Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

This fic would not have existed without the encouragement of Stereden, who has also done a podfic of it, which can be found in its AO3 crosspost /works/57201739 or on my tumblr tsarisfanfiction!

Stereden also insists I put a tissue warning on this chapter, so be warned.

Lee didn't tell Tris that Kronos had lied. Maybe it was cruel, but he couldn't let Tris think that it was because of him, that Lee hadn't warned Silena because if he had, Tris would've died.

Even if that was the truth.

Tris didn't need the guilt from that; it hadn't been his decision, it had been Lee's choice to make and it was one he would take the responsibility for, if it came down to it. If they didn't manage to escape whatever trap Kronos was going to set.

Kronos had grilled him on Silena's lies, the same as usual, while Alabaster continued to hold Tris at knife point, so by the time the two of them had been left alone again, Tris throwing himself at Lee for more of their pale imitations of hugs, Lee's tears had dried.

His brother hadn't let go of him until their next visitor, one carrying food and fresh torches to replace the ones that had almost burnt themselves out.

The fallout of Silena's lies happened gradually.

It wasn't usual for Kronos to meet with his demigods in front of Lee. Sometimes he did, as a test of their loyalty, but for the most part Kronos seemed to prefer saving his truth sensing abilities for his spies.

Lee hadn't seen Reuben in a long time, and had hoped that meant he'd been stationed elsewhere, so he didn't have to deal with the Roman demigod glowering at him and still reminding him of Marcus, the kid Lee had never met but mourned regardless. He was not happy when Kronos led him into his cell, and the way he tensed must have alerted Tris, who was curled up next to him, because his younger brother raised his head and watched the new arrival cautiously.

Reuben sneered at both of them, but didn't say anything. His shoulder was bandaged, blood spotting through the fabric, and his arm was stuck in a sling. Lee realised then that he must have been involved in one of the raids one of the spies had reported, and hoped none of the campers, from either camp, had been killed.

"My flying chariot," Kronos said, his voice level but frozen cold, dangerous. "What happened?"

Reuben sent Lee another filthy look before focusing on the titan, straightening his spine. "As expected, we were attacked yesterday," he reported. "There were almost twice the numbers we had been told about – the graecus spawn of Mars were led by that bitch with an electric spear." He spat, carefully away from Kronos but not so carefully away from Lee and Tris. "We were prepared for them and drove them back, only for the fucking archers to ambush us from behind."

Lee and Tris both froze, and Silena's lie suddenly made sense. It was the Apollo cabin, with the Ares cabin, always was going to be, but Silena had kept them quiet as what, some sort of apology to Lee? She was willing to throw Clarisse into the lion's den but decided to protect the Apollo cabin?

While Lee couldn't say he was mad that his siblings had been given an advantage and a greater chance of survival, he was still mad that she was spying at all, and that, worse, she was picking and choosing who to endanger. Silena and Clarisse were supposed to be friends.

Then again, Silena was supposed to be his friend, too. So much for that.

The look Kronos sent Lee told him that the titan, too, had realised the omission and why. Disconcertingly, a smirk crossed his face, which Lee didn't like at all. He expected anger, not satisfaction.

"And my chariot?"

"The fucking archers," Reuben repeated. "Their bastard leader snuck on while the Mars spawn led a second frontal assault, and started raining arrows down on us."

He threw something down on the ground, broken and blood-stained, but it wasn't the sharp point of the arrow that caught Lee's attention, but the fletching. Feathered vanes, two red and one gold.

Lee would know Michael's arrows anywhere.

"When I get my hands on that fucker…" Reuben snarled, and Lee tensed, even though he knew he couldn't do anything. Listening to his younger brother get threatened did not sit well with him at all.

"If he continues to be a presence on the gods' side of the war, I am sure you will get an opportunity," Kronos said mildly, and Lee hated that it was true. He also hated that Michael was on Kronos' radar, but he knew his younger brother well enough to know that even if he wasn't head counsellor, if Lee was still in camp and in charge, Michael would still be causing enough of a nuisance for Kronos to get on his radar.

Michael had a talent for that. Just ask Clarisse.

The rest of Reuben's report was much the same; a recounting of how Michael had turned their own flying chariot into a weapon against them as the other archers rained arrows into them and the Ares campers destroyed the convoy.

They hadn't killed anyone, though. Injuries had happened – on both sides, Reuben made sure to specify, seeming entirely too happy about hurting Lee's siblings and friends – and some of them seemed to be nasty, but neither side had lost any demigods.

Monsters had been a different case, but Lee didn't mind that, not when monsters were the constant threat. He still wasn't sure how the defected demigods were managing to work with them without living in fear of being attacked.

Neither Reuben nor Kronos stayed in the room after the report was finished; Reuben hadn't lied, and Kronos clearly saw no reason to believe he had. Sadly, while Reuben stalked out of the room without picking up Michael's arrow, Kronos wasn't so unobservant. He hadn't left Lee with anything that could possibly be a weapon for a year, and had yet to slip up. He scooped it up off of the floor, admiring the fletching for a moment, before walking out of the room.

The door slammed shut and the bolt slid into place.

Tris curled up against Lee's side again. "Michael's in danger," he mumbled.

"He was already in danger," Lee admitted. "We've all been in danger since Luke stole the lightning bolt. Michael's smart enough not to take stupid risks." There were other reasons why he might, but Lee wasn't going to dwell on those. He certainly wasn't going to let Tris dwell on them.

His brother mumbled something indistinctly, shuffling in place a little bit. Then, "he showed them," he muttered, loud enough for Lee to hear him. "Kronos and his followers. They underestimated him and he made them pay."

Lee had to smile at least a little bit at that, even if he was still worried that Michael was painting too big a target on himself to be able to keep pulling the underestimation off. "Yeah, he did," he still said, because he was still a little proud of him for it.

The second fallout of Silena's lies came a few meals and bathroom visits later.

Alabaster threw the door open and stalked in, not giving either of them so much as a greeting before grabbing hold of Tris, prying him away from Lee, and hauling him bodily out of the room as the younger boy fought to get free, screaming when he realised he couldn't. Lee's wrists took another battering as he tried to lunge forwards, to get to his little brother, only to be pulled up short by the restraints the same way he always was.

"Tris!" he shouted. "Tris! "

"Lee! " Tris screamed back, but he was no match for the son of Hecate and was all but carried away. Alabaster slammed the door shut behind them, trapping Lee in his room.

It was the first time he'd been left alone in the room with the door shut.

He hated it.

Tris' screaming quickly faded away, once the door was shut, and no amount of struggling got Lee free from the cuffs. No amount of shouting or screaming got any response, either, and Lee was left staring helplessly at the closed door, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

The last time Tris was torn away from him, it was for Michael's report meeting, and he'd been returned quickly afterwards. Kronos had been there, though. The titan's absence this time felt like a lack.

He knew that Kronos likely wasn't around. He'd been spending more time on the Princess Andromeda – Lee's spine hadn't so much as tingled when the titan had said it, so it was true – waiting for the reported sabotage attack. It was to give the camp's spies the illusion that the boat really was Kronos' primary base, but Lee hadn't really cared as long as it kept the titan far, far away from him and Tris.

Now, he did care, because he didn't know why Tris had been taken, and if they hurt him… Lee didn't know why they would, when neither of them had done anything to provoke Tris being hurt, but the look in Reuben's eyes when he'd threatened Michael, the glowers some of the other demigods had sent him when they saw him…

He was crying again, terrified of what was happening to his little brother and hating his helplessness. Hating, hating, hating it.

When the door opened again, the bolt sliding back with a grating squeal, his heart jumped up into his throat. Hope, that Tris was coming back. Fear, that Tris was hurt.

Kronos' golden eyes were the first thing he saw. The second was the large, dark figure next to him. Not Tris.

Then Kronos shoved hard and the other figure stumbled in, crashing to the floor the same way Tris had, that first time Alabaster had thrown him in. The titan didn't even bother entering the room, shutting the door without a word and trapping Lee and his new companion in together.

Lee did not like the implications. Where was Tris?

And who had just been locked in with him?

The large figure laid down, still on the floor for several long moments, before rolling over with a groan. Their hands were tightly secured behind their back, and the torches were bright enough that Lee could see that they were mutilated, fingers crushed.

The figure groaned again, awkwardly pulling themselves up onto their knees, and Lee's heart sank.

It wasn't that he wasn't happy to see Beckendorf, really. The son of Hephaestus was a good guy, friendly with everyone, and Lee couldn't see him agreeing to be mutilated for a deception. It was just that they were both prisoners, now, and Kronos' lie to Silena was ringing in his ears, the promise that he would spare the second demigod infiltrator that had sounded so sincere, if Lee hadn't known differently.

Beckendorf made sense. Silena loved him; Lee could believe her lying to try desperately to keep him safe, even if it meant throwing Percy and other key demigods in the war effort in front of the manticore. Beckendorf made a painful amount of sense, and Lee hoped he could find a way out, somehow.

Somehow.

Beckendorf groaned again, but it was quieter, and in the torchlight, his dark eyes flickered amber. Lee suspected he had a concussion – he didn't look overly aware of his surroundings, even if he was still able to move. That didn't bode so well for escaping.

Those dark eyes settled on Lee, and widened.

"Lee?" he rasped, shuffling closer on his knees. He wavered from side to side, but managed to close the distance between them in short order. "Lee, is that you?"

Lee wasn't a short guy. He was considerably taller than Tris – understandable, given that Tris still had a growth spurt or two left to hit – and a similar height to Luke. Most of the demigods working for Kronos were shorter than Kronos-as-Luke, which meant that even though he was usually trapped sitting down, Lee still didn't feel short.

Beckendorf was a big guy. Even on his knees, injured and concussed, Lee felt dwarfed next to him. He knew that several new kids tended to find Beckendorf intimidating, with his build, even though he was actually one of the sweetest temperaments in camp. To Lee, it was almost a comfort, to be in his shadow again.

"Yeah," he said, raising his head to meet his friend's eyes. Beckendorf only held his gaze for a moment, before he was looking at the restraints, thick cuffs of metal that Lee had long since learned to hate.

"How long have you been here?" the other demigod asked him, wavering in place again and bracing his shoulder against the wall to stay upright. "You look awful." He sounded worried, but Lee was far more worried about him.

"You need to worry about yourself," he said. "You've got to get out of here, Beckendorf."

Despite the concussion, Beckendorf's eyes were determined. "You need to get out of here," he said.

"I can't," Lee admitted, even though he really, really wanted to. "They've got Tris. If I misbehave…" he broke off in a choked-up sob. "Get out, Beckendorf," he said. "They don't want me dead. I've survived this long. I can survive a bit longer. You… they're going to kill you."

Beckendorf let out a sigh that sounded fatally amused. "I told Percy the same thing," he murmured. "To run and leave me. I hope he got out in time." He steeled himself, pulling himself up using his shoulder against the wall. "If I manage it, I'll come back for you, Lee," he promised. "You and Tris." Lee managed a thin smile.

"I'd appreciate it."

Watching him stagger, with his ruined hands clamped behind his back and a thick, heavy metal door bolted from the outside between him and freedom, Lee knew Beckendorf's odds of actually escaping were slim to none.

Still, he tried to send out a prayer, to Apollo, to Hephaestus. Please, Dad, Lord Hephaestus. Get him out. Apollo hadn't responded to any of his prayers since he'd arrived, so Lee was pretty certain that Kronos was somehow blocking them, but he still had to try.

Beckendorf had scarcely taken two stumbling steps towards the door when it flew open, Kronos breezing in. He was followed by Ethan, who looked a little bit singed and disquiet, and Alabaster, who mimicked Kronos' sweeping walk. Like Ethan, he showed signs of getting a little too close to something that went boom.

Kronos looked completely untouched.

He was also carrying a massive scythe, and Lee had heard about Backbiter in passing, both back in camp when Percy had garbled an explanation of where Luke had gone, and also from some of Kronos' demigods since his capture.

A single sharp gesture had the two demigods grabbing onto Beckendorf, and the concussion seemed to delay his reactions just a split second too long. When he went to fight back, his muscular bulk a weapon even when he didn't have the use of his arms, Alabaster whacked him in the back of the head with the hilt of Ethan's sword.

Beckendorf crumpled to the ground, and Lee's stomach started climbing up his throat, because he knew Kronos had no plans to let Beckendorf live, but it hadn't occurred to him that he might kill him right there, in front of him.

Suddenly, there was a part of him that was glad Tris was elsewhere, a stroke of luck to spare the preteen from seeing someone else killed in front of him.

Neither Ethan nor Alabaster were particularly bulky; Ethan was a lithe swordsman, and Lee had yet to work out what Alabaster's weapon of choice was, although he was clearly talented with magic. Between the two of them they just about got Beckendorf dragged up onto his knees again. Dazed from the blow to the back of his head, which had probably given him another concussion on top of the first one, Beckendorf didn't even fight back.

The silver bracelet dropped to the floor, and Silena appeared. She looked nervous, and her eyes widened as she took in the sight broadcast towards her.

"Charlie?" she whispered. "Charlie? "

Beckendorf stirred. Lee couldn't see his face, but he saw the confused tilt of his head. "Silena? Silena… Lee. Silena, you have to… Lee… Tris… Kronos has them… Save them. "

He didn't seem to care that Kronos was in front of him. He didn't seem to realise why he could see Silena, either, and Lee started to sob. Maybe it was a blessing that Beckendorf was concussed enough to not realise she was a spy, that she was the one that had betrayed him.

"It's okay, Charlie," Silena said, softly, but there were tears running down her face, and there was the awkwardness of uncertainty in her voice. "You're safe, now. You're all safe. And once this is over-"

Kronos stepped closer, forcing himself into the centre of attention. "I hate to break up this touching conversation," he said, "but I have one small correction to make."

The scythe whistled through the air, coming to a halt resting next to Beckendorf's neck. Ethan and Alabaster both made themselves short, crouching down underneath the trajectory of the swing.

Silena gasped, and her eyes filled with horror. "My Lord-"

"You lied to me, Silena," he said. "Actions have consequences, you stupid girl. I have been generous, sparing the lives of the campers because they are only children who do not understand, yet this is how you repay me?"

"No, no-" Her hands came up to her mouth in horror. For the first time in years, her tears started to make a mess of her make-up. "No, my Lord, you said- you said you'd spare-"

"So I did," Kronos agreed. "But tell her, Lee. You knew, after all."

She blinked, as though she hadn't even noticed Lee was there. Lee had been quite content to not be noticed. "Lee?"

"Yes, Lee," Kronos mimicked when he didn't respond immediately. "Tell her."

There was a threat in the tone, a promise that if he didn't, there would be a price to pay, and Lee couldn't risk Tris. He couldn't.

He raised his head, and she recoiled, probably at his tear-stained face and what it meant.

Lee didn't take any pleasure from what was effectively an I told you so. "He lied," he rasped hoarsely. "He lied and he's got Tris and I couldn't tell you." It was a warning far too late to be of any good.

Kronos smirked, a far darker look than Luke would have ever pulled. "From the mouth of our own lie detector," he said. "Actions have consequences, Silena. Let this be a warning. The next time you lie to me, I'll burn your entire camp to the ground." He pulled the scythe back. "Any last words for your betrayed love?"

"No, no, no," Silena sobbed. "Charlie I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. No, please, don't, my Lord, please-"

"Silena," Beckendorf mumbled, and she fell silent. "Silena, I love you." He raised his head and looked straight at her. "Save them."

The scythe fell.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari