Chapter Text
1
Leo never thought that his back-from-the-dead reveal would happen like this. He thought maybe he'd get to make a dramatic entrance, welcomed back by all of his friends' shocked gasps, a few tears or two here or there, maybe even a few punches (which he would've totally deserved, by the way) and bone-crushing hugs from his friends, followed by a celebration party or whatever by his cabin afterwards. It was certainly not as anti-climatic as this.
After he helped Calypso out of Ogygia, they decided to part ways and calm down a bit in this whole relationship thing. It's Calypso's first time in millennias (and isn't that something for Leo to think about) not having to depend her existence on another person, so they decided to just stay friends and let Calypso figure out what she wanted to be in this world without some hero dragging her down. Calypso asked him to drop him off Circe's island to help her figure out whether she's still got her magic or not. And so, here Leo was, riding Festus' back, soaring back the skies off to Camp Half-Blood.
It didn't even take a whole day until his line of sight was suddenly met with the familiar gold-ivory statue of the Athena Parthenos, standing tall and proud on top of the Half-Blood Hill. The gold glimmered under the sun, basking in the warmth of the end of winter. He decided to lay off announcing his resurrection to all the campers and hid in Bunker Nine first. He needed some time to think and figure out how he'd do this announcement thing because honestly, just going off and went to land in front of the Big House announcing that he's decidedly not dead is probably not the best course of action if he wanted to avoid getting dumped in the lake or some shit. And so, here he was, lying on the cot in his usual spot in Bunker Nine, mentally preparing himself to meet Jason, Piper, his siblings, and the rest of the campers.
Bunker Nine was, thankfully, empty. Leo didn't know what he'd do if his siblings were here honestly because that would've been awkward seeing the reason he's there in the first place and not in the cabin grounds was because he wanted to avoid meeting the campers first, his friends and siblings included. It was nice, just laying down and listening to the constant humming of the machines working, always brimming to life with magic, and the sounds of birds chirping and other probably-mythical creatures Leo didn't want to know of going around outside in the woods. Leo, who usually would be feeling restless from doing nothing, found this to be oddly relaxing. He was just about to enjoy the calm when he suddenly felt a change in the air. He felt the shadows in the room grew darker, thickening and getting closer to each other like tendrils of smoke being sucked by air in reverse.
"Ah, shit," said a familiar voice. Leo had not heard this voice in a long time. Suddenly it sank in to him that it has been a really long time since he met all the other campers. Out of all the people Leo thought he'd meet for the first time, he never thought that it'd be the owner of this voice.
"Nico?" Leo asked, as he tried to find the source of the voice. He got up from the cot and walked to a corner of the Bunker, nearing the entrance. And there he was, Nico di Angelo, in his all black attire (some things didn't change, Leo thought) with his pure black iron sword strapped along the chain on his pants.
Nico jumped and turned around as his eyes widened in shock but alert at the same time, "Leo? What the Hades?"
Uh, yeah, this is awkward. "Ha, yeah, hi, please don't let your dad kill me?" Leo said, trying for a smile. It probably came out as a grimace instead, but oh well, he tried. Might as well try it to the one who's most likely to drag him back to the Underworld.
Nico's eyes narrowed and his trademark scowl appeared. "Explain."
When a child of Hades glared and demanded something of you, there's nothing wiser than just doing whatever they asked. Leo, a wise and sensible demigod that he is, had no choice but to just explain everything to Nico. He told him about the Physician's cure, getting Calypso off the island, and bringing her to Circe's Island. He hoped Nico didn't notice the huge time gap between doing all that and going back to camp because he'd really like to keep his solitary excursion to himself thank you very much.
"I felt you die."
Of all the response Leo thought he was gonna get, that was not what he expected. Neither did he expect the loaded sadness that came with it. A feeling of an unnamed emotion filled the silence between them, washing the empty space away with Nico's reaction. The air around them was getting too emotional for Leo's liking. "Well, technically I did die, for a second there."
Nico sighed. "Gods, Leo we were so worried. I knew your death felt different, but I didn't want to tell that to the others because I didn't want to give them false hope. I would kill you for worrying us right now but that would kinda defeat the point of you coming back to life, so," he finished the last part with a glare.
"Still as charming as usual, I see," Leo smiled.
Nico rolled his eyes. "And why are you here, instead of announcing to the others about your current predicament?" He gestured his hand to Leo's direction with his very-much-alive-self.
Wow, so much for a tearful and dramatic welcome, Leo thought.
Leo sighed and walked back to his cot. He sat down, resting his back to the wall in the corner of the mattress, Nico coming up to sit next to him on the foot of the bed. "I don't know, I'm just not ready for all that," Leo answered, surprising himself with his genuine answer. Why was Leo even telling him all that?
Nico nodded, "I get that."
Leo's eyes widened slightly in surprise. I mean, now that Leo thought about it, of course of all people Nico would understand the not-want-to-be-around-people thing, he was surprised that he just realised this now. "You're not gonna force me to get out there? To the Big House, meet Chiron and the others or whatever?"
"Nah, it's not necessary, isn't it? I mean, sure, sooner or later you have to tell the others that you're apparently not dead, but take your time. The important thing is you're here now,"
Leo stared at Nico, feeling oddly placated by his answer. He never thought the son of Hades could be this understanding and so comforting to be around. To be fair, though, the only time Leo got to spend time with Nico was aboard the Argo II, after the guy himself had just walked through literal hell. Leo doubted even Hazel or Piper would be a very friendly person to be around after they just survived hell and imprisoned in a jar worthy of trapping a god after being kidnapped by giants either. This made Leo saw Nico in a whole different light entirely.
Leo nodded. Silence passed undisturbed for a while, Leo's head filled with new-found thoughts about the person next to him. Realising that he was probably being silent for too long, he scrambled for anything to say, "So, uh, how are you here?"
"Oh, I just got back from The Underworld. I was aiming for the Big House but I somehow landed here, instead? I'm not sure how, though, but it's probably because I was thinking about you before I jumped."
Leo raised his eyebrows and smirked, "Thinking about me, huh?"
Nico, just realising how that sounded, sputtered and blushed, "It's not like that," he glared, scowling at a cackling Leo, still trying to cool down his blush. "I mean, I was doing something for my father in there, but I was also trying to find you, you know? Because I felt you die, but I didn't feel you being judged for Elysium, either, so I tried to find where you are, but I couldn't find you down there," Nico stopped glaring then, settling on a dry expression, instead. "And turns out you're here, so," he finished pointedly.
"Aw, still, that's sweet," Leo answered, still smirking. Leo intended for it to sound teasing but honestly he felt a sudden warmth inside him growing at the thought that Nico was so sure that Leo would get into Elysium. Not that Leo ever really thought that much about his after-life living conditions, though, he just thought that getting the literal Prince of the Underworld's approval might meant something.
Nico glared more pointedly at him, and Leo just laughed. "So, how are the others?"
"Jason and Piper are off to school in California, Jason's still doing the temple stuff and his Pontifex-Maximus business," Leo had no idea what this Pontifex-whatever business was, but okay, "so they visit the camps on weekends. Frank, Hazel, and Reyna are all back in New Rome doing Legion stuff. Percy and Annabeth are also in New Rome just starting college," Nico answered, ticking his fingers off as he named all their friends. "Your cabin misses you, obviously. Harley is still trying to make a beacon signal to help you get to camp from wherever you are in case you're still out there."
Leo smiled at the mention of his siblings. "What's the Pontifex-whatever thing?"
"Oh, it's a Twelfth Legion thing. At Camp Jupiter, you know that there are these ranks like Praetors, Centurions, and others. There's also this rank Pontifex Maximus which is like the High Priest or something. Usually they're the ones who are in charge on how best we honour the gods."
Leo whistled. "Wow, Jason is still running for that Demigod of the Year spot, huh?"
Nico snorted. "That he is."
"What about you, though?"
"Me?" Nico asked, bewildered.
"Yeah, I mean the others are off to school and leading camps or whatever, what are you doing usually?"
"Oh. Um, I stay here, most times, doing camp stuff, I guess?" Nico tilted his head, considering. "I still go to The Underworld sometimes to do stuff for my father, or just stay in my room in the Palace if I wanna get some quiet. I don't know, I'm still not used to it, not being in the middle of war and everything."
Leo nodded as he pondered over Nico's casualness at being in his father's palace. He didn't think Percy or Jason visited their father's domain all that much. "Do you like being in The Underworld?"
Nico seemed startled with the question. "Well, it is the right place for me to be."
Leo hummed. "But do you like it?"
Nico was silent for a moment. Leo sat back and watched Nico's brain gears practically churning as he waited. Leo was starting to think that maybe Nico didn't get asked a lot of questions about himself when he finally looked up to meet Leo's eyes.
"Honestly, I do. I mean the others kinda tell me off on it sometimes, because I still go there way more often than they probably think I should. I know it's because they're concerned for me or maybe because they think I only go there if things in my life went to shit, but actually, yeah, I like it there," Nico shrugged, "sometimes its easier to be down there than up here, even if it's kinda gloomy in the Palace, especially if Persephone's not there and my father's in a bad mood, but yeah, it still felt more like home to me than the camps sometimes," Nico was silent for a moment, a glimmer of half-exasperation and half-amusement flashed in his expression. "But honestly I think my father's kinda glad there's someone to keep him company when Persephone's not around, and as weird as it sounds, sometimes it just... feels nice to be around someone as bad with people as I am."
That was probably the longest answer Leo's ever gotten from Nico so he just nodded. "That's nice. Having a place to go for yourself, that is. Seems liberating if you feel like you don't want to be in either camps."
Nico's last sentence hit Leo way harder that he'd like to admit. He felt a sense of understanding bloomed inside of him. There are times when Leo just wanted to escape, away from the people, away from the interaction. Not that he didn't enjoy his friends or siblings' company, it's just... to much too handle sometimes, knowing however much he tried, connecting with people isn't ever going to come as easily as other people for him. At Camp, Leo only had Bunker Nine to escape to be alone and that's on the rare occasion when his siblings are (somehow) also not there. He didn't think that he'd find comfort in the son of Hades of all people.
Nico smirked, "Why, would you like me to arrange another visit?"
Leo sat up at that. "What! No! No, no, thank you. I met this weird guy with a suit going off about pay raise that one time and I do not want to hear his rant about expensive Italian suits ever again."
Nico snorted, "So you met Charon, then?"
"Charon... Like Underworld ferryman? That Charon?"
Nico nodded. "You should be glad that I wasn't with you, though. I swear, he always passive-aggressively went off about me just popping in to the Palace as I please every time he sees me," Nico rolled his eyes. "As if it's not Father himself who always called me there in the first place."
"Your travel powers must really come in handy, though," said Leo, careful to keep the longing for the chance to have that out of his voice. As Leo felt Nico's eyes snapping back at him, he thought maybe he didn't quite manage that.
"Well, if you ever want to get out here... I mean I could maybe take you somewhere," Nico stared into his eyes, studying him. I get it, Nico's eyes seemed to say.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe, i'll take you up on that offer," said Leo playfully, warm brown eyes straight up meeting Nico's.
Nico gave Leo a small smile, that blink-or-you'll-miss-it smile people who rarely smiles do, with just the edges of his lips curving up slightly, but with apparent warmth in his eyes. "I'm counting on it."