When Worlds Collide

125) We Love a Breakdown to Further the Plot

A/N: I am pleased and proud to say that is, my dearest readers, is a long chapter. 

Nico stood in the garden, forcing himself to take deep breaths. The moon was high in the sky, the light too bright, but he forced himself to be calm. Bruce had come back from his meeting and hand fallen asleep on the cot Alfred had put in the room, but Nico couldn't sleep. He was restless, so he shadow traveled outside.

He told himself that he was okay, willing it to actually be true. He wasn't a prisoner anymore. There were no shackles or tubes that held him back. He could be in the garden and be okay.

"Oh," a voice said from behind him, causing the Italian to jump slightly, instinctively getting into a position to run away, but then he froze when he saw who was there.

"Hi," Nico said, his voice sounding way weaker than he wanted it to be.

Will just stood there, eyes wide in shock at seeing the demigod awake for the first time in 3 weeks. "Sorry— I had no idea you were out here. I can go-"

Nico cut him off. "It's okay. You... you can stay— if you want."

Will nodded slightly, but didn't get any closer. Nico noticed the way his fingers pulled at the hem of his shirt nervously. It was a habit he had always had when he didn't know what to do with his hands.

Nico took in another deep breath before moving to sit on the side of the back porch. He hadn't felt like putting on his prosthetic on when he impulsively decided to leave his room, but, now that he was facing Will, he wished he had it. It wasn't just the fact that the leg gave him security and made him feel more 'normal', but it made it harder for others to remember how weak he was.

He never used to think he was weak. He had known he was stronger than a lot of his fellow demigods for a while— but nothing made you feel weaker than being surrounded by superheroes. His own brothers were fully mortal, and yet their skills put them on the same playing field when in a fight. Slade, a demigod who had never even gone to the camps, had killed him with just a knife to the leg. Black Mask, a mortal, had broken him. And Luthor... Luthor had made him feel weaker than anyone else.

Slade took his life and leg, but at least it was a fair fight. They had met in battle— something he was biologically made for— and they both lost. Loosing his leg and dying were the consequences of fighting him, but at least they were somewhat expected outcomes in a fight.

Black Mask had taken him while he was just a 'civilian'. He couldn't fight back without exposing himself, his family, and possibly his world. They had been destroyed after the experience, but he had an excuse. He wasn't weak because of what Sionis had done to him, it was outside of his control. He had been broken, but he never blamed himself.

With Luthor, it was his fault. It was his  team that was taken, because they were at an event he was speaking at. His mind was full of 'what if' scenarios.

What if they hadn't been separated when they were ambushed?

What if he had asked his family to be there as backup?

What if he would have just gone alone?

"Nico?" Will's said hesitantly.

Nico blinked a few times, only then realizing that he had begun hyperventilating slightly. The Italian gripped the sides sweatpants, focusing on the texture beneath his fingertips as he forced his breathing to go back to normal.

"I'm sorry," Will said quietly, looking at him as if he were afraid the smaller teen would shatter if he even breathed in his general direction. "Bruce said that I might make everything worse-"