"You have got to be kidding me," Nico muttered, glaring at the figure several stories down.

Here he was, trying to track down some damned spirit for his father, Hades, when he'd felt the aura of another demigod. He'd gotten good at that, these last few years. It was a skill he needed to avoid being seen by anyone from Camp Jupiter or Half-Blood, and especially somebody who knew the Seven.

There had been one time where he'd felt the feeling of an impending storm, a certain pressure in his gut, an insistent zipping of electricity in his veins. Then, from his viewpoint of the abandoned house overlooking the city, he'd seen a flash of sharp, blue lighting coming down in an alley. That had only meant one thing- Jason.

He quickly dissolved into shadows after that. If he could sense the son of Zeus, that could mean that Jason might have sensed the darkness and the shadows that seemed to surround him these days. His aura had become several times more powerful, ever since he entered in Hades's service, running daily errands for his father, like picking up escaped spirits- or McDonalds. He greatly enjoyed annoying his health-freak grandmother, Dementer.

There had been other times when he'd sensed a demigod nearing- the smell of roses, his vision sharpening, and the scent of freshly baked goods. The freshly baked goods had been the reveal- Piper. This had been a month after he left, and his curiosity had gotten the best of him. Slinking around the corner, using the shadows to blend in, just in case, he saw her, a flash of harpy feather and orange t-shirt, shooting pumpkin pies at a hellhound. Feeling a sudden pang of guilt, Nico quickly commanded it to return to where it came from. It froze, the ground fissured apart, Piper grabbed onto a lamppost, the hellhound disappeared into the gap, and Nico froze.

Oh Hades, he remembered thinking as she turned around to where he hid, glued against the wall. Piper must have sensed the Underworld aura, and seeing as he was the only one with it didn't want her dead, she must have guessed it was him.

"Nico?" she called out hopefully. He saw her hand tighten around the Boread's sword, just in case.

That had been the only moment until now that he had been tempted to show himself- just step out of the shadows and say hi, show them that he was still alive. If it had been Hazel, Annabeth or Jason, he might have.

For good- that's why, when he felt the familiar son of Zeus's presence, he left immediately. If he came face-to-face with Jason, he might have revealed himself. When he said he was leaving for good, he meant it. Even if it meant disappearing in the middle of the night, after his third day in the infirmary. Without a trace or warning, they would have believed him dead. He didn't have an Annabeth- no one to go searching for him, refusing his disappearance.

There had also been a son of Athena, a daughter of Hermes, and a very violent son of Mars. He hadn't seen them- feeling their aura was enough to send him running. After two years without sign of life, he couldn't afford them finding out. He didn't wantthem to come after him. He was perfectly fine where he was, Hades's lieutenant, avenging spirits, seeing the world as he chased them down.

He didn't miss those three nights at the campfire, surrounded by the Seven & Co. He didn't miss those days in the infirmary, getting bandages for Will Solace, helping heal campers. He didn't miss the talks he had with those campers, the friendliness that they seemed to show at the son of Hades's face.

It didn't last- it hadn't, last time.

So, before he could get hurt again, he ran. He'd already done that before, but he didn't have a goal, he didn't see a future. Now he did. It wasn't promising, working for Hades forever, but maybe someday, once everyone he knew was dead, he could settle down somewhere in the fields of Asphodel, in a nice little cottage far away from Elysium, where he knew his friends would be.

It wasn't a promising future, but it was a calm one. A steady one. One without to much happiness, but not hurt either. It was a future he could live with.

But his future just wasn't having it.

He hadn't felt the presence of Apollo's son- Solace wasn't strong enough to feel it from miles away, like Jason, or Percy, or him. No, he'd been calmly sitting here on the fifth floor rooftop ledge, enjoying the view of the second-hand market, mortals scurrying around like ants when it happened. He spotted Will before he actually felt his aura- the mop of sunwashed blonde hair and orange camp shirt was universally recognizable.

Surprising, he didn't immediately run- for two reasons. One, it was broad day and there wasn't much shadow on the flat rooftop he was sitting on, and two, he was curious. He shouldn't be, he knew he shouldn't, but he was. Will had been nice to him- highly annoying, but nice. Also, knowing the healer's extreme stupidity in potentially dangerous situations, he wanted to make sure he didn't die. People like Reyna could kill a monster flat-out. People like Will... not so much.

Before he could stop himself, Nico had already launched himself off the building. He spent a quick second free-falling, before using the apartment's shadow to slow him down as he hit the plaza's tiles. His boots still landed with a crack, but he ignored the sudden pain. It was nothing compared to that stab he'd gotten from a Burger King spirit- there was a reason he ate McDonalds. Whichever demigod in charge of the anti-monster department was doing a good job.

Nico quietly followed Solace through the crowd, staying on the outskirts to avoid too much attention. The shadows he was using to hide himself could cause quite an interesting sight in broad daylight.

Without realising it, he caught himself eyeing the blonde. Was it him, or had he gotten taller? Had his hair always been this shiny? That blonde? He walked uncaringly, lanky legs wandering around as if he was looking for something. Nico saw him stop at an alley once or twice and peer in. He caught a sight of a freckled face and eyes that reminded him of the color of the sky out of the infirmary window. Had the son of Apollo always been this tanned.

Whatever. He wasn't here to wonder on Solace's appearance- Nico was here to make sure he didn't get killed.

Then, as if he'd spoken the words out loud, Solace disappeared into one of the alleys he'd been looking into. Groaning, Nico followed him around the corner, using the new shadows to hide himself completely. In such a narrow space, the chances of Apollo's son seeing him were a lot more likely. Alleys were prime places to murder demigods. Thirty percent of demigod killings happened in alleys.

No sooner had he turned the corner, did he find himself backed against a wall with a dagger at his throat. Will's face was inches away, eyes narrowed at the boy he couldn't see, only the shadow he could feel under his knife's hold. On instinct, Nico lashed out with his hand, using the shadows to whirl the weapon out of the son of Apollo's hands and into a dark corner. With his other hand, he grabbed his sword and used the handle to jab it into his stomach, effectively pushing him away and onto the floor. Before he knew it, Will was on the floor, coughing. Nico just watched him, unsure of what to do.

So he let the shadows drop.

"You know, Solace, you need a little extra training to kill me."

A curled up Will didn't look up from the floor, but he choked out something that sounded suspiciously like fucking monsters. Nico hoped it was because he hadn't recognized him yet- otherwise, this had been a really bad idea.

"By Asphodel, get up. First of all, never just blindly grab an opponent like that. Second of all, what the hell were you thinking?"

Will didn't reply, so Nico decided just to go get his dagger and hope he could talk when he came back. He used to shadows to hide himself again, and slunk away.

Five minutes later he was back and watching a wincing Will sit onto a crate, holding his sides. The son of Apollo, deeming himself ready to face whoever had knocked him down, lifted his eyes to search around the alley. Nico grinned as his eyes flitted around, but didn't spot the shadow only meters away.

"Here, you idiot."

Will's eyes snapped to where he was standing. "Who the hell are you?"

"Don't say you haven't realised yet, Solace? You must be more oblivious than I realised." He sounded a lot more confident than he felt as he dropped the shadows again, waiting for his reaction.

A pair of sky-blue eyes stared at him quizzically, widing only seconds later. "N-Nico?" He said it as if he might be seeing a ghost, which honestly, Nico thought, he probably looked like. The Underworld wasn't exactly Circe's spa.

Nico shook his head. "Took you long enou-", and then a pair of arms wrapped around him and his vision was suddenly filled with orange.

"Hey! Let me go, you brute," Nico muffled out. But Solace wasn't obeying, and he tensed up even more. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been hugged... and then he did. Jason, right after the battle of Gaia, when he told him he w-when he told him he was staying.

"I said, LET ME GO!" He shoved Will off him.

Will sprawled onto the damp floor with a thumpand lay there, stunned.Then, to Nico's extreme surprise, he sat up and started laughing as if nothing had happened. The blonde's laugh was like the sun itself, bright and rising and sunny, and it reminded him of those three day in the infirmary, when he'd made him laugh simply by mentioning how whoever decorated the Hades cabin thought he had to be a vamp.

"I can't believe it! I go on some dumbassed quest for Chiron, and who do I find out of all people? Nico di Angelo. I swear, after a year of searching no one finds a trace, but the first time out of camp since then and I almost kill you!"

"You didn't almostkill me, idiota. I almost killedyou," he yelled. Then WIll's words caught it's meaning. "What do you mean, searching?"

Despite the situation, the boy on the ground smiled. "Everyone's been trying to find you, Death Boy. You disappeared out of nowhere. Most people said you were dead, but, you know..." he trailed off.

"Everyone?"

Will lifted up a hand. "Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Piper, Reyna, Coach, Grover, everyone at the infirmary, everyone in Percy and Jason's swording class, half of the Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Hermes and Apollo cabin, everyone in the infirmary, all Reyna's contacts at Camp Jupiter, all of the nymphs Coach and Grover could convince to keep an eye out, and, well, me," he ticked each one off on a finger, and Nico felt slightly stunned. The blonde continued.

"The least we heard was about a year ago, from some nymph in Manhattan, but seeing as they tend to forget stuff easily, most nymphs didn't look anymore. Piper swears she saw you about a month after you left, said you saved her from some hellhound. Did that really happen?"

Nico's own eyes were slightly wide at the list and he stuttered out, "Y-yes. Yes, it did."

Will's nose crinkled up as he wheezed out a breath and tried to stand up. Nico darted forward almost immediately to help him. His hands burned when they touched Solace's, and the blonde jerked the away once he was standing. He tried not to feel hurt, when, "Apollo, your hands are freezing.What in hellhave you been doing?"

The son of Hades frowned, missing thein hell expression. "Well, mainly making sure the damned don't escape. And, uh, you know, making sure the servant zombies don't walk in Persephone's gard-"

Will's eyes grew big. "Hold up, hold up. What?"

"Well, I mean, somebody's got to d-"

"That's not what I meant." He laughed, and then, slinging an arm over Nico's shoulders before he could say anything else, "You know what? I think I saw a Starbucks across the plaza. How do feel about getting a latte, then telling me what you've been up to these last two years?"

Nico did his best to awkwardly shrug Will's arms off his shoulders, but he had a tight grip on his shoulder. "I don't think that's a good idea."

He could already feel himself giving in. In a way, he wanted to go back- and if he went with Will, he didn't think he would have the determination to disappear again. But giving in would mean giving up a calm, steady future. It would mean facing Camp again, the stares, the hurt, everything he tried to run from. But Nico suddenly felt like he was done with running. He had always thought nobody would hold him back when he left, nobody would search after him like Annabeth had with Percy. But he hadn't had an Annabeth.

From what Will told him, he had several.

He looked slowly up at Will, who smiled at him like he'd just had the best surprise in a century before grinning, "You're coming with me."

And then, like in the world he had left two years ago, he added on, "Doctor's orders."

"Fine. But on one condition."

"Name it."

"I get to teach you how to fight. Death Boy's orders."

"Deal."

And Nico followed Will out of the alley, and into the sunlit day.