Gotham's Ghost King

6: Tough Night

PREV- "It's not like you didn't push it either." Damian countered.

"Alright quiet." Bruce said.

Sigh. "Let's just go on with patrol."

The 5 of them soon left from the manor into the night.

Nico who had been sitting on the window shifted into a more comfortable position. He had been sitting there for hours. Enough for the bat family to be back from patrol.

Nico closed his eyes and managed to fall asleep. He could have hoped for a dreamless night, but clearly the fates weren't giving. He started frowning and sweating. Footsteps could be heard shortly after.

Dick had opened the door as quietly as possible with Bruce behind him. What they saw was a very tired looking Nico leaning on pillows in the window bed. His bandage covered arm hanging off.

Nico had taken his jacket of prior to sitting on the window forgetting the bandages. They had walked in the room a little.

"He looks so tired even though he's sleeping." Dick whispered to Bruce.

Normal humans wouldn't have been able to hear it, but the rest of the bats weren't normal, and Nico wasn't human.

Bruce didn't answer. Not getting an answer Dick looked towards Bruce and saw him intently staring at something. Dick followed Bruce's eyes onto Nico's arms. His eyes widened.

'A-Are those bandages covering s-self-inflicted marks?!' Dick thought.

Normal people don't wear bandages covering their arms so obviously Dick and Bruce had misunderstood the bandages but not by much. He was covering up marks, just not all self-inflicted.

A sad look formed on Dick's face. Although he hadn't been with Nico for more than a few hours as Nightwing and a bit as Dick, he still felt hurt.

'How bad was his life?' Was what Dick was asking himself.

Bruce approached Nico and carefully caried him to the bed. Ever since being stuck in a vase, Nico had become a light sleeper no matter how long he was asleep.

Nico turned slightly before, siting straight up and breathing heavily.

"Hey, calm down. You, ok? Did I wake you up?" Bruce whispered.

Nico took some breaths to calm himself before answering Bruce, "I-I'm alright. And I'm a very light sleeper, so don't worry about it."

Nico saw a gloomy looking Dick and a calm looking Bruce.

"Did something happen?" Nico asked gesturing to Dick.

"Um" Dick wasn't sure how or what to ask.

Nico saw Dick eyeing his arms. He looked down as well.

'I'm doomed.' He thought.

He had taken off his jacket forgetting his arms.

'How do I explain this?! They'll feel disgusted at me!' Nico was panicking.

Bruce noticing Nico's breath speeding up said, "You don't have to say anything. Take your time."

Dick looked at Bruce before nodding.

'At his own time.' Dick reminded himself.

"Go back to bed. It's only 2." Bruce suggested.

"I can try" Nico said.

Dick and Bruce had left the room. Nico would not be able to go back to bed. Not with all his insecurities in his head, telling him they would discard him the moment they knew.

Nico walked to the bathroom, this time not avoiding the mirror. He looked dangerously pale. He had eyebags under his eyes and looked dead.

He took off his shirt. The bandages went all the way up to his shoulders. There were bandages wrapped around his waist and wrapped on his neck near his collar. The collar bandages weren't as visible. But he noticed something. They were only covering the worst of his scars. All the other scars were clearly visible against his skin. The color of the scars and his skin contradicted, making them even more visible.

He put on his shirt and turned away he couldn't look at himself. If he couldn't, how can they? He walked out the bathroom to the window. He opened the blinds and the window. A small breeze came in. He positioned himself to jump out.

'Oh, my jacket!' Nico thought.

As Nico turned to get his jacket, he lost his footing.

Nico tried not to make noise as he fell. Luckily, he was only on the second floor and landed with ease. He walked into the maze not making a sound. The leaves under him didn't crunch, it was as if nothing was walking over them. In a few minutes he was under the tree he saw from his room.

Nico climbed the tree with ease and found a comfortable spot near the top. From far you wouldn't be able to see him.

'What about my powers? Do they even have nectar or ambrosia? I can't just tell them, or the oath will come into place. They must figure it out by themselves. Should I give hints? What if they hate me after that?' Nico's worries filled his head as he felt even more tired.

"A soul has escaped my prison. You don't happen to be involved do you?" Hades asked in a clearly mad voice.

ACK! Nico's head started hurting so much.

"No. I-I don't have anything to do with that." Nico responded.

"It'd be wise of you to not be involved. I won't let it pass like I did with your sister." Hades said.

"I know. I still thank you for that time."

"Also, Nico"

"Yes, father?"

"Your secret is not something you should be letting mortals know. Remember your oath. Break it and something worst then death awaits. I won't be able to help you if that happens." Hades warned.

Blood started dripping from Nico's nose.

"I understand." Nico answered ignoring the blood.

Hades left Nico's head and the pain got worse. Nico laid down and passed out from exhaustion, blood still flowing.

(A/N Its 1:45 am T-T Its a Wednesday too)