"Death is not the greatest loss in life.

The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."

-Norman Cousins

-Ω-

Nico was pacing like a caged animal, every muscle tense and all of his senses sharp. He felt unwelcome here, and that certainly was true; this was Heaven, a place where he was very sure he wasn't allowed back into. Even though, technically, he was only artificially fallen, he was pretty sure that the others didn't take his return kindly; only because he was needed to aid in the mission in rescuing the Archangels, which Perseus had informed him earlier of, was he allowed beyond Heaven's gates.

Nico sat hunched on his bed, nursing a beer, and Rachel sat beside him, looking on with concern that he really didn't want or care about. He always had a nightly beer or two. It was routine. The room in the Golden Swords' old headquarters that had been commissioned for Nico had used to be Luke's, and when he'd first gotten in there, there had been a fine layer of dust that had settled onto everything. There had also been a few of Luke's belongings there, too. A sword. A shield. A couple of pairs of Converse. Some old T-shirts. Despite this, most of his belongings had been taken to Hell with him when he moved to Lilith's palace, so the process of clearing everything out hadn't taken long.

It was simply decorated now. Plain, cream colored sheets. Beige walls. It was basically a permanent motel room. The furniture was plain, too. A simple dresser with a lamp pushed against the wall, a twin bed pushed against the wall opposite it. Nico didn't have many pictures to tack up or clothes to put in his drawers, and he had no intention to make this room more homey than he had to.

"I'm thinking of starting to travel with the group," Rachel suddenly announced, breaking the silence and startling Nico so much he almost dropped his bottle. At his shocked look, she stated, "There aren't just fallen angels here. They're everywhere. I want to take a tour around the states on a search to help more like us, and then maybe I'll establish a sort of camp somewhere. What do you think I should call it? I'm debating between Camp Half-Blood, as in half angel half rebel," Nico rolled his eyes at this, "Or Camp Jupiter."

"How about Camp Half-Jupiter?" Nico suggested sarcastically, and Rachel crossed her arms and frowned at him, and he stuck his tongue out at her in retaliation.

"This is serious, Nico. You're like, the unofficial second-in-command. I need your opinion before we move," she griped, sounding exasperated, and Nico quirked an eyebrow at this.

"We?" he asked. Rachel looked up sharply, her expression no longer pouty but actually contorted into one of genuine concern and irritation.

"Are you telling me you're not coming?" she demanded, and at this the fallen angel shrugged, taking a particularly vicious swig from his beer. Rachel looked like she was going to slap it out of his hand, but that would mean that she'd have to clean it up herself since Nico certainly wasn't going to do it.

"I mean, this is the only place on Earth I've ever known," he told her, refusing to meet her bright green gaze and instead picking at the bedspread, "All of our human friends are near here. What if one of them needs help? What if one of the old farts dies and we don't know about it until several years later? I can't be responsible for that. Besides, I still have to visit everyone."

"So Jason and Annabeth and the gang are what are keeping you anchored here?" Rachel prompted. "You know they'd want you to live a little."

"I'm fine just where I am," Nico stated firmly, starting to realize that this wasn't just playful arguing or banter. They may just have an argument about this.

"Really? Are you sure?" Rachel hissed. "Because yeah, you go out and visit your friends. Yeah, you sometimes participate in some of the activities that the other fallen angels and I arrange, but I know the truth. You're still torn up over Will. You say you just have a beer every night, but that beer turns into two. Then three. Then five. Pretty soon you're so drunk that you can't do anything but go to sleep. This happens every. Single. Day."

"Don't you dare bring Will into this!" Nico bellowed rising to his feet, and Rachel did the same, her glare intense enough to make flowers wither. "You have absolutely no right!"

"I can do whatever I want!" Rachel snapped. "You can't live like this! You have to cope in a better way! Yes, you help out. Yes, you're doing good in the world, but that doesn't counteract the fact that you drink yourself to sleep every night!" Deciding that the drink in his hand wasn't going to help him in this situation, Nico chucked it at the wall next to him and was satisfied to hear it shattering into a million pieces. Rachel didn't even flinch.

"WILL WAS MY EVERYTHING, YOU HEAR?!" Nico screeched. "HE HUNG THE SUN IN THE SKY AND MADE THE STARS, AND NOW HE'S GONE! HE'S NEVER COMING BACK AND YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO BRING HIM UP BECAUSE HE'S IN THE GROUND, OKAY?! IN THE GROUND!"

"It's been sixty-eight years, Nico!" Rachel yelled right back, though she was much more calm and collected than Nico, who was slightly buzzed and hella fucking mad. "You have to let him go! Yes, you can remember him! Yes, you can shed a few tears over him, but your life is fucking falling apart and you're just sitting back and watching it happen!"

"What's it to you, huh?!" Nico roared, balling his hands into fists. "Why do you care?!"

"Because you're my friend!" Rachel cried. "You're my friend and I care about you and every time I come in here you have a drink in your hand and a look of utter sadness on your face and I need to do everything I can to change that!" Nico, unable to come up with a comeback, ground his teeth together and composed himself.

"Get out," his words were soft. Deadly.

"Nico-"

"I'm not going to ask you again."

The door closed.

Nico reached under his bed and used his bottle opener to pop the cap off another beer, fury simmering beneath the surface. Rachel didn't understand. She didn't understand anything. She was the one in the wrong here, not Nico, and that was for sure. A soft rapping came at the door, and a muscle in Nico's jaw jumped. He placed down his bottle and stormed over to the door, throwing it open with an irritated, "Rachel, I swear-" But instead of Rachel, two angels were standing outside, one boy and one girl. Both seemed stoic, but their eyes portrayed their nervousness.

"Hello, is this Nicolas?" the boy asked. He seemed like a bear and a human had had a child, and this child was pudgy and had military-cut hair. Even in his armor he seemed more like a big baby man who looked vaguely Asian.

"Nico," the fallen death angel bit. "What do you want?" The boy looked like he was about to reply, but that's when Nico took a close look at the girl angel and the air was sucked out of his lungs. "Hazel?"

"It's been a long time, brother," Hazel murmured, her eyes gleaming like 24-karat gold as she gave him a one-over. She probably noted the bags under his eyes and the pallor of his skin, because she frowned a bit before saying, "You've changed."

"As have you," he told her gruffly. He stepped aside to allow the two angels inside, wondering how they'd gotten into the headquarters without the fallen angel sentries knowing of their arrival. He repeated his question, "What do you want?"

"Frank and I need to ask a favor," Hazel explained, taking a seat on the bed and maing herself at home. The other angel, Frank, simply stood around seeming awkward. So much for divine presence. "The Archangels have gone missing," Nico's stomach dropped like a leaden ball, "And we need you and your friends to help us find them."

"What happened?" he asked. "How did this happen?"

"I wish we knew," Frank told him through clenched teeth. "But it's bad. And the Metatron has requested the help of you and your friends. All of them are being brought to Heaven by different angels as we speak. Care to join them?"

Nico stood in shocked silence for a moment before saying, "Sure, I guess."

Unlike Percy and his arrival, he didn't have wings, and neither did Piper or Calypso, but they both had their highly esteemed husbands to help them out, and Nico was alone. They'd dumped him in a room that was a cell in disguise and had left, and God knows how much time has passed. He hadn't had contact with anyone in what felt like years except for when angels brought him fresh clothes and foods. Even then, not a word was uttered, and the door was always locked afterwards.

He could've had husband by his side.

No, he shouldn't've thought of that. He tried to concentrate on anything but the sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes that flitted their way behind his eyelids, but it was like telling someone to not think of blue elephants. That's all they thought about. Nico collapsed onto his knees, his shoulders shaking with the sheer losses that he'd sustained, though he didn't cry. The boy in his mind wouldn't've wanted that, his angelic face completely preserved even after all of those years. The fallen angel had finally thought that they'd make it out of Hell, that after those grueling times enslaved by Lilith they'd go home and settle down, maybe even adopt a child or two. But no, his partner just had to be attacked by that Watcher, just had to have that monstrosity sink its teeth into his neck and then leave. The worst part was how he had thought that it wouldn't've mattered much. Only after Lilith and Luke were dead did his only love turn into the beast that had bitten him, destined to cry out his sins until he could cry no more.

"Will," he said softly, the name like a prayer on his tongue. He hugged himself, keeling over as he finally allowed the tears to fall down his face in a steady flow. The room he was in was very beautiful, but it couldn't keep his mind off of the blond-haired young man that had been viciously ripped away from him. They were going to get married, possibly beside a beautiful lake or on a mountain, and they would struggle with taxes and jobs and they'd move out of the little craphole that Will had been living in beforehand. They were going to adopt children and raise them as their own, watching them grow up faster than the blink of an eye. They were going to grow old together; well, Will would but Nico would at least be there for him while they cuddled by the TV and watched Doctor Who or something.

He couldn't have any of that, because he had to be the one with all of the misfortunes in life, and he wasn't angry or irritated in the least when he thought about it. Nico didn't complain, he didn't raise his fists to the Heavens and scream how he thought it was so unfair, he didn't blame anyone for it; he simply dealt with it. Someone had to shoulder all of the bad things so that others could enjoy the good things, but he wished that maybe in the next millennia he would be able to shed that burden and finally be among the ones who were successful in life. But how could he be successful when his only love was either a pile of scattered dust or about to become one?

The light from the windows mocked him, speaking of beautiful days and happy endings, but with a sour expression he knew that his happy ending had been taken away by a single bite.

"NO!" Nico screamed as horizontal slits carved themselves over Will's eyelids. The blond boy screamed and screamed and screamed, writhing on the floor as two bite marks stood out against his neck. Will had been bitten, and now he was to cry out all his sins in pain and agony until he turned to dust. "Will! Will!" Nico was sobbing on his knees beside his boyfriend, who was still shuddering and weeping blood. Then it stopped, and Will rose to his feet, jagged lines carved into his chalk-white face. His expression was almost…serene, and Nico rose with him, desperately clutching his boyfriend's shoulders as if he could shake the infection out of him.

"Will…"

I'm sorry, Nico. I am a monster now, Will told him sadly, his lips pursing as he wrapped his arms around the fallen death angel, who clutched him tightly as if he were going to disappear into thin air. I cannot join you in your fight any longer, I must go with them. He nodded towards the other Watchers as droplets of blood, more than what the other Watchers were crying, splattered onto his shirt. I am sorry. Tears were steaming down Nico's face as everyone watched, horrorstruck. Will drew away from Nico and took his place amongst the other Watchers, who handed him a white cloak that he wrapped around his shoulders. I am blessed to have been able to love you like no other, Nico. I will remember you until the day I turn to dust, but I also know more than anything. I can see the past, the present, and the future, but I need you to promise me one thing, Nico.

"Anything, anything!" Nico wailed. Will managed a sad smile as more blood dripped onto his clothes.

Don't hide. Live. Do not dwell on my memory, love others and give them what you gave to me. Will sighed, bending his head. I love you Nico. I wish you could be with me, but the Watchers cannot Turn a fallen angel who has

not been cast into Hell. Again, I will love you always.

Nico had done what he'd promised Will, helping people, but alcohol had gripped him like a vice. It was the perfect coping mechanism, and he turned to it every night so he wouldn't be haunted by nightmares of his beloved being torn away from him. He had never fulfilled his promise to live life to the fullest as the years between the present and their departure began to elongate and blur together, though not for a day did he forget his William Solace. He'd helped Annabeth with her heartsickness, knowing exactly what it felt like to love someone who simply couldn't love you back, and he'd gone out on plenty of dates with plenty of very nice men. He'd gotten a bit tipsy on one of them and it'd turned into a one night stand, the first of many, though he didn't even remember the guy's name or what he looked like. One brown-haired boy, Leonard, almost lasted a full year, but he was very chatty and Nico didn't trust him to keep a secret; if they settled down and Nico didn't age, Leonard was bound to babble about it to a neighbor or a friend.

Nico simply couldn't settle down with anyone. He kept comparing them to Will, the beautifully inexplicable Will, and he'd nitpick them until he didn't think they'd work out, using it as an excuse to not set another date time. Nico had resorted to doing the best he could at helping others. He handled Annabeth and her broken heart, Piper with her woes about Jason's ever-failing health, Calypso's grief when Leo began to use a cane, and Reyna's sorrow when Alex had passed on. He was the rock that everyone leaned on, the beacon within the fog, and he knew it's what his Will would've wanted him to do.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the door creak open and then slowly close, announcing the arrival of someone unknown. The black-haired fallen angel was still kneeling, though as he reminisced about all of the good times the flow of tears began to ebb until it stopped completely. "I miss you, Will," he murmured to his thin, pale hands, which were folded into his lap.

"I missed you, too." Nico's head couldn't've shot up faster, his eyes widening to the size of saucers as he regarded the one in front of him. "It's been a long time," Will chuckled, his sandy hair wreathing his face like a pale halo. Nico wouldn't've been surprised if he'd been a Seraphim from God himself, for that's the only thing that could've compared to the beauty he was seeing before him. Will's cheeks were rosy and healthy, his skin dark as if he'd spent a long time tanning, and his blue eyes sparkled with more life than he'd ever seen before.

"How-?" Will shushed him in order to prevent him from rambling, taking one knee so that they could be eye level.

"It took fifty years, Neeks, but I didn't have as much sins as the other Watchers did. I do, however, have a mortal soul, and once I ascended I hung around in paradise for a while, very nice place by the way, and all of a sudden these angel dudes are taking me to see you." Nico had missed Will's smile so much that his chest hurt when the blond flashed his pearly whites, and he dissolved into a babbling mess. There were tears streaming down his face as he lunged at Will, burying his face into the boy's shoulder and hugging him tight, enveloping himself in his sweet and familiar scent, not knowing that he was speaking until he finally picked up on Will saying, "Shh. It's okay. I know, I know. Yes, I love you too." The fallen angel was saying those three words over and over again, almost chanting them like an incantation, and he finally quieted knowing that this was Will, his Will, and he was here with him. Right here. In this room.

The fallen angel pulled away, smiling softly as he simply sat back onto his heels and looked at Will's face. Thankfully, things had changed from before. There were no bite marks on Will's neck, no vertical slashes over his eyelids, and he wasn't crying blood at all, the signs of him being a Watcher completely erased, as if it'd never happened in the first place. His heartache turned into a warm fuzziness, and that turned into something else. He rose to his feet, a bit unsteady at first as his knees almost buckled, but he managed to stay upright. Will rose as well, and soon the fallen angel was pinning him against the wall with his hips, sucking and biting and kissing at whatever looked like skin. Will made a ragged noise, completely caught off-guard, and raked his fingers through Nico's black hair as the fallen angel latched onto his neck.

Their mouths slid together as the feeling, from every day Nico wished he could kiss those lips once more, poured into a single connection, and the fallen angel was pretty sure he was devouring the poor blond in the most graceless way that someone could possibly kiss another person. By the time he drew away, Will's lips were a bit swollen, but he wasn't complaining in the least as he dragged Nico closer, if that was even possible. Let's just say that not long after the two of them were on the bed clutching each other tightly and someone's hand was on someone else's belt buckle and fingers were brushing over heated skin and someone whispered "Oh God" and then it simply dissolved into a chorus of murmured names and hushed "I love you's."

-Ω-

The Next Day…

Percy knew that of all the things he expected to see when walking into Nico's room, this had to be the one thing he hadn't thought of already. Clothes had been strung over the floor, which didn't surprise the messenger angel in the least, since Nico wasn't the least bit tidy, but when he looked over at the bed instead of seeing one mound under the covers he saw two, and boy did those covers look like they'd seen some shit.

"Um…Nico?" Percy called, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot and finally mustering up the courage to walk a little closer, enough to be sitting at the edge of Nico's bath basin and watching the blankets move as the two beings under it breathed. When there was no response he tried again, louder this time, "Nico?" There was a grunt as the blob of fabric closest to where Percy was sitting began to shift, and the fallen death angel finally emerged from the covers, though the black-feathered young man automatically wished that his lifelong friend had stayed asleep.

Nico's hair was mussed, his eyes half closed, and his pale, muscular chest and abdomen made themselves known as they stood out from above the covers, though Percy winced to himself when he saw a hip and part of a V-line make a guest appearance. The messenger angel stayed silent as Nico rubbed his eyes blearily, shoving his hair out of his nearly black eyes, completely oblivious of the fact that he was, indeed, stark naked under those sheets. They even upheld a small, and rather tension filled on Percy's part, conversation before it seemed to dawn on the fallen angel that he wasn't dressed.

"Uh…"

"Don't say anything," Percy told him, rising to his feet as he felt the blush as low as his chest. "I'll just…" Will, scaring the pants off of Percy since he was supposed to be a Watcher, also decided to show up as he popped out from under the covers and peeped over Nico's muscular shoulder, not the least bit self-conscious about the state he and his boyfriend were in, though the fallen angel seemed about ready to die as his face flushed the color of tomatoes.

"Hiyah, Perce," he exclaimed, not a hint of shame in his voice as he assumed the position of Big Spoon, though secretly, and guiltily, Percy was trying to figure out who'd topped. "Nice wings." Perseus the very embarrassed messenger angel then proceeded to demonstrate his speed to the apparently not dead Will as he shot out of the room as fast as possible, almost leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.

-Ω-

(A/N) I had a feels attack while writing this.

Disclaimer: I ONLY OWN THE PLOT