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!

Clarisse recoiled as though she'd been struck, and behind her, Chris put his hand on her shoulder, bracing her. Tris squeezed Lee's hand, and the silence behind him, where Robyn and Kayla had still been fussing over their siblings, was heavy.

"Silena?" Clarisse demanded, and she sounded furious. Lee braced himself for the accusations, because Silena was Clarisse's friend, the two of them had always been close, much to the surprise of most of the camp, who couldn't work out where their friendship came from, the beautiful horse girl and the rough and ready warrior, as different as chalk and cheese. Of course Clarisse wouldn't just accept Silena had betrayed her.

Tris bundled himself more closely against Lee's side, changing his one-handed grip to a two-handed cling, and Lee glanced down at him to see him glaring at Clarisse, daring her to call Lee a liar. The glare of a skinny twelve year old was never going to affect Clarisse, though, and when Lee looked back at her, she was barely giving Tris a glance at all. Her eyes were locked on him.

"If Silena is the spy, what the fuck happened to Beckendorf?" she demanded, and Lee couldn't help the flinch, remembering the flash of a falling scythe, the blood splattering onto his feet, Silena's scream-

"Lee?" Tris asked, his voice small, and oh gods, Tris hadn't been there – thank the gods, because Lee couldn't handle his little brother seeing that – and that meant he didn't know.

A blink and Clarisse was in his face, her spear shoved in Chris' hand behind her. "With me," she said, and when Tris started to protest, she turned a fierce look on him. "Just Lee," she said, and Tris didn't want to let go, but Lee didn't want Tris to hear the rest so he gently extracted his hand, to quiet sobs.

Robyn appeared in his periphery, taking Tris and guiding him away, despite the boy's protests.

Lee didn't fight as Clarisse led him away from the rest, past still-burning vehicles that looked far less dramatic in the daylight, until they were out of earshot and almost out of sight of the other demigods.

"Talk," she ordered.

He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling more tears welling up, and reached blindly for the railings, gripping onto them tightly. He didn't look at Clarisse. He couldn't.

"She lied to Kronos," he said, and it was a battle to keep his voice steady. "Twice. Three times. There was- it was a coach, of monsters. She said she didn't know which reinforcements were going to be targeted."

"That was Beckendorf," Clarisse said, her voice low. "Him and the Stolls."

Lee had suspected as much. He nodded. "Kronos was furious," he said, and he was shaking a little. "She didn't- she thought she'd got away with it. She did it again. Said there would be an ambush. Just your cabin. It wasn't. He didn't like that, either. Reuben wanted Michael dead. He shot him."

"Reuben?"

"Demigod," Lee said. "Never ours. One of the leaders. Don't know where he was deployed."

It was getting harder to breathe. He tightened his grip on the railing, feeling the cool metal biting into his skin.

"Then it was the boat," he said, "but that lie didn't- Kronos had already decided. He told Silena whoever went with Percy- He'd spare them. He lied, and I couldn't-"

"Kronos had Tris by then," Clarisse said, and it wasn't a question. Lee wasn't quite sure how she'd made the connection, but it meant he didn't have to say it, so he didn't question it.

"Yeah," he said, with a sob. "Tris wasn't there, when-" He swallowed. "They took Tris away, before they brought Beckendorf-" his voice broke on the name "-in. He didn't see. Silena did. Kronos-" Lee tried to take another breath but it was getting harder. Clarisse didn't stop him, though, didn't interrupt him with mercies like that's enough, so he pushed on. "He told her. If she lied again- He'd kill everyone."

Silence hung between them, or what could have been silence, if Lee's breathing wasn't so loud, if he wasn't crying.

Then a solid, warm hand rested on his shoulder, grip firm but not squeezing. Supportive, not restraining.

"Stupid, stupid girl," Clarisse snarled. She didn't bring up anything else Lee had said, and Lee was grateful for it, because he didn't want to delve deeper into any of it. "Naïve, to think Kronos wouldn't have ways of making you give her up when you didn't do it willingly." Her hand flexed slightly. "You're a shit liar. Everyone knows that. Luke knew that. Silena should have bloody remembered it would only take the right damn question out of Kronos and he'd have you read like a book."

Lee crumpled. Clarisse was right, he knew she was right, but it still hurt to hear it. Hurt, but also helped a little, because in her own way, she was saying that it wasn't his fault. That he wasn't to blame – that she still trusted him.

The daughter of Ares didn't do hugs, but the grip on his shoulder stayed, and she crouched down in front of him, staying at eye level even when Lee found himself kneeling on the asphalt, trying to remember how to breathe. The touch was grounding, and he focused on it, trying to get his breathing back under a mental count. It was hard, but the war wasn't over yet and Lee forced himself back under control.

He could have the full breakdown later, once Kronos was back in Tartarus and he knew all his siblings were going to survive the war.

"You said I'm needed here," Clarisse said, once his breathing was somewhat even again. "What do you know, Lee?"

He wiped his eyes with his forearm and took a deep breath, looking at her. "About whatever is going on between you and my siblings? Just about nothing. About this battle? Kronos knows your cabin isn't here, and it's no secret that cabin five is our best warriors. He didn't keep me in the loop on everything, but I don't think he's expecting you."

"You need fresh reinforcements," Clarisse summarised. "And you called me, not anyone officially in charge here." She looked around at the carnage. "What do you know of the situation? Why was there a battle here? Olympus is still further in."

Lee forced himself to think back to Silena's last report, the one where every word had been a truth. "One cabin per bridge or tunnel," he said. "The Hermes cabin split across two, and the Hunters are here, too. Pollux is with the Demeter cabin."

Clarisse looked at him incredulously. "Are they trying to hold the whole fucking city? " she demanded. "Who the fuck cares about Manhattan? They don't have the numbers for that. They barely have the numbers to just hold the block around the Empire State Building! What the fuck was Wise Girl thinking?"

Lee shrugged. "That was the report to Kronos," he said. "Tris and I didn't get out until after he left."

Clarisse scowled. "I wondered why Michael was down when he shouldn't have been on the fucking front lines at all," she said. "But he fucking was, wasn't he? Front lines between Kronos and the rest of your cabin."

Lee's mouth twisted into something he couldn't even identify. "Yeah."

"I saw Nathan was down, too," she added. "That's the camp's two best archers – Kayla's not there yet, she's too new, but it won't take her long – out for the rest of the war, and it's only been one fucking night. Kronos came here?"

He nodded. "Baited Percy with the Minotaur, then came himself. Annabeth thinks he-"

"-was hitting the fucking healers," Clarisse interrupted. "Of course he was."

It's what I would've done, if I was him, Lee heard.

"Any fatalities?" she asked, and Lee shook his head.

"Michael and Nathan are the worst," he said. "Everyone else is still fit to keep fighting, if they have to." He hated that it would even be necessary , but Clarisse was right. There would be more fighting, before the war was over.

"You and Tris aren't," she rebuked. "I get you probably haven't looked at yourself in a fucking mirror, but you're dead on your feet. You don't even have weapons, or armour. Or even fucking shoes." She glared at his feet like they'd personally offended her. "You're getting back behind the fucking front line and staying there."

"I-"

"If I have my way," she started, in a tone that said she was going to have her way and no-one was going to be able to stop her, "you're all sitting back. We have archers. I have archers, the other cabins have archers, even if they're not as good as yours. We don't have healers, and if Kronos is-"

She was interrupted by the shimmering of an Iris Message opening up in front of her, and snapped her head towards it.

It was Ellis, one of her brothers.

"What?" she demanded. "And where's Sherman?" Sherman would be in charge without her there, Lee realised. It would make sense for Sherman to call. But Ellis?

"Silena's here," Ellis said, and his voice was strangely hushed, as though he was trying not to be overheard. "She's trying to persuade us to come and fight. Sherman's distracting her – your orders? Are we coming?"

He was looking at his older sister, but Lee didn't miss the glances that came his way.

Clarisse growled. "Don't trust her," she said. "She's the fucking spy."

Ellis' face paled. "Silena is?"

Clarisse set her jaw, and Lee recognised her thinking face, because strategy wasn't limited to the Athena cabin, and Clarisse had a good head for it, too. It was a necessity, in the leader of a war cabin, even if they usually only had to deploy it in Capture the Flag, rather than in real war.

"Go along with her," she said. "Or pretend to. Get your asses to Manhattan. They need reinforcements." She turned to Lee. "Where's the command centre?"

"Last I heard, Plaza Hotel," Lee said. "That's where Annabeth and the rest of my siblings are, at least."

She nodded sharply and turned back to Ellis. "You hear that? I want your asses at Plaza Hotel, or Olympus if that's not friendly territory by the time you arrive. If Silena tries to take you anywhere else, ignore her. Take her down if you have to."

"There's a ceasefire until tonight," Lee added, dredging out the other information he'd heard. "I don't know exactly what constitutes as 'tonight', or where Kronos is in the meantime."

Clarisse nodded again. "Get here before nightfall if you can," she said. "If you can't, be prepared to fight the fuck through; they don't need a pincer, they need a fucking front line. Don't let Silena stop you."

Lee felt bad for Ellis – he was one of the sharper Ares kids, one that could have been mistaken for Athena, by people who thought that intelligence was an Athena trait and never an Ares trait, and that was no doubt why Sherman had chosen him to call Clarisse, but he was young, too, around Will's age. This wasn't the sort of bad news he should be put in the position to carry. Still, he was an Ares kid, too, and the Ares cabin were all good at fighting.

He nodded. "Understood," he said. "Will you be there?"

"I'll be there," Clarisse said, and it sounded as much a threat as a promise. "Sherman stays in charge unless you deem him compromised, in which case give it to Louisa, until you make contact with me. Then command is mine. And one more thing – if she hasn't been told already, don't tell her I'm already here. And don't mention Lee."

Ellis gave her a quick salute, although his eyes flickered over to Lee again, curious and assessing. "Understood," he repeated. "We'll see you there." At a gesture from him, the IM faded away.

Clarisse turned back to Lee, thunder on her face. "She's dragging my cabin into something," she said, and she wasn't happy about it. "What are the chances she's doing it for Kronos?"

Lee wanted to think she wouldn't do that, but…

"If Kronos wanted her to, she would," he said. "After-" he choked. "After Beckendorf, she's cowed. But, she swore she's trying to protect everyone, and that wasn't a lie either."

"So either she's his puppet, or she's finally grown a fucking spine because she's realised Kronos isn't going to spare anyone she asks," Clarisse summarised. "And we have no way of knowing." Her voice was flat, and unimpressed. "Ellis will have everyone on alert."

"Your cabin are strong, and smarter than they get credit for," Lee said. "Silena won't catch them unawares."

"As long as she doesn't use that fucking charmspeak of hers," Clarisse growled. "It won't get everyone, but it might get Sherman."

"Won't get Louisa, though," Lee reminded her, needlessly. "They'll manage."

That got a snort out of her. "Louisa'll punch her in the face if she fucking tries," she said. Lee didn't doubt it for a moment. The girl would probably be searching for an excuse, once she heard Silena was spying for Kronos.

Clarisse pulled herself to her feet, and held out a hand for Lee to take. He clasped it with his own and she pulled him up, bracing him with another hand on his elbow. Lee's wrist appreciated not taking the strain.

"First things first, we're getting the rest of you to Plaza Hotel," she said. "This is too close to the front lines and you need to regroup. Why did you leave Michael and Nathan here when everyone else went?"

Lee gestured at the road carnage behind them. "Don't have any way of transporting them," he said. "It's too far to carry and stealing a car doesn't do anything when the roads are blocked."

Clarisse nodded curtly, accepting the reason and starting to walk back, to where the others were waiting. "What injuries are we talking about?"

"Flesh wounds for Nathan," Lee said. "He's lost an arm and it's not recoverable, but he's stable enough to move; they carried him up here already, on a blanket. Michael's chest got caved in. His lungs aren't punctured anymore but his ribs are still badly broken."

She clicked her tongue, irritated. "The chariot isn't big enough to take everyone at once," she said. "At a push, we could do it in two trips."

"I'm going with Nathan," Robyn said, alerting Lee to the fact they'd got back in earshot. "Tris also goes first."

"I'm going with Lee!" Tris protested.

"No, you're going first," Clarisse dismissed, looking him over. "I'd send Lee first if I thought I could make him."

She could. They both knew she could push him onto the chariot and he wouldn't be able to stop her, not in his current condition, but he appreciated that she was acting as though she couldn't, telling him that she wouldn't.

"Robyn, you, Nathan, and the kids are going with Chris," she decided, and Tris and Kayla both started making loud complaints at the order, until she rounded on them with a glare. "Not negotiable."

"You're not the boss of me!" Kayla snapped back, and before Lee could say anything, she glared at him, too, "and nor are you! Michael is my head counsellor! I'm staying with him!"

"Kayla, we don't have time for this," Robyn told her. "Their injuries mean Michael needs more space than Nathan in the chariot. The longer you argue this, the longer it'll take us to get back with everyone else, and the longer before we can get Michael set up in a proper field hospital, rather than here."

While the girls argued, Lee saw Chris slip around them and carefully pull Nathan into his arms, carrying him over to the chariot and stepping into it, setting the unconscious blond down carefully, where he wouldn't fall out once it started moving.

Seeing no reason to delay, Lee guided Tris over as well. His brother was crying again, clinging to his arms, and Lee wrapped him in a hug. "It won't be long," he said. "We'll follow on as soon as the chariot comes back."

"You should come now and let Kayla go with Michael," Tris pouted, but Lee shook his head.

"It's a big brother thing," he admitted. "Youngest first. I need you safe, Tris, so please?"

"I need you safe, too," Tris protested, but he was wavering. Lee smiled at him weakly.

"I'll be with Clarisse," he said. "I'll be safe." Tris eyed the girl over his shoulder, but even he couldn't argue that Clarisse wasn't as good a protector as Lee could ask for. His shoulders sagged.

"Be quick," he said, and hugged him again.

"We will," Lee said, and glanced up at Chris as Tris reluctantly left him and boarded the chariot. "Look after him."

"I will," the older demigod promised.

Lee walked away slowly, knowing he needed to talk to Chris at some point, but that now wasn't the time. Robyn passed him, jumping into the chariot as well and crouching next to Nathan, while a red-faced and fuming Kayla was deposited none-too-gently by Clarisse, and then grabbed by the back of her armour by Chris.

Lee winced at the sight, but the sooner the kids were away, the better, so he stepped further away, rejoined by Clarisse, as Chris single-handedly grabbed the reins and coaxed the pegasi into the air.

Thanks for reading!

Tsari