Hell And High Water (Percico boyxboy)

VIII

It was a good number of days before Percy was able to do much of anything on his own. He had gotten pretty beat up sparring at camp and even on quests but getting shot was different. He knew the bullet wasn't in his body anymore but there was such an intense pain that seriously made it feel like it was.
Nico had to help Percy do almost everything. He tried to do it himself but it hurt. Walking was easy, but sitting up, getting dressed, even trying to bend over to pick something up proved challenging.
Nico didn't mind having to help Percy. He was just glad that Percy was alive. There was something that struck him, though, during those days. Why? Why had he done anything he had done? The first why was why had he gotten Percy from the Lotus? He had asked himself that over and over again. He had made his life so complicated in the last three years and Percy added to it. The next why was why hadn't he taken Percy back to Camp Half Blood? The answer to that was pretty simple. He knew that if he showed up there, Hazel and Frank would try to get him to stay. The biggest why, though, was why had he brought Percy on the hit with him? He could have just dropped him off at a hotel and that would have been it. But no, he had to bring him along and then Percy got shot. It was Nicos fault. And that's why he was taking care of him.
Nico did what he could for Percy and did everything in his power to not get angry at the son of Poseidon for not being able to do very much. Once Percy started healing more, certain things became harder for him to do. The day he came to, he was able to shower without a problem. But, now, he found it hard to lift his hands to wash his hair. His body still ached but he tried not to baby himself because he knew it would get him nowhere.
Nico had received a number of phone calls that he had ignored  since the failed hit. He knew they were all from Ares and there was no way Nico was in the mood to deal with him.
It had been almost two weeks since Percy was shot and things were extremely hard for him. He would either lay awake all night or cry in his sleep from the pain in his torso. Every time the tears started, Nico would sit on his own bed and watch Percy. The sounds of the son of Poseidons sobs were heart wrenching to Nico, considering it was technically his fault. He felt as if he should have known better than to get Percy involved. Percy had never been one to be afraid or back out of something. Nico had hoped Percy wouldn't have backed down, originally, but now he was wishing the son of Poseidon would have been a baby. At least he wouldn't be hurt right now. This wasn't Percys fight, it was Nicos. But Percy had taken a bullet for it.
Nico had been taking care of Percy, barely letting him do anything, for over a week, almost two, and he was begining to get annoyed. Despite his annoyance, he would bolt to Percys side whenever the son of Poseidon would make any indication of pain, and Percy knew it.
Sometimes, it made Percy uncomfortable. The only people Nico had ever been like that with was Bianca and Hazel. He was forcing himself to do more and more on his own and not be a baby. Sometimes, though, he couldn't manage. Like when it came to washing his hair.
Percy tried to stretch his arms out to be able to apply his shampoo but the stretch pulled on his muscles and caused the spot on his back to ache and spasm. He dropped his arms down to his side quickly and let out a little bit of a moan that Nico could hear from the desk in the hotel room. He dropped his pen and ran to the bathroom.
"Percy?"
"I'm fine."
Nico had learned to take his word for it so he began to slowly turn away from the door. He stopped when he heard Percy make another noise of discomfort.
"What are you doing in there?"
"Nothing."
Nico sighed. "Percy, if you need help with something, just tell me."
Percy hesitated for a moment. He hadn't actually washed his hair in days because he couldn't get his arms high enough to. He felt so gross because of it and had told himself he would wash his hair no matter what pain he was going through. But it was too much. But Nico was offering to help him. He could use the help.
"I-I can't wash my hair."
Nico tensed a little. He had helped Percy do alot but washing his hair? Nico wasn't sure if that was the best of ideas.
"Why can't you do it yourself?"
Percy felt pretty embarrassed that he had to say that he couldn't do it and now Nico was making fun of him.
"Never mind."
Nico sighed. He had been helping Percy for quite a few days and he wasn't about to stop now. He might not have wanted to help Percy wash his hair, he might not have wanted to see Percy fresh out of the shower, sopping wet, but he felt like he had to help.
"Finish up with what you can and put your pants on then open the door." He paused. "I'll wash your hair for you."
Percy was was a little surprised by Nicos answer but he couldn't do it himself so he figured it wouldn't be so bad to let Nico help. He washed his body and made sure to rinse himself down before he climbed out of the tub. He threw his boxers and jeans on before contemplating for a few more seconds to open the door. It was against his better judgment to let Nico into the bathroom, but he really needed his hair washed. Before he could think about it too much, he whipped the door open and told Nico he was done. Nico was sitting back at the desk and he dropped his pen when he heard Percy.
Nico sat Percy in a chair and leaned his head back into the sink.
"Does it hurt to sit like that?"
Percy shook his head and Nico nodded before grabbing the shampoo and conditioner and turning the water on. He made sure it would be warm enough before he held Percys head under it.
Nico had never washed someone else's hair before and the fact that it was Percy was probably not a good thing. He had had moments when he was unable to control himself, like when he had kissed Percy, and this was testing him. Ideas began to run through his mind. What would Percy do if he grabbed onto Percys hair and used it to... NO!
He made sure to get the soap all the way through Percys hair before starting to rinse it. The water was just the right temperature and Nicos hands felt so perfect being massaged into Percys hair. He let out a low hum of content that he didn't even really realize. Nico realized it, though, and the sound was slightly alarming. The alarm only lasted for a second before Nico started to wonder what other sounds he could get Percy to make. No! He really had to stop letting these thoughts pop up.
He finished rinsing out Percys hair and left the bathroom without a word. Percy was pretty grateful that Nico was being so helpful but he still felt a little awkward asking for help washing his hair. But it agitated him that Nico would do almost everything possible to help Percy and now he just walked out without a single word. He shook his head and put his shirt on, with difficulty, before walking back into the room. Nico was sat in his usual spot: the desk chair. He was writing something in a notebook and going through all sorts of stuff on his phone.
There were so many phone calls that he hadn't actually bothered to answer and he was writing down the numbers and the time that they called. Nico had expected them to leave voice mails but not everyone did.
Ares was one of the ones who left a voice mail. Ares was a pretty chill guy, for the most part, until you pissed him off. And Nico had managed to piss him off.
'You really aren't as much of a hard ass as you pretend to be, are ya? Or maybe you're just an idiot for not going in and just killing him. You had to try to tortue answers out of him. You aren't as good as many people say you are. I'm ashamed. So much for the magnum. I'll just keep it for myself and use it to kill Herc, since you couldn't manage. Then, maybe I'll come after you and your new boyfriend. I heard you used him. You should really know better than that. So, after I kill Herc, I'm coming for you for fucking up. You and your boy toy, too. See ya soon, kid."
Well...That was fun. Nico knew Ares wasn't one to screw with and he had screwed with him without meaning to. There was no way Nico was leaving, though, considering he wanted to get his hands on Typhon and the Manticore and they weren't far away. And, truthfully, he didn't care too much that Ares was mad. Percy had gotten hurt and that was Nicos biggest concern at the time.
Nico didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to the room around him so when Percy came back out of the bathroom, he didn't notice. He was writing a few things in his notebook. He had lots of phone numbers, most with question marks next to them, and some names and even an address. There were a few people he dreaded having to bring back up in his memories but since they had called, he didn't have a choice. He just didn't know why they could call. Especially that one person. Nico hadn't spoken to him in a very long time. They hadn't left on the best of terms. They actually had a fight. A huge fight over...
"Percy, you scared the crap out of me!"
The son of Poseidon had been standing slightly behind Nico and he took a pretty quick step foreward and kicked Nicos chair, startling him.
"Sorry..."
Nico shook his head and waited for his heart beat to slow again.
"What do you want?"
Nicos words came out kind of harsh and Percy responded with a whispery "Nothing."
"Then go away. I'm busy."
Percy furrowed his brow but followed Nicos orders and left him to whatever it was the son of Hades was doing. There wasn't much for Percy to do and he was becoming restless after being cooped up in a hotel room for days on end basically doing nothing.
Nico went through how many times the person had called him. There were way too many to actually count. He called a few times every day since the news of the hit got around and even more in the days since Nico had tried to pull it off.
Nico continued through the missed calls and unread texts. He hadn't expected any messages from this person so he was beyond surprised when one call indicated a voice mail. His ears started buzzing and his head started spinning right away. He hadn't heard this persons voice in a very long time and, to be honest, he was a little scared to. He slowly moved his thumb and pressed the button to listen to the message and put the phone to his ear.
'Nico? What were you thinking? Why would ever take that hit? You need to back out. You know better than anyone that it is stupid to take a hit like this. And it's all for a gun? You can get a gun anywhere. Why would you risk your life? Nico, you can't do this. He's gonna kill you. He's got too many people working with him. Please, don't do this.'
The message ended there. Nico heard the phone beep but it didn't process. Why all of a sudden did he care? The next message on Nicos phone was the same number.
'What the hell is your problem? Did you not listen to my other message? Why would you do that? Nic, you need to get out of here. It's not safe for you here, anymore. Please. I don't want anything to happen to you.'
The message ended. At that moment, nothing else seemed to matter. Not the fact that he was in danger. Not the fact that he had a lot to worry about. Not the fact that Percy had gotten shot. Nothing.
Nico put the phone back on the desk as the guys voice ran through his head.
Percy could tell something was up but he didn't know what. Nico looked like he was in a daze. He just stared at the wall and he barely even blinked. For a few seconds, Percy had to wonder if Nico was even bretahing.
"Nico? Are you alright?"
Nico turned his head to look at Percy with fire in his eyes. Out of all the questions, that one bothered Nico the most. And to add to it, hearing Percys voice was pretty painful. As much as Nico had wanted to find Percy, he wished, at that moment, that he wouldn't have cared. All Nico did was growl and get up from his chair. He left the phone on the desk before heading to the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.
Percy had never really been super nosey but Nicos phone being left out in the open was tempting. He picked it up with only slight hesitancy and immediately start going through texts. He saw one that hadn't been read yet and he opened it without thinking what it could be.
It was the longest text Percy had ever seen and whoever sent it must have been angry about something because there were a lot of all capitalized words and quite a bit of vulgarity. What was most surprising, though, was the amount of times the person said they were worried about Nico. There was no name attached to the number so Percy had no idea who it was. His first thought was Hazel. It made total sense. Until there was something about a promise they had made to each other about staying safe just six months ago. Nico hadn't seen Hazel in three years.
"What the hell are you doing!?!"
Percy dropped Nicos phone back to the desk and backed away from it.
"Were you just going through my stuff?"
Percy shook his head quickly.
"You're lying. What did you read?"
"Nothing." Percy was really hoping to convince Nico that he hadn't read anything. But Nico wasn't stupid.
"What the hell did you read, Percy?!"
Percy had seen Nico get angry so many times but he was never really prepared to be the one Nico was angry at.
"Just a message."
Nico tensed. "A message from who?"
"Hazel. I think."
Hazel. Hazel didn't even have Nicos phone number. But, Percy thinking it was from her was probably better than him knowing who it actually came from. Nico yanked his phone from Percys hand and opened the hotel room door. He slammed it behind him and started his way down the hall. First Percy. Then the hit. Then this. A blast from the past Nico wished would have stayed there. He slammed a fist into the wall and dropped his head into it after. All of this was stuff he didn't feel like dealing with.
When he finally stepped away from the wall, his phone went off. He thought it would have been Percy, asking where he was, but it wasn't Percy. It was him. The one person Nico really didn't want to talk to. He couldn't talk to him. He pressed the ignore button and turned so his back was to the wall before sliding down to sit on the floor. A few seconds after, the phone vibrated once and his number popped up. Nico pressed the 'read message' button and immediately wished he hadn't. It was a picture. A picture of a picture, to be exact. It was the two of them. Nico remembered the very day it was taken. It was a warm sunny day in August. The first day he ever told Nico he loved him. The memories started flowing back from there and another message came to Nicos phone.
'Please. Meet me there at 9 o'clock tomorrow night. I need to see you. I'll be waiting.'
Why? This was not what Nico needed.