Don't Fear the Reaper

22) Misty Business

A/N: I drew the art above and I won't even lie, I think it's pretty cool. Also, the top right drawing will make sense in a minute. 

Jason went to Nico's room after the meeting was over and everyone else had begun getting into costume. He had the night off from patrol and planned to spend it with Nico, assuming the demigod wasn't still radiating murderous intent.

He got to the door and knocked, waiting to hear a response, but it never came.

"Reaper?" He called hesitantly through the door, but still he heard nothing. He briefly considered that the kid was asleep, but that was less likely than seeing Tim sleep. "You gotta say something or I'm coming in."

Still nothing.

Jason hesitantly cracked the door, peering in to find an empty room. His eyebrows furrowed as he entered and began checking all the places the teen could have been hiding, but he was no where to be found.

Jason turned on his heel and sprinted back to the study before opening the secret passage behind the grandfather clock and sliding down the fireman's pole, beginning to speak before he even hit the floor.

"Nico's gone," he said, looking at his family, panic probably clear on his face. "I checked his entire room and he wasn't there."

Dick looked shocked. "What? Did you check the roof? I found him out there last week."

Jason shook his head. "He's not there. He's gone."

"What about the rest of the manor?" Steph asked, sounding worried.

"He doesn't go anywhere else in the manor unless other people are around," Jason said as he began to pace. "He doesn't like being alone in unfamiliar surroundings because it makes him uncomfortable."

Dick let out a breath as he pulled off the Batman cowl. "Is there anywhere he could have gone if he isn't in the manor? Does he have a safe house close by or something?"

Tim nodded. "Yeah, he wouldn't have gone far. He's still on orders to protect Damian."

Jason shook his head as he continued to pace. "I mean, he probably has a League safe house he could have gone to, but he wouldn't leave the manor unless..."

"Unless?" Dick asked after Jason trailed off.

Damian, who had been guilty staring at the floor, spoke up. "Unless he either was called back my mother or he was quitting the assignment— and either way, he won't be returning."

"What?" Steph asked, looking far more upset than any of the brothers expected. They hadn't really seen any proof of the two growing close at all. "He's gone?"

Jason stopped his pacing, opting instead to let his nervous energy out through his hands as the raked through his hair. "Probably— though there is still a chance that he-"

"No," Damian said, his tone both emotionless and yet still full of sadness. "If he left the manor, then he is most likely gone for good."

"But Talia sent him to protect you-" Tim began to say, but he was cut off.

Damian rolled his eyes, but it lacked the pure distaste it usually had. "My mother asked him to come, but he is free to do as he wishes. She knows she cannot truly force him into anything without risking his anger."

A silence hung over the group for a long time before the Batcomputer beeping broke it.

Tim turned his attention to it before cursing quietly to himself. "I think Nico was right about the island base being a trap. A sensor we have just cause mass movement within the base's perimeter. I'm pulling up the satellite images now, but chances are that they saw we weren't coming and the backup forces are returning to inside the walls."