Nico's POV:

"What the Hades?" Nico wasn't sure what just happened. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop on Will, it'd just occurred somehow. He'd gotten out of bed to stretch (because really, Will would never have let him do that), and then he'd heard something really weird.

Will was talking to someone on the phone, and he sounded nervous.

It was hard to fathom those two things together. Will. Nervous.

He'd always seemed like a pretty easygoing kind of guy, in Nico's mind. It was hard to imagine Will taking anything seriously (except maybe healing), much less being scared of anything. But here he was, sounding as if he was going to wet his pants. Just who was Will talking to?

Will turned around so fast that Nico backed up. And then he got angry with himself for backing up, even though Will looked like he wanted to strangle Nico. "Were you eavesdropping on me?"

"Um..." How was he supposed to answer that? "Uh, no?"

Note to self: Learn how to lie better under pressure.

"Then why are you standing there staring?"

"Um, uh...I'm not eavesdropping." His lie sounded fake even to Nico.

"Oh really?" Will snapped. "And why should I listen to a guy who's supposedly here for murder?"

The words were out of Nico's mouth before he could help them. "I didn't do it. I was framed."

Immediately, he cursed his lack of foresight. Wasn't that what everyperson say when they'd been accused of a crime? That had to be the most cliché thing Will had ever heard in his life. No way would Will believe him.

Said person looked like he was doing a mental calculation in his head. Apparently satisfied with what he heard, he said, "I believe you."

Nico blinked. "Wait, what?"

Will shrugged. "I said, I believe you. I don't know why, but I'm usually good at spotting when people are lying. I think it's an enhanced social ability or something. Anyways, your story makes sense. You don't seem like the type of person to kill someone."

"I-I don't?" Nico asked. Not that he didn't want to seem like that sort of person, but he guessed several people felt differently. "If only the authorities thought the same way."

"How did it happen, anyways?" Will said casually. "Who framed you?"

This was the point where, for most people, Nico would have told them that it was none of their business and to go away. But Will wasn't most people, he was...well, Nico didn't know who he was, but he felt like he could trust Will. That was a lot, coming from him. Besides, if it got Will's mind off the fact that he'd just been eavesdropped on and had been angry about it two seconds before, then it was worth it. "It's a long story."

"I have time." Will insisted.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I know you do, Solace. But I'm not going to announce the story to the entire hallway."

Actually, all the people were out of earshot, but Nico wasn't going to take any chances. Besides, he didn't like standing out in plain sight where everyone could see him and his patient cloths.

Will blinked. "How do you know my last name?"

"Oh I don't know," Nico said sarcastically. "Maybe it's because I have a pet unicorn who can read peoples' minds. Or maybe I'm inhumanly smart. Or maybe, just maybe, it says on your name tag and despite being dyslexic, I can read that."

"Oh..." Will looked sheepish, like he'd just noticed what Nico had pointed out. His cheeks were a light pink, which Nico found kinda cute- wait, what?

Nico shook his head to clear his thoughts. He hadn't slept well last night. He was tired and not thinking straight. That had to be it. "Anyways, do you want to come in?"

Will obliged, walking inside and closing the door quietly. Even if it probably wasn't purposeful, Nico appreciated that. He hated when anyone did things too loudly when all that extra noise was unnecessary. He himself usually did those things quietly- up to the point that people jumped when he supposedly 'materialized' behind them. One in particular even claimed he could be a ninja.

Oh, and that person was definitely not Thalia or anything.

Will sighed, and leaned across the wall. "So, you were going to explain to me...?"

"Oh, right." Nico began hastily. "Um, just how much do you know about my cousin?"

Will crossed his arms. "You're stalling."

"Sort of." Nico wondered where to begin. "Percy does have a lot to do with what I'm going to say. All of my cousins do, actually."

"I'm listening."

"Okay. So you remember last summer, when a lot of the newspapers were reporting about Kronos' death? And you know how Percy killed him?"

"Yeah. Does this have anything to do with what you're going to say?"

"A lot." Nico sighed. "Kronos had a thing with kidnapping children. There were rumours her tortured them, used them for experiments- the truth is, he basically used them as slaves. He had them working for him. One of the people her captured was my older sister, Bianca."

He heard Will inhale quickly, like he could't believe what he was hearing. "You have a sister?"

"Had a sister," Nico corrected, which left a bitter taste in his mouth. "I'll get to that later. After she disappeared, I was sure, so sure, that Kronos had captured her. But nobody would listen. The police had no interest in her case, it almost seemed like somebody didn't want them to investigate it."

"So you decided to investigate yourself." Will finished.

Nico nodded. "Yeah. Percy tried to talk me out of it, told me to leave things to the police, but I didn't. I searched for something-anything- that would help me find my sister, and eventually found this guy named Minos Crete, who said he could help me."

Saying Minos' name made Nico want to puke, but he plunged onward. "Minos was a policeman, and he said that his boss, Atlas Titan, had been hushing up all the disappearances of missing children. Apparently, there had been a lot, but somehow, practically none of them made their way on to the newspapers. Minos said he could help me, but in exchange..."

Nico faltered. Will look troubled. "He wanted you to kill somebody?"

"No, nothing like that," Nico said. "Well, sort of. Minos wanted me to find an 'old friend' of his, called Daedalus. Minos claimed they were best buddies but had went out of touch after college, but he had personal reasons to assume Daedalus was in danger and wanted to help him. What a load of centaur dung."

"He lied? And centaur dung?"

"Obviously." Nico made a face. "I mean, for the lying part. The second part... inside joke. Our family has a thing for naming their kids after Greek Mythology people, so we made a joke out of it. You know how we say Hades instead of hell? Anyways, I believed Minos. I was really young and naïve and stupid- but the most important thing was that I was desperate, so desperate I would completely trust a stranger. Which just shows you how idiotic and gullible I was back then."

Will frowned. "I don't think that you should be so hard on your judgement. You'd just lost your sister. Of course you would be desperate for help and when ignored, you got angry. It's only natural you would have been grateful if someone offered their assistance, even if it was somebody sort of shady.

"Also," Will continued, "You (A/N: Please read my A/N below, it would mean very much to me! Also, yes, I just shamelessly put this smack dab in the chapter so you would have to read it) say that you were gullible like it's a bad thing. Sure, it can be dangerous, but it can also be a blessing, you know? To still be innocent enough that you believe that everything people say is the truth."

"Are you saying I'm cute and innocent?" Nico demanded, his cheeks hot.

"No," Will said, though it looked like he was trying not to laugh. "You are definitely not innocent. I'm saying that you were innocent-everyone is, in the beginning."

Nico tried to ignore the fact he hadn't said anything about the 'cute' matter. That wasn't important. "Anyways, long story short, I found Daedalus and told Minos where he was, but just then Percy disappeared. I got even more worried, if that was possible, and demanded that Minos help me out before he reunited with Daedalus. Minos said no. As you can probably imagine, I was furious. I did some snooping and found out that Daedalus was not Minos' buddy like I'd been led to believe. I wanted to warn him, so I went to his apartment- only to have Minos appear at the same time."

Nico took a deep breath. "Daedalus and Minos started fighting. I mostly tried to keep out of the way, since Minos had knife out and I didn't want to get stabbed with it. I almost called the police, but then I thought that maybe it wouldn't work, since Minos was an officer and I was just a kid. I mean, who would you believe?"

"You," Will answered without hesitation. "Let me guess. Minos ended up killing Daedalus and you got blamed?"

"Yeah," Nico said. "He told the police that Daedalus had been helping Kronos out- which he actually had been- and gave them proof. Then he told them that I had seen the news, which actually had been playing on Daedalus' television at the time, learned that my sister was dead, and killed Daedalus out of spite. Apparently, he'd been in the area and tried to stop me but it was too late."

"Seriously? And they believed that?" Will looked aghast.

"Yeah. Some of it, like the fact that I'd seen the news on Daedalus' television and learned that she was dead was true, but not the other parts. I tried to tell the officers I wasn't guilty, but Minos had friends in high places and I was pretty much on my own, which sucked."

"Didn't any of your cousins try to stand up for you?"

"They were all in the hospital. Percy was recovering from almost being killed in the explosion, Thalia and Jason had somehow managed to find out where he was being held- before the police, I might add- and had gone to look for him. Percy might have been the one to set off the bomb, but he couldn't have done it without their help."

"Wow, that's..." Will couldn't seem to find a word to describe it all. "intense."

"Yeah. I was declared legally insane and all that junk, while Minos skipped off into the sunlight." Nico said. "Well, not really. It was more of a temporary victory for him, because a week later he was found dead in his house. I think an old enemy caught up to him or something. Can't say I was too sad."

"I wouldn't have been," Will confessed, then checked the time. His jaw dropped. "It's fifteen minutes after the start of my lunch shift!"

"It is?" Nico looked flabbergasted. (A/N: Long word! Yay for me!)"Sorry. I didn't mean to hold you up or anything."

"It's fine." Will reached for the door. "I'll go grab something to eat. Later, Nico."

"Later." Nico echoed- but too late. The door was already closed. Nico sighed and flopped down on his bed. Why had he told Will the story? It had been a spur-on-the-moment thinking, but for some reason, it felt good to get it out.

Something went crunch.

Nico frowned, then sat up. Had something come from under the pillow? Lifting it up to check, Nico gaped.

Since when had that piece of paper been there?

CLIFFHANGER, DON'T KILL MEEEEEEEEEEEE!

This chapter is dedicated to my awesome former teacher, who's birthday is today. If people would review and wish her a happy birthday, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. G!