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:

Nico groaned as he opened his eyes. He saw Will asleep on the cot next to his. He turned to the other side to find his father looking back at him.

"So, you're still here," he whispered.

"Yes. I wanted to watch over you since your doctor boy is passed out. Ms. Knowles is at the front of the infirmary. Your sister is also there, asleep, recovering from the blood transfusion."

Nico stretched as he woke up. The cuts on his arms and thighs burned. He ignored the pain. He sat up, not saying anything.

"You scared me, son." Hades shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"You are literally the god of the dead. A little blood scares you?" Nico antagonized.

Hades stood quickly. "Yes! Because it was your blood. You caused that to happen to yourself. When you die at the right time, if you die at someone else's hand, then I can accept that. But if you kill yourself. If you die early... that I cannot accept."

"It's not like I would be gone from you, father. I'll still be a presence. You can enlist me to work even when I'm dead." Nico dismissed.

"But you wouldn't be happy. You are happier alive, with your friends. You can't throw that all away." Hades explained.

"Father-"

"I'm worried about you, Nico!" Hades admitted. "I want to help you."

"I don't need your help."

"Really? The scars on your arms don't say that."

Nico sat up, gripping his hair in his hands. "I'm not... I'm not suicidal."

"You tried to kill yourself!" Hades harshly exclaimed. "I saw your life force in the Underworld. That's not you being suicidal?"

"No- no, I'm not- I don't want to kill myself- it's hard to explain." Nico was pulling his hair in frustration. He couldn't find the right words.

"You can say you aren't suicidal, but the way you are coping with your problems IS going to kill you!" Hades yelled.

"I know!" Nico screamed, sinking his nails into his hands, drawing blood. "I can't explain it- I just don't know- I don't know why I'm like or- or- or why I feel the way the way I do, but I do! And there's nothing I can do- nothing I can do to stop it."

Hades rushed to Nico's side and grabbed his hands to stop him from causing more damage to himself. Nico tried to pull away, but the god didn't move.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I'm not mad at you; I'm just scared. You scared me and I'm worried about you, so I did the only thing I know how to. I'm sorry." Hades apologized profusely.

"It's okay," Nico whispered, more shocked that his father had apologized. "It's okay."

The father and son stayed in this position for another ten minutes before Hades spoke again. "I can protect you, Nico. If you live with me, I can keep an eye on you and make sure that you are safe. I can prevent you from hurting yourself. I can help you to heal."

Nico considered his father's proposition. Nico had had a lot of time to think about it, when he woke up. Before the attack, he was unsure of wanting to leave. Now, after the assault and the trial, with even more heartbreak associated with this place, he knew he was ready. Ready to open a new chapter of his life. Ready to leave the terrible memories behind. He needed to leave Camp Half-Blood.

"Okay," Nico asserted. He looked at his father. "I will move in with you. This place, this camp is so toxic for me now. Moving in with you would probably be the best course of action."

Hades' face remained emotionless as he responded. "We can arrange that. I can have servants up here-"

Nico interrupted. "But you have to wait. I need time for my body to heal right now. I need to tie up loose ends and discuss this over with my friends and family."

"I respect your decision. You will contact me when you are ready to join me?" Hades asked.

"Yes." Nico declared. "The moment I'm ready, I'll let you know."

Hades nodded and the two fell into an uneasy silence. The Lord of the Underworld then straightened. "It is time for me to be going. Good luck in dealing with the storm."

"What storm?"

Hades merely raised his eyebrows as he didn't answer Nico's question. He left the infirmary. A clearing of a throat caused Nico to turn rapidly. Will was on his elbows, staring at him.

"Oh. That one." Nico muttered to himself. Looking at Will, he said. "How much of that encounter did you hear?"

"Pretty much all of it. Your father's yelling is what woke me up, but I didn't want to intrude on a family conversation." Will explained as he sat up, considering Nico.

"What do you think?"

Will sighed. "Does it matter? It seems that your mind is made up. You don't want to stay."

"Why does it matter that I'm leaving? You have to go back to Texas to be with your mother and finish out your sophomore year. You won't even be here to stay with me. I'll be alone." Nico reasoned.

"No, you won't. You have a family here Nico. It's better for you to remain at Camp, where it's safe-"

"So safe that I get beat up by a fellow 'family member'?"

"Nico-"

"I don't understand Will. You were fine with me leaving before..."

"Before you got beat up, Nico!" Will yelled. "You almost died. And I was never okay with you leaving. I realized that my opinion didn't matter to you leaving or not-"

"Your opinion matters very much to me Will."

"Not in this circumstance. You didn't care about what I had to say or why I wanted you to stay."

"Which brings me back to my first point. You are going back to Texas-"

"No, I'm not!" His voice cracked. "I'm not going home. My mom and I talked a lot before I came back and over winter break. I told her how much I missed you and that I wanted to be at camp full-time. That I didn't want to come home. She also admitted that she didn't want to live in Texas anymore since there are too many bad memories there. We never reached a decision, since communications have been on the fritz. When you were assaulted, I called her multiple times, trying to tell her about how- how hurt you were. How I was going to stay at Camp for you. It took forever to go through, but when it finally did, I realized that she- she had relapsed. She started using again."

Nico felt his heart shatter. "Will, why didn't you tell me?"

Tears were flooding down Will's face. "It was never the right time. You were injured when I first got here. Then, you were attacked. And I- I knew you were stressed out about the trial. You didn't need any more stress."

"What happened?" Nico asked.

"I told her that I was staying at Camp. She and I had a deal that if she relapsed, I would be at camp full-time. But she argued that my schooling was just as important as my training at Camp. I told her I wasn't going home. So, she decided to set me up at a local high school in New York. The same one Percy and Annabeth go to." Will looked at Nico's. "I'm going to live here, in the city, and at Camp Half-Blood."

The comment left Nico speechless. "You're... you're moving? To New York?"

"Yeah, I am." Will slid forwards, grabbing Nico's hands over the space between the two beds.

"But, what about your mom?"

Will sighed. "She's going back to rehab. But that doesn't matter. I want to be here anyway; I want to be closer to you."

"I didn't ask you to do that." Nico pulled his hands away.

"You didn't have to. After those months away, I decided I wanted to be at Camp full-time."

"But I'm leaving," Nico said. "You're moving here, but I'm leaving, Will. Nothing is going to change that."

"But Nico-"

"No, Will," Nico said with finality. "This place isn't safe for me anymore. This place isn't my home now. It's not about you, or where you are. I need to be alone for a while. I need to find out who I am. Without you. I've already made my decision."

Tears came to Will's eyes. "I thought- I thought things had changed. I thought we fixed everything."

"Things have changed. Aaron assaulting me has proven my point even further. It strengthened my decision. I'm leaving. I'm sorry."

"Nico-" Will tried again.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be. I'm leaving. Once I heal, I'm going to say goodbye to everyone."

"They will try and stop you."

Nico smiled at Will sadly. "They won't be able to."

"Would I be able to say anything, or do anything to make you stay?" Will said quietly.

"I don't think so," Nico responded. "This camp is not safe for me anymore."

"But the threat is gone-"

"There will always be another threat, Will." Nico reasoned. "I'm always going to have another person who doesn't like me or agree with my lifestyle. I'm not even going to pretend that that is not true."

"But-"

"There are no more but's, Will. I made my decision a long time ago, and it is finally time to go through with it."

Jason's POV:

"This isn't going as planned." Reyna groaned.

"I know," Jason said.

"We were supposed to leave today. We can't stay away from Camp Jupiter much longer."

Reyna was pacing. There were bags under her eyes, indicating that she didn't sleep the previous night.

Reyna and all of the Seven, besides Hazel, were in Cabin Number 13. Frank explained that Kayla had entered into the cabin at around two in the morning, woken Hazel, and dragged her to the infirmary. She was gone before Frank could even ask why. Frank then when to tell Jason. Reyna was sleeping in the Zeus cabin. The three of them then woke Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Leo, dragging them into the Hades cabin. They were discussing what they were going to do as Nico was still missing.

"And Pipes and I have already missed a lot of school back in LA." Jason pointed out.

"We should do something." Reyna stopped, locking eyes with Jason. "We should go find him."

"How?" Percy asked. "We have no idea where he went. Even Will doesn't know and he is probably the closest to him."

"He might be back at camp," Annabeth revealed. "That might be why Kayla asked Hazel to come."

"I mean I checked the infirmary, but the door was locked," Frank explained. "So, I came to get you guys."

"I don't know what to do," Reyna sighed. "I just don't like feeling so helpless."

Jason stood. He crossed over the room and put his hand on Reyna's shoulder. "We just have to hold out heads up high and hope that Nico will pull through. Besides, Hades is looking for him. With a god on our side, he is bound to turn up."

Reyna took a deep breath and resumed her normal regal aura. Jason was usually able to calm her down. That's why they had worked so well as praetors; they balanced each other out. When one was panicking, the other was calm. Jason missed that unity. But he was happy; he had loved Reyna, but his heart belonged to Piper.

"So now we wait," She remarked.

"Now we wait," Jason repeated.

He laid back on Nico's bed, sinking into the comforter. He glanced around at his friends. Frank and Leo were sprawled on Hazel's bed. Piper was sitting on Nico's bed with Jason. Percy and Annabeth were seated at the table. Reyna was still pacing.

Jason looked to see what belongings Nico had left. His sword was propped against the nightstand. The sight of it sent a twinge of fear through Jason. If Nico didn't have any way to defend himself... he couldn't get into that kind of thinking. Nico was smart and resourceful; he could take care of himself. On the nightstand, there was a sheathed knife, an alarm clock, a lamp, and a framed picture of him and Will. There was a sketchbook on the edge of Nico's bed, but Jason didn't dare touch this. Other than everything on the nightstand and the sketchbook, Nico didn't seem to possess very many belongings. Nico had probably grown accustomed to moving around so much that he didn't take much with him every time.

The door swung open suddenly, interrupting Jason's thoughts. He sat up quickly, causing himself to become dizzy. As he blinked the black spots from his eyes, he saw who had come in.

"Nico!" Reyna exclaimed, freezing in her tracks.

Nico looked like a deer in headlights. He had his jacket on and was holding his arms up defensively.

"Not to sound rude, but why are you all in my cabin?" Nico bluntly asked.

"Why are we in your cabin?" Reyna repeated. "Maybe because you disappeared yesterday, without a second thought."

Nico shrugged. "I'm fine-"

"Don't lie," Reyna said.

"I thought you were heading back to Camp Jupiter," Nico muttered.

"We wanted to make sure you were okay first," Frank interjected. "Where's your sister?"

Nico gestured with his head out the door. "She's resting in the infirmary. She- she gave me a blood transfusion."

"Why did you need a blood transfusion?" Piper questioned. "Are you hurt?"

"Don't worry about it," Nico dismissed. "I appreciate that you all stayed, but you didn't have to do that."

"Of course we did," Jason explained. "We care about you."

"Thanks, but I'm fine."

Leo noticed his hesitancy to come in. "Are you going to stand there all day?"

Nico turned red, as he walked into the cabin and closed the door. His movements were stiff. Jason glanced at Nico's wrists. He saw the edge of a bandage peeking out, but he said nothing. Nico walked into the foyer but did not descend down the stairs.

"Where did you go?" Annabeth asked gently.

Nico paused. "Why are you asking me so many questions? The trial is over. I don't want to be interrogated anymore."

"We are worried about you," Reyna said as she started to make her way over to Nico. "You got attacked by Aaron and then disappeared."

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Piper asked.

"I really don't want to talk about what happened!" Nico snapped. "I want to try to forget it, but that seems to be impossible to do. So, I'm trying not to think about it. And you aren't making that any easier. Now, please get out. I want to be alone."

"Nico let us help you," Reyna took a step forward.

Nico stepped back quickly as if afraid Reyna was going to hurt him. Jason watched as Reyna's face fell.

"It's me, Nico," Reyna's voice was sad. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Please, just don't touch me," Nico pleaded, wrapping his arms around himself, trying to give himself comfort.

The action caused his sleeve to be pulled back. It did not go unnoticed by Reyna, whose eyes narrowed in on his bandaged arm.

"Where did you get that injury?" She asked.

Nico's eyes went wide as he pulled down his sleeve. "It's from- Aaron gave it to me."

"Nico, don't lie to me," her tone was stern. She approached Nico, ignoring his flinch. "What happened?"

"It isn't your business!" Nico exclaimed.

He tried to push past her before she could touch him, but Reyna was faster. She grabbed his wrist, causing him to gasp in pain, as she brought him closer to her. Jason was on his feet in moments at Nico's gasp. Reyna pushed back the sleeve, revealing the bandage on one arm. She looked at Nico's face before pushing back the sleeve on the other arm.

"What happened?" She questioned.

Jason guessed that Reyna had some sort of idea, but she wanted to be sure. She began to unwrap the bandages. Nico was fighting to get away, but Reyna was stronger than he was. She got the first bandage off and began examining his arm. Her eyes went wide.

"Nico, you didn't," she gasped.

"Let GO OF ME!" Nico yelled, pulling himself out of Reyna's grasp and falling down the steps.

Percy and Jason both moved forward to help him. Before they could, Nico held his hand up.

"Don't!" He demanded. "Don't touch me. Don't help me."

"Nico, did you cut yourself?" Reyna dared to ask.

The room fell silent. Jason and Percy kept their mouths shut, not wanting to break Nico's trust. Everyone who didn't already know watched with bated breath to see what Nico would say. Nico slowly rose from the ground. Jason couldn't see his face, but he sensed the storm brewing in the son of Hades.

"I'm surprised you didn't figure it out sooner," Nico said coolly. "Especially after that encounter with Bryce Lawrence. When I unleashed my rage; spilled all my secrets. I'm shocked you didn't see it in my memories."

Jason exchanged a look with Reyna for a moment. She had told Jason about Bryce Lawrence; he was only the second demigod to be exiled from Camp Jupiter. He was a remorseless killer at heart and committed acts of ruthless violence. When had Nico encountered him?

"I- I only saw flashes, you know that," Reyna said.

"Then I guess my darkest secret was kept," Nico said bitterly. He looked around the room. "But I guess everyone knows now; that I'm suicidal and I cut myself!"

Jason rushed to reassure him. "No one is judging you, Nico."

"Get out," Nico commanded. No one moved. Nico turned, looking at everyone. "I said get out!"

"We aren't going anywhere, Nico," Percy asserted.

"We aren't leaving until we know you are okay. We won't abandon you if you need us." Reyna spoke up.

"I don't need you," Nico spat. "And you are going to have to leave; you have your obligations. And I have my own."

"Like what?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm leaving Camp Half-Blood." Jason couldn't say that he was that shocked that Nico was leaving.

"What?" Percy demanded. "You can't leave."

"Who is to say I can't?"

"Me," Percy defended. "You aren't safe on your own-"

"'Cause I was so safe here at camp, with Aaron-" his voice cracked. He took a composing breath. "I've made my decision. You can either support it or not, but there is no way I'm staying here. Once I finish healing in a couple of days, then I'm gone."

"Where are you going?" Leo asked.

"To the Underworld."

"Does Will know?" Piper muttered.

Nico flinched at the question. "Yes. He knows. He's not happy with it, but he knows."

"When are you leaving?" Frank questioned.

"The 17th at the latest. I'm saying goodbye to you all today." Nico explained. "Since you guys are heading back to Camp Jupiter and Percy and Annabeth are going back to the city."

"Is there anything we can say to convince you to stay?" Percy asked. "We will come to Camp on weekends. We will be able to be here and spend time with you."

"No," Nico snapped. "I'm leaving."

"But-"

"Percy," Nico stopped his words. "It's over; I'm leaving. Everyone is. Now, please, leave my cabin."