Author's note: I actually typed this up at the same time I wrote the first chapter. I decided to try and shoot for a chapter a day, but that probably won't last for long. I'll definitely be working on chapter 3 once I get home from work tonight, but it's a late night for me so I can't be sure how much I'll get done.

Either way way, I hope guys are enjoying this one so far!

"Ugh." Apollo groaned as he lifted himself off the ground. He glanced around but was in pitch blackness.

At least we're not buried in the snow. He thought to himself. Wait, where's Athena!?

He quickly fished into his pocket and pulled some matches he'd taken to carrying around. He pulled one out and struck it on the match book. He quickly noticed that the avalanche had swept him into the cave. He called out for his friend. "Athena! Where are you?"

In response, he heard what he could only describe as a whimper. He looked in the direction of the noise and saw Athena, curled into a ball, her back against the wall of snow that now trapped them in the cavern.

"Athena!" he said as he rushed to her side. The match burned out the second he reached her. He quickly lit another one and buried it just slightly into the wall of snow to leave his hand free. "Athena, I'm glad you're ok." He received nothing in response as she remained in her ball. He noticed she was shivering. "Are you cold?" She shook her head. When she did, he noticed something. Her eyes. They looked glazed over. Widget's screen was also off. She was panicking!

Apollo gently put his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "Athena, calm down. I'm right here. If there's anything I can do to help you, just tell me."

She tried to open her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"I couldn't hear you, Athena. What is it?" Apollo asked.

Suddenly, the girl lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the man tightly. She finally squeaked out two words, which he just barely heard. "Hold me."

And so he wrapped his arms around the woman and he held her. At first for five minutes. Then 15 minutes. Finally, a half hour had passed and she slowly pulled back and spoke. "A-Apollo, can you… can you please light another match?"

"Sure." He said as he reached into his pocket and lit another match. When he did, he heard Athena let out one long breath and Widget suddenly came back to life, illuminating the cave much better than his match could. He dropped the match onto the ground where it went out. "Are you ok now?"

Athena nodded. "Yes. Thank you so much for holding me."

"It's no problem. I'll always help you out if I can, Athena."

This made her smile.

"Now c'mon. Let's get you away from this wall of snow at least." He the scooped her up in his arms, much like he did during the avalanche, and brought her to the other side of the cave, near where he'd awoken.

"Thanks, Apollo." She said as he gently set her down against the rock face.

He sat down next to her. "How's your ankle?" He asked.

"It's… still sore." She said, gently touching her left ankle and wincing in pain.

Apollo slid his backpack off and began to rummage through it. "Hang on a second." A moment later, he produced a roll of gauze. "Athena, is it alright if I take a look at your ankle?"

Her breath caught in her throat, but she nodded and slid her foot closer to Apollo who gently took hold of it and carefully slid the zipper of her boot down. After he pulled her boot off, he very carefully rolled her sock back to show her ankle. Her ankle had a very dark purple bruise on it.

"It's definitely twisted. I'm gonna wrap it up, ok Athena?"

She nodded silently, very embarrassed of the situation.

Apollo went to work, being careful not to wrap the gauze too tightly. Finally, when he was satisfied, he looked back to Athena. "Is that better?"

"Y-yeah. A lot."

Apollo smiled at her and rolled her sock back up onto her foot and put her boot back on. He then took a seat next to the woman.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Apollo spoke up. "Y'know, I had no clue you were afraid of the dark."

Athena turned to look at him. "Huh?"

Apollo looked back at her. "The dark. Earlier when you were panicking, I assumed it was because it was dark. Am I wrong?"

"W-well… Not entirely. But, it wasn't just the dark that had me scared." She pulled her legs close to her and curled into a ball again. "It's… this place. I-I hate caves."

"Caves?" Apollo asked, tilting his head slightly.

Athena nodded. "Speluncaphobia. I've… been afraid of them for a long time."

"Is there a reason behind it?"

Athena nodded as Widget began to dim.

"Hey." Apollo said as he put an arm around her shoulder. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Athena shook her head. "No. No, it's fine. Talking about it with you might help me feel better."

"Are you sure? I mean it, if it's too hard-"

"It's fine, Apollo." She then took a deep breath and began to tell her tale.