Chapter 4 Picture perfect

Deadly Huggles I never even thought of it like that but you're right, Will is like a guardian angel for Nico! I guess that's basically what I was going for but just didn't realize it.

Apollo sat with his head in his hands while Thanatos and Nico's father spoke with the officers that had questioned him after he had reported the children's abduction. He felt torn up over the fact that this had happened while he was supposed to be watching them. He had been distracted for only a small amount of time, but that was all it took and he blamed himself.

How could he have let this happen? How could he have been stupid enough to take his eyes off of the kids? He had seen them playing too close to the trees and run into them and still he hadn't thought to stop them or go after them immediately, how could he not blame himself?

…

Nico and Will are trapped in what appears to be a rundown flat with photos and news articles plastered all over the walls. Will didn't know where exactly they were because the guy that had grabbed them had taken so many turns and back alleys that Will felt all turned around and maybe just a little car sick.

Nico had woken up not that long ago and was feeling very scared. Will couldn't blame him, he was scared too. He knew that bad things could happen when kids got stolen but he didn't know what to do to get away. What if his dad never found them? What if the police didn't come? What if they were stuck like this for a hundred years, would anyone recognize them? So many thoughts ran through Will's mind.

"Mama."

Will looked over at Nico a little surprised.

"I thought you didn't have a mom."

Thanatos had told Will and his dad one time about how Nico had lost him mom a few years ago, Will thought that was very sad to not have a mom.

He looked at the pictures that were on the wall and saw what Nico was looking at; all over the wall were pictures of the same lady over and over again. Will could read but not too much so he only got bits and pieces.

"Maria di Angelo. That was your mom?"

Nico nodded as he continued to look at the many pictures.

"You look like her, she's really pretty." Will said not really sure what else to say.

"I agree."

They both turn around to see someone walk into the room; it's the same guy as before.

Will watched as the man walked over to Nico and lifted the camera he had around his neck to snap a picture of the other boy. Nico still looked scared and Will wanted to help him.

"It's okay Nico." Will said reaching for his hand but the man grabbed Nico and pulled him away towards a stool by what looked like a sheet on the wall and odd looking lamps.

"Nuh uh. You come over here, it's time for your close-up!" the man said as he nudged Nico to the stool and waited for him to sit down.

Nico looked at Will as if silently asking what he should do, Nico was still new to interacting with strangers so he probably thought that Will could help him but Will didn't know what to do either.

Will tried to smile even though he wasn't sure he could at that moment.

"It's okay Nico." he tried again to reassure his friend.

"Would you shut up!" the man said turning towards Will and looking really annoyed with him. "If you keep talking I'll throw you in the closet or something, you weren't supposed to be here anyway!" the man yelled and both boys flinched. "That's more like it."

…

Octavian, now having the prize he's sought after for so long makes Nico the subject of his photos.

Finally! He thinks to himself. He wanted to laugh at just how easy it had been to get his hands on his Angel, with only one little set back but he finally got what he's wanted for these past few years!

"It's going to be okay Nico."

Octavian lowered his camera and took his eyes off his angel, that brat that he ended up bringing along was still talking.

"What did I tell you?" he said as he turned to the blond boy with a sneer. A bit of fear showed in the boy's blue eyes but somehow Octavian doubted it was because of his earlier threat to the kid.

"He's sacred, he's not used to strangers." the blond told him, now he thought he saw a look of defiance in those blue eyes.

Damn this annoying brat…

"I was just trying to help him, I'm his best friend."

Octavian felt something snap inside him at those words, the only one his angel should need was him!

"I told you not to talk!" he yells as he grabs the kid by the shoulder and drags him over to a closet off to the side of the room. He opens the door and throws the kid in and then slams the door shut before placing the back of a chair under the handle so that it can't be opened.

Once he is sure that the door can't be opened from the inside he goes back to his main focus.

"Alright Angel, let's see that pretty face of yours." he says as he readies his camera once more.

…

While Will is locked away in the closet Nico doesn't know what to do. Did he listen and do what this man said? Did he scream for help? Was there anyone around to call for help? He looked around the room and tried his best to figure out how he could get Will and himself out of this. When the man tells him to turn and face the wall to the left Nico scans the wall and sees something familiar.

There is a red rectangle on the wall just like the one in the office that Thanatos works in, Nico knew that it was a fire alarm and that you were only supposed to pull it in emergencies, Thanatos had said that when you pull it the fire department will come to help. This was an emergency, and they needed help! But how was he going to get to it?

The man told him to look down and when he did he saw the cord for the lamp beside him running along the ground and right by the man's foot.

"Beautiful! I knew the pictures would be amazing!" the man said as he looked through the photos on his camera.

Nico figured that he thought that Nico would just sit there quietly and wait for him to tell him what to do next, and that was where he was wrong.

Nico only really listened to four people, his dad, Thanatos, Will's dad, and Will. He was only listening now because he was worried that Will would be hurt, but since Will was locked in the closet he was safe for now.

So while the man was distracted Nico slipped down from the stool without a sound and crouched down and pulled the cord as hard as he could catching the man off guard and causing him to fall over with his feet getting tangled in the cord.

Nico then ran to the closet door and moved the chair away so that Will could get out and then he rushed to the fire alarm and pulled it down.

Loud alarms rang through the air and the overhead sprinklers came on as well.

"NO!" the man screamed as he finally untangled the cord around his feet as the boys rushed for the door.

All of the equipment began to short out and spark as the water hit it, pictures and news articles on the wall were now ruined but that didn't matter, they just needed to run.

Once they had left the loft they made it to a landing with stairs going down, Nico was about to run down them but Will pulled him over to a door at the end of the hallway.

"The fire escape!" he yelled over the noise, Nico wasn't about to argue so together they ran as fast as they could through the door and down the stairs.

But before they reached the bottom Will pulled him towards a door leading to a lower floor, it was unlocked to they ran through it. Nico didn't know what Will was thinking but when Will had him crouch down away from the Window he heard running feet in the fire escape and he held his breath, scared that they would be caught again they sat there as still and quiet as they could until the man had run by and they were sure that it was safe to run again.

They climbed to their feet and hurried to the main stairs, they still needed to get out of the building and find help.

Bet you thought that Nico was just going to sit there scared and helpless the entire time huh? NOPE! XD

Just so you know the building doesn't have many residents so there weren't many people to evacuate and they were on the top floor so they didn't end up running into anyone, I don't have a real building in mind so I'm really just making things up but I hope this helps make sense of it.

If there was anything that doesn't seem like it would actually work then let me know and we can fix it.

Please let me know what you think!