Demigod in Gotham

31) Ooooooo Jason Cuuuuursed

A/N: fun fact, the lat chapter was exactly 1515 words, so it met my word goals... this one does not meet that goal.

Nico woke up to fighting, not Batman vs Joker, but Damian vs Bruce.

"- telling me that you're going to willingly ignore his wishes? He clearly stated-"

"Damian, he had just been tortured by the Joker, he might not have been-"

"Do not try to claim that DiAngelo was not of sound mind. He was able to save his own life by telling me how to treat his wounds."

"I understand that Damian, but he needs medicine or he will wake up in extreme pain."

"Tt- he was awake while I treated his wounds and barely made a sound. I do not think that-"

"He could have been in shock. Not to mention the adrenaline-"

Nico had enough of the bickering and attempted to sit up as he muttered, "ladies you're both pretty, now can someone disconnect me from these wires?"

Instantly all eyes snapped to him. Turned out, the whole family was in the cave, honorary and legal, and the others had just decided not to join in on the fight.

"Master Nico, you should not try to get up so soon after your ordeal. Master Damian would not allow us to give you any medicine to manage your pain while you were out." Alfred motioned for him to lay back down but didn't make any move to touch him when the boy refused the request; instead he just sighed and disconnected him from everything but the IV.

Nico looked at Damian with a slight smile. "Thank you. Both for listening to my request and advocating for me."

Damian just nodded before offering a hand to Nico as he got off the table. The boy took it, using it to steady himself as he got a small head rush from the movement. It was only then that Nico realized he was shirtless, the only thing covering his chest and back being the patches of bandages.

"Why are you getting up?" Bruce seemed a bit upset by the boy's refusal to stay lying down, but still moved the IV stand next to his son so he could use it as another support. "You need to rest."

"I need to be at the memorial."

Bruce sighed and stood in front of his newest ward. "I know it's important, but you almost died last night."

"Well a lot of people did die a year ago. I know that you don't get it, but I was the one who burnt their shrouds. I asked my father for their passage. I have to be there."

Dick stepped next to Bruce. "Nico, you won't get better if you don't get rest."

"And I can't rest, so I guess we're both disappointed. We didn't get to do this for the last war because we were still dealing with the second one. I have to go."

Duke stood from his set, probably to chime in, but Jason put a hand on his shoulder to stop him before stepping forward himself. "Look, I think we all know that even if you ban him, he's just going to go anyways. Plus, its not like you can stop him, he can teleport-"

"Wait, he can?" Steph had missed part of their debrief with the Batfam.

Jason rolled his eyes, not dignifying her comment with a response. "I think we should let him go. It's stupid and dangerous, but you heard what he said; they didn't get to do this with the last one. He wasn't able to morn a war because he was actively fighting another one. Do you hear how fucked up that is?" Usually Alfred would have scolded him for cursing, but everyone was deadly silent. "Kids died and Nico had to do a ceremony for every one of them. Let the kid mourn in fucking peace."

Jason and Nico shared a nod of understanding while everyone just silently waited for Bruce to say something.

"You can go," Bruce said with a sad sigh. "But if you spend the night there, you have to sleep in the informatory. And Will has to check you out."

Dick mumbled something under his breath before getting a subtle high five from Tim. Nico looked at them confused for a second before turning his attention back to Bruce and nodding.

"I can bring a change of clothes down if you would like Master Nico."

The boy smiled lightly at the butler. "Thank you, but that's unnecessary. I have spare clothes in my cabin that I can change into once I get there."

Alfred insisted on changing his bandages before he left, but they all said a quick goodbye after and then he was gone into the shadows.

A/N: I love how I literally just said that I aimed for 1500 words for chapters and this one is like 800. Well, it is what it is.

A/N2: I just want to say that I love seeing what reading lists you put this book on, it always makes me laugh

Vote. Comment. Tell me your least favorite Nico or Batfam trope (mine is when they make Bruce like a terrible person. I get it, but I still hate it).