XIV. Saving Grace.
...Until, of course, Zeus pushed him. There was no warning; one moment he was walking down the steps, and the next, he felt a large hand on his back, and he was free-falling. He snapped to attention, finally realizing what had happened. He was falling off of Olympus. Oddly, instead of telling his body what to do, his mind just came up with an old useless myth. Hephaestus had been thrown off of Olympus by his own mother, Hera. The myth had said that it had taken an entire day for him to finally fall into the ocean. Unfortunately, Nico twisted in midair to see no distant ocean, just a city of concrete roads that was rapidly growing closer. Zeus really was a bad loser. Nico briefly wondered since Hades and his mother had disowned him, if he would be able to see Bianca when he died. Was that room Hades had decorated with monk skulls still available? Where did angels go when they died? Could angels die at all? Not like this, his brain finally told him.Angels usually didn't die from falling. They can fly, after all. But he had never flown. Nico looked at the windows of the Empire State Building, which were passing him in a blur. He didn't have much time to learn. He stretched his back, spreading the multicolored wings, and caught the air beneath them. Suddenly, the whole city of New York sprawled out below Nico from the birds' eye view. A body shot past him, almost knocking him down. The first scenario that came to Nico's mind was that someone had jumped, trying to commit suicide. He righted himself and looked down, expecting a gory scene, and finally saw the figure turn to look at Nico while still falling backwards. Then the person's fall slowed to a stop, and they actually started to fly up. Nico could see now that it was Jason, and assumed the son of Zeus had probably been trying to save Nico from hitting the ground. As heroic as Jason was, Nico was slightly proud that he didn't need a saving 'Grace.' He was flying. A son of Hades. Not anymore, but still. He wasn't in Tartarus. Not in the Underworld. Not even on the ground. He was flying, and Zeus wasn't killing him for it. Yet. Jason flew up until he was side by side with Nico, who was desperately trying to keep his wings extended and level against the rushing air. He found it was easier to keep his arms to his sides, since his wings provided all of the balance and steering now. Jason grinned at Nico. "Alright there?" Nico gritted his teeth. "Just perfect," he replied, trying to concentrate on not dying. Never let down your guard. He could still plummet to his death. Jason told him to start descending, and he helped Nico hold his wings to go in different directions. They spiraled down around the skyscraper, with Jason shouting tips to Nico on how to fly. They landed, and Nico winced when the sight of them sent a homeless man on a rant about the coming of angels. Nico locked eyes with Jason, and had to hide his grin. Ten minutes later, the demigods came out of the elevator. Jason and Nico were waiting for them in the lobby, relieved that they had escaped the torturous elevator music. When the doors slid open, a horde of concerned teenagers rushed out. A certain son of Apollo wrapped Nico in a bear hug, mumbling how he thought a day without injuries was too good to be true. Nico grunted, "The only injury I have is crushed ribs, Will. Let go." Will did, and grudgingly seemed to accept that Nico was okay. Now that any worry was resolved, everyone relaxed. A voice asked, "Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?" Nico rolled his eyes. "Leo, if Olympus is Heaven, then I'm a hydra."
XV. Midnight Ride.

Nico was so confused. First, he had tried to shadow travel the demigods back to camp, to cut travel time. Even after concentrating for two minutes, absolutely nothing had happened. Percy pointed out apologetically that maybe if Hades had disowned him, then he'd taken Nico's powers away. So they settled for one of the camp vans. Chiron and Reyna took role call for each camp, and the Greeks and Romans grouped together for them to do so. There was loud talk as people noticed Nico's appearance. He shot glares to as many people gawking at his wings as possible. He crossed his arms, wishing he wasn't in a chiton. It was more of a tunic, really. The white garment left his arms, back, and part of his legs exposed, not to mention his wings, and he felt extremely vulnerable since he was used to wearing full black. As his glare caused campers to avert their eyes from him, Will put his hand on Nico's shoulder. "You are the most threatening angel I've ever seen." Nico turned to him, and Will continued, "I mean, you'd think an angel would be more...inviting." Nico smirked.
"Old habits die hard, Will." Will smiled at him, and Nico tried to judge his expression. He seemed happy, but not in the usual carefree way. This time, it was as if he had a real reason to smile. At the same time, there was relief and...hope? What was Will hoping for? Will wasn't looking at the halo, or the wings. His eyes never strayed from Nico's. The contact was enough to make Nico have to turn away, hiding his blushing face. After finally managing to get all of the Seven in one vehicle, there wasn't much extra room. There wasn't any room. Will pulled Nico to another car that was less crowded. They piled in with Cecil, Lou Ellen, Mitchell, Clovis, and Clarisse, taking the last two seats. Unfortunately, Nico's new wings didn't exactly fit. With cursing, an offer to tie him to the roof, struggling and twisting, Nico was put in the window seat, one wing forward against the door, and the other spread against the seat. Will sat next to him, and leaned back against Nico's wing. Nico realized he could feel Will's back through the wing; it was a whole new set of senses that Nico could now tap into without even thinking about it. He had two more limbs, but they felt as natural as his own arms. And one was curling behind Will. As if it was holding him. Will scooted closer to Nico, giving Clovis more room to sleep. This was close. This was very close. This was extremely close. Will leaned against Nico's shoulder, almost burrowing into the embrace of his wing. Mitchell gave Will an odd look, which Will didn't even see. He was too busy slouching down and closing his eyes. Nico smiled to himself with a sort of odd humor; Will was under Nico's wing now, returning the favor for when Will had taken Nico under his wing at the infirmary. Mitchell gave Nico an odd look too, but Nico just shrugged. Still least, as much as he could shrug with the son of Apollo pressed against his side. The whole ride was pretty uneventful. The seats in the back of the camp van formed a square and faced each other inward. Despite facing each other, everyone just stared into space, not bothering to break the silence. Nico ignored his numb arm and stared out of the window at the sun low in the horizon. He mostly thought about Will, but many little random things too. His mother had always talked about angels. She had compared Bianca to an angel countless times, all the while telling Nico he was un diavolo; a devil. In a way, he supposed she had been right. He had always had a parasitic demon in his soul. but it was gone now. He vaguely wondered if his mother would finally be proud of him if she could see him now. She was so rarely pleased. Anyway, he told himself, she wasn't his mother anymore, and if she could see him now, it would only prove her point. In that time, everyone had been so conservative and traditional. Being the way Nico was had been shameful, sinful, and shunned. The three 'S's. If Maria di Angelo saw the way Nico was pressed against Will, wings or not, she would be glad she disowned him. Nico glanced at Will, whose eyes were still closed and whose breath was deep and even. Maybe that was worth it. He would have never earned his mother's approval anyway. At least now, he might be happy. A thought struck him. If he was sinful, why was he now an angel? What even were the angels? Did they serve a Greek god, or the Christian God? Did they stand for what was ultimately good, or were they just another type of Greek monster? Was there such things as sins, and if so, what were they? Why, if he was supposedly an angel, did he get disowned? He sighed, guessing there was no one true answer. He relaxed against Will, letting himself lean on the sleeping demigod. The sun had set already, and the car became dimmer. Soon, Nico heard more snores and even breathing. He was sure he was the only one awake, but he wasn't sure why. Usually, he was the first to fall asleep. Maybe it was his new freedom or powers, or maybe it was his heart fluttering at his contact with Will, but Nico wasn't that tired. Until he started thinking about it, that is. He soon started to yawn, and let his head lean against Will's, thinking about nothing in particular except how soft Will's hair was now that it had grown back. With happy thoughts, Nico fell asleep to the sound of the car and Will's breathing.
When he woke up, it was to be elbowed blindly in the dark. He grunted, and Will's hand probed his face, poking into his eye. "Oh. Sorry Nico," Will apologized. The van's lights came on, cutting through the night. Nico realized the vehicle wasn't moving anymore, and the engine cut off. It must have been about one in the morning, but they had finally made it back to camp. They piled out of the van groggily, with Nico going last. In the distance, he saw Thalia's pine tree, and Peleus on guard. The rest of the vans pulled up and parked, letting out hordes of demigods into the darkness. The night was cool, which normally wouldn't have bothered him. Except for the fact that he was wearing a tunic. The cool night brought a chill down his spine. Everyone was encouraged to distribute into their cabins or living quarters, so Nico got his bag and backpack and started to walk to the Hades cabin. The darkness didn't seem familiar to Nico for once. He couldn't sense what it hid. It was so unusual and unsettling that Nico tried to walk faster. He heard footsteps behind him, mirroring his, and his pulse sped up. A hand touched his shoulder and spun around defensively,...only to be met with the son of Apollo. "Whoa!" Will threw his hands up in surrender. "I'm not that ugly, am I?" Nico immediately calmed down, something bothering him in the back of his mind. Something Hazel had told him about. Nico smiled. "Nah. Not since you cut your hair." Will crossed his arms. "Okay, first of all, you cut my hair. Not me. Second of all, you said it looked fine! Some friend you are," he scoffed. He walked past Nico, making him turn and simultaneously taking Nico's hand to walk together. Did friends usually hold hands? Nico didn't think so. "So where are you going?" Will asked.
"My cabin, where else?"
"You mean the Hades cabin? But he disowned you," Will pointed out. Nico froze, before being pulled along by Will.
"Oh. I didn't think of that," Nico muttered.
"So where will you go?" Will kept at the subject. Nico sighed. "I don't know. I could always sleep in a tree, since I'm part bird now." Will laughed. "Well, there's that option," he admitted, "but you could also go to the Big House, the Hermes cabin, or to the Roman tents." Nico wasn't too drawn to any of the options. Will kept walking, and Nico was kind of confused when they passed the Apollo cabin altogether. Nevertheless, he let Will guide where they went. Even in the dark, the moonlight reflected off of Will's golden hair. Gazing dreamily at the son of Apollo, Nico thought he looked much more like an angel than Nico ever would. "Never mind where I'm going to go," Nico broke the silence, "Where are we going right now?" Will smiled sideways at him. "Nowhere in particular," he said lazily.
"We're going to get eaten by the harpies, you know," Nico raised his eyebrows. Will laughed again and said, "Nah." Nico ran a hand through his tangled hair, starting to be really self conscious with his weird tunic. Since Will had taken his hand, the night chill had left Nico. Now he felt warm and fuzzy. Nico found their path leading to the sea, and Will sat down on the beach. He patted the sand next to him happily, motioning for Nico to sit with him. Nico paused, looking down at Will. "You do know that it's like 1am, right?"
"Mmhmm."
"So what are we doing here?"
"Do you have anywhere better to be?"
So Nico sat down. There was nothing to see, only to hear and feel. They laid back, resting on the sand and listened to the waves wash over the beach. Will spoke. "Does it feel different?"
"What?" Nico asked.
"Does being an angel feel different than before?" Nico considered the question. "Definitely," he said.
"How?" Will's fingers laced through Nico's.
"It just feels like everything's lighter. Like I'll never be depressed again. It feels...peaceful." Or maybe that was just Will's presence. Either way, Nico found himself smiling widely into the night.
"That demon," Will started. "The one that Hades brought out of you, it looked at me. For a split second. And it showed me-I saw horrible things. They were all scenes from your life. I saw when Zeus killed your mother." Will's voice was soft, the tone he used for his patients. Then, he caught himself. "I'm sorry," Will murmured. "You're finally happy, and here I go reminding you of... Okay, what do you want to talk about?" He continued in a faked lighter tone. Nico's smile had faded, but he sighed.
"Tell me what else you saw," he requested. Will paused. "Are you sure?" Nico couldn't go forgetting the past just because something good had happened to him. "Yeah, Will. Talking about your troubles is a good stress reliever," he quoted the son of Apollo. Will still hesitated. "I can handle the memories," Nico assured him, "and I'm not ashamed of the past."
"Okay," Will conceded. "I saw the day your mother died. How Hades protected you and Bianca, but then took his anger out on you. I saw him hit you, I even felt some of your pain. I saw the first bullies, the first monster attack. It was some sort of French scorpion lion thing."
"A manticore," Nico corrected him.
"Right. And, I saw Percy. From your eyes, he was such a hero. I mean, he is a hero, but..."
"I know. He was my hero," Nico admitted. Just saying that brought the slight fear of doing the forbidden. Will was silent, before Nico spurred him on. "What else?"
"I felt Bianca's death. I saw Percy break the news to you, then the skeletons, and running away. I saw you be taken to the Underworld, and beaten. I felt you regain your memories of being hurt, and your forced training. I saw everything. You fought monsters, demons, never feeling like you fit in." Will started ranting now, talking quickly as if he thought someone was going to stop him. "You fought in the labyrinth, you tried to avoid Percy but forced yourself to help him. I felt the despair, the depression. Your mother's ghost, he words, the cuts. Then you fought in the war and earned respect. For a month, and then you felt like you overstayed your welcome. So you left, traveled, but found the Roman camp. You found Hazel, and risked the Romans' threats to actually crucify you in order to help her. You thought you'd escaped, but then Percy showed up again, so you made up your mind to go to Tartarus. Then-" Will shuddered. "Tartarus... I can't even begin to describe, so I don't know how you ever would. Nico, I only felt a tiny portion of your pain. Reyna told me how bad it was, but I never imagined the scale of everything." Will paused, debating whether or not to continue. When he did, he said, "and then...um, Cupid. Yeah, I saw that too. You are not a coward," he said fiercely, "and don't ever let anyone tell you that you are!" Nico sighed, and squeezed Will's hand. Easier said than done. Will finally said, "I felt the four gunshots. I felt all of your school and sports experiences. The triumph of that half-court shot that they made you pay for. Just because your team was jealous, they had to give you a black eye."
Nico murmured, "If you fail, or make your goals, you will surely pay. It was part of that phony prophecy."Will seemed to gather his courage.
"And I saw myself from your point of view." He let that hang in the air for a bit, while Nico realized what that might mean. Will continued, "Were you really awake every single time? And you never said anything?" Nico was silent. He became very grateful that Will could not see him blush in the dark. "On the other hand, you did kiss me back those other nights when I really had fallen asleep first, so that's one good thing." A good thing. Nico almost laughed. Will continued in a more relaxed tone. "You could have told me, you know. If you knew I liked you, and you liked me too...maybe the school year would have been more bearable if we would have just been open about it. I suppose that's as much my fault as yours," Will sighed. Nico finally found his voice.
"It just would have made the bullying worse," he protested. "I didn't want to do that to you."
"Nico, as long as I'm with you, I can stand anything. You make me brave."
"You're brave without me."
"Brave enough to do this," Will told him. Before Nico could ask, he felt Will's lips pressed softly to his own. He melted at the touch, feeling Will's hand brush through his hair. And for the first time, neither of them was sleeping or pretending to sleep. Will's mouth left, but his hand lingered in Nico's hair. "I just kissed an angel," Will said in slight disbelief. Nico could hear the smile in his voice.
"So did I," Nico told him, smiling even more.

Notes

I finally got to a little Solangelo! Yay! I'm still not sure if my writing is good, but I'm going to try to keep writing this. I understand it's pretty weird to give Nico wings and a halo, but if anyone tells me Nico is not worthy to be an angel, I disagree with them.