A/N: Bonus This Might Be Crazy - the last bonus This Might Be Crazy if I may add. This one is a lot heavier than the other chapters. Tw for emotional outbursts and self-harm(? not really but watch out for yourself).

I was on a run. A run in the middle of the night, in the middle of New York, but still just on a run.

I reached a crossroad. The lights were green, so I could run further. If I stopped now, then… then…

A bus rode by right in front of me. I should have been hit by it - but I wasn't. Someone was holding me back by my collar.

'Sorry. I was running.'

'What is this about, Nico?'

It was a familair voice. 'I already said so. I was running.'

'Why are you lying to me?'

He might as well have let the bus hit me. It would have hurt less than those words. The horrible feeling in my stomach rose up again, even though it should have been gone.

'I… I am not…' And then I was crying. So much for trying to run my feelings out.

Dionysus spun me around. I almost backed away. Never before had I seen him look so... afraid. 'Come. You shouldn't cry at a New York crossroad.' I let him take me away.

'For the last few days you've been down You kept to yourself more than usual. I tried to talk with you a few times, but you didn't respond, so I thought you might come to me when you felt ready.'

'I-I-I would have…' I bawled.

He shook his head. I didn't even notice him teleporting us until we were standing in front of our regular Denny's.

There were no other guests. Mary, behind the counter as always, raised her eyebrows. She pointed towards a table and disappeared into the back.

I couldn't imagine I looked that bad. Dionysus parked me on one of the couches. Instead of sitting down in front of me, he sat down next to me.

'I-I know now it wasn't good, I really do…' I sobbed.

'That's good, but it's not enough right now. You have to tell me what is going on.'

I slowly shook my head.

'It's dangerous if you don't.'

I felt like crying louder.

'Get it over with. It will hurt less to tell than it does to keep it in.'

I shook my head. He might hurt me.

'Is it about a god other than me?'

'...Y... Yes.' I couldn't get any more over my lips.

'I gave a lot of gods a headache, both when I was a mortal and when I wasn't. I know what is going on in your head. You're afraid that if you tell me, it'll push them over the edge.' I could only keep crying.

'I can't take that fear away, but I can ask you to trust me. A god can punish, but a god can also protect. And I can promise you I care a whole lot more about you than whatever god made you feel like this.'

It took everything to nod.

'Nico?'

I looked at him.

'Who did what to you?'

I shook my head again.

'Tell me, Nico. Please.'

He could wait all night. After all, he had all the time in the world. 'It'll be okay. This is my domain. No-one else can hear us.'

His domain. It made a small tear in my defenses, and before I knew it the words streamed out: 'Zeus came to me in a dream a few night ago. He knows I am making amends with my father. He told me I was not supposed to do that, just like how I wasn't supposed to be a hero. I was…' A new wave of tears came out.

Dionysus soothingly stroked my back. 'You're doing very, very well. Almost there.'

'He said I was not meant to be alive, after all.'

I let out a scream. The tears streamed down my face. I was afraid, I was sad, I was ashamed that I let somebody make me feel this way and I was so, so angry.

Dionysus pulled me into a hug. 'Good, let it out,' I heard him whisper. I buried my face in his sweater and did as I was ordered.

With time my sobs became quieter. Dionysus let go of me. 'So Zeus sent you a nightmare. A nightmare in which he told you that, if it was up to him, you wouldn't have been a hero.'

I nodded.

'What part made you the most upset?'

I shook my head.

'Take your time. There must be something.'

'I am not sure.'

'Can you tell me what's the very first thing that came to your mind when I asked that?'

I took a shaky breath. 'That he feels so threatened by my existence that he felt the need to send me a nightmare about it. Why does it matter so much to him?' I held up my hand when Dionysus opened his mouth. 'Wait. No. It's not my existence, it's what that existence means. It elevates Hades' status among gods, which could possibly threaten him.' I bit my lip.

'We can speculate on the why later. What matters now is that Zeus hit you when you were already damaged. He got his right long ago, he should have left it there…' He abruptly stopped his sentence. '...What makes you most upset about Zeus being threatened by you?'

It took me a moment to find the words. 'What… What makes me so upset is how… why does he once again have to be right? Isn't it enough that he could hurt my mother consequence free because fate demanded it? Isn't it enough that he stands above everybody else? Why does he have to be right on every single little thing?' I clenched my fists. 'Why can't he just leave me alone!'

Dionysus stared at a point on the other side of the restaurant. He took a deep breath again.

'.. too close to home?' I mumbled.

He nodded almost invisibly.

'Is there anything I can do about it except accept it?' I felt drained. Drained because I wasted so much energy on something I couldn't do anything about.

'Don't lie to the person trying to help you in the future. That way I can help you accept it and make you see that there are parts of the world beyond what you fixated on.'

I nodded. 'I am not angry about the tough love.'

He looked at me. 'I needed to. You almost ran out into traffic. When something like that happens, you waiver your right to stay quiet.'

'Hm.' I looked at my hands.

'I hope you learned that next time something like this happens you immediately come to me. Nico, I-' he took a deep breath. 'I was afraid, when I noticed you were running. It isn't just about this incident, it shows that there is still a lot to work on.'

'I didn't mean to run into a bus.'

'I believe you.'

I nodded. He wasn't angry, he wasn't even dissappointed, but it still made me feel bad. I swallowed.

'You need to cry more, still?'

I shrugged. It didn't feel like it was over, but my throat and face felt raw from the tears.

'You want something to drink, then? Mary can make something.'

She peeped her head around the corner. 'Can do. But I would like more information on what just happened in my restaurant.'

A/N: mostly wrote this because I wanted to explore what Dionysus would do when it was really important Nico said something.

As in, when it was dangerous when he didn't.