A/N: Hello friends :-))) thank you for your kind responses to the last chapter! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter! Thank you for reading!

When Annabeth wakes up early the next morning, she is instantly somewhat pissed off. 6am hurts a little bit more when you're squatting in some random barn in Utah and the closest thing you had to a pillow was an old tire. Grover, on the other hand, stretched his arms toward the sky and bleated joyfully after a fistful of hay for breakfast.

Grover had been frantic the entire day before, moving with a new vigor and pace as they moved closer to California in an attempt to intercept one seemingly chaotic son of Neptune. All of her drive had been flushed out of her, and she had no room within herself to be anything other than mad at this boy child for not listening to literally everyone and ultimately delaying her own return to camp.

Thank the gods that Grover could communicate with him rather seamlessly through their link, because she is certain she would not have enough patience for Iris zoom calls or whatever the Greeks had given her the drachma for.

Grover had explained to her that Percy had a long history of being loyal to a fault, and once he started to remember the past few years of him supposedly "saving the world" he couldn't handle being away from his family. She scoffed and rolled her eyes dramatically at this notion; yeah, it was some random Greek saving everyone all this time, not bold and fearless Jason who charged into the face of death with his bulging biceps, wielding his gladius with expertise—wait, what was she thinking about again?

Percy apparently remembered Piper and his first quest last night and that was the last straw of him sitting still. A few memories of a boy named Nico also apparently made him squirrelly. Regardless, she is confident that she is ready to pummel him for being a completely reckless and impatient idiot before dipping back home and leaving Grover and Percy to their own devices. After that, she was going to ream Reyna out for giving that buffoon a position of power, and then most likely start to brainstorm how to return Jason and their entire culture back to stability.

Sighing, she feels bogged down with all the impending work.

…

Grover pokes a finger over the crease in her book, forcing her attention upwards to him.

"You haven't said anything all morning, grouch."

She instinctively shoves him away from her in their crowded and squeezed bus seats. "Yeah, well, guess Percy took away my beauty sleep. Blame him."

He stares back at her with an unfamiliar gaze, brow knitting pensively.

"What?" She snaps as she squirms in her seat, perching her head in her hand as she leans down onto her arm rest.

"Nothing, I just—" He cuts himself with a curt shake of his head, "I just―I just haven't decided who's gonna win the fight between you and Percy." He pauses again, now giving her a calculated look over. "Yeah, he's gonna need all the help he can get."

…

When they start to get closer to where Grover thinks Percy is, the air starts to feel a little heavier. She would know the sensation of a powerful demigod anywhere from living the past few years in such close proximity to Jason. A part of her is still doubtful that Percy could possibly have enough power to emit such a tangible aura, and blames all the reoccurring monster attacks on being in Las Vegas.

"You feel it too," Grover muses under his breath as she brandished her knife, keeping it at the ready for any impending threat.

"It's just because of the city," she mutters back, shaking her head ever so slightly.

He shakes his head, too. "Nah. I was here a few years ago on a quest with―"

"―With Percy? And let me guess, you were on a dangerous and hopeless quest to save the world?"

Grover's complexion became splotchy and he let out a light bleat involuntarily. "Yeah, pretty much."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, absolutely exhausted with the notion of this stupid son of the sea god. Honestly, Neptune wasn't even that big of a deal to Romans―leave it to the Greeks to be overly dramatic and exaggerate. Juno and her have always had a bad relationship, but she swears the next opportunity she gets she is going to claw those stupid little peacock eyes out.

"We're getting close," Grover said after a few minutes of silence. "Percy gave up on trying to avoid us and wants to meet near the fake Eiffel Tower thing."

"Ugh," she scrunches her nose, "That stupid little tinfoil thing is an embarrassment compared to the actual one. It's half the size and is connected to some dumb hotel. I don't know how any self-respecting architect would ever design something so unoriginal in such an uncultured area."

Grover doesn't bother responding, but that doesn't stop her from barreling on.

"Also, why doesn't he just attach a neon sign to his head? Doesn't he know they'll flock to touristy places like that? Seriously, has the kid never fought a monster before?"

"No, I don't think he has, actually. Not even a fluffy little bunny." The voice comes from behind them, and makes little goosebumps scale down her back. Grover instantly breaks into a beam and spins, clopping steadily along the sidewalk and back a few paces, into the arms of a tall dark haired boy.

When Grover backs up, Annabeth's throat closes. Granted, the best image of Percy Jackson she had mustered included a lumpy hunchback with a schnoz like a bottlenose dolphin and a stench of rotten tuna eggs, but what stared back at her would have shocked anyone with any slight attraction to males.

Percy towered over her by a few inches, with unruly but somehow still perfectly windswept hair. His figure had just the right amount of bulk to it, lithe and lengthy legs that no doubt were agile, broad shoulders that branched down into defined and veiny arms. She could easily see him wield a sword, lance or maybe even a trident without strain, and was absolutely sure that there were more muscles hiding under that pesky shirt. Normally no boy other than Jason would have the power to make her eyes flick up and down over their form, but Percy was making heat rise all the way into her scalp.

It wasn't even his body so much as his eyes. She had never been to Fiji or Thailand or the Maldives or any tropical place with beautiful beaches, but she knew his eyes were the exact color of that kind of ocean water. Peering over a crooked half smile, swirling pools of sea foam shined in the midday sun, and were absolutely like nothing she had ever seen before. Their piercing gaze rolled over her like waves and the same way cold water knocks the wind out of her, her lungs froze in her chest when their eyes met.

If possible, his smirking lips sneak further up one side of his face as he takes a step closer. "I've heard about a curly haired blonde. You must be Annabeth, right?" He says coolly and she is grateful he was the first to speak, because for a second she felt the earth slip from under her and wasn't sure if she could stumble out any intelligent noise.

But the height of his smirk grounds her and her face still feels hot, even if it's from the remerging anger. She doesn't answer but stalks a few feet forward and just as he takes another step toward her and reaches a hand out with a soft smile, she rips him forward and over her head in a clean judo flip.

Grover bleats and cackles in the background and she kneels on the ground next to Percy, who is currently rubbing a hand over the back of his head and glares dangerously back at her.

"Nice to meet you, too."

…

She didn't realize how grateful she was to be Roman until she spent unfixed time with the Greeks "greatest" hero.

"We need to make a plan," she said matter of factly, pulling out a map she had swiped from a gas station.

"Nah," he said cool, "what's there to plan? We're going back to camp. There. That's the plan."

She looked at him incredulously, imagining taking a steel wool sponge to that stupid smirk of his.

"I'm not going back to that glorified children's playpen you call a camp." Her nose scrunched at the mere thought and despite her obvious disdain, his smile somehow widened.

"Aw, that's a shame. And here I thought we could make matching friendship bracelets."

Her scowl sank down to the edges of her chin.

"I guess I should probably mention that Reyna wanted us to rendezvous a few miles outside of the city by sunset. She's gonna take us by chariot back to Camp Half-blood."

Her arms cross over her chest. "No, I'm going back to Camp Jupiter and rendezvous with Reyna there. She would have told me otherwise."

He shrugs lazily, like it really didn't make a difference to him either way. "Look, that's what she and I agreed on. Frank and Hazel will be fine as praetors."

"Who?" He chuckled at her confusion thinking it must be a rib, but the quirk of her eyebrow made him realize she wasn't kidding.

"Hazel Levesque? Frank Zhang? Very powerful, from the Fifth Cohort?" He sounds incredulous and then his arms naturally fold of his chest too, mirroring her defensive stance.

"The Fifth?" She sputters disbelievingly.

He rolls his eyes, the attitude in his voice thick enough to pour over pancakes. "Yeah, like me. Frank and Hazel are perfect for the position. Not that you would have realized, seeing as you apparently don't even know them. Gods, how can you not know everyone at your camp?"

She bites the inside of her lip instead of busting his. That same fucking smirk pulled up his face as if a string tugged on it, and his condescension burns vengefully across her cheeks.

"So this way?" Grover interjects meekly as Percy continued to stare her down, challenging her but still just playfully enough that she was sure her anger was amusing him.

…

Annabeth can't help it; when she sees Reyna, her first instinct is to hug her. She can feel Reyna tense under the sudden gesture before giving way, and Annabeth feels like she could just about buckle at the relief of seeing that same long, dark braid twist down her spine. Any more time away from any part of her Roman heritage might have convinced her this whole half-blood thing was just a dream after all. Nothing really made sense to her anymore, and she needed something stable to grab a hold of.

Much to her surprise, however, Reyna also gravitated toward Percy just as quickly.

"Took you enough time," she grunted at him, but he beamed a little before itching at the back of his neck.

"Cause you refused to let me fly back about a week ago, yeah," he responds before he even blinks.

"Yeah, well, you can get going now," Annabeth interjects sharply. Reyna glanced back at her and Annabeth pleaded with her eyes to let this whole endeavor come to a close. Besides, they needed to start brainstorming how they could get Jason to come back.

Percy scoffs, and suddenly annoyance slips through his previously passive demeanor. "Yeah, and you could get lost, too," he bites back.

Something like a snarl curls her lips back and she instinctively drops a hand down to her hip holster. "Don't even start, sea sponge."

Percy's mouth drops open as he starts his retort, his chest rising a little higher, but Grover again steps between them with a nervous bleat.

"Why don't we all get going?" He says with a slight crack, and Reyna nods her head commandingly.

"We really should try to go soon—we're going to be flying all night regardless." Reyna is plain and matter of fact, and Annabeth feels her jaw drop to her knees.

"What do you mean 'we' Reyna? I just got back." She feels like she has the same shaking quiver in her voice as Grover, and she curses herself internally for not being more steadfast. Honestly, how much more could she even take?

Reyna blinked. "We need to have a counsel with the Greeks—there is a reason for Juno's meddling. Chiron and Lupa agree it may be best if we start on the east coast, as Jason is still there and you have met them."

At this, the hostile frustration she had felt is slated clean. Now, the only thing filling her is a welling pressure behind her eyes.

"Fine," she clips, turning her back to everyone. "You can all just go. I'm staying here." Turning swiftly on her heel, she walks in the other direction, feeling provincial and aimless.

….

It's well past sunset now. Lightening bugs flutter around her as she sits lonely on the edge of a dirt road, the desert revealing more constellations than a planetarium. Distant dunes looked painted and still, and for some reason, she just couldn't will her legs to move any further.

Her brain was blank, something never peaceful for her.

"Hey," a soft voice calls out from the darkness to her left. His figure defines itself as he walks closer, and then he plops simply down next to her. She makes a show of scooching away from him.

"We haven't left yet," he says again simply.

"Obviously," she mumbles begrudgingly under her breath.

His hand flies to the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. Right. I was just gonna, um… Look, we can fly you back to Camp Jupiter first."

She stays silent, and runs her fingers in the sandy floor of the desert idly.

"You shouldn't have to go back alone," he barrels on, hand staying glued to the nape of his neck.

She scoffs out, but her head picks up involuntarily at his words. "I'll be fine. I am fine. I've gone a lot further for a lot longer completely by myself."

He sighs. "Look, obviously you can take care of yourself. And you've made it clear you don't want to go anywhere with me. But stop being stubborn and travel with us."

"Did you not hear me or is your brain really that full of seaweed? I'm. Fine." She bites back.

"I didn't have to come out here and ask you, ya know."

She doesn't respond, and he sighs while running a hair through his hair.

"I hate the desert," she finally says, folding her knees into her chest with her arms wrapped like serpents around them.

"Me too," he says bitterly.

With the corner of her eye, she examines him again. He's sitting with his legs stretched and crossed in front of him, leaning back on his palms. He looks casual and her heart pangs, envious of his ease.

"Can you go away already?" She clips out.

"No."

The silence sits with them as minutes pass by.

"I lost someone out here," he says suddenly, eyes closed and voice in a flat monotone. "Not here here but whatever."

She doesn't say anything but tilts her head to let him know she's listening.

Looking straight forward and suddenly becoming very interested in his hands, he continues. "It was a few years back. There were a few of us in this stupid junkyard. Weren't supposed to take anything, according to Aphro—to the gods.

"But she—Bianca—did," his throat was tight around his words and he sighed, "and after it happened… fuck. I tried to stop her, and I just couldn't."

He won't lift his gaze and she can feel the weight of his heart pour around them. She stares at him for an awkward amount of time, but if he feels her eyes on him he doesn't flinch.

After another few minutes of that familiar silence between them passes, she sighs and stands, brushing off her shorts. Rather than offering him a hand up, though, she sticks a hip out as her arms cross her chest.

"C'mon," she says evenly. "Let's get back to your stupid camp before they wind up accidentally setting it on fire or something."

She turns and walks the way he came from before he can say anything in response.

A/N: Thank you again for reading! Let me know your thoughts and what you want to see next in a review!