HORIZON ⸺ jason grace

xvii. someone lets uncle leo fly a copter

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL didn't seem to like the idea of letting an unscheduled helicopter land at the Oakland Airport — until Piper got on the radio.

Then it turned out to be no problem!

It had taken some persuasion on everyone's part to get Mr. McLean in the air. He looked positively broken, and Violet felt terrible for him and Piper. They unloaded on the tarmac, and everyone looked at the tan girl.

"What now?" Jason asked her.

Today was the solstice. They had to save Hera. They had no idea where to go or if they were even too late.

"First thing," she said. "I'II have to get my dad home. I'm sorry, guys."

Leo and Jason's faces fell, and Violet held herself back from kicking them.

"Absolutely," Violet covered before either could do something insensitive. "He needs you right now. We can take it from here."

"Pipes, no." Her dad had been sitting in the helicopter doorway, a blanket around his shoulders. But he stumbled to his feet. "You have a mission. A quest. I can't—"

"I'll take care of him," said Coach Hedge.

Violet stared at him, a smile slowly forming on her face.

"You?" Piper asked, clearly shocked.

"I'm a protector," the Coach said. "That's my job, not fighting." He sounded a little crestfallen. Then he straightened, and set his jaw. "Of course, I'm good at fighting, too." He glared at them all, daring them to argue.

"Yes," Jason said.

"Terrifying," Leo agreed.

"Much better than Jason," Violet received a light smack from the boy.

The coach grunted. "But l'm a protector, and I can do this. Your dad's right, Piper. You need to carry on with the quest."

"But..." Piper's watered. "Dad..."

He held out his arms, and she hugged him. "Let's give them a minute," Jason spoke lowly, putting a hand on Violet's back and guiding her away, Leo following quickly.

Violet groaned and slumped into Jason, who chuckled softly. "I could sleep longer than Gaea."

"That was amazing, what you did back there," he told her.

"Yeah!" Leo piped up from her other side. "Wait... does this mean I have to start calling you Toph now? Or maybe Katoph?"

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Violet grumbled. "How about none of the above?"

"Oooo, I'm going with Kat. Cause you're a little cute thing with sharp claws!" He poked her in the side, and she tried to kick him. Unfortunately, she was exhausted.

"How'd you beat the Earthborn? Annoyed them to death?"

"Well, it is my specialty, Kat."

"I'm gonna send you straight to Hades, Valdez."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Piper's dad slump forward. Piper caught him, and the other three demigods hurried over to help.

"Got him," Hedge said. The satyr stumbled, but he was strong enough to hold Tristan McLean upright. "I already asked our ranger friend to call up his plane. It's on the way now. Home address?"

Piper checked her dad's pocket, and his BlackBerry was still there. It seemed bizarre that he'd still have something so normal after all he'd been through, but Violet guessed Enceladus hadn't seen any reason to take it. After all, he'd missed the last few eons.