Another chapter! I hope you like it, please let me know! Sadly, there's only one more chapter left and then this story is finished. Since I'm curious here a few questions:
a) Your favourite moment?
b) Your favourite funny moment?
c) Something else you liked very much?
You don't have to answer, of course. I just like asking those things when I'm getting closer to finishing a story. And as always, thanks to everyone who read the last chapter and left a review!

I don't own the characters or places!

Nico

When he woke up again, he was feeling much better. It was dark in the Hades cabin and he assumed that he'd slept nearly the entire day and half of the night. Next to him, Will was still sleeping peacefully. His regular breathing was the only sound in the silence surrounding them.

Nico watched his boyfriend silently and thought of everything that happened in the past days. Had they just been gone for a few days? It felt much longer. Somehow, everything about this quest felt like a dream now. But it was true, he knew that deep inside.

If he thought of it again, he realized that the crazy satyr in London had really been their smallest problem. He would have to tell Coach Hedge about that meeting soon, most probably, their friend would find it highly amusing. Especially the part with the souvenirs.

Then there had been those water spirits and Tyche... It had helped them, but Nico would have preferred to get the information without having to drown twice. That wasn't nice. And Will's expression when he came back to the surface of the water...

However, it was nothing compared to the events in the cave. It wasn't the fact that he'd been tortured which made him feel sick. Nico could deal with that. No, it troubled him that Will had to watch it. He knew that his boyfriend always felt with others and this must have been horrible to him. Especially since he also got to know about Tartarus this way... Yes, they'd already talked about it shortly, but Nico knew that this subject wasn't forgotten.

Suddenly, Will stirred in his sleep and murmured words Nico couldn't understand. Then he started to turn restlessly and his breathing fastened.

Will was having a nightmare.

"Nico..." He whispered in his sleep. "No... Don't leave me..."

Nico touched his shoulder carefully. "Will, you have to wake up." He whispered. "It's a nightmare. You're dreaming."

"No..." Will muttered once more before his eyes opened and he sat up abruptly, his head nearly colliding with Nico's. First, his eyes were unfocused and there was panic in them, but when he saw Nico, Will frowned. "Nico?"

"You had a nightmare." He explained quietly and kept his distance, afraid to scare Will. Whatever he'd been dreaming of, it wasn't nice.

To his surprise, Will wrapped his arms around him tightly. Nico gasped in surprise when he was pulled closer forcefully. "You're here." Will whispered and buried his face on his neck.

"Of course I am." Nico said and began to stroke Will's back slowly. "It was just a dream."

"It felt so real..." Will muttered. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm fine, stop worrying." Nico threw in softly.

"I can't!" They'd been whispering before and at Will's loud voice, they both flinched. "Don't you get it? You nearly died three times in the past days, Nico!" Will started to shake in his arms. "I can't lose you!"

"You won't." Nico placed a kiss on Will's head. "It's over now."

"But trouble will always find us." Will argued. "Especially you, Death Boy. It's drawn to you like a moth to the flame."

"What a fitting comparison..." Nico muttered, in an attempt to cheer Will up, but of course it didn't work. Not that he'd expected that. "Will, look at me please?" He asked when his boyfriend wouldn't stop shaking in his arms. Will already had a breakdown the day before the battle, so this didn't surprise Nico. He'd expected it.

Slowly, Will drew back and in the dim light, Nico wasn't sure if there were tears in his eyes or of he just imagined them. "Yes, it will never be easy, and we can't expect to have a peaceful life. We'll always be in danger and that's terribly infuriating." He whispered. "But we'll make it through everything, together. This time, we were also able to deal with it all."

"You dealt with most of it on your own." Will avoided to look into his eyes. Was that shame on his face?

"Without you and Reyna, I wouldn't have been able to do all this." Nico argued. "Remember all those terrible ultrasonic whistles of yours? They saved us quite a few times." He smiled slightly. "And without you, I would have never found the courage to go on this quest at all. I've said that I've never been stronger before we went on this quest. Now I know why."

Slowly, Will looked up again and their eyes met.

"It's because of you, Will." Nico whispered. "You're making me stronger. You made me realize that I can do so much. It's always been you." He remembered the words of his father. Sometimes, strong feelings can make us do incredible things. Or make us understand that we were always able to do them and we just didn't realize it.

"You were on quests before we met as well. And you managed it all." Will argued weakly.

"Remember where that led me?" Nico asked and Will flinched. Of course he did, what a stupid question. After all, Will was still afraid that he might fade again. "I love you, Will. That's my biggest strength."

Will breathed in shakily. "I love you too, Nico. I just... I was so afraid."

"Me too." He whispered. "For a moment, I thought I lost you in that battle."

"I just hit my head, it was nothing serious." Will said immediately.

"It looked quite bad." He emphasized. "I kind of freaked out then."

"Because you thought I was hurt?" Will's eyes widened.

"And because of Reyna." Nico added. "Remember that time in the cave? I didn't even know that I could do this thing with the shadows. Covering everything in darkness. I just saw the desperation in your eyes and knew that I had to do something..."

Suddenly, Will's lips were on his and Nico couldn't continue his sentence. For half a second, he was frozen in surprise, but then he kissed his boyfriend back. Unlike the last times they'd kissed, this one wasn't filled with fear and desperation. It was a slow, reassuring kiss, telling them that everything was alright now. That they had time again.

"You're incredible." Will whispered with a smile, but then he frowned. "How are you feeling? That trick yesterday made you so weak..."

"I'm fine again." Nico smiled. "Will you believe me when I say that my power is back?"

"I can feel it." Will muttered when he placed a hand on Nico's chest. "It's never been like this... What changed?"

"Honestly, I have no idea why I'm getting stronger." Nico admitted. "But does it matter?" The feeling of Will's hand on his chest made his heart race, even if there was still the material of his shirt in between.

"No." Will muttered and kissed him again.

"I didn't get a chance to ask how you are feeling." Nico whispered in between two kisses.

"I'm fine, as I said, I just hit my head." Will placed his hands on Nico's shoulders and pushed him back onto the mattress, straddling him. Without hesitation, Will grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. Then his hands wandered to the hem of Nico's t-shirt. After glancing at him once more, Will began to pull it up as well. It was also thrown onto the floor next to the bed.

Nico drank in the sight in front of him. He'd always known that Will was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to now. He watched the muscles when Will moved and the brilliant smile on his lips. The last time they'd been together, it had been rushed, their departure for the quest hanging over them. But now it was different. Nico reached out to touch Will's bare chest, but then he noticed the look on his boyfriend's face.

Of course, there were still several cuts on his skin, bandaged, but anyway... "Stop this." Nico said. "Don't think about it."

"But Nico..." Will reached out to place a hand over his heart carefully.

"Don't. I want to enjoy this moment."

"Then let my try something." Will placed both of his hands on Nico's skin carefully and closed his eyes. First, nothing happened, but after some time, Nico felt a tingle on his skin. When Will leaned back, there was satisfaction on his face. "May I?" He asked and pointed at the bandages.

Nico nodded, still a little surprised, but he let Will take them off. It looked like there had never been any injuries at all. Not even scars where the deeper cuts had been. When Nico looked at Will more closely, he noticed that he wound on his forehead was also gone.

"You healed us both." He whispered in amazement.

"Seems like I did." Will muttered and slowly, his lips turned into a wide grin.

"So I'm not the only one who's getting stronger." Nico noted. He placed his hands on Will's chest again and leaned up to kiss him. Will's lips parted immediately which gave Nico the opportunity to deepen the kiss, which made him gasp. Maybe it was also due to the fact that Nico ran his hands down Will's chest slowly.

"Nico." He muttered and closed his eyes.

"Sometimes, it's still hard to believe that you're mine." This time, Nico took Will by surprise and flipped them around so he was lying on top of him. "I'll never let you go again, I hope you know that?"

"Just like I'll keep you." Will groaned when Nico's hands reached his pants. In this moment, no more words were needed.

Later, they had their arms wrapped around each other again, both still naked and breathing heavily. "I need to tell you something." Nico said while he drew random patterns on Will's chest.

"I hope no bad news?" He noticed the hesitant tone of Will's voice and chuckled.

"Oh come on, I just showed you how much I love you. So no, just news. Not good or bad." The sun was rising slowly and Nico could see the blush on Will's cheeks. Yes, he'd shown his boyfriend exactly how much he loved him and from the sounds he'd made, Will had enjoyed it immensely.

"Aren't all news good or bad?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "I met my father." He told him about the conversation, of course without mentioning the fact that Hades had helped Tyche with the ghost. After all, he'd made a promise not to tell anyone.

"He wants to invite us to the Underworld?" Will asked incredulously when Nico finished his tale.

He grinned. "We don't have to accept that offer. After all, your father also didn't invite us." In fact, he'd rather not meet Apollo in person now that he was with Will. He didn't want to be cursed and have to speak in rhymes forever. That was also why he'd kept a distance from the children of Apollo before he'd met Will.

"Your father seems to care about you." Will said thoughtfully.

"Are you jealous because I have a zombie chauffeur and you don't?" Nico joked.

Will chuckled. "No, it's just that he's spoken to you a few times by now, while we others don't even know our parents."

"You have your mother." Nico threw in. It was true, though Will didn't see her very often. She was living far away from Camp Half-Blood.

"I do. And I didn't see her in months. Maybe we could visit her soon..." Will hesitated. "Of course only if you want it."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "My father, the God of the Underworld, just invited us to dinner in said Underworld and you're worried that I don't want to meet your perfectly normal mother?"

Will laughed. "Alright, so we will visit her." He kissed Nico again.

"I can't wait to meet her." Will had told him a few stories about his mother and she seemed to be very nice.

"But first, we'll have to help undoing the damage here." Nico warned him. "And I really hope that Hazel and Frank will visit. Otherwise, we'll have to travel to Camp Jupiter soon."

"They will come, I'm sure of that." Will said. "However, I would really like to see Camp Jupiter." There was longing in his voice.

"Maybe we could live there for some time." Nico said without really thinking about it. "You could study there to improve your healing abilities."

Will's eyes widened in surprise. "I never thought of that." He admitted after a few moments. "You would do that? Going there with me?"

"Honestly, I don't care where we live as long as we're together." Nico smiled. "Percy and Annabeth will also go there soon. She wants to study architecture."

"Doesn't surprise me." Will muttered. "But leaving Camp Half-Blood..." He hesitated. "It's my home."

"Just think about it. I would go anywhere with you." Nico pulled him closer and listened to Will's heartbeat. "I'm so glad that everything worked out."

"Me too." Will agreed. "Though I really wish that it would have been easier."

"Believe me, it was easy." Nico muttered dryly. "I've been through worse."

"Nico..."

"Don't." He stopped him. "You can't change the past, Will. I know that I should have told you about a few things sooner, and I'm sorry, but -"

"Don't apologize." Will interrupted him. "It's fine, I get it."

"I won't tell you the details." Nico warned him. "That's nothing anyone wants to know, believe me."

"I would listen to it anyway." Of course he would. He was far too good for this world. Too good for Nico. However, for reasons Nico didn't understand, Will Solace had chosen him. And he would enjoy every moment of their time together.

"We should get up soon, shouldn't we?" Outside, they could hear the first noises of other campers.

"Just a few more moments." Will pulled Nico closer again when he tried to sit up. "And maybe we could have a shower together..."

"I like how you think." Nico chuckled and closed his eyes once more.

Will

An hour later, they were both dressed and left the Hades cabin hand in hand. Luckily, Will had forgotten some of his clothes in Nico's cabin a few weeks ago so he could wear clean clothes. He glanced at his boyfriend from the corner of his eyes while they were walking through Camp Half-Blood.

It was already surprisingly busy, even if it was still early in the morning. They were heading to the infirmary, wanting to look after Reyna before going to breakfast. When they had nearly reached the building, someone called their names. It was one of Will's brothers.

"Hey Sam, what's going on?" Will greeted him.

"I just wanted to tell you that you did a very good job with that quest!" His brother grinned. He was much shorter than Will and had brown hair with green eyes.

"Thank you." Will smiled and noticed that Sam was staring at Nico.

"You were both awesome, in fact." Sam added and Nico's lips twitched.

"Do you know how Reyna is?" Nico asked without replying to that comment.

"She's awake. A few others have already visited her and I think Jason is still with her." Sam explained.

"Thanks." Without waiting for a reply, Nico pulled will towards the infirmary. Will was surprised when he realized that he was glad about it. The way his brother had stared at Nico made him feel uncomfortable.

"Everything alright?" Nico whispered.

"Why shouldn't it be?" Will asked.

"You had this strange look on your face when you stared at your brother." Nico shrugged. "I was just wondering what caused that."

For a few seconds, Will considered just shrugging it off. But didn't he always tell himself that he wanted to be honest with Nico? "I didn't like the way he was looking at you."

At this, Nico stopped and stared at him. "He... what? I mean, yeah, he was staring. But that doesn't mean anything."

Inwardly, Will sighed. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to tell him after all. "And besides, everyone knows that I belong to you." Nico added and smiled widely. He took a step closer to him. "You shouldn't feel uncomfortable just because someone looks at me, Will. I don't care." And then he kissed him on the mouth, right in the middle of the camp. When they parted, there was a mischievous gleam in Nico's eyes. "Now that it's settled, come on, I want to know how Reyna is."

Reyna was, in fact, fine. The injury was healing slowly and it would take a few weeks until she was able to move without problems again, but otherwise, it would only leave a scar. Something about the scepter kept it from healing faster.

"You did it, Nico!" Reyna smiled widely when she saw them. "Jason and Percy already told me what happened. I'm so proud of you!"

Nico smiled. "Thanks, Reyna." To Will's surprise, he let her take his hand. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks to you." She said seriously.

"It was really scary, what he did." Jason added from the other side of the bed.

"Shouldn't you be with Piper?" Reyna mocked him. "You've been in here for nearly an hour now. I bet she misses you."

Jason chuckled and stood up. "I'll see you at breakfast, guys." He said to Will and Nico before he left.

"By now, I think that all those visits will never stop." Reyna muttered. Will noticed that she still looked exhausted.

"You just have to say it and I'll make sure that no one will bother you for the next hours." He offered.

"Some more sleep would be nice." She agreed.

Will exchanged a look with Nico and then he searched for his siblings to let them know that Reyna needed more rest. When he returned to them, he saw that Nico was laughing.

"What did I miss?" He asked when he sat down next to his boyfriend on Reyna's bed carefully.

"Coach Hedge sent many monsters back to Tartarus with his new pickaxe." Nico grinned.

"The one he showed us?"

Nico nodded. "Honestly, I expected it to break in two the first time he used it."

"Wouldn't have surprised me as well." Will agreed. They talked to Reyna for a few more minutes, but then Will insisted to let her sleep some more.

At breakfast, they found Percy, Annabeth, Jason and Piper already waiting for them at the Hades table. "Shouldn't you all be sitting somewhere else?" Nico grinned.

"Nope, not today." Jason said simply.

"You mean never." Percy threw in.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes while Piper laughed.

"It's so good that it's over!" Percy exclaimed.

"Chiron wants to talk to you after breakfast." Annabeth told Nico and Will. "He wants to hear the story what happened again. This time, the long version."

"All the Head Counsellors will be there, by the way." Percy added.

"We also got a message from Camp Jupiter. Hazel and Frank want to visit, they asked for someone to get them." Jason looked at Nico meaningfully and he nodded.

"Just name a time and I'll do it. It won't take long to shadow travel them here." Will's boyfriend smiled when it was mentioned that his sister would come for a visit. In this moment, Will realized something. He didn't feel the usual fear in his stomach when Nico mentioned shadow travelling. Maybe because of all the things he did in the past days. Or what Will felt every time he touched him now. That unmistakable feeling of power that seemed to surround Nico.

Nico glanced at him. "Everything alright?"

"Never been better." Will smiled and leaned in to kiss him.