A/N: I know what you're all thinking. CPG, WHY ARE YOU WRITING NEW FICS? YOU SHOULD BE WRITING THE OH, NICO 50TH CHAPTER SPECTACULAR (I'm working on it, I swear) OR UPDATING FICS THAT HAVE SAT AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR FIC LIST FOR TWO AND A HALF YEARS (... probably not gonna happen anytime soon, sorry guys). BUUUUUT…. this idea came to me in a dream. Therefore it was destined to be awesome. And it got me really excited :D So I hope you guys like it as much as I do. Please enjoy and review!

This chapter is dedicated to Elmlea, because I sent her the beginning of it and every subsequent message she sent me ended with, "Post the chapter!" So, you're welcome.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

WARNING: My only knowledge of foster homes comes from fiction, and my only knowledge of asthma comes from a series of Supernatural fanfics, so bear with me. If you notice anything that's blatantly wrong, please let me know.

Chapter One

Black swirls of darkness painted Nico's vision as he was dragged awake from the best dream he'd had in weeks- a dream of happiness and safety, of wonder and adventure. He opened his eyes and immediately covered them with his arm, blinded by the flashlight shining in his face. A warm hand was on his forehead and he leaned into it, groaning as he tried to remember his dream.

"Come on, kiddo," a familiar voice whispered. "Time to get up."

"Already?" Nico murmured sleepily, turning onto his side. "I feel like I just fell asleep."

He could practically hear his sister smirking at him. "That's cause you were up all night reading."

"I like reading."

"I know." They were silent for a few minutes, and Nico almost fell back asleep, but then he heard the click of the flashlight go off and his sister put a hand on his arm. "I'll give you ten minutes, okay?"

Nico nodded and curled up, shivering under his thin blanket as he thought back to his last dream. As his sister started to leave the room, he called out, "Thanks, Thalia."

"No problem, kiddo," she replied, then shut the door.

Ten minutes later, Nico woke up coughing, a long and hard fit that left his throat dry and his stomach hurting. He buried cough after cough into his pillow until he was wheezing, gasping for breath. Once he was able to calm down enough to get air in, he rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling as he caught his breath. It couldn't have been later than 5 AM, but sunlight was streaming through the broken window behind his bed, illuminating the dusty attic he shared with his brother and sister. Percy and Thalia were nowhere to be seen, meaning they'd already started their chores, and probably Nico's too. He was surprised Thalia had trusted him to get up on his own after she'd let him sleep, especially when he'd been up so late the night before, but he was grateful nonetheless.

Nico got up slowly, knowing that if he moved too fast he'd start coughing again. He was still wheezing a little bit, but that was normal for a December morning, so he just made sure his inhaler was close by and left it at that. He made his bed, remade Percy's bed, and got dressed in somewhat unripped jeans and an old t-shirt covered by his aviator's jacket, one of the two things he had left from his real family. Except… this was his real family. His first family, he should say. Once he was dressed, he tucked his inhaler in his jacket pocket and made his way slowly down the stairs, careful not to let the seventh step creak, and joined his siblings in the kitchen, where- just like every morning- Percy and Thalia were arguing.

"It's just a dog," Percy whisper-shouted, waving around what looked to be a large mixing bowl. "What does it matter what he eats out of?"

"You know Nico doesn't like his routines messed up," Thalia hissed in reply. "If you lost the dog's bowl, why didn't you just tell him so he could find another one?!"

Nico tried to clear his throat to get their attention, but it just made him cough again, so he turned away from his siblings and tried to slow his breaths.

Thalia sent a glare in Percy's direction, then crossed the room to put a hand on Nico's forehead. He immediately pushed her away.

"I'm fine," he insisted, taking a deep breath to prove it to her. He only wheezed a little bit. "You lost Frank's bowl?" he then asked his brother. Percy tried and failed to hide the mixing bowl behind his back.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I don't care. I've got like three extra ones."

Percy relaxed. "Oh. Well, then, how come we haven't seen them?"

"Cause I knew if you did, you'd lose them too?"

Thalia snickered and grabbed the mixing bowl from Percy, returning it to the cabinet. "See, Nico? That's why you're the smart one."

Nico smiled, while Percy just looked offended. "Hey, I think I'm definitely the smart one," he tried to insist.

"You feeling okay, angel?" Thalia asked her younger brother to change the subject before she and Percy had the chance to start arguing again. "You were coughing pretty hard.

Nico shrugged. "Just winter," he assured her. "I'll be okay. Are they awake yet?"

"No," Thalia replied in a whisper, reminding them to be quiet. "Hermes opens late today, so they might sleep in."

"Or they might decide to get up early and torture us," Percy added.

"Hey," Thalia said, glaring at him. "It's not that bad."

Nico awkwardly ran a hand through his hair, then slipped past his siblings to the other side of the room so he could take the dishes out of the sink and put them into the dishwasher. He really didn't think Percy should complain. After all, he was almost eighteen and would be out of here in just a couple months, and they left him alone for the most part anyway. Plus Thalia thought complaining was dangerous for multiple reasons and liked to promote the extinction of it in their house.

Percy was the oldest. But Thalia was in charge, and everybody knew it.

Nico finished filling the dishwasher and started it up, then grabbed clean plates from the cabinets and set them out on the kitchen table for breakfast. His siblings had moved on to their own chores, sweeping the floor under the table, cleaning out the oven, the room eerily silent as they worked.

As Nico straightened the tablecloth and started taking out the cups, he thought back to the dream he'd been having last night. Like all his dreams, he'd been in it, but this one had felt more real than most. He'd been some sort of hero, an adventurer of sorts, but with magical powers. He'd had a wicked black sword that he'd used to raise the dead, but he'd used his powers to fight evil, to protect his friends.

"Frank hasn't come in yet," Percy said after a few minutes, shocking Nico out of his thoughts. "Did you see him last night?"

"Yeah," Nico said shortly. "He'll show up."

"If he's not here by the time we leave for school, we'll have to board the windows," Thalia warned him. "You know they don't like you having a dog."

Nico crossed his arms, shivering slightly. "I know. He'll be here."

Once they'd finished and breakfast was being prepared, Percy went upstairs to do the homework he hadn't had time to finish the night before, and Nico watched his sister cook omelets while he thought back on his dream.

"I had the weirdest dream last night," he told her after a few minutes of collecting his thoughts.

Thalia glanced over her shoulder at him, frowning in concern. "Oh? About Bianca?"

Nico chuckled and shook his head. "No, no, nothing like that. It was cool. I was, like, a death god or something, I don't know. You were in it too. And Percy."

"Who was I?" Thalia asked as she turned back to the stove.

"My cousin, I think," Nico replied, "but I never referred to you as my cousin, we were just kind of acquaintances. And, like, you had these weird… lightning powers. And Percy could control water. I don't know. It was cool."

Thalia looked over at him and smiled. "That's good. Glad you're having good dreams."

Nico smirked. "Yeah… Oh, also!" He sat up straighter, suddenly excited again. "I'm reading this really good book-"

Thalia laughed. "Of course you are."

"No, shut up, it's really good. It's about, like, a guy whose dad is a Greek god. Kinda reminds me of Percy."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "A Greek god reminds you of Percy?"

"Shut up! His son does."

She laughed again, long and clear, then ended up shushing the both of them. Nico was still grinning though. His sister didn't laugh nearly as much as he wished she did.

"I like it when you laugh," he told her, looking down at his hands in his lap. "Reminds me of Bianca."

Thalia glanced at him carefully. Nico was coughing again, rubbing his arms like he was cold. Thalia turned off the stove and came to sit next to him.

"You doing all right?" she asked, putting a hand on his arm. "I know you had kind of a rough night."

Nico just shrugged. Most nights were rough.

"You're really pale," Thalia observed, biting her lip in concern. "You sure you're getting enough air in?"

"Thalia, I'm fine," Nico insisted, taking her hand. "Now you're really starting to sound like Bianca." He smiled, and so did she. "Anyway, they've got meds for me at school, I'll be okay."

Thalia nodded. "Good. They'll be up soon; why don't you go get your bag ready?"

Nico nodded and leaned forward to give her a hug before hurrying back upstairs.

Thalia Grace sat back in her chair and watched her little brother go, knowing she'd never be the sister he really wanted her to be.

A/N: I SUCK AT ENDINGS. Anyway, I know this chapter might seem a bit… thrown together. I have a lot of sometimes coherent ideas for this fic, and I know I haven't really explained the AU yet, so I just hope it wasn't too confusing. All will be explained in chapter two, so you'll just have to stick around, won't you? (*innocent grin*) Anyway, I really hope you liked it because I'm really proud of this, so please review!