A/N: Young Athena is played by Bailee Madison

Five years ago

"Sweetheart, we need you to stay awake for us! Can you do that?"

I could barely process what the nurse was saying, due to the pain all over my body. I squinted as the bright hospital lights shone in my hazel eyes.

"What happened?" I mumbled, wincing in pain as I moved my head to look at her.

"You were in an car accident." She told me as they wheeled me on a gurney through the busy halls. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Athena. Athena Greene. Where's my brother? Where's Max?" I rambled in worry for my little brother's life.

"How old are you, Athena?" She asked, trying to keep me calm and distracted from the pain.

"I'm twelve. Where's my brother? Is he okay? Where's my mom and dad?" I stammered, starting to cry in fear of the state of my family.

"Athena, sweetie, I'm going to need you to tell me what happened." The Latina woman told me as we went through a set of doors.

"We were going to the Mount Hood Ski Lodge for a family trip. We were passing through Salem, when a semi rammed into the front half of the car. I heard my mom scream and-and th-then," I tried to explain, but my sobs and shaking body were prevent me from finishing the story.

"Shhh, honey, it's okay. You don't have to tell me right now." She told me calmly. "You have some bad injuries, so we're going to have to put you under anesthesia while you're in surgery. Okay? Do you understand, Athena?"

I nodded, wincing slightly at the pain the movement caused me. The Latina nurse gave me a reassuring smile as she injected me with the sedative. Slowly but surely, my eyes started to shut as the anesthesia took affect.

Time skip to after the surgery

My hazel eyes fluttered open, the sound of beeping filling my ears. I blinked a few times to let my eyes adjust to the light, before looking around. I noticed the nurse from before looking down at my charts, before she saw that I was awake.

"Hi, Athena. I'm glad to see that you're awake." She greeted me with a pleasant smile. "I'm Nurse McCall, I'll be taking care of you while you're recovering. Feel free to call me Melissa, if you'd like."

"Can I please have some water?" I asked, realizing how dry my mouth and throat was.

"Of course, sweetie." Melissa told me, before walking over to the pitcher of water that stood next to some paper cups on the counter by the sink. She filled up a cup and handed it to me.

"Thank you." I croaked with a grateful nod, before asking. "Where's my family?"

I saw Melissa McCall's face drop to a sympathetic frown. My stomach dropped at that look and I was afraid to learn the answer.

"You're brother received some minor injuries, but he is stable."

"What do you mean 'stable'? Is he alright?" I asked worriedly.

"He has a minor head injury, which has caused him to go into a coma." Her words made me freeze in horror. "Dr. Michaels thinks that Max is stable enough to wake up at any time between a few days to a week."

I nodded before asking the question I was afraid to know the answer to. "And my parents?"

"I'm so sorry, Athena." Nurse McCall said solemnly. "You're parents didn't survive the crash."

And then I broke.

Time skip

"Where is she? Where's my niece?"

I looked up from my lap at the sound of my Uncle Ben's voice. He entered the room and the minute we made eye contact, he ran and gave me a hug.

"I'm sorry, Athena. I'm so, so sorry." He mumbled into my matted brown hair.

"They're gone, Uncle Ben. They're gone." I sobbed into my uncle's neck. We both shook as we cried in each other's arms. I felt his tears soak the shoulder of my hospital gown and I knew that he was just as effected by my parents loss as I was. "Max is in a coma and they're gone."

"I know, Thena. I know." The twenty four year old whispered into my hair.

"This is all my fault." I sobbed, my heart breaking more and more.

"No, no, it's not." He argued, pulling away from the hug and holding my puffy face in his hands.

"Yes, it is! If I hadn't insisted that we go skiing, then they would be alive and Max would be awake!" I hiccuped as tears trailed down my face and another sob shook my twelve year old body.

"Don't say that. Don't you ever say that, Athena. None of this is your fault, you had no way of knowing that this would happen." The twenty four year old tried to soothe me.

"They're gone. They're gone. They're gone." I sobbed over and over again as Ben brought me into another hug.

"Shhhh. I know, sweetie. I know." He whispered, running his large hand over the top of my hair soothingly as I cried into his chest.

Two weeks later, Max woke up from his coma. Uncle Ben and Nurse McCall wheeled me into his hospital room in a wheelchair, so that I could see him. As to be expected, my seven year old brother was confused and sore. Uncle Ben decided to be the one to tell Max what had happened despite how hard it was for us all to hear and relive.

The week following, Ben's wife, Sarah, left him because he was spending more time at the hospital with us, then at home with her. She could have come with him, but she didn't. She didn't care enough about her husband to put her life on hold and come with Ben to the hospital to comfort him in his time of loss. Ben and Sarah then had a huge fight over how often he would be at the hospital with us. This caused her to pack up and leave him.

A week later, an envelope addressed to Uncle Ben arrived at our doorstep. Inside that envelope was divorce papers that were already signed by Sarah.

That was the accident that caused five years of panic attacks, anxiety, night terrors, and PTSD. It also the accident that made the three of us stronger and that created our tight bond.

Because of the accident, we realized how important family was and caused us to make a vow to always protect each other no matter what.

And that is exactly what we did.

We protected each other. Every day for five years. Every single day.