The hour after the attack moved by rapidly. Nico had planned to take a nap, but that idea was quickly thrown out the window. After cleaning up his bloody nose, he developed a headache. On the way to locate medicine, he had found himself on the floor of the shadow creature's attack, effectively getting himself caught up in the various aspects of cleanup.
A team had come to pick up Polecat, which wasn't a problem until the agents realized what, exactly, her bindings were made up of. SHIELD knew about Nico's powers.
"Hand over the kid, Stark. If he can do this, we need to keep him under observation."
"Yeah, no. Like you just said, he's a kid. SHIELD plus kid equals no."
The burly agent scowled. "It's not up to you, Stark. Get out of the way."
Tony was standing in front of Nico, arms crossed, glaring. "No."
Nico sighed. "Tony, I can go. It's okay." The attack proved that it wasn't safe for the others if he remained at the tower. Even if SHIELD wasn't demanding his detainment, he would have left, hitting the streets. Besides, all he really wanted right now was for this confrontation to end so he could find that freakin' headache medicine.
"It is most certainly not okay!" the inventor exclaimed. "On no planet is it okay! They aren't exactly going to treat you like a guest, kid."
Nico did know that. Which was why he was planning on going with the SHIELD agent, then running away as soon as he was given the chance. They wouldn't be able to keep him for long with his shadow travel back, and if he vamoosed from the government agency instead of the tower, then Tony wouldn't be blamed for his disappearance.
"What's not okay?" Clint asked, appearing from nowhere, still holding his bow from the fight.
Nico jumped, then winced as his head gave a particularly painful throb. Spies. Why did they do that? It freaked Nico out.
"Mr. Brawn over there wants to take Nico back to SHIELD for interrogation," Tony said.
Clint stepped forward, caressing his bow with one hand. "Is that so?"
The agent retreated a foot. "Sir," he said, addressing Clint, "I'm afraid I must insist."
Clint scowled. "Why? Do you have orders?"
"Well, no, but that's because command doesn't know about him yet. When confronted with an individual with capabilities such as his, it's standard procedure-"
"Agent," Clint interrupted, "currently my partner is recovering from magically induced frostbite. A few minutes ago, she was hovering on the edge of a coma. Right now, there is no place I'd rather be than by her side, making sure that doesn't actually happen. But I can't be, because you, without instructions from command, are determined to interrogate the child under my protection. Can you guess exactly how patient I'm willing to be about this?"
The agent paled, nodding hurriedly. "Of course, sir. Understood, sir. I'll just be… I'll be-"
"You'll be going," Clint finished for him smoothly.
The agent fled the room.
Mentally, Nico readjusted his plans. Hopefully Tony wouldn't get into too much trouble.
Tony exhaled, moving from in front of Nico to one of the seats at the mutilated table. "Glad that's over. How's Nat, Legolas?"
The archer frowned. "She's going to pull through, but it'll be a while before she's cleared to be back on her feet."
Maria Hill snorted as she entered the room. "When she's cleared to be back on her feet and when she'll actually be back on her feet are two very different things."
Tony stood again, moving back to his defensive position in front of Nico. Hill waved a hand, dismissing the action.
"I'm not here for Di Angelo," she said. "In light of recent events, Fury's made the decision to call in the Avengers."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "And you came here to tell me that instead of calling because?"
"I came to pick up Polecat. I figured you'd appreciate the heads up while I'm here."
"Oh. Well."
"Fury wants them to stay here, where Nico can give you people tips on how to fight Hecate."
"Sure," Tony replied. Then, "Wait, what?"
Nico decided to leave that night. There was no way he was letting others get involved in this, not after the disaster that was the attack. Natasha had almost died. And if she had, it would've been on him. He couldn't afford to stay.
He packed his weapons, then asked JARVIS to wake him up at 2:00 am. He was hoping to get a small amount of sleep in before going, and it still left him enough time to get far away before any of his guardians noticed he was gone.
As soon as the alarm went off, Nico reached for the bag he had put together under his bed. His hand hit empty air. "What?" he muttered, still groggy with sleep.
"You know, if you're going to run, don't ask anything sentient to wake you up at an odd hour of the morning. It's really suspicious."
Nico bolted upright to meet Clint's even gaze.
"What?" he yelped.
"Seriously, dude, JARVIS is everywhere," he said, perched on the dresser. "And believe me, it's exactly as creepy as it sounds."
The teen flopped back against his bed with a groan. He couldn't believe he was such an idiot. "You suck."
Clint made a noncommittal hum before asking, "So why'd you want to run?"
"It's none of your business."
"Actually, seeing as you're under my protection, it actually is my business."
"Maybe I was sick of you people," Nico bit out, trying to put as much sting into his words as he could.
The spy snorted. "Once upon a time, I was in the same position that you're in now. And believe me when I say that I know you have no desire to leave."
"I'm not you."
"No. I was you."
"Ugh. What are you doing in my room?"
"Figuring out why you were about to run. Which, by the way, you still haven't told me."
"You want to know? Fine. Everyone I've met so far who's claimed they can protect me or fight Hecate has fallen short of every expectation I've set. None of you people have any idea what you're facing, and so you have no idea how unprepared, outgunned, and vulnerable you are! Natasha almost died today-"
"Yesterday," Clint pointed out.
"She almost died yesterday, and I'm not going to watch as the rest of you actually kick the bucket!"
"So you're going to make us go into the fight even more unprepared than we would have if you stayed? Because I explicitly remember being told that you'd help us train to fight Hecate. And we will fight Hecate. So go ahead and leave if you want, but don't fool yourself into thinking that you'd be doing us a favor."
Nico froze as the words sank in, then hunched his shoulders. "I don't want anymore people to get hurt because of me."
Clint hopped off the dresser and walked to Nico's bedside. "We're better trained than you think. And us fighting Hecate isn't your fault. You didn't make Hecate kill those people, and you didn't make us sign up to fight over-powered crazies.
"Plus, Nat just got back. And if you left, you'd probably do more damage than if you stayed."
With those words, Clint retreated to the door. "Oh, and by the way," he said, as he was leaving, "your bag is in the closet."
Captain America arrived first.
Steve Rogers was not what Nico had been expecting. He had expected a soldier, completely dedicated to his country and 100% suspicious of him. In reality, the guy had a fantastic sense of humor, was more dedicated to his morals than he was to his commander, and treated Nico like any other kid.
Well, not entirely like any other kid. The soldier was horrified to learn that Nico was so deeply embroiled in SHIELD and the Hecate issue.
"Sorry, you're what?" he asked, scandalized.
"I'm supposed to help train you guys to fight against Hecate."
Rogers turned around and broke the punching bag. Nico stared at him, wide-eyed.
When the man next spoke, his tone was icy. "Excuse me. I'm going to go have words with Fury," he said, before walking away.
Nico was offended, until he realized that Rogers wasn't mad because he was expected to learn from a kid. He was furious because a kid was placed in such a dangerous situation.
The son of Hades wondered what Rogers reaction would be if he found out what Nico's life was normally like.
He wasn't able to overhear the conversation between the Director and Rogers, because JARVIS was everywhere. But when the super soldier came back, he was fuming. Upon seeing Nico, his eyes softened.
"When Thor strikes my shield, there's a pretty interesting reaction," he said. "I wonder if something similar would happen with your shadows?"
And that was that.
Bruce Banner was the second to arrive, and that meeting was considerably more interesting than the one with Steve.
Bruce had extended his hand, Nico had reached out to shake it, and then the doctor had recoiled. Green bled into his eyes, and a low growl echoed across the room.
"Woah!" Clint shouted.
"Get back!" Natasha said, yanking Nico away.
"Bruce, buddy, you gotta calm down," Tony said. "Come on, breathe in, that's it. I have something in the lab I want to show you, and I can't do that if you're recovering from Big and Green."
Slowly Banner recovered, the green receding. "Sorry," he gasped. "I don't know what happened."
But his eyes were locked on Nico, revealing mistrust deep down, and the demigod felt that this was one Avenger who knew something was off.
He spent the rest of the day attempting to squash the thought that even a universe away, he was still judged by his father. Even here, he couldn't be trusted because of to whom he was born.
Thor was the final one to arrive.
He had strode into the communal level of the tower during dinner and his eyes zeroed in on Nico. A giant grin broke across his face.
"I am Thor Odinson, heir of Asgard," the norseman said, eagerly stepping forward.
"Um, Nico. Nico Di Angelo," he replied.
The demigod found his hands folded into the god's. "It is an honor to meet you," Thor said, eyes suddenly serious.
"Uh, likewise?" Nico offered. It was weird, to say the least. It was one thing to meet different versions of the same pantheon. Greek and Roman gods he could handle. It was another story entirely to meet a member of a completely separate pantheon.
He forcefully pushed down the thought of Egyptians. He was so not thinking about that right now.
"Yeah. So this is Point-Break," Tony said, gesturing to Thor, interrupting the awkward staring contest Thor seemed determined to have. Tony leaned over to Nico, saying in a stage-whisper, "He's not from around here. Forgive him for his social blunders."
Thor gave a booming laugh and sat down. "Surely I've been improving, my friend."
"You'll get there," Tony replied. "Unlike the Capsicle."
Natasha leveled the inventor with a glare on Steve's behalf.
"Kidding, of course," he hastily added.
The rest of the dinner continued in the same fashion, with Thor fitting seamlessly in. Nico lowered his eyes, abruptly reminded of the dinners at camp and the parties around the campfire. He wondered if Percy, Annabeth or the others were worried about him. Perhaps they had already burned his shroud. He had gone missing just after a battle, they must have thought it unlikely that he was alive.
The thought burned his eyes and created a lump in his throat. A hollow feeling gripped his stomach.
"Nico?" Natasha asked. "Are you okay?"
He plastered a smile on his face, but the expressions around the table told him he was fooling no one.
"I'm tired," he lied. "I'm going to head for bed."
He left the table and stumbled toward his room. As soon as he shut the door, he collapsed. Gasping breaths shook his body.
He was never going to be able to go home.
The thought hit him like a semi-truck.
Who was he kidding. He had no idea how to heal Hecate of Python's venom, and there wasn't another way that he knew of to get back.
He was never going to be able to go home, see Percy and Annabeth again, talk to Hazel, gods, even fight with Persephone. He was going to die here, and he wouldn't be able to return to his father's kingdom. It was a different universe. He would go to Hel's realm, not to Elysium. He was completely cut off from those he…
Those he…
A sob ripped itself from his throat.
And Hecate. Hecate. The one who had taught him how to better control his powers, the one who found him when he was too ashamed to go to camp and too scared to go to his father, the one who healed and helped and was the mother he never had.
She was gone. She was gone from him forever. Python had taken her from him in the worst way possible, and now he would have to fight what remained of the goddess. He would have to train others to fight her. He would have to kill her.
He would have to kill her.
The thought destroyed him.
As soon as Nico made his hurried exit, Natasha and Clint looked at each other. "Excuse us," she said. The two followed the boy.
The female spy felt her heart break when they saw him slam the door. She clenched her fists when they heard him begin to sob.
"Clint," she said desperately.
"I know," he murmured. "I know."
The two stood there, knowing that they couldn't interfere. Nico was obviously hiding something, and he wasn't going to tell them what just because they asked. And if they attempted to comfort him without knowing what that secret was, they could easily make things worse.
"Do you trust him?" Natasha asked.
Clint looked at her. It was the look he used that told her he was seeing right through her, that he knew every motive and every thought that was running through her head.
"Yeah," he said. "I do."
"Thank you," she replied.
And although it was difficult, although it was so, very, very difficult, they left the boy to mourn alone.
Nico couldn't sleep.
He hadn't really recovered from earlier, and every time he closed his eyes, he saw the image of his sword buried in Hecate's heart. After two hours of fruitlessly tossing and turning, he got up.
Remembering his nightmare from a few days ago, he decided against staying on his own floor. He made his way down to the kitchen and sat at the table, staring at the wood and absentmindedly twirling a knife.
He heard the chair across from him being moved. He looked up, catching Thor's solemn gaze.
"You can not sleep," the god observed.
Nico nodded.
"You are not of this universe," Thor said.
Nico found he wasn't really surprised the god knew. "Yeah."
"Heimdall alerted the Allfather when he first saw you. You do not interact with the energy of this plane as those who were born here do."
"So I've been told."
The conversation paused. Then, "But your aura is similar to that of Loki's daughter, Hel. You are a demigod, are you not?"
Nico looked up sharply. On some level, he knew that Thor was old, as ancient as the gods. But for some reason, he hadn't expected the norsemen to be quite so intelligent.
"Fear not, Di Angelo. It is obvious you do not wish for the others to know. I will not tell them."
"Thank you," he replied. He hoped the relief in his voice wasn't too obvious. It wasn't that he didn't trust the others. Now, at least, he knew that they wouldn't tell those who would use it against him. He just wasn't sure how they'd view him, if they knew what he was. And in the short time he'd been with the Avengers, he had grown to care about them.
When it was revealed he was the son of Hades, not everyone at camp had been the most accepting. And with no way back home, the Avengers were all he had. He couldn't afford to lose them.
Thor leaned back. "You are a son of the Underworld, are you not?"
Nico studied his face closely. He didn't appear to be disgusted or unnerved by the idea. Thor, it seemed, he could tell. "Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades, Ghost King, at your service" he said, holding out a hand.
Thor's face remained serious as he shook it. "It is an honor to meet you, son of Hades. You have the look of one who has undergone many trials. It will be my privilege to fight alongside you as Shield Brothers against Hecate."
A genuine smile crossed Nico's lips. "As it will be to fight alongside you, son of Odin."
Thor clapped his hands once. "Well then. I think it is best we both attempt once again to get some sleep. You are helping us train tomorrow, no?"
"I don't understand," the woman said. Her face was covered in tattoos of ancient greek symbols.
"She didn't die. She couldn't. She's a primordial. She just… got very weak. Too weak to form."
"And so what does this do?"
Hecate studied the crystal. "This? This is the key." The fallen goddess grinned. "It's time to start the preparations. Soon, we shall have victory."
A/N: Sorry. Really, that's all I can say. There is no excuse for taking almost a year to update, and there is no excuse for breaking my promise for how frequently I'd update. All I can say is that I WILL finish this fic, and it will NEVER take me this long to update ever again. Whether you choose to believe me or not is up to you, because my promises probably don't seem that meaningful after so many months. Sorry.
Also, I can not say thanks enough to a few certain reviewers.
To the one guest who I suspect reviewed three times and wrote "please update" for about a page - you are the reason this was updated at all. I don't know if you'll ever come back to this fic after so long, but thank you. Your enthusiasm gave me the strength necessary to come back. I hope the rest doesn't disappoint.
And to those of you who stuck with me, bugged me, and put up with my absence - again, thank you. And sorry.
I'm back.
