A/N: I told myself I'd write like six other oneshots before I continued this… That didn't happen… I really like this fic, and I hope you guys do too.

I'll reply to reviews before we get started.

Smart Girl: I have nothing to say to you, since I already answered the one question you had. But thanks for continuing to review all my fics instead of just emailing me your opinions :D I love you!

ShiningOpal: Have you read any of my other fics? I don't recognize your name… Anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter. That HoO ending would definitely be interesting… Would probably result in an angry horde of fangirls storming Rick Riordan's house, though. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Elmlea: Yay I'm so glad you liked it :D :D :D Thanks for reading the unfinished version too :) And thanks for reviewing!

CreCra: Your name confuses me, but in a good way. I like it :D I'm glad you liked the chapter, and your explanation for Nico's breathing problems… I actually hadn't thought of that, but I think I'm gonna use it if you don't mind. Thanks for reviewing!

Emmafakedherdeath: Hello again. I like that you've reviewed most of my fics, like, recently :D I'm so glad you liked the chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

countingmoons: Yeah, I responded to you too. Thanks for reviewing and being awesome :D

nicodiangelofan: Thank you so much for the asthma info I desperately needed it! I don't think Nico's is gonna be that bad, though, so I might not need all you told me, but thanks anyway. And thanks for reviewing!

MisunderstoodSociopath: :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D Yeah, that's all you get.

Death is my daddy: Smiley face to you too. Thanks for reviewing!

TheGhostQueen2002: Yay I'm so glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!

apple: I think it's interesting too, personally ;) Glad you like it. Thanks for reviewing!

Fireblaze: You're my new favorite person, just so you're aware. Please use asthmatic!Nico for headcanon torture, spread the love :D Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

And now, on to the chapter! I'm making sure to explain a bit more of the AU in this one, so I hope you guys like it and please review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Two

When Nico was nine, he entered the foster care system for the first time.

It hadn't mattered back then. It wasn't like his parents had ever been very present in the first place. His dad was an oil mogul with two wives and four times that many girlfriends, who hated any and all people (especially his children) and had a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later, literally. His mother had been a sweet woman (or, at least, so Nico assumed; he didn't remember her) who died before Nico had even gone into kindergarten. His parents hadn't been family to him, not like Bianca had, or like Thalia and Percy were now. His parents had just been necessary, until they weren't anymore.

Exactly three weeks and five days after his ninth birthday, Nico's father decided he'd had enough and put his children up for adoption. Nico had neither seen nor heard from the man since.

The first foster home Nico had lived in had been amazing. The father, Jacob Lotus, had owned an old-fashioned arcade that was one dustmite away from closing down. Nico had loved it. Jacob used to always let him and Bianca play games while he worked, using a quarter on a string to trick the machines into letting them play without wasting any money. His wife Amanda had worked at an amusement park on the other side of town, where she'd get discounts on letting Nico and Bianca ride the roller coasters and water slides.

The home had been heaven. But one day, seemingly out of nowhere, the man from Social Services showed up and said he'd found a home that would suit them better.

Westover Hall had been the exact opposite of the Lotus household. It was a military school that often housed orphans (not that Nico and Bianca were orphans, they just had no mother, and their dad was a jerk), training them to serve in the army when they grew up, if they so wished (but everyone knew it really wasn't a choice). There was less freedom, less fun, and less family than Nico had had with the Lotuses, but the food was better, and they were safe, and Bianca had practically pointed out that that was all that really mattered.

For a year and a half, Bianca was the only family Nico had. Sometimes he couldn't believe how great it was to finally have someone else.

"Nico, why are you sitting on the roof?"

Nico opened his eyes with a sigh and sat up, leaning forward to look down at whoever had called up to him.

It was Hazel, Nico's next door neighbor, as well as his technical best friend (since Percy and Thalia weren't allowed to count). He wished she hadn't disturbed him; he'd been very busy thinking- about what even he wasn't sure…

"High places help me think; you know that," he called down to her.

Hazel rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah. But why are you sitting on my roof?"

With a dramatic sigh, Nico lay back down and blocked the sun with one arm. "I don't know, more comfortable?" he replied. "Are you ready to go?"

"A few minutes, I think," Hazel told him. "You wanna call Leo, or should I?"

Nico sat up again to look down at her. "Isn't he still mad at you?"

Hazel was hard to see from so high up, but Nico could still picture her shoving her hands in her pockets and looking around to avoid his gaze.

"I'll call him," Nico offered, earning a grateful look from Hazel. He then sighed and rubbed his face tiredly, speaking quietly enough that Hazel wouldn't be able to hear him. "Except they're probably awake by now… I was hoping to avoid them this morning."

"You can use my phone," she called up to him, guessing what he was thinking.

Nico groaned in annoyance. "But that means I have to come down."

Hazel laughed. "You have to come down anyway," she reminded him.

Nico sighed. "True. All right, gimme a minute. I'll meet you in the kitchen."

Hazel gave him a mock salute and disappeared into the house.

Nico slowly took a deep breath, feeling the tightness in his chest that turned into a wheeze and then a coughing fit before he could get much air in.

He scrambled to his feet, coughing harshly into his sleeve, gasping for breath in between bouts. Tears pierced his eyes, but Nico refused to let them fall. When he was finally able to breathe again, he wiped his eyes, took a shaky (but successful) breath, and made his way to the edge of the roof.

Sometimes, when his breathing got really bad (or even just really annoying), Nico tried to think back to the time before he had asthma.

It felt like a lifetime ago, but really it wasn't even five years ago that Nico could breathe just as well as everybody else.

Westover Hall training had been hard for everyone, but Nico had been a weak child from the start (Percy liked to call him Captain America, even though Percy had only seen the first twenty minutes of that movie). It was amazing how only a few months of military school had felt like a torturous, painful lifetime.

But still. Throughout all the running and the punishments and the multiple times Nico had ended up coughing up blood, he'd always been able to breathe. Amazingly, Westover had nothing to do with taking his breath away.

Sometimes, when he tried to think back to the time before he had asthma, Nico had to force himself to forget that it was also the time before he lost Bianca.

Despite the million times it had happened before, whenever Nico entered Hazel's kitchen halfway through using his inhaler, people started to assume something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" she asked him before he'd even made it through the doorway, jumping up from her seat at the table.

Nico raised an eyebrow and nodded, unable to speak since he was still holding his breath. Once he'd successfully breathed in the medicine, he shoved his inhaler back in his pocket and smirked at his friend. "You know, the few times I'm not okay, you don't ask me that."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "Shut up. Call Leo so we can get going. Are you hungry?"

"That depends," Nico replied as he picked up the cordless phone charging on the counter. "Did your sister make pancakes?"

"Yes," Hazel confirmed, pointing to a plate on the table stacked with yummy fluffy goodness.

"Then yes." Nico grabbed a pancake and folded it into quarters before dialing Leo's number on the phone.

Their friend picked up on the third ring, something that never happened since Leo was usually asleep when they called, but his greeting was a lot less joyful than usual. "I'm not going to school today."

Nico frowned and held the phone between his shoulder and his ear so he could fold his pancake further. "What do you mean you're not going? Is everything okay?"

Leo's silence spoke volumes (mainly because Leo Valdez was never ever silent).

Nico glared at nothing in particular and turned his back to Hazel, hoping she wasn't listening. "Leo, not wanting to see Hazel is a horrible reason not to go to school."

"I'm in every class with her," Leo pointed out. "Avoiding her would be physically impossible."

"So just don't avoid her anymore," Nico advised. "None of us even know what she did anymore."

He could hear Leo scowling. "I know."

Nico sighed. "All right. Fine. I'll just have to tell everyone you're sick then."

"I'm okay with that."

"And then, you know, my sister, always so caring, she'll probably want to come check on you."

"She's great, yeah."

"And then, being your best friend, I might just have to accidentally reveal the 'Thalia Shrine' you happen to have in your closet."

"... Pick me up in ten."

And with that, the line went dead.

Smirking to himself, Nico turned back to Hazel just to see her stabbing a pancake angrily with her fork. He shoved his own, now bite-sized, pancake into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully as he sat down next to her and put a hand on her back.

"I just don't understand what I ever did to him," she muttered.

"He's Leo," Nico reminded her with a smile. "When do we ever understand him?"

Hazel chuckled. "Good point."

A/N: Okay, literally, I don't even know what I'm doing right now. Like, that ending? Literally just wanted to end the chapter because I have no idea what I'm doing. Also, this fic has no plot… it's just an AU. I'll eventually think of something, but… you know, if you guys have any suggestions, that'd be good too. But until then (or until I come up with something myself), awkward non-existent Hazel/Leo tension, asthmatic!Nico and Frank as a dog! Also, next chapter… mwahahaha… you get to meet the parents :D (innocent grin). Hope you liked the chapter, and please review!