Hello, readers. This idea was actually kind of based on a dream I had the other night where I was Nico and I got a really bad cut on my leg. I got a little carried away with poor Nico's injuries . . . oops ;) I really hope you enjoy. (I know I switch POVs a lot but bear with me haha)

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO

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Percy POV

Suddenly a loud crash and a thunk were heard from above deck.

"Leo, what was that?" Piper turned to face the son of Hephaestus.

Leo gestured to himself. "Why do you always think everything is my fault?!"

"Well who else's would it be?" Piper pointed to the boy. "You're the one who built this ship."

The Latino stood up and slammed his hands onto his hips, opening his mouth to give what Percy assumed would be a very sassy retort.

"Hey," the son of Poseidon stood up. "Are you guys just gonna sit here and argue? If we get ambushed, you two are taking full responsibility."

"You're right. There's probably a bunch of monsters up there that came to kill us. Nothing we can't handle, though, right guys? Let's get going and show those twits just how badass we are!" Leo pivoted and began to march toward the door, but was stopped when Hazel leapt up and grabbed the boy's shirt collar. "Leo!" She smacked his arm. "Nico is taking watch! He's up there all alone!"

The mechanic's eyes widened. "Oh sh—"

"Well come on!" Percy ran for the stairs, the other six demigods on his heel. As he reached the deck, the son of Poseidon shielded his eyes from the rising sun. He kept the others behind him by blocking the doorway with his arm. Percy looked around, but nothing was to be seen. He took a few tentative steps onto the deck, clutching his sword, Riptide. "Nico?" There was no reply. Percy's eyebrows furrowed as he looked around. Maybe Nico had just tripped over something. He was probably fi— suddenly a loud cry filled the odious silence. Nico. Percy spun around and advanced quickly towards the sound.

He had never seen monsters like this before. With their giant eyes, fuzzy ears, and orange beaks, they were nearly exact replicas of those Furby things that everyone used to have when he was a kid. Except that they were each about four feet tall. That was when Percy spotted Nico. The younger demigod was pinned to the deck by four Furbies, one on each appendage. Nico attempted to lunge upwards, but that was when a much uglier and much bigger Furby leapt onto the son of Hades's chest. Nico's eyes bulged and he wheezed as the wind was knocked from his body by the force. The giant Furby brought a rigged knife to the boy's neck, and slowly pressed it deeper, to the point at which blood was drawn. Nico hissed through his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. Percy could tell that the younger demigod was giving an effort not to scream. That was when Percy gave a loud cry and ran forward, signaling the others to join him.

Nico POV

The alpha furori looked up from its work when Percy came charging in. Nico gave a small smile of relief. He watched as the older demigod ran toward him, muscles gleaming in the sun and a ferocious look on his face. Percy Jackson was Nico's epitome of a hero.

The alpha furori opened its beak and gave a shrill cry. The son of Hades winced as a furori flung itself into Percy. Nico saw Hazel run to the son of Poseidon's aid, but suddenly his vision was blocked by Jason Grace. The Roman dashed and prepared to kick the alpha furori off of Nico's chest. However, the monster anticipated this move, and in a final effort, raked the jagged knife across the Ghost King's sternum. Nico's eyes widened. He bit his lip harshly in attempt to bite back a scream, but the pain was too much for him. His chest erupted in agony, and he let loose an animal-like cry. His vision was blurred; he didn't know if this was because the pain was messing with his mind or if he was crying. He assumed both. Nico was so focused on this pain that he barely registered a slice to his thigh. All he could think about was the blood; there was so much blood. All of the furorii had left him, and he was now able to move his limbs, but he couldn't find the strength. So he just lay there, sprawled out on the deck. There was nothing Nico could do when another creature bounded towards him. He ignored as much pain as he could and brought his arm up in an attempt to stop the knife somehow. He had hoped to maybe catch the furori's wrist, but instead he caught the blade with his hand and yelped as the weapon bit harshly into his palm. His cry was lengthened when the monster dragged the knife from Nico's hand and drew its arm back, readying another blow. Suddenly it froze and fell on its face. Nico saw an arrow sticking out of the monster's back, and directed his vision towards the crow's nest, where Frank Zhang nocked another projectile. Nico's vision swam. He brought his good hand to his head, the chaos of the surrounding battle bombarding his ears. Suddenly he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, careful there."

Leo POV

Leo cringed at the view he had of Nico's bloodied form. The child of Hades had been beaten up pretty bad by those giant fuzzballs. "Oh gods—" Leo placed a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Hey, careful there." Leo knew that the kid had to be brought below deck immediately. Although Nico was skinny and a couple inches shorter than the Latino, he knew that he wouldn't be able to carry him. Knowing himself, Leo would probably end up dropping the boy, which definitely wasn't going to be helpful in this situation. He was starting to panic; Leo didn't want to see Nico like this. The son of Hephaestus bit his lip. "Oh!" He snapped his fingers and spun around.

"JASON!" Leo cupped his hands around his mouth. "GET DOWN HERE!"

The son of Jupiter stabbed one of the few remaining monsters and turned his head, and as soon as he saw the boys, ran across the deck to them all heroic-like, living up to the comparison Leo had once made of him to Superman.

Jason POV

As soon as he reached Leo and Nico, Jason sank to his knees next to the fallen demigod.

"By Jove . . ." Nico didn't seem to be conscious. His eyes were closed, but his breaths were uneven and ragged.

Leo tugged on Jason's purple SPQR t-shirt. "Can you . . . " the fire user looked nearly on the verge of shedding tears. "Can you carry him to the medical bay? We need to get him below deck!"

The taller demigod nodded. "I'm on it." Jason frowned. Nico was not in good shape. Sections of the boy's clothes were soaked with blood.

Leo stood and backed up to give Jason room. The blond knelt beside Nico on one knee and placed one hand on the younger boy's back, while looping his other arm under his knees. He lifted the boy from the ground, and Nico released a slow groan.

"Leo, come on." Jason turned to the son of Hephaestus. "I don't even know where the medical bay is. Lead the way."

Jason studied the other demigod. His eyes had glazed over as if he was in a trance, and he looked over the stern of the ship, towards the sunrise. Just as Jason was about to repeat himself, Leo shook his head and offered Jason a small grin. "Step aside, Mr. Grace. Its Leo's time to shine!" Jason frowned at the other boy's behavior, but there was a much more dire situation to attend to. Leo threw open the door leading below deck and began down the stairs. The Roman was quick to follow.

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Nico wasn't very heavy, which was probably due to the lack of food he ingested since his trip to Tartarus, so they made the trip to the infirmary quickly.

"Here," Leo pointed to one of the few beds, "you can just lay him down there. We're gonna need to get his shirt off, though. Oh, and probably cut the fabric from his right thigh." Jason nodded and shot Leo a quick glance as he set Nico on the bed carefully. As soon as he was sure Nico was all set, he turned to the mechanic.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem a little . . . almost like you're freaking out."

"Of course I'm okay! Hey, I'm Leo Valdez! Nothing can get me down!" He tried to give a smile, but Jason had to admit, it was a pretty pathetic attempt.

The Roman put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Leo . . . you know he'll be okay. This is why we have ambrosia and nectar."

Leo blushed and looked down. "Right. I'll go grab some of that." Jason watched the boy as he ran out of the room. What was with him? Leo was usually the one to lighten the situation when it turned rough . . . but . . . wait. Was it possible that . . . Jason sat on the edge of Nico's bed and rested his head in his hands. There was no way. Leo would've told his friend something like this, right? Maybe he was wrong. But the way Leo was acting . . . it made sense to the son of Jupiter. He had seen Leo sneak glances at Nico, but he had always assumed the Greek was curious of the Ghost King. Jason's thoughts were interrupted when Percy, Piper, Hazel, Annabeth and Frank came running into the room. Hazel was the first to the bedside, and when she saw her half-brother, she brought her hands to her face and bit back a cry as tears fell from her eyes. Frank grabbed her hand and pulled her aside, whispering encouraging words.

"Oh, gods . . . " Annabeth covered here mouth with a hand, and wrapped her other arm around her boyfriend.

"GUYS! Guysguysguysguys we have a PROBLEM!" Leo came sprinting into the room.

Piper walked over to him. "What's wrong? Do you have the ambrosia and nectar?"

"That's the problem!" Leo buried his hands in his curly hair. "I can't find it! It's all gone!" At these words, everyone looked to Leo.

"Did we . . . run out? But we had so much!" Percy exclaimed. "Are you sure? Did you look all over?"

"We never moved it from the box, and if nothing was in there, it wouldn't be anywhere else." Piper had a hand on Leo's back.

"Hey," Frank interrupted. "It'll be fine. I know how to take care of injuries like these. My mom taught me how to stitch. Do we have supplies for that?"

"Here." Leo reached into his tool belt and pulled out a container of Altoids.

A confused look crossed Frank's face. "Um, Leo . . . that's not what you use—"

"Ugh, I know, I know." Leo tossed the mints to Annabeth, who put them down on the table by the door. The mechanic tried again, and this time was successful. He handed Frank the supplies.

"We need to get his shirt off. Jason, can you get that?" The son of Mars immediately took charge. Jason nodded and began to pull Nico's shirt off. "Hey," he frowned. "There's dried blood all over it. I can't pull it off."

"Here." Frank handed the other demigod a pair of scissors and Jason proceeded to cut the fabric. Once he had cut it completely, the boy carefully lifted Nico's back from the bed and slid the shirt from underneath him. He tossed the clothing to Percy, who threw it in the trash. It wouldn't be of any use to anyone anymore.

"Can you cut the fabric around his left thigh, too?" Frank moved closer to Nico's chest, and began to work on cleaning out the wound. Jason nodded and moved down. He cut the section of fabric around the son of Hades's thigh down the middle and around the side, so that it could be pulled away clearly from the injury.

"Annabeth, I need you to clean out the wounds on his hand and thigh while I start the stitching," Frank called. The girl rushed to the bed and set to work.

Jason moved back to where Leo was standing, in the corner. "How are you doing?"

"Jason, I'm fine, quit giving me looks."

"What looks?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Never mind."

The older demigod turned to the other. "Leo, you are quite clearly anything but fine right now. What's going on with you?"

Leo looked down. "I already told you, its nothing important," he mumbled.

"So there is something."

The son of Hephaestus frowned at the floorboards. "Did I say that?"

"You implied it."

Leo crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine," he huffed. The boy looked up at the older demigod. "There is something. But that something is a secret, which means I can't tell anyone." He turned his attention back to the bed where Nico was laying, and immediately his irritation faded, and was replaced by anxiety.

"You're worried about him," Jason realized.

"Of course I am!" Leo waved his arms above his head. "Everyone is!"

"Yeah, but not everyone is freaking out and crying in the corner."

Leo's eyes fell back to the floor in defeat. It wouldn't be of any use to hide it. Knowing Jason, he would find out eventually, anyway. " . . . Jason, I really hope you're not homophobic, cause I'mkindofbiandIkindoflikeNico." He said it with such speed that the son of Jupiter could barely make out the words.

"Oh, okay."

Leo's face was bright red. "Look, Jason, I'm sorry I really shouldn't—" he looked to the other demigod, and his mouth fell open. "Wait, did you say okay?"

Jason nodded. "Leo, things like that don't matter to me. I mean, sure, I was surprised when Ni—" his eyes widened, realizing that Nico's most precious secret had almost slipped out of his mouth. "Er, never mind. The point is, it doesn't matter to me that you're bi. I don't care about things like that, and—"

Leo cut him off. "You were going to say Nic—"

"No I wasn't." Jason's voice cracked. He sighed.

Leo's eyes were shining with possibilities. "Jason, is he . . ."

Jason looked away. "Leo, I promised him that I wouldn't tell a soul his secret, so you'd better keep it to yourself if you don't want him to send us both to Orcus." With that, the son of Jupiter departed, rubbing his face with his hand. He couldn't believe he had let the son of Hades down like that. Nico would murder him if he ever found out. Jason looked back at Leo, who was grinning like a madman. He shook his head.

I may have just ruined Nico's life.

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Phew, that was getting long. Well, long for my standards, hahaha. I hope you enjoyed it! Of course, if you just want me to conclude this mini-adventure thing with a second chapter, I can do that. Oh, and by the way, Orcus is what the Ancient Roman's referred to the Underworld as. I found it appropriate for Jason to say.