A/N WHOOOP! LAST CHAPTER! The A/N at the end is gonna be long and soppy btw. I hope you read it 'coz that would be nice but if ya don't, I ain't gonna judge. I usually skip A/Ns anyway. And now I'm rambling. Alrigh', let's get on with the last cute-fluffy-Solangelo-finishing-chapter!

Chapter 19: Teamwork

Annabeth's P.O.V

He collapsed backwards into her arms, losing strength and feeling too weak to keep himself upright any longer. As gently as she could, she pressed her hoodie against Nico's back, trying desperately to stanch the blood flow. Gingerly, Annabeth heaved the son of Hades on to her shoulders, and raced down the corridor to where she was sure she would find the rest of the group.

"Will! An empousa got him! Needing help!" she cried out as she entered the cavernous throne room that Hades usually resided. The three boys spun to see the two of them struggling, Nico's blood now soaking into Annabeth's t-shirt despite her attempts to stop the flow.

"Get him chest down on the ground now. Remove the hoodie – it's too dirty, and might infect the wound rather than stop the blood," Will barked. Annabeth followed his simple orders, removing Nico's jacket as well. Before them lay a bloodied mess of a demigod. They would need a miracle to fix him. (A/N WARNING, KINDA GORY DESCRIPTIONS OF SURGERY AND WOUNDS COMING UP FOR ANY SQUEAMISH READERS) His spine was shattered in three different places, though luckily the chunks of bone were large enough not to get lost in his body. Shredded muscle decorated the wound, and laced the jagged outline of the tear. All in all, it wasn't a pretty sight. Though, maybe not so luckily, none of the demigods were affected too much by it. They had seen more than their fair share of blood.

"Oh Gods, we're gonna need a miracle…" Annabeth was sure she heard a faint mutter from Will. "Guys this is worse than I've ever had to deal with," he announced, perhaps too matter-of-factly.

"Then we'll have to work together." Annabeth was planning everything in her fast-paced mind, even as she spoke the sentence. She wasn't a doctor, but perhaps this would be their only chance to save Nico. "I have an idea."

Hastily, she blabbered out her hypothesises and unfinished plans, and luckily, Will pieced together her unconnected ideas. "I've got it," he said breathlessly.

"Annabeth, I'm gonna need you to do something difficult, but necessary. I can't do it with my own hands without tools; why did we have to finish our ambrosia? I need you to correct his spine." Letting that sink in, Annabeth nodded understandingly, before crouching low over her friends's broken spine.

She had to get this right. One mistake, and Nico would slide over from his unstable position, and not the way the demigods wanted him to go. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pictured the different chunks of bone lodged in the son of Hades's back. Slowly, she could feel the parts in her mind, and she knew she was in control. Annabeth silently prayed to Apollo, before starting her delicate surgery.

As carefully as possible, Annabeth clicked the slices together, back into the position they should be in, trying to avoid any sudden movements. She heard Jason and Percy gasp in shock at her new ability, but she couldn't let that distract her. As she slid the last chunk into place with a satisfying "click!", she opened her eyes. It had worked.

A short lived cheer echoed around the other wise empty throne room. Annabeth was glad that Nico's dad was away for the moment. It would have been impossible to act with him around.

"Yes Annabeth! Oh gods, we're getting somewhere… but I can't close up the gap with the amount of blood that's spilling. I'd need surgical equipment. Guys, I can't lose him, I really can't, I can't have his blood on my hands, oh gods what if this fails-"

"Will," a slightly gruffer voice interrupted the blond's panic. Annabeth turned to look at her boyfriend. He wouldn't do it… he can't… he'd expose what he could really do…

"I can help"

Percy's P.O.V

Volunteering to stop Nico's blood flow was maybe not the most thought-out thing Percy had ever done. He hadn't thought of the consequences of what he could imply, and although both Annabeth and now Jason knew, it's another thing to see it in practice. But if it was the only way his cousin could survive, well, sacrifices would have to be made. And this sacrifice was his secret.

"I can stop the blood flow, and maybe I could dry out all of our nectar containers completely. That would sterilise the wound; and then could you not use Annabeth's new power to sew up the muscle?" Despite not considering the consequences, Percy had made sure every tiny detail of his plan was meticulously correct.

"Um, yeah that could work. I'm not gonna ask, not right now at least. Everyone, get any sort of ambrosia crumbs or wet nectar vials you have. Jason, search my backpack," Will accepted any sort of help he could get. After some rummaging, the group presented him with three empty flasks that used to hold nectar, and about half a handful of ambrosia crumbs. Mushing the crumbs into an almost paste-like substance, Jason carefully fed Nico the godly food, as he kept sliding in and out of consciousness. After, Percy summoned as much nectar as he could from the empty cups, knowing full well that at least a little would still be in them that they just wouldn't be able to pour out normally. It amounted to about a shot glass full.

"'Kay, right. You gotta pour it onto his back, and spread it out as much as possible. Gimme a little as well to clean my hands." Percy followed Will's very direct orders, then shifted his concentration to the blood staining Nico's otherwise pale back and the pumping of his heart. It wasn't a feeling Percy liked. He hated it; it made him feel like he was powerful. He could literally stop someone's life by just simply stopping the thick, scarlet liquid from flowing. But he had to do it. He had to stop Nico from dying.

"You'll need to work quickly. If I stop his blood for too long…"

"Yeah, I know. Annabeth, as soon as Percy gives us the go ahead, you're gonna focus on holding his veins and arteries together. I'm gonna try to hold the muscle," Will was totally onboard with the idea.

"Yep, got it."

After a sharp nod from Will, Percy halted the flow of blood in Nico's body, though only round his back. A thumbs up to the others, and they started to patch up the demigod, trying their hardest to keep him alive. Suddenly, Will gasped.

"It's not working! Percy stop! His heart hasn't been beating for too long!" Percy cut off the power he had over Nico's body, and immediately the wound spread open from the sudden push of blood.

"Oh gods, oh gods, he's going, I need… Jason! Can you act as a defibrillator?!" Will asked panicked. Shaking out of his stunned state, the son of Jupiter nodded rapidly and bent over Nico, giving him occasional shocks at regular intervals. It kept his heart going, but it wouldn't be enough. The team knew it was useless; they had failed.

"No! Nico, please no, oh gods why?!" Will screamed, his shouts echoing round the chamber.

"Will… I'm so sorry…" Annabeth started.

"Why? Holy Hera, the Fates hate me! Nico, no I can't… Neeks…"

Percy put a reassuring hand on the boys shoulder. "You can't say he didn't make a difference in this world."

"I…" Will cut off with sobs. His tears flowed fast down his freckled cheeks, splattering onto the motionless body of his boyfriend. Huge, glistening teardrops pattered off his face, seeming gold in the dimmed lighting. But it wasn't the lighting that made them seem gold; the salty drops were actually swirling with glittering magic. As they hit the bloodied hole that decorated Nico's back, they spread through the wound, carrying their golden dust over the blood. Slowly, golden bands threaded themselves through the cut, piecing together the boy. As they got stronger, they eventually pulled the muscle back into one piece. The team looked on in amazement.

Then, suddenly, there was a choked splutter from Nico. His back had healed to nothing more than a light scar, and looked like it had been healing for over two months.

"Nico!" Will screamed at the sound. He lunged forward with a wet face and pulled his boyfriend into a tight embrace.

"Ugh, sore, don't break me," he said in reply. Will loosened his hug but kept Nico close.

"I-I nearly lost you… Neeks I couldn't have lost you…" Nico shook his head anticlimactically. Glancing over Will's shoulder, he spotted his shredded aviator jacket and groaned.

"That jacket was Gucci."

Two Weeks Later, 3rd Person P.O.V

It was around midnight when Will left the Apollo cabin. He couldn't sleep, and decided that a small breath of air would help. Diving from shadow to shadow to avoid the curfew harpies, he made his way through the cabins, pausing briefly when he got to the Hades one.

He pressed his ear to the door, when suddenly there was a cry of fear from inside. Without considering what was happening, he broke through the door and ran over to the bunks. Nico was panting heavily on his top bunk, sweating huge beads of sweat. He turned over to see Will standing there.

"Will, you can't…"

"Nightmares?" Will asked, climbing up the ladder and sitting on the end of Nico's bed. Luckily Hazel was at Camp Jupiter, or it would have made it an awkward experience.

"Yeah," Nico replied breathlessly.

"I get them sometimes. I really give my siblings a fright when I wake up, but having an evil primordial inside your head? I can't compare myself."

"Will, you did impossible things down there," Nico spoke. "Without you, I think we all would have been dead. Me especially."

Will looked up from having subconsciously been picking at his nails. He crawled over to the son of Hades's side and slid down under the sheets with him. Clutching Nico's sweaty palm, he stroked his cheek with his free hand. Nico leaned gently into his touch, before leaning slowly forward until their breath mixed and eyelashes nearly touched.

"I love you, Sun Boy. I really do," Nico said quietly. Will's eyes flittered quickly over the pale skin that Nico had before reaching slightly forward and pressing his lips lightly against his. Leaning back once more, he whispered back to Nico.

"I know, Dead Head. And I love you too."

A/N AAAAAAAAAHHHH SOLANGELO=OTP! Oh gods, did that take forever to write. So 3 months and 54 Word pages later, we're finally done! I really hope y'all liked it, I know I certainly ADORED writing it! It was great fun to combine a bit of dark!Percy and dark!Jason with some Solangelo fluff, with an actual life-threatening quest, and also an added power to Annabeth! I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed, followed, favourited and even just read; your support means the world to me. (And to all those people who actually thought I was gonna kill Nico – how could you think that of me? I could never kill that sweet little potato)

Shoutouts to the people who left a review on any chapter:

~Jehan-is-my-son: chapters 3,6 & 12

~howlingbean999: chapter 6

~PKwriter: chapters 15, 16 & 18

~XxVallirenxX: chapter 14

~demigodslove4ever: chapter 16

~Saya4127: chapters 17 & 18

I'm also gonna be doing a collab of some sort with Saya4127, so be sure to check/follow both of our accounts for that! In the meantime, I'll be updating and writing my new story, Order's Angel, so please go show that the same love as all you beautiful peeps have being showing this story! So this is the end I guess. Well then, until next time folks, see y'all later!