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I don't own Transformers or the Riordanverse; they belong to their owners.

Chapter 26: The Start of My New Life.

Piper wasn't the only one who got a promotion. Leo ended up becoming head consular of the Hephaestus cabin. Also, it turns out that Jason is a Roman demigod, the son of Zeus's Roman aspect Jupiter (it's complicated), and there was a Roman equivalent to Camp Half-Blood. It was pretty likely that this "Percy Jackson" guy was probably there.

It sounded like everyone at camp had a lot of work ahead of them. Part of it was getting a flying ship built in six months.

Fortunately, me and the Autobots were more than happy to help out in any way we could.

Leo pulled me aside after the head consular meeting, where all this was sorted out.

"I think it's past time we fix that wing of yours, buddy."

He was right.

It took a couple of hours, but he and the Hephaestus Cabin built me a brand new left wing from scratch.

"Thanks for this, Leo. I really appreciate it." I told him as he and his siblings worked to get my new wing attached.

"Well, you did help save us from a giant," Leo said. "Have to return the favor after all. Plus, this wing has a little surprise."

"What sort of- OW!" I muttered as one of the campers, Nyssa, accidentally jammed a piece into the wrong place.

"Sorry. Not used to working on jet Transformers." she apologized.

When the wing was fully attached, I got a good feel for it by putting it through some paces. The new wing didn't match my color scheme at the moment, being a sickly brown color, but the Aphrodite cabin promised to give it a brand new coat of paint once I finished testing it out.

Leo and his cabinmates had outdone themselves. It was perfect. Like my wing had never been torn off at all; it even seamlessly fit into my transformation sequence into jet mode.

After the jet mode trial, I landed in front of Leo.

"So how do you like it so far?" Leo asked.

"It's better than new," I said happily.

"I bet; now grab the handle," he instructed.

I turned my head backward to look; sure enough, there was a handle near the base of the wing.

I grabbed it, and before my eyes, a part of the wing detached. As I pulled it in front of me, the wing shrank and compressed until I was holding a sword in my hand.

"Nice!" I said, inspecting it.

"Well, you said you wanted to get one of your own." Leo laughed.

"Thanks..." I said, but just then Leo's face turned cold.

"What?" I asked.

Leo pointed behind me.

I turned and saw Annabeth and the Autobot Prowl walking up to me.

I was silent at first.

"So. You're on our side now, huh?" Annabeth asked as if she couldn't quite believe it. Her voice was icy. Prowl, for his part, was silently standing behind Annabeth, crossing his arms.

"I am," I confirmed as I put my wing sword back into its place on my back.

Annabeth was quiet. She looked like she didn't know how to feel. Neither did Prowl.

"I'm not the same person anymore," I told her. "Piper helped me with that."

"I know what you've done. I know the damage you've caused." Annabeth retorted.

"And I'm gonna make up for it," I promised.

Annabeth sighed. "You sound like..." she trailed off.

"Who?" I asked.

"Nothing. If you want to prove you're on our side, good." She stepped closer to me. "But I'm warning you. If you step out of line, I'll be there," she said, glaring at me.

"I understand." I nodded.

Annabeth nodded back, and then she turned to Prowl. "Come on, Annabeth," he said. "Maybe a game of chess will get your mind off things."

"I didn't picture you having a human buddy," I told Prowl.

Prowl smirked. "She's the only human smart enough to keep up with me."

It was a great six months—the best in my life.

I ended up splitting most of my time in this period between my new Wrecker duties and hanging out at Camp Half-Blood with Piper and the others.

I didn't feel 100% comfortable going into battle against my old comrades, but I also knew it had to be done. At least I was fighting for the right thing now, with people who understood me. Most of the other Decepticons weren't happy to see me on the battlefield either, but frankly, I wasn't too concerned about them.

The Autobots kept to their promise that I wouldn't be put into combat against Skywarp. I didn't see him at all during that period. I was not looking forward to our next meeting, whenever that would be.

But the best part of those six months was the time I visited Camp Half-Blood. I didn't have to hide anything from Piper now. It was the same stuff we did before, but now Piper was at a place she was happy, and I was at a place I was happy. We were both happy.

The folks at Camp Half-Blood were more than happy to give me material for Emily Jennings and The Trident Robber. They had all kinds of crazy stories to share. The best part was that, according to Chiron, Camp Half-Blood had no copyright, so I was free to write my own version of it for my book. In fact, he actually encouraged it; he said it might help "prepare" potential demigods.

It would still take a while to finalize, but I was going to make it work. I had the best proofreaders ever. Lacy in particular loved every single idea I came up with, even the ones that made the other campers groan.

Annabeth was still wary around me, though. I guess I couldn't blame her. But she couldn't bring herself to be mad either. I wonder why that was?

It wasn't all fun and games though; the campers were preparing for war after all, so me and Wheeljack often helped Leo out on the construction of the ship Leo had dubbed the Argo II. And me and Springer helped give the campers a crash course on fighting thirty-foot giants.

And of course, whenever I got the chance, I visited Tristan and/or took Piper to see him. The kidnapping incident had made Tristan big in the news again, and he was getting all kinds of new movie offers. He promised that once I'd made my final draft, he'd pass it around with some friends to see if it could get turned into a movie or TV series.

Piper and Tristan were closer than ever now. Even if he couldn't fully remember it, I think the whole experience taught Tristan that he couldn't turn away from the hard stuff. Even when he was on the other side of the country and busy with work, he made sure to be there for Piper whenever he could. He didn't need my help anymore.

Oh, and as expected, Mellie was 100% better than Jane was. She and Hedge even got married during those six months. If I'm being honest, I'm not sure how I feel about seeing more of that guy.

Still, I was happy. For the first time in my life, I was truly and utterly happy.

I could tell it was the same for Piper too.

One night, when the Argo II was almost finished, Piper and Jason were late for curfew, so I went out looking for them.

I ended up finding them under a tree near a creek. They were just sitting there with Piper in Jason's arms and taking in the beautiful night.

They didn't see me, and I didn't want to ruin the moment, so I hid behind one of the bigger trees and kept quiet.

Come on... I thought to myself. Do it.

Piper and Jason looked into each other's eyes and said some things to each other that I couldn't hear.

And then they kissed.

I smiled. I knew those two made a good-

"Jason I'm sorry... I wanna break up." Piper says.

Piper and Jason are in a park near the McLean mansion. The two look almost a year older. Piper has a distressed, confused look on her face. Jason hears this and looks heartbroken.

"Why?" he asks, holding it together.

"It's just..." Piper trails off, "Things have calmed down since... you know. And I just feel like it's not there anymore."

Jason looks a little suspicious. "Is there another reason?" he asks.

Piper looks away and doesn't say anything for a minute. "No," she says.

She's lying. I know her well enough to know when she's lying by now.

Jason seems to be able to tell that too, but accept it. He nods. "Okay," he says.

The two walk away in separate directions...

After that latest flash, I just stood there, trying to process it.

"Sad, isn't it?" said someone who I swear wasn't there a minute ago.

I turned my head and saw a woman standing next to me. She looked like all of my favorite actresses rolled into one beautiful look.

"You're Aphrodite." I said in wonder, "You're Piper's mom."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Thundercracker."

I was silent for a minute. "I'm sorry I called you a jerk last year." I muttered.

Aphrodite laughed. "Thundercracker, please." She said, "I've been called far worse by people I respect much more."

"Oh, I see."

Aphrodite looked wistfully at her daughter and her boyfriend. "Don't they make a cute couple?" she asked.

"Yeah, they do..." I murmured softly, "But what was up with—"

"The flash you just had?" Aphrodite finished.

I nodded.

She sighed. "That was a glimpse of what was meant to be," she explained.

"Of the future?"

"Yes."

"I don't understand..." I said.

Aphrodite sighed again. "A few years ago, I was having dinner with the fates—horrible hosts, by the way—and I got a glimpse of a future for my daughter that I didn't particularly care for."

"One where Tristan was ruined..." I guessed.

"Yes," Aphrodite remarked sadly. "Tristan was one of a kind... He didn't deserve that fate."

"So do you know?"

"I don't know who C is." Aphrodite said, "I didn't see exact details. I can't tell you how this war with the giants will go down, for instance."

"I see, "I mused. "But what does this have to do with Piper? Directly, I mean."

"Do you recall the flash you had of Piper stealing that car and being sent to The Wilderness School?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Like I said, that was what was meant to happen." Aphrodite started explaining. "There, she would have met Leo and, like him, gotten fake memories of Jason when he showed up suddenly. Hers would have been slightly different, though. She would have gotten fake memories of being in a relationship with him."

"I...I still don't understand..." I said.

"She and Jason would try for a real relationship, and they would be happy...for a time," Aphrodite said sadly. "But then one day Piper would become scared. Did she truly love Jason, or was she tricked into it by me and Hera? The doubts ate away at her, combined with other reasons, which led her to dump Jason. And by the time she realized her feelings were true..." she trailed off and stopped speaking. As if she was afraid she was saying too much.

"...But Piper didn't go to the Wilderness School; she didn't get fake memories of Jason." I pointed out.

Aphrodite smiled, "No. She didn't."

"So that means..."

She nodded.

I was silent for a bit. "Piper told me, you know. That you brought us together. You were the woman on the phone on the day I met Tristan, weren't you?" I asked.

"Like. Us gods are totes good at disguises." Aphrodite said, putting on a valley girl's voice.

I laughed. "That's why you did this, isn't it?"

"Of course."

"But why?"

Aphrodite took on a sad expression. She raised her eyebrow. "Is it so difficult to believe I wanted my daughter to be happy? For my ex-lover to be happy?"

"I mean... Drew seemed pretty convinced that you prefer your daughters to break men's hearts. And you gods, all move on eventually." I said, "Why would you care if Piper decided to break up with her boyfriend?"

Aphrodite didn't say anything for a bit. She just looked off into the night sky.

"Thundercracker," she finally said, "Do you know what one of the hardest parts of being a god is?"

I shook my head.

"Everyone always remembers the bad stuff you do and hardly ever the good," she answered. "Everyone remembers Aphrodite, the vapid, conceited goddess who manipulates others into falling in love against their will. No one remembers Aphrodite, the lover who helps bring happy couples together. Us Olympians can be kind, we can be caring, and we can do the right thing because it's the right thing, but everyone hones in on the bad stuff we've done."

"Oh..." I muttered.

"Don't get me wrong, dear; I love a good tragic love story." She confirmed, "Jack and Ennis. Paris and Helen, Romeo and Juliet... But that can't be all there is. Without happy love stories, tragedy would have no meaning. Without tragic love stories, the happy ones would get boring."

"I understand," I said thoughtfully.

"Of course you do." Aphrodite laughed, "You're a storyteller yourself, aren't you? By the way, I can't wait to see the final version of The Trident Robber."

"Thanks...and thanks for bringing me and the McLeans together. If I hadn't met Piper and Tristan..."

"You'd probably still be a mindless grunt inflicting tragedy on my planet?"

"...Yeah," I muttered sheepishly.

Aphrodite smiled. "You Transformers are so interesting," she said. "You're so much like us and yet not like us at all, and you're not part of Earth's fate, yet you are."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It's complicated...basically you're not meant to be here, but at the same time, you are meant to be here," Aphrodite explained.

"Oh. I see. Simple," I muttered sarcastically.

"Fate and prophecy. It can get frustrating and complicated." Aphrodite admitted. She trailed off and looked into the distance again.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Thundercracker, there's one more thing I need you to change in Piper's future," she said.

"What?"

"I can't tell you the specifics." Aphrodite said sadly, "You heard what happened to King Acrises and your "The Fallen". If I tell you, I could risk it coming true."

"Fate has a twisted sense of humor..." I muttered, remembering that conversation I had with Tristan and Piper that seemed like a million years ago.

"Indeed," Aphrodite said, "you will do it, yes?"

"Of course," I said happily.

Aphrodite smiled. "You fancy yourself a storyteller?" she asked. "Then give my daughter's story a happy ending.".

I nodded.

Aphrodite started to glow as she took on her true form. On cue, I looked away.

My eyes were still closed when I heard, "Thundercracker?" asked Piper.

I opened them to find Piper and Jason looking up at me, "Did...did you see us?" Piper asked nervously.

"Not much."

"You're a terrible liar," Piper said, smirking.

I smiled back, "Come on." I said, "I think you two need to get some sleep."

Hah! I fooled you all! This isn't just a Transformers and Percy Jackson crossover fic! It's also a Jaisper gets a happy ending fic!

So for those of you who have finished Trials of Apollo and know about (minor spoilers) Piper being bisexual and are curious, I still consider Piper bisexual in this story. I actually wanted to have a bit where Thundercracker helps Piper through her emerging feelings for girls (considering the IDW Transformers comics were heavy on the LGBTQ stuff, I figured a Transformer could probably help Piper weigh in on that), but as a straight white guy, I didn't trust myself to handle it with the proper grace, and I couldn't find a good place to work it in naturally anyway. So, uh, just pretend it happened offscreen or something. Yeah, I'm lazy, I know. LOL.

Two more chapters until the end!

Thanks for reading, and as always, leave a review!