderness survival/ basic first aid
Stealth training
Endurance training
Diplomacy skills
Diversion tactics
Rock climbing?
Grappling hook skill/parachutes/other support gear

Nico reviewed his list and started to feel overwhelmed. He had no idea how he was supposed to survive the fall into Tartarus or what was waiting for him down there once he did. HE didn't know whether he would be able to make it to the doors unnoticed or not or what would happen if he couldn't. There were so many variables to consider and failure wasn't an option.

The problem of the fall concerned him. The only thing he could think of was parachuting down, but he had no idea how he would practice that. There was no way he was getting on a plane to try it out. Where would he even get his hands on a parachute? He was sure Bruce had some but how would get away with taking one? If he did get one, where would he go to practice and how would he get assistance if something went wrong? Maybe he could convince Bruce it was for his vigilante training, but he didn't think the older hero would buy it.

First aid and survival skills spoke for themselves-- there was no telling what sort of environment he would be dropping into or how long it would take him to complete the mission. If he was going to be there for an extended period, then he would have to live off the land. He would also have a limited supply of ambrosia and nectar so he would have to stock up on some medicinal herbs from Persephone's garden. She wouldn't like it if she found out, but this was too important to skip. In a pinch, details like those could be the difference between life and death.

Nico had no idea what kind of monsters he would meet in the pit, but he knew that some of them would monologue. The son of Hades figured that it couldn't hurt to learn some more diplomacy skills. He'd known demigods to survive encounters using all sorts of methods other than fighting. Some used deception or flattery while others were able to turn whole groups of monsters against each other and let them take each other out. If he could do anything to help himself avoid a fight, he was going to try it.

With an idea of what he needed to do, Nico took a few moments to compose himself well enough to not be suspicious and made his way downstairs for breakfast. There was one thing that he had managed to pick up from the others without even trying, a mastery over how he allowed himself to express his emotions. He had learned how to steady his breathing and relax the muscles in his face to hide what he was truly thinking and feeling. He had even managed to confuse a lie detector test. Hopefully, it would be enough to fool the Waynes.

During breakfast, Nico tried not to dwell on the mission. I needed to seem happy and unbothered because if he gave even the slightest hint that something was off and they would be all over him. He made it through breakfast without a hitch and spent the rest of the morning in the gym. He might as well start on the list immediately. The exercises helped to clarify the mind and he added a few more things he needed to his mental list. Nico knew that he would need to study up on monsters and try to figure out touchy subjects and weak points. He needed to have anything that would help at his disposal.

Though it was risky, Nico also made a plan to get his hands on some Greek fire. He could use it for light or a bomb in a pinch. He knew Thalia could make it since she'd done it before with Luke. He also knew that he could convince her not to ask questions. The two of they may not always see eye-to-eye but they still had a special bond that only the children of the Big Three shared. She'd do what she could to help him and she knew that he would return the favor.

Nico finished his workout and moved on to the library. He grabbed one book about mythology off the shelf and relaxed on a couch. The volume wasn't very thick and was mostly diagrams. The son of Hades figured that the others wouldn't question him as much if the book was mostly pictures. They knew that he was interested in getting more of a formal education (while staying out of schools) so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that he was just doing some independent study.

What he wanted to do was grab every book off the shelf and take them to his room but that was probably the biggest red flag in the world. Reading the book turned out to be murder at first but the more he read, the easier it got to piece the words together as he went. The words didn't get easier to read, but he could predict what they said more easily using context clues and what little spelling knowledge he had. It was kinda like learning a new language.

Nico read for maybe an hour before he got fed up. He shoved a little sting from his jacket in between the pages to serve as a bookmark before he started wandering the library, looking for other useful books. He was surprised to see that Bruce had ordered an entire mythology section. The demigod supposed that it was probably for them to reference when monsters came knocking at the door. Nico thanked him in his mind, knowing that this was exactly what he needed. Thank the gods!

He got bored of wandering the library rather quickly and moved out to the hallway and hear his brothers shouting and getting heated about something or other. He followed the commotion into the living room to find that they were playing Xbox. It was Jason versus Dick and Jason was winning. He wasn't sure what game it was, but it seemed to be a game that involved guns and killing the other player. Seeing them happy together made a lump form in Nico's throat-- he wished that he could stay with them instead of go on a suicide mission. He retreated form view before he could be noticed, resolving to spend more time with the people he cared about.

After a while, it was time for lunch. Bruce was at work and Alfred had some errands he needed to run so he and his brothers were on their own. Needless to say, they ordered Pizza. Though no one allowed Dick to order a 2 liter of pop. Nico's curiosity got the better of him and he finally had to ask.

"Why can't he have soda?" My brothers were silent for a good while, sharing looks.

"He gets a sugar buzz. Last time the fire department had to get him down from the chandelier after they put out the oven fire." Jason said, deadpan. The demigod couldn't help but bust out laughing.

"Are you serious?" He asked. They all nodded solemnly while Dick rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Nico felt his smile become forced as the gesture reminded him of Percy and he didn't feel as happy all of a sudden. He relaxed his face into one that he hoped mimicked amusement and eyed the others as they picked on Dick a bit more about some of the other times he apparently went wild under the influence of sugar.

The group all shuffled to the breakfast bar in the kitchen where they all found places around the counter. Tim got the plates, Jason got the napkins, Nico got the silverware, Damian got the cups, and Dick brought the pizza. The others dug in, but Nico wasn't very interested in his meal anymore. He took small bites of his pizza and occasionally took a drink of his water, but he wasn't very enthusiastic about it. The bat fam noticed, of course.

"Nico, you ok? What are you thinking about?" Tim asked frowning. The table quieted down as the demigod in question glanced up and found his brothers looking at him. He shrugged uncomfortably.

"I was just thinking about Percy."

"You still don't have any idea where he is?" Dick asked empathetically. Nico pursed his lips, not wanting to lie but not being willing to tell them about New Rome either.

"Not exactly." He took a bite of his pizza. It tasted like cardboard. The heroes weren't going to drop it so easily.

"Not exactly?" Dick crossed his arms over his chest and leaned up against the counter. Even slouched over like that he managed to seem intimidating.

"I have an idea of where he is but he's out of reach." Nico trailed off, not knowing how to say this.

"Out of reach?" Jason echoed. The demigod shook his head and took a drink of his water to try and hint that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. His brothers weren't at all deterred.

"Nico," Dick prompted, "you can tell us anything, you know?"

"I just can't get to him right now, ok?" Nico insisted, feeling defensive about all the questions that were being thrown his way. He wished they hadn't been such good detectives.

"Then you know where he is?" Damian phrased it like a question, but his tone made it clear that he wasn't asking. Before Nico could respond, he got cut off by an Iris message popping up in front of his face.

"Good timing," He muttered under his breath.

"Nico? Jason, Piper, and Leo got back" Annabeth started as soon as the connection was made. The son of Hades felt his heart sink. She probably knew that he was at the other camp. Jason probably had his memories back and ratted him out. He wouldn't blame him, the legionnaire probably thought he was a spy or something. Why else would he be going back and forth between the camps without telling anyone? It would be likely that Jason would assume he was working for Gaea and want to put him on trial. This was going to be very bad.

"The wolves I saw are in Sonoma! Jason saw them at the Wolf House! We have a lot to talk about. I need you to come to camp as soon as possible!" She rushed.

"Wait Annabeth! I can't..." Nico started to tell her he couldn't get to camp but she cut the connection.

"Sonoma? Sonoma California?" Tim asked after the message had faded. Nico cursed under his breath, only loud enough for the others to hear him.

"What's wrong? Isn't this good news?" Dick asked, "They have a place to start looking."

"I already knew he was in California, or at least that he will be there soon."

"What do you mean you knew?" Damian's frown deepened. Nico sighed deeply, the Iris message hadn't gotten him out of anything after all. In fact, it might as well have been Jason Grace calling him a spy. Even if he hadn't reacted so viscerally, he would have had to explain to his brothers why he wasn't rushing over to Sonoma to find Percy himself. There was no way her could go to the Roman camp and steal Percy from them without ruining whatever plan it was that Hera set in motion or turning the Romans against him. Nico didn't like the queen of the gods, but he figured that there were things at play that were beyond his comprehension.

"Percy was taken by Hera..." Nico went on to explain everything he knew about Percy's disappearance, including his dream of Hera, the appearance of Jason at the Greek camp, and everything else that had been going on since the gods went silent.

"So you're telling me that the Roman pantheon is also real and that there is another camp in California for the Roman demigods. Not only that, but that your camps are deliberately unaware of each other because every time you meet you fight. Am I right so far?" Jason sounded incredulous. The older boy started ranting about safetly and transparency and Nico couldn't tell if he was concerned or angry. Maybe a bit of both.

"You go to this camp, knowing that they will probably kill you if they find out you are a Greek. You don't tell either side about the other, instead going back and forth as you please. You refuse to tell us where you are going, just that, if you get caught, there could be war. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I have no choice. When Hera took Percy, she also took another boy, Jason Grace from new Rome. I think she plans on switching their places. Jason is already at Camp Half-blood, I think Percy will eventually pop up at Camp Jupiter. I'm the only one who knows that the switch was made." The son of Hades argued back.

"Look, I don't know what Hera's play is but we're in too deep for this to fail now. I need to make sure Percy is accepted into the legion."

"You've been sitting on this all this time?" Tim sounded astonished.

"I had to. If either camp learns about the other on bad terms, it could easily start another civil war."

"What?" Damian was thoroughly confused now.

"They started the last civil war." Nico explained tiredly, he was done sugar coating things. He took another drink of his water and stared wistfully at the slice of pizza on his place. This conversation had stolen what was left of his appetite.

"How?" Dick's voice was stern and serious. They were finally understanding that this wasn't just kids fighting kids. A war between the camps meant all-out war for the entire country.

"Romans were pro-slavery, Greeks were anti-slavery. Well, it was more complicated than that, but that was how it was divided for the most part." Nico didn't want to get into all that right now.

"If Hera put two very important demigods in each other's camps and made the camps earn their trust, they may be able to form an alliance." Damian had caught back up.

"That's why it is so important that I make sure Percy makes it into the legion." Nico agreed.

"How are you going to do that?" Tim frowned.

"I'm sure Percy can make it past Lupa..." The demigod was cut off.

"The Lupa?" Dick asked incredulously. Nico nodded, choosing not to elaborate.

"After that he will have to make his way to the camp and gain entry. Then someone must vouch for him and he will be admitted as a probation member." He explained. Hico had planned on trying to get Hazel to vouch for him. She was a full member now, after all.

"How long does it take before he will be accepted?"

"He must either be there a year without dying or perform an act of valor."

"What kind of act?" Damian sounded intrigued.

"It depends. One girl stopped a stampede and that counted. Others go on quests, or show tremendous courage during the war games."

"Are you a probatio member?" Tim said around a bite of pizza.

"No, I'm acting as an ambassador to Pluto. For now, I am allowed to come and go as I please."

"That's convenient," Damian muttered. Nico chuckled lightly, that was one way to put it.

"Ok, you still haven't told us why such an alliance would be important." Jason pointed out. He knew all about the pros and cons of alliances and he knew that one this risky required a massive threat.

"That's the thing, I'm not sure." Annabeth probably has some idea so I'll see if I can meet her tonight."

"What about Jason... Grace? Won't he recognize you? He did see you at Camp Jupiter before he disappeared." Dick reminded him. He had to clarify which Jason he was talking about because Todd was glaring at him warningly.

"I'll just have to hope he still has amnesia. Percy too. Percy is about as subtle as a blinking neon sign sometimes." The son of Hades chuckled to himself.

"There are a lot of holes in this plan." Damian pointed out. Nico frowned-- he had actually thought that this was one of his better plans.

"I've worked with less before."

"That's really reassuring." Todd didn't sound reassured.

"Look, I've got to go make a few IMs. I'll be in my room." Nico dismissed himself from the table. He was planning on asking Thalia for the greek fire and then maybe contacting Thanatos. He needed to know more about the doors of death. He'd have to iris message her which was always a rish in the manor. He was starting to realize that everyone hear everything around here. He just hoped that his brother were off doing their own things and weren't spying. He didn't want to try and explain why he needed bombs.

Nico tidied up his room a little bit to make it a little more presentable before taking his prism to the window to make the rainbow. It was only after he had made the rainbow when he realized that he couldn't find his coins. He knew that he had just seen them moments ago, but he wasn't sure where he had moved them to. Then he had to go hunting for those for several minutes. When he had finally found some stashed away in a drawer and placed the call.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Please accept my offering. Show me Thalia Grace, wherever she may be." It took a few moments but eventually, his cousin came into view. She was sitting around the campfire with the other hunters.

"Nico?" she asked in confusion.

"Hey Thalia. Did Annabeth tell you the news?" Thalia shook her head, "She thinks Percy might be in the wolf house." Thalia shook her head.

"Look, Jason and I were just there. I didn't see Percy." Nico raised his eyebrow. So she had met Jason, then. He wondered if they found out they were related.

"Maybe he just isn't there yet." Nico suggested. The son of Hades knew that Percy would end up there eventually. That is if Hera was planning what he thought she was.

"Maybe." She replied, but she didn't sound convinced.

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about," he admitted. Thalia frowned.

"Then what do you want to talk about?"

"I need greek fire, and I know you know how to make it."

"How do you know that?"

"Let's just say that I know Hal Green. He says hi." Thalia groaned.

"What do you need the fire for?"

"Look, I can't tell you that right now. Just that I need it. I need you to trust me."

"Nico." There was almost a growl in her voice.

"Please, Thalia." The daughter of Zeus pursed her lips and looked around the campfire at her sisters. Without Artemis present, it seemed that she was in charge.

"When do you need it? Before you get any ideas, this doesn't mean that I agree." She warned.

"As soon as you can get it. I owe you one."

"You sure as hell do." She cut off the message and Nico sat back, relieved. There was one thing he could cross off the list. Next, he tried to contact Thanatos but his coin fell right through the rainbow to the other side every time he tried it. Something about that just wasn't right. He knew that Thanatos had warned him that he had been captured, but it would take a lot of magic to prvent Iris Messages from going through. Then he tried to reach his father and that message went through. Hades was sitting on his throne, reading over a scroll.

"Father." Nico called. Hades glanced up and zeroed in on the message.

"Nico, what do you need." He went back to the scroll.

"I was wondering if you knew where Thanatos was." That got Hades' attention.

"No, why do you ask?"

"I just haven't been able to get through to him. I was wondering if something was wrong."

"I'll keep an eye out for him. I have a feeling that something foul is at play. Be careful, son." Nico frowned when the god called him son. He hadn't done that in a very long time. Before Nico could ask anything else, the god of the dead waved his hand and the image disappeared.

Nico sat by his window for a long time just thinking. Something big was coming, and he wasn't sure he was going to like it. There was still work to be done and he had no idea how much time he had to do it. He had to plan things out very carefully from now on. Nico's brothers knew part of the problem, but he still had a mission to prepare for anda secret to keep. For now, he would just have to prepare for every eventuality.

Chapter Text

That night at dinner, Nico told his brothers about his plan to go to Long Island. He told them that he needed to talk with Annabeth and Rachel about some dreams he had been having. He told them that he was going to be there for a few days-- and he was planning on being gone for a few days-- but he wasn’t going to be at Camp Halfblood for that entire time. He was actually planning on hitting a few other places before he came home.

The son of Hades needed to check out what was going on with Thanatos, and see if there was anything else the deity could tell him about the doors. Nico understood the gist, but he doubted that a general knowledge would be enough to figure out how to close them. That was his main priority-- to close the gates-- if it was even possible for a demigod to do so.

After he was finished talking with Thanatos, he would stop by Sonoma and see what he could find out about his cousin. Percy had been gone for almost eight months now, and it was time that they brought him back to Camp Half-blood where he belonged.

"So when will you be back?" Dick asked at the meeting. It wasn’t a true family meeting since Bruce was off on patrol and Alfred was doing whatever it was he does during the day. The Wayne children had a high level of independence since Bruce was often away on business or being Batman with the Justice League. They had learned how to make big decisions on their own from a young age. They were all strong leaders in their own rights, Bruce had made sure of that.

"I shouldn't be gone longer than 3 days. I might have to stay longer if they need me for something. I'll keep you guys posted." They looked suspicious and he couldn't exactly blame them. Nico had been forced to lie to them on several occasions now. He doubted that he would even believe himself at this point. It pained him to know that his brothers couldn't take him at his word anymore. He hated having to keep them in the dark and lying to them, even if it was for their protection. He would have to work on his relationship with his brothers more when he got back. They didn't deserve to be pushed to the side, not after they had done some much for him.

Truthfully, he was exhausted from trying to keep track of everything. Working three different angles at the same time was harder than he had expected, and Nico was ready to go back to how thing were before Percy went missing and Jason Grace & co. landed in the lake. He wasn’t so naive as to think that things would go on as if nothing happened, but he hoped that they could all find some semblance of normality at the end of it all.

Clearly, nothing would be the same after this next prophecy, but he had to have hope that everything he cared about would survive if he managed to help close the doors and take away Gaea’s advantage. He’d grown attached to his new family, the camps, and the 21st century-- he didn’t want to lose it all so quickly. Coming out of the Lotus Hotel into the technological age had been a massive shock to his system, but now that he was used to it, he found that he much preferred it to the 1900s (at least from what he could remember). And the camps, though he had never felt that he belonged, were safe places for all sorts of people to grow and have the chance of a future. Nico himself had finally found a home with the Wayne family. He’d do anything to hold onto that.

That was one of the main things that bothered him about having to keep secrets. The son of Hades knew just how much he had hated it when he had found out that Hades was keeping the truth about his mother hidden from him. How would the others feel that he kept the fact that the world was in danger from them? How could he look them in the eyes knowing that he had kept secrets that may have allowed them to save thousands? He also couldn’t deny that the weight of having to keep track of what he couldn’t say was weighing him down. It would be a relief to get this off of his chest.

"Ok, we'll tell Bruce where you've gone," Dick told the younger boy, “Keep your phone on you, ok?” Nico promised them that he would and said his goodbyes. He retreated from the library, where they had their meetings, to his room to make sure that he had packed everything he would need, like weapons and ambrosia. He added in a travel-sized first aid kit Bruce had given him a few weeks ago just in case.

Taking a deep breath, Nico walked through the shadows of his dark bedroom and pictured his cabin at camp. When he came out of the gloom he realized that he wasn't alone. Someone was sitting on the usually unused bed (if you could call it that). The son of Hades tensed, ready to attack before he recognized the lone figure.

"Annabeth?" He asked as he moved out of the way of the dungeon-esque window and allowed some light into the room. Whoever designed this really thought they were vampires or something. It was ridiculous. It was the middle of the day but he could hardly see his hand in front of his face. He pulled back the blackout curtains as much as he could. He heard Annabeth stand behind him.

"Hey, Nico. I figured that I might find you here." Her voice was light, she had clearly been crying. Nico decided not to mention it. He wouldn’t know what to say, anyway.

"Really? I didn't even know I was coming here until a few minutes ago. I mean, coming to this cabin." He clarified setting his stuff down on one of the unused beds. It seems like they finally took out the coffins, which he considered to be a massive improvement. How they had even managed to find coffins for the cabin was beyond him. Surely they didn’t just make them out of thin air.

Annabeth shrugged, "Rachel had a hunch."

"That's... that's actually really creepy." Annabeth chuckled lightly. It wasn't much, but it made Nico feel more at ease, knowing that he could still make her laugh. There was still hope.

"I thought you were the king of creepy?"

"I did too." Nico stretched and rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the darkness.

"So, what do you think about my theory? About the wolves in Sonoma." Nico pursed his lips, trying to come up with something to say. He moved to lay out his stuff on the bed to buy a little time. It didn’t work.

"Nico," She insisted.

"Look, Annabeth, I talked to Thalia and she said that she didn't see Percy in Sonoma. Though, at this point, we can't rule anything out." He pointed out, knowing that Percy would probably make his way to Sonoma eventually. That is if he was going to properly join the legion.

"So you think that we should check it out?" Nico was touched that she was asking his opinion, though he wasn't exactly the smartest demigod, and this was a big call to make. With so much uncertainty, it was a gamble to risk any demigods for a gut feeling.

The son of Hades turned to face her, "This is the biggest lead we have. I think we'd be foolish not to at least check it out." He admitted, "We shouldn't rush into anything though, we don't know what we're up against. It could be a trap." Nico believed what he said. They really didn't have any idea what they were dealing with. Maybe this all had been some elaborate trap.

"That's what I was thinking. I guess I just needed a second opinion,” Annabeth rubbed her hands through her messy hair and sighed, “Thanks, Nico. Have you seen Leo's ship recently?"

"No? Is it finished yet? The last time I was here Leo almost blew up the camp. I wasn't really paying attention to the actual ship." He wasn't really sure what had gone wrong the last time. When he had asked questions Leo had just muttered something about off-brand lemon furniture polish before cursing like a trucker. Well, that's what he assume he was doing, it was all in rapid-fire Spanish.

"Yeah, can't say I blame you. That was a rough day." She opened the door and led the way outside. A few passing campers gave us weird looks and Nico could hear them muttering as they walked away. 'I didn't see him go in there. Where did he come from?'

"Come on, let's go to bunker nine," Annabeth said leading the way. Nico jogged a few steps to catch up. On the way through the camp, they talked about many things. The daughter of Athena told him about how Jason and Thalia were related and how Jason's memories had come back. She told him all she knew about the other camp and he had to bite his tongue.

What Nico didn't realize at the time was that someone was watching him from afar and they remembered him. The pair passed the figure by without incident and his window of opportunity passed him by.

"Welcome to bunker nine." Annabeth gestured to the huge warehouse that he had only just glimpsed before. We walked through the design room where children of Hephaestus were scrambling all around the room, carrying blueprints and tools. The energy of the place made him feel something he hadn't felt in a long time, comradery and the feeling of being part of something bigger than himself. There was also something so hopeful about it-- like they were finally working towards a known goal.

The pair made their way into the main workplace and he was astounded by what he found. What had once been a sad skeleton of a vessel was now a full-fledged war trireme. Nico had known how big it was supposed to be, but the sheer scale still took his breath away.

"Wow." he managed.

"I know! Leo has really outdone himself this time." Annabeth smiled appreciatively. Her mood had picked up significantly on the way to the bunker and Nico knew that she was feeling hopeful. Nico just hoped that she was putting her faith in the right thing.

"How long did this take him?"

"Only a few months, really. Some of it was delayed by the whole engine scare and the fact that he ran out of some of the materials he needed." Annabeth led the way around the hull, explaining how Leo had made the ship so it could sail or fly. He was internally grateful that he would never have to ride in it. Neither Zeus nor Poseidon were very fond of him.

Even if they wanted him on this mission, he wouldn't be able to go, he'd be in Tartarus trying to shut the goddamn doors.

Looking over the ship it suddenly struck him that all of this was really happening. The Demigods were on a course to meet each other and either form an alliance or cause another war. Somehow, he knew he wasn't going to be there to see the outcome, or at least he had a strong feeling that he wouldn't be. Nico just hoped that maybe he'd make it to see the end of this thing, the odds were not in his favor.

"Leo wanted to install a chicken nugget smokescreen to try and hide our scent from monsters but I think he decided to install sonar and radar instead." Annabeth went on, not having a clue that her friend’s mind had wandered.

The son of Hades let her talk because this was the happiest he'd seen her in months. Now that we had a goal in mind she was feeling hopeful. It wouldn't be long before Jason pieced together that Hera had probably sent Percy to the other camp. The only way they'd keep Annabeth here after that would be to drug her with enough sedative to knock out Hannibal the war elephant.

"Ok, now that you've seen the ship, you should stop by the big house. I think Chiron wants to talk to you. I have to go polish my armor to capture the flag tonight. You gonna play?" She asked as they made their way out of the bunker. Nico considered the offer, it had been a while since he had played, but he had more important matters to attend to at the moment. Maybe there would be time to play later if he ever made it back here.

"I told the mortals that I'd be back before long so I don't think I'll be able to play tonight. They get kind of protective."

"That's right! I forgot you were staying with mortals. You need to tell me all about them sometime." She insisted. Nico thought about their big secret and chuckled to himself. They'd love it if the entire mythological world suddenly knew their identities. He'd probably become the new black sheep of the family after that. Outta the way, Todd.

"Yeah," he replied weakly. Luckily, Annabeth wasn't really paying attention to him.

"There's Chiron. He's teaching archery. You should go to him. I'll catch up with you later, ok?" She started to make her way towards the armory without waiting for a response. Nico watched her go for a while before he started towards the archery range.

When he got close, Nico noticed that the Aphrodite kids were the ones practicing. Some of them were actually pretty good at archery. Piper was among the group and she was at least hitting the target. As he came up to the range Chiron noticed him and gave him a small nod to show that he knew why the demigod was there.

"All stop." He ordered and the barrage of arrows stopped. The centaur motioned the boy over and Nico made his way around the line of kids who were watching him with distaste. Most of them knew who he was. The ones who didn't were quickly brought up to date by their siblings.

"Annabeth said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Nico, I do. After this practice, I want to see you at the Big House." he nodded and started moving off in that direction. A couple of the Aphrodite girls muttered oooohhhh under their breath and laughed at their own immaturity. At one time that would have bothered him, but now Nico understood that their opinions didn’t matter.

When Nico got to the house, he found the pinochle table abandoned. It seemed that even Dionysus had been recalled to Olympus. Zeus must really be desperate then. Inside the house he found Rachel napping on the same couch Piper had been laid on before. He smiled at the gentle scene.

He sat down in a rocking chair and waited. Listening to Rachel's even breathing was soothing and he soon found himself getting tired. Nico had almost fallen asleep when Rachel shot up with a shout. The son of Hades rushed over to her to try and help, though he had no idea what to do.

"Rachel? Rachel!" He grabbed her shoulders. Her eyes focused on him and she relaxed.

"Oh, hi Nico. What are you doing here?" She asked awkwardly. HE ignored the question.

"Are you ok?" Rachel swallowed hard and nodded.

"Yeah. I don't remember most of the dreams. I know that I need to be with Grover. He and I have something we have to do. I... I don't know what. Something bad is going to happen when they meet. Who are they?" She muttered to herself. To her it was gibberish but it all made sense to him.

This was probably a reference to the two camps. Something bad was going to happen when the two camps came together. This was exactly the thing he had hoped to avoid. He needed this meeting to go smoothly. The world needed for this to go smoothly. He didn't know if this new adversary (whomever it is) can be beaten without both camps.

"Something bad will happen. I will need to be with Grover. Where is Grover?" She asked.

"I don't know. After I talk to Chiron we can go see Juniper. She might know." He offered.

"That sounds good. I'm going to grab a snack from the mess hall, I feel like I haven't eaten all day." Rachel checked her watch, "I've been asleep almost all day! That was some vision, whatever it was." She shook her head in bewilderment.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll meet you on the porch when you're done." She stood and stretched every joint popping.

"Bring a couple of flashlights or torches when you come. It'll be dark by then and we don't want to wander the woods in the dark. Who knows what traps the Stolls have laid out." Nico chuckled to lighten the mood. The joke came out sounding flat.

"Good point. I'll see what I can find." She left the house, grabbing her cloak off a hook on her way out. She definitely wore it just for the aesthetic. The thought made him smile. Rachel herself was just amazing. She was a clear-sighted mortal who took on the labyrinth because Percy needed her to. She became the Oracle of her own accord, just because she wanted to. Plus, who else could say they nailed the titan of time in the eye with a hairbrush?

It wasn't long after she left that The son of Hades heard the distinctive sound of hooves on the porch. After some weird shuffling noises, Chiron came into the house in his wheelchair. Nico had always wondered how that enchantment worked but he also didn't want to ask.

"There you are, my boy. We haven't seen much of you recently." Ciron noted, setting his medical bag on one of the side tables. He took it with him everywhere, just in case.

"Yeah, I've been pretty busy." the boy shrugged even though his teacher wasn't looking at him.

"So, I take it you know what happens next? You have still been going between the camps, correct?" Chiron made his way into the house's kitchen. Nico followed so that he could still talk to the older man.

"Yeah. Nothing major is happening. They don't have any rescue operations right now and the gods have cut contact with them as well. Well, I guess that isn't completely true, they have me looking."

"Oh really," Chiron smiled dryly, "how is your search going?"

"I think I may have found him but it's too soon to tell." He joked, trying to make light of a precarious situation.

"Well, let me know how that turns out." Chiron set a kettle on the stove.

"Will do. In all seriousness though, do you think Jason remembers me from the camp?" Nico asked leaning back against the counter. Chiron adjusted himself so he was facing the younger boy.

"I think that he probably does. He mentioned that his memories were resurfacing. I would be sure he doesn't see you, just in case." He advised, "Has Percy popped up anywhere yet?"

"No, but I'm willing to bet that he will show up at the other camp at some point. I need to make sure that I'm there when he does. I have to make sure he makes it into the legion."

"I doubt that there will be much you can do, but I would feel better knowing that you're there to help him out if he needs it." Nico nodded in agreement. There wouldn't be anything he could do, but he had to at least try.

"I'll do my best."

"What have you found out about the monsters? Why are they not staying dead?" Chiron got out some tea, Earl Grey, and grabbed a cup from the cupboard, "want some tea?" He offered. Nico shook his head.

"I spoke to Thanatos a while ago and it would seem that the doors of death have been held open somehow. The monsters have a quick way back out," he explained. Chiron's face turned grim.

"I was afraid of that. There's no way to close them?" His face seemed to age another decade.

"No good ways," he admitted. There was only one way, but he wasn’t even sure that it's a good plan. However, it was the only plan.

"The only way would be to close them from inside Tartarus itself Nico. Don't tell me you were even thinking about it. You'd never make it. Not even the gods delve into the pit." Chiron's voice was stern and hard. It left no room for discussion. As far as Nico was concerned, there was nothing to discuss.

"The thought had crossed my mind but I know it's not realistic," Nico assured him. He knew it wasn't realistic but he also know that it was the camp’s only chance.

"Put that nonsense from your mind. I'll not have you going on a suicide mission." Chiron rubbed his hand down his face. The son of Hades figured that Chiron had also surmised that the Tartarus excursion was their only hope.

"Chiron, what are we fighting? What is this great evil we're up against?"

"I wish I knew, my boy. I wish I knew." Silence filled the room and the tension was palpable.

"Rachel had some sort of dream or vision of some kind before you came in here. She said that there will be trouble when they meet and that she needs to be with Grover for something. I think she meant the camps."

"Di immortals." Chiron rubbed his temples.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The kettle came to a boil. Chiron took the kettle off and the horrible screaming came to a stop. He poured the hot water into a cup with the tea leaves and took the cup back over to the living room.

"What do you think the vision meant?" Nico asked as he trailed behind the centaur.

"I hope it doesn't mean what you think, but I haven't the confidence to say."

"Perfect. I'm going with Rachel to try and find Juniper. Then I'll be headed off again. I'll let you know if I learn anything else."

"Nico, be safe. There are going to be many hard times ahead."

"I'll try," He promised as he stepped outside. Rachel was sitting on the porch stairs eating a muffin, two industrial flashlights sitting on the deck next to her. Nico had no idea where she would have gotten her hands on them because they weren't standard in the store and they definitely weren't from the armory. He decided that it was best not to ask.

"You ready?" Nico asked as he came up beside her.

"Hmm!" Rachel had just taken a bite and had to finish chewing before she could respond, "Yeah, let's go. I got the flashlights."

The pair made their way to the forest, chatting away about their adventures with Percy. He was grateful for the trip down memory lane. It was a good way to distract himself from everything that was going wrong at once. Also his impending doom.

As they walked through the camp we got several odd looks. Nico wasn't exactly sociable and Rachel creeped most campers out. He guessed it was a strange sight to see both of camp’s weirdos walking and laughing together. They should have started whispering to each other and staring creepily at the other campers. That would have been really fun.

"Do you have any idea where she'll be?" Rachel asked as we got to the edge of the woods.

"I think her tree is somewhere around the creek. Other than that, I don't know. Do you have a weapon?" Rachel nodded and pulled out a handgun. Nico raised his eyebrow at her. Why did she have that? She was the only person he had ever seen use a gun.

"It shoots celestial bronze." She assured him, misunderstanding the look. Nico shook his head. Sometimes with Rachel, it was better not to question things. Because she was possessed by the oracle, a greek being, she could now use demigod weapons.

"Ok then, let's do this," he said, leading the way into the forest. It would turn out that the industrial flashlights were really bright. Not a single monster bothered us. We made it to the creek without a problem. The trouble turned out to be finding Juniper.

"Juniper!?" Nico called out. He didn't get an answer.

"Do you think she can even hear us? Do trees hear us talking?" Rachel seemed to be talking to herself so he didn't bother answering. He, of course, knew for a fact that they did.

Nico walked up to a random tree and knocked on the trunk. For several seconds nothing happened so he turned to ask Rachel a question. As he started to speak something tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around he saw a very cranky dryad standing there with her arms crossed.

"Sorry for the intrusion but I really need to find Juniper. Can you show me which tree is hers?"

"It's the juniper." The dryad spoke to him as if he were an idiot.

"I know but I don't know what juniper looks like." The dryad sighed tiredly and lead them a few yards further down the river.

"Thank you so much." Rachel said as they reached the patch of what Nico assumed was Juniper. The tree spirit just rolled her eyes and returned to her own tree. Rachel looked at Nico quizzically and he could only shrug. Nico didn't understand normal women, much less magical tree women. Rachel approached Juniper's tree and rapped lightly on the bark.

"Juniper? It's Rachel and Nico. Can we talk to you for a moment?" There was no reply. Rachel knocked again but to no avail.

"I guess she isn't here?" Rachel frowned.

"She has to be here somewhere. I didn't think they could wander very far from their home tree." Rachel looked as troubled as he felt.

"I don't know. I guess we should be heading back. They've probably already started the campfire." Rachel sighed and started to lead the way back out.

"What, without their oracle?" he teased. Rachel gave him a small smile. They started back for camp.

"So, what have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you around camp for a while."

"Yeah, I've been pretty busy..." Nico agreed. He ended up telling Rachel everything about his new family (well, not actually everything) and his brothers. He found that she was surprisingly easy to talk to and was a really good listener.

"I'm so happy for you Nico! They sound amazing." Rachel smiled brightly. He nodded in agreement. The bat family was pretty amazing.

"Maybe I can go meet them sometime! My father has been getting invitations to his galas for years. He doesn't go because he's always busy. Maybe he'd be open to sending me in his place. As a representative for Dare enterprises or something." She smiled at him.

"Really? That'd be amazing!" Nico said, genuinely happy at the prospect.

"You should know that they would know about the oracle as soon as you introduced yourself," he warned.

"Really? You told them?"

"A Dracaena came to the house, they had some questions after that." he fabricated an excuse on the spot. He hated lying to her, but no one except the bat family could have figured it out any other way.

"Wonderful." She deadpanned because we both knew it wasn't.

"It would be really cool if you could come. If it wouldn't make you uncomfortable," He told her, keeping up the conversation.

"You really think so?" She smiled at him. The son of Hades nodded and blushed. It had come out a little more flirtatious than friendly and he didn't know exactly how to remedy that.

"I don't really like parties," he told her and she chuckled, unsurprised.

"I can't say I blame you. I'm not too big of a fan of them either." Nico hoped Rachel understood that I wasn't trying to flirt. When we got to the campfire. Rachel made her way to the front to sit with Annabeth while Nico stayed standing in the back. Big groups of people made him nervous and he was trying not to attract too much attention to himself. He was more comfortable on the outskirts.

It was only nine here which meant that it still wasn't too late to go and talk to Hazel for a little while. Maybe he would get to see how the Romans ate dinner. Nico didn't say anything to anyone before he left. They knew that he was planning on going home tonight. He slipped out of the amphitheater and made the trek back to his cabin. He grabbed his things off his bed and walked into the shadows. He came out into the middle of what looked to be a roll call. Oops.

Chapter Text

"Mr. Di Angelo," A voice echoed around the forum, "so nice of you to join us." Nico looked around at the assembled soldiers before he spotted Reyna. She stood on a small raised stage at the front of the assembly, the senior officers of each of the cohorts stood in front of the platform. Each centurion held a scroll and was dressed in war regalia. Dakota seemed to have been reading from his scroll before Nico had interrupted. Whatever this event was supposed to be, Nico was sure that it wasn't supposed to be interrupted.

"Yes, well this isn't exactly where I wanted to land." The son of Hades frowned at the pitiful shadow he had managed to come in through. He had been picturing Pluto's temple when he stepped through the shadows.

"No, I'd imagine not." She gave the demigod a once over, "continue with the roll." She ordered. Nico gratefully moved out of the center of the room as the names were called.

"Levesque!" Dakota continued.

"Here!" Hazel shouted weakly. She had volume but not enthusiasm.

"McKinley!"

"Infirmary." Someone replied among the crowd.

"Right, I forgot." Dakota continued on with the roll call and Nico examined the soldiers. They were all so disciplined. Militaristic. They were ruled by firmness, fear, and pride. They would be a formidable enemy should the Greeks ever have to face them in battle.

Their weapons were different too. The shape of the swords was more uniform than the Greek's, many of whom didn't prefer to use swords at all. They were designed for stabbing, not slashing. Many more people used spears. Still, no one used guns, probably since they were so impractical in a battle. It wasn't just their weaponry that was different, either. Their armor was more classy and stylish than greek armor as well. Greek armor tended to have a look of use to it while Roman armor shone brightly.

As he scanned the crowd, Nico noticed that there was a new face on the sidelines today. He was young, or at least young-looking. He seemed to be Asian and the buzz cut didn't help him to look older. He watched on with interest and also wariness. It was easy to be intimidated by the mass of soldiers in the arena. he almost felt sorry for the boy. Clearly, he felt out of place amongst some of these lifelong soldiers.

After the roll, the soldiers were dismissed to training exercises. Nico was going to try to catch Hazel really quickly before she left, but Reyna cut him off before he could get to her.

"Nico. I would like to speak with you." She said formally. There were a few curious looks that came from her troops as they passed, but no one dared let their interest become obvious. Her tone didn't leave room for debate so the demigod agreed following her out of earshot of her soldiers. Nico expected to pause once out of range but Reyna wanted to walk and talk. Whatever was on her mind, Nico could tell that she was troubled by it. Her naturally pretty face could be very unpleasant when she was worried. Worry lines creased her forehead and her lips paled with the pressure of being pursed together.

" Is everything alright?" Nico pressed. Reyna ignored his question as if he hadn't spoken.

"Tell me, in your travels, have you ever come across demigods in orange shirts?" He was caught off guard by the question and he had to cover his fear with surprise.

"That's an odd question," Nico replied to biding for a little time.

"Have you?" She pressed. The son of Hades sighed and pretended to consider her question. He had to measure his words carefully.

"I have seen a few demigods in Elysium wearing orange shirts, I suppose. I've never given it too much thought. Why do you ask?" He had to be careful not to give too much away. He needed to know what she knew to determine what he could and couldn't say. His heart was pounding so hard he worried she could see his elevated pulse in the veins on his neck. If she could, she gave no indication.

"I had a dream last night. Several of the demigods in it bright wore orange shirts. I thought maybe there was some significance." She eyed him carefully, gauging his reaction. He knew that she didn't trust him, at least not entirely. She was cautious and smart, which made her a serious threat.

"Do you think it has something to do with Jason?" Nico diverted her attention, "Could these demigods have been the ones that took him?" Nico knew what the implications might be if Reyna were to take this idea and run with it, but he decided to take his chances.

"I would bet on it. Jason was among them." Nico raised his eyebrows. What a very un-subtle dream. Reyna seemed to think about mentioning something else but she thought better of it. Instead, she led the way into the city.

"You think they took Jason?" If she had seen Jason with them, Nico needed to do damage control. He couldn't have Reyna make the assumption that they kidnapped Jason and do something brash that started WW3. They had to wait to continue the conversation as they passed a blacksmith's forge. A large burly man was pounding away at a glowing red hunk of metal, drowning out the noise of the street.

"I don't know what to think. He didn't seem to be a prisoner, but I know that Jason wouldn't have just left without a fight. There has to be something that I'm missing!" She started again as they got out of earshot of the smith's shop.

"And there's no chance that he deserted?" Nico stated it as a question but his tone reflected what they both knew. Jason wasn't that type of person.

"Not Jason." Reyna's voice cracked but she quickly cleared her throat. Nico chose to ignore the moment of weakness as a courtesy, soldier to soldier.

"Well, if your dream is correct, then he's alive at least." The son of Hades tried pressing the optimistic angle. It wasn't his strong suit, but he figured that Reyna needed to hold on to the facts right now. She wasn't one for false hope and speculation.

"Yes, that is true I suppose. It's just... several years ago..." Reyna seemed to change her mind about telling me.

"Nevermind. It's probably nothing."

"No, no. I'll check it out. Just, don't get your hopes up." Nico assured her. This would buy him a little more time to come up with something to tell her about the demigods in orange. They lapsed into a comfortable silence for about a block while Reyna seemed to be considering something else.

"Tell me, what do you know of the Greek Gods?" She asked suddenly. Nico dodged a passerby who wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He frowned at the question. Not only was she getting uncomfortably close to the truth, but it was a very sudden subject change. Nico cleared his throat before he spoke. He was unsure how much HE could say before it became too much. Reyna was not someone He could afford to underestimate.

"I know some. I would sometimes read the stories in the Underworld in my free time. Pluto has an extensive library. Why?"

"I can't shake the feeling that they're out there. If there are Roman demigods, why not Greek?" She looked over the water of the little Tiber, where they had managed to end up. Nico had started to wonder if she had even had a destination in mind or if they had just been wandering aimlessly around the city.

"I suppose I had never really considered the possibility. I guess, I always thought... If they do exist, where are they now?"

Reyna nodded in agreement, "That seems to be the million-dollar question. Where could they be? Why do we not come across them?" The praetor leaned up against a railing overlooking the water.

"What do you think would happen if they were to meet?" He baited her. Since she was in a position of power, her response would speak volumes on how the upcoming meeting would go.

"Hypothetically?" She glanced at him questioningly. She wasn't want to dwell on hypotheticals. She was only interested in truths and facts.

"Humor me." He pressed with a playful smile. He didn't want her thinking he was serious. This was merely a philosophical question.

"I'd like to think that we could talk things out peacefully. However, The Romans and Greeks have always been enemies. Something happened back in the ancient days that tore the two apart. Something that completely wiped out the Greeks. If the Greeks were still around and remembered what that was... there's no telling whether or not they would hold a grudge." Reyna reasoned. Nico eyed her with newfound respect. Every time he thought he knew what she was thinking, she would remind him that she had decades worth of knowledge and experience from her predecessors on her shoulders.

"And you think that maybe they weren't wiped out by this event?"

"An event so bad that wiped out an entire army? An entire pantheon? The Romans can't even remember what the event was. It seems a little far-fetched for me." She admitted.

"That's fair." Nico nodded. He could tell that she had thought about this for a long time. She was just using him to bounce ideas off of. HE was grateful for the trust she had in hiim. It was a rare occurrence.

"Do you know what the event was? Do the dead talk about it?" Reyna leaned on the edge of the bridge, her braid fell over her shoulder.

"It has something to do with Minerva, I think. Most of the dead who know anything about it have long since faded or have gone insane." Nico leaned with his back on the bridge next to her, watching people go about their business.

"We have gathered as much." Reyna agreed though she didn't elaborate.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more," he apologized.

"No apology needed. I appreciate all you have done for this camp. Maybe one day you'll decide to stay." She offered. The Greek gave her a warm smile but he knew he would never accept. This place was not his home.

"As appealing as that is, I am not that good with the living. I prefer the dead for company." Reyna nodded in acceptance. She had probably expected that response.

"I presume you wish to speak with Hazel?" Reyna asked, straightening again. He nodded in confirmation.

"Very well. Feel free to wait for her in the fields of Mars." Reyna moved off through the village towards the agora. She had not waited for a response. Nico allowed himself to stay on the bridge staring at the water for a little longer before heading back the way they had come. It was a nice day and the sun warmed him through his aviator jacket. The ghosts still popped in and out of existence as he passed, but people were starting to get used to it. They were an adaptable group.

On his way there he saw the Asian kid in what seemed to be an armory. Well, he was on the floor of the armory, having knocked over an entire shelf of swords. He kind of reminded Nico of Tim if Tim were more clumsy. It seemed like his superior was muttering curses under his breath while the boy apologized. As he moved to pick up the swords Nico caught sight of the probatio badge. That explained a lot.

"You'd trip over an ant if it was in your path, Zhang." The smith muttered. Nico didn't linger to watch the rest of the scene. The poor guy was having a rough time. He could definitely relate. Nico may not have been clumsy, but he was certainly not the easiest recruit. All the questions, the running commentary, the drama. He was surprised the other campers didn't strangle him. Even he would have strangled himself.

Nico made it to the field and was able to watch the last half hour of training. All the movements were carefully structured. Each order to the group exactly what to do. When the army worked on a specific set it was almost mesmerizing to see it carried out. The Greeks would never have that much order. It was hard to say which strategy was better. Teamwork or maneuverability? Precision or frenzy. Focused or spread out?

Nico preferred the Greek way, but the Roman way certainly had its merits.

"Nico!" Hazel shouted, running up to me after the drill.

"Hey." he smiled. It felt good to see her looking so alive. If he didn't know better, he never would have known that she was a returner. Her skin was glowing and her eyes sparkled.

"What did you drop by for?" He shook his head. He had come to say a kind of goodbye in case he wasn't able to later, but it would seem like he would be back here sooner than he had thought.

"Nothing in particular. I just felt like checking in on you. Hey, who is that Zhang boy?"

"Frank? He just got here within the last few days. What about him?" HAzel tucked her helmet under her arm.

"I just saw him in the armory he'd knocked some things over." Hazel winced empathetically, "who is his parent?"

"We're not sure who his godly parent is." She shrugged.

"Hmm. Well, tell me about you. How has the legion been treating you?"

"It's hard, trying to satisfy them. I'm also worried about my curse." She looked like she wanted to elaborate but she decided not to.

"Have you worked on controlling it at all?" Hazel shook her head.

"I have hardly found the time to be alone." Nico couldn't say he was surprised. The camp was constantly crawling with people.

"That's ok. You'll just have to practice whenever you can." With whatever it was that was coming, she would certainly need those skills. Hazel gestured down the hillside and they started off towards the town. Nico wished she had just wanted to sit in the field. His feet ached. After a long walk almost in silence, Hazel stopped him by a fountain.

"Nico, what is father like?" Hazel asked suddenly. Nico frowned in confusion. He almost told her that he had never met Pluto but he caught himself.

"I'd like to believe he cares, in his own way. He's stern, a little overbearing, and hard to please. At least, that's how he is around me. He prefers daughters." He told her.

"He does?"

"Yes, he preferred Bianca over me." Nico reminded her. We had had a brief conversation about Bianca before, He thought Hazel may have been a little jealous. Maybe jealous wasn't the right word. Maybe she was more, melancholy?

"Oh." She said shortly. Her golden eyes fixed on the floor and he regretted bringing his other sister up.

"I'm afraid I've spent more time here than I had intended. I really must be going. Don't worry, though. Reyna has given me a task to complete and I will see you again when I come to report." The son of Hades assured her, gently squeezing her shoulder. Hazel decided to do him one better and pulled him into a hug. Nico didn't know what to do for a moment but then he remembered that the proper response would be to return the hug.

"Be careful, ok Nico? Promise me?" She pleaded once she had let go.

"I promise to try my best. That's the best I can offer." Hazel nodded in acceptance before she started back towards the barracks. Neither of us had ever been big on goodbyes.

Nico pictured the manor in his mind and stepped through the shadows. Instead of landing in Wayne Manor, he found himself in the woods. When he landed in the complete darkness he was so disoriented that he had no idea where was or which way was towards the manor.

He would normally be angry at myself for failing two just in a row, but something told him that he had been pulled off-course. Nico looked around as well as he could and he noticed smoke coming through the trees. Nico had nothing else to tell direction by so he decided to carefully make his way towards the light. Hopefully, it would lead to human life and not cannibals, cyclops, or etc.

Nico moved through the trees as quietly as he could. There were a lot of leaves and sticks on the ground, making it very difficult. As he followed the smoke he could tell that it came from a campfire.

"How can I understand you?" A familiar voice came from the bushes ahead of him. It was Percy's voice. He resisted the urge to run towards the voice and instead made his way carefully forward.

"What is it?" He asked whoever he was with. There was no verbal response that he could hear. Nico cloaked himself in shadows, absolutely wrapping himself up in them. The light of the fire would be the enemy now. All of his instincts were telling him that he shouldn't be there but he couldn't leave without seeing his cousin. Percy was right in front of him. He'd never forgive himself if he left his in danger.

Nico pushed forward slowly and approached the ring of bushes. He could tell the fire was on the other side as the leaves glowed in the light. He crouched to peek through a gap in the bushes and had to bite his tongue to keep quiet. Percy was sitting and stoking a campfire while massive wolves lay around the camp. The largest wolf was seated right next to Percy's shoulder. Nico was willing to bet that that was Lupa herself. This was not a place he wanted to be. These were the trials.

"Do you know how I got here?" Percy asked Lupa. The wolf twitched her ears and looked at him. The knowledge seemed to just magically pass between the two. It was really quite a sight to behold.

"I was asleep for how long?" He asked incredulously. So that was how we couldn't find him, he must have been in a deep sleep. Maybe even comatose.

"Months? Jesus!" He exclaimed. I wrinkled my nose at that expression. We didn't really talk about Jesus at camp. I supposed he was real, Chiron had never said he wasn't, but it wasn't really discussed either.

"What? It makes about as much sense as you being Lupa." He pointed out. The wolf gave out a short growl, possibly as a form of protest

"I still don't understand how I know what you're saying. Especially since you aren't really saying anything." Percy moved on to the next subject without completing the thought.

"Magic, magic, magic. Why is that not surprising?" The wolf gave some response.

"No, really?" Percy said, his voice absolutely dripping in sarcasm, "I thought not remembering anything was normal! Glory!" He threw the stick into the fire, a plume of embers shot into the sky. The wolf growled warningly.

"Whatever," Percy replied. He stood up to find another stick. Nico didn't know how he managed to survive this long. He always acted like an angry, sarcastic teen. By all rights, a god or supreme being should have toasted him by now.

Nico smiled in spite of himself. He was just pleased to see that his cousin was still as sassy as ever. That at least meant that he was ok. Now Nico knew exactly where to find him.

"When do you think I'll be done here?" Percy got a response and nodded but that didn't help him. Nico couldn't speak wolf.

"Where do I go to get there?" He asked.

"What do you mean I'll know? Could you be any more cryptic?" Percy fell backward off the log he was perched on dramatically, sprawling out on his back. Nico stifled a laugh. Even in this situation, he was able to be theatrical.

Nico would have liked to have stayed but he knew that he had to be getting out of here before the wolves picked up on his scent. Percy was safe for now and he could relax. Nico made his way back away from the fire and tried to shadow travel back to the manor. With any luck, he'd actually make it this time.

This time he came out of the darkness into the living room, where it seemed like a family meeting was being held. HE would be willing to bet it was about him, seeing as they didn't wait for him to start it. Lovely.

"Nice of you to drop in." Bruce crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's the second time someone has said that to me. Well, not exactly the same, but the sentiment was there." He found it kinda funny. Nico liked coincidences.

"Where were you this time?" Dick cut in.

"Somewhere in California mostly. Then Sonoma specifically. Also Long Island for a little bit." He couldn't afford to get too specific.

"You sure can get around," Jason commented. Nico didn't dignify this with a response.

"Things are starting to happen. I'm going to have to leave more often now. I have a war to prevent, a mission to complete, and a friend to protect." He warned them. These were things that he couldn't ignore. This was too important to just overlook.

"What else aren't you telling us. I feel like this entire time you've been with us has just been one secret after another. We're your family now. You can trust us." Damian leaned forward in his seat.

"And you don't keep secrets from me?" He pointed right at him. Then he made an expansive gesture to include the entire family and "all of you?" No one answered.

"You need to trust me more. I'm not as helpless as you think I am. Haven't I proven that?" He was absolutely done with them treating him like the baby of the family. He may not have vigilante experience, but he'd been fighting for his life for as long as he could remember. Granted, that was only a few years at best.

"You may not be helpless, but you are still not up to par with the others. It's not your fault, that's not what I m trying to say. They just have more experience." Bruce sat down in his armchair.

"Yeah. And my cousin defeated Ares the god of war at 12 years old. Experience isn't everything." He pointed out.

"You can't just rely on your powers." Dick pointed out.

"When have you ever seen me rely on my powers? You haven't even seen me use my powers in battle. I haven't needed them against you to hold my own," he countered angrily. Again there was silence.

"Then maybe you think you are ready to go on patrol?" Bruce challenged. That wasn't fair and he knew it.

"That is not what I said. Your fighting is an entirely different type of fighting. My entire point is that I can take care of myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I have survived on my own since I was 10. With monsters trying to eat me, a titan trying to recruit me and tear down the pantheon, an evil mentor that sold me to said titan, the labyrinth that turns many insane, and so much more that you don't even know about. Stuff that your mortal brain wouldn't understand." He knew that last bit wasn't fair, but he was angered beyond belief. They thought he was still a child, incapable of taking care of himself.

"Nico..." Bruce was about to put his argument down and he didn't want to hear it.

"I'm going to go for a walk," Nico said leaving the room.

"What if something happens?" Bruce called.

"Then I guess I'll just have to rely on my powers! Because I don't know how to fight or anything like that," he called back sarcastically. As he was leaving, Alfred handed him his backpack. He frowned at him in confusion.

"You might want to change into your uniform, Master Nico. People will be less likely to bother you. Do try and stay out of trouble." Nico nodded gratefully. He slung the backpack on his back and then shadow traveled to the mausoleum to change.

Walking out in the open in the Ghost uniform was very liberating. The anonymity made him feel free. Nico walked all through town, hiding in the shadows when he had to and making short shadow jumps every once in a while. It was nice to be the 'fly on the wall' sometimes. He was careful, checking to see if anyone was following him using the reflections on car windshields and the windows of businesses that had closed for the night. He listened for footprints and took note of cars that passed to see if they circled back. He wasn't taking the main walkways, so he wasn't too worried about people seeing him.

When he had finally cooled down, Nico started to make his way back home. On the way there he found a strange sight. It seemed that the Young Justice team had a mission here in Gotham. They were crouched in an abandoned park looking over some sort of holographic map. There were several things that stood out to him about this, one being that supers typically weren't allowed in Batman's city. What brought them to Gotham?

"I hear something." Superboy warned, "Somebody is watching us." Seeing no other option, he walked over to them.

"That would be me," Ghost said stepping into the circle of light.

"Ghost?" Artemis asked as she peeked around Superboy to get a look.

"Yep. I was out for a walk. What are you all doing in the bat's city? I thought he didn't like supers in his city?"

"Normally he doesn't." came a familiar voice. It was Red Robin. Nico pursed his lips but decided to try and keep it professional. He knew better than to let his emotions get in the way of his job.

"I'm sensing the tension." Megan looked between us. It wasn't because of her powers, she was actually just using the human expression.

"You could say that." Ghost admitted. He didn't elaborate. The others didn't need to watch them air out their frustrations on each other.

"Let's not get into this now." Red Robin stepped in.

"Whatever you say." the consultant agreed.

"What are you doing out here?" Superboy asked gruffly.

"If you remember, I live around here. Y'all are the ones who are trespassing. Anyway, I got in an argument with a... friend so I went for a walk." the demigod said truthfully.

"You want us to believe you were actually hanging out with someone? No offense but you seem to be more of a loner." Wally crossed his arms. Artemis slapped his arm. He frowned at her in confusion. It had been a long time since she had chastised him publicly.

"Yeah? I may be a loner but I'm not a total recluse." he pointed out.

"Fair enough." He replied.

"If no one is dying or dead, I'll be on my way," Nico said moving to walk away. He had cooled down now and he was ready to go home.

"Hey, where do you go?" Artemis asked before he could get very far.

"Go?"

"Yeah, where do you go to sleep and eat?"

"I do jobs to get food, or money for food. Sometimes odd jobs, sometimes Ghost jobs. 'Cause child labor laws." He shrugged. He didn't like where this line of questioning was going. He didn't have anything to back up the lies he would have to tell her. Didn't have connections, an employment history, a place to stay beside the manor. This secret identity was pretty flimsy and wouldn't hold up under intense scrutiny. He'd have to talk to Bruce about that.

"What about to sleep?"

"I got a place," he assured her. No one seemed assured. Ghost looked at the dubious faces, "What? Do you think Batman would let me just live on the street? He'd put me in foster care or something. If he could catch me." The consultant crossed his arms over his chest.

"Or he could put you on the team." She proposed.

"Yeah, no. I'm not really a team player." he looked around at the group, "plus we all saw how that worked out the last time."

"What if Batman made you?" Wally cut back in.

"And how, exactly, would he do that?" Nico frowned. It sounded like Wally was threatening him.

"How would I know? I'm not a bat. If he did, what would you do?"

"I'd pout."

"Seriously." Wally prompted.

"I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it before." Ghost wrinkled his nose.

"Team? What is the delay?" Batman's voice came over the comms. Red Robin addressed it while Ghost said his final goodbyes.

"See you all later," he said before taking off down the street. Then he shadow traveled to the manor. Time to sleep at last.

Chapter Text

Nico woke up the next morning to the sound of his door opening. This was unusual because everyone at the manor was big on privacy. You simply didn't go into someone's room without knocking unless you had a very good reason. There shouldn't have been anyone in his bedroom this early.

Unlike the other boys, he didn't attend school or work out in the mornings since Bruce had been 'homeschooling' him. It was really more of an independent study situation where he would take get books (and audiobooks) for different required subjects and then he would take tests at the end of each 'unit' to prove that he was actually learning the material. He didn't really study, instead, he would listen to a CD of the lessons while he cleaned his room or practiced on the training platform in the Batcave. He hadn't failed a test yet and he was finding that he could remember more of his lessons if he was doing something else while they were going.

This style of learning was a great way to keep him out of a situation where he would be vulnerable to monster attacks. Once he explained why Percy had been kicked out of pretty much every school he attended, Bruce was willing to keep him home to prevent the bad press and a potential lawsuit. It wasn't ideal and Bruce had caught some flack from the media, but they all agreed that it was worth it. Nico also liked that he wouldn't have to worry about being ostracized by his peers because of his sheer inability to fit in. He'd be lost the first time they asked him to use a calculator.

Then there was the fact that he'd need accommodations. Bruce had assured him that it wasn't a big deal, but he couldn't help but feel like it was. When he had been growing up, people with 'learning disabilities' (even this was a strange term to him) were just considered lazy and were considered dumb. It wasn't something that you wanted people to know. Even though conditions like ADHD and Dyslexia were becoming more accepted, Nico couldn't quite get comfortable with the diagnosis.

Because he didn't need to get up early to go to school, he was usually allowed to sleep in and go about his mornings in a leisurely fashion. Nico sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. When he looked over, Bruce was a few steps into the room and was dressed for work. He seemed uncomfortable, though Nico couldn't tell if that was because he'd been caught or because he didn't have good news.

"What are you doing?" The son of Hades asked in confusion.

"We need to talk and I didn't think that this should wait until tonight," Bruce replied as he shut the door behind him. Nico's heart sank, but he tried to keep his expression passive and his voice steady.

"Ok, talk about what?" What could possibly be so important that it couldn't wait until after Bruce got off of work? Was he in trouble? The older man came further into the room and rested his hands on the back of Nico's couch.

"You said that we don't take you seriously," Bruce started, "I wanted to make sure that you knew that I am not trying to make you feel that way. I have no idea what things you have been through with all of that demigod stuff. However, I do know that it is my job to keep you safe." Nico's eyes narrowed. He could sense that this conversation wasn't going down a path that he would like.

"But...?" He prompted.

"I know you think that you can handle yourself, and I am inclined to believe you, but I can't just take it on faith. I have to really know what you are capable of and what control you have over your powers and yourself before I will feel comfortable with you becoming even more independent. Does that make sense?" Bruce asked. Nico considered this for a moment. Unfortunately, it did make sense and it made him feel like a little kid because of how he had been acting the night before.

"Yeah, it does."

"I want you to work with the Young Justice team so that we can get to the point where we're both comfortable with you gaining that independence, but you'll need to work with me, ok? I'm going to have to test you myself, and I'm going to need to know more about these powers of yours. Does that sound like a good compromise?" Nico briefly met Bruce's eyes and he could tell that the older man meant what he was saying.

"Yes! I mean yeah! That sounds fair to me," Nico perked up considerably. He wasn't so crazy about the idea of working with the team, but he'd do it if that meant Bruce would stop worrying about him so much. Then something occurred to him that made his stomach bubble with anxiety.

"Great. We'll start when I get home from work. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, it's just that my powers are... intense." Nico glanced at Bruce whose face didn't show any reaction. Maybe that was his poker face or maybe he didn't understand how much Nico was downplaying it.

"That's alright, I was expecting it."

"No, I mean really intense." Nico didn't know how else to put it. He didn't want to say too much and for Bruce to retract his offer, but he didn't want to feel like he was lying either. He wanted Bruce to know just what he was getting into. The other campers had seemed fine with his abilities when he used them to help with the Titan War, but they feared him once they were back in the camp.

Bruce made his way around the couch, seeing to finally grasp the magnitude of the situation. He settled himself gently on the edge of the bed and Nico was struck by how much younger Bruce seemed up close, "What are you trying to tell me, Nico?"

"My powers lie in the realm of death. They're morbid and they're unnatural," Nico mimicked the words of the campers who whispered about his as he passed by. They weren't wrong, but it still hurt.

"What? Do you think we're suddenly going to stop accepting you? Because of something you were born with?" Bruce set his hand on Nico's blanket-covered leg comfortingly.

"Most of the other half-bloods did. Even after I fought alongside them in the war."

"That's awful," Bruce admitted, "but you won't find treatment like that from us. We work with super-powered people every day. I've seen deadly and dangerous powers do a lot of good in this world and you're no exception. Just because your powers come from a place of darkness and death doesn't mean that they have to cause it. You've already saved the world once, right? That's what a hero does." It wasn't until then that Nico realized that he had never really seen himself as a hero. Villain- adjacent, maybe, but never a hero. But Bruce was right, he had saved the world. He was a hero.

"What about the team?"

"If they have a problem with you or your powers, they can come and work it out with me." Bruce winked conspirationally. Nico couldn't help but smile at the idea of one of the members of the YJ team whining to Batman about Ghost. The idea was comical.

"We will have to come up with a back story for my powers," Nico noted as Bruce stood to leave.

"I was just going to say that I saw you using your powers and I decided that you needed professional training to make sure you don't accidentally hurt someone," He stretched, "how about that?" Nico shrugged. It was a cliché but it would work. Isn't that how these things normally went? Kid with scary powers gets taken in by a team of similar children and taught how to use them.

"That works," Nico appraised, "what will we tell them about how I came to have these powers."

"Generational curse? I don't know. I'm sure I could sell it to the League somehow." Bruce gave him a small smile before making to leave. he turned to find that Alfred had appeared in the doorway.

"If you are finished with your discussion, might I suggest breakfast as the next order of business?"

"Great idea Alfred." Bruce smiled appreciatively at the older man. Alfred was likely the only thing keeping this house together at this point.

"Yeah, I'm starving." Nico joked. Bruce laughed and lead the way down to the kitchen where everyone else was waiting.

Alfred had made a full breakfast of omelets and bacon. Nico ate a few strips of bacon and some toast. Then he dismissed himself to go back to his room. There were some things he really needed to accomplish. There were still a few things he needed to do before he would be ready to go to Tartarus. He needed to go to the Underworld and collect some medicinal herbs, make sure Percy made it to Camp Jupiter, and he needed to tell Hazel his plan so she wouldn't wonder where he went.

Today Nico had decided that he would try and collect the medicinal herbs. Persephone kept a garden filled with different plants in the courtyard of the Palace. It was one of the few living places left in the Underworld. The trip to gather the herbs shouldn't take more than a few hours so he would have plenty of time to study and everything before Bruce got back. Nico left a note on the door that told Alfred where he was going and that he would be back soon. The butler probably wouldn't even notice he was gone if he made it back by lunchtime. Nico wasn't planning on being there long.

Nico took a backpack with some plastic bags and a sharpie along to label the herbs and how they worked. Hopefully, they'd be plants that he recognized, or he wasn't sure how he would figure out what they did. Plants from the Underworld tended to have a different effect than the versions in the land of the living. That made it very hard to predict what each herb would do.

The son of Hades shadow traveled straight to the palace gates. He made his way quickly through the palace corridors on his way to the courtyard, the only place in the Underworld that grew medicinal plants. Almost any other plant in the Underworld was either symbolic or poisonous.

When he got to the grove the demigod pulled out some of the bags from his pack and the sharpie. He collected the parts of each plant that were medicinal, having actually learned something from Persephone over the years, and then he marked the pouches accordingly. Some of the leaves and roots could be made into tea. Some had to be eaten plain and some had to be cooked.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" A crisp voice came from behind me. When he turned he found an annoyed Persephone. Oops.

"I was collecting some herbs," he replied stupidly.

"I see that. Why?" She stood regally in the entryway. Her dress was forest green with gold thread woven in. The gold filaments glittered in the torchlight as she moved further into the room. Her auburn hair laid in a loose braid down her back and a crown of golden flowers set gently on her head. As Nico looked at her now he could see why she was so underestimated by the other gods. It was hard to think of this fragile woman as deadly. That was where they were wrong.

"In case I need them on a quest or something." Nico couldn't think of a better lie as she stared him right in the eye. You could have convinced him in that moment that she was the goddess of truth.

"To Tartarus, you mean." He stared at the goddess, dumbfounded. He always forgot how smart she was. That was why she was truly dangerous.

"How..."

"Please, I'm not an idiot. I know of your mission for Thanatos. Between you and me, I probably know more about what goes on in this place than Hades himself." The son of said god didn't doubt that for a second.

"So you know why I need the herbs." Nico watched her evenly. She returned the gaze as she came up beside him. She looked up at the tree for a moment then back to him. There was a knowing look in her eye and he could have sworn he saw some sadness as well.

"Yes, and I know that you will be lucky if you even get the chance to use them." She said, knowledgeably. Her tone left no room for misunderstanding. She knew the mission was a death sentence.

"Will you tell father?" Her eyes grew cold at the word 'father' but she shook her head. She folded her hands neatly in front of her, the long sleeves of her gown trailed the ground. She sighed, resigned to what she was about to say.

"No. We both know that this is the only chance either camp has. That must be why Hera has done what she has." Nico watched her carefully, "I have no children in the camp, maybe, but I will not sit idly by while the blood of my kin is spilled needlessly."

"You'd also never argue with a chance to get rid of me." Nico had noticed the ulterior motive.

Persephone sighed, "I know you will not believe this, but I do not wish to see you dead. I may not be happy about your conception, but that is no fault of your own."

"Really?" She was right, he didn't believe it. Nico didn't doubt her sincerity, it was just a lot to take in. She did turn him into a flower, after all.

"Here, I brought you these." She ignored the question and instead offered him a small leather pouch. Nico took the pouch gingerly in his hand before looking at her in confusion.

"What is this?"

"They are pomegranate seeds from my garden. Eat the pulp off of one, and you will go into a death trance. A state much like death. Eat one a day as needed."

"As needed?"

"You will need them in your hour of greatest need. They will put you in a coma-like state." She warned. Nico decided not to question how she knew he would need them. It wasn't polite to question a gift, especially not if it came from a goddess. He imagined that it counted double if the said goddess was your stepmother.

"Thank you, my lady." the demigod bowed respectfully. Persephone turned to go but a thought entered his mind and he had to ask it before it was too late.

"Wait, why are you not on Olympus with the others?"

"Goodbye, Nico. Good luck." She moved off through the palace without even a hint. He watched her go with mild annoyance.

"Perfect." Nico eyed the pouch in his hands before slipping it into the backpack with everything else.

Before he shadow traveled, he went to go see Bob the Titan. Bob the Titan was a long story, one that you kind of needed to be there for to understand. Suffice it to say that Percy introduced him to the River Lethe and now his name was Bob and he was mostly harmless. His battle skills powers had remained intact, but because of his memory loss, Bob no longer knew who he was supposed to be using them on. He had become pretty docile. It seemed father had put him to work cleaning the palace. Typical.

Every time that Nico visited, Bob asked the son of Hades if Percy was still his friend. It was something that seemed to be very important to the Titan so Nico did his best to assure the giant that Percy was still, in fact, his friend. He just had to keep explaining that normal demigods weren't allowed to come and go from the Underworld like a child of Hades could and that was why the son of Poseidon never visited.

He was sure Percy had completely forgotten about Bob by this point. Especially not that he'd been shipped off to the other side of the country in some kind of godly exchange program. His cousin had bigger things to worry about than a Titan janitor.

After his short visit with Bob, Nico shadow traveled back home. When he stepped into the shadows, he made the mistake of not having a set destination in mind. He had been thinking about Gotham, but he hadn't pictured his room, which would have helped him control where exactly in Gotham he would be landing. Instead, Nico shadow traveled to the mausoleum.

The demigod cursed himself under his breath when he found himself in a dimly-lit crypt. The only light was filtering in from the moonlight coming through the dusty windows. He huffed in frustration as he checked his watch to see how much time had passed. He was livid when he realized that he had been gone for 12 full hours. It was dark out and he was doomed for sure when he got home. The trip back from the Underworld was always harder than the trip down so he was already exhausted. He didn't think it was a good idea to try and make another jump and make it to the manor. He'd have to make the walk.

Nico checked his backpack for his Ghost Uniform which he knew he had packed. He figured that people were less likely to bother him if he was in an intimidating uniform. That way, he would probably be able to make it the entire way back to the manor without anyone trying his patience. Oh how wrong he was.

After he quickly changed into his Ghost uniform, Nico opened the door and was immediately confronted by a massive hellhound. He didn't start to panic until he realized that it wasn't Mrs. O' Leary. Nico managed to dodge its head and baseball slide through its legs as its mouth tried to snap him up. As he slid underneath the monster he unsheathed his sword from its ring form and thrust up into the belly of the beast. The hound exploded into gold dust, leaving Nico coughing.

Once the hellhound was out of his way, he saw that the building had been surrounded. A whole pack of hellhounds much have spawned in Gotham at the same time for there to be this many of them. He had never seen this many monsters in Gotham. He eyed the pack as they eyed him, each party waiting for the other to make the first move. Eventually one hound got tired of waiting and lunged at the demigod. Nico brought his blade down into his forehead and it became godly glitter.

It was just at that moment that his phone went off. Nico hit the Bluetooth earpiece in his ear that Batman had insisted that he wear. Nico figured that it wasn't really that harmful to be on the phone when he was already surrounded by a lot of monsters. What was the worse that could happen?

"Hello?" Nico asked as he started to run, weaving through outstretched paws. The sound of Hades slashed at a few hounds and they retreated just out of reach of his blade. One unlucky bastard got sucked into his blade as he cut off its head. Nico could feel the death flow into his sword.

"Ghost? Where are you?" It sounded like Dick. Nico was confused by the use of his alter ego's name. He guessed that meant they had sent out the search party.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You've been off the radar for days. We thought maybe something happened to you." He had probably spun that lie for the team. Nico hadn't really been gone more than a day, right? HE didn't want to consider the possibility that he had been off the radar for that long.

"Something will happen to me if you don't stop distracting me!" He shouted. The demigod stabbed another hellhound through the chest. It made a horrible screech as it turned to dust.

"What's going on? Are you in a fight?"

"Yes! I'm at Gotham Cemetery. Of course, you probably already knew that, right?" He spat. Nico wasn't actually upset but he knew Superboy was probably listening.

"We're on our way."

"I don't need your help!" he growled.

"We're on our way." He repeated before hanging up. After that, Nico turned his full attention to the fight. His guess is his scent had attracted every monster in the city by this point. Now Ihewasn't just surrounded by hounds, but dracaena and telkhines as well. Things were not looking good. His only hope was that no other beasts showed up before the team got here or he would be overrun.

Luckily, fate was in his favor and it wasn't long before the bioship appeared in view. A hole opened in the bottom and the team jumped out. Some used ropes, some just jumped, and others flew. It seemed like only the original six members had come to his aid, which was fine by him.

"What the hell is this?" Artemis called as she came up to him. Ghost sliced down another hellhound.

"More genetically engineered stuff," he said shortly. Artemis didn't seem convinced. Another voice came through Nico's comms, one that he hadn't been expecting.

"Nico, use your powers before any bystanders of the team gets hurt. I know that this isn't the first impression you probably wanted, but that's life." IT was Bruce's voice that cut through the sounds of battle, he must have made it so that only he could hear him. Nico's chest seized and he was almost got his hand bitten off. Nico hesitated for a few moments, trying to come up with a plan. He didn't have time to think about how they would feel about him afterwards. Nico spotted a dog bone on a tombstone and that gave him an idea. There may be a way for him to shred the monsters all at once.

"Everybody find cover!" Nico shouted. No one questioned it and instead fell limp on the ground. He was in the ideal place, a cemetery. The bodies of hundreds of corpses were at his command.

Nico called the bones and the ground trembled. All over the field, the graves burst open, a mass of bones gathered in the air in a swirling cloud. With a simple thought, he directed the cloud at the monsters. The bones became projectiles in a matter of seconds and ripped through anything and everything that got in their way. He kept the wave above the gravestones, so some Telkhines remained sheltered from the attacks. Anything taller than them was shredded to pieces.

By the end of it, there was gold dust everywhere, falling through the air like glittery rain. After the carnage was over Nico returned the bones to their respective caskets. The only evidence of the attack was the light coating of gold dust on the ground and the torn-up grass. Nico wished there were fewer signs of a disturbance, but he'd take what he could get.

Nico took care of the remaining monsters by himself as the team regained their bearings. For a while, no one spoke. The son of Hades made himself busy dusting off his uniform and then leaning heavily on a tree for support. He had overused his powers and he could feel his body start to shake from muscle fatigue. Everyone else slowly regained their wits. Nightwing and Red Robin were the quickest, of course, though the rest of the team were mobile before long.

"So..." Nightwing's voice seemed deafening after the tense silence.

"Sorry about that." Nico stabbed his sword into the ground as he knelt to fix his shoelaces. The grass that touched the blade withered and died. This little fact did not go unnoticed by the team. His vision blurred as he stood back up, a fact that he was determined to keep from the others.

"Have you always been able to do... that?" Artemis asked, coming out of her stupor. Nico simply nodded. They all seemed a little overwhelmed.

"You told us you didn't have powers " Superboy accused.

"Can you blame me? You didn't like me without my creepy powers. How could I have expected you to accept me if you knew?" Superboy pursed his lips. He was frowning, but that wasn't anything new.

"You can control bones?" Wally piped up. It wasn't really a question, since the answer was obvious, but Nico humored him.

"And raise the dead, talk to ghosts, sense people's souls." Nico rattled off as if it wasn't a big deal. He wasn't sure where he got the confidence, but he was grateful for it.

"So you know my identity?" Nightwing seemed uncomfortable. It was a good act.

"If I tried, I could see it," The demigod admitted. His brother narrowed his eyes at him.

"Do you know it or not?"

"No." He lied.

"How can we trust you?" Superboy growled.

"I don't see why you need to."

"Because you will be joining the team." A gruff voice came out of nowhere. Nico turned and found Batman eyeing him with either interest or anger. It was hard to tell with him.

"Hell no." Nico's face morphed into a look of disgust, "I'm. Not exactly a team player." he reminded them.

"Understatement." Connor cut in. Batman ignored him.

"Until we know you can control your powers, we need to keep an eye on you." Batman didn't sound reassuring. Nico eyed him carefully, unsure what he should say.

"No," the demigod replied at last, more firmly this time.

"I wasn't asking." Batman threatened. Ghost crossed his arms over his chest as the pair stared at one another for a few moments, a test of wills.

"What will you do if I refuse?" His hand moved to the sword at his hip and rested on the hilt. Maybe this was overboard, but Nico didn't think that Ghost would go down without a fight.

"I will have to take you into custody. As it is, you will have the privilege to leave the mountain under the condition that you will not use your powers until given the all-clear. If you force me to detain you, you will not be allowed to leave the base and other privileges may be revoked as I see fit." He laid down the law. Nico pretended to think about it for a few moments, looking around at the team and gauging their reactions. Overall, they didn't seem to be too happy about it either, which was to be expected.

"Fine," Ghost growled angrily.

"Very well. I will meet you back here in two days to take you to the base or I will hunt you down. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Ghost huffed in annoyance, "are we done here?"

"Yes." At those words, Nico began his trek back to the manor where he knew he would have a lot to explain,

Chapter Text

"Where were you?" Bruce asked as he came out of the clock entrance. Nico had known that BRuce would want to talk to him once he got back so Nico had decided to save them both the trouble and wait for him in the study. He must have taken his time at the mountain making preparations for his arrival because he was back later at least an hour after the demigod was. Nico vaguely wondered if Bruce had set up a room for him or if he was just trying to sell the idea to the rest of the team.

"I was in the Underworld. I only expected to be gone 30 minutes tops." Nico defended himself. He knew that Bruce wasn't really mad, he just didn't like the idea of Nico being out of reach if he were to need help. If something happened to him in one of the camps or the Underworld, there was no guarantee that Bruce would be informed about what happened, much less offer assistance if Nico needed it.

"You were gone all day and I couldn't find you anywhere on the GPS," Bruce said as he settled onto the couch. Seeing the boy in front of him was setting him more at ease and his anger was being into relief.

Nico decided not to complain that the vigilante had him on GPS, even though he had removed the first tracker. The son of Hades was sure that Bruce had them all tagged with trackers in case of an emergency. That would be just like the bat. Nico was being more conservative about picking his battles and he didn't think that this one was going to be worth it right then.

"I didn't mean to." he apologized. He knew the excuse was weak, but there wasn't anything else left for him to say, either.

"I know you didn't. I just worry when you're essentially off-world." The older man sighed and leaned back into the couch with a long sigh. He looked exhausted. Leading a double life was getting exhausting for the demigod and he had only been doing it for about a year. He couldn't imagine how tiring it must have been for Bruce to keep up the act for literal decades.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Your brothers have gone on patrol. I suggest you get some sleep. You'll need to be ready for your training tomorrow." Bruce stood to leave.

"There's more that I'm going to need to do this week. There are a few things I need to take care of in California." Nico spoke up. He knew that Bruce wasn't going to be crazy about that, but he wanted to be honest with him.

"Ok. Just keep your phone on you and let me know before you leave, alright?" Bruce rubbed his face and retreated further into the house. Nico hoped that he was going to go relax, he looked like he needed it. Bruce was busy all the time and he rarely took time for himself. You could blame it on the hero complex, but Bruce never seemed to stop looking out for the people of Gotham, whether they deserved it or not. In both personas, Bruce dedicated all his time to making the city and the world a better place.

As Batman, he put criminals away, submitted drug addicts to rehab facilities, and fought off the supervillains to protect the civilians. As Bruce Wayne, he donated millions each year to different charities and organizations around the city. Homeless shelters, Red Cross, group homes, orphanages, and rec centers all over the city could keep their doors open because of Bruce and his donations. Not to mention the fact that Wayne Industries created thousands of jobs and Bruce wouldn't turn people down for having a criminal record. The man was an army all by himself and Nico really admired that about the man who took him in. He deserved to take a break every once in a while.

Nico knew that he needed rest too, but he didn't think that he would be able to relax just yet. He was still buzzing with anxiety from exposing his powers to the team and the monster attack itself. He could almost imagine that static electricity was arcing along his skin with how it tingled. He had too much adrenalin running in his veins to lay down yet. Nico left for his room, but he took his time, looking at the manor as he never had before.

The demigod wanted to be able to remember everything about the first place had considered home. He wanted to remember the dark wood floors with the red runner that ran down almost every hall, the random portraits of Bruce's family members who lived in the house before him, the nicks and gashes in the walls from the bat brothers fighting each other and the many times people had broken in to terrorize them, and the occasional sticky note on a door that said 'door' in both English and Romani that Alfred just happened to miss.

This house had a lot of history within its walls. Most of it, Nico hadn't been around for. These boys have spent almost their whole lives here and Nico hadn't even been there for a full year yet. The feeling of being an outsider came on strongly. He could have seen this house decades before anyone in this house would have been alive if he had been here before his father put him in the Lotus Casino. It was hard to feel like you belonged when even time itself told you that you didn't.

Nico ran my finger down one of the gashes in the wall. Was this from playing? Did one of the boys run into the wall and make that? How did this get here? Was it made back before the boys? Before Bruce? It occurred to him that he would never know. There was no way to learn all the lost history of this place. He would never know. Nico didn't often like to look back on his life before Camp Halfblood. Most of it he couldn't remember, and the rest was all just speculation that left him feeling more disconnected from this time period than he had before. He preferred to look towards the future and try to figure out who he was now, rather than who he used to be.

Nico certainly wasn't tired anymore. He walked the halls for hours, just looking at all the marks and signs of a house that served a purpose. Not just as a living space, but as a home. He couldn't remember his own home. Did he make these marks in his old house? What did it look like?

Nico felt a pain in his chest as he considered that this manor was really the only house he had ever known. There was no getting that time back now. Alecto had burned that bridge when she dipped him in the Lethe. Angry tears burned in his eyes but he managed to soothe himself before it turned into a breakdown. He pushed on through the dark halls of the house, admiring every little flaw that may have marked an even he'd never know about. Every mark on the wall, every stain in the carpet, every picture on the wall had a story attached and he wished he knew what they were.

He didn't hear his brothers get home or go to bed. He didn't here any of the grandfather clocks count out the hour or notice how still everything had become. Nico was lost in thought, deeper than he ever had been before. He wandered all the hallways and looked through every door. Not a single room lacked signs of life, though most of the rooms he had never been in before. All this history without him.

"Is there something in particular that you are looking for, Master Nico?" A voice came from behind the distracted demigod. By that time Nico was in the manor's library, wondering how many of the books were still unread and he hadn't heard the sneaky butler come in. He stood in the doorway without even a flashlight. Nico could only just make out his face with his better-than-average night vision. He was wearing a simply silk pajama set and somehow managed to seem just as in charge as he did in a suit.

"Oh, Alfred, you scared me," Nico sucked in a deep breath.

"Master Wayne would not be pleased that you are still up," Alfred informed the newest addition. Nico watched him wordlessly as he hadn't really considered that there could be any consequences for staying up, "Quite hypocritically, if I do say so myself." He winked conspiratorially.

"You won't tell him?" Nico frowned.

"What he doesn't know, won't hurt him. Now, care to tell me what it is you're looking for?"

"History," he replied immediately, "I'm just... looking for history."

"Well, that's certainly not hard to find in this house. What kind of history are you in the market for?" The son of Hades considered this for a moment and realized that he didn't have an answer. He looked up at Alfred, feeling silly, and shook his head. The older man gave him a knowing look

"I see. Perhaps you are searching for your own history?" Nico felt a cold chill pass over him and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

"I don't know... maybe?"

"Well, why don't you come with me and we will see what we can find." Nico frowned at that. He knew Alfred had his ways, but he didn't see how he could help. Nico didn't want to question the older man so he followed the butler down into Bruce's study. Nico hesitated for a moment as the butler made his way to the clock that hid the passage to the cave.

"We're going to the cave?" Alfred didn't look at him as he fiddled with the clock face.

"You want answers?" He asked rhetorically. The demigod pursed his lips and followed him down into the cave. He didn't know if it was just him, but the cave seemed much more ominous than usual. Maybe it was because his hopes were really high and it was so late at night.

"This way Master Nico." Alfred lead him through Bruce's museum of stuff. There was a giant penny, a dinosaur, and many other crazy artifacts. It looks like Wally isn't the only one with a collection.

"Here we are." Alfred stopped in front of a small and unimpressive door and motioned for him place his hand on a scanner embedded into the wall. Nico watched to the older man for a few moments in confusion before his curiosity got the better of him and he gently laid his hand out on the screen. A little green light passed over his palm and beeped when it was done. The screen turned green and an automated voice declared, using the name of his alter ego, that he was authorized to enter. After a few more moments of hesitation, Nico pushed open the door. When he did, he was met with a short corridor with 7 different doorways branching off.

"What is all of this?" Nico asked, standing in the doorway. It felt like he was intruding.

"Your room is the last door on the left."

"My room?" Alfred simply motioned him further in. Nico quietly padded down the hall, feeling small in the dark corridor. There was a warm and soft glow coming from each room. When he came up to the first door, he peeked his head inside and was speechless. The room was entirely dedicated to Timothy.

It had pictures and portraits all over the place. There were posters and newspaper clippings of all of his accomplishments, with and without the mask. There was a book on the podium underneath his portrait labeled 'scrapbook'. Nico was amazed at how meticulous everything was. It was all chronologically ordered and labeled in Bruce's handwriting. Some of the clippings and photos were from his previous family. Bruce had gone all the way back to the beginning.

All of the other rooms were the same way, each one dedicated to a different boy. There was even one for Alfred and Bruce, though it looked like Alfred had decorated that one. It had a very thick scrapbook, and the walls were absolutely covered with all the newspaper clippings. Some were even on the ceiling. They layered the floor as well, safely protected from people's feet by a layer of plexiglass.

Finally, Nico reached the room dedicated to him. He hesitated a few moments just to the side of the doorway, wondering what he would see. As far as he knew, most of his records were destroyed in the fire that took his mother. When he finally looked inside, he almost started crying. He had never seen this much information about him in one place. Granted, it was less than half of what the other boys had, but that was to be expected.

There was a portrait of Nico after he fell asleep on the couch one day after a long day of rich people things. It was an actual portrait, too. Nico guessed they knew they would never get him to pose for one so they improvised. There were news clippings about the fire, Maria's death, her wedding, and our birth in the original Italian prints. Bruce had even found original birth certificate framed on the wall. He told him he'd let him have a copy and that he would keep the original safe. The copy was pinned to the cork board in his room.

There were also clippings about how he and Bianca had run away from the military academy, how Bianca was spotted at a museum, how Nico would pop up on the radar every once in a while. There was a list of books detailing parts of his adventures, with each chapter he appeared in written next to them (which actually freaked him out a little). There weren't very many pictures for a while because he was in the Underworld or the labyrinth most of that time so most of the pictures were recent. The ones that had been taken after Bruce had taken him in. The adoption was all over the papers so there were plenty of clippings from that week.

In the scrapbook there were several of him with his brothers doing different things sparring, attending galas, playing video games, having movie nights, etc. There were a few where he was with just one of his brothers. There was a picture of Damian reading to him, Dick showing him the rings, Jason teaching him how to throw knives, and Timothy showing him how to play Gallaga. There was one of him and Alfred making dinner and even one of Nico and Bruce walking through the orchard.

There were more pictures of just Nico, most of which he hadn't known were taken. Bruce had somehow gotten a picture of him drawing at his desk late at night, sitting up in a tree, fixing the projector, talking with Percy, and even a few of the demigod as Ghost. They had gotten a picture of when he first tried the costume on, sparring with the other boys in their costumes, and the most recent one was of Nico summoning the dead. He hadn't known that he was even there for the first part of that.

It was around there the pictures in the scrapbook stopped and the news clippings started popping up on the walls again. People were curious about this new 'Ghost' character. Was he good? Bad? What kinds of powers did he have? Was he dangerous? Where did he come from? Etc. The son of Hades hadn't actually known that there were all these articles out there. He had been pretty busy as of late and he didn't make it a habit to watch the news.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Alfred asked at last. Nico turned back to the butler and smiled.

"I think so. Thank you, Alfred." Nico was overcome with emotions and he hugged the older man. He patted the boy affectionately on the head. He felt better now that he had seen his own history here at the manor. This is where he had most of his memories-- the place where he had spent the most time that could actually be considered a place or residence. This manor was his home just as much as it was the other's.

"You are quite welcome, Master Nico." Alfred led the way out of the corridor and Nico stole one last look before the door closed.

He made his way back upstairs to his room, his mind still standing in the corridor looking at his past. Nico still wasn't tired, but he was now satisfied to stay in his room. He sat down at his desk, feeling like he should draw something. As he sat there a shimmering image came up in front of him. It was really late so he wasn't sure who would be trying to get in touch with him at this hour. When the image became clear and he saw who it was, it made sense.

"Nico? I have the Greek fire and you definitely owe me one." Thalia said as soon as she saw him. Her clothes and eyebrows looked a little singed. He was pretty sure that he could still see the smoke rising from her hair.

"Where are you?" He asked, already standing to go.

"I'm in Long Island, at Camp. Where are you?" She asked trying to look around at his room. Luckily, the room was dark so she couldn't see much. He only had his desk lamp on because the big lights hurt his eyes.

"Gotham. I can be there tomorrow to pick it up. Are you taking favors as payment or what?" He felt like he should give her something substantial, considering the fact that he might not be around long enough for her to cash in a favor.

"I was going to take a favor, but then I decided that I want a steak. Venison is nice, but I want beef." She smiled. Nico chuckled and nodded in reply.

"Sounds good to me. Lunch or dinner?" He asked, to clarify.

"Lunch would probably be better for me."

"See you then." He cut through the IM. He still had a few hours to kill before morning so he went back to the drawing desk and took out his supplies.

The son of Hades stared at the paper for a while, just off in thought. What did he want to draw? After a while, he decided to draw Lupa, the fierce she-wolf. After all, she was a major symbol of the Roman Demigods and, subsequently, Hazel. As the picture progressed, he drew Hazel and Jason among them. For some reason, Nico felt the need to leave another spot open. As though there was supposed to be someone else there.

After he finished that picture, he was still riding the wave of hyperfocus. Nico decided to start another picture, one that would represent the Greeks. He drew Thalia's Pine with Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Leo standing at the border, looking out over the hill towards the highway. Peleus was full curled at the base of the free and the fleece hung from a branch. For some reason, he just felt that they were the ones that should be there. It felt wrong when he thought about adding anyone else or when he considered leaving any of them out. It was a rough drawing that he would have to come back and finish later, but he was finally feeling the need for sleep.

Nico fell asleep as soon as hehisad hit the bed. The night seemed to be the night for foreshadowing so, of course, he dreamed. The demigod dreamt that he was in a tight, enclosed space. The air was thin and stale. In the next moment, he was in a Colosseum of some sort with a pot roast being chucked at his head. He was too weak to move and there were sounds of animals all around. Nico could sense urgency but he felt drugged. His mind was still trying to process it all.

In the next instance he was looking over the edge of an abyss and there was a strange white substance coating the walls. He looked up and saw a huge statue of Athena hovering precariously over the pit. It was, without a doubt, the parthenos of legend.

He woke up the next morning with sleep paralysis. He lay in bed, trying to stay calm until he could move again. It didn't look like much time had passed since he had gone to sleep, but he couldn't sleep now. Nico got out of bed and went to his desk. He needed to draw some of the things he had seen before it all faded away. He grabbed his sketchbook and started working on the image of the Parthenos dangling over the chasm. drew the vague outlines of us by the pit to show the proportions of the ship and the statue. The piece took a long time to sketch out, and he even restarted it once. After several hours, he had gotten it sketched and halfway colored.

Nico decided to move on to his next sketch and color later. He started on a picture with Reyna and him next to the statue. They were each on a different side and they were dwarfed by the size of the statues. Nico wondered why it was the two of them. Why did the statue not go with the ship? That sketch also took a long time because he was having trouble drawing a chiton. He must have been up in his room for a good part of the day.

By the time he finally showered and everything it was already time for lunch. Nico felt relieved having gotten some of the visions onto paper. He hoped to continue the process after lunch unless Thalia blew him up. Nico told Bruce where he was going before he shadow traveled to camp.

The son of Hades stepped out of the shadows right next to Thalia as she was teaching the Hermes cabin archery. She was shouting at one kid who looked on the verge of tears and there was an arrow caught in a dryad's skirt. The Dryad's face was a dark green which Nico figured was their version of their faces going red. Another dryad was helping her get it out and several of the campers were red in the face to try not to laugh. None of them wanted to bring Thalia's wrath down on them.

"What happened here?" Nico asked, trying to diffuse the situation. Without sparing him a glance, Thalia shoved a finger in his face and continued yelling. Nico smacked her hand away and she whirled around to face him. She looked at him like she was about to start yelling, but Nico just raised his eyebrows at her. They both knew that it wouldn't do her any good to yell at him because she still wanted that steak.

"What do you want, Nico?" She growled. We had the attention of the entire Hermes cabin now.

"The Greek fire would be nice." he deadpanned. She had, apparently, forgotten our discussion from last night.

"Oh, right. Here you go ya deadbeat." She handed him a pouch that was tied to her quiver. There were five bombs inside.

"Funny, how long did it take you to think of that one?" he tied the pouch to his belt.

"That's none of your business." She retorted and the son of Hades laughed, wondering if she'd still be this fiery in a thousand years from now.

"You ready to go? Or are you wanting to continue to terrorize that kid?"

"My name is Kyle." The kid protested. Thalia glared at him and he smiled meekly.

"We can go. Hey Cassandra!" Thalia shouted at a passing hunter. They came over, "I'm heading out of camp with Nico. I'll be back in about an hour. Tell Pheobe she's in charge." The hunter ran off to complete their task.

"Let's go." Nico offered her his hand. She stared at his hand for a moment, uncomprehendingly.

"I'm not holding your hand." She crossed her arms. Nico laughed and rested his hand on her arm instead. Then he Shadow traveled us into the nearest town. He had no idea what its name was. They walked around and talked for a while, trying to find a steak place. Eventually, they did and sat down and chatted while they were waiting for our food. There were getting some strange looks for their clothing and Thalia's weapons, which Nico wasn't sure what the mortals saw, and because Nico kept his hood up to keep from being recognized.

"So, what did you need the Greek fire for?" She asked, leaning back in her seat, munching on a steak fry.

"I think there is something big coming and I need to be prepared," he said, trying not to flat out lie.

"Something weird is definitely going on. Did you know that Jason is a Roman? I thought that pantheon died!" She took a drink of her soda.

"Romans? Really?" He did his best to sound surprised.

"Yeah. Annabeth has been having dreams lately. She says that Percy is with some wolves or something. My first thought was the Wolf House, but we already looked there. Where else could he be?" She leaned forward.

Nico debated how much to say, "Well, If Jason came here, then maybe Percy went to the Roman camp?" he suggested.

"Nico! You're a genius! Is that the big risk Hera took?" She looked super excited, "If that's the case, then we need to tell Annabeth! Leo's almost finished with the ship, then we can go and get him back!"

"How long until Leo finishes the ship?"

"I don't know for sure. He said something about finishing touches. I hope not long. We should start calling in the search parties. Have you gotten ahold of Grover yet?"

"No, but Rachel is looking for him too. She had a vision that told her that she would need to be with him for whatever is coming."

"What do you think is coming?" Thalia asked, stirring her drink with her straw.

"Honestly? I think that the giants are rising. I know that Piper, Jason, and Leo met Enceladus? But what if he isn't the only one that has come back?"

"Another war." Thalia's face darkened.

"Seems like it. If the giants are coming back, you can bet that Gaea is too. Didn't Leo say something about her appearing to him?"

"I think so." Thalia agreed. It was then that the waitress came by with their food. They had both gotten steaks, medium rare. The conversation moved to less serious topics and they started talking about all the crazy things that have happened with their new families.

The tension of the world's problems still loomed in the air, but they were going to enjoy life while they could. The steaks were delicious.

Chapter Text

Hazel's POV

It had been a few days since she joined the legion, and she wasn't exactly feeling very celebratory. Octavian was keeping a very close eye on her and she feared that he may have guessed her secret. He may not be intimidating to look at, but he was clever and ruthless. No one wanted to say it, but crossing the augur was possible more dangerous than crossing Reyna. Octavian was probably the biggest threat to her status in the Legion.

Nico had dropped off the face of the Earth, again, and she had no idea how to get in contact with him. How does he do that dream thing? Where is he even staying nowadays? Is it still with those mortals? If he was then she couldn't even send an eagle messenger. He never told her where he went when he wasn't at camp. All he said was 'the Underworld' but even that was vague and unhelpful. Hazel knew for a fact that he spent more time above the surface than he was admitting if he had time to make friends with people like Poison Ivy. What exactly was he hiding?

Hazek was seated on a bench overlooking the Fields of Bacchus, one of her favorite places at camp. They were beautiful this late in the day, with the sun hitting them at just the right angle. They all looked like gems, sparkling and twinkling in the sun. In her eyes, this living beauty was more precious than any stone she could pull from the earth. It was pure and untainted by greed-- living and growing in the way that all natural things should. It was spectacular.

Hazel knew she was supposed to be getting ready for war games, but it was hard to feel motivated with such a big secret in danger. After a while she heard footsteps coming up the pass but she didn't really think much of it as people came this way all the time. It was probably a retired couple who had come for the golden hour. Some of the shops would bring their models out to the fields around this time to take photos in togas or other attire that they sold in their shops.

"Hazel?" It was Frank. He had shown up a week or two after she did. He was still on probation, waiting for an act of valor or a year served. He was nice, but she didn't really know him all that well. She shifted so that she could see him from her place on the bench. When she spotted him, she just had to laugh.

"Frank, your armor!" The daughter of Pluto tried to hold back her laughter. He had it all crooked and the straps were in disarray. He frowned at the straps as if they were a complicated question on a quiz.

"I was in a hurry." He said by way of explanation. Hazel couldn't get the smile off her face as she helped him adjust his straps. The situation was just too comical.

"Come on, we're going to be late," she said, leading the way towards the armory. She still had to grab armor for himself.

"You're telling me! I'm the one who came to warn you!" He clanked along beside her and she glared playfully at him and he flashed her a smile.

It didn't take her long to get her armor on, she only had to fix the straps once. Then they raced to meet up with the others at formation. Today was capture the fortress and you did not want to be late. She and Frank joined the fifth, taking spots in the back. Hannibal was already on the field, dressed in kevlar and ready to go. It looked like he had recovered from the peanuts Frank had given him a few days ago. That had been a big fiasco.

"Fifth cohort!" Dakota shouted from the front. Hazel couldn't see him, but she was sure that his mouth was stained red. She didn't know where he got kool-aid in camp, but he never seemed to run out. Maybe the flask was enchanted to never run out. He began shouting orders to different sections and soldiers scurried to fall in line. The fifth was the advancing team again tonight so they would be the ones to take all the damage, as usual. For some reason, everyone hated the fifth.

Hazel understood that the fifth cohort always had bad luck, but one would think that Romans would be better than that. They weren't. When Jason had joined the fifth, he brought them back up to the top. Now Dakota was trying his best to fill in the position, but no one could really replace Jason. It was a lot of weight to be placed on the shoulders of one person and Hazel believed Dakota's stress over being the centurion of the most hated cohort fueled his addiction.

Soon the horn was blown and a battle ensued-- the fifth cohort charged the main gates. Some carried a battering ram and were trying to bust down the doors. The defenders, three and four, were blasting them with water cannons and other things, slowing them down. She Frank stood back. Frank held a bow and was shooting arrows filled with ether at the enemy. Hazel made herself useful by calling out warnings about incoming cannonballs and things like that. SO far no one was aiming for them, but Hazel knew that could change at any time.

A cannonball came hurtling towards the pair, as they realized that Frank was a bigger threat than the entire first cohort. Frank grabbed Hazel by her armor and pulled her out of the way in the nick of time. They avoided the cannon ball but they didn't avoid the hole that seemed to open up beneath their feet. It would seem that a cannonball had broken through the ground and into a tunnel of some sort.

"Ow," Hazel groaned, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She brushed rock dust off of her face and sneezed.

"Sorry. Are you ok?" Frank stood up unsteadily, looking at her apologetically. As far as she was concerned, he had nothing to apologize for. He had saved her from becoming a pancake after all.

"Yeah, Frank, I'm alright. Don't worry about it.

"Where do you think it leads?" Frank asked, brushing himself off. He offered her a hand and she took it. He pulled her to her feet with a surprising amount of strength she had to steady herself or she would have fallen back over. Frank mumbled another apology under his breath but Hazel ignored it.

Hazel looked down the corridor and a strange feeling came over her, "It goes another 100 feet before sloping left towards the battlements," she paused. How had she known that?

"Have you been in there before?" Frank asked, confused. The dauther of Pluto shook her head, mystified. How could she have possibly known that? She had to know the answer so she charged into the dark.

"Hey! Wait up!" Frank called, coming in after her. She didn't wait for him. After a hundred feet, the tunnel sloped left, just like she said it would. She vaguely wished that it would have sloped right. Then it would be heading up under the battering ram. Then maybe they could find a way under the wall. There was still a battle to be won, after all.

Hazel started down the path and found that it started branching right after another 40 feet. Hazel paused at the intersection in confusion. She had been 100% sure that it curved left for another 60 feet. Did she get it wrong the first time or did the tunnels actually change?

Frank caught up to her as she was thinking, "What's wrong? Don't we have to go right?"

"Yeah... it's just..." she hesitated. He would either get freaked out or think she was having delusions of grandeur.

"What?" He pressed, looking down the passage as if trying to see to the end.

"It wasn't there a moment ago."

"What do you mean? How do you know it wasn't there?" He frowned at her but she could hardly tell in the darkness.

"I didn't sense it there before." Hazel knew how crazy it sounded, but it was the truth.

"Then how did it get here?" Frank asked, ignoring the oddity of her statement. She felt a wave of gratitude, he just accepted this ability without question or judgment.

"I wanted a tunnel that led under the gates." There was a horn blown in the distance, signaling the end of the game. Someone had won.

"The game's over," Frank said unnecessarily and Hazel could only nod, "We need to get back for dinner and inspection."

She wordlessly followed Frank down the tunnel, feeling overwhelmed. Nico had warned her that she might discover powers that she hadn't known that she had, but Hazel hadn't really understood the possibility. What other abilities did she have that she didn't know about? What if there were more powers that were worse than her curse? She didn't think she could handle the thought that she might have abilities with more dire consequences than the curse. Surely the fates weren't that cruel?

Frank paused where he thought the hole had been, confused. Hazel knew that it was approximately 60 feet until the point where we had first fallen in, but that entrance was gone. The next opening was 300 yards further, at the edge of the fields of Mars. She pointed further down the tunnel and he accepted it without question. When they were almost to the end of the passage Hazel thought of something. She grabbed onto Frank's arm as he was about to step into the light. He looked back and her words got caught in her throat. She was taking a risk, but it was a question that she had to ask.

"What is it?" He turned to face the daughter of Pluto, giving her his full attention.

"Could you.. not tell anyone? Please? I don't know how tit all works yet and people already treat me strangely," she pleaded. She wasn't sure that she was making sense but Frank seemed to understand.

"Yeah, sure. We'll keep it just between us until you're ready," Frank smiled kindly, Hazel returned the smile, grateful that it was Frank she had fallen in the hole with. Maybe she had finally found a friend. THey climbed out of the hole and found that virtually everyone had already left the field. The only people were left were field medics who were tending to injured campers. They hadn't seemed to notice the two demigods who emerged from the ground, though.

"Wow. I feel like I fell down the rabbit hole." Frank smiled at her. She knew that he was probably referencing something because he smile playfully, but Hazel didn't get it

"The what?"

"You know, the rabbit hole? Alice in Wonderland?" Hazel could only shake her head, her cheeks heating up with embarassment. Frank's eyes widened in surprise, "You don't know Alice in Wonderland?"

"No, I didn't really have access to tv," She said to try and pass it off as a modern problem. That's what Nico told her to do when these sorts of questions came up. Frank seemed to buy it.

"Ok, I would have thought you would have at least heard of it, though. Come on, let's get off our armor real quick. I don't want to stay in this any longer than I have to." Hazel nodded in agreement, grateful at how quickly he dropped the subject.

"Frank, Hazel. There you two are. Your cohort reports that they lost track of the two of you in the middle of the game." A voice came from behind us. It was Reyna.

"We fell in a hole," Frank said dumbly. Reyna eyed him for a moment before turning her attention to Hazel.

"Honestly, we fell in a hole. There are tunnels under the field. A cannonball opened one up underneath us and it took a while to find a way out." Reyna nodded. She didn't seem surprised by the news so Hazel guessed the praetor already knew about the tunnels.

"Whatever the case, it is unacceptable. You'll both take guard duty shifts by the underpass tomorrow at noon. Don't be late." The praetor turned on her heel and returned to the city. The daughter of Pluto watched her go, struck dumb.

"We just fell in a hole. It isn't like we were doing anything wrong." Frank defended himself, though there was nobody else around. Her cheeks heated up at the insinuation he was making. She still wasn't used to it being acceptable to say those sort of things and was caught off-guard every time it happened.

"Come on. Let's put up the armor." She suggested, taking off before he could reply. Frank trotted along beside him, looking content to get lost in his thoughts, which was good because she was lost in her own thoughts as well.

Hazel didn't like the idea that this guard shift was a punishment. They hadn't done anything wrong and punishing them only made it seem like they had to everyone else. It was totally unfair. When they got to the armory the pair took off their armor and polished it. Then, they were about to part ways to go to dinner but Frank stopped her.

"Do you mind if I stay around you? I don't really have any other friends here." He hugged his arms around his body sheepishly. Hazel understood what he meant exactly. Frank wasn't exactly your typical recruit and the others shunned him for it. He used a bow, he wasn't exceptionally strong, his face made him look years younger, and he was clumsy. Hazel didn't really have many friends either and she was touched that he would consider her his friend. She was a daughter of Pluto, after all. Those were rare and people usually didn't want anything to do with them. They didn't like the idea of death. He was the least respected of the gods at Camp Jupiter.

"Sure," she agreed eventually. They walked in comfortable silence to the dining pavilion. She needed some comfort food tonight.

The next day Hazel found herself stationed next to Frank right outside the doors of the underpass. As it turns out, they both spoke a little French so they tried to talk to one another. It didn't go so well. He asked her how she was doing and she tried to respond with 'I'm fine, thanks'. Somehow he interpreted it as 'my shoe is blue'. After a good laugh, they decided to call it quits. THeir dialects just weren't compatible with one another since had learned French from New Orleans and Frank had learned it in Canada. There was also the fact that she had learned the language decades ago and was probably very out of practice.

It was about that time that the weird things started happening. For instance, a bag lady appeared in the median and neither of thme had seen her crossing the busy highway. She didn't seem to be doing anything, just sitting there and muttering to herself so they let her be. Then there was some screeching and Hazel could see a cloud of dust on a far-away hillside. It seemed to be moving down the hill at incredible speeds. Her first thought was that it could be a landslide. They weren't common, but they weren't entirely unheard of either.

"Are you seeing that?" Frank asked in disbelief. Hazel didn't respond, completely absorbed by what she was seeing. This was no landslide, there was a boy in an orange shirt sledding down the hill with two very angry flying snake ladies behind him. The boy was headed right for the highway and he didn't show any signs of slowing down. He must have found a way to turn because he was suddenly going in a different direction, now going at an angle to the road. The gorgons weren't so great at turning or stopping so the boy got a few extra seconds to run.

He charged right into traffic, not even looking at the oncoming cars. He halted in the median next to the homeless lady and talked to her for a few precious moments.

"What is he doing?" the daughter of Pluto asked aloud, "He should be running!" The boy scooped up the bag lady like she weighed nothing and began sprinting in our direction. The gorgons had regrouped and were right on his tail.

"A recruit?" Frank asked in a monotone voice. She thought he was trying to be sarcastic.

"What else?" she questioned. When they got closer she could see the boy more clearly. He was almost god-like in appearance. He had black hair and the strangest blue-green eyes. She had never seen anything like them.

"Should we open the doors?" Frank asked, drawing his bow, "Or should I fire at them?"

"No, I think we should let them come. I've heard of gods and goddesses doing things like this," she said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.

"I've got it. You hold off the monsters," she ordered. Frank let loose an arrow, nailing a gorgon in the head. It fell into the highway and into the front of a semi. It didn't even seem bothered and crawled over the vehicle and launched itself back into the air. It didn't even die.

"Thanks." The boy said panting. "Good shot."

"That should've killed her!" Frank said incredulously.

"Welcome to my world." The new boy muttered.

I recognized the monsters now. We were in trouble. "Frank, get them inside, quick! Those are gorgons."

"Gorgons? Frank's voice cracked. "Will the door hold them?"

"No, no it won't. Onward Percy Jackson! Through the tunnel, over the river!" The woman in Percy's arms cackled.

"Percy Jackson? Ok, you're obviously a demigod. But who's the-?" Hazel trailed off, she didn't want to insult the woman in his arms, in case she really was a goddess in disguise. "Nevermind. Just get inside. I'll hold them off."

"Hazel," Frank protested, "Don't be crazy."

"Go!" She needed them to be out of the tunnel for this to work. Frank cursed in Latin before pulling open the door.

"Come on," Percy staggered after him.

Hazel pulled out her spatha, swinging it a few times just for show. It didn't take the monsters long to reach mher. One swooped for her head and she sliced her across the stomach, the gorgon retreated with a howl. The other hissed and landed on her chicken feet, stalking towards the lone demigod threateningly. Hazel took the opportunity to cut off her head. Maybe now she would stay dead.

While the daughter of Pluto was distracted, one of the beasts caught her across the chest with her claws. If she hadn't been wearing armor, she would have been mincemeat. Hazel cut her in half and she exploded into dust. The one he had beheaded just moments before had revived and came at her with a produce labeler.

"You know, no one will buy that armor like that for full price. It will have to go on the bargain rack now." She punched a few things into her device and a sticker came out the top. She lunged at her and slapped the 50% off sticker on her chest. She beheaded the beast again in response.

While they were reforming, Hazel made a break for the door. She threw open the door and charged down the tunnel. She could hear them chasing behind her and Hazel concentrated. The tunnel began to shake and she felt an intense tug in her gut. A huge stone came out of the ceiling and crushed the gorgons with a screech. This, unfortunately, caused the tunnel to cave in around her. A stone hit her on the head, denting her helmet. She discarded the ruined piece.

Hazel had effectively cut herself off and she desperately hoped that the power she thought she had wasn't just a fluke. Hazel concentrated on a new tunnel that would lead her into New Rome and the wall crumbled before her, showing her a new passage. The daughter of riches smiled to herself and ran headlong into the darkness.

"Camp Jupiter," she could hear Frank saying, "We'll be safe once..." he trailed off as she came up to them. Hazel coughed from the dust in her lungs.

"I slowed them down but they'll be here any second," She warned.

"We have to get across the river," Frank said. She nodded in agreement.

"Oh, yes, please." The old woman cut in. "I can't get my dress wet." Percy frowned but didn't say anything, you could tell that he wasn't a fan of this hippie lady. Hazel wondered what she had said to get him to agree to carry her. She didn't have time to ask because moments later they made a run for the River and the two Romans had to help Percy remain upright. Percy paused at the edge of the creek, eyeing the water. He didn't seem afraid, just weary. The hippie lady was watching him with almost cruel interest.

"Go, Hazel. Escort Percy so that the sentries won't shoot him." Frank offered. She was about to protest but Frank knocked two arrows. "It's my turn to hold off the baddies."

She didn't wait to be told twice plunged into the river, fighting her way across. The campers in the archer towers had caught sight of us and were arming themselves. The boy hesitated at the edge of the river and the woman in his arms seemed to be telling him something.

"Percy, come on!" Hazel urged. There was a screech and Frank burst out of the tunnel with the gorgons still on his trail. The strange boy wasted no more time crossing the river. When they got to the other side, Percy set the lady by the river's edge. She smoothed out her 'dress' as though it were made of fine silk and made no effort to assist them in any way. Definitely a goddess, then. Reinforcements had started to show up. Frank had almost made it to the Little Tiber when the flying snake ladies caught up.

"Frank!" She shouted. She was afraid that he wasn't going to make it. The gorgons scooped him out of the water by either arm. He cried out as their claws cut into him. In her heart Hazel knew he was dead. There was no way that the sentries could get a clear shot and they'd never make it to him in time if they charged into battle.

Before anyone had time to react, the water seemed to take on a mind of its own. Two watery hands rose from the channel and grabbed the monsters from underneath. Frank was released, dropping like a stone into the river below. He resurfaced a mere second later and started swimming slowly for the shore.

Hazel looked around to my fellow soldiers to see if they were seeing this. When she did, she noticed that the new boy was mimicking the watery hands, his own hands clenched into fists. He made a motion of slamming his hands together and the river followed his lead. He wasn't mimicking the water, the water was obeying him. The bag lady smiled and HAzel could almost swear that her teeth were sharp before the moment passed and they were back to normal.

The water slammed the two women together and they exploded with the sheer force. The water collapsed back into the river and the monster dust was dispersed. The bag lady was the first to break the silence by clapping.

"Well, that was a lovely trip," she said. "Thank you, Percy Jackson, for bringing me to Camp Jupiter."

Someone from the shore made a choking noise, "Percy... Jackson?" Hazel and a good portion of the soldiers that now lined the banks looked around for who made the remark and they were all surprised to see that it was Reyna. Percy stared back at the Praetor. The whole camp was eying their leader, unused to the display of emotion or surprise.

The hippie lady laughed, "Oh, yes. You'll have such fun together." It was around that time that the hippie lady began to glow and change form. In a matter of moments, she had gone from a homeless lady to a 7-foot tall goddess in a blue dress and a goatskin cloak. She clutched a staff with a lotus flower in her hand. Juno had decided to grace them with her presence. Reyna knelt and everyone followed suit.

"Juno." Hazel said without thinking. She knelt hastily, with Frank close behind. Percy was the only one who remained standing.

"Juno, huh?" He asked, unimpressed. "If I passed your test, can I have my memories and my life back?" the daughter of Pluto frowned at this, he had amnesia? Why wasn't he surprised to see her? Why wasn't he kneeling?

"In time, Percy Jackson, if you succeed here at camp. You've done well today, which is a good start. Perhaps there is hope for you yet." Juno shimmered and disappeared. Percy looked back at her and Hazel shook her head, mystified.

Reyna was the first to stand and she stepped up to Percy. She did not look happy to see him.

"So, a Son of Neptune, who comes to us with the blessing of Juno." There were some murmurs among the assembled groups but they died out quickly enough.

"Look," Percy started, "my memory's a little fuzzy. Um, it's gone actually. Do I know you?"

"I am Reyna, praetor of the Twelfth Legion. And no... I don't know you." Percy frowned. He obviously didn't believe her, but he seemed to be unwilling to call her bluff either.

"Hazel," Reyna addressed her. Hazel stepped forward, "bring him inside. I want to question him at the Principia. Then we'll send him to Octavian. We must consult that augury before we decide what to do with him."

"What do you mean, decide what to do with me?" Percy crossed his arms. He was looking annoyed, now. Reyna did not look pleased that he was questioning her.

"Before we accept anyone into camp, we must interrogate them and read the auguries. Juno said that your fate is in our hands. We have to know whether the goddess has brought us a new recruit..." Reyna eyed Percy skeptically, "Or an enemy to kill." Percy pursed his lips.

She and Frank escorted Percy through the camp, following Reyna. He seemed to annoy the Lares, the ghosts that wandered the camp. One of them even called him graecus, 'the greek'. It was a title but the Lares used it as an insult. It was easy to see why they would think that he was classically handsome and just looked Greek, though she couldn't put a finger on why she thought that.

All she knew was that this was the most interesting recruit they'd seen in years. She'd have to introduce him to Nico if Percy was accepted on probation. After all that had just happened, it was hard for her to believe that Juno had led Percy here to die. It seemed much more likely that he was here to join the legion.

"Am I seeing things or are those..." Percy trailed off looking at the Lares.

"Ghosts?" She finished his question, knowing where his thoughts had gone. She had thought the same thing when she first arrived, "They're Lares. House gods."

"House gods," Percy repeated." Like... smaller than real gods but bigger than apartment gods?"

"They're ancestral spirits," Frank explained. He'd taken his helmet off.

"Lares are like mascots." He explained. "Mostly they're harmless, but I've never seen them so agitated."

"They're staring at me. That ghost kid called me Greggus. My name isn't Greg."

"Graecus." She corrected him. "Once you're here a while you'll start to understand Latin." Percy seemed to feel conflicted about that idea and Hazel couldn't blame him. He hadn't exactly been given a welcome party. She hoped that they would have good news from the auguries and Percy would be able to stay. She had a feeling that Percy was important-- it wsn't every demigod who got blessed by a goddess, after all. She wondered what Nico would make of him.

Chapter Text

Hazel's POV

"Is that bad?" Percy asked. Frank cleared his throat.

"Maybe not. You've got that type of complexion, the dark hair and all. Maybe they think you're actually Greek. Is your family from there?" Frank asked, kicking a stone that was in the path. Percy just shook his head.

"Don't know. Like I said, my memory is gone." Hazel felt a twinge of empathy for him. She may not have lost her memories in the Underworld, but they did get a little mixed up. She sometimes had trouble looking at things from her past chronologically. She couldn't tell when things happened relative to everything else. The daughter of Pluto was trying to sort them all out, but she wasn't making much progress on her own. She needed to sit down with Nico and talk everything out with him but he was so rarely in one place long enough to get into it. The odd blackout here and there would sometimes offer clarity, but sometimes they only served to confuse her more and they often left her breathless and trembling.

"Or maybe..." Frank hesitated.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Probably nothing," Frank said. Hazel gave him a look and he seemed to be asking her if he should tell him. Hazel knew where his thoughts had gone, and she hoped that he wasn't about to suggest what she thought he was. The last thing they needed was to bring up an old conspiracy.

"Romans and Greeks have an old rivalry. Sometimes Romans use graecus as an insult for someone who's an outsider-an enemy. I wouldn't worry about it." Frank tried to pass it off as nothing but Hazel could tell that Percy wasn't buying it. He eyed Frank for a moment before letting the subject drop.

The trio stopped at the center of camp, where two wide stone-paved roads met at a T. A street sign labeled the road to the main gates as via praetoria. The other road, cutting across the middle of camp, was labeled via principalis. Under those markers were hand-painted signs like Berkeley 5 miles; NEW ROME 1 MILE; OLD ROME 7280 MILES; HADES 2310 MILES (pointing straight down); RENO 208 MILES, AND CERTAIN DEATH: YOU ARE HERE! Percy eyed the sign for a moment before surveying the city. She was curious to hear what he thought of the cities but he kept his thought to himself and she didn't feel like it was her place to ask.

In front of them, you could see the entire city stretching out. There were people participating in recreational activities in the park, the village full of people and their families milling about, and the barracks. The barracks were clearly marked as each dorm had a different collection of banners out front displaying Roman numerals and various animals-eagle, bear, wolf, horse, and something that looked like a hamster. She knew that she should really know what it was, but everyone else seemed to just know already and she was too embarrassed to ask.

Merchants and artisans had shops all along the Via Praetoria where they advertised food, armor, weapons, coffee, gladiator equipment, and toga rentals. At one corner of the crossroads stood the most impressive building-a two-story wedge of white marble with a columned portico like an old-fashioned bank. Roman guards stood out front. Over the doorway hung a big purple banner with the gold letters SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath.

"Your headquarters?" Percy asked. Reyna faced him, her eyes still cold and hostile. SHe didn't understand why the praetor seemed predisposed to dislike him. He hadn't done anything that was worthy of distaste that she had seen. Reyna must know more than she was saying, as she often does. Hazel sometimes found herself wishing she could be as confident as Reyna. The commander always seemed to have an answer or a retort. She never seemed any less than put-together and Hazel doubted that she had ever been at a loss for words.

Hazel knew that the fact that Reyna dislikes him should make her wary of him but she just couldn't be. He just didn't scare hee. Maybe it was the amnesia or maybe it was his sarcastic nature but Hazel just couldn't see him as a threat. He just seemed lost. It was also hard to take someone seriously after they had carried a hippie bag lady into camp. Or maybe it had been the apartment gods joke. Either way, Hazel wasn't afraid.

Some of the campers had followed the group into the city, but Reyna disbanded them with a few words. As they passed, several of the campers eyed Percy and speculated about his fate. "He's dead," said one. "Would be those two who found him," said another. "Yeah," muttered another. "Let him join the Fifth Cohort. Greeks and geeks." Several kids laughed at that, but Reyna scowled at them, and they cleared off.

"Hazel," Reyna said. "Come with us. I want your report on what happened at the gates." Frank asked to stay too but Reyna shut him down with a harsh look and a few choice words.
"I'd remind you, Frank Zhang," she said, "you are on probatio yourself. You've caused enough trouble this week." Frank's ears turned red. He fiddled with a little tablet on a cord around his neck. Percy's eyes darted to the tablet but he didn't mention it.

"Go to the armory," Reyna told him. "Check our inventory. I'll call you if I need you."

"But-" Frank caught himself. "Yes, Reyna." He hurried off. Reyna waved us toward the headquarters.

"Now, Percy Jackson, let's see if we can improve your memory."

The Principia was a sight to behold. On the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under their adopted mama she-wolf (Lupa had told everyone in the legion that story a million times). The floor was polished marble and the walls were draped in velvet. Along the back wall stood a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals-military symbols. In the center was one empty display stand, where the Eagle had once stood. In the back corner, a stairwell led down. It was blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door. She wasn't sure what was down there, but she probably didn't want to know.

In the center of the room, there was the conference table. The conference table was a long wooden table cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans. Reyna has a sweet tooth, though she'd deny it if you asked. This was where the praetors conducted all of their important business. Senators, centurions, and soldiers were constantly passing in and out of this room with information, questions, and complaints. But now, however, it had been abandoned for the interrogation.

Reyna's hounds waited for her at the end of the table. Percy didn't react to them as Reyna walked behind the table and sat in one of two high-backed chairs. Hazel remained standing and Percy took the hint and stayed standing as well. He took his time to glance around the room before he turned his attention to Reyna.

"So..." he started to say. The dog statues bared their teeth and growled. Percy froze. Obviously, he had mistaken them for statues. She had too when had first arrived at camp. The twin greyhounds were well known around New Rome. No one was really sure where Reyna got them and most people were too afraid to ask. The hounds were made with so much magic and precious metal that she could sense them coming without even trying. It was nice to know that they couldn't sneak up on her, but she still had no defense against those teeth.

"Easy, guys," Reyna soothed the greyhounds, scratching the silver one behind the ears with a metallic tinkling noise. They stopped growling but they kept eyeing Percy hungrily. Hazel wans't sure if they eat or not, but there was no mistaking the look in their ruby eyes. "They won't attack," Reyna said, "unless you try to steal something, or unless I tell them to. That's Argentum and Aurum."

"Silver and Gold," Percy said, already starting to pick up the language. Reyna set her dagger on the table. Percy eyed her with interest, as though he were searching for something he recognized.

"We have met," he decided. "I don't remember when. Please, if you can tell me anything-" Reyna cut him off.

"First things first," Reyna said. "I want to hear your story. What do you remember? How did you get here? And don't lie. My dogs don't like liars." Argentum and Aurum snarled to emphasize the point.

Percy told his story-how he'd woken up at the ruined mansion in the woods of Sonoma. He described his time with Lupa and her pack, learning their language of gestures and expressions, learning to survive and fight. Lupa had taught him about demigods, monsters, and gods. She'd explained that she was one of the guardian spirits of Ancient Rome. Demigods like Percy were still responsible for carrying on Roman traditions in modern times-fighting monsters, serving the gods, protecting mortals, and upholding the memory of the empire. She'd spent weeks training him until he was as strong and tough and vicious as a wolf. When she was satisfied with his skills, she'd sent him south, telling him that if he survived the journey, he might find a new home and regain his memory.

None of it was surprising. All the demigods in the legion had to undergo the trials at some point. Well, maybe not Nico, though he wasn't really in the legion so she wasn't even sure he counted.

"No memory at all?" Reyna asked when he had finished. "You still remember nothing?"

"Fuzzy bits and pieces." Percy glanced at the greyhounds and Hazel got the sense that he wasn't telling them everything. She shared a look with Reyna and she could tell that she was thinking the same thing. Reyna spun her dagger thoughtfully.

"Most of what you're describing is normal for demigods. At a certain age, one way or another, we find our way to the Wolf House. We're tested and trained. If Lupa thinks we're worthy, she sends us south to join the legion. But I've never heard of someone losing his memory. How did you find Camp Jupiter?" Percy told her about the last three days-the gorgons who wouldn't die, the old lady who turned out to be a goddess, and finally meeting Frank and Hazel at the tunnel in the hill.

The girls herself took over from there. She described the events to Reyna in a way that accentuated Percy's importance to their survival. Without him, Frank would have died at the hands of the Gorgons for sure. Reyna studied him as though she was unwilling to consider that this person in front of her was capable of such acts.

"You're old for a recruit. You're what, sixteen?"

"I think so," Percy said. He shrugged again, at a loss.

"If you spent that many years on your own, without training or help, you should be dead. A son of Neptune? You'd have a powerful aura that would attract all kinds of monsters."

"Yeah," Percy said. "I've been told that I smell." Reyna almost cracked a smile. It was rare that Reyna would smile, especially these days.

"You must've been somewhere before the Wolf House," she said. Percy shrugged. He seemed to be struggling with his memory, looking frustrated. Reyna sighed.

"Well, the dogs haven't eaten you, so I suppose you're telling the truth."

"Great," Percy said. "Next time, can I take a polygraph?" Reyna stood. She paced in front of the banners. Her metal dogs watched her go back and forth. "Even if I accept that you're not an enemy," she said, "you're not a typical recruit. The Queen of Olympus simply doesn't appear at camp, announcing a new demigod. The last time a major god visited us in person like that..." She shook her head. "I've only heard legends about such things. And a son of Neptune...that's not a good omen. Especially now."

"What's wrong with Neptune?" Percy asked. "And what do you mean, 'especially now'?" Hazel shot him a warning look, but just Reyna kept pacing.

"You've fought Medusa's sisters, who haven't been seen in thousands of years. You've agitated our Lares, who are calling you a graecus. And you wear strange symbols-that shirt, the beads on your necklace. What do they mean?" Percy looked down at his tattered orange T-shirt. It might have had words on it at one point, but they were too faded to read. She was too far away to get a good look. They seemed to have engravings in them so they probably meant something.

"I don't know," he said.

"And your sword?" Reyna asked. The daughter of Pluto frowned in confusion, she hadn't known he had a sword. How did Reyna know? Percy checked his pocket and pulled out a plain ball-point pen. He uncapped it and suddenly he was holding a long bronze sword. She couldn't help but gasp in surprise and even Reyna's greyhounds barked apprehensively.

"What is that?" Hazel asked. "I've never seen a sword like that." she had never sensed a sword like that either. It was imbued with power like Imperial gold but it felt more like bronze than gold.

"I have," Reyna said darkly. "It's very old-a Greek design. We used to have a few in the armory before..." She stopped herself. "The metal is called Celestial bronze. It's deadly to monsters, like Imperial gold, but even rarer."

"Imperial gold?" Percy asked. Reyna unsheathed her dagger. Sure enough, the blade was gold. "The metal was consecrated in ancient times, at the Pantheon in Rome. Its existence was a closely guarded secret of the emperors-a way for their champions to slay monsters that threatened the empire. We used to have more weapons like this, but now...well, we scrape by. I use this dagger. Hazel has a spatha, a cavalry sword. Most legionnaires use a shorter sword called a gladius. But that weapon of yours is not Roman at all. It's another sign you're not a typical demigod. And your arm..."

"What about it?" Percy asked. Reyna held up her own forearm. She had a tattoo on the inside: the letters SPQR, a crossed sword and torch, and under that, four parallel lines like score marks. Percy glanced at Hazel questioningly.

"We all have them," she confirmed, holding up her own arm. "All full members of the legion do." Her tattoo also had the letters SPQR, but only had one score mark, and her emblem was different: a black glyph like an inverted cross with curved arms and a head. Percy looked at his own arms, which were filthy, but bore no tattoos.

"So you've never been a member of the legion," Reyna said. "These marks can't be removed. I thought perhaps..." She shook her head as if dismissing an idea. Hazel leaned forward, an idea coming to her mind.

"If he's survived as a loner all this time, maybe he's seen Jason," she turned to Percy, "Have you ever met a demigod like us before? A guy in a purple shirt, with marks on his arm-"

"Hazel." Reyna's voice tightened. "Percy's got enough to worry about." She pursed her lips and frowned. Didn't she want to know where Jason was? Percy touched the point of his sword with the cap, and it shrank back into a pen.

"I haven't seen anyone like you guys before. Who's Jason?" Reyna gave her an irritated look but she refused to feel bad. If he had known anything about Jason we'd be closer to finding him. Isn't that what she wanted?

"He is...he was my colleague." She waved her hand at the second empty chair. "The legion normally has two elected praetors. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, was our other praetor until he disappeared last October.” It was now June.

"You mean he's been gone eight months, and you haven't replaced him?"

"He's not dead," Hazel said, knowing that Nico would have told us if he was, "We haven't given up."

"Elections only happen in two ways," Reyna said. "Either the legion raises someone on a shield after a major success on the battlefield-and we haven't had any major battles-or we hold a ballot on the evening of June 24, at the Feast of Fortuna. That's in five days." Percy frowned. "You have a feast for tuna?"

"Fortuna," Hazel corrected immediately. "She's the goddess of luck. Whatever happens on her feast day can affect the entire rest of the year. She can grant the camp good luck...or really bad luck." Hazel and Reyna both glanced at the empty display stand, thinking about the missing emblem.

"The Feast of Fortune...The gorgons mentioned that. So did Juno. They said the camp was going to be attacked on that day, something about a big bad goddess named Gaea, an army, and Death being unleashed. You're telling me that day is this week?"

Reyna's fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger. "You will say nothing about that outside this room," she ordered. "I will not have you spreading more panic in the camp."

"So it's true," Percy said. "Do you know what's going to happen? Can we stop it?" He seemed to be genuinely concerned with the camp's well-being, though he'd only been here about an hour, and most of that time he had been grilled for information.

"We've talked enough for now," Reyna said. "Hazel, take him to Temple Hill. Find Octavian. On the way, you can answer Percy's questions. Tell him about the legion."

"Yes, Reyna," she replied, as Reyna sheathed her dagger. The metal dogs stood and growled, inching toward Percy, who eyed them warily.

"Good luck with the augury, Percy Jackson," she said. "If Octavian lets you live, perhaps we can compare notes...about your past."

Nico's POV

Nico was sitting at his desk, teaching himself geometry when his father decided to invade his thoughts.

"The praetor at New Rome just prayed to me asking me to send you to camp immediately. My guess is that Posideon's boy has finally made an appearance. You need to get over there immediately."
Hades sounded tired, but Nico didn't want to bring it up. He probably wouldn't have gotten a straight answer anyway. As it was, Nico's heart was racing at the prospect of seeing Percy again. After he had been gone for so long, it would be a huge relief just to see him alive and well. Hopefully, he would be ok.

"She prayed to you?" Nico frowned. He knew just as well as any Roman that Pluto wasn't one of their more respected gods. It must have taken her a lot to get up the courage to pray to him, especially to ask for a favor. It almost made him smile at the thought of how that prayer must have sounded.

"Some Romans still respect me," Hades grumbled indignantly. Nico smiled to himself.

"Apparently," he agreed. Then Nico wasted no time in setting off to find where Bruce had hidden in the manor. Bruce was impossible to find when he wanted to be alone, which Nico would respect. He found Bruce in his study. Nico burst in through the door and was happy to see that the man in question wasn't on the phone. At least he wasn't about to interrupt a meeting or something. He had once walked in on a conference call and that had taken a lot of explaining on Bruce's end about how they could combine many phone lines into one conversation.

"Bruce! I have to go to California. Right now. It's an emergency."

"How long will you be gone?" He asked, taking his reading glasses off and giving the younger boy his full attention.

"Anywhere from a few hours to a few days. I have no idea what kind of emergency this is yet." Nico replied truthfully.

"Don't you need to pack anything?"

"No time! I have to go now." The son of Hade replied a little more curtly than he meant to.

"Alright, but call me if it looks like you will be there longer than a day." Bruce sighed in resignation. Nico knew Bruce hated it when he left like this-- without any explanation or a solid plan. HE also knew that the older man wouldn't keep him from going anymore. He knew that Nico had responsibilities to the mythological world too.

"Will do!" The son of Hades promised before he shadow traveled to camp Jupiter, focusing on Reyna for his destination. HE found her in the Principia.

"You prayed to Pluto?" He asked, stepping out of the shadows of a column.

"Nico! Thank the gods that worked!" Reyna stood immediately, "What did you discover about the people in the orange shirts?"

"I haven't had time to look into them yet. I've been a little busy with the monsters not staying dead." He lied. The greyhounds bared their teeth, but Reyna didn't seem to notice.

"What's the matter?"

"One of them just showed up. A boy named Percy Jackson, son of Neptune. Orange shirt, no tattoo, beaded necklace, celestial bronze sword, and no memory."

"No memory?" He asked.

"Yes. He woke up at the Wolf House with no memory of how he could have possibly gotten there." Her frown deepened and she opened her mouth as if she was going to say something but thought better of it.

“That’s strange. What else?”

“That’s the thing... I recognize him.” She admitted.

"You do?" Nico frowned, his stomach dropping. He hadn't been aware that Percy and Reyna had ever met.

"Yes! The last time I saw him he was with a blonde girl who was also wearing an orange shirt." Reyna seemed to be unhinged in the mystery of it all. He was surprised that she was confiding so much in him but he wasn't going to complain. This meeting really seemed to have shaken her.

"Where?"

"I'm certain you wouldn't know of it." Reyna waved his question away. Nico pushed aside the irritation of being underestimated and pressed forward.

"Try me." Reyna looked the younger boy over critically.

"Circe's Island."

"In the Sea of Monsters?" Nico had heard the stories from that quest. Percy being turned into a guinea pig was legendary around camp. The Stolls left him celery sticks in his cabin for weeks.

"Yes, exactly. How did you know? You know what... not important. What is important, however, is to figure out why he is here now and how he has survived on his own for so long. Also, the deadline for finding Jason is looming over our heads. We have five days before they call for an election." Reyna seemed to age a decade in a matter of seconds.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Go out to Zeus' temple and wait for Percy and Hazel to come out from the reading of the Auguries. Tell me what you make of him. Surely you must recognize him from all the time you have spent on your own." She pleaded.

"I'll go talk to him, but I can't guarantee that I will recognize him, I have spent most of my time in the Underworld after all." He reminded her.

"I understand." Reyna had settled down a little with our deal. Whether she realized the extent of the pieces that were falling into place or not, she seemed to understand that something pivotal was happening.

"I'll come back after I have talked with him," He assured her before he shadow traveled to the temple to wait.

Hazel's POV

As the pair made theirr way to the fields of Mars, Hazel bought Percy an espresso drink and a cherry muffin from Bombilo the two-headed coffee merchant. Percy practically inhaled the muffin. As we walked a bunch of people on their way to the baths crossed in front of us. Percy watched them with interest and eyed the bathhouse curiously.

"Bathhouse," she said, "We'll get you in there before dinner, hopefully. You haven't lived until you've had a Roman bath." Percy sighed with anticipation. She imagined that the baths would be heaven to a son of Neptune.

"You guys are divided into different cabins?" he asked as we passed the barracks.

"Sort of." she ducked as a kid riding a giant eagle swooped overhead. "We have five cohorts of about forty kids each. Each cohort is divided into barracks of ten-- like roommates, kind of."

"You're telling me there are two hundred kids at camp?"

"Roughly." she agreed.

"And all of them are children of the gods? The gods have been busy." Hazel laughed in spite of herself. She could feel herself blushing at the insinuation.

"Not all of them are children of major gods. There are hundreds of minor Roman gods. Plus, a lot of the campers are legacies- second or third generation. Maybe their parents were demigods. Or their grandparents." Percy blinked.

"Children of demigods?"

"Why? Does that surprise you?" Percy frowned like he wasn't sure. sHe couldn't blame him. A few months ago she wouldn't have believed it either.

"These Legos-" Percy started.

"Legacies," Hazel corrected.

"They have powers like a demigod?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes not. But they can be trained. All the best Roman generals and emperors-you know, they all claimed to be descended from gods. Most of the time, they were telling the truth. The camp augur we're going to meet, Octavian, he's a legacy, descendant of Apollo. He's got the gift of prophecy, supposedly."

"Supposedly?" The daughter of Pluto wrinkled her nose in distaste. "You'll see."

"So the divisions," he asked, "the cohorts, whatever-- you're divided according to who your godly parent is?" she stared at him, appalled.

"What a horrible idea! No, the officers decide where to assign recruits. If we were divided according to god, the cohorts would be all uneven. I'd be alone." Percy frowned as if he was starting to remember something.

"Why? What's your ancestry?" Before she could answer, someone behind us yelled,

"Wait!" A ghost ran towards us-- an old man with a medicine-ball belly and toga so long he kept tripping on it. Hazel recognized him immediately and had to suppress a groan. He caught up to us and gasped for air, his purple aura flickering around him. "This is him?" the ghost panted. "A new recruit for the Fifth, perhaps?"

"Vitellius," she said impatiently, "we're sort of in a hurry." The ghost scowled at Percy and walked around him, inspecting him like a used chariot.

"I don't know," he grumbled. "We need only the best for the cohort. Does he have all his teeth? Can he fight? Does he clean stables?" Hazel smiled at Percy apologetically.

"Yes, yes, and no," Percy said. "Who are you?"

"Percy, this is Vitellius," Hazel introduced him. She hoped that my expression said: Just humor him, "He's one of our Lares; takes an interest in new recruits." On a nearby porch, other ghosts snickered as Vitellius paced back and forth, tripping over his toga and hiking up his sword belt.

"Yes," Vitellius said, "back in Caesar's day-that's Julius Caesar, mind you-the Fifth Cohort was something! Twelfth Legion Fulminata, pride of Rome! But these days? Disgraceful what we've come to. Look at Hazel here, using a spatha. Ridiculous weapon for a Roman legionnaire- that's for cavalry! And you, boy-you smell like a Greek sewer. Haven't you had a bath?"

"I've been a little busy fighting gorgons," Percy said.

"Vitellius," Hazel interrupted, "we've got to get Percy's augury before he can join. Why don't you check on Frank? He's in the armory doing inventory. You know how much he values your help." she knew Frank was going to hate her for this if he ever found out, but she had to smile at the thought of Frank having to humor the old coot. The ghost's furry purple eyebrows shot up.

"Mars Almighty! They let the probatio check the armor? We'll be ruined!"
He stumbled off down the street, stopping every few feet to pick up his sword or rearrange his toga.

"O-h-h-kay," Percy said.

"Sorry," she said. "He's eccentric, but he's one of the oldest Lares. Been around since the legion was founded."

"He called the legion...Fulminata?" Percy said.

"'Armed with Lightning,'" she translated in agreement. "That's our motto. The Twelfth Legion was around for the entire Roman Empire. When Rome fell, a lot of legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. We've been doing that ever since, moving around to wherever Roman influence was strongest. The last few centuries, we've been in America."

"And you're in the Fifth Cohort," he guessed, "which maybe isn't the most popular?" Hazel scowled, but couldn't deny it.

"Yeah. I joined up last September."

"So...just a few weeks before that guy Jason disappeared." Hazel looked down and found herself unable to come up with anything to say.

"Come on," she spoke up. "I'll show you my favorite view." The pair stopped outside the main gates. The fort was situated on the highest point in the valley, so they could see pretty much everything. She sighed and took in the familiar view. The road led down to the river and divided. One path led south across a bridge, up to the hill with all the temples. The other road led north into the city, a miniature version of Ancient Rome. Unlike the military camp, the city looked chaotic and colorful, with buildings crowded together at haphazard angles. Even from this far away, you could see people gathered in the plaza, shoppers milling around an open-air market, parents with kids playing in the parks.

"You've got families here?" Percy asked.

"In the city, absolutely," she agreed.

"When you're accepted into the legion, you do ten years of service. After that, you can muster out whenever you want. Most demigods go into the mortal world. But for some-well, it's pretty dangerous out there. This valley is a sanctuary. You can go to college in the city, get married, have kids, retire when you get old. It's the only safe place on Earth for people like us. So yeah, a lot of veterans make their homes there, under the protection of the legion." Adult demigods. Demigods who could live without fear, get married, raise a family.

"But if this valley is attacked?" She pursed her lips.

"We have defenses. The borders are magical. But our strength isn't what it used to be. Lately, the monster attacks have been increasing. What you said about the gorgons not dying...we've noticed that too, with other monsters."

"Do you know what's causing it?" Hazel froze and looked away, hoping that he wouldn't see the guilt on her face. The fact that she knew exactly what was going on. The fact that she too was something that had escaped the clutches of death.

"It's-it's complicated," she said, trying to explain without compromising herself. "My brother says Death isn't-" She was interrupted by Hannibal the elephant.

Someone behind us shouted, "Make way!" and she had to drag Percy out of the road as a demigod rode past on a full-grown pachyderm covered in black Kevlar. The word elephant was printed on the side of his armor. The elephant thundered down the road and turned north, heading toward a big open field where some fortifications were under construction. Percy spit dust out of his mouth.

"What the-?"

"Elephant," she explained, needlessly.

"Yeah, I read the sign. Why do you have an elephant in a bulletproof vest?"

"War games tonight," she explained. "That's Hannibal. If we didn't include him, he'd get upset."

"We can't have that." Hazel laughed. Percy's gaze was scrutinizing and she felt like he was trying to figure her out. To divert his attention, she pointed south across the river, where dark clouds were gathering over Temple Hill. Red flashes of lightning washed the monuments in blood-colored light.

"Octavian is busy," She said. "We'd better get over there." On the way, we passed the fauns who were hanging out on the side of the road.

"Hazel!" one of them cried, she froze in her spot, hoping that they would just go away and leave me alone. He trotted over with a big grin on his face. He wore a faded Hawaiian shirt and nothing for pants except thick brown goat fur. His massive Afro jiggled. His eyes were hidden behind little round rainbow-tinted glasses. He held a cardboard sign that offered his services in exchange for denarii.

"Hi, Don," she said, to be polite. "Sorry, we don't have time-"

"Oh, that's cool! That's cool!" Don trotted along with us. "Hey, this guy's new!" He grinned at Percy. "Do you have three denarii for the bus? Because I left my wallet at home, and I've got to get to work, and-"

"Don," she sighed. "Fauns don't have wallets. Or jobs. Or homes. And we don't have buses."

"Right," he said cheerfully, "but do you have denarii?"

"Your name is Don the Faun?" Percy asked.

"Yeah. So?"

"Nothing." Percy tried to keep a straight face. "Why don't fauns have jobs? Shouldn't they work for the camp?" Don bleated.

"Fauns! Work for the camp! Hilarious!"

"Fauns are, um, free spirits," Hazel tried to find a nice way to put it, "They hang out here because, well, it's a safe place to hang out and beg. We tolerate them, but-" Don the faun cut her off.

"Oh, Hazel is awesome," Don said. "She's so nice! All the other campers are like, 'Go away, Don.' But she's like, 'Please go away, Don.' I love her!" Don looked at the ground in front of them and gasped. "Score!" He reached for something, but she screamed,

"Don, no!" she pushed him out of the way and snatched up a small diamond. She slipped the stray treasure into her pocket and out of sight of prying eyes.

"Come on, Hazel," Don complained. "I could've bought a year's worth of doughnuts with that!"

"Don, please," she said. "Go away." she hoped that she didn't sound shaken, but it felt like she had just saved Don from a charging bulletproof elephant, not a diamond. The faun sighed.

"Aw, I can't stay mad at you. But I swear, it's like you're good luck. Every time you walk by-"

"Goodbye, Don," Hazel said quickly before he could spill any more to Percy. "Let's go, Percy." She started jogging. Percy had to sprint to catch up.

"What was that about?" Percy asked. "That diamond in the road-"

"Please," she cut him off. "Don't ask." They walked in uneasy silence the rest of the way to Temple Hill. A crooked stone path led past a crazy assortment of tiny altars and massive domed vaults.

She pointed out the Temple of Bellona.

"Goddess of war," she said. "That's Reyna's mom." Then they passed a massive red crypt decorated with human skulls on iron spikes.

"Please tell me we're not going in there," Percy said. Hazel shook her head.

"That's the Temple of Mars Ultor."

"Mars ... Ares, the war god?"

"That's his Greek name," she replied. "But, yeah, same guy. Ultor means 'the Avenger.' He's the second-most important god of Rome." Percy didn't seem too thrilled to hear that. He pointed toward the summit where clouds swirled over the largest temple, a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting a domed roof.

"I'm guessing that's Zeus-uh, I mean, Jupiter's? That's where we're heading?"

"Yeah." she looked over the temple with apprehension. "Octavian reads auguries there-the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus."

"Jupiter...the best and the greatest?"

"Right."

"What's Neptune's title?" Percy asked, Hazel winced. "The coolest and most awesome?"

"Um, not quite." she gestured to a small blue building the size of a toolshed. A cobweb-covered trident was nailed above the door. Percy peeked inside. On a small altar sat a bowl with three dried-up, moldy apples.

"Popular place." His eyes flashed.

"I'm sorry, Percy," the daughter of Pluto said carefully. "It's just...Romans were always scared of the sea. They only used ships if they had to. Even in modern times, having a child of Neptune around has always been a bad omen. The last time one joined the legion ...well, it was 1906, when Camp Jupiter was located across the bay in San Francisco. There was this huge earthquake-"

"You're telling me a child of Neptune caused that?"

"So they say," she said, apologetic.

"Anyway... Romans fear Neptune, but they don't love him much." Percy stared at the cobwebs on the trident. He reached in his backpack and dug out a stale bagel, setting it on the altar.

"Hey...uh, Dad." Hazel averted her eyes. It seemed like a private moment. "If you can hear me, help me out, okay? Give me my memory back. Tell me-tell me what to do." His voice cracked. Hazel felt a stab of compassion for this poor boy and she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be okay. You're here now. You're one of us." Above us, thunder rumbled. Red lightning lit up the hill. "Octavian's almost done," she said to relieve the tension. "Let's go."

Compared to Neptune's tool shed, Jupiter's temple was definitely optimus and maximus. The marble floor was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the domed ceiling sparkled gold. The whole temple was open to the wind. In the center stood a marble altar, where Octavian was doing some sort of ritual in front of a massive golden statue of the big dude himself: Jupiter the sky god, dressed in a silk XXXL purple toga, holding a lightning bolt.

"It doesn't look like that," Percy muttered.

"What?" she asked, scanning the statue herself.

"The master bolt," Percy said.

"What are you talking about?" she had never heard of a 'master bolt' before.

"I-" Percy frowned. "Nothing, I guess." The kid at the altar raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from gray to white and broke apart. Percy eyed Octavian critically and raised an eyebrow at her. She knew what he was thinking, Octavian didn't look like much. He was tall and skinny, with straw-colored hair, oversized jeans, a baggy T-Shirt, and a drooping toga. He looked like a scarecrow wearing a bedsheet.

"What's he doing?" Percy murmured. Octavian turned to face us. He had a crooked smile and a slightly crazy look in his eyes like he'd just been in a battle. In one hand he held a knife and in the other hand was one of his stuffed animals. That didn't make him look any less crazy.

"Percy," she said, "this is Octavian."

"The graecus!" Octavian announced. "How interesting."

"Uh, hi," Percy said. "Are you killing small animals?" Octavian looked at the fuzzy thing in his hand and laughed.

"No, no. Once upon a time, yes. We used to read the will of the gods by examining animal guts-chickens, goats, that sort of thing. Nowadays, we use these." He tossed the fuzzy thing to Percy. It was a disemboweled teddy bear.

"Seriously?" Percy asked. Octavian stepped off the dais. He was probably about eighteen, but so skinny and sickly pale, he could've passed for younger. Octavian's eyes glittered with harsh curiosity as he looked over the possible new recruit like he might gut Percy just as easily as a teddy bear if he thought he could learn something from it. Octavian narrowed his eyes.

"You seem nervous."

"You remind me of someone," Percy said. "I can't remember who."

"Possibly my namesake, Octavian-Augustus Caesar. Everyone says I bear a remarkable resemblance." Percy didn't seem to think that that was it.

"Why did you call me 'the Greek'?"

"I saw it in the auguries." Octavian waved his knife at the pile of stuffing on the altar.

"The message said: The Greek has arrived. Or possibly: The goose has cried. I'm thinking the first interpretation is correct. You seek to join the legion?" Hazel spoke for him, telling Octavian everything that had happened since she met Percy at the tunnel-the gorgons, the fight at the river, the appearance of Juno, our conversation with Reyna. When she mentioned Juno, Octavian looked surprised.

"Juno," he mused. "We call her Juno Moneta. Juno the Warner. She appears in times of crisis, to counsel Rome about great threats." He glanced at Percy as if to say: like mysterious Greeks, for instance.

"I hear the Feast of Fortuna is this week," Percy said. "The gorgons warned there'd be an invasion on that day. Did you see that in your stuffing?"

"Sadly, no." Octavian sighed. "The will of the gods is hard to discern. And these days, my vision is even darker."

"Don't you have...I don't know," Percy said, "an oracle or something?"

"An oracle!" Octavian smiled.

"What a cute idea. No, I'm afraid we're fresh out of oracles. Now, if we'd gone questing for the Sibylline books, like I recommended-"

"The Siba-what?" Percy asked.

"Books of prophecy," Hazel explained, "which Octavian is obsessed with. Romans used to consult them when disasters happened. Most people believe they burned up when Rome fell."

"Some people believe that," Octavian corrected. "Unfortunately our present leadership won't authorize a quest to look for them-"

"Because Reyna isn't stupid," she cut in.

"-so we have only a few remaining scraps from the books," Octavian continued. "A few mysterious predictions, like these." He nodded to the inscriptions on the marble floor. Percy stared at the lines of words, then, he almost choked.

"That one." He pointed, translating as he read aloud:"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall-"

"Yes, yes." Octavian finished it without looking: "An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

"I-I know that one." Percy's whole body was trembling. "That's important." Octavian arched an eyebrow.

"Of course it's important. We call it the Prophecy of Seven, but it's several thousand years old. We don't know what it means. Every time someone tries to interpret it...Well, Hazel can tell you. Bad things happen." she glared at him.

"Just read the augury for Percy. Can he join the legion or not?" You could almost see Octavian's mind working, calculating whether or not Percy would be useful. He held out his hand for Percy's backpack.

"That's a beautiful specimen. May I?" Percy didn't understand what he meant, but Octavian snatched the Panda pillow that was sticking out of the top of his pack. Octavian turned toward the altar and raised his knife.

"Hey!" Percy protested. Octavian slashed open the panda's belly and poured its stuffing over the altar. He tossed the panda carcass aside, muttered a few words over the fluff, and turned with a big smile on his face.

"Good news!" he said. "Percy may join the legion. We'll assign him a cohort at evening muster. Tell Reyna that I approve."

Hazel felt her shoulders relax. "Uh...great. Come on, Percy."

"Oh, and Hazel," Octavian said. "I'm happy to welcome Percy into the legion. But when the election for praetor comes up, I hope you'll remember-"

"Jason isn't dead," she snapped, keeping Nico's words in her mind. "You're the augur. You're supposed to be looking for him!"

"Oh, I am!" Octavian pointed at the pile of gutted stuffed animals. "I consult the gods every day! Alas, after eight months, I've found nothing. Of course, I'm still looking. But if Jason doesn't return by the Feast of Fortuna, we must act. We can't have a power vacuum any longer. I hope you'll support me for praetor. It would mean so much to me." Hazel clenched her fists so tight her fingernails bit into her palms.

"Me. Support. You?" Octavian took off his toga, setting it and his knife on the altar.

"After all," Octavian told her, "I might be able to help you. It would be a shame if those awful rumors about you kept circulating...or, gods forbid, if they turned out to be true." Hazel took a deep breath.

"I'll think about it."

"Excellent," Octavian said. "By the way, your brother is here." she stiffened in surprise. She wasn't expecting him.

"My brother? Why?" Octavian shrugged.

"Why does your brother do anything? He's waiting for you at your father's shrine. Just...ah, don't invite him to stay too long. He has a disturbing effect on the others. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to keep searching for our poor lost friend, Jason. Nice to meet you, Percy." Hazel stormed out of the pavilion, and Percy followed.

As they marched down the hill, Hazel cursed in Latin. "I hate that guy," she muttered in English. "If I had my way-" she was about to suggest a suitable punishment for him but Percy cut her off.

"He won't really get elected praetor, will he?" Percy asked.

"I wish I could be certain. Octavian has a lot of friends, most of them bought. The rest of the campers are afraid of him."

"Afraid of that skinny little guy?"

"Don't underestimate him. Reyna's not so bad by herself, but if Octavian shares her power..." She shuddered at the thought.

"Let's go see my brother. He'll want to meet you." Percy didn't argue. Hazel led Percy to a black crypt built into the side of the hill. Nico was waiting for her out front in his typical black jeans and aviator jacket. His sword was nowhere to be seen, but by now she knew that that didn't mean that he didn't have it on him. A second later it appeared by his side.

"Hey," she called. "I've brought a friend." Nico turned as he recognized her voice. His eyes flashed to Percy and there was something there like fear before his eyes darted back to her. For a microsecond when he saw Percy, he seemed shocked-panicked even, like he'd been caught in a searchlight.

"This is Percy Jackson," she ignored his reaction. "He's a good guy. Percy, this is my brother, the son of Pluto." Nico regained his composure and held out his hand.

"Pleased to meet you," he said. "I'm Nico di Angelo."

Chapter Text

Hazel's POV

Hazel imagined that this might be similar to how it felt to introduce two nuclear bombs. Now she just had to wait and see which one exploded first. Until that morning, Nico had been the most powerful demigod she knew. Now it looked like that spot was threatened by this Son of Neptune, whoever he was.

The others at Camp Jupiter saw Nico as a traveling oddball, about as harmless as the fauns but she knew better. He may not look like much, but Nico had his foot in both the land of the living and the Underworld, which made him a force of nature. While she hadn't grown up with Nico and hadn't known him for very long, she could tell that Nico was more dangerous than Reyna, or Octavian, or maybe even Jason. He was powerful, without a doubt, but even he seemed to be daunted by Percy.

At first, when she had seen Percy stumbling up the highway with the old lady in his arms, the daughter of Pluto had thought he might be a god in disguise. Even though he was beaten up, dirty, and stooped with exhaustion, he'd had an aura of power. He had the good looks of a Roman god, with sea-green eyes and wind-blown black hair. It hadn't seemed so far-fetched that he may be a God sent to test their loyalty. She'd heard myths like this: a kid with an old lady begs for shelter, and when the rude mortals refuse-- boom, they get turned into banana slugs.

She had no desire to become a banana slug, so against her better judgment, she ordered Frank not to fire on him. Then Percy had controlled the river and destroyed the gorgons. He'd turned a pen into a bronze sword. He'd stirred up the whole camp with talk about the graecus-- The Greek. A son of the sea god... just as it had been foretold.

Long ago, Hazel had been told that a descendant of Neptune would save her from her curse. Seeing this boy now, completely lost and alone, she wondered if he could really be the one the gods had meant. How could he save me when it looked like he could barely take care of himself? He was so shrouded in mystery and she vowed that she would stay near him in order to try and figure him out. There was something strange going on here if even Nico was wary of him.

Percy and Nico stiffly shook hands. They studied each other warily while Hazel fought the urge to run. If these two busted out the magic swords, things would get ugly. Though Nico didn't appear scary-- at least not as scary as Percy-- Hazel knew he could hold his own. When he had first shown up, he had looked sloppy in his rumpled black clothes that basically hung off his frame. Now, though he looked much more formidable. His clothes were still rumpled, though the material at least looked to be high-quality. His hair, as always, looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, but there was an olive glow back in his skin and he had built up muscle mass. The legionnaire knew that he was staying with some mortals, and they seemed to be good to him. This was the healthiest she had ever seen him.

At least, she thought he was living with mortals, though the amount of time he spent traveling was starting to make her wonder. She knew that he didn't stay in the Underworld like he claimed, since the time he brought her back was the first time she had ever seen him in that part of the Underworld. Hazel also knew that he didn't stay with Ivy, since he hadn't stayed there during the time that she had been with him. Nico didn't stay at camp, either. He refused to, actually. He never stayed longer than he needed to and he always seemed to be in a hurry to leave. He had taken that phone call that he claimed was from the mortal family, so maybe he was telling the truth. There was so much about Nico that she didn't know, yet she felt like he knew everything about her.

She remembered when she first met him. The first time Hazel saw him draw that black sword of his, she almost laughed. The way he called it "Stygian iron," all serious-like. He'd looked ridiculous. This scrawny white boy was no fighter. She certainly hadn't believed we were related. Though he had changed her mind about that quick enough. Percy scowled.

"I-I know you." Nico raised his eyebrows in a way that didn't at all soothe her nerves. It was just so unlike the boy she had been getting to know these last few months.

"Do you?" He looked at her as if wanting an explanation. She hesitated. Something about Nico's reaction wasn't right. He was trying hard to act casual, but when he had first seen Percy, she had noticed his momentary look of panic. Nico already knew Percy, she was almost sure of it. Why was he pretending otherwise?

"Um...Percy's lost his memory," Hazel told him what had happened since Percy had arrived at the gates.

"So, Nico..." She continued carefully, "I thought...you know, you travel all over. Maybe you've met demigods like Percy before, or..." Nico's expression turned as dark as Tartarus, though she couldn't understand why. She got the message: Drop it. Percy seemed to notice the look, too because he frowned.

"This story about Gaea's army," Nico said. "You warned Reyna?" Percy nodded.

"Who is Gaea, anyway?" Her mouth went dry and she suppressed a shiver. Just hearing that name after all this time... It was all she could do to keep her knees from buckling. Hazel remembered a woman's soft sleepy voice, a glowing cave, and feeling her lungs fill with black oil. She could remember the life leaving her body as her mother clutched her in her arms.

"She's the earth goddess." Nico glanced at the ground as if it might be listening. "The oldest goddess of all. She's in a deep sleep most of the time, but she hates the gods and their children."

"Mother Earth...is evil?" Percy asked. He looked at the ground as well.

"Very," Nico said gravely. "She convinced her son, the Titan Kronos-um, I mean, Saturn-to kill his dad, Uranus, and take over the world. The Titans ruled for a long time. Then the Titans' children, the Olympian gods, overthrew them." Nico had a tendency to use the Greek names too, which she found strange. Just like Percy.

"That story seems familiar," Percy sounded surprised like an old memory had partially surfaced. "But I don't think I ever heard the part about Gaea." Nico shrugged.

"She got mad when the gods took over. She took a new husband-- Tartarus, the spirit of the abyss-- and gave birth to a race of giants. They tried to destroy Mount Olympus, but the gods finally beat them. At least...the first time."

"The first time?" Percy repeated. Nico glanced at her. He probably hadn't meant to make her feel guilty, but she couldn't help it. If Percy knew the truth about her, and the horrible things she'd done...

"Last summer," Nico continued, "Saturn tried to make a comeback. There was a second Titan war. The Romans at Camp Jupiter stormed his headquarters on Mount Othrys, across the bay, and destroyed his throne. Saturn disappeared-" He hesitated, watching Percy's face. Hazel got the distinct feeling that her brother was nervous that more of Percy's memory might come back. Nico definitely knew Percy, and he knew him well enough to know what might trigger his memory, at least.

"Um, anyway," Nico continued, "Saturn probably faded back to the abyss. We all thought the war was over. Now it looks like the Titans' defeat stirred up Gaea. She's starting to wake. I've heard reports of giants being reborn. If they mean to challenge the gods again, they'll probably start by destroying the demigods...." Hazel vaguely wondered who had given him these reports. Were there more loner demigods out there? People like him? People like Percy? If so, how many more?

"You've told Reyna this?" Percy asked.

"Of course." Nico's jaw tensed. "The Romans don't trust me. That's why I was hoping she'd listen to you. Children of Pluto...well, no offense, but they think we're even worse than children of Neptune. We're bad luck."

"They let Hazel stay here," Percy noted.

"That's different," Nico said. He was referring to her power base. His powers grew from the spheres of death that father controlled while mine sprang from his control over the riches in the Earth.

"Why?"

"Percy," Hazel cut in, knowing that Nico didn't like to talk about his powers, and she certainly didn't, "look, the Giants aren't the worst problem. Even ... even Gaea isn't the worst problem. The thing you noticed about the gorgons, how they wouldn't die, that's our biggest worry." She looked at Nico, who was watching her intently. We were getting dangerously close to her own secret now, but for some reason, she found that she trusted Percy. Maybe because he was also an outsider, maybe because he'd saved Frank at the river. He deserved to know what they were facing.

"Nico and I," Hazel said carefully, "we think that what's happening is...Death isn't-" Before she could finish, a shout came from down the hill. Frank jogged toward them, wearing his jeans, purple camp shirt, and denim jacket. His hands were covered with grease from cleaning weapons. As it did every time she saw Frank, Hazel's heart performed a little skip-beat tap-dance-which irritated her to no end. Sure, he was a good friend -one of the only people at camp who didn't treat her as if she had a contagious disease. But she didn't like him in that way. she couldn't let herself.

There were many shallow reasons that she could find to not like him. Frank is three years older, and he wasn't exactly Prince Charming, with that strange combination of a baby face and bulky wrestler's body. He looked like a cuddly koala bear with muscles. Also the fact that everyone always tried to pair them up-the two biggest losers at camp! You guys are perfect for each other--just made her all the more determined not to like him. But, unfortunately, her heart wasn't with the program. It went nuts whenever Frank was around. Hazel hadn't felt like that since ... well, since Sammy.

Stop it, she thought. You're here for one reason and it isn't to get a new boyfriend. Besides, Frank didn't know her secret. If he knew, he wouldn't be so nice. He reached the shrine.

"Hey, Nico..."

"Frank." Nico smiled. He seemed to find Frank amusing, maybe because Frank was the only one at camp who wasn't uneasy around the children of Pluto.

"Reyna sent me to get Percy," Frank said. "Did Octavian accept you?"

"Yeah," Percy said. "He slaughtered my panda." Just like Nico did sometimes, Percy forgot to give any context.

"He...Oh. The augury? Yeah, teddy bears must have nightmares about that guy. But you're in! We need to get you cleaned up before evening muster." It was only then that she realized the sun was getting low over the hills. How had the day gone so fast?

"You're right," Hazel said. "We'd better-"

"Frank," Nico interrupted, "why don't you take Percy down? Hazel and I will be along soon." Uh-oh, she thought. Hazel tried not to look anxious.

"That's- that's a good idea," she managed. "Go ahead, guys. We'll catch up." Percy looked at Nico one more time, as though he was still trying to place a memory.

"I'd like to talk with you some more. I can't shake the feeling-"

"Sure," Nico agreed. "Later. I'll be staying overnight." He seemed to make the decision on the spot.

"You will?" She blurted without thinking. Percy and Frank caught her surprise but they didn't acknowledge it. The campers were going to love that-the son of Neptune and the son of Pluto arriving on the same day. Now all they needed was some black cats and broken mirrors.

"Go on, Percy," Nico said. "Settle in." He turned to her and she got a sinking feeling that the worst part of her day was yet to come. "My sister and I need to talk."

"You know him, don't you," she accused as we sat together on the roof of Pluto's shrine, which was covered with bones and diamonds. As far as she knew, the bones had always been there. The diamonds were her fault. It was another side effect of her curse. If she sat anywhere too long, or just got anxious, they started popping up all around her like mushrooms after a rain. Several million dollars worth of stones glittered on the roof, but fortunately, the other campers wouldn't touch them. They knew better than to steal from temples-- especially Pluto's-- and the fauns never came up here.

She shuddered involuntarily as she remembered the close call with Don that afternoon. If she hadn't moved quickly and snatched that diamond off the road... she didn't want to think about it. Hazel took the diamond out of her pocket and tossed it into the pile. She didn't need another death on her conscience. This place was supposed to be her fresh start but she often felt that she had just picked up life where she had left off. She wasn't sure that any of the trouble Nico had gone through to get her here was worth it. What difference was she really making?

Nico swung his feet like a little kid. His Stygian iron sword lay by his side, next to her spatha. He gazed across the valley, where construction crews were working in the Field of Mars, building fortifications for tonight's games. She really should be down there, but she felt that whatever he was going to tell her was more important. Camp duties could wait.

"Percy Jackson." He said the name like an incantation. "Hazel, I have to be careful what I say. Important things are at work here. Some secrets need to stay secret. You of all people-you should understand that." Her cheeks felt hot, but the rest of her body shivered.

"But he's not like...like me?"

"No," Nico said. "I'm sorry I can't tell you more. I can't interfere. Percy has to find his own way at this camp."

"Is he dangerous?" She asked. Nico managed a dry smile. There seemed to be history there that she would never fully understand. Whoever this Percy was, he was important to Nico in some way. Hazel desperately wished that there weren't so many things that Nico kept to himself. she had to force the temptation to strangle the information out of him down.

"Very. To his enemies. But he's not a threat to Camp Jupiter. You can trust him."

"Like I trust you," She said bitterly. Nico's sword disappeared as he twisted his skull ring. Around him, bones began to quiver as if they were trying to form a new skeleton. Whenever he got moody, Nico had that effect on the dead, kind of like her curse. It vaguely occurred to her that he could have very well been the reason the bones were there. The thought almost made her smile. Between them, we represented Pluto's two spheres of control: death and riches. Sometimes she thought Nico had gotten the better end of the deal. Then she would reconsider. We were both cursed in our own way. Death followed us wherever we went.

"Look, I know this is hard," Nico said. "But you have a second chance. You can make things right."

"Nothing about this is right," she said. "If they find out the truth about me-"

"They won't," Nico promised. "They'll call a quest soon. They have to. You'll make me proud. Trust me, Bi-" He caught himself, but she knew what he'd almost called her: Bianca. Nico's real sister-the one he'd grown up with. Her heart ached and she struggled to keep her face blank.

Nico might care about her, but she would never be able to replace Bianca. She was the simply the next best thing-- a consolation prize from the Underworld. She tried not to feel bitter. She tried to place herself in his shoes but she really couldn't. She wished that she knew if he loved her because she was his sister or if he loved her as a replacement for what he once had. Though she wasn’t even sure how she felt about him either.

Hazel was grateful, of course. It would have saved him a lot of time and trouble if he had just left her in the Underworld. He had nothing to gain from bringing her back. Plus he had done so much for her once they had arrived in the land of the living. He gave her two different homes and a purpose. A way to redeem herself and try for a better outcome. He had given her so much without ever asking for anything in return. Just her company. Maybe he isn’t perfect, but neither is she. We are all each other has.

"I'm sorry," he said. Her mouth tasted like metal, as if gold nuggets were popping up under her tongue. Though it hurt, she couldn't hold this against him. He had lost so much. We both had.

"Then it's true about Death? Is Alcyoneus to blame?"

"I think so," Nico said. "It's getting bad in the Underworld. Dad's going crazy trying to keep things under control. From what Percy said about the gorgons, things are getting worse up here, too. But look, that's why you're here. All that stuff in your past-you can make something good come out of it. You belong at Camp Jupiter." That sounded so ridiculous, she almost laughed.

Then the darkness started closing in.

Nico's POV

It was happening again. Hazel had been pulled into a flashback and he could only wait for it to end. Her face scrunched up and he gripped her shoulders, hoping that he may be able to jostle her back to reality. Nico shook her shoulders roughly and her head lolled lifelessly.

"Hazel?" he shook her again. "Come on Hazel. Snap out of it! It's not real. You're not back there! Focus on me!" He pleaded with her. Diamonds bubbled from the ground and poured off the roof. He was eternally grateful that they were the only ones around to witness this. A waterfall of diamonds would have bene very hard to explain.

"Hazel!" he shouted. Hazel's eyes shot open, her gold pupils filled with pain. She took a deep breath to help calm herself. he knew she hated the blackouts and he knew she was trying her best to keep it together. Nico believed that the flashbacks were a side effect of her time in the Underworld. A very unfortunate side effect. He needed her to stay in camp so that they didn't happen when she was in the middle of a battle or something. However, he knew that they would call a quest to try and find the reason that death had stopped and he had a feeling that Hazel needed to be there.

"You did it again." Hazel blinked. More diamonds had surfaced around her, and she was crying.

"S-sorry," she murmured.

"Don't be," he waved it off. "Where were you?"

"My mother's apartment. The day we moved." he nodded as he could understand her history better than most people could since he was also a kid from the 1900s. The son of Hades had been born only a few years after Hazel, and had been locked away in a magic hotel for decades.

"You have to work on controlling those memories," he warned her. "If a flashback like that happens when you're in combat-" he didn't have to complete the thought.

"I know," she said. "I'm trying." Nico squeezed her hand. The physical affection felt foreign and uncomfortable, but he hoped that it would have the desired effect.

"It's okay. I think it's a side effect from...you know, your time in the Underworld. Hopefully, it'll get easier." Nico tried to reassure her but he didn't think it worked.

"I can't go north again," Hazel said. "Nico, if I have to go back to where it happened-"

"You'll be fine," he promised. "You'll have friends this time. Percy Jackson- he's got a role to play in this. You can sense that, can't you? He's a good person to have at your side." Hazel seemed to consider this for a few minutes. Hazel would be alright as long as Percy was with her. She was stronger than Bianca, with higher moral standards. She knew better than to open herself up to a curse.

"Where did he come from?" she asked. "Why do the ghosts call him the Greek?" Before he could respond, horns blew across the river. The legionnaires were gathering for evening muster.

"We'd better get down there," he said, relieved to be saved from this line of questioning. "I have a feeling tonight's war games are going to be interesting."

[I know that Nico went back to the assembly with Hazel, not Reyna in the books but just work with me here.]

The children of death parted ways as Hazel went to roll call and Nico set off to find Reyna. He had no idea what he was going to tell her in his report. Maybe: oh yeah! That's my cousin! He's a greek from Camp Half-blood! Do you want to know the GPS coordinates? On his way, he placed a call to Bruce, who picked it up on the second ring.

"Nico?" He answered. There was shushing in the background.

"Yeah, it's me. It turns out that this is something that requires my full attention. I will have to stay here for a while longer. A day or two at least."

"Why? What's going on?" He was getting some odd looks from the other demigods as he passed. Nico guess phones weren't really commonplace here either. He turned into an empty alleyway to get out of sight of prying eyes.

"He popped up, just like I thought he would. He's here, in California."

"Percy?" Bruce clarified.

"Yeah. The leadership here are suspicious of him so I need to make sure that he makes it through tonight. They're going to send him on a quest, I'm pretty sure. They need to free death so that the monsters and people will stay dead." Nico explained, realizing that he didn't think he'd ever told them that Thanatos was captured.

"Free death? What are you talking about? You aren't going on a quest, are you?" Bruce clarified.

"No, I won't be. Don't worry. I just need to make sure that everything goes alright."

"Call me tomorrow." Bruce insisted.

"I will. Promise." He hung up and slipped the phone into his pocket. Then he shadow traveled the rest of the way to the Principia where he found Reyna waiting.

"Good, you're back. Let's walk and talk." Reyna said as she saw him. Nico followed along beside her as we made our way towards the agora.

"I recognized him. He's a loner, mostly. Though there are a few people he is seen with frequently." He lied. She didn't have her greyhounds with her, thank the gods.

"Who?"

"I don't know. I'm not even sure if they're demigods." He definitely did.

"What do you think it means that he has appeared to us now?" Reyna was asking all the right questions and he felt bad for having to lie to her. This was all going to come back to bite him when the two camps came together later. If he lived that long.

"I think that it means that something big is about to happen. I don't believe in coincidences." Reyna didn't look surprised.

"What do you know about why the gorgons weren't dying?" Nico grabbed her by the arm and stopped her where we were. She raised her hand to slap him away but she hesitated when she glanced at his face.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Reyna eyed him coldly. Her stare was battle-hardened and left no room for doubt, she wanted to know.

"Yes." We resumed walking as he told her everything he knew about Thanatos' disappearance and that he believed him to be captured. The demigod told her about the doors of death from Octavian's prophecy and how he had discovered that their location was in Tartarus. Nico told her about the reports of the giants rising and the rebellion of nature all over the globe. He told her his theory the Gaea was rising, using the giants to take over the world like the last time. Reyna was quiet for a long time after he finished and he was worried that she didn't believe him.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" she said at last.

"I didn't think you'd believe me-- that anyone would. I am a child of Pluto, after all. And until now, I wasn't sure." Reyna pondered this. The agora came into view.

"From now on, I want to know everything you think you know. Son of Pluto or not." She spoke calmly but with authority. "Do I make myself clear? Stay tonight, I will want to discuss this further tomorrow."

"Yes, Reyna." together we joined the assembly. Reyna took her cloak from a passing guard and draped it over her shoulders. Her greyhounds stood by a brown Pegasus, which Reyna deftly mounted and paced back and forth around the arena. Nico spotted Percy sitting uncomfortably at the center of attention. He had finally gotten a bath but was picking at his new purple shirt. The son of Hades decided to stand beside him so that he could grab him and shadow travel away quickly if need be.

Hazel ran past Reyna to her spot in the legion ignoring Reyna's chastisement. She shouted present just as her name was called. Nico caught her eyes and she looked troubled. She shook her head meaning that she would tell him later. Nico brought his attention back to the matter at hand, Percy's admittance to the legion. When they asked for letters Percy had to admit that he didn't have any. Of course, he didn't; he didn't know anyone. Reyna glanced at the ambassador of Pluto and he raised his eyebrows in question.

Then they asked for a sponsor and Frank was the first to offer but he was shot down because he wasn't a full member of the legion. Hazel stepped up in his place instead and he nodded to her. The fifth cohort reluctantly claimed Percy and then they disbanded to prep for war games. Nico made his way over to Hazel alongside Percy. He couldn't help but smile at how everything had played out. It was better than he had hoped.

"Good job, Sis. That took guts, standing for him." Someone handed Percy a probatio nameplate which he strung on his camp necklace.

Third Person POV

"So." Dakota burped, waving his goblet. "Welcome to the Percy party." He frowned. "Party, Percy. Whatever."

"Um, thanks," Percy said, but his attention was focused on Nico. "I was wondering if we could talk, you know...about where I might have seen you before."

"Sure," Nico said a little too quickly. "The thing is, I spend most of my time in the Underworld. So unless I met you there somehow-" Dakota belched.

"Ambassador from Pluto, they call him. Reyna's never sure what to do with this guy when he visits. You should have seen her face when he showed up with Hazel, asking Reyna to take her in. Um, no offense."

"None taken." Nico seemed relieved to change the topic. "Dakota was really helpful, standing for Hazel." Dakota blushed.

"Yeah, well...She seemed like a good kid. Turned out I was right. Last month, when she saved me from, uh, you know."

"Oh, man!" Frank looked up from his fish and chips. "Percy, you should have seen her! That's how Hazel got her stripe. The unicorns decided to stampede-"

"It was nothing," Hazel said.

"Nothing?" Frank protested. "Dakota and Nico would've gotten trampled! You stood right in front of them, shooed them away, saved their hides. I've never seen anything like it." Hazel bit her lip. She didn't like to talk about it, and she felt uncomfortable, the way Frank made her sound like a hero.

In truth, she'd been most afraid that the unicorns would hurt themselves in their panic. Their horns were precious metal-- silver and gold-- so she'd managed to turn them aside simply by concentrating, steering the animals by their horns and guiding them back to the stables. It had gotten her a full place in the legion, but it had also started rumors about her strange powers-rumors that reminded her of the bad old days. Percy studied her. Those sea-green eyes made her feel unsettled.

"Did you and Nico grow up together?" the son of the sea asked.

"No," Nico answered for her. "I found out that Hazel was my sister only recently. She's from New Orleans." That was true, of course, but not the whole truth. Nico let people think he'd stumbled upon her in modern New Orleans and brought her to camp. It was easier than telling the real story. Hazel had tried to pass herself off as a modern kid. It wasn't easy. Thankfully, demigods didn't use a lot of technology at camp. Their powers tended to make electronic gadgets go haywire. But the first time she went on furlough to Berkeley, she had nearly had a stroke. Televisions, computers, iPods, the Internet...It made her glad to get back to the world of ghosts, unicorns, and gods. That seemed much less of a fantasy than the twenty-first century. Nico was still talking about the children of Pluto.

"There aren't many of us," he said, "so we have to stick together. When I found Hazel-"

"You have other sisters?" Percy asked, almost as if he knew the answer. She could see Nico tense and she wondered again when he and Nico had met, and what her brother was hiding. How did Percy know, consciously or subconsciously, about Bianca?

"One," Nico admitted. "But she died. I saw her spirit a few times in the Underworld, except that the last time I went down there..." To bring her back, Hazel thought, though Nico didn't say that. "She was gone." Nico's voice turned hoarse.

"She used to be in Elysium-like, the Underworld paradise-but she chose to be reborn into a new life. Now I'll never see her again. I was just lucky to find Hazel...in New Orleans, I mean." Dakota grunted.

"Unless you believe the rumors. Not saying that I do." Nico's face twisted in annoyance, and he looked like he was about to defend her.

"Rumors?" Percy asked. From across the room, Don the faun yelled,

"Hazel!" Hazel had never been so glad to see the faun. He wasn't allowed in camp, but of course, he always managed to get in. He was working his way toward their table, grinning at everybody, sneaking food off plates, and pointing at campers: "Hey! Call me!" A flying pizza smacked him in the head, and he disappeared behind a couch. Then he popped up, still grinning, and made his way over. "My favorite girl!" He smelled like a wet goat wrapped in old cheese. He leaned over their couches and checked out their food. "Say, new kid, you going to eat that?" Percy frowned.

"Aren't fauns vegetarian?"

"Not the cheeseburger, man! The plate!" He sniffed Percy's hair. "Hey...what's that smell?"

"Don!" Hazel said. "Don't be rude." "No, man, I just-" Their house god Vitellius shimmered into existence, standing half embedded in Frank's couch.

"Fauns in the dining hall! What are we coming to? Centurion Dakota, do your duty!"

"I am," Dakota grumbled into his goblet. "I'm having dinner!" Don was still sniffing around Percy.

"Man, you've got an empathy link with a faun!" Percy leaned away from him.

"A what?"

"An empathy link! It's real faint, like somebody's suppressed it, but-"

"I know what!" Nico stood suddenly.

"Hazel, how about we give you and Frank time to get Percy oriented? Dakota and I can visit the praetor's table. Don and Vitellius, you come too. We can discuss strategies for the war games."

"Strategies for losing?" Dakota muttered.

"Death Boy is right!" Vitellius said. "This legion fights worse than we did in Judea, and that was the first time we lost our eagle. Why, if I were in charge-"

"Could I just eat the silverware first?" Don asked.

"Let's go!" Nico stood and grabbed Don and Vitellius by the ears. Nobody but Nico could actually touch the Lares. Vitellius spluttered with outrage as he was dragged off to the praetor's table.

"Ow!" Don protested. "Man, watch the 'fro!"

"Come on, Dakota!" Nico called over his shoulder. The centurion got up reluctantly. He wiped his mouth-- uselessly, since it was permanently stained red.

"Back soon." He shook all over, like a dog trying to get dry. Then he staggered away, his goblet sloshing.

"What was that about?" Percy asked. "And what's wrong with Dakota?" Frank sighed.

"He's okay. He's a son of Bacchus, the wine god. He's got a drinking problem." Percy's eyes widened.

"You let him drink wine?"

"Gods, no!" Hazel said. "That would be a disaster. He's addicted to red Kool-Aid. Drinks it with three times the normal sugar, and he's already ADHD-you know, attention-deficit/hyperactive. One of these days, his head is going to explode." Percy looked over at the praetor's table. Most of the senior officers were in deep conversation with Reyna. Nico and his two captives, Don and Vitellius, stood on the periphery. Dakota was running back and forth along a line of stacked shields, banging his goblet on them like they were a xylophone.

"ADHD," Percy said. "You don't say." Hazel tried not to laugh.

"Well...most demigods are. Or dyslexic. Just being a demigod means that our brains are wired differently. Like you- you said you had trouble reading."

"Are you guys that way too?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," Hazel admitted. "Maybe. Back in my day, they just called kids like us 'lazy.'" Percy frowned.

"Back in your day?" Hazel cursed herself. Luckily for her, Frank spoke up:

"I wish I was ADHD or dyslexic. All I got is lactose intolerance." Percy grinned.

"Seriously?" Frank might've been the silliest demigod ever, but Hazel thought he was cute when he pouted. His shoulders slumped. "And I love ice cream, too...." Percy laughed. Hazel couldn't help joining in. It was good to sit at dinner and actually feel like she was among friends.

"Okay, so tell me," Percy said, "why is it bad to be in the Fifth Cohort? You guys are great." The compliment made Hazel's toes tingle. "It's...complicated."

Chapter Text

Nico had to admit that he wasn't paying too much attention to what the Centurions were saying at the head table. Seeing as he wasn't participating in the war games, he figured that it was safe to say that didn't apply to him. Besides, he was too busy trying to reign in Dakota and Don and considering what Percy's sudden appearance meant.

It obviously meant that something big had started. There had to be a reason that he had been delivered here now. Why it was so close to the Feast of Fortuna? What did it all mean?

There was more riding figuring this out than just satisfying his curiosity. It might be a sign that it was time for him to make his trip into the pit. He had little doubt that some invisible countdown had started somewhere the moment Percy stepped foot in this camp. Nico had hoped that he could put off his mission for a while yet but he would bet that he would need to leave sooner rather than later. The sooner he could get those doors closed to keep monsters from making their way back into the mortal world, the better.

His mind wandered as he thought about what the pit might be lick. He was picturing a claustrophobic cave system-- riddled with huge monster-filled pockets that he'd have to navigate. He pictured lava seams and holes that seemed to go on forever. He pictured all the ways he could be torn apart or eaten. He pictured collapsed tunnels and submerged portions like that one caves documentary he had watched with Damian. It had been truly horrifying. And he was picturing those doors, guarded by hordes of beasts who had been killing his kind for as long as the gods had existed.

Nico was eventually stirred from his deliberations by someone loudly clearing their throat. He wasn't sure that it was directed at him, but he turned away from watching Dakota use the shields as a musical instrument nonetheless. When he finally looked at the table to see most of the other centurions looking back at him.

"What?" He asked, knowing he had missed something. Normally, he would have felt embarassed but he was too overwhelmed to process anything.

"You seem... preoccupied." Reyna noted. The tone of her voice was pinched and Nico hoped his face hadn't betrayed the nature of his thoughts.

"I was thinking about possible explanations for why the gorgons weren't dying." He lied easily. Reyna seemed skeptical but she also didn't question him. He figured that she would question him in front of her officers. He wasn't competition, like Octavian, who she would gladly rip to shreds for such a blatant lie. No, she probably knew that she didn't want her officers knowing what he had been thinking about so she would let it be.

"Really? And what have you deduced?"

"Nothing good." He replied simply. He didn't want to start a panic, especially among her senators.-- they were officers, maybe, but they were still just teenagers. Reyna eyed him for a moment.

"I was asking you if you would rather participate in the games or observe. You don't have legion training, but I doubt that you are untrained either." She allowed for the subject change though the son of Hades was very sure that the other topic was not closed.

"I would be better off observing. I don't know any of the legion drills or formations. I'd only get in the way. Plus," He glanced at the group of Percy, Frank, and Hazel, "this promises to be an interesting show."

"Very well. You can borrow some binoculars and I will show you to a suitable perch where you can watch everything just out of the line of fire." Nico nodded in acceptance. She and the other centurions went back to discussing tactics while Nico rounded Don back up from where he had wandered off to a nearby table. After dinner everyone got ready for the games and headed out to the fields of Mars where a completely new fortress stood where yesterday there was nothing. Reyna pointed him in the direction of a crow's nest perch before mounting her pegasus and taking to the sky.

Nico carefully climbed to the top with binoculars around his neck. He used them to scan the field until he picked out the trio he was most interested in. Percy, Hazel, and Frank stood together in a line of centurions. They stood out from the others-- Frank with his broad shoulders and the helmet that hid his youthful appearance. Hazel with her cinnamon hair that peaked out from beneath her helmet and was the shortest of the three. And Percy, who was tall and lean and had his helmet tucked under his arm and riptide in hand. He had always made these sort of events interesting and Nico had little doubt that that would change now. He didn’t know it, of course, but he was the most powerful demigod on that field.

Nico watched with interest as the centurions explained the plan to their cohorts and the base was fortified. Nico had to admit, the Romans were impressive. That fort had been built in a day. Their formations were impressive, and the battlements left nothing to be desired. He dearly hoped that the Greeks would never have to face them.

The Roman engineers had built an entire stone fortress with an iron portcullis, guard towers, scorpion ballistae, water cannons, and no doubt many other nasty surprises for the defenders to use. I caught sight of Hazel pointing out things on the fort to Percy who stared at it intently. Nico hoped the son of Poseidon noticed what he had. The Romans had made a critical mistake-- they really shouldn’t have used water cannons.

In the sky above the troops, Reyna circled on her pegasus, Scipio, ready to play referee. Half a dozen giant eagles flew in formation behind her—prepared for ambulance airlift duty if necessary. He was the only one who wasn’t participating, it seemed.

Hazel’s POV-

The daughter of Pluto looked over the fortress as Frank explained the possible awards to Percy. In the middle of the explanation, he faltered and looked at Percy. “Water cannons.”

“What?” Percy asked.

“The cannons on the walls,” Frank said, “they draw water from the aqueduct. There’s a pump system—heck, I don’t know how they work, but they’re under a lot of pressure. If you could control them, like you controlled the river—”

“Frank!” she beamed, having caught on to what he was going to say. “That’s brilliant!” Percy didn’t look so sure.

“I don’t know how I did that at the river. I’m not sure I can control the cannons from this far away.”

“We’ll get you closer.” Frank pointed to the eastern wall of the fort, where the Fifth Cohort wouldn’t be attacking. “That’s where the defense will be weakest. They’ll never take three kids seriously. I think we can sneak up pretty close before they see us.”

“Sneak up how?” Percy asked. Frank turned to Hazel and she felt her heart stop. “Can you do that thing again?” she punched him in the chest.

“You said you wouldn’t tell anybody!” Immediately all the color left Frank’s face and she could tell that he felt terrible. He’d gotten so caught up in the idea that he must have forgotten that it was a secret.

“Never mind. It’s fine. Percy, he’s talking about the trenches. The Field of Mars is riddled with tunnels from over the years. Some are collapsed, or buried deep, but a lot of them are still passable. I’m pretty good at finding them and using them. I can even collapse them if I have to.”

“Like you did with the gorgons,” Percy said, “to slow them down.” Frank nodded approvingly.

“I told you Pluto was cool. He’s the god of everything under the earth. Hazel can find caves, tunnels, trapdoors—”

“And it was our secret,” She grumbled. Frank blushed.

“Yeah, sorry. But if we can get close—”

"And if I can knock out the water cannons…” Percy nodded, like he was warming to the idea. “What do we do then?” Frank checked his quiver. He always stocked up on special arrows.

“The rest is up to me,” he said. “Let’s go.” she didn’t have time to ponder what that meant before they were moving.

Frank’s POV-

As it turned out, finding a tunnel was no problem. In fact, he had a sneaking suspicion that Hazel didn’t just find tunnels. It was as though tunnels manufactured themselves to suit her needs. Passages that had been filled in years ago suddenly unfilled, changing direction to lead Hazel where she wanted to go. It was one of the most useful powers I had ever seen. It wasn't as powerful as Percy's powers, maybe, but it was probably more practical. She didn't need a water source to use them.

The trio crept along by the light of Percy’s glowing sword, Riptide. Above, we heard the sounds of battle—kids shouting, Hannibal the elephant bellowing with glee, scorpion bolts exploding, and water cannons firing. The tunnel shook. Dirt rained down on us. He hoped that the Tunnels wouldn't allow the daughter of Pluto-- and by extension her friends-- to be crushed under the earth, but he didn't have much hope.

Frank discreetly slipped his hand inside his armor. The piece of wood was still safe and secure in his coat pocket, though one good shot from a scorpion might set his lifeline on fire.… Bad Frank, he chided himself. Fire is the “F-word.” Don’t think about it.

“There’s an opening just ahead,” Hazel announced. “We’ll come up ten feet from the east wall.”

“How can you tell?” Percy asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I’m sure.” Frank didn’t comment, instead focusing on an idea that was forming in his head.

“Could we tunnel straight under the wall?” Frank asked.

“No,” Hazel said. “The engineers were smart. They built the walls on old foundations that go down to bedrock. And don’t ask how I know. I just do.” He stumbled over something and cursed. Percy brought this sword around for more light and they saw that he had tripped over a hund of gleaming silver. HE crouched down to get a better look.

“Don’t touch it!” Hazel said. His hand stopped a few inches from the chunk of metal. It looked like a giant Hershey’s Kiss, about the size of his fist.

“It’s massive,” Frank said. “Silver?”

“Platinum.” Hazel sounded scared out of her wits. “It’ll go away in a second. Please don’t touch it. It’s dangerous.” Frank didn’t understand how a lump of metal could be dangerous, but he decided to take Hazel seriously. As we watched, the chunk of platinum sank into the ground. He stared at her, not fully comprehending what had just happened.

“How did you know?” In the light of Percy’s sword, Hazel looked as ghostly as a Lar.

“I’ll explain later,” she promised. Another explosion rocked the tunnel, and they forged ahead. We popped out of a hole just where Hazel had predicted. In front of them, the fort’s east wall loomed. Off to our left, Frank could see the main line of the Fifth Cohort advancing in turtle formation, shields forming a shell over their heads and sides. They were trying to reach the main gates, but the defenders above pelted them with rocks and shot flaming bolts from the scorpions, blasting craters around their feet. A water cannon discharged with a jaw-rattling THRUM, and a jet of liquid carved a trench in the dirt right in front of the cohort. Percy whistled.

“That’s a lot of pressure, all right.” The Third and Fourth Cohorts weren’t even advancing. They stood back and laughed, watching their “allies” get beat up. The defenders clustered on the wall above the gates, yelling insults at the tortoise formation as it staggered back and forth. War games had deteriorated into “beat up the Fifth.” My vision went red with anger.

“Let’s shake things up.” Frank reached into his quiver and pulled out an arrow that was heavier than the rest. The iron tip was shaped like the nose cone of a rocket. An ultra thin gold rope trailed from the fletching. Shooting it accurately up the wall would take more force and skill than most archers could manage, but he had strong arms and good aim. Maybe Apollo is watching, he thought hopefully.

“What does that do?” Percy asked. “Grappling hook?”

“It’s called a hydra arrow,” Frank said. “Can you knock out the water cannons?” A defender appeared on the wall above them.

“Hey!” he shouted to his buddies. “Check it out! More victims!”

“Percy,” he warned, “now would be good.” More kids came across the battlements to laugh at them. A few ran to the nearest water cannon and swung the barrel toward us. Percy closed his eyes. He raised his hand. Up on the wall, somebody yelled, “Open wide, losers!” KA-BOOM! The cannon exploded in a starburst of blue, green, and white. Defenders screamed as a watery shock wave flattened them against the battlements. Kids toppled over the walls but were snatched by giant eagles and carried to safety. Then the entire eastern wall shuddered as the explosion backed up through the pipelines. One after another, the water cannons on the battlements exploded. The scorpions’ fires were doused.

Defenders scattered in confusion or were tossed through the air, giving the rescue eagles quite a workout. At the main gates, the Fifth Cohort forgot about their formation. Mystified, they lowered their shields and stared at the chaos. Frank found his opening and shot the arrow. It streaked upward, carrying its glittering rope. When it reached the top, the metal point fractured into a dozen lines that lashed out and wrapped around anything they could find—parts of the wall, a scorpion, a broken water cannon, and a couple of defending campers, who yelped and found themselves slammed against the battlements as anchors. From the main rope, handholds extended at two-foot intervals, making a ladder.

“Go!” Frank said. Percy grinned in a way that made him question the boy's sanity.

“You first, Frank. This is your party.” the archer hesitated. His party, huh? He slung his bow on his back and began to climb. He was halfway up before the defenders recovered their senses enough to sound the alarm. Frank glanced back at Fifth Cohort’s main group, realizing that we were the only things moving. They were staring up at him, dumbfounded.

“Well?” He screamed. “Attack!” Gwen was the first to unfreeze. She grinned and repeated the order. A cheer went up from the battlefield. Hannibal the elephant trumpeted with happiness, but he couldn’t afford to watch. Frank clambered to the top of the wall, where three defenders were trying to hack down the rope ladder. They didn't get the chance. One good thing about being big, clumsy, and clad in metal: he was like a heavily armored bowling ball. Frank launched himself at the defenders, and they toppled like pins. He got to his feet. Frank took command of the battlements, sweeping his pilum back and forth and knocking down defenders. Some shot arrows. Some tried to get under his guard with their swords, but he felt unstoppable.

Hazel appeared by his side, swinging her big cavalry sword like she was born for battle. Percy leaped onto the wall and raised Riptide. “Fun,” he said. Together they cleared the defenders off the walls. Below them the gates broke. Hannibal barreled into the fort, arrows and rocks bouncing harmlessly off his Kevlar armor. The Fifth Cohort charged in behind the elephant, and the battle went hand-to-hand. Finally, from the edge of the Field of Mars, a battle cry went up. The Third and Fourth Cohorts ran to join the fight.

“A little late,” Hazel grumbled.

“We can’t let them get the banners,” Frank said.

“No,” Percy agreed. “Those are ours.” No more talk was necessary. They moved like a team, as if they had been working together for years. It felt as natural as breathing. The trio rushed down the interior steps and into the enemy base.

Nico’s POV

The Greek deigod knew something like this was going to happen. It was Percy, for Hades’ sake. The water cannon explosion was better than he could have hoped and seeing Hazel being an integral part in a team of three made him smile. It was clear. They were the quest. Chiron always said that quests should always be groups of three. Hazel, Frank, and Percy worked together just as well as any other seasoned warriors and it would have been hard to believe that they had only just met. It made sense that they would be the questers. Just look at how much trouble the fates, or a certain goddess, must have gone through to get them all here. Frank with his short lifeline, Hazel coming back from the dead, and Percy belonging on the other side of the country. This was meant to be.

Frank, Percy, and Hazel waded through the enemy lines, plowing down anyone who stood in their way. The First and Second Cohorts—pride of Camp Jupiter, a well-oiled, highly disciplined war machine—fell apart under the assault and the sheer novelty of being on the losing side. Predictably, part of their problem was Percy. He fought like a demon, whirling through the defenders’ ranks in his typical Greek style, rolling under their feet, slashing with his sword instead of stabbing like a Roman would, whacking campers with the flat of his blade, and generally causing mass panic.

Nico couldn’t really hear anything from this far away but he could tell that Octavian was saying something that Percy didn’t agree with. The son of Poseidon somersaulted over a line of shields and slammed the butt of his sword into Octavian’s helmet. The centurion collapsed and the son of Hades had to choke back a laugh. Nico only hoped that he'd have a concusion so that he wouldn't have to see him for a few days.

Frank had run out of arrows but he wasn’t out of the fight yet, it would seem. He broke his pilum over a defender’s head, then drew his gladius. It turned out that he was decent at this form of fighting too, since it didn’t seem to slow him down much. He had once said that he wished Apollo was his father but Nico was starting to have doubts. He was too adept at too many forms of combat for a child of Apollo.

Meanwhile, Hazel climbed onto Hannibal’s back and disappeared into the fortress-- plowing through soldiers left and right. From this angle Nico could just manage to see over the wall enough to get an idea of what was going on. He would have liked to have been a fly on the wall in this battle. From what he could see, the inner keep was virtually unguarded. Obviously the defenders never dreamed an assault would get this far. Hannibal busted down the huge doors and disappeared inside-- taking Hazel with him. It looked like Frank and Percy were hot on his heels. Nico couldn’t see what went on inside but he wasn’t worried-- they had each other.

Soon, the trio marched out of the keep on Hannibal with the enemy colors. The Fifth Cohort formed ranks around them. Together they paraded out of the fort, past stunned enemies and lines of equally mystified allies. Reyna circled low overhead on her pegasus, passing right in front of his perch. She was so close that he could almost imagine reaching out and touching Scipio’s wing. They made eye contact and he could tell she was amused. Nico smiled to himself as well, feeling proud of his sister and his cousin.

“The game is won!” She sounded as if she were trying not to laugh. “Assemble for honors!” Nico started climbing down the perch when he felt it. Someone had died. It was sudden and it happened after the game had been called. It was all he could do to keep a grip of the ladder as nausea passed over him. He caught Reyna’s eyes as she went in for a landing and her eyes flashed with curiosity. Nico grimaced in response.

There was a murderer among us.

Frank’s POV-

He had seen plenty of minor injuries— some burns, broken bones, black eyes, cuts and gashes, plus a lot of very interesting hairdos from fires and exploding water cannons— but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. He slid off the elephant and his comrades swarmed around him, pounding him on the back and complimenting him. Frank wondered if he was dreaming. It was the best night of his life— until he saw Gwen.

“Help!” somebody yelled. A couple of campers rushed out of the fortress, carrying a girl on a stretcher. They set her down, and other kids started running over. Even from a distance, he could tell it was Gwen. She was in bad shape. She lay on her side on the stretcher with a pilum sticking out of her armor—almost like she was holding it between her chest and her arm, but there was too much blood. Frank shook his head in disbelief.

“No, no, no…” He muttered as he ran to her side. The medics barked at everyone to stand back and give her air. The whole legion fell silent as the healers worked— trying to get gauze and powdered unicorn horn under Gwen’s armor to stop the bleeding, trying to force some nectar into her mouth. Gwen didn’t move. Her face was ashen gray. Finally one of the medics looked up at Reyna and shook his head. Nico was at her side, though a respectful distance from her pegasus, looking grim. Frank caught his eyes for a moment and he could tell that the ambassador of Pluto was livid. This was the first time he had ever felt afraid of the smaller boy.

For a moment, there was no sound except water from the ruined cannons trickling down the walls of the fort. Hannibal nuzzled Gwen’s hair with his trunk. Reyna surveyed the campers from her pegasus. Her expression was as hard and dark as iron.

“There will be an investigation. Whoever did this, you cost the legion a good officer. Honorable death is one thing, but this ... ” I wasn’t sure what she meant at first, until I noticed the marks engraved in the wooden shaft of the pilum: CHT I LEGIO X II F. The weapon belonged to the First Cohort, and the point was sticking out the front of her armor. Gwen had been speared from behind— possibly after the game had ended. Looking at Nico, definitely after the game had ended.

Frank scanned the crowd for Octavian. The centurion was watching with more interest than concern, as if he were examining one of his stupid gutted teddy bears. He didn’t have a pilum. Blood roared in his ears. Frank wanted to strangle Octavian with his bare hands, but at that moment, Gwen gasped. Everyone stepped back. Gwen opened her eyes. The color came back to her face.

“Wh-what is it?” She blinked. “What’s everyone staring at?” She didn’t seem to notice the seven-foot harpoon sticking out through her chest. Nico di Angelo stepped forward but even he seemed reluctant to approach her.

Behind me, a medic whispered, “There’s no way. She was dead. She has to be dead.” Gwen tried to sit up, but couldn’t.

“There was a river, and a man asking…for a coin? I turned around and the exit door was open. So I just…I just left. I don’t understand. What’s happened?” Everyone stared at her in horror. Nobody tried to help.

"Gwen.” Frank knelt next to her. “Don’t try to get up. Just close your eyes for a second, okay?”

“Why? What—”

“Just trust me.” Gwen did what he asked. He grabbed the shaft of the pilum below its tip, but his hands were shaking. The wood was slick. “Percy, Hazel—help me.” One of the medics realized what he was planning.

“Don’t!” he said. “You might—”

“What?” Hazel snapped. “Make it worse?” Frank took a deep breath.

“Hold her steady. One, two, three!” He pulled the pilum out from the front. Gwen didn’t even wince. The blood stopped quickly. Hazel bent down to examine the wound.

“It’s closing on its own,” she said. “I don’t know how, but—”

“I feel fine,” Gwen protested. “What’s everyone worried about?” With a little help, she got to her feet. Frank glowered at Octavian, but the centurion’s face was a mask of polite concern. Later, he thought. Deal with him later.

“Gwen,” Hazel said gently, “there’s no easy way to say this. You were dead. Somehow you came back.”

“I…what?” She stumbled against Frank and he had to steady her or they were both going to fall. Her hand pressed against the ragged hole in her armor. “How—how?”

“Good question.” Reyna turned to Nico, who was watching grimly from the edge of the crowd. His anger had subsided some, but now his face was even more grim. There was something massive about this event that only he knew about. “Is this some power of Pluto?” Nico shook his head.

“Pluto never lets people return from the dead.” He glanced at Hazel as if warning her to stay quiet. Frank wondered what that was about, but he didn’t have time to think about it. A thunderous voice rolled across the field:

“Death loses its hold. This is only the beginning.” Campers drew weapons. Hannibal trumpeted nervously. Scipio reared, almost throwing Reyna. Nico practically bristled and his eyes shot to Percy. This guy was definitely hiding something.

“I know that voice,” Percy said. He didn’t sound pleased. In the midst of the legion, a column of fire blasted into the air. Heat seared his eyelashes. Campers who had been soaked by the cannons found their clothes instantly steam-dried. Everyone scrambled backward as a huge soldier stepped out of the explosion.

Frank didn’t have much hair, but what he did have stood straight up. The soldier was ten feet tall, dressed in Canadian Forces desert camouflage. He radiated confidence and power. His black hair was cut in a flat-topped wedge like mine. His face was angular and brutal, marked with old knife scars. His eyes were covered with infrared goggles that glowed from inside. He wore a utility belt with a sidearm, a knife holster, and several grenades. In his hands was an oversized M16 rifle. The worst thing was that he felt drawn to him.

As everyone else stepped back, he stepped forward. Frank realized the soldier was silently willing me to approach. He desperately wanted to run away and hide, but he couldn’t. He took three more steps before he sank to one knee. The other campers followed his example and knelt. Even Reyna dismounted.

“That’s good,” the soldier said. “Kneeling is good. It’s been a long time since I’ve visited Camp Jupiter.” Frank noticed that one person wasn’t kneeling. Percy Jackson, his sword still in hand, was glaring at the giant soldier.

“You’re Ares,” Percy said. “What do you want?” A collective gasp went up from two hundred campers and an elephant. Frank wanted to say something to excuse Percy and placate the god, but he didn’t know what. He was afraid the war god would blast his new friend with that extra-large M16. Instead, the god bared his brilliant white teeth.

“You’ve got spunk, demigod,” he said. “Ares is my Greek form. But to these followers, to the children of Rome, I am Mars—patron of the empire, divine father of Romulus and Remus.”

“We’ve met,” Percy said. “We…we had a fight.…” The god scratched his chin, as if trying to recall.

“I fight a lot of people. But I assure you—you’ve never fought me as Mars. If you had, you’d be dead. Now, kneel, as befits a child of Rome, before you try my patience.” Around Mars’s feet, the ground boiled in a circle of flame.

“Percy,” Frank muttered, “please.” Percy clearly didn’t like it, but he knelt. Mars scanned the crowd.

“Romans, lend me your ears!” He laughed—a good, hearty bellow, so infectious it almost made Frank smile, though he was still shivering with fear. “I’ve always wanted to say that. I come from Olympus with a message. Jupiter doesn’t like us communicating directly with mortals, especially nowadays, but he has allowed this exception, as you Romans have always been my special people. I’m only permitted to speak for a few minutes, so listen up.” He pointed at Gwen.

“This one should be dead, yet she’s not. The monsters you fight no longer return to Tartarus when they are slain. Some mortals who died long ago are now walking the earth again.” Was it Frank’s imagination, or did the god glare at Nico di Angelo? The child of death bristled more, reminding me of a cat trying to make himself seem bigger and more threatening.

“Thanatos has been chained,” Mars announced. “The Doors of Death have been forced open, and no one is policing them—at least, not impartially. Gaea allows our enemies to pour forth into the world of mortals. Her sons the giants are mustering armies against you—armies that you will not be able to kill. Unless Death is unleashed to return to his duties, you will be overrun. You must find Thanatos and free him from the giants. Only he can reverse the tide.” Mars looked around, and noticed that everyone was still silently kneeling.

“Oh, you can get up now. Any questions?” Reyna rose uneasily. She approached the god, followed by Octavian, who was bowing and scraping like a champion groveler.

“Lord Mars,” Reyna said, “we are honored.”

“Beyond honored,” said Octavian. “So far beyond honored—”

“Well?” Mars snapped.

“Well,” Reyna said, “Thanatos is the god of death, the lieutenant of Pluto?”

“Right,” the god said. “And you’re saying that he’s been captured by giants.”

“Right.”

“And therefore people will stop dying?”

“Not all at once,” Mars said. “But the barriers between life and death will continue to weaken. Those who know how to take advantage of this will exploit it. Monsters are already harder to dispatch. Soon they will be completely impossible to kill. Some demigods will also be able to find their way back from the Underworld—like your friend Centurion Shishkebab.” Gwen winced.

“Centurion Shish kebab?”

“If left unchecked,” Mars continued, “even mortals will eventually find it impossible to die. Can you imagine a world in which no one dies —ever?” Octavian raised his hand.

“But, ah, mighty all-powerful Lord Mars, if we can’t die, isn’t that a good thing? If we can stay alive indefinitely—”

“Don’t be foolish, boy!” Mars bellowed. “Endless slaughter with no conclusion? Carnage without any point? Enemies that rise again and again and can never be killed? Is that what you want?”

“You’re the god of war,” Percy spoke up. “Don’t you want endless carnage?” Mars’s infrared goggles glowed brighter.

“Insolent, aren’t you? Perhaps I have fought you before. I can understand why I’d want to kill you. I’m the god of Rome, child. I am the god of military might used for a righteous cause. I protect the legions. I am happy to crush my enemies underfoot, but I don’t fight without reason. I don’t want war without end. You will discover this. You will serve me.”

“Not likely,” Percy said. Again, Frank waited for the god to strike him down, but Mars just grinned like they were two old buddies talking trash. Nico had somehow managed to migrate towards Percy during the interaction and was standing a few feet back, looking ready to tackle him, should the need arise. This surprised Frank. He didn't take Nico as being protective towards anyone except Hazel. Maybe he had misjudged him.

“I order a quest!” the god announced. “You will go north and find Thanatos in the land beyond the gods. You will free him and thwart the plans of the giants. Beware Gaea! Beware her son, the eldest giant!” Hazel made a squeaking sound.

“The land beyond the gods?” Mars stared down at her, his grip tightening on his M16.

“That’s right, Hazel Levesque. You know what I mean. Everyone here remembers the land where the legion lost its honor! Perhaps if the quest succeeds, and you return by the Feast of Fortuna…perhaps then your honor will be restored. If you don’t succeed, there won’t be any camp left to return to. Rome will be overrun, its legacy lost forever. So my advice is: Don’t fail.” Octavian somehow managed to bow even lower.

“Um, Lord Mars, just one tiny thing. A quest requires a prophecy, a mystical poem to guide us! We used to get them from the Sibylline books, but now it’s up to the augur to glean the will of gods. So if I could just run and get about seventy stuffed animals and possibly a knife—”

“You’re the augur?” the god interrupted.

“Y-yes, my lord.” Mars pulled a scroll from his utility belt.

“Anyone got a pen?” The legionnaires stared at him. Mars sighed. “Two hundred Romans, and no one’s got a pen? Never mind!” He slung his M16 onto his back and pulled out a hand grenade. There were many screaming Romans. Then the grenade morphed into a ballpoint pen, and Mars began to write.

Frank looked at Percy and mouthed: Can your sword do grenade form? Percy mouthed back, No. Shut up. Despite the horrible situation, he couldn’t help but grin.

“There!” Mars finished writing and threw the scroll at Octavian. “A prophecy. You can add it to your books, engrave it on your floor, whatever.” Octavian read the scroll.

“This says, ‘Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die.’”

“Yes,” Mars said. “Is that not clear?”

“Well, my lord…usually prophecies are unclear. They’re wrapped in riddles. They rhyme, and…” Mars casually popped another grenade off his belt.

“Yes?”

“The prophecy is clear!” Octavian announced. “A quest!”

“Good answer.” Mars tapped the grenade to his chin.

“Now, what else? There was something else.…Oh, yes.” He turned to me. “C’mere, kid.” No, I thought. The burned stick in his coat pocket felt heavier. His legs turned wobbly. A sense of dread settled over him, worse than the day the military officer had come to the door. He knew what was coming, but he couldn’t stop it.

Frank stepped forward against his will. Mars grinned. “Nice job taking the wall, kid. Who’s the ref for this game?” Reyna raised her hand. “You see that play, ref?” Mars demanded. “That was my kid. First over the wall, won the game for his team. Unless you’re blind, that was an MVP play. You’re not blind, are you?” Reyna looked like she was trying to swallow a mouse.

“No, Lord Mars.”

“Then make sure he gets the Mural Crown,” Mars demanded. “My kid, here!” he yelled at the legion, in case anyone hadn’t heard. I wanted to melt into the dirt. “Emily Zhang’s son,” Mars continued. “She was a good soldier. Good woman. This kid Frank proved his stuff tonight. Happy late birthday, kid. Time you stepped up to a real man’s weapon.” He tossed Frank his M16. For a split second
he thought he’d be crushed under the weight of the massive assault rifle, but the gun changed in midair, becoming smaller and thinner.

When he caught it, the weapon was a spear. It had a shaft of Imperial gold and a strange point like a white bone, flickering with ghostly light. “The tip is a dragon’s tooth,” Mars said. “You haven’t learned to use your mom’s talents yet, have you? Well—that spear will give you some breathing room until you do. You get three charges out of it, so use it wisely.” Frank didn’t understand, but Mars acted like the matter was closed.

“Now, my kid Frank Zhang is gonna lead the quest to free Thanatos, unless there are any objections?” Of course, no one said a word. But many of the campers glared at him with envy, jealousy, anger, bitterness. Frank tried not to wince.

“You can take two companions,” Mars said. “Those are the rules. One of them needs to be this kid.” He pointed at Percy. “He’s gonna learn some respect for Mars on this trip, or die trying. As for the second, I don’t care. Pick whomever you want. Have one of your senate debates. You all are good at those.” The god’s image flickered.

Lightning crackled across the sky. “That’s my cue,” Mars said. “Until next time, Romans. Do not disappoint me!” The god erupted in flames, and then he was gone. Reyna turned toward me. Her expression was part amazement, part nausea, like she’d finally managed to swallow that mouse. She raised her arm in a Roman salute.

“Ave, Frank Zhang, son of Mars.” The whole legion followed her lead, but he didn’t want their attention anymore. His perfect night had been ruined. Mars was his father. The god of war was sending him to Alaska. He had been handed more than a spear for his birthday. He’d been handed a death sentence.

Nico's POV

As the group disbanded, he headed back towards Gwen. Nico was planning on offering to talk her through what had happened later. She deserved that much and he was the only one here equipped to help her. This was the sign he was looking for. First Thanatos tells him he's captured but it isn't his place to save him. Now Mars himself has called a quest to save him and even directly mentioned the doors of death. There's no bigger sign than that.

The son of Hades knew that he had to get the doors of death closed. Freeing Thanatos would be a good start, but real progress would be made when Gaea could no longer control which and how many monsters get through. When he helped seal this gap in the Erebros. The space in between the land of the living and the land of the dead

"Hey!" he called as some of the medics were trying to lead her to sickbay. There was really no point, of course, since she was completely fine. The medics eyed him with distaste before leaving to go take care of the other wounded.

"Oh. Hey Nico." She looked uncomfortable, not that he could blame her. He matched her pace as we made their way into the city. Nico caught Reyna's eyes as they passed and he could tell she wanted to talk. He nodded at her.

"I know you probably don't want to talk right now, and I get that. I'm staying the night tonight and I will be here tomorrow in case you want to talk. Ok? You've been through a lot today." Gwen relaxed. She had probably been expecting an interrogation.

"I'd like that, thanks. I don't think I'll be able to make sense of it all on my own." She admitted. Her voice was cracking and he hoped she wouldn't cry.

"Of course. Is there any time that would work best for you?"

"Reyna is calling the senate together tomorrow morning. I expect she'll want you there as well. Can we talk before that?"

"Sure thing. Just try to get some sleep ok?" The centurion nodded before joining some of her friends who crowded around her. Nico watched her go, deep in thought. Someone came up beside him and Nico didn't even have to look to know it was Reyna.

"You said it was going to be an eventful night." She commented. He snorted with derision.

"This isn't exactly how I thought it would play out."

"When you were climbing down from the observation tower... was that when..." she trailed off.

"When Gwen died?" Nico clarified. Reyna pursed her lips and stared out over her city. "Yeah."

"So it happened after the game ended." It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway.

"You have a murderer in your midst." Reyna's eyes flashed at the thought.

"You know what's happening don't you?" Reyna accused. It wasn't a question, either.

"I have a pretty good idea." He agreed.

"The doors of death. Do you know where they are? What they are?" She looked at him but he couldn't meet her eyes. He was afraid that she would see the guilt in his eyes. She turned her gaze away and started for the city. Nico followed closely behind. She knew the answer but he responded anyway.

"Yes." The city was buzzing with excitement but not a single person approached us.

"Where are they?"

"Tartarus." There was a long pause as the hopelessness sank in.

"You're sure of this?" She stopped dead in her tracks, forcing him to stop as well.

"Positive." She sighed heavily.

"Then we're doomed." She sat on a bench and put her face in her hands. He considered his next words carefully. HE could pretend to be as hopeless as she is. He didn't have to tell her his plan. After all, he didn't even know if his plan would work. He didn't want to get her hopes up. However, looking at her in this position was almost more than he could handle.

"Not necessarily." He said at last. Reyna froze and looked up at him, her face curled in suspicion.

"What do you mean? You can't possibly be suggesting that we go to Tartarus." Nico shook his head and she frowned. He kicked the dirt at his feet.

"Not we-- me."

"Ha ha very funny." The son of Hades didn't laugh. Reyna sat back on the bench and eyed him incredulously.

"You can't be serious. Do you realize how you sound?" Nico didn't reply. HE knew exactly how it sounded. Reyna laughed the kind of laugh that only came when you were trying not to scream.

"Think about it." He said after a while. "I'm the only one who has a chance. The only one the world can live without."

"That's not true." She argued. Nico didn't reply, not wanting to start an argument.

"Does this mean you know the big picture? You said the only one. The only one of who? You certainly aren't talking about all demigods. I can think of at least one other demigod we could live without, so, who is this group you are thinking of?" Reyna was wickedly smart. Octavian doesn't realize just who he is messing with. Then he realized what she meant and he laughed.

"One certain legacy of Apollo?" He clarified. Reyna smirked and he laughed again. It was strange, but standing there with her, he felt like he was finally somewhere he could eventually belong.

"I was thinking about the prophecy of seven." Nico admitted. Reyna raised her eyebrows.

"What about it?"

"Think about it Reyna. Doesn't it feel like something has started?" He didn't know how else to describe it.

"Yes..." she seemed skeptical.

"Look, I know it's started. I don't have details, but I can feel it. I also know that I don't have a part in it. I'm meant to run interference."

"I don't know what you're talking about. How can you know?" Reyna was frowning. Nico shook his head. He couldn't tell her about the Greeks; she had to find that out on her own.

"Ok, Nico. Just promise me something." Reyna leaned forward.

"What?"

"Don't go to Tartarus on your own. Let the quest release death and then we can send our armies. Ok? Don't be stupid." Nico thought about it. He couldn't let them go through with this. It was a suicide mission. He couldn't let them come with him on a good conscience.

"Ok." He lied. Reyna seemed satisfied, though.

"So, I'm curious. Tell me about those mortals you stay with." Nico smirked and joined her on the bench.

"I took a wrong turn when I shadow traveled, figuratively speaking, and landed in Gotham City. I was too tired from the jump to make another one so I was stuck in the city for a few days. While I was wandering, I almost got hit by a car that belonged to none other than Bruce Wayne."

"The billionaire?"

"Yeah. I couldn't prove that I have family considering my mother is dead and my father is a god so I had to allow him to either take me in or put me in the system. He's got some connections so it didn't take all that long for the adoption to go through. I've been living with the Wayne family for months now. Probably close to a year, now that I think about it." He explained the condensed version of it.

"Why do you have so much freedom to travel?" She seemed surprised and he couldn't blame her.

"Part of the reason is that they figured out that I have powers. They think I got it from a witch or something-- a curse put on my family. They're from Gotham so it really wasn't that big of a stretch." he replied. Reyna laughed outright at that. Nico didn't think he had ever seen her really laugh before. She had a really nice laugh.

"Ok Mr. di Angelo-Wayne. Feel free to stay where you want for the night, though I doubt it will live up to Wayne Manor. I have a few more things to do tonight. I'll see you tomorrow and we can talk more, alright?" Reyna stood, looking less hopeless. He nodded and said his goodbyes. The promise weighing heavy on his heart.

Chapter Text

That night Nico stayed in the barracks with the fifth cohort but he didn't sleep. Instead, he laid awake in his borrowed bunk and listened to everyone around him breathe. It was surreal. The son of Hades wasn't used to the proximity to this many beings who breathed. Even in the manor, their rooms were fairly spread out through the house and you couldn't really hear what was going on inside. Here there were no walls to keep the sounds out.

From his position, Nico could clearly see Percy who slept in the bunk next to him. His face kept contorting so Nico knew he was dreaming. This was reminiscent of the last time Percy had been in Gotham, Nico's first and last true slumber party. As they had been getting ready for bed, Percy had clearly been trying to get him alone long enough to question him, so Nico had made sure that he wasn't alone for a second. He wished he could have sat and caught Percy up on everything, but the more he said, the more danger Percy would be in. For now, he had to be kept at an arm's length.

Just when Nico was about to close his eyes, an Iris message popped up in front of his face and he almost screamed. It was Annabeth and she clearly had some news for him. News that he did not want the Romans overhearing.

"Nico!" She started but the demigod shushed her.

"Call back in a minute." He whispered, wiping his hand through the message. He looked around and was pleased to see that no one had stirred. He hoped that if anyone was awake that they just assumed that it was a phone call or something. He didn't want to have to explain what an Iris Message was. The last thing they needed is for a curious Roman asking to be connected to Jason Grace and discover Camp HAlfblood. That is what Bruce would consider a security breach. he needed a place where he wouldn't be disturbed-- he had to get to his father's temple.

Nico took one last look at Percy's sleeping form, feeling guilty that he couldn't just tell Annabeth where he was or even wake him and show him the message. They were feet apart but didn't know the other was there. Nico shadow traveled to the temple and moved behind it in order to block himself from view of the camp. A short while later Annabeth's face popped back up. He expected her to ask about why he cut her off but she was too excited.

"We got a lead!" She said as he opened his mouth to apologize.

"What?"

"On Percy! He popped up in California. Tyson is on his way there now. Leo's finishing up the Argo any day now and we will be on our way to meet him!" Nico blinked a few times as he processed this. The ambassador of Pluto cursed mentally. This just got complicated.

"Really? That's great! I told you we'd find him. Any idea why he's there?" Annabeth shook her head.

"No, I was hoping you'd have some idea." Nico pretended to consider the question for a few long moments before he slowly shook his head, feeling bad for lying to her.

" I don't know much about what is happening in California. As you know, it isn't really safe for us out there."

"I know. And I know that it is a lot to ask, but I was wondering if you could go check?" Annabeth seemed at least a little apologetic for asking him to dive headfirst into the monster-infested state by himself, but her need to find Percy outweighed her concern. Nico sighed, knowing that he'd have to let her down.

"I can't Annabeth, my father has me trying to keep the Underworld in order. Something is really wrong down here." He told her. It was true that the Underworld was probably in chaos, though Nico definitely wasn't there.

"That's ok." It sounded like she meant the opposite, "I understand. What's going on?" The son of Hades told her about people trying to escape the dead and how the newly dead aren't always staying dead and spun a whole tale for her. She nodded in consideration.

"We've noticed it too. You mean to say that it isn't just monsters coming back?" he nodded in agreement.

"This could be a good chance to bring back Bianca... if you wanted to..." she suggested, watching his reaction closely. At first, Nico thought that she had found out about Hazel until he realized that that was impossible. Plus, he had only told Percy that Bianca was missing and he wasn't in the habit of sharing personal info so Annabeth probably had no idea about the new development.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to. Bianca tried for rebirth." He told the daughter of Athena. Annabeth didn't seem surprised.

"I'm sorry." Nico waved her apology away. There was nothing that could be said that would take away the pain, only time could heal some wounds.

"Good luck Annabeth. I have to go. Be careful, ok?" He told her. She assured him that she would and he cut the connection. The son of Hades gave himself a few long minutes in the coll night air before he shadow traveled back to the barracks, landing just outside the building. Nico opened the door and snuck back in. As he did, he saw that Frank was sitting up in his bunk rubbing his face. The son of Hades stopped in front of his bunk awkwardly, unsure if he should say anything or pretend he hadn't noticed. The son of Mars clearly hadn't heard him approach and seemed to be deep in his thoughts. Eventually, Nico decided to speak.

"Are you ok?" he whispered. Frank's head jerked up and he squinted into the darkness. The disguised demigod slipped into the light that shone through the window to make it easier for Frank see him. The moon was bright and the sky was clear so he must have been pretty visible.

"Oh, hey Nico. What are you doing up?" The larger boy seemed to steel himself, taking on a strong facade that didn't match his body language. Nico didn't call him out on it.

"Too many living people." He chuckled to himself, though Frank didn't seem to think it was very funny.

"That was a joke, Frank."

"Oh, sorry. I'm just a bit distracted." He apologized.

"I'm not really known for my humor." Nico allowed tolerantly and Frank, to his credit, nodded absently. Nico watched the other boy for a few more pregnant moments before he broke the silence again. If he was going to stand there, he might as well try to help.

"Are you worried about the quest, the claiming, or the fragility of your life?" Frank looked like Nico had pulled a gun on him. He guessed, in a way, it was a similar situation. Perhaps the part-time vigilante should have been a bit more tactful with his question but he was tired of beating around the bush all the time. It was much simpler to just ask the questions and worry about feelings later.

"How did you..?"

"I'm the son of Pluto. Of course, I know about that nasty little curse."

"Does Hazel know too, then?" His face paled.

"No, she doesn't have any domain over death. You don't need to worry, your secret is safe with me." The son of the Underworld assured him-- dead men tell no tales. The son of War didn't question it but seemed relieved nonetheless. War and Death-- two things that always went hand in hand.

"Great, that's good at least. I'm worried about the quest, I guess." He admitted. The greek nodded, that was understandable.

"I've seen many great leaders, Frank. Trust me, you're going to be one of them." Frank eyed him uncomfortably-- clearly questioning the smaller boy's sanity. Whether it was because Nico was the one saying it or his confidence in himself was just that low, was hard to tell.

"Don't worry, you don't have to take my word for it. You'll see it for yourself." Nico walked back over to his bunk and pulled himself up.

"How do you know?" The son of Hades sat on top of the bunk facing him and considered the question for a moment. It was partly how he took control on the battlefield and how children of war often found their claims to greatness if their father had anything to say about it. It was also partly the fact that he was good at picking the people he could trust. Frank had an instinct for people that would serve him well. Instead of saying any of that he said,

"The gods don't give that curse to just anybody. That's a pretty nasty curse and, usually, the bigger the risk the greater the destiny. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a gift, but it is definitely an omen. The power you will wield is so great that it must be evened out by a great vulnerability." He explained. Nico knew it wouldn't comfort him much, if at all, but it was also the truth. Frank deserved the truth.

"The burned stick of destiny... great," Frank muttered, turning his back on him. Nico wished he could help more but he couldn't find the words so he simply pulled the covers over himself and fell asleep. That night he dreamt of jumping into the pit. Falling and falling and falling. It got to the point that he didn't know which way was up or down. He couldn't tell how long he had been falling or how close he was to the ground. When he woke up, he could still feel the weightlessness.

[June 20th]

There was a little light coming in the room so Nico figured that it had to be almost dawn. He grabbed his black toga (seriously?) and left the barracks before anyone else had the chance to wake up and talk to him. He made his way to the dining hall undisturbed. A nymph brought him a chocolate chip muffin as soon as he stepped inside. He took it gratefully and ate it on the way to the park just outside the Pomeranian line. He settled himself under a tree and finished his breakfast. He spent the rest of the time putting on the toga, which is just as awful as it sounds. At least it was black. Luckily, he remembered how to put one on from the demonstration Julius Caesar had given him one day in the Underworld. Don’t ask.

A short while later Nico got tired of waiting and shadow traveled to the dining hall to look for Gwen. He found her sitting among the other centurions picking at her food. She clearly hadn't slept well. Nico had arrived just in time for Reyna to announce that it was time to go so he fell into step alongside Gwen as the group made their way to the forum.

"How are you feeling today?" Nico asked carefully. He didn't want to press her if she didn't feel like talking. this was going to be a lot for her to come to terms with and the last thing that he wanted to do was make her shut down. She needed to talk to someone about it. Nico vaguely regretted not taking Batman's interpersonal communication lessons. If ever there was a time he wanted to know how to be personable. Luckily, Gwen didn't seem to mind.

"Better, thanks." Gwen seemed more relaxed than she had the day before.

"So what are you thinking about?" He prompted.

"I'm leaving the legion. I've done my ten years of service so... I'm going to retire." She said firmly but there was a slight tremor in her voice clearly she didn't know if she was making the right choice.

"You deserve your peace." Nico agreed, she had more than paid her dues to the legion. Her shoulders relaxed some and the pair walked in silence for a few steps.

"Nico..." she hesitated and he let her finish her thought, "the ferryman. What is his name?"

"His name is Charon. He takes souls over the river Styx so that they may enter the Underworld."

"He wanted a coin but I didn't have one." She recalled, Nico nodded.

"Yes, he demands a fee to take you across. One gold denarii."

"What if I didn't have a coin?" It surprised Nico that she didn't know the protocol, but he explained it to her anyway. He should probably tell Reyna to send out a PSA or something like that to remind her troops and medics about the proper death rituals. It couldn't hurt, anyway.

"We would have given you one, don't worry. But if you didn't have one and no one was there to give you one, then you would be stuck on the wrong side of the river for eternity.

"So what they say about the judges, the furies, Cerberus, and the fields are all true?" She didn't sound pleased.

"Well, probably not all of what you have heard is true. But those things all exist, yes." He agreed. People tended to exaggerate the horror that was the Underworld.

"How did I come back? Why?" She asked. We had almost reached the pomeranian line. Nico pulled his dagger coin out of his pocket and the ring off his finger.

"Thanatos is captured. He is the one who maintains the border between life and death, the area we call Erebos. Without him, the border falls apart. You were able to find a hole and slip back through. As for why, that's because it simply isn't your time yet. You were murdered." Gwen's face went pale again.

"You see, that doesn't make sense to me either. I didn't think I had any enemies. Who would want to kill me?" She asked.

"I'm sure that I don't know," Nico replied even though he had a pretty good idea, "they'll figure it out, though, and they will have to answer to the whole legion."

"Thanks, Nico." Gwen sighed. They were silent until they reached the border.

"Gwendolyn, senator, Fifth Cohort, yes. Nico di Angelo, ambassador of pluto--" He placed his weapons in Julia's bin who promptly snuck off behind a tree. "Very well." he followed Gwen inside.

"Tell me about the fields," Gwen asked after a few moments of silence.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything and everything." Nico would normally have protested, but he figured that she of all people had the right to be curious so he decided to humor her.

"There are three fields. Elysium, Asphodel, and Punishment." Nico started with his generic explanation. "Most heroes go to Elysium, demigods in particular wind up there."

"That's a good thing, right? Elysium is like heaven?" She cut in. He didn't mind the interruption, it showed that she was paying attention and was interested in what he had to say.

"Yeah, it's the --Roman equivalent. Some demigods who go to Elysium will try for rebirth. If granted, they will be born into a new life. If they achieve Elysium in three lives they will go to the Isles of the Blessed."

"What about Asphodel?"

"Asphodel is where most mortals go. The ones who haven't done enough good to get to Elysium or enough bad for Punishment. They forget who they are and wander the fields and eat the stalks of the Asphodel plant for all eternity. Not the worst afterlife there is." Gwen looked troubled and he wondered if he was doing more harm than good by telling her this. They reached the forum and Gwen led him to the Senate seats. He took a seat by her so that they could still talk. It seemed like people and ghosts were still arriving so we kept talking. The ghosts seemed to prefer to keep their distance from him as they made their way to their seats. It was almost comical.

"That leaves the fields of Punishment, right? The equivalent of hell?" Nico considered that.

"Yeah, it would be hell to us. Then there is Tartarus, the hell for monsters," He wasn't too eager to get into all that, "Don't worry, you would never have ended up in Punishment and mortal souls aren't sent to Tartarus.

"What is it like in Elysium?" She asked softly. Nico watched Percy take a seat by the other questers and took a moment to consider his reply. Percy caught his gaze and waved. The son of Hades waved back before turning his attention back to Gwen.

"It's beautiful. You can play, feast, and do whatever you want for all eternity. No one is unhappy. No one is lonely. There is no hatred, sadness, lies, or resentment. Just everlasting peace." His own voice sounded wistful.

"Then why do you sound sad?" She watched him curiously.

"My sister went to Elysium." Gwen frowned and glanced at Hazel. Nico chuckled but a stab of remorse went through his chest. Hazel should have been in Elysium too.

"No, not Hazel. My biological sister. She died when I was twelve. I used to visit her in Elysium but then she tried for the Isles of the blessed and now I'll never see her again." He explained. He didn't know why he was telling her this. Maybe it was because he wanted to turn her attention away from Hazel, maybe it was because she was easy to talk to. Either way, Nico felt comfortable around her. Their conversation was cut short as Reyna made her way to the podium and called the meeting to order, cutting off Gwen's response. Everyone in the stadium fell silent as the praetor put her hand in the air.

The bleacher-like seats were filled with veterans, ghosts, and senators. Octavian stood on the ground holding stuffed animals and a knife. The questers sat in the center of attention on the floor facing the stadium seats.

"Right, this is an emergency meeting," she said. "We won't stand on formalities."

"I love formalities!" a ghost complained. Reyna shot him a cross look.

"First of all," she said, "we're not here to vote on the quest itself. The quest has been issued by Mars Ultor, patron of Rome. We will obey his wishes. Nor are we here to debate the choice of Frank Zhang's companions."

"All three from the Fifth Cohort?" called out Hank from the Third. "That's not fair."

"And not smart," said the boy next to him. "We know the Fifth will mess up. They should take somebody good." Dakota got up so fast, he spilled Kool-Aid from his flask.

"We were plenty good last night when we whipped your podex, Larry!"

"Enough, Dakota," Reyna said. "Let's leave Larry's podex out of this. As quest leader, Frank has the right to choose his companions. He has chosen Percy Jackson and Hazel Levesque."

A ghost from the second row yelled, "Absurdus! Frank Zhang isn't even a full member of the legion! He's on probatio. A quest must be led by someone of centurion rank or higher. This is completely-"

"Cato," Reyna snapped. "We must obey the wishes of Mars Ultor. That means certain ... adjustments." Reyna clapped her hands, and Octavian came forward. He set down his knife and Beanie Baby and took the velvet package from the chair.

"Frank Zhang," he said, "come forward." Frank glanced nervously at Percy. Then he got to his feet and approached the augur. Even if Nico hadn't seen him sitting up late in the night it would have been obvious that he hadn't slept well. In fact, he looked kind of horrible.

"It is my...pleasure," Octavian said, forcing out the last word, "to bestow upon you the Mural Crown for being first over the walls in siege warfare." Octavian handed him a bronze badge shaped like a laurel wreath. "Also, by order of Praetor Reyna, to promote you to the rank of centurion." He handed Frank another badge, a bronze crescent, and the senate exploded in protest.

"He's still a probie!" one yelled.

"Impossible!" said another.

"Water cannon up my nose!" yelled a third. Nico coughed to keep from laughing and Gwen eyed him in amusement. If he ever saw his cousin again, Nico wasn't going to let him live this down. Ever.

"Silence!" Octavian's voice sounded a lot more commanding than it had the previous night on the battlefield. "Our praetor recognizes that no one below the rank of centurion may lead a quest. For good or ill, Frank must lead this quest-so our praetor has decreed that Frank Zhang must be made centurion." He sounded reasonable and supportive, but his expression was pained. He carefully crafted his words to put all the responsibility on Reyna.

This was her idea, he seemed to say. If it went wrong, Reyna was to blame. If only Octavian had been the one in charge, things would have been done more sensibly. But alas, he had no choice but to support Reyna, because Octavian was a loyal Roman soldier. Octavian managed to convey all that without saying it, simultaneously calming the senate and sympathizing with them. Percy eyed Octavian warily as though he was just beginning to realize that this scrawny, funny-looking scarecrow of a kid might be a dangerous enemy. Reyna must have recognized this too. A look of irritation flashed across her face.

"There is an opening for centurion," she said. "One of our officers, also a senator, has decided to step down. After ten years in the legion, she will retire to the city and attend college. Gwen of the Fifth Cohort, we thank you for your service." Everyone turned to Gwen, who managed a brave smile. She looked tired from the previous night's ordeal, but also relieved.

"As praetor," Reyna continued, "I have the right to replace officers. I admit it's unusual for a camper on probatio to rise directly to the rank of centurion, but I think we can agree...last night was unusual. Frank Zhang, your ID, please." Frank removed the lead tablet from around his neck and handed it to Octavian.

"Your arm," Octavian said. Frank held up his forearm. Octavian raised his hands to the heavens. Nico watched on with interest, this is the second time he had seen someone be admitted but he still couldn't believe the brutality of the ritual.

"We accept Frank Zhang, Son of Mars, to the Twelfth Legion Fulminata for his first year of service. Do you pledge your life to the senate and people of Rome?"

Frank muttered something like "Ud-dud." Then he cleared his throat and managed: "I do."

The senators shouted, "Senatus Populusque Romanus!" Fire blazed on Frank's arm. For a moment his eyes filled with terror, no doubt due to the fire itself. Then the smoke and flame died, and new marks were seared onto Frank's skin: SPQR, an image of crossed spears, and a single stripe, representing the first year of service.

"You may sit down." Octavian glanced at the audience as if to say: This wasn't my idea, folks. He caught the son of Hades' eye for a moment who was watching him coldly. Nico knew what he had done to Gwen. The swine swallowed hard and turned away from the accusing gaze.

"Now," Reyna said, "we must discuss the quest." The senators shifted and muttered as Frank returned to his seat. Percy whispered something in his ears and Frank looked over the brand, nodding. Hazel pinned the medals to Frank's shirt and Percy smiled.

While they were preoccupied, Octavian asked Frank if he had a plan for the quest, an unfair question if anyone had asked Nico's opinion. Though no one had...

"Centurion Zhang," called Octavian. "Did you hear the question?" Frank blinked.

"Um...sorry. What?" Octavian turned to the senate and smirked, like What did I tell you?

"I was asking," Octavian said like he was talking to a three-year-old, "if you have a plan for the quest. Do you even know where you are going?"

"Um..." Hazel put her hand on Frank's shoulder and stood. Things were about to get interesting.

"Weren't you listening last night, Octavian? Mars was pretty clear. We're going to the land beyond the gods-Alaska." The senators squirmed in their togas. Some of the ghosts shimmered and disappeared. Even Reyna's metal dogs rolled over on their backs and whimpered. Finally, Senator Larry stood.

"I know what Mars said, but that's crazy. Alaska is cursed! They call it the land beyond the gods for a reason. It's so far north, the Roman gods have no power there. The place is swarming with monsters. No demigod has come back from there alive since-" He trailed off, unable to finish.

"Since you lost your eagle," Percy said. Larry was so startled, he fell back on his podex. "Look," Percy continued, "I know I'm new here. I know you guys don't like to mention that massacre in the nineteen-eighties-"

"He mentioned it!" one of the ghosts whimpered.

"-But don't you get it?" Percy continued. "The Fifth Cohort led that expedition. We failed, and we have to be responsible for making things right. That's why Mars is sending us. This giant, the son of Gaea-he's the one who defeated your forces thirty years ago. I'm sure of it. Now he's sitting up there in Alaska with a chained death god, and all your old equipment. He's mustering his armies and sending them south to attack this camp." Percy had really learned a lot from having been here for a day and a half.

"Really?" Octavian said. "You seem to know a lot about our enemy's plans, Percy Jackson." I froze in my seat and watched Percy closely, hoping that he had enough sense not to take the bait. Nico saw the son of Poseidon's shoulders tense before he took a deep breath. Nico was surprised he managed to restrain himself.

"We're going to confront this son of Gaea," he said, managing to keep his composure. "We'll get back your eagle and unchain this god..." He glanced at Hazel. "Thanatos, right?" She nodded.

"Letus, in Roman. But his old Greek name is Thanatos. When it comes to Death...we're happy to let him stay Greek." Octavian sighed in exasperation. He was obviously upset that Percy didn't go for him. If he knew who he was dealing with, he would have known that he was dodging a bullet there. Ares had tangled with Percy Jackson and lost.

"Well, whatever you call him...how do you expect to do all this and get back by the Feast of Fortuna? That's the evening of the twenty-fourth. It's the twentieth now. Do you even know where to look? Do you even know who this son of Gaea is?"

"Yes." Hazel spoke with certainty. Nico knew that she had come to the same conclusion that he had when Mars mentioned the oldest Giant. She knew him all too well. "I don't know exactly where to look, but I have a pretty good idea. The giant's name is Alcyoneus." That name seemed to lower the temperature in the room by fifty degrees. The senators shivered. Reyna gripped her podium.

"How do you know this, Hazel? Because you're a child of Pluto?" the son of Hades stepped in, having put some thought in a way to cover for her.

"Praetor, if I may," he introjected, "Hazel and I...we learned a little about the giants from our father. Each giant was bred specifically to oppose one of the twelve Olympian gods-to usurp that god's domain. The king of giants was Porphyrion, the anti-Jupiter. But the eldest giant was Alcyoneus. He was born to oppose Pluto. That's why we know of him in particular." Reyna frowned.

"Indeed? You sound quite familiar with him." Nico picked at the edge of the stupid toga. He didn't know what led her to that conclusion, but she wasn't exactly wrong. Hazel had told him about him before with such detail that he felt that we were well acquainted.

"Anyway...the giants were hard to kill. According to prophecy, they could only be defeated by gods and demigods working together." Dakota belched.

"Sorry, did you say gods and demigods...like fighting side by side? That could never happen!"

"It has happened," Nico replied, thinking about how he and his father had ridden together into the Battle of Manhattan. Instead, he said, "In the first giant war, the gods called on heroes to join them, and they were victorious. Whether it could happen again, I don't know. But with Alcyoneus ... he was different. He was completely immortal, impossible to kill by god or demigod, as long as he remained in his home territory-the place where he was born." Nico paused to let that sink in. "And if Alcyoneus has been reborn in Alaska-"

"Then he can't be defeated there," Hazel finished. "Ever. By any means. Which is why our nineteen-eighties expedition was doomed to fail." Another round of arguing and shouting broke out.

"The quest is impossible!" shouted a senator.

"We're doomed!" cried a ghost.

"More Kool-Aid!" yelled Dakota. Nico wasn't sure who he was talking to, though. They surely didn't keep Kool-Aid in the Senate House.

"Silence!" Reyna called. "Senators, we must act like Romans. Mars has given us this quest, and we have to believe it is possible. These three demigods must travel to Alaska. They must free Thanatos and return before the Feast of Fortuna. If they can retrieve the lost eagle in the process, so much the better. All we can do is advise them and make sure they have a plan." Reyna looked at Percy without much hope.

"You do have a plan?" Percy looked around the arena and seemed to consider his answer carefully.

"First, I need to understand something." He turned towards Nico, whose chest tightened under his cousin's gaze, "I thought Pluto was the god of the dead. Now I hear about this other guy, Thanatos, and the Doors of Death from that prophecy-the Prophecy of Seven. What does all that mean?" Nico took a deep breath. It concerned him that his cousin forgot about their many conversations on this matter, but he didn't mind repeating it. The whole legion could do with a refresher on the Underworld it seemed.

"Okay. Pluto is the god of the Underworld, but the actual god of death, the one who's responsible for making sure souls go to the afterlife and stay there- that's Pluto's lieutenant, Thanatos. He's like..." Nico struggled for a moment before he thought of an analogy, "well, imagine Life and Death are two different countries. Everybody would like to be in Life, right? So there's a guarded border to keep people from crossing back over without permission. But it's a big border, with lots of holes in the fence. Pluto tries to seal up the breaches, but new ones keep popping up all the time. That's why he depends on Thanatos, who's like the border patrol, the police."

"Thanatos catches souls," Percy said, "and deports them back to the Underworld."

"Exactly," Nico agreed, "But now Thanatos has been captured, chained up." Frank raised his hand like they were still in school.

"Uh...how do you chain Death?"

"It's been done before," Nico said, "In the old days, a guy named Sisyphus tricked Death and tied him up. Another time, Hercules wrestled him to the ground."

"And now a giant has captured him," Percy said. "So if we could free Thanatos, then the dead would stay dead?" He glanced at Gwen. "Um... no offense."

"It's more complicated than that," The son of Hades replied. Octavian rolled his eyes.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Nico pursed his lips to keep from saying something he would regret.

"You mean the Doors of Death," Reyna said, ignoring Octavian. "They are mentioned in the Prophecy of Seven, which sent the first expedition to Alaska-" Cato the ghost snorted.

"We all know how that turned out! We Lares remember!" The other ghosts grumbled in agreement. Nico put his finger to his lips. Suddenly all the Lares went silent. Some looked alarmed, like their mouths had been glued together. There was a hushed murmur from the gathered senators and Nico briefly wished he had the same control over the living. The number of press conferences he could have avoided if he could just seal people's mouths closed.

"Thanatos is only part of the solution," Nico explained, trying to be careful what he said. "The Doors of Death...well, that's a concept even I don't completely understand. There are many ways into the Underworld-the River Styx, the Door of Orpheus-plus the smaller escape routes that open up from time to time. With Thanatos imprisoned, all those exits will be easier to use. Sometimes it might work to our advantage and let a friendly soul come back-like Gwen here. More often, it will benefit evil souls and monsters, the sneaky ones who are looking to escape. Now, the Doors of Death-those are the personal doors of Thanatos, his fast lane between Life and Death. Only Thanatos is supposed to know where they are, and the location shifts over the ages. If he understands correctly, the Doors of Death have been forced open. Gaea's minions have seized control of them-"

"Which means Gaea controls who can come back from the dead," Percy guessed. Nico nodded. Unlike the Romans, he was used to Percy's skills of deduction and wasn't caught off guard by his interruption.

"She can pick and choose who to let out-the worst monsters, the most evil souls. If we rescue Thanatos, that means at least he can catch souls again and send them below. Monsters will die when we kill them, like they used to, and we'll get a little breathing room. But unless we're able to retake the Doors of Death, our enemies won't stay down for long. They'll have an easy way back to the world of the living."

"So we can catch them and deport them," Percy summed up, "but they'll just keep coming back across."

"In a depressing nutshell, yes," Frank scratched his head.

"But Thanatos knows where the doors are, right? If we free him, he can retake them."

"I don't think so," Nico said, glancing at Reyna who met his gaze evenly. She knew what he was thinking. He couldn't get to the doors because they were in the only other place that is beyond the gods. "Not alone. He's no match for Gaea. That would take a massive quest...an army of the best demigods," he lied. It would take one and a burial shroud.

"Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death," Reyna said. "That's the Prophecy of Seven..." She and Percy made eye contact. Percy looked grim and Nico thought that maybe he knew more than the son of Hades did. "If this begins the ancient prophecy, we don't have resources to send an army to these Doors of Death and protect the camp. Nico couldn't imagine even sparing seven demigods-" he knew that she wouldn't have to. She would only have to spare three.

"First things first." Percy started. "I don't know who the seven are, or what that old prophecy means, exactly. But first we have to free Thanatos. Mars told us we only needed three people for the quest to Alaska. Let's concentrate on succeeding with that and getting back before the Feast of Fortuna. Then we can worry about the Doors of Death."

"Yeah," Frank said in a small voice. "That's probably enough for one week."

"So you do have a plan?" Octavian asked skeptically. Percy looked at his teammates. The ambassador of Pluto knew as well as everyone that they didn't have a plan.

"We go to Alaska as fast as possible..."

"And we improvise," Hazel said.

"A lot," Frank added. Reyna studied them. She looked like she was mentally writing her own obituary. Maybe that is something that he should consider doing before he left. He certainly didn't want his brothers to write it for him. Yikes.

"Very well," she said. "Nothing remains except for us to vote what support we can give the quest-transportation, money, magic, weapons."

"Praetor, if I may," Octavian said. "The camp is in grave danger," Octavian said. "Two gods have warned us we will be attacked four days from now. We must not spread our resources too thin, especially by funding projects that have a slim chance of success." Octavian looked at the three of them with pity, as if to say, Poor little things.

"Mars has clearly chosen the least likely candidates for this quest. Perhaps that is because he considers them the most expendable. Perhaps Mars is playing the long odds. Whatever the case, he wisely didn't order a massive expedition, nor did he ask us to fund their adventure. I say we keep our resources here and defend the camp. This is where the battle will be lost or won. If these three succeed, wonderful! But they should do so by their own ingenuity." An uneasy murmur passed through the crowd. Frank jumped to his feet.

Before he could start a fight, Percy said, "Fine! No problem. But at least give us transportation. Gaea is the Earth goddess, right? Going overland, across the earth-I'm guessing we should avoid that. Plus, it'll be too slow." Octavian laughed.

"Would you like us to charter you an airplane?"

"No. Air travel... I have a feeling that would be bad, too. But a boat. Can you at least give us a boat?" Percy glanced at Hazel who looked kind of sickly. She shook her head and mouthed, Fine. I'm fine.

"A boat!" Octavian turned to the senators. "The son of Neptune wants a boat. Sea travel has never been the Roman way, but he isn't much of a Roman!"

"Octavian," Reyna said sternly, "a boat is little enough to ask. And providing no other aid seems very-"

"Traditional!" Octavian exclaimed. "It is very traditional. Let us see if these questers have the strength to survive without help, like true Romans!" Nico almost felt that he didn't want the quest to succeed. Was there some reason that he was trying to sabotage their chances? The world's chances? Did he understand that he was playing with people's lives here? He wanted to say something but that wasn’t his place. Nico was barely even invited to this meeting, the son of Hades didn’t wasn’t to overstay his welcome.

More muttering filled the chamber. The senators' eyes moved back and forth between Octavian and Reyna, watching the test of wills. Reyna straightened in her chair. Nico knew that she wasn't pleased with this blatant show of disrespect, but he could also tell that she wasn't going to start something in front of the entire Senate.

"Very well," she said tightly. "We'll put it to a vote. Senators, the motion is as follows: The quest shall go to Alaska. The senate shall provide full access to the Roman navy docked at Alameda. No other aid will be forthcoming. The three adventurers will survive or fail on their own merits. All in favor?" Every senator's hand went up. Nico didn't vote, as he wasn't a Senator. He was hoping that they would have more support from the legion for this quest. It didn't make sense to spare expense because this was a quest that would benefit the whole of humanity, but he just glad that they were left with something they could use.

"The motion is passed." Reyna turned to Frank. "Centurion, your party is excused. The senate has other matters to discuss. And, Octavian, if I may confer with you for a moment."

After the meeting Nico collected his weapons from Terminus and went into the city and placed a call back home to Bruce and the others, tucking himself in an alley for privacy. He felt that he needed to talk to them because he knew that things were starting and soon it would be time for him to leave. He probably had a few more days tops. Depending on what Reyna needed from him, he wasn't sure if he would have time to go home first. The son of Hades would have to wait a day or two into their quest before he left so that they would have enough time to free death before he got too far. He needed the monsters that he killed in the pit to stay dead for longer than a few minutes.

"Nico? What's going on?" Bruce answered on the second ring.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. Long story short, they found out that Thanatos has been captured and that the barrier between life and death is weakening. They've called a quest of people to go to Alaska and free him and kill a giant by the 24th or else Camp Jupiter will be wiped out. Also Gaea is definitely rising, the giants are rising, and I have to stay here a few more days to help out." He had meant to open with hello, but he found himself rushing through the point so he wouldn't have time to break down and tell him what was really going on.

"What? What does that even mean? Whose Gaea? A quest? Alaska? Nico what is going on?" Nico should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

"Gaea is the primordial of Earth. She is the Earth, basically. And she's really bad news. She wants to wipe out all demigods and gods so that her children, the Giants, can rule. There is one Giant for every major god. Each Giant is built and was created to oppose that specific god. The one that they are going after is the one that is meant to oppose my father." He explained slowly. This was going to be a lot to take in.

"Will he come after you?" Nico considered that for a minute. He doubted that he would waste his time on him when he could be going after Hazel. They had unfinished business. Plus, he would already be doomed in the pit.

"I doubt it." Nico cringed-- he should have given context.

"What is that supposed to mean? Why do you doubt it?"

"He'll probably be too busy going after my sister."

"Bianca?" He asked. Then he remembered that they didn't know about Hazel.

"No... I forgot you don't know..." Nico rubbed his hand down his face. This was going to be a longer conversation than he thought it would be.

"I don't know what? Nico, you aren't making much sense." Bruce sounded worried.

"I have a half-sister named Hazel who is going on the quest to kill the Giant with Percy and Frank."

"Half-sister? Since when do you have a half-sister?"

"Since a few days before I had to guide her to California..." Nico replied, wincing in anticipation of his reaction. There was a long sigh before Bruce responded.

"You know what... We'll talk about this later. Now about that quest, are you involved?"

"Indirectly, yes."

"But you're not going?" He clarified.

"No, only groups of three."

"Ok, why do you have to stay then? What is this about the camp being wiped out?"

"I need to stay and help defend the camp. I especially need to stay if the quest fails and death remains captured." He lied. Most likely, he will have left for Tartarus by then.

"So death is in Alaska?"

"Yeah because that is there that giant is. He has to stay in his homeland in order to stay immortal. Also, Alaska is the land beyond the gods so they are hoping demigods aren't crazy enough to go there."

"I didn't know that there was such a thing." Bruce sounded intrigued.

"Yeah, me neither until a few days ago."

"Nico, when are you coming home?" Bruce changed the subject. He hesitated.

"It's hard to say," the demigod said trying to keep the guilt out of his voice. Nico didn't want to make any commitments that he wouldn't end up keeping.

"Try." Bruce insisted.

"Well, the attack is on the 25th Annabeth is going to be in her way to find Percy around that time as well, then it depends on whether or not the Romans and Greeks get along. If they do, It shouldn't be long. If they don't... I don't know. They will probably have me executed."

"That better be a joke." Nico didn't reply.

"Nico." His voice was stern and edged with annoyance that stemmed from worry.

"I'll be ok. I'll shadow travel out if it comes to that." There was an uncomfortable pause and Bruce considered everything that he had said.

"Keep in touch. Do you hear me? If you aren't back by the 26th I'm coming over there after you." He warned.

"Don't bother, Bruce." the son of Hades sighed. "The camp is magically protected. You won't be able to find it on your own."

"So you would have me do nothing?" Nico didn't reply, not having a good answer.

"Listen, if you don't come back by the 26th or if I stop hearing from you before then for any reason, I am coming over there to find you. You understand?"

"I understand."

"Be careful, and be safe." Bruce pleaded.

"I will be. Bruce..." Nico said before he could hang up.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, for everything." He had to control his voice because he was on the verge of tears. He wasn't sure if he was ever going to see them again and it was just now sinking in the enormity of what he had to do. And the end result.

"You're welcome, Nico. Take care of yourself." Nico di Angelo hung up the phone and let the tears fall.

Chapter Text

[For clarification that is just the chapter title. I'm not saying goodbye!]

After Nico ended the call with Bruce, he headed back towards the Senate House. He didn't have a particular destination in mind, but he knew he wanted to be alone. The Senate House seemed like the best place to do that. He had a few decisions to make still that couldn't be left until later. The first thing he needed to figure out was how to say goodybye.

Should he even say goodbye? Nico knew that he wouldn't be able to do it in person, of course. That would be like asking to be stopped. He had to do it in some way that The Wayne family would only see after he left-- when it was already too late. The only thing that made sense would be to write letters. Of course, the demigod's penmanship wasn't the best because of the dyslexia, but he felt that he owed it to them to try.

Nico once again dropped his weapons off with Terminus on his way back over the Pomeranian line. The statue god was less than pleased to see him, but Nico tried not to let it bother him. Terminus could probably tell he didn't belong in the camp, being a Greek in all. Nico kept his head down and dodged a group of Senators who were all still complaining about Frank's promotion. No one paid the ambassador any mind.

The son of Hades hadn't made it too far in before he spotted Hazel, Frank, and Percy heading back towards the border. he ducked behind a column as they passed. He was in no shape to give a proper send-off and he didn't want to ruin her image of him by losing his composure. They passed him by without incident. They looked like they'd been friends for ages, not just a few days. Nico's heart ached with both longing and fear. He wished he had that kind of connection with someone. He never seemed to stay anywhere long enough to make friends while Percy didn't even have to try.

He was happy for Hazel and her new friends, but he was also afraid. A lot was riding on this quest and the risks were high, especially since the dead weren't staying dead. The possibility that they may fail or that they may not return, weighed heavily on his heart. Hazel was the only other Child of the god of death and he didn't want to lose her too. Nico watched them go, wishing he had the courage to give Hazel a proper send-off.

After the questers left, Nico retreated deep within the Senate House and found a quiet place to think. He tucked himself into a calm courtyard behind a pillar out of the way of any foot traffic. New Rome was bustling all the time, there were few places where he could be truly alone. He just wanted to be able to hear himself think. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts, looking to see if there was anyone else he wanted to call. There was nobody that he felt he could give a satisfactory farewell through a call. They deserved better than that. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how much he owed the people in his life. He couldn't just fall off the face of the Earth and leave them guessing about what happened.

[Trigger Warning: Suicide]

Nico had seen too many families grieving the loss of a loved one who had left the world too soon, some by accident and some by their own hand. It was debatable what a trip to Tartarus would count as. They would ask themselves how it could have happened and why the loved one would want to leave them. Hadn’t they done enough? Why hadn’t they one come to them when they were hurting?

Nico couldn't stand the thought of leaving his friends and family in that state of confusion and without closure. They didn't deserve that. He had to tell them something if only to spare himself from the guilty feeling. He didn't want to add gross negligence of human bonds to his long list of regrets. That decided it, he had to make sure that the people he cared about knew what happened. He had to let them know somehow.

No w he just had to decide how. He could call them, but he didn't know if he could keep it together. Would he be able to keep his resolve when he could hear the hurt in their voices. Could he really stand to make all of those phone calls? He could text them, he supposed, hut he felt that that was too impersonal. Plus, the halfbloods didn't have phones and many of them couldn't read. Texting wouldn't be a good idea either. That only left writing letters. This would also mean that he could leave the letters for people to find and they wouldn't have time to stop him. It was the best option that he could come up with on such short notice.

Now he just needed some paper. He went looking and there was a scribe's station with some paper in it. The scribe was nice enough to give him some paper and lend him a pen. Nico retreated back to the quiet courtyard and found a shaded spot underneath a tree where he could sit undisturbed. Nico settled down and started writing farewell letters to the people in his life. There weren't many, maybe, but they were loyal.

Nico wrote the first letter to Reyna, hoping that she didn't find him writing them. How do you say goodbye to someone who you aren't really close to? Would it be inappropriate to make jokes? The son of Hades was no good at goodbyes, he usually just left and let people figure out what happened on their own. It wasn't going to be the most eloquent, but Nico would try to make sure that the letters made sense. Hopefully they would even be legible.

Dear Praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata,

Thank you for helping Hazel and me when I came asking for your assistance. I wish I had the means to thank you in some substantial way, but I don't. So, I'm going to do it in the only way I know how-- closing the doors.

This is the way it's meant to be, Reyna, you have to see that. It even says that the giants are meant to kill me. You know what happens when you try to cheat prophecies. I am deciding that this is how I want to go, by closing the doors and doing some real good.

I'm sorry I broke the promise. I'm sorry that I lied to you about so many things. Many of which will become clear if everything goes how I think it will. I'll see you sometime, ok? Hopefully later rather than sooner.

Nico di Angelo, Ambassador of Pluto, King of Ghosts

INico folded up the letter and stuck in his pocket out of sight. He planned on sticking it to her door and letting her find it or maybe sliding it through her mail slot or under the door. He'd do it tonight before he left. After that he would return to Gotham to drop off the letter he had written for Ivy. After that, he would drop a letter off at Camp for Thalia to find. Then he would go back to the manor for the night and rest up for the trip the next day.

Nico hadn't been planning on going back to the manor but he felt that he had to. The demigod didn't want his last conversation with Bruce to be over the phone. He couldn't just leave it at that. Plus, he didn't want them to come to California looking for him only to find themselves in the middle of a fight between the Greeks and Romans. He couldn't let them get caught up in their bloody war. While he was back home he would take the time to leave the messages and prepare. As it was, he didn't have any of his provisions with him so he'd need to swing by the manor before he left for the pit anyway. He'd go home after he finished writing the letters.

The next letter he addressed to a certain Huntress that would definitely kill him if by some miracle the pit didn't.

Dear Thalia,

I'm leaving this letter to you so that you have something to glare at as you spit obscenities. What I have to say-- you're not going to like.

I know where the doors of death are. I know that there are two places that the doors must be anchored-- the mortal world and the Underworld. I don't know where they are in the mortal world, but the other side of the doors is in Tartarus. There are only a handful of people who know this.

The only way to close the doors is to free them from both sides. This means that someone has to be in Tartarus to both clear out the monsters and break the chains. Someone who knows the Underworld better than anyone else and isn't necessary for the quests. Someone like me.

It has to be me. I know you'd offer your help in a heartbeat if you knew that this was the only way, which is why I didn't tell you my plan. The world still needs you, Thalia Grace. Also, I am very sorry that I knew about Jason and kept him a secret from you.

I bet you aren't so keen on stopping me now, huh? By the time you will have seen this note, I will already be in Tartarus, so don't bother trying to stop me. I can do this Thalia, or I'll die trying. It's the only way and you know it. This is our one chance to end the war before it even starts. So this is what I have to do.

I know you'll be angry and hurt, but I hope you won't stay mad forever, since that's as long as you've got. I've made my choice and I'll wait for eternity if I have to in order to see you again.

Fearfully,
Nico di Angelo

The son of Hades folded this note so that it was small enough to fit in his pocket. He considered if there was anyone else he might want to say goodbye to. Was there anyone else in this world that cared about him? There was the bat fam, obviously, but a note wouldn't cut it for them. He'd find another way to say goodbye to them. He'd figure it out when he went back to the maor.

He tapped the pen on his chen, enjoying the soft thump it made in his skull. He could probably stand to say goodbye to the Young Justice team, and Ivy didn't deserve to worry either. Nico laid his head in his hands for a few minutes. This was taking longer than he had expected and it was really emotionally exhausting. It kept reminding him that he really didn't want to give this up. He finally had a home, friends, and a family that cared for him. He finally had something to lose.

"Are you ok?" Nico looked up and saw Gwen watching him from the corridor that led out to the forum. He guessed she had probably been looking for a place to be alone too.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I don't sleep well in new places." Nico replied yawning. She nodded, seeming to understand.

"What are you doing?" She asked, pointing at the pen and paper.

"I'm writing a thank you note to Reyna for her hospitality. And to a few other people who have saved my hide over the years. What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Terminus said you hadn't left yet and asked me to check on you. He wants you to come collect your weapons." She smiled apologetically.

"Wouldn't want to keep him waiting, now would I? Hold on." Nico pulled the stupid toga over his head and scrunched it into a ball. He considered the ball with distaste for a moment before he decided to send it back to the secret room in the manor via shadows. He drop kicked the infernal thing into the nearest shadow and it disappeared. Gwen gasped but seemed more amused than frightened.

"Let's go." Nico said as he made his way over to her. She nodded, still looking at the spot where the toga had disappeared. Nico grabbed his weapons from the border god who berated him for taking advantage of his time. Nico restrained himself from pointing out that he had nothing but time. Gwen left the ambassador to his own devices. She was moving her things out of the barracks today and into the college dorms.

Nico made his way through the city until he found himself at the praetor houses. He briefly considered just leaving the notes right then and there, but he decided that it was too risky. Reyna could see it before he left and tried to stop him. She had the resources to make sure that he didn't leave this camp. He couldn't afford to have that happen, especially since it would mean that the Bat family would be on their way to Califorian to get him. Nico didn't want to know what would happen if Batman met the Roman pantheon. That seemed like a bad idea.

Nico stopped at a café and sat at one of their tables to finish his letters. He started the one to Ivy first.

Dear Ivy,

I want you to know that I really appreciate everything that you have done for me. I can honestly say that I wouldn't have gotten this far without you. Thank you.

I'm sending this letter because I have found myself in a situation that I don't expect to get out of. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with the Wayne family. They're really good people. They've done so much for me and I will be eternally grateful for that.

This problem has to do with my father's side of the family. They want me and all the people I care about dead and I can't let that happen. In this particular situation, my best option is to take one for the team. Even if it means giving up my life.

I just want you to understand that I know what I'm doing and that I'll see you again someday. You know, if you believe in the afterlife. Goodbye Ivy, thank you for reminding me of what it is like to have a mom again.

Gratefully,
Nico di Angelo

He had tried his best to explain the situation in mortal terms but it didn't really translate. It sort of made it sound like Hades was a Mafioso or something with the rest of his mafia family out to get him. The son of Hades just hoped that she would get the gist of what he meant. He really was going to miss her.

The final letter was the one I was dreading most-- mostly because he didn't know what to say.

Dear Team,

I know we didn't get off to a good start, and I'm sorry about that. You all seem like really good people and I am honored to have gotten to work with you.

I'm writing this letter to let you know that I am not in need of rescue. I know it is in your natures to come rushing into battle at the slightest sign of trouble. I respect you for that and admire how much you care. I just thought that I'd save you some time and tell you that I'm going to disappear for a long time and that I'm not in trouble.

I have a mission that I haven taken upon myself. This mission is a solo mission in a place you couldn't follow if you tried. The other important thing that I should mention about this mission is that I don't plan on coming back. So don't bother coming after me-- there's no point in saving a corpse.

I'm making this choice. It is my decision and am going into this knowing fully the dangers and risks. I believe, however, that the risk to myself personally is of little consequence in comparison to the reward. I wish I could tell you more, but just know that this quest requires the abilities that only I have. That is why I couldn't involve you.

I just wanted to say thank you all for your hospitality and that I don't need, or want, your help. Should I never return to Gotham, you'll know what happened.

Wistfully,
Ghost

This letter Nico folded up and put in his other pocket. He didn't like how it sounded but there was no good way to say goodbye to a team who were mostly indifferent to your existence. Indifferent or not, he didn't want to inadvertently lead them into the middle of a bloodbath or worse-- to the edge of the pit itself.That being said, he couldn't tell them what the mission was. They'd never believe him even if he did try to explain it to them. Or maybe they would. They had run into some pretty crazy things throughout their careers if Dick's stories were anything to go by. Nico couldn't just keep the team in the dark either-- they might get worried. He couldn't even give them bits of the truth either because then they might start digging. How could he word this in a way that would keep them out of danger?

With his letters written as best, he could manage, Nico was ready to go place all the notes where those specific people would find them. The son of Hades decided that it would be best to lay out all the letters tonight and then head back to the manor to rest for a day or two before he had to head to the pit. He needed to be at full strength and he wanted to spend a little time with the bat family. Nico wanted his last days on the surface to be spent with his chosen family. He hadn't gotten to know them nearly as well as he would have liked to. They were still a mystery to him in many ways. He should have reached out to them more on a personal level and gotten to know them. Now he would die without ever really knowing who they are. Nico had hoped to go into the afterlife without regrets, but he figured that no one ever truly does.

He also needed time to draft a letter to Hades. There were so many things he wanted to say to his father but he could never find the strength to start the letter. Nico didn't know whether to curse him, thank him, or apologize. Or maybe try to do all three at once. The pair definitely had their differences, but Nico know that Hades cared about him in his own convoluted way. He allowed Bianca to Iris message Percy from the Underworld because she was worried about her brother. He allowed Nico to stay with him when he had nowhere else. He fought alongside him in the Battle of Manhattan.

Nico also knew that he wasn't exactly a the best parent either, though he was improving. He almost melted him, tricked me into putting Percy in danger and ruined their relationship, and he told his son that he wished Bianca had survived. Hades still saw his son in the same light that he did when the boy was twelve. There was also the fact that Hades had never publically claimed him.

The demigod knew that he also wasn't the easiest person in the world to deal with. Nico snuck a soul out of the Underworld. He fell off the face of the Earth for months at a time, failed to protect his sister, and disobeyed him frequently. Then there was the fact that Nico had helped Percy defeat him in his own realm andobtain the Curse of Achilles.

Nico knew that Hades wasn't the most fatherly god, but he did his best. Nico owed him at least that much credit. He deserved a note like everyone else. Hades isn't perfect-- no parent is-- but he tried his best to teach his son to be strong and independent. He made him tough so that he would survive. In our world, that was fatherly love.

With the letters in hand, Nico made his way to Reyna's house to drop it off. He already had everything he needed on his person so he could just drop the letter and go. Nico wouldn't have to risk Reyna reading it before he left and trying to stop him. Reyna's place wasn't far from the café. The house was white with a wrap-around porch and blooming flower boxes. It kind of made him wonder if Reyna did her own gardening or if she had people to do that for her. Nico wouldn't imagine that leading New Rome left much time for gardening.

The son of Hades stepped cautiously up onto the shaded porch and tried to picture Reyna coming up these steps after a long day. He couldn't picture Reyna living domestically. Cooking her own meals, relaxing on a couch, playing fetch with her hounds. The daughter of Bellona was a warrior at heart and Nico doubted suburban life would satisfy her for long. Still, it was a nice house.

Nico slipped the note through the mail slot and looked around one last time at the hustle and bustle of New Rome life before stepping back into the shadows-- ready to deliver the rest of his letters to their recipients. Nico landed a few blocks from Toxic Acres, deciding that it would be best if he walked in. Nico kept to the shadows as he edged his way through the rusted gates of what he's sure used to be a lovely gated community.

There was no animal life in Toxic Acres. Not even rats dared tread the fuming ground. No alley cats or raccoons rifled through the abandoned garbage bins. No birds chirped or flew overhead and even the flies seemed to know enough to steer clear. Since it was off the main road, Toxic acres was a very quiet neighborhood. As Nico trekked through the abandoned streets, the only sound was his own footsteps but even they seemed muffled by the oppressive silence that cloaked this place. It was completely still-- until it wasn't.

"Stop right there." Came a masculine voice behind him. Nico froze in place, surprised that this person managed to sneak up on him. The man's voice was warped, probably by some kind of breathing apparatus. Nico did a quick soul search and his heart sank when it was none other than Connor Kent.

"Show us your hands." Artemis came up in front of him with her bow drawn. His heart leaped to his throat and he through of some very colorful language. This was the last thing he needed at the moment.

"What's this all about?" The newest Wayne boy asked, complying. He didn't remember deciding to play the dumb card, but it was too late to turn back now.

"Take a wild guess." She spat back. She really needed to work on this hostility. Of course, she didn't know that he was Ghost, but she could still work on not hating everyone the moment she meets them. Or maybe it was because he was in a Supervillain's territory. Yeah, that was probably the reason.

"What's your name?" Kaldur cut in, taking control of the situation he also had a rebreather on his face to filter out the toxins. Nightwing had yet to make an appearance but Nico doubted that the team was in Gotham without him. They were probably looking for that mystery boy from before. Aka Nico di Angelo.

"Nico di Angelo," he answered truthfully. He was kind of a public figure now so it wouldn't help his case to lie.

"You're that new Wayne kid!" Kid Flash shot into view, stopping next to the green archer.

"Oh right! I forgot about him." Artemis eyed him over, probably recognizing him from his first gala.

"Nightwing, you're our resident Gothamite. How do you want to proceed?" Kaldur asked, delegating. Nightwing landed in front of him, blocking his view of the archer and the speedster. From his expression, Nico knew that he was pissed.

"What are you doing here? This place is the territory of Poison Ivy. The air isn't safe to breathe." Dick glared at his younger brother but the son of Hades couldn't tell if there was any real anger behind it. He knew the bats wouldn't like the idea of him having a relationship with Ivy. This was the reason he didn't want them to know.

"I know that. Ivy gave me the antidote." Nico said matter of factly. He knew that this would annoy them-- pretending not to understand their concern.

"Why would she do that?" Artemis asked, confused.

"She's basically like a mom to me. She's only really a threat to people who disrespect the environment or get in her way."

"Ivy? Really?" Dick cut in. He wasn't acting very much like his Nightwing persona which told Nico he was actually very upset about this. His teammates seemed confused by this reaction too.

"Look, I'm not in danger and you're making me late. Can I go now?" Nico shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and clutched the letter that was meant for the team. He briefly considered leaving it with one of them but he decided that the risk was too great. He didn't want them to see it before he left.

"No. I'll escort you back to Wayne Manor personally and have a discussion with your guardian about this." Nightwing stared him down. "You can't just hang out with an environmental terrorist."

"She's an old friend! She would never hurt me!" He argued back. Nico didn't know if he was playing the part or if he was really angry, but Nico was starting to get the feeling that it was the latter.

"You're friends with Ivy?" Kid Flash frowned, glancing back and forth between him and Nightwing. Dick had told him before that Wally knows his identity. If Wally knows that Richard and his brothers are all part of the bat fam, he probably knows that he know the secret too. That would explain the glances.

"I met her before she was... transformed." He agreed.

"So that makes her... motherly towards you?"

"I guess? I don't know why she likes me." he lied, "I just know that she does. She saved me from the Joker when I first moved here."

"You're really unlucky, aren't you?" Kid Flash said teasingly.

"Try 'has no sense of self-preservation'." Nightwing countered. Nico didn't reply. He usually did have some sense of self-preservation. Though considering what his plans were for the next two days, he couldn't argue the point on good conscience.

"Ivy's not a threat to me."

"That's not the point, number one. Number two, you have no idea what she would do if you somehow got between her and her goals." he guess he really was upset. Nico stared at him for a moment, surprised that we were actually fighting. He had never really fought with him before. Not like this, anyway. He didn't like it very much. He guessed he wasn't going to get the chance to leave Ivy her letter after all. Ihe'd just have to hope that he got the chance before his departure or that Bruce might give it to her if he were to leave it somewhere he can find it.

Now he guessed he was going to be dealing with the consequences of this over the last two days he was spending on the surface. Awesome. He knew they'd find out eventually but this was awful timing, even for him. Batman knew of the first meeting he had with Ivy and how she protected him, but he had purposely hidden thier relationship. He had no idea that Nico visited Ivy on his own time. He didn't know that he had kept Hazel there for a while, that he had spent the night, or that he was immune. Boy was he in for a surprise.

"Come on, we'll take you home." Kaldur rested his hand on his shoulder to guide him along.

"Please don't touch me. I don't like to be touched." Nico took a step back, out of Kaldur's reach.

"My apologies." The son of Hades allowed them to lead him onto the bioship and did his best to seem like this was the first time he had seen the inside. Nico couldn't bring himself to answer any questions or really engage with the team because he was too busy thinking about how disappointed Bruce was going to be. His last two days and Bruce was going to be mad at him throughout it all. The thought made Nico wish that he had never decided to come back to the manor at all.

If he had just shadow traveled to her porch, dropped the note then went straight to the Underworld he wouldn't have time to be mad at him. It was a pointless wish. The team would have recognized him as Ghost if he had just shadow traveled onto Ivy's porch and Batman would still be mad at him. Though he supposed it didn't really matter because he's going to be plenty mad at him later anyway. What does it matter if he's mad now too?

"Are you ok?" Wally asked as we were landing in the back of the extensive Wayne Manor grounds.

"I'm fine." Nico waved him off impatiently.

"You seem tense, my friend. Are you worried about how your guardian will react?"

"No." Nico answered coldly. He knew exactly how Bruce would react and he wasn't so much afraid as he was frustrated. This was less than ideal and it made him angry that his luck could possibly have been this bad. The team seemed to take this as a 'yes'.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have snuck out,” Artemis said pointedly. Nico glanced at her but didn’t respond. She wouldn’t understand even if he tried to explain the situation.

"Come on. The sooner you get it over with the better." Nightwing hit a button and the bay doors opened. Nico followed him off the ship and watched as the rest of the team disappeared into the night.

"Dick--" The son of Hades started as soon as we were alone.

"I'm tired and I don't want to discuss the rocky road of relationships between civilians and villains right now. That's a three-hour lecture at least. I'm tired from looking out for a potential villain in training that happens to be my own brother who knew we were looking for him but conveniently forgot to tell me it was him."

"I knew you wouldn't like it."

"You're right, I don't like it. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't have your back." He turned to face his younger brother, his eyes blazing. Nico had never seen him look this fired up. "We all hate that Tim pulls three all-nighters in a row with a caffeine IV but we support him." Dick was picking up speed now, "And we all hate that Damian sees everyone as beneath him but we'll still protect him and try to show him a better way." Dick was making broad gestures, desperate to make sure he got the message.

"Jason shoots people, Nico!" He didn't need to continue; he'd made his point.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"Let's just go see what Bruce has to say about all this."

"You can't just forget it?" Nico asked, only half-joking.

"'Fraid not kiddo. The team will turn in mission to Batman and then we're both cooked."

"Fine, let's just get it over with."

[Hey y'all! Please make sure to comment and tell me what you think! I'd like to know what you do or do not like about my writing so that I can improve!]

Chapter Text

Nightwing and Nico walked in silence to the manor. The tension was palpable as there was so much left to be said and neither wanted to say it. Nico knew he should be feeling shame or regret for tricking Nightwing and lying as he had for all this time. He knew that he should feel guilty and apologize, but he couldn't make himself feel remorse and he refused to make an apology that he didn't feel. That wouldn't help anyone. He knew that he had been doing what was necessary and he couldn't feel ashamed for doing what he thought was right or safe. He only wished he knew if Bruce would see it that way.

Even if Bruce didn't understand that Nico wasn't in danger and that he really felt that he was doing the right thing, he wouldn't regret the times he went to see Ivy. The son of Hades didn't regret leaving Hazel with her or hiding out at her place after the Telkhines attacked. He didn't regret getting to know her or calling on her for help. If he had the choice, he'd do it all again if he knew how much she'd help him and how important she had become to him. Though they hadn't had much time to get close, Ivy had become important to Nico and he was glad to have gotten the time to see the real her. She wasn't just a villain, she was a person who was fighting for a better planet. He respected and admired that aspect of her.

With the knowledge that he didn't regret his actions, Nico decided that he wouldn't fight with Bruce over this. If Bruce decided that he needed to pass down some punishment, the demigod would accept it without complaint. Not that there would be much time for any involved punishments like being grounded since he wasn't planning on being around for more than a couple more days. Even still, if there was some lecture Bruce wanted to give him or new restrictions he felt he needed to put in place, Nico would abide by them.

It was strange for Nico to have a parent who is so involved in his life. Though if Sally Jackson is anything to go by, Bruce really isn't all that involved either. Just more involved than Hades. It was a blessing and a curse.

Nightwing walked Nico as far as the Manors' breezeway before he split off to go down to the cave to shower and detoxify after the trip to toxic acres. Nico briefly considered showering first as well, but he figured that it was probably best to get this over with right away. He could always take a shower to cool off emotionally afterward if things went poorly. Nico stalked silently through the manor until he stood in front of Bruce's office doors.

Nico stared at the door, silently willing himself to open it. It is hard to force oneself into a situation that they knew they were going to hate. This wasn't something that would just go away, so Nico took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in." Bruce was behind his desk looking over a computer screen when the demigod stepped inside and closed the door behind him, leaning against it. A few seconds later he glanced up at him.

"Nico? Come on in. Take a seat. I'll be with you in just a moment." He didn't seem surprised to see him so Nico guessed Nightwing told him that he was back in town or something. Last Bruce knew Nico would be back by the 26th. The son of Hades hadn't even known he would be back this soon.

"No rush," Nico replied lamely and Bruce peered at him skeptically over the top of his reading glasses. Nico vaguely wondered if the glasses were actually prescription or if this was for his Bruce Wayne persona. With Bruce, you could never be sure. The billionaire stared at him through his glasses and folded his hands in front of him on the desk. It reminded Nico of one of the times Dr. Thorn had called him into his office for skipping English. Well, before he tried to sell the demigod to Kronos.

"It's never 'no rush' with you. What's going on?" Bruce took off his glasses and leaned back in his chair with a resigned sigh. Nico felt his stomach flutter. He knew that he didn't have anything to worry about from Bruce, but he didn't like the idea of being in trouble. It was never a good feeling to have someone disappointed or angry with you.

"You're not going to like it," Nico replied honestly, sinking into one of the chairs in front of Bruce's desk. He slouched, laying the back of his head against the back of the chair. The ceiling was coffered and Nico spent a few long seconds wondering how ceilings like that were built. Bruce's reply drew his attention back to the present.

"Probably not. Tell me anyway."

"I was the boy that the team spotted visiting Ivy. I've been keeping in touch with her since the time she saved me from the Joker. I wasn't going to tell you but I stopped by Toxic Acres tonight on my way home and the team caught me."

"Nico--" The son of Hades held up his hands to stop the physically older man. He wanted to get everything out before he could get cold feet.

"Please just let me finish." Bruce waved him on tolerantly.

"I know that you think she's dangerous but she's saved me several times now. She gave Hazel a place to stay when I first brought her back. She patched me up and gave me a place to stay after the Telkhine attack. She rescued me from Slade-- well she saved Ghost-- but only because I asked her to. She's not a threat to me." Nico took a breath and rubbed his hands over his face to settle himself before continuing.

"I know that I should have told you or asked permission or something. I just didn't want you to keep me from visiting her. I'm not trying to make excuses, I'll accept the consequences. I just want you to understand what I did and why."

"Great, now can I speak?" Bruce leaned forward. He didn't look angry but Nico knew from experience that looks could be deceiving.

"Yeah," He replied though he knew it wasn't really a question.

"I know about all of that."

"What?" Nico felt my stomach sink.

"I knew you were keeping in touch with her, at least. I didn't know about Hazel or anything like that, but I knew you had been building a rapport with Ivy. I did have a tracker on your phone, after all. The one that you so cleverly disabled. Remember?" Bruce met his gaze evenly and he could only nod. If he knew, why hadn't he ever said anything?

"I always keep track of you boys. With all the trouble you all get in, it's a necessity." Bruce stretched. "I kept tabs on you when I could, just in case, but I was never really worried."

"Really? Why not?"

"I had never seen Ivy so gentle and protective over any human being before. I couldn't imagine her hurting you. I thought that-- if I let things play out-- maybe you could bring out a better side of Ivy and maybe we could use that to reform her someday." Nico sat staring at the vigilante for a moment. There was nothing that he could think of to say. Bruce had known all this time and just let it happen because he believed that Nico could help make Ivy a better person. The son of Hades didn't have any idea how he should feel about that. On one hand, he was grateful that he didn't intervene, but on the other, he didn't like that he was an unwitting part of his social experiment.

"So you're not mad at me?" Nico asked carefully.

"No, I'm not mad. You should have told me-- yes. But I know why you didn't. I do want to know when you are going to see her from now on, though." Nico nodded, just relieved that he wasn't mad. He was so relieved that he found himself choking up. He had been so prepared to have to sit through a lecture that he didn't know what to do with his emotions now that he wouldn't have to. He was so happy that his last two days wouldn't be spent being grounded and coughed to clear his throat. Nico couldn't cry now, that would make Bruce concerned or suspicious.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, I just swallowed wrong. If we're done here, I really need to shower."

"Yeah it's getting late we'll talk more at dinner. I want to know everything about the Roman Camp and this upcoming war. Also why you've come back so early. You've kept a lot close to your chest and I feel like I have no idea what's going on with you at any given time."

"I'm sorry about that. I'll tell you anything you want to know." Nico agreed, knowing that wasn't entirely true.

"I know you've already told us a little bit, but I'm going to want a full recap. Just to make sure that I have a good grip on everything. And I want to know more about Hazel."

"Yeah, sure. Just... after I shower." Bruce chuckled and dismissed him. Nico left to go detox after his trip to Toxic Acres. He was very pleased with how the conversation went. He had dodged a figurative bullet. Nico took a long hot shower, savoring the feeling. He knew that the hot shower would leave him feeling drowsy for a little while and then freezing once he dried off, but at the moment Nico couldn't bring himself to care.

If he was going to die sometime this week, Nico felt he should be able to indulge a bit. He finally got out and dried off, changing into some nice clean clothes. A pair of black sweatpants and a long-sleeved black shirt and a black hoodie. All items were chosen for their insulating properties. He looked at himself in the mirror and almost wanted to laugh. He looked like he was wearing one of Bruce's sweatshirts with how big it was on him.

After that, Nico headed down to dinner. He was sure he was a little late, but he wasn't worried about it. He'd had a busy last couple of days. They'd understand that he was still on California time and just tired.

"Good of you to join us, Master Nico," Alfred said as the middle Wayne child walked in.

"Are you cold?" Bruce motioned to his outfit. Nico blushed but he really was cold. He couldn't feel his toes and his hands were freezing but he was pretty used to that by now.

"I'm always cold," he replied, taking a seat next to Damian.

"Take a hot shower," Dick suggested. Nico chuckled lightly as he looked over the meal.

"I just did."

"And you're still cold?" Tim cut in incredulously. He looked over everyone who was looking at him with concern.

"I'm always cold. My body doesn't retain heat. I can get hot for a short time but that just means I have a long way to plunge. It's almost worse."

"We need to get that checked out. That could be signs of a serious medical problem." Bruce stressed. Nico grimaced uncomfortably, he didn't like it when people started talking doctors or medicine.

"Or a symptom of being a child of Hades."

"Really? Why would that have anything to do with it?"

"If you ever met my father you'd understand. Plus my biological sister had that problem too." He replied uneasily. Nico didn't want to open himself up to this line of questioning but being evasive would make them more curious.

"Does Hazel have that problem?" Bruce cut in, driving the conversation. Nico was caught off guard by the bluntness of the question and it took him a second to formulate a response.

"No, she doesn't. Though she wouldn't have this problem." He replied, not thinking about how they didn't know anything about her and what he said wouldn't make any sense to them.

"Why not? She's a child of Hades, isn't she?" The son of Hades had Bruce's full attention now.

"She'a child of Pluto. Hades' Roman form."

"What's the difference?" Jason cut in biting a piece of steak off the end of a hunting knife.

"There's a pretty big difference, actually," Nico replied, setting his utensils down. Nico knew this was probably going to be a long explanation.

"As you probably know, Ancient Greece came before Ancient Rome. That means that the Greek Pantheon also came first."

"So how did the Roman pantheon come about?" Tim asked. His eyes were alert with his endless curiosity.

"When the Roman empire emerged the Roman people stole the Greek gods and modified them to better suit their needs. In short, they made them more militaristic-- more severe. Well, most of them anyway. Athena went from being the goddess of battle strategy to the goddess of arts and crafts but I digress."

"Goddess of arts and crafts?" Damian sneered.

"Like the patron goddess of Hobby Lobby?" Jason joked. Nico winced and hoped the goddess didn't smite him where he sat.

"More or less." He agreed. "Believe me, Athena doesn't like it either."

"So how did Hades change?"

"Hades is more welcoming. The afterlife is a pretty universal concept so he doesn't change too much. Pluto is colder, less forgiving."

"I don't think I'd like him very much," Bruce muttered.

"Most people wouldn't." Nico agreed. Hazel had told me of her meetings with him and he sounded alright by godly parent standards. He cared about her, at least. Though he did curse her mother for her greed so that kind of evened it all back out.

"Have you met him? Pluto, I mean." Bruce pressed. Nico shuddered at the thought. His relationship with Hades was tense at best. He didn't even want to imagine what Pluto would make of him.

"No. And Hazel hasn't met Hades. Greeks and Romans do not mix." He replied, taking a drink.

"You said the afterlife is pretty much universal, right?" Tim spoke up. It was hard to tell sometimes if he was listening or not because sometimes he would just stare at you even if you weren't the one speaking. It was a little unnerving at times. Though his gaze was always intensely focused and it made the son of Hades wonder if he could see into his soul. He reminded him of Rachel sometimes.

"Yeah. Most cultures have lore about some sort of afterlife-- even if that lore says that there's just more life after life." He agreed.

"Life after life?" Jason frowned.

"Yeah, reincarnation and stuff."

"So if your father's power stays the same in both forms, does that mean that Hazel has the same abilities?" Tim acted like the deviation hadn't happened.

"No. Hazel doesn't have any of the same powers that I do. Hades and Pluto both are the gods of the Underworld, yes. However, they also control all the riches under the Earth. Hazel can control gold, silver, gemstones-- anything considered valuable that can be found underground. Between the two of us we represent both of our father's spheres of control; death and riches." Nico explained carefully. He wanted to keep Hazel's curse out of this. That wasn't his secret to tell.

"That's amazing." Bruce breathed.

"Yeah. Super." He agreed.

"You say that as though it's not." Dick eyed him closely.

"Let's just say that our powers come with more drawbacks than most. I'm a walking talking corpse who nobody wants around and Hazel has it just as bad if not worse. Her powers got her and her mother killed. So I'm sorry if I can't get excited over it." Nico didn't mean to get upset, but once he had started ranting all his suppressed anger boiled over.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hit a sore subject." Dick backed off. Nico shrugged him off. It wasn't like he meant to.

"For what it's worth, we want you around." Tim gave him a small smile which Nico returned it gratefully. This is what he would die to save. Moments like these. Not just his own memories, but all future moments like this for other demigods.

"So what happened to you staying to help out with war preparations?" Bruce asked, cutting into his steak.

"I was going to stay and help, but honestly I'm mostly in the way. The Romans are a well-oiled machine and I'm the Greek piece that doesn't have a place in their puzzle. Plus there's the fact that, once Percy shows back up at camp he'll probably recognize me and tell them that I was going back and forth between the camps."

"Though if negotiations go well, wouldn't that be overlooked?" Tim cut in.

"It's more likely that they would have me executed on principle. The Greeks would then retaliate on principal and I would be the sole reason for the second civil war. No thank you."

"Sounds like it's better that you lay low for a while," Jason said. Nico nodded in agreement.

"Tell me more about the Romans. Tell me about this new camp that you've found. Tell me about the people, the quest, everything." Bruce insisted after the conversation lulled. So the demigod told him everything he could. Nico told him as much as he could about the whole situation; even mentioning the doors of death. Though he told them that there would have to be an entire expedition of demigods and that he would be needed elsewhere-- in the Underworld and collecting runaway spirits and souls. And they believed him.

After the long debriefing was done, Nico headed up to my room to get a good night's sleep. Before he could get ready for bed, Nico remembered that he still had a letter in the clothes he had worn this afternoon. Nico went into his bathroom and grabbed the letter for Thalia out of the pocket of his jeans. He still had to find a time and a place to drop it that Thalia would see it. He decided that he would try to see her in his dreams and hope that would tell him where the Hunters were.

It took him a long time to fall asleep that night. He couldn't get comfortable with everything that was going on and his looming fate. Nico wondered what it's like to be dead. He knew what the dead were like, of course. They were attached to their old lives and old routines. They had a hard time letting go. They were judged and sorted then they stagnated until they finally faded. Thus was true for all spirits in all the fields. It may take thousands of years, but souls have limits too. The souls that expire lose themselves to time. Some deteriorate faster than others. Some stay stranded on the banks of the Styx until their spirit can no longer hold on to the Erebros and are forced to let go. He wasn't so sure what happens to them after that.

Even if his soul made it out of the pit and to the banks, even if he was judged and made it to Elysium, even if everything went right-- he'd still eventually fade into nothing. Get to the point where no one remembers him-- living or dead-- and he'd truly die. Perhaps the Mexicans were right. There are two deaths. The death of the body, and the death that comes when no one remembers you. The death of your memory. The death of your spirit.

Nico couldn't tell what lies beyond the Underworld-- beyond the afterlife and it terrified him. People think that just because he was a son of Hades that he would have all the answers. \ They think that death doesn't scare him but it does. Of course, it does. The death of the body isn't what scares him. It's the death of the soul. Knowing that someday he will cease to exist on any. If you're smart, it scares you too.

When he finally did fall asleep, it took him a while to wade through dreamland to find Thalia because he hadn't been thinking about her when he fell asleep. When he did find her he was pleased to see that she was teaching a young daughter of Aphrodite how to fire a bow and arrow. She was at camp then. He watched as the girl-- who couldn't have been older than eight-- took a shot and missed. She huffed in frustration, glaring at the target as though it had done it on purpose.

"That's alright. Try again." The camper knocked another arrow and took up a stance. Nico don't know a thing about archery, but she looked fine to him.

Thalia adjusted the girl's arm. "Keep your bow arm straight. Loose in the pause between breaths."

"Loose?" The girl frowned but didn't take her eye off the target.

"Yeah, fire. Bows existed long before gunpowder or cannons so the term used to be loose. Like, let loose your arrow." Thalia explained awkwardly. "The older hunters use that term. Sorry." The girl didn't reply. Instead, she took a deep breath, released it, then fired. Before the arrow could meet the target he was yanked into a different scene. This in itself was unusual because he normally had some control over where he went in dreams. It was almost like someone had sent him here on purpose.

In this vision, Nico was standing on top of a huge rock in the middle of a field of grass. He looked around and saw Hazel clamoring up into the rock, covered in tiny scratches and looking disoriented.

"Can't grow on this, can you?" She shouted towards the field. "Go away you bunch of weeds leave me alone!"

"Schist..." the grass hissed. Nico frowned, not used to grass talking, much less cursing. Hazel didn't seem to be expecting this response either.

"Excuse me?"

"Schist! Big pile of schist!" Before Hazel could respond little winged plant babies materialized out of the field. What caught his eyes were the dog-like teeth. The creature bared its teeth and he was pulled somewhere else.

This time it looked like he had stayed in the same place but now it was dark. The night of the 20th, if he was right. That would mean that this happened a few hours ago. Or that it was currently happening. Nico found himself on a rock outcropping looking down at a run-down shop in the middle of nowhere. When he looked around this time, he could see Percy, Hazel, and Frank hunkered down and watching the shop as though it might attack them.

"Let's go to the store," Hazel said. "If there's a goddess inside, maybe she can help us."

"Except a bunch of snake things are guarding the hill now," Frank said. Nico scanned the hill that he gestured to but it was too dark for me to see anything in the grass. "And that burning rainbow might come back." Burning rainbow? He wasn't sure what that meant but it sounded like a particular goddess might be involved. There can't be that many beings that utilize the magic of rainbows. Right?

"We've got to try." Hazel said looking at Percy with concern. I hadn't noticed before but Percy looked like crap. He was green in the face, pale, and trembling. If I didn't know better I would think he had the flu or something.

"Well... any goddess who throws a Ding Dong at a giant can't be bad. Let's go." Frank stood up to lead the way and the scene changed again.

This time, Nico was on the porch of the strange shop. Frank was standing a few feet away clutching a spear with a strange tip. Nico knew what it was the moment he laid eyes on it. And he knew what it could do. It was just like that dream he had about Atlas raising the skeletons at the Air and Space Museum. If Frank buried that tooth, he'd have a skeleton soldier at his command. Handy-- if he knew how to use it.

Frank made his way off the porch and out into the withered grass. Whatever he was looking for had a sort of death touch or something. When he was about halfway downhill a plume of fire came up from the grass, catching me off guard. The son of Hades couldn't see where the flame was coming from but it was low to the ground. Frank seemed to head towards the flame. He followed after him, feeling like he was meant to see what would happen next. Something had pulled him here, after all.

Frank entered a clearing and came face to face with a big frilled snake. It rose like a cobra and displayed its fringe angrily at Frank. Frank-- to his credit-- stood his ground. He didn't seem to know what to do about the snake in front of him. Plus it also seemed like he was fighting with the spear. The tip had dropped a considerable way towards the ground and Frank seemed to be struggling to keep it upright. He obviously hadn't been given an owner's manual with it.

"Stop that." Nico could see his muscles straining to lift the tip of the spear. Moments later two more monsters appeared on either side of him and the trap was sprung.

"Stay back!" Frank squeaked. "I've got... um... amazing powers and stuff." Nico couldn't tell if he was bluffing or if he was serious and his confidence didn't give anything away. Children of Mars didn't really have powers, after all. The monsters seemed to think it was a bluff too because they started circling him like they were trying to see how to make the best kill. In a last-ditch effort, Frank drove the tip of the spear into the ground. A sickening crack rang out through the clearing and Nico knew the deed was done.

The ground rumbled at Frank's feet, a fountain of dirt rose from the ground as the warrior clawed its way to the surface. It looked like a US Army soldier to me but he was no expert. The grey coloration didn't help much either. The soldier turned to the summoner-- Frank-- and waited for a command. Frank whimpered heroically and leaned on the shaft of the spear-like an old man's cane.

"Kill the basilisks! Not me!" Frank yelped out. Nico guessed it was probably a natural reaction for a guy whose own life was so fragile, but he couldn't help but chuckle to hinself. Frank the scaredy-cat. Nico didn't get to stick around to see how it ended. he was shaken awake just as the skeleton leaped into action.

[June 21st]

"Nico? Wake up man." Dick was leaning over him.

"Man it was just getting to the good part," Nico complained. His head felt like it was full of cotton candy and the only thing he could think of was those flaming snake monsters.

"You're going to miss breakfast. Alfred made French Toast."

"It's not actually French." the demigod rolled over and pulled the blanket up over his shoulder.

"What?"

"Aliter dulcia. Latin. Means 'another sweet dish'. French toast dates as far back as Ancient Rome." he replied, groggily. Nico had no idea why he knew that, but he also felt it to be true. Maybe he knew that the same way he knew how to cook.

"Why do you know that? Did they teach you that at Camp Jupiter?"

"No. They taught me how to put on a toga." Nico sat up and held his palms over his eyes. Every time he blinked, Nico saw images from his dreams. It's really disorienting.

"What?" Dick sounded confused. he waved him off. He was about to head down to breakfast but Dick stopped him before he could.

"How'd it go last night? Was Bruce mad?" He seemed genuinely concerned. Nico shook his head and stretched.

"He already knew."

"Seriously?" Dick sounded annoyed. Nico nodded, confused.

"He let me and the Young Justice team stake out Toxic Acres for weeks when he knew it was you?" He was standing now smiling in a way that wasn't at all funny.

"Yeah, I guess so." Nico agreed. He found the situation laughable but he wasn't going to tell Dick that.

"God--!" He cursed under his breath.

"Let it go, Dick. He's Batman." Nico wasn't really sure what he meant by that but Dick seemed to agree.

"He could have at least told me." Dick sighed in frustration. The son of Hades smirked.

"You're laughing at me." He accused.

"I am not!"

"You totally are! You know this is all your fault. If you hadn't been keeping secrets I wouldn't have been on that mission in the first place." Dick griped but he had no real fire behind his words.

"And deprive you all of the team bonding time?" He countered.

"Why you little!" Dick lunged at him but Nico shadow traveled to the kitchen before the angry protege could grab him. Nico settled down into his seat and grabbed the not-so-French toast off a platter. Bruce was reading the newspaper and looking over stock reports with Tim, Jason was chowing down on what was at least his second helping of french toast and Damian had his nose buried deep in a book. Nico couldn't see the cover from this angle. Dick came in a few minutes later but he didn't even look at him. The demigod was too busy drowning his food in sugary goodness. So he has a bit of a sweet tooth.

Nico looked around the table and was hit by this overwhelming sense of normalcy. It was like the Greek, Roman, and vigilante worlds were a distant nightmare. This was reality and everything else was a dream. Sometime soon he would have to wake up and face the music, but for now, he would be content to hang on to this moment as long as he could.

Chapter Text

[June 21st]

After breakfast, Nico went back upstairs to shower and change. He had a lot to do today and he needed to start now if he wanted to get everything done before he was supposed to go to the Mountain with the others. He tried not to put to much thought into it all. He couldn't say that he was dreading the point where he would have to say goodbye to the team, but he wouldn't say that anticipation was the right word either. They were mainly indifferent to him and he mostly felt the same way. The only difference is that he knew how much the team meant to his brothers. He was grateful that they had been there for his new family when they had needed support and he was grateful that they would be there to help them after he'd gone. The Bats were in good hands.

Once he had changed, Nico gathered what he'd need for the errands. First he grabbed the letters he had written to Thalia and Ivy. He'd have to put them in places where they wouldn't be noticed quickly. He didn't need them trying to stop him. He also stuffed a pouch of ambrosia in the pockets of his cargo pants since he was leaving Gotham's protective barrier. He didn't want to be caught off-guard if a monster sniffed him out. He'd gotten comfortable with the lack of mythical monsters in Gotham, but he couldn't let himself get soft. With everything that he needed, the son of Hades took a deep breath and shadow traveled to toxic acres.

He wanted to leave the letter for Ivy first because he knew where she was for sure. His dreams had told him that the Hunters were still at Camp Half-Blood, but there was no way to be sure. For one, the Hunters tended to move around frequently and didn't tend to let people know when they were leaving. There was also the fact that dreams were unreliable at the best of times. If they weren't at camp, it would take some doing to track them down.

Nico walked out of the shadows in an alley across from the house that Ivy was currently occupying. It looked almost peaceful in the dim morning, and even the toxic gases that hung over the place weren't quite as oppressive. He was surprised to realize that he was actually going to miss this place. For all its flaws, Toxic Acres had acted as a sort of safe haven for him and he would be sad to have to leave it.

The demigod approached the dilapidated house with the utmost caution. The last thing he needed was for Ivy to catch him and read the letter before he had time to leave. The whole point was for her not to notice it until it was too late for her to stop him. The good news is that there didn't seem to be any lights on inside. Maybe she was off on a mission or something. Whatever the case, Nico was grateful for her absence. Nico stalked up the porch steps and paused on the doormat, realizing that he hadn't thought about where he should hide the note.

Nico stood frozen for a few long moments as he considered his options. He could go inside and try to hide it somewhere in the house, but he was worried that he wouldn't hide it well enough or, conversely, that she'd never find it. He could put it on the porch somewhere, but then he had to worry about the elements damaging the letter. After a few moments of indecision, Nico had an idea of where he could stick the letter that she wouldn't notice immediately. He could put it under her doormat, with just the corner sticking out. It wouldn't be obvious, but she would probably see it before too long. At least, he hoped so.

Nico gently pulled up the edge of the rotting welcome mat and slipped the letter underneath. He left a small corner poking out and the white clashed with the dark rotted deck boards. She'd definitely notice it whenever she looked down. Hopefully, she'd take a little while to notice it. When the letter was in place, Nico pictured Thalia and prayed to Hermes, the god of travelers, that he would land far enough away from the center of their camp that the hunters wouldn't kill him. Nico shut his eyes tight and crossed his fingers as he stepped into the shadows. Hopefully he wouldn't end up in someone's bedroom or the Hunter's cabin.

Nico kept his eyes closed when he emerged, waiting to get shot or for someone to yell at him. Hopefully, he wasn't somewhere private. When nothing happened, Nico slowly opened his eyes and found himself in front of a very young and very surprised huntress. The son of Hades didn't recognize her so she must have been fairly new.

"Who- who are you? What do you want?" She aimed an arrow at him but her posture was sloppy and her body was shaking. What was she doing out here on her own? Nico raised his hand in surrender. Her eyes darted to the letter in his hand and back to his face. Nico hoped he seemed unassuming enough that she wouldn't hear him out.

"My name is Nico di Angelo and I have a letter for your lieutenant, Thalia. She's my cousin." Nico explained gently. Thalia had once told him that the little ones were the most trigger happy. He would have thought it had been a warning if she hadn't been smiling proudly at the time.

"Boys aren't allowed in camp." She said flatly.

"I know. That's why I asked Hermes to help me land outside of camp." The son of Hades agreed.

"How were you planning on getting the letter to her?" She was young, but she was smart. He hadn't really thought about it but the rule that boys weren't supposed to be in their camp was definitely a setback.

"I thought the Hunters were still at Camp Half-Blood."

"We aren't," she stated needlessly, "Shouldn't you have thought of that?"

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," he admitted. Her eyes flashed in amusement but that quickly changed when he took a step toward her, having come up with a solution. She leveled her arrow at the intruder, her posture suddenly perfect and unwavering. Apparently, she only looked young. Nico vaguely wondered what could cause a person to join the Hunters so young.

"Take another step and I skewer you." She warned. The son of Hades took a few steps back raising his eyebrows in surprise. She was a great actress.

"I was just going to give you the letter. I wasn't trying to make a move against you." She eyed the boy suspiciously.

"You can set the letter on that log and leave the way you came. Promptly." Nico set the letter on the log, keeping his other hand where she could see it. It would seem that the older hunters were just as trigger-happy.

"You'll get it to her? Please, I really need her to see it." Nico asked, watching her for confirmation.

"Your message will be conveyed to her. Now leave." He didn't wait for her to ask again. He stepped back into the shadow of a tree and focused on the manor. When he got back he stuffed a corner of a piece of ambrosia in his mouth and savored the taste. It had shifted away from his mother's apple pie and now it tasted like Alfred's cookies. Nico was sad that he would no longer be able to taste his mother's recipe, but Alfred's cookies were comforting too.

After the demigod felt like he had most of his energy back, he left his room to try and see what his brothers were up to. If these were going to be his last few days, Nico wanted to spend them with his family. All four wild, eccentric, and amazing batboys. Bruce had done a good job with them. He found them in the Batcave training. Dick was fighting against Bruce using his escrima sticks, Tim was at the Batcomputer looking over a case, and the other two were going at each other in the ring. Even Alfred was organizing the medical equipment in sickbay. The whole family was together.

Nico felt a rush of protectiveness as he walked through the cave. These were the people who he cared about most and these were the people who he'd die for.

He headed down into the cave's locker room and changed into a flexible pair of cargo pants and a plain black t-shirt. He could do with a little exercise, it would help him boost his spirits and it was a good way to kill some time. Nico picked up two butterfly swords and stepped onto the hologram platform. Over the time that he had been training at the Manor, he had found that dual-wielding had become his preferred method of fighting. It was more efficient and the style was more flexible than his what Stygian Iron sword allowed and it was so much more fluid. If he could, he'd look into finding or commissioning two celestial bronze butterfly swords for fighting monsters. For now, his sword would suit him just fine.

This platform worked the same way the one at the mountain did. It projected holographic enemies around you and you had to take them down using any means at your disposal. Nico selected 'assassins' from the menu and prepared himself for battle. Something else Nico had been doing is moving up the levels on the training simulators. He hadn't quite caught up to his brothers, but he was advancing quickly and could hold his own in battles. Bruce told him that he was advancing more quickly than the others had when they first started out and that he could be just as good as any of the rest of them someday if he kept up with the training regimen. This was the level that he hadn't managed to beat yet and he was determined not to leave before he had cleared it. The demigod could hear the high-pitched buzzing that signaled that the platform was booting up.

At first, nothing happened, but then he felt a tingling sensation down his spine and he dodged right. A hologram sword sunk into the ground where he had been standing a moment before. Nico barely had time to block before the assassin was back up and swinging a sai him. Nico leapt back and the blade missed his nose by an inch. From there, his body went on autopilot. The hologram and the son of Hades danced around each other, neither one getting the upper hand. All these months of practice had translated into his muscle memory and even in survival mode, he found that he kept the training. It was all worth it.

The swords were extensions of his arms and Nico felt more centered than he ever had in his life. There was nothing like a good battle to clear your mind. Is this what Percy felt like in battle? Nico smiled dangerously, the adrenaline coursing through his body made him feel unstoppable.

He crossed blades with the assassin and forced him back a few feet. Nico caught one sai with his sword, leaving the opponent's stomach unprotected. Nico tried to take advantage of the opening but the assassin's other sai blocked the path of his blade in time. The demigod threaded his blade into the sai's guard and leveraged the blade out of his opponent's hand. It fell to the ground where it collapsed into pixels. The assassin pushed Nico back with his remaining blade, almost making him lose his balance. Instead, Nico turned the momentum of the fall into a ne handed-back handspring and kicked the other blade out of the opponent's hand. Once it had also been reduced to pixels, Nico quickly dispatched the assassin.

The victory was short-lived, however, as soon two more took his place. Having gotten into the swing of the battle, Nico dispatched them without as much fanfare. Two well-placed slashes to the torso and the assassins were returned to pixels. With each victory, the number of assassins increased. Now there were four of them but Nico wasn't slowing down. He was his own black hole and he was determined that nothing would escape him.

It took him a few seconds before he realized that he had become the center of a swirling shadow vortex. He continued fighting, the assassins that got too close were turned to pixels either by his swords or by the glowing black vortex.

"Nico! What is that?" Nico risked a glance away from the fight and saw Bruce at the edge of the platform, wedged against a railing.

"I don't know!" the son of Hades returned, taking out another swathe of assassins.

"Can you make it stop?" Nico looked at Bruce again and noticed that his knuckles were white against the bars. The gravity he was feeling wasn't imagined. Nico had actually become a center of gravity. How was that possible? Was this a Hades thing? How could it be? He wasn't sure whether or not he could stop it since he didn't know how he even started it. The demigod shut his eyes tight and prayed to his father.

"Please, father. Help me put a stop to this. I don't think I can." He murmured under his breath, the wind sucking his words away. For a few terrifying seconds, nothing happened. Then all at once the vortex dissipated, the gravity field collapsed, and the holographic platform shut off. Nico's hands relaxed in their own accord and the butterfly swords clattered to the ground. He looked around the cave noticing just how much damage he had done.

The floor around him had gashes carved into the ground and had exposed the wiring underneath the platform. He stood in the center of the perfect circle of carnage, untouched. It wasn’t just the ground that had been affected either. Anything that hadn't been tied down had shifted towards him by several feet. Bruce and the other boys had all had to find anchors to hold on to. Some were luckier than others.

Bruce had found a railing and had wedged his hips against the top bar, the seat at the Batcomputer was bolted to the floor so Tim was fine though his hair was messed up, Dick had been forced to hold on to his gymnastic rings and was currently rubbing his shoulders, Damian had braced himself against a column, and Jason was currently tangled in the trapeze safety net. Alfred had been in sickbay which seemed to be out of reach of his gravity field.

Nico took a step forward to go make sure that everyone was ok but his legs gave out from under him. He felt shaky and his vision was swimming. He could feel bile rise in the back of his throat so he forced himself over to a nearby trashcan and lost his breakfast. Someone rubbed his back as he continued to heave long after he had thrown up everything that was in his stomach.

When Nico was done, he collapsed on the floor and laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. Bruce hovered over him, concerned. Nico could hear Jason in the distance spitting and cursing as the other boys tried to figure out how to get him untangled.

"That was my blessing. I don't know how you managed to manifest it. Only one of my sons has ever been capable of calling on my blessing before."

"Oh, really? What happened to him?" Nico didn't care if he was speaking aloud, he didn't have the energy to try to communicate in his mind.

"It burned him up."

"But I survived." Nico pointed out needlessly.

"You were lucky."

"I don't feel lucky." Hades hummed in what almost felt like amusement.

"You need ambrosia, nectar, and a lot of sugar. You just used a ton of magic energy. Your body isn't used to that kind of strain."

"Ok. Sugar. Got it. Who was the last one to manifest it?"

"Hitler."

"So that's why they never found his body." Hades didn't reply and Nico could feel that his presence had left him.

"Nico? What was that?" Bruce stood over the demigod, holding out his hand.

"Sugar and ambrosia first. Explanation after." He bargained. Brue helped the younger boy up but had to catch him when his legs gave out again.

"Alfred!" Bruce called.

"In sickbay. I have some emergency stores of godly food there." The butler dispensed with the honorifics in favor of speed. Bruce helped him into sickbay where Alfred handed me a square of ambrosia. Nico could feel his head beginning to pound and his body felt like he'd been electrocuted and then forced to move through molasses. Nico stuffed an entire square of godly food in his mouth and barely took the time to swallow. Then he took a canteen from Alfred and swallowed a mouthful of that too. As he suspected, it was nectar. Then he laid back on the hospital bed and squinted at the LEDs.

He was so exhausted that he didn't notice the smoke curling off his body until Bruce said something.

"Nico, you're smoking." His voice was insistent and concerned. The older man laid a hand on his arm and pulled it back as though he had been burned. Maybe he had finally taken too much ambrosia and this was where he burned up.

"Looks like I can't keep my promises," the son of Hades muttered. Alfred handed the demigod a handful of sugar packs. Though he wasn't sure that it would do any good now, he emptied pack after pack in his mouth. It was amazing to him that he could practically feel his blood sugar start to rise, or maybe that was a placebo effect. Either way, his body began to stop shaking and his headache diminished a little bit.

"He needs to be cooled down," Alfred warned. Bruce, to his credit, didn't waste any time. He scooped the lighter boy off the table and hurried him into the locker room. Bruce slowed only to gently place the demigod at the bottom of a shower and turned on the water. The water steamed as it met his pale skin and it felt incredible. Nico shifted so that the water ran all over him, steam rising and water sizzling each time it met a dry patch of skin. A few moments later all of his brothers rushed in.

"You were being literal," Damian stated after they all watched him relax under the cold water.

"Huh?" Nico asked intelligently.

"You were literally burning up. Is that from the ambrosia?"

"Yeah, I took too much after using too much magic."

"I thought you were kidding." Jason muttered. He looked disheveled from being stuck in the net, but no worse for wear.

"Nope. If we overdo it, we literally burn to ash." Bruce ran his hand over his face. With the water running down his hear and into his eyes, Nico could be sure, but he thought he could see red marks on his arms. Had it burned Bruce to carry him?

"Why would your father tell you to take so much if it would burn you up?" Bruce sat on a bench.

"Because I was already burning up from sustaining his blessing for so long. That much power shouldn't have been possible for me to handle. I should have been crushed by that much gravity." Nico explained.

"Why weren't you?" Dick cut in.

"Hades said it was because I was lucky. There was only one other child of Hades who ever manifested his blessing and it crushed him. I manifested it by accident and survived."

"But that's not what you think?" Tim raised his eyebrows at him. The son of Hades sighed. Sometimes he hated living with human lie detectors. Very little got past them.

"No. I'm anything but lucky. I think that the fates have plans for me in the future and they can't have me dying yet."

"What sort of plans?" Jason frowned.

"I have no idea," he lied.

"Are you feeling better now, Master Nico?" Alfred asked as he joined us. Nico nodded, standing to shut off the water. The steam had dissipated and he could start to feel how cold the water actually was.

"Yeah, I'm better now. I just have this intense craving for sugar. Like straight sugar." Admittedly, he already had quite a sweet tooth but he was craving things like straight frosting and maple syrup.

"Well, I have fresh caramels upstairs that are basically pure sugar. You can have some with lunch after you dry off and change." Alfred took his leave.

"Sorry about that guys. I didn't know that there even was a blessing of Hades. I certainly had no idea that I could manifest it. Are you all alright?" Nico accepted a towel from Richard.

"Nothing wounded but my pride," Jason muttered under his breath while the others smirked at him.

"I think we're good," Dick answered for them.

"How about after lunch we take it easy?" He asked uneasily. Nico didn't like how close he had come to dying today. He wanted to spend his last days wisely and dying seemed to be the opposite of that. If his life had ended today, it would have made his whole plan-- and all the preparation he had done-- irrelevant.

"I second that," Dick agreed, "what do you want to do?" Nico considered his question carefully since he hadn't been expecting them to ask him what he wanted to do.

"I just want to hang out with you guys," he shrugged. It didn't really matter to him what they were doing.

"We'll talk about it at lunch. Hurry up and get dried off. We'll meet you up there." Dick ruffled his wet hair and cringed at the texture.

++++

After Nico had eaten lunch and tons of sugar, the boys decided to go to an arcade in the mall. It was something that a typical teenager might do and they knew that Nico had never been to one. Well, not one that wasn't in a prison casino, at least. They wanted to give him, and Damian, a taste of a normal childhood. Even Jason got to go because he disguised himself by changing his features enough to hide who he was. He could have been anybody but today he looked mostly like himself except for the fact that he'd given himself fake red hair and brown eyes. It was believable unless you looked too closely.

The bat boys spent the day catching Nico up on current events, politics, conspiracies, technology, biology, space travel, Gotham history, and what most people would know about the Justice League if you asked them. They also played some games and ate cheap arcade pizza for dinner. It was especially fun to just have some fun competition and let loose for a little while without having to worry about secret identities, villains, or missions. There was time to just enjoy what life he had left.

Hours passed though it hardly felt like any time at all. Just like the past 70 years of the human race. Nico went in to the casino before television and came out with portable cell phones. It was a lot to think about.

++++

When they went back to the manor, they all went their separate ways. Even though they'd had a fun day, they all still had their responsibilities. Nico believed that they were all going on patrol, so he decided to keep to himself and do some packing. Meanwhile, the rest of the bat family had met in the Batcave. It seemed like they still had more to discuss about their resident demigod. Particularly, what they could do to make sure that Nico made it through this war alive.

Strategies were discussed, plans were made, and allies were contacted. They weren't going to lose Nico to this mission if they had anything to say about it. It wasn't going to happen. They had resources and had fought greater enemies than this in their lifetime. Nico wasn't going to become another casualty of their line of work.

Privately, Bruce reached out to the one person that he knew Nico wouldn't want him talking to. The only one that could intervene where they couldn't. Bruce only hoped that he wouldn't need their help.

While Nico was sketching in his room, his family were working furiously to protect him.

[June 22nd]

That night Nico had another dream about Hazel's quest. He couldn't make heads or tales of what he was seeing because it was just so bizzare. They were surrounded by food trucks and harpies and talking to a fat man in a bathrobe. Had they been New York or Gotham, Nico might not have through to question it. As it were, Nico recognized the man at the picnic table. Phineas, the blind prophet. He was fending off the harpies using a... weed whacker? Phineas was bad news and he didn't like that the questers were dealing with him.

Nico tried to focus and listen in on what was being said but for some reason, he couldn't. It was like trying to listen with cotton stuffed in your ears. The closer Hazel got to Phineas, the softer her voice became. The old seer seemed to be smiling about something as Percy settled onto the bench across from him and set two identical vials on the table. Before he could identify what the vials were, he was roughly pulled out of the dream.

"You have meddled where you do not belong, little one. I can't have you spoiling the surprise!" A feminine voice spoke to him in his mind, "From now on this quest is shielded from your prying eyes. If you value your sanity or their lives, you will not try to spy on this quest again." A face appeared in the inky blackness of his mind and he screamed. She was made of Earth, but undeniably alive. Her eyes were closed but a soft smile had spread across her lips. Gaea had entered his mind.

Nico was shaken awake but he couldn't move even after his eyes had opened. He had never had sleep paralysis so badly before. Alfred was leaning over him and his bedside lamp was on. It was probably still night, then. After a while, the paralysis wore off and he was able to sit up. Alfred wordlessly offered him a glass of water which he took gratefully. Nico guessed the fact that the butler was there meant that he had screamed out loud then.

"Master Bruce and the others are out." Alfred took the empty glass from him. Nico nodded, grateful that no one else was there to hear him make a fool out of himself.

"Master Nico, I have a question for you." The son of Hades' interest was piqued at this. Alfred hardly ever asked anyone anything.

"Ok." he replied lamely.

"What is it you are so worried about? I've worked for Bruce and these boys for a long time now. I can recognize the look of a man on a mission better than just about anyone else." Alfred watched him out of the corner of his eyes. Nico could tell he had caught him. He took a few long moments to compose himself before he attempted to answer.

"I'm worried about his war, Alfred. We're up against Mother Earth herself. If she wakes up, we don't stand a chance against her. That's if I live that long. I have a feeling that all of my treachery and work as a double agent will be coming to light very soon." Nico rubbed his face. He didn't tell him that he wouldn't even make it back to the camps, but something told him that the older man knew anyhow.

"Did you do what you felt was right?" Alfred watched him carefully.

"Yes," he responded immediately. He was surprised to find that he didn't even have to think about it.

"Then you know that whatever comes, it was worth it." Alfred put an arm around him, "In my books, that is was makes a great hero."

"Aren't you supposed to assure me that Bruce won't let me die or that I can get out of it some other way?" Nico frowned.

"Would you have believed me?"

"No."

"You and I are a different breed. We do what is necessary for the best outcome. We don't subscribe to the same morals as Bruce or his apprentices. We don't have that luxury." Alfred stood and adjusted his suit in a mirror. Nico watched him silently, wondering just what the butler has done in his life. That man is more mysterious than even Batman himself.

"No, I suppose we don't," Nico agreed.

"When it comes down to it, we do what we have to do. You did the best you could and you believed what you were doing was right and had to be done. If they say that you must die for that, then you will. That is who you are. Of course, we will do our best to save you, but you and I both know that we'll die for our causes if that is what is required of us." He gave the boy a small smile before exiting the room without a sound.

Alfred was right, of course. They pair of them were different from Bruce or the other proteges. Nico couldn't afford to live by a no-kill rule. In his world, it is kill or be killed. He was willing to accept whatever punishment that came his way from the Roman Legion if he lived long enough to see them again. He would do whatever it takes to reach his goals and he wasn't going to let Bruce or anyone else stand in his way.

After contemplating what the Roman LEgion might have done to him if he ever made if back to the camp itself, he looked at the clock to see that it read 2am. It was officially his last day on Earth and he was going to make it count. Nico rolled over and went back to sleep. he woke up again to a little bit of light filtering through his window. When helooked at the clock this time, it was 5 am. He got up and showered, taking his time. Breakfast wouldn't be ready until 7, anyway. He dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie.

During the time before breakfast, Nico worked on the sketches that he had started the day before. He was working on a group sketch of everyone on the Young Justice team. It was hard since he didn't have a reference for them. He wasn't sure when he could drop them off either. Maybe he could stick it in one of Nightwing's pockets and he could give it to them when he found it. It wouldn't be ideal, but beggars can't be choosey.

++++

It took him longer than he thought it would to finish them and he was almost late for breakfast. This morning they all had cinnamon rolls. Nico couldn't be persuaded that it wasn't because Alfred knew he had had a nightmare last night. That man was an angel. As Nico finished off his second cinnamon roll, Bruce left for a conference meeting, and the rest of the family decided to relax in the living room. Nico wasn't sure why, but they all seemed to be extra focused on getting him to pick the activity for the day.

"I don't care what we do. I trust you guys to pick something I will like." The son of Hades insisted. He didn't know what passed as fun these days anyway.

"Are you sure?" Tim pressed.

"Yes, I'm sure! Just pick something you think I'll like."

"Ok, if you’re sure. Also, Tim and I are going to the mountain tonight for a movie/game night with the rest of the team. Nico, you can come too if you like."

"What about us!" Jason fake pouted. Damian eyed the antihero with derision.

"Please do not include me in your pathetic attempt to 'guilt trip'. My team has a mission tonight." Damian crossed his arms meaningfully.

"Jason, you're supposed to be dead, and you're wanted by the authorities. You know very well why we can't bring you along." Jason sighed dramatically. Nico watched the scene with passive amusement while he considered the offer. This was actually the perfect opportunity for him to leave behind his sketch and letter for the team. He wasn't all too excited to see the team, but he couldn't very well pass up on the opportunity either.

"Sounds like it could be fun," he agreed.

"Are you sure?" Dick frowned. Damian was giving him a weird look too.

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"I just didn't think you liked the team very much," Dick shrugged. Nico measured his words carefully. If he said too little, it would be suspicious, but if he said too much he'd give away his plans.

"I don't, but this might be the last time I get to see them. You know, depending on how the war goes." The mood got very somber after that.

"Is that why you've been spending so much time with us lately? Because you don't think you're going to survive the war?" Tim accused. angrily. Nico shrugged noncommittally. He knew he wasn't going to survive the war.

"You're not going to die, Nico," Jason growled.

"How do you know that? It's war Jason--" His older brother interrupted him before the demigod could continue.

"Because you're not on your own anymore and we're not going to let you die!" Nico appreciated the sentiment even though he knew that there would be nothing they could do when it came down to it.

"It won't be up to you," he replied flatly.

"You say that as if you know what comes next. Have you seen it in your dreams?" Damian eyed the older boy carefully.

"No, I don't know what is going to happen when the war starts," he told a partial truth.

"Then do you know how it ends?" Damian returned.

"One of two ways: we win and humanity is saved, or Mother Earth and Tartarus himself lay waste to humanity and the gods and she rebuilds the world from scratch," his words were met with silence.

"Do you survive in either outcome?" Tim pressed. Nico only shrugged. He honestly had no idea what the answer to that was.

"Guys we still have a while before the first battle starts. Let's enjoy the time we have before everything goes to hell. Ok?" He suggested.

"Alright, as long as you stop acting like you've decided to die," Jason interjected.

"I haven't decided to die," Nico countered, "I am going to fight like hell to make it out of this alive. I'm not so ready to become a permanent resident in my father's domain."

"Good, then we're all on the same page," Dick smiled mischievously. "How do you guys feel about paintball?"

++++

Several hours and a lot of bruises later the guys were just finishing lunch at Dick's favorite Asian restaurant. He had won at paintball and with it the right to choose lunch. The food was actually really good so Nico didn't mind all that much.

After lunch, they spent the day just talking in Dick's room. They talked about all sorts of things, even getting into trauma here and there. They never focused on one person too long, making sure that no one felt too singled out. It was a closeness that Nico hadn't felt since Bianca died. Eventually, the topic of conversation came around to their childhoods and we got hooked on the conundrum that is his youth.

Nico wasn't overly fond of the idea, but they got to talking about the five summers war and what he was doing during all of that. They were insistent so Nico told them just about everything that happened after coming out of the casino. He told them about Bianca, the military academy and Dr. Thorn. He told them about Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover. Nico told them about Annabeth's capture and the quest to get her back. And he told them about Artemis and the Hunters and Apollo and his Chariot.

The son of Hades described Camp Half-Blood and Chiron and the fateful game of capture the flag. HE told them about the prophecy and the promise Percy had made-- also the dreams that he had started having and how they told him that Percu had failed. Nico told them about the quester's return, Percy's confession, and the skeletons in the amphitheater that he sent back to Hades. Nico told them about Minos and his labyrinth and his twisted revenge plot and how he gained the demigond's trust by teaching him how to use his sword and his powers.

Nico explained to them about Triple G Ranch and summoning the dead. He told them about the days he spent on his own with only the ghost of the former king of Crete to guide him. Recounted getting captured and traded with Kronos' army. He told them about the deal that Minos had made and the final showdown in Daedalus' workshop. Nico explained his encounters with Pan, Kronos, and Percy's encounter with Typhon at Mt. St. Helens. He told them everything about that summer in the labyrinth. They were really good listeners.

Nico didn't know if it was the fact that tonight was his last night and it felt good to tell someone, or if they were just easy to talk to, but he told them everything from the battle of the labyrinth to the end of the second Titan war and patching things up with his father. Then he explained why he left camp and ended up in Gotham, finishing up with the day Bruce brought him to live with them.

"Bruce really does know how to pick 'em. Doesn't he?" Jason chuckled darkly. Dick nodded somberly.

"He really does. What, does he have a 'sob story' detector?" The son of Hades asked half-heartedly. Dick huffed at that, not able to manage a full laugh.

"He must. Otherwise how could he have found your sorry hides." Damian crossed his arms over his chest. A while ago that would have hurt, but now Nico knew better. It was a joke, or an attempt at one. It wasn't really his fault that it fell flat.

"It's time to get into uniform or we're going to be late." Dick reminded them. They all went their separate ways to get ready to go to their respective bases. Nico thought Jason had plans to meet with some of his contacts tonight so he wasn't going to be so bored. He also wasn't sure if Batman knew about those plans, either.

Nico got changed into his Ghost uniform and he made sure that he put the letter and the sketches in his utility belt. This was going to be the last opportunity he had to get these to them. It really was now or never. About ten minutes later Nightwing and Red Robin came in through the zeta tube literally dragging Ghost with them. A large portion of the team was already assembled in the living room chatting and sharing snacks.

A certain speedster was in front of them in a moment. The only one who was at all fazed by this was Ghost who squinted at the gust of air that followed the brightly colored hero. Kid Flash smiled brightly at them.

"Hey Nightwing! There you guys are! I didn't think that you bats were ever late." He teased.

"We would have been on time but Ghost was a bit harder to find than usual." Dick rested his hand on his shoulder. On principle, Nico glared at him.

"Because I didn't want to be here," he countered. It was a lie, but he had to remain in character.

"Liar." A raspy voice cut in as a familiar blonde looped her arm around the speedster. Nico glared at her playfully.

"Am not."

"Are too! Come on, I want to see you play Apples to Apples." Artemis grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards the couch.

"You too bat boys!" She called over her shoulder. Wally was right behind her. Nico looked behind him and saw Dick and Tim shrug and follow us over to where a few people were setting up the game.

"How do you play?" Nico asked as they reached the group.

"You've never played? Did you not have a childhood?" She asked incredulously. Nico didn't think she was looking for an answer but he responded anyway.

"Not really, no."

"Well don't worry about that, we'll show you." She glossed over it as if it wasn't a big deal, instead of jumping right into her explanation of how to play that game. Nico was grateful for that.

That night he learned that he liked punch, Apples to Apples, and that he didn't have the patience for board games. At one point he pretended to leave to go to the bathroom but he instead went to Wally' souvenir room and placed the letter and sketch among the items. They'd find it in here before too long. Wally loved looking through his collection. After he placed the letter he wasn't in that big of a hurry to get back to the others. He took a little time to look at everything and puzzle out the labels.

"What are you doing in here?" A voice in the door startled him. Nico turned around to see that it was only Kaldur.

"Kaldur, you startled me."

"I apologize. That was not my intent. I was just curious as to why you are here rather than at the party." Nico could feel him watching him from the doorway as he examined an old helmet.

"I was curious about what all this stuff was," he replied truthfully.

"Kid Flash likes to pick up souvenirs from missions. This is his collection." Kaldur explained, coming up beside him. Something seemed off about him tonight. He was quieter than usual and less friendly. Nico didn't like the feeling he was getting from him. Maybe it was his imagination but he seemed colder.

"Is something wrong? You seem different." Nico asked, moving to leave. If something was wrong with their Atlantean friend, Nico didn't want to be alone with him.

"I know what you really are, demigod." Nico froze and pivoted on his heel. Kaldur's expression remained neutral.

"How did you know?"

"Is Batman aware of your true heritage?" Kaldur ignored him.

"Yes," Nico replied shortly, watching Kaldur carefully. Were Atlanteans dangerous to demigods? Weren't they Poseidon's people?

"That necklace of yours. I've seen it before." Kaldur said by way of explanation, "And those beasts that entered the cave. They weren't genetically engineered hybrids." Nico's hand went to his throat even though he had left it at home with his regular clothes.

"Did you steal it?"

"No, the other Atlantean took it to show it to me. And the Hades figurine." The other Atlantean? Did he mean Lagoon or whatever his name was?

"Yes, I am a son of Hades. Yes, Batman knows about it. No, I am not a threat to you or the others." Nico assured him. He wasn't really sure why he still seemed upset.

"Why did you lie to us?" Nico didn't see a way out of this that wouldn't bring more attention to the situation so he broke down and told Kaldur about the oath he had made and why he hadn't been allowed to tell anyone else. Then Nico made the Atlantean swear to keep his secret. Since he now understood the demigod's position, he agreed and they returned to the party as friends again.

Late that night, the bats and Ghost left for home and he felt satisfied. This was a great last day.

Chapter Text

[June 23rd]

The next morning Nico woke up long before the sun came up and before anyone would be stirring. He hadn't been able to sleep very well and he kept waking up every hour or so. Eventually, he just decided to get up. The son of Hades stealthily made his way through the house and to the clock that hid the Batcave door. He put in the code and opened the face which opened to a dark catwalk with little safety lights that only illuminated the path enough to keep someone from falling off the edge. Nico took a deep breath and plunged into the darkness of the cave.

He didn't bother looking around-- he didn't have time. The demigod needed to get this done and get a move on before anyone could come and try to stop him. though they might not have the full picture, it would have been obvious to even a child that he was preparing for a trip and he didn't want to have to come up with an elaborate lie about why he was prepared for a 2-week journey. This was too big to let anything jeopardize it. Even himself.

Nico set up the video camera and made sure that it was on when it was, he took a deep breath and hit the record button. The son of Hades didn't know what he wanted to say, but he knew that the Wayne's deserved an explanation. He at least owed them that much. He also knew that the best way to do this was to wing it and tell them exactly what he was thinking. They didn't deserve some scripted garbage. He owed them an honest explanation-- a sincere goodbye.

"Hey guys," the demigod cringed at how that sounded, "I am leaving this behind to explain why I'm doing what I am doing-- what I am about to do." He rubbed his hands through his hair, looping his fingers together at the base of his neck. He was dreading them seeing this message. A pit formed in his stomach as he imagined what they would think when they played it on the computer. The very thought of it made him want to shut down the recorder but he took another measured breath and continued.

"I have to close the doors of death. The Greeks and Romans don't stand a chance if I don't. I'm the only one who even has half a chance. I'm the only one that the world can spare, at the very least." Nico sighed and took a moment to collect his thoughts. Maybe he was selling himself short, but he knew that the world would get by without him. He was never a prophecy child-- at least not the center of one. He was a supporting character at best, a concept that Jason had explained to him when he asked for help on one of his English essays. He was relevant to the plot but only as much as he helped the main characters accomplish their goals. In this case, closing the doors of death.

"What I need to say is that this isn't about you guys. I know this won't make sense and that you might even blame yourselves, but this isn't because of anything you did or didn't do. This is about the prophecy. 'Foes bare arms to the doors of death'," he recited the line, "I know what it means. I saw it in my dreams."

In case they had forgotten, he explained it again, "Titans guard the doors, and hold them open while Gaea decides which monsters to let through. If this continues, death itself will cease. It will be war without end or worse, a war that is impossible to win." He explained as simply as he could. His voice got caught in his throat and he swallowed hard and took a shaky breath before he trusted himself to continue.

"The reason I'm leaving this recording is..." he found himself unable to speak. He knew it to be true, now he just had to find it in himself to say it out loud. Saying it would make it real.

"The reason that I am recording this instead of telling you all in person is because I don't expect to make it back. 'Giants snuff out an angel's breath'," he quoted, "It means I am going to die. Di Angelo. It literally means 'the angel' in Italian. I'm destined to die. That's why I didn't die when I manifested my father's blessing. It wasn't my time yet." There was a pregnant moment where he couldn't think of anything else to say. What else was there to say? Many believe that the fates are cruel. They aren't. The sisters are many things but they 'aren't vindictive. They did exactly what he would have in their position. They had weighed his life against the world and he lost.

"Listen, I'm doing this because it is our only chance. I am the only demigod who can do this. I'm the son of Hades, after all. The others don't even know about the doors yet. I'm their only shot." Even as he said the words, he felt them to be true.

"Thank you for everything you have done for me. I'll put in a good word for you with the judges. If my friends Annabeth, Percy, Rachel, or Thalia come looking for me... tell them that I did what I felt I had to and that I'll see them again someday." The son of Hades smiled to himself, thinking about how Thalia would probably fight Cerberus to come scream at him in the afterlife.

"Tell Diana that I forgive her. I want her to know that it was never her fault. Bianca made her own choice. I get that now. Just as I have made mine." Nico took a deep breath. He took his sketchbook out of his bag and laid it on the podium next to the camera. He wanted those drawings to be part of his legacy. He didn't want those drawings to get lost with him in the pit.

"I know that this isn't what you wanted, but this is our best shot. This is bigger than me, bigger than us. I have to do this. I'm sorry." Nico looked around the room. The room that now held newspaper clippings of both his life before and after the casino. There were current pictures of him with the other boys and attending galas. It only made sense that he would film this here.

"I just wanted to say that I am sorry to do this to you, I truly am. I wanted to do this in person but I knew you'd try and stop me. I couldn't let that happen." Nico looked back at the camera a moment and sighed.

"I want you to know that you all mean a lot to me, until recently you would have been the only people I had to say goodbye to. And I want you to know that I'm doing this for you. For humanity." The son of Hades stepped forward and ended the recording. He left the camera set up just how it was and grabbed the hiker's pack at his feet. It was now or never. He shadow traveled to the Underworld.

The child of the Underworld took his time walking through the fields, taking everything in one last time. He would miss the revelries of Elysium and the peace and quiet of the fields of Asphodel. Even the screams of the damned in the fields of Punishment reflected his mood. Nico caught sight of my father's palace and felt a stab of guilt for not writing him a letter. He had tried to many times but he just couldn't do it. Nico could never come up with the words he needed. Surely his father would know why he was doing this. He wouldn't like it, but he'd understand. The son of Hades tore his gaze away and kept walking.

Nico approached the edge of the grove that had grown around the pit. Looks like redecorating had spread from the fields of punishment into the surrounding areas already. The trees were dark and foreboding but he found them to be strangely comforting. It was a reminder of the orchard at Wayne manor. So he pressed on through the trees and towards the place that he knew the cave to be. Nico stopped at the opening, his heart hammering in his chest. A few more steps and there would be no turning back. The demigod backed up into the grove and began to empty his backpack in order to take inventory. Maybe it was just stalling, but he allowed the deviation. There was nothing about this that he felt ready for. Even after all this time he had spent training and acquiring skills-- he felt insignificant and impossibly outmatched.

In his bag, he had a grappling hook along with a set of throwing knives, his phone, a dagger coin, a travel flashlight, and a set of batteries in his utility belt. Nico knew his Ghost persona wouldn't be needing it again so he felt no guilt taking it with him. He doubted Bruce would mind me taking it either-- he'd understand. After all, one of the first things Batman had taught him was to never leave home without his utility belt.

In the backpack Nico had caving gear, a parachute, some flares, granola bars, a fully equipped first aid kit, a stash of ambrosia and nectar, a few jars of greek fire, and a special cup made of cement to use in the fire river if he needed to. He was wearing, a skull t-shirt, black cargo pants, black combat boots, and his aviator's jacket. He had prepared for everything he could think of and then grabbed some things that he didn't think he would use, just in case. Bruce had definitely instilled his obsession with being prepared into him while he had stayed at the manor. Nico hoped the rest of his training was just as well ingrained.

Nico replaced all of the items, even the phone, which he had kept with him for sentimental value. He had made sure that his parachute was packed properly before he put his pack back on and secured the parachute straps around his legs and chest. He wouldn't want to slip out of it mid-fall. Nico put on the caving helmet and goggles, hoping that he didn't look as ridiculous as he felt, no that there was anyone around to see him anyway.

He did one last check of the equipment before he forced himself back to the mouth of the cave. He hesitated here for what seemed like an eternity. He wasn't suicidal, but standing at the edge of the pit felt like looking into the barrel of a gun, a feeling he had felt before at the gala with the Justice League. It would have been easier if he was suicidal. At least then he could have looked death in the face without fear. Well, figuratively speaking. Thanatos' face would be a comfort right now.

The only way he would be able to get himself to jump is if he thought about all the lives he was trying to save so he went through the list. He had only made it as far as Hazel before his heart clenched and he forgot how to breathe. This wasn't making it any easier to leave them.

"You're doing this because you are the only one who has a chance." Nico took a step forward, his foot breaching the cave door. He could almost feel the abyss watching him and it made him self-concious. He pushed on anyway, ignoring his paranoia.

"You're doing this for Bruce and his super-powered family. Though he'd never admit that they are" With each face he saw in his mind he took a step further into the cave, his resolve strengthening.

"You're doing this for the camps and the Hunters of Artemis." He gripped a stalagmite, the palms of his combat gloves soaking up the water like a sponge.

"You're doing this for Dick and Jason. Both Jasons," he chuckled lightly, "You're doing this for Tim and Damian and Rachel." his voice picked up speed as he got closer and closer to the void.

"You're doing this for Ivy, Reyna, and Diana." The demigod was right at the edge now, peering down into the inky blackness of Tartarus. Percy had described it as a vacuum when he first visited, trying to suck him in. Maybe this time the hole knew that he was going to do the work for him and wasn't going to waste its energy on him.

"You're doing this for Hazel, Percy, and Annabeth. You're doing what you have to." He took a deep breath and canon-balled into the void before he had time to stop himself.

±±±±

Free falling was a lot more uncomfortable than he had imagined. The air supported you as you fell, making you feel like you weren't moving but your stomach could still tell that you were. Nico couldn't see the edges of the cavern to see how fast he was falling and his only hope was that he could see the ground before he hit it. The son of Hades wished he could say that he had some deep reflections about his life as he fell or that he made peace with himself. He didn't. He mostly just tried to find a comfortable way to breathe and gauge the distance to the ground without much luck. Any thoughts that he had were incoherent and were gone before he could really understand them. All he knew was that my heart was sinking more and more the closer he got to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Bruce." he thought to himself in a moment of clarity. He must have been falling for hours before the first sign of the bottom came. The air began to lighten around him, turning from black to a dark red. Nico pulled the chute, not wanting to take any chances with how close the ground was. He would rather drift slowly down for another hour than fall quickly to his death in a minute. It was another fifteen minutes of descent by his watch before he spotted crimson clouds floating below him. It was either that or there was a layer of blood-red fog on the ground. Just before he hit the cloud layer, he spotted a flash of a wing. Nico felt his stomach sink and he barely had time to curse before a winged lady burst out of the clouds and hooked herself onto him.

Like a true hero, he screamed and kicked her in the face. He had not been prepared for a mid-flight battle. Nico had been hoping that the pit would at least let him reach the ground before it decided to try and kill him. He should of known that he wouldn't be that lucky. The she-demon screamed and dug her claws into the flesh and muscle on his calf. At this angle, she looked sort of like Alecto, just older and angrier. Nico hit the clouds and suddenly a swarm of them was all over him, getting tangled in his parachute and clawing at his face.

When he got a moment, he looked down to see how far he was from the ground and saw that he was still four or five stories above the ground, still too high to cut the chute. Nico began falling faster as the demons tore holes in the canvas. He had to do something quickly or he'd end up falling to his death. Nico turned his ring into its sword form and slashed the wings off of one demon, who careened into another who was flying right for his face. The son of Hades sliced the hand off of another who was ripping at the parachute and she retreated. He was three stories up now. He just needed to hold them off a little longer.

He cut another across the face and she snapped one of the ropes in retaliation. The curvature of the chute collapsed and he dropped like a stone to the cave floor. Once he had landed, the demons retreated back up to the clouds. That didn't bode well. He was an even easier target now that he was on the ground and tangled up in the chute, so why did they back off?

He had fallen from just over two stories up so he wasn't crushed on impact, but that didn't mean that he had gotten away unscathed. There was intense pain in both his stomach and his ankle. He rolled over on his back and saw that there was a shard of obsidian about the size of his index finger impaling him in the gut. He was surprised that there weren't more pieces stuck in his skin, the entire ground was covered in these obsidian shards.

When he touched the end of the shard in his stomach, it sent a jolt of pain through his body so intense that he blacked out for a moment. When he came to, he sat up as best he could and pulled his backpack off. Nico rifled through it for the ambrosia and nectar. He took a big bite of an ambrosia square and felt some strength returning. Everything took twice as much energy as it normally would and he already felt exhausted from the fight. His chances of survival were dwindling by the second.

By his count, there were only two options left. Three if you count rolling over and dying. He could pull out the shard and pour some nectar on it and hope it heals fast enough that he didn't bleed out, or risk dragging himself to the Phlegethon with the shard still in. If he had to guess, the river was what was lighting this place, it must be close. Either way, he would have to move quickly because he could already feel the toxicity of the place messing with him.

He was probably lasting longer than most other demigods would because of his immunity to several different forms of toxins (thanks Ivy) but even that couldn't completely protect him from the atmosphere of Tartarus. Nico decided that it would be his best bet to pull out the shard and plug the wound as best he could before crawling to the river's edge. At least then the shard wouldn't be shifting around inside the wound and cutting him up more. Of course, this would be much easier said than done.

In preparation of removing the shard, Nico stuffed a portion of the parachute in his mouth to bite down on and gripped the shard tightly in one hand with a length of bandage in the other. He didn't have time to think and get cold feet so he took a deep breath and pulled out the shard in one smooth movement. He had intended to replace it with the bandage immediately, but he had underestimated the amount of pain he would be in and his vision went dark as he passed out. It looked so much easier in movies.

The amount of time he spent unconscious was unknown. When he regained his senses, he hastily pressed the bandage on the wound-- hoping that he hadn't lost too much blood while he was out. The pressure was just as excruciating but he managed to stay conscious this time by some miracle. Nico was bleeding a lot. He couldn't tell just how much he had lost but it was too much. He could already feel himself getting dizzy and shivering-- two early side effects of blood loss.

The demigod needed to move and get to the river but he had to wait for the pain to recede so that he could think clearly again. Right now the only thing going through his mind was: ugh! The blood. As soon as he started having semi-coherent thoughts again, he started to move. Nico stuffed everything back in his backpack. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his body as he pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. He swayed, clutching his stomach. Adrenaline had started to take over and his brain stopped registering the pain. Nico started limping towards the orange glow that he hoped was the fire river. It seemed to be the only real source of light in this hellscape.

It felt like forever before he spotted the glowing mass of liquid fire. Relief washed over him though he wasn't nearly out of the woods yet. The son of Hades kept a wary eye out for monsters as he approached the bank. He ungracefully slid down the embankment and collapsed next to the water, even the heat emanating from it couldn't drive him back. Nico pulled the cement cup out from the bottom of his bag and dipped it into the river.

This wasn't his first encounter with the river so he wasn't surprised by the pull of the current or the horrible taste. He downed the cup as quickly as he could before dipping the cup in again and forcing himself to take another drink. The cement cup worked well to hold the firewater. Just as he hoped it would.

As the firewater went through his system, he could feel his lungs and pores clearing as the healing process started. Nico leaned back against the bank and pulled the bandages off the wound to get a better look. He was surprised by what he saw-- the wound had closed up most of the way but it was still red and tender to the touch. It worked much faster than nectar or ambrosia did. It even worked faster than the river in the Underworld did. Was it more powerful here in Tartarus?

Nico took a few more sips before he looked over his leg, which he had been avoiding up until this point. On his right leg, there were long claw scratches that were already visibly beginning to heal from the firewater. On his left let, however, something less obvious was wrong. It was tender to the touch and putting pressure on it hurt. Nico didn't think that it was anything more severe than a sprain, but he would need to keep it steady until the Phlegethon could do its magic. To that end, he finished his second cup of firewater and pulled out the first aid kit. After a few moments of digging through the kit, he put on an ankle brace. It wasn't the best thing for the job, but it was better than nothing. He put his shoe back on and laced it up as tight as it would go for stability. he could feel the firewater working to heal the muscles even as he stood up.

The demigod surveyed his surroundings and was awestruck by the enormity of it all. The cavern itself was so massive he could barely even see the ceiling, especially with the treacherous red clouds in the way. The ground was littered with the obsidian shards of varying sizes and shapes. Some were the size of a sword and some were powdery and fine like sand. It would have been strangely beautiful if everything wasn't meant to kill him.

As he watched, the landscape-- the world-- flickered. One moment it was the barren wasteland of toxic haze and shards, the next it was a pink, pulsing membrane that squished under his feet. When he blinked again, it went back to normal. You would think that this would make him feel better, but it didn't. Instead, it sent his mind into a tailspin. Tartarus was a living being. He was walking along his body. His tissue. The thought made him want to throw up firewater. Could the primordial feel his presence? Could he tell that there was an intruder walking across his skin?

Nico stood frozen for a few minutes, afraid that at any second a giant hand was going to reach out and squash him like a bug. Whether he could tell or not,NicoI had no choice but to continue with this quest. People were still counting on him. There was certainly no turning back now. From this point, there were two options. He could follow the river for as long as it went this direction, or he could risk the exposed and open ground. Though it is true that the monsters might be more frequent around the river, Nico wouldn't be so exposed. The river it is.

Nico shouldered his pack, making sure that everything was still on his belt before he set off along the river. As far as he could tell, he hadn't lost anything in the fall. It was slow going, especially since he would have to stop every so often to drink from the river, but it was still progress. He was the first demigod to travel this far through Tartarus so that was something.

The riverbank started getting steeper and steeper as we went along. Nico guessed even a magical fire river causes erosion over time. Eventually, the banks were taller than he and too steep to climb without assistance. Nico tried to backtrack but it was almost like the ground started sloping beneath his feet, making it impossible. He would just have to keep following the river for now until he had enough strength to climb out himself. He did still have the grappling hook if worst came to worst.

One of the times he stopped to drink from the river the landscape flickered again and suddenly it was no longer fire in the river but blood, thick and warm. The son of Hades choked back a scream and scrambled back from the river's edge. He pressed his back into the riverbank, watching the blood flow past. Every once in a while a hand or a head would reach out of the red tide and scream but they were gone before he could even think to help them.

When he couldn't stand it anymore, Nico shut his eyes tight and sat still for a long time pressing his palms against his eyelids. He stayed in that position until he could once again feel the heat on his face. When he opened his eyes this time, the river was once again fire. The image was gone but it was something that he couldn't unsee. The iron smell, the dark red liquid that flowed in a way that was just so... wrong. It was a harsh reminder that he was drinking Tartarus' blood to survive like some sort of vampire. If he focused he could taste the iron on his tongue and smell the scent lingering in his nostrils. He gagged but forced himself to hold the blood down.

His need to survive outweighed his disgust and he drank another cup of firewater but his stomach churned as he did. He briefly hoped that this quest would kill him because this isn't something he wanted to remember for the rest of his life. He moved along the river until it began looping the wrong way. By this time the banks had turned into a canyon and the only way he was getting out would be to climb out. Nico weighed my options, He could stay with the river and hope that it didn't keep getting deeper and that it starts curving back the way he wanted to go, or he could climb out and risk the exposed land.

Nico chose the safer of the two options. He used his grappling hook to loop onto a ledge halfway up the wall. The ledge was small and wasn't easily accessible. This would be an ideal place to rest for a little while and regroup. He could rest for a short while and then continue on as soon as he could. Nico didn't know how differently time moved in Tartarus versus on the surface but he felt like he was running out of time.

The son of Hades wanted to keep going straight to the doors, but the heat of the river and the fatigue of traveling while injured were really taking a toll on him. Plus he didn't even have a plan for what he would do if or when he made it to the doors. He needed a safe place to just sit and think. If he camouflaged himself well enough, he might even be able to sleep for a little bit. His parachute is black, it would just look like a shadowy ledge to anyone on the outside. Nico jammed his dagger into the bank and laid his parachute over it like a tent. He used rocks to hold down the edges and then he had a completely enclosed lean-to. Nico used his backpack as a pillow and laid down on the ledge, listening for any movement. He may not sleep but he needed to rest a little while at least to let his ankle heal a bit.

Gaea was true to her word. When Nico finally did fall asleep, he didn't dream of the questers. He didn't dream of anything. It had been so long since he had gone a night without a dream that it almost felt like he wasn't asleep at all. However, Nico was asleep. So asleep that he didn't hear the fury/harpies sneak up on him. He didn't know they were there until He heard the distinct rip of his parachute. They had found the lean-to.

Nico shot up and summoned his sword from his ring. It was close-quarters but he managed to cut the nearest one in half. The second she crumbled to dust Nico heard a sickening crack and his right side exploded in pain. The demigod cried out and pain and fell back against the bank. If he had to guess, he would say that his rib was broken if the pain that came from breathing was anything to go by.

"A nasty one that is..." A hissing voice spoke in his head.

"What is?" Nico asked, decapitating another who had lunged at him. Suddenly his chest was burning and Nico could hear and smell his skin burning. He hastily pulled off his shirt and saw an owl brand, exactly like Daedalus' over his heart.

"What are you doing to me?" Nico cried out in terror, keeping them at bay with his sword.

"We are curses." He couldn't tell which one, if any, had actually spoken.

"What? You mean if I kill you, you curse me?" He asked finally understanding.

"We give you what you have coming to you." Nico clutched his balled-up shirt to his chest, trying anything to help soothe the pain.

"What do you mean?"

"We hold the curses of others. We are born from curses cast by other people." Nico understood it then. When someone curses you, it creates one of these bat ladies. When they were killed, the curse they held is imparted onto the person who killed them.

"Who's curses did I get?"

"The ghost and the thorn." The son of Hades couldn't be sure, but he thought the bat ladies were laughing at him. He tried to retort but he only managed to cough up blood.

"Who?"

"Give in, child of death. You can die here with us, or in a horrible manner later. Your choice."

"I have to keep going," He argued. If for nothing else but to stop the internal bleeding.

"Your mission is futile. You do not have the one person who can give you a chance."

"Who is that? Who can help me?" Nico wasn't sure he should take their advice, but he was all out of good options.

"The Miserable one." With that response, the hero's heart filled with dread. He really didn't like the sound of that. He was cut off from asking more questions when one lunged at him and he cut her down. Great, more curses.

++++

[Happy Tartarus Arc! Also, I am super excited for the next chapter because it was so fun to write and it will emotionally ruin you guys! So keep an eye out for that in the future! Happy Early Easter you guys! Or whatever else you celebrate! I know that a lot of religions are pretty busy this time of year! Stay safe!]

Chapter Text

June 23rd

[Please understand that we're going back a little bit for this. This chapter starts the morning of the 23rd, the day Nico left. No one has noticed that he is missing yet. Also, this is going to be a rough chapter so get your tissues ready!]

[Bruce's POV]

It was a busy morning with an important conference at Wayne Enterprises he had to attend, a board meeting right after that, and a charity luncheon at noon. This was the part of billionaire life Bruce Wayne could do without. Though the media may know him as an extravagant socialite but the truth was a lot less glamorous. He hated these shallow functions. Rubbing elbows with Gotham's elites-- an oxymoron if there ever was one-- and politicians. If you asked him, these people were the true scum of Gotham.

With his hobby, Bruce knew too much about these people to be fooled by their pristine reputations. It was a lot harder to smile and make pleasant small talk if you knew their dirty little secrets. For instance, if Batman was digging into an embezzlement scandal in someone's company that they have been using to fund their drug habit instead of paying their employees, then Bruce Wayne would have a hard time remaining pleasant.

Over the years he had grown accustomed to the nature of these so-called elites and used it to his advantage. They were gossip piranhas and could smell a juicy story a mile away. They were very adept at finding the chinks in a person's character and using it as a way to get inside someone's guard and rip their reputation apart. Once one got through, a feeding frenzy started and they would swarm until there was nothing left. Bruce had seen them do this many times. Some people had deserved their fates but many hadn't. Many truly nice people had lost everything to the swarm.

The more genuinely nice someone was, the more likely the piranhas would seek out their weaknesses to exploit them. They only respected power, and kindness made one vulnerable. Bruce had learned to walk the line between courteous and rude. They were piranhas, maybe, but he did not fear them. Batman had taken measures to protect himself from them and their sharp teeth. He had been playing this game since he was a child-- analyzing them. He knew who was in whose pocket, who were secret business partners, and who hated each other. No one understood the rules as well as he did.

Rule 1: Never show that anything worries you.

Rule 2: Never raise your voice or lose your temper in public.

Rule 3: Never obviously evade a question in an interview.

Rule 4: Donate to reputable charities.

Rule 5: Know your company inside and out.

Rule 6: Your spending should reflect your earnings.

Rule 7: Never stop smiling.

Rule 8: Defend your family no matter what.

Rule 9: If you are going to lie, do it well and don't get caught.

Rule 10: Never spend more time with one family than you do any other and send gifts/cards/invites to parties, holidays, and events.

Those were the main rules. If you followed them you would probably be fine. Just stick to the rules. Bruce had spent the last decade trying to instill these rules in the boys so that they would follow them without even thinking about it. They were extensions of himself in the sense that they were now the known faces of Wayne Industries, whether that was fair or not. They were under just as much scrutiny as he was in the eyes of the public. He wished it wasn't this way, but there wasn't much way around it. The boys had needed a home and the publicity came with the territory.

After the board meeting, Bruce took a break to check his messages in his car. He had missed a call from Selina Kyle. HE deleted it. That was a string he had no interest in tugging on at the moment. Batman had enough on his plate without her getting in the way.

++++

The charity luncheon was uneventful and soon Bruce was on his way back to the manor when his phone rang in a pitch that was just slightly lower than his usual dial tone. This meant that it had been redirected to this phone from the bat computer. Someone was trying to call Batman. Bruce picked it up.

"Yes?" he asked, adopting his well-practiced Batman voice.

"Batman? This is Aqualad. We have a problem." The Atlantean spoke evenly. He felt his mood plummet. He didn't need this right now.

"What's wrong?"

"It's about Ghost. Sir, we got a letter. I think he's in some kind of trouble." My heart felt like it did every time he jumped off a roof and was waiting for the grappling hook to catch him and keep him from crashing to the pavement.

"I'm right in the middle of a case. I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't do anything until I get there. Don't touch the letter either. It might have forensic evidence on it." He lied. He was going to stop by the manor first and see if Nico was there. Bruce had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that the son of Hades wasn't in his room.

"Yes sir." After he hung up, Batman immediately dialed Alfred.

"Master Bruce--" Alfred greeted calmly after the second ring.

"Where's Nico?" Bruce cut him off. He didn't have time to feel bad about his poor manners-- he was more concerned about finding Nico. He would apologize later.

"In his room, I believe. I haven't seen him yet today. Though he did have a late night last night." Alfred sounded confused.

"Please check and call me back as soon as you have."

"Certainly, sir. What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm hoping that Nico can explain that," He replied before hanging up. He was still 10 minutes out from the manor and he couldn't afford to get pulled over. How he wished he was in the batmobile so he could ignore traffic laws. A few minutes later Alfred called back and Bruce didn't even let it ring once before he picked it up.

"Is he there?"

"No. He's not here. Also some of his clothes, and his stash of ambrosia and nectar are gone. I'm having the boys search the manor and the cave." Alfred's voice was serious and to the point. He may not know why it was so important that they find Nico right this instant, but he understood that something was wrong.

"Keep looking. I'll be there in a few minutes." He hung up. Please, Nico. Be there. Not too long after he hung up, Bruce pulled up in front of the manor and raced inside. Alfred was waiting for him in the breezeway.

"He's not anywhere in the manor. The boys are searching the cave as we speak. What is going on, Master Bruce? Is the boy in some kind of trouble?" The older man asked him as he followed Bruce to the clock that hid the entrance to the cave.

"I don't know," the younger man sighed as he changed the hands, "The Young Justice Team found a letter from 'Ghost' that somehow suggested that he was in some sort of trouble. I wanted to see if Nico was still here and if he could explain the letter to me personally." Bruce explained as we walked down the catwalk. When they reached the bottom, he spotted his boys. Tim was at the Bat computer reviewing the security tapes, the other boys were looking over his shoulder.

"What have you found?" Bruce asked as he came up behind them, reviewing the tapes.

"He didn't leave the cave. At least not according to the tapes." Tim played a clip for him. It showed Nico entering the Hall of Memories but he never came back out.

"Have you checked in there?" Bruce asked-- already moving to check himself.

"Not yet," Dick called after him, hot on his heels. Batman pushed his way through the door, stopping to check in every room. Nothing. Then he got to his room and found a strange setup. There was a tripod set up facing the door and Nico's sketchbook was right sitting next to it. Bruce glanced around the room before heading toward the camera. He took it off the tripod and turned it on. He looked back through the camera roll and found a video that was time-stamped for today. He took the memory chip out of the device and pocketed it. Bruce would play it on the Bat computer as soon as he found out where Nico was. Whatever was in this video, he could tell the family himself. Bruce picked up the sketchbook and brought it into the hall with him. Dick spotted the book in the older man's hand and he frowned, having just left Jason's room.

"His sketchbook? He'd never leave that behind." His oldest muttered to himself. This new information only made Bruce feel worse.

"Tim, bring up Nico's GPS coordinates," Bruce ordered as he walked back out into the main atrium.

"On it!" He replied before settling into the seat in front of the computer. Bruce set the sketchbook on the desk next to the screen for Nico to pick up later.

"Dick, check Nico's room. See if you can find anything else that's out of the ordinary." He left without a word, proof that he was very worried.

"What about us, father?" Damian had his classic scowl on his face and was watching the computer apprehensively.

"When we know his location, we'll extract him. Suit up." Batman ordered. Damian and Jason left hurriedly. They knew things must be serious if Jason was coming along-- in uniform no less.

"What--" Tim muttered softly. The Bat frowned and stared over his son's shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't find his location." He was clicking away furiously, apparently running diagnostics.

"Is it a malfunction with the device?"

"No. I'm not getting an error signal like I would if it were broken or faulty. It's like he's out of range." Tim explained leaning back in his seat. Bruce could see the gears turning in his mind.

"What exactly is the range on this device?" He knew the answer, of course, but he wanted Tim to tell him that he was wrong.

"It uses cell phone towers to route the signal back here from anywhere on Earth. It shouldn't be possible for him to be out of range." Tim confirmed his fears.

"So he has to be somewhere that the signal doesn't reach." Bruce reasoned. Tim nodded in agreement.

"Suit up. We're headed to the mountain."

++++

After they had all changed, Batman sent Damian to the Teen Titans to see if he could pick up Nico's signal from there. He didn't have much hope, but he didn't know what else to try. Jason went out to search the streets and put out feelers for him using his web of contacts. Nightwing, Red Robin, and the Caped Crusader himself went to the mountain to see just what Nico's letter said. Bruce could feel the memory chip burning in his utility belt where he had placed it. He hadn't looked at it yet because not knowing what it said was easier. It was easier to deny your suspicions so long as you didn't have proof sitting right in front of your eyes.

Batman stepped through the zeta tube and into the buzzing atmosphere of the Young Justice base. A hush fell over the members as they passed. He didn't bother to acknowledge the other members as he was in a hurry. He and his proteges pressed through the group and further into the base. They found Aqualad and the rest of the original team in their conference room.

"The letter is by the keyboard." Wally piped up as soon as Batman entered. Bruce glanced at Tim who nodded and left to the central command room to try and pick up Nico's coordinates from there. It was basically pointless but it wouldn't hurt anything to try again. He picked up the note by two corners and first analyzed the handwriting. It was undeniably Nico's. Because of his dyslexia, there were a lot of spelling errors but the main message of the note was clear. He was going on a suicide mission.

"When and where did you find this?" Batman picked up the envelope and examined it. It was the same stationery we used at the manor for informal documents. Nothing about its appearance could lead the team back to the Wayne family as it was a fairly popular company, but Bruce recognized the style.

"I found it this morning when I was going through my souvenirs." Wally volunteered. He knew who Nico really was so he recognized Batman's shortness as concern, not anger.

"I think he left it last night at the party," Kaldur offered, "I found him in here looking at the collection. I think he left it there for us to find."

"So do we know where he is? What is this mission he was talking about?" Artemis spoke up. Wally put an arm around his girlfriend to comfort her. Bruce held the envelope up to the light to see if there were any fibers on the paper that he missed.

"He's missing," Batman replied, handing the envelope to Nightwing, who put it in an evidence bag, "I was out looking for him when I got your call. He is supposed to check in with me once a week and he missed our appointment."

"Do you think he's alright?" M'gann asked curiously. She had a general concern for everyone which was a rare quality these days.

"It's too soon to tell. There were no signs of a struggle and this note is in his handwriting." He answered as he placed the note in the evidence bag in a way that you could still read it. Of course, he'd take it out of the bag when we got to the cave, but this was for the benefit of the team.

"His handwriting is awful," Artemis commented dryly. No one replied but she didn't seem like she had been expecting a response.

"We also found a sketch with the letter." Kaldur set it in front of him. It was definitely in Nico's style. He had captured the likenesses of the entire team well enough that they could be used as police sketches. It was really quite impressive considering how little time he had spent around all of them. It was then that he got a call from Alfred. Batman retreated into the hall and put the call through the Bluetooth earpieces he had installed in his cowl. Hopefully, he had good news.

"Another one of those eagles came today, sir. It has a note like before but it is written in Latin. I can't decipher it." His old friend informed him.

"I'm on my way. I'm bringing the note from the Mountain back for forensic analysis."

"Very good, sir." Alfred hung up. Batman came back into the conference room where the team had huddled in the back and were talking in hushed tones.

"Nightwing," He called gruffly. His oldest protege broke from the group and met him at the head of the table. He carefully folded the letter and placed it in his utility belt.

"I need you to call in that favor from Oracle," He told him. Oracle was, of course, Barbara Gordon-- the former Batgirl. She didn't owe Dick a favor (it was very much the other way around) but in order to keep her safe, we had to keep up the appearance that she wasn't affiliated with the rest of them. With Superboy in the room and the fact that Young Justice had been infiltrated once before, he felt it best to act as though anyone could be a mole and leak information. Better to be safe than sorry.

"Get her to try and triangulate his last known coordinates." He agreed, picking up his mentor's train of thought. Nightwing left quickly-- presumably to call Barbara. Bruce left for the central command room to see if Tim was getting anywhere with his search. Apparently, his search had gained the attention of the younger members who were gathered around him. He was sure that Tim was loving that. The studious boy preferred to be alone when he was working and he needed peace and quiet in order for him to reach the state of hyperfocus where he could tune out the end of the world itself.

The huddle was buzzing with conversation, but they quieted when they noticed him. Most left, being intimidated by his uniform and his reputation. Sometimes being tall, dark, and brooding had its advantages.

"Report," He said as he came up behind Tim.

"I got nothing, Batman. It's like he disappeared off the face of the Earth." He sighed. Then they both froze, something horrible coming to their minds at the same time.

"You don't think--" he hesitated, unable to verbalize his thoughts.

"I do." Bruce took out the memory chip from his pocket. Looks like they were going to have to watch the video if they were going to get to the bottom of this.

"Recall the others to the cave. Nightwing is getting Oracle on the case." He shoved the chip back into his belt before heading back out towards the zeta tubes. Batman planned on calling Commissioner Gordon once he got back to the cave and asking him to keep an eye out for Nico as well.

++++

Once everyone had regrouped at the cave and he had placed his call to the Commissioner, Bruce inserted the memory chip into the computer.

"I think that Nico went to either one of the camps or the Underworld. That's the only thing that explains why he doesn't show up on our GPS," Bruce started, "I think he also left us a video explaining why." He pointed to the screen.

"Why didn't we play that earlier?" Jason frowned. He sported a new busted lip but seemed otherwise unharmed.

"I didn't want to waste time watching a video if there was still a chance to stop him before he left," he lied. That was only part of the reason.

"Well, then what's stopping you now? Let's play it." Damian stepped forward a few paces looking up towards the screen.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Jason accused, leaning against a railing. Bruce shared a glance with Dick, who was the only one who knew what the note said. He pulled the letter out of the pocket of his utility belt and passed it to his second oldest. It took him a few moments to decipher it, but when he did his face paled.

"What did it say?" Damian took it from Jason without a struggle. He read it then crumpled it up angrily before tossing it to Tim who stared at the youngest wide-eyed. Damian had his back turned to the rest of us, his arms crossed and his body tense. He tended to go straight to anger when it came to dealing with grief. Tim unraveled the note gently and took his time deciphering it before silently passing it to Alfred. It was hard to tell what Tim was thinking but even from here, Bruce could see him swallowing hard and blinking rapidly, if he didn't know better, he would have thought he was holding back tears.

"He can't be serious." Alfred was the first to speak up.

"It's in his handwriting. And we’re the only ones who know that he is dyslexic." Bruce pointed out. If someone were to have tried to leave the note for him, they would have had to know him very well. The chances of that were slim.

"Let's watch the video." Dick came up beside him. Bruce sighed but he knew that he couldn't put it off much longer. Batman turned around and pressed play.

"Hey, guys. I am leaving this behind to explain why I'm doing what I am doing-- what I am about to do." Nico's voice came out loud and clear, erasing any doubt that this was him. He seemed nervous, running his hands through his hair and shifting his weight.

"I have to close the doors of death. The Greeks and Romans don't stand a chance if I don't. I'm the only one who even has half a chance. I'm the only one that the world can spare, at the very least." He sighed. Did he really think that the world didn't need him? Did he really think that he was so easily replaced?

"What I need to say is that this isn't about you guys. I know this won't make sense and that you might even blame yourselves. This isn't because of anything you did or didn't do. This is about the prophecy. 'Foes bare arms to the doors of death'." He recited. Bruce had a pretty good idea of where he was going with this, but knowing didn't make him feel any better.

"I know what it all means. I saw it in my dreams. Titans guard the doors and hold them open while Gaea decides which monsters to let through. If this continues, death itself will cease. It will be a war without end or worse, a war that is impossible to win." Nico explained. It made him feel sick to see how resigned the demigod was to this role.

"The reason I'm leaving this recording is..." he hesitated and Bruce wished more than anything that he could reach through the screen and grab him.

"The reason that I am recording this instead of telling you all in person is because I don't expect to make it back. 'Giants snuff out an angel's breath'," he quoted, "It means I am going to die. Di Angelo. It literally means 'the angel' in Italian. I'm destined to die. That's why I didn't die when I manifested my father's blessing. It wasn't my time yet." Batman was at a loss for words. He knew. All this time he knew that he was going to leave us. How long had he known? When did he make up his mind?

"Listen, I'm doing this because it is our only chance. I am the only demigod who can do this. I'm the son of Hades, after all. The others don't even know about the doors yet. I'm their only shot." Bruce could see the demigod's resolve in his eyes and he wasn't so sure that he would have been able to stop him even if he had found out before the boy had left. Nico was a force to be reckoned with when he believed he had the moral high ground.

"Thank you for everything you have done for me. I'll put in a good word for you with the judges. If my friends Annabeth, Percy, Rachel, or Thalia come looking for me... tell them that I did what I felt I had to and that I'll see them again some day." He smiled to himself, and Bruce wished he knew what Nico was thinking about. What did he draw on for comfort when he knew he was going to his death?

"Tell Diana that I forgive her. I want her to know that it was never her fault. Bianca made her own choice. I get that now. Just as I have made mine." He took a deep breath and laid his sketchbook on the podium next to the camera. The vigilante glanced at it where it sat next to the computer. He didn't have the heart to look inside it just yet.

"I know that this isn't what you wanted, but this is our best shot. This is bigger than me, bigger than us. I have to do this. I'm sorry." Nico looked around the room. He seemed to relax a bit as he saw all the pictures and clippings Bruce and Alfred had saved of him over the last few months. Then he realized why he filmed the video in there. This was supposed to be their last memory of him. He left it for them in the Hall of Memories with everything else he had saved. It had come full circle.

"I just wanted to say that I am sorry to do this to you, I truly am. I wanted to do this in person but I knew you'd try and stop me. I couldn't let that happen." He looked back at the camera for a moment and sighed.

"I want you to know that you all mean a lot to me, until recently you would have been the only people I had to say goodbye to. And I want you to know that I'm doing this for you. For humanity." With that, Nico ended the recording.

"Nico no..." Dick muttered almost inaudibly.

"There was the eagle too, sir." Alfred reminded him, looking his age. He passed the oldest Wayne the scroll. Bruce vaguely wondered how Alfred had gotten it from the bird but then decided that it wasn't important right now. He had more pressing matters to consider. Bruce was grateful for something substantial to do rather than sit there and wallow in his feelings. He scanned the document and sent it through a translator. It would take about an hour to decipher since it was a dead language, but it appeared that they had the time. We were too late already.

++++

While they were waiting for the translation, everyone went their own way to try and process everything. Bruce had a pretty good idea what everyone was doing to cope. They all seem to think that he was oblivious, but he did try his best to notice the important things. For instance, he knew that Dick didn't think he knew about the knife he keeps under his pillow just in case the League of Shadows, Slade, the Talons, or the Joker ever decide to come for him in the night. That habit started after Jason's death. He probably didn't know that Bruce knew about his tendency to sneak into the cave late at night to swing on the trapeze when he had 'the dream' again. He didn't do that so often anymore but sometimes Bruce would still get a motion alert on the camera facing the trapeze.

Dick was probably in the gym right now, practicing gymnastics. It was something he had always done to let off steam. When the bullying had reached its pique he had picked up the saying 'you can take the boy out of the circus, but you can't take the circus out of the boy'. He used to see it as something to be ashamed of, but now he showed his roots with pride. He had come so far.

Bruce knew that Jason was probably out on the streets looking for trouble. Even as Robin he had the tendency to be impulsive and arrogant. Nothing could touch him. Bruce knew the day he caught him stealing tires off of the batmobile that he would make in interesting Robin. Hood didn't think Bruce knew about the fact that he saves children from their abusers, and gives a lot of the money he gets from the drug lords he kills to the orphans to buy food and clothes. He thought his old man was oblivious to the nightmares he still had about his death and revival. His new fear of clowns. Or that he sleeps with a loaded gun under his pillow.

Bruce could hear Damian training on the hologram platform, cutting through enemies just as well as any of his older brothers. When he didn't know how to deal with a situation, he fell back on his training from the League of Assassins. From a time when everything was black and white. When he didn't have the luxury of emotional attachments or the weight of grief. He never said so, but Bruce could tell he missed the simplicity of it all. There was something else, though. Bruce could tell that his biological son feared the League too, though. If the traps he kept on his window and door were any indication. He even slept with his utility belt nearby so he would never be too far from a weapon. It may have been a simpler time, but it was a cruel world that had left him scarred.

Tim was probably in his room researching anything and everything that he thought could to help find Nico. After years of being neglected, Tim prided himself on being useful and did his best to make his new father figure proud. And he did, every single day. Tim had one of the most amazing minds Batman had ever seen, which was saying a lot considering how smart all of his brothers are. Even with that massive intellect, Bruce knew that he didn't think his mentor knew about all the sleepless nights, him chugging coffee to stay awake, and the time he spent studying case files instead of homework, or that he snuck notes on the clues he discovered into Batman's files in a very good forgery of his handwriting. He probably didn't think he knew about all the extra time and effort he put into his training to keep up with him and the other boys and how hard he was on himself when he felt that he didn't measure up.

There was so much that he saw in them that he never let on that he knew about. For a long time, Bruce felt that he was protecting them-- that they probably wouldn't want him to know these things. Was he wrong? Should he tell them that he noticed? Should he have told Nico what he had noticed about him?

Should he have told him that I knew about the nightmares that he never mentioned? Should he have told the son of Hades that he noticed his sweet tooth and that he was the one that was leaving candies in the pockets of his jackets for him to find? Would he have stayed then?

Would he have stayed if Bruce told him how impressed he was with his natural fighting ability and how quickly he picked up on moves that took him years to master? Or what about how truly smart he is even though he always insisted that he was dumb. Would that have changed his mind?

Now he would never know.

++++

It seemed like hours had passed before the Bat computer notified him that it had deciphered the message. It read:

Nico di Angelo,

You better hope the next time we meet it is not on a battlefield. You promised me you wouldn't do anything hasty. You promised me that you wouldn't try to close the doors on your own. Then you leave without even a goodbye and I find your farewell letter on my threshold. By all rights, I should feed you to my dogs.

I have written this in Latin-- should the mortals come across it first-- to save your dignity. Not that I owe you that, considering the fact that you admitted to lying to me in your letter.

What exactly did you keep from me, son of Pluto? If you were an agent of the Earth Mother then I hope Tartarus rips you and your lying tongue to shreds. I trusted you. Your treachery would be on no one's head but my own. I pray to the gods that you know what you are doing, child of death. For your sake, as well as mine.

Reyna praetor of the
twelfth legion fuliminata

Bruce couldn't tell what happened between the two just by the letter, but whatever it was, it didn't sound good. He was getting a lot of mixed signals from Reyna but she clearly cared about him or the outcome of his quest if she would bother to write to him, not knowing whether or not it would even reach him. Bruce called the other boys over and let them read the letter for themselves. They seemed to be just as confused as he was.

"Does she want to kill him or hug him?" Dick read over it for a second time.

"Both, I think." Tim squinted at the screen. He spent way too much time looking at screens. Bruce filed that away under useful information. Alfred came up beside Dick, having brought a plate of sandwiches down for us. They were eating them half-heartedly because they knew it made Alfred happy to provide for them. He read over the note once himself before turning to Bruce.

"By the way, Master Bruce, the eagle that brought that scroll hasn't left the grounds. It seems to be waiting for a letter to take back." He reported. Reyna was hoping to get a response from Nico. His sandwich felt like a rock in his gut.

"Thank you, Alfred." The butler managed a small smile before retreating back up into the manor. He tended to throw himself into his work when he was worried. Not that he could relate.

"Are you going to send a letter back, father?" Damian was balanced on top of a railing nibbling on a cucumber sandwich. It was an odd selection for someone his age but he didn't bother mentioning that. He was vegetarian so that might have something to do with it.

"I should. Reyna deserves to know. That's why Nico left her a letter in the first place, right? Why he left all of us letters. He didn't want us to be left guessing." He pointed out. Bruce pulled out a sheet of official Wayne Enterprises stationary and wrote in his personal phone number at the top. He knew that most demigods didn't have phones because they attracted monsters, but it couldn't hurt for her just to have it just in case.

In the letter, he told her how Nico left early on the morning of the 23rd so that he could get to the doors before the battle on the 25th. He explained how we hadn't known he was leaving until it was too late and how he left people notes so they wouldn't bother looking for him. Bruce also told her that he would never do anything to endanger her camp and that the whole reason he left for the pit was to save them. He told her how much it meant to him that they gave his sister a place to stay and how much he respected her for her strength.

Bruce signed it and placed it in an envelope before sealing it shut. Then they went-- as a family-- out into the back courtyard where the golden eagle sat perched on a bench. It was as tall as Bruce even without the bench and easily big enough to pick up a human being. He gently slipped the letter into the satchel in its mouth and backed up quickly as it took off.

"He's really gone, then?" Jason spoke up after the eagle had disappeared from sight.

"It seems like it." Bruce agreed flatly. He couldn't find the energy to put any effort into his tone. Tim collapsed on the bench but didn't make a sound. Dick settled down next to him and put his arm around his younger brother. Damian sat down on the other side of Dick and allowed himself to be pulled into a side hug. Jason sat on the ground in front of the bench and used Dick's legs as a backrest. None of them spoke a word, but they didn't need to. There was nothing anybody could say to make this better. They just needed time, support, and each other right now. This time Bruce would be there for them to help them through this. He wasn't going to allow himself to throw himself into his work as he would usually do. He needed to make it obvious that he notices them.

Dick pulled his brothers closer to him like he was afraid that if he loosened his grip they would disappear. Nico's disappearance hit really close to home with all of them. We had already gone through the loss of a brother; a son. This scene was painfully familiar. It was true that they had gotten Jason back in the end with a little help from the Lazarus pit, but he was a little different now. However, he was still Jason and he was still here. Nico, however, is beyond their reach. He is on his own in enemy territory in a place where even immortals dare not tread.

As the truth sank in, his weight became too much for him and he lowered himself to the ground. It hadn't sunk in for him yet. None of it felt real. Just last night he was laughing and joking around with the rest of us like nothing was wrong. Today they woke up and he was gone without a trace. He hadn't even noticed he was gone when he left for work this morning.

"Bruce?" Dick called but he sounded far away. He was lost in his thoughts. A few moments later his eldest pressed himself into his side and Bruce instinctively wrapped his arms around him.

"Bruce?" he asked again. Even though the oldest protege was in so much pain and already carrying so much, he was still taking the time to check on him.

"I don't want to lose another son," Bruce said simply. He didn't know where the words came from, but he felt them with every fiber of his being. Bruce couldn't lose another son. He just couldn't. To his surprise, Jason sat on his other side. Batman silently pulled him into a hug too, and he didn't protest. His boys. His kind, brave, loyal, and selfless boys. Tim and even Damian joined the group and they huddled there together grieving as a family.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." He pulled them closer to me-- as close as he could without crushing them. Bruce don't know if they knew what he was apologizing for but they didn't ask questions. After a while, they had all cried themselves out and it was getting dark. They headed inside and split up to grieve on their own. It was nice to know that they were there when they needed each other, but sometimes you just needed space in order to work things out.

Batman placed another call to Commissioner Gordon and they agreed that he should come in early the next morning to file a missing person's report if he didn't hear from Nico tonight. They hung up and that's when Batman went to work.

Chapter Text

[TW Gore, Horror, Derealization, Depersonalization, & brief suicidal ideation. I am being serious so please read at your own risk.]

Nico's situation was getting more and more desperate by the minute. He had managed to dispatch or chase away all the curse harpies but not without a cost. He had been cursed-- his cracked ribs and the traitor's brand on his chest ached with every breath. There was also the fact that Nico was running dangerously low on firewater, though it didn't seem to have much of an effect on the curses. He'd just have to keep moving and hope that he could push through long enough to find a way to complete his mission.

To that end, Nico had a problem. One of many, at the moment, but still a problem. He didn't know where to find this goddess. The harpies had said something about her being the only one who could help him? Akhlys? The name bounced around in his brain. He knew that name from somewhere. Where? It felt important and it would have been infuriating to him if he weren't in so much pain. He wished he had paid more attention to the monsters and deities classes at Camp Half-Blood instead of doodling in his notebook.

He stopped on a ledge that was just barely wide enough for him to stand on if he pressed his back into the wall. His legs trembled and he prayed to anyone who could hear him that he wouldn't fall to his death. There was still quite a way to climb before he would be out of the Phlegethon canyon and he didn't think he'd be able to make it in this condition. Rifling through his utility belt, Nico brought out a pouch of ambrosia. He risked an entire square and took a breath of relief as a wave of warmth came over him. He hoped it was from healing and not that he had overdone it and was about to combust. It was doing something at least. It was a temporary fix. Curses would take more than ambrosia and firewater to heal. This was putting a bandaid on a bullet wound.

It was then that he realized how outmatched he was. He was dying. Slowly but surely these curses and this atmosphere were eating away at him. He was losing and he hadn't even reached the doors. How would he be able to fight off the army by himself? How did he expect to make it far enough through the swarm that was no doubt gathered around the doors? How could he expect to get close enough to the doors to even have a chance at freeing them?

Nico couldn't stand the idea that this had all been for nothing. He had given everything up so that he could give his friends on the surface a chance. They were risking their lives fighting an unbeatable army. They were relying on somebody to even the odds snd Nico had every intention of making that happen. He had to. He had gotten this far, after all. It was a noble thought, but standing on that ledge with his knees shaking, Nico couldn't see how he was going to make that happen.

He had come down here with the understanding that it was going to be a one-way trip. He hadn't ever imagined that he'd be out before the final fight. A wave of defeat forced him to press himself to the cliff face-- pressing himself tightly to the wall. This wasn't a battle he could win, was it? His eyes began to sting with unshed tears and he contemplated just leaning forward and letting gravity pull him to the canyon floor below. Gravity would be kinder to him than the monsters would.

Then he heard it-- the heart-wrenching wailing in the distance. Sounds of pure misery shook Nico to his very core. he found himself frozen to his spot as the sound brought forth every memory that he would have rather forgotten. Every moment he felt grief, betrayal, hatred, or pain came rushing to the forefront of his mind. His throat closed up and he clutched his hands over his ears though it did little to block out to sound. He felt repulsed and pulled to the wails in equal measure. He felt as though they were calling specifically for him. Then it fell silent and the whole of Tartarus seemed to be holding it's breath.

Nico found that he could breathe again, but his legs had turned to jelly. He grabbed a handhold before his legs gave out and dropped him to the ground below. He took a few deep breaths and regained his balance. Just as he had started to believe that he had imagined it, the noise started up again, this time even louder. Again Nico was pressed into the wall with horrible memories and he found that his body was trembling involuntarily. Then all at once, the wail cut off as it had before.

It was unnerving and tempting at the same time. Nico knew that this was probably a trap, but right now it was the only lead he had. It was a shred of hope. He had to go now before he was too weak to climb. Nico peeled himself off the wall and resumed his climb. Luckily it seemed that the ambrosia was taking the edge off of... everything. It was a hard endeavor and his legs and arms were burning by the end of it, but he managed to make it to the top. He pulled himself over the edge and promptly collapsed-- most of his energy was spent.

He laid face-down on the sharp shards, not even bothering to push them away from his face. With his ears to the ground, he could hear the rhythmic thrum of the ground. If he paid enough attention, he could feel the floor pulse in time with the noise. For a few moments, he was the calmest he had been since he entered the pit. Then suddenly the ground was no longer obsidian and was instead a glistening pink membrane. Nico scrambled to get his face away from the tissue and frantically wiped the imaginary residue off of his face. The pulse had been a heartbeat. A moment later the screaming started again.

This sent the son of Hades over the edge. It was just too much. He curled over his folded legs and pressed his forehead to his knees. Nico intertwined his fingers behind his head, pressing his forearms tightly against his ears to try and block out the wailing, but to no avail. Hot tears dripped from his eyes onto his pants but he paid them no heed. He had to focus on breathing. Just keep breathing. Don't think about it. You won't make it if you keep thinking about it.

But telling himself those things was pointless. It was like telling himself not to breathe. It was automatic. He couldn't stop thinking about it. How could he fight against a being the size of this realm? A realm that stretched as far as he could see in any direction. How could anybody? He gently rocked himself back and forth until he became aware of the squishing of the membrane beneath him and he had to stop. His brain screamed at him that he didn't have time for a breakdown. He knew that-- but he couldn't cope with the enormity of the pit and the hopelessness he was feeling right then. His body was shutting down.

He needed to move. He needed to get somewhere safer, or find the wailing, or something. He was exposed out here like this, but he couldn't get himself to move. This wasn't what Batman had taught him, but right then that life seemed far away, almost unreal. Had he really been living with a vigilante or had his mind just fabricated the whole thing as a way to cope? What if he had been in Tartarus all this time? What if he had died in the Titan War and this was his field of punishment? What if he was in a coma?

The screaming stop, allowing him enough of a reprieve to have some coherent thoughts.

What would Bruce do?

There it was. There was the strength that Nico needed. What would Bruce do? How would Batman handle a situation like this? Nico managed to slow his breathing a bit and get more control over his shaking as his brain scrambled for the answer. What would Batman do?

"He would keep going," Nico said aloud. Batman wouldn't give up because it seemed hopeless. Bruce had once told him that everything had a solution if you were paying attention and kept giving yourself more chances to come up with something. Basically, If Nico gave up here, that is as far as he would ever get and he would never know whether or not he could have completed his mission. If he followed through with his plans, however, he might find something that made his situation less hopeless. He would never know if he just stayed there and let something kill him. He had to move.

The lone demigod forced himself up-- trying his best not to acknowledge the pink, pulsing membrane beneath him. He couldn't acknowledge it. Not if he wanted to remain on his feet. He would follow the wailing and approach with caution. Maybe if he helped whoever or whatever was making those noises, they would help him in exchange. He had to try. Just one foot in front of the other.

......

After what felt like an eternity, the membrane shifted slowly back into the obsidian floor. This switch wasn't sudden like the other ones were. Instead, the change started in patches and looked like the obsidian had grown out of the fleshy membrane. Nico decided not to dwell on that line of thought for too long, though. After the obsidian was back, traveling was much more enjoyable. He was still cursed, still in pain, and still traveling towards the miserable wailing, but at least he wasn't going insane. He could deal with physical and even emotional pain. What he couldn't deal with was a mental break. He had to keep his wits about him.

The wails weren't hard to follow. They got louder the closer he got and they were almost constant at this point. He knew that it was possible that monsters were being drawn in by this noise as well so he made sure to be careful and keep a lookout for movement around him. If he got caught out here in the open in the state that he was in... he wouldn't stand a chance.

At one point Nico came across a surprisingly nice encampment that looked larger and more detailed than most monsters could manage. Though monsters weren't really in the business of building. Whoever this plot belonged to, they weren't your typical monster. This also seemed to have been here a long time if the skeletons were anything to go by. There were hundreds of skulls wrapped around trees in ways that shouldn't have been possible. It looked like the tree had grown up right through the middle of the beast's mouth. There were tons of smaller bones strewn about the place as well.

In the distance, Nico heard a strange hissing roar. Something moved in the hut, almost in response to this noise. Nico ducked behind a rock, hoping to avoid the owner of this property. He wasn't interested in having his own bones added to this collection. The roar was getting louder and it was then that Nico realized that the occupant of the hut had emerged without so much as a sound. The son of Hades gulped and ducked further behind the rock, feeling that his hiding place was inadequate now. The thing that had built this home was a giant.

He was huge and was wearing clothing made of a pelt that Nico had never seen before. It was shiny and it seemed to be made out of scales. Now that he looked around, the skulls in the yard were consistent with some kind of reptile. The giant stared off into the distance in the direction of the incoming beast. He looked reserved and tired but not at all afraid.

Moments later the foul beast came into view. It was a drakon that was easily bigger than he was. Moments before it reached its target, which luckily appeared to be the giant and not the cowering demigod, the giant moved to meet it. He pulled a tree from the ground-- roots and all-- and used it to pin the drakon into the ground by it's open mouth. The monster crumbled to dust, leaving the hide and some bone.

It was exactly like the rest of the skulls around the yard. This had happened before. Perhaps thousands of times. It was a cycle-- a curse. After the giant had found what he needed from the spoils, he retreated back into his hut. Nico didn't wait to be invited in. He snuck past as quietly as he could. He didn't want anything to do with a giant who used entire trees as a weapon.

Once he started walking again, it took him a moment to realize that the wailing had stopped. His stomach sank. How was he supposed to track them down now? Instantly the hopelessness started to push in from all around him and he tried to swallow it down. All he needed was a little hope-- a lead of some kind. Then it started again. The relative peace of the crackling of the shards settling to the ear-splitting wails nearly gave him whiplash. Nico continued on his way towards the wailing-- feeling confident that he wasn't too far away now.

Finally, when he thought that he was going to tear out his eardrums because of the sound he spotted a squatting form in the distance. That was the source of the wailing-- he was certain of it. He had to approach with caution. It could be a trap. Nico inched forward bit by bit. The being wasn't facing him and Nico took a little bit of comfort in that. That is until it stopped screaming. Nico froze in his tracks, suddenly very aware of how unprepared he was for a fight. His hand flew to his hidden sword and he quietly shifted into a better stance for fighting.

"Hello, dear miserable one. I've been calling for you." The form rasped before turning slowly, pivoting its entire body around on her podex rather than standing. When the form was facing him, he could see why. He wasn't sure that she even could stand. The woman before him was an empty shell of a person. Hollow, sunken, bony, and ugly- crying. She held a weighty shield in her lap that seemed like it should be much too big for her to lift. The shield depicted images of her holding the shield that kept getting smaller and smaller. Nico absently wondered who had made it for her.

Her hair was matted and stringy and her teeth were rotting out as well. Her eyes were red and still leaking tears that streamed down her cheeks and throat unattended. She was filthy and smelled acidic, even at this distance. This woman radiated pure misery. There was no doubt in his mind that she was the one who had been bringing back bad memories, just being in her presence nearly overwhelmed him with dread.

"Who are you?" Nico asked, at last, drawing his sword. He didn't want to be caught unprepared if this woman wasn't as feeble as she appeared.

"I am Akhyls, the goddess of misery. Surely you can sense it. I've never felt a torment quite like yours, young demigod." She said it like a compliment.

"The curse harpies said that you were my only hope." Nico ignored the woman's babble.

"Oh the aria?" she sniffled, "They're right, of course. I can give you what you seek." Nico wasn't really sure what he was seeking at the moment, but he didn't want her to know that. He played along.

"What's the catch?" Nico coughed into his hands and wiped away the blood on his pants. He needed to hurry this up-- he wasn't sure how much time he had left. One of his ribs may have punctured a lung. It could take someone anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to bleed out and Nico didn't know just how much the ambrosia and firewater were helping. He might have five hours and he might have five minutes.

"Tell me your story. Someone as perfect as you must have a story to share." She gestured to the ground in front of her. Nico didn't have time for this. He also didn't like the idea of getting that close.

"Perfect?" He raised an eyebrow. That was the first time he had ever been described like that before.

"Yes. You are in so much pain. You are lost, alone, cursed, and bound for a painful death. Your misery is delectable. The perfect specimen." Again she gestured to the ground in front of her and this time Nico obeyed. It wasn't like he had much of a choice. He had been told that she was his only hope. Plus, the story sounded harmless enough.

"What do I get in return for this story? I don't have much time--" The hag cut him off.

"No you don't, do you? A shame really. As for what you get in return, I would shield you with my death mist. It would make you undetectable to monsters and would allow you to get to the doors unseen."

"How did you know where I am heading?"

"Come on, dear. What else would a demigod be doing in the pit? Now hurry up, would you?"

"What do you want to know?" He laid his sword across his lap, just in case he were to need it. This being didn't seem to be very threatening, but Nico knew better than to judge a book by its cover. When a monster looked harmless, it was because they didn't need to intimidate you. They had found more efficient ways to dispatch you.

"Everything." So Nico did. Nico told her all about the situation with his mother and Zeus at the hotel. He told her about the lethe and how he couldn't remember much from his childhood. He told the goddess about Bianca's death, his time in the labyrinth, and his problems with his father. He told her everything. It felt really good to get it all off his chest and Akhyls was a good listener.

"So miserable. You're so alone, little one. You've never had a place among your peers and now you've given up the only family you've ever really known." She murmured appreciatively. Nico shuffled uncomfortably.

"So what about this death mist?"

"Well in order for me to give the blessing to you, you have to be close to death. Normally I would just kill you myself, but those curses will do the job for me eventually so there is no need." She seemed somehow pleased by this. Akhyls began to cloak him in swathes of thick inky mists. Once Nico had been shrouded in the death mist, he was ready to get on his way. In this state, his wounds progressed more slowly and the pain was less intense. Maybe this is what dying felt like? Nico supposed he was soon going to find out.

The demigod wasn't happy that he was going to have to leave so much of his stuff behind. He couldn't carry his backpack anymore because it was too heavy and would sink right through his body, but he was able to keep his sword. With his backpack, he lost everything: rations, weapons, the firewater cup, and everything else that wasn't in his utility belt. This is the cost of victory, he supposed. He just wished that the cost hadn't been so high.

Walking in this form was actually quite difficult and it really slowed down his progress. He didn't have time for this delay. He could feel his energy and strength waning as he continued his march. He hoped Akhyls had pointed him in the right direction. A long time passed before he reached his destination. According to the goddess of misery, the only way to get to the doors was to pass through the mansion of the night. The mansion, of course, would be guarded by Nyx herself and her children and they didn't take kindly to strangers.

Akhyls had advised him to jump into the chasm instead and Nico had to admit that it sounded safer than trying to deal with the primordial darkness herself. How could he best a being that was almost as old as time? All he knew is that there was no way he could defeat her head-on. He needed a go-around.

Nico paused when he got within sight of Nyx's chasm but he didn't dare approach it just yet. He needed a plan. Nico remembered having learned about Nyx and her children at camp but his memory wasn't great. All he knew is that there was one of them that radiated light while the rest were dark and represented a lot of the pain and torment that existed in the world. What could he do against abstract concepts? Bring a flashlight? Maybe he could shadow travel past them. Was that even possible with this mist? Could Nyx prevent him from doing that? Nico wasn't sure, but he knew that either way he needed a distraction of some kind. He approached the chasm-- having absolutely no idea of what he was doing.

"Stop there!" A booming voice came up from the darkness once he got within a few yards of the edge. A woman in a chariot pulled by night horses charged out of the abyss. She was a lot more intimidating than he had expected. When your whip was made of stars and your horses here made of shadows, no one else stood a chance.

"Who goes there?"

"It's me, Nico, grandmother." Nico fibbed on the spot. Then he cursed himself. This was never going to work. He really should have taken Akhlys' advice. Nyx froze and sized him up.

"You are a demigod. My children do not have demigod children."

"One did, my lady." He assured her. Nico was sure that she would smite him down where he stood.

"Children!" She screeched. There was a clamor in the darkness and Nico knew he was dead. She had called in the entire immortal family.

"What is it, mother?" A being Nico couldn't quite see asked.

"Be quiet Aither!" There was some hushed bickering before Nyx lost her temper.

"Enough! Who is responsible for this thing?" Nyx hissed. Nico could sense more than see that he was being observed by the beings in the pit.

"They reek of Akhlys, mother." One voice spoke up.

"That's just the death mist Sophrosyne. Of course, it reeks of her."

"Well, they aren't mine."

"Then whose is he?"

"He smells of death. Geras?" Nico recognized that name. Their domain was old age.

"No."

"Thanatos then?" There was a murmur of discomfort among them. Apparently, Thanatos wasn't all that popular.

"No, no wings. And why would he be here?" Nyx asked, getting involved in the conversation. None of them had thought to ask him yet, which was lucky.

"The arguing continued to intensify. This was just the distraction he needed, now to take advantage of it. Nico inched closer to the edge of the chasm and looked down into it. On the other side of the gorge, just out of reach, was a doorway jutting out from the rock face. He needed to get over there. This may be his only chance. Nico closed his eyes and focused on the mental image of the doorway in his mind. If he missed, he'd end up falling into the nothingness of the abyss. He had to get this right.

"You! Who is your parent? Speak now or I shall cut off your tongue." He could feel Nyx's full attention return to him but he couldn't afford to think about it. The next moment he folded into the shadows and was gone. He cracked open his eyes and found himself on the side of the cliff. He could still hear Nyx screaming in the background. She hadn't detected him yet.

Relief washed over him and he breathed properly for the first time since seeing that Giant. The hallway looked normal enough at first glance. It was a little dark and Victorian, but it wasn't at all what he was expecting. Now he just had to find the other exit. Nico had only taken two steps before it happened. The nice Victorian mansion was suddenly a pulsing, glowing heart. He was inside the heart of Tartarus.

Nico's breath caught in his throat along with a scream. The tissue glowed with the firewater being pumped through it. There were veins everywhere. Each was a different color for each of the different rivers that ran through it. One mistake and he would die one of the most painful deaths possible. Nico dry heaved and clenched his eyes shut tight. He couldn't do this. There was no way he could navigate a primordial's heart. This was asking too much of him. The sensation of that much death was overwhelming. Having his eyes closed seemed to help, but he suspected that it was too late for that to be much help. He had already seen through the veil.

Not only could he see the tissue and the veins that made it inescapably clear that he was inside a being, but he could sense and hear every soul that had been claimed by each of the rivers writhing in eternal torment. He could feel their pain, hear their voices bouncing around in his skull, and his mind's eye was filled with images of horrific acts and deaths. Scarring images that permanently seared themselves into his brain. Just existing in this place was torture.

Nico collapsed under the sheer pressure of it. Too many voices screaming in agony that he couldn't hear himself think, so much sadness and despair that he found himself numbed to his core, and enough heartbreak to kill the goddess of love herself. Nico was no match for a millennia of torment and suffering and these souls would not be ignored.

He managed to crawl a few yards before he collapsed. He was overstimulated. The noise in his mind was impossible to push through and the images interrupted his understanding of his actual physical surroundings. Was he still moving? Did he even have a body anymore? It was all so vivid, close, and real. It was like he was living out a thousand deaths at once. Burnings, hangings, stabbings, floggings, starvation, suffocation, and every form of death Nico had ever seen.

He couldn't withstand these psychological pressures for much longer. He'd rather have been in physical agony. Though he couldn't really tell if he wasn't. Were these all just memories or was his own pain mixed in here as well? Did it matter? Death would be mercy if it ended this pain.

"So, a son of Hades, then." A woman spoke up from a short way away from him. Nico forced himself to crawl further down the veined tunnel away from the threat. It was futile-- Nyx kept up with ease and all he did was wear himself out more.

"I always wondered what my mansion would do to someone like you." She knelt beside him and the demigod barely had enough energy to flinch when she ran a hand through his hair. The action grounded him for an instant before her touch was gone again. For that one fleeting moment, he felt peace before it all came crashing back down around him. It was almost worse than before.

Completely overwhelmed and with no way to alleviate his discomfort, Nico cried and whimpered as his body shook and his brain felt like it was melting from the inside and would come pouring out his ears. There was no fight left in him. He had lost all his senses and his grip on reality was slipping away with each new vision that was thrust to the forefront of his mind. Soon it became impossible to separate his own point of view from the point of view of the spirits and he started seeing the deaths as if they had happened to him firsthand. He was helpless as he felt himself die over and over again.

"Come, there is someone who wants to meet you." Nico faded into darkness.

Chapter Text

[Bruce's POV]

Bruce Wayne didn't sleep well on the night of the 23rd. It took him a long time to fall asleep and nightmares haunted him every time he managed to close his eyes. He hadn't been plagued like this since Jason had died and it wasn't something he had missed. Especially not these dreams.

He was dreaming about Jason's death again, over and over. Every time he closed his eyes he'd see it again. The only constant in the dreams was Jason's death, but he'd die in a different way each time and at the hands of a different villain. In one dream Jason was drowned in a puzzle built by the Riddler that Bruce just wasn't fast enough to solve. Another a building fell on top of him, brought down by Clayface. Each time Bruce was too slow, too weak, or otherwise unable to save his son. Every few hours he was waking up in cold sweats.

Most people who have never had PTSD believe that the dreams unfolded exactly how they had in the real world. That the nightmares were a play-by-play of the trauma. And they were-- to an extent.

Something else about dreams is that laws of matter, motion, and mass don't apply. Sometimes he found that he'd forgotten how to use his grappling hook, that his punches lacked any real power to hurt his attackers, or that he couldn't move at all. People's faces would become distorted and voices wouldn't sound quite right. In the dream, he didn't question these changes, usually, but when he woke up he was able to realize just how little sense the dream itself made. Piecing them back together after he woke up was nearly impossible but that didn't stop his heart from pounding.

This last dream was different, though. It was almost like he was watching himself have the dream as if he were a POV camera following everyone else around. He couldn't remember having ever had a dream like that before.

He was in the Bat Cave, heading towards the computer. He saw Nico sitting in the chair behind the computer where Tim usually sat. He seemed to be doing some complicated encoding which didn't strike Bruce as strange at the time. When Bruce got within about 6 feet Nico turned to him and Bruce's heart rate skyrocketed. Who he had thought was Nico was actually Jason, whose eyes were cold and lifeless just as he had been when Bruce held him in his arms that night. The night of the explosion that took his life.

The billionaire rocketed awake, sitting up suddenly and gasping for breath. When he realized what had happened, he collapsed back on his bed and took deep breaths to try and get his breathing under control again. He felt bile rise in the back of his throat so Bruce scrambled to the bathroom to throw up. It had been a long time since he had actually thrown up. Usually, he had a very strong stomach.

After he had lost his dinner, he sat back against his vanity and put his head in his hands. This was too much. It was all too much. First Jason died at the Joker's hands and now Nico was lost to literal Hell. He was lucky and he got Jason back, even if he wasn't the same. Nico wasn't even sure that souls could find their way to the afterlife from Tartarus and he had definitely made it clear that he wasn't planning on surviving. The likelihood of him seeing his son again was slim to none and Bruce had to find a way to come to terms with that. It just wasn't fair.

Maybe it would have been easier if he could have known what was happening in the pit. Maybe then he'd have some closure or maybe he'd never know peace again. There was no way of knowing what Nico's fate was. Not knowing what happened was going to drive the vigilante crazy. There was no way to know if the demigod was even alive at this point. If he isn't, Bruce would never know what had killed him in the end.

Bruce left for the cave, knowing that he probably wasn't going to be getting any more sleep that night. Instead, he'd do some training to try and distract himself. He knew it wasn't healthy, but it was all he could do for now. He had to be at the top of his game if this monster war came to pass. He wasn't going to let Nico's sacrifice go to waste if he had anything to say about it so he had to be ready to put up a good fight.

++++

Later that morning Batman in his civilian attire headed down to the police station to file a missing person's report with Commissioner Gordon. Legally he had to, in order to keep up appearances and avoid the suspicion that he had anything to do with the boy's disappearance. As soon as the report was made public, all hell would break loose for Wayne Enterprises. There were going to be so many questions that he wouldn't be able to answer, so many reporters twisting his words to make him sound like a monster. He didn't even want to think about how this was going to affect the other boys.

Bruce hoped that the questions wouldn't be too invasive. It wasn't uncommon for people to try to kidnap him or his children for ransom or leverage, but he had never had a child run away or get lost before. Bruce didn't even want to think about how the media would portray this. Especially with Nico's track record of disappearing. Maybe this was just the opening the piranhas needed to seal his fate.

Alfred drove Bruce to the station because he couldn't find the energy to drive himself. It had been a long night and looked like it was going to be an even longer week.

He sat down privately with Mr. Gordon and they talked about Nico. Bruce told him about the clothing and food items that went missing but that he hadn't taken any money or form of ID with him. He told him about how he would often go on walks around the city when he was frustrated, despite being warned of the dangers. He also told the commissioner that he and Nico hadn't been in any arguments recently, nor did he know of any other conflicts that would have prompted Nico to run away as he had.

"Does he have any friends or family he might have gone to stay with?" Mr. Gordon asked his standard questions. Bruce pretended to take the time to consider this question carefully before he responded. He didn't want to have the answer too quickly and seem insincere.

"No family and he never really talked about any friends." Bruce lied. he couldn't very well tell the GPD about the camps for Demigods. He didn't think Chiron would approve of his camp being searched.

"None? Surely he mentioned somebody?" Mr. Gordon pressed. Bruce knew it would seem suspicious if he maintained that Nico hadn't mentioned a single person so he decided to tell the officer just enough for him to have a lead to follow.

"A few nights before he left, Nightwing found him in Toxic acres. He said that he was on his way to visit Ivy-- yeah that was the face I made as well-- but I guess they are friends or something like that? He didn't really want to talk to me about it." Bruce mentioned, trying to sound dubious.

"Poison Ivy? Do you think he could have gone to her?" The older man jotted down notes.

"I really don't know, Commissioner. Before a few nights ago, I wasn't even aware that he had ever met Ivy, much less had befriended her. I told him that I wasn't comfortable with him hanging out with a villain and he seemed to take it fairly well."

"Maybe not as well as you think he did." Commissioner Gordon noted.

"Maybe," Bruce agreed uncomfortably.

"We'll follow it up anyhow. Mr. Wayne, is there anyone else you can think of that Nico may have mentioned?" He figured what the commissioner meant by 'follow it up' was to have Batman investigate but of course, he didn't mention it.

"He may have mentioned another boy, Percy Jackson?" He admitted after a few moments of consideration. He hoped that he wasn't opening a can of worms, telling him that. If it was known that they both attended a summer camp, then that could lead police right to the demigod's front door. However, Nico had mentioned Percy before and Percy had been out to his house if only the one time. If that information had come to light, it could definitely place Bruce as a prime suspect.

"Yes, he's been seen with Percy Jackson every once in a while. He's also missing. It's been eight months now and the officers in New York still haven't heard from him. Bad news that they're both gone." He muttered, mainly to himself.

"Eight months? You think Nico will be gone for eight months?" Bruce didn't have to do much to sound distressed. Call it method acting.

"That's not what I was trying to suggest," the older man soothed, "I just meant that it is quite the coincidence."

"What do you think Nico's connection with Percy is? How do they know each other?" Bruce took a sip of the water he'd been given. He was grateful for something to drink as his mouth was dry with the stress of it all. The sooner this interview was over, the sooner he could do some real investigative work. This was really more of a formality than anything else.

"I'm not sure. Percy was there on the night that Nico and Bianca disappeared from an old military academy that has since shut down. He was later caught on a security tape at a small shop in New Mexico with just Bianca. We lost track of Nico for a while too until he popped up on a traffic camera near Percy's mother's apartment in Manhattan. These boys have a history of falling off the grid." He had gotten sidetracked but the younger man didn't bother mentioning it.

"But he'll pop back up again too, right?" He asked hopefully. Bruce knew that there was no way he could determine that, but it was the sort of unreasonable question that police often got in these types of investigations. Families dealing in piecrust promises.

"I really can't say, Mr. Wayne. Is there anything else you can tell me about Nico or about anything that might help us narrow down the search?" He shook his head in frustration. The Commissioner looked at the other man sympathetically.

"Alright, I'll get this APB out immediately. I'm notifying the surrounding states and any state he's been spotted in over the last five years. He's gotta be somewhere."

"Thank you, Commissioner. I really appreciate everything you're doing for us. I'll let you know if I think of anything else that might help," Bruce shook his hand and left his office.

"What now?" He asked flatly as he opened the car door for him. This was taking a lot out of him. Bruce decided that he'd give his friend a few weeks off while they figured this all out.

"Now we wait for the bloodbath."

++++

Bruce sat in the back seat, refreshing his Twitter page every few minutes. He had decided that the best course of action would be to post about the incident himself before the news broke to the media so that he didn't look like he had been hiding anything. It had been a short and factual tweet that had just said that Nico had gone missing and that he was working with the GPD to find him. He also asked anyone who had information about Nico's whereabouts to get in contact with him. Now he was waiting for the storm.

After the hundredth time he refreshed the page, his mindless swiping was interrupted by a phone call. One thing he hadn't been expecting was a call from Dick on the way home. Bruce cautiously picked up hoping that he at least didn't have bad news.

"Hello?"

"Uh... Bruce?" His voice sounded off and the vigilante frowned to himself. If there was a hostage situation at the manor again, he was going to lose it. He just simply wasn't in the mood.

"What is it?"

"You know how Nico left those letters for the people he cared about?"

"Yes?" he replied impatiently.

"Yeah, well the Hunters of Artemis are in the backyard." Bruce sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. The last thing he needed was a lot of man-hating women ransacking his house looking for Nico.

"I'm on my way. Keep them from destroying anything expensive."

++++

When he finally got home, he found Dick and some black-haired girl with a tiara arguing with each other on the front stoop. He might have been mistaken, but he was pretty sure that the girl had a knife. Dick was unarmed, but he was far from helpless. The rest of the Hunters were nowhere to be seen so hopefully, that meant they were smart enough to stay out of sight. Alfred pulled the car up to the door and both teens stopped as Bruce got out. Alfred pulled away to put the car up and he was left with two seething and powerful teens.

"You must be Bruce." The young girl eyed me defiantly. It was definitely a knife-- a silver hunting knife. There was no fear or respect in her eyes-- only suspicion and anger. His gut told him to proceed with caution.

"I am. And you are?" the vigilante asked gently pushing Dick towards the door. HE would much rather take this indoors. He didn't want tomorrow's headline to read 'Billionaire Died After Being Stabbed 27 Times' in His Front Lawn. Dick got the hint and opened the front door.

"Nico didn't mention me?" She sounded confused and offended.

"Nico didn't mention a lot of people to us. And he may have mentioned you and I just don't recognize you," He assured her. She seemed skeptical.

"Please," The older man stepped into the manor after Dick and opened the door wide enough that she could easily come in behind him, "can we have this conversation indoors? Or at least not on the front lawn?" Punk tiara girl considered this for a few moments before reluctantly coming inside.

"You have a nice house." She commented dryly.

"Thank you. It was my parent's," he said shortly. Bruce lead the way back into a sitting room that had French doors that lead back into the gardens and orchards. From here he could see the other Hunters making themselves at home on the patio. They were armed to the teeth.

"Bruce, should we try to get the other Hunters inside?" Dick eyed the group warily through the window. We were wildly outnumbered and hopelessly out of our element. According to Nico, these girls were effectively immortal.

"No, I don't think anyone will see them. The trees and gates will keep them hidden so it shouldn't matter," he reasoned. Dick nodded and seemed relieved. He didn't want to be any closer to these girls than Bruce did.

"Where is Nico?" The Huntress had grown impatient.

"We believe Tartarus." Batman didn't sugarcoat it and he didn't lie. Instead, he fell back onto a couch and Dick followed his lead, though a bit more gracefully. The intruder chose to stay standing. Nico sent her a letter. That's the only reason that she could have been here. This girl's eyes flashed in anger and grief. She was in denial.

"I don't believe I ever got your name?" He pressed. Who was she to Nico?

"I'm Thalia-- Nico's cousin." Suddenly things started to click into place.

"He did mention you. He mentioned you once when Percy visited him. He was worried that Percy had sent you out after him when he left camp," He recalled. He left out the time when Nico had given him a list of powerful demigods because he wasn't sure how she would feel about that.

"Also the last time that she was here because she had a dream about Nico and Deathstroke." Dick reminded me. That had been a crazy week.

"Right. Though I don't remember the fact that you're cousins ever coming up?" He frowned. Bruce would have thought that that would have been pertinent information. He did remember that Nico and Percy were technically cousins, but they never said anything about Thalia.

"You do know that Nico and Percy are cousins too, right?" She asked like he was a slow child. Bruce bit his lip to keep from saying something he would most definitely regret. He was Bruce Wayne right now. He couldn't start a fight.

"Yes, I was made aware of that," He replied shortly. Nico hadn't mentioned that she was this condescending, though that may have been because she hadn't really come up.

"Well, then since I am a daughter of Zeus, then that makes me hiscousin as well. Well, technically." She explained.

"I see." There was so much about Nico that we still didn't know.

"Did you get a letter from Nico?" She crossed her arms and kicked the ground softly with her foot.

"We got a video message," he admitted. Thalia nodded but didn't ask questions.

"So he's been living here then. With... mortals." She said it like an insult but the insult lacked any real weight, her voice was too deadpan. There was no heat in her words.

"Yes-- for about nine and a half months now. He's really become part of the family."

"Why?" Thalia finally settled on a couch. She perched on the edge-- ready to take off at a moment's notice.

"It's a funny story actually--" Bruce explained exerything to Thalia (with the exception of the family's secret identities of course). He told her all about how he had met and adopted Nico and some of the things that had happened while he was here. He told her about how Nico had left hints for them to follow so that they could discover his secret. Bruce told her everything he could. When he had finished, Thalia seemed a lot more relaxed. She had leaned back into the couch and accepted some tea when Alfred offered. She seemed to like the butler more than she liked the rest of them, and Bruce couldn't exactly blame her.

"You seem to care about him a lot. He must have been happy here." She took a sip of tea. She didn't seem to like it, though. Tea was an acquired taste, after all.

"We do care about him, and I'd like to think he was happy. Though now I guess I'm not sure. Dick's eyes shot to me but he didn't say anything. Maybe he wasn't sure either.

"I think he was." Thalia said after a moment.

"You do?" Dick asked. It was the first time he had spoken for almost the whole conversation.

"Yeah. Nico was never one to stay in one place for very long. He could never find a place to settle. He struggled with being accepted because of his powers-- attracting a lot of monsters and people who wanted to use him. He's bounced around all over the country just looking for a place to fit in. If he stayed with you for nine months, then I'd wager that he was the happiest he's ever been." The huntress reasoned.

"Then why would he leave?" Bruce asked though he didn't expect an answer. He rubbed a hand down his face and sighed. The answer was obvious, of course. His letter made it very clear why he left. He left to protect us-- to save the world. Thalia took a sip of tea.

"We'll ask him when he comes back." Thalia stood to go setting her cup aside. The billionaire just watched her passively.

"What do you mean? He said in his note that this was a suicide mission. That not even immortals dare to cross Tartarus." Dick pointed out.

"I don't know. But I refuse to believe that he's out of the fight yet." She adjusted her quiver on her back.

"Is there any way to know for sure?" Bruce asked. There probably wasn't, but if there was, Thalia was the one to ask. The daughter of Zeus considered this for a moment.

"There might be, but it's something that I can't do. You'd have to pray to Hades. He is the only one who might know."

"Wait, why can't you?" Dick frowned.

"I'm a daughter of Zeus. I doubt he'd even listen to me," She shifted uncomfortably.

"Isn't Hades his brother? You'd technically be--"

"Hades' neice? Yeah... it doesn't really work like that. Gods don't have DNA. I'm no more related to Nico than you are. Though we'd both agree that he's still family. Gods don't see it the same way. To them, we're threats. Direct representatives of our parents."

"So that's why Nico hates flying?" Thalia nodded. Nico had told them before that Zeus would shoot him out of the sky, but they had never really thought that he had meant it. After all, family is family.

"That's messed up." Dick breathed. The huntress shrugged and adjusted her quiver again.

"So you won't assist us," Bruce spoke up. She shook her head, but she did look almost ashamed about it.

"I wish you luck, though. All the gods have developed split personalities recently. They're pretty unpredictable. " She left without another word so he guessed the conversation was over. Thalia rounded up the hunters and in a matter of minutes, they were gone and Mr. Wayne was left in an awkward position.

He stayed in the drawing room a little while longer to just ponder his next move. Dick sat with his father figure for a bit-- looking like he wanted to ask a question. Bruce didn't know if he had the capacity for any more quieries tonight but he decided to hear the oldest protege out.

"Yes, Dick?" Batman prompted after a few moments of watching Dick glance at him out of the corner of his eye and then look away.

"I-- I was just wondering if Wally could come over. I just want to think about something else for a while." He admitted. His oldest was past the point of having to ask permission for most things, but he appreciated that Dick would still check with him when he wasn't sure. Bruce considered it for a few minutes before he finally nodded. Dick thanked him and left. Bruce hoped Wally would help Richard get his mind off of things. Dick was the glue to this family. When he was struggling, the whole family could feel it. Things were already tense, so Bruce needed him to be strong right now-- though it was unfair to ask that of him. He deserved time to grieve.

While everyone was off doing their own things to cope with everything, Bruce decided to do the only thing he could think of to try and get some answers about how Nico was doing. He was going to Pray to Hades.

None of the parenting books he had ever gotten had prepared him for this. How do you pray to a Greek god? Was there a specific way that he was supposed to do this? Would the god speak into his mind like he did Nico? That had seemed painful. Furthermore, how was he supposed to keep his composure? He wasn't exactly a fan of Hades-- not after some of the stories Nico had told. How was he supposed to talk to this immortal? He seriously doubted that he could look it up on Wikihow.

He also hated not having a contingency plan. What was he supposed to do if this conversation went sideways? How could he protect himself against a god? He was starting to realize that these were very different gods from Diana or the ones that she faced. Would he even have the means to trap a god? No. Probably not without a demigod's help and he was fresh out of those. Since he was fresh out of options, he decided that he would have to just go for it. Rip the bandaid off of the wound. What are the chances that he'd actually be able to hear him? Or that he'd actually respond? Bruce was probably just going to be talking to himself for a few minutes anyway. So what was there to get worried over? At least, that is what lies he used to convince himself to just get it done.

Bruce retreated to his office and locked the door. He didn't want to be distracted or to be overheard making a complete fool of himself. He didn't know how any of this was going to work, but he was sure that he needed to be focused. Nico sat at his desk and wrote out a few questions that he needed to make sure he asked about. Then he closed his eyes and prayed.

"Hades? I don't know if you can hear me or if I'm just wasting my time, but I need your help. Nico has left for Tartarus as of yesterday morning and I want to know if he's still alive. Can you tell?" There was no response.

"Please, Hades. I know that I am a mortal and you probably couldn't care less about me, but please just tell me what you know. He's part of our family now too and I think we deserve to know what has happened to him." Bruce pressed. Just as he was about to give up, there came an answer. A booming voice echoed in his skull, making it hard to think. How did Nico deal with this?

"I do not know what has happened to my son. He is in Tartarus. I cannot sense his soul at my gates so I do not think he is dead yet. Though the pit is a death sentence. I suggest you get comfortable with that reality." The experience made Bruce's entire body feel like it had been sent through a centrifuge. His molecules were vibrating andhis skin was crawling.

"I didn't think you could hear me," he admitted, "And I will not 'get comfortable'. Until Nico's soul shows up in your realm, he is not out of the fight yet. You shouldn't count him out so easily."

"I was able to pull my consciousness together when you reached out to me. It will not last long. I am not counting him out. I am merely being realistic. He is one demigod-- alone against a realm of monsters. And there is something about the doors of death that he did not know."

The mortal man's stomach dropped, "What do you mean?"

"There is a what do you mortals call it? A safety feature? Where if anybody except Thanatos tries to use the doors, someone has to stay on one side of the doors to hold the button for the entire time that the person is in between worlds. The only way for Nico to get out is to have someone stay in the pit to hold the button. As we both know, he went in alone. Even if he survives the pit and frees the doors, he will never make it back to the surface." So there it was. The full truth of the matter. Nico may not be dead yet, but he was going to be. They had actually lost him.

"Why didn't you tell him this?" Bruce asked softly. He should have been angry, shouting, and raging, but he was in shock. He couldn't feel anything yet.

"I never dreamed that he would be stupid enough to go to the pit-- especially alone." Hades' presence in his mind was almost softer. Bruce could tell that he cared. It wasn't what he had been excpecting from the god.

"It wasn't stupidity. It was selflessness."

"Call it what you will. All I know is that I lost another child. I know Nico and I didn't see eye to eye and I have not been a good father, but I do care about him."

"I wish you had told him that yourself." Bruce rubbed his face. He didn't have the energy to watch his mouth.

"As do I."

Chapter Text

The first thing that he noticed when he came-to was the fact that his head throbbed-- the pain told him that he was alive, at least. He peered through slits but his vision was too blurry to get a picture of where he was and even the dim light he was surrounded with hurt his eyes. The next thing he noticed is that the ground was uncomfortably warm. He blinked a few times and saw something move across his vision but he couldn't distinguish much more than a dark silhouette.

In his haze, he couldn't remember where he was or how he had come to be asleep. He groaned as his stomach churned, and he shut his eyes tight to try to keep down whatever was left in his stomach. His head throbbed in time with the floor, which was making him dizzy. Then it all started to sink in. It wasn't his equilibrium that was making the floor move beneath him. He was in Tartarus and the floor had a heartbeat of its own. A wave of intense dread and nausea came over him and he almost lost his battle with his stomach. He turned his face away from the light but he still couldn't find any relief for the throbbing in his brain.

His sense of hearing came back all at once, which he hadn't even noticed was impaired before. He could hear a cacophony from all sides. He had to be surrounded. He was too disoriented to be properly afraid or even to consider pretending to be asleep.

"Good morning, Son of Hades." A voice that sounded like a paper shredder spoke to him. Nico pulled one of his hands out from beneath him and he found that it had gone numb. Or maybe his whole body had gone numb. There was an uncomfortable tingling sensation everywhere fabric touched his skin, his arms itched and everything else was numb. His hand was an angry red and it started to sting as blood returned to his fingertips. He hated that feeling.

The demigod pushed himself up onto his knees and was relieved to see that they were attached. His vision wasn't clearing so he started blinking to clear out the fog. It didn't do much but gradually he started to see a clearer picture. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands until they hurt. He didn't have time to be gentle with himself. He was likely surrounded by monsters and he needed to be able to see. He didn't understand why he was still alive, but he was going to make it their problem.

His eyes weren't the only things that were foggy, he couldn't seem to remember how he had come to be unconscious. If he could figure out what happened, he might be able to figure out where he was now and how much trouble he was in. The last thing he could remember was landing at the entrance of Nyx's palace and then nothing. He couldn't remember anything else and whenever he thought of Nyx he was overcome with intense anxiety and he had to think of something else. What had happened in there?

"We didn't expect anyone to be bold enough or dumb enough to try and take back the door from this side. Certainly not a lone demigod." Nico's eyes were clear enough to see a mass of red approaching him. He wasn't sure, but he didn't think that this being had legs. At least, he couldn't see where there was a division. Then he considered that the being may have a body more like that of a snake, but it didn't move much like a snake.

"So tell me," the being crouched in front of the son of Hades and gripped his chin in a fleshy hand, "Where are the others?" Nico put the pieces together. The red coloration, no individual legs, fleshy hands. This was Tartarus himself-- made from the same material as the floor. In fact, it looked like the membrane beneath his knees had risen to take the form of the primordial. The man didn't have legs because when he wanted to move, the membrane shifted with him like there was a man trapped beneath the flesh itself.

It was too much for Nico. He wrenched himself out of the being's grip and promptly lost the contents of his stomach. He was suddenly grateful that his eyes weren't fully clear yet because he wasn't sure he could handle the sight of Tartarus at the moment.

"I won't ask you again, demigod." Nico wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand and wished he had a toothbrush.

"What?" He managed groggily, his voice cracked and his throat felt like he had been screaming for hours. He looked around and saw that the voices, which had now quieted considerably, were coming from the hordes of monsters that were waiting to escape through the Doors of Death.

"Are you deaf?" Tartarus growled impatiently. Nico didn't reply, he was too busy looking for his supplies as his vision had finally cleared enough for him to see details. His sword was a few yards away but his pack was nowhere to be seen. There was something more interesting that he had managed to spot in his haze. About fifty feet away, Nico could see the top of a set of black doors over the top of a flock of harpies. They had brought him to the doors.

"No I--" he winced as his throat felt like it had closed up. He needed water if he wanted to continue speaking. He swallowed a few times but his mouth was dry so it didn't do any good.

"You're trying my patience, boy." Nico shook his head and motioned to his throat.

"Does he have any water in his bag? I want answers and I can't get them if he can't speak." Somebody shoved a canteen into his hands. Nico worked off the cap and downed several mouthfuls before coming up to breathe.

"Well?"

"I didn't come with anyone." Nico's voice was raspy, but it didn't hurt as badly to speak.

"Oh really? I find that very hard to believe."

"I'm sorry?" Nico took a few more drinks from his canteen before it was taken from him. It was a cyclops so he wasn't about to make a grab for it.

"Not yet, but you will be. Now, where are the others? You can't possibly expect me to believe that you came here on your own?" Nico had yet to look at the veined mass that was the primordial's body, even though his vision had cleared. He didn't know if his stomach could throw up anymore.

"I did come on my own." The son of Hades insisted. He wasn't sure how he could prove it, but he knew he had to convince Tartarus that he was telling the truth. He'd never get the chance to make a grab for the doors if they killed him now.

"Lies."

"No! I swear of the river Styx." The ground beneath them shook, signifying that the oath had been made. Nico could feel the primordial's eyes on him as he waited for the oath to take another victim.

"So," the primordial spoke again after a few moments, "Are you stupid or suicidal?"

"Maybe both." Nico eased himself into a more comfortable position after he started to feel the tingling in his legs that told him they were asleep. That was at least an improvement from when he couldn't feel them at all.

"You're at the very least unlucky. All that struggle and you'll die with the doors within reach." Nico's heart clenched at the sound of that. He couldn't die now. Not with the doors so close. After all, he had done and everyone he had left behind, he wasn't willing to just lay down and accept defeat now.

"I don't suppose you'd grant a last request?" Nico prompted. He was talking nonsense, but it was the only thing he could think of to buy himself more time. He didn't need much, just enough time to make a grab for his sword. Nico silently reaffirmed the position of his sword and held his stomach as it churned. He'd have to be quick-- he'd only have one shot at this.

"I could humor you and give you the opportunity to choose the manner in which I end you." The primordial seemed amused by this banter, so Nico decided to press his luck.

"Do you have a specialty?"

"You saw the inside of my heart, didn't you? I am well versed in all manner of violence." Nico frowned. He didn't recall anything about a heart. He inched himself closer to his sword as the being's back was turned; or what he thought was his back, it was hard to tell.

"Your heart?"

"The palace of the night? All the rivers of the Underworld pump through my veins. Didn't it occur to you that there had to be a heart?" Tartarus was pacing back and forth and the other monsters were giving the being wide birth. Anything that got too close disintegrated into piles of dust as the veins came near the surface of the membrane.

"It hadn't, actually." Nico was sickened by the implication that he had been inside of the primordial's heart. "And I don't remember anything about being in the palace either."

"Really?" Tartarus made a noise that was probably as close as he could get to humming, "I guess the effects of the palace were too much for you. Be thankful you don't remember it. It would turn stronger minds than yours to mush." Nico didn't know what to think. Was his mind repressing what had happened in the palace? He suspected he'd never get the chance to see a psychiatrist. He managed to close the distance by a foot.

"So, as to the cause of your demise--" Tartarus prompted. It was then that Nico made his move. He leaped up from his place on the ground and dashed for his sword on unsteady legs. He scooped it up and turned to face Tartarus.

"I want to die fighting," the demigod spat, holding his sword out in front of him. He didn't have much energy, but he just had to hold out a little longer. He turned towards the doors and started wading his way through monsters, cutting down any that came within reach of his blade.

"That can be arranged." Nico didn't bother to look behind him and waste the precious seconds he would need to do what he had come here to do.

He almost made it, too.

When he had closed half the distance the ground became liquid and Nico sank to his knees. Remembering the wilderness survival course Batman had given him, Nico used a technique that was used to escape quicksand in order to pull himself free. He laid himself down face first on a section of the ground that wasn't liquid and slowly began hauling himself out on his stomach. Tartarus seemed to be taking his time, as he allowed the demigod to pull himself out and even get to his feet. Nico had only made it a few more feet before he hear the soles of his shoes start to sizzle. He looked to the ground and saw that a red glowing vein had risen to the surface of the membrane. It held waters from the Phlegethon and the heat was melting his shoes.

He scrambled away but no matter where he went different colored veins rose to the surface-- black for the Styx, white for Lethe, and red for the Phlegethon. Monsters and the like all parted as the veins came to the surface. Those that didn't either crumbled to dust or began walking around with a dazed look on their faces until they stumbled into a more dangerous vein. Nico, running out of space and options, swung his sword down into the ground, and water from the Phlegethon gushed out and flooded the ground nearby. Tartarus cried out in rage and advanced Nico made a break for the doors and no one stood in his way.

He made it within feet of the chain before a fleshy red hand grabbed him by the back of his shirt and sent him skidding away from the doors. When he finally stopped, he pulled himself to his feet and found Tartarus between him and the doors. He had been avoiding looking straight at the primordial up until that point and what he saw now made him glad he had trusted his gut.

Tartarus was nothing but veins and squishy pink flesh. He looked like the inside of your cheek and faceless. It was enough to make Nico glad he wouldn't live to remember all of this. Though if Hazel were anything to go by, he still may remember after death. That is even if his soul would be able to find its way to the afterlife.

"I think a death in battle would be too kind for you," Tartarus approached slowly and Nico weighed his options.

He could run away but without his sword, which lay somewhere off to the right, he wouldn't make it far if the monsters decided to give chase. And he'd need it to break the chains that held the doors down later. Running was out of the question; as was attacking straight on. Even if he could get past Tartarus to get his sword, he'd never get close enough with all the deadly veins the primordial could move around at will.

In short, he had nothing.

"What do you mean?" Nico scanned the surrounding areas, hoping to find something he could use.

"I have something... slower planned for you. Seize him!" Two cyclops advanced on the son of Hades and took hold of his arms. Without weapons and still, in a weakened state from his injuries, he was hardly a match. Nico glared at the flesh bag as he approached. He opened his mouth to make a witty taunt but he never got the chance. Before he could utter a word, something hit him over the head and his world went dark.

Some time later Nico came to in pitch-black space. It was so dark that, at first, he wasn't really sure he was awake. He reached behind him to feel what he had been leaning on and his hand touched cold, hard metal. Panic overtook him as he felt further up the wall and it curved over his head. He ran his hands all over the insides of the metal cell or container and didn't find a single hole. He was trapped. The space was small, he couldn't stretch out his legs while sitting down and he couldn't stand all the way up. It was cold, musty, and his voice sounded wrong when muttered aloud.

The good news was that he still had his sword [bare with me] and his jacket and utility belt. So he wouldn't freeze, he'd be able to fight back against his captors, and he had a small number of provisions. Nico pulled everything out of his utility belt that he hadn't lost in the pit. He still had a flashlight, some granola bars, and a pouch of pomegranate seeds.

Persephone's instructions came back to him as he opened the pouch to make sure the seeds were still edible. "They are pomegranate seeds from my garden. Eat the pulp off of one, and you will go into a death trance. A state much like death. Eat one a day as needed." Nico wasn't sure what a 'death trance' was, but he figured it was his only option. He couldn't feel any airflow and he would soon run out of oxygen. Maybe a death trance would jeep him from using so much of his air supply. Or maybe it would at least keep him from worrying about when he would eventually run out of air.

He wasn't betting on anyone opening the lid either. After all, Tartarus had told him he was going to devise a slow death for him. This was probably how the Primordial had planned to make good on that threat. Before Nico ate a seed he made a notch in the metal with his sword, just barely being able to see what he was doing with the glow of his sword. The demigod got into a comfortable position before eating the pulp of the seed and spitting out the rest. He didn't have to wait long for the seed to take effect. Soon he could feel his heart rate slowing and his eye got heavy.

Was this it? Was this how it ended for him? He supposed it was better than slow suffocation, but he still wasn't ready to go yet. Was this Persephone's insurance policy? When his eyes finally closed, he wasn't sure he would ever wake up again.

++++

June 22nd

Reyna's POV

Reyna was livid and she had been for days. Her officers avoided her, her hounds lay dejected at her sides, and even Octavian had got to great lengths to give her space. She couldn't believe the son of Pluto would do this. The letter he'd written her lay folded neatly on the table in front of her, her dagger pinning it to the table. That fool. She thought angrily, though she feared that she was the one who should have known better. How could she have left him alone? Why didn't she realize how weak his promise must have been? If he was willing to travel to Tartarus alone, he was willing to make an empty promise. The word of a man who believed he was dead already meant nothing.

She leaned forward in her chair and reached out for the letter, her hand hesitating over the hilt of her dagger. She didn't need to read it again to know what it said, the words were seared into her mind.

Dear Praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata,

Thank you for helping Hazel and me when I came asking for your assistance. I wish I had the means to thank you in some substantial way, but I don't. So, I'm going to do it in the only way I know how-- closing the doors.

This is the way it's meant to be, Reyna, you have to see that. It even says that the giants are meant to kill me. You know what happens when you try to cheat prophecies. I am deciding that this is how I want to go, by closing the doors and doing some real good.

I'm sorry I broke the promise. I'm sorry that I lied to you about so many things. Many of which will become clear if everything goes how I think it will. I'll see you sometime, ok? Hopefully later rather than sooner.

Nico di Angelo, Ambassador of Pluto, King of Ghosts

As soon as she had gotten his letter, she had written up her own declaration and sent it to the mortals Nico had been staying with. She knew it was a risk to send an Eagle to a mortal's house, but she'd deal with the consequences of those actions if it meant preventing Nico from going on his fool's errand. She just hoped it would arrive before it was too late. If she couldn't get the demigod to stop, maybe they would stand a better chance.

It had been three days and she had yet to hear from anyone and Nico hadn't shown back up at camp. She was losing hope that he would reappear. It surprised her how much his disappearance unsettled her. She had come to rely on him in the short time she'd known him. He was easy to talk to and seemed to be very knowledgeable. He wasn't after her position and it didn't seem to be in his nature to use the information he had gathered to coerce favors from people. He'd never given her a reason to doubt his intentions or hinted at an ulterior motive.

It was refreshing to talk to someone without having to worry about them using your words against you in a play for power later on. There was also the fact that he seemed to be everywhere at once. He brought her information in a matter of days that would normally have taken the legion weeks to collect. And until his letter, she hadn't had a reason to question what he had told her. Now she wasn't sure what she could believe.

I'm sorry I lied to you about so many things.

What things? What were the lies and what were the truths? Everything he had told her so far had added up. She hadn't found any of his information to be flawed yet. So what wasn't he telling her? What had he withheld? She didn't think she'd have the opportunity to ask him for a long time.

"Reyna!" A centurion rushed into the Principia, "A letter came and it is addressed to you. You know Bruce Wayne?"

"Thank you," she stood so quickly that her chair made an awful screeching sound across the floor and her hounds whined, "I'll take that." She took the letter from the soldier and opened it eagerly, hoping for good news.

"What is the letter about?"

"That will be all, Centurion." Reyna dismissed him. The boy left, though he clearly wasn't happy about it. Her eyes skimmed the letter hurriedly, sinking back down into her chair. It was a brief letter that got straight to the point. Her heart sank as her fears were confirmed; she was too late.

"I hope it was worth it, son of Pluto," Reyna muttered to herself and laid the letter on the table next to the other. She put her head in her hands for a few moments, for once at a loss for what to do next. She wasn't sure how she was going to break the news to Hazel.

Reyna stared at the letter, but her brain wasn't processing what was right in front of her. Then her eyes lit up and she snatched the letter back, having finally noticed the phone number scrawled at the top of the page. She now had Bruce Wayne's phone number. Maybe he would have some of the answers she sought. She'd call him after the feast if they survived Until then, there were preparations to be made and her camp needed its leader. She had lost a soldier, not her entire army. While it stung, she couldn't take the time to mourn him yet and risk jeopardizing the others. There'd be time for that later.

"You'd better survive this, di Angelo. You have a lot to answer for here on Earth." Reyna placed both letters in her desk drawers and left the Principia to fulfill her duties. There were just three more days before the army Frank and Hazel had described were at their gates and she needed to survive if she wanted to get those answers.

Chapter Text

[June 25th]

Momma Ivy's POV

It had been several days since she had seen or heard anything about Nico-- or Ghost for that matter-- and that wasn't sitting well with her. Something was wrong, she could feel it. Ivy knew that leading a double life, especially as a demigod, took a lot of time and effort, so she understood that Nico wouldn't often be able to spare the time to come and see her, but she had hoped that she could ask him what had happened after he had gotten picked up by Batman's little pet project. Hopefully he hadn't gotten into too much trouble. She hadn't seen his name in the news recently as she would have expected to if he'd been reported to the authorities for being seen with her. That was a blessing, at least.

Then there was the bigger secret that could have been spilled that night. Nico's other separate life. Certainly the team hadn't figured out that Nico di Angelo and Ghost were the same people? Ivy didn't think they were nearly that clever. They didn't have the mystical senses that she did, after all. She had known from the moment she stepped into the same room as Ghost that he was a son of Hades. Death and decay radiated from him, just as it did Nico. Children of Hades were a rare breed. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

What had he wanted to tell her that day? Was it important or was he just stopping in for a chat? Ivy knew that the latter was just wishful thinking. Nico didn't 'chat'. Ivy, deep in thought, took her coffee out on her porch. It looked like it was going to storm today-- though it usually did in Gotham. There was so much pollution in the sky that Gotham looked hazy and cloudy most of the time. How Ivy missed clear skies and bright sunshine. She'd cover the whole city with plants if she thought they would clear the city of pollution.

'Cover the city...' She mused, 'now there's an idea'. That would all have to wait until after the storm, however. The rains would be good for her babies, but it made a battlefield treacherous, and she had little doubt that Batman would put up a fight to keep his precious city in the filth. Maybe the rain would help with that. Ivy liked to imagine that the rain cleansed the air a bit as it fell, picking up pollutants as it fell to Earth. She loved the rain. The sound it made on her roof and the asphalt outside, the fleshbags running for cover with their umbrellas and raincoats, and the clean smell in the air that lasted a few hours after a good downpour.

Ivy imagined the thunder and lightning lighting up the sky as she sipped her coffee in her fluffy, pastel green bathrobe. She stretched languidly, as a strong gust of wind snatched at her robe and blew her hair from her face. When she went to do a toe touch, she noticed something peculiar. There was a tiny corner of something poking out from beneath her doormat. She knelt gently on her rotting wooden porch and pulled up the mat that was being overtaken by moss. Underneath it, hidden from the elements except for the darkened corner, was an envelope addressed to her. The villainess frowned, finding this more than a little suspect, but brought the letter inside nonetheless.

She ghosted through her plant-infested apartment, hardly making a sound. The only noise came from the bubbling of the filter in her aquaponics container in what used to be a sitting room. Ivy made straight for her kitchen, settling herself onto a barstool and setting her coffee on the counter. She gently opened the envelope and extracted the letter. The left edge of the letter was a little water damaged, but luckily she could still make out what it had said. As she read, she became more and more distraught. It was from Nico, and he had written:

Dear Ivy,

I want you to know that I appreciate everything that you have done for me. I can honestly say that I wouldn't have gotten this far without you. Thank you.

I am sending this letter because I have found myself in a situation that I don't expect to get out of. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with the Wayne family. They're really good people. They've done so much for me and I will be eternally grateful for that.

This problem has to do with my father's side of the family. They want me-- and all the people I care about-- dead and I can't let that happen. In this situation, my best option is to take one for the team even if that means giving up my life.

I just wanted you to understand that I know what I'm doing and that I'll see you again someday. You know, if you believe in an afterlife. Goodbye, Ivy. Thank you for reminding me of what it's like to have a mom again.

Nico di Angelo

Ivy was stunned. She read the letter through twice, set it down, then swiped her coffee mug off the table and onto the floor where it shattered. Hot coffee and clay shards scattered everywhere, but Ivy couldn't find it in herself to care about the mess. Her fern curled in on itself as a shard of glass brushed against its sensitive leaves. Ivy knelt to console the plant, though she knew it was more of a physiological reaction than a sign of an emotional response. She felt like she had just stepped on a puppy's tail.

"I'm sorry little one. I was just so angry and... sad." Ivy sat back on her heels and watched numbly as the leaves folded in a chain reaction, a folding leaf brushed up against another which folded into another until all of her ferns, who had overgrown her dining room wall, were hiding. They looked how she felt. It was true that Ivy wasn't sure what the letter had meant exactly, but one thing was obvious: Nico was in trouble. Clearly, his father's side of the family referred to the gods, but why would they want him and his friends dead? Was it something he had done?

"Oh, Nico," Ivy muttered softly, "what have you gotten yourself into?" For the next fifteen minutes, Ivy cleaned up glass and coffee and set about watering and tending to all of her other babies-- the ones that she could help. All the while she was thinking. The villainess needed to come up with a plan to help her adopted demigod son, but first, she needed a place to start. She decided to start with the last people she knew that had seen him alive, and for that, she would have to do something to get their attention.

It looks like her plan to cover Gotham with foliage wouldn't have to wait until the ground was dry after all.

++++

A few hours later, Ivy was equipped with as many seeds as she could carry and dirt grenades for her babies to take root in. She would deploy the dirt bomb and seeds on everything in sight and cover as much of the city as she could with plants with a high carbon intake.

It was true that she prefers plants with more of a... bite, usually, but she couldn't afford to get herself thrown in Arkham or in a hospital at the moment so these harmless plants would have to do. She stapped the grenades to a harness that crossed her chest and back and looped around her waist. She had at least two dozen grenades. It was going to be enough to at least get the bat's attention if nothing else. She'd need a lot more if she were truly going to cover Gotham.

Outside, it had just started to drizzle and Ivy knew that it was time to make her move. She knew just where to start. If you wanted Batman's attention, you should start with the people who had him on speed dial. Her first target would be the GCPD.

Once she had reached the building she used the ivy that was already growing on the back of the building to pull herself up to the roof. She took a moment to inspect the industrial light with the black metal bat over it, wondering how much it cost the department to run the damn thing. It couldn't be cheap. Ivy wasted little time before she ducked behind an air conditioning unit and tossed the grenade onto the roof. She wouldn't have much time after it went off before batman would be there.

The bomb went off with a flash of light and a cloud of dirt, scattering rich dark soil across the rooftop. Ivy scattered a handful of seeds into the pile and willed them to grow. In an instant thick green vines shot out of the soil and wrapped themselves around anything within reach-- bolstered by the rainwater. The vines even grew over the doorway to the roof, which would buy her a little time.

Ivy used the vines to build a bridge to the next building, tossing another grenade and scattering more seeds. This pattern repeated five more times before the bat signal finally came to life against the cloudy sky. Ivy didn't pause, knowing her time was limited. She only made it to three more buildings before she heard the squeal of the batmobile's tires.

She had only a minute or two now. She deployed three grenades at once on the top of a warehouse. A few of the glass skylights shattered with the explosion and some of the dirt and rain spilled through the opening. Ivy scattered her seeds and used the vines to climb down into the warehouse where a dozen workers were shouting orders to each other or screaming.

Ivy pulled one of the sprinklers from a pipe in the ceiling, which triggered the fire alarms and sent a cascade of water dripping down onto the factory floor. The workers evacuated the building. That was perfect, this was a conversation she'd rather have alone. Ivy used the vines to lower herself to the floor, where she cast more seeds into the dirt that had spilled onto the floor. More vines overtook the room, climbing shelves and pipes, crushing lightbulbs, and smothering sprinklers.

The alarm cut off as the vines wrapped around the speaker and crushed it beyond recognition. The emergency lights still flashed red and water still poured down, but at least she could hear herself think. Unfortunately, that was all she could hear. Once the vines stopped growing, the warehouse lapsed into an eerie silence. The only sounds came from the rain on the roof and the water hitting the boxes and the concrete. There were no police sirens or anything else that would have given her a clue as to where Batman was. Surely he'd tracked her down by now. She wasn't even hiding.

Ivy stood still in the drizzle of the sprinklers and tried to steady her breathing. She could hardly hear anything over the pounding of her heart.

"Give it up, Ivy. I'm taking you to Arkham." Batman's gruff voice came from behind her. She whirled around to see Batman lowering himself from the ceiling with a grappling hook. At least he hadn't destroyed any of her babies yet.

"Ok," she licked her lips, "but first I have a question for you." Batman pulled back in his grappling hook and returned it to his belt. He said nothing, simply watching the villain in response. Ivy took that as permission to continue.

"Where is Nico di Angelo?" Batman stilled, which was hard to tell since he hadn't really been moving too much before.

"Why do you want to know?" Ivy pulled out the letter he'd left her. She'd put it in a plastic bag since she knew it was going to rain. Batman's frown only deepened as he saw the letter in her hands.

"He sent me a letter and it suggests that he might be in danger. Your mini leaguers are the last people that I saw with him. I was hoping you could tell me whether or not he's ok." Ivy returned the letter to her pocket. She had little doubt that Batman knew what had happened to Nico. After all, he and Bruce Wayne seemed to be well acquainted.

An awful thought crossed her mind. He couldn't be... Bruce Wayne? The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. The same number of kids, the same number of proteges. Now Nico and Ghost. There was no other explanation. She knew the big bad secret.

"Nico di Angelo is missing. We're working closely with Bruce Wayne and Police to determine his whereabouts." Batman returned simply.

I'm sure you are. Ivy thought to herself.

She wouldn't let on that she knew his secret, fully understanding why it was so important for him to remain anonymous. If not for himself, then for his company and his kids. Wayne Enterprises did more for Gotham than anyone else with charities, donations, scholarships, relief funds, and more. Ivy wasn't about to ruin that or endanger Nico's new family. Bruce's secret would be safe with her.

"I'll help you look for him." She blurted out before she could properly think it through. Batman eyed her with passive interest. She could tell that he didn't know what to make of her offer.

"And why would you do that?"

"Nico is important to me. I want him found. Safe and alive. Please, let me help." Batman glanced pointedly up at the vines and then back at her.

"That was just to get your attention. They aren't hazardous. In fact, with enough of them, we could make a dent in Gotham's air pollution."

"And the explosions?"

"The grenades are faster than spreading the soil by hand." If she didn't know better, she would have thought she saw a bit of amusement in his eyes.

"I see. Remove the vines and I won't arrest you." Batman shot his grappling hook up into the air. It wrapped around a support beam and he began to leave.

"I'm going to search for him myself! With or without your help!" Ivy called after him. He left wordlessly through the hole in the roof and Ivy growled in annoyance. She surveyed the room, her eyes flashing dangerously in the red emergency lights.

"If he won't help me... I'll find someone who will."

++++

Late that afternoon Ivy found herself down by the docks, staring down into the water and thinking. Maybe not arresting her had been Batman's way of giving her permission. Maybe he wanted to find his adopted son badly enough that he would accept help from the enemy. He never said that she couldn't search for Nico. Deciding to take it as permission, Ivy called in a few favors. Let Batman search the legal way. She'd ask people he'd never go to.

"Ivy?" Her favors had arrived. Ivy pulled her eyes from the murky waters of the bay and they landed on none other than Selina Kyle.

"Selina, It's good to see you." Ivy made her way back up the dock towards the cat-themed thief.

"You too, though I can't say that I was expecting your call." Catwoman eyed Ivy with a careful eye. The woman had a nose for scandal and was usually the first to know things. Ivy was pleased to have surprised her.

"Yes, well this is somewhat of a personal matter."

"Oh?" Selina's eyes sparkled with interest.

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if this didn't get around, you know?" Ivy was counting on Selina's need to be in the know, here. If something juicy or profitable was going on, she wanted to know about it. Just enticing her with the idea that she would get to know something personal about Ivy may be enough to get her on board.

"Your secret is safe with me." Catwoman purred, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"Glad to hear it. We're just waiting on one more and then I'll fill you in."

"Who--" Selina started, frowning.

"Ivy baby!" A thick Brooklyn accent carried by a high girlish voice pierced their ears. Selina wrinkled her nose, though Ivy ignored her.

"Harley! I'm glad you could make it!" Ivy smiled tolerantly. Harley could be a bit much sometimes, but that was what Ivy found endearing about the girl. Harley was unapologetically eccentric.

"Are you kiddin'? I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Harley snapped her chewing gum and leaned on her massive hammer, "so what's all this about anyway? You didn't say on the phone."

"I need your help, ladies." Ivy started.

"With what, exactly?" Selina narrowed her eyes. She wasn't going to be all in unless there was something in it for her. Ivy knew she would have to make it worth her time.

"Nico di Angelo--" Harley cut her off.

"Oh! That new Wayne brat? Did you catch him?" Harley asked excitedly. Ivy held up her hand to silence her. Apparently, she hadn't been told what happened between her and the Joker when he had tried to take Nico himself. Typical of Joker to leave her out of the loop.

"No, nothing like that. Actually, the boy is very important to me. He's missing and I want to find him."

"You want our help to find a Wayne Kid and then what? Return him?" Harley frowned. Selina, on the other hand, seemed intrigued.

"Yes, I want to help find him and return him to Mr. Wayne. But imagine how grateful he'd be to us. He might even offer a reward! And think about how it would look if we found him before Batman did." Ivy pressed. She could tell she had Selina's attention when she said reward, though she wasn't sure if the woman was thinking about money or romance. Both left a gleaming look in her eyes.

"You mean we'll humiliate 'im?" Harley smiled wickedly. Ivy indulged her. She really had no interest in humiliating Bruce, but she knew it would appeal to Harley.

"Definitely." She agreed.

"I'm in." Harley hoisted her hammer up to her shoulder.

"Me too." Selina coiled her whip in her hands.

"Excellent. Let the hunt begin."

Chapter Text

[June 25th]

Nico's POV

Being stuck alone in a jar was just as boring as it sounded.

Nico woke up in a small space. So small that he couldn't stretch his legs out all the way, and if he tried to stand, he would hit his head before he could get all the way upright. It didn't take much poking around on his end for him to realize that he wasn't in a normal cell. For one thing, this container had curved walls and smelled metallic. If he had to guess, he would assume that it was a vase or something similar. Either he had shrunk, or the vase was massive.

His mind was numb, which was keeping him from going into a full-blown panic attack, but the gears were starting to turn with each passing second. It would only be a matter of time before reality crashed back down on him.

Nico ran his hands all over the interior of the jar, trying to feel for anything helpful. He was mainly searching for anything that indicated that there was airflow of some kind, his chest tightening painfully when he came up empty.

The panic started seeping in.

[Panic attack]

He knew he was in trouble when he felt his throat closing up. His breaths became faster and more shallow as he sank to the floor on his hands and knees. He could hear his blood rushing in his ears and feel his heartbeat resonating throughout his entire body.

The surface was cold to the touch so he set his head against it in an attempt to pull himself back to reality. It was a technique he had used before a few times with varying degrees of success.

After a particularly bad dream, Bruce had once found the demigod in a similar position. The man taught him a series of grounding exercises to do to stop the attack. Nico pulled on all those skills now.

Count, Nico. You can't count and panic at the same time. What are multiples of three?

"Three, six, nine..." he trailed off as a horrifying thought occurred to him. 'What if I'm almost out of oxygen?' All at once, he became completely still, as though movement alone would use up his remaining air. Silent tears gathered on his chin before eventually dropping onto the back of his hands which were folded in his lap.

Focus! What can you see? What can you smell? What can you hear? The more you panic, the more air you'll use up.

There wasn't much he could see in the darkness, though there did seem to be a little bit of light coming from his sword. Why they had left it with him, he wasn't sure. It didn't matter, he didn't have enough space to swing it, and he didn't think he had the energy or oxygen to waste trying something he didn't know would work.

He couldn't see much, but he could smell the metal casing and some of the acrid Tartarus air that was still on his clothes. He patted his pockets to see if his other items had been taken from him and was pleasantly surprised to see that he still had his dagger coin and the pouches of herbs and seeds from Persephone. The rest of his stuff had been lost.

He hoped some monster found his greek fire reserves in his backpack and set themselves ablaze.

Even though it wasn't pleasant, he could feel himself starting to breathe easier and the fogginess in his brain was starting to clear. He moved on to the next step of the grounding exercises, hoping that he would be able to come up with a plan once he wasn't panicking.

Nico couldn't hear much more than his shaky breathing and sniffling. The walls of the jar much have been thick, or he must have been alone. Every once in a while he would think that he heard voices, but they were so muffled that he passed it off as wishful thinking. It didn't matter if they were voices, anyway. They clearly weren't planning to let him out.

[Panic Attack over]

When he could piece together coherent ideas again, Nico decided that he wasn't going to die in this jar. If Tartarus had wanted him dead, he would have done it already. They were keeping him alive for something, he just had to live long enough to find out what. Then he might be able to come up with a plan to escape.

Shadow traveling was out of the question, he would come to find out. Whenever he tried, he was overwhelmed by the voices screaming at him from all sides. They tore his nerves to shreds and left him in a ball on the floor for unknown amounts of time. The voices of the pit had never left him.

Though his memory of the house of Nyx was hazy, he could still remember the screams of the damned in the rivers. The blood of Tartarus. He couldn't shadow travel without being overwhelmed by the screams.

His stomach growled. It had been so long since he had eaten real food. The granola bars didn't count. All of his food had been in his backpack which he'd left in the pit. Nico didn't allow himself to linger on that train of thought for very long. He needed to stay focused.

He felt through his pockets again, hoping that he still had something edible on him but found that the only thing even remotely edible was the pomegranate seeds from Persephone's garden. There were about eight of them left, though he struggled to count them in the darkness.

He used his sword to cut another line in the jar to mark another seed eaten before Nico slipped one between his teeth and sucked the pulp away from the seed. He knew the story of the seed, he couldn't swallow it or he would be bound to the Underworld forever. He spat the seed out and smirked in spite of himself at the sound it made as it bounced off the wall. It felt strange to smile at a time like this, but he was too tired to think much about it. He found himself a comfortable position curled up on the floor and waited for the seed to take effect.

At first, nothing happened. But all of a sudden he came to the realization that he could no longer move any of his limbs. He had been trying to roll over and found that he couldn't. Everything was heavy and the sensations of the jar seemed far away-- like he was underwater, waiting to break the surface. Then came the icicles that seemed to creep up through his blood. He couldn't even tell if his eyes were closed.

An eternity seemed to pass like that, with him not being quite asleep, but not fully awake either. It was a lot like what he imagined a coma to be like. The scariest part was when he realized that he couldn't tell if he was breathing.

Reyna's POV

It was abundantly clear to the daughter of Bellona why Greeks and Romans were not supposed to meet.

The forum was on fire. There were teams of firefighters riding on chariots with giant foam cannons riding through the street dousing flaming craters. A line of healers were doing triage on the wounded soldiers on the edge of the Pomeranian Line. It turns out that food was an effective weapon. Even the metal plates had been fashioned into makeshift weapons, which now lay discarded in the gutters. Eagles, whose feathers had been singed, flapped uselessly against the ground as they tried to take flight.

Octavian was taking full advantage of the chaos, helping wherever he could. She'd even caught his eyes on her with a look that said he'd be rubbing this in her face later. He'd been right, after all. Percy had been a Greek, and he helped burn her home to the ground. Again.

Reyna was calling orders to her troops, trying to bring back order to the chaos. She needed to soothe the betrayal of their praetors, both Jason and Percy, fleeing to the skies when they needed them most. Not only did they abandon their posts, but they left destruction in their wake. When it came down to it, both boys had chosen the Greeks and Reyna knew that would cut her soldiers deep. Especially the fifth cohort.

She had hoped that seeing Jason again would bring her peace-- knowing that he was alive and well. She had prayed to Jupiter for his safe return so that they could bring prosperity to their people together. But the Jason who had returned here today was not the same man he was when he left. He was so... Greek. And he'd found a partner, a daughter of Aphrodite, no less.

Maybe the goddess had known all those years ago when she had come to her at Charleston. Maybe she had known that Jason was destined to love another. It still didn't take away the hurt she had felt that day when the goddess had told her that no demigod would heal her heart-- that she wouldn't find love where she had prayed or expected. It felt like a cruel joke.

Reyna wasn't sure she had ever really known love. She, like most demigods, had only one parent. She had never known her mother, and a prophecy had driven her father mad when she and her sister were children. His anger and paranoia turned into a mania-- much like a modern-day poltergeist. In the end, he did not remember how to love.

She had always known that Hylla loved her, in her own way-- though her sister was a warrior at heart and often kept her at an arm's length to protect her. Even before yesterday's battle, Reyna hadn't heard from her sister in a long time. She had known that she had gone with the Amazons all those years ago, and if past experiences were any indicator, Reyna had been certain that Hylla would fly up the ranks.

"Praetor!" Octavian called as she moved to leave the Senate House. She pulled Scipio to a stop as the scrawny blond came up beside her.

"What is it, Octavian?" Scipio shifted his weight restlessly beneath her.

"Shouldn't we give chase? We have to bring them back here to pay for their crimes against New Rome." Reyna narrowed her eyes at the Augur. He had phrased it like a question, deferring to her decision. Reyna glanced around and say that several people were watching their interaction closely.

If she said no, Octavian would use that to tie the whole incident around her neck and hang her with it. However, if she formed a search party, that would gain her support from the people, but Octavian as well since it would be his idea. She only had one option here.

"Yes," she eyed the foam-filled crater where a fountain had once stood, "take a handful of soldiers and send out the eagles. I don't want our resources spread too thin in case this enemy they spoke of happens to be real." Octavian narrowed his eyes.

"You're sending me?" He had picked up on her little hint, but she pressed on.

"Of course," she agreed, "after all, it was your suggestion. I should think you would want to see them brought to justice yourself."

"But praetor," he smiled tightly, "don't you think I would be of more use to the camp right here?"

"No. The gods have retreated from the Earth. They no longer send us guidance for you to interpret. You'll be the most useful by finding justice for these poor wounded soldiers." Reyna spurred Scipio on before Octavian could protest more. She could feel the snake's burning gaze on her back, but it did nothing to quell her satisfaction. She would have to find solace in the small victories, for now.

Her happiness did not last long, however. Over the next several hours she put out dozens of fires-- both literally and figuratively-- all over her city. She was constantly getting reports of new damages and injuries as people had started repairing and cleaning up the wreckage. Such senseless destruction.

Reyna wished she knew what had caused all of this. She knew that Annabeth had adamantly denied that they had anything to do with it, but all evidence pointed to the contrary. Though war was the last thing she wanted, she feared she would have no choice.

Gaea

She was a mother. Just like any mother, she wanted what would be best for her children. Wouldn't every good and dedicated mother try to ensure their children had the best chances of success? Wouldn't a good mother try to make sure their children inherited a place to call home?

Humanity wasn't fit to rule over her masterpiece. Her Earth. They had proven that since Prometheus stole fire and Pandora released sickness and death onto the world. Humans only knew how to bring destruction and ruin to all creatures. All beings that were unfortunate enough to inhabit the same planet.

They were destroying her domain piece by piece and she couldn't let it continue. Global warming melting the great ice caps, trash and waste in her once pristine oceans, and rain that burned like acid from the gases that spewed from their machines and factories. What kind of primordial would she be if she didn't seek retribution for all the wrongs humanity had done to her planet?

The woman, though most would say that the deity was beyond such descriptors, smiled in her sleep. It wouldn't be long now. She'd waited centuries-- she could wait a little longer.

Nico

He wasn't sure when he fell asleep, or if he even did, but eventually, he had a vision. It seemed to be of Leo walking a pale boy in a toga around the deck of the Argo II. A senator. They had finally met the Romans, then. Nico didn't understand. He thought Gaea had blocked the questers from his view. Maybe she had decided that it wasn't worth using her magic. The more likely possibility was that Gaea had sensed the beginning of the end, and she wanted him to see the destruction of humanity. He had no control over this dreamscape. It would seem that he was along for the ride.

His vision started out with him being a fair distance from the pair. Leo seemed to be giving the taller boy a tour of all his inventions. Things seemed to be going well. Leo was waving his Wii controller like a madman, pointing it like an index finger as he spoke.

Then, without warning the tone on the deck seemed to shift. Leo went stiff and marched over to the controls, closely followed by the scarecrow. A chill swept over Nico, though the other two boys seemed unaffected. Leo got behind his 'motherboard' and raised his Wii remote like a baton.

Watch this, my little hero. Watch me undo all your hard work in a matter of seconds. Then you will see how hopeless your position is.

The effect was immediate. All at once, the ballistae armed themselves and aimed down off the sides of the ship. A scream lodged itself in Nico's throat as he realized what was about to happen. Leo dropped his hand like he was starting a chariot race and the ballistae started firing one at a time down into New Rome.

The pale blonde tripped over his toga in his haste to get away from the crazed demigod. That's when Nico recognized his face. It was Octavian.

If he didn't have the support he needed to go to war against the Greeks before, he would now. The whole city just saw the Greek warship fire onto the city. All the time he had spent trying to make sure everything went smoothly between the camps went up in smoke.

Leo's eyes met his own across the ship and Nico choked. His irises were gold.

Nico was ripped from the scene and was instead thrown into what looked like a hypogeum. The hypogeum was a structure under the original colosseum that allowed people to walk and store things beneath the arena. He remembered Annabeth had explained the concept to him a few years ago when she found out he was Italian. It hadn't seemed to matter to her that he was from Venice and not Rome.

The hypogeum was filled with cages of animals and Greek monsters. Judging by the state of the stone walls, Nico guessed that this was the original one. The one in Rome. They had brought him home. Was this where Gaea's forces were?

He turned slowly, though it wasn't exactly like he was moving since it was still a vision. Chains had been hung from the ceiling with gears and levers littering the walls. It would almost be impossible to guess which lever belonged to which cage if you didn't already know.

Something shiny in the corner of his vision caught his eye. He turned to face it and found a bronze vase that was at least as tall as he was. His mouth went dry.

Yes. You know what that is, don't you? It was smart of you to use those seeds, but you're only delaying the inevitable. My boys will make sure you stay out of trouble. I wouldn't worry about being rescued, either. I've made sure they'll be too busy to get to you in time.

The ground started to shake as if it were an earthquake. The loose chains clanked noisily from the ceiling. The creatures in the cages started making noise, so much so that Nico couldn't hear himself think.

It was so loud that he didn't realize that the thing that was causing the room to shake was getting closer. It wasn't until he caught a flash of movement in the reflection of the vase that he turned and saw just which boys Gaea had been talking about.

They were giants. Ephialtes and Otis, if he had to guess. The twins who were meant to oppose Bacchus or Dionysus. They were short for giants, and one was wearing a pirate's outfit and the other appeared to be a jester. Normally he would have found their appearance humorous, but now all he could think about was the prophecy. His stomach sank and disbelief washed over him.

How did that line go again? Twins snuff out an angel's breath? I've put both my boys in charge of you. You should feel honored.

Honored wasn't the word Nico would have used. He had come into this knowing that he wouldn't make it out alive, but this wasn't what he had pictured. The son of Hades had planned on going out in a blaze of glory in the pit, not slowly suffocating in a bronze jar while the questers risked their lives to finish what he started.

A sob escaped his mouth as the hopelessness set in. This is how he was going to die, far from home and without completing his mission. He was glad his brothers weren't here to see him now. He didn't want them to know he failed. Though they'd know soon enough if Gaea managed to wipe out both the camps and reclaim the Earth.

That's right. Weep, little one. You fought so hard and still failed. Lay down and accept your fate. And should your 'friends' come to save you, we'll be waiting for them.

The two giants passed him and he watched them stand over the bronze jar, eying it with dissatisfaction. One opened the lid and looked inside. Nico could almost imagine that he felt a gust of fresh air against his face before the giant closed the lid again and they stalked away.

I'm sorry... Nico thought as the vision faded into blackness. He wasn't sure he cared if he ever woke up.

[I'm so mean, aren't I? I'm still not happy with this so I will likely come back and edit this later.]

Chapter Text

[June 26th]

Richard Grayson's POV

"I'm just really worried about him, Walls." Dick laid back on his duvet and stared up at his ceiling. Wally had been coming over practically every day since Nico had left and Nightwing really appreciated his presence. Wally was his oldest friend and the only member of the team who know who he and his brothers were. Because of this, he'd grown to rely on his support and advice.

The pair had been friends since the beginning-- long before everything got complicated. Then came Red Arrow and Aqualad. They would later find Connor and be introduced to Miss Martian and Artemis. Even then it had been simpler. Simpler missions, simpler adversaries, and simpler lives.

That was before all the lies, secrets, espionage, and secret evil villain organizations who tried to plot their downfall. Before Jason, Tim, or Damian. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy his brother's company, he just found himself missing the days of the original six. When he was still his parent's son.

"He knows how to fight, Dick. We all saw him beat your record at the cave and then take out all those monsters at the cemetery. Nico seems capable. I'm sure he's fine." Richard hadn't mentioned the part about it being a suicide mission. He couldn't bring himself to voice it, though if that was for Wally's benefit or his own, he couldn't say.

The redhead in question was laying back on the couch and watching his friend with concern. The truth was that he didn't know much about Nico, having only really talked to his Ghost persona. At the time, he hadn't even known that Ghost and Nico were the same person. He'd only been read in once Nico had started down the path of joining the team, which hadn't lasted long before he'd disappeared entirely. It hadn't given Wally time to get to know the consultant, much less get an idea of what the boy was like once he took the mask off.

"I know, but I'm just worried that he's in over his head." Dick sat up. His eyes caught a glimpse of a sketch Nico had done of him on his gymnastics rings. He had caught the movement so well. He could have had a promising career as an artist if he had so chosen.

"What makes you say that?" Wally frowned. Dick shook his head, he didn't want to get into it. Wally was unfazed by his unwillingness to share, having grown used to being kept at arm's length when it came to Dick's family. He of all people could understand how complicated family could be.

"I'm going to check Long Island street cameras again." Dick moved to get off the bed.

"But you've already checked them a dozen times! And Tim is down there right now looking. He'd let you know as soon as he found something. Even Batman is out looking for him! Take a break. You'll be no help to Nico if you're too tired to function." Wally protested. Dick doubted that Batman was out looking tonight. Bruce was probably on some dismal rooftop brooding, but that didn't change the sentiment.

Dick rubbed his hands through his hair and sighed deeply. He hated to admit it, but Wally had a point. He hadn't been sleeping or eating hardly at all these last few days and he could feel his body aching in protest. It was like he was back in his rookie days again. A little orphan with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove.

"How could we have let this happen? How did we miss the signs?" Dick stood and started slowly pacing in front of his bed, "I mean surely there must have been some signs, right? He had clearly been planning this for a while."

"Dick, seriously. You need to relax. He obviously didn't want you to know. He's smart like the rest of you--" Wally started.

"Yeah, too smart for his own good," Dick mumbled under his breath.

"-- and there's nothing you could have done." Wally sat up as well, his friend's nervous energy rubbing off on him.

"You're right," the black-haired boy sighed at last, "of course you're right."

"Thank you."

"It's just that-- we all feel so helpless. We don't even know where he was headed," He lied. Nico had his war to fight and he doubted he would be pleased to get back and discover the whole mountain knew about it. Plus, the bat family had taken an oath to protect the secrecy of the Greek pantheon unless it became common knowledge. With how serious Nico was about his own oath, Dick didn't want to risk breaking it

"But you'll figure it out, right? He couldn't have gotten far." Wally volunteered.

"That's just the thing. Nico has the ability to teleport. He could be anywhere in the world by now." Dick settled himself on the couch next to Wally and rested his elbows on his knees. The team knew about his deathly powers, but none of them had been told about his ability to shadow travel, it hadn't been relevant.

"So the 'no supers' Batman finally got a meta child?" Wally teased to try and lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I guess he did." There was a few moments of tense silence where neither boy was quite sure about what to say.

"How are the others handling it? Tim and Damian?" Dick found it interesting that he clarified since those were the only two brothers that Wally knew were alive. To basically everyone, Jason Todd was dead. Why did he feel the need to specify?

"You know how they are," Dick said vaguely, "they're not handling it well, but they'll be ok. Hopefully."

"And Bruce?" Dick pursed his lips and Wally hummed knowingly.

"He's doing his best, you know?" Dick leaned back into the couch and looked anywhere but his friend's face.

"Of course he is. He'll find Nico, just give him time." Wally assured him. Dick nodded but he knew he wouldn't. Nico was well beyond their reach, now.

"Yeah." Dick managed.

"Hey, here's an idea. Why don't a group of us go out and look for him? It's not even dinnertime yet." Wally checked his watch.

"Tonight?"

"Yeah!" Wally stood, picking up steam, "Why not? It's better than just sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself."

"Who else?" Dick was well aware that there weren't many people on the team who would care to form a search party for the difficult consultant. Nico had a very... interesting way of dealing with people. It fit the persona of Ghost well, but it wasn't a good way to make friends.

"I'm sure Artemis would love to help. Aqualad and Miss Martian would help too if you asked. Maybe you could bring Tim, to get him out from behind that computer." Wally suggested. Dick nodded, it was probably a good idea for them all to get in some exercise. Patrol always had a way of lightening his spirit. This could be good for him.

"Yeah, I'll just talk to Bruce. I don't want to accidentally interfere with any operations he might have going." Dick moved to his bathroom to place the call. It rang twice before Bruce picked it up. His voice was gruff when he answered.

"Yes?" Dick winced, wishing he hadn't called.

"I wanted to form a small search party to go look for Nico. It might get Tim out from behind the computer. We could all use the fresh air." Dick knew his proposal was weak, but he was hoping that Bruce would be too tired to care. There was no need for a search party since they already knew where Nico was.

"Whose idea was that?"

"Wally's..." the was a grunt on the other end of the line and then a long stretch of silence as Batman considered it.

"Alright, it's pretty quiet tonight but that could change. If something goes wrong, call me. Don't try to handle it yourselves." Bruce replied at last.

"We can handle ourselves." Dick reminded the older man. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose wishing he could take it back.

"I know... you're all very capable heroes. It's just--" Bruce trailed off, but Dick knew what he was thinking. He just didn't want anyone else to be in the line of fire right now. He had enough on his plate without having to worry about the YJ.

"I know B. We'll be careful, don't worry."

"Fine. Keep your locator on just in case." Batman relented.

"Thanks, it'll just be a handful of us," Dick assured him.

"Take Tim. I'm worried about him." Dick's lips quirked up into a wistful smirk. That was the closest Bruce got to admitting that he loved his boys. It was his way of saying it.

"I will. I'll let you know if I find anything." The former acrobat hung up and returned to his bedroom where Wally seemed to be trying to read the titles of all the books on his shelves while laying upside down on his couch. The ginger righted himself as Dick came back into the room.

"So? What did the big bad bat have to say?"

"He said we could, but he doesn't want us getting involved with any villains tonight. If something goes wrong, we have to call him." Wally narrowed his eyes in confusion but ultimately decided not to question it.

"Are we taking your brothers?"

"Yeah, just Tim. He needs a break too." Dick grabbed a pen and a sticky note to leave behind a note on his door just in case Damian came back early and came looking for him. The younger sometimes sat in his room reading or doing homework these days.

"Not Damian?" Wally glanced over his shoulder at the note, but didn't comment on it.

"No, he's with his own team right now. They'll be able to help him more than we can."

"Great, then you can go get Tim and I'll text the others. I need to go by the mountain to grab my suit, anyway." Dick nodded and led the way through the house to the Batcave.

Tim was firmly planted behind the computer, nursing a coffee of some kind and squinting at the screen. Dick came up behind him to look at the camera footage he had been scanning through. Live footage from dozens of cameras all over Long Island was being displayed on the screen. Tim was running a program that scanned anything that could be identified as a face and compared it to Nico's photos from the newspapers the day Bruce had taken him in.

"Any luck?" Wally asked hesitantly. It was abundantly obvious that the answer was no, but Tim humored him anyway.

"Not yet. So far we've only been looking in places where he has been sighted before and I'm only looking at footage collected from the days that he disappeared. So far, nada."

"Ok, so can you expand your search?" Wally suggested.

"I could, but unless I want to try and scan the entire planet, I'd need to have an idea of what I'm looking for. Even narrowing it down by country would be helpful." Tim sighed and leaned back in the chair. Dick hated seeing him look so defeated.

"How about you join us on patrol tonight? Maybe we'll find something that will give us a new direction to search in. It beats sitting in here by yourself all the time." Dick offered. Tim hesitated, seeming torn. Dick shared a glance with Wally who seemed to get the memo.

"Yeah, and the computer can always alert you if it finds anything," the redhead agreed. Tim sighed and nodded.

"You're probably right." He stretched and his back popped in three places. Wally pulled a face.

"Great. Gear up." After Tim had suited up, they used the zeta tubes to go to the mountain so Wally could grab his stuff.

When they got there, the small search party was waiting for them. Wally had been right, of course. Since they had spun the story that they were looking for the missing Wayne boy and not Ghost, they were more willing to help. Artemis, Kaldur, and Miss Martian had agreed almost immediately. Connor took some convincing, but eventually, he agreed as well.

Soon they were all in M'gann's ship flying over Gotham. Without a sense of direction, they were just doing a standard grid search in camouflage mode. It was nice, but Nightwing knew that they needed to feel that they had an objective. It was his job to give it to them.

"This would be easier if you could tell us what we're looking for." M'gann pressed after a while.

"I'm looking for Poison Ivy," Dick replied, having just come up with the plan. He hadn't wanted to approach the villainess because she could be unpredictable in nature and unreliable as a resource. There was the added factor that Bruce had asked them to lay low for the time being.

"Are you sure? I thought--" Wally started, but Dick didn't give him the time to finish his thought.

"She had a relationship with Nico di Angelo that we don't know the details of. She could know something about where he might have gone." Wally pursed his lips with worry.

"Alright, then we'll start there." Kaldur glanced at the youngest member with a raised eyebrow. Dick knew Kaldur had probably deduced that his plan wasn't sanctioned, but he didn't question it and for that the oldest bat was grateful.

"Toxic acres it is." M'gann steered the ship towards their new destination. They never quite made it there.

On the way to the hazardous neighborhood, the team across some kind of disturbance. There were people evacuating an alley. The homeless and other miscreants dispersed. When he pulled up a monitor to get a closer look at what was going on in the streets, Nightwing saw something that greatly concerned him.

"Is that..." Wally trailed off, looking at his own monitor in disbelief.

"Poison Ivy," Dick confirmed. They had found the crazy plant lady, but she wasn't alone. Ivy had an entourage of two of the most dangerous and feared women in Gotham, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn.

"When did she team up with crazy and crazier?" Connor growled. Dick didn't reply, not having an answer himself.

"Maybe we should ask her." Artemis's rough voice grumbled. Her eyes were locked on the redhead, who had a thug pinned up against the wall with some overgrown dandelions.

"M'gann--" Dick started.

"Getting us in closer." She replied, predicting his order. Nightwing stood up from his seat and prepped to disembark. Miss M set them gently on the roof of a nearby building and the team snuck out onto the roof above the alley that the villains were occupying.

"I've set up a link." M'gann's voice resounded through his head.

"Good. Superboy, tell me what they're saying down there." Everyone on the rooftop stilled, knowing how sensitive Connor's ears are. They didn't want to create any interference.

The boy in question crouched behind the ledge of the building, his face scrunched in concentration. Nightwing waited impatiently, hoping that he would at least not be getting bad news. He had to be careful what he was thinking so he wouldn't send thoughts he didn't mean to through the link. He couldn't expose how worried he actually was about Nico without risking exposing his identity.

"She's asking him about the di Angelo boy. She wants to know if he's seen him." Connor voiced his findings in the mind link. He always said everything like a statement, but Dick could see the confusion in his eyes. This was a problem that he hadn't foreseen.

"Wait... isn't Ghost also missing?" Miss Martian frowned.

"Both Nico di Angelo and Ghost go missing at the same time? Could their disappearances be connected?" Artemis seemed skeptical.

"I don't believe in coincidences," Wally said, mimicking the millions of times they'd all heard Batman or one of his boys pull out that line. The two bats who were present sent him withering looks. An investigation into Ghost's identity was the last thing the bats needed at the moment.

"Nightwing, Red Robin. Do you know if Batman is investigating the possibility of these cases being connected?" Kaldur asked.

"He is. Nico's disappearance hasn't been made public, yet, but Mr. Wayne has contacted the police. There hasn't been a ransom note of any kind, either." Tim cut in. Nightwing was grateful for the save. The group eyed one another but didn't press it. They were used to the Bat-family being secretive.

"Ok, so we've found her. Now what?" Artemis asked, moving to crouch next to Superboy. She peeked over the edge and into the alley.

"Now we get answers." Nightwing replied. He stepped up onto the ledge in full view of the three villainesses. He knew he was being reckless and stupid, but at the moment he didn't care. He could hear Wally hiss out something about keeping a low profile but he ignored him. He didn't have time for a low profile, he needed answers.

"Hello there, ladies! Is there anything I can help you with today?" It had his desired effect. Instantly all eyes were on him.

"You idiot." Tim groaned under his breath as he took cover behind the ledge.

"Look, Ivy! We found a bird brat!" Ivy gushed.

"More like he found us." Catwoman corrected, but Harley didn't even seem to notice her.

"I see that. You can go, Nightwing. I'm looking for di Angelo. Same as you." Ivy flicked her wrist at him like she was shooing away an annoying fly. The hero in question narrowed his eyes at her.

"Does Batman know?" Tim asked, mainly directing his question towards Nightwing.

"Oh yeah, I told him," Ivy answered, calling up some vines around the man who had been trying to make his escape while the she-villains were distracted.

"You did? Do you have any leads?" Nightwing pressed. He didn't know how he felt about Bruce permitting Ivy to conduct her own search. He must have come to the same conclusion he had. Ivy might know more about Nico than they did. It was worth a shot to let her try.

"None," Ivy replied bitterly. Nightwing nodded, but he couldn't help but feel disheartened.

"Perfect." Tim huffed.

"Did he ever mention anyone or anyplace to you that he might have run off to?" Kaldur stepped in. Ivy seemed to consider this.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Ivy said suddenly, turning to Nightwing. The hero glanced at his companions, many of whom looked uncomfortable with the idea. He considered his options. He could either go with Ivy and risk some sort of attack, or stay there and risk not getting some useful information.

"Lead the way." He said at last. He used parkour to get to the ground from the roof. Poison Ivy lead Dick two blocks before she finally backed him into a corner. He moved to take out his escrima sticks, but Ivy stopped him.

"Relax. I just want to make sure that we weren't followed. I don't think you or Nico want the team to hear what I have to say. It will make Nico seem even more suspicious to them." Nightwing frowned. Why did Ivy care about what the team thought?

"Ok. What do you have?"

"Nico said he found his half-sister in New York." Ivy rushed, speaking softly. Dick's heart skipped a beat. Did Ivy know the truth about Hazel?

"Hazel?" Ivy nodded she didn't ask how he knew that name and he didn't offer an explanation.

"She told me they met in central park. Maybe he went there." Ivy glanced down the alley as someone passed by the mouth. They didn't even glance in their direction but from her body language, Nightwing knew she'd noticed.

"You've met Hazel?" Again the villainess nodded. How had she gotten to meet Hazel? None of them had ever gotten to see her. Nico hadn't even mentioned her until several months after he brought her back. What else did Ivy know about his brother that he didn't?

"He stashed her at my house for a few days. I haven't seen or heard from her since but Nico insists that she's safe. I don't know where she is now."

"So he could be wherever she is." Nightwing picked up on her implication, "Was there anywhere else he or Hazel mentioned?"

"Hazel was originally from New Orleans and she also said something about having lived in Alaska for a while. I know that this isn't all that helpful, but Nico and Hazel were cautious. They didn't tell me much." The villainess shifted her feet uncomfortably. Nightwing got the feeling she was as frustrated about the lack of leads as he was.

"Thank you, Ivy. That at least gives us a place to start. Nightwing made to leave but Ivy called out to him before he could turn the corner.

"You know he's not planning on coming back, right?" Nightwing hesitated.

"How do you know that?" Ivy pulled out an envelope and his blood ran cold. Nico had left her a note.

"Can I see it?" Ivy placed it gently in his hands and he unfolded it carefully. It read:

Dear Ivy,

I want you to know that I appreciate everything that you have done for me. I can honestly say that I wouldn't have gotten this far without you. Thank you.

I am sending this letter because I have found myself in a situation that I don't expect to get out of. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with the Wayne family. They're really good people. They've done so much for me and I will be eternally grateful for that.

This problem has to do with my father's side of the family. They want me-- and all the people I care about-- dead and I can't let that happen. In this situation, my best option is to take one for the team even if that means giving up my life.

I just wanted you to understand that I know what I'm doing and that I'll see you again someday. You know, if you believe in an afterlife. Goodbye, Ivy. Thank you for reminding me of what it is like to have a mom again.

Nico di Angelo

Though he wanted to crumple it up and stomp on it, he passed the letter back to Ivy wordlessly. He hadn't realized just how important she was to Nico. There was so much that his little brother had been keeping from them, it would seem. He couldn't help but wonder why.

"You really care about him, don't you?" He asked after a moment, kicking at a shard of beer bottle glass. He couldn't meet her eyes. The bond between Nico and the villainess was so wrong in his mind that he could barely fathom it. Yet here they were, brought together by a mutual friend.

"I do. He's like the son I never had." Nightwing pursed his lips as Ivy continued, "I know you care about him too, Nightwing. I can see it on your face."

"Of course, I care. It's my job to care," Ivy hummed sadly.

"We both know that's not why you're out looking for him." Nightwing eyed the woman carefully. The longer they talked, the more convinced he became that she knew more than she was letting on. It sounded like she may have a good idea of his identity. If she really did know who he was, all hell was about to break loose.

"What's your game, Ivy?" Nightwing didn't have the emotional capacity to deal with subtleties right then. He needed to know what she knew and he needed to know now.

"I know that Nico is Ghost." The words dropped like stones and Nightwing became very still.

"How?" He asked at last.

"Death radiates from them both. I'm surprised I've been the only one to notice." Ivy carefully folded the envelope and slipped it into the folds of her dress. Dick vaguely wondered if a leaf dress could have pockets.

"What are you going to do with this information?" The last thing his family needed right now was the threat of blackmail looming over their heads.

"Nothing. Nico's like family to me, and I protect my family." The two stood in uncomfortable silence. Dick wished he trusted Ivy. That would have helped to quell the sick feeling that was taking over his body. He'd been drilled on keeping his identity secret since he had begun training as Robin. For the secret to being out to an enemy was more than he could handle.

"Ivy--" Dick started.

"Go to New York, please? My girls and I will keep an eye out for him here." Ivy's tinted eyes met the whites of his domino mask. He hated everything about this conversation, but he had to admit that Ivy seemed genuinely concerned about his brother. It was more than he would have expected. For the time being, he would go along with Ivy's suggestion until or unless she gave him a reason not to. It was the only lead he had and he wasn't about to let it go cold.

"I'll pass on the tip to Batman," Nightwing replied at last. He retreated without another word. He found his team where he had left them but Harley, Catwoman, and the hostage were nowhere to be seen.

"Are you ok?" Wally asked once he got within earshot, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Something like that." Dick agreed. He shot Wally a look that meant they'd talk later.

"What did she tell you?" Connor pushed himself off of a wall that he'd been leaning on.

"We have a lead. She said Nico might be headed to New York. She thinks he may have had family there." Dick lied.

"I thought he didn't have family left. He is an orphan isn't he?" Artemis frowned.

"He is, according to his records." Tim supplemented.

"I'm sure we'll find more answers in New York. It does no good for us to speculate now." Kaldur advised. Nightwing nodded in agreement. He valued Kaldur's level head. It was what made Batman give him the role of leader in the first place. Looking back on it, Bruce had made the right decision.

"Red Robin and I will report back to Batman and see how he wants to proceed. We'll let you know of any new developments." Nightwing pulled out his grappling hook and launched it at a nearby building. He, closely followed by Tim, launched himself up onto the roof and disappeared into the poorly lit streets of Gotham.

Dick and Tim didn't say a word to one another until the manor was in sight. Before Dick could toss himself off the last roof, Tim called out to him.

"What did Ivy actually say to you? I can tell it really freaked you out."

"She knows that Nico and Ghost are the same people." Nightwing sighed, knowing that if he hadn't told him, Batman would have at the next mission briefing. Tim was speechless.

"How?"

"Apparently she could sense the death that radiates off of him. There's no way that Nico could have predicted that." He assured the younger boy. Nico hadn't betrayed them. It was only happenstance.

"Bruce is going to be pissed." Tim stared apprehensively at the manor. Dick understood how he was feeling. There were few things that Bruce was more adamant about than the fact that their identities must remain secret. It was his number one rule.

Now a supervillain knew the big bad secret because Bruce adopted a magical child. He could just picture the face Bruce was going to pull.

"I know." Dick agreed, warily.

"Is he going to be mad a Nico?"

"I doubt it. That's not something that he can control. It isn't like he told her his secret identity," Dick reasoned. Tim nodded, but he didn't seem comforted.

"He'll be fine. Nico will beat himself up over this more than Bruce ever could. You know that." Again, Tim nodded, but Dick could tell that he wasn't helping.

"Come on," Tim sighed, "let's get this over with." He grappled away and Nightwing followed only moments behind.

++Bruce++

"Mr. Wayne? Mr. Wayne!" A reporter with a microphone shoved in his face shouted, trying to get his attention. Once news broke that his newest charge had disappeared, reporters had been swarming his place of work. He couldn't leave his office without being bombarded by questions.

"Mr. Wayne! Do the police believe that Nico di Angelo has been kidnapped?" The crowd settled down for a moment to listen to his reply.

"The police told me they're looking at every possible angle right now. Really this is a question for the commissioner." Bruce returned curtly. He couldn't lose his head here. He could already feel the piranhas circling. The morning news article about Nico had chummed the waters.

"Isn't it true that Nico ran away several times while under your guardianship?" Bruce felt his hackles rise but he bit his cheek to keep from biting the reporter's head off.

"Yes, it is. Nico had a hard time adjusting. Once he got acclimated we were able to work out disagreements more productively." The woman scrawled notes on her pad furiously.

"The rest of your questions will have to wait until the press conference," Bruce started to make his leave, "I'm late for a meeting with the Police Commissioner." He made it to the car, where Alfred sat behind the wheel. Alfred expertly maneuvered them through the crowd of reporters and out unto the main road.

"I see the vultures have descended, Master Wayne." Alfred met the younger man's eyes in the back seat.

"They sense weakness." Bruce agreed.

"Don't let them be right," Alfred replied shortly. The car lapsed into silence as both men were left to their thoughts. They both knew that the worst had yet to come.

Chapter Text

Gaea's POV

Now, don't misunderstand me, child. Your race has been interesting to watch grow. I almost liked you when you were small and powerless. I cradled you like my own children before Prometheus gave you the tools to burn my gifts to the ground.

I will never forget the first forest fire. Thousands died that day from the carelessness of a select few. I knew then what destruction man was capable of. From that point forward it only got worse. They needed wood for their fires and their homes so they harvested the trees. This brought about deforestation, the destruction of ecosystems, and erosion.

Then villages were born and they brought more humans to the same areas where they used the same resources. They were no longer hunter-gatherers who had a minimal impact on their environment. Instead, they became farmers and captured animals for domestication and slaughter. They took the wheat and corn that grew wild and forced them into unnatural rows.

The humans expanded, cutting down trees, killing animals, and burning the underbrush. They didn't have any respect for the gifts I provided them. They took my wilderness for granted and used its benefits without giving anything back. Many didn't even know my name, much less think to thank me for the fruitful world they were inhabiting.

As humans took over more of the planet and started to form societies, I discovered what they were truly capable of. War, genocide, extermination, murder for money, and pollution. A human could be more wicked than any monster from the pit of Tartarus. They had goodness in their nature and still chose to do evil. They were destroying everything I'd made with my love in their petty hatred.

This is how I know that humanity is unworthy of my Earth. I gave them a chance and they squandered it. How can I be expected to sit idly by when so many other lives depend on this planet? Do I forsake the many animals, plants, insects, and birds for the human race? How can I let this destruction and still be called Mother Earth?

No, humanity had its chance. I will save what is left of my planet and pass it on to my other children. I hope they will restore order and treat this planet with the respect that it deserves. As a mother, I am only doing what is best for my children.

The Earth mother watched on as her children and their followers marched across her surface. Soon they would converge on Camp Jupiter and rip the demigods to shreds. With the gods incapacitated, Thanatos still imprisoned, and the Doors of Death at her husband's command, her victory was a foregone conclusion.

Maybe watched wasn't the right word. She didn't see in the way mortals did, with the gelatinous and fragile eyeballs they had lodged in their skulls. Her sight was more broad and more complete than any being that was less than a primordial. Their perception of the whole that was the world they lived in was infantile compared to the depth of her understanding.

This war would be no more than an exterminator wiping out an ant colony. The ants had put up more of a fight than she had anticipated, but it was all for naught. They would fall easily as if she had poured water into the nest.

With Nico di Angelo in the care of her twins, no one else knew the location of the doors. Or, if they did, they weren't foolhardy enough to take the plunge into the pit. He truly was stronger than she had anticipated, but in the end, even he failed to complete his mission.

Now all she had to do was slow down the demigod's preparations for war. Even that was more of a precaution than a necessity. Hera's plan to try and unite the two demigod camps had only served to render both pantheons useless. Her eidolons had seen to make sure that the first contact between the camps only served to deepen their hatred for each other. Hera's plan had failed spectacularly.

There was no way now that the demigods would work with one another now, even if the gods could be stabilized long enough to fight. She knew she had taken all the precautions she could this time around. She wasn't going to make the mistake of underestimating Percy Jackson again.

Though her influence was limited while in her slumbering state, Gaea had been taking steps to secure her victory. She started by picking apart the seven from the inside. She knew who the seven were long before they had ever met. Her expanded sight gave her the ability to see everything that appeared on her surface at once. She knew about both quests as they occurred. Those were the six and that meddlesome daughter of Athena made seven.

While she had underestimated Hazel, Frank, and Percy on their quest to free Thanatos, the primordial felt that steps had been taken to secure their victory. She'd made the son of Poseidon afraid of drowning, forced Frank to use up some of his life force, and reminded Hazel of how much she had to lose. Though it had cost her Phineas and Thanatos, she knew the scales had begun to tip back into her favor.

There were more trials awaiting each of them if they made it as far as the Mare Nostrum. To enter the ancient lands, they would have to first pass Heracles, a Ghost army, and a certain son of the sea. There was little chance that they all made it to land alive, but if they did, she had surprises waiting for them all over the continent. Plus a rather nasty surprise for the Daughter of Athena that would be sure to end her mission. The demigods would have quite a journey ahead of them, she would make sure of it.

[Hey, y'all! Here is a little bit of a teaser for you! I know it's short, but life has been hard lately. I didn't want you all to go too long without anything so here are some crumbs until I can get out a full chapter. Please comment and tell me what you think!]

Chapter Text

Hello everyone, Sparrow here.

There is something that I feel the need to tell you all when it comes to commenting on my fic. I want to encourage you to leave feedback and criticism. I want you to tell me what you actually think and feel about my work, even if it's negative. That being said, here are some thoughts and feelings of my own I need to share when it comes to leaving said feedback.

Please do not send me paragraphs and paragraphs of text. I refuse to read it. It's murder on my eyes and my ADHD, especially when it's all "constructive" criticism. It doesn't inspire me and I don't find it helpful. If you have constructive criticism, leave short comments about it in the chapters where the comment is relevant. Do not hold it all to the end to send to me all at once. I will not go back and try to find the parts that you are talking about. This is a long-ass fic and I don't have time or the willpower to do that.

This book is 6 or 7 years old now and has well over a million reads on Wattpad. I don't have the patience that I used to when it comes to fixing plot holes, fact-checking exact dates, spell-checking, or stuff like that. This is fanfiction. It's not supposed to be perfect. This means that I am an adult now and have a life and responsibilities outside of Wattpad or AO3. Because of that, I am not going to take your issues with my story as seriously as you will. I assure you that if all the little flaws in this story bothered me that much I'd have fixed them by now. That being said, when you are pointing out a mistake of some kind do not talk down to me. Be direct and mature about it and expect a response of some kind. I always respond when people comment unless it's just emojis.

As for things I don't want y'all to point out, here are a few notes. When it comes to the accidental changes in POV, I mentioned that they were there in line one, chapter one. I was editing this from the version on Wattpad which was written entirely first person, because of that, I didn't get all of the me's and I's fixed because I'm only human. Don't point it out. Next, I did not and will not adhere to the proper years of the original works. I don't care what year the PJO series was set in, I'm using my own time frame. I did my best to make the months line up properly and that is the best I'm going to do. Lastly, some characters are going to be OOC depending on my familiarity with their canon character. It is unavoidable, though I try to adhere to the canon characterization as much as I can. If something blatantly contradicts a person's character please point it out, but if it's nitpicky things I would rather you keep it to yourself. I am open to conversations regarding this topic, however.

Also, this was all originally written on my phone so give my typos a break, k?

Sorry about the author's note, I really didn't expect this sort of thing to become an issue. Please just be respectful when you comment. If you wouldn't want to receive the comment, then don't leave it on someone else's work. Thanks and happy reading!

Chapter Text

June 26th

[This chapter covers some of what the Batfam are doing while Nico is in the pit/jar]

It had been four days since Nico had disappeared and Bruce had yet to rest. He had exhausted his own search through all the channels he had at the League's disposal. According to satellites, GPS, facial recognition, and his many contacts, Nico had disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Commissioner Gordon had even gone so far as to contact Delphi Strawberries to get a statement from a man named Mr. Bruner about where he thought Nico might have gone and come back with nothing. It had been a long shot in the first place since Nico had said that Delphi Strawberries was just the front for Camp Half-Blood. He had hoped that he could get in contact with this Chiron character and get a better idea of where Nico could be found, but he had no such luck. Bruce was running out of options.

Dick and Tim were both out on patrol with the team, chasing down any leads they could think of, but Bruce had little hope anything would come from that. Nico hadn't really made his debut as Ghost yet so there wasn't much on the streets about him. While Nico had more-or-less become a household name, no one cared enough to keep tabs on him outside of what was said in Gotham News.

Bruce knew why his searches were coming up in vain. He knew deep down inside that Nico was far beyond his reach, but he'd done the impossible before. There was no reason to think that he couldn't do something to help now. He'd been to space, to different planets, to different dimensions. There was nothing that was going to keep him from pursuing leads when there was even the possibility of reaching the demigod he had taken into his care.

There was a beep that came from the Bat Computer that indicated that the secret entrance in the study had been accessed and the motion sensor had been activated. Moments later Nightwing and Red Robin came down the catwalk to where Bruce was sitting staring unblinkingly at CCTV footage in Italy.

"Anything to report?" He asked without looking away from the screen. He asked more as a formality rather than for the answer.

"We still don't know anything about his whereabouts, but there is something else you should know," Dick started, taking off his mask, "Poison Ivy knows Nico's true identity. And ours."

This got Batman's attention. He tore his eyes away from the screen and met his oldest's gaze. He and Tim looked uncomfortable and Bruce realized that they were expecting him to get angry. Under other circumstances, he might have. Not angry at them, per say, but angry at the breach in protocol and the vulnerability that came with being exposed. He took a moment to compose himself before he spoke.

"How?"

"She says that she sensed death on Ghost just as she did on Nico. She promised that our secret is safe with her, but I'm not so sure." Batman hummed in agreement. He was relieved to know that Nico hadn't said anything to the villainess, but that didn't change the fact that they'd been exposed.

"There's something else," Tim cut in, "She's running with Harley and Catwoman. She's decided to take matters into her own hands and shake down Gotham's criminal Underworld."

"Like this situation hasn't already gathered enough attention." Bruce set out a facial recognition scan for Poison Ivy in Gotham City. He got a hit within seconds. She was at one of Penguin's clubs but didn't seem to be causing any real problems. He'd monitor the situation and intervene if necessary.

"She seemed to believe that she had your permission," Dick noted. Batman hummed noncommittally and Nightwing sighed in resignation. He knew that it was pointless to press an issue that Bruce wasn't talking about. Sometimes he could get some answers out of the older man but usually, it just ended in an argument. Neither of them was in the mood for an argument that night.

"What do we do now?" Tim came up on his right, looking over his shoulder at the footage.

"Our mortal technology and sources have failed us. If we want to have a chance at finding more clues, it may be pertinent to find other means of locating Nico. It might also be strategic to brush up on our ancient history." Another voice chimed in from behind them. Bruce looked at the reflection in one of his darkened screens and saw that Damian had come in while they were distracted.

"We can't bring anyone into this. We swore to Nico and the River Styx that we wouldn't discuss his heritage with anyone who didn't already know or until it became common knowledge. Nico was very adamant that we not break that oath." Nightwing interjected.

"So we find someone who already knows." Damian countered.

"That has proven to be easier said than done," Bruce noted, "All efforts to contact Camp Half-Blood have gone unanswered. I've even tried to reach out to Hades with little success. We know that there was a Roman camp that he visited, but we have no way to contact them. Even the Hunters of Artemis are proving to be impossible to pin down."

"We should contact Diana," Tim suggested, "she knows Nico's heritage and story better than we do. Maybe she can give us some direction."

"I'll make contact with Wonder Woman. In the meantime, I want the rest of you to hit the books. Search the library for any and all mythology books we have. Make note of anything that sounds useful. Pay particular attention to anything that mentions Tartarus, Gaea, or the Giants." He instructed. His proteges left to change and Bruce got into his suit.

Last he knew, Diana was at the Watchtower with some of the other Justice Leaguers. While a call would suffice, Batman also wanted to see what the Watchtower database had on Greek Monsters and weaponry that could be used against them. He could also stand to get out of the cave for a while and consider what had changed about his situation now that Ivy knew the truth. Nico first, Ivy later.

Over the years, the league had devoted a lot of time classifying and categorizing all the foes that they had come across for the future generations of heroes. Each Leaguer was in charge of adding and updating the database as new information came to light. Hopefully, Diana or Aquaman had taken the time to add some of their monsters to that list. Anything that they knew would help Batman to come up with ways to fight and kill monsters and help Nico win the war.

He could create weapons, devise strategies, and prepare his proteges for the fight ahead.

Once he was all suited up, he took a zeta beam to the Watchtower. He was grateful to find that he was alone. He didn't want to talk to any of his nosy coworkers and risk saying something he'd regret. He'd resolved to be more careful with his tone after he'd accidentally made Shazam cry, having momentarily forgotten that he was a literal child. When that finally came to light, the other Leaguers were not going to be pleased.

Batman made his way to a computer terminal and started accessing the adversary database. He refined his search by Greek and came up with 500 possible foes. Then he began narrowing it down by monsters and that narrowed it down to about 200 entries. At least this was a manageable number. It'd take some time to scan through all the files so he started uploading them to the Bat Computer. He stayed to sift through some himself and to make sure that nothing went wrong with the upload.

While he was scanning through a file on gorgons, the door slid own behind him, "Batman?" It was Wonder Woman. He didn't even spare her a glance.

"What are you doing here? Do you have a mission?" She came up beside him and looked over his shoulder.

"No, this is a personal matter."

"Is this about Ghost? Bruce, you couldn't have known what he was planning to do," she assured him. Bruce glared at the screen but didn't otherwise acknowledge that she had spoken. He wasn't about to get into what he should or shouldn't have known. That wasn't useful. Looking at the past wouldn't bring Nico back to him.

"Tell me, what kills Greek monsters?" Diana sighed but humored him. She launched into a long explanation about godly metals and materials that could kill monsters. She talked about the different types of magical objects like her lasso and how they were gifts from the gods. Weapons such as hers could easily dispatch a monster.

"Where can I get some of these materials?"

"Batman, you won't even be able to touch the weapons yourself. You're mortal, remember? The blades will go right through you," Diana insisted.

"I wasn't asking for your permission. If you won't help me, I will find someone who will." Batman made to stand up but Diana rested her hand on his shoulder.

"I never said I wouldn't help," she sighed and crossed her arms pointedly, "Your best bet would be to get some weapons from Aquaman. He has an arsenal of weapons that you should be able to wield. They were a gift from Poseidon himself." She suggested.

"Asking a Leaguer for something so specific will draw unwanted attention to us. As you well know, we have an oath to uphold," Bruce countered.

"Aquaman and most of the league know that demigods exist already. Talking to him won't breach your oath. And I'm sure Arthur has noticed the rise in monster activity as of late. I know that I have," Diana countered. This got his attention. He hadn't realized that there was anything to notice. Though Nico did say something about Gotham being protected so Bruce wasn't sure that he would notice an overall increase in monster activity, especially if he didn't know what he was looking for.

"What sort of activity have you noticed?"

"Monsters have been gathering in large numbers and seem to be migrating towards the different coasts. I've squashed any groups that I've come across but I've noticed that the monsters aren't staying dead and the ones that do will be back within a few days." Diana reached over to another monitor and began pulling something up on the screen. When she stepped back, Batman could see a detailed topographical map of the country with thermal imaging. There were clusters of really dark and really bright masses spread out all over the map.

"This is a scan that I've set to read both extremely hot and extremely cold signatures. Monsters rarely fall into the normal human body temperature, after all." The map showed the greatest concentrations of signatures in New York, California, and Alaska. There were pockets of abnormal signatures over the rest of the country and Canada but the main concentrations were undoubtedly on the coasts.

"And this is out of the ordinary?"

"Definitely. It is rare to see monsters working or traveling together unless they are pack hunters. These groups are more organized-- almost like an army. If I had to guess, I would say that there was another war on the horizon."

"That's what Ghost was warning us about. He said that Gaea was rising and that she was bringing the Giants back." Batman traced his finger between the gatherings, trying to see if there was any pattern. There didn't seem to be.

"That would make sense. History is repeating itself." Bruce didn't need to ask what she meant by that. Nico had explained how Greek history was only changed by the actions of demigods but how some events always seemed to come to pass.

"I understand why there might be a lot of monsters in New York and California, but why are there so many in Alaska?" Bruce focused the map on Alaska to emphasize his point.

"Alaska is considered to be the land beyond the gods. Monsters live there out of reach of the gods or demigods who might slay them, making it densely populated. Canada also has quite a few monsters and even some gods of their own. I think Boreas is centered in Quebec these days."

"Let's see if Arthur has noticed these changes," Bruce sent the list of Greek monsters to the Bat computer's database before shutting it down, "He's in Atlantis right now, isn't he?"

"As far as I know. I believe he has a summit with Amphitrite and the other ocean kingdoms this week. He'll likely be stretched thin." She cautioned.

"Then I'll be sure not to take up too much of his time."

++++

"Batman, Wonder Woman," Arthur greeted, "What can I do for you?" It was remarkable to Batman that the sound a visual quality was still good even if Arthur was underwater.

"Aquaman, I wanted to know if you had noticed any abnormalities in monster behavior in Atlantis. They seem to be gathering on land and my sources say that war is in our future." Batman didn't bother with pleasantries. Arthur had known him long enough not to be taken aback by his directness.

"They're not staying dead, either, at least not for long," Diana agreed.

"We've seen the same behaviors underwater as well and have come to the same conclusion. Pray tell, what does this have to do with you, Batman? You're mortal."

"Ghost isn't. He's a demigod."

"But the boy is missing, isn't he? I don't see how him being a demigod makes it your job to wade into a war," Aquaman countered, raising his eyebrow.

"This is my planet and there are lives at stake. What other reason do I need?" Arthur's eyes narrowed but he didn't press the issue further.

"Very well, what do you need from me?"

"The weapons that I have don't work on this enemy. I need to upgrade my arsenal if I'm going to fight this. Especially since I can't touch the godly metals."

"So the great batman is truly mortal? I wondered." Batman glared at the man as he continued. "I can give you some of the blueprints for Atlantean weapons but that's all I can do for you. They're magical weapons so I'll give you some prototypes to work off of. Truthfully, I'm not sure if you will be able to recreate them," The Atlantean cautioned.

"Maybe not, but I have to try."

"Good luck to you both. Aquaman out." The screen went dark and Batman sighed.

"What? I thought that went well." Diana frowned in confusion.

"He made a good point. How can someone without magic create a magic weapon?"

"You ask someone who has magic." Diana held out her lasso and Batman gave her a curious look. He hadn't been aware that she knew how to create magic weapons as her lasso had been a gift. He decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Then let's get started."

++++

Meanwhile back in the library, the Bat boys had taken to pulling all the books that even remotely mentioned Greek Mythology and stacking them on the tables. Tim was on his laptop scanning through scholarly articles online for anything that might be useful. Dick was in an armchair looking through the books that had been written by that 'scribe' on the deep web.

Jason was still out committing crimes and Damian was still on his mission with his team so they wouldn't be back to help until late. Alfred had brought them dinner and had let them know that there were fresh cookies in the kitchen when they needed to take a break. He asked that they try to get some sleep at some point, but they all knew that it was going to be a late night.

After a few hours, Bruce came into the library with Wonder Woman, both were dressed in their civilian attire. It wasn't all that frequent that a JLA member was allowed into the manor so her presence drew the boy's attention away from their research.

"Diana?" Richard asked, sitting up from where he had been slumped in his chair. Jason would be sorry he missed this.

"Hello, Dick. Timothy."

"Where are we at?" Bruce interrupted the pleasantries. Diana winked at the boys with a playful smirk. She had a way of softening Bruce's sharp edges.

"Not much further than we were before. We found pretty much the same things that Nico was telling us. You need magic or a godly weapon to kill a Greek monster and godly metals simply pass through mortals." Dick reported.

"I've been able to identify some more types of monsters to add to the database, but the information is conflicting, as is the mythology. For every assertion a book makes, there are a dozen conflicting accounts. I've been trying to sort through it all but without someone who knows what these monsters are, it will be impossible to know what is fact and what is fiction." Tim spoke up. Bruce hummed in consideration.

"I can always help to fill in some of those gaps," Diana offered.

"That'd be great." Tim agreed.

"Check the Bat Computer database as well. I've downloaded some of the databases from the watchtower and that has 200 entries about Greek monsters to sort through. That should help you figure out what is and isn't true."

"On it."Tim left for the Bat Cave with Bruce and Diana close behind him. Tonight Bruce would be getting a crash course in Greek fighting styles and magical weaponry.

++++

"I've programmed the Cave Computer with the parameters from the Watchtower's database. The platform should now be able to display lifelike holograms of Greek monsters and provide an accurate representation of what it would be like to meet them in battle." Bruce explained to his proteges. They had all returned to the manor by then, though Jason was a little reluctant knowing that Batman wouldn't have approved of what he had been doing beforehand.

Normally Bruce would have been angry that Jason had been out reaffirming his territory by killing off his competitors but he had decided that he had more important matters to deal with right then. Getting in an argument about why Jason couldn't become a crimelord wouldn't get them anywhere.

"What about the weapons? I didn't think that our weapons would work against them." Damian asked, having been out of the loop.

"Normally, yes. That is why I've enlisted the help of Diana and Aquaman to help figure out how to create magical items or at least harness the ones we have already in order to fight this war."

"The ones we have already?" Jason frowned, "We have magical items?"

"It has come to my attention that Batman, the JLA, and the Young Justice team each have some magical items already. The problem is that they lack the awareness, magical ability, heritage, and or skill necessary to wield them." Diana explained.

"Until we can get out hands on those items, we need to start analyzing the possible opponents and devising methods to take them down," Batman introjected, "Tim and Damian will go first. the opponents are random and you'll use these replication Greek swords until we can get our hands on the real things. Remember, just because the swords can't hurt you doesn't mean that monsters or magic can't. Also, those swords are regular steel and can hurt you."

The two boys stepped up onto the platform and the program began. The first monster to appear was a manticore. It had a lion's body, a scorpion tail, and spikes on the end of the tail that it could flick at enemies like projectiles-- a weapon it didn't hesitate to use

It simultaneously lunged at Damian and shot spines at Tim forcing both to dodge out of the way. The pair stood in the center of the ring with their backs to one another as the beast circled them foaming at the mouth and growling.

"Isn't this the first monster Nico ever faced? I'm pretty sure that's what the book said," Dick asked from the sideline. Bruce didn't comment, having not read the books, himself. He hadn't had time.

"I'll distract it and you cut off the tail?" Tim murmured. Damian hummed in agreement. Eventually, the manticore got impatient and lunged again, this time the boys were ready. Tim slashed at the monster's face and he was surprised at just how much momentum the sword managed to pick up in such a short swing. Damian leaped onto the creature's back and swung his own sword in a deadly ar that severed the tail from the rest of the animal.

Damian was thrown off the beast's back and had to dive and roll away. Tim seized the opportunity to rush in and stab his sword through the bottom of the manticore's mouth up into its brain. The monster exploded into pixels and a Minotaur took its place. The fight continued.

"They're doing well, " Diana whispered to Bruce, "They're adapting to the new style. You've trained them well." The pair watched the four boys on the platform, handling a swarm of harpies.

"I just hope that it's enough."

"It will be," Diana assured him, though Bruce didn't feel as confident as she did. Just to bring back all of his children alive. That would be enough.

Chapter Text

A week had passed since Nico had left and the bat boys were getting more and more comfortable with fighting Greek monsters. It had been quite the learning curve having to adjust to the new weaponry and the fact that the blades couldn't touch them, but they were making steady progress. So far, they had faced about 40 of the 200 possible monsters and beaten them all. They weren't exactly ready to face this new enemy, but they were bounds closer than they had been only seven days prior.

Over that week Bruce had managed to finally contact Delphi Strawberries and found that Mr. Bruner and Chiron were one and the same. It was a clever cover and it was fascinating how the centaur had been able to adapt to living among mortals. Bruce would have liked to know more if he wasn't worried about potentially derailing the conversation. Some questions would have to wait until after the war.

When Bruce explained his case to the centaur-- that he wanted to be able to help Nico and the world if he could-- he seemed reluctant to offer his assistance. Bruce couldn't very well explain that he was a vigilante member of the JLA and wasn't trying to go on a suicide mission. Even if Chiron did believe him, it was a massive breach in protocol and a liability that Bruce wasn't yet willing to accept. This lack of understanding was the main thing that was standing between him and his ability to attain celestial bronze.

In the end, it took Diana talking to Chiron and admitting that the weapons were for members of the Justice League for him to finally agree, though reluctantly. Bruce still hadn't explained his connection with the League and that made the old mentor leary of him. It was understandable if inconvenient. Chiron only agreed to give him old armor pieces that were damaged beyond repair so that he could use the bronze and turn it into weapons. This made sense seeing as they probably needed all the bronze they could get for the coming war.

Diana and Bruce worked together for several long days to create two swords, two sais, and a hunting knife from the scraps. With what little they had leftover, Bruce was able to thinly coat Tim's bo staff and create a set of sharp brass knuckles with a steel grip for himself. Every blade had to have a thick leather hilt or they wouldn't be able to grip the weapons. It took some trial and error, but they finally found the right ratio of leather to metal for the weapons to not just fall through their hands but eventually, they had weapons they could use.

The weapons were also enchanted-- courtesy of John Constantine-- to have the ability to fold into other gadgets or pieces of armor when they weren't being used. For example, Dick's sais turned into a pair of black wrist guards and were activated when he thought about drawing the weapons. The other's weapons were similarly hidden and enchanted for easy access. Otherwise, they worked exactly as any other weapon would.

Damian had taken a sword, Dick was given the sais, and Jason accepted the hunting knives. Batman had tried to keep his son's preferred styles in mind when selecting the weapons as the idea was to try and make the adjustment period as quick and easy as possible. So far, everything had been going as planned. The boys were adapting well and putting in hours daily on the programs.

Bruce himself had been putting in time on the programs when the boys were at school or doing homework. He was also going to introduce the programs to the Titan's hideout and to the Mountain for the teams to use. It wasn't inconceivable that they would come up against these monsters themselves in the future and Batman wasn't going to let them go into a war unprepared.

While the physical training had been important, Bruce and his boys were also getting a crash course on Greek magic and what he and his boys were and were not able to do. With that came the ability to create Iris messages. These were revolutionary when trying to get ahold of demigods or anyone who didn't have other means of communication.

None of the messages they tried to send to Nico went through, but that was to be expected. However, the message to Thalia of the Hunters of Artemis had worked. From here, they were able to discover that Nico was in possession of Greek fire and what exactly that could mean. She also told them about the fallout between the Greeks and the Romans and how that put a target on Nico's back, just as the boy had expected it might.

If the Romans were to find Nico before the Greeks, Bruce was glad he had the ever-burning fire to defend himself with. It seemed to be a pretty powerful substance and definitely something that Bruce thought could be helpful. The problem is that he had no idea how to contain a fire that could burn underwater and he didn't want to experiment with such a volatile substance until it was absolutely necessary.

Thalia wouldn't share the recipe for the traditional Greek fire with them, claiming that she wouldn't be responsible for her cousin's adoptive family blowing themselves up. Instead, she provided them with the recipe for an automatic fire that the Greeks had used centuries ago. Apparently, she had gotten it from an older Huntress who had been there when it was developed. It was a recipe that he was unfamiliar with but it was simple enough. Soon he had a small stockpile of automatic fire grenades. It was a worthwhile endeavor because fire is an effective weapon against certain monsters.

Recipe for automatic fire:

Take equal amounts of sulfur, rock salt, ashes, thunderstone, and pyrite and pound fine in a black mortar at the midday sun. Also in equal amounts of each ingredient mix together black mulberry resin and Zakynthian asphalt, the latter in a liquid form and free-flowing, resulting in a product that is sooty colored. Then add to the asphalt the tiniest amount of quicklime. But because the sun is at its zenith, one must pound it carefully and protect the face, for it will ignite suddenly. When it catches fire, one should seal it in some sort of copper receptacle; in this way, you will have it available in a box, without exposing it to the sun. If you should wish to ignite enemy armaments, you will smear it on in the evening, either on the armaments or some other object, but in secret; when the sun comes up, everything will be burnt up.

*Disclaimer this is dangerous and shouldn't be tried at home or without professional supervision. I doubt this is even legal and I have no idea if it works. I got it from google so don't come at me for inaccuracies. This is for entertainment purposes only and shouldn't be used IRL.*

Thalia also told them that the only thing that she thought they could do to help is by getting the JLA to hunt down stray packs of monsters that were traveling to either New York or California. They were in too great of numbers everywhere else for them to handle alone, especially since the Doors of Death were still open. It was good news that Thanatos had been freed, though. At least the monsters they killed would stay dead for a little longer. She disclosed the location of a few such packs and Bruce promised to get the information to the right people.

Now he was planning a mission briefing for the team to redirect them to the crime that Batman wouldn't be able to take care of in Gotham. Normally he wouldn't let supers in his city, but he wasn't being left with many choices. He'd put Kaldur in charge since Dick and Tim would both be with him. They had grown so much in the last few years and Batman believed they could handle it.

"Bruce, are you ready to spar together against a Hydra? It's one we haven't fought yet." Diana asked as she came down to the Bat Computer. She watched over his shoulder as he prepared the mission briefing.

"In a moment," He huffed.

"You know that you could send the team to handle the monster packs. They can handle it." Diana leaned against the desk to look at his face as he worked.

"Few of the team have weapons or abilities that could kill Greek monsters. Sending them in so unprepared would be foolish." Batman countered impatiently.

"Then send the ones who have magic and magical weapons. Put Nightwing in charge and send Tim with him. You can take Jason, Damian, and myself to a different Group and cover twice the ground." Diana insisted. Bruce considered this for a moment. It wouldn't be the first time he had split the team up based on ability.

"Nightwing, Red Robin, Kaldur'ahm, Wonder Girl, Zatanna, and Rocket would make a strong team," Batman noted.

"Indeed. You could even send some of the older members such as Artemis, Kid Flash, Superboy, and M'gann as support if you're that worried." Diana turned her attention away from the dark knight to watch the Bat boys who had moved on from the harpies to a Basilisk which was admittedly small for the species.

"The ones that don't go will want an explanation."

"Careful! Basilisks can freeze you with their eyes and they spit acid! Don't get close to the head!" Diana warned the boys before turning her attention back to Bruce, "You're Batman. They aren't going to press you for an explanation." There was amusement in her voice. He knew that she found the fact that people were apprehensive of him funny. His intimidation tactics had never worked on Diana, after all.

"They'll patrol Gotham, recon only," Batman decided. This wasn't ideal, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"And if they blow their cover?"

"I'll have Oracle observing the CCTV. I trust her to keep them from burning down my city or getting in over their heads." Bruce scrapped the mission briefing and started to create a new one based on the new plan. Diana left to help take care of the Basilisk. Tomorrow night the mission would go on as scheduled. Until then, he and his boys could catch up on some much-needed rest.

++++

"Recognized Batman B-002."

"Recognized Nightwing B-01."

"Recognized Red Robin B-20."

The Zeta tube announced each of them in turn. Kid Flash was the first to meet them by the tubes but he was soon followed by the rest of the team. They had been informed to meet them only 20 minutes prior so he hoped they'd all had enough time to gather.

"Do we have a mission, Batman?" The speedster practically vibrated in place. He got bored easily and it had been a week or two since they'd last had an official mission. He was itching to go back out in the field. Batman wished he had that kind of energy.

"Yes."

"Awesome! Is it about Ghost? Did you get a lead on his location?" The other members had started to join them. It seemed that everyone he had sent for had been able to make it, like the professionals they were trying to teach them to be.

"No leads on his case yet, though this may be related. It is too soon to tell." Batman humored him as he was the only member of the team to know their identities and therefore knew who Ghost was.

"Re--" Batman cut him off.

"Nightwing, Red Robin, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Zatanna, Miss Martian, Superboy, and Rocket meet in the conference room to be debriefed." Without a word, his boys and the selected members made their way to the conference room. Batman could tell that the team felt the tension because all chatter fell flat. It was rare that he gave the mission briefings directly these days since he had been passing more and more responsibilities off to Nightwing, but this required his full attention.

"Um... Batman? What are the rest of us here for?" Kid Flash spoke up. Artemis elbowed him in the ribs.

"Obviously he's not finished," she grumbled. KF rubbed his ribs and glared at her without any real heat. Some things would never change.

Batman continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "The rest of you will be patrolling Gotham for the night in my absence. I have word that Scarecrow is working on a new batch of his fear toxin. Observe, get a sample, and report back here. This is meant to be a covert mission. Do not allow yourselves to be seen. If your cover is blown, retreat. Do not engage. In case of emergency, you will each be provided with an antidote that I devised from his last batch of fear toxins. It likely won't help if exposed to a lot of it, but it is better than nothing." There was silence for a few tense moments as his words sank in.

"Some of us have never patrolled a city before," Beast Boy spoke up, looking confused.

"If you are to protect a city by yourself one day you will need to know how to run a proper patrol. Consider this getting your feet wet. Any other questions?"

"How do you want us to run this?" Artemis asked.

"This is your operation. I'll leave the finer details up to you. Just get the sample and get out without being detected," Batman emphasized, "Artemis is in charge because she knows the area. This file contains everything you need to know." Batman passed the file to Artemis before retreating to the conference room where the other team was waiting.

There he found Nightwing and Red Robin in a hushed conversation in the corner of the room. From what he could lip-read, they seemed to be talking about strategies for the upcoming mission but their behavior was clearly disturbing their remaining teammates who were sharing worried glances. Only Kaldur, Superboy, and Miss Martian seemed to be unfazed-- probably from the sheer exposure, they'd had to Nightwing's antics over the years.

As he moved to the center of the room, his boys broke off and rejoined the rest of the team at the table.

"We are facing a new and rising threat. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and I have noticed an uptick in monster activity across the country. Specifically mythological monster in the east and west coasts."

"Mythological monsters? Like greek mythology?" Rocket asked skeptically.

"Yes, like the kinds from the myths. They're real, they're here, and they're gathering." Batman pulled up an image of the infrared map of the monsters and pointed out two of the nearest groups of monsters. "Your mission is to find these two clusters and eliminate the threat."

"Like kill them?" Miss Martian leaned forward on the table, glancing at the other people in the party as if she expected them to object. The rest of the room, sans Rocket, was well up to speed about Greek Mythology and the fact that the monsters never truly died. On this team, there was an Atlantean, a Magician, a clone of Superman, the protege of Wonder Woman, and two Bats who had all come across monsters before. In Superboy's case, he'd likely had the myths downloaded into his brain when he was still at Cadmus if his history scores were anything to go by.

"Greek monsters respawn given time," Kaldur assured her, "Thus they never truly die." Miss Martian relaxed back into her seat but Rocket didn't seem satisfied.

"Why did you choose us for this mission? I'm sure the older members would be better suited to something like this?" Rocket questioned.

"This mission is special. Greek monsters can only be killed by magic, godly metals, or some natural disasters like a fire or drowning. This group is best suited to this task because of your magical abilities." Batman explained.

"But Nightwing and Red Robin don't have magic or powers. What qualifies them to be here?" Wonder Girl pointed at the pair for emphasis. Nightwing smirked and the Celestial Bronze sais appeared in his hands.

"Let's just say that I've gotten some new toys recently." Wonder Girl seemed to take note of the metal and her eyes widened.

"Is that Celestial Bronze? How did you come across that? It's incredibly rare!"

"I have my sources, and John Constantine owed me a favor," Batman was losing his patience with this conversation.

"Can you even handle those? I didn't think mortals could touch the blades." She continued.

"We can't," Tim agreed, "phasing his hand through his brother's blade, "but the handles are leather which allows us to hold them."

"You are to gear up and take the Bioship to these coordinates. Everything you need to know has been transferred to Nightwing who will continue your briefing en route. Dismissed." The team left in a hurry, talking about the mission as they went. Batman stopped Nightwing before he left.

"Be careful and don't get yourself into anything you don't think the team can handle. I'm going to be further west with Hood and Robin, don't come that way but I will be within reach if you need me."

"Understood." Nightwing gave him a sloppy salute before heading to the Bioship with the others. Batman watched him go until he turned the corner and was out of sight. He didn't have time to waste, he needed to get back to the Bat Cave where Jason and Damian were probably already in an argument about who was going to ride shotgun in the Batplane. What they didn't know was that Wonder Woman was coming along so she was the one who would be in the passenger seat. At least he wasn't going to be accused of playing favorites this time.

"Oracle? Are you ready?"

"I'm in position. Am I really just supposed to monitor them this entire time? You know I'm more capable than that."

"I know you are. I want this team to start gaining more confidence in themselves. They have to be able to work in large groups and start making executive decisions."

"Which is why you gave them Artemis and Kid Flash," sarcasm practically dripped from her voice.

"They're going to make sure my city doesn't get destroyed."

"To act as a safety net, you mean," Oracle corrected. Batman grunted but didn't otherwise acknowledge that she had spoken.

"Batman out."

++++

"Report," Batman called as he heard the team come into the room behind him. When he turned around he saw Nightwing coming through the doorway with Red Robin on his heels. They were a little battered, but they didn't appear to have any major injuries. The oddest thing was how dirty they were. The rest of the team filed in behind them and they all looked like they'd lost a fight with Clay Face.

"The camps have been eliminated. They were mostly something that called themselves Earthborn? They're like giant clay beings. There were also some Hellhounds and Dracnae in the mix. We didn't have too many problems until the ground started fighting back." Bruce frowned and turned to one of the computers to look for something called Earthborn. Nothing came up in the system.

"Explain."

"It's just how it sounds," Miss Martian started, "It was like the Earth had a mind of its own. I could feel an intelligent presence and she was angry." Nightwing and Batman shared pointed looks. They knew exactly who that presence was and why she was angry.

"Anyone who couldn't fly started to sink into the ground as if it had turned into quicksand. If you didn't move fast enough, it would just grab on and you'd have to be pulled out by someone in the air. It didn't affect any of the monsters, though," Tim agreed.

"My weapons and powers were entirely ineffective on them," Aqualad noted.

"I didn't do much good out there either." Superboy chimed in. He sounded frustrated, but it was hard to tell. His face didn't give much away and his voice always sounded angry. Even for Batman, he was hard to read.

"I was able to create a spell that stabilized the ground long enough for us to eliminate all the monsters, but I could feel something fighting back against me," Zatanna reported, "Something primordial." A tense silence fell over the group as they processed what she said.

"I'll read the rest in your mission reports." Batman broke the silence-- he didn't need the team getting stuck in their heads.

"What did you find?" Nightwing asked as Batman was about to leave. Normally he wouldn't have bothered to answer that, but today he humored his oldest.

"Wonder Woman and I found a group of cyclops about 10 miles from you. We didn't see any Earthborn and the ground didn't react to our presence."

"Strange. This is all so strange." Miss Martian noted. Batman laid eyes on Rocket who had been quiet that entire time. She appeared to be a little shaken. He took in her body language before making brief eye contact with Nightwing whose eyes said that he'd tell him later.

"When you've finalized your reports, meet me in the gym." Batman then retreated from the room to allow the team to formulate their reports and to wait for the second team to come back from Gotham. He hadn't gotten any calls or messages from Oracle so that must mean that nothing had gone massively wrong.

A while later, the second team came back without incident. They hadn't been spotted and were able to get a sample of the toxin. With the new formula, Bruce would be able to create an antidote. The team even managed to discover that the day he planned on releasing the gas was this coming week. Overall, it was a job well done.

++++

"As I told some of you earlier tonight, there has been an increase in Greek monster activity all over the country, mainly centralized in California, Alaska, and New York. We have reason to believe that this activity will only be increasing in the coming months and will pose a danger to civilians and any magical beings." Batman pulled up the live topographical maps and it showed an even greater concentration of monsters in New York but there were fewer monsters in California.

"Are all those monsters?" Beast Boy's voice cracked but if that was from fear or his age, Batman couldn't tell.

"Yes. These are all swarms of Greek monsters and the greatest concentrations are in hordes so large that we couldn't handle them. Especially because these beasts can only be killed using certain weapons or magic and never truly die."

"Like Ghost and his death powers. He wiped out almost two dozen by himself," Artemis supplied. A low mumble came from the group at the reminder of the cemetery incident but Bruce decided to continue as if they weren't speaking.

"And his sword helps too," Batman agreed, "It is made out of a special metal called Stygian Iron which kills both monsters and mortals indiscriminately by sucking their soul into the blade." The chatter stopped after that and Batman knew why. None of them had known the true nature of Nico's blade before.

"If we can only kill these things with magic swords or certain kinds of powers, half of us wouldn't be able to make a dent in their numbers," Connor growled.

"Exactly. That's why I've installed a program on the computer that will let you fight simulations of these monsters. If you can hold them back long enough for people with the proper weapons or powers to fight them off, then we can make up for our disadvantages with strategy," Batman gestured to the platform for emphasis.

"Do we know why the monsters are congregating?" Arsenal called out from the back of the group.

"Only theories for now. When I know anything for sure, I'll debrief you then. For now, I want you all to start logging some hours with this training simulation." Batman made to leave and his two proteges followed after him. He could hear the team starting to talk in hushed whispers behind him but he paid them no mind.

++++

"Well that went better than we expected," Nightwing said once they were back in the cave.

"Yeah, all that training played off," Tim agreed, "Though we still have a lot of work to do if we want to be ready for a war. I think we just caught those monsters off guard this time."

"You're probably right," Nightwing frowned at the computer which was displaying a photo of a Dracnae.

"Go get some sleep. There isn't anything else that we can accomplish tonight, "Batman said as he pulled off his cowl, "Tomorrow I want the two of you to go back to the Mountain and start training the others in what you've learned."

"What will you be doing?" Tim had pulled his own mask off and was stretching his shoulders. Dry dirt cracked off his shoulders and chest and fell to the floor as he moved. Alfred was not going to be happy about that. Tim caught on to his look and smiled sheepishly, "I'll clean that up," he promised.

"I'm going to go to the Teen Titan's base and install the program there. Damian will run the Titans through the program and debrief them," the dark knight continued, "then I'm going to try to use some of the drachmas that Nico left behind to contact the Roman camp and see what I can get from them about the monster's rapid decline in numbers since the 25th."

"Great! Maybe she can give us an idea of where the questers are going." Dick seemed hopeful and Batman wished he shared his enthusiasm. Even if they knew where the questers were going to be, that didn't mean that Nico was going to be with them. However, it was all they had in leads at the moment. He would take what he could get.

"What if she decides not to help us?" Tim asked, "We know that the Romans think Nico is a traitor, what if they think we're in on it?"

"It's a chance we'll have to take. Reyna has the answers that we need. We just have to hope that we can convince her that Nico was doing what he thought was right." Bruce sighed and shut down the Bat Computer for the night.

"Sure. Piece of cake." Dick agreed sarcastically. Tim left to get a broom and Dick made a beeline for the showers. Bruce changed out of his suit in the locker room before heading back to his room to take a long bath. He needed some time alone to think.

Chapter Text

The Press: A Snake by Any Other Name

"Mr. Wayne! Mr. Wayne!" A microphone was shoved, unapologetically, in his face. When he had stepped out of the car in front of Wayne Enterprises, he just had time to think, 'it's too early for this' before he found himself surrounded by people.

The woman behind this particular microphone was one of about a dozen reporters who had cornered him on the way into Wayne Enterprises that morning. The news had broke about Nico's disappearance and they were eating it up. They could smell the blood in the water and it had worked them up into a frenzy.

"Mr. Wayne! Do the police have any new leads on Nico di Angelo?" This question came from a fairly new reporter, Gloria Marks. She typically covered business-related news but it seems that she had decided to branch out. Or, perhaps she considered this business-related. When it came to billionaires, it was hard to keep a work/home balance so the two often mixed. He hated to think about what was happening to Wayne Enterprise stock at the moment.

"None at this--" he was cut off.

"This is the second child you have lost, Mr. Wayne. Is there something more to these cases than you've shared with the police? Are these incidents connected?" This came from a more seasoned reporter who handled crimes against children. It was clear why she was here. She had been wanting to crucify him for years now. She probably saw this as her big break.

"What? Of--" Before he could properly address the question he was interrupted again. In a normal press conference, Bruce was in control and could easily answer or redirect questions they threw at him. This was anything but normal.

"Is it true that Nico had a history of running away?" A male reporter didn't recognize called from the back. He could hardly see him with the sun in his eyes. It had just started to peak over the parking garages. It would disappear into the cloud cover once the factories started working. He'd come in early to try and avoid this sort of third degree. And failed miserably.

"Yes, that's true." He said simply. He wasn't going to offer more information for them to take out of context and hang around his neck. He wouldn't put it past them to twist his words around in pursuit of the story. The group scribbled furiously on their notepads.

"Mr. Wayne! What is your response to allegations that suggest abuse in the household may have caused Nico to run away?" This was a reporter who worked at the Gotham Gazette, a newspaper chain that also owned the Daily Planet. Rage boiled up beneath his skin but he squashed it down before he could say something he would regret.

"I've never abused my boys," Bruce shot back, indignant, "This interview is over." He pushed his way through the crowd to the doors of his office. He scanned his keycard and let himself in. His security team held off the piranhas as he got inside. He was out of their reach, but the damage had been done.

This wasn't the first time he had been accused of abuse, and it likely wouldn't be the last. People were always so quick to shout abuse before they had all the facts. In some cases, victims were saved. In others, innocent families were torn apart. Good people hurting good people.

People were even more sure that Bruce was an abuser because of his money. They believed that he had bought off the police, threatened his children, and charmed the CPS worker. Any story that involved him getting away with a crime was more palatable to the public than the truth. It was a no-win scenario. So far his children's statements to the press-- usually taken while they were trying to leave school-- had been enough to convince most people that he wasn't a monster. He wasn't sure how much longer that story would hold off the press.

It was worse because, in a way, the accusation made sense. His boys were constantly getting injuries or marks from their vigilante work that just couldn't be explained away. They were often tired and unfocused in their civilian lives from staying up late to patrol or finish homework. His children are also prone to behavioral issues or attitude problems from sleep deprivation and trauma. Well-adjusted wasn't a term he would use to describe them.

When you put all of those things together, there was reason to believe that there was something suspicious going on in their home lives. Any detective worth his salt would suspect point the first finger at the parent or guardian. The press did too. He couldn't blame them for thinking that something was going on, because there was. It just wasn't what they thought.

"Good morning, Mr. Wayne." His front desk clerk greeted him as he came in. Bruce was so caught up in his thoughts that all he could do was stare blankly.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said good morning, sir? Are you alright?" Mr. Wayne blinked before vaguely gesturing in the direction he had just come. They both glanced out to the group of reporters on the sidewalk outside. Some had left, but more were there talking into cameras or conferring with their camera crews. The clerk winced-- of course, Bruce wasn't alright. Who would be in his position?

"I've been better. None of them step foot in here, ok Lewis?" The clerk nodded, still watching the vultures with visible distaste. Lewis had a strong sense of what constituted basic human decency and harassing someone at their place of work did it for him.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Bruce hummed his thanks before swiping his card again and pushing through another set of glass doors. He made a mental note to give Lewis a raise.

"Sir," his provisional secretary was waiting for him at the elevators, "I'm sorry to hear about your son."

"Thank you, Sarah. This is going to be the week from hell." He accepted a coffee from her without question. She was low on his 'people likely to poison me' list. He appreciated that she had called Nico his son, taking care not to highlight the fact that he was adopted like the press had.

"I was able to move your 9 o'clock to this afternoon, but you still have the meeting with the board at 10:30." She referenced her Wayne Tech tablet as they stepped onto the elevator with a very anxious intern. He hid behind his mail cart and Bruce pretended not to notice. He supposed being in the presence of the CEO of the company would probably be intimidating so he ignored the odd behavior so as to not embarrass him.

"You're a lifesaver. Have you heard anything from Mr. Xiao Lin about his interest in establishing that power plant?" It was a massive contract and the power plant would provide electricity to several thousand people. He hoped they could get a contract hammered out so his people could start breaking ground soon. Sarah dashed those plans.

"Nothing yet. Last I heard his company was undergoing a corporate reshuffle. We probably won't hear from them again until the dust has settled," She speculated. Bruce hummed in agreement around a sip of coffee. It was a fair assessment.

"Alright, keep me posted." While a lot of people knew who he was and had heard of Wayne Industries, most civilians didn't seem to know what they did. As he had once said in an informational video, Wayne Enterprises is a research and development company used for industrial purposes. The company studies, researches, and develops cleaner mechanical fission and fusion power plants; and also owns many factories and normal labor units.

The informational video was recorded for one of Wayne Enterprises' annual training that every employee in the development or communications departments had to take. They were usually about things like preventing sexual harassment, inclusivity, cybersecurity, emergency protocols, and things of that nature. The company he had hired to make the module that Wayne Enterprises uses wanted him to record a few minutes of film for it, so he had.

"What about my rehabilitation program?" Bruce asked as the elevator dinged and the intern maneuvered his way off, giving them both a wide berth. Bruce was glad he was gone, he didn't think his back could take any more of the kid's drilling stare. The hair on his neck was still standing on end.

"It seems to be going well. Who would have thought former convicts would be such... motivated workers?" She clicked a few buttons and brought up a profit analysis. Profits were up in the factory where he had employed a number of former convicts. He bit his tongue to keep from commenting on her bias. Hopefully, the program would speak for itself and change her tune. It was easier to help people change their minds when they thought they did it themselves.

For the early stages of the program, Bruce offered former convicts a standard factory job-- nothing that required anything with a lot of training. Anyone off the street could be trained in a week or two and be working on the line after that. It was perfect for convicts who maybe hadn't had formal schooling or couldn't find other lines of work because of their history. Most importantly, it kept them off the streets.

"Most criminals only commit crimes because they feel like they have no other choice. Usually, it's the last resort. If you give them a steady income and livable wages, they suddenly have a choice again." Bruce explained simply. He knew that his company employed a lot of people and that meant that money got spread around within the community, but he couldn't see the impact that made. Was he making a difference?

They reached their floor and Bruce led the way off the elevator.

He knew it was making a difference, but there was still a whole other demographic out there that was being overlooked. He saw the rates of convicts getting arrested and thrown back in prison increasing and he had to wonder if he could do anything to change that. He was limited as Batman. He lacked the ability to prevent the crimes from occurring. This was his little experiment to see if it was possible to reduce the rate of former criminals getting re-convicted. So far, it looked promising.

"I suppose that would make sense." Sarah followed him as far as her desk and Bruce continued into his office, signaling the end of the conversation.

When he got into the office he took a few moments to unpack his briefcase and pour himself a cup of water before getting to work. It was hard to care about investors or product patents when your child was missing and the world was about to self-destruct again. He wished he could take time off like he used to. Just leave the company in the hands of his board and go be Batman.

But that was years ago, before he took an active role in his company. When his board of trustees still made all the decisions. Now that he was in charge, he couldn't just go fight crime 24/7. In short, life isn't fair and Bruce Wayne still had work to do and a cover to maintain.

About a half hour later, his intercom light flickered in and he pressed the speak button.

"Sarah?"

"You have a call on line one. It sounds like a young woman. She only said that her name is Reyna and that you would want to speak to her. I told her you were busy, but she's insisting. Should I put her through?" Bruce's chest tightened. Reyna? He had been expecting a call from her on his personal phone, not at his place of work.

"Yes. I'll take it in my office." He clicked the intercom off. A few seconds later his phone rang. He picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Do you know who I am?"

++++

Nico was freezing. Teeth-chattering, body- trembling, appendage- numbingly cold. Though if that were from the cursed pomegranate seeds or the metal jar, he couldn't be sure. Maybe it was a little of both.

How many days had it been? It was hard to tell. The only way he had to tell the time is by the number of times he had woken up. Each time he woke up, he scratched a line in the wall of the jar with his sword and ate another seed. So far, he'd been through 2 seeds now, and he was currently sucking the pulp off seed number 3. In a moment he would be dragged to the brink of death for the next who knows how long.

Every time he was in this trance-like state he had dreamed. He figured it was for Gaea's own pleasure. She seemed to like making him miserable. She would come to him sometimes, in the dreams. Whispering about her plans for the questers, for Hazel. Taunting him about how close he had been to the Doors of Death while he was still in the pit.

Watch little one! Your friends are on their way! Though, I think we both know they aren't coming for you.

She was right, of course. The quest wasn't coming to save him. No. Their goal was to destroy the primordial of the Earth at all costs. His life wasn't more important than that-- not more important than any other life on this spinning rock they all called home. He doubted the questers even knew he was still alive. Though by now they had probably guessed that he had failed.

He had once heard that love or maybe hatred were the most intense emotions. Nico disagreed. A someone who had felt them both, he could say for certain that it was shame. Nothing could destroy a man quite as completely as shame.

Nico leaned his head back and spat out the seed. It made a dull thump as it bounced off the wall of the jar, landing somewhere by his feet as best he could tell in the darkness. At least, where he thought his feet were. He couldn't feel them anymore.

It didn't take long for the fruit of the Underworld to take effect. It never did.

He hated this part.

It started in his hands first. He felt an intense, almost unbearable, cold crawl up his limbs as he was dragged back into a death trance. It stalked up his wrists and elbows and into his shoulders. He growled to himself as the coldness started to burn. It moves into his shoulders and Nico prayed that it would just hurry up and pull him under.

It traveled up the back of his neck and down his spine in a way that he found almost unbearable. There was no relief. No position that made it better, no way to block it out, and no way to escape. He had to endure the feeling until his whole body was covered in cold, burning hornets and he thought he'd forget how to breathe. Only after his whole body, every inch of him, was crawling in agony would he fade into blackness. That was the price of his life.

I won't eat another seed. he promised himself. It was a lie, and he knew it. He'd eat another seed, and another seed, and another. He'd continue until he ran out of seeds or oxygen. He'd continue until he couldn't anymore. Now that he was dying, he realized that he wanted to live. The irony wasn't lost on him.

He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. With the pain, the thickness of his breath in the jar, and the dreams, he could feel himself slipping. His eyes closed. He feebly hoped that Gaea would be too preoccupied to antagonize him this time.

He was thrown unwillingly into another dream.

This dream seemed... early. He didn't know how else to describe it. Maybe that meant that it had already happened? Maybe that meant it was currently happening. All he knew is that it felt important.

Pay close attention, little one. I think you'll find this next bit particularly interesting! Gaea's deceivingly warm voice cooed. He had gotten used to this side of her voice over the last few dreams. Before it had always sounded so cold and distant. He hoped that didn't mean she was waking up, but he didn't have the confidence to say.

When the dream came into focus, he was standing next to a lake. The Argo II seemed like it has crashed down into the small body of water. It didn't appear to be too damaged, but some of the sails were still smoking lightly. This must have been after the New Rome incident. Maybe even the same day. Something told him that this wasn't where he needed to be.

He blinked and he was somewhere else. He had learned that when he dreamed with Gaea, it was much less like a dream and a lot more like being a ghost. He got to move, breathe, and talk like a normal person, but no one could hear him or see him. He couldn't interact with the scene, only observe. It was beyond frustrating, it was painful.

Now he was standing in front of a woman who was clearly obsessed with fortune cookies. She was opening the cookies, reading the fortunes, and discarding the ones she didn't like. Her bicycle looked broken too. He didn't think the wheels were supposed to have chunks taken out of them.

A voice came from behind him, making him whirl around. It was Hazel. She was alive and that was enough. Nico paced around the two demigods, paying particularly close attention to Hazel, as the scene began to play out. Leo was with her, and he was watching the goddess (clearly she had to be a goddess) carefully. He seemed a bit shaken.

"I suppose you won't tell us what you're talking about. Or why my brother Nico has only 6 days to live. Or why Rome is going to be destroyed." Hazel sounded frustrated, which was usually the case when it came to speaking with the gods. Nico's throat began to close up as he started to process what she had said. Only 6 days? How many days ago was this? What day is it now? He'd gone through 3 seeds, was that equivalent to 3 days?

On one hand, he was grateful for the vision. At least now he knew that Hazel was alive and knew he was still alive, but now that he knew just how little time he had, he was worried. Even if they had decided to save him, which he didn't know if they had, how would they reach him in time? Could they? It would be torture to die just before they could make it to him. He almost hoped that they wouldn't come for him and see him like this.

Before the goddess in the vision could answer, the scene went dark around him. Gaea had decided he'd seen enough.

Ah, yes. You've come to the same conclusion. That was yesterday. You have 5 days left. They're never going to reach you in time. And we've opened the jar once so far. Of course, I didn't anticipate you using those seeds, but in the end, it won't matter. You're only delaying the inevitable.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Nico yelled into the inky blackness of his mind. He tried to reassure himself that everything would be ok, but all alone with a primordial being-- he couldn't make himself believe it. His tears ran hot, even in his dream.

++++

Hazel was afraid. The truth was, she had almost always been afraid. She had been afraid when she lived in Alaska. She had been afraid when she died killing Alcyoneus. She had been afraid when she went back to Alaska the second time. She had been afraid when she freed Thanatos and he searched for her name on his little tablet. And she was afraid now.

It was easier to ignore when she was taking charge or surrounded by powerful people, but she couldn't ignore it in the silence of her cabin. She was afraid, yes. But this time she wasn't afraid for herself.

She was afraid for her brother. She was afraid of Leo Valdez and what meeting him might mean. She was afraid that they might not be able to save Rome or the world-- that Gaea would win. And she was afraid for Frank and his depleted life force.

With these kinds of odds, it wasn't hard to feel hopeless. Did anything they did make a difference? Gaea didn't seem to think so. The daughter of Pluto could have gotten lost in those thoughts if the universe would let her get a moment of peace.

The day started poorly, with her waking up from a nightmare that she couldn't even remember. Then she threw up whatever she'd had for dinner the prior evening before getting ready to go to breakfast. Yum.

She grabbed a sleeve of crackers from the dining hall before heading up to the deck to meet the others. Almost everyone had already gathered. Only Piper seemed to be missing. She stood by Frank who eyed her crackers worriedly. She tried to give him a reassuring smile but it probably looked like a grimace. She knew he just wanted to make sure she was getting enough to eat, but the glance made her self-conscious.

Piper joined them a few minutes later. Hazel watched closely as Annabeth stole a bite of the daughter of Aphrodite's bagel. Clearly, they were close. Hazel felt a pang of longing. She had never really had female friends and she wished she wasn't already so disconnected from them. They'd had time to bond over these last eight months, but they'd only known her for two days.

Even Percy was spending less time with her and Frank. She couldn't fault him for that, of course, but it left her stranded from the Greeks. She and Frank were the only people there who hadn't been to Camp Half-Blood, making it a lot harder to connect with them. Even Jason was seeming more Greek than Roman, these days. Add in the fact that she was from another century and she felt entirely out of place.

The meeting got underway, as unofficial as it was, and Piper explained that she wanted to explore the place from her vision. It sounded fishy, to her but she didn't say anything. Piper knew more about how Katoptris worked than she did so Hazel would trust her judgment.

Hazel listened passively as the roles were assigned until Leo made an insensitive comment to Frank and she had to intervene. She shot Leo a look and he returned one that asked what did I do?

The truth was, he hadn't really been doing anything. He probably hadn't meant anything by his comment. However, Frank was highly sensitive to criticism when it came from people named Leo Valdez. She knew he was confused about Leo, just as she was. She also knew that he was feeling insecure. They needed to talk, but the subject of Leo was a frayed wire that neither of them wanted to touch.

She tried to break the tension between the three of them by reminding Percy to watch out for the Karpoi. He got a grim look on his face and Piper shot her a curious glance. She didn't mean to bring his mood down but seemed to serve as a proper distraction.

"Karpoi?" She asked.

"Grain spirits," Hazel replied, "you don't want to meet them." Piper didn't press her for more, though it looked like she wanted to. Hazel was grateful for that, she didn't really feel like launching into a lengthy explanation just then.

After the trio left, Hazel and Frank retreated to the dining hall. Annabeth and Leo were on the deck so they were free to speak their minds. Hazel simultaneously did and did not want to ask about the macho contest she'd just witnessed. He should know he didn't need to worry about Leo. Though she suspected that wasn't the full truth either. She did care about Leo, she just needed to sort out why.

"I don't think Leo meant to be rude," Hazel said soothingly as she grabbed a lemon scone. Talking about it without talking about it. That's what it had come to. Frank sighed and fell into a chair.

"I know. I didn't mean to get so angry over nothing. I guess it's just..." He either lost the nerves or the words because he didn't continue. Hazel squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and he gave her a small smile.

"I think we'll be in the air for the foreseeable future," Frank said after a while, "you should be able to relax a bit for now." He was talking about her sea sickness. He'd seen how bad it had gotten on the trip to Alaska. Neither of them wanted a repeat of that. She was worried about what would happen if she couldn't keep anything down and then had to go into battle.

"Great. My stomach could use a break." She took another bite of her scone.

"Hey, why don't you come with me? I'll get a bird's eye view and you can scout from below. At least then neither of us would be alone." Frank suggested. Hazel considered it for a moment before nodding. It was a solid plan. Plus, she could use the fresh air.

"Sure," she took a small sip of orange juice, "I'll call Arion."

++++

They got back a while before the others. They had some disturbing news but they were going to wait until everyone was back to share. They'd seen Roman Eagles, not too far from where the Argo II was moored. Hazel had little doubt this was Octavian's doing. He was out for blood.

When the others finally got back, they were in surprisingly bad shape. Piper came back on a beautiful black pegasus with two unconscious demigods. Hazel felt guilty for not voicing her concerns earlier, but she kept that to herself as she helped the others lay the boys safely on the deck.

Piper and Annabeth had a quick exchange, and soon the unconscious boys were moved to sickbay. That took the coordinated effort of the rest of the group, so Hazel and Frank were left to tend to the pegasus whose name, she was told, was Blackjack. He was apparently been the one to knock Percy out. If that was the case, Percy was lucky to be alive.

She helped calm him down while Frank went below deck to get some donuts. Annabeth said he prefers them. Hazel wasn't sure that was healthy, but she wasn't all that familiar with pegasi or what they eat. She had mainly worked with normal horses and then unicorns at Camp Jupiter. And Arion's diet was anything but natural.

They gave Blackjack his donuts.

A short while later, Annabeth popped up to tell them to meet in the Mess Hall. The boys were awake and talking in full sentences again, which was a blessing. Hazel and Frank exchanged glances but headed below deck. She could already tell that this was going to be an interesting conversation. Something that was powerful enough to put both of their strongest demigods out of comission? That had to be big news.

Once they were all there, Piper filled them in on what had happened. They had come very close to losing them both. Luckily Piper was quick on her feet. Hazel wasn't sure she would have been any help in that scenario. Percy and Jason fighting each other to death in a corn field? What could she have done? If she stole their swords, what kept them from beating each other to death?

Then Piper got to the part about the eidolons and Hazel wanted to kick herself.

"Of course!" She said it louder than she had meant to and hit the table. It startled Frank who dropped his burrito. No one mentioned it as Hazel continued. "That's what happened to Leo too." It all made sense now.

"So it wasn't my fault," Leo let out a long breath, "I didn't start World War Three. I just got possessed by an evil spirit. That's a relief!" Hazel wasn't sure that relieved was the right word. Maybe it was a relief that Leo was vindicated, but that still left them with the problem that there were spirits on the loose who could possess any of them at any time. The thought was unsettling.

"But the Romans don't know that," Annabeth said pointedly, "and why would they take our word for it?"

"We could contact Reyna," Jason suggested, "she would believe us." The expression on Piper's face turned sour. Hazel knew that she was jealous of Reyna, if not of her closeness with Jason, then of all the time Reyna had with him. Though surely she couldn't doubt Jason't love for her? Surely Piper wouldn't begrudge him for wanting to stay connected with the camp that raised him.

Then Jason turned to Piper and Hazel braced herself. Jason wasn't aware of Piper's feelings on the matter. This because apparent when he said, "You could convince her, Pipes. I know you could." Hazel winced sympathetically.

"I could try, but Octavian is the one we have to worry about. In my dagger blade, I saw him taking control of the Roman crowd. I'm not sure Reyna can stop him." Piper replied. This was clearly not the answer Jason wanted. His expression darkened. Hazel nodded along in agreement.

"She's right," Frank voiced what they were both thinking, "This afternoon when we were scouting, we saw Eagles again. They were a long way off, but closing fast. Octavian is on the warpath."

"This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has always wanted. He'll try to seize power. If Reyna objects, he'll say she's soft on the Greeks. As for those eagles, it's like they could smell us." Hazel had her suspicions, but she was sure until Jason agreed.

"They can. Roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. This ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely. Not from them."

Leo drummed his fingers on the table. Hazel hadn't noticed how still he'd been until he moved, "Great I should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell like a gian chicken nugget. Remind me to invent that next time." His words confused her.

"What is a chicken nugget?"

"Oh, man..." Leo shook his head with surprise, and somewhat pleased, smile, "That's right. You've missed the last like, 70 years. Well, my apprentice, a chicken nugget--"

Annabeth interrupted his undoubtedly long explanation. "Doesn't matter. The point is, we'll have a hard time explaining the truth to the Romans. Even if they believe us..." she trailed off.

"You're right," Jason leaned forward in his seat, "we should just keep going. Once we're over the Atlantic, we'll be safe-- at least from the legion." He shared a glance with Hazel before looking down at his plate. She wasn't sure if he meant to or not, but his eyes pinned her to the spot for that moment. She knew what he was thinking.

"How can you be sure? Why wouldn't they follow us?" Piper asked. Jason shook his head before he replied.

"You heard Reyna talk about the ancient lands. They're much too dangerous. Roman demigods have been forbidden to go there for generations. Even Octavian couldn't get around that rule."

Next to her, Frank swallowed hard on his burrito. "So if we go there..." he prompted. Hazel's eyes shot to Jason as he answered.

"We'll be outlaws as well as traitors. Any Roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. But I wouldn't worry about that. If we get across the Atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us. They'll assume that we'll die in the Mediterranean-- the Mare Nostrum."

Percy used his pizza as a pointer and waved it at Jason, "You, sir, are a ray of sunshine." The room fell silent at the gravity of their situation. Anxiety started to build in tthe daughter of Pluto's stomach and she took a small sip of water as her mouth started to go dry.

"So let's plan ahead," Percy continued, "and make sure we don't die. Mr. D-- Bacchus-- ugh, do I have to call him Mr. B now? Anyway, he mentioned the twins in Ella's prophecy. Two giants. Otis and, uh, something that started with an F?"

"Ephialtes," Jason supplied. He pronounced it eff-ee-alt-eez. Hazel could understand how Percy had made the slip. Spelling was exactly a demigod's strong suit.

"Twin giants, like Piper saw in her blade," Annabeth traced the rim of her cup thoughtfully, "I remember a story about twin giants. They tried to reach Mount Olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains." Hazel's stomach dropped down into her shoes.

Frank made a strangled noise, "Well, that's great. Giants who can use mountains like building blocks. And you say Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"

"Something like that," Percy agreed, "I don't think we should count on his help this time. He wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn't handle." No one knew what to say after that. There was a long pause before Piper spoke up.

"Today on the highway Gaea told me that she needed the blood of only two demigods. On female and one male. She-- she asked me to choose which boy would die." She looked guilty and Hazel bet she knew why. When it came down to it, would she choose? Her boyfriend, or Annabeth's?

"But neither of us died. You saved us." Jason soothed. Piper gave him a pained smile.

"I know. It's just... why would she want that?" Leo whistled.

"Guys, remember at the Wolf House? Our favorite ice princess Khione? She talked about spilling Jason's blood, and how it would taint the place for generations. Maybe demigod blood has some kind of power."

"Oh..." Percy abandoned his pizza and froze. It was hard to tell if he was thinking or if something inside his head required maintenance. Annabeth called his name and gripped his arm which seemed to do the trick.

"Oh bad. Bad bad," Percy met her gaze and then Frank's, "You guys remember Polybotes?"

It was rhetorical, but Hazel answered anyway, "The giant who invaded Camp Jupiter? The anti-Poseidon you whacked in the head with a Terminus statue. Yes, I think I remember."

"I had a dream when we were flying to Alaska. Polybotes was talking to the gorgons and he said-- he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. He said: 'I want that one chained at my feet so I can kill him when the time is ripe. His blood shall water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake Earth Mother!'" Hazel found it hard to breathe. Percy's account painted a horrific visual. It was Piper who finally put words to it.

"You think the giants would use our blood... the blood of two of us--" her words weren't directed to anyone but Percy replied.

"I don't know, but until we figure it out, I suggest we all try to avoid getting captured."

"That, I agree with," Jason grunted. Something still bothered Hazel, though.

"But how do we figure it out? The mark of Athena, the twins, Ella's prophecy... how does it all fit together?" She didn't expect an answer and didn't get one.

"Piper, you told Leo to set a course for Atlanta." Annabeth started. She clearly had some sort of a plan. That was a relief.

"Right," Piper confirmed, "Bacchus told us we should seek out... what was his name?"

"Phorcys." Percy supplied. Annabeth blinked, clearly surprised.

"You know him?" She frowned. Percy shrugged.

"I didn't recognize the name at first. Then Bacchus mentioned salt water and it rang a bell. Phorcys is an old sea god from before my dad's time. Never met him, but supposedly he's a son of Gaea. I still don't understand what a sea god would be doing in Atlanta."

Leo snorted, "What's a wine god doing in Kansas? Gods are weird. Anyway, we should reach Atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something else goes wrong."

"Don't even say that," Annabeth sighed, "it's getting late. We should all get some sleep." Hazel started to stand, ready to put a cap on a busy day when Piper stopped them.

"Wait," she looked scared, "There's one last thing. The eidolons-- the possessing spirits. They're still here, in this room."

Chapter Text

June 27th

a.k.a five days left

"Welcome back, young demigod. There's something I want you to see."

Nico was dragged into a vision. The seven were seated around what appeared to be a dining table. Percy was slumped in one of the chairs, looking tired. It took a moment for the sound of the vision to become coherent-- like he was coming closer to the surface of the lake back at camp. The son of Poseidon was talking, describing a dream he'd had Nico was surprised to realize that it had been about him. At least partly.

Percy told the others about him in the vase, though he described it as a bronze jar, the oddly dressed twins who guarded him, and about the pile of seeds at his feet. At the description, Nico felt a surge of hope. Now that they knew where he was, maybe that meant they would be coming for him. Maybe he wasn't going to die after all. Maybe he was going to get to see Bruce and the other boys again and apologize for leaving them like that. There was hope.

When Percy got to the part about the seeds, Nico could see Hazel's eyes widen as she realized what that meant. When she spoke her voice was thick with emotion and Nico knew she was aware of what the seeds were for. How she knew was beyond him, but he would worry about that later.

"Nico... Oh, Gods. The seeds."

"You know what they are?" Annabeth frowned.

Hazel nodded and swallowed hard. "I saw him getting them in a dream. They're from our stepmother's garden." Nico hadn't been aware that she'd had any such dreams. How much more did she know that she never let on? It was clear that he hadn't given her enough credit.

"Your step... oh," Percy said. "You mean Persephone." His voice was tight and Nico couldn't quite decipher what the older boy was thinking. His relationship with the gods was complicated, to say the least. Even more so when it came to Hades and Persephone. It was hard to guess what he was feeling.

"The seeds are a last-resort food," Hazel spoke as if Percy hadn't spoken, "Only children of Hades can eat them. Nico would have taken them in case he got stuck somewhere. If he's really imprisoned--" She was taking the news hard if the rattling of the silverware were any indicator. It seemed like all the metal in the room was being drawn to her and Nico could tell by the other's faces that they had noticed it too.

"The giants are trying to lure us," Annabeth said. "They're assuming we'll try to rescue him."

"Well, they're right!" Hazel exclaimed, looking around the table for support, "won't we?"

"Yes!" Coach Hedge yelled around the wad of napkins in his mouth. Nico was seriously concerned about the goat's digestive health. He didn't understand how any of that had nutritional value. "It'll involve fighting, right?"

"Hazel, of course we'll help him," Frank said. "But how long do we have before... uh I mean, how long can Nico hold out?" Nico was grateful for Frank. If he lived through this, he'd tell him himself.

"One seed a day," Hazel looked about as miserable as he felt. "That's if he puts himself in a death trance."

"A death trance?" Annabeth scowled. "That doesn't sound fun." Nico snorted to himself. Understatement.

"It keeps him from consuming all of his air. Like hibernation or a coma. One seed can sustain him for one day. Barely." Hazel explained.

"And he has five seeds left," Percy said. "That's five days, including today. The giants must have planned it that way, so we'd arrive by July first. Assuming Nico's hidden somewhere in Rome--"

"That's not much time" Piper cut him off, resting her hand on Hazel's shoulder, "We'll find him. At least we know what the lines of the prophecy mean now. 'Twins snuff out an angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death'. Your brother's last name: di Angelo. Angelo is Italian for 'angel'." The daughter of Aphrodite had come to the same conclusion he had. He was meant to go one this quest. He'd even expected to die. However, he hadn't expected the process to be so long and painful.

"Oh, gods," Hazel murmured, mostly to herself. "Nico..." How he wished he could give her a hug, but even if he tried his form would pass right through her. All he could do was watch.

The news silenced the seven demigods as they processed it. Nico wished he knew what each of them was thinking. Percy was staring at his breakfast, clearly deep in thought. Hazel had unshed tears brimming in her eyes. Frank looked like he had swallowed cardboard.

"We'll rescue him," Percy spoke at last. "We have to. The prophecy says he holds the key to endless death." Nico didn't know if that were true. Right then, he wasn't sure he could summon a single skeleton, much less an army. He didn't know what he'd tell them when they finally got to him and he didn't know what they were talking about. Hopefully, he'd figure out something before then.

"You won't get the chance. Their efforts will be in vain." Gaea laughed wispily in his mind.

"Shut up." He replied simply. The scene continued to unfold before him.

"That's right," Piper jumped back in. "Hazel, your brother went searching for the Doors of Death in the Underworld, right? he must've found them."

"He can tell us where the doors are and how to close them." Percy agreed. Nico wished they could hear him. He would have told them that there wasn't a way to close the doors. None that they'd be able to manage. He wasn't sure that anything could close the doors now.

Hazel, on the other hand, seemed sootherd. "Yes, good."

"Uh..." Leo shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Whatever was on his mind, he seemed to be expecting a bad reception. "One thing. The giants are expecting us to do this, right? So we're walking into a trap?"

Hazel looked utterly offended, "We have no choice!" The son of Hades tried not to feel hurt over the choice of words. It didn't feel too hot to know that the only reason your life was important was that you were still useful.

"Don't get me wrong, Hazel. It's just that your brother, Nico... he knew about both camps, right?" Nico knew where this was going and his heart sank in his chest.

"Well, yes," Hazel replied. It was impossible to tell whether or not she knew where he was going with this.

"He's been going back and forth," Leo continued, "and he didn't tell either side."

Then Jason spoke up, "You're wondering if we can trust the guy. So am I."

There it was. That's what it all boiled down to. Nico had expected this kind of trust from the two camps, but not from the people who were supposed to bridge the gap between them. Couldn't they see what he had been doing? Couldn't they see that He'd only been trying to help? Of course, the answer was no and that hurt all the more. Their mistrust was justified.

Hazel didn't seem to think it was justified. She shot up out of her seat, almost tipping it over in the process. Frank caught it in time and Hazel didn't even seem to notice, so caught up in her anger. "I don't believe this. He's my brother. He brought me back from the Underworld, and you don't want to help him?"

Frank was quick to soothe her. "Nobody's saying that." With a glance at Leo, Frank corrected himself, " Nobody had better be saying that." It hurt that Frank was the only one who rose to defend him, even though he was really doing it to protect Hazel, not for the son of Hades' sake.

Leo seemed surprised. "Look, guys. All I mean to say is--" Jason didn't let Leo continue which annoyed Nico. When someone was arguing against saving your life, you wanted to know why.

"Hazel, Leo is raising a fair point. I remember Nico from Camp Jupiter. Now I find out that he also visited Camp Half-Blood. That does strike me as... well, a little shady. Do we really know where his loyalties lie? We just have to be careful." The former praetor finished.

Hazel's anger reached a boiling point and the metal in the vicinity reacted to her emotions. A silver tray of eggs was sent hurtling into the wall, smearing food all over the walls. When hazel spoke, her voice was tight and mocking. "You... the great Jason Grace... the Praetor I looked up to. You were supposed to be so fair, such a good leader. And now you..." Hazel stormed off into the ship.

"Hazel!" Leo called as the daughter of Pluto retreated from sight. "Ah, jeez. I should--"

"You've done enough," Frank growled. Before the vision could reach its conclusion, darkness enveloped his vision, and the next few words out of Piper's mouth sounded like he had cotton in his ears.

Nico was angry and hurt. He didn't think that having been to both camps was grounds for this much suspicion, especially since he was actually a Greek demigod and Camp Half-Blood was supposed to be his home anyway. Really the only place where he would have been considered a visitor was Camp Jupiter. He'd only been there for Hazel, at least at first. He didn't get time to dwell on it long.

"Do you see? Do you see why I wanted to show you this?" Gaea's voice was almost pitying and Nico wished he could block her out.

"Because you want to break me down for your own amusement?" He thought back, annoyed.

"No, not at all. If I wanted to do that, all I'd have to do is drag up those pretty little memories of your time in the pit. I can see why Akhylys liked you. So much misery."

"Why did you show me this, then? Huh? What was the point?" Nico ignored her comment. He couldn't show her just how much the idea of reliving Tartarus scared him, though he suspected the primordial already knew.

"Because I wanted to show you how well-received your help was. You spent all that time, energy, and stress trying to get everything handled for them and how do they thank you? By letting you slowly asphyxiate at the hands of two giants." She taunted, sounding like she was always on the brink of a yawn.

"So you wanted to gloat?" Nico frowned. This seemed like a lot of trouble to go to just to rub it in his face.

"Partially," she agreed. " And partially because I wanted you to see just what kind of people you're fighting to save. Was it worth it now that you know they didn't appreciate it? Not that it would have mattered if they had decided to come and rescue you... you'll be long past your expiration date by the time they would have reached you. If they had reached you."

"Just leave me be!" Nico shouted. The next moment he was thrown forcefully into consciousness.

++++

"Do you know who I am?" The voice on the other end of the line sounded older than Bruce had expected, and there was a hint of an accent that he couldn't quite place.

"I do. Though I can't say I was expecting a call at my place of work." Bruce eyed the clock. He still had plenty of time before the board meeting.

"I thought it would be better if we kept this strictly business. I want to know everything Nico told you about my camp." Her tone left no room for misunderstanding. She wasn't asking.

"I don't know what you want me to say. Nico didn't tell us much about his demigod life. He said that it would put us in danger," Bruce lied. He didn't like the tone she was taking, like a woman on a mission.

"I find it hard to believe that he lived with you for eight months and you know nothing. So, what did he tell you, Mr. Wayne? Be advised, we are on the precipice of war so niceties aren't a luxury I can afford." Bruce could understand how a person like Reyna had come to power. Her voice alone commanded a kind of respect that he rarely saw outside of the vigilante world. She would make a powerful enemy.

With the extra push, Bruce launched into a highly censored and summarized version of events from the time Nico had spent with him and the boys. He briefly mentioned Nico's trips to California and Camp Half-Blood though he pretended not to know where the camp was when asked. He talked about Nico explaining the prospect of a war between both camps once they met and how he was trying to help avoid that outcome from a distance. He stressed that Nico had only been trying to do what was best for the mythological world.

Bruce played the part of the absent billionaire playboy father as best he could, hoping that Reyna would mistake the gaps in his information as disinterest rather than willful censorship on his part. She seemed to buy it as she slowly became more relaxed over the course of their conversation.

Finally, Bruce got around to talking about how Nico had told them that Percy had shown up at Camp Jupiter and how he believed that it would be decided soon after that whether or not a war would start. Then he told her about how the son of Hades had left them a video message that talked about going to Tartarus to close the Doors of Death and Reyna listened quietly until he had finished.

"So Nico was acting as an ambassador between the two camps this whole time? He knew Percy Jackson and pretended that he didn't because he knew that we'd protest the presence of a Greek in our camp? And you're also saying that he's not a son of Pluto, but a son of Hades who was trying to avert a war all on his own. Am I getting this right?" Reyna summed up.

"As far as I know, that's right." Bruce agreed.

"And he went to Tartarus himself, knowing that it was a suicide mission, in the hopes that he'd be able to give both camps a fighting chance against Gaea." Her voice was deadpan.

"Yes."

"Your son is a hero." Her voice hadn't changed, but Bruce decided to take it as though she was being sincere.

"Yeah, he is. Do you... do you know if there is any way he..." Bruce wasn't able to finish the question.

"I don't think he would have survived. However, I wouldn't be displeased to be proven wrong." Reyna answered his unfinished question. He was grateful she hadn't made him say it.

"Can you tell me more about this war? I feel like I don't know anything about what's going on right now. I want to know what Nico... what he was trying to protect." The girl hesitated but she eventually caved and started telling Bruce more about the war than he'd ever been able to pry out of Nico. It sounded like she'd really needed someone to talk to. Someone outside of the mythological world.

She explained everything that had happened since Jason Grace had disappeared eight months prior up until the 25th when the battle against the Giants was won and the war with the Greeks was set in motion. It took almost all of the remaining time he'd had before his board meeting, but Bruce didn't care. He felt like he was finally getting a handle on the details of the mythological world and the upcoming war, which was much more important to him and the rest of the world than his board.

"You're saying that you think that Percy and the rest of the seven are fleeing to the... Ancient Lands? That's what you called them, right?" Bruce clarified as her story drew to a close.

"Yes. I have reason to believe that they're headed to Rome. The original Rome." Reyna agreed.

"Why would they do that? Didn't you say that was forbidden?" The vigilante pressed. He knew very well that the rules wouldn't stop Percy or Nico, but he couldn't just say that either.

"Thanatos told Percy, Hazel, and Frank that they'd find answers in Rome. Unless their plans have changed, I presume they're still headed there." Reyna humored him and for that Bruce was grateful.

"And why would their plans have changed?"

"Because they fired on New Rome. They had already shared their plans with me so it would be wise of them to change their course to throw me and the other Romans off."

"Why would they tell you their plans only to betray you? It doesn't make sense." The older man countered. There was a moment of silence on Reyna's end and Bruce was worried that she'd hang up.

"I don't think it was intentional. I think that Annabeth was telling me the truth when she said it wasn't them. That's the only reason you and I are speaking." Reyna elucidated.

"You needed to know what Nico's intentions were," Bruce realized. Reyna hummed in agreement. "You think the meeting was sabotaged."

"I think it's possible," She agreed. "I also think that it's in Gaea's best interest that the Greeks and Romans are too busy fighting each other to fight her. If there was ever a meeting she should want to sabotage, it would be a peace negotiation between the camps."

"And if you tell people that you believe them, Octavian's going to have a way to take over. He'll call for a vote of no confidence and you won't be able to do anything to slow him down."

"Exactly. I have to help hunt them down and bring them in if at all possible. They'll be punished, but at least I won't have to exact revenge on Camp Half-Blood. It's the best outcome." Reyna sighed. Bruce could tell that all of this had been really weighing on her. These were decisions he'd never want a teenager to have to make, especially not on her own.

"But you said it yourself that prophecies always come true. If you take the seven out of the picture, doesn't that mean that Gaea wins?" Bruce pointed out.

"If I let them go, Camp Half-Blood loses." Reyna seemed sure of this, though from what Nico had told him about the Greeks, a Roman victory would be far from decided.

"Do what you think you have to. I just hope the world can live with the consequences." Bruce sighed. "Call me back on this number if you need me again." He hung up, not wanting to deal with an awkward goodbye. He hoped Reyna would make the best of the decisions she was given and he didn't envy her position. It was hard making decisions with such massive real-world consequences.

++++

Bruce got home from work early that day, having canceled his last meeting. He found his boys in the Batcave, either training or looking through the Bat Computer. When he got to the landing he let out a sharp whistle that got everyone's attention.

His proteges each stopped what they were doing and made their way over to him. They were all looking a little rough around the edges and he knew it was from spending all their spare time looking for leads on Nico. He had some new information he wanted to brief them on, but part of him felt that he should just order them all to get a good meal and a full night's sleep. They looked like they needed it.

Dick was pale and his eyes were unfocused. Bruce had hoped that spending all that time with Wally and Barbara would be able to take his mind off things but it could only help so much. his hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat and Batman knew he was pushing himself too hard in training again. He'd have to contrive a reason for him to get some actual rest soon.

Jason was back a little ways from the group, leaning on the guardrail. He was polishing a knife. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking since he was keeping his domino mask on all the time. He'd started withdrawing into himself again and Bruce for one was not pleased. Jason was the most dangerous when he was upset because it tended to lower his inhibitions.

Tim looked like he hadn't slept in days and Bruce wondered if he could get away with sedating him. He might be able to get Alfred to help. He really needed to sleep before he started getting hallucinations again. He'd have Alfred hide all the coffee as well. It'd suck for a while, but Tim's health was more important. The billionaire wasn't trying to raise a caffeine addict, though he may already be too late.

Like Dick, Damian had also been putting in a lot of hours on the monster simulations. While his youngest didn't have as many outward signs of grief as his brothers, Bruce knew it was affecting him. For one, Damian wasn't picking fights like he normally would have been. He'd become a lot more tolerant of Jason's jabs (which had become more frequent), and he hadn't been teasing Tim either. It was a nice change of pace except for the fact that it meant that Damian was too far into his own head to bother with anyone else. Damian's mind was a dangerous place to be

"I want all of you to get a real meal and a full night's rest tonight. No patrol. No training. Nothing except food and bed. All of you. I'm serious. None of us will do Nico any good in this condition. We can start the search back up tomorrow once you've all rested." Bruce pointed to the exit for emphasis.

Dick, ever his soldier, was first to move toward the catwalk, closely followed by Damian. Tim glanced between his father and Jason before reluctantly following the others up to the manor. It was clear that he wanted to protest, but they also knew that nothing he could say would be as colorful as what Red Hood was going to say so he left. Then it was only Jason and Bruce left.

"Jason--"

"You're giving up on him, aren't you?" Jason accused.

"Of course not," Bruce growled with a heat that surprised them both. He had to take a deep breath before he could continue. "I am just tired of watching us all fall apart. We can spare a few hours to take care of our bodies, don't you think?"

"We didn't find much of use on Tartarus, the Doors of Death, Gaea, or Greek monsters. All the accounts conflict with one another and nothing really matches up. We were planning on calling up Wonder Woman but she's busy with something or other. I wasn't paying attention." Jason reported. Bruce didn't respond because that wasn't what Jason was trying to say.

"We'll handle it tomorrow."

"I'm not tired. I want to keep looking." Jason protested.

"Jay, what is this about?" Bruce settled on the guardrail opposite his son. Jason hesitated for a long moment, clearly trying to formulate a response.

"I just... Nico told me about the war while he was staying with me that week you and Alfred were gone. He told me everything and I didn't tell the rest of you because he told me not to." Jason confessed at last. Bruce's stomach tied itself into a knot. He wanted to know what exactly Nico had told him but he knew that there would be time for those questions later. Right now, Jason needed him to be Bruce, not Batman.

"Why didn't he want us to know?" Jason shook his head. Bruce wasn't sure if that was because he didn't know or because he didn't want to say. Either way, he didn't press the issue.

"Ok, we'll get that all figured out tomorrow. Go get some food and some sleep, Jason. Reyna caught me up today at work so we can compare notes in the morning. Ok?" The antihero looked surprised at his admission but nodded nonetheless. They both made their way up to the manor to eat dinner with the rest of the family.

++++

[Thanks everyone for your patience! You can all thank my Discord server for giving me the motivation I needed to get this chapter out. I'm not sure I'm quite happy with it yet so I might come back through and edit some later but here is something for you all in the meantime. We've got a little bit of fluff and a little bit of angst so there's something for everyone!]

Chapter Text

[This chapter contains text from the parent materials. I do not claim to own it.]

[TW: claustrophobia, derealization/depersonalization, questioning reality, dream realms ]

[June 27th]

++Nico++

Nico was just straight up not having a good time. He'd woken up in the jar for the fourth time and was about to eat his fourth seed. That last dream with the seven had definitely hurt, but he tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. There was so much more at stake than his own life and they had to be under immense pressure. It made sense that they were going to be hesitant to walk into something that they knew was a trap.

Nico took a small breath as the feeling returned to his limbs. It wasn't quite sleep paralysis, but it was similar enough. The cold was ebbing and Nico hated the idea that he was about to subject himself to the cold again so soon. He was starting to lose track of time and what was real and what was the dream. It didn't help that he had been unconscious when he'd been placed in the jar.

He went to make a scratch on the wall to with his sword to find it was missing. He felt all along the jar, an underwhelming amount of space, and came up empty. It had been taken from him. While he was trapped in the vision, someone had opened the lid and taken the sword. Why? It wasn't like he had been able to swing it in the confines of the jar. Plus, they could have just waited him out. He'd die eventually and then they could take it off his corpse.

What did they need his sword for?

Nico didn't have time to wonder. Though the jar had just been opened, he could already tell that the air was getting stale again. If they hadn't opened the jar at all, he certainly would have asphyxiated by now. How many days did he have left? Six? Five? He couldn't remember. He didn't know how he was going to last that long.

Nico didn't waste any more time contemplating. He sucked the pulp off the next seed and was thrown torturously into another vision.

Hello little demigod! Your demigod friends met my children in Atlanta. They escaped with their lives, unfortunately, but they're only delaying the inevitable. How they expect to reach you before you're gone escapes me. Gaea spoke to him what felt like the moment he slipped into the realm of dreams. He could get no reprieve.

What do you want now? To steal more of my things? Haven't you taken enough from me? Nico growled back.

That sister of yours has the ability to summon and sense precious metals and minerals, does she not? Nico was taken aback by the shift.

You know she does. She prevented your son Alcyoneous from coming to power twice. Why does that sting?

Hazel will pay for that transgression soon enough, but that was not my point. Your sword is made of Stygian Iron is it not? A sick feeling washed over the son of Hades at what Gaea was implying.

No...

See? You have realized the truth. When your sister tries to find you, she'll be drawn to the sword instead and I will be able to send my children to finish her off once and for all. And do understand, I will as them to take care of all other demigods in the vicinity with extreme prejudice.

Why are you doing this? The child of death could feel his courage waning. He was going to be the cause of Hazel's death. Without all of the seven, he didn't think that Tartarus could be conquered. They'd be doomed and it would be all his fault

Humanity squandered their chance to inhabit my domain. I am simply killing out the infection that is mankind. As for why I despise your sister in particular, she killed my son. What kind of mother would I be if I let that stand? She sealed her fate as soon as she got in my way. Die in the jar, son of Hades, it will be so much kinder than the fate that will befall you if you cross me.

I'd rather die a thousand times than just let you kill billions of people! Nico cried defiantly. His words carried no weight and they both knew it.

Unfortunately, you failed your chance to cripple my efforts. Though if you still insist on resisting, I suppose I should show you what you're up against. Enjoy the vision, child. The demigod found himself being dragged into a vision. The seven were standing on the deck of the ship, apparently enjoying the fresh air. Nico wondered if he'd ever get to see the sun again.

Annabeth spoke first, looking troubled, " I-- I'm close to an answer, " she said. "I'll know more if we find this map. Jason, the way you reacted to the name Charleston... have you been there before?" Jason glanced at Piper before he spoke.

"Yeah," he admitted uneasily, "Reyna and I did a quest there about a year ago. We were salvaging Imperial Gold weapons from the C.S.S Hunley."

"The what?" Piper frowned.

"Whoa!" Leo interjected, "That's the first successful military submarine. From the Civil War. I always wanted to see that."

"It was designed by Roman demigods," Jason replied. "It held a secret stash of Imperial gold torpedoes-- until we rescued them and brought them back to Camp Jupiter."

Hazel folded her arms crossly. "So the Romans fought on the Confederate side? As a girl whose grandmother was a slave, can I just say... not cool?"

Jason raised his hands in surrender, "I personally was not alive then. And it wasn't all Greeks on one side and all Romans on the other. but, yes. Not cool. Sometimes demigods make bad choices." He glanced sheepishly at Hazel, though Nico got the impression he wasn't still talking about the American Civil war. He continued, "Like sometimes we're too suspicious. And we speak without thinking."

Hazel stared at him for a few pregnant moments before she seemed to realize that he was talking about their last conversation. He was apologizing for suggesting that they didn't save her brother. Nico appreciated the apology but he couldn't tell where Hazel stood on the matter. Before she could speak, Jason elbowed Leo.

"Ow!" The son of Hephaestus yelped, " I mean yeah... bad choices. Like not trusting people's brothers who, you know, might need saving, hypothetically speaking." Hazel pursed her lips but didn't otherwise respond. It was going to take a little more than an apology to set things right again.

"Fine," Hazel started, "back to Charleston. Are you saying we should check that submarine again?"

Jason shrugged, "Well... I can think of two places in Charleston we might search. The museum where they keep the Hunley--- that's one of them. It has a lot of relics from the Civil War. A map could be hidden in one. I know the layout. I could lead a team inside." That struck Nico as a very militaristic thing to say. He'd overheard several similar conversations between his vigilante brothers as they were on patrol. Sometimes he'd leave the comms on in the cave as he did his homework to help him focus.

"I'll go," Leo said, "That sounds cool." Jason nodded before turning to Frank, who was playing with what appeared to be a Chinese finger trap. It was stuck on his fingers and it didn't look like he knew the trick to get them off.

"You should come too, Frank. We may need you." Frank looked surprised at the invitation. Nico was too. Frank was a good fighter, but he felt that there was more to what Jason was saying than just wanting another body to throw at the enemy.

"Why? Not like I was much good at that aquarium." What aquarium?

"You did fine," Percy spoke up, "It took all three of us to break that glass." Nico felt that he'd missed quite a lot since the last vision he'd been shown. How long had he been asleep for? Was he nocturnal? It hadn't occurred to him that he might be sleeping out of sync with the rest of the world until then. That would make sense as to why so much was happening that he didn't get so see.

"Besides, you're a child of Mars, "Jason reasoned. " The ghosts of defeated causes are bound to serve you. And the museum in Charleston has plenty of Confederate ghosts. We'll need you to keep them in line." Nico almost laughed. This was not going to go well. While it was possible that Frank would be able to command the ghosts, it was just as likely that they would see them as the enemy and attack them.

"Ok," Frank swallowed, "sure." He frowned at the trap that was still stuck on his fingers, "Um, how do you--"

Leo chuckled at his predicament, "Man, you're never seen those before? There's a simple trick to getting out." The others were starting to smile at one another and turn away to keep from laughing. Frank tugged again and even Hazel had to try her best to hold in her laughter. Nico would have found the situation humourous himself if he wasn't waiting for the other shoe to drop.

There was no way that Gaea was just showing him this vision out of the goodness of her heart. Something bad was going to happen and he was just bracing himself for it. He didn't see anything threatening about the scene so all he could do was watch it unfold.

Frank stared at the handcuffs with a look of concentration. Moments later Frank disappeared and an iguana fell onto the deck where the boy had just been standing. Had Nico been breathing, he would have choked. Since when could Zhang shapeshift? It must not have been a new phenomenon because no one else seemed surprised.

"Well done, Frank Zhang," Leo spoke up, doing an impression of Chiron, "That is exactly how people beat Chinese handcuffs. They turn into iguanas." That comment made the others lose any composure they still had and soon everyone was bent over laughing. Frank changed back and returned the toy to his backpack. Nico could tell he was embarrassed.

"Anyway, the museum is one place to search. But, uh, Jason you said there were two?" Jason's smile left almost as quickly as it had come. Clearly, he didn't like the idea of second place in Charleston.

"Yeah," he replied tightly, "The other place is called the Battery-- it's a park right by the harbor. The last time I was there... With Reyna..." Jason tossed a glance at Piper who looked like she had sucked on a lemon. Jason hurried on, "We saw something in the park. A ghost or some sort of spirit, like a Southern belle from the Civil War, glowing and floating along. We tried to approach it, but it disappeared whenever we got close. Then Reyna had this feeling-- she said she should try it alone. Like maybe it would only talk to a girl. She went up to the spirit by herself, and sure enough, it spoke to her." He didn't elaborate.

"What did it say?" Annabeth asked.

"Reyna wouldn't tell me. But it must have been important. She seemed ... shaken up. Maybe she got a prophecy or some bad news. Reyna never acted the same around me after that." That didn't sit well with Nico. Ghosts and spirits were never really helpful so he didn't like the idea that Reyna could have been influenced by some ghost with an ulterior motive.

There was a pause as the group seemed to digest this information. Annabeth was the first to speak, " A girls' adventure, then. Piper and Hazel can come with me" She glanced at Percy as if asking him if he was ok to stay behind. The son of Poseidon nodded simply, still pretty shaken from his experience at the aquarium.

Hazel and Piper didn't protest, though Hazel seemed a little apprehensive. Whether it was because she was going off in a group with two girls she barely knew or because they were headed to a possibly malevolent spirit, it was hard to tell. He hoped she wouldn't get triggered into a blackout. Were those still happening? Nico realized he really didn't know anything about her anymore. She had grown so much and he wasn't there for any of it.

"So that's settled. Leo, how long until we reach Charleston?" Annabeth asked, turning to the demigod who was fiddling with his motherboard.

"Good question," he muttered, "Festus just detected a large group of eagles behind us-- long-range radar, still not in sight."

Piper leaned over the console. "Are you sure they're Roman?"

"No, Pipes. It could be any random group of giant eagles flying in perfect formation. Of course, they're Roman! I suppose we could turn the chip around and fight--"

Jason cut that line of thought short. "Which would be a very bad idea and remove any doubt that we're enemies of Rome."

Leo was unfazed, "Or I've got another idea. If we went straight to Charleston, we could be there in a few hours, but the eagles would overtake us and things would get complicated. Instead, we could send out a decoy to trick the eagles. We take the ship on a detour, go the long way to Charleston, and get there by tomorrow morning."

"Leo---" Hazel started to protest but he cut her off.

"I know, I know. Nico's in trouble and we have to hurry."

"It's June twenty-seventh," Hazel stressed, "After today, four more days. Then he dies."

"I know! But this might throw the Romans off our trail we still should have enough time to reach Rome."

Hazel wasn't pleased with that answer. "Whey you say should have enough..."

Leo shrugged, "How do you feel about barely enough?"

Hazel put her face in her hand for a few long moments, "Sounds about typical for us."

The vision started to fade out as Gaea pulled him out of it. Nico tried to fight to hold on but he was no match for the primordial. his mind was too fragile to put up much of a fight. The scene faded and Nico got the sense that Gaea was trying to keep something important from him.

"See, child? They aren't looking for you. They have decided to rely on the mark of Athena to get them through. They think it will solve their problems with the Romans. And maybe it would have. However, no child of Athena has completed the quest, though hundreds have tried. They're never prepared for what lies in wait for them at the end." Gaea spoke in his mind.

"I don't know that they aren't looking for me. I just know that I'm not the main mission. That's to be expected."

"Yes, you've gotten comfortable with being people's last choice, haven't you? Has anyone ever put you first? Your father? No. Your sister? No. Hazel? I guess not. When have you ever been anyone's priority?" Her voice was soft and practically dripping in pity. Nico felt his cheeks burn. The truth in it burned like a flame in his chest.

"I'm a priority to the mortals I stayed with." Nico countered weakly.

"Mortals are sentimental. They hardly count." Gaea cooed dismissively.

"They count to me."

"Then you, too are a sentimental fool." Gaea's voice left him to float in inky blackness. It was peaceful before the screaming started. At first, it was no more than an innocuous buzzing that he could easily tune out but slowly it grew into an ear-splitting scream. Then more souls joined in and there was a screaming chorus using his mind as an echo chamber. It would seem the tortured souls of Tartarus had never left him. This was going to be a long 24 hours.

++Bruce++

Bruce had not slept well. He'd given up trying to sleep when he'd seen dawn peaking through his curtains. Luckily he'd had the forethought to cancel his meeting for the day. He'd been hoping to start looking into suspicious activity in Rome and home so that something would pop up about Nico or demigods. Now it looked like he'd have to pencil in a nap.

He wasn't sure what he was going to be looking for in Rome. Monster activity? Though according to Reyna, monsters were the reason that the 'Ancient Lands' were forbidden to demigods in the first place. He wouldn't be able to tell what was outside the normal parameters of monster activity. Without knowing what to look for, he suspected he'd be wasting his time, though at least they now had a place to direct their efforts.

Bruce showered and got ready for the day, hoping that the others had slept in. He wanted them to truly rest and recover. The more they pushed themselves, the more likely they were to make mistakes, get injuries, and weaken their immune systems. He didn't need anyone getting sick or injured right now. He considered getting them a grief counselor but they ran the risk of exposing themselves. He'd suggest it to each boy individually and see if he could get them to go for it. Right now they needed more help than he could give.

Maybe he could ask Black Canary for help. She'd had sessions with both Richard and Jason before, maybe he could convince Tim to go to her too. She was good at keeping their confidence and she was good at her job. Maybe he could get Ghost to go to her as well when they got him back.

The tired CEO made his way to the kitchen and was pleased that he didn't run into any of his children on his way down. Hopefully, that meant they were all resting still and not that he would find them training in the Cave later. It was quiet in the house which wasn't typical. Usually, there would be arguments, stomping, and people shouting to ask where their folders or shoes ended up, even though Alfred always put all the lost items in the closet in the hall.

The butler in question was in the kitchen making breakfast when Bruce came in. He didn't take the time to look at what the man was making. Whatever it was, he knew it would be good and that was enough for him. Instead, the younger sat at the counter and sighed heavily.

"Sleepless night, Master Bruce?"

"Unfortunately, Alfred. I should have taken melatonin." Alfred set a cup of Alka-seltzer-spiked coffee in front of him.

"Drink up. That's the last cup of coffee we'll have in the house until we can break Master Tim of his addiction." Alfred warned. Bruce hummed and sipped the drink in response. He was not looking forward to a rather cranky Tim this week, but he knew it needed to be done. He was going to stunt his growth if he kept drinking it at the rate he was.

"Have any of the boys come down yet?"

"Not yet, though I suspect that it won't be long. I doubt anyone slept well last night. However, I do appreciate the fact that you tried. They do need their rest." Alfred went to the fridge and started pulling out different kinds of juices.

"What they need is a therapist. I don't know how to help them when there might not be a way to solve this problem. I've done everything I can, Alfred. It just isn't enough." Bruce took a larger swig of his coffee, ignoring the burn.

"Therapy may not be such a bad idea but I don't know how you're going to get them to agree to it. Especially Damian. For now, though, they need your strength and a purpose. Give that to them." The older man advised. Bruce considered this before downing the rest of his coffee.

'I'll do my best, Alfred. As for a purpose, I think I have some direction in where to start looking. I'll get them started on it after lunch. I want them to take this morning easy while I talk to Wonder Woman about the lead. I don't want to get their hopes up if I don't have anything." Bruce stood to go.

"I'm glad you have a lead. Even if Diana tells you it won't amount lead to anything, it isn't a bad thing to give the boys hope." Alfred gathered cups from the cupboard and Bruce just watched him for a moment, considering the sentiment. Even if Diana tells him it isn't worth it, at least it will give the others a purpose. Alfred was right, as usual.

Bruce left for the cave to set up a meeting with Wonder Woman. Hopefully, she was done with whatever had been keeping her busy the day before. If not, he didn't know what he'd do to keep the boys occupied until he could meet with her. When Bruce got down to the cave, he was pleased to see that none of the boys were clearly visible and all the lights were off. No one had come to the cave this morning to train.

He called Diana and found that she was available. She was sleepy looking and still wrapped in a bathrobe. He hadn't considered that she'd be in any state of undress and immediately wished he'd taken the time of day into account.

"Bruce? What is it? Why have you called me so early?" She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and appeared to be nursing a coffee.

"I think I may have a lead on Nico but I have a few questions for you before I get my hopes up. Can we meet?" Bruce decided to keep it brief since it was so early. Plus he didn't want any of his boys to come in and start asking questions.

"Yeah, of course. The Watchtower? Say... noon?" Bruce considered this. It wasn't as private as he would have liked since other leaguers frequented it, but he'd have to make due. He couldn't have her in the Cave or the Mountain without raising questions, so the Watchtower was the obvious choice.

"I'll be there. Thanks, Diana." Bruce signed off before the Amazon could reply. He returned upstairs feeling cautiously hopeful. this may just be the break they'd been looking for.

Alfred met him as he came up into the study. "Commissioner Gordon called. They want you to hold a press conference to call on the people to help you look for Nico. He thinks that since it is still so early in the investigation you may still be able to rally the people to your side."

"It couldn't hurt, I suppose. Did he say specifically what he wanted me to do?" Bruce asked, leading the way back to the dining room.

"No, just asked that you call him back when you can."

"I will after breakfast, then. Thanks, Alfred."

"You're quite welcome, Master Bruce. Now eat your breakfast before your food gets cold. The boys have started to come down." He went to eat his breakfast. Today he would find answers whether the universe was ready to hand them out or not. he was tired of waiting and feeling useless. He was going to make some progress today and that was final.

Chapter Text

[June 27th]

After breakfast, Bruce placed that call to the commissioner. He wasn't looking forward to it, though he knew that this was a necessary evil. If he didn't hold the press conference he would look negligent at best, and guilty at worst. With the piranhas at his door already, he couldn't afford to look like he was slacking off on the investigation in the public eye. None of them knew how many hours he was putting into it under the cowl.

"Commissioner Gordon." Bruce greeted the older man in the same manner he had since he was old enough to be making the calls to him without Alfred's assistance. That is to say, with polite deference.

"Mr. Wayne. It's good to hear from you, though I hate the reason."

"Me too. Alfred mentioned something about you wanting to set up another press conference?" Bruce tried to keep his misgivings out of his voice.

"Yes, I think that you still have the public's sympathy and you need to play off of it for as long as you can. He can't have disappeared into thin air, so someone in Gotham has to know something. Now we just have to convince them to come forward." His argument made sense, considering that he knew nothing about Nico or his heritage. Nico had just disappeared into thin air.

"If you think it will help." Bruce agreed reluctantly.

"I do. You can't give up on him Mr. Wayne. Nico is a fighter. You can't count him out of this rat race just yet." Gordon soothed.

"I'm trying. It's just... it's been all this time and we haven't heard anything from anyone. Absolutely no leads. Nico has done this sort of thing before, hasn't he? What if he just doesn't want to be found?" Bruce hated to suggest it, but he felt that it would have been an appropriate question given Nico's history of disappearing and running away.

"He can't stay a ghost forever. If he's out there hiding, he'll resurface eventually. We just need to keep looking and poking around. Please say you'll be at the press conference." Bruce hesitated, seeming to consider it, though he had already decided before placing the call that he would be there.

"What time?" Though Bruce hadn't committed to anything, Gordon's voice sounded relieved when he replied.

"Five PM. It'll be broadcast all across the country. If someone out there knows something, this should get us answers."

"I'll plan on being there," Bruce relented. "Thank you, commissioner, I really appreciate everything you've been doing for us throughout this nightmare."

"Just doing my job, Mr. Wayne." Though it was a cold sentiment, Bruce could hear the warmth in the older man's voice. It bordered on pride without quite taking the leap. Bruce hung up and sighed heavily.

"You're going to do another press conference?" A voice asked from down the hall. Bruce's head jerked in that direction and he saw Dick hovering in the doorway to his office. In his haste, he hadn't closed it.

"Yes, this evening," Bruce admitted, "Commissioner Gordon thinks that we still have the chance to use the public's sympathy to our advantage."

"It's not going to do anything. Gotham PD is just going to get a lot of fake tips and some wild goose chases." Dick muttered tiredly. Bruce eyed his oldest uncomfortably. He wasn't the one he usually expected to have a defeatist attitude.

"Dick--"

"I know. I know... we have to keep up appearances." The boy fell into one of the armchairs in front of Bruce's desk. "I'm so tired of keeping up appearances."

"What would you have me do instead?" Bruce leaned back in his chair. He had little patience for this sort of behavior, though he was trying to let Dick express himself. The question only seemed to make the younger more irritated.

"I don't know! Go be Batman full-time like you used to! Let me drop off the face of the earth for a while and go and track down the leads myself! Let me do more than watch over Gotham or scan over CCTV footage! Something! Anything!" Dick was on his feet again by the end of his rant, pacing the room, agitated.

"Dick, you're just frustrated. You know why I can't just let you do that. Besides, what will that do? Nico isn't going to be just out in the open."

"I know! God--" Dick cut himself off and took a breath, "I know. I just feel... so useless."

"I know you do. We all do. All of us wish we could just be out there in the field looking for him or knowing that all we have to do is punch a few thugs in the face and then we'd be able to bring Nico home. Believe me, we all wish that were the case. It just... it isn't. He's out of our reach and we're all trying to cope." Bruce soothed. Dick found his seat again and curled up into it like he had when he was the only boy in the manor and he was waiting for Bruce to finish his work so he could tuck him in. Some days Bruce missed that simplicity.

"Do you-" Bruce started tentatively, "Do you think you would benefit from talking to Canary about this? We'd need to be a bit discreet, of course, but I think you may benefit from talking to a professional."

Dick leveled him with a withering look. "I'm not a rookie anymore, Bruce." Bruce blinked in confusion. He wasn't sure what that had to do with seeking therapy, but clearly, Dick had felt insulted.

"Just because you're an adult doesn't mean you can't seek help. You're dealing with more than I am equipped to help with." He had meant it to be placating, but Dick looked far from appeased.

"I don't need help, I need answers! I need to be out there in the field, not getting a psych eval. Did you run this little idea by the others or just me?"

"You're sounding paranoid. I haven't asked the others because you're the first one I saw today outside of breakfast. I was going to suggest it to each of you individually. I think all of you could stand to be talking this out with someone who isn't me or also directly affected by Nico's disappearance."

"I'm not going to therapy, Bruce. You're going through the same thing I am and you're not seeing anyone about it either."

"I thought we had established a long time ago that I am not someone you should base your decisions on when it comes to dealing with your mental health." Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"Why? Because you're so much stronger than the rest of us and you don't need the help?" Dick mocked.

"I do have a greater mental fortitude than you do. I trained hard to get to this point in my life. Even still, that's not why I'm not in therapy. The truth is that I don't have time for therapy, therapy is stigmatized for people in my position, and I don't want to risk becoming exposed."

"But you won't talk to someone in the league. No, let me guess... that would affect your contingency plans." Bruce didn't reply since the answer was obvious. The more his fellow leaguers knew about him, the more information they could hold against him in the eventuality that they were compromised.

"I'm not going to therapy, Bruce. At least not until you do." Dick stormed out of the room and past Jason who looked like he had just been on his way in. Jason watched his brother go and gave Bruce a questioning look.

"What was up with him?"

"He doesn't need therapy," Bruce replied dryly, waving vaguely in the direction Dick had just gone.

"I'm going to pretend that made sense."

"What do you need, Jason?"

"You said last night that you wanted to compare notes?" Bruce checked his watch. It was nearly ten already and he still had the meeting with Diana at noon. They wouldn't have time for an in-depth comparison.

"Just tell me what you know and I will debrief everyone after I meet with Diana this afternoon." He suggested, gesturing at the chair Dick had just vacated. Jason spent the entire time before Bruce left for Watchtower explaining the conversation he and Nico had had about the war. While Jason had certainly known way more about the war than any of the rest of them, Bruce wasn't sure that there was any way he could have known what Nico was thinking.

"I am so sorry that I kept all of that from you and the others. I just thought that I was being a good brother. He seemed to have everything under control and I thought he was going to end up telling you everything himself there for a while. I never thought that he would ever go off on a suicide mission or I would have said something immediately--"

"Jason, you don't have to justify yourself to me. I understand. There is no way you could have known what he was planning. It's ok." Jason nodded along, but Bruce could tell that the didn't really buy into it. He could use some therapy, but he wasn't going to suggest that right now. Not after seeing how well that went with Dick.

"Look," Bruce sighed, "I need to go and meet Diana and I will debrief everyone when I get back. Do me a favor and make sure that no one, including you, goes patrolling in the meantime, ok? I want everyone to stay in either the manor or the cave. Tell them to log some hours on the monster simulator or something, ok? And don't let Tim have coffee." Jason gave him a sloppy salute before leaving to go find the others. Bruce left for the cave right after him and quickly changed into his suit and took the zeta tube to space.

He arrived at the Watchtower with just enough time to look through the monster files once more. As promised, Diana and Arthur had each added some creatures to the database since the last time he had checked. He made sure to send the updated programs to each of the bases so that the teams could practice with the new monsters.

"Batman? You wanted to meet?" Diana's voice pulled him from his research.

"Yes, I wanted to discuss a lead I got. I want to know if it is worth pursuing."

"You're actually asking my opinion? I'm surprised you're not already on your way there, wherever it is." She teased.

"Rome," Bruce replied simply. Diana's smile dropped and Bruce's stomach sank.

"Oh, I see." She settled into a seat nearby.

"Your reaction doesn't seem promising," Bruce noted.

"No, it's just..." Diana shook her head, "Rome is part of the original Ancient Lands. It's largely considered too dangerous for modern demigods to travel there because of how strong the influence is and how thick the monster population is. Who told you to look there?"

Bruce jumped into the conversation he had with Reyna and ended up describing most of it in detail. He paused a few times at the interruption of other leaguers, but mostly he just explained everything. It was the most he had talked as Batman in a long time. He usually took his time as BAtman to allow himself to be quiet and not have to always think of the best way to converse with someone. He could be plain and simple. He didn't have time for that luxury today.

"It sounds like they are bound to wind up in Rome at some point if they aren't there already," Diana noted once he had finished recounting the conversation.

"That is the conclusion I came to as well," Bruce agreed.

"Even still, there is no telling if Ghost will be there. Or, even if he is, you may not have any way to find or reach him. Still, I don't know that it can hurt for you to travel there, being mortal. You won't attract monsters as a demigod would."

"So you're telling me that it's worth going."

"I'm telling you that you need to get out of that cave. Those boys of yours do too. Take them to Rome. Let them hunt an actual lead for a while." Diana urged, resting her hand on his arm brace.

"Even if I know it probably won't pan out? Will I not be causing more damage if I send them on a wild goose chase and they come back empty-handed?" It was a rhetorical question and Diana didn't respond.

"Can you point me in the right direction? Once I get to Rome, what am I looking for?"

"Look for monsters. I would presume that any stronghold of Gaea's is likely to be heavily guarded. If there is a whole ship of demigods headed for Rome, then you can bet that the monsters are going to start taking notice." Diana advised.

"Right now there isn't any substantial monster activity in Europe. I've been monitoring the planet now that I know to look for abnormal body head distributions. I combined that with my magical dampeners and it seems to cut out some of the Mist's interference with my equipment." Diana seemed to consider this for a moment.

"How fast can your plane get to Europe?" Batman narrowed his eyes at her. Clearly, she was formulating a plan.

"About half the time of a normal trip so.. seven-ish hours. I can get there faster if I go into the upper atmosphere." He replied warily.

"I would suggest that you wait to go to Rome until you see a substantial shift in monster behavior. In all likelihood, they are going to know of the demigod's approach before they actually even reach Rome. This should give you enough time to get over there and find the questers before they even reach Rome. Then you don't have to contrive a reason for your alter ego to be leaving the country while in the middle of a missing person's case." She reasoned. Bruce had to admit, her logic was sound, though he hated being so far away from the action. If something happened before he got there, it would be his fault.

"I'll take that into consideration." Bruce relented.

"That's all I can hope for." Diana gave him a sad smile. Bruce pretended not to notice and left for the Zeta tubes.

As soon as he stepped out of the beam of light he found that the boys were all on the platform fighting a hyperborean. Tim had frost in his hair and all of the boy's faces were flushed red with the cold. It was heartening to see them working together, though. They needed a common enemy right now so that they wouldn't start fighting each other. That was the worst thing for them right now.

At least it had seemed that Jason had done what he had asked. No one was missing from the group and Tim didn't have coffee. Jason himself seemed to be backing Tim up in the simulations. He was going to start going through withdrawals soon and he would need all of the support he could get. He'd get him in to see a doctor tomorrow so they could discuss safe ways to wean him off of caffeine. Hopefully, they could get through the process before they needed to go to Rome, but Bruce wasn't hopeful.

Though the zeta tube likely announced his presence when he arrived, he waited to call to the boys until they had defeated the giant. They needed the practice. Bruce wasn't sure if they would see a hyperborean in Rome, but at this point, he wasn't going to rule anything out. Diana had told him they were mostly seen in Canada and Alaska, but it never hurt to at least be familiar with your foe. And who knows where their search may take them. Nico had mentioned Alaska in the past. Bruce wouldn't be surprised if he ended up having to make a trip up there at some point.

Once the giant was reduced to pixels, Bruce shut down the training simulation. "That's enough for now. Go get cleaned up so I can begin my debriefing. A lot of new information has come to light in the last twenty-four hours and I need to catch you all up." The boys exchanged curious glances.

"What kind of information, B? Do you have a lead?" Dick picked up a towel and used it to wipe the sweat out of his hairline.

"Questions like that are what a debriefing is for. Go get cleaned up." Bruce repeated. Dick rolled his eyes but they all left for the locker room nonetheless. They were still curious though, Bruce could tell. Bruce occupied himself with CCTV footage in Rome while he waited for them to finish up.

When they finally all came back up, they were horsing around a bit like they had before Nico had disappeared and it made Bruce hopeful. Maybe there was a way they could come back from this. It would take time and work, but maybe they could all be happy again eventually. Hopefully, Nico would be there to see it too.

"So what did you find out?" Tim spoke first when they reached him. He glanced over Bruce's shoulders, examining the feeds himself. "Rome?"

"Yes. Reyna called me at the office yesterday and she told me that she has reason to believe that the 'Quest of Seven' as she calls it, will likely end up in Rome sometime soon. Last she knew, that was their overall destination and where they planned to face off with Gaea and her forces. It stands to reason that Nico could be there too if he is still alive." Bruce explained.

Damian frowned. "Why would Nico be in Rome?" Bruce pivoted to meet his sons' faces.

"Reyna believes that the fact that the monsters are still not staying dead means that Nico did not complete his mission in Tartarus. The doors are still open for business. If that is the case, there are only two reasons he would have failed. The first reason is that he fell in battle to the forces that no doubt surround the doors of death. The second is because he was captured by Gaea's forces. In this case, he may still be alive." Bruce tried to put it delicately but there was only so much he could do to soften the blow.

"Why would Gaea want to keep him alive?" Dick asked. It was a question that Bruce had been dreading. He didn't have a satisfying answer and the last thing he wanted to do is to cause the boys to lose hope.

"Because he'd make good bait." Jason spoke up, "Hazel is part of the quest of seven. Nico brought her back from the dead and gave her a second chance. She's not just going to abandon him." He reasoned.

"Who did Nico bring back from the dead?" Dick frowned. Bruce had thought he'd told them all about his phone call with Nico in New Rome but at the moment he couldn't recall.

"She's his half-sister from the nineteen thirties. She's a daughter of Pluto. She died to Gaea once before in an effort to halt her rising back then. When the doors opened, Nico went to the Underworld to see if he could bring Bianca back without realizing that she had tried for rebirth. When he was there he met Hazel and decided to give her a second chance at life instead. He brought her back, stashed her with Ivy for a few days, then moved her to the Roman camp in California." Bruce explained. It was a condensed version of what Nico had told him, but it got the point across.

"Ok, so Hazel is part of the quest of seven and the theory is that Gaea is going to try to use Nico to lure them into what... a trap?" Dick clarified.

"Possibly," Bruce agreed. "It's a chance and that's all we have right now."

"When are we going to Rome, father?" Damian asked.

"I'm currently scanning the country for monster activity. I spoke to Diana today and she said that seven demigods all together are going to attract a lot of attention. She said that there should be a notable increase in monster activity in the time leading up to when the demigods arrive."

"So we're not planning on going there right away?" Jason frowned.

"No, but we need to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice. You'll all need to pack go-bags just in case. It could be any day now, according to Diana, and we need to be ready." Bruce cautioned.

"What do you expect we'll encounter in Rome?" Tim looked determined and for that Bruce was grateful. At least now he had something to focus on.

"Rome is known as the Ancient Lands and Diana says that it is off limits to modern demigods because of how dangerous it is. There are a lot of monsters and a lot of gods that we will have to worry about. Diana and Arthur have added to the monster database, but there is still so much we don't know going into this." Bruce sighed heavily.

"So we'll take it as it comes." Dick took his place at Bruce's side looking at his brothers, who nodded along.

"Speaking of which, I have a press conference in a few hours and I think it might be a good idea for you all to make an appearance, sans Jason, of course."

"You wound me." Jason teased Bruce glared at him but there was no real fire in his gaze.

"Yeah, we'll be there." Dick agreed, looking at the others and daring them to disagree. None of them did.

"As long as I don't have to speak to any reporters," Damian growled with distaste.

"I can't make any promises. A lot of people are still trying to tie this around my neck as negligence or as a result of systematic abuse. They might start asking you some really personal questions. Be prepared for anything." The air around the boys grew tense as they considered the possibility.

"I mean... you're a lot of things but abusive isn't one of them." Dick looked as uncomfortable as Bruce felt.

"Maybe a bit negligent." Jason shrugged. Dick shot him a glare and Tim elbowed him but Bruce didn't take notice. Jason wasn't wrong and that was probably what stung the most.

"I know that I haven't been the best parent. I know that I've made a lot of mistakes, the first probably being allowing Dick to pick up the mantle and not stopping any of the rest of you that came after." Bruce conceded. The tone of the room changed immediately, even Dick wouldn't raise his gaze from the floor.

"You couldn't have stopped me if you tried." Damian countered. This was probably true. It would have probably caused the public more grief if he hadn't at least reigned Damian's murderous tendencies in a bit.

"You did try to stop me," Dick started, "but you know I'm too stubborn for my own good. You were never going to stop me."

"Or me either, Bruce." Tim interjected, "This is what I love doing. Yes, it's dangerous. Yes, there are risks. I knew what I was taking on when I put on the mask. Especially since I knew what had happened to..." Tim gestured vaguely at Jason who didn't acknowledge the younger boy. Jason, the boy he could have stopped. The boy he should have stopped. The boy who died in the line of duty because Bruce never stopped him.

"What can we say, Bruce? We're a bunch of stubborn assholes like our old man." Jason spoke up at last.

"Then maybe the mistake was picking up the mantle myself. Or taking in as many children as I did and therefore leading them down this path. It didn't help you and it hasn't helped Nico." Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No." It wasn't the word that caught Bruce's attention more than the intensity of it. Jason spoke again, "No. You don't get to sit here and have a pity party. The world needs Batman. You've proven that time and time again. You don't get to sit here and take on the mistakes and the misfortunes of all of us just because you aren't omnipotent. Get your head out of your ass. You aren't infallible. You're insulting my memory." The last line sounded like it was supposed to be a joke but Bruce didn't laugh.

"Go pack you go back and get ready for the conference. It's high time we did something to bring Nico home." Bruce said in response.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Jason whooped in approval and threw an arm around Dick, practically dragging him out of the cave. The other boys weren't too far behind, pushing and shoving each other playfully.

"Hang on, Nico." Bruce spoke to the open air, "We're coming for you."

Bruce examined his desk for a few moments, trying to come up with his next course of action. After a moment of thought, he turned to his computer and started typing in the search bar. When he had found what he needed he pulled out his phone and dialed the number on the screen.

"Hello? My name is Bruce Wayne and I am seeking to make an appointment. Yes, for a therapist. Just me, for now. My boys are going to take some convincing. My schedule is a bit... hectic at the moment. Can we set a date for two weeks out? Let me check my schedule... yes, that works for me. Alright, I'll be there. Thanks. Bye." Hopefully, he was doing the right thing. He doubted they'd tell him anything he didn't already know, but if this is what it took to get his boys to talk to someone, he'd do it.

[Sorry for the delay, y'all! Life was pretty crazy there for a while! Please comment and tell me what you think!]

Chapter Text

[Meanwhile, still June 27th]

At 5 PM most of the bat family were in the dining room in business casual attire. Jason, on the other hand, was trying to coax Tim away from the computer in the cave. Since Bruce had revealed that the target was Rome, the boy had been doing periodic sweeps of the footage to make sure that his numerous state-of-the-art scanners hadn't missed anything. He had also found a stray energy drink from one of Jason's stashes and drank it before anyone could stop him. They wouldn't have known except his hands had stopped shaking.

Bruce was just about to go down to the cave to pull Tim away from the computer when he heard shouting coming from the study and the sound of the clock door being swung open.

"Please be careful with the furniture, Master Tim. That's an antique!" Alfred called fretfully from where he was cooking in the kitchen. None of them had any appetites right then so they decided to eat after the conference.

"Sorry, Alfred!" Tim called as he rushed into the dining room with Jason hot on his heels.

"Bruce I think I found a lead on where the questers are. I was looking around the ocean for monster activity since Reyna said that they have an amphibious warship. There are sea monsters, too, right? So I started scanning the oceans for abnormal heat signatures and this is what I found." Tim tapped his watch and a hologram popped up that displayed a map of the world. There were splotches of red all over Europe and the coasts of America, monster concentrations. What really caught Bruce's eye was the orange pins that were aligned in what looked to be a very strange flight pattern.

"What am I looking at here?" Dick asked leaning forward to examine the map more closely.

"The orange dots each indicate where there have been spikes of abnormal thermal readings since the day that Reyna says the questers left Camp Jupiter. I think this is showing up where the questers have been. We can use this to see when they are about the reach Italy!" Tim's enthusiasm was contagious and soon all of his boys were buzzing at the possibility that they may have discovered a method of tracking the Argo II crew. Bruce himself was excited by the possibility, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be this easy.

"We'll look into this more after the conference, alright? Right now we have to get moving." Bruce and Alfred ushered the boys to the car and spent most of the ride switching between talking about Tim's findings and Bruce reminding the boys that they needed to be courteous to the press even if they get personal.

Alfred pulled up and Bruce was both heartened by and wary of the number of reporters who were there to pick up the coverage. He would have expected more of them to have lost interest by now. It had been a long time, in journalism time, without any leads or breaks in the case. Questions without answers didn't sell subscriptions, after all.

Bruce wasn't sure what the reporters who were setting up thought of them when they arrived. His boys were trying to maintain a somber facade even though they were each itching to get back to the cave to continue the search. He was sure that the press could tell that their moods were lighter than what was appropriate and he just hoped they wouldn't come to the wrong conclusion about what that might mean.

As they walked through the crowd who were shoving mics in their faces or talking into their cameras, the GCPD officers started to gather around them to help push back the crowd. Commissioner Gordon was in the doorway of the department, holding the door open for them. Bruce herded the boys inside, out of the way of mics and flashing cameras. It was only slightly more comfortable in the station.

They had each been inside this station for numerous reasons throughout the time that they had lived in Gotham both in their civilian and hero identities, but it was never comfortable. There was a lot of history here for each of them and that came with its own burden. Bruce could see that Tim's eyes were being drawn to a windowed office on their left. The back wall was covered with pictures of people's faces. They were the victims in cold cases. Tim had been instrumental in getting several of them justice, but more just kept coming.

Dick was eyeing a flyer on a board near the door that talked about how to enroll at a police academy. Bruce would have to keep an eye on that interest and see where it led. Was it possible that Dick would want to go into law enforcement? These days it seemed like less of a stretch than it would have a few years prior. If that was the decision he made, Bruce just hoped it wouldn't be in Gotham.

Damian, on the other hand, was more focused on his fingernails, though Bruce suspected that he was really just trying to avoid looking at the grainy action shot of him jumping off a roof as Robin. The photo wouldn't be nearly good enough for facial recognition, but Damian was probably embarrassed that the photo even existed. He wasn't the first of them to be photographed by the police, and he probably wouldn't be the last. in any case, Bruce wouldn't be surprised if that photo went missing sometime in the next few days.

"My officers are getting everything organized out there for us right now. We should be ready for you to go and make your statement in a few minutes. Our behavioral analyst recommends that you appeal to people's charitable natures and emphasize that you just want him back safely. If he was taken, the fact that this is a high-profile case might be intimidating them into not returning him," Gordon advised. Bruce frowned.

"Does your analyst have a reason to think that he was taken?"

"Not that I'm aware of. They said that this is a bizarre case. You said that there are signs that he left of his own volition, right? The missing provisions and the backpack?"

"That's right, commissioner," Bruce agreed.

"That's very strange because he didn't leave a note. The analyst says that runaways usually leave a note when they're running away to let people know why they're leaving and that they're safe. Even people who are leaving bad homes leave some other sign that they're leaving. There are also typically signs in their behavior for days or weeks before that they may be planning to leave." Gordon explained. Whether he had gotten this from his own experience or from the analyst, Bruce couldn't be sure.

"Nico didn't leave a note and, as far as any of us could tell, there weren't any indicators that he was thinking about running beforehand. It's possible I just didn't know what to look for, though," Bruce admitted defeatedly.

"Because of this inconsistency, the analyst insists that we look at this from every possible angle. it is possible that someone just tried to make it look like he ran away." The older police officer was clearly trying to lessen the blow in any way that he could but doubted that anything could soften that enough to make it palatable.

"I hope to God you're wrong, Gordon."

"Me too."

++++

"Thank you! Thank you all for coming here today. Bruce Wayne and his sons are here to ask the community for help finding Nico di Angelo and answer some of your questions. At this time, Mr. di Angelo has been missing for four days and it has not been determined whether or not he left the Wayne residence of his own volition. There are signs that he may have packed a bag, but there are no other signs that he left the manor or has used any form of public transportation within a hundred miles of Gotham. The people here at the GCPD have set up a tip line and an online forum where you can send the police anonymous tips about anything you might know. Now, with that out of the way, I will pass the floor to Mr. Wayne." Commissioner Gordon had been kind enough to do the introduction himself. Bruce stepped up to the podium and took a deep breath. No matter how many times he did it, he was never truly comfortable in front of a crowd. In this way, he was more similar to Batman.

"Thank you, Commissioner. My family and I appreciate everything you and your officers have done to help us bring my son Nico home. I'll never be able to thank you enough. Despite the setbacks with this search, my family and I are still holding out hope that Nico will return to us safely. I've posted a few recent photos of Nico on my personal social media pages for people to reference and share. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any information and I will make sure that it is passed on to the police for investigation. There is nothing that we want more than to have Nico back safe and sound. Are there any questions?" The last thing Bruce wanted to do right then was to open up the floor to questions, but he didn't see that he had much choice in the matter.

"Mr. Wayne! Mr. Wayne! Gloria with The Daily Planet.. the commissioner said that the police department has not determined whether or not Nico has run away or been kidnapped. Is it possible that Nico hasn't been found yet because he doesn't want to be?"

"I don't like to consider the possibility, but it is definitely something that I've had to think about and discuss with the GCPD. They seem to believe that there would have been a noticeable shift in Nico's behavior for several days before his disappearance if he had been planning to leave, which there wasn't. They also said that he would have been likely to leave some sort of note to indicate why he was leaving and he hadn't. Neither of these two factors necessarily means that he didn't run away, but it means that they can't rule out other options just yet." Bruce answered as completely as he could.

"Mr. Wayne! It has been said that there were supplies and provisions missing from your home the day that Nico disappeared. What kind of items were missing and how do you know?" A reporter who didn't bother to identify herself spoke up from near the back of the crowd.

"Some of the things that were missing were Nico's hiking backpack, a few water bottles, a case of granola bars, a first aid kit, and an emergency survival kit. I knew they were missing because Alfred, my butler, was doing inventory the morning of the 23rd and noticed the missing survival kit." He had definitely left out several important details, but he felt that he had given them enough without endangering himself.

"That sounds like he just ran away. He could be hiding out in a park somewhere, especially if he had hiking gear." A male reporter with a cheap suit spoke up from somewhere along the right edge of the group.

"I understand how that sounds, but Nico didn't take any cash or form of identification with him. He has lived on the streets before so he must have known that he wouldn't be able to get very far without those items. We also don't think he took any clothes besides what he was wearing so he wouldn't be prepared for an extended stay or in-climate weather. Why wouldn't he adequately prepare himself if he knew what to expect from the streets?" Bruce pointed out. There was some murmuring in the audience as the reporters scribbled notes on their legal pads.

"If Nico did run away, what do the police believe to be the motive?" A red-haired reporter in the center of the group spoke up from the lull.

"That would be a question for the commissioner."

"No, I mean... what was happening between Nico and the other people in the house that he didn't want to live there anymore? Why would he choose the streets over Wayne Manor?" Bruce tensed but tried not to seem too unsettled by the question.

" I really couldn't say. I had been under the impression that Nico was happy at the manor. He never let me know that anything was wrong or that he was in any way dissatisfied with how his life at the manor was. Sure, we had our disagreements, but that's what it's like between parents and their kids. Nico had a rough time adjusting to all of us and being in the public eye, but he was getting the hang of it and has really grown into himself these last few months as I'm sure my other boys will agree." The other boys, who had taken their places at his sides nodded dutifully.

"Yes, let's hear it from your other children." The red-haired woman agreed. Bruce pursed his lips but didn't interfere.

"I'm not quite sure what you're wanting us to say," Tim spoke up first.

"Do any of you know of any reason that Nico might have wanted to run away from Wayne Manor?" She clarified.

This time Dick spoke up first, "No. As Bruce said, Nico was adjusting well. We didn't mesh for the first few weeks that he was staying with us as an emergency foster placement, though I can tell you first-hand that you almost never get along immediately. Nico seemed to have had a rough background and it took him a while to get comfortable with us, but in the last few months, we've all grown pretty close. If there was something bothering him about us, or the manor, or Bruce, he didn't share it with the rest of us." Dick answered carefully.

"So you maintain that there was no mistreatment occurring in the household that may have caused Nico to want to leave?"

"We are not mistreated," Damian scoffed, "and your question is offensive. Like we've all told the press many times before, we're happy, we're safe, and we're not being neglected or otherwise abused. Our brother Nico disappeared without a trace and we're telling you without motive. He is still out there somewhere. Maybe you should be focusing more on getting our message out rather than attacking our father." Bruce was beyond relieved that Damian had enough sense not to press the issue further. The last thing he needed was bad press because one of his children cursed at a reporter.

"The message will get out there, but I need to know what message I'll be sending. Is it the story of a missing boy or a deeper scandal? You're telling me all of the bruises, broken bones, scars, and bags under your eyes are not from negligence or abuse?" At this point, even some of the other reporters seemed to be uncomfortable with this line of questioning.

"That's exactly what we're telling you." Tim was the one to speak this time. "We're teenage boys with access to a lot of facilities and experiences. Richard is an acrobat and gymnast. He's constantly getting bruised and injured as he practices and trains. Does he overdo it, probably, but that is hardly Bruce's fault and it definitely isn't abuse. Damian likes to take care of animals and come up with his own exercise regimens. He's also a full-time student and a growing boy. Sometimes, you decide to do something reckless just to see if you can. I am a workaholic, and I am really clumsy. I constantly have bags under my eyes from studying or reading books or articles on my computer. None of these things have anything to do with Bruce. We aren't mistreated, we're kids, and we're going to get into dumb stuff because we're kids. That's how life works. I would appreciate it if we could get back to talking about my brother, please."

"Do you have any ideas as to where Nico might go?" A reporter moved on without letting an awkward silence grow. Bruce stepped in again, glad to be off the uncomfortable topic.

"Without money or any form of identification, I couldn't say where I think he is headed. He's from Italy originally, but he doesn't have a passport or any way to get himself across the ocean. I don't know of any family that he has in the states or in Europe that could take him in either." He shook his head, trying to appear mystified. He hesitated for a few moments before he continued. "Nico stayed at a summer camp in Long Island for a while, but they have been keeping in touch with us and, so far, he hasn't shown up there. I wish I could tell you more, but a lot of Nico's past is still a mystery to me." Bruce shook his head in genuine defeat. He knew how it sounded and what conclusion they would most likely come to. The fact that he didn't take some essential items suggested that he wasn't planning on coming back and, wherever he was going, he didn't expect to need them.

"If Nico has been kidnapped why don't you think you've been contacted about a ransom?" Someone called from near the middle of the group. It was a fair question, one he didn't have the answer for. Luckily, Commissioner Gordon stepped in before he would have to say the words himself.

"There are several reasons that someone might kidnap someone and not give a ransom immediately or at all. Maybe they're trying to make the Wayne Family desperate. Maybe they're amateurs and didn't realize how much media attention this would garner and are waiting for things to calm down. Maybe they like to watch the GCPD scramble. Maybe they didn't take Nico for money. And maybe, they were never planning on returning Nico." With the last revelation, Bruce made a point of exiting the stage and heading back into the police department, bis boys were following suit. Their faces were somber as what Gordon had said sunk in. He'd gotten a little too close to home.

"That was--" Dick was cut off.

"Idiotic? Enraging? Disheartening?" Damian asked, clearly agitated.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry that I didn't protect you from that line of questioning. I felt as though... if I were to step in, I would be helping her case rather than hurting it," Bruce reasoned.

"You probably would have been. I understand why they jump to abuse, but why won't they listen to us when we say it isn't? I think that, if we were any other family in any other situation, they wouldn't have even bothered to ask." Tim settled down into a suspect's chair at a vacant desk nearby and folded his arms across his chest.

"They're trying to hang something around my neck and make it stick," Bruce sighed tiredly. "What do you boys say to getting out of here? I need to talk with the commissioner for a minute, but then I say we get out of here. Dick, will you let Alfred know?" His oldest nodded dutifully, but Bruce could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

"Father," Damian called before he had even taken two steps to find Gordon. When Bruce turned around, he saw his son's eyes glued to something on his phone screen, something that was highly unusual to the boy who rarely even texted.

"What is it?" Though he knew it was nearly impossible that they would have gotten any leads yet, fake or otherwise, Bruce felt his heart racing as he considered the worst. Maybe they were going to use this press conference to hang him. Maybe someone had bad news about Nico. Maybe something had gone wrong in Gotham while there was no one left in the cave to protect it. The possibilities were endless. He didn't expect to hear what came out of his son's mouth next.

"They've created a hash-tag... er that's what they're called right? A hashtag about di Angelo on social media. #NicoisthenewWaldo. People are saying it's the new and improved Where's Waldo. Who is Waldo?" Bruce was heartened to hear that people were taking his plea seriously and had come up with a way for people to make the connections. It was almost a game.

While Dick explained the concept of Where's Waldo, Bruce went to his own social media pages and found himself tagged in a number of different posts where people were defining the parameters of the game and trying to get the hashtag started. He reposted the ones he saw and wrote a little blurb supporting the use of the hashtag and thanking the creators for helping with their efforts to find Nico. He didn't know how effective it was going to be, but he supposed anything would help at this point.

After finishing up his post he was flagged down by Gordon who had just come in from wrapping up the conference. He seemed less upbeat than he had earlier in the night, but Bruce didn't think too much of it. These types of things were always stressful and often left more questions than answers.

"I'm sorry about all that, Mr. Wayne. At least the message is still circulating and more people are getting the word out about Nico's disappearance." The older man said as he approached. Bruce nodded in agreement.

"Thank you for everything you've done for us, Commissioner. If that's all you need from us, I think I'm going to get my boys back home. It's been a rough night for all of us." With Gordon's permission, he and the boys exited to the street where Alfred was parked waiting for them. Some of the reporters had lingered and tried to ask more questions as he was on his way to his car, but several officers held them back and provided the Waynes a clear path.

"How did it go, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked as the man in question shut the car door, being the last one in.

"It went better than expected, though I'm not sure it made much of a difference in the eyes of the public. They still think that I did something to make Nico want to run away. I can't exactly prove them wrong."

"The rumors will die down as long as you each keep out of trouble and do your best not to get any injuries anytime soon," The older man assured them steadily, the way he always had.

"Easier said than done," Dick replied tiredly. Alfred gave him a tight smile in the rearview mirror and the car lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. When they got back to the manor, They all went inside to wash up for dinner. Alfred had prepared spaghetti and meatballs because it was both simple and relatively easy to make.

++++

That night, dinner was mostly a silent affair with the boys being too caught up in their own thoughts. Jason, who had watched the conference on television, had been the one to volunteer to review the CCTV footage from Rome from the last four days while the others ate. From the way that Tim was picking at his food, he could tell the boy would have rather been down there himself.

Bruce had wanted to save his announcement until they were all there together, but maybe Jason being in the cave was a blessing in disguise. He wanted to tell them that he'd signed himself up for therapy and was going to make appointments for each of them for later this week and he wasn't sure how Jason would take it. Signing Jason up was going to be a hassle because he was going to have to create a viable alias for his supposedly deceased son as well as pay with a stream of income that couldn't be traced back to Bruce Wayne, Batman, Jason Todd, or Red Hood. It wasn't impossible by any stretch of the imagination, but it was more complicated than he would have liked.

"I wanted to make an announcement," he said suddenly. He waited until he had everyone's full attention before speaking again, "I have set up a therapy appointment for myself and I will be setting up appointments for each of you within the next week or so depending on availability. I think you could all use some help dealing with everything that has happened in your lives that I am unable to provide. I am also going to therapy because Dick pointed out how hypocritical it would be of me to sign you all up and not myself."

"I do not need therapy." Damian was less than pleased by this suggestion, which Bruce had expected.

"Maybe you don't. Maybe you just don't think that you do. Either way, it will help us to keep up appearances and it can teach you all coping mechanisms in case you ever come across something that you can't handle in the future. There is no shame in therapy," Bruce returned simply. It was best not to pick a fight with Damian over things that weren't absolutely necessary. Sometimes you just had to tiptoe around his pride to get your way.

"Do we have to?" Tim asked hesitantly.

"I can't force any of you to go, obviously, but I strongly suggest you take this opportunity and give it a chance. You might be surprised about what sorts of things you might learn about yourself." Bruce returned gently.

"Did you really make an appointment with a therapist?" Dick eyed Bruce with suspicion.

"I did."

"We'll have to be careful with what we say, won't we?" Tim spoke up again.

"Yes, but I think that you should all be able to get into some important topics without revealing your identities. Think of it as an exercise in deep cover operation, if you must."

"Is Jason going to go too?" Damian interjected.

"That depends on Jason. He'll have to go under an alias, but I think it could do him some good too," Bruce admitted.

"He's never going to go for it," Dick leaned back in his seat.

"Maybe not, but the offer is there. I don't expect your answers right away. Just let me know by the end of the week, alright?" With his boys agreeing to think about it, Bruce dismissed himself from the table to find his final son and relay the message. He found that he was pleased that he would be able to give him this message one-on-one. He didn't know how Jason was going to react and privacy might be preferable for them both.

Bruce found Jason sitting at the computer, diligently scanning through the feeds. Bruce came up next to him and watched as Jason ran any figure who even remotely looked like Nico through a facial recognition scanner that had been supplied with every photo Bruce had of Nico. It seemed like he had gone through about thirty subjects and they had all come back negative, which was to be expected. This exercise was mainly a fool's errand, but Bruce could admire the dedication and patience.

"Are you looking for something in particular or are you just being a creeper?" Jason asked snarkily after Bruce had been watching him for about a minute.

"I've signed myself up for therapy and asked the others to consider allowing me to sign them up as well. I think that this situation and the lives we lead are taking a toll on each of us. It's more than I think I can help with." Bruce was trying to ease into the conversation without making it sound as if he was trying to talk down to him.

"You think?"

"Jason, I'm being serious. I think it would help each of us to talk to someone who isn't directly involved in our line of work-- our lives. There's nothing wrong with needing a little help," Bruce insisted.

"I'm not doing it. I'm not going into some cracked shrink and spilling my guts about my childhood. They wouldn't understand half the shit that I tell them and they certainly don't know how I feel. I'm not going to do it." Jason didn't look away from the screen for a moment, but he also wasn't doing any work, unless you consider switching back and forth between two tabs work.

"I can't make you, but I think you should give it more than a few moments of consideration before you decide. Give it a try. Two or three sessions. If you don't like it, you don't ever have to go again," Bruce offered.

"I'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking. Go and get some food and some rest ok? We'll need you at your best when the questers reach the Mediterranean." Jason grumbled under his breath but vacated the seat without much fight. After he'd gone, Bruce settled into the seat and pulled up the live feeds of the thermal maps to see where the questers were' it seemed that they had just passed the international dateline, if he was understanding the readings correctly. Tim was well on his way to becoming a detective and he often saw things that even Bruce had missed.

"I think you handled that fairly well, Master Bruce. Whether the boys take you up on your offer or not, they will at least know that the option is available and you don't see it as a weakness on their part." Alfred emerged from somewhere else in the cave. Bruce hadn't known he was there, but he had grown used to the older man's ninja act.

"I just want them to be..." Bruce trailed off.

"Happy?" Alfred offered.

"Content."

[I'm back everyone! Sorry, it took so long, life was crazy for a little while there. Bruce is getting therapy and they've come up with a way to track the seven! Things are picking up on the Batfam side of things and I think I'm going to have at least one more chapter that's mainly from their points of view because I don't think I'm quite done with Ivy and her new crew ;) I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Chapter Text

[June 27th]

Ivy was getting frustrated. She had run down any lead she could think of and come up with nothing. She'd talked to every contact she, Catwoman, or Harley had in the Gotham Underworld and most hadn't even heard of Nico di Angelo, much less had an idea of where he might be. Their information about Ghost was even more underwhelming. He had done well to cover his tracks. They were running out of options and Ivy could tell that the other women were getting bored with the hunt.

"That's the fourth empty lead of the night, Ives." Catwoman wrapped her whip back up slowly and carefully, studying the braided leather for wear. It had seen its fair share of use over the past few days.

"I know. I just can't give up on this yet. It's only been a few days since he disappeared, we can't let the trail go cold." Ivy stuck her hand into a patch of ivy that was creeping up the wall of a nearby warehouse.

"Cold? I'd say the trail is positively frozen. We got nothin'." Harley smashed a wooden crate to bits with her hammer. Whether that was from frustration or curiosity, Ivy wasn't sure.

"Shhh." Ivy hushed them as she tried to tune into the root network. Maybe the nearby plants could tell her something. Other than a lot of trucks that were coming and going from the nearby cannery, there was nothing of interest to her.

"I hate to do this, but I agree with Harley on this one. We don't have any information one way or another. What we should really be doing is looking for that Ghost character. He seems to be of some interest to the Justice League, after all." Catwoman pulled herself up on top of a dumpster and started filing her nails, where she pulled the file from, Ivy wasn't sure.

"So what? What's your interest in the boy?" Ivy frowned. She didn't like the direction that this conversation was taking.

"Batman is interested in finding him. Imagine having Batman owe you a favor!" Catwoman practically purred.

"Oooohhhh! That would be incredible! It would be the best birthday present!" Harley laughed happily. Ivy considered this for a moment. She was relieved that the girls weren't planning on leveraging Ghost against Batman or selling him to someone who would try to utilize his skills. Plus, since Ghost was Nico, they would still be looking for the same person.

"Birthday present for Joker?" Catwoman frowned. They had all been under the impression that that ship had sailed.

"No! For me! I deserve nice things, don't I?" Harley pouted.

"Of course you do!" Selina purred helpfully.

"Alright," Ivy said at last, "though I want you all to keep on the lookout for Nico di Angelo. I'm telling you, he's a score as well."

"Deal," Harley chirped.

"Ghost is more elusive than di Angelo," Ivy started, "where do you suppose we start looking?"

"Leave that to me," Catwoman gave the green-tinted woman a toothy grin. Ivy wondered vaguely how she got her teeth that white.

About an hour later the three women were back at the docks where they had met up only days prior. Ivy didn't see what they were doing back there, but Catwoman seemed to have a plan in mind so Ivy didn't voice her questions. That being said, she wouldn't say that she was quite at ease. Though she felt that she had become closer with these villainesses in the last few days, she knew all too well that their loyalty was a fickle thing.

"What are we doing here, kitty?" Harley, who was hanging upside down from a travel lift, asked after she had lost interest in swinging back and forth.

"We're meeting a special contact of mine. He has a handle on the Gotham underground. We've been beating around bushes, I say we move up the ladder a few rungs." Selina stretched as if she had all the time in the world. Ivy, on the other hand, bristled.

"Who is your contact?"

"You'll see."

"Selina," Ivy pressed, feeling panic start to seep in, "who is your contact?"

"I thought we agreed to meet alone?" A familiar masculine voice called from somewhere off to Ivy's left. Her head lurched in that direction so quickly that she had to give her vision a moment to catch up. When it did, her blood ran cold.

"Red Hood!" Selina greeted warmly, picking herself up off the bundle of nets she had been perched on, "Don't mind the entourage." Harley and Ivy exchanged glances, both feeling more than a touch of distrust. Red Hood wasn't someone to be trifled with, especially unprepared as they were then.

"What did you want?" He asked. Ivy couldn't get anything from his tone, and the mask hid all of his facial expressions-- one of the many reasons she didn't associate with the antihero. She had never understood where she stood with him. His penchant for killing villains who got in his way was legendary. His skill and bloodlust were nothing to sneeze at and Ivy had done her best to stay out of his way.

The man in question stood about five yards back on the decaying wood of the dock. It escaped her understanding how he had managed to sneak up on them because the boards were poorly secured and creaked at the slightest pressure. That had been the very reason she had selected this spot for meeting with Catwoman and Harley. She hadn't wanted them to have the ability to sneak up on her. Yet here Red Hood was, too close for comfort.

"I heard about what you did with those poor lieutenants. Nasty business, decapitation." It was hard to tell if she was teasing or flirting, with Selina, it could have been both. Of the people she could be interested in, Red Hood seemed like one of her poorer choices.

"I was sending a message. What do you want, Selina?" He had begun to take on an annoyed tone, but Catwoman didn't seem phased. She started to approach him, slowly and intentionally, swinging her hips and strutting.

"What kind of message?" Harley frowned.

"I can and will kill you all. Fall in line or die." Red Hood barely spared the blonde a glance and she popped her chewing gum, unimpressed.

"You're not very fun today. What, do you have a bat in your belfry?" Selina cut in. She was definitely teasing, then.

"No."

"So... yes."

"Selina..." His voice grew hard. His hands, which had been crossed over his chest, fell to his sides. His right hand rested lazily on his sidearm but Ivy didn't mistake this for relaxation. He wasn't tense because he wasn't threatened by them.

"Fine, whatever. We wanted to know what information you had on a certain masked missing person. A little boy with an affinity for necromancy? Heard of him?" By then, she had closed the distance and was standing mere feet from him. If she had a tail, Ivy imagined it would be flicking with excitement. Selina was one of the many in Gotham who were attracted to danger.

"Ghost." He spoke simply. It wasn't a question.

"Right ya are buddy boy." Harley mimed shooting him with finger guns. Red Hood observed her, but it was impossible to tell what he was thinking with the mask. Ivy liked to imagine he was trying to decide whether or not to be offended by being called buddy boy. It was such an outdated term that it was hard to get mad over it.

"What do you want with him?"

"We want to return him to the Justice League in exchange for favors," Ivy spoke up at last, hoping it was the right thing to say.

"What makes you think Batman cares about the boy?" Ivy imagined he was frowning. If she looked closely enough, she thought she could see the whites of the domino mask narrowing. Maybe they actually were! She knew the masks that Batman and his Robins all wore had that feature, but it seemed to be proprietary knowledge. How had Hood come across it?

"I have it on good authority that he does." Ivy asserted, unwilling to say more. For a few tense moments, Red Hood stared her down. While she didn't react externally, on the inside she was planning her escape routes should this encounter go pear-shaped. Being out here on the dock was less than ideal when it came to moving quickly and she didn't fancy a late-night swim.

"Good authority." He echoed.

"Yes."

"Well, I have it on good authority that he had little to do with the JLA before his disappearance. He did one job for them which put his life in danger and he disappeared. Running theory is that whoever he upset by helping the Bat caught up with him." Hood admitted at last. Ivy could tell he was holding something back and Selina could too.

"But you don't think so?"

"I make it a point to know all of the major players in Gotham. Prior to about 4 months ago, I had never heard of Ghost, much less that there was anyone here in Gotham who would want to make him disappear. It all seems a bit too contrived for my liking." Ivy considered this, realizing that he was right. From a mortal perspective, Ghost's rapid appearance and disappearance didn't make any sense. She, of course, knew the bigger picture and knew that Red Hood wasn't accounting for the existence of the Hellenistic pantheon.

"Do you have any leads?" Selina asked sweetly.

"None. As far as anyone can tell, he vanished into thin air. Whoever or whatever made him disappear knew what they were doing." Ivy tried not to let the despair show on her face. The last thing she needed was for the antihero to suspect a connection between her and the boy. That line of questioning would lead directly back to Nico di Angelo.

"What about the di Angelo boy who is also missing? We were hoping we could collect the reward." Ivy spoke up again, hoping she wasn't going to be leading him to make the connection himself. It was a risk she was going to have to take. After all, no one knew why she went to save Ghost from Deathstroke that night.

"Last I knew, there were people all over the country looking for that kid. I heard that he had blood connections to a mafia family back in Italy and they're trying to make him disappear to collect his inheritance. That's the rumor, anyway." Hood shrugged noncommittally and Ivy wanted to scream. That was basically the story she had received in her letter from him. Somehow word had gotten out.

"Do you know which family?"

"Don't know, don't care. I have enough on my plate here without pulling the Italian Mafia down on my head," the vigilante huffed.

"Thanks, I'll look into it." She returned politely.

"What do ya want got his info, huh? I know you aren't goin' to give it out for free," Harley broke in.

"Now you each owe me a favor. I think that's enough for this transaction. I'd keep my head down for the next few days if I were you. It's going to get very loud around here come tonight." The Vigilante turned on his heel and stalked back into the shipyard without so much as a backward glance. He barely made a sound.

"Thanks!" Selina called after him.

"Well that was helpful," Harley snarked.

"Mafia family in Italy. That's something, at least." Selina sighed.

"Are you giving up on Ghost?" Ivy asked.

"Yeah. If even Red Hood doesn't have a lead then I'll accept it as a lost cause." Selina slinked back to the netting and plopped herself down on top of it.

"Also, since when did you have Red Hood's number?"

"Yeah! I' wonderin' about that too. Spill it, kitty!" Harley leaned on her hammer at a precarious angle. If Harley noticed, she didn't indicate it.

"I may have helped him get back on his feet when he first popped up in Gotham. He had been in pretty rough shape at the time. Now he does me favors here and there. That's all there is to it." Catwoman shrugged. Ivy highly doubted it was that simple, but she didn't press the issue then.

"Sure," Harley rolled her eyes and gave the redhead a knowing look that Ivy wasn't sure how to interpret.

"Alright, enough about me. Let's get back to your boy, Ives," Selina changed the subject.

"He's not my boy."

"Sure he is! In all the time I've known you, I have never once seen you take interest in a child before. Or bounties for that matter. Don't tell me that overnight you've come to care about either. You have some connection to Nico di Angelo and you're trying to hide it from us. Admit it!" The two women stared at each other for a few tense moments, neither willing to back down.

"Ok, fine," Ivy relented at last, "I do care about the boy. He's like a son to me." Selina cooed at the same time Harley gagged. Ivy rolled her eyes at the two of them and pulled out the letter he'd left her. She'd stored it in a clear Ziploc bag to protect it from the elements.

"Does Bruce Wayne know about this?" Catwoman sidled up next to her to peer over her shoulder at the letter. Even Harley drew closer to take a look.

"I don't believe so. If he does, he hasn't said anything about it in the press conferences and I haven't been contacted by the police." Ivy shrugged, running her hand along the edge of the letter, wishing she could feel the texture of the paper through the plastic.

"That's why we're all looking for this kid?" Harley groaned, "I thought you wanted the reward!"

"You two can split my share. Getting him back safely is enough of a reward for me. I just knew I needed help." Ivy turned to the two women, watching them imploringly.

"Don't look at me like that! You lied to us!" Selina crossed her arms and tried to maintain a stern look.

"Please, Selina? I need your help! Don't forget that this will help you endear yourself to Batman," Ivy returned, only partially teasing. Selina considered this for a few long moments before she caved.

"Fine. But you so owe me one, Red. You in, Harley?"

"Yeah, whatever. I need the money. Plus, it's been fun so far." The blonde hoisted her hammer up onto her shoulder.

"Do you have any leads?" Selina looked at Ivy pointedly.

"I read in a news article that Nico was spotted once in central park with Percy Jackson, who is also missing, and an unidentified third party," Ivy revealed.

"Then to New York, it is. Though we're probably going to have to try and appear a little less conspicuous or Batman will stop us long before we have the chance to get there." Selina pointed out. Ivy hadn't considered that, while Batman hadn't stopped her from tearing up Gotham in her search, he may not allow them to take their hunt outside the city limits.

"You're right. We'll need civilian disguises."

"You'll need more than that to get out of the city undetected." The voice of the man they all thought had left interjected. He walked out from behind a stack of massive wooden boxes and Ivy's heart leaped into her throat. He had been here the whole time. He had heard everything she'd said about Nico. He knew exactly why she was looking for him.

"What are you still doing here?" Ivy shouted, feeling entirely too vulnerable.

"I wanted to see what you were planning to do. I didn't buy the whole reward thing. It's not really your style." Red Hood leaned back against the crates and watched her pointedly.

"That's what I said!" Selina agreed.

"So are you going to try and stop us, then?" Ivy didn't like his new nonchalant attitude.

"Quite the opposite, actually. I'm going to help you get out of the city."

"Why on Earth would you do that?" Ivy frowned.

"I have my reasons. One is that Batman is off his game at the moment with both Nico and Ghost missing. As much as I hate the man, Gotham needs him. I'm trying to hunt down Ghost so having you all after Nico would save me the resources." Ivy doubted that was all there was to the story, but his answer would have to appease her for now. She didn't want to try his patience.

"You're looking for the zombie kid? I didn't think you had any leads?" Harley frowned, asking the question that had been bouncing around in Ivy's mind as well.

" I don't, not any solid ones, at least. All I know is that he supposedly had connections to one of the old pantheons of gods. I haven't been able to nail down which one, but apparently, some people are saying that they still exist. Whether he has a connection with Ghost or not, I figure that these 'gods' might be able to tell me more." It made Ivy feel sick to know that he was so close to discovering Ghost's secret.

"So, how do you plan to ask them?" Selina asked condescendingly. Harley laughed along with her. Ivy didn't.

"In the many books I've read, it seems like it's as simple as praying. Some books suggest candles, altars, and burning foods as offerings, but I don't know if that's necessary. I might try and do it all, just for the best chances." Hood shrugged, unbothered by their reactions. Ivy hadn't considered going straight to the pantheons themselves, but she supposed that was what she should have thought of first. Now she just had to sell the idea to the other girls in a way that would make it clear that she didn't think that Nico had any connection to the Greek gods. It wasn't going to be easy, and if it came down to it she would perform the ritual by herself. Either way, it seemed like a trip to New York was in her future.

"Ok, you do that," Selina said, still chuckling.

"You said you would help us get out of the city?" Ivy prompted, changing the subject.

"I'll orchestrate something to distract the Bat tonight. You were right about needing the disguises, though. You're all pretty recognizable figures. You should try to keep a low profile once you're out of Gotham," he advised.

"Time to go shopping!" Harley squealed happily. Ivy, in spite of herself, couldn't help but pick up on some of the excitement. Finally, they had a solid lead and a sense of direction. There were no guarantees that they would find anything in New York, but it sure felt better than shaking down small-time criminals in Gotham.

++++

[Hey, y'all! I know it hasn't been all that long since the last update, but I expect my life to be getting a little hectic soon and I didn't want to leave you guys without a chapter for too long. It isn't much, but here's a sneak peek of what Ivy and her girls are up to!]