A little bit of Jason :) Which is weird because I actually don't really care much for his character, but I realized I kind of relate to him after writing this.

Don't own the characters.

Jason looked at the Battle of the Bands website. Six teams. He shook his head; he couldn't believe that they were one of the six teams on their way to win five million dollars. Jason didn't care too much about the money, his dad had tons of it. But he was hoping that winning would make his dad notice him just a little bit more. He was sick of coming home to an empty house and a cold mother. He didn't understand why his own mother didn't seem to like him, and with his dad was away so often, he didn't feel close enough to Zeus confide in him about it. Thus, he spent more time at Percy's house than his own.

Worrying at his lower lip, Jason pulled out his cellphone.

Let's go to a lounge with Pipes and the girls.

Percy texted back instantly

Sure, maybe around 8 pm, having dinner with mom & dad tonight

Jason looked at the clock, four hours to kill in a silent house. He sighed and began texting the others. Once the plans were solidified, Jason puled out his advanced math textbook and started studying. He was a perfect child, athletic, smart, and musical and yet he always felt like it was pointless. What was the point in bringing back trophy and award after award if there was no one at home to say a simple "Good job?" He grit his teeth and kept studying, moving along a road that never seemed to take him anywhere.

Jason groaned as Connor swore at his phone. "Stupid GPS! Sorry man, you were supposed to make a left back there." Packed in Jason's car was Connor, in the passenger seat, Percy, Nico and Hazel in the back. Chris was following with Travis, Juniper and Silena. Reyna concluded the procession in her black Volkswagen with Piper, Calypso and Rachel.

Signaling right, Jason turned onto a small road leading behind an old recreation centre. He slowed down at the sight of a school bus parked in shadows. Percy, Nico, and Hazel quieted down at Jason's hesitation. "Is that the Half-blood's bus?" Percy asked. Jason nodded mutely, wondering what it was doing here. Then the door to the recreation centre opened and three indistinct shapes walked from the brick building to the bus.

One figure paused and glanced at the idling cars, then the three figures hurried into the bus. Jason turned his car into the parking lot and quickly turned off the ignition, ignoring his friends' questions. He strode up to the bus and hammered on the door, Percy and his friends coming to stand behind him. He heard Connor quietly talking on his phone to Travis, but his attention was diverted as the door swung open.

The ebony-skinned boy stood at the top of the stairs glaring down at Jason. He seemed even huger up close. Jason cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm Jason," he began lamely. "My band also is one of the semi-finalists and we were going to hang with a couple of our friends at a new lounge that opened up in town. There's pretty good music and food there." Jason didn't know why he was inviting them, he just figured since they were from the slums, they might feel isolated, but hearing the music blaring in the bus he was starting to think they didn't really need rich city kids trying to make them feel welcome. The black haired lead singer leaned around the muscled dude.

"We can't really afford to go to a music lounge." She said, eyes blazing.

Jason swallowed nervously and shifted, internally berating himself for putting a spotlight on their lack of resources. This is what happened when he didn't think things through. "We'd cover for you guys," he offered, "I mean we're inviting you, so of course we'd pay for everything."

The girl scoffed, "We don't need your charity."

"But we wouldn't mind it," the Latino boy laughed, coming up behind Jason. He and the Asian boy had towels in their hands and their hair dripped from a recent shower. "If you don't mind me stealing all your girls, of course," he added, winking.

"Leo!" The girl snapped, then glanced at Jason. "We'll pass." Jason shrugged helplessly and motioned his friends to head back to the car.

"What's your last name?" Jason turned around slowly.

"Grace." There was a collective gasp from her group of friends, but Jason couldn't understand why.

The girl closed her eyes and smiled bitterly. "I'm Thalia." Jason nodded, confused. Her eyes shot open and she stared right into his eyes, searching for something. Then she gave a harsh laugh and motioned for the Asian boy and Leo to come into the bus. Just before she slammed the door shut, Jason sprinted over to the bus again and jammed his foot through. His eyes watered from the pain, but he managed to choke out a simple, "Why?"

Thalia gazed at him and he realized that looking into her intense blue eyes was like looking into a mirror. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tattered wallet, extracting a faded photograph.

It was a five year old Thalia sitting in a large chair, one that Jason recognized being prominent in the few baby pictures that his father had taken of him. In her lap was a one year old boy with wispy blonde hair and matching eyes.

Jason's world funneled down to that one moment, and he looked up questioningly at Thalia, already knowing what she would say.

"Hey baby brother."

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