A/N: First off, a BIG I'm-sorry-please-forgive-me cookie to those who had to wait a longer than they wanted to for the next update. D: *gives cookie* I really meant to post this about last week, but got held up due to various reasons (such as the author being a terribly lazy duck who loves to procrastinate). But...here you go! :3

Once again, a huge bunch of thanks to my dear Partner-In-Crime, S. Layton for his awesome beta-reading and beta-testing and Leper suggetions! (Yes Mr. Flamingo, I HAVE to mention you in every fic, because you're good enough to help out in all of them. xPP) And to all of you who read, reviewed, faved and subscribed - you guys are like nectar and ambrosia! ^_^

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan, the god of writing and time, owns the Camp Half-Blood series and everything related. *nodsnods*

- Part Two -

The glade was quiet except for the usual sounds of the forest at night, and their own unsteady breathing. Leo took a few minutes to reign his sudden outburst of emotions, which went went unnoticed by the shivering girl sitting next to him. Her breathing was interrupted by the sudden sobs. But she too, seemed to be making an effort to calm down herself. When he offered her another tissue she took it obediently and wiped her face. Neither of them could bring themselves to look straight into their eyes.

When it seemed like she was able to manage another reply, he braved another question.

"Piper…please tell me what's wrong. Did anything happen between…you know…" He couldn't finish the sentence, but they both knew the ending.

She shook her head again, taking deep breaths trying to calm down. "It's...It's nothing. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm sorry for ruining your jacket."

"Piper!" If his face was an emoticon, Leo was sure that he was a Capitol D-colon. She was doing it again – shutting him away.

"Pipes, I know that you're not okay, and you know that yourself! Why are you lying to me? I don't care if you said it to Drew and the rest of you cabin; but you're not getting away with an 'I'm Fine, Go Away' with me!"

"What am I supposed to do, Leo? Tell you that everything's wrong and get you cursed again?" She retaliated suddenly, shaking with suppressed sobs. "I can't do that!"

"What do you mean?"

She didn't answer, and just sat there shaking with sobs and cold. Leo shrugged out of his own coat and put that around her shoulders – he couldn't risk a fire with so much dry wood around them. He risked just another small hug, and then scooted away a feet to give her some space. He didn't want to force her into confessing – even though he really wanted her to open up and share what was bothering her.

"Piper…?"

She sniffed. "Y-yeah?"

"Were you running away?"

"N-no...maybe."

At least she was talking. Didn't matter that it was in riddles.

This was more like the Piper he knew for five years.

"Maybe? You were running away from camp, right? So...you knew you were going. But you didn't know where you were heading to? Or is it like, you know where you were going, but you didn't want to tell anyone else? Or...gah, Piper! I can't solve your riddles! Tell me what you are up to, please?"

Silence again.

"Beauty Queen?"

"Don't call me that."

"Then answer me. Do you know where you're going?"

"…Maybe."

If nicknames were the only way he could get her to talk, he decided that he would threaten her all night with titles until she confessed. It took another minute to realize that she might be giving two-word answers simply because she had no strength to manage a long reply.

He took out the Ziploc bag again and handed her a wafer of ambrosia, which the daughter of Aphrodite obediently took with a word of thanks. When she had finished the wafer he handed her the bottle of water. She looked undeniably better after the immortal food. The fact that she hadn't burned up after a whole bar of ambrosia showed how much she had needed it. He was going to make sure that she had a hearty meal everyday now on. Drag her down to the Mess Hall with her hair if he had to. Or make a robot to feed her every six hours, four times a day. That wouldn't be too hard – the robot could even look like Festus! A dragon babysitter would be cool. Definitely better than Tia Callida and her fire place cribs.

The moon shone brightly overhead. Someone said that October full moon was the Hunters' Moon. Who was it? Probably Tia Callida herself. Maybe an old wives' tale she picked up somewhere. Wonder what else the gods did to keep themselves amused other than picking up everyone's gossip and curse the occasional mortal or demigod. He was just going to ask how tall the dragon babysitter should be when he remembered that Piper was going away.

ADHD could be so annoying. The son of Hephaestus hit his forehead with the Ziploc bag. "Focus, me!"

"You Better, Princess?"

"Yeah. Thanks." She gave another small smile.

"You're still leaving, Pipes?" Try as he might, he couldn't keep away a hint of disappointment in his voice. Not something he intended.

She's only my friend. Remember that. She belongs with Jason.

Remember the last time.

"Leo…"

"At least tell me where you'll go? Chiron and others are going to get alarmed when you disappear, Piper. You're a counselor. You can't just…just run off, right? And what will I say to anyone who asks? That I waved a hanky and wished you 'bon voyage, come back soon!'?"

She didn't meet his eyes, shredding a blade of grass into tiny pieces. "I'm…I'm not coming back."

"You are. You will."

"I can't."

"Are you going home?" he ventured a random guess. "But Camp Half-Blood is our home! You know we'll never be safe in our own places. And you'll put everyone else in danger too."

"I'm not going back home. Dad's away, anyway – he went away to Canada for a shooting."

Tristan McLean was still a famous star in Hollywood. And despite the efforts of both father and daughter, they still didn't get enough time to spend with each other.

"Camp Jupiter, then?"

To Jason. That would make sense.

"No."

"Where, then?" He was running out of demigod-friendly places that she could be heading to.

"I…I can' tell you."

She seemed extremely afraid of telling him where she was actually going – how many times had he asked her already? What could have been so scary, that she wouldn't even say the name?

"Why not, Pipes? You can tell me…"

"I…can't..." She threw a fearful glance up at the sky for a split second before setting her eyes back on the earth and her twiddling fingers. There was a dusting of finely shredded leaves on her lap. The moon hid behind a cloud, taking away most of the light they had on the glade.

Leo glanced up himself. In a second, it all came rushing to him.

"No. NO!"

She didn't look up to him.

"Piper…You can't be serious! You can't… You can't become a…"

He didn't even want to think it.

"Why? I thought you liked Thalia..." The daughter of Aphrodite's attempt at making a joke of the situation was…feeble at the kindest.

"Piper… No."

"Yes."

"You can't join the Hunt. What will your Mom say? What will Jason-"

"…D-don't…"

Her expression was unreadable in the half light – it was such a mix of emotions. But Leo heard her well – and heard the fear in it. She was scared of it. Both of the future, and what she was leaving behind.

He also heard her stubborn decisiveness.

Typical Piper.

"But why? What will I say to Jason? He's going to kill me when he hears this!"

Yes. Leo was shutting away his own feelings as well. He was a pro since his early teenage years.

"Jason's…not going to kill you."

"Really? That's nice. But I think he will. You're his goldfish—I mean, girlfriend, remember? He's not going to take it nicely if you're suddenly out-of-bounds. And who will he kill? Me! I'm supposed to look after you for him. He made me promise before he went back to the Romans!"

"He wouldn't bother you." Her voice was emotionless, almost hollow. "Not…now. He's busy."

"What d'you mean? He's busy?" Too busy to care for Piper? Is that why she was running away?

"Well…his mind's otherwise occupied. He won't bother you as long as a certain daughter of Mars is 'living up to the values and traditions of the Romans' and he gets to be 'a true Roman' and not a 'traitor to his blood' and blah, blah, blah. Apparently whatever we had...what we thought we had...that was all a mistake. He's terribly sorry for hurting my feelings. But he can't come back because his true family is with the Romans and he should stay there." Piper gave an empty, bitter laugh at the paraphrasing. "It took him a little too long to realize. You don't need to worry about him. I promise."

A certain daughter of Mars...?

"Do you mean…her?"

"…Yeah."

Oh.

Leo knew her. 'Olivia' or something like that. She joined the Legions fairly recently, and even though she had no credentials or legacy status, she was invited to join the exclusive First Cohort the very first day, and earned her legionnaire tattoo within a fortnight. From the way his other Roman friends talked about the new recruit, he knew that she wasn't a favorite. The kindest way to describe her would be that she was a drop-dead gorgeous, stunning and cunning; a confident snake.

Whose fangs could really, really hurt.

"He'll get over it. Honestly, what does he see in her? You should have seen Reyna or Hazel talk about her – I learned some very complimenting Latin words from their description. Don't go away because Jason was being a…a jerk! Sorry if that was harsh. But you deserve better!"

She didn't reply. The moon reappeared, and Leo saw her tear-glazed face in the pale light. How much heartbreak could one person survive? How many times did you have to suffer through that pain to get that look in your eyes?

"Don't go away, Piper," he said gently, his own heart feeling punctured and empty. "We'll miss you."

She wouldn't look up.

"I'll miss you."

She shook her head. "D-don't say that…"

"But it's true."

"No. You have friends. Other friends who aren't as…as stupid as me. You'll be fine."

"You're not stupid."

She sighed, her voice shaking. "Whatever."

Leo pulled her to face him. It shocked himself that he dared to do that – he had to keep reminding himself that she was only his best friend, that there could never be anything more. He told himself that it was the only reason that he wanted her to stay at the Greek camp.

"Don't go, Piper."

She finally looked up at met his eyes. Fine, who was he kidding? If there was one person who he couldn't lie to, it was her. He wanted her to stay. And it wasn't only because he needed someone with a level head to keep track of every tool in the massive Bunker Nine.

"I…I can't stay, Leo…"

She started crying again.

"You can. And you will! Please…"

"L-Leo…" She wiped away a treacherous tear that came uninvited from his eyes. "Remember the last time."

A/N: What happened the last time? Why's Piper so scared and desperate? You'll see soon. Who's Olivia, by the way? Ah, she's only a name in this one, but maaaaybe you'll see more of her soon. *winkwink*

Be ready to meet some new...characters in the next part, guys. Maybe everything will be explained then. Sorry if this doesn't make any sense - I'm not entirely sure myself. xP