Ghost King Meets Batman

Momma Ivy?

[Edited April 17, 2023]

TW: Mentions of suicide, mentions of abuse, vivid panic attack description, disordered thoughts

Nico had a sinking feeling that he had made the wrong choice by calling out to the crazed woman that he used to know. He felt the vines wrap around him, forming a harness that supported him as he was lifted into the air. It was tight, but not suffocating. He looked down to see what Ivy was going to do with him now.

As he looked, he could see Pam chewing the Joker out, who had been wrapped tightly in a certain dying rose bush and was currently lying on his face in front of an angry Pamela. Joker didn't seem concerned about his current situation at all. He was calmly staring up at Ivy from where he lay saying that he was only trying to have some fun. If Nico hadn't known better, he would have said that the man was pouting.

"I don't care. You are not to touch that boy, you hear! He is mine! You touch him and I will feed you to my babies!" Her maternal instincts had apparently kicked in and she had accepted him and declared him under her protection. That would explain why the vines hadn't crushed him yet. At least, he hoped that she had accepted him and not decided he was going to be entertainment for her now. He didn't think the Pam he knew would do that, but this was not the Pamela he used to know.

After a while of talking, Joker was finally released and disappeared into the night. Once he was out of sight. Ivy brought him back down and set him gently on the ground. She was immediately fussing over him. He couldn't help but wonder if this feeling had anything to do with the time that Persephone had turned him into a Dandelion.

"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" She said checking his face and either ruffling his messy hair. Before he could respond she pulled him into a tight hug. He gagged silently as he couldn't breathe. Once she released and checked over him once more.

"Thanks, Pam... err, Ivy." Nico said awkwardly.

"Any time. The plants seem to think you're one of them. A flower perhaps?" She mused, sizing him up, "They seem to want me to place you under my protection. Come to me if you need anything, I mean it. I'll be your momma now, Momma Ivy. I like that." Ivy's eyes got distant with a satisfied smile plastered on her face. Nico didn't have any idea how to respond to that proclamation. He just nodded and thanked Ivy again before heading back towards the manor, leaving Ivy to care for the plants.

He had almost made it back to the manor when he was stopped by one more unwelcomed face. This time, it was Batman. He had just turned the corner, headed back towards the Wayne manor when a chastising voice stopped him in his tracks. He shut his eyes to keep from saying something he'd regret later.

"Mr. Wayne called me again tonight. Saying that, once again, you were missing. You need to stop doing this, I have more important things to attend to in this city than little boys running away from their problems." Nico closed his eyes to use his soul searching abilities. Was Bruce Wayne Batman? If he wasn't who was? After a second or so he got the answer he needed. Ha, he knew it. He kept up the act that he didn't know who it was, pivoting slowly on his heels, finding Bruce leaning against a fence nearby.

"Yet, here you are. If you have better things to be doing, why aren't you doing them?" Batman ignored the remark. 

"What are you doing out here? It's dangerous." Nico eyed the other man, bemused. It was hard to take this vigilante bit seriously, knowing who was really behind the mask.

"Like you said, running away from my problems." It was more complicated than that, but Nico didn't feel like getting into all of that on a random street of Gotham with a man in a Bat costume. What was with the underwear on the outside of the pants anyway? Wouldn't that be uncomfortable?