Disclaimer: I own nothing.

When Piper had got back from her job, she was expecting to sleep all day and get up the next, eat, refuel and then get another mission from Chaos- or maybe, if she was lucky, she would get a few days to hang out and relax with her friends and team. But the thing she didn't expect was meeting someone from her past, seeing Poseidon almost die, and then being ordered to go make peace at the one place in the universe she was told she didn't have to go- oh, and now she has to have dinner with everyone from the building. There goes her dream of sleeping off the two weeks of being in a war like atmosphere.

The dinner bang at exactly 6:30 in Pluto time which is probably a whole another year back in Earth, but then again, Piper was never good at math. She stood up from her bed and grabbed her coat, pressing the button on the hood to keep the Pluto air from killing her and let's face it, Pluto's chilly. She made sure she wasn't missing anything so if she stepped out on the 33rd floor- or the roof since there's no people up there- she didn't end up falling over in death like the last recruit a while ago did. Piper shuddered at the thought.

When she came up to the elevator at the end of her hall, she couldn't believe her luck. Barely a person or two was getting on this hall, the elevators full from floors below. Not to mention how stuffy and horrible it must feel to be in there. There was a whole lot of stops to make on the way to the roof. So, with a groan of exhaustion, she flew the stairs' door open and began the long treck up to the roof. Only seventeen floors to go. Fun.

After a while of panting, cursing, exhaustion, other people joining her and seventeen long floors, the sounds of the elevators and halls muffled by the walls, Piper finally broke through the door on the top, the elevators on either side of it and letting out people before going down for more. The roof really was nothing special; it was just like a normal hotel roof, flat, no walls, a door, a few appliances for living. But this one had the chilly Pluto air, no moon to give you light, instead flying flames on the edges in the middle of the long, long table that spread directly to the edge almost to the other edge, leaving only one chair at one end for Chaos. The stars twinkled brillantly around them and chatter, laughter, chairs scraping the ground filled the toxious air. You could see for miles upon miles of darkness and stars, the occasional meteor and cosmo. The small town on the edge of the planet was hidden by the people and concealed by the darkness, but you could make out the glints of lights and if you were like Piper, you would know that none of the stores were open because of the event tonight.

Today, the table was filled with foods from every single planet. The "Fres" from Mars, "Munchy Mur" from Saturn, "Killer Beans" from Neptune, "Jisuji" from another galaxy, "Caterfiller" from Venus- that was Piper's favorite-, "Big Macs" from Earth, "Apple Galore" from Jupiter, millions upon millions of choices, most of which Piper and many of the recruits have never tried. You always stuck to foods that were in the kitchen or stores, Piper says, that way you know you won't die.

People were filing in the table, taking their reserved spots next to their teams or people from their floors, not to mention friends that Chaos knew you had. The only way to find your spot was to look at the flashing block letters hanging above your seats that say your name. Piper's was a pinkish, Bailey's was a lime green, Nathan's a red, and if Chaos knew your favorite color and no one else had the exact shade you did- he was a very precise man- then that's what your name would be colored in. But Piper didn't necessarily like pink, Chaos just did it to tease her. Always the fun one, he is.

Piper made her way through the crowd, saying hello's and talking to a few of the people she knew as she went. Some newer recruits bombed her with questions about other galaxies and the people and what it was like to be Chaos's favorite since she had been the top assistant and she usually went to the harder jobs in the more dangerous galaxies and face the scary inhabitants. She smiled politely and answered the questions in small statements so she didn't have to deal with this much longer- she was tired, still slightly hurt and annoyed and hungry.

Once at her seat, she sat down and sighed, the pink block letters above her head disappearing with a pop. She looked at the people she was sitting with as she waited for everyone to get seated and her headache to start. Dinners with everyone really bring on the migraines. Her team to the left, Bailey across from her with her own team, a few people she didn't know on either side of them, and...oh, wonderful. Percy Jackson to her immediate right. This'll be an even better way to end the night.

Piper ran a hand through her wavy hair that was slighty damp from the moisture in the air and moved her bands from her face. People were almost seated now, the elevators weren't rushing to get more recruits and the block names were disappearing quickly. It wasn't long after that Piper had made her own way through the crowd and took her seat, that everyone was in their respective spots and the waiting for Chaos started. He wouldn't take long, they all knew, but that didn't stop the noise from being loud and more laughter and chatter to echo through space...literally.

"Piper!" Bailey called across the table making Piper smile at her. She waved her hand towards Piper's right. "Where's Mr. I Saved Olympus?"

Piper blinked over at the empty seat next to her, Percy's name bright in sea green above them. "I don't know," Piper replied over the noise. "I think he's still with Chaos!"

"Is that the same Percy Jackson that you mumble about in your sleep sometimes?" Naden asked from next to her.

Piper grew red. "I don't mumble his name," she protested weakly, but she probably did. Dreams of Percy have been more recent lately. She didn't know why, usually it was Jason or Leo, sometimes Annabeth, but it had been Percy who raided her sleep. That one day they headed down to the beach, the other one where they watched the sun rise while they were on guard during the Giant's war, the one where they talked about nothing at all as they walked through Greece, Annabeth down in the more important streets strategizing and using her "Mark" from Athena...

"Yes you do," Naden smirked at her. "You said it a couple missions ago."

"Gods, Piper, are you keeping something from us?" Bailey asked with a laugh.

Piper blushed more. "It was nothing."

"Uh huh," Naden nudged her. "You were smiling."

Piper rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak when she was saved by the door to the stairs opening to Chaos and Percy, the table growing quiet. "Welcome!" Chaos greeted with his usual cheerful grin as he pushed Percy softly towards his seat and he went to his own. "Who are we missing today?"

"No one," Piper answered since she was his assistant after all.

Percy took his seat and looked around at everything with sparkling eyes. This was pretty cool. "Wonderful!" Chaos exclaimed, clapping his hands and sitting at the head of the table. "Well, it's all very wonderful to see you all here!" He raised his cup of a red liquid- in this place, it could be alcohol or it could be apple juice, you just don't know. "To a wonderful month of saving lives!"

The table grabbed their cups and lifted it up with a cheer. "Now, now, before we start, we have a few recruits that we need to acknowledge!" Chaos announced as the chatting started again. "Quiet down and if your name is called, stand up and give a bow! Brandon Marks from Earth!" A boy with a strong build and hard, determined features and blue eyes that were sharp and partially covered by his blonde hair stood up and gave a quick bow. "Marshal Johnson from Earth, Jin from Jupiter, Tersi from Mars..."

And with each person, there was clapping and a bow- some a blush- and since it wasn't a very good month like May or June, there wasn't that many and Percy Jackson was announced last. Whispers broke out from the table after he stood up and then sat back down since he was the Percy Jackson. He was in wars, he defeated titans and giants, he had the curse of Achilles once, he's been to the Underworld, saw Olympus destroyed, fought Kronos. The Percy Jackson was in the ranks of Chaos? They didn't know whether to be confused and excited or worried and prepared for the worst on Earth.

"Alright, alright!" Chaos called, stopping any sign of talking. "Now, tomorrow starts a new month and more jobs for most of you! Training will be a little later in the day because of this and the hangars will be open earlier! Now that we are done with introductions, let's feast!"

"To Chaos!" the table yelled as they lifted their cups.

"You guys flatter me," Chaos laughed with a wave of his hand.

The chatter started up immediately and knives, forks, other utensils hit the plates and bowls as everyone grabbed the food. "Pipes?" Percy asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked around at the food. "What is this stuff?"

Piper laughed and reached over to the Munchy Mur and loaded it onto his plate. He jumped slightly when the red glob moved and changed to a blue. "It's good, don't worry," Piper assured as she got some of her own. "Tastes just like chicken."

"It moved," he said, poking it nervously with his fork.

Piper rolled her eyes. "It's not going to eat you. It just lets you know that it's ripe."

"Uh," Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you sure this is safe to eat?"

"Yes." She gave him some "Nighthand," a black leaf with white dots that twinkled in time with the stars. "It's all safe, but some of it you can't eat because you're new."

"What do you mean 'because I'm new?'" He picked up the leaf and studied it worriedly. "Is this even edible?"

"Gods, you whine a lot," Bailey joked over the table and handed Piper the hamburgers from Earth. "Just eat it. Piper wouldn't poision you."

"But still, what is this stuff?"

Piper gave him a hamburger and herself one before passing it over to Naden who passed it along- she never liked Earth food. "The leaf is Nighthand from Jupiter. Tastes like mint, easy to make too. The blue stuff is Munchy Mur from Saturn, it tastes like chicken," she explained before smiling and pointing to the hamburger. "That's a hamburger, it comes from Earth-"

"Yeah, yeah," he snapped, pushing her hand away and glaring at her. "I know what it is."

She held up her hands in mock surrender. "I was just making sure." She exchanged a grin with Bailey and grabbed her Nighthand which once she held her palm to the open leaf, warped around her hand and Percy jumped again making Piper snort with laughter as she broke off the stem and then peeled it off her hand, eating it like so.

"What is wrong with you people?" he asked in horror as Bailey grabbed a spoon and dug into the Munchy Mur which flooded like liquid off her spoon.

"You get used to it," Piper said as she rolled her eyes and put the spoon in his hands. "Eat. We don't get breakfast in the morning."

"Do you have any, uh, earthly food?" He rubbed the back of his neck and held up the hamburger stupidly.

"This is going to be a long trip," Naden whispered in Piper's ear making her laugh, but bite her lip to try and hide it.

"I don't know," Piper replied, waving her hand towards the plates in front of them. "Look for it."

Percy shot her a glare before looking along the food. "Gods, what is that?" he all but shrieked as he pointed to the dead Venus dog which was actually a cross between a lizard and a shark with the dorsal fin and gills, but the sparked tongue and bulging eyes of a chameleon and long, stick-like fingers.

"That's a 'Transinorform,'" Piper answered, giggling.

"A Transin- what?"

"It's a dog," she rephrased making Percy choke.

"On what planet?"

"Venus."

"Gods, that's just disturbing," he shuddered and looked away, settling with his hamburger. "I'll starve until we get back home."

Piper rolled her eyes. "That's a two day trip."

He paled, but cleared his throat. "I'll manage."

"You know, the Transinorform isn't even that bad," Naden mused. "Tastes like Fers."

"What?" Percy asked, looking absolutely horrified.

"Oh, they're like French fries, but taste like steak too!" Bailey explained with a grin. "Tasty."

Percy turned green. "I'm never coming back here."

Piper rolled her eyes. "You haven't even given anything a chance."

"Do you see this?" he gestured wildly to his food. "They move!"

"Well at least they don't growl at you," Naden said. "Killer Beans really are killer."

"Or 'Fire Pillar,'" Bailey added before looking at Percy. "They shoot pillars of flame at you."

"Oh! Catefiller!" Piper cried, reaching over Percy to grab the plate of red box like solids with pieces of fruit from Venus moving inside of it as it moved. More like a liquid Jell-O on the outside, but the liquid of it on the inside. "There is the good stuff."

"What in Hades?" Percy poked the box as Piper loaded one and a half on her plate. He jumped when ripples exploded on the surface.

"It's from Venus too," Piper explained, using her fork to cut into it and popping it in her mouth. Percy stared horrified at her.

"What's...What's on the inside?" he asked, swallowing nervously.

"All kinds of bugs from Venus," Naden answered as Piper hummed. Tastes like honey, she mused in her head. "There's like a butterfly in Earth, but they're called Ferns on Venus."

"That's a Fingernibbler," Piper said, pointing her fork towards a small worm type thing that had bludging eyes and teeth like a pirahna. "They're pretty dangerous."

"You guys are insane!" he cried, his eyes wide. "You're eating that?"

"'Course," Piper replied, popping another piece with the Fingernibbler in it. Chocolate, she hummed.

"This place is horrible!"

"Oh, don't be so mean," Bailey mumbled, handing him the steak. "It's not even that bad."

"Not even that bad?" he repeated incrediously, but took the steak and gave himself some. "Did you see that Tyrannosaurus Rex thing?"

"It's Transorform, doofus," Naden corrected, rolling her eyes.

"It's still the same thing," he grumbled, looking down at his plate and pushing the Munchy Mur around tentatively with his fork. "There has to be some health violation on this planet or something."

"Just try it," Piper ordered, pushing the Nighthand towards him.

He backed away from it. "No. That thing's creepy."

"It's a leaf," she giggled.

He glared at her. "It stuck to your hand."

"That's how you know you can eat it!"

"No, that's just disturbing," he shuddered and focused on getting a bite out of his hamburger.

Piper rolled her eyes. "You're just chicken."

He choked on the bite he had. "What?" he asked once he finished coughing and was able to swallow the food. "Chicken?"

"Yes, chicken, you know, the thing that can't fly, but it's a bird." She did an imitation to clear her point. Bailey and Naden laughed as Piper smiled at him.

He narrowed his eyes. "I am not chicken."

"Then eat the terrifying leaf."

"And if I die?"

"Shame," Bailey answered, pointing her fork at him and grinning. "You should eat it."

"You're not going to die," Piper rephrased, rolling her eyes. "Did I die?"

"No, but you've been here longer," he retorted, stabbing his fork into the steak angrily.

"Eat the leaf."

"I'm not eating that thing."

"Just eat it," Naden ordered, snickering.

"I'm not eating it."

"Percy, please?" Piper pouted and Bailey had to hide her laugh behind her hand. Percy narrowed his eyes at her and tried to keep his heart from reacting to it. The thing attatched to her hand, he reminded himself, gripping his fork to not give in.

"No," he answered with a confidence that surprised him with the cute face she was pulling.

"For me?" she begged, brushing a strand of hair away from her face in a way that she learned worked really well on guys.

He faltered and you could see it in his face. "No."

She sighed all dramatically, grabbed his hand off the fork and put the leaf in it. "Eat the leaf," she ordered, using her Charmspeak.

He blinked at her and raised his hand to go do it, but stopped himself. "Dammit, Piper, I'm not eating the leaf!"

She glared at him. "Eat it."

He tried to resist, really, but the soothing tone in her voice broke him and he put his hand on the leaf, jumping when it molded to his hand. Piper ripped off the stem and looked at him expectantly. "Go on," she said, nodding.

He narrowed his eyes at her, but peeled it off his hand and took a bite of it. "Stupid leaf," he mumbled as he swallowed.

"What did you think of it?" Bailey wondered, tilting her head.

He grumbled his answer in incoherent words as he jabbed at his poor steak and shoved it in his mouth. "What?" Piper asked, frowning in confusion.

He repeated it, only a little louder, but no one could hear with the noise around them. "I liked it," he had said, stabbing the meat again.

"Come on, doofus, tell us!" Naden commanded, all of them looking at him.

"I liked it," he snapped making them laugh. He glared down at his Earth food.

"Aw, Percy, I told you," Piper giggled, patting his back.

"Whatever."

"I feel bad for you, Peacemaker," Bailey teased, earning a glare from Piper. "You have to deal with a grumpy Percy Jackson tonight."

"Don't try and cheer him up though," Naden joked, sending a wink their way, both of them blushing.

"It'll be a miracle if we can get them out of the room," Bailey laughed.

"That's enough!" Piper squeaked, cheeks red as Percy's. "No more on the subject."

The other girls laughed.

"Okay, this is where you'll sleep," Piper explained, gesturing to the small queen sized bed that was adoned with black sheets and comforter, the walls changing as Percy looked around. "The walls will change to whatever you want to look at it," she said as he opened his mouth and pointed at the wall.

"Oh, sweet," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You can put your stuff anywhere. Cleaner bots'll clean up when we leave." She opened a brown door in the left corner. "There's the bathroom and yeah," she played with her hair. "That's it."

"Awesome," he threw his bag down on the ground and looked around. "Anything else?"

"You can't leave the room until the morning," she added. "I mean, you can leave this, but you can't leave my room. The cleaner bots will have your head. But uh, welcome home, I guess."

"Thanks," he nodded and looked at the wall that was now showing the New York landscape, the other three different scenes. "That's pretty cool."

"Yeah," she rocked back on her heels. "It changes whenever you think of another place."

He grinned. "Awesome."

She jabbed her thumb back towards her part. "I'm going to bed, you probably should too. Long day tomorrow."

"Yeah," he sighed and sat down on the bed, watching her. "How do we get off this place?"

"My team's ship. Bailey's team will take her own."

He nodded again and continued to watch her. It made her feel weird, like butterflies in the stomach weird, only her stomach was kind of knotted. "Can I ask you something?" he asked, making her blink in surprise.

"I guess," she replied, still playing with her hair- it helped to calm her. Something told her that this question wasn't going to be a good one.

He was quiet for a while, his green eyes studying her face as if he could get the answer from there. It was either that or he just wanted to look at her face, but Piper was sure that that wasn't the case right now. "Why'd you leave?"

"Oh," she whispered, her fear resolved. "That question," she shifted nervously on her feet. "It's kind of a long story."

"But it's a long way to Camp right?"

"Right," she breathed out, her stomach now holding those familiar nervous butterflies that were bouncing around her stomach like they didn't know where they were and they were scared. Huh, Piper thought. Sounds like me.

"You don't have to tell me you know," he said when he realized she wasn't going to say anything else. "I just want to know. We were pretty bummed out when we found you missing. Annabeth freaked out for a while and we didn't hear from Jason when we asked if you were there for a while." Good, he praised himself mentally. Give her a little insight on what happened back at Camp, maybe she'll tell me.

"Oh," she murmured. Part of her felt bad for making them worry, but the other half just pointed out that they abandoned her and deserved to feel that way. She kind of agreed with the latter. "Well, uh, I don't know what to say."

Percy would admit he was kind of disappointed. He wanted to find out what made her leave. It wasn't the same at Camp without her there. It was boring and something else in Percy's heart hurt. He ignored it though, thought it as heartburn. "You don't have to tell me, Pipes. I was just wondering."

"But you probably deserve to know," she mumbled, shifting again in the same nervous way. Her fingers were absentmindedly braiding the hair she was messing with.

He shrugged, and though his mind was screaming YES TELL ME, he said, "You can tell me when you want."

She nodded, a little relieved that she didn't have to go into detail about Leo becoming higher than her or Lacy and Mitchell and the rest of her cabin shunning her or Annabeth and Percy being too in love to remember her or Jason cheating... "I'm going to go sleep," she announced abruptly, holding in her tears. The memories were overwhelming her now. "Night, Percy." She turned on her heel and wiped the fallen tear and hurried back into her room.

"Wait, Piper!" he called, jumping to his feet and grabbing her elbow. "I didn't mean to make you upset or anything. You don't have to tell me. I didn't mean to do anything."

"It's fine," she replied, though her voice cracked. "I'll see you in the morning."

"No, wait," he tugged at her elbow, a little panicked. What had he done to make her cry? Gods, he didn't mean to do that! He was just wondering! He wanted her to open up a little so they'd be the friends they were before she left. "Was it something I said?"

"Percy, it's fine," she laughed tearfully and cursed herself for doing so. "I'm just going to bed."

"I made you cry," he turned her around even though she tried to resist. "I'm sorry, Pipes," he wiped her cheeks. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"I told you that it's fine," she blinked to hold back the tears that weren't already on her face. "I just want to go to sleep, that's all."

He couldn't help snorting at that. "What's up, Pipes?" he asked, holding her shoulders so she couldn't go anywhere. "You know you can still talk to me, right?"

"Yeah," she whispered, nodding. "I'm just tired." She kissed his cheek and the action surprised him so much that he let go of her shoulders. She took the advantage and hurried out of there, closing his door and hurrying into her own bed, crying silently for her past that's come back to haunt her- but not in her dreams this time.

Everything's made up in this chapter.

It's a long one so I hope that you guys'll consider not killing me yet...But I have a few more days and I'm going to try and update again, but I go to work tomorrow like I have been all week. Wonderful way to spend Spring Break, right?

Anyways, who saw the Hunger Games movie? It was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I saw it twice and I can't wait to see it again. Word for word on some parts! Though, not as gorey and...uh, freaky as I thought it would be. But I liked it!

Now how about this chapter? Love it? Hate it? Tell me about it(: