Chapter Text
“I’m here for Will Solace,” was the last thing anyone heard before Nico hit the floor of the infirmary.
There were voices, many voices, and he was being jostled and pulled and pushed, until one voice in particular told everyone to step back. A pair of strong arms wrapped around him, lifting him, holding him, carrying him. He smelled faintly of antiseptic. Then the world went black.
***
There were noises, faintly, after awhile. It could have been minutes, it could have been years. It could have been a dream. His arm was lifted, his side was poked.
“... fainted at the welcome desk?”
“Not just fainted, like, almost disappeared. The whole place went dark. I’ve never seen Will move so fast in my life. He was scary.”
“Scary? Will?”
“Yeah, he was like… intense. He wouldn’t let anyone touch him. The way he was shouting orders… he wasn’t even like that in battle.”
“Holy shit. Is that why he fought with Kayla?”
“I think so. Someone manipulated the mist so we couldn’t hear the words, but they were really shouting at each other. It was like watching mom and dad fight.”
Their hushed voices faded into garbles, which faded into nothingness.
***
Will checked the clock as he ran to grab bandages. 4:27 am. He glanced over at Nico’s bed; he was asleep, deathly pale, looking seconds away from boarding the boat across the Styx. Will returned to his patient, meticulously cleaning a rusty sword wound. He handed the job off to a younger camper when he was called to consult on an eye hit with the pummel of a sword. He checked the time. 8:42 am. Nico still wasn’t moving. Stitches needed to be re-done on a patient’s skull, who had cracked their head on a boulder. 11:39 am. Nico’s left arm had moved, now resting on his stomach. Was he paler than before? A panicking nymph with a punctured lung. 3:13 pm. Back to the sword wound to stitch it up now that the rust was removed. The sun went behind a cloud. Will squinted, finding it harder to see. Did Kayla put the shades down? Was it already sundown? It couldn’t be, he would have felt sundown.
He straightened up and turned around. Nico.
Nico was no longer peacefully sleeping. His face was screwed up in a mixture of pain and concentration, his curls sticking to his sweaty forehead. His limbs were twitching, with the occasional full-body jolt, his head twisting as if to get away from something. A darkness was descending over his bed, lengthening the shadows, clouding the air around him like a tangible force. Two staff stood beside his bed, talking animatedly to each other. One reached out to grab his shoulder, trying to shake him awake. Nico’s head lolled from the force of the shake.
Suddenly, Will was at his bedside, shoving away the other medics. He went to grab his hand to feel his pulse, but he couldn’t get a solid grip on the limb fading in and out of existence. He brought his hands up to his shoulder instead, attempting to still him.
“Hey, Nico, it’s me,” he said in his calmest voice, hoping his panic didn’t bleed through. “You’re okay. You’re safe. You’re at the infirmary at Camp Half Blood. You’re having a nightmare.”
Nico jolted away from Will’s hand, his nose was scrunched up, his mouth twisted in agony. Will placed a hand on his chest instead, following his spasming body as he flinched away. Will instinctively started humming a tune, a hymn, a theme song, who knows, closing his eyes and focusing on Nico’s beating heart. He concentrated his being into his melody, sending a prayer to Apollo just in case, somewhere along the lines of please, please don’t let him fade into nothingness, he just started to make progress.
Eventually he felt Nico’s breathing even out, his body relaxing infinitesimally. He opened his eyes to see Nico had fallen into an easier sleep, his mouth slightly open and turned to the side. The sun had re-emerged, washing the infirmary in gold. Will went to bush a lock of hair from his eyes to notice he had started glowing at some point himself.
He felt someone shift beside him, and looked over to see the two medics staring dumbly at the two of them.
“What are you looking at?” Will snapped. He softened, realizing he was talking out of exhaustion. “I’m sorry. Thank you for trying to help; next time, don’t wake a person having a nightmare, it just makes it worse.”
They nodded quickly, faces white.
“Why don’t you go check on Priya to see how she took over the stitches?” he asked, fed up with the staring. They quickly busied themselves, picking up random rolls of bandages and running back to where Will had left his poor assistant hanging.
Will kept his hand in Nico’s hair and let his eyes slide shut again. He wasn’t allowed to use his healing power while he was working 18 hour shifts, unless it was a dire emergency. Losing a camper to the shadow realm definitely qualified. He would just need a small nap.
But Austin wasn’t going to let that happen.
“If you’re not careful, I’ll have to tell Kayla on you.”
Will stilled, as if his silence would make him go away.
“You know he’s not your patient, right?”
“Yes,” he snapped. Nico’s face scrunched up at the sound of his voice, and he massaged his scalp lightly until it relaxed again.
Will continued in a frustrated whisper. “But I brought him in, I diagnosed his symptoms. He only admitted himself because he trusts me. Why shouldn’t I be his healer?”
“I think you know why they won’t let you be his healer,” Austin said, implication heavy in his voice.
Will glared at him. Rationally, Austin and Kayla were right. But Will was their best healer, and Nico should get the best care.
He sighed, picking up the patient chart on his bedside and rifling through it. “She has him on ambrosia?”
“Yes.”
“She’s checking his temp every 30 minutes?”
“Yes.”
“She’s infusing his food with --”
“Gods, yes Will, she’s our second best healer, and this is one of the easiest things to treat.”
“His nightmares just conjured shadows that nearly dragged him out of existence,” Will replied scathingly. “I wouldn’t say this is on par with a twisted ankle.”
“Will,” Kayla said tiredly, having walked over from the storage room. “Thank you for stepping in, but I can handle it from here.”
“I’m just visiting a friend, Kayla,” Will commented, forcing politeness into his voice. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I still have 3 minutes left of my break, and I need to talk to Nico’s sleeping corpse.”
Austin and Kayla didn’t move as he turned back to Nico. Eventually, he heard the shuffling of footsteps and a curtain being pulled back. Will let out a long breath, exhaustion weighing down on every bone in his body.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, placing his hand on Nico’s cold cheek. His dark eyelashes fluttered slightly. “I’m still here. I’m still checking up on you. I didn’t abandon you. I hope you don’t feel too scared, or lonely. Just ask for me and I’ll be there, okay?”
Nico didn’t move. Will sighed again.
“Who am I kidding,” he grumbled. The bed shifted as he pressed a quick kiss to his forehead. “Wake up soon, Death Boy.”
***
Nico fell into a cycle. Light consciousness, general awareness of people surrounding him. Being poked, prodded, turned, touched. Sometimes answering an insistent question in his ear. Sometimes yelling, shaking, firm touches as his body spasmed from nightmares. Food shoved in his mouth, nectar dripping down his throat. Slipping away, and reviving again after minutes, days, years, just to do it all again.
***
Nico came to. His limbs weighed a million pounds; the sunlight scratched at the surface of his eyes. His head pounded, his chest felt hollow and cold. And someone was poking him.
“Oh, good, you’re awake,” he heard, though the words were garbled and blurry, just like the world around him. He saw the general shape of a person checking his blood pressure.
“I’m Kayla and I’ll be your healer,” she said tiredly. She had something green streaked on her cheek; her hair was in a messy bun, exhaustion settled into the lines of her face. She was a far cry from the rambunctious Kayla he knew, the only one clever enough to prank the Hermes cabin and get away with it.
Nico jolted. The battle.
Spots appeared along the sides of his vision as panic gripped his body. He instinctively felt the darkness being called up, the ground underneath him opening, tendrils of shadow rising, creeping, choking him…
Kayla was suddenly beside him. “Nico, you’re okay. You’re in the infirmary. You’re safe,” she said calmly.
Nico tried to focus on her, but his vision was swimming, and his body felt light, his core dissipating. He flinched when her hand landed on his shoulder.
“You’re safe,” she repeated firmly. “Take a deep breath. You’re safe.”
Nico closed his eyes, his focus going to the hand on his shoulder. It was comforting, grounding. He wasn’t disappearing, he was here, in the infirmary. His heartbeat slowed, and he managed to gasp in a full breath.
He felt the hand rub lightly on his shoulder, helping him concentrate. The battle. The Parthenos arrived in time. There was… Octavian. Then Leo. Then Hazel and Percy and Annabeth and… walking back to Will, and his blue, blue eyes, making him promise to check into the infirmary as soon as possible. So it was over.
When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed Kayla’s calculating expression.
“Can you sit up?” she asked, though she was already pulling him forward and shoving pillows behind his back to prop him up, as if he was eighty years old. And yeah, maybe he was eighty years old. But still.
“Drink,” Kayla said, holding out a cup. Nico obeyed wordlessly, nectar warming his core.
He glanced around the infirmary as Kayla scribbled on her clipboard. He zeroed in on Will, tending to a massive burn wound, all the way up someone’s leg. His golden hair haloed his face as he bent over in concentration, muttering to himself, applying salve oh-so-carefully with his delicate fingers.
Nico looked back towards his healer. Of course. Will was one of the best healers and the head of the Apollo cabin. Of course he didn’t have time for him. Nico was so stupid to think he would.
“Do you feel dizzy? Lightheaded?” Kayla asked.
“Lightheaded,” Nico said. Or, he tried to say. It came out as more of a croak. Kayla nodded and jotted something down.
“Are you in pain?”
Nico thought of the countless bruises, scars, and cuts on his body. “Not particularly. How long have I been here?”
“You’ve been out for two days. When’s the last time you ate?”
“Two days?”
“Answer the question.”
“I don’t know. If it’s been that long, can’t I leave?”
“No. When’s the last time you slept?”
“I just did, didn’t I? For two days. Why can’t I leave?”
“You fell unconscious, then continued to sleep. It’s not the same as a natural sleep.”
“All I’ve done is sleep, for weeks,” Nico snapped. “Every time I shadow travel, I sleep.”
“When is the last time you went a few days without shadow-travelling?”
Nico paused, racking his brain. “Probably when I was stuck in that jar.”
Kayla looked incredulously at him. “So, you use your power until you pass out, then you wake up and do it again, and then wonder why you have to stay in the infirmary.”
A flash of annoyance shot through Nico, quick and red hot. “You think I did that for fun?” Nico asked angrily. “The mother of Titans just tried to swallow two camps of demigods, and you think I had a choice?”
Kayla’s eyes darted around him, focusing on the shadows around the bed, elongating, strengthening, the darkness becoming an unending abyss in the smallest of shades. The tips of Nico’s fingers were turning blackish gray, his body decaying. He forced himself to relax, and the shadows weakened, though they simmered just under the surface, threatening to break through at a moment’s notice.
Kayla didn’t comment, jotting something down in her infuriating notebook.
“You need to stay for three more days, then we’ll reassess.”
Three days? What the fuck was he supposed to do for three days? He needed to go, needed to check on Hazel, to talk to Jason, and Reyna, to see if they were okay... But his body was getting heavier, his mind was shutting down, the tiniest manipulation of the shadows draining everything from him. Will’s blond head turned to look at him just as his eyes slid shut. The last thing he saw were the prominent bags under his eyes, and Nico thought, wow, Will looks like shit.
***
The abyss of Tartarus opened under him, the titan of time’s evil laughter echoing in his mind, Bianca’s scream shattered the sky, and Nico jerked awake, heart racing. He gripped the sheets, black spots dancing in his eyes, doubling over to gasp in breaths. He blinked repeatedly, realizing the black spots weren’t tricks from a lack of oxygen, but a haze that had descended over him.
A hand pressed firmly into his back. Nico slanted a glance at the intruder, and saw Kayla, her hair loose and straggly, frowning as she read her clipboard while making circles on his back with her other hand.
Nico glanced around the infirmary, willing his breathing to settle. The rest of the infirmary was illuminated in an orange hue, the setting sun dappling patterns on the curtains. From this angle he could see Will, overseeing a medic’s stitches, jotting down notes on his clipboard. He seemed like he should have been off-duty; his hair was wet, and he was wearing a simple white T shirt and grey sweatpants instead of the infirmary uniform. But there he was, giving commands, checking vitals, skimming patient files. He pulled a hand through his damp hair, making it stand on end. Nico had never seen his eyes so tired, his tanned skin so pale. His forehead had a permanent wrinkle to it. It looked wrong, so wrong.
“Nico.” Kayla had stopped touching him, handing him a glass instead. “Drink, please.”
Nico sat up, obliging her. He stared down at the sheets as he answered her routine questions. He felt like he was in a time loop, of nightmares, dumb questions, unnecessary prodding and people talking as if he weren’t there. Every time he woke up, he felt worse. He wondered how Jason and Piper were doing, how they were dealing with Leo’s absence. And Frank and Reyna, praetors of the Roman camp, had they already left? He glanced at the window, counting the minutes until he could get as far away from this depressing place as possible. Had anyone even come to visit?
He looked up when Kayla abruptly stopped asking questions. The shadows had started growing again, the blackness around him fighting the rays of sunshine streaming in. He tried to relax, to let go, but the shadows fought back, growing stronger.
“Will!” Kayla called. Will looked up, his eyes flicking from Kayla to Nico. “Can you come here?”
Will nodded, giving the medic a few more instructions before making his way over. The purple bags under his eyes looked worse from up close, and he was nearly swaying on his feet. Nico felt like he should be in the infirmary bed instead of him.
“You,” Kayla pointed at Will. “Need to hold Nico to make sure he won’t disappear.”
Will nodded his head, his limp curls bouncing. “You got it, boss.”
“Wait, what?” Nico asked, apparently three steps behind this convoluted plan.
Will came over to his side of the bed, placing a hand on his back, pushing Nico forward, giving him space to climb in bed behind him. He wrapped his arms around his middle, pulling him into his chest. Nico almost choked, his body seizing up at the contact.
“Okay?” Will asked. Nico managed to nod, before questioning why he was nodding, because this clearly wasn’t okay. What kind of medicine were they practicing here? Will’s strong legs tightened on either side of his as he got pulled in even closer.
Nico glared at Kayla, trying to pretend his heart wasn’t beating a mile a minute. She tapped her pen to her lip thoughtfully. “Just as I suspected,” she murmured. Nico looked around to notice the shadows had faded again, melting back to where they had been. But Kayla was also looking at something else, something behind him.
Nico looked down to see a faint golden hue surrounding Will’s arm, like an aura. Nico yelped.
“What the fuck is that?” he said, cringing away from it.
“Some children of Apollo have a glow, a light that emanates from them,” Kayla said, all business-like. “It mostly happens when --”
“It’s just a random occurrence,” Will cut Kayla off. “But it should keep you from going all shadow realm, Death Boy.”
Will can glow? He’d heard stories of children of Apollo lighting up like the sun, but they only come along once every millennia. It’s said they’re the blessed, chosen ones, the strongest of them all. But if that were true, why didn’t anyone make a big deal out of it?
Nico turned his head, ready to ask Will about it, when he noticed his head was leaned back against the wall, his eyes already shut. His mouth was open slightly, a freckle on his defined cupid’s bow. He looked like a sculpture. But he was alive, and warm, and hugging him, and asleep.
Nico turned back to Kayla to ask how long, exactly, he would be held hostage by the head of the Apollo cabin, but she had disappeared and closed the curtains around his bed. The lights were being shut off in the infirmary, the curtains going down, Will’s glow being the only light source still kicking.
Nico shifted, wondering if he could get more comfortable, but Will’s arms tightened instinctively. He looked back again, remembering how exhaustion had weighed so heavily on Will all day. He was sleeping now, but his brows were still drawn, as if he was diagnosing in his sleep. Nico supposed it couldn’t hurt to give in to this unique form of medicine, for the sake of Will’s sleep schedule. Truthfully, it wasn’t so bad. He could get free, if he wanted. Just, maybe… not quite yet.
He relaxed slowly into the embrace, letting the rhythm of Will’s heartbeat lull him to sleep.
He woke to being jostled, gently cradled, and let down slowly. The warmth that had surrounded him was leaving. A small noise escaped him as he reached out for whatever had left him. He heard a chuckle.
“Morning, sunshine,” he heard Will’s soft voice. Nico pried his eyes open, knowing it was much, much too early for anyone to be awake. He was right; the infirmary was still dark. Will’s golden hue illuminating him lightly as he kneeled in front of Nico’s bed.
“What time is it,” Nico groaned.
“Dawn. Time for morning rounds,” Will said gently. He lifted a hand, and it hovered over Nico’s hair, before putting it back down by his side. Nico was much too tired to analyze what that meant.
“Go back to sleep,” Will whispered.
Nico nodded, his eyes already sliding shut. He felt his hair being pushed lightly out of his face as he drifted off.