Murder Family Values

Welcome to Camp Half Blood

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares : I am a free human being with an independent will."~ Charlotte Bronte

Ashley couldn't help but grin to herself as the cell door clicks open. Almost playfully, she pushes it open and walks out. Her trial had gone over smoothly and the FBI's case had crumpled in on itself, just as she had predicted. So what if she had milked the "scared teen girl" card? Freddie Lounds was seething, and so was Erin Strauss, and that was good enough for the brunette.

Ashley had even made a point to be on her best behavior. She helped the BAU AND Jack Crawford on cases, no matter how much she would've preferred to attempt to bash in his head. She hadn't bitten or punched or so much as attempt to insult Hannibal when he rolled up with a sly little smirk on his face. She hadn't picked a single fight.

Theatrical grin still in place, Ashley turned triumphantly to the corridor so she could get one last glance at her fellow inmates. "I shall miss none of you! Have fun without me!"

In all honesty, she was a little taken back with just how welcoming the BAU was considering she had been there for Emily's first case and saw how coldly the older woman had been treated. Garcia and Reid had even hugged her! However, the teen stopped cold in her tracks when they had tried to get her on the jet.

"Yeah, no. This isn't going to work out. I don't DO planes."

JJ's eyebrows furrowed together. "How did you get to half of your cases if you won't get on a plane?"

"I can literally walk through shadows. Why risk angering Zeus by infringing on his territory? He's been looking for an excuse to strike me with lightning since I was 12 and so far, nothing's managed to stick. I'd prefer to keep it that way, thank you very much."

It was Reid's turn to look confused. "Why would he have something against you?"

She shrugged. "He accused me and Percy stealing his lightning bolt, which was absolutely ludicrous considering Percy didn't even know his Dad was Poseidon." There was a distinct boom of thunder somewhere in the distance despite not a single cloud being in the sky. The brunette glared at the sky as if to say 'rude' and continued.

"Ironically, it was what inspired my short lived career as a thief in the first place. No gig could ever compare to having to running into Medusa, fighting the god of war, and a murderous side plot. And naturally, us blowing up the bus with all our supplies while being attacked by triplet demon math teachers, which was strangely fitting."

Garcia blinked rapidly. "I'm sorry, did you say the god of war, as in THE god of war?"

Ashley smirked slyly to herself. "I heard he's still the laughing stock of Olympus for loosing. It was SO worth the curse."

"Woah woah kid, there is no way you won that fight."

Ashley's nostrils flared slightly at Rossi's comment before she took a deep breath and smiled. "If you don't believe me, you can get my friends to confirm it when I go back to camp to pick up my stuff. I heard Percy decided homeschooling would involve less burning buildings."

Despite the last statement getting various levels of concern from her new teammates, she ignored it, or just truly didn't notice. "It would be faster if you guys just let me shadow travel there, but I'm up for a road trip. Shadow travel makes most people nauseous the first couple times."

Hotch eyed her cautiously for a moment before letting out a 'tired dad' sigh. "How does it work?"

Ashley shrugged. "All you got to do is hold on to me and not let go. You guys can close your eyes if you want, it's me doing the work anyhow."

The teen has to fight the urge to wriggle her way out of the grasps of her new team. Instead, she focuses on the shadows. The shadow realm was always present to the demigod, like a cool mist just out of reach.

They all arrived in one piece, much to Ashley's satisfaction [she'd never shadow traveled with that many people before and was worried one of them would let go.] Reid and Garcia both looked like they wanted to throw up, but otherwise it went well.

"I got us as close as I could.We're going to have to walk the rest of the way."

Morgan glanced around for a moment. "Sorry to burst your bubble little lady, but you said you were taking us to a summer camp. This is a forest."

Ashley gives him a 'duh' look. "The magical barrier probably would've sent us all ricocheting throughout the entire east coast. I need to get mortals approved. Best case scenario , we would've ended up in the labyrinth. I'd prefer to stay out of the shape-shifting maze."

Reid's eyes seemed to light up like a Christmas tree. "I don't suppose you mean THE labyrinth."

Ashley raised an eyebrow. "What other shape shifting maze would I be taking about? It just kept growing. Dig deep enough and you'll find it, one way or another. I would advise against it. Although, compared to other mythical places, it wasn't ALTOGETHER terrible. Maybe 3/10 stars."

JJ laughed slightly in disbelief. "You have a ratting chart?"

"Of course. I break it down into to different sections: risk factor and overall aesthetic. My personal favorite was Αἰαία. Seeing Percy as a Guinea pig was so worth fighting Circe."

Ashley smiled triumphantly as a familiar tree came into view. "There it is! Thalia's tree."

JJ smiled almost teasingly. "Who's Thalia?"

Completely ignoring the teasing tone in the blonde's voice, Ashley turned around dramatically as she waited for the rest group to catch up.

"This was way before I even discovered I was a demigod. A satyr was sent to guide three demigods back to camp, two of which were run-a-ways. One was Luke, child of Hermes, one was Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and the third was Thalia, child of Zeus." Ashley dramatically gestured with her hands as she continued with her tale, a gentle breeze billowing her hair around. "They'd almost made it back to camp when they got lost, and before they were able to find there way back, something else had found them."

The wind seemed to pick up for a moment. "Thalia stayed behind to fight the Cyclopes and she payed for her sacrifice with her life. That's when Zeus showed up."

"He saved her, right?! Please tell me he saved her."

Ashley dramatically let her features drop. "Alas, it was too late for that. As she took her last breath, he turned her into a pine tree so she could watch over us, like we failed to do for her."

Emily's small "oh god" seemed to snap her out of her theatrical trance. "Oh, no um, she's not dead. Thalia's fine. We had to go on a quest to retrieve a Golden Fleece because her tree was dying. She never technically took her last breath, so it just, y'a know, healed her. It was this whole thing. I have plenty of lightning scars to prove it."

The brunette awkwardly nodded as the group let out a collective sigh of relief. "Anyways, shall we?"

Ashley couldn't help but grin at the awe of her new team's faces as the "forest" shimmered and gave way to camp. It truly was a sight the first time.

Everywhere were kids decked out in traditional Greek armor or wearing jeans and a bright orange t-shirt. An obstacle course that looked like something out of Divergent or The Hunger Games was located off to the right. Cabins built like Greek temples with a modern flair created a U off in the distance. Most in the kids in armor were sword fighting or practicing hand to hand combat.

The kids seemed just as bewildered as the new arrivals. Adults... actual adults! Here, in camp! One boy even was startled enough to run into a tree [he'd turn to look and gawk, but hadn't stopped  moving.] Honest mistake, really. Ashley had done something similar when Tim Drake told her he'd gotten Batgirl pregnant.

"They're mortals. Keeping moving people! Geez, you'd think this was a teen drama or something." Ashley turned with a charismatic smile. "Ok, so first things first, I need a new sword since my last one got snapped like a cheep pair of glasses and I should also grab some stuff from my cabin while I'm here."

"Well, lead the way little lady."