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:

Will walked into the room where Nico was being treated. He had calmed down considerably and wanted to see how Nico was doing. His boyfriend laid under the covers, his black hair fanned out on the pillow beneath him. He looked peaceful. Will smiled as he walked over to him. He grabbed his arm. It was cold. Will's heart dropped. Nico shouldn't have been that cold. Maybe he was still fighting off hypothermia. Will took a deep breath in. He slid his fingers onto Nico's wrist, feeling for his heartbeat. It was absent. A cold feeling settled in Will's stomach. It couldn't be. He grabbed his stethoscope to listen to Nico's heart. It wasn't beating.

"No." He whispered. He put his hand under Nico's nose. He wasn't breathing. "This can't be happening."

"I'm sorry." Will whirled around and Chiron, in his chair, had a depressed expression on his face. "There was nothing I could do."

"No."

"Nico is dead!"

"No!" Will moaned. This wasn't happening. This was some sick, twisted dream. He shook his head. "NO!"

Chiron started fading out of sight. Will fumbled, unsure of what was happening. He was falling. He tried to grab a hold onto something, but he hit the ground.

"Will!" Will opened his eyes when he heard Jason call his name. He was still on the porch steps. Jason was shaking him. "Are you alright man?"

"What-what's going on?" Will asked, unsure of what was happening.

"You are freezing! You need to come inside before you catch your death!" Jason directed, trying to pull Will up. Will shook him off.

"Nico-what happened?"

"You barged out of the infirmary about three hours ago. I followed you and found you sitting on the steps. I tried to talk to you, but you ignored me. It was like you couldn't even hear me. Piper told me to leave you alone for a while. I came back out to check on you and you were having some sort of nightmare, so I woke you up." Jason explained.

Will felt his heartbeat slow. It had been a nightmare. Thank the gods; Nico wasn't dead.

"Has anything changed?"

"There's no news," Jason said sadly. "But there is no point in sitting out here in the cold. You yourself are going to catch hypothermia sitting out here. Let's go back inside."

"Okay," Will whispered, allowing Jason to lead him into the Big House.

He found Nico's friends right where he had left them. Percy held out a blanket for him. Will gratefully accepted it, finally realizing how frigid it had been outside.

"Has- has anyone contacted Camp Jupiter? Hazel?" Will croaked.

"We tried to Iris-Message them, but it didn't go through," Percy explained.

"My call to Reyna didn't connect," Annabeth said. "They have no idea what's happening."

"Someone…" Will started, but his voice cracked. Tears threatened his eyes. "Someone needs to get in touch with them… he might…" the word die wouldn't come out so Will continued. "…they should be here."

"I can go to Camp Jupiter," Leo spoke up. "I'll take Festus. I can probably get there in two days."

"That might be too late," tears ran down Will's face as he spoke.

"What happened to him, Will?" Percy asked. "How did he get this bad?"

Will shook his head. He couldn't talk about it right now. He couldn't think about the camper who had hurt his boyfriend.

"Tempest can probably get me there faster," Jason suggested, trying to come up with a solution. "I can make it by tomorrow."

"You should stay for Nico," Piper murmured. "I can take Tempest."

Jason shook his head. "I don't think you can control him. It has to be me; I will go."

Will didn't hear whatever they decided as he slid down the wall. He stared at the infirmary doors, waiting for someone to come out with news. Any shred of hope. He now realized how terrible the waiting had been for everyone when he had barred them from the infirmary. He hated this. He hated feeling helpless. It was out of his hands.

It was six in the morning. Jason had left hours beforehand on Tempest. Piper and Leo had nodded off on each other. Percy was sprawled across the floor, asleep. Annabeth was still awake, eyes heavy with exhaustion. Will was wide awake. He refused to let himself sleep after having that nightmare. If he felt himself drooping off, he would walk outside, into the cold to wake himself up. He wanted to be awake if any news came up about Nico. He felt responsible for Nico's health and he had let the son of Hades down. And after he had defended his skills to Hades himself.

His inner berating was interrupted by the door opening. He stood up quickly. Chiron wheeled himself past without saying anything, exhaustion lining his face. Will wanted to go after him, but he was already out of sight. The noise of the doors opening woke Leo and Piper. Kayla came through the doors.

"Kayla-" Will breathed. Kayla wouldn't lie to him; she would tell him what had happened.

"We don't know, Will." She sighed. She had bags under her eyes and looked dead on her feet. "He's in a stable condition, but we don't know what's going to happen. If he is even going to make it through the night."

The knot in Will's chest lessened a little. "But he's alive?"

"Barely. Had we not found him when we did... let's just say, we would be having a very different conversation." Kayla replied. "He will need around-the-clock monitoring until he goes into a more stable condition. Brandon is with him right now."

"Can I see him?" Will dared to ask, knowing what the answer would be.

"No. And Will." She looked sadly at her brother, before looking at all of the demigods. "All of you; you do not want to see him like this. It will just break your hearts."

Will turned, before slipping back down to the ground, putting his head on his knees.

"Do you think he'll make it?" Jason asked.

"He's survived worse," Kayla stated.

"What happened to him, Kayla?" Percy asked. "What caused this?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Kayla admitted. "It- it looks like he was attacked."

"By what?" Leo asked. "A monster?"

Kayla shook her head. "Not what, who. He- he has bruising consistent with someone who has been beaten up."

"Someone at camp assaulted him?" Piper whispered.

Kayla nodded. Curses went around the group.

"Who would do something like this?" Rage burned into Percy's eyes. "Why would someone do this to him?"

"Because he is gay," Will commented, raising his head. Five sets of eyes fixated on Will. He met their eyes. "He got beat up because he is gay; because he's dating me."

"How do you know that?" Piper sat down next to Will as she spoke.

Nico hadn't wanted Will to tell anyone about the assault. But it didn't matter now; the damage was done. Nico might not even be alive to be mad at him. Tears ran down Will's face.

"He got beat up in early December," Will's voice was monotone. "I came back to camp and found him beat up, bruised, and bloody. He wouldn't tell me who did it, but he said he got beat up because he's gay and a son of Hades. I'm guessing it's probably the same guy.

"And you didn't say anything?" Kayla questioned.

"He made me promise not to," Will said, not meeting anyone's eyes. "He almost broke up with me because I tried to interfere."

"Holy Hephaestus," Leo sighed. "Do we have any idea of who would do something like this? Does Nico have any enemies at camp?"

Everyone looked expectantly at Will. "Drew hates him. That's the only person I know specifically. But Nico said it was some guy."

"We need to find out who so we can kick him out of camp," Percy asserted. "When Nico wakes up, we need to ask him who it was."

"If he wakes up," Will said miserably.

Silence fell over the gathered demigods for a moment.

Kayla spoke up. "If he does survive, he is going to have a lengthy recovery ahead of him. He will have to stay at Camp for at least a month."

Kayla's words set off a memory in Will's mind. On the beach, a few nights ago.

Will closed his eyes and prayed to the heavens above. Please don't let him leave me. I can't lose him. Not like this.

A boulder dropped in Will's stomach. This had been his fault. He had prayed that Nico would stay. And now he was. It was really bad timing, or someone had answered his plea. Considering who all the demigod's parents were, he assumed the latter. He needed to find out who. He felt his breath quicken before he realized someone was calling his name.

"-Will?" Kayla's voice came through. Will locked his eyes onto hers.

"What?" He snapped.

"I think you need a break. Leave the infirmary; go to the cabin. Staying here and stressing isn't going to do you any good." Kayla advised.

"I'm fine, thanks." Will's words had venom in them which everyone seemed to pick up on. He stood up from the floor. "I'm taking a walk."

"Will, I don't think that's-" Piper started.

Will's eyes flashed as he glared up at Piper. "I'm taking a walk." He repeated. "Alone."

The air was still nippy when he walked into it. He wondered why Mr. D had lifted the weather borders that they usually had in place. Probably forgot to put them back up. His failure to fulfill his responsibility may have damaged Nico beyond repair. The bleeding had been terrible, but hypothermia on top of that...

He pushed the thought from his mind. He focused all his attentions on the task at hand. He needed to find whichever god had answered his prayer. He found the spot on the beach where Nico and he had had their discussion a few days prior. He looked up at the sky.

"Alright, so who was it? Who decided to take my prayer and use it to hurt my boyfriend? Zeus, was it you? Taking revenge for the stunt we pulled on Olympus? Or maybe it was Ares?!" Will screamed at the sky.

"Will-" he whirled around to find Piper looking at him strangely.

"I said I wanted to be alone."

"That's not happening." She said. "Not when you are in this kind of state. Now talk to me. Why are you screaming at the heavens?"

Will took in a deep breath as he let Piper's charm speak wash over him. He could fight it, but it felt so much easier just to tell her everything. He launched into an explanation of their failed date in the Underworld and how Nico was planning to leave camp. "-and I prayed to the gods that Nico wouldn't leave me. And that he would stay here. I think someone upstairs took that sentiment a little too literally."

"You really think a god caused this to happen to Nico?" Piper asked, incredulous. "They would have no reason to. It's pointless and senseless-"

"It's called tragedy, sweetheart." Will and Piper both turned at the smooth voice. Aphrodite had appeared. She was sitting at a tea table that she had conjured up. "It makes the bond of love ever so much stronger."

"Mom?" Piper said as Will spoke too.

"Aphrodite?"

"Will, and my beautiful Piper, do sit down. We have much to discuss." Neither demigod moved. "Will, you look dead on your feet and I know you haven't eaten all day. Sit."

She snapped her fingers and the chairs zoomed under Piper's and Will's legs. They were soon seated around the table, a table of sandwiches in front of them. Will stood quickly.

"Hang on a minute, it was you? You caused Nico's injuries? You are the reason he's in the infirmary?" He said angrily.

"Why of course not! I don't believe in violence. At least, I don't believe in committing violence myself." Aphrodite sipped from her cup.

"Did you order someone to hurt Nico?" Piper asked.

"I merely did what Will asked for. He wanted Nico to stay. He's staying, is he not?" She said, innocently.

Will's eyes widened as rage filled his body. "Are you kidding me? This is how you thought you would fix my problem? By almost killing Nico?"

"Well, the beating did seem to go too far." Aphrodite was reapplying her lipstick as she gazed into her compact mirror.

"Beating? Who did you order to beat him up?" Will asked, collecting himself. Yelling at a goddess wasn't going to solve anything.

"I didn't specifically order anyone to-"

"Mom, Nico is dying. Do you think you could heal him?" Piper pleaded.

"Piper, you know perfectly well that I'm not supposed to interfere with your demigod life-"

"What do you call what you did to Nico?" Will spat. "Oh, I forgot, our love is just like a reality show to you. You get to manipulate our lives the way you want them. You interfered for your own pleasure."

"Will-" Piper warned.

"It's my job, sweetheart. And I already said I might have gone a little overboard." Aphrodite shrugged. "I do apologize for that. But there isn't much I can do at this point. I am not as skilled as your father in terms of healing. I might just end up making him worse."

"Then can you tell us who hurt him?" Will asked.

"I didn't command anyone directly." She defended. "Just stirred up some dark thoughts in Dr- one of the campers." She realized her mistake. "Well, that's all the information I have. I do wish you and Nico the best. I hope he recovers swiftly. Toodle-loo." She waved and disappeared, bringing the table and chairs with her.

"She almost said Drew, I'm sure of it. But Drew couldn't have beaten him up. She's not that strong. Nico could have overpowered her easily." Piper interjected.

"Maybe she convinced one of her friends to hurt Nico. Or boyfriends." Will struggled for the answer.

"She is dating an Ares camper." Piper supplied.

"We have to report this to Chiron." Will directed. "We need to go back. Now."

They took off running in the direction of the Big House. Rage was building up inside Will. Whoever had hurt his boyfriend was going to pay very dearly for their actions. They slowly climbed the steps when Will noticed someone standing in the shadows.

"Hello?"

The figure stepped forward. It was the camper who had pointed them in the direction of Nico.

"Hi. I couldn't sleep at all. It's my hand." He held up his hand which was bloody and bruised. The guy looked to the ground. "Do you think there is anything you could do?"

Will looked at Piper. "We were actually right in the middle of-"

Piper quickly pulled him aside, whispering in his ear. "I'll get Chiron and assemble the head counselors. You can fix his hand. We don't need to arouse suspicion."

"- Actually, our matter just got resolved," Will said, cordially. "How about we go into the infirmary, and fix up that hand of yours?"

"Great." The kid said.

He followed Will into the infirmary. Everyone was keeping guard out front. They looked up, about to say something to Will, but Will walked past them without speaking. Kayla had disappeared; she had probably gone back to the cabin to sleep. He tried the door to the infirmary. It was unlocked so he went inside.

He told the kid to sit on one of the beds. He looked around, carefully, to make sure Kayla wasn't hiding in any of the corners. He walked to Nico's door and tried to open it. No luck. Brandon had most likely barricaded himself on the inside and he knew that Kayla had the keys. He guessed he wouldn't be seeing Nico that night. He sighed as he went to the supply closet to grab some bandages and ambrosia. He walked back over to the camper.

"How is the guy that I found?" The camper asked, worry lining his voice.

A stab went through Will's heart. "He's in stable condition. We wouldn't have found him in time if you hadn't shown him where he was."

"Is he going to be okay?" The camper asked, sympathy surrounding his words.

"He isn't in the clear yet, but he would have frozen and had no chance had we not found him. So, thank you."

"No need to thank me. I'm no hero." The camper fidgeted awkwardly.

"You saved Nico's life. That's pretty heroic to me." Will said. "What's your name?"

"Aaron. Aaron Stevenson."

"Nice to meet you, Aaron. I'm Will." He secured the bandage around Aaron's hand. "And you are all set to go. Make sure to eat that ambrosia. And keep it easy on your hand then next couple of days. You don't want the skin to split again."

"Yes, of course, thank you. I will." Aaron said quickly as he left the infirmary.

Will pulled off his gloves and grabbed the towel he had used to clean off the dried blood on Aaron's hands. He threw it in the trash.

"That was a nice distraction while it lasted," Will said miserably to himself.

A few minutes later, Piper reappeared.

"What did Chiron say?" Will asked.

"He told me that he wasn't dealing with any camp business until he had gotten some sleep. He looked ready to collapse so I let him be." Piper said. "We will just have to wait until a couple of hours pass. Let's get the others so they can sleep in the infirmary in actual beds."