Percy Jackson, The Missing Hero.

20. The God of the Dead gets Next Day Delivery (Sometimes.)

Percy winced. "Hermes, look. I made an Oath to each and every person in my team that I would never intentionally reveal their identity to a god."

"We're going to have to stop teaching demigods about Oaths!" Hermes groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Can't you kids just use basic pinky promises?"

"I have never broken a pinky promise, pinky promises are sacred." Percy immediately retorted before reverting back to the topic at hand. "Look, I would love to confirm or deny whether it's Luke in that bed, or whether or not I'm the reason Luke's soul vanished from the Underworld, but I can't."

"I suppose you can't tell me either?" Hermes looked at Apollo with pleading eyes. "I know you would have had to take that mask off to check him over properly."

"Doctor-Patient confidentiality." Apollo shook his head sadly. "That's an Oath I don't break."

"Gods above, do I have to do everything around here?" Nico groaned, standing and crossing the short gap between the two beds for the second time, this time minus an IV pole. "I am neither one of Percy's team, nor am I a Doctor."

"There's nothing stopping me from taking the mask off myself." Hermes pointed out defensively, crossing his arms.

"But you won't." Percy pointed out. "Because you want to be right so badly that you can't bear the thought of being wrong."

"I miss my son." Hermes had tears welling in his eyes. "Is that a crime? I failed him in one life, here I am hoping that he's got a second one. What if that is him and I ruin his second life too?"

"Lord Hermes, I say this with all due respect, but some people in this room would kill for a second chance with a loved one." Nico sounded so heartbroken, Percy forgot who he was looking at for a moment. "So, if it is Luke in that bed, I seriously hope that you wouldn't ruin it. Because not everyone gets second chances. Even if they never should have been taken away in the first place. If you have got a second chance here, you'd better cherish every single fucking moment of it, or I'm going to haunt your ass until the day the world ends."

Percy really needed to corner Nico about that conversation he'd been delaying.

"I want to know." Hermes nodded.

Nico lifted the mask and placed it on the bedside table.

"That's my boy." Hermes openly started crying. "Kronos' balls Percy, you brought my son back."

Percy suddenly had an armful of crying god, which almost obscured the sight of Apollo reaching for Nico's hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. Percy had a horrible thought that he knew exactly what Apollo thought Nico had told him.

"Shouldn't you be hugging me, old man?" Luke rasped from the bed, eyes open and fixed on Hermes. The resemblance between the two was strong, obvious when Hermes heeded Luke's sentence and rushed to hug his son.

"We'll tell the council that you're busy." Apollo murmured. He was the one who led Percy and a pale, IV-less Nico out of the room.

Percy circled Nico's shoulders with his arm, giving him a gentle squeeze. "You know, you can talk to me whenever you want?" He offered gently. "I won't ask any questions until you want to give me the answers."

"I forget, sometimes, that you weren't there." Nico laughed bitterly. "Everyone else knows, I'm surprised nobody has told you yet."

"I hate to do this, but..." Apollo glanced at them and the door that led into the throne room. "We've kept them waiting long enough."

"We'll talk about it later, okay?" Nico pulled Percy into a proper hug. "Thank you," he whispered into his ear, "for being my brother."

They broke apart and squared their shoulders, ready to face the council.