When Worlds Collide

85) Back In the Closet

A/N: this one is short and I don't remember writing it. 

Nico had spent the first half of the day showing the group around along side Artemis, but it felt off. It wasn't uncommon for new kids on a tour to get a lot of stares in the hallways between classes, but it felt different. When lunch finally finished, Nico grabbed Tim before he could leave to get to his next class and asked him to take over the tour. His brother immediately agreed and continued leading the tour while Nico stuck to the back, and that was when he really noticed what they were staring at.

It was him.

The students in the halls were barely even looking at the demigods who were getting a tour, but rather staring at him. He felt their eyes burning into not just him, but specifically the scar that stretched from his jaw to about an inch below his eye.

Nico tried to ignore them. He was no stranger to tuning out lingering stares and whispered words, but the students in the hallways weren't whispering. They were talking. They were loudly gossiping about what they thought had happened to him.

It was no secret. The entirety of Gotham knew about his run in with Black Mask, but he had hoped it would be forgotten. He wanted to believe that by the time he had gotten to school, it would have been old news— but Sionis made sure that no one would forget. He made sure that there would always be a mark to remind the world exactly what he had done. It wasn't enough for his body to be marred by his acts. Sionis made sure that everyone who looked at Nico's face saw the mark that Black Mask had left.

Nico felt like his lungs were giving out. The bells rang and the students tore their eyes away from his scar as they filtered into their classrooms. The tour continued down the now empty hallways, but Nico didn't move. He stood frozen in the same spot as his chest began to tighten. The tried to breath, he really did, but it wasn't working. His body was failing him.

He knew he couldn't stay where he was, but he couldn't leave the hallway. In a moment of desperation, he forced his legs to move and stepped into the custodial closet that was next to where he was frozen. The second the door was closed behind him, his knees gave out and he was on the ground. His breaths were quick and erratic despite his attempts to calm them. He shakily grabbed his phone from his pocket and clicked one of the numbers on his favorited list. He heard it ring a few times, his hope of the person answering fading with every ring, before he finally head it pick up.

"DiAngelo, what's wrong?" The voice said immediately. "Why are you calling me during class? Aren't you supposed to be giving a tour?"

Nico forced his voice to work as he quietly muttered, "I— I need help. I can't... I can't be here."

The line was quiet for a minute as muffled words were spoken on the other end, before he heard the sound of a door closing through the phone. "Where are you?"

Nico still felt like he couldn't breathe, but he tried to focus. "Janitor's closet. Near-" he couldn't remember where he was. All he could think of was the darkness of the room. "I think— I don't know. I'm in C wing, but I don't know where."

He could barely hear Damian's voice over the sound of his own rapid heart beat and heavy breaths, but he processed just enough to know that his brother was coming.

Nico pulled his knees into his chest as the sound of running through the phone faded away and all he could hear was the ringing in his ears. He tried to tell himself that his brother would be there any minute, but all he could think of was how he had thought that last time. How he had forced himself to stay awake with only the knowledge that his family would be there soon— but it didn't stop the pain. Those thoughts didn't stop Black Mask. It didn't stop the pain back then, so why should it now? 

A/N: beep boop biip

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