A week later

The Island

"I'm going to lose my shit eventually." Thalia muttered as she paced back and forth in the living room while Jason laid flat on the couch with a magazine in his hands, flipping through the pages every so often.

"Oh relax." Jason drawled out tiredly as he set the magazine on his face and closed his eyes.

She whipped around and shot him a glare to which he waved off without actually confirming that she was glaring at him. "You're no help at all." she complained.

"You're the one who dragged me out of fucking bed and demanded that I listen to you even though I wasn't fully awake yet." he grumbled from underneath the magazine. "But then again, it's not like I would've gotten much sleep anyway considering the number of times I heard you argue with uncle." he added.

She threw her arms up, "You're not the one who's forbidden to leave home without express permission!" she argued heatedly.

Jason sighed as he removed the magazine and lifted his head off of the cushion, "Yeah, and I'm also not the one claiming to be alright just after a few days of rest." he said to her.

"I'm fine!" she argued fiercely. "Why won't they believe me?!"

Jason mumbled and turned upright, "Sis, you almost passed out during training." he recalled with a frown. "If Zoë didn't catch you before then, you would've knocked yourself out cold and that wouldn't have been good for anyone."

"Who would've thought that me cracking my head open was a bad thing? Thanks for that reminder, Captain Obvious." she said sarcastically.

Jason turned himself sideways again, lying on his back once more. "This is why I don't help or say anything meaningful when you're like this cause then you say that I'm nagging you." he replied with a short-lived scowl on his face.

The front door opened and Aurelius walked through, fully armored up with his helmet underneath his arm. He looked once at Thalia and then at Jason, "Ready to go?" he asked.

Jason looked up, "Yep." he said clearly and heaved himself off of the couch with a groan.

"You have a meeting with the other centurions and Praetors as soon as you return to camp." Aurelius told him and Jason looked confused even though he gave a nod.

Seeing his look of confusion, he told him. "Lupa told your uncle about it." and Jason nodded in recognition.

"Are you four going to shadow or do you have your own things to do?" he asked and Aurelius shook his head.

"We will reconvene with you after the conclusion of your meeting. The rest of us have to prepare the catacombs for any incoming sieges. Things are not right." he told him and Jason looked concerned. He had full confidence in the Legion's abilities but with war fast approaching, he and many others knew that any preemptive attack led by the forces at Othrys and significant losses caused by such a move would be detrimental to any planned victory.

"You gonna tell me the specifics?" Jason asked.

"Several legionnaires from different cohorts have gone missing. All trails point to defection." he informed, feeling no need to hide information from him and Jason inhaled sharply.

"It's because of him?" and a single nod confirmed his suspicions.

"Let us worry about that. You should focus on your own duties." Aurelius said in an attempt to calm Jason, the Centurion gained some sort of idea as to what would make Jason's mind run endlessly after what he was just told. "We should get going." he said.

Jason nodded before he walked back to Thalia and hugged her, "Don't do anything stupid. You know how uncle is with us." he whispered to her. Thalia said nothing in response to the last part but wrapped her arms around her brother in a tight embrace.

"The stupid is all from you so don't worry." she quipped, her remark brought a small grin to his face, and pulled away from the embrace shortly after.

Aurelius kneeled in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Stay well and take care, little one. We will see you again soon." he promised and pulled her into a hug that she reciprocated.

She pulled back and raised an eyebrow, "You know you guys could try and sneak me off." she suggested innocently, tossing out the idea as if it were a random thought.

He gave her a small knowing grin, "Nice try, but perhaps next time." he told her as he stood up. He gave her a departing nod and moved to her brother and placed a hand on his shoulder, guiding him out.

"Take care, you loser!" Thalia yelled at Jason.

"That's you!" Jason replied as he leaned back into view before disappearing.

She dropped herself onto the couch, looking around as voices from the outside filtered into the room, and huffed in frustration, "Oh screw it." she muttered and walked towards the door.

When she stepped out, she saw her father and Zoë standing on the beach conversing with the Gauntlet while her grandmother fussed over Jason with Iapetus next to her, her brother trying to dodge her hands as she kept trying to dust off whatever particles landed on his clothing.

With his back turned towards her, Zoë was the first to spot her as Perseus continued talking with his Gauntlet and she nudged her husband softly with an elbow to his ribs.

"My love?" he asked, curious as to why she just did that.

She gestured her head to where Thalia was standing and his eyes followed as he turned towards her.

Thalia stood still when her father's eyes landed on her and she immediately looked down at the ground, scuffing her shoes on the stones to avoid looking at him as she was suddenly hit with a wave of guilt, remembering what she said to him previously. By doing this, she didn't see the look of regret and hurt that flashed across her father's face.

"Thalia, come join us." Rhea suggested gently with a wave of her hand and she looked up, shaking her head. "We were just saying goodbye to your brother." she said.

"I already did." she replied quickly and Jason nodded at her statement.

"Yeah, she did."

Before anyone else could say something, Thalia slinked back inside and Perseus sighed.


As Jason and half of the Gauntlet departed for Camp Jupiter, Perseus and Zoë remained as the others went back towards their place of residence.

"You want me to try and talk to her?" Zoë asked her husband quietly.

"She most certainly doesn't want to talk to me." he replied dejectedly.

"You don't know that." she told him and he shook his head.

"I think it's best if you give it a go." he suggested.

Zoë nodded her head, "Ok." she answered quietly and intertwined her hand with his, giving him a reassuring squeeze.


Camp Jupiter

Jason righted himself before he stepped into the meeting room in the Praetors' house. Ascending the stairs, all eyes fell on him the moment he opened the door and crossed the threshold but he didn't let the stares from the other centurions or the praetors bother him and simply took a seat next to Gwendolyn.

"You good?" she asked him as she noticed his eyes looking all of them over.

"Yeah." he replied in a sure tone.

Reyna continued to stare at him, dumbfounded at his behavior but put it aside as she cleared her throat to get everyone's attention and stood from her chair.

"Now that we are all here." Reyna started, eyeing Jason suspiciously before looking at everyone else. "I'm sure most of us here know why this meeting is necessary." she announced before looking at Jason. "For your information, the camp has-"

"Traitors." Jason said for her, gaining looks of confusion and shock from everyone.

"How did you know?" Reyna asked in confusion as she traded a look with Gwendolyn, wondering if the latter somehow got ahold of him before all of this and was met with a shake of her head.

"I heard a few Romans talking about it." he said. He certainly wasn't lying when he said that he heard it from Romans but he didn't feel the need to explain the circumstances surrounding it.

Adrian looked frustrated and agitated at how Jason was acting but controlled himself enough to get the answer out. "Yes, the Legion has traitors." he confirmed curtly with a tense nod as he stood from his chair.

"Oh my. It seems like neither of you two has control of the camp despite your positions." Octavian gloated and Reyna looked at him with anger.

"If you are not going to have anything to contribute throughout this meeting, I suggest you keep your mouth shut." she said to him and practically seethed at his interruption.

Octavian adopted a look of what was a clearly-fake concern for everyone. "I'm simply sharing my concerns and worries for the morale of the legionnaires and such. Such a hit like his could quite possibly cripple our forces." he explained.

"Thank you for explaining that very obvious point to everyone, Octavian." Jason muttered as he straightened in his seat. "What's being done about it?" he asked seriously and one of the centurions from the second stood up from his seat.

"Absolutely nothing is being done!" he shouted and gestured to Reyna and Adrian. "These two have us sitting on our hands instead of sending parties to deal with them accordingly!" he accused angrily, irritating the two praetors.

"You're out of line, Wicks." Reyna warned with a stern glare.

"Like hell I am! My brother was on patrol when those bastards were discovered and now he's laying in the infirmary because of them." Wicks exclaimed in outrage.

Reyna sighed and looked sympathetic, "I'm sorry that your brother was hurt and I hope he recovers, I truly do, but-"

"But the situation is far more complicated than you can imagine, Centurion Wicks." Adrian interrupted condescendingly. "The deserters know our tactics and strategies and that means any sizable force sent to eliminate them will be walking to their deaths." he explained slowly.

"Adrian." Reyna reprimanded sternly. "You are not helping the situation right now." she grit out.

"And neither is anyone in this room currently." he remarked with a scowl and Reyna turned to him, putting a firm hand on his shoulder and forcing him back down into his seat.

"Way to make everyone feel all comfortable on the inside." Jason muttered and found himself as Adrian's next target.

"And where were you during all this?" Adrian questioned.

Jason glared at him and stood up from his seat, "If you didn't remember, I wasn't here because I was needed elsewhere." he replied.

"Yes and I'm wondering what was so important that Lady Lupa had to personally come and get you." Adrian questioned with narrowed eyes and leaned over the table.

"What exactly are you getting at here?" Jason asked defensively.

Adrian held his hands up, "Oh, I'm not reaching for anything here. You think I'm the only one?" and Reyna avoided looking at Jason when his eyes landed on her for a brief moment. "It just gets convenient, doesn't it? The moment you're gone, some people turn face and run."

"Ok, how about you listen with your ears for once and-"

Celia stepped in before an even bigger argument could break out, "Hey guys, as much as I would love for you two to continue this measuring contest, don't we have more important things to worry about? Like the safety of the camp?" she recalled as the two stared each other down.

"I'm going to have every cohort practice a new battle plan within the coming days. New strategies and tactics to go along with them." Reyna informed the centurions as she tried to not involve herself with the staring contest happening in front of her.

"Dismissed." she said to everyone and the centurions and Adrian moved to leave but Reyna looked at Jason and held her hand up to stop him from leaving.

"Jason, stay behind for a minute?" she asked him and he nodded. Jason looked suspiciously at Octavian as he walked away with a smirk on his face, seemingly knowing just why Reyna asked him to stay behind.

The two of them waited for everyone to clear out of the room before they talked.

"What's up, Reyna?" Jason asked as he sat back down more casually. She leaned over her desk to see if anyone was hovering outside the door and quickly stood up and walked over to shut it.

"Well, that's never a good sign." Jason stated with a frown before he raised an eyebrow, "Or is it?"

Reyna rolled her eyes at him before she pulled a chair to sit closer to him, the faint trace of humor leaving her as she looked at him intensely. "Octavian had the senate discussing the possibility of charging you with dereliction of duty while you were gone." she told him quietly and Jason had to do a double-take when he heard her.

"I'm sorry, what?" he said in surprise and Reyna nodded.

"He said that you abandoned the fifth and the camp multiple times and that the fact that you weren't reprimanded for it was sending a negative message to the others. It doesn't help that he's not the only one to think this. You just saw how Adrian was treating your situation." she explained.

"They do know that Lupa was the one to send me off every time right? It's not like I was walking out of the camp by myself every time. By doing this, he's disrespecting Lupa and Adrian just strongly dislikes me so no surprise there." he explained and Reyna shook her head.

"Look, all of that doesn't matter. Octavian thinks that by doing this, it'll gain him more favor." she told him with concern, and Jason couldn't help but snicker.

"How exactly does Octavian think I'm doing this?" he questioned with a laugh and Reyna couldn't help but get angry at him for his attitude.

"This is serious! You could get executed for this!" Reyna yelled as she grabbed him by the shoulders and his laughing stopped when he saw the look of anxiousness on her face.

He held his hands up to calm her, "Reyna, listen to me when I say that I got this under-"

"You need to tell me just where you've been going these last few years." Reyna demanded and Jason stopped.

"I can't do that." he said calmly and he saw her look of outrage and moved to explain. "Don't worry about it. I got it covered." he assured her and she resisted pulling her hair out in frustration.

"Jason, I can't help you if you don't tell me." Reyna pleaded, worried about what could happen to her friend if things went wrong.

"Reyna." Jason said softly with a smile, "I got it under control. Have a little trust in me. I mean, no one's called for my head yet, did they?" he asked with a chuckle, patting her leg reassuringly before he stood up.

She shook her head before she stood up as well, "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." she relented and he snorted.

"Please, you warn me plenty of times." he said with a laugh and she looked at him with skepticism.

"And do you listen?" she asked curiously.

He pretended to think about it and grinned back, "For a few days so I can fool you." he replied, making her scoff in return.

The two of them moved on to lighter topics as they walked down the stairs and out of the house. They were only a few feet away from the house when a probatio came running down the path towards them from behind.

"Centurion Grace!" they yelled out and Jason snapped his head towards the sound.

"Is something the matter, probatio?" he asked with a frown, switching demeanor as he addressed the person before him.

"A fight broke out in one of the fifth barracks and I was told to get you if I couldn't get-" and Jason held his hand up, stopping the legionnaire from explaining any further.

"Lead the way, probatio. I'll inform Gwendolyn myself after I deal with the problem." he ordered and received a nod.

"Understood. Right this way."

"Honestly, I leave for a few days and it all goes to shit." Jason teased and Reyna couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Oh shut up."


Several hours later

Catacombs

"You want us to take care of the Augur?" Hadrian asked as he looked at Jason with the latter shaking his head.

"That'll probably just send the camp into panic if he died at a time like this." he responded and Hadrian nodded.

"Well if you want him gone, just tell us. We found a path that leads to right underneath his bunk." Darius said helpfully from where he was sharpening his spear and Jason grinned slightly.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind whenever I find him particularly annoying." he said and Darius tipped his helmet towards him with a slight smirk.

"Did you find anything about the deserters?" Jason asked and Magnus grunted in acknowledgment.

"We found what was presumably their armor ditched off of a dirt path leading up to Othrys." Magnus informed him.

"What'd you guys do with it?" Jason asked as he was wondering if they just left the armor there.

"We put it in the armory. I'm sure the legionnaires will find that a few extra sets appeared overnight." Aurelius answered with a stretch of his back. "Don't think that Lord Virtus won't be updated on the situation regarding you, however." he added.

"We reserve the right to take you away from here if we think that you'll be in danger." Hadrian told him seriously in a grave tone. None of the centurions wanted to bear witness to a situation where Jason could be greatly injured by people he thought he could trust. If necessary, the four of them were prepared to strike first should even more whispers reach their ears.

"With all of this, we don't know who you can and cannot trust within the camp." Aurelius stated with a low tone.

"Yeah, I know." Jason replied as he ran a hand through his hair. He looked down at his watch and back at his uncles. "I should probably go. Gwen put me on patrol with her for tonight and I need to get ready." he told them and they nodded at him.

"You want one of us to lead you out?" Darius offered and Jason shook his head.

"Nah, I'm good." he said as he turned around and started to walk away, "'Night." he said, waving his hand at them and receiving their farewells back as he left.

Aurelius waited until Jason was completely out of view before he turned to face his brothers.

"So do we need to make any changes to this?" Hadrian asked as he pulled out a list and held it out to Aurelius for him to take.

Aurelius scanned the list of names of every senator on the list as well as the Augur's before he added two others.

Adrian Peters

Reyna Ramírez-Arellano

"Let us hope you make the correct decision for your friend." he muttered as he stared at the last name. "Lest your fate suffers like the others by our hands."


Two days later

Five figures approached the surrounding grounds of the fifth cohort barracks under the cover of darkness, keeping their steps quiet and movement minimal on the path as they moved about, intent on accomplishing the task they were sent here when they were abruptly stopped in their tracks at the sight of four Romans standing in their way.

"Look at what the cat dragged in. Isn't this a sure surprise? Would you not agree, my brothers?" Hadrian said in a voice devoid of humor as he stared at the would-be-assassins.

"Yes. Very surprising." Darius in a similar tone.

"Amazons." Magnus growled out.

"Step aside unless you want us to remove you ourselves." the biggest one ordered.

Aurelius let out a huff of amusement, "Funny." he said, unsheathing his gladius as he did so, "I was just about to tell you the same thing. Whatever you think you three are going to accomplish tonight, I will suggest you turn around before we put you in the ground." he threatened.

"We won't step aside." Magnus promised. "You are more than welcome to test us on this."

"Gladly." the one in the front replied and drew her sword.


AN: Definitely focusing more on Jason and the situation at Camp Jupiter for a bit so expect that. I just really hate writing BotL but I don't want to skip that. Might or might not start a oneshot collection where it's just the events before Apollyon and the time between Apollyon and this. We'll see.