"So, I guess you still remember me from the hospital, but just in case you don't: I am Bruce Wayne.", Bruce said when he came to pick Nico up from the hospital. Nico remembered him, but he wasn't sure whether he wanted to be called Bruce or Mr Wayne. He decided to just avoid using sentenced where the name would be necessary.

"Alfred, my butler and my 4 other children are at home. I actually have 5 Children, but Duke, the second youngest, is on a student exchange at the moment. So, I hope it doesn't bother you to live with 3 other boys and a girl. We also have some Animals, like Alfred the Cat, Titus, who is a dog by the way and a cow, although I haven't seen the cow in like 3 months."

"Why do you have a cow?", Nico asked. His voice had recovered along with the rest of his body.

"It would have been slaughtered and Damian didn't want that to happen so he just took the cow and it has been living with us ever since."

Nico nodded as a response.

"You haven't said anything about the others yet so I assume you don't have a problem with that?", Bruce asked.

"Oh no, don't worry. When I was still with my Dad's side of the family the lowest amount of people my age was 23 so 4 others will be like a vacation."

Bruce thought that living with his children would probably not be like a vacation to Nico as they could be very difficult, especially to each other, but he decided not to say anything. Bruce also thought that it was weird Nico's Dad had such a big family, but no one managed to show up at the hospital even once. Of course, there was always the chance they didn't know where Nico was, but according to commissioner Gordon, there was no missing person who matched Nico's description and was called "Nico di Angelo". Bruce again, decided not to say anything, as family can be a rough subject for any homeless teenager.

The two of them walked out of the hospital, over the car park and Bruce navigated them to his car. It wasn't anything special, as he wasn't out to be seen by the public today. They where silent while walking and the silence was somewhat awkward. Because Bruce didn't want Nico to feel uncomfortable, he decided to start up another conversation as soon as he started the car.

"Nico, I have access to your hospital files, but we couldn't find a medical record. So, do you have any disorders, allergies, disabilities or other health problems I should know about?"

"I have ADHD and Dyslexia, and maybe also dyscalculia, but I don't have a diagnosis for that.", Nico said.  'I also have anxiety, PTSD, a bit of depression, y'know, the usual', he thought, but then he would have to explain, and that was none of Bruce's business.

"I know a great specialist, we can see her if you would like a diagnosis for dyscalculia.", Bruce offered.

"I'll have to think about that, but I'll let you know if I want to. Thanks for the offer", Nico said. He forced himself to be nice, after all Bruce didn't have to take him in. He still was going to disappear at the first opportunity that presented itself.

They parked at Wayne Mannor and Nico would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. Wayne Mannor was huge, at least by mortal standarts.

They got out of the car, and started to walk towards the door, when Bruce started to talk again.

"Now, before we get in here, I wanted to let you know, that while the four of them are all good kids and all mean well, at least most of the times, they can be really mean. I told them to be nice to you, but some may take that less serious than others. I don't want to make you afraid or anything, I am pretty sure they will all like you once they get to know you, and I'm pretty sure you'll like them. If they are a bit distant, don't take it personal, and if you have like actual, serious problems with one of them, please let me or Alfred know."

"That's a lot to take in, but thanks for the heads up.", Nico said.

"Yes, well that wasn't everything. Things can get chaotic, like really chaotic. They aren't related to me or each other, at least not by blood, and they all came into my life at a different Time. The youngest, Damian, is the only exception and one who is biologically mine, but I love them all equally."

Nico nodded.

"And yea, like I said, I am pretty sure they'll like you, and you'll like them, one you guys got to warm up to each other." Bruce took a deep breath, then looked down at Nico.

"Ready?"

"I guess so. Also, thanks for waring me beforehand." Nico prepared himself mentally by telling himself that he could even get the Ares kids to respect him and these kids couldn't be worse than the Ares kids. Beides, he still actually planing on staying with them. Camp should still exist, even in 2066 and as far as Nico was concerned, Camp would be the only place he could get answers to all his questions.

Bruce gave Nico a last reassuring smile, them he rang the doorbell and an old man opened the door almost immediately.

"Hi Alfred, is everything ready?"

"Yes Master Bruce, I made sure of that.", the old man answered, then he looked at Nico. "Is this the boy you where talking about?"

Bruce nodded as he took of his coat.

"I'm Nico.", the son of Hades said without being asked. Alfred took Bruce's jacket and offered to take Nico's, but Nico declined. His Jacket was the last thing he had left from Bianca and his old life (or should he say his old old life?), he wasn't about to trust a stranger with it.

"This way.", Bruce said, and both Alfred and Nico followed him.

The room they entered was a dining room. It had a big dining table with space for up to 16 people, a fireplace and a chandelier. There where 4 People already seated and like Bruce said, 3 of them where boys.

The oldest one was the one Nico had already met at the hospital, although Nico didn't remember his name. Then there was a boy who was about Nico's age, he seemed somehow sleep deprived and hyperactive at the same time.

The youngest one was definitely younger than Nico. He looked like he couldn't be any older than twelve. He had darker skin than the others, which made him appear middle eastern. He also had some asian features and yet he still looked an awful lot like Bruce. Nico was pretty sure this was Damian, after all he was also the youngest.

The girl was older than Nico, that he could tell, and she also was asian. He noticed how straight her posture was in comparison to the others and himself and stood up a bit straighter.

They all had black hair, and they all looked fit, like their bodies where made for battle. Nico wasn't quite sure how to feel about the last part, but he decided to give the Waynes the benefit of the doubt. Rich people worked out a lot in 2014, why shouldn't they also work out in 2065?

When Bruce opened the door, Nico noticed they first looked at him and greeted him not in the most polite way, but Nico could definitely tell they had a good relationship with each other. 

Their attention shifted to Nico, and suddenly Nico had the strong urge to walk away from the whole situation. He hated when he was the main focus of the room, any room really, and this time he couldn't help but feel analysed as well as being stared at.  Unfortunately, Bruce already stared to talk and Shadow travelling away right then and there would just bring him more problems. Besides, he hadn't shadow traveled anywhere since waking up from his coma and he wasn't sure his body was already up for it.

"Nico these are Dick-", Dick, so that was his Name, smiled and looked genuinely interested in meeting him, "Tim-", Tim, the one in Nico's age, looked interested in Nico as well but also like his mind was somewhere else. "Damian-", Nico guessed that right. Damian was the only one who didn't seem very happy to see him, and also seemed like he was a lot more sceptical towards Nico, but maybe also like he disliked the idea of Nico being there altogether. He crossed his arms but kept a neutral expression on his face. "and Cass." The girl waved her hand and smiled. Nico somehow felt like she was the one analysing him the most but also the one the most happy to meet him. He wasn't sure what make of her.

They sat down, all at one end of the table, with Nico being in the middle between Cass and Dick. Tim was in front of him, Damian was in front of Dick and Bruce was in front of Cass.

"Isn't Alfred going to eat with us?", Nico asked.

"Oh no, Alfred prefers to eat after we have eaten. It has to do with Butler etiquette or something like that.", Dick said.

Alfred came into the dining room in that exact same moment via a passage Nico hadn't noticed before.

"We didn't know what you like so we decided to have pasta with tomato sauce because people usually don't have a problem with that.", Bruce explained.

They all got their food and even before Nico could start eating he was asked the first question.

"How old are you, Nico?"

"I'm 15.", he answered and ate some of his pasta. The pasta was good, but not as good as his mother used to make it. Then again, Alfred had a British accent, so it was quite decent for food made by a Brit.

"Or wait, I missed new year's by being in a coma, and now it's march right?"

Cass nodded.

"Well, then I'm 16."

"When was your birthday?", Bruce asked.

"28th of January."

"Well then happy late birthday.", Dick said.

"Thank you", Nico answered, although it felt weird to think of himself as a 16 year old.

The others at the table also said something along the lines of happy birthday, and Nico thanked them.

For a while they ate in silence, until Dick talked again.

"So what do you like to do in your free time?"

Nico had to think about that for a short moment. It had been so long since he last had the time for free time activities, and he wasn't about to tell them he liked mythomagic. He wasn't even sure if he still liked mythomagic.

"I like to play capture the flag and I'm good at sword fighting."

"Sword fighting? Damian and Cass do that too.", Bruce said.

Cass nodded and Damian asked: "What style do you use?"

"Er... ancient Greek style?", Nico answered, unsure of what his 'style' actually was or even what the point of the question was.

"I mean sword style. Like European longsword, Katana, Rapier, Saber et cetera."

"Oh well in that case I don't know. I learned sword fighting in a summer camp and they just gave me a sword. I never thought of asking what style it was. Why, what style do you use?"

"Cassandra and I mainly use the Katana, but we're also good with the styles I just named and some more." Nico wasn't sure if he had just imagined it or not, but he could swear there was a hint of superiority in his voice.

"You mean Cass is very good with the other styles and you're jealous of her?", Tim teasingly said.

"At least I have a-"

"Alright, so capture the flag huh? Haven't played that in years.", Dick said, Interrupting Damian.

"It's been a long time since I played too, but I think I'm still good at it."

"We should play sometime, maybe get a couple of friends to come along with us. Wayne Mannor has a huge yard, it could be fun.", Tim suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea.", Nico said and smiled a genuine smile.

"Cass, Nico and I could use our swords, I bet that would make it even more fun.", Damian suggested and smiled what could only be described as a murderous smile.

"Or we could not kill each other, I bet that would be even more fun.", Dick said.

"I never said we had to use real proper swords, we could use training ones made out of wood or something like that.", Damian defended his idea.

"I actually think that would be a cool idea. Capture the flag with training swords.", Nico said. He wasn't sure how anyone would play capture the flag without weapons, but already had come to the conclusion, that mortals shouldn't just hack at each other with deadly weapons, given their lack of ambrosia.

"I can see what we can do, but if everyone here would like to, I could definitely organise something." Bruce said. 

They all said they'd like to, which was the first time Nico heared Cass' voice, and Bruce promised he'd organise something.

Nobody really knew what to say after that so they continued eating in silence. After a while, Nico came to the conclusion that he had to break the silence if he wanted to get a rough idea of these people, so he turned to Cass.

"How come you don't say much?", he asked.

Cass looked at him with a slight, polite smile on her lips and then stared talking in sign language.

"Oh my Gods. I didn't know. I'm sorry for just assuming-", he cut himself off and then  and looked down at the table in embarrassment. 

He used to understand sign language without any problems. Some of his father's most trusted workers were deaf but he still wanted to communicate with them in some way and so he had some dead people teach him every chance he got. It had been years since Nico last lived full-time with Hades, years since he had last talked to those workers, so he had lost a big chunk of his ASL vocabulary, and he wasn't even sure if all of it was ASL to begin with. 

"I'm not very good with sign language", he admitted as he looked back up, "I used to know someone who was deaf but that was a while back. Would anyone mind translating?"

She signed something, Nico could make out the word explain, but the rest was lost on him.

"Of course I can.", Tim said. He cleared his throat and then continued talking. "Cass can't really talk verbally, she can hear you though. She has been doing some verbal training, so she can say simple words or short sentences. Sign language is easier for her to use, but don't worry about not understanding her, you will pick up on ASL faster than you think. That good Cass?", he asked. She showed him thumbs up.

"Okay, that'S good to know. Thanks for telling me.", Nico said.

"I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but English isn't your first language, is it? You're European somehow?", Dick asked. 

"You don't have to answer any of our questions if you don't want to by the way.", bruce quickly added.

Nico had the feeling Dick already knew the answer to his question, and he didn't like that. If felt like Dick was testing him somehow, like Dick didn't trust him.

"Why are you asking if you already know the answer?"

Dick was surprised by this question. It was true, Dick had already figured out that Nico was Italian, just like everybody else who was sitting at the table. He just didn't think Nico would be able to see through him that easily.

"Because I am Romani and before my family came to the US, my grandparents and parents lived in Europe. Also, I don't want to be rude, but your surname is literally di Angelo, it not that hard to figure out that you're Italian."

Nico had dealt with lying people his entire live, so he knew that wasn't Dick's entire truth. He didn't want to press it through as he didn't want to seem too distrusting to the peope he could be spending the rest of his teenage years with.

"You're Romani? That's cool. Yes, I'm Italian, my mum came here with me, to live closer to my dad."

Cass tipped on Nico's shoulder to get his attention. She signed something about containing the words "Italy" and "You"

"She wants to know where in Italy you're from.", Damian said.

"Thanks Damian.", Nico said, the he looked back at Cass. "I'm from Venice. Me and Mamma came here shortly after I turned ten."

"Does that mean you speak Italian?", Bruce asked, genuinely interested.

"Yes I do."

"Anch'io. Parlo italiano da 10 anni.", Bruce said with a wink. His american accent was poking through but it wasn't distracting. 

"Do you speak any other Languages?", Tim asked.

"I mean English, obviously, I used to be better at ASL than I am now but I just lost some of the language, then I also speak Cantonese, Spanish and Arabic, I know some ancient Greek and a couple of phrases in Latin, but nobody really speaks those languages." He could understand more languages, but they didn't ask for that so he didn't say that.

"How come you speak so many Languages?", Damian asked.

Nico was caught off guard, which was a bit dumb that he thought about it. Of course they would ask how he spoke so many languages, especially since they knew about his dyslexia. What was he supposed to say? The dead don't all speak English so of course he picked up some more languages when spending time with them, but he couldn't actually say that.

"My dad... he has a lot to do with people changing countries, and helping them find a destination. They don't all speak English and if you spend a lot of time sharing your home with them you start to pick up on those languages." That was as close to the truth he could get without exposing himself.

"Your dad helps immigrants?", Damian asked.

"To a certain extend, but he also takes care of people from within the US. It's all kind of hard to explain, and I don't really understand it either.", Nico said. The last part was a lie, but he hoped they wouldn't catch on to it.

"Maybe try to describe what he's doing, I probably know more about his Job that you do anyway and then-", Damian was cut off by Tim hitting him.

"There is no need to be rude Damian. Pull yourself together.", Tim said and he sounded like he had these typed of conversations regularly with Damian.

"I will 'pull myself together' as soon as you stop hitting me.", Damian said.

"I'm not touching you right now. Bruce I'm not touching him, see I'm not-"

"Damian listen to your brother and Tim stop hitting Damian.", Bruce said, his voice sounding like he said something similar a hundred times already.

"I only hit him one to get him to stop talking, I wasn't toughing him", Tim said.

"Then how come-"

Before they could start actually fighting, Alfred came in again.

"I hope everyone enjoyed their meals", Alfred said as he came in the dining room again, interrupting Tim and Damian, "desert will be served soon. Miss Cassandra, would you mind helping me?"

She signed something, then got up and started helping Alfred. Bruce also got up and said he had to talk to Alfred about Nico's room.

Without Bruce and Cass in the room, the atmosphere felt a lot more hostile towards Nico.

"How 'bout this: we ask some questions. If you don't wanna tell us the answer, tell us.", Dick suggested after a while of hostile silence. It somehow felt like Nico would be asked anyways, even if he said no.

"Haven't we already been doing that?", Nico asked.

"Yes but this is different because Bruce isn't here.", Damian answered.

Nico didn't like the sound of that at all, but then, without waiting for an answer, Dick asked the first question.

"What is your favourite colour?", Dick asked and got a seriously? look from Damian.

"Black."

"Is your Mom dead?", Damien asked and imminently got glared at by his brothers.

"Yes"

"How did she die?", Damian asked again, ignoring the looks he got from Tim and Dick.

"Skip."

"Did you come to Gotham on purpose?", Tim asked.

"No, I would have chosen a more normal way to get here if I actually, you know, had chosen to be here."

"Does that mean you want to leave again?", Dick asked.

"I don't know. There wasn't much for me were I came from and now I live in a mansion, but like I said, I didn't actually choose to be here."

"Favorite childhood memory?", Dick asked. Nico had one, but it wouldn't seem very happy to the others.

"My 10th Birthday.", Nico simply said.

"Why?", Tim asked.

Hades, Bianca and his Mother were together, being happy and just talking about normal things, while Nico was super happy about his presents. Italy had just switched sides in the war, and Hades was talking to Maria how great it would be if they moved to America.

"Skip."

"Does your Dad really help illegal immigrants come into this country?", Damian asked again.

"No." Nico answered confused. He could tell them wanted more context but that would have to wait. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Then what does he do exactly?", Tim asked, ignoring Nico's question.

"It's complicated, like I said. You wouldn't understand and I don't want to explain it."

Nico was getting even more uncomfortable and he really wanted to leave.

"What's the story behind-", Damian asked, glanced up to see Bruce was coming back inside and immediately changed the topic.
"Alftred the cat you ask?"

Before Nico could respond Damian stared talking again.

"It's quite simple actually. Alfred gave me a cat as my last Christmas gift. I decided to name him Alfred in honor of Alfred. We already had Titus but Titus is more of a family dog, also you can't really cuddle with him. So I got Alfred the Cat from Alfred the butler."

Nico nodded slowly, unsure of what just happened.

Alfred had made cookies for dessert, and they ate them while the cookies were still warm and the chocolate still soft. Nico thought they where really good. They talked a bit more about meaningless topics, before Bruce decided to show Nico his room.

"We were planning on giving you a full tour of the monnor tonight but it's quite late, so that'll happen tomorrow, okay?"

Nico nodded.

"If you're tired you can just stay in your room. We didn't actually plan anything else for tonight."

"Then I'll be staying here. Good night, Bruce."

"Good night Nico. Oh, before I forget, you'll find a fresh pair of PJs on your bed and some clothes in your wardrobe. They are all meant for you, so just help yourself."

 "I will. Can you tell Alfred I really liked his cookies?"

"I will, don't worry. Sleep well."

"You too."

Bruce went down the corridor in the direction they had come from and Nico went inside his room. He didn't want to go to bed just yet, as he still somehow wanted to make sense of what had happened between him, Tim, Dick and Damian. He took a notepad out of his backpack, it was a gift he rarely used, and started to write some of his thoughts on the whole situation down. The more he thought about it, the less sense his situation made to him. Why would a Billionare who already had 4 children take him in of all people? How was he in the year 2066? What had happened to him?

The more he though about the situation the more he realised how little he knew. He wanted to leave for Camp right there and then, after all, maybe Chiron would have some answers. His one and only attempt at shadow travel for the night failed and simultaneously drained him of all his energy.

He looked at his large, freshly made bed and decided he just wanted to test how comfy the bed was, but the second he lied down he already was asleep.