From Camp Half-Blood to Gotham (Nico x Batfam)

The Plot Thickens, Then Spills (39)

Two months. It took two whole months for the Penguin to recover enough so that he could speak again.

The blow to his throat had caused extensive damage to the Penguin's voice box, larynx, and basically everything else in the general esophagus region.

Which Nico guessed was normal for a person who was stabbed in the throat, but still two months. He was about ready to see if nectar or ambrosia would work.

The two months had been nothing but agitated torture for Nico. His siblings had teased him nonstop about watching that stupid movie with Tim. Apparently, it was like some sort of right of passage for the Waynes. Which he found more than a little silly. Nico was pretty sure his adoptive family had finer taste in their motion films.

Nico had also been thinking about everything he should be doing. He should be trying to do something to try and stop Koios and his monster army, or at least trying to figure out what Koios' final plan was. Or he should be trying to do something about the clear threat that Koios being able to control people's minds posed.

"Come on." Bruce knocked on the door, a slight frown on his lips. Nico sighed and got out of his bed.

His adoptive father had been acting a little weird these past few weeks. It put Nico on edge, even more so than he already was. And Nico didn't need to be on edge any more than he already was.

"Do you think the Penguin will be able to give us useful information?" Nico asked, walking after Bruce as they made their way to the Batcave.

"I assume he will be able to. If he was as involved in the entire mess as he seemed to be, he will most likely have information we can use." Bruce replied simply, twisting the hands on the clock.

"Better question, do you think the Penguin will give us the information we want?" Nico hopped and slid down the pole after Bruce, who waited until they were both a few steps away from the base of the pole.

"The Penguin is a greedy man, but he is a man with some decency. I have checked up on him a few times, he recognizes that you saved his life even if you didn't have to." Nico frowned slightly, thinking about that. He never imagined a villain willingly giving him information about a world-dominating plan just because he saved their lives.

Tartarus, half the villains Nico fought, would kill him instantly if they ever saw him again, whether he saved their life or not.

"Is that why no one else is coming?" Nico asked, glancing around the cave. The rest of the bat boys' suits were still hanging in their respective glass cases.

"They will come later. They are all investigating a new lead about Deathstroke in Bludhaven." Bruce finally looked at him. Nico's frown deepened.

"Why wasn't I told of this?" He asked, reaching out to grab his own armor suit. Yes, he had gotten Leo to fix his helmet, and yes, Leo had fried him when he saw the damage. It had been a long 'scream at Nico' session while he fixed it.

"I knew you were going to insist on joining them and we needed you to be there when we interrogate the Penguin," Bruce answered, turning to face the glass case containing his Batsuit.

"You still could have told me." Nico huffed, shrugging until the breastplate was resting comfortably on his abdomen. "I would have understood."

"I know you would have but it was just a precaution." Nico grit his teeth, trying his best not to get angry.

He understood why Bruce didn't tell him, he really did, but he was just so angry. Not necessarily with Bruce, even if that was contributing to it, but he was angry at himself.