Will stared down at the list of names and faces that graced the front page of Time Magazine in the lobby of his school.

He looked with interest at first, since he liked the magazine, but rolled his eyes at the subject matter. Not politics, not anything about those who were suffering, no new inventions, ideas or people, but the same old article. It was once again an issue describing the "most powerful figures in crime and justice", as they called it, which basically meant that it was showing which supers were ranked top.

He frowned as he looked at the glossy front cover. It was always concerning to have a villain first, another tied for third, and another sixth.

Will understood the obsession with the 0.007% of the population with superpowers, but it was always the same. Surely the magazine could come up with something more creative. The list was as follows: Kronos (Really bad!), Zeus (Good, but mean), Poseidon (good) and Hades (terrifying and pretty bad) tied. Then there was Riptide (Great), Spark (Good), Ghost (Bad? No one was sure, and he has never been seen by the public), Ares (Turned bad recently).

And Will, being in that tiny percentage, but with superpowers that weren't nearly as cool as those who were on the cover, had interacted with some of them casually. He was, like his father before him, a Healing Super, but he was supposedly even better than his old man. And because his father recently stopped practicing due to the upcoming war, Will was left as the strongest healing super.

His name was informally Sol, which he did not choose, but because of his appearance, personality, and the fact that his healing caused for warm yellow rays of light to burst out of his hands, it fit.

Sol was barely mentioned to the public, but in the super world, everyone knew him. Some people thought he was controversial, because he knew all of the supers' actual names, and worked with both the good and bad side and wouldn't help either of them fight each other, but Will just did what he thought was right.

It started when he was 11, when his powers formed.

When he first got them, it was bad, because while all of his siblings were allowed to go out into the world with their amazing but discreet powers, he had to be like Elsa from Frozen, either at home or completely covered until he could control his shiny healing magic. His father really tried to help him, but there was just no way he could, since his powers were completely different (he had to sing). Will grew up in close to solitude.

When he was finally able to master when he glowed and healed people randomly, he was released from the huge Anthony Paul Olympian ( .o. Apollo. That's where the name came from) mansion. He had a bright and almost flirty personality, and no idea what people were like.

So when Apollo heard that Will was willing to accept any super who was hurt, no matter hero or villain, he was shocked, but understood.

Will just wanted to be good, but in the way he knew. Good meant helping anybody that needed help. Loyalty to the Good side or Evil side meant nothing.

At the age of 15, he was put into a boarding school in the city, where he met some of the most amazing kids the world would ever know. Brunner's Academy.

Apollo's reasons for putting Will in the city where all of the young supers went to school was pretty shallow: he wanted his son to be famous. But, since Will was able to use his powers while remaining in an environment where lots of people were hiding things and he didn't stick out too much, he agreed.

Will looked around the large stereotypical school lobby.

Still, even after 2 years of being in the school, it was daunting to be so free. Like, he could just go up to that woman with a huge cast and heal her, but then his secret would be blown. But he could do it. He was able to. And no one could stop him.

But he wouldn't. Because that would put so many people in danger, and would make his face hit the headlines, which he hoped to avoid at all costs.

Also, it would cause for more drama for him.

Now, working for both sides, people had tried to kidnap him on many occasions. But it always ended up the same.

Will would blink at the knife/sword/gun/baseball bat that was threatening him, then back up at the person wielding it. It could be a man in a suit, a woman in rags, a man with holsters and magazines on his chest, it didn't matter.

"You do realize that if you make me say the other side's names I'll say yours, right?" He would say, like usual.

They would always smile like that was expected. "We'll kill you before you get there, obviously."

"And then who will heal you? Or your two year old son who is showing signs of pneumonia, which you have been trying to figure out for about a week? Also, you wouldn't know if those names were right. " He would say nonchalantly, and they would frown, leave the room, come back, inject him with another knock out drug, and he would find himself in an ally without any cash, but alive and unhurt.

So that's how it went. He had the names, and the powers, that made him valuable, but he couldn't be harnessed by one side.

There was also the fact that he chose to use his powers for good. He could be pretty scary, he had found. His powers were in growing cells and knowing the effects it would have, but he could just choose what to heal. He could heal a cancer tumor so it was larger. He could heal a bone so it grew completely wrong, maybe going through something important, like a brain or a heart. He hadn't experimented at all, because that was wrong, but there had been accidents where he over healed, or healed before a bone was set, and that was terrifying for him. He could kill people. With his mind.

Back to his actual life. He was starting his Senior year at Brunner Academy, and he was still a bit nervous. Will's life was honestly not like those superhero movies where they don't do anything but fight crime, and they use their powers every second of every day.

That was so not true. Will only used his powers when he was working his real job, or when he got papercuts. He had all AP classes, a job at the local Starbucks, and patched up superheroes in his spare time with his superhuman abilities. That was it.

This year he was about as worried about the battle between Kronos and Riptide (and Riptide's partner/crush Daedelus and Kronos's messenger Scar and so so many more) as he was about the impossible summer reading quiz Mr. Grady was famous for giving.

There were lots of thoughts swimming through his head.

He found out through connections that he was rooming with a punk kid, who no one (in his friend group) knew. He only collected bits and pieces of information. His name was Nico, and his outfits consisted only of black. Will could appreciate the color, but would rather something happier. Also someone less scary. Will couldn't tell if he was a super or not. He had certainly never met Sol.

Will was glad he had his friends, though. He had a little squad who were all really cool.

Since he was on both sides and knew names, it was interesting to see who was friends. For instance in his group, Lou Ellen was Trixie, a super who worked with villains so they had costumes. Cecil was a non-super. Katie Gardener helped her mother, who was Demeter, a major super. Leo Valdez was Auto, and he worked with the good hot shots like Spark, but was crushing on Kronos's niece.

It was all very confusing, and what was most annoying was that nobody but Will and Kronos knew everything. Also, though he knew his patients, his patients didn't know him, so he would have to act like a complete stranger when Leo Valdez came in without part of his finger, or when Riptide, aka the popular and overall great guy Percy Jackson went to him with a bullet in his side, Will couldn't say their names or act like the names meant anything. It was always a little game he had to guess who was who.

But Will was convinced that this year was going to be great.

He smiled brightly at the woman, who was the mother of one of the Hunt, as he received his schedule, room number, and roommate name. Nico Di Angelo. Room 224. Blue Wing. Second floor.

Will looked in the mirror in the hall. Same old Will. Straw blonde hair that was getting sort of long, dark eyebrows, light blue eyes, a really good jawline, a long-ish nose and a bit of acne. His lips were too big, and were annoyingly red. His eyelashes were too long for a boy. His skin was losing it's tan. But it was too late to fix anything now. He continued on, feeling a bit silly.

Will might have lots of good things about his powers, but he really wouldn't have minded a bit of strength, like Riptide had, along with the healing thing. Will's bag was huge, and it kept tipping over, forcing him to look like an idiot trying to push it right side up in the crowded hallways.

He was greeted by lots of people who watched him struggle sympathetically. Percy Jackson saw him, and smiled largely.

As a gay guy, or as a human with eyes, Will thought Percy was hot.

It was a maxim: Riptide was a heartthrob and Daedalus was a lucky girl who totally deserved him because Annabeth was equally as hot and had a great personality. But it was one of those things where it was so awkward being next to him in public, because it wasn't like looking at someone from a magazine or ad or something, he was in front of you and was actually that beautiful. He was popular also because of his personality, though. It wasn't just because he was gorgeous.

He was sarcastic, witty, kind, thoughtful, loyal and really funny, and he was an overall perfect person. He had flaws, but no one really minded that he was a momma's boy, or that he was pretty moody with a terrible temper once you said the wrong thing. And no one mentioned the scars, PTSD, or his inability to listen to anything relating to abuse, rape or domestic violence. People knew, but said nothing.

"Hey, Will! Just got in?" He asked, and Will nodded with a smirk.

"Yeah. Thank god. Kansas is exactly like its stereotypes: fields and annoying people with accents. But that includes me, sadly. You live around here, right?" He asked, and Percy smiled, while bending down and lifting the heavy suitcase with one hand.

"Yeah, I was with my mom. She's great." He said, running his hand through his hair. "I should be going, Grover will kill me if I make him unpack again for the third year in a row, but before I go, you're rooming with Di Angelo, right?" He asked, and Will nodded.

"Yeah, you know him? I haven't found out anything other than the fact he likes black."

Percy gave a small smile. "Yeah, you could say I know him. But um, I have to ask you something. Please don't tell him I asked you this, but I just...He's not really peppy or social or anything, but if you could have him hang out with your friend group, that would be really cool. He needs some good friends." He said, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Um, alright. I'll try." Will said awkwardly, "Bye, Percy. Say hey to Annabeth for me. Oh! Also ask if she has Grady. I need someone smart to steal notes from." He said, and Percy smiled.

"Will do. Good luck." Percy said, walking away.

Will was left to wonder about a lot of things. First and foremost, he was praying that Annabeth, (Daedalus, the super smart super spy), did have those notes. Next there was the Nico Di Angelo inclusion thing. Why was Percy asking him? Will was popular, but not like he, Annabeth, Grover, Michael, Thalia and Reyna were. Will's core group of 5 friends were really different and unique and weird, and people just happened to like group wasn't too exclusive, but they could definitely get more open. It was the inside jokes, the invites to group sleepovers where they watched movies and gossiped that really excluded people. Will wanted to include Nico, though. Not only for Percy or because it would be fun to have a room where there was no roommate to complain about tons of people staying until it was morning, but because it was the right thing to do in Will's mind. Everyone needed friends.

Will got to the door that said 224. The little silver slots had the names Will Solace and Nico Di Angelo in them. He had a tiny flash of fear before opening the door.

For one thing, it had a great view of the city, even though it was just the second floor. There was a little park with a lit fountain, then there was a large intersection lined with shops.

Then Will looked around.

Nico was already there, but Will could barely tell.

There were about 10 books in the bookshelf. There was a Mac and a black wireless mouse on the right side's desk. There were black linens on the right side's bed. There was a small lamp, white and generic shaped on the bedside table. Will tried to find something else, but that was it.

He looked down to his huge suitcase, which held obnoxious amounts of stuff compared to the plain appearance of the right hand side of the room.

"Might as well get started." He muttered to himself, feeling a bit weird, and he unzipped the bag from which an actual explosion of stuff happened.

He started with putting his clothes in the generic dresser, which took way too long, because he had to choose where everything would go. He hung things up in the closet, which was empty except for three black suits on Nico's side.

He then went on to decorate. He had a blue and white and grey plaid bedspread, a huge picture collage of Polaroids and photos that showed his family, his friends, his favorite places, and everything that made him happy. He put his sticker covered guitar on its stand in the corner, next to the huge speaker system Leo had made for him. He strategically placed different lights (four of them), decided where to put his huge red bean bag chair, put his school supplies in his desk, hung rainbow fairy lights on his walls, and he was done. He paused, before deciding to put a couple stickers on the back of the rolling chair they provided. Now he was done.

When he had his back to the door to see how it looked, he was hit by the amount of color his side had. He didn't see one thing that was plain. And on Nico's, it was the opposite. Nico's side also had very little lighting, but Will's was so bright it took a moment to adjust when looking from one side to the other. But Will was content, so he plugged in his phone to the speakers, and reveled in his favorite playlist of illegally downloaded songs.

He texted the group chat that he was done and which room number he was in so they could come see him before throwing his phone onto the bed and listening to music, waiting for one of his friends to come into his room.

After about 15 minutes, Cecil texted he was coming, and Lou said the same.

There was a quiet knock, and the door swung open. Will didn't even think about what he was doing as he embraced the person that walked through the door.

That proved to be a major issue, Will realized, when that person shifted their weight and pulled on his arm, and suddenly he was flying through the air and landing hard on his back with someone on top of him.

"Jesus Christ Lou, what the fuck did I even do?" He asked, before opening his eyes to see a boy in all black staring at him in shock, sitting on his stomach. "Oh my god, you aren't Lou. I'm so sorry." He said, his cheeks burning. The boy, who he assumed was Nico, nodded, clearly shaken, before getting off of his stomach.

"Goddamn. I feel like I got like a .3 concussion. Yikes." He said getting up.

The boy in all black watched him silently, with a slight pink tinge on his cheeks being the only response. His eyes were pure black, huge, and unnerving.

"Okay, sorry, that was totally my fault. I'm Will Solace. You're Nico, right?"He asked, cracking his neck.

Nico nodded. He stayed silent otherwise.

Will took the silence as an answer. "Great. So I guess we've already set up and stuff. Do you mind if my friends are coming over? I live in the middle of nowhere, so I haven't been able to see them recently. You'll like them, they're pretty cool." Will paused. "Actually they're total nerds but I love them so it's okay."

Nico nodded, and turned towards his side.

Will took that as a minute to collect his thoughts.

First thoughts? Lots of swearing. Mostly for making such a stupid move and not seeing who he was hugging, but also because his head hurt so badly.

Second thoughts? Nico was attractive. Like, extremely, almost Percy Jackson attractive.

He had wide, large eyes that were really dark with thick eyelashes, really well shaped eyebrows, extremely sharp and pronounced bone structure, and sallow cheeks. The bags under his eyes were very dark. He looked like a male model that decided that sleep was for the weak.

But he was definitely something to see.

Will's thoughts were interrupted by Lou Ellen throwing the door open, singing along with the words of Victorious, which was playing at an obnoxious volume.

"Double Bubble Disco Queen, headed to the guillotine." She sang along before Will paused the blaring music.

Lou Ellen's dark maroon lipstick curved into a brilliant smile. "How accurate. Hey babes. How was life on the prarie?"

Will beamed. He jumped off of his bed, throwing his arms around his best friend.

They hugged each other tightly for about a minute.

"Lou! It's been forever!" He said, pulling back from the hug.

"Okay, first and foremost. You've become Cruella Devil without telling me." He said accusingly.

Lou Ellen rolled her eyes. Her hair was thick and black, in a long bob, but now she had a pure white streak on her right side.

Lou Ellen hadn't changed much other than that. Same dark makeup, overly sweet perfume, same sense of style, and same personality.

Will was happy to see her. They were extremely close. Like, reading minds with certain expressions close. So it stunk to not see her for three months every year.

"Excuse you. I totally told you, but you were being all 'My grandparents smell like cheese why am I forced to socialize with them'" She said, and Will made a face, but didn't deny it. They really did smell like cheese. It was overwhelming.

"It looks good! A bit more rebellious than usual. So tell me. Life." He insisted, and Lou smiled for a second.

She took a running leap into his beanbag chair. "Oof. I love this thing. Get me one?" She asked with her face in the chair, and he nodded.

"Depends. Will you bring me to one of your super cool concerts and not insult me for a week?"

Lou Ellen brought her face out of the oversized pillow. "Um, no?"

"Then no."

Lou stuck her tongue out.

"Holy shit!" She shouted suddenly, looking at Nico. "Oh my god, I did not see you there. Wow. It's dark. Sorry." She got up from the huge red bean bag, and walked over to where the boy was curled up on his bed, blending in with the black covers.

"Hi, I'm Lou Ellen. Are you Nico?" She asked, and he looked like a mix between terrified and emotionless.

"Yes. Nice to meet you." He said, and Will's eyes widened. Accent. Really strong Italian accent.

Will suppressed a smile, and he could tell Lou was trying not to smile as well. "Alrighty then. I think you're going to be seeing a lot of me over the course of the year, unless you decide this dork is too overwhelmingly dorky and switch rooms." She said, and Nico nodded like this was something he'd ponder.

"Okay. Where was I. Oh yeah." She said, before once again running and flopping onto the beanbag.

"Okay. First, drama. I haven't been able to talk with you without being monitored by the 'rents, so we are talking drama, secrets, boys and more." Will beamed.

"Wait, I have snacks. Popcorn?" He asked, and Lou nodded.

"Obviously."

Will looked at Nico. The boy blushed slightly.

"Me?" He seemed surprised he was being talked to.

"Popcorn?"

"Oh. Okay, I guess. If you don't mind."

Will smiled, and watched in amusement as Nico blushed. Will would have to think about what that meant later.

Lou Ellen checked her phone. "Hey Will, Cecil's new roommate just asked him to help out with a shit ton of decorations, so he's going to be late. He's in the purple wing! That totally sucks for him." She said, before cackling.

"Nico, you wanna join us?" Lou asked, beckoning the boy over to the large chair, and Nico bit his lip.

"I, um. I actually have to go. Bye. Thanks." He said, before getting up and leaving.

Lou raised her eyebrows at Will. He shrugged.

As the door slammed closed and they heard him walk away, Lou shot up from the beanbag chair and took Will's hands.

"He's adorable. He's honestly so cute. Oh my god." She said, and squealed.

"Ugh, just talk about your really fun summer with hot guys already." Will said, smiling slightly.

"Okay. Can I just start by saying that Katie totally started that bitch fight we had? I don't even like Travis…"