Chapter 4

Déjà Vu At Its Finest

"What do you want?" Nico shouted over the heads of a bunch of screaming toddlers. Percy grinned and inclined his head slightly to the left, showing that he couldn't hear the question. Nico rolled his eyes and gesticulated for his boyfriend to come stand next to him in the growing line behind the checkout at Starbucks.

"To drink," Nico repeated when Percy was within hearing distance. "Coffee, juice? What do you want?"

Instead of answering directly, Percy observed the Italian behind the counter. His brown hair that so stylishly fell and covered his eyes so often was tied back. He wore a green apron over a clean and simple black shirt, and Percy admired the way his muscles - barely visible under his clothes - worked with such skill even during the simplest of tasks.

"Chocolate seems like a good option," he finally said, and grinned at the memory that had brought them together. Nico smiled too, and started to prepare the drink. "Soo..." Percy started, resting his chin in his palm. "What have you done lately? I haven't seen you much."

For a moment Nico stiffened, but he had his back to Percy's face so he wasn't sure.

"Oh, nothing fun really," Nico answered while he took out a cup from behind the counter. "Remember I told you I had to help my father with some stuff? Family business, you know. That's what I've been doing the last couple of weeks." He shrugged. "Nothing important."

"Oh," Percy replied. He was a little surprised. When he had called Nico two weeks earlier asking for they to meet Nico had sounded frantic, and in a hurry. He had quickly replied that no, they couldn't see each other, and no, everything was fine.

At the time, Percy had to admit, he had been a little suspicious. Sure, Nico had come back after the time he had promised, and they had continued dating. Everything was fine. Yet, Percy couldn't shake off the feeling that Nico had lied to him, or made up excuses for his real whereabouts. And if it was something Percy was sick of, it was lies.

"Your dad," Percy repeated, grasping for a memory that was not really there. He had a faint picture of Nico's father from a brief mentioning of him early on. "Lawyer, right?"

"Yeah," Nico replied, and at the same time turning around and handing over a cup of steaming cocoa. Percy fumbled with his wallet, but stopped what he was doing when Nico let out a low chuckle. "You don't have to pay Perce. This one's on the house." He then pressed the warm cup into Percy's right hand, thus effectively making him unable to continue his search for money.

"You're really allowed to do that?" Percy frowned. Nico only rolled his eyes.

"No, not really. But I don't think they will fire me for a drink worth three bucks. Anyway," Nico smiled again. "It's only this once, right?"

"Yeah," Percy said. He then stepped aside for the family behind him in the line and thought about all of the other times Nico had given him coffee that apparently had been "on the house". It had become a kind of tradition of theirs.

Nico had a busy schedule, Percy knew. Many times had their weekly plans been interrupted by sudden demands his father had made.

In Percy's eyes, the father of his boyfriend was starting to get in a bad light. Not Gabe-bad. More like using his son for his own personal goals. Percy had quickly noted the change of moods Nico would have after one of those weekends. The last only being the latest in a row of earlier incidents. He knew that being a lawyer was hard, and Nico had himself told him that his job at Starbucks was more of a break from his "real" job. Nico had stated this on an early stage in their relationship, and at the time Percy had been fine with it. But now he wasn't so sure anymore.

Every time Nico had been called in on the account of his father - a couple of days in Miami with a new client; a business trip to San Francisco; a dinner with the local police officers - he had been in such a hurry. On perhaps not all, but many of these occasions Nico seemed to get agitated and easily irritated. Percy had in the beginning tried to sooth his boyfriend, but quickly found out that it did not help much. And when he then came back he seemed distracted. Questions went unanswered, and several times Percy found his boyfriend staring at a single spot for a big amount of time. He grew worried, as to be expected, and had asked about the different trips Nico had made. He wasn't a therapist, but he thought that it would be good to talk about his problems, or what it was that troubled him.

The replies he had received had in Percy's ears sounded like feeble excuses. Their conversations quickly turned into a monologue with Percy contributing to the most of the talking. In the end, Percy gave up trying to coax his boyfriend into confessing what was wrong. It became a subject they avoided as much as they could, however, Percy could never let it go completely.

Percy sat down at one of the tables in the far corner at the coffee shop and thought about the turn his life has taken. A month earlier he'd been sitting here, in exactly the same place contemplating what to do with his life. Things hadn't gotten especially clearer, however, he now had something to work for, something to achieve.

Then that day had come.

Percy looked at Nico again, and suddenly tensed. At the desk a familiar man stood. A mane of white-blond hair framed a pale face.

The blood drained from Percy's face as he watched Octavian talk to Nico.

What was he doing here?! During the weeks since Octavian and his men had first "visited" Percy and his mom they had regularly checked in with them to see how they were faring. The visits had often been accompanied by threats, and occasionally a couple of bruises. The first time it had happened Percy hadn't thought about trying to hide his bruises, and Nico had noticed them. Only thanks to Percy's quick lie that he fell down the stairs the day before rescued him from telling his boyfriend the truth. After that, he'd grown more careful.

To see Octavian at such a normal place made Percy's brain swirl with emotions. And then a thought hit him. What if this organization were threatening Nico too? There was no other explanation to Octavian meeting up with Nico otherwise. But to do it in such a public place… Perhaps they were only friends, and Nico didn't know about the dark side Octavian had. However, Percy did not think so. From his experience with Octavian, the closest he was to any human being was his team, and still Percy was under the impression that they didn't like him much either, and that they only took orders from him because they had to.

Perhaps, if Nico was involved with this mysterious organization that was the reason why he so often was irritated. Maybe he was seeing them on the weekends when he had said he was meeting clients. Maybe he had exactly the same problem as Percy himself! It would explain so much, however, Percy couldn't be sure. If he was wrong he would have to explain himself, and if his mother was right about the organization, they too would hear about him trying to figure out who they really are, which would end badly.

Octavian left without as much as a glance on Percy, and Nico turned around hastily. Percy thought he looked grim. What their conversation had contained Percy didn't know, but he intended to find out.

As Nico eyed him curiously from behind the desk, he took a small sip of his drink, and then smiled at his boyfriend.

There would be no more lies.


"So," Percy said. They were on their way home from Nico's work. Since Percy didn't work, he could be home already, but he liked to sit at the café and take it easy. Nico often said that Percy should go out with his friends and have some fun, do stuff. Percy always said no. "Besides, don't you count as stuff?" he always asked and laughed at Nico's red face, and some of the words he would mutter in Italian.

So there he sat, day after day, the exception being when he was with his mother at her job. They had a long way to go before they would be able to pay off the debt.

However, now Percy would find out if Nico too was in the same situation. His voice held nothing of the urgency his mind was in when he calmly said: "One of your customers today – a white-blond guy, pretty young – is he here often?"

Nico tensed, and if Percy hadn't gotten to know him so well these past weeks he wouldn't have noticed. "Thinking of breaking up with me Perce," he said jokingly, however, Percy saw him glancing at him sideways as if that didn't really worry him. But what did worry him? What is your secret Nico?

"Wouldn't think about it," Percy replied and smiled at him lightly. "It's only that I thought I recognized him, and you two seemed to be pretty close." A blatant lie. It had looked like Nico had wanted to punch Octavian in the face.

Nico snorted, which confirmed Percy's suspicions that they were not friends. "We're not friends," Nico said darkly. "And I'd rather not talk about him. He's tangled up in some bad stuff."

"Like what?"

Nico looked at him weirdly. "Well," he said slowly, and Percy made an impatient noise. "According to some stories I've heard he's into some kind of gangster organization." He hesitated, and then said: "My dad had some connections to them too. He regretted it later on, and decided to leave. The only problem being, they don't let members go that easily." He chuckled and shook his head grimly. "It took all he had to break free, nearly made his lawyer job go down the fast way to hell. But he managed, and now he's free." Nico looked at Percy. "You shouldn't get involved with him Percy, not that I should tell you what to do. Just, be careful around him okay? I'm surprised you even recognized him." A suspicious tone had crept into his voice, and Percy thought it was best to change the subject.

"I'm not stupid," he assured his boyfriend, who at that statement laughed quietly. "I was only curious." It seemed to be enough to make Nico relax again, and he slung an arm around Percy's shoulders.

"Good then," he said as they continued their walk down the street.

The evening was warm, but Percy still shivered. Curiosity was dangerous. Yet, it seemed that he had indeed been right in his suspicions that Nico had had something to do with the organization. But of what he just found out it looked like Nico and his family wasn't involved anymore, so there was no chance for him to tell Nico what a mess he was stuck in. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Even here, with Nico at his side in the middle of the street surrounded by people he couldn't shake off the feeling that someone, somewhere, was watching every move he made. And that someone had probably heard every word he and Nico had spoken.

It had been a bet, Percy knew, to risk asking Nico about the organization. It had been a bet, and Percy had lost. The only thing he could do now was to take the consequences and hope he survived them.