November 19th 2011

I don't own any of the characters, Rick Riordan does!

Beta for this Chapter: None

A/N: omg, I'm back! Hi guys :3

Finally, here's a new chapter. It's not betaed yet but I was just too lazy and impatient to sit around and wait to upload. And some anonymous freak wrote me a review that said "another dead story" and that just made me mad. I hate it to have dead stories, trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I once wrote Naruto Fanfiction that never ended, okay? And Avatar. Man, I was a freak. Well, alright. Now I'm older and I really don't want my story to end like this. Plus, I already have chapters. I just need betas. So I'm just going to search for one! Yes, I still have stuff to do so don't rush me. And I don't know if university is getting harder this week or next one. But hey. I now upload a chapter without having it checked! Be motivated, guys and girls :D

So yeah. I have a not-betaed chapter for you. Plus, it's something you asked for: Piper and Jason. So yeah, read about them here and now, in my story that is going on. I swore on my life, remember? Romans take that seriously so I better not back down ;P

Now please enjoy!

Chapter XXIX

Piper

While Piper walked away from the campfire, she realized how cold it really was. When they sat near the fire and listened to the story that Yuki had told them, the daughter of Aphrodite didn't even notice the cold as if the fire was sucking it away. Leo had done really well, keeping the flames going in such weather.

She now stomped after Jason and was mad at herself. Why had she been so furious at him? He was probably just happy that he had remembered something from his past life and she had thrown it right back at him with a bitter tone. Plus, whenever he remembered something, he got a headache. She should know that by now, right? So she cursed silently and pulled her snowboarding jacket tighter around her waist.

"Jason?" she called out, almost screaming over the growing storm. She had seen a silhouette maybe a mile away between the trees in the distance. He just stood there, leaning at the tree. Even the direction he was looking in was hard to tell.

"Jason, is that you?" the brunette walked closer when she was suddenly interrupted by a far too familiar voice from right behind her.

"Who are you talking to?" Jason asked, his startling blue eyes looking at her quizzically while he walked closer to Piper. He hadn't been there just a second ago so Piper was a little shocked, stared at him, then back at where she saw the silhouette.

"I was-" but she interrupted herself as she saw that the silhouette was gone. There was nobody near that tree any more.

"There was…where is he?"

"Where's who?" The son of Jupiter asked, seemingly even more puzzled now, one eyebrow raised as he stepped right next to her and gazed in the direction she did, his eyes squeezed to slits.

"I just saw someone standing there by the tree but he's vanished…" she explained, pointing at the tree she meant. But Jason just shook his head slowly.

"Piper, there's nobody in this area except for us. And there's a storm coming, I think you were just seeing things." He smiled at Piper and even though she wanted to protest, she let it be because his smile told her he wasn't mad at her and that was enough for the daughter of Aphrodite right now.

"Yeah, and shouldn't we return to the plane because of said storm?" she asked, hugging herself because even though her jacket was warm, her face was still exposed to the snow and her jeans weren't really the best thing against the cold. But Jason just shook his head and suddenly took her hand, which forced Piper to stop hugging herself. The alternative was nice and warm though, so she didn't complain.

"No, I want to show you something I found. We can return after that." He said, pulling her in a different direction. The brunette saw some trees and giant stones in the distance and asked herself what the heck he should show her in this abandoned landscape. They passed some trees nearby and Piper started to think what people said about Illinois being full of nothing. To her, it seemed more like it was just full of nature and less full of people. And maybe that wasn't just a bad thing.

After they entered a little forest and the daughter of Aphrodite began to ask herself what the heck Jason was doing, they arrived at a little cave and Jason's grip around her hand became tighter. The stone cave stood between a whole bunch of pine trees and seemed to fit in the landscape very well due to the other stones that were scattered around here. Entering the cave was apparently a great idea because finally, the booming wind in Piper's ear stopped and she could at least hear properly. And of course the cold was less intense.

"Here it is. What do you think?" Jason asked and when they were just a meter inside the cave, Piper saw it. A little plant maybe as high as her hand was standing in the middle of the cave and there was even a small spot of grass around it. It was a strawberry. How a strawberry could grow in such a place, Piper had seriously no idea. The plant itself was beautiful, little white pendants all over the place and it seemed to glow in the completely white snow and even though it was so cold, the plant seemed completely healthy.

"Wow…it's beautiful." Piper finally said and kneeled down to see it better.

"Yeah, it is. That's why I wanted especially you to see it." Jason now smiled this smile that could melt her down again and the brunette couldn't help but blush. She wanted to ask why he thought so but decided against it and looked back at the flower.

"How could it survive right here even though it's that cold? You think it's mythological in some way?" she asked and sat on a big stone a little farther back in the cave. Jason sat down close to her, really close. But again, Piper didn't feel like complaining. No, she enjoyed it. The son of Jupiter turned around and looked into the dark heart of the cave. He laughed a small laugh.

"I don't remember hearing of a mythological strawberry. It's more likely because of that warm breeze that's coming from in there. Maybe there are springs in here or it's even leading farther into the earth. Plus, the winter just started here, it was probably lucky." He lifted his brows and looked as if that was a totally logical explanation.

"What warm breeze? I don't feel anything" Piper stated and also looked behind her, her hand still holding onto Jason's.

"You don't? Well than maybe it's me imagining now." He shrugged, grinned and turned towards the flower again. Piper giggled a little but soon, she was absorbed by his presence again and became quieter. Silence filled the cave and Piper didn't know what to say. It was a little romantic here though it was still extremely cold. The strawberry plant sure was sweet and she had enjoyed being alone with him and that he wasn't mad at her.

"It's cold.." she finally breathed with no real intention behind it. Little puffy clouds were escaping her mouth every time she exhaled. Suddenly, she felt something around her waist and realized pretty soon that it was Jason's arm, pulling her closer to him. She couldn't keep her cheeks from flushing again and even though she couldn't see his face, she was sure he was blushing too.

"Better now?" he asked, obviously smiling. Piper just nodded and snuggled a little closer to his chest, enjoying the excuse to be that close to him. Plus, it really was warmer there. Again, they were silent for a while, just enjoying the presence of one another. It was the first time they had the time to be alone since this quest started and Piper felt all the worries about their actions rising in her chest, wondering if she should ask Jason about it. Jason himself seemed deep in thought, staring at Piper and sometimes out in the snowstorm with an unreadable expression. Finally, Piper decided to ask him about the campfire thing. She didn't want to start right off so she asked:

"How's your headache doing?" her colorful eyes were trying to meet his but it didn't quite work from this position.

"Oh, it's alright…it was just…what Yuki said brought back so much. I don't know if I should be happy or sad about it."

"Why should you be sad?" Piper had thought that Jason would be glad to have his memories back. What would make him sad about it?

"Well, I…" he paused and looked down at Piper as if he wanted to measure whether he should tell her or not. Finally, he seemed to have decided and sighed. When he spoke again, pain was filling his voice.

"I guess you deserve to know. I planned to do it soon anyway…" he paused and Piper was a little confused what he was talking about. She stayed silent though and waited for him to continue. After all, it seemed to be difficult for him to do so.

"From the moment we returned to Camp, I began to remember the names of my friends. Some of them were named by Yuki as well….Dakota, Hazel, Bobby, Gwen, Reyna…They were really familiar. The name Reyna – ya know, the daughter of Mars- was the most familiar and I kept remembering things about her. Now I was confused with what I feel when I'm with you and…well, when you reacted like that to what I told you about Dakota…I didn't know whether or not I should tell you about Reyna at all. I-I'm sorry." The last words were really quiet and Piper's eyes had widened while he talked, she had even risked escaping his embrace just to look at him properly.

Oh no…her worst fear had become true. He really had a girlfriend back at Roman camp. Well, why not? He was after all the most attractive guy she knew, it was only logical. Jason had become really red in the face and when Piper didn't say anything, he apologized again and made assumptions to stand up, to walk away from her. But the brunette just smiled, even if it was a sad smile, and grabbed his hand.

"Wait. Hey, look at me, Sparky." She said, and when this nickname was said, Jason finally looked at her with confusion in his eyes. How was this a situation to call him that?

"I know it's not your fault so…don't feel that bad about it. We can't do much right now and have to wait until we arrive in San Francisco, right? Just know that I'm not mad at you or anything." She still smiled but now stood up as well, her hand kept holding his. Now Jason also managed a small smile, obviously really relieved to hear that.

"Wow, thanks. I'm glad. Now let's should we go back to the jet, the storm died down a little?" He said and leaded her back into the snow. Piper didn't care about the weather any more. He had finally said it. The daughter of Aphrodite had known that something was on his mind all the time. He kept avoiding her gaze, even if it was just a little but she noticed it. Now she finally knew what had bugged him so much. Of course, she was shocked to hear that and it hurt her heart. But still, it was also a lot better to know what he thought so she could relate, right?

They made it back to the campfire place at a stretch due to Jason wondrously finding their way even though they could barely see. But the full fireplace was now empty. The two demigods passed it and when they arrived at the plane, they heard noises coming from the left. Now it was Piper who dragged Jason along and they soon saw Leo, standing on a ladder and trying to fix the broken wing. He had summoned a gas burner from his pockets and seemed extremely concentrated. He was humming a merrily melody and even though the plane was broken, Leo seemed quite happy.

"Let's not disturb him and his love", Piper whispered in Jason's ear and giggled, Jason just grinned and nodded. The two passed him in silence and Jason knocked on the door of the plane. It was Grover who opened the door for them and closed it again when they were inside.

"Were the heck have you two been, huh?" Thalia asked, a smug grin on her face. The daughter of Zeus sat on the sofa next to Yuki and they seemed to have been caught in a conversation. Yuki was newly dressed in Thalia's clothes, which fitted her because the 21 year old was in the body of a 15 year old for eternity. She also had a knife at her side and Piper figured that it was one of Thalia's hunting knives. Grover the satyr placed himself next to the daughter of Zeus and began chewing on some soda cans from his backpack.

"Hope you didn't do anything inappropriate for your age." The huntress glared at Jason with fake stringency and the boy immediately blushed but tried to stay calm. Piper couldn't help but notice how Jason pulled her closer and had his hand around her waist. Gods, what did Thalia think of them?

"No, oh overprotective big sister, we didn't." Jason said and rolled his electric blue eyes which were just so similar to those of Thalia. He had sarcasm added to his voice and dropped on another canapé, Piper right next to him.

"Wait, you're also a daughter of Jupiter?" Yuki interrupted and raised her black eyebrows in confusion. Her icy blue eyes flew from Thalia to Jason, obviously checking for similarities.

"I thought you were serving Artemis?" she asked and was seemingly really confused.

"And what has the one thing to do with the other?" Thalia grinned and messed up her already messy black hair with her fingers.

"But yeah, I'm a daughter of Zeus. Jason is my little brother. I'm actually 21." She added the last when Yuki wanted to open her mouth again, even more confused. Of course, Thalia and Jason looked the same age, everybody who didn't know the story must be confused.

"Anyway, back to topic. Jason, whatever you do, you're far too young to-"

"Oh Thalia please, stop teasing them!" suddenly, Annabeth was there, standing next to one of the seats and grinned. Piper noticed again how tired she looked though the smile hid a lot of the shades under her eyes. The smile on her face seemed fake but it could be Piper's imagination again. Thalia just rolled her eyes and made a face at her best friend. Then she turned to Yuki as if this was a presentation.

"There we go, our number one wise girl, Annabeth Chase. Daughter of Athena, first strategist of Camp Half-Blood, architect of Olympus and girlfriend to mighty Perseus Jackson." She had obviously planned on now teasing Annabeth for interrupting her. The daughter of Athena even smiled, though her face fell a little at the nickname Thalia gave her. Piper wondered why. The blonde now sat down next to Piper on the couch but one could see that her mood had dropped a big amount. Yuki seemed impressed but then was obviously startled.

"Wait, his girlfriend? But how-" the Japanese girl began but was interrupted by Thalia, who obviously noticed that Annabeth wasn't in the best mood and just continued the "presentation".

"Next up would be Grover, our Satyr and number one goat boy. Lord of the Wild, heir to Pan, seeker who found me, Percy Jackson, Nico and Bianca di Angelo. He's Percy's best buddy. Plus, he's our secret entertainment." Grover raised a hand in greeting, then noticed what Thalia had just said and started to protest.

"Hey! I-" but again, Thalia just ignored him.

"Then we have Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, our little beauty queen. You better not call her that, she can get furious. See that look she's shooting me?" Thalia pointed at Piper, who actually was staring at Thalia fumingly for using Leo's nickname for her. Then the daughter of Zeus just blabbered on, not even a little impressed by her gaze. Piper guessed that if you knew Annabeth for longer than a few minutes, even Piper's best death glares were nothing in comparison.

"She's pretty new at Camp but permanently attached to my little brother, as you can see. As I heard, she's the best charm speaker we have and is the only Aphrodite sprout I know that's not all about being pretty." Now Thalia smiled at Piper and the brunette smiled back. Nice to know that the huntress actually liked her, even if she had a strange way to show it.

"Who's missing…well, you already know Jason…Oh, hot-head! Leo Valdez. Our pilot, you know. He's the son of Hephaestus and pretty …talented when it comes to machines or fire." She finally finished and leaned back again, arms behind her head and obviously pleased with what she had presented. Yuki was a little overwhelmed as it seemed but she had listened carefully and laughed with the others when the presented one was teased. Was it just Piper or did she seem enraged when Thalia talked about Leo? Why was that? Well, maybe just because she hated the heat, like her mother did. Didn't mean that she shared the same…friends her mother had, right?

They laughed and joked around so long Piper lost track of time. At some time though, Jason was the first to notice something.

"Hey guys…isn't it about time Leo finished repairing the plane?" he looked a little worried and Piper now also sat up, separating from Jason a bit.

"He's right. Leo was almost finished when we saw him but he's still not back…" she trailed off and suddenly, Annabeth's eyes went wide and she sat up straight. The whole time, she had been relatively quiet and thoughtful. But now, her face told them she just feared something.

"Oh gods! He was alone. Big mistake. Thalia, Grover. You come with me. Now. How could I have been so stupid?" She stood up and swooped her jerkin, glaring at them meaningfully. She had whispered to herself and seemed ready to smack her forehead. There was no option in her voice, no space to elude. Even Thalia listened to her immediately and jumped up even though she was normally the leading type.

"Yes, Ma'm." she said and put on her own jacket without complaining. Grover also lifted himself from their seat and put on his coat, readied his reed pipe.

"What're you doing?" asked Yuki with raised eyebrows. Annabeth turned to her, the expression of the daughter of Athena was completely serious.

"I'm taking our most powerful demigod in a fight and Grover, who has control over nature. In case something happens: You others stay here, Piper and Jason are with you, they're also both powerful." Piper heard the sound of a shield extracting and saw how Thalia was holding Aegis in her hand while she had also drawn her spear. The brunette assumed those were her most favorite weapons. Yuki just nodded and then they were suddenly outside, ready for the storm that had begun to become stronger.

A few minutes of silence passed. None of them was in the mood for jokes any more. Piper snuggled herself to Jason's chest and stared at the door with tension in her muscles. If Leo was in danger…could she bear that they had seen him and didn't give him company out there while he was alone? Maybe it was her fault….no, this was the wrong way to think. There was no way Leo would be hurt or kidnapped, right? He was also a strong demigod after all. But when the doors of the plane opened again and the first one to enter was not Leo but Annabeth and her face was stern and distant, Piper couldn't help but hide her face in Jason's shirt. She heard Jason's voice, directed at his sister, concern swinging in it. Of course, Leo was his best friend after all.

"How is it?" he asked. A sound was heard and Piper sensed how Jason took in a shocking deep breath.

"Oh no.." he whispered so quietly only Piper could hear him.

"That's all we found." Oh gods, the daughter of Aphrodite didn't even want to look what was dropped on the desk by Thalia now. It made a heavy sound and Piper already guessed what it was. She lifted her face and stared at the object on the table in horror.

In the middle of the wooden table between two canapés, there was Leo's tool belt, cut open at one side with big splashes of red liquid on it.

Dudun. Here it is. The chapter. And hopefully the tension. Hope you enjoyed it and now ask yourself what the hell happened to Leo. Do you? What do you think about the other scene? Am I bad at romance? I am, right? D: I liked Thalia's introduction thing. Did you too?

Please tell me what you think and hope you didn't give me up yet :)