Prompt Idea: Nico is sick, but Hades doesn't know, and has him shadow travel around the Underworld doing various things for him. By the time he is done, he is deathly ill, and can't leave his father's kingdom, forcing Hades to step up to the plate and act like the father he's supposed to be. Pure fluff. Set after the second Titan War, but before the Giant War.

It was a late summer night at Camp Half-Blood, the setting sun casting shadows over the dining pavilion as the campers milled together, chatter filling the air. Dinnertime was no longer a strict affair, with cabin tables all but ignored. Now, demigods were free to sit at whatever table they liked, whenever they wanted. Hardly was there ever a free table or one with only one or two people at it, and overcrowded tables tended to spread out more.

Dinnertime tonight was a particularly momentous affair, being the four month anniversary of their victory in the war. While the first two dates had been somber, silent for the ones they had lost, now was the time to celebrate their triumph. The Titan Kronos was gone, scattered to the wind so thinly that he might never form again. The weary half-bloods certainly had enough to be thankful for.

As platters and dishes of desserts, courses, and appetizers swam through the sea of tables, people periodically got up, dumping a bit of their food into a huge bronze brazier in the center of the platform. Plumes of multicolored smoke spiraled up into the skies, hopefully pleasing the Gods that the sacrifices were made to. If not… well, they had no way of knowing either way, so it was a moot point.

Everybody was in a good mood, laughing and joking around together throughout the hall, or walking towards the campfire for that night's sing-a-long that was going to take place later that night, after the stars came out. Everybody that was, except for Nico diAngelo.

He stood in the shadows of the big house, watching his fellow campers as they celebrated, his expression unreadable. Nobody noticed he was there that he could tell, and if they did, they didn't make any effort to talk to him. Things might've changed after the Titan War, but Nico still didn't feel like he belonged here. Even after the addiction of his father's cabin, as well as eleven others, he knew he wasn't wanted. What sort of camp wanted death living next door to them? He couldn't name any off the top of his head.

Nico narrowed his eyes as the last of the campers scurried off into the darkness, his gaze on a particular couple walking slowly, swinging their joined hands. The girl's blonde hair swung around in its messy ponytail as she beamed at the dark haired teenager next to her. Percy gave her a crooked grin, pulling her close enough to kiss her softly before they continued walking. Nico averted his eyes as his heart ached. Sometimes, it hurt too much to watch.

With everybody gone, he sighed, closing his eyes and reaching out to the shadows, feeling them surround his skinny body. Concentrating, he willed himself to disappear, reappearing just inside of the doorway of his cabin, Cabin Thirteen, a cabin fit for a son of death and darkness. With its solid obsidian walls and green torches, it radiated the Underworld. Nico loved it. Sometimes he thought of it as his pride and joy, as he was the one to design it.

Groaning, he threw himself facedown on one of the only beds in there, his sword clanging in its holster nestled on his belt. At the last moment, he threw his hands out, saving them from being crushed by his body. Celebrations always seemed to wear Nico out, probably since he was the exact opposite of happy. He closed his eyes, and even though it wasn't even nighttime, felt himself start to drift to sleep.

That was, until his little sister managed to shadow travel on top of him.

He jolted awake with a yell, shoving himself into a sitting position, tossing his stunned sister to the floor, her hair covering half of her face. What he could see was frozen in a look of surprise, looking as shocked to see him as he was now annoyed to see her. "Mel!" he growled, throwing his head back and pinching his nose in annoyance. "What the heck!"

"Sorry!" she yelped, pushing herself up onto her knees, blowing her dark choppy hair out of her eyes, pouting at him. "You know my aim sucks!"

Nico snorted, falling onto his back with a grunt, throwing an arm over his tired eyes. "Yeah, yeah. What is this, crash-landing number fifty-eight?" Melaina made a sound of disgust, throwing one of his abandoned pillows at him, which hit him in the stomach with surprising force. "Geez, chill out. I'm not the one that half scared her brother to death."

"Like you've never been down to see dad before," she shot back, hands on her hips, rolling her eyes. Nico felt his chest tighten as he watched her. At times like this, when she was frustrated or angry with him, she reminded him of Bianca so much. Even though they were only half-sisters, the resemblance was scary. They both took more after their father, just like he had. "Hell, I just came from Hell. Dad says hi, by the way." She laughed, proud of herself for being oh-so-witty. He threw the pillow back at her in response, but went too high, and it soared over her head harmlessly.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Rude."

"Whatever you say, sure. Now if you're done pestering me…" Nico trailed off, dragging himself to a suitable sleeping position and collapsing down once again with a moan of exhaustion. He heard his sister snort in amusement, and thought she had either left or went to her own bed when he felt her kiss his exposed cheek. "Night, Nico."

"Night, Mel," he mumbled, keeping his eyes closed. Nico was asleep before his sister even made it halfway across the small cabin.

"Nico! Wake up, Death Breath!"

He groaned, shoving his head under his pillow to try to block out the horrible noises that were penetrating his sleep. Before he could protest, it was yanked off of him, and light assaulted his closed eyes. Nico yelped, throwing his arms up to protect his eyes as his covers were thrown off of him as well. What the actual hell?

"Melaina! So help me, once I get my hands on you!" he croaked, coughing as his throat protested. It quickly turned into a choking fit, and he sat up quickly, bent over double, retching. Even that slight movement made his head swim, and when he pried his puffy eyes open, the room was rotating around him. Nico groaned, clutching his stomach, trying to will down the nausea, with no suck luck. It was all he could do not to vomit.

Dimly, he could hear his sister's worried voice asking if he was okay, but he was too busy trying to keep his meager dinner down. Nico's heart raced as he swallowed, resisting the urge to cough again. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so lousy! It was a good chunk of time before he felt remotely well enough to speak, and when he did, his voice was creaky and shaky. "I'm alright. Got up too fast."

Nico met his sister's anxious gaze, and her dark eyes widened. "Nico, you look awful!" He snorted at her, rolling his eyes. Sometimes, Melaina loved to state the obvious.

"Thanks, sis," he told her, slowly getting to his feet, glad that the disorientation had passed. Even to him, his voice sounded funny, sort of nasally and stuffed up. Nico's stomach sank as he realized that he probably had a cold, one of his worst situations ever. Sure, he could fight hundreds of monsters at once without batting an eyebrow, but getting sick was a whole different level for him. It made him feel gross and useless, and just bad in general. "Your kind words are overwhelming. I'll be fine, it's just allergies."

Melaina looked like she didn't believe him one bit, but thankfully, she didn't press the subject. "Well, I let you sleep through breakfast, since you seemed so tired, but I saved you a couple of pieces of toast," she gestured to his nightstand with one hand, and he smiled at her in thanks. "I have to go, Daddy needs me to do some stuff for him in Los Angeles with Charon, and he also asked me to remind you that he's expecting you today, soon actually."

Nico swore, and his sister gave him an unhappy look, biting her lip to keep her scolding away, probably. He felt like shit, and now he had to go down to the Underworld to run a bunch of errands for his dad. Great. Could his day get much worse? Wait, no. Don't answer that, Fates.

Nico remembered that his sister was still standing there, looking at him, and forced a smile. "Alright, thanks for reminding me," he watched as Mel blew him a kiss, closing her eyes and vanishing in the shadows that were always prevalent in their cabin. He sighed, before eying the toast that lay on a napkin next to his bed. His stomach rolled at the thought of forcing it down, and so he decided to just skip eating.

It only took him a few moments to get washed up and changed, and soon enough he was racing through the shadows of the Earth, headed for his father's throne room. What Nico didn't count on, however, was how much that simple effort would take out of him in his weakened state.

He kept his eyes shut as the world reappeared around him, feeling whatever color was left in his face drain away. Blood pounded in his ears as he forced his stomach into submission, absolutely refusing to get sick where his father might see. Several deep breaths later, and he felt well enough to open his eyes, finding himself face to face with the man in question.

Nico yelped, reeling backward in shock as he realized he had shadow travelled to right in front of his father's throne, and with his luck, his father had been there. Hades studied him with an unreadable expression, eyes dark and calculating as Nico stumbled, trying to stay upright. He felt himself blush slightly as he bowed to his father.

"Father," he murmured, keeping his head low. "Forgive my rudeness. I did not realize you were there." His father grunted, waving a hand at him to stand up straight, which he did, blood rushing back down from his head, leaving an unpleasant feeling in its wake. Nico forced himself to stand tall, not wanting to appear weak in front of the Lord of the Dead, who was not exactly known for his tender heart.

"Not at all, not at all," Hades muttered, a half drumming his fingers on his huge throne, echoing oddly on the hollow bones in its confines. "But now that you are here, I need you to run the rounds for me." Nico stifled a groan, managing to keep a straight face. His head already ached from all of the shadow travelling he was going to have to do. The Rounds was basically going around the Underworld, checking for places that had once been illegal exit points, and sealing them back up if the need arose. Not exactly hard work on a normal day, but Nico felt so awful that all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep.

Instead, he nodded, curtly bowing to his father. "At once, my Lord." He vanished into the shadows before Hades could reply.

By the time Nico was done with all of his errands, he was dead on his feet. Every time he had to shadow travel took a little more out of him, and he could barely hold himself upright as he prepared to head back to his father. On the fifth jump, he had lost whatever food was in his stomach, and had collapsed during the last one. His heart was pounding, his skin clammy and his shirts drenched in sweat, but he gritted his teeth, knowing this was the last one that he had to do today, before he could go home and sleep. Sleep. What a wonderful thing. Nico snorted, cuffing at his runny nose and suppressing a coughing fit.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered, willing himself to vanish and appear in the throne room. Nico's surroundings blurred from view, but to his horror, didn't reappear even after the ground stabilized beneath him at his destination. His ears were ringing, deafening him, and he felt himself drop to his knees, groaning. Above him, he heard a commotion, but it was all he could do to try to stay conscious, the room spinning around him and black spots laughing at the edges of his vision.

Nico tried to lift his head to see what was going on, before his eyes rolled up, and he fell facedown at his father's feet in a dead faint.

Time might've come to a halt for the exhausted, sick son of Hades, but for the Lord of the Dead, it had just started. He stared, startled, as his son appeared in front of him, swaying dangerously, his face bone white, pupils wide and dilated. Something bad had happened to him, but he had no idea what. Hades stood up in an instant, his helm of darkness tumbling off of his lap, but he ignored it as it rolled on the floor. There were a million questions on his tongue, but before he could voice any of them, his son passed out in front of him, going limp on the floor.

"Nico!" he hissed, willing himself to shrink down to normal human form, Zeus forgive he accidentally crush his only son. Hades was at his side in an instant, worried that he had been attacked. Frantically, he rolled him over, making sure to be gentle, preparing himself for the worst. However, he found no marks of a struggle or any wounds on Nico, which puzzled him.

What happened here?

He raked his eyes across his son's face, realizing for the first time how sick he looked. Even unconscious, he was shivering, his breath coming out in a wheezy puff. Anger seized him as he realized that Nico was sick, and hadn't told him before setting off to do his chores. "Idiot boy! Don't you know better than to shadow travel when you're that sick?" In response, Nico gave a pitiful groan, his hand curling into a fist.

Hades flashed back to a memory of Nico when he was very little, easily a decade ago. He was holding him for Maria while she tucked his older sister into bed, and his son had curled himself into his arms, closing his hand on the god's own. Warmth he had not felt in a long time had shot through him, and Nico's mother had smiled when she saw the two of them snuggling together.

He shook his head, focusing on his son right now, in the present, needing help. Carefully, he lifted him up, grimacing when he felt how thin he was. Hades could count every single rib on his son, and it sickened him. In his arms, Nico hung limply, head lolling to the side helplessly, as Hades quickly made his way past his throne and into the hallway, heading towards his son's room. Too frazzled to deal with doors, he transported the two of them inside, and slowly settled Nico onto his dark comforter.

Hades frowned at his son as he trembled, obviously cold. With a snap of his fingers, a thick, woolen blanket appeared, dropping down heavily onto Nico, and he imagined that he could hear him give a sigh of relief. Now that he didn't have to worry about him freezing to death, Hades could worry about actually making his son better. "If only my brothers could see this side of me," he chuckled darkly, lifting Nico's head slightly to help him swallow some nectar, glad to see some color seep back into his cheeks. "They would never take me seriously again."

The nectar was doing its work fast, it was only a few minutes later than Nico stirred, groaning slightly. Hades felt his cold, stone heart breathe a sigh of relief when his son's eyes opened, fixating on him in shock, his mouth opening slightly. The Lord of the Dead shushed him, breaking off a chunk of ambrosia from his stash and helping Nico sit up, giving it to him. He nodded his head in approval as he chewed it, his face settling back into its normal pasty color instead of the deathly white from before. Now that his son was out of danger, he felt slightly awkward, and ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"Do you feel better?" Hades asked him gruffly, not meeting his eyes. Nico nodded, flushing slightly. It was obvious that the poor boy was embarrassed about fainting in front of his all-powerful father, which was understandable. "Good. Now answer me this," he turned his gaze to his son's own, narrowing his eyes and causing whatever color had returned to Nico's cheeks to seep out once more. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

Whatever his son was expecting, this wasn't it. "What?"

Hades sat down into the chair at his bedside, rolling his eyes in dark humor. "I said-"

"No, I got that much," his son interrupted him, pulling himself up into a better sitting position, grimacing slightly. Hades made a move as if to help him, but pulled his arm back at the last moment. "But I don't see why-"

It was Hades' turn to interrupt. "You could've died!" he growled, feeling himself start to shake with anger. Above him, Los Angeles was in the middle of a medium sized earthquake that had sprung out of nowhere, people panicking left and right. If he didn't get his temper under control, the entire city might end up getting destroyed, and this thought sobered him enough to start again. "You could've died. Shadow travelling while sick was extremely irresponsible, and I expect you to tell me when you're feeling bad, okay?"

His son stared at him open mouthed for a moment, so long that Hades began to get uncomfortable, shifting anxiously in his seat. "What?"

When Nico finally spoke, his voice was tiny. "I didn't know that you would've cared to know." Hades froze from his position, scratching the top of his head. What? Now, that hurt.

"Nico," Hades said quietly, reaching out a hand to pull Nico's chin up to look at him, seeing tears in his son's eyes. "Of course I care. I just have a shitty way of showing it sometimes. But I'm working on that, I promise."

For the first time in a long while, Hades saw a genuine smile light up his son's face, and he suddenly had the strongest urge to embrace his son. Before he could stop himself, he had Nico in his arms, hugging him tightly. Nico tensed, having never been hugged by his father before. It felt awkward to both of them at first, but slowly, Nico wrapped his own arms around his dad, grinning. Now, he thought, a huge smile eating up his features. He knew what Percy felt like when he hugged his dad.

Just some pointless fluff I wrote while I should've been doing my English homework. Hope you enjoyed it, send me some loveeeee if you did!