Chapter Nineteen

Monday, December 1st

Bianca

"You've been gone for years!" Sammy screeched. "It's been, what? A year? Two?"

"What is he doing here?" Leo demanded. Leo's hair was a big mess. Not as bad as Percy's, but still. They were all wearing pajamas save Annabeth and Sammy. Sammy's brown eyes were wide. He looked distraught. Almost angry. Leo didn't look very intimidating in his sweats and tank. But his face said it all. He wanted answers.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Sammy stepped forward and Hazel stepped in front of him.

"Sammy, leave! Now!" Leo yelled pointing at the door. Bianca widened her eyes. He looked murderous.

Hazel stepped in, "He saw House, he can be here, Leo."

"Hazel, you don't get it. He has to go."

Sammy glared at Leo before running out of House. Hazel ran after him calling his name. Piper crossed her arms and turned to Leo, "Explain."

Leo sighed, "A month before House my mom died in a house fire and obviously I didn't have a dad so I went and lived with Sammy and his parents. But then House came along and I left. Sammy saw House the first time but… I didn't want to bring him. And I don't want him to come this time either. His mom would freak. I know my aunt and I know she wouldn't be able to handle that. So Sammy has to stay. Besides, he was only eight the first time and now he's ten. He doesn't have an Olympian for a parent or any special powers—"

"You don't know that, Leo," Beckendorf pointed out.

"Either way, I don't want his parents to know he's missing."

Bianca spoke up as an idea formed in her head, "They won't know he's missing."

All heads turned to her, "How?" Silena questioned.

Bianca grinned.

Hazel

Hazel jumped out of House and looked around. Her eyes scanned the airport for Sammy. She saw a flash of brown hair passing the information desk. Hazel bolted after him. "Sammy, wait!"

Sammy sped up and escaped through a door. Hazel stopped short as she read the words on the glass. To the roof. Employees only.

Hazel ran through the door and jogged up the stairs taking two at a time. She reached a door and opened it up. She left the door as she walked towards Sammy. Sammy turned towards Hazel, "Hazel, please go."

"Why'd you run?" Hazel demanded as the wind blew her hair into her face. Hazel glanced down. They were dangerously high.

Sammy frowned, "It's just that… Leo left a long time ago. And we never get along, even back then. And now he has something special and I feel like," Sammy paused and looked up at the snow falling around them. "He doesn't want me to be a part of it." Sammy walked through the pre-opened door and shut it behind him.

Hazel stood in the cold in her pajamas for a bit deciding to let Sammy cool off. After a bit she decided to head back down. She walked towards the door and tugged on it. It wouldn't budge. Hazel started to panic. "Come on, come on," she muttered. Hazel banged on the door, "Sammy, the door is locked!" Hazel let out a breath. Her breath was white. "C-cold," she muttered. "Who locks the door so people can get in but not out?" She rubbed her bare arms as it snowed. After pacing for fifteen minutes as she contemplated how to get down the side of the building she started to feel light-headed. Hazel leaned her back on the door. Her eyes drooped slightly. I'm okay, she reassured herself. Hazel rubbed her hands together as she closed her eyes.

I'm fine.

Thalia

Thalia bit her lip. She felt bad for Leo and Sammy. They were both oblivious to one another's problems. And Hazel. She didn't think that Hazel knows what she's gotten herself into. Hazel really did like Sammy, that much was obvious. But Thalia wasn't sure whether or not this whole thing was good idea. Obviously, Sammy was supposed to be already here—already a part of Omáda. Leo held him back because of Sammy's parents. Thalia wished that she could go back in time and tell Leo to let Sammy go. House chose him and now House sent them on a wild goose chase to find him. They would already be on their way if not for that. Thalia was pretty sure it messed up the process and held them back. House wanted them to fix it. And they did. Now it was time to move on. But they can't because Leo is still trying to hold Sammy back. Thalia really hoped Bianca's plan worked.

"Okay," Bianca began. "Here's what we can do. Sammy can do what we're doing. Leave in little chops of time without our parents having to worry. Then, just go back in time."

"That would work if not for one thing," Katie added pulling her brown hair into a ponytail. "You can't mess with time like that."

Thalia whipped her head towards Annabeth, "Annabeth, I swear, if you lied to get us here—"

Annabeth shot her hands up, "I didn't, I promise. It was the original plan but I have a better one."

"Spill."

"What if while your parents thought they sent you to a boarding school—"

"Look, Annabeth," Percy interrupted. "You need to stop coming up with empty ideas, I thought you were smarter than that."

Annabeth glared at Percy. "Let me finish, Perseus."

"Ooh," Travis snickered. "Full name."

"Here's the deal. You see your parents every weekend. If we need you on weekends, we'll make something up."

"Annabeth," Nico interrupted. "You do not understand. We need to learn stuff."

"We've already got that figured out," Grover said. "We have tutors."

"Fine, you know what, whatever." Thalia huffed. This had to be one of the stupidest ideas she's ever heard fall from Annabeth's mouth. A tutor? A freaking tutor? Fine, if they were that determined Thalia would deal with it. No going back in time. Just a pile of lies to their parents. She really wanted hot chocolate right now. She smiled to herself. That was random.

"Sammy and Hazel still haven't come back yet," Jason said suddenly. "It's been half an hour, I'm going to go look for them."

Percy jumped up from his leaning position on the counter, "I'll come too."

"And me," Leo said tugging on his shirt. He looked guilty. "I need to talk to Sammy."

The three boys disappeared from sight.

Jason

The three of them headed through the door. Jason scanned the airport. He could hear tons of people having their own conversations around him. He was worried for Sammy and Hazel. Mostly Hazel to be honest.

"Should we split up?" Percy asked as he glanced around the airport.

Jason shook his head, "We won't know if the others have found them or not." Leo nodded, agreeing.

Percy shrugged. "Where should we look first?"

"The entrance?" Jason suggested.

The three boys headed towards the entrance of the airport. Sammy's dad was gone—a sign that Sammy left too. If possible, Leo looked even more guilty. They went on to look for Hazel they figured that she had either gone with Sammy or was lost. Otherwise, she would've come back. They looked everywhere within the security check point. No Hazel. Jason scanned the area for a place they hadn't looked yet. His eyes landed on a door. He pointed to it. "Maybe the stairs?"

"It says employees only," Leo pointed out.

Percy smirked, "Who am I if I don't break a rule once in a while." He opened the door, "Ladies first," he grinned at Leo who rolled his eyes. The three of them ran up the stairs and reached a door. Jason opened the door and peaked out.

"It's really cold out here," he commented before stepping out. Percy left the door a crack open behind him.

"See any footprints?" Percy asked. The snow was several inches deep.

"If she was up here her footprints would be gone by now," Leo commented from the other side.

"Let's go," Jason said as he began to spun around, "It's free—" He was cut off by his own yell.

Percy and Leo ran over, "What?"

"There's a person here," Jason was staring down at a corpse in the snow. It was right up against the door. The person was small and didn't seem to be moving.

Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed as they examined the corpse.

Jason stepped forward slowly and crouched down as he looked at the face. He jumped up, "It's Hazel!"

Percy gasped. "She must be freezing!"

"She's probably dead by now," Leo said off from the side. That earned him two glares. "What? We've been looking for an hour! And it's—at the most—32 degrees out here."

Jason and Percy lifted her up together and clumps of snow fell off of her body. Leo held open the door as they brought her inside. They ran out the door and tried to let the least amount of people see her as they ran into House. Thalia sat at the island swirling hot chocolate around with a spoon. She stood up and gasped when she saw Hazel's body. "What happened!" she yelled as they sat her down on the couch.

"Will!" Leo yelled, "Annabeth! Katie! Anybody!"

Piper burst out of the room first, "What is it?" Within seconds everyone was gathered around Hazel. Will was working on her fast.

"We found her on the roof like that," Percy explained.

Will stood up, "To be honest, it's not good. I could barely find a pulse!"

"But at least you found one!" Juniper piped up.

Will nodded, "The best thing we can do is warm her up. Hospital even—"

"No way," Luke said. "We can't do that."

"We can and we might have to."

As worried for Hazel as he was, Jason was wary of talking Hazel to the hospital. What would they think? What if her mother found out? But even with Hazel's dark complexion you could see that her cheeks were blue and she had severe case of hypothermia. "I think it would be best to take her to the hospital," Jason supplied.

Grover shifted from foot to foot, "I don't know, it's kind of risky."

"She is not going to die on our hands," Thalia glared at everybody.

"She's not going to die," Silena replied, "We have Will, and he's the best guy for the job."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a doctor who actually went to freaking medical school is best for the job," Thalia rolled her eyes. "Hazel is our cousin, not yours, we make the decision."

Silent huffed as Beckendorf wrapped an arm around her. Annabeth stepped forward, "Fine, make a decision."

Thalia crossed her arms, "You know my vote, Percy?"

Percy glanced at Will before his eyes glanced at Hazel. Jason could tell he was having trouble deciding. "What are the risks of taking her to a real hospital?"

"Well for one," Piper started, "her mom could find out which would really be bad."

"You know what else is bad?" Thalia added. "Her dying because we don't have the proper equipment."

Percy sighed, "Hospital."

Bianca combed her fingers through her hair, "Hospital."

Nico nodded, "Hospital."

Jason let out a puff or air. He knew this was best for Hazel, "Hospital."

"Fine, hospital," Silena said shrugging. "But if we get caught, it's your fault."

"Whatever," Thalia replied. "It's better than dying."

Luke interrupted before Silena could reply, "Look Silena, they obviously don't care if Kronos wins just let them be."

"Excuse me?" Bianca yelled. "We do care, if we didn't we wouldn't be here."

"No, you wouldn't be here if your rich daddy's hadn't had brought you here," Luke growled. "We fought to get here. You were born in."

Thalia smirked, "Sounds like somebody's jealous."

Reyna rolled her eyes, "Sounds like somebody's spoiled."

"Would you shut up," Nico growled, "We're not spoiled."

"He's in denial," one of the Stoll twins giggled to the other.

Jason watched attentively but didn't comment on anything. He knew they could handle this.

"You guys are a bunch or spoiled brats," Clarisse shrugged. "You know it, we know it, just admit it."

"Guys, stop," Frank said. He looked worried.

"Look guys, we're just being honest," Luke shrugged, "We just think that you're…privileged. Maybe you should give some money to the poor or something before pretending you're not rich, I mean, I know your mom's were just trying to get some, but—"

"Done," Percy said startling everyone around him. He hadn't said a word yet, Jason almost forgot he was there.

"W-what?" Annabeth stuttered.

"Done," Percy repeated patting the sides of his legs. He started to pace. "It's one thing to call us liars, spoiled, brats but don't you dare say my mother was with my father so she could get some, some…"

"I wasn't just talking about money," Luke sighed. "I meant she must've been sleeping around or something."

Percy punched the wall and it punctured a hole in the wall. Percy turned shaking his hand, "No. Nope, nope, no."

"That was rude Luke," Thalia said as she made a grab for Hazel. Jason rushed to help her carry Hazel. "Annabeth," Thalia said as she wrapped Hazel's arm over her shoulder, "Don't contact us again."

Annabeth reached out, "But—"

"Annabeth," Bianca said as she grabbed for the door handle. "Just don't. You need to learn when enough is enough." She opened the door. "Besides, we didn't fight to get here, remember? We were born in."

With that, they took Hazel and left.