Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. So, I don't own Percy Jackson or any other things mentioned from The Titan's Curse. The only thing I own is the plot.

Apollo desperately wanted to help out the kids on the quest. He wasn't sure of how he'd help out, but he was going to find a way. First off, he wanted to find some cool costume to wear. Apollo couldn't just show up in his regular clothing, that wouldn't be fun enough. He also wanted a matching name to go with it. After pacing for about four minutes, Apollo came up with his idea.

"A homeless man!" He said to himself. To find his costume, Apollo went to Athena.

"Do you know where I can find some over used clothing?" He asked.

Athena looked at Apollo for a moment. She wondered why he came to her instead of Aphrodite. Then she remembered the last time he had asked Aphrodite for help with clothing. After asking for a new outfit to go with the current decade, (The 1970's) Apollo had ended up in an over the top disco outfit. She shivered at the thought. The 70's had always been her least favorite decade in the 1900's.

"Why do you need different clothes?" Athena asked after recovering from the memory. She had a feeling that she already knew the answer.

"Well you see, I'm planning on helping out the kids on the quest. They are going to help my sister after all." Apollo started. "So I figured-"

"That didn't answer my question." Athena snapped.

Apollo smirked when he realized that Athena hadn't fully figured out his plan. After receiving a glare from the goddess of wisdom, he continued. "Well, father has been watching me ever since I almost got that demigod killed. I figure he would pay less attention to me if I was incognito. I have my outfit planned-I'm going to be a homeless person. Now I just need a cool name to go along with it."

Athena handed Apollo a pair of ripped pants and a shirt. She had summoned them. "How about the name Fred?" She suggested. After dealing with Apollo for the last century, she knew he'd reject her idea and go through a giant list of his own ideas and then he'd end with claiming her own idea. If she didn't suggest anything, he'd get mad at her and storm away hating her for the next day or so.

"No, that sounds to boring." Apollo said. "How about… Bill, Dale, Calvin... no, or Otto, Finn, Pierce, Zane, no I don't like those one's either." Athena rolled her eyes as she listened to Apollo list off a bunch of names. "Leo, Elliott, or…. FRED! Yes Fred, that's an awesome name!" Athena sighed and handed Apollo the outfit that he was looking for. She'd left quickly during the ten minutes that he'd spent on listing names. Obviously, Apollo didn't notice.

"You should do something with your face." Athena said. "Dressing in a new outfit won't stop the kids or dad from recognizing you."

"Aww… fine." Apollo whined. He changed his appearance with a snap of his fingers. In the place of the handsome, clean, black haired god stood a pathetic looking man with missing teeth and a grimy face.

"What do you think?" He asked Athena.

"You look… great." She said.

"Well I'm off." Apollo said. "The kids are on a train at a moment. I'm assuming they'll be at the end of the rail in about five minutes." Apollo turned around to leave. Then he turned to face Athena and placed his arms up, expecting a hug. Athena looked disgusted.

"I'm sorry, I don't hug guys." She said. With that, Athena turned on her heel and left.

"I don't give hugs. She's starting to sound like Artemis." Apollo mocked Athena and disappeared.

Apollo reappeared at the end of a railway yard in Washington D.C. He found a trash barrel and used his godly powers to get a fire going inside the barrel. Apollo took out his car keys. He clicked a button and his Maserati appeared. Another click and the car turned into a freight train. Apollo was ready for the kids now.

Two minutes later, Percy and his friends got off the train they were on. They wandered around, looking for another passenger train. After passing rows and rows of empty freight cars, they came across a homeless man standing in front of a trash-can. The trashcan was on fire. Apollo grinned and beckoned the kids towards him. They were shivering in the cold.

"You kids look frozen, why don't ya'll come over here and warm up?" He asked.

Everyone shuffled over.

"Th-th-th-thankss." Thalia said.

"My hooves are freezing." Grover complained.

"Feet." Percy said. He didn't want to confuse the homeless man.

"What should we do now?" Bianca asked. "Do you suppose we should ask for help?"

"No, we can't ask for help. We need to finish the quest by ourselves." Zoë said sternly. The group looked solemn.

"You're never alone you know." Apollo said. His face was set in a kindly manner. His disguise worked. The kids didn't recognize him. The gods could really be incognito! "Do you kids need a train heading west?"

"Yes, do you know of any?" Percy asked.

Apollo pointed to the freight train located behind the five kids. The kids turned around and looked at the freight in awe. Apollo took the moment that the kid's backs' were turned to get into the train.

"That's convenient." Thalia said.

"Thanks." Percy said as he turned around to thank the man but he had disappeared.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Bianca stated. "Why don't we get in?"

"Let us go." Zoë said. The kids slowly entered the train. After everyone settled into separate compartments, the train began to move.

Percy Jackson entered Grover's compartment. Grover was fast asleep. Percy knew that he should get to sleep but he was afraid about having another dream about Annabeth. Apollo sneaked into the same compartment. He had been reading Percy's mind. By doing so, Apollo realized that Percy was afraid of dreaming. He smiled as he said, "Don't be afraid of dreams." Percy turned around. He hadn't realized that the homeless man had entered the compartment.

"If it weren't for dreams," Apollo continued, "I wouldn't know half the things I know about the future. They're better than the Olympus tabloids." Apollo felt a haiku coming on. He cleared his throat and held up his hands dramatically as he said

"Dreams like a podcast,

Downloading truth in my ears.

They tell me cool stuff." (Page 157, PJTC)

"Apollo?" Percy asked. After hearing a bunch of Apollo's haikus, he knew that no one else could make that bad of a haiku. Apollo lifted his finger to his lips. Yeah, he'd given himself away but the demigods would of figured out who he was eventually.

"I'm incognito. Call me Fred." Apollo said.

"A god named Fred?"

"Well you see, Zeus doesn't exactly want us gods to help out with human quests. Even if something is majorly wrong. I'm not allowing anyone to mess with my baby sister. Not anyone."

"Can you help us though?"

"I already have. Haven't you looked out the window?"

Percy glanced outside and was surprised to find the outside world passing by very quickly.

"How fast are we going?" He asked.

"Fast enough. But, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. We've traveled across a decent amount of America." Apollo said.

"Do you know where Artemis is?"

"That I don't know." Apollo said quietly.

"What about Annabeth?"

"Athena's kid?" Apollo asked. "I don't know."

"What about that monster Artemis was seeking?" Percy asked. He hated how Apollo casually talked about Annabeth. He spoke as if she was unimportant. "Do you know what the monster is?"

"No, not really." Apollo said. "But I can think of someone who does know. If you don't find the monster by the time you reach San Francisco, go find Nereus-the old man of the sea. He has a long memory. He can see things that my Oracle can't."

"Isn't it your oracle?" Percy protested. "Couldn't you explain what the prophecy means?

Apollo sighed. "Even if I could, I wouldn't."

"So you don't know then."

Apollo looked at his watch. "Look at the time! I have to go. And I doubt that I'll be able to help you again. You need to sleep and when you return. I'll be expecting a great haiku about your journey." Apollo snapped his fingers and reappeared on Olympus.

Athena, Ares, Hermes, and Aphrodite were all gathered in the throne room. Athena had been listening to the conversations between the three and watching what Apollo had been doing. She noticed that he'd finished and was about to announce that another god could be crossed off when the doors to the throne room flung open.

"I'm back!" Apollo announced. The gods looked at him as if he was crazy.

"From… where?" Aphrodite asked as she looked over Apollo's outfit with great distaste. He was still in his homeless outfit.

"I just helped out the kids." He answered with the most dramatic voice he could muster. "I provide a form of safety, warmth, and transportation." Aphrodite eyed him carefully.

"I don't believe you." She said.

"He's telling the truth." Athena stated. "I've been watching for the last hour or so."

"Well I don-"

"Are you honestly doubting me? I am the goddess of wisdom after all."

Hermes sensed another fight coming. He hated when Athena and Aphrodite fought. Aphrodite always got "mortally" wounded and Athena always won.

"Does it really matter whether or not he's telling the truth? Everyone believes him except you." He said, attempting to end the argument before it started.

"Pffft. Fine." Aphrodite said with a frown. She grabbed the list from the side of her throne and checked off Apollo. After the list was checked, she grabbed Ares and left the room.

"Well now that that's over…" Apollo said. "I can change." He snapped his fingers and appeared the way he was before he'd left.

"Why were you dressed as a homeless person?" Hermes asked. He hadn't seen anything that had happened throughout the last few hours of the quest.

"That's unimportant at the moment." Apollo answered quickly.

"Nicely done, Fred." Athena said before standing up.