Once Annabeth and Percy had safely gotten back into their room, Annabeth whipped her Yankees hat off and rounded on Percy. She wasn't going to get angry until she heard why they weren't still trying to pry information out of Daniel. Percy didn't make any sign that he noticed her irritation. He was walking around gathering up their belongings and packing them. Annabeth didn't know why they were actually packing up. She thought that waiting Daniel out would be a good idea as long as they had whatever armor Leo planned to equip them with.

"Percy?" Annabeth started.

Percy looked up from arranging something in his smaller bag. "Yeah?"

"What's going on? I get that we're packing up, but why? If we are planning to wait out Daniel, why do we need to pack up?"

"Well, we do need to check out and get traveling today. Daniel just happened to fit in with our schedule nicely." Percy chuckled. "I didn't think you'd be one to forget that type of thing."

Annabeth's face flushed. She didn't think she would forget that type of thing either. The day had been very long and it was only about one in the afternoon. They were supposed to be checking out of the hotel by three at the latest. They did have their own time limit.

"Alright. How are we going to get armor on?" Annabeth asked.

"Well. We're all going to have to go down to the van. I think we'll be checking out armor options together. I'm not sure how much longer we have, so every second counts. No room for mistakes here. We'll suit up at the van, but we'll have to bring Travis's to him in a bag or something. He can excuse himself to the bathroom, change into some travel clothes, and then able to have the armor on under it or however it adjusts." Percy said, pacing back and forth in between the beds.

"Is there going to be something for me? Or am I going to be hidden out of danger?" Annabeth's voice had a touch of resentment.

Percy turned to look at her. His eyes had an angry light in them. In a low voice, he said, "Annabeth, you aren't even supposed to be here. You got caught up in it and decided that you wanted to become a part of it. This is not your employment. This is a A2 issue. You can't even be considered a civilian specialist because it's not specifically a U.S. military problem. You're lucky we carry so many extra supplies with us around the clock."

Annabeth didn't know what to say. She was shocked to say the least. She hadn't expected Percy to get angry at her. She did feel slight resentment towards being sheltered all the time in this mission, but she didn't expect it to show through when she blurted out what she was thinking. Even though she had thought it briefly, she hadn't meant to actually say it. But it didn't matter, it was already said and done. Too late to take it back.

Annabeth looked up at Percy's face. She didn't see as much anger as she did sadness and irritation. He wasn't even looking at her. It made her think about his response. It was almost a textbook answer. It sounded like it was the automatic reply for a complaint like hers. Percy was not focused so much on what was going on in the present, but what was most likely going to happen in the near future. It concerned Annabeth.

"I'm not sure how this is going to work out. I think the only thing we'll be able to do is pack up and wing it until we get back on track with our original plans for this trip." Percy said. His voice was more thoughtful than anything. It also had a hint of weariness to it. There was a pause then Percy said, "I need the key for the room."

Annabeth gave him the key and looked down. She wasn't sure how this was to play out, but she was trusting the Percy she had known since they were twelve. She did a final sweep of their room to make sure that all their belongings were packed and ready to go. They closed all the bags and went back to the room Leo and Nico had been rooming in.

As Annabeth was reaching up to knock, Percy grabbed her hand. He pulled her to the side so she wasn't as close to their door as she was to their own. He lowered his voice and said in Greek, "Cap. Did my look change at all?"

Annabeth looked up at him and analyzed his facial features. She shook her head slowly and said, "You look like you did when you made the change. Maybe you should grow a beard to go with your regular look. It looks nice."

Percy grinned and took her Yankees cap from her and gently placed it on her head saying, "I'll definitely consider it." He spun on his heel and rapped on the door.

Nico opened his door. In Italian he said, "You're the last one. What took you so long? You didn't get side tracked, did you?"

Percy rolled his eyes and responded, "Just move over so we can get in."

Nico stepped to the side and stood slightly in the doorway. As Percy passed by, Nico made a show of acting like he saw something in the hall and having to hold the door open as he checked. The result was the door standing open for the air to come and go. Annabeth was able to go into the room much sooner than Nico had realized.

Percy noticed Annabeth lightly brushing up against his arm. He chuckled and continuing in Italian, "Mario! I don't think you're going to see anything of interest. Come on in and shut the door. We don't want everyone listening in on our conversations."

Nico turned and exchanged a strange look with Percy as he shut the door. "Yeah. Of course. I must have gotten distracted."

Percy grinned and turned to the rest of their group with Annabeth by his right arm. Daniel and Travis had not moved from their armchairs. Daniel looked more nervous than he had before. He was fidgeting more as well. That was strange in itself since Travis was explaining how a brother of his had the last name Castellan. It sounded like they were still discussing surname origins. Travis was telling Daniel how the name Castellan originated in Italy.

In Greek, Percy said, "Alright guys. Ray, you stay here and we'll bring you your supplies. The rest of us will go down to the van and get all our supplies. Fai already had Ray's bags. He is going to bring them down to put in the van along with his own."

All the men, save Daniel, nodded. They all stood, but Travis just grabbed his smaller bag that he had brought into the room and gave it to Frank after shutting it. Then Travis sat back down as the rest of them walked out. Nico was second to last to leave. Percy was to go after him but as he reached the door he held it open as he turned back to Travis. They exchanged significant looks and in that moment Annabeth took it as her time to slip out. As she passed Percy, she made sure to brush up against his arm without touching his sleeve. She had to make sure that he knew she had passed. As it happened, Percy was closing the door and running his suitcase through the door as she had passed. She just barely got through without Percy's suitcase running over her foot.

As the door was closing, Annabeth looked back to see Travis engaging Daniel in yet another conversation. She jogged down the hall to catch up to the other men. They were waiting for the elevator. When she reached them, she looked back to see Percy calmly walking down the hall pulling his suitcase with his smaller bag on the handle. He was carrying Annabeth's bag in his other hand.

Just as Percy reached the others, the elevator doors on the right opened. He grinned and they all stepped in. It was a tight fit with all the baggage, but they managed. It was difficult to do as they couldn't see Annabeth. They just depended that she would be in a good position. They just had to act like they tripped over their own shoe or something if they ran into her.

They went out to the van. They all got in and Leo 'accidentally' left the back doors open. Annabeth quickly climbed in as Percy went over to shut the doors. Once he had closed the doors, he turned directly to the side of them. He opened a panel that wasn't visible unless one knew where to look. It seemed to be some sort of electrical panel. It had different relays in it as well as various switches and one lever that popped out as the panel was opened.

Percy flipped two of the switches and put the lever into the upright position. The lights all went on. As Leo and Frank started going through one of the storage compartments, different lights inside it started to turn on as well. It was located in the floor behind the two bucket seats that were the driver and shotgun seats of the van. Leo was carelessly throwing different types of armor around. The armor ranged from Greek styles to medieval to modern. There was leather, chain mail, metal, and Kevlar among other things. Annabeth wondered what exactly Leo and Frank were looking for. She guessed it would be something that was specifically Argo II equipment. Probably invented by the men she was with at the moment, along with Jason, Travis and Connor.

Annabeth deemed it safe to take off her cap as Percy and Nico went around packing all their bags around in the van. There were no ways to see into the van except for the windshield. There was a special one way screen that dropped from the ceiling to the floor just behind the front seats but in front of the storage compartment. It allowed those in the back to see out front without being seen through the windshield or windows. It was a seriously decked out van.

Annabeth walked over to where Percy was sitting in one of the swivel chairs looking at a monitor. The monitor had different displays of what looked like maps. Annabeth couldn't tell what they were maps of. It just looked like a system of sorts. Annabeth didn't know what type of system it was either. At first she thought it was just a strange road map, but then she thought of all the different underground train systems that there were. It could be anything, but Annabeth was almost certain it was some sort of transportation system.

Percy twirled in his chair to face Annabeth. "Pretty impressive, eh?"

Annabeth gave a small laugh and responded, "Quite. What is it?"

"Nope. Can't tell you that."

"Then how do you expect me to know if it really is impressive or not?"

"Well you kinda already said it was. Can't take that back."

"Fine. Don't explain a map to your strategist."

"Field strategist. Tell me, what makes you say that it's a map?"

"It looks like a map to me. Like maybe a complex road system or a map of a subway of sorts."

Percy inclined his head slightly to her saying, "Impressive reasoning, but this time you're wrong. It is not a map of a subway or road system. Although if it was a road system, that would be pretty impressive to not have a million crashes a day on every intersection."

"I thought several of them were maybe bridges over the different roads." Annabeth said as she looked back at the display on the monitor.

Percy turned to look at it as well. He shrugged and said, "Yeah, I guess I can see what you mean. It could easily be a map to a subway or road system. Infact I think if we wanted to, it could be some sort of blueprints to work on existing transportation systems."

Annabeth nodded then asked, "What do we actually need from here?"

"Well the armor, for starters. Then we'll have to change into the armor so we can tell Travis once we go back up. We also have to get all checked out of the hotel by three this afternoon. It's about a quarter to two now."

Annabeth turned and looked at the clock on the dashboard of the van. It read 13:46 which she knew to be 01:46 in the afternoon. Percy must have had a great sense of time because it didn't look like he looked at any clock or watch when he said the approximate time.

Percy had turned back to the monitor giving it his full attention. It was a touchscreen and that was how he was operating it earlier, but as Annabeth watched, a keypad came out from the wall of the van. It was a black, smooth surface. Once it was completely out from the wall in perfect position in front of Percy, it lit up into a standard computer keyboard. Percy's fingers flew across the keyboard quickly and efficiently. He typed a series of commands into the computer, put the keypad back into its space in the wall, and shut the monitor off.

Annabeth was surprised at Percy's skill with the technology that they were dealing with. It was very high tech even for the mortals who could use technology. Percy opened another seemingly invisible panel. It was much smaller and looked like just another storage compartment. From it, he pulled several small devices from it. They looked like small hearing aids without the part that goes into the ear. It was just the part the went behind the ear.

Percy placed a royal blue one behind his ear. Annabeth didn't know how it attached or worked, but there was a little beep that came from it. She thought that would probably mean that it was on.

Percy turned to Annabeth and offered her a grey device like the one he had. She gave him a questioning look.

"It's a part of your specialized armor. It's a nice little gadget. It's not just armor. I'll explain the rest later." Percy answered the unspoken question.

Annabeth looked around and saw that all the other men were watching him. Frank gave her a small nod. Nico just had an amused look. Leo had pulled a workbench out of the floor and was repairing or making something. The storage containers looked like they had all sunk into different places. Nico and Frank both sat down opposite Percy so they were behind Annabeth.

"Come on. Trust me." Percy said. He was grinning. He gently pulled her closer to him and placed the device behind her right ear. He pressed it in and another small beep was emitted from the device. There was a sharp pain behind Annabeth's ear and she winced. It was quickly gone though.

Percy handed others out to the rest of the men giving Frank an extra. They applied them to their own heads. No sooner had all of them turned on and become active did they all wince and put a finger to their ears.

Annabeth didn't know what happened. They weren't concerned about their right ears, but their left. That wasn't where the device they had just received was placed. They all had looks of deep concentration.

It was silent in the van until Percy put his hand down and said flatly, "Great. We'll see what we can do. Over."

The rest of the men put their hands down. Leo turned back to whatever he was working on. It looked like he was finishing up. When he was done, he stood up and kicked one of the legs on his workbench. At first, Annabeth thought that he was angry or something, but then the workbench sank into the floor along with various tools and devices Leo had been using. When she looked around the van everything in back other than the swivel chairs was either in the floor or wall practically invisible. The only thing that was still obviously visible was the panel door Percy had opened when they stepped into the van.

Leo handed a strange little device to each of them. It looked like a very small plastic box. They were all black this time whereas the ear devices were different colors depending, Annabeth assumed, on who they were meant to be worn by. Although when the black box-like devices were attached, a light flashed a certain color. They had to be attached first though. Percy attached his first then attached Annabeth's as well.

Annabeth had tried to convince Percy to simply tell her how to attach them, but he insisted he do it. He pressed it against the outside of her thigh almost at her knee and squeezed the sides. Its shape didn't seem to change at all, but straps were triggered and they snapped around Annabeth's leg. A light on top flashed grey. The same shade of grey that her ear device was.

"What's this?" Annabeth asked gesturing the the little box.

"It's a little invention we made a while back. I call it my gizmo and everyone else calls it a shitbox. Take your pick." Leo answered proudly.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Is it that bad of a device?"

"We only call it a shitbox because it's a box and the first prototype was an ugly shade of brown. It also had more, ah, terrain than the one you're looking at now. The nickname stuck. Besides, it makes it sound like we're talking about an old car." Nico answered.

"How does calling it a shitbox make it sound like you're talking about an old car?" Annabeth asked. She decided she was most likely going to call it gizmo like Leo did.

"C'mon Annabeth. You haven't ever heard guys talking about their cars and calling them bad names when they don't work right or are old, but not taken good care of?" Percy asked. He continued with a chuckle, "Hell! I think I've done that myself a couple times."

Annabeth gave Percy a dry look. She asked, "What car did you call a shitbox?"

"That old AMC Gremlin that I had a couple years back."

"But that wasn't even ours! You told me that you were given that as part of an assignment." Annabeth said, confused.

"Yeah, I know. I can still think that it's a lemon and was annoying to have to drive around for almost half a year." Percy said shrugging. He went on saying, "More money out of pocket than I cared to spend during that time. I don't think too highly of that AMC Pacer I had to put up with either."

"Did you compare a car to a lemon, Percy?" Frank asked.

Leo both started laughing. Annabeth didn't know why as she thought it was a valid question. Nico didn't look as clueless as Frank and Annabeth, but he didn't act as though the question didn't make any sense. Percy seemed to understand where Frank was coming from, but he didn't bother to hide the small chuckle he emitted.

"Frank, a lemon is a term used for cars that never work properly or if they do, they don't stay that way for long. Car mechanics need lemons. They help keep a lot of mechanical shops open, especially ones that sell parts along with the service of fixing the car." Leo explained.

"Oh." Frank said, embarrassed.

Annabeth said, "Don't worry. I was thinking along the same lines."

Percy put an arm around her waist and said, "Alright. You guys get back up and get Travis his stuff. Plus change into some travel clothes so it won't be weird that Travis is the only one to change. I'm gonna give Annabeth a run-through of these devices and we'll get changed as well."

"Where are we going to change?" Nico asked.

"Well we got the bathroom in here and in your room for you and Leo. Frank can go to his room. I'm going to bring Annabeth to our room."

"But aren't we trying to have as little baggage as possible?" Annabeth asked.

Percy smacked his head. "Yeah! Sorry. I forgot about that. We're planning on making a quick escape and all that. Plus our time limit is running short. Alright, no time for modesty. We're changing in here. Annabeth gets the bathroom." Percy ordered. To Annabeth he said, "Change into something that will make you look like an experienced traveler. Not necessarily for business though. You'll find something in the small bag I've got for you."

Nico was typing something into yet another invisible panel he had opened from the wall. Walls came up from the floor. Percy opened the door for her and she brought her bag in with her. The inside was fairly basic at first glance. There was a toilet that looked like it had real plumbing though. In a moving vehicle, actual plumbing didn't make any sense to Annabeth. There was a faucet with a basin that you pulled down from the wall like a tray table in planes. Its drain was on the wall of the bathroom. There was a mirror above the faucet and what looked like would be the control for the faucet. The toilet paper was in a little inlet in the wall by the toilet with extra rolls beneath it in another inlet behind a small glass sliding door. There was a dark purple towel on a rack by the faucet. The rack was fairly low and the bottom of the hand towel went below Annabeth's hands when they were relaxed by her side. This surprised her because the van was originally designed for people who were taller than her and if she found it to be a bit too low, then they probably had to kneel to reach it comfortably. Also next to the faucet and above the towel rack was a sign that had three different soap brands on it, but no dispenser.

Instead of immediately changing, Annabeth started trying to figure out how to get soap. She figured out that it was a sign with the soap brands on it doubled as a keypad. She had accidentally touched the word Softsoap on the sign and a very thin faucet unfolded from the wall. There was a button on the front of the small faucet. She held her hand under the faucet and pressed the button. A small dollop of soap was applied to her hand. When it was finished applying the soap to her hand, the faucet folded up back into the wall. She turned and unlatched the basin and noticed the faucet control was more similar to a hotel shower than most sinks. It was right over the faucet and fairly smaller than a shower's would be. It was proportional to the sink.

Annabeth washed her hands quickly. She turned to her bag. She started to go through it. She didn't know what exactly Percy meant by looking like an experienced traveler. She also wasn't sure if she should change her pants as the gizmo was attached to them. She decided they would be fine if she found a better top.

She found a light blue blouse that she liked and pulled it out. She stripped out of her shirt that she had been wearing. Just as she had done that, an urgent sounding knock came to the door. She cursed under her breath and cracked open the door. Percy was standing outside. He was in a sea green button-up shirt with the top two buttons open allowing a bit of chest hair to peek through. His sleeves were also rolled up almost to his elbows. He had black cargo pants and dark brown comfortable looking shoes to go with it. His facial features seemed different. It took Annabeth a moment to realize he was back in disguise. She hadn't even noticed he had been out of it. He was wearing sea green tinted aviator sunglasses on top of his head.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Annabeth responded.

"Well, you were just taking longer than I thought you would so I got a little concerned."

Annabeth blushed. "I think that might've been because I was struggling to wash my hands."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Sorry?"

"I couldn't figure out how the soap worked, so I must have spent more time working it out than I should have."

"But it's the same mechanism to flush or plunge the toilet." Percy said, sounding quite baffled.

"Really?"

"Yeah. How could you not figure it out if you had already done it?"

"Well, I didn't use the toilet. I just wanted to figure it out because I couldn't find the soap dispenser when I was initially looking around."

"And you didn't notice there was no handle to flush to toilet?"

"No. But there wasn't a sign that drew my attention either." Annabeth responded, gesturing to the keypad that doubled as a sign on the wall for the soap.

"There actually is. It's just on the top of the toilet here." Percy came into the bathroom, shut the door behind him and showed Annabeth the top of the toilet back where was a sign similar to the one that displayed the different soap brands available. This one had two options: flush or plunge.

"Nice touch. A mechanical plunger in the toilet. Who came up with that?" Annabeth asked.

"Leo. Can't be surprised there." Percy answered. Scooping up Annabeth's blouse that she had left on the toilet lid, he said, "You need to finish changing."

A/N: Bit longer chapter than average. Hope it's still enjoyable. Thanks for the reviews and I'm always open to constructive criticism.