David

As if my sprained ankle wasn't enough, being out of ammunition and held at sword was definitely the worst case scenario... besides being dead of course. Brandon and I had our backs to a wall with five dracaenae standing in front with their swords pointed at us. No real option but to sit there and look pretty as Chiron was thrown into another wall. Then it was Percy, Annabeth, and Kronos going at it. You all probably know how it all went down.

The situation got a little better when Nico showed up with his army of the undead. Brandon and I snatched up a few loose swords that were dropped by fallen campers or something else. Any time an enemy tried to impale us, we had to tap into those dusty sword fighting skills and fight for our lives. We didn't notice when Percy, Annabeth, and Kronos made their way to the throne room.

Our day got a little bit better when Big Luke finally decided to wake up. He sat bolt upright on the pavement in the middle of the war zone. He mumbled something along the lines of "Oh, fuck." then got to his feet. He looked over at his flipped car then back at us. He looked back at KATE before he ran up behind her and picked up something on the ground. Then he started sprinting back towards us with what looked to be a giant med-kit.

When he got close, he drew his 1911 and tossed it to me. I fumbled catching it because I forgot that it's just the holster that's magic, not the grips. He pulled a couple extra mags and dropped them in my lap as well.

"You, cover our asses," he pointed at me. "You, eat this."

He dug out some ambrosia and handed it to Brandon who wolfed it down with out much trouble. Big Luke wrapped up his bleeding leg quickly and moved over to me. My problem was less-pressing, he was right to treat Brandon's sliced-open leg first.

"Trade," he ordered and I handed the gun over to Brandon and took the ambrosia Big Luke had out for me.

I swear Big Luke has a spidey-sense of some kind because when Brandon was watching him tape up my ankle, a PMC ran up to Big Luke and tried to stab him ever his shoulder. Big Luke dropped the tape and stood up. After using his hips to flip the guy over his back, he stomped on his throat and killed him.

"C'mon, Brandon. Get your shit together," he said before going back to taping up my ankle.

Brandon snapped out of it and shot at some of the advancing enemy.

The fight raged on. Eventually we won and everyone started heading up towards Olympus for the celebration. Naturally, Big Luke could care less about the party. When it was all said and done, he looked around for Brittany.

"Um... where's Brittany?" he asked, worry starting to fill his voice.

He was going to be pissed. We tried to watch her back after he got knocked but something must have happened when we had our backs turned. Worse case scenario, she was dead. Best case scenario, she found a place to hide out somewhere. I was really hoping for the latter.

"She's gone," Brandon said stupidly, which wasn't like him at all.

"No shit, Sherlock." Big Luke was really starting to get pissed. "Where'd she go?"

"We don't know, Big Luke. One second, she was there and the next she wasn't," I told him.

Big Luke sighed and stripped off his helmet. "Help me get the car back on its wheels. Then I'll look for her."

"That car weights a ton, probably more," I mentioned. "How the heck are we going to flip it?"

Never underestimate what a redneck and do with a pickup truck. We walked/hobbled over to KATE. Big Luke found a Silverado to borrow that still ran and pulled it around to face away from KATE. Then climbed out and we helped him tow rope around the Charger's axle. Once he climbed back in the cab of the truck, he dropped the transmission into Drive and rolled forward. The car landed with a thud as the momentum rocked the car from side to side on the springs.

"KATE? You alright?" Big Luke asked the car.

"My scanners are operating with marginal difficulty, I have expended all my ammunition, but I am capable of movement," KATE explained.

"You remember what Brittany smells like?" Big Luke moved on to his next question.

"I'm not sure I have to. You have a call from her." KATE redirected him to the driver seat where he could take the call. Brandon and I stood outside of the passenger side portal to listen to the conversation.

"Bo? You there?" Big Luke asked.

The response came through KATE's speaker's. "Oh, you gave her a nickname, did ya?"

The voice was certainly not Brittany's. The voice sounded familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. Of course, Big Luke knew exactly who had called.

"What have you done, Kyle?" Big Luke's tone was level but hostile towards his step-brother.

"Well, ya see, the war ain't exactly over, Jon Luke. Not for you, anyway. See I know you want to kill me and I'm tired of going back and forth with you. So, what better way to get your attention than to kidnap your girlfriend?" Kyle sounded cocky, but evil. Maybe I was biased since all I received was secondhand information. "Say hello, Bitch."

"Fuck you, Asshole!" Brittany's voice leaked through. Hopefully towards Kyle.

"I swear to all that is holy, if you lay a finger on her, if she so much as fucks up her hair, I will cut off your fingers and feed them to you on a fucking paper plate. I will hang you from your toes and gut you like a giant tuna." Of course, Big Luke's threat wasn't fluffy and kind either.

Kyle ignored his intimidation. "If you're as smart as I think you are, you're tracing the location of this call now. I would hurry, I never really did like girls that call me an asshole. And you bring that team of yours, too. You're gonna need 'em."

Then the line went dead.

"KATE, tell me you traced that call," Big Luke asked.

"I trace every call. It is in programing to do so every time," KATE snapped in her robotic monotone.

A three-dimensional, holographic map of Manhattan blanketed the windshield. Amongst the translucently blue buildings rendered on the windshield, one stood out that was highlighted in a flashing white. It looked to be some kind of garage with work bays on the street floor and loft spaces above it. Seven floors not including the roof top. The buildings on either side of our new target building had been demolished, which meant that coming in through the roof was out of the question. Only one way in and on way out: through the garage doors at the bottom. Zooming out it looked to be across the Queensboro bridge, roughly fifty or sixty miles away.

Just when we though the situation couldn't get any worse, it did. I turned and Mathew came walking out of the Empire State building with his arm in a sling. He was still about twenty yards away so I had enough time to get one question for Big Luke in.

"What are you going to tell Mathew?" I asked, leaning down with my hand on top of the car.

"The truth," Big Luke answered, turning around in the seat to look out the back window.

Then he climbed out to greet the pupil.

"Nice to see you guys made it out alive. Everyone's up stairs in Olympus partying their hearts out. Why are you guys still here?" he asked.

"Mathew, I need you to take a seat," Big Luke instructed. His smile retreated as he did as he was asked. Big Luke stepped around, setting his helmet on the hood as he moved, and knelt down in front of him. "Mathew... your sister's been taken prisoner. As far as we know, she's still alive and unhurt for the most part. Unfortunately, my step-brother is at the head of it all. We are going to go in there and get her back for you. OK?"

"You promise?" Mathew asked, his eyes getting watery.

Big Luke sighed. "I'm gonna get her back... or die trying. You can bet on that."

Mathew stood up and brushed the back of his head with his good hand. He was trying to keep the flood gates from opening but it was tough. He was choking up and his lip was quivering.

"Look, just go back inside and let us go," Big Luke told him.

Mathew nodded and walked back into the building. KATE plotted the course and started the engine. Then the Strike Team loaded up for one last operation.