[Edited April 15, 2023]

It was only once they had pulled away from the curb that the Son of Hades realized he hadn't thought this through very well. It would seem that Bruce intended to do this the legal way and Nico didn't legally exist. He wasn't sure how the Furies had enrolled him in that military academy, but he was sure that it hadn't been the legal or official way. Did he have a school record? A medical record? A social security number? US Citizenship? There was so much about himself that he didn't know and needed to create in the time it took for their chauffeur to get them to their next destination.

in sheer desperation, Nico prayed to Hades, Hermes, and Hera to make up his background papers. It was all he could think of to do, though he wasn't particularly ecstatic about the plan as he had never asked the gods for something so specific. Considering that they usually didn't even respond to basic prayers, he didn't have much hope that this request would be met either. Consequentially, Nico was trying to come up with anything he could say when they couldn't find his name in the system and was coming up blank.

To his surprise, Hades felt it necessary to speak directly into his mind in response to his plea. It was something that the god had recently discovered he was capable of.  It tended to give Nico a massive headache if the connection was open for long or if his father was in a foul mood, so they hadn't used it very often. Hades found it more convenient for Nico to shadow travel to him, anyway.  

"Nico, I approve of your decision to stay with this mortal. Spending some time away from camp and the Underworld could help you to socialize and learn how to live in the modern world. Your cover is that you and Bianca moved to America from Italy in 1998 when you were 5. Your mother and sister died in an apartment fire and your dad became distant and eventually committed suicide. Then you ran away and lived on the streets. Your father's name was Haden di Angelo. Understood?" The god debriefed him. Nico confirmed that he understood and he felt his father's presence leave his mind. He hadn't expected a response, much less an entire backstory. He was suddenly very grateful that he had thought to pray in the first place. Maybe the Greek pantheon wasn't useless.

He did think that the name Haden was a bit on the nose, but at least it wouldn't be difficult to remember. Nico liked to think that it was his father's sense of humor that made him choose that name but he couldn't be sure. Some days he thought he'd finally pulled out a softer side of the god and other days he was forcefully reminded that this was an Ancient Greek deity that had been there much longer than he had and would exist long after he was dead and gone. The difference could have given Janus whiplash.

"I never did get your name," Bruce said suddenly. That felt like a red flag, but Hades hadn't warned him against this mortal. Surely, if this man was dangerous, Hades would have known about it, right? If anything happened, he still had his dagger on him and he could probably manage to shadow travel far enough away if he had to. For now, he would just wait to see what was going to happen.

"Nico Di Angelo," Tthe demigod replied simply. He watched the older man for a few minutes, hoping he wouldn't see some spark of recognition in those eyes. There wasn't any and Nico turned his attention back out the window to watch the light foot traffic of the morning commuters.

"Well, Nico, why don't we head down to the station and get you registered? It will be a while before the paperwork officially goes through, I'm sure, but I think I can convince them to let you stay with me until that happens." He asked, Bruce seemed genuinely content at the idea of having another person enter his life. Nico would have thought that it would be pretty anxiety-inducing to just open your home to someone. Bruce seemed to think no more of it than adopting a pet. That was an uncomfortable thought.

"You mentioned you had other sons?" Nico inquired. Bruce seemed surprised that he had initiated conversation but still answered the question as though it were as normal as breathing. 

"I did. There are 3 other boys who live at Wayne Manor. Well, only three live there. Technically speaking. I hope you don't mind a busy household." Bruce watched him carefully, trying to gauge the boy's reaction. Nico didn't know how he felt. The only experience he'd had with siblings was with Bianca but he was pretty sure that their relationship hadn't been normal. Was there such a thing as a normal sibling relationship? He'd never dealt with brothers before, though.

Not too long after that, Bruce was pulling up to what seemed to be a social worker's office. The chalk drawings on the front of the building and the fading colorful "All the Children of the World" mural were a dead giveaway. The building itself was run-down and seemed like it was in desperate need of repair. Nico didn't know how much he trusted a place like this, but he decided to just wait and see what happened. He glanced at the driver, trying to gauge how likely he was to give chase if Nico had to make a run for it. He decided the chances were slim to none.

Bruce told Nico to stay in the car and went inside to talk to the social workers inside. Nico wasn't sure why he didn't need to go in, but he wasn't complaining, either. The last thing he wanted to do was go and sit in an office with some middle-aged woman and talk about his medical history, school attendance history, and all the paperwork that would likely have to be acquired. Though, he supposed, it was possible that Hades had already put all of that together for him. 

The meeting didn't last as long as it probably should have. In about twenty minutes, Bruce emerged from the building with a manilla folder and a confident strut. Nico had little doubt that he'd paid some people off to get through it faster. There was no way he'd just gotten an 'emergency foster placement' request completed that quickly. He didn't know how to feel about that. Hopefully, they'd asked for enough to fix the place up a bit.

Bruce pulled open the door and settled into the vehicle. He put on his seatbelt but the car didn't start moving. The driver was apparently awaiting instructions. Bruce hadn't looked at Nico yet, who was watching the other man carefully, curious as to what exactly had happened inside. When Bruce finally got settled and met the boy's gaze, he gave Nico a reassuring smile.

"Good news, I now have official temporary custody of you. I'll be starting the adoption process as soon as you'd like me to. If you'd like me to. There's absolutely no rush." Bruce opened the file, " Your paperwork says that you're fifteen? [Work with me]  You'd be right in the middle of the others. Dick is older, but he'd the only one." Bruce seemed to mainly be talking to himself.

Nico wondered what else was in that file. What did it say his birthday was? Did it mention ADHD or dyslexia? They hadn't had those diagnoses when he was a kid so he was curious to see if Hades had put that in there. What did his school transcripts look like? Nico really wanted a peak in the folder but he figured it would be weird to try and look at the stuff he should already know. Maybe he'd get a chance to look into it later. 

"What now?" Nico asked, wrapping his arms around himself.

 "Well, I was going to go to work, but it seems like my day has just been completely booked up. Take us home, please, Alfred." Bruce told the driver.

"Very good, Master Bruce. Though, I suspect your board will be very put out." the older man finally spoke up. He had a distinctly British accent and Nico almost smiled. Bruce Wayne had a British butler.

"They'll live." The car pulled away from the curb and the butler turned on some soft background music. Nico was grateful, now there wasn't an awkward silence.

"That meeting with the social worker didn't take very long," Nico noted after a few moments. 

"I may have streamlined the process. Money talks around here." Bruce smirked playfully. Nico decided hen that he was beginning to like Bruce. He'd asked a question and had gotten an honest answer, even though it would have been easy for the other man to lie. The billionaire was surprisingly easy to be around, with his easy-going attitude. He just hoped that the rest of the family was as bearable.

" Well, at least now you can't back out when you meet the others." Bruce laughed lightly.

" What do you mean?" Nico began to grow concerned. Bruce made them sound like wild animals, not boys. He had known monsters to turn demigods into animals before. Heck, Circe turned his cousin Percy into a guinea pig a couple of years back. It wasn't so much of a stretch if you thought about it.

" They are all good boys, it's just that they can get a bit... rambunctious at times. None of them are related by blood, I adopted them all at separate times. Well, Damian is my biological son, but that is too complicated to get into right now. I think you'll like the boys once you get used to them. Though they like to show tough love, so don't be offended if they poke fun at you at first." Bruce said reassuringly. Nico nodded, glad that he had been warned beforehand. It sounded exactly like his relationship with Thalia and Percy.

" Before we get there, are there any allergies or disorders that I should be aware of?" Bruce asked.

"Aren't those in my file?" Nico asked, genuinely curious.

"I'd rather hear about you from you," Bruce replied simply.

"Well no allergies that I know of, but I have ADHD and Dyslexia." Nico decided that it wasn't in his best interests to lie. Bruce nodded in understanding. 

"Do they affect your performance in school?" Bruce questioned. Nico glanced at the file in the man's lap and wished once more he knew what it said. He had no idea what it said about his schooling. He couldn't even remember a school before the military academy, but it definitely seemed to be a problem for him then. He was constantly getting in trouble for spacing out or his terrible handwriting.

"Yeah. It can make things... extremely frustrating." The son of Hades measured his words carefully. He didn't want to exaggerate and for the file not to back him up.

"I would imagine. I've looked into ADHD before when I thought my son, Jason had it. I am not too familiar with dyslexia, but I'll look into it and see what accommodations we might need to make for you in the future." Nico was surprised to hear that Bruce not only knew what it was but was willing to help him with it. Most teachers seemed to try to ignore it until they couldn't anymore. This was a nice change of pace.

"I used to go to a summer camp for kids with ADHD and Dyslexia," Nico mentioned off-handedly.

"I didn't know there was such a thing. Did you enjoy it?" Bruce seemed to be taking a genuine interest in his life and Nico was at once touched and suspicious.

"Yeah, I liked it a lot. I understood things a lot better and I wasn't as far behind everyone else." Of course, the demigod was talking about fighting but Bruce didn't need to know that.

"Maybe you'll get the opportunity to go back. Mention it to me again if you're still here by next summer and I'll see what I can do." 

"Really?" Nico was shocked at the offer.

"Sure. I don't see why not." Nico settled back into his seat, feeling a lot better about this arrangement than he had when he'd first gotten in the car. Maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad thing after all. 

Sooner than expected, the car pulled into a gated driveway. Nico moved to look out the window and couldn't believe what he was looking at. He knew that Bruce was rich, but for some reason, he hadn't expected a manor like the one before him.

"Wow," Nico breathed. Bruce chuckled. The car pulled up in front of the house and parked. Nico felt his anxiety starting to build. This was where things either went well or very very wrong. This house could be a front for some elaborate monster trap or it could be the house of a lot of adopted children who he was about to meet. Alfred opened the door for him and he slid out of the car.

"Thanks," he said the older man closed the door behind him.

"You're quite welcome, Master Nico." The son of Hades didn't know how he felt about that title, but he didn't comment. 

"Com'on, I personally like the insides better." Bruce started for the door. Nico wordlessly followed him inside. The interior was surprisingly homey, though extravagant. There were huge portraits on the stairwell of Bruce and, presumably, his children. They were huge and had very nice frames. All the fixtures were ornate but well-worn. Clearly, this was a house that had been lived in. Nico thought that this was probably more tolerable than a mansion that was so spotless that it looked like a museum. He could exist here without feeling like a trespasser in a museum.

"This isn't what I was expecting," Nico admitted as he picked up a family portrait that had been sitting on a small table by the entryway.

"Oh really? What were you expecting?" Bruce came up beside him. Suddenly Nico felt as though he shouldn't have touched the photo and put it back down.

"More... sterile." He replied slowly. That wasn't exactly the word he was looking for, but he didn't have the vocabulary for what he wanted to say.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, this is better." Nico tucked his hands in his pockets. He didn't want to touch something he shouldn't or break anything.

"Are you ready to meet the boys?" Bruce asked. Nico hesitated. He wasn't sure that he was, but could he say that? What was the alternative?

"I guess. I'm not really sure how to prepare for that," Nico shrugged.

"I'm not sure that you can, " Bruce agreed, "but if you get overwhelmed, just let me know. I know that a lot has happened today and that change is scary." Nico nodded, though he was pretty sure that they both knew he wouldn't be telling anyone if he was overwhelmed. That was one of those things they both said because they were expected to.

"I'll text everyone to gather in the family room. It's right through these double doors. Traditionally called a withdrawing room." Bruce pointed at the set of doors in front of them.

"I always thought that it was called a drawing room?" Nico frowned. He was positive he'd heard of a drawing room before.

"That's the shortened version, yes. It was originally called the withdrawing room because that was where you and a select few of your friends or family would withdraw to when you wanted to be alone." Nico considered this new information. He rather liked the idea of a withdrawing room. It seemed like someone who shared his dislike for social interaction had probably come up with it.

"Cool," he said simply. Bruce withdrew to the withdrawing room to summon the other boys. Nico vaguely wished he'd thought this through more carefully. Why had he agreed to this again? Was there still time to bail? Even if there was, he wasn't sure where he could go. He didn't want to risk another failed shadow jump or get lost in the twisting, labyrinthine, community that surrounded the manor.

Nico sat at the base of the stairs and waited. Hopefully, they wouldn't be coming down these stairs, that would be awkward. About a minute or so later, Bruce came back into the foyer, where Nico stood, "Ok you can wait a little way down the hall. Try not to be offended by anything the boys might say. There's always an adjustment period." That didn't really help his confidence, but he just nodded. He reminded himself that this was only going to be over the school year. He'd be at camp the rest of the time and it wouldn't matter what they thought of him then. 

Bruce returned to the drawing room, shutting the doors behind him. He could hear voices upstairs, traveling through the house. He wasn't sure, but he almost thought he heard four separate voices. That couldn't be right. Bruce had said that he only had 3 other boys. Or maybe it was 3 and the one that didn't live with them, technically? This was all so confusing. 

The door was just thin enough that he could hear the hum of voices but he couldn't really make out what anyone was saying. Maybe that was a blessing. If they were upset about Bruce bringing him in, he would have to hear about it and know that they didn't want him here. He didn't think he could handle being rejected here as well as at camp. He had no idea where he'd go then.

An unknown amount of time later, Bruce stuck his head back out into the hall.

"Nico? Why don't you come in now." Nico steeled himself before entering the room. The sight he was greeted with wasn't exactly what he was expecting. There were 4 black-haired boys sitting on assorted couches and chairs with Bruce standing in front of the tv. He also felt slightly unnerved that all the eyes in the room were on him. Nico said nothing as he analyzed the people in front of him. 

The oldest (or at least the oldest looking), who he assumed was Dick, stood up to greet him, holding out his hands. Nico obliged him with a brief handshake. If he noticed how cold the demigod's hands were, he did a good job of hiding it. Nico knew that his hands were like ice.

"I'm Richard Grayson, but you can call me Dick. That lump on the couch over there is Jason Todd." The boy with white bangs nodded to him in a 'wassup' sort of way. Sort of like how the Ares kids would once you earned their respect. Nico wondered if he had given Jason any cause for that greeting or if that was just something he did.

Dick continued, "That boy right there is Timothy Drake." Nico maintained an impassive look as Richard continued, "And the demon spawn on the ottoman is Damian Wayne." Tim dipped his head in greeting and Damian just stared. 

"Er, well I'm Nico Di Angelo. Nice to meet you." He said, gauging their reactions. Luckily, there wasn't one and he felt his muscles relax. They must not have heard about the manhunt when he and Bianca 'ran away' from the military academy all those years ago.

"Something the matter?" The one named Tim asked.

"I thought there were only three of you?" Nico asked.

"Technically, I don't live here," Jason spoke up.

"Yeah, technically he's dead." Dick chirped helpfully. Nico frowned. How could you technically be dead?

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I faked my death and am now in witness protection." Jason elaborated.

"In your own home?" This wasn't making any sense. In fact, the more they talked, the less sense they were making.

"It's the last place anyone would think to look," he agreed. "It also means that you can't go telling people that I'm here or that you've met me. I'm supposed to be dead. Capiche?" 

"Weird, but ok." It wasn't the weirdest thing he'd ever heard, but it was close. At least now he knew what Bruce meant by technically there were only 3 of them. Even if this was all just a weird joke they were playing on him, Nico didn't mind. He could keep a secret and he wasn't totally without a sense of humor either.

"Great, now that that's all taken care of, I have some work to do. Dick, you and the others will be in charge of giving Nico a tour and getting him settled in," Bruce said, fixing each boy in his gaze individually.

"Don't worry, Bruce! What's the worst that could happen?" Dick asked slyly. Nico got the feeling that there was more to that comment than he could understand. Bruce glared at Dick in a suspicious way before exiting the room. Nico suddenly felt like a child who was left with a babysitter who let him play with knives. 

"Where did you come from? Your voice doesn't sound fully American." The boy, Damian asked from his place on the ottoman, crossing his arms. Nico bristled at both the question and the tone of his voice, it was almost hostile. He hadn't thought he'd done anything to provoke the youngest.

"Damian! Be nice!" Dick scolded.

"Oh shut up Grayson, you know you're curious too!" Dick glared at his younger brother but did not respond.

"Venice, Italy," Nico replied simply. He didn't mind disclosing this to them, seeing as they could already tell he wasn't American.

"Really? Does that mean you speak Italian?" Tim raised an eyebrow at him, curiously.

"Yeah, It's my native language. Though I haven't needed to speak it in a long time so. I'm pretty rusty." Nico admitted. Hopefully, this was all backed up in his papers. Tim seemed satisfied with his answers and gestured him closer.

"Come sit down with us." Nico warily complied, sitting down on a black leather recliner in the corner of the spacious room.

"Do you mind if we ask some questions? You can skip some if you want." Tim inquired, leaning forward so that his elbows were propped on his knees. Nico pondered for a minute, he was going to be living with them, shouldn't they know at least a couple of things about him?

"Ok, shoot."

" What is your favorite color?" Tim asked almost immediately.

"Seriously, Drake?"

"Black." Nico interrupted before there could be an argument.

"What is your favorite subject?" Nico almost laughed. Considering his school records and his 80 years stuck as a 10-year-old, he hadn't really ever had a proper education.

"Uh I'm not sure. My least favorite was Language Arts."

"What have you got against language arts?" Jason frowned. 

"I have ADHD. I don't have a lot of patience for books." Nico didn't want to tell them about his dyslexia just yet. It was one thing to have ADHD and have trouble focusing, it felt like something else entirely to have something that almost prevented you from being literate. When people heard that he had dyslexia (something he'd been relieved to know had a name) they started treating him like he was slow and it hurt. So, he'd stopped telling people about it. Hopefully, Bruce wouldn't tell them himself.

"I guess that makes sense," Jason relented, "some of those books they make you read in school drag on forever."

"Ok, favorite game." This time Jason asked the question. This was a tricky question, Nico had to pick between Capture the Flag and Mytho-Magic. Deciding that he'd rather keep Mytho-Magic as his own special escape, he said that he liked to play Capture the Flag. 

"How about your favorite childhood memory." Dick took his turn. Immediately Nico tensed. The anger he felt towards his father when he learned about his dip in the lethe resurfaced. He had no 'childhood memories'. Vaguely he wondered why they had jumped from simple surface-level questions to his childhood, but it didn't really matter.

"Pass," Nico said gritting his teeth. Thankfully, the others didn't protest.

" What is your favorite hobby?" Surprisingly Damian had been the one to speak. Nico looked at him appreciatively. He hadn't expected Bruce's mini-me to be at all interested in anything he had to say. This was a pleasant surprise.

"Sword fighting. Greek-style." Nico said truthfully. He smirked slightly as he saw the looks of excitement and shock on his new brothers' faces.

"Interesting." Damian conceded.

"Oh no, here we go again." Muttered Jason.

" Who taught you?" Dick asked curiously.

" I wish to see your practice." Damian interrupted.

" Well, there is an instructor that teaches it at the summer camp that I usually attend. My sword is at the camp. It's camp property." He had to lie about the last bit because he doubted a normal summer camp let their kids keep weapons on them.

"Why aren't you there now?" Tim cut in.

"Well, the camp director allowed me to come back to Gotham for the week. All my stuff is still at camp. I need to tell the director about the new setup and retrieve my clothes." 

" Well, just let Bruce and Alfred know and they will figure it all out I'm sure," Dick sighed and stood up, stretching as he did so. "Well, Nico, want a tour? We will show you your room too." Dick offered. Nico nodded and followed the boys through the manor. It was a lot to remember and he was sure he would get lost more than once in this maze.

The boys spent the next couple of hours just showing Nico around and sharing stories. Nico began to feel more relaxed and comfortable around his new siblings. By the end of the day, Nico felt almost as close to these boys as he had been with Percy before the whole Doors of Orpheus event. By Nico's standards, that was saying something.

++++

When Bruce came out of his office he found that all the boys, and Alfred, were in the kitchen. Dick and Tim were setting the table, Jason, and Damian were cutting up and measuring them as Nico dictated them. That's right, Nico was cooking.

Alfred was positioned next to Nico, to supervise. Nico appeared to be cooking some sort of Italian dish, without a recipe in front of him. Bruce was surprised that Nico could so accurately (or at least confidently) remember the recipe without anything to reference. Bruce was also highly impressed by how quickly Nico had inserted himself into this family. His boys, though they tried, weren't the most accepting bunch through no fault of their own. He'd raised them to be paranoid so this was no small feat.

Being careful to wait until Nico's hands were empty so he wouldn't drop anything, Bruce made his presence known. Though not before he snapped a couple of pictures with his phone. What? He liked to look back through them sometimes during particularly boring business meetings.

"Well, this is interesting! I've never seen you all work together on anything before." Tim's shoulders tensed, Dick looked up sharply, Jason muttered a suppressed curse, and Damian took a quick intake of breath. The only two who didn't react were Nico and Alfred.

"Alfred, could you put the serving bowl over here please?" Nico asked as though nothing had happened-- he was too preoccupied with the food. He had mentioned that he had ADHD, and Bruce knew that a symptom of ADHD was hyperfocus. People with ADHD could often tune out just about anything while they were in a state of hyperfocus. Was that what this was? He had done extensive research on the disorder a few years back because he had suspected that Jason might have had it.

"Certainly, Master Nico." Nico seemed to cringe at the title, but it was hard to tell from this angle. Nico poured a large pot of fettuccine noodles with a thick creamy sauce into the bowl. Alfred brought the bowl over to the table, where he had laid other dishes that Bruce recognized to be some of Alfred's specials. He guessed tonight was a special night, so it made sense. It wasn't every day you added a new member to the family.

Nico turned around, taking off a gray apron. He caught Bruce staring at him and immediately looked away. He suddenly became very invested in folding the apron just so. Bruce eyed him curiously but decided not to comment. Once the apron had been folded, Nico's hands went straight to his skull ring, twisting it anxiously. Was he just stimming or was he nervous? From his paperwork, Bruce knew that Nico had been through a lot. Did he have anxiety? He decided to keep his eye out for any signs that Nico had any other mental health conditions, just to be safe.

"What's wrong?" Nico asked finally, shaking Bruce out of his thoughts.

"Nothing, I was just wondering who taught you to cook." Bruce used that to cover up his blunder. He hadn't meant to stare at Nico so long, he was just trying to figure the strange boy out.

"Oh... well, wait until you try it to call it cooking." He said, his face flushing in embarrassment but his features relaxed immensely. Bruce noticed that Nico purposefully avoided the question.

Though his hunger outweighed his curiosity and all of the smells began to get to him. Bruce motioned toward the table and everyone sat down in a seat. That was the night that they all learned that Nico was an excellent cook.