Gone
by Eris

Nico wasn't surprised when Percy turned up on his doorstep over a week later at one in the morning to beat the crap out of him. He'd actually been expecting this moment since he dropped Annabeth off that night, and while some selfish part of him had hoped she wouldn't tell him, he knew Annabeth. She would've told Percy.

So he didn't fight back, even when Percy threw him into the coffee table and broke the expensive wood into a lot of pieces, because he owed them this much.

"Fight back, damn it!" Percy snarled, his face a twisted mask of fury and betrayal and heartbreak. Zeus's beard, did Annabeth break up with him again?

He didn't fight back though, knowing he was at fault and knowing that if he fought back, Percy would take it as a challenge. This wouldn't be one of those times when they'd fight and beat each other up and eventually reaffirm their friendship while bruised and bleeding. Because this time, Annabeth was the one the fight was about, and even if Percy and Annabeth's relationship wasn't all rainbows and sunshine, Nico knew that Percy loved Annabeth and Annabeth loved Percy and that they'd be together 'til the end.

And after the end, he knew they'd be together forever.

So he accepted his punishment, took Percy's angry hits and ignored the older man's insults and low-blow comments. Because if he didn't, if he fought back and defended himself and made excuses for his actions, Percy and Annabeth would end, and he refused to do that, refused to make Annabeth cry and Percy bitter and both of them alone forever.

Suddenly, he realized he'd passed out sometime after Percy had thrown him into and through the wood of his bedroom door. His friend—because Percy will always be his friend even if he isn't Percy's friend—sat on the floor just beyond the doorway, staring at him intently. There were tear tracks on the other demigod's face and a deep resentment in his murky green eyes but the rage had dissipated. For now, anyway.

"Why?" Percy's voice was tired and beaten, pretty much how Nico felt right now.

Anything but that question, please.

A sharp, sharp pain that shot through the length of his arm and swirled violently in his head when he pushed himself up. Judging by the unending cycle of pain and the odd angle his arm was in, he knew his shoulder was dislocated. Touching it tentatively, Nico found that it was stuck the wrong way, so he wouldn't be able to fix it, and as soon as he realized there was nothing he could do for it by himself, he knew that Percy—exceptionally vindictive when he wanted to be—had done it on purpose.

Annabeth was going to kill both of them when she found out.

Once he'd become used to the pain, Nico was able to focus on Percy once more. The other man hadn't moved a muscle, and it took Nico a few more minutes to remember that Percy had asked a question.

Right. Annabeth was going to kill them, then find a way to raise him from the Underworld just to kill him all over again when she found out he'd told Percy.

"She was dying." Percy blinked, clearly not expecting that answer. This explaining thing would've gone a lot easier if Percy hadn't whaled on him first, he mused, momentarily distracted. When Percy shifted in impatience, Nico looked away, his head leaning back onto the wall—when had he gotten there?—as he tried to express what he'd seen that night. "She came here. It was late. Raining." A rueful smile appeared on his face. "First thing I noticed was her hair. Plastered on her face. Hanging around her shoulders. Then I realized she was wet. Soaked to the bone. So I told her to come in and got her something to wear. Made her go take a bath so she wouldn't get sick. I practically pushed her into the shower. She wasn't cooperating.

"Then she passed out." A choked laugh escaped him, making hot fire roll agonizingly beneath his skin. "Her eyes rolled back and everything," he breathed when the pain had passed. "Found this…really large thorn sticking out of her back."

"The Manticore," Percy growled, and Nico turned his head to find that the latest Achilles had gotten up and started to pace. He realized Percy—who wasn't entirely clueless—had figured it out all on his own. Yippy.

"Scared me silly," he admitted, "seeing the thorn. I rushed her to camp, to Chiron, then I called you, but you didn't pick up." Nico knew there was an accusation in his tone—and that night, he'd been so angry and frustrated that Percy was unreachable while Annabeth lay dying on a cot in the Big House at Camp Half-Blood—but he knew that night hadn't been Percy's fault. "You'd been on a quest, Chiron told me, and when Annabeth woke up, she made me swear not to tell you. Thank the gods I didn't swear by the Styx," he said, the thought suddenly occurring to him.

He abruptly found himself being lifted in the air, and his back and chest and everywhere else screamed in pain when he was slammed into a wall. "You should have told me!" Percy howled.

"I promised!" he gasped, black spots bursting into sight as Percy held him in place. His shoulder was aching and numbing at the same time. Gods, he wasn't going to lose his arm, was he?

"When was this?" Percy seethed, putting pressure on his bad shoulder.

"Two months!" Nico gasped out.

The older demigod seemed to grow bigger. "And this?" he asked, practically snarling. "When did you decide to screw my girlfriend?"

"Never!" Nico whimpered, squeezing his eyes as the white pain engulfed him.

"Liar!" Percy roared, throwing him across the room, out the door and into the spot where the couch used to be. Nico landed with a bodily crash, a cry escaping him when he rolled on his shoulder.

"She was scared!" he cried. "She wanted to choose the safer life. Wanted to pursue her dreams and have a life. Then Chiron kept asking you to take separate quests and between camp and your job, she wasn't able to see you as much as she wanted. It's why she broke up with you!" The story came tumbling out before Percy could cross the room, his injuries throbbing with an insane kind of ache that made his instinct to survive kick into overdrive.

Thankfully, Percy seemed to freeze at his words, and Nico relished the brief relief he got as Percy tried to analyze whether he was telling the truth or not.

But luck seemed to return to Nico's side.

"Di immortales…" Nico and Percy looked to the doorway and found Annabeth there, and Nico laughed, unable to stop despite the pain that wracked his body and made his good eye shut tight. So what if he had a broken rib or four? Annabeth was here, and they were screwed. He heard her walk into the room swiftly, her shoes making crunching noises that sounded like she was stepping on glass.

And hey, she probably was stepping on glass. Nico wondered if he should just spare himself the cleaning bill and move into another apartment.

"Nico!" Her voice was strangled with disbelief and horror. White light exploded in his eyes as a searing sensation hit him.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up.

Again.

To his relief, there was no pain scattering his senses, but there was darkness when it should've been light, so he concluded that a significant amount of time had passed since Percy came to beat him up. It was odd that the memory of being almost killed by a friend was the first thing he remembered.

He sighed, shifting lazily to get out of bed, only to be confronted with a slumbering Annabeth beside him. Confused, Nico continued getting up, intent on finding out what happened, and his heart almost jumped out of its cage.

"Apollo." He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. The day had held too many surprises for him, and it was just too damn early (for him, anyway) for all this.

He needed coffee. Or gum.

"Outside," Apollo said, nodding to the now door-less doorway.

The sun god led him to the kitchen, where Nico was surprised to find Percy nursing a cup of coffee. The older demigod looked up briefly, but was unable to keep eye contact. Apollo snapped his fingers, causing a steaming plate of bacon and omelets to appear out of nowhere. Nico's stomach growled.

"Dig in, kid," Apollo told him, hopping onto one of his counters. After thirteen years, Apollo still called him 'kid.' But to be fair, compared to Apollo, Nico surmised that he really was a kid.

Nico paused, glancing between Percy and Apollo. "What happened?" he asked finally.

Apollo gestured impatiently to the food, and Nico had learned enough about Apollo over the years that he didn't dare disobey a second command. "You let Poseidon's kid beat you up is what happened," he answered when Nico had taken his first bite. Percy flinched. "Almost killed you too. If I didn't fix you up, you would've died, and Hades would've killed him," the immortal pointed to Percy, "thus causing a war between him and Poseidon." Suddenly, he raised his hands in that 'stop everything' pose he always did. Nico half suspected he'd invented it in the first place. "I believe this earns me a haiku."

Clearing his throat, Apollo ignored Nico's incredulous expression.

"I saved Hades's son,

Prevented another war.

I am amazing."

Nico nodded slowly, shoveling another bite into his mouth to keep from saying anything negative. Apollo seemed to sense this and narrowed his eyes at him. "Thank you," he said after swallowing quickly, "for not letting me die." Percy flinched again.

The sun god beamed at him. "You're welcome," he replied cheerfully. "By the way, you really should cook something for that awesome chick in your bed. She's been here the entire two days you were sleeping." Nico choked on a piece of bacon. Two days? Before he could swallow properly and ask, Apollo waved. "I heard she likes chocolate muffins."

And then he was gone, leaving Nico and Percy in an uncomfortable silence. Nico waited five seconds before Percy got up and left the room, and his heart sank at the realization that their (already tentative) friendship might not survive this.

When Nico was done eating, he took Apollo's advice and cooked scrambled eggs and hotdogs (there wasn't a bake shop anywhere near him, nor did he know how to bake) for Annabeth. It was the least he could do after everything he'd put her through.

When she woke up, he was going to tell her he was leaving. Florence seemed like a pretty nice place to spend the summer in, or maybe he'd stay in Rome and raid the Vatican a few times. He could go see what those moron Catholics were up to. Janus Christopher, son of Hermes, had been a right bastard for leading them on like that, but he'd done his job of effectively hiding the existence of the real gods under a fake one.

Yeah. A summer in Italy. That's what he needed. And Annabeth and Percy could make up while he was gone. The fact that they were here in his apartment meant that they could make it, meant that he hadn't completely ruined them.

Annabeth and Percy.

Percy and Annabeth.

That's how it should be.

An hour later, Annabeth woke up, disoriented at first. That changed quickly when she found the bed void of Nico's unconscious form. Percy sat at the edge instead, playing with a piece of paper.

"He's gone." Percy always did know when she was awake. For the life of her, she didn't know how he did it. "He packed up and left." Only then did Percy glance back at her and offer her the paper he had. "This is for you."

Annabeth, despite having just woken up, was already cursing Nico in every language she knew as she sat up and accepted the paper, the one she knew instinctively contained his letter of farewell. That boy was such a moron, sometimes! Hadn't she told him that he was permanent? How could he do this?

How could he leave?

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let it get this far. You never tried to take care of me, but you always helped me when I needed it the most. I should have done the same, but I took advantage of you instead. Don't make excuses for me. You know I did. I wish I could but can't change the past. It's just not in my power.

You're my best friend, Annabeth Chase. Don't use me as an excuse not to fight for him. I know how much you love him. More importantly, I know how much he loves you. You're it for him, and if you believe with everything you are that you can love him forever, don't you dare follow me. But if you need to, if you're scared, if you think I'm wrong, then I'm offering you the chance to escape. It won't be permanent. You'll have to face your fears sooner or later. But for a while, I can hide you. If you need it.

I don't think you'll take it anyway. I know you. But the offer stands.

I'm heading for Europe. I'll be there a while, and I'll write to you. Promise.

Love you, Beth. -N

Tears spilled down her cheeks, but Annabeth didn't notice. All she could think of was how stupid she'd been to tell Percy. She shouldn't have said anything. She shouldn't have given Nico's name. She shouldn't have…

She…

She crumpled the letter up.

Author's Note

I hadn't planned on making a follow up to Permanent, but here it is. Thank my muse. :D Please tell me what you think. On second thought, tell me it's great no matter what you think. =P

Love,

~E

Disclaimer: I only wish I thought of a story like Percy Jackson first. I'm completely in love with the Greek myths, so Percy Jackson is so much more my cup of tea than Harry Potter. Sorry J. K. Rowling!