I do not own Percy Jackson nor Heroes of Olympus, they belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter Twenty-Three - Carlos

The first thing he felt when he woke up was the warmth, followed by soft motions of breathing and smooth skin. He opened his neck to meet the smooth, beautiful tan skin of Alyx. He stared at her neck, before tilting his head up. She was sleeping, obviously, her breathing soft and rhythmic. Strands of hair fell in her face and her face was calm and content, long black eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks as she breathed. It was rather relaxing.

Then he realized he couldn't move his body.

"A-Alyx…?" He coughed out, his voice hoarse. She grunted a bit before opening her eyes, her hand in his hair kneading his head.

"Hey, you're awake…" He nodded a tiny bit.

"I can't feel anything…" She yawned, pulling him a bit closer.

"Yeah, you have a muscle relaxant cream on…" He gently pushed against her chest.

"Like an aphrodisiac?"

"No, dummy. It soothes the soreness in your muscles…" He relaxed into her chest, closing his eyes. "Sleep for a few more hours, okay…?" He nodded, taking a breath and slowly falling asleep.

When he woke up again, her warmth was gone. He shot up, panicked that she had been kidnapped or something, but relaxed when he saw her stretching, her back to him, Liam nowhere to be seen, although the shower was running. Alyx was dressed for combat, yet still casual. She wore black skinny jeans that would make any man cat call to her, a tight tank top and black socks, her hair nicely combed and parted the way she wanted. Riptide, her dagger and her knife strap laid on the desk. The three points of the tattoo on her back poked out, glowing a blue, but it was faint. She hadn't wrapped her arms yet, so the swirling tattoos glowed a faint dark purple. He blinked and the light was gone. She turned, jumping a bit when she saw him staring, but ran to him.

"You're awake and moving!"

"Uh…" He said stupidly, and the pain snapped him out of it. He lurched forward, grabbing her arms and crying out.

"Never mind." She said. "Liam!" He panted, tears filling his eyes. The pain was horrendous. Similar to when he fell and dislocated his shoulder and they had to put it back in place, but probably three times the pain. It burned and ached, and he clawed her arms, whining in pain. The door opened and Liam burst in, in boxer briefs and a t-shirt, his eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" He bolted over, his hands trembling.

"Oh, you know, he just wanted a hug. What do you think?" She gently laid him on his stomach, which hurt even more, and pulled up his shirt. "Breathe, Carlos, breathe…" She soothed, making him slowly relax. He gripped the pillow, whimpering and shutting his eyes, the pain increasing the longer they waited. He heard shuffling, before he felt Liam's hand on his neck.

"I don't mean this in a wrong way, okay…?" He felt his other hand right below his butt, but he could have cared less about it, since the pain overcame any other feeling.

"It hurts!" He cried again. He probably sounded like a baby, but he doubted they cared. He heard scissors snipping, and the wrapping around his chest lessened. Then he heard a sickening peel and a gag.

"Liam, try not to puke all over his back. We're trying to heal him, not make him worse."

"Al…" He mumbled, starting to lose consciousness. "I don't feel so good…" She gently patted his butt.

"Shh… I'm going to strip you to put you in the water, okay? Bear with me." He nodded and felt his pants and underwear being pulled off, then being lifted and carried into the bathroom.

He blacked out when he touched the water, so he didn't remember much.

When he woke up, he was lying in bed, on his side, the covers gently pulled over him. Liam sat on his bed, tweaking with his bow, dressed for the day. He looked exhausted, like he didn't sleep well or was kept up most of the night.

"Liam…?" He mumbled. He looked over and smiled a bit.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Can't move…"

"Yeah, we put that muscle relaxant cream on you again." He let his bow go back to its cube form. "Alyx is scouting the area. She'll be-" The door burst open and she bolted in, closing it and locking it. She narrowed her eyes as her mask went back into earring form.

"We need to leave." Her eyes were fiery. "Like, right now.

"Um, why?" Liam asked, standing.

"We're surrounded."

"By who?" He asked, trying to sit up. His body protested, and he collapsed, sighing in pain and frustration.

"The women who captured us in the forest in Santa Fe, and those people from the other day." She went to their packs, digging through them, her eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" Liam asked, going over.

"Checking if we're missing-" She stiffened, and pulled out a small round device.

"What is that? A chip?"

"Tracking device…" She scowled. "That's how they kept finding us." She went through the other two and pulled out the same kinds, both glowing blue. She set them down, pulling out one of his sweaters.

He turned red at their incredulous looks.

"Is… Is this one of mine?" She asked, sniffing the sweater. He buried his face into his pillow.

"Just kill me now…!" He felt her hand on his neck and squeaked.

"Come on, help me get it on." He felt Liam gently lift him into a bridal style hold, and Alyx slipping the sweater on him, chuckling at his confused face.

"What, it's cute that you like my oversized sweaters." She zipped it up and tapped his earring, making it seal over his face.

"What's your plan?"

She grinned.

"Oh no."

A few minutes later, he was on Liam's back, Liam's hands gripping his knees, his arms around his neck to hold on. Alyx was nowhere to be seen. He knew what she meant by surrounded. Small tents were set up for monitoring the hotel building, and he could see a few people keeping guard, holding swords or bows. He saw the woman from the other day with the woman that captured them in Santa Fe, the guy who had chased them in the junkyard by her, his chocolate skin pale and his eyes extremely tired. His shoulder was bandaged.

I'm raising the barrier now. Her voice rang in his head.

Okay. Liam replied. A purple dome slowly began to rise, sealing over the parking lot and building, and Liam took the cue and ran down the stairs and to the car, glancing nervously at the people. Thankfully, the people hadn't noticed the barrier or them, and were still looking at the building. Liam opened the back door, gently sliding him in and buckling him up and then getting in the front seat. Liam turned on the car and drove to Alyx's location. She hopped in, sweat on her forehead from holding the barrier.

They drove for a few minutes, and she slumped in her seat finally, taking a breath.

"I think it's down." She said, pulling her phone out. She turned it on and was watching a video.

"What is that?" He asked, pouting that he couldn't move. She showed it to him. It was a live video of their hotel room.

"I had some free time and managed to make a small camera." He stared at her.

"Excuse me, what?" She shrugged.

"It wasn't that hard." Her eyes glinted with glee. "I mean, the structure design was difficult but I finally managed to make it out of this metal-"

The hotel room door busted open, the people from the other day filing in. Upon not finding them, they all groaned.

"Are you serious?!" One complained.

"How did they get away?" Another asked. The older woman stared at the wall for a moment, before her eye caught the camera.

"Um…" He said. "Can she see it?"

"No." She walked up to it and picked up one of the tracking devices.

"They found out that we were tracking them."

"Of course they did…" One guy sighed.

"But how?" The Chinese girl said, crossing her arms, obviously annoyed. "I'm not trying to be rude, but I honestly think the boys are stupid."

Liam and Carlos glared at the screen.

"Excuse me." Liam said, trying to grab the phone. "I don't enjoy being called stupid."

"She's probably frustrated." Alyx said, shutting off the phone and snapping her fingers. The camera appeared in her hand and she slipped it into her pants.

"Let's hope we get to New York soon."

To Be Continued...