Work Text:
There was something different about Nico, Percy thought.
It was fair to say that a lot of things had changed in the past few years for all of them. But for Nico especially, the change was worse than good. After losing Bianca, for which Percy still felt guilty, Nico had just vanished. As if he never existed at all. And then, after a series of stranger occurrences, the last place Percy expected to see him in was the Labyrinth.
They had escaped. Somehow, with a shit ton of luck that Percy knew wasn’t his, they had managed to leave the Labyrinth alive, all of them. If Nico looked a bit pale while riding the pegasus then that was secondary to the fact that they were all alive and out of the maze and on their way to camp, where they will continue to be safe.
And, Gods, Percy was so wrong.
There was a battle. Kronos himself had led the charge. Lee had died. Castor passed away too, and Percy didn’t even know his name. He had heard Apollo say that Bianca was the first blood, then what did it make every single demigod who lost their lives before her? What did it make Thalia, who made a sacrifice so noble that it was revered? What will it make Castor and Lee and everyone else who will lose their lives in the name of their parents, who they never even get to see?
Fuck, Percy hated this so much. He vowed to be better after that. He needed to learn the names of the people who were willingly fighting by his side. Who protected his back. What sort of person was he if he didn’t even know the people around him that were doing everything to keep each other alive?
Bianca only had one wish before she gave her life to protect them, and that was to protect Nico and take care of him. He had failed once, when he couldn’t stop him running away and shit, — he was only 10 years old, where had he been living? What had he been eating? He was frail. - Percy will not be making the same mistake twice.
Which is why, now, with Nico standing on his fire exit on his birthday, with the worst plan in all of mankind, the first thing Percy did was force him inside.
“Come inside for cake and ice cream,” Percy said. “It sounds like we’ve got a lot to talk about.”
And then he did not let Nico leave after that. He pulled his mother aside while Nico was eating the cake and trying to make awkward conversations with Paul. He tried to explain how important Nico was, as a child of Hades and also as the brother to the girl he couldn’t protect, but the words never left his mouth. The moment he mentioned the name Bianca, Percy broke down in tears.
“I couldn’t protect her, Mom,” he sobbed in his mother’s arms. She held him close and listened carefully, like she always did. “She is gone now. Past Asphodel, we can’t do anything, Mom, I didn’t do anything. I couldn’t save her, and now she’s gone, and she was all Nico had. He made me- made me promise to look after her, her, and I didn’t even do that, and Bianca, she just, wanted her, her, brother safe and I couldn’t do that either.”
“Percy, baby, you can’t blame yourself for not saving Bianca. She wanted to protect you, she would never want you to feel like this. You don’t have to hurt yourself for something that was out of your control. She is gone now, but that doesn’t mean that Nico is too. We should honour her last wish, right? We will take care of Nico. Come on, Percy, he is waiting for you, he needs a friend right now, beyond anything. You should be that friend.”
Sally had a look in her eyes that made her look equivalent to the immortals Percy had met. She was wise beyond her years, and he was so grateful to have her. “I don’t want him to think I am only doing it because of the war,” Percy admitted.
“Then, show him that.”
Percy took a deep breath and nodded to his mom. He could do that. He could be there for Nico.
He made his way out to the boy. Paul was still trying to make awkward conversation with Nico, who looked so uncomfortable, but he was still talking to Paul, so that must be something. Percy was literally grasping at straws at this point. He was determined to make this work, though, and he will make sure Nico is okay, from now on.
“Hey,” he interrupted the two of them, and tried not to snicker at the twin looks of relief both of them sent his way. “Nico, I have a spare mattress in my room, you can crash there tonight. We’ll figure out more permanent arrangements tomorrow. But, you need rest, and you need food.”
Nico looked alarmed. “I never agreed to staying here, Percy.”
“You don’t really have a choice, man. I am not letting you go back out and after this summer, I need to know you’re safe.”
Instead of relaxing, Nico tensed up further. It took Percy a second to realize what he had said wrong, but he felt his own eyes widen when it clicked. He shot a glance at Paul who just looked confused – and really, they should tell him the truth soon – but he grabbed Nico by his arm and dragged him to his room, shouting an excuse of boys’ talk for the sake of Paul.
“I don’t want your pity,” Nico snarled the second they were alone. “You think just because you got me out of the Labyrinth, I’ll do whatever you want me to? I don’t owe you shit.
“How do you always jump to the wrong conclusions so fucking quickly?” Percy asked in amazement. “Like, that’s a proper talent, if you ask me.”
Nico just scoffed at him. He was still clutching the plate of cake in one hand. Percy felt a twinge of guilt at that. He could at least let the kid eat before dragging him like this.
Percy plopped down on his bed and looked at Nico until he did the same too. “I am not your enemy. I swear.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Nico grumbled.
“Can you just, like, listen to me?” Percy begged. He really didn’t want Nico to hate him. The boy was so alone and Percy could see the exhaustion weighing him down. No child should look like this. Reluctantly, Nico nodded. His attention was back on the cake, and Percy really just wanted him to eat it.
“I don’t pity you, first off. Of course, I feel sad and guilty, but I don’t pity you. Second, I am not doing this, offering you a place to sleep, because I think you owe me something, or I owe you something.” A big fat lie. He owed this to Bianca, to keep her brother safe, but he would also do this because he’s an actual kid, and he doesn’t deserve this. “I am not. I wouldn’t do that. Not only that, but I think, I know, you are a kid, like how old are you? Aren’t you literally like 11-years old? There’s no way I am letting you be basically homeless. My mom wouldn’t either. The only reason why I didn’t do this before, was because I couldn’t find you. You vanished! You have no idea how much I looked for you! How much I wanted you to be safe! Because you are a kid! That’s it!”
“You don’t have to accept anything right now, okay? If you want to go back to camp, that’s okay too. If you want to stay here, and only occasionally pop by to just tell us you’re okay, that is okay too! Honestly! Frankly, I have seen way too many kids at camp get hurt, and I don’t want that to be you. You’re Hades’ kid. You are technically my cousin. You’re family. Let me help you out. No cost, no favours, no nothing. You’re a kid. I want to make sure you don’t die, my mom wants to make sure you’re well-fed and have a place to sleep in because it is a decent thing to do. That’s it.”
Percy was almost breathless by the end of his rant but getting all of that out in the open was really important. There was no way Nico would trust him otherwise.
Speaking of Nico, he looked shocked. His mouth was slightly open like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was something happy in his eyes and Percy, really, really wanted him to accept this. They stared at each other for a while, Percy just anxiously waiting for Nico to say something, and Nico was. Processing.
“So,” he said after the drawn out silence. “You don’t want anything? Like nothing?”
“Of course, not,” Percy nearly snapped.
“Not even my help with the war, with information?” Nico raised his eyebrows in question, and Percy would have laughed at how cute he looked if this wasn’t such a serious situation.
“You getting food and staying safe is not based on how useful you are, okay. I have no idea what sort of person you think I am, but I won’t use you like that.”
“I can stay here for as long as I want?”
Percy chuckled. “Pretty sure mom wants to adopt you.”
“Sally won’t mind? At all?”
“Are you kidding me? I think she would kill me if I let you go like this. This was practically her idea anyway.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.” Percy snorted. Nico was warming up to the idea, Percy could tell. “Any other questions?”
“I can really stay?” there was such fragile hope in Nico’s voice, it nearly crushed Percy.
“Yes. For as long as you want,” Percy promised.
“Okay.”
“Really? You’ll stay? And, you know, even if you come to camp, you can stay in my cabin. I’ll talk to Dad, it’s not like he’ll say no, anyway.”
“I’ll stay,” Nico replied and completely ignored the last part of his sentence. That’s okay. Percy has time to fix that.
“Let’s go tell Mom. She’ll be ecstatic,” Percy laughed and once again, dragged Nico out.
Mom and Paul were sitting down and talking softly, but both of them looked up when the two of them got out of his room. Mom had a gentle smile on her face, and Paul looked just as relaxed and happy to see them.
“Mom, you should fix up the guest room. Nico is staying,” Percy announced, laughing. He pushed Nico towards his mom and watched everything from the back.
The smile on her face was worth every curse Nico sent his way when Percy all but dumped him on the dining table. She started talking to Nico immediately about what he liked, if he had clothes, if he needed to go shopping. Even though he looked uncomfortable, he sat obediently and answered all of her questions. He didn’t even protest when Sally added more cake and some snacks to his plate and gave him new cutlery.
Nico’s eyes were shining as he accepted his Mom’s help. He gave his answers, he didn’t know what he liked, he never had the chance to go shopping for himself. He had clothes, but he had no idea where they were now, so he probably did need to buy new ones. Percy just let the two of them talk and moved to sit by Paul. He tried to talk to him, answered his questions about dad, but his attention was on Nico and his Mom. Thankfully, Paul didn’t fault him for that. He also didn’t say anything when Percy teared up because Nico started eating his food.
Finally, after what felt like eons, Nico finished his cake.