Hi again! You guys got cheaped out on Monday when I only posted one chapter, I know. This is the second part to that memory. I was having some trouble getting it done, and I was really, really, REALLY pushing to finish editing a play so that my co-director and I can get started with the reviewing and the casting as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters portrayed below.

What about Angels

Chapter XII

There is Poison in Her Veins

When Jason went to the hospital to drop off Piper, Reyna was lying in bed and tossing MnM's into the air. Seb was trying to catch them in his mouth and based off of the little Spanish he'd learned over the years, each colour was worth a certain amount of points and Reyna could also earn points by hitting him on the nose or between the eyes. Whatever the case, Reyna was laughing.

Piper knocked. "Ready for girl's night?"

Reyna turned to look at her and smiled. "You bet."

Seb got up and helped Reyna sit up. She swung her legs out of bed and into her shoes. They weren't the usual daredevil stilettos Reyna had grown to like after breaking free from the praetor uniform, but she was wearing a slick burgundy dress and her hair was done up in a careful pile of braids that Jason had seen her do for festivals and senate meetings multiple times.

"Annabeth texted saying she'll be running late because she's waiting for Hazel to get home," Reyna said.

"To watch Maggie?" Piper frowned. "I thought Hazel was coming."

"Oh, she is," Reyna said. "The problem is she can't find Hazel."

"She has a big project due soon," Jason said. "Two people every semester get to set up their own exhibits. It may count for extra credit, but it's definitely prestigious. It's an honour. I'm not sure what her plan is, but she's been going to a lot of thrift stores and spending tons of extra time at school recently..."

"There's no way to tell with Hazel, but it'll be beautiful," Piper said.

Reyna turned around to give Seb a quick blurb in Spanish about Hazel when she and Annabeth came in.

"Looking good ladies," Seb said.

"Thank you Seb. Sorry we're late," Annabeth said. She was wearing a pretty white sundress from Target that had also been her wedding dress once upon a time (that wedding had been legendary). "This one was AWOL."

"I told Percy that I'd be late and meet you guys at the restaurant," Hazel said turning the corner. She'd had time to change in a patterned cocktail dress, but there was still paint on her fingers and on the tip of her nose.

"You're not supposed to tell Percy, you're supposed to tell me," Annabeth said. "Percy's useless for giving messages, don't you remember Christmas 2016?"

"Bottom line, I didn't mean to make us late," Hazel said.

"And I've got the car," Annabeth said. "We can officially go now."

Seb helped Reyna to her feet and gave her the crutches.

"Text me if you feel ill," Seb told Reyna, kissing her hair.

"I'll be fine," Reyna said.

"I'll text you," Piper cut in.

"Thank you," Seb said.

"Have a good night," Jason said. "I'll leave the door unlocked for you, Pipes."

"Thanks babe," Piper said. She kissed his cheek quickly and the girls were off. Whenever they were all in the same city, they always called a girl's night. Jason had even seen them do it in the middle of a quest once. They had a go-to restaurant for New York, a go-to bar for San Francisco, and a spa for New Rome and everything.

"It's nice that she's out of here for the night," Seb said. "Yesterday she was feverish, and I was afraid she'd miss it."

"They'd have rescheduled for her," Jason said. "But I'm glad too."

"She needs to get as many of these nights as she can," Seb said. It was soft, almost as if he'd been saying it to himself, but Jason had been thinking it too. It was crushing to hear it from Seb, though.

"I'm sorry," Jason said. "About Reyna."

"Don't apologise, you're hurting too," Seb said. "Also Reyna tells me you have a guilty complex and you always tried to apologise too much."

Jason snickered. "Reyna knows me too well."

"I think you know her too well, too," Seb said. "You have to know how much she is worrying about you even if she's the one dying."

"We talked about it the other day," Jason said noncommittally. "It may not have helped…"

"You're still worried about each other," Seb said. "I mean, I know you always are. Force of habit, I suppose. From working with someone for so long, and being friends even longer. Like in the army."

"Yeah," Jason said. "Like in the army. But it's harder to take a bullet for her this time."

"There is no bullet," Seb said. "There is poison in her veins. Hers alone. There is nothing you can do."

"Everyone knows that's not true," Jason said. "And I'd have thought that if anyone would be happy to hear it, it would be you. I mean... you love her. To bits and pieces, I don't even need you to say yes to that because I know. And if you could... do what I can do for her. Wouldn't you?"

"Of course," Seb said. "In a heart beat. But that's me, and you're you. There's a difference."

"There's none," Jason said. "We both care about her."

"But I owe her how happy my life is," Seb said. "You have other reasons to live. I think that's the difference between friendship and romance, if there is one at the end of the day. You have Piper to think of. You look at her like I look at Reyna. You love her too."

"Always have, always will," Jason said.

"Exactly! Don't you see? There is nothing I can do about the things that the world is doing to me by taking Reyna," Seb said. "But I could stop Piper from losing you, and that would be enough for me."

Jason's stomach constricted. Of course he hadn't forgotten Piper in all of this. He and Piper had been friends too long and they'd been in love too long for that to ever, ever happen. The fact that he hadn't already torn the world apart and sacrificed and entire cow to Hecate to make this transfer of life happen was because of Piper, and Piper alone. Love made Jason stupid, and gods knew how much he loved Piper and how idiotic he could be- around her, for her, about her… But he was careful with Piper and he would never, ever do anything to hurt her. Unfortunately (and this he knew from their quest to free Hera and their trip across the Atlantic and a thousand other times), she wouldn't take well to losing Jason. They were in the S.S. Stupid Love together, so he couldn't blame her. If he lost her… He didn't know just how bad would take it, but he wouldn't be anywhere as calm and composed as Reyna's boyfriend was.

And he wasn't sure how Seb could do it. Look at Jason and essentially tell him 'forget everything that may save the person I love more than the world itself'. Seb was basically telling Jason to keep his miracles. And Jason wasn't sure that he'd be able to do that.

"Did Reyna ever tell you what I did in the army?" Seb asked. "Before I lost my leg and inherited the dog shelter and met her."

"She told me where you went," Jason said simply.

"I was a trauma surgeon," Seb said. "And as that entails I spent a lot of time seeing very, very injured people. And before that I spent a lot of time in medical school. Out of all that studying and all those loans, the thing that I remember most is one of the first they taught me, and one of the basic principles of medicine. 'First do no harm'. It reminds doctors that although we are supposed to do good and our intentions are good, sometimes we can bring harm to our patients. But I think it's true for everyone, not just doctors and nurses. Reyna is dying. She didn't make that decision for herself, and it isn't anybody's fault. I don't think it needs to be intervened with, and I know that's difficult for you because you believe in gods- but I don't. I believe in humans, or semi-humans in your case, and in the power of us and the things we do. First do no harm, Jason. It's harder than it looks."

"It's a safe bet," Jason said.

"Maybe, but when someone's going to die either way, why not be safe?" Seb asked. He patted Jason's arm. "I don't think any less of you for staying alive, you know. Reyna won't. Piper won't. Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel- nobody will. It's not cowardly to just hold someone's hand while they die. That's something else I learned in the army."

"Yeah," Jason said. He understood where Seb was coming from. Jason had grown up in a Roman legion and until he'd found Camp Half-Blood, the chances that he'd finish his ten years of service and hop into the military had been overwhelming. But he had too many memories of battlefields and helplessly holding a wound together while waiting for medics, or knocking on doors in New Rome after a battle, or realising that his canteen of nectar was empty just as someone was dying, or holding Jules' hand while he choked on his own blood, and watching Aurelia get thrown off the side of Mount Othrys, and running to get Travis while Connor's heart monitors flailed, and being chained to a dungeon wall while Krios stabbed at Marcus, or finding out almost ten years later that Beryl Grace had drunkenly run her car into a bus stop, or letting go of Leo and...

No.

Inaction wasn't an option. It was always imposed on him, it was never a choice whether or not he would do something if he could. It couldn't be.

When Jason got home that night, looking forward to grading a ton of tests for a ninth grade science class or maybe pass out and sleep for a thousand hours, he didn't expect for Fleecy to be sitting on the front steps of the townhouse, reading the daily paper that had been delivered.

"Hi!" the cloud nymph said happily. Since Jason was a son of Jupiter he understood the cloud nymphs' native language of cracks and pops and rumbles, and Fleecy was always more than happy to speak it with him. From the very first time Hazel had gotten her to send Jason a Christmas present, she'd taken to him.

"Hey," he smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"You have a friend who wanted to send you a package, and when I saw it was you I begged real hard- and Iris let me take the job! Also I heard New York was pretty this time of the year, and I guess that's true, did you know there are so many lights and sounds out here? It's crazy."

Fleecy handed Jason a tiny tiny the size of his palm and pulled a clipboard out of thin air.

"I'm just going to need your signature here, here and here," Fleecy said flipping through forms. Jason frowned at the titles. "ACCEPTATION OF PACKAGE", "CONSENT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPLOSION", "UNDERSTANDING THAT MAGIC ALWAYS COMES WITH A PRICE", "DISCLAIMER IN CASE OF BODILY HARM".

"Fleecy, what's in the package?" Jason asked.

"I don't know," Fleecy said. "I haven't snooped. But it's very strong, whatever it is."

"Okay," Jason said. "What about the sender, who sent this?"

"Lou Ellen Rapali," Fleecy said. "Said she was a friend of yours. Also mentioned that there were instructions included inside the box."

Jason's hand froze for a second, but he signed the last of Fleecy's papers.

"Thanks," Jason said. "You're the best. Tell Iris to give you a raise."

Fleecy giggled and waved before disappearing on him.

Jason settled in the living room and he did find instructions in the box. Despite his wild heart rate, he managed to read them.

Hey Jason! Lou Ellen here if the delivery nymph forgot to mention it, sometimes they're... well, airheads.

Anyways, I worked on your requested item for the whole Bellona Donum situation. I know it looks simple. Leather bracelet, bronze stud, yada yada. On the inside, however, you'll find a series of inscriptions. DON'T try to pronounce them, you don't have the proper training. Don't get the bracelet wet, don't expose it to the elements, don't put it in the dryer like a dipshit, don't leave it laying around for others to find. Despite its appearance, this is an important magical artefact. It's very powerful.

To use it, you have to wear it while touching the person you're trying to re-gift the Bellona Donum to. Then you have to say the words that brought you back to life the first time. I don't know them, but I assume they've made enough of an impression on you. And if they hadn't, then you're an idiot and you don't deserve the amount of effort I've put into this.

Good luck and best wishes,

L.E. Rapali