Chapter 14: Nightmares and Midnight Talks

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I'm a nobody.

Andrew:

When Andrew woke up, it was nearly two in the morning. He'd been doing this a lot lately, since they went on the quest. Maybe it was the irregular sleep pattern, or all the threats Terry made against him. Either way, he couldn't sleep.

He kept thinking back to when they'd met Hypnos in Idaho, resting on his lawn chair in the shade under the tree. How he'd felt the want, the need, to sleep all his problems away. Danny said he'd fallen face first and woke up three hours later. He'd felt horrible, yet also well rested.

Now he just couldn't sleep right. Usually he would walk around for a while, then he'd get really tired and head back to bed. So that's what he did.

He was careful getting out of the room, but a matter of stealth he was not. Luckily Danny was a heavy sleeper, so she didn't wake up when he biffed it tripping out the door.

He walked around the hotel a few times, trying to let the air clear his head but it wouldn't work. His head refused to cooperate with his body.

And the third time he rounded the corner to the front of his motel room, he ran into someone. "Woah, take it easy kid." Liam said as Andrew began busting out some serious ninja moves. "It's just me."

That didn't help Andrew feel any better. It was a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing that convinced Andrew to ask Liam for help. He regretted it shortly after Terry had joined him in the back of the pickup. "Can't sleep." Liam guessed.

He turned away from Andrew and started walking away from the hotel. He waved after him. "C'mon. I've got just the thing."

Andrew reluctantly followed.

...

It seemed like the kind of place Liam would go. It wasn't exactly a bar, but it was open twenty four hours a day and sold some really good boneless buffalo wings. Liam said that the spice would knock Liam out as soon as he got back to the room, and Andrew was just happy to be eating something that wasn't healthy for once.

"You're a son of Apollo, aren't you?" Liam asked. Andrew raised an eyebrow and Liam blushed slightly. "Sorry. I get that it's hard, being a demigod. I'm not trying to fit you into a box." He said.

Andrew waved him off. "That's okay. You get used to it, I guess. I mean, you're still here." He said. Liam nodded.

"That's not to say I didn't have any close calls. Or some prejudice thrown my way." He said.

Andrew didn't respond, instead choosing to eat his food and keep quiet. After a few minutes a question popped into his mind. "How come I've never heard of you at camp? They usually talk about how lucky the demigods older than twenty are. So who are you?"

Liam smirked, taking a sip of his coke. He sighed in appreciation before answering. "I wasn't that important in the demigod stuff, you know? Not a counselor or a warrior. I'm a son of Demeter who doesn't even look like her." He said. "So when I inherited my dad's money when he died, I decided to get myself a job farming."

"Then why are you heading to New York?" Andrew asked.

"You mean besides giving a few misfit teenagers a ride east?" He jested. Andrew smiled a little. "I have friends who asked me to come over. They sometimes deal with mythological problems and I have to help." He explained.

Andrew frowned. "We're supposed to keep that hidden from mortals." He said.

Liam nodded. "Part of the job. I have to steer them away from the idea that the monster under their bed is real." He explained.

"What are they even doing that leads to monsters?" Andrew asked. Liam stayed silent. "Well?"

"Just some science crap that I wouldn't be able to explain if my life depended on it." He said. They were quiet after that, and Andrew had a sickening thought. What if Liam worked with mortals, hunting demigods? He shook the thought away. No, Danny trusted Liam. So could he. Besides, he didn't look like the type.

Liam paid for their food, nodding to the bartender. The place was empty, besides a few late night truckers.

Liam began walking slowly towards the motel, but stopped when he saw a bookstore. "I'll see you tomorrow, kid." He said, heading towards the bookstore. Andrew watched in confusion as Liam went in and started looking through them all.

When Andrew reentered his room, he was careful to not be so clumsy and wake Danny. He still stubbed his toe, but didn't curse or anything. When he got to his couch, he was out like a light.

...

He was standing in his room, but... It wasn't Andrews room. Why did he think it was? Shaking it off, Andrew realized that someone else was in the room, speaking to him.

"-Styx might be the only way you can stand a chance." The voice said. Andrew shuttered. He knew that voice... But from where? Andrew had been facing an open window, looking at a silvery flower that was blooming brightly under the moonlight.

"Percy? You hear me?" The voice said again.

Andrew spoke, but... He didn't. "I'm fine. Just thinking." He said.

"Think faster." The voice said, and Andrew's field of vision changed, and he nearly fainted. It was him. Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. The outsider who spent most his days locked away in his cabin. He was younger, but definitely still Nico.

"And what if it doesn't work? Don't I, like, burn up or something?" Not Andrew said.

"Yes." Nico said. "There's a chance of that happening." He took a bite of (blue) cake, then sat on the dresser awkwardly. Andrew knew Nico was gay... Was Not-Andrew one of his crushes?

"I... I need to think about it, okay? Give me some time."

Nico shrugged, then stood. "I guess that's fair. But you need to start thinking about this now. One year, Percy. One year and you fight Kronos." Nico said. Not-Andrew and real Andrew shuddered at the the name. But... What was Nico talking about?

Terry:

Terry shot up out of her bed, gasping for air. She put a hand over her heart, trying to calm it down as much as possible. She'd just had a horrible nightmare about her- or maybe not her -hugging a boy!

Yes, a nightmare indeed.

She stood quickly, deciding to jump back into her jeans and hunter's jacket. It rubbed against her recent burn, and it hurt quite badly. She winced in annoyance. Most cuts and burns healed fast with the immortality Artemis gave her, but the whip mark didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon.

She opened the door quietly, and hid swiftly against the back wall. The only thing following her was her shadow as she began to explore the town she was in. It wasn't much to look at, but it was better than lying in her bed all night.

She found a few cool places among the buildings. A Starbucks nestled in the corner of the main roads intersection. A history museum and a few fast food places. A local pet shop (she spent a lot of time looking through the window) and even a steel mill.

But what really piked her interests was the book store.

It was a little two story brick building, with a young woman sitting at the front desk and four aisles of books. Terry went in quietly, nodding to the woman pulling a graveyard shift to be there. She smiled, nodding back.

Terry was good at telling the difference between fake and sincere, and although it saddened her, the young woman wasn't happy to see her. She probably really wanted to go home, to her father and mother, and her little brother...

Terry shut her eyes tight. No. She wasn't going to think about her... They didn't deserve the word. She straightened her own back and quickly gazed at the selection of books.

She was just about to pick up a really nice looking book (she judged by the cover) when she heard the bell chime, meaning another customer was in. Apparently this one attracted the interests of the counter girl. "Hi." She said shyly, and Terry rolled her eyes at the timid tone.

"Hello there." Said a friendly voice that made Terry scoff. A boy. Probably here to 'get some action'. She snorted at the thought.

"What can I do for you?" Asked the naïve girl, probably convinced that this 'prince charming' wasn't just here for a book.

"Oh, I'll just be looking around... Becky." He said, reading the name tag on her shirt. Terry narrowed her eyes. She couldn't tell if he was serious or not about just wanting a book. She tried to get back to the book she'd picked out but she couldn't. Something about that voice was familiar.

Then she realized: it was Liam. The strange demigod who was giving them a ride east. She didn't trust him. He was just another pathetic male, unworthy of her time. She decided that she'd make sure he didn't try anything on that poor girl at the front desk.

She snuck around the aisles, barely peeking out to look at him. He looked different in the lighting. His tan was more evident and his face hidden by his hat. She vaguely wondered what color his eyes were. She'd met all the gods before, and noted that they seemed to always pass down the colors to their offspring (spawn, really, when it came to men).

But the whole time she was watching him, he didn't try anything. He would pick up a book, read a few pages and the blurb, then put it back down. She caught him smiling while reading something, but she couldn't guess what.

Finally, he found a book he spent a full ten minutes reading before he nodded in satisfaction. Terry moved aside just in time. Any longer and he would've seen her. She watched carefully as he set the book in front of Becky and smiled winningly. She blushed but picked up the book. "The Maze Runner." She said, an eyebrow raised. "A little bit of a kids book, don't you think?"

"I never lost touch with my inner child, I guess." He said, smiling. Becky returned the smile and handed him the book after paying. He leaned in quickly and Terry thought he was going to kiss her! But instead he whispered something to her real quick and handed her something. When he walked out he said. "By the way, I love the shirt." He said. She smiled, looking at the logo on it. Terry vaguely recognized the trident on it as the symbol for that mortal upstart, Blue something.

She smiled brightly. "Thank you. Come again soon!" She told him. As the door closed, Terry went to pay for her own book. She placed it on the counter and watched as Becky put it through the scanner, still smiling. When Terry went to buy her copy of 'The Hunger Games', though, she waved off the payment. "Already paid for." She said.

"By who?" Terry frowned.

Becky kept smiling. "The man before you. He paid for your book."

...

She couldn't find Liam. She tried tracking his footprints, but they seemed disappear as soon as she reached the endless desert. She tried to see if any of Artemis' Hawks were flying around, as she'd promised, but still couldn't see them since the storm in Utah. She hoped they were alright.

It was just a lucky find when she saw something jumping around from building to building, making near impossible leaps and landing perfectly on the smallest of footholds. When she caught a good enough glimpse, she realized it was it was the demigod.

With great effort, and her three years of active service under Lady Artemis, she was able to follow him along, at a distance of course. She wanted to know what he was doing that he needed to parkour from one rooftop to the next.

She struggled slightly when jumping from a flagpole to a street lamp, but managed to catch herself just in time. She nearly lost him several times, but that instinct that came with being a hunter kicked in and she just thought of what direction her prey must've gone. She would always catch a glimpse of his dark hair or blue attire pretty quickly.

When he jumped down into an alley, she was hesitant to follow. Her bow would be next to useless in the confined space and her knife skills were lacking. And without knowing where he would be...

He's just a stupid boy. She thought to herself. Then she jumped down.

Besides a few dumpsters and a startled cat, Terry didn't see anything. She cursed. She'd let Liam get away and now who knows what he could be doing?

"You know, hunters are kinda predictable. No offense."

Terry had her bow drawn and fired just as the last word left Liam's mouth. She saw him, the dark jeans and blue flannel blur, duck and avoid the arrow that nearly pierced his skull. He picked up the arrow, unimpressed. "And they still think that violence solves everything. Thalia's ideas, no less. I bet if I was a girl, you would've asked questions first." He said.

Terry pulled out another arrow and set the point to his chest. "It doesn't matter if you are a girl or not." She lied. "But the fact you're sneaking out late into the night concerns me. What are you doing out here? And how do you know my lieutenant?" She asked.

Liam shrugged, not trying to back away from the arrow. "Fair enough. I couldn't sleep, so I was going to call a friend in New York and see if I needed to get there sooner. Secondly, I briefly knew Thalia in passing, but I hear stories." He said, eyebrows raised. "Satisfied?" He asked.

She shook her head. "What were you doing to that girl in the bookstore?" She asked. "And no lies."

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "You mean Becky? What about her?" He asked.

"You complimented her."

He paused for a moment. "Yes, yes I did."

"What's your game?" She asked.

Liam frowned. "What game? I liked her shirt, so what?" He suddenly formed his mouth into an 'o'. "I get it. The whole 'men are pigs' thing? You thought I was-"

"I saw what I saw." She said evenly.

"Yeah, well. Can't argue with someone who won't think she's wrong." He muttered. "Whatever. I don't really care one way or another what you think you saw. I'll always know the truth."

She hesitated before dropping her bow. She squinted at him, but couldn't see much in the darkened alleyway. Not his eyes, at least. "Who is your godly parent?" She asked.

"Demeter." He said. She scoffed.

"You look nothing like her. Don't lie to me." She warned. He lifted his hands in surrender.

"I'm the black sheep of the family. One of the reasons I left camp." He said. "I didn't get her looks, or any powers."

"What did you get then?" She asked.

He smirked. "I became a farmer. I've got a sixth sense for crops." He replied easily. "And what about you? If I had to guess, you weren't a demigod..."

"None of your business." She snapped.

Liam nodded, the seriousness back. "Sorry. Didn't think it'd be a sore point." He apologized. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Liam put his hands down. "Listen, I get you're the tough hunter girl that needs to prove she's better than all guys, but I don't really care about that stuff. I'll toss my ego, okay? You're probably better than me." He said.

She let the smallest of smiles grace her lips. "Oh?" She asked.

She heard him grunt. "Please, don't make me repeat it. I think once is enough." He said. She put her bow down fully and he turned around towards the desert. "Do you mind if I make my call still? I mean, you can watch or something, but that's your choice..."

Without any further words Liam took out a cellphone and began to wander farther away from the buildings. Terry still found herself no less than ten feet behind him. The phone in his hand let out three long drones before finally being picked up.

"Steve? Why do you have Tony's phone?... Okay, never mind... Yes, I'm fine... Yes, I'm on my way... Listen, I have to make a quick stop on Long Island first, okay?... Just some stuff... No, it's not a girlfriend... Shut up, Rogers."

Terry listened to the steadily increasing banter until Liam cut it short. "Steve, you're sure it was bronze? Like my sword?... And it hasn't moved?... Okay, just... Call me if anything changes. Tell Sam and the others I'll be there in three days, tops... Yeah, thanks mom." He jested into the phone, then hung up.

"What was that about?" Terry asked, unsure about how much the phone call connected with her. Liam ran a hand through his hair in relief, then sighed.

"Just some crap I've gotta deal with as soon as we get to New York." He muttered. "Nothing for you to worry about."

Liam began to walk along the outskirts of the town, sauntering around like he owned the place, but didn't know what to do with it. Terry rolled her eyes. Typical boy.

When they reached the apartment, Liam handed her something and she raised her eyebrows. "Melatonin?" She inquired.

He shrugged, turning away from her. "Nightmares suck. I've noticed they help me sleep a little easier." He reentered his truck, lying down and closing the door behind him.

Terry won't admit it, but her regular nightmares didn't return that night.

LHG :)