She hissed, driving her nails into the palm of her other hand to divert the pain. She brought the stinging hand to her face, examining the bleeding finger.

The cut was deep, blood gushing out, but a mere pinch compared to the state her hands were in a week ago.

It had been week she'd been stuck in this hellhole.

Well, hellhole wasn't the correct term. It was clean, cosy and of the perfect temperature, neither warm nor cold, but rather a refreshing cool. The view from the window was picturesque, the Earth, a comforting, homely sight as it leaned lazily to one side, stars blinking sleepily behind it. A polished mahogany (or whatever else expensive wood it was) table with cushioned chairs, a plush suede settee, a cloud-like soft queen-sized bed.

She felt more like a guest than a prisoner.

Of course, she'd scoured the entire suite for hidden cameras, vents to escape or anything that could be used as a weapon. She had to commend them for their intelligence as no knives, no forks, no mirrors, no glass pieces or anything she could attack the sweet lady who brought her food every morning existed in the large queen-like chamber.

There was, though, a rod to hold the silk clothing in the armoire that Piper had spent hours trying to pull loose.

She grabbed a tissue off the dinner table, wrapping it tightly around the cut finger.

The rod put up quite a fight.

She threw a dirty look at the stubborn thing, wrinkling her nose at the silk clothes thrown over it.

They provided no hangers either.

Curse these smart people.

It wasn't that she cared that the clothes would get wrinkled thrown haphazardly like that. She was still in the hospital scrubs she was provided a week ago, regardless of the showers they let her take. She wasn't going to be dolled up in their hideous designer clothing.

Especially after the second-in-command refused to answer her questions.

She fought the image of his face from her mind.

What dirty tricks was he playing, visiting her with Jason's face?

Jason.

She shut her eyes, fighting her tears.

He thought she was dead. They all did.

She wished she was dead.

Better than spending time here in this comfortable suite, not having achieved anything in her reckless mission.

She was ready to die to blow the promise-maker up. She was ready to end these deadly promises.

Why the hell didn't she?

She had so many questions. So much she didn't understand.

How did they survive the explosion?

Why wasn't he killing her?

Why did he wear her fiancé's face?

Piper jumped at the hiss of the doors, shutting the armoire and slipping into her usual seat by the window.

Her heart rattled at the sight of his face.

Not Jason, she reminded herself. Even with the so familiar firm, angry set of the mouth and bunched up shoulders.

"Brianna tells me you're not eating." He said tightly, crossing his arms.

After a whole week of her screaming for his presence to the daily food lady, demanding answers, he came for this?

His face was bare, no mask covering it like during their first meeting, and stern. A navy blue uniform, gold embellishing the shoulder pads, wore snugly on his built form and badges lined the chest. The collar was zipped to the crevice between his collar bones.

Piper threw a glance to the five-star meal spread on her table. Her stomach yearned for it, empty for the past a week.

She wouldn't dine at the enemy's ship.

Her stubborn gaze met his again.

"Piper," He neared her, crouching, his voice loud with anger. "This isn't funny or honourable. You can't heal properly if you don't eat."

She said nothing, holding his stare with the same stubbornness. Why the hell did he care?

"Do you have a death wish?" He snapped.

She raised her chin. "I did." She spat. "But you took it away after so willingly promising it."

He paused.

Caught on the spider web.

"I never wanted you to die." He whispered.

The way he said the words…

What was he really saying?

In the blink of his eye, the lost look dissolved into a present one.

"I don't want to kill you, Piper." He continued, his eyes this time actually looking at her. "I…" He blinked as if an idea flickered in his mind.

Piper frowned.

He pointed to the table. "Eat." He commanded, his voice stern. "I'll tell you everything if you eat."

She blinked. It was that easy? That simple? "Everything?"

He nodded.

Really? She didn't trust that. That was too small a price.

She narrowed her eyes at him, scanning for a slip. Anything to prompt to his lie.

This man was a lying, manipulative psychopath. Why should she listen?

"Everything?" She repeated, leaning forward with squinted eyes. "Define everything."

He pursed his lips, averting his gaze as if it hurt to look. "Anything you ask." he said quietly.

Well, he'd promised information and he never broke his promises, she thought bitterly. If there was any slip or any mishap she would be on him in a second.

Her gaze fell on the food once again.

And anyway, wasn't it her dream to have everything she wanted for the price of food? Teenage-Piper would be jumping with joy.

She didn't jump with joy, neither did she shoot up with delight. She didn't want to show any eagerness. So she rose slowly, feigning reluctance.

Jason—no, not Jason, he was not Jason. What else did she call him? Promise-Maker sounded too grand and was honestly a mouthful.

She snuck a glance at him.

He followed her, his shoes clicking against the floor. Piper settled into a seat by the length of the rectangular table, Not-Jason sitting opposite her.

He folded his arms on the table and gestured for her to start.

She looked at the platter of food.

It still surprised her like the first time she saw the food that there was no meat. How they knew she was a vegetarian was beyond her.

She picked up the now-cold grilled cheese to her right, her nose devouring the cheesy smell before her mouth had the chance. Her teeth dug into the bread, the crispy sandwich crunching in her mouth.

Okay, this was magnificent.

She snapped her eyes to Not-Jason, not forgetting the deal they made.

He watched her with a quirk of his mouth, his eyes….

…adoring.

She leaned away, revolted.

He wasn't Jason.

He would never come close to Jason.

He was a murderer, a psychopath; heartless.

And she was here to pry information.

What to ask? What to ask? There was so much in her tumultuous mind, so many questions flying around like debris within a tornado. It was hard to clutch one.

She inhaled a deep breath. "Why did you keep me alive?"

He sighed. "You took one bite." He shook his head.

She waited for him to answer.

"I was never going to kill you, Piper." Not-Jason told her. "The promise—it was never made to eliminate you."

"So you just wanted me on your ship?"

"More than that." He breathed, his hands tightening, clutching one another. "Much more."

What did he mean by that? She leaned back once more, suddenly wary of being near him.

He caught the look in her eyes and shook his head. "Your DNA is the key to project Venus."

"Huh?"

He sighed once more. "Let me start from the beginning."

"My parents were jumpers." Kronos paced before them, his hands clasped behind his back acting as a sort of mockery to their shackled ones. "They'd created a machine that allowed them to jump between universes."

They blinked, exchanging narrowed glances. Jump between universes?

"But the machine kept hidden was found by Zeus Grace, whom the two had stolen lightning fuel from."

Jason stilled. Zeus? His father? "My father doesn't make fuel—"

Kronos threw him an ironic smile. "Technically your father does."

"What are you—" Jason started, befuddled.

"I was born in the void between this universe and the ones my parents were from on their way to flee here." He continued, pacing once more, paying no heed to Jason's growing confusion. "Which gave me the ability to travel between them at will."

Jason's heart thundered.

"However, I realise that like the machine, I also require a dose of lightning fuel. My parents had stolen enough for stock so I do have access to it. Consuming, though, will require a visit to Chiron, a man who works on biological alteration in the other universe."

"Alteration?" Piper asked.

"I need Chiron to fuel me with the lightning in a way that I can tap into it at will."

"Why do you need us?" Jason narrowed his eyes.

"I need an army, people who will help me achieve my goal of retrieving those files. That's all you'll have to do. I have people who can help me with the alteration. We just need the files."

Jason clenched his fists behind him. No. He and Piper were done being soldiers. They resigned for a reason.

"We can't help you." Piper said, her chin held high.

A slow smile grow on the man's bearded face. As if he was anticipating pulling out his next card.

"In addition to the files, Chiron has a list of people with the correct DNA that can withstand his experiments and become super soldiers. Soldiers with an ability tailored to their genes and greater strength," His eyes cut to him, a cold, satisfied smile carved into his face, as if he'd found gold. "And an almost invincible immunity."

Jason stilled, fighting to keep the curiosity, the spark from his face. These experiments couldn't help him, couldn't fight the disease burning away his years. He met the man's eyes. It couldn't be.

Piper straightened, a look shot at him. There was hope, such bright, painful hope in her eyes.

"Jason Grace and Piper Mclean from the other universe hold such DNAs." Kronos said.

"How'd you know that if you don't have the list?" Piper shot at him. Jason would've asked that himself had his mind not turned to mush at Kronos's previous statement.

"I had an inside source." Kronos replied, his eyes…was that wistfulness in them? "But unfortunately Luka Castellan was discovered by Chiron and his people and eliminated. He only managed to inform me of a few names."

"You could've asked him to steal the files when he was there himself."

Kronos glared. "That would've been a suicide mission."

"And what you're asking of us isn't?" Piper grit out.

"No," Kronos replied evenly and cleared his throat, continuing. "Chiron has made sure to recruit Jason and Piper from the other universe to keep them from my grasp. If you help me steal the list and plans of the biological alteration, I can save you."

I can save you.

Piper hung her head and Jason caught her pursing her lips in thought.

He would have more years to live. The disease wouldn't leash him anymore.

She snapped her head up as if she made a decision and shot him a look to consider, her eyes pleading.

I can save you.

Piper put a palm against the glass that encased him, her eyes willing strength into him. He placed his own hand so that it lined against hers, as if he could absorb the strength.

A buzz sounded and Piper took a reluctant step back, her eyes never leaving his.

Like the shell of an egg, thin cups of metal closed over the glass, shutting the light out, trapping him in darkness.

He'd helped Kronos steal the plans from Chiron, helped him return safely. He'd helped recruit all the people from his universe that shared the names and features and DNA sturctures of the people on the list.

Kronos would have no reason to betray him.

This would work.

He would live.

So like the metal cups, shutting out the outside from him, Jason slid his eyes shut, blocking out the procedure.

The pain.

"You can't leave." A wheeze sounded from the exit.

Jason and Piper paused, lowering their bags, their heads turned to find Kronos slumped against the frame of the doors.

"What are you doing here?" Piper asked, uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

"You still have more to do." He coughed, knocking his chest with a closed fist.

Jason frowned, the very edge of his heart dipped in concern. "We did everything you asked. You said that's all you needed. What happened now?"

"Chiron," He breathed. "He had hidden some files from me. The procedure…it was wrong."

Jason blinked, beginning to notice varicose veins branching across Kronos's forehead, branding his neck.

Wrong?

He glanced over himself, examined Piper. It was done wrong?

Panic began skittering over his heart. "What do you mean?" His voice shook. "What's going to happen to us?"

"I need to find the files to fix this." Kronos wheezed. "I need to live."

Jason dropped Piper's hand and rushed forward. "You tell me what's going to happen to us." He demanded. "What side effects this will have on us."

Kronos smiled darkly. "Anything could happen to you. Help me retrieve those files or face the pain."

Jason didn't like this.

Piper flinched as the zip caught on her skin and he apologised, angling the fabric away from her skin as he brought the zip up.

She smoothed her suit and gathered her hair in a ponytail, her back to him.

Jason's heart clenched at the sight of the varicose veins peeking up her collar.

"I don't like this." He grumbled.

She sighed, her back still to him. "You made that clear the first time."

He swivelled her about and held her face between his hands. "It's because I can't stand it."

"It'll be a short mission." She said softly. "I'll be back before you know it."

He pulled back, scowling. "Why did Kronos ask you to do this anyway?" Especially with the daily pain you fail to hide.

"That stupid Captain needs to die."

"Why?"

"Because he's proving to be an annoying thorn in the side who always manages to hit our ship the right way. Kronos wants a sample of his DNA as well." Piper glanced at him with an ironic smile.

"Why doesn't he stick a needle in me and be done with it?" He didn't see any difference between him and the Jason Grace from the other side.

"We did." She answered simply. "That's the only way I can travel to the ship, you know."

"Why don't we just kill them all off by using the DNAs from the people on this ship and assassinating their counterparts quietly like you are?" Jason inquired for the hundredth time.

She sighed for the hundredth time. "Because we've seen Jason Grace with our own eyes. We don't know who's on that ship and who isn't."

Jason was a little disturbed by the fact that Kronos was sending Piper to kill…him. Or...Jason Grace.

He didn't know how she was holding herself together. He knew he could never kill her other self.

"Still," Jason egged. "Why didn't he just give you an easy mission and make you use your free travel slip by hunting Chiron instead of Not-Jason."

She chuckled when he said Not-Jason. "Because," She mushed his face between her hands, treating him like a baby as she pouted out the words. "Only the person whose DNA we've used can see me then. And he'll be the only person I'll be able to touch for a good few hours. And they'll obviously find me if I wait a few hours to regain touch and find Chiron."

He huffed, evoking a smile from her. "Do you have to go?"

She kissed him, her lips smooth and silky. "I'll be back, Jason." She assured him. "I promise."

She couldn't keep that promise.

"She was too useful to have been eliminated." Kronos's voice had him tense.

Jason clenched his fists on the wood of the bar, tendrils of anger licking his throat. "You killed her," He growled.

"She failed the mission." Kronos replied simply.

Jason hurled his glass at him.

The glass shattered, Kronos safely to the side, and shrieks from the bar followed. He ignored the gapes thrown at him from the bartender and people around.

Kronos shook his head in disapproval. Jason narrowed his eyes at his healthy state. His lightning powers were being wasted to treat that pathetic pile of flesh. "This isn't the correct behaviour of a second-in-command."

"It isn't, admiral." Jason agreed, his voice hoarse and savage. "Because I'm not your second-in-command anymore."

The man narrowed his eyes. "And why is that?"

"I'm not going to serve a man who kills their own people. Your desperate missions are all massacres. You decide to enhance your army even with faulty procedures. You—"

"Killed Piper Mclean." Kronos continued, burning a cold stare into him. "I know it all, Jason. I know how your mind works."

"Then you should know to leave before you lose a limb." He growled.

"Look," He neared Jason, no fear in his eyes, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I need the lightning abilities I gave you as a replacement for the lightning fuel. You need me to find those files and save your lost cause of a body."

"Not anymore." Jason snapped his shoulder back, throwing Kronos's arm off him. "I joined for my own wellbeing but I stayed for Piper's. There's no reason for me to stay now."

"There is." Kronos smiled. "I can help you avenge her."

"By killing you?"

He rolled his golden eyes. "I'm not the one who killed her." He snapped. "It was Jason Grace from Half-Blood Forces. You can avenge Piper by making his life hell. By taking away the people he loves."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because through our research we've found many counterparts of the people who died from our side on the other ship. Their abilities are rare and we are in dire need. We can use the dead ones' DNA and throw you there. From there you can take the counterparts and we can continue procedures."

Jason wasn't moved. There was nothing but more risk through more procedures. More deaths. More work. More of serving this bastard.

"I don't want to." He gestured to the bartender for another drink.

"You can see Piper again."

Jason stilled.

"You can torment him like he tormented you." Kronos continued. "You can see your Piper again."

No, no. She wouldn't be the same. What good would it do for him to pretend the other Piper was the same as his? This was wrong.

"I don't even know if she's on the ship." Jason reasoned coldly and matter-of-factly, allowing no feeling to enter his voice. "I don't know if Captain Grace there even knows her."

"You can find out by asking the people you take."

No. This was stupid and he wasn't doing it.

Kronos sighed, perhaps knowing he wasn't moving him. "Do you know why I want the lightning within me and the army of enhanced people?"

"No," Jason replied drily. "You left that out of the interview."

"It's because I want respect." Kronos hissed. "The same respect my parents never got and through that had to hide and flee and die. I want to end the people that murdered my parents. I want a new era of enhanced technology and super-soldiers. I want access to all universes. I want all the knowledge in existence. I want people to stop treating me like vermin."

"Maybe if you clean your filthy heart and conjure up some morals." Jason spat. "Maybe then you'll be treated with respect."

"I'll pass. My parents ran with fear. I will instil fear."

"Go ahead." Jason brought the glass the bartender had set on the table to his lips and allowed the cool liquid to splash in his mouth. "I want nothing to do with it."

"I'll do you a favour as long as you fight with me." Kronos weighed his words carefully, as if still considering whether to use the card or not.

More simple favours for large-scale, long-term commitments.

"No thank you—"

"Thalia Grace is on the other ship." Kronos cut him off. "I will remove the Thalia Grace here from the fight and keep her safe if you help me get the other one. The other one will fight in her place."

His mind blanked. Thalia, who'd joined Atlas to help him out. Keeping the only person he had left from danger. It was all he could ask for. It was as easy as that.

Making the Not-Jason feel pain for killing his Piper. Taking away his friends and family and maybe then even Piper. Avenging his Piper. Seeing Piper again.

He cut a begrudging look to Kronos. He didn't want to agree.

He inhaled a deep breath. His hand jerked out to shake the admiral's.

I'll be back, Jason, I promise.

They broke that promise from him.

He would teach them how to keep promises.

Half-Blood Forces.

Annabeth met his eyes, her own red and bloodshot. Jason assumed she'd just come from another round of sobbing quietly in her room. Other than that, she showed no signs of grieving.

Strong, controlled Annabeth.

"So if we use this formation." She stuck her pen on one of the dozen papers strewn across the table. "Then we'd cover their ship from all sides while still having a thick layer of pods around."

He rubbed his face, nodding.

New battle strategies were what were supposed to distract Jason these past a week, Chiron taking one sympathetic look at the mess he was and ordering him and then sobbing Annabeth to work on plans for their next move.

Because of Piper's brave testing, all wounded soldiers were immediately treated with a dose of Ambrosia and healed quickly and efficiently. Will, Kayla and the rest of the medics and biological engineers oversaw the process. Everyone else was kept busy too.

Leo and Nyssa were kept busy working on repairs, Percy sent to deal with promoting and filling in gaps left by the deaths in Sectors and battalions, Hazel briefing the fighter pilots, Frank working on fixing and enhancing missiles and lasers.

Everyone from Squad 107 constantly moving, working, as if their minds were quicksand and stopping would allow them to be engulfed. They met up altogether rarely, too, their work schedules too busy to make time. Or whatever excuse they were glad to keep them occupied. The truth was, Piper was the glue that kept them together. Any fight, any distance, pent-up anger—it would all be smoothed down by Piper. She always knew what to say, how to diffuse the tension, how to keep everyone involved and never left out. Meeting without her there would make her absence more real. It would be like a voluntary step into the quicksand.

But Jason had already drowned.

Waking up without her by his side, touching his earpiece and remembering she wasn't there to call, his feet taking him towards her Sector before his mind caught up and he remembered she wasn't there.

Was gone.

It was the worst kind of pain. The empty kind. The type that froze you, numbed you from the inside, making one wonder why they even tried; to force himself out of bed, where her scent lingered, to eat breakfast at the mess, where her laughter resonated, to put his mind to strategising, when he could hear her voice: Stop overworking yourself, Sparky. Take a break.

They were like sirens, those memories of her. Slowly reeling him in, tempting him to just give up the front, just lie in bed until death took him. There was nothing to come back to, anyway. When Thalia was taken, it was only the memory of Piper that kept him from completely collapsing. Now, there was no one left.

No.

No matter how distant they were, Squad 107 did their best to pick the pieces of each other's hearts. They visited sometimes, not all together, they weren't brave enough to, but just to keep each other, keep him, strong.

It was them and the memory of Piper's fierceness that kept him from giving in to the threat of collapsing.

"What do you suggest the firing act should be?" Annabeth cocked her head as she asked him, her mind already clicking to answer her own question.

Jason brought his arm forward, resting his chin on his palm as he racked his brain.

It was difficult catching up to this strategising when his mind was whirring not only with the thoughts of a week ago but also about what he would do with X.

Would he lock her up again? Would he give her in to Chiron, who constantly suggested doing tests on her? Would he let her get back to her ship?

No. He had to tell everyone the truth of Atlas. He'd stalled enough. No matter how much of his dislike towards her wore away, she was still the enemy, still the one who, a year ago, was ready to kill him.

"I think…" Annabeth drew out, the idea still forming itself in her mind. "That we should follow the macarena—I can't believe I'm using that stupid term—using the celestial bronze bullets instead of our lasers. I'll ask Frank about how we can arrange that."

Jason barely heard her as he tried to form words. He watched her write something down, tapping the table with a finger, her brows furrowed.

"Great." Was the feeble reply. No, why could he just tell her? His chest rose as he inhaled deeply. "Annabeth."

The muted grey of her eyes flashed in question, her brow furrowed at his tone.

He gulped, his nails digging into his palms, willing words into his mouth.

But she paused, her eyes averting, now burning holes into her paper.

Jason paused too.

A whirlwind raged in her stormy greys. A battle.

His brow furrowed.

"Jason," Her eyes didn't move from the paper, yet her tone wasn't as thoughtful. "You need to know this."

It seemed reluctant.

"I'm not from here."