Hey! So, I know I have a lot of other works in the process right now, but this is just a quick one-shot. Now, some of you may remember that I wrote a Percy Jackson story a little while ago but ended up taking it off of my sight. It wasn't all that great, nor did it have nearly enough whump for my liking. This is just something that popped into my head because I simply couldn't resist writing a feverish Percy and a Nico showing his softer side, especially centering around Christmas! There are a lot of Percy comforts a hurt Nico fics out there, but not a lot of the other way around so I thought I should just add my own!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any of the characters or my little reference to Supernatural. *Sniffles sadly*

Some notes:

In this Percy is 18, Nico is 16.

Takes place some time after Blood of Olympus

Nico never dated Will and Percy and Annabeth will briefly be explained.

Also, this is slash. If that makes you uncomfortable, don't read it. It is as simple as that.

Also, also, there is some slight Annabeth bashing. Don't get me wrong, I love her character, I just felt that it better fit the plot for Annabeth to be a bit of a brat.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

The snow swirled without repent in Manhattan, viciously pulling heat out of any and every source within moments of stepping outside. It hadn't snowed like that in years, let alone on Christmas Eve, and no one in their right mind would be out in it, walking down the street no less.

Who ever said Nico di Angelo was in his right mind though?

That wasn't to say that he wasn't froze to the bone, however. Come on, his dad was the King of the Underworld where they had a literal river of fire. To say the least, he wasn't exactly used to snow. He found it cold and wet and impossibly miserable, but Percy seemed to bask in it nearly as much as he did a good swimming session. Water gave him his power, so needless to say he became beyond exuberated when it was falling from the sky in the form of rain or snow, but the freezing flakes Nico despised so much also brought out a childish side of Percy that he was seeing less and less of with each passing day. Yet, he couldn't seem to get enough of it and wanted to do everything in his power to make sure he kept seeing it.

His thoughts drifted to the teen in question. Percy seemed to get the short straw in every drawing. He had done things that no person should ever have to do, demigod or otherwise. He had fought and won hundreds of battles against monsters, titans, giants, gods, and everything in between and still managed to remain the happy-go-lucky person everyone had fallen in love with when he woke up in the infirmary at the tender age of twelve.

Or so he had everyone believing. Everyone but Nico.

That innocent gleam that had still been in his sea green eyes when Nico had first met him was gone. While his eyes still shown with mischief, it was almost as if it were an echo of what used to really be there, and it was only there now because his eyes wouldn't be Percy's eyes without that glint. He had seen too many things in six years to still be innocent. But that gleam, even if it were just a ghost of one, wasn't gone yet and Nico would be damned if he let it disappear completely.

The breakup with Annabeth hadn't helped either. Every single person at camp, including himself, had thought that they were soulmates meant to be together forever but apparently, they all had been wrong. It wasn't a particularly messy breakup, not that Nico had much experience with them however so it really could have been quite bad for all he knew. There hadn't been any screaming or shouting. Annabeth and Percy had just gone off to talk on the beach and the next thing everyone knew, she was tearing towards the Athena cabin with tears streaming down her face and Percy had been standing silently on the edge of the beach, a broken expression imprinted on to his features. The glares Malcolm had sent Percy as he ushered his sister into their cabin said it all. You caused this.

Later on however, Percy had told Grover, who apparently was quite the gossip even when it came to his best friend's grief, who had told the Stolls, who had told Will, who had told him that Annabeth had broken up with Percy, not the other way around like everyone seemed to think. Annabeth had seemingly said that after everything they went through in Tartarus and with the war, she just couldn't look at their relationship the same way any longer. She had then burst into tears and left, though Nico thought she had absolutely no reason to be crying. That was the day that Nico decided that he didn't like Annabeth Chase and he wouldn't for a very long time to come. His fatal flaw was holding grudges after all.

So why was Nico walking down a Manhattan street in the middle of a blizzard, freezing his butt off, and soaked to the bone? Because of his very new, very sick boyfriend.

It was Christmas Eve and while pretty much everyone was holed up in their house spending time with their families and singing Christmas carols around the piano, Percy was puking his guts out. The Jackson-Blofis family were supposed to have gone to see Paul's family for the evening and return the next afternoon so Percy could spend Christmas with Nico and his other friends as well, but things hadn't exactly gone as planned when the son of Poseidon woke up with a 101.8 fever that morning.

Somehow, he had still managed to convince his mom to go with Paul and Estelle, Percy's new baby sister (who even Nico admitted was absolutely adorable), up to see his family anyhow and leave him behind. He had claimed that he was eighteen and completely able to take care of himself for twenty-four hours even with a "little stomach bug". Sally, being the wonderful mother she was, had agreed to let him stay by himself and even let him believe until they were out the apartment door where she immediately managed to IM Nico.

Arriving in the desired building, Nico hurriedly flung the door open and allowed it to slam behind him, affectively shutting out the bitter wind. He quickly passed the empty doorman's station and into the elevator, opting for it rather than the nine flight climb he would have to make on the staircase. Trying to restrain himself and not summon his Stygian Iron sword to stab it through the speaker playing the horrid music in the corner, he rushed out of the mechanical box the moment the doors dinged open and slid the spare key out of the crack in the doorframe, letting himself into the cozy apartment and shedding his wet aviator jacket and leather boots.

It was a pretty nice apartment, not fancy or expensive by any means but definitely not one of the scuzzy roach-infested apartments Percy had told him he stayed in as a kid when Gabe was still around. According to him, Gabe couldn't keep a job, he preferred to slap Sally around and beat Percy nearly to death, and Sally had to work two just to keep them living in the shabby life they were.

"The bastard," Nico found himself growling under his breath at the thought of the man who had caused most of the scars Percy still had. Eventually, he would break into the Metropolitan Museum of Art and behead the god-ugly statue of the pig himself.

He was broken out of his vengeful thoughts by a harsh cough, bordering on a gag, resounding from the hall that led to the bedrooms. Rushing past the brightly lit tree in the living room, he stopped just short of Percy's room and softly pushed the door open.

The room was in disarray, more disarray than usual, that was. Clothes were strewn all over the floor and it appeared that Percy was starting his own used tissue collection, judging by the pile spilling onto his floor from atop his nightstand. A lone bucket sat directly beside the bed where the demigod was circled on his side, the blue sheets thrown off, yet he was shivering so hard Nico was surprised the bed wasn't shaking.

"Hey Perce," Nico said as softly as he had opened the door.

Percy cracked his eyes open and gazed at him through his jet-black bangs. His eyes widened in what Nico guessed was supposed to be surprise before he slammed them shut once again when a harsh coughed ripped up his throat. He kept them squeezed shut in pain, his face reddening with each agonizing bark and one of his arms unconsciously circling his chest. Without a moment's hesitation, Nico was at his side, awkwardly patting him on his back.

It was all new territory to the son of Hades. He had never even had a crush other than Percy, let alone any kind of long-term relationship. Not being much of a touchy-feely person to begin with, he often had a hard time giving Percy any sort of physical comfort or affection. This was one of the main reason Nico had never considered them being a "thing" a possibility. He was a gloomy, stand-offish loner with anger issues while Percy was the sarcastic, charismatic, fun-loving guy everyone loved. Nico couldn't think of any possible reason in the world why Percy would want to be in a relationship with him, considering affection wasn't exactly his forte. Any that they did share was initiated by Percy, and while Nico savored each and every kiss they shared, knowing that each could be the last, he couldn't bring himself to initiate it for the sheer fact that he might be rejected and break, at least what Nico thought, was a fragile relationship as it was.

His own mother having died when he was only a toddler, he had no clue how to be a mother hen. He didn't know how to take care of a sick person or offer them comfort or help them to get better. His dad was the ruler of the dead for the gods' sakes! Dead people didn't need affection like people craved. Of course, he hadn't hesitated to book it from camp the minute Sally had called, but why had she called him again? Because he was Percy's boyfriend? Those words seemed foreign in even his own mouth.

"N-nico," Percy rasped, releasing a sigh of relief over his name like Nico was going to solve all of his life's problems. Oh, how he wished he could.

"Yeah Perce, it's me."

Percy nodded minutely and cracked his eyes open once again. Those beautiful sea green eyes that took Nico's breath away every time he looked in them were glassy and fever glazed, giving him the look of a toddler. Nico just wanted to make him feel better, to keep him from the pain that the entire universe seemed to think he couldn't live without. He would switch places with the boy in seconds if it meant that he never had to see that terrible version of those beautiful eyes again.

"Wh-why are *cough* you h-here?" he asked, his voice rough and barely above a whisper. Nico grabbed a glass of water from amidst the used tissues on his nightstand and helped him sit up long enough to take a few sips.

Not wanting to embarrass him by telling him his mom had called in the cavalry, he settled for, "I just thought I'd stop by, see if you guys maybe changed your minds about heading up to Paul's family's place." He gave a shrug of his t-shirt clad shoulders to pass it off as nonchalant.

"Th-they d-did, but I'm s-sick."

"Yeah, no kidding," Nico said quietly, brushing his damp bangs off his forehead in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. He glanced around the room but didn't find what he was looking for. "Uhh, when's the last time you took your temperature?"

Percy just hummed quietly, too exhausted to talk any longer. With a grumble, Nico pushed himself away from the bed and too the bathroom where he rifled through their medicine cabinet until he found the desired object. It still surprised him whenever he saw modern medical devices. He remembered when they still used the mercury and glass thermometers and now the things were digitized. Taking it back to Percy's room, he managed to get Percy to open his mouth long enough to slide it under his tongue. After a few agonizing seconds, the device beeped.

Nico's already paper-white skin somehow lost even more color at the reading. It had gone from 101.8 that morning to 103.2. No wonder Percy was imitating the River Phlegethon.

Racking his brain for what little information he had gained from his friend Will Solace, head counselor in the Apollo cabin, as to what he should do for a fever like that, he once again shoved away from the bed and headed to the bathroom where he filled a bowl with lukewarm water and grabbed a soft wash cloth. From there, he proceeded to take it to Percy who had fallen back into a restless sleep. Restless because of the way his legs kept kicking at the sheets and the loud whoosh his breath made each time it exited his mouth. The Ghost King cringed. He had to be absolutely miserable.

He wiped the wet cloth across his fevered forehead and noticed how the redness momentarily faded from his skin and some of its natural color came back. Of course, as soon as his skin soaked all of the healing liquid up, it returned to its previous state, but Nico thought it was interesting, nonetheless. Apparently, Percy's ability to heal himself with water stretched beyond physical wounds.

As he worked, Nico thought about how his relationship with Olympus' Hero had come to be in the first place. They had only been dating since around Halloween, but those had been the best two months of Nico's life. The coming out with it hadn't been all that hard either. Thanks to the whole incident with Cupid, everyone already knew about the Italian's sexual orientation and Percy coming out hadn't been much of a surprise. Most people had suspected he was gay, bisexual really, since he looked at guys and girls in the same manner. He was friendly to everyone, but a lot of the campers had noticed that he looked at both boys and girls the same way Drew looked at just guys (though with less of a predatorial gleam in his eyes).

When Nico had found out, he was stunned. He had had a crush on Percy since the day they had met clear back at Westover Hall. He had never actually considered Percy a possibility, not only because he was way out of his league, but also because he was straight. Still, the league problem was still there even after he came out.

Percy had asked him out. It had totally caught him off guard at the time, too. Rachel Dare's family was throwing their annual Halloween party and Percy had been invited. Since the breakup with Annabeth had been almost five months prior, he hadn't wanted to go alone. Thus, Nico was asked, though he hadn't even thought of the irony in a child of Hades going to a Halloween party at the time. He had honestly thought that it was just a one time thing too, but when the son of Poseidon had asked him to get pizza with him a week later, Nico's heart had about thudded to a stop in his chest.

Holy Hades, was he dating the Hero of Olympus?

His reminiscing came to a halt when a full-body shudder ran through Percy's frame. He stopped his ministrations and pulled the sheets up over the teenager's frame.

"Try to get some sleep, 'kay Perce? I'm just…," he paused. What was he going to do, waiting aimlessly for his boyfriend to need him? "Just going to sit in the living room."

Percy didn't acknowledge him whatsoever, only continuing his loud mouth breathing. His legs had stopped flailing everywhere, however. Maybe Nico was figuring this out after all.

0000

Nico was lying on his stomach watching reruns of Supernatural and snickering at how ironic the show didn't even know it was to their own lives when a weak cry of pain or terror, either way it didn't matter, could be heard coming from Percy's room. He was down the hall so fast that he didn't even remember getting up off of the couch.

Percy was thrashing in all directions, the blankets piled on the floor and sweat gathering on his forehead. Nico rushed to his side and tried to gently shake him awake.

"Percy, Perce, wake up. Wake up. Please!" he begged when he got no immediate response.

"No…no, no, please," the other demigod begged in a hoarse voice, "Don't…don't do this…Annabeth no! Nico please…help…Nico!'"

Ducking out of the way of a flying fist that he only managed to avoid because of his godly reflexes, he grabbed both of the elder boy's hands and pinned them at his sides. Probably not the best course of action for helping someone in the midst of a fever dream, but it was the best he could do to keep Percy from hurting himself or Nico.

"Shh, Percy it's okay. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," he tried, hoping that maybe a more soothing approach would bring him out of his nightmare. He whispered little nonsensical things to the boy, trying so hard to channel what he remembered his mother and Bianca doing for him as a sick child, even though that had been many, many years ago in reality.

Finally, Percy did calm down, whether out of comfort or exhaustion Nico didn't know. Right as Nico was about to release his wrists and get the thermometer however, he suddenly shot up out of the bed panting heavily, his face looking suspiciously green. Barely managing to figure out what was wrong with him and shove the bucket under his chin, Nico tried not to wrinkle up his nose as Percy dispelled what little contents he still had in his stomach into the pail. Instead, he opted to rub his back and try to loosen up some of the taut muscles he could feel underneath from the violent retching.

When the sea green-eyed boy had finished, Nico helped him to take a few drinks of water to rinse his mouth out before he flopped back down on to his pillows, exhausted. He placed a wet cloth on Percy's forehead once again and gave his hand a squeeze before pulling the covers back on to the bed snd turning for the door.

The hand in his tightened surprisingly at the movement. Turning back to Percy, Nico raised an eyebrow when he saw that his eyes were open, if not all the way.

"Thought you were asleep?"

Percy didn't answer at first, but his eyes did get a little larger, giving him a sick puppy kind of look that made Nico's gloomy heart break.

"Stay," came the feeble answer to his rhetorical question. Slightly taken aback by the demand, Nico just stood in place. He had been well acquainted with the idea that he would be spending the rest of his Christmas Eve on the couch hopefully being able to get to the episode with John's death if he were lucky. However, those sad, miserable eyes that he couldn't resist on a normal day, let alone when they were so heartbreakingly innocent looking, were penetrating his very soul. How could he say no to him?

"Yeah…yeah I can stay."

Percy weakly tugged him towards his bed and somehow managed to scooch over so there was enough room for Nico to lie down. As soon as he did, Percy curled into his significantly cooler side. Nico rewetted the cloth on his forehead once more before getting himself comfortable and giving him a soft kiss.

"Comfortable?" he asked, a bit amused at Percy's clingy side. The sea prince was already sound asleep though.

0000

The next morning, Nico woke up to see snow piled halfway up the window where the fire escape was just under it and thanked the gods the actual storm had finally let up. He groaned as he shifted a bit, stiff from having slept in the same position all night. A brief glance at the clock told him it was almost eight thirty. Percy was still asleep against him, so he carefully peeled him from his side and slid out from underneath the son of Poseidon.

His skin was sticky form having slept with a feverish person on him for most of the night and his clothes were horribly wrinkled. Considering he hadn't changed or showered in the better part of two days, courtesy of heading straight to the apartment after dealing with some particularly nasty griffins, he felt that he at least needed to cover the bases.

He was feeling considerably better after a quick shadow travel back to camp to retrieve a fresh set of clothes and a hot shower. By the time he was finished, he found Percy groggily starting to wake up from his sleep. Despite himself, Nico couldn't help but smile when he saw the sweat-soaked sheets that were a tell-tale sign Percy's fever had broken.

"Merry Christmas!" Percy called as soon as he entered the room. His voice was still hoarse but much stronger and his eyes had lost the sickly look they had held the previous night. His usual laid back, goofy grin was even back in place on his face and Nico thought he had never seen anything so wonderful considering how scared he had honestly been when he discovered how high Percy's fever was. It would have been just their freakin' luck for Percy to have survived two mythical wars only to have been killed by his own body. If that had happened, Nico didn't know what he would have done since he simply didn't think he could go back to living without Percy. Even breaking up with him would be better than him dying and Nico having to live with the fact that everyone he ever got close to ended up dying.

Nico even surprised himself by replying with a genuine laugh. Percy looked at him like he was insane. "Yeah, you too. Now, are you hungry?"

Percy nodded, "I'm starving!" Oh yeah, Percy would be just fine.

As he was about to head out and make them something Percy called him back over. "Thanks for everything, Neeks," he whispered softly. Nico just nodded, cheeks blushing red, and took a chance. He placed a small kiss to Percy's lips. It wasn't much, but the grin Percy gave him lit up his world.

And if more came later on, well, who ever said Nico was in his right mind?

Done! I really hope you enjoyed that little idea I came up with. I do believe this is the quickest I have ever whipped up a story too! Happy holidays to everyone! See ya!