My second PJO fic, please enjoy and any reviews are most welcome.

Meet The Parent

It had been a while since the destruction of Gaia and Nico and Will had been getting on like a house on fire, they spent a good portion of their days together and did everything from walking to eating together. Nico was surprised to find himself laughing a lot more than he was used to, he found himself unable to help smiling or giggling whenever Will was around, it was strange but also sort of pleasant. He had yet to bring up the courage to talk to Will about his growing feelings but for now he was content to merely spend time in his presence.

It was evening time when Nico heard a soft knock at the Hades cabin door, he opened it and found Will outside, fidgeting a little with his sleeves but grinning as if he had discovered a stash of gold under his bed. "Hi." Nico said, smiling in return as he opened the door wide enough for Will to enter. "What are you doing here so late?"

Will entered and stood in the middle of the cabin, looking around at the morbid décor as if it were the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. "I just wanted to see you and…and talk." He said and finally met Nico's eyes.

Nico felt a thrill run down his spine, the butterflies in his stomach flapped harder than they ever had before, he took a breath as Will stepped closer to him. He found himself looking up into those blue eyes and trying to force the hope that exploded in his chest away. "W-what do you want to talk about?" He asked, realising he was whispering but unable to help it. Will's body was so close Nico could have reached out and touched him but he refrained with immense difficulty.

"Well, it's kind of a bit awkward…I mean, it's been playing on my mind for months now and I…well…I just…" He paused, a small smile flitting across his face before he gently slid his hand around the back of Nico's neck and pulled him closer. Nico's butterflies went into overdrive, heat flooded his face and chest until he thought he had fallen into the Phlegethon, he stopped breathing and his eyes widened as Will leaned down and their lips touched.

It happened so suddenly that Nico wondered, briefly, if he was actually dying of sheer joy. It was as if someone had ripped the world from under his feet and he was falling, falling…it was a second before he realised that he was actually falling. His body hurtling downwards through utter darkness as Will screamed in terror, gripping Nico as if he could save them both. Finally they hit the ground, Will's leg's buckled and he ended up dragging Nico down on top of him. They fell in a tangle of messy limbs, their breathing heavy and rapid as the fear slowly drained away with the adrenaline. Finally Nico pushed Will off of him and climbed unsteadily to his feet, he took a moment to look around and found himself surrounded by the familiar obsidian walls of his father's throne room. Sat in the throne of old bones was Hades himself, gazing in mild surprise at Will who was slowly struggling to his feet, muttering a mixture of curses in both Ancient Greek and English. "Where-?" Will's voice trailed off, he swallowed audibly. "Oh."

"Yes, 'oh' just about sums it up." Nico muttered, glaring at his father angrily.

"Nico, I wasn't expecting you to bring a guest." Hades said, standing slowly and majestically and eyeing Will curiously. "Who is this?"

"Father, this is Will Solace, son of Apollo."

"I see, and what is he doing here when I only intended to bring you here? He cannot travel in my realm."

"He was-um-" Nico faltered, unsure just how to explain why Will had been close enough for them both to fall into the chasm Hades had opened up solely for his son.

"We were together when you opened up the earth, my lord." Will said quickly, smiling nervously as he bowed a little before the Lord of the Underworld.

"Very well, I suppose one more won't hurt." Hades sighed and returned to his throne. "I called you here because I wanted to see how you were after everything that happened." He said. "Persephone is currently with her mother, thankfully, and so we would be able to spend some...quality…time together." Somehow he managed to say 'quality' as if it were a distasteful word.

"What? But you've never done that before." Nico said in surprise. "Why now?"

"It gets very boring here when I have no one for company except the dead." Hades muttered, gazing at a Zombie who had appeared to offer the guests drinks. Will recoiled, moving automatically closer to Nico.

"So…you're lonely?" Nico wondered, slightly surprised that his father would be so desperate for company that he'd even call upon his mortal son out of boredom.

"Just because I am a god doesn't mean I don't have feelings, Nico." Hades replied, sending the zombie away with a wave of his hand. "I had intended to have dinner together, if that is not so repellent."

Nico glanced at Will who looked slightly confused. "Will can't eat here." He said.

"No, I suppose not. However, I could get to know your new friend here." Hades stood. "Come, let us go somewhere more comfortable."

"More comfortable?" Will whispered in Nico's ear as the God strode off into the shadowy darkness of his castle. "How is there 'more comfortable' in the Underworld?"

Nico stifled the urge to laugh. "Persephone, my dad's wife, has insisted she gets some home comforts while she's staying here so it's actually kind of nice in places…if you can ignore the screams of the damned from the Fields of Punishment."

"Oh goody, I love the music of screams as an accompaniment to a lavish dinner that I can't eat." Will said sarcastically, Nico smiled behind his hand as they followed Hades further into his cold fortress.

The dining room was surprisingly pleasant, despite the black stone walls and large, intimidating stone dining table. Someone had put up some rather lovely tapestries depicting scenes of gardens, meadows and nymphs dancing beneath the moon light. The chairs were plain and simple but each one had a comfortable cushion in spring colours, they were somewhat muted but still the most colourful thing in the room. Hades sat at the head of the table and Nico sat at his side, motioning for Will to join him. "My wife decided to decorate the hall, I allowed it as it seemed to make her happy. The tapestries were a gift from Athena, although she wasn't too happy about them being put up here in the Underworld where no one but the dead would see them."

"They're…lovely." Will said in a tight voice, forcing a smile as more Zombies appeared from the shadows to serve them food, he heard his stomach rumble and sighed heavily as he stared at the plates longingly. The silverware were engraved with tiny little skeletons and Will, who had picked up a spoon to look at it, put it down rather quickly.

Nico seemed to sense Will's predicament and dug around in his pocket, he withdrew a rather battered chocolate bar. "It's not much but it'll help." He said quietly, feeling unreasonably guilty that he had accidentally dragged Will into his father's realm. Will smiled, it was the brightest thing in the room and Nico felt that warmth flood his limbs, their fingers brushed as Will took the food and Nico's face burned so he had to force himself to look away. He caught Hades watching him intently, sipping from a rather elaborate goblet encrusted with diamonds and rubies as red as blood, the God seemed to be assessing his son and it made Nico highly uncomfortable.

"You seem…different my son, may I ask why?"

Nico cleared his throat, frowning down at his empty plate as he tried to think of a way to explain his sudden happiness. "I…I well…We defeated Gaia." He said, trying to sound as if he wasn't a total liar.

"Indeed, and you did well, I have never been prouder of one of my children."

Nico felt another blush appear on his face, but this was for an entirely different reason. "I didn't really do anything much…Percy and the others did more. I just helped a little." He muttered to his goblet.

"Percy?" Hades made a face of disgust. "I do not like him." He said and put down his goblet, instead picking up his knife and gazing at it, it flashed and sent light scattering across the table. "He is impertinent and has no respect."

"He's alright." Nico said defensively. "You just don't like him because he had the guts to put you gods in your place."

Will frowned, his eyes moving from Nico to Hades and back again as he wondered why there was so much tension surrounding the name Percy.

"I will not have you speak to me that way." Hades grumbled, glaring at Nico so that purple flames flickered in his dark eyes. "Perseus Jackson is a trouble maker, I never did approve of your friendship."

"Oh come on, dad, don't do this again!" Nico replied angrily. "You've already given me the big talk on how Percy is a 'bad influence' and a 'trouble maker'; it gets boring after a while."

"Very well, as long as I have made feelings clear." Hades said, picking up a grape from a platter held out by a Zombie that seemed perpetually grinning. "So, Will, was it?" He asked, abruptly turning his attention to the blond boy who started and went pale.

"Uh, yeah, that's me."

"What are your intentions towards my son?"

Nico groaned heavily, covering his face as if he wanted nothing more than to disappear. "You don't have to answer that."

"Well, we're friends…" Will said, shifting uncomfortably under Hades' intense stare. "Nico's cool."

"Hm, is that it?" Hades said doubtfully. "Nico has had a lot of grief in his life, I do not intend to allow anyone to cause him anymore pain."

"Is that why you don't like Percy?" Will asked, realisation dawning on him suddenly, he looked at Nico who had gone pale and was looking as if he was about to throw up.

"It is one of many reasons, that boy causes more trouble than any other Demigod I have ever encountered. It is not helped by the fact that he is also the son of one of my brothers."

"What do you mean?" Will spoke to Hades but watched Nico intently for a reaction, Nico uncovered his face and sighed.

"Look, I had…a thing…for Percy a long time ago and obviously he was never going to return my feelings, Dad seems to think that it was his fault I got so messed up about it."

"If he wasn't so stupid perhaps he could have seen your anguish and kept away from you so that you could move on." Hades muttered darkly and Will decided never to do anything to hurt Nico, not that he ever would but accidents did happen and he would do everything he possibly could to avoid that.

Then it hit him, Will slowly looked at Nico with wide eyes. "You had a thing for Percy?"

Nico blushed and frowned down into his lap. "Yeah, it was a stupid childish crush, that's all. Nothing would have come of it and I never even tried anything. I was aware of how futile it was."

"I did suggest that you kidnap him and bring him down here, it worked for me." Hades said quietly but got such a glare from his son that he picked up his goblet and looked away.

"If I'd kidnapped him he would have hated me for eternity, that's not something I wanted. Anyway, it's all in the past now, I've moved on."

"You have?" Will prompted, unable to help the eagerness in his voice.

Nico looked at him and smiled sweetly, the expression felt strange on his face but Will had that effect on him. "I have." He said firmly and, beneath the table, he felt Will touch his hand. The shockwave of happiness that rocketed through his system was all at once strange and familiar, slowly he entwined his fingers with Will's and squeezed them lightly.

"I see. A son of Apollo…I cannot say that I completely approve of this match-"

"Father, you wouldn't approve of anyone I chose." Nico muttered irritably.

"I would if you chose someone more fitting and less…sunny." Hades muttered with obvious distaste. "Apollo is renowned for his terrible poetry; I will not have my halls filled with bad music and haiku's."

"That's good then seeing as we have no intention of living here." Nico replied, stabbing at a chunk of steak on his plate as if it had wronged him. "Would you rather I was with Jason Grace?"

"No! Don't you even think of it, young man! I would send him to the Fields of Punishment before he could blink."

"Surely, given the options, you'd rather I was with Will than Percy or Jason." Nico continued, ignoring Hades' obvious flinching.

Finally, after a moment of dark silence, Hades relented. "Yes, all right, I give you my blessing. I just hope that you are happy."

Nico's smile was large and bright as he looked at Will, their entwined fingers tightening their grip. "Yeah, I think I am."

After dinner Hades took the two boys into the garden, Will was surprised to see quite a few useful medicinal plants growing in amongst numerous fruit trees and flowers. He immediately began inspecting them, walking around with a distracted frown and muttering to himself as Hades watched on curiously. "He looks very much like his father." Hades commented, placing a cold hand on his sons shoulder. "I am sure he will make a good match for you."

"Then why did you object?" Nico replied in shock.

"I am the God of the Underworld, people should fear me and it wouldn't be right if people started to think I had gone soft." He shrugged. "I needed to be certain that this was what you wanted."

"What if you'd scared him off?"

"If he was truly worthy of you he would be with you no matter what."

Nico watched Will bend and inspect a seemingly innocuous plant, touching its leaves and talking to himself about cures and things Nico didn't fully comprehend. Finally he looked up and grinned. "Hey, Nico, these plants are so cool. They've got loads of things here that could heal all sorts of things back at Camp!" His excitement was infectious, Nico returned his smile and moved over to him, kneeling at his side in the dirt as he happily allowed Will to explain the various healing properties of the plants before them. Finally Will looked up, still beaming as brightly as the sun. Hades watched for a moment longer before smiling himself and withdrawing back into the shadows, he left his son and his new boyfriend to it and thought how very much like him Nico was, falling for someone who was the complete opposite. He was glad to see him so happy.

Nico leaned forward, pointing at a silvery leafed plant. "What's that one?" He asked curiously but paused when he felt Will's hand on his jaw, his face was turned slowly until their eyes met and Nico felt himself get all warm and fuzzy inside. The butterflies began to flap madly again, and the Underworld seemed to disappear around them as Will leaned in and pressed their lips together.

"Your dad's terrifying but don't think for one second that I'd let that put me off you, di Angelo." Will muttered and grinned again.

Nico laughed, the sound bright and very strange in the dark, depressing land of the dead.