A/N: Wow. I haven't written anything in a VERY long time. Sorry about that. I'm trying to get some of my stories written and posted this summer, while I still have the time. This story is one I've been itching to write for a long time. I tend to spend so much time planning in my head that it takes me forever to actually write the words down. I hope you enjoy it! Constructive reviews are much appreciated. ;)

Thanks to sunshine2006578 for being my beta! She's awesome, and her stories are AMAZING.

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, or I wouldn't be here.

"Put your cap back on," Percy told me urgently. "Get out!" We were hunched behind an enormous bronze cauldron underneath Mt. Saint Helens, in a cavern that just happened to be full of monsters.

"What?" I burst out. "No! I'm not leaving you."

Percy scowled and put on his I'm-not-losing-this-argument face. "I've got a plan. I'll distract them. You can use the metal spider - maybe it'll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to tell him what's going on."

He could be so stupid sometimes. "But you'll be killed!" I reminded him.

"I'll be fine," he assured me. "Besides, we've got no choice."

He was going to sacrifice himself so that I could get out. His fatal flaw. I could feel my face getting warm, anger building about what he was going to do, and how it would leave me broken.

And then I surprised myself. With all the anger pent up inside me, I moved forward and kissed him, trying to say a million things at once. His lips were soft and warm, and stock still beneath mine.

Very suddenly, I broke away from him. "Be careful, Seaweed Brain." The words sounded stupid compared to the magnitude of thoughts running through my head.

Before I could change my mind, I put on my Yankees cap and headed for the exit.

As I ran toward the chamber where Hephaestus had been, I stopped once to look back. I saw Percy, leaning against the wall, looking completely shocked. If I wasn't convinced I was leaving him to his death, I would have laughed. As it was, I sprinted away as fast as my legs would carry me.

A moment later, I heard a sound that made my blood run cold and stopped my heart.

Percy's agonized scream echoing through the cavern. It seemed to go on forever, filling my world with pain, suffering, and death. I forced my legs to push harder, trying to concentrate on the rhythmic beats they made on the ground.

I imagined what tortures Percy would have to be going through to make that type of noise. I had seen my best friend almost die without as much as a gasp. Tears sprang to my eyes, an unfamiliar sensation.

But he was beyond my help now. The best thing to do, what my mother would do, would be to get back to camp. Chiron would know what to do.

Finally I burst through the exit and into the maze, turning the way we'd come.

I set my footsteps to a rhythm. Chi – ron - knows, Chi – ron - knows, Chi – ron - knows.

Before I had gone more than a hundred yards, I heard Percy explode. A scream a million times more painful than the last ripped through my eardrums. Before that moment, I hadn't thought any one person could experience that much pain.

The shock of his pain broke my rhythm and I stumbled, my momentum sending me spinning into the wall.

And then.

The mountain broke.