Chapter 5 It's over… for now

I'm just going to say this now: I am so, so sorry… also there's swearing in here, just a heads up.

Once they got outside Nico and Will looked around for someplace to hide, noting that there wasn't that many people around, most have gotten as far away as they could from the burning building already.

Will and Nico turn left and start heading towards the main street a couple of buildings over, but as they pass the next alleyway a hand dashes out and grabs Nico by the arm pulling him back causing him to let out a yelp.

Will turns to see the creep holding a struggling Nico in his arm while covering his mouth.

"Shut up already!" the creep growls as he tries to restrain the boy.

Nico's still struggling but it's not really making much of a difference.

"Leave him alone!" Will screams as he runs at the creep and kicks him as hard as he can in the leg just under his shin and punches him in the groin and Nico bites the hand that has now let go of his mouth, then Will is pulling Nico along with him and they rush away from the guy that's now doubled over in pain.

"Come on!" Will huffed out as they ran as fast as they could, already the guy was trying to follow them but from how red his face was it was clear that he was still in a great deal of pain and extremely angry.

"Damn brats!" he grit out from between clenched teeth as he hobbled after them.

When Will chanced a glance back at the guy he noticed with horror that the guy was now carrying a knife and he looked ready to use it, Will returned to looking ahead and picked up the pace as he pulled Nico along. He didn't know if anyone would notice what was going on since all attention was on the fire but he started yelling as loud as he could anyway.

"Help! Help! He's got a knife! Somebody help!" his lungs felt like they were on fire from the effort of screaming while running but he couldn't let up now, there were people just up ahead and he needed to get help.

"Help!" Nico had joined in and people finally took notice of the two of them and then man not too far behind.

Will screamed out of pure terror as hands grabbed him but he was able to calm down slightly when he saw that it was a different man than the one chasing them and someone else had put themselves between the two of them and the guy after them, another two were holding the guy back and trying to get the weapon away from him.

When Will could think straight again he saw that they were fire fighters and police officers that had arrived. Will's heart was still thumping away in his chest and Nico was standing nearby crying but it seemed like they had managed to find help in time before anything really bad could happen.

The firefighter nearest the boys wrapped them in shock blankets and tried talking to them to let them know that they were going to be alright while a police officer was on the radio calling in the incident and reporting that they found the two missing boys.

Neither Nico or Will were able to take this in though, they were still getting over the whole ordeal that had just played out in the past few hours. A crowd had gathered around to see what all of the commotion was about but they were kept back by the first responders on scene.

Soon more cars arrived one black with two men getting out and one red with a single man exiting it, they rushed over to the two boys to make sure that they were alright.

"Will!"

"Nico!"

Both fathers embraced their sons and held them close as the boys cried and clutched tightly to them seeking a sense of security, it was finally over, the scary part was finally over and they were safe.

EMT's explained the importance of getting the boys checked over to make sure that there were no lingering effects from the fire, any smoke inhalation or problems brought on by shock.

Both fathers agreed and they went with them to the nearest hospital. No one dared look over at the one responsible for this whole mess as he was being loaded into the back of a squad car and taken away; the fire fighters had already gone to take care of the blaze to get it under control.

…

Will must have dosed off at some point because he found himself waking up in a hospital bed with his dad sitting hunched over in a chair next to the bed looking as if he had aged about ten years in half as many hours.

Will tried to sit up but felt pain shoot through his head and he let out a gasp as he tried to keep still and hoping to make the pain go away.

The sound must have gotten his dads attention because he looked up immediately and his face flooded with relief as unshed tears began to flow.

"Will! Oh God you're awake!" he shot up from his chair and embraced his son as best he could without hurting him. "Please tell me you're okay, are you in any pain? Where does it hurt?" his dad shot out in rapid-fire and Will had to try really hard to follow what was being asked.

"I think I'm okay, my head hurts though." he looked around a bit confused as he took in the hospital room around him. "What happened? Why are we here?" he asked looking at his dad who stopped his fretting and looked at him wide eyed.

"What do you mean? Don't you remember?"

But Will just looked like he was thinking really hard but nothing was coming to him and finally he just shook his head as he looked back at his dad.

"No, did something happen?"

…

Apollo felt his stomach plummet as he realized what was happening here, Will must have had amnesia brought on by a combination of the stress of the day and the shock from everything that just happened. His eight year old mind probably repressed every horrible thing that happened today and he didn't have any idea what he had been through.

Suddenly more tears were spilling from his eyes and Apollo held his son once again as he cried for him.

"Dad, are you okay?" Will asked and Apollo hated that he couldn't even explain why he was so upset for fear that the whole ordeal would come back and do more damage to his sons mind so instead he just pulled back and looked at Will.

"You were in an accident and you probably don't remember but I'm sure that you will be just fine okay?" he asked and Will nodded his understanding even though he didn't know what he was being told because everything was a blank for him and Apollo felt his heart breaking.

"You're going to be okay, I promise." he said quietly. "Now lay back down for now okay? You need to get some rest."

Will did as he was told and soon settled back into the bed.

There was a knock at the door and Apollo looked over to see that it was Thanatos standing there looking solemn as he took in the sight of the sleeping boy in the bed. Apollo stood up and went over to the door and closed it behind him. Neither of them spoke until they were out in the hallway alone.

"How is Will doing?" Thanatos asked after a few heartbeats of silence that felt deafening.

Apollo let out the breath he just realized he had been holding since Will had settled back into bed.

"He seems to have repressed everything that has happened, I don't know yet the extent of the memory loss but there is also no telling whether or not it will come back soon or even ever. I'm a doctor but I feel so useless right now and this is my own son, I should be able to do something but I couldn't even keep him or Nico safe! It was the park for God's sake! It should have been safe! They should have been safe damnit!" he began shouting but he couldn't help it.

Thanatos place a comforting hand on his shoulder but it didn't do much to help.

"I can't believe how easily everything went wrong, things like this shouldn't happen, but it has and I don't know what to do about it!" Apollo cried as he looked at the other man. Finally he was able to take a few deep breaths, though they were a bit shaky he was able to speak in a more controlled voice now.

"What about Nico? How is he?" he was reluctant to ask because after the boys had been examined it was evident that Nico had some scrapes and bruises but nothing more serious, but that was only outwardly, there was no telling what kind of lasting effects still lingered in the poor boys mind as well.

Thanatos guided them over to some chairs nearby and after they sat down he took a deep breath before speaking.

"The doctors already looked him over and it seems he's in much the same condition as Will is right now, he doesn't remember what happened but while he was sleeping he was thrashing around as though caught in a horrible nightmare, his father is watching over him now. I don't know if I've ever seen Hades this upset, even when he had lost his wife. I think he's going to take some time off of work for a while until things are either resolved or go back to some semblance of normalcy, but after something like this I don't know if that will be possible.

"I'm going to have my work cut out for me trying to keep this under wraps from the press." he said as he let out a long suffering sigh though it seemed more like an afterthought.

Apollo didn't know what else to say at this point, he hadn't even thought about the press since he was still so worried about his son's condition but Thanatos was right, this was something that would make headlines in an instant and there would be a lot of commotion over it, the sons of an important CEO and a doctor kidnapped from a local park while out of sight and then later found escaping from a burning building with a knife wielding lunatic chasing after them? The city would go into mass hysteria for sure.

"The good news is that because they are children their names won't be out there for the world to see but eventually this is going to get out and I'm going to have to deal with it." Thanatos said still looking at the ground. "The good thing that came from this aside from the boys making it out of there is that they managed to get the sonofabitch responsible for all of this. Unfortunately there's still court to deal with, this will likely be a long and agonizing trial that could go on for quite some time since neither of the boys are in any condition to tell their part of the story, they may never be able to remember it to be able to tell. For now all we can do is hope that they find as much evidence as they can for a long sentence."

Apollo couldn't agree more, he hoped that the sonofabitch rotted in jail and took the express to hell. He took a deep breath before asking the next part that he dreaded to hear.

"And what happens now? I can't imagine we could risk another incident like this happening again." Everything still felt so surreal that he could hardly believe it was reality in any stretch, this felt like something that happened in late night drama's on tv or in movies but this was really happening.

Thanatos sighed and shook his head.

"Hades thinks it best if we split the boys up now to avoid any further problems. The less they remember of this day may be for the best. Let them grow up with somewhat normal experiences and not let the memories of today weighing them down."

Apollo hated it but he couldn't help but agree, it broke his heart to think of how the two had grown so close in such a small span of time and now that friendship was being torn at the seams and they were being separated, how could anything like this be considered a mercy?

"That's not all, it seems that Hades is so worried that something like this could happen again that he's going to send Nico away and stay someplace safe. I shouldn't even be telling you this but I thought that you deserved to know. And you should also know that we don't blame you, take it from me: you can't be ready for everything, and that's my job."

Apollo nodded mutely, he still felt like he had failed everyone and all because he had to take one lousy phone call… what kind of a parent was he when he let work get in the way of his child's wellbeing? He was a failure and he had so much regret over everything that had happened.

"I'm glad you told me, though I can't even tell Will. It's like we have to erase this entire day from them but I don't know how long that will work, is it even possible to do that?" he stared at his hands that sat clenched and shaking in his lap as he thought over everything.

"I don't know, but it's the only option we have now. For both of their sakes, this is for the best."

Apollo laughed but it held no humor, only bitterness.

"Heh, I wonder if they'll see it that way."

They sat there in silence after that as though the weight of the world had been loaded onto their backs, both of them trying to tell themselves that it was for the best for both boys.

Okay just so you know it was supposed to feel like everything was happening so fast it was hard to really comprehend everything plus it's late. Also I'm sorry for the feels trip but it was needed for the sake of the story I swear! Please don't hate me! also did you know that Microsoft Word accepts sonofabitch as a real word? Interesting...

Anyway I told you that I would be back to my other stories and here's the proof, please review and let me know what you think! After this is going to be a big time jump so be ready, Ammstar out!