Don't Fear the Reaper

61) Steph Would Fight God and Win

Nico had been minding his own business. The Wayne kids had been out for the past few days on their own missions, which meant he finally got some to himself. He was just sitting in the room they gave him, completely fine being alone for the first in what felt like forever... and then the door burst open. There was no knock or call that someone was coming in. It was just peace and quiet and then boom! an angry blonde girl in an absolutely giant purple sweatshirt.

"I just asked Bruce to let me take you to the craft store and he said no," Steph said as she slammed the door behind her, as if she were walking into her own room after getting into a fight with her dad over curfew; however, it was Nico's room, a fight with a guy who dressed up in a kevlar bat costume every night, and the fight was over the assassin they were keeping prisoner.

Nico just blinked at her. "What?"

"I told him about how I felt bad that you were trapped in the manor all week because the boys and Cass were all off on missions with their teams and Bruce got a black eye and didn't wanna risk going out in public in case someone notices," Steph said, pacing back and forth in the demigod's room. "I said that it was unfair that you were basically being punished for the others having a busy schedule and this way, you could actually pick out your own yard instead of me just going off of vibes about what you would like."

Nico glanced at the ball of yarn next to him that was a deep forest green color. "This is fine-"

"Of course it is, I am great at reading vibes," Steph said throwing her hands up in the air as if she had made some sweeping claim. "The point isn't about you being fine with what I gave you, it's about letting you have some freedom and a choice. Picking out yarn is fun! It would have been a fun outing that wouldn't have even taken that long!"

Nico looked at her, still just as confused about what was happening as when she walked in. "Okay?"

"But that billionaire bimbo had the audacity  to say no," Steph said, ranting like a teenager whose dad said they couldn't go to the mall with their friends. "He said he couldn't risk letting you out of the manor without one of the actual Waynes because they were the only ones who could remove the ringlets and he didn't want you defenseless in case of an attack."

"Aren't you basically a Wayne?"

Steph threw her hands to the side, still pacing. "Apparently not enough! Bruce said your father told him that he extended protection against the metal to the members of Bruce's family, but Brucie-Bitch isn't sure if that extends to honorary members and 'doesn't want to risk it'."

"I mean, he makes a good point," Nico said, looking at the girl, still confused about what she was actually mad about. "My father probably didn't look too deeply into the Wayne family's close relationships. There's no way to know if you would be safe to touch it and testing it could very well end in you dying."

"Exactly!" Steph exclaimed, still making absolutely no sense to Nico. Was she mad about being told no? Was this just about being mad at Bruce for no reason? Was it because a god didn't disclose his thoughts on 'found family' in the contexts of magic protection?

"I don't understand what is happening," Nico stated, choosing to just be honest. "If this is just about me staying in Wayne Manor, it is fine. The others are all set to get back before dinner. Plus, I've been kept in much worse places for a lot longer-"

"That doesn't make it better," Steph said, stopping her pacing and instead tapping her foot incessantly as she crossed her arms. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes were lost in thought. "You are a human being—well, a half god, half human being—but still! I get that Bruce wants to keep you as safe as possible and it wasn't like your father intentionally excluded me from being able to help, but this is bullshit! A 16 year old should be able to go to the fucking craft store with his semi-honorary big sister without it being a big deal!"