#i have several dc and demigod ones stared for you

[magicrobins]

“Is there something wrong with me?”

Hope you don’t mind the Dragon Age, this just gave me a lot of muse for my main Inquisitor. (I promise majority of the prompts you send me will be DC or demigods xD)

Galen Lavellan & Elaith Lavellan. Dragon Age dual AU. 2,804 words. Most under the cut. AO3. Mentions @bxtgrl‘s Aya Lavellan & @jellyfishlovesloki‘s Nova Adaar.

She found him in his room. He hadn’t bothered to lock the doors like he usually did when he wanted to shut the world out or shut himself in. As she walked up the familiar steps to the Inquisitor’s quarters, she noticed small changes. There was a custom made Blades of Hessarian banner that greeted her as she got to the top of the stairs. She remembered it had been a gift from one of the Heroes of Ferelden – Surana, she believed, the one Leliana had said liked to sew. The design held a unique combination of a Dalish and Ferelden feel. It was a redesign by the Hero, meant to show a new age for the Blades.

A new age for Skyhold. The rest of Skyhold was still in the process of changing. She remembered suggesting to keep things to same, but he’d insisted on changing it. As someone who was known to dislike change, to be bad at handling it, she’d been surprised at how vigorously he’d wanted it. She thought he was forcing even more change on himself than the events of the Exalted Council had already done.

The Inquisition was gone, disbanded. She’d been one of the people to agree that it had been time to end the Inquisition. The threat of spies – Solas’ spies – was a risk they couldn’t take. The ache of betrayal was still there, but it was slowly turning to hardened steel. Whatever hope she’d had of convincing Solas to come back, of telling him about their son – whatever hope she’d had of raising Varras with his father, she had to push that back. Their goal, clearly stated by both Galen and Aya, was to convince Solas that he didn’t need to destroy the world. But she also knew there was a chance that one of them wouldn’t walk away from what was to come – perhaps none of them would walk away, Solas included.

She knew she realized that more than Galen did. So she changed like Skyhold did. She steeled herself to keep her heart from breaking again. She needed to be strong for her son, Varras, and for her lethallin, Galen. This strength, this burden was one she shared with the others that had remained at Skyhold. Rasha, Arven, and Nova had joined the Blades. Even Ai, Zhen, and Bailey had joined despite staying on as Grey Wardens. It had been decided that the three Wardens would act as “ambassadors” between the Wardens and the Blades. She didn’t think the titles were needed, but she could tell they wanted an excuse to stay.

Bailey was interested in joining the Clan Lavellan she and Galen had discussed rebuilding. The clan would stay at Skyhold. Under Galen’s order, she’d even started discussing with Commander Surana the possibility of naming Skyhold an official Grey Warden Keep which would be put under the watch of the three Wardens already there. It was a way that they thought would keep politicians from touching Skyhold, from someone trying to drive them out. Because of that, the decorations adorning the castle had been changed to a mixture of Dalish, Warden, and Blades of Hessarian.

Somehow the combination managed to look more beautiful than chaotic to her.

But there were some things that couldn’t be touched. Josephine’s desk, Cullen’s desk, Sera’s room, Dorian’s chair… Solas’ table. The places where their friends had favored, where they would group together. Vivienne’s balcony was so far untouched. Elaith thought that soon change would come to those spots, brushing its fingers over them. Perhaps it would be for the best to put the Inquisition fully behind them. Skyhold had dealt with many changes in the past, if Morrigan’s tales were to be believed. Surely it could deal with one more.

But could he?

Elaith found him on the floor, curled up tightly, his back pressed against the side of his bed. The décor was mostly Dalish, aside from the Orlesian bed. He’d requested the walls be repainted with Dalish murals in his room, however each time she tried to get a painter in the room, they’d been thrown out. He demanded change yet change tore him apart. She may have been a spirit healer, but she knew she couldn’t heal this. She couldn’t heal a broken heart or a broken mind.

Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground, coming to sit next to him. Her eyes passed over his left arm – what was left of it, at least. He’d lost his hand all the way up to his elbow. Dagna had crafted a replacement, a prosthetic arm and elbow. He wore it now, despite everyone cautioning him that he shouldn’t wear it all the time. He hated looking at the scarring, at what he no longer had.

She remained quiet, letting him feel her presence rather than disturbing him with words. His head was lowered, hidden against his knees. She let her eyes drift over his appearance, noticing the changes. His wavy chestnut hair was longer than it should have been by then. She remembered the trip he’d taken with Nova and Bull, to a place called the Black Emporium, apparently discovered by some of Cullen’s soldiers a few years ago, back when the Inquisition was young, near Kirkwall. They’d embarked on the trip shortly after the meeting in the ruins of Haven’s Chantry, where they’d made some plans to stop Solas.

She was certain that Galen had planned on going alone, but at the last minute both Bull and Nova had insisted on joining him. It hadn’t been a short trip. The three of them had barely gotten back in time to say goodbye to what was left of the Inquisition – the former advisors and inner circle to the Inquisitors. She knew without a doubt that Galen had wanted to miss saying goodbye to everyone. She’d watched each goodbye shatter him. So had Nova.

Watching him break from the moment Solas had revealed himself to the final goodbye at Skyhold was hard on everyone who stayed. It was the hardest on her and Nova. They hadn’t discussed it, but after the first few days and nights – after the first sleepless nights, after the first couple times that he broke down, crumbled and sobbing and visibly hating himself – she’d faltered and shattered a little herself. She remembered sobbing in Nova’s arms, apologizing furiously for being unable to help him more, for failing him. She remembered Nova trying to assure her that she was helping, that she was doing the best she could. She was pretty sure she also remembered the qunari crying too.

Elaith had asked how the trip to the Black Emporium had been. All Bull had told her was that it’d been quiet, and it had taken her a few moments to realize that he meant Galen had been quiet. Even when he’d returned to Skyhold, his hair longer, cascading down his shoulders, falling over his face in an attempt to hide that defeated, shattered look he had worn since the Exalted Council, he spoke barely any words. He kept to himself and his thoughts. Those very same thoughts that she knew devoured him.

“Shouldn’t you be with Varras?” Galen’s voice cut through her thoughts and her eyes fell back onto him. He hadn’t lifted his head up, but rather rested his cheek against his knees so he could look sideways at her.

“He’s with Auntie Nova and Uncle Bull,” she explained, putting on a smile. “They adore him, and I think Bull’s still amazed that he can hold Varras in one hand–”

“They’re leaving,” his voice held that same sadness to it. It was almost a month and a half since the Exalted Council, since the Inquisition had been disbanded. It was only a few weeks since the last members of the Inquisition had left – since Aya and Cullen had left.

She knew who he was talking about, though. The Chargers had stayed in Skyhold after the Inquisition’s disbandment. Galen hadn’t asked why, perhaps afraid that if he questioned it, they would decide they wanted to leave. Elaith had inquired, though. Bull had a few reasons to stay. One, of course, was Nova. He wanted to stay with his kadan and respected her choice to stay by Galen’s side for now. Galen was another reason. Everyone in the inner circle had grown close to both Inquisitors, it was hard not to. And they all held a sense of protection over the Inquisitors, even if they were no longer Inquisitors.

Like everyone else, Bull could see the way Galen shattered. Like everyone else, he’d been there when Aya, the advisors, and the inner circle had told Galen, as gently as they could, that they had, not easily, come to the unanimous decision that they needed to disband the Inquisition. He’d been there to see the hurt on Galen’s face, and perhaps he felt partly responsible like she did. Perhaps part of wanting to protect Galen, to stand by him while he tried to mend himself, was also to try to make up for being a part of the decision and the fact that that decision had been deliberately made in Galen’s absence.

Elaith knew she still felt guilty for that. It wasn’t her fault, though. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. They’d been backed into a corner and had done what they’d had to. The Exalted Council had been breathing down Josephine’s neck. Galen and Aya had been deadlocked, one against disbanding, the other one saddened but knowing disbanding was the best decision. And it had been clear that one of them had lacked some rational thinking, and it hadn’t been Aya. Perhaps, if they’d had more time, if Galen had had more time to process all that had happened, they could have come to a decision as one instead of lacking one.

She wanted to ask if he was still upset about that, if he felt like everyone was choosing to leave him, to abandon him. Every time those questions rose in her mind, she found she couldn’t speak them. She was too afraid of the answers.

And now there was talk of a job offer for the Chargers. She hadn’t had a chance to ask Bull if it was true, and if it were, would the Chargers be taking it. And if the Chargers took it and left, would Nova go with them? Neither she nor Galen would ask Nova to stay behind instead of joining her kadan. Neither of them would ever ask her to choose between her friends at Skyhold and the man she loved.

“We don’t know that for sure,” Elaith finally replied. She met Galen’s bright emerald eyes with her own bright blue. Where his hair had been grown out – magically, she guessed, which made her want to visit this mysterious Black Emporium – she had kept her own black hair cut short, the same style she’d adopted after the Inquisition had defeated Corypheus, after Solas had left.

“I can’t ask them to stay,” Galen said softly. He shut his eyes tightly and let out a breath. “I can’t hold them back.”

She frowned faintly at that. She thought she could guess why he felt that way, but she wasn’t Cole. She couldn’t see into Galen’s mind. A part of her wished Cole was there to help. Perhaps he would have been a better choice to heal Galen than she was.

“I’m staying,” she pointed out, “Do you think you’re holding me back?”

He opened his eyes and looked away, burying his face against his knees once again. His hands, one real, one prosthetic, reached up to his head and tightly knotted his fingers in his hair. It was as if he didn’t know what to do with his hands so he grounded them somewhere and hoped they would stay.

“Am I?” was all he said after a moment.

She didn’t hesitate. “Of course not! If I didn’t want to stay, I wouldn’t.” She scooted closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Skyhold is my home, you’re my family. I’m happy staying here.”

That prompted more silence. She could only guess what he was thinking, what thoughts plagued him that he wished he could make stop. She watched the grip he had on his hair tighten. She imagined he was trying to quiet those thoughts but it didn’t seem to be working. His shoulders shook, and she realized he was crying. She moved quickly, gently pulling him into her arms, and adjusting her position so they could sit together comfortably. He buried his face against her shoulder, his hands now clinging to the sleeves of her shirt.

She tried to sooth him, one hand running through his hair, the other rubbing his back. It wasn’t the first time he’d cried in her arms since returning to Skyhold. She knew every time afterwards from the look on his face that he despised himself for breaking down so easily, for crying so often. No matter how many times she assured him that this didn’t make him weak, she knew he didn’t fully believe her. He felt weak and being told he wasn’t didn’t make a difference.

“Is there something wrong with me?” his voice reached her ears, broken and cracked.

Elaith closed her eyes, forcing herself to stay strong – to stay strong for him.

“No,” she forced her voice out, making it sound as confident as she could muster. “No, there’s not.”

He pulled away to look at her, tears still streaking his face, his expression contorted with pain. “Then why can’t I get better?” The words came out as a soft, agonizing demand. “Why am I still hurting?” He didn’t seem upset at her, but rather himself. He always appeared more upset at himself, at his life, than anyone else.

“Everyone gets better at their own pace,” she assured him, reaching forward and taking his hand in hers – not the prosthetic one as she knew he didn’t like people touching that hand, not yet at least. “Everyone handles things differently. A lot happened. You shouldn’t compare how you feel to how you think everyone else feels.”

“But I’m not just one step behind everyone,” he persisted, tightly gripping her hand as if she were an anchor and he was terrified of drowning. She realized he was terrified and he was drowning. He was drowning in his own thoughts, his own emotions. “I feel like I’m ten steps behind everyone at the least. I feel like I’m stumbling to catch my footing, but all that happens is I fall flat on my face.”

“Then let me help you up,” she spoke gently, her tone soft, almost pleading. She could use her magic to help heal his arm – her spirit healer spells were better than any generic healing magic he knew – but she couldn’t heal his heart, not fully. All she could do was offer him a hand when she saw he needed one.

“I shouldn’t need help!” he spoke quickly as if he was afraid that if he didn’t get the words out in time, he never would. “I shouldn’t need to – I shouldn’t rely on people so much. I know that I can always rely on you, on Nova, on everyone else, but I – I shouldn’t have to. I should know how to pick myself up… But I don’t! I try so hard, I really do, but I keep failing. And I’m just so tired – I’m tired of everyone needing to pick me back up. I’m tired, and I just need everything to slow down so I can catch up… So I’m not dragging everyone down with me. And I know you don’t feel like I am, but I feel like I am, and I can’t make that feeling go away!”

He pulled his hand out of hers and balled both hands against his eyes. “I just want everything to stop! I just need time, but – but I can’t get that and I… I don’t know what to do.”

He fell into her arms again, quietly sobbing. It took all of her strength to try to hold back her own tears, and even then, a few slid down her face. She didn’t know what to say. She felt helpless and useless. What good was a spirit healer when she couldn’t even heal her best friend? All she could do was hold him in her arms until he calmed down and became quiet. And after that happened, she remained at his side, holding him in her arms. She couldn’t think of any words to say that would help, so she gave him her company, and she prayed to whoever was looking down on them that her company would be enough because she didn’t know what she’d do if it wasn’t.

[segalia]

Living in Lockdown with You

What’s that saying about writing indulgent fluff if you don’t have the inspiration to write? Yeah...this domestic fluff three-parter has been nagging at me since I was in extreme lockdown a month ago and wondered how Percy and Annabeth would handle a similar situation. Featuring clingy and sleepy Percabeth and working from home. Enjoy. 

*** Annabeth stared at the screen blearily, trying desperately to focus on the videoconference in front of her. As a demigod, focusing was hard for her at the best of times, and this switch to everything online certainly wasn’t helping. She was all too aware of her face in the lower corner of her screen, wishing her boss hadn’t insisted they leave their cameras on for this presentation. Blinking and squaring her shoulders, she was just about to try again to tune into the discussion of a new architectural technique when a mug floated out of the corner of her vision. 

She looked up to see Percy offering her the steaming mug with a sympathetic smile. She took it gratefully, cupping it in between her hands and letting the warmth revitalize her. 

Thank you, she mouthed, then remembered her mic was off. “Thank you,” she repeated out loud, needing something real to ground her to this moment. 

“Of course,” he nodded, and turned to give her space to focus. 

“Wait,” she put the mug on the table and caught his hand, reveling in the familiar feel of his hand in hers. “Can you stay just a few minutes?” 

He smiled again, that troublemaker but supportive smile that had eased its way into her heart so long ago. 

“Of course,” he repeated, making himself comfortable on a nearby chair. 

She expected him to start playing on his phone as she went back to focusing on the presenter, so he caught her off guard a few minutes later when he posed an insightful question about what the presenter was saying. As she answered, pulling together facts from earlier in the presentation and one of her college classes, she realized that this weird combination of stimulation, from the hot liquid warming her up inside and his hand in hers, to the presenter’s voice and Percy’s questions, was helping her focus better than she had all day. She squeezed his hand briefly in his thanks, and he gave her a warm look before asking another question. 

Gods, he was so smart. 

With Percy peppering occasional questions throughout, she was able to not only breeze through the rest of the lecture, but also pose several intelligent questions when it came to the follow-up meeting. Finally, the meeting concluded, everyone said goodbye, and she signed off. 

She sagged back in her chair in relief. “Oh my gods, thank you. You were a lifesaver.” She hadn’t meant to steal him for the whole meeting, and she was sure he had other things he was probably supposed to be working on, but she was so grateful and he was so willing that she decided to feel appreciative rather than guilty. 

He shrugged nonchalantly. “It was actually pretty interesting. I’ve listened to you rant about architecture enough over the years that at least most of the words made sense.” 

Too tired to properly express her emotions of gratitude and how smart and amazing he was even if he didn’t always see himself that way, she raised his hand to her mouth and kissed it softly. “You’re amazing, thank you.” 

His smile was soft and a little bashful, but all he said was, “what are you thinking for supper? I’m not sure we have enough leftovers for a full meal.”

Her brain switched gears to food, and they started brainstorming. With stretching and groaning, they rose and headed to the kitchen, ready to tackle this new challenge as a team. 

***

A couple days later, she found herself going to bed at a decent hour for once (quarantine and distance work had been messing with her already messed up sleep schedule). When she crawled under the covers, however, Percy was still seated in bed, staring intently at his laptop (their apartment was really tiny--what can you do against New York apartment prices?-- and didn’t have much in the way of living space). 

“Are you--” she yawned, “almost done?”

“Huh? Oh, I mean, I think so? I can move elsewhere if you want.” 

She shook her head sleepily, aligning her body so she could curl around him. “It’s okay. Just dim your monitor please.” 

He nodded absent-mindedly, focus already returning to his work as he complied. 

She must have drifted off because she woke disoriented to find Percy still tapping away on his laptop. “Hey.” She breathed, adjusting her position to lean against him, stretching out a crick in her arm, “what time is it?” 

“Hm? Oh, I guess it’s 2:30.” He blinked and muttered, “when did that happen?”

“Percy,” she was having trouble keeping her eyes open, “you should head to bed.” 

“I know, I know, I’m just really close to finishing.” 

“You said that several hours ago.” If she wasn’t careful, she was going to fall asleep and drool on his shirt.

He kept typing, and she wasn’t sure if he’d heard her. 

“Perce? Are you actually close to a stopping point? Cause if you save it for tomorrow and get some sleep now, you’ll probably do better work.” 

The computer noises stopped, and she felt him chuckle under her cheek. “Now where have I heard those words before?” 

She grinned sleepily, “Not sure. I think some wise guy said it a couple times.” 

“Wise guy, huh?” 

She could picture the smile on his face, but merely hummed in agreement and snuggled further into his side. 

“Okay, okay.” There was a pause before he said, “for real this time, I found a good stopping point, just give me a few minutes.” 

“Okay,” she was drifting off again. 

True to his word, she felt him shift several minutes later, and suddenly the dim light vanished. A tension she hadn’t even realized she was holding released. She only grumbled slightly as he gently slipped out from under her grasp, and sooner than she expected, he was back under the covers, drawing her into his chest. 

“Love you,” she murmured. “Sleep tight.” 

She felt a laugh rumble through his chest as he bent to kiss her forehead. “You too, Annabeth. Love you.�� 

***

Her laptop was lifted from her lap mid-sentence and a weight settled in its place. “What?” She looked down to find Percy sprawled across the bed between her legs, head pillowed in his arms on her lap.

“Sleepy,” he muttered, shifting to get comfortable. 

“I wonder why,” she responded affectionately, holding her laptop in one hand and carding her fingers through his hair with the other. 

“Had to-” he yawned, “finish the project.” 

“And you did, so I’d say you’ve earned your rest.” His recent tiredness put her in mind of the months after he’d taken the Achilles’ Curse when he’d fall asleep anywhere and everywhere, often in this very same position. 

Of course, then, she didn’t usually have a computer and a report to finish. 

“Hey,” she gently tapped the computer on his head. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“I dunno,” he mumbled. “That works.” 

“This works?” She repeated, skeptically resting her laptop on his head. 

“Sure.” 

Deciding to play along, she tried to continue typing. “Hm, I’ve determined that your head is not a sufficiently flat surface.” 

She felt him shrug against her legs. “Not for lack of trying.” 

“I don’t think I’m advocating for more monsters to bash you in the head.” She moved her laptop to his back instead. “I’m fond of your skull as it is.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah,” she smiled, running her hand through his hair again, tracing the shape of his head. “Now stop distracting me.” 

“Sure thing, babe.” 

Smiling and rolling her eyes, she turned back to her report in the dyslexia-supportive program one of her siblings had designed. Percy’s back was much more stable than his head, and she couldn’t say she didn’t appreciate the company. 

She finished a rough draft and saved it, deciding to look it over for errors and edits later. As she closed the report, her background came into view. It was her and Percy during their visit to Washington DC the year before. They’d planned a large group trip with Grover and the rest of the seven to support Piper’s recent appointment. A lot of them had road tripped down together, and spent hours at the Smithsonian Museums. It had been the last time all of them had been together, and now, with lockdown, the memories were even more precious. Her heart clenched, and she was immensely grateful for Percy, even if he was becoming hot and heavy. 

“We should have a group call with the others soon.” 

He stirred; she honestly hadn’t been sure he was still conscious. “We have one the day after tomorrow. Hazel put it in the group chat, and you already agreed.”

“Oh yeah.” With the stress of lockdown and working from home, details were a little hazy sometimes. “That’s good then. Are we calling your mom any time soon?”

“Maybe tonight? Paul’s busy with teaching online, and Mom’s been busy with her book and trying to homeschool Estelle. She said she’d let me know.” 

“Cool,” she idly traced patterns on his back. “Gotta say I’m so grateful for modern technology right now.” 

He snorted, “And that we can use it now.” 

“Gods, yeah.” A combined effort on the part of some Hephaestus kids, Athena kids, and a remarkably tech savvy Ares kid had led to a spell/app combo that meant monsters could no longer trace demigods through their technology. Annabeth had to admit that a smartphone had been a lifesaver a number of times, both in college and in monster fighting. 

“So, what do you want to do for this rest of the day? Especially now that you got that project out of the way?” 

“Sleep.” 

She tugged at his hair, “you can sleep later, c’mon.” 

“You can sleep with me,” he suggested, and she caught his mischievous look. 

“I’m not tired,” she stuck out her tongue. “Do you wanna watch something? We’re nearly caught up on, uh, that one show.” 

He named it. “That one?” 

Snapping her fingers, she nodded decisively as if she’d had the name all the time. He just gave her that teasing smile. “Yeah, that one. Wanna watch that?” 

With an overly dramatic sigh, he crawled off her. “Sure.” He kissed her cheek as he settled into her side. “Popcorn?” 

“Why not?” She smiled at him, “but you have to salt it.” 

“I think I can agree with that,” he grinned at her and pulled her laptop to him so he could pull up the show. 

She plodded to the kitchen (well, kitchenette), and returned a few minutes later with only slightly burnt popcorn and a salt shaker for Percy to wield. As she curled up beside him, and the familiar title song played, Annabeth felt the deep-seated contentment that no matter what crazy things were happening in the world right now, no matter how helpless and scared she felt, at least she had her something permanent with Percy. 

[nicostolemybones]

The Battle of Area 51

“This is not a game,” Nico lectured sternly, and Percy snickered. “This is no laughing matter, Jackson! Okay, let’s run through the plan one last time! Ares cabin, Clarisse, you’ll lead the charge, take down the guards, lay down cover fire for the Naruto runners! Poseidon Cabin, Zeus cabin, you guys whip up a storm to help the Ares cabin! Apollo cabin and Hunters of Artemis, you’re the snipers, I want you on high ground firing arrows at them! Aphrodite cabin, charmspeak those guards to let us past and to give us access codes to all the rooms and spill all the secrets! Hecate cabin, use the mist to make decoys! Nemesis cabin, remember, this is vengeance for all the imprisoned aliens and that’s why you’re here! Demeter cabin, slow the guards down with thick vines and poisonous plants! Athena cabin, you’re working on infiltrating and hacking all the computers! Hephaestus cabin, burn down gun stations, jam missiles, Festus can burn down doorways, I want to see you guys working on all the technology we steal and I want you all to figure out all the machines inside and use them for our advantage! Dionysus cabin, get them drunk, make them temporarily mad, weaken their defences! Iris cabin, use your abilities to disorientate and distract the guards! Hypnos cabin- CLOVIS WAKE UP- send the guards to sleep when you can! Hermes cabin, you’re stealing and sneaking in whilst the guards are distracted! Hades cabin- well Hazel- summon obstacles and summon weapons, shadow travel aliens to safety. The rest of you, just fuck shit up with your abilities! Romans; same rules apply, and follow the orders of your Praetors, do not go against orders unless necessary!”

“LET’S CLAP SOME ALIEN CHEEKS!” Connor yelled. Nico glared at him, whilst the younger campers plus Percy erupted into giggles.

“There will be no clapping alien cheeks,” Nico sighed in exasperation, “no alien cheeks will be clapped by anybody, by Olympus what the Hades is wrong with straight people?”

“Wait you’re gay?!”

“Yes but that’s not the point, just- go blend in with the mortals! Solace- you’re with me, we’ll go in with the Naruto runners and you need to make sure we don’t infect the aliens and they don’t infect us, and treat the wounded.” Percy wolf-whistled, so Nico summoned a skeleton to smack him round the back of the head. The group of demigods dispersed amongst the mortal army- which wasn’t much, but between the Kyles, weeaboos, tumblr trash, and Naruto runners, there was a fair few, and some cosplayers, DnD players, and medieval recreation nerds seemed to have a fair amount of weapons and armour- even if most of it was plastic light sabers, Klingon Bat’leths, and various other fantasy weapons.

Everything was quiet for a while, and the battle was more a staring down contest between the guards and the civilian raiders. Phones were beginning to live stream, and that’s when the Stoll brothers yelled the immortal battle cry “DO IT FOR THE VINE!!!” and the mortal crowd roared and cheered, repeating the battle cry.

“PEANUT BUTTER!!!” Tyson yelled as the crowd surged forwards. Nico screamed, Naruto running as fast as he could towards the guards, summoning skeleton armies of Naruto runners to back them up, but as soon as the guards opened fire, many Naruto runners gave up and turned away running back, or decided it best to run “normally”. One dedicated man had turned his electric wheelchair into some kind of turbo charged mini tank shaped like a Dalek. Fortnite dancers fortnite danced as they charged, Harry Potter fans desperately yelled out Unforgiveable Curses. Stargate fans dressed as Jaffa and Goa’uld warriors charged with staff weapons and pellet guns, some wearing “Free Thor” t-shirts- but not Marvel’s Thor or the Norse God thor- but rather the tiny alien guy Nico recognised from when Will made him watch Stargate. The Stargate Atlantis fans came dressed as Wraith instead. Marvel fans were clad in full superhero gear, although some fights had broken out between them and the DC fans. Star Wars fans dressed in Jedi robes. Clad in armour, the demigods didn’t look out of place. Nico was pleased to see the Egyptian magicians being lead by Sadie and Carter Kane, Magnus Chase and Samirah al-Abbass leading the Valkyries, Alex Fierro next to Frank Zhang shapeshifting into whatever they could. Alex stopped occasionally so she could spray mace into the eyes of Terfs.

Nico shadow travelled at the last minute, grabbing hold of Will and pulling him through the shadows. Will didn’t slow down when they emerged, and the image of Will Naruto running headfirst into a wall was going to be a source of laughter in Nico’s mind for many years to come. Thankfully, he didn’t do a Jason and knock himself out. “Ah fuck, I can’t believe you’ve done this!” Will gasped, and Nico raised his eyebrow. In the distance, they heard Grover cause a Panic- although it didn’t affect the guards about to shoot Will in the face, so Will let out a shrill whistle and Naruto ran for it.

“Dork,” Nico jibed, pulling Will into the shadows again. Nico meant for them to land inside an aircraft hangar- but it soon became clear that they were inside some kind of alien spaceship.

“Holy Hera,” Will gasped, “Nico THIS SHIP HAS A STARGATE! NICO LOOK THAT IS A STARGATE, IMMA DIAL ABYDOS-”

“Focus, Solace,” Nico warned, “we can do that once we get this back to camp. I wasn’t allowed to drive the sun chariot so I’ll drive this time.”

“I get the feeling I’m gonna die if I let you drive,” Will replied, and Nico huffed.

“That’s if I don’t kill your stupid face first,” he retorted proudly, and Will snickered, looking around the ship.

“OH MY GODS NICO THERE’S A LIGHT SABER HERE!”

“DIBS THE RED ONE,” Nico yelled, rushing over and grabbing one, almost decapitating Will in his excitement.

“We should summon up a certain ghost,” Will grinned.

“Are you suggesting we prank call Castellan?”

“Nico, dude. You have to, for humanity. Do it for our children.”

Several runs to McDonald’s later and Luke Castellan’s ghost was confronted by Nico in pitch black armour and a light saber to speak the immortal words: “Luke, I am your father.” Luke’s ghost laughed. The gods applauded from Olympus. Will was unable to get up off the floor through his raucous laughter.

After several minutes of exploring the craft, the two demigods were armed with phasers and now possessed the infinity gauntlet- although they both agreed not to let Percy near it in case he dabbed rather than Thanos snapped at monsters. Nico shadow travelled a fair amount of the loot back to camp, where Chiron stood facepalming and shaking his head. This is when Nico learned that the Party Ponies had joined the raid and found out that Monster Donut were sponsoring Area 51. Nico returned to find Will making a flower crown for a baby alien he’d found hidden in the glove compartment. “Is that what I think it is,” Nico questioned, and Will smiled.

“An alien? Well yeah.”

“No, I meant a baby. Are you seriously holding a baby?”

“Yeah, a cute little alien baby, I made them a flower crown and put a bow in their hair! Well I hope it’s a baby otherwise I just told a whole-ass adult I’m their daddy now.” Nico choked- Will didn’t appear to realise the innuendo his words would have turned into if the alien was an adult. Will appeared to have adopted an alien child and that somehow melted Nico completely. Stupid son of Apollo being a perfect dad to an abandoned alien baby found in the glove compartment of a space ship.

“You can’t just raise a child, Will, the parents won’t pay child support and you’re like- fifteen and you look- you look twelve, okay, you look like a foetus!”

“Nico I’m only two months older than you,” Will laughed, “I’m still fourteen like you are, idiot. Although technically you’re ninety, you can be the grandpa.”

“I’m not going to be your daddy, Solace,” Nico replied, forgetting how it may have sounded like an innuendo, and Will choked and spluttered.

“That word is officially banned,” Will squeaked, and Nico quickly nodded in agreement. Thankfully before it could get any more awkward, the alien child started to cry. “Oh my gods Nico what do I do with it?”

“Does it have an off switch or batteries you can take out like the babies they give you in school?”

“Um- I can’t see any off switch, Nico, what do I do?!”

“You’re the doctor! Sing to it! Just don’t do a Hera and yeet it off a mountain or out of a window, I don’t need you Percying this into a worse situation than it already is!”

“Oh my gods I’m a single parent before I’ve had the talk,” Will whined, trying to hum a lullaby to the alien baby, which screeched, turned into a bug, and ran. Will shrieked and Nico accidentally summoned a pile of alien skulls. “Hey! My singing isn’t that bad,” Will protested, and the alien bug screeched again and shot some kind of web at Will’s face. Will squealed, trying clumsily to wipe the webbing off his face. Once Nico stopped laughing, he helped to pull the webbing out of Will’s hair, although once he managed to detangle the last of the webbing, he found himself enthralled by the soft bouncy texture of Will’s hair. It was curly like Nico’s, but dryer to the touch, probably a testament to the hours of sunbathing Nico figured Will had to do in order to stay tanned all year round. He didn’t realise he was obsessively caressing his best friend’s hair until he felt Will’s hand on his shoulder. Nico gasped, snapping his hand back and muttering an apology, but Will merely smiled and gods that smile melted Nico. “Fellas, is it gay to kiss your homie at Area 51,” Will asked to nobody in particular, and Nico found himself turning puce as Will leaned in, placing a gentle but certainly not platonic kiss on Nico’s lips. Nico’s brain seemed to short circuit, skeletal butterflies resurrecting down his spine and in his stomach.

When Nico’s brain finally managed a coherent thought, all he could manage to say was “that’s gay.”

Will snorted, resting his head on Nico’s shoulder as he laughed silently. “You’re gay,” he finally replied through giggles.

“Well you kissed me, you’re gay,” Nico retorted with a huff.

“Yeah, but is it gay if it’s your homie and you’re in Area 51,” Will asked with an impish grin, lifting his head and giving Nico a mishievous grin.

“We are gay, you dumbass,” Nico replied, lightly shoving Will’s shoulder.

“I guess we are,” Will replied with feigned thoughtfulness lacing his voice, “maybe we should make out just to be sure.”

“Don’t push your luck, Solace,” Nico said sternly, and Will pouted comically. Nico stood on his toes and leaned up, but he was too short to reach, so Will leaned down and Nico was finally able to place a rough kiss on Will’s lips.

And of course, that just had to be the exact moment to hear a chorus of “two bros, chillin’ in a space ship, five feet apart ‘cause they’re not gay!” They broke apart immediately, startled by the presence of an Iris message showing Percy, Jason, Leo and Piper all grinning stupidly at them and Annabeth rolling her eyes.

“I’ll kill you all if you dare tell anyone,” Nico warned, raising skeletons to chase after them- although the skeletons were certainly not human. Leo and Percy screamed and ran, whilst Piper and Will laughed loudly. Jason merely raised his eyebrow, and Nico shrugged in response.

“So, that’s your type, huh,” Percy grinned, “I never thought we’d share a type!”

“What,” Nico snapped.

“Bossy blondes,” Percy replied, and Jason and Annabeth glared daggers.

“I agree,” Piper chimed in, “bossy blondes are worth the trouble.” This time, Jason and Annabeth both blushed.

Nico shrugged, looking back to Will, who seemed to be pre-occupied with the Stargate behind them. “Well, this one’s my bossy blond,” Nico replied fondly.

“Troublemakers are my type,” Annabeth replied, and Percy and Piper bowed proudly, “and Jason’s.”

“My type is pouty emo kids with long hair and sexy accents,” Will replied, and Nico blushed darkly.

“Your type is troublemakers,” Piper replied, “the ideal OTP formula is bossy blonde and troublemaking brunette, you can’t change my mind.”

“Whatever,” Nico protested. The Iris message cut off when a fight broke out between a Star Wars stan and a Trekkie.

“So,” Will began immediately, “can we be boyfriends now?”

“Only if you keep PDA to a minimum,” Nico replied, and Will beamed, glowing a warm amber light. Before they could do much more, however, a loud explosion ripped their attention away from each other. They both ran out to find the source of the explosion, and that is where they found Clarisse refereeing a battle between Shaggy and Thanos. The Stolls were running a betting ring, and Nico was sure they were all gonna die. But hey, it was a room full of Millennials and Gen Z, so nobody seemed particularly bothered by the danger of the situation, because this footage would certainly be legendary. Thanos snapped, and Shaggy disintegrated, only to reform using 1% of his power and steal the gauntlet. Shaggy dabbed, and Thanos was no more. Clarisse blew her whistle and the fight was over- the most epic showdown in human history and it had only taken seconds. Within minutes, lightening struck, and that was the moment Percy groaned loudly in realisation that the gods had been responsible for Area 51 all along.

“FUCK YOU, ZEUS,” Percy yelled, and the lightening would have struck him if it wasn’t for Shaggy eating the lightening bolt and letting out a loud burp.

“Do you have any wisdom, O mighty one,” Kayla asked, bowing at Shaggy’s feet.

“Sometimes you just gotta eat the enemy, man,” Shaggy replied, and the demigods let out a collective awed ‘ooohhh’. It was that moment that Shaggy burped out a heart-shaped arrow, and Nico realised that Shaggy had vored Cupid. Nico felt a smug grin break through his usually stoic expression, and Jason cheered loudly from the sidelines.

“Anyway, Shaggy said gay rights,” Will grinned.

“Actually, young man,” Shaggy said, gently resting his hand on Will’s shoulder, “I say gay and trans rights. And on that note, I think I might assassinate the president! Until next time, guys, gals, and non-binary pals!” And with that, and a wink to Alex Fierro, Shaggy dissipated into the wind, enraging the bigots and empowering the queer kids.

The raid continued into the night, the Stolls helping to take technology back to camp and Clarisse leading the charge against the military. It was only when Nico and Will made their way to the middle of the camp, all of the aliens freed and all technology liberated, that the end of the raid was in sight. Nico opened the final door, the entire raid party behind them, to find Rick Astley tied to a chair, singing Never Gonna Give You Up. It was then that they realised: they had been Rickrolled by the government.