Luke's P.O.V

URG! Why is she being so difficult? So stubborn? If she carries on like this, I'm not going to be able to hold him back any longer, he'll rise to the surface again just like last time and I'll lose control again.

"Tell me what I want to know Luke, or I'll wait until he tells me. I'm not leaving until I know how to save him." She told me, her voice was so cold and far away from what I had come to associate with Annabeth. The thought that she could be cold, shook me to the core, not my Annabeth, she could never be cold.

"See she wants to meet me" He said in my head, "It was never you she wanted it was me."

No! I tried to protest in vein, my control wavering at last. I just couldn't hold him back anymore, not with how persistent she was being.

"Hello Annabeth," He said.

Thalia's P.O.V

It was awful. Detective Thompson let me watch Annabeth talk to Luke, but I wish he hadn't. How had Annabeth and I not known about Mrs. Castellan? How had we not seen the signs in Luke? When had this all started? Was it as far back as him pushing me off that bridge? Was that part of it?

Many questions rolled around in my head and with them a lot of guilt. Was it partly my fault that Luke had taken this path? Because we'd never mended the rift between us, was it my fault his other personality manifested himself in this way? Was what happened to Percy my fault?

My head started spinning and my breathing started to get ragged. I recognised that I was having a panic attack and so did Detective Thompson who'd been with me. He sat me down in a chair that had been in the corner or the room and told me to focus on his breathing and mimic it.

"Breathe in and hold it for two, three, and breathe out for two, three. That's it, and again. Breathe in and hold it for two, three, and breathe out for two, three." He said, my head stopped spinning and I was able to focus on him sitting in front of me.

"Great, now I'm going to ask you to name five things you can see, okay?" I nodded. "Take your time."

"The door, the walls, the two way glass, you and this chair." I said shakily.

"Great, now name four things you can touch." He said gently.

"The arm of the chair, the floor, my phone in my pocket, and my clothes." I said less shakily than the last time.

"You're doing great Thalia. Now name three things you can hear."

"Annabeth's voice, Luke's voice and your voice." I told him.

"Good, okay and now two things you can smell."

"Disinfectant and," I sniffed the air around me again, "and Diesel – Only The Brave Cologne."

His lips twitched as if he was fighting a smile and he said, "And one thing you can taste."

"The chewing gum, I had in the car on the way here." I said, feeling much more grounded than I had five minutes ago. "Thank you" I said.

"It's the least I can do. You've got a really good nose y'know?" He said to me.

"Yeah, Aunt Sally said I should have going into the cosmetic industry, it's just not my thing." I said standing to go back and see what was happening between Annabeth and Luke.

"You don't have to continue watching if you don't want to." He said to me.

"I do want to, being in there with her would only distract him from what she's trying to do, the least I can do is support her this way." I said making my way back to the glass.

"You were all very close once, weren't you?" He asked.

"Yes, we were." I said, I don't know why but I felt that I could trust him. He nodded his head almost understandingly.

"I'm sorry," He said, "this must be hard for you, you and Annabeth both."

"I don't know how she's holding it together." I confessed.

"She has someone to focus on. It's surprising how driven you can be when you have a goal in mind. And like I said before she went in if she wants to stop all she has to is tap the table three times." He said and I snorted.

"You have no idea how driven she can be." I said, but I was thankful that he'd given Annabeth a way to ask for an out if she needed it. I doubted she'd use it though.

Luke's voice drew my attention back to him and Annabeth.

"Hello Annabeth," He said in such a poisonous sounding voice that the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention.

Jason's P.O.V

I sat in the waiting room with Piper, Nico, Hazel, Frank and Will. As the doctors went in and out of Percy's room with blood samples and scanning machines and whatever else they were doing to try and find out what was wrong with Percy.

I decided I would grab Estelle and read her a story or play a game with her, something to distract the two of us from what was happening with Percy. Uncle Paul and Aunt Sally sat together hugging Estelle, while the doctor ran another test on Percy.

I took a deep breath and plastered a smile on my face before crouching down to Estelle's level.

"Hey Twinkle, do you want to come and help me convince Piper that Aladdin is better than Mulan?" I asked appealing to her Disney knowledge.

"Mulan's better." She sniffed.

"I totally agree." Piper said from the doorway. "Why don't you help me convince Jason he's wrong?" She asked, I smiled gratefully at her as Estelle jumped up off the sofa and went to Piper. Aunty Sally reached for my hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you" She said, and I offered her the most reassuring smile I could managed, before following Piper and Estelle back out into the waiting room.

Estelle sat in the chair next to Piper and was nodding in agreement with something Piper was saying. Estelle hadn't known Piper for very long, but she'd accepted her almost immediately. I really loved seeing them together, they got on so well and Piper knew all the films Estelle brought up because of her Dad or her sister. I picked up Estelle, sat down where I had been and put her on my lap. She completely ignored me while I did this in favour of discussing her favourite parts of Mulan with Piper.

I didn't mind. It was just nice to be needed by her again. She'd become so close to Annabeth recently, that I wasn't sure she'd still need me. It was nice to learn that that wasn't the case, especially as she leant her head on my shoulder when she became more tired.

Annabeth's P.O.V

"Hello Annabeth," Luke said to me in a voice that made my skin crawl. This must be him I thought to myself.

"Hello Luke," I replied.

"Don't call me that weakling's name." He spat back at me. Anger boiled up within me again. Luke was a lot of things, but I didn't believe weak was one of them.

"What do you want to be called?" I asked as evenly as I could manage.

"Master" He replied, and I snorted.

"Not likely." I retorted.

"Considering how I've been the master of your life. I think it's fitting." He said, as if he found great humour in it. I didn't know what that meant nor was I particularly interested in finding out. What I wanted to know, was what would save Percy.

"Tell me what you put in the failsafe." I demanded.

"Give you something you want for nothing? No." He said coldly. It was like a completely different person was sitting across from me now. I had no idea where the Luke I was talking to a moment ago had gone.

"What do you want in exchange for that information?" I asked tentatively, because I didn't want to give him anything, but I would, if it meant I could save Percy.

"I want to see your face when I tell you, how I've been the master of your life." He told me, with a smirk, like my life was all some game to him.

"You first" I said determinedly.

"Very well, but you can't leave until I've told you everything." He said. I had every confidence that someone was behind the two-way glass whether it was Thalia, or Detective Thompson I knew even if I couldn't leave that someone would get the information to the hospital, so that Percy could get the help he needed.

"You have my word." I replied.

"Nitrogen dioxide." He declared proudly.

"What will that do to him?" I asked.

"Ah-ah-ah" He said. "You asked what was in it, not what it would do. Now you're going to sit and listen to me while I explain to you, that I am your master."

"Don't" Luke said in a different voice.

"No-one asked you" Luke said again in that harsh voice. It was horrible to see, it was like Luke was fighting himself for control of his own body. It made me feel sick.

"Fine." I said coldly, "Enlighten me."

Thalia's P.O.V

I couldn't believe it she'd managed to get the information out of him.

"I have to call Aunt Sally." I said.

"I'll ask the doctors to medicate him again." Detective Thompson said.

"Thank you, I know she'll want to leave to get to Percy."

I pressed dial as he exited the room. Aunt Sally picked up straight away.

"Thalia, are you okay? Jason said you and Annabeth left the hospital." She said sounding concerned.

"She did it, Aunt Sally, Annabeth got Luke to tell her what he used. Tell the doctors Percy's inhaled Nitrogen dioxide." I said.

I heard Aunt Sally relay my message to someone.

"How did she manage that? Are you coming back to the hospital now?" She asked.

"She made a deal with him, or at least one part of him, I don't really know how it works. Detective Thompson said he was going to get the doctors to medicate Luke again and once they have, we'll head back." I told her.

"Okay, drive carefully, and we'll see you soon." Aunt Sally said.

"I will, see you soon." I promised before hanging up the phone.

Piper's P.O.V

Something had happened. Paul rushed out of Percy's room to the nurse's desk and demanded that they page Percy's doctor as politely and hurriedly as he could. It took a couple of minutes but eventually the doctor did arrive. He and Paul had another quick conversation before Percy's doctor rushed off again.

"Uncle Paul, what's going on?" Nico asked. Paul walked over and sat on the chairs opposite us all.

"Annabeth got Luke to tell her what he did. We know how to wake him up." He said. My heart sank. I was happy that we now knew how to wake Percy up, of course I was. But I worried about Annabeth, that kind of information was huge, I was worried about what Luke had wanted in return for it.

Percy's cousins celebrated around me, and I tried my best to put a smile on my face and show how happy I was for Percy and his family. But I couldn't get my mind off Annabeth and what Luke might have asked of her.

I sent her a text message, to try and calm the sinking feeling that I had in my stomach about how Annabeth had managed this.

Piper: Hey Paul's just told us you managed to get Luke to tell you what he's done. How are you doing? Are you on your way back?

I hoped I would get a response soon. I put my phone back into my pocket as Percy's doctor reappeared and asked to speak to Sally and Paul. While the rest of us waited to hear what was happening. A few minutes later both Sally and Paul exited Percy's room and came to sit with us.

"What's happening?" Jason asked.

"To test for what Annabeth's been told Luke's done, they have to wake Percy up and get him to participate in the test. His doctor said it might be quite distressing for him and us, while they conduct it, because of what happened before they had to put him into the coma." Aunt Sally said. "The test will be done within half an hour, after they've brought him round, once they've done the test, they'll put him back under until they can get the results, to prove that what Luke's told Annabeth is the truth, and once they know that they can start treatment, and he can wake up on his own and start to recover."

I squeezed Jason's hand and he squeezed it back. For the first time in a long time he was beaming that smile I loved so much. I had to smile back genuinely, I couldn't not when he was this happy. And it was nice to be happy about Percy's diagnosis, because I really was and the atmosphere in the waiting room had uplifted so much it was hard not to join in. But I still kept an eye on the door at the end of the corridor that I knew Annabeth and Thalia would come through. Annabeth still hadn't sent me a message back. I tried not to worry, but I knew somehow, that I was right to be worried.

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~ Author's Note ~

Hi all, thank you so much for reading this story and all your reviews, follows and favourites. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please let me know!

Going Dark – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope this one answered your question. I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know!

WiseGrl14 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! The UK is a fairly cool place to live where are you from? I hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know!

Sranupama2005 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Piper and Jason's interactions are important definitely. I hope you liked this one too let me know!

QueenAnnabeth18 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Luke is being put through the ringer isn't he. I hope you liked this chapter please let me know!

Merendinoemiliano – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you liked the last chapter, I hope you liked this one too, please let me know!

Astra2111 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Jason and Percy bromance is an important one in my opinion! Luke is hard to hate knowing he's not well, but he doesn't make what he did less horrible y'know? Yes, poor Annabeth! I hope you liked this chapter please let me now.

Insanedreamer7905 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the last one! Badass Annabeth hasn't finished yet. I'm glad you liked the Annabeth and Thalia dynamic in the last one, it felt right to throw those three together for this. Piper's always been important particularly where Annabeth and Jason are concerned. I'm glad you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you thought of this one!

SarcasmRocks – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you loved the last one! I think Thalia and Annabeth are close enough that they would know this about each other and would instinctively try to help the other through it all. I'm glad you mentioned POV placement I've been very careful about who's POV comes up when for this story! Piper's POVs are always very wholesome to write I'm glad you're enjoying them! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!

I'm going to be going back through the entire story before the end of it and noting where I think the lose ends are that need tying up, so I haven't missed anything. Please let me know if there are some things you want answered from previous chapters and if it's not already on my list, I will definitely add it and try and give you an answer for it.

As always happy reading and stay safe! :)