A/N: If you recognize it, it's not mine. Simple as that.

Chapter 12

Perci POV

I sighed in mild exasperation as I waited outside the station for Bella to arrive so she, Charlie, and I could go for the 'family dinner' that he had requested of us tonight. Bella had, as usual, caught a ride with Edward, making me question why she even had the truck anymore since she hardly used it now. The fact that the speed demon that was her vampire boy-toy was taking forever to get here spoke volumes, and I wondered exactly what Alice had seen at lunch that was causing such a delay. Finally, I spotted Edward's stupid Volvo pulling into the parking lot ten minutes late. It seemed Edward had perfect timing though, as just as they got out of the car, Charlie came out, following a clearly distraught couple. Catching sight of the unwanted addition, Charlie turned to me, seeming to check to make sure I hadn't brought Paul with me, before nodding in apparent approval that I had showed up sans-boyfriend.

"It is still just the three of us, right?" He asked, shooting a small glare at Edward, who smiled somewhat condescendingly.

"I'm just dropping her off." He said, apparently trying to placate him, before turning to head back to his car. After a few steps though, he paused and turned back to look at Bella.

"Oh, Bella? My parents wanted to remind you about that ticket you got for your birthday." He told her, making my eyes narrow in suspicion at the so called 'casual reminder'. The timing of it was too perfect with the vision Alice had at lunch today.

"What ticket?" Charlie asked in curiosity while I waited for Bella to figure out that the timing of this was off. Unfortunately, Bella seemed to be more naive than I had been when I first arrived at camp.

"A round trip ticket to see mom in Florida." She answered, looking at her boy-toy in curiosity, though, not suspicion.

"It expires soon, so you may want to use it this weekend. It might be your last chance to see her before you graduate." He said, adding the last part over her protests that she couldn't just drop everything to leave. It seemed to do the trick for him as she stopped arguing and nodded, while I intensified my suspicious glare. Why was he in such a big rush to get rid of Bella this weekend?

"Only if you use the companion ticket." She compromised, after Charlie gave his approval, hoping to get some distance between the couple, shooting his hopes down. Edward on the other hand, looked mildly upset at the thought.

"Wait, there's two tickets? Super, that makes me real happy. Why can't Perci go with you, take her to a warm beach for a change?" Charlie asked, making a somewhat smug look appear on his face. I knew instantly with that look that he wanted to stay here this weekend, meaning Alice had seen something going down. Quickly coming up with a story, I felt only mildly bad about dashing Charlie's hopes just to wipe the smug look off Edward's face.

"I can't, I promised Emily I'd help her do some wedding planning this weekend in between study sessions. I think Edward should go, it would give Renee a chance to get to know him properly, after all. You did tell me that the last time they met was when Bella was in the hospital down in Phoenix, why not give him the chance to get to know her since he seems so keen in following Bella to sunny places." I said, openly smirking at the subtle glare Edward gave me. The fact that he would have to stay inside the entire time made this all the better, since he wouldn't want to expose his disco-ball like skin. I'd have to ask Apollo to avoid going behind clouds when he went over Florida for the weekend. Sighing in disappointment, Charlie agreed to let Bella have tomorrow off of school for a three day weekend to go to Florida with Edward, before we all went to the diner for dinner.

I easily ignored the confused glances Bella sent my way the entire time. I understood it, since I had made no secret of my dislike of Edward, and here I was suddenly suggesting they take a vacation together. I knew Charlie was confused as well, but was far more understanding on why I pushed for Edward to take the ticket. As far as he knew, I could postpone plans with Emily, but my near-phobia of planes made it to where I wasn't letting go of my 'plans' for anything. When we got home later, Charlie suggested to Bella to call Renee to let her know about the surprise visit and then go pack. While she did that, I excused myself down to my room, and quickly dialed Paul.

"Hey, babe." He answered on the second ring, bringing a small smile to my face before I turned serious again.

"Hey, you might want to tell the pack to be on alert this weekend. Alice had a vision at lunch, and whatever it was, it's got Edward freaked out to the point where he was insisting on Bella using a plane ticket to visit Renee in Florida this weekend. I got out of being made to go with by telling Charlie that I was helping Emily with wedding plans this weekend, though I think the fact that I don't do planes helped." I told him, shuddering slightly at the thought of going on a plane again.

"I'll tell the pack to be on alert, thanks for the warning. I'll also talk to Emily about making your alibi legit, see if she'll let you spend the weekend, and call you back when I get the answer. Love you, babe." He said, before hanging up. I smiled in response to him making sure I wasn't lying to Charlie, and waited for the call. Fifteen minutes later, I was informed that Sam and Emily would love to have me for the weekend, and that the pack appreciated the head's up to be on alert.

Armed with that information, I headed back up the stairs to talk to Charlie and tell him that Emily had come up with the idea that I stay at her and Sam's for the weekend to make helping with the planning a little easier. I felt bad that he would be alone for the weekend, but figured he'd likely end up spending the weekend fishing with Billy Black. Fortunately, Charlie seemed to think it was a good idea, and I went back down to head to bed feeling a bit better about leaving him for the weekend.

The next day I stood with Charlie as we saw Bella off to the airport with Edward before getting ready for school. Unfortunately, the day seemed to creep by, and I had no idea if it was just my ADHD, and the knowledge of a potential battle this weekend, or if it was just the classic, 'I want the day to go by faster, so naturally it's gonna take forever'. By the time I got out to my car that afternoon, I felt like I had been in school for days, rather than hours. I was so eager to get away, I made it to La Push in ten minutes rather than the usual fifteen. I smiled as I felt the tension ease from me as I parked in front of Sam and Emily's, loving the feeling of 'home' that exuded from the house. Almost immediately after I stepped out of the car holding my backpack and weekend bag, I was swept up into a familiar pair of warm arms.

"Hello, Princess." Paul's voice murmured in my ear, sounding somewhat husky in the whisper he used, making me giggle in response.

"Hello, my wolf. How has your day been?" I asked, craning my neck to look at his face as I flirted back.

"Well, it sucked for a while there, but now, I've got this gorgeous sea princess in my arms, so I'd say it's looking up." He said casually, swinging my legs up to hold me bridal style, drawing a startled squeal from me before I gave a short laugh.

"Oh yeah? Who is this girl, I'll kick her ass for putting moves on my wolf." I snarked, grin firmly in place.

"Would you two quit with the disgustingly sweet flirting and get in here? Seriously, you two are giving me cavities." Quil's voice yelled from the open doorway, making us both sigh, and Paul set me down gently before picking up the backpack and weekend bag I had dropped in surprise when he first grabbed me.

"Don't get pissy with us just because you can't enjoy doing this with Claire." Paul grumbled in reply, though Quil still heard due to his wolf hearing. He snarled, clearly not appreciating the comment about his two year old imprint as we walked in, Paul setting my bags down by the couch.

"No fighting in the house." Sam told them sternly from the table where the rest of the pack was sitting, before turning his attention to me.

"Perci, glad to have you for the weekend." He said, giving me a warm smile, making me smile in return, before his face turned serious as he sat up a bit straighter while I sat down on the couch, snuggling into Paul as he sat down next to me.

"Is there anything else you can tell us to be ready for this weekend?" He asked, making me look at Paul in confusion, silently asking if he had told them all I had told him. Upon his confirming nod, I turned back to Sam and shook my head.

"No, Paul told you everything I knew. Alice had a vision yesterday at lunch, and then suddenly, Edward was pushing to get Bella out of state this weekend, which I'm sure everyone here knows means that something's happening." I told him, making him sigh, and look to the rest of the pack, silently communicating with them, and getting nods in return from each of them, before all gazes turned to me.

"Then what would you suggest for this weekend? You've got the most experience in a fight, as much as it pains a few of us to admit, so what would you suggest we do to take care of this?" He asked, making me freeze and my jaw drop. I wasn't a battle strategist, that was Annabeth, she was the one who came up with plans, I just lead people through those plans, and I told Sam this.

"Well, Princess, we don't have access to Annabeth, we've got you. So, what would you suggest?" Paul said gently, confidence in me showing in his eyes. When I looked at the other members of the pack, I saw the same thing. They were trusting me with their lives here, and I knew it. They were giving me a chance to contribute to the pack in the way I knew best. Armed with that knowledge, I took a deep breath, drawing on the confidence needed to be a leader at Camp Jupiter and stood from the couch.

I could see the surprise at the sudden shift in my demeanor, my posture straightening as I fell once more into the roll of a battle leader. It was a roll I really didn't like, but knew I was good at.

"As Alice had the vision, I'm assuming the Cullens will also be attempting to take out whatever threat she saw, so I would advice increasing patrol activity along the treaty line. Keep it to only two or three wolves in sight of the line, and have others patrolling nearby to have the element of surprise. Keep them far enough out so they won't be spotted or have their scents detected, but close enough where getting to the border won't take too long in case border patrol picks up something. Try to keep the Cullens from finding out how large the pack is, so I would advice having only five wolves at the border. The other three should patrol a bit further out, but still close enough to get to the rest in case of an emergency." I said, sending a small prayer to Athena that it was a good strategy. When a banner proclaiming myself an idiot didn't appear, I assumed that it was good enough.

"Which five should be at the border?" Sam asked, a gentle, approving smile on his face as he actually differed to me. Smiling shyly in response I quickly did a mental headcount of the pack before making my decision.

"You, Paul, Jared, Jacob, and Embry. Leave Quil, Seth, and Leah to be a surprise since Bella still doesn't know about them." I said, smiling at the smug looks on the three 'surprise' wolves.

"You'll become a battle strategist yet, Princess." Paul said, voice filled with pride, making me blush.

"He's right, I think it's an excellent plan. We have our strategy for the weekend guys." Sam said, finalizing the plan that I had come up with. I just hoped nobody got hurt.