Predators and Protectors
Warning: Possible triggers. Mentions of rape, cutting, and molesting. Please don't read if this may cause you physical and/or emotional pain. Thanks.
Nico and Braxton had been dating 5 months. Braxton was a child of Nike/Victory who had come to camp about a month after the war with Geae. So, he was already 17, three year older than Nico. He was tall, like 5'11, muscular, but slender. He had neatly cut black hair and piercing brown eyes. He was quiet a good looking boy, and as far as anyone else could see, he was kind and polite. He was the perfect boyfriend for Nico, and Will hated him. Under any other circumstances Will and he could have been great friends, but not when he swoops in and stills the boy of his dreams. Not that Will would do anything to ruin Nico's relationship; he deserved to be happy for once. Will just wished it was him making Nico happy. Beside there was something about Braxton Will didn't trust. He was just too perfect of a boyfriend. He was always happy, but Will normally was to so he couldn't really hold that against him. Yet there was something about the way he looked at Nico. He always had this glint in his eyes, but not a loving one, more like a hungry, needy glint. Like he had other intentions with Nico than what was appropriate for a 14 year old. That was what concerned Will. Also the fact that Nico's forced smile was back. He wasn't sure if the others noticed, but he did. He had seen Nico's real smile, heck he even knew how to make him smile. So, when Will saw that fake smile on his face alarm bells went off. He also notices other little subtleties. Like how he wasn't eating like he was before. He usually ate at least a full plate, if not more, now he was barely eating half the plate. He also notices how Nico kept retreating to the shadows. Not that that wasn't normal, but Braxton was ALWAYS with him; in the shadows, in the dinning pavilion, in his cabin. That's another thing Will didn't trust about Braxton. He was constantly sneaking into the Hade's cabin, like in the middle of night and all that. Okay, let's get one thing straight, Will was not a stoker. The first time he had seen it happen, he had been going to the Apollo after a late night shift at the infirmary, he saw a motion out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Braxton sneaking into the cabin. At first he thought he had just imagined it, but the next night he saw it again. He had the late shift that whole week, and every night he saw Braxton sneak into Nico's cabin. One the third night of this, Will noticed Braxton had a small bag with him. Did he have that before? Anyway the day before his last day, he decided to tell someone. He thought briefly about telling Chiron, but he didn't want Nico in trouble. For a moment he thought about telling the seven, but well. NO! Finally he settled on Clarisse. Clarisse and he had an odd friend ship. The seemed like they shouldn't get along well, but they do. And over the years Will grew to trust her more and more. She was also one of the first people to know about his sexuality (Bisexual). She was also the only one who knew about Will's attraction to Nico. So, while everyone was heading to breakfast she pulled her aside and into the woods. He then presided to explain what he saw. She was quiet for a few minutes before speaking.
"That's defiantly something to check out." She mumbled.
"I'm not for sure exactly what's going on, but I keep noticing how Nico's acting like he was before." Will said rubbing the back of his neck.
"Okay, since this is obviously bothering you, we'll check it out tonight." Clarisse sighed.
"Thank you soo much" Will said. She stood there for a minute, thinking.
"Okay so here's the plan…"
That night during Will's shift Clarisse brought Chris, who had been let in on the plan, to the infirmary with 'stomach pain'. She stayed while Will examined him. Then when Will's shift ended, they all snuck out the back of the infirmary. They went around the back of each cabin. When they reach the Hades cabin, they ducked into the bushes and waited. They waited for over forty-five minutes, but Braxton never showed.
"Maybe he's not com…" Chris was cut off by the sound of something hitting the cabin wall from inside.
"Or maybe he's already in there" Clarisse said. She motioned for the boys to fallow her, and then made her way to the window. They all three pecked in. Will had to clamp a hand over his mouth to keep from gasping.
Inside Nico was being pinned against the wall, Braxton standing over him. At first glance it looked as if it they were just, um 'getting it on'. But, Will knew better and judging by the way they others looked at him, they could see it to. There were little signs showing that only one of them was into this. Like the fact that Braxton had Nico's arms pinned firmly above his head, and were using his own weight to press Nico against the wall. They way they were 'kissing' were another indication. Well, 'kissing' wasn't exactly a good word, more like Braxton kissing him and Nico powerless to stop him. Nico was also crying, and every time he made a sound of displeasure Braxton would squeeze his wrist or slam into his lower regions. Braxton was also the only one making an attempt at grinding up against Nico. Will was confused as to why Nico wasn't fighting back. Then he saw it.
"He drugged him." Will whispered. When the others looked at him strangely he pointed to the bottle of pills spilled out on the floor and the water on the floor as well.
"What do we do?" Chris questioned.
"Stop him before he can do anything more" Clarisse said. They snuck around to the front door after deciding on a plan. On the count off three Chris burst through the door. The sudden commotion was enough to make Braxton pause in what he was doing. Giving Clarisse an opening to grab him and pull him away from Nico at this he seemed regain his sense and began to struggle. Chris jumped in to help Clarisse as Will leapt forward and caught Nico as he fell. As his two friend wrestled to subdue Braxton, Will lowered himself and Nico to the floor. Nico had wrapped his arms around Will's neck and continued to cry as Will's held him. Will wrapped his arms around Nico's torso in a reassuring manner.
"Is he okay?" Clarisse came over and knelt beside then. Chris was pinning Braxton the floor with his arms held behind his back.
"He's pretty shaken, but other than that don't know." Will answered.
"Can you hand me that bottle?" Will asked pointing towards the bottle of pills on the floor. Clarisse got up and retrieved the bottle handing it back to Will as she returned. Will's eyes widened as he read the label.
"How many of this did you give him?" Will growled at Braxton. He smirked and replied.
"I don't somewhere between three and five. I didn't need him that much after tonight." Will let out a breathy gasp.
"Clarisse, can you get a cup of water out of the bathroom?" Will asked, she nodded then darted into the bathroom stopping only to pick up the cup. He looked down at Nico and almost cried when he found he'd passed out already. He laid Nico's limp form on the floor as he checked his pulse. It was extremely weak. Clarisse returned with the water.
"Okay, now we need to mix salt into the water." Will stated lamely. They spent a moment in silence, before Chris cried out.
"There, on the table." He nodded towards the coffee table were a small stack of McDonald's salt packs had been left. Clarisse quickly retrieved the packets and poured all of them into the water. Will had never been happier about Nico's eating habits. Clarisse handed the glass off to Will. Will opened Nico's mouth and forced him to swallow about a fourth of the glass. He waited a few seconds before pouring another fourth into his mouth. When nothing happened Will forced the remaining half of the water into Nico's mouth, making sure he swallowed all of it. Finally he pressed down on Nico's stomach, causing Nico to vomit up the remains of his stomach. Will was lucky enough to have been able to turn Nico on his side before he chock on his own vomit. Now that Nico was out of any immediate danger Will turned to Clarisse.
"Can you go get Chiron?" She nodded then darted out the door. He then went into the bathroom and retrieved what he needed. He used a role of paper towels to cover up the vomit on the floor. Then he used a warm washcloth to clean off Nico's face. When that was done he picked the limp boy in his arms and placed him on the couch. He through a blanket over Nico, then went back to Chris's side. They waited in silence until Clarisse came running back inside fallowed by Chiron and Mr. D.
"What is going on here?" Chiron asked looking around. Will and the others soon explained what they had seen. Soon Braxton was being lead back to the main house. After cleaning up the vomit Will went back to Nico. Clarisse and Chris went to go get/IM Nico's friends and fill them in on the situation. Will gently picked Nico up and carried him to the infirmary. He brought Nico into a private room and did a reading. Deciding that all his injuries were minor Will decided to wait till Nico woke up to treat him. He was sitting in a chair beside Nico filing out a report/file on Nico when the door opened. Clarisse, Chris, Jason, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Calypso, and Coach Hedge shuffled in a quietly as possible.
"How's he doing?" Clarisse asked.
"Um, he has some minor bruising and scratches aside from, um, other things." Will finished blushing. The others looked at each other awkwardly. Some of them shuffled their feet or bit their lips.
"What happened to Braxton?" Will asked.
"Chiron decided that the Roman justice situation would be better suit to fit his crime" Jason said with a smirk.
"Reyna going to give him hell." Percy muttered.
"And he deserves it" Coach Hedge said "I should have been in charge of his punishment; I'd teach the cupcake a thing or two."
"Betting someone repeatedly with a baseball bat is not a reasonable punishment, it's also weird." Piper responded.
"Yay, but it would be pretty awesome" Leo said, earning a slap on the head from Calypso. Nico was lying on his side in the bed. His small face looked peaceful, but haunted.
"Well, Hazel, Frank, and Reyna are coming over from New Rome. " Chris spoke up after a few minutes of silence.
"They should be here by noon tomorrow, if not sooner." Annabeth calculated.
"When do you think he'll wake up?" Jason asked.
"Not sure. We managed to get the drugs out of his system before they managed to be digested, but there's no telling how long it's been since he's last sleep." Will answered. The room remained silent for a few minutes, until Leo broke the silence.
"This is awkward," And another slap on the back of the head. This caused the others to laugh. But they stopped when Nico let out a small groan in his sleep.
"We should probably go and let him rest." Clarisse finally spoke up. The others nodded before saying goodbye and leaving the room.
Once the others were gone Will went to work. He got out his stethoscope and gently placed it on different points on Nico's chest. He then extracted a small metal clamp and put it on Nico's right, ring finger. He then placed his hand on his wrist and counted the beats. When the clamp beat he removed it from Nico's finger and found that it read 2 less than what Will counted. He then made notes in the file. He left the room for a minute and returned with a cart of medical supplies. He gently turned Nico onto his back. He pulled down the covers and removed Nico's shirt, throwing it into the laundry in on the cart. He then removed an antibiotic cream and box of band-aids form the cart and began to work on Nico's cuts and scratches. Pausing occasionally to make a note on all the cuts, scratches, and bruises he found. When all the cuts and scratches had been treated on his chest, stomach, back, and arms; Will gently slid a sterile mint green hospital shirt on to Nico. Will then went to work doing the same on his legs. I'll spar you from the details of the rest. When Will was done Nico was sleeping in a mint green medical outfit, covered in antibiotic cream and band-aids. Will had also brought a heart monitor in and hooked it up to Nico along with an oxygen mask. Once he was satisfied with his work Will sat in the chair at Nico's bed side, filling out the remainder of Nico's file. He made notes on his injuries and the treatments he decided on. Will sighed as he set the file down on the table; he looked over at Nico's sleeping form. He leant his head down onto the bed beside Nico, within minutes he was out like a light.
The next day Will woke up at 1:06 p.m. having not slept at night. He awoke to find a white blanket spread over his back and a note on the bedside table. He groggily rubbed his eyes, and then picked up the note. Scribbled on the note in neat letters were:
Thanks for watching after are little bro.
Sincerely,
Hazel and Reyna.
P.S. Hurt him, you die.
He could tell the last part was from Reyna. He smiles slightly at their concern. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching. Then a small noise to his right made him freeze. He quickly jerked his head around to look at Nico, he almost cried when he saw the younger boy's eyes open.
"Hey, death breath, good to have you back," Will spoke quietly. Nico smiled slightly from behind the oxygen mask. Then his smile faded and his eyes widened. His eyes darted around the room suspiously.
"Hey, its okay, Braxton's not here." Will reassured him. Nico looked at him a little startled. Will reach forward and removed the mask from his face, then he unhooked the heart monitor from Nico's chest.
"We know what he was doing to you," Will whispered gently. Nico looked the other way with tears in his eyes.
"Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault."
"H-he said it was no-normal, but I d-didn't want to d-do it." Nico stuttered out, tears now making their way down his face. Will reach forward and wiped away Nico's tears.
"Nico that's not normal for a relationship, okay? If you don't want to do something, you don't have to."
"He- he held me down and made me swallow some sort of pills, he was t-too strong for me." Nico's tears continued to fall. Will would have stopped him if it wasn't something they needed to know.
"Why didn't you tell someone, we would have helped you?" Will asked.
"He sa-said that if I told h-he'd…" At this point Nico broke down into sobs. Will wrapped Nico into a tight hug pulling up, till he was in a sitting position. Nico wrapped his arms around Will's torso and sobbed into his chest, his small frame shaking. Will wrapped his arms around his Nico's neck and held him tight. When Nico finally calmed down about half an hour later Will backed away. He reaches up and wiped away Nico's tears with his thumbs.
"Okay, Nico? I know it's hard, but I need to know what he said he'd do. Can you tell me?" Will insisted, taking Nico's hands in his. Nico nodded weakly before speaking.
"He said he'd give me more pills then leave." Nico was shaking. Will couldn't even begin to imagine what that would have been like to Nico.
"Oh Nico, I'm so sorry, we should have noticed sooner." Will frowned, contemplating whether he should go on; finally he spoke, "Nico? How long has he been doing this to you?" Nico though for a minute then shuddered.
"Four m-months," Nico answered.
"Has, has he done anything, um, more, than what he did last night?" Will feared the answer. In reply Nico looked the other way, and then nodded slightly. Will pulled Nico into a tight embrace as the younger demigod broke down again. Will rubbed small circles into Nico's back.
"Shh, it's okay, calm down. You're save now." Suddenly Nico stopped and looked up with fear in his wide eyes.
"W-what happened to him?" Nico was shaking at the thought of Braxton still near.
"Shh, don't worry, they're going to take him to New Rome, he can't hurt you anymore." Will continued to reassure Nico. Nico leaned forward and rested his head on Will's chest; his hand came to clutch at the front of Will's shirt. Will was sitting in the bed with Nico in his lap.
"Hey, Nico, you now, Hazel and Reyna are here." Nico looked up sniffling.
"Really?"
"Yay, want me to go find them?" Will asked with a slight smile. His smile faded in confusion as Nico shock his head.
"I want you to stay here." Nico stated tearfully.
"Oh- okay I'll stay." Will said. He sat there at Nico's bed side for about three hours. At one point, Will sister brought them a late breakfast and went to get the others. They were all crowded around in the bed in less than an hour. Hazel quickly wrapped Nico in a hug. Will left the room and went outside to tell Chiron what Nico had told him. After explaining to everything to Chiron, Will went to the dinning pavilion to get him and Nico dinner, when he returned everyone was gone except Hazel and Reyna. When he entered the two girls said their goodbyes and left, Reyna sending Will a threatening glare. Will sat the tray in front of Nico and settled down beside him. Will noted how Nico was eating unusually large amounts.
"Hey, you okay?" Will asked, truly concerned.
"Yay, just really hungry." Nico answered, surprising Will with his forwardness.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence.
"How are you feeling" Will asked when they had finished.
"Tired," Nico admitted.
"You should get some sleep, I'll clean up here." Will made to stand up, but stopped when Nico grabbed his hand.
"WAIT! Um, c-can you, um. I mean. Can you stay with me?" Nico asked not quiet meeting Will's eyes.
"Oh, um, okay, I guess, if you want me to."Will sunk back down into the chair.
"Promise you'll stay?" Nico looked up at Will with teary eyes.
"Of course I will" He noted how Nico's hand still hadn't left his. With that Nico laid down in bed. About five minutes later, he was out. Will sighed as he made a note in Nico's chart.
A/N: WOW, that's a long chapter. Sorry if it sucked, but this has been in my mind for months. I'm going to post this and continue writing, so you guys/gals need to review if you want me to post more. Anyway thanks. I know this is a bit mature, but hey, stuff like this happens all the time. I'm sorry if this offended you, but it was in my head and needed to be vented. Please review, bye.
~Goth