AN: There is an original Apollo sibling in this chapter named Eliza, but she doesn't belong to me. She belongs to the wonderful HonorH, who has very kindly allowed me to borrow her. I'm not sure if the fic is on this site - head over to my AO3 profile and check the bookmarks, it's called Becoming Us and it's post BoO Solangelo goodness.

Also, I am working on the next chapter of Fates Intervention. I'm getting there.

Several months – and a rescued new camper – later, Apollo's visits seemed to have returned to normal.

He would turn up, bug his sister, and leave.

Today, however, not long after Artemis had left the camp grounds to speak with her brother, a falcon came soaring into the camp to circle above Thalia's head.

With a sigh, she rose from the circle of hunters discussing the next hunt. "Phoebe, take over, would you?"

Phoebe nodded, and Thalia set off into the woods.

She found Artemis still talking to Apollo, read her Lady's discomfort in the set of her shoulders, and prepared herself – for what she didn't know.

The twins turned as one at her approach and she bowed her head respectfully.

Artemis didn't like her hunters constantly kneeling before her, and Apollo had made it clear that outside of Olympus, he certainly didn't expect it.

However, a little show of respect never hurt anyone – and she had no idea what she had been summoned for. Lack thereof could very well hurt her.

"Thalia, my brother has requested your aid in a rather delicate matter," Artemis said. "I have – reluctantly – agreed, but only if you feel comfortable with it."

Apollo sighed. "Arty, I keep telling you; Thalia will be in absolutely no danger at all, I just need her help."

Thalia almost nodded automatically, but caught herself just in time. "Can I ask what it is before I agree?"

Apollo smiled at her, but it was weak and strained. "I need you to take a trip to Camp Half-Blood for me."

"Oh," Thalia said, surprised. "I thought it would be something worse."

"He needs you to talk to one of his sons," Artemis said. "That's the part I'm not happy about."

Thalia thought back to her last visit to Camp Half-Blood, a month or so after the Battle of the Labyrinth, as it had come to be called, following the Hunters' rescue of a young daughter of Apollo. It had been an exceptionally brief visit, long enough to greet Chiron and Annabeth, and drop little Eliza off with Cabin 7.

But she had been there for long enough to notice the way Will had remained out of the circle of campers, barely acknowledging her arrival or his new little sister.

"If it's Will Solace," she said, "you really don't need to worry, my Lady. I am 99% certain I am definitely not his type."

Apollo's smile became a little more genuine. "So you'll do it?"

Thalia nodded. "I'll do it. What do you need me to do?"

And so Thalia arrived at Camp Half-Blood a few days later, her wolf at her side. The Hunters would take it slowly for a while to allow her to catch up with them when she was finished.

She left her wolf curled up at the base of her tree once more and made her way to the Big House, to speak to Chiron and Mr D.

Mr D barely acknowledged her, but she was used to that. Chiron didn't press her for details of her visit, for which she was grateful.

Apollo was not breaking the rules, but only by virtue of a very tight loophole, and the less people that knew exactly why she was here, the better.

And making an excuse would have been difficult – Annabeth was with her mortal family in San Francisco and Percy was with his mother in Manhattan.

Even Nico seemed to have disappeared again, something that had Thalia worried. She and Percy had both been there when Bianca Di Angelo was killed; she didn't know about Percy, but she couldn't help feeling a little bit responsible for the kid. He had been at Camp for the battle during the summer – and been a huge help by all accounts – but it looked like he had retreated once more.

Not that Thalia could blame him entirely. Being a child of the Big Three was lonely business – and Nico didn't even have a cabin to call home.

Still, right now, the son of Hades was not her primary concern.

She made her way down to the archery field, where Michael was coaching a small number of his younger siblings.

Quite a few of them would have gone home for the school year, Thalia remembered, which left only a few, including Kayla, Eliza, their brother Austin, and of course Will.

Will was nowhere to be seen.

Michael took a shot, his form perfect, his arrow flying straight and true, striking the centre of the target.

As he began to explain to his siblings, Thalia tugged out her hair clip, letting it expand into a bow and drew an arrow from the quiver that appeared on her back.

Her shot was just as true, guided by Artemis herself, striking the target right alongside Michael's, getting their attention.

She was gratified to see that Michael, unlike his siblings, did not startle, but merely turned to raise a hand. "Nice shot," he said, by way of greeting.

"Likewise," Thalia said with a nod. "How's the off-season?"

Michael sighed. "Quiet."

"Thalia!" Contradicting her brother completely, Eliza broke out of the ranks with a squeal and threw herself at her rescuer.

Thalia hastily set her bow to one side and caught the young girl.

Ten-years-old, dark haired and cute as a button, Eliza had been found by the Hunters after she and her mother were attacked by monsters.

Artemis had not been present, and it was Thalia who fought to take her back to Camp Half-Blood rather than just accepting her as a Hunter, citing the fact that they were in the middle of a hunt and it probably wasn't a good idea to take on a new hunter at that point, given how badly it had gone last time (Bianca).

"And how's my favourite daughter of Apollo?" Thalia asked, ignoring Kayla's mock protest.

"Good!" Eliza answered, almost bouncing with excitement. "We get to shoot arrows and play games and there are girls who live in the trees and …"

Thalia nodded, letting the girl talk and trying not to think about how much Eliza reminded her of a Nico before his sister's death.

Speaking of losing siblings, Michael looked even more pale and drawn than the last time she saw him, the loss of his older brother clearly weighing heavily.

"… did you come to visit me?"

Thalia smiled at Eliza, tucking a strand of hair back out of her face. "Well, it is lovely to see you, Eliza, but I'm actually here to see all of you."

"Are you allowed to talk to boys?" Eliza asked curiously.

Thalia laughed. "Well, I'm sure Michael can keep them in line."

"But he's a boy too," Eliza said, now looking worried.

Thalia chuckled, straightening up. "Well, unless he's about to propose to me, we don't need to worry about that." She took a step closer to Michael. "I hear one of your brothers is having trouble."

Michael sighed. "Will won't leave the cabin. He eats and sleeps. That's it. We can hold the fort in the infirmary, it being off-season and all, but if something else big happens, we're going to need him – it's because of what happened with Lee, I know it is."

Kayla sniffled, nestled under Austin's arm. "It wasn't his fault. He couldn't save Lee, no one could And we've prayed and prayed to Dad and he won't answer."

"He's the only one Will would listen to," Austin said, scowling. "Lee's dead and he won't even show up for two seconds –"

"He can't," Thalia interrupted. "There are rules." She held up a hand to stop his protest. "And I know. He could circumvent them. And then my father would punish him. And then, gods forbid if something happened that meant you seriously needed him, he wouldn't be able to break the rules. Father's grounded him more than once. Literally."

"Thalia," Michael said, before Austin could argue any further, "how do you know that's why he isn't answering? I mean, I wish I could have your faith, but how can you be so sure?"

"The same way I knew Will was having trouble," Thalia answered. She knelt down so she was eye level with Eliza, who was still clinging to her hand. "Your dad wishes he could be here, sweetheart. He loves you – all of you – so much, and if he could answer you, he would. But he can't. So he asked me to come and to let you all know that he is listening and he does care, and maybe to talk to Will and see if I can get through to him." She looked up at the others, who had gathered around her, staring at her like she was reciting the meaning of life. "He's at the cabin?"

"Yes," Michael answered. "Thalia, what you said … Was that …?"

Thalia straightened up with a sigh. "And if you get the chance," she recited, "tell the others how much I love them. How proud I am. Tell them I would be there in a heartbeat if I didn't genuinely believe that our Father would make their lives harder for it." She gave him a small smile. "And tell Michael to stop doubting himself, because he's doing a great job."

Michael looked like he was going to cry. Kayla already was.

Eliza, who was too new to have developed any kind of bitterness towards the gods, simply beamed at her. "Well, of course he loves us. He's our dad."

Thalia smiled. "I know, kiddo. Why don't you try to help Michael and the others feel better, and I'll go to talk to Will?"

Eliza nodded, accepting her task, and Thalia retrieved her arrow from the target, replacing it in the quiver and letting it vanish back to wherever magical weapons went when they were out of sight. Leaving Cabin 7 in the capable hands of their youngest member, she jogged up the hill and back to the horseshoe of cabins.

Cabin 7 glowed golden in the sunlight and Thalia had to shield her eyes as she approached.

There was no answer when she knocked, but she pushed the door open anyway, stepping into dim light (or maybe it was normal light and her eyes hadn't adjusted yet).

Will was sitting on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest, staring at the wall.

Thalia wondered how long he had sat there, and whether he was seeing the wall at all, or if he was seeing unseeing eyes and blood-covered hands.

Closing the door firmly behind her, Thalia crossed the room and sat beside Will, leaning against the headboard.

He didn't say anything, but he did shift over to give her room, which she counted as a win.

"Are you allowed to be here?" He asked after a few minutes.

Thalia smiled. "Like I told Eliza, it's fine. It's a vow of eternal maidenhood, says nothing about talking to boys. Unless you're about to propose to me."

"How do you know I'm not?" Will asked. The joke settled her a little, but it didn't reach his voice or his eyes.

"Honey, if you get through it with a straight face, I'll say yes," Thalia said with a smile.

She was rewarded with a tiny smile of his own.

"What are you doing here?"

"Your dad asked me to come," Thalia said softly. "Your siblings are worried; they've been praying to him, but he can't answer. So he asked me to come and talk to you?"

"And say what?" Will asked tiredly. "I've already failed …"

"Says who?" Thalia interrupted. "There was nothing you could do …"

"Then what good am I?!" Will demanded. "I can't sing, I can't shoot – healing is the only worth I have as a son of Apollo and if I can't do that, then what good am I?"

"You couldn't bring back the dead, Will – no one can bring back the dead," Thalia said, refusing to rise to his anger. She dealt with far more drama from the Hunters (not that any of them would ever admit it). "Not even your father can do that. If he had thought for one second that there was hope, he wouldn't have come looking for me and Artemis. He would have been here, looking over your shoulder, and giving you the strength you needed."

Will didn't respond and she rested a hand on his wrist, anchoring him to her presence, lest she lose him to memories.

"Your dad is so proud of you, Will," Thalia whispered. "That's what he sent me to say. That's he's proud of you and he loves you. And he told me, himself, that you are an exceptional Healer."

"Even if I couldn't heal Lee?" Will asked in a very small voice.

"Even then," Thalia agreed. "Like I said, Will, no one could have healed him. I suppose Nico might have been able to do something, but I should think his Dad frowns on resurrections. Plus you'd probably have ended up with a zombie or something …" she closed her eyes. "Dear gods, shut me up."
Will was shaking beside her, and it took a few minutes, to realise he was laughing. "It's not funny," he gasped out after a few minutes, "but I just had this image of a zombie leading the campfire songs."

That had Thalia laughing as well, but she finally got herself under control enough to ask, "Where did Nico go anyway?"

Will sighed, his humour evaporating in a way that confused Thalia until he spoke. "I don't know, which is the other reason I'm kicking myself. I was here when he first crash-landed with you and Percy in Dad's car, and when he took off after his sister died, I was worried. So when he turned up during the battle, I was planning to try and make sure he stuck around and then …"

"Yeah," Thalia said softly. "I get it. It's not your fault, Will. I've been trying. It's like grasping shadows."

Will leaned against her a little. "Do you think he's okay?"

"I hope so," Thalia said honestly. "He's young, but he's a fighter." She frowned. "Then again, you can't be that much older than him, can you?"

"I'm thirteen," Will answered. "I think I'm about eighteen months older."

Thalia sighed heavily. "You're all so young."

"You're only fifteen," Will pointed out.

"I should be twenty," Thalia said. "I just didn't age properly when I was dead."

Will snorted. "There's a sentence you never think you'll hear."

Thalia smiled. "Are you feeling better?"

Will hesitated. "My dad really said all that?"

"He really did," Thalia confirmed. "He has faith in you, Will. So do I, if that means anything."

Will laughed a little nervously. "Well, of course that does – you're a Camp Half-Blood legend."

Thalia pinked a little under the praise. "So you'll get out of the cabin? And back into the infirmary? Because they do need you, you know."
"I know," Will said, managing a genuine smile. "May the gods protect us from the evils of the common cold."

Thalia laughed, standing up and pulling him to his feet and out into the sunlight. "Now get back into civilisation, young man."

Will saluted. "I guess I should get to the archery range."

Thalia hesitated. "On second thoughts, maybe I should have left you moping in the cabin."

A few days after Thalia returned to the Hunters, she had company yet again on patrol.

"How are they?"

"Good evening, Lord Apollo," Thalia greeted. "I'm very well, thank you for asking." She smiled at his impatient expression. "They're fine. They were very grateful to get the message. Will went trotting of into the infirmary, if not the sunset. They miss Lee, but I think they're going to be okay. And Eliza asked me to tell you to consider yourself hugged and that she loves you very much."

Apollo swallowed hard and Thalia feigned interest in a bird hopping from branch to branch above her head to give him some privacy.

He was gone the next time she looked over, leaving behind a warm breeze that surrounded her like an embrace and whispered thank you through the trees.