"God damn it, Nico," I swore as I snapped my fingers, countless wires leaping into position on his limp body, giving me his vitals. I quickly set Nico up on an IV and sped up his blood work, wincing when I noticed his white blood cell count.

Preparing for the worst, I grabbed an ultrasound, poured the blue gel over Nico's abdomen, and moved the wand around, deeply troubled by the amount of free fluid I saw on the monitor. Whatever he'd been fighting didn't let him walk away without some serious damage.

I'd managed to force some more ambrosia down Nico's throat as well as infuse his IV with nectar, but I knew I'd still have to act if I didn't want Nico to die in front of me. I hung a unit of blood – which some of the skeletal guards had managed to get for me, though I don't know where they got it from – and set the transfusion rate, impatiently pacing back and forth as I waited for another minute to see if anything improved.

By the way, the answer to my inquiry was no, causing me to sigh in exasperation as I pulled my hair up into a bun, pulled a surgical mask over my face, and added some morphine and sedatives to Nico's IV as I picked up a scalpel.

"I apologize for this in advance," I said before bringing the scalpel down onto Nico's stomach.

Hades found me six hours later, his face paler than usual when he saw me covered in blood. I'd wanted to get changed earlier, but I got distracted by sanitizing the rest of my surgical tools.

"Please tell me that this is not your blood," Hades gulped as I tossed my bloodied face mask and gloves into the nearest garbage can.

"Nope, not mine," I assured him, reaching up to let my hair down as I was beginning to get a headache. "It's Nico's."

"What?"

"Yeah, he got hurt pretty badly. I managed to fix him up, but it was…messy to say the least."

"Do you know what hurt him?" Hades demanded, his expression so dark that it rivaled Erebus himself.

"Well, it's something that uses brute force," I started to explain, waving for Hades to follow me towards the infirmary, where Nico currently resided. "Luckily for Nico, I didn't find any traces of any kind of poison, so that rules out a lot of monsters, believe it or not. From all the evidence – his wounds and his story, that is – I believe he was hit by a car."

Hades gave me an incredulous look. "You seriously think my son was hit by a car? Of everything he's ever faced, a car is what brought him closest to death?"

"Yup."

The god of the Underworld pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head in exasperation. "Just take me to see Nico. I don't believe this."

I shrugged. "Believe whatever you want to believe, Hades, but I'm telling you someone almost ran Nico over."

When we got to the infirmary, I pulled out some of Nico's x-rays and sonograms and placed them against the white board, grabbing a marker and circling some key injuries on the pictures. Then I rummaged through my bag until I found some of my notes from my time under Apollo's mentoring until I found x-rays and sonograms of car crash victims. I threw those onto the board as well, marking the similarities between the photos.

"How are you sure that this wasn't some Cyclops hitting him with a club?" Hades asked, unable to peel his eyes away from the images I had on the board.

"Because then his ribs would've looked like this," I said, shifting over the images and placing one of a victim who'd learned the hard way what a club to the ribs could do.

Hades winced at how shattered the person's ribcage was. "Fair point, Andy. But what was my son doing in the middle of the road in the first place?"

"No clue. He passed out before I could ask him anything."

I grabbed a glass of water and poured it over some of the thicker bandages over Nico's abdomen, willing the water to heal him. Though I was a goddess, I wasn't one of healing, so I was limited to what my own powers could do. So if it meant dumping Nico in a pool to close up these wounds, I would.

"I'm trying to get this to heal without a scar," I told Hades as I poured another cup of water over Nico. "But we'll see."

Hades nodded, still numb to the severity of the situation.

"So what exactly were you doing down here?" Hades asked, turning away from the horrific images, taking a seat next to Nico. As much as many people would like to claim that Hades hated his children, that's not the case. He was just afraid if he got too close to them, Zeus would kill them before they could utter their first words.

"I was looking for Nico," I answered, adjusting the rate of Nico's morphine intake. "I don't know if you've heard, but Percy Jackson's gone missing."

"Has he?" Hades asked, raising an eyebrow, seemingly happier than anything about the son of Poseidon's disappearance. "Such a shame."

"I know you don't like him. But he's a big part of Camp Half-Blood, and Annabeth's lost her mind with worry over this. That's why Nico agreed to help to search for Percy."

"What about you? Aren't you that boy's guardian angel?"

My cheeks burned with shame. I turned away from Hades, unable to look at him in the eyes.

"I see," was all he said, sounding somewhat pleased with what I'd done. "I didn't think you had it in you, but you've proven me wrong. Clearly you are capable of darker things than I previously imagined."

My jaw dropped. "Do you…do you think I murdered him? Because I would never do such a thing, never in a million years, especially not to the boy who's practically my younger brother!"

"Then where is the boy?"

"I can't say."

"Not even to me? My, this must be serious, indeed."

"You have no idea," I muttered. "Look, can you just tell Nico I was looking for him and to send me an Iris-message when he wakes up? I'll even cover the call." I placed a drachma onto the table holding Nico's sword.

Hades just smirked. "Sure thing, sister dear. But just so we're clear, we will be continuing this conversation at a later date. I would love to see how this turns out."

I forced a smile, which probably came out as a grimace. "Of course. We'll keep in touch."

Let's just say, I've never run towards the shadows faster than any other time in my life, my face still aflame with embarrassment as I landed in the middle of an extremely clean sewer pipe, the sound of laughter echoing nearby.

It didn't take me long to figure out where I'd landed, even though I was positive I'd pictured returning back to Camp Half-Blood. I guess the Fates were interfering again, like always, but I didn't mind. After all, I'd always been curious about what Medea's store looked like.

I knew I was heading in the right direction when I heard, "Chef Leo's Taco Garage is fixing you up! And by the way, it's tofu, not beef, beauty queen, so don't freak. Just dig in!"

A couple more dead ends and wrong turns later, I eventually found Leo, Piper, and Jason sitting around a small fire, scarfing down the tofu tacos Leo had made. When they finally noticed me, Leo nearly choked on his taco, to the point where Piper violently patted his back to prevent him from dying.

Jason, on the other hand, paled whiter than fallen snow. "Andy?" he asked, his gaze once again drifting towards my left forearm, which was completely bare at the moment. "What are you doing here?"

"How did you get here is the better question," Leo said, wiping away some saliva from the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah, how did you get here?" Piper asked, swallowing the last bit of her taco. "It took us a day to get here, give or take."

"Shadow-traveling," I answered. Then I saw her ankle and frowned. "What happened?" I asked, pointing to the makeshift splint around her ankle.

Piper blushed. "I landed on my feet when we fell off of Festus the first time."

"The first time?"

"We've been having some, uh, technical difficulties," Leo laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Here, let me help. Jason, help me move Piper towards the water."

The three of them were genuinely confused about what I was about to do, but despite their concerns, Jason still helped me lower Piper's bad ankle into the water, being careful not to jostle her leg too much.

Leo scrunched up his nose in disgust. "This can't be sanitary, Pipes."

"Yeah, but what other choice do I have? I'm not going to be a cripple for the rest of this quest if there's another way to heal my ankle that won't cause me to burn up into ashes."

"Fair point."

"I'm not going to lie, this is going to hurt for a moment," I said, gently setting my hands on either side of Piper's splint, causing her to wince.

"Just do it," she said through gritted teeth, holding onto Jason's hand for dear life.

I didn't give her any warning before I pressed my hands against her ankle, forcing the water to set the bones and ligaments back into place. Piper screamed and clutched Jason's hand so hard that I thought she was going to break his hand, meaning I'd have to do this all over again.

Once I was sure her ankle was back in its proper place, I said, "Could you flex your toes for me, Piper?"

She did, gasping in surprise when she realized that it no longer hurt to move her foot. "Woah. Thanks, Andy."

"I think I might need your help next," Jason laughed, revealing his almost purple hand from how tightly Piper had been squeezing.

"Okay, let me see. Because that's going to bruise even if you don't have any broken fingers, and trust me, bruised hands aren't fun."

I took Jason's hand into my own, waving the water over his skin for a few moments before returning it back into the little rivulet from the sewer. Jason stared at his hand, turning it over, smiling slightly when he saw that the bruises had faded before they had a chance to get any worse.

"Well, if you're gonna be healing everyone," Leo said, "is it too late for me to smash my thumb with a hammer?"

I laughed. "Sure, I could heal that if you want, but I don't recommend smashing any part of your body with a hammer."

"Boo. You're no fun."

"Well, now that you're here," Jason said, "are you a part of our quest? Because I thought the prophecy only said-"

"Yeah, it wasn't my intention to shadow-travel here, but I guess something went wrong or the Fates just really wanted me to run into you guys. But it's not like I'd be much help anyways."

Leo shook his head, scoffing in surprise. "Not much help? Andy, if you'd been here with us from the beginning, I'm sure we could've rescued Hera by now."

I shrugged. "I don't think the Fates would be too happy about that. But since I'm here now, you three rest. I'll keep watch."

"I can't ask that of you," Jason stated, his lips pressed into a firm line, the same expression he'd make during Senate meetings once his mind was made up about an issue. "You should be helping Annabeth look for Percy. Taking care of us, that's too much."

I waved off his concern, having expected an answer along those lines. "Jason, this wouldn't be the first time I've accidentally stumbled into my friends' quests before, and they all tried to do the same thing. Now, I know we've just met, but let me tell you something: I never leave my friends behind."

"You see us as your friends?" Piper asked, eyes wide. "But you just met us!"

"I'm a pretty good judge of character," I said. "Anyways, I'm not leaving until the three of you are all asleep. I'm keeping watch tonight, no ands, ifs, or buts about it."

Jason seemed like he wanted to keep arguing, but he looked down and saw Piper already fast asleep in his in his lap, curled into a tight ball. Leo began nodding off, too, turning over the dying coals of the fire with his bare hands before also curling up into a ball, using his army jacket as a makeshift pillow.

However, Jason didn't fall asleep for a long time, merely staring at my forearm.

"I know you," he said, his voice thick with exhaustion. "I don't know how, but I've known you for longer than a day."

I sighed. "Promise to keep this a secret until later notice?"

"How long is later notice?"

"Like four or five more days. By the end of the week, at the latest."

Jason bit his lip but nodded anyways.

I waved my hand over my left forearm, revealing the six barred lines underneath the omega. I placed a finger to my lips, urging Jason to be quiet as he'd gasped quite loudly, causing Piper to stir a little before she fell back asleep.

"You're like me?" he asked, his blue eyes wide with curiosity. "You know where I'm from, why Hera brought me here?"

"I do," I said, waving my hand again, the lines quickly fading away from my skin. "But until your memories come back, I can't tell you anything about your past life. I'm so sorry."

Jason deflated at my statement but nodded in understanding anyways. "Okay. Still, that makes me feel a million times better."

"I'm glad. Now, would you please go to sleep? I promise I'm a good guard."

"I'm starting to realize that," Jason said. Within seconds, he was sleeping as well, his head resting against his chest while Piper snored softly in his lap.

I smiled at the sight in front of me, zapping the dying fire with a new burst of energy, keeping the warmth going in the freezing sewer underneath Chicago.

True to my word, I never fell asleep while the trio slept, keeping the fire going until Leo eventually stirred. Jason quickly followed suit, having sensed someone else wake up, and then Piper, who felt Jason shifting under her head.

While the three rubbed the sleep out of their eyes, I rummaged through my bag, pressing chocolate chip cereal bars into their hands. Leo gave it a quick once over, shrugged, tore open the wrapper, and happily ate his breakfast while Piper and Jason shot him questioning looks.

"What?" he asked, his mouth full. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Where did these come from?" Jason asked.

"Her bag," Leo replied, like the answer should've been obvious.

"Yeah, but she didn't have a bag with her last night," Piper pointed out, gently lowering the cereal bar onto the floor. "Look, I've gotten in enough trouble for 'stealing' before. I'm not going to run the chance of us getting arrested when we're on a quest."

"I didn't steal these," I said gently, watching as Leo's expression darkened and he stood up, muttering something about putting out the fire. "And I didn't steal this bag either. It's enchanted to collapse into a charm when I don't need it. See?"

I tapped the brooch twice, and my bag collapsed into a small golden, purse-shaped charm onto my bracelet, dangling innocuously among my assortment of weapons and armor. I tugged onto the charm again, my bag returning to my lap.

"I always have this with me, and I keep a ton of stuff in there," I explained. "Seriously, you have no idea the amount of first aid supplies I've pulled out of this bag over the past decade. Saved your sister's life at one point," I said, looking at Jason.

"You've…you've met my sister?"

I nodded. "Was on the run with her for a few months before we reached camp. Look, I know you all have a ton of questions, especially you, Jason, but there is such thing as a deadline for your quest."

"She's right," Piper agreed, pausing only for a moment to pick up her cereal bar before getting onto her feet. "Let's see where this sewer leads us. The venti were here last night; they can't have gone too far."

"Follow the green piping," I said, pointing out the oxygen line that ran across the top of the sewer. "You should find a department store at the end of the tunnel."

Jason raised his eyebrows. "For someone who isn't on this quest, you sure know a lot about what we're up against."

"Eh, being a goddess has its perks," I shrugged.

Leo just about choked on his own spit. "I'm sorry, goddess?"

"Oh, speaking of which, I can't let you go without these."

I pulled out a little white box from my bag, one that most people would use to keep medication in when they traveled. In my case, I used it for organizing my smaller pieces of magical items that I've collected over the years, like a scale from a mermaid, the bottled breath of a dragon, unicorn horn shavings, and other odds and ends.

I popped open one of the dividers, fishing out four opaque gel discs, then pressed two into Leo and Jason's hands.

"What are these things?" Leo asked, rolling one of the discs between his index finger and his thumb, bringing it up to his eye to inspect it.

"Magical ear plugs."

"What do they do?" Jason asked, eying them suspiciously. "And why doesn't Piper need a pair?"

"She's immune to charmspeak. You two, on the other hand, are not. And something tells me that you're about to face someone who has very powerful charmspeak, stronger than yours, Piper." She winced. "Not to worry, I think with some practice you'll be the most powerful charmspeaking demigod of our time. Just be careful about who you're about to meet."

"And who's the lucky monster we get to destroy?" Leo said, placing the discs inside his ears.

I bit my lip. "I'm not allowed to say. Oh, and one other thing, and I promise you guys can leave."

"Another gift?" Piper asked, the corners of her lips quirking upward in an almost smile.

"How'd you know?" I said sarcastically. I started moving through all the charms on my bracelet before finally stopping on one, yanking it, causing for a silver dagger about eighteen inches to appear in my hands. I gave it to Piper, who looked unsure of the weapon. "You'll need this on your quest. Try not to lose it before then."

"I'll do my best," Piper said, her voice unsteady as she slipped the dagger into the sheath that I also had given her.

"I don't mean that I expect it back. It's just that if you lose it, the dagger will return to my bracelet, and that'll mean you won't have it when you need it."

"Oh." Piper sighed in relief. "I thought this was some heirloom or something."

"Nah, I don't have any family for heirlooms to be passed down. I just took this from the camp's armory."

"No family?"

I waved off her question. "Don't worry about it. Now, off you go. I'm sure Hera doesn't appreciate being in that cage longer than she needs to be."

Jason stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait, how did you-?"

"Bye!" I exclaimed, leaping back into my own shadow, heading back for the Underworld to go check on Nico.

"Oh, Bob, you didn't have to do that!" I said as I walked into the infirmary, watching as the silvery haired Titan continued to mop the still blood-stained floor. "I was going to take care of it."

"The nice girl doesn't need to worry," Bob said, a serene smile on his face as he wrung out his mop, dunked it back into his bucket, and resumed his mopping. "This is Bob's job. Bob likes cleaning."

"Can I at least help?"

Bob shook his head. "Bob doesn't need help. The boy, my friend, needs help. Please help my friend, nice girl. I tried, but it was too big an ouchie."

I ignored the pang of sadness in my heart at the thought of what was going to happen to Bob in the upcoming year, numbly walking towards Nico's bedside and checking out his vitals (which happened to be surprisingly good, given the circumstances).

I kept up small talk with Bob as he continued cleaning the rest of the infirmary from the mess I'd created. He seemed more than happy to indulge me in my request to stay until I was done, as he was just as curious about Nico's well-being as he was about my sudden appearance.

"You haven't come by in a long time," Bob commented, resting his chin on the top of his five foot tall mop, his foot behind one of the bucket's wheels to prevent it from rolling away and spilling. "Bob was starting to worry if you were okay."

I managed to crack a smile at Bob's concern, locking the brakes on the x-ray machine as I moved it back to its spot, waiting for the film to develop in the adjacent printer. "I'm doing great, Bob, thanks for asking."

"That makes Bob very happy. He is always very happy to see you, nice girl."

"Feel free to call me Andy, if you want."

"An-dy?" Bob spoke carefully, like he was unsure of how to pronounce my name. He scratched his head. "That is difficult, your name."

"Well, my full name is Andromeda, but I think that-"

"I like Andromeda," Bob decided, never missing a beat on my name this time, extremely pleased with himself. "Andromeda is much easier than An-Uh-"

"Andy," I finished gently. "Okay, call me Andromeda if it's easier for you, Bob. Or if you want, call me nice girl. I don't care."

"But names are important!" he exclaimed, spazzing so hard that he whacked himself in the face with the mop handle, causing his nose to snap with a sickening crunch!

"Bob!" I shouted, quickly moving his cleaning supplies aside as I helped him onto a spare table, asking for him to show me his nose.

Gold ichor flowed from Bob's nose like a waterfall, staining his janitorial clothes and his skin. Even though he was still cupping his nose, I could see the misshapenness from the broken bone, dark circles starting to bloom around his eyes as a result.

"Don't worry about Bob," Bob said. He pressed a finger against his broken nose, said, "Owie," and didn't even flinch as the bone snapped back into place, something that would've made most people scream for their mommies.

Grabbing some wipes, I gently dabbed at the ichor on Bob's face, wiping until he no longer appeared like he'd bitten into the leg of a god. He'd managed to heal himself so well that there was no evidence that he'd broken his nose other than the ichor staining his clothes and the floor.

Bob frowned at the mess on the floor, mumbling, "I'm sorry for bleeding everywhere," before grabbing his mop and beginning to mop the floors again.

"Don't worry about it," I told Bob, stopping him before he soaked the entire floor. I waved a hand over the floor and his clothes, reverting them back to their cleaner states. "There we go. Good as new."

Bob sniffed softly. "Bob didn't mean to make a mess. Bob just wanted to let you know that names are important."

I nodded earnestly. "Yes, I agree. Names are important. So, Bob, want to see Nico's x-rays?"

He clapped his hands together like an excited child. "Oh, yes, Andromeda! Bob would love to see healing in a demigod's body!"

I laughed as I walked over to the printer, grabbing the film and placing it up against the lit up board. Bob watched on with childlike enthusiasm, once again filling me with unimaginable sadness. But I suppressed those dark thoughts, choosing to talk about Nico's fractures, pushing away any notion of the future for now.