A little shorter than I would have liked but I do hope you guys enjoy it.

Guest 2.0: It really doesn't seem like weapons that can be disguised as ordinary items are common in the PJ universe, as aside from Jason's sword, we don' really see any besides the ones you named. Poor Barry indeed.

Guest: Glad to hear it.

Slade's house

Night

Oliver and Artemis sat across from each other in the kitchen, an awkward silence descending on them. It's funny, Oliver had wanted to see her since he had found out about her, to demand answers, but now that she was in front of him, he realized he had no idea what to say.

"Do you want anything?" Oliver said lamely, internally wincing.

"No, thank you," Artemis said politely, her silver eyes never leaving him. "I know you must have questions. Ask them."

"I've been having…dreams," Oliver said after a moment. "Of you and my dad in a cave while it stormed outside."

"The first time we met," Artemis said, a hint of fondness entering her voice. "I was hunting a Hellhound in the area; I caught it just as it attacked your father. It nearly tore off his arm, so I tended to his wound as Zeus threw a temper tantrum, something about a slight against him, and caused a storm that lasted for days."

"You swore to never give birth, so how…" Oliver trailed off and Artemis smiled slightly.

"You know your father as a self-serving man, but he was not always that way. At one point, he was kind and loving and loyal, enough that I did the one thing I swore to never do: I started to fall in love," Artemis said and it was silent for a moment. "I had promised to never give birth, so I could not lie with him. But there was another way."

"What?" Oliver asked straitening in his chair.

"My sister, Athena, she does not give birth the traditional way. She merges her mind with that of her lover and the child is eventually birthed from the back of her skull," Artemis explained and Oliver looked at her oddly.

"So I came from the back of your skull?" Oliver asked, his voice showing exactly what he thought of that.

"No," Artemis assured with a smile. "Ours was not a meeting of the mind, but a meeting of the souls. I wanted your father to know me completely, in a way that no one else has. And, with the consent of your father's wife, I transferred your fetus from my body to hers."

"Wait, my mom, she knew?" Oliver asked in shock and Artemis nodded.

"She knew everything. And she loved you in spite of it, knowing you were not hers," Artemis said kindly. "Moira Queen had the spirit of a true Huntress. In another life, I probably would have recruited her. I could not have asked for a fiercer warrior to watch over and protect you."

Oliver was silent, a great weight lifted from his shoulders. Since finding out the truth, he'd wondered if Moira Queen had known, if she would have loved him if she'd known the truth. He now had a greater understanding of what Thea had gone through when she found out about Malcolm.

"By all rights, I should not be here," Artemis said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Athena would tell me the time is not yet right. But I could not keep away any longer."

"You watched me as I slept one night. And you were watching me with Shado on Lian Yu," Oliver noted and she nodded.

"I have watched over you from afar your entire life. As I saw you grow, I thought I had made a mistake by leaving you with your father, as you became more like him with each day. But after you became stranded on that island, especially after you met the son of Ares, I saw you change. I saw you become the man I always hoped you could be. When you first struck down Edward Fyers with an arrow to protect Shado Gulong, I knew you truly my son," Artemis said a smile that made a lump form in Oliver's throat.

"Who didn't you come to me before now?" Oliver inquired after a moment.

"I could not interfere in your path. You would never have become the man you needed to be for this Crisis," Artemis explained and Oliver started.

"Wait, you knew?" Oliver exclaimed in shock.

"The day you were born, Apollo had a vision of the future. He did not know what this Crisis was, only that you and six other heroes must be there to face it," Artemis told him. "I do not know what threat you will face, even Apollo knows not. What I do know is you will be the one to lead them into battle and your fatal flaw will ground them," Artemis explained and Oliver frowned.

"Fatal flaw?" Oliver asked in confusion.

"A character trait that, if not kept in check, will destroy you. Every hero has one. Percy Jackson has loyalty, Annabeth Chase has hubris. Yours is devotion. When you commit to something, be it a person or cause, you do so with your entire being. At times, this has caused you to lose perspective and not see the bigger picture. But it will ground the other heroes in the Crisis," Artemis said as she reached across the table, grabbing Oliver's hand. "You were born from a love that, by all rights, should have never been. You have my spirit, your father's heart, and, like Moira Queen, you never give in. Some of the gods say you should have never been born, but if I had to do it again, I would do everything exactly the same. I will be watching over you, even during the Crisis. Know that whatever happens, you have made me proud my son."

And then Artemis was gone, leaving Oliver to consider her words.

Upstairs, Annabeth shifted, opening her eyes to see Percy sitting on a chair by her bedside, looking at her with an intense look on his face.

"You're cute when you worry," Annabeth said as she shifted, grimacing as she felt pain shoot through her shoulder.

"You alright?" Percy asked as he saw this, getting up and sitting down next to her.

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry," Annabeth assured him.

"I thought I was gonna lose you Wise Girl," Percy said, his voice thick with emotion.

Annabeth was silent for a moment. She couldn't exactly say he would never lose her. They lived a dangerous life and they were rather old by demigod standards. Silently, she took his hand.

"I watch out for you and you watch out for me. We do the best we can and enjoy the time we have," Annabeth said simply.

Perc was silent and Annabeth watched, seeing in his sea green eyes how he seemed to wrestle with something before coming to a decision.

"This isn't how I wanted to this," Percy said, Annabeth cocking her head to the side in confusion. "I wanted to wait until this was over…but like you said, we enjoy the time we have."

Annabeth's heart stopped as Percy took her hand, his other hand going into his pocket before pulling out a diamond ring.

"I've been carrying this around for a while now," Percy said as he slid off the bed, getting down on one knee. "I told myself I wasn't gonna do this until after the Crisis so you wouldn't think this was just some 'I don't wanna die' thing. But we're demigods; there are no guarantees with us. And I don't want to wait anymore.

"I've known I couldn't live without you since I was fourteen. It took me another two years to realize I loved you; I'm a little slow that way. You are the most stubborn, passionate, smart, determined and loyal person I have ever met. Whenever I feel lost, it's always been you who picks me up and helps keep me going. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you, whether that's tomorrow, next week or fifty years from now. Annabeth Chase, will you marry me?"

For a moment, it was silent and Percy began to have a mini freak out when Annabeth, her voice sounding choked, managed to form words.

"Yes," she said lowly, tear forming in her eyes, something she would later deny.

With a goofy grin, Percy slid the ring onto Annabeth's finger before getting to his feet. Taking him by surprise, Annabeth grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him down, ensnaring him in a passionate kiss. They ended up entangled on the bed as they kissed passionately.

"Wait," Percy said breathlessly as he pulled back, managing to regain some common sense. "As much as I want to, you were just stabbed."

"Ambrosia and some rest do wonders. I'm fine aside from some soreness in my shoulder. Make love to me Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said in a matching tone.

Percy would like to say he put up more of a fight, but truthfully, he tended to lose all rational thoughts when Annabeth kissed him. So he did as his Wise Girl asked him to.

Was going to include some scenes of Barry's plot, but it just flowed better to have this be more of an Oliver focused chapter.

Hope the explanation on how Oliver was born makes sense.

A Percabeth proposal has been something I've been trying to find the right time to do; this seemed like the best spot. I don't consider myself a good writer of romance, so hope I did okay on the proposal scene.