Chapter Text
Percy whimpered quietly, pulling his pillow closer to his chest. Leo nuzzled the back of his neck, hoping to calm him down. Two days earlier had been the result of what happened.
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Percy had decided to finally talk to Nico about his crush on him. He liked Jason, too, but the son of Jupiter was known to be courting someone else, so he had just settled to tell Nico. He’d planned exactly what to say and how to respond if Nico didn’t reciprocate his feelings. Sure, it would hurt, but he didn’t want to seem too down about it.
He’d just run up to the pavilion when a sight stopped him dead in his tracks. There were many people standing around a couple, whooping and hooting as the two in the middle kissed. Those two just so happened to be Nico and Jason, kissing and scenting each other, happy together.
This was even worse than rejection because they were together. Percy would never have a chance with them now. They were happy. Without him.
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“What happened, Percy?” Annabeth asked. “Please, tell us. We wanna help make your heat more bearable.” He was obviously suffering and if he kept on like this, he might not make it. Annabeth was not going to let that happen. Percy would be okay on her watch. She just needed to know why.
For a moment, the Omega just rubbed his face over his pillow before sighing quietly, closing his eyes in pain. It still hurt very much.
“I was gonna tell Nico,” he said quietly, knowing Annabeth would know what he meant and Leo would figure it out. “I thought that if Jason was courting someone, I might be able to have Nico as my Alpha, but then they turned out to be together. And it’s not like they’re gonna want me. They’re happy together.” He turned his face into his pillow, not wanting them to see the tears in his eyes. Annabeth sighed.
“I’ll be back in a while.” And that was that.
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“You two are complete and total idiots,” Annabeth stated, clearly angry, as she glared at Nico and Jason after barging in. It was three in the afternoon, so she figured they’d be appropriate-and even if they weren’t, she would take that chance. Her friend was hurting and in a dangerous place and it was all their fault.
“Why are we idiots?” Nico asked her, snuggling back more into Jason’s chest with a content sigh. Ever since they’d gotten together, neither of them had been happier, though there was something missing. An Omega. They were both Alphas. They would need one. And they had one in mind.
“Oh, just that Percy is struggling right through his heat because you two dummies couldn’t wait another day to profess your love. He was going to tell Nico about his feelings for him, he’d even worked up the courage, but then you two were both kissing, and he lost both hopes he had when you got together.” She gave them both looks that clearly showed just how annoyed she was. “He could’ve died because of the stress. He could still die. How could you have done this to him?”
Jason and Nico were both tense at those words. Could Percy have really died? Could he really still die? They didn’t mean for that to happen. They’d hoped that he’d already gone into heat when they’d gotten together, so that they could talk to him after. They needed to establish themselves before they asked Percy. They had to make sure it was right before they asked him. They didn’t want to hurt him, and yet they had.
“I’ll leave you to that,” the daughter of Athena snapped. “I have a fellow Omega to comfort and keep alive.” And she was gone. Nico sighed heavily.
“How could it have gone so wrong?” Jason asked, rubbing the side of his face. He couldn’t believe this was happening. “She’s right. We have to do something, though I’m afraid it’ll have to wait until his heat is over. We can’t put him into any more stress by talking to him, even if we didn’t affect him or he didn’t affect us. We’ll just have to wait.” They both hated waiting.
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Percy finished his heat a few days later, but didn’t seem to feel any better. His limbs felt heavy and seemed to be filled with lead each time he took a step. He wore a blue sweater, but still felt shivers wrack his body every few minutes. He was miserable.
“Good morning, Percy,” Piper greeted as the son of Poseidon walked up to them. Jason and Nico glanced up and were shocked and concerned to see the state he was in. “Are you feeling any better?” He shrugged as he sat down, not really sure how to answer. The bench was cold and he felt even colder than normal, which made him shiver just a little bit more and a little harsher.
“Not really.”
“Did Annabeth figure out what this is about yet?” Leo asked. “As soon as you finished your heat, she went looking to find out. She said it was definitely out of the ordinary and that she’d have to do some research. But I’m sure it’s nothing.” The son of Poseidon wrapped his arms around himself to try and keep warmer. Leo slid closer to him and started warming his own body.
“Mmm. Thanks,” he murmured, moving close to the younger’s body. Everyone continued on with breakfast, having nothing more to say. Jason and Nico kept stealing glances at the ravenette that sat across from them.
“Okay, now that you’ve stubbornly come out of your room and have eaten something, you need to go rest,” Leo told Percy once they’d finished breakfast. “You’ve just finished your heat and are sick. C’mon.” Without even a threat of arguing, the older Omega just nodded and stood up with the other Omega, walking back to his cabin. Piper looked back at the new couple, eyes narrowed.
“You better be nice,” she threatened before getting up and going to find Annabeth and hopefully get information from her. Percy had to be okay.
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“I figured out what’s wrong with Percy.” At their dinner table, the demigods looked up at her. Leo and Percy weren’t there, having been in the ravenette’s cabin most of the day to rest and hopefully start to improve and get better. They all waited for the daughter of Athena to start talking. She obviously seemed a bit nervous and also a bit angry even.
“He was hurt when you two ended up together,” she stated, looking back at Nico and Jason. “And you better be planning on making him your Omega.” She gathered herself a little more. “Anyway, it’s part of getting through this. I told you he could’ve died during his heat from the stress and the pain he was feeling. Well, he could still die. This is like the last stage. If he gets through this, he’ll be okay. If not, well, he could very well die.” The new couple couldn’t believe what they were hearing. They’d done something small that could end catastrophically. “It wouldn’t hurt if you went and talked to him.”
Nico and Jason exchanged a glance and knew that’s exactly what they had to do. They stood together and walked down to Cabin Three. They didn’t even hesitate to open the door and go inside. When they were inside the main part of the cabin, Leo excused himself, allowing them to sit down on the couch across from Percy.
The Omega kept his head turned down, having conflicting feelings rush at him all at once. Anger, shame, pain, hope. Anger that they were there. Shame that they hadn’t chosen him. Pain that they were together and that he couldn’t be with either of them. And hope that they might be here to tell him that they really did want him. But he tried not to have too much hope just for more pain to come. He was afraid of being hurt.
“We know you were really hurt when we got together,” Jason finally spoke up. “And Annabeth told us everything about all of this.” The shame came back. He was too weak and stupid to not be able to over this. They were together. He had to let it be.
“The thing is, we do care about you, Percy,” Nico continued, causing the ravenette to flance up then, meeting his gaze with more hope, but also with a guarded look, waiting, unable to let himself be vulnerable in front of them. He had prepared himself to share his feelings with the others, a vulnerability-a weakness, but now he didn’t want to show that to them. Not after they hurt him so badly. Even if it wasn’t really their fault. They couldn’t help their feelings.
“We wanted you to be our Omega,” Jason spoke again. “We just thought the two of us should establish our relationship first. We thought you’d be in heat before that happened. Annabeth told us you were making your nest and we hadn’t planned on you being there to see us together. We were gonna ask you as soon as you finished your heat.”
This information changed things, but Percy wasn’t exactly how to take these particular details. He didn’t want to just get over all the pain he’d been through and accept their offer. He needed to think this over for a long time.
“I would like to be alone now,” he said quietly, not meeting their eyes.
“Percy-” He met their gazes only briefly before whispering his next words.
“Please, leave.” For a moment, they both just looked at them. Finally, Nico murmured a goodbye, tugged on Jason’s hand and, together, they left Percy’s cabin. This was gonna take a lot of thought and careful consideration. He just hoped he was choosing the right thing.
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It took Percy a week of a lot of arguments with himself and long conversations with his friends before he decided anything. He was afraid maybe it was a little too late, but he was going to try this anyway and hoped everything was still okay, that he would be accepted. He just had to hope now.
“You ready?” Leo asked, running up to his fellow Omega. The ravenette let out a shaky breath.
“No.” That one word made him sound small and scared, but the fire-user knew it wasn’t his fault. It was a big moment. He had every reason to be nervous, but he would also be okay. Everything was going to turn out just fine, he could tell. If only Percy would see that now. It would make things so much easier.
“It’s gonna be alright, Perce,” he tried to reassure him. “Just wait. You’ll see.” He squeezed his shoulder once before taking his leave, and Percy was alone on the beach, waiting for Piper to bring Jason and Nico to him.
As the Omega, his thoughts suddenly turned to doubts and he just wanted to run away, suddenly afraid of facing the Alphas he wanted to speak with. What if they decided they didn’t like him? What if they hated him? What if they were angry that he took a week to think this through? What if-
“Percy!” Piper called. The raven-haired demigod looked up to see the daughter of Aphrodite walking towards him, beaming brightly, Jason and Nico right behind her. Percy suddenly felt like he was going to throw up. This was a bad idea.
The trio made it to the edge of the picnic blanket that was laid out over a section of the beach. Piper said something that none of them paid attention to and then walked off quickly, giggling as she met up with their other friends up in the grass. They wanted to watch, but decided they should give them space and left. They would ask for all the details later.
“You organized this?” Jason asked. Percy glanced over the picnic he’d set up, feeling embarrassed all of the sudden, and nodded. “It’s amazing, Percy.” That drew the Omega’s gaze and he was met with a warm smile from the son of Jupiter. “I’ve honestly never had a picnic. From what I’ve heard about it, this is perfect. And I wouldn’t want to spend it with any other two people. And I’m sure we have much to talk about. It has been a week since we’ve spoken.” He felt a little guilt at that.
“Yeah. Sorry.” Nico stepped forward to take Percy’s hands in his own. He wasn’t known to be a very touchy person, but with his mates, he would allow it, even enjoy it.
“Don’t apologize,” he told him, looking back into the green eyes that swirled like a storm. “We understand why it took you so long to come to any conclusion. We are still sorry about what happened in the first place. We should’ve talked to you first and I’m sorry we didn’t. I’m glad for what you chose. At least, I hope I’m not wrong.”
“You’re not,” he murmured, looking back at the son of Hades. And neither of them could take it anymore. Nico leaned down-being taller than Percy now that he’d grown-and pressed his lips against the pink, soft ones of the other. They tasted like salt and Nico loved it the moment he tasted it. After a few moments, they pulled away. Jason was smiling from behind them and moved forward to stand beside Nico, slipping in a kiss of his own to the Omega.
“So?” he asked. “Percy Jackson, will you be our Omega?” The son of Poseidon grinned broadly, the happiest he’d been in a long time as he nodded.
“Yes,” he sighed, breathed. “Yes, I’ll be your Omega.” The rest of the day is spent eating their picnic and just being together. They were finally altogether. Nothing was going to get in their way now. Just as Leo suspected, everything was going to be alright.
That night, laying in the Poseidon cabin, Percy was deep in thought. He knew these thoughts were silly so early, but he liked the idea.
“Something on your mind, tesoro?” Nico asked, nuzzling his Omega’s shoulder, satisfied to see the mate mark that he’d left there earlier. Percy was finally their Omega. He and Jason couldn’t have been more happy, but something seemed to be bothering Percy. He shrugged in response to the question.
“I was just thinking,” he started, then paused for a moment, looking at Jason, who lay in front of him. “About the future?”
“Future?” the blond pressed. “What specifically?”
“Well, I, uh-” Another quiet moment passed as he seemed to gather his thoughts. “Do you want kids?” Nico exchanged a look with Jason. Why was he thinking about this now? They had plenty of time to talk about it later. Probably closer to one of Percy’s heats.
“Well, yeah,” the Italian finally said. “I do want kids, but perhaps we should talk about this tomorrow. Could it wait, amore?” Percy blushed a little at the name and nodded.
“Yeah,” he replied shyly, the Italian names making him feel warm inside. He was their love and treasure. He was wanted and loved. They would talk about kids another time. For now, he just wanted to enjoy the peace.
Peace was good. He would hold onto it for a while.