PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Underworld's Jealousy || PJatO || Frazeleo || PJatO

Title: The Underworld's Jealousy – Five Easy Steps to Happiness

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; right post House of Hades

PJatO Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, of course. They are all copyright by the old Greeks. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, shoujo-ai, hetero, threesome, hurt/comfort, fluff

Main Pairings: Nico/Percy, Frank/Hazel/Leo

Side Pairings: Reyna/Annabeth, Jason/Piper, Frank/Hazel (established)

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Jason Grace

Summary: Five-shot about what should happen after House of Hades. Nico journeys with Reyna and bonds with her, Frank and Hazel are not happy about Leo thinking of Calypso, Leo is confused by his feelings, Jason wants to help Nico, Reyna questions why her loyalty seems to lay by Annabeth, while Annabeth and Percy try dealing with what they had been through in Tartarus.

The Underworld's Jealousy

Five Easy Steps to Happiness

Step 3: Let's Conduct

Nico was breathless, irritated and exhausted. They had finally reached their destination. Camp Half-Blood. The place Percy considered home. The place that meant nothing to Nico though. He glared distasteful at the Hades cabin. It was only another symbol for him to see what an outcast he was. One of the Big Three, amidst the minor gods as though he was unimportant. It was only thanks to Percy that Hades had a cabin at all. How could all his thoughts end with Percy? It was irritating.

He had left Reyna and the coach to talk strategy and calm Romans and Greeks. They were currently discussing with Chiron, Rachel, Octavian and Clarisse. Nothing Nico wanted to participate in. The excuse of his exhaustion after bringing everyone here had been reasonable enough to the parties involved and they had gladly excused him. May they quarrel for the next couple of hours, he didn't need to listen to that. The question that remained was where he was to rest now though.

The Hades cabin was out of question, as just explained. And somehow, Nico's feet carried him over to the blue cabin that smelt of the sea. Standing in front of the Poseidon cabin, he took a look around to make sure no one saw him before he sneaked in. It was empty. Of course it was empty. But it smelt like Percy and when Nico looked around, he saw the ghosts of past encounters here. Figuratively, of course. Gladly enough, there were no ghosts in the cabin. Yawning exhausted, he collapsed face-first on what he knew was Percy's bed. With closed eyes, he could smell his Sea Prince on the sheets. As hard as falling asleep normally was for him, surrounded by Percy's unique scent of the salty sea, cookies and laughter (if laughter had a smell, it would smell like Percy), he found himself soon drifting off into a peaceful slumber.

/break\

Frank rubbed his neck, grimacing at the pain. He had a perfectly fine bed standing in his room. His girlfriend had a perfectly fine bed standing in her room. And he could be laying in either of them. But ever since they had found Leo in the engine room yesterday, Hazel was worried. She had asked him to check if Leo had sneaked out of his room again. It wasn't just that Frank couldn't disobey those big, golden eyes, no, he worried about the Latino too. So he had gone and checked. Just to find Leo curled together on his makeshift bed once more. This time, without Hazel, he hadn't even bothered waking the Latino. He was well aware that the last night, after Frank and Hazel had accompanied him to his quarters, Leo had most likely gone back to the engine room too. So this time, he had wanted to make sure. Scooping Leo up in his arms had been surprisingly easy. May it be because he was now stronger, or because the boy was light-weighted, but Frank easily managed to carry the Latino back to his cabin. Now he was keeping watch over the son of Hephaestus. To make sure that, if Leo woke up again, he wouldn't run off once more. The downside of this plan however was that Frank had dozed off in Leo's chair and now his neck hurt like a bitch.

"Frank? Frank, are you here?", whispered a soft, curious voice as the door opened.

Frank turned, as much as his aching neck allowed it, to look at Hazel. The daughter of Pluto slipped into the room, curiously looking from the peacefully sleeping Latino to the cranky son of Mars. In the end, she sat down at the edge of Leo's bed. The otherwise so hyperactive Latino, who seemed to be physically unable to sit still, was looking so surprisingly peaceful and content that she needed to check his pulse, just to make sure. The way he leaned into her touch was already answer enough though. Smiling softly, she let her hand linger on Leo's neck.

"He's so beautiful...", whispered Hazel, the longing obvious in her voice. "Why were we being so naive when we first met? If we hadn't chased him away like that, his first kiss would have been ours. But now we're having a heartbroken and lonely firebug at our hands, without any clue on how to fix him again. I just... want him to be happy, especially now that he's so sad..."

"I know", murmured Frank softly as he stood to walk over to her. "I know..."

Sitting down next to Hazel, he wrapped one arm around her waist and rested the other on Leo's hip. The Latino hummed in his sleep contently as he subconsciously scooted closer to them until his head was resting in Hazel's lap. Her fingers ran through the dark curls, tenderly caressing them.

"That's it", declared Hazel softly, yet determined. "When he wakes up, we'll make him ours."

"Okay", nodded the son of Mars slowly. "How?"

"I'm... not sure yet...", frowned the Roman girl thoughtful. "We'll see..."

"Mh... who's talking? Why are you talking? I want to sleep...", mumbled a sleepy voice between them, the Latino burying his face in his hands. "Shut up..."

"Sorry. We didn't mean to wake you", apologized Hazel in a soft voice.

It seemed to seep through to Leo's mind who was in his room and had woken him, because he hastily sat up and stared at them with wide, surprised eyes, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Hazel had to smile at that amused, resting one hand on his shoulder.

"W—What are you two doing here? In my bed? Wait. What am I doing here? I don't remember going to bed...? What is happening here?", frowned Leo completely confused.

"You haven't gone to bed", nodded Frank with a disapproving glare. "I found you in the engine room. And then I brought you to your room. We told you that you shouldn't be sleeping down there. You can't catch a proper rest on the floor. You need to use a bed."

"I told you...", sighed Leo, a little frustrated, and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't sleep in here. It's so... so silent and lonely. In the engine room, I at least have the engine and Festus."

"You could join me and Hazel, you wouldn't be lonely and it wouldn't be silent either."

"That was the subtle and sensible thing to say", snorted Hazel and hit his upper arm.

"J—Join you?", frowned Leo confused. "Like roommates...? That'll be a tight spot though..."

"Not... like roommates", replied Hazel and shook her head slowly. "Join us in our relationship."

That was the information Leo's brain needed to completely shut down. Or at least it seemed that way because he stopped moving at all and to Frank, it even looked as though he had stopped breathing. Tilting his head, the Canadian waved one hand in front of his face.

"I think we broke him...", commented the son of Mars worried.

"Leo", started Hazel in a firm voice, gripping the Latino's face to make him look at her. "There is something you didn't mention about Calypso. You said the heroes that leave her break her heart. You forgot to mention that they leave because their hearts belong to someone else. All the heroes that left her had someone waiting for them. Now tell me, who did you want to return to?"

"I—I...", started the son of Hephaestus, frowning at them distrustful.

"You don't need to be afraid", whispered Hazel softly, caressing his cheek. "We like you. A lot."

"Which is a total understatement", added Frank, openly checking Leo out.

Feeling Frank's eyes on his body like that made Leo blush embarrassed. "I... like you?"

His heart was speeding up in a nearly panic-attack. He shouldn't have done this, he shouldn't have confessed just like that. But he hadn't slept properly since he had left Calypso's island, every night was haunted with nightmares of him turning just into another one of those heroes that forgot about her, fearing he would fail his friend, fearing the oath would be kept with a final breath and he would die during this war. All those thoughts of fear and panic suddenly vanished from his mind, left him pleasantly numb as he felt soft lips being pressed against his. It was different than kissing Calypso. Hazel was more demanding, her hand in his neck kept him in place. She also tasted different, so much better and the way her lips moved against his send waves of pleasure and want through his body. Gasping surprised, Leo arched into the kiss, wanting more.

"Then it's decided", whispered Hazel against his lips as they parted breathlessly. "You're ours."

"Well, then share, Haze", huffed Frank and grabbed Leo around the waist to turn him. "Mine too."

"Don't pout", laughed the daughter of Pluto and leaned back to enjoy the show.

Licking her lips, she watched the way her delicate Latino was leaning against her tall and strong praetor, the way Frank's broad hands looked on the slim waist, the contrast between their skin as the flushed son of Hephaestus submitted to the kiss. This was turning her on more than it should.

"Mine too", whispered Frank as the two boys parted, his lips trailing down to Leo's neck.

"O—Okay", nodded the Greek, obviously completely overwhelmed by the situation. "Yes."

"Good boy", chuckled Hazel amused and kissed his nose.

/break\

"Nico. Nico, come on. Time to wake up."

Nico growled annoyed, swatting at the hand that kept poking his cheek. If Reyna wanted to die a painful and slow death, she was on the right path here. Opening his eyes, he glared up at the daughter of Bellona. All the cold Roman gave him was a calculating glance back.

"I thought you might want to hear the news", started Reyna and sat down next to Nico. "We agreed. More or less. Not even Octavian could argue much any longer. Romans are eager to fight in this war too and not to stand on the sidelines or waste time fighting the Greeks. We are joining forces and we will be on our way to Athens soon. Clarisse is preparing everyone for war."

"Good, wonderful. Can I go back to sleep now?", growled Nico annoyed.

"No", huffed Reyna equally annoyed. "The two of us will head back to the Argo II to tell the others. Clarisse seems quite capable of leading the Greeks into the war. And I want to... before we start this, I want to go back to the Argo II once more, see them maybe a last time... So you will take me with you when you return to the ship. Two people is less than two people, a goat and a statue. After everything you did in the past days, you can take me with you there. We can tell them together and then you can drop me off here again before they will be marching into war."

"You make it sound as though I care. As though I will be returning to that ship", snorted Nico and gave up on sleep, instead sitting up. "What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because, and I know you don't want to face this, you love Percy Jackson. You won't just leave for the underworld and let him face this alone. I've seen it in your eyes, because as good as you are at covering it up, your eyes can't lie. The way you looked at me when I confronted you. Now?"

Gritting his teeth, Nico stood up. "Fine. But before we leave, I need a shower. And a change of clothes. And actually, so do you. We both reek of goat."

Reyna laughed slightly at that. They had traveled for days, without much time or opportunity to get showered. If she would return to see Annabeth once more, she didn't want to smell like old cheese.

/break\

Percy found himself sitting in the mess hall, every bone in his body aching. Yesterday, Piper had run around the ship, screaming like a maniac. The statue had appeared on the screens. The whole crew had gathered in front of the screen, watching for an hour, catching images of Nico, Reyna and the coach every once in a while. But Nico only for a short moment. He had headed off, away from the others. And since then, he had disappeared. When the others had returned to their quarters to sleep, or to just do something else aside from staring hopefully at the screen, Percy had remained. Why had Nico left Reyna, the coach and Clarisse alone? Where had he gone to? Did he leave? For good? Nico had been so hostile when they had parted. Was this it? Nico fulfilled the rest of the deal, helped them some more and then just left again? Fear was clawing at his mind. He didn't want to face this without Nico. He didn't want for the son of Hades to disappear again. So he kept sitting there, staring at the screen and praying that Nico would just walk through camp once more.

"Percy? Are you still sitting here?", asked Jason worried as he entered. "You need to sleep."

"I'm not tired", huffed Percy, his eyes fixed on the screen.

"Percy. We're worried for you", sighed the son of Jupiter and approached Percy, sitting down next to the Greek. "You and Annabeth have changed since you returned to us. You're both losing weight, you're both more tired and you're both more drawn back. But Annabeth at least confides in Piper. You need to talk to someone too, Percy. I get the two of us aren't the closest. But can't you at least talk to... Frank and Hazel? The three of you are closer, you know them better than us others, well aside from Annabeth. But I don't think that you two talking it out would do much..."

"No offense, but... Frank and Hazel are a little too busy since yesterday morning", hummed Percy.

"Busy?", frowned Jason completely confused, cocking his head.

"With making out with Leo", nodded the son of Poseidon slowly, pulling his legs up against his chest. "You can't tell me you haven't noticed the hickeys all over Leo and the way at least one of them is constantly touching Leo in some kind of way. They like just got together."

"Frank... Hazel... and... Leo...?", muttered Jason slowly and stunned.

"Well", smiled Percy and patted Jason's back. "See, one less fear for you. I doubt Hazel will reject who you are now, what with her boyfriend having a boyfriend."

"Who I am?", frowned Jason, his mind still busy repeating every interaction he had seen between the trio since the last morning. "What do I have to do with anything?"

"Well, you said you're afraid Nico and Hazel will reject that you're gay", said Percy softly, resting his hand on Jason's shoulder. "See, that fear was uncalled for."

"For fuck's sake, Percy", groaned the Roman annoyed. "I've been telling you for two days now, I am not gay. And I am especially not gay for you! Damn it!"

"I understand", smiled Percy softly. "You need to grow more comfortable with who you are before you can admit it to anyone else. I'm still very proud of you that you confronted me."

"What is so hard about that part that I don't love you?", grunted Jason frustrated. "I'm not coming onto you, okay, Percy? I'm not hitting on you! I'm not even gay. I never kissed a boy, don't want to."

"With your beard, yes", nodded Percy a little amused. "Come on, Jason. I'm not an idiot. You've been shadowing me ever since Annabeth and I returned to the ship. You're like everywhere I am. You constantly drop by at my cabin to check on me, you're making more of an effort than the rest of the crew together. Not that I blame them, I'm quite glad they're laying off me. What reason could you possibly have to stalk me like that all of a sudden if not for a crush?"

Jason remained silent and glared at Percy. This was futile. And somehow, Percy was right. He was behaving suspiciously and he couldn't tell Percy the truth. That Jason tried to be a good friend for Nico and tried to be there for Percy and protect him until the son of Hades would be back. Because then Jason would have to spill Nico's secret and he would never to this.

"Wait, you never even kissed a boy?", asked Percy surprised – and why was he so close now?

/break\

Nico rubbed his neck with an annoyed glare attached to his face. When him and Reyna had landed on deck of the Argo II, Piper had screamed in surprise at first. And then she had hugged them – both of them, which was not appreciated by Nico – and just send Reyna off to go and talk to Annabeth about 'something urgent'. The daughter of Aphrodite had left to gather the rest of the crew and told Nico to go to the mess hall already and wait there for them. Pulling on the collar of the blue shirt he had borrowed from Percy (after showering and noticing that he had no own clothes there), he opened the door to the mess hall. Just to freeze and stare. Within a second, he had Jason grabbed by the neck and tried not to break it in his fury as he pulled the blonde off of Percy's lips. Pressing the blonde against the wall, he locked eyes with electric blue ones, promising the other pain and death.

Author's note: Next chapter will have Percy - and the others - trying to keep Nico from killing Jason, as well as the confrontation between Nico and Percy, aka "Why did you just try to kill Jason" vs "Why did you just kiss Jason"... I'm really feeling bad for Jason...