To eh- Who do you think Tyler should date then?

To Werewolf0123- That is pretty much where I got the idea from! :D

To Taliesan- I'm not sure if you're Guest 8 either, if I'm honest :3 And originally, I was going to keep Charlie dead, but you could always see it as what would have happened had he lived, sort of thing.

To Guest- Well, aren't you lovely? :P

"Ew, ew, ew…"

"You big girl." Sage laughed. Tyler pulled a face, stepping through the squelchy mud to reach her. They had a big storm last night and they were now trying to break down the damaged-beyond-repair fences. "You should charge your granddad for new fences."

"I don't think that storm was him."

"No?"

"Either Dad or Lou. Probably Lou, but it definitely wasn't Granddad P."

"How can you tell?"

"If he wants a storm, he'll make one over the entire country. Or, if he's mad at a particular city, there will be hurricanes or earthquakes or floods. Or a combination of that."

"Huh. Godly." She rolled her eyes at him, kicking the fence down from the post. He set about dragging wood into a to-burn pile at the end of the garden. "I never liked these fences anyway."

"OK, Tyler."

"Can I pick the next ones?"

"OK, Tyler."

"And can I paint them blue?"

"OK, Tyler."

"Can we have a baby?"

"O- wait, what?" She turned to look at him, frowning. "What did you just say?"

"I was just making sure you were paying attention." He smiled casually. She looked half-tempted to pick a particularly jagged piece of fence and run him through. "Don't you want one then?"

"No, not really."

"But a mini-me would be awesome!"

"Tyler, we don't have time for a baby." She sighed, waving as though to signal the end of this conversation and turning back to the fence. Tyler wasn't finished though.

"You don't have time for a baby, Miss-marine-biologist-by-day-and-architect-by-night." She glared at him over her shoulder.

"I want to get somewhere in life."

"And you are. Saving sea turtles all over the world. Very nice." That time she did lob a bit of broken fence at him, but he ducked in time. "Not that there's anything wrong with sea turtles."

"We've got a fence to sort out, Tyler."

"Don't you want any?"

"We just went over this-"

"Afterwards." She sighed again, irritated to boiling point.

"I don't know. Just shut up and help." Tyler thought it was best not to push her after that, working quietly and letting her cool down. She took out most of her annoyance on the fence, kicking it down and throwing it onto the pile with a brutality that wasn't really necessary, shooting him frustrated looks every now and then.

"Sorry." Tyler mumbled. She heaved a sigh.

"I'm getting some lunch. Want any?" Her words were clipped and cold- he wasn't out of the dog house just yet.

"I'm fine thanks. I'll just keep working here." She lingered a few seconds, regarding him, before turning swiftly on her heel and marching through the mud back to their home. Tyler watched her go, grateful that he was still alive.

He should have been more careful. She was a bit… testy during that time of the month.

But still. It was nice having his head on his shoulders.

Their nosy old neighbour came out at some point to see what Tyler was doing. Her name was Mrs. Carol Hildegard and she was in her sixties or seventies, petite and frail-looking. Don't let that fool you though: she was as loud as anything and when she shouted, she shouted. She knew everything that happened on the block and was one for gossip instantly.

Despite her nosiness, she was alright. Her fairy cakes could be better, her tea less like cement and her pyjamas and bathrobe that she always wore were a bit of an eyesore, but she was good to sit down and giggle with.

"You're in trouble, aren't you?" She smiled kindly. Her voice was slightly croaky, but it carried a sense of wisdom that Tyler didn't understand.

"A bit, yeah." He noticed she was wearing dull green wellington boots. Her lurid bathrobe did not go so well with them, but he had learnt not to question her.

"What did you do this time?"

"Baby."

"Ah." She nodded slowly in understanding, having discussed this beforehand with him. "I take it you were rather abrupt when you bought that up?" Tyler rocked his head from side-to-side. "You need to be gentle. Especially with a smart girl like her. And with her father keeping a close eye on you two."

"I know."

"Are you ready for a baby?" Tyler nodded. "You've only been here six months." He nodded again, trying to comprehend where she was going with this. "You don't need to rush into life, young man. Plenty of time for that." She patted his shoulder in what he took as her way of being comforting. "Have you thought about marriage?"

"Yeah."

"And what does her father think?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you did save her life. He should let you have her hand in marriage." That made sense. Tyler had saved her life and it would be ideal if Percy agreed to his daughter marrying Tyler.

Mrs. Hildegard smiled at him. "Such a brave boy." She said fondly. "Not many would have run into that fire. That took true courage and a great deal of love."

Following an accident with the electrics in the old research lab Sage used to work in; the whole place had gone up in flame. Tyler had only been there as he was taking her forgotten lunch to her. He had noticed Sage, coughing and choking on smoke with tears cutting through the soot on her face, in an upper floor window. By the time the firemen noticed her, trapped, it was seconds too late. Tyler had already run in to get her.

At the hospital, where they were both treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns, her parents and his mother had turned up. Sage recounted the whole story to them. August nearly suffocated him in a bone-breaking hug and Percy was much more tolerating of him after that. Annabeth had scored them the house and talked her husband into letting their daughter move in with Tyler in return for his heroics.

It had been a full-sized godly step forward.

Now all he had to do was brave asking her father if he was allowed to marry Sage, ask her to be his wife and somehow get a baby or two out of it.

"Ooh, she's coming back. Look busy." Mrs. Hildegard waved insistently and he set to work hauling wood to the pile. "Good morning, Sage, dearie!"

"Morning, ma'am." Sage handed Tyler a glass of orange juice. She still looked aggravated at him, but much less so. She examined the work he had done, nodding approvingly, but saying nothing.

"How's the decorating going?" Their neighbour asked kindly.

"Downstairs is nearly finished." Sage replied casually, surveying the mess in the garden. "Just have the kitchen to do and wallpaper the wall in the study again."

"Why?"

"My brother thought it'd be a good idea to paint a bright yellow smiley face as tall as I am on it."

"Do you mean Tobias?" Sage nodded again. "Oh, he's funny, I like him. A bit crazy, but I guess that's men for you." She smoothed her silvery grey hair, frowning as she felt the usually tight bun coming loose. "Well, I must go. I can't stand around all day like you young 'uns."

"Bye, Mrs. Hildegard." They said together. She shuffled back to her house.

"Sorry for biting your head off earlier." Sage said, moving to the last damaged fence panel.

"It's OK."

"No it wasn't. I was being a cow when you were asking reasonable questions."

"Sage, honest. It's fine." She glared at him in a disagreeing manner. "Would I lie to you?" Her expression softened.

"No."

"Exactly."

"I was still a cow."

"We all have our moments."

"Stop making excuses. I was a cow and you should… I don't know, be mean back or something."

"I could just take your books from you." The glare was back, promising murder. Tyler made a strangled sound, placing his hands about his throat and crossing his eyes. Despite herself, she laughed.

"Bastard." He threw out his hands, silently requesting a hug. She contemplated him for a moment and then relented. "Ooh, I've lost my boot." Tyler looked past her blonde curls and saw that her boot had got stuck in the mud. "Don't laugh! My foot's getting cold."

He helped her back to her boot, stifling his laughter as best he could. "We should leave the fence for now. Let the mud dry and then we'll burn all that." She gestured the pile of wood, casting a disapproving eye over it.

They started picking their way through the mud, on better terms and holding hands. They were so close to the door when he slipped. Being heavier, he dragged Sage down with him and they ended up splattered with mud and in a heap.

"Hi."

"You did that on purpose!"

"Oh, of course I did." He sighed sarcastically. She pushed herself up, hands on his shoulders to support herself, but she couldn't find grip in the ankle-deep mud. She fell over again and landed back on him, more mud cascading over them. "Let me-"

"No. I'm doing this myself."

"And there's the stubbornness I've been waiting for." She glowered at him, using him as a support as she got to her feet.

"Throw my boots." She told him and then she jumped. Comically, she left her boots in the mud, landing on the mud-free concrete path. Tyler laughed, sitting up and pulling her boots free with a noisy squelch. He chucked them towards the back door and accepted the wooden broom handle she offered to help him up. "Gods, you're heavy."

"Just the mud weighing me down."

"Your ego, more like." He stumbled onto the path next to her.

"Hey, we're mud monsters."

"I'm not a very happy mud-monster then. I just mopped the floor and now we have to drag all this through." She looked down at herself.

"There is one good thing about this though…" She narrowed her eyes at him. They were much more of a startling sea green with the mud dark against her skin and hair. "We could share a shower."

"Knew you were going to say that and no. I've not forgiven you entirely yet."

"Knew you were going to say that." He grabbed her by the shoulders and started pushing her towards the mud.

"No! Don't you dare! Ty-" The rest of her sentence was cut off by a scream and she landed firmly back in the mud. "YOU'RE DEAD, TYLER, DEAD!"

Voila. What do we think? :D

As for the thing with Sebby, I've got to work on that... I totally forgot about it! :'(