Demigod in Gotham

43) FIVE NAMES?!

A/N: this one is short... idk what to tell ya

Nico woke up with a groan. His dreams had been a muddled mess of random memories and blurry images. He almost preferred demigod dreams to that kind because at least the prophetic ones were usually quick.

As Nico got to the dining room he repeated the same interaction with Tim as the day before. Both of them chugged their coffee in silence as the others filtered in.

"Another restless night?" Jason asked as he sat between Dick and Damian on the other side of the table. "We have sleep meds if you want them."

"Hard pass," the boy muttered between sips. "Meds and me don't mix well. Demigods have extremely fast metabolism so all it does is dull our senses and make us slower. It's a great way to even the playing field though, basically makes us mortal."

"I forget sometimes that you're half god. Like I know you're a half-blood, but the fact that that means you're part god is crazy." Tim poured his third cup of coffee before also refilling Nico's and continuing. "You're literally a demigod. Hercules, Achilles, Theseus, and Nico. All children of gods."

Nico let out a chuckle. "And those guys only fought in one war. I've got them lapped."

The table filled with laughter as Bruce walked into the room. He sat in his seat, Nico already passing him the coffee pot, before the man let out a chuckle. "I think I might have to separate you and Tim. I'm starting to see the same eye bags on you both."

Jason let out a snort. "The only members of the family who don't have eye bags are Damian's animals."

Nico finished his coffee, already pouring again. "Sleep deprivation is the least of my problems."

"And what is your main problem?"

Nico slumped in his chair. "I have to go back to the mount-teen today."

Jason and Damian let out a laugh at the name, while Dick just rolled his eyes. "They aren't that bad. Wally really likes you and apparently you impressed some of the newer members."

Nico rolled his eyes. "They were impressed because I translated a book title. A computer could have done the exact same thing."

Tim laughed. "Yes, but the computer didn't. You did. Plus, you're the reason we now have a lead. That gives you major cred."

"Aaaand you're technically not a bat yet, so you can do or say whatever you want," Jason said with an evil smirk.

Dick slapped Jay on the arm before looking at Nico. "Don't listen to Jay. He's just bitter he isn't allowed on the team."

Jason rolled his eyes. "First of all, been there, done that. Plus, I have my own team Dickhead."

"Tt- just because you have two friends, doesn't mean it's a team."

Jason glared at Damian. "Oh yeah? Then what are you and Jon?"

Damian just rolled his eyes. "That's different Todd; we have a team name."

"Mine does too. We're the Outlaws."

Tim snorted. "That isn't so much a name as it is just an adjective."

Jason looked like he was about to pounce on Tim from across the table when the doors burst open, revealing Steph and Cass.

"Ooooo are Jason and Tim about to murder eachother," Steph asked as she plopped down into the seat next to Damian. "I got fifty bucks on Jay."

"Hey!" Tim said offended.

Bruce just sighed. "No one is fighting. Jason, of course it's a real team. Damian unless you want to be grounded from the Super Sons for the next month, then stop picking fights. Tim and Dick, get going to the mountain. Nico will meet you there." After everyone nodded, shoving their last bites of food into their mouths, Bruce looked over to the two girls. "What brings you two here?"

Steph smiled and wrapped an arm around Cass's shoulder. "We heard that Nicholas here is on the team and we wanted to tag along for the day."

Before Bruce could even respond, Nico let out a laugh. "You think my name is Nicholas?"

The blonde just shrugged. "What else would it be?"

Damian cleared his throat, "I believe it is Niccolò. It's a popular Italian name."

Nico only laughed. "Nope. It's Nicodemo."

"What?" Everyone at the table, excluding Bruce, looked shocked. Most records just said Nico since he was pretty sure Hades had forgotten his full name when he was creating them.

Nico just shrugged, causally offering half his chocolate chip waffle into his mini fire plate thing. "My full name is Nicodemo Ermanno Mansueto DiAngelo-Wayne. You forget, but I was born in Fascist Italy to a Catholic mother. I literally could not have been named Nickolas."

Dick looked confused, forgetting that he was supposed to be getting ready for the mountain, and learned on the table. "What do you mean you couldn't be?"

Nico just sighed. "The American school system is just depressing. Under Mussolini, Italianization became a thing. It was basically forced cultural and ethnic assimilation. Among many things, it forced people to use the Italian version of everything. Non Italian stuff was banned in pop culture; for example, Louis Armstrong became Luigi Braccioforte. Nicholas is an English name, it would have been translated into Nicolò or Nicodemo either way."

Everyone just stared at him for a long moment before Tim broke the silence. "Damn. School really taught us nothing about that."

"Tt- you dropped out," Damian scoffed, though it was obvious that he didn't know that.

"You had two middle names and now you have two last names," Dick said with wide eyes. "We just made your life so much more annoying."

Nico chucked. "Ermanno Mansueto was my grandfathers name, it's easy to remember. Plus, I very rarely use my full name."

Cass just smiled at the boy. "Demo."

Nico gave a soft chuckle. "Sure."

A/N: A fun fact about me, I had a hyper fixation on researching fascist Italy a few months ago so I was so excited to include this in the book. Also, even though Middle names are now not a thing in Italy, it was considered strange to not have one in that time. I liked the way the names flowed so I picked them.

Vote. Comment. Tell me what you think of his full name (it's Nicodemo Ermanno Mansueto DiAngelo-Wayne, in case you forgot already).