Chapter Text
“Will!” came the rich southern voice of Naomi Solace.
Will was usually a year-round camper and the only place safe for his kind. Camp Half-Blood, a training ground and safe haven for demi-gods. He himself, was a son of Apollo, the god of medicine, the sun, archery, music, poetry, truth and about a million different other things. Will thought he should be the god of ADHD given all his hobbies, but that would get very complicated – given pretty much all demi-gods had ADHD to some extent, himself included.
He rushed down stairs, it was only a little after midday, but he was already overly keen for his mother’s homemade fried chicken and biscuits. Sure it was a cliché – a boy from Texas being besotted with fried chicken, but he didn't care. It was his comfort food and he only got to see his mom once or twice a year. This time she had sent him a letter to say she was taking a break from touring and would be home for a whole month and asked if he would like to join her for some much-needed quality time.
Of course, he jumped at the chance and IM'd her that night, when he knew she would be alone. They had arranged for her to pick him up at the camp boarder, head to the airport from there.
When he first saw her, he basically lept into her arms, although it nearly knocked her sideways. He was pretty much the same height as her now, somewhere around 5ft11. He wasn't sure exactly, it had been a while since he measured. She had the same blue eyes, the same freckles and the same untameable curls. The only difference being her hair was a dark golden brown, compared to his sunshine golden locks. She was young, only thirty-two, just eighteen when she had Will – and she looked even younger. It was common for people to mistake them as siblings rather and mother and son. Of course, Will being the son of the god of truth, he knew they weren't just trying to flatter her... most of the time.
The young blonde came bounding down the stairs, grinning ear to ear.
He had been back two weeks and was loving every second of it. He had filled his mother in on the events of the summer, the war with the giants, Gaia, and all about a certain dark-haired boy who actually decided to stick around camp for once.
Naomi had figured out Will wasn't entirely straight before he even did. He was lucky and very thankful he had a mother who was accepting and proud of the fact her son could be open about the topic with her. The only thing that he hadn't told her, other than his name, was who exactly the boy's godly parent was. It's not that he thought she would dislike him for it, but the pair were only friends and they still got all the questions on ‘why’ and ‘how’ could the pair even work.
He just didn't see the point in bringing it up, he doubted the two would ever meet. He doubted anything more would ever come from his not-so-little crush, he didn't even know if the guy liked boys. Will had once tried to broach the subject of girls and he had glared at him and shied away. The blonde thought he might actually be in with a shot for a second, then he tried the same conversation with guys and got the same result. The boy was a very private person, so maybe he just didn't want to have someone all up in his business. He had told his mother all of this, and she tutted as she pulled him in for a hug. “Whatever will be, will be, Sugar” she had told him as they eat ice-cream whilst watching the latest episode of America's got talent.
He reached the bottom of the stairs and found his mom looking absolutely stricken with worry, staring out the open door. “Mom, what's up?” he asked feeling concerned.
Opened the door a little more and she voiced “Someone is here to see you...”
A skinny boy of 13 stood in the door way, unruly dark curls, pale skin, black skinny jeans, and black t-shirt with a skeletal Pegasus that read ‘CABIN 13’ in white. His hand was trying to clutch at his side as blood poured from his ribs, but they had already started fading at the finger tips.
The guy smirked weakly and muttered, “Hey, Sunshine.”
“NICO! W-what... what happened?!” he shrieked as he launched forward to help hold the boy up.
The raven-haired boy winced as the blonde got a grip on him. “Mission, for dad. Didn't tell me I had to go through a camp of Cynocephali...” he coughed and spat blood into his hand, then promptly passed out in Will's arms.
“Shit, shit, shit!” he scooped him up bridal style and rushed him into the dining room, it was the only place with a surface big enough to both lay him on and move around him.
“William! What is going on?” his mother shrieked.
“Looks like I'm doing surgery on the dining table” he said as if completely unphased. In truth, he was terrified. Fixing up mortally wounded demi-gods, he was used to that. Doing it on his moms dining table with nothing but the first aid kit, not so much.
“William, we need to get him to a hospital!”
“Can't. This is one of the only people that can’t go to a hospital, because they will likely kill him by accident. I'll explain after you grab my camp bag from my wardrobe.”
Her face was turning red, “William”
The blonde quickly interrupted, “Just do it and you can yell at me all you want after, but if you don't do as I ask a boy is gonna die on your dining table” he countered, already in full doctor mode and cutting away at the t-shirt that was clinging to the blood-soaked chest, with a pair of kitchen scissors that he spotted on the sideboard. He didn't look up but he heard his mother take a deep breath and run up the stairs.
Will began muttering under his breath, mentally noting all the things he needed to fix and ranking them in order of urgency. He was mostly worried about the boy’s non-existent finger tips. Luckily, they didn't seem to be getting worse, so he put them lower on the list but would keep a close eye on them.
Naomi came running hurriedly back down the stairs and dropped the bag on the chair next to him. “Right, I need to wash my hands. Can you get out the first aid bag and put it on the table? I'll be right back” he asked in a rather demanding tone, but his mother listened and began riffling.
Once his hands were washed, he ran back to the table with them raised as not to touch anything. “I need the gloves, they are in the side pocket with the anti-bac attached to the zip. Use it before you touch anything else.
Without a word, his mother obeyed. Disinfecting her hands and pulling out the gloves to help her son put them on. Nico made a groaning sound. “Shit. Deathboy, don't wake up now” Will moaned, mildly irritated at the boy's timing. Snapping his head back to his mother, he pointed at the bag, “unfold it, centre compartment, purple vial, I need it.”
She quickly found the vial along with several others, mostly of the same colour but also an assortment of different ones. Handing it over, she asked “What is that?”
“Sleeping draft. It's like anesthetic, only magical and has less complications.” He replied uncorking the vial and pouring it in to the raven's mouth. “I prefer to have a Hypnos kid do it with their powers, that way we can just wake them up whenever. This will have him knocked out for at least 8 hours, minimum.”
He moved to the wound that was definitely the worst, just under his ribs on the right side of his body. It went deep, but narrow – definitely a stab wound. The one his left was wide but shallow, a slash. Almost text book. “Fucking hell, di Angelo. What did you get yourself into this time?”
“Language, William.”
“Sorry, sorry... there is a golden bottle in the top compartment, please can you pass it here, along with the tongs” he said, then grimaced. “Ma, I never really asked, but how squeamish are you?”
“Not overly...” she replied as she hunted.
“Well, let’s hope you are better than that, ‘cause I can’t deal with you passed out on the floor while he is up here bleeding out.”
Taking the items from her, he used the tongs to pry open the stab wound. Naomi gagged. “Told you. Just sit there and pass me things when I ask... and look away. I'll tell you when it's safe.” She nodded and he poured the golden liquid in the hole and watched, just for a second to make sure the bleeding had stopped.
“What is it that ya doin now?” she asked with her back still turned.
“I don't have the tools I need to do proper surgery to stop the bleeding, but pouring some nectar in the wound should seal it on the inside while I take care of the surface. Suture kit, please. Little yellow box, top compartment... and the disinfectant kit, green one right next it.” She quickly found the items and handed them back without looking. He grinned, he felt oddly proud to be doing this in front of his mom, showing her what he can do. “You should be okay to turn back now if you want, now I just gotta clean and sow him up.”
She slowly turned back, Will had settled in one of the chairs and was setting out the things he needed as he got to work. His mother watched him intensely. “I thought you had healing powers?”
“I do, but I need to clean it out first so it won’t get infected, and I can’t use it in just the one spot. When I use the healing power it will heal everything. The new skin grows over but doesn't put it back to its original shape, so if I don't close him up first... the slightly deeper one on his left would just have a giant dent, and this one that goes nearly all the way through... well, that would just do more harm than good. If it was only the one wound, I can just hold it closed with my hands, as it stands, I've already counted three and knowing this idiot, he'll be hiding a fourth.
“Okay. So why can't we take him to a hospital?”
Will took a deep breath, “His body runs differently than most. You know how I always seem like I have a fever cause I run hot?” She nodded in response. “He has the same, but cold. He also has a slower heartrate than normal, so they would pump him full of drugs to bring it up to what they think it should be, and his body would go into shock and he'd die from them trying to fix things that don't need to be fixed. Plus, according to the system, he doesn't exist. Zero documents”
“He's an illegal?!” she shouted in a whispered voice.
“Not exactly. I mean his dad moved him and his family here from Italy when he was nine, but at the time documents weren’t as important, plus his dad is a god... I think he would have a higher authority than Uncle Sam” he snorted, “Especially his dad, but honestly, it's a bit of a headache and it's not my story to tell.”
Naomi, looked rather uneasy about the situation. “Who's his dad?”
“Errr...” his mother knew a lot about the gods. After she had discovered his father was the Greek god Apollo, she had made it her business to learn all she could. He really didn't know how she was gonna react to the news of who exactly was laying half dead in the middle of her dining room. “Hades...” he said uncertainly.
She blinked at him. “He... He is one of the big three kids you told me about?” He nodded, so far this was going better than he expected.
“William Andrew Solace. Are you telling me the boy you have been crushing on for the past two years is a big three kid, son of the god of death and is currently being stitched up on my table?!”
Will blinked. “W-what?”
She raised an eyebrow at him, “Don't play dumb with me, it has been written all over your face since the moment you saw him at the door. Not to mention, he perfectly fits the description you gave me.”
The blonde sputtered and stood up, looking away to shift round to the boys left side. “W-was it that obvious?” he grimaced.
“To your mother, yes... to anyone else, probably.”
“Ahh, shit.”
“LANGUAGE!”
“Sorry” he muttered.
After that they worked in mostly silence, other than Naomi asking the occasional ‘annoying mother’ question, which Will mostly ignored. Once he had cleaned and stitched up all the wounds he could find, he took off his gloves and pressed them over the two that were the worst and began to hum. His hands started glowing and Naomi watched in awe as all the wounds closed over and the skin knitted itself back together.
Will took a deep breath and stood back. Looking the boy over, he snatched up the golden bottle and poured a little into his mouth. He couldn't find any more injuries with his eyes or his powers other than his missing finger tips. He didn't have any of the stuff Hedge had given him to help and just had to hope the nectar would make it improve. He would IM the satyr... if he could track down a drachma.
He began hunting through his bag when his mom rounded the corner with two cups of coffee. “Here, I have a feeling you need a drink, and unlike most surgeons, you ain't old enough for the hard stuff” she chuckled. “What do we need to do now? He can't really stay on the dining table. We could put him in one of the spare rooms?”
“Y-you'd let him stay here?”
“Well, I can't very well send him packing after that, Sugar” she laughed.
The blonde threw his arms around her, almost knocking the cups out of her hands. “Thank you! I was so worried about sending him back out there!”
“Sweetie, what do you take me for, honestly.” She tutted and placed the cups on the side as Will pulled away. “I'll go make up the spare room, then we can move him up there and you” she poked his chest, “can help me clean up the mess the pair of you made on my lovely table... I might need to by a new one after that, don't think I can eat there anymore, that's for sure.” He laughed but nodded in agreement.
“Actually, mom... could I make up a bed on the floor in there, just for tonight? If he wakes up somewhere he isn't familiar with, he's gonna have a panic attack or something.”
Naomi patted his cheek, “Sure sweetie... but I am trusting you that there will be no hanky-panky!” she said in a stern voice.
“Gods, mom! No, no, no. One, I don’t even think he like guys, let alone me. Two, we are thirteen and fourteen. Three, even if he did like me, he has physical contact issues.” He listed on his fingers. “Nothing is gonna happen, other than maybe a high five or hug if he needs it... and even then, he has to be really desperate.”
“Okay, okay... I trust you” she smirked, “But, boy... you really no how to pick ‘em.” His mother wondered off upstairs and started getting the room ready, while he continued hunting for a drachma.
Eventually, he found one buried at the bottom of the bag. Running to the kitchen, he formed a rainbow over the sink and called the coach.
After briefly explaining the situation, the satyr said he would gather the things needed and get them sent over by Hermes express. Will thanked him and ended the call, hearing the goat-man start yelling that his baseball bat was not a chew toy. The last thing he heard was “Here, take the hammer instead.” The blonde chuckled and headed back to the dining room, just as his mom reappeared.
“Room is all ready, need some help getting him up there?”
“Nah, I'll be fine.” Nico weighed, less than a sack of rice when he was soaking wet. That did give him a reminder though. “Mom, if he is staying with us, I need you to promise not to over feed him. He's on a strict diet to get him back to a healthy weight after he nearly starved to death. Over feeding him... won't be good.”
She smiled but switched to a mock seriousness and saluted him, “Yes, Dr Solace.” Then burst out laughing. “Come on, I'll get the doors on the way up.” She gestured to follow as she turned. “Actually... I'm gonna grab him a glass of water.”
Scooping him back up in his arms, a sudden easiness swept over him. He could feel the boy's body, his temperature, his heartrate, his blood-oxygen levels – they were all stable and at the right levels for Nico di Angelo. Will was rather pleased with the botch job he had done to keep him alive, although he'd rather not repeat the experience.
He followed his mother’s lead up to the room, and laid his lithe body down on the bed. He noticed his jeans were covered in blood, there was no way he could sleep in those. Naomi must have noticed his face, “What's up, hon?”
“His pants... they are covered in blood and mud and monster dust. He's gonna get so itchy wearing them for the next... five...six hours. Should I take them off? I mean the normal part of my brain is saying no, that’s... ya'know, private and he already has trust issues; but the doctor part is saying yes, it's unhygienic and might cause sores.”
“Well, as long as we leave his underwear on, I'm sure he'd understand. It's medically necessary, and we will cover him up with the blankets.” She reassured him. “And when I say we, I mean you. You are the doctor and I am a thirty-two-year-old and he is thirteen... nope. Not taking that hit, thank you” and sauntered out the room.
“Great... I now have to take the pants off my crush while he is unconscious in my spare bedroom.” He rubbed his eyes and good to work.
After the tight pants were removed, he covered Nico with the blanket and sat on the edge of the bed. His thoughts began wiring in his head, what happened? Why is he here? Why didn't he go back to camp? Was his fading gonna get worse? Have I done a good enough job for him to be able to heal properly? Why does he have to look so cute when he's sleeping? Shit, no. Don't go there, he is your friend. Your injured friend, he doesn't need to pining or perving at him in his sleep.
With that last thought, he jumped up and ran to his room. Scribbling on a small piece of paper, in a thick black pen so it would stand out.
“Hey Deathboy,
Don't worry, you are at Will's house. You gave me quite the scare, but I got you fixed up.
If I'm not there when you wake, I'll be just downstairs with my mom. I'll probably be back in the next half hour to check on you, but you can come down and find me if you want.
DON'T YOU DARE SHADOW TRAVEL! Your fingers are already fading and Hedge is sending supplies for me to fix it.
Also, drink the water... you need it, ya know... to live and all that.
Sunshine J
p.s. we have fried chicken for dinner if you are up for it.”
He smiled at the note, his writing barely legible but he was sure Nico would be able to read it just fine. He padded back to the room, and propped it up against the glass his mother had brought up, in plain view for when he woke up.
Trotting back downstairs, he made his way to the dining room and started helping his mother clean up the mess. It took about an hour to thoroughly scrub it down with his mom's help. After that, they crashed down on the sofa. She turned her head towards him in a lazy fashion and smiled. “I was weirdly nice, getting to see you in your element... but please... never again.”
He laughed and nodded, “Thank you for the help. Sorry for all the cussing and being all demanding... I kinda got carried away.”
“Is it always like that?”
“Yes and no. Sometimes, it's just the one simple thing. Sometimes, it's a lot worse. I am rather an expert and reattaching limbs...” he smiled.
“Huh?”
“Yeah... it happens a lot.”
“Okay then,” she said as if that was completely normal. “Well, I put the chicken to rest until we are ready for it. I don't really feel like eating right now.”
Will smiled, “Nah, the adrenaline has cooled off... now, I just want a nap” he yawned. “I'm gonna head upstairs, just in case.”
“Okay, Sugar. I'll come get you around six-ish.” He gave her a thumbs up and headed back to Nico's room.