[June 27th]

After breakfast, Bruce placed that call to the commissioner. He wasn't looking forward to it, though he knew that this was a necessary evil. If he didn't hold the press conference he would look negligent at best, and guilty at worst. With the piranhas at his door already, he couldn't afford to look like he was slacking off on the investigation in the public eye. None of them knew how many hours he was putting into it under the cowl.

"Commissioner Gordon." Bruce greeted the older man in the same manner he had since he was old enough to be making the calls to him without Alfred's assistance. That is to say, with polite deference. 

"Mr. Wayne. It's good to hear from you, though I hate the reason."

"Me too. Alfred mentioned something about you wanting to set up another press conference?" Bruce tried to keep his misgivings out of his voice.

"Yes, I think that you still have the public's sympathy and you need to play off of it for as long as you can. He can't have disappeared into thin air, so someone in Gotham has to know something. Now we just have to convince them to come forward." His argument made sense, considering that he knew nothing about Nico or his heritage. Nico had just disappeared into thin air.

"If you think it will help." Bruce agreed reluctantly.

"I do. You can't give up on him Mr. Wayne. Nico is a fighter. You can't count him out of this rat race just yet." Gordon soothed. 

"I'm trying. It's just... it's been all this time and we haven't heard anything from anyone. Absolutely no leads. Nico has done this sort of thing before, hasn't he? What if he just doesn't want to be found?" Bruce hated to suggest it, but he felt that it would have been an appropriate question given Nico's history of disappearing and running away. 

"He can't stay a ghost forever. If he's out there hiding, he'll resurface eventually. We just need to keep looking and poking around. Please say you'll be at the press conference." Bruce hesitated, seeming to consider it, though he had already decided before placing the call that he would be there.

"What time?" Though Bruce hadn't committed to anything, Gordon's voice sounded relieved when he replied.

"Six PM. It'll be broadcast all across the country. If someone out there knows something, this should get us answers." 

"I'll plan on being there," Bruce relented. "Thank you, commissioner, I really appreciate everything you've been doing for us throughout this nightmare."

"Just doing my job, Mr. Wayne." Though it was a cold sentiment, Bruce could hear the warmth in the older man's voice. It bordered on pride without quite taking the leap. Bruce hung up and sighed heavily. 

"You're going to do another press conference?" A voice asked from down the hall. Bruce's head jerked in that direction and he saw Dick hovering in the doorway to his office. In his haste, he hadn't closed it. 

"Yes, this evening," Bruce admitted, "Commissioner Gordon thinks that we still have the chance to use the public's sympathy to our advantage."

"It's not going to do anything. Gotham PD is just going to get a lot of fake tips and some wild goose chases." Dick muttered tiredly. Bruce eyed his oldest uncomfortably. He wasn't the one he usually expected to have a defeatist attitude.

"Dick--"

"I know. I know... we have to keep up appearances." The boy fell into one of the armchairs in front of Bruce's desk. "I'm so tired of keeping up appearances."

"What would you have me do instead?" Bruce leaned back in his chair. He had little patience for this sort of behavior, though he was trying to let Dick express himself. The question only seemed to make the younger more irritated.

"I don't know! Go be Batman full-time like you used to! Let me drop off the face of the earth for a while and go and track down the leads myself! Let me do more than watch over Gotham or scan over CCTV footage! Something! Anything!" Dick was on his feet again by the end of his rant, pacing the room, agitated. 

"Dick, you're just frustrated. You know why I can't just let you do that. Besides, what will that do? Nico isn't going to be just out in the open." 

"I know! God--" Dick cut himself off and took a breath, "I know. I just feel... so useless."

"I know you do. We all do. All of us wish we could just be out there in the field looking for him or knowing that all we have to do is punch a few thugs in the face and then we'd be able to bring Nico home. Believe me, we all wish that were the case. It just... it isn't. He's out of our reach and we're all trying to cope." Bruce soothed. Dick found his seat again and curled up into it like he had when he was the only boy in the manor and he was waiting for Bruce to finish his work so he could tuck him in. Some days Bruce missed that simplicity.

"Do you-" Bruce started tentatively, "Do you think you would benefit from talking to Canary about this? We'd need to be a bit discreet, of course, but I think you may benefit from talking to a professional."

Dick leveled him with a withering look. "I'm not a rookie anymore, Bruce." Bruce blinked in confusion. He wasn't sure what that had to do with seeking therapy, but clearly, Dick had felt insulted.

"Just because you're an adult doesn't mean you can't seek help. You're dealing with more than I am equipped to help with." He had meant it to be placating, but Dick looked far from appeased. 

"I don't need help, I need answers! I need to be out there in the field, not getting a psych eval. Did you run this little idea by the others or just me?" 

"You sound paranoid. I haven't asked the others yet. You're the first one I saw today outside of breakfast. I was going to suggest it to each of you individually. I think all of you could stand to be talking this out with someone who isn't me or also directly affected by Nico's disappearance."

"I'm not going to therapy, Bruce. You're going through the same thing I am and you're not seeing anyone about it either." 

"I thought we had established a long time ago that I am not someone you should base your decisions on when it comes to dealing with your mental health." Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. 

"Why? Because you're so much stronger than the rest of us and you don't need the help?" Dick mocked. 

"I do have a greater mental fortitude than you do. I trained hard to get to this point in my life. Even still, that's not why I'm not in therapy. The truth is that I don't have time for therapy, therapy is stigmatized for people in my position, and I don't want to risk becoming exposed."

"But you won't talk to someone in the league. No, let me guess... that would affect your contingency plans." Bruce didn't reply since the answer was obvious. The more his fellow leaguers knew about him, the more information they could hold against him in the eventuality that they were compromised.

"I'm not going to therapy, Bruce. At least not until you do." Dick stormed out of the room and past Jason who looked like he had just been on his way in. Jason watched his brother go and gave Bruce a questioning look.

"What was up with him?"

"He doesn't need therapy," Bruce replied dryly, waving vaguely in the direction Dick had just gone.

"I'm going to pretend that made sense." 

"What do you need, Jason?"

"You said last night that you wanted to compare notes?" Bruce checked his watch. It was nearly ten already and he still had the meeting with Diana at noon. They wouldn't have time for an in-depth comparison.

"Just tell me what you know and I will debrief everyone after I meet with Diana this afternoon." He suggested, gesturing at the chair Dick had just vacated. Jason spent the entire time before Bruce left for Watchtower explaining the conversation he and Nico had had about the war. While Jason had certainly known way more about the war than any of the rest of them, Bruce wasn't sure that there was any way he could have known what Nico was thinking. 

"I am so sorry that I kept all of that from you and the others. I just thought that I was being a good brother. He seemed to have everything under control and I thought he was going to end up telling you everything himself there for a while. I never thought that he would ever go off on a suicide mission or I would have said something immediately--"

"Jason, you don't have to justify yourself to me. I understand. There is no way you could have known what he was planning. It's ok." Jason nodded along, but Bruce could tell that the didn't really buy into it. He could use some therapy, but he wasn't going to suggest that right now. Not after seeing how well that went with Dick. 

"Look," Bruce sighed, "I need to go and meet Diana and I will debrief everyone when I get back. Do me a favor and make sure that no one, including you, goes patrolling in the meantime, ok? I want everyone to stay in either the manor or the cave. Tell them to log some hours on the monster simulator or something, ok? And don't let Tim have coffee." Jason gave him a sloppy salute before leaving to go find the others. Bruce left for the cave right after him and quickly changed into his suit and took the zeta tube to space. 

He arrived at the Watchtower with just enough time to look through the monster files once more. As promised, Diana and Arthur had each added some creatures to the database since the last time he had checked. He made sure to send the updated programs to each of the bases so that the teams could practice with the new monsters. 

"Batman? You wanted to meet?" Diana's voice pulled him from his research. 

"Yes, I wanted to discuss a lead I got. I want to know if it is worth pursuing."

"You're actually asking my opinion? I'm surprised you're not already on your way there, wherever it is." She teased.

"Rome," Bruce replied simply. Diana's smile dropped and Bruce's stomach sank.

"Oh, I see." She settled into a seat nearby.

"Your reaction doesn't seem promising," Bruce noted.

"No, it's just..." Diana shook her head, "Rome is part of the original Ancient Lands. It's largely considered too dangerous for modern demigods to travel there because of how strong the god's influence is and how thick the monster population is. Who told you to look there?" 

Bruce jumped into the conversation he had with Reyna and ended up describing most of it in detail. He paused a few times at the interruption of other leaguers, but mostly he just explained everything. It was the most he had talked as Batman in a long time. He usually took his time under the mantle to allow himself to be quiet and not have to always think of the best way to converse with someone. He could be plain and simple. He didn't have time for that luxury today.

"It sounds like they are bound to wind up in Rome at some point if they aren't there already," Diana noted once he had finished recounting the conversation. 

"That is the conclusion I came to as well," Bruce agreed.

"Even still, there is no telling if Ghost will be there. Or, even if he is, you may not have any way to find or reach him. Still, I don't know that it can hurt for you to travel there, being mortal. You won't attract monsters as a demigod would."

"So you're telling me that it's worth going."

"I'm telling you that you need to get out of that cave. Those boys of yours do too. Take them to Rome. Let them hunt an actual lead for a while." Diana urged, resting her hand on his vambrace. 

"Even if I know it probably won't pan out? Will I not be causing more damage if I send them on a wild goose chase and they come back empty-handed?" It was a rhetorical question and Diana didn't respond. 

"Can you point me in the right direction? Once I get to Rome, what am I looking for?"

"Look for monsters. I would presume that any stronghold of Gaea's is likely to be heavily guarded. If there is a whole ship of demigods headed for Rome, then you can bet that the monsters are going to start taking notice." Diana advised.

"Right now there isn't any substantial monster activity in Europe. I've been monitoring the planet now that I know to look for abnormal body heat distributions. I combined that with my magical dampeners and it seems to cut out some of the Mist's interference with my equipment." Diana seemed to consider this for a moment.

"How fast can your plane get to Europe?" Batman narrowed his eyes at her. Clearly, she was formulating a plan. 

"About half the time of a normal trip so.. seven-ish hours. I can get there faster if I go into the upper atmosphere." He replied warily.

"I would suggest that you wait to go to Rome until you see a substantial shift in monster behavior. In all likelihood, they are going to know of the demigod's approach before they actually even reach Rome. This should give you enough time to get over there and find the questers before they even reach Rome. Then you don't have to contrive a reason for your alter ego to be leaving the country while in the middle of a missing person's case." She reasoned. Bruce had to admit, her logic was sound, though he hated being so far away from the action. If something happened before he got there, it would be his fault.

"I'll take that into consideration." Bruce relented.

"That's all I can hope for." Diana gave him a sad smile. Bruce pretended not to notice and left for the Zeta tubes. 

As soon as he stepped out of the beam of light he found that the boys were all on the platform fighting a hyperborean. Tim had frost in his hair and all of the boy's faces were flushed red with the cold. It was heartening to see them working together, though. They needed a common enemy right now so that they wouldn't start fighting each other. That was the worst thing for them right now.

At least it had seemed that Jason had done what he had asked. No one was missing from the group and Tim didn't have coffee. Jason himself seemed to be backing Tim up in the simulations. He was going to start going through withdrawals soon and he would need all of the support he could get. He'd get him in to see a doctor tomorrow so they could discuss safe ways to wean him off of caffeine. Hopefully, they could get through the process before they needed to go to Rome, but Bruce wasn't hopeful. 

Though the zeta tube likely announced his presence when he arrived, he waited to call to the boys until they had defeated the giant. They needed the practice. Bruce wasn't sure if they would see a hyperborean in Rome, but at this point, he wasn't going to rule anything out. Diana had told him they were mostly seen in Canada and Alaska, but it never hurt to at least be familiar with your foe. And who knows where their search may take them. Nico had mentioned Alaska in the past. Bruce wouldn't be surprised if he ended up having to make a trip up there at some point.

Once the giant was reduced to pixels, Bruce shut down the training simulation. "That's enough for now. Go get cleaned up so I can begin my debriefing. A lot of new information has come to light in the last twenty-four hours and I need to catch you all up." The boys exchanged curious glances.

"What kind of information, B? Do you have a lead?" Dick picked up a towel and used it to wipe the sweat out of his hairline. 

"Questions like that are what a debriefing is for. Go get cleaned up." Bruce repeated. Dick rolled his eyes but they all left for the locker room nonetheless. They were still curious though, Bruce could tell. Bruce occupied himself with CCTV footage in Rome while he waited for them to finish up.

When they finally all came back up, they were horsing around a bit like they had before Nico had disappeared and it made Bruce hopeful. Maybe there was a way they could come back from this. It would take time and work, but maybe they could all be happy again eventually. Hopefully, Nico would be there to see it too. 

"So what did you find out?" Tim spoke first when they reached him. He glanced over Bruce's shoulders, examining the feeds himself. "Rome?"

"Yes. Reyna called me at the office yesterday and she told me that she has reason to believe that the 'Quest of Seven' as she calls it, will likely end up in Rome sometime soon. Last she knew, that was their overall destination and where they planned to face off with Gaea and her forces. It stands to reason that Nico could be there too if he is still alive." Bruce explained. 

Damian frowned. "Why would Nico be in Rome?" Bruce pivoted to meet his sons' faces.

"Reyna believes that the fact that the monsters are still not staying dead means that Nico did not complete his mission in Tartarus. The doors are still open for business. If that is the case, there are only two reasons he would have failed. The first reason is that he fell in battle to the forces that no doubt surround the doors of death. The second is because he was captured by Gaea's forces. In this case, he may still be alive." Bruce tried to put it delicately but there was only so much he could do to soften the blow. 

"Why would Gaea want to keep him alive?" Dick asked. It was a question that Bruce had been dreading. He didn't have a satisfying answer and the last thing he wanted to do is to cause the boys to lose hope.

"Because he'd make good bait." Jason spoke up, "Hazel is part of the quest of seven. Nico brought her back from the dead and gave her a second chance. She's not just going to abandon him." He reasoned. 

"Who did Nico bring back from the dead?" Dick frowned. Bruce had thought he'd told them all about his phone call with Nico in New Rome but at the moment he couldn't recall. 

"She's his half-sister from the nineteen thirties. She's the daughter of Pluto. She died to Gaea once before in an effort to halt her rising back then. When the doors opened, Nico went to the Underworld to see if he could bring Bianca back without realizing that she had tried for rebirth. When he was there he met Hazel and decided to give her a second chance at life instead. He brought her back, stashed her with Ivy for a few days, then moved her to the Roman camp in California." Bruce explained. It was a condensed version of what Nico had told him, but it got the point across. 

"Ok, so Hazel is part of the quest of seven, and the theory is that Gaea is going to try to use Nico to lure them into what... a trap?" Dick clarified.

"Possibly," Bruce agreed. "It's a chance and that's all we have right now."

"When are we going to Rome, father?" Damian asked.

"I'm currently scanning the country for monster activity. I spoke to Diana today and she said that seven demigods all together are going to attract a lot of attention. She said that there should be a notable increase in monster activity in the time leading up to when the demigods arrive." 

"So we're not planning on going there right away?" Jason frowned.

"No, but we need to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice. You'll all need to pack go-bags just in case. It could be any day now, according to Diana, and we need to be ready." Bruce cautioned.

"What do you expect we'll encounter in Rome?" Tim looked determined and for that Bruce was grateful. At least now he had something to focus on.

"Rome is known as the Ancient Lands and Diana says that it is off limits to modern demigods because of how dangerous it is. There are a lot of monsters and a lot of gods that we will have to worry about. Diana and Arthur have added to the monster database, but there is still so much we don't know going into this." Bruce sighed heavily.

"So we'll take it as it comes." Dick took his place at Bruce's side looking at his brothers, who nodded along.

"Speaking of which, I have a press conference in a few hours and I think it might be a good idea for you all to make an appearance, sans Jason, of course." 

"You wound me." Jason teased Bruce glared at him but there was no real fire in his gaze. 

"Yeah, we'll be there." Dick agreed, looking at the others and daring them to disagree. None of them did.

"As long as I don't have to speak to any reporters," Damian growled with distaste.

"I can't make any promises. A lot of people are still trying to tie this around my neck as negligence or as a result of systematic abuse. They might start asking you some really personal questions. Be prepared for anything." The air around the boys grew tense as they considered the possibility. 

"I mean... you're a lot of things but abusive isn't one of them." Dick looked as uncomfortable as Bruce felt.

"Maybe a bit negligent." Jason shrugged. Dick shot him a glare and Tim elbowed him but Bruce didn't take notice. Jason wasn't wrong and that was probably what stung the most.

"I know that I haven't been the best parent. I know that I've made a lot of mistakes, the first probably being allowing Dick to pick up the mantle and not stopping any of the rest of you that came after." Bruce conceded. The tone of the room changed immediately, even Dick wouldn't raise his gaze from the floor. 

"You couldn't have stopped me if you tried." Damian countered. This was probably true. It would have probably caused the public more grief if he hadn't at least reigned Damian's murderous tendencies in a bit. 

"You did try to stop me," Dick started, "but you know I'm too stubborn for my own good."

"Or me either, Bruce." Tim interjected, "This is what I love doing. Yes, it's dangerous. Yes, there are risks. I knew what I was taking on when I put on the mask. Especially since I knew what had happened to..." Tim gestured vaguely at Jason who didn't acknowledge the younger boy. Jason, the boy Bruce could have stopped. The boy he should have stopped.  

"What can we say, Bruce? We're a bunch of stubborn assholes like our old man." Jason spoke up at last.

"Then maybe the mistake was picking up the mantle myself. Or taking in as many children as I did and therefore leading them down this path. It didn't help you and it hasn't helped Nico." Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No." It wasn't the word that caught Bruce's attention more than the intensity of it. Jason spoke again, "No. You don't get to sit here and have a pity party. The world needs Batman. You've proven that time and time again. You don't get to sit here and take on the mistakes and the misfortunes of all of us just because you aren't omnipotent. Get your head out of your ass. You aren't infallible. You're insulting my memory." The last line sounded like it was supposed to be a joke but Bruce didn't laugh. 

"Go pack your go-bags and get ready for the conference. It's high time we did something to bring Nico home." Bruce said in response.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Jason whooped in approval and threw an arm around Dick, practically dragging him out of the cave. The other boys weren't too far behind, pushing and shoving each other playfully.

"Hang on, Nico." Bruce spoke to the open air, "We're coming for you." 

Bruce examined his desk for a few moments, trying to come up with his next course of action. After a moments of thought, he turned to his computer and started typing in the search bar. When he had found what he needed he pulled out his phone and dialed the number on the screen.

"Hello? My name is Bruce Wayne and I am seeking to make an appointment. Yes, for a therapist. Just me, for now. My boys are going to take some convincing. My schedule is a bit... hectic at the moment. Can we set a date for two weeks out? Let me check my schedule... yes, that works for me. Alright, I'll be there. Thanks. Bye." Hopefully, he was doing the right thing. He doubted they'd tell him anything he didn't already know, but if this is what it took to get his boys to talk to someone, he'd do it. 

[Sorry for the delay, y'all! Life was pretty crazy there for a while! Please comment and tell me what you think!]