Work Text:
Day 7: Capture the Flag
If there was one thing at camp that Will detested the most, it was capture the flag. Sure there were other, more dangerous things that he also disliked, but the likelihood of having to deal with a bunch of injuries at once were slim. Capture the flag, on the other hand, always brought a mass influx of injured campers into the infirmary. It was not only tiring, but it reminded him too much of the two wars that he had fought it. The only reason why he didn’t have an emotional breakdown every time they had capture the flag was there had never been a casualty, just lots of broken bones. As much as he hated it, he couldn’t deny that it was a good training exercise that helped develop strategies and teamwork. It also helped him navigate the battlefield to be able to locate and heal wounded campers. Something that had been very helpful during the actual wars. Still, he hated having to deal with so many injured campers at once.
Will sat on the sidelines as he waited for the game to start, checking to make sure he had all the supplies he needed in his med pack. He was really nervous this time around because the Hephaestus cabin and Hermes cabin were on the same side, and just the thought alone was frightening. Once he had heard of that alliance he had made sure that the Apollo and Hades cabins joined the Hephaestus and Hermes cabin. He didn’t need his siblings to be maimed by whatever contraption those two cabins were coming up with. He would need some help in the infirmary afterwards. As for the Hades cabin, he wanted to make sure that Nico wasn’t injured either. After all, he was not only his boyfriend, but a very helpful nurse in the infirmary.
A horn blared in the distance signaling the start of the game. Will let his healing senses out to search for any injured campers. It was a useful technique that allowed Will to locate anyone that was injured and didn’t require much energy to do since he wasn’t actually healing anyone. Usually early on in the game there weren’t that many injuries as people were scoping out enemy territory and trying to come up with the best game plan. So he just laid back in the grass and soaked up the sun as he waited patiently for all of Hades to break loose.
Surprisingly he didn’t have to wait long as a huge explosion rattled the ground and his healing senses alerted him to three injured campers. With a heavy sigh, he got up and started running towards the injured. When he arrived, there was a small fire still burning which a few water nymphs were trying to put out. Chiron was going to be upset after this, they were not supposed to use explosives. He quickly found the three injured campers, assessed that the area was secure enough to treat and heal them of their more serious injuries before he moved them to the side-lines where the nymphs had set up temporary medical tents.
Not long after he returned to the side-lines, his healing senses went into high gear as more and more injuries started happening. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and focused to assess which campers would need him more. There were a few sprained ankles and wrists, a few deep cuts, arrow wounds, some broken bones and a concussion. With a heavy sigh, he started making his way towards the camper that had the concussion. One, because head injuries needed to be taken care of quickly. Two, because there were a variety of other injuries along the way that he could quickly attend to as well. By the time he reached the camper that had the concussion, he had treated and healed at least ten others. Most were well enough to get to the side-lines by themselves or had a fellow camper nearby that could assist.
He quickly let his healing power flow into the camper with the concussion, healing most of the head injury before giving the camper some ambrosia to take care of the rest. Another camper said she would take the injured girl to the side-lines for him. He thanked her as he made his way through the battlefield to the next injured person that needed him.
The next thing he knew, the ground below him gave way and he crashed into a deep, but narrow pit. The narrowness of the pit effectively pinned him between two of the walls, while the depth made it impossible to climb out of. He knew that it was going to be a while before anyone found him and quick checked himself for serious injuries which he could already tell he had. He had a broken right leg, three broken ribs and a deep cut that would require stitches running from his right knee all the way to his third rib and stopped where a sharp rock was lodged next to his lung. He couldn’t reach his med pack without moving too much and risking the sharp rock embedded into his chest to puncture his lung. He tried to do his whistle, but the pressure on his chest was too much so he instead tried to focus on healing himself enough that he wouldn’t die before anyone found him. He wasn’t afraid to die, he knew Lord Hades quite well and had been to the Underworld a handful of times. He was afraid of what his death would do to Nico and his siblings. He had to stay alive for their sake. He didn’t know how much time had passed before everything went black.
***
Nico hurried to the infirmary after his team had won so he could help. As he walked through the doors, he scanned the room for the familiar mop of blond curls, but didn’t see it. It wasn’t uncommon for Will not to be in the infirmary yet because the game had just ended so he could easily still be looking for injured campers.
“Nico!” Kayla called from across the room. “Can you go find Will and help him bring the rest of the injured here?”
“Ok!” He answered quickly before heading back out the door towards the forest. There were a good deal of campers coming out of the forest and he asked a few of them if any of them had seen Will. They all said they hadn’t, so he pushed forward. Eventually he wasn’t running into any campers, which was worrying because normally he would have found Will already. It was possible that Will was already back at the infirmary and they had missed each other, but Will normally was able to find Nico pretty quickly. Something about how he could sense the shadows in Nico and pin point his location.
A frantic looking nymph appeared out of nowhere and ran over to him. “Oh thank the gods.” She panted. “The boy, Will Solace is trapped in a hole and I can’t get him out.”
Nico paled, “take me to him.” He followed the nymph through the forest until they came upon a small opening in the earth. When he looked down he could see a familiar mop of blond curls.
“Will!” He shouted, but got no response, not even movement. His death senses told him that Will wasn’t dead, but if they didn’t get him out within the next 6 hours he would be.
He turned to the nymph, “Go get Kayla or Austin from the infirmary!” The nymph nodded and disappeared into the forest.
Nico took a deep breath and focused on splitting earth slowly, not to move Will, but allow him to get to Will. He knew from Will’s training that moving a patient without knowing the full extend of their injuries was extremely dangerous. He slowly slipped into the crack next to Will, horrified by what he saw. Will’s skin was pale, breathing shallow and it looked like he was impaled by a rock. Nico took a deep breath and focused on what Will had taught him. He noticed that Will’s med pack was still on his unopened so he carefully removed it to grab a piece of ambrosia to give to Will. With any hope, the ambrosia would give Will enough strength to wake up and instruct him what to do next. A groan from the son of Apollo caused Nico to release the breath that he didn’t even know he was holding.
“Will,” he said softly. “Will, can you hear me?”
“Nico,” Will groaned with his eyes still shut. “I don’t feel good.”
“I know, Sunshine.” Nico said as he gently took Will’s hand. “Can you tell me what hurts? Is there anything I need to know before I move you?”
Will groaned again, “hmm, broken leg...ribs..........rock...chest...close....lungs...........hard...breathing.”
Nico sighed, “Okay. I’ll be right back. Hopefully Austin or Kayla will be here soon.” He placed a soft kiss on Will’s cheek before he climbed back out of the hole. It wasn’t long before Kayla showed up with the nymph.
“What happened?” Kayla asked out of breath from running.
“I don’t know,” Nico answered. “But he is stuck. I was able to give him some ambrosia and it was enough to wake him. I think he said that he has a broken leg and ribs. There is a rock embedded into his chest that I think he said was close to his lung. And he is having a hard time breathing.”
Kayla nodded, “Okay, help me down.” Nico helped the daughter of Apollo down while she did a quick assessment of Will’s injuries, confirming what Will had told him earlier. She instructed Nico help with a few things before they were ready to move him. It was twenty painstakingly long minutes to just get Will out of the hole. Kayla had managed to heal the most worrisome of the wounds, but at least the worst was over. Once Nico confirmed that it was safe to carry Will back to the infirmary, he picked his boyfriend up and followed Kayla out of the forest.
***
It took a week for Will to recover from his injuries, but he didn’t mind. His boyfriend made a cute nurse.