Title: Life He Had

Summary: It had taken Nico years to fix his life. Now everything was falling apart. He has to make one last move to try and grasp anything left of the life he had. [Based on the song "Stop and Stare by One Republic. No song lyrics. Oneshot.]

Characters: Nico di Angelo & Sadie Kane

Catagory: Angst/Romance

Rating: Fiction K+

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so I would greatly apriciate any feedback. Criticism is most definetly welcome. If you see any grammatical mistakes, please let me know. Even if they are too small to bother fixing, at least I'll know for next time. I would also love any tips for writing or fanfiction.

For any references, this story takes place after The Son of Neptune. It doesn't have any references to Kane Chronicles.

I would also like to thank my twin brother, the first person to read this. Even if I would have preferred more comments other than, "Yeah, it's great. Now do you want to play minecraft?" and the reason he read it was because he already looked through my documents. So, thanks.

3rd POV omniscient, exclusive to Nico di Angelo.

As soon as the rain stopped, they left.

It was still gray overhead when they snuck into the ally behind the cafe in which they had previously taken refuge from the storm in. The girl jumped over a part of the road, where a chunk of concrete was missing and rain water had gathered, with surprising agility compared to the ragged image suggested by her large and shapeless waterproof jacket, which showed the signs of the many days it had served its purpose. Her boots landed with a thud on the edge of a cardboard box which was one of many stacked against the brick wall, and more rainwater that had soaked into the box squirted out on impact and splashed her already stained leather boots. She reached into the box, and from behind empty take out containers, pulled out two rucksacks. One was slung over her dripping arm and the other tossed to the boy.

He caught it with ease, and before he had thrown it on, they took off running.

"So... Where do you want to go?"

The blonde girl was examining a large train time table nailed to the station wall. Behind her, the dark-haired boy she arrived with was facing the track, watching the trickle of commuters left behind by the lunchtime flood. The boy turned around, and for the first time since the beginning of their journey, showed any kind of emotion.

"Anywhere. All that matters is that I'm with you." Then, he smiled. Even though it was calm, his expression conveyed a look of pure love and a world of caring for the girl.

The girl smiled back with the same intensity before going back to her previous subject.

"Come on, Nico, do you think that will work with me? Besides, you should know by now, I hate cheesy."

"No. I know that works with you." He stepped forward to stand next to her. "And, Sadie, I do know you by now." He intertwined his fingers with her's and leaned closer. "And I know you love cheesy."

The girl rolled her eyes, but at the same time tried to hide a smile. She punched him on the shoulder, and he couldn't help but wince small moment; she could punch hard.

"Ow."

"You were asking for it. And don't think you're going to get out of helping me. There's a lot of places we could go. And don't forget, if you don't help, I may choose somewhere like... Florida! The sunshine state! How's that sound?"

The son of Hades grimaced at the thought of so much sun on his pale skin. He wasn't a vampire, nor was he deathly pale, but being a child of the underworld he naturally felt more comfortable in the darkness.

"You wouldn't. I'm not the only one who doesn't like the sun. You wouldn't be able to stand the heat, growing up in England."

"Okay. That may be true... How about there?" Her nail touched the cracked clear plastic, that was protecting the time table from the water that dripped onto it, referring to the name under her fingertip.

"Yeah. That's good."

They two teens clambered into the 2:17 train soaked through, and after maneuvering through the other passengers, with large rucksacks, were able to sit down at a table by the window. They sat across from each other, with their bags in the aisle seats.

"Nico?"

He turned his gaze toward Sadie's face; trees and sky whipped past her curly hair, and with the soft light coming in through the clouds, she looked more radiant and beautiful than her boyfriend could describe. Even with bags under her eyes, no make-up, a shapeless and dirt-covered raincoat swallowing her figure, and the static pulling her hair halfway up the window, she looked amazing. That was how Nico saw her everyday. He was lost for all words other than, I love her.

"Yes." He replied softly.

"I'm going to sleep a little. Can you keep a look out while I'm asleep?"

"Of course. Here." He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a black sweater, careful not to cut himself on the weapons it had been covering, and passed it to her. Normally he wouldn't but his bag on the seat next to him, in case someone wanted to sit there, but if a situation came up, he didn't want to waste any time getting a weapon.

That was why they had to leave: the attacks. Being a demigod, he was accustomed to monster attacks. If he stayed somewhere too long, more came. The neighbors had become suspicious as well. Nico knew they weren't wanted.

Sadie was asleep, her head propped up against the glass by Nico's jacket. Looking at her, Nico knew he could never forgive himself if something happened to her. That was why they left. And it was why he was going to tell her. She needed to know the truth, what he was.

Today. Today, he would tell her what he was, and the truth about his past. No matter what the consequences were.

Sadie hopped off the bus, taking three of the steps at a time, and her ponytail bounced in sync, along with the backpack which was loosely hanging from one shoulder. Even after spending the night on a cross-country bus, she was bubbling with energy and enthusiasm, ready for anything thrown in her way. To Nico, she had always meant hope.

He stepped onto the grass on the roadside and walked next to Sadie. The bus drove off, until all they could see was its taillights through the fog and trees that masked the distant city lights. It was a long walk to the nearest town where they planned to stay the night.

It was only late morning, but clouds had gathered. Together with the thick woodlands which isolated the desolate road, they formed a heavy atmosphere of gray and chilled the air.

Sadie reached into her backpack and pulled out four cereal bars and gave two to Nico. They ate their breakfast with light conversation. The subject drifted from the surrounding plants, to past teachers and school experiences, and occasionally to their destination, with a few laughs mixed in. There was nothing Nico would rather do than exactly this: it was a quiet day, he was just walking along and spending time with his favorite person in the world. Life seemed...perfect.

It all came crashing down.

"So you see, and only someone like him could -"

A sudden silence stilled the air. It was a kind of cold and fear that settled into every living thing and froze them to the core with terror. A warning.

"Nico. Something..." Her voice was barely a whisper, a breath in his ear.

He didn't hear her. It didn't have anything to do with volume; he was frozen in fear and had tuned out everything except the source of it. It was familiar.

Why? Hadn't she taken enough? She had destroyed his life before, in as close to the literal sense as possible. Now, he had just fixed it. It had taken years, but now, he had recovered and pulled things together. It was all falling apart.

Cracks began to form in the asphalt, quickly spreading and soon becoming deep crevices. Out of them, men - or more like monsters - made of dirt came. Their entrance came in a flory of dirt and sharp rocks,a which pelted the road and their victims hunched backs.

They were over 7 foot tall and 4 foot wide, and a formidable opponent. As soon as they arrived, the fighting began. Three of them went for Nico, the remaining two approached his companion. Within seconds, the son of Hades had summoned his stignian iron sword, and he began hacking at the monsters. Sadie stumbled for a moment, in shock, at the sight of the black sword.

"Sadie! RUN!" Nico nearly chocked on the dust that was in the air, but

Nico might be able to hold off the monsters long enough to escape, but it wouldn't be easy, because every time he cut off one of its limbs, another grew in its place. Years of demigod training had prepared him for this kind of situation, but how would Sadie cope? She was may be strong, and determined, but these were Greek monsters.

Sadie seemed to regain focus, and from the look in her eyes, had a plan in mind. He didn't have many chances to see her, but when Nico did, he could tell she was holding her own. If he'd had more time to think about this, Nico would have realized there was something peculiar about someone he thought to be a mere mortal, being capable of fighting a monster many demigods would struggle to kill.

Suddenly, a fist of earth came hurtling toward Nico, and he only had time to avoid a chunk of asphalt to the head, before he was pounded into a tree 10 feet back.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the monsters were 30 feet away, at the edge of the largest crevice. Two monsters were holding something between them. As they jumped in, Nico caught a glimpse of blond hair. The other three were quick to follow.

Without the dirt pinning him to the tree, he fell to his knees. Nico stared around him, in vain hope... But it was no use. Sadie was nowhere in sight. Life wasn't fair. He should get used to it. Now, everything was gone. Gaia, as if she hadn't hurt enough before, had used her last energy to take any hope he'd had.

Nico closed his eyes, and took one second to look back on the life he'd had.

Nico had been taking part in his favorite pass time: sleeping in graveyards. He had only been there ten minutes, when he was rudely awakened by someone shouting. Loudly. And angrily.

Within ten minutes, seven of which were spent trying to calm her down, Nico had been introduced to Sadie Kane.

It was their first date. Nico had finally got the courage to ask Sadie out, after meeting her for eight months, at her local cemetery. Nico had spent weeks doing errands for his father to save up the money, and he spent all week choosing what to wear. Finally, he settled on a clean, long sleeved black shirt and any jeans that were not stained or full of holes. After a shower and brushing his hair and teeth, Nico left, half and hour early.

Forty-five minutes late, Nico stumbled out from the ally. His hair was singed, he had a bruise on the side if his face, was limping, and he was trying to hide the blood coming out of a cut on his arm.

At the same time, Sadie came running down the street, looking much the same. The only difference was that she had time to stick her head in the shower and pull on a clean sweater.

As it turned out, even after the inconvenient monster attacks, Sadie and Nico managed to see a different movie, and still had time for lunch.

Nico choked in a breath and held back a cry of pain.

He could manage, Nico told himself, help was coming soon. He would escape.

Sadie. Just think of Sadie. She's always going to be there. With her smile, snorting laugh, and the way she took his food.

Through the pain and the tears, Nico smiled.

He'd be out of her in no time.

It had been over a year. A year in that torturous prison. Finally, he was home. And safe.

There was just one thing Nico had to do, more important than anything. He'd been trying for two weeks. Nico really should have expected Sadie to be this mad. That didn't mean he would stop trying though.

He was outside her font gate. He took a deep breath and pushed the bell.

"What do you want?"

"To talk to you, Sadie."

"I told you, just go away. Seriously, my family think I have a stalker. They'll come out to deal with this any minute now."

"Just listen."

"Alright. Why are you so insistent to follow me around and spend time together? I know we were good friends, but when you left for a whole year without saying anything, don't you think that may have caused a problem?"

Theses were the times when Nico wanted to tell Sadie the whole truth. That he was a demigod, and he'd been kidnapped by Gaia. But that would just make things worse. It was hard enough to believe already, and she was angry with him now. Nico could wait until the time was right.

"Sadie, you know why."

"Oh, really? Bec -"

"Because I love you."

Then, he leaned in for their first kiss. It was perfect.

"Ahem."

Well, there was only so perfect things could go for a demigod.

Nico opened his eyes. There was only thing to do, to try to grasp any part left of the life he'd had.

Without a second thought, toward the crevice, Nico ran...and jumped in.

A/N: Thank you (so much) for reading. (I loved sadico too much to not put a little bit of hope at the end.)

This was based off the song "Stop And Stare" by One Republic. The link below is for the music video (which is completely clean, appropriate for all ages). If you have any problems, let me know, and I'll change it. If you want to read the lyrics, they're at the top of my profile.

video/x4b39m_one-republic-stop-stare_music