Disclaimer: I don't own Trials of Apollo

HADES XXIX
Nico's Favourite Janitor Returns

Hades hadn't been certain if Apollo would accept his offer, but he remembered the pain in his nephew's voice as he talked and sang about his deceased children in Tartarus and knew he'd had to make it. Why he had been following Zeus' rule about visiting Elysium he didn't know, although there was some sense in restricting the gods' access to the dead in case any more of them got it into their heads to try and bring some back.

The dead were, after all, his domain and he was not going to sit back and surrender the subjects of his realm to the whims of the other gods, especially those with no respect for death and its necessity.

Still, he could give Apollo the opportunity for some closure, for his nephew's sake, and appreciated that while he could feel that the younger god had sent part of his essence to Elysium, where it was splintering out further and further as he began to find the souls he wanted to interact with, he had also stayed with them. That would save hassle in waking William, and pacify Nico somewhat.

It was nothing short of a relief as the large, ornate black gates of his palace greeted him, swinging wide open as he approached. Skeletons jumped to attention, lining the main path to the main doors as they passed through the courtyard. This was Hades' own palace, the heart of his domain where his word was law, and his essence finally settled into an appeased peace as he passed through the giant doors.

Apollo and Bob followed him, his nephew glancing around as though the opulence of the palace was strange to him, while Bob seemed perfectly at ease within its pitch dark walls and vibrant gemstone and precious metal décor. Ordinarily, upon return – usually after one of his rarely-permitted visits to Olympus – Hades always headed straight for his throne room, settling on it and giving himself a moment to reassure himself that he was, still, powerful after the indignity of being given little more than a footstool amongst the twelve great thrones his brethren lounged upon.

Here, with Apollo and Bob after the trials of Tartarus, he had nothing to prove, neither to himself nor his audience. Apollo deferred to him well enough within his own domain, not that his nephew had ever been one of the gods peacocking against him. Peacocking in general, yes, but Apollo had never rubbed his status in his face like some of the other gods. Hades had no need to reaffirm his status; instead, he had a son to see.

The shadows around Nico's door still held strong; Asclepius and, somewhat surprisingly, Thanatos appeared to have passed through to see the demigods while he had been in Tartarus, but neither Nico nor William had left. Asclepius was still in the room, a spark of light against the general darkness. Good; Hades hadn't thought he would be foolish enough to try and escape, but it was nonetheless gratifying to see that he had not overestimated the younger god's intelligence.

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the shadows.

Nico's door slowly swung inwards, and immediately there was movement from within. Before it finished opening, his son was there, drawn sword in his hand.

Directly behind him was William, who was somehow awake and no longer in the coma Hades clearly remembered Apollo singing him into. From their postures, it was clear that William did not intend on being behind Nico, but that Hades' son had given him no choice in the matter. The son of Apollo did not look particularly impressed, but that expression faded into something else, wide eyed as he looked past Hades and at his companions.

Hades was not particularly interested in William's reaction. He was more interested in Nico's, as his son looked up at him, dark eyes a mix of resentful and… relieved? Hades didn't know what to make of that. Then Nico's eyes slid sideways, skipping over where Apollo stood with barely a flicker of acknowledgement, before coming to a wide-eyed stop on Bob.

"Bob?"

His voice was uncertain, almost a little shaky, and Hades didn't miss the way that William tried to step up next to him, only for Nico to jut his shoulder out awkwardly, blocking him from getting any closer. Was Nico… afraid? After the way he'd been so determined to rescue the titan, fear was the last reaction he'd expected. His son had never feared the titan while he swept the halls as a janitor, spending hours at a time sitting nearby, or even on Bob's shoulder, talking with him as he worked.

Hades hadn't approved at the time, but with no memories, Bob appeared to be no threat-

Ah.

The Bob Nico knew had had no memories. Before that, he'd met Iapetus, who had tried very hard to kill him prior to his Lethe bath. Now, Nico did not know which version of the titan he was facing, although Hades hoped his son at least recognised that he would not allow the titan to stand behind him, let alone approach his son, if he believed there to be any threat.

"Nico," Bob replied. Hades stepped to the side slightly to allow the titan to take a step closer, still partially blocking just to be certain that Bob was not, at the last moment, going to turn, and also with the intent of providing a physical barrier for Nico's own fears. Bob knelt down to be closer to the demigods' eye level. "I am glad to see you again."

Hades watched as his son assessed the titan, still not allowing William to draw level with him, much to the son of Apollo's clear frustration, for several seconds. To his credit, Bob did not move, or otherwise react, clearly aware that he ran a high possibility of spooking Nico should he move too quickly.

"How much do you remember?" Nico finally asked, meeting Bob's eyes squarely, his shoulders still set and his grip on his sword sure.

Bob's expression turned as soft as Hades had ever seen it. "Everything," he said honestly, remaining stock still as Nico's knuckles whitened. "My past as Iapetus, yes, but also my time as Bob, when you treated me with nothing but kindness and became my friend – a friend I gladly returned to the Pit to aid. I would like to continue that friendship, Nico di Angelo, if you would let me."

Nico's eyes widened in clear shock, and his sword trembled in his hold. "You… still want to be my friend?"

The titan smiled. "You taught me a lot, about kindness and friendship, and those are things I would like to continue learning," he said. "It is true that I am not the amnesiac titan you befriended originally, but I would like to move on from my past and create a new future for myself. I have put the name Iapetus behind me now, Nico. My name is Bob. I am the titan of the west, and, if you will still have me, your friend."

An array of emotions crossed Nico's open face, shock and disbelief leading before transforming into relief. His shoulders slumped, and his sword disappeared back into the shadows. "I'd like that, Bob," he said, a bright smile spreading across his face. It was not an expression Hades saw on his son very often, not since Maria and the Lethe and everything that had happened since his children had re-emerged from the Lotus Hotel. He would not say that that smile alone was worth the trials of Tartarus he had gone through, but it certainly didn't hurt.

"Glad we've got that sorted," William commented, finally succeeding in pushing past Nico's protruding shoulder and elbow to stand at his side. The words were idle, but Hades had not missed the draining of tension from his body, either, once Bob had confirmed that he still wanted to be Nico's friend. Despite not being a fighter, the son of Apollo had clearly been prepared to take on the titan in Nico's name if required.

It was a trait Hades approved of.

Bob turned his head to look at William, still remaining knelt at their height rather than standing up once more. "You must be Phoebus' son," he said. "I understand you would not let Nico come to find me alone."

William paused for a moment, clearly unused to hearing his father called Phoebus despite it being one of his more commonly-used epithets, then scoffed. "Of course I wouldn't," he said. "Someone has to keep Mr Lord of Darkness here alive- oof!"

An elbow planted itself in the blond demigod's gut, courtesy of Nico, who rolled his eyes fondly.

"This is Will," he said, "my significant annoyance."

"Hey!"

"Otherwise known as my boyfriend," he continued, sending William a quick look out of the corner of his eye that was almost sickeningly fond, before meeting Bob's eyes again, a slight tenseness in his frame the only indication that he was worried about the titan's reaction. It was a marked difference to when he had told Hades – at the time, Hades had thought his son was ready to turn tail and flee after saying the words, and it had taken some quick reminders about the pantheon's general lack of care for which genders others chose to pair up with to ease Nico into believing that Hades was not about to disown him, or worse, for falling in love with another boy. Either he trusted Bob more than Hades in such matters, or it had started to sink in that homophobia was only so rampart in modern mortals.

A look of comprehension crossed Bob's face, and his smile grew. "I see," he said warmly, turning to face William again. The son of Apollo looked mildly disconcerted to be on the receiving end of a titan's full focus, but stood his ground regardless, lacing his fingers with Nico's. "That explains things."

Startled dark eyes turned to Hades and Apollo. "You didn't tell him?" Nico asked, clearly surprised.

"It wasn't our place to tell," Apollo replied before Hades could formulate a reply. "Just because none of us have any issues with whichever genders or lack thereof someone might like, doesn't mean it's not a big deal for you," he explained, his voice gentle as Nico gaped. "Bob is your friend; you deserved to be the one to tell him."

"I'm not ashamed of loving Will," Nico hurried to clarify, as though either Hades or Apollo could have ever believed that. To begin with, Nico had been nervous about it, yes, almost shy, but while Hades knew he had grappled with the internalised homophobia that had been impressed into him during his upbringing, William had never been a source of shame.

"We know," Apollo reassured him, sliding past Hades and Bob to put his hand on Nico's shoulder. "It still wasn't our place to tell."

The residual strain of tension in Nico's body slid away again, and Hades saw him offer Apollo a small smile. "Thank you," he said, before stepping back into his room, tugging William back with him. The son of Apollo obeyed without complaint, and Hades stepped into the room after them, Apollo and Bob at his back.

Asclepius was sitting in the corner of the room, unobtrusive but sharp eyes watching the reunion. Hades ignored him for the moment – he had other things to focus on. The younger god's punishment could wait for the time being. If Asclepius had not tried to escape while Hades was otherwise occupied in Tartarus and unable to intervene, he would not try it now that Hades was back in the Underworld and fully in control of his domain once more. He kept his attention on the demigods instead, who appeared to have got over their shock that Bob, despite regaining his memories, still counted Nico as a friend, and had instead moved into amazement that Bob was actually there, rescued and out of Tartarus.

William was, perhaps predictably given his parent, the one to ask the question. "What came of the prophecy?" he began. "You two were sunshine and darkness, right? And the silver looks like that might have been Bob, but what about the rest? The topaz and…" He trailed off, clearly unwilling to voice the lines that had sounded most likely to be foretelling his own death yet begging them to tell him it was over and that he wasn't in imminent danger of dying.

Hades looked at Apollo, seeing no reason to talk about prophecies when their god was present and actually seemed to care about the blasted things. His nephew either took the hint, or was already intending on answering, because he began to talk without any prompting.

"The prophecy has completed," he assured the demigods with a soft smile, to Hades' mild surprise. He had not been completely aware of that, although he had suspected it may have happened from the younger god's countenance. The relief on both children's faces was palpable. "Hades and I were indeed the sunshine and darkness from the first line, while Bob was the silver from the second. Topaz referred to another titan – my grandfather, Koios, while the third line regarded Thanatos retrieving us with his Doors." He paused for a moment, and Hades could see the demigods gearing up for an interruption – likely something to do with Koios.

"What of the final line?" he asked, gaining a curious glance from Apollo before comprehension flared in his nephew's currently blue eyes.

"Koios also escaped through the Doors," the younger god explained, turning back to the demigods. "We were… unable to stop him leaving the Pit, but he was clear that unlike Bob, he had no desire to live in harmony with the gods, and instead wanted to destroy Olympus."

"Like Kronos," William said flatly, a slightly shuttered look snapping into place in his eyes. Hades noticed Nico squeeze his hand tightly, and after a brief moment William returned the gesture. Apollo's son had fought against Kronos, Hades vaguely recalled hearing; it was unsurprising that he had some residual trauma from the experience.

Apollo visibly winced. "Rather like him, yes," he admitted. "Once we were out of the Pit, we had to… stop him. He was weakened, and my sister had come to, uh, greet us. Between us, we managed to defeat him and send him back. That occurred at sunset – the fading light of the day."

William visibly sagged against Nico, who took the weight without flinching. "So no more titans trying to destroy Olympus?" he asked, sounding as though he hardly dared to hope, and Apollo smiled at his son.

"No more titans trying to destroy Olympus," he confirmed, "and no more prophecy directing the two of you to go into the Pit."

"Good," Will said firmly. "Hear that, Nico? No Pit for us."

"I hear it," Nico said tiredly. "It's not like I wanted to go, but…" He paused. "Bob, were you the one calling me?"

"No," Hades stepped in firmly, before the titan could even make sense of the question. "It was not Bob. Alcyoneus was attempting to lure you down so he could kill you." Both demigods blanched. "He will not be calling you again any time soon," he added, a little vindictively.

"I would never call you back into the Pit, Nico," Bob added, sounding almost wounded at the idea. "It is no place for a demigod at the best of times, and the Primordial had no intentions of allowing me to go free."

Nico looked at the floor. "I know," he admitted, his voice barely a whisper. "I knew it didn't fit, but… I wanted it to mean that you were still alive. I didn't want you to be destroyed, just because you helped me, and Percy and Annabeth."

Bob rested a light hand on his shoulder, a small, soft smile on his face. "You are kind, Nico," he said. "That is a strength, in our world, but be careful it isn't used against you," he cautioned. "There are many who would try, if you let them." Alcyoneus' name was not brought up again, but Hades suspected he was not the only one thinking of his giant bane. It was unlikely that he would reform again within Nico's lifetime, but given Orion's rapid revival, not impossible. "Be careful."

"I'm keeping an eye on him," William said, and got another elbow for his trouble, but it put the edge of a smirk back on Nico's lips regardless. Bob's smile widened.

"I am sure you are," he said, and Nico huffed.

"Anyway," William continued. "Not that I'm in a hurry to leave the Underworld or anything, but if the prophecy is filled, does that mean we're… safe?" Unsurprisingly, his eyes sought Apollo, who put a hand on his shoulder.

"I still need to talk with my father," Hades' nephew said, solemnity taking the place of his fond smile. "Until that conversation is over, it would still be best if you stayed here."

Raw fear flashed across William's face, a matching alarm on Nico's. "Is he likely to…" he stumbled over his words for a moment, glancing down at the floor before meeting Apollo's eyes squarely. "Be mad with you?" he settled on, the words falling away somewhat pathetically. Apollo's grip on his shoulder tightened.

"I don't know," he said, an admission of ignorance Hades had hardly thought the younger god capable of. "But I don't want to take any chances with you two, so, please, stay here in Hades' realm a little longer."

Hades couldn't even pretend that William was not permitted to wait longer, and inclined his head when the son of Apollo glanced at him, blue eyes wide with something he suspected was not fear for himself. It was not, then, much of a surprise when William lunged for his father, gripping him in an embrace with white-knuckled hands and the sheer air of desperation. Apollo stared, frozen for a mortal heartbeat, before wrapping his arms around his son in turn.

"Be safe," William mumbled into his father's chest. "Don't give him any more reason to punish you, Dad." It was less a request and more an order, and part of Hades was surprised at the audacity of a mortal to order a god around – although Nico had the art of irritation down far too well, and Apollo, of all gods, was least likely to take offence, especially from one of his own children.

"I'll do what I can," Apollo promised, the words muffled by the mop of blond waves he had buried his face in. "But…"

"I know," William replied, pressing himself even tighter against his father, if that was possible. "I know, Dad."

What little could be seen of Apollo's face could only be described as heartbroken, and Hades stepped forwards.

"As your sister said," he began, "the less he is made to wait, the less time he will have to wind himself up into a paranoid frenzy."

Apollo did not reply immediately, nestling his face further into his son's hair, before his shoulders slumped. "That's not what she said," he mumbled after a moment, but did raise his head.

Hades scoffed. "I paraphrased." Artemis understood the volatile nature of her father well; her softer wording had been unnecessary, in Hades' opinion, save for keeping Zeus' wrath away from her. Given the number of occasions she had witnessed her twin's punishments, it was of little surprise that Artemis picked her words carefully. "Come, the sooner we see my brother, the sooner this nonsense will be behind us."

His nephew jerked, his arms falling away from where they'd been surrounding William in surprise. "We?" Apollo repeated, staring at him in clear astonishment. "But-"

"I am well aware that my brother has no wish to see me," Hades assured him. "However, I find myself not caring for his wishes at this time." In recent years, Zeus had become… weakened. Hades himself had fallen into a similar state for a time, but in facing his father outside Olympus, he had rediscovered his old strength. His younger brother might still fancy taking on Apollo, but he would have to be truly desperate if he tried with an audience at least his equal in power.

Besides, there was something about Apollo's essence that was intriguing Hades. He had not had much time to notice it, let alone ponder it, in Tartarus, but the memory of his nephew's essence mingling with him now raised more questions – ones he thought he might find an answer to if he accompanied him to Olympus.

"I shall accompany you, too," Bob proclaimed, drawing all eyes to him – William had reluctantly pulled away from his father, and had been pulled close by Nico instead, whose grip on his boyfriend's hand was just as white-knuckled as William's grip had been on his father. "No doubt he has no wish to see me, either, but I do not intend to cause Olympus grief and will properly introduce myself."

Zeus was going to be furious.

Hades looked forward to it.

"Very well," he said, ignoring Nico's protests. Instead, he looked to Asclepius, who was unobtrusively sitting in the corner, staying out of the conversation. "We will leave now," he said. "Once again, my son and William are under your protection. Do not fail me, or your punishment shall be increased tenfold."

Apollo made a noise of protest, but his godly son simply smiled slightly. "I understand, Lord Hades."

"We don't need babysitting," Nico grumbled. Hades raised an eyebrow and sent a pointed look at first him, and then his boyfriend.

"I have found you do not care to do as you are told," he said, "and I believe Asclepius is the only reason William is in good health, as he appears to have awoken prematurely and cannot gain sustenance from my domain." The second point successfully quelled the protests that began after the first, Nico settling for sending him a mulish look while William looked somewhat sheepish. "I suggest that, for William's good if not your own, you remain here with Asclepius until we return." We, because Hades had no intention on allowing Apollo to be whisked away at the whims of his paranoid father for further punishment. Bob, he was content to leave to fend for himself; while he had no quarrel with the titan now, he would not put his neck out for him any further than he already had.

The resigned edge to the persisting mulish look told him that Nico was at least hearing what he was saying. Nonetheless, as Hades pushed Apollo into walking out of his son's bedroom – although not before his nephew gave the demigods another tight embrace, as though he thought it might be the last time he saw them, and even slipped further in to give Asclepius a similar gesture – and shut the door behind him, he also called up the shadows to once again bar Nico's bedroom.

There was no point trusting his son not to be foolish. Hades had witnessed too many incidents to the contrary to be that naïve.

"Come," he said when Apollo hesitated, looking back at the shadow-covered door shutting away two of his sons. "The sooner this is over with, the better." His nephew did not appear to be convinced – Hades got the sense that despite his recent defiant actions, he was no less wary of Zeus' wrath than Artemis – but dutifully followed as Hades led the way out the back of his palace, where he had long ago used a Key to create a door directly to Olympus.

It was kept locked, of course. Hades was not about to allow the dead, nor indeed any other denizens of the Underworld, unfettered access to the home of the gods, and nor was he willing to leave an open door for his Olympian brethren to drop by whenever they pleased. Its purpose was primarily to allow him direct access for the rare occasions he was permitted entry, without suffering the humiliation of having to cross from the main entrance of the Underworld in the west to the entrance to Olympus further east.

Zeus was no doubt going to give him grief for using it to let a titan onto Olympus, but given that his younger brother already had an entire list of grievances at his disposal, Hades did not care about one more. He did, however, give Bob a warning to stay close. It would be near-suicidal for the titan to break his word and attack Olympus single-handedly, and Hades was as confident as he could reasonably be that Bob would not, but there was still room for him to be a fool.

As always, the sight of Olympian architecture – so similar to his palace, but swathed in white rather than black – brought with it a mixture of emotions, ranging from longing to betrayal. Sometimes – often, especially in recent years as Zeus had clenched his ruling fist tighter and tighter – Hades allowed himself to wallow in those emotions, his mood both lifting and souring in a contradictory mess that left him irritable to anyone who dared approach him.

Today, Hades had a purpose for his visit, so he pushed the rising emotions down and swept through the streets, ignoring surprised nymphs and minor gods as he led their trio directly to the throne room. He could feel Zeus in there, a tightly-coiled yet volatile mix of sparks and ozone waiting for a single trigger to ignite. It was beneath the king of the gods, no doubt, to go searching for a disobedient son, but it was clear that he expected Apollo to go crawling to him, begging for forgiveness and prostrating himself towards whichever inane punishment Zeus had in mind on this occasion.

Apollo slowed as they approached, obviously aware of his waiting, angry, father, but Hades was done dancing to the tune of his youngest brother and pushed on, twenty feet tall as he slammed the doors to the throne room open with a satisfyingly loud crash. His nephew had no choice but to follow after him, with Bob trailing behind the pair of them, no longer the tallest but rather the shortest as Apollo matched the heights of the other gods in the room.

The look of shock morphing into fury on Zeus' face was extremely satisfying.

"Hades!" his youngest brother roared. "What are you doing here? It is not the Solstice; you are not permitted-"

"And here I thought you might be pleased to see me, brother," Hades interrupted him, allowing sarcasm to heavily permeate his voice, broadcasting to their audience – both expected and the unexpected extras – that he was well aware that Zeus did not want to see him and did not care. "Or at least, pleased for the chance to complain at my part in recent events."

Now we enter the part of the fic that was the most difficult to write - namely, tying all the plot threads together... Simultaneously the most satisfying and most irritating part of writing a longfic!

Thanks for reading!
Tsari