The Darkness Inside

Alternative title: Batman Never Said I Couldn't Raise the Dead

[Edited July 24, 2022]

Nico woke up the next morning to the sound of his door opening. This was unusual because everyone at the manor was big on privacy. You simply didn't go into someone's room without knocking unless you had a very good reason. There shouldn't have been anyone in his bedroom this early.

 [to recap]

Unlike the other boys, he didn't attend school or work out in the mornings. It was nice to be learning at his own pace. The only things with due dates were the projects and the tests. Everything else could be done at his own pace. We would take tests at the end of each 'unit' to prove that he was actually learning the material. He didn't really study, instead, he would listen to a CD of the lessons while he cleaned his room or practiced on the training platform in the Batcave. He hadn't failed a test yet and he was finding that he could remember more of his lessons if he was doing something else while they were going.

This style of learning was a great way to keep him out of a situation where he would be vulnerable to monster attacks. Once he explained why Percy had been kicked out of pretty much every school he attended, Bruce was willing to keep him home to prevent the bad press and a potential lawsuit. It wasn't ideal and Bruce had caught some flack from the media, but they all agreed that it was worth it. Nico also liked that he wouldn't have to worry about being ostracized by his peers because of his sheer inability to fit in. He'd be lost the first time they asked him to use a calculator.

Then there was the fact that he'd need accommodations. Bruce had assured him that it wasn't a big deal, but he couldn't help but feel like it was. When he had been growing up, people with 'learning disabilities' (even this was a strange term to him) were just considered lazy and were considered dumb. It wasn't something that you wanted people to know. Even though conditions like ADHD and Dyslexia were becoming more accepted, Nico couldn't quite get comfortable with the diagnosis.

Because he didn't need to get up early to go to school, he was usually allowed to sleep in and go about his mornings in a leisurely fashion. Nico sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. When he looked over, Bruce was a few steps into the room and was dressed for work. He seemed uncomfortable, though Nico couldn't tell if that was because he'd been caught or because he didn't have good news.

"What are you doing?" The son of Hades asked in confusion.

"We need to talk and I didn't think that this should wait until tonight," Bruce replied as he shut the door behind him. Nico's heart sank, but he tried to keep his expression passive and his voice steady.

"Ok, talk about what?" What could possibly be so important that it couldn't wait until after Bruce got off of work? Was he in trouble? The older man came further into the room and rested his hands on the back of Nico's couch.

"You said that we don't take you seriously," Bruce started, "I wanted to make sure that you knew that I am not trying to make you feel that way. I have no idea what things you have been through with all of that demigod stuff. However, I do know that it is my job to keep you safe." Nico's eyes narrowed. He could sense that this conversation wasn't going down a path that he would like.

"But...?" He prompted.

"I know you think that you can handle yourself, and I am inclined to believe you, but I can't just take it on faith. I have to really know what you are capable of and what control you have over your powers and yourself before I will feel comfortable with you becoming even more independent. Call it vigilante paranoia. Does that make sense?" Bruce asked. Nico considered this for a moment. Unfortunately, it did make sense and it made him feel like a little kid because of how he had been acting the night before.

"Yeah, it does."

"I want you to work with the Young Justice team so that we can get to the point where we're both comfortable with you gaining that independence, but you'll need to work with me, ok? I want you to be able to roam just like the others do now but they all had to work with me for a while first. And when they were ready, they all went off on their own." The older man started. Nico's eyes narrowed.

"What will that entail?" He didn't like the idea of working with the team, but he figured that he was going to have to make some sacrifices after the Deathstroke incident.

"You're going to go be spending more time at the mountain with the other heroes and socializing. During the times that you're there,  I'm going to have to test you myself. I'm going to need to know more about these powers of yours. When I'm sure that you're as prepared as I can get you, then I'll stop worrying. Gotham Does that sound like a good compromise?" Nico briefly met Bruce's eyes and he could tell that the older man meant what he was saying.

"Yes! I mean yeah! That sounds fair to me," Nico perked up considerably. He wasn't so crazy about the idea of working with the team, but he'd do it if that meant Bruce would stop worrying about him so much. Then something occurred to him that made his stomach bubble with anxiety.

"Great. We'll start when I get home from work. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, it's just that my powers are... intense." Nico glanced at Bruce whose face didn't show any reaction. Maybe that was his poker face or maybe he didn't understand how much Nico was downplaying it.

"That's alright, I was expecting it."

"No, I mean really intense." Nico didn't know how else to put it. He didn't want to say too much and for Bruce to retract his offer, but he didn't want to feel like he was lying either. He wanted Bruce to know just what he was getting into. The other campers had seemed fine with his abilities when he used them to help with the Titan War, but they feared him once they were back in the camp.

Bruce made his way around the couch, seeing to finally grasp the magnitude of the situation. He settled himself gently on the edge of the bed and Nico was struck by how much younger Bruce seemed up close, "What are you trying to tell me, Nico?"

"My powers lie in the realm of death. They're morbid and they're unnatural," Nico mimicked the words of the campers who whispered about him as he passed by. They weren't wrong, but it still hurt.

"What? Do you think we're suddenly going to stop accepting you? Because of something you were born with?" Bruce set his hand on Nico's blanket-covered leg comfortingly.

"Most of the other half-bloods did. Even after I fought alongside them in the war."

"That's awful," Bruce admitted, "but you won't find treatment like that from us. We work with super-powered people every day. I've seen deadly and dangerous powers do a lot of good in this world and you're no exception. Just because your powers come from a place of darkness and death doesn't mean that they have to cause it. You've already saved the world once, right? That's what a hero does." It wasn't until then that Nico realized that he had never really seen himself as a hero. Villain- adjacent, maybe, but never a hero. But Bruce was right, he had saved the world. He was a hero.

"What about the team?"

"If they have a problem with you or your powers, they can come and work it out with me." Bruce winked conspiratorially. Nico couldn't help but smile at the idea of one of the members of the YJ team whining to Batman about Ghost. The idea was comical.

"We will have to come up with a back story for my powers," Nico noted as Bruce stood to leave.

"I was just going to say that I saw you using your powers and I decided that you needed professional training to make sure you don't accidentally hurt someone," He stretched, "how about that?" Nico shrugged. It was a cliché but it would work. Isn't that how these things normally went? Kid with scary powers gets taken in by a team of similar children and taught how to use them.

"That works," Nico appraised, "what will we tell them about how I came to have these powers."

"Generational curse? I don't know. I'm sure I could sell it to the League somehow." Bruce gave him a small smile before making to leave. He turned to find that Alfred had appeared in the doorway.

"If you are finished with your discussion, might I suggest breakfast as the next order of business?"

"Great idea Alfred." Bruce smiled appreciatively at the older man. Alfred was likely the only thing keeping this house together at this point.

"Yeah, I'm starving." Nico joked. Bruce laughed and lead the way down to the kitchen where everyone else was waiting.

Alfred had made a full breakfast of omelets and bacon. Nico ate a few strips of bacon and some toast. Then he dismissed himself to go back to his room. There were some things he really needed to accomplish. There were still a few things he needed to do before he would be ready to go to Tartarus. He needed to go to the Underworld and collect some medicinal herbs, make sure Percy made it to Camp Jupiter, and he needed to tell Hazel his plan so she wouldn't wonder where he went.

Today Nico had decided that he would try and collect the medicinal herbs. Persephone kept a garden filled with different plants in the courtyard of the Palace. It was one of the few living places left in the Underworld. The trip to gather the herbs shouldn't take more than a few hours so he would have plenty of time to study and everything before Bruce got back. Nico left a note on the door that told Alfred where he was going and that he would be back soon. The butler probably wouldn't even notice he was gone if he made it back by lunchtime. Nico wasn't planning on being there long.

Nico took a backpack with some plastic bags and a sharpie along to label the herbs and how they worked. Hopefully, they'd be plants that he recognized, or he wasn't sure how he would figure out what they did. Plants from the Underworld tended to have a different effect than the versions in the land of the living. That made it very hard to predict what each herb would do.

The son of Hades shadow traveled straight to the palace gates. He made his way quickly through the palace corridors on his way to the courtyard, the only place in the Underworld that grew medicinal plants. Almost any other plant in the Underworld was either symbolic or poisonous.

When he got to the grove the demigod pulled out some of the bags from his pack and the sharpie. He collected the parts of each plant that were medicinal, having actually learned something from Persephone over the years, and then he marked the pouches accordingly. Some of the leaves and roots could be made into tea. Some had to be eaten plain and some had to be cooked.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" A crisp voice came from behind me. When he turned he found an annoyed Persephone. Oops.

"I was collecting some herbs," he replied stupidly.

"I see that. Why?" She stood regally in the entryway. Her dress was forest green with gold thread woven in. The gold filaments glittered in the torchlight as she moved further into the room. Her auburn hair lay in a loose braid down her back and a crown of golden flowers set gently on her head. As Nico looked at her now he could see why she was so underestimated by the other gods. It was hard to think of this fragile woman as deadly. That was where they were wrong.

"In case I need them on a quest or something." Nico couldn't think of a better lie as she stared him right in the eye. You could have convinced him at that moment that she was the goddess of truth.

"To Tartarus, you mean." He stared at the goddess, dumbfounded. He always forgot how smart she was. That was why she was truly dangerous.

"How..."

"Please, I'm not an idiot. I know of your mission for Thanatos. Between you and me, I probably know more about what goes on in this place than Hades himself." The son of said god didn't doubt that for a second.

"So you know why I need the herbs." Nico watched her evenly. She returned the gaze as she came up beside him. She looked up at the tree for a moment then back to him. There was a knowing look in her eye and he could have sworn he saw some sadness as well.

"Yes, and I know that you will be lucky if you even get the chance to use them." She said, knowledgeably. Her tone left no room for misunderstanding. She knew the mission was a death sentence.

"Will you tell father?" Her eyes grew cold at the word 'father' but she shook her head. She folded her hands neatly in front of her, the long sleeves of her gown trailed the ground. She sighed, resigned to what she was about to say.

"No. We both know that this is the only chance either camp has. That must be why Hera has done what she has." Nico watched her carefully, "I have no children in the camp, maybe, but I will not sit idly by while the blood of my kin is spilled needlessly."

"You'd also never argue with a chance to get rid of me." Nico had noticed the ulterior motive.

Persephone sighed, "I know you will not believe this, but I do not wish to see you dead. I may not be happy about your conception, but that is no fault of your own."

"Really?" She was right, he didn't believe it. Nico didn't doubt her sincerity, it was just a lot to take in. She did turn him into a flower, after all.

"Here, I brought you these." She ignored the question and instead offered him a small leather pouch. Nico took the pouch gingerly in his hand before looking at her in confusion.

"What is this?"

"They are pomegranate seeds from my garden. Eat the pulp off of one, and you will go into a death trance. A state much like death. Eat one a day as needed."

"As needed?"

"You will need them in your hour of greatest need. They will put you in a coma-like state." She warned. Nico decided not to question how she knew he would need them. It wasn't polite to question a gift, especially not if it came from a goddess. He imagined that it counted double if the said goddess was your stepmother.

"Thank you, my lady." the demigod bowed respectfully. Persephone turned to go but a thought entered his mind and he had to ask it before it was too late.

"Wait, why are you not on Olympus with the others?"

"Goodbye, Nico. Good luck." She moved off through the palace without even a hint. He watched her go with mild annoyance.

"Perfect." Nico eyed the pouch in his hands before slipping it into the backpack with everything else.

Before he shadow traveled, he went to go see Bob the Titan. Bob the Titan was a long story, one that you kind of needed to be there for to understand. Suffice it to say that Percy introduced him to the River Lethe and now his name was Bob and he was mostly harmless. His battle skills powers had remained intact, but because of his memory loss, Bob no longer knew who he was supposed to be using them on. He had become pretty docile. It seemed father had put him to work cleaning the palace. Typical.

Every time that Nico visited, Bob asked the son of Hades if Percy was still his friend. It was something that seemed to be very important to the Titan so Nico did his best to assure the giant that Percy was still, in fact, his friend. He just had to keep explaining that normal demigods weren't allowed to come and go from the Underworld like a child of Hades could and that was why the son of Poseidon never visited.

He was sure Percy had completely forgotten about Bob by this point. Especially not that he'd been shipped off to the other side of the country in some kind of godly exchange program. His cousin had bigger things to worry about than a Titan janitor.

After his short visit with Bob, Nico shadow traveled back home. When he stepped into the shadows, he made the mistake of not having a set destination in mind. He had been thinking about Gotham, but he hadn't pictured his room, which would have helped him control where exactly in Gotham he would be landing. Instead, Nico shadow traveled to the mausoleum.

The demigod cursed himself under his breath when he found himself in a dimly-lit crypt. The only light was filtering in from the moonlight coming through the dusty windows. He huffed in frustration as he checked his watch to see how much time had passed. He was livid when he realized that he had been gone for 12 full hours. It was dark out and he was doomed for sure when he got home. The trip back from the Underworld was always harder than the trip down so he was already exhausted. He didn't think it was a good idea to try and make another jump and make it to the manor. He'd have to make the walk.

Nico checked his backpack for his Ghost Uniform which he knew he had packed. He figured that people were less likely to bother him if he was in an intimidating uniform. That way, he would probably be able to make it the entire way back to the manor without anyone trying his patience. Oh how wrong he was.

After he quickly changed into his Ghost uniform, Nico opened the door and was immediately confronted by a massive hellhound. He didn't start to panic until he realized that it wasn't Mrs. O' Leary. Nico managed to dodge its head and baseball slid through its legs as its mouth tried to snap him up. As he slid underneath the monster he unsheathed his sword from its ring form and thrust up into the belly of the beast. The hound exploded into gold dust, leaving Nico coughing.

Once the hellhound was out of his way, he saw that the building had been surrounded. A whole pack of hellhounds much have spawned in Gotham at the same time for there to be this many of them. He had never seen this many monsters in Gotham. He eyed the pack as they eyed him, each party waiting for the other to make the first move. Eventually, one hound got tired of waiting and lunged at the demigod. Nico brought his blade down on its forehead and it became godly glitter.

It was just at that moment that his phone went off. Nico hit the Bluetooth earpiece in his ear that Batman had insisted that he wear. Nico figured that it wasn't really that harmful to be on the phone when he was already surrounded by a lot of monsters. What was the worse that could happen?

"Hello?" Nico asked as he started to run, weaving through outstretched paws. The son of Hades slashed at a few hounds and they retreated just out of reach of his blade. One unlucky bastard got sucked into his blade as he cut off its head. Nico could feel the death flow into his sword.

"Ghost? Where are you?" It sounded like Dick. Nico was confused by the use of his alter ego's name. He guessed that meant they had sent out the search party.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You've been off the radar for days. We thought maybe something happened to you." He had probably spun that lie for the team. Nico hadn't really been gone more than a day, right? He didn't want to consider the possibility that he had been off the radar for that long.

"Something will happen to me if you don't stop distracting me!" He shouted. The demigod stabbed another hellhound through the chest. It made a horrible screech as it turned to dust.

"What's going on? Are you in a fight?"

"Yes! I'm at Gotham Cemetery. Of course, you probably already knew that, right?" He spat. Nico wasn't actually upset but he knew Superboy was probably listening.

"We're on our way."

"I don't need your help!" he growled.

"We're on our way." He repeated before hanging up. After that, Nico turned his full attention to the fight. His guessed is his scent and the cell signal had attracted every monster in the city by this point. Now he wasn't just surrounded by hounds, but dracaena as well. Things were not looking good. His only hope was that no other beasts showed up before the team got here or he would be overrun.

Luckily, fate was in his favor and it wasn't long before the bioship appeared in view. A hole opened in the bottom and the team jumped out. Some used ropes, some just jumped, and others flew. It seemed like only the original six members had come to his aid, which was fine by him.

"What the hell is this?" Artemis called as she came up to him. Ghost sliced down another hellhound.

"More genetically engineered stuff," he said shortly. Artemis didn't seem convinced. Another voice came through Nico's comms, one that he hadn't been expecting.

"Nico, use your powers before any bystanders or members of the team get hurt. I know that this isn't the first impression you probably wanted, but that's life." It was Bruce's voice that cut through the sounds of battle, he must have made it so that only he could hear him. Nico's chest seized and he almost got his hand bitten off. Nico hesitated for a few moments, trying to come up with a plan. He didn't have time to think about how they would feel about him afterward, which was probably the only reason he followed through. Nico spotted a dog bone on a tombstone and that gave him an idea. There may be a way for him to shred the monsters all at once.

"Everybody find cover!" Nico shouted. No one questioned it and instead fell limp on the ground. He was in the ideal place, a cemetery. The bodies of hundreds of corpses were at his command.

Nico called the bones and the ground trembled. All over the field, the graves burst open, and a mass of bones gathered in the air in a swirling cloud. With a simple thought, he directed the cloud at the monsters. The bones became projectiles in a matter of seconds and ripped through anything and everything that got in their way. He kept the wave above the gravestones, as to not impale the team, but that also meant that some Telkhines remained sheltered from the attacks. Anything taller was shredded to pieces.

By the end of it, there was gold dust everywhere, falling through the air like glittery rain. After the carnage was over Nico returned the bones to their respective caskets. The only evidence of the attack was the light coating of gold dust on the ground and the torn-up grass. Nico wished there were fewer signs of a disturbance, but he'd take what he could get.

Nico took care of the remaining monsters by himself as the team regained their bearings. For a while, no one spoke. The son of Hades made himself busy dusting off his uniform and then leaning heavily on a tree for support. He had overused his powers and he could feel his body start to shake from muscle fatigue. Everyone else slowly regained their wits. Nightwing and Red Robin were the quickest, of course, though the rest of the team were mobile before long.

"So..." Nightwing's voice seemed deafening after the tense silence.

"Sorry about that." Nico stabbed his sword into the ground as he knelt to fix his shoelaces. The grass that touched the blade withered and died. This little fact did not go unnoticed by the team. His vision blurred as he stood back up, a fact that he was determined to keep from the others.

"Have you always been able to do... that?" Artemis asked, coming out of her stupor. Nico simply nodded. They all seemed a little overwhelmed.

"You told us you didn't have powers " Superboy accused.

"Can you blame me? You didn't like me without my creepy powers. How could I have expected you to accept me if you knew?" Superboy pursed his lips. He was frowning, but that wasn't anything new.

"You can control bones?" Wally piped up. It wasn't really a question, since the answer was obvious, but Nico humored him.

"And raise the dead, talk to ghosts, sense people's souls." Nico rattled off as if it wasn't a big deal. He wasn't sure where he got the confidence, but he was grateful for it.

"So you know my identity?" Nightwing seemed uncomfortable. It was a good act.

"If I tried, I could see it," The demigod admitted. His brother narrowed his eyes at him.

"Do you know it or not?"

"No." He lied.

"How can we trust you?" Superboy growled.

"I don't see why you need to."

"Because you will be joining the team." A gruff voice came out of nowhere. Nico turned and found Batman eyeing him with either interest or anger. It was hard to tell with him.

"Hell no." Nico's face morphed into a look of disgust, "I'm. Not exactly a team player." he reminded them.

"Understatement." Connor cut in. Batman ignored him.

"Until we know you can control your powers, we need to keep an eye on you." Batman didn't sound reassuring. Nico eyed him carefully, unsure what he should say.

"No," the demigod replied at last, more firmly this time.

"I wasn't asking." Batman threatened. Ghost crossed his arms over his chest as the pair stared at one another for a few moments, a test of wills.

"What will you do if I refuse?" His hand moved to the sword at his hip and rested on the hilt. Maybe this was overboard, but Nico didn't think that Ghost would go down without a fight.

"I will have to take you into custody. As it is, you will have the privilege to leave the mountain under the condition that you will not use your powers until given the all-clear. If you force me to detain you, you will not be allowed to leave the base and other privileges may be revoked as I see fit." He laid down the law. Nico pretended to think about it for a few moments, looking around at the team and gauging their reactions. Overall, they didn't seem to be too happy about it either, which was to be expected.

"Fine," Ghost growled angrily.

"Very well. I will meet you back here in two days to take you to the base or I will hunt you down. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Ghost huffed in annoyance, "are we done here?"

"Yes." At those words, Nico began his trek back to the manor where he knew he would have a lot to explain, again.

[Whooo! Nico is joining the team! Or is he?]

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