Author's Note:So, you might have noticed that I got a review written by someone other than myself (Yes, I post reviews to my own stories with updates on the stories or trying to get people to give me feedback). Someone, who was too cowardly to post a review with a real profile just wrote "Horrible". Didn't even give me any reasons why he thought it was bad or how I could improve. But I'm not going to let one, lonely troll who had nothing better to do than to bash my story, get in my way of finishing this. I will finish but like it says in the summary, updates will be slow to come as my high school's football team is going into the playoffs with a possibility of going to state. I also have to squeeze school work in there somewhere. So, I hope you enjoy and keep reading! Without further ado, here is Chapter 5!

Big Luke

When we finally made it back to camp. I parked KATE in the underground shop and we escorted Ruth to the Big House. The time was getting close for the first morning horn to be blown, so before we left the underground shop, we stripped ourselves of our kits and guns and left them there.

When we made it to the Big House, we went straight for Chiron's apartment. I rapped on the door a few times and Chiron trotted to answer the door. He took one look at the grim look on my face and then Ruth and realized that the operation hadn't gone nearly as planned.

He wasn't even surprised that I was there. Mainly because he came and told me that he had "left something in the shop for me" before we shipped off. I realized that he had wanted me on that operation all along.

He mimicked my grim expression and said: "Come in."

We filed inside and stood when Chiron offered us a seat. Ruth sat down on his office chair and replaced her head in her hands. The rest of us stood.

"What happened?" Chiron asked me. I was the leader, I had to answer the questions.

I told him the story, almost exactly how it happened. I replaced the words "tie up the loose end" with "rescue mission" to keep with my story. I wasn't about to admit that the mission the whole time was to kill Ruth's brother. Not in front of her. As far as I could tell, she was totally innocent.

When I got the part about Craig's death, I told him exactly as I told his sister, Brandon and David: a dracaenae shot him with a scavenged M4.

Afterward, Chiron offered Ruth a spare room in the Big House to stay in for a while before she rejoined her half-siblings in the Ares cabin. The newly-reformed Strike Team headed back to the underground shop to clean our guns.

We all sat around a table with gun parts and drinks sprawled out over it. I had a six-pack of Coors and David was sipping on a Coke. I made sure to stock the mini-fridge with plenty of Lipton iced tea for Brandon. No one talked for a while.

I guess I was drinking more than I was cleaning because Brandon called me out on it: "You lied."

"About what?" I asked in return.

"You lied about Craig," answered David.

"You're right. I did," I replied, finishing off my fifth beer even though I hadn't even finished cleaning my M16 yet. My 1911 still sitting on the table, waiting to be disassembled.

My mind flashed back to just a few hours ago:

I was following Craig back up the stairs. I knew this guy was a spy for Kronos' army and I was tired of playing this dumbass charade. When we made it back to the ground floor, I made sure the latch was closed good before we made our way into the middle of the warehouse. I still hadn't drawn my gun.

Once we had made it to the middle of the warehouse, I stopped.

"So, how'd they convince you to join their cause?" I asked and Craig stopped in his tracks.

He turned around slowly and pointed Brandon's gun at my face. I didn't flinch. I didn't move.

"How did you find out?" he asked, almost in a whisper. He knew what I was talking about.

"Chiron's intel told us that you were working for the enemy. We were originally sent here to kill you... or take you back to be exposed to the whole camp," I replied, my hands still at my sides. This is when I saw a strangely familiar twinkle in his eye. "So, what did they tell you? That you'd be rich? Famous? Did they tell you that they'd get your family back together?"

"How do you know all this?"

"Because I was just like you, Craig. They got into my head, too!" I said. "I used to be sneaking out of camp to go do whatever Kronos wanted me to do. I used to rob banks for those fuckers. I even turned on those two guys who are with me here tonight for them. All because Kronos told me that he could bring my mom back to life. After all that, you know what they did next?"

"What?"

"They tried to kill me."

"You're lying," he said, grinning ironically. "They would never do that. They swore!"

"Swearing doesn't mean shit to them," I told him. "Trust me."

"Well, if you came here to kill me, do it already!" he demanded, even though he still had the handgun to my nose. The grin now gone.

"Frankly, I could kill you right now and wouldn't lose sleep over it-"

"Well, if you're not going to do it."

That's when he put the muzzle of the M9 to his right temple. That's where I had seen that before.

"Don't do anything stupid, Craig. There is a possibility that you could get out of this alive," I said.

This was weird. I wanted-so bad- to kill this traitor, but now I was trying to save his life... from himself.

"No. If you take me back to camp, they will kill me. If I run back to Kronos, you will kill me. I might as well end it all now," he said, that twinkle getting a little more prominent.

"Craig, think about your sister. How do you want her to remember you? You really want her to remember you as a coward?" I asked him, trying to get him to rethink his decision. Logic wasn't going to work, so I tried something that I knew he cared about.

"Tell her a story. She likes those. Make me sound like a hero or make it a fluke thing. For my sister's sake."

"That is a terrible way to handle it," I told him.

He didn't answer.

Then he shut his eyes and pulled the trigger on the M9, ending his life right in front of me. His body released and his knees buckled. He kind of turned as he landed on his back so he was laying perpendicular to me. His blood and brains spewed onto the boxes to my right. He looked relaxed, like he was sleeping. With the exception that half his skull had been obliterated. I didn't even hear the gunshot or his body hitting the concrete floor at my feet.

I drew my 1911 and fired three rounds at a wall to my right, away from the hatch. This is a terrible way to handle this.

I watched as Ruth cried her eyes out next to her brother. Then she had asked me about what had happened. For his sister's sake, I thought.

Fast-forward to now, I told Brandon and David what really happened. They seemed to believe me after that.

"You tried to save his life?" asked David. "What possibility was there for him to get out of it alive?"

"Well, if he would've come back with us and made some kind of deal with Chiron. He would still be here," I explained.

"Maybe," responded Brandon.

"What are we going to do with Ruth? She's not going to be the same without her big brother around to protect her," said David.

"They've been at camp for a while. She's got to have friends. Shouldn't she?" suggested Brandon.

"I don't know. Let's go talk to her," I answered.

We finished up cleaning our guns and headed back out into the world. Before we left however, we changed into our normal camp clothes. I wore my desert-style trousers with a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt tucked in. On my feet were my well-worn tan combat boots from my deployment. I had my 1911 on my right thigh and two spare magazines on my belt on my left side.

David was wearing his bright white Airforce 1's, expensive jeans and a another camp shirt. He re-spiked his hair in the mirror. His compound bow was slung over his back.

Brandon wore running shoes on his feet and a pair of khaki cargo shorts on his legs, his magical work gloves were hanging out of his back pocket. He was fiddling with a yellow livestrong wristband. He too was wearing a camp shirt.

We walked through the woods back towards the Big House. When we got there, we had to sneak around a little bit to avoid Chiron and Mr. D. Eventually, we made it to the room that Chiron had lent to Ruth. Brandon was in front and he paused to listen through the door. He turned and looked right at me and motioned for me to listen.

I passed him, stepping as quietly as I can on the hard wood floor, and pressed my left ear up to the door. I heard the expected sobbing from Ruth but the I heard something else: A boy's voice trying to comfort her.

"It's OK," the voice allayed.

"It just happened. Just out of the blue. One minute he's alive and the next he's laying dead on the floor," sobbed Ruth.

"I know. You can't always see it coming," the voice told her.

I swore I recognized the voice. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

I looked at Brandon and David. I didn't say anything just looked at them. I tried to ask a question: Who the hell's voice is that?

Brandon's face lit up like he finally put two and two together.

"Mathew," he mouthed, no noise coming from his throat.

My face mimicked his. I made an executive decision to walk into the room.

Sure enough, Mathew was sitting on the bed with his arm around Ruth. Ruth was sobbing into his shirt, hands gripping at the cotton. Now I know why Brittany says that I teach him too much.

"Hey," I said, almost a whisper as I crouched down in front of them. "I'd ask if you're doing better but I think I don't have to. I-I just want you to know that I did everything I could."

Ruth looked at me with teary, puffy eyes. Mathew looked at me with one eyebrow cocked.

"You were there?" asked Mathew.

I looked back thinking maybe Brandon and David had walked in with me. Apparently, they thought it best for me to do this on my own.

"Yeah. Long story," I answered.

Mathew just nodded and looked back at Ruth. "Hey, Ruthless? You think you're ready to go back to your cabin? I bet they miss you."

"Plus, they can help you through this," I added.

"OK," she said as she tried to pull herself together.

We stood up and walked out of the room. Brandon and David were still standing outside the door. They were both leaning on opposite side of the hallway and staring at the floor. Brandon had his hands in his pockets and his feet crossed. David was sitting on the floor with his arms crossed on top of his knees. They looked tired, worn out, over stressed.

"You guys go get some rest. It's been a long night," I told them.

They just nodded in agreement and stood up. They walked at a faster pace then Mathew, Ruth and I. I guess they really needed some sleep. We had all been up for at least twenty-four hours at this point.

I let Mathew take Ruth back to her cabin. I figured he was more than capable to handle that.