Disclaimer - I'm not Rick Riordan.

Chapter Twenty One - To Kill Two Birds With One Stone

Luke walked the streets of suburban New York with a smile. Not too large, not too small. The perfect fake smile. He looked out for anyone familiar, particularly from his closer friend group, seeking them out for purposes he kept hidden...though -

He supposed he loved them in truth. Not all of his feelings were lies, rather, it would have been impossible for everything to be a lie. Hanging out with them, at first, approaching them with watching Thalia Grace in mind, and on the way, by sheer luck, Athena Chase's daughter, and slowly growing closer and closer and not learning to love them at least a bit?

He doubted that in no such scenario would all of his feelings be fake.

Thalia was annoying, yes, in that brash and gothic sense, however she held a sisterly vibe about her, that really, eventually grew on him, though she was a violent-tended sister. And Annabeth Chase was nothing but amazing. A younger sister, yet someone he...might have loved in a different way at some point.

But those thoughts, feelings, had to be reigned in. He knew from the start that his mission would be difficult - one that spanned more than three years of his life.

Though, it seemed it would be coming to an end thanks to a particular son of Poseidon Olympia, thought to have been eradicated as well as his heritage. And...Luke couldn't help but curse Percy Jackson for ruining his small happiness, joy, little world of playing spy but at the same time, living the life of a relatively normal teen.

'Watch the daughter of Zeus,' they had said. When Annabeth came into the picture, the mission changed: 'Keep an eye on Thalia Grace; Chase shouldn't be a problem, but be wary.' And then Jason Grace came into the picture. 'It was...expected, that perhaps he was alive, living somewhere, but keep an eye on him. Simply watch. Make sure they learn nothing of the war. Of their heritage.

'Earn their full trust and bring them to us.' Luke had been in the process of doing exactly that. Thalia, he was sure he had in his hand, however her brother was another problem. Luke had approached the boy on different accounts, but simply couldn't be more than acquaintances through friends yet.

And just as he had been making progress, Perseus Jackson waltzed in and stepped into all the work he did. Well, he didn't trash it entirely, but he did give him more work and a possible end to his fantasies.

But at the same time, he supposed he should be grateful. Had he delved any deeper into that fantasy, he might not have been able to come out of it, and he would have to suffer consequences if that happened.

... And Percy wasn't a bad person either. Rather, making him join the Timeless seemed...plausible. Making Thalia join was plausible based on trust and her own issues with her father. Jason was a possibility as well - he seemed particularly disgruntled to find that his father had hidden multiple siblings from him. And Percy also seemed to hold something inside him, that spirit of rebellion that the Timeless could use.

And this was confirmed further the day he approached the three, Annabeth, Percy, and Jason, to ask about their clear suspicions.

It was...pretty obvious, and painfully so. Watching as Annabeth stopped leaning back right away when he wrapped an arm around, or the glances that Jason gave him that said nothing but mistrust. And Percy who looked at him with a strange look that seemed to be mixed with pain and disbelief.

Luckily, though, it seemed that Annabeth still trusted him; six to seven years of friendship wouldn't get away that easily for her (and him as well, he thought). Jason was questionable, but Luke had his sister wrapped around his finger so manipulation would be easier on his part. And Percy...didn't trust him, that was made clear by the boy himself.

But Percy was willing to see Luke prove that trusting him was the right choice. And that was probably enough for things to work the way they should.

He stopped walking as he found himself standing in front of a convenience store. The store was of course, simply a front, manned by Timeless spies, and while the exterior and general building was in fact a convenience store, a source to acquire some money, the basement and levels below were a base for Timeless in the general vicinity.

The Timeless was nationwide, but this was simply a base, by far not the most used and largest base - that would be the East coast HQ - but it wasn't so minor that it be ignored.

Which brought Luke, who happened to be the closest to this particular base, to be given a minor side mission to check up on things running there. Apparently a disturbance signal had been sent out to other bases before abruptly cutting off. Luke, of course, asked if he could have some back up, especially if there was someone really that strong, but Kronos had waved it off and said, with a strange look in his face, that back up wouldn't be needed.

Since Kronos knew what he was talking about, Luke took his word for it and opened the door, ringing the bell that signaled a customer. He nodded to the cashier, Kelly, who smiled unnervingly at him. With a disgusted glance back, he made his way to the drinks section where he found, conveniently, no one else there.

He walked to the locked employee bathroom door and unlocked it with his key. Looking around one more time, noting that still, the area was empty, he walked in and shut it closed, clicking it locked.

Instead of a bathroom, he found a short hallway that led to stairs going down. He walked down them and found himself before a door with higher security than the door above ground. With a key pad and a bell, he walked up to the pad and pushed in the pass-code, and as it bleeped, Luke pushed against the door.

Only to find it wouldn't budge.

He frowned. The password wouldn't have changed, and if it had, he was sure he'd have been notified. He then took a closer look at the door. The corners had scorch marks, he noted, and his eyes widened. An explosion perhaps? It must have been the disturbance that was reported.

Luke thought for a moment. He himself knew the inner workings of the particular lock that was implemented in this particular base, and he figured the inner intricacies must have been disabled from the explosion's vibration, effectively locking the place.

He considered asking Kelly what she knew but remembered that she had been transferred that day, and new transfers weren't allowed in the base itself until later.

So she wouldn't know what the heck happened.

Luke continued to frown, but quickly went to work, easily taking apart the pad and from there disabling the lock.

The door gave a satisfyingly silent shudder before he pushed it open.

Inside, what he found was pandemonium. It was an absolute wreck. And a clear message.

"Castellan!"

Luke turned to the plump woman, who, judging from her uniform, was one of the higher ups here.

"Echidna," he regarded with a nod. "What happened here?"

"Bastard child," she spat, making Luke bristle slightly. "Don't talk to me as if you're my superior; I've been serving as part of the Timeless for much longer than you have been living boy." Okay, I mean, that has nothing to do with this situation, but sure, he thought with an internal eye roll. She huffed before answering:

"Apollo's got a message for the Timeless." Luke waited for more information and she regarded him with dark eyes. "He's going to attack HQ tomorrow."

Luke cursed. I guess Kronos wouldn't be willing to spare some more reinforcements to ensure Percy's capture tomorrow then, he thought. Percy was important, but Apollo Olympian making a definitive move against HQ was a big deal. The man, as goofy as he seemed in person, has an impressive reputation, and was most definitely someone to fear.

And no doubt, Kronos wouldn't hesitate to send nearby back up there rather than to capture a weaker and more vulnerable Percy Jackson, since if Apollo were to be captured, killed, anything, it could mean an enormous leap to victory for the Timeless against the Dociles, their long time enemy during this Medium War.

But, curses, because Luke's cover would be blown, and then the Timeless could easily lose the two Grace siblings, and the long lost but found son of Poseidon -

Ah, Luke thought as he set his jaw and immediately pulled his phone out, walking quickly up the stairs, ignoring the calls of Echidna behind him. He dialed Kronos, and the man answered. "Apollo," Luke said right away. "He's planning to divert the attention from the younger Olympians to himself -

"It's a trap."

o)0(o - linebreak

Annabeth watched in awe as Percy demonstrated his Summoning. It lacked the performance aspect as it had previously when he would move his hands in a dance-like manner, but this was impressive in aspects of speed and efficiency. He had done something with his right hand, left hand facing out, almost like flicking something, and in a bright blue flash, a blue sword, Riptide, was in his left hand.

He switched the hold to his right before grinning at her and Jason, whose face probably mirrored Annabeth's own. It was one of wide eyes and awe. Annabeth leaned back slightly on her right leg. At the moment, they were in Green Forest, deep inside, of course, and were standing in a sort of circle: Percy, Jason, Apollo, and herself.

Apollo had instructed Percy to demonstrate how Summoning should look like, and Annabeth could only stare in awe as Percy did what Apollo could do, but in his own...admittedly charming way.

She put her hand on her hip and made an impressed sound. "I'm impressed, Seaweed Brain. That wasn't half bad in fact, that was brilliant."

Jason nodded, closing shut his jaw with a cluck sound. "Heck yeah," he agreed. "That was awesome." Percy smiled at the praise and Annabeth could see his chest puffing up slightly. The reaction was sorta...cute. Then almost as if noticing that he was letting the praise get to his head, he shrunk a bit abashedly with a rub to his neck.

"Thanks," he said. He pointed at Apollo who grinned, leaning on the tree next to him with his arms crossed. "Apollo's admittedly, not a bad teacher." He gestured with his free hand slightly. "I mean, I had been Summoning wrong all along - the moment I Summoned after learning properly, it was ...liberating." He gazed at Riptide with a soft smile.

I advise you not to be too distracted by that particular boy's charms, Annabeth, Athena said with a slight smile in her voice. Annabeth nearly scoffed at the words of her Intent. She wasn't yet accustomed to a voice in her head, and one that sounded so much like her mom (thus a reason which she named her after her mother) made her jump slightly every time.

But it was also soothing to know that she wasn't ever quite alone, though, seen from a different perspective, she supposed that could also be unnerving.

"Well, how do you, well, do that?" Jason asked. Ah, the million dollar question, Athena said, and Annabeth could almost hear the smirk in her voice.

"Uh, well, you, er, something about syncing your brain to your - oh shut up, Blackjack, I'm trying - uhh, yeah..." Percy squinted as if thinking really hard before groaning and gesturing at Apollo with Riptide. "I think it's better explained by the professional." With that, the strangely quiet Apollo grinned widely, flashing his bright teeth in the process.

"Indeed, cousin, you are not at the level to teach quite yet," he said with a tut. "I'm very awesome / do not try to deny it / only I can teach." Annabeth raised an eyebrow at that poem full of self love as Apollo put a finger to the air with a cheery, "First, we'll get to very quick physical training - it won't be quite as strenuous as Percy's since he had more time, but it should be even slightly effective."

"Uhm," Percy interrupted with a raised hand.

Apollo nodded. "Yes?"

Percy pointed to Jason who cocked his head in question. "My bro here's already pretty buffed up; I'm thinking he doesn't need too much physical tuning." And in a sudden move, Apollo was right next to Jason patting the guy's arm and hitting his chest firmly and with a sympathetic look from Annabeth, he blushed slightly.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Showing you my love, brother," Apollo responded before stopping and stepping back, stroking an invisible beard. "Well, I suppose he might be ready for Summoning right off the bat, though..." After a moment of staring, he concluded, "Let's evaluate both your physical strengths first, actually, and then we'll see who needs the training."

Annabeth thought back to Percy's lacking explanation. Something about syncing your mind... Perhaps syncing the physical body to the spiritual? It would make sense. For something to work as efficiently as possible with the most possible power output would be something that works in syn with each other, united as one and not as separate entities.

Annabeth figured that that must be the reason for needing to train physically so that the Spirit energies match the physical (which brought to mind another question: how does one train their Spirit?).

Percy stared at Apollo for a moment, pools of sea green swirling with what looked to be confusion before they widened as he pointed accusingly at Apollo.

"No way, are you planning to do that fireball thing with Sunflower, because if you are, the whole dam forest is going to be burned down!" he exclaimed, earning a slight jump from Jason and wide eyes from Annabeth herself. Annabeth's mind worked quickly in remembering that particular story Percy told at lunch.

She looked to Apollo, thinking that surely, that would not be the method of evaluation he would use.

Fortunately and expectedly, Apollo laughed and shook his head at Percy's outcry. "As much of an interesting reaction we'd get from nearby environmentalists, that wouldn't be very efficient at all, dear cousin. Rather, we'll have them play a very intense game of tag minus the burning ball of sun rays."

"Ee," Percy said with a face. "Good luck with that." Annabeth wondered how bad it could be. She had done track at some point in her life, and she remembered being pretty good at it. Not only that but obstacle races were something she'd say she was well versed in (and the thought obstacle course ran through her mind since they were in the middle of a forest. Playing so called 'tag' in a forest would warrant making sure she didn't trip every five seconds of running, though uneven ground might be tricky).

Apollo laughed, though from the look in his eyes, it seemed more like a cackle. He slapped Percy's shoulder, saying, "Oh, who said you weren't joining them, cousin?" Percy's eyes bugged out and Annabeth held in a laugh at his expression.

"What? But what about weapon training?" he protested, waving Riptide around a bit.

"Oh you'll be having plenty of that, good sir," Apollo assured with Percy's face growing more and more horrified. The man turned to the rest of the group and smiled. "Now, let's test your endurance and cardio, shall we? Train while we're at it and everything! We're practically killing two birds with one stone!"

"Yeah, I'd rather not kill birds, but alright," Percy added while Jason chuckled at the comment.

"Well, every time you eat chicken, that's a dead bird right there," Apollo pointed out.

Percy blinked before saying, "Uh, yeah, let's not think about that since I like chicken so much." Annabeth internally laughed at that, and as she noticed Percy's eyes meet her's, she felt her heart do a strange little dance. Of course Percy would say that. It was such a...Seaweed brain thing to say and mention, and it was somewhat endearing.

A thought entered Annabeth's mind, a nagging question, though it wasn't fully formulated, but she felt that it was something of importance. Before she could think it through fully, Apollo interrupted.

Apollo clapped, gaining the attention of the teenagers, and Annabeth internally groaned in frustration at the distraction. She...was sure it was important, possible even vital, but perhaps now was not the time.

"Well then," Apollo said with a blinding grin. "Let's start then, shall we?"

Well this should be fun, she thought. And just as the bright golden flash filled her vision as Apollo Summoned, Annabeth remembered what she had wanted to ask. But it was something she would ask after the training, alone with Apollo, to perhaps consider the man's feeling and opinion on what she was wondering.

Before them stood Apollo with a bow. He smirked. "I'm it. Now I suggest you three get running." And with a glance to Jason who shrugged at her and another to Percy who grinned lopsidedly, she was off, feet thumping against the forest floor with a firm grin on her own lips.

This was...thrilling.

And as childish as the thought might have been, there was no way she was going to be tagged. Her pride wouldn't allow for it, and she was fine with that.

Let's get to it.

o)0(o - linebreak

Luke knocked on Percy's house's door, frowning when there was no answer. His suspicions seemed to have not been unfounded. Right before, he had checked in on Annabeth's family, learning that she had gone out with friends. To say that the Chases were surprised it wasn't with him was an understatement. They were immediately worried but Luke assured them that she was fine and with another friend.

And before that, he had called Thalia up to see how Jason was as casually as possible to find, voila, that Jason was also out. Fortunately, it seemed everyone else was doing their own thing; Grover was out with his family for a lunch, Piper at home with her father, and Thalia out shopping. He had tried to contact Annabeth through phone, but was immediately sent to voicemail to which he assumed her phone was either dead or off.

He sighed, running a hand down his scarred face.

He assumed that they trusted him, but perhaps he was too quick to assume. It was a good thing, then, that Kronos told him to double check after hearing of Apollo's clever ploy. Of course, it would have to go as Apollo planned in the regard that the Timeless focus more on him since he was more of a threat than Percy and the others were, but...

Luke had a nagging feeling that maybe Percy was more of a threat than they were making it out to be. If Apollo really was as competent as they say, then Percy would have been trained by that competent person, and there's even a chance that Annabeth and Jason (the thought that Annabeth was doing something behind his back stung a bit) are keeping contact with the man.

He cursed quietly as he walked away from the doorstep.

Protecting HQ taking priority was unavoidable, but surely a few fighters could be spared to back Ethan and the General up. They didn't even have to be entirely competent. The numbers just need to be increased, enough to keep Percy from being able to make it out his house to expose the rest of the Timeless.

...Perhaps something could be done with regards to Percy's family, though the more he thought about that option, it would be more of a hindrance than anything.

"Dammit," he muttered as he fished his phone out from his pocket when it buzzed.

'Don't reveal yourself if you can help it,' the text from Ethan wrote. Luke raised an eyebrow at that. Another message popped up. 'They're sending the General over to HQ. They're bringing someone else over; they should be enough for Jackson.' Luke narrowed his eyes at that.

Kronos isn't willing to spare numbers, but will send out a trump card? For Jackson? Luke clenched the phone slightly before loosening it and slipping it back into his pocket. Perhaps...this would be better.

I wouldn't need to reveal myself. And with that selfish thought, Luke walked away from the house of Perseus Jackson. He thought back to Annabeth and Jason's absence. His eyes widened. Perhaps they were with Percy right now, discussing a course of action, a plan under a plan - the one shared with everyone, with Luke - must have been a fake.

There must have been something else they were planning with only the three of them, and perhaps even Apollo.

Where...?

It was possible they went to Apollo's. It was likely. Luke hastened his pace to his car, opening the door. Where Apollo lived wasn't a secret, in fact, he could probably find the place through some google searches. He sat in his seat and pulled his phone out again, typing in the search bar, but before he pushed enter, he paused.

Could they be ... in Green Forest?

It was another possibility, and a closer one at that. He nodded to himself. He would check there first and then head to Apollo's if they weren't there.

And if they were...

Luke swung the door shut, buckled, and started the engine, grip on the wheel, tight as he grinned a bit. He doubted it reached his eyes, but it was good practice for fake smiles.

His foot pressed the gas.

Percy Jackson, you won't get rid of the Timeless so easily. Be prepared. I'll make you realize that the Timeless are the answer you need. I'll get both you and Jason, maybe even Annabeth.

I'll take the most effective course of action and kill two birds with one stone.

DONE! Yep, hope you enjoyed the Luke POV :)

Anywho, regarding Annabeth's perspective, I hope I didn't butcher it because for some reason it just feels like I did. Let me know in the comments. Just a weird unsatisfied feeling in me, y'know? But yeah, this was a low key fun to write chapter, especially figuring Luke out a bit.

Of course, maybe he was OOC, I have no idea, but this is just how I portrayed him. He lowkey despises Perce, but at the same time he doesn't? LOL? Who knows, man, my fingers just type away and I just nod my head like "Sure, that sounds nice."

Hope it was a satisfactory chap, and hope you're excited for the next! There's going to be some...HMmMmMMmMM next chap (whatever 'Hmmmm' means aha) and yeah, enjoy that next week. :)

And here's responses to reviews:

Multi fandom geekerello - Haha I'm glad that made you laugh :) And yeah, I'll keep the ooc thing in mind. I personally don't like ooc-ness so when you pointed that out, I was like "Shoot" and I checked it and lo and behold I did use the words "stars" and "glory" and I was like "How did I not notice this?" But, who knows, some me was seeped in a bit too much I suppose aha. And I'm also itching for the fight. That's going to be one heck of a chapter for me to write and I'm going to enjoy every bit of it (hopefully). It shouldn't be too far off. I'm planning it to be the chapter after the next one so look forward to that :) (also regarding BJ glory, it didn't happen yet sorry but it will; it's just, not yet)

Ken - Haha, well, based off the chapter today, I hope it was cleared up that Apollo is in fact not a spy, but that would have been an interesting twist indeed. Hm...that's got me thinking...maybe Apollo is a spy! JK, but maybe not. Haha, just teasing, but thanks for reading! It's not much of a spoiler, but yeah, APollo's not a spy :) Pretty cool thought though

ImTheOnlyFanBoyInTheWorld - Thanks! Hope you enjoyed this chap!

Hace awesome days, y'all!