With Friends Like These

With Friends Like These - Part 2

"Percy," Annabeth sighed, looking fondly exasperated with him. "You're drowning your pancakes."

"They can't drown," Percy gravely informed her. "They're mine." He searched out Kronos across the room, a plate of high-protein and horribly calorific foods piled high before the Titan. His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw that Kronos had one hand buried into the innards of the trireme, probably fingering the exposed electrical wires again.

The Titan seemed to become more energized from the electrics than he did a plate of ambrosia.

Bare-chested – he took any opportunity he could find to ditch the obnoxiously bright orange Camp shirt – he sat cross-legged on the floor against a backdrop of drapes.

Over the speakers, Buford the Wonder Table suddenly blared, "Put some clothes on!"

Everyone jumped, though not nearly as badly as Kronos. The blind Titan had still not managed to get used to the intercom or Buford and Leo had fixed the table up several times when he'd startled Kronos and the Titan had lashed out. He ended up jumping several feet and landing in the form of a lion, snarling at nothing. Once Kronos had calmed down and realised he was not under attack, he turned back and sheepishly reached for his shirt.

His horribly scarred and burnt body had slowly begun to heal over the two days since they'd left Tartarus behind them. And both Percy and Annabeth were able to catch up on much-needed sleep, knowing and trusting that the Titan was watching them – or at least alert and listening for any intruders.

Jason, with Piper playing nursemaid, sat at the very head of the table with his shirt rolled up to expose his stab wound to the air as Piper changed his bandages.

"You know," Leo said, "that probably wouldn't have happened if our immortal firecracker joined you."

"That's what I said," Kronos grumbled as he paused in shovelling food into his mouth.

"Yeah," Percy said, "but we discussed this."

Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Spirits are more likely to sense a Titan than they are a few demigods."

"You got noticed anyway," Kronos pointed out. "It would not have made a difference."

"We at least learnt something," Jason said.

"Besides," Percy added, "setting you loose on Ithaca would have been like firing a nuke at New York. Sure, you'll take out the enemy but there's a high chance for friendly fire."

"Olympia," Jason said to get them back on track. "We'll stay airborne. Juno said we have to subdue the goddess of victory."

"Isn't Nike a good goddess?" Percy questioned.

Annabeth nodded slightly. "Yes. So why subdue the goddess of victory?" Annabeth mused.

"Well all the gods are split, are they not?" Kronos questioned. The demigods turned to face him. Of course they could guess all they wanted, but Kronos was far more a part of the immortal world than they would ever be. He's seen empires rise and fall and probably assisted in more than one dynasty's collapse. "If the goddess of victory is split then she will be fighting with herself."

"He's got a point," Piper murmured.

"Ok, wait a minute," Leo said. "What about you? You've got a Roman form, right?"

"Saturn," Frank supplied.

Kronos' form flickered briefly, and he scowled in Frank's direction. "It is the demigods whom are fighting. Demigods do not affect me as they effect the gods, as I am not a god, not beholden to Olympus. Now if there happened to be Roman demititans around whom were fighting, then I may have a problem."