Andy Gallus, son of Ceres, glared at the rogue demigod. There wasn't much else he could do while they were driving like crazy—hopefully toward some much needed backup.

"There's another van joining the ones behind us," Jade called out, her voice a little shaky. She had Cassie Dellaro's scarf wrapped tightly around her head as a bandage.

He hated seeing his fellow legionnaires injured as they were, and berated himself for their wounds.

Shelly was barely conscious, in so much pain from the burns that the exploding van had bestowed upon her that she kept drifting in and out of focus.

Ria, who had just arrived in California with Cassie, silently gripped a war-hammer, glaring out the windshield. "We're surrounded, Cassie."

"I can see that," Cassie muttered through her teeth. "Hang on!" She jerked the wheel and they all jerked to the side as she turned at way too high of a speed.

Jade squeaked slightly, then peeked out the back window again. "Did you just…"

"Turn down a one-way, yeah." She turned sharply again and stomped on the gas.

Shelly whimpered something in Latin about crazy Greeks.

Andy pushed himself up to look out the windshield, then behind them. "They're gaining!"

"Bump!"

Andy dropped and grabbed onto the seat.

They must have gone over a curb or something!

"What are you doing?" Ria screeched.

"Getting some distance."

"By going through a field?!"

Cassie didn't respond. "Everyone get ready to get off. Andy, you good to grab our prisoner?"

"Yeah," he responded, worried about the intelligence of the decision.

"Jade, you'll have to help Shelly while Ria and I hold them off." Cassie seemed calm. Surprisingly calm.

Andy knew it was her first summer at Camp Half-blood, but she already seemed like a seasoned warrior. He hoped Ria was as good as Cassie seemed to think.

"Ready?"

They all got ready to disembark in a hurry.

"Go!" She jerked them to a stop and they all hurried to pile out.

Andy dragged their prisoner out the door and rushed toward Shelly and Jade, unwilling to leave without them at least.

Jade seemed a little more coherent, her adrenaline up, no doubt.

Shelly still seemed dazed.

Together they hurried away from the van.

Andy kept glancing back.

Ria and Cassie fought side-by-side, Ria's hammer dealing severe damage and Cassie's dual-blades flashing with deadly speed.

Shelly and Jade stopped as well to look back.

"We can't leave them," Shelly muttered.

Andy knew what she meant. It felt like it went against everything that had ever been drilled into their brains—leaving comrades to fight alone. But it was the way of the Greeks…

He was about to hand the prisoner over to the girls to go help Cassie and Ria when Camp Jupiter vans screeched in and a dozen or so legionnaires darted into formation around Ria and Cassie, while five or six came over to help him, Shelly, and Jade.

Frank Zhang was in the lead, and Jason was in the group of fighters.

Jade looked at Andy, free from helping Shelly. "Cassie really saved our bacon, didn't she?"

He slowly nodded, looking back at both girls. "They both did."

—~~—

Andy hurried toward the infirmary with the load of medical supplies from town. If he got back in time, he could be in the group that surveys the property they would be renovating for that girl. With his father's background in construction and his knowledge of structure it allowed him to go on many of the excursions out of camp to properties that they took back from monsters, which so far had amounted to two properties.

He stood as still as possible, a good soldier, as he waited for them to sign the paper saying they got the delivery.

Finally, the slow poke finished.

He did his best to not run back to New Rome, drop off the paper, and then back to the Field of Mars to try and get on the team going to the renovation property.

When he did, he was surprised to see the slight form of the Greek girl, Cassie, standing beside Reyna and Frank. Normally when Greeks visited they took on the role of either probatio or legionnaire, depending on the amount of time they had been training and their status at Camp Half-Blood. So what was the girl doing standing beside the praetors?

Andy fell into place with his cohort, standing at attention beside Shelly, "What's the Greek doing up there?"

"Her property we're looking at. If she were Roman, she would definitely be in the first or second cohort." Shelly rolled her eyes. "She isn't even strong, or a good fighter, but she's up there."

Andy frowned, "Saved our hides, though. If it hadn't been for her those rogue half-bloods would have killed us."

"Ria did more than she did." Shelly glanced down the line to the girl that had been accepted by their cohort.

"You just don't like her because she's up there," Andy whispered, "She got us out of there. She called backup for us. She got us here, and knocked out the guy who had attacked us in the first place. Yeah, Ria helped, but Ria also almost got killed when she tripped."

"You just think that greacus is cute."

Andy rolled his eyes. "No, I don't." He thought she was beautiful, but he liked someone else.

"Really?"

"Why does it matter? Jealous?" He teased, trying to figure out what Shelly's problem was.

She scoffed, "Hardly."

Their cohort leader glared back at them.

"Lesbianhonest—" Jade hissed from Shelly's other side, quoting Pitch Perfect.

Andy snorted, then choked back his laughter.

Shelly turned bright red, "Shut up. That's so not what's going on."

As a daughter of Apollo, the god of truth, she was a terrible liar.

Andy's laughter died.

Jade's smile died, and she turned her face away.

"Andy, we'll need you on this trip." Reyna was assembling a group to go, oblivious—or purposefully ignorant—to their whispers.

Andy stepped out of formation and joined the group that was forming.

It was a small group, their elite construction workers, meaning it was an honor to be picked for the team.

"You have the address, today we're assessing the situation. Cassie and I will go ahead, you all grab what you need to check things over and meet us there," Reyna instructed. She was all business, as if she didn't even notice that Cassie was standing there and chatting with Frank.

Andy nudged Paul—a son of Vulcan from the second cohort. "Hey sparky."

"Woody. How's the new girl?"

"Ria? Fierce. Intelligent. Still looking for a good fight. The war games will help her, I think." Andy frowned. "She's different, that one. Rare weapon for a Roman. We'll see what the gods have in store for her."

"Shelly seemed to think she was amazing, didn't have much of an opinion on the Greek."

"Yeah…" Andy didn't think it was a wise choice to tell him that Shelly had a crush on the Greek girl. He also didn't think it was a good idea to tell anyone about the dream he had had last night about Ria, and a monster. A big monster.

Or the fact that he knew he would die to save her from it.

—~~—

He heaved a sigh, half-cursing the waning light. Sure, it meant that he was that much closer to being able to collapse into his bunk, but it also meant he'd have to be around Shelly, who was an absolute pain right now. She didn't want to face the truth, and it was causing him no end of misery because apparently he was the only outlet she had for her own misery.

She was absolutely, head-over-heels for the daughter of Hermes that had saved their lives.

Which wouldn't have been a problem if Ria hadn't bluntly said,

"Um, considering she has a boyfriend, I don't think you're her type. She's super-traditional anyway."

Andy could have kindly strangled her right then and there. He couldn't believe that a girl who was so precise and tactful in battle could be so tactless. Well, he could actually. She always seemed to be looking for a fight of some sort, and was reluctant to comply with orders. He'd heard countless mutters from the leaders of his cohort asking if they were sure she wasn't greek.

She was more comfortable around him, Jade, and Shelly—even joking around with them at times. She had the potential to be a great legionnaire. In fact, she seemed to be on the fast track there.

He stopped in his tracks, looking around at everyone else who was enjoying their leisure time.

Over half of his cohort was out here seeking refuge from Shelly.

"You look like you just lost," Ria spoke, startling him.

He looked at her then shrugged. "I see our cohort is hiding from Shelly."

"Oh, yeah. Cassie sort of confirmed that she has a boyfriend," Ria said, frowning at the ground. "Feel bad for her, Shelly sort of unleashed her wrath on her."

"Oh?" Andy felt a little tick of anxiety. Cassie was obviously friends with Reyna, and if Shelly went off with Reyna around…

"Yeah, Cassie just looked confused more than anything. I told her it was nothing and that Shelly was working through some stuff." Ria glanced at him, as if looking for approval that she had said the right thing.

He was surprised, but he nodded. "Good. How long until the Greeks leave?"

"Um, another week. But I doubt it'll be over then. It might get worse."

He sighed. "I know. She's unstable."

"Who? Shelly?" Jade joined them.

They both nodded.

"Tell me about it," She muttered, folding her arms. "It's my fault, if I hadn't teased her we probably wouldn't be having these problems. Or maybe it's Ria's fault for fracturing her leg and coming later than the others."

Ria shrugged. "Some would say that things happen for a reason. Like me kicking your butt on the 're too open. You should bring your shield up a little higher and your grip on your sword needs to choke up a little."

"Choke…up…?" Jade's eyes glazed slightly.

Ria rolled her eyes. "Like you would on a baseball bat? Move your hand up slightly on the pommel of your sword it will help you have better control and make your moves more effective."

"Oh…"

Andy folded his arms. "Since when do you try to help us get better?"

"Since I realized that my life might very well rest in you bozos' hands." Ria snorted as she dropped to sit on the grass.

Andy dropped next to her, still not ready to go back to their cohort.

Jade plopped down with them a little more gracefully. "Alright, so, we need a plan to distract Shelly."

"A long-term plan," Andy added.

Ria made a face. "Don't look at me. I plan fights, not distractions."

"But can't distractions be integral parts of fighting?"

"Completely different monster than what we're battling," She said firmly. "We need a people-person."

Andy nodded slowly. "So we're doomed."