**Chapter 15. Second last of YCLTD, get ya comments in now, please tell me how you think it's all going, and what I can improve on. Love you all :*

Also I'm really feeling like some Jasico…. Maybe I'll start a new Jasico series… I want it to be a High School AU…. Hmm, ideas, ideas…

Also, the name "Melissa" is a little wink-wink to a short story I just published on FictionPress. If you want to check it out, here ya go: Has Themes Of Greek Mythology! I'm not sure if that link will work, but I'll check it out.*

Consciousness came back to him slowly, irritatingly so. Blinking away the greyness from the corners of his vision, Percy could tell he'd slept for many days. If only there was someone around… Wherever this was, to ask. Looking around, it wasn't the nice, airy Camp Half-Blood infirmary, but it was definitely a medical centre, so he decided he was in New Rome.

Nico.

Oh gods, oh my fucking gods. Percy felt a certain degree of worry that he'd thought was normal return to his stomach, weighing him down from the inside. Fighting the dread that threatened to drag him down, Percy heaved himself into sitting upright and swung his legs over the side of the cot. He was wearing linen pants and a matching shirt, standard Roman hospital-wear.

Taking deep breaths and telling himself not to freak out, that he could ask the first person he saw where Nico was and they'd probably know, he unsteadily got to his feet.

A pinching sensation in his stomach made the son of Poseidon want to double over in pain, but he fought the cramping and other aches all over his body to take a few tentative steps toward the double doors at the end of the ward.

He worried about losing his balance by pushing them open, but it turned out he didn't have to. A young girl, possibly no more than fifteen stepped through the doors when Percy was a few metres away, and started when she saw him out of bed.

'I know, I know what you're going to say, but really, don't waste your breath because I need to find my boyfriend and I'm going to find him now.' Percy said before she had a chance to speak. The girl —Melissa, read her name tag— shut her slightly open mouth, nodded, and turned to leave, but held the door open after her for Percy to follow.

'I'll take you to Praetor Avila-Ramirez Arellano.' She said.

~ O ~

Melissa had fetched some clean clothes and runners from Percy's cabin (he smelled the shirt as it went over his head and it brought tears to his eyes to smell Nico on his clothing), so soon he was trudging up the dirt path to Reyna's office. Slowly, but still getting there. Percy knew he was receiving curious looks, at best, and Melissa had stopped multiple times to make him take a breath, but before he knew it (actually, it seemed like ages) he was at the praetor offices, outside Reyna's door.

Melissa gave him a once-over, nodded and knocked on the door before opening it for him. Percy grumbled his thanks and walked gingerly inside, fighting the nausea that was about to make him "rainbow yawn".

'Percy,' Reyna said from her desk, her voice carefully schooled so as to not give away any emotion. She was good at it. The praetor stood and directed Percy to a nearby chair, helping him down to it.

'I'm guessing you've come about Nico.' She said, that cold tone putting too many bad thoughts into Percy's head as to why Nico wasn't there himself.

'What happened?' He croaked, feeling even sicker at Reyna's slightly disturbed expression. She cleared her throat and the praetor face was back.

'It seemed after you were injured, a mania was able to take over your body, but I'm sure you know that already.' Reyna began, never one to beat around the bush. 'I suppose Nico, vigilant as ever, caught on and lured you to the Underworld, so that he could meet with Lord Hades. I'm not so sure what happened after that, but Rachael turned up not long after you three left, but Nico and you were still down there for weeks.'

Percy flinched at Reyna's use of the word "you".

'What happened down there is unimportant, Percy—' Percy couldn't bring himself to tell her that wasn't true. 'What's important is that the two of you are back, relieved from duties, and as soon as our healers say you're able, you'll be released and —if you like— escorted to your Greek camp where Nico is.' That claimed Percy's wandering attention.

'Wait, what? Why is Nico there?!'

Reyna explained as gently as she could of how Nico had been badly injured, and though they attended to him immediately, he was moved to Camp Half-Blood as soon as possible for fear of him waking up and—

'… Well… We assumed it was you possessed as the mania that had injured him. If he'd woken up and you'd been nearby, we— the healers were worried he'd be… Scared.'

Like before, Percy didn't try to fight her words. Less this time out of redundancy and more out of trying to spare himself more inner turmoil. He knew what she had said was true.

Percy thanked Reyna and left, heading back to his cabin to pack. He had a boyfriend to talk to.