Demigod in Gotham

24) Slay Inclusivity

A/N: Longest chapter yet! this was originally supposed to be like 3 chapters but all the cut offs felt weird so I just smushed them together. Sorry, not sorry.

-Dick POV-

It had been a week and a half since Nico's episode and he only recently began to leave his room. He wouldn't really speak, except for when he would mumble in Italian to Jason. The boy had told Jason that he could let the others know what was going on, but the updates were usually vague. The second oldest had told them that Will said change was really hard for Nico and since he was in a new environment, he didn't realize how anxious he was leading up to when he mentioned the wars. That combined with mild hypothermia from being fully clothed in a cold shower for half an hour made the episode extremely damaging. He was getting better but it was a slow process. Bruce had described it to them as his mental barriers had been torn down by the experience and he was slowly rebuilding them.

Dick had instantly been reminded of Kaldur after Megan's attack. Though he didn't know how realistic the comparison was, he still understood the severity. They had slowly been allowed to go into his room to sit with him, but he didn't do much except for text Will and draw in a sketchbook that he had taken to bringing with him everywhere he went. He usually kept the drawings to himself but every once in a while he would hesitantly show one of the boys.

Dick had been sitting with Nico, watching the sky get darker from the foot of his bed, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. The oldest brother had turned to see Nico silently offering his sketchbook to him. As he took it to get a better look, his jaw dropped a little. The drawing was of Dick, perched at the end of the bed, with the golden light of the sunset shining on him. The colored parts were only half done, but even then it was incredibly life like. "Nico, this is amazing. How did you learn to do this?" Dick hadn't expected a response, but he heard one anyways.

His voice was quiet and a bit rough from lack of use, but it warmed Dick's heart to hear it. "I drew a little bit as a kid, but Mr. D had me do it as a coping mechanism. He said if I drew what I saw in nightmares or flashbacks, it would help me process the memories and events without feeling overwhelmed by them."

Dick smiled at him before handing back the book. "You have an amazing talent. Thank you for sharing it with me."

The boy hesitated a moment before making room next to him against the headboard. "If you want to see a few more..." his voice trailed off, unsure of himself.

Dick just nodded and took the spot next to him. The boy turned to specifically marked pages, probably ones that were unrelated to his therapeutic work, and showed him drawings he had done of his brothers, Bruce, and Alfred. All of the drawings seemed to be in moments of mundane life: Damian reading in the library with Jason, Alfred cooking dinner with Tim at the counter, Bruce sitting in his office while chatting with Dick. The eldest realized they were from the few times Nico would leave his room and just sit with the others.

"Mr. D also had me draw what was happening around me after I had bad episodes. He said it would help me get a better grasp on reality; show me what was real versus fake."

Dick nodded, his fingers brushing the page that had all of them sitting in the drawing room. "I think you would like Cass. She's one of Bruce's honorary daughters. He tried to adopt her a while back but she turned him down. She doesn't talk a lot, but she's super observant. You remind me of her a bit."

"How many honorary kids does Bruce have?" His voice was small, as if he was scared to ask, or possibly scared of the answer.

Dick smiled kindly at Nico as the kid began to pick up his work on the drawing of his oldest brother. "Well it's a bit complicated. Some are honorary because they turned Bruce down, others are just because they're Bats. Usually a lot of them come over for dinner every Wednesday for a family dinner, but we canceled last week since we didn't want you to stress about it."