I am so sorry for not updating in a while. I just started my freshman year of high school and it's been pretty hectic lately. Which reminds me, I gotta sleep to wake up, so I just want to say that I feel really bad about this chapter, but I hope you like it...in a way...you'll see.

I do not own PJO.

Please read:)

Thalia had been vacuuming, so it had been hard for Annabeth to hear the phone ring.

"Thalia!" She shouted over the large suctioning noise. "Thalia, stop! I have to answer the phone!"

But Thalia didn't stop. She kept moving the vacuum back and forth, sweeping it with large motions with her arm. She hadn't heard Annabeth.

Annabeth reached over and punched her in the arm and Thalia yelped and hurried to turn it off. Then she swung around and returned the punch. "What was that for?!"

The phone rang again and Annabeth gave her a look and then put the phone to her ear, pressing the talk button. But she still found it strange that someone was calling this late at night. She and Thalia would've been home by now, but they were just finishing up the last house cleaning parts.

"Hello?" She asked into it.

"Annabeth!" Percy cried, and she could immediately tell that something was wrong, by the strain in his voice and the sobs that racked through his words. "Annabeth, I'm so sorry! I—I didn't know that this would happen! I tried, I really did."

"Percy, what's wrong?" Annabeth was concerned. What was he talking about? Her feet moved without her thinking and she slowly sat down.

"He—he saved us." He was breathing heavily and he sniffed, and she could see the tears that would be trailing down his cheeks. "But, he—put Thalia on the phone."

"Percy—"

"Now! Hurry! Nico and I have to go soon!"

Annabeth was shaking and she slowly took the phone away from her ear. Her breath was quick and she carefully held out the phone to Thalia.

She was wide-eyed and confused, but took the phone. "Percy?"

"He said he was sorry." Percy said. "He did it for us—and for you. He wanted me to tell you that he's better. He cleared up his problems, that bastard!" Percy seethed and laughed a little, like it was some sort of sick joke; or he couldn't believe it. "I'm…I'm sorry. He said…he said to tell you that he loves you. And… goodbye," and then he broke down into more sobs.

The color suddenly drained from Thalia's skin and she almost dropped the phone, but then her hand shook and she instinctively clenched her fingers so no one could tell that she was scared or worried.

"Who—" her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "Who did?" her eyes filled with tears and one single salty trail made its way down her pale cheek.

"Luke,"

The night before…

It was Percy's third week working with Luke, and he had to say, Luke was a pretty weird guy—or, his friends were weird. Sure, he was nice and all and he and Percy are friends, but he's got some problems. Percy knows that it's connected to the reason why he owes people money. Example:

A couple days ago, while Luke was handing a customer their drink, the door opened and this very pale kid with dark hair walked in, slouched, and his hands in his saggy black jeans pockets. His hair was ruffled and hung over his dark eyebrows, and was so black that it made him look paler. He had purple bags under his eyes and his dark brown eyes looked hazy, and this boy looked sick and exhausted. He had looked around.

Percy eyed him as he placed some mugs in a cabinet and his eyebrow furrowed. He straightened and opened his mouth like he was going to call out to the kid, but then Luke had put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry; I got this."

Percy hadn't said anything and let Luke hurry around the counter and walk up to the pale kid. He had begun to whisper with him in a hushed tone, as if they didn't want anyone to hear them, but the Café was completely quiet, so if Percy strained a little, he could hear them.

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked.

"I need to talk to you," the other said.

"How did you know I was here?" Luke looked around like someone was right behind them and he took a hold of the guy's shoulders.

The guy didn't really seem to notice, except try to brush off his hands but a slight move of his shoulder, but that couldn't let go of Luke's strong hands.

Percy watched as the guy said, "I asked Thalia, what's your problem, man?"

"Listen, I can't talk. Not right now. You have to go," Luke shook him a little. "Are you listening to me?"

The guy blinked slowly and his face twisted into a knot. "I can't just go!" he shouted, and it caused some glances to go their way.

Luke shushed him.

"No!" The pale man snapped and his eyes widened, like he was suddenly awake, and he pointed a finger at Luke's face, making him back up. "No," he said in a lower voice. "You got me into this mess. I will not be quiet"—he walked away from Luke and toward the counter where Percy was—"And I will not be shussshhhed," He said and carried on the 'shh' part like he was shushing Luke.

Luke hurriedly walked towards him, a look of worry on his face, and he reached out to touch the man who was now staring at Percy.

But the man turned away from Luke before he could touch him.

He leaned on the counter, staring at Percy who just looked back at him with a weird and confused expression.

"…Can I…get you something?" Percy asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, do you have any N—?"

Luke clamped a hand on the man's mouth and said, "No, Percy, he won't have anything. He was just leaving."

Percy noted how this stranger's voice had slurred. Even though he protested, Luke pushed him back out the door.

Today, Percy walked with the Café keys swinging in his finger, jangling with every move. He was still hesitant about working with Luke, just something rolled in his stomach about it. He wondered about why he owed people money, but he didn't want to ask, thinking that maybe it would be disrespectful and maybe stir up some grudges between the two.

He walked up to the door just as he saw Luke coming from the opposite direction. Percy greeted him with a smile and the corners of Luke's mouth went upwards and he tilted his head back in recognition.

They reached the door at the same time.

"Hey, Perce," Luke said in a heavy voice.

Percy looked up at him and finally saw the rings under his eyes and how his hair was tousled like he'd just got out of bed.

"Hey…" Percy looked at him as he turned the key in the slot. "You okay?"

Luke's eyes flashed up to her and a shadow passed over his face. He kept his head down, though. "Yeah," he said, "yeah, I am."

"Are you sure?"

Luke gave him a look.

Percy shrugged and opened the door. "Okay, then," he said and opened it for Luke to walk in. "Whatever you say."

He walked in without a word, and even though he didn't look at Percy, he could feel his sea green eyes trail after him as he walked in. But he didn't look back at him—he just kept staring ahead, but then blinked slowly, hoping that when he opened his eyes again, everything that was complicating his life would go away.

And they did.

For that split second, everything went away.

"So," Percy said as he wiped off the tables. They hadn't opened yet, and were just getting ready to start everything up. "How'd you get your scar?"

"That's none of your business," Luke immediately said as he cleaned out some of the coffee machines.

Percy sighed and threw down the wash cloth on the table and crossed his arms, giving Luke a work. "What happened to you, Luke?"

He stopped and looked over at Percy, a wild look on his face. He was baffled, and he didn't know why. Luke was about to deny this, but then he stopped himself. Denial wasn't worth it—because then he knew that Percy was right. There was something wrong with him. He was so buried deep in this, that he couldn't see a way out.

But, he said, "What do you mean?"

"You used to be so happy, when you first got here. Now you…it's like you've turned into the bad guy. What, did you get possessed by Kronos or something?"

"What?" Now Luke seriously was baffled.

Percy stammered a little and scratched the back of his neck even when there was no itch. "Sorry, I guess I've been spending too much time with Annabeth."

Luke smiled a little. "Oh. That explains it." He nodded his head once and then turned toward Percy, the counter separating them, and he refilled the pastries from a plastic box sitting in front of him. Though, after a while, he sighed and stopped. "A lot of things, Percy. A lot of things happened to me. Things that no being should ever go through."

Percy was solemn. But then his face screwed into a confused not. "Just to be clear, you're not possessed by Kronos, right? Because you're starting to sound like you're about to say that."

"No, Percy," Luke gave him a look. "I am not possessed by any titan."

Percy looked down at the ground and cleared his throat. "Good." He said.

"No, but…" Luke tapped his fingers against the counter and shook his head. He felt the lump in his throat and wanted to bend over and retch, because his stomach rolled at the thought of this mess he's in. He wanted to cover his face with his hands and weep, but he knew none of that was going to solve his problems.

Percy gave him a cautious look. "If you need to tell someone, now's the time. I'll listen, Luke. Just tell me. I can help—"

"No!" Luke said, his voice rising and he clenched his fingers into his palm, creating crescent moons in his skin from how his fingernails had been pressed so hard. "Nobody understands! They all think they can help, but they can't! Why can't anyone see that this is dangerous and if someone does help, someone will get hurt?!"

Percy paused and stared at him. "Then just tell me."

Luke was breathing heavily and he looked up at him from under his elegant, blonde eyebrows. One of them was marred, though, by the scar that ran across it. He clenched his jaw, and released the tension of his shoulders by dropping them.

"Start with telling me how you got that scar." Percy said, not breaking the eye contact.

Luke hesitated before he started. "I, uh," his voice was hoarse and he cleared his throat. "I had to owe someone money for accidentally crashing their car that I was borrowing. I didn't have that much money, and he turned out to be one of the biggest badasses in the city."

"Who is he?"

"He calls himself Apollo."

"Apollo?"

"Yeah, because it was this bright red Maserati. He says it's as bright as the sun, so it's only correct if he's 'Apollo'." Luke shook his head and rolled his eyes, knowing it was a stupid idea.

"Huh. Interesting." Percy stared off. "Never thought of it like that,"

"Anyways," Luke continued. "I didn't have any money, so I tried looking for a job around there. Turns out Apollo had spread the word that if anyone tried to help me, they would pay—in a bad way."

"I figured that,"

"So no one would even let me into their store." Luke's heart pounded as he talked. He hadn't told anyone yet, and he knew that even being here was dangerous even though Percy didn't know who Apollo or anyone else who hated him was. "I went so low that I tried to pickpocket from people. I used to do it all the time in college," he shrugged, "and I was good at it, so why not?"

Percy knew that this was going to end badly. "How rich was the dude that caught you trying to steal from him?"

Luke frowned. "His wallet weighed a lot more than I expected. He could feel the difference when I took it out."

Percy nodded, his lips pulled together tightly in a bite of disappointment.

"And I hadn't felt the…the pocket knife in there, either." Luke said in a heavy voice.

Percy clenched his teeth. Luke hadn't deserved all of this just for an accident that he didn't mean to make.

He cleared his throat. "I'm pretty sure you know what happened next—"

"Yeah, you don't have to talk about that." Percy cut him off, not wanting him to have to relive the suffering.

"No." Luke said softly. "I want to. I haven't told anyone. But I want to now."

Percy just nodded his head, swallowing air into his dry mouth.

"He told me that he wasn't going to get everything taken away from him just because some lowlife can't afford their own things. He said it was worthless to think someone like me could pass by because I stole from someone—as worthless as I was. He told me—"

"Luke, don't listen to him." Percy cut him off, not wanting to hear the words anymore. "Because it's not true,"

"But it is," Luke said, barely above a whisper and he looked up at Percy. "He was right." He chuckled dryly, but didn't look amused. "How could I have been so stupid to think that I could steal from someone, and then think that that was going to fix everything? It wasn't. It wouldn't have made me feel any better because I still did something wrong."

Percy said nothing.

"And then he told me that there was a difference between the both of us—that he had deserved the money and fame that he got because he tried."

"Luke—"

"And he's still right." He began to shake his head as the memory flashed in his head. It was dark and the man had found an alley nearby. Luke could feel the hardness of the wall behind him press against his back and a sharp coldness shoot through his scar.

He tilted his head, groaning a little to try to ease the pain. He was beginning to get a headache, but he didn't let that show. He hated how he could remember everything from that night. It gave him nightmares.

He remembered the dark face in front of him, the man with the jet black, slicked back hair. The shadow cut his face in half and a glint of moonlight flashed off the knife. He could feel the searing pain travel down the right side of his face.

The man had spat the words at him, but in a way, his voice was calm, as if he had pity for Luke. This made him want to punch this man, but the other half of him listened. Listened, because it was true.

When he had left Luke, wiping his blood off the blade and then walking away without another word, Luke dropped to his knees, sending a shattering pain through his kneecaps. But he didn't care. His body was numb and there was a ringing in his ears as something wet slid down his face. He began to cry as his hand, shaking, reached up to his face and felt the liquid. It came away with red dampening the pads of his fingers.

"Luke," Percy's voice cut through the memory, and Luke was glad for it. Sometimes, he just can't stop thinking about it.

He didn't look Percy in the eye. His blue eyes stayed attached to the countertop.

"I've put people in so much trouble, Percy. Just because of my mistakes. Pretty soon, it'll affect Annabeth and Thalia, Hazel and Rachel."

"I won't let that happen." Percy said in a firm voice.

"But it's not in your power!" Luke shouted, his voice going an octave higher. "It's mine—it's based off of my decisions!"

"Then you find a way to fix it." Percy said through gritted teeth and stepped forward, leaning toward Luke, a fierce fire in his green eyes.

"What do you think I've been doing? Why do you think Annabeth brought me here?"

"Does this have anything to do with that pale guy from a couple days ago?" Percy asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

"You mean Nico?" Luke asked.

Percy shrugged. "I guess," he said, "I don't know who he is. That pale guy that came in, looking for you. He looked sick."

Luke nodded. "That's Nico. Boy," he shook his head, "If there's anyone I hurt most, it's him. I didn't mean to."

"What happened with Nico?"

"He sells…things. Poor kid, he's got the worst dad ever—like Thalia's. And his mom can't do anything to help. All Nico's got is his sister. He thinks the only way he can get enough money for the both of them is by selling junk."

"Are most of those junk drugs?" Percy asked.

"Some of it." Luke shook his head. "God, it's so messed-up." He paused and took a deep breath for a moment and then continued, "So he came to me, telling me about how he's heard of me being in trouble with Apollo. Said he found a way to help me. If I helped him sell some of those things for him, then I would get enough money to clear myself up with Apollo."

"What went wrong?" Percy asked and his brows knitted together in concentration, seeing where all of this was going.

"So I helped him and tried to sell to a guy who was interested. He asked me how much, I gave him the price, and he got mad. Saying that all this junk couldn't be this much. Got in a fight. Turns out he's another badass."

"Why don't we just tape a neon sign to your forehead saying that every badass anywhere is welcome to fight with you?" Percy asked nonchalantly with a solemn face.

"Very funny," Luke glared at him. "But no. I never got his name, but he said I would regret the day I ever came across with him."

"And how does this come into play with Nico?"

"He asked me who I got all the junk from. I didn't want to tell, and I told him that I didn't get it from anyone—that it was mine. He didn't believe me. He would've killed me if I didn't tell him. I told him and he said that both of us would regret it. The guy took Nico's sister. We don't know where she is, but we've been trying to find her by selling to different people, getting some information as we go."

Percy just stared. He began to feel as if now he had a part in this. That he had to help both of them. Luke was his friend, and someone needed to do something.

Luke waited for an answer. But everything was quiet.

The clock on the wall made a louder ticking noise, signaling that it was open time. But none of them moved or talked. They just stared, thoughts flying through them, wondering what to do next.

But Percy had already decided. He just didn't know if it was going to work or not.

Suddenly, he uncrossed his arms, moving to take off his apron and said, "Yep, alright. Let's go."

"What?" Luke was taken aback. "Go where?"

"To Nico. This is gone on too long and you guys are going to fix it and end it now."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Luke asked with his voice full of doubt.

"Because I'm going to help you."

"Say what?" Nico asked as he lay on his couch in his apartment. His words were lazy as he had just woken up.

"Percy's going to help us. We're going to get your sister and finish all of this…somehow."

"Seriously?" Nico asked. "Now? Guys, I have a class today."

"A class?" Percy asked.

Nico gave a sleepy groan as he sat up on his couch, the blanket falling from his over-sized black t-shirt. "College. Duh," he said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and gave a yawn.

"What? Nico's only in college? Are you kidding me?" Percy asked Luke. "He's just a kid,"

"You'd be surprised,"

"I am not a kid!" Nico protested. "I am not a kid. I've done more things that you could never imagine. And I don't need you to tell me that I can't do it." He pressed his finger against Percy's chest at the emphasized words.

Luke looked over at Percy with a raised eyebrow.

Percy blinked and nodded his head with his lips pressed together. He looked at Luke. "Point proven. So I guess he really is good enough to set up a meeting with Apollo."

Nico blinked and brought his hand back, suddenly looking sober. "Wait—what?"

"You heard me." Percy smirked.

"With Apollo? Are you kidding me? I thought you said that you were trying to help us?"

"I am. But we start with meeting him. He'll know where your sister is." Percy said.

Nico stared at him for a moment, one bottom eyelid twitching as if it were deciding to close, but it didn't. "You're crazy."

"Must be all that seaweed coffee," Luke said.

Percy grinned.

"So how was class, kiddo?" Percy asked in the driver's seat as Nico climbed into the back.

He smacked the back of Percy's head. "Don't call me kiddo."

Percy rubbed the spot on his head. "Hey! I'm helping you save your sister, and this is the thanks I get?"

"Just drive," Nico grumbled as he set down his leather brown messenger bag in the seat next to him.

Percy began to drive, but he asked, "So where are we going? Where did you tell Apollo to meet?"

"I didn't tell ask him anything."

"What?!" Percy stopped the car and twisted in his seat, maneuvering from under the seat belt, and looked back at Nico. "I thought you were—"

"You've never done this before, have you?" Nico furrowed his brow towards Percy. Nico turned to Luke, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, and asked, "He hasn't done this before, has he?"

Luke looked over at Percy, his eyes skirting up and down. "Obviously,"

Percy yelped and put a hand to his own chest. "Excuse me! But I'm trying to help you guys!"

"Not if you're looking like that," Nico said.

"What's wrong with the way I look?" Percy looked a little hurt. He was wearing a blue and white striped collar shirt, with jeans.

"You gotta look more…worn down,"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "And how, exactly, do I look like that?"

Nico sighed impatiently. "I'm not usually a bro-shopping person, but this is a situation in need."

"Bro-shopping?" Percy asked Luke.

He nodded. "Bro-shopping."

"My mother would not approve of this." Percy said as the woman at the cosmetics place stepped back from him, proudly holding a brush caked with pale powder still on it.

Percy sat in the chair, with his hair tousled under a big cap that was on backwards. He wore saggy jeans and an over-sized navy blue t-shirt, making his arms look skinnier, with more muscle veins.

They were at the cosmetics to make Percy look paler, so he almost looked like Nico's identical twin if it weren't for the sea green eyes. The older women walking by shot them looks of confusion and disgust, but the younger ones, kept staring, and Percy could swear he saw the cosmetics woman blushing. But none of that cared to him, because none of them were Annabeth.

"It doesn't matter if your mom approves," Luke said as he payed the woman. "It only matters if Apollo believes that you sell."

"What if I don't wanna look like that?" Percy pouted as he got up from the chair and heard giggles behind him. He looked back and found girls giggling and staring at his behind. He blushed and pulled up his jeans. "I think these are too big. They keep falling."

"What are you talking about?" Nico was baffled. "That's the size I wear."

Percy frowned.

"Right, so you guys ready?" Luke took a deep breath. "We gotta meet him in half an hour."

"Yeah, sure," Percy grumbled as he gathered his jeans by the loops.

"First we need to test Percy and see if he can pull off as a seller." Nico said as he crossed his arms.

"What! Come on, I don't want—"

"If I were Apollo, I'd shoot you right now." Nico said.

"All right, dawg, chill."

"Eh, it's good enough." Nico turned and walked away.

"Don't get all sassy with me, Miss Attitude." Percy snapped his fingers and rolled his neck.

Nico glared at him, but Luke was trying his best to suppress his laughter.

"This is the place?" Percy asked. It was nighttime and the moon was the only light, making the streets shine. The light glinted off of the wooden house on the side of the street. It look abandoned, but Percy guessed that meant that it was the perfect place to make a sell.

"Yep," Luke sighed. His heart was pounding. "Let's go." He pulled out a black object and it clicked.

"Whoa!" Percy jumped back. "You're carrying a gun?" He whispered fiercely as if he were afraid they'd get in trouble if anyone heard him.

"Duh," Nico said and brought out his own weapon. "You always bring one to these things."

"I don't have one."

"Then you're out of luck." Nico smirked.

"Nico, give Percy your gun," Luke said.

"What! No! It's my—"

"Just do it. I don't want you getting hurt. At least Percy knows who he's aiming at." Luke said.

"If I don't have mine, then I'll definitely be dead." Nico seethed.

Luke looked at him, his eyes glowing. It was almost like he was making a promise, or a sacrifice, like he knew what was going to happen. Like he could feel something bad happening. "Just do it. Please,"

Nico just stared at him, blinking, and then handed it over to Percy, who took it gently in both hands. "What do I do with it?" He asked.

Nico pursed his lips and glared a little. He turned to Luke. "You're leaving my life in the hands of this?" he jabbed a thumb towards Percy.

Luke rolled his eyes and told Percy, "Just point it at where you want to shoot, hold it with both hands, Percy, pull back on this to put the bullet in position, and then hit the trigger. Only shoot if you really need to."

Percy nodded. "Let's do this."

"Well don't sound so enthusiastic just yet." Nico grumbled and trudged towards the house.

The steps creaked beneath them with each step they took. They checked every room to watch for Apollo, Nico leading the front because he strolled through, incautiously and fearlessly.

"Nico, what the heck are you doing?" Luke whispered fiercely to him.

He turned with raised eyebrows. "Oh, well, my life is being protected by that guy so I thought that meant I could do whatever I wanted because I know he'll always be there to save me." Nico nodded sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up, okay? I'm trying to help you—"

"Both of you shut up!" Luke whispered. "Do you hear that?" He crept forward and Percy could soon hear faint voices behind one of the doors.

"Guys," he whispered and pointed to the door he was at.

"—I'm meeting with her brother tonight. They should be here any moment now."

"Good. This is gonna be a good show. Can't wait to get my stuff."

"I can't wait to get my drugs."

But the rest was muffled. Percy swore under his breath and reached for the doorknob.

"What do you think you're doing?" Luke whispered.

"We have to hear what they're saying."

"That other guy is the guy who took Nico's sister."

"I figured."

"Do you think she's in there?" Nico asked with hope.

"We'll have to see." Percy gripped the knob, his hand shaking and barely opened it—just a crack.

It was like somebody unplugged his ears. He could hear the two men talking in there, speaking their plans about how they couldn't leave any evidence behind.

"Why don't we just kill her now?"

"My brother will be here soon! And you will both die!" A girl's voice said.

"Oh, great. She's awake."

"Bianca's in there." Nico whispered.

Percy nodded.

"If they don't get here any time soon, I'm going to blow the deal off."

"It's my deal. Besides, if they don't get my money, I'll just go after his 'little sister'. What's her name again?"

"Annabelle?"

"Nah, I think it was Annabeth."

"I thought we were going to do that Goth girl first."

White hot fury shot through Percy and he stumbled barging inside with his gun out and he pushed Luke and Nico out of view.

The two men inside were shocked and pulled out their own guns and pointed it at him. He saw another girl, pale with dark hair, and Percy automatically knew that that was Bianca.

"Who are you? How'd you find this place?" One asked. They were both wearing hoods, but he suspected that the one who talked was the one with brown hair.

"I'm with Nico and Luke. They couldn't come because of another deal. It's just me." He answered.

"You didn't answer the first question: who are you?"

"I think the real question is who are you?"

The two looked at each other and then one threw his hood off. He had brown hair and brown eyes, tan skin. But Percy had never seen him before, so he had no idea who he was.

"I'm Apollo."

"Really?" Percy tilted his head to the side, his voice going an octave higher, and he lowered his gun a little. "You don't look like Apollo?"

"Say it again."

Percy thought about this. It sounded more like a threat. "O-oh, I just meant that you don't look like the actual god, not the dealer himself. I mean, I'm pretty sure you are the real Apollo but—"

"If you don't tell me who the hell you are, I'm going to—"

"I'm Percy, dawg—Apollo. Just chill,"

"So you have my stuff?" the other one, who was masked, asked.

"And my money. Luke sent it with you, right?" Apollo asked.

Oh, great, Percy thought. What was he going to do? He didn't have any of this stuff, or no plan. This wasn't going as well as he had hoped. What was he supposed to say?

"I do—he did. But first, you let her go, man. She doesn't have anything to do with this." Percy nodded towards Bianca, who was scared and confused at the same time.

"First, Percy, you let me see the money and stuff first." Apollo said.

"If I do, you have to promise that this feud between you and Luke is over. No more fighting—just leave him alone."

Apollo narrowed his eyes at him. "You sure you're from Luke and Nico? Cuz you don't sound like a seller."

Crap, I should've taken that more seriously.

Before he could answer, the door flew open and Luke was there, his gun out and loud noises drummed through the air, and he had shot holes in the wall. Apollo and the other guy ducked, and Percy saw a flash of Nico as he ran to his sister.

"Percy, run!" Luke shouted.

Percy ran out of the room, Nico and Bianca following behind them.

A curse split through the air and a couple of gun shots.

Bianca cried out and doubled over, clutching her arm, where red liquid poured from it. Nico shouted, but Luke took his shoulder and shoved him ahead. Percy ran back for her.

"Hey! You okay?!"

"No!" She answered back, tears streaking her cheeks.

"It's going to be oka—" there was another gunshot and suddenly, Bianca fell to the ground. "No!" He shouted and held onto her crumpled body.

"Nico," she said. "Help him," and then she felt weak.

Percy stared. He hadn't seen a person die before. It was a sad sight, the light just leaving. He gripped her body and laid it against the wall, closing her eyelids. She could hear the two men close by, but he had to go. He ran and ran and saw Nico being held down by Luke in another room.

"Bianca—she needs me! She's hurt!"

"She's going to be okay, Nico," Luke said and he looked back at Percy, who didn't need the makeup to make him look pale.

"I'm going to help you, Nico." Percy said in a soft voice. "I made a promise."

Nico began to shake his head. "You let her die! You were supposed to protect us! But you let her die!"

Luke tried to shush him, knowing that it'd just attract attention, but Nico wouldn't stop as he began to sob.

"Nico, I couldn't do anything! I'm sorry! I—"

"It doesn't matter anymore!" He wailed and turned away from them. Percy stepped toward him, trying to put a hand on his shoulder but Nico shrugged away.

"Percy, listen," Luke turned to him. "I called the cops, and we can still solve this."

"No, we can't! Bianca's gone!" Nico yelled.

"Nico—"

"Stop! Just stop!"

Percy frowned and he looked down at the floorboards. He wondered how much damage had been made on these floors before this.

"We can still—"

The door burst open and the two figures stood there. Apollo had a sly smirk on his face, and he pointed the gun at Luke. "Ah. You got my money, Castellan?"

Luke turned and straightened, the moonlight falling over half of his face, making him look even more dangerous. He was facing his problems right now—this may be his last chance.

"No. And I never will. You can deal with it. Right, cuz you're Apollo."

Apollo's eye twitched and suddenly there was another gunshot. Luke fell to the ground and there was a ringing in Percy's ears. He didn't like this—this was his entire fault. He put everyone here in this place. He knew how Luke felt.

"Apollo's a nickname."

"No." Percy said, staring at Luke who clutched his abdomen. "No! Get out of here!" He yelled at the two figures.

"We want our money!"

"Yeah well it's gonna be hard getting it behind bars." Percy said.

"What?" Apollo was taken aback.

Suddenly, outside the house, there was a wail of police sirens. The two looked scared and started to back out.

"Yeah." Percy said. "Go! And this is all done with."

"Looks like we still won," Apollo grinned and then he ran.

Percy didn't care where they went because he raced to Luke, who lie on his back.

"We did it, Perce. A clean slate for me, right?"

"No. You can't—you're gonna be okay." Percy said.

"No," Luke said. He coughed and red started to splatter onto his once-white teeth. "Tell Thalia that I'm better now—all of the problems are cleared."

"Hey, no. You can tell her yourself." Percy said, resting up Luke's head and his eyelids were drooping. "No—st-stay awake. Please,"

"Tell her I did it for her. I did it for all of us. Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her I love her. Tell her…goodbye."

"Luke!" He shouted.

But Luke could feel the pain easing, in his abdomen and in his mind. He tried to swallow, but only got the taste of blood. It didn't taste good—it didn't feel right. He coughed, choking, and suddenly, he smiled. He thought of Thalia, how they've been together all this time. He had done the right thing, he knows. He wanted to close his eyes, and have everything go away.

And they did.

But it wasn't for a split second this time.

Percy called Annabeth, first thing. He didn't know what else to do. His hands were shaking. With Nico's help, they had gotten both Luke and Bianca's body out of the house. It was difficult, but after the police had taken away "Apollo" and that other guy, the coast was clear.

"Percy?" Thalia asked on the other line.

Percy looked over at Luke's peaceful face. His scar seemed to disappear. "He said he was sorry."

Please review! I'm sorry if this made you sad:/ I promise it'll be major Percabeth and Jasper and ThaLuke next chapter. :)