Chapter Text
Michael didn’t think when the snake ladies charged him.
He just ran.
Ran as fast as possible while the police yelled behind him, calling for him to come back or they’d press charges. He snorted. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d outrun the law, not by a long shot. He glanced behind him and- yep, they were still there. For fuck’s sake, why was today the day he’d get attacked? Sure, he’d spotted the snake ladies beforehand, when he was trying to steal shit from that shop and he’d got caught, and he’d known they were trouble of some form, but he didn’t expect them to pull out spears and run at him! The fuck was he meant to do, just stand there and let them run him through? The police wouldn’t do anything, no one else would either. As far as Michael could tell, he was the only one who could see these things; last time had been the massive blue giant, the time before a flock of creepy metal birds that nearly tore him to shreds, etc, etc. Why couldn’t anyone else see them? No fucking clue, but he definitely wasn’t hallucinating if the scratches those birds had left on his body were anything to go by.
No time to ponder that now, he thought, just run.
Running he could do. Fighting? He’d tried, but nothing seemed to hurt these things, and nothing felt right in his hands, either. He’d tried slamming the birds into walls, which had been minorly successful, but he didn’t think that would work with the snake ladies. They were taller than he was. Goddamn his height; the doctors had said he had the brain aptitude and anatomy of someone much older, yet the body of someone much younger. The fuck was that supposed to mean, he’s a dwarf? Wouldn’t surprise him with all the crazy shit he’d seen since Steve dragged him out of a river and took him to hospital. He still didn’t know how he’d got here. Steve had found him floating in a river, and the doctors had told him he had trauma-induced amnesia, but that didn’t help him find out where he’d come from. He was wearing a necklace when he was found; a bronze chain with a hammer pendant that had a pair of initials etched into it, his own and someone else’s, but he didn’t know anyone with the initials J.M. That was his only connection to his old life, and he hadn’t taken it off since he woke in the hospital. No flyers, no missing posters, no word about him on the list of missing people after that hurricane in Manhattan two years ago, nothing. The thought of that hurricane still gave him chills, although he didn’t understand why. Maybe he doesn’t like storms?
Doesn’t like storms...
Why did that resonate with him?
An image suddenly flashed in his mind; he was moving through a storm, water everywhere as he ran with someone, their hand warm and so familiar in his. A person ahead of them yelled, their voice so close, yet so distant.
“ We’re almost there! How’s he holding up?”
Michael yelled back. “ Not great!”
And then it was gone.
Michael cursed as he turned a corner, running down a different street. This kept happening to him, more and more often. He’d get a glimpse of something, some window into his past life, and then boom. It was gone. The time before this one he’d been standing in a kitchen, mixing a bowl of something and laughing with someone stood behind him, their arms wrapped comfortably around his waist. The time before that he’d been swimming in a lake, racing someone to the shoreline while two familiar voices cheered them on. The time before that…
It just went on and on, each time he thought he’d got something, some clue to his old life, it was snatched away before he could get any useful information from it. He didn’t know any names, didn’t see any faces, couldn’t remember for the life of him how to get back to those people and places, yet still they haunted him with visions of a life he no longer possessed.
It severely pissed him off.
He was rudely reminded that he could ponder this later, as a snake lady caught up with him and slammed him into a wall. Bitch .
He hit the wall with a jolt, his ribs bruised, but thankfully not broken. He turned to face his enemies, just as one swung their spear at him. He ducked and dodged the point, but she hit him in the side with the shaft, and he went flying into the wall again. Fuck . He stood back up, ignoring the pain in his side, and grabbed the spear when it came for him this time, snapping the point clean off. The snake lady looked at her spear for a moment, clearly confused, while Michael examined his prize. It looked kind of like a throwing dart, so he chucked it at the snake lady and, to his surprise, hit her straight in the chest. She screamed silently and disintegrated into golden powder; the only thing left was her spear point/Michael’s throwing dart. That was new. Her friend looked at him in complete loathing.
“ You’ll pay for that, demigod.” She hissed and struck him again. Michael didn’t have time to consider her words, as he went flying into the wall for a third time, and this time he definitely felt his ribs crack. Wonderful. The snake lady leaned over him, leering down at him and raising her spear to impale him. Her voice was like a thousand snakes screaming. “ Death comes to those who are unworthy of life. Like you. You should never have survived.”
“Yeah? Well, I did. Suck on that.” He snapped. Michael had no idea what he had survived, but the snake lady seemed pissed, so he assumed whatever he’d said meant something to her. He winced as she raised her spear higher. At least he wasn’t a complete failure; he’d killed one of them.
“I’ll enjoy this, Little Sunshine.”
Michael snorted. Little Sunshine? What was he, a five-year-old? He opened his mouth to make a retort, but before he could, the snake lady was suddenly impaled by a silver arrow through her brain.
A silver arrow.
That one also resonated with him, but no image appeared. He scowled as the snake lady disintegrated the same way as her friend, the arrow the only thing remaining. He groaned and tried to get up. Whatever had fired that arrow was unlikely to be good, even if they had saved him, but he could only pull himself into a seated position. It was better than lying on the floor, so he’d take it. Michael reached for the dart/spearhead and aimed at where the arrow had come from. He wouldn’t be unarmed. He could hear muttering from the direction of the arrow, and heard a person say, ‘-was after someone’ . He raised his dart higher. As a person came round the corner into view, he threw his dart, aiming for their head. A shriek sounded, and the person ducked back and grabbed his dart out of the air, then a girl cautiously poked her head around the corner, holding his dart. She was about fifteen, with long brown hair and grey eyes, wearing boots and a black jacket. She froze when she saw him, and Michael couldn’t help but think he knew this girl. She looked at him in complete and utter disbelief, then cautiously called out beside her.
“Will? I, uh.” She paused. “You might want to see this.”
A blonde boy with blue eyes and cargo shorts, also about fifteen, poked around the corner nervously, and Michael felt like his mind was exploding.
He knew this kid-
He knew-
He-
It was gone again, and he cursed as the blonde boy stared at him, his face shifting from disbelief, to relief, to confusion, to anger, to sadness, and back to disbelief again. He opened his mouth a few times but couldn’t seem to form words. A second guy peered around the corner. He had longish dark hair, brown eyes and was wearing a black aviator jacket and a skull ring. He was very emo themed. Michael felt that he should know this kid too, but the feeling was weaker than with the other two, like he’d only met him once or twice, in passing. Emo boy looked at him for a second, before speaking.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Michael huffed. “I could ask you the same. Did you kill that thing?” He pointed to where the silver arrow lay in the dust and Emo boy snorted.
“Nah, that was Em.” He stabbed a thumb at the brunette girl, who was still staring at him, along with Blonde guy. Blonde guy looked at him for a moment more, before speaking.
“M-michael?” He choked out. Michael frowned.
“How do you know my name? Who the fuck are you people?”
“Y-you don’t know who I am?”
Michael snorted. “No, and we can thank fucking amnesia for that. How the fuck do you know me?”
Brunette girl (Em? Was that what Emo boy had said?) snapped her fingers, pointing at him. “That’s it! There was like a- a dark fog around your head, clouding your mind. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but it was blocking the sunlight. Amnesia.”
“Sunlight? Why the fuck would sunlight be coming out of my head?” He scowled. Was that what the snake lady had meant by Little Sunshine ? Brunette girl frowned and moved towards him, but Blonde guy held his arm out, stopping her.
“Hold on. Michael doesn’t like being touched, never did.”
Michael smirked. “At least someone understands boundaries in this god-forsaken city. Everyone keeps throwing me into walls.”
Blonde guy smiled a bit at that, but his eyes were filled with tears. Michael had the sudden urge to hug him, wipe his tears away and tell him everything would be okay, but he didn’t understand where it came from. He wasn’t a touchy person, and he didn’t even know who this kid was. Blonde guy walked forwards a bit, crouching in front of Michael.
“I’m Will. Will Solace. Do you know that name?”
Michael froze.
“I-”
His brain stuttered, like he’d just knocked free a cloud of dust. He saw a boy, clearly Will, but much younger, standing in front of him and holding something. Michael was scolding him for holding it the wrong way, but Will was just grinning at him, his curly blonde hair messed up all over the place as Michael ruffled it teasingly.
And then it was gone again.
Michael slammed his fist into the floor in frustration, ignoring the pain in his knuckles and present-day-Will’s wincing. “Stupid fucking amnesia. I- yes? No? Ugh.” He closed his eyes. “Kinda? Like, it’s there, but it’s not. I keep seeing like, pictures, glimpses of people and places and events, but I’ve got nothing.” Will looked at him worriedly for a moment, before turning back to his companions.
“Do you guys want to sweep the area? I’ll see if I can sort this out.” Emo boy and Brunette girl nodded, then disappeared down another street, murmuring about something. Once they were gone, Will sighed and sat next to Michael, his palm outstretched. “Can I hold your hand? It works better that way with you.”
Michael looked at him suspiciously. “What works better?”
“It’s uh,” Will paused for a moment, seemingly searching for the right words. “It’s better if I show you. Can I…?”
Michael frowned. He wasn’t sure about whatever Will was doing, but for whatever reason, he trusted him. Plus, at least he’d asked first and not just grabbed him. He shrugged and placed his hand in Will’s, and Will immediately started humming. The tune was familiar, like he’d heard it many, many times over, and a golden glow started emitting from Will. The light traveled up Michael’s arm and over his body, but it didn’t freak him out, like it should have. Instead, he let it travel, and a warm feeling washed over him, one of happiness, familiarity-
Home.
As Will continued humming, the dirt over Michael’s mind slowly cleared, and he saw what he’d forgotten. His early life; years with his mother, when she used to hit him for misbehaving, or not doing his chores. The day she’d kicked him out and the week he’d spent on the run from monsters and the authorities. Camp- Camp Half Blood- The cabins, the lake, the Big House, the strawberry fields, the archery range, the forge. He saw his family and friends, people he hadn’t seen in years, people he didn’t know if they were alive or dead. He saw over ten years' worth of memories; picnics by the canoe lake, evenings in the archery range, mornings in the Apollo cabin-
Apollo cabin.
He was a son of Apollo.
And Will…
Will was his brother.
More memories flashed over him; Percy being claimed by the creek in the woods, Thalia’s tree being poisoned, the Hunters of Artemis in camp, Lee and Castor dying in battle, Beckendorf getting blown up on a ship, camp going to Manhattan for battle, Michael walking onto a bridge, his bow in hand, the bridge collapsing beneath him, falling down, down-
It all came back in a painful rush, and by the end of it, he was in tears. All the love, all the happiness, the fun times, the heartbreaks, the losses, the nights crying from grief, the nights crying from laughter, all of it. All of it he’d forgotten. He’d been gone for two years. Two fucking years. When Will stopped singing, Michael hugged him, tears rolling silently down his face. Will was sniffling too, and they held each other for a while, until the pounding in Michael’s head stopped. Two fucking years. Taken away from him because of a stupid bridge and a stupid Titan.
“I remember.” He whispered, and Will sobbed quietly. “I- I remember. I’m so fucking sorry. I-I didn’t know. I was found in a river, downstream from the bridge, but I knew nothing. How-how did- I don’t-” Will hugged him tighter.
“I missed you.” He choked out, and more tears fell down Michael’s face. He wiped at them furiously as they pulled away. “We thought you were dead. I had to take Head Counsellor.”
“You- what?” Michael looked at him in surprise. “But Sam was older, couldn’t he… or Carly?”
Will looked at him sadly, tears still threatening to spill from his eyes. “Yeah, well… yours wasn’t the only shroud we burned that year. It was just me, Kayla and Austin left.”
Michael froze. “Just…”
“Yeah. Thirteen to three.” He smiled sadly. “But we have more siblings now. Yan, and Jerry and Gracie. They’re nice…”
Michael understood the hesitant tone in his brother’s voice. You couldn’t replace old siblings with new ones, but that didn’t mean you could ignore the new ones either. He had no doubt that Will had tried everything to make sure they felt at home in cabin seven. Will was always a better Counsellor than Michael, despite never being one before he disappeared.
“Gods.” Michael groaned, running a hand through his hair. “I- Shit. Shit, shit, fuck, fuck shit.”
Will smiled at him. “Language.”
“You sound way too much like Lee.”
Will laughed at that, and Michael smiled. “Where have you been? I mean,” Will gestured at him. “I doubt you would have sat in foster care-” Michael snorted. “And you’re clearly not homeless. Where did you go?”
He sighed. “The guy that pulled me out of the river offered me a place to stay. Said he’d take care of the basics - a place to sleep and shower, the occasional haircut – but he wouldn’t cover food or medication. Too expensive. So, I’ve kinda been working the occasional job, or stealing when I had no money.”
Will smirked. “You stole?”
Michael chuckled. “Yeah. Lee would’ve been so disappointed.” Will snickered at that.
“I can imagine him lecturing you. ‘ Michael Jacob Yew! We do not steal in this cabin; we leave that for cabin eleven! Get your act together! ’.”
Michael laughed, and suddenly Emo boy and Brunette girl came back, still muttering. He smiled when he saw them, and Brunette girl grinned.
“You know,” She mused. “That’s a smile I never thought I’d see again. Have we got Mikey back?”
Michael glared at her. “Don’t call me Mikey.”
She grinned. “And he’s back! What’s Will’s full name?” She pointed at Will and Michael rolled his eyes.
“William Andrew Solace.” He nodded at her next as Will smiled broadly. “Emilie Elizabeth Aster and…” He frowned at Emo boy, who was smirking slightly. “We never talked, but Niccolo Alexander di Angelo. Nico for short.”
Nico’s jaw dropped and he scowled. “How the fuck do you know my full name?” Emilie sniggered at him as Will laughed.
“Medical records. Despite popular belief,” He glared pointedly at Will, who snickered. “I did spend some time in the infirmary. Your stack was top of the pile one day, and when I’m not amnesic, I have a good memory.”
Emilie smirked. “Speaking of amnesic, I’m assuming whatever that was was injury induced, hence why Will could fix it?”
“Something like that. The doctors said it was trauma, which is equally likely, but I’ve spent the last two years with absolutely no recollection of who I am or where I came from, aside from the occasional slip. Nothing I could use to get back, and obviously I wasn’t on any missing posters or whatever, so I’ve been pretty stuck since the Williamsburg Bridge.” Emilie and Nico winced, and Will frowned.
“Well, aside from that, I’m thinking we should take you home and fill you in on what you’ve missed.”
Home.
That was a word Michael had missed. Sure, he’d had accommodation, and a place to sleep, but it had never felt like home. Even now, back with Will, he wasn’t completely at ease. He winced. He wanted nothing more than to go back to camp, but he’d been gone so long… Would anyone even want him there? He’d basically abandoned them, despite not being aware of it, and he’d skipped out on the rest of the war.
“Aren’t I too old for camp now?” He muttered. “I’m eighteen.”
Emilie snorted. “Nah, Pollux is still there and he’s twenty in a month or so. Plus, Jake is also eighteen and he’s still around.”
Michael froze.
Jake.
His mind immediately filled with images again, this time ones of him and Jake. Them on the beach late at night, them dueling each other in the arena, hanging out in the Hephaestus cabin, kissing under his cabin’s porch, them sitting by the campfire together, Jake’s arm around his waist.
Jake .
His boyfriend .
How could he have forgotten-
Will noticed his panicked expression and turned back to the others. “You guys wanna go tell Argus we’ve got an extra passenger? We’ll be along in a sec.” Emilie looked at Michael for a second, then understanding dawned on her face and she dragged Nico away with her, despite the son of Hades’ protests at the physical contact. Once they were out of earshot, Will crouched back down next to his brother as Michael covered his face with his hands, groaning. “You just remembered, didn’t you?”
“I’m a shit person. Why the fuck was that the last memory to come back? What was it doing, getting stuck behind my ear or something?”
Will chuckled. “Possibly. Some memories are supposed to take a while to return.”
“Yeah, but why did it have to be those memories. Of all the-” He stopped himself, rubbing his eyes, before looking at Will worriedly. “Is he okay?”
Will smiled sadly. “You know, that was the same thing he asked after your stunt on the bridge. He got a different answer. Jake’s alive.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Will sighed heavily, unconsciously tracing a scar above his wrist. Since when was that there?
“He’s alive… but he’s been chucked around a bit. Lost most of his hearing the day you disappeared, while he was defending his bridge. And then after that war…” Will trailed off. “He went through a lot. He’s alright now, just a little banged up.”
Michael frowned. Lost most of his hearing? That wasn’t great, but knowing Jake, he’d probably pushed through it and made some way to fix the problem. What worried him more was the way Will said that war, like there was more than one. He looked at his younger brother. “When you say that war…”
Will winced. “Yeah, let’s get back to Em and Neeks, and I’ll fill you in as we go to camp. And I’m not taking no for an answer, you’re coming. I saw the look on your face, you are no outcast, and people will only be happy to see you. You can’t help that you were amnesic, and considering what’s happened recently, I suspect most people will be pretty sympathetic. C’mon.” He reached down and helped Michael to his feet. He was still unsteady, despite Will’s healing hymn, and he suspected his sudden return of memories had probably not helped. He felt a bit overloaded.
“So, you’re telling me, I missed two more wars, Mother Earth rising, my dad getting chucked off Olympus, the discovery of a second camp , and the rise to power of three evil emperors, who have been plotting out our lives since we were basically fucking born.” Michael’s head was pounding with all the new information. “And Will’s fifteenth birthday.”
“Why is my birthday important to that list?”
“Because I had a present planned, idiot. It’s probably still at camp actually; I doubt you’d have found it.”
“What?”
He snickered at Will’s confused expression. “Yep. I was planning ahead.”
“Clearly.” Emilie grinned. “Oh, and Will has a boyfriend!”
“Emilie!” Will groaned as Michael snapped his head towards his brother.
“ Excuse me?! Why was that not the first thing I was told?” He placed his hands on his hips as Will glared at him. “Who?”
“None of your business.”
“Dear William, it is every bit my business. Lee made that quite clear, as long as I am your older brother, it is absolutely my business who you date.”
Will glared at him. “Promise you won’t do it.”
“You know I ain’t promising crap, you little shit. Who are you dating?”
“Promise you won’t do it.”
“I could just ask your friends here.”
“Emilie would never betray me like that.”
Michael turned to Emilie expectantly, and she smirked.
“It’s Nico.”
Will turned and glared at his friend, betrayal written all over his face. “Emilie!”
She snickered at him. “Sorry Will. As he says, Lee would be furious if one of your siblings didn’t do it.”
Nico looked at them suspiciously. “Do what?”
Michael turned to the son of Hades. “You’re dating my little brother?”
“Yes?”
“You don’t sound sure about that.”
“Yes. Yes, I’m sure. We’re dating.”
“Good. I’m going to say this once and once only,” Will groaned and protested against his brother, but Michael wasn’t having any of it, and continued to glare at the son of Hades. “If I am the first person to say this to you, I am going to be severely disappointed. Niccolo Alexander di Angelo, if you ever hurt my brother, I want you to know I will hunt you down, tie you to a tree, shadow travel or not, and fire an arrow in your body for every fucking tear that falls, making sure you stay alive to feel the pain of every single fucking one before I send you down to your father’s gates. I may not have my bow right now, but I can assure you, my aim is as good as ever, and I will not even hesitate to try it out again if you break Will’s heart. Watch out, bitch.”
To Michael’s pleasure, the other boy gulped slightly, but then slowly his eyes crinkled into a smile, and he started grinning. Michael raised an eyebrow at him, and he laughed.
“Something funny, punk?”
Nico snickered. “Nah, that was terrifying as fuck. But like, in a good way. I believe you meant every word of that, and I want you to know that breaking his heart is absolutely not on my agenda.” He laughed again. “That was honestly perfect. Like, it’s been said before, but that one just hit different.”
Michael scowled. “Who else said it to you? Better have been someone good.”
Will snickered as Emilie flushed. “Em.”
Nico grinned. “She slammed me into a wall and everything. Threatened to cut my limbs into tiny pieces and feed them to me so she could watch me slowly choke on them and die.” Michael grinned and offered the daughter of Nyx a high-five.
“That’s what I’m talking about. Good job.”
She looked at Will and smirked. “Told ya, Lee would have disapproved if it wasn’t said.”
“But now it’s been said twice!”
“Yes, once by your brother and once by your oldest friend, which is exactly as it should be.” Emilie snickered at him. “I do not regret my decision. If neither Lee nor Michael was around, I sure as fuck wasn’t letting him get away free. Besides, you got one too. Hazel was slightly terrifying, not gonna lie.” Will shuddered and Michael smirked at him.
“That’s one way to put it.” Will moved to sit next to his boyfriend, grabbing Nico’s hand absently and blushing when he noticed Michael’s teasing smirk. “Don’t look at me like that!”
“You looked at me the exact same way for six years, Sunshine. Now I get to repay the favor.”
Will huffed, but Michael didn’t miss his smile at the old nickname. He hadn’t used that in ages . Will cleared his throat. “Well, we should be at camp soon. Em, are you still on for that race later?”
“Yeah, let me find Ellis first, but I think...”
Michael half listened to the conversation as it continued around him, but his head was swimming. Camp. He was going to camp. His friends were all at camp, or at least those who hadn’t died since he left. His siblings, old and new would be at camp, Jake would-
Gods. Jake. What the heck was he going to do about that? Jake would think he was dead. He might have moved on, or found someone else, or simply just forgotten him. Would seeing Michael bring back bad memories? Would he be confused, or sad, or happy, or angry?
For once, he didn’t know how Jake would react to something, and it scared the shit out of him. As they pulled into camp, and Will helped him up to the top of Half-blood Hill, he stared down at the camp. There were new cabins now, over double the previous twelve, and Emilie grinned and pointed them out to him.
“That black one over there, that’s Nico’s. Don’t go in before ten am if your name’s not Will Solace, or you’ll be murdered on entry-” Nico glared at the daughter of Nyx and Will blushed furiously, which amused Michael to no end. “That one with the cool bricks, that’s Hecate’s, and that other one in Nemesis. That one there is mine, and the one next to it is Hebe. The rainbow one is Iris, and the one opposite is Hypnos…”
The list went on. So many minor gods represented and celebrated, their kids given homes, their own place to stay. Apparently, no unclaimed campers were in the Hermes cabin anymore, and Michael thought that was as it should be. It was about time those gods got their respect, and their kids too, after all, that was one of the main reasons the battle of Manhattan was so difficult; most of the minor gods sided with the Titans, and their kids followed suit.
He was distracted, however, when Will led him down to cabin seven. He didn’t recognize many of the faces he passed, and he was glad for that; if he’d seen lots of his old friends at once, he might have overloaded. Emilie ran off to her own cabin once they reached the green, and Nico soon followed suit, saying he’d visit the infirmary later, and Will had better not be using his healing powers. Michael snickered at his brother once the son of Hades had left, and Will blushed.
“Reminds me of Cas and Lee. You are eating, right?” He raised an accusing eyebrow at his brother and Will rolled his eyes.
“Obviously. I’m not as bad as Lee was. Or at least, not anymore…” Michael didn’t get a chance to reply to that as Will suddenly spoke up again. “And here we are!”
Michael froze in front of the door of cabin seven. He hadn’t been back in so long. It still looked the same, with the golden roof and walls, but hyacinths now bloomed out of the windows. Will smiled when he saw Michael had noticed them.
“Dad’s favorite, right? And yours.” He didn’t give Michael time to respond, before pushing the door open, carefully checking who was inside. He smiled and beckoned for Michael to follow him as he walked in. Michael stopped when he noticed two familiar faces sat on a bunk. Kayla’s hair had grown longer, but the tips were still green as anything, and Austin had had a growth spurt, but they were still the pair he remembered. Austin was laughing while Kayla tried to play the flute, failing miserably. Michael smirked as Will spoke. Nothing had changed there. “Hey guys, look who I found!”
His siblings looked up and froze when they registered Michael stood by the door, awkwardly shuffling his feet. He wasn’t sure what he expected from them, but-
“Michael!”
He was almost knocked over by Kayla flinging herself at him, tears streaming down her face. He quickly righted himself, and hugged her back, burying his face in her red curls. She’d grown, and was taller than him now, which was annoying, but in that moment he couldn’t care less. He was just glad to see her, alive and well. He looked up to see Austin staring at him, his lips shaping Michael’s name, but he seemed frozen where he sat. Michael smirked and walked over to his brother; Kayla still stuck to his side like a ginger koala. He sat next to Austin and wrapped his free arm around his brother, and Austin quickly broke when he felt Michael next to him; warm, alive, and very real. Will joined the group hug, and Michael was quickly squashed, but he didn’t give a fuck. He laughed quietly while his siblings sniffled, and he ran his fingers through Kayla’s hair. It desperately needed a brush. They stayed like that for a while, until Michael had had enough and wriggled free, positioning himself next to the dog pile his siblings had become.
“Alright you little gremlins, that’s enough of that. I’d rather not be squashed flat before midday.”
Kayla laughed, her voice watery, and wiped her eyes, before turning to her brother. A few emotions flashed over her face, but she settled on anger. Michael yelped as she smacked him on the arm. “You absolute idiot! Why the fuck did you- we thought you were- oh for Apollo's sake.” She threw herself at him again, and Michael fell backwards, his sister on top of him. He laughed, Kayla grinned, and soon they were rolling around on the floor again, just like old times. Austin and Will joined in, and Michael felt like part of his heart was slowly piecing itself back together. He had missed this.
A knock sounded at the door, and they all stood and brushed themselves off while Will went to answer it, still laughing. It opened to a confused Nyssa and Will smiled.
“Hey Nyssa, what’s up?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, I was just checking in because I heard a lot of laughing and I could have sworn I heard someone that sounded a lot like Mich-” She stopped suddenly and stared at Michael as he smirked at her. She rubbed her face once, then looked at him again, eyes wide with disbelief. “You know what, never mind! I think someone spiked my drink and now I’m seeing and hearing your dead brother in your cabin. Sorry for the fuss, I think I’ll just go lie down for a bit.” She turned to walk away, rubbing her temples tiredly, but stopped when Michael laughed at her.
“Get your ass back here right now.”
She turned and stared at him for a moment, then closed her eyes and rubbed them slowly.
“Yep, I’m definitely hallucinating, what the fuck did they put in my drink?” Michael laughed again and walked up to her, punching the daughter of Hephaestus in the arm. He wasn’t gentle about it either, and she yelped, then froze, staring at him as he grinned. “No fucking way.”
“Hi, Niss. What’s up?” She slapped him and he winced, rubbing his arm. “Ouch. You still hit hard.” She looked at him for a moment longer, then poked him carefully. He glared at her. “I’m real, Nyssa. You can stop touching me now. Do you need another punch to confirm it?”
Her face slowly broke out in a grin, and she threw her arms around the son of Apollo, despite his protests. “You! You actual- how did you-” She pulled away and smacked him again, yelling at him in Spanish. He smirked at her.
“Still don’t understand a word you’re saying.”
“Good. You wouldn’t want to hear it. Where the fuck have you been?”
“Long story, involving much amnesia, being dragged out of a river, almost getting slapped into foster care until they realized I was older than I looked, and many police chases. I’ll fill you in later.”
She stared at him for a moment, before a serious expression washed over her face. “Have you seen Jake?”
Will winced. “Not yet. I don’t know where he would be.” Nyssa frowned.
“What’s the date?”
“Uh…” Will thought for a moment. “April nineteenth. Why?”
“I know where he is. Come on.” She turned and walked out of the green, and Michael and Will followed her; after promising their siblings they’d be back by lunch. Michael ran his fingers over his necklace anxiously, and Nyssa smiled when she saw it. “Still got that old thing?”
He snorted. “It’s like, my most prized possession. Even when I was amnesic, I never took it off.” He traced his fingers over the initials on the bronze hammer pendant, then tucked it back under his shirt. Nyssa grinned at that and exchanged glances with Will. Michael raised an eyebrow at them and they both smirked, earning an eye roll from him. Will laughed and Nyssa chuckled.
“Still got an attitude.”
“As if it would ever leave. That’s like, my whole personality.”
“Not quite your whole personality.” He raised an eyebrow at her, and she smirked, before quickly glancing around. They’d walked to the edge of the woods, to a place Michael knew well. She smiled sadly. “He’ll be in there.” She pointed into the forest. “I think you know where. I’ll stay behind with Will.”
He looked at them for a moment, then nodded. He knew where Jake would be. He turned and walked into the woods, his hand tapping on his thigh nervously. He forced himself not to focus on the what-ifs and just get it over with already. Whatever happened, happened. That was that.
As he approached the tree, he heard a soft humming sound, and he steeled himself. Whatever happened, happened.
Jake wasn’t sure what to do with himself anymore.
Those weeks after the Second Titan War had been hard, especially when he’d tried…
He tapped his finger rhythmically on his leg, trying to distract himself from those thoughts. He smiled slightly when he realized he was tapping out a tune Michael had once played, and he let himself get lost in the memories. It was the best way to take his mind off things.
He hadn’t thought about his destination when he’d walked here; it was the same place every time. He could probably walk here with his eyes closed. The tree was his safe space, very few people knew about it, and he could get lost in the breeze and birdsong, provided he could hear it in the first place. That had got slightly better too, although he still relied completely on the hearing aid. Without it, he could barely hear a word anyone said, and he often had to take it off when he was in the forge lest it melted or sparked from the heat. That was fine though, since people yelled in there anyway, thanks to the constant clashing of metal, although Nyssa sometimes had problems communicating with him, so they’d switched to using sign language instead, which was new. He had always been bad at languages, but sign was different. He used it frequently, and he knew every phrase and word now, so it was easy enough for him to communicate with his sister and any others than knew the language. It had been something to do, to take his mind off…
He stopped himself. No need to go there, not before tomorrow. Tomorrow he could break down, cry, laugh, scream, or just sit here silently, processing what he was doing with his life. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do anymore, and although the anti-depressants Will had given him helped, it still hurt. Hurt so fucking bad, some days he found it hard to get up. Nyssa was an angel, truly, he didn’t deserve her, as much as he complained about her at times. She was the person who’d helped him through it all, when the person who normally would’ve wasn’t there anymore.
Jake sighed heavily and traced the beads on his necklace, his fingers stopping on a golden sun pendant, the pair of initials delicately carved into it. It was cool to the touch, as usual, and Jake couldn’t help but be saddened by it. Two years ...
He ought to move on really, and he knew that, but it was hard. Every time he even thought about leaving, going somewhere else, finding someone else, his heart stopped him, and he felt physically sick. He knew he didn’t belong anywhere anymore; his heart certainly didn’t belong to anyone else, and he couldn’t help but feel like by leaving this place he’d lose that part of himself. But at the same time, what was there to do? At some point he’d have to leave, demigods couldn’t stay in camp for that long; nineteen was about the limit, and Pollux was pushing it at almost twenty, but he doubted anyone would have anything to say to the son of Dionysus about it. That gave him one more year to think about what he wanted to do...
He shook himself out of those thoughts; they always brought him down. He tried to think of something cheerful going on. Leo was coming to camp tomorrow, just to catch up for a bit. That would be nice...
He huffed to himself. He was getting nowhere. He should come down, really; he’d been up here a while now and Nyssa would worry. Maybe one more song wouldn’t hurt, though.
He started humming in time to his tapping, smiling fondly as he remembered the night he’d first heard the song. He’d thought he’d never get Mike to sing, but it had seemed that when he was alone, the son of Apollo didn’t mind all that much, and Jake could still remember listening to him, while Michael sat on the beach at midnight, playing a guitar and singing quietly. Jake smiled and closed his eyes, not moving until he felt someone climb up the tree behind him. Most likely Nyssa, although she was a fast climber today. Kayla must have been teaching her. He continued humming; Niss wouldn’t mind too much and was probably just here to check he was okay, which annoyed him a little. He was meant to be her big brother, not the other way around. He should be making sure she was okay. Yet, Nyssa had always been better at that sort of stuff than him; while he was technically Head Counsellor, since Leo wasn’t here, she was the person that did most of the work, mainly because she didn’t want him to put pressure on himself, despite his protests that he’d be fine.
He felt someone settle next to him, and he frowned slightly. It wasn’t Nyssa. Maybe Will?
When they started humming along with him, his eyes snapped open, and he stared at the person next to him. He hadn’t heard that voice in a long time. His heart stuttered and stopped as his eyes rested on someone he thought he’d never see again.
There was a short, tanned boy with black hair and brown eyes that were all too familiar, sat next to him, calmly looking out at the treetops as he hummed along with Jake. Jake faltered and stopped, and Michael turned to look at him, the same sparkle in his eyes.
He froze, and they looked at each other silently for a moment, Michael smirking the same way he used to, but Jake could tell it was forced. Inside, he was anxious, his eyes worriedly scanning Jake, yet still showing the same personality they always had. The fact that Jake could still read Michael like an open book surprised him.
After a moment, he groaned and leant forwards, burying his face in his hands. “What the fuck did Connor put in my drink at breakfast?”
There was no way this was real.
There was no way-
This wasn’t-
That-
That couldn’t be-
Michael laughed. “You and Nyssa, you both think you’ve been drugged. What the fuck has Connor been doing since I was gone that means you think he could cause you to have a hallucination?”
Jake felt like his heart had both stopped and started beating out of his chest at the same time. That laugh- that was definitely Michael. He opened his eyes and stared at the other boy for a moment, not saying anything. He expected Michael to disintegrate, disappear, fade away as the gods decided to piss with him once more, just for fun, and send him a vision of his dead boyfriend just to taunt him. Yet, the longer he stayed there, the less likely it seemed that Michael was a figment of his imagination, or some drug-induced hallucination. Eventually, the son of Apollo got impatient, and he gently slipped his hand into Jake’s, rubbing his thumb over the back of Jake’s hand and frowning at the scars on his wrists. Jake’s breath caught as he looked down at their hands, and after a moment, he carefully threaded his fingers through Michael’s, his eyes widening as Michael squeezed his hand once.
Once for ‘I’m here’.
Twice for ‘help’.
Three times for ‘I need you’.
Four for ‘do you need me?’.
Five for ‘I love you’.
Michael spoke first.
“I’ll be honest,” He faltered for a moment as Jake looked up at him. “I’m not sure what the fuck happened to me today.” He laughed without humor to himself. “Well, I know what happened until Will came along. I got out of bed, robbed a shop, got caught stealing food, almost got arrested and ran from the law and two dracaenae with spears down some alleyways, before getting thrown into a wall three times and being rescued by three fifteen-year-olds, one of whom was my brother who I had absolutely no memory of until he healed me because when I fell off the Williamsburg Bridge I passed out and gained some form of injury induced amnesia, then got dragged out of the river by a guy and taken to hospital, and I have been living-ish with said guy for the past two years, because I didn’t have a fucking clue who I was or where I came from.” He paused to take a breath, and Jake looked at him in disbelief. Dracaenae? Amnesia? Dragged out of a river? Did that mean...?
“So, you’re not dead?” The corners of Michael’s lips twitched at that, threatening to turn into a smile. “And I’m not hallucinating, or dreaming, or being harassed by some god with terrible life choices?”
“Well, I mean...” Michael shrugged. “I don’t think so. At least, I’m pretty sure I’m real.” He poked Jake teasingly. “And you seem pretty real, so I’d say no. Not hallucinating.”
“Right.” Jake took a deep breath. What was it Will had said? In for four, hold for four, out for eight. “What the actual fuck. So, you- what- you've been in New York this whole time? Just, running around without a clue who the fuck you were?”
“Basically. The odd glimpse of shit now and again, but nothing that told me anything useful. It was kind of like someone was dangling my memories on a string above my head, and every time it got close enough for me to grab, I missed.”
“Perhaps you were too short to reach it?” He smirked teasingly as Michael huffed, but a smile had formed on the son of Apollo’s face now.
“Fuck off.”
Jake chuckled to himself quietly, and looked at Michael for a minute, still not quite believing he was really there. “So, what now?”
Michael raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”
“As in... If you’re back now, are you staying? Are you leaving? Are we picking up where we left off or stopping for good or what?” Jake almost didn’t want to hear the answer. He figured it would be that they were done for good, after all, it would be hard for Michael to recover from regaining sixteen years of memories in one go, let alone with the strain of a possible relationship on top.
“Well, I assumed you’d moved on with someone else, to be honest. Two years is a long time...”
Jake snorted. Moved on? Yeah, no. “Not really.”
“Not really as in...?”
“As in, I most definitely have not moved on, and had no intention of doing so. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, you’re the only one for me, Mike. Always have been, always will be.”
Michael blushed, and Jake still found it cute that the son of Apollo could be flustered like this. His eyes were shining, and he’d honestly never looked so cute, his hair a bit messed up and a smudge of dirt on his cheek, smiling the way he used to whenever Jake made him blush unexpectedly.
“So, that’s a yes? We’re picking up where we left off?”
Michael sounded hesitant, and Jake smiled at him, his heart piecing itself back together after falling apart so long ago. “Only if you’re sure.”
“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”
“Good.”
Michael laughed as Jake leaned forwards to kiss him, and he slotted his arms around the son of Hephaestus’ neck happily, while Jake wrapped his arms around him, gently pulling him onto his lap and rubbing his thumbs in circles on the other’s hips, reveling in the fact that he could hear the son of Apollo’s heartbeat, Michael’s body a comfortingly solid weight on him that felt real and so right . Michael grinned and tilted his head slightly, deepening the kiss a little, and Jake felt like fireworks were exploding inside his body, lighting up the parts of him that had been dark for so long. Too long.
Eventually, they had to pull away for air, both grinning like idiots. Michael flicked him on the nose teasingly and Jake smiled. “Still can’t believe this is happening right now.”
“Hm.” Michael smirked and leaned forwards to kiss him again. “Neither, but I’m thanking the fucking gods right now that it is.”
“Mhm. I missed you.” He murmured quietly as Michael pulled away again, smiling.
“I missed you too. I just didn’t realize it.” Jake raised an eyebrow at him, and he blushed again, his ears tinted pink. “Like, I knew something was missing, and nearly every snippet of memory I got back was about you, I just couldn’t place your face. Or name.”
Jake smirked. “Oh, really? Which memories?” Michael smiled.
“Racing you across the lake while Will and Nyssa cheered us on from the canoes. Baking cupcakes in the big house kitchen at midnight when I couldn’t sleep. Running through that storm we had the year Percy arrived, hand in hand while Lee called back to us. I knew it, but no one’s faces ever appeared. No names were spoken, no locations were identifiable, nothing. Just little things that reminded me of where I belonged.”
“And where is that? Here at camp?”
“Here with you. Anywhere with you, really.” Jake smiled at that and kissed him again, and Michael hummed happily.
“We have a lot to catch up on.”
“That we do. First things first,” Michael gently tapped the hearing aid on Jake’s ear. “This.”
Jake smirked. “Harley almost killed me with a grenade, but Emilie knocked it off-course, so it didn’t kill me, just knocked me out and almost completely deafened me. Left ear’s useless, right I have fifty-fifty hearing, so Will helped me make an aid. Nowhere near what it was, but way better than it could be.”
Michael looked at him for a moment. “Okay... unexpected but sure. So, you can hear me?” Jake rolled his eyes.
“ Noo, I just happened to guess half of that conversation.” He smirked, and Michael rolled his eyes. “Yes, I can hear you. But if I take the aid out, then well...” He carefully reached up and removed his hearing aid, frowning a little as it squeaked slightly. “Needs a bit of realigning, actually.” He fiddled with the device for a moment, until he felt shaking and looked up to see Michael laughing at him. He raised an eyebrow at the son of Apollo and Michael grinned, then said something that Jake couldn’t hear. “I can’t lip read, idiot. No clue what you’re saying.”
Michael smirked at him and took his hand, tracing letters on his palm gently. The feeling sent shivers down Jake’s spine, and he shuddered, choosing to ignore Michael’s teasing glance as he noticed the action. He couldn’t understand what the other had written, since he lost half of it thanks to Michael messing with him, so he fiddled with his aid for a moment more, then clicked it back onto his ear, wincing slightly as it fixed into place. Putting it back on always felt a bit weird. Immediately, he could hear again, and Michael’s laughter was easily the best thing he’d heard in ages. He smiled at the other boy.
“What the heck are you laughing about? I didn’t catch a word.” This sent Michael into fits of giggles again, and Jake frowned at him.
“You will never know.” Michael smirked as Jake groaned.
“Michael! You can’t just leave me hanging like that. What was it?”
Michael laughed again. “Nope.”
“Ugh.” Jake glared at him, but there was no real anger in the action. “Remind me why I love you, again?”
“Not a fucking clue, but I couldn’t be happier about it.” Jake grinned at him, and Michael smirked, then gestured back to camp. “We should probably get down. I promised my siblings I’d be back by lunch.” Jake smirked.
“You’ve got some new ones to meet in the summer. They’re nice, but chaotic.”
“I would expect nothing less, they aren’t proper Apollo children if they don’t cause a form of havoc. Even Will, who’s supposedly the only sane one, is still a blonde bi disaster.”
Jake snickered. “I’m assuming you’ve met Nico?”
“Yes, and we had a little chat.”
“You threatened to use him for target practice, didn’t you?”
“That I did.” Michael smirked. “And I have no regrets. Did you know Emilie gave him a shovel talk for me?” Jake laughed.
“I was there. Poor guy looked like he was going to have a heart attack. Will was yelling at her because he’d only just recently convinced Nico that most people didn’t hate him or want to hurt him, and she’d slammed him into a wall with a knife to his throat.”
Michael snorted. “Love that kid. Honorary Apollo cabin member, right there.”
“Oh yeah, has been for a while. According to Kayla, she just appears in there at random times of the day. Nico actually knocks most of the time, but she just teleports inside and starts up a conversation.” Michael laughed and slowly pulled himself to his feet, balancing on the tree branch they had sat on.
“Sounds good to me. Are we going down?”
“Absolutely.” Jake grinned and got up, carefully grabbing onto a nearby branch so he didn’t fall. His coordination was crap. Michael smirked at him, then walked straight along the branch and shimmied down the tree in record time, grinning up at Jake from the bottom. Jake sighed. “It doesn’t matter how many times I climb this thing, you’re still faster.”
“I’m impressed you got up there, to be honest.” Michael teased as Jake dropped down next to him. “You never liked heights that much.”
“Tree climbing is different.”
“True.”
Jake grabbed Michael’s hand again as they started walking back to camp, and the son of Apollo smirked at him. Jake rolled his eyes and kissed him quickly, earning a blush from the other boy that encouraged a teasing smile. Michael glared at him, but he was still blushing, so it wasn’t very effective.
“Fuck off.”
“Mhm.” Michael glared at him again and Jake grinned. They soon exited the woods and almost ran into Nyssa, who was walking towards them. She grinned when she saw them holding hands and Jake blushed. She signed to him.
All good?
He grinned. Yes.
Good. Nice to see you blushing again.
Jake flushed further and he muttered a curse to her in Spanish. “ Perra .” (Bitch)
She grinned. “You can’t fool me, hermano .”
“ Eres tan molesta. ” (You are so annoying.)
“ Y tu .” (And you.)
Michael stared at them for a second, before his face broke out in a grin and he turned to Jake. “You learnt Spanish?”
Jake flushed as Nyssa smirked at him. “She was pissing me off, and then Leo came along, and they started speaking it together at full volume in the middle of the forge.”
“So, you learnt it.”
“Yeah.”
“And you can speak it.” Michael was grinning widely, and Jake flushed further.
“ Sí .”
The son of Apollo laughed. “Never would I ever have thought I’d hear you speak another language. You’re hopeless at Greek, and that’s meant to be second nature.” Nyssa smirked at her brother.
“Yeah, that hasn’t changed. He still can’t read Greek or Latin for shit.” Michael snickered as Jake glared at her and she shrugged. “I’m not wrong! Zeus knows how you learnt Spanish.”
“You pick some of it up when you hear it every day. Also, certain people in camp can also speak Spanish.”
“Ah, so you got someone to teach you. Interesting. Who?” Jake mimed zipping his lips shut and Michael snickered as Nyssa huffed. “Well, I was just coming to check on you two, and drag you down to lunch. You aren’t skipping again.” She pointed an accusing finger at Jake, and he scowled at her. Michael raised an eyebrow as Nyssa gestured for them to come with her, then turned on her heel and started walking towards the dining pavilion.
“Care to explain?”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“That’s the same excuse I made when you dragged me into the kitchen to bake cookies at night after Lee, and I was fucking starving. Don’t do it.”
“Mhm.”
“Jake…”
“I won’t. Promise.”
Michael hummed happily at that, and gently tugged Jake towards the pavilion. Jake smiled and squeezed his hand five times. Michael grinned.
Once for ‘I’m here’.
Twice for ‘help’.
Three times for ‘I need you’.
Four for ‘do you need me?’.
Five for ‘I love you’.