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!

Will's POV:

Dinner had concluded; it was game time. Stacks of armor and weapons had been laid out across the tables. Chiron was standing at the front, going over ground rules. Will scanned the pavilion for Nico. After lunch, Nico had disappeared into his cabin, while Will was preparing supplies for Capture the Flag. Nico had only reemerged about five minutes before dinner. He was hiding something, but Will didn't know what. He hadn't had the opportunity to talk to his boyfriend yet. He finally spotted Nico, hunched over a map with Percy and Annabeth. Will quietly made his way over to them.

"What are y'all doing?" Percy snatched up the map at Will's words.

"Nothing!" Nico said defensively.

Will raised his eyebrows. "I might not be on your team, but I'm not a spy either." Will was going to be a battlefield medic.

"Just trying to keep it on the down-low." Will picked up on his boyfriend's lie.

"What are you hiding?"

Nico's face turned red. "I'm not…"

Will pulled Nico away. They went behind the amphitheater. "What's going on? First, Percy told me about the fight you had with Thalia. Then, Jason said you almost had a panic attack. You disappeared for hours. Now, you are hiding something from me. So, I will ask again, what's going on?"

"I'm fine." Nico brushed him off.

"Nico," Will started.

"Will, I am okay."

"Are you sure you are okay to compete tonight?"

"For god's sake, Will, yes, I am. Stop trying to protect me so much; I'm fine." Nico tried to walk away angrily.

Will grabbed his wrist and pulled him back in. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried."

Nico's composure melted. "If something was wrong, I would tell you."

Will put his hand on Nico's face. "I love you, you know that, right?"

Nico nodded, kissing the inside of Will's palm. Will melted at the sight. He grabbed Nico's jacket, pushing him against the amphitheater wall. He kissed him. A huge chunk of tension evaporated from Nico's body and Will sensed that he would have collapsed if Will hadn't been holding him up. He smirked and focused back on Nico. His lips parted and allowed Will entrance. They danced around for a while before the kiss broke off.

Nico's voice was low. "I love you too."

"Yeah," Will said breathlessly, pleasantly surprised by Nico's reaction. Nico planted a quick kiss on his lips.

"It's game time." He said as he walked away, back towards the pavilion.

Will composed himself for a second. The way Nico made him feel. He took a deep breath and walked back towards the crowd as well. He needed to focus. He had a job to do.

Nico's POV:

He walked back to the pavilion with a smirk on his face. He rejoined Percy and Annabeth.

"Did he figure it out?" Percy questioned.

"No, I managed to make him forget about it," Nico informed, grinning.

"Oh, is that why you have that arrogant smirk on your face?"

Nico didn't respond. He watched as Will, breathless, re-entered the pavilion to stand by the rest of his cabin.

"Are you sure you are prepared for this?" Percy asked.

"Hey, I'll be fine. If I have any problems, Will can rescue me yet again. But I won't. Our plan will work." Nico explained.

"Only if you're sure." Percy was looking off into the distance. He jerked his head in the direction of someone. "Why is that guy giving you a death glare?"

Nico turned slowly, looking for the person that Percy indicated. A chill went down Nico's spine as he gained eye contact with the Ares kid who had given him the death glare. It was the same camper who had beat him up at the beginning of December.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked, warily. "You just went white as a ghost."

"I'm fine," Nico's voice crashed, revealing his panic. "I'm- fine. Just leave it."

Percy arched an eyebrow. "If you say so. Ready to start?"

"Yeah, let's do this." Nico agreed.

The conch sounded; it was game time. He and Jason were currently perched in a tree. They were both overlooking the empty clearing where a decoy flag stood. The real flag was hidden deeper in the forest. Only the three guards and Nico knew where it was. They couldn't afford the location getting out when campers were taken prisoner by the opposing team. Percy, Annabeth, and Clarisse were leading the offense. Nico and Jason were in charge of the defense. Where they were now was their first line of defense. The rest of their defense was hidden in the trees as well. As soon as they started to get overwhelmed, Nico would summon reinforcements. Now all they had to do was wait for the first wave of attacks.

"So, remind me of our plan again?"

Nico scowled. "I thought you were a strategist?" Jason shrugged. Nico looked around to make sure no one was listening. He spoke in a whisper. "We have multiple decoy flags set up around the forest. Each decoy is in a hot spot for skeletons. Every time we draw a wave of Hunters in, we will overwhelm and overtake them with the dead. This will either buy the offense enough time to get their flag or reduce their numbers drastically so we can overtake their offense."

Jason nodded. "It's a solid plan." He was silent before speaking again. "I dislike all this waiting. I'm used to offense when I just jump in and..."

Nico held up a hand to stop Jason. He heard a faint noise. The sound of a branch breaking. Connor Stoll came running into the clearing. He had been their lookout. They were here. The forest became silent as three Hunters entered the clearing. Their steps were soundless. The apparent leader of the three zeroed in on the decoy flag. She indicated to each of the girls the direction she wanted them to take when approaching the flag. They moved slowly and silently toward it, on the lookout for traps. Nico watched closely. He was waiting for her to step on a certain point before he gave the signal to ambush. Three more steps. Two more. One more-There! He focused on the ground beneath her feet. Suddenly, she leapt back in surprise as a skeletal hand broke the surface. That was the signal.

Demigods came raining down on the three Hunters. They whirled around, shocked to be ambushed. They began shooting arrow after arrow and fought with hand to hand combat, but they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of campers. Three against eight, they didn't stand a chance. Within moments, they were tied up and three campers began leading them to the prison. Jason and Nico high fived; they didn't even have to leave the tree to defeat that group.

Jason grabbed Nico by the underarms, and they flew to the next decoy site. It was being guarded by two Hermes campers, as to lessen the suspicion that it was a decoy. Also, hidden in the trees, there were about five demigods ready to attack. Nico and Jason hid in the tree line. They arrived just as Frank led four Hunters into the clearing. His eyes took in the flag greedily. But then, he gained a look of wariness.

"That was too easy." He muttered. He looked around at the tree-line and saw a flash of gold. Curse Jason's glasses. "Ambush-"

Before he could finish, he was tackled by Butch, the Iris head counselor. Having Roman training on his side, Frank easily overpowered the son of Iris. The four Hunters were holding their own against the aggressive demigods. One broke off and tried to grab the flag, but, as it was a decoy, it disintegrated in her hands.

"It's a trick!" she exclaimed, shooting an arrow at Jason. He leaned out of the way and was about to jump into battle, but Nico stopped him.

"Wait, let me do this." Jason looked at him, unsure, but quickly nodded.

Nico closed his eyes. Five or six skeletons broke through the surface. They quickly took down one Hunter, but they were being sliced down by Frank as fast as Nico could summon them. Finally, a huge tide brought Frank to the ground. The Hunters and demigods kept fighting, but Nico couldn't jump in to help because Lou Ellen ran up to him in a panic.

"A team led by Reyna and Thalia just approached one of the decoys. They are getting close to the real flag." Lou Ellen was one of the guards of the flag.

If she had led her post, then it must have been bad. Jason quickly grabbed Nico and they shot off in the sky. Nico indicated which direction to go and he heard the battle before he saw it. The seven demigods were quickly being overrun by Reyna, Thalia, and eight Hunters. Nico touched down in a crouch and immediately flung his arms out. Dozens of skeletons broke through the surface.

"Di Angelo!" Thalia screamed as three skeletons brought her down.

He smirked, but that was soon forgotten as he was hit with a wave of nausea. The skeletons slowed down, picking up on his loss of energy. Jason grabbed his shoulder and Nico steadied again.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." He stated the feeling of lightheadedness passing.

"Are you sure? I can go-" he got cut off as Reyna tried to bring her sword down on him. He instinctually brought his blade up just in time.

"That's a cheap move and you know it, Reyna," Jason said angrily.

"Well, sometimes that's what you have to do to get the upper hand, Jason." He pushed her back. Nico rolled out of the way as he began teasing her.

"Just like old times, praetor?" Jason taunted.

"You forgot that in old times, I always won." Reyna jested.

"Then let's rewrite the past."

Jason ran up and swung his sword. She deflected and they began exchanging blows. The way they moved so fluidly; now that was swordsmanship. He shook his head. He had been distracted.

He looked up to survey the rest of the fight. Most of the skeletons had been taken down by arrows, but some were still fighting. He watched as Miranda Gardiner knocked out a Hunter with the butt of her sword. He grinned and continued surveying the scene.

At the edge, he noticed Thalia sneaking away in the direction of the actual flag. He felt a rush of adrenaline and raced after her. He avoided branches and sidestepped trees. He made it to the base. Thalia was working on overtaking the camp. Lou Ellen was the last camper standing. She hurled balls of magic of Thalia, but Thalia deflected them and brought Lou Ellen to her knees. The daughter of Zeus tore the flag from the tree it had been stashed in. She turned only to find her way blocked by Nico.

"Not so fast."

"Move or I'll move you, di Angelo." She threatened.

She hit her wrist and her shield popped out. It took all of Nico's willpower not to shrink back.

"Not going to happen. You aren't going to win this one."

She smirked. "And what makes you so sure of that?"

"Because I'm here."

Ten skeletons broke through the earth. Nico directed them towards Thalia. She summoned lightning and disintegrated them all.

"None of that fancy, underworld stuff. Sword to sword combat." She threatened, her sword point aimed at Nico. Nico gulped down his nausea and pulled out his sword.

"Gladly." He struck.

Sadly, Thalia was one step ahead of him. She jumped out of the way and nicked his arm. He swung back around, meeting her sword. They exchanged a few blows. Her expert swordsmanship was evident. And Nico was out of practice. She quickly disarmed him and pushed him down.

"Stand down, di Angelo." He kicked her feet out from under her. He tried to grab the flag from her hand, but she shocked him.

"Foul, you said no powers."

She grinned evilly. "I lied."

She held out her hand and Nico was blasted back with lightning. He flew passed the trees and landed just beyond the clearing. He hit the ground hard. The force with which he hit the ground caused him to blackout.

Jason's POV:

Reyna had finally discovered that the flag was a decoy. She pushed Jason back and grabbed the flag. It disintegrated in her hands.

"Nice move, Grace. Where's the real flag?"

"You have to get through me first."

At his words, she pushed him back into the fray. The battle was still continuing around them. Hunters kept cutting down the skeletal reinforcements. Campers clashed their swords with the bows of the Hunters. He focused back on defeating Reyna and taking her captive. She had already sliced the sleeve of his shirt off and he had dented her armor. They were evenly matched so the only way the battle would end is when one of them passed out from exhaustion. Fortunately, they didn't have to reach that point.

A noise in the battle froze both of them in their tracks. All at once, the skeletons collapsed into piles of bones. That could mean one of two things. One, the game had concluded, and someone had won, causing Nico to call off their forces. Or Nico had passed out. Jason and Reyna gained eye contact, assuming the latter.

"Nico-" Jason started.

She nodded. They ran in the direction that Nico had disappeared in not ten minutes beforehand. They ran along the forest path, dodging trees and leaping over bushes. Jason prayed that Nico was alright. They continued at their rapid pace until arriving at the base. They watched as Thalia bolted past them. Jason and Reyna looked frantically around for Nico. Lou Ellen slowly pushed herself off the ground.

"Why did you let her past? She's getting away!" She complained.

"We think Nico's been injured badly and we need to find him."

"He was fine when I saw him a few minutes ago at the base. Is that why all the skeletons collapsed?"

"Yea, because the game hasn't ended. If he collapsed from exhaustion, he could be halfway to the shadow world by now." Jason was agitated.

Reyna looked around. "Let's go back to base, see if he followed someone else back."

Jason nodded and followed in the direction Thalia had gone. They reached the border, to find Thalia confronting a panicked Will. Percy and Annabeth were creeping to the border with the opposing team's flag. Chiron was at the boundary line overlooking everything.

"Move out of the way and let me pass!" Thalia shouted.

"Have you seen Nico? You are the first to come from that side of the line. Did all the skeletons collapse on your side as well?"

Thalia pushed Will to the ground. "Out of the way, I'm winning this thing."

Chiron came galloping over, blocking off Thalia. "Foul! You can't attack a medic."

The run-in distracted Thalia enough so she failed to notice Percy and Annabeth run over the boundary. Chiron grinned, blowing the conch. Percy and Annabeth let out a cry of victory. He kissed her. Camp Half-Blood had finally won. The Hunters and campers who had gathered to see the action had started yelling at each other and insults were flying.

Thalia threw the flag to the ground in anger. She whipped out her sword, pointing it at Will.

"Hey!-" Jason called.

"Ms. Grace put the sword down!" Chiron commanded. Will put his hands up in surrender.

"You-you son of a bitch, you threw the game! You made me lose!"

"That's enough!" Reyna said forcefully. She put her on Thalia's shoulder, forcing her to lower the blade. "At this point, it doesn't matter who won or lost-"

"You're on their side?!" Thalia asked.

"What matters is that Nico could be seriously injured!" The surrounding chatter fell silent.

"What? Have you seen him?" Will asked, standing quickly.

"No, but his 'reinforcements' wouldn't have crumbled in the way that they did if he was okay. He must have depleted his energy." Jason explained, rapid-fire.

"Wait, you knew about this? That he was going to be using his powers?! And you didn't think to mention it-" Will started angrily.

"Shouldn't we be focused on, finding Nico?" Percy emphasized. "Considering he might be fading away?"

"I know where he is." Everyone turned as Thalia spoke.

"Where is he?" Will asked.

"Why should I tell you? You all are a bunch of cheaters."

"This is not the time, Thalia," Jason said.

"He and I were fighting at the base and I shocked him. He's just beyond the tree line of the base clearing." Thalia informed.

Jason led the group to the base. The group spread out to search for Nico. He saw a figure sprawled on the ground. He zeroed in on it and realized that it was Nico.

"Will." He said. Will turned and Jason pointed.

"Nico!" Will shouted.

Will's POV:

He ran and skidded on his knees until he was in front of his boyfriend. Jason followed dropping to his knees as well. Thankfully, Nico was still solid. Will breathed a sigh of relief. Nico was just passed out. Everything was going to be okay.

"He's fine, just passed out. Let's flip him over and give him some ambrosia." The two boys looked at each other and carefully turned Nico over. His face was peaceful. His clothes were a little singed from Thalia's lightning, but otherwise, he looked unhurt besides normal scrapes and bruises.

"I'm glad he's okay because I'm going to be very angry when he wakes up." He looked at Jason. "You knew he was going to summon all those skeletons?"

"I-" he started but was cut off by Percy.

"I knew about it. He wanted to do it, and I knew there was no stopping him. We tried," he indicated to himself and Annabeth. "But his mind was already made up the moment he saw our plans."

"Well, I hope that he doesn't fade away. He's not summoned that many skeletons in a very long time."

With that, Will scooped up his boyfriend in his arms. He started walking back to camp. On his way, he stopped in front of Thalia.

"I'm so glad that winning your game was more important than the safety of the campers."

"I just knocked him out," Thalia defended.

"You electrocuted him!" Will said indignantly.

"He was using his powers too," Thalia reminded.

"Which meant his energy was already depleted," Will said.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Alright, maybe I went a little far. Even though I was unaware of his conditions, I'm sorry for hurting your boyfriend."

Will nodded curtly as he carried his boyfriend out of the woods and into the infirmary.