Nico di Angelo was a single father of a six year old girl. Technically she was his half sister and he was her legal guardian but the statement still stands. Their Father signed over his parental rights to Nico after one of his monthly dinners. Hazel Levesque was left on his doorstep the day before, with a note pinned to her jacket and two suitcases filled with all Hazel's things. The note read:
Dear Pluto, if that really is your name.
This is your daughter. I can't take care of her anymore. She's in danger with me and I can't have that stay over my head for the rest of my life if something were to happen to her. The spirits are telling me that her future's so bright. But not with me. With me, something will happen and I don't want that.
I put papers into her bag. If you can't, or won't, take her in, let someone else and sign them. I want her future to be as bright as the little gem she is.
~Marie Levesque.
Nico had mixed feelings about that dinner. On one hand, it was a lot of responsibility given to him. On the other, he wouldn't have the gem currently bouncing on him to get up.
"Come on, Nico!" She said, eagerly. "Come on, come on, come on!"
He rolled over and pulled her under the covers with him. "Oh, what a nice teddy bear I now have." He said, hugging the girl to him. She giggled at his antics.
"No, Nico." She protested between giggles. "School!"
"You know, you're the only person I know who loves school so much."
"It's fun." Hazel stated.
Nico grumbled about getting up early before getting out of bed and getting ready.
Will Solace is an early bird. He's one of many love children sired and raised by the singer, Apollo.
His many siblings were the reason he's such an early riser, he gets a chance to get a shower in peace. That habit stuck with him when he moved out. When he had a child with an ex who wanted nothing to do with either of them after he was born. She was hoping for a little girl and didn't want any boys whatsoever. That was fine with Will, especially as she'd left town the second she could.
Mike Lester Solace is the exact opposite of his father. He's a night owl who prefers staying in bed as long as he can instead of getting up early. Especially for school, which starts today.
"Rise and shine, you ray of sunshine!" Will cheerfully exclaimed, pulling open the curtains in Mike's room. "You have school today."
Mike groaned and turned over in bed, pulling his covers over his head.
Will smiled to himself and went over to Mike's bed. He nudged Mike's shoulders and pulled the covers off of his head. "Today please. I have a shift at the hospital today so Mr. di Angelo is going to keep an eye on you after school. Don't destroy his apartment and don't patronise him."
Mike grumbled and proceeded to get up and ready for the day ahead..
"There's pancakes for breakfast." Will informed Mike on his way out, making him smile.
"Come on, Nico!" Hazel said, pulling her brother to the deli near the apartment building they lived in. "They might run out of sandwiches soon."
"I'm coming." Said brother retorted. "Go pull two numbers and come back so I can tie up your hair." Nico said as they entered the door.
Hazel nodded and went to do her job. The deli was busy for the early hour. It was filled with tired parents, and their children, getting lunches, like the two who'd come in.
Will Solace and his son had lived down the hall from Nico since he moved in with Hazel at the start of the summer. The two kids had bonded the moment they met and Mike's face lit up when he saw her coming from the counter. She handed Will the second piece of paper before striking up a conversation with Mike. Nico pulled a hairbrush from one of his coat pockets and began brushing Hazel's hair.
By the time they were called, Hazel's hair was in a ponytail and Mike had corrected her assumption about the deli.
"Number Forty-two!" The man behind the counter called out.
Hazel bounded up to the counter to see all the sandwich fillings under the glass. "What is good?" She asked the man.
"They all taste good, kid." The man said, gruffly.
"Try the baloney." Mike said, stepping up beside her, pointing to the big sausage-like roll of meat.
Hazel looked up to Nico for approval..
Nico shrugged and he could hear Will face palming beside him.
"Can I get that, please?" She asked the man kindly.
"What do you want it on?"
Nico raised her up so she could see what she could have a sandwich on. She pointed to the plain bagel. Soon her sandwich was ready and she picked a colorful juice box and a bag of chips.
Her lunch was added into her sparkly backpack and she joined Mike in front of the two adults. They chatted away as if they haven't seen each other in weeks.
Hazel was confused. She knew her brother liked Mister Solace. She also knew that Cousin Jason knew too.
Mike encouraged her to talk to him on the way to school, and he agreed with her. Now all they had to do was plot. Good thing they had all day to do it.
"Hazel." Nico called to her. "I have a small job to do today for Father. Do you have your key?" Hazel nodded. "I should be back before school ends with food from Leo's." Her eyes lit up. "If not, use your key and start your homework. Okay?" She nodded cheerfully. "Have a good day." He added, kissing the top of her head.
She ran to catch up with Mike.
Nico turned back to Will and they started walking back to the apartment building.
"You're still cool with Mike going over after school, right?" Will asked.
"Yeah. The kid's alright." Nico replied. "What time does your shift start?"
"Noon." Will informed. "Enough time to do some shopping and washing before work."
"I have to put in an order at Leo's before I go to Father. He makes better food than me."
"I still can't believe you can't cook."
"I can." Nico defended as the diner came into view. "Hazel just doesn't eat it."
"At least you can do her hair and the laundry. That's more than what I could ever do when I moved here first." Will said calmly.
Nico's cheeks became dusted with pink as he blushed. Will didn't notice as Nico turned to enter the diner. "See you later." He said, parting ways with the blond.
"Bye." Will said, giving Nico a half hug, which made his blush deepen slightly, before he continued on.
Nico almost bolted into the building.
"You should definitely tell him." A female's voice, Calypso,Leo's partner, said. All the color from Nico's face drained.
"So, who's the lucky person?" Another doctor, and sibling, Kayla Knowles, asked as he walked up to the the nurses' station in the ER.
"There is no person." Will said. "No person whatsoever."
"Methinks the man doth protest too much." Lester Papadopoulos, another sibling and a nurse, said on his way to the back of the station to get some charts.
"I agree." Kayla stated, untying the loose ponytail and scraping it back up again. "So spill before I go to mini-Mike. I'll bring candy." She threatened.
Lester came back with two sets of charts for them and handed Kayla hers.
"They live down the hall." Will said, sighing in defeat. "Has a sister he adopted too. Now can I get to work?"
Lester handed Will his chart. "You have a gsw in five. It's a graze that looks bad. Adult male, protesting against being here. He was dropped off in a dark car according to security."
Will walked off to five with a wave.
Lester turned to Kayla. "A little girl in three who landed oddly when she hopped off the top bunk bed. We're so getting the dirt from Mike after." He said when Will was out of hearing range.
"Oh yeah." Kayla agreed, walking to three.
"Hello sir. I'm Will and I'll be your doctor today." Will said, looking over the chart as he walked into room five.
"I don't want to be here!" The man protested. The familiar sounding man.
"You're here." Will said, looking at his patient. "Why are you here?" Nico stopped fiddling with the IV in his arm to see his doctor.
"Will?" Nico exclaimed. "Oh Gods." He flopped his head onto the pillow.
"Nico." Will's warning tone evident.
"I do security for my Father, at The Underworld, a club." Nico said. "Today, we opened earlier than normal to set up for a party later tonight. This drunk, Octopus or something like that wanted into the club. I refused him entry and he pulled out a gun. I pressed the alert button in the door and I guess he saw me pressing it. Next thing I know, There's pain in my leg followed by my Father dropping me off here. I hope Melinoe got him."
Will had opened his chart and wrote in the details Nico said that were relevant. "Nico, I'm going to cut off your pants leg to get a better look at it. Is that okay?"
Nico nodded and put his hands on the headboard of the hospital bed. Will got a pair or scissors and cut above the bullet hole and where the blood soaked through. He also cut along the outer seam before calling in some nurses.
"Selena, tell Beckendorf to warm up the CT scanner." The woman nodded and ran off to do her job. "Travis, on the torso and Conor, on this thigh." The two similar looking men split up and went to their instructed places. "This is going to hurt, Nico, so I'm going to do this like a band aid."
Nico squeezed his eyes shut as Will took off the section of pants he cut around. Another pair of hands put gauze on top of the reopened cut and Nico cried out at the renewed pain.
"Thanks June." Will said to the girl with green hair.
When Nico relaxed again, he opened his eyes to see the woman who ran out, back again.
"It's warmed up, Will." She reported and it seemed to mean something to everyone but Nico as they moved around him.
His IV bag was moved, from its pole to one on the bed. The railings put up. June got more gauze and layered it over the blood soaked ones and grabbed more. Suddenly, the bed moved and Nico froze. He became as still as he could while they wheeled him further into the hospital.
"Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out." Nico continued to mentally chant as they wheeled him towards the CT room. He couldn't recall what the letters meant at this moment but they didn't sound good.
They pulled him into a massive room with a large white machine with a hole in the middle. The people who brought him around, placed him beside a bed type thing leading into the machine. They counted down before transferring him onto the bed attached to the machine.
After everyone and his bed had left, the machine whirred as it came to life. It startled Nico slightly and out of his mental tirade as the machine circled his lower torso after pulling him into it. The guy in the booth, Beckendorf, asked him to roll his leg, if he could and it wouldn't take much longer.
It didn't take long, as he was told, but it did little to relax him.
Will came back into the room with the nurses and put him back into his room. When he was comfortable again, Will spoke.. "Your bullet needs to come out. It's severed an artery and lodged itself in your tibia. There are also hairline fractures surrounding it."
"And for those of us who don't swallow dictionaries?" Nico snarked at Will.
"The bullet from your eight armed friend is lodged into your shin bone. There are cracks around it and it hit an artery, probably why it's bleeding through."
"What are my choices. And which one gets me out to the kids who are probably worried in my apartment?"
"Option one: Minor surgery, local anesthetic, you're out in time for me to bring you home. Option two: Seal up the wound with stitches with a cast for the broken bone. That will have you staying overnight for observation." Will said laying out Nico's options. Nico sighed. "Are there any complications with option one?" He asked quietly.
"Only if you have an allergy to the anesthetic."
"No idea."
"I'll set up the prep team." Will said walking out of the room.
Nico was awake for the whole two hours it took to set everything right in his leg. His surgeon, Michael Yew, made sure to keep Nico in the loop for the whole thing. He left a curtain up so he couldn't see.
When it was done, Nico's leg was put into a dark orange cast. He promptly fell asleep in the room he was brought into afterwards.
He woke up at six pm to Will nudging him. Will was carrying a plastic bag with his phone and wallet in it. A brown paper bag, presumably filled with a prescription was also in his hand. Nico took the crutches offered to him by Will and hobbled out of the door. Will trailed behind him, still holding his stuff.
After Nico signed out, and Will got a few looks from Lester, the duo got onto a bus that stopped near Leo's diner.
"NIco!" Hazel screamed when she saw him. "What happened? What did you do? Why is mister Solace behind you? Can I sign it? Is that Leo's cooking?"
Nico tossed a look at the blond behind him as if to say "See what I live with?"
Will shrugged in reply as Nico hopped over to the sofa and flopped onto it and put his casted leg onto the coffee table.
"Hazel, I got a big cut on my leg today when a man was at the club." Nico explained to the girl. "Father brought me to the hospital where Will made sure it was all fixed up. Until it's all fixed up, I have to wear this cool band aid for…"
"Two weeks and another one for four weeks." Will informed.
"That long." Nico continued. "And you can draw on it. Tomorrow."
"Is that real food though?" Hazel said, poking at the box will put on the table.
"I should feel offended about that but, yes it is." Nico confirmed.
Hazel let off a happy cheer and went to get paper plates from the drawer.
"Calypso says hi. She's also going to get you glitter, glue and metallic pens after school tomorrow."
Hazel smiled as she took one of the enchiladas from the box. Mike followed suit after Will nodded. Will took one for himself and passed the box, with one left in it, to Nico. They all tucked into their food with gusto.
"Did Melinoe get them?" Hazel asked.
"I sure hope so." Nico replied.
The next day was pizza day in school, according to Mike. Both parents handed $5 bills to their child, both of whom happily went to school together.
Will helped Nico waterproof the cast so he could clean up before reporting to work to fill out forms.
Nico took a taxi to his Father's house to see his him before they went to The Underworld.
Persephone, his step-mother, made her disdain of him known, as usual. This time it was about his injury. Alecto, his Father's personal assistant, fussed over him in her own, grumpy way.
Hades Olympus, his Father, not Pluto, glanced over his cast. "Why did you have to pick orange?" He asked as they walked out to the car his Father's driver, Jules-Albert, would be using to bring the pair to The Underworld in.
Nico shrugged. "I didn't want white and black meant that no one would see anything but Hazel's drawings that Calypso is plotting." At his father's raised eyebrow, he continues. "She promised glitter."
"I remember you doing the same to Bianca before." Hades lamented. "She broke her arm and you promised her pictures on it. You broke out the art supplies,"
"And I made sure she was shedding glitter for weeks after." Nico finished, fond a smile on his face.
Hades also had a small smile as well, until they reached The Underworld, a club for the mysterious people of New York City. It's a family run affair mainly, with Bianca, his sister, managing the club with help from Megaera, one of Alecto's sisters. Melinoe, Hades' and Persephone's daughter, is a bartender with dual colored hair. She dyed the left side of her platinum blonde hair black so she could match her siblings in some way while keeping the blonde part to connect to her mother. Persephone threw a fit when she saw her hair for the first time. She ended up taking Nico's couch for a week. Their half sister was Makaria who did odd jobs around the building with a cheerful smile on her face.
Makaria was the first person to see him when they came in. She also ran up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. Nico sagged in relief when she released him. Bianca laughed at him and messed up his curly hair. He playfully swatted at her as Melinoe smiled and gave him a gentler hug.
"What's the verdict, little brother?" Bianca asked, tapping at the cast.
"Two weeks then a check up. After that, four weeks in a new cast or longer." Nico reported.
"What did the bastard do to you?" Melinoe growled.
Nico leaned against her and wrapped an arm around her. "A splintered bone." He reassured. "They just want to check the entry wound."
"What am I hearing about a Mister Solace? Now that Nico won't die."
"Yeah." The three women chorused.
Nico groaned and threw a pleading look at their father who was, conveniently, walking towards the main office.
"Was that your guy, yesterday?" Lester asked. He got in that evening, after double checking Nico had everything he needed. He was taking care of Mike and Hazel while he had graveyard.
"Who's guy?" Michael said, walking up behind Will, who groaned. "Will?"
"No one." He groaned, hoping the subject would be dropped.
"Will has a crush!~" Kayla sang as she popped up from behind the nurse's station and was shooed out by Lester. "Lester thinks it was his GSW from yesterday." She told Michael.
"I have my sources." The man in question responded cryptically.
"A.K.A, you were eavesdropping." Will deadpanned.
"I heard you say a name. He never gave us one."
Will groaned. "Why haven't I transferred out of here?"
"You love us?" Kyla said batting her eyelashes.
"Babysitting fees would skyrocket as people who don't understand this job are drafted in." Michael stated.
"You would loose your eye candy." Lester stated.
Will's mouth opened and closed without a sound before he grabbed a chart and walked off.
Will flopped beside the outer door to the apartment complex and fished around in his satchel for his keys. He groaned when he couldn't find them and reluctantly pressed the buzzer for Nico's apartment.
"Someone better be dying." A tired and slightly accented Nico growled into the box after five minutes of waiting. "And this better not be a prank, Kelp brain."
"I have sunshine for a brain, thank you very much." Will said, somewhat sarcastically.
"You speak my language but you are a foreigner. What have you done with the real Will?" Nico asked after a moment.
"I worked graveyard. Let me in, I forgot my keys." Will pleaded.
There was a buzzing sound as the door was released.
Nico met him at the door to his apartment with a familiar set of keys in hand. "Where did you get your assortment?" He asked.
"Family members." Will answered. "Where were they?"
"Your son has been trying to stop me from seeing them all night. Do you want the couch?" Nico offered. "It's the best place to flop after a long night."
Will smiled and nodded, following him in.
The couch was indeed the best place to flop. Will groaned in relief when he sank into it. Nico's cheeks were a pale pink as he handed Will a pillow and a blanket.
"I'm going back to bed before-" Nico was interrupted by the door to Hazel's room opening.
"You're awake." The little girl said in, what sounded like, shock. "Hi mister Solace."
"Hi Hazel." Will said between snickers.
"I works nights often." Nico said, defending his sleeping habits. "Did you wake up Mike yet?"
A bashful smile and a groan from behind her answered the question.
"I'll take that as a yes." Nico said. "Cereal. I'm not going to attempt to cook on two hours of sleep."
Will raised an eyebrow at the pale man.
"Night owl tendencies. I watched tv before I fell asleep." Nico explained as Hazel pulled Mike over to the extensive mini cereal boxes in her cupboard. "I'll bring them down. You take my bed. I have to get something anyway."
"I'm good with the couch." Will said, throwing the blanket over himself and resting his head on the pillow.
Mike noticed and rushed over the couch and snuggled into Will.
Nico pulled him up again and redirected him to the kitchen table. "After." He said to the groaning six year old.
Will chuckled at the display.
"Big sisters are meaner than I am." Nico said to Mike. "So are the little ones."
Hazel stuck her tongue out at him, and he retaliated, as she picked a box of coco pops.
Mike grabbed a frosties before Will could say anything and hurried over to the table.
Nico grabbed the bowls and milk before joining them with a normal box of cornflakes.
Will drifted off to dreamland to the sounds of bowls and spoons clinking.
"Is that him?" A feminine voice whispered cheerfully a few hour later.
"His hair looks like sunshine." A slightly deeper voice also whispered.
"Will you shut up?" Nico whisper shouted at the duo.
"Not on your life, Nicky." A slightly accented woman said.
"Yeah, how often do we get to meet the other person?" The cheerful woman said.
Will could hear Nico groan and smirked.
"He's awake." The accented woman spoke.
Will opened his eyes and looked up. There were three new people looking at him over the back of the couch. All women.
One had blonde and black hair with hazel eyes. She had a devilish smile on her face. Another had dark brown, curly hair and hazel eyes. She was analyzing him. The third had black hair and golden eyes. She was smiling cheerfully at him.
Nico was hanging his head in defeat just behind two of them, Curly and Smiley.
"What time is it?" Will asked the gathered group.
"Time to get our charges." Nico replied. "But I'm not going to leave you with the Kindly Ones so they're both walking here."
There was a chorus of protests from the women, an inside joke, Will assumed.
"Bianca! Makaria! Melinoe!" Hazel exclaimed as she ran in the doorway. She ran up to Melinoe and climbed onto her. "See! I told you I was the youngest!" She said to Mike who was still in the doorway still.
"They are your sisters?" Mike questioned.
"Uh huh." Hazel said from Melinoe's shoulders, the older one holding onto her lower legs. "You need to do your black again, Melly."
"Shush." She said, wiggling her left leg jokingly. "They thought it was natural."
"You mean it's dye?" Will exclaimed exaggeratedly. "You broke my trust...Melly?"
The other siblings laughed at Will.
"Hazel gave us all English-y names. She said the greek and italian was confusing." Nico explained. "But latin comes like second nature to her."
"Sed facile est!"(1) Hazel said cheerfully
Everyone turned to the doctor in the room.
"I can only tell you if she starts rattling about the body." Will stated.
"Τον ήθελα για τη Λατινική του, έτσι δεν είναι;"(2) Bianca questioned Nico.
"Σκάσε!"(3) Nico ground out.
"Do we tell them that we know what they're saying?" Mike whispers into Will's ear. He'd wandered over to the couch and flopped onto his dad in greeting.
Will shushed Mike and the women continued their conversation with Nico.
"Τα μαλλιά του είναι τόσο ξανθιά. Η μαμά θα τον ήθελα."(4) Melinoe said, looking Will up and down.
"Στάση!"(5) Nico groaned and sank beside Will on the sofa, who sat up, pulling Mike with him.
"Ποιος είναι "μαμά";"(6) Will asked quietly.
"Είναι η μαμά της Melanie. Ο μόνος που είναι ακόμα γύρω."(7) Nico replied.
"He speaks Greek! Makaria exclaimed. "You're marrying him, Nico."
"We're going to bring the smallies to the park." Bianca said.
Melinoe and Makaria nodded eagerly as they helped Mike and Hazel to hurriedly get ready.
"So, you like my Latin?" Will asked, after the apartment had emptied.
"Shut up!" Nico said, face dusted with a light shade of pink, leaning into Will.
"I like your Italian." Will said, his cheeks pink as well.
"Idiota."(8) Nico murmured, the words not quite carrying the bite it normally did.
"I really like your Greek though." Will admitted, cheeks going pinker as he leaned in too.
Nico's cheeks darkened as well in response. "I like your Greek too." He said, closing the distance between them and kissing Will.
Translations:
(1) But it's so easy!
(2) You like him for his Latin, don't you?
(3) Shut up!
(4) His hair is so blond. Mom would love him.
(5) Stop!
(6) Who's "mom"?
(7) It's Melinoe's Mom. The only one that's still around
(8) Idiot
