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Not long after they returned to the Argo II, Percy dragged his bed across the hall into Annabeth’s room. Despite offers of help from both Jason (“I could use the wind to help you lift that.”) and Leo (“Dude! You’re scraping up the floors!”) Percy completed the task himself, determination and defiance on his face like a hard mask. Piper imagined that he had worn that expression quite a bit during the last few weeks.

“It’s just… we… it’s easier to sleep when we’re together,” Annabeth confided to Piper as she finished rearranging her room.

“You don’t have to justify anything to anyone. We understand.” Piper touched Annabeth’s arm sympathetically. “Well, no. We really don’t understand. We can’t understand. Only Percy can, and that’s why you need to be together.”

“Thank you.” Annabeth laid her arm across Piper’s shoulder, then pulled her in for a hug. They finished straightening Annabeth’s room, then walked down the hallway headed for the deck.

“I guess it’s a good thing Coach Hedge isn’t here.” Piper quipped as they past the satyr’s cabin door. “Percy probably would have taken him out if he’d gotten in his way.”

She’d meant it as a joke to lighten the mood, but something in Annabeth’s half-hearted response told her that joking about Percy resorting to violence wasn’t funny anymore.

They reached the top of the stairs, where the girls found Percy waiting. He wrapped his arms around Annabeth protectively, as if it had been hours since he had seen her rather than the few minutes it had taken to tidy the cabin.

Percy smiled at Piper without a hint of the harshness she had seen earlier. But she noticed that the smile didn’t seem to go all the way to his eyes.

He guided them over to where the rest of the crew was gathered to discuss strategy. Piper took her habitual place next to Jason. He smiled down at her, reaching to pull her in so she leaned her back against his chest with his arm resting protectively across her shoulders.

After very little debate -- how many choices were open to them, really? -- they agreed on their course of action. Leo bounded off to set course, while the rest of the crew moved about the deck, preparing for departure.

Piper watched her friends as they worked. How was it possible that they had all changed so much in just 2 weeks? Hazel and the Mist. Frank the Praetor. Leo and whatever had happened while he was away. And of course, Percy and Annabeth returned from Tartarus.

It was clear they all still wanted to be a team. But with so many changes, Piper realized it would take time before they would be able to really operate as a unit again.

~~~

The first night after leaving Epirus was like one long nightmare. And since they were demigods, that wasn’t exactly a figure of speech. No one was really surprised to hear Percy calling out for Annabeth in his sleep. It was to be expected after what they’d been through and was clearly the reason they were sleeping in the same room.

Piper had gotten out of bed and stood in the hall, wanting to help, but without any way to really fix anything. As she moved towards Annabeth’s room, Jason opened his door and met her eyes.

Before either of them could speak, Annabeth’s door opened. She reassured both of them that Percy was fine, then quickly shut the door again, clearly anxious to return to his side.

Piper leaned across the narrow hallway to kiss Jason softly on the lips before she returned to her room.

But apparently now it was Piper’s turn.

The dreams were all quite familiar, but no less horrifying than usual. Red blood spilling, painting vivid patterns on cool, white marble. Piper fruitlessly trying to staunch the flow as life drained out of her friends -- tonight it was Percy and Annabeth.

Gaea rising at Camp Half-Blood. The cabins on fire. Jason, Frank and Hazel dying ruthlessly at the hands of the remaining members of the fifth cohort, as penalty for their treason.

Piper stood uselessly, screaming herself hoarse, trying to use charmspeak against an unbeatable foe.

The knocking at her door jolted her out of the nightmare. She was afraid she might have woken the others with screaming, but it was just Hazel, waking her for the second watch.

Piper wrapped herself in a hoodie of Jason’s that she had on permanent loan and met her boyfriend on deck, where he was trying to convince Leo to go to bed. Piper laid on a heavy layer of charmspeak that nearly had Leo snoring right there on the deck.

Jason squeezed her shoulders in thanks as he moved to the controls, while Piper walked over to Festus and rubbed the bronze dragon on the nose. She thought she was getting a little better at interpreting the dragon’s squeaks and clicks, but all she could get from him tonight was that he was happy to see her.

She moved back towards Jason, wrapping her hands around his waist as hugged her close with his free arm. They didn’t talk much, which wasn’t really unusual for these early morning watches.

At some point, Jason asked how she thought Percy and Annabeth were holding up, but Piper didn’t really have a good answer. They were clearly different than they had been, but what the difference was, Piper couldn’t really say.

A little later, she asked Jason what he thought of the new sleeping arrangement.

“Jealous,” Jason said with a playful smile.

Piper replied with a poke in the ribs.

“No, I’m serious,” he insisted as they both laughed lightly. “Not for, well, anything…”

She supplied a word she’d heard from Hazel “Unseemly?”

“Yes, nothing unseemly. I just feel like I’d sleep better if I knew you were close by. If I could reach out in the middle of the night and reassure myself that you were safe.”

Piper was about to respond, when she heard noises from below decks. Jason had a hand on his sword in an instant, but Piper waved him off. “It sounds like another nightmare. Let me check it out.”

She unsheathed her dagger, resisting the urge to look at whatever images might appear there as she headed down the stairs. She almost tripped over something in the dark, but was down the hall and in front of Leo’s door before he called out again.

Putting her weapon away, she pushed the door open and moved to the side of the bed. Crouching down, she summoned the charmspeak, whispering comfort and soothing words into Leo’s ear.

With Hazel’s help, Piper’s charmspeak was becoming amazingly effective. She had become adept at finding just the right words to help her subject believe the things she was saying.

While comforting Leo, she even found herself saying a few words in Spanish; words that she didn’t know and had no meaning for. She just tried to calm him.

And slowly, subtly, it worked. His breathing evened out, and his hands unclenched from around his pillow.

Piper sighed heavily as she left Leo sleeping and closed the door. If they all kept having dreams like this, Gaea would be facing an army of demigod zombies, worn to breaking by bad dreams and low morale.

Lost in thought, Piper nearly stumbled again, and this time she stopped to see what had tripped her.

It was Frank, or at least, she was reasonably sure it was. She knew he had a habit of sleeping in bulldog form. When Piper tripped over him and woke him up, he reverted back to his usual shape and looked up at her.

“Frank? What are you doing here in the middle of the hall?”

He seemed dazed at first, as if he didn’t remember, but then he gestured to the door behind him. “Hazel,” he said, as if this should be all the explanation Piper needed.

And it almost was, but she pressed him a bit more. “Were you having nightmares?”

Frank nodded. “Usually, I sleep better as a dog, but not tonight. She kept… I couldn’t protect her.”

Piper nodded, understanding. She couldn’t count the times Jason had died in her dreams, always with Piper unable to stop it.

“When I woke up, I thought maybe I’d sleep better if I were closer. If I could guard her.”

“Is it working?”

Frank sighed. “Not really. But at least this way, I can keep her safe.”

There was near-physical pang in Piper’s heart as she saw the haunted look in Frank Zhang’s eyes. Everyone having nightmares like this couldn’t be a coincidence: this had to be part of Gaea’s strategy. They’d all be sitting ducks by the time they reached Athens.

Piper patted Frank’s hand and stood, reaching for the knob of Hazel’s door. “Wait here a minute,” she said over her shoulder as she slowly turned the handle and walked into Hazel’s room.

The younger girl was sleeping. Piper had half expected to find her dreaming as well, but for the moment she rested quietly. She saw with a glance that Hazel was wearing her traditional white cotton nightdress. Then Piper grabbed an extra blanket from the bed and spread it on the floor down by the foot board.

Piper moved soundlessly back into the hallway and beckoned to Frank. “It’s safe. You can go in.”

Frank’s eyes widened, he blushed furiously and shook his head. “No. No, I can’t”

Piper set her hand gently on Frank’s arm. “You’re a gentleman. You’d never take advantage, and Hazel knows that. I only meant that I set a blanket down next to her bed if Bulldog Frank needs a more comfortable place to sleep. She’s dressed and decent and I think she’d probably sleep better too, with you there.

“You don’t think she’d mind?” Frank still looked like he was ready to bolt back down the hall and into his cabin, but also like he wanted to believe what Piper was telling him.

“I don’t think she would mind at all.”

Frank nodded, resolutely, then shifted back into bulldog form and padded into Hazel’s room as Piper closed the door behind him.

As she climbed the stairs back to the deck, she was already beginning to formulate a plan to act against Gaea’s newest tactic. Charmspeak might not work against Mother Earth, but the children of Aphrodite had other tactics that Piper guessed might be just as effective.

~~~

Piper listened carefully the next morning as each member of the crew described what they had seen in their dreams. Every day they met like this, to check on the ship’s progress and to see if their plans needed to change based on anything they learned.

Jason was leading the meeting, after he offered it to Annabeth and she had declined. He motioned to Piper when the others had finished, indicating her turn to speak.

“I don’t need to say anything about my dreams. There wasn’t anything new there. But I did want to say something about last night.”

Piper turned to face the group gathered around the deck. “The nightmares are getting worse. And I think Gaea’s responsible. She’s trying to get under our skins. To make us doubt ourselves and keep us from being at our best in the fight to come.”

Jason nodded. “That makes sense. But how do we defend ourselves from it?”

“I could try to message one of the campers from Hypnos cabin,” Annabeth suggested. “They might have some ideas about keeping away dreams.”

“But we don’t want to keep away the nightmares altogether,” countered Frank. “I mean, as nice as that would be, we need the information we get to help us plan our next moves.”

“Exactly.” Piper broke in. “We need to keep those lines of communication open, but find a way to sleep better between those dreams and to maybe keep the dreams from getting so intense.”

“Sounds like you have an idea, Pipes” Jason crossed behind her and set his hands on her shoulders.

“I think so. It came from Percy and Annabeth, mostly. I say we make a new rule: No one sleeps alone.”

Piper paused, and the silence among the group was deafening.

Annabeth was the first to recover. “What do you mean by that exactly?”

“I mean, no one sleeps alone. We go in pairs or groups. We can set up a schedule just like we do for watches…”

“So, two, two and two and I’m the odd man out again.” Leo shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Leo, I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. You all get your cozy couple time and I get a better excuse to stay up here on the deck where I belong.”

Jason’s hands tightened on Piper’s shoulders.“Knock it off, Leo. She’s trying to help.”

“Whatever, Iike any one of you dudes would be willing to share space with me when you could have your girl all to yourself.”

“I would.” There was no hesitation at all in Jason’s voice. No defensiveness or anger either. It was clear to everyone, even Leo, that Jason meant what he said. Piper could have kissed him right there.

Instead, she went on explaining her plan. The three remaining boys’ beds would be moved into Coach Hedge’s old cabin to make one giant bed. That would become the sleeping cabin. Anyone who wanted to take a nap would have to find a buddy. At night, anyone who was off duty would sleep in the big bed until it was their turn for watch.

“I’m not trying to knock your plan or anything,” Leo said flatly, “but how is this really going to help? How will this keep Gaea from messing with our heads?”

“Because, she doesn’t understand love. And I don’t just mean romantic love.” Piper walked towards Leo as she spoke. “I mean friendship, and camaraderie, and the bonds we form by fighting together and keeping each other alive. There’s power in that.”

“Power in the voice of a friend to drive away fear.” Leo’s eyes flicked towards hers in a way that let her know that he remembered her helping him the night before.

“Power in knowing that someone you care about is close by.” Piper glanced over at Frank and Hazel who were holding hands as they leaned against the rail. “Power that can keep us safe even in our dreams.”

She held her hands in front of her, palms up, inviting Leo to take them. He did, and leaned his head forward to tap his forehead against hers. She dropped his hands to wrap her friend into a hug.

“You know I would never leave you out.” she said softly so only he could hear.

“Sue me for feeling like an outsider” he muttered, but returned her hug warmly.

Jason declared the meeting over and he, Piper, Leo and Frank went down to rearrange the cabins.

They made quick work of moving the beds and Piper and Leo used components from Leo’s tool belt to join the bed frames together to keep them from sliding apart.

Piper sent Leo to attach Percy and Annabeth’s beds in the same way, while Frank went down into the cargo hold to see if he could find any more clean sheets.

Jason leaned against the side of the now massive bed and raised an eyebrow at Piper. “Just think,” he said as he pulled her towards him, “of all the things that could happen in a bed like this.”

Piper smiled, but laid a hand on his chest to hold him back. “Maybe some other bed like this, but not in this one.”

“No?” Jason’s eyes sparkled with mischief, “Not even when I’m here next to a giant bed with my gorgeous girlfriend?” He nuzzled his cheek against the sensitive curve of her jaw.”

She pushed him away with a bit more force this time, though the smile remained on her face. “No. Not even then. I’m going to tell that to the other girls as well.”

“Tell them what?”

“That this is the sleeping room. If any of the couples need… well, ‘couple time,’ the girls still have beds in their own rooms. We all need to see this as a safe space. Not somewhere where you could potentially interrupt a private encounter. This place is for comfort, not sex.

Jason sighed. “I suppose you’re right. But what if I find sex comforting?”

Piper smirked back at him. “Lucky for you, my cabin’s right down the hall.”

~~~

Piper pulled Annabeth and Hazel aside and told them about her plans for the sleeping space. They nodded their agreement, though Hazel blushed furiously.

They discussed the schedule for that evening. Jason and Piper had first watch, Percy and Annabeth had second, with Frank and Hazel on third watch. Leo was also on first watch, but if it were up to him he’d spend all night on the deck.

Annabeth sighed, “I think this is a really good plan, Piper. I really do. It’s just… I think Percy and I still need more time to readjust. I mean, we’re…”

Piper cut her off. “So hot for each other that we can’t keep our hands to ourselves?”

Hazel giggled while Annabeth spluttered in protest.

Piper hugged her friend around the waist. “I’m just teasing you.”

Annabeth’s scowl wavered with a smile at the edges.

“I told you before,” Piper continued, “No one is going to judge you and Percy. If you want to stay in your room tonight or tomorrow night, or for as long as you need, we understand.”

Hazel nodded in agreement. “Absolutely, Annabeth. And if there’s anything any of us can do to help…”

Annabeth shrugged. “Not that I can think of, really.” She tightened her arm around Piper’s waist. “The hugs are nice.”

Hazel leaned into Annabeth’s other side for a one-armed squeeze. The younger girl wasn’t as comfortable with casual touching as the rest of the crew, but Piper guessed that she needed the affection now just as much as the others did.

“So Hazel, do you forgive me for letting Frank in last night?”

Hazel smiled and a light blush returned to her cheeks. “Of course I do. Though I’ll admit I was pretty surprised to find a bulldog sleeping on my floor. I hate to think of him curled up alone in the hallway. In fact…” Hazel trailed off, as if reluctant to continue.

“What is it, Hazel?” Annabeth prompted.

“I’m wondering if it would be alright if I stayed in my own room tonight, with Frank, like last night.”

Piper briefly thought about teasing her like she had teased Annabeth, but thought better of it. Hazel was stepping way out of her comfort zone and Piper didn’t want her to feel attacked for it, even in jest.

“So I guess that leaves Jason, Leo and I in the sleeping room.”

“Are you okay with that, Piper? I don’t want you to feeling like we’re abandoning you.” Annabeth’s grey eyes bore into Piper’s, looking for any hesitation.

“No I think this will work out just fine for now. No one sleeps alone and we’re all working towards being comfortable with each other.”

~~~

It should be like being on the quest together, Piper thought as she dressed for bed in a tank top and cotton pajama pants. The three of them had shared sleeping space throughout their three nights on the road.

But it was different now. Piper and Jason had not been dating then, at least not officially, and they’d all had their own sleeping bags.

Piper opened the door to the sleeping room and found Jason and Leo standing on opposite sides of the room, trying hard not to look at one another.

“So, this isn’t awkward,” Piper admitted sarcastically.

Both Leo and Jason chuckled on breath they seemed to have been holding.

Piper moved to Leo first, much as she had that morning on the deck. pulling him into a hug. “Look, I know this is weird. But we’re all friends.”

Piper glanced over her shoulder at Jason, who took his cue and walked over to join them.

“Hey, dude. Sorry that your girlfriend can’t resist me.” Typical Leo.

Jason snorted. “Sure, man. Apology accepted.” He clasped Leo’s shoulder before pulling him into a sideways “man-hug.”

Piper just shook her head. She wasn’t sure she would ever understand boys.

As they climbed into bed, Piper found herself in the middle. Which made sense, given that this was all her idea in the first place. She straightened her pillow, pulled the sheet up under her arms and lay down on her back.

The boys settled in on either side, both close enough to touch but not actually touching Piper. She rolled over and kissed each one in turn: Jason on the cheek and Leo on the forehead before she wriggled back down and closed her eyes for sleep.

Just before she drifted off, she felt Jason find her hand under the covers. He laced his fingers in hers and squeezed gently. Piper fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Piper knew that this arrangement wouldn’t end their nightmares completely, so she wasn’t at all surprised to feel Jason’s arms tighten around her in the night.

Piper woke to find that she and Jason had moved into a spooning position, with Jason curled around Piper’s back. It was hard from that position to use charmspeak, but she didn’t want to move too much and risk waking him from an important dream. So she stroked and kissed the hand that was wrapped around her torso and reached around with her other hand to pat his leg and knee.

Soon enough, he was awake, holding her so tightly for a moment she found it hard to catch her breath. But as he shook off the nightmare, he released her enough to allow her to turn over.

She laid her hands on each side of his face and pressed her forehead against his.

“I’m here,” she murmured a breath away from his lips. “I’m right here, Jason. You’re safe. I’m right here.

He kissed her shakily, then pulled her in close. She smoothed his hair, still whispering comfort against his shoulder and neck.

“You okay, man?”

Piper was startled for a moment, but then remembered that Leo had been asleep behind her.

“I’m okay.” Jason sighed wearily. “Sorry to wake you.”

“Just don’t let it happen again.” Piper could hear the smile in Leo’s voice as he rolled over, turning his back to Jason and Piper.

Piper leaned back out of Jason’s arms so she could see his face. “Do you need to talk about it?”

Jason shook his head. “In the morning. We should try to get some more sleep if we can.”

Piper nodded. She started to turn back over when Jason laid a hand on her arm.

“Thank you.” Jason kissed her softly on the mouth.

“Anytime.” Piper rolled over and settled back into the curve of Jason’s warm, muscular frame. She dropped back into sleep almost instantly.

The next time Piper woke, she wasn’t sure why. No one was screaming. Jason’s breath against her hair was calm and even. She didn’t remember any of her own dreams being particularly difficult.

Then she heard a soft, muffled sound from the dark shape in front of her. Was Leo having a nightmare?

Piper reached out her hand tentatively and touched his shoulder. Leo tensed beneath her touch.

“Leo?” She whispered as she shifted forward out of Jason’s arms. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine. Nothing wrong here.”

Piper heard the emotion in Leo’s voice. But she knew better than to say anything to him about it.

Instead, she moved up behind him, and laid her arm over his waist. With another person, it might have been an intimate gesture, but with Leo it was all friendship and closeness.

She propped her head up on her other hand and spoke over the back of Leo’s head. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Is it Gaea?” Piper pressed.

“Nope.”

“Is it about where you disappeared to?”

Leo sighed and turned his head slightly so she could see his his eyes.“You’re not gonna let that go, are you?”

“Nope.”

Leo looked away again. “Look, I just wanna go back to sleep.”

“Well, I’m here if you need me.” Piper lowered her head back down onto her pillow, but decided to stay where she was, curled against Leo’s back. She half expected him to push her away, but he didn’t, so she stayed.

When Piper woke again, it was to the sound of Frank knocking on the door to wake them for breakfast.

Piper tried to sort out where she was. How was it possible that she felt so comfortable and safe? Then she remembered.

She was still spooning Leo, her hand thrown casually over his waist. Jason had moved forward and was spooning Piper again.

Both of the boys were stirring as well and Piper was afraid that the previous night’s awkwardness would return, especially given the position they’d all woken up in.

But it didn’t. Leo simply stretched, yawned, mumbled something that might have been “good morning” and rolled out of bed.

Jason leaned forward enough to brush his lips over Piper’s cheek. “Best sleep I’ve had in months, Pipes. You’re amazing.”

He kissed her cheek again and rose out of bed, headed for the door. “See you at breakfast?”

Piper nodded dumbly. Shaking her head, she crawled out from under the covers and made her way back to her bedroom to dress.

It had worked. Not that she had really doubted it, but it had really worked. Now she just had to convince the rest of the crew to join them and they’d be that much closer to defeating Gaea.

~~~

Jason led the morning meeting again. Annabeth and Percy were still nowhere near ready to resume their positions as de facto leaders of the quest. But the rest of the crew looked slightly less like death warmed over than they had the day before.

Piper looked at the night watch assignment: Percy, Annabeth and Leo had first watch, Jason and Frank were on second and Piper and Hazel would share third watch.

With Percy and Annabeth still in Annabeth’s room, that left Piper with Jason for first watch, but with the strange combination of Hazel and Leo for second watch.

Piper could tell that no one was happy about the situation, but what could they do? They’d learned the hard way that it was important to switch up the watch rotations: even best friends and close couples could snap at each other if they spent too many 2am watches together.

And part of the point of this exercise, though not one Piper had shared with the rest of the crew, was to help them feel like a team again. To reinforce the closeness that she knew was there, but hiding beneath the weight of everything that had happened.

~~~

Speaking of all that had happened, Piper waited until after lunch to approach Leo at the helm. He was running diagnostic checks, which involved waving the wii controller in a specific pattern. A pattern that looked suspiciously like the Just Dance routine for “Price Tag,” but Piper decided not to mention that.

He had seen her coming, and knew what she wanted to talk about, so he acted like he hadn’t noticed her.

Piper was willing to wait until she saw little wisps of smoke curling around the sleeves of his restored army jacket. She knew it wouldn’t burn, but it showed just how nervous Piper was making him.

“Leo, you’re smoking.”

Leo paused in his frenetic motion and looked down at his jacket. He slumped a little. “Yeah…”

“Why won’t you talk to me?”

“Because you’re going to say I’m stupid.” Leo crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

“Leo! Why on earth would I say something like that? What could you possibly have done…”

“Oh, I don’t know! Fallen in love with a girl I just met?”

In all the times Piper had played out this conversation in her mind, she had never, ever expected Leo to say that.

“Better yet,” Leo continued, as he started to pace the deck,“She’s a goddess! A cursed goddess! A cursed goddess that I swore to rescue.”

“Cursed goddess? Leo, stop. You’re not making any sense.”

“Of course I’m not. It’s ridiculous. You can’t love someone you barely know.”

“Leo! Seriously! Stop!” Piper used only the tiniest hint of charmspeak, but Leo finally stopped pacing. He leaned against the rail and slid down, sinking defeatedly into a ball on the floor of the ship.

Piper moved to sit next to him. “Okay, let’s try this again. Who did you meet?”

“Calypso.” There was pain in that word for Leo. The kind of pain she had felt before Jason had regained his memories. A pain like finding out that some of her own best memories were false.

“Khione blew you to Ogygia?”

Leo nodded miserably, then told Piper the story.

How he had crashed on Calypso’s island and how they had hated each other at first. How he’d developed a grudging respect for her that turned into friendship. How they worked together to help get him back to the Argo II, but how he had hated the idea of leaving her.

By the time Leo described his first kiss, Piper had tears pricking the backs of her eyes.

“And you’re going to tell me what a stupid idea this is,” Leo muttered as he lowered his head into his hands. “That it’s impossible, that I need to just forget her and move on.”

“You’re expecting rational advice like that from a daughter of Aphrodite?”

“No, I’m expecting it from my friend Piper. Who knows me better than anyone else on this boat and who knows better than to believe in fairy tale romance.”

Piper was touched. Despite all the times he poked fun at her for who her mother was, she knew that Leo respected her. Still, it was nice to hear him acknowledge it.

“So you want to know what I really think?”

Leo nodded.

“I think she makes you happy. I think that there’s no way to know what the future holds for the two of you, or for any of us for that matter. But I think if you don’t go and find her after this quest that I’m going to have to kick your ass.”

“Yeah?” Leo’s face brightened for what Piper thought was the first time in days.

“Yeah, and if Jason or I can help you find her or help you get back there, just say the word.”

Leo threw his arms around Piper and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. “You’re the best, Beauty Queen.”

“You’re not so bad yourself, Repair Boy.”

~~~

Piper loved sleeping with her boyfriend. And by that she meant actual sleeping.

Not that the “not sleeping” part wasn’t good too. But Piper and Jason had been finding ways to engage in, well, unseemly activities since before they’d boarded the Argo II. And Coach Hedge, for all his bluster, hadn’t really put a damper on their alone time. They’d just had to get a little more creative.

But there had never been time to linger. No way for one of them to spend the night. And so it was this novelty that Piper was most appreciating at the moment.

She and Jason had the sleeping room to themselves for the first watch. True to her own rules, they had shared only a few, albeit passionate, kisses before saying goodnight. Jason had fallen asleep almost immediately, and Piper wasn’t far behind him.

But she took a moment in the dark to just appreciate being together. The scent of Jason’s shampoo, the way his arm curled around her protectively, the sound of his breathing.

They were together and alive. Life was pretty good.

Frank knocked on the door as second watch began. Jason swung his feet off the side of the bed and stretched. Piper reached for him absently.

He leaned back toward her and gave her a quick kiss. “We’ll be back for you girls soon. Sleep well.”

Piper looked up and saw Hazel in her nightdress standing next to Frank in the hall. He leaned down to place a kiss on the back of her hand, just like a courtly knight. Hazel smiled and lifted his hand to her cheek briefly before joining Piper in the sleeping room.

Just as Hazel was getting settled in, Leo clattered down the steps and into the room. Warily, he circled around to the opposite side of the bed as Hazel.

Piper found herself in the middle again, though the tension from either side was much thicker than it had been the night before.

She lay on her back, and Leo flopped on to his stomach, throwing his arm across Piper’s waist. His hand unintentionally brushed against Hazel’s arm and she flinched, scooting further away, so that Piper would have had to reach out to touch her.

Piper sighed. Things had always been a little awkward between these two, but she thought that they had been getting better.

Apparently not, but it was nothing she could fix at the moment. She leaned her head against Leo’s and fell quickly back to sleep.

And was awake again in what seemed like barely minutes.

Piper gasped as the sheets were jerked away from her.

Hazel didn’t cry out in her sleep, but she writhed back and forth, fending off invisible foes. Her lips moved as if she were trying to speak, but no sound came out.

Piper lay one hand on Hazel’s shoulder and the other over Hazel’s clinched fist. Laying on the charmspeak, she murmured the usual reassurances: “You’re safe. You’re among friends. It’s a dream, it’s not real.”

Hazel was calmer now, but she seemed to linger in the dreamspace, trying to save or solve something that couldn’t be resolved.

Piper smoothed back the hair on Hazel’s forehead, and whispered “It’s time now, Hazel. Wake up and tell us what you’ve learned.”

After a moment, Hazel’s eyes flew open. She sat bolt upright, grasping at the air.

“It’s okay, Hazel. You’re awake now,” Piper spoke gently, trying not to frighten her.

Hazel looked over at Piper. As she realized where she was, Hazel curled forward, burying her face. She began crying softly, shaking her head and murmuring “no… no…” to herself.

Piper couldn’t stand to see her friend so distraught, so she wrapped the younger girl in a protective embrace, petting her hair, but not saying a word.

Beside them, Leo moved forward, and placed a tentative hand on the blanket covering Hazel’s knee. “Hazel, what did you see?”

Hazel looked up, surprised but not alarmed by Leo’s presence. She sighed, the last of her tears running down her cheeks. “Nico.”

She described seeing Nico moving through the shadows, ghostly hands grasping at him as he passed. He stumbled back into the mortal world, along with Reyna, Coach Hedge and the glowing marble form of the Athena Parthenos.

Hazel wasn’t sure where they were, but she had seen large stones behind them.

“Stones. Like a stone wall?” Leo wondered.

“No, more like rough columns. Huge stones. Taller than Nico or Reyna.”

“A stone circle, maybe,” Piper guessed. “Like Stonehenge?”

“Maybe. But that wasn’t all.” Hazel shuddered. “There was something there, waiting for them. I couldn’t see it.”
“All I saw was Nico’s face. But he was scared. Like I’ve never seen him before.”
“And he was looking up, like what they were facing was really tall. Like maybe it was--”

“A giant.” Leo finished. “But I thought all of the giants were headed our way for Gaea’s big waking up party.”

“She could have sent one after the Athena Parthenos. The prophecy called it the ‘Giant’s Bane’ after all. There’s no way that the three of them could defeat a giant.” Hazel looked like she was ready to burst into tears again.

Piper rubbed the younger girl’s back, trying to comfort her. “We don’t know that it’s a giant. And not everything that we see in our dreams are true visions.”

“Yeah,” Leo patted Hazel’s knee clumsily, “Ol’ Dirt Face could be just messing with your head.”

Piper continued, “We can ask the others if anyone else has had dreams of Nico or Reyna in the morning. And I can check Katoptris.”

Hazel nodded unsteadily. She reached out to cover Leo’s hand where it rested on her knee. “Thank you both so much for listening.”

“Of course,” Piper reassured her.

“Yeah,” said Leo smiling, “We’ve got your back.”

They settled back into place, Leo curled against Piper’s back. Just as Piper closed her eyes, she heard Hazel say her name softly.

“Hmm?” Piper answered, opening her eyes to see Hazel facing her.

“Would it be okay if I held your hand?”

Piper smiled warmly at her friend. “Of course, sweetie. Anytime.” She covered Hazel’s small, brown hand with her own.

She had a fleeting thought that this must be what it was like to have a sister, but sleep overcame her almost as soon as she closed her eyes.

~~~

The main topic of conversation in the morning was Hazel’s dream. Jason revealed he’d had a similar dream, only from Reyna’s perspective.

It was certainly troubling, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. Their objective lay to the west, and considering their own frequent monster battles, it would be all they could do to reach Athens by August first.

After the meeting, Piper approached Jason and wrapped her arms around him, trying to apologize for not being there to comfort him after his nightmare.

She was amused and oddly touched as Jason revealed that Frank, despite being on the complete opposite side of the bed, had reached over and patted Jason on the back, asking if he was okay. She knew that thanking Frank would only embarrass him, but she made a mental note to do something nice for him the next time the opportunity presented itself.

As Jason finished telling Piper about his night, Annabeth and Percy approached them.

“Can we talk to you guys?”

“Of course.” Piper took in the shadows under their eyes, the way they still clung to each other. She wished she could help them.

Percy shifted nervously. “We were talking about changing the watch schedule for tonight. Piper, we’re wondering if you would take first watch with us? Leo’s agreed to take your watch with Jason, and Frank and Hazel would take third.”

“I don’t see a problem with that,” Piper nodded casually “Why the change?”

Annabeth glanced over at Percy, then answered. “Well, we also wanted to ask if you could sleep in our cabin tonight.”

Annabeth reached out her hand, which Piper took without hesitation, “The others have been talking about how wonderful you’ve been. With the nightmares and everything. We were just thinking that, well, you might be able to help us too.”

“I mean,” Percy broke in, looking at Jason, “If you’re both okay with it.”

“Don’t look at me, bro. That’s up to Piper.”

Piper already knew her answer. “I’m glad to help, in any way I can.”

Annabeth drew Piper into a hug, whispering her thanks.

As the other couple walked away, Piper looked up at Jason, trying to read his expression. “So how do you really feel?”

“About what?”

“About me staying with Percy and Annabeth tonight.”

“Are you asking if I’m jealous?”

“I guess.”

“Why would I be? It’s not like they’re asking you to come and make out with them.” Jason put his hands on Piper’s shoulders and leaned down to look her in the eyes. “You have a gift, Piper. You’re sharing that gift with people who need it. Why would I be jealous of that?”

Piper shrugged. “Some guys would be.”

“Would you rather I *was* jealous?”

“No, I…” Piper sighed in frustration. “I’m really glad you’re not jealous. I just don’t want you to think that I take that for granted. Or that I take you for granted. Or for you to get the wrong idea about any of this.”

She lifted a hand to stroke his cheek. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t love you.”

Jason wrapped his arm around Piper and pressed her against his chest. “Never think that. One of the things I love most about you is what a caring friend you are. You’d give anything to help the people on this boat; we both would. It would be selfish of me to keep that all for myself.”

Piper sighed contently. “How is it possible that you are so amazing?”

“Comes naturally,” he laughed, as she elbowed him playfully in the ribs. “It helps that I have a pretty amazing girlfriend.”

“Lucky bastard.”

“Yup.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “I sure am.”

~~~

This time, it was Piper’s turn to be nervous. She woke Jason and Leo for their watch, then stopped at her cabin. After putting on her pajamas, she knocked on the door to Annabeth’s room.

Annabeth had clearly been waiting for her, since the door opened almost immediately. Percy was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking uncomfortable.

Piper shuffled in, with no clue what to say or do next. It was clear she wasn’t alone in that feeling, as neither Percy nor Annabeth seemed to want to meet Piper’s eyes.

True to form, Annabeth took charge of the situation. She reached out and took Piper’s hands in hers. “Thank you again for being here.”

“Glad to help.”

“So… um. Would you rather be next to me or Percy?”

Piper shifted warily “It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Well, do you usually sleep on your side or your back or...”

“My side, usually.”

“Okay, me too. Percy is generally on his back. So I guess it makes sense to put him in the middle.”

“Sure.”

Annabeth gave Piper a warm smile and squeezed her hands, then let them go, headed for the far side of the room.

Piper crossed to the bed, where Percy was sliding backwards to make room for her. Piper acknowledged him with an awkward wave. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

Piper sensed Percy’s hesitation “So, are you okay with this?”

Percy sighed. “Annabeth thinks it will help.”

“What do you think?”

He shrugged. “I’m willing to give it a try.”

It was hard to see him this way. Usually Percy was so upbeat. So carelessly optimistic. His experiences in Tartarus had clearly done a number on his confidence.

Piper forced a smile. “Well, I’m here if you need me.”

Percy nodded, then settled into bed. Annabeth curled against his side, laying her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest.

Piper lay facing them, maintaining the same distance she had with her friends the past two evenings.

“Good night,” Annabeth murmured.

Piper had a harder time falling asleep than usual. Maybe it was the unfamiliar surroundings, or the change in the ship’s motion as they shifted from sea to air.

But mostly her mind kept coming back to the tired, defeated look in Percy’s eyes. Knowing that she most likely had a long night ahead of her, she forced herself to relax and eventually drifted off.

She woke once briefly when Annabeth shifted fretfully in her sleep, soft keening noises escaping from her lips. But she settled quickly without Piper’s assistance.

The next time she was awakened, it was by Percy. He shot upright, jostling Piper out of a sound sleep. She shook her head to clear it, then sat up next to him.

Annabeth was awake as well. She knelt next to Percy on the bed, softly calling his name and urging him to wake up. She glanced over at Piper with a silent plea for help.

Piper shifted around so she faced Percy. His eyes were open, staring coldly forward without seeing. His body was tense, his hands clenched into fists.

Piper summoned the charmspeak. “Percy,” she called softly, “Percy, it’s okay, you’re safe.” She moved to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Just as she made contact, Annabeth hissed Piper’s name.

Piper looked over at Annabeth, then recoiled as something hit her hard across the face.

Piper’s combat reflexes kicked in and she flung her arm up to protect herself from further blows, but none came.

Annabeth screeched Piper’s name and leapt out of bed, circling around to tend to her wounded friend.

But Piper waved her off. She still wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, but she knew that her first priority at the moment was waking Percy.

It was harder to concentrate through the throbbing in her head, but she called the charmspeak.

As they had been before, the words she spoke were not her own. She opened herself to the power and and allowed it to find just the right words to reach her friend.

“Percy! Percy, wake up. You’re safe. You’re here on the Argo II.”

“There’s no one here that wants to hurt you, Percy.”

“You’re safe.”

“She’s safe. You saved her, Percy.”

“She needs you.”

“You’re not going to hurt her. You would never hurt her, Percy.”

“She believes in you. Now you need to believe in yourself.”

“Come on, Percy, wake up.”

“Wake up, NOW!”

The force and power behind those final words finally jolted Percy out of his nightmare. He slumped forward, panting.

Annabeth moved to him. Piper noticed that though she reached out for him, she was careful not to touch him until he took her hand in his.

Then Annabeth reached for Percy’s face and ran her fingers soothingly through his dark hair. She laid a gentle kiss on his temple and spoke into his ear too softly for Piper to hear the words. Weakly, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

Piper didn’t want to intrude, plus the pain in her face was making her head pound. She got up slowly, planning to slip out of the room and down to the galley for some ice, when Annabeth noticed her.

“Piper! Are you okay?” Annabeth stood quickly and moved around the bed toward Piper, reaching to examine her injury.

Piper allowed Annabeth to assess the damage. “Oh Pipes, I’m so sorry. I should have warned you.”

Piper’s pain-muddled brain finally put all the pieces together. Percy, in the midst of the dream, had thought that Piper was something trying to attack him. His reflexes had taken over and he’d hit her hard across the face.

Piper cursed herself. She should know better than to touch a trauma victim in the middle of a nightmare. “It was my fault, Annabeth. Rookie mistake.”

Over in the bed, Percy stirred. “What’s going on?”

Annabeth’s eyes shifted nervously from Piper to Percy and back. “He didn’t mean to…”

Piper cut her off. “I know that. It’s okay. I don’t blame him.”

“Annabeth? What happened?” Percy moved to get up.

Annabeth patted Piper’s shoulder. “I’m going to go get some ambrosia and some ice.” She looked back at Percy for a moment, love and worry naked on her face. “I’ll be right back.” Then she turned and left the room.

Piper turned back towards Percy and found him standing behind her. He took one look at her face and cursed. “What the hell happened?”

“You’ve got a heck of a backhand, Jackson,” Piper quipped, trying to keep the mood light.

Percy dropped his head and buried his face in his hands. “Shit. Shit, Piper. I’m so sorry.”

“Percy, it wasn’t your fault. You were dreaming. I should have known better.”

Percy sat down hard on the edge of the bed. Piper sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulder.

Percy’s voice was muffled by his hands still over his face, but Piper thought she heard him say, “I can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

Percy sucked a deep breath in and looked up at the ceiling. “Can’t get away from that place. It’s like it found its way inside me and I can’t get rid of it.”

“You will.”

“How can you say that? I just hit you in the face!”

“You didn’t do it on purpose.” Piper leaned her head and rested it against Percy’s, tightening her arm around his shoulders. “And I know you will get past this because not only do I know how strong you are, I know how strong I am. And Annabeth is. And all your friends.”
“We are not going to let you fail.”

It was clear that Percy wanted to argue with her, but Annabeth returned with a square of ambrosia and an baggie full of ice cubes. Piper nibbled the godly food, relishing the taste of her favorite soup. The ice felt good against her aching cheek.

Fatigue started to set in and she settled back beneath the covers. Percy and Annabeth crawled in beside her.

Hesitantly, Percy held out his arm, silently inviting her to join them. “If you don’t trust me, I understand.”

Piper couldn’t think of any words she could use to answer him.

Instead, she moved into the circle of his outstretched arm and placed her hand over Annabeth’s where it lay on Percy’s chest. Annabeth flipped her hand over and squeezed Piper’s fingers affectionately.

Piper slipped into an exhausted sleep that lasted until morning.

~~~

When Piper woke up, she could tell that the ambrosia had done its work. Her cheek, which had felt so puffy and painful the night before, seemed completely healed.

However, when she checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she could still see the tell-tale bruising of a black eye.

As Piper finished dressing, Annabeth knocked on the door, under the pretense of checking on Piper’s injury. But it was clear that something was weighing on her mind.

“What’s up?” Piper asked. “You look like you want to say something.”

“It’s just... when you were talking to Percy last night, trying to wake him from the dream.” Annabeth paused, searching for the right words. “You talked about things like him saving me, like him not wanting to hurt me. Why… I mean, how…”

“Why did I say those things?” Piper guessed.

“Yeah.”

Piper shrugged. “It’s part of the way my charmspeak works now. Hazel’s been learning to manipulate the Mist, and she and I have been working together to it figure out.”

“I find that when I concentrate on the person I’m speaking to, when I focus on the things I know about them or the way I feel about them, that I say things I don’t expect to.”

“I’ve even spoken in different languages.” Piper smiled to herself, remembering. “The better I know the person, the better it works. It’s sort of like the charmspeak allows me to say what they most need to hear.”

“But why does Percy need to hear those things? He knows how much I care for him.” Annabeth hands moved absently to fidget with her camp necklace. “I just feel so useless since we got back. I want to help him. To help with the quest. But I keep second guessing myself. I don’t even know where to start, especially when it comes to Percy.”

“I wish I had the answers,” Piper placed her hands on Annabeth’s shoulders, trying to comfort her. “But I know that if anyone can figure it out, it’s you. Maybe you could ask him.”

“Ask me what,” Percy chimed in as he passed in the hall behind them. He glanced at Piper’s eye and winced. “Grace is going to kill me.”

Piper frowned. “No he won’t.”

“Yes. He will. I’d do the same if he hit Annabeth.”

“This isn’t your fault, Percy. It was an accident.”

Percy just walked away, muttering to himself.

Even with Percy’s predictions, Piper was surprised at the ferocity of Jason’s reaction. As she stood on tiptoe to kiss him good morning, he clasped her face, looking intently at her eye.

“Pipes, what happened!?”

“It’s fine, Jason. Just an accident.”

Jason shifted his gaze over her shoulder and his expression changed from concern to anger. “What the hell, Jackson!” He brushed past Piper, headed across the deck towards Percy.

Piper tried to stand in his way, but when six feet of muscled demigod is determined to get somewhere, there’s not much a girl can do to stop him.

That is, unless that girl has charmspeak. “Stop it, Jason.”

And he stopped, glaring at her.

She glared right back. “I told you it was an accident. Percy was having a nightmare and I got in the way. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.”

“It’s okay, Piper. I deserve whatever he wants to dish out.” Percy stood defenceless, hands raised in surrender.

“Screw that! What is this, barbarian hour?” Piper stormed to the middle of the deck, putting herself between the two men. “We may be descended from the ancient Greeks but that sure as hell doesn’t mean we have to act like them.”

“You,” she snapped, pointing at Jason, “need to back off and remember that I’m not some little woman that needs defending.”

Turning on Percy, she added, “And you need to stop blaming yourself and get your head back in the game.”

Piper clenched her fists, raising her voice so it carried to all the members of the crew. “Don’t you see? This is what Gaea wants! All of us angry, defeated and distrustful. We’re a team and we need to start acting like it. We’re better when we work together.”

“This thing with the nightmares? It has nothing to do with me or my charmspeak. It’s not some magic spell. It’s all of us caring for one another.”

Piper was losing steam. She was tired of yelling, exhausted and emotionally wrung out from long nights caring for her crewmates. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m the only one feels that way. But I’m trying my damndest to make sure we all live through this, and this is the only way I know how.”

Piper felt her throat closing and tears threatening in her eyes. She didn’t want to cry; not here in front of her friends.

She fled for the stairs, pushing open the door to the sleeping room and collapsed on the oversized bed. The tears spilled over, but she was just too damn tired to have a really good cry, so she simply burrowed into the covers and let sleep claim her.

~~~

Waking naturally had become a strange experience for Piper. She slipped slowly back into consciousness enjoying the novel sensation of feeling well rested.

Her mind reviewed the events of the morning, and she sighed. She imagined that her friends might be pretty pissed that she’d yelled at them and then stormed off.

Time to face the music, she supposed.

It was only as she shifted to get up that she realized that she was not alone. Her eyes flew open to find that she was curled against Annabeth’s shoulder, her arm laying across the blonde girl’s torso.

On the other side of Annabeth was Hazel who had reached out to hold Piper’s hand.

She felt the solid weight of someone pressed against her back, and a quick glance toward the hand at her waist told her that it was Leo.

Annabeth spoke quietly, and Piper looked up to meet her storm grey eyes. “Did you sleep okay?”

Piper nodded absently, still trying to take in her surroundings. “What are you all doing here?”

“It was Leo,” Annabeth jerked her head to gesture in Leo’s direction. “After you left, he was about two steps behind you, headed for the stairs. Jason told him to give you some space, but Leo was adamant.”

“No one sleeps alone,” Leo chimed in, squeezing Piper playfully around the waist. “Those were the rules, right?”

Annabeth continued, “Hazel and Frank came down while I was trying to work things out with the boys.”

“Frank?” Piper hadn’t seen him in her initial glance, but then she felt a nudge against her ankle. Bulldog Frank was laying by her feet.

Piper gave a surprised laugh, then untangled herself from her friends in order to sit up and pat Frank’s furry head. “Thanks, buddy.” The dog made a friendly ‘whuff’ and curled back up at the foot of the bed.

“Wait,” Piper whirled back to face Annabeth. “You all left Jason and Percy alone together?”

“They were talking calmly when I left,” Annabeth reassured her. “They said they had some things to work out, so I let them be.”

Piper glanced around at the friendly faces surrounding her. As grateful as she was, she still felt bad about the way she had behaved. “Guys, I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier.”

“Don’t apologize, hon.” Hazel sat up and gingerly patted Piper on the knee. “It was something we all needed to hear and remember.”

“Yeah, especially the two drama queens up there.” Leo gestured towards the ceiling. Piper nudged him admonishingly with her foot.

“We’ve all been through a lot.” Annabeth said, leaning against the headboard. “It’s going to take time to process it all. But we don’t have time for that right now. We have a battle to win.”

Piper felt the shift as Annabeth moved from wounded back to warrior. They all nodded, indicating without words their relief to have their leader back. Piper leaned forward and hugged Annabeth tightly, and was quickly joined by the others, even Frank who shifted back to human form.

Leo pulled away first, saying he needed to get back on deck to be sure that Percy and Jason hadn’t broken anything. Piper and Annabeth followed, while Hazel and Frank remained below to start prepping for lunch.

~~~

Piper felt strong sea breezes pull at her clothes and hair as she emerged onto the deck.

At the rail, Percy and Jason were putting the finishing touches on an impressive water spout. Jason shifted the wind and water poured in a mighty torrent, arching over the Argo II and crashing down over the other side of the ship. Before it could flood the land below them, the boys dispersed the drops of water, which fell to earth as a gentle rain.

Jason glanced at Percy, a cocky smile on his face. They slapped hands, clearly quite pleased with themselves. Leave it to boys to solve their problems by blowing things up.

Piper crossed to Jason, who wrapped her in a huge hug, excitedly sharing all the details of their new tactics. Of course, Leo wanted in on the action and the three boys started experimenting with fire whirls and waves of steam.

They were still goofing around when Hazel and Frank appeared with a steaming pot of red beans and rice. They all filled their bowls and gathered in a loose circle on the deck.

Next to Piper, Jason, Annabeth and Frank discussed battle tactics.

Across from her, Leo and Percy debated the merits of fire and water powers and brainstormed ways to try to combine them.

Hazel sat on Piper’s other side and listened intently as Piper described the changes in her charmspeak and its relation to the Mist.

Working together, making plans. That’s what would help them survive this, Piper thought. That’s what would help them defeat Gaea.

~~~

Piper woke that night gasping and trembling with fear.

Visions of Octavian’s forces -- storming up Half-Blood Hill and setting fire to Thalia’s tree, streaming over the volleyball courts on their way to the big house, cutting down her siblings from Cabin 10 -- left Piper covered in a cold sheen of sweat.

But even before she could shake off the horrible images, her friends blanketed her in comfort.

Jason rubbed her back and stroked her hair.

Hazel held her hand, her golden eyes filled with concern.

Frank laid his canine head on her knee.

Piper relaxed almost immediately, relieved by the warmth of their company. She drew in a shaky breath and reassured them all that she was fine.

She would deal with her troubles in the morning. For the moment, Piper could rest safely, surrounded by her friends.