He may have left them, but they had never left him. He would carry their memories, even when he had to leave them again. And he would keep them safe. 
With each memory his body flickered to corporeality until Nico was able to sit himself up, physical form restored, holding back a scream as his whole body flashed with white-hot pain. He moved himself to the bed where Will had left his suture kit. No one had returned to his room, a quick soul search told him that Percy, Annabeth and Will were in the living room probably trying to come up with a plan. He could call out to them, get Will to patch him up now but Nico didn't want to see Will right now. 
He was frustrated and hurt and only barely managing to not completely break down. So, Nico prepped the needle with practised ease and cleaned up the blood surrounding the wound. He didn't take any pain medication, not when his pain receptors were already in overdrive from Akhlys' poison and Nico began to stitch himself back together. 
He thought of the hundreds of times he'd watched Will sew up his patients, his hand steady and voice gentle as he distracted them from the process. 
Nico thought of the hundreds of times he'd helped in the infirmary, though his presence was not particularly wanted by anyone other than Will. He'd rarely spoken to the patients, stitching them up in silence, his stitches neat and exactly how Will had taught him. 
And Nico thought of the hundreds of times that he'd stitched himself up. The past years had not been kind to him and the scars littered his skin, but the skills Will had taught him had saved his life many times over. 
Nico tied the stitches off, looking down at his handiwork proudly. Despite the pain, the rows of stitches were neat and uniform. Putting the supplies away, he slid into the hallway, footsteps silent, and made his way to the bathroom; washing away the blood on his hands. The water ran red and he tried not to think of the blood red clouds of Tartarus. 
He padded into the open plan living/dining room, keeping to walls shrouded in shadow to remain unseen by the other demigods. Nico perched himself on the armrest of a chair at the dining table, he had yet to figure out a functional way to actually sit in them with his wings; the backrest and armrests making any iteration of sitting either impossible or very uncomfortable. He reached for the first pile of paperwork, Daedalus' latest proposal for Elysium's demigod community inclusive of his report and recommended designs. Nico flicked through the documents, signing where required or annotating his own thoughts within the margins before sending it through the shadow of the dining table to the Underworld. 
Glancing up he noted that his presence had yet to be noticed. Will was pacing, eyes fixed on some point outside the window. Nico knew he was feeling useless, a feeling he had struggled with during both wars, hating being  'just a healer ' among his siblings who inherited archery skills from their father. Will, if he still cared about Nico - jury was still out on that one, but Hazel claimed he did - would be anxious and scared and feeling out of control. 
Nico should really tell him he was okay, it was cruel to make him stress just because Nico wanted to avoid talking to him. Nico allowed himself to put it off for two more files, then he finally sighed. 
"You three have gotten rusty." Nico called, pulling another file into his lap just to keep his hands busy and it was an easy excuse to avoid eye contact. "For three war veterans, you're certainly oblivious. I've been doing paperwork for the past few minutes."
"What do you think you're doing up?" Will squawked, ever a mother hen, rushing over to the table. 
"Relax Solace, if I was bleeding out I'd still be on the floor."
"Your corporeal again." Annabeth was the first to observe. 
Nico smiled, "Yeah, I was able to stitch myself back up."
Will opened his mouth, then closed it quickly as if thinking better of it but Nico knew what he was going to ask. He raised the hem of his shirt to display the newly sewn stitches. Will looked at him funny, an odd mix of embarrassment and gratitude in his expression. He came closer, inspecting the stitch work carefully hovering a tanned hand near Nico's abdomen. 
Nico purposefully ignored the skeletal butterflies that swooped in his stomach at the almost-touch. 
"You did a good job." Will said, withdrawing his hand. 
"I had a good teacher." Nico smiled, not looking at Will as he said it, keeping his eyes on the paper in front of him. 
"You were pretty decent before I taught you." Will mused, Nico could feel his stare sending tingles through his spine. 
"Yeah, Minos taught me when I ran away from camp the first time. I came across some Hellhounds or something and I needed to stitch myself back up. Nothing like learning from experience."
"Is that why your stitching is better than it was five years ago: experience?" Will's frown could be heard in his tone. 
Nico shrugged, "Yeah"
"Are these Hieroglyphics?" Annabeth asked, the question jolting him out of his focus on Will in a panic. The daughter of Athena was pointing to a file that had fallen open on the table. Likely one sent from Anubis, probably another soul who ended up in the wrong pantheon's afterlife. Nico had discovered the world of the Gods was much bigger than anyone had realised, there were more pantheons than he'd ever expected and his role as Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the Gods meant it was Nico's job to liaise between them. 
Not that he could tell anyone about it. That was one of the proper orders Hades had given him through the servitude bond; he physically couldn't communicate with anyone about the other pantheons unless they already knew of their existence or had a distinct connection to a pantheon. 
So Nico ignored Annabeth's question, throwing a file on top of the problem-causing file as if that would help. But Annabeth didn't pry, she just narrowed her storm grey eyes at him accusingly. Nico stared right back. He knew Annabeth knew about the Norse Pantheon, Nico had met her cousin a few times over the years. He knew she'd know the significance of him having Egyptian documents; he just wanted to avoid her questions. 
"Where's Hazel?" Nico changed the subject, not even trying to hide his intentions.
"Praetor duties," Annabeth replied. "She tried to get out of it but with the Feast of Fortuna coming up, preparations need to be made."
"I think you mean a feast for tuna!" Percy laughed.
"I think Percy and I should get back to our apartment now, we've been camped out here for the past few days but I've got class tomorrow and  research to do." The last part was directed at Nico, both of them aware that his planned escape was creeping up on them and Hazel and Annabeth needed to figure out a plan to get Will out of the apartment and Hazel in to rewrite the wards. 
Nico nodded, waving goodbye as the couple left the apartment.
End Notes: Thanks for the votes and comments on the last chapter! x
Hope you enjoyed this one! And Will and Nico finally had an interaction that didn't end in a fight, in fact they complimented each other, I'm proud of them.
Tomorrow's chapter is one of my favs, I think!