live like you're dying (because you probably are)
The girl's shoulders were shaking, trembling beneath the tightening grip of her parents' hands. Dr. Solace began to explain what was going on, and as he got further into the description, the mother shed a tear. Piper's hands moved on their own accord as she passed the tissue box into the quivering hands of the dying girl.
Piper's own fingers shook when she retracted her hand, and she avoided the gaze of the patient and her colleague. Piper curled her hands into her mint green scrubs and plastered on a sombre yet somehow still optimistic expression.
Piper watched the girl silently. The patient had an expression on her face that was some hybrid between disappointment and nervousness. It made sense; it wasn't every day that people were diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. It was crushing to see this happen to so many innocent people, often children, but it was the reality of the job.
Nursing was a vast field, and when she had entered it, Piper hadn't known which way to go. Originally, she had looked into surgical nursing, or working in the emergency war, but she had found her calling paediatrics. She had been working alongside Dr. Will Solace for three years now, and Piper loved her job. It had its ups and downs, though the crushing diagnoses were always the hardest parts.
Dr. Solace stood from his red plastic chair and beckoned for the parents to follow him. Both the mother and father were hesitant to remove their shaking hands from their daughter but eventually went along. They exited the room, leaving Piper alone with the little girl.
A sniffle sounded from her patient, and Piper's eyes softened. The little girl was ten years old and had a mess of blonde curls and bright blue eyes. With the treatment that she would soon be receiving, Piper knew that she would lose her pretty hair and her blue eyes would lose their sparkle. She was determined to delay this for as long as possible.
"You're Lacy McGrena, right?" Piper asked, crouching to be at eye level with the little girl.
"Yeah," she replied softly.
"Well, Lacy, my name is Piper. You're probably going to be seeing a lot of me, and I think that we should get to know each other."
The blonde girl watched the nurse carefully, and Piper offered her a warm smile. "Don't you already know me? There's a file right there and everything," Lacy pointed out.
Piper glanced at the open medical file. "Well, I know your name, your birthday, and why you're here, but it doesn't tell me your favourite colour," Piper said smartly.
Lacy cracked a tiny smile. "Pink," she replied. "My favourite colour is pink."
"Pink is very nice, but I like purple the best." Piper smiled warmly at the young girl and tapped her lightly on the knee. Lacy grinned a little wider and laughed.
She cut off her laughter quickly, though, and her eyes went wide with curiosity. Piper glanced over her shoulder and saw a man looking through the window in the door. He had blonde hair and blue eyes like Lacy's, but they didn't look anything alike besides that. Piper creased her brow and turned back to her newest friend.
"Do you know him, sweetie?" She asked. When Lacy shook her head, Piper nodded.
"Alright, I'll just be one minute. You wait right here and think of your favourite vacation. I want to hear all about it when I get back. "
Lacy smiled again, and Piper stood up. She walked over to the door and slipped outside. The man looked abashed, and his cheeks were a little flushed. Piper out a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow at him. Before she could ask him a question, he supplied her with an answer.
"I'm so sorry for staring! I just got a little lost and thought that, at first, she might be my cousin's little girl. Then I saw you talking to her, and I was curious about what you were saying." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "I'm Jason," he introduced, offering her a hand.
Piper nodded slowly, sliding her fingers into his grip. "Piper. Piper McLean."
Jason dropped her hand quickly. "Is she alright?" he asked, looking past Piper towards Lacy.
Piper sighed. "Most of the kids in this area aren't. She has a brain tumour. The operation is risky, but Dr. Solace is talking to her parents about it now."
Jason's gaze dropped to his dress shoes. "I'm sorry. That must be hard on the parents and on yourself."
Piper's eyebrow drifted up. "Hard on me?"
"These kids," Jason explained, "You talk to them like they're real adults and like they're your friends. You treat them with respect, and you make connections. When they leave, one way or another, it has got to be hard on you."
Piper was almost speechless. No one had ever perfectly summed up her feelings about her job so accurately before. Her patients only left two ways, cured or dead, and both results had brought her more than a few tears in the past. Jason's eyes had locked onto hers and he seemed to be waiting for a response.
"Well, yes, it is hard," Piper finally got out, "but, you learn to cope with it and keep them positive. A positive day for them is another day they'll spend fighting."
"How do you do it?"
Piper smiled softly. "It's simple advice really, you just tell them to live like they're dying."
"That really works?" Jason was a little surprised, but Piper just turned to look back at Lacy lying on the hospital cot.
"It's enough most days," Piper revealed quietly.
Jason didn't reply and Piper noticed that he was just studying her face. His blue eyes were sharp and his face was angular. There was an adorable little scar on his lip that she wanted to reach out and brush her fingers against. She didn't, and snapped back into focus.
"Sorry. You said you thought that Lacy was the daughter of a friend of yours?" Piper asked. "Maybe I can help you find her."
"Yeah, that would be fantastic. Her name is Sarah. Her parents are Percy and Annabeth Jackson," Jason explained.
Piper blinked in surprise. "You know Percy and Annabeth?"
Jason raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, Percy's my cousin. You know them too?"
Piper laughed and swept a lock of hair behind her ear. "I was one of the bridesmaids at their wedding, Annabeth's college roommate, and I'm currently Sarah's nurse. I definitely know the Jackson family."
He smiled and Piper felt heat nip at her cheeks. He had little dimples on his cheeks too.
"Come this way," she directed, "Sarah's room is over here."
They walked in silence down the east wing until they reached Room 258B. Through the window, Piper could glimpse Sarah's short, dark hair and her parents sitting in the uncomfortable visitors' chairs. Jason seemed to be simply studying the family, and Piper took another moment to study him. He wore an expensive tailored suit, and there was a familiar pin on his lapel. She wracked her brain for where she'd seen it before, but she couldn't think of anything concrete.
"It's horrible," Jason remarked suddenly. He glanced down at her, and Piper cocked her head, waiting for him to explain. "These kids, they're all so young. I guess we never really think about what's happening until it happens to someone close to us."
Piper sighed. "That seems to be the reality for most people. I come to work every day, and I have to deal with children who are just about ready to give up and parents who just want their kids to be happy and healthy and grow up. It's hard for everyone."
"Anyway, thanks, Piper. I should let you get back to work," Jason said smoothly.
Piper smiled and rapped twice on the wooden door. Annabeth and Percy both looked towards the door. "Tell Annabeth that I say hello, and that I'll be by later to see Sarah."
Jason gave her one last winning smile and stepped through the doorway. Piper turned on her heel and walked back down the hallway, intent on returning to Lacy. She was just twisting the doorknob when her phone pinged in the pocket of her scrubs. She slid inside the room, smiled at Lacy, and checked the text message. It was from Annabeth.
Turn on the TV. Right now!
Piper frowned, and Lacy blinked at her. "Piper, is everything okay?" the patient asked shyly.
Piper mustered a smile for the girl. "Everything's fine sweetie, but would you pass me the remote please?"
The girl tossed Piper the black remote for the small television in the corner of the hospital room, and the nurse clicked it on. Thankfully she didn't have to channel-surf to find what Annabeth thought was so important. The news channel was broadcasting as soon as the appliance was powered on. Piper's breath caught in her chest and her knuckles whitened on the remote as she studied the text scrolling along the bottom of the screen.
Lacy was watching the screen too. "An asteroid? Aren't those just the big rocks in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter?"
A lump formed in Piper's throat. "Technically an asteroid is any large chunk of, usually, rock in space. The largest known collection is in the asteroid belt, but they exist in other places in space too."
The young blonde girl's eyes were still fixed on the television screen, and Piper fumbled a moment before she clicked the TV off. The words of the newscast swam in her head, but she knew that she had to distract her patient. Piper placed the remote down on the table to her left and knit her fingers behind her back. She smiled warmly at Lacy.
"Well sweetie, I believe I was going to ask about your favourite vacation," Piper reminded her.
Lacy grinned and began telling Piper all about the time that she went to Cuba when she was seven, sufficiently distracted.
Ten minutes later, Lacy's parents returned with Dr. Solace, and it was time for Piper to go visit Sarah Jackson. She hurried down the hallway, wanting to both check-up on her friend and her patient. When she peeked through the small door window, Piper noticed that Percy and her new acquaintance Jason were both gone. Annabeth however, was still sitting at the bedside. Piper gently pushed the door open, the squeak from the hinges causing the blonde woman to glance at her.
Annabeth had a creased brow and bags under her eyes. Her hair was a little frizzier than usual, and she looked pretty frazzled. Piper crossed the room and stood next to her, looking down at the young girl on the bed. Sarah was sleeping peacefully, the dark hair inherited from her father lying in a black circlet on the hospital pillow. Annabeth's grey eyes flickered between her daughter and her friend. Piper rested a hand reassuringly on her shoulder.
"It seems statistically impossible and so incredibly far away. They gave it 150 days, you know," Annabeth muttered.
Piper gently leant over the bed, pressing her fingers gently into the radial artery on Sarah's wrist before resting the back of her hand on the girl's forehead. "Annabeth, it's an asteroid. How many times before have people tried to say the world was ending? Remember 2012?"
The architect sighed. "Piper, this is different. It's never been on breaking national news with real scientific evidence to back it up."
The nurse picked up her file and a pen, but couldn't bring herself to write anything in it. Instead, she dumped the file on the edge of Sarah's bed and awkwardly wrapped her arms around the sitting Annabeth. "We'll be fine, Annabeth," Piper promised.
The blonde sighed, her eyes steeling a little. "I'm worried about her," she admitted, brushing aside a lock of her daughter's hair. "All Percy and I wanted was to raise a healthy family. Our first daughter gets cystic fibrosis and now we learn that we may not even get to have any more. We fought so hard to get here so why is it all being taken away?"
Piper exhaled slowly. Annabeth and Percy had fought hard to raise a family, and it was crushing to see their baby girl slowly dying because of an incurable disease. "I don't know," she replied softly, brushing some of Annabeth's curls away from her face. "I have to go finish this paperwork. You should go home and get some rest. Probably get some work done too."
Annabeth let out a long sigh. She touched her daughter's hand one last time and locked eyes with Piper. "You're right, as usual. You'll call if there's any change?"
Piper had once been unnerved by her friend's sharp grey eyes, but now they were just so sad that Piper was sure her own eyes looked fairly dull and unhappy too. They had a tendency to mirror her emotions. "You'll be the first one I call," she assured. Annabeth nodded and scooped up her purse from the ground.
"Piper," Annabeth started, hovering at the door of the hospital room, "if the world is really ending, don't work yourself into the ground."
Piper smiled as best she could. "Come on Annabeth, I'll be fine. Besides, I'm sure this whole 'end of the world' buzz will fade soon enough."
It didn't.
Much to Piper's dismay, the buzz didn't seem to be fading. More and more studies were providing supporting evidence, and more and more people were panicking. Businesses were closing, and people were starting to do things on their bucket lists. For years Piper had preached about living life to the fullest to her patients, and as the world slowly came to an end, it seemed like everyone was taking her advice.
Several members of the staff at the hospital had quit, and several families had just yanked their family from the hospital to live out the end of the world at home. Piper knew that it would be the same all around the world, but the fact that the panic was so widespread was a little alarming. She had figured that doctors and nurses, many of them incredibly smart people, would realise that their jobs were still important. Sadly, like the rest of the population, panic seemed to play a large role in their decisions and they pulled out of work.
Percy and Annabeth left Sarah at the hospital, but they each carved out more time to spend with their daughter. Lacy's parents rejected the surgery that could have saved Lacy since the world was supposed to end, and they took their daughter on another vacation to Cuba. Many of Piper's other patients had disappeared too, and she was conflicted. They were in danger since they weren't receiving the help they needed, but they were truly living life to the fullest.
It was three weeks into the panic of impending doom when Piper's closest friend at the hospital, another nurse named Kayla, quit, and she started to finally see what all the panic was about. It was a snap decision, but during her break she found herself sitting on a bench in an empty hallway with her ringing phone pressed to her ear, calling a number she hadn't called in a very long time.
"¿Hola? Esto es Leo." The Spanish was something that Piper hadn't heard in a very long time and the voice was familiar. There was a loud crash in the background and some yelling in Spanish and a dull thrum of background noise on the other end. Piper almost broke down in tears right then.
"Leo?" she asked, her tone wobbling.
"Beauty Queen?" Her friend switched into English and Piper heard the genuine surprise in his voice. "No way! It's been so long!"
Piper felt salty tears prick at the corners of her eyes as her lips tilted into a smile. "Hey, Repair Boy," she greeted. "How's the end of the world treating you?"
"Business is slow, but that's to be expected. Can we just take a minute to appreciate the fact that you're calling me for the first time in almost a year?" he responded, disbelief still a little sharp in his voice.
"I know," Piper said softly, "it's been too long."
Leo was quiet on the other end for a minute, and there was a loud bang before all the background noise cut out. Piper assumed he'd escaped the noise of the workshop and gone into his office. "Why are you calling now, Beauty Queen?"
Piper picked at the hem of her scrubs with her free hand. "Live like you're dying, I suppose."
Leo's laugh was short. "Still preaching that, are you?"
"I deal with dying children every day of my life, Leo, I have to give them hope somehow. And now, we're all dying anyway, since apparently, an asteroid is going to collide with the planet and kill everyone."
"When you put it that way it sounds a little morbid, mi querida," he said. His tone was trying to be light, but there were heavy undertones that Piper couldn't ignore.
"You haven't called me that in a while," Piper said, picking up on the endearing term.
"We haven't spoken in a while," Leo rebuffed.
She let out a low breath. "I know." The words were heavy and Piper knew that she missed her best friend a lot more than she let on. "What are you doing Saturday?" she asked suddenly.
"Saturday?" Leo asked, surprise evident in his voice, "I don't think I have any plans. Why?"
Piper picked at the end of her fingernails, a small smile etched onto her face. "I need a break, and I've got some air miles burning a hole in my pocket."
"You're coming to New York," Leo completed. "Piper, that's amazing! I'll totally see you this weekend then. I need to get some work done now, Beauty Queen, so give me a call when you get here."
Piper smiled. "Of course, Repair Boy; I'll see you on Saturday!" She ended the call, but the smile didn't fade off her face. It was a good day, she decided.
She headed to the airport on Friday. She had tried with several different airlines to get a standby ticket to New York, but she wasn't having much luck. She had just finished talking to the woman at the counter of United Airlines and Piper was just about ready to give up. She sat down on a bench and dropped her purse to the ground beside her. She rubbed her temples and let out an irritated sigh.
"Of course because the world is ending, I can't get a flight to New York City. I mean, it's not like it's one of the biggest cities in this country or anything," she grumbled.
Someone calling her name interrupted her irritated musings. Piper's hands dropped into her lap, her back straightened and she looked around for whoever had called out to her. It didn't take her long to find the culprit. Jason was standing a little ways away, but he was looking right at her so Piper didn't question if he had been the one to call to her.
She stood and smiled warmly at him. "Hi Jason, what brings you to the airport?"
"I'm flying to New York this afternoon to see my sister. What about you?" he asked politely.
Piper couldn't help but notice that he was wearing a light blue shirt that set off his eyes very nicely and he looked much more casual than the first time they'd met. He looked very cute and she would admit that much. "I'm actually trying to get to New York as well, but I'm having a hard time finding a flight."
"Fly with me!" Jason suggested, a broad smile stretching on his face.
Piper recoiled a little. "What do you mean?"
Jason blinked. "Oh, I guess I never really introduced myself. I'm Jason Grace. By fly with me, I meant come in my jet with me."
It took all of her composure to keep her mouth shut. "Oh god, you're the son of Jupiter Grace, owner of Jupiter Air. That explains the pin! It was for the airline and god I feel like an idiot!"
Jason laughed. "I get that reaction a lot. Now come on, I can get you to New York with no charge."
Piper extended the handle on her suitcase and scooped up her purse. "You are such a lifesaver. My friend would have been pretty mad since I told him I'd come see him if I didn't make it out."
Jason nodded. "I can imagine." He led her towards the exit of the airport and Piper followed. They walked around the edges of the terminal, admittedly a pretty long walk, towards the private planes. "So you're going to New York to visit a friend?"
Piper nodded. "My best friend. We haven't spoken in a while since we do live on opposite ends of the country, but I called him the other day and decided to visit him in New York."
"I guess that's one way to live like you're dying," Jason said. Piper glanced at him, surprised.
"You remember that?" She asked.
He nodded. "You're kind of unforgettable." Piper felt heat tinge her cheeks. It was a cheesy line, but it was a good one. Drew would have approved.
At the thought of her sister, Piper nearly blanched. They weren't on good terms, but they hadn't seen each other since they were teenagers. There was a possibility, a slim one, but a possibility none the less, that she and Drew would be able to see more eye to eye. Her drifting thoughts were suddenly anchored when she realised that Jason was giving her a funny look.
"Sorry!" she yelped. "I just spaced out for a second there."
Jason laughed and the scar on his lip rippled. Piper bit her own lip to stop from smiling at the adorableness. "I just asked how you ended up on opposite sides of the country as your best friend."
"Well my dad lives in LA, so it was a natural choice to want to be close to him, even if we aren't the closest. Leo had something to prove on the east coast however and he started his garage out there in New York," Piper explained.
Jason just stared. "No way. Leo as in Leo Valdez, the repair guy of Long Island?"
Now Piper was staring. "What are the chances?" She asked, almost weakly.
Jason let out a disbelieving laugh. "Almost a million to one, but he was my roommate for a while at university before he dropped out to open his garage."
"You're the blonde superman he used to talk about?" Piper gaped.
Jason laughed. "This is absurd. We both know Percy and Annabeth and we both know Leo. Next, you're going to tell me that you know Frank and Hazel!"
Piper's heart pounded in her chest. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," she muttered. "This is impossible. It has to be impossible."
Jason's jaw slackened. "No way. You know Frank and Hazel."
"I know Frank and Hazel," Piper confirmed. "I was in San Francisco with my dad a couple of years ago and I met them at the airport. We still keep in touch, but we're not super close."
Jason ran a hand through his hair. "This is insane. This is absolutely insane."
Piper giggled. "Honestly my life is so insane anyways and with this whole end of the world business I don't even know what to say anymore."
Jason smiled again and Piper was starting to really like his smile. It went all the way to his eyes and it was genuine, often a rarity. "How about we continue the discussion of how our lives mysteriously intersect on the way to New York?"
Piper glanced up and realised they were right outside the private jet. It was pretty ordinary looking aside from the large 'Jupiter Airlines' scrawled along both sides. She adjusted her purse strap as Jason opened the door of the plane. "I'd love to."
As it turned out, there were not any more mysterious connections between Jason, Piper and their friends. Piper learned that Jason had grown up on the west coast in the Bay Area whereas she had grown up all over the world, from Los Angeles to New York City to London thanks to her father.
They exchanged coming of age stories, and Jason sheepishly explained that the scar on his lip, the cute one, had been made when he tried to eat a stapler when he was two. Piper told him stories about travelling with her dad and a lot of the weird things that she had done with her father before he became distant, detached, and too absorbed in his career. She made sure to steer clear of his name too.
They landed in New York in what felt like not enough time and Piper admitted to herself that she'd miss Jason's company. It was nice to talk to someone who understood and actually cared. In her opinion, the world could use more interesting people; Jason certainly was interesting.
The small private plane landed quite far from the main terminal, and Jason graciously gave Piper a lift back to the main terminal where she could grab a cab out front. Travellers of all shapes and sizes were streaming out the doors of the JFK airport and Piper had to practically grab Jason's arm so she didn't get ripped away from him.
"Thank you so much for the lift Jason. I really appreciate it," she said firmly.
Jason's lips tilted up into another handsome smile and he winked. "It's nothing," he assured her. "Any time."
Piper glanced away from him briefly and spotted a cab that was just letting out passengers. She waved frantically at the driver and the cabbie nodded to her. She turned back to Jason and noticed that his ears were a little pink and his blue eyes were fixated on her. She bit back a smile; he had been checking her out.
"If you ever need a lift anywhere, just give me a call," Jason said suddenly.
Piper put her hand on her hip and let her lips widen into a sly smirk. "I will keep that in mind, but to do so, I'll probably actually need your number." She extended her hand expectantly and after a beat passed, Jason placed his unlocked phone in her hand.
Piper swiped right on his home screen, looking for his contact app, and almost cooed at the photo of Jason and Percy that was the wallpaper. Her Yankee friend had an arm slung around Jason's shoulders and the two boys both had wide smiles. Percy was wearing a shirt that Piper recognised since she had picked it out with Annabeth and Jason was wearing a simple white t-shirt. They couldn't have been older than seventeen in the photo.
She finally found the app and opened a new contact. She entered her name as Piper, but left the last name slot blank. Piper punched in her number and her email for good measure before saving the contact, locking the phone and passing it back to Jason. He pocketed and smiled broadly.
"I'll text you then," he said simply.
Piper nodded and her cabbie honked, impatient. "Well, my ride's leaving. Hope your sister is doing well," she said. She extended the handle on her suitcase and pulled it towards the curb and the waiting car.
"Say hello to Leo for me!" Jason called.
Piper laughed and waved one last time before ducking into the cab. The leather seats were cracked and very old and the whole car smelt of smoke. The driver let out an irritated huff as he twisted in his seat to look back at her. Piper smiled at him. He looked a little confused at her outward optimism, but just grunted.
"Where can I take you?" he grumbled.
"Uh, Leo Valdez's garage. I don't have the address open, but I can find it in one second," Piper said, digging into her pocket for her phone.
"Don't bother," the cabbie interrupted. "I know where it is."
Piper just blinked and lowered her phone. The driver turned away and peeled away from the road. She sunk down into her seat and flipped out her phone. The time blared at her from the screen in the dark cab. It was late. To fly from L.A. to New York took up a majority of the day, and then the time change was another factor. It was later in the evening and Piper was starting to doubt her hypothesis that Leo would still be at work, but she had to try.
Her phone vibrated and she opened the new text message. It was from an unknown number, but the text contained a phone number matching the one at the top of the screen and an email address. She knew that it was from Jason. She entered his information into a new contact and replied back with a smiley face. He didn't reply and Piper assumed that his phone was either off, or he had it tucked away somewhere.
For the rest of her cab ride, Piper alternated between staring out the windows at New York City, and staring at the phone clutched in her lap. She hadn't been to New York in a long while and a big part of her had missed it. Los Angeles was a big city, but it had a different character from the Big Apple. Piper knew why Leo, and some other friends, had settled here.
While she was thinking on the topic other friends in New York, Piper's mind flashed once again to her half-sister Drew. They hadn't seen each other in years, and Piper knew that the possibility that Drew really cared about anything she had to say was slim, they were still sisters. She opened a new messaged and punched in Drew's contact name.
The message sat blankly in front of her for a moment before she finally knew what she wanted to say. Hey Drew, it's Piper. I'm in New York for the weekend visiting Leo. Maybe since the world is ending and stuff, we could get coffee. I know we don't really get along, but we ARE sisters. Just give me a ring. If you're interested. She hit send and dropped her phone back onto her lap.
By a glance out the window, Piper noticed that they had reached the lower end of Manhattan. Leo's shop was in the northern end of the city, close to the Bronx. She drummed her fingers along the windowsill. There was still a good distance of the city to cross so Piper reached into her purse and fished out her headphones. They were tangled hopelessly, as headphones always were, but Piper just untangled them and plugged the jack into her phone.
Tapping her fingers to the beat of the music, Piper leant her head against the cold glass of the window. Her breath would cause the glass to steam up occasionally. She traced a star in the moisture, taking a pause from the tapping. Her eyes fluttered occasionally; she was exhausted.
The next thing she knew, the cab had hit a bump and she jolted awake. The driver had turned onto a side street and Piper knew this neighbourhood. The shambling buildings and smoke cluttered ally were customary sights from Leo's Skype calls. Piper felt a small smile tilt her lips up.
The main garage door was propped up, light flooding out from beneath the crack. The car rolled to a stop and the driver coughed loudly. Piper smiled at him in the dingy rear-view mirror. She fiddled with the lock on the door and it popped open. The New York air was nippy and Piper pulled her jacket around her. The driver rolled down his window and Piper approached him, pulling out her wallet.
"How much?" she asked.
"Eighty-five," the cabbie replied dryly.
Piper nodded. She pulled out two fifty-dollar bills and passed them to the driver. She then grabbed her purse and headed towards the trunk to grab her suitcase. As she pulled the luggage from the back and slammed the trunk shut, the driver opened his door and walked towards her.
"Miss, you overpaid by fifteen dollars," he explained, offering her change back to her.
Piper shook her head and smiled. "I am not sure what you're talking about. The world is ending, isn't it? What good is fifteen dollars going to do for me? Keep the change," she insisted.
The driver, whose scowling facade hadn't cracked at all through the whole drive, smiled at her, crooked teeth and all. "Thank you for your kindness Miss."
Piper touched two fingers to her forehead and headed towards Leo's garage. The cab pulled away and Piper kicked at the metal bottom of the door. It rattled on its hinges and Piper heard a distinctive curse from further inside.
"I'm coming! I'm coming," someone called. There was a loud crash and Piper muffled a laugh.
The door was heaved open and the bright light from inside the shop momentarily blinded her. Leo stood, holding the door up, looking exactly as she'd remembered him. When he recognised her, his elfish features split into a wide grin.
"Well Beauty Queen, when you said you'd be coming to New York this weekend, I certainly wasn't expecting this kind of arrival," he joked. He nodded towards the inside and Piper dragged herself and her bags into the garage.
"I'm unpredictable you know," Piper added.
Leo laughed. "Sure, sure. How'd you know I'd still be at the shop at this hour?"
Piper shrugged. "Lucky guess to be honest," she admitted.
"Live like you're dying then," Leo presumed. Piper smiled.
The shop was well lit and smelled of machine oil. Leo tossed an oil-coated towel onto a workbench and ran his hands through his short, curly hair. "Since you're here, we might as well call it a day. I assume you intend on staying at my place?" he asked.
"As long as you hadn't been evicted, that was the idea," Piper drawled.
Leo laughed and grabbed a large key ring off the table. "Why don't you just wait at the front while I lock everything up," he suggested.
Piper grinned. "Don't take too long Repair Boy or I might just steal your car. You were the one who taught me to hot-wire," she reminded.
Leo rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. I'm hurrying," he assured her.
Piper made her way back towards the garage entrance and Leo disappeared into the back. Piper's phone chimed and she glanced at her purse in confusion. She dug her phone out, wiping away a crumpled sticker from the hospital, and stared at the message preview. Disbelieving, she quickly unlocked her phone and read the message in whole.
Of course you would take time off to come visit your little grease monkey friend. I'll be in downtown Manhattan tomorrow for a meeting, so I won't be able to meet up. However, if your friend has Internet, call me tomorrow morning. Like you said, we are sisters and the world is ending.
Drew's message was snippy, exactly as Piper remembered her half-sister. Even if they couldn't meet up face-to-face, maybe a video call would suffice. Besides, if Drew was still completely insufferable, this way Piper would have the option to hang up on her. She typed a short response, telling Drew she'd phone at 9, before dropping her phone back into the abyss she called a purse.
Leo strolled out of the back as she did so, swinging his keys and whistling, and Piper laughed out loud. Her friend was a dork, but it had been too long. Leo slung an arm over her shoulders and ruffled her hair with surprisingly oil-free hands. "Let's go McLean," he said, pulling her out of the shop. He paused and lowered the garage door, locking it.
Piper snapped her fingers as she remembered what Jason had asked of her. "Hey Leo, Jason Grace says hello," she recited.
Leo spun on his heel and stared at her incredulously. "Wait you met Superman? When?" he demanded.
"We met three weeks ago when he popped into the hospital to visit Sarah, but he actually flew me out to New York on his jet. He's the reason I'm here at all," she said.
Leo scratched the back of his head and let a slightly wistful expression take shape. "I haven't heard from him in a while, but it's cool you guys got to meet. What did you think of him?" Leo asked, curiosity bright in his voice.
"He's nice," Piper described. "He's also smart, funny and a real trooper if he can be friends with both you and Percy."
Leo shoved her shoulder lightly, but he was grinning. They got to his car, a fix-up job of a 1971 Corvette. Leo had nicknamed it Festus, and Piper was very impressed with the work he'd done. Originally the owner had brought it in, trying to get a value on it, but Leo had begged him to sell and ended up with his own classic car.
"Tell me all about your crush on Peter Pan," Leo teased. "I want to hear all about it."
The next morning, Piper woke in a tangle of blankets on Leo's couch. His apartment was small and definitely not clean, but it had a lived in feel. A quick glance at the clock displayed above the TV showed the time to be 8:30. Piper recalled promising Drew to phone at 9, so she kicked off the blankets and dragged herself into the bathroom to get ready.
When she emerged, Leo was pouring milk into a bowl of cereal at the counter in his kitchen. He slid her a bowl, cereal, but no milk, and passed her the carton when he was finished. Piper nodded her thanks and made her own breakfast. She set up her laptop on Leo's kitchen table and pulled her hair into an acceptable ponytail. Piper could already feel Drew's judging words and she hadn't even called her sister.
Leo seemed to notice the frown that twisted at her features when she pulled up Skype on her desktop because he squeezed her shoulder reassuringly before ducking out of the kitchen to give her some privacy. Piper hit the call button and after only two rings, Drew answered.
Drew was half-Japanese and half-Caucasian, but her Japanese heritage was obvious. She was strikingly beautiful and had soft brown eyes that didn't seem to fit with the permanent frown painted on her face. She was dressed in a tailored suit and had her hair done up in a sleek, work-appropriate bun. Her make-up was done to perfection and Piper felt underdressed, even through a computer screen.
The sisters had sat in silence for almost a full minute now, just sizing each other up, and Piper cracked first. "It's good to see you Drew," she greeted carefully.
Drew nodded. "It's certainly been a while."
The response felt short and forced, but Piper understood that for the two of them, all forms of communication would feel the same. "How's work?" she asked.
"It's going well. Mr. Kors is pushing ahead his collection thanks to the whole asteroid business, so I'll be flying to London soon," Drew explained. "Everyone should care about their appearance, even if the world is ending."
Piper felt the last comment was definitely a jab at her comfortable appearance. "Live like you're dying," she replied pleasantly.
Drew scowled. "Still preaching that, are you?"
Piper set her jaw. "Look Drew, I work with dying children. They need some semblance of happiness and if that has to be me, then it will be me," she snapped.
Drew raised her hands in surrender. "I get it, I get it. Any real reason you called, or were you just making sure that my world hadn't ended yet?"
Piper shrugged. "I don't know really. We haven't spoken in a long time and I just thought I ought to check in."
Drew's lips flattened. "You wanted to ask about Mom, didn't you?"
Piper bit her tongue. As much of a selfish brat as Drew could be, she was very perceptive. "Yes," she admitted. "Have you heard anything?"
"Not since Mitchell and Greyson got married, and you were there for that. Look Piper, I'm sorry that you live on the opposite side of the country and that you don't get to see Mom, or your dad often," Drew said patiently.
Piper's brow rose. It was rare to hear such a genuine statement from her sister. Usually, they spat acid at each other. Mitchell had seated them in opposite corners of his wedding reception for that reason, yet here they were, having a civil conversation about the woman that had dumped both of their fathers with infant baby girls just a year apart. Piper watched her sister for another moment and caught Drew's eyes flickering to her watch and her expression changed to a slightly more worried and impatient one.
"I shouldn't keep you from your meeting," Piper said, remembering Drew's message from the night before. Her sister's shoulders relaxed a little.
"I do have to go," Drew confirmed. "Hey, Piper? We may not always get along, but take care of yourself okay?"
Piper recoiled, but felt a gentle smile slip onto her face. "You too Drew. Tell Mr. Kors hello for me, and I hope your meeting goes well."
Drew nodded and gave Piper a tiny, brisk wave before the call clicked to an end. Piper stared at her screensaver for another moment before closing her laptop and letting out a long breath of air. She was right. Drew was surprisingly more civil during the end of the world than she was in a usual conversation. Whatever kind of closure they had just shared was surprisingly comforting.
Leo's bedroom door opened and he poked his head out. "Am I safe to come out, or are all your nuclear weapons still primed for assault?"
Piper laughed breathily and shook her head. "It's all good Leo. Drew and I were, for lack of better terms, civil to one another."
Leo practically fell over. "This is the same Drew Tanaka who threw a hissy-fit the first time you met because your bag was more expensive that her dad's car."
Piper suppressed a smile. "Time changes people," she reminded him.
"So she's still a satanic bitch, but less of one to you since the world is ending."
"Exactly," Piper confirmed, bobbing her head.
Leo snorted. "Perfect." He crossed the room and pulled out the chair next to her. "How would you like to come to the shop with me this morning while I get some work done, and then we could go visit the gallery you like so much or something."
At Leo's mention of the MET, Piper brightened. "It sounds like a perfect day, Mr. Valdez," she informed him matter-of-factly.
Leo gave her a lopsided smile. "Then let's go!" he cheered.
New York was one of the most refreshing trips in Piper's life. Being with Leo after they'd been apart for so long was nice and Piper had missed her best friend more than she'd realised. The weekend passed too quickly for her and when she hugged Leo goodbye, there was a nagging in her brain that reminded her this would probably be the last time she saw him. Piper was never a crier, but she was holding back tears as Leo dropped her off at the airport.
Jason had met her there and he embraced Leo like the old friends they were. From there, he'd put up with Piper's worried ramblings that she might never see Leo again. She was impressed with Jason's ability to listen and the fact that he never complained. They didn't have to wait long for his private jet and Piper really appreciated the convenience of the whole thing. She thanked Jason several times, but he just laughed her off and said that everyone should help everyone whenever possible.
They parted in LAX, having exchanged numbers, and Piper made Jason promise that if there was anything she could do for him, he would let her do it. He lived in northern Los Angeles and Piper lived downtown, but Jason worked downtown, and he promised to pop in on her if there was ever a time where he wasn't super busy.
Returning to her job in Los Angeles was not the cakewalk that it could have been. As it turned out, more staff members had left and more patients had left, but that meant there were gaps where Piper couldn't fill her time taking care of people, so she ended up hovering around her remaining patients for longer periods of time. Since many staff members had left, Piper had been assigned a lot of new work outside her department with older patients who were sick, injured, or dying. Some of them, or the ones with perceptive families, would tell her to go take a break, but Piper found herself unable to.
She felt a strong sense of duty to pay company to people, especially to those who didn't have families or who had families that weren't able to be there for them. She often spent close to an hour holding a conversation with certain people, just to try and brighten their days. There were a few people who Piper made a constant effort to visit just to make them feel cared for.
One such person was May Castellan. Her son Luke was a Corporal overseas and she had no other family. She was demented and suffering from severe stomach cancer. May was a very sweet lady, but her dementia didn't allow her to hold many conversations well, but Piper felt horrible that her son was never able to visit her. She stopped in to see Mrs. Castellan several times a day, but found that the older lady didn't remember many of her visits.
When she was finishing up her rounds one evening, Piper saw Percy and Annabeth exchanged in a heavy conversation just outside Sarah's room. Annabeth looked close to tears, so Piper decided to check on her friends. She approached slowly to make sure that her intrusion wasn't unwelcome.
"Is everything okay?" she asked carefully.
Percy laughed and smiled. He ran his hand through his hair and Piper saw the echoes of disbelief in his expression. "Everything is great! There's a researcher in San Francisco who claims he's developed a cure for cystic fibrosis!"
Annabeth exhaled wearily. "So far the tests have been a success and multiple subjects have already reported the disease disappearing with treatment. We were just told by our bank that we'll have enough for the treatment for Sarah!"
Piper felt a wide smile engulf her face. "That's amazing! You'll be able to get out of this place and Sarah will be healthy! I'm so happy for you guys!" She leant forwards and wrapped her arms around her friends. "Sometimes all you need is a miracle," Piper murmured as Percy and Annabeth both hugged her back.
Percy pulled away first. "I'm going to go buy Sarah some flowers for when we tell her the news. I'll make sure to get the prettiest ones I can find!" He smiled brightly at his wife and friend before he turned and nearly skipped off down the hall.
Annabeth started explaining what exactly the process was that Sarah would go through, but all Piper was thinking about was the flowers. She wondered who would bring flowers to May Castellan if she beat her stomach cancer. Nobody would bring flowers to her, or people like her who had no family able to visit. Piper decided she had just gotten an excellent idea.
She excused herself from Annabeth's company, congratulating her friend once more. She pulled out her phone and fired a text to Jason. What are you doing tonight?
He replied almost right away. Nothing that I'm aware of, why?
How would you feel about delivering flowers? she inquired.
Several hours later, Piper was standing outside Sarah's room, holding a bouquet of calla lilies. The flowers were perfect for what Piper wanted. They meant life and they looked pretty when by themselves. With Jason's help, Piper had delivered a lily to each and every one of her patients and to many of those that weren't.
Sometimes the people had been asleep, so they left them on a night table for a secret surprise. When the patients were awake, they seemed so blown away that Piper and Jason had brought them flowers, that a few had burst into tears. May Castellan, in particular, had declared it the most beautiful flower she had ever seen and had given both Piper and Jason a kiss on the cheek for gratitude.
The overwhelming emotion she'd felt in the last hour, despite it being the middle of the night, was astounding. It was one of the things she loved most about her job and she was really feeling that the world had aligned. It appeared that Jason was feeding off the same high as she was, since he hadn't stopped smiling since they started delivering the flowers either.
Jason bumped her shoulder lightly and she tore her eyes away from Sarah's door to look at him. "Piper, you're amazing. You do this stuff for people you hardly know. You treat everyone equally and you bring life to these people who might have no other reason to live. You have a hard job," he praised.
Piper felt her cheeks warm. "Every time we talk about my work, we always end up on the topic of my amazingness. Let's stay away from that tonight," she suggested. Jason laughed, but he agreed to stop calling her amazing for the time being.
Soon after, they'd delivered flowers to all of Piper's patients and it was getting late. Piper promised to let Jason know when her next day off was so that they could get coffee or something, and they parted on the dark Los Angeles street corner in front of the hospital. Piper watched his figure disappear down the street and she found herself unable to wipe the smile off her face.
It was two weeks before the scheduled collision when Piper's world broke apart again. Everything had been going smoothly; some of her patients were recovering, she and Jason had dinner once a week, and she talked to Leo and Annabeth often. But she was sitting in a hard plastic chair in the breakroom when the owner of the hospital broke the news. The hospital was out of money; they were closing.
The other nurses and doctors and employees were all rightfully upset, but Piper was shattered. She could barely make it home after her last day of nursing before she broke down. In fact, she didn't even make it out of her car. Her head thumped against the steering wheel as her heart hammered and her mind throbbed. Piper's hands gripped, white-knuckled, against the wheel and she took deep breaths to try and calm herself. Everything was falling apart.
Her phone buzzed in the cupholder of the car and she tilted her head slightly to look down at the display. The message preview was blurry through her tears, so she slowly picked it up with her right hand. She swiped to unlock her phone and looked at the. It was from Jason, asking if they were still on for dinner later. Piper sighed and looked out the windshield of her car.
Several raindrops had burst against the glass and there were more on the way. Originally, Jason was supposed to take her to a nice restaurant in Beverly Hills later, but she just couldn't find the energy to join him today. She typed in her response, I had a super long day, don't think I'll be joining you—will explain later!, and hit send. Hopefully, he'd understand.
Judging by his reaction, a text asking if he could come over then, she knew he understood. Piper informed Jason that she had absolutely no food at her apartment, but he was welcome to come if he wanted. He replied saying he'd pick up some take-out on the way. Piper laughed lightly and brushed some remaining tears away. Of course he would, he was just like that.
Since Jason was on his way, Piper forced herself to leave her car. She wrapped her thin jacket around her tightly and trudged through the hazy rain to the door of her apartment building. A blurry glimpse in the front window told her that her makeup was smudged beyond repair and she sighed, rubbing at a particularly large splotch under her right eye. Thankfully no one was on the ground floor, so she headed to the elevator quickly, pushing the three button for her floor.
She let herself into her apartment and made immediately for the bathroom, dumping her bag and jacket on the floor by her door. Piper cleared her face of makeup and gripped the edge of her sink. She squinted at herself, scrutinising, and wondered what Jason would think. He would be sympathetic of course, but she wondered if he'd think any less of her. She shook her head; he was Jason. Jason was too nice to think anything bad about anyone.
It didn't take long for him to show up at her apartment, holding a bag of take-out from Piper's favourite Chinese restaurant. She smiled and let him in. He was damp, an understandable problem thanks to the rain outside, and there were patches on his purple shirt that were darkened from the rain. He was wearing his glasses today, and Piper felt her lips unconsciously curl into a smile. She had always thought they were cute.
They headed into Piper's cramped kitchen to dish up the food, and Jason hadn't mentioned anything about Piper cancelling their plans. Finally, she was getting sick of his tiptoeing. He hadn't even asked about why she had had a bad day, something he usually did.
"The hospital closed," she said bluntly, spooning some fried rice onto a plate.
Jason froze. He turned slowly to look at her, shock and horror reflected in his eyes. "Closed?" he echoed in disbelief. "How?"
Piper placed the spoon down and sighed deeply. All her emotions were threatening to come bubbling up, but she forced them down. "We ran out of funding, and the government is not particularly interested in running hospitals as the world is ending. I think they're more focused on building a fallout shelter," Piper mumbled bitterly.
Jason slung and arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. "I'm so sorry Piper. I know how much you cared about those people," he said softly.
She turned her face into his chest and let her hands find his heart, its rhythm comforting. Jason's arms fully encircled her and in his embrace, she felt warm and protected. They stood, unmoving and cradled together, for a full minute of silence in Piper's kitchen. Finally, she pulled away. Piper knew that she needed to rely on her own strength too, not just Jason's.
"I don't really want to talk about it," she said firmly, turning back to their half-served meal.
Jason smiled sadly. "You're too strong Piper, it's very admirable." He also turned back to the food.
Piper snuck a glance at him only to notice he was looking at her. She turned away quickly, cheeks flaming. It was schoolgirlish, sure, but she liked Jason; she liked him a lot. The TV blared in the background and a name caught Piper's attention. She looked up and saw it was showing footage from a red carpet premiere in Paris. A man in his late fifties, sharply dressed, with greying dark hair and caramel skin and a collection of familiar facial features, was standing on the carpet, waving to fans and posing for the press.
She paused what she was doing to watch her father. Though their relationship wasn't as strained as Drew and Piper's, it wasn't good. He was always working and Piper just found herself with no time to coordinate their busy schedules. They hadn't seen each other face to face in over a year. She wanted to look away, as the camera panned in closer, but she was unable to.
Jason seemed to notice that she was completely captivated by the interview as he had also stopped what he was doing and was watching both Piper and the TV. As soon as he realised who was being interviewed, it didn't take long, he laid a comforting hand on Piper's arm. She touched his fingers with her own and bit her lip.
She reached for the remote and shut it off before her father could say anything that would really make her react. She handed Jason a plate of food and headed for the couch, ignoring his concerned look.
"Piper," he pleaded, trying to catch her eye. "Talk to me."
She sat down and looked at her lap. The couch dipped next to her as Jason sat down. "What do you want me to say?" she asked. "That my father and I haven't been in contact lately even though the world is ending and our relationship is as estranged as Drew and mine was?"
"I just want you to not shut me out," he replied evenly. "I want to make sure you're okay. The place you work, the place you loved working at, just closed and now you're reacting badly to seeing your father. I'm just making sure."
Piper sighed. "Maybe if I could talk to him, it would make everything easier, but he never answers his phone and I don't know how to talk to him otherwise." Jason didn't reply right away and Piper looked over at him. He had on a thinking face, but he was smiling. "You alright Sparky?"
"Have you ever been to Paris, Piper?" Jason asked suddenly.
She blinked at him in surprise. "Jason, I just lost my job, I can't fly off to Paris."
"You forget I have a private jet," he reminded. "Let's go meet your father."
Paris was a whirlwind. They landed in the middle of the night Parisian local time and Jason set to work finding them a suitable hotel. He managed to find a place not far from downtown that was expensive, but not over the top. He frustrated Piper endlessly by refusing to let her pay for her own hotel. His excuse was that he dragged her out of the States so she shouldn't have to pay for her own accommodation.
The next morning, Piper called her father, but it went to voicemail. She then decided to call his agent. As much as she hated Joel, he was far more likely to answer his phone than her father. Naturally, she was right and Joel picked up on the second ring. When he realised it was Piper, he instantly passed the device to her father who then proceeded to cancel everything he had scheduled to make time for her. Piper was flattered.
They met up at a small café near the Eiffel Tower and Piper had never been gladder to be enveloped in her father's arms. He smelt like foreign cologne, but that was something she was used to. He'd kissed the top of her head and apologised profusely for not contacting her more often and Piper just hugged him, overwhelmed. She was completely taken aback by how sincere her father was, and she hadn't exactly been expecting it.
He went on to ask how she got to Paris, how her job was doing, and if she had had any major life developments with the dawn of judgement day looming on the horizon. Piper then had to explain that she lost her job when the hospital closed, to her father's fury, and that a friend of hers with a private jet had flown her all the way to Paris just to see him. Tristan was a bit surprised by that fact.
Piper had then called Jason over from where he was sitting to give them space and introduced him to her father. Jason had stood straight-backed and polite and had given her father a firm handshake. Tristan had thanked Jason for bringing his daughter to him so spontaneously and offered to refund him for the whole trip. Jason had refused, insisting that with doom so close, there was no point in holding onto all the money that his father had.
Piper had smiled and they'd all sat down for lunch.
The main thing that surprised her about the trip was how quickly Jason and her father loosened up in front of each other. They had both been pretty uptight at the start, but after her father made some light jokes, and Piper remembered how much she missed his sense of humour, Jason started to unwind, opening up to show the side of him that Piper adored.
After lunch, her father organised a brief tour of all of Paris' biggest sights for them to do together. Seeing all the landmarks she'd only dreamt about was absolutely incredible. Piper smiled to herself, this was living. It was atop the Arc de Triomphe, while Jason was looking at something on the other side of the structure, that Tristan took Piper's arm and looked her dead in the eyes.
"Keep a good hold on that one," Tristan said, gesturing to Jason. "He's a good one."
A faint smile flitted across Piper's face. "You know I will," she promised.
Her dad smiled and hugged her. As he pulled away, he held her at arm's length. "My little girl is all grown up. I can't believe it."
"The world is also ending," she reminded.
Tristan laughed. "Well, that too, but more importantly, I got to meet this guy that my baby is so in love with before he even knew it." Piper turned away, covering her blush with her hands. "You know Pipes," her dad teased, "Paris sunsets from the top of the Eiffel Tower are very romantic."
Two days after they arrived in Paris, they'd seen much of the city on fast-forward. They'd done the abridged version of a full city tour and it was time for her father to get back to work. He was flying off to Berlin for another premiere later that day, and it was also time for Piper and Jason to head home since their hotel reservations had also just expired.
They got to the Paris airport, dropped off by her father in a private car, and Tristan solemnly told Jason to look after his daughter. Piper flushed, but Jason's expression was a little confused, so she knew that he didn't understand the implication. She was relieved. She wasn't sure whether to tell Jason or to just treasure their friendship. Currently, she was doing the latter and it was suiting her just fine.
They boarded Jason's private jet and Piper settled in for a long flight. When they began descending after two hours, Piper sat bolt upright in her chair and stared out the window. She recognised the landscape as Mediterranean and her head whipped around to stared at Jason instead.
"Why are we in Italy?" Piper demanded. Jason just smiled.
"You'll see," he teased.
"Jason," she deadpanned, both confused and not amused at the same time.
"Come on Piper, you'll like this," he promised. Piper folded her arms and gave him a suspicious look. He laughed it off and once they had landed, he led her to a car.
They'd driven through the Italian countryside for hours, but Piper didn't complain. The scenery was beautiful. Italy was another country that Piper had always wanted to visit, and she had always thought it would be too far out of her budget to take such a trip. Yet, here she was, with one of her best friends at her side, seeing things she'd never imagined, just two weeks before the scheduled end of the world.
As the roads twisted across the countryside, Jason told stories about the time he'd spent in Italy, Rome in particular, as a child. Apparently, for a business tycoon, Jupiter Grace loved Roman History so Jason grew up breathing the stuff. Piper laughed and told him about her parallel to his story: her dad lived and breathed both Cherokee legends and the Greek Myths. They'd traded stories about mythology for a while.
After hours, Jason finally pulled over into the driveway of an oceanside villa. He got out and Piper paused. It was one thing to come to Italy and it was a whole other ballpark to be staying at some fancy villa. She got out of the car quickly, intent on ratting Jason out. She really didn't like it when he spent money on her. The fact that he brought her here was more than enough.
"Jason, what is going on?" Piper asked insistently, staring at him over the roof of the car.
Jason's eyes locked on something behind her and Piper barely had time to turn around before she was tackled into a hug. Her face was instantly assaulted by a swarm of caramel coloured curls and the other woman wrapped her arms around Piper's chest tightly. Her head only reached up to Piper's chin, but when she pulled away, her spirits made her seem like she was floating on air. Her skin was darker than usual, kissed by the Italian sun, and her eyes were still as bright and gold as Piper had remembered.
Hazel Levesque beamed. "You guys made it!"
Piper gasped. She couldn't help it. Hazel was in Italy, and her mind was reeling uncontrollably. She glanced overtop Hazel's head and spotted Frank making his way out of the house towards them too. Piper's hands clasped on Hazel's arms as she looked the other woman up and down.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in shock.
Hazel smiled. "Jason asked us to come. This house," she gestured to the villa behind them, "belongs to my father and my half-brother, and Jason and I agreed it would be a perfect place to escape the chaos of the real world and spend some time having fun."
Piper glanced back at Jason who was still smiling cheerfully at her. She looked back at Hazel. "And you guys could afford all this?"
"Jason paid for airfare and Hazel's half-brother Nico picked us up in Naples," Frank explained as he got closer. "It's great to see you again Piper."
Piper laughed in disbelief. "I just can't believe you guys are here, and I can't believe I'm here! I mean I haven't seen you guys since you were in LA for Hazel's art show, and just yesterday I was visiting with my father in Paris, and now I'm in Italy, and I really don't know what to say."
Jason strode around the car, chuckling. "Thank you works," he suggested lightly.
Piper removed her hands from Hazel and threw herself into Jason, hugging him as tightly as she dared. "Thank you," she asserted. After a moment she stepped away and let out another breath. "This is still completely insane."
"So are giant asteroids," Jason pointed out.
Jason's Italian surprise got even better once she got inside. Nico, Hazel's half-brother, was inside played FIFA against another familiar face that nearly made Piper scream. She and Leo had thrown themselves at each other and she'd gotten tearful. Leo had laughed cheerfully and accredited his arrival to Jason's free airfare as well. Piper had actually punched Jason for that one, but his smile hadn't even wavered.
Leo then explained that Annabeth and Percy had been invited as well, but they had declined to stay with Sarah as she was still recovering from her life-saving treatment. They did send their well-wishes and Piper was floored. She snuck a glance at Jason. Every close friend she had was either here or had the intention to be here, all thanks to him, and she was once again amazed by his generosity.
The group of them: Piper, Leo, Hazel, Jason, Frank, and Nico, had spent their afternoon at the beach. After exhausting themselves just letting loose and being young, Hazel insisted that she make dinner for everyone. Frank ended up helping her, but Piper ended up playing cards with the others while they waited. Despite the time it took to make, Hazel's food was delicious and Piper praised her for her hard work. Everyone had turned in at different times in the evening, as no one was quite over their jet lag yet, but Piper found herself unable to sleep.
It was just past midnight when she wandered out onto the main balcony, a sweater pulled around her tightly. She watched the waves below the villa crash against the cliffs and the beach and she studied the moon as it cast a full reflection against the water. Along with the moon and the stars, she stared at the large, bright smudge in the sky. It was the asteroid.
Though it had been tiny at first, it was large now, as big as the moon, and there was really no way to deny the fact that there would be contact made soon. She supposed it was pretty–it gave a nice contrast against the sky–but Piper couldn't help but be reminded of all the pain and damage it would cause and the inevitability of human extinction. She wasn't left alone on the balcony long, as Jason found her staring at the sky a few minutes later.
"Thinking about something?" he interrupted.
Piper glanced at him. He was wearing his glasses and his hair was a little messy, but his eyes were still very blue. "I guess," she admitted. "I was thinking about how small we are."
Jason looked up at the sky. "Well, when you see something like that, it does tend to put it in perspective, doesn't it?" She nodded. "That's another thing travelling does too, I've noticed," he continued. "It gives you those moments where you really know that you're just one person in a world of seven billion and you're just so small."
He leant forwards and braced his hands against the railing. Piper smiled and stepped closer to him, brushing her hand against his. "I can see that, but it also reminds you that even though you're one in a billion, you're also loved by some pretty amazing people, and that's pretty cool."
"So you're amazing?" Jason asked, his tone teasing. Piper froze and looked at him. He was looking at her and his eyes were bright and warm and she could faintly smell the ocean on him from earlier, but there was something bubbling between them.
She knew exactly what it was. She had been feeling it for Jason for some time, but this was the first moment that she was realising that he felt exactly the same. She stared at him dumbly, brain fried. Desperately, Piper tried to think of how to reply, but there were no words to describe the thoughts sprinting through her mind. Somewhere in the back of her mind, someone, probably everyone, was screaming at her to kiss him, so she did.
They melded together and Piper's hands cupped Jason's face, pulling him close. His arms wound around her waist, keeping her flush against him. She pulled back, breathing heavily, and looked at him through heavily lidded eyes. There were still sparks between them and the moonlight glinted off his glasses. Piper laughed giddily and Jason leant down to meet her lips again. He was warm and she was cold, but the electricity of the moment kept them bonded together perfectly.
When they finally pulled back, Piper's arms slid around Jason's neck and she stared at him. Her chest was heaving and he looked pretty out of breath himself.
"I've been waiting way too long to do that," she said softly.
Jason smiled. "I agree."
They said nothing for another moment, just holding each other in the moonlight.
"Piper," Jason began slowly, looking straight into her soul, "do you want to go home?"
She assumed he meant back to LA, but with the moon glinting above them on Italian soil, and the world scheduled for demolition in only days, there really was nowhere else that she'd rather be. "No," she confessed. "I'm good here. But, you're the one with family back there, do you want to go home?"
Jason reached and brushed aside a strand of her hair. "Home is wherever you are," he said smoothly.
Piper smiled at him and leant up, brushing their noses gently. "This is living," she told him.
"And I guess we're all dying," Jason replied.
Author's Note: It's finally finished! This is my piece for the PJO/HOO Big Bang on Tumblr. It's been a long time in the making and a lot of work has gone into it. I had the chance to work with some amazing people during this time and it was truly one of the greatest experiences I've had as a writer. I want to thank preciouschildrenofolympus for all her support during the writing process and for making some beautiful accompanying art. Find either of us on Tumblr and please check it out! I hope you enjoyed this work, and another huge thank you to Mari, percyyoulittleshit on Tumblr, for working so hard to get this together. I'm sorry it turned out that so many people dropped out, but it was a fantastic experience.
WORD COUNT: 12,198
There's another Pokémon one-shot, a third Soulmate AU, coming this way soon too.
don't forget to speak up
-Nicole