When Worlds Collide

122) Nico is Gonna Be Traumatized... More

A/N: IK these chapters are shorter than I usually try for, but I am fighting god atm so... 

Nico was promised peace for the day. Granted, he couldn't really tell how much time had passed since he was promised that by Lex, but he was damn sure it hadn't been 24hr by the time sirens began to blare and red flashing lights came on.

He'd never seen red lights in the room, but he didn't want to know what they meant. Gas began spilling into the room, but it wasn't the usual amount. It came in bursts, as if it were malfunctioning. His vision became hazy and his mind distorted everything around him.

Nico stumbled off the bed, attempting to stand, but he tumbled into the wall, the momentum sending his brain reeling. He heard sounds coming from outside, but he couldn't tell if they were real or just auditory hallucinations from the insufficient amount of gas in the room.

There was the sound of a small explosion, shaking the room and causing dust from the ceiling to fall to the ground, but Nico didn't move from his spot against the wall. One hand steadied him against the wall while the other gripped his IV stand as he desperately tried to process what was happening. The red flashing lights made the shadows in the room distorted, and it was like a hell he didn't know was there.

Everything was familiar and yet so foreign to him. The room that had existed as his entire world for the last few weeks was unchanged, and yet it was unfamiliar. The hole in the wall where his bed was look like nothing more than a black void. It would swallow him hole if he got too close, and yet it was the only escape.

He tried to take a step back towards it, but the wall by the door exploded, throwing him against the wall and onto a heap on the floor.

His head spun from the force of slamming it against the wall and his vision began to darken. He saw figures enter the through the hole in the wall, but the flashes of red followed by darkness just made them look like monsters.

Nico's grip was still tightly wrapped about the IV stand, but he didn't have the strength to attempt and lift it in his defense. He was loosing the fight to the darkness, and he realized that he was okay with it.

As the darkness took over, he accepted that maybe it would be the end. Maybe the monsters had finally found him and they had come to finish the job.

Finish it, Nico thought as the darkness consumed him. Give me my gory end so that I can finally rest.

~~~~~~~~~

-Jason POV-

Jason scanned the room they had just blown a hole in, searching for his little brother. The flashing lights made it hard to fully make out what was in there, but finally he saw him.

Nico was unconscious on the floor, hand gripping an IV stand. He was skinnier that he used to be, but other than some minor cuts that were most likely from the explosion, he looked okay.

"Oracle, I have eyes on GK," Jason said as he rushed into the room, Tim following him closely.

Jason moved the small pieces of ceiling off of his little brother and picked him up, Tim grabbing the IV stand and following after him as Jason began running towards the stairwell.

"We're on the way to the roof. No critical injuries, but he's connected to a bunch of tubes and wires," Tim said into the comm.

"Batplane will be ready for evacuation in 3 minutes. Everyone get to the roof or find your own way home," Babs said.

"We're not taking this place down?" Leo asked.

"Negative," Bruce said, voice stern. "Lex isn't in the building and other than the room they were keeping GK in, everything else here is just LexCorp tech. Most of the workers probably didn't even know about the testing. We get out and build a case, then we can come back and take it down."

Jason and Tim finished ascending the stairs, an assortment of bats and demigods joining them along the way, until they finally burst out onto the roof. They saw the plane touch down while Percy and Hazel split off, calling that they would help prep the cave before shadow traveling away.

Jason immediately brought Nico to the small medbay on the plane, laying him down on the metal table. Will, Kayla, and Austin all stepped forward to begin working on him, but Jason kept one of his brother's hands clasped in his own.

He couldn't even process how relieved he was to have him back in arms reach because it didn't feel real. It felt too easy. There were barely any guards to take down and none of them were League of Assassins.

"Tell Alfred to prep for surgery," Will said, his eyes focused.

Jason looked at him in concern. "What? He looks fine— is he not fine?"

"He's okay enough, but they implanted a pump of some sort into his system," Will said before looking to Kayla. "Go grab Leo."

The girl ran out of the medbay, returning a minute later with the Latino.

Leo, who was almost always moving around and joking, froze when he saw Nico on the table. His face looked dark as he took in the malnourished demigod.

"Leo, I need you to see if you can tell if this pump has any tracking ability," Will said, not even looking at the son of Hephaestus.

Leo shook himself and moved forward, shakly reaching out to touch the metal box that connected to a wire that went into Nico's abdomen. His eyes closed in focus for a minute before he opened them again, dropping his hand and stepping away as he said, "No, it can't track. It's basically just an insulin pump."

"Insulin?" Bruce asked, stepping into the medbay. His eyes were on Nico, as if blinking would make him disappear again.

Leo shook his head slightly. "It's not for insulin, but I can't really tell what it is for."

Bruce nodded slowly, moving to stand next to Jason, his hand almost fearfully reaching out to touch Nico's shoulder.

"Alfred has the cave prepped," Tim said as he stepped into the room, eyes looking anywhere but at Nico. "Dick says we're 10 minutes out."

Jason let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "He's okay," he whispered quietly. "He's almost home."

Bruce clasped Jason's shoulder with is free hand. His voice quiet as he repeated, "He's almost home." 

A/N: Slaaay

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