Charlie,

The drive never seemed to end.

It was seven hours to Birmingham, and Noah was very strict on our time limit. So our stops were never long enough, and I was beginning to regret being the good person and taking the middle seat since Aiden didn't know how to handle Sam on one of his legendary hangovers.

Though turning twenty-one soon, his hangovers had achieved renown. When you are the star local soccer player with charming ways and good looks, many people let you slide when it comes to the drinking. And, when he does overdo it, you all pay for it the next morning. It was better to leave him alone. Don't touch him, talk to him, look at him for too long, or even breathe on him. Just let it go.

For the first three hours, Noah drove, and we didn't turn on the radio for the sake of Sam. I ended up crocheting, and Aiden was listening to music on his cell phone as he stared out the window.

Athena herself taught me how to crochet when I was seven, and I had quickly taken to it. But I rarely actually did it unless I was bored like I was then.

For the next three hours, Kate drove, and Sam was better, though she would have probably turned on the radio any way. I continued to work on a yellow bracelet, and Aiden listened to the music through the radio instead of his cell phone.

And the last two hours were actually entertaining, I will give Sam that.

He turned on the music loud, and Kate ended up getting booted to the backseat with me. And, though she and Noah both ended up spending most of the time on their cell phones, it still felt better. Aiden and I broke our silence and started talking again, though it was more of small talk about New Rome, but it felt better to at least be talking.

When we got into Birmingham, we pulled to a McDonalds and began to discuss the plan in the car.

"I've been thinking about it, and it would better for a grandchild of Demeter to go and steal her rose. And, since you've been hungover all day, its you Sam."

Sam groaned and crossed his arms like a child pouting.

"Kate and I are going to find the Cyclopes," Noah announced.

I gasped.

"What?" I looked to the two of them.

While I had known I would probably get stuck going on the boring mission because it was the safest, I had also prayed that my brother would be smarter. I knew he would always still see me as a little kid holding Me-Mo, but I knew he could also see parts of the grown-up Charlie.

And I thought he would try to show it by proving he had enough trust in me to go handle a Cyclops.

This was my quest after all.

"We don't want to lure all of them to us, and you have powerful blood, Charlie," Kate tried, her eyes apologetic. I was shocked that she had known the plans. Kate was usually the one going against Noah on things like this.

"Besides, Kate and I have handled Cyclopes before. You and Aiden are going with Sam," Noah told me, no room for me to fight him on the issue.

How am I ever supposed to learn if you never let me? I wanted to scream, but I kept it in, and I began to pout like Sam.

But now I was the only one as Sam was straightening his spine and getting ready to drive again.

Great, now I look like even more of a child…

"So, now that we've decided that, we better drop you off. Do you guys know where you're going?" Sam asked as he began to pull the Jeep into reverse and began to drive out of the McDonalds parking lot and onto the road.

"I've been doing research. The Cyclopes are attracted to something right around here," Kate handed Sam her cell phone with GPS directions.

"Alright then," Sam followed the directions, and we sat in silence as he drove through the city.

Noah stared straight ahead, and Kate began to check through her backpack to make sure she had everything. Aiden kept looking at me, not sure what he could possibly say to calm me down, and Sam drove in silence.

There wasn't anything he could say.

I was angry that I was still a little kid to Noah.

I was thirteen, a year older than Noah had been when he went on his first quest with Sam. And Noah got to do a whole lot more than I did. He got to prove his worth and become one of the most respected people at Camp Half-Blood. For crying out loud, he killed the first monster!

I could never live up to what he considered to be able to take care of yourself if he never gave me a chance.

"So, what time do you want us to pick you up?" Sam broke the silence, and Noah shrugged.

"We were going to stay here and have you pick us up in the morning. It seems easier that way."

Sam watched Noah for a minute as if uncomfortable about the idea of Kate and Noah staying together overnight while he was in another city, but this was weird.

Sam had always been oblivious to Noah's feelings towards his younger sister. In his eyes, they were family. They were sandbox buddies. They were cousins. And, even without all that, Kate was Noah's best friend's little sister.

To think of anything between them was alien to Sam, or was it?

"Whatever," Sam finally shrugged, and he took another turn on the directions to a modern hotel surrounded by condos and restaurants.

Kate craned to get her cell phone from the front seat, and Noah shouldered his backpack as he got out of the car.

"Bye, Shorty," Kate hugged me goodbye, and she kissed my cheek before getting out of the car.

Now I had to look at Noah.

"Love you, Charlie."

I knew he did.

Sometimes too much, but he was my big brother…

"Love you, too, Noah."

He smiled goodbye and nodded for Sam to continue on.

And that we did…

We drove straight away from the urban Birmingham to a surrounding small town.

And I don't think I had ever felt so sick as leaving my big brother behind…

Noah,

As I watched the Jeep drive off into the distance, I thought I would feel relief that my sister was out of this danger and riding off to some sort of safety. I thought it would be a comfort to keep me from overreacting, but it did the opposite.

I felt sick as I walked, and I couldn't stop thinking about how mad I had made her when I chose her to go get the rose. She was so…disappointed, like she had expected more from me.

I knew I was holding her back, but I couldn't help it. If I let her completely free, I could burying her soon after!

"You okay, Noah?" Kate asked, breaking me out of my fog.

Kate.

I wasn't sure how Kate did it.

An eight hour drive. Shocking news before. And having to sit two hours squished up against to teenagers, and she still looked perfect!

No wonder Apollo had been into her…

It felt better to have put a few states in between Kate and the amazing god, though I wasn't sure if she was alright with that. Yes, his talk of himself was hard to handle, but a person could get used to the praises Apollo put on her all the time. Just him talking to her was a compliment.

He could have anyone, and he was choosing her…

"Yeah, just thinking about Charlie."

"She'll be fine. Worry about your own butt for a minute," Kate smirked, and I let out a small laugh as we continued to walk down the sidewalk to a condo building at the end of the street.

After some research we found that the reason the Cyclopes were gathering came from only one Cyclops.

Claas the Magnificent, once a big Cyclopes to Gaea. He had filed for "retirement" and worked as kind of monster for hire for many different causes, avoiding death by running away and claiming to be the sole survivor from great strength whenever his causes didn't work out well.

Somehow along the way, he earned a renown of being the strongest Cyclops, though he was really just a fast runner.

He was staying in Birmingham, and many a Cyclops had flocked to see him.

We wanted to get one of his adoring fans, but they would all be together.

If we get Claas, we could get the blood and get out before anyone found out.

His rent with the condos here was about to expire and rumors said he should be leaving early tomorrow morning for Mexico, perfect timing.

"Do you have the dress?" I looked to Kate, and she grimaced.

"Couldn't we just break the door down instead?"

"And draw attention."

Kate moaned, but she pulled out a handful of fabric from her bag, which is about as much as there was to the dress.

I smirked.

"You're liking this too much."

"What's wrong with seeing a pretty girl in a pretty dress?" I tried not to laugh.

"A pretty dress. More like a piece of fabric that happened to cover just slightly enough!" Kate hid her face, and I hooked my arm around her to go into a shop.

"Change-up, Katey-Cat."

Kate moaned, and she hurried off to the restroom to change. I held the black trench coat on my arm as Kate had begged for it, and she hurried out so fast to slide into it that I didn't even have time to look at it.

Claas was already known like a human, and he had human taste as well, especially for women.

I felt horrible about making her be the bait, but she had opted, and it was easier like this.

We wanted to look human, kill someone people thought was a human, and make things as easy as possible.

Despite my skill, I was tired of the usual monster game.

It wasn't being an aging body or being weak. It was a state of mind. Though only nineteen, I was more grown up than most my age, and my days of running around with my sword held high was getting me tired.

This was a refreshing change.

"I can't see the dress?"

"Shut up, Noah."

I raised my hands in surrender and followed Kate to the condos.

Kate stopped before we got to the front door. She did some things to her hair, pinched her cheeks, and applied red lipstick. Kate put on a pair of wedge heels and opened the trench coat a small amount to see the little red number Apollo had picked out for when he thought we were going clubbing with him.

My jaw dropped at just the glance, and she glared at me.

"Come on," she hurried into the building, and I followed after her.

Kate made a beeline to the front desk.

There were many condos which had their own front doors and were able to get out from the outside, which would have been easier. But Claas went for the VIP treatment of course, which required a lot of cameras.

"Excuse me, Sir, but I am looking for a young man, Claas Callis, in 904. Can you please patch me and my friend up? We're terribly late."

"I am sorry, he has to approve, and you need to sign in," the man told us, and I mentally moaned.

"Oh, but," Kate's face fell, but then her face lit up with an idea.

She leaned over the desk, angling more of a look at the dress and more of a look down it, and she smiled wider.

"I don't think you understand. I am terribly late for a meeting with Mr. Callis."

She winked.

I almost laughed.

"Oh, of-of course," the man couldn't stop staring.

"Here's a key," he handed Kate a little car, and she smiled as she put it in her pocket.

"Thank you."

We walked to the elevator in silence, and I smirked when the door closed safely behind us.

"Told you the dress would help."

"I would have found a way," Kate rolled her eyes defensively as she grabbed her dagger and changed her high heels for a pair of shorts and tennis shoes. I looked to the ceiling to be nice, but she hid everything in her trench coat, a trick she learned years ago.

"It didn't make a difference."

"I think it did."

"I really don't think so."

"Honestly? Because what we just saw there looked pretty-"

"Noah Jackson," Kate warned.

Kate,

As I stood there at the front door, I felt the familiar buzz of waiting to pounce.

I was fifteen when I first got my real planned attack where I wasn't about to lose the people I loved. It was exhilarating and terrifying, and it felt like a lifetime as I waited for it. When I did pounce though, time just flashed by me.

And now I had the same high again.

But this time, it had my body shaking as I stood completely stiff, my hand trained on a dagger on my belt. As I waited, my Athenian heritage kicked in, and my mind began to work better and better.

"Are you ready?" Noah's eyes looked at me, and I nodded.

I ran over every preparation in my head, and I prepared myself.

Noah moved out of sight, and I rang the doorbell.

"Who is it?" a heavy, clumsy Greek accent came on the line.

"Natalee. Natalee Ware."

"I don't know a Natalee. Come back other time."

"Wait, I don't think you understand," I tried, and I moaned, knowing I would have to give Noah some credit.

I pulled the trench coat off my shoulders to reveal part of the dress.

A long silence rang loud and clear that he wanted to see more.

I pulled down my dress to the hips.

The dress was tight red lace that fit me a little like another skin. The bodice made it where I could barely breathe, and it pushed all of my body weight from my hips up to my chest. The bottom was just long enough for me to slide on a pair of boy shorts and be able to hide it.

That was it.

I pulled on my jacket again, and I grabbed my dagger. Noah moved closer, and we both nodded as we waited.

When the door opened, I was a little shocked.

There was a tall, insanely tall man. He was dressed in an expensive suit that was specially tailored to his height. He had expensive shoes that were perfectly shined. His hair was dyed jet black and oiled to his head. Other than the one big brown eye in the center of his head, I would have thought that he was just a freakishly tall business man who liked to dress like he was in the mob.

His big eye got wide and confused.

And then I delivered a rib-breaking kick to his chest with my lucky tennis shoes, and what would have made any man crumble made him just staggered back.

I rushed in, Noah at my side, and he delivered the first blow with the blade. Claas dodged it, his anger roaring by now. He was grabbing a table, and, while Noah had him for a minute, I threw my big trench coat to the ground and pulled up my dress where I could move.

Claas threw a lamp at Noah's head.

Noah dodged skillfully.

Claas tripped him with one touch of his expensive leather shoes, and the force made Noah land with a hard thud on the beautiful hardwood floors that had rarely seen use before we came in here.

Claas, feeling the win inside of him, held up a coffee table, about to smash it on top of Noah, and I rushed to Claas, meeting his coffee table with a sword. It went straight through the wood, and the big blow only left a small little cut on the top of his nose, which just angered her more than anything.

Luckily, his suit made it harder for him to move, otherwise he would have grabbed me and snapped me like a twig. But he did take a swipe at my legs, though I was able to move back in time. But I ended up falling to the ground in my desperate efforts to avoid him. Claas got a disgusting grin as he reached out for me, and Noah stopped him with a sword to the elbow.

He screamed, and I suddenly realized he hadn't been in battle in a long time. Neither had I, but I wasn't a guy with one eye, a restricting suit, and two demigods coming after me in my home.

Even if he had kept up rigorous exercise, it was a hard bill to fit, even if the opponents were tired from a long journey and long night. I used my sword to cut his legs, though I didn't have time to cut them completely off before he landed with a loud thud on the floors.

Noah looked to me, silently asking if I wanted to do it or if he should.

I nodded, moving back, and Noah held the sword to his throat while I scrambled for the vials in my trench coat.

As I grabbed them and moved back, Noah took it as his sign.

He stabbed his side, and golden blood rushed out.

I quickly filled each vial, ignoring his horrible screams of agony, and, as I finished, I looked up to Noah.

He moved his sword, which had been waiting by his head as I filled the vials, to the monster's throat.

I had forgotten what it was like.

To see the last moments of something's life.

No matter if they had tried to kill you or not, to see those eyes go from alive to glassy is just painful.

I was frozen to watch as Claas bled out, and I kept staring even after the body disappeared.

Noah looked down at me, covered in golden blood, his own blood, sweat, and new holes in his hoodie. He was tired, looked pretty hungry, and was also thinking about how close we had come to our bodies being here instead of Claas's.

Even when he looked like that, there was no other person I would ever rather see.

I didn't dare want to know what I looked like.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded, getting off the ground as I put the vials in the pocket of the trench coat.

Noah stood guard for a moment or two as I changed out of the red dress and into comfortable clothes. I threw him a new hoodie, and I was starving as Noah used the mist to manipulate the cameras and get us ready to go.

"So, where to now?"

"I'm thinking getting a hotel and room service French fries or something."

"Pizza sounds great, thank you for suggesting it," I smiled, and Noah rolled his eyes.

"But it will be delivery."

"That's fine with me, as long as I get the pizza."

So some action. I wasn't really good at that though, sorry. But Noah and Kate are alone together, and Charlie and Aiden are off on an adventure.