Percy strode down the halls of Lake's Meeting Home for the Mentally Insane to a room he was painfully familiar with, knowing the route by memory.

'Percy, wait!' Frank implored, tugging at his sleeve. Percy shook him off and broke into a run that got faster a more desperate the closer he got to the infirmary.

Percy had returned to Nico's room that evening to find Frank sleeping and his boyfriend missing. After he shook Frank awake and nearly screamed at him to please know where Nico was, the two set out searching for Nico for the second time that day. Eventually Percy went by the front lobby, praying that they wouldn't tell him Nico was in the infirmary. Or worse; that they hadn't found him yet.

But, in familiar fashion, it seemed no one was listening to or cared to answer Percy's prayers.

~ O ~

Nico had been silently screaming at the nurses to just leave him alone for God's sake, and they did a second before Percy and Frank arrived. Good thing too, otherwise there could've been quite a scene.

Frank was panting and paused at the doorway to catch his breath, but Percy had stopped at the doorway for a different reason. As Nico looked up and saw his friends, he offered a weak half-smile, but Percy's expression broke his heart.

Frank stayed at the door to keep an eye out for nurses (he knew that technically visitors wouldn't be allowed yet) as Percy walked numbly over to Nico.

Nico's nose was clearly broken, and there was a horrible red gash on the bridge. The rest of the right side of his face was badly bruised, big purple welts making his cheek and brow swell. Both eyes were darker than usual, but they didn't leave Percy as the taller teen dragged a nearby chair closer to the side of Nico's bed. Without saying a word, Percy gently took hold of Nico's hand, and lay his head down next to it on the mattress.

'I'm sorry.' Nico whispered, his voice barely audible with such a bruised throat. All Nico saw was Percy's shoulders shake, and he sniffed once. He took a shaky breath, then shook his head.

'… I should've listened to you.' Nico croaked, 'I'm sorry,' He said again.

'Stop it. It's not— It wasn't your fault.' Percy said, he voice tired and commanding at the same time. They shared a minute of silence, then, with a quiet groan of pain, Nico sat up. He pulled the hand that Percy had laid in his closer to his chest, and Percy got the hint. He leaned up and pressed his head gingerly into Nico's shoulder, and Nico did the same on Percy's. Nico watched Percy's tears fall on the hospital-grade blanket for a minute, then Frank hissed at them that nurses were coming.

'… I'll kill him,' Percy whispered.

'Stop, Percy, don't think like that.'

'I wi—'

'No you won't.' Nico paused to cough, and Percy felt bad for making him talk. Gently, Nico kissed Percy's cheek, and pushed him away.

'Come on, man.' Frank implored, tugging Percy's sleeve. The older boy just let Frank pull him away while staring at his boyfriend, who only let himself cry once Percy had left.

~ O ~

Percy continued to visit for a week, spending every single moment he had beside Nico. Some days they talked a lot, and Percy would apologise and Nico would apologise, and then they'd tell each other to stop apologising. Other days, usually when Percy could tell Nico wasn't feeling like talking, he'd just lay his head next to where he was holding Nico's hand, and they'd stay like that, mostly sleeping. At random times, Nico would stroke Percy's hair, or Percy would kiss Nico's hand, but other than that, they just stayed near each other.

The nurse said the attack was being investigated, and Percy only just stopped himself from physically harming someone because he could tell the nurse knew exactly what happened and was also pissed that it wouldn't really be investigated.

Still, news had reached the outside world and by the end of the week (when visitors were actually allowed), Hazel was the first new person to see Nico, other than Frank's occasional visits.

They were talking about jewels and whether birthdays really indicated anything about the person's future (which Hazel believed, and Nico did not) when Maria entered.

Nico could tell that she wanted to cover him with kisses, but was glad she had enough sense to avoid the bruises. Nico's mother was in the middle of threatening whoever did this with the full force of the Mafia (Nico knew she didn't actually have any such connections, but could tell she liked to imagine it) when Hazel let out a little squeak. Nico looked over to her, recognising that sound and the nervous way she scratched her neck as when someone asked about her family, her parents in particular. Following her line of vision, he saw the man from the week before standing in the doorway.

It had taken Nico a while to realise it, even though such a weird name probably should've been enough, but when Nico first saw that man, his mother had called him Hades. The name she'd cursed and cried over for years. The name of Nico's father. Now, Maria looked to where the two kids were staring, and called the man over when she saw him.

'Tesoro, this is Hades… He's…

'I know, Mama, it's cool.' Nico made his voice sound much stronger than how he was feeling, and offered his hand to the man, who took it with a firm grasp. 'I'm Nico, sorry we couldn't have met when I was looking a little better.'

The man just grunted an awkward hello in response, not really sure how to respond to that. Nico remembered Hazel, and looked back at where she seemed to be trying to hide behind his pillows.

'Mama… Hades, this is Hazel. She's one of my friends here.' Hades raised his eyebrows in curiosity, where Maria looked a little embarrassed.

Nico was about to ask why Hades had only showed up now, but everyone suddenly jumped as Hazel sprinted from the room, keeping as much distance as possible from the adults and disappearing out the door in a second. There was a moment where they all tried to think of something to say.

'I'm sorry, you guys. She gets a little skittish sometimes, especially around new people.' Nico explained, hoping his mother and… Father would remember they are in a crazy house, and not hold it against Hazel too much. Maria blushed, her bashful expression still present, where Hades's face relaxed into a well-practice stone expression. Before Nico could ask, Hades spoke.

'It's funny you should say that… I'm her father… Too.'

~ O ~

As it turns out, Hades had been visiting Lake's Meeting long before his reason was to accompany Maria, to visit Hazel Levesque, his illegitimate daughter.

It had taken Nico most of the one hour he'd wrangled away from Percy to get this information out of Hazel, and it wasn't getting any easier.

'So… Lemme get this straight.' He said, not minding Hazel's pained expression. 'My mum is dating your— our dad, who you were taken away from because… He would beat you and your mum?'

Hazel nodded, and Nico felt a horrible weight settle in his stomach. He'd never been one of the kids that was obsessed with never having their parent date again, but it looked like he'd have to have a bit chat with Maria, otherwise break out some Yours, Mine & Ours tricks to his reunited biological parents.

Nico talked safe topics with Hazel for a while longer, before Percy returned from his counselling session and Hazel politely excused herself.

'Hey,' Nico said as Percy dropped on the bed next to him. Percy grunted in response and rolled over to lay his head on Nico's lap, where Nico finger-combed his hair, and exercise they'd both come to find relaxing.

'Where's Frank?' Nico asked.

'He's still in the dining hall. Everyone… They were talking shit about what happened, and I guess Frank can take it better than me.' Nico didn't comment, he knew eventually someone would say he deserved it. The two boys sat for a few minutes longer, enjoying the darkness and the silence.

'Was she okay?' Percy asked.

'Yeah. But…' Nico could feel Percy frown against his leg.

'What?'

'Hazel said Hades was abusive to her and her mother.' Nico knew Percy would be smart enough to get to where Nico was looking at the situation, as he'd heard about Smelly Gabe.

'Maybe he's changed?' Percy tried, and it took a moment for Nico to comprehend what Percy had said.

'What?'

'I'm just guessing, I mean, did he seem horrible when you met him?'

'No, not really.'

'And did you mum look happy?'

'… She wasn't crying.' Nico could tell Percy rolled his eyes at Nico's evasive answer.

'So, I'm saying… You shouldn't judge this guy. I mean, he is your father, and of course, if anything starts to indicate that he's a shit of a person, then yeah, get your mum out of there. But…'

Nico shifted his legs to get Percy to sit up, which he did with a pout.

'Percy, Hazel, our friend, Hazel, has just told me the man my mother is dating who yes, is my father, but is also a really bad father and pretty much a complete stranger, is an abusive prick. How can you tell me to ignore that?'

'Was an abusive prick, and I'm not! I just mean that you shouldn't judge a person from rumours spread about them!'

'Listening to rumours is one thing, Percy, but listening to knowledge and experience and using common sense is another!' Percy didn't answer, and Nico took his opportunity. 'How can you tell me to leave it until it's too late, I mean, Hazel said that guy would beat her mother with a belt until she passed out, and then Hazel would hide in a kitchen cupboard! Do you seriously want me to wait until that's my mother?!'

Percy just looked at Nico for a moment, trying to figure out what to say that wouldn't sound offensive or submissive.

'Just…' Nico began, 'Can you just leave?'

Percy went to say something, but Nico spoke first. He was tired, he didn't want to talk about this.

'We can talk about it in the morning, okay? I'm just…' He sighed, 'Please, just leave.'

Percy left. Nico fell back on his bed, willing tears not to fall. So much shit had happened, and he felt bad for talking his frustrations with Hades and Maria out on Percy. Nico considered going to Percy's room and apologising, but at this time of night he'd probably get caught by a guard. Percy was much better at sneaking than him.

Despite his silent cursing, tears filled Nico's eyes and rolled down his cheeks to his ears. Percy was better at sneaking. If Nico had been better at just walking without being caught, what happened with Luke would never have occurred. The thought of that terrifying night made Nico feel phantom pains that wouldn't ebb.

Luke slammed him against the wall, and twisted Nico's arm painfully up against his back to keep him from moving. When Nico would try to hit Luke with his other arm, or twist away, Luke would pull Nico's wrist up and use his other hand to slam the teen's face against the hard tiles.

'Stop, stop it.' Nico mumbled, rubbing his forehead that still had a faint bruise.

Letting out a gasp of pain, Luke chuckled and fiddled with the elastic waistband of Nico's pants. He was muttering surely terrifying things, but Nico had a ringing in his ears that wouldn't go away. When Nico obviously didn't respond to something Luke said, the taller man spun the teen around and held a hand against his throat. Nico still couldn't hear what Luke was saying, he was only aware of the pounding of blood in his head and trying to gasp for air. Luke lightened his grip a little, but by the time Nico was aware of what was happening, it was already happening.

Nico could feel himself sobbing, but he was completely silent. Too much practice hiding his pain meant that by now it would be an effort to actually make noise when he cried. Nico had curled up on his bed, arms hugged tightly to his chest and knees pulled up after that to maximise security. Quietly weeping, he fell asleep.

~ O ~

The last time Nico had a bucket of water thrown over him, it was his eighth birthday, and Bianca had been nagging him to get up so they could eat the cake and open presents, but he was using the birthday excuse to snuggle further under his covers. Bianca, being the proactive and mischievous mind she was, didn't hesitate to use the bucket method.

This memory had all but faded from Nico's mind, but was resurrected for a moment as he woke to the feeling of cold water hitting his face. Despite the cold, Nico smiled for a moment, remembering how much he laughed and chased Bianca after she'd done that. "Well it got you out of bed, didn't it?"

When Nico opened his sleepy eyes and saw where the water was coming from, panic and dread filled his body. Nico leapt out of his now damp bed and tore open his door. A cloud of smoke quickly rushed into his room, making Nico cough and his eyes water, but when he straightened up he saw a smut-covered Frank before he was being dragged toward the lobby, and the main exit.

Lake's Meeting was on fire.

'Wait… Wait!' Nico cried, and though Frank didn't let him go, he turned to face him for a moment.

'Where's Percy?!' Nico screamed over the sound of nearby sirens and the shouting of others rushing toward the exit.

'He's getting Hazel, Nico, he'll meet us outside!' Frank called, and the two ran out the front doors, choking on the smoke that had settled in their lungs and gasping in freezing but clean night air. Looking back, Nico saw they'd all made it out just in time. The back wing, the girls' quarters had collapsed, and the fire seemed to have herded everyone through the boy's quarters, through to the front exit. Looking back, Nico saw the ominous orange glow fill every hallway leading back into the building.

'Nico. Nico?' Frank's voice drew Nico from his shocked stupor. 'Can you go check on Hazel? Percy will be with her, but I just… I need to find out who did this.'

The idea of the fire being a manmade occurrence hadn't crossed Nico's mind yet, but the fixation of finding Percy quickly and easily overcame it. Find out how this happened later, find Percy now.

It didn't take long to find Maria, she was the one making the biggest ruckus— running around, yelling at paramedics and swearing in Italian. When she saw Nico, she hugged him like it was her last moments, and Nico began to feel the injuries he'd disrupted. With a groan of pain, he cursed the sadly temporary effects of adrenaline.

'Mama? Is Hazel okay?' He asked. Maria hesitated.

'It's… She was badly burned, Nico.' The teen frowned in confusion, rather than let tears come to his eyes. A huge part of him wanted to stay ignorant for as long as it could to the logic that was staring him in the face.

If Hazel was burned, and Percy was with her…

'Where… Where's Percy? Mama?'

Maria di Angelo looked at her son with sad eyes.

'É andato, bambino.' Nico's hesitation wasn't due to the language swap. His brain simply refused to process the words.

He's gone, baby.

He's gone.

**Do I even need to say that I'm sorry? Please review and tell me what you're thinking .**