Sunflower (or, a Solangelo Spider-Man AU)

Fresh Out The Slammer !! (he definitely knows who his first call will be to)

Will was getting REALLY sick of these stairs.

He had started off with a burst of energy, taking the steps two at a time, but after several flights, his pace had slowed. His muscles burned. He was still kind of tired from whatever Hypnos had done to him when he had knocked him out, and he was practically fighting to stay alert as he took the stairs.

Not like he really needed to stay that alert. Oddly, Will hadn't seen a single soul during his whole journey. Maybe this was like, a back staircase, and everyone else was on the main stairs. Or maybe no one was here because they were too busy wreaking havoc on NYC.

Will really hoped this was just a back staircase.

He wasn't sure how long he had been climbing for. He had kind of lost all sense of time in here, especially because he had been knocked out for an indeterminate amount of time.

Oh god. He had barely even thought about that. How long HAD he been here for? For all he knew, he'd been knocked out in that cell for days. Well, maybe that was wrong. Because if he had been in there for days, he figured a lot more of those cells in that massive room would have been filled. Small comforts, he supposed. He hadn't been here long enough for all of NYC to have been captured as the Mansion planned to do.

Will was so lost in his head that he hardly even registered the fact that he had reached the top of final flight of stairs.  There didn't seem to be anything particularly special about it; Will simply stood on a landing platform with a service door across from the top of the stairs.

He quietly crossed the platform and reached the door. His nerves pounded. Maybe there was nothing special behind the door. Maybe his gut feeling had been wrong. Ugh, no, he was kidding himself. He had to face up to this. No denying it.

Because Nico was behind that door. Will was almost certain of that. He had a weird tingling in his ears that told him that. Unfortunately, the tingling didn't tell him whether Nico was safe, or at least unharmed. Just that he was there.

Will pushed open the service door as quietly as possible. It opened into the corner of a massive room. The room was dimly lit, only illuminated by the glows of candles and soft lamps. Very aesthetic, all things considered. There were fancy paintings hung across the room, alongside glowing TVs displaying live news broadcasts. The far right side of the room was covered in TVs and cameras. Probably where Nyx had filmed her stupid little speech. The actual furniture seemed to be in the taste of a living room, and it was disgustingly fancy. A huge intricately woven rug covered the floor, covered by tables, plush chairs, and couches. And on the couch furthest from Will-

Will's breath caught in his throat, and he held back a gasp. Nico.

Nico didn't look too bad, all things considered. His greatest ailment seemed to be a swollen eye and some scratches down his left cheek. He didn't look all too happy, which honestly was a good thing right now. Will much preferred Nico being pissed off than him being coerced back into the Mansion and actually enjoying himself here.

Nico's hands were bound, but he didn't seem to be struggling. Maybe he had already found out the consequences of that, judging off of his injuries.

Will quietly slipped into the room, shutting the service door behind him. He was bathed in shadow, so he could still observe the room without anyone noticing him.

Wait...anyone. Nyx. Shouldn't Nyx be here? Nemesis had said she was watching Nico. What if this was all a trap? And Nico was here as bait, and any second Nyx would sneak up on Will and then he would be trapped or die and-

The sound of a door opening (there was another door, that was good) and the cool sound of Nyx's voice coming from the other end of the room snapped Will out of his spiral. "Oh, you're still here. Lovely. Thought you might have tried another little stunt."