Work Text:
Nico fell to the floor of the Athena cabin where he had just materialized out of thin air. Annabeth heard a gasp ring out through her cabin as her brothers and sisters made way for the wounded son of Hades, each of them trying to address how bad his wounds were without getting too close. They cleared a way for Annabeth to reach him and without a second thought, she scooped him up into her arms and left the cabin in one fluid motion.
“Annabeth,” Will called over the infirmary bed he was currently remaking, “why are you h- oh my gods what happened!??” He was by her side in an instant, pulling back the covers of the nearest bed for Nico to be lain in. “When did he get back from his quest!? Where did you find him?!” Will barraged the daughter of Athena with questions as the two of them worked in unison to retrieve bandages and medicines, ambrosia and nectar for the bleeding boy. Nico was currently unconscious and striped like a tiger with deep gashes that were soaking the bed he was laying on. Annabeth fed him ambrosia squares as Will worked to gloss the wounds with potions before wrapping them in gauze.
“He shadow-travelled right into the center of my cabin five minutes ago and passed out. I don’t know what he ran into, but we have to get him some more ambrosia quick.” Annabeth dashed to the next tent of the infirmary as Will assessed his boyfriend’s current state. Nico was already starting to faintly glow golden, but his wounds needed to heal faster. Being a child of one of the Big Three should help him manage a few more squares, Will rationalized. The nectar wasn’t doing much to help either, so Will set the bottle aside and focused on applying pressure to all the right spots of the wounds.
When Annabeth came back with the ambrosia in hand, she nearly dropped it. She was met with the image of Nico surrounded by curls of sunlight and a floating Will Solace, eyes golden and mouth mumbling in a sort of trance. Before her eyes, she saw the blood that had been soaking the sheets begin to slowly seep back into the bleeding boy until he could no longer be described as such. The gauzes wrapped over Nico’s wounds prevented Annabeth from seeing them heal, but she had the feeling that whatever magic Will was using was sealing the gashes slowly but surely. Finally, after a few more minutes of floating and chanting, Will crumpled from the air and was caught just in time by Annabeth before he could make contact with the floor.
*****
Will woke up lying in a hospital bed. That’s weird, he thought, rubbing his head. He couldn’t remember how he got here. He’d been remaking a hospital bed when… Nico. It all came back to him in a flash- Nico coming back from his quest, Annabeth carrying the boy into the infirmary, having to apply pressure to all the wounds. He whipped his head around and saw Nico sitting up in the bed next to him. He looked… good. Great, actually, considering how bad his wounds had been. He couldn’t exactly remember how Nico had gotten better, but he could feel his own strength returning to him as he too sat up. Will swung his feet over the side of his bed and waited for Nico to look at him. He waited and he knew that the other boy was avoiding him. He could see it in the way Nico was keeping Will just barely in his peripherals.
“Nico.” Will said sternly. The dark haired boy turned his head to look at boyfriend, eyes hard to read. “Nico, what--”
“Will, I can explain--”
“What were you thinking?”
Nico stared at him for a moment before piecing together an adequate response to his seemingly rhetorical question. “I was on a quest, what do you think I w--”
“Nico,” Will said, raising his voice a bit louder than the usual hushed tone that he reserves for the infirmary, “you were out there alone and you obviously came across something you knew you couldn’t handle. We’d talked about this. Before you left, you said--”
“I know what I said, but I--”
“No buts, Nico! You said that if you came across something you couldn’t handle alone, that you would call. You know that I’m always here at camp.”
“Will, you- you didn’t see it. You couldn’t have done anything about it. I- I thought I could handle it alone. Obviously I was wrong, but still.”
“Oh bull shit, Nico, you know that Percy would’ve helped you in out a heartbeat. Any sort of rainbow would suffice, he basically lives in the water- he would’ve gotten any Iris Messages you sent out.”
Nico looked down at his sneakers as they dangled freely off the side of his bed. “I know.” Dark bangs cast shadows across his face as he continued, “I just wanted to prove that I was strong again, you know? I mean nothing has been like it was a year ago. I haven’t felt as powerful as I did then and I just wanted to prove that I could still fight those kinds of monsters. I wanted to prove that I am still strong.” Nico broke off with a humourless chuckle, “Guess that backfired, huh?”
Will scanned over Nico’s features, searching for any scars left over from the monster attack, any fresh scars he could tend to. But he found nothing but a calm, smooth face, down-turned and dismissive. He stood up and took two steps towards Nico’s hospital bed, effectively closing the gap between them. He reached up and held Nico’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, lifting it until he could see Nico’s eyes once more.
“You’re strong, Nico. You don’t need to prove that to any monster, you can’t prove it by taking on fights you can’t win, and you definitely can’t show your strength by getting killed by a monster you are not prepared to fight. The battle last year had stirred up a lot of magic both up here and in the Underworld. I think that that’s why your powers were so strong so suddenly.” Nico cast his eyes away, but Will caught them again. “I’m not saying that you will never have that kind of power again, I’m just saying that it might be a little while longer. And that’s not because of anything you did. Gaia had a lot of power, we don’t even know the full extent to which she was able to control the earth and all that’s on and below it. You have the power within you to do what you did during the time of her waking, Nico, you just need to find another source- another power to anchor yourself with. You may not like the thought, but you need the living just as much as the rest of us, if not more.”
Nico gave him a quizzical look, so Will continued. “Souls were all once people. People who walked the earth. Your dad can gain power from many things related to the Underworld, but one of the most prominent things is souls. So in a way, your power is connected with souls. So I want you to know that no matter what, you are strong. You’re surrounded by the very thing that makes you strong, and just because it isn’t some super magical force in the ground doesn’t mean that it isn’t powerful. I need you to trust me and trust yourself. You’re not going to prove anything good to anyone that matters if you go and get yourself killed. So please, for me, don’t do this. Don’t go looking for trouble you can’t face, don’t go off the grid and show up dead. Please, Nico,” their eyes met again and Will felt a pang in his heart at the sadness he saw in Nico’s eyes. “If not for your own wellbeing, then for mine. I need you. And I know that these quests mean a lot to you, but you have a lot of people who can help you on them. You’ve got friends and family here. We’re here for you and I don’t ever want you to forget that.” Will rested his forehead against Nico’s dark bangs and looked into his eyes once more. Now, upon closer inspection, he could see the truth of what he’d said dawning in Nico’s eyes. He knew that this had been a close call. He knew that he had a family to return to, and a loving boyfriend to see all the time.
It may have taken him yet another near-death experience for Nico to realize the importance of life, but he had to love the irony of it: a son of Hades finding solace in the living.