Our Heroes (mlb x pjo x avengers)

(33) Therapist Will to the Rescue! *Cue Avengers Theme*

[Will's POV]

Will was having a surprisingly dreamless sleep for once before he suddenly realized something. It was Capture the Flag day. Will lurched forward, realizing he was late for his shift at the infirmary. 

For all he knew, someone could have been seriously maimed already and his siblings could have been struggling to deal with it. He could feel his anxiety spiking drastically. He had to hurry before Kayla ruined his precious workstation by trying to find the hydrogen peroxide.

He pulled the blanket off his body and was about to get up when he felt a familiar hand pushing down on his shoulder.

"Hey, we're still in Paris, calm down," he heard Nico whisper. Right. Paris. His body must be too accustomed to his work schedule that he woke up like that. It was still dark out and Will could barely see the outline of the room.

He let one of his fingers glow so that he would be able to see better. The Avengers, other than Steve and Bruce who must have retreated into their own rooms at some point in the night, were all sprawled out in their own corners of the room; Nico was the only one awake, a cup of coffee in hand.

"How much did you get to sleep?" Will asked, rubbing his eyes and trying to calm his pounding heart from the brief scare he had. Nico rubbed Will's back, knowing it calmed him down, and replied, "Not sure. Maybe four hours? Two?"

Will was glad that Nico knew better than to pretend with him. During their first month as friends, Nico would always pretend he was okay and act as if nothing was wrong. Over time, Nico trusted him, not only as a friend and boyfriend but as a doctor, to tell him what was wrong.

"Nightmare?" Will asked.

"Not really..." Nico replied.

Will understood. Nico hadn't wanted to fall asleep for fear of being awoken by a nightmare.

Will linked hands with Nico and pulled him off the couch. He led the way into the kitchen to avoid disturbing the sleeping bodies and sat Nico down on the counter. He made his own cup of coffee and settled down on the counter next to him.

"Have the nightmares been getting worse?" Will asked in what Nico liked to call his 'doctor voice.' Will had been reading up on psychology and practices done by therapists ever since the most recent war. He might have been an expert with cuts, bruises, and stitches, but he noticed that his powers wouldn't help on a psychological level.

He realized that it was up to him as their head healer to provide the campers with not only physical healing but mental as well. Therefore, it was his responsibility to educate himself as quickly as possible on how to read body language, tone connotations, and how to overall help people improve their mental health—because gods know that demigods need it.

"Not worse...just...not better either. I mean, I think the sessions with you and Percy and Annabeth do help a little, just...I don't know. I can't put it into words," Nico mumbled.

Will put a comforting hand on his arm and said, "That's all right. How about we talk about something you can put into words instead? How have you been doing recently?"

Nico shrugged, "'M'okay, I guess. Normal."

"Yeah? How are you liking Paris so far?"

Nico looked a little more comfortable at that question. "It's nice. I'm having a lot of fun, actually. Marinette and Adrien and Peter are all really nice. I'm actually surprised by how easily we became friends. The Avengers are cool, too. Natasha seemed kinda annoying at first, but she's actually really chill and funny.

"That's good. How did you feel yesterday? Lots of stuff went on," Will pressed gently, trying to guide Nico into talking about the underlying issue.

"Yeah, it was a lot. I don't know. I don't regret telling Marinette everything. I trust her. And...everyone looked like they enjoyed my cooking. That was nice too. I haven't cooked for anyone in a while."