[Edited April 17, 2023]
TW: Mentions of suicide, mentions of abuse, vivid panic attack description, disordered thoughts
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. It was tight, but not suffocating. He looked down to see what Ivy was going to do with him now.
As he looked, he could see Pam chewing the Joker out, who 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 at all. He was calmly staring up at Ivy from where he lay saying that he was only trying to have some fun. If Nico hadn't known better, he would have said that the man was pouting.
"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!" Her maternal instincts had apparently kicked in and she had accepted him and declared him under her protection. That would explain why the vines hadn't crushed him yet. At least, he hoped that she had accepted him and not decided he was going to be entertainment for her now. He didn't think the Pam he knew would do that, but this was not the Pamela he used to know.
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. She was immediately fussing over him. He couldn't help but wonder if this feeling had anything to do with the time that Persephone had turned him into a Dandelion.
"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" She said checking his face and either ruffling his messy hair. Before he could respond she pulled him into a tight hug. He gagged silently as he couldn't breathe. Once she released and checked over him once more.
"Thanks, Pam... err, Ivy." Nico said awkwardly.
"Any time. The plants seem to think you're one of them. A flower perhaps?" She mused, sizing him up, "They seem to want me to place you under my protection. Come to me if you need anything, I mean it. I'll be your momma now, Momma Ivy. I like that." Ivy's eyes got distant with a satisfied smile plastered on her face. 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 unwelcomed 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. He shut his eyes to keep from saying something he'd regret later.
"Mr. Wayne called me again tonight. Saying that, once again, you were missing. You need to stop doing this, I have more important things to attend to in this city than little boys running away from their problems." 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 you have better things to be doing, why aren't you doing them?" Batman ignored the remark.
"What are you doing out here? It's dangerous." Nico eyed the other man, bemused. It was hard to take this vigilante bit seriously, knowing who was really behind the mask.
"Like you said, running away from my problems." It was more complicated than that, but Nico didn't feel like getting into all of that on a random street of Gotham with a man in a Bat costume. What was with the underwear on the outside of the pants anyway? Wouldn't that be uncomfortable?
"And you'd rather be on the streets again?"
"That's not what I said. Shouldn't you be happy for me or something? You were the one who told me that I shouldn't be on the streets." Nico found it ironic that either way you looked at it, that was true. Both Batman and Bruce Wayne had insisted that he not stay on the streets.
"I would be even happier if you acted like you wanted to be there." He grunted. Nico didn't think this was a fair assessment. He did want to be with the Waynes. It was just that sometimes he needed to take a walk and get some fresh air and a new perspective.
"I do want to be there," Nico murmured softly. There was a short pause where Batman seemed to take in his body language.
"People don't run away from places they want to be." Bruce countered. Nico didn't have a response so he remained silent.
"Are the Wayne's not treating you right or something?" Batman asked after a few long moments of silence. Nico played the incredulous teen card, giving a disgusted sigh. He didn't want to make Bruce think that he was doing anything wrong.
"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.
"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. They invaded my privacy and I was angry."
"Hmm 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 to the manor a couple of minutes later and walked up to the front door. He didn't even get a chance to knock before the door was opened by Alfred. He looked at Nico, his face remaining kind.
"Welcome back Master Nico. Next time you chose to leave, 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 made his way up to his room, hoping to just get ready for bed and put a cap on an awful day. The fates had other plans. On his way up the stairs, he was stopped by Bruce. The older man 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 lead from the private entrance, into the foyer that held the stairs that lead up to the bedrooms upstairs. Down this corridor were Bruce's office, his private study, a few guest rooms, 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.
"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 sweatpants 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 was an order. He felt his stomach sink in the realization that he was in trouble. He wasn't used to being in trouble, not having had many people who were both in a position of authority over him and around often enough for it to matter.
Nico didn't obey immediately, considering his options. There wasn't one unless he wanted to cause more problems for himself down the road. Bruce was Batman. There was no getting out of this conversation. That being said, the son of Hades could feel his chest tightening with dread. He hadn't had good experiences with angry adults in the past. His own father had incinerated a plant mere feet from him out of anger. Could Batman's rage be just as destructive?
Bruce must have noticed the boy's apprehension because he sighed. He didn't back down, not that Nico had expected him to. Bruce motioned towards his private study and Nico headed in that direction too. As he walked towards it, he saw his brothers watching him from down the hall. He couldn't get anything from their expressions, but the fact that they were all staring at him so intently didn't bode well.
He entered Bruce's office and found himself further unsettled. It had a similar setup to his father's workspace three redecorations ago, which he was sure was merely coincidental. You never knew with Hades, he was always changing up his office layout. Over the course of his existence and the existence of office supplies, he had probably tried every layout there was.
Right in the back, the center was a dark wood desk, mostly uncluttered with 2 piles of papers sitting on the top. There were a couple of knick-knacks on his desk. There was an office chair behind the desk and a recent family portrait on the wall behind him. The portrait almost ruined the image. There were dark wood bookshelves with leatherbound and hardback books occupying the space. At night and without the overhead light on, the place wasn't exactly inviting.
He took a couple of forced steps into the room and he felt Bruce come in behind him and hear the door click shut, which only heightened his anxiety levels.
"You can take a seat," Bruce gestured to one of the seats in front of the desk and Nico gingerly took one. The billionaire was taking his time in starting this conversation, settling into his own chair achingly slowly. He shuffled through a pile of paper on his desk for a moment before setting them to the side. The suspense was setting Nico's hair on end and he could practically feel his blood draining from his face.
It didn't help that he had no idea what kind of 'chat' Bruce wanted to have. Was this going to be a civil conversation? Was this going to be one of those talks that ended in screaming? Was he going to be punished for leaving without permission? Was that something that parents did to their kids?
As Bruce sighed and leaned back in his chair, Nico steeled himself for the full force of Batman's anger. the vigilante had so much on his plate and he'd just wasted his time by throwing a tantrum. He'd be right to be angry.
Coming to the realization of just how much trouble he was probably in sent Nico's mind on a downward spiral. His brain had begun working out all the possible ways that Bruce could punish him. The options ranged from locking him in his room, withholding food, and the silent treatment to more physical repercussions-- the kinds that may leave marks. Nico hadn't felt threatened by Bruce before, but now that he knew he was Batman, it added a whole new level of fear to the equation.
Nico tried to shut out the memories of his father reprimanding him. If he'd almost been incinerated simply for trying to see his mother, he didn't want to imagine what running away might warrant. 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 you were in the wrong was worse. You had to accept whatever came your way because you deserved to be stuck with the consequences of your actions. It was a hard pill to swallow and it hit a little too close to home.
He kept his head tilted toward the floor, avoiding eye contact. With most adults it seemed, eye contact was usually taken as defiance and that was not the impression he wanted to go for now. He didn't want Bruce to think that he was being anything but cooperative. Maybe he would go easier on him if Nico didn't fight it. Even if he did fight it, he wouldn't win against Batman.
He didn't know what made Bruce mad either, which was another thing that was stressing him out. Was this something that Bruce saw as a big deal? He did break out his Batman suit for this, didn't he? That made it seem like a pretty big deal. He didn't know how to make the situation better or talk his way out of this one. Bruce wasn't Hades, who he knew would usually listen to reason. Bruce might be the forgiving type, who knows?
Whether he was a forgiving person or not didn't really matter. Either way, Nico would have to accept the lecture and the punishment. 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.
Finally, Bruce pulled himself away from his computer and papers, laying his hands folded on the desk. The older man opened his mouth to speak, and Nico felt his throat constrict.
"We need to talk." Bruce continued talking about how he can't run away like that as Nico's panic slowly set in, expecting the lecture to turn to venom any second.
It hadn't started out badly, but it still could turn into Bruce shouting at him. The teachers he'd had during his brief time at the military academy had always started off calm and controlled before they would, inevitably, blow up at him. He had no reason to suspect that Bruce wouldn't be the same way. Other than Hades, they were the only male authority figures he could compare Bruce to. He didn't think Chiron counted, being 3,000 years old.
"I know you could do whatever you wanted on the streets, but now you have a place to stay, and rules to follow. There are expectations about how to behave and treat one another. You need to stop running away when someone upsets you. You aren't the only one with feelings in this house." Bruce went on like that, making Nico feel really selfish and immature.
"I know, I'm sorry," He apologized meekly. The apology sounded childish and weak, even to him. Immature.
"And jumping out the window was incredibly stupid. You could have easily ended up seriously hurt. Or worse! You gave Dick a pretty bad scare, too," Bruce continued.
"I didn't mean to scare him."
"I know, you didn't, but you did. Do you understand that running away from your problems isn't the answer?" Bruce asked. 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.
"I understand," he nodded, wishing he could melt into the floor. Unknowingly, Bruce had just parroted what Hades had told him about his decision to leave Camp Half-Blood. The god made it very clear to his son that leaving camp wouldn't change anything and he was naive to believe it would. The god of the Underworld didn't care how much Nico hated it at camp or the fact that he wasn't wanted there. Camp was the safest place for him and Hades wasn't eager to lose another child. His happiness wasn't a priority over his safety.
Bianca would have been accepted at camp. She had always been better with people than he had. The hunters loved her the first day they met her. She would have loved it at camp and she would have been loved. Father would have praised her for asking him to join the fight while he almost melted me. Bianca would have been able to see the changing of the centuries with the hunters, seeing the world. She had so much more going for her than Nico did. He wished for the millionth time that she had lived instead.
"Are you listening to me?" Bruce asked. Nico nodded, though he hadn't been. Tears had begun to spill over the edge of his eyelids and he quickly wiped them away.
"What's the matter? This isn't really that big of a deal. Nothing to get worked up over." Bruce sat back in his chair.
"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 should have known that it was all over once he thought about Bianca. That wound was still too fresh.
He tried to take deep breaths but his mind had taken over and his thoughts were running out of control.
[Panic attack]
It should have been him. It should have been Pheobe. It should have been anyone else but Bianca on that trip. She hadn't been a Hunter for even a full week before they'd dragged her off on some fool's errand knowing that at least one of them wouldn't come back. She'd shot a bow a handful of times and practiced with the knives even less. Her death was needless and wasteful. Nothing on Earth could change that, now.
Even still, Nico wished it had been him. He wished for it as he wished for many things. His nights were a graveyard of unanswered prayers that fell on deaf ears. His sleep, when not filled with fate, was filled with regrets from decisions past-- things he could never take back and, consequently never forget.
Now his spiraling thoughts weren't just about Bianca. Thoughts of his sister and his self-loathing were peppered with his past mistakes and greatest failures. Memories from his betrayal of Percy and how selfish he had been to sacrifice such a friendship for information. Thoughts of the campers ignoring him for things that were beyond his control. He thought about his own seemingly infinite solitude, as the only people who cared for him were people who were required to care.
The spiral continued down the timeline of his miserable existence. Even thoughts of the future were tainted with his misery-- filled with the fear of inadequacy and his short life expectancy. All of his problems crashed back down on him at once so hard that he couldn't breathe.
The demigod tried to hold his breath, hyper-aware of the fact that Bruce was still lecturing him. He didn't want to anger the man by gasping or letting out any other undignified noises. If he could maintain his composure, at least on the outside, he could sit through this lecture and make it out to the other side with his dignity intact. His body, on the other hand, would not get with the program.
His heart sped up and his breathing got shallow as his throat constricted. The 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 this display as a panic attack. He just had no idea what caused it. He was shocked, to say the least, Nico start taking dramatic and controlled breaths with wide, unfocused eyes and tears falling on rapidly darkening cheeks. His fists were rubbing against his jeans as if he were trying to wipe off sweat.
"Nico?" He asked. He didn't get any indication that the boy had heard him. He stood up to move towards Nico, but the boy's eyes snapped toward him, the movement attracting his attention. The sheer amount of fear in the boy's gaze froze him to his spot. Was Nico afraid of him?
He had dealt with this sort of thing before with kids he found on the street. Many times, the ones he saved from a violent crime broke down into panic attacks, their body using up the adrenaline they had produced. Kids who had spent extended time on the streets like Nico would sometimes panic when they found themselves in a dangerous situation against people who were bigger or more dangerous than themselves. It was a response to the feeling of fear and helplessness.
Knowing this, Bruce slowly raised his hands into the international sign for surrendering. He didn't want to be perceived as a threat, though he suspected they were long past that point. Nico watched him carefully, his pupils focusing and refocusing as his brain tried to identify the biggest threat to his safety. He looked back to the ground and clutched his chest taking one uneven breath after another, tears streaming down his face.
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.
Bruce slowly made his way towards Nico who stilled, his breaths becoming soft and ragged. He was holding his breath. Whether this was in fear or anticipation, Bruce wasn't sure. Either way, he needed to get him to breathe normally so that he would pass out. This did confirm that Bruce was at least part of the trigger, which concerned him. Had he done something to make Nico fear him?
The demigod in question felt trapped. Bruce had effectively cut off his escape route. Nico still wasn't sure what Bruce had planned to do to him for running away so the proximity was less than comforting. Being blocked in like this was starting to bring back some other bad memories of being backed into a corner. The corner was a bad place to be for a demigod to be.
Bruce, not suspecting such trauma in what he believed to be a normal orphan, would have thought that this meant he was expecting to be hit. However, Nico wasn't covering his vital areas like his ribs or his face like someone who had been beaten before often does. Neither had he been watching Bruce's hands as if trying to anticipate a blow. No, Nico wasn't looking at him at all, instead staring down into his lap. So he was afraid of something else happening to him, but what?
Maybe he'd gotten into some sketchy situations while living on the streets. The streets weren't exactly kind to children and Nico was pretty small. It wasn't all that improbable that he'd found himself in a bad place at some point or another. Gang violence, drug usage, muggings, kidnappings, and sexual violence weren't at all uncommon on the streets of big cities like Gotham.
"Nico, 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 here," Bruce tried, soothingly.
"Sorry," Nico stuttered out, though Bruce wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. He lowerd himself until he was kneeling on the floor in front of the chair Nico was seated in. Nico wouldn't meet his gaze but he wasn't moving away either. He had started breathing again, but his breaths were far too controlled and shaky. he clearly wasn't getting enough air.
"It's ok You don't need to apologize for something that is out of your control. Just take some deep breaths with me, ok? In... Out... Good! Just like that," Bruce led the boy through some breathing exercises, hoping he could help the boy get a natural rhythm back.
"I'm sorry," Nico apologized again, more strongly this time.
"I'm not mad, I promise. You're not in trouble," Bruce assured him. Nico's eyes slowly, finally, focused on him. He seemed to be making a conscious effort to breathe on his own, now. Bruce noticed that the last part of what he had said seemed to carry the most weight with his efforts to calm Nico down. Interesting. That seemed to suggest that Nico was afraid of being in trouble and of people being mad at him. He must have been abused, but not hit.
Obviously, there are many types of abuse, neglect, emotional, physical, sexual, etc. Just what had happened to him? He swore to himself that if it came to the worst... if Haden was responsible for this, 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. Bruce didn't dare look away from Nico who 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. For some reason, he seemed surprised to be given a drink. He glanced suspiciously at Alfred. Once the butler made no move to take the glass away, he downed it in a single gulp. Had he been starved or deprived? Nico finally seemed to remember where he was and he looked at each one of them individually with a faint blush on his cheeks.
After he looked at Bruce, his head dropped so that he was staring at his lap. He let out a long exhale, allowing him to then fill his lungs back up all the way and breathe normally. 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 ... bad memories." He said weakly.
"You don't need to apologize. Sometimes our bodies react to things without our consent. It's not your fault." Seeing that Nico was mostly back in the present, Bruce moved back around his desk again and sat down. Alfred remained in the room near the door but didn't comment. Nico wouldn't meet anyone's eyes.
"Do you know what just happened?" Bruce asked gently.
"I uh. Just remembered something my uh... father did a while back." Nico replied, being purposely vague. It wasn't like he could say he had dug up Persephone's flowerbed to summon the spirit of his dead mother, called the god of the Underworld a coward for not joining a war, and almost got incinerated. If they didn't accept his answer, he would have 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, if you know what it was. I don't want something like this to happen again." Nico relaxed somewhat.
Nico's mouth opened and closed as he searched 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--" he cut himself off, "my father was never... happy with me. He always liked my sister better, by his own admission. One day, I wouldn't stop pestering him about stories about my mother and he'd decided he'd had enough of my questions..." Nico trailed off. He really hoped they didn't make him explain. It sounded ridiculous to have had that massive of a breakdown over his father throwing a flower vase at the wall, which is about as close as he could be able to get to explaining the melted tree incident in mortal terms.
"Ok, so what about tonight reminded you of that? I need to know so I don't accidentally repeat them." Bruce pressed.
"Well, he said that we needed to talk and started lecturing me in a very controlled tone. He didn't stay that way for long and it devolved into shouting and breaking things." Of course, that wasn't exactly what had happened, but it suited his needs. The part about him forbidding Nico to ask about Maria was derived from Hades forbidding him from seeing her spirit which he figured was as close as he could get to explaining his disconnect from her in mortal terms. The threat of consequences hadn't been verbal like Nico had suggested, but it had been very clear at the time that the melted plant was a threat, a warning.
"Are those the only things that I need to know?"
"Yeah, it's just..." Nico physically shuddered. He didn't know why he had started to offer more information than he needed to, it just felt good to get it out there.
"What Nico? Take your time." Bruce pressed.
"I was 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 took me back to their warehouse. I think they were going to give me to their leader but my friends caused a distraction and I managed to escape before they could. Not a pleasant memory." He added, hoping that he hadn't overdone it. It was sort of a true event, just without the supernatural aspects. Exchange the gang members for monsters and their leader for Kronos and you just about had the picture.
++Nico++
Bruce's jaw and fists clenched and his eyes darkened. When Nico looked up he mistook Bruce's anger as being directed toward 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.
"I was a very persistent and annoying child, Insufferable would probably be the best word. My father warned me that I was pissing him off but I just couldn't shut my mouth." Nico said fiddling with his skull ring which he had taken off and was now rolling between his fingers.
"Nico, no matter what it was that you did, you did not deserve that. That was emotional abuse." Bruce pointed out sternly, not liking how Nico had simply accepted that it had been his own fault. Nico tried to think about Hades being put on trial for child abuse and the thought almost made him chuckle. Almost.
"Master Bruce is quite right Master Nico. Such treatment of a child, or anyone really. Is completely unacceptable." Alfred put in. Nico glanced behind him, having forgotten that the ninja butler was still there. Alfred gave him a look that almost seemed gentle, it was comforting.
Silence fell over the group. Luckily the silence only lasted for about a minute before Bruce spoke up again "Nico, I still would like to know about what happened tonight a few blocks down. Nico nodded and waved Bruce on. He'd gotten over the worst of the panic, he could answer a few questions.
"So, Batman said..." Nico had to hold back a snort as Bruce started to speak, "that you seemed to already know Poison Ivy as ah... Pam was it?"
Nico, who was regaining his confidence by the second, decided to play along. This was not the night that he revealed he had learned who Batman was, he really wasn't sure how Bruce would take that and his heart couldn't take any more conflict tonight.
"Yeah. She used to be Pamela Isely. 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, it seems," 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 when Tim left and had continued to be silent 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 hall side-stepping anyone he came across before entering his room and collapsing on his bed. He was out almost immediately. Little did he know, there had been a bat family meeting convened as soon as he left. The subject: him.
[For those who are rereaders, are you liking this version of Hades better? I've done a lot of healing since I first wrote this and I think it shows!]
[I have edited this again and I think I may finally be satisfied with it, for now!]