Ghost King Meets Batman

The Unicorn Incident

[Hey guys! I just wanted to quickly turn your attention to the beautiful bit of artwork that is the picture. This piece was produced by @Thorns_di_angelo and I'm very VERY grateful. They are one of the few people who have drawn Nico for me throughout the course of this fanfic and I hope they won't be the last! Please let them know if you like their work!]

[Edited July 23, 2022]

Nico decided to wait a little while before leaving to go see Hazel he'd leave in the afternoon so he could be there while she was eating lunch. He wouldn't be able to stay long, because of the gala, but hopefully, they would have enough time to look into her powers a little more. While he waited, he wanted to train some more. Just because things hadn't gone well that morning didn't give him an excuse to hide in his room all day. Thus, the rest of the time was spent training gymnastics style with Richard.

The pair worked on flexibility and stretches for a while before Richard showed him some tumbling moves. Nico wasn't sure that he could ever do those sorts of things, but it was nice to imagine that he could. Plus, he enjoyed watching his older brother. There were few times where Richard was more relaxed than when he was performing. The oldest brother started off with the basic cartwheels and handsprings then he progressed from there. He was so precise and fluid. The son of Hades had no idea how someone like himself would ever be able to pull that stuff off. HE was so entranced that he forgot to pay attention to the ways that his body moved in order to replicate it.

Finally, it was Nico's turn to do some of the basic moves. They started with the basics since Dick didn't want to overwhelm the younger boy. If you weren't comfortable trying something, you were likely to get hurt. Dick needed to help Nico build his confidence before they would try anything harder. Nico found that he could do the cartwheels and the rolls and that sort of thing, but he had a lot of work to do on the other skills. Dick got right into showing him how it was done and the demigod found himself enjoying the exercises. They spent a few hours on various tumbling exercises, getting Nico used to the idea of taking his feet off the floor. When they finally took a break for lunch, he was really tired.

Tim must have been tired too because he fell asleep at the table. The guys had been going on patrol most nights and it was really wearing Drake down. They each did their own things at night, patrolling their own territories and that sort of thing. Dick patrolled Bludhaven, Damian was with the Teen Titans, Jason was in his turf, and Drake was with Bruce. Nico usually stayed home and tested himself on the cause of death puzzles on the bat computer, under Alfred's supervision. This week had been particularly busy for them all.

Jason was staking out his claims this week, even though Bruce didn't approve. The pair were on the out again and Hood was staying in his safe houses. Nico had heard them fighting a few nights ago and he couldn't decide who he agreed with. As a child of Hades, Nico didn't have anything against Jason killing the bad guys, though he also understood that killing was against most people's moral codes. He was torn because he understood both sides of the argument. Perhaps he was more cut out for the anti-hero life like Jason was, though he didn't think he could kill a human unless it was a life or death situation. To be honest, it was something he had put much thought into.

After practice, the pair ate lunch in the cave while looking over current case files before Nico went to go shower. He laid out a suit on his bed for when he came back so that he wouldn't have to worry about what to wear in his rush to get ready for the charity event. Why Bruce insisted on holding these things was beyond him, but he supposed that it was important to keep up his image with the public. Bruce was the biggest philanthropist in Gotham and there were a lot of charities out there that could use the proceedings from tonight. So, Nico would play ball no matter how much he hated it.

Nico showered quickly, rehearsing what he was going to say to Bruce. He knew that the demigod was leaving, but he didn't know the truth about where he was going or why. Nico hated having to lie to him like this, but he needed to keep Hazel a secret until he knew that she was safe with the Romans. It was also important that no one knew that Hazel was dead, he didn't think that Bruce would approve of him tampering with the laws of nature like that.