Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own these characters, they belong to Rick Riordan. Trust me, if I wrote those books there wouldn't be so many grammar mistakes in the first few (All right? Really? Did anyone read through your draft?) Anyway, only the plot of this story and any characters you don't recognize from all three series belong to me :) Enjoy mes amies.
"I swear I'm going to kill him. Rip off all his limbs and then beat him with them." Piper was pacing the rooftop of the Zeus cabin while Jason just watched to make sure she didn't fall off. She usually slept in the cabin anyway, Chiron kind of gave up on that rule for the seven and Nico. Will was a regular cabin mate for Nico as the only one who could help him with nightmares. "I mean, just as we're getting ready to go across the country he decides to send a choppy message letting us know he's alive! How am I supposed to go to school know knowing he could be back any day? Or should I go because knowing him he's going to show up halfway through the school year anyway?" She lied down with her head in Jason's lap, letting him brush through her hair with his fingers to calm her down. "What are we going to do?" She shifted slightly to get comfortable, relaxing at his touch.
"Go to school like we said we would. When Leo shows up at camp, we'll be informed and he'll show up in California sooner or later. He might actually stop there first considering how terrified he's going to be of you and Hazel after this, right?" He meant it as a joke, but it made Piper smile thinking about that. "We need to pack, your dad is coming in exactly twelve hours to get us."
Piper shook her head, hiding her face in his stomach. "No move. I tired." Her voice tickled his stomach, making him laugh. She sighed as he started to get up, forcing her to sit up. "Fine. But only if you carry me to dinner and the campfire."
Jason kissed her hair, whispering into her ear softly. "Deal." He grabbed her by the waist and flew her down to ground level before heading into his cabin. "I'll see you in ten?" He winked at her knowingly.
She rolled her eyes but nodded. "Oui monsieur, jusqu'à ce que nous nous reverrons*." Piper laughed at his confused expression, making her way to her own cabin to pack what little she still had there.
When she finally reached her cabin, her remaining siblings, as a lot of them had already left for the school year, were chatting quietly by the new girl's bed. She was telling tales of her lovely mortal boyfriend who could see through the mist and actually saved her once from a hellhound by throwing his pocket knife at it. By luck or some miracle, he hit a weak spot and killed it. Everyone awed while Piper rolled her eyes. She quickly grabbed a backpack from under her bunk and started filling it with her shower stuff and the extra clothes she had stashed away in her trunk. She even had some of the stuff from her first quest still in there, making her smile. She missed a lot of the stuff she had in her cabin though, if only because it reminded her of Leo since she had helped him design it.
"Are you ready to go back to California? Face the crowd of adoring fans?" Lacy asked, as she sat down on her half sister's bed. She giggled as a hair brush was lightly chucked at her, one she easily caught. "I mean, everyones going to be all over you when you bring a boyfriend like Jason with you from New York. You going to be okay?" She seriously looked worried for Piper, and it was easy to understand why. Jason was going to have to get used to the life she lived, especially if he was connected to his mom. But it would work out. Hopefully.
"It'll be fine, Lacy. He's used to it from demigods, he'll get used to it coming from mortals too.." She sighed as she stuffed the last of her stuff in the bag, surprised it all fit. She glanced up at her sister who was twirling her hand around nonchalantly. "Thank's Lacy."
Her sister was somehow really good with charming stuff, like bags or purses to fit everything you needed in them. She was also good at charming clothes to fit any body type or size. It was awesome because it meant sharing clothes was a lot easier and barely anything got ruined. Except, of course, if the new Hermes pranksters did something. "You're welcome."
Piper kissed her forehead before carrying her backpack over to the Zeus cabin,
receiving a wolf whistle from Connor which she gave him the bird for in return. Some people thought they shared a cabin for reasons other than helping them sleep through the night, and others like Connor just liked to tease her. As she opened the door to the cabin, she was greeted by the unusual sight of a mess with Jason standing in the middle. "What did you do?" She giggled as she leaned on the doorway, enjoying the sight of her usual calm mannered boyfriend frantically searching for something.
Jason looked up at her before promptly sitting down and groaning. "I hate packing. Can you magically put all of my stuff away for me or something so I don't have to do this? I can't even find my favorite shirt! I swear it was in here a minute ago!"
Piper couldn't help herself from laughing as she kneeling in front of her boyfriend and held his face to look at her's by the chin. "Jason, what am I wearing?" When he got confused, she rolled her eyes and pointed to the blue t shirt with the Superman symbol on it hanging around her torso.
Jason's eyes widened in recognition, before pausing. "Do you know where my glasses are too? Because I'm pretty sure you're not wearing them." He looked exasperated, only for Piper to pull them off the top of his head and slip them back into place over his eyes. "Oh, nevermind." And then he pulled his girlfriend in for a thank you kiss.
Piper pushed him away before it got too heated, reminding him that they had to finish packing. It took a while, but they somehow got all of their stuff packed and ready right before the dinner horn blew, and only in four suitcases. "You promised you'd carry me, remember?"
So with a sigh, Jason slug his girlfriend onto his back. "You know, I'm not doing this when we get to Los Angeles. You'll have to get one of your body guards to do it." He grinned over his shoulder before racing out of the cabin, laughing as Piper squealed in his ear. They both wished it could never end, but in the morning they'd be off and away from where'd they'd started to call home.
Suggestion. Never wake a daughter of Aphrodite before eight AM or they will not be happy with you. Another suggestion. They won't be mad if you're waking them up for something important. They will be mad, however, if you decide to wait until the last minute to wake them up. And that is how Jason Grace found out what it felt like to fly into a ceiling and then crash land. "Oh my gods, are you okay?" Piper ran over to him, suddenly very much awake. She ran over to him, completely forgetting her previous anger at him waking her up by saying her dad was going to be there in five minutes.
"I'm good, I think." He tried to sit up but was suddenly clutching his ribs. "Or not. Can you get me some nectar?" As soon as he had some of the gold drink in him, he seemed to relax a bit more. "I don't think they're broken, only bruised. Broken ribs hurt more." He held out a hand so Piper could help him up. "Guess I deserved that, uh?"
And suddenly Piper remembered. "Shit!" She was a whirlwind of motion as she threw off her night clothes, threw on a bra, a pair of jeans and a clean shirt. She grabbed her backpack before quickly kissing Jason and bolting out the door towards the bathrooms to finish getting ready.
By the time she was back, Jason had gotten ready too. He was now decked out in jeans, sneakers, and the t shirt Piper stole which had somehow gotten washed. "You ready to meet my dad, as my boyfriend?" Before Jason could answer, she was dragging him along towards the top of the hill where her dad would be waiting. She completely forgot about her bags, suddenly grateful her boyfriend had power over the winds as they suddenly zoomed past them and landed behind the tree. She basically tackled her dad in a hug when she saw him, grinning from ear to ear. "Hi dad!"
He hugged her back tightly, smiling brightly. "Pipes. You ready to go home?" He pulled away before frowning as he took in some of her new scars. But then it disappeared as he looked at her face. "So, is the boy standing behind you the boyfriend?"
Piper laughed and nodded as she pulled Jason next to her by the hand. "Dad, this is Jason. Jason, this is my dad. You remember him, right?" She knew her dad had a hazy memory of her and her friends visiting for the day, but at that point her and Jason weren't dating. At least, in his mind that's what happened.
"Yes, I do believe I do. Nice to see you again, Jason. You can call me Tristan. Just as long as Piper's happy, we're on good terms. Oh and I heard something about my assistant being here?" He looked at her confused for a minute before snapping his fingers. "Oh right. Her husband was a councillor here so when she was pregnant she came here. Did she have the baby?"
Suddenly a voice was shouting, "Chuck! Get back here, you need pants!" The little baby Satyr was crawling his way over to us with an exasperated Percy running after him with his disguise in hand. "Pipes, a little help here!"
Piper smiled as she scooped up the small baby and cooed at him. "Hello Chuck. You're going to let Percy put some clothes on you, okay? For Auntie Piper?" He gurgled in return but didn't fight it when Percy came over to cover him up. She handed him over to Percy who immediately put him on his hip, swaying a little to entertain him.
"Thanks, Mellie was packing up so I was tasked with taking care of him. I put him on the floor for one second to grab some clothes for him to wear and BAM! He's gone!" He reached over for a hug from Piper, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. "You be good, McLean. I want my cousin coming back in one piece so please make sure him and Hazel don't start fighting again."
Jason pouted at him. "I'm not a child, Perce. I can take care of myself." He hugged him anyway, letting go just as Coach and Mellie arrived. "I can't believe you left Kelp Head over here in charge of Chuck."
"He's good with kids. I don't know how he did it, but he actually got him to stop throwing a tantrum. You got the voice of an angel." Mellie smiled at said boy before taking Chuck from him. "You're going to be a great parent someday."
Percy turned red. "We'll have to wait a while for that, sorry Mellie. I know how awesome it would be to see miniature me's running around." He laughed as his friends groaned at the idea. "Bye guys, say hi to everyone when you see them for me, okay?" He waved goodbye as he ran down the hill to start packing for his school year.
Tristan raised an eyebrow at the dark haired boy's retreating figure but otherwise went back to saying hi to his assistant and personal trainer. "Gleeson, Mellie! It's good to see you. I see you have a little one now. I remember back when..."
Piper quickly butted in before her dad could tell any embarrassing stories about her, "Well then! We should really get going, I'm dying to see some of my old friends." Of course one of them was her cousin and the other three were kind of forced on her because no one really wanted to be friends with them either...but she still missed them none the less.
It felt like a short flight on her dad's private jet. Mostly because she took a nap for most of it, considering it was a 6 hour flight. As soon as they landed and were allowed to get off, Piper switched on her phone. She watched as the time changed from 1:00 p.m to 9:00 a.m, finally letting it sink in that she was back.
"It's still Friday, right?" Jason walked over with my bags before grabbing his. "So. We have three days to get ready for when school starts. What do you want to do?" Before Piper could answer him, she was taken down by a mass of dark squealing hair.
Piper laughed as she got back up, dragging the culprit with her. "Hey Tala, long time no see." She grinned at the girl before her who was almost an exact replica of herself. Except the hair that went down to her knees and the bangs. Oh and the outfit.
Tala grabbed her hands as she looked her over. "Look at you, miss New York. You're completely covered in scars! And your hair's longer! And you brought back a cute white boy who you have completely forgotten to introduce me to or even mention! Does he even know who I am?" She raised an eyebrow while the other girl shook her head. "Well then, that's got to change." She turned around to look at Jason who was very clearly confused. "I'm Tala, Piper's cousin. One of the only one's she talks to, best friend since we were five. And you are?" Her eyes flashed in the light from light to dark blue, very distracting for an ADHD person.
"Jason Grace, Piper's boyfriend of about a year now. Or something like that." He shrugged, sticking his hand out to shake. But instead, he got a hug too. "Um, okay." He hugged her back awkwardly, completely out of his element.
Tala grinned. "Welcome to the family! Piper, you have to bring him tomorrow! Oh please oh please oh please!" When Piper sighed and gave in to her request, she hugged them both before going over to talk to her uncle.
Jason looked at her in confusion, which he seemed to be doing a lot of now that they were here. "What's tomorrow?" He was clearly uncomfortable around her cousin, how was he going to react around the others? Not to mention she could tell they only had a few minutes before the paparazzi showed up and asked questions.
"Game night," was her only response before dragging her bags over to the car.
They were lucky, the cameras missed them as they drove. Tala was talking to Hedge about setting up a playdate with Waya, who was a little older than Chuck. "There aren't that many kids his age, since he's so young in the family." Of course, Piper knew they assumed he was her little brother. Everyone did.
"How's he doing by the way? I've only seen pictures." Piper smiled at her cousin who brightened up as she ask. She was suddenly bombarded with little stories about how he loved to take baths because it usually ended up with him splashing someone. "Get's that from his dad does he?" She laughed as the girl across from her blushed.
Tala turned to Jason with a sheepish smile. "I hope you don't mind, but he's coming to game night. It's kind of hard to get out of watching him. My siblings blatantly refused and..." She paused, a little unsure of their reaction. "Anyway he'll be with us. At least it'll be toned down this time, if we're lucky Roxy won't break anything!"
Tristan laughed, shaking his head. "I can't believe that girl. She's really shy when you first meet her and as soon as she comfortable, BAM! Instant flip of personality. Hyper, short temper and non stop joking. I swear I'm going to need a breathing tube next time she comes over." He grinned as Tala laughed, probably glad someone thought he was funny, considering his daughter didn't. Not even close.
Jason turned to Tala. "Can you explain the long hair thing to me? I mean I know Piper mostly refuses to cut it and got really freaked out when one of the guys at our summer camp tried to cut it as a prank..."
Tala nodded, starting to braid her thick hair as she talked. "Well, the simple version is that we only usually cut our hair when someone passes away or when we make huge life choices. I mean we trim our hair, keep it healthy and clean and all, but actually cutting it off is only done at that time. It's kind of like giving up the past to make way for the future. Does that make sense?"
AN: I'm really sorry if this is wrong and offends anyone, this is just my understanding of it when I did some research about tribe traditions. If I am wrong, please review and let me know so I can fix it.
"Oh! So that's why you were so mad when we got that message!" Jason turned to Piper, understanding flashing through his eyes. "When we thought we had lost Leo, you were going to cut your hair. But since he's actually okay..."
Piper nodded. "I didn't want to do it because I didn't want to believe he wasn't okay, so I had actually decided to wait. I'm just glad we got that message before I did or I would have actually killed him when he shows up."
Tala looked at her cousin in confusion but got an explain later in return. "Well then. Can I stay over tonight? Waya's dad has him at the moment so I have the whole day free!" She grinned as we pulled into the long driveway, the gates closing behind us.
"Wouldn't you anyway?" Piper joked before climbing out of the car, grabbing her two bags from the trunk. "Welcome to my house Jason." It was almost worth it to see his face. It wasn't all the time that she got to see him shocked (pun intended.)
Suddenly there was a large man with an earpiece in asking if he could take their bags, greeting Piper and Tala by name and leading them inside. "May I ask who this young gentleman is Miss Piper?"
She felt heat rising to her cheeks as she realized what was going to happen. Some of the staff was like family, and as such they wouldn't be them if they didn't tease her. "This is Jason Grace, my boyfriend. He will be staying with us for the school year. Jason, this is our head of security."
Even through his dark glasses, you could tell he was analyzing the blonde boy next to him. "You may call me Elvis. I am usually Miss Piper's driver if she needs a ride and I escort her to all social events. I don't usually stay, but I am always on call if she needs me." His tone was warning.
"Which I usually don't. Besides, my camp has a self defense class. I can even beat Jason sometimes, if I'm lucky." She laughed as he muttered, "Sneaky is more like it." She slipped her hand into his as she looked at her dad. "I'm going to show Jason around, is that okay?" When he nodded, she smiled brightly and grabbed one of her bags.
Tala grabbed her other one since Jason had his hands full with both of his. "Thank you Elvis, we can take it from here." The three teenagers made their way to the second floor, using the grande staircase that was used as a centerpiece for the entry room. "The downstairs is mostly the huge kitchen they have, the home movie theater, the small dining room for when it's just them, the sitting room for entertaining guests and the family dining room. Oh and the hot tub." She laughed at Jason's expression before pointing to the end of the long hallway they were in. "The end of the hallway is his office, we don't go in it. It's where he meets with people for movie deals and such. Most of the rooms up here are more sitting rooms and some guest spaces. But then there's our rooms!" She pointed down where the hallway branched off.
"My dad's is the one with the dark stained door. The one on the end is mine which I usually share with Tala and yours will be..." Piper walked along until she found the room next to her's. "This one. Go on, just try not to pass out. Tala did, so. Oh can you go start setting up your stuff?" In her head, Piper was praying her cousin got the message. She just wanted a minute alone with Jason. Luckily her cousin did, which meant she finally got to breathe. She turned and pushed open the door to step into the room.
Jason just sighed. "I'm never going to get used to this." The room was easily the size of his cabin, with a pair of large balcony doors that lend to the wrap around one that went around to all the bedrooms. The view was of the gardens and pool below, only blocked by the loose dark curtains covering it. The floor was stained a light brown while the walls were painted a medium shade of blue. The ceiling was glass above the small sitting area in the right side with the door to the bathroom behind it. Next to the king sized bed with matching blue sheets was his closest, walk in of course. And next to that was a little book shelf with a rug underneath. "This room is awesome."
Piper beamed at him before offering to help him unpack. His stuff didn't even fill half the closet, which was saying something considering how many pairs of shoes he owned and how many t shirts. "Do you have any posters or anything you want to put up? My dad won't mind." In a minute all of his posters were up, plastered to the wall by his powers. "I didn't know you liked these bands."
Jason rubbed the back of his neck. "Well Thalia likes them and sent me a list of ones I had to listen too. They grew on me." A signed poster from Three Days Grace, A Semi Precious Weapons one from an old tour and a band she didn't recognize. "It's from when she was younger."
It took her a second, but then she realized that Thalia was supposed to be like 24, and she was only frozen when she was fourteen which meant she had a while to decide what music she liked. "What year was she born in again? 1987, right?" When he nodded, she shook her head. "90's music, bleh." She felt her heart flutter when he laughed, like it was trying to fly with him.
Jason wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his forehead to her's. "You know, we haven't even had a second date yet, if we can even count the one on the roof. Is it too soon to say I love you?" When she shook her head he moved so his lips were merely centimeters from her's. "Well then. I love you Pipes." And then nothing else mattered because oh gods it felt good to kiss him in real life. His hands pulling her to him tightly, her hands running through the hair he had grown out just enough. By the time he pulled away, she was breathless. Not from lack of air of course.
"There's something I want to show you, something I found when I was younger and loved exploring the house." She reluctantly moved out of his arms, receiving a little resistance. She pecked him on the lips again, now being free to move over to the book shelf. The shelves had about a foot of space in between each one to make room for taller books such as the few Atlas's her dad had placed in the room. "I hope it still works." She moved so that she was kneeling in front of the shelves before grasping a seemingly random book. When she moved it and put it in the empty slot on the next shelf, she moved back a little. For a second nothing happened. "I thought..." And then it started moving, slowly at first like it was getting used to moving again. When it had revealed a small crawlway, just large enough for someone Frank's size to crawl through, it stopped. It was still on the rug, leaving no marks. "I'll explain once you go through, it only stays like that for thirty seconds." Once he was through, she quickly followed. As soon as she had gotten all but her legs in, it started moving again. She pulled them through quickly as to not get them crushed. She reached up and found the light switch, which showed the hallway they were in. It was a tight squeeze for two people standing next to each other. "It's for emergencies. The door behind you leads to my room, so if you can move, that would be lovely. Oh, and did I mention the walls here are sound proof? All except the ones we came through." When he moved, she quickly knocked on the back of the book shelf, letting Tala know to let her through. Then, she turned off the light.
When they were through, Piper took in her old room. It was a lot smaller than Jason's, but it was perfect none the less. Her bed was the centerpiece, with it's blue and brown styled blankets and pillows, while the underside of the bed was filled with drawers for her to put clothes in. She had no dresser or closet, only a master type bathroom like the rest of the bedrooms in the house. There was a love seat in the corner, a double desk for her to do homework and of course the bookshelf they just came through.
"So basically the rug is there for camouflage. Since it's shag, it covers the tracks that it uses pretty well. You can either go back to your room through the hallway or you can just push start the bookcase in your room. There is an emergency key that we can use to get through any doorway, but only my dad and Elvis have one." Piper quickly explained before noticing that Tala wouldn't meet our eyes. "Tala, we just finished putting all of his stuff away in his room. Do you mind helping me with mine?"
It took a few minutes, but suddenly the room felt more like home to her. "So. Since we're all finished in here, can I show him the basement?" Tala looked ready to fall over she was bouncing so much. Without even waiting for an answer, she dragged Jason out of the room and over to one of the doors. She pressed a keycode in, making the door swing open. "This is the only way to get down stairs. Not even the secret passageways get to it." And then they were off down three flights of stairs. It was a miracle they didn't fall, especially after the door slammed shut behind them as Jason had jumped a foot in the air, bringing Tala with him.
"Please don't kill my cousin! I actually like this one!" Piper tried to kept a straight face but it was hard when Jason was pouting like that. "Oh fine, just go." And they were racing down the stairs again, all previous anger forgotten. "Vous les gars sont ces enfants*."
Author's Note:
Hope you guys like the chapter. Anyway, here's the translations:
*jusqu'à ce que nous nous reverrons: until we meet again.
*vous les gars sont ces enfants: You guys are such children
