First of all, Happy New Year! Second, what better way to kick off the New Year than with some Percico? Am I right? Also, thank you for the wonderfully funny comment about Percy, Jason and Leo's manhood, and Bessie. It made my night. Jason and Leo centric chap time! Okay, mostly (or all) Jason.

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Jason's POV

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"I'm so worried!" I hissed to Leo as we crouched over the little hole that housed Nico's necklace. Leo was normally such a sweetie, and I had no idea why he wanted to stir up trouble with our friends. Or why I'd let him talk me into it. But he said he wanted to see what would happen if one of our friends lost something of theirs. It just happened to be the very expensive, real silver necklace Percy purchased for Nico two days previously. If Percy ever found out that we had it, we'd both be digging bigger holes, because he'd most likely bury us alive.

"Relax baby," Leo replied, carefully scooping it out of its little hiding hole. "We'll just return it to Nico today. Problem solved." He made it sound so simple, but the guilt was going to eat at me all day. After all, we made Nico cry. That was something I didn't want to see again (as I've already seen it twice).

"Leo, we made Nico cry," I said, voicing my thoughts. "I'm sure Percy would've been fine if we fessed up to having it. Now that we've kept it, and hidden from his shadow prince, he won't be so keen on forgiving us. Leo." I grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. He blinked at me. "Percy is going to make us fish food if we don't tell the truth."

"Will you relax already?" he snapped, prying my hands off him. "Percy will never know that we had it the entire time. Or that I purposely took it when they weren't looking and hid it in my jeans pocket. You won't tell a soul, will you?" He pouted at me, and as much as it pained me, I nodded once.

"I won't," I agreed. "I don't like it, but I won't."

…

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Nico cried when Leo presented him with the necklace. He took it from him and ran his fingers over the N, clasping it around his neck. "Look Prince!" he called to Percy, who was lounging around a few feet away. "Leo found my necklace!"

"Did he now?" Percy asked, and my stomach dropped to my feet. "That's good of him. Where'd you find it, Leo?" He made it sound like a threat. He smartly kept his eyes off of us, but I knew if he looked up, and looks could kill, Leo and I would both be dead men. "Well?" Percy asked, rising and wrapping one arm around Nico. "Where'd you find it?"

"In the woods!" I blurted. "Leo and I were going for a morning stroll and it was just lying on the path. A bird or something must have picked it up and dropped it when we weren't paying attention." Nico was busy gazing down at the necklace fondly and I realized how much that necklace meant to him. "Hey Nico," I ventured, and he looked up at me. "How much do you like that necklace?"

"A lot," he replied solemnly, tucking it inside his light blue shirt (blue for Percy's sake no doubt). "It's the nicest thing anyone's ever given me, and it's the nicest thing I own. I'm so glad you guys found it for me. I was really worried I wouldn't see it again." I screamed inside. Nico put too much trust in us. I felt so rotten. "It's even better because Prince gave it to me," he continued, smiling at Percy. "Isn't he thoughtful?" Percy turned to look at Nico, and all the anger melted away as he gazed fondly at his little Prince of Shadows. Oh man, now I felt worse. It was obviously Nico's most prized possession.

"I'm glad you like it sweetie," Percy said, kissing his temple. "I'm also glad that you have it back. I wasn't so much upset about you losing it, although it did upset me because it was a lot of money. What upset me was someone or something was evil enough to steal away your necklace and make you cry and worry." He shot Leo and me a look over Nico's head, and I about fainted. He knew. He knew we'd taken it and hidden it. "Well boys, Nico and I have Pegasus riding lessons soon and we best be off. You have a pleasant day. And Jason," he added over his shoulder as he led Nico away. "Sometimes, you're better off without certain people." I gulped. I knew he meant Leo, but I don't think I was ready to admit that yet.

"Y…Yeah," I stammered, giving him a little wave as he left. As soon as he was out of ear shot I rounded on Leo, my eyes blazing. "Are you nuts? He knows about it!" It took all my will power not to scream. "He knows we took and hid the necklace, and he knows we buried it in the woods. Why'd I let you talk me into this? I thought we were going to hide something silly, like someone's clothes or the picnic basket, not the necklace of the boyfriend of the boy who could beat us up with one hand and not break a sweat!"

"I wonder why he didn't say anything then," Leo retorted. "If he really knew, he should've called out our bluff, but he didn't." He gave me a little smirk. "That means we're home free."

"Idiot!" I roared, calling the winds and throwing him away from me. He went sprawling into the dust and lay motionless for a bit, groaning quietly. "The only reason he didn't call us out on it is because Nico was standing right there. He didn't want to break his heart, which finding out we stole his most prized possession surly will!" I felt so mad I was shaking, and thunder clouds rumbled overhead. Leo sat up and touched his cheek, were a cut had appeared and was dripping with fresh blood. His eyes widened as he pulled his hand away and looked at me, with fear.

"I just wanted to have some fun," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to cause this much trouble. I guess I didn't realize how much that necklace meant to Nico. Are we fish food baby?" Even in my anger state, I noticed he used my nickname, probably to soften me up a little. I wasn't going to fall for it.

"Your idea of fun has just made an enemy of one of my best friends, probably caused you to stop seeing one of your best friends, and now we're fighting." I closed my eyes and willed away the anger, to no avail. I was furious with Leo. I don't think I've ever been mad at Leo, but right now I didn't even want to look at him. Calling the winds, I flew away, not looking back at him.

…

"Percy?" I called softly, knocking on the door of his cabin. I heard some shuffling inside and Percy threw open the door. I noticed that he kept it from banging open, which I think was a little anti-dramatic for how he was feeling, then I caught sight of Nico curled up in Percy's bunk, fast asleep. Why'd I have to catch him at nap time? "How late was he up last night?" I asked, pointing at Nico. Percy turned back to look at him, and I saw the smile tugging at the corners of his lips. No matter how mad he was at anyone else, his Nico would always get a smile out of him.

"Late enough," he replied, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door quietly behind him. "He alternated from bursting into tears and asking me what would happen if we didn't find it. Between the two, he didn't get much sleep. He was up worried sick for most of the night." He glared at me and I felt myself shrinking under his scrutiny. "How was your night?" It was an innocent enough question, but all the same I remained guarded.

"It was good," I replied slowly. "I didn't get much sleep either."

"I wonder why?" he snarled sarcastically. "Why didn't you and Leo just tell me you had that necklace?" Any suspicions I had about him knowing what we did were confirmed, and I didn't know if I wanted to be glad or scared. "I would've forgiven you for pulling a little stunt like that, and you certainly would've apologized to Nico for the trouble you caused him. But right now, I don't think I want to look at you or I'd rip you up with Riptide without looking, and I don't want to do that. Because if I did, no one would ever tell Nico they're terrible sorry for what they did, first for taking the necklace in the first place, second for lying right to his face about having it, and third for hiding it in the woods where he definitely wouldn't find it." I felt suitable chastened by what he said. After all, I did have a big part in what he said. "Where's that boyfriend of yours? I'm going to refrain from making you both dig your own graves so you can apologize to Nico, and I want you to both do it."

"How'd you find out?" I blurted, and instantly I regretted it. He turned slowly to face me, and he had an incredible poker face when he wanted one. His face gave away nothing, and that scared me more than anything. "How'd you know it was buried in the woods?"

"I had suspicious someone from our group did it, regardless of what everyone said," he replied slowly. "So when Nico managed to sleep for a little while, I snuck out of the cabin and waited in the woods for someone to come along. I know it's kind of creepy, but when your boyfriend is the son of the god of the underworld, your whole view on creepy changes." It took me a moment to realize that he was making a joke, and I let out a nervous laugh. "So when you and Leo began moving around, I followed you, and you guys led me right to the scene of the crime." He blinked. "So to speak."

"It was Leo's idea," I admitted. "I honestly don't know why I agreed to it. But anyway, he said he wanted to see what would happen if someone from our group lost something. I thought it was going to be clothes or something silly like that. But he confided in me when we split up that he had Nico's necklace in his pocket." Percy stared at me for a little while, and that made me extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm glad you told me," he decided at last, and I had to keep from fainting on the spot. I honestly don't think I heard him right. Was he bipolar? Here he was two seconds ago, threatening to kill me, and now here he was saying he was glad I finally told him about the stunt. "You heard me right," he added, and I shivered. Percy had some freaky powers. "I'm glad you told me what happened, and why you did it, even if it was the most idiotic reason ever invented."

"Prince?" We both turned as Nico opened the door and blinked from the intense sunlight. He looked unkempt, and right now he was in a loose shirt and black pajama pants. It reminded me just how grown up he's gotten. "What's going on?" He looked from Percy to me and back again. "What happened with my necklace?"

"I'm just saying how glad I am that you have your necklace back sweetie," he replied easily, smiling at him. "Also sweetie, what did I say about silently sneaking places?" He grinned and ran a hand though his hair, causing it to spike. "Why don't you go wait in the cabin while I finish talking to Jason, kay?" Nico skipped back into the cabin, humming softly to himself and slamming the door shut. Percy turned back to me. "By the end of the week, you both better have apologized to him, or I won't be so nice." With that said, he disappeared inside his cabin, leaving me to stumble away.

…

"That's good," Leo commented when I told him about my confrontation with Percy earlier. "Now all we have to do is say an apology to him. That's not so bad." I glanced sideways at him.

"How can you call yourself his friend when you did that to him?" I asked him, and he blinked at me in surprise. "How can you honestly say your friends with him, when all you did was cause him a lot of heartache and a good night's sleep? Dude, he cried all night long from worry. He was worried he'd never see it again. I don't even want to know what would happen if we hadn't returned it to him." I shuddered to think of what he and Percy could do together. They both had some seriously freaky powers, you put them together and they were a force to be reckoned with. "I don't know if I can be boyfriends with someone who's a thief and a sneak," I continued, feeling the lump forming in my throat.

"Baby?" Leo whispered, and I held up my hand.

"Jason," I said. "Just Jason. Sorry Leo, but we're thought." I didn't want to watch his reaction, so once again, I called the winds and flew off.

…

Well, here's to the longest chapter yet! So it was Leo and Jason that got most affected by this. Interesting. See you next chap!