When Worlds Collide

34) Sparta Kicks = Love

A/N: she a bit long

Nico stood in front of the zeta tube and just stared at it.

"Are you gonna go, or what?" Jason said from behind him, successfully scaring the shit out of him.

Nico turned and clutched his chest. "Jeez, you scared me."

Jason chuckled. "I thought you could always sense me coming; you know, with the whole Lazarus Pit death energy and all."

Nico shrugged. "It's harder to sense now."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Is it fading or something?"

The demigod chuckled slightly and shook his head. "I mean, not really. It's just hard to sense yours over mine."

Realization dawned in Jason's eyes. "You... you can constantly sense the Lazarus' energy on yourself."

Nico nodded before turning back to face the zeta tube. "I'm trying to learn to tune it out, but it's hard to do. I've been able to feel it every moment since it woke up."

A silence fell between them, but Nico didn't mind. He didn't really feel the need to talk about it any more than they had. It was enough for him to feel the pit, the energy seeping from his bones and constantly reminding him that he should be in Elysium. He didn't need to have some heart to heart over it.

"Any reason you're just looking at it and not going through?" Jason asked, coming up to stand beside him.

Nico let out a sigh. "I told the other two to go ahead, but I just kinda make myself go through."

Jason nodded. "So you think you can avoid any sort of rejection if you just don't go?"

Nico twisted the ring on his finger. "Yeah..."

Jason made a sound of acknowledgement before moving to the keyboard and typing something in. "They aren't gonna reject you. If you tell anyone I say this, I'll hunt you down, but the team is great. I wasn't with them for too long before I died, but their good people. They have a habit of accepting anyone who has good intentions."

"It's not the same team. People have left. People joined. Yeah the originals are there, but maybe they're different now."

"You know how you can tell?" Jason said as he went back to standing by Nico.

"How?" the demigod asked, already knowing what he was gonna say... well he thought he did.

Jason smirked at him before stepping back and Sparta kicking him into the zeta tube. Nico reformed in the cave, but the momentum apparently carried through zeta beams and he tumbled to the ground, rolling a few times before he finally stopped, his eyes trained on the ceiling.

"Demo!" Artemis yelled as she ran up to him, kneeling over him and scanning his body for injuries. "Are you okay? What happened? Were you attacked?"

Nico groaned as he sat up. "I'm fine, though Red Hood won't be next time we see each other."

"What?" Virgil asked as he and the others jogged over. "Are you talking about Red Hood as in that Gotham guy that kills mob bosses?"

Artemis stood and pulled Nico up as the demigod rolled his eyes. "He doesn't kill anymore. Now he just beats them to a pulp."

Traci raised an eyebrow. "Why were you with him?"

Nico shrugged, stopping himself from saying that he was his brother. It was weird to him that the three newbies knew his identity but not his families. "I was helping him with something before I came here."