PJatO || Nicercy || Of Heroes, Villains and Whatever Nico Wants to Be || Nicercy || PJatO
Title: Of Heroes, Villains and Whatever Nico Wants to Be – How Amnesia Saves the Day
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; superhero AU
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Warnings: shounen-ai, superheroes/supervillains, amnesia, hurt/comfort, fluff, family of choice, shoujo-ai, hetero, polyamory (threesome)
Main Pairing: Nico/Percy
Side Pairings: Octavian/Luke, Jason/Reyna/Annabeth
Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Tyson, Ella, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Octavian Simmons, Luke Castellan, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Thalia Grace, Piper McLean
Summary: Nico di Angelo is a villain. He has always been a villain, it's all he knows. Ever since his mother and sister had died at the hands of a villain just because his father was a hero. The hatred had festered over the years. He's all alone. Lonely. The only good thing in his life is his arch nemesis, the great Siren, and when the two go toe-to-toe. Until one day, when an explosion knocks him unconscious and when he wakes up, he has no memories of his life.
Of Heroes, Villains and Whatever Nico Wants to Be
How Amnesia Saves the Day
All his life, Nico had lived in his father's shadow. His father, Hades di Angelo, the great Shadow Knight, one of the greatest heroes the US, no the world, had ever seen. As a little boy, all Nico wanted was to be like his father. To be a great hero like him, saving innocent people, being cherished and cheered on by the people. Having little children play with action figures of him.
That changed the day his sister and mother were murdered.
A vicious villain, the Lightning Bolt, had taken them hostage, all three of them, the innocent family of the Shadow King. And Nico had been the only one to get out of it alive. Standing at the grave of his mother and sister, only a ten-year-old boy, Nico realized it. Realized that being a hero was ungrateful. Wasn't worth it. Hades, he had been basically destroyed by the death of his wife and daughter. He couldn't go on anymore, he pulled back, hid together with Nico until the day he drank himself to death in his grief. And all the press did was slaughter him in the newspapers. The hero who had forsaken his people. No. The man who had lost his family, but no one cared. Heroes weren't people, not to the 'innocent civilians'. They were like work-animals, like cattle, having a certain purpose and having to fulfill that. And if they did not fulfill that purpose anymore, they were put down by the people themselves. Like all those years of service were worthless.
When Nico turned sixteen, all alone in the world, he became the Ghost King. A supervillain, who fought harshly and strongly against the system, against the arrogant, entitled people who thought they deserved for others to just throw their lives away like that without actually caring at all. A hero made one misstep and they would be slandered in the press.
It wasn't what Nico truly wanted. He had always wanted to be a hero. But he wasn't. He wasn't meant to be a hero. He worked better fighting against the heroes. The Olympian League in particular, as the heroes of the US called themselves. One in particular was Nico's arch nemesis.
The Atlantean. A cheeky, reckless, loudmouthed, gorgeous hero with elemental powers. He was this generation's golden boy, a hero of the second generation, son of the Ocean King, a hero Nico's father had fought alongside. And the Atlantean, he was pure and good, but he was so blind. He just blindly did what the government told him, to save the civilians.
Nico wasn't fighting the Atlantean to harm him. It was more... playful banter, really. Nico, trying to make the pretty hero realize his own stupidity for trusting the people and the government.
All of that changed the day Nico got into the middle of a bigger brawl. He had meant to engage in their regular little games, but then the crazy Queen B had attacked the Atlantean and Nico had, without thinking about it, thrown himself in front of the gorgeous hero, hit by her weapon.
/break\
Percy Jackson was proud to be doing what he was doing. He was proud to be a hero, celebrated by the people he saved and protected. He loved the team he worked with. They were amazing and they were a well-oiled machine. He enjoyed fighting alongside them. Fighting against the supervillains threatening New York. Granted, there were different types of those.
There were the super-powered losers. They had special abilities, but no idea what to do with them or no imagination to come up with evil plots themselves. They were easy to take care of.
Then there were the actual threats who harmed people, who tried to take over the world. Those required a bit more care. They were harder to defeat, but they were the reasons Percy was a hero.
And then there was the Ghost King, who just came out to play a game of cat and mouse. Percy liked being a cat. Chasing the Ghost King was basically his favorite pastime.
The impractical thing was when those overlapped. Today, for example, Percy had gone out to play with his Ghost King, have a funny chase. But then his best friend Annabeth contacted him through the coms and informed him that Queen B had attacked. So Percy got sidetracked and even though his Ghost King followed him, in the aftermath of the attack, he could be found nowhere.
"Hey there. Are you okay?", asked Percy gently, concerned as he checked on the wounded.
He always did that after an attack; after all, he was a paramedic in his civilian life. There was an unconscious man, with sharp features and dark curls. Percy checked his vitals and breathing as the man slowly came to it again. He groaned, looking confused.
"Sei un angelo?", asked the stranger in awe as he stared at Percy.
"Uhm. Uh... Do you speak English?", asked Percy tentatively.
"Are you an angel?", asked the stranger once more, tilting his head.
Percy blushed brightly at that as Piper came rushing over with a carrier. "I—I'm Percy. And I'm not an angel. But I will be helping you. Do you remember what happened to you?"
"No... I... who am I?", asked the gorgeous man confused.
"I'm sure we'll find out", assured Piper with a smile. "Now let's get you to the hospital."
/break\
"You're loitering. Do stop loitering in my ER", requested the head of the ER.
"Doctor Simmons, I just wish we would be able to help with your awful, serious condition", sighed Percy dramatically. "Alas, I suppose that stick up your ass, not even a world-class surgeon like Doctor Castellan could remove it, despite multiple attempts."
Octavian Simmons turned to glare pointedly at Percy, while a giggling Piper grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along and away from the doctor who was five seconds from either throwing Percy out of the hospital or publicly spanking him.
"Rachel, love of my life", declared Percy as they reached the reception.
The head-nurse looked up with both eyebrows raised. "Let me guess: You pissed Tav off again and now he won't let you close to that patient you two brought in earlier?"
"You know me like no one else does, Rach", grinned Percy. "Any news on him?"
Rachel leveled a glare at him. "I can not give you information on patients, Percy. You know that. What I can do is take Tav out for lunch so you can sneak past him and talk to your patient yourself."
"You truly are the best", smiled Percy happily.
"I'll get started on paperwork", snorted Piper and shook her head fondly.
Percy smiled brightly as he bounced on the balls of his feet before making his way to the stranger's room. It was just that Percy wanted to see if the poor guy was alright. He had seemed rather out of it earlier. Sneaking into the room, Percy tilted his head thoughtfully.
"My angel...", whispered the man in the hospital bed in awe. "You were real."
Percy's cheeks darkened. And then there was that. Angel. What a charmer.
"I'm not an angel. I'm a paramedic", corrected Percy with a smile. "How are you doing? Feel any better yet? You were in the middle of the attack, you know?"
"So I've been told", sighed the man, running his fingers through his dark curls. "I don't remember a thing. And... I mean it. They say my name is Niccoló Antonio di Angelo, according to my ID. But that's it. So, aside from the sore ribs and the lack of any memories at all, I'm doing great."
"You... don't remember anything?", asked Percy worried, sitting down next to the bed.
"Nothing", sighed Niccoló, staring out of the window with a forlorn look on his face. "I don't know why I was there. I don't know who I am. And... there's no one."
"What does that mean?", asked Percy confused.
"I don't have any emergency contacts listed. They tried finding someone, but apparently my entire family has already died years ago", muttered Niccoló. "It seems... I'm all alone."
"Well. Not anymore", declared Percy with a bright smile, thrusting his hand out. "Hello. I'm Percy Jackson. It's a pleasure to meet you. I love making new friends."
Niccoló turned to him with a tentative, small smile as he slowly took the offered hand. "I'm... Niccoló di Angelo, or so I'm told. It's... nice to meet you too, Percy."
"Niccoló", repeated Percy with a frown. "Mh. How about Nico? Sounds good?"
"Nico", echoed the dark-haired man on the bed thoughtfully. "Nico. It sounds... Yes. I like it."
"Perfect", smiled Percy pleased. "Listen, I gotta get back to work, but I promise I'll drop by again."
"I'll be... looking forward to that", smiled the newly nicknamed Nico pleased.
/break\
"He's doing it again, isn't he?"
"Oh, he totally is, Annabeth", grunted Piper in agreement as she rummaged through the cabinets.
The blonde she was talking to heaved a deep sigh at that. She ran a hand through her long, blonde curls, causing them to fall all over her face like a curtain. Annabeth heaved a sigh as she continued watching how Piper rummaged through the cabinets. She startled a little when someone gathered her hair from behind and looped a satin band around them to tie the long curls back.
"Hey, babe", grinned her blonde lover, leaning down to kiss Annabeth's neck.
"Jason. We need another intervention for Percy", declared Annabeth with a frown.
She craned her neck enough to properly kiss her boyfriend. He smiled at her, the smile tugging on the scar on his lip, his electric-blue eyes sparkling as he sat down next to her.
"What did he do this time?", wanted Jason to know.
"Getting attached", replied Piper before she emerged with a triumphant sound. "Spaghetti!"
"Better than starvation, I suppose", sighed Annabeth.
"You do know that you could also just go groceries shopping", offered Jason. "And... cook, right?"
"Babe. If you don't want to sleep on the couch, learn when to stop talking", suggested Annabeth.
"Probably right", nodded Jason with a frown. "How about I order us something, mh?"
"Ah, so much better", smiled Annabeth pleased as she pecked his lips.
"So, to what is Percy getting attached this time?", inquired Jason while getting the take-out menus.
"The stray he found after the last time we fought Queen B", informed Piper.
"Are the others going to be here for dinner?", asked Annabeth while looking through the menus.
"Texting Thalia now", chimed Jason while typing away on his phone.
"Rachel is at the park with Ella and Tyson, so they won't make it", replied Piper. "So that's a no on them. She said she wanted to go and get pizza for the kids."
"Thalia says that she and Reyna could go and pick Octavian and Luke up after their shift and then they'd be here in about an hour. Sound good?", asked Jason.
"Sounds good enough for me. Pipes?", shrugged Annabeth.
"What about Percy?", wanted Piper to know with a frown.
"He's out with Nico", grunted Annabeth with a deliberate glare.
"Lemme guess: That's the stray", hummed Jason a bit amused. "Don't worry so much, Annie. Percy will take care of the guy for a while and when the guy doesn't need his help anymore, things will calm down. Like always when Percy gets overly invested in someone they saved."
"This one is different", argued Piper with a frown. "We found this one after an attack where we fought against a villain. Meaning Percy is blaming himself for the guy getting hurt in the first place. Because if Percy had been faster, then the poor guy wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"Percy will be the death of us all", declared Annabeth.
/break\
Percy was sprawled out on the ground, building a castle with Ella and Tyson. The other teammates were sitting on the couches around them and Percy was aware that they were staring at him. They had been judging him for a solid week now. Some, like Annabeth and Piper, longer than that.
Sometimes, his patchwork family was a little overbearing.
It had started small enough. Percy had moved in with the four he had grown up with on the streets. The Grace-siblings Thalia and Jason, as well Thalia's best friend Luke and Percy's sister-by-anything-but-blood Annabeth. Thalia and Jason had been living on the streets because their mom had been a heavy drinker. Annabeth had run away from her stepmother, though her stepmother was nothing compared to Percy's stepfather. And Luke? His mother had gone insane and he had no place to call home anymore. Thalia and Jason's mom had sobered up, found a nice husband with a little daughter – Piper, who then became one of them – and had tracked Jason and Thalia down again.
But by then, Jason had already been a teenager and the five of them had been living together in a small apartment. There was no going back. There was no abandoning the little family they had found for themselves, Thalia and Jason could not turn their backs on Percy, Luke and Annabeth. They did however give Beryl – and her new husband and stepdaughter – a chance and got to know them. By the time graduation rolled around, Piper had become a part of their little pack too.
Annabeth and Jason were basically childhood sweethearts. They started dating in high school – because of course did always-fussing-dad Luke force them to go to school. The nerd and the jock.
Luke, Thalia, Jason, Annabeth, Percy and Piper. The six of them wanted great things. They wanted to achieve great things together, because the main thing that had brought them together was that they weren't quite normal. They were special. Powered people.
Percy had aquakinetic powers. It was what had scared his stepfather so much that the man had lashed out and regularly beaten a defenseless, young Percy up until Percy ran away.
Annabeth was simply a genius. Eidetic memory, a certified genius too. Too clever for a girl her age. Her stepmother always put her down, belittled her. Until she ran away.
Both Thalia and Jason had storm-related powers, passed on from their father apparently. Their mother? She had been so in over her head with two small children with superpowers, it was what had driven her into drinking, which in return had made Thalia take Jason and run away.
Luke was a telepath, thief and trickster, all traits passed on from his father. When he had left, Luke's mother had broken down and slowly slipped into insanity until a young Luke couldn't bear it anymore and ran away from home – just to run into Thalia, then Annabeth and lastly Percy.
They had been surprised when they met Piper and realized that she too had powers. Mind-control, though on a more subtle level. She could convince people to do her bidding. A scary power, one that Luke had helped her understand, since his telepathy was close enough to that.
So after graduation, Piper moved in with the others – because they were kin.
Percy and Piper trained to become paramedics, while Luke worked hard to become a surgeon and Thalia became a police detective. Jason was not good at keeping a job, he just bounced from one small job to another, not really caring about those things.
Through their jobs, they had met the rest of their team.
Rachel, who was a nurse at the hospital where Luke worked, had the gift of clairvoyance. And so did her little sister Ella and her best friend, Doctor Octavian Simmons. Though unlike Rachel, Octavian wasn't very interested in using his gift to save the world. Still, Octavian had kind of gotten involved, because while he didn't want to actively save the world, he did want to keep his best friend Rachel and his boyfriend Luke safe (and the others who were his family at this point too, not that Octavian would ever admit that, but Percy and everyone else really knew it).
And then Reyna had entered their lives. Thalia's partner at the NYPD. She had done a great job hiding her superhuman strength, but one day during a call, Reyna had slipped – and Thalia noticed and introduced Reyna to their little gang of powered people. Reyna, well, she particularly took to Annabeth and Jason. It only took them two months to fall into a poly relationship.
The last one to join their little gang had been Tyson. Precious, orphaned, seven-year-old Tyson who had aquakinetic powers just like Percy and who Percy had to take in when he found him.
"You guys are silently judging my decisions again", hummed Percy casually.
"Not all of us silently", disagreed Annabeth pointedly.
"Babe", whispered Reyna gently as she rested a hand on Annabeth's thigh.
"Yeah, yeah, I remember. Be nice", grunted Annabeth and rolled her eyes.
"Just spill it, guys", sighed Percy as he sat up and turned to look at them.
"Perce...", drawled Thalia, looking at him with something akin to pain.
"Don't think we don't appreciate your kind and loving heart", interjected Luke gently.
"But it's too kind and loving", stated Octavian next to him plainly.
"Can you guys get to the point?", requested Percy unimpressed.
"We love you and we know you got your soft heart because you were once someone without anyone who got taken in by us", drawled Annabeth, eyes more gentle as she looked at him this time. "But our life is too dangerous and complicated by now to take in strays."
"Ah. This is about Nico", nodded Percy in understanding.
"You bet your pretty ass it's about Nico", snorted Piper pointedly.
"More like: You betting your pretty ass is the problem", offered Reyna, both eyebrows raised.
Piper giggled at that, earning herself an elbow in the ribs from Rachel who rolled her eyes. "Look, Percy, we get that you have a thing for this Nico and he is fine to look at, but..."
"When me and Annie got together with Rey, we already knew she had special powers. And she knew about our powers. She was already part of our team", supplied Jason.
"Same goes for Tav and me", agreed Luke gravely.
"But getting involved with an innocent non-powered civilian...", sighed Octavian and shook his head. "It's reckless endangerment of the boy and also of us. You risk the secret identities of your little team. If your boy-toy learns of our secret identities, he might become a target. Or he might spill our secret and get all of us into trouble, Perseus."
Percy wiggled his nose and glowered. "Okay, first of all, Nico is not my boy-toy. Nico is my friend. And he is all alone. I don't... I don't want him to be alone."
Seeing the serious faces of his friends, Percy heaved a deep sigh and used his true superpower. Not the manipulation of water, no, but the kitten-eyes of doom. Luke, Annabeth, Piper and Rachel were completely helpless against those and could never deny him anything.
"Percy, no. Percy, that's cheating", complained Luke with a groan.
He turned to bury his face in Octavian's shoulder to avoid the kitten-eyes, so Percy added a high-pitched whine to it. Luke groaned again and clung onto Octavian for strength.
"Look, guys, I... I don't plan on marrying the guy or anything. I just want to be his friend. And I think he could use some good friends. And you are certified the best friends anyone could possibly have, so I want you to befriend him too. Please? I already invited him to our barbecue."
"I like him", shrugged Rachel casually. "I spent a lot of time with him while he was staying at the hospital too. He's a nice guy. Very... sad. Deeply sad."
"Ple—ease, guys?", pleaded Percy, the kitten-eyes intensifying even more.
"One barbecue", sighed Thalia and shook her head. "Only one."
/break\
Percy smiled brightly at Nico, watching with fond amusement how the Italian ducked his head a little at the attention. It was a reflex, something Nico had done ever since Percy had first met the other two months ago. If he had to guess, then Percy would say Nico, even before his amnesia, wasn't used to getting a lot of attention from people. Which only made sense, considering it had been two months and no one was looking for Nico. Thanks to his ID, they knew his name and found out his address. Percy, who had already spent two weeks sitting at Nico's bedside after promising the Italian to be there for him, had also gone with Nico home, unsure how well the amnesic young man would take it. The apartment had been... tiny. Empty. Only one picture, a family picture but Nico was still a little boy on it. They easily found out that his father, mother and sister were all dead. No pictures of friends. No addresses or phone-numbers of friends. Together, the two had gone and asked around with Nico's neighbors, but most didn't know him at all and those who had seen him could only say that he was a 'polite, young man who didn't cause trouble'.
Percy had done everything in his powers to help Nico find someone. But there was no one. It was as though the old Nico didn't have anyone care for him and that just broke Percy's heart into tiny pieces, which might just be why he got even more invested in Nico.
The two of them became fast friends, because Nico was sweet and nice and Percy did his best to 'reintroduce' Nico to everything important – like Doctor Who and Marvel, as well as food and drinks and clothes and literally everything. It was a lot of fun to see Nico's reactions to all those things he seemingly experienced for the first time.
And someone as amazing and sweet as Nico deserved to have friends. So since Percy happened to have the best friends in the world, he figured he could share. Which brought them to now, where Percy was herding Nico into the house he was sharing with Thalia, Piper, Rachel and the two little ones. They regularly had barbecues and movie nights with the entire team since Luke was living with Octavian, while Annabeth and Jason had moved out to live with Reyna. And tonight Percy had invited Nico to join their little barbecue – a perfect opportunity for Nico to go through salads and meats and sausages and everything else they always serve during their barbecues.
"Gu—uys, there's someone I want you to meet", called Percy out.
"And you say it is really alright for me to meet your family?", asked Nico a little nervously.
"Oh, my family will love you", assured Percy with a bright smile.
After all, I kind of do already, thought a traitorous part of his brain. And yes, that might have happened. He had not yet dared to voice it to anyone, because he knew his friends would accuse him of his helper syndrome taking over. And Nico deserved better than being ambushed like that. The poor guy was still struggling with finding out who he was, he didn't need a boyfriend but a friend he could rely on. And Percy wanted to be that friend. He might end up confessing once Nico regained his memories though. Smiling reassuringly, Percy rested a hand on Nico's lower back, ushering him on into the living room. Ella and Tyson jumped up to circle Nico.
"Hello! I'm Tyson, Percy is my big brother!", exclaimed Tyson excitedly.
"Ah, hello. It's... nice to meet you", smiled Nico reluctantly, looking at the boy.
"I'm Ella", added Ella, staring adoringly up at him. "Hello."
"Ella is my roommate's sister", elaborated Percy with a smile, ruffling the kids' hair.
Nico offered a reluctant smile to the girl before following Percy like a lost puppy out into the garden. Now came the hard part. Making his team behave around Nico. Annabeth looked weary.
"Okay. This is where it gets complicated, but do not fret! I thought ahead!", declared Percy.
"...Did you just rhyme?", asked Jason doubtfully.
Percy stuck his tongue out before getting a couple stickers out of his pocket and walking up to each of his friends, effectively putting stickers on them all. Nico cautiously followed and read them with interest, never more than two feet away from Percy as though he feared Percy could leave.
"Annabeth, medical examiner, dating: Jason and Reyna", read Nico softly, blinking.
He continued on, reading every one of the stickers that Percy had put onto his friends' chests. "Reyna, cop, dating: Annabeth and Jason. Piper, paramedic, single and... looking, Thalia and Jason's sister. Thalia, cop, single and we all know why, Jason and Piper's sister. Luke, surgeon, dating: Octavian, though we all don't know why. Rachel, nurse, single and happy, Ella's sister. Jason... can't make up his mind what the hell he wants from his life...? Dating: Reyna and Annabeth, Thalia and Piper's brother. Octavian, part-time doctor, full-time pain in the... ass. Okay. Dating: Luke."
"I figured this might help for the first meeting. Since I know they might be... a lot all at once", laughed Percy sheepishly while being glared at by Thalia, Jason and Octavian.
Piper held up one hand as she walked back into the house and returned after a few moments with another sticker to pin it to Percy's chest, catching Nico's attention and curiosity once more. "Percy, part-time paramedic and full-time trouble-magnet, desperately single and looking for a... cute guy... you, Tyson's brother."
Percy blushed embarrassed, but he figured that he deserved that. With a sheepish smile on his lips did he usher Nico over to sit at the table with Reyna, Annabeth and Rachel. For good measure, Percy threw a last pleading look at his friends before excusing himself to go and finish the salads with Piper and Jason while Thalia, Luke and Octavian were manning the grills.
/break\
Nico heaved a shaky breath as he was laying on his bed in his small, impersonal, bleak apartment. His eyes wandered to find the small spots of color and light. The wall opposite his bed with pictures. The one photo he had before – of himself and his family – hanging framed and centered, surrounded by photos of himself with his... friends. Most of them with Percy. Some with Nico, Percy, Tyson, Ella and Rachel in the zoo (there was one of the Jackson brothers cooing at the baby seals, that Nico cherished above most others), one where he had gone out to a club with Piper, another one of himself after getting his first post-amnesia tattoo with Thalia as back-up, the female punk giving him the thumbs up while he suffered, one of Jason and Reyna with Nico at a baseball game, another one of the entire group at the beach. Nico's heart fluttered.
It had been six months now since he had woken up in the hospital without any memories at all.
From day one, literally the very first thing he had consciously seen and memorized, there had been Percy Jackson's face. And from that day on, Percy had been in his life, helped him adjust to things, helped him rediscover himself, introduced him to all of those other amazing people who had – albeit reluctant at first – accepted him in their midst and given him a new family.
They were amazing. Nico loved them, even Annabeth and Octavian despite them giving him a hard time pretty often. Reyna and Jason were definitely his favorites, Reyna having become his best friend. And then there was Percy, who was so much more. Percy was everything. Percy was the light of his days, the one who had filled Nico's blank, dark, loveless life with warmth, light and love.
There was just one problem. One gigantic, huge, horrible problem.
Nico remembered.
It had started two months ago – when he had already been good friends with them all, when he had already managed to slowly and irredeemably fall in love with Percy. Small snippets at first, things that didn't quite make sense to him. About attacks and fights. Then about his family. Emotions too. Anger. Hatred. Disappointment. Loneliness. So much loneliness. Nico hated that feeling. Whenever one of those memories washed over him, he would automatically find his way to the Jackson-Dare-Grace-McLean household for warmth and safety and companionship.
Only lately had it started to make sense. The pieces slowly falling into place until he could see the grand picture. He was Nico di Angelo, orphaned son of the superhero Shadow Knight. He was Nico di Angelo, the Ghost King and supervillain. He was Nico di Angelo, with a huge crush on the Atlantean. He was Nico di Angelo, the opponent of the Olympian League.
He had struggled with that realization for days. Though at least that helped him control his powers, which had been flaring up since the third month after the attack. Just random flickering of darkness, shadows deepening and growing, the occasional 'hallucination' and voices in his head. Now he knew it was his power to control shadows and that he could see and hear ghosts. That helped with the whole thinking he was going insane part of things. Sighing, he turned toward his phone.
You up for pizza, Nico? – Reyna
And movies! – Jason
Also bought ice-cream – Rachel
Oh, you're the best, Rach! Love ya – Piper
You only love me when I buy ice-cream. I feel used – Rachel
Nico? – Reyna
Yeah. Pizza and ice-cream sound great. Be there in 10. What movie?, typed Nico hastily.
Heaving a shaky sigh, Nico swung his legs over his bed and went to get dressed. He was a supervillain. He was a bad guy. All the things he had done, they looked so... trivial now. So petty.
Instead of going on and living, instead of finding a new family and friends, instead of moving on, he had harbored a grudge and let the darkness fester on until it had completely consumed him. He had allowed the tragic loss of his family to completely halt his whole life. He only realized what he had been missing now that he had a new family, now that he had Percy and the others in his life.
There was just one problem. And didn't that seem to be a theme with him?
He was a supervillain – and his new family were superheroes.
The guy he had fallen in love with over the past months was the hero he had been crushing on for years. His arch-nemesis. The cutie Nico had been taunting and making fun of for years.
Because yes, Nico di Angelo was not a complete moron.
Those sea-green eyes, shining brightly through the blue mask the Atlantean was usually wearing, oh, they were remarkable. The speech-pattern. The way he moved. That ass.
And from there on out, it really wasn't too hard to figure out the rest. Thunder and Lightning, the storm-controlling, constantly bickering brother-sister duo were Thalia and Jason. The Amazon, a very agile woman extremely well-trained in hand-to-hand combat and particularly well-tuned with Thunder was Reyna, Thalia's partner at the NYPD who had also already given Nico some crash-course in hand-to-hand combat so he wouldn't be defenseless. From the snarky teasing between Percy and Piper alone, Nico could tell that Piper was the Siren – and Nico was ridiculously relieved that against his initial suspicions the Atlantean and the Siren were not a couple in real life. The pranks Luke and Percy pulled on the others alone were a dead giveaway that Luke was the Trickster. He could only guess that Annabeth must be Aegis, the voice in the earpieces that always did all the planning and coordinating. Octavian and Rachel didn't fit into the picture, but that figured too. Not everyone could be an active superhero, after all.
And that – that was the real, true, serious problem.
Nico di Angelo was a villain and a fraud. He was a villain pretending to be an innocent civilian, living among the heroes he was supposed to be opposing and being in love with one of them.
He was lying to them. Betraying them. Using them. But the worst was... he couldn't bring himself to stop. He loved them. Loved them all, not just Percy in a romantic way but them all in a familial way. If he were to tell them who he truly was, that he remembered himself, they would never speak to him again. They would probably put him in jail or something. They'd hate him.
"Ni—ico, Annabeth is being mean again", whined Percy and threw himself at Nico.
Nico had barely reached the door of the house as it was flung open and Percy latched onto him – full-on body-contact, all that warmth, the firm muscles and soft skin all over. Nico's heart stuttered as he carefully returned the hug of the dramatically sobbing hero.
"What did the mean blonde say this time?", asked Nico gently.
"I just told him that pineapples have zero business on pizza. It's illogical to put fruit on pizza! You don't put strawberries or bananas on your pizza either!", called Annabeth back with a huff.
"She wanted to deny me my pizza Hawaii", mumbled Percy with the infamous kitten-eyes.
Nico involuntarily tightened his hug on Percy, as he always did when faced with the kitten-eyes. Even though he knew that it was all in good humor and that no one had seriously upset or hurt him, Nico was still overly protective of Percy. Would always be. For the fact alone that Percy had saved his life – and had bothered to stick around. He could have, rationally speaking even should have, just handed him off to the hospital and moved on with his own life. Instead, Percy showed kindness to Nico when he truly needed it. Percy had shown Nico a kindness, warmth and love that Nico hadn't experienced in so many years now. Sighing softly, Nico buried his nose in Percy's hair.
"...Are you going to come in, or are you fine out there?", questioned Thalia doubtfully.
"You're not supposed to move when a cat latches onto you", replied Nico seriously.
He pointed down at Percy, who had both arms wrapped tightly around Nico's middle and his face buried in Nico's chest. "We don't even own a cat, Nico. What are you talking about?"
"He's pointing at you, idiot", called Piper from somewhere inside the house.
"...How did she even...?", whispered Nico surprised.
"You two are really not hard to read", snorted Thalia and rolled her eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?", muttered Nico with a confused frown.
"That literally everyone is getting sick and tired of the longing glances between the two of you", stated Luke with an amused smile as he poked his head out. "Now, would you just kiss and then get inside before the pizza gets cold, please? Jason! Take your hands off my pizza!"
"It's fair game when you're out of the room, Castellan", countered Jason from the living room.
The others left and only Percy and Nico were outside. Percy looked up at Nico with large eyes and he very slowly leaned up and in for what was quite obviously going to be a kiss. Nico's eyes widened and he dodged Percy, stepping around the now startled paramedic.
"We... should get inside, before the pizza gets cold", grunted Nico, not looking at Percy.
"...Right", whispered Percy and if his voice sounded a bit broken, then neither acknowledged it.
Nico couldn't do that to Percy. Percy deserved so much better than a lying, deceiving villain. Percy was everything that was pure and good and gentle in the world. Nico couldn't use him like that.
/break\
Things became awkward afterward. Of course they did. Percy distanced himself from Nico. Not overly so because Percy was too good a person to drop a friend even when that friend broke his heart. Which only made the ache in Nico's chest grow even more. He knew that given time, they'd recover their friendship. And that was better. Better than Percy falling in love with a villain.
"You're the biggest idiot on this planet", stated Reyna casually, throwing popcorn at him.
Nico glowered at his best friend. "I'm not an idiot. And don't throw popcorn at me, you child."
"You are an idiot", corrected Jason where he was comfortably lounged against Reyna.
The three of them were on the couch in the threesome's apartment, Annabeth being out with Percy. Or rather; she had fled the apartment when Nico had entered, a sneer on her face. She had been a hard nut to crack right from the beginning, but since Nico had rejected Percy, she was being hostile toward him. And Nico could not hold it against her. She was Percy's sister-by-anything-but-blood. She loved Percy, wanted to protect him. Percy probably went to her with the heartache. Nico deserved it. It and so much more, for still lying to them, deceiving them, tricking them into being friends with their enemy. But Nico was a villain, so he had the right to be selfish, right? To keep going. Keep lying. Keep clinging onto this warm family for as long as he could.
"You love him. He loves you. Why did you not kiss him when he tried?", asked Reyna. "It's been two weeks and the both of you are miserable. And Annabeth is that short of murdering you in your sleep. The only thing keeping her at bay is me indulging her in what is normally reserved to her birthday. But be assured, I will not be able to keep that up forever."
Nico made a disturbed face at how gleeful Jason looked, who easily noticed the look. "Oh, I love the birthday-thing too. Even if I'm being tied up and can only watch, but the show is great."
The disturbed face turned a little green. "Please no details, I beg of you."
"Oh. Will details be what could make you confess why you're not snogging Percy?", asked Jason.
"Okay. First of all, there is this very uncomfortably tight leather-outfit I wear-", started Reyna.
"No details, stop it!", exclaimed Nico, covering his ears.
"Then, I tie Jason up and gag him, since it's Annie's special time", continued Reyna unfazed. "Which is only fair, since I tie Annie up when it's Jason's birthday..."
"Gods above, please make her stop", groaned Nico frustrated. "My ears are bleeding!"
"Then spill the beans, di Angelo", warned Jason. "Or else she's going to explain to you in great detail how she makes me and Annie use a double-ended dildo sometimes..."
"I'm going to puke", grunted Nico, face green.
/break\
It had started out as a good day. By now, Percy and Nico had rekindled their friendship, even though there was still a strain to it. Lingering gazes before Percy realized and tore his eyes away from Nico, a sad look passing over his face. But today had been good, so far. Nico had gone to the park with Percy and Tyson. The three of them had fun. At least until they were tracked down by a supervillain. And not the fun kind either. The very nasty. The nastiest of the nasty ones.
Tartarus.
He was one who lived to suck all life and fun out of everything. And apparently, he was out for revenge. Revenge against Percy. No. Revenge against the Atlantean. Somehow, the bastard had learned Percy's secret identity and now he had taken Tyson, snatched him off the playground.
Nico could just stand there and watch with wide, fearful eyes. Percy was heartbroken and overwhelmed. When half the team showed up, Nico noticed that they were trying to shake him off. After all, he was just a civilian, right? Nico allowed being to be shaken off, so the heroes could get the heroing done and save Tyson. They had to save Tyson.
Nico couldn't stand by and watch the news. He used his powers, opened the shadows to follow the team around. He would always be able to track Percy's life-force anywhere on the planet at this point. What he found when he stepped through the shadows was not what he had expected though.
The team laid scattered. In far worse shape than Nico would have anticipated, though then again their battles against Tartarus and his League of Radical Darkness were always the toughest, the ones Nico would watch in the news while sitting too close to his TV, holding his breath whenever the Atlantean got attacked. This villain was vicious and violent. Dangerous.
And with Tartarus having a defenseless Tyson as his hostage, the Young Olympians were holding back, mindful not to injure Tyson in their attacks. Nico's heart broke as he saw the crying little boy held by his neck by the villain. Percy's hands were shaking with exhaustion as he tried to send a wave of water at the other – there was no water anywhere near, no sea or pool or river, so Percy must have drawn it from beneath the Earth and that was always a taxing thing to do for the Atlantean, Nico knew that. One of the legs Percy was standing on was very clearly broken and yet Percy cautiously made his way toward Tartarus to save his brother. Walking on a broken leg.
Thunder/Thalia and Lightning/Jason were flanking him on either side, trying to protect him from the attacks of Tartarus' minions, while Amazon/Reyna, Trickster/Luke and Siren/Piper were fighting off the other members of the League of Radical Darkness (LORD for short, because the supervillains loved calling themselves Lords). Piper was the first to notice him, gasping and hitting Reyna to gain her attention. The Amazon froze as she stared at her best friend.
"What is he doing here?! Did he follow us?", hissed Luke agitated.
"You, civilian, get away from here!", called Piper out, putting all of her power into her voice.
And oh, her power was strong. Mind-manipulation. They mainly used it for crowd-control, because humans were idiots and thought it was fun and entertaining to watch a fight between powered superheroes and supervillains up close. One firm call from the Siren and they would all leave. Controlling other powered beings was a tad more tricky and it depended on how powerful the other was for Piper to control them. Which was why Tartarus hadn't yet let go of Tyson, because Tartarus was too strong. And so was Nico. He barely glanced at Piper before shaking off the haze of her powers and walking past them toward where Percy stood on shaky legs. Gently, Nico took one of Percy's arms and wound it around his neck to support the hero so he wouldn't have to continue walking on a broken leg. Percy looked terrified as he stared at Nico.
"W—What are you doing here? This isn't a place for the non-powered. You need to get out of here. The heroes got this one covered and the little boy will be saved unharmed, promise", said Percy.
"It's alright", whispered Nico gently, one firm arm wound around Percy's waist before he turned to glare at Tartarus, who looked mildly amused by the 'civilian' getting into the middle of this.
"This idiot is going to get himself killed", grunted Thalia agitated.
"I'll bring the civilian to safety", called Jason out from the other side.
"You will do no such thing", grunted Nico pointedly before raising his voice and glaring viciously at Tartarus. "And you should not have taken Ty. And you should not have come here."
Theoretically, Tartarus had chosen the perfect battleground against the Young Olympians. A graveyard. Death and misery gave Tartarus strength. The thing Tartarus could not have anticipated was Nico, because the Ghost King had control over the dead. He balled a fist, the one not curled protectively around Percy's waist, and slowly raised it. The ground started shaking.
"How about you use your little flood there to wash away the bothersome minions?", suggested Nico. "I'm sorry. About lying to you, Percy. But I will not let Ty get hurt."
"Wha—Why do you know it's... me?", whispered Percy, panic creeping into his voice. "How long have you known? What are you talking about? You need to get to safety, please, Nico. Please."
Nico just pulled Percy even closer as he raised his fist above his head. Their surroundings darkened and the shaking ground cracked as the first skeletons crawled out. The others around them yelped.
"You", spat Tartarus in realization as he glared at Nico. "You are not a mere mortal."
"No", growled Nico back. "No, I'm not. I'm the Ghost King. And you are screwed."
His army of skeletons easily overwhelmed the startled Tartarus and one of them carefully cradled Tyson against his bare rip-cage to carry him over and set him down at Nico's and Percy's feet. With the additional back-up did the Young Olympians easily defeat their enemies and they even managed to bag some of the minor members of the League of Radical Darkness.
"Why does Nico have his own army of zombies?", asked Tyson softly.
"A—Are you alright?", asked Percy in return, trying to crouch down next to his brother.
"Uhu. The nasty man scared me, but I'm fine", answered Tyson obediently.
"Good boy", sighed Percy, sacking forward in relief.
Exhaustion washed over him. Judging from the beating the enemy had taken before Nico had arrived, Percy had given it his all. And that with a broken leg – and a broken hand, judging by the purple bruising and how Percy was carefully cradling it against his chest.
"You got a lot of explaining to do, di Angelo", grunted Thalia wearily, thunder rumbling behind her.
"Let me bring Percy and Tyson home first", requested Nico softly.
Thalia searched for Luke's eyes and only when the Trickster nodded briefly, clearly aware of the damage having been done to Percy above all others, did Thalia give Nico the okay too. Leaning down, he lifted Tyson up onto his free arm and held Percy tight with his other arm.
"Hold on tight, both of you", ordered Nico, keeping his voice soft. "And don't be afraid. I got you."
All Percy could do was nod numbly as Nico opened the shadows for them. Nico felt so awful. He had lied to them for so long now. They would either kick him out and never speak to him again, or they'd throw him into prison where a villain belonged. But there was no turning back. Not anymore.
"W—What's happening?!", squeaked Rachel surprised when the shadows opened.
"Percy has a broken hand and a broken leg", informed Nico shortly.
He let go of Tyson, who was right away taken by Rachel to be checked over. Though Rachel kept one weary eye on Nico as the Italian reached down to properly lift Percy up into his arms and carry him upstairs. Percy was still too busy staring quizzically at Nico to even complain.
"Put him on the bed", sighed a frustrated Octavian with a first-aid kit.
The first-aid kit and a portable x-ray machine. Nico watched in stunned silent as the ER doctor went to work. Until Percy's injuries were properly taken care of did Nico stoically sit on Percy's chair, watching silently. He could hear the others entering the house, talking loudly. The voices sounded angry and startled, trying to whisper but failing miserably.
"You're the Ghost King? You are the Ghost King?", spat Annabeth as she stormed into the room. "Were you spying on us the entire time?! Did you have a good laugh infiltrating the enemy?!"
If not for Jason and Reyna holding her back from either side, she would have clawed Nico's eyes out then and there. But her partners looked as betrayed as she sounded and Nico knew that if he didn't give a good reasoning, they were going to unleash Annabeth upon him.
"I didn't... infiltrate you", whispered Nico softly. "I did lose my memories."
"But you gained them back?", questioned Piper with a judgmental look. "When?"
"It... It started three months ago. It didn't make sense at first, just snippets, emotions, pictures. It only started making real sense a bit over a month ago", admitted Nico.
"And then?", pressed Luke impatiently, standing with his arms crossed next to the bed.
"...How could I tell you that I'm... who I am, when you're who you are?", retorted Nico.
"How did you even know who we are? If you say you didn't infiltrate us", questioned Thalia suspiciously. "Because that's the part that sounds very shady."
"I—I didn't know. Not when I befriended you", whispered Nico, voice weak and broken as he stared down at the ground. "I didn't know anything when I befriended you. And when I remembered who I was... When I remembered our battles... It's really not hard to figure out when someone knows both, your civilian circle of friends and the Young Olympians. So... I... I couldn't tell you."
"You couldn't tell us, but you stayed", clarified Reyna gently. "Why?"
"You didn't return to your, ah, supervillain ways", added Jason softly. "Why not?"
"Because... Because I care about you", admitted Nico, folding in on himself some. "The... warmth and friendship you guys offered me, I soaked it up when I had no memories and... it only became even more important to me after I remembered my life..."
Rachel raised her eyebrows. "You... do owe us a bit of an explanation about you, Nico."
Nico shifted, very uncomfortable with all the attention but also knowing that the redhead was right. "I'm... the son of Hades. The Shadow King. It's where I got my powers from."
"Hold on. The Shadow King was a hero", pointed Octavian out. "The thirteenth Olympian."
"And then his wife and daughter were killed by a villain and he 'vanished off the Earth'", supplied Nico with a snarl. "He didn't vanish. He started drinking. Wasting away. Leaving his ten year old son as a powered orphan with no one to care for him."
"N—Nico...", whispered Jason as he stepped closer.
Nico turned away from him, his posture defensive. "So, there you go. My villain origin story. I saw what being a hero had done to my father and I started hating people for the way they treated heroes when the heroes themselves could need saving."
"But you were hiding the truth from us", growled Annabeth, still sounding distrusting.
"How was I supposed to tell you? 'Hey, guys, my memories came back and I remembered that I'm actually the enemy. What do you want on your pizza?'", asked Nico mockingly.
"You thought we'd... turn our backs on you", whispered Reyna in realization.
"Of course you will", snarled Nico viciously. "Everyone has always turned their backs on me. You saw my apartment! I had nothing. I had no one. All I had was that festering grudge of mine, that hatred. I had no friends, no lover, no family. Nothing. I couldn't risk losing you too."
"But you still stepped up to help today", pointed Piper out.
"Of course", muttered Nico defeated. "You... are... my family. Ty is just a kid. I couldn't let him get hurt. Even though it lead to... this. Tyson couldn't get hurt."
"A bit over a month ago", whispered Percy, speaking up for the very first time.
"W—What?", asked Nico stiffly, still doing everything not to look at his family.
"You said your memories fully settled a bit over a month ago. That... was roughly when... when I tried to kiss you. When you started distancing yourself from me", stated Percy, voice soft.
Nico gritted his teeth, hands balled into fists at his sides. "I... I couldn't. I couldn't do that to you. You're... everything that's pure and kind and warm in this world. You didn't deserve my darkness. I couldn't kiss you and mislead you like that. I couldn't break your heart like that."
"You utter idiot", grunted Percy gruffly. "You... You really think I didn't figure it out before?"
"What?", asked literally everyone in the room, all eyes on Percy – even Nico's, this time.
Percy raised his eyebrows and stared at them. "I grew suspicious about three months in. After all, the Ghost King used to show up regularly. All the time. For banter and bickering. But he hadn't shown up since literally the day I found Nico. Add that tempting Italian accent, his overall body-build and the way he moves and, well, it really isn't that hard to figure out when you're closely familiar with both identities of someone. Like. Really not."
"You mean to say you've known for four months that a supervillain was sitting at our dining table and you didn't think to tell us?", asked Annabeth ridiculed, eyes large.
"He's not really a supervillain. More like... a sparring-partner", frowned Percy with a half-shrug. "Besides, you're the brainiac and those two have psychic powers. Honestly, I was so convinced I was like the last one to notice. And I... I thought Nico didn't have his memories back. I thought you didn't remember and I didn't want to... make you feel bad. I mean, not remembering anything and being told 'Hey, you're kind of a mutated criminal' does put some pressure on someone."
"You've... known", whispered Nico, staring at Percy in surprised. "A—And yet you... allowed me to stay? You let me come close to your... friends and your brother?"
"Okay, guys. Time to get you all checked out too. I see some injuries that need taking care of and then we should organize some dinner, because I am starving", declared Luke loudly.
He deliberately herded everyone out of the room, leaving only Percy and Nico in the bedroom. Percy shifted a little, as much as his freshly cast leg and wrist allowed. Nico stared at Percy with large, hopeful and confused eyes, looking a bit like a puppy who got put outside and now stared through the glass-door in hopes of being let back inside.
"You're a good person, Nico", whispered Percy gently as he reached out for Nico. "C'mere."
Nico obeyed, stepping up so Percy could grasp his hands and pull him down onto the bed. "I'm not, Percy. I'm... I'm a villain. And you're... you're you."
"Yeah, I'm – what did you say – everything that's pure and kind and warm in this world?", laughed Percy, eyes sparkling with amusement. "You're such a dork. I'm not everything that's pure and kind and warm. I'm not the epitome of everything that's good. And you're not bad. You are so sweet and funny and amazing with our friends and with the kids. You're a good friend. Not just to me, also to the others. We are truly friends, we're not just... not just shallowly friends with you out of pity. We're not going to ditch you just because we know you're the Ghost King. And, let's be real for a second, you are so not a supervillain. You're my personal banter and sparring-partner. You never hurt anyone, you never hurt me either. You are not a bad person, Nico di Angelo."
"But... I...", tried Nico, a little lost for words.
"You like me, right?", asked Percy, having had enough of the self-loathing. "Because all your stupid reasons for not kissing me? All of them were about you being too 'evil' and me being too 'pure'. None of them listed anything about you not liking me and thus not kissing me."
"How could I not like you?", grunted Nico. "You literally and figuratively saved my life. You brought me into this amazing family. You showed me... showed me such kindness and love... I've never felt that way before, Percy. You're... you are the light of my life. I'm not just saying that as a cheesy pick-up line. It's true. You... brought light and love into my life in a way I haven't experienced since I was ten. I love you so much. I... I cherish you."
"Gods above, you're so cheesy", giggled Percy as he wrapped his good arm around Nico's neck and pulled him down into a kiss. "I love you too. And I think we're even. I lied about knowing who you are and you lied about knowing who you are, so we're even. Which means we can now start dating because we all know who you truly are. And who you truly are is Nico di Angelo, who thinks pineapples on pizza are a crime against mankind but who still orders it for me because I like it. The guy who plays tag with Ella and Tyson and reads them stories. The guy going to every baseball game with Reyna and Jason. The guy who saved my little brother's life today. The guy I love."
"...I... I think I like that identity", whispered Nico softly. "I'd like being that guy."
"Nico, you idiot, you are that guy", sighed Percy gently as he kissed Nico again.
"I'm not gonna join your team", stated Nico firmly. "I will never be a hero."
"That's fine. I never expected you to", assured Percy with a small smile.
"But... I'm... I'm done being a villain too", admitted Nico with a small frown.
"That's fine too. You can be whatever you want to be, Nico. And I'll support you", promised Percy.
Nico smiled faintly as he got comfortable next to Percy and kissed him. Whatever he wanted to be? For now Nico felt like just being Percy's boyfriend. Everything else would come later.
~*~ The End ~*~
Author's note: I figured, since I already wrote them the other way around, I ought to write hero!Percy and villain!Nico too ;D
And if parts of it seem familiar, that's because this too is a story I previously teased on my tumblr (takaraphoenix) ;)