Creds to SquishyMishy02 for the idea.

Summary: You join Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth on their way to Camp Half Blood.

QOTP: How do you feel about Luke?

Word Count: 1214

They found you in a back alley, trying to fight off a monster you didn't know the name of - a blonde, blue-eyed boy, a black-haired girl, and a blonde-haired, seven-year-old girl.

The boy and the older girl fought off the monster. The little girl grabbed your hand and pulled you to safety and you watched as the monster fell.

You told them your story - how you ran away from home when crazy things started happening. When people you loved started getting hurt. Your mom/dad didn't know what to do, but they told about your dad/mom. The one that wasn't mortal.

The other three told you their stories - the boy's sick mom, the older girl's alcoholic mother and her dead brother, the little girl and her stepmother.

They told you you could stick with them, and you did. You took pictures, fought monsters, made hideouts. You survived.

You developed feelings for the older boy - Luke - who was your age. He was so kind... strong... attractive in a rugged kind of way. Sometimes he smiled, like when he'd talk to the little girl - Annabeth. He'd tell her the cheesiest jokes about monsters so she wouldn't be afraid of them.

He'd pick petty fights with the older girl, Thalia, and they'd go back and forth, arguing about the proper way to pronounce "sushi".

He taught you everything you knew. He called you the worst nicknames. He was protective - over all of you.

He'd always take the first watch at night. Sometimes he wouldn't wake up you or Thalia - he'd let you sleep while he sat up, trying not to nod off.

It wasn't the best, but you weren't alone anymore.

Then, one day, a satyr named Grover arrived. He was young and new at his job; taking demigods like you, Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth to Camp Half Blood. A safe place.

You began your journey with Grover as your guide.

One night, you were woken by a hooded figure, who led you away from the group. It gave you a steel rod with caps on either end.

"Do not open it until it is time," it said. "And do not tell a soul, monster, anyone, or I will kill him."

"Him?" you asked, holding the rod in your hands. "Who-?"

"You know."

"Luke," you whispered.

The figure nodded. "Keep it. Take it to Camp Half Blood. Open it and use it when it is time."

"How will I know when it's time?"

"You will know. He will need it."

"He?"

"Kronos."

The figure faded into shadows and left you alone. You took the rod back and hid it in your bag. You told no one, sure that what the figure promised would certainly happen.

You continued your journey to Camp Half Blood.

On your way, a fleet of monsters chased you. You couldn't fight them all off, so you ran.

You all ended up in a Cyclops lair. You were split up and afraid. Suddenly, you heard Luke's voice.

"Help! Y/N!"

He kept screaming, but when you got to where his voice was coming from, he wasn't there. You ended up hanging from the ceiling with Luke, Grover, and Thalia.

Then, Annabeth walked in. You heard a man calling for help, and you desperately wanted to tell Annabeth it wasn't real, to run away and never look back.

"Dad?!" she calls, running in.

The cyclops smiles, seeing her alone and helpless.

Almost helpless.

She stabbed the cyclop's foot and ran to untie Thalia and the rest of you. You fought the cyclops and escaped, but the fleet of monsters from before caught up with you.

You ran and made it to the borders of Camp Half Blood. But none of you were going to make it inside the camp.

Thalia knew that.

She took out her shield, aegis, and held them off. You went to help her, but Luke took your hand, picked up Annabeth, and ran.

Grover was behind you, trying to figure out what to do. Thalia shouted something at him. He ran.

Annabeth screamed and cried and beat Luke's chest, begging him not to leave Thalia alone.

She died there. To save you.

Zeus, her father, turned her into a pine tree.

////

Years later, you still had the rod. Annabeth was thirteen. Luke was the head of the Hermes cabin.

He was also your boyfriend.

Hermes sent him on a quest to take a Golden Apple from the Garden of Hesperides. He came back with a scar and a hatred for Olympus.

He was resentful.

One day he had a new sword. Backbiter.

The camp had a field trip to Mount Olympus. You all went to bed; you were half asleep when you noticed Luke was gone.

You ask him about it the next day, back at camp. He tells you what he's done - stolen Zeus's master bolt and Hades's Helm. (Everyone on Mount Olympus was freaking about it when you woke up.)

He tells you about Kronos, his allegiance to the Titans. And you know that it's time.

You show him the rod, tell him what happened. And you open it.

Zeus's master bolt. You can tell. It's more powerful than the one Luke stole. The aura... is just different.

"Then what's this?" he asks, holding up the fake bolt.

You shrug. "I don't know. But if this is the real deal..."

"The big guy didn't notice?"

"I guess not..."

Luke sighs, runs a hand through his hair. "We're in this together, right? You and me against Olympus?" He smiles a little, though he does seem worried.

"Of course."

////

After all that work and time. After all of your loyalty to not only Luke, but Kronos - then again, they're one and the same. After framing Percy Jackson for gods' sake... Luke is gone.

Dead.

Consumed by Kronos to the point that you couldn't recognize him, hit in the eye with a blue, plastic hairbrush, and then, just before he died, he was Luke again - because of Annabeth, what she said.

His promise.

You were there, watching as a bloody Annabeth gave Luke her dagger, as he stabbed himself in his Achille's heel, and slowly died.

"Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed," he said to Percy. "Don't let it... Don't let it happen again."

You ran over and held his hand. He smiled at you.

And then he was gone.

Afterwards, they all hated you - the whole camp. For what you'd done. For what happened.

You tried to convince Annabeth to give you a chance, to listen to the whole story, but she couldn't look at you.

Percy, however, listened.

You told him the whole story, from beginning to end. You told how you couldn't abandon Luke, how you tried to convince him to not go through with it, to go back to camp and ask for help. To defeat Kronos.

How Luke didn't listen.

You cried in front the whole camp, pleading forgiveness. Not just for you, but for Luke.

Nobody deserved to live like Luke did.

No one.

But you did. You both did.

Together.