Okay! I'm sooo sorry for leaving this chapter out. I was suddenly realizing that it goes from them finding the box to Annabeth randomly chillin' with them, so I had to fix that. Love you, and thanks for reading!

"Luke, I swear, if a monster attacks us, I'm blaming you." I mutter, not sure if he can hear me. He does and grins at me, his expression amused. "You? Afraid of monsters? Come on, you're too brave for that."

I roll my eyes and try to hide a smile. Of course I was brave now, with him at my side…he practically hacked at everything while I stood behind him, raising my shield like an idiot. I'm pretty sure he thinks I can't handle it. Hmm. I'd have to prove my maturity somehow to him sometime later…

He cocks his head to the side of the box and I quickly flank it on the right. My blood quickens. He looks up at me, those blue eyes intense and concentrated. "One." He mouths. "Two, three!"

We rip away the sheet of tin, and some rabid blonde animal comes out, attacking Luke. Wait. Wait, it's not an animal…is that a little girl?

Yes, a very scared little girl wearing red flannel pajamas, her skin pale, like Luke's.

"No!" she's screaming, fighting him. He manages a tight hold on her wrist and a hammer she had been holding skitters across the cement. Her eyes watch it fall hopelessly, huge with fear.

"It's okay!" Luke promises his voice husky from being kicked over and over.

"No more monsters!" she shouts fiercely, attempting to bite Luke's wrist. He's barely managing her. I watch, unsure what to do. "Thalia," he says, "Put your shield up! You're scaring her."

Gods, he's right. I quickly tap Aegis and it melts into a delicate little silver bracelet again. The girl's watching me, slightly confused. So that meant her mind was right. If she could see things the way Luke and I did, that meant there was no way she was all human. "Hey, it's alright." I promise her, using that voice I only used with Jason. "We won't hurt you. I'm Thalia, this is Luke."

"Monsters!" she accuses. That was it then. She was a half-blood. Luke must have picked up on this too, but I think the only thing on this mind was calming her down. "No," he says gently, his tone mirroring mine somewhat, "But we know all about monsters. We fight them too."

"You're like…me?" she asks carefully. Luke nods, kneeling so he's at level with her. I do the same, sitting by her. "Well…" I begin, completely lost. I've never had to explain this; I just kind of assumed it was only me and Luke. "Well, yeah, I think so." Luke finishes. "I-it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"

"My family hates me." She answers promptly. "They don't want me, so I ran away."

I lock eyes with Luke, his entire face solemn. She is one of us. I smile down at her trying to keep this harrowing discovery light. "What's your name, kiddo?"

She beams up at me. "Annabeth."

"Nice name." Luke compliments, a light smile on his lips. "I'll tell you what, Annabeth, you're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."

I smile, liking where this is going. Annabeth seems to, as well. "You could?" she asks, her voice hopeful. "Oh, yeah." He says dismissively. "Poor Thalia here needs someone to protect her."

I stick my tongue out at him, pretending to be hurt. Annabeth laughs, and I realize I like the sound very much. Luke pulls out a blade from his pack. He hands it to Annabeth, pointing the bronze hilt toward her. "How bout a real monster-slaying weapon? Works a lot better than a hammer."

Annabeth stares at it attentively while Luke explains the weapon to her. "It takes a clever warrior to use a knife, but I get the feeling you're pretty clever."

"I am!" Annabeth says, watching Luke with those huge gray eyes of hers. "We'd better get going, Annabeth," I tell her, touching the crown of her head. "We've got a safe house on the St. James River up in South Dakota. We'll get you food and something to wear."

"You're not taking me back to my family?" Annabeth asks, her voice suddenly off. "You're a part of our family now." Luke says, placing a protective hand on her shoulder. "And we promise not to let anything hurt you. I'm not going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"

"Deal!" she replies, elated.

"Well come on. We can't stay put for long!" I tell them, taking Annabeth's hand.