Epilogue: Of Misunderstandings and Happy Endings

Late Monday Morning

"So, let me get this straight. You go into the city on your own. Without a map. First place you end up in you literally get thrown out on your ass onto a pile of trash—"

"I wasn't actually—"

"—only to find a feral dog that could've had rabies—"

"But didn't!"

"—and you said to yourself, 'hey, you know what would be a fantastic idea?!'"

"I don't talk like that."

"Yes, you do. Please, Jason, this is more interesting than a telenovela. Continue."

"How about I adopt this thing!" Jason sputtered on. "And, wait—that's not all! How about I keep it in the rv?!"

"Where else was I supposed to put him?"

Jason fixed Leo with his flabbergasted expression, arms spread wide as they walked across the parking lot with Festus hopping along beside them—nothing more than a rope strung loosely around his neck to keep him safely at their sides. He spared a glance down at the dog, and in an instant Nico could see right through the farce: Jason's expression softened, and though he seemed to realize and gather himself quickly, Nico could tell that all he wanted was to lie down on the ground and cuddle with the dog like Percy had. Instead, he continued his rant.

"What did he even eat?"

Leo puffed like the question was totally unnecessary. "I smuggled some of my food out of the inn." Suddenly all those half-eaten plates and mysterious disappearances from the table made a lot more sense.

Jason's eyes became even more troubled, stormy at this point, but it was a quieter kind of horror. "That can't have been good for him."

"Relax, my man! That's why we're here now," Leo said, gesturing up to the PetCo before their very eyes.

"Which brings me to my point—" Leo groaned (and to be quite honest, wasn't the only one) as he came to understand the last ten minutes of Jason's argument as just buildup "—you did all that and you never once thought, 'hey, maybe I should get some supplies'?"

"Of course I did! But I was too busy with planning and making sure my best friend's wedding wasn't a disaster, and then Percy and Annabeth decided to do Wedding 2: Electric Boogaloo, and I didn't exactly have time to go shopping!"

Jason scoffed and rolled his eyes—but Nico knew he was just happy to be here.

Percy had stayed behind with Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel because he couldn't really be trusted in a pet store at this point; he was liable to get too excited and jump the gun a few years early. So the rest of them, each on a mission, filed through the doors of the PetCo and set off in different directions.

Leo was on leash, harness, and collar duty so that he could make sure he got ones that properly fit. Nico was almost disappointed that he wouldn't get to see Leo playing dress up with his dog, but he and Will had an important job too—they had to find toys for Festus to play with.

"Hey, Will," Nico said. He held up a toy bone next to his face. His raised eyebrow said it all, and Will snorted as he saw his boyfriend with his favorite emblem. If this stemmed from an inside joke about bones, Nico's admittedly gothic air, and his work as a mortician, well, no one needed to know that.

Will reached out for another toy as Nico felt around the seams of the bone to check for quality—he didn't want to choose a toy that Festus would instantly destroy. When he looked back up, he saw Will holding a bumpy yellow chewy in the shape of the sun. Nico rolled his eyes, and the two of them laughed.

They walked away with a bone, a sun, and a classic rope that could tie the two together.

While Nico and Will tried to find Leo in the large, semi-crowded store, Leo was having his own troubles. Possibly life-threatening ones.

Because even though Piper and Jason were on essential needs duty—which included dog food—Leo had to pass by the food to get to all the gear. And what he saw there set a tremble deep in his bones, and instead of fleeing, he stood rooted to his spot.

He briefly wondered if Festus would make a good guard dog, then thought that was stupid, what with the three legs and the interminably loving demeanor. But guard dog or no, his acting skills wouldn't be saving him this time—not because of any lack in talents, thank you very much, but because he couldn't stop himself before he said, "Oh, shit," in a loud and distinctly English-speaking American voice.

The three figures, with bags of dog food in their arms, turned to him at once, and he felt as though his blood had frozen into ice.

They were the same people from the alley.

Before anything else could happen, the large, burly, and oddly amused man he'd spoken to last time smiled wide and said, "Hey… Leo!"

Leo hoped his smile didn't look like a grimace.

(It definitely did).

"Uh… hey." He glanced down at Festus, who only stared at the three people in front of him. He didn't know what to do. He just hoped his brain or his instincts (or both) could get him out of trouble if things escalated, which they usually did. But hey, his brain and/or instincts hadn't failed him yet, right?

Well, that was debatable.

But it turns out he didn't need to save himself. He didn't need Festus to jump to his rescue. Because the only thing these people did to him was confuse him, then confide in him.

It went like this.

He tried to save himself with words at first, lifting his hands and not bothering with the no hablo Inglés—he'd already kinda blown it, anyway. "This was a totally innocent mistake," he said, his limbs finally regaining feeling as he took a small step back. "I said I'd leave you alone and I meant it, and I'm sorry—"

There was a tense, awkward silence as the man glanced down at Festus with an odd look on his face. Leo tried to hold back a wince as the woman leaned in toward the tall man and said "Told you he spoke English," to which the man simply rolled his eyes. But his gaze fell back on Festus, then flicked to Leo's—and it seemed he'd made up his mind on something.

"You know what, Leo?" he said, taking a step towards him. Leo would've been more scared than he actually was, but this time he at least knew that he had backup. With a single whistle (which he and Will had bonded over), his friends would be by his side—that is, if running away didn't work.

The man grew closer and closer until he was right in front of Leo, then hoisted the large bag of dog food he was holding over his shoulder. He then held out his other hand, and Leo stared at it, bewildered. "You're pretty cool. The name's Joshua."

To Leo's surprise, Joshua was smiling. He hesitantly took Joshua's hand and attempted a better smile of his own as his brain tried to puzzle out what the hell was happening. Joshua introduced the other two as Reba and Sam, and aside from their slightly bemused expressions and nods in greeting, they contributed little to the exchange.

Leo looked back at Joshua. "Cool. So, uh… I'm afraid to ask…. but I caught part of your conversation in the alley?" He looked up to make sure he wasn't about to be pummeled while his brain shouted at him to shut up, shut up, shut up! But he couldn't stop the words from falling out of his mouth. He rambled when he was nervous, okay? "So you know, whatever illicit assassination-al activities you're mixed up in, that'll just be between us, cool?"

Joshua's brow furrowed, and for a moment Leo thought he was done for until—again—Joshua laughed.

But this time Leo didn't laugh along, and Reba and Sam only snickered and looked at each other like what an idiot. "Okay, I really don't get what about this is funny."

Joshua reined in his laughter—was that another tear?—and looked between Leo and Festus. "Chill, hombre. We're not hurting anybody except corporate America."

Wait…

What?!

Leo looked back and forth between the three of them, unable to piece together enough sounds to form words. Joshua grinned at his expression, then leaned in and said: "Look, what you heard was our plan to take back what was taken from those who need it." He glanced back at his friends, and Leo was left even more confused than before.

Then the woman, Reba, spoke up. She gestured to the dog food she held in both hands, then the cart behind them that Leo hadn't seen, which had even more pet food and supplies in them. "This was all supposed to go to a local shelter. But these bastards turned their backs the second they realized they hadn't lost the profit. Well, we're here to give these to the animals that deserve them."

Leo was still confused, but Joshua took pity on him and said in a low voice, "Someone went back on their deal. Now we're stealing."

"Ooohhhh," Leo drawled, and Festus gave a little tail wag.

The worry drained from Leo's frame, and he took a deep breath. This time, he actually did smile, a breathy laugh escaping his lips. "And here I thought you were contracted murderers. But you're just modern-day animal Robin Hoods." He looked away in thought. "I guess there really is another side to every story."

Joshua laughed, and Reba and Sam, with smiles on their faces, continued to load dog food into the cart. "Well, you still might not wanna get involved, you know. This is still illegal."

Leo nodded. "Right."

"But you know, if you see someone who looks real important—say, a manager or a CEO—warn a brother, alright?"

Leo laughed. "Yeah, sure, Joshua." He was surprised to find that he actually meant it.

But then he grew confused again, and he frowned as Joshua turned back to place down his cargo. "Wait… why'd you trust me? Before, you didn't want me to have anything to do with it."

Joshua shrugged, and sent a glance to Festus. "Because of him," he said. Leo looked down at Festus, wondering how he fit into this. "I know what a stray looks like, Leo. Most people in this area, they just ignore them. But not you."

Leo smiled down at Festus as he thought about Joshua's words and the new friend he had made. He was so glad he had Festus.

He looked back at the do-gooder thieves as one more question popped into his mind. "Sooo," he said casually, as though just making conversation, "how are you gonna get this all out of here?"

Joshua laughed again. "Oh, we've got a contact on the inside," he said, waggling his eyebrows. Reba rolled her eyes behind him, but Leo couldn't help but grin.

"It's literally just Lily, but yeah, sure, a contact," said Reba.

"And speaking of Lily, she's probably waiting for us out the back," Joshua said, and he took one last look at Leo and Festus as the other two situated the cart in preparation to leave. Leo almost wished he could keep talking to them, but they had to go, and he had things he needed to do, too. "See you later, Leo. You keep good care of that mutt, alright?"

Leo held up a hand in farewell and said, "Yeah, Joshua. Good luck, you guys."

With a final nod goodbye, Leo was left watching his newfound… friends? walk away.

And with that, his old friends came up to his side, and he finally turned away.

"Leo, what are you doing?" Jason asked as he approached. He glanced, confused, between Leo and Festus, finding no new leash or collar in sight. Behind him was Piper, and behind her, Nico and Will approached with toys in their hands.

"Well, Jason, it seems I wasn't finished with my story."

Jason glanced back in the direction Leo had been looking, but he didn't seem to notice anything, and after a moment, his confused expression turning into one of fond exasperation with a light scoff. "Okay, Leo."

"Hey… what are you doing?" Leo looked down at Jason's arms to find only a food and water bowl and nothing else. He glanced back to see if Piper had anything, but her arms were full with something entirely unrelated to the task at hand.

She was holding a ferret.

"Oh, come on!" she said, lifting up the furry noodle in her hand so Leo could more accurately direct his absolute stupefaction. "She's just so cute."

Will's coos began and faded to background noise as Leo turned to Jason, who looked at once guilty and ashamed but also completely mischievous and pleased with himself. Leo shook his head. "And after all the grief you gave me about Festus," he said, acting disappointed. But he couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice, and he laughed when Jason attempted a "forgive me" smile.

"Come on, Grace," he said, clapping him on the back. "I didn't get what I needed, either."

No one was surprised by that, so as they all headed toward their next goals together with a yet-to-be-named ferret in tow (Jason thought they should call her Tempest, but Piper wasn't so sure), there was nothing but amusement between them. Later, when Leo recounted the rest of the story to everyone, he'd get more of the same fondness and eye-roll attitude. But he'd also get gratitude for the fact that he hadn't gotten himself hurt, and there was nothing but love on the way back to New York, even for two fur-covered hearts.

oOo

They never saw those people again, but that's just how life goes. People come and they go. Sometimes they stay, often they don't. The important ones never really leave, though, like when Piper and Jason finally saved up enough to buy their very own house; it was within a 20-minute drive of the places at which the rest of them spent the majority of their time.

It was great for family gatherings, but there's another thing about the important ones—sometimes there are things that are just as important to them if not more. Percy and Annabeth, with 6-month-old Pearl Hurricane Jackson at home, could be too tired or busy or overwhelmed to come by. And that was okay. Because even if they weren't there (which they still often were, as the rest of them were more than happy to spend time with little baby Jackson—and maybe let the other two Jacksons take a nap) they'd send along pictures and voice messages and sometimes even gifts. They were there in spirit if not in person.

Inspired by his new furry friend, Leo went on to start his own prosthetics and mobility aids organization: engineering at a low cost for amputees and the physically disabled. It felt right having a goal, something that he could strive for with what was often just mindless tinkering. And more than that, it felt right to use his skills for good—to help people.

On any day that ends with y, he was guaranteed to be in his workshop toying with new models or re-calibrating older ones, Festus snuffling for scraps to play with nearby. It was never truly quiet there, patients and friends and volunteers alike milling about, but on the calmer days you were a lot more likely to see Nico as well—he came by for the company, and Will sometimes came to offer Leo his growing expertise on the human body and how the physiological aspects of prosthetics impacted people's lives and Leo's work.

But, let's face it—on the days Leo couldn't be found there, you wouldn't find any of the others where they were supposed to be, either.

Oh, yeah. Super-Sized McShizzle's classic Valdez adventures.

(He still held fast to the belief that Pearl was old enough for them, but until the day Percy and Annabeth actually agreed with him, she would be left with Coach Hedge, his wife, and their young son).

There was nothing much to tell about Hazel and Frank—they had nice jobs, and a comfortable, (mostly) calm life. They took a one-week trip to New Orleans at the end of the year, so Frank could see where Hazel had grown up. She even took him to the cemetery to meet Sammy, and the two of them learned a lot about living with grief, about how life goes on no matter what. Nico and Hazel had long discussions about that when the couple got home, and there was no end in sight to their random, clandestine sibling hangouts.

After a while, when Nico and Will decided they were ready (which mostly meant waiting until Will had some time off school, which didn't really happen until late winter), they took a trip of their own. Yes, that trip. And when the two set out in Italy in search of the closure Nico needed, they were welcomed with the open arms of a more than accepting community. That made the rest of it—namely, going back to the place where Nico grew up and doing their own cemetery visits—a lot easier.

And while they visited those loved and lost, they thankfully never had to see… other people ever again.

Octavian, the scumbag—well, needless to say he spent some time in jail. The unexpected part, however (depending on who you asked—to others this would be less surprising to hear than that the sky was blue) was that his cellmate was none other than Akmon from the front desk. Turns out he'd been embezzling cash for years—only ones, for some reason—but either way Octavian was in for a long sentence.

Others they'd seen at the inn popped in and out of their lives—Reyna, Thalia, even Chiron—but that's how you know you've found the good ones. Just like Percy and Annabeth, they made time. (Oh, and everyone was completely divided on the whole subject of Thalia and Reyna getting together—some claimed it was bound to happen, while others said it would've had to smack them upside the head to be obvious).

Anyway, things changed. But it was almost entirely for the better—they became more comfortable in their own lives, their own skin. Even Nico (especially Nico), who took to making more jokes like "this is homophobic" when Percy stole his popcorn on movie nights. But Will was always there to defend his honor, and for the first time he truly let himself believe that he was loved.

And they were happy.

Author's Note:

So, here we are. The end.

Hey, I said I'd finish it, didn't I?

Look, there's a story to this fic. Not just the story that exists within it, but the larger story—the reason there's even a story at all.

You see, I never planned to write this sequel. I just got carried away after Black and Blue. I wrote it during desperate times, when writing was all I had, and so I couldn't stop myself from continuing. But my fics—these and my one-shot—changed my life, not least of all in the fact that they're how I met my best friend in the world.

I won't go into all the nitty gritty details, but if you couldn't tell by the subject matter of this fic, I was going through more than a few crises when I started writing it. I was a newly-realized queer teenager struggling with depression and isolation and poverty, and I let all my grievances out on a document through my favorite characters in a world outside my own.

As the fic went on, I grew so much. I think that shines through in the way Nico and Will talk to each other, particularly toward the end—bluntly and with hope. This fic may not represent exactly who I am now, but it does show a large part of how I got here.

Years ago, when I wrote the disclaimer, I said that I'd outgrown it. And that's true. A lot of the aspects of this fic, especially the darker ones, are things that I've left behind. But I was so close to the end when I stopped writing, and I needed to prove to myself that I could finish something. I needed to do a lot with this fic, to be honest. But most of all, I needed to put it to rest.

I've just finished reading The Sun and the Star, and I feel like Nico and Will—I felt like them then and I feel like them now. You see, I'm not really leaving the darkness behind. I'm living with it, and I'm giving myself a choice.

You have no idea how much this fic meant to me 6 years ago. Even still I feel something inexplicable rise in my chest when I think about it, and I know that has something to do with your support.

I'll make a few more edits, particularly to all the racial epithets that I shouldn't have been using (and don't worry, I'll update the disclaimer). But aside from that…

Thanks for reading.

Until next time.

Corvidwing