Honestly, I'm writing this chapter early because of the song because it's so stupid yet strangely catchy...

Chapter Quote:
"There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother"
~Terri Guillemets
__________________________________

Chapter 12: Rasputin Gets on Our Nerves

Hallie

It'd taken four days but the daughter of Hades finally felt back to full strength. It had helped to have a doting boyfriend bring her food and stuff to drink which she would never admit, but she milked it a bit from him. She'd never had someone take care of her for a majority of her life until she was rescued by the Winchesters. It felt good to have someone genuinely care about her health and wellbeing and not because they'd been keeping in her hostage to use as a pawn in their war. Yes, Bryn had used Hallie in her war but Bryn had done things for her that most people wouldn't have if they didn't actually care for them.

"Luke and Bryn should be here soon," Brady announced, walking into the hotel room. "They're about ten minutes away."

"Why'd they stay overnight in Berlin?" Bradley remarked. "They could've gotten here in one day."

"It's close to a twenty hour drive. They're strong but they're not invincible," Hallie said.

"What do you think happened in Paris?"

"I don't know but I plan on interrogating Luke about it when they get here," Brady said.

"Boys, relax. Luke wanted to take Bryn on a first date and since Paris was close by and since they were driving here in the first place, it wasn't that big of a deal," Hallie said.

"Do you realize how high he's set the bar for us guys though? I mean I haven't taken you out on an official date either and now I have to compete with that?!"

"Bradley, trust me, I don't care that our first date won't be in Paris. Honestly, I don't care what our first date is going to be as long as I'm with you."

"I'm so glad you're my girlfriend," he said with a smile. "And I will take you on a date. It won't be Paris but it will be just as fabulous."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"I think they're here," Brady interrupted. Hallie was pretty sure he was saying that just to get her and Bradley to stop with the 'couples' talk, but surprisingly enough, there was a knock on their door. Brady opened it, revealing Luke and Bryn.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" Bryn exclaimed softly as she enveloped her brother in a hug. He seemed taken aback by it but went along. She did the same to Bradley and Hallie.

"How was Paris?" Hallie inquired.

"Oh it was incredible! We went and toured the city for the first half of the day and then went to this really nice restaurant in the evening, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and then went to bed. We were exhausted. Then we got up at five to get ready to come here. How are you feeling?"

"Much better. Bradley's been taking care of me and Brady's been watching out for the both of us. How are Derek and Silena?"

"They'll meet us in Moscow tomorrow. Is anyone hungry?"

"I'm starving," Luke said. "Where's some good places to eat?"

"We found a restaurant just a few blocks down. Want to go there?"

"Let's get it to go and eat in the room so we can talk about the next steps for the quest," Bryn suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. We'll be back." Luke kissed Bryn and left with the twins. The moment they were out, Hallie demanded, "What happened in Paris?"

"Nothing. Why?" she replied, sitting on the bed next to her friend.

"Because I don't think I've ever seen you two kiss. I mean yeah there have kisses on the head and the cheek but never on the lips. So what happened?"

"Paris was just a good step in our relationship. It was nice having it just be the two of us, a day of no worries, a day away from camp..."

"I'm happy for y'all. After everything y'all have been through, you two certainly deserve some happiness."

Bryn blushed. "Thank you. How are you and Bradley?"

"We're good. I mean we're still at that... casual yet steady stage of dating. We're not at yours or Silena's level yet."

"Which is completely fine. You're about four years younger than me, and Bradley is five years younger. You two have your whole lives ahead of you. You have plenty of time to decide when you want to become serious."

"You're really cool about your baby brother dating me," Hallie joked.

Bryn smiled. "I know he has good judgement in people and I figure since he's made it this far without my input, he'll be okay with or without it."

"That wasn't your fault you weren't there for him..."

"I know, and I didn't mean to sound like that. I'm just saying he's smart. So is Brady. So are you."

"When this quest is over, I think you, me, and Silena need a girls' night out. We love our boyfriends, but I need some girl time."

"City tour, movie, sleepover. How does that sound?"

"Great. We'll let Silena know when she gets here."

"Have I ever told you how grateful I am to have you and her in my life?"

"No? Why?"

"Because I am. I've never exactly been close with any girls at camp. The only person I was close to before Luke and Silena came to camp was Derek. Silena and I had our rocky patches, very rocky, but I still would've done anything for her back then, just like I'd do anything for her now. But when they came, I almost immediately became close to Luke. He and I were more alike than we comprehended despite how often we bickered. For some reason that's tapered off somewhat. Our bickering is more teasing now than anything else. Then I got close to Silena. Then it was my brothers. Then it was you. What I'm trying to say is I've always had trouble getting close to girls, I don't know why."

"Because they create drama and you hate drama?" Hallie offered.

"Possibly," Bryn chuckled. "But I'm glad that I'm close with you and Silena. Every girl needs at least one super close girl friend, and I'm lucky enough to have two."

"Bryn, I love you, you know that, but what's brought this on?"

The daughter of Zeus shrugged. "After Tartarus, right before I died, I realized there were things I hadn't told any of you that I wanted you to know. Don't worry, I'm not saying these things because I've pulled another thing like I did with Hannah. I'm saying them because just in case something happened to me, I would want you to know how much you mean to me."

"Besides me, how many of the others have you told these things to?"

"Just you and Luke. I find it easier to talk about it when I'm alone."

"Did you talk about it to Luke in Paris? Is that one of the things that changed your relationship with him?"

"Yeah, that's one of the things."

"What were the other things?"

"There are some things that I'd like to just between me and him."

"All right, I won't prod."

"Thank you."

"We have food!" Brady declared, barging into the room. Luke trailed behind them on the phone. He handed Bryn her bag of food, giving her a brief kiss before walking onto the balcony.

"Who's he on the phone with?" She inquired, taking out her meal.

"His dad. He's been on the phone with him practically since we left here to get the food. I don't know what they're talking about though," Brady answered.

"I'm sure he'll tell us if it's something we need to know."

"You're a very chill girlfriend, you know that?"

"I've also known him three years and I trust him with my life, hence the 'chill' part."

"Sorry about that. Dad was asking about the quest," Luke informed as he walked into the room. "He's worried about us."

"Well I mean his daughter was just bitten by one of the deadliest snakes in the world, his son got knocked out by this freaky snake lady, his possible future-son-in-law kept going transparent, his two favorite twins and his favorite daughter of Hades ended up in some random place in Europe, and his possible future-daughter-in-law used Hades' Helm of Darkness to escape and island of death with his son. Personally, I don't see why he's worried," Bradley said.

"Wait, you think Silena and Derek are going to get married and that Bryn and Luke are too?" Hallie mumbled through her food-filled mouth.

"We're related to Aphrodite. We know true love when we see it," Brady stated.

"All right Cupids, finish up. We have a long day of driving tomorrow," Bryn told them. She had a small smile on her face, making Hallie wonder if perhaps something that had happened in Paris had included Luke proposing to her. Hallie took a glance at Bryn's ring finger but there was nothing there so it wasn't a proposal. But something had happened, something important, and it was killing Hallie not knowing what it was. However, she knew Bryn would tell her sooner or later, mostly likely later, but she'd still find out, and that was fine by her.
__________________________________  

Derek

"You ready?" Silena asked.

"Yep. Are you?" Derek replied.

"No, but let's do this." She took a deep breath as she grasped her boyfriend's hand.

"You two ready?" Hades inquired.

"Yes, sir," Silena declared.

"Thanks for doing this, Father," Derek said.

"It's the least I can do for my son who saved the world and who has gone on a quest to get my helm back. Good luck," Hades responded. With a snap of his fingers, the world went black for about two seconds.

In that span of two seconds, Silena and Derek were transported half way across the world to Moscow, Russia, landing directly in front of their friends.

"Hey guys!" Silena chirped. The twins jumped in surprise. Hallie whirled around. Luke and Bryn were the only ones that remained calm. The last three looked worn out.

"Are you all okay?" Derek inquired.

"Oh we're fine. We just are never giving the twins the right to choose the music ever again," Hallie said, glaring at her boyfriend. He grinned at her.

"Uh, why?" Silena responded.

"They played Ra Ra Rasputin the last two hours of the drive here. The song is still stuck in my head."

"Ra Ra Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen! There was a cat that really was gone!" Bradley sang.

"Ra Ra Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine! It was a shame how he carried on!" Brady bellowed.

Bryn narrowed her eyes at them. "If you two weren't immune to lighting, I would've zapped you into silence by now."

"The zapping is yours and Luke's thing," Brady countered.

"On a different note, hey sis," Luke said, hastily changing the subject. "You doing okay?"

"Much better. You?" Silena responded as he gave he a hug.

"I'm fine. I'm not the one who was bitten by a deadly snake."

"True, but you did use Hades' helm to get to London. Bryn, how are you?"

"I'm doing extremely well. I'm glad to see you up and about though. You had me very worried," Bryn admitted, giving Silena a hug.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Derek demanded jokingly. Bryn grinned, giving him his first hug. More pleasantries were exchanged between the group before Hallie said, "So where exactly are we staying?"

"There's a hotel just down this street. It's supposed to be the best one to stay at. We only have one night there so whatever it's condition, we'll just have to deal. Then tomorrow we have the arduous journey to the ice caves," Bryn informed.

"How long is the drive?"

"Almost 19 hours, and that's without traffic."

"Bloody hell..." Bradley muttered.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have any more driving after our North and South American road trip..." Brady added.

"Hey, on the bright side, we'll be over halfway done with the quest. Then we'll just have New Zealand and then we'll be done."

"Easy," Hallie said.

"No. Don't say easy. Someone says easy and bad things happen," Bradley told her.

"I feel like this has been said before," Brady remarked.

"That's because it probably has. Come on, let's go get our room," Luke said. The seven demigods traipsed off towards their destination which only Luke seemed to know how to get to. Upon arriving at the hotel, they were greeted by a relatively friendly bellhop.

"I'll check us in. You guys can go wait at the couches if you want," Luke offered. Everyone agreed. However, since all the sofas and chairs were taken, they stood nearby them instead.

"Hey Brady, who does the guy across from us remind you of?" Bradley whispered.

The other twin glanced behind him, whirling back around and exclaimed quietly, "Rasputin!"

"Would you two drop the whole Rasputin thing?!" Bryn hissed.

"But it looks like him!" Bradley whined. Rolling her eyes, she turned around to see for herself.

"Okay, so he looks like the guy. What's the big deal? And if you start singing that song, I will hurt you."

"Because we were listening to that song on the way here and now we're in Russia and the guy is in the same exact hotel as we are. It's just a really amusing coincidence."

"It's not going to be a coincidence if I break up with you if you bring up Rasputin one more time," Hallie remarked.

"Shutting up," Bradley said.

"All right, I got our keys. I managed to get us adjoining rooms," Luke announced as he walked up to them. "I was thinking me, Bryn, Derek, and Silena in one room, the twins and Hallie in the other?"

The group all agreed and they headed upstairs. Bryn tossed her backpack on the floor upon arriving in their room before stretching out across the bed. Barely two seconds later she said, "Silena, you want to grab Hallie and head over to some of the tourist attractions?"

"I'm down. Let's go see if Hallie wants to join," Silena stated. She opened the door to the adjoining room and shouted, "Hey Hal? You want to go sightseeing me and Bryn?"

"I'd love to!" Hallie answered back.

"What? We're not invited?" Derek asked indignantly.

"Hey, we love you, and that means we know what you do and don't like," Silena stated.

"But we like hanging out with you," Brady said, coming into the room with his brother and Hallie.

"Bryn, I like art," Luke argued. "We went to a museum in Paris."

"Sharkboy, I know you were doing that for my benefit, but I also swear you were taking more pictures of me with the artwork than actually looking at the artwork."

"I was looking at a masterpiece."

"That was smooth," Derek commented casually.

"And since you're not allowed to touch a masterpiece in a museum, it probably isn't a good idea for you to go with her," Brady joked.

"Yeah, but who's going to pin the artwork up against the wall?" Bradley inquired.

"Ooh, that's a good question..."

Luke cocked his head and asked, "Did you two just hit on my girlfriend... for me?"

"Let's just not talk about that," Bradley muttered.

"On that note, the girls and I will be heading out," Bryn said, blushing so hard that Derek could see it under her makeup. She picked up her backpack and shouldered it. Bryn whispered something in her boyfriend's ear before giving him a brief kiss and heading out the door. Silena gave Derek a kiss as well before dashing after her friend. Once the door had shut, the son of Hades turned to Luke who wore a goofy grin on his face.

"What in Poseidon's name happened in Paris?" Derek inquired.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Luke responded nonchalantly.

"He wouldn't tell us either and Bryn didn't tell the girls anything so that means two things: either something happened, or nothing happened and they're just having fun watching us be flustered by trying to guess what happened," Brady remarked.

"Take it from my perspective," Luke said. "I'm in the presence of her three brothers. If I said the thing you're thinking of happened, I'd be dead."

"Actually I wouldn't kill you," Derek told him.

Luke squinted his eyes suspiciously at his friend. "Why?"

"Because I know Bryn wouldn't do it with just anyone. And you know what, it's your business. I'm sorry for asking."

"You and Silena did it, didn't you?" Brady stated.

"They totally have done it," Bradley added.

"Have you?!" Luke exclaimed, snapping his head to look at Derek.

The son of Hades glared at the twins. "I'm going to put you both into carbonite."

"That's a fake element though," Bradley pointed out.

"You really want to try me?"

"When?!" Luke demanded.

"During the war... it was sometime after Bryn showed up and I found out that she'd taken on your curse and we thought that maybe one of us wasn't going to make it and-"

"Nope, don't want to hear it. That's your business," Luke said, covering his ears.

"You asked about it!"

"I didn't want specifics! You could've said during the war!" Luke groaned.

"This trip just got extremely awkward," Brady said.

"No thanks to you," Derek retorted.

"We're going to go before you somehow freeze us in carbonite," Bradly said, dragging his brother away into the next room.

Once they were out of ear shot, Derek told Luke, "I'm sorry."

Luke looked at him, a small smile on his face. "Don't be. I was messing with you. I mean don't get me wrong, I wasn't joking about not wanting specifics but being shocked about you and Silena having already taken that step in your relationship, that didn't surprise me. I started suspecting it in Tartarus with the way you and Derek had been acting around each other."

"What? Did you want me to pee myself?"

"No, but I did want to see you squirm, just to make sure that there was still some fear of me in you when it came to dating my baby sister."

"To be honest, if you would've told me that you and Bryn had done it in Paris, I would've done the same exact thing but now that that cat's out of the bag, do you want to tell me?"

"Nope. I still like seeing you all flustered over the whole thing," Luke said with a grin. "I'm going to go nap. I'll see you later."

Derek stared in annoyance as his friend left the room.

"I'm going to freeze him too," he muttered to himself, plopping onto the couch. He turned on the television but everything was in Russian and while he'd been born with the ability to speak English, Greek, and Latin fluently, Russian was not in the list of languages, so he did what Luke did and took a nap.
__________________________________  

Derek woke up to Brady shaking him awake. Bradley hovered over his brother's shoulder with an alert Luke behind him.

"What's going on?" Derek yawned.

"The girls never came back with dinner," Brady replied.

"So? It's only like... what? Seven in the evening?"

"It's midnight. They texted us at six saying they were on their way to get dinner and we haven't heard back from them since even though we've messaged and called them more than once."

Derek sat up. "Have you tried contacting Bryn mentally?"

"She won't respond that way either. Luke's been trying with Silena but we're getting the same results. Nothing."

"The girls use snapchat right? I know Bryn isn't a big user of it but I know Silena is."

"That's actually a really good idea," Luke agreed, pulling out his phone. His fingers darted over the screen. The other boys gathered round him, hoping for a good outcome of the idea.

"You were right, she has!" Luke said excitedly. He opened the video which showed the girls at some party. Hallie was chugging some drink, Bryn was dancing, and Silena was spinning around in circles to show the extent of the party.

"Where in Hades' name are they?" Derek questioned in bewilderment.

"That looks like one of the hotel rooms here," Luke observed as they watched more videos.

"Rasputin!" Bradley shouted.

"Why are you bringing that up-" Luke began but Brady interrupted him with, "No! Rasputin look-alike we saw earlier was in the video!"

"You don't think they're in his room do you?" Derek queried.

"No, but surely that music can't be quiet. Snapchat Silena back asking her where she is since she seems to be using the app," Bradley suggested. Luke put on a puppy-pout as took the selfie, captioning the picture with: I want to join. Where are you??

It barely took her ten seconds to reply.

"Top floor, room 1540," Luke informed. He shoved his phone into his pocket and said, "Let's go."
__________________________________  

Reviews would be lovely :)