They spent their first night out of the Underworld camped by the side of the road, on one of the many offshoots along the highway that served no other purpose than to have a place to park for a few hours and stretch one's legs. Marcus shrugged off the questioning glances Chastity threw his way, having ended her spell and regaining consciousness in her own body on the bus as they had left the Underworld behind. Marcus wondered what had possessed the group to bring Chastity's unconscious body along all this way, but shrugged it off. It worked out in the end. Though he could do without the current awkwardness that suffused the air whenever he and Chastity were close together, the tension between the two was so thick he was shocked nobody had commented on it yet. He knew now why his emotions had gotten the better of him in the Underworld, but he wasn't ready to confront that topic yet. There were too many things he'd have to sort out himself first.

Now that he did know where his heightened emotions were coming from, it was easier for him to suppress the jealousy that surged when, sitting around their hidden campfire, Chastity snuggled herself up under Phillip's arm. It wasn't the first time Marcus had seen them act that way, but the slightly guilty glance Chastity gave Marcus before she caught herself and the memory of just how strong his emotions had affected him drove him crazy. So instead of sitting there and taking it, he stood, throwing his new guitar case across his back, fully intending to go back on the bus and leave them to their own devices.

"I thought you said my lessons gave you nightmares?" Chastity jokingly called out to him. An attempt to see where they stood.

"Oh, they do. But my options to get to the Underworld were pretty limited." Marcus said dismissively, not taking his eyes off the guitar case. He truly had no idea, and so wouldn't give her hope.

"Speaking of, how did you guys get down there?" Chastity asked. Marcus felt a rush of relief as her attention was taken off of him. He was hoping during the intervening conversation he could just fade into the background. Perhaps find a moment to…

"You'd be shocked the things you find just lyin' around in the Camp storage rooms." Joel called over from where he had just finished binding Hunter to a nearby tree.

Marcus wouldn't admit how much the sight of Hunter, arms bound and tied to the tree, affected him. He had looked at Hunter at one time as the aggravating older brother he had never wanted, but was stuck with anyway. They had never been the closest, but when push came to shove Marcus had known he could rely on him, and he had thought that went both ways. But the hatred radiating off Hunter told him that even if his life had been spared, there was no chance of reconciliation between the two. Too much had pulled them apart.

"Somebody just left these in some glass case." Joel continued, tapping a smaller pan pipe that now hung around his neck. "Apparently they used to belong to some dude named Grover, before he disappeared. I'd always been good at the harmonica so I thought this couldn't be much different and hey, ho, whatcha know, Joel's right again."

Marcus raised an eyebrow. The name Grover stirred a memory for him, but he couldn't focus enough to sort it out. On instinct he glanced over at Maddie, as in moments like this in times past this would be when she'd hop in and jog his memory, but it was almost like she was avoiding his eyes, staring into the fire and chewing a stray end of her hair that was curled around her finger. When she finally did glance at him, their eyes met for a fraction of a moment before she quickly jerked her eyes away, her face glowing red in the firelight. The quickness of her reaction cut him to the quick. He must have hurt her more than he realized when he had left. He'd have to find some way to apologize to her.

The memory of his time in the Underworld jumped to the forefront of his mind again and he felt that surge of guilt grow stronger. He knew how he felt about her, yet he had acted like a complete fool with Chastity. He knew if he turned his eyes back to her, she would be watching their interaction, though she'd pretend she hadn't been. This situation just keeps getting worse and worse.

"Well, however you did it, I'm impressed." Marcus said instead, turning his attention back to Joel, who had now settled on the other side of the fire next to Jason. "You two have gotten powerful, almost without me noticing at all. I hardly recognize the god rejecting farmer and Boulder Boy."

Marcus was pleased to see Joel grin wide and nudge Jason with an elbow. Those two have become quite the duo. Good. They'll need that camaraderie.

"Easy to not notice your teammates' growth when you constantly seem to be leaving them behind." Phil's voice came quietly across the fire.

The warm reunion caught the chill of the night around them as Phillip's words hung in the air. They had been brought back to reality, and the reality was that Marcus had abandoned his Camp when he knew his power would be needed. He had chosen to walk his own path, instead of one shared by his friends, and now it was time to face the consequences of that choice.

Marcus turned, watching as Phillip extracted himself from Chastity's embrace and stood, walking around the fire to meet him face to face. It had been the first time they'd stood like this since their confrontation in the Big House, a fact that was not lost on Marcus and one he knew must be playing in Phil's head as well. The words that had passed between them then had been harsh, and even if Marcus knew now part of what had been driving him wasn't himself, he couldn't bring himself to regret his decision. The tension between the two spread throughout the entire clearing, the rest of the group watching them with concern. Marcus couldn't help but notice Chastity's eyes glancing between the two of them quickly, while Maddie wrapped her arms more tightly around her legs.

"So what now, soldier boy?" Marcus said, keeping his tone light and meeting Phil's steady gaze. "Danger's passed. You've caught the AWOL half-blood. What's the next step?"

Phil sighed. "Even now, seeing what your brash decision caused, you can't even pretend to show any regret over it, can you?"

Marcus shrugged. "What do you want me to say, Phil? I made the decision I thought was the right call."

"The right call for all of us, or for you?"

"For Chastity."

Marcus and Phil stared each other down a moment longer, neither willing to budge on their position. Finally, Marcus was surprised when Phillip nodded.

"Well, heroics may not be my favorite plan of attack, but I can't deny that this time, your call was the right one." Phillip held out his hand to Marcus.

Marcus raised an eyebrow before reaching out and taking Phil's hand in his own. "I don't know if I'd go that far. I'd have been pretty out of my depth if you all hadn't shown up."

Phillip laughed, clapping Marcus on the shoulder with his free hand. "That's the problem with heroes Marcus. They always show up at the last possible moment."

Marcus opened his mouth to reply as Phillip turned and went back to his spot with Chastity before he stopped dead, his mind finally catching up with how Phillip had turned his own phrase against him. He chuckled, weakly at first, then stronger until he was fully laughing. His relief that everything had indeed turned out okay, that he hadn't failed to protect any of those that mattered to him, rushed out of him in the form of laughter. The rest of the group watched him with surprised concern on their faces.

"What?" Marcus finally asked the group when he got his breath back.

"It's just… I think that's the first time I've heard you really laugh." Jason replied.

Marcus took a deep breath and scowled at Jason. "Well don't get used to it."

Marcus' quick reversion to his normal attitude had the group around the fire roaring with laughter. Phillip with his arm around Chastity, who had leaned even heavier into him after his confrontation with Marcus. Jason and Joel, each taking turns mimicking the quick shift and causing the other to roar even louder with laughter. Even Maddie was joining in the fun, her previous shyness around him seemingly forgotten for the moment. The tension of the moment broke, the group reveling in their reunion once again.

Marcus slipped around the fire while the rest of the group was focused on recreating his slip in composure for their own amusement, stopping to stand in the shadows next to Hunter.

"What do you want, Marcus?" Hunter spat out. "Seemed to me you were having a grand old time a moment ago."

"What is Aaron planning?" Marcus asked, cutting straight to the chase.

"To throw you a birthday party. You still like Red Velvet cake, right?"

"Hunter, I can't help you if you don't give us anything to work with."

Hunter glared up at Marcus, the fire reflected in his eyes.

"Even if you could, I don't want your help, Traitor. It's too late for you to change anything, and that's just the way I want it. The New Olympians will succeed where the old ones failed, and we'll destroy any half-blood that gets in the way."

Marcus shook his head, turning his back on Hunter shooting one last comment over his shoulder as he rejoined his group around the fire. "I'm sorry things turned out like this Hunter. I really am."

Marcus spent the rest of the evening avoiding Chastity's eyes, and found that Maddie was doing the same with his. Finally, as the group started to drift to sleep and Phillip took first watch, Marcus slipped onto the Greyhound to avoid the rest of the group as he cast up a silent prayer, thanking Athena and Aphrodite for watching over them on their travels to the Underworld. He usually wasn't much for praying, but he felt that maybe, for once, he had a lot to be thankful for.