He sees her by the amber light, looking as fragile as a porcelain doll, so fragile she may break. Her skin is feverish and her lips are shut tight; her eyelids flutter delicately every now and then: their only defense against the nightmares.

It was a brave act: Piper had sacrificed herself to let Percy and Annabeth out of Tartarus, rushing in and, just before the doors were completely sealed, urging them on. The last Jason had seen of her was a scared yet determined expression claiming her features in what she believed was her final farewell.

But they had gotten her out. And now she is... what? In a coma? Deep slumber? A week had passed already and-

Piper shudders. Jason looks around the room as if the cure for her was in it.

He shakes his head, shakes off the negative thoughts. He takes her hand and brushes his thumb across her knuckles, her fingertips. Jason kisses Piper's hand softly and lowers his forehead to it.

There is nothing more to do than wait.

She can feel him around her, thickening the air she's breathing. His demanding presence, almost electric, buzzes in the air. Piper tries to move but it is as if she was tightly bound to the big oak bed.

Even so, her hands are searching for him in a hazy state. She can feel him on the very tip of her fingers.

Her tongue, once able of such magic as charmspeak now dances behind her dry lips. She tries for his name but fails. So she tries once again, and again, and again.

"Jason?" A faint whisper, barely audible, reaches his ears.

His head shoots up and he searches madly for a sign that she's finally awake. But her eyelids are still shut, pupils darting around underneath them against better judgment, trying to see his face.

"Piper?" He is almost too afraid to ask, afraid of the silence that may reward his question.

"Jason."

This time he sees her lips move and her eyes flutter open. An immense feeling of joy rushes through Jason as he gathers her into his arms hastily, hugging her tight to him.

Numbly at first, her limp body reacts indifferently until she gains a little more control over her movements and she, too, clumsily hugs him back.

"I'm alive," Piper murmurs disbelievingly against his shoulder. "I thought...- In Tartarus-"

Stubbornly Jason shakes his head. "I thought so too, but no." He withdraws. "Oh, gods, Piper-"

Emotion and gratitude overwhelm him, taking over his speech. All he can do is stare, mute, in a state of adoration and wonder at his girlfriend. She is alive, she is okay.

The corners of her lips twitch upward in a feeble attempt of a smile. "Impressed it was me this time in the infirmary?"

Her words slur more pronouncedly each time. She is fading back into the vast emptiness, and her vision begins to spin.

Jason kisses Piper's forehead tenderly before releasing her gently onto the pillow. "It'd rather be me, honestly, Beauty Queen."

"Don't think so, Sparky."

Piper's eyes are already closing, closing, closed, but she wills them open just the tiniest bit, just to see him once again.

She can see Jason outlined against the soft light, his light hair turned to the color of the finest gold, his blue eyes as penetrating as ever. And kindness and love, so evidently etched into his features.

She closes her eyes and sighs contentedly. Unconsciousness, darkness, claims her once again, but this time she knows that she'll find a way back.

Easily.