[Hey y'all! The art for this chapter was done by . I really like their take on the uniform and I think the smile was a nice touch! Please comment and let them know what you think. I'm really grateful to everyone who sends me their art because I know firsthand how intimidating it can be to share something that you're proud of with the people around you. If anyone is interested in sending me art, there is a link to my discord in my profile or you can PM me to get a Gmail to send it to. Happy creating all of you!]

[Meanwhile, still June 27th]

At 5 PM most of the bat family were in the dining room in business casual attire. Jason, on the other hand, was trying to coax Tim away from the computer in the cave. Since Bruce had revealed that the target was Rome, the boy had been doing periodic sweeps of the footage to make sure that his numerous state-of-the-art scanners hadn't missed anything. He had also found a stray energy drink from one of Jason's stashes and drank it before anyone could stop him. They wouldn't have known except his hands had stopped shaking.

Bruce was just about to go down to the cave to pull Tim away from the computer when he heard shouting coming from the study and the sound of the clock door being swung open.

"Please be careful with the furniture, Master Tim. That's an antique!" Alfred called fretfully from where he was cooking in the kitchen. None of them had any appetites right then so they decided to eat after the conference.

"Sorry, Alfred!" Tim called as he rushed into the dining room with Jason hot on his heels.

"Bruce I think I found a lead on where the questers are. I was looking around the ocean for monster activity since Reyna said that they have an amphibious warship. There are sea monsters, too, right? So I started scanning the oceans for abnormal heat signatures and this is what I found." Tim tapped his watch and a hologram popped up that displayed a map of the world. There were splotches of red all over Europe and the coasts of America, monster concentrations. What really caught Bruce's eye was the orange pins that were aligned in what looked to be a very strange flight pattern.

"What am I looking at here?" Dick asked leaning forward to examine the map more closely.

"The orange dots each indicate where there have been spikes of abnormal thermal readings since the day that Reyna says the questers left Camp Jupiter. I think this is showing up where the questers have been. We can use this to see when they are about the reach Italy!" Tim's enthusiasm was contagious and soon all of his boys were buzzing at the possibility that they may have discovered a method of tracking the Argo II crew. Bruce himself was excited by the possibility, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be this easy.

"We'll look into this more after the conference, alright? Right now we have to get moving." Bruce and Alfred ushered the boys to the car and spent most of the ride switching between talking about Tim's findings and Bruce reminding the boys that they needed to be courteous to the press even if they get personal.

Alfred pulled up and Bruce was both heartened by and wary of the number of reporters who were there to pick up the coverage. He would have expected more of them to have lost interest by now. It had been a long time, in journalism time, without any leads or breaks in the case. Questions without answers didn't sell subscriptions, after all.

Bruce wasn't sure what the reporters who were setting up thought of them when they arrived. His boys were trying to maintain a somber facade even though they were each itching to get back to the cave to continue the search. He was sure that the press could tell that their moods were lighter than what was appropriate and he just hoped they wouldn't come to the wrong conclusion about what that might mean.

As they walked through the crowd who were shoving mics in their faces or talking into their cameras, the GCPD officers started to gather around them to help push back the crowd. Commissioner Gordon was in the doorway of the department, holding the door open for them. Bruce herded the boys inside, out of the way of mics and flashing cameras. It was only slightly more comfortable in the station.

They had each been inside this station for numerous reasons throughout the time that they had lived in Gotham both in their civilian and hero identities, but it was never comfortable. There was a lot of history here for each of them and that came with its own burden. Bruce could see that Tim's eyes were being drawn to a windowed office on their left. The back wall was covered with pictures of people's faces. They were the victims in cold cases. Tim had been instrumental in getting several of them justice, but more just kept coming.

Dick was eyeing a flyer on a board near the door that talked about how to enroll at a police academy. Bruce would have to keep an eye on that interest and see where it led. Was it possible that Dick would want to go into law enforcement? These days it seemed like less of a stretch than it would have a few years prior. If that was the decision he made, Bruce just hoped it wouldn't be in Gotham.

Damian, on the other hand, was more focused on his fingernails, though Bruce suspected that he was really just trying to avoid looking at the grainy action shot of him jumping off a roof as Robin. The photo wouldn't be nearly good enough for facial recognition, but Damian was probably embarrassed that the photo even existed. He wasn't the first of them to be photographed by the police, and he probably wouldn't be the last. in any case, Bruce wouldn't be surprised if that photo went missing sometime in the next few days.

"My officers are getting everything organized out there for us right now. We should be ready for you to go and make your statement in a few minutes. Our behavioral analyst recommends that you appeal to people's charitable natures and emphasize that you just want him back safely. If he was taken, the fact that this is a high-profile case might be intimidating them into not returning him," Gordon advised. Bruce frowned.

"Does your analyst have a reason to think that he was taken?"

"Not that I'm aware of. They said that this is a bizarre case. You said that there are signs that he left of his own volition, right? The missing provisions and the backpack?"

"That's right, commissioner," Bruce agreed.

"That's very strange because he didn't leave a note. The analyst says that runaways usually leave a note when they're running away to let people know why they're leaving and that they're safe. Even people who are leaving bad homes leave some other sign that they're leaving. There are also typically signs in their behavior for days or weeks before that they may be planning to leave." Gordon explained. Whether he had gotten this from his own experience or from the analyst, Bruce couldn't be sure.

"Nico didn't leave a note and, as far as any of us could tell, there weren't any indicators that he was thinking about running beforehand. It's possible I just didn't know what to look for, though," Bruce admitted defeatedly.

"Because of this inconsistency, the analyst insists that we look at this from every possible angle. it is possible that someone just tried to make it look like he ran away." The older police officer was clearly trying to lessen the blow in any way that he could but doubted that anything could soften that enough to make it palatable.

"I hope to God you're wrong, Gordon."

"Me too."

++++

"Thank you! Thank you all for coming here today. Bruce Wayne and his sons are here to ask the community for help finding Nico di Angelo and answer some of your questions. At this time, Mr. di Angelo has been missing for four days and it has not been determined whether or not he left the Wayne residence of his own volition. There are signs that he may have packed a bag, but there are no other signs that he left the manor or has used any form of public transportation within a hundred miles of Gotham. The people here at the GCPD have set up a tip line and an online forum where you can send the police anonymous tips about anything you might know. Now, with that out of the way, I will pass the floor to Mr. Wayne." Commissioner Gordon had been kind enough to do the introduction himself. Bruce stepped up to the podium and took a deep breath. No matter how many times he did it, he was never truly comfortable in front of a crowd. In this way, he was more similar to Batman.

"Thank you, Commissioner. My family and I appreciate everything you and your officers have done to help us bring my son Nico home. I'll never be able to thank you enough. Despite the setbacks with this search, my family and I are still holding out hope that Nico will return to us safely. I've posted a few recent photos of Nico on my personal social media pages for people to reference and share. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any information and I will make sure that it is passed on to the police for investigation. There is nothing that we want more than to have Nico back safe and sound. Are there any questions?" The last thing Bruce wanted to do right then was to open up the floor to questions, but he didn't see that he had much choice in the matter.

"Mr. Wayne! Mr. Wayne! Gloria with The Daily Planet.. the commissioner said that the police department has not determined whether or not Nico has run away or been kidnapped. Is it possible that Nico hasn't been found yet because he doesn't want to be?"

"I don't like to consider the possibility, but it is definitely something that I've had to think about and discuss with the GCPD. They seem to believe that there would have been a noticeable shift in Nico's behavior for several days before his disappearance if he had been planning to leave, which there wasn't. They also said that he would have been likely to leave some sort of note to indicate why he was leaving and he hadn't. Neither of these two factors necessarily means that he didn't run away, but it means that they can't rule out other options just yet." Bruce answered as completely as he could.

"Mr. Wayne! It has been said that there were supplies and provisions missing from your home the day that Nico disappeared. What kind of items were missing and how do you know?" A reporter who didn't bother to identify herself spoke up from near the back of the crowd.

"Some of the things that were missing were Nico's hiking backpack, a few water bottles, a case of granola bars, a first aid kit, and an emergency survival kit. I knew they were missing because Alfred, my butler, was doing inventory the morning of the 23rd and noticed the missing survival kit." He had definitely left out several important details, but he felt that he had given them enough without endangering himself.

"That sounds like he just ran away. He could be hiding out in a park somewhere, especially if he had hiking gear." A male reporter with a cheap suit spoke up from somewhere along the right edge of the group.

"I understand how that sounds, but Nico didn't take any cash or form of identification with him. He has lived on the streets before so he must have known that he wouldn't be able to get very far without those items. We also don't think he took any clothes besides what he was wearing so he wouldn't be prepared for an extended stay or in-climate weather. Why wouldn't he adequately prepare himself if he knew what to expect from the streets?" Bruce pointed out. There was some murmuring in the audience as the reporters scribbled notes on their legal pads.

"If Nico did run away, what do the police believe to be the motive?" A red-haired reporter in the center of the group spoke up from the lull.

"That would be a question for the commissioner."

"No, I mean... what was happening between Nico and the other people in the house that he didn't want to live there anymore? Why would he choose the streets over Wayne Manor?" Bruce tensed but tried not to seem too unsettled by the question.

" I really couldn't say. I had been under the impression that Nico was happy at the manor. He never let me know that anything was wrong or that he was in any way dissatisfied with how his life at the manor was. Sure, we had our disagreements, but that's what it's like between parents and their kids. Nico had a rough time adjusting to all of us and being in the public eye, but he was getting the hang of it and has really grown into himself these last few months as I'm sure my other boys will agree." The other boys, who had taken their places at his sides nodded dutifully.

"Yes, let's hear it from your other children." The red-haired woman agreed. Bruce pursed his lips but didn't interfere.

"I'm not quite sure what you're wanting us to say," Tim spoke up first.

"Do any of you know of any reason that Nico might have wanted to run away from Wayne Manor?" She clarified.

This time Dick spoke up first, "No. As Bruce said, Nico was adjusting well. We didn't mesh for the first few weeks that he was staying with us as an emergency foster placement, though I can tell you first-hand that you almost never get along immediately. Nico seemed to have had a rough background and it took him a while to get comfortable with us, but in the last few months, we've all grown pretty close. If there was something bothering him about us, or the manor, or Bruce, he didn't share it with the rest of us." Dick answered carefully.

"So you maintain that there was no mistreatment occurring in the household that may have caused Nico to want to leave?"

"We are not mistreated," Damian scoffed, "and your question is offensive. Like we've all told the press many times before, we're happy, we're safe, and we're not being neglected or otherwise abused. Our brother Nico disappeared without a trace and we're telling you without motive. He is still out there somewhere. Maybe you should be focusing more on getting our message out rather than attacking our father." Bruce was beyond relieved that Damian had enough sense not to press the issue further. The last thing he needed was bad press because one of his children cursed at a reporter.

"The message will get out there, but I need to know what message I'll be sending. Is it the story of a missing boy or a deeper scandal? You're telling me all of the bruises, broken bones, scars, and bags under your eyes are not from negligence or abuse?" At this point, even some of the other reporters seemed to be uncomfortable with this line of questioning.

"That's exactly what we're telling you." Tim was the one to speak this time. "We're teenage boys with access to a lot of facilities and experiences. Richard is an acrobat and gymnast. He's constantly getting bruised and injured as he practices and trains. Does he overdo it, probably, but that is hardly Bruce's fault and it definitely isn't abuse. Damian likes to take care of animals and come up with his own exercise regimens. He's also a full-time student and a growing boy. Sometimes, you decide to do something reckless just to see if you can. I am a workaholic, and I am really clumsy. I constantly have bags under my eyes from studying or reading books or articles on my computer. None of these things have anything to do with Bruce. We aren't mistreated, we're kids, and we're going to get into dumb stuff because we're kids. That's how life works. I would appreciate it if we could get back to talking about my brother, please."

"Do you have any ideas as to where Nico might go?" A reporter moved on without letting an awkward silence grow. Bruce stepped in again, glad to be off the uncomfortable topic.

"Without money or any form of identification, I couldn't say where I think he is headed. He's from Italy originally, but he doesn't have a passport or any way to get himself across the ocean. I don't know of any family that he has in the states or in Europe that could take him in either." He shook his head, trying to appear mystified. He hesitated for a few moments before he continued. "Nico stayed at a summer camp in Long Island for a while, but they have been keeping in touch with us and, so far, he hasn't shown up there. I wish I could tell you more, but a lot of Nico's past is still a mystery to me." Bruce shook his head in genuine defeat. He knew how it sounded and what conclusion they would most likely come to. The fact that he didn't take some essential items suggested that he wasn't planning on coming back and, wherever he was going, he didn't expect to need them.

"If Nico has been kidnapped why don't you think you've been contacted about a ransom?" Someone called from near the middle of the group. It was a fair question, one he didn't have the answer for. Luckily, Commissioner Gordon stepped in before he would have to say the words himself.

"There are several reasons that someone might kidnap someone and not give a ransom immediately or at all. Maybe they're trying to make the Wayne Family desperate. Maybe they're amateurs and didn't realize how much media attention this would garner and are waiting for things to calm down. Maybe they like to watch the GCPD scramble. Maybe they didn't take Nico for money. And maybe, they were never planning on returning Nico." With the last revelation, Bruce made a point of exiting the stage and heading back into the police department, bis boys were following suit. Their faces were somber as what Gordon had said sunk in. He'd gotten a little too close to home.

"That was--" Dick was cut off.

"Idiotic? Enraging? Disheartening?" Damian asked, clearly agitated.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry that I didn't protect you from that line of questioning. I felt as though... if I were to step in, I would be helping her case rather than hurting it," Bruce reasoned.

"You probably would have been. I understand why they jump to abuse, but why won't they listen to us when we say it isn't? I think that, if we were any other family in any other situation, they wouldn't have even bothered to ask." Tim settled down into a suspect's chair at a vacant desk nearby and folded his arms across his chest.

"They're trying to hang something around my neck and make it stick," Bruce sighed tiredly. "What do you boys say to getting out of here? I need to talk with the commissioner for a minute, but then I say we get out of here. Dick, will you let Alfred know?" His oldest nodded dutifully, but Bruce could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

"Father," Damian called before he had even taken two steps to find Gordon. When Bruce turned around, he saw his son's eyes glued to something on his phone screen, something that was highly unusual to the boy who rarely even texted.

"What is it?" Though he knew it was nearly impossible that they would have gotten any leads yet, fake or otherwise, Bruce felt his heart racing as he considered the worst. Maybe they were going to use this press conference to hang him. Maybe someone had bad news about Nico. Maybe something had gone wrong in Gotham while there was no one left in the cave to protect it. The possibilities were endless. He didn't expect to hear what came out of his son's mouth next.

"They've created a hash-tag... er that's what they're called right? A hashtag about di Angelo on social media. #NicoisthenewWaldo. People are saying it's the new and improved Where's Waldo. Who is Waldo?" Bruce was heartened to hear that people were taking his plea seriously and had come up with a way for people to make the connections. It was almost a game.

While Dick explained the concept of Where's Waldo, Bruce went to his own social media pages and found himself tagged in a number of different posts where people were defining the parameters of the game and trying to get the hashtag started. He reposted the ones he saw and wrote a little blurb supporting the use of the hashtag and thanking the creators for helping with their efforts to find Nico. He didn't know how effective it was going to be, but he supposed anything would help at this point.

After finishing up his post he was flagged down by Gordon who had just come in from wrapping up the conference. He seemed less upbeat than he had earlier in the night, but Bruce didn't think too much of it. These types of things were always stressful and often left more questions than answers.

"I'm sorry about all that, Mr. Wayne. At least the message is still circulating and more people are getting the word out about Nico's disappearance." The older man said as he approached. Bruce nodded in agreement.

"Thank you for everything you've done for us, Commissioner. If that's all you need from us, I think I'm going to get my boys back home. It's been a rough night for all of us." With Gordon's permission, he and the boys exited to the street where Alfred was parked waiting for them. Some of the reporters had lingered and tried to ask more questions as he was on his way to his car, but several officers held them back and provided the Waynes a clear path. 

"How did it go, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked as the man in question shut the car door, being the last one in. 

"It went better than expected, though I'm not sure it made much of a difference in the eyes of the public. They still think that I did something to make Nico want to run away. I can't exactly prove them wrong." 

"The rumors will die down as long as you each keep out of trouble and do your best not to get any injuries anytime soon," The older man assured them steadily, the way he always had.

"Easier said than done," Dick replied tiredly. Alfred gave him a tight smile in the rearview mirror and the car lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. When they got back to the manor, They all went inside to wash up for dinner. Alfred had prepared spaghetti and meatballs because it was both simple and relatively easy to make. 

++++

That night, dinner was mostly a silent affair with the boys being too caught up in their own thoughts. Jason, who had watched the conference on television, had been the one to volunteer to review the CCTV footage from Rome from the last four days while the others ate. From the way that Tim was picking at his food, he could tell the boy would have rather been down there himself. 

Bruce had wanted to save his announcement until they were all there together, but maybe Jason being in the cave was a blessing in disguise. He wanted to tell them that he'd signed himself up for therapy and was going to make appointments for each of them for later this week and he wasn't sure how Jason would take it. Signing Jason up was going to be a hassle because he was going to have to create a viable alias for his supposedly deceased son as well as pay with a stream of income that couldn't be traced back to Bruce Wayne, Batman, Jason Todd, or Red Hood. It wasn't impossible by any stretch of the imagination, but it was more complicated than he would have liked. 

"I wanted to make an announcement," he said suddenly. He waited until he had everyone's full attention before speaking again, "I have set up a therapy appointment for myself and I will be setting up appointments for each of you within the next week or so depending on availability. I think you could all use some help dealing with everything that has happened in your lives that I am unable to provide. I am also going to therapy because Dick pointed out how hypocritical it would be of me to sign you all up and not myself."

"I do not need therapy." Damian was less than pleased by this suggestion, which Bruce had expected.

"Maybe you don't. Maybe you just don't think that you do. Either way, it will help us to keep up appearances and it can teach you all coping mechanisms in case you ever come across something that you can't handle in the future. There is no shame in therapy," Bruce returned simply. It was best not to pick a fight with Damian over things that weren't absolutely necessary. Sometimes you just had to tiptoe around his pride to get your way.

"Do we have to?" Tim asked hesitantly. 

"I can't force any of you to go, obviously, but I strongly suggest you take this opportunity and give it a chance. You might be surprised about what sorts of things you might learn about yourself." Bruce returned gently. 

"Did you really make an appointment with a therapist?" Dick eyed Bruce with suspicion.

"I did."

"We'll have to be careful with what we say, won't we?" Tim spoke up again. 

"Yes, but I think that you should all be able to get into some important topics without revealing your identities. Think of it as an exercise in deep cover operation, if you must." 

"Is Jason going to go too?" Damian interjected.

"That depends on Jason. He'll have to go under an alias, but I think it could do him some good too," Bruce admitted.

"He's never going to go for it," Dick leaned back in his seat.

"Maybe not, but the offer is there. I don't expect your answers right away. Just let me know by the end of the week, alright?" With his boys agreeing to think about it, Bruce dismissed himself from the table to find his final son and relay the message. He found that he was pleased that he would be able to give him this message one-on-one. He didn't know how Jason was going to react and privacy might be preferable for them both.

Bruce found Jason sitting at the computer, diligently scanning through the feeds. Bruce came up next to him and watched as Jason ran any figure who even remotely looked like Nico through a facial recognition scanner that had been supplied with every photo Bruce had of Nico. It seemed like he had gone through about thirty subjects and they had all come back negative, which was to be expected. This exercise was mainly a fool's errand, but Bruce could admire the dedication and patience.

"Are you looking for something in particular or are you just being a creeper?" Jason asked snarkily after Bruce had been watching him for about a minute.

"I've signed myself up for therapy and asked the others to consider allowing me to sign them up as well. I think that this situation and the lives we lead are taking a toll on each of us. It's more than I think I can help with." Bruce was trying to ease into the conversation without making it sound as if he was trying to talk down to him. 

"You think?"

"Jason, I'm being serious. I think it would help each of us to talk to someone who isn't directly involved in our line of work-- our lives. There's nothing wrong with needing a little help," Bruce insisted.

"I'm not doing it. I'm not going into some cracked shrink and spilling my guts about my childhood. They wouldn't understand half the shit that I tell them and they certainly don't know how I feel. I'm not going to do it." Jason didn't look away from the screen for a moment, but he also wasn't doing any work, unless you consider switching back and forth between two tabs work. 

"I can't make you, but I think you should give it more than a few moments of consideration before you decide. Give it a try. Two or three sessions. If you don't like it, you don't ever have to go again," Bruce offered.

"I'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking. Go and get some food and some rest ok? We'll need you at your best when the questers reach the Mediterranean." Jason grumbled under his breath but vacated the seat without much fight. After he'd gone, Bruce settled into the seat and pulled up the live feeds of the thermal maps to see where the questers were' it seemed that they had just passed the international dateline, if he was understanding the readings correctly. Tim was well on his way to becoming a detective and he often saw things that even Bruce had missed. 

"I think you handled that fairly well, Master Bruce. Whether the boys take you up on your offer or not, they will at least know that the option is available and you don't see it as a weakness on their part." Alfred emerged from somewhere else in the cave. Bruce hadn't known he was there, but he had grown used to the older man's ninja act.

"I just want them to be..." Bruce trailed off.

"Happy?" Alfred offered.

"Content."

[I'm back everyone! Sorry, it took so long, life was crazy for a little while there. Bruce is getting therapy and they've come up with a way to track the seven! Things are picking up on the Batfam side of things and I think I'm going to have at least one more chapter that's mainly from their points of view because I don't think I'm quite done with Ivy and her new crew ;)  I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please vote and let me know what you think!]