Chapter Text
Nico would never admit it, but he really loved Capture the Flag. Or, more specifically, he loved winning Capture the Flag.
Yes, it's true that when Jason had first started getting on his case about playing, he had rolled his eyes and called it "a waste of time". Which it totally was—Nico had fought in two godly wars, he didn't need to learn battle strategy from a bunch of TEENAGERS, thank you VERY much—but now it was a waste of time he was determined to win. With Jason at his side, they were practically unstoppable, leading their teams to victory the past three weeks in a row. Unfortunately, the rest of the camp seemed determined to change that.
In a moment of desperation, the Ares, Athena, and Apollo cabins had made a three way alliance. Athena and Ares were bad enough together, with their combined battle strategy and sheer force ensuring a good offense. But the Apollo cabin's speed and use of ranged weapons gave them a strong defense as well. Add in the Hephaestus cabin, and things started to look seriously bleak. And so, Jason had brought out the big guns- Percy Jackson.
Generally, Percy and Jason played on different sides. While it wasn't an explicit rule, it was generally considered unsportsmanlike for all of the children of the Big Three to be on the same team. Since Jason had practically adopted Nico as an honorary member of the Zeus cabin, Percy was usually left playing on the other side. Plus, Jason and Percy had this weird friendly rivalry thing that they liked to play up, some inside joke from their time in Kansas. Nico didn't really get it.
When Jason first mentioned his idea of having Percy on their side, Nico hadn't really cared one way or another.
"Hey man, you're sure you're ok with this?" Jason had asked as they sat in the dining pavilion together after breakfast.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Nico dug his spoon back into his bowl of Cheerios. "It sounds like a solid plan. We're going to need the extra help if we want to kick the Red Team's sorry butts."
"Yeah, but I know things have been a little weird between you after the whole Percy thing"
The "Percy thing" in question was Nico's childhood crush on the guy, which he had successfully hidden for years with the help of a lot of black clothing and internalized self hatred. He was completely over it now though, and a few weeks ago he finally had worked up the courage to clear the air between them and explain himself. Percy hadn't said much, but Nico didn't exactly care. He had just wanted to prove to himself that he was over Percy for good, and to give himself the opportunity to make room for the possibility of liking someone else.
"Dude," Nico had protested, "Things aren't ‘weird'; they're fine."
"Fine except you haven't talked since," Jason noted.
He had a point. While Percy definitely wasn't avoiding him (he always waved hello if they crossed paths during camp activities,) they hadn't had any interactions that lasted longer than a couple seconds.
"Between him hanging out with Annabeth, leading sword fighting lessons for the younger campers, and your stupid ongoing prank war, Percy's a busy guy." He paused to take a sip of orange juice, grimacing a little at the sweetness. "And I'm doing my own stuff too! Helping Will out in the infirmary, third-wheeling on all your dates with Piper against my will." He had glared at Jason at this last part.
Jason scrunched his nose at the teasing. "They aren't dates, we were just hanging out! I invited you to come along because Piper and I enjoy your company."
"If you enjoy my company so much, why do you hold Piper's hand the whole time and not mine?" Jason's face turned red as Nico continued. "Anyway, Percy and I both have perfectly valid reasons as to why we haven't been talking. Besides, it's not like we were that close to begin with. Everything is totally normal."
"Ok, so you're sure you're cool with this?" Jason asked. "Say the word and I'll-"
"Just put him on the team, Grace. And get off my back."
At the time, Nico had just been annoyed. Jason was a great friend, but he could be a little overprotective. However, the longer Nico thought about it, the more he began to worry. What if things were weird between them? Had he been misreading the whole situation?
At first, Nico hadn't let Jason know about his fears because he didn't want to admit that Jason had been right. And now with Capture the Flag due to start in a matter of minutes, it was too late to change anything anyway. There was nothing left to do but suit up and get ready for the game.
"Alright Blue Team! Let's go over our strategy." Jason called out as Nico buckled on his armor. Since Jason had stolen the flag last Friday, Zeus' cabin was officially the head of the Blue Team, making Jason the team leader by default. Not that anyone was complaining; Jason had led an entire Roman legion in the past. If he knew one thing, it was how to command respect.
"Demeter cabin is on border patrol with Hecate's cabin. Those of you with control over plants, I want you setting vine snares and tripwires, with Hecate kids using the mist to make them blend in with the forest floor. Remember, we won't be able to beat the Ares kids with force, so we need to try and disarm them. If you capture someone, pass them off to Laurel or Holly, they're on prison duty."
"Give them to me!" Laurel said "I'm more intimidating."
"No, I am!" Holly retorted.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, and I can prove it! Staring contest, you and me, right now!!"
Jason shot Nico a pained look.
Laurel and Holly were from the Nike cabin. Being the daughters of the goddess of victory, they were CRAZY competitive, especially with each other. They weren't Nico's favorite people in camp, but they were pretty awesome fighters if you could get them to stop arguing for long enough.
"You can take turns. You're both intimidating, that's why we chose you two to keep an eye on the prisoners together, remember?" Jason chided patiently, which seemed to calm them down. "Meanwhile, the Aphrodite cabin will be guarding the flag. I need you to-"
"-Be as distracting as possible?" Drew interrupted, flashing a lip-gloss-tinted smile. "No problem."
Aphrodite cabin's involvement with Capture the Flag was a fairly recent development. In the past, nobody had exactly begged the children of the love goddess to be on their team, and they had seemed content enough to sit things out. But when Piper had taken over as head of the Aphrodite cabin, she was determined to make a change.
As it turned out, a lot of the campers DID want to play; they just didn't know where to start. After some hard work, the Aphrodite kids had developed what Piper described as the "Charlie's Angels" technique. Nico had never seen the movie, though Will was working on catching him up on pop culture. From what he understood however, the technique involved looking as unassuming as possible so that people let their guard down, and then taking that opportunity to attack.
Aphrodite kids weren't known for their physical strength. But they were quick to note weaknesses about the enemy, be they physical or emotional, and use that to their advantage. Last week, Lacy and Mitchell had taken down an Ares kid all by themselves, kicking his shins repeatedly while critiquing his poor choice in body spray. Add Drew and Piper's Charmspeaking abilities into the mix, and they made for a formidable line of defense.
"I want Hermes' cabin to sneak through the Red Team's defenses," Jason continued. "You're going to be our attack force of chaos. If you can go for the flag, do it, but your first priority is causing as much trouble as possible. If we can break their lines of communication, their battle strategy will fall apart.
"Trouble is my middle name" Travis Stoll said, trying to crack his knuckles and wincing when he failed.
"Ok, Nico," Jason said, turning to him. "As for you-"
"Let me guess; special attack team." Nico finished. "You sneak up the left flank, I sneak up the right, first one there grabs the flag and either flies or shadow-travels out of there. No problem."
Nico and Jason had the whole "divide and conquer" strategy down to a science at this point. Nico felt himself relaxing. Why had he been so worried? Sure Percy was going to be there, but it's not like they would have much time to chat. It would all be over soon. He just needed to focus on the game, and then they could go back to being friendly from a distance once again.
"Well… not exactly." Jason said. "There's been a slight change in plans."
"Hey!" Percy jogged over to the rest of the group, grinning. "Sorry I'm late. I was trying to get Annabeth to spill her battle strategy."
"Did it work?" Piper asked hopefully.
"Nah, she just called me an idiot. But," he added, holding up a finger, "She specifically said that I looked ‘pretty cute for an idiot', so I'm taking that as a win."
"Well, you're just in time for your assignment." Jason said as Piper shook her head, unimpressed by Percy's interrogation technique. "I want you and Nico infiltrating the other side together."
"Nice! Dream team." Percy said, holding his hand out for a fist bump.
Nico ignored it; his mind was on other matters.
"Hold up, Percy and I are some of your best fighters. Why would you waste that by putting us together? Shouldn't you spread us out, give us a better chance that one of us will make it to the flag?"
Jason shook his head. "Piper and I were talking, and she said that everyone has begun to anticipate our double attacks. They'll be splitting their forces down the left and right flanks expecting to run into us. By keeping you and Percy together, one of the sides will be completely removed from the action, and the other side will be caught off guard by having to face two of you at once, giving you the advantage."
"What if they realize what we're doing?" Nico pressed back. "Won't they just focus all their manpower on us? Then who's supposed to get the flag?"
"I'm glad you asked." Piper said with a smile, stepping forward. Nico had definitely underestimated Piper's abilities at first, but she was proving to be a great strategist. She hadn't been in as many battles as Jason or Annabeth, but that just meant that she tended to think outside the box rather than recycle the same old tactics. And a crazy out of the box idea was just what they needed right now.
"We're expecting that to happen." Piper explained. "When they start to converge on you, send up a signal, something big. Jason will be patrolling from the air. When he sees it, he can swoop down and grab the flag while everyone's distracted, flying back with it across the border before they have a chance to regroup."
Percy raised his eyebrows, intrigued. "Now how big of a signal are we talking?"
Piper examined her nails casually. "Oh, you know. 20-foot-column-of-river-water-raised-into-the-air big."
"If our guess is right, they should intercept you a few feet away from the creek that runs by camp." Jason explained.
"And if you're wrong?" Percy asked.
Piper grinned mischievously. "You'll think of something. We have complete faith in you."
"All right Blue Team! You all have your assignments. Let's move out!" Jason called, and they all began to trek into the forest.
Nico quickened his pace, falling in step with Jason.
"Hey," Nico tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. "I'm a little worried about the plan."
"Really?" Jason's eyebrows scrunched together as he readjusted his glasses. "Piper and I spent a long time on it, I really thought we covered all the bases."
"No, you did but—come on, putting me with Percy? It's going to be so awkward."
The group began peeling off towards their assigned stations. Any minute now, the game would start, and he'd be stuck with Percy for who knows how long. The pit of dread in Nico's stomach grew.
"You told me everything was chill between you!" Jason said accusingly. "What happened?"
Nico threw up his hands. "You happened! You got in my head! What if Percy secretly hates me now? Or what if now that I was honest with him, he asks me a bunch of personal questions? What am I supposed to do?" Nico struggled to keep his voice low, but he still got a few curious looks from some passing Aphrodite campers. He swore it was like they had a sixth-sense when it came to drama.
Jason placed his hands on Nico's shoulders, grounding him. "Ok, first of all; calm down man. Deep breaths." He waited for Nico to exhale slowly before continuing. "This is all in your head. You've come up plenty of times in conversation when Percy and I hang out, and he has nothing but positive things to say about you."
Nico shrunk out of Jason's grasp, indignant. "You talk about me? When I'm not around?" The image of Jason gushing about him like an over-enthusiastic mom suddenly popped into his head.
Yes, this is my youngest, Nico. Jason would say. He scored a homerun in his tee-ball game last week, we're all SO proud of him. Do you want to see some baby pictures? They're right here in my wallet.
The thought made him cringe. He never should have opened up emotionally to this guy.
"And second of all," Jason continued, ignoring him, "You ideally shouldn't be talking at all. This is a stealth mission, remember?"
"Cool," Nico deadpanned, "I'll tell him you said he should shut up."
"Hey! That's not what I meant!"
Just then, the conch shell blew.
Jason straightened like a soldier at attention. "Game time. I'll see you later, Nico." He began to rise steadily into the air. "You're going to do great!" he called out before disappearing into the canopy of branches above.
Nico sighed and went to find Percy.