I do not own Percy Jackson, or any other reference made or thought made.

Percy POV

I couldn't believe that I had her again, Annabeth once again safe in my arms. As I was healing her, I saw Matt and his brothers facing some guy that came out of the water, and for a second I thought it was my dad, but it looked nothing like him. Then while they were fighting, these water-ice monsters came out of the lake towards us. Thalia and Nico began fighting them, and when one was stabbed, they exploded and the water from within them froze. But even with all this happening around me, all my focus was on the girl in my arms. At first she was quivering from the pain, but as the water kept healing her, she got better. Once the wound in her stomach was fully healed I had the water still try and heal her, and luckily it still had some effect on her. Color returned to her skin and she seemed to relax more in my arms. I never realized that the fighting had ended until Nico and Thalia were pulling me up. Annabeth was unconscious and she was snuggling into my chest. We ran towards Matt, Steven, and Jacob. I saw puddles of waters everywhere, but my focus still never left her. They began talking about where to go next and how, when I felt Annabeth shift around in my arms. Her eyes began to slowly open and she looked up at me, she wasn't heavy or that big in my arms, but to someone else it may have looked awkward but I didn't care. Annabeth opened her eyes completely and our eyes locked on each other, and we both began to smile. I slowly let Annabeth down onto her feet, but I never let her out of my arms, which were around her waist. She wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. I could feel my shirt getting wet. I backed up and she raised her head and I saw her crying.

"I was afraid I'd die." She whispered, her voice filled with sorrow, "I was afraid I wasn't going to make it."

I pulled her back into a hug and held onto her tightly, "I was so afraid I'd lost you, I didn't know what to do." I could feel tears coming to my eyes. "I had to do something, I couldn't loose you. I'll never let you go." We just stood there in each other's embrace.

Jacob POV

Do they think we can't see them? I thought. Percy and Annabeth were snuggling with each other about 10 feet from us. I looked back at Matt; he was giving the two the same look he always does. He better work quickly if he wants to complete the 3rd part of the deal. I may have to help him.

We had decided to take a mini-bus that was in the parking lot to keep going west. Thalia had gone to call Chiron and tell him where the Camp van is so someone could pick it up. I felt really bad that we had destroyed Summerfest, for lack of a better word.

Nico stepped up and said, "Okay, can I ask a question?"

"Do you really need permission to ask a question?" Steven said, getting me to laugh a little.

"Fine," Nico said a little aggravated. "What is the plan right now?" Percy and Annabeth walked over to us, still in each others arms. Annabeth was leaning into Percy appearing to still be weak, but I could see that she just wanted to be near him.

"This is the plan." Matt started. "We are going to head west, our destination being San Francisco. There we will meet Nereus and figure out what to do next."

"That's it?" Nico said a little flabbergasted, "That's all we've got planned so far?"

"At the moment…" Matt said.

Thalia ran over to us with a scared look on her face. "We have a MAJOR problem!"

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"The President of the U.S. was supposed to visit here today, and now National Security believes that we are terrorists trying to kill the President."

It was then that I heard the distant sound of police sirens, and there were a lot of them.

"Time to go!" Steven yelled. We all ran for the mini-bus that was in the parking lot. We all jumped in and Thalia got into the driver's seat.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked. Thalia began hard-wiring the car and got it to start. "Well…even though the 7th Commandment says 'Thou shall not steal', I think we can make an exception for now."

Thalia punched the accelerator. That probably wasn't the best idea when National Security is right outside of the grounds. National Security began chasing us, probably thinking we were the threats, which we technically were.

Thalia drove us through the Marquette Interchange which was broken into ten different winding roads.

"Is this a Freeway or a damn roller-coaster?" Percy yelled as he was thrown into the right side of the bus. Thalia was driving like a crazy person around the other cars. She looked nervous whenever looking out the window which showed how high we were above the ground.

"Steven!" Matt had to yell, "A distraction would be nice! But don't kill anyone!"

Steven moved slowly to the back of the bus. The NS were closing in on us. Steven pressed his hammer against the back door, it began to glow orange but it didn't look hot.

Oh hell, I thought. This is going to get rough.

The road began to shake. I could here the support beams creak and rattle.

"What's going on!" Annabeth yelled clinging on to Percy so she didn't go flying.

The roads making up the "roller-coaster" Freeway began to move like snakes up and down.

Cars everywhere were swerving, including ours. Steven was moving the bridge with his hammer, and we was creating ripples and directing them at the chasing NS trucks. One of the waves in the road shot at the oncoming cars and two went flying and landed flat onto their tires making them pop. Three more were still chasing us.

"Damn they are persistent." I commented.

Steven had support beams break through the bottom of the road and smash into the front of one of the cars.

"I got an idea." Steven said.

"It's not going to kill us will it?" Nico asked.

"Maybe." Steven said seriously. "Buckle in!" He demanded, and we were more than willing to oblige.

By now all the cars on the Interchange had driven away and people had decided it better to stay away. So it was just us and the last two NS trucks. Steven stood in the center of the mini-bus and placed the glowing head of his hammer on the floor. All of the roads making up the Interchange began to close in on each other, spinning around and intertwining to form into a type a tornado shape.

"This is architecturally impossible!" Annabeth yelled looking outside and seeing how the roads were spinning around each other. When one road was bent to far away from the part where it attached to the ground, it would bend ninety degrees straight down and another road would bend in the same way and connect to the road so there was no gap. And the roads were constantly fitting into each other and then breaking off to fit with another road so that we were constantly moving.

"But here's where it gets tricky." Steven said, he was standing perfectly still, even though the bus was swerving back and forth. The NS trucks were still following us. Why they didn't break off and save their skins I couldn't guess, maybe it they saw something else through the Mist. "Matt take the wheel!" Steven demanded.

Matt ran for the driver's seat and Thalia jumped out with pleasure and buckled in instantly, all while Matt got into the driver's seat without making us lose any speed.

"Here we go!" Steven yelled. He tilted the hammer to the left, and the road tilted with it. Each of the roads in the tornado shape began to spin so that they were nearly ninety degrees to there original position and the horizon line was going up-down instead of left-right. We weren't tilted enough so that we would fall, but enough that we began to slide down due to gravity, which Matt fixed quickly. We began to drive sideways and heading down. Like the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman did in the whirlpool at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The roads were getting closer to each other near the bottom and I saw a single opening that I hoped was the exit. The NS trucks were still in pursuit, and that's when Steven did the scariest thing I could imagine.

As we drove over the road, it began to crumble beneath us, so by the time that we were under it, when we drove all the way around the road-tornado, there were rocks falling down on us. The rocks were falling everywhere in the circle, it was a rock slide and they were all falling towards the exit. Steven made it so that the rocks didn't hit us, but one of the rocks hit a NS truck and sent it flying of the already slanted road. I didn't see it land, but I knew Steven wouldn't let them die because of Matt's command. The other NS truck though kept following and miraculously didn't get hit.

We were at the bottom of the tornado or whirlpool of roads and head for the exit when I looked up and saw that there were no more roads now, only metal support beams twisted in incomprehensible ways. We were headed for the exit when I saw on rock fall right above us, and about to seal the exit. Matt floored it and we made it, but the rock fell right behind us and I heard the last NS car crash into it.

We now rocketed out of what was the Marquette interchange at about 200 miles per hour, the bus having gained a lot of speed with the combination of gravity, the spinning from the road-tornado, and Matt not taking his foot off the accelerator when it was already pressed against the floor.

Percy walked up to him on the bus, passing Steven who had passed out from exhaustion from the use of all his power, and pulled Matt, who was shaking uncontrollably from nerves, and put him in a seat while Annabeth brought the car back to under 80 mph and headed west on the freeway.

Steven looked up from his seat which he was laying on and said, "Nothing like adding a little twist to an average day drive huh?" And he collapsed and fell unconscious as we all chuckled a little bit.

1430 MILES LATER ALONG US-80

Percy POV

We've been driving for over 24 hours straight. Traffic would get bad; then better. We'd had to make more rest stops than I can count. And used up nearly all of our bank accounts for gas. Thank the gods we could get our parents to transfer money. We hadn't had any run-ins with monsters. We'd begun taking 2 hour shifts while driving the mini-bus and the others would sleep while the one drove.

I was currently driving, but I was still tired as hell. It was about 2 a.m.; Thalia was in the seat closest to me. She had been trying to stay awake to keep me company while the others slept in the back; she was supposed to take over after me. She had dozed off and was hanging over the front of her seat.

I could feel myself dozing off, but I kept shaking myself awake. We had entered Utah about an hour ago. We were heading towards California… To find Nereus… Help Matt and his brothers… And their mystery…deal…

I felt a pain in my head as I lay it down on the hard steering wheel.

H-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-N-N-N-N-K-K-K-K-K!

My head shot up to see a blinding white light in front of me.

"TURN THE WHEEL!" Thalia screamed.

I turned the wheel to the right and swerved back into the proper lane as the 18 wheeler zoomed by.

"Let's stop somewhere." I said and sped into the nearest exit. Thalia walked in back and woke the others up to tell them that we were stopping at somewhere to sleep.

We drove past a sign saying COLEMWE OT SVLTUEILHN! Damn dyslexia.

"Can anyone read that?" Nico said.

"Hold on," Steven was scribbling on a piece of paper. I could read a bunch of jumbled letters. He was trying to rearrange them to spell something out. "I think it says 'Welcome To Huntsville'."

We drove up to a nice looking motel called, as Steven deciphered it to be, the Mountain Snake Motel. We parked and walked in, it looked nice, had good rooms and even a dining area for breakfast.

Matt walked up to the little old lady receptionist, "Good evening. We would like three rooms, two beds each and one with a couch bed." And after checking ID's and paying we moved into the rooms. I thought it would be me and Nico, Annabeth and Thalia, and Matt and his brothers in the rooms, but Nico and Thalia seemed to be conspiring against me when they ran past me and jumped into the same room and locked me out, and I knew they did it to get me and Annabeth in the same room when they said, "Looks like you two will have to spend the night together in the same room." I could hear them laughing on the other side of the door while I stood there with my facing burning red. I turned to Annabeth to see her staring at the ground while shifting on her feet, her face red as well.

As Matt and his brothers moved into their room, me and Annabeth slowly walked into ours. It was a pretty good room for a cheap little motel: two big soft beds, a clean bathroom with shower, a TV, a patio, and a table with two chairs to sit at.

"I'm uh…" Annabeth stuttered, finally breaking the very awkward silence, "I'm…going to go shower and use the bathroom." She grabbed her bag and, before I could reply, was in the bathroom with the door locked and the shower covering any other noise.

"Um…" I said so intelligently to no one, "okay."

I figured that I could shower in the morning, so I changed out of my dirty clothes with dried mud all over them from Summerfest. I put on a pair of PJ pants and a sleeveless white shirt. It was getting pretty hot in the room, the thermometer at the window said 90 degrees outside. I tried to find an air conditioner, but the motel room didn't have one.

"Everything okay?" Annabeth said quietly behind me. I hadn't even heard the shower stop. She was wearing a sleeveless tank-top and a pair of shorts. Her hair still looked wet from the shower.

"Fine." I replied quickly. I walked to my bed and got in, and Annabeth did the same. She had a nervous smile on her face and I realized that I did as well.

"Well…um…" I said.

"Good night." Annabeth quickly said and laid down putting her back to me. I laid down and faced the opposite direction as well, wondering if I should have said something. But I was quickly falling asleep.

Matthew POV

I sat on the couch. Tired as all get out, but not able to sleep a bit. Insomnia wasn't the problem, not completely at least, but it was mainly the fear that prevented me from sleep.

I looked at my brothers sleeping peacefully, I loved them so much, hoping that their dreams weren't as horrifying as his had always been. Even on the entire trip in the bus, he hadn't slept at all.

I could feel my eyelids getting heavy, but I tried to keep them open. Apparently Hypnos didn't like the idea of me not living through the nightmare again tonight. The room grew dark, and my fear became worse.

Percy POV

I had been having a pretty cool dream of me playing at Summerfest while a water show went on all around me, but I suddenly woke up. I could hear whimpering. I looked to my left and could see Annabeth tossing around in her bed almost violently.

I jumped out of my bed instantly and grabbed her swinging arms.

"Annabeth!" I yelled. "Annabeth…wake up. Wake up, it's okay."

Her eyes shot open, and once she remembered where she was, she began to cry. I hopped onto her bed and hugged her as she curled up and laid her head on my chest.

"It was horrible." She said to me, "There was fire everywhere. And bodies. And a swarm of monsters coming for me." She sounded terrified, what kind of dream was this? "But Matt was there and he was fighting all the monsters, but there was something wrong, his eyes, they were glowing. Glowing like fire." She was shaking in my arms. I rocked her until she calmed down a bit.

She laid down again, and I got up to go to my bed when she grabbed my arm.

"Please," She said, "Stay here." I laid down beside her. "Wake me up if I have the nightmare again."

I nodded, and she leaned against me again. I blushed at the act and thought it childish, but I wanted to be serious since it seemed to worry her so much. I also had the strange impression that her dream related to Matt and his time while the three brothers had been separated.

Matthew POV

Oh God, please not again! I pleaded mentally, Don't make me see them again, don't make me see…her.

I was back in the desert. The God forsaken desert that I cursed with every fiber of my being. I knew where I was, the uncivilized deserts of northern Arizona. I knew when this was, right after Zeus threw my brothers and I off that plane and across the country. And I knew who it was that would be coming off the desert in front of me on a donkey.

I could feel the burning in my throat, the dryness that ached for water that I didn't have. I pulled out my Bible and found a verse that could help me. I found a good sized rock and stick and read, "Exodus 17:6" I could barely hear myself due to my raspy, dry throat, "Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for you to drink." I then hit the rock and a crack appeared and water flowed.

I was still in the desert walking aimlessly, and I saw her. An elderly woman on a donkey coming towards me out of the desert. She helped me on the donkey and we rode away.

I'm in a hut, the walls of dried mud and the ceiling of wood and leaves. The woman was wiping the dried sand from my face with a wet towel.

I walk out into a little village. A Native American reservation. Families everywhere with kids playing and people talking. All to disappear, and all soon to be dead. I thought. I could see the love between these people, though they come from different bloodlines, they are all one family.

I meet a young girl, about my age and curious about me and where I'm from. She is beautiful, long black hair, warm brown eyes, soft tan skin, and she is wearing native clothing and jewelry. I begin to talk with her, and we get along instantly.

Days later, I see myself with her in the middle of the night watching the full moon in the desert. It is there that we admit to our feelings and have our first kiss. I know that she is the one I love, I didn't have to be a child of Eros to figure it out.

Weeks pass and our relationship strengthens, the village is upset with her being in love with an outsider, but they eventually trust me.

Months fly by in seconds, our love for each other grows and we even get a home together.

Then the night comes, as it always does in the dreams. Every night and every dream I have shows this moment.

FIRE! The houses of the village are all aflame. The villagers scramble to save their homes, but they are more afraid of what started them, the creature in the sky.

I am in the middle of the village and I look up and see the creature that I curse most in this world, and I'm not even sure what it is. At first I couldn't see it as it kept setting the village on fire, it was masked by the darkness. But as the sun began to rise, I saw it. I would have said it was a phoenix, but this creature burned with a black fire, as if the flames were made from shadows and darkness. Once it set the whole village on fire, it left, and everyone was stuck outside, for they had nowhere else to go. Then they came.

I wasn't sure how they found me, or how they all appeared at once, but the village became filled with monsters. Harpies, hellhounds, giants, dracanae, empousai, giant snakes and scorpions, and hundreds of others. I thought it had been Zeus trying to kill me, but I sensed something older and more powerful, the exact same thing that had killed my mother.

I ran across the village, killing as many monsters as I could, trying to save the villagers but mostly to find the girl I loved. But there were just too many, and the people were all dying, but then I heard her scream. I ran for her and found a hellhound tearing at her throat. Her blood flowed through the dirt and sand under my feet. Her once beautiful eyes staring off into the void.

Such anger filled me, such raw and pure furiosity. I felt a power surge through my entire being as my skin began to burn and glow. And then the flash of light that I feared and a piercing screech from above.

"MATTHEW!" Steven yelled, shaking me from my sleep.

I found myself back at the Mountain Snake Motel.

"Was it the dream again?" Jacob asked, worry plainly shown across his face.

I found myself lying on the floor drenched in sweat, and my brothers both kneeling beside me hoping I was okay. This shouldn't be happening, I am the eldest brother, I'm supposed to make sure that they are okay, not the other way around.

"Yeah it was." I said, I looked at the burning feeling on my left hand. I saw the four claw marks and the yellow glow slowly dissipating along them. "I'm fine." I told them unconvinsingly. "Go back to bed, it'll be fine."

They reluctantly went back to sleep. I sat back on the couch.

Another night of no sleep, some rest stop this was.