Demigod in Gotham

7) Crime Ally is Apparently Super Popular

A/N: after finishing the last chapter I saw that I now have two viewers on the first chapter, so cheers to my second reader. Also this is a very long chapter, but I didn't want to split it up so I didn't. 

Nico had been in Gotham for about a week and, other than the box that arrived at his door the day after he helped Nightwing that held more then enough suture packs to last him a year and a small communicator labeled 'for emergencies -NW', he hadn't really had any surprises. He settled into a comfortable routine of waking up, getting coffee at a cafe a few blocks down, doing his morning run (which he had been ordered to do by Will), meeting up with the Gotham Satyrs during their 'lunch breaks', going home to cook lunch, doing his afternoon training (also by order of Will), and then doing whatever he wanted for the rest of the day. Usually he would get a call from Will, Percy, Gio, or one of the Seven, but that day had been call free. He had decided to explore the city, having realized that most of the bums left him alone due to his 'menacing aura' as Austin had once described it.

That day, he had been out until around 10pm when he began his 10 block trek back to his apartment. It was a mostly quiet night, the streets being weirdly silent as he walked back, but he brushed it off as just a weird phenomenon... he was wrong. As he made the turn onto his street he immediately heard the tell tail signs of a fight. 

Being a reasonable person, he obviously followed them until it led him to the alley way between his apartment and the next (which he had found out was nicknamed 'crime ally', nice job picking a good location Chiron). As he approached, he found two vigilantes fighting a gang of what looked to be mobsters. He kept his distance, seeing that they seemed to be doing fine, and planned to just get inside and let them handle it... and the he heard the cry of pain... and then he was cursing Jason and Percy again as he snuck into the ally.

He caught a glimpse of Red Robin on the ground, his staff out of his reach, and Robin trying and failed to fight through the crowd to get to him. Part of him wanted to leave, thinking that Robin would make it to the other vigilante in only a moment or two, and then the younger boy got shot.

He heard Red Robin cry out for him, pulling himself off the ground and managing to get to the younger boy, but the fight was now 10 against one and it wasn't looking good. Nico immediately raced forward, grabbing the discarded staff off the ground and tossed it to the teen as he managed to get back to back with him in the middle of the fight. The Italian boy drew his silver blade, something he was glad Chiron had insisted he take, and began fighting off the bad guys.

As soon as the fight was over, the two teens panting as the bleeding Robin laid unconscious between them, Nico tossed Red Robin his keys. "Give me the zip tie things you guys use and get him to my apartment. It's apartment A on the third floor. I know you don't know who I am, but he won't make it to the closest hospital so I'm the best option you have."

Nico expected at least a little push back from the teen but instead he handed over the ties, picked up the boy, and rushed into the apartment. Huh. Nico thought, Strange kid, guess I look more trustworthy than I thought.

-Tim POV- 

Under most circumstances, Tim wouldn't have trusted that kid if his life depended on it; however it wasn't his life on the line and Nightwing's words from weeks prior rang in his head. So, instead of trying to get Damian back to the cave before he bled out, he decided to take a chance and listen to the boy. By the time he managed to carry his little brother up the stairs and into the apartment, Nico was already climbing through the fire escape. He was about to say something when the boy ran into a room and quickly returned hauling out a mattress and a black duffle bag.