Disclaimer: All rights to Rick Riordan. I own nothing, but the plot.

Themes of self-harm, anxiety, and depression are expressed within this story. TRIGGER WARNING! Please do NOT read if these themes upset you. TRIGGER WARNING!

Criticism is appreciated, but please no hate. Please review and leave me suggestions! Enjoy!

Nico's POV:

He heard a knock on the door. He slid off his bed and went to open the door, revealing Will Solace.

"As bad as I am with following the rules, so are you. You are currently breaking the curfew and buddy system rule." Nico joked. "I am going to have to report you to Chiron."

Will rolled his eyes, pushing his way in the cabin. "You owe me some answers. More information about the meeting, as well as what you appear to know about Python."

Nico felt fear go through him again. "I know what you know. The lessons that the Athena cabin taught. He was your father's greatest foe. He had retaken the Oracle of Delphi. And that's all-"

"Bullshit," Will cut Nico off. "You wouldn't have been as on edge as you were earlier today if it had just been that. Did you face him down there?"

Nico shook his head. "No, I never faced Python. But, while I was traveling with the Giants, they were talking of the monster. And I could sense it. His raw and ancient power. His stench. He was down there at the same time as me. He got out through the Doors of Death."

"Tartarus," Will said. He put his hand on Nico's cheek. "It truly follows you everywhere, doesn't it?"

Nico sighed heavily. "One of these days, I'm going to have to face what I went through. Process all the fear that I have been repressing."

Will nodded. "Otherwise, it is all going to explode from you, and that result won't be good."

Nico turned away. "My father said he would help me."

"And that's why you are planning to leave camp," Will mentioned.

Nico turned back to Will, seeing the sadness in the other boy's eyes. "I'm not abandoning you. Not until we figure this thing out, okay? Find Cecil, help your father. I promise that I won't just leave."

Will smiled softly. "I appreciate that."

The boys were silent for another moment before Will spoke again. "We should probably get some sleep before Sherman's boot camp and Harley's course."

"Yeah, I'm not doing Sherman's boot camp," Nico said.

"Why?"

"Because I don't really want Sherman to try and train me to death. He is going to be pissy, especially after yesterday with Meg." Nico reminded.

"Still doing the obstacle course?" Will asked.

Nico nodded. "Yeah."

Nico hadn't given much thought about the course. The fact that it was through the Labyrinth intimidated Nico. He hadn't been down in that place for so long. He was there briefly when they were escaping the Doors of Death, but that had been it since he had resided there for months. He had lost so many hours of his life hiding in the maze. Yes, he became unbelievably powerful, but he had also been more isolated than ever before in his life. He didn't know if he was ready to face the maze, but he didn't really have much of a choice. He had already committed to doing it for Will. And if the other campers could do it, he could too.

Will's snap got his attention. "Hello? You zoned out."

"What? Oh, yeah, I was just thinking of the course. You've been in the Labyrinth since it's reopened?"

Will nodded, watching Nico's reaction as he spoke. "Yeah, it's really mellowed out. The only danger down there is Harley's obstacles."

"That makes me feel so much better, thanks Will," Nico said sarcastically.

"You are going to be fine. Besides, I will be down there with you to protect you." Will reassured.

"Yeah, because your skills with the bow and arrow are impeccable."

"Hey now, I can throw a mean scalpel." Will tried to put on a threatening face, but Nico merely rolled his eyes.

"Will Solace and Nico di Angelo, against the world armed with some shadows and a scalpel." Nico joked.

"The most terrifying duo in the world." Will played along.

"C'mon, superhero, let's get some sleep."

Nico screamed himself awake from a nightmare. He had been dreaming of the Labyrinth and the pits within the maze that lead straight to Tartarus. He was breathing heavily as he sat up, looking around, making sure he wasn't still in the maze. He was in his cabin and Will was gone. He must have left for Sherman's boot camp.

He was glad that Will hadn't seen him coming out of his nightmare. The dream had felt so real. He could feel the specter Minos' breath down his neck. The ghost had grabbed his wrist in the dream, squeezing him and somehow fracturing the wrist, even though it was impossible. The king had been a spirit, only ever passing through Nico. But in this nightmare, he had hurt Nico, trying to throw Nico in the pit when he refused to cooperate.

Nico put his hands over his face. He gasped, feeling pain in his wrist. He looked at his wrist in the sunlight that was filtering in through the blinds. It was bruised. He bent it experimentally. Pain shot through his arm. He wasn't a healer like Will, but he could tell the wrist was fractured.

This wasn't the first time it had happened to Nico. He had been trapped in a nightmare after Aaron had injured him. He had repeatedly gotten injured, making it difficult to heal him. He had also had other dreams where he had gotten injured in the dreamscape and then it transferred over to reality.

He remembered Chiron had mentioned a god or goddess interfering with his dreams. He had no idea who would want to hurt him. In the few lessons he had gotten when attending Camp as well as information from his father, he didn't know who the god/goddess of nightmares was if there even was one.

He knew that Hypnos was the god of sleep and Phobos the god of fear, but he had done nothing to piss either of those gods off. And he didn't think his father had a feud with either of the two beings. Nico would have to talk to his father when the whole mess with Apollo/Lester was over. He couldn't afford to continue getting injured in dreams and in the real world.

He got up from his bed, holding his fractured wrist to his chest. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a bottle of nectar. He had been hoarding nectar and ambrosia from Will, who always had extras. Whenever Will mentioned there being ambrosia missing, Nico suddenly remembered something he had to do.

He went into the bathroom to heal his wrist. His was one of the few cabins that actually had a bathroom in it, a perk of designing his own cabin and being one of two known children of Hades. He poured the bottle of nectar over his wrist. The relief was instantaneous, but he would have to be careful not to refracture the wrist or let Will notice. Which would be difficult, considering that they were going to be attached at the ankle during the obstacle course.

He grabbed a bandage from the drawer, also which he had borrowed from the Infirmary. Now, Nico wasn't a son of Hermes, known for their thievery, but he had picked up a few things from his short time living in that cabin. He thought, with nostalgia, to that time, when he was young and carefree, as he poured himself a cup of coffee from the machine he stole from the Big House. Will had brewed and left some out for him. He was only fourteen, but he had the soul and baggage of an eighty-year-old.

He bent his wrist again to test how the nectar was working. It was tender, but the pain was manageable. He removed his training gloves from Hazel from the drawer. He took off his silver skull ring, as it would not fit on with the gloves. He pulled those onto his hands. They covered the bandage, so as long as Nico didn't take them off, Will wouldn't notice. One problem fixed.

He looked at his phone which was on the bedside table. It was 11 am. Breakfast was usually held around 7 or 8 am. The boot camp was being held right after breakfast. And then, there were two or three classes before lunch. Nico knew relatively how the schedule at Camp went, but only followed it when he had been new to the Camp.

He looked at the head counselor sheet on his bedside table as well. It showed the schedule of activities for the week, and which cabins had claimed which time slots. Chiron gave this sheet to Nico when he showed up to one of the head counselor meetings, but Nico never picked any activities for his cabin (aka only himself).

The list had the various activities (archery, arts & crafts, music, rock climbing, sword training, Ancient Greek, history, etc) as well as camp-wide events (boot camp, obstacle courses, Capture the Flag) and their times. Head counselors would write their cabin's schedule on the paper and it would automatically appear on every paper for all the cabins (compliments of the Hecate cabin). But, because it was winter and there were so few demigods at camp, individual campers could pick which activities they did.

Nico looked at the sheet to see where Will was. Will was scheduled for training in the Infirmary. He gripped his cup of coffee and started to make his way over to the Infirmary.

Will's POV:

He was absentmindedly unwrapping and rewrapping an ace bandage around his wrist as he sat on one of the beds. He was bored. Chiron had sent him to the Infirmary for a shift and to take inventory. No one was in the hospital right now, and most of the supplies were accounted for. The rest, he knew, was in the son of Hades cabin. Nico's stealing had not gone unnoticed by the son of Apollo, but he had not said anything.

He felt awful, but he wished for a sprained ankle or dagger wound. Something that would ease the boredom. He immediately took back his wish, cursing himself for thinking such terrible things. Who wished for someone else to be in pain?

Nico had, Will realized, remembering their conversation from the previous day. He had wished for the son of Ares to die. Will understood why, but that didn't make it right. Wishing for someone's death was bad enough. Actually carrying out the deed was unfathomable to Will. He was a healer, not a destroyer.

Of course, sometimes, it had to be done; Will wasn't naive. He realized that some people were beyond saving, beyond redemption. The demigods who had worked for Luke had needed to be taken care of, so warped by Kronos and their hate for the Olympians. In the case of Octavian, he understood that those events had to play out. But murder in cold blood, in revenge… he shivered at the thought. He hated Aaron and wanted him to pay for what he had done to Nico but killing him was not the answer. He remembered back to when Nico had first been injured. Will would have shown no mercy then, but he had been unbelievably worried and concerned about his boyfriend. Aaron had almost killed him.

That damn son of Ares could not seem to get out of Nico's and Will's lives. As a healer, he knew how long the healing of some scars could take, but he hoped that this scar would eventually heal for Nico. Nico didn't deserve to live with the burden for the rest of his life. It had destroyed him physically but had also devastated his mental health. Will closed his eyes. How much damage and pain could Nico take before he finally shattered.

Nico was not weak; On the contrary, he was the strongest demigods Will had ever met. But even the strongest have to let their guard down and break sometimes. Nico had broken down on more than one occasion with Will. But, somehow, Nico had always pulled himself back up, by himself, living to fight another day. He had faced more than most people do in a lifetime; he carried as much pain and baggage as the gods of Olympus. Yet, he didn't shatter. Sure, pieces broke off and he had some holes, but he was still together.

Will wondered how long that would last. He did not want to lose his boyfriend. He wanted to find those missing pieces and repair those holes. Every time he made a little progress, someone or something disturbed the healing, starting the boys at square one. Will didn't want to change the person Nico was. He just wanted what Nico wanted; he wanted Nico to be happy, to be okay, to be healthy. At one point in his life, he was. He could have that again.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. Speak of the devil, Nico di Angelo walked into the doors, a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Good morning," Nico said.

Will greeted Nico with a kiss. "Good morning. How did you sleep?"

Nico turned red at the act of affection. "Fine."

Will raised his eyebrows. "No nightmares?"

Nico looked down at his feet before meeting Will's eyes. "A couple."

"What about?" Will asked.

"Nothing important," Nico dismissed. Will recognized that he wasn't going to get anything else out of his boyfriend about his nightmare.

"Have you eaten today?"

Nico held up his empty cup of coffee, placing it on the table next to the bed.

"That's all?" Will asked, concerned.

As much as he harassed Nico about eating every meal, Nico was still skinny. Anytime Will didn't make him, he figured that the son of Hades didn't eat. Nico scowled, trying to pull away, but Will didn't let him.

Nico rolled his eyes. "What does it matter? Lunch is coming up soon anyway."

Will wrapped his arms around Nico's waist, pulling him closer. "That doesn't mean you should be skipping meals. You've put on a few pounds since the summer, but not as many as I would like. You are still under—"

Nico interrupted him with a kiss. Will's eyes widened in shock, before he closed them, enjoying the show of affection.

"I'm your boyfriend, Will," Nico said when the kiss ended. "Not one of your patients."

"You are going to become one of my patients again if you keep skipping meals."

Nico scowled again. "It's one meal, Will. Relax."

Will got defensive. "I'm just worried. You were so skinny when you got back to Camp after the quest. And Jason even told me that you barely ate on the Argo II—"

"Will," Nico cut off his rambling. "It's okay, I'm fine now. And you hear that?" The conch horn blew. "It's already lunchtime."

Nico backed up as Will leapt down from the bed. He put his arm around Nico's shoulder. "Well, now we can get some fuel in you before Harley's death course, though the Maze."

If he hadn't had had his arm around Nico's shoulder, he wouldn't have felt the son of Hades tense as he spoke. "Oh, great. I forgot about that."

Will pulled away, standing in front of Nico. "You okay?"

Nico looked at him defensively. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"I felt you tense up when I mentioned the maze." Will pointed out.

"I didn't—"

"Nico," Will cut him off. "Don't lie."

Nico held his eye contact for a moment and let it drop. "Yeah, I guess I am just a little nervous about going in there again."

"We don't have to do the maze. We can ask Chiron if you can sit—"

"No." Nico's angry tone surprised Will. The son of Hades looked up and for a moment, Will saw a fire in his eyes. "I will not be asking Chiron for anything."

"Okay, but Nico, we shouldn't do the maze if you don't feel comfortable. You don't have to participate."

"So everyone can think I'm weak and struggle with PTSD? So everyone can pity me? I don't think so." Nico pat, hatefully. "I'm not as fragile as everyone seems to think I am. I'm not made of glass."

Will put his hands up defensively. "No one is saying that. And I especially do not believe that."

"Then why lecture me about eating every meal?" Nico asked.

"Because I'm trying to make sure you don't become fragile. If you don't eat, you'll lose all the strength you possess." Will explained.

The anger faded a little from Nico's face. "I'm not made of glass just because I faced some shit."

Will approached Nico, placing a kiss on his forehead. "You are not made of glass. The shit you faced made you stronger than anything."

Nico loosely wrapped his arms around Will. His body as still tense with anger, but Will could sense it was slowly fading. "I'm sorry I got so worked up."

Will squeezed him back, before letting go. "We all get angry sometimes. Now, let's get some food before we win this thing."

Will laced his fingers through Nico's, but Nico more or less let his hand hang loose. He wasn't pulling away, but he wasn't returning the gesture either. Nico obviously had a lot on his mind that he wasn't sharing. But, after the way he had just acted, Will was not going to push him.

There was only one thing that Will knew for certain: Nico was not ready to go back into the Labyrinth.