Thank you to all that reviewed. Not only does it boost my mood, it lets me know what you guys are thinking so I can make this story as pleasant as possible for you. Quid pro quo, peeps; everyone wins.

Anyway, Nico, Thalia, and Maria (yay? nay?) are headed to L.A., where they're supposed to stop up that pesky hole giving way to the dead. If you're wondering why Nico doesn't just shadow-travel there, well, 1: that's not as fun, and 2: he gets super tired, remember? He wouldn't have the energy to close the breach. Aha, got you there, haven't I? Boo-yah! I'm awesome!

Disclaimer: (I forgot about this for soooo long) I do not own anything but my OC's and events. Everything else is owned by Hyperion-Disney Publishing and that lucky duck Rick Riordan. Oh, and Rick? You better not screw anything up in the Son of Neptune. 'Cause we FF authors are waiting with pitchforks and torches. Just warning you.

So now that that's over, let's get started, shall we?

19/

Nico's POV

"Hola." The Spanish word announced Maria Gallegos before I looked up at her.

"Hi," I said. Maria, of course, looked awesome, even in a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. Her shotgun, Sangre, was slung over her shoulder, along with a bag packed with demigod necessities.

I was packing myself, bent over the backpack in my cabin. Glancing at the clock, it was 5:30 a.m. I knew Maria would come looking for me. Dawn was her favorite time of day. We needed to talk, anyway.

She tilted her head as I zipped up the pack and came towards her. "Walk with me."

I complied. "How have you been?"

She smiled secretively. Just like old times. Back then I could barely get a personal word out of her.

Thalia was saying good-bye to her tree when Maria and I hiked up Half-Blood Hill. Maria raised a questioning eyebrow. Tell you later, I mouthed. She understood; we were good at silent communication.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," Thalia said darkly. She slung her pack over her shoulder. "Hope you're still here when I get back," I heard her mutter as she passed me.

Maria frowned. "She does not like me."

I didn't say anything. Maria sighed and walked down the hill after Thalia. I glanced at Peleus. "Thalia's right," I told him. "You better protect them." A hiss of steam told me he'd be doing just that.

Maria and Thalia were waiting impatiently for me when I got down the hill. "About time," Thalia grumbled.

"Shut up," I dismissed. "Game plan."

"Get to Los Angeles," Maria suggested.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Thalia rolled her eyes. "How do we get there?"

"Let's go grab a taxi."

Maria's improvise smile flashed onto her face. "I have a better idea."

"A Ferrari?" Thalia said skeptically. "Really?"

I glanced at her, one leg in the car. Maria spoke before I could. "I can change it, if you wish. This form is my favorite. You remember," she said to me.

I nodded. "Thalia, this is one of the best cars ever made. Would you rather be smashed in a taxi?"

She grumbled something like "Yes," but she got in the backseat.

"How many days do you think it would take to get to L.A.?" Maria asked.

"Seven, tops," I answered.

She revved the engine. "I can do it in five."

Percy's POV

You know when you're having a nightmare, and you get this weird feeling in your chest? Like you know something bad's coming for you? That's exactly how I felt when I closed my eyes.

Well, where I was standing was pretty nice. Bubbling golden fountain, tiny tea tables, food of the gods, statue-filled alcoves, nice stuff like that. Of course, the things that were terrifying were sitting in the chairs.

"Percy." Athena's voice was calm, which scared me even more. "Sit."

Every instinct in me told me to run, but I pushed them away and sat with father, and my fiancé's mother. "Hello, Lady Athena. Dad."

Poseidon suppressed a smile. Athena looked at me with distaste. "I hear my daughter is carrying your child."

My stomach tightened. RUN! my brain screamed. She's going to KILL YOU! But I answered, "Yeah…"

Dad's expression said, Good for you son. But he said, "I like that girl very much, my son. I am proud of you. You have my blessing and my approval."

Athena's eyes tightened. "I once told you I did not approve of your friendship with my daughter, Perseus. How do you think I feel about this?" She went on before allowing me to answer. "Annabeth is one of my brightest daughters—and Poseidon just has to ruin another of my precious ones, right off the bat."

"Oh, leave the boy alone, Athena," Poseidon chided. "That competition in Athens was millennia ago. We don't need to keep this silly contest up all the time."

"What silly contest?" Athena snapped. "Your spawn—" she jabbed a finger at me "—impregnated my daughter!"

I blinked. "Um—"

"Don't you think you're being a little insecure?" Poseidon questioned. "It must happen most of the time. Daughters have to grow."

"How would you know?" Athena countered. "The only thing you've sired since that horrible Theseus is this!" She pointed at me again.

I risked talking. "Lady Athena, this may not mean much to you, coming from me, but I love your daughter. With everything I've got. And I'm going to marry her."

"But does that mean you're going to support her?" Athena frowned at me. "Neither of you have gone to college." Poseidon said nothing, just looked at me with eyebrows raised, as if to say, She's got a point. Got anything?

"We've talked about it," I answered quickly. "After the baby's born, Annabeth and I are going to NYU. She's already taking an online course."

"See?" Poseidon leaned back, looking smugly at the goddess. "My boy can improvise." I looked down momentarily at the rare praise.

Athena pursed her lips in a Whatever expression. She turned to me with her intimidating stormy gray eyes. "I think you know very well I would like nothing more than to burn you to ashes."

I gulped. "Yes, ma'm."

She sighed. "It is not easy for me to admit defeat, Jackson. But as Aphrodite" she rolled her eyes "has been insisting for so long, love can overcome and blind wisdom at times. Therefore I blame her, and not you, for falling in love with my daughter." She glared at me hard. "I will, however, blame you and only you if my daughter is hurt at all by being with you. Be assured. My wrath will be painful." Poseidon snorted.

"I don't doubt it, milady," I said in a strangled voice.

She sat back, looking slightly more pleased than when I first saw her. "Good. Because I will be watching."

I woke up with a start, breathing hard. Annabeth shifted next to me, her golden princess curls spread out on the pillow. She still lived in the Athena cabin, of course, but she slept in my bed sometimes, ever since she'd started having nightmares.

"What?" she muttered.

"Huh?" I realized I was sitting up. "Nothing. Just…just a visit from our parents."

That had her awake fast. "What? What happened?"

"Nothing," I repeated. "Dad was fine with it. Happy, actually."

"And my mom?"

"She…she gave me a warning."

Annabeth seemed relieved. "Good. She knows better than to kill you."

"I think she wanted to, just a little."

She nestled into my shoulder. "Guess what?" she yawned.

"What?"

"I had a dream."

I wrapped an arm around her. "What kind of dream?"

"A good one," she said. She propped herself on one elbow. "It's a boy," she singsonged.

"No it's not," I retorted. "She's a girl."

"How do you know?" she smiled, sliding out of my bunk.

"I have dreams too, you know," I said.

"I know you do, but yours are wrong," she said. "Mine are right."

"No they're not," I said.

"Yes they are."

"Not."

"Are."

"Not."

"Are."

"Not!"

She sighed. "Am I really doing this?" she muttered to herself. "Come on, it's our turn for arsenal, remember?"

"Oh yeah," I said. Lately we'd been putting people in the arena/weapons shed, to account and inventory our weapons. I pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt, then followed her out of my cabin. We didn't get weird looks; people were used to seeing me and Annabeth together. A fact that made me feel good. Annabeth and me were together.

"So," I started. "I've been thinking."

Annabeth rubbed her knife absently, strapped to her arm. "Dangerous," she teased.

I bumped her shoulder. "Shut up. I was thinking about what we were going to name her."

"Him," she corrected. "I told you, it's a him."

"Her," I said stubbornly. "I was thinking: I like the name Ariadne."

Annabeth thought about it. "Ariadne?" she mused.

I shrugged. "Or I guess…Silena. Zoë. Diana. I don't know."

"I suppose if he was a girl," Annabeth said slowly, "we could call her Ariadne. Why do you like that name?"

"I don't know," I said honestly. "Just because she could figure out the whole labyrinth."

"She had clear sight," Annabeth reminded me.

"Okay, what've you got for boy names?" I asked, feeling a little insulted.

"I like Isaac," she admitted. "Nathanial. Gale."

I thought it over. "I like Nathaniel," I agreed. "But no Gale."

"Why?"

"Annabeth, you've gotta think about how other kids are gonna make fun of her name."

"It's a he!"

"Will you two stop bickering and help?" Nicky Petrelli, daughter of Ares, glared up at us from her spot on the bench, cleaning a sword.

Annabeth wordlessly got to work, taking a clipboard from Hannah Duran (Apollo) and writing on it quickly. I went to get a clipboard too.

"Explain this…inventory thingy again?"

Thalia's POV

I didn't like her.

The Spanish words I couldn't understand, the smiles toward Nico, the trip down uncharted memory lane, the giggling, it made me want to barf. Even more unsettling, somehow Nico knew this girl. I was going to find out how.

My own thoughts surprised me. I wasn't the jealous type. I wasn't even sure I liked Nico. Oh, shut up, an annoying voice at the back of my mind chided. You already made out. Of course you like him.

Shut up, Conscious, I snapped.

"Hey, Thals?"

I didn't notice I'd been dozing until Nico was shaking my shoulder. "Huh?"

"Come on, I finally convinced Maria to stop for the night." He grabbed my hand and helped me out of the car—which was now a beaten-up Chevy. The sky was dark, but somehow I knew it wasn't morning. I didn't even notice the hours flying by in the car. How long had I been sleeping? I shook my head a little, then looked around.

A crappy park, like the ones near schools. Sad swing set, rusty jungle gym, a slide or two.

Maria was standing a little far off, talking in rapid Spanish into her phone. I eyed her. "That's dangerous."

"Yeah, well Maria's always lived for danger," Nico said absently, waving a hand dismissively. "So you want the twisty slide or the jungle gym?"

I frowned. "How do you know her?" The question was blunt, direct, demanding, like me.

Nico paused. "I met her in Mexico. Bar fight."

I pursed my lips. "And?"

He looked at me blankly. "Nothing. She was in some trouble, I helped her out. She got me some answers about my family with her connections, I got her brother out of trouble." He jerked his chin toward her. "Probably who she's talking to now."

I didn't respond. I sat down heavily on the plastic twisty slide, just when Maria stalked over, muttering in what I assumed was Spanish cuss words.

"I wonder what's up," Nico muttered.

"You know a lot about her," I noted. "Shouldn't you be able to guess?"

He stared dreamily at her. "Huh?"

"Nothing," I muttered. I rolled over and pretended to sleep.

Nico's POV

I didn't understand why Thalia was acting like that. Weird. Maria cursed again in Spanish, drawing my attention.

"What's up now?" I asked, leaning back on the jungle gym.

"The old man vanished again," Maria answered sullenly, sitting down in the sandbox. "They are looking for him now."

If a normal person heard Maria saying that, they wouldn't know who she was talking about. If Maria had it her way, no one would. I only knew because "they" pulled me into Maria's personal life, which was basically the deepest, darkest, most depressing, most dangerous hole I'd ever been in at the time.

I still remember when I met her.

*flashback*

Five Years Ago

Sonora, Mexico

I sat silently in the back of the bar, just out of range of the rowdy drunks belting a song in unintelligible Spanish. None of them seemed to notice me, a thin eleven-year-old in black, sitting in the shadows. I was always good at hiding myself.

I rapped my fingers on the table impatiently. I was starting to think the shady Mexican lawyer who claimed to have a lead in my search for answers wasn't going to show. I frowned, feeling my easily-pricked temper rising, but I pushed it away, remembering my sister's warning about grudges. Besides, considering what the lawyer was risking by even talking to me, I didn't blame him. Not too much, anyway.

Still, I cursed to myself in Ancient Greek. He was my only trail to follow so far. There was no point in trying to worm info out of the Lotus Casino doormen. Or the teachers at Westover Hall back in Maine.

I wrapped my aviator's jacket tighter around me, preparing to shadow-travel back to the States, when a voice said in perfect Spanish, "You are a strange one, love."

I looked up to see a girl about my age, with wavy brown hair and mysterious dark eyes. She slid across the table, leaning forwards slightly. "I'm not so strange," I said, "where I come from." Which was a total lie.

She looked at me with a half-smile on her face. "And where are you from?"

I frowned slightly. "Classified information, miss."

She gave a strangely musical laugh. "You should learn more Spanish, love. Your accent gives you away."

"Yeah?"

"Americans," she scoffed. "So oblivious."

I managed a small smile then. "Alright, you know where I'm from, what about you?"

A mysterious twinkle sprung into her eyes. "That is for me to know, and for you to find out."

I looked at her suspiciously. "Is there anything I can know about you?"

She paused. "My name."

"Maria Gallegos!"

She stiffened at the sound of the voice. The man behind her, grinning drunkenly, a bottle of liquor hanging from his hand, bellowed again at the back of her head. "Little Maria! Hiding from her father's enemies!" He teetered dangerously. "Well let me tell you something little girl: they've found you!"

He raised the bottle wildly, ready to smash it over Maria's head, but fell face-first onto the floor when the bottle was ripped out of his hand and shattered over his own thick head. Courtesy of me.

Maria smiled.

The drunks in the bar stared from him to me for a couple silent seconds, then everything seemed to explode. One guy went for my throat; he got a tequila shot to the face. Another tried to tackle me, but a plastic bag of white power exploded in his face. He collapsed, screaming, "MY EYES!"

I glanced at Maria. She suppressed a smile. "Even," she told me. I smiled. I smashed a chair over some guy's head, then grabbed Maria's hand.

We were standing in the alley outside. The air was brittle, dry and cold. Something I was used to.

Maria pulled back, but she didn't look terrified, or about to scream. She studied me with new interest. "Son of Hades?"

"Um, yes," I said, a little surprised. "Are you a demigod too?"

She pursed her lips. "Essentially, yes." I raised an eyebrow when she didn't answer, but I didn't press her. I knew about secrets.

A smile lit up her face suddenly. She changed the subject, pressing her lips to my cheek. "I can take care of myself, love. But thank you."

I spared her a smile, rare in those days, through my surprise. "Going our separate ways already? Don't you want to know my name first?"

She considered, giving me one of her sultry looks. "If I had it my way, love, you wouldn't know me at all."

"Do you want to know or not?"

"I suppose. I need an extra connection."

"Nico di Angelo."

She flashed another smile. "I will see you again one day, Nico di Angelo. But…you should keep your secrets to yourself, love. Each one you reveal, another I steal." With a final wink, Maria Gallegos was gone.

One Month Later

San Antonio, Texas

Buzzing.

In my pocket.

Mildly worrying, mainly because I didn't own a cell phone. Also because using one meant sending up a signal to every monster in the general area to come smear you all over the walls. Being hunted all the time isn't the funnest thing in the world, if you haven't figured that out. Especially when you're one of us.

I cautiously pulled out the phone, a silver disposable LG. I flipped it open.

"Hola? Nico di Angelo?"

"Yes?" I said, a little weirded out. "Who is this?"

"My name is Yvonne Loronez," the girl trilled, so fast I barely understood the words. "I need your help."

"Sorry, I can't help you," I said. "My schedule's filled up."

"Wait!" she protested, just as I was about to toss the phone. "It's Maria. She's in trouble."

Pause. "Where are you?"

"Monterrey."

The girl who stood alone with me in the alley didn't seem so surprised when I appeared in front of her. She tossed the cell phone aside carelessly, looking me up and down. "So you are Maria's cariño?" She spoke in English rather than Spanish.

"Yeah," I replied. "Who're you?" I noted Yvonne Loronez had a strange likeness to Maria, except her hair was shorter and she had a scar on her face.

She frowned. "I am Maria's sister."

That was news to me. I didn't even know Maria had a family.

I glanced around cautiously. We were in an abandoned alley. Yvonne had her back to the street, where a run-down warehouse was surrounded by suspicious guards with M16s.

I looked back at Yvonne. "What happened to Maria now?"

A shadow crossed her face. "That," she pointed to the building. "is the main business for Julio Jimenez."

"So?"

"Julio Jimenez is the most ruthless head of the Latin gangs in forty years," Yvonne told me. "Three days ago, my brother, Eladio, tried to negotiate for a missing part of a car Jimenez was trying to auction. They're holding him inside. Maria decided she was going to get him, and now they have her too."

I frowned. "Sounds exactly like Maria."

Yvonne scowled. "I told her not to go. She would not listen."

"She never listens," I agreed. "I'll get her. Wait here." I shadow-traveled away just as Yvonne opened her mouth to protest.

Inside the warehouse was dusty, dim, and practically empty, except for a few wall-high stacks of boxes and a poker table. Guards with semi-automatic weapons stalked the perimeter menacingly.

I caught sight of Maria instantly, tied back-to-back to a boy I assumed was Eladio Loronez, struggling furiously against her bonds. I cut her ropes in one swipe. Her face contorted in surprise, then fury as she ripped the gag from her mouth.

She didn't get to say anything; the goons around us realized what was going on and started shooting instantly. Maria's sudden force field kept them back as we dragged Eladio off the chair and shadow-traveled to the alley.

Yvonne began inspecting her brother immediately, who looked unaffected by the bullets. He had a nasty-looking, blood-seeping bruise on his head, and it looked like he'd been punched multiple times in the face.

Maria rounded on me instantly. "What are you doing here?" she hissed in English.

"Saving you," I replied, taking a step back.

She stepped forward. "I told you, cariño: I can take care of myself. I had it under control!"

"By being tied to a chair helplessly?" I liked Maria, but she was being ridiculous. I mean, really? Taking on a whole warehouse of drug dealers?

She growled. "Yes! I was going to get out! I—don't—need—saving!"

"Maria!" Yvonne was glaring at the both of us, cradling Eladio's head in her lap. "Silencio! We should be thanking Nico."

Maria glowered at her under her lashes, her expression clearly stating: Whatever. "I'm leaving," she grumbled.

"Maria, the old man needs you," Yvonne said gently.

"The old man needs no one!" Maria fumed again. "Let alone me!"

"He needs us all," Yvonne snapped, with a stern look. "He cannot survive without us."

"He only feeds off our savings!" Maria protested. "Takes whatever money we have made and runs again!"

Yvonne stood up, letting Eladio's head drop to the ground. "He needs to run! You know he has the gangs after him!"

"Only because of his own foolishness!" Maria hissed back. "It was his fault back in Florence! His fault the di Angelo dogs assassinated Giovanni!"

"That was the di Angelo's alone and you know it!" Yvonne was almost shouting. "That cabrón got himself into that mess!"

Maria growled wordlessly. I thought she was going to hit Yvonne, but she just disappeared in a whoosh of wind.

"What was she talking about?" I demanded.

Yvonne's expression was sad when she looked at me. "Nico, we must talk."

*end flashback*

Now I just looked at her. She hadn't changed since then. Fiery temper, a need for constant danger, the tendency to lie. If she was different at all, it was only in appearance. Her hair was longer now, but still the same wavy brown. Her face was more angular. Her lips fuller. Same old Maria, except even more intoxicating.

"They'll find him," I assured her. "He never stays buried deep for long."

She frowned. "Nico, we need to talk." Just like Yvonne so long ago.

I frowned too. "About what?"

She fingered Sangre—just like she does when she's uncomfortable. "Florence," she said finally.

"Oh," I sighed. "Florence."

She brushed her hair behind her ear—just like she does when she's about to do something she hates. "I'm sorry, cariño." I blinked. Maria hated those words. She went on faster. "The Parichi's…they do not like to forgive. Giovanni was their favorite son." Her voice wavered a little on the name. So little no one else would've heard it. Unless they knew her as well as I did.

"He's okay," I told her. "In Elysium."

"I know."

I hesitated, but I took her hand. "Don't worry anymore. Florence is water under the bridge. So is Paris, and Denver, and Juneau. Focus on now. All we have to do is secure the underworld's securities. Easy peasy."

"Lemon squeezy," she murmured. Her eyes darted to me, gleaming mischievously. "Paris doesn't have to be water under the bridge, cariño."

I knew what she was suggesting. I was smiling without even thinking about it. Before I knew it, I was leaning in with her.

And against all instincts, against all feelings I had for Thalia, I kissed Maria.

Oh, Nico, you have no idea. So, writing that flashback was fun, hope it was for you guys to read. If you want more Maria/Nico scenes (all past, btw. Got a lot planned for the future, wink, wink) just review telling me so. Or not so. Whatever you want.

Poseidon and Athena's final (and somewhat reluctant on the latter's side) blessing on our very own Percabeth. I'm not the only one saying "Finally" right?

Next time: The dead coming back? Nico/Maria? Thalia getting jealous? Percy and Annabeth's baby is on the way; what trouble is coming with it? Find out next time...