Hey guys! Sorry for the slightly later update, I hope you enjoy this chapter. To the person who said about Leo, I'm sorry if he seems out of character- I am trying to get it right but I can't always- though I will say he is a few years younger in this so that will have an impact. Also, it won't all be Thaluke in the minific but it will include some of their roadtrip.

After their talk Thalia went straight to the training arena, grinning slightly when she spotted Luke, who was stood with Mikey and Leo, talking as he helped Leo get his grip right on his new sword. She gave a small wave, a slight grin on her lips, "Hey! Jackson the elder, I want a word with you."

"Thalia." Luke turned his head away from Leo, letting go of the 13 year olds hands, a smile on his lips. "I can probably make some time for you-" he jumped backwards,
yanking Mikey with him when Leo gave a manic grin and swung the sword.

"Hiya! Take that! I am Leo the flame man of destiny! Mortals cower before-"

"And I'll take that." Luke lunged forward and grabbed Leo's hands, tugging the sword from his grip, "Rule number one of swords, look where you're swinging them." Luke shook his head, lips twitching into a slight grin, "I'm gonna talk with Thalia a second, why don't you go and see Beckendorf? I think he said earlier he wanted to see how good of a blacksmith you are-"

"Awesome!" and Leo was sprinting away, leaving Luke blinking after him and shaking his head before he looked at Mikey.

"Mikey do you mind me cutting our lesson short?"

"Nope." Mikey grinned, "I'll go and help Connor and Travis with setting up the christma-"

"I don't want to know." Luke slapped a hand over Mikey's mouth, "Off with you. Go do something evil with our siblings." he moved his hand and Mikey laughed, poking his tongue out before darting off.

Luke watched him go before turning to look at Thalia, sliding the sword into it's sheath which was strapped to his waist. "So, you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah." Thalia gave a small smile, "You're good with kids-"

"Yeah, I guess." Luke shrugged, "I have years of experience from being a big brother."

"It's nice." Thalia took a breath, "Which is making me feel kind of bad because I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away."

"I talked to Annabeth and Percy earlier about what happens next. I mean I'm not leaving camp for good, I like it here." she admitted, "It's been better the last few days- you may have been right about me being nicer to people-"

"Hm, is that an admission of my genius?" Luke smirked, "I like that-"

"Oh shut up." Thalia laughed as they walked towards the stands, "Anyway, I heard you and your mom earlier- when you said you wanted to see your birth mom again, it got me thinking a lot and... I think I want to go back and find out what happened to my mom."

"That sounds smart. You might be able to actually deal with some of the trauma." his voice was softer. "Maybe get some answers- I mean it'll probably suck but you could get the chance to tell her what you think, it can be good to get things in the open."

"Exactly." Thalia looked extremely hesitant, "Listen, I know it's a lot to ask but.. is there any chance.. I don't want to go alone."

"You- oh." Luke's eyes widened in surprise, "You don't want-" he faltered before giving a slight smile, "Where would we have to go?"

"We lived in LA."

"Well then." Luke grinned, "Looks like I'm gonna have to get a car- at least I have money set aside from the money dad gave mom over the years."

"Really?" Thalia's eyes widened, a very small smile spreading across her lips. "Luke... thank you."

"Hey, no need to thank me. It'll be good for me to take a break from camp- as much as I love it here I know I can't just live here the rest of my life."

"I guess." Thalia tilted her head, "What will you do?"

"I dunno." Luke hesitated before speaking again, "I was considering going to college and maybe trying to do something with kids- social care work, it'd be a good job to keep an eye out for Demigods who need help."

"That sounds kinda awesome." Thalia admitted slowly, "You'd be good at it, with how great you are with all the kids here."

"Thanks." Luke looked at Thalia. "What about you?"

"I don't know." Thalia blinked, "I've never really considered it- never had the chance, I was too young when I ran away from home and then... I mean I was a tree for a long time and I went from twelve to fifteen, and I spent half a year adjusting and now I'm eighteen like I should have been with no school experience and no plans." Thalia snorted, "In other words I totally have my life together."

"Y'know if you asked Chiron could probably find a way to get you some fake documents so you could go to college-if you can get the loans." he paused, "There might be enough in my college funds to help fun you too, or at least to give you a bit."

"I couldn't ask for that." Thalia shook her head, running her fingers through her short hair. "I'll figure it out myself but... thanks for the offer-"

"Hey I have enough money to spare." Luke gave a wry grin, "I'm well aware that I'm one of the lucky ones here."

"Maybe." Thalia gave him a softer smile, "But you're definitely one of the good ones too. You're so patient with the kids-"

"Grow up with a baby sister like Percy and you have to learn to be patient." Luke grinned, "I love her to death but gods she was a challenge at times- I wouldn't change her for the world, don't get me wrong- but I honestly have no idea how mom did it between me and Percy. I might have found school hard but at least I wasn't on her level."

"Yeah, she does seem kind of crazy and chaotic." Thalia grinned, "Which, by the way, just makes me think she's pretty awesome-"

"Y'know I think you two being friendly is going to end in chaos." Luke gave a wry grin, a fond look on his face.

"Oh yeah." Thalia nodded, "Total chaos." she agreed, "Annabeth's already realized that, she realized it when Percy and I started talking about having a spar and Nico started egging us on-"

"Oh gods no." Luke's eyes widened, "Please don't, I would not want to clear up after that fight."

"Rude." Thalia laughed, her face lighting up as she did, shaking her head. "We wouldn't be that bad."

"Yes, yes you would." Luke gave her a look, "Don't even try and deny it Thalia we both know that you guys would cause a lot of damage if you got into a fight."

"I mean-" Thalia shrugged, "Okay you may not be wrong, though I'd say Percy is the more destructive one out of the two of us."

"Yeah, yeah I buy that." Luke nodded, "Not that your powers aren't awesome but-"

"But Percy's are more destructive-" Thalia's brows furrowed, "And slightly terrifying-"

"Terrifying?" Luke paused, "I guess she pretty much submerge an island one time-"

"She caused an earthquake- when... when Nico-"

Luke sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh." his brows furrowed, "I hate thinking of her being in pain like that. I hate it. I... when Alabaster came back to camp and told us she was dead I felt like I was being torn apart- which I guess you get. But I was lucky it was over within seconds because she came running out screaming at him. But Percy had to deal with it for days."

"I know." Thalia reached out, laying a hand on Luke's arm. "I kinda wish I'd stepped up more, I knew how it felt I just... it was too raw. I didn't have the right to say anything."

Luke shook his head, "Gods it must have been hard for you too- you might not be super close with Nico but even just seeing that-"

"It reminded me of Jason, yeah." Thalia looked away, a sad look on her face. "But hey, what can you do-"

"I'm sorry." Luke's voice was incredibly gentle. "I really am Thalia."

"It's not your fault." Thalia looked back at Luke, "Thank you though."

"Now come on." Luke gave a small smile, "I need to return this sword to the armoury then we should go and talk to Chiron."

"Sounds like a plan." Thalia lightly shoulder bumped him as together they made their way through camp, "So when do you think we'll be able to leave."

"Probably once winter break is over." Luke smiled, "It'll be nice to spend Christmas here this year- I think Travis and Connor want to decorate your tree this year. Chiron never let them before because he said it was disrespectful-"

"Hah, I'd have loved it." Thalia laughed, "Your brothers are pretty cool-"

"Of course." Luke gave a sage nod, "They're my siblings after all." And, as Thalia laughed again, for the first time in a long time she felt like she had a home.

…

It was a few hours after they'd parted ways with Thalia that Kayla came rushing towards Percy and Annabeth, who were sat on the grass next to the canoe lake, her eyes wide. "Guys! Nico asked me to come and get you, apparently Bianca's woken up-" she didn't have time to finish her sentence because Percy was vaulting to her feet and moving before Annabeth could even process what Kayla was saying, and she was sprinting towards the Big House, Annabeth scrambling to her feet and following Percy quickly, though with her head start Percy reached the building first, throwing the door open and sprinting through the hall to where Nico was stood leaning against the wall outside of the infirmary.

"She's awake?"

"She woke up when Will was checking on her." Nico said quickly, shifting nervously, his face paler than Percy had really seen it before. "I asked Lee if he could go and get Zoe."

"Why haven't you gone in?"

"I-" Nico shifted uncomfortably and Percy blinked before her eyes widened.

"Oh. You don't want to do it alone huh?"

"Not really." Nico looked sheepish, "I guess that's kinda cowardly of me, huh-"

"Of course not Neeks." Percy wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "We can go in together. C'mon." she reached out, pushing the door open and making her way into the room, Nico tucked into her side.

Bianca was sat up in the bed, pale but clearly well on the way to full recovery, she wasn't looking at the door, she was looking at Will, who was helping her grip a glass of nectar, though he glanced towards them and quickly pulled the glass away to avoid any spills as Bianca followed his gaze and her eyes widened in shock.

"What?" her voice was barely more than a whisper as her eyes fell on Nico, "Am I dead?"

"No." Nico shook his head, his own voice slightly shaky, "I didn't die. Sorry I made you think I did. I shadow travelled away at the last second but I was hurt- I ended up passing out-"

"You're alive." and suddenly Bianca's eyes were filling with tears and she was trying to push herself out of the bed, though Will moved quickly, gripping Bianca's shoulders and pushing her down into the bed quickly.

"Be careful! As glad as I am that you're having a moment I do not want you hurting yourself! You're suffering from exhaustion. If you leave this bed for anything other than the toilet without my permission I will tie you down!"

"He will." Nico was pulling free from Percy and darting towards the bed, perching on the edge of it and letting Bianca pull him into a tight hug.

"Don't you ever do that to either of us again." Bianca's voice was thick with tears, "Promise me Nico."

"I won't." Nico pressed his face into Bianca's shoulder. Clearly the girls extremely obvious grief and relief at seeing him alive was proof enough to Nico that she did care after all, and it might not fix things but it helped a lot, and honestly Percy was just happy that Nico looked so hopeful when he lifted his head and turned it to look at Percy. "We all made it out.

"Yeah." Percy nodded, "Yeah we did." She could hear Annabeth arriving outside, see her standing just outside of the door to give them a moment, and Percy felt a rush of gratitude for her girlfriend.

Sure the quest had been hard, but for now they were going to be okay.