Chapter Text
She was running, panting, trying desperately to make it in time. She knew this was a dream. That didn’t change things. She still needed to reach the burning house in front of her more than she needed anything in her life, more than she needed air. It was running out anyways, the smoke seeping into her airways, clogging her nostrils and stealing her breath. “Ry!” she still screamed. “Ry!!” a low cackle was the only response to her screams, and in front of her wide eyes, a many headed hydra rose from the flames.
“Ah!” Summer jerked awake with a gasp that made her choke on air, spitting and struggling for breath. Her Apollo bunkmates didn’t even stir-- the spell a friendly daughter of Hecate had cast ensured they could no longer hear her when she woke from nightmares. She grasped the glass of water by her bedside and drank deeply.
“That was… different,” she muttered. The dream was just a variation of one she had a hundred times before, but there had never once been a hydra involved. Perhaps, had she been a demigod a little higher up the totem pole, she would have taken it as a portent. For tonight, however, she wrote it off as spending too much time with the children of Hephaestus and their tempestuous mechanical dragon.
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“Summer!” her half brother Will greeted her with his usual sunny disposition at breakfast that morning, dragging his boyfriend behind him like a trailing shadow. It never failed to amuse Summer, seeing a son of Apollo and a son of Hades dating, but no one could deny how adorably in love they were.
“Hey Will, Nico,” Summer greeted as they settled next to her at the Apollo table. She glanced up at the head table out of habit but Dionysus had long since stopped trying to keep the demigod children at separate tables. The chatter of other demigods on this sunny morning should have lifted her spirits, but the unease of the nightmare lingered. Will didn’t comment on her quiet mood, instead drawing Nico into an easy conversation regarding the increase of the amount of people coming into his healing ward due to the climbing wall.
“.... I’m telling you, I think someone cursed it,” Nico was saying.
Will rolled his eyes. “Not everything’s against us,” he said. Nico just raised an eyebrow. “Ok, most things are against us,” he conceded. “But not the rock climbing wall.”
“All evidence says otherwise,” Summer pointed out, her voice coming out softer than she expected. She cleared her throat. “We’ve had ten people in this infirmary this past week alone thanks to the wall.”
“Alright, maybe it is being a bit more… violent than usual,” Will conceded. “But that doesn’t mean it’s cursed!”
Summer rolled her eyes as Nico opened his mouth to begin the argument once again, but the son of Hades froze.
“Nico?” she asked cautiously. Will looked up from his plate at his boyfriend and frowned.
“His dad’s talking to him,” he said. “He does it occasionally when he needs Nico for something. Hopefully he doesn’t have to leave…” even as he said it Nico shuddered and unfroze.
“Sorry,” he said, almost immediately shoveling the last of his pancakes in his mouth. “Dad ‘eeds me to check on somefin,” he continued through the mouthful.
“You’re going to choke,” Will admonished. Nico swallowed with great difficulty.
“Sorry!” he said again. He stood up. “I should be back in a few hours.”
Will grabbed Nico’s arm, pulling him down just enough so that he could brush a kiss across his cheek. Nico immediately turned bright red. “Come home safe,” Will said. Nico stuttered, blushed even harder, and abruptly turned and disappeared into the shadows cast by the Big House. Will watched him go with open affection on his face. “He’s like a cat,” he commented to his half sister. “You have to sneak up on him to show him any love, but secretly he loves it.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Summer said wryly.
By supper that night, after a long day where Will begrudgingly admitted the rock climbing wall might have something against demigods, Nico still wasn’t home. The rest of the Apollo table chattered on as usual, but in the flickering firelight near the end of the table Summer sat next to a morose looking Will. “Who knows what Lord Hades wants,” he was saying. “I just wish I knew when he can come home.”
“C’mon Will,” Summer bumped his shoulder gently. She was the closest with him out of all of their siblings, perhaps because he called her “friend” rather than “sister.” “He’ll come home to you,” she continued as they stood up and started heading back to Apollo cabin in the growing darkness. The paths between cabins were never well it, but they knew it by heart. "Percy is the only one who could match him, and he would never take Nico away from you.”
“Better not,” Will looked ready to throw down with the overly powerful demigod hero for a moment, and Summer stifled a laugh.
“Will!” in the shadows cast by the light spilling out of Apollo cabin, Nico emerged.
“Nico!” Will said happily, but Summer saw the shell-shocked look in the son of Hades’ eyes.
“Will!” she cried, darting forward to catch the son of Hades as he began to slump towards the ground. His weight unbalanced her, so all she could do was cushion him from the dirt as she fell back onto her ass. Will was next to her almost immediately, conjuring a tiny sun (one of the only sons of Apollo who could do so) in order to see.
“Shit,” Summer couldn't help but let the word spill. Nico’s entire left side was covered in blood and she had no idea where it was coming from. Will was steadily paling as he took in the sight of his injured boyfriend. “Help me lift him,” Summer demanded when it seemed like he would freeze. “We need to get him to the infirmary!” Mutely, Will lifted his boyfriend in a bridal carry and ran faster than a son of Hermes towards to healing halls. Summer cursed again and jogged after him.
“Summer?” Travis, a son of Hermes called as she ran past his cabin. “Get Chiron,” she yelled back, deciding to ignore the fireworks in his hands for now. “Nico’s been injured badly.”
“On it!” Travis took a moment to toss the unlit fireworks back into his cabin before darting out the door as Summer turned the corner out of view.
The wide open infirmary was lit up top by a blazing, tiny sun, throwing the white beds into harsh relief and casting deep pockets of shadow. Nico was laying on the furthest bed, illuminated just enough by the light, but in enough darkness to satisfy a son of Hades who took his power from the shadows. The red blood traveling up Will’s arms looked black in the harsh light.
“He’s been shot,” he said without prompting. Summer paused in shock, and then continued forward. “Regular mortal bullet-- no celestial bronze. But it’s still in him and we need to get it out.”
“Got it,” Summer said immediately. She pulled open the drawer of surgical tools (besides sutures, not often used) and pulled out a pair of forceps. Will held out his hand, but Summer hesitated.
“I have a steadier hand,” Will reminded her, though he didn’t look up from Nico’s pale face.
“He’s your boyfriend,” Summer said gently. “You don’t want to hurt him. Let me.” Will pressed his lips together but closed his outstretched hand into a fist. Summer nodded to herself and took a deep breath, “Focus the light?” she asked. Will brightened it into a spotlight instantly.
From behind her came the thunder of hooves, but she determinedly did not look back as she gently probed the outside of the wound with the forceps. “What has happened?” Chiron’s voice commanded. Summer held up her hand, and the commotion behind her quieted a bit.
“Someone needs to make sure he doesn’t move,” Summer said clearly. Purple mist formed bands around Nico’s body, courtesy of a daughter of Hecate. She didn't hesitate again as she reached forward with the foreceps, even as Nico cried out in pain. "Come on," she muttered at the little bullet. She could feel it, slipping in the blood of the wound, determined not to leave Nico's body. She cursed at it lowly in Greek, before finally grasping it. With a triumphant noise she pulled it free and discarded it, focusing instead on flushing the wound. Nico moaned again even in his unconsciousness, and Will's light flickered. "Just a little longer," Summer promised, already starting stitches. Nico was a chronic ambrosia overuser, so it was best to do what they could to heal the wound the mortal way first.
"There," she said with finality. "It didn't hit anything important, but it definitely took a chunk out of him. Half a cup of ambrosia and he should heal within the week." As she breathed out, she registered for the first time the crowd of people behind her. Will didn't even look up from his boyfriend's face, still gently stroking his hair.
"Do we know what happened?" came the voice of Annabeth Chase.
"It's a mortal bullet," Will answered. Summer took the opportunity and did her best to fade into the background. Too bad she couldn't shadow travel like Nico. As it was, the healing tent was crowded enough that she busied herself without putting away medical supplies without more than a glance from the assembled demigods. "His father had him looking at something-- I don't know what. He wasn't even able to say anything before he collapsed." His voice broke slightly and Summer looked away, feeling like she was intruding on something private.
"What would Hades have him looking into that put him in the path of mortal bullets?" Percy Jackson asked loudly.
"It's not our place to question Lord Hades," Chiron reminded, hooves shifting uneasily. Summer frowned, and across the tent Percy mirrored her.
"Chiron?" he asked. The centaur cleared his throat, looking faintly embarrassed. "Well now that we are certain Nico will be alright, we should give him a chance to rest, yes?" With that opinion delivered, he left. Percy and Annabeth, de facto leaders of the camp at this point, exchanged a look with enough subtext to fly completely over Summer's head.
"Call Jason?" Percy finally said, looking distinctly unhappy. Annabeth nodded firmly. "Something's up," she said. "And Chiron knows it. Call Jason."