A/N: Whew! Has it been a long time since I started this or is it just me? I sincerely apologize readers, I have had the biggest brain fart with this story, while having ideas for an actual novel run rampant through my creativity. Not to mention the BBC has taken over my life…. Here is chapter 2 everyone and please, forgive me…After all, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Merlin…who could blame me.

During a short respite between battles, I sat apart a somber crowd, hiding myself in a hotel bathtub. The hotel suite we were currently occupying was quiet. I felt like suffocating in the thick silence. I was sipping from a water bottle when Annabeth came and sat on m left, our legs dangling over the edge of the tub.

"Why are you in here?" She asked with genuine curiosity in her voice.

" They're all looking at me funny. No one trusts me. I thought it best not to stir up any unrest out there." She nodded before letting the silence return.

"Do you remember when I first showed up with Luke?" She asked.

"Of course I remember."

"Not the actual night. The first week. Do you remember how mean I was to you?" A mischievous half smile spread across her face. I pang struck through my chest. There was only one person she could have learned that look from. I smiled too, nonetheless.

"You were a little shit, weren't you?" I nudged her with my shoulder. Even sitting I was now looking up at my little sister. It had been years since she had outgrown me.

"I didn't trust you." She looked me in the eye, as serious as the war we were fighting. "Now you're my family."

"That was different. I was a stranger suddenly thrust into your life. You didn't know me, I didn't know you. These campers have known me for years. I was dating Luke, now he's a traitor. Because of that, well, those guys out there can't trust me. You've seen the way they look at me."

"It's not that they can't trust you. They're scared, and because of that, they see you as a possible threat." I leaned my head against Annabeth's shoulder. It seemed more often these days she was the one comforting me. When had she grown up into such a smart young woman? I suppose she has always been that way.

I looked up when Annabeth reached into one of her cargo pockets. She handed me a slightly rumpled white envelope.

"I was wondering when I was going to need this. I'm glad I thought to bring it along." I opened the flap to find a small stack of photographs. Most were of Luke and me; some held the faces of all three of us. Half way through the stack I stopped. Annabeth looked at what made me pause and laughed. It was a loud laugh that echoed through the whole bathroom.

"I remember when this happened." She said smiling. "I thought it was so gross. I still do as a matter of fact." I nudged playfully again.

"I didn't."

July 2002

It had been over a year since Luke and Annabeth arrived at camp, and nine months since my dad died. Annabeth and I had become as close as sisters could be. She'd grown so much and not just physically. She opened up to people easier, smiled a lot more. Most of all she was so eager to learn. One night, while we were flipping through a book of ancient Greek architecture, she told me what she wanted to be when she grew up. An architect. I told her that's what she would be.

As for Luke, well, I was still working on that. I was fascinated by him, that's for sure. It wasn't just his good looks either. Most girls around camp would agree with me when I said that Luke was one of the best looking guys at camp. No, it was more than that. Luke's skills during training were incredible. I'd never seen anyone with the intensity that he carried when he trained. It showed even more during the games of Capture the Flag. Mostly, I knew, it was the way he looked after Annabeth. Like he'd made himself her eternal protector. I had no trouble talking with him, even about what happened to my dad. He too talked about most things. Anything except family. That was a seriously sore subject for him and I never pushed him to talk about it.

On the days when time allowed, he would train with me one on one. My skills with a sword were lacking so Luke agreed to give some of his spare time to teach me.

One sweltering day in July with a Capture the Flag game the next afternoon, Luke lead me to the area where most of the training was done. A heavy heat hung in the air making my skin sticky with sweat even though we hadn't even started. He was going to show me a disarming trick I'd seen him use multiple times before. He told me it was difficult to learn and even harder to pull off, but I was persistent and kept asking until he'd agreed to teach me.

We warmed up with a ten minute sparring session. In no time at all Luke's orange shirt was soaked through and his hair lay flat and damp. His breathing was still even, unlike mine. I was out of breath and panting. My face was flushed and sweat ran down the back of my neck.

"I'd say you're warmed up enough." He laughed as he passed me a water bottle. I drank my fill and pass it back to him so he could drink. He splashed some of the cool water on his face.

"Are you going to teach this thing to me or not?" I asked with mock impatience.

His eyes lit up and he flashed a crooked grin. "If you insist." It sounded like a challenge. "I'll show you slowly first, then we'll spar until you disarm me with it."

"And if I don't…" I asked cautiously.

"We keep going."

Luke showed me the proper steps to take, where to plant my feet and how to twist my blade just right so my opponent had no choice but to drop their own sword. He went through it once more to make sure I had it committed to memory. He picked up my sword, tossed it to me and took a fighting stance.

I knew I didn't stand a chance against Luke. He towered over me and his accuracy was deadly. Oh, and he just happened to be the best swordsman the camp had ever seen. Even still, to this day, no one matched his skill. Though we were just training, he fought with a fury I'd never seen. Like he channeled all his anger in to his fighting. Perhaps that's why he was so good at it. Of course, he never gave me more than I could handle. It was always just enough to push me beyond my best.

We sparred for nearly thirty minutes until he disarmed me with the very trick he was teaching me.

"You know how I did that?" He asked.

"By being fast like a freak." I answered, blowing hair out of my face.

"Exactly. Speed. Do I need to show you again?"

"No. I can do it." I assured him, though it was more for my sake. I knew I wasn't going to be able to disarm Luke. He was too fast. I was too distracted. Distracted by him and the way he moved, by his hair (which needed to be cut) fell over his forehead. Mostly it was his eyes. The seriousness blended perfectly with the right amount of playful.

I was startled when I felt him standing right beside me. "Again."

"I told you. I don't need you to show me again."

"Your foot work." He said, pointing at my feet. "You need to work on that." Luke put my sword in my hand and turned me around so I faced the same direction as him.

"Take your stance." I did. I was also acutely aware of his hands on my waist. I could hear my own heart pounding away in my chest. My stomach felt like I'd eaten a bowl of butterflies for dinner.

"If your opponent moves there and strikes here, you move like this." I moved with him, like he was teaching me the steps to a lethal dance. I knew everything he was showing me. It was sword fighting 101, but with him standing this close, I wasn't going to protest.

Slowly he turned me around to face him, placing a hand at the back of my neck. I knew he could feel the quick beat of my pulse. I put a hand to his chest, over his heart, and felt that it beat just had fast as mine. I knew what was coming next, but it still surprised me when he lowered his lips to mine. I parted my lips beneath his, inviting him in. My sword lay forgotten on the ground as I entwined my fingers in his hair. Without warning, his lips stopped as he stepped away. I stared dumbfounded and slighting confused.

"But…what." I protested. I wanted more, and I wanted it right now dammit!

He picked up my discarded weapon and held it out to me. "Again."

"But…but." I said stupidly.

He nodded once. "When you win." I took my sword from him. "Again."

"That was low." If he wanted to play dirty, I would give him all the dirt he wanted. This time I went at him with everything I had. I blocked and thrust. Dodged and jabbed. After fifteen minutes of none stop movement I managed to get my sword to where I could force him to drop his. It was pure luck. Just for making me go through all of that, I elbowed him in the stomach, hooked my foot around his ankle and swept his feet out from underneath him. I kick his blade away and out of his reach. He smiled mischievously when I held my the point of my sword at his throat. He started laughing.

"I win." I said through labored breaths. He laughed harder.

" Hey June, what's rule number one of battle strategy? I seemed to have forgotten." He asked innocently, trying to catch his breath.

"Never let your opponent distra-" I never got to finish. My feet were suddenly no longer under me, but there was definitely someone on top of me. I felt stupid laying on the ground pinned beneath him. He was really heavy. I could however, admire the view. When he arrived at camp little more than a year ago, he was wiry and lanky. He'd grown since then and put on more than a few pounds, all of it was lean, hard muscle.

"What was that about not letting yourself get distracted?" He sat on top of me with my hands pinned across my chest. I couldn't move, not even my legs. I settled with narrowing my eyes at him. It wasn't fair. He knew I was distracted by him and used that to his advantage.

"I believe that's check mate." He let my hands go but he didn't get off of me. He was getting heavier by the minute. I ran my hand up his arm to the back of his neck.

"Luke."

"Hmm?"

"Shut up." I brought his lips down to mine in a crushing kiss. This time I would get what I wanted. I may have initiated it this time, but Luke quickly stole dominance. His tongue parted my lips to gain deeper entrance into the kiss. Without stopping for breath he pulled me into a sitting position so I was straddling his lap. Sitting like that I was acutely aware of the way we were positioned. Tremors shot through my stomach and headed south. I was just beginning to think on how far I was willing to let him take this when a noise stopped us both.

"Ach-hem." I was someone clearing their throat in a very obvious way. The throat clearing was followed immediately by a wolf whistle and a flash. Luke and I looked over to the edge of the arena where a small crowd had gathered around Chiron. One of Luke's younger brothers held a camera. Chiron looked down on us disapprovingly, but his eyes were crinkled in amusement. Luke and I were both flushed, and not just from the embarrassment of being caught.

"Looks like it's time to add some new camp rules."

I was laughing, actually laughing. I even had to wipe the tears form my eyes. My sister knew just what to do to make me feel better.

I felt Annbeth stiffen beside me.

"I wish things could've stayed like that forever." She whispered.

"If that were the case you never would have met Percy. I couldn't be happier for the two of you." I hadn't noticed when she had grabbed my hand, but she examined my fingers, running her over the light tan line on one of them.

"Were you ever going to tell anyone?" She was way too smart for me to keep up with. I knew what she was talking about, but I hadn't realized she had known. I told no one that secret.

"If things had stayed the same? Right away. But things being the way they are now…never. I didn't want anyone to know. I still don't want anyone to know." I jerked my hand out of hers. "How long have you known?"

"A long time. When I stayed with you after I left my father's house. I remember I was looking for something when I found the ring in your bed side table. I thought a first it could have been you dad's, but it was too small. After that it didn't take much reasoning to see that it was yours."

I was dreaming that much I knew.

I was walking through the forest. I could tell I wasn't at camp. None of the surroundings looked familiar. No pathways wound through the trees, no light filtered down through the dark canopy above. My breath rose in puffy white clouds. I heard dry, dead leaves crunching beneath my bare feet and felt the cold seep through the thin flannel of my pajama bottoms. Off in the distance I heard the rushing sound of a river.

Somewhere around me I heard the rustling of leaves, someone walking away. I turned to follow the footsteps. They sounded staggered, tired and forced.

The trees slowly began thinning, their branches growing spindly and bare. They loomed, wraith like, in the shadows around me. Flakes started falling, but when they landed on my skin they didn't melt. I brushed them away and the flakes left a silky gray residue. Ash was raining down from a sky I still couldn't see.

The ghost up ahead quickened it's pace. I had to run to keep up. My feet left blurry prints in the deepening ash and my breath came in rasping gasps. Just when I thought I could run no more, the trees around me disappeared. Gray flakes still fell from above, but the ground underfoot had changed. I was walking on gravel. I felt the sharp edges of the small stones digging into the soft flesh of my feet. In front of me, a river twisted its way across a dead landscape. No tress grew across the far bank. It was nothing but barren gray hills and an endless black horizon.

Not far up the river I heard a voice shout. "No! Anything but this!" The voice was stressed and hauntingly familiar. Luke!

A voice, a sound that didn't belong even in the darkest of nightmares, echoed all around me, through me. Goosebumps rose on my skin, despite having just run through the woods.

You will or they suffer and you die!

"Leave them out of this you son of a bitch!"

Your wife, June? Annabeth? Remember how I showed you what I would do with them. They will remain unharmed if you cooperate.

"Why this?" Luke pleaded. "There has to be some other way."

This is the only way your body will be able to sustain me. Pick a spot like I told you and take a dive.

When Luke came into view he stood at the water's edge. His mouth moved to silent words I could not hear. Reluctantly, as if he were being coerced by an invisible force, he stepped into the river.

I opened my mouth to shout for him to stop, that if he bathed in that water he would surely die. When no sound escaped my lips I quickened my steps. I had to save him from the slow rapids of the river. I watched in horror as he fell to his knees, his face contorted in a terrible pain. Struggling, he fell to his side, deeper into the water vanishing below the dark frothy surface. Without a second thought for my own safety or what I was jumping into, I rushed into the river. The Styx, my own mind corrected. I didn't feel any of the pain that tormented Luke, only a slight irritation, like a light sunburn.

I plunged my arm under, searching for any sign of him, all the while keeping my eyes open for a glimpse of blond hair or glint off of his blue eyes. My hand bumped into something solid and smooth. Luke's arm. I grabbed hold and pulled with more strength than I thought I possessed. I hooked my other arm under his and slowly began dragging him to shore. My eyes roamed the tree line nearby. I was so startled by what I saw there I almost lost my hold on Luke. Hidden behind dying trees, two figures lurked in the shadows. Neither one looked ready to help me. This time when I shouted, I was heard.

"Don't just stand there! Help me!" I was more astounded when they came out from behind their cover. Not because they were helping me (they stood there, motionless), but because of who they were. Annabeth and the girl Thalia stood before Luke and me, looking down at us accusingly.

"He brought this on himself. Let him drown." Thalia's voice was unnecessarily harsh. I looked pleadingly to my sister. She seemed terrified, angry and confused. Just like when she first arrived at camp as a scared little girl. Surely she would want to save him.

"Annabeth, help me." It wasn't a question or a plea.

"He left me. He left me when he promised he wouldn't." She was crying. Thalia still looked severe and judgmental, cold even. I looked to her.

"You too? You're just going to let him die?" I was barely able to hold Luke above the surface. He eyes were closed and he wasn't responding. He was alive at least. I could see his chest rise and fall with short shallow breaths. I was still standing knee deep in the churning water.

"Luke poisoned my tree! He tried to kill me! You're on your own June Castellan."

I drew in a sharp breath that sounded more like a hiss. How did she know? It's hardly been a week. No one but Luke and I knew about our marriage. Not Chiron, not Percy, not even my own sister.

Annabeth gave me an apologetic nod filled with sorrow. "I'm sorry sister." With that, Thalia and Annabeth disappeared into the forest. Forget them, I thought. With the last of my strength I struggled as I dragged Luke on to the rocky beach. His skin was red and raw as if I had just pulled him from boiling water. It may have been more humane, I thought as I brushed a few wet strands of hair from his face. Luke's eyes fluttered open when I lightly traced the scar on his cheek. His hand came up to grasp mine. His skin was warm.

"June?"

"Yeah." I whispered.

"You pulled me out. I'm alive." He sounded disappointed, like he wanted to drown.

"I couldn't let you die." I almost choked on my words.

Luke placed a kiss on the inside of my wrist. "You should have."

"What are you talking about?" I asked sharply. A shadow in the back of my mind knew why.

"Now there's no stopping him." His eyes met mine. I could never remember seeing him so scared or worried in my life. When he sat up I threw my arms around him and held on as if I would get to keep him with me as long as I didn't let go. Deep down I knew that wasn't so. As soon as I woke up, in my bed, he would be gone and I would be alone.

His arms around me went slack. I knew something was wrong when a chill crept up my spine and into my heart.

"I can see why he's attracted to you." Luke said, only something was wrong, horribly wrong. I pulled myself from his arms and looked upon Luke's face. "You are truly beautiful." Then I saw his eyes. Eyes that were once a perfect match to a clear sky were gone. Hollow, golden eyes that didn't seem to be alive starred back at me.

I screamed.

When I opened my eyes I was sitting in my bed, in the dark I took me a moment to realize someone was knocking on the front door. I turned to look at the clock. The neon blue numbers read 3:30AM.

"What the hell?" I mumbled to myself. "Who would be at my door this time at night?" I wrapped a thin fleece blanket around my body to ward of any chill.

As soon as I reached the front door I turned on the porch light and peered through the peephole. There, on the front steps, with no jacket to keep her warm was Annabeth. She looked around uncertainly before lifting her arm to knock again. I swung the door open before she would wake the neighbors.

"Annabeth, what are you-?" I started to ask when I noticed the tears falling down her cheeks. I rushed her inside, threw my own blanket over her and ushered her into my tiny living room.

"I know you don't like being woken up, but," Her lip trembled as she tried to hold in more tears. It broke my heart to see my sister, who was now taller than I was, so upset. "I couldn't stay there anymore."

I threw my arms around my little sister. She needn't explain anything. She has told me before of her problems with her stepmom, and how rough things were at home.

"I don't have that much space here, but you're welcome to stay for as long as you need." I lead her to my small bedroom and dug out a pair of sleep pants for her to wear.

"You'll probably want a hot shower." Annabeth nodded but remained silent. "The bathroom is through there, towels are in the closet." As soon as the bathroom door was closed, my right flew to my left to remove the plain gold band that rested there. I held it in my hand until hurt. I opened my hand and stared at the lines that the ring had dug into my palm. I pulled open the drawer in the table next to my bed and silently hid my secret away. I wasn't ready to tell anyone about that yet. It had been a couple of years already, what as a little while longer.

Half an hour later, warmer and still silent, Annabeth tucked herself into bed next to me and fell asleep.

"How long were you two married?" She asked, bringing me out of my memory.

"How long have we been married?" I corrected her, "It was just before Percy showed up at the camp." I leaned my head back against the tub and closed my eyes. I don't remember every falling a sleep.

Thank You everyone for your patience! The next chapter will be the last, and I promise it won't take that long. No flash backs in the next chapter though.

However, If anyone wants one shots later one, I may be able to come up with a few ideas. Feel free to send me any ideas my way. Given that you guys like June enough!