Author's note below. Enjoy!

One moment, Nico di Angelo was just admiring the view from the Argo II at night. The next, he was falling to his death.

Nico was kind of a lone wolf. Just because he was on the Argo II now, didn't mean he was really a part of anything. Hazel would try and try again to get him to hang out with her and Frank, or her and some other people, or just eat something, but he never really wanted to. He wasn't very good with people and was better off with ghosts. But, since there were no ghosts on the Argo II, he had no choice but to find other activities, most of which included lying in his makeshift cabin in the horse stables, which were never used, and listening to music. Sometimes he would come around to the mess hall to get a drink or a small bite to eat, but someone was always in there and tried to make conversation with him. Jason would timidly ask about his sword, Piper would just awkwardly say hi, and then pretend she saw something wrong with her nails; Hazel would just look at him with a twinge of sadness in her eyes, and Frank would just nod. Most of these he just responded with a nod or a grunt. People were boring, and the only other people he knew were Annabeth and Percy, who were currently stuck in Tartarus, probably – no, Nico knew they were definitely scared out of their minds. But he'd never really seen Leo unless he was running around fixing the ship, and Leo never talked to him, which he was fine with. He liked to be alone.

So that's why he was on the deck in the middle of the night, admiring the view of the random city they were passing over. The moonlight made everything look filtered with indigo, shades from black to silvery-white. From the looks of it, it was a smaller city; he could see the entirety of it from the boat, even at their height, and there were no huge buildings, just a bunch of houses, so there wasn't much light pollution to block the stars. That was his favorite part about the Argo II at night; the stars. If they were in the middle of a desert or just far away from general population, Nico could sometimes see a very faint, almost milky looking streak of white across the sky, which could have been an arm to their galaxy; he didn't know. He just knew it was better than sleep.

The wind was a bit stronger than normal, causing his hair to stir and blow into his face, so he hardly heard Leo come on to the deck until he saw him next to him, and nearly jumped over the rail.

Leo just grinned and leaned himself against the rail, looking at the stars. Nico just calmed his breathing again and resumed his position, not knowing what to say.

Leo sighed. "Sometimes I come out here when I need to collect my thoughts; it's very calming."

Nico nodded in agreement.

Leo continued. "But I also used to come out here to make sure I could be alone."

Nico's expression remained indifferent.

Leo sighed again. He kept looking at the stars, as if he were talking to them.

"Listen, I'm no genius, but I know you knew Percy and Annabeth longer than any of us, and better than any of us. So I know it sucks." Leo didn't say what "it" was, but Nico understood perfectly. Still, he just stared into the night. Leo was wondering if he was even listening or if he just didn't choose to show it. Then again, this was probably really awkward for him, as he had only ever seen Nico from a distance in the two weeks he'd been aboard the ship. He'd just been too busy with repairs and such to say a word to the guy.

Now Leo didn't know what to say, as he lost his train of thought. He ran a nervous hand through his hair.

"I really don't know what to say, and I can't guarantee we'll get them both out okay and that everything will be perfect rainbows and sunshine, which I'm sure Piper would appreciate," Leo joked. Nico smirked, although just a little, and Leo took this as a good sign.

He looked back to the distance.

"But I want you to know we're here. We're all your friends; doesn't matter how long we've known you. And, if you still want to come out here at night and avoid us during the day, that's cool, I don't judge you. But I want you to know that… you aren't alone. We've all got ghosts; we've all got things to deal with. That's what being a demigod is about. But we support each other with that, you included."

Nico still just looked at the city, absorbing Leo's words. He'd never really thought about it like that. He just thought people wanted to talk to him because they felt sorry for him, he'd never thought about what they might hold in their consciences too.

Leo could tell Nico understood, although he didn't react much. He decided to just leave him to contemplate that, figuring he would act on it if he wanted to. Feeling happy that he pulled that speech off, he nodded and said goodnight, ready to get out of the damn wind, when the ship was hit by a wind pocket, rocking everything and almost throwing Nico overboard. Stuff tipped over and the whole boat creaked, and Nico was sure the others would have been woken up if not thrown from their beds by it. It soon settled and he regained his balance, looking over at Leo.

But Leo wasn't there.

At first, Nico just looked behind him, ready to see Leo sprawled on the ground, but he wasn't there either. That's when his stomach dropped when he realized, Leo had gone over the ship. Nico grasped the rail to look over, and, sure enough, Leo was falling, getting smaller second by second. There was no time to get Jason; Leo would be dead by then. So, in an act of heroic stupidity and panic, Nico jumped overboard.

At first he freaked, flailing and wondering why he did this. Now they would just have two dead people instead of one. The he realized what he could do to possibly save them both. Smartly, Nico shifted into a diving position to fall faster and catch up with Leo. He did, and could tell this wasn't going to be easy. Leo was freaking out, screaming something lost in the wind, his face terrified. Their clothes were flapping wildly and Nico's vision was beginning to be blurred by the tears starting to sting at his eyes. He reached out and grabbed Leo while he could still see him, wrapping his arms around him, and Leo clutched the front of his shirt. They didn't have much time before they hit the ground.

Leo looked him in the eye and tried saying something, but Nico couldn't understand.

"I said, what are you doing?! You're going to get yourself killed!" he shouted over the wind.

Nico just hugged him tighter, looking over his shoulder. They were almost to the ground. Thank the gods, they were falling into an alley; a dark, shadow filled alley.

He didn't know if this was possible, but it was worth a try. Seconds before possible death, he grabbed a hold of the back of Leo's jacket and shouted, "Do you trust me?!"

Leo's face looked like he was accepting death. He just closed his eyes and nodded.

Nico concentrated with his entire mind on that shadow, in that alley. Thank the gods the adrenaline from falling was giving him extra energy, because he was going to need it. He focused on the thought of Leo's room, preferably his bed, since it would be uncomfortable if they landed on the floor. He concentrated on opening up the shadow, and didn't even think about what would happen if he failed; he didn't have time for that.

They met the ground.

At first, Nico didn't know what to think. Were they still falling? He didn't feel any wind, and his hair wasn't moving, although it was in a crazy, windblown state. With his arms still wrapped around Leo, he peeked an eye open. They were in Leo's room, on his bed. Everything was peacefully quiet, as if nothing had even happened.

They made it.

They both still sat there, clinging to each other and breathing heavily. Leo's eyes were as wide as an owl's and he just stared Nico, who realized he was awkwardly sprawled across the guy. But neither moved. They had just fallen off the ship, for Hades' sake.

Leo, underneath Nico, collapsed onto the bed, closing his eyes.

"Santa mierda."

Nico crawled off and just kneeled next to Leo, not wanting or really even needing to know what he said; he could assume. They could hear people starting to leave their rooms, asking questions and walking about. Soon someone would enter Leo's room, probably wondering why Nico was in there.

They both sat there, allowing what just happened to settle in. It had happened so quickly, and they were both so close to death…

Leo turned on his side, facing Nico. "Thanks," he said, with a million different emotions poured into that one word.

Nico nodded, collapsing onto the bed beside him. "No prob."

Leo propped himself on one elbow, reaching out his other hand toward Nico.

He grinned. "Nice to meet you. I'm Leo Valdez, Captain of the Argo II."

Nico just looked at him, dumbstruck. This was going to be an interesting… relationship, given the way it started.

He grasped his hand, which burned against his colder one, but not in a bad way. "I'm Nico di Angelo, Ghost King. Nice to meet you too."

This is going to be a fun story... I'll try to update often, but I'm not going to have a schedule... two weeks is definitely the most I would go without updating, and even that's pushing it. Hope you liked it! If it's a favorite, fav, if you want to know what happens next, follow, and if you have something (anything!) to say, review! It would mean the world.

Thanks!

-chilledcreme

UPDATE: I have not given up on this fic, and i know its been almost a month... writing's been kind of slow given its summer and stuff but im working on it. Thanks :)