So I'm assuming y'all liked the last chapter so have another one!

"The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly."

~F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

____________________________________

Chapter 24: We Have Something in Common

Luke

Someone was singing, but Luke couldn't tell if it was in his dreams or not. Part of it was in another language. But it was soothing nonetheless. They kept repeating the song too, so Luke soon learned the words:

Close your eyes; I know what you see

The darkness is high, and you're in ten feet deep

But we've survived more terrible monsters than sleep

And you know I will be here to tell you to breathe

Tu sei il mio soldatino

La ragione per cui vivo

Non ti scordar di me

Io veglierò su di te

Stumbling lost; the last choice of all that you meet

It's the cost of ruling those 'neath your feet

Paths you've crossed, and trust you're trying to keep

You're exhausted, listening for a voice that can't speak

Ma nico, mio caro

Tu sei il mio soldatino

La ragione ho vissuto

Non ti scordar di me

Io veglierò su di te

So you run; through shadows you roam

Seams undone by the love you thought you could own

But he's just one of many that you might call home

And maybe someday, the bitter will fade from your bones;

Fade from your bones, oh

Eri il mio soldatino

Ora un principe oscuro

Ma anche per te, c'è una luce

Che ad un'altra vita ti conduce

He shifted in his sleep, and the singing ceased immediately. Luke opened his eyes a sliver but everything was blurry. He tried to say 'hello' but it came out as more of a grunt. Shuffling on the other side of him caught his attention. Whoever it was opened the door and disappeared. A few seconds later he heard his dad say, "Luke? Are you awake?"

"Dad?" Luke murmured.

"Hey bud, how are you feeling?"

"Exhausted. What happened?"

"You saved Bryn's life but got your back ripped to shreds in the process. Lost a lot of blood too. If it weren't for Bryn, you would've bled out. Your back is pretty much completely healed now. We gave you some ambrosia and nectar when you woke briefly but you probably don't remember that."

"I don't. Which one of you was singing?" Luke inquired, rolling slowly over onto his back.

"You know I'm completely tone-deaf so it wasn't me," Mr. Jackson joked.

"Maybe you were dreaming it," Silena suggested.

"No, I don't think I was. Where's mom? And Bryn?"

"I'm here, sweetie," Annabeth said. Her voice seemed strange, as if she had been crying or was about to. "Bryn is sleeping. She kept watch over you for a little bit while Silena, your dad, and I talked."

"I-I need to thank her. I need... I need to talk to her," Luke groaned, slowly sitting up.

Silena placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can tell her after she gets some rest. We're fighting again in about five hours. Bryn was watching you for the past three hours and stayed awake for the other two to make sure you were okay. She needs her rest."

"Have any of you gotten some sleep?" Luke queried.

"No, not yet."

"Go get some sleep. I'm not going anywhere."

"Are you sure?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm fine, really. Go get some sleep."

"There's nothing you want to tell us?" His mother prodded.

"Um, no?" Luke scrunched his eyebrows, trying to figure out where his mother was going with this.

"All right, then. We'll see you later." Luke's family left the room. He fell back against the pillows as he racked his brain to try and figure out why, if Bryn had been watching him, why she sang to him. Most people didn't sing a lullaby to someone they hated. Bryn wasn't like most people but still. And where had she learned it? Surely she didn't hear it from her mother, or if she had, how could she remember it that well? She had to have heard it from somewhere else. But where?

Someone knocked on his door. Luke slowly got up and answered it. Mrs. Winchester and Mr. Drew stood there sleepily. The former gave him a smile and said, "We heard you were up and talking. I just wanted to see how you were feeling for myself."

"Oh. I'm fine. Just a little sore is all. How are you two? Were you injured any?"

"Not much. A cut or two but nothing that can prevent us from fighting some more."

"There's more to why you're here than just wanting to know if I'm all right isn't there?"

Mrs. Winchester bit her lip, reminding him so much of her daughter in that moment. "There's been... rumors that a certain daughter of Zeus is alive. I thought that if anyone would know about it, considering your history with my daughter, it would be you."

"Mrs. Winchester... don't take this the wrong way when I say the rumors are true, about Bryn being alive. She knows you're alive so if she hasn't come to you yet, there must be a reason."

"Do you know that reason?"

"No. You're not the only one she's been keeping secrets from," Luke said sadly. "I'll have Derek or Silena ask her. They're on better terms with her at the moment..."

"You two having a fight?" Mr. Drew inquired.

"I honestly have no idea what's going on between the two of us. We're barely speaking to each other, and most of that is my fault. When we do talk, it gets pretty hostile pretty fast."

"She's putting walls around herself, isn't she?"

"Yes, sir."

"She definitely takes on after her mother then." Mrs. Winchester glared in annoyance at him. He winked at but continued. "Bryn will break it to you at some point, you just need to see the signs to know when she's ready. Penn, we should go. Luke needs some more rest."

As the two of them were leaving, Penn turned around and said, "Luke? If you see her, tell her we love her and that no matter what's happened or what she's done, we will always love her."

"I will." With that, the couple left.

____________________________________

Four hours later, Luke dressed for battle. He was still sore but once the adrenaline got pumping in his veins, he'd be fine. Silena, Derek, Hallie, Bradley, and Brady were already down in the briefing room, going over where everyone was stationed.

Hallie was the first to see him come in. She gave him a smile. "Luke! Glad to see you up and about! How are you feeling?"

"Sore but I'm alive. Where's Bryn?"

"We're trying to let her get as much sleep as possible. She didn't get much last night," Silena informed. "She's fine though. She'll be here soon. Knowing her, she's probably already up and getting ready."

"You'd be correct," Bryn said. Luke jumped. Apparently she hadn't lost her silent walking ability. As she was about to say something else, a phone rang. Bryn picked it up. "Hello... are you okay... what about Reyna and Hylla... and they're okay as well... they're definitely okay if they're screeching like that... where are you... do you need me to send help... I know but I can spare it... the Romans showed up, we destroyed two tunnels and a bridge so there's more demigods per stronghold now so we have better chances... yes I know you're strong but you're transporting... I'm sending someone to help whether you like it or not... you're not dying on my watch. I have enough people potentially dying for me as it is. I'm not going to let you be included in that. Hang tight, I'll have someone there soon."

"Everything okay?" Bradley asked.

"Sort of. Two of the three parts needed for Plan Phoenix are here. The third one is still back in the Azores. Reyna and Hylla both don't have much strength left and we need all three here. We need to send one of the Bellona kids with Hallie and get them all here. Hallie, are you up for it?"

The daughter of Hades nodded. "We've been practicing just in case this happened. I'm ready. I'll take Caitlyn."

"When you get here, contact Derek. Since you two are related, you should be able to contact him via minds. I'll fight with Derek so I'll know immediately. But that means one of my brothers will have to fight with Luke. Which one of you is least likely to kill him?"

"I'll fight with him," Bradley offered.

"Promise you won't kill him?"

"Promise. We need him."

"But once you stop needing me, you'll kill me," Luke remarked.

"Maybe. We'll take the Williamsburg Bridge."

"I know we've been destroying a lot of land marks but we need to cut off as many places of access to Manhattan as possible. The satyrs and nymphs and automatons, according to Grover, are keeping enemy forces at bay over there so we're fine right now."

"What if we take out a bridge?" Brady suggested.

"We'd need to get explosives or something flammable rigged up to the bridge- we have thirty minutes before the battle starts. How are we going to do that in time?" Bryn pointed out.

"I can bring it down," Derek declared, arms crossed confidently.

"Uh, how?" Silena queried.

"I control hellfire, right? I talked to Chiron about it and he said it's similar to Greek fire. If that's the case, I just throw it at the support system of the bridge and it goes down. I could get some explosives from the Hephaestus cabin to help in the destruction of it but I need to be on the bridge myself. If the monsters see me flying around on a Pegasus, they'll know something's up. But if we're going to do it, we need to do it now."

Bryn hesitated. "Do what you need to. Just don't get killed."

"Let's get going partner. We don't have much time," he said with a grin. "I'm strangely feeling like a mixture between Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom right now."

For the first time since she'd been there, Bryn gave a genuine smile. The two started joking back and forth with a lot of Harry Potter puns.

"All right, I'm going to go get Caitlyn. I'll see y'all probably about mid-battle," Hallie said.

"Be careful," Bradley told her, pulling her into a hug. Then in a barely audible whisper, he added, "Don't make me lose you too."

"It'll take a lot more than some shadow-travelling to kill me. I'll be back." Hallie left the room.

"Come on, Silena, you lead the way this time," Brady insisted, motioning for her to get in front of him.

"Oh it's my turn to lead? Why the sudden change in heart?" she laughed.

"Granddaughter of Athena seems to be the man with a plan... or a woman with a plan... you know what, let's just say you know what you're doing better than I do so you lead."

Silena snorted as she headed out with Brady. Luke and Bradley were the only ones remaining in the room. The former decided to break that. "So why aren't you going to kill me? Why didn't you let your brother be my partner?"

"Because I don't entirely hate you. I'm not blind. I see the way you look at my sister. Brady is too headstrong to see that though. He takes on way too much after our dad. I take on after our mom. Bryn is in-between. Plus, we both have something in common."

"What's that?"

"We're both in love with girls who keep putting themselves in situations that could get themselves killed."

At that, Luke smiled. "And they somehow keep avoiding death."

"One day, for one of them, their luck will run out, and there won't be anything we can do about it."

At that, the Jackson boy's face fell. "Or ours."

"Yours won't run out for a while Luke, not if my sister can help it."

"I still need to thank her. For saving my life..."

"You'll get your chance. Come on, we need to get ready for battle."

____________________________________

Derek

Derek stood at the entrance to the bridge on the enemy side, facing the direction Hannah's army was coming from. The sun had set about an hour ago. As he waited for the monsters to appear, he went over his plan. Taunt the monsters, get them on the bridge, set fire to the explosives, and then run like Tartarus was trying to suck him into the Underworld.

The war horns brought him out of his thoughts. The thunderous, simultaneous stomping of Hannah's army was heard before they were actually seen. But they arrived quickly enough.

"Hey boneheads!" Derek shouted.

"We're going to kill you!" one monster replied.

"Oh yeah? You and whose army?!" he taunted. When the monsters started charging at him, Derek broke out into a run. He shot out his hands to either side, sending fire balls at the explosive charges on the railings of the bridge. One by one, he heard each explosion go off. Suddenly he heard the cracking of metal and concrete before the beginning of massive splashes in the river below. Cries of monsters were soon to be followed.

"DEREK RUN!" Bryn screamed. He put on a burst of speed as he turned around. Derek had seriously underestimated how fast the bridge would go down. If he shadow-travelled right now, he had no idea where he'd end up. The adrenaline he was feeling right now could mess up where he wanted to go. So he tried something new. Thrusting his hands to the ground, Derek yelled "Flame on!"

Fire shot out from his hands with so much force it pushed him off the ground, higher and higher. He focused on keeping himself in the air until he was above his fellow demigods. Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground as he watched the destruction of the Manhattan Bridge. Derek turned to face Bryn with a triumphant grin on his face. She stared at him with a shocked expression.

"What?" Derek asked.

"You just flew with fire," she said.

"Yes. I know."

"Can I call you Firestorm? Like from the show The Flash?"

"When did you have time to watch The Flash?" Derek queried in confusion.

"It wasn't all work while I was away. Come on, we should get the troops somewhere else. You and I will stay here with my troops to take care of any straggling monsters." Bryn barked the orders to the other demigods. Cora split up her troops so that they would also be fighting with the Greeks. Derek, Bryn, and sixteen of Bryn's troops got on the Pegasi. They flew around with bows and arrows, shooting any monsters they could see. It took about thirty minutes for that to happen and another fifteen to make sure they hadn't missed any.

When they landed, Scott asked, "Where to now?"

"There's sixteen of you and four places left to split up at. Separate accordingly. Derek and I are going to go do a routine check on other places we've destroyed just to make sure no monsters have slipped through those areas. Then he and I will fly around fighting wherever we're needed most," Bryn explained. Scott nodded before getting people into groups. Bryn and Derek hopped onto King and Bingo and flew into the sky. They checked the Queens-Midtown Tunnel first, then the Queensboro Bridge, and lastly the Lincoln Tunnel. All were secure.

"Where to-" Derek cutoff mid-sentence as Hallie invaded his thoughts: Tell Bryn we're here. We're all at Hunters Point South Park.

"What is it?" Bryn inquired. Derek relayed the message to her. A mischievous smirk spread across Bryn's face. "Go help out the troops. Bradley, Brady, and I have something we need to do.

____________________________________

What do you think Bryn has up her sleeve? Let me know in a review :)