Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the series PJO or HOO.

Thanks to all those that faved and reviewed in the last week

-o-

A shiny black Jeep was waiting for her out the front. Hazel would see Frank's figure already in the driver's seat, but Nico and Reyna seemed to be engrossed in conversation, the topic so interesting that they didn't even turn notice her approach.

"We can't do this," She heard Nico insist, "Not now. I can't talk about this now. And especially not with-"

Reyna cut him off with a look. "Hello, Hazel. You took your time."

Her friend/bodyguard's usually sarcastic demeanor was back, but Hazel wished that her eyes weren't covered in shades. She seemed hesitant. Hazel wanted to know what secrets they had been discussing.

Nico gave her a quick look and opened the door for himself. He clambered in, leaving no room for questions. With a sigh, she followed as well.

Frank met her eyes and gave a smile in the rearview mirror. "How is everything, Miss? Have you settled in yet?"

"Hey Frank. I've already said that you can call me Hazel."

"Thanatos won't like that." Nico grunted, "He'll reprimand you for it."

Hazel flashed an annoyed look at him as she fastened her seatbelt, "Then call me by my name when he's not around. Switch if he's within earshot. Sometimes, I wonder whether Thanatos runs the place, or if you do."

Nico fastened his own seatbelt as the car pulled out into the building's spacious driveway. It was a Sunday, so the whole place was eerily empty. With only the soft ruffle of trees in the background reminding them that winter was due to arrive soon, Hazel felt something heavy settle in the pit of her stomach as if a big event was going to happen today.

Just in the other day, the car they were in seemed bigger on the inside too. She had never been in any fancy cars, but this seemed over the top even to her limited experience. Leather seats with warmer functions, mini fridges in the sidebars, even an umbrella holder fitted neatly into the side. One of those old-fashioned wooded handled black umbrellas filled snugly into that space. Hazel absentmindedly thought that there was no rain predicted on the weather forecast today.

"This car is pretty fancy," she remarked without thinking. Facepalm.

Frank chuckled, "I make sure it's always stocked up with food and drinks too. And waxed. Thanatos always gets on my case about car cleaning."

Reyna nodded, "The best thing about this car- it could stand a blast from landmine below."

Hazel wasn't sure what to make of that. It made her nervous to think that there were such precautions to protect their lives. It also reminded her that despite all this protection, her father was still dead.

Beside her, Nico suddenly let out a pained groan. She watched him massage his chest with a grimace, and asked out of habit, "Are you ok?"

Reyna perked up in the front seat and cocked one ear to listen.

Her half-brother relaxed against the seat again, "Of course. And in response to your earlier query. Thanatos runs the building and all the staff within it. He's been with my father for decades and I have absolute faith in him."

"Perhaps you should let him run your businesses too then."

He didn't reply. Maybe it was her imagination, but there was a flash of brief worry across his face.

-o-

Her first thought was that the piece of black marble in front of her didn't do Hades any justice. Less than half an hour drive from the office, in the heart of Brooklyn, was a small sheltered graveyard that was remarkably ordinary.

Almost too ordinary.

She hadn't thought that this was where such a well-known and wealthy man would choose to be buried. "Did he want to be buried here?"

Nico nodded absentmindedly. "Yes, he wanted a simple place. He didn't believe in an afterlife, and accordingly, he didn't see any need to have some grand grave marker if you couldn't be there to appreciate it."

"Well, your family members could come to see it."

"I would want my family to remember me for who I was, not how pretty my grave looked. Wouldn't you? Plus, grand graves attract unwanted attention and there are groups out there that always search for new places to picket."

Hazel nodded, uncertain of what to say.

From his calm tone and the fact that they had managed a short but civil conversation, she could see that his general annoyance at her was abated by the solemnness of the place they were in.

Beside the larger marker for their father, lay two other similar stones. Hazel could help but feel for her half-brother. He was all that remained of his direct family- it was no wonder he was so bitter all the time. As Nico knelt down slowly and placed bunches of fresh flowers at the bottom of the headstones, she looked around. Tall, thick-trunked trees stood like sentinels amongst the scatter grave markers. She could see the keeper's cottage at the edge of the fenced perimeter. It was quiet here, almost too quiet. Even in the heart of a polluted megacity, surely there were normally birds. But not here. It was almost as even the animals had been muted by the aura of death that clung to this place and thickened the air with gloom.

For a moment, she regretted their decision for Reyna and Frank to stay by the car outside. She was brought back to the present as Nico stood again. The dust from the other gravestones had been cleared away now. She handed his umbrella back- it was a large and heavy thing. She didn't know why he insisted on carrying it around.

"Was Bianca your sister?"

"Well, she's not my mother. So, she must be the other female family member I've lost." He sounded bitter.

On Bianca's gravestone was a bunch of blue roses. Hazel wondered if they were natural- surely not.

"What's with the blue flowers?"

Nico only gave a tired smile. "I'll tell you the story later."

They stood there, side by side for a moment. The silence stretched, and Hazel wondered if she should say something, or offer a hug to Nico. Deciding against the latter, she whispered hesitantly, "I'm sorry."

Her half-brother turned and raised an eyebrow in mock amazement. "Miss Levesque, showing me some affection?"

"You could call me Hazel. And for your information, I'm not the one who was rude from the moment we met. I don't like your kind, but prejudices can always be put aside if you weren't such an arrogant man-child."

Nico pursued his lips and flashed her a cold glance. Hazel berated herself for getting carried away. For a moment, she had forgotten that they were not at the stage of friendly banter. "Why do you look at me like that? Do you really resent me that much?"

"No. No, I don't. I might dislike you for the way you seemed to get on my bad side every moment that we are together, but I don't hate you. If I resent you, it's because of what you represent."

"Nico," she paused uncertainly, "I think I 'get on your bad side' because I don't worship you for the money that your family, or our family, have. And you're just not used to people who don't bow and scrape in your presence."

"That's not true."

"It is true."

Nico didn't reply. He was looking off into the distance. "What is it?" she asked him. Something was off about that look on his face. Rain clouds were gathering in the distance. Maybe Nico had been right to bring that umbrella.

"There's a man there, under that tree, watching us." She made to look, but Nico suddenly pulled her into a side hug. Their heads were bowed, looking every part a grieving couple or family. She was so startled at the gesture she froze. "Don't look at him. Or if you're going to- just look carefully."

She did. In the shade of a towering pine tree was the shadowy figure of a man, dressed completely in black. "How did you even see him?"

Nico sucked in a breath, "See? This is why you get on my nerves. I'm rich. Not blind. And certainly not stupid."

Suddenly, there was a swift movement from the left. Nico's head turned automatically in response. Hazel lifted her head too, but just in time to watch the shadowy figure move, reaching one hand into the folds of his jacket. Maybe she had watched too many thrillers, but she wasn't taking any chances.

"Down!"

She shoved herself into Nico, sending the two of them toppling onto the ground.

And just in time! One second more, and it would have been almost too late. With a sharp cracking sound, the grave marker behind them exploded with the impact of a bullet, spraying dust and ricocheting sharp bits of marble everywhere. There were two more shots. One whistled dangerously close to her ear and the other elicited a cry of pain from her half-brother.

She felt her heart leap to her throat. "Are you okay?!"

Nico pressed a hand to his right shoulder, "Gods, that hurts. Who knew a rock could hurt so much?" It was a sharp rock that had hit him, not a bullet. Her heart was bumping up and down in her chest as she lay still, half draped over Nico. She could see how pale he was. Even though the wound was likely not serious, she worried that he was going to go into shock right there and then. Shuffled away from him, Hazel peered up from the graveyard. The shooter was no longer under the shade of the trees.

He was stalking them.

"How many are there?!" She asked, ducking down next to Nico again. He looked ill now.

"Two. At least two men." Her half-brother gasped out, "I can't do this again. Not after her… Not after father. Am I just ill-fated? Does everyone in this family have to die from being shot? Although, mother wasn't shot." Amid his racing speech, his breaths started to come out in sharp wheezes, and Nico clutched at his chest, almost like he was having a heart attack. His mumbling became nonsensical.

Hazel felt her heart clench. She had seen people become like this before. Some sort of quick onset panic attack. Violence was rampant where she lived and these shell-shocked reactions from family members of those lost to senseless violence always broke her heart. It scared her to see Nico like this- gripped so tightly by the uncontrollable fight-or-flight responses and overwhelmed by memories that he couldn't escape.

"Come on! We've got to go! They're coming for us!" She gripped on to the lapel of his blazer. "Nico? Nico! Stop- you're better than this."

Nico shook in her grasp, and when he gripped her wrists she was almost pulled over. He muttered about his sister, Bianca. An idea struck Hazel suddenly- a terrible idea. But the only one that she could put a little hope in. She struggled against his panicked grip and much heavier weight. "Nico! Look at me! We're both going to die if you don't pull yourself together. Do you want to lose another sister?"

Something in his glazed eyes changed, like a flash of lightning, awareness snapped back into Nico. He let her go. "What? What did you say?"

She dragged him up further from the ground, "Yes. We're both going to die if you don't get up now. Those men are coming to kill us!"

Nico pushed her away as the words sank into his brain at last. "Where's my umbrella? Where is it!?" He rolled over, coating his black suit with brown dust in the process. At last, he found the rain proofing instrument. He stood, bracing himself with the wooden stick.

Hazel steadied him and gasped in fear as she saw the shadowy man standing no more than a meter away. "What do you want from us?" Her brother demanded shakily. He pointed the umbrella at the man as if it was a genuine threat.

The man smiled at him. His face was covered, but Hazel could see evil in his dark eyes. "I need to take your life. And I must say, thank you for giving me my fortune."

His aimed the gun, straight at Nico. But the boy that was his target had a trick up his sleeve. With a deft sliding motion on the curved wooden handle of the umbrella, Hazel heard a clicking sound, like a light being turned on. There was a WHOOSH.

A meter away, their would-be assassin's mouth turned into an O of surprise. His gun fired but grossly missed. He fell to the ground, trembling as if he was having a seizure. Hazel realized that he was being electrocuted, and her brain did a somersault when she realized that Nico was the source of his pain.

"Your umbrella is a taser?!" she demanded, mad but also relieved, "Why did you say so earlier?"

Nico opened the umbrella and turned it to face their left. The downed assassin's partner in crime was rushing towards them. Obviously, he had thought his friend was more than enough to deal with two kids. He had not counted on this taser-umbrella business.

Her half-brother pulled her behind the umbrella and braced it. "It just wasn't the right time to bring it up." Sounds like firecrackers exploding came from right behind the instrument originally designed with rain protection, Nico jerked back against the impacts. "Did I mention that it was bulletproof too?" He shouted over the din.

Hazel thought he had lost his mind. She steered him towards the direction of the gate keeper's cottage. That was where the main road was. "You're mad! Come on! That won't hold for long!" They made a run for it, Hazel leading the way and trying not to trip over the lumps of grass or stray tree roots, Nico defending them from peppering gunfire with an umbrella. Hazel could not believe that her life had fallen into such disrepair within the length of three days.

Suddenly the sound of more gunfire reached their ears. But before she could be overcome with complete desperation, she heard the loud voice of Frank. Her heart soared. Reyna and Frank were here to save them.

Peering out quickly from the umbrella when there was a break in the gunfire, she saw the bulky figure of Frank crouched not too far away from where they were, obviously trying to reach them. She didn't see Reyna, but she saw gravestones explode like buried landmines and deduced that her friend was probably occupied.

Frank's eyes met hers. "Go!" He shouted over the din, not able to get up from his crouched position, "Hurry! Use that entrance, regroup later. Stay with Nico!"

Worry twisted her heart, but then she reminded herself that Frank and Reyna were both trained professionals in the field of guns and dangerous activity, despite their age. Nico, on the other hand had no such qualms, he grabbed her arm and ran. "Run like your life depends on it!" He shouted as he threw the wrecked umbrella to one side.

"It does!" She scrambled after him.

They burst out into the busy street. In the midafternoon, the street was filled with business people returning from lunch. Or delivery people running errands. But they weren't safe yet, for two men in black trench coats peeled themselves from the wall where they had been leaning and headed straight for them.

Hazel realized that they had been guarding the back entrance of the graveyard. "Nico! Those two guys are out to get us!"

Her half-brother stiffened beside her, "Gods, when will we ever be free of this! Come on!" He grabbed her hand, quickly pulling her into a crowd of jumbled bodies, "Sorry! Excuse me!" They pushed past surprised middle-aged people and found themselves at the edge of the road.

Hazel turned and saw the two men were still following them, inciting curses and angry looks as they shoved through the crowd behind them. A young woman was putting some letters in a mailbox. She had a helmet under her arm. No more than two meters away, her hot pink scooter was still running.

Without hesitation, Nico pulled her towards the bike. He slid on and she jumped on behind him. "Can you drive this thing?"

"Of course." Nico looked at the panel for a second, an uncertain expression on his face.

The woman saw them. Her face turned red and her mouth opened to yell, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

Nico sucked in a breath, "Here goes!" He pushed the kickstand up and pushed off for the curb. The scooter rushed off as he squeezed on the handlebars. "Worked out which one is the throttle! We'll be fine!"

Hazel clung on for dear life. She prayed to whoever was listening that they would not die. The owner of the scooter started out of her shock and was moving towards them. "Stop! Thieves!"

Nico gave the scooter another burst of speed. "Lady, I'll pay you back! I promise!" He shouted words lost to the wind.

They joined the busy traffic of New York. Nico wasn't the greatest driver- but they hadn't died yet. She gripped onto him and looked in concern at the tear on the back of his jacket. "You're bleeding a bit."

"Don't worry about that. Where do we go?" In the rush, they had just followed which ever direction had a green light. Now they were helplessly lost. But suddenly they past a building with a Guy Fawkes mask graffitied on the side.

Hazel realized that she knew this place. "I know where we can go. Take a left here." Nico did as she asked, "Dear brother- It's time you got to know how the other half lived."

-o-

They ditched the scooter at the end of an alleyway not far from their destination. Despite the run-down houses and broken glass bottled that seemed to be littered everywhere, Hazel felt strength rush through her. This was her domain. She turned to see how Nico was faring and saw that he looked utterly defeated.

"Are you ok?" She saw that he was grimacing again. "What's wrong with you?"

Her half brother looked away, "I don't know. I've been getting these weird chest pains. They come and go, like suddenly someone is stabbing me with a knife."

She stopped and went to him. It surprised her that a proud man like himself was confiding in her. It was getting darker now. Maybe it just always seemed dark here, in this suburb. "Do you need to sit down?"

"No, it only hurts for a moment- then I'm fine," Nico straightened up, "Where are we going anyways?"

She was silent as they walked the next few meters. They stood on the curb outside an old apartment complex. It must have been bright orange once, but now it was decorated with peeling strips of yellow paint. They didn't do much to cover the cheap concrete slabs that had been hasty constructed for the unfortunate poor that resided inside.

Nico wheezed beside her. She made a mental note to give him a check over when they got inside. She turned to him solemnly.

"We're here. Home sweet home."

-o-

AN: Exam season soon, I will try my best to upload regularly though. I promise a chapter at least every 2 weeks. If you want them fast, then trade over a few reviews and favourites. And for those who are wondering- I was inspired by Kingsman for the wacky umbrellas.

H.