Author's Note: This is my new story. Maybe it's a bit ridiculous to start this with everything else, but I am. This actually has plot, and I'm excited to start writing it. It is a Nico/OC, for this really wouldn't work with any character we already know. Although there's a bit of an air of mystery about why Perenelle and Nico are in this situation, it is basically all explained by the end of the chapter. At most till chapter two. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

He would never talk,
But he was not shy
She was a street-smart girl,
But she could not lie
They were perfect for each other
Say it now
'Cause in your heart it's loud

- Razorblade, The Strokes

-o-

Waking up in a hospital to find her father (who was the god Apollo himself, all joking aside) there to tell her that this "gift" that she'd had since the day she was born was really starting to become a problem, was bad enough. So was the massive migraine that she had from her little performance the night before, the very one that had put her in that scratchy hospital bed. Then, to be told by said father that a twenty-three-year old demigod son of Hades was going to move in with her to help her offset her little gift, made the prior incident seem like nothing. But then, to have said demigod son of Hades insult her goddamn accommodations made her want to stick him, her father, his father, and her stupid gift all into a bag, light it on fire, and just watch it burn.

"Look, I'm just as unhappy about this as you are," Perenelle Adler snapped, hands on her hips, teeth clenched.

"Somehow I doubt that. At least you're used to this shit hole," Nico di Angelo retorted, still standing in the doorway of Perenelle's apartment.

"This is New York City, asshole. I don't know what futuristic utopia you live in, but obviously you've never seen a rent bill for an apartment in this city in your life. You wouldn't believe what I pay for this shoebox," she scoffed.

"Whatever," he said, his hands in his pockets as he walked farther in. "Perhaps you could give me a tour," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Perenelle widened her eyes, and leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees. "Well, over there is the bedroom," she said, pointing, using the tone of voice Nico imagined she would use for speaking to a child (and a slow one, at that). "And over there is the roach-infested kitchen, and this room, yes, the one we're standing in right now, is called the living room."

He stared at her through narrowed eyes

"And by the way, I do expect you to use your creepy powers of death to exterminate the roaches. I believe that may be the only upside to this situation," she said.

"I thought you were all about life, " Nico said, allowing himself a slight smile at the look of disbelief on her face. "Wow, you really didn't think they'd fill me in on what I was dealing with? I'm disappointed."

Perenelle spluttered for a moment, not sure what to say, what to think. Finally she resorted to a simple, "Fuck you," span around, and marched off to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Nico's eyes followed after her as she walked, admiring the spirit in such a small girl; although he'd be lying if he said she wasn't annoying the fuck out of him.

He surveyed the room again, seeing that she'd actually made it quite nice for what it was, and feeling a twinge of remorse for being as much as a dick as he had been. It was small and quaint. In the middle of the room, a few feet from the door, was a couch facing the far wall. In front of the couch was a coffee table, and a chair to the right of the couch. Placed on the far wall, directly in front of the couch was a small table, and sitting on it was a reasonably sized television - nothing spectacular. On either side of the TV were two large windows, both opened, drawing in the humid summertime air. They were draped in thin curtains, which were pushed to the side. The room was bathed in sunlight and the familiar noises of thousands of people constantly walking by.

The walls were mainly covered in shelves, holding films and music and knick knacks and books – more books than Nico could count. He went into the small kitchen, the door to which was on the left hand side of the living room. There was another window on the right side of the kitchen, open as well. The kitchen itself was clean and obviously not used much for any actual cooking. Nico shook his head sadly.

The bathroom was close to the front door, and was so small he could barely believe that it managed to fit in a shower and sink.

But the one thing he noticed, the one thing that really showed something about Perenelle's personality, were the books.

They were everywhere. On all the shelves in the living room, on the table, on the seats, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, on the floor, and on the windowsills. The apartment was practically overflowing with books. The sheer enormity of the amount of books actually make Nico shake his head, overwhelmed.

He plopped down on the couch, gripping the armrest tightly, trying to keep himself from punching something. He was angry because he'd pissed off Perenelle, who although no shrinking violet, was probably a decent enough person. He was mad because he had no idea how he was going to deal with her "gift". He was mad because he had no idea how Apollo or his father expected him to handle it. He was mad because he didn't want to sleep on her couch in this tiny, humid, book-filled, roach-infested apartment. But most importantly, he was mad because his father had given him no choice in the matter, like everything else in his life thus far.

Just thinking about it made him grip the arm rest even tighter, until he could practically hear it straining against his hold.

-o-

First off, his dad was a total cockblock. The man needed to learn some common decency.

Then again, the gods were many things, but common and decent were not among them.

Nico had been with a pretty brunette, Jessica - or was it Jennifer? - when he'd suddenly felt an odd tugging sensation, which unfortunately was not Jessica/Jennifer's hand.

Next thing he knew, he was in the Underworld.

"—the fuck?" he muttered, stumbling and turning around to find his father looking at him as if he was something he'd just found in the drain.

"Glad to see that you've become more articulate over the years," Hades said, although there was a certain humor in his eyes that made Nico breathe out in relief. Since the wars he and his father's visits had been briefer, although not entirely uncommon. They were on good terms, and had even bonded a bit over the years, but whenever Hades randomly summoned Nico, it was usually because he was pissed for one reason or another.

"Um, hello," Nico said uncertainly, rocking back on his heels slightly. The Lord of the Dead sat in a chair leisurely, hands folded. His casual attitude was making Nico even more nervous than he would have been if Hades had appeared to be on a murderous rampage.

"Nico," he responded in like. "The nature of this visit must seem odd to you, and I suppose it is. So I won't beat around the bush," the god said. If there was one thing Nico liked about his father, it was that he wasn't one for small talk.

"Okay," Nico said slowly, sitting down hesitantly.

"Earlier today Apollo paid me a visit," Hades continued, "informing me that a daughter of his needed help with a certain gift she had inherited."

"A gift?" Nico pressed.

"Apparently the girl fell a little too close to the tree that is Phoebus Apollo, because she has the ability to heal any living thing," the god said, looking bored and a little offended by the idea. "Supposedly," he continued, his voice lower, "she can even bring someone back from the brink of death."

Nico stared at his father in confusion. If there was a demigod alive who wasn't a child of the Big Three and had a power like that, how had he not heard of her before?

"What - who is she?" he asked.

"Her name is Perenelle Adler. She is nineteen years old, and she is attending college in New York," he responded, appearing to be growing tiresome of the subject.

"How have I not heard of her?" Nico demanded, disbelief plain on his face.

"Well, you didn't go much to that camp anyway, and according to Apollo the only ones aware of her power are the rest of the gods, and the girl's mother. They went to great lengths to keep it under wraps."

"What - what does any of this have to do with me?" Nico said, not sure how he felt about the idea of anyone being able to bring people back from the brink of death, the only thing he really understood. "And why does she need help?"

"Whenever she heals someone or something, which she's been doing since she understood her power, she weakens herself considerably, and it's permanent. Just the other night she tried to help an absolute stranger, and ended up in a hospital after having been found unconscious on the sidewalk. Apollo believes that the power is a liablity, so he's decided that she need never do it again." Hades sighed, as if this whole retelling was painful for him. "But apparently, she uses her power as if it were a reflex, so he believes that she will need to be trained not to use it. And that is where you come in."

"He wants me to train her not to use her power," Nico stated more than asked, incredulous.

"More or less," Hades said, nodding.

"What - I don't know how to do that – I - I," Nico spluttered, for once at a loss for words.

"I'm sure you'll manage," Hades said. "You're not completely useless." Hades ignored his son's glare. "Really, it's all quite simple: your powers are the exact opposite of hers. All you have to do is use your own - which are undoubtedly more powerful - to bury hers in the deepest recesses of her mind, where she can never hope to find them again." Hades explained all of this in the tone one might use when reading a grocery list.

"Why did you tell Apollo I'd do this?" Nico demanded, starting to get angry.

The Lord of the Underworld narrowed his dark eyes. "If you don't remember exactly, I do owe the child god. You wouldn't believe how much he bothers me about what I did to that silly Oracle all those years ago. And they tell me I hold grudges?" Hades rolled his eyes. "Anyway, this is a way of settling the score. The last thing I need is Apollo nagging at me for all of eternity."

"So you just offered me up?" Nico demanded.

"Well, I wouldn't say I volunteered you for the job. He asked and I said that you'd be happy to do it," Hades responded, his tone clearly saying that Nico would be wise not to question him.

The demigod took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Jessica/Jennifer had been so much more fun than this.

"When do I have to start this job?" Nico asked through gritted teeth.

"Now," Hades said. "Oh, and did I mention that Apollo has insisted upon you moving in with her?"

-o-

If Perenelle had been aware of how angry Nico di Angelo was at his own father, they probably would've bonded much more easily.

But mind-reading was not an ability she possessed, although it would be preferable to her own, in her opinion.

All she could really think, though, was how dare her father put her in this situation so suddenly. She'd only been trying to help the old man. He'd been wheezing and coughing on the sidewalk, with no one else around, so she did what she'd always done. She did what came naturally…

She shook her head, clearing herself of the thought.

And then, on top of that, to announce that another person was going to be moving in with her? She'd been so stunned, she hadn't been able to respond. Usually, she would've told her father to fuck off, quite bluntly, in fact. Unfortunately, her sharp tongue had failed her at the time.

And even worse than it all, the person she was supposed to be living with was Nico di Angelo. Of course she'd heard of him; every demigod knew who he was. But it wasn't like she'd ever planned on meeting him - not that she'd ever had the chance. He'd never shown up at camp much anyway, and when he did he didn't tend to socialize.

But Perenelle knew that there was no getting out of this. At least not yet. She was rational. She knew that she would be putting up with the son of Hades for a while.

So, she might as well tell him the rules.

-o-

By the time Perenelle emerged from her room, the sun had set. The living room was much darker now, only illuminated by a small lamp in the corner.

She was now wearing thin, cotton, light blue pajama pants, and a loose white tank top. She was wearing black-rimmed glasses which made her large blue eyes seem even larger. Her feet were bare and her dark blond hair tumbled loose around her shoulder, falling to just below her breast.

"Hello? Frankenstein? Ghost King? Do you respond to anything?" Perenelle was demanding, hands on her hips - her default stance, apparently.

"What?" he said, irritated.

"I said, I have some guidlines for your living here," she said.

"Guidelines?"

"Guidelines," Perenelle repeated, nodding.

"Okay?"

"Lovely," Perenelle said. "Firstly, that duffle bag of death over there," she went on, pointing to the one piece of luggage that Nico had brought with him. "Yeah, that. It stays in that corner, where you have it. I don't want your creepy tarot cards or whatever the fuck all around my apartment."

Perenelle ignored Nico's stare of disbelief.

"Secondly, I don't cook, as is probably apparent. I do, however, order in or go out to eat. Feel free to do what you want in there." Perenelle brought her finger to her chin, pondering.

"I think I can guess," Nico interrupted, "Don't touch any of your books unless I plan on treating them as if they were explosive materials. I sleep on the couch. And I—"

He was suddenly cut off by a sort of loud banging noise, and some voices. He was confused for a second, until he looked at Perenelle, to see that she had her head in her hands and was muttering, "Oh, gods, not now."

"What—" he started, until he realized that the sound wasn't coming from inside the apartment, or from on the street. It was coming from the apartment next door, the one that shared a wall with Perenelle, and it was the unmistakable sound of two people—

"The walls are paper thin," Perenelle said, her cheeks a deep red, her head still half-buried in her hands, as she tried to speak over the moaning from the other apartment. "I can hear everything they ever do," she said, mournfully.

Nico didn't believe any situation could be more awkward than the one he was in right now. He and the girl with the healing powers that were ironically killing her, standing in her living room, listening to the couple next door having sex.

"Does this happen often?" he asked, hoping he wasn't blushing as much as she was.

Perenelle shrugged, wincing as the moaning and banging got louder. "It never lasts for long,"

Perenelle erupted into laughter immediately after saying that, and Nico couldn't help but laugh too, despite the awkwardness of the situation only seconds prior. He liked her laugh. It wasn't like a lot of the girls he knew, who always kept it so restrained, and only to a giggle. Perenelle laughed genuinely, and he could tell that she was also the very rare type of person who only laughed when they actually thought something was funny.

It turned out she was right, for the noise stopped just two minutes after it'd begun. Still standing, he leaned slightly against the back of the couch, watching Perenelle wipe tears from her eyes, still smiling.

"Well," she said, giggling a bit still, "I think you, um, basically get the point, and I'm tired so I don't have time to lecture you on the rules of ettiquette in the House of Adler," she said, nodding slightly, seeming to feel a bit uncomfortable again. "So, I guess we'll just talk tomorrow about… everything."

"Yeah," Nico agreed.

Perenelle nodded again, and reached for a book that was sitting on a small table next to the couch. When it slipped from her grasp, it fell to the ground with a thump. Before she could even kneel down to pick it up, Nico had taken one long stride over, grabbed it from the floor, and held it out to her.

The minute he did so, though, he was alarmed by how close they had gotten, having to hold the book to his side so as not to actually push it into her hands. Perenelle gave a nervous laugh, stepped back, and held out her hand for the book. He handed it to her quickly, and she nodded, a tight smile on her face.

"Well," she said. "Goodnight, I guess." And with that, she disappeared into her room.

It was then that Nico decided that this was bound to be even more complicated than he'd originally thought.

Review, please.