A/N Heeeey! I'm back! And here's the second chapter, as promised! So this chapter is longer, and told entirely from Percy's POV. In later chapters, I might start rotating point-of-views, but I'm not there yet. Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs and anything else that's original.

Percy POV

Wow. I was astonished that anyone could be as rude and cold as Nico. His social worker had gotten all emotional while saying good-bye, and all he did was look away from her. I mean I get that he's had a difficult past and everything, but really? Snapping at someone he barely knows, and being flat-out uncooperative? Not cool, man.

Anyway, Nico was in the backseat of my stepdad Paul's Prius. He didn't have much with him, just an iPod, a sketchpad, a pencil, and a change of clothes—black, of course. The ADHD part of my brain wondered if Nico ever wore anything besides black. He was tapping his pencil on his thigh, and avoiding every single question my mom asked.

"Nico," she began hesitantly. "When your sister gets out of the hospital, will she be coming to live with us, or does she have another foster family?" I looked at Nico through the mirror in the car. His jaw was clenched, and his dark eyes were incredibly sad and stormy-looking.

Finally he answered, "Doctor says she's not gonna wake up." A small tear slipped from the corner of his eye.

My mother's face fell a little, and she said softly, "Oh. Oh, my word. I'm sorry; I should've guessed that would be a painful topic for you." Nico's eyes welled up again before he blinked hard and went back to staring out the window.

We drove along in silence for a while. Nico continued to be unresponsive and creepy. We passed a small white building and Nico made a funny squeaking noise in the back of his throat. Mom slowed down the car and asked, "Are you okay back there, Nico?" Nico didn't answer, but kept staring at the little building. I read the sign. "TLC Teens Hospital–A Special Care Center Designed For Teens Only".

"Is that–is that where your sister is?" I asked slowly. Nico didn't answer, he just jumped out of the car and half-walked, half-ran up to the door. He slipped inside. I looked at Mom. "Should we follow him in to make sure nothing happens?" Mom nodded and parked the Prius.

When we got inside, the lady at the desk looked at us and smiled. "Are you looking for that young man who just came in?" We nodded. The lady smiled again. "He's back in the fourth room on the left of that hallway. Visiting his sister. I don't know why they bother to keep that machine on; the poor girl doesn't have much of a chance. She's been in there for seven months, absolutely no improvement." She shrugged. "A sad story, hers. Her mother abused and neglected her, and her father never really showed up. She stole a car eventually and tried to run away. Her half-brother—that young man you're following—found her and convinced an adoption home to take her in with him. Then, they both got adopted into a nice family, but the boy got kicked out of the house. Hazel—that's the girl's name—was upset, but she stayed with the foster family. Then, the family was taking a drive and a pickup truck came roaring out of nowhere. Hit the little car on the side and Hazel took the brunt of the hit. Rest of the family survived, and the driver of the pickup was found to be drunk and high on cocaine. Amazing what one bad choice can do to so many lives."

By the end of this story, both my mother's and my mouths were hanging open. This is what Nico had to live with? His sister almost dead, his mother and other sister actually dead, and he was getting bounced around through foster families all alone? The lady at the desk shrugged again. "If you folks are the ones adopting Mr. di Angelo, I'd be careful. He's pretty unstable." My mother nodded and led me off down the hallway to where Nico was.

When we got into the room, I heard Nico talking quietly, "—say you're not ever gonna wake up. I don't believe that. You're a fighter, Hazel. I know you are. Don't give up. I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, please try to understand what I'm saying." He paused, and then shifted a little. I could see a girl lying on the hospital bed, and I knew this was Hazel. She had dark, coffee colored skin and curly cinnamon colored hair. Her face was delicate, and she looked a little bit sickly. Tubes were connected to her nose and mouth, and needles secured with surgical tape were poked into her wrists and upper arms. Her chest moved slowly with soft, shallow breaths. A machine was monitoring her heart rate, beeping slowly and steadily.

Nico started talking again. His voice was thick with emotion, and I could tell he was trying not to break down. He smoothed some of her hair away from her forehead. "God, I forgot how curly your hair is. It's so pretty." Nico sniffed. He took a deep breath like he was trying to compose himself, and let it whoosh out in a great sigh. He slumped down in a chair beside the hospital bed. "God, Hazel. You can't leave me here all alone. You can't. It's not fair, how life can be torn away like this. You've been asleep for seven months. Seven god-damn months, Hazel." A tear slipped out of the corner of his eye and down his cheek. He tried to wipe it away, but more fell. Soon he was shaking with silent sobs.

I felt like an intruder. I shouldn't be here, watching this. This was a private moment between Nico and his sister. I looked at Mom and tried to say silently that we should let him be for a few minutes, but she walked forward and rubbed Nico's shoulder soothingly.

He flinched. In a second he was standing, shoulders tense, fists clenched, body rigid. "Why did you follow me?" he croaked, his voice hoarse and rough from crying.

"We were worried," Mom said quietly. Nico glared again, his eyes still faintly red. He looked back at Hazel and trailed a fingertip along the side of her face.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," he said, his voice as bitter and icy as water from a snowmelt. "I've lived on the streets before; there's nothing in New York I can't handle."

Mom still looked plenty worried, but she let it slide. "Do you want to stay here longer, or are you ready to go?" Nico glanced at Hazel again, clenched his jaw, and whispered something. He then pushed past Mom and me and stalked out the door. I looked back at Hazel. She and Nico must've been close siblings. Obviously, her injury was enough to reach through that cold, tough outer shell that Nico hid behind.

We followed Nico back out to the parking lot. He was talking to a teenage guy with shaggy black hair that fell down into his dark blue eyes. He looked to be about the same age as Nico. The guy was wearing a black T-shirt with the sleeves torn off, revealing muscular, tattooed arms and shoulders. His blue jeans were torn at the knees, and beat-up gray Converse peeked out from the tattered cuffs. He was the same height as Nico, which meant he was pretty tall, and his arms were strong and heavily scarred. The guy looked like he had been living on the streets.

Nico acknowledged our arrival with a quick glance, the continued his conversation. "The fight is when, exactly?" he asked the tattooed guy.

"It'll be in four days—Saturday—in the old lot. We should be there around dusk. Red's sayin' no weapons, but bring your switchblade just in case it gets too outta hand."

Nico nodded and replied, "I might be a little late. All kinda depends on how fast I'm able to get there."

"We've been missin' you at the meets, Angel. When are you plannin' on coming back?"

Nico shrugged. "As soon as I can. Denise cracked down hard on it for the last few weeks." His voice lowered a bit, and he twitched his hand in out direction. "Besides, I don't know if this new family's gonna be as strict as she was about it."

Mom coughed lightly. "Nico, dear," she said gently. "Would you mind introducing us to your friend here?" Nico opened his mouth to answer, but the tattooed guy interrupted.

"Call sign's Thunder. Not givin' you my real name. Too dangerous." He looked me up and down, then said to me, "You're gonna be Angel's foster brother, huh?"

I blinked. "Angel?"

"Oh, that's right. That's not what you guys know him by. I mean Nico."

"Yep."

Nico cleared his throat. "Anyway, Thunder," he said. "Tell Red to expect me there. I don't care if he's still angry; I wouldn't miss this for the world." Thunder grinned crookedly. He flashed a quick sign that I didn't catch. Nico returned it just as quickly, and Thunder walked away, his step as quiet as a panther's.

Mom looked confused. She said, "Well. Nico, Percy, we'd better get home. Paul will be wondering what's keeping us." Nico and I walked over to the car. This time I sat with Nico in the back. I kind of wanted to see how he would react.

He didn't really do anything except look at me. Mom started the car, and Nico turned his head to look out the window. He looked so sad and melancholy, with his shaggy dark hair framing his pale, thin face and his dark clothes.

We were silent for the rest of the drive. When my mom pulled up into our apartment building's parking lot, Nico shifted a little bit. I saw a glint of metal flash from his jacket pocket, and I felt my heart rate quicken. I realized that Thunder hadn't been joking; Nico actually had a blade. I swallowed and sincerely hoped he never felt the need to use it. Then he moved again, and the hard, silvery glint was covered.

"Well, Nico," Mom said brightly. "This is where Percy, Paul and I live. I hope you'll find it to your liking!" Nico made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat. Mom parked the car, and I helped Nico gather up his very few belongings. He quickly folded up the clothes, and I wondered if he had another weapon hidden there. His iPod went into his front jeans pocket, his pencil got tucked inside his jacket along his change of clothes, and he tucked his sketchpad under his arm.

We took the elevator up to our floor, and my mom pulled out her apartment key. She quickly flipped the lock and pushed open the door. "Paul, we're here! And we have Nico, too!" Paul poked his head around the corner, saw Nico, and grinned.

"Hello!" he said happily. "We're so glad to have you here. I'll be over there in a second—Percy's dog made a bit of a mess." He shot me a stern look, but I knew he wasn't at all upset. He liked my black mastiff, Mrs. O'Leary, just as much as I did.

Almost as if she was shot out of a cannon, Mrs. O'Leary bounded out of the living room and jumped on me, effectively knocking me to the ground. She barked happily and licked my face. I laughed and gave her a push. "C'mon, girl," I grunted. "You weigh almost as much as I do!" She barked loudly again and removed her massive paws from my chest. She saw Nico and leapt on him too. He grunted, but he didn't get knocked over. Mrs. O'Leary barked again and snuffled Nico all over, decided she liked him, and gave his pale face a swipe with her tongue. Nico laughed a little and ruffled her ears. She began to squirm all over the place, beating my legs with her tail as she tried to jump on Nico again.

Mom laughed. "Down, girl. Down." Mrs. O'Leary went back onto all fours. "Well, she seems to like you!" she told Nico. Nico's lips twitched a little bit, but then his face returned to its normal, brooding expression.

Paul came over and smiled at Nico. "Hello. I see you've met our dog. Well, she's more Percy's dog than anyone else's, but she seems to have found a new best friend!"

Nico shrugged. He muttered, "Animals usually don't like me."

Paul grinned. "Mrs. O'Leary is a little bit unusual. Just be careful; she likes to flop down in the middle of a doorway." Mom and Paul walked over to the kitchen, discussing dinner.

I looked over at Nico a little uncertainly. "Do you want me to show you to where you'll be sleeping and stuff?" Nico shrugged. I took that as a yes and led him off down a hallway to the right of the family room. I pushed open the second door on the right and said, "We'll be sharing a room, so I hope you don't mind." Nico shrugged again. I continued, "You've got that bed and dresser on the right. Mom wasn't sure what you're in to, so she decided that you could do the decorating." Nico nodded. "The bathroom is at the end of the hall. We leave with Paul to school, because he's a teacher at Goode High, which is where we're both enrolled. School starts next week, so you've got plenty of time to get settled in. Alright?" Nico made a small noise, and I assumed that he understood.

He walked into our room and set his stuff down on top of the bed. I waited nervously in the doorway, really hoping that he liked it. I didn't want to make a bad first impression. I was pretty sure he'd be here for a long time, despite the warnings his social worker had given us. I watched as he flopped onto the bed and sighed. He closed his eyes. "I'll come get you when it's time for dinner. That good?" Nico hummed softly, and I took that to mean he understood. Man, I thought. I was going to be doing a lot of guessing with this guy until he learned to open up.

I walked back to the kitchen and sighed. I knew one thing for certain. This was going to be very interesting.