Leo

Leo sat with his back pressed against Annabeth's bed. She laid on top of the sheets, tucked carefully under heavy blankets and had for the last several hours. Piper sat next to him, knees pulled up to her chest. They both sat on the ground, staring off into space.

"I mean she's right." Leo muttered.

"Yeah." Piper had been really quiet since the bar. Annabeth had yelled at them, but was completely right. They didn't go after her for a long time, not even after Leo had come back from the "dead". And when they finally did go after her, it was for selfish reasons. She was right. She had done enough.

But they couldn't leave now.

Annabeth groaned from the bed and Leo and Piper turned around. She moved and covered her face with her arm, shifting under the blankets.

"Annabeth, are you okay?" Piper asked. She got a groan in response. Annabeth slowly sat up, wincing at the light. She rubbed her head.

"Not Annabeth." She blinked with bleary eyes at them. "Where's Claire?"

"Work. It's Tuesday." Piper felt compelled to add. Annabeth nodded with closed eyes.

"I don't work until 1." She glanced at the clock them fell back onto her pillows, rolling over.

"Annabeth stop. Talk to us. Please." Piper shook her shoulder. Leo remained silent. He had been so excited to see Annabeth last night, but now all he felt was guilt. This crappy apartment, this hangover, all of it was a direct result of him. Well, him and Percy, he guessed.

Annabeth sat up again and leaned her back agains the wall and looked down at the two people kneeling in front of her bed. She looked at Piper, then switched her gaze to Leo. Leo's heart rate quickened as he felt her eyes on him and he was reminded of when she figured out what he was planning to do on the Argo II.

"You're really alive?" Her voice was distant, unattached. Leo nodded wordlessly.

"How?" She demanded. Leo briefly explained his survival and Calypso. He wanted to avoid eye contact, but he was having a hard time not looking at her. His voice was small and defeated and he wanted nothing more than to be back with Calypso.

When he finished, Annabeth took and deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. She pressed her palms on her eyes lids and stayed there for a while. Shaking her head, she reemerged from her hands and looked at him with blurry eyes. She then looked down and rubbed her face.

"I'm glad you're alive." She said finally. "Now if you would please, I need to get some sleep before work." And she laid back down with her back to them.

"Annabeth, please." Piper begged again. This time, Piper grabbed Annabeth's shoulders and pulled her up. Annabeth turned to them, anger again entering her eyes.

"It's not Annabeth. It's Silena." She said sharply.

"I know you want to be Silena because Silena didn't loose everyone, but you're not. You're Annabeth. And you can't keep running away from it. If you're not going to help us then at least let us take you back to camp." Piper yelled.

Annabeth looked stricken. Leo's mouth fell open. Piper's face immediately turned pale with embarrassment, but she held her ground. Leo had never heard her snap at someone like that, especially not someone she cared about. But Piper was clearly done. Somehow, her tone worked with Annabeth.

"Piper, I-" Annabeth started, then stopped. "I really wish I could go back to camp. You have no idea how much I do. I was so happy there. I had friends, a family. I had Percy. But when I went back, after the war... I... I only saw who wasn't there. Running away is better than staying there and staying with them. I have to move on." Annabeth's voice choked at the end.

"You're not moving on though, are you?" Piper grabbed Annabeth's hands. Annabeth stared at her.

"You need to go back to camp. If not for us, then for yourself. You need to face the fact that the people who aren't there... aren't there." Piper said carefully.

Annabeth started crying. "I don't think I can."

Leo finally spoke. "Annabeth, if anyone can, it's you."

Annabeth looked at them both tearfully. It occurred to Piper that all this time Annabeth was running away, somewhere deep down she hoped she was being followed. She hoped someone was right behind her wanting to drag her back. She needed help and she thought she could help herself, but she needed friends.

"I really am happy you're alive." She smiled at Leo.

Leo and Piper exchanged a hopeful look.

"I miss Percy." Her voice was thick with emotion.

"I know." Piper squeezed her hand. She climbed into bed with her and held her as Annabeth stared off into space.

"I'll help you, but I can't go back to camp yet. And I don't want to see everyone, not yet." Annabeth said. Then, "Maybe Grover." she added quietly.

And they stayed there until well after 1, officially laying Silena to rest.

Jason

Jason had Percy's arm over his shoulder and was helping him walk back to the hunter's tent. As he carried him back, his heart was beating at an alarming rate. Percy Jackson was alive and he was right here, next to Jason. Thalia was on Percy's other side, the two of them helping him faster than just her alone. Nico walked along side them, watching Percy with the insightful eyes of a son of Hades.

They finally got to the tent and Jason and Thalia slowly lowered Percy into his bed. He winced and gritted his teeth as they adjusted his body. His face had turned pale with the effort it took for him to get back. Nico had said he was dying, but Jason hadn't comprehended what that meant until now. Percy looked like death. Jason had always seen him as tan, dark hair, green eyes, huge smile. This Percy Jackson however, was very different.

His hair was much longer and wilder than Jason had ever seen. It looked as if he had tried to give himself a haircut with his sword a while back, because pieces were at many different lengths. As for the color, it seemed a dusty grey rather than the clean back it had always been. Almost as if color had been leached out of it. His face was gaunt, his cheek bones very visible, and bruises and cuts littered his features. He was covered in bandages which hid the worst of his injuries, but he sat in an odd pained posture. He looked so pained and so unlike the Percy Jackson who had lived down the hall from him a year ago. It physically hurt Jason to see him like this.

"Thanks Jason. Now I've got another person hauling me around." He smiled at Thalia and she smiled back, clearly for his benefit more than anything. Jason crouched down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Dude." Was all Jason said as he felt his heart caving in.

"That bad, huh?" Percy rolled his eyes. They hadn't said much to each other since seeing each other on the beach. Before he even reached them, Percy had collapsed, the effort of getting out of the waves had been too much. Now that Percy was mostly conscious, Jason had no idea what to say to him.

"Look man," Jason started without knowing the end of the sentence. "I'm so sorry. If I had know I-"

"What would you have done? Held me back? You and I both know I would have won that fight." Percy interjected.

"Well, no, I... I would have won that fight." Jason said hesitantly.

"Now? Well, probably. But a year ago? No way. I would have kicked your butt." Percy argued.

"No no no. I was at the top of my game a year ago. Plus, there wasn't an ocean in the House of-"

"I don't need an ocean to-"

"Guys!" Thalia yelled. "You've seen each other for all of thirty second and you're already fighting?"

Both Jason and Percy broke off, muttering about how they weren't fighting.

"Percy." Nico sat down beside Percy's bed. "I need you to tell me how you escaped."

Percy looked caught off guard. Thalia's eyes widened. It was clear they hadn't really discussed the topic much and Nico talking about it right out of the gate was startling. Jason wished Nico had warmed Percy up a little bit more before asking. It was clear Percy was trying to keep the conversation lighthearted, and Nico had just torn it down. Percy looked down, clearly wishing this subject had come up later, if at all.

"Well, a monster was being brought back to the mortal world, and I went with him." His fingers drummed on the table next to him. Jason frowned. How was that even possible?

"What did it look like when you came back?" Nico asked urgently. "Did you see any other monsters?"

"Um..." Percy looked at Thalia.

"It was just him in the forest." Thalia spoke for him. Jason looked at Thalia and she looked back at him. In some sort of unspoken sibling bond, Jason was able to read her eyes. Clearly that night in the forest was not a fond memory for her either.

"Sorry, that's not what I meant. I mean, in the process of coming back." Nico chose his words carefully.

Percy shifted uncomfortably. "I don't really remember, man. Can we talk about this later? I mean, you haven't even said hi to me yet. Or given me one of your world famous bear hugs." He smiled jokingly. Jason smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Percy, this is important. I think you may have created a small rip in the mortal world and let in quite a few monsters from Tartarus who aren't supposed to be back yet. Everyone could be in danger." Nico said firmly.

Percy's face went, if possible, even paler. His uneasy grin had completely vanished and the rest of his face fell as well.

"I put everyone in danger?" His voice was shaky. Nico realized he made a mistake and had gone too fast with the information. Regret washed over his face as he tried to fix the situation.

"We'll fix it, Percy. It'll be fine." He tried to back track.

"Annabeth is in danger? Because of me? And my mom? And Grover?" Percy's chest began to rise and fall faster. Jason grabbed Nico's shoulder and moved him away from the bed.

"Percy, they're very capable people. They'll be fine. They're safe." Jason tried to comfort him.

"I should have just stayed down there. I should have just died down there." Percy muttered.

"Percy-" Jason tried again, but Thalia grabbed his shoulders.

"Get out." Thalia commanded, shoving both Jason and Nico from the tent. After several minutes of Nico and Jason standing next to each other in silence, Thalia reemerged.

"He does not need this right now. He needs to be calm and to be reminded that he is safe. Telling him he just released a bunch of monsters who are after his family is not in one of those categories. What were you thinking?" Thalia slapped Nico's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I thought... It doesn't matter." Nico muttered.

"Is he okay?" Jason asked.

Thalia sighed. "He's fine. He's just very traumatized right now. We need to get him back to camp. Sitting in the middle of the woods isn't doing much for his paranoia."

"But he's gonna be fine, right?" Jason asked again.

"I'm not sure, Jason. I'm not entirely sure what happened in Tartarus, but it really screwed him up. Torture I think. Definitely starvation. He keeps trying to joke around and ignore the fact that he's struggling. Coping mechanism probably." Thalia looked back at the tent as if she could see through it.

"Torture." Jason mumbled and put his face in his hands, feeling the weight and horror of it all.

"Look, he's happy you guys are here. Let's just try to stay away from that subject for a little bit, okay? We'll just get him back to camp, let him see his mom again, then we'll think about it again." Thalia looked grimly at the two of them.

"No, who we need is Annabeth." Jason reemerged from his hands. "She'll be able to help him."

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