AN: Here we are, the first chapter again. Before you start reading this, you need to know that this is a sequel! Following a Legacy was the first (as I'm sure some of you know) and this is the second. I don't have a posting schedule worked out just yet, so don't expect too much, but I'm sure the second chapter will be up probably before the weekend is done if I finish the third and fourth parts.

Hope you enjoy!

I couldn't help it and I started laughing again.

"Come on! I'm never going to get a picture at this rate," Nico complained.

I rubbed my cheeks then did my best serious look.

He took a picture.

"Please tell me that you got it."

"Yes, I finally got it." Nico smiled. "It looks really good."

I went over and looked at it. "Nice," I praised it, giving him a high five.

He grinned. "Come on, it's almost time to meet Will!"

I laughed and followed him toward Harvard University's campus.

Will had told us exactly what time he would be out of his dorm, packed for Thanksgiving.

I was just thankful that our both of our schools let out for the whole of Thanksgiving week, giving us the weekend before as well. Travis and I had driven non-stop to get us to Boston yesterday and this morning. We would stay in Boston until Tuesday. Sunday we were going out to the safehouse to finish furnishing and decorating (or at least plan it) and to drop off the supplies we had for it. On Monday afternoon, I was going to meet Percy, Annabeth, and her cousin, Magnus, at the half-way house that he ran and then bring them out to the safe house to see what they would be like. Apparently he had a couple friends that were going to come see as well. Then on Tuesday, Percy and Annabeth would travel with us to New York, coming out to Long Island until the actual day of Thanksgiving when they would head back into Manhattan and spend it with Percy's family.

I glanced at my watch. "Nico, there's still fifteen minutes." I stopped, looking in a bookshop window.

He came back, looking impatient. "What if he's early?"

"What if he's late?" I nudged him. "Come on, really quickly. I just want to pick up some classics to put in the safe house."

"How fast can you do that?"

"Depends on whether you grab the Harry Potter series for me or not."

He followed me inside, darting off to find those while I grabbed books by Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain…

"Time's up!" He had some other books on his stack as well. "I grabbed the books from that other author you like as well. The fairy tale lady."

"Gail Carson Levine, thank you."

We set the books on the counter.

The guy looked at them, a little concerned.

"Our books got destroyed when the basement flooded," I explained.

He seemed to be a little more accepting afterward.

Nico was frowning at the classics I had grabbed. "The heck is 'Little Women'?"

"A classic, and beyond your realm of interests," I said a little dryly. "We'll watch the movie so you can get the gist of it."

He made a face. "Do we have to?"

I arched an eyebrow.

"Stupid question," He said nervously, grabbing the bags of books and leading the way out. "Now can we go meet Will?"

"Yes." I gave him a light shove.

He flashed me a quick smile before his gaze snapped across the street. "It just walked right by us."

"Ignore it and keep walking. Doesn't do any good to take notice of it. Just might bring it's notice to you."

"Right," He felt the protection charm on his necklace with his free hand, then grinned. "Will!"

The blond turned toward us, his gaze searching a moment before a grin lit up his features. "Nico!"

I took the bag of books so Nico could run over and meet him.

Nico hugged Will, then backed away and punched his arm. "Dork."

Will rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's exactly how to greet your boyfriend."

Nico's face was red. "We're in public."

I rolled my eyes and 'bumped into' Nico, knocking him into Will's arms where he promptly got kissed by his boyfriend.

Nico's face was bright red when he pulled away.

I rolled my eyes. "Hi, Will."

He grinned at me. "Thanks for the assist."

"My pleasure." I gave him a quick, one-armed hug since I had the bags of books.

Nico took that back from me. "Glad to be on break?"

Will nodded, looking relieved. "Super glad. I thought it would never come. Are we staying in a hotel or at the safehouse?"

"Safehouse," Nico answered. "We figured there are already beds there. It's actually really nice. There are three bedrooms, and a nice bathroom, kitchen, living room, and a laundry room, plus a basement. Cassie has been getting stuff for this place for weeks in anticipation."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to plan somewhat ahead and I had a picture of the completed bathroom so I could decorate accordingly."

"And what is the theme for the bathroom?" Will asked, linking arms with me.

"Not quite teal, but it's more that color. I think the towel color was called aruba blue? Anyway, it's nothing too fancy. The color mostly comes from the towels and the shower curtain. I just add the supplies like hand soap, body soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair brushes and combs, hair-ties, hair clips, bobby pins, headbands, makeup remover, sunscreen, aloe, medicine, bandaids, tissues, and lotion."

Both of them had stopped to stare at me.

"Nothing too extensive, though," Will said, sarcasm highly present.

I shrugged a bit. "In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really account for much. There's not much you can do to a bathroom. It's already nice without the touches, with them it looks complete. The supplies are just because it is a safe house and how many kids do you know that remember toothbrushes? Or sunscreen? Deodarant! That's what I forgot."

"We can get that later." Will patted my back. "Where are you two parked?"

I shook my head. "Travis dropped us off. Said he'd parking at a pastry place on Dunster?"

Will nodded. "Mike's, got it. This way. Text him and tell him to get cannoli."

I did that, letting Will and Nico guide be through the crowded streets. "I would have expected it to be less busy."

"Yeah, not sure what's up with that. Oh! And wedding cookies."

I figured the last part was for the order. "So, enjoying your college diet?"

He made something of a whimper. "Food costs money. Are we getting paid to help you set up?"

I laughed a bit. "Yeah, I'll pay you."

"No, I was just joking."

"She wasn't," Nico informed him. "She doesn't joke about money."

Will looked at me.

I shrugged. "Travis and I already figured out the budget for this project. Even after buying the land and paying for the construction—"

"You had it constructed?"

"Had to for some of the safety features. Anyway, we're coming in way below budget. Part of that is frugal spending, another part of that is cheaper construction costs because of special abilities."

"How far away is the safe house?"

"About an hour and a half from here, depending on traffic. It was a sweet deal. You don't just pass up ten and a half acres."

We crossed the street and met Travis by my car.

"Back to the safe house?" Travis asked after greeting Will.

I nodded. "Yeah, I want to get everything set up and try and get things organized so that I can figure out what I forgot and make a list."

Will tossed his suitcase in the backseat, then grabbed Nico by his coat when the younger boy went to get in the front seat. "Uh, no."

Travis and I exchanged an amused glance, got into the car, and started the trip back to the safehouse.

"So, are there code names for these safehouses? Or are they just safehouse 1, safehouse 2? Or are they identified by location?" Will asked from the backseat, sort of wrestling with Nico as Nico fought to not be smothered.

"Well, I'm giving them code names, but I think for the system they're just numbered."

"So what's this one?"

"The Burrow, because it's just outside of Westborough and all of the other -borough areas nearby. I just thought it fit." I shrugged.

"What's the property like?"

"Wooded, which had mixed reception when I presented the safehouse plan to Grover and some other nature spirits. But once I explained that there were plans to rejuvenate the native species on the property as well as replace any trees that were removed for the building of this safe house, they seemed okay with it. Especially after Rikki's energy solution finally worked for something."

"What?" Nico asked.

"Rikki's energy solution? She was trying to come up with something that could help demigods, give them a burst of energy. Instead they discovered that she had created a sort of…electrical energy type deal. Strong stuff too, apparently in their experiments, they had just a little bit of it and it completely blew ten lightbulbs."

"Yikes. I mean, cool that they found a use for it, but messy. So, when you told Grover that the native species would be rejuvenated, does that refer to Peter's magic stuff?" Nico shoved Will's face into the car window. "Would you behave!"

Will just laughed.

I thought back to when Peter had first shown us his magic water, how it had turned the nasty water, the plastic bottle, and trash and turned it all clean and natural. Turning the glass jar they had tried to use to contain it into sand. "Actually, I'm supposed to do that this weekend. Grover is supposed to meet us there to see what this stuff does. Apparently he heard a lot about it when he visited Northpoint but Peter apparently chose that week to run away."

"Is it more controllable?" Will asked, sounding and looking concerned.

I shrugged. "They said it was."

"What about the properties that sit on our property?" Nico asked.

"Well…well…we'll figure it out."

"And the book is going to have directions to two of these houses?"

"And will lead them to the magic website. Leo's putting the last touches on it. Here's hoping it works the way we want it to." I shrugged.

"Wait, we're actually doing the website?"

"Magical website. Demigods need resources and I refuse to let monsters have complete control over the Internet. We should be able to communicate without monsters attacking us."

Travis chuckled.

"Don't."

"It's a theme with you."

"Is not."

"Um…" Nico started.

"Nobody asked you," I protested.

Will laughed. "I missed you guys." He buried his face in Nico's shoulder.

"We missed you," Nico responded, smiling broadly.

"Did you get more muscle?" Will pulled away and started poking at Nico.

I grinned.

"I've been hanging out with Johnny and he has to work out for Football and Basketball. So I've just been joining him every once in a while." Nico shrugged. "I've gotten to know some of the other guys because of it. I'm actually tutoring one of the guys in Italian which apparently gets me some sort of credit that colleges look at."

Will chuckled. "It's a good change. I think if you hadn't you might have gained some weight in a different way."

"I haven't gained weight."

"I beg to differ. You're not as skinny as back in August." Will was still poking at Nico.

"Definitely not as skinny," I agreed. "I only know how to cook the kind of food that sticks to your bones. I was glad I could get back to my dance lessons."

"Yeah? Back to doing hip-hop?"

"Yeah, but I'm also doing swing dancing. I just…I felt like I needed something to try and get me used to crowds again."

"It's been fun, actually," Nico said.

"You've been doing swing dancing?"

"Yeah, I wasn't going to let her go alone." Nico shrugged. "Besides, it made it easier in the beginning. We learned together, plus I could be her partner while she got comfortable with the crowds. There's actually a good group from school that have started going as well and since we were there before we actually look like we know what we're doing."

"Yeah? You too, Travis?"

"When I've got time." Travis had been really busy trying to balance school, the commute, and making sure we were okay. He had burned out about a week ago and had his own sort of meltdown, and ended up pranking me and Nico, and pickpocketing us and the friends that came over after school. THey were pretty amused by it, thankfully, but it was a pretty clear sign to Nico and I that Travis was at the end of his rope and doing his best to climb back up it.

"What about you?" I asked Will. "What have you been up to?"

"School. Pretty much just school. I've hung out a bit with some classmates, and I went to see a movie a while ago. But mostly it's school, TV, and making sure I stay active because I still need to be able to fight monsters. Practice my archery. That got me a few weird looks." He stretched. "Thanksgiving break came a little late but also just in time."

"I know, our writing class is getting pretty intense. It's gotten to the point where the only person still doing solidly well is Cassie, which is just rude," Nico told him. "Our teacher keeps looked at Cassie like she doesn't know what to do with her. How many extra challenges has she given you now?"

"Five," I answered, a little sheepish. "But it's only because the only edits being suggested at this point is on grammar. I keep slipping with punctuation and dialog here and there."

"I know, everyone's been saving your chapters until last so that they can unwind after editing all the others." Nico rolled his eyes. "And you can't exactly lower your standard."

"Not really."

"How's Johnny doing with his sister around more?" Will asked, changing the subject when he realized we were going to continue debating the matter.

"Oh, he's so thrilled. She punched him a couple days ago and tried to pretend it was an accident," I answered. "But his dad saw it and it didn't fly so well. Her new psychiatrist already said she's not allowed to return and apparently warned other psychiatrists in the area about her."

"And that curse?"

"Still waiting on word from Eithne."

"Your book release?"

I groaned and closed my eyes.

He laughed as Nico and Travis did their best not to. They knew all that Jacob was telling me that needed to happen and things that I should do and trying to make suggestions without pushing me into something I'm uncomfortable with. Which was pretty much everything.

"How bad could it possibly be?"

"There have been requests for me to show up on talk shows to talk about my mom and her books and my books and inquiries about possibly interviewing me for magazines. Plus Jacob wants to set up a few book signings. I've been asked to speak at a teen empowerment event, and at a writing workshop. And the police report and court records from the trial were found by some journalists and now those articles are being written and questions being asked. It's so lovely."

"So, bad," Will concluded.

I nodded. "I told Jacob that when he came over for pre-Thanksgiving lunch that he wasn't allowed to talk about anything having to do with public figures or my mom's or my books. No questions about writing. Nothing."

"He protested," Travis added.

"At length," I added. "That's your turn."

"Right." Travis turned onto the road, then finally onto the driveway to the house.

We got out of the vehicle and I looked at the little piece of paradise that someone had carved out of a forested piece of land.

"It looks nice from out here." Will looked it over. "I've got to see the inside now."

"It isn't finished. We barely have the furniture in, right now," I told him, heading toward the door.

"Show me," He responded.

We went into the Burrow.

"This is the living room. As you can see I haven't quite decorated yet. That's actually on today's list of things to do." I looked around.

"That looks like a comfy couch." Will went over to the black couch and flopped onto it. "It is a comfy couch."

Nico grinned. "I helped pick it."

Travis kissed my temple so that he could whisper about a call he had to make, then went back outside.

"What the color theme again?"

I went and pulled out the rug. It had a feather design and all of the colors, dark blue, light blue, robin's egg blue, yellow, and green. "Blue, yellow, and green. Obviously, gray and black are the neutral tones."

"Dude, that recliner!"

"Is very comfortable," Nico told him. "I slept in it last night. Didn't mean to, but I did."

"It was all that hard work you did moving furniture," I smiled.

"You know it."

"So, how long will it take you to finish setting this place up?"

"If I start now, I might be done Monday afternoon. There's still a bunk bed upstairs that needs to be put together, then we have to get the mattresses up there, I'll make the beds, put in the extra clothing, stock the bathroom, finish stocking the kitchen, stock the storage in the laundry room, stock the laundry supplies, decorate, and then hopefully it will be ready for anything and I can focus on then next one with a better idea of what needs to be done and the most efficient way of doing it."

"So nothing major," Will summed up sarcastically.

I stuck my tongue out at him, then started pulling throw pillows out of the box and tossing them on him.

He caught the first two, then the third hit him in the head. "Geez, Cassie, how many pillows does the living room need?"

"Look, I forgot I bought some and bought more. So sue me. At least they bring in the colors."

"There is that. Does it need decorating, though?"

"I suppose we could get away with not decorating, but I feel like this place might feel more welcoming if we do decorate. I don't know." I pulled out the painting I had found for the wall and went grabbed the picture-hanging kit, looking for the right set.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Nico darted out of the room and up the stairs.

Will came over while I was searchign through the tools for the hammer (it seemed to enjoy disappearing. "He really is healthier than he was. Happier too. I mean, he actually seems to have energy, and whenever I talk to him he's so…positive and I feel more positive because of it. He keeps smiling. I know you never experienced it, but Nico didn't smile a lot before the war with the giants."

"You changed that. You and the others."

"We started it, yeah. How the heck did you get skin and bones to gain weight? And in muscle?"

"I told you, I only know how to make the kinds of meals that stick to your bones. And he eats, and he's working out with Johnny, and then we're dancing, so I honestly don't know. Maybe it's the ice cream we ate after…"

"How are you doing?"

I gave a pained smile. "Some days are better than others. School's been hard. Not classes themselves, but the hallways. Um, there's a group that now use me for target practice, and a group that is very protective of me. It is literally the scholars and drama students against the football team. For some reason the whole football team, well, what remains of the football team just assumed responsibility of making sure that no one gets bullied. They started a sort of get together every friday where there's no alcohol, drugs, or smoking, since it's at the school and it's basically a clean party every other friday. Movie night on the others."

"And you had nothing to do with it? Nothing at all?" He looked skeptical.

I shrugged. "I told Johnny that he had the influence to make a change, and that he was presented with the opportunity to do so."

"Were all of the guys involved with your case on the football team?"

"All five, yes. Their team was extremely shaken. Homecoming was not fun. At all."

"NIco said you got nominated for homecoming queen."

"Don't know how, and I made sure everyone knew that it wasn't going to happen."

"He also said you won homecoming queen."

"Jokes on them, I didn't go to homecoming dance." I finally found the hammer in the bottom of a box that I didn't even know had been opened.

"You skipped your homecoming dance?"

"I stayed home and watched a movie with Travis' grandpa. I wasn't ready for that kind of interaction. That crowd." I grabbed my lipstick and the level.

"Um…" He pointed to the lipstick.

"It's just a trick for hanging pictures. The lipstick marks the wall where I need to put this little dohicky."

"But then you have lipstick on your wall…"

"It washes off. Heck, I can't even keep it on my lips for more than two hours. Especially if I eat. Or stay hydrated. I highly doubt it will stick to the wall. Hold this level."

He took it.

I figured out how high I wanted the painting and then pressed it against the wall, then pulled it away and smiled at the pink mark on the wall. "Now I just have to center, level, and hammer the nail into the wall. Then I have the four-piece design, which will be a little more difficult."

"Do you still have to see the head doctor?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Yeah, but not as often. Once a month."

"Do you like her?"

"Yeah, I just don't like that I have to go see her. I want to be done with this. Apparently, that's not how anxiety works."

"You and Malcolm?"

"Good, I'm excited to see him."

"Just excited. You said that like…"

"What? I'm excited."

"Then why are you so calm? I was practically dying waiting to see Nico again." Will handed over the level.

I shrugged. "You've been dating him longer. Malcolm and I are still working things out. Technically we said we would be taking a break, we just never did. And I am excited to see him. We haven't even been in the same room since before the whole mess. We've talked. A lot, actually."

"Cassie, do you like him as a boyfriend, or as a friend?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"The important kind?"

"I'm sixteen, what's important right now is surviving high school and getting into a good college. He's my boyfriend. If that changes, then so be it."

Will had an alarmed look on his face.

Nico came back down with something large and wooden. "Will, you look like…"

"Nico, I need a life boat."

"Why?"

"My ship…she's going down."

I rolled my eyes. "Are you serious? All of this because I'm not as clingy as you and Nico are? I've always been a little independent and there's something called delayed gratification. Learn about it, please." I tossed the level back into the box while I hammered the picture hanger into the wall.

"You can't compare Cassie and Malcolm to us, Will. Malcolm still asks if it's okay to kiss her. You don't ask, you just kiss me."

"Yeah, and you're still a chicken and won't really kiss me."

Nico rolled his eyes as he set aside the board thing. Then he grabbed Will's shirt and pulled him into a kiss that was so intense that I looked away.

"Stop checking me temperature, Solace."

I snorted and barely held back the following laughter.

Travis came back inside. "What's this wooden thing on the couch where I want to sit?"

"Right!" Nico grabbed it and turned it toward me. "I saw the thing you made of instructions and…"

I grinned. "You made it into a sign?!"

Will came around. "What does it say? Dyslexia not happy."

"The Burrow: A Safe House. The rules are simple: The food you need will appear in the fridge after you write on the grocery list on the fridge. Backpacks are in the basement, feel free to take one that is fully stocked or one that is empty. Clothes are in the dressers, and you can take two shirts and two pairs of pants, a pack of socks, and any other supplies you may need. Stay Safe! Maps to safe places are in the basement where the supplies are," I read the sign, remembering writing it. "It's perfect, thank you, Nico." I kissed his cheek.

He leaned it against the wall, grinning. "I'll go work on that bunk bed."

"I'm right behind you." Travis stretched and forced himself up. "Will, we could use a third set of hands."

"How difficult is this bed?"

"Very."

I grinned after them, then looked around the living room quickly to assess what else needed to be done. This was the first step in making a difference for demigods.

I was really glad it was the holidays.