Don't Fear the Reaper

95) Is Your Heart Clenching, or Are You Just Having a Heart Attack

Bruce waited a few days before bringing up the topic with Nico again. It was obvious that the experience had thrown Nico for a loop, and he'd been caught up in his own mind for the days that followed, but it got to the point where Bruce was—once again—at a loss.

He did his best to support Nico anyway that he could, but the kid was not only hard to pin down, but also existing in his own mind half the time. He was physically present in their lives, but he kept to himself and seemed like he couldn't gain his footing with the family. As soon as he took a step closer to them, it seemed like he had to mentally withdraw once again to become okay with that.

And Bruce wasn't complaining. Any progress they made with Nico felt like a victory that he was immensely grateful for, but it wasn't exactly an easy thing to watch—witnessing a child suffer just so he could accept the love and support of a family.

"Tim said you wanted to see me?" Nico said, hesitantly stepping off the staircase entrance to the batcave.

Bruce nodded, standing up and approaching the teen with a soft smile that he hoped was calming. "Yeah, I was wondering if you felt up to talking about your old uniforms? It's completely okay if you aren't, but I wanted to offer it to you so we can maybe make your patrol suit more comfortable."

Nico nodded shallowly, still seeming a bit caught up in his own mind, but he was responding, so Bruce took that as a win.

"Alright, well I had the system analyze them and categorize their key elements. We can either just talk about them in the abstract, or, I had to put them on mannequins for the system to analyze them, so we can actually look at them if that feels okay." Bruce watched his reactions carefully—even if he had mastered the art of his neutral expression—searching for a hint at what was going on in his mind. "It's whatever you prefer. I know looking at stuff like that might be painful-"

"I can look at it," Nico cut in, his tone hinted with a defensiveness that told Bruce this was gonna be a long conversation. "I'm not gonna suddenly burst into flames or go on a killing spree because I look at the suits."

Bruce bit his tongue, knowing that anything he'd say would do nothing but further agitate the demigod. He walked over the batcomputer, entering the command to open up the panel in the wall, revealing the two suits Nico wore when he was with the League.

Bruce watched as Nico stared at them, his face unreadable, but his jaw clenched and his back seemed to straighten without thought as he stared at them.

"So, I was thinking that we might talk about the things on your old suit you liked better?" Bruce prompted, his tone gentle yet casual. He knew Nico well enough to know that treating him softly right now would do nothing but piss the kid off. "We can save the functionality talk for later—I just wanna know your general thoughts and what you might want to implement into your new suit."

Nico was silent for a long time, his face expressionless except a very slight pinching between his brows that gave show to the storm in his mind. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft with a slight roughness to it. "The material... I liked that material better, I guess."

"Alright," Bruce said, honestly just proud that Nico was able to express a desire. "What was it about the material that you liked?"

"It's lighter," Nico said, his eyes locked on the suits, but they seemed unfocused all the same. "Easier to move in. The kevlar and armor limits mobility, weights me down."

"That makes sense," Bruce said, chest swelling with pride for Nico. He knew it was such a small thing, but Nico was trying his best, and it made the man truly happy. "I can see what I can come up with to make your suit less restrictive and lighter, but most of that resistance comes from the stuff that's protecting you. While your old suit might have been more comfortable, it wasn't exactly made well. There's little to no armor and the material is-"