Author's Note: So I haven't updated anything in a while, but I decided I should do this one. I was listening to the song, since it's my favorite, and I really wanted to update this story, since it's really short. I really wanted to update this. So here we go.

Disclaimer: I'm not Riordan, or MCR. So…yeah.

"Thalia, how many times have you played that song?" Annabeth asked exasperatedly, rolling her eyes.

I wasn't sure. So I shrugged. All I knew was that I loved this song.

Annabeth sighed. "It's been three hours, Thalia. Don't you have another song to play? Any other songs?"

"Three hours," I mused. "Hmm. So I've played this song about…forty-five times. Is my math right?"

She shook her head at me. "I mean, it's a good song and everything," she said, "but forty-five times in a row doesn't get old?"

I shook my head, continuing to stare out the window of our dorm. "Nah," I said. Everything about the song was perfect: the guitar riffs caught my attention first, then the drums. Then I listened a little closer to the lyrics, and I decided that I loved it.

It hit me hard in the heart, because it reminded me of…him.

As per normal, my thoughts wandered. I didn't want to think about him again, but I couldn't help but imagine the little toddler in my arms, how I held his small hand as we walked toward that stupid mansion, and Mother made me leave him with her. Even thinking about it made me want to cry. He was gone now, and so was she, and I couldn't do anything about it. My family was dead. There was my immortal father of course, but he was as good as dead, since he never did anything for me.

"They say, we're never leaving this place alive,/But if we sing these words we'll never die." There was my favorite line. I liked to think that my little brother was alive and well somewhere. Maybe if I kept the song dedicated to him, somehow he'd know I was alive, and I'd know he was alive, and the link between us would never break. Maybe the lyrics would bring us together somehow.

"Get off the ledge and drop the knife—/Not a victim of a victim's life…" I mentally scoffed at the words. Though I'd thought about ending my own life and seriously considered it more than once, I'd never tried. But I didn't have to. I lived like a hunted animal every day anyway. I was definitely a victim of a victim's life. At one point, seeing Annabeth and Luke struggle to fight the monsters away from me, I decided I was tired of the hunt. "So just save yourself, and I'll hold them back tonight."

I just wished that I could've done the same for my own flesh and blood.

"Thalia?" Annabeth's voice made me jump. I hadn't realized how lost in thought I'd been. I'd forgotten she was there. "What's wrong?"

I blinked, and I was a little surprised to feel a tear fall. "I…I'm fine," I murmured. "I'm sorry; do you want me to stop playing the song?"

She looked at me with concern, but she shook her head. "Keep playing it if you want to, seriously."

I couldn't listen to it again or else I'd start bawling. Maybe I'd start the cycle again in the morning. I got up and turned it off, the image of Jason's adorable, two-year-old, slightly scarred face burning in the forefront of my head.

Jason…I still can't believe that Jason is alive. And he can't even remember his past as a Roman. How can he be a Roman, if I'm a Greek? I put it out of my mind. It isn't important. All that matters is that he's okay. He's alive. I saw him sitting alone at his table, and after dinner I tried to find him at the campfire, but he disappeared. It's too bad; I want to talk to him more.

Annabeth went to look for him after the campfire, and I'm just meandering around the green, having just brought the Hunters to cabin eight. As I leave the cabin, Phoebe catches my arm. "You're not going to go looking for those…guys, are you?"

I shrug. "Just my brother," I admit. "He was supposed to be at the campfire, but he ditched." I shudder a little bit, hoping he didn't pull a Percy and completely vanish to some third camp I don't know about. "I'll be back in time for lights out." I give Phoebe a smirk. "Keep those girls in line for me, will you?"

I can tell she doesn't want me to leave, but I reassure her that Jason was alright for a guy; he looked genuine and sweet. I still couldn't believe how grown he was now.

I decide to check out cabin one. Maybe Jason checked out early. When I get there, I notice light spilling from the open doorway, and two figures are standing and talking. Annabeth and Jason. Jason seems to be showing something to Annabeth. I see the bright screen of an iPod. As I get closer, I hear Annabeth murmur, "That's funny."

"Why?" Jason asks, a little warily.

Annabeth shakes her head. "Thalia loves that song. I went to boarding school with her for half a year, and she never stopped playing that song in our room. I asked her why she loved it so much, but she just told me she didn't know." She pauses. "There's no way you could've gotten it from her, could you?"

I blink. No way…that would be way to much of a coincidence. It can't be the same song. Not the MCR song. My song? "'Save Yourself?'" I murmur to myself. There's only one song I ever played as much as I played "Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back," and Annabeth would know of all people.

I can see Jason growing paler, his eyes wide. "No," he says quietly. "But I saw Anna listening to it, and I asked her if I could borrow her iPod, because it reminded me of my old camp. I think…" He frowns, like he's struggling with a memory. "I feel like I listened to it a lot back at my old camp. It…" He trails off again, glancing at the floor. "It reminded me of Thalia."

No. Way. He knows that song? I can't believe it. I walk closer to him.

"Why?" Annabeth asks.

He shrugs. "I don't know," he admits. "She always played music like that when we were kids…and I feel like…it's something she would say to me if she could."

I'm almost in tears now, but I can't stop smiling. "That's because it is." The words spill out of my mouth before I can stop them, and I say the words loud enough for him to hear me. I feel a little overwhelmed by all of this. So they were right—if we sing these words, we'll never die.

Annabeth jumps and turns to find me. Jason's eyes grow bigger. "Thalia." My name is like a sigh of disbelief from his mouth.

My smile grows across my face. "Hey, little brother," I greet him. "Where'd you hear that song, and how'd you know I would tell you something like this?"

Jason stares at the iPod screen, and then back at me. I can tell he's searching for a clear answer, but he doesn't have one. "How do you even know what song we were talking about?" he finally decides on.

I laugh. "'Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back,' by My Chemical Romance, right?" I answer.

I don't think he can express more surprise than he already is. "How—"

"Because it's the only song I ever played in our dorm," I answer simply.

Annabeth looks back and forth between us, patting me on the shoulder. "You look like you guys have some catching up to do," she says. "I'll see you tomorrow." She walks across the green to her own cabin.

Jason's eyes are a little nervous, the way they were when we'd met last winter, the first time I'd seen him since Sonoma Valley. I don't think he's at ease with me just yet. It saddens me a little, considering how close we were when we were young. I remember what it was like to play with him, hold him on my lap as we watched TV, comforting him every time Mother got drunk, letting him cling to my arm as he got stitches in his lip from the infamous stapler incident.

Jason beckons for me to come inside with him, and I do. The cabin brings back a small sense of nostalgia, even though I'd only stayed there for a month a few years ago. He walks toward one of the niches, the same one that I'd slept in when I'd lived here. "Can't keep from copying your big sister, huh?" I tease.

He gives me a small smile. "Might as well," he shrugs. "I mean, it's not going to get any cozier than this. And besides, I'm bigger than you are," he adds, a slight hint of mischief on his face.

I roll my eyes. "Don't start being the annoying brother now," I warn him. But all in good humor. "But tell me, where did you hear it, and how did you know it's what I want to say?"

Jason sighs, sitting heavily on the bed. "I don't know," he admits. "I heard it in the car on a quest once, and it immediately reminded me of you. And then I saw one of the Apollo kids listening to it at dinner today, and I asked if I could borrow her iPod. I…I had a flashback just now, before Annabeth showed up."

I frown, sitting next to him, throwing an arm over his shoulder. "A flashback about what?" I ask.

He picks up his head, and he studies my face, seizing on every detail. He reaches up, tentatively, toward my head, touching my hair. I frown in confusion, and Jason sees it on my face. He blushes, putting his hand down. "Sorry," he murmurs. "It's just…it was about when you cut your hair. You remember that?"

Whoa. I do remember that, but it was so long ago. Unconsciously I run my fingers through my hair. "I remember," I mutter. "You were trying to stop me."

My heart hurt as I remember how hard he fought to keep me from bringing those scissors to my hair—the tears on his face and the protests.

Jason nodded. "I still hold that your hair was pretty," he says. "Not that it isn't now, but…it was nice long, too."

I shake my head. "You know why I did it?" I ask.

"To get back at Mother," he murmurs. "She pulled your hair, because you were listening to loud music, and she didn't like it. So to get back at her, you cut your hair off."

I nod, surprised that he remembers so much. "She was pissed," I mutter. I find my eyes stinging, and I'm not sure why.

"That's partially why the song reminds me of you, you know," Jason adds. "The loud music. You loved your alternative." He chuckles.

I laugh with him. "Still do. MCR being one of my favorites. Speaking of which…how about we get a speaker in here? I want to listen to my favorite song with my favorite brother."

Oh yeah, I just found this out recently…MCR broke up. I wanted to cry. So now this fanfic is a tribute to them. I shall miss you and your music.

Tell me what you think about this fanfic!

~Mandi2341