Disclaimer: I do NOT own Percy Jackson. The magical trolls won't kidnap Rick without a permit.
Main Pairing: Nico/Percy (Nicercy)
Warnings: Slash, Swearing, Violence
AN: My third entry for Takara's contest.
This is a request fic from Nicercylover108. Hope you get better, dude! What has better healing qualities than some Nicercy?
Sleeping With the Enemy
Ghost King slammed into the brick wall behind him and crumpled to the ground. HIs head swam with pain. That was gonna need some ice. He grunted as he got to his feet, dark eyes sweeping the wreckage.
Cars were overturned. The asphalt was cracked. People had long since evacuated. But where was-
Ghost King spun on his heel and shot his hand outwards. There was a cry of surprise and pain when the shadows grabbed the Suit trying to sneak up Ghost King. He was halfway buried in the wall's shadows, as if the building was made out of quicksand.
"Quiet isn't really your strong suit, Tsunami." Ghost King smirked and strode over to the struggling Suit, trying to keep the limping to a minimum. He'd give the guy credit- Tsunami didn't hold back.
The Suit growled at him as he tried to free himself from the shadow's hold. His green eyes flashed underneath his blue mask. "Yeah, well, fighting isn't yours."
As though greatly offended, Ghost King placed a hand over his chest. "Then please explain why I have you trapped."
Ah, banter. Their fights weren't the same without it.
"Because you cheated," Tsunami snapped. "Bringing civilians into the fight-"
Ghost King raised an eyebrow, forgetting for moment that Tsunami couldn't see it because of his full face mask. "Oh? I didn't know there were rules to our little exchanges." Not that he would have harmed the mortal. They weren't on his list. Still, his arch nemesis didn't need to know this. It'd ruin his reputation.
He trailed a black, gloved finger over Tsunami's masked face. "I've always wanted to see who's under this. The one person who stands a chance against me. I find you fascinating."
Tsunamis snarled, but Ghost King just tsked. "Now don't be rude. I'll give it back." He gripped the bottom of the mask and was just about to pull it off when Tsunami brought his head forward and smacked into his.
Ghost Kind yelped and stepped back, losing control of the shadows for just one second. It was enough. Tsunami leapt away from the wall and pounced on him, sending them both crashing to the concrete. For the third time, Ghost King hit his head. He groaned.
Tsunami straddled his black clothed waist and pinned his wrists to the ground. Not that he was going anywhere. Everything was spinning. "You wanted to see me?" Tsunami hissed. "How about I return the favor?" He grabbed Ghost King's mask and tugged, but Ghost King had just enough awareness to shadow travel into the shadows beneath him.
Tsunami fell to the ground, now completely alone. He scowled. "Dammit."
He'd call it another draw.
…
Nico collapsed onto his bed from the open shadows on the ceiling. He bounced once, twice, and finally stayed still, cradling his head. Damn it all, he probably had another concussion. Hazel would want to check him.
He sighed and stretched his sore muscles. He thought he heard his bones crack. Groaning, he left his bed and struggled out of his black uniform. Yes, uniform. Never costume. He wasn't a cosplayer.
He left it on the floor for now and made his way to the adjoining bathroom. He desperately needed a shower. He turned the water on as cold as possible before stepping inside the stall. He learned a long time ago it helped with swelling and not to mention it felt great. Refreshing after either getting his ass kicked or kicking someone else's ass.
"Brother? Are you back?" Hazel called from outside the bathroom door.
"Yeah," Nico called back, furiously trying to rid himself of the dirt that seemed to be melded into his olive skin.
"Are you injured?"
He tried not to be offended. "Not really, Haze! But super hungry." That was one word for it. He was starving- using so much of his powers took a bunch of energy. He was surprised he was still standing.
"I'll heat up some leftovers." Hazel's retreating footsteps could be heard and the sound of his bedroom door closing.
Nico went back to bathing, faintly amused and disgusted from how dirty the water was. Thankfully, there wasn't any red. Just a few scrapes. He turned the switch when he was finished and dried himself off with a white towel. It was thrown into the hamper next to the bathroom door, along with his uniform.
He chose to wear a pair of jeans, a dark blue T-shirt, and his usual black combat boots since he was in his home. His curly hair was left alone (he had given up on it a long time ago) and then headed to the kitchen where Hazel was.
This was his after-battle routine.
He couldn't help but wonder what Tsunami's was.
"Rough fight, huh?" Hazel hummed in sympathy as she filled his plate with reheated pasta. "You showered right away."
Nico shrugged and took the plate from her before sitting down at their table. "I've had worse. It's just...this isn't going anywhere. He's the only one who stands a chance against me, but he can't beat me and I can't beat him. At least permanently."
Hazel helped herself to some orange juice and took a sip. "You can't beat him as Tsunami, you mean."
Nico frowned up at her. "Well, yeah. That's what I just said."
Hazel rolled her eyes and set the juice aside. "No, I meant find out his secret identity. Do that and you can beat him as a mortal. Get him to trust you. No need for powers."
"Hazel…" Nico blinked. "That's...actually kind of brilliant. And simple. I have no idea why I didn't think of it." Sure, he'd tried to take Tsunami's mask off earlier, but that was mostly just for mocking purposes. If he didn't let Tsunami know he knew his identity then Tsunami would have no reason to mistrust him. He could get close to him, find out his weaknesses, or simply search for a moment when he wasn't on his guard. Killing him would be easy.
"See?" Hazel smiled smugly. "I'm smart. I'd be a great partner."
Nico's gaze sharpened. "Don't start. We've talked about this."
Hazel's smile disintegrated. "You talked about it, Nico." Her hands curled into fists as she gripped the countertop.
"As soon as Tsunami's defeated I'll let you help." Nico cleared away the food, suddenly not very hungry anymore. He ignored Hazel's frustrated look and kissed her forehead. "Promise."
He wasn't going to lose another sister. That idiot Zeus would fall without placing Hazel in danger.
…
Percy groaned as he shut his dorm door and leaned against it afterwards. He was exhausted. After yet another fight with Ghost King and a week's worth of makeup homework he felt like he would collapse. He'd missed class because he'd been too injured. Being a college student along with a superhero did not go together.
And even though he'd been throwing people into walls and held down against his will he still had a term paper to write.
He shuffled to his bed where his silver laptop laid. It dinged when he opened it. Nearly made him jump. He was a bit more on edge lately. He couldn't help it, having an arch enemy would do that to a guy.
Worst of all, he couldn't see the end in sight. He hated to admit it, but they were both evenly matched. If Percy managed to win it wasn't by much and vice a versa. Could he continue to do this? Fight without any knowledge on his enemy was and what he wanted?
He groaned and let his head fall back on his headboard. His brain hurt. Actually, everything hurt. He shifted, trying to relieve his achy muscles.
Why can't his villain ever monologue? It'd make things much easier.
…
Nico had a plan.
He'd borrowed one of Hades' trackers and planned to plant it on Tsunami during one of their fights. It'd have to be on his back so he wouldn't be able to see it, though. And it would need to be disguised as an attack.
Jeez, this would be hard. Tsunami wasn't stupid enough to turn his back on him, not unless…
Nico groaned. Not unless he believed Nico was no longer a threat.
Damn it all. His pride was gonna hurt worse than all his previous injuries combined.
…
"What's the matter?" Tsunami taunted, his booted foot pressed to Ghost King's chest. "Tired?"
Ghost King pretended to struggle underneath him. He glared up at the Suit and spat, "Watch it, Spongebob."
Tsunami smirked.
Ghost King's hands curled into fists. Fuck it all, if Tsunami didn't turn his back now he'd give up the weak act entirely- his pride had taken too much of a beating.
To his surprise, there was no witty comeback or insult. And was it just him or did the Suit seem...drained? His green eyes were duller than normal and he definitely wasn't using all of his strength.
He was so lost in his musing he nearly missed Tsunami reaching for his mask like he had yesterday. That wasn't part of the plan. Ghost King immediately summoned a zombie from the asphalt and commanded it to attack him.
There was a cry of surprise and Tsunami fell to the ground, the corpse on top of him. It was only a second though; Tsunami was back on his feet almost instantly. Because the zombie wasn't alive there was no water running through his vein so Tsunami couldn't control him. He had to use brute force.
While the Suit was distracted, Ghost King plucked the tracker from his back pocket. He jumped onto Tsunami's back and stuck it to the middle of his back, right between his shoulder blades.
Tsunami flipped under him, his hand raised, but hit nothing except air. Ghost King had shadow traveled away once again. His zombie disappeared.
Tsunami was left alone. "Are you fucking kidding me? Again? God, you're such a coward!"
…
Back at Nico's home in the outer corners of the big city, Olympus, Nico and Hazel sat in his bedroom. Nico strained his eyes as he typed, clicked, and scanned the computer screen for any new data. So far, it appeared Tsunami was unaware that he was being tracked. He made his way through the downtown area toward Athena University. At least, that's what it looked like. There were others thing around him, but Nico doubted he was going to Freeway Lanes Bowling.
"It makes sense," Nico murmured, not taking his eyes off the blinking red dot. "He's old enough to be a college student. And I always knew he lived in Olympus. But I still don't know who he is. I'll have to check the student log and see if anyone jumps out."
Hazel hummed from her place on his big bed. "Seems kinda sketchy. Just what would you be looking for?"
Nico didn't even glance at her. "He has green eyes. He's a young male. And I'm pretty sure he's got black hair. I saw it when I tried to pull off his mask. How hard can it be to find powerful Suit in a pool of mortals?"
The red dot blinked and was gone. Must've found it and broke it already. Well, at least Nico knew where he hid- a college not twenty minutes away. Still, if Tsunami had discovered the tracker then that meant he knew that Nico knew. He'd probably be on his guard.
Nico chuckled and stretched his stiff back. Fine by him. He'd always enjoyed a challenge. "Haze? Can you get Nyssa for me? Tell her I got something for her to hack."
Ten minutes later, Nico's resident hacker extraordinaire sat in his office chair and was typing away on his computer. The glow of the screen cast weird shadows on her bored face. "Honestly, I thought you would've had somethin' better than this. Student logs aren't exactly Fort Knox."
Nico just shrugged as he continued to pace. "Sorry. I'll try to give you a more exciting project next time. For now, the money I'm giving you should be enough."
She sighed, tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear, and gestured to the screen in front of her. "There. All finished. Every listing of the students attending Athena U is here."
"Great. Narrow it down to males with black hair and green eyes." He stood next to her, trying to keep the giddy feelings rising in him to himself. So close…
Nyssa sighed again and obeyed. Rather than the thousands that had been there before, now there was only a dozen or so. Nico leaned toward the pictures, trying to determine who Tsunami was just from the photos, but he couldn't tell. Everything was too blurry and all he really had to go on were the eyes. Wasn't enough. He'd have to do some surveillance. Or better yet…
Nico glanced down at Nyssa. "How easy would it be for you to make me a new identity and sign me up as a student who rooms with one of these guys?"
Nyssa's unimpressed look was answer enough.
…
This is why two days later Nick di Angelo scanned the numbered doors as he walked down the dorm hallway. He had a duffel bag under one arm and a packet of papers of the other. Students ran past him, all laughing obnoxiously and fighting for what looked like a football.
Nico stopped outside the door on the end with the number '365' screwed on the metal He glanced down at his student information and saw the same number- guess he'd found it. He shouldered his duffel, stuffed the papers in his back pocket, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
The sight that greeted him was so normal he almost felt disappointed. A bare, twin bed was the first thing he noticed, along with the sound of harsh typing. He stepped inside, trying to appear as...college student-ish as possible. "Hello?"
The typing didn't cease, but a guy's voice called out, "Yeah?" He sounded slightly familiar, but Nico knew he couldn't base much on that.
He threw his stuff on the bare bed and turned to see a young male lying on a bed that matched Nico's and clicking on a laptop. Nico immediately knew it was Percy Jackson, one of his suspects.
"Hey." Percy waved slightly, green eyes leaving the computer screen for only a moment. "Are you my roommate?"
Nico nodded, despite the fact Percy wasn't looking at him. "Yup. Name's Nick. And you are?" He knew his name, of course, but it would certainly seem suspicious if Percy knew that. So, he kept up with the formalities.
"Percy Jackson." He smiled at Nico fleetingly, though it seemed a bit haggard, and went back to his laptop.
Nico unzipped his bag and began to unpack, using the excuse to search the room. Maybe Percy's space would say more about him and his likelihood of being Tsunami.
It was messy. Items were scattered over Percy's side of the room, including dirty laundry and old papers. There weren't much personal things though, no posters or kicknacks or even his own bedspread. Just the white blankets and sheet that the college provided. So, he was either poor or simply unmaterialistic. He needed more information.
"So, tell me about yourself," Nico said, keeping his dark eyes trained on his task. "What are you majoring in?"
Percy hummed absentmindedly. "Um, I work a lot. Volunteering and stuff. I'm majoring in marine biology. What about you?"
Wasn't much to go on, Nico noted to himself. Hardly any information at all, really. Was he being secretive or just uncaring? "Archaeology. And volunteering, huh? What do you do?" He glanced at Percy in the corner of his eye.
All Percy did was shrug and continued to type. "Stuff here and there. Wherever I'm needed."
Was he being mysterious on purpose? He didn't seem to be suspicious, but what was with all these half-answers? Did he do this to everyone?
Nico brought back from thoughts by Percy's sigh and the closing of his laptop. He looked up at the him as he stuffed his dresser with clothes. "What wrong?"
Percy stretched backwards, groaning, and a sliver of tan skin could be seen. Yawning, he asked, "I just need a break. You want to go the caf? I can introduce you to some of my friends."
If Percy left he could use the time to snoop. Nico shook his head, trying to appear casual. "No, thanks. I'm good for now. Got to unpack. But I'll catch up later, okay?"
Percy frowned and hopped off his bed. "Aw, come on. You gotta be hungry and your thing aren't going anywhere. Just come with me."
"Really, I think I'll just stay here. Thanks for the offer though."
"Nick, don't be stubborn. Let's go; you should socialize."
"I can socialize later."
"Why procrastinate? You should meet people."
"Why is this such a big deal?"
"It's not. So, just come with me."
Nico shut the dresser drawer rather forcefully, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "If I go can you stop pestering me?" Jeez, this guy just wouldn't let up. And Hazel said he was stubborn.
Percy grinned near the doorway. "You got it."
"Fine." It'd give him the chance to check out the other students anyway and see how Percy interacted with people. He stood and walked over to Percy, who smirked at his victory. "Lead the way."
The cafeteria was only a ten minute trip from the dorm. They passed all sorts of people and most knew Percy in some way. Obviously popular. Would that be a trait of Tsunami's? Nico wasn't completely sure.
"Here we are." Percy opened the glass door and a blast of cool air smacked Nico in the face. He stepped inside and let Percy go in front of him, rolling his eyes when Percy waved to a group of people sitting at a table. They headed over to them after Percy waved.
"Hey, guys," Percy greeted with a sunny smile. "Got a new roommate. This is Nick…" His brow furrowed when he seemed to realize he didn't know Nico's last name.
"Di Angelo." Nico nodded to the three people sitting across from him and Percy. There was a blonde girl, a Spanish-looking guy, and another one of his suspects. The one with the eye patch- Ethan something. He paid close attention to that one.
"This is Annabeth, Leo, and Ethan." Percy pointed to each person respectively, who each gave some form of greeting. Annabeth smiled. Leo beamed and waved. Ethan grunted.
"What ya studying?" Leo chirped, leaning over the table.
"Lots of things, I guess," Nico answered distantly, observing Ethan. He wore an eye patch, but that could just be a cover, right? He could take it off and his other eye could be perfectly fine.
"Okay…" Annabeth turned her attention to Percy, who was watching Nico watch Ethan with a weird expression. "So, I heard there's a party later. Want to go?"
"Hm? Oh, I don't know, Annie," Percy sighed. "I'm really busy."
Party? Nico perked. That'd be a good cover to check out the other students. Lots of people would be there. He nudged Percy teasingly. "Come on. You got me out of the room, now it's your turn. Let's go."
Percy rolled his eyes and nudged him back. "That's different. This is just a break. You want me to go to a whole party?"
Nico snorted. "Yeah, real hardship, I know. Hanging out with your friends instead of banging on computer."
"I don't- you know what? You win. I'll go."
…
Nico at been at the party for three hours now and had met all the men with green eyes and black hair he could. None really stuck out to him, except for Triton Jackson, who turned out to be Percy's half brother. So far, he had narrowed it down to these three: Percy, Triton, and Ethan.
He needed to do some more tests.
He pulled some false alarms while watching each male at different times to see who left when Ghost Kin rose. Ethan and Triton rarely did. Percy did every time, but all the excuses he gave were plausible.
As another test he had each suspect cross paths with a person who needed help. Once again, Percy helped every time. Still, that could just be a part of Percy's personality, it didn't mean he was a Suit.
"You think too much," Percy complained. He rolled himself over their open textbooks on the carpeted floor.
Nico cocked an eyebrow. "That's a bad thing?"
"Yes…" Percy shifted over their homework like a cat and placed his arm under his head. "I want to do something that doesn't involve effort."
Nico would've argued, but this at least was something he agreed with. He had no idea college was such work. "What do you want to do?"
Percy turned begging, green eyes on him, the papers crinkling under his body. "Movie?"
Nico pushed his homework away and placed his elbows on Percy's hard stomach. "Fine. Psycho?" It'd been one of his favorite movies as a child.
Percy's face screwed with disgust. "Ugh, no. I have a test tomorrow and I actually want to sleep. What about Finding Nemo?"
"I am not watching talking fish," Nico denied flatly. "The Woman in Black? It's PG-13."
Percy poked him in the cheek. "If it's classified as horror we're not watching it."
"Don't be such a baby. Most aren't even scary."
"Your definition of scary is different than normal people's. I want to watch something happy and mind-numbing. Little Mermaid?"
Nico groaned and flopped on his back. "That's even worse than Finding Nemo." Honestly, the boy was obsessed with anything related to water.
"We're watching The Little Mermaid."
"No, we're not."
"Yes, we are."
"No, we're not."
"Yes, we are."
"Are not."
"Are to."
"Are not."
"Are to."
"Are not."
"Are to."
"Are not."
"Are to."
"Oh, for the love of- fine!" Nico groaned deeply, as though in pain. "But, I choose the next one!"
…
"God, I'm starving." Percy collapsed against the dorm door, cradling his empty stomach. Nico mumbled in agreement. "Want some pizza?"
Nico laid on his bed and threw an arm over his eyes. "Not again. Can't stand that crappy stuff. I'll give you real Italian food."
Percy slid to the floor, groaning. "Nooo. I don't want anything fancy. Just some bread, cheese, and grease."
"Nope." Nico climbed off the bed and wrapped an arm around Percy waist to pull him up. "If you want food you're gonna get real food."
Percy opened his mouth to no doubt argue, but he closed it again, too hungry to care. "Fine…"
…
"You cheater!"
Nico only laughed as he continued to sprint down the huge hill, Percy barely behind him. They'd been on their way to the caf when Percy tried to trip Nico, Nico shoved him, and then...well, it ended in an all out race. Nico was just barely ahead.
"I'm so gonna-" Nico yelped as something crashed into him from behind and they both went tumbling down the rest of the hill. Nico was pretty sure he got grass in his mouth, but he was laughing and Percy was laughing and who really cared?
They rolled to a stop, Percy sitting on Nico's pelvis. He grinned down at Nico. "Beat ya."
Nico scowled up at him playfully. "You did not. You tackled me."
"Are there were rules to our little exchanges?" Percy teased, leaning back on Nico's knees.
Nico attempted to keep the alarm bells ringing in his head to himself. This sounded awfully familiar. And that scared him.
…
Nico limped into his and Percy's dorm room, his lip between his teeth to keep his groans of pain silent. It had been the first fight between him and Tsunami for a while now. He'd been too occupied to really go after Zeus like normal.
"Nico? You okay?" Percy glanced up at Nico from the doorway of the bathroom. "I thought I heard- Oh, my god! What happened?" He rushed to Nico's side, gaping at his blood stained gray T-shirt.
Nico winced when Percy poked at the sensitive wound on his back. "It was accident in the shop."
"Why didn't you go the hospital?" Percy demanded, already slipping off Nico's ruined shirt. He guided him to his bed and pushed him down. "You probably need stitches!"
Nico shook his head. "It'll be okay. Just need to bandage it." He kept thoughts of irony to himself. The person who caused the injury was no scolding him for not taking care of it properly.
"Well, at least let me do it. Your hands could be shaky from blood loss," Percy grumbled, shooting Nico an irritated look. He stomped into the bathroom to grab their unusual amount of medical supplies.
He placed it all the bed and forced Nico to lay down on his stomach. Nico did it without complaint, thinking it best to just let him help. He was feeling kinda dizzy. He let his head rest on his crossed arms and closed his eyes. Percy straddled his legs.
"This might sting," Percy warned before dapping at the long cut across his lower back. Nico tensed, but otherwise remained silent. Percy continued to disinfect it with alcohol as gently as he could before moving on to bandages. Nico was thankful that he didn't ask the questions that were probably burning in his mind.
Percy tied off the gauze with a small knot and trailed a finger of his work as a signal that he was finished. Nico stayed where he was though and Percy didn't move either.
"You should be more careful you know." Percy's voice was quiet. Nico swallowed and didn't speak.
There was something in the air. Some sort of heaviness that Nico couldn't decide if he liked or not. Percy was warm. His breathing was soft.
Nico turned slowly onto his back. Percy watched him with those green eyes that held...something that made Nico's heart beat faster. He wasn't sure who leaned forward first or even when his eyes closed, but he knew the moment their lips touched.
The pressure in the room intensified until it felt like Nico's chest was being squeezed. In a good way, though. In a very good way. It started light at first- just the barest of touches. Nico could feel Percy's warm breath ghosting over his slightly parted lips.
He wanted more and couldn't really say why. Something was burning inside him, getting hotter and hotter. He pressed his lips more firmly on Percy's and there was-
Oh.
Nico threaded a hand through Percy's soft, black hair to pull him closer. Percy sucked in a sharp breath before wrapping his arms around Nico's neck until there was no space between their bodies. He bit Percy's bottom lip, shuddering at the moan he received. He swiped his tongue over the seam of Percy's lips and Percy opened his mouth obediently, tasting almost sweet.
They didn't speak. There was no "Are you sure?" or "We shouldn't do this." Just a sort of understanding that Nico couldn't really put into words.
Hello, all. If you want to read the lemon that comes with this story you have to go to Archive of Our Own. It is where all my old Nicercy stories are, along with any new ones that feature smut. Takara Phoenix, Living. Like. A. Boss, Demonic Hope, TheBookMouse, CrazyCookieChick, DaughterOfApollo, and many other authors are moving to AO3 with me as a part of the Nicercy Movement.
You do not need an account to read AO3 stories. The accounts are free. How to get one is on my profile or you can just ask in a PM.
BE A PART OF THE NICERCY MOVEMENT!
In only a few minutes, Percy and Nico were both asleep.
…
Nico woke to hot puffs of air tickling the back of his neck. Eyes closed, he smiled sleepily and turned around on his other side. There was a grumble and a warm body snuggled closer. Percy. Nico opened his eyes, only to see the top of Percy's head.
Slowly, he crawled out of bed, chuckling at Percy's whine. Percy rolled over and hugged the pillow Nico had been using. The white sheet was pulled down to his waist and tangled in his legs.
Nico picked up his discarded clothes and threw them in a laundry basket before grabbing a new set from his dresser. he dressed as quietly as he could and shadow traveled away when he was sure Percy was still asleep.
He landed on his bed at Hades' hideout in his bedroom, just as he always did. He left as quickly as he entered and headed to the kitchen where he was sure hazel would be. He hadn't seen her for a while.
He was right. Hazel stood in front of the stove, frying something in a pan. She turned when she heard his footsteps and a bright smile was aimed his way. "Nico! Hey! I thought you wouldn't be here for a few more hours!"
Nico smiled back and leaned against the stove where she was cooking. "Yeah, I woke up early. I thought I'd come see you."
Hazel raised an eyebrow. "You seem awfully happy. New break in the Tsunami case?"
The smile on Nico's face evaporated at the mention of the Suit. He coughed and looked away, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. "Not exactly…"
Frowning, Hazel turned back to her breakfast and flipped a pancake. "What do you mean? Something happen?"
Nico picked at an invisible piece of lint on his black jeans. "It's nothing, Haze. I'm working on it, okay?"
"Working on it how?" Hazel demanded. "It's been a while now and still no progress? I could help if you really-"
"I don't need your help, Hazel," Nico interrupted sharply. "I told you I'm working on it. I don't want to rush this."
Hazel gripped the wooden spoon in her hand so hard that her dark-skinned knuckles turned white. "You can't keep doing this, Nico. I know Zeus killed Bianca, but I'm not her."
"I know you're not," Nico snapped. "Which is why you're not helping until you get control of your powers. You know children of Hades are hated."
"I know!" Hazel whipped around to face him, her food forgotten. "Of course I know! How could I not when I'm the one who's locked up here!" She stormed away, leaving Nico alone in the kitchen with her breakfast smoking.
Nico turned off the burner and sighed. His head fell forward. What was he supposed to do? Everything was all screwed up. The original plan of finding Tsunami's secret identity may have worked, but it lead him to Percy. Percy, who was his roommate, had people who cared about him, who wasn't at all like Nico thought he would be. Could he kill Percy, like he had originally planned?
No. He couldn't. As weird as it sounded, it would kill Nico too.
But that didn't make any sense. Nico had been fully prepared to take Tsunami's life before, had come close on many occasions. Why couldn't he now? More importantly, Tsunami was the one person who stood in his way. How could he get rid of him?
If he even wanted to.
..
"Percy?" Nico popped his head in their dorm, eyes straining in the dark. "You here?" He reached for the light switch on the wall and just as it was flipped-
Bang!
Nico crumbled to the ground, unconscious.
…
Hazel sighed as she approached Nico's dorm door. She rose her hand to knock, but then let it drop to her side again. She wanted to apologize. She did. She just wasn't sure if she was actually sorry or not. Still, she was determined, so she forced herself to knock and call out to her brother. "Nico?"
No answer.
She did it again, this time a bit more forcefully. "Nico? Come on, open the door. I just want to talk."
Nothing.
She groaned. "That's it! I'm coming in whether you want me to or not!" She turned the knob and pushed the wooden door open, expecting to see Nico brooding on his bed. He wasn't.
"Nico?" She stepped inside and flipped on the light switch, only to see an empty room. She went to go check the bathroom, but she noticed something odd on the floor in front of her. It was a dark red stain, obviously recent…
Hazel's eyes widened. Blood.
She spun on her heel and yelped when she saw a man standing in the doorway. He blinked at her with owlish, green eyes. "You okay? What are you doing here?"
Percy Jackson. She'd seen enough photos of him. Was he the one who hurt Nico? Did he find out his secret? She opened her mouth to demand answers, but Percy cut her off.
"Is that your blood?" He asked, pointing to the stain on the floor. "Are you hurt?"
Hazel shook her head. "No, no. I'm fine. Listen, where's Nico?"
Percy blinked at her. "You mean Nick? My roommate?"
Hazel nodded impatiently, knowing that was her brother's fake name he'd used. "Yeah, where is he? What did you do?"
"Me? I didn't do anything." He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowed. "I don't know who you are, but I'm sure Nick's fine-"
"No, he's not," Hazel interrupted harshly and gestured to the blood. "I'm sure that's his. he's been tracking-" She closed her mouth, suddenly conflicted on what to do. This had to be the work of Zeus, if it wasn't Percy, and she'd need help if Nico was captured. But even if it wasn't Percy could he be trusted?
"What's going on? Where's Nico? Who are you?" Percy demanded. His gaze was fierce, his stance defensive. It wasn't hard to picture him as Tsunami at the moment.
Hazel inhaled deeply. "Okay, just hear me out. I'm Nick's sister, who's actually named Nico, who's also Ghost KIng and he's been on Zeus' trail for a while now until Tsunami got in the way, and I'm pretty sure Nico was kidnapped by Zeus and now we got to rescue him-"
"Wait, wait, wait." Percy waved his hands. "You're telling me Nick, I mean Nico, is really the Ghost King and has been under my nose this whole time? Hell, I just had sex with him! Don't you think he would've told me?"
Hazel tried to keep her disgust to herself. At the moment, the last thing she wanted to be talking about was her brother's sex life. "Look, this is so not the time to discuss this! You just got to help me get him back and then you can yell at him all you want, okay?"
There was a moment of silence as Percy and Hazel stared each other down. Hazel was just about ready to say 'screw it' and get Nico back on her own.
But then Percy sighed, "Idiot," under his breath and looked back at Hazel. "Fine. I'll help. But he is gonna be in so much trouble."
...
The black hood was yanked off Nico's head. Nico was nearly blinded by the sudden light, causing him to groan. A man chuckled. "So sorry for the inconvenience. I had to get you here somehow, Ghost King."
Nico squinted at the man standing in front of him. Everything was blurry and the back of his head ached. And - he glanced down at his body - his hands and feet were tied to a metal chair. What exactly was going on…?
"Those need to stay on, I'm afraid." The man leaned back on a huge desk behind him and cross his arms over his chest; Nico noticed he was wearing a pinstriped suit. His black hair was slightly curly. His eyes were a bight blue.
Nico's own eyes widened. "Zeus."
Zeus hummed and reached inside his suit jacket to pull something out.
A gun.
It seemed to draw Nico's gaze, as if it was a magnet. Here ws a weapon that could kill him instantly. HIs powers couldn't protect him from everything.
Hi powers. He could just shadow travel out of his bounds. He opened the shadow in front of him to do just that when-
Nico jerked and cried out when a surge of electricity shocked him. Like ripples in the water, it ran over him, hot and thick and god why couldn't he move?
The feeling suddenly disappeared, leaving Nico panting, his heart pounding, and his bones aching.
Zeus hummed. "It's rather hard to use your powers when you're being electrocuted, isn't it?"
Nico didn't answer. He was trying his best not to swallow his tongue.
"I know who you are," Zeus stated, caressing the barrel of his gun. "My employees have been terrorized by you for quite some time now. At least until the so-called Tsunami came along. Too much for you?"
Nico wanted to speak, but everything felt wrong. He couldn't make his face work properly and he kept twitching. Here was his sister's killer and he couldn't even move.
Zeus hummed. "Enough of this, I suppose. I'll just kill you now." He lifted the gun, the safety off-
"Hey!"
Nico and Zeus both turned to face Tsunami, who stood proudly in the doorway, two unconscious men crumpled at his feet. Without a word, Zeus fired the gun at Tsunami, but he dodged just in time.
Nico jumped when he felt hands on his wrists, yanking the wires wrapped around him. He looked up at met golden eyes- Hazel. She grinned at him and yanked at his bounds until they broke. Before he could ask what she was doing here, there was the sensation of shadow traveling. They landed right behind Zeus.
Hazel promptly summoned a bar of gold and smacked him over the head. There was a painful sounding crunch and Zeus collapsed to the floor. Nico scrambled to grab his fallen gun, and pointed it at Zeus' body.
"Nico."
Nico glanced up at the soft call of his name. Percy, not Tsunami as his mask was off, approached him slowly, as if he was a cornered animal. He held his hands up. "Don't kill him, Nico. I'll be forced to take you down too. I don't want that and neither do you. Put down the gun."
Nico's eyes flickered between Zeus, the gun, and Percy. He had to avenge Bianca. He'd promised when he'd just been a little kid that he'd bring her killer to justice.
Hazel touched his back gently. "Maybe he's right, Nico. If you don't kill him he can be locked away for life. You've collected enough evidence over the years…"
Nico felt Hazel's warmth. Saw Percy's pleading, green eyes. Looked down at the cold gun held in his clenched hands.
He sighed and let the gun fall.
…
Two Weeks Later
"We should totally start a team." Percy waved his arms enthusiastically from his spot on the grass.
Nico snorted and nudged Percy's foot. "You would say that. What? You want to put up flyers? Suits wanted?"
Percy stuck his tongue out. "Maybe we don't like to be called Suits. Think of that? Maybe it should say 'Heros Wanted'?"
Nico grimaced, as though the word 'hero' put a bad taste in his mouth. "No way. We'd only get a bunch of weirdos and nerds."
"Um…" Percy gaze raked over Nico's lying form, a grin pulling at his lips. "Kinda hypocritical, Mr. Mythomagic."
Nico glowered at his past archenemy, and flicked him on the forehead. "Don't bing that up. I'm gonna kill Hazel for telling you."
Percy just laughed before kissing him on the cheek. "Sure, sure…"
Nico pulled him closer and let Percy's head fall into the crook between his shoulder and neck. He pecked the top of his head, smiling when Percy sighed quietly. And if it was somehow turned into a heated make out session that gained them quite a few stares from passing students, well…
Nico shadow traveled them back to their dorm.
They'd be heroes later.
AN: Thank you for reading! Leave a review please! They always make my day!