Demigod in Gotham

65) Kidnapping is Less Funny as the Victim

Nico had to admit that he enjoyed routine. He liked when he had a general guarantee that his weeks would look pretty similar. He patrolled with his family every other day, went to the mountain on Saturdays, and school every Friday. Every other week he would spend Monday and Tuesday at Camp Half Blood to teach some classes to the year rounders and to see Will. He liked his routine and it was pretty annoying when something came along to interrupt it.

For example, when he gets kidnapped by Slade. That throws a pretty big wrench in the routine.

He had been on a mission with the Senior members of the team, basically there to make sure Dick didn't get ambushed by his former groomer. They had been in Blüdhaven, staking out a known arms dealer that used to be affiliated with the light, when Nico felt Slade near. He had immediately warned the team from his location a few hundred yards away with Red Robin, but the man came and went fast. One second he was talking through his comm, the next he was unconscious.

Next thing he knew, he was waking up in a dark room, unable to move from the neck down. He heard movement next to him and turned to see Tim chained to the wall.

"Red Robin, you okay?" Nico whispered, his voice strained because of something he couldn't see that was secured uncomfortably around his neck.

Tim's eyes snapped him. "Oh thank god. I couldn't tell if you were breathing or not and I was getting worried. Plus, the blood didn't help you look more alive."

"Blood?"

Tim looked at him concerned. "You're bleeding. Nothing major on most of your body, but your neck is covered."

Nico stared at the ceiling from his place in the middle of the floor, trying to focus on what he could feel, but he couldn't. "I can't feel anything but my face and kind of my neck. There's a buzzing pain at the back of my neck, but I can't feel any cuts or anything."

The door swung open, damp, almost foggy, air filled the room as Deathstroke stepped in. "I had to make some alterations to the usual inhibitor collar so that it would work on demigod powers. Brain's paralyzing tech paired with some celestial bronze seems to have done the trick. Don't worry about the blood, that was just for some tests. It's nothing that a little ambrosia won't fix"

Nico's eyes widened as he stared at Slade, rage immediately filling him. "Who the fuck are you?"

Slade removed his mask and smirked down at Nico. "Calm yourself son of Hades, it's not every day you get to meet your cousin. Well, first cousin once removed."

Nico grit his teeth. "Let me guess, Ares?"

"Congratulations. You acknowledged my parentage faster than my own father ever did."

"What the fuck do you want from us?" Tim pulled on his chains but they didn't budge.

Slade looked over and glared at Tim. "Not everything is about you. I have no need for a bird. I would have left you behind if I didn't think you would be able to track down my location faster than the others. I needed some time with my dear cousin Nicodemo over here so that I could get some blood samples." The villan checked his watch. "Grayson should be here in the next five minutes if he hasn't lost his touch, so I'll be leaving now. But before I do, I can't let my reputation slip."

Nico watched as he pulled out a remote and clicked a button. Immediately the slight buzzing pain turned in to a burning electric pulses shooting through his body. He grit his teeth but a scream still managed to escape him. He knew that if the collar wasn't paralyzing him, then he would be thrashing on the ground, but instead he had to lay motionless while it felt like his nerve ending were being burnt off, which somehow made it worse.