A/N: Bum bum bum buuuum! I'm back! My school starts at the 16th of June. I might take a longer time to update afterwards. I'm sorry I haven't updated. My mom got home from Singapore and spent her birthday here. We spent the whole week going out. Ehhhh.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the idea of the plot. *Does the macarena*
Psychokinetic Disaster
III
"Aphrodite's one thing but the others are a whole new level" she glared at her hands. "Others?" Nico panicked. There were others? "Mother told me about them. There isn't just one laboratory" she frowned and looked at Nico grimly. Nico's eyes widened. "There are three"
"W-what?" Nico lured back in shock. He refused to believe her. Three laboratories? That meant there were two other people locked up, being held captive. He felt immense sympathy for the other two and anger for the people who ought to lock them up in the first place. What did they do to deserve this? If he had powers, then did that mean this Malcolm guy had too? "There are three Levels. If you're who I think you are, then you're being –or were– held at Level 2, the Medium. There's one for each laboratory but ever since my brother escaped, I heard my mother and her acquaintances talking about a new captive held. I assumed it's you, taking my brother's place." The girl held her head in her hands and sighed deeply. It was a lot to take in, he'll give her that.
"What did your brother have?" the boy asked. Annabeth tilted her head up to the sudden question. "What power, I mean." He corrected. She straightened her back and looked deep in thought. "He was vastly intelligent. A mad genius. So smart, he could immediately tell what you were to say before it came out of your mouth" she exhaled "and apparently, those people saw him as a threat." Her voice went cold as she said the last word. "My mother works in an organization against The Andromeda." She said.
"The Andromeda?"
"The whole business itself. They call it The Andromeda. I've heard Level 3, the High, held the most powerful person. I don't know what kind of power she or he has but I heard they get the worst treatment." She frowned and fell face-first on her pillow. Nico blinked and stared at his lap for what felt like minutes. There was another person out there getting tortured the worst. And he thought he, himself, had it bad. "This person. Aphrodite, you said. Who is she?" the raven-haired boy asked, slight fear slipping through his words.
"She's assigned to the Level 2. She makes sure her captive doesn't die. She's often gone so she assigned Rachel to handle the needles." Annabeth turned to grab her phone from beside her laptop and began sending a message to someone. "Level 1, the Low, is assigned to Nemesis. Level 3, the High, is assigned to the headmaster herself, Gaea." She placed her phone down and stared at her feet.
"Great. They put our lives on the line but make sure we're at its edge. I'm starting to think death is a nice option if it weren't for the ally who helped me escape." Nico mumbled grimly. Annabeth frowned when she heard his words. Witnessing the death of her brother wasn't easy for her; it was traumatizing. Now, hearing another person consider death as an option swelled something inside her. She began, "Nico, it's not the end–"
"You're right, it isn't..." he paused "It's only the beginning" he said, determination set on his face. The girl felt dread rise through her chest. What did he mean? "But don't worry. I won't give in to death" Nico sighed, his shoulders slumped. "Nico, what are you saying?" the girl asked carefully. If Nico is on to something, especially if it involves the laboratories, she needs to know. It might be dangerous. "I know they're on the move. They're sending their soldiers to find me" he frowned "I won't cause you people trouble. I will leave immediately." The boy began to stand. "Nico! –"
"No!"
Another voice shouted. The door burst open and Percy came in, eyebrows knitted together worriedly and lips curved down in a grimace. "Whoever those soldiers are, can't you fight them?" he asked.
"Percy, I can't–" Nico got cut off.
"Then we'll hide you. From what you said, they did horrible things to you. If you are sent back to that..." the taller boy trailed off. He couldn't continue. His eyes hardened and met Nico's. "We won't let them get you. Right, Annabeth?" he turned to the girl for approval. The said blonde nodded eagerly. Then she looked at him warily. "How much did you hear?" she asked. The brunette raised an eyebrow. "When he said it's only the beginning and how the soldiers are after Nico." He pointed at the boy in question. Annabeth heaved a small sigh in relief, went unnoticed by the taller boy.
"Well, why were you eavesdropping?" she questioned. Nico sat back down and tossed his feet on the bed. "I was about to tell you your friend is here but we heard you guys talking so... yeah" he shrugged as if it was nothing. The girl nodded slowly. "Uh-huh. Who's here?" she asked.
"Me, Annie bear!" another voice piped up. A girl with shoulder-length hair entered the room, her skin a healthy tan complexion. Her eyes are like a kaleidoscope of blue, green and brown. Annabeth smiled and received an embrace from the Cherokee descendant. Both boys eyed the two girls. "This is Piper. Percy hasn't properly met her yet since I'm the one to go to her house to spend the night. But I'm sure you guys know each other. Pipes, this is Nico. He's staying with us." Annabeth winked at Nico. "Ahh, it's nice to meet you guys" the girl, Piper, said. Annabeth grabbed her purse from the nightstand and hooked arms with Piper. "You two be good" she scolded the two boys in her room.
Percy raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"
"To get clothes for Nico" she paused and looked at the smaller boy over. "He's pretty small so it ain't hard to find some for him." She grinned when Nico looked about to protest. "See you!" Piper waved her hand and led the blonde hooked in her arms to the door outside. The escapee got up and went out the room. Percy, having the option to since he had nothing else to do, followed the boy to his room. Nico landed, sprawled on his bed. Percy sat beside the tiresome boy, despite having nothing to do but walk around the house. "What did you guys talk about?" he asked finally. Nico turned his head and stared at the older teen. He contemplated whether it was safe to tell him about Annabeth's brother and the other laboratories. He's gone through so much, he doesn't know if he'll handle sharing all what he took in with the boy.
"It's nothing interesting." He said. He watched as Percy's mood went down. The taller boy shifted his position into laying down beside the younger boy. "Try me" he huffed. Nico figured out just how stubborn Percy could get. It was sort of cute having a childish attitude at an older age. He coughed on his behalf to rid the thought. "Remember that laboratory I said? There are three." He left it there to see what the other will say. "Three?" he repeated. "Different Levels too. They held me at Level 2, the Medium." He copied Annabeth's words. "The other two Levels held two other people. Level 1, the Low held the person with a low ability, I guess. Level 3, I heard got the worst treatment. They must be powerful." He concluded.
Percy placed a hand on Nico's hair and ruffled it, messing it up. Not that it wasn't messy beforehand. The escapee growled and swatted the hand away. "Somebody's grumpy" the older teased. Nico rolled his eyes and frowned. He's been frowning a lot lately. He looked up to find green eyes looking down on him. "What're you looking at?" he didn't mean to sound rude but getting the attention wasn't in his list of favourites to get. Percy grinned and shrugged, "a cute little ball of darkness. Maybe" Nico narrowed his eyes at the word cute.
"You think I'm cute?" he frowned. He looked nothing like that. His skin is nearly dead pale from the lack of sun exposure. His eyes are deep dark pools of brown orbs; nothing compared to the swirling green hurricanes of the boy's eyes. He's also thin. His hair is unkempt, making it look like as if he's been tossed inside a washing machine. He experimentally patted his hair down. He heard the other boy chuckle. "For a while back in the shoreline, I thought of you as the emo type." Percy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Is that your excuse? You think the emo types are cute?" the escapee questioned. "From what I remember, they're all dark and brooding" he said. The taller teen raised an eyebrow, a look that said "that's exactly what you are".
"I don't know, man. You expel a mysterious aura. Either dark or something that screams insecurity." He smiled sheepishly. Nico had nothing to say.
It's been a long time since the bright and happy side of him showed. Least to say, it's hard to keep his spirits up even after escaping the living hell hole. Maybe it's the fear knowing that they're still out to get you. But another thought came to his mind. Were they going to kill him the next time they lay eyes on their top two prisoner? He also realized he never met his family. Or if he did, back years ago, he can't remember their faces anymore. His mind swirled with unanswered questions, doubting whether he should try to find them. But he might cause them trouble as well and they'll cast him off back to the laboratory. But most importantly, he wondered if they were still alive. Tears welled up in his eyes and his vision blurred.
Percy's smile faltered immediately and placed a comforting hand on Nico's back. "I didn't mean to sound rude. I'm sorry." He apologized, frowning when Nico took a deep breath. The raven-haired boy sat up to rub the tears trying to cascade down his cheeks. "I-It's not that. Just thinking about s-stuff" he stuttered. He sniffled and covered his face with both his hands.
"Hey. Hey, it's ok. I'm here to listen if you're willing to talk to me. You can cry freely. Keeping the sadness in won't do you good." The green-eyed teenager spread his arms to signal a welcome for a hug. Nico gladly scooted over into his space and buried his face into the older boy's chest. His hands clung to the fabric of shirt at his back as the tears flowed freely. Percy wrapped his arms around him and cooed comforting words into the other's ear. He rocked the weeping boy slowly to calm him.
Surprisingly, it worked as the sniffling died down to a minimum and the grip had gone, leaving the smaller boy's palms against his back to pull him close. Nico had never felt a swirl of sadness and gratefulness. He's grateful to find people like Percy, who accepted you for whom you are and help comfort you when tears start to fall. They stayed like that for God-knows-how-long minutes. The rocking motion sent the younger boy into a calmer state; his head resting on the older boy's shoulder and hands now limp on his lap. His cheeks went pink after realizing how close they were.
"I'm sorry I wet your shirt" Nico apologized, head low to hide the blush. Percy smiled and rubbed his back. "S'okay. I don't like seeing people sad so I rather help comfort them throughout so they can take the time to calm down." He patted the black locks of hair on the boy's head softly. "You don't have to tell me what's bothering you if it makes you uncomfortable" he said. Nico nodded in apprehension. He detached himself from the other body and stretched. "Wanna watch movies?" Percy asked, heading out to the living room. Nico shrugged and followed him out. He sat on the nearby couch and watch Percy look through collections of CD's and DVD's.
"Got any horror?" Nico asked suddenly.
"Uhmm.. Lemme check" Percy separated certain CD's from the pile and stacked them up beside him. "We got Thirteen Ghosts, World War Z, Saw 7, Cabin in the Woods, and recently, Carrie, the remake. Which one do you want to watch?" the older teen asked, turning back to the boy on the couch. The raven-haired boy shrugged. "Anything, really. You choose" he said. Percy picked Cabin in the Woods and inserted the CD in the DVD player. He sat beside Nico on the couch and smiled when the boy moved his feet and placed them on Percy's lap.
Their afternoon was spent watching movie after movie and Nico started to drift off. At the middle of their sixth movie, Nico changed positions again to try to keep him up. His eyes start to droop and his head lolled to the side. Percy felt Nico's head brush against his shoulder. He looked down on the sleepy figure and smiled. Slowly, he pulled his arm up and draped it over Nico's shoulder, careful not to wake the smaller boy. Percy heard the door open and glanced back to see the girls carrying multiple bags. It looked heavy, inspecting as Annabeth's back is hunched over, her arms dangling with shopping bags. Piper had the same amount but kept her posture straight.
Girls he sighed inwardly.
"Welcome back" he welcomed the two girls.
Nico stirred in his seat and gazed at the two girls heading their way. He jumped slightly but unnoticeably when he felt an arm around his shoulder. He felt his heart thud against his chest. Why do I feel panicked? He thought curiously. "Since I saw you in the kitchen this morning wearing the skull shirt Percy has never worn, I figured you'd like all these dark clothing." Annabeth dropped the bags on the floor and rummaged through each one. She grabbed the bag and shoved it in Nico's lap. The boy blinked and looked up at her. "Thanks" he smiled lightly. "We got you more than that, honey. With shoes to go!" Piper's voice sounded. He looked at the other girl to see her holding up three more bags. How they got him shoes remain a mystery to him. If they were able to tell his foot size by looking, he felt violated.
"Now, change! I want to see how well you look in these clothes!" Annabeth urged him. Nico rolled his eyes and headed to Percy's room, carrying the bag with him.
He shut the door behind him and placed the bag on the bed. He brought out the clothing and looked at it appreciatively. They bought him these? They weren't kidding when Annabeth said she'd make him her personal Ken doll. He disregarded his clothes and folded them neatly on the bed, casting it aside. He pulled the black tattered pants on, wincing when it clung tight against his legs. He looked through the bag again and saw they bought him studded belts, more shirts, mostly black, grey or white pants, and– were those bracelets? He grabbed them from the bag and saw they were made of leather. He placed them back and pulled out a shirt of choice. It was a black-and-white plaid shirt. He put it on and buttoned them up. He looked at himself in the mirror and tried for a smile. He looked good. He opened the door and went out to expose his new clothing. Three heads in the living room swirled to look at the boy.
Piper smirked and poked Annabeth on the shoulder. "I told you it looked good on him!" she cheered. Annabeth smiled and shook her head. "How are the pants?" she asked the boy. "It's tight." He blurted out. Both girls turned to each other and grinned wide suspiciously before looking back at Nico, returning their normal smiles. Nico glared at them both. "No worries. They're called skinny jeans!" Piper walked towards the younger boy and circled him. Nico yelped when he felt a hand smack his rear. "Definitely fits you" she winked. Something about her smile screamed mischief. His cheeks flared in embarrassment. He doesn't remember being easily flushed. He looked at Percy for help, lips jutting out as a helplessly frown and pleading with his eyes.
But the boy was busy looking him over; busy staring at the revealing flesh in his tattered pants and wished the rips were bigger to show more. "Percy, tell your friend to stop using me as her doll." He voiced out his opinion. The taller boy seemed to snap out of his reverie and looked at Nico in the eye. "Uhhh..." he stammered, in loss of words. Nico gaped at him.
"Ooh! I got something I want you to try on" Annabeth said. She grabbed another bag and pulled him back in Percy's room. She sprawled the clothes on the bed and closed the door. "I'm not changing in front of you!" Nico protested. The blonde rolled her eyes and started to unbutton his shirt. "Hey–"
"Neeks, I'm lesbian. I'm not interested in your boy parts so man up." She smirked. Nico's eyes widened at the unexpected information. "Oh" is all he could say as he was stripped off his shirt. The girl placed a black shirt over his head and pulled it down. The raven-haired boy looked down to see a white skull covered in piercings. "You know, I never told anyone except you, now." She said. Nico looked at her and saw the soft look in her eyes.
"Why?"
"Because" and she left it at that.
Lastly, she grabbed a brown aviator jacket and put it on him. Nico looked himself over and grinned. "I like that look." Annabeth put her chin on her hand and looked in thought. For a second, the escapee thought what Percy would think about his outfit and even praised Annabeth and Piper silently when they got him the skinny jeans. He groaned and held his head in his hands. He sat on the bed and continued to look down.
"Nico? Is something wrong? Is it your powers?" Annabeth sat beside him and placed her hand on his shoulder. The boy shook his head and frowned. "Can I trust you?" he asked after a few seconds passed between them. Blonde curls bounced as the girl nodded. "You've trusted me since you've told me about the laboratories and I trust you with my fair share of knowledge" she said. Nico sighed and placed his hands down, drumming his fingers on his lap nervously. "I get this strange feeling when I'm around Percy." He confessed his head low in humiliation. Annabeth's eyes widened and nodded encouragingly. "Tell me all about it" she sounded almost eager. Nico sighed and began telling her what happened when she left.
Meanwhile outside, after Annabeth shoved Nico back in Percy's room, Piper plopped down on the couch beside Percy and sighed. "Tired of shopping?" Percy chuckled. The girl scoffed. "Shopping? Moi? No way." She smiled. But it faltered afterwards. She looked at the door Annabeth and Nico went through. Percy nudged her side with his elbow. "Hey, what's the matter?" he asked, seeing the worry on her face. Piper knew about Percy. Annabeth told her about the guy being gay and after meeting the new addition in their house, she got information that Percy was ogling the guy.
"Percy, have you any idea what they might be doing in that room right now?" She asked bluntly.
The boy in question raised an eyebrow at her. "Annabeth is using Nico as her personal dress-up doll?" Sarcasm right there, Piper rolled her eyes. "Yeah but in order to change him into new clothes, she needs to take off his clothes in the first place" she said every word carefully as if she was talking to a child. Percy took offense to that, scowling and crossing his arms. "I know. I'm not stupid." He said. Piper planted a palm to her forehead and sunk lower on the couch. "Good. You know what that means?" Piper raised her voice, hinting at something.
Percy groaned, tired of playing dumb. "Piper, I'm perfectly aware how someone changes clothes. So, if Annabeth is taking Nico's shirt off, then–" he paused. Piper glanced up and saw the blood rushing to his cheeks. She decided to push further. "And what's taking them so long? I'm pretty sure she's only supposed to change his shirt." She added loudly. In truth, she was also suspicious of the both of them.
"Pfft. Come on. You think Annabeth would take advantage of Nico like that? She's more of a sisterly figure to him, y'know." Percy said. Even as he said it, he sounded skeptical. Piper turned her head and raised an eyebrow. Both of them stared at each other long enough to get the idea. "No way. Not in my room!" Percy huffed indignantly. Piper held back a laugh and forced a straight face. "I just hope we're wrong." She mumbled softly, hopeful. Both of them waited for the two people who haven't come out yet. When suddenly.. "They're doing it! Oh god" Percy wailed. Piper whimpered and placed her hands over her eyes. "No. They shouldn't be!" she whined.
"Annabeth's mine!"
"Nico's mine!"
Silence fell on the room as the two teenagers took a moment to refresh what happened. They looked at each other then, simultaneously, their faces heated up. The girl coughed, embarrassed. "So, you dig Nico, huh?" she grinned and turned the tables on Percy. Unresponsive at first but then, Percy nodded his head. "Yeah. How about you? How do you like your blondes? Grey eyes and intelligent?" he prodded back. Piper's confident grin faltered. "I-uhh.. Hmm" she coughed to cover up her incoherent words. "Yeah." She added a moment later. "You know how to pick em', Jackson. Nico's quite the cutie." She nudged him in the rib and smiled when that got him smiling sheepishly. "You should have seen him when we first saw him. He was stark naked." His cheeks reddened more and he rubbed his face with his hands. "What am I thinking?!" He mumbled over and over, trying to get the picture of naked and vulnerable Nico out of his mind.
Piper's eyes widened and smirked knowingly when Percy glanced at her. "You didn't do anything rash, did you?" her eyes glinted. Percy's face contorted into horror. "No, you perv! I don't molest kids!" he whispered harshly. Piper guffawed and held her stomach. "Nico would be glad when he hears you calling him a kid." She smiled. Percy slumped lower on the couch. "No, I'm pretty sure he'd kill me"
"Who'd kill you?" another voice interceded. It was Nico's.
Percy and Piper looked behind them to see their two friends standing just outside Percy's room. Piper grinned and hopped over the couch to approach the two persons. "Finally! That jacket looks good on you, by the way." She held a thumb up in Nico's direction. Testing the waters, she laughed as she picked him up off the ground and twirled him around. "H-hey! Put me down!" Nico yelled, gripping on the girl's shoulders. Piper set him down and ruffled his hair. Annabeth eyed them with amusement. "Percy's right. You are a kid." She smiled innocently. Nico backtracked and looked at her as if to say "you're kidding, right?". She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. "A pretty cute kid too, like he said." She pointed back at the direction Percy sat.
"What?!" Percy yelled. Nico glared daggers and stomped off in his direction. "Why you–" when he neared, he did the unthinkable and tackled Percy, sending both of them on the ground. Piper and Annabeth looked taken aback from what they saw. Piper suppressed a giggle then started to laugh. "I can explain!" Percy held up both his hands in surrender. Nico scowled and placed both his hands on the side of Percy's head. "Sure, explain it to the kid!" he said.
The older boy opened his mouth to apologize but caught off guard when he realized what position they're both in. Nico still wore the tight jeans so when he straddled him, he easily felt the curve in his backside. His eyes widened and blood rushed to his face immediately. Unfortunately, Nico didn't notice. When Percy gazed back up, he saw Nico's eyes staring down into his own.
Slowly, oh so slowly, he leaned up. His breath hitched when he saw the other reciprocating the action. Gazing into dark eyes, their lips inches apart then suddenly their movements ceased when ice cold water splashed over their bodies. Percy heard the familiar laugh.
"Piper!"