Marcus crouched down, hiding as best as he could in the shadows of the trees around him. Looking down into the valley before him, he could see a simple country home. A medium sized ranch building, a low fence, some bushes. The only thing marking it as out of the ordinary was its location deep in the mountains. He blinked, clearing the memories from his mind.
Looking at the ranch house in front of him, he couldn't believe he didn't recognize it in Hunter's memories. It looked as if time had ignored the home before them, pulling it straight from his memories. He had spent so long trying to block the memory of this place from his mind, but standing here now, it was as if he was right back in that night.
"That it?" Phil's voice came from behind him, barely audible over the ambience of the night.
Marcus nodded an affirmative, studying the building before him, calling his War Board to mind, forcing down the emotions. Forcing himself to look at the building objectively, Marcus saw that time had indeed changed the building before him. The bushes he had noted had been moved, no longer providing easy cover to approach the building itself. The fence, where before it had been solid wood, now looked like some sort of wire had been wrapped around the timbers. There were more signs of occupancy. Lights behind those curtains. Smoke curling from the chimney. Somebody's made themselves comfortable.
Marcus gestured for Phil to head further back into the trees, where the rest of the party had waited for them to scout. I know I probably could have left it to Phil but…
"You wanted to make sure you could handle it." Phil said, resting his hand on Marcus' shoulder reassuringly.
Marcus met Phil's eyes and knew that here at least, he didn't have to explain what was in his mind. Phil knew what it was like to return to the battlefield. And returning to the same one you lost a dear friend before…
"I better handle it." Marcus said quietly. He couldn't afford to fail here. He had the chance to end everything right here and now. He can't afford to-
"We will handle it." Phil said again, his hand leaving Marcus' shoulder as they got back to the group, reporting what they'd seen in more detail for those that hadn't seen the house before. Marcus took a deep breath, releasing it in a burst. He's right. I'm not alone here.
"So? What's the plan, oh great tactician?" Joel said with a grin.
"Simple." Marcus said with a shrug.
"True strategy is being able to adapt to the plan failing". Another piece of Athena wisdom.
"I'll be going in first. I know the terrain already, and thanks to training with our resident stealth boy, I've picked up some new tricks. Chastity, you're with me. Our goal is simple. Gather intel. Who all is here, where they are on the property, anything that could be useful. We are not to start a fight unless absolutely necessary."
"In other words, as soon as Marcus gets bored." Maddie added with a small grin.
"Maddie, Joel, you're next up. Wait for our signal, and once you see it, run in guns blazing and raise Hades."
"After all that talk of sneakin'?" Joel asked.
Marcus nodded. "By that point, Chastity and I will have a good idea of what you all are facing. We'll have set up an ambush to support you, so you're going to want to draw the attention of whoever's inside. Then, when they're focused on the battering ram duo in front of them-"
"You two catch them from behind." Phil finished, nodding his approval. "I noticed that leaves two of us unaccounted for."
"You and Jason are our wild cards. You two will have the easiest time adapting from a distance, so once the real fight starts, you pick your spots." Marcus finished.
"Any reason you have the teams set up that way?" Phil asked, tapping his finger on his bow thoughtfully. "You and I could be in the advance party. Chastity and Jason would be best on support."
Marcus shook his head. "That's one way to look at it. But we don't want to send whoever's scouting into the building without support, and I'm sure we would all feel better with our bowman on overwatch."
"Isn't it sweet when boys fight over you?" Chastity said, dramatically swooning onto Maddie.
Marcus raised an eyebrow, catching Maddie's eye as he did. It may have been a trick of the light, but he could almost believe he saw a blush come to her cheeks and she gently pushed Chastity off of her.
"W-what do we do if the plan falls apart?" Maddie stammered, quickly averting her eyes from Marcus' to look back through the trees in the direction of the base. Looks like even our veteran gets nervous.
"And please don't say 'wing it'." Chastity sighed. Marcus couldn't help a small smile escaping as he saw Jason quickly snap his mouth shut, cutting off what had become his favorite joke since Marcus had acquired Annabeth's Wings.
"If Plan A falls apart, we do what we do best. Improvise."
"That doesn't exactly inspire confidence, Marcus." Chastity said with a sigh.
"True strategy is being able to adapt to the plan failing." Marcus said, allowing a smile to touch his face for a moment.
"That's gotta be one of Athena's." Jason chuckled. "No way that came out of our Marcus."
—-
Marcus and Chastity crept through the trees back towards the cabin, taking even longer than his previous trip had. Neither were as good at being stealthy as Phil, and they couldn't afford to get caught out here.
"So, when are you going to tell her?" Chastity asked quietly.
"Is now really the time for this?" Marcus hissed back.
Chastity glanced at Marcus, ducking underneath a branch. "Not even a denial or a deflection this time? When did you become less fun?"
"Oh, you know, walking head first towards potentially the most dangerous situation we've ever faced tends to do that to me."
"Marcus." Chastity's voice became serious, her teasing tone disappearing. "Look at me."
Marcus, shocked by the sudden change in his friend, stopped in his tracks and turned to see Chastity pressed up against a tree, her expression deadly serious.
"I know the stakes as well as you do," she said, "but I know something you don't. Or perhaps, something you've refused to accept. You're so scared of letting her see your heart, but sometimes it's the ones we truly love that give us the strength in situations like this."
Marcus blinked in surprise before shaking his head ruefully. "Guess this is what I get for volunteering to be alone with Love's Champion huh? Look, if we get out of this alive I'll… consider it."
Chastity's eyes met his for a long moment before she nodded. "Good. Because she deserves to know. And you deserve to have closure on this. One way or the other."
Marcus sighed. "Now that we're done playing soap opera, can we please continue this super important mission that may or may not be the ending of this war?"
Chastity swept past him, stepping up on her toes as she did to peck him once on the cheek. "Of course. Just had to stop you from making any more mistakes. I promised Mom."
Marcus opened his mouth to reply, then closed it quickly, realizing he… had no response. He was at a loss for words. Guess just because you aren't Aphrodite's Champion doesn't mean she stopped taking an interest in your love life.
Marcus followed Chastity through the trees, stopping just before they thinned into the clearing that led to the Cabin. Marcus felt his heart rate spike as he stood there, staring at the place that had caused all of this. He glanced at Chastity, trying to confirm that she was ready for the next part of the plan, when he realized she wasn't meeting his eye. She was staring at the cabin, a look of determination and fear rising in her eyes. Quickly, Marcus turned his attention back to the cabin and saw that all his plans were about to have to change.
Aaron closed the cabin door behind him as he stepped out onto the Cabin porch, his gold armor glinting in the afternoon side, and his blade at his side. He stood for a moment, stretching as he seemingly enjoyed the afternoon ambiance. From the trees, a bird called. Marcus froze, the scene before him so wrong. He was here, preparing to battle against the ones that deep in his heart he still considered family but the scene before him was so… normal. This Aaron could have still been at Camp Half Blood. The thoughts sat heavy in his heart as Aaron turned, his green eyes seemingly scanning the trees before he took a breath and called out.
"I know you're out there, Marcus. Haven't we grown out of hide-and-seek?"
Marcus clenched his jaw, glancing at Chastity. Her wide eyes met his own, and he could see she was trying, just as he was, to think of a way their original plan might still work. But this… Bringing his War Board to his mind's eye, he tried figuring out some strategy to see his way around, to make his plan work, but Aaron's arrival had changed the game. All of the pieces and routes all led to the same outcome.
"Come on out, Marcus." Aaron continued, sitting on the steps of the cabin and laying his sword flat across his lap. "You've lost the advantage of surprise, if you ever had it to begin with. I knew it was only a matter of time before you figured out where to find us. Hell, I chose this place so you could find us."
Aaron started running a whetstone along his blade, continuing his monologue as he did. Chastity and Marcus glanced back and forth at each other, having a silent confrontation of their own.
Go get the others. Marcus's eyes ordered.
"You think we'd set up here and not have some way of keeping an eye on the roads and paths leading to this place?"
And leave you here? Like hell! Chastity sneered.
"Don't make me come look for you, Marcus."
This is not the time to argue. For once just listen to me! Marcus pleaded.
"I'm surprised at you. I taught you every smuggler rule I made."
Fine! Chastity started slipping away from the treeline, but her parting glance said all Marcus needed to know. Don't you dare do anything stupid before I get back!
"And Smuggler Rule Five is crystal clear. When faced with a job that seems impossible…?"
Go back to the beginning and try again. Marcus' eyes narrowed. He's playing mind games with me now.
Aaron, seemingly satisfied with the sharpness of his sword, sighed and stood, twirling it in his fingers as if it weighed no more than a simple stick.
"Well, since you don't seem to want to come to me, I guess I'll be the one coming to you. Ready or not, here I come."
Marcus slipped up from his crouched position, keeping the tree between him and the cabin. Chastity said not to do anything stupid. Chastity said not to do anything stupid. Marcus felt the air around him shift, the presence slight enough that he never would have noticed it if he wasn't as tensed up as he was. Glancing up at the tree above him, he saw a raven alight on the branch above him. At least, he thought it was a raven. The wings and breast had an odd red coloring to them, almost as if… Marcus' blood ran cold as he realized what he was seeing.
Elliot shifted right in front of him, ending as his human form sitting on the branches above, waving down to Marcus with a lunatic grin on his face.
"Found you."