[Edited October 13, 2023]

The boys went inside and settled down on the couch. The others were arguing about what movies to watch while Nico watched on with carefully disguised amusement. He didn't recognize most of the names of the different movies they mentioned, and wouldn't dare try to hazard a guess as to what they were about, even with the vague plot points the boys seemed to be factoring into their decisions. The others had learned quickly not to ask his opinion on things that have to do with modern pop culture as it usually led to long explanations and uncomfortable questions. It seemed that they had all decided to bypass him in their decision-making process altogether, which was fine by Nico. 

Eventually, they all decided that it had been a while since they had watched Disney's Hercules. If they had known just who they had in their presence, they probably wouldn't have dared breathe the name of the animation, much less suggest that they all spend the limited free time they all had to watch it. Had Nico known what he was in for, he may have refused to see it entirely. He had no idea what he was in for when they loaded the disc and pressed play.

While the previews were playing, Jason and Dick grabbed popcorn and other snacks. Everyone else took a spot on the couch, having little arguments about who got there first. Nico found a spot on the edge of the group in an armchair by himself so that none of the others would feel obligated to sit with him. It also kept him far out of reach of any accidental touches that he'd much rather avoid. Dick laid out all the snacks while the rest of the boys relaxed and watched.

They seemed so comfortable together and it made Nico wish that he could have had that sort of a relationship with Bianca before she had died. When they were young, Bianca had always taken care of him, acting more like a mother than a sister. They had never gotten the chance to just be siblings and it was times like these that he wondered what he had missed out on. He felt guilty thinking about it, but sometimes he felt like he had spent most of his life as an only child. There was no one else out there in the world who understood so entirely what it was like to be him, and it was lonely.

As the movie kept going, Nico got increasingly agitated. He had begun to realize that there was nothing accurate about the film except that the hero was a guy named Hercules. At one point in the movie (the part where Hades first appears). Nico got really angry. It was all Nico could do to sit still and not scream at the TV. He wasn't doing so great at the sitting still portion. He didn't have the patience for long films or anything that required him to pay attention to the same thing for a long period of time. He decided that he wasn't that big of a fan of movies.

The boys either must've seen his reaction or they too got bored of the movie because Dick turned it off before it was finished and they all decided to go play hide and seek instead to 'get out their excess energy' and the sugar from the snacks. It seemed kind of juvenile to Nico, but the other boys seemed excited so Nico went along with it. He felt a little self-conscious as the roles were assigned. Aren't we a little old for this?

Richard was 'it' first and was going to give them all two minutes to hide. For some reason, the boys felt the need to ban the vents and the chandelier as hiding places. The son of Hades couldn't tell if they were joking or not. The vents seemed far too small to fit an entire person and the chandelier definitely should have been out of reach. Then again, he had learned that Dick had been an acrobat so maybe he could reach the chandelier somehow? In any case,  he had never considered them as potential havens so he would have no problem following the rules.

Even before the countdown started, Nico knew exactly where he would hide. As Dick counted, Nico snuck off to a hidden area he had found when looking for places to set up his pranks. The Wayne Manor had a safe room. There was a panel in his room behind his dresser that led to a small space that was just big enough to fit one full-grown adult. It was plenty spacious enough to fit a teen like Nico. Dick would never find him there. Well... not unless he already knew the secret room existed. 

Nico himself had found it by accident when he had been putting his new clothes away in his drawers. He had pulled one of the drawers all the way out because it was misaligned on the rollers and had found a small space behind it. Needless to say, he was excited by the find. It would be a great place to store godly supplies, his personal belongings (he had learned to hide everything during the time he spent in the Hermes cabin), and anything of value.

Nico hurried into his room, hoping that his brothers hadn't known about the safe room. This would be pretty embarrassing if they already knew. Who knows, maybe all the rooms had them and he had only thought he'd found a secret space. If that were the case and he was about to be found, he might just shadow travel somewhere else just to spare himself the embarrassment of being found first. It may be cheating, but it wasn't like hide and seek was a matter of life or death. He resolved to wait until the last possible second to use that trick and to only go so far as to move to another room in the hall.

He removed the bottom and back pieces of the 3 drawers that were in the way of the panel. This way, he could get in and out whenever he wanted. He did this as quickly and quietly as he could, setting the drawer parts beneath his covers on his bed. He had just slipped the panel closed as he heard Dick's feet racing through the hallway. Nico heard the door to his room open, he had to suppress his breathing. Dick searched through his closet and every other logical place in his room before humming in confusion and leaving. Nico just smirked to himself and slipped the panel back open slightly to make sure that there was room for airflow. The room wasn't all that spacious and he had no desire to die from CO2 poisoning.

He used his soul-searching abilities to watch Dick get close to the other boys and eventually find them. It was a lot less taxing within the confines of the manor than it was on the streets of Gotham so the headache wasn't nearly as bad. It felt more like a dull pressure than an aching pain. Maybe if he used the skill in small settings like this, he could build up his tolerance to the pain and strengthen his powers so that it wouldn't take as much energy in the future. At least, that is how he justified wasting his energy on some kids' game. 

Soon, everybody had been found except Nico. Deciding that he didn't want to surrender his secret room so soon after he'd found it, the son of Hades crawled out of his hiding place. He then carefully closed the panel and slipped the drawer pieces back into place. He crept out onto his balcony, leaning back against the railing, watching his door. He knew that they would eventually make their way back up here.

When he used his powers, he saw the brothers turning the place upside down looking for him. He smiled to himself and waited for them to come to find him. After an hour, they finally came back into Nico's room and found him sitting on the balcony railing watching the streets. There was hardly any traffic around this neighborhood, but Nico didn't mind.

"What!? I already checked here! Where were you?" Dick exclaimed incredulously. Nico smirked, turning to the door. He replied, 

" That is for me to know, and you to wonder at eternally." Nico quoted. (I read that in Siblings in Everything but Blood). Nico laughed at their array of expressions, shocked to see that Dick seemed to be the one most put out by Nico's win. He never would have expected Richard to be the sore loser of the bunch. 

They'd found him just in time, though. They maybe had another hour before it would be time to start getting ready for the gala. Not long later, Nico was all dressed up in a nice white button-up, fancy jacket, and slacks. He even had cufflinks, which Tim had had to teach him how to use properly. It had been a surprisingly comfortable interaction, which helped to soothe his frayed nerves at least a little bit. It only helped for a short while. By the time they were all supposed to be ready, he was, once again, very, VERY, uncomfortable. 

After the first half hour in his outfit, the son of Hades had decided to send the guy who had created suits to the Fields Of Punishment. Maybe he could make one for Charon.

Luckily, everyone else seemed just as uncomfortable as he was so no one poked fun at him. It was oddly vindicating to know that the others hated these things, too. If people who had been attending these things their whole lives were still anxious about it, Nico would cut himself some slack. 

He sat in his room on his bed, examining the centaur automaton he had gone and gotten just after the game of hide and seek had ended. The automaton was exactly how Beckendorf had described it, but it had a plastic exterior instead of metal. Nico decided to keep the blueprints and to use them in his cover on how he came to have them. He would say that a friend of his at camp designed it and gave it to him as a going-away present when he was 'adopted'. It could have just come with the stuff that Chiron had sent over from camp, after all.

He looked appreciatively at the special Nerf arrows that the centaur shot, the tips were designed so that they exploded on impact, spreading glitter over anything or anyone they hit. In his opinion, it was pure genius. He wished he'd been born with the ability to make cool contraptions like the children of Hephaestus could. He'd be a menace to society. Nico stashed the robot in his secret room before heading downstairs to wait with the others. He came up behind the bunch and wasn't all too perturbed when no one indicated that they'd noticed him approach.

" So, boys Diana Prince will be here tonight, she is coming early to help set up the party."

"Who's Diana?" Nico asked, startling Tim. He was highly amused at this, he hadn't even been trying to be stealthy

" We need to put some bells on you!" Dick exclaimed. Nico glanced in his direction, unamused. 

" Diana who?" Nico repeated.

" Diana Prince," Tim replied. When Nico gave no reaction he continued with a frown, "Wonder Woman? You don't know about her? Have you been living under a rock?" Tim asked incredulously.

"Sorry, I didn't really have access to the news where I was. I didn't get out much, either." The others exchanged looks with one another, which Nico struggled to interpret.

"Well, she is a part of the Justice League. You know... Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Wonder Woman... them?" Nico gave them a look that said he didn't know about them. Immediately, he knew that his honesty on the matter was a mistake. Dick raised his eyebrows and Damian's permanent scowl deepened. 

"Just how off-the-grid did you have to be to not hear about the Justice League?" Damian asked, seemingly to himself, "Even I knew about them when I lived on top of a literal mountain being trained by assassins. And, statistically speaking, it's almost impossible not to at least have heard of them at this point. Even on accident."

"It just wasn't all that important to me, I guess."

"But you lived in New York, right? Like New York City, New York?" Tim pressed.

"The camp I spent some of my summers in was around Long Island, actually."

"Still, that's like... Super Hero Central. How did you not know about them?"

"The camp I went to didn't allow outside technology, so it wasn't really uncommon for major events to occur while we were at camp and we'd only learn about it when we went home to our families," Nico explained, filling his story with just enough white lies to protect himself.

"But what about when you got home, then? Wouldn't your parents have taught you about them? Wouldn't your dad have talked about them with you? Couldn't you have seen it online somewhere?" Dick asked, sounding bewildered.

"That's not really how my father and I operated. We didn't talk about anything important, really. And I didn't really have anything to access the internet on," Nico admitted.

"Nico, if you don't mind me asking when was the last time you were on the internet?" Tim asked cautiously, knowing that he was treading on eggshells.

"I don't really use technology much," Nico shrugged, "My father was pretty... traditional." The demigod had no idea what he meant by traditional, but it sounded like the right thing to say. The others seemed to be satisfied by the answer as they let the matter drop. It probably had more to do with the fact that the doorbell rang than them having sated their curiosity, though.

 Bruce appeared from the depths of the house as if he had been summoned and opened the door to reveal the third and lesser-known aspect of his least favorite goddess. She stepped in with a smile on her face until she spotted Nico.

Her smile dropped immediately and a look of shock replaced it, "Nico?"

Everyone who had been looking at Diana now looked at Nico. Nico crossed his arms and glared, "Lady Diana," He said curtly. Diana pursed her lips at his tone, her face grew apologetic.

 Logically, Nico knew that this was not the same aspect of the goddess that conned his sister into joining her band of immortal hunters, but that didn't make him any less angry. Diana looked at him with regret and sadness. She knew just as well as anyone that children of Hades were good at holding grudges.

"You two know each other?" Bruce asked. His voice sounded suspicious.

"More than I'd like to," Nico said gruffly. His brothers looked at him with various looks of surprise and indifference.

"Nico! Be polite!" Dick chastised.

"No no, he's fine. We have a ah... complicated history." Diana soothed, avoiding eye contact with Bruce. Nico kept watching Diana as she was led inside and her coat stored somewhere by Alfred. Then they all congregated in the foyer, awkward silence hung thickly in the air.

"Nico, look. I know that you are still upset and with good reason. Though remember what your father said about grudges." Nico just stared for a minute, processing the fact that she had taken a quote from Bianca and accredited it to Hades.  It left a sick taste in his mouth. 

"Don't bring my father into this." Nico wrinkled his nose. He wasn't even sure how Diana had known about that conversation. Did their oath to Artemis give Diana special permission to their memories once they died? That wouldn't be the weirdest thing he'd heard but that didn't mean that he liked it. It felt like a complete invasion of his privacy. Of Bianca's memory.

"You're right." Diana backtracked.

"That's enough," Bruce interrupted. His voice took on a cool tone that left no room for discussion, "I don't know what's going on here, but people will start showing up soon. Let's try to have a pleasant evening. you can hash out whatever this is later."

"I don't want to talk about it later."

Diana sighed, "Look, what happened was not my fault, can we restart? I'm not saying that you can't be angry and that you have to pretend to like me, but... I don't want there to be hostility between us either. Can we... if it's okay with you, act like this is the first time we met?" Nico considered it for a tense moment, staring Diana down and trying to determine if she could be trusted. What she had said was true. The aspect of Artemis known as Diana Prince was not to blame for Bianca's death. For that fact alone, he'd give her one chance, that was it. 

He slowly reached his hand out to Diana, who smiled at him gratefully. She took his hand and shook it twice, she had a firm grip. The son of Hades ducked his head as he felt Bruce's gaze boring into him as if Nico was a puzzle to be solved. Curiosity was practically flooding the room around them. Luckily he didn't have time to stew for long. 

Minutes later, the flow of guests started to arrive and they were all dragged to the door to greet them. It was all Nico could do not to run at how many people there were in one place. Diana stayed by him the entire time, knowing him better than any of the Waynes did. She knew how uncomfortable he was, and she had a lot of experience with demigods. Several thousand years worth, in fact. 

Her connection to Artemis and the demigod world was complicated. Diana wasn't really another Aspect of Artemis exactly. It was more like Artemis had given one of her separate slivers of consciousness a new identity with powers and a totally new life. It was still part of the moon goddess, yet it was still mostly independent. This version of the goddess had no such vows of chastity or maidenhood. However, the distrust of the male population remained the same.

Diana kept close to Nico, subtly putting a hand on his shoulder whenever someone addressed him directly. She was also there for the short interview with the press.

 Diana gained a portion of Nico's respect when she successfully pulled him out of completing the interview. The reporters were asking highly personal questions that left him feeling sick and humiliated. Every time a reporter asked an inappropriate question Diana would step in and do her best to either redirect the question or help him answer in a way that wouldn't embarrass him too much. He was sure that she was no stranger to the press and he was grateful for her assistance. The last thing he needed was to make a spectacle of himself. 

"Thanks." He muttered, flustered. Diana laughed lightly, and Nico decided that he liked this version of Diana. She didn't seem anything like the goddess that convinced his sister to join the hunt. She didn't hate men, talk down to him like he was stupid, or call him 'male' or 'boy' all the time. It was refreshing. She especially didn't look like Artemis wearing the ankle-length black dress, black high heels, and her wrist guards. Diana had turned her lasso into a fashionable belt and she wore a plain silver tiara instead of her traditional one with the red star.

"My pleasure. I at least owe you that." Nico chuckled before heading off to find a secluded corner to hide in. He stayed in his corner for nearly an hour before anyone bothered him. A girl with long blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail approached him cautiously, her posture suggested confidence and her gaze was fierce. She was a fighter, no doubt about it. She was wearing a forest green knee-length dress with matching wedged heels. He didn't recognize her.

"Hey, so you're Mr. Wayne's new kid, right?" She asked, coming into range. Nico nodded politely. He hoped this conversation wouldn't last long, he didn't have much charge left on his social battery.

"And you are?"

"Oh! I'm Artemis. I am a friend of Dick's we both went to Gotham Academy together." She explained, her voice a little gruff, probably from over-use. Nico nodded simply. He found her name funny but he didn't dare mention it. She seemed like the type to get mad about stuff like that.

[Ok, I know that they should have gone through the Reach stuff but in this story, they haven't. The story will mostly focus on Nico's life and not on the Young Justice team. They will make a couple of appearances though. I did this because [Spoilers] Wally must live and I don't want the lasting resentment towards Dick.]

"You're not very talkative are you?" She asked the question teasingly, but not in a mean or condescending way.

"No, not really. Sorry." Nico didn't know why he apologized, he just felt like he should. Artemis smiled lightly then drifted off. There was something interesting about her, but Nico didn't care enough to investigate.

Nico began to tire of the party shortly thereafter. Diana noticed this when she was making her rounds through the crowd of guests. She sought him out and told him that Bruce wouldn't mind if he skipped out early at his first gala. Nico nodded and asked her to tell Bruce for him. Diana gave a kind smile and assured him that she would. Just as Nico was getting to the base of the stairs, something had to interrupt his escape. In this case, it was an evil cackle. Not just any cackle though, one from his least favorite clown. Well, probably Gotham's least favorite clown.

" BRUCIE!" the insane Joker called waving the gun in his hands around. Bruce was at the center of the congregation, looking up at the Joker angrily.

He called out, "What do you want, Joker?"

"Oh, I want to play of course! There was absolutely nothing on at the movies! Can you believe that!?" He cackled again.

" Leave here Joker. Leave before I call in the Justice League." Diana warned, standing protectively in front of Bruce. Nico was suddenly glad for the Amazon's presence. Had Bruce known that something like this would happen? Is that why he enlisted Wonder Woman's help?

"Ooooh! I'm so scared!" Joker cried, looking terrified for almost a full second before bursting out into laughter. Diana took a step closer warningly.

" Ok! Ok! I'll leave... but not before I meet this new member of the family. You got another child and didn't think to tell his Uncle J the news?" Bruce stepped up beside Diana. The hair on the back of Nico's neck started to stand on end. This psycho was there for him.

" You leave him alone, Joker," Bruce growled. Nico felt like he was in a very vulnerable position. He slowly crouched so that he was behind the crowd. Nico made his way over to a very shadowy corner. If he had to, he could shadow travel out, though he really didn't want to in case someone were to see him. Nico was surprised when people actually shifted to try to give him more coverage as he made his way to the corner.

" Oooh! So mean, I only wanted to say hello! Where is he anyway?" Nico had almost decided to Shadow travel before he was spotted when a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped directly in front of him, completely blocking Nico from sight. Nico took the risk of closing his eyes and used his powers to see that the guy was named Oliver Queen. He was one of Bruce's associates, Nico seemed to recall hearing something about him being from Star city. A friend then.

"Keep low, kid," Oliver whispered discreetly. Nico dipped his head slightly though he knew that Oliver couldn't see him. The Joker made a humming noise of disappointment.

"Hiding is he? Very well, I'll catch him some other time." Joker then raced straight out the front door, laughing loudly. Oliver quickly turned around and helped Nico to his feet, though he didn't need it. Nico allowed himself to be led through the crowd to where Bruce and Diana stood, looking for him.

" Nico!" Diana called as soon as she spotted him. Bruce turned and looked in the direction she had indicated. Once he spotted Nico he smiled and looked relieved to see him. Nico was surprised by this for some reason, though he supposed it was a normal response.

"Good, you're alright. I think Joker has successfully crashed this party, what do you think?" Bruce asked, looking at him. Nico smirked and nodded. He was so done with this whole affair.

"Where did you hide?" Diana asked curiously. She was asking if he had used his powers. He subtly shook his head. Diana took a moment to look relieved and then started dusting off his pristine jacket.

"Behind him," Nico replied, jerking his head towards Mr. Queen. The man was about the same height as Bruce and of a similar build. A look of understanding passed between them. They were definitely more than just business associates, then.

"Ah yes, Oliver Queen. Thank you very much for your help." Bruce said, shaking his hand.

"Nothing you wouldn't have done for Roy," Oliver said, smiling wistfully. Bruce nodded in confirmation then turned to announce that the party was over and thanked everyone for coming.

As people filed out, Diana pulled him aside, "Does Bruce know?" Nico didn't have to ask about what she meant. He shook his head.

" No, and he will have to guess it on his own. I'm under an oath of silence from my father." Nico replied. Diana nodded in understanding. It had been something that Hades had insisted on when he'd left to live with the mortals. Bruce and the others could guess his secret, But Nico couldn't tell them outright. Once they knew, however, he'd be free to tell them whatever he wanted.

"You all good?" Dick asked in concern, coming up beside the Amazon. He looked over the younger boy carefully. Nico wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for, but he didn't mind it.

" Yeah. I'm fine," Nico said calmly. He didn't say anything else which surprised Richard.

" Weren't you scared?" Tim asked.

" Not really, I was at the very back of the crowd." This got their attention. All of the boys were afraid of the Joker. They were mostly afraid of him because he had tortured and killed Jason, and had tortured the rest of them at one point or another.

"This wasn't your first life-or-death situation, was it?" Bruce asked, already knowing the answer. Nico's expression became guarded and Diana tensed next to him.

" No." He answered shortly. Bruce nodded. Nico lived on the street for a while, it wasn't really unreasonable to think that he had happened into one before. He'd even seen Nico almost get mugged in that alley.

"How close have you ever come to dying?" Tim asked. Nico chuckled, though no one besides Diana knew why. He was so tempted to say that he was an embodiment of death but he figured that they wouldn't appreciate his humor. Those sorts of jokes got one checked into asylums nowadays. The nearest one really didn't suit him anyway.

" Well, one of my friends almost slit my throat," Nico said, not thinking about how bad that would sound out of context.

" Yes, do not forget the numerous times you played capture the flag," Diana added helpfully. Nico nodded in agreement.

" Ok but technically, that was only a flesh wound. Not bone, no arteries." Nico said pointing at her for emphasis.

" What!" Dick cut in. His voice was laced with horror. Diana chuckled lightly, having now realized that they may have made things worse.

" Why would your friend want to slit your throat?" Tim asked incredulously. Nico winced in the memory,

"Yeah... I may have been asking for that." He muttered.

" What?!"

"Well, he didn't mean to, I came up behind him while he was practicing on one of the dummies at camp. The swords are dull but with enough pressure..." Nico trailed off. They all got the idea. What they didn't know was that Nico was fabricating nearly the entire story.

"Ok, then what is this I hear about capture the flag?" Bruce asked, watching Nico with interest.

Nico glanced at Diana who just shrugged, "Well one of the other kids wasn't very sportsman-like and stabbed me with a pocket knife."

" What? Where?" Dick asked curiously. Nico lifted the hem of his shirt just enough to show them the scar on the very edge of his torso, missing everything even remotely vital. The scar was actually from an Ares kid who decided that Nico had cheated by using shadow travel to get across the creek.

" What happened to the boy?" Bruce asked. Nico hadn't planned for this part. He shrugged.

" I think they got arrested. I was sent home even though I really wasn't too hurt." Nico yawned involuntarily.

" I think he said it guys, time for bed," Diana said. All the boys groaned, even Bruce. Though they all did what the scary Amazon said. It was an eventful night and they all needed their sleep.