Disclaimer: All characters from the PJO and HoO series belong to the awesome Rick Riordan.

Will Solace is annoyingly endearing. But leaning more towards annoying. Or so Nico tries to tell himself.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What did I tell you about using your Underword-ly stuff?"

Nico could see the feet in front of him tapping impatiently. He scoffed and finally looked up to the face of an irritated Will Solace.

"To not use my Underworld-ly stuff so much."

"Exactly. And what did you do?"

Nico glared at Will, though it didn't seem as intimidating from where he was sitting on an infirmary bed.

"I was doing something important!"

"What in Hades is so important that you have to risk your health for it?"

Nico didn't respond. Although he and Will had gotten somewhat closer after the war with Gaea ended a few weeks ago, he couldn't tell Will what he was actually doing. He was looking for Leo. He had his doubts about Leo's death since the moment he sensed it happen. The sensation was strange. He was sure Leo died but what he felt at that time kept bothering him so he figured he could just do a bit of investigating. He visited his father in the Underworld a week ago and something somehow made him believe that Leo Valdez is alive. Just nowhere to be found at the moment. It's almost solid evidence, what Hades told him, but he has to be sure before he involves anybody else.

Some sort of expression must have shown on his face since Will didn't question him any further. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at Nico intently.

Looking back into baby blue eyes, he felt the tell-tale fluttering of those resurrected skeletal butterflies in his stomach. He looked away and hoped to every god he knew he wasn't blushing.

He heard Will sigh. "Well, don't push yourself so much. I like hanging out with you and all, just, not in the infirmary, okay?"

Nico hopped off the bed and patted his jeans before turning to face Will again. The Apollo boy looked like he wanted to say more but didn't. "Yeah. Later."

Will ruffled his hair and turned away to tend to the other patients. Nico left the infirmary with a blush on his face, remembering Will's words.

I like hanging out with you.

He tried to ignore the stupid skeletal butterflies and trudged off to the forest, intent on continuing his search while it was still bright out.

Making sure he was alone, he sat down and closed his eyes. Thinking of the places Leo could've went to if he was alive right now. Nico knew about Calypso so he figured that's where he would go to first. Where he would go to after he got Calypso out of Ogygia, he didn't know.

He knew the myth about Calypso and Ogygia. No man found the island twice. There wasn't a way to get there on purpose (though he had no doubt that Leo Valdez did find a way judging from what Hazel and Frank said), and no way to map out the way off the island. So maybe even Leo didn't know where they'd end up after getting Calypso.

He thought about shadow-travelling around North America again to find some clues and talk to some ghosts and ask if they've seen a giant mechanical dragon, a demigod, and an island goddess. Not very productive, but he had to try everything. He had to make sure his suspicions were right.

Nico remembered his trip to the Underworld a week ago. During the war, a lot of places suffered agricultural loss so he hoped that his father's wife, Persephone, was with her mother Demeter and not there with Hades. He did not like transforming into a daisy, thank you very much. He'd had enough of being turned into plants.

Going to the Underworld was never really a pleasant experience for Nico. The easiest way he could get there was through shadow-travel and although he was healthy enough and feeling more anchored to the mortal world, the shadows in the Underworld felt thicker, scarier.

He appeared from the shadows of Hades' living room. He saw his father sitting on the biggest couch, reading some sort of rock magazine. He briefly looked at Nico before looking back at the magazine. Hades didn't look surprised to see him. Nico sat in one of the chairs adjacent to the one his father was currently sitting on.

"So… I'm guessing you already know why I'm here."

Hades hummed in agreement. "Honestly, I thought you'd visit me earlier."

"I was busy."

"I know. You seem to be getting pretty close with that Apollo boy."

Nico willed himself not to blush. He shook his head and ignored the comment. "Father."

Hades had a teasing smirk on his face. "Yes, my son?"

Again, Nico ignored his father's smirk. "You know every soul that ever enters into the Underworld, right?"

"That's a stupid question. Of course I do."

Nico was tempted to throw a femur at his father but he refrained. He cleared his throat. He hesitated a bit before asking the question that he came to get answers for. "Has Leo Valdez's soul entered the Underworld?"

Hades regarded his son for a few moments before answering. "And if I gave you an answer, what would you do?"

"I'd search for him." Nico steeled his gaze. He'd find Leo. It didn't matter where he was or how he did it.

His father clicked his tongue. "Well, you won't have any luck here."

It took a while for Nico to digest what his father said. What his father implied. He thought about asking some more but decided not to push his luck. He figured that's the best answer he would get.

"Right. Okay. Thank you, Father."

Hades just waved him off and faded away. Probably to resume to his godly duties.

Nico contemplated the implications of what his father said. If Leo wasn't here in the Underworld, that meant he was somewhere in the mortal world. He was alive – somehow.

Even knowing what he knew now though, he still wasn't sure if Leo really was alive without actually seeing him. As much as he wanted to tell Hazel and the others what he found out, he didn't want to give them false hopes.

Nico knew what he had to do then. Sure, it was difficult looking for someone presumably dead and not, you know, living but he found that he didn't mind. He was doing this for his friends, after all.

Friends.

Somehow, that word didn't seem so foreign to Nico anymore. He smiled.

And unbeknownst to Nico, a tall, blond-headed demigod was watching him with a smile of his own.

A/N: Hi guys! This is my first fanfic so feel free to give constructive criticism. Soooo, I finished The Blood of Olympus a few days ago and I'm sure anyone who has also finished it knows how I feel. And while it was nice of Uncle Rick to give Nico a happy ending, I felt it was somewhat too fast of a development. Then all sorts of ideas started appearing in my head and voila! This story was born.

In my head, the development of the relationship between Nico and Will is maybe a little slow but with a lot of fluff and maybe the rare pint of angst. Guys, for the longest time Nico was this withdrawn and lonely and isolated kid. I love him to bits and as much as I'd love for him to be immediately happy, I feel as if that's impossible for him. He needs someone who can heal him and be patient with him. And Will is actually a healer. So, it's perfect. (Thank you, Uncle Rick.)

Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think! :)