Author's note (AN): Yeah, I can't keep my fingers off the keyboard, it's like I'm addicted to writing stories. Each time an idea pops up in my head, I just have to write it down and publish it.

This is my first try in writing an AU (I think that means Altered Universe or something like that — to put it short, it's not canon-conform, but alters major facts or circumstances. Like dropping the whole demigod-thing), so please don't bite my head off. I'll do my best to make the (mortal) world of PJO and HoO plausible.

tl;dr: Enjoy reading, and please review!

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus are the property of Rick Riordan.

Introduction:

Nico di Angelo is a famous musician (or rather, singer-songwriter), who writes and sings dark, emotional songs, always accompanied by his black steel string guitar. In his songs, he processes sorrowful events from his past, such as the death of his mother and his sister. He is very popular, and the tabloid press reports everything he does. He lives with his father and stepmother, the chauffeur, and the butler.

Nico

Nico stared out of the window of the car. He hated long car rides. Especially long car rides on empty country road, with nothing interesting in sight, only trees and meadows. Even the truck who carried the equipment wasn't around; it drove a few miles in ahead of them. Only thing he could see were a few other cars and a motorbike.

He was coming from a gig, and Nico was dog-tired. All he wanted was to drop into his bed and sleep for the next week. But that wouldn't happen. Nico's father was very ambitious, and although Nico was grateful that he had been given the opportunity to turn his passion into a job, he sometimes wished he wouldn't have to rush from one performance to the next. Besides from composing songs, writing lyrics, and practicing, he had close to no free time. Damn, he was 16, he should be hanging out with his friends (he had no friends) or making out with his boyfriend (he had no boyfriend).

The chauffeur, Jules-Albert, changed the lane to give way to a way too fast car. The sudden motion jolted Nico from his thoughts. A second, and then a third car zoomed by, tooting loudly. They had gotten into the middle of an illegal street race. Jules-Albert did all he could to evade the racing cars, but it was too late. The last car, who's driver was obviously half-drunk, crashed into their car.

CRASH!

Nico tried to open his eyes, and gasped when he felt a sharp pain in his left side. His vision was blurry, but he was sure he could see a face. Slowly, all of his senses returned. He lay on a hard ground, in a puddle of liquid. Judging by the pain above his left hip, probably his own blood. He could hear fire and feel the cold air. Apparently, he was wrapped up in what felt like a rescue blanket.

"Don't move." a voice said, and the blurry face slowly came into Nico's focus. Black hair and green eyes. "Can you hear me?" Nico managed a small nod. "Good. Don't try to move. How many fingers am I showing?" Nico tried to count them. "Three?" "Good. Can you count to ten?" Nico wondered whether this guy was mental, but he did him the favor. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten." Oh, right, that's what one did to make sure that the victims of an accident hadn't any brain injuries.

The boy sighed in relief. "Good. Seems your head has no severe injuries. What's your name?" "Nico."

Nico waited for the boy to flip out. Scrawny, dark-haired teen named Nico. He was sure the guy would recognize him and act like a typical fan. He could already imagine his next words. Nico di Angelo? Can I have an autograph? But the guy merely shrugged. "I'm Percy" he said.

Nico tried to remember. They had been driving, some cars had overtaken them, and then- the memory hit him with a shock.

"The accident! What happened? Where is Jules-Albert? What-" he tried to sit up, but Percy held him on the ground. "Relax. You're hyperventilating. Come on, you must slow your breathing down. Can you see my breaths? Try to breath in sync with them." Nico tried, and slowly, he calmed down. Percy let go of him. "Your car is mostly destroyed. I assume Jules-Albert is the chauffeur? He's hurt and knocked out, but he'll make it. The car has hit the tail of your car, so your condition is worse than his.

You most likely have a concussion. Your right arm is broken, you've got scrapes all over your body, and a shrapnel is stuck in your ribcage. You're lucky, it missed both your heart and lungs. I did my best to bandage the wounds, but it's up to the surgeons to remove the splinter. Don't worry, I've already called an ambulance."

Nico's eyelids felt heavy, and he felt the sudden urge to sleep, but Percy shook his shoulders. "Come on, stay with me. Talk to me, tell me anything, but you must not fall unconscious.

Nico fought the fatigue. And he talked. He didn't pay any attention to the words that came out of his mouth. Something about guitars, and annoying car rides, and the horrible music that some radio stations played. Gods, he was rambling. But he didn't dare talking about himself so he wouldn't reveal his identity, but he talked about harmless things.

He heard sirens closing up on them, and suddenly there were the sounds of doors getting slammed, and voices shouting commands. He felt Percy putting something in his pocket. "Nico, do me a favor. Call me when you're fully recovered, would you? The number is on the note that I gave you." Nico managed to nod. Then his eyes fell shut, and this time there was no way he'd open them again. He got lifted and felt that he moved, voices all around him. The siren became louder, and he felt hands touching him, carefully removing some of the bandages and treating his wounds.

Eventually, he fell asleep.

Percy

Percy had been questioned by a few police officers for one hour before he was allowed to drive home. No, he hadn't seen the license plate of the accident car. Yes, he had seen the accident, and yes, he could describe it. A few idiots had organized a street race, and one of them had crashed into the car. No, he hadn't participated in the race. He had been fifty meters behind the racers when the accident had happened, and immediately stopped and administered first aid. After he had signed his testimony, he could finally leave the police office and drive home.

He turned on his phone, and found a dozen missed calls. Right, his mother and her new husband must be worried sick. The car accident had certainly already been in the news, and if they couldn't reach him… He dialed his mother's number, and a second later, his mother answered the call.

"Percy? Is that you? Oh god, I was so worried. They said that there was an accident, and I couldn't reach you. Are you okay? Why didn't you answer the phone?"

"Mom, I'm fine. Yeah, I saw the accident on my way back from the beach. You know, I spent the day with Jason, Leo and Piper. I'm fine, really. Unlike the poor guy who's car was crashed. What?" He listened for a second. "Yeah, I'm glad I made this first aid course last year. I've patched the guy up as good as I could until the medics arrived."

In the end, he agreed to stay at his mother's place for the weekend before he'd return into his own, humble apartment.

While he drove towards Manhattan, he kept thinking about the scrawny teen whom he had taken care of. Dang, by the looks of it, this boy had almost been starving. Nico. The name rang a bell in the back of his head, but, to speak figuratively, he didn't recognize the sound. He was sure that he should know this guy, but he couldn't remember why.

And he couldn't lie to himself, scrawny or not, the guy had been hot. He had taken his shirt off to take care of the wound in his ribcage, and he had had a hard time not to stare at him.

He called himself to order. He would probably never see this guy again. New York had eight and a half million inhabitants, if Nico even lived in New York. Maths wasn't Percy's strong suit, but even he could calculate the odds of finding one particular person amongst 323,000,000 Americans.

But he had given him his phone number, and Nico had promised to call him. Still, he had a concussion, he'd be surprised if Nico remembered anything after he woke up.