Hey guys,

I hope I'm not uploading too fast and losing some of the writing technique...

But anyway, enjoy...

To allen r - thank you for your reviews, I'm glad that you like that Annabeth is already realising how she feels - I thought that even though Percy doesn't know, it doesn't mean Annabeth doesn't and she's much more tuned into her feelings than Percy is! Plus I thought it was a great way to cover her snaps at Percy :)

To ADayWithNoLaughterIsADayWast ed - loving the name by the way and I totally agree with you - thank you for saying that, it might not be the best out there, but it certainly isn't the worst!

xxxxxx

To "Guest" - is that an actual login or are you just a guest? I updated it a bit, tried to make it longer, more description and found it was harder than I thought. I've left it like this for the time being, but I promise I'll take another look at it in the near future. I hope the extra Percy / Annabeth time makes up for it! Thank you so much for your comment - feel free to leave more points and I'll take them into consideration! :)

xxxxx

We Get Advice from a Poodle

I grabbed some food and other stuff, including blankets from the Warehouse as Percy and Grover just watched.

"We lost all our other things." I reminded them. That jolted them into action.

Grover scavenged for tin cans and vegetables, while Percy held everything I heaped onto him and then began sorting the good from the bad on the table, I helped.

He looked down, and who could blame him, I was too. I was also sorry for our earlier argument and was looking for anyway to make it up to him. But I couldn't think of anything to say, so I stayed silent.

Eventually he sighed. "I don't know about you," he said. "But I don't want to stay here tonight."

I agreed with him, nodding.

"We'll try the woods, there ought to be a clearing of some sort around here." Again I nodded, I was exhausted and I just wanted to get away from here and sleep.

When Grover came back with his bundle of food, Percy and I were ready to hot foot it.

"We've decided to camp in the woods." I said. Grover smiled, he was happy to be anywhere there was nature. We tramped back into the woods, and miserably made our way until we found a clearing that had obviously been used by the local teenagers. I grimaced as I took in the ground which was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers.

"I don't think it's a good idea to light a fire, we've . . . er . . . maybe had enough excitement for one day." I said.

"Mmmm." Percy agreed. Grover didn't say anything, a sad look on his face as he took in the state of the clearing.

I made up beds for everyone, piling up the blankets we had stolen.

"I'll take first watch." Percy said, watching me. I nodded and curled up into my patch of blankets, asleep almost before my head hit the ground. But that didn't stop the dream.

We were back in the Underworld, and this time I knew who the green-eyed boy next to me was. A strong wind was rippling through the grass, blowing us sideways, all around us the dead congregated. Looking, seeking.

"Where is it?" They said. "Where is it?" They pulled at our clothing, still whispering the same phrase over and over again.

"What is it?" I wanted to ask. "What are you looking for?" But my voice wouldn't work.

I gripped Percy's hand harder, and he turned to me with a half-smile on his face, his eyes determined to get us out of here, he was trying to reassure me. It didn't work.

I woke up sweating. Percy was on guard.

"Hey," he said. "You alright?"

"Yeah." I said. "Bad dream." Pausing for a moment, I looked at the lightening sky, I still hadn't taken my turn at watching the camp. "I thought you took first watch."

He sighed. "Grover took it." He picked at the ground with his foot.

"Oh." I said. "What time is it?"

"Coming up to five." He said.

"You didn't wake me?"

"You looked tired."

I struggled to come up with a decent response. "Oh." I said. "Well . . . I'll take over, if you want, you need a couple of hours sleep."

He finally looked over at me and I could see the circles under his eyes. "Thanks." He said. "Wake me if you need me." He walked over to his puddle of blankets and fell asleep instantly. I watched him for a few minutes more, his face relaxed in sleep. He looked care-free, but I knew he wasn't. I didn't know what I'd have done if I'd lost my mother the way he had, but I knew I wouldn't have been able to carry on so well.

With the sky lightening, I could make out the shape of the forest and someone glinting at the bottom of the hill in the early morning light. I squinted harder. Train tracks. If only we had some money, we could have got a train west, it would save a lot of trouble. All around me the forest began to wake, the birds started cheeping and I could hear small rodent animals in the underbrush, comforted I watched over the two boys until Grover woke around seven.

His hair stood up on end on the top of his head, but wear he had been lying down it was flattened. I smiled at him.

"Morning." He said, his eyes full of sleep.

"Morning." I said. "Shhh. Percy's still asleep."

Grover looked over at Percy, who was twitching in his sleep and then back at me. "He didn't wake you up, did he?"

"Nope. But I woke up around 5 and took over." I started forward to the food we had brought last night, I was too hungry to wait much longer for breakfast.

"Right." Grover frowned. "If you've got that in hand, I'll go exploring, see if I can figure out where we are."

I nodded in reply. "Okay. I'll grab some snacks for breakfast. Plus I saw some train tracks at the bottom of the hill, see if you can see a station anywhere."

He nodded and wandered off. It didn't take long for him to make his way back and I could hear him talking to himself.

"Annabeth." He said when he reached the clearing. "Meet Gladiola, he's agreed to help us on our journey."

"Hi Gladiola." I said, feeling stupid for talking to a pink poodle, but I knew Grover wouldn't let me get away with not saying hello.

"I didn't have to go all the way down the hill, Gladiola told me that the Amtrak train leaves at noon at the station, which is about half-a-mile in that direction." He pointed right along the track. I nodded, thinking hard.

"Grover," I said. "We don't have any money."

Grover grinned and ran a hand through his hair, brushing aside a leaf that had become stuck. "That's were Gladiola comes in. He's seen the signs for his return and knows that if he's found, his owners will pay $200 -"

"And then we can get the train west!" I interrupted. I went over the Percy, who was still fast asleep, not wanting to waste a moment. "Hey," I said. "Time to wake up."

He didn't respond. "Wake up, Percy." He frowned and twitched. Having a nightmare. "Wake up!"

I started shaking him, "Wake up, Percy! Wake up." He finally stirred and I smiled at him. "Well, the zombie lives." He was still trembling.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." I chucked his a bag of nacho-flavoured con chips that we had stolen last night. "And Grover went exploring." I watched his face carefully, waiting for his reaction. "Look, he found a friend."

He seemed to have trouble focusing on Grover, but when he did, his mouth fell open.

The Poodle yapped. "No, he's not." Grover said to Gladiola.

"Are you . . ." Percy appeared to be lost for words. "Talking to that thing?" Gladiola growled. I controlled my giggles.

"This thing" Grover warned. "Is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

"You can talk to animals?" Percy asked, looking bewildered.

Grover ignored his question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy." Percy turned to look at me suspiciously. I kept a straight face.

"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle. Forget it."

My lips twitched, but if I had to say hello to the poodle, then gods damned, so did he.

"Percy, I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle." Gladiola growled.

Percy said hello to the poodle.

While Grover explained how he had met Gladiola, I packed up the blankets and left over food that we could eat later.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" I heard Percy ask.

"He reads the signs." Grover said. "Duh."

"Of course," Percy said overwhelmed. "Silly me."

I turned away to hide my smile, then informed Percy of our plan. "So, we turn in Gladiola, we get the money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

For a moment, Percy's face darkened and I wondered if he had been dreaming about the Underworld as well.

"Not another bus." He said warily.

"No." I agreed, no more buses. I pointed downhill toward the train tracks I had spotted this morning while I was waiting for the boys to wake. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."