Demigod in Gotham

73) Calm Yourself, Angst Lord

-Dick POV-

Dick stared at the floor where Nico had been standing a moment ago. The room was deadly quiet. The team was too shocked to speak, but the Waynes just didn't know what to say.

"Should one of us go after him?" Garf's quiet voice said, breaking Dick out of his haze.

Dick cleared his throat before looking at the teen. "No, he needs space right now. He'd also probably be pretty hard to find right now. He rarely stays in Gotham when he's upset."

Bruce and Tim both silently left the room, their faces unreadable. If Dick had to guess, they were probably going to the cave to block out the world for a while until they could process how to actually deal with what Nico said.

"I can try to find him. I might be able to single out his heart-"

Dick cut off Kon. "You won't be able to. He most likely went to see his family and you can't track him there."

"Is he..." Garf's voice trailed off. "Is he coming back?"

Dick smiled lightly at him. "Yeah, he will... just maybe not for this weekend. I promise he'll be back to the mountain soon."

Kaldur cleared his threat. "Let us return to the movie room."

Everyone filed out of the room until it was just Wally and Dick left.

"Look, Walls, I don't want to-"

Wally cut him off by putting a hand up, silencing him as he listened for the sound of the movie room's door closing. Once he heard it, Wally looked at him— face serious. "Demo is Nico, isn't he."

Dick's eyes widened. "How did-"

"I've known since the day he fought Cass. When they were signing, they were using the names she made for your family. She taught me a few years back and then taught me Nico's too after he was adopted." Wally ran a hand through his hair as he nodded for Dick to follow him. "I chose not to say anything cause I thought that you guys had a reason not to tell anybody and I didn't wanna mess with it." 

They got to the library and Dick sat down heavily, putting his head in his hands. "Then why bring it up?"

Wally sat next to him and was quiet for a long moment. "I just... you need to let it out."

"Let what out?"

The speedster rolled his eyes. "Everything. The anger, the fear- everything that you can't say to anyone else because they either don't know about Nico, or they're your family."

"I don't need-" Dick started but Wally didn't let him continue.

"Bullshit. Bruce took in another kid who not only became a vigilante, but who is now being specifically targeted by Slade Wilson." Wally rested a hand on Dick's shoulder. "I might not know Nico all that well, but I know you. You don't yell, not unless it's a big deal."

Dick stared at his hands. "He's 14 and this isn't even close to the first time he's been targeted. He only came to the mountain because we thought Slade would come after me again and he could sense him coming... it's my fault that he's in this position."

Wally chuckled lightly at his Dick. "You're spending too much time with Jason; you've gotten angstier. Plus, you've completely off. Nico would have ended up at the mountain no matter what."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you kidding? It's Bruce. He has sent every Robin to the mountain except for Damian, and that's only because the kids with the Titans right now. Duke, Cass, and Steph might not be on the team, but they have helped out on more than a few missions." Wally shook his head with a smile. "Even then, Nico doesn't seem like the person to do something if he doesn't want to. He would have found his way to the team one way or another."

"He only knew Bruce because of a long line of events that started because I couldn't take down Penguin on my own-"

"But if that hadn't happened, then he might not have joined your family. You told me a few months before you found Nico that you guys didn't feel like a real family— that every interaction seemed loaded between everyone. Nico came along and made it complete."

"I know... but maybe it was better that way. Obviously I love Nico being in our family, but all we did was make his life harder."

Wally was silent for a moment and Dick began to assume that maybe the red head had realized that he was right... and then he got punch in the arm. Very hard.

"Dude what the hell!"

"I get that you're dealing with some shit right now and you want a reason for it to be all your fault, but don't lie and say you'd all be better off without Nico in the family." Wally stood up and faced Dick. "I know we joke around that Bruce will adopt any kid with black hair he finds, but that's not it. He takes in kids that he sees himself in. Bruce saw Nico and saw a kid who needs help— someone who had suffered more than anyone their age should. That's why he took in you, an orphan who watched his parents die. He took in Jason, the child of a junkie who had been homeless in Gotham at 12. Tim, a child genius whose parents severely neglected him. Damian, a child assassin who was raised as a living weapon.

"I don't know Nico's life story, but I would bet my life it wasn't great. I know bits and pieces, probably a mix of truth and cover stories, but even that stuff was no walk in the park. He just said that he was raised as a weapon. He called himself a soldier. I don't need to know the full story to see that he needs a family, one that will support him and stay unflinching about all the shit he's been through. That's you. The only people that that could be is you guys."

Dick was quiet for a while. He didn't know what to say because no matter how badly he wanted to say that Nico would be better off on his own, he knew it would be a lie. He could survive without them, but he wouldn't be better off.

"His biological dad tries," Dick said, not sure why he was talking about it, but saying it nonetheless. "He's distant and doesn't really know how to be a dad, but he tries. His sister, the full biological one, she died when he was 10 after they ran away from the military school they had been forced to go to. His mom died right after they got to the US. An apartment fire."

"He ran away when he was ten?"

Dick nodded slightly, just staring at his hands. "He was a missing person for a while. He went between being homeless and staying with family until about a year ago when he started staying with some other descendants full time. Then he became a DG and moved to Gotham."

"What happened with last team he was on? He mentioned it to Artemis a while back."

Dick smiled a little at the reference, knowing that by 'team', Nico meant army. "I can't say too much, but he and some others fought to save the world, twice. He's been through a lot— he's lost a lot."

Wally squatted down in front of him, grabbing his hands from his lap to make him look at the redhead. "And now he's gained a family. He said it himself, he didn't get to choose to be a fighter. He would be fighting one way or another right now, the only difference is that now he is fighting alongside his family." 

Dick stared at Wally, knowing that he was right, and felt himself crack a little bit. "I can't loose another brother."

Wally pulled Dick into his chest, hugging him tightly. "Then stop pushing him away and keeping secrets. That's what Bruce used to do to you after Jason died. You haven't lost him yet, so stop acting like he's already gone."

Dick held onto Wally like he was a lifeline as he fought off the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. "I just... I feel so useless. I should know how to handle Slade, but I can't do a thing. I couldn't even touch the stupid collar that was stabbing him." 

"That's the great thing about having a family though, you don't need to know how to handle everything. He told you about the metal, so you knew how to fix it. You got Cassie and he was okay."

Dick nodded slightly, but didn't say a thing. Yes, Nico was fine. He ended up with no permanent damage, but Kaldur and Will's words still echoed in his head.

A/N: I don't know if this counts as a filler chapter. Like... the plot is moving forward, but not really in a useful direction lmao.

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