A/N: Another chapter, another day. I think this is the time to warn that this really isn't a story for middle school kids as the original story was. This fanfiction will get graphic, and not stray from adult material. But if any of you were like me when I was in middle school, I doubt that'll scare you off. But be warned.

To not for granted: Thank you for the kind review! I just saw it, thank you for your words. Tbh, there's a lot that makes me uncomfortable about the canon relationships we got, although fandom pretty much refuses to touch on those problems- anyways, a discussion for another day. I'm glad you find Piper sympathetic, as well as her relationships with her siblings better explored! It'll get more development as this fic goes on; for now, that's that's what you get. ;) And I'm glad you'll be keeping up with the story! I'll always appreciate that.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson or the Heroes of Olympus series. The original material belongs to Rick Riordan.


{2.}

Piper shot up, gasping, sweat running down her face in trickles. She looked at her skin; light brown and soft, no burns in sight. Piper let out a relieved breath... It had all felt so real. The pain, the fear- it was real.

She kicked off her covers, inhaling deeply. The giant had showed her its location. It wanted her to go to San Francisco. If the giant was telling the truth, all she had to do was head to the city, find the mountain and rescue her father... doubtful. It could never be that simple. Still, she couldn't let her father die. If this was a trap, Piper was walking straight into it- but she had to try. She'd cross that bridge when she got to it.

As quickly as she could, Piper changed into clothes and packed a backpack with various necessities. Her mother might have taken everything from her, but she hadn't taken her wallet- small victories. Piper slipped it into her pack. She strapped her knife to her belt, and winced- there was no way she'd be able to beat a giant with such a weapon. Nothing she could do about that.

She'd have to ransack the camp store for enough food to last. Piper sighed, and treaded across the floor quietly, a pair of boots hanging from her hands. She stopped by Mitchell's bed, and glanced down at him guiltily. His face turned into the pillow, his lips parted in sleep. There was a slight furrow in his forehead, as if he was having a nightmare, and Piper felt another stab of guilt. In her absence, he'd have to deal with the fallout. He might as well have been a stranger, but he was still her brother- even if Piper had no idea what to with that. Hopefully, if she came back, he'd forgive her.

"I'm sorry, Mitchell," Piper whispered. She moved on, closing the cabin door behind her with only a slight creak.

Purple and blue streaked the dark sky, the first hints of sunrise. Piper slipped on her boots, and made her way to the store. Using a hairpin she'd stolen from Cabin Ten's vanity, she unlocked the door. She packed a few water bottles, nutrient bars, and crackers- if she was lucky, that'd be enough. Piper didn't have enough space for anything else.

Piper left the small building, and startled at the huge shape flying towards her.

Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit. She'd forgotten about the fucking sentries.

The monster's eyes glowed. Hopelessness and panic began to fill her, before she remembered that she still had an ace up her sleeve.

Her voice smoothed into honey, her words dripping with it. "You didn't see me." Charmspeak.

The monster's red eyes glazed over, the malice in it gone. It turned around and flew off, like Piper wasn't even there.

"Success," Piper whispered to herself, and she couldn't stop the grin that followed. She crept to the boundary of the camp, through the fields of strawberries and the huge pine tree until she came to a sign that said Delphi Delivery Service. Piper blinked, and adjusted the business card in her pocket that a friendly satyr had given her sometime the day before. She still had the address and number of Camp Half-Blood, if she came back...

When she came back.

With that thought in mind, Piper strode down the road, her feet unsteady on the bumpy concrete, her bag suddenly a heavy weight against her back.

It took what felt like hours before she finally left the quiet of the farmlands and reached the loud and bustling noises of civilization. Using the spare change she had, Piper managed to catch a bus into the city. The city itself was a mystery to her. Long Island had been much more easier to navigate; in comparison, New York City was a maze. It was easy to feel claustrophobic in the crowded streets and sidewalks. The city was beautiful, but at the same time dirty. Underneath the scents that filled her nose, she could detect the musk of pollution and garbage. The sound of angry horns filled the air, originating from the traffic that clogged the roads. It wasn't Piper's first time in New York City, but it was her first time alone.

At least she knew where she was going. Piper took slight comfort in the fact, ignoring the sudden loneliness that had enveloped her.

Penn Station was at 7th Avenue and West 32nd street- from where Piper was, it was a bit of a walk. She took shelter in the coat she wore, tugging the hood up, zipping it as much as she could and pulling the collar up around her neck. In the early morning the sky had turned a light gray, its clouds dark and sprinkling the city with small flakes of snow. Her breath came out in small white puffs. The leafless trees that adorned the wide sidewalks swayed in the winter wind. Pedestrians around her hurried to their destinations, presumably to get out of the cold.

She paused at a crosswalk, the stoplight flickering red. Piper stared across the street as she waited. From where it stood, Penn Station seemed small amongst the backdrop of Madison Square Garden and Penn Plaza, but it was large enough to Piper. She inhaled deeply, the white lettering that spelled out the station's name blurring in her vision. Once she went in, there was no going back. It was all or nothing.

Piper's mind flashed back to the memory of the last time she saw her father, from that summer so long ago... She'd been so stupid. Stealing a BMW? Leo had always acted like it was something to be proud of, but the act remained shameful in Piper's heart. It had gotten her father's attention, alright. Just not in the way she had wanted.

She'd failed her father, back then. She wouldn't fail him again.

The light flickered green, shaking Piper out of her thoughts.

Shivering the slightest bit, Piper stepped off the sidewalk.

xXx

The tip of Piper's nose lost its rosy colour as she stepped into Penn Station, and she resisted the sigh of relief that bloomed in her chest, now that she'd escaped the weather outside. She pulled down her hood, stepping out of the way of others who entered and glanced around, her brow furrowed.

The gray and blue tiled floor gleamed underneath the sheen of the ceiling lights overhead. Multi-coloured lights and green branches covered in fake, fluffy snow wrapped around the blue pillars scattered around, trees that were also decorated visible on the upper floors. The festive lyrics of a Christmas classic played from the speakers. Piper searched for the sign that would lead her to the area where she could purchase a ticket, her face relaxing once she found the way that pointed to the ticket lobby. But first...

Piper made her way to the payphone in the corner, stopping in front of it to rifle through her wallet for a quarter. She needed to contact Jane again, even if it hadn't exactly worked out the last time. In the worst case scenario that both she and her father went missing (or worse)... maybe the police would be able to do something where she hadn't.

Hesitantly, she dialed the number of her father's office; it changed every so often, and hopefully Jane hadn't made the next change just to spite her. She placed the phone next to her ear, trying her best not to roll on the balls of her feet or jog on the spot. Piper didn't have a lot of quarters to spare, and talking to Jane had always made her feel awkward and out of her depth, even now...

"Hello?" Static momentarily cracked the voice that broke through the phone miles away, but it was something.

"Jane? Jane, it's me, Piper McLean." Piper made a deliberate effort to lower her voice once she received strange glances, placing her hand over the phone. "Do you know where my father is yet?"

The pause before Jane spoke was long. Too long. Anxiety crawled into her throat, wrapping around it like a snake. "...Yes," Jane said finally. "Your father is fine, Piper. He came back a little while ago. The police were not needed, after all. Where are you?"

"At school." The words came out of Piper's mouth in a rush- she didn't even hesitate about lying. "I borrowed a friend's phone. Again. Can I- can I speak to him?" Of course she couldn't speak to him. Piper knew the response before it came, but she needed confirmation- another confirmation. Maybe she'd misheard.

"He's not available at the moment. If you have a message for him, I'll take it."

Piper tried her best not to let her voice tremble as she spoke, but it still quavered. "No, that's- that's fine."

Her hand shook as she placed the phone back on the receiver. Something was wrong, and it wasn't only the situation- Piper had realized that a long time ago. Something was wrong with Jane, and Piper should have come to that conclusion two days ago, when she'd first called her dad's assistant. Jane had always been a very organized person, even in her line of work, but she'd never sound so formal or so eerily blank- whenever she spoke to Jane, distraction was usually underlying her tone. So much to think about, so much to do- Jane was a busy woman, and Piper just wasn't that high of a priority. She'd become accustomed to that line of thinking a long time ago, but now the lack of it threw her off balance.

Piper might not have liked Jane particularly much, but if she was being manipulated... Piper swallowed, and stepped back from the payphone. She was out of her depth in more ways than one.

Somehow, Piper managed to lift her gaze from the payphone and move her feet. She went up the escalator and into the line in the lobby in a daze-like state. She was pulled out of it abruptly- and rudely- when a voice behind her said loudly, "Hey, would you fucking move already?"

The fog clouding her mind evaporated. There was a distinct gap between Piper and the person in front of her, and she started before glaring at her feet and shuffling forward. "Sorry, sorry," she grumbled. New Yorkers.

After a few minutes, Piper reached the woman at the desk. "Hello," the woman piped, in a cheerful lilt that didn't hide the boredom lying underneath. She gazed past to the right of Piper's head, her eyes dull. "How may I help you?"

"Um." Piper glanced to the board electronically displaying the various trains above, and back to the woman. "Can I get a ticket to San Francisco, please?"

"And which company would that be? There's quite a few."

Piper tried her best not to get annoyed at the amusement that had sparked in the clerk's eyes, and laughed it off awkwardly instead, casting her gaze upwards again. "Uh, Amtrak, please." That was a good railway company, right...? Better than taking a Greyhound all the way anyways, notorious for breaking down, as her initial plan had been.

She specified a station, and licked her lips. Chapped. The location of the station didn't matter, at least not at the moment. Piper was still uncertain of which mountain it was, but if she couldn't figure it out, she had no doubt that the giant would clue her in.

"The next train comes in at 6:55, so... half an hour from now. That would be 285 dollars, please."

The clerk's cheerful tone had returned, but its effect was lost on the sharp note of panic that sang in Piper's ears. 285 dollars?! How rich did these people think she- oh. Yeah, she was that rich, and she still had her debit card.

"Debit, please," Piper said, and handed the card over. She tried to remove her scowl, with no luck. She entered the passcode to her savings account easily, and waited for it to be accepted. She almost jumped when it was, shocked that she hadn't been let down. After the whole deal with the BMW, and then that trial in court after that, Piper had half- no, mostly expected her bank account to be frozen. But it wasn't.

Piper frowned, feeling like there was something she wasn't remembering. That the reason for it was there, that she knew, but she couldn't- she couldn't recall. The Mist, Annabeth had said. Manipulating her memories, and it looked like its reach didn't stop at Jason.

She could worry about it later. Piper took the ticket from the lady with a muttered thanks, and made her way to the waiting room, where she sat with her elbows perched on her knees, chin held in her clasped hands, her foot tapping on the carpet impatiently.

When there was five minutes left to go, Piper made her way to the platform, hands stuffed in her pockets as cool air once more kissed her cheeks.

Zero minutes left. The train blew into the station, causing her bangs to blow back from her face. Piper boarded, showing her ticket to the steward before finding a place in a room in one of the train cars at the end. She sank into her seat, clutching the blue fabric underneath her hands. Now, she was moving, and some of the anxiety faded. It was about a three day trip. A plane would have been quicker, and remembering the warning about staying away from the earth that Jason and the others had received Piper felt silly for a brief moment before remembering that it wouldn't have mattered anyways- the giant wouldn't let her be harmed until it had her in its hands.

Piper leaned her head against the window as a wave of exhaustion overtook her. The frosting glass bit into Piper's cheek, but the cold felt refreshing.

The door to the compartment slid open, and Piper glanced in surprise at the person who stood in the entrance. Earbuds hung around her neck, trailing to the phone tucked into her jeans pocket. She wore a thick green hoodie, blonde hair falling to her shoulders in pretty waves. She looked to be only a few years older than Piper.

"Sorry," the girl said, holding up her ticket. "All the other compartments are full, and this was the only one that wasn't." She smiled apologetically. "You're stuck with me for the ride, I'm afraid." There was the faint accent of a Californian in her voice- Piper recognized it immediately. Took a Californian to know a Californian.

"No, it's- it's fine." Piper straightened from her slumped position. At least it wasn't an older man.

The girl closed the door behind her, rubbing the back of her neck for a moment. She turned to Piper and offered her hand, flashing a disarming grin. "I'm Elle."

Piper took it. "Piper."

As it turned out, Elle was a student who'd gone to boarding school in New York. She was in the twelfth grade, and was heading back to San Francisco to see her family.

Elle leaned back in her seat, tucking her feet up underneath her. "So where're you from? And what're you heading to San Fran for?"

Thankfully, Piper was saved by the steward who knocked on their door, pulling a trolley filled with various snacks and drinks behind him. It gave her enough time to formulate a believable lie, as well as food more appetizing than the graham crackers sitting at the bottom of her bag.

Piper stuffed a few chips into her mouth, giving herself a few seconds before she had to reply. "I'm from San Francisco too, but I went to school in NYC. My dad lives there, and he's been waiting to see me again. I left school early."

Elle nodded, preoccupied with the nuts she was stuffing into her mouth at a rather alarming pace. "Cool."

The first day passed by uneventfully, and the dreams that came to her in sleep were miserable. Piper woke up with a soft noise leaving her lips, a tear slipping down her cheek. For once, it hadn't been a bad dream- it'd been a good one, of a time where Piper was little, before her father was an actor, before he had money. It'd been short, only a forgotten memory of playing at a playground, but short and sweet was worse than long and scary. Her chest hurt, aching for more.

Piper sat up, wiping the tear from her face with her sleeve and yawned. Sunlight lit the room in strips through the window, and Elle was already dressed in new clothes, happily munching on pancakes. It made Piper all-too aware of her lack of a change of clothes, and she felt gross. She slid down from the bed, and Elle glanced up from her plate.

"Hey. Breakfast happened while you were sleeping." Piper's eyes drifted to the plate beside Elle's, her mouth already salivating. God, she was hungry. "I brought a plate for you from the buffet... I didn't want to wake you up. You seemed like you needed the rest."

"No, it's fine." Piper sat in the seat across from her, pulling the plate into her lap. She chomped on the food, her eyes closing in delight at the taste. It wasn't long before she finished.

Elle was quieter than the day before. The few attempts Piper made at conversation died quickly, and the look in Elle's eyes was unsettling. The warmth from earlier was gone. An inkling of fear and discomfort grew. "I..." It was getting harder and harder to think. Piper's eyelids were heavy, her vision fuzzy at the edges. She swayed in her seat. "...I think I need more sleep..."

"Probably," Elle agreed, coming to sit beside Piper. Piper's head fell onto her shoulder, and she struggled to keep her eyes open, suddenly aware of the danger that the alarms blaring in her mind warned her of. "Just take a long rest now, okay?"

Darkness welcomed her with open arms, and Piper fell unconscious.

"You'll be safe with me."


Ending note:

And that would be the end of the second chapter! Shorter than the last one. I'm sorry it's slow; I promise, as I update more the chapters will get longer and faster. It's only like this for now because it's the beginning; later, I might come back and edit the earlier chapters.

I think it's also safe to mention that I'll be taking some creative liberties at points... I'll still do my best to do my research as much as possible, but just letting you (the readers) know now.

R & R, please!