Chapter 10! Yay! So so so so so so sorry I haven't updated in a while, there's this pesky little thing called school. Life has decreed I am MOVING which is absolutely terrible. I have just finished a new series called the Lunar Chronicles which I will probably write about. The series is so so good! I don't like sci-fi that much but this is kind of like fantasy but in a sci-fi sort of way. Kind of romantic and adventure packed. I know I sound like an advertisement but it is really good. If anyone has a book recommendation please comment because I am reading Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and The Lunar Chronicles over and over and over again. This is normally not a problem but according to my parents I should "expand my horizons" Pshew, no. But now I bring you... Piper! The next chapter will be more interesting. Thanks for reviewing, and please do, I'm interested to hear your feedback, especially on the Thalia/Luke thing. ;)

Warning: May contain insufferable Leo jokes and some Jiper fluff

I'm still not Rick Riordan. Sorry for OOCness and typos.

Piper

Frank and Hazel went on a dangerous, be it humiliating, quest to stop a freaking dragon. Now she was with Jason, precariously removing necessary supplies to fix the Argo. Percy, Annabeth, and Frank went to get wood and candy from the nearby village. It might not be a heroic mission to save the world, but at least they were at least going somewhere. Her job was to babysit their captain. She checked her watch, a Rolex knockoff Annabeth had given her. It was silver and gold with fake diamonds that fell off when you touched them and a cracked glass face. Annabeth had said it was something about a giant's cave in the meat-packing district? Whatever. It was a quarter to two, which meant Leo had been laughing for at least fifteen minutes now. At first she was okay with it. Leo hadn't laughed in a while, ever since he had gotten back from his mysterious vacation. After a few minutes of persistent mirth, though, the novelty had ended. She removed her sneaker, covered in slime from some monsters they had fought that morning, and took off her wet, dirty, sweaty sock. Smiling for the first time since having volunteered to watch Leo, she took advantage of his open mouth and dropped it in there. Now it was her turn to laugh. He immediately began retching and wiping his tongue. She rolled around, cracking up, until a damp, incredibly disgusting thing landed in her mouth. She spit the sock out, and (gagging) threw it at him. This quickly escalated into an all out fight. She was covered in pure, slimy disgusting-ness, but for what seemed like the first time since the beginning of this suicidal-death quest, she was laughing. Hard. It felt good. Leo threw the sock at her again.

"Leo!" he shrugged, then smiled.

"You know what they say, Piper, thy sock reflects thy personality!"

"Who in the world says that besides you?"

"The same dude who calls me handsome." She raised her eyebrows.

"And who might that be?"

"Every time I look at a mirror there's this really attractive guy looking right back at ma and he's all like, 'You're so hot man', and I'm like, 'Right back at you dude'" Piper rolled her eyes and threw back the sock, but Leo was laughing again so he didn't really notice. She decided not to wait this one out. Picking up her discarded dagger, she walked back into the Argo II.

Her cabin was cool in contrast to the stickiness outside and she flopped down on her bed. There were too many things to think about. Jason- well she always thought about Jason. Honestly, could you blame her? But lately something seemed to be bothering him, like he had made a decision and wasn't sure if it was the right the big Annabeth-Percy-Tartarus fiasco had taken a toll on her friends, and she wondered if they'd ever recover. And Leo; she could tell by his halfhearted jokes and how he spent so much time fiddling with some strange compass thing that something was definitely wrong. And that look he got in his eyes whenever she caught him on deck when he thought she wasn't there- the look her dad got when he talked about Mom.
Piper sighed. As a child of Aphrodite it was natural for her to be empathetic, but sometimes she wondered if she was the only one who thought about it so much. She felt like she was obliged to fix everyone else's problems, but of course, she couldn't do that. They needed their space as well. If only their was someone to go to... Hazel and Frank were out of the question. Maybe it was just the Greek in her, but whenever she was around them she was wary. Their team itself was so separated, each crew member with their own group of friends. She needed someone helpful, a parental figure... Her Dad! She smacked herself in the forehead, chastising herself for not thinking of it sooner. She hadn't talked to her dad in ages, the last time being a few days before Christmas. A computer was in the corner of her room and she quickly pulled open Skype and entered her dad's username. She had never been happier to see that little green dot. She called him immediately and her heart filled when he picked up.

"Dad?" Tristan McLean sat calm and collectedly with his movie star suave and half a day beard. He grinned when he saw her.

"Pipes!" He exclaimed happily, "I haven't seen you in a while! Is everything OK?" He stared at her with concern. "You didn't come back for Christmas."

She winced, but didn't know what to say. Hey dad, everything's cool except for the fact that I'm flying towards presumable death with monsters attacking every other hour. My friends just escaped from literal hell and the fate of the world rests in my and seven other teenagers' hands. But yeah, everything's great!

"Everything's-" her voice caught in her throat, "Everything's awesome, Dad." He gave her that Academy Award winning smile.

"How's school?" She forced a smile.

"School's great! Just a few-" she pondered what to say, "friend problems. Everyone's been through some tough situations and I don't know how to help." Her dad rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, I don't know what problems they've been having, but you should just try your best to be supportive. Don't pretend to understand what's going on. Just be there for them. And don't turn their problems into your own." Piper gave a grudging smile. "It's not the end of the world if everyone doesn't get along at first." He winked at her, and she almost laughed. If they didn't work together it most certainly did mean the end of the world. Well, since Gaea was the world, them working together and winning would mean the end of her too. The different uses of the word were rather ironic.

"How's work?"

"Work's great! In fact, my producers want me to star in a new one about the Greek Gods, since King of Sparta was such a hit. I'm in Greece right now!" Piper's jaw dropped, but she quickly covered her shock. Her dad, so close, yet in different worlds. She imagined his face if she showed up in her flying ship with her super powerful demigod friends. Just then, Jason peeked his head in. His eyes widened when he saw what was going on and started to leave, but she motioned for him to stay. Her dad saw him in the corner of the screen.

"Piper, who's this?" She hoped she wasn't blushing. "Oh, that's just my, uh,friend." Jason slowly walked over. Piper turned back to her dad.

"Jason, this is my dad. Dad this is my... Jason." Her dad looked at Jason and smiled. "You were right, Pipes, he is good looking." Okay, she was definitely blushing. "Dad!" He raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine, I'll stop embarrassing you." He eyed Jason up and down. "You take good care of my daughter, Jason, okay?" Jason blushed.

"Um, yes sir." Her dad laughed.

"She likes you almost as much as she liked playing princess dress up when she was little!" Jason laughed and Piper groaned.

"He's a keeper, Piper." Her dad said to her, winking again. She buried her face in her hands. A voice sounded from his end of the line and her dad stood to leave. "Well I'll have to be going then. Be good and stay safe." He smiled at her and she smiled too, even though she had no idea how she could stay safe on a quest. She was a demigod after all.

"Love you, Pipes."

"Love you, Dad." She said, and the screen shut off. Piper closed the laptop, hoping her cheeks weren't as red as she thought they were." Jason was grinning at her.

"Princess dress up?" She punched him in the arm, though she doubted it hurt very much.

"I was five, okay?" He laughed again. "Well, once when I was eight, but it was a play. Plus, you ate a stapler."

"Touche."

"Anyway, I like you more than princess dress up."

"Well I like you more than staplers." He brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. She kissed him once, softly. She breathed in his scent, like pine trees and monster slime which had never really been appealing for obvious reasons but now seemed okay. And then he smiled and bundled her up in his arms and and kissed her back.
Then there was a thud, like a ton of bricks being thrown onto the main deck. Jason immediately became alert, grabbing his sword and running upstairs. Piper sighed, wondering why some evil Greek force had chosen this moment to appear, and followed him up.

I am sorry again but I will update this weekend never fear! I hope someone is still following this and thank you if you are so very much! :D Also check out my new one shot; Percy Jackson and the Leprechaun who stole Christmas. Hasta Luego!