Disclaimer- I do not own Heroes of Olympus

Juno

The Queen of the Gods watched impassively as the small family- if it could be called such- slowly crossed the wide lawn towards the ruined remains of a once-great mansion.

Even from a great distance, her god's sight could easily pick out the three figures. The daughter of Zeus, a girl of maybe nine years, stuck out from the group like a sore thumb. Her spiky black hair and clothes contrasted sharply with the blond hair of her mother and brother. Juno grimaced at having to use such a word for that awful woman. Although that monster was likely still young, stress and alcoholism had begun to eat away at the beauty that had twice attracted the Lord of the Skies, Juno's husband.

As Juno raged, unseeable by mortal or demigod eyes, the woman tried to take the hand of her son. The blond three year old wailed and squirmed out of her grip.

Juno smiled cruelly. The boy, despite being the spawn of her husband and that thing, clearly had good judgement. She examined him carefully.

He had his mother's blond hair and his father's brilliant blue eyes. A small scar above his lip stretched and his round cheeks dimpled as he smiled at his sister. He was... innocent looking. Young. Impressionable. Exactly the age that Juno would need to take him if he was to become her hero.

True, there wasn't much she could do with a child so young, but the important thing was to get him away from the influences of his mother and that cursed sister of his. If he stayed with his family, that horrid little "Thalia" girl could ruin everything. Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood would collide yet again, no doubt setting the stage for the little brat to make her prophesied decision. And worst of all, Juno would lose her present.

Jason. She crooned the name to herself. Despite the boy's origins, she loved the idea of having a half-blood who would recognize her. As goddess of marriage, she disapproved of demigods in general. After all, they were all, well, illegitimate. How exactly does that type of child represent family and marriage?

And she truly loved Zeus. There was no way she would ever cheat on him, so she'd never had any demigod children of her own. There was no one to regularly pray to her, or make offerings, or to honor and remember her. Surely that was a small price to pay for her to allow this little... family to survive?

And little Jason, named after her favorite mortal hero, would be a great hero himself someday. She could see the barest glimpses of what was to come, and though they made little sense to her, she had also begun her preparations. Preserving a life here, a bit of early training there, it all would work out eventually. For her, at least.

She watched as the woman reached the steps of the ruined mansion and paused, turning to her daughter. She said something and the girl looked annoyed. Mrs. Grace repeated herself, gesturing impatiently the way they'd come. Thalia looked irritated but shrugged, clearly acquiescing. She tried to pull away from her baby brother, but Jason clung to her hand.

"Jase, let go," Juno could hear her say. "Come on, cut it out. I'll be right back, I promise. Now let go!"

The little boy started screaming as Thalia pried his chubby fingers off her hands. He kept screaming, tears pouring down his round face as Thalia handed him to their mother and jogged back towards their car.

Juno willed herself to appear to the two. The child was so absorbed in his wailing that he didn't even notice her, but the mother did. Her lips formed the word Hera.

Close enough.

She glided towards the mother and child. "He is mine," she purred. "His father has given over his life to me. You will give me the child."

The woman didn't even protest, but passed the flailing boy to Juno, who crooned a sleeping spell. Jason fell silent and lay limply in her arms.

His mother didn't even look at him or bat an eyelash. "He loved me, you know," she whispered to Juno. "He truly did. He wanted me."

Fury flashed pure and strong, and it was followed by disgust. Firstly, how dare a mortal speak to her like that, and secondly, that was what the Grace woman cared about at a time like this? Whether or not she had been good enough?

And she called herself a mother.

Juno managed to control her anger before exploding into her true form. "Perhaps once," she said icily. "But he left you again, did he not? And now I claim your son. Was it really worth it for just a little attention? That seems to be all you care about."

She turned herself invisible once more as the pathetic mortal woman collapsed on the stone steps of the Wolf House. Tears were streaming down her face, but Juno knew better than to think that she was lamenting the loss of her son.

"Mom?" Both women, mortal and immortal, turned at the sound of the girl's voice. Thalia Grace was standing just at the top of the hill, picnic basket in hand. It was clear that she hadn't seen the exchange or Juno, but she immediately focused in on the lack of Jason.

"Mom, where's Jason?" Her voice was urgent, accusing. "You were supposed to be watching him! Did you let him wander off?"

Her mother just rocked back and forth, moaning. Thalia marched right up to ber and gripped her shoulders. "Mom! Tell me right now! Did. Jason. Wander. Off?"

Mrs. Grace wailed, shaking her head. "Gone! Gone! He's as good as dead now!"

Thalia's face was a picture of pure horror. She shook her mother. "Where is he? Where is he? I have to find him!"

"He's dead to us, Thalia! Hera claimed him, and Zeus did nothing to stop her. He's gone." Thalia's mother was regaining control of herself, her voice still bitter but no longer crying. She stood, wrapping a hand around Thalia's arm and starting to pull her back towards their car. "He's gone. I want to leave now."

"What?" Thalia screeched, yanking her arm away. "You want to leave? We have to find him!" She ran up the steps into the Wolf House, calling Jason's name.

Any small amount of grudging respect that Juno might have had for the girl for her commitment to her brother quickly faded to annoyance. The Grace woman had already said that it was Hera who had taken the little boy, so why could the girl not accept that? Who did she think she was to defy the will of the Queen of the Gods?

It took hours for Mrs. Grace to succeed in dragging her daughter away. Thalia was fighting the whole way, but Juno, ah... helped a bit. She doubted either mother or daughter would notice the force gently shoving them away from the Wolf House.

Finally, the wails and pleading died away and Juno was left alone holding the sleeping child.

He actually was quite sweet when he was asleep. His thumb was in his mouth and his chest rose and fell gently with each breath. With his eyes closed, it was easy to pretend that he was not one of her husband's illegitimate children.

Well, that didn't matter anymore. He was hers.

She crossed the lawn, gliding over the broken threshold of the Wolf House. The interior was barren and ragged. It would have been completely empty but for two animal eyes glaring out from the darkness.

"Lupa," Juno said calmly. Throughout the ages, she'd come to quite respect the she-wolf. "I have a new pup for you. A half-blood. He is the son of Jupiter, Jason Grace, and he has been delivered into my service. I wish for you to ready him for the legion."

Lupa's reddish-brown form slunk into the dim light streaming through the collapsed ceiling. She raised her muzzle towards Jason and sniffed him over.

Too young, she said. Too weak to send to Rome.

Juno frowned. "He will grow strong. You have nurtured younger, have you not? He needs only be strong enough to survive the trip to Camp Jupiter. The legion will take care of him if they know what's good for them."

Lupa dipped her head. I can send him on with the next demigod that arrives, she growled. It will ensure that he arrives in one piece.

"Do it." Juno laid the child on the ground and turned away, her business done. Now that the boy had been delivered to Lupa, she could safely leave him until she required him.

At the doorway she paused, looking back over her shoulder. "Grow quickly, my little hero. One day soon you, not your sister, shall be our saving Grace."

She barely heard Lupa's snarling chuckle before she disappeared.