A/N: this is literally so fucking long for no reason, but I couldn't cut anything because it's Sally Jackson. All her words are sacred to me, even when I wrote them while going delulu on a boat 100 miles off the coast. I'm about to start editing this beast of a chapter, but it's a 50/50 on if I finish it before midnight so... you've been warned.
Nico sat on the sofa of Sally's apartment, something that was both so familiar and yet so foreign, and just stared at the floor. It had been years since he had come to the apartment, but the memories of his times there had always been something he thought of fondly. It had always been one of the few places he felt genuinely safe at.
"I set Bruce up at the desk in Percy's room so he can get some work done while we talk," Sally said, appearing in the hallway and popping into the kitchen for a moment before returning with a plate of blue cookies. "He seems like a good man—he was very worried about maintaining your privacy."
Nico, even though he was still wearing his face mask, smiled slightly. "Yeah, he's like that—they all are, really. They try not to ask too many questions, they reenforce my boundaries, they try to be there for me without being too pushy... it's kinda weird."
Sally hummed lightly, sitting on the opposite end of the sofa as him, one of her legs tucked under her so he could face him more fully. "Can I ask about what boundaries they're reenforcing?"
Nico's hands shifted in his lap, his fingers absently running along the seam of his shirt. "Well, um, I have issues with physical touch—it's worse than it used to be—so they're good about that. I sometimes get weird about talking, and they do their best to make sure I always have someone around that knows sign and they don't get weird when I use non verbal communication. I don't really sleep that much and eating is sometimes an issue, and they like, encourage me to sleep and eat without trying to force me. They just... they help." He wasn't looking at her, a weird type of shame eating at him at the admission of how such normal things were an issue for him. "It's stupid, but-"
"It's not stupid," Sally chided, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Those are perfectly valid things to have trouble with, and the fact that this family you've joined is helping you with these boundaries is amazing. You deserve to have a family that loves and supports you."
Nico stilled at that, his guts twisting at the statement.
"So that's why you came," Sally said quietly, a soft look of understanding filling her eyes. "Family."
"I just- I don't know what to do," Nico quietly admitted, hating himself more with every moment that passed. He was supposed to be better than this. "It doesn't feel safe. I don't understand it and I can't comprehend why. Why do they want me around when they know exactly what I am?"
"What you are?" Sally asked. "They know your the son of-"
"I don't use their names anymore," Nico quickly cut in. "I've been no contact with them for 2 years and I don't plan on breaking that any time soon."
Sally looked slightly surprised at that, but she didn't comment on it. "Okay, so they know who your father is?"
Nico hesitated, honestly having been so stressed about the idea of just seeing her that he hadn't done much thinking about what he would and wouldn't say. "You can keep a secret?" he asked quietly, already knowing the answer, but needing the reassurance anyways.
Sally nodded, her face serious. "Anything you tell me stays solely between us—unless I think it is absolutely necessary to tell someone else, and that'll only be true if I believe you're in danger. Like, if you told me Bruce was trying to kill you, I would... well I'd actually just kill him myself—but I think you understand the sentiment."

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Don't Fear the Reaper
FanfictionThe Second Giant War was gruesome. With only 3 of the 7 left alive, they demigods of prophecy left the camps. They were unable, or maybe just unwilling, to be in the places where their friends once walked. They chose to escape the world of demigods...