To Riordanlover16- Thank you! I'm writing chapters in as much advance as I can, I will certainly keep going :D I don't want to drop this one!

Leo was back, as promised, just before breakfast. He came baring supplies, more cakes and a guilty look.

"I am not alone," he admitted in a small voice. Jessica glowered, snatching the cakes away. "Peace offering," he squeaked.

"Your peace offerings are going to make me fat."

"There's nothing wrong with that."

Louisa came out of the bathroom and nearly tripped on a toddler. She stared down, taking in the messy dark hair and wondering how long she had left the baby for, when she noticed the grey eyes staring up at her.

"Shit," she said, crouching carefully. "Tobias?"

"Ah," he said, smiling and recognising his name. He was standing, though unsteady on his feet. He wobbled and stuck his diapered bottom out to fall back on, landing with an oof. Louisa put her hand out tentatively and touched his face. Warm, chubby cheeks, drooling as he smiled, a few teeth cutting through. He grabbed her fingers and babbled, biting her thumb.

"Lou?" She looked up, head spinning. Percy stared down at her, tears in his eyes.

He dropped to his knees when she didn't, couldn't move, throwing his arms around her. Tobias got caught in the huddle, squashed between his father and his aunt. He squealed and wriggled until Percy scooped him up and kissed his forehead.

Louisa sat cross-legged on the floor. Percy sat with her, Tobias perched on his knee. Both of their heads were buzzing, a year to catch up on with each other. She could feel his relief, how much he had missed her, like a warm drink in her stomach. He could feel her pain and her exhaustion like a weight on his chest.

They sat, holding hands, relishing in being back together. For a while, they were oblivious to the goings-on around them.

Jessica was directing, waving with a dwindling cupcake. Leo, Annabeth and Jason were marching in and out, leaving the twins be while they carried in Leo's work. Sheets of celestial bronze and imperial gold, boxes and bags of weapons and gadgets, crates of tools and wires and whatever other funny bits Leo needed. Jessica's living room very quickly turned into an offshoot of Bunker Nine.

"Right," Leo said, rubbing his hands together. "That looks like everything."

"I sure hope so," Jason groaned, rolling his shoulder. "I'm getting too old for this."

"Ssh!" Annabeth put a finger to her lips and pointed. Tobias had crawled over to her, lifting his arms to be picked up. The twins had stirred with his absence and Percy was helping his sister to her feet.

She stared at them dazedly. Percy tucked an arm around her.

Jason broke the tension. He smiled.

"Hi, Lou."

"Jay."

"Yeah."

"Shit."

"Shi'," Tobias said, sticking his chunky baby fist in his mouth and dribbling some more. Annabeth's eyes widened.

"No! Don't you dare teach my baby to swear!" Louisa gave a start, head snapping round. She wriggled out from under her brother's arm and disappeared into her room. Percy spread his hands. "What?" Annabeth demanded. "He can't swear, that can't be his first word." Tobias giggled and wiped his hand on his mother's shirt.

"Shit," he said proudly.

"No!" Annabeth wailed. Despite the laughter around her, she was in half a mind to throttle her sister-in-law. She even started forward to do just show when Louisa reemerged, stopping short on seeing what she was holding.

"He don't have a name yet," Louisa said quietly. "I can't think of one." She handed the squirming bundle to her brother, a tiny hand waving free from the folds. All the colour drained from Percy's face— everything he had picked up from her started to make sense now. The fatigue, the pain, the terror. That terror came with a result and that result lay nameless in his arms.

He wanted to ask who, swallowing down his anger. The baby grizzled and scrunched his features. Percy forced himself to remain calm. He would find out who later. He would find out who and he would tear them limb from limb and launch the pieces, aflame and aplenty, into Tartarus.

Louisa stepped back, sensing his turmoil. Percy took a deep breath, adjusting his hold on the infant and holding him closer to his chest.

"We'll think of a name," he said quietly. He caught Jessica's eye across the room and saw her thoughts aligned with his. She gave a small nod and he replied in kind. They would find out who later and then there would be hell to pay.

A knock at the door made them jump. Louisa threw her hands out and Percy passed the baby back. He saw how she moved away, how closely she held him, how she turned to shield him with herself. Percy drew his sword as the knock came again.

"Uh, hello!" Sally called through the door. "I know I'm a bit late, but that's no reason not to open the door!" She knocked again, relief surging through the room. Percy hurriedly capped Riptide. Jason, being closest, answered. Sally beamed up at him. "Thank you."

She was not alone either. She came with Estelle.

Louisa stared at her little sister. She would be seven now and how she had shot up in the last year. She reached Louisa's elbow already, staring up at her with eyes so much like Sally's. That indeterminate colour, the green, the blue, the brown.

Estelle wrinkled her nose. Louisa did likewise.

"Esmelle."

"Pooisa." Estelle's gaze dropped and she tilted her head. "Who's that?"

"Um…" Louisa looked down at the baby, lowering the bundle so Estelle could see. "I don't know."

"You don't know? What, did you steal him?"

"No, no. He's… he just ain't got a name."

"Hmm. Bradley. You should call him Bradley."

"Why?"

"He looks like a Bradley," Estelle said with all the sage wisdom of a seven-year-old and a shrug.

Louisa took her word for it. Bradley he became and Bradley he stayed.

"Let me see, let me see!" Sally insisted, bustling over. Louisa handed Bradley over and Sally cooed and coddled. Tobias, seeing his Nana's attention diverted, gaped and squirmed until Annabeth handed him over too.

Sally didn't mind, managing them both easily. She laughed and kissed their heads in turn. "Beautiful boys, the pair of them."

Leo cracked his knuckles.

"I'm going to get to work. Rome wasn't built in a day."

"That's never funny, Leo," Jason sighed.

"It's always funny. Don't roll your eyes at me. You're my apprentice for the day, show some respect." Leo dragged him away and they started splitting the supplies by room. As he went past, Leo touched Louisa's arm, smiling. "Bradley suits him. Not as well as Leo, mind, but… I suppose it'll do."

"Glad you approve."

"Glad my opinion is held in such high esteem." He grinned. Louisa rolled her eyes. Jason nudged Leo along and they spent the rest of the day securing her bedroom. Even she couldn't break the window or the locks or anything they installed, despite her best efforts. And if she couldn't break it, notorious for her unrelenting ability to break things, it was very secure indeed.

But that came later. She only saw the pair for food or if they came back out for extra supplies. Leo had prepped enough for a doomsday bunker, by the looks of it. She spent most of the day with her nephew, trying to unteach him 'shit'.

"Lou. Mommy. Daddy. Nana," she said, turning it into a chant. Tobias giggled, clapping.

"Shit!"

"Noooo," Louisa said, aware of Annabeth's disapproving glower on the back of her head. "Lou. Mommy. Daddy. Nana. Estelle. Wait, that's too hard. Uhhhh… Tell." Tobias wobbled his head, grasping clumsily at her hand again. Louisa bounced her knees, jostling him playfully. "Lou. Mommy. Daddy. Nana. Tell."

"Bah!"

"Listen, you little fucker. Say Mom."

"Fuck."

"No!" Louisa and Annabeth protested. Annabeth whisked her son away, covering his mouth as he flitted between his two new words.

Annabeth opened her mouth to scold Louisa, words dying on her tongue. Louisa had curled up, drawing her knees to her chest and hiding her face between them. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I'm sorry."

Sighing, Annabeth handed Tobias to Jessica, who immediately tipped him upside down by his ankles— their favourite pastime. She hopped the back of the couch and sat next to Louisa, clasping her hands in her lap. Louisa sniffed, turning her head away.

"Lou," Annabeth said, "just because you've taught my baby to swear doesn't mean you'll be a bad mom."

"I ain't good with kids. I… I never have been."

"Well, that's bull," Annabeth didn't say the whole word, aware of her son only a few feet away, "you're brilliant with kids. You just don't realise it." Louisa glared at her, eyes red and watery. Annabeth met her gaze evenly. "You're a wonderful big sister to Tyson and Estelle, and Nico. Look how well you looked after Nico. He wouldn't dare to cross you, but he's all the better for it. You're a pain in the… backside of a little sister to Percy and Jason, who, may I add, wouldn't be alive without you. You always kept an eye on the younger kids at both camps. Don't tell me you're bad with kids, I don't believe it."

"My nephew's first words are shit 'n' fuck 'cos of me."

"Your nephew wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Annabeth shot back. "That is a debt I can never repay."

"It ain't a debt."

"It is to me. You saved my baby, so I will help you save yours. The one that tried to take Tobias, that… thing. It's kept you captive all this time, hasn't it?" Louisa nodded, ice prickling in her veins. Annabeth licked her lips, stormy eyes brewing with thought. "I've spent all this time trying to figure out what that thing was and I'm no closer for it. I can't find anything like it in our mythology, but I will find it and stick a dagger between its eyes, I can promise you that."

"Thank you," Louisa said, "but it won't do no good."

"What do you mean?"

"It can't die. Whatever the bas—" She glanced back. Tobias was nestled in Jessica's arms, chewing on his fist. "Whatever the thing is," Louisa corrected, "it can't die."

"You killed it?"

"It didn't even dust like monsters do. It just gets back up 'n'—" Her voice caught and she suddenly seemed even smaller. "It just gets back up."