A/N: So I'm still sick (I actually was editing this with an IV in my hand. :P) I'm so sorry it's been so long again, but here is some Apollo/Cas love for you :)

I'm dedicating this to my friend gruvu and oldgods (two of my tumblr friends!). Gruvu's done some art for my story, and oldgods just reached her first 1,000! :D

without further ado!

-Apollo-

Apollo sat at the lunch table, swirling together the condiments on his plate. His sister was sitting beside him, dejectedly looking at a book that he knew she really wasn't reading. Ever since the time with the mortal, she had been moping about. Artemis had avoided Orion for days now, and they kept glancing at each other. Apollo didn't like it at all. One, it wasn't like his sister to be acting like this. She was wining, and that was something she didn't do very often. Artemis was more of a take care of business type of girl. Two, it was over a boy, this particular boy, and that was just weird.

He looked up, and his eyes fell on Cas. She was sitting with Orion across the lunch room, talking quietly with her hand on his arm. Anger built inside Apollo. Why could she be so nice to that mortal, but not to him? She looked up, and her eyes locked with his. She quickly looked away, but Apollo wished she hadn't. He watched as Orion nodded his head, and she left the cafeteria. Every time he watched her, he marveled at the grace in which she moved. Something about her was…well, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Close your mouth, Apollo. You look desperate," Artemis muttered petulantly. She was one to talk.

"And you look miserable, I wonder which one is worse," Apollo chided back. Artemis gave him a hateful glare. She curled her fist, bending the metal fork in half. Athena raised her eyebrows, and Artemis started muttering a combination of insults and slurs under her breath.

"You know, there is a very easy way to fix all of this," Aphrodite innocently suggested from the end of the table. Hermes and Hestia both glanced up in interest, looking between him and Aphrodite. Apollo didn't have a problem with her like his sister did. She didn't meddle any more than the other members of his family, and she did help him out with that ghastly Daphne business he had to deal with all those years ago. He kind of owed her. They had a mutual understanding of each other. He stayed out of her business if she stayed out of his.

"Oh, and what is that?" Artemis snapped.

"Go talk to them."

Apollo glanced in Aphrodite's direction, and he was disappointed to see that she was also looking at him. She had a knowing smirk on her face, one that grated on Apollo's nerves. "You both have it bad, especially you, dear," she said as she gave an affectionate pat on the arm to Artemis. She snatched her arm from Aphrodite, and her eyes turned dangerously bright.

"Let's go get some air before class, okay Artemis?" Hestia quickly suggested. She didn't wait for an answer. Hestia grabbed Artemis by the arm, dragging her out before anything could happen. Artemis looked murderous, but Aphrodite just smiled at her. Apollo rolled his eyes, and Aphrodite moved closer to him.

"You can stop being jealous, you know. She doesn't care for him at all romantically."

"Why do you even think I would care? I'm not in love with her, Aphrodite."

"I never said you were." She leaned towards him, and he could smell jasmine of all things. It reminded him of her, and he cursed himself inwardly. Maybe he was growing too attached to the mortal. "You know how hard it is for us to love. Most of the time, it's simply lust, but occasionally it grows into something more. You were jealous."

"Maybe it's just been a while," he snapped. Lately, the mortals have been….lacking. Sure, he had his fun, but no one stuck with him. It had been ages since Apollo had met a companion he wished would stay for more than a night.

"Or maybe you actually care for her," Aphrodite surmised. "She's got a very loving heart for a mortal, especially for one that has experienced as much pain as she has."

"Pain? What kind of pain?"

Aphrodite smirked, and it took all that he had in him to not punch her in the face. "Her heart is very guarded. She's been hurt terribly by the ones that she loves, but it doesn't change how much she would do for them. That's all that I know."

Apollo knew that she had a rough upbringing. She was always in trouble with her parents from what Artemis was told by Orion. She seemed to be in detention more often than not, but she was arguably the best student at the school until Athena go there. He felt the need to help her, something he didn't often do. Mortal problems were usually quite simple. It wouldn't take much to make her happy, to ease her pain.

"If you want to help, I'd go talk to her," Aphrodite suggested sweetly. Apollo rolled his eyes and got up from the table. He didn't need to be egged on by her. As he walked out of the lunchroom, he was torn in two over what to do.

Part of him wanted to ignore her for the rest of her little mortal life just to spite Aphrodite. Cassia intrigued him, that was it! The gods always looked for assets to help them, pawns to play in their games. She was far too tied in this torrid tale to not be of essential use. Aphrodite and Athena had their schemes, why shouldn't he hedge his bets for his own?

Then, he thought of the look in her eyes earlier, one laced with worry and sadness. He thought of the careful way she sat in class, the way she constantly tried to stay out of notice. She would do little things, for people, and she never asked for anything in return. Maybe it was time fortune fell in her favor.

Apollo didn't often purposefully want his visions. They came to him when they wanted to, when the fates desired information to be known, but he needed to find her. He leaned against the wall in the stairwell, closing his eyes. He felt for that part of him, the part that felt at once alien and familiar, and he saw her in his mind. She was leaving the school, a worried but determined expression on her face.

He knew exactly where to find her.

Apollo went around the corner, making sure to stay in the shadows. He had followed her for a while now, keeping a safe distance but always in sight. She had darted behind a building, and after a minute, a cry made him stop in his tracks.

"I-I can't tell you that. I thought we were friends, Cassia!?"

Apollo peaked around the corner, and to say he was surprised was an understatement. Cas had a boy pinned against the wall, a small bronze dagger at his throat. The boy had dark hair with blue streaks at the ends, and he looked familiar to Apollo. His hands were raised in defense, looking at Cas like she was crazy.

"Oh, I think you can."

"I swore on the Styx to not say her name!"

"Good, then you can nod your head. I know it wasn't Isis."

"And how do you know that?" he spat out.

"Because I asked her," she said plainly. Apollo couldn't believe what he was hearing. He hadn't felt shock in ages, but he was certainly feeling it now. It sounded like she knew of gods, at least the Egyptians. Had she known who he was the whole time? Was she Egyptian? Surely, she wasn't a demigod of any kind. He would have felt it, would have known. Maybe she was just tangled up in their schemes? It happened to mortals all the time.

Cas closed her eyes for a second, her face squinted in concentration. She shook her head, muttering too quietly to herself for Apollo to hear. She opened her eyes to leer at the boy, her face set and determined.

"Look, I have a hunch on who it was who kindly persuaded you to come to this area, and I'm sure she rewarded you dearly for it. We both know she lives to sow chaos wherever she goes. I don't have a problem with you, Actaeon. In fact, I do consider you a friend. You've been a big help the past couple of years," she muttered to him. "You've been around long enough to know how they play their games-"

"It seems you do as well," he interrupted sullenly. Cas simply pressed the knife closer to his throat, giving him a glare. "You can't hide in the shadows forever. They'll figure out who you are."

"I have much darker secrets than a couple of gods finding out who I am, and they have never cared before" she laughed harshly. "I know I'm not as scary as a goddess, but don't play into her hands, understand me? If you go near that school, I promise you that you will have my anger to deal with, and that is something you do not want to see. There's a lot more at stake here than you realize."

She moved away from the boy, eyeing him with a determined expression. It finally clicked who this boy was, why he looked so familiar to him. He was the Actaeon, the one Artemis cursed all those years ago. Take away the blue streaks, and it was the same boy he and Hermes had placed bets over how long he would last. Apollo had said at least a day, but Hermes had known he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Frustration tore through him. How many more mortals had decided to come back from the dead? Was Cassia one of them? He racked his brain, and while parts of her were familiar, he was sure he had never seen her before.

But one question bothered him more than any others… what dark secrets was she hiding from them?

"Like what?" he asked as he rubbed his neck. "What could possibly be at stake?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she muttered tiredly. She flourished her knife at him, giving Actaeon a blank stare. "Just swear on the Styx, okay?"

"Fine! I swear on the Styx I'll stay away. Are you going to tell me why?"

"No, I'm not," Cas retorted as she slid the dagger up her sleeve. "And if you try to find out, then we will have a problem." Cas gave Actaeon a deadpanned look, and he had the decency to look sheepish. Gods, Apollo would have even looked that way under her withering gaze. "Now, on to business. Do you have the book?"

"What book?"

"Really? The book of life! You were the last mortal known to have it, so where is it?"

"Thoth has it."

"Of course he does," she sighed. "And he's still in Tennessee?"

Actaeon nodded his head, and Cas groaned loudly. She kicked into the dumpster, leaving a sizable dent in the metal.

"Umm, I need to go back to work," Actaeon quavered. Cas waved her hand and he went back inside the building.

Apollo turned away, just for a moment to collect his thoughts. He had some questions for Cassia, and he was determined to find how what she was hiding. Why would she want to keep this boy from the school? Did it have something to do with his sister? How much did she know? Who was she?

He stormed around the corner. He was the God of prophecy, and he'd be damned if anything was hidden from him!

But when he came around, the alley was empty, and Cassia was gone.

Two days.

Two days she hadn't been at school, and Apollo's patience was waning. He had considered going to her house, demanding to speak with her, but then Artemis would ask questions. He hadn't told anyone what he overheard. Obviously, she was hiding it for a reason, and he wanted to find out before he warned his family. Maybe she was more friend than foe, and he could use her.

Artemis had made up with Orion, and she was talking quietly to him, fuming about some dumb heart she kept insisting that Apollo was redrawing every time she removed it. He hated to miss an opportunity to tease his sister, but this time, it wasn't him.

"We are skipping class, want to join?" Artemis asked brightly. Apollo shook his head. He wanted to distract himself with something meaningless, something that would take his mind off things. "Suit yourself."

Artemis and Orion took off down the hall, laughing as they bounded down the stairs. Apollo slammed his locker shut, shrugging on his backpack. He started the walk towards his class, his hands stuck in his pockets. He felt fidgety today. He would almost say he was worried, but what could he possibly be worried over?

And that's when he saw her.

Cassia walked down the hallway, her head bowed towards the ground. She looked beyond tired. Her hair was braided to the side, and a sweater hung from her shoulders. She was holding her arm to her.

Something was wrong. She was in pain; Apollo could feel it. Her eyes locked with his, and she stopped as a blank look slid on her face. Her eyes looked glazed, like she was in another world. She blinked quickly, biting her lip and darting into the nearest classroom. Apollo followed her, the classroom that she entered surprisingly empty. The lights were off, and various vials and burners were scattered across the classroom. They were in the chem lab, if he remembered right. It's not like he was bothering with taking that ridiculous class.

Cas had her back to him, leaning against the window with one arm.

"You know, it's rude to sneak up on people."

She turned towards him, a perfectly neutral expression on her face. He noticed that she was keeping her palm faced away from him, and he suspected that he had a celestial bronze dagger or knife in it.

"It's not good to lie, either."

"No, it's not, but that's something we are both guilty of, isn't it?"

She was right. If he was accusing her of lying, he was guilty of the same thing. Part of him didn't want to lie to her.

"How long have you known about us?" he questioned.

"I knew you were coming," she muttered. "You gods have an aura of power. It's easy to see if you know what you are looking for."

"You are too young to know so much. You are what, sixteen?"

She raised her eyebrows slightly, and a bitter expression came on her face. "I may be young, but I've been through more than most people go through in their lifetime. I don't have to explain to you."

She started to push past him, but he grabbed her forearm. He didn't mean to grab it hard. Apollo only wanted to stop her; he had no intention of hurting her. She cried out, her voice laced with that same pain he sensed earlier. He quickly let go, and she held it to her, falling back against the wall.

Apollo had not felt guilty for anything in a really long time, and her expression broke him. She was biting her lip, trying her best to keep the tears that were threatening at bay.

"Let me see it," he whispered slowly. She shook her head, almost cringing back from him. As hard and confident as she always seemed, he forgot she was human. "Cassia, I swear on the Styx all I want to do is heal it. Please" he added as an afterthought. Please was not a word he used very often. She looked at him, that same look that made him feel like she could see into his soul, that she knew all his secrets before he even knew them himself. She nodded her head, and he had to stop himself from sighing out in relief.

Apollo put his hand at her waist, guiding her to a chair. He could feel her heart quicken, the tiny flinch felt as he took her arm in his hands. He lifted up the sleeve slowly. Her arm held a deep cut, one that was barely scabbed over, as it was still oozing blood. The arm was swollen, covered in bruises and obviously swollen.

"What happened?" he asked as his fingers brushed her arm. He was careful not to apply a lot of pressure. He began to heal it, and she just watched him.

"You don't have to," she began. Cas started to pull away, but he kept a firm hold on her arm.

"I want to. Now, are you going to answer me?"

"Gods never do anything for free."

He looked up at her, and she looked at him with a peculiar expression.

"We do things because we want to. You are still avoiding my question."

Cas sighed, using her free hand to fiddle with her hair. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

He finished healing her arm, inspecting the now flawless skin that covered her arm. Her voice sounded so sad, so wanting. She always spoke her mind, but she never did in it an abrasive way. She was extremely smart, and when she spoke, it had weight to it. He knew she lied, but he had a feeling she didn't enjoy it. She did it to protect people, to do right by the ones she loved.

"Cas, I think if there was anyone I could trust, anyone I could believe, it would be you," he whispered. "You can be honest with me, you know."

She looked up, and Apollo realized how close they were. Her face was just inches from his, and that same smell of jasmine enveloped him. He could see the flecks of silver and blue in her eyes, the deep purple ring that outlined it.

"And why should I trust a god?"

It was a good question. Apollo wanted to answer, but the words wouldn't come. He couldn't stop thinking of the way her lips were this lovely color, or the perfect paleness of her skin. Her breath hit him, and all he wanted to do was-

"What are you two doing in here!?"

Apollo jumped away from her, and Cas looked mortified. The chemistry teacher looked at their pair of them, his eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"Detention, for both of you, every day for the rest of the week after school. Now get to class."

Cass jumped up and ran from the room before there was anything Apollo could do or say.

Tension much? ;)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! New info about Cassia! Thank you for all the sweet reviews and comments. You guys are awesome!

Please leave a review and tell me what you think! :)