It didn't seem to matter that Jason hadn't gone to get Hazel, because when Jason went to meet Nico and Hazel at lunch she was already there with him. He looked much better, still shaken and standing closer to Hazel than he had been that morning, but not panicked anymore. His arms crossed over his chest watching Jason warily. Probably wondering if Jason would bring up what had happened earlier. Jason didn't.

"Do you two have a place you normally sit?" He asked, Nico looked relieved and uncrossed his arms. Hazel shot Jason a grateful look.

"We usually sit behind the bleachers on the other side of the yard. It's a nice quiet place, no one bothers us there." Hazel told Jason happily. "Do you need to buy a lunch? Me and Nico have packed ones."

"No I brought a packed one too." Jason assured her.

"Alright, then lets go." Hazel started leading the way and Jason and Nico followed her. Hazel began chatting easily, asking Jason how his morning was, talking about her own and generally making small talk. Jason noticed she didn't ask Nico about his morning, presumably she already knew what had happened.

Once they reached the far bleachers Nico sat down with his back against one of the supports, Hazel sat down beside Nico and Jason sat down in front of them. Now, looking back and forth between the two of them, he was struck again by how opposite the two siblings were. Nico's skin was pale , Hazel's dark, Nico was hunched and leaning back, Hazel sat up straight and property, Nico was dressed all in black, Hazels dress was bright and floral and Hazel was smiling and Nico wasn't. The only thing that was similar about the two of them was their eyes, they were different colors of course but they both had the same look. Older than they should be and like they had seen too much.

Hazel took off her backpack, put it on the grass beside her, and began rummaging through it. Jason did the same noticing out of the corner of his eye that Hazel took two lunches from her bag, and handed one to Nico. Jason wondered why Hazel had been carrying Nico's lunch as he found his own, mildly squashed lunch under his English textbook. He sighed grumpily, he should have been more careful. At least he hadn't packed a banana in his lunch today or it would have been smushed all over everything.

"Oh shoot!" Hazel exclaimed making Jason and Nico jump.

"What?" Nico asked looking mildly concerned.

"I left my water bottle in my locker." Hazel said getting up and smoothing out a crease in her dress. "I'm going to hurry back and get it. I'll be back soon." She trotted off before Nico or Jason could say anything. Nico sat up to watch her go, then shrugged and leaned back against the pole opening up his lunch and pulling out an applesauce. Jason took a thermos, he had packed soup today, he hoped it would still be warm.

"Thank you for what you did earlier." Nico said abruptly without looking at Jason, "If you hadn't been there I might have been stuck till lunch." Nico sounded frustrated, Jason was noticing more and more how much Nico seemed to hate needing anyone else's help. He was surprised that Nico did thank him, he had half expected Nico to refuse to acknowledge he had needed help.

"You're welcome." Jason said his surprise registering on his face for a moment before he managed to wipe it away. "I saw you running passed my English class and I had to do something. I'm sorry I didn't interfere sooner."

"It's fine," Nico said shaking his head. "Normally I could have dealt with them myself, but this week hasn't been… good." Nico hesitated as if he didn't know what word to use before settling on good. Jason could think of many things that could mean but he suspected it had something to do with Hazel having brought Nico's lunch.

"Are you going to be alright now?" Jason asked softly "I mean you were really shaken up earlier."

"I'll be fine." Nico said equally softly, "I just hate feeling trapped." Jason nodded, that made sense still he asked.

"Why? I mean every fear is there for a reason right? I'm afraid of losing my memory because I had amnesia once, and it was one of the most terrifying thing I've ever been through." Jason didn't usually tell people about that, but he figured that he had to share with Nico or he wouldn't be honest with Jason. Nico was quiet for a moment and Jason wondered if he would ignore the question.

"There was one time… about a year ago, I spent almost a week trapped and, I just never want that to happen again." Jason didn't know how to respond so he just nodded, he was curious about how Nico had gotten trapped but he didn't want to ask.

"How did you get out?" he asked instead, Nico wouldn't answer if he didn't want to.

"Hazel found me." Nico said shrugging "I mean no one else was looking, I disappear too often for anyone else to think twice about it. I always tell Hazel before I go and when I didn't she knew something was wrong, but no one would believe her so she got help from some of her friends and came looking for me herself." Jason had under estimated how close the two of them were but now it made a bit more sense the way Nico acted with Hazel, he must owe her a lot. He wondered if Hazel owed Nico as much.

"You two really love each other huh?" Jason wondered if his sister would come looking for him if he went missing. She probably would know too, it wasn't as if their mother would tell her, and Thalia never visited really because she and their mother couldn't see each other without fighting. She did call on a regular basis though, and maybe after a few weeks of Jason not answering she would get suspicious.

"We're the only blood relatives besides our father either of us have left, we have to be close." Jason nodded again, some small families seemed to take their bond much more seriously than big ones. "Do you have a sister?" Jason was taken aback by the question, not because it was a overly personal one, but just because Nico hadn't been showing any interest in Jason before it, letting Jason ask all the questions and keep conversation going.

"Yes I do. Her name is Thalia, but she's older than me and already moved out because her and my mom didn't get along well." Nico nodded frowning slightly.

"That's too bad." Nico said softly, it wasn't pitying, just a statement "Sisters can be great things to have." Jason nodded. When Thalia had been at home she had been more of a mother to him than his real mother had, at the same time he had sometimes found it quite annoying, but now that she was gone he was missing her like mad.

"She's offered me the chance to move in with her... but I don't think my mom's ready to lose both her kids yet." Jason didn't think his mother would ever be ready to lose him. She had become increasingly possessive over him, like she could make up for losing his father and his sister as if she could keep him forever. He didn't know if he would ever be able to break free of her but he didn't say any of that.

"Do you want to move in with her?" Nico asked, he was looking up at Jason, now his black eyes sharp with interest. Jason was still having a hard time meeting them.

"A bit." Jason said shrugging "I love my sister, but of course I love my mom too and right now I think she needs me more." Nico nodded and didn't ask any further finally opening the applesauce he had been holding in his lap, folding the foil topping into a makeshift spoon and beginning to eat. Jason followed suit, getting a real spoon out of his lunch box, and twisting open his thermos finding his soup still steaming.

"So you said that you do sword fighting, is there a club that you belong to here?" Jason asked after a few bites, Nico had finished the applesauce and pulled out a bag of carrot and cucumber sticks.

"No." Nico answer after he had swallowed a bite of carrot "I had some friends who taught me when I was about nine, and then some other people who kept me in practice, but I've never belonged to a club." Jason nodded, it wasn't the traditional way to learn but it worked.

"Are you free after school today?" Jason asked. "I haven't had a chance to practice in a while and I'd like to practice." For a minute Jason was sure Nico would say no, but then he shrugged.

"I haven't had a chance to practice in a while either. I know a little park about 15 minute walk from here that is always deserted. We can go there to practice without being bothered if you don't have anywhere better." Jason shook his head, he hadn't had much of a chance to explore this town yet and he didn't know any places at all.

"We'll have to drop by my house quickly first, I don't carry my sword with me." Jason said jokingly, Nico nodded.

"I keep mine in my locker so we won't have to go to mine. Hopefully yours is close to the park and not in the completely opposite direction." They fell silent and Hazel came jogging back to them over the field her water bottle swinging in her hand.

"Sorry about that." She said smiling and sitting back down next to Nico. "I hope it wasn't to awkward while I was away." Obviously she was used to keeping conversations on Nico's behalf and wasn't sure how it would have gone without her.

"No it was fine." Jason assured her. "We just talked and Nico agreed to meet after school to practice swordplay since we both practice it." Hazel looked completely shocked for a moment then broke into a very happy smile. She bounced slightly in a way Jason found very cute.

"Excellent." She enthused "That will be great, Nico's been complaining about how he hasn't been able to actually push himself in a match against anyone. I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into Jason." She laughed happily and Jason chuckled too, Hazel's laugh was almost as infectious as Pipers, Even Nico smiled.

A/N I have read most of The Blood of Olympus, I know we have some new information about Nico but I feel like Rick is downplaying the PTSD Nico would have because of what he's been threw so I'm going to keep on as I planned.

I would like opinions on whether or not I should leave the story Jasico or ad Will into it, let me know what you think please cause I really don't know which one to do.