Hell And High Water (percico) 1

Part I
Nico was in the shower when Percy woke up the next morning. He had wanted to be out before that happened but he took a longer shower than he anticipated, mainly because the warm water made him feel like he was still under his blankets and he didn't want to move. Once he heard something out in the hotel room, through, he was quick to get out of the shower, wrap a towel around his waste, and leave the bathroom. What he saw made his heart hurt.
Percy was standing up and wobbling around the room like a drunken fool. He was groaning like a zombie and attempting to pull the needle out of his arm, but his eyes wouldn't focus enough for him to see it properly. He tugged his arm, ripping the tiny piece of metal from the flesh. Seeing Percy in a state like that would have made Hades himself feel for the boy.
"Percy!"
Percy turned quickly and fell to the floor from dizziness. He really didn't feel well and the room was spinning around him. He saw the person that the voice belonged to and tried to get to the door. He reached for the handle but he was too far away. He fell back to the ground and Nico ran to him. The son of Hades wasn't sure what to do so he tried saying Percys name again. That didn't do any good, though. Percy tried to stand but he fell and hit his head hard on the floor, knocking himself out.
Nico pulled him up onto the bed and messily threw on some clothes quickly before he got started on Percy. He checked his head first to make sure he hadn't hit it on anything and then grabbed some water for when he came to. It was only about thirty seconds before that happened and Nico had returned and was standing in front of him with a bottle of water. Percy blinked his eyes awkwardly and pushed himself into the head board behind him when he saw the other male again.
"Percy."
Percy pointed a finger at the male and tried to speak. His voice was shakey from the drug he had been given but he managed to get the words out. He pushed himself back off the bed and onto the floor where he looked like he was trying to melt into the corner.
"How do you know my name? Who are you?"
"Percy, it's Nico. Nico DiAngelo."
Percy tensed. "I don't believe you! Who are you? Where the hell am I? What's going on?" Sweat began to form on Percys brow and he shook with tremors.
"Percy, you're in a hotel in Las Vegas. You were in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. I got you out and now you're in my hotel room. I'm Nico D'Angelo, from Camp Half Blood and the Argo II." Nico felt stupid talking to Percy like he was but it was necessary.
"No." Percy shook his head. "Nico is a kid." He pointed at the male in front of him as he studied his features. "He's shorter and creepy, and... and...." His words trailed off. He saw the males jawline, his scraggily dark hair, his dark eyes, his prominent collar bones that showed through the neck of his shirt, and saw they were all familiar. He had always been one to pay attention to the specific details of people so, once he got a good look at the males features, he saw that it was Nico. An older, more mature looking Nico but Nico. He hesitated for a few moments before speaking. "How long was I in there for?"
Nico spoke lightly. "Three years."
Percys eyes widened and filled with even a deeper confusion. He struggled to speak but couldn't form proper words. His breathing was shallow and his panic was very evident. "Bu- Wh- How-"
"Percy," Nico said, "you need to relax. Drink some water, take a few breaths, relax." He wasn't one for calming and consoling so this was pretty difficult.
Nico opened the bottle, never taking his eyes from Percy, and handed it to him. Percy was very leary on taking it from the guy that stood before him. He said he was Nico, but it didn't look like Nico. He eyed the male questioningly and slid back further when the bottle was pushed closer to him.
"Percy, take the water." Nico tried to make himself sound soothing and comforting but his deep voice made him sound twisted instead. "Drink it. Everything will make sense soon." Something told him that probably wasn't the best thing to say. Maybe it was the panic that spread across Percy's face.
The son of Poseidon didn't know what that was supposed to mean. He thought about it. 'Everything will make sense soon'? He didn't know what to think. What if the water was poisoned or drugged or something? His judgement may not have been the best at the time, but that didn't mean he had to be stupid. The Lotus flowers were enough of a problem for him as it was. But, then again, what could make the situation any worse than it already was?
The son of Poseidon took the bottle quickly and chugged down all of its contents and dropped the empty plastic on the floor as he dropped his head backwards into the wall and closed his eyes. The water was cold against his throat and he could feel it flow all the way through him. Knowing who he was meant he knew what to expect from drinking the water. The water took his dizziness and made him feel energized. He looked at Nico and studied his face a little more. Could this guy really be Nico? Maybe he could tell Percy a few things, even if he wasn't. But, the guy did look like Nico, but a Nico who had aged a few years. Three was possible...
Despite the fact Percy didn't know for sure who this guy was, he felt the need to know what was going on. He just hoped the male in the room could tell him. "What's going on?"
The son of Hades knew quite well that was coming. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to talk about everything. For the next hour, Nico filled Percy in on the occurrences of the last three years. He told the son of Poseidon what he had been doing, what was happening in the world at the time, he told him everything he knew about the others and the Camp, which wasn't much, but he tried. Percy was pretty confused about all of it and he had so many questions to ask.
First, though, was "Annabeth?"
Nico shook his head. "I haven't seen any of them in three years, Percy."
Percy couldn't make sense of that. "What have you been doing?"
"Looking for you." Nico replied shortly. "No one else seemed to find it necessary, but I left shortly after you did."
Percy nodded. "What about my mom?"
As far as I know, she doesn't even know you're missing. I think it's better that way, though."
Percy processed that. Did his mom really have no idea where he was? Did she even care? Whatever. He had plenty more things he wanted to know. "What about the others at Camp? The kids, Chiron, Mr. D?"
Nico wished he knew these things. He didn't, though. He didn't even want to deal with the questions. He wasn't in the mood for it. It had already been a long day. But he kept talking anyway. "Everyone at Camp had no clue you left the Argo II when you did, but they probably know now."
Percy sighed and placed his head in his hands. How could no one have known? Was he really that unimportant to them? Even Annabeth and Grover? An anger welled inside him at the idea of being forgotten. "So what now?"
Nico hadn't thought that far ahead... He could take Percy back to Camp Half Blood, but he didn't want to. Percy was there. He was stuck with Nico and vise versa. Nico didn't know if that's what he actually wanted or not. But he answered "Now, you stick around with me." Nico nodded, seemingly to convince himself that idea was really a good one. "That's probably the best thing for you."
Percy was pretty confused still and he didn't figure asking any more questions would change that much so he let it go.
Nico stood from the floor and held out a hand for Percy to take. He was hesitant, looking back and forth between the hand and the males face, but he grabbed onto the appendage and pulled himself up with it.
Percy's skin felt warm to the touch and just to touch the son of Poseidons soft skin sent shivers all through Nico. He pulled his hand back quickly. "Stay here. I'm gonna go down to the lobby and get you something to eat. I can't imagine that living off of Lotus flowers for three years did you much good. I'll be back."
Nico left the room and Percy sat on the bed. He felt lost. Had it really been three years? If so, then he had no idea what was really going on in the world, even though Nico had filled him in a little. A lot could change in three years.
As Percy sat on the bed he looked around the room and wondered exactly where he was. It was clearly a hotel but in what city? What state? Had Nico kept him in Las Vegas? A thousand thoughts came to his mind. Things he didn't know but desperately wished he did. He had asked Nico about his mom but Nico didn't have an answer. Was his mom even still alive? He had asked about Camp Half Blood but Nico hadn't been there in three years. Was the Camp even still around? Was Nico really the only one who had come looking for him? Annabeth hadn't? Grover hadn't? They didn't care enough to? Then he wondered: Why Nico? He was the only one who believed that something had happened to Percy. He was the only one who believed he wasn't 'fine' like the others had. But what had made him think that? Why had he even cared at all?
Percy was yanked from his thoughts by a noise outside the door. He quickly rolled off the bed and sat on the floor where he couldn't be seen from the door. It opened slowly and then latched close again. Percy could hear a few shuffling footsteps coming nearer to him. He panicked to himself but didn't move or make a sound. The footsteps came closer and he wrapped himself tightly in his arms. He could hear a clicking sound and footsteps coming closer to where he was hiding. The footsteps came around the bed and Percy knew there was no way he would be able to hide now.
His first thought was that a monster had been able to smell him and had found him. It was, no doubt, a large and terrible creature that would tear Percy to pieces just because he was a demigod and that's what monsters do. He wrapped his arms around himself tightly in the hopes of guarding himself from whatever evil was currently lurking around the hotel room.
Something spoke. But it wasn't something evil sounding. The voice was human and low and quiet. "...Percy?"
Percy picked up his head and saw that the person was Nico. He managed to relax himself as much as a person could in such a situation.
"Are you hiding? Is there someone in here?" Nico whispered and lifted his gun and looked around the room again.
"No. There's no one in here." Percy's voice trembled. He never noticed what Nico had in his hand, but it didn't seem like he cared much. "I just heard something outside and I didn't know what it was."
Nico lowered his gun. "Was it me?"
Percy nodded his head.
Nico sighed. He knew that being in The Lotus for so long could really mess a person up when they came back out. Percy's first time at the casino had been a five day adventure so it hadn't effected him too much. But this time, three years, it had really screwed with his head. It made his brain wonky and made him more afraid than he had ever been before. It would take a while to get through it and even longer to get over it, like it had Nico. The only difference was, when Nico had been there for seventy years, he at least had Bianca to help him through it because she had been there, too. But Percy had no one. No one except Nico, someone who had gone through it before. But Nico wasn't sure what to do or say to Percy.
The son of Hades went back to the dresser by the door and grabbed a Styrofoam box which he handed to Percy.
Before Percy even took the box, he asked "What is it?"
"Chicken."
He opened the box and let Percy look at the food for a moment before he took it, picked up the plastic fork, and started eating.The first few bites he took were gentle and slow but then his hunger took over and he ate the meat ravonously.
As Percy ate, Nico stared at him in curiosity. Percy continued to shovel food into his mouth and Nico noticed that nothing about Percys physique had changed. His hair hadn't grown, he wasn't covered in facial hair, he didn't look dirty, he didn't look underfed. All in all, he looked like Percy Jackson. But Nico knew that's what the Lotus does to you, or, rather, doesn't do.
It didn't take Percy long to finish eating the food in the box and when he did, he looked up at Nico. Percy felt better than he had before, even though he didn't realize he hadn't felt perfectly normal. Bu the look in Percys eyes, the son of Hades could tell that he still had plenty of questions to ask and Nico felt he was prepared to answer them.
"What's on your mind, Percy?"
Percy hesitated before speaking slowly and quietly, processing everything that was 'on his mind'. "A lot."
...It figures. Have the kid who hated talking to people have to deal with one that had questions. But Nico forced himself to bear with it. "Like what?"
Percy turned himself around so he was facing Nico and swallowed hard. "Did the others really think I was fine?"
Nico nodded. He may have been considered cruel and heartless in the past but what had happened once Percy left the Argo II was uncalled for and no one had deserved it. Especially Percy, considering how much he had done for the quest. "None of them seemed to think you were in any sort of danger at all. When they found out you hadn't gone back to camp, they figured you went home."
It hurt to hear... "But you didn't?"
Nico shook his head gently.
"Why not?"
"Something about the way you left."
Percy remained silent, not recalling anything. He didn't remember the way he left, why he left, if he had told anyone.
"You don't remember?"
Percy didn't respond but Nico figured he was right and decided to fill Percy in. "You went in the dead of night. You didn't leave any sort of indication where you went or even that you were leaving at all. You just left." Percy made a face. He couldn't imaging doing anything like that. Nico kept talking "You didn't take any clothes with you, you didn't take any food, you didn't take any weapons. Your pen went, obviously, but that stays with you all the time."
Percy moved a hand down to his pocket and felt the pen within it. His sword, Riptide. It never left his pocket.
"Annabeth was worried for a while but not long enough to say so." He scoffed lightly. The kids own girlfriend hadn't cared enough. "I tried to convince her to look for you but she wouldn't have it. She said the quest was more important." He paused, wondering if he should really go into too much detail about that specific topic. He decided to, but to also exercise caution with his words as he did. "When she reported to Camp about everything that went on, she included you to make everyone think you were still there."
Percy was puzzled. From what he remembered, he and Annabeth had done well together. "Why would she do that?"
Percy asked too many questions for his own good, Nico thought anyway. He was gonna end up hearing something he didn want to hear. But Nico answered the question anyway. "If she told anyone you were gone, they would put an end to the quest. That was the last thing she wanted."
As much as Percy wanted to believe Annabeth cared more than that for him, he knew her. She would put her own life in danger to finish something she started. "Did they finish the quest?"
Nico shrugged. "I'm assuming."
Percy nodded as another thought entered his mind. "So, what have you been doing all this time?"
Nico wondered how many times he was going to have to say it before it sunk in. "I told you; looking for you."
Percy had forgotten but... "There has to have been something more."
"Well, yeah, I guess."
Percy made a face indicating he wanted Nico to continue.
"I've held a few odd jobs here and there to make money."
Percy felt like he was being kind of nosey but he had no urge to stop asking. "You already told me that. I want to know what exactly."
"Percy, those are things I can't tell you."
Percy was beyond confused. Nico had brought it up in the first place and now he wouldn't tell him.
"Why not?"
Nico forced himself to cool before he spoke. "They're not things you need to know."
"Don't I deserve to know?" Something in Percys voice caught Nicos attention. It was almost desperation. A child-like desperation but desperation still.
"If I tell you, will you get scared and freak out?"
Maybe Percy didn't want to know these things. But he did. He did want tonknow. He wanted to know who Nico was now. "Do people normally?"
"Sometimes."
Percy hesitated. "I'll try not to."
It was probably as good as Nico was going to get from the boy so he went with it. He figured he could just try to play it off as a joke if Percy didn't believe it.
"I started out selling drugs all over the country."
Percy eyes widened. Nico chuckled to himself. Percy was in for a rude awakening if he thought that was bad.
"That went well for about six months, when a client never paid me and my supplier got mad and tried to kill me. I worked as a bouncer at an underground, underage night club in Phoenix. I was only there for two months, though. Saw my share of shit of go down... After that, I came here. I'm not really sure why, but something told me I would be able to find you here. And that was the whole point anyway. So, I started prositituting and kept it up for only a month before I quit. I thought it was kind of funny that I got away without having sex, at all." He smirked a little and didn't pay the least bit of attention to Percys reaction. "After that I started what I do now. Out of everything, this might be the most shocking."
Percy nodded. He doubted very much that anything Nico would say now wouldbe surprising to his at all.
"I'm a hitman."
Percy had been way wrong. "What?"
Nico wasn't the mood to talk about it but he knew he had to explain. He couldn't just leave Percy with 'I'm a hitman' and let him stay scared shitless and silently freaking out for however long he could keep it up. "People, usually gang bangers, drug dealers, pimps, mobsters, hire me. They give me a name and from the name I find a location, with a little help. Alot of the time, the name comes with some sort of information that I'm supposed to retrieve. Once the job is done, I go back to my hire and get paid."
Percy didn't believe it at first and thought Nico was just being an idiot, trying to mess with him. But when he saw that Nicos eyes showed total seriousness, he changed his mind. His head began to pound and he started to overflow with emotion. He had told Nico he wouldn't freak out but he had now broken that promise. He was just trying to keep his 'freak out' quiet. After he realized Nico wasn't kidding, the first thought he had was maybe Nico was going to kill him. He decided against that, though, when he thought about what Nico had done for him. Then he wondered if he was in danger. He wondered if he should try to make a run for it. He had to try to stay as calm as possible and find out what was in store.
"So, you kill people for a living?"
Nico smiled slightly. "It sounds really terrible when you say it like that but, yes. That's the basic concept."
Percy nodded once. "What about me?"
Nico shrugged. "What about you?"
How to put it... "Why am I here?"
"You're wondering if you're a target." Percy said nothing but Nico knew he had hit the nail right on the head. He laughed once, airily, through his nose. "Let me tell you something, no one I know knows you exsist." His tone was slightly cruel. "No one knows who you are. Why would someone hire me to kill you? The reason you're here is because I have been looking for you for the last three years and now I have finally found you. At this point, you need someone to walk you through how much life can change after the Lotus. I am, and probably am not, the best person to tell you that. And along the way, you might learn a little something about my world."
Percy froze. He wasn't quite sure what Nico was talking about but he was sure he didn't want to know. He wanted to go home. Not to camp. He wanted to go home to his mom. He wanted to get out of here, he wanted to get away from Nico. He hadn't trusted, or liked, him before and now he felt even stronger negative feelings towards him. And, along with that, he was truly afraid of the son of Hades. All he wanted to do at the moment was get out of the room.
"Is it alright if I take a shower?"
Was he really asking permission... "I don't care."
Percy stood from the bed and almost ran toward the bathroom. He hadn't taken a shower in three years and he didn't realize how badly he felt he needed one until he saw running water. He stripped down quickly and climbed into the warm water. He hummed to himself as the liquid ran over his body. In that moment, he forgot everything. He forgot about the Lotus, he forgot about Nico and his 'job', he forgot where he was even. All that mattered was how good the water felt running over his body.
He scrubbed down every inch of himself until his skin was raw before he turned the water back off. He stood for a moment in the steamy shower and just leaned against the wall, breathing in the gaseous water. He cleared his mind completely before he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. He dried himself and cleaned the steam off the mirror. He looked at his reflection. In all honesty, he had forgotten what he looked like. But now, he could see himself. He could see his shaggy brown hair and his green eyes. This was him.
He wrapped the towel around his waste and looked at his dirty clothes on the ground. He cringed when he thought about the fact he had been wearing them for three years. He really didn't want to put them on but he didn't have any clean clothes. But, he did have Nico. They were about the same size now.
He shamelessly left the bathroom in nothing but the towel around his waste and saw Nico on the bed, watching t.v.
"Nico?"
The son of Hades turned his head toward the bathroom door and saw Percy standing in nothing but a towel. He had never stopped being able to picture Percy in his minds eye but seeing him in person again was much better. He fought the feeling that was welling up inside of him.
"What?"
"I don't have any clothes..."
Nico coughed a little as his stomach churned from excitement and hid mind buzzed with ideas. His first though, an impulse, was to tell Percy to just walk around naked. Oh how he would have loved that. But he wasn't about to tell the son of Poseidon that. He knew what Percy wanted, though. Why he was saying he had no clothes. "And you want to borrow some of mine?"
Percy shrugged. Nico stood from the bed, still struggling to control himself, and went to a backpack on the floor. He pulled out a t-shirt, sweatpants, and boxers and handed them to Percy.
"Wear these to sleep in and tomorrow we'll go out and get some, okay?"
Percy nodded and took the clothes. He looked at them and noticed they were all black. All but the boxers that were black and white plaid. Black was far from his favorite color and he thought about asking if Nico had something else, but he knew he was lucky to have been given the clothes as it was.
He went back into the bathroom and got dressed quickly. The clothes had been a little big on Nico but they fit Percy perfectly and he did think he had ever been more comfortable. Percy took a look at himself in the mirror before taking care of his things and heading back into the room.
Nicos heart raced when he saw Percy wearing his clothes. There was something about it the struck a nerve. Nico may not have had sex with anyone when he was a prostitute, but that didn't mean that he hadn't gotten any and if he had grown to like anything about a person it was how they looked in his clothes after sex. But he and Percy hadn't done anything with one another... yet. He shook his head, dismissing the thought, and turned away.
Percy went back to 'his' bed and dropped the clothes on the floor before he climbed under the blankets. Nicos clothes were comfortable but being under a set of soft, warm blankets was better. Nico turned the t.v off and climbed into his own bed before shutting off the light on the wall.
The two boys situated themselves until they were comfortable and then tried to get to sleep. Percy had a harder time of it than Nico and he found himself thinking again. There was definitely a lot to have on one's mind after everything he had been though and been told. He willed away the thoughts, though, and could feel exhaustion lightly creep up on him. Just before he closed his eyes to sleep, he whispered, just loud enough for a half sleeping Nico to hear:
"Hey Nico?"
"Mmm."
"Thank you."
Nico rolled over to face Percys bed in the darkness, no longer half asleep. "For what?"
"Getting me out of the Lotus."
"Oh." Nico hadn't expected thanks for it. "You're welcome, I guess."
"Good night, Nico."
"Good night, Percy."
With that, Percy allowed the oncoming sleep to rush over him. He closed his eyes and embraced the dreams he had almost forgotten about. Nico, too, closed his eyes and drifted quickly to sleep.

An alarm began to beep on Nicos phone and he was quick to turn it off. The time read 2:30 am and he tossed his blankets to the side carefully. He looked at Percy for a moment, to make sure he was still sleeping, and climbed from his bed. He slipped his jeans on and then a gun into the back of them before he slipped his sneakers on quickly. He began to dial a number on his phone as he left the room and was happy the door was closed behind him by the time he needed to speak.
"What do you want from her?" There was no happy hello or a 'how are you' needed, or wanted in this phone call. This was just business.
'Nothing. I just want her dead.' The other voice was deep and gravelly and it was clear the person had been sleeping only moments before he answered the call.
It was a fair enough request but it was coming from someone Nico didn't expect it to come from. Nico had been hired for the hit a while ago by the only person he trusted in this world, a man he called Apollo, so he couldn't let him down. Apollo was a nerd, a geek if you will. He worked with computers and dealt with guns. He rarely ever used them, though, and he was determined to be as far away from murders as he could. And that's where Nico came in.
The son of Hades climbed into his car and made his way to the night club the girl worked at. She was a stripper but it was all an act, more so than it was for all the other girls. She worked with a man who sold guns, and she was his secret weapon in deals that went south. And Nico got to kill her.
He worked out a quick plan on the drive, feeling as though the girl wouldn't be much of a problem for him. He ran it through his head as he entered the club and saw the girl, whose stage name was Peitho, goddess of persuasion and seduction. He knew right away things were going to be hard. He was going to have to do, and be, something he wasn't.
Peitho was up on stage, swinging around a pole, for only a few more moments before she made her way down the steps. A few guys watched her but she payed them no attention as she made her way to the bar. Nico approached her slowly and sat a seat away before ordering a drink. She asked for a straight shot of tequila and Nico was shocked. She seemed like a little tough and Nico had a feeling she was going to be a handful. The biggest problem, though, was going to be getting to her. He figured flattery wouldn't make a difference to her but he had never dealt with women before and all he needed to do was get her into a private place so... flattery it was.
He stood next to her for a second before speaking. "That's no drink for a lady."
She scoffed. "I hate to break it to ya, honey, but I'm no lady."
Oh gods. Nico had never hit on a girl before but he had the feeling he had just been shut down, really hard-core.
So, here goes a second try. "Prove it."
"Excuse me?" Nico had the feeling the girl hadn't heard that one very often.
"Prove to me you're not a lady. Or else let me buy you a different drink."
The woman took a sip of her drink. "You're different, aren't ya?"
"Is that a problem?" Nico was trying to be flirtatious, but failing miserably.
Peitho shook her head. She could tell he was a little awkward and felt slight pity for him. Little did she know, though, that she wasn't his type. He wasn't good at hitting on her because he didn't want her. And he didn't want her because she was missing a very vital body piece for Nico to find her attractive. But she still went with it. "No. I don't mind different. Most guys just flirt with me cause they think I'm easy. They make crude comments and try to get in my panties." She whispered the last part, pretending she was afraid to talk about it.
Nico nodded slyly. "Well, I can assure you that's not what I have in mind. I just wanna buy you a drink." ...And kill you but, you don't need to know that.
Peitho smiled. "What do you want to buy me?"
"What do you want?"
"Anything but what they have here."
Nico didn't know if he was being hit on by this girl or not but, either way, it felt odd. "Getting bored of it?"
"You have no idea. You have a car?"
Nico nodded.
"Let's go." The woman held out her hand and Nico took it gently. He hated touching people, especially women. But this was all for a purpose. He led Peitho out and to his car. He knew he wasn't supposed to take the woman on a date but if this was how he would get his chance, then so be it. Nico drove to a restaurant he had been to before and hoped no one would recognize him. It was almost empty inside the building and the woman who gave the two their coffees was a young lady Nico had never seen before.
Soon, Nico got Peitho out of the restaurant and led her back to his car. He had to get her somewhere private in order to get rid of her, but where? He drove on for a while, telling her he just wanted to talk, before he stopped on a side street.
"Is everything okay?"
No. Everything was not okay. Nico had an idea but a bad one that would lead to contact with this woman... He wasn't fond of the idea. He simply shook his head.
"What's wrong?"
Pretend it's a guy. Pretend it's Percy. "I can't believe I've kept myself controlled this long."
She nodded. "Neither can I. I applaud you."
Nico felt nauseous for a moment at his idea but he leaned over to her anyway and pressed his lips into hers. They didn't feel any different than a guys lips but he still didn't want to be kissing her. She seemed to melt into him, which made Nico more sick to his stomach. But he kept up the act and managed to pull the skinny woman onto his lap.
Things went smoothly for a few moments until Peitho started feeling around with her hands. She was a lot smarter than Nico had anticipated and she had already figured him out.
"I know why you're here." She was placing gentle kisses on his neck.
"Do you really?"
"Mhm. This," she grabbed onto something hard inside of Nicos pocket, "isn't the hard thing I'm used to dealing with. And I'm not stupid. I know a gay guy when I see one." She kissed his neck again.
"If you knew I was gay, why did you let it get this far?"
She chuckled against Nicos neck. "Call it an experiment. So, you gonna pull that knife out and try to use it, or not?" She pulled herself away from Nico and he pulled the knife from his pocket before flipping it open. The girl eyed it curiously and smiled before reaching quickly for it. Nico grabbed onto her wrists and twisted them around, bringing her whole body along so she was now facing away from him but still on his lap. She sent her elbow into his rib cage, taking away his breath for a moment. He pulled himself together quickly, though, and reached his arm up and grabbed onto her throat. He gripped his fingertips tightly onto the woman's airway and thanked the gods for giving him the idea to watch Star Trek because he had gotten this from Spock...
Peitho started to turn red and she tried to pull Nicos hand away, but was unable to. Nico grabbed his knife from where it had fallen in the space between the two seats and waisted no time in sending it into her chest. She gasped and Nico let go of her throat. He removed the knife and pushed it into her jugular, turning away so he didn't actually have to see her die. She let out that descusting sound of her last breath and fell forward, dead. Nico pushed her off of him and opened the door before pulling her out of the car. He opened the trunk and stuffed her into it before getting back into the driver seat, cleaning the blood off the inside of his window, and driving away. Only slight guilt ran through Nico but he was pretty mad that it had to be messy because he had gotten the womans blood on his aviator jacket.
Nico grabbed a napkin from the glove box and wiped the small amount of splatter of the leather coat, knowing quite well it was also on his shirt, neck, and face. He drove all the way to the San Francisco Bay and dropped her body into the water before driving away again. He couldn't care less if the police found her or not; there was no way they could connect the son of Hades to the murder, even if they cared enough to bother trying.
Nico headed back to the hotel after that and took a shower, washing off what was left of the blood on his body before carefully burning his bloodied shirt in the tub. It was a shame, too, because he liked that shirt. He was, however, very happy that Percy was still sleeping and hoped he hadn't woken at all during the night, or early morning rather.
Nico sent Apollo a quick text saying 'I took the trash out for you. Just remember not to talk about it. Ever. I don't want people thinking I'm your bitch.' That was the last thing he did before he flopped back into his bed. He was happy this kind of stuff didn't bother him anymore because he would have had a hell of a time sleeping if it did.