Revenge

Chapter 45

Three Years Later

"What if we don't make it, Mr. Waters?" The tiny blonde girl asked, gripping the little knife in her hand nervously.

"We're almost there, Tabitha." The man dressed in army fatigues said quietly, looking around. He was getting a sinking feeling in his chest that he recognized way too well. "Just keep walking, and try to be quiet, okay?"

Tabitha nodded worriedly, shivering. Noticing her reaction, Michael paused and tugged a small blanket from his pack. "Here, wrap this around yourself."

The little girl took it from his hands, putting the knife he'd given her in the little sheath. They'd had to wrap the belt over one of her shoulders like a Girl Scout sash.

Michael had quickly found that his position in the army reserves gave him a lot of opportunities to look for demigods that weren't going to be found by satyrs immediately. He got really good at finding them, so he used his skills to get the kids to the different camps. 

He'd gotten an agreement going with Camp Jupiter to make sure that Greek kids who might have shown up on the West coast were taken to the right places, because he didn't always have time to get all the way across the country.

This was different. Michael wanted to make sure that Tabitha got to camp safely, of course, but he also had another reason for heading home.

They'd gotten nearly all the way back to New York without any issues, but that only made Michael more nervous, he'd been dealing with monsters for a long time and it was only quiet when they had somehow put something together that was going to be very painful to deal with.

Now he was helping little Tabitha Katharine from Fountain Hills navigate the little forests along the side of the highways in New York. It was sort of amusing to see her reactions to northern flora.

"What is that?" She kept asking, which made Michael smile.

Now he heard a small yawn and hid another smile. "Tired, Tabbie?"

She nodded. "My feet hurt."

"C'mere."

When she turned around to look up at him, Michael was hit again by how similar she looked to a lot of his siblings. Long blond hair, blue eyes, a smiley little freckled face. After having watched after her for so long, he was really hopeful that she was actually one of his siblings, even if he wouldn't be able to see her very often because of his job.

Tabitha shuffled over and Michael crouched down, letting her climb onto his back. He stood again and began to trek through the forest again in silence.

She was asleep in minutes, so Michael allowed his nervousness about the whole situation leak out a little more. He felt like he was being watched from all sides.

It wasn't until he was almost to the camp, he could nearly see Thalia's Pine, that all Hades broke loose.

Michael heard a horrible shriek behind him and whirled, grabbing for his sword. He struggled a little to keep his balance, fighting with a small child clinging to his back, but he managed.

Tabitha woke up at some point, Michael could tell, but she was smart enough to just cling to him and try to make herself as small as possible.

Finally he got the opportunity and took off running for the border. It was almost night, but campers should still be out. Michael started shouting anyone's name he could think of. Annabeth, Percy, Malcolm, Piper, Jason, Beck, every name that came to his mind.

Tabitha screamed and Michael dodged sideways on instinct. He lost his balance for a moment and fell forward, managing to catch himself in a kneeling position.

"Get off and run!"

Tabitha scrambled off of his shoulders and took off. Michael shot to his feet and spun, drawing his sword once more. He faced the horde of monsters coming towards him calmly, deciding where to strike first.

Suddenly the world shook. Michael lost his balance again, as did many of the monsters.

He looked up in time to see an amazing sight.

A beautiful dark-haired woman was flying over him, having been launched forward by a wave of water that was now streaming down the hill with Percy Jackson surfing along the top of it. 

She screeched her defiance and as her feet hit the ground another earthquake shattered the monsters' morale.

Michael had never been so in love.

The two Poseidon children dealt with the group easily, then Percy ran off, presumably to check on Tabitha. Michael hauled himself to his feet.

"I like the brunette on you. Looks good."

Beck whipped around, her ponytail snapping. "Michael?!"

He opened his arms to her, grinning, and she ran forward to hug him. 

"Happy anniversary, Belle."