When Worlds Collide

13) Get Ghosted

A/N: long chapter to make up for accidentally missing my scheduled post time yesterday <3

-Dick POV-

"Son of a bitch," Dick heard Nico mutter as he narrowly dodged the sword coming at his neck.

"Come on Nico, you got this!" Tim said from his spot next to Dick, watching the fight with a lot less anxiety than the older brother.

Bruce had finally given in and allowed Nico to spar with weapons at the mountain and Dick was sure that he was going to have a heart attack as he watched Artemis and Nico fight. He knew Nico was very capable, but he just kept worrying about if something went wrong.

Nico, after narrowly dodging another swing, took a step closer to the blonde so that she couldn't get enough momentum behind her katana. Artemis let go of her sword with one hand and tried to grab him, but Nico took the opportunity to grab the sword and twist it from her hand while hooking his metal leg behind her knee and pulling it towards him, casing her to fall backwards. The demigod immediately tossed the sword away and switched to pinning her down, one of his knives positioned at her throat.

"Very nicely done Ghost King," Canary said with a smile, signaling that the fight was over.

Nico nodded to her and stood up, offering Artemis a hand. The blonde took it with a smile and patted his shoulder as they walked off the mat. "I see loosing the leg didn't make you loose your edge."

Dick watched Nico smile slightly at the praise as the duo approached Dick. "Like I keep saying, I'm a lot stronger than I look."

Dick smiled and ruffled his little brother's hair. "Maybe it's finally time we start listening to you."

Nico swatted at Dick's hand, but it was obvious that he didn't mind the action due to his small smile.

Jaime chuckled from his spot against with wall. "It's still so weird to watch people interact with you now."

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Dick shook his head as he let out a soft laugh. "You never saw him before his identity came out."

Cissy shrugged. "And?"

Artemis patted Nico's head, the teen glaring up at her. "This little ball of hatred used to be a lot less talkative and a lot more mysterious."

Wally snorted. "That's one way of saying it. He showed up one day with the Bat, speaking Ancient Greek and with a strict 'do not touch' rule. It was a bit scary if I'm honest."

Bart nodded. "I'm still a little scared."

Nico smiled darkly. "Good."

Tim laughed and pointed at Nico. "That, that was the energy he had the whole time."

Jaime nodded. "The first time we saw him actually fight, he went toe to toe with Orphan and ended up with a draw. Plus, he was going on Senior Member Missions while he wasn't even on the team. That, plus the shadow stuff, was all kinda terrifying."

Traci looked at all of them. "What shadow stuff?"

Dick watched as Nico smirked as he stepped into the shadows. Immediately, the veteran members of the team began scanning the shadows for where he would appear.

"Boo," Nico whispered as he stepped out of Traci's shadow, causing the girl to jump and swing at him. Nico just caught her fist and stepped back.

Traci clutched her chest. "You scared the shit out of me."