[The story is in Nico's point of view with some awkward accidental switches in there because I suck. Also, I don't own any of the art you will see in this story.]

[Edited April 15, 2023]

Nico di Angelo had left Camp Halfblood using his preferred method, shadow travel. His intended destination had been DOA recording studios in Hollywood, a discreet and relatively unknown entrance to the Underworld. He needed a little time to himself away from people, dead or alive. Though, he couldn't really say he wanted to be with Hades either, the god was usually too busy to bother with him anyway. Thanatos never takes a holiday.

  When the demigod stepped out of the shadows he quickly realized that this wasn't where he had intended to land. For one thing, it still seemed to be late afternoon or early evening, while in California it would be closer to noon. The next tip-off was the people. California was a fairly sociable place, filled with people going about their lives. This city was decidedly anti-social. From his vantage point, he could see several cars on the road but there was little to no foot traffic.

  He couldn't tell where he was by his surroundings, it looked just like any other city to him. Though, there was something particularly unwelcoming about this city, and he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. Maybe he was in Manhattan? He hoped he was, at least then he could find Percy's house and get a chance to get his bearings.

  Something told him he wouldn't be that lucky. He'd been to Manhattan before. While New York wasn't exactly welcoming, it didn't feel as ominous as this place. Nico was starting to feel unnerved. It wasn't often that he found himself in a position where his instincts screamed danger but he could identify the threat.

As he stood, surveying the filth and the haze of the pollution-filled sky, it hit him. This city reeked of death-- more than any city he'd been to before. Where am I?

  The son of Hades crept out of the alley he had landed in, looking for something that could help him. Anything. A quick glance down the street revealed a gated cemetery. It was small, as far as cemeteries go, and it was tucked under an L-train track. It seemed to span about a block in any direction. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Nico didn't waste any time in making his way to the cemetery. This was almost a blessing as he knew he'd be able to protect himself surrounded by the dead. It was risky since cemeteries tended to attract strange types, but it was a risk he'd be willing to take. With no idea where he was, the cemetery was his best bet.

  Nico made sure the coast was clear before he climbed over the fence. He dropped to the ground on the other side with a soft thump. He looked around to see if there was a guard or something around before moving further into the cemetery. Based on the condition these graves were in, there hadn't been proper management for a long time. It was the sad truth about death. Eventually, everything crumbled back to dust and ended.

  The demigod couldn't help but feel like he was being punished in some way for trying to take a leave of absence. He had just gotten fed up with the tension at camp and had to get some space to think. Some space to figure out what was next for him. It was hard to think when you were aware of people watching you and whispering all the time. He felt like he hadn't talked to anyone except for Percy and Annabeth at camp and it hurt. He was surrounded by people and still so alone.

The campers had been interested in him at one point, but the amazement of the Titan War was long gone.  Everyone was slowly forgetting how he had convinced his father to join the battle and, consequently, saved the day. Once the dust had settled, things went back to the way they had always been around other demigods, at least for him.

It wasn't like he had expected to be worshipped, but he also hadn't expected them to go back to avoiding him completely, either. In retrospect, he should have known that nothing had actually changed about his status among them. He was Percy's weirdo cousin, the displaced son of the dead, none of that guaranteed their respect, only their tolerance.

   He guessed they remembered how he could reanimate corpses and speak to the dead. Or maybe, if they were old enough, they still remembered him as the annoying little kid he had been when Bianca left him behind. Then there were his powers. Powers that were taboo in hundreds of cultures all across history. He couldn't blame them for wanting to keep their distance.

  They always tolerated the child of death when Percy and Annabeth were around, but only just. Those two were his only friends at camp, but they preferred each other's company over anyone else's, so Nico got left behind. Objectively, he knew they weren't avoiding him, but the distance still hurt.

When it got to the point that Nico couldn't take the feeling of abandonment he decided that it was better to be alone. After all, he had done well for himself in the past. There was no reason he couldn't do it again.

  Well, Minos barely counted. The son of Hades had been young and impressionable, easily manipulated by grief and anger. He'd done everything Minos asked of him for a promise to save his sister. He'd even, unknowingly, helped him with his scheme to exchange a soul for a soul and finally get revenge on Daedalus. The only thing he'd gotten from Minos was trust issues and a cool sword.

  As he walked through this dark, unkempt cemetery Nico felt strangely drained. He didn't know how far he had traveled, but it had really taken a lot out of him. I felt as though each limb weighed twice as much as it normally did so it was taking twice the effort to do anything. He'd have to find somewhere safe to rest for a while before he tried to shadow travel again.

  He had no idea how many jumps he could make in a row before it was too much, but he wasn't eager to find out. Nico took out a square of ambrosia and bit off the corner. It tasted like his mother's homemade apple pie, with heavy cream mixed in with the apples. The perfect recipe. He couldn't remember much about his mother, but he did remember that.

  As he looked at the writings on the gravestones, a flash of fear went through him. He stumbled up to the nearest grave and tried to decipher the inscriptions. His dyslexia made it almost impossible to read what was on the stones, especially with so little light. Not only was the sky cloudy, but the shadow of the elevated train platform darkened the field even more.

  Oh crap! Did I land in China?! I examined the nearest tombstone. Luckily, the writing on the stone seemed to use a Phoenician Alphabet. That was about all he could tell from the writings, due to his dyslexia.

"Ok, so not China." He muttered under his breath as he sat in front of the grave. That was a relief. He put his head on his knees to try and suppress the incoming headache from the failed shadow jump. He took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do.  He went through the survival checklist of what he had to work with. He didn't have much.

  He didn't know where he was, he had nowhere to stay for the night, and he didn't have money to pay for a hotel or send an Iris Message. Spending the night in the cemetery didn't sound all that appealing but he figured that he'd have to make do.
He'd look around in the morning and see where he was and whether or not he could shadow travel home.

Nico didn't really know how long he just sat there in that position, but eventually, the silence and the heat of the day made it hard for him to stay awake. In an effort to not fall asleep, he moved back into the shadows of the building that he now realized was an ancient mausoleum.  He was going to try to figure out where he was, but he eventually drifted off before he could gather up the motivation to move.

  He fell asleep feeling safe being in the center of his element. Yes, cemeteries brought in weirdos, but someone would be crazy to attack the Ghost King, in a cemetery. If they did, he'd be ready for them.

Late that night, he was awoken by the sounds of receding footsteps, whispering, and of shovels cutting through dirt. The weirdos were out.

For some reason, the demigod felt an indescribable amount of rage. The rage helped to wake him up and, when he was able to think properly, he could recognize that these emotions were not his own. Though that left him to wonder whose feelings they were.

After a couple more minutes of trying to find the source of the signals with his powers, he could tell that the feelings were from a spirit whose grave had just been disturbed. The woman, Mavery Johnson, was giving the people who stood by her grave an ear full. Not that they could hear her.

Mavery was going on and on about how the men were going to go to hell in a handbasket and that their parents should've tanned their hides more often when they were kids. Her screeching voice was enough to make him want to gouge out his own eardrums. He decided to make it his personal goal to somehow get her to shut up.

Before Nico could make a move toward the grave robbers a dark and foreboding voice called out to them.

  "Haven't you ever heard of letting the dead rest in peace?" The man said in a not-so-questioning tone. His voice was deep and commanded your attention. It was the kind of voice that made you stop whatever you were doing and listen. That's exactly what the demigod did.

  From his place by the mausoleum, he couldn't see the speaker. Nico took the risk of moving into a standing position, finding it difficult as all of his muscles were stiff from disuse and the cold night on the ground. It hadn't been his intention to fall asleep but hey... with great power, comes the need to take a nap.

By the time he'd gotten to his feet, the braver of the two robbers had started to speak, "...man I-I don't think they will miss it none, being dead and all that." He said shakily. As he was shifting, he had missed the first part of the first word, but he figured it didn't matter too much.

As the robber spoke, the souls of Mrs. Mavery called him every curse word she knew. She called him a sissy, a no-good thief, a coward, and a couple of other things that would make all the modern-day teenagers laugh hysterically. Though he was no modern teenager and in my opinion, she had given it right to 'em. It was unfortunate that they would never know.

"Put it all back and fill up that hole or I can rough you up a little bit and drop you in front of the GCPD. Your choice." The foreboding voice responded, unimpressed. Really, an ultimatum? Not even an interesting one at that. Whoever this guy was, he didn't seem overly scary to him, just some dude in the shadows.

  "Deal!" The first thief said again. The next thing that was heard was shovels working furiously to replace the disturbed soil. Nico felt the soul of Mrs. Mavery thanking someone she called The Caped Crusader before her spirit returned its consciousness back to the underworld. He couldn't help but wonder who would call themselves a Caped Crusader. It sounded a little lame to him.

   Nico hadn't heard the Caped Crusader leave, but he could hear the two men talking in hushed tones so he assumed that he had gone. Too bad, he'd been interested in catching a glimpse of this mystery man. The son of Hades briefly wondered if he actually did wear a cape. Then his mind went off on its own little tangent about how annoying it must be to wear a cape.

By this time the demigod was thoroughly frozen and he wanted to warm up. He still hadn't the slightest clue of where he was and he knew he would have to go into the death-soaked city to find answers. Nico, with his great judgment, decided to take a walk through town. Had he known just where he had landed, he would've reconsidered.

  Nico snuck his way around the grave robbers toward the edge of the cemetery, looking for the way out. He pulled his aviator jacket close to his body and shivered, he was hardly ever warm, even in summer. It was almost as if his body didn't produce heat. When people felt his cold skin, they usually figured that he didn't feel the cold. It was actually just the opposite.

The Apollo campers told him that it was because he didn't eat enough but Nico wasn't too sure. He could put away several happy meals in one sitting and then go a week with nothing. Perhaps he had an eating disorder, or perhaps not. He didn't really care too much. When you fended for yourself, you ate when you could.

   Nico trudged, shivering, to the front gate where he quickly and skillfully hauled himself over the fence, landing on the other side without much fanfare. Choosing a direction at random, he continued his exploration of the city, finding it odd how little foot traffic there was, even at this hour. Definitely not California or New York, then.

  Nico traveled down several separate streets, changing directions on a whim. As he walked, he began to get the feeling that someone was watching him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and his heart started to race. He forced himself to keep his breathing even.

The adrenalin kicked in and his senses went on overdrive. He couldn't hear anything or sense another person nearby, but he had been through enough scrapes to trust his instincts. Being a demigod child of a powerful god, he naturally assumed that it was a monster of some sort.

   He quickened his pace and kept his hands in his pockets, where he kept his backup weapon, a 6-inch Stygian iron dagger, disguised as a tourist-minted coin with the Roman Colosseum engraved on the front. If anyone were to see it, they would merely think that he'd been to Italy. He held the coin firmly in his palm, waiting for something to jump out at him at any moment. A sword wouldn't be of much use in such closed quarters anyway.

   Then he passed a shop on the corner that read Downtown Gotham Post in big bold letters. That's when he got a sinking feeling in his stomach. He was stranded in the worst city in America, with someone stalking him. With his luck, it could be Scarecrow or even the Joker. He just hoped that it wasn't the Riddler, he would be dead before he could figure out the answer to anything he asked.

   Nico clung closer to the buildings, hoping that the shadows would help to hide him. He knew it would help all that much since they had already spotted him, there wasn't a way to hide now unless he managed to lose them first. He kept moving, not really knowing what else to do. Every once in a while he would pull his coat around himself or sneeze. If he stayed out too much longer, he was liable to catch a cold.

  Every once in a while he would try to catch a glimpse of his stalker in a reflection on a store's window or the side of a car with no luck. He was sure there was someone there, but clearly, they were keeping their distance. That was a scary thought.

  The demigod walked another block. At the end of this street, there was one of Gotham's banks, right across from a run-down drug/convenience store. Right before he reached the end of the street, the alarms in the bank went off and a group of 3 dudes wearing a lot of face makeup ran out into the street.

  It only took him one glance to know that these were some of the Joker's lackeys. He started to back into the small space between the bank and the apartment complex, but as fate would have it, he stepped on a beer can with a loud crunch. He looked sharply toward the Joker's goons to see if they had heard it. Unfortunately, they had and were starting to walk towards him slowly, in a threatening manner. They didn't have anything in their hands so he guessed their robbery hadn't been successful.

He hoped they weren't looking to take their anger out because they were fairly large people with more muscle than him. They were all tall, 2 of the 3 were beefy and the third was slim, but he looked odd, with a lot of muscle in his shoulders and virtually none in his legs. He made for an odd sight, though Nico didn't stay to ponder it for long.

   He wasn't about to stay and try for a diplomatic solution, he turned and ran back the way he came just as fast as he could. Could he beat these guys? Sure! You know, if he had a weapon that worked on mortals and he hadn't recently made a failed shadow jump. The demigod cursed himself over and over again for landing in such a foul place as he ran through the relatively quiet streets of Gotham City.

   Nico took turn after turn at top speed, the thugs slowly falling further and further behind. He prayed silently to every god and goddess he could think of to help him escape. He must've offended someone because the next corner he took led him to a dead end. He pivoted on his heels to go the other way but the thugs hadn't been as far back as he had thought and had blocked his escape. He had trapped himself.

   Nico backed up until his back had nearly hit the wall. He wasn't a match for 3 beefy goons with weapons, and he knew it. The son of Hades was about to get mugged and the thought made him really angry. He had survived so much in the past year and now he was going to be beaten and/or killed by a bunch of mortals. The shadows swelled around him so subtly that he almost didn't notice. Almost.

   Nico gritted his teeth as he sized up the men in front of him and shivered, mostly from the cold and excess adrenaline. He was scared, though he would never admit it. Mortals were u monsters. With Greek monsters, he could guarantee that they would immediately go in for a kill. To them, he was lunch, not a punching bag.

Mortals, on the other hand, were unpredictable. Some would have killed him quickly without any fanfare. Others enjoyed the process  If he was especially low on luck, these men might decide to take their time. People were sometimes the worst monsters of all.

"So kid, what is a little boy like you doing out alone in Gotham? Don't you know that it isn't safe?" Said...Charlie. For some reason, the thug seemed like a Charlie. He had no other way of identifying them so he stuck with the nickname.

"No one mentioned it." He replied, deadpan. He looked for an opening but they'd spread themselves out across the width of the alley. If he wanted out, he'd have to get within their reach. That wasn't a smart move.

   "Well, consider this a free lesson in Gotham street smarts." The next guy, maybe a Kevin said. He and the other two guys started to move closer. Nico braced himself against the wall, this was the end.

   He was unprepared when the first blow came to his side. The third thug's meaty paw caught him squarely in his solar plexus, effectively knocking the wind out of him. He collapsed onto all fours with a groan. He clutched his ribs, trying to protect them, and waited for another hit. Instead of a blow, like he was expecting, he heard one of the thugs grunt and fall to the ground.

   Nico peeked over to see that it was the unnamed thug that fell. There was something smooth and metallic sticking out of his neck. Both Charlie and Kevin were looking toward the rooftop behind him. Their faces had gone from taunting to angry. They knew who it was on the roof, and they weren't happy about it. Luckily this meant that all of their attention had shifted away from Nico.

The demigod took that chance to duck into the corner with the most shadows. Just as he had, a bright light clicked on and shone directly in Kevin and Charlie's faces. It momentarily blinded them and made the corner he had tucked himself into seem even darker.

  Nico pressed his back against the wall to wait and see what would happen. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. A dark figure leaped off the roof and kicked Charlie in the side of the head. Charlie stumbled and fell, hitting his head hard on the ground as he went down. Kevin ran at the man in a cape with a small pocket knife out. That seemed like a poor choice of weapon, but it didn't seem to discourage the thug.

Mr. Cape knocked the blade out of Kevin's hands in all of two seconds then elbowed him in the side of the head, effectively knocking him out.  Nico gave the oddly attired man a once-over, then decided that this was probably the Caped Crusader that Mavery Johnson was talking about. So, this is the Batman then?

  "Are you ok?" Batman asked, turning to look at the younger boy, who was still in the corner. Nico slowly stood up from his position and pressed his back against the wall. He was in unfamiliar territory. All of his instincts were shouting at him that he was still in danger and that this man in front of him was still a possible threat.

  "Yeah, I'm ok." He confirmed, prodding his abdomen to make sure. Nothing hurt too badly and he could breathe well enough so he figured he was fine. He'd take ambrosia later if the pain got worse.

  "Who are you and what are you doing wandering the streets by yourself?" Batman squared his shoulders with him.

  "You were following me?" Nico realized. The thought made his blood run cold.

  "I asked you first."

  "I don't have to answer you," Nico said defensively. Batman didn't seem to like that response, glaring at the teen, who shifted uncomfortably. Nico wanted to distance himself from this man. He wasn't a match if he decided to strike. Plus, he had no way out other than past him. As it was, he appeared to be at his mercy.

  "Where are your parents? Why aren't you at home?" The vigilante in front of him moved on as though he hadn't spoken. Nico didn't reply for a few moments, pondering on what to say. There was no right answer to this, and he knew it. He could lie and say they were alive and that one of them wasn't a Greek deity but then Batman would likely want to know why he wasn't with them. It'd start a snowball effect of lies and he didn't have the energy for that.

   "It doesn't matter." The demigod finally said angrily. Batman seemed surprised at his hostility and that he wasn't afraid of him.

  "It does matter," Batman replied unemotionally. "If you're not safe at home I can get you some help. If you are homeless or don't have parents, I can set you up at a shelter or an orphanage. You can't just wander the city." He got right to the point, which didn't quite track with the theatricality that Nico had come to expect. The bluntness of the statement caught him off guard and he found himself responding emotionally.

  "That isn't any of your business, now is it?" He asked heatedly. His life was his own concern. Why did he get involved with all the crime and stuff on the streets?

  "Gotham is my city, that makes it my business." Nico just laughed incredulously. The man thought he owned the entire city.

  "Just leave me alone alright? I have everything taken care of." The son of Hades huffed, moving to leave the alley.

  "Yes, you proved that quite well a couple of minutes ago." Batman retorted. That made the son of Hades angry. This man in a bat suit had no right to criticize him, he had no idea how well he could actually take care of himself when he was fully operational.

  Instead of retorting, he stiffened. Batman waited silently for a response but Nico just resumed his course. He wasn't going to be baited into revealing something that this man could use against him. Nico edged around Batman and then walked swiftly in the opposite direction of the vigilante, trying to put as much distance between them as he could. Surprisingly Batman didn't even try to stop him. It seemed that he wasn't as trapped as he had thought.

  Nico walked for a few hours longer before someone else decided to interrupt his peaceful and freezing walk. He had gotten lost in his own thoughts and accidentally started out into the street without realizing that a car was already headed his way. Before he could step off the curb, someone grabbed the collar of his aviator jacket and pulled him back out of harm's way.

  "Wha--?" Nico asked intelligently as the car passed by uneventfully.

  "You need to be more careful." A stern voice came from behind him. Nico whirled around to find a middle-aged man in a nice suit standing there.

  "Yeah. Sorry." Nico replied, flustered. That would have been a spectacularly embarrassing way to die.

  "Are you ok?"

  "I'm fine. Just confused, I guess." Nico didn't know why he was still talking. The crosswalk sign had lit up but neither of them crossed.

  "You don't look too good, kid. Do you need any help?" That set the alarm bells back in motion. This was still Gotham, danger came in all forms.

  "I said I'm fine."

  "Do you need a counselor? Do I need to call a hotline?" Nico blinked.

  "A hotline?" The man gestured vaguely towards the street. Nico didn't know what a hotline was, but he figured he was talking about therapy. His face got red.

  "That wasn't-- I wasn't trying to-- no!" He stammered. The man held up his free hand in surrender. The other one clutched a coffee cup.

  "Good." The other man replied lightly. "Do you need a lift or anything? You look like you're freezing." Nico eyed him, trying to guess what his angle was. What did he want from him?

  "No, thanks."

  "Look, I understand your suspicion.  I know what this must look like, but I'm really trying to help you. You look like you're going to fall over any minute. Let me at least drop you somewhere. A hospital maybe? I wouldn't feel right just leaving you here." A car pulled up to the curb beside them. The man moved to open the back door, still watching Nico. His eyes seemed to hold genuine concern, though Nico couldn't understand why.

"I don't even know you."

"Oh! Right. My name is Bruce Wayne CEO of Wayne Enterprises." Nico stared, not knowing how else to turn down the offer. He knew he needed help, and the prospect of a warm car was appealing, but he didn't know this man. Now he knew his name, but he wasn't sure that helped. He didn't feel threatened, but he'd been fooled before.

  "Or you can use my phone to call your parents to come to get you if you would prefer. I don't mind. The man pulled out a smartphone and held it out to him. Nico stared at it apprehensively. Even if he could figure out how to operate the device and then remember a phone number, there was the problem that phones attracted monsters.
 
"Uh, no it's ok." 

"Really? Are your parents nearby then?" He asked looking around as though searching for a legal guardian.

"I think they went to the drugstore, they should be home in a little bit, I live just down the street." Nico lied, seeing an opening. Mr. Wayne looked at him with that face that says 'I know you're lying.

  "I have three boys at home. I've gotten good at picking out a lie." Bruce took a sip of his coffee as Nico's stomach dropped.

"You're not with your parents, are you?" He asked with sympathy in his eyes. There was nothing left to say so Nico didn't reply but Bruce took his silence as an answer.

  "Are they..." he trailed off. Nico looked away, knowing he meant dead.

  "My condolences." The air was thick between them.

  "I can take you to a shelter or an orphanage if you need it. It's better than being homeless in this kind of weather. You're not even dressed for it. Don't you know it's the rainy season?" Nico didn't reply but Bruce didn't wait for one.

  "Two of my boys are adopted, you know. I could pull some strings and get you placed with me as an emergency foster placement as soon as this evening, though the official paperwork likely won't go through for a few months." Nico opened and closed his mouth like a fish. This had taken a turn he hadn't expected.

"What makes you think I want to be fostered?" Nico shoved his freezing hands deep into his pockets. Now that he wasn't moving, the rain-soaked breeze was really biting.

  "Call it a hunch."

  "A hunch," Nico echoed, "and what makes you think you'd want me? You know nothing about me."

  "I know you need help. Do I need to know anything else?"

  "Probably?" he returned, incredulous.

"I'm willing to get it all figured out if you are." Mr. Wayne seemed utterly convinced of this. Nico was taken aback by his confidence.

  "You're not going to leave until I agree, are you?" Nico shifted his weight and glanced at the driver for the first time. It was an older man in a nice suit. It was less formal than Bruce's but still nice.

  "Until you agree to do something other than wander the streets aimlessly." Bruce agreed. Nico considered the man carefully. He seemed just like any other person. Nothing about him screamed danger and he hadn't said anything to make Nico believe he was a monster in disguise. With his height and build, Nico would be able to defend himself if need be. If he was a monster, Nico would just dispatch him with his knife.

"Come on, it's not like you have somewhere else to go." It was true. The people at camp didn't want him around and he was getting tired of not knowing where he would sleep next or where he would get his next meal.

  He stood there staring at Mr. Wayne for at least a minute, just trying to come up with a reason to say no. He couldn't, and that surprised him.

He thought through the pros and cons. He would have a place to sleep but not as much privacy. He'd get food to eat, but less freedom to go places on a whim. He'd always know that he would have a place where he could go where people will at least accept him, or go to a place full of people like him that were indifferent. He made up his mind

"Ok... but at the first sign that you have bad intentions, I'm bailing," Nico warned.

"That's more than fair. Are you wanting a lift to someplace warm or something more permanent?" Bruce stepped back from the door, allowing Nico to slide inside. It was at least 5 degrees warmer in the car.

  "I'm tired of wandering," Nico replied.

  "Alfred, take us to the social worker's office."