A/N: Okay, I know I just updated, but… I got excited. And we all know you guys wanted Future!Hazel, so you're welcome, here she is.

I'm too lazy to reply to reviews, since I haven't gotten many yet anyway, but I will say this: CALM DOWN PEOPLE, NOTHING'S GONNA HAPPEN BETWEEN NICO AND ADRIANNE. He might not even ask her to the dance, I haven't decided yet. But even if he does, it'll be as friends. And she'll know about Bianca by then, don't worry.

Anyway, here's the next chapter. Nothing happens in it, and yet it became 2000 words anyway. That's Frazel fluff for ya. Enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I know nothing about mental illness so don't hate me if stuff is horribly, offensively wrong. Just calmly let me know and I'll change it.

Chapter Eight

Nico couldn't remember the last time he was in a hospital, but he could remember the last time he enjoyed it: never.

Despite always being cold and having learned to deal with it, he shivered as soon as he entered the mental institution, wrapping the shadows closer around him, both to keep him warm and to hide himself better. Silently and invisibly, he ventured behind the desk in the front hall and read the papers over the nurse's shoulder until he found what he was looking for: Hazel Levesque, Room 666.

Nico couldn't help but smirk. He wondered if the room placing had been Hades's idea, or Frank's.

Nico slipped through the shadows upstairs to the sixth floor and stepped out right in front of Hazel's room. He kept shadows around him as he silently pushed the door open, then hesitated in the doorway.

Hazel Levesque, a foot and a half taller than Nico remembered her, her dark hair starting to turn gray (she was 28, that shouldn't have happened; that just wasn't okay) lay in the hospital bed, asleep. Frank Zhang knelt next to her, holding her hand and whispering softly to her.

"I talked to Jason today," Nico overheard Frank say, as if Hazel could hear him. "He said he saw Leo at the graveyard over the weekend. Jason and Piper are gonna go tonight, while Tris is visiting Piper's dad."

Nico frowned. Who was Tris? And what graveyard were all his friends visiting?

"I thought about going too," Frank continued. "Haven't given him an update in a while, you know, I think he deserves that at least. But… I didn't think I should see him without you. Maybe… once you start getting better, we can-"

Slowly but surely, Hazel's eyes opened, and Frank's voice trailed off. Nico took a step forward, trying to get a closer look at his sister. His heart sank at the way her eyes seemed to be glazed over.

"Hazel?" Frank asked softly. "Honey, can you hear me?"

Hazel tried to sit up, but Frank pushed her back down onto the bed. Still, she grinned, a wide beautiful smile that made Nico smile too, and his hopes rose again.

But then…

"Nico?" Hazel exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes. Nico started to approach her, until he realized she was still looking at Frank. "Nico, you came back to me!"

As Hazel embraced her boyfriend, Nico stumbled back in shock, horridly reminded of May Castellan. Without even thinking about it, he dropped the shadows concealing him and rushed forward to pull Frank away from his sister. "What happened to her?!"

Frank screamed and jumped up, reaching behind him as if to grab an imaginary quiver. "Nico?" he whispered in horror.

Nico took Hazel's hand, ignoring him. She was looking blankly at him, no recognition in her eyes. Still, she smiled and exclaimed, "Nico, you came back to me!"

Nico felt tears start to run down his cheeks, but he was in too much shock to really cry. "Yes, Hazel, I came back," he whispered. "I'm so sorry I ever left you. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault, please forgive me."

"Are you a ghost?" Frank asked, and when Nico turned around, there was a sword at his neck. "Or some kind of monster?"

Swallowing carefully, Nico raised his hands in surrender. "Frank. I'm not a ghost, and I'm not your enemy. I never died, I was in the Lotus Hotel, trapped in time so I could be with my sister again."

"Hazel is your sister," Frank growled and Nico noticed a wolfish glint in his eyes.

"I know," he agreed cautiously. "And I never should've left her. I'm sorry. I was selfish, and I didn't think anyone would care if I disappeared."

"Why wouldn't we care?"

Frank dropped the sword and Nico spun back around, surprised to see that it was Hazel who'd spoken. "Hazel?" he whispered, taking her hand.

"Careful," Frank warned without moving from his stance behind him. "She gets lucid like this sometimes, it doesn't last long."

Nico ignored him. "Hazel, talk to me," he pleaded. "Are you okay?"

"Thought you were dead," she said, smiling, as if it were a joke. Nico couldn't help but still see her as a thirteen year old girl, despite the fact that she was now over a decade older than him. "Thought… thought you'd gone and gotten yourself killed, or… or that you didn't want to live anymore, after the war."

Nico shook his head. "No, Hazel, that wasn't it. I just wanted…" he averted his gaze to the floor, unable to look her in the eye. "I should have told you."

Her hand went limp in his, and when Nico looked back up, Hazel had fallen back asleep. He looked to Frank, who nodded. "Yeah, that happens a lot too."

Nico thoughtfully rubbed his thumb over Hazel's hand. "Are you mad at me?" he asked Frank. "For letting this happen to Hazel?"

The son of Mars didn't answer for a moment, causing Nico to look back up at him. With a sigh, Frank sheathed his sword and sat in a chair next to Nico. "How can I be?" he asked rhetorically. "I mean, look at you. You're just a kid- and that's weird as Pluto, but I'm not gonna question. Percy explained about the Lotus Hotel, so… I kind of know what happened… From what I understood of the doctor talk, this could've happened any time. Just… losing you was like a sort of trigger, you know?"

Nico nodded slowly. "Have any gods tried to help?"

Frank scoffed. "Most gods are still denying her existence. The mortal medicine is the best we can do right now. That and keeping monsters away from her."

"Has she been attacked, since she got here?"

Frank frowned at him with a look that was almost concerned. "Nico, Hazel was admitted here when she was fourteen, only a few months after you disappeared. She practically lives here, and the few times she's conscious, I can tell she thinks she does. She's been attacked plenty of times, because… I mean, this is all she knows. The hospital… and you."

For a minute or so, there was silence, save for the steady sound of Hazel's breathing. "I'll find some way to help her," Nico then whispered. "I have to."

"I thought," Frank began, then paused before continuing, "I thought maybe seeing you for real might… I don't know, make something snap. Apparently not."

"That's what Percy thought too," Nico murmured to himself. He took a shaky breath and stood, stepping back from the bed. "I'll wait here with you," he told Frank. "For as long as you need me to. I owe her that at least."

Frank watched him for a second, as if searching his face for ulterior motives, then, slowly, he nodded. "Thanks, Nico. I think she'd appreciate it."

Frank Zhang fiddled with the zipper of his jacket, silently watching his girlfriend sleep and her brother curled up on a chair next to her bed. He couldn't tell if Nico was awake or not- he'd gone still almost an hour ago, but with Nico you could never really tell- but he figured the son of Hades was at least deep enough in his own mind that he wouldn't notice the slow stream of tears flowing down Frank's cheeks.

He'd had fifteen years, to accept the fact that the woman he loved couldn't live without her brother, fifteen years to know that something wasn't exactly right with her mind (longer, really; he should've figured it out from the flashback blackouts), fifteen years to convince himself that he loved Hazel more than anything else in the world, and he would sit in a hospital with her twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, until she saw him as more than someone who wasn't Nico.

But after fifteen years of accepting that Nico di Angelo was dead, there he was. Alive. Solid (and he'd checked, with a casual hand on the shoulder a few hours ago, just to make sure that Nico wasn't a ghost). And fourteen years old, just like he'd been the day he died (the day they all assumed he'd died, anyway). And Hazel had seen him, had seen him, and still… Still, she wasn't healed.

Hazel had woken up three more times since Nico arrived, and twice she'd talked to them both as if they were her long-lost brother. The third time, she took one look at Nico and cried, then started screaming at him until the paramedics had to come and sedate her. Nico had shadow-traveled away for a bit after that and Frank had been afraid he wouldn't come back, but then twenty minutes later, the son of Hades had reappeared and returned to his chair, acting as if nothing had happened.

Wiping his eyes, Frank pulled his phone out of his pocket (best thing that had happened in the last fifteen years- demigod-safe cell phones; Annabeth had designed them so that the next time one of their friends went missing, they'd be much easier to find) and sent a text to Jason: Call me. Nico's alive.

Only a few minutes later, Jason texted back: Get some sleep, buddy. I'll call you tomorrow.

Frank stared at the message for a minute, annoyedly realizing that Jason didn't believe him. He glanced at Nico's still form, wondering if maybe he should wake the boy up. Then, with a sigh, he texted Jason, Maybe you're right. Night, Jace, and turned his phone off, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes, almost instantly falling asleep with one hand on his sword.

Nico abruptly awoke, sitting up with a gasp. It took him less than a minute to glance over his surroundings and remember what was going on. Right. Hazel. Hospital. Got it. Something told him it had only been a few hours since he'd fallen asleep, and Frank was now asleep in the other chair. Hazel still hadn't woken up since she'd been sedated, as far as Nico could tell. He debated what to do next. It would be the perfect opportunity to leave, since he wouldn't have to make any excuses, but he also didn't want Frank to hate him for disappearing. It had been bad enough when he'd run off after seeing the full extent of what he'd done to Hazel, and Frank had given him that sad, pitiful look. He didn't want the son of Mars to get mad at him too.

But he'd also been out of the world for too long. He'd long since turned his comms off, so Hades was probably trying to get in touch with him. He had no idea what was going on with Adrianne as of yesterday, so he couldn't form a new plan just yet. Also he was hungry, and- though food hadn't been much of a priority over the last fifteen (and a half) years- he probably should get something to eat before doing anything.

So, he took a piece of paper from the table next to the bed, scribbled a note on it, and left it on the table for Frank to find. Then, with one last look at his sister, he shadow-traveled away, to find his other one.

A/N: Adrianne will be in the next one. Please review!