Chapter Text
The war was over. It was over. Gaea was still sleeping, her armies were dead. The statue of Athena was safely at Camp Half-Blood and the camps had made peace. They were free.
Nico leaned back against the side of his cabin, heaving a huge sigh and staring out over the camp. They were having a celebration of sorts. Everyone was there; all the legionaries from Camp Jupiter and the entirety of Camp Half-Blood. It was odd, seeing them all together, but satisfying.
Nico looked up when he heard someone say his name. He frowned, instantly suspicious, when Travis and Connor walked towards him--identical shit-eating grins on their faces.
"What do you want?" Nico asked, already annoyed by whatever they had planned.
The two laughed and looked at each other. "He hasn't even heard what we were going to say, Travis," Connor said, a mock pout on his lips.
"How very rude," Travis replied, huffing indignantly. Nico rolled his eyes.
"Anyways," Connor continued. "What we were going to say is that you look far too dreadful for such an occasion and we've come to change that."
He produced a cup from behind his back and held it out to Nico.
The son of Hades eyed the cup suspiciously, leaning down and giving it a sniff. He recoiled instantly, scowling. "That is alcohol," he said, giving the brothers a glare. They merely grinned and nodded.
"But of course. This is a celebration! Alcohol is customary."
Nico crossed his arms. "I'm 14."
Travis shrugged. "So? I was 12 when I got drunk the first time. So much more fun when you're younger." He sniffed and looked off into the distance as if he was remembering the good old days. "Also, it's much less embarrassing to get shitfaced for the first time when you're young. When you're older it just gets sad."
Connor held the cup closer, urging Nico to take it. Nico wasn't sold on the idea.
"I do hope there isn't anything sinister going on back here."
The brothers spun around so fast that the drink sloshed over the side of the cup. Nico peeked in between them and let a small smile curl at the corner of his mouth.
"Hi Reyna. Having fun?"
Nico had gotten close with Reyna during their journey to Camp Half-Blood. Fighting for each others lives made it easy for friendships to grow.
Reyna hummed and eyed the brothers suspiciously. "These two bothering you, Nico?"
Nico laughed shortly. "Most definitely."
Connor pouted dramatically but Nico noticed that he was still keeping a watchful eye on Reyna. "We just wanted to see Nico have a little fun. He's always so gloomy, it's depressing."
Reyna hummed, obviously not impressed. Nico laughed softly, turning his head away as the praetor started to lecture the two boys. He stared out over the camp, taking in the forms by the fire pit. He could make out the people he knew among them. He smirked when he saw Leo do something stupid to impress the pretty girl sitting next to him--the immortal Calypso, if he'd been informed correctly. Leo himself had been promised immortality if he could prove his worth to the gods. Yeah, because being one of the 7 children to save the entire world doesn't count. Nico rolled his eyes and moved his gaze to the other side of the first, his smile flickering and fading from his lips.
Annabeth sat on Percy's lap, her fingers in his hair and her forehead pressed to his. He was smiling--so happy, so in love. Nico felt sick.
"Connor, gimme that drink."
Reyna stopped her rant mid sentence as the three of them stared at the son of Hades in shock.
"Nico," Reyna said uncertainly, "is that a good idea?"
Nico chewed his lip and snatched the drink from Connor's hold. "Nope. Doing it anyways."
He put the cup to his lips and tilted it back, eyes closing as he grimaced and coughed. Well, that was disgusting. He took another sip. And chased that one with another.
Reyna eyed him nervously before glaring at the boys. "You better take responsibility for this," she said as Nico continued to drink, her anxiety growing. The brothers grinned at each other before looking at her and nodding. "Yes ma'am," they said in unison, each taking one of Nico's arms and leading him off in the direction of the fire pit.
Nico groaned and shook them off, following them slowly as he continued to drink, his head becoming steadily more and more clouded. This was going to be a fun night.
* * *
Okay, something was definitely up.
Jason eyed Nico closely, furrowing his brow and losing interest in whatever was being said to him. Nico was... smiling. And not that cute, innocent, shy smile that Jason caught on Nico's face sometimes. Not the creepy we just killed a bunch of monsters let's do it again smile that gave Leo the, as he described it, freaky-deakies. It was a smile. One of pure happiness and laughter that Jason had never seen on Nico's face before.
So obviously, in Jason's reasoning, there was something seriously wrong.
Perhaps Nico had been possessed. Or maybe it wasn't Nico at all, maybe it was an imposter.
"Or maybe he's drunk off his ass."
Jason yelped and practically fell out of his chair when Rachel materialized beside him and whispered in his ear.
His frown deepened when he realized what she'd said to him.
"Drunk? Seriously? Who let him near the alcohol?"
Rachel shrugged, although Jason was completely aware of the fact that she knew exactly who'd given it to him.
"Not sure~ though you may want to keep an eye on him. Cause tonight is shaping up to be pretty spectacular."
She turned on her heels and sauntered away, hands in her back pockets. Jason blinked after her, trying to figure out what she could mean when suddenly he became aware of how incredibly quiet it was. His head snapped around and his eyes widened when he caught sight of Nico.
"Shit," he whispered.
Nico di Angelo--tortured and hurt soul, struggling with his sexuality, angry at the world Nico di Angelo--currently had his arms wrapped tightly around Percy's neck and his lips pressed to Percy's in a hard kiss.
Percy, poor soul, stood frozen. He was completely aware of Nico's crush on him because of certain, ehem, events, but Jason was well aware of the fact that he was not ready to handle being kissed by the boy in front of both of his camps. Not to mention his girlfriend.
Jason was on his feet in seconds, walking quickly and swiftly towards the cause of the scene. He wrapped his arms around Nico's waist and plucked him away from Percy in one swift movement.
"Whoops, looks like someone's drunk. Come on, Nico, let's get you sobered up."
He had to practically carry Nico over his shoulder to get him away fast enough, the boy was so far gone. He didn't speak a word, just scowled darkly as Jason led him away. Jason could see the wheels turning in Nico's brain as he tried to figure out what he'd just done. Jason swore softly, knowing this was not going to end very well.
* * *
Connor and Travis stared open mouthed at the scene in front of them, blinking stupidly.
They both winced when they heard someone clear their throat from behind them. They didn't need to turn to know who it was.
"Taking responsibility, are you?" Reyna said dangerously.
The brothers gulped loudly.
* * *
It did not end well.
Nico, after sobering up and realizing what he'd done, had disappeared. Completely this time. Not a trace left behind.
It had been three weeks since the celebration party and Jason was starting to panic. He'd even gone down to the underworld to visit Hades a couple times to see if there was any way of finding Nico. Hades had simply said that Nico would be found when he wanted to be found. Excruciatingly not helpful, thank you Hades.
Percy was blaming himself, which was so like him. But then again, Jason had pointed out It was kind of your fault, I mean you were the one who made him fall for you and then did jack shit about it but then again I did tell you not to say anything so I guess it's both of our faults but mainly it's Travis and Connor's faults let them rest in pieces thank you Reyna.
But then again... Jason was looking for excuses.
He groaned loudly and squirmed violently on the grass where he lay, brooding. He was so sick of this. He wished Nico would just let himself be found so Jason could tell him that it was literally so normal to embarrass yourself when getting drunk the first time and being in love with a dude was equally as normal. Well, not for everyone, but for some people it was. Jason groaned again. He was going in circles.
"Guess who I found?"
Jason shouted in surprise and sat up so quickly he got a headrush and ended up falling back down. He blinked up at Rachel and scowled. "Can you not do that, please?"
Rachel just grinned and sat down on the grass beside him.
"Found Nico," she said, as if it was the most casual thing in the world. "Not to hard, when you think about it. It's actually embarrassing how easy it was in the end. I can't believe he's there, really, even though it makes sense. He's so dumb sometimes."
Jason stared at her, dumbstruck, as she continued to prattle on. "Rachel!" he shouted, getting her attention. "Where is Nico?"
Rachel grinned and handed him a piece of paper.
"Coordinates. Use them wisely~" With that she stood from the ground, brushed off her jeans, and wandered off towards the lake.
Jason was on his feet in seconds, rushing off to grab his gear. He wouldn't tell the others. He had a feeling this was something he had to do alone.
* * *
Jason flew through the musky air of the underworld, feeling incredibly drained with the effort it took to stay in the air down here. His eyes scanned the ground, looking for the demigod he sought. His eyes widened when he spotted him and he sped towards the ground, his heart in his throat. No flipping way was he doing what Jason thought he was doing.
"Don't even think about it!" he shouted as he touched down, running towards Nico and grabbing onto his arm, yanking him away from the river and into his arms. Nico struggled to get away, pulling out of Jason's grip and glowering at him.
"How did you find me?" he hissed, stepping back towards the black river behind him. Jason's hand twitched, aching to reach out for him.
"Rachel told me," Jason said, taking a step towards the demigod. "Nico, please, come with me. Step away from the river. You don't want to do this."
Nico's laugh was haunting, piercing the air with a hysterical sharp sound. "Oh really, now? And you know what I want, is that correct? Listen here, Grace, you know fuck all about me. Do you know my birthday? My favourite colour? Do you know what I dream about? Do you know what I fear? Do you even know my sister's fucking name?"
Jason was at a loss for words. He didn't. He couldn't even remember his sister's name. He honestly knew nothing about Nico. Nothing importantly, anyways. He knew he was gay. He knew he was struggling with his sexuality and his crush on Percy. But that was... just about it.
Jason swallowed hard. "You're right," he said softly, holding his arms out in a form of surrender. "I don't know anything about you. And maybe you do want to do this. But that doesn't mean you should. Nico, I don't know what you're going through right now, but you don't have to do it alone. I don't know you, so let me get to know you. Let someone in, dude, or you'll always be alone."
Poor choice of words. Nico glared. "Fuck you, Jason Grace. This isn't going to get better just by gaining a few friends. I wasn't alone. I was perfectly fucking happy and then you people happened and my entire life got turned upside down. Not only did I lose the only person who loved me but I gained a shit ton of people who could care less about me. I was just some kid who's sister had died on a quest. I was a taboo. I was the son of Hades who couldn't keep his temper. Everyone looked at me like I was a freak."
Jason shook his head. "Nico, forgetting isn't going to make things better."
Nico laughed again and it cut Jason to the core.
"You sure about that?" he spat, his eyes like daggers.
Jason's chest ached. "Yes, you'll forget the bad memories, but you'll forget the good ones too. Believe me, Nico, if anyone know what it's like to get your whole existence ripped away from you, it's me. Gods, you have no idea how badly it will fuck you up. I have two lives in my head because of what Juno did to me. Are you really willing to give up everything? Just to start again?"
The look on Nico's face broke Jason's heart clean in two.
"What happy memories?" he asked softly, the desperation in his eyes palpable. Jason could almost reach out and touch his sorrow, scoop it into his hands and watch it swim in his palms.
"I don't have any happy memories any more, Jason. Everything that used to make me smile now makes me want to rip my heart out so I won't feel the pain any more. It's killing me slowly... I can't take it any more. I'm sorry, Jason. I just can't do this."
He closed his eyes and fell backwards. And Jason's whole world slowed down.
Nico's name ripped from his throat in a scream as he lunged towards the falling boy. His fingers wrapped around his wrist just in time to yank him to his chest, holding him close in a tight hug as they both tumbled into the river Lethe.