HEYO! Sorry for the horribleness of my updating, but I have good news for you! I wrote down the whole plot of what is going to happen in stranded, so the updates will be coming quick, and that is a promise. Now, because my leading reason as to why I haven't been updating is gone, (writer's block) I can actually get things done for a change. Thanks for sticking with this story, and I hope you like what I will be doing to it.

~GoGreen43

Previously on Stranded:
I mean, I'm just Piper McLean. How should I know how to find where Annabeth is?

After putting the mess away, I started to pace. I knew there was something wrong, though. There was something going on that I couldn't figure out. I knew there was this piece that didn't add up. I don't know what it is, but I do know there is definitely a piece that is missing from the puzzle.

All of the sudden there was a knock on the door, making me jump. I shook my head, and looked at the clock, which read 7:53 a.m.

Who would be coming by at this hour?

I walked to the door, a fearfully opened it. My eyes widened at who it was. Well, I knew I was going to see him again, but certainly not at this hour. I was probably expecting at like 11, but I guess from his excited complexion, he probably figured out that missing piece.

I was face to face with Jason Grace.

Chapter 14- Shark Tracker

-Piper POV-

To be honest, I'm not too proud of the first thing that came to my mind when I first saw Jason. When I saw him, I saw his plain white V-neck tee shirt, and his Calvin jeans. Boy was he hot.

And he was standing at my front door.

"Piper, I need to ex-" He was cut off by my door slamming him in the face. I wasn't ready to put up with any of his crap today. I have my own crap that I need to care about. Even if he is one hot mess, I don't need any time wasted on him today.

I need to find Annabeth. That's my priority.

I guess the shock wore off when I heard a constant wrapping on my door. "Piper, come on, open up! I know you're in there!"

Damn right he knows I'm here. And he can go to hell if he thinks that I'm opening that door. So casually I just sat down on my couch, put my feet up, laid back and closed my eyes.

If only he could stop knocking and calling my name. I know that I dreamt of this, a hot guy coming and knocking on my door, begging for my very presence, but now… I'm pretty sure instead of a dream, that's going to become a nightmare.

So, I did what anyone in my situation would do. I tried to tune him out, and pretend like he wasn't there. And that worked well. "Pipes, come on! Open the door! I have to tell you something!"

Soon, the knocking started to fade, and his voice did as well. I knew he was there though- I took a quick look through the peep hole.

"Piper," he was talking now. "I know how to find them. Piper, I really do! Please just-" He was once again cut off by my door, but this time he practically fell over because he was leaning on it.

His blue eyes looked at me with wonder, and I could tell by his expression that he usually doesn't have to knock on a girl's door for a good half an hour to get her to open it. He just continued to look at me speechless, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"You knocked?"

He realized what he was doing, and blushed, and looked to the floor, blinking hard. "Oh, yeah, uhm… I know how to find them?" It sounded more like a question, as he was testing my patience, expecting to get the door slammed in his face again.

Come on, I'm not that mean.

"Well, come in then." I opened the door even wider, and allowed him to walk into my apartment. He smiled a little when he saw that an architectural documentary was playing on my television as I showed him to the kitchen.

"Do you want anything to drink?" I asked, grabbing two glasses from the cupboard. I wanted some of my 'special' lemonade anyways.

His eyes widened at my change of attitude, I can't blame him, considering I slammed the door in his face like forty minutes ago, and wouldn't open the door. Now, I'm actually showing some hospitality. "Sure, that would be very nice, considering I had been yelling at the door for quite a while."

I just blushed and smiled sheepishly at him. "Look, I'm really sorry about that… I kind of thought that you were just going to yell at me for the stunt I pulled back at the station."

He smiled at me a little bit as I handed him the glass. "I actually thought that was pretty brave of you. I don't know too many people who would stick up for someone like that."

I groaned when I blushed again. I was angry for being so good to read when I realized that he saw the impression that he was making on me. I coughed a little bit, trying to bring the attention away from my cheeks. "So, you told me that you know how to find them?"

Jason immediately stiffened up, and his expression went all business. "We know where the plane crashed- and if they got onto some craft, we would be able to trace where they went according to the wind direction, and the currents in the area. I know that the coast guard will be able to go and get them on whatever island that they're on, but in order to get them, we have to find them."

"But wouldn't they have done that already?" I asked, my hands cupping the cool glass. "Obviously if people are missing, you're going to have to find them."

"But do they know where to find them? That's my question. I know how to find people, and if my sister's life is at stake here, you better be sure that I'm going to help."

I nodded, looked down at what I had left in my glass, and downed it. Jason looked at me surprised. "Now it's time to go talk to Katie."

He smiled and downed his too. A sour look came onto his face as he looked at the now empty glass and back at me. "Vodka in lemonade? Really?"

I winked at him as I grabbed my bag and walked out the door.

We took my car to the station, mainly because I don't do motorcycles. Besides, I just gave the guy vodka, so I'm not all for taking any chances.

The drive there was silent. I was busy driving and honking my horn at the traffic, while Jason was sitting in the passenger seat and looking out the window, seemingly lost in thought. I didn't really want to disturb him.

So, being stuck in traffic, and tired of honking the horn, I took my chance to ogle him in quiet. He had a scar just above his lip, leaving me wondering what happened. Somehow it didn't make him look any less hot. If anything, it made him even more.

I was too busy checking him out when I heard a horn sound from behind me, causing me to flip the finger and drive. Jason, who came back to reality, saw what had happened and started to laugh, only to stop right as I glared at him.

Annabeth has taught me well.

We got to the station unscathed, and I parked. I ended up having to parallel park, and Jason was freaking out over how close I was to one car. "How did you even get your license, woman?" he asked, leaning over his seat to try and see the other car.

I shrugged and shut off the car. "It's a trick that involves a mini skirt and high heels. I don't think you would want to know."

He just chuckled and shook his head in awe. I never cease to amaze.

"Let's get inside," I said, hopping out of the car, and grabbing my bag. "And find Katie."

Jason got out and followed me up the cement steps into the station. When we walked in, it was less busy then the last time we were there; still, there were desks with people being questioned, and a big desk with one mean looking lady sitting behind it.

I immediately walked over there, and pretty much declared my presence. "Hello, my name is Piper McLean, and you can call me Piper. I need to talk to a Katie who works here… she was questioning us about the plane crash that had taken place."

Jason pretty much just had to stand there and look all innocent behind me.

The lady looked up at me. She had really scary eyes that were a dark brown- almost black. Her nose was huge, and she was rocking a pretty mean unibrow. She opened her mouth, and I swear one of her teeth was missing. If she didn't have a tag saying 'STAFF' on it, I would have thought she was a convict.

"Miss McLean, there wasn't and will never be a Katie who works here. Now please, stop blocking the way of people who need my help."

I glared at her, and she glared right back at me. We were having a glare-showdown when I heard a voice behind me ask, "You called?"

I turned around to see Katie smiling at me, and gesturing for me to follow her. "Please, come with me."

I gave a little snarky smile at the woman behind the counter, and followed Katie and Jason down a hallway. We stopped at a door that had a little finger print scanner, and Katie pressed her thumb down, and gestured for us to follow her.

We walked into a lab, full of people in white coats scanning things, sampling things… you know, lab stuff. It kind of reminded me of one of those CSI shows. Katie lead us through the large area, full of different rooms that were all surrounded by glass- so you could see exactly what everyone was doing.

"Here is where we process all of the evidence," She began, and led us into an area of the lab that was empty. "Here is where you guys will be working with a few people from my team to find your friends."

The room that we were in had a whiteboard for a wall, a large table in the middle of the room that from the looks of it was an interactive table- which is pretty much a touch screen computer installed into a table. On the wall that wasn't covered in white boards, there was a counter that held a bunch of funky looking equipment that I had no idea how to pronounce.

"Wow," Jason said, he too taking it all in. "What exactly do you do, Katie?"

Katie laughed. "My job is a lot like yours- I find people. But I have the police force's power, and a team of my own. Normally I'm looking for criminals, like you, but this time someone called in a little favor and they want my team to find them. But I'm going to need a little help."

What exactly did Jason do?

I was looking between Jason and Katie, and they began to talk about plans to find the people who went missing. I suddenly felt inadequate. Why would Jason ask me to help him, out of all people? I'm pretty sure Katie just wanted me to be there because she felt bad for me.

I'm completely useless.

I looked at Jason, who was on his phone, in shock. Since when was he on the phone? What the heck?

Confused, I listened to his side of the conversation. "Hey, Beckendorf… Yeah, could you come to the station? I think we know how to find them… Of course, take your time… Okay, see you then."

He ended the conversation, and shoved the IPhone back into his pocket. He looked at me and Katie once before he said, "Beckendorf is going to be here in about thirty minutes. You better let that lady at the front desk know to send him back here."

Katie smiled a little. "No, I'll have to go and get him and bring him in. You saw the finger scanner, right? Besides, Marge isn't about to let anyone know that a woman named Katie works in this building." I laughed a little at that, and Jason smiled.

"After that encounter, I'm steering clear away from that lady," Jason said, shuddering a little bit. "I swear the mole on her face was alive."

Katie and I burst out laughing at Jason. That guy never ceases to amaze me, and I hope I'm the same way. Katie walked over to the table-computer thing, and pulled up a map, then left.

Yep, she left me and Jason alone in the same room together… talk about awkward.

"So," I started, getting his attention. His sky blue eyes looked into my hazel ones. "What do you actually do for a living? I don't believe you ever told me."

Jason smiled at me, and leaned back on the table. "I'm pretty much what Katie said I am. I find people, pretty much. It's kind of like I'm a private investigator or a bounty hunter, because when I find the person I'm looking for, usually criminals or runaways, I get paid."

I nodded. "Stick with private investigator- it sounds a whole lot more professional."

Jason laughed a little bit and asked, "So, I never really got to ask you what you do, either."

"Well, I work for Annabeth Chase, a world renowned architect. I assist her, you know, and I help her with the job when it gets hard." I sighed, looking down as I remembered how Annabeth would always go to me for help.

We were more like sisters then coworkers.

Jason moved closer to me and looked me in the eyes. "You two were close, weren't you?"

I nodded, "You and your sister were close, too?"

"Very." Jason got that faraway look in his eye as he said, "We were pretty much as close as you could get."

Suddenly, his expression changed as he asked me, "Do you have any siblings?"

I shook my head in response, still a little confused as to why he asked me that, but the look on his face said it all. "So she's kind of like your sister then, right?" I nodded, and then his face contorted into one of sympathy.

Then what happened next will probably be permanently etched into my brain for the rest of my life. He hugged me. Jason Grace pulled me close to him, and wrapped his arms around me. His face was in my hair as he said, "I'm sorry."

That's pretty much when the dam broke. Tears started streaming out of my eyes like a waterfall, and my hands gripped onto Jason's shirt as if it were my lifeline. As for the time, it was. His hands moved in soft, comforting circles on my back.

We held that position for a while, and to be honest it seemed so right.

I heard someone clear their throat from in the hallway, and I quickly backed away from Jason, put my hands behind my back, and turned to face them. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him do the same.

Katie and Beckendorf were standing there, smiling at us. Katie gave Jason a look, as if they had some sort of private joke or something. I'm just sure that my face was as red as a tomato, really nothing else.

My mind blocked the others out; it was like I was unable to comprehend what the others were saying as I lie there in my own misery and embarrassment. I can't believe I would actually cry in front of a stranger! Or, at least, someone I met the day prior.

I just don't do that.

Like Beckendorf could feel my embarrassment, he walked by me, and squeezed my shoulder as he passed. It was as if he told me it was okay.

He's a good guy.

Jason and Kate were looking over the map, and Beckendorf was pulling something up on the computer. And whatever it is, it looked important.

And there I was, standing in the middle of it all, looking as stupid as I could possibly be.

Great, now even more embarrassment.

Beckendorf clicked on something, then hopped out of his seat and walked over to the table where Katie and Jason were looking over. I went over there too, to see what was going on.

Katie pointed to a spot on the map, located between a small group of islands. "This is where the plane crashed into the ocean. It had crashed in the middle of an archipelago, so there are many islands where your friends could have floated off to."

Jason looked confused for a moment. "What exactly is an archipelago?"

I sighed at his behavior. "Jason, an archipelago is a group of small islands. Please proceed Katie, but with caution," I said, nodding my head towards Jason. "He obviously didn't learn too much in geography class."

Beckendorf stifled a laugh and Katie just smiled as she continued, "Jason helped me with pinpointing a few islands that they could possibly be on. Using the currents and the wind direction and speed, they could be at one of these five islands, here."

"That's about as far as we could narrow it down to, though. In order to be sure, we need some help," Jason added.

Beckendorf nodded, but I looked down, confused. "So why don't we just send the coast guard to go and check those islands out? There has to be something we can do," I spoke.

Katie looked at me sadly. "There is a storm system heading over those islands, so there is no way the coast guard can get there, and check each island fast enough. We don't know how much food they have, or even if they're alive… we have to be able to pinpoint it to an exact location for the coast guard to even be interested in this case. I'm only doing this as a favor for an old friend, and as far as everyone else is concerned, these people are all dead."

I put my head in my hands, trying to think this through. I heard Jason's voice, "Beckendorf, please tell me you have something."

I heard him take a breath and reply, "Actually, I think I might be able to figure out where they are. Percy and I set up shark trackers- buoys that send signals to us each time a shark that we tagged goes within a mile radius of the device. It just so happens that this archipelago is a known place for Great White sharks to make their domain. "

Jason's eyebrows furrowed. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm saying that we put one of these buoys close to each shoreline of each island, and a few in the middle of them. We use it to track where they go, so for that, these devices are always on, per say, transmitting. And as soon as one of the devices for some reason stops transmitting, it would be because of an outside force. Something that isn't a shark- more like a human."

"So you're saying that if Percy figures out where they are, he can let us know where everyone is from pretty much breaking one of your devices?" Katie asked, her eyes wide. Beckendorf nodded at her, and leaned onto the table.

"It's a good plan, but if this happens, it's a long shot. Are you sure Percy would know to stop the transmission?" Jason asked.

"Positive. Percy Jackson was the one who built these things, he was the one who worked with these things day in and day out. He will figure it out if he can calm himself down."

I sighed. "Let's just hope that they're alive and able to cut that transmission."

We all looked at each other, all thinking the same thing.

They finally have a fighting chance.

Hope you guys liked it! Long time overdue, I know, but at least I got it to you!

~GoGreen43