This Isn't Your Table (A Heroes of Olympus One-Shot)

The first time Jason attempts to sit at his table at dinner, Nico is tempted to shadow-travel out of existence.

"What are you doing?" he hisses, slamming down his fork. "This isn't your table, golden boy." The campers are staring at them. He stares back.

Jason hesitates, tightening his grip on his tray. "I know. I just thought, after the battle of Gaea you said...well, you didn't exactly say, but you didn't say no...that, you know, since we're both alone and all, we could sit together at dinner?" He finishes the sentence with a hopeful question mark. Nico shoots him a studied look of disdain, secretly enjoying his discomfort. It isn't often that Jason, son of Zeus, is at a loss, and Nico likes to think himself scary enough to discomfit even him.

Unable to stand the silence, Jason adds another "...please?"

Deciding, Nico draws the pause out even more. He doesn't mind sitting alone. He's watched, over the past week, the gazes in the room go from "that cool Hades kid" to that "weird Hades kid" to nothing at all, which is familiar to him, and he relishes the small measure of invisibility sitting alone at dinner gives him. Other times people want to talk to him, whether because of his role in restoring the Athena Parthenos, his connection to the Seven, or some other reason, and he isn't sure how he feels about that yet. But at dinner he has the big picnic table and a plate of dinner to himself, and the aloneness feels like home. 

If Jason suddenly sits with him he'll lose all that. He should say no. Jason is, second to Percy and Annabeth, easily the most popular person at camp, and he doesn't need another friend or the company of the weird Hades kid. But the tall, rugged, usually intimidating demigod right now has a pleading expression on his face, and what with his blond hair and baby blue eyes he looks like an overgrown golden retriever puppy. Nico has seen that expression on Mrs. O'Leary's face. It looks better on her.

He huffs and slides farther down the bench. "Fine."

An instant later, he regrets it, when Jason plunks himself down with an enormous grin, moves within an arm's length--much too close for comfort--and starts talking at the rate of an Aphrodite girl gushing about her latest bargain. "So how've you been? Have you heard about Percy and Annabeth going to New Rome? Oh, by the way, I'm just starting to find out, how many minor gods there are, and it's crazy. And--"

Nico lets him ramble for a few minutes. Finally he puts up a hand. "Jason."

"--so I thought--oh, yeah, what?"

"Slow down. Stop." He points to Jason's untouched plate. "Dinner is for eating. Eat."

"Oh, right." Despite Nico's terse tone, Jason breaks once again into that golden-retriever grin. He takes up his fork and plows into his disturbingly undercooked steak, looking so happy he might burst.

---

In time, Nico gets used to Jason and his chatter. Jason knows to back off if asked, which Nico appreciates, and eventually Nico even begins to enjoy a bit of dinner-table conversation. Just a bit. Jason tells him about all the minor gods he's been digging up, and Nico helps him with Mythomagic knowledge dug up from his own past. Kymopoleia, a rare card, is worth quite a few attack points, but they both agree she doesn't need any more ego-boosting. And Nico notices that ever since Jason sat with him things have been a little easier for him at camp--as though the son of Zeus' approval means everyone else's, too.

That doesn't mean he's happy when Jason drops a bomb as he's eating his chicken sandwich.

"No," he says, not even feeling sorry when Jason's face falls.

"But why?" Jason speaks around his disappointment, trying to put this reasonably, hoping he can reach the son of Hades with logic if not emotions. "Look, the Hunters have always thrashed us. This summer, we actually have a chance. Three Big Three kids in one year. But we can't do it without you."

"Then don't." Nico puts down his sandwich. "The Hunters and I have a history. I'm not doing this."

He knows what it is to be needed. They use you, they celebrate you for a while, and then they forget you like last month's billboard hit. It's not worth it, not for a silly game. Let them win. 

"We all have histories," Jason says, in a rare moment of frustration overpowering tact. "But we don't let them stop us from doing the things we want to do."

"What on earth makes you think I want to do this?"

Jason ignores him, gesturing widely. "We don't let them stop us from becoming part of the camp. We don't let them stop us from living. That's what you're doing."

Nico lowers his voice instead of raising it; he's found from experience that this almost always works better. His words come out soft and caustic like a gentle, acid rain. "Really, Jason? Are you saying all this just for your little game?" 

"No, I--" Jason sputters, looking for the right words, but they elude him. "Look, Nico, just consider it. Just give it a thought. Don't say no without even thinking about it. Please?" There's more at stake than just a game of capture-the-flag here, he thinks, and it shows in the storm of his eyes.

"No," Nico says. He gets up, leaving Jason with a table empty once again, a sandwich half-finished, and a heavy regret.

---

Nico knows what it is to be needed. But Jason, he suddenly reflects as he sinks into his cot, is different. He didn't stop needing Nico after Gaea.

No, that isn't right. Like he said, Jason doesn't need him. Jason doesn't seem to need anyone.

Jason thinks that Nico needs him.

Cursing under his breath, Nico turns over on his side. Why does Jason have to care? And why do the Hunters have to come, with their stupid bows and stupid immortality, to add another painful disruption when he's just settling in and beat the camp that's only just starting to feel like home?

At the last thought he freezes mid-turn. Where did that come from? Not from himself, surely. Jason must be getting to him.

When in doubt, Nico decides, take a nap. So instead of stressing himself out he falls asleep.

---

Nico usually sleeps deeply, so it takes several minutes for the odd tapping sound to register as knocking in his brain. When it does register it takes him almost as long to climb out of bed and answer the door. 

"Jason?" He'd be mad, but he's still too drowsy to be mad. He tries to muster a threatening glare and ends up yawning instead. "I said no. It's late. Leave me alone."

"I will, soon." Although he's a head taller than the boy with a bad case of bed hair, Jason still looks nervy. "I'm not here to make you do anything. I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Nico wakes up. "You are?"

"Yeah. I shouldn't have pushed. It's fine if you don't want to join in. I mean, I'd still be happy if you did, but..." He catches himself. "You don't have to join. I'm not going to tell you to do anything you don't want to."

"Oh. Thanks." 

"So, yeah, good night." Apologetic, Jason turns to leave, his gait easy and confident as usual but his shoulders a little slumped. 

Nico watches him go and thinks for a moment. Happy. It isn't often he, the son of Hades, gets to make anyone happy.

Besides, he'd be fighting against, not with, those Hunters...

"Hey, Jason," he calls from the porch of his cabin, surprising himself, an uncommon note of amusement in his voice. "What on earth makes you think I don't want to do this?"

---

If Jason wants to have even the slightest chance of beating the Hunters, the first thing he needs to learn is to not announce his plan of attack to the entire forest. Nico is a little late--he couldn't find a suit of armour to fit him--but even as he tugs at the straps he can hear Jason from clean across the field.

"Jason," he says sharply as he approaches, "stop."

"Nico! We saved you a spot on the team!" Jason calls, and then does stop, disconcerted. "What?"

"The whole camp can hear you. Which means the Hunters can, too."

"We're alone, I promise," Jason protests.

Without a word, Nico draws his sword, prompting a few nervous gasps, and swats at a nearby bush with the flat of his blade. There's a little shriek, and a girl with cropped blonde hair pokes her head out in indignation. "What was that for?"

"Go away."

She goes with an infuriating grin.

Nico turns back to Jason, who shrugs, abashed, and steps back. "Okay, death boy, new plan."

"Don't call me death boy. And you're the one who's supposed to come up with a plan." 

"I only had one, and the Hunters know it now." Jason is trying unsuccessfully to hide a starting smirk. How much does he have planned, exactly? It isn't like the son of Zeus not to have a back-up. But it also isn't often that anyone wants Nico to lead, so he takes a step forward. 

"We set up defenses at three points in the woods." Sliding his sword back into its sheath, he points out six players. "Three more at our base. Three to create a distraction. Two to, well, capture the flag. Easy." 

"Yeah, easy," someone in the crowd echoes, unconvinced. People are looking at Percy, as though waiting for him to take charge, because up to last summer he's been the de facto leader. But, surprisingly, he stays quiet, watching the proceedings with a little smile on his face.

"I'll cause the distraction," he offers, which stirs up a flurry of exclamations. 

"But don't you want to be on attack?" Jason asks.

Percy shakes his head, smile widening. "I think it's someone else's turn for a change. Besides, I'm good at distractions. Those Artemis girls don't have anything on me."

Nico lets out an unamused breath and turns to a Jason ridiculously pleased with how things are turning out. "Well, Grace, looks like you're stuck with me."

---

Before the game starts, the two teams convene in the middle of the woods. Jason goes up to Thalia, who has to reach up to pat him on the head but does it anyway. Nico stands by as they laugh, Thalia poking Jason in the ribs, Jason snorting and pushing his glasses back up on his face. 

He feels a sudden pang. That should be him and Bianca there, teasing and threatening. By now, he's probably taller than she is, too.

For an instant, Thalia glances over at him and frowns, as if trying to place the weird emo kid who looks so familiar. Nico frowns back. Remember me? he wants to ask. My sister died on your watch.

Then the whistle blows for the game to start, and suddenly Hunters and campers alike are rushing into their positions, and Nico no longer has time to think.

"Here's the plan," Jason says, grabbing him by the arm, which makes him jump. He brushes the hand off.

"I thought you didn't have a plan."

Deliberately ignoring the last comment, Jason raises his head to the sky. "We're flying in. Drop behind their defenses, get the flag, fly back out." He snaps his fingers. "Just as you said, easy."

"Um, no." Nico barely resists the urge to roll his eyes. 

Typically, Jason looks hurt. "Why?"

"Number one: I hate flying. Number two: have you forgotten the Hunters are archers? They'd shoot you out of the sky from a mile away." As he talks, Nico keeps a ear cocked. The sounds of battle--sword on shield, arrows whooshing, people making up war cries--have started to ring through the forest.

"Well, unless you can turn into a mole and burrow past their defenses, I doubt you have anything better."

"Actually, I do. No moles." This time it's Nico's turn to grab Jason's arm. "Have you ever shadow-travelled?"

---

As it turns out, Jason has never shadow-travelled. Which means Nico has to take him on a test run, halfway through the wood, so he doesn't panic or lose his bearings when they actually materialize in the middle of five heavily armed Hunters. They push through the shadows together, and then they're standing in a little copse, Jason clutching his stomach woozily.

"Whoa." He looks around with an expression of childish wonder. "That messes with your brain."

"Yeah, whatever." Nico suppresses a yawn. "Look, after one jump I need some time to recover. A minute to five. Which means..."

"Which means I'll have to defend us until you can make another back to the base. Got it." Hefting his sword as if he can't wait to get started, Jason claps Nico on the back, hard. "That was awesome. We are so going to win this."

"Ow," Nico says halfheartedly, and then they make the second jump.

Fortuitously, they land right next to the flag, and silently enough that none of the Hunters standing guard notice until the light of Jason's sword catches their eyes. In an instant, it's all shrill Greek curses and dancing feet and gold against silver. Jason does a good job of holding them off as Nico creeps towards the flag and puts one hand on it, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Just thirty seconds more and he should have enough energy to get them out of here. Twenty. Ten.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a flash of silver. It's Thalia, advancing quietly, her bow in one hand, a stick in the other. A stick. Apparently, for all their loving-siblings-who-haven't-seen-each-other-for-ten-years act, the Graces aren't above knocking each other out when the occasion calls for it. And Jason gets knocked out far too easily. Nico does not need an tall, rugged, and unconscious demigod on his hands in the midst of at least six Hunters out for blood. 

So in a single swift motion he draws his Stygian sword, still clutching the banner in one hand, and leaps onto Thalia, toppling both of them onto the ground. By now he feels fully awake. Exhilarated, even. He presses the sword dangerously close to Thalia's neck, dark eyes gleaming with the hunt.

Showing an utter lack of situational awareness, Thalia chooses that moment to recover her memory, and then to laugh. "Nice, di Angelo," she says between snickers, but she's looking at Jason. "Very nice. You gonna let me up now?"

"Not a chance." Still keeping his eyes trained on her, Nico puts out his hand, and Jason cuts his way through three more Hunters so they can carry the flag between them and shadow-travel home.

---

"Annihilated!" Jason yells as they light upon the grass. He turns to Nico, about to burst out with something even more dramatic when Percy comes hurrying up, bits of grass and pinecones in his hair, looking a bit worse for the wear for his "distraction."

"The game's not over yet, Grace," Percy says. All around them, orange and silver are still tangled together. When the troops see the successfully captured flag there's a second's breath. Then a mad scramble starts towards Camp Half-Blood's home base. But the campers, with the taste of victory on their lips, find renewed energy and charge all the remaining Hunters while screaming blue murder. And Nico fights the final few minutes with a child of Zeus and a child of Poseidon by his side.

The whistle blows again, and all three of them flop down on the grass. Percy keeps shaking his head, grinning uncontrollably. "The first time in ten years," he says. "First time. I can't believe it."

"I can." Jason sheathes his sword. He and Percy exchange a fistbump. "Like I said, annihilated." 

"You got that right." Percy flops even further so he's staring up at the branches and sky. "Man, the bragging rights."

Tucking his legs under him, Nico waits. He isn't needed any more. They'll throw a big party or something. Already the campers are starting victory dances up and down the woods. And him? He'll probably sneak back to his cabin and sleep. But then Jason turns to him with a smile surprisingly soft and warm and--and proud.

"They all belong to him," Jason says, and then both Percy and he hold up their fists. "You killed it out there...death boy."

His hands look small and bony next to theirs, but from the look on Jason's face Nico has the perfect right to feel just as proud.

Nico joins in the party. He even enjoys it. Maybe. Except for the chaotic almost-food fight and the part where everyone, Thalia Grace included, lines up to ruffle his hair. After several hours of light and noise, however, he thinks it's high time to head back to his cabin for some much-needed seclusion, so he slips easily away from the crowd and into the silence of the night.

Then he senses a large shadow behind him, and turns, nonplussed. "Yes, Jason?"

"I just wanted to ask, Nico--how far can you shadow-travel?"

"I brought a satyr, a Roman praetor, and the Athena Parthenos all the way from Europe." As he speaks he shoots longing glances at his empty cabin.

"So, theoretically, you could travel across the country."

"Yes, theoretically, I...wait." Nico narrows his eyes suspiciously. "You want me to take you to Camp Jupiter. And then back here. On a regular basis."

"You gotta be psychic, too?" Jason gives a quiet laugh. "But yeah, I mean, if you're okay with it. You don't have to do it with you don't want to. It would just save me a lot of travel time."

Cabin. All Nico wants is to get back to his cabin. But he huffs, folds his arm, and levels those dark eyes at his friend. "Fine."

"Are you serious?" Jason's smile is so bright in the darkness, Nico blinks. Then Jason sweeps him into a huge bear hug. "Dude, thanks so much! I'll pay you or something, I promise. Plus, you could see Hazel, and Reyna, and Frank, and..."

Normally, Nico would pull away, but this time he wills himself to hold the hug as long as Jason does.

---

Although Nico may have got used to Jason's talking, he decides there's one thing he'll never get used to, and that's the sheer brilliance of Jason's grin. When Jason walks over to the Hades table, finds it unoccupied, and then gazes confusedly over at the Zeus table, he busts out the biggest one Nico's seen all month.

"Ouch...blind..." Nico mutters as Jason bounds over, enforcing more than ever the golden retriever image.

"This isn't your table, death boy," he says as he falls into his seat. The parallelism is nice, except for Jason's terrible over-eager delivery. The guy also seems to have a problem with undercooked steak. 

"Don't call me that." He nods pointedly at Jason's plate. "And eat, or your food will get cold."

"All right, Nico." With a little smile to himself, Jason take up his fork and obeys.