Don't Fear the Reaper

52) Lying is Fun, Especially When it's About Mental Health

A/N: this one is super short, but when I combined it with the next one, it became like 4k words so... sucks to suck ig 

Nico didn't like not knowing what was going on. He had always prided himself on knowing what was happening during and between the wars. He knew about the Curse of Achilles, the Romans, where Percy and Jason were, the Doors of Death— everything. He might not have been included in the plans that the demigods made, but he was always had his part in how they won because he learned quickly that when you held no worth to the people around you, information was the only way to gain any sort of control. Knowledge had always been his crutch and the source of any type of power he had over the others. 

Now, he was experiencing what it was like to be on the other side of things. He was in the dark, never knowing what the bats were planning. He was in the dark, simply following them around as they led him to his next designated activity.

The door to the cell slid open, revealing Bruce.

"I don't want to read in the library," Nico said, rolling his eyes as he just focused on his knitting.

"I see Steph finally taught you how to make a sweater," Bruce said, purposefully not commenting on his pissy mood. "Who's this one for?"

Nico glared at him.

"Right, sorry," Bruce said, chuckling slightly as he raised his hands in surrender. "I forgot, you don't make them for anyone. You just get angry and throw your finished products at people and if they keep it, then that's their choice."

Nico flipped him off, causing the man to smile slightly.

"I'm not in the mood to talk about Dante or walk around the manor, so you can just leave," Nico said, not looking at him.

Bruce ignored him. Setting down the bag that was on his shoulder and riffling through it for a moment before he pulled out some clothes and tossed them onto the bed. "Good thing we aren't doing either of those things today."

Nico looked at the clothes in confusion. They weren't anything crazy, just black jeans and a hoodie, but he had been wearing strictly sweatpants and t-shirts for the past 2 months, so it was definitely something new. "What are you planning?"

Bruce sat in the chair and shrugged. "Well, I need to get some work done, but I keep not wanting to leave the manor in case something happens to you, so I thought you could come with me. It won't be anywhere too crazy and only for about an hour or so, but I thought you might enjoy leaving the grounds."

Nico stared at the man for a long moment, waiting for the catch. "Why? What are you trying to get me to do?"

"There's no alternative motive here," Bruce said, still smiling, though he looked almost sad. "I don't have any expectations for how this will go or what you'll do. If we leave and you don't want to be there, just say the word and we'll come back immediately, I promise."

Nico didn't like the idea of leaving the manor. It wasn't really that he wanted to be there—he could probably list 20 places he would rather be—but the idea of leaving filled him with anxiety. There was so much that could go wrong. There were so many uncontrollable variables that could cause Bruce's simple idea to turn to shit.

He still stood up and put down his knitting materials. Bruce stood as well, clicking a button to turn off the camera and turning around as the boy changed. A small part of Nico thought to attack the man while his back was turned and there were no cameras to alert the others, but he pushed the thought aside. He would still be trapped in the room with no powers and eventually the others would notice that Bruce had never left the room.

After he finished changing, Nico cleared his throat slightly to signal that Bruce could turn back around. The man just gave him a small smile as he reached into the bag once again and pulled out a dark gray tote bag.

"I thought you could bring your yarn in case you get bored," Bruce offered, his voice almost hesitant at the suggestion. They always got like this when they tried to pitch an idea to him—probably scared that he might get offended or angry—but, deep down, in a part of his mind that would never dare to try to vocalize the thought, he kinda liked it. I gave him a weird sense of comfort, knowing that they worried about these types of things. 

It was strangely nice to know that they not only thought about what he might want, but that they never tried to force him. All of their offers came with the ability to say no— even if it was something that he continually had problems with accepting.

"Thank you," Nico muttered, taking the bag from him and carefully putting his current project inside. He stared at the filled tote for a long moment, absently realizing that he hadn't had a bag that carried his own possessions in a while.

"Are you ready?" Bruce asked.

Nico looked at the man. He wasn't. He wasn't ready to leave the room, or the cave, or the manor. He wasn't ready to get in a car or go into a new building. He wasn't ready for people to see him—for them to look at him and begin to form an opinion about who he was. People would see him and they would decide who he was. They would look and they would judge and all it would lead to was more isolation—only this type wouldn't be one he chose. 

It was all too much. It was change and it was out of his control, and those two things were enough to make him want to put the cuffs back on and ever leave that cursed cell. The room was a unique type of torture for him, but at least it was consistent. It was dependable with its unyielding walls. It was the one thing he could hold on to when the Waynes would change things and try to force him into new things. 

These four walls of his cage were the only things he could count on, but now he was supposed to leave them behind? How far away would he be from this tortured security? What was he supposed to gain from leaving them behind when it was all he had truly known and depended on for the last 2 months?

"Yeah." 

A/N: I have been caught up with my sister's bridal shower for the last few days and I didn't have time to edit anything. Sorry dudes. 

Vote. Comment. Tell me something you would want to have at your wedding (I want to have a projector so I could put on JustDance).