[Edited July 13, 2022]

Nico woke up the next morning to someone calling out to him.

"Nico!" The voice was familiar and insistent. It came again, even louder this time,

"Nico!" He woke up with a start and automatically had his hand on his sword which was still in ring form. He never took it off. He looked around his room, desperately trying to find the source of the sound. His eyes landed on a glowing image out on the balcony. It was Percy. He had iris messaged Nico and was trying to wake him up. Nico threw on his jacket and some shoes and headed out onto the balcony. It was still dark outside and there was a chill in the air.

"Percy," he yawned, "what do you want? It's really late, couldn't this wait?" he asked tiredly. Nico absentmindedly hoped that no one had heard this-- it would be too hard to explain. He doubted that the bats would let this one slide off as part of his oath. They were the suspicious type, and they wanted answers. He just wished he could give them those answers.

"Well, I just wanted to check-in. I know you are living with mortals, so I had to make sure you were alone." Percy said, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Fair enough." He didn't mention that he was surprised that Percy had thought of that-- the son of Poseidon always got offended that people underestimated him. Nico couldn't say he blamed him. Though, in their defense, he does some pretty bone-headed things sometimes. It especially didn't help with how much time he spent around Annabeth-- the girl could make Einstein look dumb.

"How's it goin'? You left in a hurry yesterday and then I didn't hear back from you. I was starting to get a bit worried." Percy said, looking every bit as concerned as he sounded. Nico was sort of surprised to hear that the older boy had been worried.

"Don't be. I can handle myself. What's going on at camp?" Nico asked to avoid the argument-- and because he was genuinely curious.

"I beat Clarisse on the climbing wall, and Athena's cabin won capture the flag. The Stolls painted the Ares cabin sort of pink and camo-y." Percy smirked at the thought. Nico couldn't help but chuckle when he tried to picture Clarisse's reaction to that. Though how they got past the landmines was beyond him.

"Serves them right. All's good here too. They suspect something is up, but I don't think that they are close to the truth yet." Nico decided to tell the truth-- Percy would know that he was lying if he had said everything was fine. They were demigods, and nothing was ever really okay.

"Will you be allowed to tell them? Nico, this is your father we are talking about." Percy cautioned. Percy knew that Hades didn't take kindly to people crossing him, even if it was his own flesh and blood. He was patient, for a god, but even he had his limits.

"I know, Perce, I know. Father will let me explain it to them as long as they figure out my secret on their own. I just have to get them to swear that they won't reveal our race." The son of Hades explained.

"That's good at least. Do you think they can figure it out?"

He thought about it for a minute, "Yeah, they're really smart people. Like, Annabeth-level smart. Plus, I met Diana. Like the incarnation of Artemis, Diana. It shouldn't be too hard for them to guess it if they get some hints from her."

"Diana? What was she doing there?" Percy asked incredulously. Before he could answer, the image went away, and the mist spoke.

"Please insert another drachma for another five minutes." A pleasant voice requested. Nico plucked a coin from his nightstand and threw it in. When the image came back, he saw Percy frantically searching his cabin for a coin.

"Percy, I had one. Sit down." Percy stopped searching and returned to his place on the bed.

"So, about this Diana woman?" He continued.

"Relax, Percy, it was just one version of her. The Diana Prince version, Wonder Woman." He admonished. Nico doubted Percy had much of an idea who Wonder Woman was, but to his surprise, Percy just nodded appreciatively. Then he remembered, that Percy actually had an education. He probably learned about her at one of his many schools. Was Wonder Woman taught in history?

"Oh, that makes more sense. Did she recognize you, do you think?" He asked.

"Yeah, we agreed to act as though we had just met since it wasn't even that part of her that got her killed," He said-- still a little bitter.

"She won't sell you out, will she? Can she be trusted?"

"No, she's under oath too," Nico assured him, "She won't sell me out." He nodded, seeming relieved. There was a pause in the conversation and Nico's mind wandered. His thoughts slipped to Bianca and how she wasn't in the underworld anymore. She had to have chosen rebirth.

"Nico? What is it?" Percy asked after a few moments. He hadn't realized that he had zoned out but there was no denying that he had.

" I just... I couldn't find her Perce." Nico said, hoping he would get the idea. This was Percy, though-- he should have known that it wouldn't be that simple.

"Find who? Who were you looking for? "

"Bianca. I couldn't find her." He said, tears welling in his eyes. It hadn't been the plan to cry. He hoped that the lighting was bad enough that the larger boy couldn't tell, but he wasn't betting on it.

"Oh Nico, I'm sorry. Are you sure she's gone?" Percy knew how much it meant to him that he could always talk to her in the Underworld.

"Yes, she's gone. Tried for rebirth. She didn't even say goodbye." he sniffled-- trying desperately not to cry in front of Percy.

"Wow. I will be over there in a jiffy." Percy said decisively.

"What? Percy, you can't come here!?"

"And just why not? I am coming over to Wayne Manor tomorrow. I will bring my mom's cookies, backup supplies and yell at you for leaving without saying goodbye. I'll just say I'm a friend from camp or something." Percy was picking up speed now.

"They know that you're a friend from camp. They also know you're the last one to have seen Bianca alive. They'll have a lot of questions." Nico cautioned. This gave the older demigod pause.

"How do they know that? Did you tell them?" Percy frowned, his eyes held suspicion but Nico didn't think it was directed at him.

"No, they did some digging into my past. Apparently, the file Hades made for me had some gaps that they were trying to fill. They found some security footage from that little shop in New Mexico and The Air and Space Museum exhibit you trashed fighting the Nemean Lion." Nico knew he wasn't making this sound any better but it was the truth.

"That's stalkerish. What did you tell them happened?" Nico launched into an explanation of the conversation, including how he had covered up the supernatural references. Percy only interrupted a few times to ask clarifying questions, otherwise he was a great listener.

"So you made it sound like your father was part of the Italian mafia, that I saved you from said mafia, and that Bianca and I ran away with a girl gang to a construction sight where she mysteriously died." Percy summed up once Nico was done.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"And they bought it?" Percy's face contorted in disbelief. 

"I think they have their doubts, but they've accepted that explanation for now. Once they know the secret I'll set the record straight." Nico promised.

"Good, because I don't know if that story makes me sound better or worse than the one the news came up with for my first quest." He was using hyperbole, Nico knew, but the comment still made him think. Was a wild and out-of-control youth who runs all over the country on a whim, joining gangs, destroying museum exhibits, and leaving mysterious deaths in his wake any less dangerous than a mini terrorist destroying national monuments on a '12-day odyssey of terror'? He may have been vindicated in the end, but Nico wasn't sure the Bats believed he was entirely innocent.

"Yeah, maybe I didn't do you any favors," Nico admitted.

"Yeah, how about you stop doing me favors." Percy joked lightly but the comment struck home for Nico. The last favor he had done had almost gotten him locked in the Underworld for eternity. Percy caught the abrupt shift in the younger boy's mood and his face shifted into one of regret when he realized where the other's mind had gone.

"Nico I didn't mean it like that. I wasn't thinking about-- Styx!" Percy cursed. Nico waved him off, he'd deserved it.

"No, it's fine." It wasn't. Percy watched the younger boy regretfully and Nico ignored it. 

"I am sorry about Bianca, Nico. And I will still come to see you if you'd like. I can be there as early as tomorrow afternoon. The only difference would be whether or not I see you with or without them knowing.

"Hold on, Percy, you can't just pop up out of nowhere in Gotham city and appear at their house!" Nico crossed his arms, pulling his jacket tighter around himself.

"No, I'll ride Blackjack. I'll just say that you forgot some things at camp and I offered to bring them to you. Then, 'Mr. Brunner', " Percy made air quotes, "will have told me where you were and it won't be weird."

"Oh, it will still be weird, but not nearly as suspicious." He allowed.

"Yeah, see? This could work. I'll only stay a couple of hours and then go back to camp." The older boy reasoned.

"But..." Nico was about to protest that he really shouldn't come, but he was interrupted.

"See you soon, little cousin!" Percy promptly waved his hand through the mist and severed the connection. Nico grumbled to himself about being called the little cousin. He was several times his age-- he was not little. This was going to go over poorly with Bruce. Nico sighed and walked back inside to his bed. Nico was going to lay down, but he really didn't feel like falling asleep anymore. He wandered over to his desk, to where his drawings were, and he decided to draw Hazel. Nico drew her how he thought she might look in modern clothes.

Nico drew her in sweatpants and a T-shirt, her knees pulled to her chest. He drew her face so that it was looking at something next to her since he wanted to capture her profile. Her hair was the tricky part, catching the correct curls and style. He drew himself sitting next to her, with his legs laying as though he were in a chair. It was several hours before he got it exactly how he wanted it. Nico pinned the picture to his board and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 5:30. He didn't see much point in falling asleep again so he left his room and headed through the house and out into the garden. The crickets were chirping, but they were the only sound besides his footsteps.

Nico headed to the grove of trees and he found himself drawn to an evergreen-- which he climbed. He sat in that tree for a long time, watching the sunrise. He hardly ever gets to see something so beautiful. He let his mind wander to his new life. If someone had told him that he would be adopted by a billionaire, taken in by a female plant villain, introduced to the bat fam, and live in a city where monsters even avoid, he would have said they were crazy. Not to mention he brought a long-lost, Roman, sibling back to life.

Nico watched the lights turn on one by one in the manor as the sun began to rise above the clouds. He knew he should be going back inside, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was comfortable where he was in the tree. His mind drifted to thoughts about Percy. He was going to be here today. His mind sped through all possible outcomes for how this would work out. He regretted that he didn't stop him when Nico realized that most options lead to Percy destroying something or Bruce getting mad.

"Nico?" A voice called from the ground. He had been so caught up that he hadn't noticed Damian coming out from the manor.

"Coming," Nico called back, taking one last look at the fading sunrise.

++++

After breakfast, he had another 'lesson' with Damian, where he continued to read 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. He found the story entertaining enough, usually, to hold his attention-- and Damian was a great narrator. Nico had found it easy to listen to these readings before, but now he could not concentrate.

"Alright, spill." Damian said, slamming the book closed. He had finally gotten fed up with the older's fidgeting.

"What?"

"Your constant movement is highly distracting. Your concentration also seems to be directed elsewhere. I would like to know what has you so enamored." Damian crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowed. The words so easily came from his mouth and Nico felt that they'd never sound right coming from his own mouth.

"I don't know. I just miss my friend from camp." He decided that he might be able to convince Bruce to let him invite Percy. He might get an idea of how likely that was if he ran it by one of the boys first. They had lived with Bruce the longest. At least that would give him a plausible reason for Percy to appear on their doorstep.

" I'm certain my father would allow one of your friends to come as long as they don't pose a threat. I presume you're referring to Percy?" 

"Yeah. He's not a threat." Bamian didn't seem convinced, but he didn't argue the opposite either.

"Does this friend of yours share your secret? Will he be able to guess our identities?" Damian seemed cold now. Nico knew he was still upset that he had figured them out but wouldn't tell them how. He looked away-- wishing again that he could reveal his secret. All this tension wasn't good for his nerves.

"He knows my secret, yes. He can't tell you what it is either. Though, he would not be able to figure out your secret as I did. He does not have the means. " Nico admitted, giving them another little bit of a hint. The way that he learned their secret was something that only he could do.

"I see. You should ask father." Damian stood and exited the library. It hurt that his family still didn't trust him, but he didn't have time to didn't dwell on it long-- he had an iris message to send. Nico IMed Percy and told him to belay coming over and told him his plan to ask Bruce if he could come. Percy agreed and said that he'd show up in the Gotham Cemetery by tomorrow night even if Bruce said no. They were going to meet up one way or another, but they would rather have permission. Nico told him that he'd see him soon and cut off the message.

Nico would have gone and asked right then, but Bruce had a meeting this morning. He would have to wait until he got back to ask. In the meantime, the son of Hades decided to go and visit Hazel. He went up to his room and locked the door. He then went into his bathroom and locked that door as well. It would give him some time before anyone got suspicious. Nico shadow traveled a couple of blocks away from Ivy's place so he could walk the rest of the way. He couldn't risk letting Ivy see him use his powers. Toxic acres didn't look any less volatile in the daylight. Piles of glowing green goo leaked out of steel drums and into the gutter. Bright neon plants overcrowded the place, glowing with toxicity. The houses were mildewed and molded from the elements, and the roofs and porches were sagging.

Tons of crows lined the roofs of the decrepit buildings. He didn't notice them at first because they were so quiet. He didn't know that birds could be that quiet. Nico also wasn't sure how they were surviving the toxicity but he didn't want to know either. Their eyes sparkled with intelligence that made his skin crawl. Some things were better left unknown.

He made his way through the toxic neighborhood to Ivy's house. When he got inside, he was greeted with an odd sight. Hazel was wearing jean shorts-- much shorter than what would have been deemed acceptable for her time. She did look a little uncomfortable, so he supposed Ivy had made her put them on. Momma Ivy indeed. Don't get me wrong, they weren't by any means provocative by today's standards, they reach halfway down her thighs and aren't extremely tight like the Aphrodite cabin wore them. She was also wearing an olive tank top that fit loosely and hung down quite a ways past her waist. She looked very nice, though nothing like she had when he found her.

She and Ivy were standing in what probably used to be the living room. There were shelves and tables all along the walls that were covered in plants and gardening tools. A huge vine had climbed up the walls and pushed through the ceiling. It had no doubt taken over the second floor by now. Nico wouldn't have been surprised if Ivy had told him that the vines were the only things keeping this place together.

"Now, this one likes a lot of water, ok? Use this and make sure that the soil is nice and soaked... there you go!" Ivy cooed over Hazel's shoulder. She was apparently teaching her about her babies. Maybe she had more of a green thumb than he did. It would make sense since she didn't have a sphere of control over death like he did. 

"Morning, Ivy," Nico called out, making his presence known. Ivy glanced up from her work and gave him a strange cat-like grin. Nico smiled back-- it felt foreign on his face but Ivy didn't seem to notice. Hazel also looked over at him and gave him a wide smile.

"Nico! What are you doing here?" Hazel called in a not-unkind way. She didn't turn her attention away from the plants for more than a second, though. She seemed to be treating them as though they would be set off by the slightest error. With Ivy's plants, you never knew.

"I came to check up on you. Ivy, do you mind if I borrow Hazel for a little bit?" Nico had planned on asking her if she had any idea if there was a camp for Romans. There probably was, but he didn't really know how to go about finding it.

"Not, not at all. Though Nico, eat some more vegetables-- your complexion needs it." He dragged Hazel off to the rooms Ivy had given them. They went into Hazel's room since it was brighter. Poison ivy had grown up over his curtains, effectively sealing them shut.

"What is it, Nico?" Hazel asked once we were in her room. Nico glanced out of one of the windows as he was closing the door behind him. He could see the crows from where he stood. All thoughts about the Roman camps left his mind for a few moments.

"That sure is a lot of crows," he commented. Nico didn't think much of it, but Hazel froze. She turned to see what the other demigod was talking about and-- though he couldn't actually see her face-- Nico could tell that she had paled.

"Have they said anything?" She asked softly. Nico frowned-- crows don't talk.

"Said anything? They're crows. They don't talk." He approached her cautiously-- trying to get a glimpse at her face.

"Mine do." She muttered it so softly that he wasn't even sure that she had spoken. When he came up beside her he could see just how bad the birds had shaken her. She looked almost as pale as she had as a ghost. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused. Then all of a sudden she wasn't there anymore. Her face went slack and her eyes closed. Her breathing evened out. It was almost as if she had gone into a trance state. Nico kind of freaked out-- though he'd deny it if you asked him now.

"Hazel? Hazel talk to me!" He grabbed her shoulders but she didn't make any indication that she had heard him. Was she having a seizure? Nico couldn't sense that she was in mortal danger, so she wasn't dying, but that only made him feel a little better. What was he supposed to do in this situation? How could he help? Was it something that he did? Was this a mortal or a mythological problem? Can he take someone who technically doesn't exist into the hospital? He could pray to Hades, but then the god would know what his son had done and he might have to take Hazel back. He couldn't risk it.

After a few tense moments of Nico just clutching her shoulders and muttering her name-- she came back around. As soon as she glimpsed his face the tears started to fall. The son of Hades was shocked to say the least.

"Hazel? Are you ok? Can you talk to me?" Hazel nodded. She was shaking pretty badly. Nico grabbed a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders before kneeling in front of her so that he could see up into her face. She pulled it tightly around herself and buried her face in it for a few moments.

"Sorry I just... had a vision I guess. I guess the crows triggered it." She wiped her eyes with the blanket and took a shaky breath.

"What kind of visions? Like a flashback?" He didn't like the sound of that. If things like this happened in battle, she could die.

"Yeah. It was a vision from my past. My last day-- my last night." Those words seemed to have a special meaning but he didn't pick up on it. Nico was curious, of course, but he didn't press her for answers. She seemed pretty shaken up already and he didn't want to cause any more damage.

"What did you see? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but you can talk to me." He offered. He didn't want to push her, but he wanted her to know that he cared and that she could come to him with these things.

"It was the night I died. The night that the crow made me a promise." She started. Hazel explained everything to him -- everything that had happened from the night Pluto gave her a birthday present to the night where she sank Alcyoneus back into the pit. She told him about her mother and her deal with Gaea-- the voices and the possessions. She told him about the island that didn't exist and the boat that would take her there without a sailor or a map to guide it. She told him about the pit and the gems she was forced to create for the giant. She told him about the time when Gaea had taken her mother to the island and held her hostage there. She told him about the final ride and the crown that had landed on her stern. Hazel told him about how she took his words as a promise and that gave her the strength to make that night the last night that she let Gaea use her. Then she told him about how she ended it all.

"All that and you ended up in asphodel?" Nico said once she had finished. Hazel shrugged non-committal.

"I made a deal. My mother didn't deserve eternal damnation and I didn't deserve Elysium. I made a deal that we would both go to asphodel. It was the best I could manage."

"I'm not sure I would have done that," Nico admitted. Hazel eyed him for a few moments, calculating her answer.

"You saved me-- though you knew you weren't supposed to. I think you need to give yourself more credit." Nico considered this. While he appreciated the sentiment, he was also very sure that he wouldn't have done the same. Not for Marie Levesque-- but maybe he would have for Maria di Angelo.

"Maybe," he conceded, " I hope I'll never have to find out." They talked for a little while longer about their mothers before he felt like he had been gone too long. They never did get back to talking about the Roman camp.

Once Nico knew that Hazel was ok, he said his goodbyes to Ivy and headed out of the house. When he was far enough away, he shadow traveled to his bathroom. An hour had passed from when he had left. Nico unlocked his bathroom door and settled down at his writing desk. He felt inspired to draw. He decided to draw a portrait of Pamela.

Nico started with her torso, just the portion that was in the leotard. Once he was satisfied with that, he moved on to her legs. Her boots were hard to get just right because he wanted them to be symmetrical to each other. He wasn't sure how long he was at it, but it felt like too long. When Nico finally got them the way he wanted them, he moved on to her shoulders and neck. He almost gave up when he couldn't get her neck to be proportional to the rest of her body. What felt like an eternity later, he finally got the neck to be the way he wanted it. Her head wasn't all that hard. Nico just used one of her mug shots from a newspaper clipping as a reference. Her hair was only slightly more complicated and he finally finished it and put it on his wall. He had just finished putting up the picture when someone knocked on his door. Nico pinned the picture on his wall and hurried to open the door.

"Yes?" he asked, poking his head out into the hall. Bruce was standing there in his business suit.

"Damian said you wanted to ask me something?" Bruce raised his eyebrows. The demigod frowned, he thought Damian was against the idea. He definitely wouldn't have guessed that the younger boy would have gone out of his way to mention it to Bruce for him.

"Yeah, I wanted to know if Percy could come over," Nico admitted, opening the door wider, seeing this wasn't going to be a simple 2-minute check-in.

"Percy Jackson the one who may or may not be a danger to society?" Bruce raised his eyebrows. Nico should have known that this would be the response.

"He's not dangerous." Nico insisted.

"All evidence to the contrary." Bruce countered. He did have a point but Nico couldn't exactly tell him the truth, that Percy was dangerous, but only to his enemies. Normal kids didn't have enemies.

"He's not dangerous to me or the people I care about. Please? He's one of the only friends I have." Bruce considered this for a long moment before sighing.

"Well, I don't see why not. Does he have the means to get here on his own?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, he can get here on his own. He's at camp right now, I think. Thank you, I know I'm asking you to trust me on this." He explained. Bruce's features softened.

"Is he like you?" Bruce asked. Nico frowned-- had he figured out the secret already?

"Like me, how?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Well, Is he under the same oath? Will he be able to figure out our secrets?" Bruce parroted the same questions Damian had asked. At times like these, it wasn't hard to see that Damian was his biological son.

"He does know about my oath, but no, he will not be able to guess your secret," Nico replied. Bruce eyed him for a moment and Nico got the distinct impression that Bruce was trying to decide whether or not he could take him at his word. It hurt, but Nico understood it. He hadn't given him much reason to trust him. The billionaire was right to be cautious.

"Very well, I will call Mr. Brunner tonight and see what can be arranged." He gave the son of Hades a small smile, and Nico returned it, "Dinner will be ready soon, I imagine." Bruce announced before swiftly leaving the room. Nico went into the bathroom to get water for an iris message. He had to tell Percy the good news.