Something Good Can Work

Cops vs. Gang AU

"Amazing work here," Piper smiled at him. Standing across from her, Jason could only nod at her. He had avoided her at all costs over the past few weeks, wanting absolutely nothing to do with her. Perhaps he had been a little unfair with his conduct, but Jason had been more than a little offended by her remarks.

"Rachel is good at what she does."

"Jason, I know that you have been avoiding me."

"There is nothing to really talk about." She shook her head with a frown.

"I've been trying to apologize to you and you won't let me. I've said some pretty insensitive things and I know that you are angry. That's why I've been trying to make amends." Piper moved closer to him, her white gown gliding across the floor.

"If I did not want to hear what you had to say a week ago, what makes you think I want to hear it now?" Jason desperately wanted to be swallowed by their sea of friends. It was easier to block off the conversation when he had distractions, like work or trying to reconnect with Nico. Now that he knew Nico was at the party, he would keep an eye out for him, but the universe definitely wanted him to patch up with Piper. "If you haven't noticed Pipes, the conditions of my love life are no longer in your hands. You can't flaunt that fact when we're around friends. Or did you really not care?" He questioned but walked toward her nonetheless. Piper was nothing but persistent and it was her doggedness that attracted him to her before. Once the conversation was over, he would go around to try and enjoy the rest of his night.

"I opened my mouth because I was jealous. I was unaccustomed to the idea of you having anyone else but me and I handled it very poorly. And I'm sorry I embarrassed you in front of everyone and I didn't mean to imply that you were a man slut." Jason cracked a grin and she giggled. She was pleading with him and Jason looked into her kaleidoscope eyes. They were earnest orbs of fragmented colors, filled with honesty and forgiveness and Jason could not help but break under their gaze.

"Okay,"

"Okay?" She questioned.

"Yes, I accept your apology." Piper laughed.

"For someone so hardheaded and stubborn, you sure break under pressure."

"Just for you, Pipes." She embraced him in a hug and looked over to their over friends, who were not so subtly eavesdropping on their reunion.

"I meant what I said before. I want to be just friends with you and I don't want things to be awkward. I'll have to work on my jealousy around you though." Piper admitted and kissed his cheek. She wrapped an arm around his waist and looked around.

That's how he found himself laughing through the evening, reconnecting with Piper and chatting with friends at Rachel's gala. Leo and Calypso shared news about Leo's latest invention, a toy dragon named Festus. Hylla arrived, dressed to match her sister, and smacked her lips on Thalia's, making the most of their friends release the most unpleasant of groans at their affection. It was then that Rachel made her way to the group, followed by Nico and his companion. He found himself extracting himself from Piper's arms as they approached and turned his head to properly face him.

"Hello Jason," Jason inhaled sharply as Nico nodded at him. He looked good, for someone who disappeared off of his radar long ago. He remembered waiting for the mysterious Nico to reappear at the Underworld, believing that the man had moved on and was nowhere near his social circle. Apparently they share the same friends.

"Nico," He said cordially.

"Guys, these are my friends that I have been telling you about, Nico and Hazel." Rachel announced.

"We already know Nico." Annabeth shook her head. "Welcome back to the states. When did you get back from your travels?"

"A month ago. I've been studying the rings of the business life." He responded.

"Nice to meet you Hazel. I'm Piper. I like your dress." Hazel enthusiastically shook hands with Piper.

"Thank you. My brother has good taste." She elbowed Nico, who shrugged.

"It looked good. Not really a taste thing than intuition." Percy raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you had a sister."

"That's because it was none of your concern. Hazel, meet Percy Jackson, his girlfriend Annabeth Chase, and Thalia." Hazel smiled at them charmingly.

"You two know each other?" Jason could not help but intrude.

"We went to similar schools for a time." Percy confirmed. "I use to hang out with his sister."

"If that's the case, then how do you know him, Jason?" Thalia pursed her lips, arms crossed over her chest.

"Simple, we met at the Underworld a couple of weeks ago. We talked and had a few drinks, that was all. Nothing of importance."

"I'm nothing of importance. Gosh, Jason that hurts." Nico covered his heart and winced. "I expected a politer reaction from someone named Grace."

"And how do you know my last name? I never shared that with you." Nico leaned in, letting his mouth brush the shell of his ear.

"I've been in your apartment. You don't think that I didn't fact check you after we met?" He leaned back and Jason gave him an inquiring look. "I'm the son of a very important man, who has a lot of enemies."

"Just to indulge my curiosity, since you found it so appropriate to research me, who are you?" Nico snorted.

"God, do you even read the newspaper!" He laughed out loud. "Sorry, it's refreshing to know that someone doesn't assume my identity. My name is Nico di Angelo."

"Well, Mr. di Angelo, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance." His friends were looking at them with expressions of bafflement, confusion, and, on Hazel's face, humor. While they never gave away the impression that they were more than friends with one another, it seems Hazel pinpointed on that fact. Jason had never given any indication of how they spent the rest of the night, which was in a more than casual setting, but neither man felt it important to air such business.

"Aw, Nico. How are you?" The entire group turned to see the new member. She was a taller woman, older by a few years. She looked at the group with disinterest before turning her eyes to Hazel. "And Hazel dear, we didn't go out shopping today."

"Nico took me out shopping." The woman nodded. "And are you going to introduce me to your little friends or do I have to find out on my own." The hairs on the back of Jason's neck tingled. It sounded like a threat but Nico only sighed.

"Melina Michel, my older sister. I thought you were working on the press release."

"I would have, but Father wanted eyes in this place. I must say, Ms. Dare your work is very amazing. Do you take commissions, I'm sure my mother would love a painting or two. We could have it in one of our offices, get you some more publicity as an artist." Her eyes glinted as she plowed through the conversation. Before Rachel could reply, "Here is my card. Think on it and get back to me in the next 48 hours and we can talk. Unfortunately, my siblings and I need to leave the party early. Jules is outside waiting to take Hazel back home and we need to head to the office to work out some details." Nico nodded.

"It was nice to meet all of you. We should meet up sometime." Hazel waved a hand at all of them.

Frank, who had been mostly quiet and watching Hazel, spoke up for the first time. "We meet on weekends, every Saturday at IHOP at 11:00. You should come." He blushed when he realized how earnest he sounded, but Hazel only nodded.

"I'll clear my schedule. Come on Nico. You can visit your boyfriend later." She dragged her brother after her, both trailing behind Melina.

"At least the sister is hot." Leo questioned and Calypso slapped the back of his head.

"Actually, I need to talk to him for a second. I will be back." Thalia moved away from them and followed the siblings. Jason could only look on. What was Thalia doing?

Nico could have lied to himself when he found Thalia waiting for him outside. He extracted himself from his sister's grasp and with a promise to meet at the office, he headed over to wear the woman was waiting in the shadows of an alley way. At the party, they had more or less ignored each other. Heck, Nico would have been happier if they continued the tradition, but he would possibly be seeing more of her this Saturday.

"Are you going to stare all day or are you going to do something?" It was a strange question, but it was the extent of Nico and Thalia's relationship. They're not known for being friends—no sharing nice words or cordial reminders. They bite and claw at each other like animals because it is the only way they know how.

"You look healthy." Thalia shrugged her shoulder. She tapped her shoes on the alley pavement. "Did the therapy help?"

"I never went to therapy." The words tasted sour in his mouth.

"Well, I assumed after you fled town, you needed something for your anxiety. You didn't even stick around— "

"Don't talk to me about what I did not do. It was your fault to begin with." He snapped. Thalia bristled and clenched her jaw.

"I couldn't have done anything. All this 'it's your fault' nonsense is bullshit. She made her choice."

"I hate you." He spat. "She wouldn't have done it if she wasn't busy climbing in bed with you."

"Don't you dare say that!" Thalia yelled.

"What, we all knew it. Even her fiancé knew something was wrong, just not that the person involved was you. A blind man could have saw how you two revolved around each other." Thalia walked closer and smacked his face.

"I loved your sister. You can't…you don't…just let it go. Nico, she's dead and we can't bring her back by arguing over whose fault it was."

"Then why did you wait for me in the corner. Was there something that you needed besides rubbing in my face how she died protecting you?" Nico threw his hands up exasperated.

"I know you slept with my brother." She whispered. Thalia licked her bottom lip before continuing. "I know he likes you. I could see it when he made you laugh, how the corner of his eyes lit up when you approached, how he shivered when you whispered in his ear."

"I can't help that your brother was a good fuck." He shrugged noncommittally. Thalia pushed him backward, deeper into the alleyway.

"Don't you dare talk about my brother like he's some piece of meat." She hissed. Nico nodded.

"I like him, too Thals. I…" He let the words settle and Thalia looked at him sharply.

"You are not allowed to like him like that. With what you are."

"Does your brother know what you do for a living?" Nico leaned against the cool brick. "Does he know what you do in the free time, when you and Hylla are not playing house?"

"No he doesn't know and you are not going to tell him." She barked.

"So, you are not going to tell him about me. We both know that neither of us live honest lives, Thalia. Your brother is a cop. He is going to learn about it eventually." Nico sighed. "I'm sorry."

"If it's any consolation, Bianca only talked about you as she died." Thalia stroked his cheek, where it smarted from her slap. The warm touch reminded him of his sister and he pushed Thalia's hair out of her face.

"She would have loved to see you wearing a dress." He was going to be honest with Thalia Grace for once. "I can't promise that nothing is going to happen to your brother if he gets involved. And I promise you, he will get involved."

Thalia nodded. "I know that. I just, promise me that when it happens, you'll look out for him." Her voice shook as she said. Nico did not have a doubt in his mind that she was thinking about what happened to his sister. "He's my little brother and the only family I have left and I can't lose him like I lost…"

Nico rested a hand on Thalia's cheek and tipped her head to look up at him. "You won't." He kissed her forehead. "Take care of yourself."

He started to walk out of the alley when Thalia shouted at him. "The warehouse, in two weeks, tell Melina." Then the two walked away from each other, forgetting they even had the conversation. Nico hung onto the last part of the conversation and almost laughed when a black Camaro pulled up. His uncle rolled down the window.

"How's my favorite nephew?" Nathan Thames leaned back in his seat. Nathan was only fourteen years older than Nico, who shook his head.

"Good. How's everything?"

"It's doing well. I saw you talking to Ms. Grace in the alley there. Anything you want to mention?"

"I ran into Chase and Jackson. I want them on the list." Nathan shook his head.

"You can't add everyone you hate to the list, son. That's not how this business works."

"Is it not? You think you attack the people you like—NO, you go after the ones you don't like." He huffed. "And don't add Thalia Grace. I want her to suffer more." The black Camaro peeled off into the night and Nico shrugged out of his suit jacket. He had work to do tonight, and this suit happens to be one of his favorites.

"We caught up to Alabaster Torrington tonight. Want to give him a visit?"

"You read my mind." He grinned and Nathan ruffled his hair. It was going to be a good night.

"So, Jason, did you enjoy the party last night?" Reyna was sitting on his desk, examining an old snow globe. Jason had just opened the door to his office when he was suddenly surrounded by the three most important women in the office. Ignoring the way he was about to be bum rushed, Jason removed his jacket and placed it on the coat rack.

"Of course I did." He walked. "You all did too."

"I'm not denying that we didn't have a good time. I was just making an observation. Have a seat Jason, Annabeth has an interesting theory she wants to share with us."

"It's my office. Shouldn't I be offering a seat to you?"

"Sit," Piper rolled out his desk chair and pushed him into it. Annabeth stood by his bulletin board, staring at the pictures and newspaper articles he had clipped together and tied with string.

"It's an intricate diagram, but I noticed that you outlined the source." She pointed a finger to the board, where the club was circled.

"When Piper questioned Crotone, he said the Underworld was the place to be. The Underworld is owned by Hadrian Michel. Crotone has been away for the past few weeks on a work project, so unfortunately we cannot get to him right now. But do you want to know the correlation?" Annabeth looked back at them before typing onto his computer and spinning the screen to face him.

"Crotone works at Michel Industries and is also a Board Member. If he is involved in criminal activity, which we suspect he is, and he was willing to offer his boss's venue as a recruiting center, it means Michel is involved."

"So we need an in on Michel." Piper surmised. "And this is where you come in."

"Me?" He questioned.

"You can use Michel's son to get close to him. Like undercover cop work. It's been a while since you've done that."

"I'm not going to pretend to be his friend in order to arrest his father. Can't we scrounge up evidence the classic way?" He protested. Reyna gave him an oily smile, too much teeth shown behind red lips.

"That's because you aren't going to be his friend. We don't care how you get the information, but we need you to get him to open up." Jason raised a confused eyebrow. Most of his relationships with these girls were determined by how he could move his eyebrows.

"You want me to sleep with him." He recoiled in horror. "And you're fine with pimping me out for this?" He turned to Piper. Annabeth answered his question.

"Nico is a very private individual. Even when we used to hang out, he would never reveal anything to me or Percy. So, we have to resort to the boyfriend tactic. I don't think Nico's has ever been in a relationship before so this could work." Annabeth shrugged.

"This is not right, at all." Jason breathed deeply through his nostrils.

"Look, its either you or Piper. But, last night we saw how he watched you. He's interested in you." Reyna conceded. "Or we get to the younger sister, but she's barely legal."

"You are all sick people." Jason huffed. "Fine, I'll do it."

"Good," Reyna patted his cheek. "Don't worry. This assignment shouldn't be too long and then you can go back to dating girls. You probably won't even have to sleep with him."

"Too late for that." Their head swiveled to Piper. "What? I'm observant. You just coincidentally had drinks with the man the day before you went to IHOP. And how close he was to you, it really shows how well you two know each other." Jason blushed.

"I don't want to use him."

"You aren't using him. You're saving lives by doing what needs to be done. We have a meeting at IHOP to prepare for.

Saturday was a flurry of excitement. Unsurprisingly, Frank was excited at the prospect of seeing Hazel again. Percy and Thalia seemed to be bound by some kind of nervous energy, but Annabeth shrugged them off.

"Jason, it's nothing to worry about. We use to hang out with Bianca, and we weren't the nicest to Nico when we were growing up." Annabeth explained.

"You bullied him." Jason said flatly. Annabeth shook her head.

"No, I mostly ignored him. Percy, though, that was his hero when he was growing up. They have some bad blood between them that needs to air out."

Jason refused to let the matter go. He had done some research the previous night about the elusive Nico di Angelo. He was an enigma, an interesting piece to a puzzle that Jason had to solve. His sister, Bianca, had been twenty-eight at the time of her death. Nico, at age twenty, had studied abroad in Italy, opened his own gala, and returned to the states when his trip was over. He studied at Columbia University, graduated summa cum laude at his high school and was a national fencing champion. All of these facts were clinical, nothing explained his personality, his hobbies, or anything for Jason to properly formulate a plan. If he was going to be fake dating the guy, he should at least have a little background to work on.

Jason arrived a little early, in fact, the entire group did. Percy, Frank, and Clarisse were unaware of the plan and Jason hoped to keep his coworkers in the dark for as long as possible. His skin crawled at his future actions. He sat in his chair and placed his head on the table.

"Calm down," Reyna said.

"This is nauseating. My career goals and my morals are at conflict here, Rey." He gritted out.

"I'm sorry, but you're the best with this. I can't fake a relationship if I wanted to."

"No, you really can't." When they were together, Reyna never softened, still focused on her career. Watching her seduce a man would be equivalent to drinking gasoline. None of it would make sense. Thalia marched in, a scowl on her face.

"Your sister is working again." She grumbled.

"Can you blame her? She really wants her promotion." Reyna kissed Jason's forehead. "Relax, it will all be better soon."

Jason did not have any time to prepare. Just shy of 11:00, Hazel walked in with her brother. The two approached the table wearily, but visibly relaxed when they saw at the two empty chairs between Jason and Piper. Hazel seated herself next to Piper and patted the last empty seat for Nico to sit in. Nico slid in beside her and placed a large duffle bag under his seat.

"I'm glad you could make it." Annabeth said.

"Thank you for inviting us." The table was a little silent. They weren't sure what to do with newcomers. The table lineup had been the same for months.

"What's the duffle bag for?" Jason asked.

"Oh, those are my things for the studio." Hazel said.

"Studio?"

"I'm a dancer." And that broke the nervous tension.

"Oh really?"

"How long have you been dancing?"

"Anything you can show me?"

"LEO!" They were all laughing as Calypso started scolding Leo in rapid Spanish. Nico flushed a little.

"Your friend's girlfriend has a tongue on her." He looked at Jason, slightly afraid.

"You understand her?" Nico nodded.

"I speak Italian." Jason gave him a half smile.

"You learn it in school?"

"No, it's my native tongue." His answers were short. They gave an answer, but left more to be discovered. Jason internally groaned. He was going to have so much fun with this case. They ordered food and drink and laughed at Nico's pout when he couldn't get chocolate covered strawberries. The breakfast continued easily with Hazel acting as mediator between herself and her brother and the rest of the group.

"Oh, have you been had the sea wrap package? I'm telling you it is to die for. I've never felt so rejuvenated."

"You mean, you never felt more of the need to stick your toes in my face."

"Shut up, you liked it too." Hazel stuck her tongue out at him.

The jokes continued for the entirety of the meal. Hazel exchanged numbers with a majority of the group and blushed when she received Frank's. As for his person of interest, Nico seemed content to watch unless prompted to say something in response to Hazel. He never responded to Thalia, nodded at Annabeth when she made observations, and ignored Percy entirely. He seemed a little more receptive to Reyna's wit and cracked a grin or two when she made someone stumble in the conversation.

"Oh shoot, we have to go. Hazel say your goodbye's; we have to go." Nico leapt up, his chair screeching across the floor.

"It's time." Nico nodded. "Okay, well thanks again. I'll be back next week." Nico placed two twenties on the table for their meal. The two left the table and Annabeth made aborted head gestures.

"Babe you okay?" Percy asked.

"Oh God, just got ask him what you wanted to." Annabeth waved Jason away who laughed at her exasperation.

He jogged and met up with Nico just as they started to slide into the car.

"Hey, I know breakfast was a little awkward, but I would like it if I could see you again." Jason blurted, surprised by how truthful the words were. Nico gave him a sly grin and slid black shades over his eyes.

"Are you asking me out on a date, Mr. Grace?"

"I'm trying to." Jason leaned in. "Have dinner with me tomorrow."

"Aren't you a little forward?" Nico chuckled. "That was barely a question."

"Hazel, I am formally requesting that I can borrow your brother for dinner tomorrow. Answer for him."

Hazel peeked out of the car. "Take him!"

"So, will you go out with me tomorrow?" Jason crossed his arms and gave him a challenging smirk. Nico just huffed with amusement.

"Yes, you can take me out tomorrow. Does six work for you? We can meet there."

"That sounds great." Jason said.

"Great! I have to go, but—"Nico leaned forward to peck Jason's cheek. "I'm not as easy as you think I am. You're going have to work for it now, Jason." He slid into his car and closed the door behind him.

The car peeled off down the road and Jason let himself smile. He wasn't going to use Nico purely for his career. Instead, he would earn his trust, date him, and if anything concerning Michel came up, they would deal with it when it happened. Jason reentered the restaurant with a grin on his face. This was not going to backfire on him at all.

"Sir,"

"Yes,"

"They found remnants of Minos's body in the Hudson River."

"Excellent."

"Proceed as planned."

"Yes Sir."

The phone call disconnected and a dark grin spread over his lips.

END OF PART ONE