Don't Fear the Reaper

34) Ding Dong! Visitors!!!

A/N: congratulations, you have finally made it to the chapter that Will is in

It had been two days since Nico left and the house was silent. Bruce's kids had either returned to their own apartments or had barely left their rooms outside of patrols and meal times.

Bruce couldn't stand it any more.

He was on his way to the office, trying to fill the silence with literally anything, when a knock sounded at the front door.

Alfred, who was dusting the picture frames in the hallway, looked at him in surprise. They had sensors on the front gate, so they were usually notified when someone came into the property— not to mention that the gate was currently closed and only his family had override keys for it.

Alfred set down his duster and walked over to the door, Bruce following close behind, ready to push the emergency lockdown button in case it was an attack.

As the door opened, it revealed two teenagers, one with blonde hair and the other with black hair, both looking stoic.

"Good afternoon gentlemen," Alfred said in his usual proper tone. "I am sorry to say but we do not allow solicitors on the property. If you would like to-"

The black haired teen cut off Alfred. "Nico sent for us."

Bruce nearly dropped the coffee cup in his hands at that, but quickly recovered and set it down, nodding to Alfred to let them both in.

As the boys stepped into the foyer, Bruce immediately noticed the leather cords around their necks. He didn't know how he could tell, but he had a feeling that they were probably from the same source.

"Did— um," Bruce stuttered, honestly not sure how to react in that moment. "Did he tell you why you were supposed to come?"

The blonde pulled a letter from his pocket, his eyes skimming it over for a moment before he apparently found what he was looking for. "We need to speak to Stephanie Brown, Barbra Gordon, and Cassandra Cain."

"And Nico," the black haired teen said, his eyes sharp. "You know where he is."

Bruce forced his face to remain neutral as he looked at them both. "He left two days ago. I can honestly say I have no clue where he is right now."

That did not seem to make either of them happy, but neither said anything about it.

"I shall call the ladies and request they come to the manor," Alfred said, gesturing to the two boys to follow him down the hallway. They waited for Bruce to go first before following. "I will return shortly with some tea and snacks. Are their any dietary restrictions I should know of?"

The duo sat on a couch in the drawing room, sharing a quick glance at the question, before the older looking one simply said, "I don't eat seafood. Thank you."

Alfred gave a nod and left the room, leaving Bruce with the mysterious duo.

"We weren't told much about why you were coming or who you are. I am assuming one of you is the doctor and the other is either a mentor or cousin, based off the note he left at least." Bruce said, sitting down in an armchair.

The blonde looked slightly surprised at that. "Nico didn't talk about us before the note?"

"No, at least not to me." Bruce leaned back slightly in the chair, hoping to give off a relaxed energy so that the duo would become more comfortable. "He might have mentioned you two briefly to some of my kids, but they don't tell me everything. Plus, I was gone for the first month he was here, so I missed about half of his stay."

The black haired teen's eye brows furrowed. "He was here for two months?"

"About, yeah," Bruce said, curiosity getting the best of him. "How long has it been since you've last seen him?"