Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Holy shit this guy 

He is younger than my own son

I can’t let him die

Apollo didn’t enjoy fighting the villain who called himself the ‘Ghost King’, despite having to for the past three years. What a stupid name by the way, it wasn’t as if the villain only summoned ghosts. That would be grossly underestimating the villain’s abilities. The zombies and skeletons were much worse and frequent.

Yet again, Apollo’s job as one of the top heroes was to hunt down this villain. He was unsuccessful for years, but today was his lucky day. The great Ghost King was cornered in an alleyway, and he was running out of zombies to messily throw at the superhero. 

Something was off, the zombies were easier to kill, but all Apollo could focus on was his impending victory.

He landed a few good hits on the villain beforehand, but it took him finding Ghost King in an unfamiliar area of the city to finally corner him. There wasn’t time to wonder why Ghost King was in a new part of the city, he was simply focused on taking advantage of it.

This area wasn’t his usual stomping grounds, it was more grimey and had less people who would pay the hero agency. It was bad for their bottom line to have valuable heroes like him here. Some people would call that business practice wrong, but Apollo couldn’t change it. At least, he told himself that.

When he was able to send a beam of light into the chest of the last zombie, exploding it into a pile of gore, he finally approached the villain.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for years.” He approached the man, who was sitting with his back to a brick wall, his legs pulled to his chest. “You’re under arrest—”

He was cut off by an oddly weak voice, despite being filtered through a voice changer. It came out through the speakers on Ghost King’s mask. “Kill me.”

“What?”

The villain brushed his hand against the concrete beneath him, and a rusty old spear pushed out of the ground at Apollo’s feet. It was one of his powers, summoning buried things. “Fucking kill me, I know you’ve been wanting to for years. Instead of having them sentence me to death, do it yourself. Unless you’re scared?”

A request to protect the villain’s pride, most likely. Apollo could appreciate that sort of thing.

“I’m not scared of you, never have been.” Apollo grabbed the spear. “Before I do this though, I’ve been curious.”

He kneeled down, reaching for the mask with his other hand. Though the Ghost King grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him, his grip was incredibly weak. Apollo had thrown him around and shot arrows into him, he was surprised the man wasn’t dead already.

Unclipping the mask, he pulled it off the villain’s head. First, he saw a large mop of black hair that did suit the dark clothing the Ghost King usually wore. What didn’t suit him was a baby face. He looked… young. It freaked Apollo out slightly. It wasn’t what he was expecting.

The black mask felt heavy in his hands, he dropped it on the ground. It let out a loud clatter, and the villain winced. “How old are you?”

It was just a baby face, Ghost King had to be an adult! He just had to be—!

“I’m fifteen.”

Shit.

Apollo felt a shudder wrack his body. This ‘big’ bad villain was younger than his own son. He was fighting someone over twenty years younger than he was, holy shit.

His breath shuddered, “No you’re fucking not.”

He watched the villain glower up at him, this really was a teenager. Apollo was just in denial. His eyes followed the teen’s trembling hand to his pants, pulling out a white card and offering it to the hero. “My school ID.”

Almost not wanting to even look, he took the card. The boy’s arm went down, nearly limp after he took it. On closer inspection, he realized this ID was the same as his son’s. Everything except the kid’s information was identical. It made him wonder if Ghost King knew his son, this was for a small school after all.

Niccolò di Angelo

Age: 15

ID NUM: 666131518

He felt his heart sink to his stomach, “…I fought a twelve year old.”

The kid looked up at him, coming off as a bit entertained by this ordeal with a small smile on his face. His gaze stayed on the spear in Apollo’s hand. “Mhm.”

“I was going to kill you!”

That seemed to get the kid’s attention, and the smile completely faded. “Why wouldn’t you now?” He sounded somehow angry at the idea.

“You’re fifteen Niccolò!”

“And? Kill me. I want to die, and call me Nico.”

Apollo was aghast. “You’re a child!”

“That doesn’t change anything. I chose this life.” Nico rolled his eyes, but Apollo could tell from the rest of his face he was in pain. “And now I want to end it. I want that choice, kill me.”

“I am not killing you.”

“I’ll do it myself then—!“

“No!” Apollo grabbed the spear, throwing it behind him. “You’re not doing that. You need a healer, now.”

“Oh! Now I need a healer. Now you care. Great! Such a good guy! You were going to kill me, I know you were. If not that, you were going to arrest me. You can’t change me, so treat me as you would anyone else.”

I would be a laughingstock of the superhero community if I arrested him. Oh look, it’s Apollo! The superhero who couldn’t catch a snot-nosed kid for three years. His rank would be lowered to fiftieth overall, if he was being generous.

“I can’t arrest a child.” He scooped Nico into his arms, his fatherly instincts already kicking in. This child was wounded. “You’re going to get help.”

He started being hit in the stomach and arms, Nico was attempting to squirm out of his grip. “No! I wanted to die, why can’t you let me die? I deserve it!” Apollo would call this a childish tantrum if the boy didn’t sound so serious.

As if to prove his point of deserving it, Nico bit into Apollo’s arm. Apollo gritted his teeth, still carrying Nico out of the alleyway and towards his own home.

Heroes and villains did usually keep their civilian identities a secret, but not him. He was a celebrity inside and outside of uniform, and he loved it. Besides, secrets never really were made to be kept forever, in his opinion. He probably would have been revealed without his permission at some point, and then he would have to deal with a media circus.

All in all, secret identities were not for him.

He focused back in on what Nico said, his grip on him only tightened with the bite. The boy was small, so he fit easily in his arms. How did he never notice how small his opponent was? To Apollo, he appeared almost meek like this. “You don’t deserve death.”

Nico stared up at him defiantly, his voice sounded weak as he started to give up on hitting Apollo.

“I’ll kill you if you don’t kill me,” he murmured.

Apollo’s eyebrows furrowed out of confusion. “Where did you learn to make threats like that? Why are you like this??”

Nico’s head hung over Apollo’s arm suddenly, his body going noticeably limp. Apollo quickened his footsteps, his house was very close now.

Some of the signs of Nico being a child were coming to him now. The kid was less active on the weekdays, presumably because he went to school. His height, the voice changer, and the childish name. The chaotic way he fought without his powers too, not trained at all. Even villains and vigilantes would find mentors or places to learn how to fight, but that usually wouldn’t be an option for a kid.

He was unable to open his front door while holding Nico in his arms, so he ungracefully knocked using his forehead. He felt like a woodpecker. Thankfully, no fans were trying to stalk him today.

When no one answered, he tried again. This time he yelled for good measure, “Will! Open the door! My arms are full!”

“Dad I told you we don’t need more groc—“ Will froze, staring at what was in his father’s arms. “That isn’t groceries.”

Apollo stepped past Will, went into the living room, and gently laid his ex-adversary on the couch. “Astute observation. I need a healer, you want to give this guy a go?”

He looked back at Will, seeing his previously shocked face morph into one of fierce determination.

Apollo rarely let Will use his healing powers, it wasn’t his most offensive skill set after all, but this was one case where he felt desperate. How could he give Nico to any superhero healers without making himself a laughingstock? Even hospitals would question why these wounds were consistent with burns and arrows Apollo has given villains previously.

Will ran upstairs, coming back down with a medkit. He snipped apart the top of Nico’s suit, inspecting where most of the wounds were. “You could have at least prepared him first.” He pointedly tugged an arrow out of the kid gingerly, “I can’t heal him when the skin would mend around the arrows.”

Apollo started helping, getting all the arrows out of Nico at a fast pace. Now, it was all on Will.

Though his powers were great and many, he could not heal people. He wasn’t sure where Will got the power either, certainly not him. Will’s mother’s powers centered around causing disease, not curing it, so he didn’t get it from her either.

Watching from a sofa chair very close by, he watched Will begin to glow, placing his hands on Nico’s chest. He winced, but Will was definitely not paying mind to him and continued to press on in the healing process. He watched Nico’s wounds start to close up, but Will’s skin began to get paler. Swaying on his feet slightly, Will still kept going. After a few moments, Apollo stood up and took Will’s hands off of Nico’s chest.

Will glared up at him, but let his hands be held up by the wrists between them. “I wasn’t done!”

“You healed him enough. He’ll survive,” Apollo started looking over Nico. The wounds weren’t completely healed for sure, but they were on the right track. This would be enough.

He let go of Will, who didn’t attempt to touch Nico again. Good. “One of his ribs was broken. What happened to him?”

“Uh— I found him?”

He hoped that would be enough, but Will wasn’t convinced. Crossing his arms, he huffed. “Dad. Those were your arrows.”

“An imposter, surely!” Apollo exclaimed defensively.

It was in his son’s nature to sniff out a lie. “I can handle you telling me the truth, and I do know him. So I want to know.”

“You do?” Apollo asked while he grabbed the medkit, working on some of Nico’s wounds. He faced away from his son, but he was still listening.

“Yeah, kid who is almost never in class. I saw him a few times this year. He wouldn’t let anyone near him. If you tried talking to him, he’d either ignore or insult you.” 

As Apollo stood up, Will looked down at Nico wistfully. “He didn’t try to make an impression, but to be honest he stuck in my mind for some reason. He just seemed so familiar to me. I think his name is… Niccolò?”

“Nico. You may recognize him because,” Apollo took a breath. “I’ve been fighting him for years.”

He watched his son look shocked, eyes snapping between his father and the almost corpse-like body he just treated.

“Look I know that sounds bad but in my defense— I didn’t know I was fighting someone who’s barely hit puberty!” He waved a hand, “I was just minding my own business a few years back and then ‘Oh! It looks like the grocery store’s being robbed!’ That’s when it started.”

Will’s eyes scanned the scraps of the suit he cut as he seemed to calm down. “Ghost King. You finally got him.” It surprised Apollo that Will knew what the Ghost King’s first reported sighting was, or maybe he finally recognized the suit he just mangled. Will’s eyes drifted back up to his father’s. “Are you turning him in?”

“What— No! He’s a kid!”

His son crossed his arms, staring at the boy again. “What are you going to do with him then?”

“I haven't thought about it yet.” He admitted quietly. If he were to be honest with himself, he didn’t think about a lot of plans before he rushed into them. However, one thing was certain, Apollo couldn’t kill him, or let him die.

But Nico said he would do it himself.

Apollo couldn’t just let this kid go. He needed to help him, in any way he could.

Making his decision, he nodded to no one. It wasn’t hard for him to come to a conclusion to this story. For a while now, he had been thinking of fostering kids. With his immense wealth and even freetime—except for when he was called into missions—it felt proper to pay it forward to the next generation. Maybe he’d even bond with a few and officially adopt them. He only hadn’t gone through with that plan yet because of Will.

It’s not that Will expressed any discomfort with the idea, but Apollo felt a certain coldness from his son whenever he brought it up. So he never did, he’d much rather avoid such a sensitive topic than to grill his son on why he didn’t like the thought of other kids in the house.

“For now, he’s staying with us.”

Will adjusted Nico on the couch, placing a pillow under his head. He looked neutral, and thankfully not angry. “Can you even do that? He has legal guardians, doesn’t he?”

Apollo waved a hand at Will as he grabbed his communicator out of his pocket. It was essentially his work phone, and much simpler than his personal tech. He wished the hero agency would just upgrade them already. It took some time to navigate to his contacts. “I’ll call dad and work something out.”

He looked up to see Will still hovering over Nico, slowly reaching a hand down to touch his chest. No, he couldn’t allow Will to heal the boy further. “You need to go to bed.” He watched Will’s hand retract. “You tired yourself out healing him. This is why I don’t think you should—“

“I don’t need to use my powers if I can heal people without them.“ As if to emphasize his point, Will grabbed the medkit he brought down from upstairs again. “One day, I’ll be able to.”

“It’s a lot of work to be a doctor. It would be much easier to go into the family business.” Apollo hoped he sounded convincing, he must be the only father in the world who didn’t want a child to be a doctor, but he felt his son wouldn’t be as successful.

The coldness Apollo was thinking of prior reemerged as Will backed off, heading towards the stairs that led up to his room. He didn’t look particularly pleased, but Apollo knew this was for his son’s own good. “I’m tired. Goodnight, dad. Love you.”

Will paused at the bottom of the stairs. “Oh, and make sure he eats something. I could feel his hunger, it was… yeah.”

He watched his son go upstairs before calling his own dad. His dad wasn’t… The most pleasant person in the world, if he were to put it gently. You would expect the number one hero to be an amazingly generous and kind individual, but Zeus wasn’t anything he seemed to be on the surface.

After being yelled at for a bit for abandoning his post to go after Ghost King, he was finally able to ask for a favor in the smallest voice he could muster.

“Dad,” he emphasized the word, as if Zeus may have forgotten he even was his son. “I need you to put a child into my custody.”

There was a pause before a deep voice came from the other side of the line, shaking Apollo to his core. He bet other people didn’t have the same reaction, but he certainly couldn’t help it. A healthy amount of fear formed around the person who raised him. “…For what reason?”

“Well,” he let out a small nervous chuckle. “Can you look up this kid for me?” He sent an encrypted text message with Nico’s information, and Zeus barked out a laugh about a minute later.

“A delinquent I see! And an orphan. Seems he's been reported missing more times than the system can show me on a single page! I would just turn him into the regular police force’s custody, why would you want to associate with a scrap like this?”

Apollo couldn’t just tell the whole truth, that he was a bleeding heart and that fighting a child ruined his pride, he needed a better reason. Something that was truthful sounding, but not the complete idea. He needed to play into what his father valued, and fast, before he lost interest.

“Because he’s powerful, and he may just be able to be a great hero in the future. More heroes, more merchandise and advertisements, and more money that goes back to you. Which is why I ask can you put him in my custody? Who are his current guardians?”

“Foster parents, it seems they reported him missing two weeks ago. It was supposed to be a temporary stay of a week, and then he would have been transferred to a new residence.”

“So it is possible for me to become his foster parent, correct?”

“Yes, but you’d have to get someone to register you as one. You didn’t even get around to completing a inspection of your house, you really are idiotic when—“

“Dad.“ Apollo took a deep breath. “I know you have the most power in this entire city. Do this for me, and I’ll make sure this boy becomes a force for good, for you. It’s worth it. He’s powerful, I’ve seen it. You know I don’t throw that word around.”

“Fine, but I better see results as soon as he’s eligible for training.” The call was hung up, just like that. No love you, just dead air. Whatever, it’s not like that statement would be genuine, coming from either of their mouths.

He let himself process the conversation he just partook in for a moment before he put the communicator in his pocket. Maybe he would kick himself in the ass for being complicit with his father later. Now, what to do with Nico? Apollo thought about it for only a few seconds before picking up the small boy in his arms and taking him upstairs.

Placing him in the comfortable guest room bed, he made sure Nico was tucked in before he taped a note to the door. ‘You’re safe here :) -Apollo’ It was just in case Nico woke up and panicked. There wasn’t a window in this guest room, thankfully, so he didn’t have to worry about Nico breaking out that way.

He gave one last look around the room, grabbing a pencil sharpener from a desk setup there as well as some scissors. Apollo really didn’t want Nico to hurt himself while he was in his custody.

When he closed the door, he received a message from dad. It was a particular alert noise that sounded like thunder. It made him shudder slightly, freezing up before he checked it.

You now are the foster parent of whatever the fuck his name was, congratulations. Make sure he’s ready to enter training when he’s 16.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he couldn’t help but groan into his palm to muffle the exasperated sound. Will didn’t need to know he was frustrated, and his room was right next to the guest one. Apollo knew he shouldn’t have asked his father for a favor. He should have just been patient, but that was a virtue he didn’t exhibit often. Apollo was self aware enough to understand that.

Chapter Text

I do not want death

To march towards anyone

Including Nico

Something Apollo learned fast about Ghost King was he wasn’t nearly as intimidating as he used to be. He was a just child—likely traumatized and untrusting—but still a child. Apollo couldn’t get that realization out of his head. He fought a child for years, and it was incredibly embarrassing.

He woke up in the middle of the night, which wasn't usual for him. His sleep schedule was based on the sun, as was his son’s. So when he heard the sound of something thumping against the ground, he knew something had to be off.

Slipping out of bed, he stumbled to his door before his legs became steady. He saw the guest room door slowly opening, light spilling out into the dark desolate hallway ahead. Holding his breath, he saw Ghost King—or should he say Nico—making his way out of his room. A bandaged wound on his side was being pressed down by his own hands as he hissed, staring down at it.

Apollo didn’t go unnoticed for long as Nico swiveled his head back and forth. Upon seeing the seventh top hero, he instantly stumbled back. He dipped down in a crouch to place a hand on the floor before likely making a realization. Apollo filled in that blank.

“We’re on the second floor. You can’t summon things from up here, can you?” He didn’t mean to sound condescending, but it was really hard to break old habits.

Nico scowled. “You should know. Remember the battle at the Lotus Casino?”

“Exactly, that’s how I do know.“ Apollo closed his bedroom door behind him, not taking his eyes off of Nico. Then he crossed his arms. “Now, are we really going to fight while you’re injured and could benefit from some Advil?”

“What the fuck.” Nico stepped towards him. “Are you offering me Advil? Why am I not in a cell, or better yet dead?”

“Because I’m not a monster, I’m your new foster parent.”

He wasn’t sure what reaction he was expecting from that statement, but he sure wasn’t expecting Nico to laugh.

“A-are you fucking kidding me. You? A foster parent for a villain you fought for the past three years?” Apollo had to admit his ears burned at that, he did fight this kid for too long. What could he say? This kid was strong. “That’s hilarious, you have to be lying.”

“I’m not. I just want to help you.”

Nico didn’t seem like he believed him, but also seemed to give up the idea of this all being a complete ruse. “Fine. Can you start with getting me better clothes then?” Looking down at himself, Nico tugged at some of the cut pieces of fabric around his torso; it was where Will had treated most of his wounds.

Apollo was a little conflicted, but spoke politely. “I’d have to go see if Will’s awake so you can borrow some of his clothes.”

He walked past Nico, who flinched away and leaned against a wall to completely avoid coming in contact with the man. Apollo frowned, but he didn’t want to bring up his concerns right now. Knocking lightly on Will’s door, he opened it a crack to see his son was still sleeping.

Disturbing Will‘s sleep wasn’t on his agenda tonight, so he really was going to close the door! He could probably find something else for Nico to wear somewhere, maybe something in storage, but it seemed the world had other plans.

He heard his son’s bed creak as the boy sat up, rubbing at his eyes. “Are you going to just stand there?” Will asked sleepily.

Apollo slowly opened the door more, trying to sound and act genuinely apologetic. It was a little hard when he didn’t blame himself for Will waking up.

“Sorry. Do you have any spare clothes for the kid?”

“Uh. Nico? Yeah. Hold on.” Will stood up with a small groan, going over to his closet and turning a small light on inside. It took a minute or so before Will came back out with a pajama pair that was absolutely covered in cats.

Apollo couldn’t blame Nico when he instantly scowled and turned up his nose. “I’m not wearing that.”

Will smirked in some semblance of triumph before it dropped off his face suddenly. “Fine. Let me find something more your style. This will take a bit!”

A little surprised, Apollo watched Will head back into his closet. The boy was usually so stubborn, this was certainly a change. Did Will actually want to put time and work into making Nico comfortable? That warmed his heart a bit, and he hoped the two would form some kind of bond in the future.

After some time, Will was still in his closet. Apollo decided he wasn’t going to wait any longer. He stretched his arms over his head before sighing loudly. “Alright! I’m heading to bed.”

Popping his head out from the closet, Will emerged with some black clothing Apollo didn’t even know he had. He marched up to Nico and handed the shirt and pants over, looking a little more tired than he was previously.

“Here.”

Well, then that was settled! Apollo smiled. “Why don’t we all head back to bed now. There’s a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

He heard sounds of the two starting to talk as he left, but he decided he was too tired to pay attention. Right now, his bed sounded too amazing. Solar superheroes weren’t supposed to be awake this late. Well, he didn’t know that for a fact. The only other sun adjacent superhero had retired a long time ago.

When he laid back on his bed, he went right back to sleep.

Apollo was pleasantly surprised to wake up in the morning peacefully. No disturbances, no fires, no distress call from the hero agency aka Olympus, and no villain murdering him in his sleep! He got up feeling very positive because of this, changing into some casual day clothes since he had the day off.

Taking a glance at the guest room he placed Nico in, he was surprised to see the door wide open. There was no one inside. Alright, no reason to panic, maybe Nico was downstairs, or in the bathroom. That door was open too… but of course, no one was inside. Apollo checked downstairs, maybe Nico was hiding?

As he looked around, he quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

He found one of the windows at the back of the house broken, with the glass fallen around a broken lamp outside. It was surprising Nico had the strength to do such a thing, but Apollo didn’t want to dwell on it. Nico needed to be found before anything bad happened to him or anyone else.

Rushing upstairs, he opened his son’s door to see the boy on his phone in bed.

“Will! I have to go find Nico. I think he left.” Apollo announced before hesitating. He had no idea where Nico could be. Letting out a nervous chuckle, he tried to look confident despite his uncertainty.  “Any idea where he is?”

Will got out of bed, sitting at the edge facing the door. “First of all,” he stood up with his eyes narrowing. “Knock. Secondly, no. I have no idea where he is. But I can help you look.”

“You don’t have to do that, Will. It could be dangerous.” He watched Will walk across his room and felt pretty ignored. The audacity of this kid, he thought.

“Haven’t you always wanted me to be a hero?” Will opened his closet door. “This could be like training. Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be ready to go out.”

“I was more thinking of you as a hero support than a searcher. Your power over disease would be truly—“

Will shot him a glare, and Apollo quickly cut off his sentence. “Nevermind! Keep in contact, I’ll be messaging you for check-ins.”

Quickly leaving the room to avoid the tension between them, Apollo let out a small sigh. Will’s hesitation to use his strongest offensive power, and maybe even his strongest power overall, was always concerning to him. At first, he brushed it off as Will not wishing to be reminded of his deceased mother. However, it became more apparent as the years went on that Will had no intention of being an offensive force at all.

It was disappointing to him, but he didn’t want to bring that up now.

Apollo rushed into his room, putting on his gear and useless mask before heading outside. He was greeted with a cold Saturday morning. The sun was hiding behind thick clouds, which made the atmosphere pretty depressing in his opinion. He hoped it wasn’t a bad omen, he didn’t need one of those right now.

He considered enlisting the help of other heroes to help search for Nico, but it would be embarrassing to admit he lost his foster kid after a single night, and he didn’t want to risk Nico being taken away from him either. Right now, he doesn't trust anyone else with Nico’s safety. If anyone else found out Nico was a villain… 

Starting with jumping from rooftop to rooftop in different districts, Apollo covered the city systematically. Soon, messages started coming in from Will about what areas were being searched by him. Apollo made sure his son turned his phone location on before continuing his own search.

In the back of his mind, he was reminded of how his father used to keep his location on at all times. It made Apollo sneaky, and he wouldn’t take his phone if he snuck out of the house, which was even more dangerous. He pushed those memories away, he was only making Will turn his location on for a short time.

Will’s messages were consistent. About every 15 minutes Apollo would receive an update, and he became used to that. After a while, they stopped. Two were missed. In his confusion, he checked Will’s location. His son, or at least his son’s phone, was in a poor section of town at a stand still. Apollo tried messaging him, but found no messages were going through.

Instantly, he was sprinting to that district, his mind spinning with all the things that could have possibly happened. He needed to get to his son. He couldn’t lose two kids in a single day, his heart wouldn’t be able to take it. He already felt as if his conscience was being squeezed like a stress toy. Once again, Apollo hoped the clouds covering the sun weren’t a bad omen.

Keeping his phone out so he could get to Will’s precise location, he heard voices once he got close. Looking around the street with boarded up windows and cracked sidewalks, he managed to figure out that Will was talking to someone in an alleyway. He didn’t sound hurt, so Apollo decided to lean against a dirty brick wall and listen in.

Apollo also decided to quickly get off that wall and put a couple inches between his back and the disgusting surface because he didn’t know what could have made it so dirty.

“I just can’t trust him.” A voice came out of the alleyway that wasn’t his son’s. “Can’t you understand why?”

Taking a quick peek inside, he saw Nico and Will sitting beside each other against a metal fence. He quickly retracted his head, continuing to listen out of what he wanted to say was concern, but likely was more flaming curiosity.

“I do, but he’s a good dad.” Apollo smiled at that, since it came from his own son. “At least he’s trying to be.” His smile faded a bit at that.

He listened further as Will continued. “He can be self-centered, and sometimes he doesn’t really understand how to deal with emotions, but he won’t hurt you.”

Well, Apollo could admit emotional maturity wasn’t something he was admired for, but hearing that said by his own son peeved him quite a bit. His first instinct was to march right into that alleyway and yell at his child, but he knew that wasn’t the right move at all. He would be acting like his dad. He didn’t want to be his dad. He would never want to be a parent that was so reactionary and terrifying.

So he let the conversation continue. He respected his son’s opinion, and he was proud Will was confident enough to speak his mind.

“And what if I wanted him to?” Apollo cringed at that. Nico shouldn’t want to be hurt.

Will responded quickly, and softly. “You have plenty of time to make a positive impact on the world, Nico. Heck, you just told me you stole because you wanted to help people who couldn’t help themselves.”

When Will didn’t receive a response, and there was a moment of tense silence between the two, his son continued. “If you’re not afraid of him hurting you, what are you afraid of?”

There was some more silence, and Apollo thought Nico may not respond again. That’s what he expected anyways, but it seemed Nico subverted his expectations more than he met them.

“I’ve been in foster care for a long time, and it’s always felt like I was too much trouble. It never felt like I wasn’t a burden to those people, and for some reason I couldn’t help but be bad. I can’t read well. I can’t focus. I can’t eat everything I’m given. I can’t control it, and that means I’m trouble and I’m wrong. I am inherently broken. I always have been.”

Apollo felt like crying. Nico was striking an old cord inside of him. He remembered finding out long ago he himself had dyslexia, and he remembered feeling so behind. Zeus thought it was simply a made up condition. An excuse for his son to slack off when it came to reading. He was convinced that Apollo was lying. So Apollo was left to fend for himself, and he just barely made it through highschool.

If this kid needed help reading for any reason, or focusing, Apollo was going to get him that help. He would not let Nico suffer as he did.

Nico let out a sound that sounded like a sob, but Apollo could only speculate from his position. “I don’t want to be a burden, or be used. I just want to… I don’t know.“

“You won’t be a burden, and I won’t let you be used or get hurt. You deserve happiness, and I want you to know that. So, c’mon. Let’s change your life together.”

Apollo couldn’t help but let a smile come back at what he was hearing. Let’s change your life together. He remembered hearing that himself long ago, by a man he once had in his life and forever loved. Later, he must’ve repeated it to Will, or maybe this was a fucked up coincidence.

He peeks into the alleyway again to see the two getting up. Shit! What to do where to move—

Too late, they were already outside the alleyway. Surprisingly holding hands? Nico instantly let go as soon as they saw him though, and Will’s brow furrowed.

“How long have you been here?” He asked with annoyance in his tone. Apollo quickly put his hands up in surrender before speaking and waving them around.

“I just got here! Are you two ready to go back home?” He kept trying to think of what he could say to turn the conversation away from him maybe snooping. “I can make some great pancakes and then we can discuss decorating Nico’s room!”

The two gazed at him with a look that screamed frustration, but then Nico sighed and tilted his head down, which broke the staring. “Yeah, let’s go.”

While walking towards the house, he could hear the two whispering behind him. He let it be. Honestly, he was just happy the two were getting along. When he turned around a corner, he caught a glimpse of their faces and closeness. Apollo couldn’t help but remember…

Chapter Text

The Hyacinths grow 

The wind sings out for you now

You won’t be coming

“Do you think I’m lovable?”

This was an unexpected question that slipped from Apollo’s lips during his very first meeting with his boyfriend. Hyacinthus was a beautiful man with deep purple eyes and enviable smooth skin that reminded Apollo of when the morning dawn’s intense orange light hit a sandy beach. Apollo couldn’t believe the man was just a simple bartender at Amyclae.

Amyclae was a bar just outside of the city, and Apollo traveled a long distance to get to the place. For once, Apollo didn’t want attention from fans or people who wanted to challenge him to arm wrestling matches. Sure, he did get a few looks, but he wasn’t in the mood to be an attention magnet.

It was rare for him, but today Apollo felt pathetic.

It was Valentine’s day, and he had no partner to share his time with. For as far back as he could remember, he always had a partner. This excluded most of his childhood, because he couldn’t remember much of that.

His last partner, Daphne, hated him and left a few months ago. She called him a selfish and arrogant man, and Apollo couldn’t bring himself to argue as she left forever. He considered going after her, begging for her back and promising change that he wasn’t certain would ever come, but decided against it. She would be happier without him.

He tried to burn time with hero work, but found he deserved some relaxation after it all. So he walked for a while before coming across the bar. Sitting down inside, he sighed and let himself slouch a bit. He honestly paid no attention to the bartender until the man came over.

“Sorry if you’re getting some stares, we don’t get a hero in here every day.” Apollo dragged his gaze up to the bartender lazily, but was instantly stunned by his beauty. He let the other man continue. “What can I get you?“

At first, he didn’t know what to say. He needed to order something, but his mind was a little preoccupied. Apollo rested his elbow on the bar, leaning forward a bit with his cheek pressing against a closed fist. Noticing the name tag, he read the name Hyacinthus. He muttered the name under his breath unintentionally before clearing his throat and talking normally.

“Have anything floral?” Hyacinthus reminded him of the hyacinth flower, there had to be some correlation. The name and the man’s unnatural purple eyes couldn’t be a coincidence.

Hyacinthus tapped his chin with a small smile, “I think I could make something like that. Got anything specific you want? Allergies?”

Apollo chuckled, trying to not stare too intently at the other. “No allergies, make something for me? Don’t worry—I’ll pay even if I despise it.”

“Well I sure hope you don’t.” The bartender seemed incredibly unphased by having a famous hero at his bar. He even chuckled slightly at Apollo’s offer to pay, and Apollo couldn’t help but find that a little endearing. Right now, his attraction to Hyacinthus was surface level, but his personality seemed to be attracting him too.

Coming back over to him, he set down a strange lavender-colored drink. “Gin based with maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, and crème de violette.”

I hope Hyacinthus isn’t a villain trying to poison me… but who am I kidding. Attractive people aren’t villains!

He took a sip of the beverage, humming after he set the glass back down. “Good news—I’ll be tipping well.”

Hyacinthus grinned and turned to make his way to the other side of the bar. Apollo let him walk away, but couldn’t help but hide a pout behind his glass of gin. He wanted the man to stay. He wanted to learn more about him. Was that too much to ask from the universe? Well, maybe the universe just gave him excellent looks and abilities and then stopped there.

Fuck the universe. Not literally. Unless there is a hot superhero named Universe out there, which there isn’t. At least, not on Earth.

Raising his hand casually, he waited patiently for the bartender to come back over to him before speaking. “I have another request.”

Hyacinthus tilted his head and set down a glass he was cleaning a moment prior. “What can I get you?”

Was Apollo really going to flirt with this bartender he just met? Yes, of course.

“I would like to ask for company.”

Maybe Apollo was too vague, because Hyacinthus pointed at himself before looking around. “With other patrons, or me? My shift ends in five minutes, but I can stick around.”

“You. Who else?” Apollo gave him a smirk. “You are the most attractive person at this bar.”

Hyacinthus’ eyebrows rose. “Hm. Very well then. Let me make sure another patron is taken care of and my replacement is here before I clock out.”

Later, after a long time of talking and Apollo drinking a bunch of alcohol, Hyacinthus had to take him home. Apollo would usually protest against being driven home by a near stranger, but he was in no place to argue. He didn’t have a car, and he couldn’t walk two steps without stumbling into the hot bartender.

While he leaned back in Hyacinthus’ passenger seat, he popped the question. “Do you think I’m lovable?”

The car halted in front of a stoplight before Hyacinthus responded. “Yes. I’ve listened to you talk for hours tonight, Apollo. You have a good heart, I can tell. You’ve just been through some hard things lately, it happens to everyone.”

They stopped at yet another light before Hyacinthus grabbed something from the glovebox, giving it to Apollo. It was a hyacinth flower, a real one, Apollo could tell once he touched it curiously. He was a little awed Hyacinthus just had one with him, and he looked up to see the man smiling at him.

“Let’s change your life together, if you’d like that.”

Apollo felt comfortable and safe back then, despite being in a stranger’s car. He hoped Nico could feel the same with Will in his home, and he held onto that hope as he went into the backyard garden. It was a few days after Nico ran away, and Apollo still felt anxious about it. He was able to get workers to repair his window, and yet he still felt as if it was dangerously shattered.

He didn’t really understand the feeling.

His garden had a wide assortment of vegetables and flowers, but mostly flowers. Apollo valued their beauty more than he valued the carrots he forced himself to start growing years ago because his son was growing to be a bit of a health nut. He made sure all the plants were properly thriving, but paid special attention to the hyacinths.

Distantly, he could hear Nico and Will in the living room. The hyacinths were planted right next to the back entrance that led to a sliding glass door. Right past that entrance was Nico and Will, sitting around watching some animated show Apollo wasn’t familiar with.

He seemed to only catch the middle of a conversation; Apollo wished he went to his hyacinths sooner. “Oh yeah? If you know so much, who do you think is the best hero?”

Nico scoffed at the question, “Hades. All the way.”

It was a blunt response, as if it was the most obvious answer. It sucked, because Apollo should have been the obvious answer in his completely unbiased opinion. That, or maybe no one at all. Since Nico was a villain before all this, he didn’t expect the kid to even have an answer.

But the more he thought about it, Hades was a fitting choice for Nico to make.

Hades used to be labeled as a villain by a majority of the public, until it was revealed his targeted attacks were only on organizations that led to people suffering. There was so much misinformation piled up around the man it would make a highly experienced journalist blush, but Zeus seemed to get through it all and was able to clear Hades’ name, bringing him into the organization.

He hoped Will would say his father’s name at least—

“Icarus is so much cooler!”

—Damn it! That guy!?

Icarus was a reckless fighter who got into the hero organization too young and too early, at least in Apollo’s opinion. It was no wonder he rebelled, he was thrown into battles way too early and was undermined by authority. Icarus wasn’t even a hero after all of that, he was a vigilante.

He remembered hearing his dad be so frustrated about losing him, but not because the kid could be in danger, but because his genius father who worked in the organization left alongside his son. They lost two powerful people. Sometimes, Apollo wished he would have talked to the kid more, but he tried to leave those sorts of things in the past. His own mistakes, mostly.

“I bet you just think he’s hot,” Nico said in response to Will.

“Nah.” Apollo snorted at Will’s instant denial. “Sounds like you’re projecting, Nico. I don’t think he’s hot—he’s not really my type—I just think he’s incredibly capable. He was the youngest to graduate from hero training in decades, and he holds his own well.”

There was a bit of a pause where Apollo couldn’t hear any more of the conversation. He sighed and went back to checking on individual hyacinths carefully before he perked up at hearing Nico speak once more. “Wait. He’s not even a hero anymore! He became a vigilante months ago!”

Apollo couldn’t help but thank Nico internally for bringing up the point that was in his head for the past few minutes.

“I’m not sweating the details. He hasn’t done any crime except being unlicensed since then. So, he still does good.”

“…I still think Hades is better than him.”

He listened to the two launch into another debate, but didn’t bother listening so intently anymore. He may be fond of eavesdropping, but he wasn’t going to dedicate his entire afternoon to such an activity. Besides, the flowers in front of him were reminding him of a happy memory, and he felt reminiscing would be nice.

When he went on his seventh date with Hyacinthus, he felt like it was the first again. Every date felt like the first really, because Apollo was always excited to go on them.

On their first few dates, he would try to impress Hyacinthus with extravagant gifts. Though those were appreciated, the smaller gestures always seemed to get a better reaction. If he gave Hyacinthus an expensive golden bracelet, he was given in return a tiny smile. If Apollo got his boyfriend a small ice cream, Hyacinthus wouldn’t be able to stop smiling.

Even if he didn’t exactly understand these reactions, he still wanted to make his boyfriend happy. Apollo decided to find a small gift before the date. Knowing Hyacinthus loved flowers, he went to a florist. Looking at all the options and colors made him fairly overwhelmed, but he kept looking at them. He could simply choose to give his boyfriend hyacinths, but that felt too easy.

Looking around, Apollo decided on a flower that may remind Hyacinthus of him, he just hoped that part didn’t come off as self-centered. He got a bouquet of them, because one, while simple, still didn’t feel like enough.

“Apollo?” Turning around while holding a sunflower bouquet, he saw Hyacinthus clutching tulips and hyacinths in a bouquet.

“I guess we had the same idea.”

He wished their dates continued after that, but they weren’t so lucky.

Before he could continue getting lost in old happy memories, he heard yelling from inside the house. Obviously, this commotion concerned him, and he rushed inside. Will and Nico weren’t in the living room anymore, they were in the adjacent kitchen.

On the ground was his son, and across the room was Nico, holding a bloody hand to his chest. There was a bloody knife in the sink. Apollo’s first instinct was to come to his son’s defense, but he paused to listen to the two instead. Will didn’t look visibly injured, and Apollo hoped he was right in assuming he was fine.

“I’m just trying to help!” Will had sat up from his spot on the floor, glaring up at Nico who stayed frozen at the other side of the room. Nico was a bit hunched over, clinging to his hand. Apollo was a little fearful of the boy running off again, he hoped he wouldn’t.

“I don’t care about what you’re trying to do! I can handle it myself!” Nico yelled back.

Listening was just making him more confused, and the two were too focused on arguing with each other to acknowledge him.  “What is going on here?”

Will turned his head towards Apollo. “He hurt himself!”

“No I didn’t! Fuck—it was an accident, alright!? I dropped a knife and tried catching it with my hand.”

Apollo winced at seeing where the cut was. He knew from experience that a cut on the palm hurts like a bitch, but he tried to bring his expression back to neutral. Taking a small step towards Nico, he tried to give a solution.

“I once dropped something sharp on my foot, so I get it. I could go get the medkit for you, if you really want to handle it yourself.”

That seemed to calm things down, and Apollo was glad to see Nico looking a little more optimistic. Nico let out a sigh before making eye contact with Apollo. “Where is that medkit? I’ll just go get it.”

“Upstairs bathroom? But if you need help—“

Nico left to run upstairs while Will pulled himself up off the floor. “Why wouldn’t he let me do it?”

The question wasn’t really said like a complaint, but as if Will was heartbroken. Apollo wasn’t really sure how to reply, not able to meet his son’s eyes and give him a completely correct explanation. After there was a loud silence between them, he decided he could at least try to, even if he wasn’t sure if he was the right person to assess Nico’s actions.

“He needs time to trust people, I think. At the end of the day, what matters is that the accident is fixed and Nico’s fine, right?” Apollo’s gaze traveled down to the kitchen floor tiles, marred with spots of blood. He directed a thumb at the mess. “Mind helping me clean up the blood?”

Will went into a nearby closet, grabbing a mop and bucket. He brought the items into the kitchen, huffing as he kept most of his focus on preparing to mop. “I got frustrated. I shouldn’t have been so pushy. You go see how he’s doing, I’ll clean this up and give him space.”

Apollo was going to leave Will to his regret, but it felt like some feeling was holding him back. He didn’t have the word for it, but it felt like both guilt and appreciation. It felt like he needed to say something, otherwise he would leave this interaction feeling hollow. “Will, do I ever tell you how proud I am of you? You’ve matured so quickly.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, dad.”

That near instant response puzzled him. “What do you mean?”

Will turned away from him, starting to work on cleaning the floor. “Nevermind. Just go check on Nico.”

Since Will didn’t want to talk about it any further, Apollo dropped the subject and went upstairs. But as he trekked up the steps, he still wondered what Will meant. Will was smart, as well as emotionally and academically intelligent. How could that be a bad thing?

He was tired of thinking about it by the time he reached the upstairs bathroom, focusing on Nico putting a bandage on his hand. Supplies from the medkit were strewn about on the counter, it looked like Nico had digged through to find the bandage.

“Looks like you got things handled.” Nico jumped when Apollo started to speak, turning his head to look up at the man.

“Um. Yes. Thanks.”

Apollo smiled, trying to not be intimidating. He didn’t step into the bathroom, but also debated if maybe he should step back from the doorway. Not wanting to block the exit, he stepped to the side and leaned back so only his upper half was visible to Nico. “No problem. Don’t be afraid to ask for anything.”

Nico looked hesitant and nervous, and Apollo worried he may have said the wrong thing. It wouldn’t have been his fault if he did, but it still would’ve sucked. “…Can you help me put this medkit away then?”

Immediately returning to the doorway, he entered the room to start gathering up the supplies. As he did so, he watched Nico feel over the bandage he used with his other hand over and over again. It was an anxious cycle.

It reminded him of himself when Hyacinthus first patched him up after a battle. He felt pretty down afterwards, and like he was burdening his boyfriend. So afterwards he treated Hyacinthus to an extravagant lunch, he had so much fun he forgot about how nervous he was to be vulnerable around another person. 

He missed Hyacinthus, but he needed to focus. Maybe something similar would help settle Nico’s nerves too?

Apollo finished cleaning up quickly on his own before flashing Nico a smile. “Would you like to go to the mall sometime? Or I could give you a tour around our hero bases. There is also this restaurant I absolutely adore with sharks in tanks. Do those at all sound appealing?”

“Not really.” His smile faltered for a split second. Well, no matter. Nico could reject all his offers and he would still keep trying. This kid did deserve happiness, and Apollo wasn’t going to stop trying to give opportunities for him to have it.

Apollo was awake in the middle of the night when a loud movie from downstairs woke him up. Good nights of sleep seemed to be happening less since he took in a certain kid. Groaning, he got up to see what was going on. He expected Nico or Will accidently leaving the TV on when they went upstairs to sleep, or maybe one of them was staying up late. The latter was more likely to be the case if it was Nico, Will liked sleeping at night.

What he wasn’t expecting was seeing the two teens who were arguing with each other earlier that day now lying close together on the couch with a blanket covering both their lower halves. Their ability to make up so quickly was something Apollo could admire.

He grabbed the TV remote to turn the volume on the device to near silent before setting it down back beside Nico. His hand, which Apollo swore was the one he put a bandage on, seemed completely fine with no bandage in sight. Deciding to do a small amount of investigating, he checked the wastebin in the downstairs bathroom and sure enough a used bandage was inside.

There was no way a cut could heal that fast, and Nico to his knowledge used no regeneration abilities, so Will must have healed him. He felt a little angry about this. He didn’t like Will using his healing ability, especially in situations where it wasn’t highly needed, but he felt his anger fade when he saw the two again. Reprimanding Will for helping Nico didn’t feel right.

He chose to leave them be.

Chapter Text

I have reserved doubts

I question if we are right

But it's not my fault

Pancakes were the best breakfast, and Apollo would fight anyone who said otherwise. After all, he had fought over less. There was that time in his career where he was so fixated on getting up in the ranks, he would stop the smallest of crimes. That included Nico’s first crime, a grocery store robbery.

It was beneath him at the time, and even now, but back then he felt a need to prove himself. Somehow, proving himself literally meant getting some arbitrary number higher. To think Nico was just a kid then too, and still is now. Apollo didn’t want to think about it anymore. What was he supposed to be focusing on again?

Right, pancakes.

“Ah, shit.”

Looking down at the pan, he realized he most definitely burnt one of the pancakes he was flipping. With a groan, he threw it out without a second thought. He could live without his usual three pancakes, they would all be getting two today.

Sure, he could give Will or Nico only one, but that just felt mean. Plus, he didn’t want Daphne to be correct. He may have been selfish in their relationship three years ago, but that didn’t mean he was selfish now. It still felt like he was trying to prevent himself from being that way every day. It was mildly painful to think his instincts always directed him to care only for himself.

He couldn’t make another pancake, he was out of batter, so he simply accepted his fate. Putting the kitchen utensils he used in the sink, he carried the plates over to the dining room table soon after.

“Boys!” Taking a peek into the living room, he could see the two sitting on the couch. They were watching a cartoon about a dog family, or something. Apollo found it mildly interesting, but didn’t want to get distracted. “Breakfast is ready, you two better hurry up. The bus comes in—“

He checked the clock.

“—twenty minutes, and you two still have to eat and brush your teeth.”

Will grunted sleepily and went into the dining room while Nico hung back for a moment. Nico rolled his eyes, looking away from Apollo as he stood up and walked into the dining room. He was holding the phone Apollo got for him the day before in his hand.  ”I could just not brush my teeth.”

Apollo exaggerated a gasp at the thought. “I will not let my foster kid have stinky breath and gunk in his teeth on his first day back at school! I have standards, you two should as well.”

“Also it’s bad for your gums,” Will added after his father, chewing on his first bite of pancake. “Just bad for you in general. Taking care of yourself, even in little ways, is important.”

Nico sat down beside him with an audible sigh, staring Will down. “Health nut.”

“Hey!”

Apollo didn’t mind the two teasing each other, as long as they were civil. He rested his elbow on the table and his head on his hand as he watched the two throw childish insults. It was mildly entertaining. He missed the days when he could have such simple arguments among his peers, now he was held to a higher standard. There was no way to get his childhood back now.

Ugh, that reminded him he needed to be on office duty today. Yes, even prolific heroes like him had to sometimes do paperwork. Usually because they couldn’t have their staff forge signatures on important documents, though he swore he remembered his father doing so on countless occasions.

Finishing up his pancakes, he further pressured the two to brush their teeth. He was cleaning up the dishes when he heard Will announce they were heading out. In the moment, he waved his hand and said love you without even looking. As soon as they left the house however, he felt regretful. Maybe he should have shown more interest, he would next time.

After making short work of the dirty kitchenware, he headed upstairs to get his superhero attire on for the day. The house was quiet without the two boys arguing or actually having meaningful conversation in another room, and it just made him want to depart quicker than usual.

He made sure all his gear was adjusted properly before heading out, instantly heading to the rooftops. Did he need to run on them to get to Olympus, the hero headquarters? No, but it was more exciting. Plus, people didn’t harass him up here. Though he enjoyed the attention on most days, he just wanted to get his work done and get home before school let out today.

The office was particularly quiet, but Apollo could hear the idle chit chat around him as he sat down at a desk. He wished he had a room of his own like his father, but he was relegated to a large room with many other people and desks. But hey, at least they got a coffee machine!

While he was working on updating some villain file in accordance with new witness reports, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Other workers may get in trouble for taking their phones out, but he has special privileges! Being in the top ten heroes, number seven, and being the son of the big boss has its perks. He pulled his phone out.

Have to stay after school for music club

Don’t panic when I don’t come home with Nico

Apollo was able to respond to these messages from Will, but he wasn’t sure how. Simplicity would be fine, right? He was at work after all.

Thanks for letting me know!

That momentary distraction from work was welcome, but he still needed to finish in time to welcome Nico back from school. He tried to focus, but he felt his mind slip from him. He really did want to work efficiently, he really tried to drag himself kicking and screaming back to his paperwork, but his efforts were futile.

Giving up, he listened into a conversation some Mission Coordinators were having near the coffee machine. It was mostly meaningless work talk and gossip, until a name caught more of his attention.

“What do you think happened to Ghost King?” It was posed as an innocent question from a woman with a pleasant brittle voice.

Instantly, a coworker responded with a small voice. He leaned to the side a bit. “Shh! We shouldn’t talk about that.”

Both of their voices were now hushed. The woman quickly responded, “but he just disappeared!”

“Of course he did. You know what happens when some villains piss off the heroes too much? They ‘disappear’ without a trace.”

“Are you saying Apollo killed him? Why would he lie?”

“Do you really think he wouldn’t?” Apollo felt his hands grip his armrests. “Sure, it’s legal for them to kill, but bad for the press to hear. They wouldn’t admit it.”

Apollo took a calming breath. This is the price of popularity and idolization, the amount of people who say awful things about you is impossible to control. Denying the claim would just bring more attention to it. He couldn’t do anything. To be so powerful and yet so powerless… it was nothing new.

“If it’s any solace,” Apollo’s head snapped up to see Hades standing at his side, “I don’t believe frivolous rumors like those. I’ve had plenty of my own.”

It wasn’t uncommon for the third most prolific hero to roam the lower offices, he seemed to have an appreciation for the common powerless workers that many other heroes lacked. Of course the guy suffered from gossip too, it was just how the life of a popular hero was. Hades had it even worse off since he used to be seen as a villain, so Apollo was sure the man wasn’t lying.

Apollo let out a sigh of relief, smiling up at the man. “Oh, good. I really don’t know where that guy is.”

The even, pleasant expression on Hades’ face dropped. “I think we need to talk in private. Are you at a good stopping point?”

Shifting nervously in his seat, Apollo looked at his monitor, desperately searching for something he still needed to fill out. The powers of a vigilante with an interesting name weren’t completely filled out yet. “Um… let me just fill in this section of this guy’s page.”

Looking over his shoulder, Hades snorted. “ Super Sized Mcshizzle? These new vigilantes have some creative names. Meet me in room 308 when you’re finished.”

Once he completed the form, he knew he couldn’t delay this meeting. Apollo was intimidated by Hades, that was for sure. But if he postponed the meeting, he would be in for way more trouble. With a resigned sigh, he stood up and logged off his computer before heading to the elevator.

It was an unfortunately smooth journey from the twentieth floor to the third, and the trend continued as he walked to the room.

“You need to cover your tracks better.”

The deceivingly simple statement instantly threw Apollo off as he quickly finished closing the door. He spun around, seeing Hades sitting in the chair closest to the door with the straightest posture Apollo has ever seen.

“What are you even talking about?”

Ew, I sound like my dad when I lie.

“Ghost King was a child, and you took him as your first foster kid.”

Apollo was forced to swallow down his surprise and stay calm. He didn’t know how Hades could have figured it out. His own father seemed none the wiser—because if Zeus did know his son was fostering a fugitive, he would have been mocked and reprimanded.

“How the hell would you even know that if what you're saying is true?” Apollo snapped back, though he didn’t mean to sound so agitated.

“Weeks ago,” Hades stood up without missing a beat, “you started fostering a kid who ran away from his various homes quite often. Ever since then, Ghost King hasn’t come back. It’s not rocket science, I used to take on mysteries much harder to figure out than this.”

Apollo didn’t have anything prepared to defend himself from what Hades was saying. “All of that is just a coincidence.”

At this, Hades got closer. Apollo took a step back towards the door, though he had no intention of running. “Really? This Nico kid just so happens to have the same short height, pale complexion, and black hair as Ghost King too? Most of the times he ran away also lined up with the crimes he committed.”

“Fine!“ Apollo threw his arms up with an exasperated noise. “Fuck, fine. I took him in, yes.” He thought back to what people would think of him if they knew, especially his father. “Does anyone else know?”

“No, not that I know of. That would go against my interests.”

His gaze dropped from Hades’ face to his shoes. Rightfully, he was getting suspicious. “What are your interests?”

“I simply wish to tutor him. His powers are top tier, and he still has time to hone them before he comes of age. The hero organization has been a collective good in the fact it encourages power usage and training, plus regulations for them. Bringing him in would be for the best. He would get a great paying job if he gets to be a sidekick or even a hero.”

Apollo squeezed his eyes shut for just a moment, trying to get his bearings. This was the moment his mind started to think of all the reasons why Nico shouldn’t join the organization. One reason stuck out in his mind. One situation that should have changed his perspective forever. Maybe it did, but he had been trying to push thinking about it away for so long.

“Think about it,” Hades said.

He could barely respond in return, he felt lightheaded. His feet felt numb. Still, he stared at the ground and tried to get his mouth to form words. “I’m just…”

Two years ago, Apollo was doing office work at Olympus. It was supposed to be a normal day, nothing special was happening. He heard some operatives whispering over spat between two heroes and a vigilante, but he didn’t really care enough to pay attention to anything that day. He ended up playing with the coaster on his desk, humming to himself.

Meaningless details like that stuck out to him now. Maybe if he paid more attention, maybe if he was on the field that day, maybe if he had done anything —Hyacinthus would still be alive.

He got a text from Hyacinthus, who had been his boyfriend for about a year now, and he excitedly checked his phone. The man said he had a surprise, and Apollo excitedly texted back that he couldn’t wait. Anything to get him out of the boredom of the day seemed so appealing at the time.

Later, he was informed the fight between the heroes and vigilante did not go well. Civilians died, and he was told by a co-worker he barely knew that Hyacinthus died as well.

He was at the scene since the fight took place near Olympus, and he was heading there to see Apollo. To say what? Apollo would never know. Hyacinthus was trying to save an injured civilian with his healing powers when he was struck by a rogue projectile from Zephyrus.

Zephyrus was one of the heroes, so he wasn’t charged. The death was deemed an accident, and Apollo felt as if a huge weight was placed on his shoulders since that day.

Because he couldn’t help but question if it really was an accident. Was it wrong that Zephyrus was never charged or taken to court? Should he have kept fighting for the organization and even alongside Zephyrus afterwards? He tried to push his doubts deep down, but he always knew he wanted justice.

But what was the point in fighting for it? He would likely lose everything he had worked for. All that time he put into becoming one of the most admired heroes. All the effort he put into maintaining his image. All the struggles he went through with his father. Did he really want all of it to be for nothing?

Did he really want Will to be successful? Or did he just want his son to go through what he did too in some fucked up cycle because he was always too stubborn to leave?

“Apollo?”

He felt Hades’ hands gripping shoulders, and he wretched them off. Fuck, was he crying? He found that to be embarrassing. Wiping his face, he retreated. “I-I’m sorry. I’ll talk to Nico about it. I’m going home early, talk later.”

It was easy to evade people and pull on his mask to hide what he was feeling. He hung his head a bit as he signed out at the front desk and left, heading towards home. He needed to calm down. Bottling things up caused everything to hit him at once, and he needed to seal those feelings down again.

Once he got home, he ran upstairs to his room. He got out of his superhero suit like it was actively burning him, or was that just his power flaring up from his emotions? He put some sweatpants and a bland t-shirt on before laying on his bed on his back, just trying to breathe.

Why was he being so dramatic? It happened two years ago. He should have moved on by now.

Yet his murderer still runs free.

He threw a pillow over his face and screamed into it.

Apollo calmed down by the time Nico came home. For a moment, he internally panicked about the boy coming alone, but then he remembered Will’s reminder text. Right, his son wouldn’t be home for another hour or two.

“How was school?” Apollo asked lightly as Nico grabbed a small bag of chips from the pantry. He munched on a few before turning around and swallowing.

“Fine,” Nico said before pushing three chips into his mouth at once.

With a small smile, Apollo crossed his arms and leaned against the countertops in his kitchen. “That’s better than bad.”

Nico rolled his eyes, but something about his tone of voice was more affectionate than mocking. He hopped up to sit on the counter opposite to Apollo. “Ugh, Will really is your son. He said nearly the same thing.”

“Get off the counter.”

Nico hopped off as Apollo went into the walk-in pantry to start organizing foods nervously. The boy was positioned behind him at the doorway. “So I talked to Hades today.”

“Yeah? And?”

“Well, I was thinking you could start training at Olympus.”

The crunching noise of Nico eating chips stopped as soon as he finished speaking. “You’re supposed to just be taking care of me, not using me. Hard pass.”

“I’m not using you.” Apollo turned around to look at Nico. “I just thought it would help you get stronger and then maybe you could become—“

“I’m not doing it!”

He watched Nico’s face become twisted in anger, but he tried to keep gently pressing forward. Hades was a good man, he would be a good mentor for Nico. Didn’t Nico like that hero too? “You would be training under Hades—“

“I don’t care! I don’t want to have other people control how I can use my fucking powers!”

Okay, now things were getting a bit too loud for Apollo. He didn’t want to keep arguing with the kid, but he didn’t want to concede either, not yet. He really did believe Nico would have a good time with Hades if he just gave it a chance.

“Go to your room, and come back down when you’re calmer. I’ll try to get more details on what the training will involve.”

Before he could say anything else, Nico was already running up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door. With a sigh, Apollo resigned himself to taking a nap on his couch. He scrolled on his phone for a while, distracting himself with fashion tips and food blogs before passing out.

As he came to, he checked his phone. It had been three hours. Will must be home by now, and maybe Nico calmed down.

When he went to their rooms, he couldn’t find Nico, or Will. He even knocked on their doors quite a few times before finally going inside to investigate. He then investigated the upstairs, and then the rest of the house. There was no sign of them.

He tried messaging Will, but instantly got a notification the message wasn’t received.

He tried the same with Nico’s, and got the same result.

He checked Will’s location, and there was nothing.

He checked Nico’s location, but realized he never even got the opportunity to turn tracking on that phone on.

He sat on the couch with his head in his hands.

Chapter Text

Nico never expected to be running from this particular home, but he was used to this by now. This was always how it went. He would get his hopes up only to be betrayed, and he couldn’t stop himself. Well, it was time to divert his hopes once more to a new person. Someone who made him a promise.

“You said I wouldn’t be used,” Nico scowled as he approached Will, who was on his way back from his music club meeting.

Will’s gaze flickered to the backpack Nico was carrying, the boy gripping onto one of the straps anxiously. The bag was packed full of supplies, and Nico knew that Will knew exactly what was inside. Nico requested Will’s help with it after all. They called it ‘the getaway bag’, and it was only to be used if he ran away again.

Will assured him he wouldn’t have to use it.

“What happened?” Will asked, leading the younger boy slowly over to a bus stop bench. It was seperated into two sections, just to fuck over the homeless. Nico couldn’t help but be peeved by it. He ran away so many times before and knew exactly how it felt to be rejected from merely a public bench.

“I hate him,” Nico responded as he sat down. “He was going to put me into training to be a hero, and he wasn’t taking no for an answer.”

Reaching a hand up to his head, Nico tugged on the bottom of his own hair lightly as he explained. He felt a smooth hand slowly envelop his before he and Will’s joined hands slowly lowered to rest on his thigh.

“Sorry.”

Will smiled at him gently, squeezing his hand. “It’s alright.”

“I’m running away again, if that wasn’t already obvious.” Looking away, the boy than shifted his focus onto watching the cars passing by. He would wish for one too, but it would be a futile dream. “You don’t have to come with me, but I wanted you to know.”

Will squeezed his hand again in reassurance. “I am coming with you. I promised you I wouldn’t let you do this alone again, I meant it.”

Maybe hoping wasn’t for nothing after all.

Rectifying my mistakes

It’s going to be scary

I need to grow up

No one told him how difficult parenting would be, especially when a lover dies in childbirth.

He planned his entire life in his head, and all he could see was a life with his wife and son. There wasn’t a reality without his wife.

Then, she died.

He spent years not dating again— change was hard— only to end up finding who he thought would be the one once more. The one he thought would complete him again. She was so similar to Naomi, their inner fires were so bright, but he tried to not compare the two. It was easy not to when she left of her own accord, and he doubted she ever loved him back in the first place.

It took a small time to recover before he found another partner, one who loved him again.

He died too.

Apollo didn’t like wallowing in self pity when it came to his stressful love life. It was hard enough to go through, thinking about it just brought back the suffering. He did volunteer again and again to have his heart torn apart, so maybe he deserved it. He just needed more excuses for how torn apart he was, and how he didn’t get up off his couch for the rest of the day.

Will and Nico were his responsibility, and he failed them. After that long rest, he decided he wasn’t going to change his current situation unless he got moving. Ignoring his phone and the potential messages he could be getting about skipping work, he started searching for the two throughout the city.

Did he blame himself for Nico leaving? Well, he hadn’t decided yet.

All he wanted to do was curl up in his bed and cry, but he needed to keep looking. He mentally crossed off roads, back roads, all roads… Was his mind slipping from him? A little. Maybe it was stress, or feeling like his body was being gripped by an anxiety attack at all times.

He half considered throwing himself off several buildings. It could give Will a headstart in college if he died, Apollo reasoned, before realizing his life insurance wouldn’t pay Will if his death was a suicide. Plus, Will would have to live with his dad, his only relative that was around.

That would be a nightmare for his boy, so he resigned himself to life once more.

Even after searching for the whole day and coming home feeling like a plastic bag drifting through the wind wanting to start again— Apollo couldn’t sleep.

He ended up forcing himself into his kitchen and dug out his rarely touched wine, he needed something to help him calm down. He took a swig out of the bottle as he headed back to his bed to sit down.

Fine, I’m sorry. He admitted this to the universe as he chugged some more wine down. It was his fault the two ran away. When nothing came of his inane internal ramblings, he wondered if the universe wanted more from him. If it really wanted more repentance, he’d give it.

He’s sorry for helping the people who may have facilitated his boyfriend’s death, or at least prevented justice. He’s sorry for pushing training on a kid. He’s sorry for pushing being a hero on Will instead of letting him do what he was truly passionate about.

That may have been his biggest mistake of all.

When Will was younger, Apollo refused to help him learn how to heal anything. He never encouraged it either. He was too grief-stricken, and suspected the healing powers may have stemmed from Naomi giving her life for Will’s— though he never said these thoughts out loud. Heck, he avoided the thought altogether because he could never blame his own son for such a thing.

This avoidance of acknowledging Will’s power led to it being weaker, at least that was his leading theory. Maybe it was Will’s too. Maybe Will blamed him completely, for it was his father’s fault his healing ability wasn’t as usable as it could have been.

His thoughts became more disorderly as he drank down the last of his wine and laid down. The alcohol did not calm him as he wanted it to. Instead, it flushed his rational thinking down the toilet alongside his puke after going for another bottle. He decided to turn on his phone as his cheek rested on the porcelain bowl. Instantly, the lock screen was flooded with messages. That was expected.

What was unexpected was that most of these communications were from Hades of all people.

The two barely spoke to each other, so one of the last people who he thought would be concerned if he didn’t come into work was Hades. The quantity of messages even outmatched his father’s, who he as he expected was furious judging by the messages in all caps and very loud voice messages.

To avoid his father’s blisteringly loud onslaught of bellows and screams, he chose to listen to one of the voice messages from Hades instead.

“Hello Apollo,” he heard from his phone as he dropped it on the rug next to his bathtub. “You missed work today without informing anyone as to why. This is concerning, at least to me. If you need anything, please call me back.”

It was such a simple message, and yet it showed compassion that Apollo had been in sore need of. It was one of genuine concern, while Zeus was only demanding him to come into work because of his image being potentially tarnished.

Apollo didn’t realize he was crying until he picked his head up from the seat, rubbing his aching cheek after it had been cemented against the cool ceramic surface for so long. He didn’t wish to ask for help, he wanted to deal with this on his own, but perhaps he could talk to someone. Yeah, they don’t have to help him, he just needed someone to talk to. He hadn’t been alone in this house for nearly twenty years, he wasn’t used to the quiet!

His fingers fumbled, his movements practically feverish as he tapped Hades’ contact and the speaker button. Hauling himself to standing, Apollo stumbled into his room as Hades picked up the call.

“Good evening, Apollo. You have called me quite late, and normally I wouldn’t pick up coworkers calls once I am clocked out, but I am curious as to— are you alright?” Hades must have heard one of his pathetic sobs as he knelt by his bed, holding himself up with trembling arms on the well-loved mattress.

“Y-Yes!” Apollo attempted to sound normal, but the desperate mix of sadness and drunkenness came warbled through the attempt. “I’ve been fine! Just didn’t feel like comin’ into work.”

Hades didn’t respond immediately. The dead silence before his response metaphorically killed Apollo. “Are you drunk?”

Pulling himself up onto the bed, Apollo laid across it horizontally as he threw an arm over his face dramatically. “How’d ya know?”

“I had a feeling.” Then came some shifting noises on the other side of the phone. “You should call me back when you’re sober.”

The shut down of his call made Apollo feel even worse about himself. Hades hadn’t hung up yet, but maybe if he did this rejection would be less painful. He giggled to himself as he thought about the weird way his ego worked. The hero was more ashamed when people were more upfront about not wanting to talk to him, he supposed.

“Everyone hates me.” He let the words roll off his tongue amongst his giggling, rolling onto his back. There was no denying he sounded a little out of his mind right now.

Hades paused for a few seconds, as if he was expecting more, before responding. “What?”

He sounded a little shocked, and Apollo was surprised by him admitting it too. Day after day he would convince himself people who could possibly hate him were delusional. The majority of people loved him, news reporters would sing his praises on TV, and yet none of those people’s opinions actually impacted his current perception. Everyone who knew him, truly knew him, hated him.

“My father yells at me like it’s nothing, my kids run away, my lovers die or leave… I’m alone.”

Apollo pulled his silk covers up around him, hoping that by hiding his face he would feel less shameful. ”I asked Nico to train with you, he refused. I-I pushed more. He left with my son. Now I have to find them before something bad happens.”

While talking to Hades wasn’t incredibly unpleasant, the moments of silence he would take before speaking peeved Apollo. Why wait so long? He never understood why people wouldn’t just speak their damn minds, and he wasn’t going to understand now since he was pretty drunk.

“Why didn’t you inform us? I could have gotten some patrols together,” Hades sighed.

Wondering if it was even worth the risk to tell the truth, he did so anyway. “Because I don’t trust them to not kill someone I love again.”

Fuck, instantly he regretted saying that. He could just imagine Hades reporting him to his father and being fired.

Actually, would that be so bad?

He considered this while the older man spoke again. “What are you referring to, exactly?”

“Two years ago. A battle between Zephyrus, Boreas, and that one fucking vigilante that I can’t remember the name of because I am so fucking drunk.” He slurred while taking a shaky breath. “My boyfriend was killed by Zephyrus who, to be honest, never seemed to like me. Does any of this ring a bell? Probably not, you guys don’t give a fuck!”

“I suspect I do remember that battle, and I wasn’t aware you were suspicious of foul play. Just to confirm, you believe the organization covered up murders from the hero Zephyrus?“

Was he actually accusing another hero of such a thing? Yes, yes he was. He hoped he wouldn’t regret this…

“You know my answer,” Apollo said as seriously as he could while drunk and tired after a whole day of desperately running around a city.

“I will look into this for you then, and I will find you a definitive answer.” He could tell Hades hesitated before asking. “Could you try to recall that vigilante’s name for me? It would help immensely to speed up this investigation. I could simply check records but I would have to go through official means.”

“…Thamyris.” Apollo muttered into his phone, gripping it tightly. He felt his body start to warm up as his power responded to his heightened emotion, so he dropped his phone onto the sheet beside him. “I thought you were going to report me?”

Sounding as if he was insulted, Hades grumbled. “No, that would not help your current state. However, do you know what might? Drinking some water. Have any nearby?”

Looking around as if some water would magically appear next to him like he was Poseidon or something— Apollo shook his head no. He couldn’t even sit up without falling back into the safety of his pillows.

“I’m too lazy to take care of myself right now.” He admitted.

“Then I’ll come over,” Hades volunteered.

“What!?” His voice went up in pitch. “No! Do you even know my address?”

“I memorized the top twenty heroes' addresses from their records in case I would ever need to retrieve them in a time crunch.”

Of course Hades would do something like that. Squeezing his eyes shut, Apollo concentrated on keeping his body heat down. Hades was always getting stuff done that Apollo would take years to accomplish. Apollo wouldn’t ever admit to being jealous of Hades’ efficiency though, so he tried to mock it.

“That sounds like you! Twenty addresses is insane.”

He heard Hades sigh and couldn’t help but smile at the fact he annoyed such a prolific guy while somehow not being yelled at. It was truly a novel experience. “It was nineteen, I’m number three. I’m at your doorstep now by the way, mind opening the door?”

“You’re such a nerdddd!!!” He stretched out the word to an almost childish degree. In his drunken state, he didn’t even question how Hades had gotten to his place so quickly. “And no, because I don’t wanna get up.”

“Well this nerd knows how to pick locks and disable security systems if need be, so I’m coming in whether you get up or not.”

Apollo laid face down in his bed as he threw his phone on the ground. When he heard Hades enter the room, all he could do was cuss out the older hero.

“I got you water.” Hades set down a glass on Apollo’s nightstand, a dull clack sound was made. It wasn’t loud at all, but Apollo found it overwhelming all the same. “And I will go out looking for your kids once I am sure you are taken care of.”

Stubbornly, Apollo finally was able to sit up but only out of spite. Turning away from Hades and the water, he crossed his arms. “I don’t want you to look! I don’t know if I can trust you.”

“I’ll look with your permission or not, Apollo.” The older hero, who Apollo could see now was still in his dark uniform, rounded the bed and put the glass in Apollo’s hands. “Now drink.”

Apollo did so, but begrudgingly and with a glare directed at the man. Once he finished the water, he flopped back down onto the bed with an exaggerated sigh. Huh, he did feel better.

 “I’m so tired.”

“I see. You should sleep then.”

“Don’t you need to sleep too?”

“No. As soon as you are, I'll be going to search for the children.”

“…Alright.”

When Apollo woke up early the next morning, he felt like death. The sun was barely up, but even in the low morning light he could see burn marks on his bed from where he laid the night before. It felt kind of shameful. Still not getting up yet, he grabbed his phone. Hades had messaged him throughout the nights with updates on his search. With an inkling of hope in his heart, he scrolled through till he hit the bottom, where Hades had announced he would halt his search momentarily two hours ago.

No signs of Nico or Will.

His hope was beginning to run out. If the two skipped town, it would be even harder to track them down. Searching was getting them nowhere. Deep down, Apollo felt as if something drastic needed to be done to get the two back home, or better yet, get them to trust him again. 

He would need to apologize, but how could he make contact with them?

Apollo stood up as he called Hades.

The man let out a sigh when he accepted Apollo’s call. “Good, you’re awake. I couldn’t locate them, but I am looking into what happened to your boyfriend—“

“Nevermind that right now.“ Even he couldn’t believe he was disregarding what Hades was looking into, but what happened to his boyfriend is mostly in the past, and his kids running away was mostly in the present. “I’m going to set up a televised press conference, and I want you to back me up.”

“For what reason?” Hades sounded confused, maybe even exasperated, and Apollo couldn’t blame him.

“Because I’m afraid of my father and need you as a shield?”

“No— I meant to question what your reasoning is behind wishing to go on TV?”

“Oh, that.”

Hesitantly, Apollo started to explain his plan. When he was finished, Hades ended up agreeing, but only if Apollo scheduled it a few hours from then. Apparently part of the Hyacinthus case was urgent. That made Apollo excited, but he also dreaded what Hades may find through his investigative work.

The tips of his fingers felt cold when he looked at his dad’s contact in his phone. He wanted to tap it, but his rational side told him it would be best to do this without his dad’s input. Why did he want to inform Zeus anyways? How stupid was he? He should just block him, but for some reason he cared enough to at least want to inform his dad. Well, his boss too.

He ended up scheduling the conference to happen in four hours, informing Hades of this through text. The only response he was given was a thumbs up emoji.

Four hours felt like a long time when you were anticipating something. Instead of putting on his hero suit or anything fancy, Apollo wore casual clothes. He took his time getting ready anyways, but still had so much time he needed to pass. So, Apollo paced around his house, and then decided he would walk into Will’s room. He needed to remember why he was doing this.

The room looked untouched. The bed was made, all of Will’s trinkets were put away, and all the clothes were in the closet. Will was such a good kid, Apollo wondered why he never appreciated that more. Due to the room being so clean, something stuck out like a sore thumb. A notebook that was on the bed, and Apollo decided to peek at it.

Then he instantly snapped it shut.

Nope, he was not reading Will’s diary. That was not happening. Once he saw the words Nico and love in the same sentence on the random page he flipped to, Apollo didn't want anything to do with it. He placed the notebook back in the same spot and got out of there.

Apollo decided to eat something and hype himself up in the mirror before going to check on what was being prepared for the conference. Even though he had an hour left and couldn’t help with any of the set up, his body still buzzed with nervous energy. This could all go wrong, but who is a father if not someone who takes risks for his kids.

Anxiously waiting for the cameras to be set up and the journalists to file in, he stood at a podium where he would be speaking. All that was known by the public was that he would be making a very important announcement, and he preferred that. The media would become highly interested, and hopefully word would get to Will and Nico about what he had done.

Ten minutes until show time, he jumped when someone touched his shoulder from behind. Apollo was so lost in thought he didn’t notice Zeus had come into the room. This was it, he couldn’t back down now.

Thankfully, Hades came in right behind Zeus from the back room so it wasn't as if Apollo was completely alone.

“Hey, dad.” Some venom was in his tone as he spoke.

“You realize announcements to the public on the behalf of a hero need to have organization approval, correct?”

He nodded at this. That was true, but Zeus never obeyed that rule either. “Yes, but this is important. You can reprimand me after.”

Zeus hesitated before seeing the journalists filing in. He rolled his eyes and turned away, leaving the room while muttering something about respect and examples.

Instead of leaving with him, Hades stayed and even stood by Apollo’s side, crossing his arms. Though he could not put his appreciation for this into words, Apollo hoped that one day he could return the favor. It would be hard to, Hades was a highly capable man when it came to so many things, but there had to be something Apollo could do to show he was thankful for the help.

As soon as the cameras were on and he was given the thumbs up by the operator he started speaking.

“Effective immediately, I am resigning.” He announced.

This was the only way he could think of to prove he didn’t want Nico and Will back for personal gain. He wanted them back because he wanted a second chance to show he cared.

Immediately, the room sprouted up with questions. He would get to those! But he needed to finish what he wanted to say.

“I will no longer be working under the hero agency, and will be retiring indefinitely to civilian life.” For the first time, he wondered if anyone in this city would ever not see him as a hero. “I realize what’s important to me isn’t in this field of work, and I do not desire to be a public figure.”

Before he could say anything else, Hades stepped forward. He spoke loud enough, confidently enough, that he did not need a microphone directly in front of him. “I will be resigning as well. I have found Olympus to be as corrupt as the organizations I once worked to dismantle in my time as a vigilante, and I will be returning to my old work.”

A question came up instantly. “What corruption have you found?” An eager reporter near the front nearly shouted above everyone else’s voices.

“Murder. That is all I will be saying for now.” He leaned over to Apollo and murmured, “We should get going.”

Apollo turned a knob under the podium to mute the mic as he followed Hades off the platform. The long black cape billowing behind Hades nearly brushed against him as he followed, and he dodged it. “Why? What about questions? And what did you mean murder? Does that mean Hyacinthus really was—“

“—Zeus will be coming after us as soon as the cameras are off. He will not let an act against him go unpunished, even if this action has been taken by his own son.” Hades walked in a seemingly random direction, his strides filled with fierce determination. “We have to lose him.”

His mouth felt dry. Did this all mean Hyacinthus actually was murdered? All of this time he was fighting and backing up the people who didn’t care about his love?

“Apollo!?” He heard a voice yell angrily from behind him. When he took a glance back, he could see his father floating in the air with lightning in his eyes. He looked away. Despite what Zeus may think, he did not like making his father mad at all. His father’s booming voice reminded him of how he would be yelled at as a kid.

Back then, he saw his father as almost a godly figure. What his father said was law, and the law said he was perfect, so his son should be too. As soon as his son saw how other parents acted with their kids, however, that illusion shattered. He wished so desperately he could be given the comfort he saw other kids get. Dad would say behind closed doors they were treated the same way he was. Love was nothing more than some jewelry you put on in public.

Apollo couldn’t see it the same way. Even if he thought of it as foolish, he wished to have a family who would love him. Actually love him, not just love what he could maybe do in the future for them.

“You did this, Hades!? You turned my own son against me!?” Of course he didn’t do that! Apollo came to the conclusion to resign on his own. It would be absurd to think he could be so easily manipulated. Zeus thought of him as if he was still a child.

Turning around when Hades did, Apollo could see him glare up at the hero in the sky even with his mask on. “If I did, would you come down here and fight me like a real man?”

“Oh, I don’t need to do that.” He sounded smug. Aiming his palm at Hades, Apollo knew exactly what was coming. The way Zeus’ fingers retreated inward and his eyes grew brighter… all of these features were signs of him preparing a lightning strike.

Before Apollo could even think about how Hades was preparing by putting his cape up in front of him like a shield, Apollo ran in front of him to maybe strike back with his own powers.

Too late.

In an instant, he felt his body seize up until he felt nothing but pain. Taking in this pain, he didn’t even notice being thrown back by the blast, into Hades’ cape. He never felt this way, even while using his sun based powers. How was he still conscious afterwards? He had no idea, but he couldn’t comprehend anything but pain anyways.

As he laid there, he felt like the heat he usually generated hurt more than usual. Apollo was impervious to fire, he wasn’t used to searing firey pain. His muscles spasmed, and he couldn’t even lift them. His ears hurt, which he expected from how loud lightning was, but his eyes hurt badly too. His whole body hurt, and all he could do was try not to scream.

He was unsuccessful.

As his eyes recovered from the blast, he realized he was laying on concrete, and it seemed Zeus actually took up Hades’ offer to fight on the ground while he was out of it. The two were dodging eachother so effortlessly for a while, it was a little annoying to watch. But then he finally witnessed Hades landing a hit on Zeus. Stumbling back, his father said something his recovering ears couldn’t catch as he started to look… grayer.

Apollo watched as his father shriveled up and turned into dust.

He would have thought he was going crazy if not for knowing that Hades’ abilities around death was his most feared power. Apollo had no clue it was so overpowered, he was getting a little jealous of Hades again. It was a good thing Hades was on his side.

Even if Zeus was an awful dad, he was still his dad. Zeus was his only close family member he had for years. He still wanted to cry for him, even if he didn’t have the strength to right now. Apollo didn’t want this, but he didn’t feel killing Zeus was wrong either. Two sides of himself fought, but he was too tired to choose the victor.

Chapter Text

A hero isn’t me

A wild thing to say, truly

But I mean it still

“Do you think it worked?” He heard a voice in the distance. 

Everything was dark, and unmoveable. The feeling clung onto him, and it wouldn’t get off.

“Why wouldn’t it?” Someone else responded, his voice was deeper than the first’s. “You healed me before. If anyone can wake him up, it’s you Will.”

Will? Will is here? I missed him.

There was the distant noise of a TV, and Apollo moved a hand that was hanging limply off whatever he was laying on up onto his stomach. He couldn’t stop himself from feeling like the clothing he was wearing was way too rough to be his own.

“I think you woke him up, look.”

When Apollo opened his eyes he had to stop himself from gasping. Above him, sitting at a bedside in a room that was unrecognizable to him, were Nico and Will. He sat up, looking between the two. Apollo was a little shocked the two came back so fast, but he wasn’t going to complain.

Nico grimaced. “…Before you get hung up on Will using his powers, I was—“

“Your voice dropped.”

“Uh… yeah. You’ve been out for a week. You hit your head.”

Oh, so they didn’t come back as quickly as he thought. Still, he felt flooded with emotion. Looking at his son, he had to resist the urge to crush him in a hug. His voice cracked dryly when he spoke, and he cringed, trying to clear his throat. “I missed you.”

Will’s expression was unreadable to him, so he continued. He needed to make sure his son understood… Don’t cry. “I shouldn’t have been so demanding of you when you were already doing so much. I’ll help you be whoever you want to be, and the same goes for you, Nico.”

Apollo watched Nico’s eyes widen and his gaze move away from Will. The expression made him chuckle. The two really cared about each other now. He just hoped they wouldn’t turn out like him and Hyacinthus in the future. Long and happy lives for them both, that’s what he truly wanted. Ughhh. Seriously, no crying!

“I mean it. You two can do whatever you want, you have your whole lives ahead of you.” When he was offered water by Will, he quickly gulped it down before he continued. “At the end of the day, I don’t want to be anything like my father. I’m sorry I tried to push you both into something you didn’t want to do.”

In the end, Apollo couldn’t control himself. He covered his face with his forearms as he cried into them. He didn’t want Will or Nico to see him bawl over this. How much sympathy did he deserve anyways? He didn’t know. Sure, he’d like some, but if he was given any he would likely feel ashamed.

“You two, dinner’s ready. Spaghetti.” Hades was leaning against the doorframe that led into this poorly decorated room. Seriously, someone could hang up some photos of flowers or something! He deserved better.

Hades continued to talk, entering the room. “Go eat, I have to check his condition.”

Nico got up to leave, but Will leaned forward to wrap his arms around his dad’s neck. The grip was gentle, but so firm before the arms unwrapped and Will left the room with Nico. Their hands were joined together. Apollo was stunned into silence, a rare occurrence, at least in his own opinion.

Then Hades approached. Even though Apollo swore the temperature dropped, he felt a little warm inside knowing Hades cared about him. If the most stoic man in the world could care about a screw up like him, maybe he had a chance at being loved. “Glad to see you’ve recovered. Judging by how long you took, I assume this was your first time getting struck by lightning?”

Apollo nodded, looking down at the blanket pooled at his waist. He was happy to be—he assumed—an only child when it came to thinking about what he was put through. “He did hit me when I was younger, but never with lightning.”

“He hit you?”

Cringing, Apollo threw his legs over the side of the bed. Tentatively, he put his feet on the carpeted floor. Certainly not as comfortable as what he has back home. “Yeah, I don’t like to talk about it. It was mostly in socially acceptable areas anyways, at least at the time.”

“What does—“

When Apollo stood up he felt as if gravity wasn’t cooperating as usual. His legs wobbled, and he sat back down to gather himself. “Can we not talk about this right now? He’s dead. It’s over. There’s no point dwelling on some abuse from decades ago.” He glared up at Hades. “And yes, I know it was abuse. I’m not dumb.”

“Even if you didn’t know, I would not call you ignorant.” Hades offered Apollo a hand. Then the disgraced superhero stood up, and Hades put another hand on a shoulder to help him keep steady before Apollo pulled away. “I would call you manipulated. Unfortunate, even.”

It was sad that he still couldn’t help but be embarrassed about his childhood. Maybe he should get therapy? Eh, he always was told that was a scam. Well, his father was the one who said that… “Whatever. What have you guys been doing while I was sleeping?”

His heart beat a little faster in his chest as he started walking to a dresser in the room, getting a grip on the surface. Slowly, his legs felt like they got used to walking again. It was very welcome, because walking around like a baby giraffe only amplified his shame.

“I brought you here after the battle.” Hades looked over at the open door. “Those two came a few days ago. I had to teach Will about how comas work to wake you, and Nico’s learning to make structures out of summoned bones.”

Apollo indulged himself in a stretch, raising his arms above his head. The scratchy t-shirt he was put in got on his nerves as it moved against his skin. “Right, and where is ‘here’?”

“My home.”

Well, that explained the awfully plain decor.

There was nothing to distract him from his current situation. His dad was dead. Would the hero agency be after them? Would Hades be charged with murder, or was he, just like Zeus, above the law. His breathing picked up as he leaned against the white wall of the room.

“Hey,” Hades stood up. He approached Apollo and put his hands on his shoulders. “Uh, calm down?”

The reassurance was so bad it looped around to being reassuring again because Apollo found it hilarious. He let out a small chuckle and backed away from Hades. “I’m good. I just… What's the situation currently? My dad is dead, what does that mean for my family? For you? For me?”

Hades sucked in a breath. “We’re on the run currently. Yes, this is a home of mine, but it’s one that I never registered with the hero agency. Think of it like a summer home, except instead of it being for hot weather, it’s for chaos.”

Before Apollo could ask any more questions, Hades struck with his sharp tongue again. “But I think you need to decide on something.” He went over to the doorway, waving at  Apollo as a signal to follow. “Are we going to be the chaos, or the victims of it?”

He wasn’t sure how to respond, or what Hades meant at all, and the man left before he could respond. Though he was admittedly nervous, Apollo followed him into the kitchen. There, he could see Will and Nico chatting over two bowls of steaming food. He felt his own stomach grumble, and selfishly wished he could swap bodies with either of the boys.

Hades set down two more bowls of spaghetti and pulled out two chairs, offering Apollo a seat. He took it. The atmosphere became a bit awkward as Will and Nico stopped talking as comfortably as they were before. The effect of having adults in the room, Apollo supposed.

So he may have gone a little crazy eating the pasta. He was surprised he didn’t choke with the speed he was eating. Will seemed concerned about this too.

“Dad. I know you haven’t eaten in days, but you should slow down.”

Taking a breath through his nose while his mouth was occupied with spaghetti, he decided to take his son’s advice. Will looked pleased before turning his gaze back to Nico. Apollo took note that their arms closest to each other were both under the table.

They were totally holding hands. It really wasn’t hard to tell.

“When were you two going to tell me you started dating?” Apollo asked casually while scraping the last of his food into a small pile in the bowl. He watched the two glance at each other with surprise, as if they were surprised the man could figure it out. People underestimated his intelligence too often, really.

Nico nodded as if he accepted the initiative and turned his head back to Apollo. His face hardened like he was preparing to go into battle. “Kinda hard to tell you anything when you’re in a coma, old man.”

Will shot a glare at him and hit his shoulder lightly, causing Nico’s serious expression to break.

“Hey! It’s true! And we got together when I ran away so there was no actual chance to tell him! The question was stupid.”

“I think it was rhetorical.”

With a small smile, Apollo stood up with his empty bowl and started collecting everyone else's. He usually didn’t do simple, kind things like this. It was beneath him as a hero to do something so small, but maybe hitting his head when he was struck by lightning changed a part of his brain. Apollo heard of personality changes from brain damage before, should get his head checked?

Or could he have just changed himself throughout all of this?

Taking a moment to breathe and hold all the empty bowls in his hands, he stared down at the oddly calming weight. “I’m glad that you two haven’t really changed, even if you are dating.”

He went over to the sink and started cleaning the dishes. It was interesting to go from a battle with his dad to something so normal. His life was so far from anything normal. He sometimes wished to do something as simple as washing dishes all day, but he knew he could never be satisfied with such a life, just placated.

Hades approached from his left. “Speaking of change,” he started. Apollo bit back a groan. What else did he not know?

“Have you adopted Nico yet?”

Not even hiding his shock and confusion, Apollo turned off the sink. He set down the sponge he was using. He wiped his hands of suds and water. He stared at Hades.

“Uh, no. I haven’t.”

Hades looked like he was holding back excitement, bringing his hands in front of him to play with his own fingers, almost like he was counting. The action was abnormal of him, at least in Apollo’s opinion. The man was usually so guarded, even in his mannerisms.

“I wish to adopt him.”

Apollo was glad he didn’t drink any water at that moment, he would have choked comedically. “Oh.”

“Would that be a problem?”

If someone were to put Apollo at gunpoint and for his life asked him to imagine Hades as a loving father, and also happened to have mind reading abilities, he would get shot. Hades just didn’t seem like the sensitive type, he seemed like he would be a distant dad based on Apollo’s perspective of him.

“…Are you really ready to raise a kid?” He asked quietly. “It’s a serious task.”

He watched Hades cross his arms. He certainly looked serious. “I’m not cocky enough to believe I could raise any kid. But Nico? Yes, I’m certain.”

“I usually don’t disclose this, so please be fair to me, but I did want children at some time in my life. I had a partner, but they died before we even discussed it.“ Hades looked Apollo in the eyes. They were infinite black pits, but they were far from soulless. “I felt if I was to raise a kid, it couldn’t be without the support. I gave up on the idea then, but Nico… He reminds me why I wanted to raise a child in the first place.”

Whatever Apollo was expecting, nothing compared to the outpouring of emotion he was seeing from Hades. It was like a whole new side of him just… appeared. Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, it was a little glorious to behold. It was like Hades couldn’t stop talking. Funny, did he rub off on him a bit?

“Giving someone unconditional love and the ability to learn about the world… I cherish those aspects of parenthood the most. Nico is a fast learner, and he needs a lot of support.” He seemed to grow more nervous. “So I’m asking if I can become Nico’s father. Out of respect for you.”

Justifiably, he didn’t give an answer to Hades immediately. While he was moved by the man’s words, there was a part of him that didn’t want to give Nico up. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized this decision shouldn’t be his alone. Not because it was difficult to answer, but because his answer wasn’t the most important here.

“Only if Nico wants this too, ask him.” Apollo paused before quickly adding, “And I want to be able to visit when I feel like it!”

Hades, surprisingly, smiled at him. “I wouldn’t wish for anything else.”

Will heard Apollo wish for something else however as stood in front of Hyacinthus’ grave. A few rows above his resting place was Naomi’s.

“I miss you.”

“I miss you both.”

“Things are getting better for me, but for the dead things never change.”

“I wish you could see how far I’ve come.”

“I wish you didn’t go.”

“I wish for a lot of things, but what good is it for? You’re both never coming back.”

“It hurts. It hurts a lot.”

Will stood in front of his mother’s grave, but took a glance back at his dad once he was done dumping information on the dead. Seeing his father break down wasn’t pretty. He never met Hyacinthus—he only caught glimpses of him—but the man seemed so lively. This is what he wanted to become a doctor for, he realized as he watched his father place purple flowers on the grave. 

Keeping that life intact, increasing quality and quantity. That’s what he wanted.

“Think I should change my name?” Turning away from the mirror he was peering into, he directed the questions at Hades. “Apollo was copyrighted by my father.”

The new suit he was given wasn’t as fancy or iconic as his old one. For one, his hero suit had gold accents. This one just had a bunch of yellow and orange. He liked yellow, sure, but he did kind of miss the gold. It took a lengthy argument to even get colors he liked. Apollo understood it was better to be less flashy and that this was a compromise in his favor, but he was going to miss the reflective bits.

“We’re already breaking the law by stopping crime without a license.” Ghost King commented. He got up from an armchair and approached Apollo. In this small office room, it didn’t take long. The boy’s new suit was very reminiscent of his old one. Don’t change what works, Apollo supposed. “Who gives a fuck about a dead guy’s copyright? It’s your name, you should own it anyways!”

Apollo took a shaky breath. He was spending way too long thinking about this new vigilante thing he was doing. Compared to Ghost King or Hades, he was a nobody in the scene. New things scared him, even when they were relatively positive. “You’re right. But you do know Apollo is not my legal name, right? It was just my hero name.”

“No? Then what is your legal one???”

Will was already snickering in the background, sitting at a computer desk. Apollo knew it was pretty bad, but it wasn’t that awful!

“Lester,” Apollo admitted.

Cringing, Ghost King pulled down his black mask. It covered the upper half of his face, except for his eyes. “Yeah, sticking to calling you Apollo. No offense.”

Hades entered the room and looked at his two team members. “Are we ready to leave?”

“Eh.” He took an unreasonably large breath as he stared at himself in the mirror again. Even after a year living with these three, he still wondered if being a vigilante was right for him. “Not yet, I need to emotionally prepare myself.”

“That government building isn’t going to infiltrate itself, guys.” Will muttered as he stared at his computer screen. He noticeably wasn’t in any sort of uniform like the rest of them. “You three are on a time crunch, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but I still have time for this!” Wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s neck, Ghost King gave him a kiss on the cheek before glancing at his monitor. His eyes scanned over whatever was on the screen before he looked back at Will. “Ugh, what the hell is a brachial plexus?”

Will smirked at his boyfriend, which Apollo could just barely see because of the angle. “Want to become a med student too and find out?”

Ghost King stuck his tongue out and moved back, leaving his hands on Will’s shoulders. “Nope, studying is not for me. Good luck with all of that.”

He didn’t really want to remind him, but Nico really did have homework to do after this mission. The only reason Hades was allowing him to come was as a reward for catching up on schoolwork in the past semester. Missions as a reward sounded a little crazy, but these really were one of Nico’s favorite things to do.

Best not keep him from it for much longer, Apollo thought.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

With a nod, Hades looked between the two.

“Alright. This mission will be short, and secretive.” Looking over at Ghost King, his father watched as he joined the group again. “That means no summoning hordes of zombies, Nico.”

“It’s the fastest way to take down the guards!”

“It’s overkill, you know that.” Ghost King sighed but nodded—similarly to his dad in Apollo’s opinion—then said dad gave him further instructions. “Stay in the shadows and prepare to get us out of there if anything goes wrong.”

With that, the three headed out of their vigilante base. Even if he wasn’t a hero anymore, he liked his new job. He fought based on his morals now, not based on the thumb he was put under from the moment he was born. He didn’t subconsciously hate what he was doing anymore, it was oddly freeing.

Does the label of hero even make someone a hero? What a dumb question. It’s obvious what makes someone a hero isn’t that, though maybe that wasn’t obvious to him at the beginning of all this. What makes a hero is taking action to help others, that’s what he thought anyways. Who knows, maybe he was way off like he was way off with so many other parts of his life.

I guess I never was one of the top heroes, even when I was part of Olympus. But one day, at least to Will and Nico, I might be.