Summary: Will is a med student. He is an average Joe, if he recognises he's smart. He lives with his mother, loves his studies, his friends, his life. He just doesn't know that it's not quite the life he's always lived.

Nico is his silent protected. An unseen shadow, a guardian angel even, fending off the creatures that threaten to tear Will's fragile peace apart. He's a warrior and a fighter. But even he can't maintain such guardianship forever. Something's got to give.

And it does. To Nico, in one of the worst ways possible.

~Written for PJO Secret Santa 2016, for probablypartiallyinsane~

Rating: T

Tags: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Memory Loss, Bittersweet

Disclaimer: Thank you, Rick Riordan, for creating the series that has been my life for several stories already. All compliments go to you, and I make no profit from this story but for my own satisfaction :)

Chapter 1: Shattered Peace

It was a perfectly normal day. Almost too normal, Will would have to admit, except for the fact that 'normal' in his opinion was a blessing. A little bit of the norm in the craziness of his student life wouldn't go astray. Classes passed without a hitch, his laptop actually held up for once without the battery throwing a tantrum, and he even finished the day a little early. The sun was shining and the chill of autumn only just beginning to touch it. All was good.

Until the giant, flying cat attacked him.

At nearly five o'clock, the sun hadn't truly begun to take itself from the sky, inching its way towards the horizon yet still visible over the heads of the surrounding skyscrapers. The air was thick with the sound of traffic, even positioned off a main road as the College of Physicians and Surgeons was. Will stepped into the afternoon coolness, unnecessarily shucking his jacket higher onto his shoulders as he readjusted the thousand-and-one book bags and laptop in his arms.

At his side, Cindy Hart chattered at an exceptional pace. She always spoke at a million miles an hour, but today was even more rapid-fire than usual. Will put it down to her enthusiasm for finishing up just minutes before they usually did. Cindy was like that, he'd come to realise in the years since he'd first met her. She took the little joys in life and thrived upon them. A lot of people could learn something from Cindy.

"… not like I dislike BHD or anything," she was saying, swiping at her dark hair as a gust of wind tugged her fringe loose. Every day she wore a practical bun that was always more than half-freed from its confines by the end of the day. "It's just that I think Dr Derby could be a little more, ah…"

"Inclined to teach rather than simply lecture in a monotone?" Will offered as they made their way down the steps at the front of their college. It was amidst a see of sea of similarly fleeing students and as such a bit of a scramble on the not-quite-damp stone of the stairwell.

Cindy flashed him her wide smile that always showed a seemingly impossible number of teeth. "Hit the nail on the head, Will."

"I do that."

"It's not that I dislike him or anything –"

"You don't have to convince me, Cindy. I don't think you actually hate anyone in the world."

Cindy frowned thoughtfully as she readjusted her own bags. Will sympathised. He'd come to realise that it was the life and struggle of every med student to be weighed down by more than they could realistically carry. Or at least the ones that prepared themselves for anything their lecturers or tutors could throw at them. Will often thought he should just bring a trolley to college.

"You know, I think hate is a strong word," Cindy said.

"I rest my case," Will said with a smile of his own. Too nice. Cindy was way too nice.

"I suppose it's necessary, though," Cindy sighed. "I mean, let's face it, half the job of a student is to ensure you know the content even without the lecturers drilling it into you."

"I think you're undermining the job of the lecturers."

"I'm just saying."

"I know you are."

"Students should want to learn. They shouldn't need convincing."

Will smirked. "And yet here you are trying to convince me, even though five seconds ago you were complaining about BHD."

Cindy frowned again, though it was with a shadow of a smile. "I'm not complaining. I'll be the first to admit that it's not only Derby's fault. I'm hanging onto my grades in BHD by my fingertips."

Curving around the main building of the college, they left one-sixty-eighth street and passed onto Broadway. The sound of traffic was stronger here, peak hour adding its share of tooting horns and chattering pedestrians to the mix. They made their way in the direction of the bus shelter, weaving amongst businessmen or women and fellow students with Will more of a listening ear than an active participant in their exchange. He didn't mind. Cindy could chatter all she wanted to. Will had always been one to do most of the talking in his other friendships. He understood the propensity to speak almost without thought should a listening ear allow it.

They drew towards the bus stop, slowing in step to lean against the naked skeleton of a tree that stood guard beside the red and blue signpost with its caricature of a bus printed high for visibility. Will took the opportunity to lower half of his bags to the ground; buses came fairly regularly at this time in the afternoon, but his shoulders demanded the reprieve.

Cindy still chattered animatedly, though the conversation had shifted somewhat from where it had been. "And I told him that I didn't need him to, but he's the sort of person that insists upon doing something even if it's absolutely unnecessary."

Will rolled a shoulders, massaging his neck with one hand as he leant against the tree. "What's wrong with having him come and pick you up from college if he wants to? It's better than taking the bus."

Cindy sighed in fond exasperation. "Because it's unnecessary. He's my boyfriend, not a taxi service. And traffic is hell at this time of the afternoon." As if to punctuate her words, she gestured to the street that was indeed fairly packed with puttering vehicles.

"Maybe he's just being nice?"

"Maybe he's still stuck in the stage where he thinks he needs to do everything for me or I'll threaten to break up with him." Cindy's frown suggested such was far from happening.

"I think you're a bit past the honeymoon period," Will said, shaking his head with a smile.

"Apparently not."

"Three years isn't long enough?" At Cindy's amused shrug, Will chuckled. "You've got that boy whipped, Cindy."

Cindy's beaming, toothy smile flashing once more. "I have at that, haven't I?" The way she said it suggested it was mutual dedication.

Her phone buzzed a second later and shifting her bags and folders in her hands – Will silently took her laptop from her hands to her grateful smile – Cindy awkwardly juggled it from her pocket. Will didn't need her to flash the screen in his direction to know it was her boyfriend Kevin; Cindy's smile said it all.

"Hey, babe," she said as she pressed it to her ear. "What's up?" Silence for a moment but for the background noise of the traffic, the conversation of the students standing a little away from Will. Then, "I told you not to."

Will smiled to himself, dropping his gaze down to the laptop to hide his amusement. Cindy and Kevin were sort of an adorable couple. They were both so infatuated that it would have been almost sickening to witness except for the fact that they both deserved one another so completely. Will thought one could learn a lot about healthy relationships by watching the two of them.

Or at least Will felt as much, even if he didn't put any of those learned skills into practice. He wasn't interested in dating, or at least not at the moment. Whenever anyone asked him why that was, he claimed it was because of school, because his studies filled the place another person would, and that he didn't think it was fair on them. Which was true, to a degree. True – alongside the fact that it didn't feel right. Will had thought about it, had even felt a touch of interest in the occasional fellow student or friend of a friend, but it hadn't been right. For whatever reason, a reason Will couldn't quite discern, it always felt like he was cheating to think of another person in such a way. Which was a ridiculous notion but… was it possible to consider oneself unfaithful by putting a relationship before school studies? That was the only possible explanation Will could think up for why he felt as he did.

"… don't mind, then thanks," Cindy was saying. She was smiling brightly again. "I'll wait down on the corner, then? Yeah, okay. See you in a few." Hanging up, she slipped her phone back into her jacket pocket, momentarily rearranged her scarf to sit more comfortably, and took her laptop back from Will with a nod of thanks.

"He's picking you up, then?" Will asked.

"He's picking me up," Cindy said with an exasperated sigh that didn't fool Will for a moment. "He's actually only about a minute away."

"Damn hide of him, offering to pick you up like that," Will teased.

"I know, right? Just can't seem to teach an old dog new tricks."

"I thought he was only a year older than you?"

Cindy smiled at Will impishly before shrugging. Turning to continue down Broadway, she tipped her head at him. "Want a lift? I'm sure we could swing by your place on the way if you'd like."

Will shook his head and waved the offer aside. "My house is literally in the opposite direction to yours."

"Doesn't matter. Kevin won't mind."

It was true. Kevin really wouldn't. It was Will who minded. "You'd end up getting home later than if you took the bus."

"Doesn't matter, Will. We don't mind if –"

"It's okay." Will waved her reattempt aside again with a gesture down the road in the direction of the typical corner pick-up Kevin sat at a little down from the traffic lights. "Hurry up or you'll be late."

Cindy sighed again, shaking her head. "Alright. Just this time though, Will. Next time we're dropping you home."

"Yeah, sure thing," Will said, even if he didn't mean it. "See you tomorrow."

"See you." Cindy turned and started off at a trot down the road. She'd disappeared within the throngs of pedestrians within seconds.

Sighing, Will slumped back against the tree once more and turned his attention down the one-way street in search of the predicted oncoming bus. It might have been nice to finish early that afternoon, but he still caught the same bus as he always did. It didn't really make all that much of difference in the long run what time he finished. Plucking his phone from his pocket, Will spared it a glance and noted the time. Less than five minutes. He turned his attention back down the street in wait.

It was because he was staring so listlessly that Will noticed the bird at all. Or at least it looked like a bird at first, hawk-shaped though what a hawk was doing in central New York was a mystery. Until it drew towards him and he saw that it was definitely, definitely not a hawk. More than that, it was charging straight for him.

The unexpectedness of a giant winged creature spearing through the air towards him briefly threw Will for a loop. He barely managed to duck out of the way before it crashed into him. The force of its flight resounded in a heavy THUNK in the tree trunk behind him and a shark, incredibly loud shriek of surprise and indignation followed

Knees jarring on the concrete sidewalk, Will snapped his attention over his shoulder towards the creature, only to feel his eyes widen and mouth flop open in shock. That was – no, that was definitely not a hawk. It clambered for purchase in the branches of the tree, wings beating and skinny legs that rippled with muscle scrambling. When it righted itself, it turned towards Will and loosed another indignant shriek.

It was a cat. A bird cat. A cat with bird wings. Except that it was larger than a cat, more the size of a panther and just as black, with enormous wings sprouting from its shoulder blades and narrowed red eyes. It balanced precariously on the branches that sagged beneath its weight, tail whipping in agitation as its wickedly sharp beak snapped with another growling squawk. At Will. A snarl directed straight at Will.

Will stared for a long moment in growing horror, confusion and… and something else that felt strangely like resigned frustration, almost anticipation. He didn't get the chance to consider what that feeling meant, however, for the cat-bird loosed another snarling shriek before launching itself from the tree straight for him.

There were shouts from behind him, more surprised than fearful, but Will didn't spare those around him a glance. Heart in his mouth, he scrambled on hands and knees out away from the creature, flinging himself in a dodge just in to avoid its smash into the ground where Will had been sprawled seconds before. Book bags scattered where he'd abandoned them. Another shriek, then it leapt for him once more.

Will ducked out of the way. He rolled to his feet, then ducked again as the cat-bird sprung over him in a mad flap of wings and cruelly snapping beak, talons bared with the clear intention of gutting its prey. Will didn't know what it was, let alone why it was so savagely targeting him, but he didn't think about that. He didn't have time to think about it, barely registered the surrounding shouts and cries of "What's happening?" and "Crazy bird!" as he ducked and dodged even rolling in a twist on his shoulder to avoid with the best of his ability. Bird? It wasn't a fucking bird. It was – it was something else and it was clearly insane.

How Will managed to avoid the crazed creature at all he didn't know. He barely had the headspace to think about what he was doing, about why it seemed to be attacking him specifically, and simply let his body respond for him. Another duck as the cat-bird flung itself over his head. A roll to the side as it swiped out with sharp talons. Dancing backwards as he stumbled to his feet to avoid the rabid snapping of its beak. Quite without realising it, Will found himself throwing a frantic glance around himself for a weapon. Something. Anything to bat the creature away with. A stick? Even a stick would do.

He didn't have time for that, however. Will had just spared a glance over his shoulder towards the tree in the vein hope of snatching one of it's branches to ward off the crazy animal who only God knew why was hell-bent on gouging his eyes out. Only for a second, however, before the cat-bird reared on its hind legs, narrowed its ruddy gaze further and, with a violent slap of its wings, launched itself towards him. Will didn't even have time to duck.

As it turned out, he didn't need to. Someone ducked him for him. Will's legs were kicked from beneath him and he hit the ground hard. Yelping in surprise and only just managing to catch himself on his hands, Will spun a disoriented glance towards the creature. Only to have his line of sight blocked by the figure of a young man.

He wasn't tall. He wasn't big. If anything, he was a little diminutive and would be largely unobtrusive in any other context; black hair, black clothes a little worn, skinny with his olive skin pale. He was half-turned, planted between Will and the creature, and as Will drew his wide-eyed stare up towards him, heart thumping at a roaring speed in his chest, the man spared him a glance. A dark eyed glance, a frown that was almost a scowl but eased from what looked to be almost concern into frustration. Then he turned away.

For whatever reason, for whatever unknown, incomprehensible reason, Will suddenly felt a rush of relief flood through him for that barest glance.

He didn't have a second to try to understand it. Will barely had a second to recognise that relief at all, for in an instant the man was turning fully from him to face the creature that had somehow been flung a dozen paces from them. Will caught sight of the ring of onlookers, surprise still apparent in staring eyes and skittering edging for a better view where the scene was stationed on the curb-side. Then his attention was thoroughly distracted by the sword in the young man's hand.

A sword. He was carrying a fucking sword.

Will didn't get the chance to voice his stupefied surprise. He didn't get a chance for more than a further widening of his eyes and a stunned blink. The young man took a step towards the cat-bird and raised his long, black sword in his hand. When he spoke it was in a harsh spit of something that to Will's ears sounded vaguely Italian before his words morphed into English a moment later. "… don't ever give up, do you? I thought it would have been clear by now. Fuck. Off."

He spoke in a low voice, a dangerous voice that was nothing if not threatening and sent a shiver down Will's spine. The creature across from him, lowered to all fours, hunched at his words, beak snapping as if in retaliative reply and tail whipping more sharply. They faced off for a bare moment in which Will only glanced between them, past the man's widely planted legs and then back up at him. Everything from his stance to the very obvious weapon suggested he knew what he was doing, regardless of the unexpectedness of it all. He knew very well and he could handle himself.

Will's assumption was made good an instant later. The creature loosed another shriek before it leapt for the young man, and in an instant there was a whirlwind of activity. The man spun and ducked, dodging like a dancer around his partner with sword sweeping. The sound of metal on metal rung through the air as the creature's obsidian talons struck the glossy length of the black sword, rebounded, struck again.

Will didn't move from where he'd sprawled on the ground, staring at the battle that raged before him. He couldn't move had he wanted to, could only stare. He hadn't the chance to be scared for his life as a creature jumped straight from a fairy tales had appeared and tried to attack him, but even now he didn't feel fear. There was something else in its place. A throbbing, pounding rush of adrenaline and something else on top of that. A sharpness. A keenness. An urge to –

To throw himself into the fight. Will registered it as ridiculous even as he recognised the feeling for what it was.

He didn't get the chance to act upon his irrational inclination, however. The man in black with his sword that spun almost too fast to see – it was incredible to watch, breathtaking and just a little awe-inspiring – definitely knew what he was doing. Dancing, leaping out of the way, then throwing himself on the offensive, he made short work of the creature. A swing to bat aside the reaching claws, another sidestep to dodge the stumble the creature made as a result, and then the sword was descending. It swung so hard, so fast, that the air whistled with its passage in an audible swoosh, and then it was over. The blade sheered through the creature and then…

Dust. As soon as the man's sword sliced through it, the creature burst into dust. Just like that, it was there and then it was gone. The man carried the motion through, stepping to complete the strike, and then steadied himself. He wasn't panting, didn't seem even slightly fazed or wearied by the fight. With a twirling sweep of his sword that seemed to brush aside the dust as it gradually fell to the ground, he made a flourish that somehow didn't seem pompous or unnecessarily extravagant and slipped the sword over his shoulder. Sheathing it, Will realised, as with a snick the sword disappeared at his back.

Then the man's dark, frowning gaze turned towards Will and Will was caught. Not scared as he perhaps should have been given that he'd just seen not only a creature that was a sick sort of mix of mythology and violence but thence seen that creature neatly taken out but a sword-wielding warrior in skinny jeans and a bomber jacket. But he wasn't. He didn't feel scared. Will stared up at the man from his sprawl on the ground when he turned fully to face him.

He had a thin face, was indeed as pale as Will had first thought in his brief glance in a way that the diagnostic side of Will's brain informed him was likely a combination of nutritional deficiency and a lack of sun exposure. He got an impression of sharp features, large eyes impossibly dark and unreadable and mouth thinned in something that looked disapproving before the man was shaking his head in a disapproving manner that was entirely affronting given that he didn't look any older than Will was himself. Then he was turning away from him again.

"Honestly," Will caught the barest mutter of. "How you manage to get into trouble so often…"

Will didn't know what that meant. He didn't get the chance to ask either, for without waiting further, without pausing to explain just what the hell had happened, the man was striding away from him in the direction that Will himself had come from only minutes before. He only spared a moment to glare – yes, glare, as though the onlookers personally offended him – at those whispering around him and shooting visibly intimidated glances before clicking his tongue and pausing in step as they parted before him.

"Mind the birds of prey hanging around lately," he said shortly, quietly, somehow almost with a touch of boredom. "They're being weirdly aggressive for some reason." Then he strode through his audience's midst, head bowing and shoving his hands into his pockets, and headed in the vague direction of Will's college. Heads turned to watch him leave, having captivated not only Will but several other witnesses, and comprehending sighs of "Oh, I see," and "Maybe it's an early mating season and they're territorial?" sounding in his wake.

Then he was gone.

Will was left to stare with distinctly less comprehension than was voiced by those around him. He detachedly accepted the offered hands of assistance as those around him pulled him to his feet and helped him to collect his discarded book bags and dropped laptop. Birds of prey? Weirdly aggressive? Certainly the latter seemed accurate, but that thing, the thing that had just up and burst into dust when the man had sliced it with his fucking sword – that wasn't any bird of prey that Will had ever seen before. Did no one else around him seem to realise that?

Nodding his head in gratitude to the helping hands, Will could only blink in mounting confusion as he slung his bags over his shoulder. He peered down the road in the wake of the disappeared young man until the bus drew up alongside the bus stop barely a minute later and even then walked in a daze of diffusing adrenaline and bemusement for what had just happened.

That, and the distinct impression that he'd known the man who had just saved him from a creature that Will's mind was detachedly labelling a gryphon from the distant childhood memories putting the pieces of the encounter together. He felt like he'd known the man, that he should have known him even if he couldn't place him.

Will thought of little else the entire trip home. In his mind's eye, what confronted him wasn't the admittedly terrifying and faintly glowing red eyes of the gryphon but the dark stare of the man as he spared him little more than a flat, passing glance. He felt like he should know him, but…

Nico rounded the corner into one-sixty-eighth street, chin tucked and scowling. Fucking gryphons. Every monster should universally know by now to steer clear of one demigod in particular but gryphons apparently didn't have the higher-order thinking to realise that. Some of them simply didn't. That was where Nico came in. It was one of several reasons he stuck around at all.

Nearly two years and the first time he'd actually confronted Will was to save him from a monster attack? Well, Nico could think of worse ways for it to happen.

It shouldn't have happened at all, really. The monsters should know: Will Solace was untouchable. Nico wasn't the only one to enforce that way of thinking, though he was perhaps the most consistent of the law enforcers. He was one of several who made it his job to ensure that any monster who even dared would swiftly lose their heads and be vanquished back to Tartarus before they could say "Oops".

It wasn't a bad way for the meeting to happen if it had to happen at all. Really, it wasn't, even if Nico had hoped that Will wouldn't see any monsters again. He knew it was an idealistic hoped. Even so, he regretted he had to show himself to Will, had to meet his eyes and attempt to pose a front of disregard and nonchalance. He could still feel the brutal ache in his chest as though he'd been punched by an iron fist.

Clenching his jaw, Nico slowed in step as a sound whispered on the edges of his hearing. Pausing, he drew his gaze upwards to the specks of darkness that from a distance could have been mistaken for a pair of hawks or some other bird of prey. Nico didn't mistake them. Gryphons rarely travelled alone. He'd been expecting more, just as he'd been expecting them to hone in upon the doors of the college that Will walked out of practically every day should they think to attack at all.

Reaching over his shoulders, Nico curled his fingers around the hilt of his sword. He narrowed his gaze to a glare as the gryphons drew closer, drawing the blade with a clean, sharp ring. "Come on then, you bastards," he muttered, widening his stance in preparation. He didn't even spare a glance around himself for possible observers. The Mist would take care of them and any observations they might make. "There's no way in hell you're getting past me."

As soon as they were in striking distance, Nico attacked.

A/N: So, first chapter! What did you think? Like it? Had potential? Or really didn't? Please let me know your thoughts in the reviews. Thank you for reading!