AN: And thus begins the angst chapters...

Glass. Her bare toes brushed gently against the vulnerable material. It shattered after a footstep, but she didn't care. It wasn't like she could feel it. Sixty days. Fifty nine. Fifty eight. Fifty seven. Each day was precious, but Nicole di Angelo just couldn't bring herself to wake up. Every second she screamed inside. She needed to talk. But it was if something was imprisoning her body. Leaving her only slightly conscious. Enough, anyway, to repeat the name 'Gaia' over and over again.

She couldn't tell them directly, but it was pretty obvious what had basically happened. Mainly because she'd crash landed into the middle of the bonfire, hysterically sobbing. Wake up Nicole. She heard it all the time. Begging. And she wanted to, it was just that she couldn't move her body. The voice gave up eventually.

She was underground now, like a grave. She screamed and thrashed but she couldn't get free. Roots grew from the dirt underneath, binding her so harsh it hurt.

"Get out of my head!" She begged and cried but it was no use. All she could do was struggle against Gaia's force whilst she watched and laughed. "Let me go," she whimpered. But Gaia grew bored, evidently. Or maybe Nicole's will got stronger. I'm going to kill you Gaia. She tugged the restraints harder. I'm going to tear you apart until you're nothing. She screamed again, and with one final surge she was free.

But she wasn't. More glass. This time it was either side of her as well as beneath her feet. She wasn't so careful when she walked. The fragile glass didn't shatter this time. So she began to run down the hallway, only daring to look straight ahead. It seemed to be never ending. Soon she began to see another figure running towards her. It was only when she came really close that Nicole realised she was staring into a mirror.

But it wasn't her that she was seeing. The reflection moved as she did, but there was something in her face. The reflection smirked in a way that sent a chill down Nicole's spine. Everything shook. When Nicole looked back, the reflection's eyes had turned to red, her teeth bared like she was going to rip out Nicole's throat or something. The reflection mouthed a word, one Nicole didn't quite catch, before millions of shards of glass hit her all at once.

~0o0~

Feeling. The girl called Nicole di Angelo blinked once. A movement that was barely detectable. But then it happened again. Her eyelids began to flutter, bringing in the light. Nicole didn't have a lot of hope, but she tested her limbs. Her fingertips could not only move, but she felt them tap the bed underneath her. I'm awake. She gasped for air suddenly, her back arching with effort. Her chest was moving up and down like normal, she could see it. I'm alive. She sat up immediately, trying to get a grasp of her surroundings. She managed a groan. If she had the chance, she'd burn the damn infirmary to the ground just so she had somewhere else to wake up.

"Nicole...?" The voice sounded sleepy. Nicole shook all over. "Nicole it's me."

Nicole brushed the messy, overgrown bangs out of her eyes. She eyed the girl cautiously. Her eyes... They were the colour of Ichor. Beautiful, really, but also painful. In fact, they were the exact shade of Gaia's trap. Nicole clutched the side of the bed so hard she could have broken her hand. I'm awake, I'm alive, she repeated, and I'm coming to kill you.

"Hazel?" She grabbed her sister by the shoulders. "She's awake!" She said it desperately, like she wouldn't understand. "Gaia's awake!"

"I know." It was the fear in those Ichor coloured eyes that made Nicole snap out of it.

"Leo." She shot to her feet. "I have to find him."

This time it was Hazel who did the grabbing. "You are not going to the Underworld."

"The Underworld?" She was confused. "Who said anything about the Underworld?"

"But you said-"

"He's not dead!" She shouted. "Gods, I wish he could be dead. How long was I out?"

"Three days," Hazel trembled.

"Where are they?!" She took a deep breath. "Percy, Jason, Piper, Annabeth."

Hazel blinked. "Councils. That, and rotating looking after you."

"Looking after me?" Her voice was quiet.

"In case you said something. Or woke up. You looked like you were being tortured, but Chiron said we shouldn't wake you."

"And you listened?" But she calmed down significantly. "We have to go warn the others."

"Are you okay?" It wasn't a general question. The way Hazel looked at her, the message really was 'are you going to attack anyone?'

"No," she said. "Not until she pays."

"You need to rest," she said firmly. "I'll bring them-"

"No!" She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "I've already wasted three days. Now there's only fifty seven."

"Fifty seven?"

But she'd already stalked off to the Big House. What she found was a bunch of tired looking demigods. All she could say was: "you shouldn't be resting."

Jason Grace was the first to respond. "Good, Nicole, you're up."

"I don't care!" She hit Percy and Piper on the back of the head. "We shouldn't be sleeping, we should be looking!"

"For who? Gaia?" Percy murmured.

"Yes! We're on a deadline!"

"Deadline?" Piper said groggily.

Nicole used her burst of energy to shake the ground. "Every second we waste, his life is more danger!"

It was this time Jason looked down. "Don't you remember? Leo's dead..." He choked up a little.

She felt herself start to shake, but made an effort to stand tall. "If you think that's true, then you're severely overestimating me."

"Worse?" Piper whispered, but Nicole heard it all the same.

"So much worse." She found a chair and slumped down in it. She began to speak then, about the details of the labyrinth. How there was a different section, the tests. She and Leo arguing, him walking off.

Annabeth burst in. "Nobody was in the infirmary. Isn't it my turn for Nicole watch? Oh."

"Perfect timing," she said. "So then Gaia gave me a message. Basically that we had sixty days, fifty seven now, till she takes her true form. And apparently if we want to join her, our 'conscience will lead us', whatever that means."

Percy sat forward. "Do you have any idea how stupid that was?" His voice was deadly calm.

"Yes," she winced.

"Twice now," he continued, "you've pretty much handed Gaia the power she needs."

"You don't think I know that!" She huffed. "I thought we would be closer to killing her by now."

"Then we have to do it as quickly as possible," he said. "Problem is she's using Leo's body as a shield. Anyone know how to kill an immortal?" He laughed without humour.

"Yes." Nicole's tone was flat. "Two ways. But we're not killing Leo. No way in Tartarus."

"What do you mean, two ways?" Percy asked. Well, interrogated more like.

"Come on," she made herself sound bored, "I told you I killed someone. Don't sound so surprised. My father's sword," she spoke up, "can banish any soul, immortal or no, to the depths of Chaos. Too much power for demigods to handle for too long. Besides, there's no way I would be allowed to use it again. The second way, maybe, if I was powerful enough. But since nowadays I can't even use it on flowers, my chances against a primordial aren't exactly high."

He stood. "What do you mean, nowadays?"

"Percy-" Jason tried to interject.

Nicole ignored him. "I would be dead myself if I had that kind of power. And I can guarantee there'd be fewer gods." Thunder, lights flickering, earth moving. "The key word is 'if''." She rolled her eyes, looking at the ceiling.

"There's no point in us arguing about Nicole's powers," Annabeth said. "And I agree, if we were to somehow kill Leo, Gaia would just find another host. There's no point."

"Kronos," Nicole said under her breath. Then, louder, "I wasn't actually there, but you said Luke Castellan managed to free himself somehow before he died."

"Yes," Annabeth said. There was a change in her then, like she became more guarded. "Emotional connection."

"Right then." Nicole stood up. "There you go."

"And where do you think you're going?" Percy asked.

"Air," she said. "Your solution is obvious, by the way. Forget Gaia, get the giants. Again. What's a queen without an army?"

She excused herself, rushing to her cabin. There was nowhere else where she could truly be alone. She sank down against the door. If she didn't save him, it would all be her fault. His blood was on her hands now. She needed to find Gaia. But it was hard, she could be anywhere in the world. Mirrors. Was she trying to send Nicole a message? She buried her head in her hands.

"Oh, don't do that, di Angelo, you're making me depressed."

Nicole tried to scramble back, but of course there was only door behind her. She was looking into her own eyes. "Who are you?"

The figure, who happened to look almost the same as Nicole, flipped her hair. "I haven't been here for years now, I didn't remember it being so dull." She rolled her eyes. Nicole's eyes. "Don't be thick, sweetie. I'm you... and I'd say by your awful clothes it's some time in 2013? That puts me about thirty years or so later, give or take a couple."

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Sweetie?"

This girl, who said she was thirty years older, looked the same age, roughly. Her skin was darker, olive almost, and her hair was browner. Other than that, it was like looking at her reflection. "You're me?"

Her eyes twinkled in a way Nicole had forgotten they could. "It's complicated. Like, very complicated. For now, just stick to the classic way we do it."

"Uh..."

"Oh," she realised, "you haven't gotten to the whole time travel thing yet? Sorry, a lot of stuff happened when I was your age. The order gets confusing."

"Okay," she shifted, "whatever that means..."

"There are some things I miss, you know. About being Nicole di Angelo, just a girl."

"Just?" She raised her voice a little. "How can you say just?!"

She sniggered. "If only you knew. It's just so cute, sweetie. Thinking your life is oh so hard! Ha!"

"The term 'sweetie' makes me nauseous."

"I know, I'm you." She dropped her coat on Nicole's bed. "And while we're on the subject of you fashion choices, dear gods you need a haircut. If you were to come back with me, Lea Grace would be all over you."

"Grace?"

Older Nicole smirked and touched a finger to her lips. "There's a limit to what I can tell you. You know, in an attempt to not make time implode. Though, I'm giving you eight years to come up with an excuse why you can't babysit. Seriously, that kid is the devil."

"Noted," Nicole nodded slowly. "So... why are you here, exactly?"

"Well, my younger self, many years ago I was standing here talking to myself as well. I didn't want to screw up the world, you know, so I borrowed a time device." She smiled to herself. "I remember when you had to use energy. Terribly painful."

"You have a time machine?"

"You went to an alternate universe, sweetie. The time thing really shocks you? Besides, you fell in love with a genius, what can you expect?"

"A genius? Hang on-"

"I shouldn't have said that, huh? Eh, well. I doubt it will change much. You already know it's doomed-"

"Percy and I are doomed..." she said slowly.

"Percy Jackson," her smile was almost sad. "I haven't thought about him for years... Do you know how much I wish I could tell you everything? And then slap you round the face, because you're about to do some pretty shitty things you'll regret massively." She sighed. "I'd rather not tell you. You'll to avoid certain things and screw everything up. Hell, even two steps to the left instead of one could change the future. You might, even."

"You still haven't explained-"

"I'm here," she said, "because however many years ago I was told something. And yeah, the rules say I can't interfere with your type of affairs, but I'm trusting you'll keep your mouth zipped. Leo's a new god. It doesn't matter how much power Gaia has, she won't be able to use it. Not properly. So she couldn't go far, right? If my memory serves right, the mark you touched sent you to Chicago-"

"That's where I was?"

"You see? Pay attention! Anyway, just outside the city there's a carnival right now. You're right, Gaia did send you a message. So, Nicole di Angelo, go get him."

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't," she smiled, "but you can try. Oh, one last piece of advice, don't jump." She was gone like that.

Nicole stood, her legs shaking, and walked over to her bed. The coat was still there. "I don't understand!"

"Nicole," Hazel opened the door. "You don't look-"

"I'm okay," Nicole said, mainly to herself. "Hazel, how did you get to Camp Half Blood?"

"Arion," she said, "and I shadow travelled a little bit."

"Stronger by the day, sis."

"You're going somewhere." It wasn't a question.

"Chicago, apparently."

"Why?" She was trying to mask her concern.

She tried to smile. "To do the right thing for the first time in my life."

~0o0~

Well, at least she was honest in the future. Though it was a pretty shitty excuse for a carnival. The few rides that happened to be there looked like they were going to break any minute. What would Gaia want with a place like this, anyway?

She wondered round the whole place a few times. There was nowhere obvious. Though, she supposed Gaia wouldn't be standing there with a sign that said 'come kill me please'. Then she saw it. Just on the edge of the grounds was a building that said Hall of Mirrors.

"That will be ten dollars, miss," a tired looking man said.

"No time to be nice," she punched his right eye, setting him properly to sleep. She rushed inside the maze. It was confusing as anything. All she kept seeing was her own reflection. Eventually she came across a central room. She was surrounded by her own image.

"Nicole di Angelo. I wasn't expecting you to find me so soon."

"I don't have time for your games." Her eyes darted from mirror to mirror. "Show yourself."

She looked away when a light began to glow. It was freaky. She had to do a double take and remember it was Gaia she was looking at. Well, not directly. A reflection. "You've come to join me, half blood?"

Nicole's hand instinctively fell to her sword. "Something like that."

The most terrifying thing was that Nicole couldn't tell where the hell Gaia actually was due to the mirrors. "I'm listening."

"Let him go."

"Excuse me?" It sounded like Gaia was laughing.

"I said let him go," she repeated. "And take me instead."

"Interesting," she contemplated. It was really creepy, watching Gaia think with Leo's face.

"What do you want with Leo Valdez?" She took a deep breath, hoping that if he was in there somewhere, he wasn't listening. "I mean, what are you going to do? Fix the world to death? Yeah, fire's a nice benefit, but that's useless if we extinguish it. Imagine how much more powerful you'd be with my power. I've had the perks of a goddess before, believe me, you want it. You could raise an army of the dead, impossible to kill unless you're a child of the Underworld. Better, you could kill by just looking at someone."

"You make a good point, daughter of Hades." Gaia began to pace. Nicole tried, with her best effort, to hear which direction the footsteps were coming from. "However, I used a great deal of power taming this body-" Nicole tried to resist punching her "-I must recharge before anything can be achieved."

A weight formed in her chest. "You're just going to let me go, then?"

The smirk Gaia/Leo (this whole thing was ridiculously confusing) made Nicole shiver. "I know a lot, Nicole di Angelo, and one of those things is that you won't be able to kill my children. And they will stop you. So, in effect, disposing of you is a waste of time and energy."

Nicole narrowed her eyes. "You're in there, Leo." She turned quickly, pushing his body into a mirror so hard it shattered. She didn't even cry out when the glass cut into her hands and arms. Strong emotion, Annabeth said. It took a moment, but the feeling that had caused Nicole to be anxious was gone. Maybe... Gaia was gone. That was when he began to kiss her back. She was so happy she could cry. Probably because something was actually working for once. She pulled away after a few minutes, feeling put together for the first time in days.

Leo blinked. "Nice try, demigod. Not good enough, though."

Her only comprehensible thought was 'no'. There was nothing, now. Nothing that would work except death. She just wasn't enough. At least she had the sense to cover her eyes this time. She fell to her knees, oddly dramatically, she'd admit.

Somebody cleared their throat behind her. "Explain, please, what in Tartarus just happened?" She turned her head. Percy...

~0o0~

"Bandage your arms," he said, not even looking at her.

"I don't need to." She glanced at her gold covered hands. "The Ichor's healed most of it." She scooped a bit with her index finger, applying it to a cut just below her shoulder. "How did you even find me?"

"Hazel told me," he said, "and I called Mrs O'Leary." He pulled her round the back of the Hall of Mirrors, where nobody else was looking. "You were going to let Gaia take your power."

She yanked her arm from his grasp. "You wouldn't do exactly the same thing, Percy?"

"I'm sick of you trying to die all the time!"

"You were right," she said, "Tartarus really did change you. Because the Percy I know would at least accept that I can't let him die because of me! Congratulations, you finally overcame your fatal flaw. Would you like a banner?"

"And the rest of what you were doing? Noble, was it?"

She stood her ground, surprisingly. "When Luke was possessed by Kronos he snapped out of it because he felt emotion. Memory. I just thought-"

"Memory?" His voice was quiet.

"Don't you dare try and pin this all on me. You were the one who kissed Annabeth in the first place!"

He bit his lip. "You know about that?"

"No. Of course not. I'm just making it up so I have something to yell at you about."

For the first time, the anger in his eyes faded. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, you didn't look it."

"I mean it, though."

She shook her head. "Look at us! Just as bad as each other. Still sticking it out, for whatever reason."

He swallowed. "Is there a reason?"

"I don't know anymore," she admitted. For the first time in a while, she truly looked him in the eye. "Would we ever really be happy together?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know you, Percy. You want to grow up someday, probably become a marine biologist or something like that. Have a couple of kids maybe, tell them all the stories about when you were the Saviour of Olympus. You want to live a long, peaceful life, because you already had a life's worth of adventures. But Percy, that's you. I'm not that girl."

He exhaled. "You're saying we should break up?"

"I don't know. Because for some reason I love you," she offered, "even if we don't work."

He shook his head. "You've never said that to me before, you know?"

"Oh." She realised that was ridiculous.

"Do you love him?"

Silence. "Yes."

"Are you in love with him?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly.

"Are you still in love with me? Have you ever been?"

"Percy-"

"Just answer the question," he said without emotion. "We never used to lie to each other."

She breathed in and out a few times. Whatever she said, she'd be hurting someone. Perhaps she might have cried, had she not been herself. "No."