Annabeth and Batman went back and forth on different strategies to use. Batman was obviously a skilled strategist himself. It was beginning to feel like a competition between the two on who could come up with the better strategy. Reyna, Frank and the other counselors gave input when they could. Reyna, however, lost interest after a little while. She, after all, was going to be inside the building. So much had happened in such a few short days. Reyna was a swirl of emotions that she kept under a cool exterior. She couldn't afford to show any fear, lest it ripple through the ranks. There was one person who Reyna, as expected, saw right through her. Nightwing had not taken his eyes off of her since they had arrived. She felt like he was so far away with just a table between them and their respective teams beside them. Still, they continued to share glances that spoke volumes. Are you alright.

Once the meeting was over, it was time to gear up for battle. Reyna went to finalize preparations for her troops. Frank looked a little uncomfortable having been caught by one of the Justice League members. He was a young kid whose skin was green.

"So, you can transform into animals, too?" he asked. Reyna had forgotten that Frank's transforming abilities had been briefly mentioned during the meeting.

"Uh, yeah" Frank answered tentatively.

"Me too!" He said excitedly. "I've never met someone else that can transform. What's your favorite animal to transform into during a fight?"

"Uh, I usually prefer my sword in a fight. It's a good idea to be versital when fighting."

"Exactly. I like the gorrilla myself." He rambled on.

Reyna didn't hear the rest of the conversation as she continued on. She saw Hazel feeding Arion gold, which caught the interest of a few of the Justice League members.

"He doesn't look special." She heard the same kid, who ate a large meal at super speed, observe.

"Oh, he is special." Hazel said in her southern accent. "He's the fastest horse on earth."

"Oh really." He said with a note of challenge in his voice.. "Well, I'm the fastest kid on earth. Wonder who's faster?"

Arion let out a loud whinny. Reyna had once heard Percy complain that Orion had a bad temper with a filthy mouth to go with it. So she didn't think his whinny was anything good.

There was a bit of a commotion when Clarisse finally arrived in a chariot led by two horses with red eyes. "Looks like we arrived just in time for the party."

"We need to work on your definition of on time." Percy snarked.

"Shut up, Prissy." Clarisse snapped. "I call it perfect timing: just in time for the fight. I'll let you guys deal with the meetings."

The Hecate cabin had begun pairing up Justice League members with a comparable look-a-like to cast the illusion. It seemed to be working very well. She couldn't tell who were her half-bloods and who were Justice League members.

She had just checked on the medic tent when she saw Nightwing slip into a supply tent. Her eyes narrowed as she approached the tent. She opened the flap with a quip about stealing Half-Blood weapons on her lips, when she saw Nightwing sharing a passionate kiss with another Justice League member with blond hair, wearing a tiger striped leotard. Rage filled her as the two parted due to her arrival.

"Reyna!" The girl said with alarm. "It's not him! It's Percy! I'm Annabeth. It's the illusion." She said in a rush.

Reyna forced herself to take hold of her rampaging emotions. She returned the flap and turned to see Percy staring at her. She flushed at the sight of him. They must have illusioned Percy to look like Nightwing and Nightwing to look like Percy.

To his credit, Nightwing didn't laugh or even smirk. He simple walked over to her and in a low voice said, "I told you, I would never hurt you again, and I meant it."

"It just took me off guard." Reyna tried to brush it off as she walked swiftly toward her tent.

"I can imagine." He said as he followed her into her tent. "Everyone's ready. It's time to head out."

"Okay." She took a deep breath. "If things don't go well, . . ."

"Reyna."

"You can use the larger explosives to kill them. Large objects falling on them are effective, too."

"Reyna!" Nightwing interrupted her. He grabbed her hand and stepped closer to her, making her heart race. "I've already lost you once; I'm not going to loose you again. We'll stop them."

Reyna didn't dare look at him. The illusion of Percy was unsettling. She felt Nightwing's hand caress her cheek, then she felt his lips on hers, moving softly. She deepened the kiss and ran her fingers through his hair, relishing every touch. His scent filled her senses. She wanted the moment to last forever, but a deliberate clearing of a throat brought her crashing back to reality. A Roman half-blood stood at the entrance. Reyna was about to repremand him when Nightwing said, "We were just on our way."

Reyna realized with a start that the soldier before her was Batman. The helmet obsured his face, so she wasn't even sure who he switched with. "Is there going to be a problem sending you two together?"

Reyna flushed at the insuation. Nightwing glowered at Batman. "We're both professionals. We know how to focus on the job. We'll be there in a minute."

Batman, thankfully, left the tent. "Well, that was mortifying." Reyna tried to lighten tension.

"What was you you said? When you find happiness, you need to hold on tight and savor every moment."

"Something like that." she blushed.

"We're savoring." He leaned in for another kiss.

She put a hand on his chest. "As much as I would like to stay here and savor, we really should go."

"You're right." He sighed reluctantly. Then his face became serious, like he had flipped a switch.

They headed out and found Nico waiting patiently. "Took you long enough." He grumbled.

"Just had to take care of some last minute items." Reyna tried to give him a stern look.

He merely shrugged. "Ready?"

Nightwing had an uneasy look on his face. Reyna grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. He squeezed back as they each place a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Ready." Reyna said confidently.

"I should be able to get you directly into the control room, as long as I don't mess up."

"Wait! What do you mean mess up?" Nightwing said with some panic in his voice. However, Nico was already melting into the shadows with them in tow.

They were plunged into the cold darkness. Pained voices howled around them. Reyna focused on Nightwing's hand gripping hers. Just as quickly as it had started, it was over. They were in a small room filled with computer screens. Two men sat at their seats oblivious to their arrival. Nightwing held onto Reyna for a moment as he caught his balance and focused on the men in front of them.

"Uh maybe, we should . . ." Nico guestered to the mortals.

Reyna shook her head, "He's got it."

Their conversation had attracted the two men's attention. As they turned around, Nightwing swung into action knocking them both out with a fist in one's face and a kick to the other one's head.

"Impressive." Nico admitted. "You got things here then? You're on your own from here on out."

Nightwing went over to the door and locked it. "I think we got things."

"May the gods be with you." Reyna said in farewell.

"They better be. Their lives are on the line too." Nico grumbled as he stepped into the shadow and disappeared.

"I've seen Batman melt into and out of shadows lots of times. But, I have to admit, knowing that Nico literally travels through the shadows makes him a little more bad ass." Nightwing said as he sat down and got to work.

Reyna let out a soft chuckle. "I'll let him know." She said as she watched the monitors. She saw dracnea, telekins, wild centaurs, and worse of all giants. How they fit so many monsters, she had no idea. "That's a lot of monsters." Reyna said apprehensively.

Nightwing glanced to where she was looking. "We've got a good plan. We've got this." He assured her.

Reyna nodded as she continued to study the monitors. She saw a strange room with what a giant canister almost as big as the room, filled with liquid. "Is that the pathogen?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Nightwing paused in his work long enough to look to where she was pointing. "Yeah." His voice sounded concerned.

"Can you access it from here?" She asked.

"No. We'll have to go to that room, and shut it down." He said hurrying back to work. "Yes. I'm in."

Reyna found the monitor showing outside the building. She could see their friends approaching in the distance.

Just then one of the knocked out men's radios crackled and a voice came over it. "Ready the canons."

"That's our cue." Nightwing grabbed the radio and answered, "Roger that.". He cracked his knuckles and began working on the computer. "Man, that kid was right. They've got stuff that I don't think is even legal.". Then he grabbed the radio and answered, "Cannons ready."

The main entrance monitor showed an army of monsters exiting. They looked eager for battle. Nightwing's hand hoovered over the keyboard, waiting. Their friends had stopped advancing and stood at the ready. It was a fine sight, but small compared to how many monsters were waiting. The thing that frightened her the most was that there were still so many more monsters inside the building.

"Fire when ready." The radio crackled.

"Here we go." He breathed as he pressed a button. There was a series of explosions that went off at the main entrance. If that didn't destroy them, they were at least weakened.

"All units, get to the control room, now!" The radio crackled.

*Here comes company," he sing songed. "And for added measure." There was another explosion.

"What was that?" Reyna questioned.

"I had the cannons blow each other up." He smirked. He did a few more strokes on the keyboard before getting up.

"They're at the door." Reyna warned as she got ready for battle.

"Okay, let's go." Nightwing said as he moved the chair over to the vent. He stood on it and removed a vent covering in the ceiling.

"Where are we going?" Reyna asked.

"First rule of stealth, don't be seen, unless you want to be seen. Up you go." He had her get on the chair and then boosted her up into the vent.

"Easier said than done." She grumbled as she struggled to get in the confining area. "This is not very Roman."

Nightwing climbed into the vent far more graceful than she ever could. He silently replaced the covering just as there was a small bang and several men rushed into the room. Nightwing held up a finger to his lips as they held as still as possible, not even daring to breath.

"All clear. They completely destroyed the controls." A voice said.

"I smell sulfur." A feminine voice said. "The son of Hades has been here. He thinks he is so clever. Send the remaining guards to the bio room. They will try to sabatoge the pathogen. We just need a little more time before it is ready. Go!".

The soldiers left as quickly as they came. Reyna could just make out the feminine form wondering the real below them. Stopped just below the vent that they were hiding in. She stiff the air a couple of times. "Interesting." She murmured before leaving the room.

Reyna released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Now what?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Now we head that way to where they have the pathogens." Nightwing pointed behind her.

"Right." Reyna huffed as she began moving towards where the battle lay, wondering if the monster could smell her or him or both.