cover you now ; pjo

nine ; september

Ben's jaw dropped. "Wh-what? I thought we were the only ones- how do you even know- this is insane." He shook his head.

Gabi glanced over at the boy again. Carolyn lit up his sleeping face, and the daughter of Apollo was trying to gently wake him up so he could eat some ambrosia. "I'm good at reading people," she said simply. "Plus, the way he seemed to be moving so fast you couldn't even see him? He was shadow traveling. And look at him. Dark hair, pale as hell. The real question is why he's in the smallest town in the world. I mean, why hasn't a satyr found him? Especially since he's a child of the big three-"

"Let's just chill out a second," Ben interrupted. "I'm sure he'll have answers when he wakes up."

She nodded reluctantly and turned to the rest of the group, clapping her hands. "Guess we're camping out tonight!"

•••••

The river was a mirror of the thousands of stars in the sky. As Gabi gazed at the water, tiny flecks of light floated off of the fire and joined their brothers in the air. She shifted in her sleeping bag so she faced the fire again.

Ben had set up his stuff to her left, and he lay on his side, hood of his windbreaker up and curled in a tight fetal position, reading a comic book (Batman 323). Anela and Stef were to her right, sitting on their sleeping bags as close to the fire as they could. They were singing some song Gabi didn't know with sleepy voices.

"and the jailor man, and Sailor Sam
we're searching every one
for the band on the run
band on the run"

Against her better judgement, she glanced over at Carolyn and the boy.

He leaned against a tree, and seemed to be waking up slowly. Her glowing friend was bandaging his arm.

"I still don't trust him," she thought aloud.

"Hmm?" said Stef, who was taking off her shoes and curling into her sleeping bag.

"Oh, it's nothing." But it was something. Something was fishy about his presence. And Gabi always trusted her gut.

Ben would understand. She turned to talk to her friend, but he was already asleep, the comic book having slipped from his hand and landed on the ground. Sighing, Gabi stood up and slid the book back into his backpack.

Flat on her back, Gabi listened to the water in the river rush by as she tried to fall asleep. She missed Ollie. She wondered if he missed her too.

Finally slipping into sleep, she heard Stef mumble something about it being "Colder than Khione's castle," and she snorted.

"Michigan's colder..." she whispered, falling asleep.

•••••

The fire was dying when the mysterious, dark haired boy finally woke up fully.

Carolyn had bandaged his cuts and coaxed him into drinking nectar (she heard him whisper something about hot cocoa after he drank it, and that made her smile). She closed her eyes for just a second, hearing him speak finally.

"Where am I? Who are you? Why are you glowing?"

Her eyes flew open. Mystery Boy had his head cocked to the side. He was squinting at her.

His eyes were green.

"Oh, sorry." Her light flared. "First, to answer your questions, you're on the banks of Cat Creek in Montana."

He nodded. "Yeah, I live around here."

"I'm Carolyn. I'm a demigod like you. That's why I glow. Rare child of Apollo thing." She paused. "Are you a halfblood? Do you even know what that is? I mean-" She cut herself off. "Sorry."

The boy nodded. "It's ok. Hades is my dad. No big deal." He leaned back onto the bark, sticking his hands in his coat pockets. "I'm Bruce, by the way. My mom owned- well, owned, the diner in town."

Carolyn sat up. "You're a child of Hades? The Hades? But-" she shook her head in disbelief.

"Yeah. Mom told me when I was eight when I asked who my dad was and where he was." Bruce trailed off, staring into the fire.

Carolyn opened her mouth to speak, but didn't say anything. She studied her hands instead.

They didn't say anything for a while.

"Uh, sorry but um-"

She snapped her attention back to him and resisted the urge to simultaneously laugh and give him a hug.

His jacket was zipped up all the way, and he had stuck the entire lower half of his face into the collar. His arms crossed in front of him. He was shivering.

"Oh gods, I'm sorry. I totally forgot how cold it is. Jeez I'm so-" she reached for the extra sleeping bag.

"No no no it's fine! I can get it! I just wanted to know where it was bec-" And he jumped up and grabbed the sleeping bag before Carolyn could say a word. "Sorry," he said, attempting to smile at her but tripping over a root. A little snicker escaped her mouth. "I'm ok!" He whispered.

She glanced over at the fire, which was barely a few embers now, and nodded. "It's ok, I get it." She chuckled softly. "I just wish you would've let me get it. You're still healing and all."

Now in the sleeping bag, Bruce awkwardly scooted over closer to her. The two lay back, looking up at the stars.

"I love living in the middle of nowhere. So many stars."

"I do like that. But right now all I can see is leaves."

He laughed, playfully hitting her on the shoulder.

Another light flare.

"Can I trust you?" He asked quietly. "I want to. I really do."

Carolyn swallowed, turning her head so she looked at him. "I hope so."

"I hope so too."