I OWN NOTHING.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Piper asks Jason softly. They stood in the hallway outside Percy's door aboard the Argo II, having been returning to their rooms after taking the night watch. It was hard to tell where Percy started and Annabeth ended, the two of them tangled in scarred limbs and stretched skin. It was a harsh reminder of just how much they'd been through together.

"They'll be fine. As long as they have each other." He says back, just as quiet. The resting pair need as much sleep as they could get, having been just rescued from the pits of Hell only a few short days ago.

Piper stays silent for a moment, watching how comfortable they were. Even asleep, they were so clearly and obviously in love that it almost hurt to see. Almost. Turning away and facing Jason in the narrow hallway, she held out her hand to him and took a deep calming breath. Jason closed the door to Percy's room silently and met Piper's ever changing eyes.

"Walk with me?" She whispered. He only nodded in reply, taking her hand and following her down towards the bottom of the ship. He was very aware as they were passing Coach Hedge's room and took extra care not to make any noise at all. They had handed the early morning shift over to Hazel and Frank fifteen ago, they should be in bed by now.

Piper led him to the empty stables. He wondered absently if Blackjack or Tempest would like it here, then decided he was too tired to care. He hadn't been to bed yet that night, it was fast approaching twenty four hours since he'd last slept.

Jason was very aware of the curfew rule he was breaking at the moment with Piper. He was the one who followed the rules and obeyed the 'safety measures' put in place by Coach, if you wanted a demigod who neither knew or cared about the rules, Percy Jackson was sleeping with his girlfriend right upstairs at the moment. Piper, it seemed, understood how uncomfortable Jason was being alone with her after hours.

"Piper, we should-" He began.

"Do you think that could ever happen?" She interrupted him, apparently not noticing he had started to speak.

"What? Could what happen?"

"Could we ever be like…" She trailed off, looking down at her worn boots, the hand Jason didn't hold was playing absently with her dagger. Suddenly meeting his stormy gaze, she held her chin high. "If it was me who had fallen down into that pit, would you have jumped in after me?"

Jason blinked in surprise. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't that. But it really got him thinking. Thinking about his own home, Camp Jupiter, and how badly he wanted to return there. He thought about Reyna, how she ran the camp alone when he had disappeared, the way the Greeks had welcomed him into their ranks, the loyalty Leo had shown as he flew Festus and built the warship. He thought about Percy, how powerful and full of life he was, how loyal to his friends and his natural ability to lead. He pictured Annabeth, the pretty blond with a sharp tongue and a dagger to match. Lastly, he thought of Piper. There was no specific memory that came to him as he stood and thought of her, it was more of a feeling. A feeling that even though she was standing right beside him, he needed to make sure she was safe. Always.

"Yes Piper," Jason whispered at last, "I would have fallen in for you. I would have fought to my dying breath to get you out of there alive."

Piper let out the air she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Do you think we might be like them someday?" She breathed, almost afraid of his answer. But it was dark in the stables, and it smelled like hay, and they were alone, and they were alive. That was almost all she could ask for. Almost.

"Yes." Jason doesn't need to ask who she's talking about, that much is obvious. Piper is reminded of her first days at Camp Half-Blood, when nobody could mention Percy Jackson without also saying Annabeth Chase. Slayers of countless monsters, returning from many quests, saviors of Olympus. Percy did this, Percy did that, Annabeth was with him every time. Except for that one, when he was kidnapped and she was just as lost without him. "Yes, Piper, we will be like them someday. After we save the world together multiple times, you and I will settle down and live happily ever after. If, that is, we don't get murdered by Coach Hedge before then."

Jason wanted a future with her. Piper smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, content to be alive. Jason would have fallen to Hell for her; she would put up with listening to the rules. For now.