Demigod in Gotham

35) Baby's First Rant

Nico, despite being exhausted, barely slept. By the time he sat down for breakfast, he was ready to pass out on the table. Tim sat next to him and set down two coffee cups, one for himself and the other for his brother.

"There is creamer in the fridge if you want it, but you seem like the type of person to drink coffee black." Tim never even looked at him, too busy filling the cups from the pot in the center of the table.

Nico immediately took it after thanking him and downed half the cup. "How'd you know?"

"The black coffee part was just a guess, but I knew you needed it cause our rooms are across from each other. I was up all night and heard you muttering in Italian." Tim finished his first cup and immediately began filling it again, also topping off Nico's. "You okay?"

Nico shrugged. "I'll be fine, I just don't love the idea of being around people 'my own age'."

Tim laughed lightly. "The team is great. I've been with them since I was Robin and they're good people."

"I just don't have much luck with people liking me straight off the bat." Nico sipped his coffee, now drinking it as a slightly more normal pace. "It took Camp four years to not hate me and I helped win two wars."

Tim set down his mug and faced his brother. "Nico, you are gonna do great with them. We liked you immediately and we're pretty judgmental as a whole. Your camp was stupid to not want you around back then."

Nico nodded with a small smile before they both turned back to their coffees and watched their brothers and Bruce slowly trickle in.

"Tt- I see Drake has already corrupted you DiAngelo," Damian said as he took his place at the table. "I thought you were stronger than that."

"Shut up Demon." Jason yawned as he ruffled the youngest's hair.

"I've been drinking coffee since I was twelve Damian," Nico said with a blank face before high fiving Tim.

"We broke our 85 year old little brother." Dick dramatically fell into his chair. "He came to us so innocent and now he is drinking coffee and high fiving people. What's next? Dabbing?!"

Tim and Jason laughed while Damian and Nico shared a look, neither one knowing what a 'dab' was.

Bruce walked in last and took his seat, also looking like a zombie, so Nico just passed the coffee pot. The man just grunted his thanks and filled his cup. After finishing the glass he seemed to be somewhat more awake and began talking about what Nico was hoping he would have forgotten about.

"So, I already contacted Kaldur-ahm and let him know the situation. Though the senior members of the YJ team, along with most of the JL, know our identities, I have opted to keep Nico's a secret for now. I told them that you are a consultant with supernatural abilities that we have recently begun working with. The senior members of the team will be made aware of why you are going with Nightwing, but not the newer ones. I don't want to start a panic about Deathstroke."

Nico slouched in his seat. "What if he goes on a mission?"

Bruce hesitated before saying, "Aqualad has promised not to send Dick out unless it is necessary; however if that happens, then you will go too. I don't want you anywhere dangerous, just close enough to keep an eye out for Slade."

"What are you telling the rest of the team?" Dick had apparently calmed his annoyance over the situation the night before and now he was just in mission prep mode. "Do they know that he came from the cave with us or what?"

"According to them 'Ghost King' is a contractor for Batman and his team. He has undisclosed abilities from an unknown source. He is familiar with Nightwing and Red Robin but has only known them for a limited time. That's all they will know. The senior members will know the same plus the fact that his is there to keep an eye out for Slade."

"Weren't you against Nico becoming a vigilante," Jason said with a roll of his eyes. "Yet you're throwing him in with the team and actively using him to find Slade."

Nico could sense a fight coming and tried to stop it by saying, "Jason it's fi-"

Bruce didn't even hear him. "This is a different situation. Yes, I didn't want Nico to join us, but he made up his mind. Usually I would have waited to introduce him, but this is urgent. If Slade comes after Dick-"

"Then Nico will get caught in the cross fire," Jason fired back.

"He's not there to fight Slade, just give us a warning when he shows up. Nico can shadow travel away if he gets there."

Jason let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah, like he would even think about doing that. Have you met the kid? He schemed up a way to reinforce your secret identity while getting kidnapped by the Joker. Then, immediately after, went to his camp because he wanted to help the kids heal, even though he was seriously injured— which he is still not recovered from by the way."

"I'm fine," Nico said again, but neither of them were listening.

"What do you want me to do Jason? There are no good options. I can't order Dick to stay in cause he'll just disobey. I can't tell Nico not to be a vigilante cause he'll just find another way to do it." Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I can't protect Dick while Slade is out there. I can't find Slade without Nico. Nico won't leave a fight and Dick can't sit out of them. There are no other options."

Jason scoffed. "There are always other options—"

Dick seemed like he was about to cut in but Nico beat him to it as he stood from his seat. "Can you two stop it for one second and actually listen!"

Both of the fighting bats froze, looking at Nico with wide eyes.

"I am capable of making my own decisions. If I didn't want to help find Slade, not only would I have just not mentioned that I could do it, but also I would just say so." Nico was ranting, his accent becoming slightly stronger with each sentence. "I told you yesterday about my sister; how she chose people over parentage. That wasn't just about the gods, it was about this too. I made a decision because I wanted to help people, not because an oracle prophesied, or my father ordered me to, or because I felt guilty; I wanted to. I need you to trust that I will tell you if I don't want to do something."

"Nico," Bruce began to say.

"And you," Nico said as he turned his attention back to the older man. "You need to stop acting like you're the only one that knows what's going on. We all care about Dick. We all don't want me fighting Slade. All of you are slightly unhappy about my decision. Everyone knows what's going on, so stop acting like you are the only one to deal with it.

"I get it, you lost Jason and you thought it was your fault. I lost my sister and I blamed myself and others for years, and it didn't fix a single thing. If you try to protect us by leaving us out of the solution, it will only cause more problems. I love you all, but you really need to actually deal with all your emotional baggage instead of just dragging it with you into every situation."

Everyone was silent. Not like silent when it was just white noise and breathing. Silent. And then suddenly Nico was so aware of everything he just said. He opened his mouth to apologize, but when she saw the beaming face of Dick sitting across from him, he got a little confused.

Nico slowly sat back down in his seat as he said, "why are you looking at me like that Dick?"

"You said you love us," Damian said quietly, suppressing a small smile. "You've never said that before."

Nico instantly felt uncomfortable, not sure if they were the type of family that said that stuff (plus it probably didn't help that he said it at the end of a rant). He was about to probably stutter through an apology when his thoughts were interrupted.

"Color?" Bruce's voice was quiet, his tone unreadable.

Nico muttered quiet, "green," before being nearly tackled by Bruce in a hug. Dick immediately joined in, dragging Damian with him. Tim hesitated before joining, but not before he physically shoved Jason into the group hug as well.

Huh, Nico thought. I wonder if this is what a normal family feels like?

A/N: awwwwwwww he loooovvveeessss theeeeemm. Also he is going to meet the team.

Vote. Comment. Tell me who you think Nico will get along with best/worst on the team (I can't say otherwise it'll give away the plot).