Batman plus one-shot

3

Summary:

Last time: nightwing discovers this kid who doesn't know Batman? Also Percy straight up passes out during an interrogation about mystical bat beings. Seriously, how has he survived so far?
This time: nightwing took Percy to his apartment to search for many answers to many questions that had a theme of starting with w h y .

Percy woke up alone and feeling much better, which is surprising because normally waking up in a strange place comes with post monster attack pain. On the topic of unfamiliar places, he looked around to try and decipher where he was. It looked like an average apartment, and he was happy to see a box of sugary cereal on the kitchen bench. He was currently laying on the couch with an obnoxiously fluffy blanket over him. There was a small wet patch of drool on the blanket where his face rested previously, and some of the fluff had gotten in his mouth. He spluttered to try and get rid of the uncomfortable feeling.

Dick sat at the deceivingly powerful computer on the ikea desk tucked in the corner of the room and ran the kid's face and prints through all the bat systems. For the third time. once again, no results at all. Nada. He was an enigma, didn't exist, at least in American records, and the kid definitely had a strong accent that sounded like it came from somewhere round New Jersey. He sighed and decided it was time for a break; he'd been at it since he found the mystery boy, and now the sun was coming up.

Percy was still trying to rid his mouth of floof when he saw some dude scoop up the cereal from the bench and just started eating it raw, like some barbarian. Their eyes met, and they stared at each other for a few seconds, the older one with a handful of colourful sugar half way poured into his mouth and the younger looking uncannily like a cat caught in the middle of grooming; his tongue out and hands in by it. While the older man continued calmly consuming cereal after a bit, Percy rushed to gain at least some of his dignity back.

"Your blanket's moulting," he informed the older with a mildly annoyed expression.

"Sorry, my brother likes them so I keep a bunch to throw at him whenever he needs to relax," the man replied.

He continued to scoop cereal into his mouth, so after a brief pause to contemplate the weirdness of this situation, Percy replied, "not that I appreciate this awkward silence and all, but who are you and what the hades happened last night?"

"Sorry, I'm nightwing, but you can call me Dick. And i was hoping you could tell me what happened. I was just patrolling the neighborhood when i came across you all out of it in a dumpster,, -wait, What's your name?"

"Uh, Percy Jackson." It was a habit to give this information, as those who were asking obviously were never monsters, but as soon as he said it he shut his mouth.

"Nice to meet you Percy, could you tell me anything you remember before waking up here?"

"Now why should I trust you? I just met you, and no offence, you just seem like some wacko mortal who dresses up in a wetsuit and goes looking for trouble."

"I'm a hero." At Percy's puzzled look, he added, "Also a cop if that helps."

Percy was very confused. A hero? Was he a demigod who went on one too many quests and decided to crown himself Maui savior of men- excuse me Moana, savior of all? And a cop. That's just... odd. They never seemed to do much except mildly irritate him during quests, but his mom always said they could be trustworthy. When he was really young he remembered having police officers come into class to be friendly with the kids and they seemed chill enough, so what the heck, why not humor this guy.
"My- this dude said, 'sorry its for your own good,' like some cliché miscreant and poof, I'm in a dank alley. It's weird, it was the middle of the morning and then suddenly, pineapples. I mean night, that's a sad movie reference." He was about to reveal that his dad was the one who zapped him, but then thought better of it. How many people had dads that could teleport them?

Dick seemed unphased by that random pineapple tangent he went on and replied, "Well, i looked you up on face' rec' and you didn't show up. I'll put your name through it in a bit, but i doubt that'll change anything. You aren't on any databases, its as if you don't exist. I'm sorry kid, with that and all the evidence you're throwing at me, it seems like you are a long way from home. Where do you live?"

"America, obviously," Percy sassed, knowing full well not to give such information to a stranger who may or may not have kidnapped him

"Well, that's impossible," Dick said to himself. "Earlier, when I found you, you said you didn't know any of the local hero's. Can you name any? Maybe from where you're from," He continued to Percy.
"What, like those fictional people who save the day on tv? ...Iron man??"
After a pause to think, Dick gave the younger guy an empathetic smile. "I think you might be from an alternate universe."

Well that was blunt.

————-

As expected, Percy Jackson's name came up with no results. Said boy was sitting on the couch now, begrudgingly snuggled in the blanket and listening to the tv while picking at different strands of blanket floof. Percy had tried calling all his contacts again, even got Dick to google them, but it seemed that half of them did not exist, and the half that did lived very different lives. It was something that Percy did not want to dwell on, hence the tv to drown out his thoughts. Sadly, he was still Poseidon's kid. He couldn't drown, and neither could his thoughts.

Dick was dressed in his police uniform for work. He didn't want to keep the kid in his apartment alone all day, it was hardly the most teen-friendly place with its hidden weapons and bat tech waiting to be sprung on anyone who was too curious. So that left only one option.

"Hey kiddo, how do you feel about staying with my dad while we figure out this situation?"