**Author's Note: Hey guys, long chapter today. Um, this is kind of a spoiler for the end of this chapter, so DON'T READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE UNTIL YOU FINISH THIS CHAPTER but... I'm thinking Esperanza's either going to be in the next chapter or the one after. Tell me if there's anything about her character you think I can incorporate, if you want! And as always, any other suggestions are wonderful. Enjoy!**

In silence, the two walked up to the ledge they were at the previous night, and sat down. For a long few moments, everything was silent. It was like a cruel game where Leo and Nico were the players, biding time before another crippling attack from a monster or some other kind of disaster.

"So…" Leo finally broke the quiet after they sat down. "You do realize what Hazel was getting at, don't you?"

Nico raised a brow without saying much, and after thinking about it for a moment, a wave of realization hit him like a speeding truck. His dark eyes widened as he swallowed uneasily and nodded, heat rising to his cheeks. How could he have been so oblivious? Well, he was choking, but to him, that was no excuse.

"Yeah, uh," Leo scrambled for something to say that would change the subject. "Heh, well, it doesn't matter anymore, I guess," he finally stammered out, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than Nico. "And Hazel believes us… probably."

"Yeah. Sure." Nico turned away for a moment, regaining composure. "Let's forget about it." Sure, having your little sister walk in on you lying on top of your male friend was embarrassing—especially if you're a male as well, but even more so, Nico wanted to forget being so weak and powerless.

Leo nodded in agreement, chuckling softly, more naturally this time. "Couldn't have thought of a better plan myself."

For a long while, Nico doesn't say anything in response. He glanced at Leo, raising a brow slightly. Because Nico knew his father—and even for god standards, Hades was as terrifying, sinister, and cruel as it got. And even after every good thing Nico tried to do, he knew in his heart of hearts he would always be his father's son. Didn't this mean he too, was cold, calculating, and frightening? Shouldn't he be left alone, banished to the Underworld just as his father?

Apparently, his troubled expression was more obvious than he wanted it to be, because Leo was giving him a strange look. A small idea sprouted in the child of Hades' mind, and within seconds, it grew rapidly into action. Fear is a force. And any force can be manipulated, right?

Pursing his lips, he wondered if he was being too cruel. But he decided that if he was going to test out manipulating fear, he was going to have to start small. "What?" he demanded, purposely making his voice as forceful and daunting as possible. He felt his hand involuntarily clench into a fist, and his eyes turn into a cold, hard stare. 'Maybe,' he thought, 'if I can manipulate fear, we stand a better chance against armies. Fear is a controller. Fear is power.'

It worked.

Leo flinched in spite of himself, and suddenly felt powerless. 'Stop it,' he told himself, 'it's just a Hades thing. Don't be scared of him—heck, he's younger than you, Leo!' He shifted uneasily before stammering, "W-Well, uh, you just… looked kinda unhappy. S-Sorry, Nico." He had to shut his mouth to keep from saying something like, "please don't hurt me oh my gods," afterwards.

Nico bit his lip to keep from smiling, when he realized how horribly wrong he was being. This wasn't him. This wasn't Nico di Angelo at all. And then, the tables turned—now, he was the one frightened beyond belief. "Oh gods," was all he managed to say, in a hushed tone.

"Wh-What? Did I do something wrong?" Leo was surprised at how much his voice was shaking. "Sorry, sorry, I'm really sorry." Even if he wasn't as exhausted as he was the night before, his emotions were still out of whack from stress and a screwed up sleeping schedule, and something in the back of his mind kept telling him he'd screwed up.

"No, I'm the one who did something wrong," Nico stated simply, in a much softer tone. "Please, don't look so afraid of me. I didn't mean to—I mean… I did mean to, but I'm usually not like that. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Oh," Leo said, but he really didn't understand anything Nico had said. "Wait, what? What'd you even do?"

"I'm usually good with my powers," Nico began to explain, "but you know being a demigod. Sometimes things just happen, even if they're subtle. And the whole fear thing—that's a power of Hades. Radiating fear. I'm sorry."

"Oh," he murmured, thinking about how easy it was to lose control of his powers. When he was talking to Nemesis, his hand caught fire like it was nothing. Or on the night his mom died—but he stopped himself there. "Oh, I see what you mean. Don't worry 'bout it, man." He shrugged it off like it was nothing, but the way Nico's eyes bore into him, it was like his worst fears were hidden in his friend's stare. He wouldn't forget that for a long time.

"Okay. Yeah, you're right, it's fine," he muttered, speaking more to himself than to Leo. He cleared his throat and said, "Let's just talk about something else." He put all his effort into sounding as gentle and non-threatening as possible, and unfortunately, that led to his voice raising nearly a full octave. Immediately, he shut his mouth.

Leo snorted at that, clamping a hand over his mouth to muffle laughter. "S—Sure," he spoke with difficulty over chuckles, "but only if you stop talking like that."

"Stop laughing!" Nico huffed, crossing his arms. "Do you want me to scare you again, Leo?"

Leo's eyes widened and he shook his head. "Alright, alright, sheesh—you're the one who makes yourself sound like freaking Mickey Mouse, and you expect me not to laugh?"

"I never said I expected anything of you, idiot," Nico answered. Both of them were relieved to hear that his tone of voice had basically gone back to normal. He wasn't Mickey Mouse, but he wasn't Hades, tormentor of souls, either. Just plain old Nico di Angelo.

"Gee, thanks," Leo answered, rolling his eyes. Even if the conversation had lightened up, it was hard to forget the look in Nico's eyes, the power in his voice. It was almost like charmspeak, but much more scary. He knew a power like that, when mastered fully, could be extremely useful in battle—and Nico was barely even trying that time. Still, it didn't mean he had to like it.

A small period of silence entered the conversation after that, and Leo pulled a small metal contraption out of his tool belt to keep himself busy. It was a smaller version of one of Archimedes' inventions, and the craftsmanship was perfect. He'd followed the blueprints to a tee and understood exactly how each piece worked in the tiny machine. With a hopeful look in his eye, he flicked a switch. Nothing. He muttered a curse under his breath.

No matter how hard he tried, the thing wouldn't serve its purpose.

Nico on the other hand, sat silently, watching in awe as the mechanic tinkered with the machine. He took it apart with such skill that in a few minutes, it was a pile of scrap metal and screws. Then, he reassembled it just as quickly. His eyes widened when Leo turned a dial and hit a button, causing the machine to collapse into itself, leaving a compact little box no larger than board game dice. "Whoa," he said aloud, which caused Leo to look up.

"What?" Leo glanced down at the metal cube. With a disappointed sigh, he picked it up and dropped it back into his tool belt, shaking his head. "Oh, the shrinking thing?" He tapped some sort of code into the side of the cube, and it grew back into a six-inch mini weapon of mass destruction. "That's nothing. Archimedes had this thing planned as a detonator. I could fill it up—well, the real thing, not this miniature one—with enough explosives to blow up a mountain. Well, that is… if it even worked."

Nico furrowed a brow and frowned, eyeing the machine. "It doesn't work?" He couldn't help but feel disappointed. It was such a perfectly crafted invention, the idea that it was totally useless was just sad.

"Nope. It's a shame—this one was rigged to send up fireworks rather than bombs, and it would've been awesome. Look here." He turned the contraption upside down, revealing a hatch. Twisting the handle, it showed a small opening on the inside. It was full of a powdery substance, which Nico suspected were fireworks. "See, there's this thing, which connects to here…" Soon, he was off on a long explanation on how the entire thing was supposed to work.

Nico understood about 2% of what Leo was saying. All he could figure was that if you hit a switch, the thing fired explosives. Obviously there was more to it than that, but Leo's crash course on Archimedes machinery was not exactly beginner-friendly. "Oh, I see," he told him when he finished.

"You don't get anything I just said, do you?" Leo couldn't help but smile.

"Should I have?" Nico asked, head still spinning, trying to piece together what Leo had been saying.

"No, but thanks for listening anyway," Leo answered with a shrug. Although he liked talking to Nico, and it usually kept his attention pretty well unlike most things, tonight was a slow night. Already agitated from sitting in one place for so long, his eyes darted around, not focusing on any one thing for too long. Damn ADHD. He wanted to be working, but he promised Hazel to take care of the kid. So instead, he just looked to Nico pleadingly, "Do you want to take a walk?"

Nico nodded eagerly. He was also feeling slightly restless as he stepped down from the ledge they were sitting on. "Sure, why not? And while we're at it, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"What's that?" Leo asked nonchalantly, wondering what he could possibly want to talk about.

"Your mom. You said you weren't sure if you wanted me to summon her." For a second, Nico wondered if he was being too blunt about it. But that's how things worked in the Underworld—there were no maybes. "I'm going to ask you again. Do you want a chance to say goodbye to your mother?"

Immediately, Leo felt his heart pound in his chest and the color drain from his face. Even if the last time he'd seen her was years ago, a memory of his mother's smiling face was still fresh in his mind. 'You killed her,' his thoughts would often torment him. 'No. Stop it, Leo, that wasn't your fault. You didn't mean to!'

He bit his lip and his eyes filled with burning tears and his hands began to tremble. What was he supposed to say? Yes? He longed to see her. He missed her more than anything or anyone he'd ever lost. But seeing her again was never a possibility he considered. Seeing her would be most definitely be the scariest thing Leo ever had to face.

"Uh… Leo? Are you… okay?" Nico asked, shaking him by the shoulder.

Leo looked straight into Nico's intense gaze. He inhaled and paused for what seemed like forever, and finally, he answered.

"Yes. Yes, I would like to see her."