Luke was still coming toward Nico and Will very slowly. It would've been obvious to anyone he was on his last leg. How long and far had he traveled to get here?

The son of Hermes stopped and his mouth opened, but nothing came out. Then his eyes rolled up into his head as he collapsed.

"Nico go back to the camp and get help," Will instructed.

Nico didn't hesitate. Meanwhile, Will tried to shift Luke in any capacity, which failed.

"Luke do you hear me?" Will asked, but all he detected was a very weak heartbeat.

Nico was back with the last person Will ever expected would want to be there: Percy Jackson.

Percy looked genuinely shocked.

"He won't last," Will told them. "We've got to get him back to camp!"

0ooo0ooo0

Luke groaned, and his head swam, seeming to recollect like pulling himself back together from some abyss.

He was lying against something soft, and someone was spooning nectar into his mouth, which tasted like his favorite food: peanut butter sandwiches.

He tried to force his eyes open, but it was all blurry. He was in a room somewhere, and a girl with blond hair was feeding him ambrosia.

Annabeth?

"A-Anna," Luke attempted weakly.

"Oh my gosh!" Annabeth's familiar voice exclaimed. "Luke! Are you with me!?"

"I-I'm trying," he stammered.

Everything phased out again, but the next time Luke awakened it was a lot better.

His eyes opened quite freely this time, and he knew this was the big house. He'd made it to where he would be safe...

"Annabeth," he called out gently. "Annabeth..."

However, it was that Nico boy that answered his calls- coming into the room like some ghost out of the shadows. He gave Luke a weird look.

"What is it?" Luke asked him. "Nico isn't it?"

"Yeah," Nico whispered, giving the son of Hermes a hard look. "Right now I'm trying to decide rather to let you live or not."

Luke was filled with some anxiety at that. He remembered that Nico was a son of Hades...

"I'm changed," Luke protested, attempting to sit up and falling right back against the sofa pillow. "N-Nico I..."

Nico only looked away at that. There were footsteps, and this time it was her!

Luke felt his heart fill with happiness and so many other emotions as she met his eyes.

Annabeth was looking at him with a conflicted look, but the softness in her gaze belied her real feelings.

"You're awake," she said gently.

"Miss me?" Luke asked with a small smile.

Annabeth's looked like she could cry, but she was running. She threw her arms around him, and buried her head in his shoulder.

"More than you'll ever know!" she sobbed. "Are you even real!?"

"Don't I feel real?" Luke asked, running his fingers through her blond hair.

She looked at him, but she didn't make him stop.

Luke recognized the look on her face. He'd known her over half their lives. She'd directed that emotion toward him so many times...

Luke's expression fell suddenly and he lowered his hand. Annabeth's eyes registered shock and confusion.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently.

"Nothing," Luke lied, managing a chuckle. "Just a little too overwhelmed to see you."

Annabeth smiled widely at that, but it was all overwhelming to her too.

How could it happen? Luke just comes back into her life suddenly, and already its like nothing changed between them.

She knew this feeling she'd always kept deep inside for the son of Hermes. She'd have to learn how to keep him distant again.

He was her brother, yes. Her friend, yes. There was really only one thing she'd ever wanted him to be though...

Luke had an effect on her. He always had. It wasn't like Percy.

Annabeth was really attracted to Luke physically. She knew that's mostly all it was, but it didn't stop that tingle from jolting her sensations when she looked at him now.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked her.

She shouldn't have looked. Luke's eyes were soft. They were his eyes. There was no Titan Lord in him now.

Right now he was looking up at her with the softest gaze, the way he used to look at her when they were siblings. They were siblings...

"You're still my brother," Annabeth said with a small smile. "Right Luke?"

Luke sighed at that, and his eyes closed, but he smiled.

"I'll always be your brother, Annabeth."

Annabeth nodded at that, and for the time being she'd managed to get her feelings under control.

That's how she'd always managed it with Luke. Luke was her brother. Nothing else...

She couldn't allow him to be anything else. She'd seen what he could be, and she'd almost given into him when he was on the wrong side.

That's what she would keep repeating to herself...

"I gotta go take care of something," Annabeth told him. "We'll talk later."

She tossed Luke a ziplock bag full of ambrosia.

"Careful with that stuff," she said with a wink.

Luke clutched the bag to his chest, but he didn't have the strength to open it. Tiredness still wracked his body, and he let unconsciousness claim him as its own once more.