Hell And High Water 10

Decisions are made and complications come up but, what else is new??

Nico didn't want to push Percy to make a decision, and he himself was still processing the whole thing, so he kept his mouth shut about it. The drive back from the park to the hotel was totally silent and Nico had to keep looking over at Percy to make sure the son of Poseidon was okay, or at least as okay as the situation would allow. Nico remembered how it had been for him when he took his first hit: he was paranoid. And he had been involved with stuff like that before. This whole situation was totally new to Percy.
Things didn't change once they were back in the hotel; the space was still silent and the aura was tense. For, what felt like, forever, Percy sat on his bed, blankly staring at the wall. He couldn't believe what he had agreed to. Murder. Sure, he had killed monsters before and that was no big deal to him. But this was a human being. And if he didn't do this, both he and Nico would be killed.
The day was wearing on and Nico was starting to get worried with Percys lack of conversation and, more shockingly, questions. He had expected a plethora of them after the occurrences of earlier in the day, but there were none. That could, more than likely, be blamed on a confusion that made questions seem pointless. Nico just wished there was something he could do for Percy to help him clear his mind but the only thing that was actually able to do that was... Duh.
"Hey, Percy?"
The son of Poseidon turned his head very slowly to look at Nico.
"Do you wanna go to the pool?"
It took a second for Percy to respond but he finally nodded and stood from the bed. He changed into his swim trunks mindlessly and the two boys took the elevator to the ground floor.
The pool room always seemed to be empty when they went and this time was no exception. Percy stared at the water for half a minutes before slipping his shirt off. Nico had been standing beside him and watched as every inch of the son of Poseidons bare chest came into view. Thoughts and feelings began to stir in him and he had to force them away, considering the current situation. Still, though, he couldn't deny how perfect Percy looked in a pair of swimming trunks. He had to wonder whether the pool was actually to help clear Percys thoughts or if it was for him to let his own run rampant.
Percy swam laps around the outside of the pool and back and forth along the inside for a couple hours before he made his way to the bottom of the pool, like he had done so many times before, and just sat and thought. It seemed to be the only place in the whole world he was able to think, honestly. But, normal thought process for the son of Poseidon had become kind of twisted so, he decided on just sitting on the bottom of the pool for as long as he could and not thinking about anything. He just focused on the way the water rippled slightly when he moved his hands or feet to keep himself steady.
Percy knew how long he was able to hold his breath but, today, he decided to push his limit. He counted seconds in his head until they became minutes. The first few minutes were easy but when he got to about six, he knew he was getting pretty close to being done. Six turned into seven and Percy felt like he might explode from lack of oxygen. He counted the seconds, still, and pushed himself further than he ever had before. He was almost to eight minutes when he pushed off the bottom and surfaced back at the top. He took a long and heavy, yet shakey, breath and Nico stood from the chair he was sitting in. He had never seen Percy out of breath when he was swimming.
"Percy? Are you alright?"
He nodded and continued to take deep breaths to fill his lungs back up again.
"Tried to hold my breath for too long." Percy shook his head, feeling ashamed that, as the son of Poseidon, he couldn't stay under water for as long as he tried.
Nico nodded upon hearing the words, relieved that it was something as simple as that, and Percy pushed himself out of the pool. He took the towel Nico handed him and dried his hair and torso before slipping his shirt back on. Nico was actually thankful for that because those thoughts started to come back as soon as Percy was out of the water.
Before the two went back to the room, they stopped at the lounge and Nico made Percy eat. The son of Poseidon didn't want to eat, though. The idea of it made him sick at the time being and he fought with the younger demigod not to, but ended up being convinced. It was, more or less, a threat that did that; Nico told Percy he wouldn't let the elder go to the pool for the rest of their time together if he didn't eat something within the next ten minutes. Percy wouldn't put it passed Nico to actually do something like that and came to the conclusion that trying to stomach a meal was better than not being able to swim. The son of Poseidon waited until he only had thirty seconds to start in on the sandwhich in front of him and a bottle of water. He finished it quickly with Nicos dark eyes being glued to him and then, and only then, did Nico take the older back to their room.
Right away, Percy lazily climbed into the shower to rid himself of the chlorine while Nico began to work on a possible plan for the hit Percy had been 'hired' for. It was hard, considering he didn't know who the target was, but Nico liked being prepared for anything. And he wanted Percy to be prepared for anything, too.
Percy finished in the shower and entered the room to find it quiet and the son of Hades at the desk. The older demigod just plopped onto his bed and fell asleep easily. The day had worn away at a deathly slow pace but it was finally over, for Percy at least.
The son of Hades worked for a while longer and found himself throwing away more and more sheets of notebook paper. It was the first time he had ever planned a hit he wouldn't be directly involved in and coming up with something to play to someone else's strengths was tiring and time consuming. Soon, Nico grew tired and put away his notebook before he buried himself under his covers to sleep.

The days went by at a well enough pace and Nico managed to hold out until the 19th before he started questioning Percy about the hit. He knew the son of Poseidon really had no idea what he was doing but he wanted to know how the older demigod was at coming up with things on the fly. He also wanted to see if he himself had done at least a half ways decent job of making something up for the son of Poseidon.
Percy was flustered when Nico brought it up because it had only been two days and he still had one to think. Not to mention the fact that he had really been enjoying the time he didn't have to worry about any of it.
"Do you have any ideas of how you might want to handle this?"
The question had really come out of the blue. The two were sitting and eating lunch while Percy played a game on his phone. He tensed when Nico asked but still managed to speak. "How I might want to handle it?" His voice held a touch of distaste.
Nico sighed. Maybe that was too much too soon. He hesitated for a second, trying to figure another way to put it. He forced himself to be gentle. "Percy, look, this isn't the time to over think things. If you have an idea on how you might want to go about things, then we should try to work with it."
Percy threw his fork onto his plate. He really didn't want to talk about any of this; he wanted to forget the whole thing had even come to be. "Nico, I don't want to do this at all. I have been doing everything in my power to not think about it."
Nico rolled his eyes up, but not out of agitation with the elder demigod. He had figured such of the son of Poseidon and he wished he didn't have to be the one to bring it to the forefront of Percy's thoughts, but Percy wasn't going to do it himself, so...
Nico took a deep breath. "Percy, look. If you don't do this, Ares is gonna have his cronies kill us. I would prefer not to lose my life over something like this."
It didn't take long for Percy to read between the lines and twist Nicos words around. "So you're worried about losing your own life? What about my life, huh? Or does that not matter to you?"
Nico groweled in an agitation that was very quick to manifest from Percys words. "That's not what I meant."
Percy's response was explosive and fast. Nico wasn't sure where the anger had come from or even why Percy was showing it. But he did know that, once Percy got started, it would be hard to get him to calm down again. "It never is! Every time you ever say anything that offends anyone it's never what you meant! I am getting so sick of it! You pulled me into all this s**t and now I'm being asked to commit murder because of you!"
The son of Hades' eyes spot open. Percy was shouting pretty loudly and Nico knew that the walls of the hotel weren't very thick. If there was anyone in the rooms on either side of their own, they would hear Percy talking about committing murder. "Would you keep your voice down? What if someone hears you?"
Nicos pleas were pointless. Percys anger was overpowering. He wanted to shout. He kind of wanted someone to hear him. He wanted someone to know what was going on. Who cares if they called the police? If they did, Percy would get arrested and wouldn't have to go through with what he was facing. That idea gave him a whole new spark to start a fire with.
"Let them hear me! Let them do something about it! I don't care! I'm not doing what you're asking me to do! I won't be like you! I won't k-"
Nico knew what word was coming next and there was no way he was going to let it tumble from the son of Poseidons lips. Before Percy had the chance to say it, Nico lunged foreward and did the only thing he found logical: shut Percy up by sealing the son of Poseidons lips with his own.
The kiss wasn't really much of one, but it did what Nico hoped it would do. Percy fell silent right away, other than a few muffled sounds that got lost in Nicos lips. He didnt move at all but he tensed in clear surprise. Once Percy was totally quiet, Nico pulled away.
It took a second for Percy to process things but he started shouting again quickly. "What the hell was that for?!"
Nico hung his head and shook it gently. "I told you to stop shouting."
Percy was totally dumbfounded. The kiss took him completely by surprise and the reason for it was a pretty lame one, to say the least. He grew pretty angry at the way that Nico just stood and stared at him awkwardly. How could Nico just stand there like nothing had happened?
How could he? He could because Nicos own mind was buzzing. He should not have kissed Percy. As he did, he realized that he found Percys outburst of anger to be quite exhilarating and kissing him, even being the simple, but long, peck that it was, was already proving to be a bad idea. In his mind, Nico had gone much further than that... He shook his head to stop the scene from unraveling before him in his thoughts. He turned his back to the son of Poseidon and wiped a hand over his face. He had much bigger things to worry about at the time.
Nico made his way over to the desk and slammed his fists onto it. All of this was too much. He thought for a moment about alternatives to actually having Percy carry out the hit. There were plenty that ran through his mind. He could do it himself and tell Ares that Percy had done it. After thinking about it for a little longer, he realized the idea was a stupid one; Ares was smart enough to know that there was no way that could have been true. He was pretty familiar with Nicos style and had been able to tell people, more than once, that it was the son of Hades that had done a job. That meant he would know if it was Nico who had done it instead of it being someone else. Nico could always try to change the way he worked but he didn't really have enough time to cover all of the bases and make something like that believeable.
Then came another thought. He could drag Percy back to the Lotus and force him inside. If he did that, Percy would have no idea what was going on outside of the walls of the building. It would have been easy enough, to be honest, and that way he could tell Ares that Percy had split and that he himself would carry out the hit. The idea only played in his thoughts for a few seconds before he figured it would actually be pretty senseless. There was no way Nico would be able to get Percy to willingly go back to the Lotus and he wasn't dark enough to figure a way to force him. The only idea that actually seemed to make even the least bit of sense to him was the one of helping the son of Poseidon. He knew he would be able to help Percy figure out a plan and get all the details worked out. He would have to let Percy add his own flare, if he was capable, to make it so that no one was able to blame it directly on Nico, but he could help the elder plan. He had to think for a few minutes about it but he figured it was really the only way to go.
Nico knew that Ares would call as soon as the sun was even threatening to rise the next morning and he wasn't going to risk not having an answer. He would push Percy as hard as he had to to get the son of Poseidon to tell him whether or not he was actually planning on agreeing to the hit.
"Percy, I don't want to seem insensitive but you need to decide if you're even gonna do this."
Percy sighed and dropped his head into the pillow on his bed. "Do I really have much of a choice?"
Nico shrugged. "If you don't mind dying, yes, you do. If you'd prefer to keep all of your body parts intact and your heart pumping, no."
Percy groaned quietly and closed his eyes. He tried to sort everything out and focus but that seemed to be damn near impossible, especially with the added awkwardness of the kiss Nico used to silence the elder earlier. "So what do I do then?"
Nico breathed deeply. "You have less than twelve hours before Ares expects his answer; he will call us, most likely, as soon as the suns up. It may sound like a lot of time, but it isn't."
Percy tried to stay calm as all of that sunk in. It was still a lot to process and, to be honest, Percy had kind of hoped the whole thing had been a bad dream or a big joke. A really big, dark joke. He hadn't been so lucky. He took a breath. "What do you suggest?"
Nico nodded once before he started speaking. "We work to your strengths. Being a demigod, you have plenty. I don't suggest doing anything with water, unless of course Ares has some sort of information he's trying to get. If so, we can do some sort of water board tortue sort of deal."
"What?" That wasn't what Percy expected. Tortue sounded sick and twisted and wasn't Percys forte. He was used to killing Greek creatures but they didn't usually require torture and the fighting back was animalistic, obviously, and didn't have a humans thought process. This had just added more tension and a lot more to think about.
"This'll go so much easier if you don't ask any questions, alright?" Nico stared at the elder demigod for a second. "Okay, so I need to make sure that Ares knows that it's not me who carried it out. He knows my style so that means that I can't do this for you. I wish I could, but I can't."
Percy was staring blankly at the son of Hades.
Nico had already switched into his street smarts mode and he didn't plan on getting out of it any time soon. His thoughts for the hit came flooding in and then practically fell out of his mouth. "Going from what I know of you from before, you're good with a sword. No one uses swords. So, if you do, no one will be able to try to peg it on someone else. Is this making any sense?"
The son of Poseidon kept his eyes tightly glued to the younger with his jaw unhinged and mouth open in slight shock. He tried to think but his heart was pounding so hard in his ears that he couldn't even hear his own thoughts. He really couldn't believe this was happening, he couldn't believe it was real. It wasn't a nightmare, he wished it was, but it wasn't. It was actually happening. He had heard Nico ask his question and, despite the fact that it really wasn't making sense at all, he nodded his head.
"Okay. That brings me to my next point. We need to plan this out so it will be absolutely flawless. I may not be able to kill whoever it ends up being for you, but I can play a part."
"Stop." That was the first thing Percy had really said the whole time and Nicos heart skipped a beat when he heard Percys voice. It sounded so solemn and down, even a little hurt and scared.
"What is it?"
Percy looked at Nico for the first time since torture was mentioned. "We don't even know who he's gonna send me after. How am I supposed to plan out how to... kill someone, when I don't even know who that someone is?" That really wasn't 'what it was' but those words were easier to get out than what he was feeling so the son of Poseidon went with it.
Nico rubbed his face. Percy had a very valid point. The son of Hades had never had to plan a hit that he didn't know the target of. This was new for him, too. And it was far from easy, and it hadn't even really gotten started.
For the next few hours, Nico and Percy did everything they could to come up with as solid of a plan as was actually possible and left room for alterations if they were needed later on during the actual hit. Nico found himself getting very agitated at Percy for how much the son of Poseidon didn't know. He was trying to be patient and take his time with his explanations so they made sense, but nothing was sinking in. The thing Percy seemed to have the hardest time grasping was the idea of tortue if it was necessary. Percy kept repeating the fact that Ares hadn't said anything about it to begin with but, Nico knew there was a chance he would spring it on them.
Percy may not have really known what was going on, but he managed to get himself through it with Nicos help. He was still more confused about the whole thing than he had been about anything before, even when he learned he was demigod. After all, this was a whole lot different.
Percy managed to keep focused and listen to what Nico said well into the night. He practically had to beg the son of Hades to stop talking about the hit and let him go to bed. He was exhausted already and Nico could tell. He hadn't finished going over things, though, and he really wanted to have everything covered before Ares was supposed to call the next morning. As soon as he looked at Percy, though, he could tell the son of Poseidon had definantly had enough for the day and was totally wiped. Nico told him he could go to bed but he had better not sleep through the phone call the next morning. Percy was visibly relieved and he moped sleepily into the bathroom to take a shower.
The water was so soothing and relaxing that almost everything faded from his thoughts. The hit, the plans, Ares, Herc, the kiss... kisses-not a single thought ran through his mind. For the first time in a long time, Percy felt somewhat at peace.
His thoughtless state came to an end, though, as a single thing entered his mind and made him think of thousands of others. The thought: his father.
He remembered back to all of the quests he had gone on and realized that, in some way, Poseidon had been there, telling him what to do. He wondered if this would be the same. He hadn't bothered to even think about his father until then, honestly, and he felt pretty stupid for basically ignoring the man that was the reason, in many different ways, that he was alive. So, in order to calm himself a little and keep his conscious from making him lose it, he tried to call on his father.
Percy let the water continue to flow over his body as he spoke to Poseidon in his thoughts. He went through pretty much everything he could remember happening and the things he knew were to come. He had never considered talking to Poseidon 'praying'; he may have been a god, yes, but, to Percy, the fact he was his father was more important. He wasn't sure if he should expect a response or not. His father had always been pretty silent when Percy called on him. The only time he found it necessary to speak to his son was when it was on his accord, not Percys.
Percys thoughts fell silent for a moment as he waited to hear something from Poseidon. As the quiet seconds wore on into minutes, he grew very angry. His own father wasn't responding to his pleas for help in his current predicament.
After many futile attempts to communicate with Poseidon, Percy climbed out of the shower, dried off, changed, and left the bathroom. The city outside the hotel was a little calmer than normal and Percy stood by the window to stare out at it. The lights on the buildings and streets made night sometimes seem like day in big cities but, tonight, they seemed to not shine as bright. They seemed to be a little dimmer, a little duller. Percy felt the city was a reflection of the way he himself was feeling.

Morning didn't seem to wait for long and Percy woke to Nico shaking him and saying that Ares was calling. Percys eyes lulled open and he looked around the room, lids still heavy, for a second before focusing his eyes on the son of Hades.
"Wake up!"
The son of Poseidon jumped a bit and nodded as he shooed Nico away a little. "I'm awake." He said drowsily.
Nico answered the call, quite impatiently, and put the phone on speaker so Percy could hear what was going on.
'Good morning, boys. I hope you've made a choice.'
Percys eyes practically shot open and his sleepiness ran away when he heard Ares' voice ringing loud and clear in his ears.
Nico looked at the older demigod, who was wide awake now. Percy let his thoughts go crazy for a moment before bringing them back to peace and processing just how vital it was for this to happen and quickly coming to a decision with the help of an early morning cleared mind.
Nico swallowed when the son of Poseidon nodded his head and came up with something more to say he hoped would help them a little. "He wants to know who he's after first."
Ares chuckled sickly. 'You think you're so clever. Thats not the way it works. First, you accept, then you get a name.' A slight pause was played by all before Ares spoke again. 'Do you accept?'
Nico looked at Percy once again and the son of Poseidon swallowed down every bit of conscience and self-respect he had as he considered the consequences of both options. Within just a few seconds, the older demigod nodded.
Nico licked his lips slightly before he spoke. "He'll take it."
'I want to hear him say it.' Ares practically interrupted the son of Hades.
Nicos eyes shot to look straight into Percys. The worry was very evident on the son of Poseidons face. Nico gave a reassuring nod to tell Percy he would be alright and that he needed to say it.
Percy took a few seconds but he opened his mouth and a very shakey and quiet "I accept" left his lips.
'Good boy.'
Nico wished he could reach through the phone and wrap his hands around Ares' neck and choke him to death right then and there for the tone he said those two words in.
'Your target is someone that your friend knows quite well. I know he'll be giddy with excitement when he hears who it is.'
"Just say it." Nico gave Percy a look after the son of Poseidon said that. And in such a fierce tone, too. He wasn't angry that Percy had spoken. He was actually more shocked than anything else.
'Well, well. You are a fiesty one; I see why Hades likes you. Alright, I'll tell you, seeing as how you don't like to let the suspense build. His name is Daemon. You remember him right, Hades?' The last word was filled with a very clear distain.
Nico let out a sound that was a mix between a sigh and a growl. "Yes."
Ares chuckled. 'I thought so. Anyway, you have until next Friday to find and kill him. Do you understand me?'
Percy looked at Nico and saw that the son of Hades was still fuming from hearing the name. It was clear to him that Nico knew this person. It was also clear that it had to be him that spoke to Ares from that point on.
"Yes."
'Good. If I find that you somehow neglected your duty, whether it be by running or by pushing the hit off on someone else, I will find you and kill you. If it turns up that the job is satisfied and I find that you were not the one to carry it out, it will be the last thing you ever do. Are you hearing what I am saying? Is it sinking in?'
Percy looked back over at Nico. The son of Hades still looked a little dazed.
"Yes."
'Good. Have fun, kid.'
The phone clicked, indicating that Ares had hung up.
Percy looked at the son of Hades for a moment and studied his face. It seemed like his features had frozen in place and his expression was hard to read. He had always looked so hard and angry but something about the expression he wore at that moment was different. It wasn't a happy one, but it wasn't angry either. It was confused, scared even.
"Nico?"
He turned slowly to face Percy.
The son of Poseidon knew that Nicos change in demeanor was due to the name of the guy Percy was just hired to kill.
"Who is Daemon?"
Nico took a breath and swallowed it down before he even tried to speak. He wasn't particularly fond of telling Percy every little thing about his past life but this was something the son of Poseidon needed to know. "His street name is Horme, god of impulse and violent actions." He nodded a little. "It fits. He was extremely impulsive and always ready to pick fights and be violent for any reason he could find. We met when I first came to the streets. We sold drugs together for a while and he became my first friend in this world."
Percy just stared at Nico in shock. This was Nicos oldest friend... they sold drugs together... The whole thing came as a little bit of a shock; he wasn't sure how to react to the son of Hades being so open with him.
Nico kept speaking. "I haven't spoken to him in over a year but that doesn't mean I want him dead." He looked at Percy as he said that and Percy could tell he was trying hard not to get emotional.
Percy waited a second before he quietly spoke up. "If you don't want me to do this, I won't."
Nico shook his head vigorously and stood from the bed. "I will not let you risk your life just because you were hired to kill someone I used to know."
Percy stood after him. "It's not fair that you have to help me kill someone you were friends with."
The room silenced for a moment. "That's just it, Percy." Nico turned and tried to ignore the fact that Percy was clad only in a pair of boxers; now was not the time for thoughts like that.
Percy was giving the son of Hades a look that was plagued with 'What do you mean?' and 'I don't understand.'
"Percy, this is all on you now. You plan it, and you carry it out. I can't have a part in it."
Percys mouth fell open and he stood in shock as Nico walked into the bathroom.
Nico closed and locked the door behind him before he slid down it until he was planted on the floor. He dropped his head into the door and closed his eyes. There weren't many people who could be called 'good friends' in this world but Horme had been one of them. And the son of Hades had unknowingly helped plan his murder...
Percy flopped back onto the bed. He had wished, over and over, that Nico would have just left him in the Lotus and he was wishing that harder than he ever had before right then. He was actually kind of angry, for the first time, that Nico had 'saved' him from the hotel. He had been angry about the things that had unraveled since then, yes, but this was different. This was even worse than when he had gotten shot. That had been an accident. This was, technically, Nicos fault and Percy had no problem blaming him for it.
He dropped his head onto his pillow and just wished he could wake up again and have it all be some big joke, like he had wished before. Now, though, it seemed like the situation has worsened. The plot had thickened and the only one he was blaming was Nico.

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