Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

Nico

He doesn't remember how he got here. He doesn't remember anything except the screaming and the blood and the "pleasenoplease-"

He doesn't like to think about it.

Here, is a room, small and painted such a bright shade of white that it hurts to stare at the walls for too long. The floor is gray, soft and dull. This is where his vision stays. He thinks there might be a bed and toilet shoved into the corner of the room. He doesn't care to look anymore than he has to confirm.

He spends his timed curled up on the floor. The longer he looks at it the more he can feel his mind blurring into the same soft, dull, grayness. It helps take away the noise that's dancing in his ears and the lingering echos of "pleasepleaseyou dont haveto do this you-"

He stops thinking about it.

He doesn't know where he is until they tell them. He can see them through the big glass window cut out in the wall, staring at him like he's an animal. He doesn't know who they are, but they look at him like they know who he is. The noise crackles out through a speaker on the ceiling. He has to cover his ears because it's so loud and there's already too much. "Hello, do you know where you are?" one of them asks and even with his ears covered he hears them. He can't find his own voice so he shakes his head, no, no , no, he doesn't know. There's a soft hum and then, "Do you know who you are?" And his eyes are still on the floor and his mind is still shifting into gray and no he doesn't know. " Your name is Nico," they say and he hears pleasenopleaseno- "And these are the Half blood Labs," and his world is enveloped in gray.

Will

He's not what Will expected.

He's heard all of the stories, of course he has. He's devoted his life to studying the anomaly that is Nico di Angelo. He's heard the facts, the grim faced reporters relaying the horror of Nico's latest conquests. "This is his 5th murder, his 6th, his 7th, 8, 10, 15, 18, 20- and there's no evidence of him having ever lain a hand on any of his victims." He knows what Nico is capable of, he knows it so well. He's seen the grainy footage of people falling dead at his feet from meters away. He's scanned and scrutinized the recordings, photos, and first-hand reports, all a testament to how dangerous Nico is.

Will knows better than anyone that Nico should not be looked upon lightly. Yet it's hard, so hard to see him as a killer now that he's seeing him in person. He's small, so incredibly small, curled up on the floor of his room he barely takes up any space. He's not that short, but he's so thin and the clothes they've put him in are so big that he seems minuscule. He's also young, and Will knew this, but it's different to actually see the youth in his face. He's only a year younger than Will who's 23, and that's hard to think about. When he sees the breaths rising in his chest and the way his dark hair spills across the floor it's hard to believe that this is the most dangerous person on earth. He almost doesn't believe that this is the right person.

When they'd called him saying they'd taken custody of Nico di Angelo, Will had caught the first flight available and been there within hours. On the way there he'd tried to come to terms with the fact that this was real, that finally he'd be able to see the object of his life's research in person. Now he is faced with the evidence of his existence and he almost wants to believe it's fake.

He's been standing at the observation window for an hour just as Nico has maintained his position on the floor for an hour. Everyone around him is frantic, asking if they should bind his hands, his legs, eyes, mouth, even his ears. They don't understand like Will does that they've already taken the necessary precautions. They've wiped his memory and put him in a locked room, this is all they need. Nico is dangerous, but for the most part, he's just as human as the rest of them.

They try to talk to him but he's unresponsive. Curls even tighter around himself, covers his ears, and shakes his head. Will thinks this serves as decent proof that they've rendered him useless. He'll try talking to him again later when the rest of them leave.

He's been studying Nico di Angelo his whole life and now all he has to do is fill in the blanks.

AN:

I'm a pretty slow writer but on the off chance someone reads this I'll try to get an update up at least once a week. Thanks for reading.