Here it is! The last chapter X) Quick warning, there is mention of beating and attempted rape, nothing major, but I'm putting the warning in just in case someone has an issue with it. Other than that, please enjoy~
Nico should really remember that, as a child of Hades, things didn't stay good and happy for long. Things always seemed to go wrong after a while any time he let his guard down. And his guard was down.
Will had been talking to him again, and hanging out with him whenever the chance came up. He had taken the archery lessons seriously, so once a day he would take Nico out to the range and tries to teach him how to shoot a bow and arrow and actually hit the target. It was going….okay. Nico hadn't hit anything he shouldn't have, but he hadn't hit the target yet either.
Will had given Nico a hand and finger guard so the string wouldn't cut into his skin. He said that he didn't want the other to get hurt on something that was technically his idea. He didn't want Nico hurt in anything but he was picking and choosing his battles so as not to scare that Italian off by being too much too fast.
Nico enjoyed their afternoons together. Will was funny and patient in teaching him, and he had a way to make him smile. Nico had opened up more and more over the past few weeks, but Will had a way to make him happy and smile more often in a day. He didn't press for anything. If Nico didn't want to talk about it, he changed the subject. He knew that Will was curious and wanted to know everything he could about Nico, but he was glad that the other wouldn't push him. Nico would talk when he felt like it. Will's patience made it easier to spend a lot of time with him. Yes, he got annoyed with him every so often, but they didn't let it ruin their blooming friendship.
The more time they spent together, the more Nico stayed up at night thinking. Will was different. He was caring, and funny, and stubborn. He was also handsome and strong in his own way. Nico's interest was steadily growing more and more until he was sure that he actually like liked Will Solace. He didn't know what exactly to do at this point. He never told Percy until he had gotten over him. He didn't think he'd be able to tell Will anything.
He wasn't oblivious enough to realize that Daxton was always around when he was with Will, watching and glaring. Will would glare back if he saw him, but he ignored him most of the time. It seemed like, day by day, Daxton would get more daring. He'd get as close to Nico as he could whenever he was walking alone, and he would stalk the Ghost King around camp whether he was alone or not. Nico was actually becoming concerned now. He would search for his friends to stay close to them so as not to get caught alone.
It was Friday night of that week, and everyone was setting up for capture the flag. Nico joined Percy and Jason with the Athena, Apollo and Hermes cabin. Will had pleaded for him to play this week. Nico hadn't realized Will had a puppy dog look until he did that the other day. He was still embarrassed that he had given in. It was kind of worth it, he thought, after seeing how bright the son of Apollo's smile was as they headed into the forest to get set up.
Will, with a few of his siblings and some of the Hermes kids, were going to split into small groups to go after the flag. Nico, Percy and Jason split up with the rest of the kids to guard their borders and Annabeth and some other Apollo kids guarded their own flag. Nico stationed his team a little ways apart from each other to guard a wider area. He held his sword and looked around the dark forest, on alert and listening to what was happening. He could already hear other's fighting and defending their territories.
A twig snapped behind him and he spun with his sword drawn. The Stygian iron clashed with Celestial bronze. Nico's dark eyes narrowed as he looked up at the towering form of Daxton Hunter. The war child looked much more intimidating when decked out in armor complete with helmet and plume. The way the helmet fell over his face made his smirk look like a sneer. It made the sharper angles of his face worse to make him look almost as evil as his actions.
"I had figured they'd make you a guard, what with everyone saying of your skills," he smirked at him. He stepped forward to try and throw Nico back, but Nico braced himself and his sword to keep his balance and keep their swords locked together. He wasn't going to give him an opening. He didn't even give him a response.
That seemed to make the other mad and he shoved harder, making the smaller male have to take a few steps back or risk falling on his butt. Nico had to keep his guard up since the other seemed very keen on beating him down.
"What do you want?" Nico frowned at Daxton.
"What do you think?" he snapped. "I've been following you since I got here. One of the strongest demigods. Who better than to pair with the next hero?"
That stopped Nico's line of thought. "Wait, what?!"
Daxton took the moment of confusion to push back again and push Nico off balance. He slashed at him with his sword and managed to cut into his arm before Nico regained his balance and backed up out of reach.
"Hey!" Nico snapped at him. "Watch it!" He had a feeling that Daxton wasn't playing Capture the Flag at this point.
"The powerful ones should always get together," Daxton continued. "And what better way to get people's attention then by dominating the son of Hades!"
"Okay, ew," Nico scrunched his nose. Really? That was his game. No.
Daxton charged him again. Nico blocked him in time but wasn't expecting the punch to his side, right where the armor didn't cover. The breath was knocked out of him and that was enough of an opportunity for his sword to get knocked out of his hand and tossed into some bushes.
"What…. Are you…" he panted, a little winded from the hit. He jumped back from another swipe from the sword. Daxton kept charging and pushing him back further away from his sword. Daxton wasn't giving Nico any chance to get around him and grab his sword again.
Nico was watching the swinging sword, but he was always watching the other's face. His eyes were bright and had a crazed glint to it. Nico had seen that look before in other demigods. They were crazed on the thought of power. He didn't know what had set it off in Daxton, but it could have been anything, even something small.
Nico jumped back of another attack and tripped over a raised root. The sword cut into his side, cutting into his skin and also cutting one of the straps of his armor off. The son of Hades fell back onto the ground and Daxton followed him down. He grabbed his breastplate and yanked it off, snapping the other strap that had managed to survive the sword.
"What are you doing?" Nico shouted at him. He twisted under the other to try and push him off but Daxton had settled onto his hips and grabbed his wrists roughly. Nothing he did was done nicely, so there were going to be several bruises on top of the cuts given by the war child.
Nico was actually getting a little scared at this point. He was feeling quite helpless under the larger male and he didn't like that feeling at all. He was a child of the Big Three; he wasn't supposed to be this helpless when alone. He was a fighter. He was…alone.
He started struggling harder under him, straining his arms to get out of his grip, and kicking his legs and twisting his hips to try and shove him off.
Daxton growled. "Stay still!" He hit Nico over the head, dazing him and making his struggles cease for a moment. It was enough for Daxton to grab a fist full of shirt, scratching Nico in the process, and attempt to rip it off from the tear in the side from his sword. Nico jumped and slammed his head up without really thinking. There was an odd sounding thunk of Nico's nose hitting Daxton's head. It hurt a lot, but it seemed to only make Daxton madder.
He growled and a hand closed around Nico's neck. The hit must have broken his nose or something because blood was pooling down his face and with the restriction to his neck, it was getting harder and harder to breathe.
"Get off of him!" The weight was suddenly gone from above him, making Nico cough hard. Hands helped to pull him into a better position to breathe.
"Nico? Nico are you okay?" It was Jason. But that first voice was….
Nico looked over at the sound of a struggle. Will Solace, one of Apollo cabin's best archers, was without his bow and was straddling Daxton Hunter's chest punching him. He had dropped his bow a few feet away when he first charged him to get him off of Nico, and his anger just carried over. His knuckles were already red and bruised and Daxton's face didn't look much better.
"That's enough!" Looking around, Nico realized that they had gotten the attention of the entire camp by now. Chiron tried to move through the crowd to break up the seemingly one sided fight. Will must have gotten a good hit to the head since Daxton seemed really dazed and unable to throw the smaller demigod off of him. Some of Will's siblings grabbed the archer's arms and pulled him off of the other. Will got the last hit in with a kick to Daxton's gut.
"Will! Get over here!" Jason called over to him, still helping Nico stay sitting up. Nico hadn't even realized that he was swaying and his vision wasn't entirely focused.
Will glared over at him like he was going to snap something out of anger but his eyes caught sight of Nico. He pulled away from his siblings and rushed over. "Nico!" He slid to his knees next to Nico and started quickly looking over and analyzing his wounds. He cursed Daxton multiple times in Greek as he checked him over. "We should get him to the infirmary."
He moved to pull away to stand, thinking that Nico might feel better with Jason and Percy helping him up. Nico didn't even think when he reached out to grab ahold of Will's arm.
Will looked down at him, staying knelt down on a knee. "Nico?" Nico didn't answer as he leaned his head on Will's chest. His head hurt, as well as his nose and his side and it seemed like his entire back. "Hey, Nico!"
Will was warm, and soft, and safe, and that was the last thought Nico had before it went dark.
-;-;-
Nico woke up to someone humming close by. His head and nose still throbbed but it wasn't as bad as it had been. He was glad for that since he could actually somewhat think straight. He was propped up on a few pillows so he could breathe easier through the bandaged nose and he was tucked in under some warm blankets. It was quite cozy.
He slowly blinked his eyes open to stare at the darkened ceiling. The lights were dimmed so it didn't hurt his eyes. It was still dark outside, but it was completely quiet. How late was it?
"Nico?" He turned to look at who was sitting next to him. Will was in a chair next to the bed, his hand lightly on Nico's wrist and absently rubbing over the faded bruise with his thumb. He had a look of mixed relief and remaining concern. He must have been the one humming because there was no one else but them in the room. Nico was familiar with this spot in the infirmary.
"What…?" His throat hurt to talk.
Will helped him sit up a little more to drink some nectar. "You've been unconscious for a few hours," he told him softly. "We managed to get some nectar in you, but with your nose and airways constricted we couldn't get much. That's why not a lot has really healed."
Nico made a humming noise as he settled back against his pillows. "Daxton?" His throat and head felt a lot better with the nectar, but he still didn't feel he could relax if the son of Ares is around.
Will frowned. It was easy to tell he was still mad. His knuckles had been bandaged up by someone. "Chiron sent him with Jason and Clarisse to Camp Jupiter," he told him, going back to rubbing his wrist lightly. "He thought that their discipline might be a better fit than our laid back style. Are you alright?"
Nico sighed. He did feel a lot better to know that Daxton was nowhere near them. He wouldn't have to worry about anything when he visited his sister because he knew that Reyna and Frank would not go easy on the newbie probatio once they heard why he had been sent to them and kicked out of Camp Half Blood.
"Nico?" He looked over. Will was looking worried and he realized that he hadn't said anything yet.
"'m….." he muttered and then sighed.
Will's hand moved to hold onto Nico's. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I knew he was bad news but I never thought he'd…."
Nico squeezed his hand ever so slightly but it was enough to get Will to stop. "It's fine," he said quietly. "You took care of him." He smirked a little.
Will laughed a little, looking at his bandaged hands. "I ran into your sword coming back from running a distraction. Jason was nearby and saw me take off so he followed….When I saw him….I saw red. I was so mad." His jaw clenched.
Nico blinked at him. He blushed as he thought about the entire situation. Will had been jealous, and protective. He knew that Will had taken a kind of liking to him, but he hadn't realized how deep it went. He kind of like that idea of that, though. He liked the son of Apollo too.
Will sighed again. "I…should let you get some more rest," he said as he stood.
Nico tightened his hold on Will's hand. "You can stay," he muttered, looking away. He didn't want Will to see the red on his cheeks. He didn't know how good the other's night vision was but he wasn't giving it a chance. "I….want you to stay," he added a lot quieter.
Will looked at him. He smiled fondly and nodded. "Sure. Scoot over."
"Huh?" Nico blushed darker.
"Come on, you expect me to sleep in a chair all night. Uh uh," he smiled at him. "Do you mind?"
"Well…" Nico thought about it. If he was honest with himself, no, it didn't really bother him. He shook his head and moved over a little so Will could lie on his side next to him.
Will smiled and got comfortable next to him with an arm around Nico's stomach. He kissed his cheek. "I'm glad you're feeling better," he hummed softly.
Nico blushed and look over at him. He smiled a little. "I know you're there to look after me." Will looked up and smiled happily. He leaned his head on Nico's shoulder as Nico leaned his cheek on his sun kissed hair.
Nico fell asleep again easily, feeling warm, comfortable and safe in the other's arms.
I had a lot of fun writing these two 3 I do have a few other Solangelo fics planned, so keep an eye out for those ;) Thanks everyone for reading!