A/N: Hey All! Charlie here. I just wanted to thank you all for your patience with me on this story. When I took this on, I didn't realize what a beast Krissy had left me. But here we are. I'll try and update at least once a week, if not more often.

None of these characters belong to me and everything through Chapter 10 (basically) belongs to Krissy Hale (KrissyH415). I adopted this story from her. Fans of the original will likely notice some differences, but I didn't change much in the way of plot. As always reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!

-Charlie D (My last name is not nearly as awesome as Kris' so we'll leave it at 'D' for now)

We'd made it out of the park alive. We were running now. For some reason it felt like we were always running.

It was Fall now, and the cold burned my already strained lungs. I needed a break or I'd collapse.

Turn right, something whispered. I wasn't surprised; it wasn't the first time I'd heard that voice, my guide. It'd never led me wrong before, so I grabbed Luke by the sleeve and pulled him sharply into a dark alley as we ran past it. He let out a noise that one might describe as bordering on "girly," and I quickly slapped my hand over his mouth, pressing us both against the cold brick wall. I listened, waiting with my spear still at the ready, praying for silence. Praying that they hadn't followed.

I held my breath, even though my lungs burned with their need for oxygen. After a few minutes, I brought my hand from his mouth and stepped away. I collapsed against the opposite wall of the alley and looked up at Luke, his sword dripping with viscous green liquid. I met his eyes, his pupils blown at the rush of adrenaline. I knew my own blue eyes likely mirrored his.

I brought my free hand to my chest, feeling as my heart pounded against my ribs. I needed to relax, to gather my wits. But just as I took a deep breath to settle my nerves, a crashing from behind two garbage cans brought me back to my feet, weapon at the ready.

I looked over to Luke, signaling with my eyes to exercise caution. Together, weapons raised, we approached the source of the noise.

When we were nearly within a striking distance, I looked to Luke and then back toward the garbage cans and counted with my fingers, 1…2…3!

I grabbed the metal garbage can and flung it backwards before turning my attention to…

"A little girl?" I heard Luke say.

Behind the garbage and, really, covered in garbage, was a small girl. She couldn't have been older than seven. Her clothes were dirty, torn and caked with blood in a few places. She clutched a lead pipe in her small, shaking hands. Mostly, though, she looked scared and cold, her knees curled into her chest and her face tucked away, as if waiting for our attack.

Something about the whole situation just seemed...so...familiar.

And then I remembered how I looked almost a year ago when Luke had found me. A little older than she, but, for the most part, exactly the same.

A soft whimper snatched me from my thoughts. I looked down at the girl only to see her looking back up at us, her eyes darting between Luke's sword and my spear.

She was afraid of us. As soon as I realized it, I dropped my spear and fell to my knees, crawling slowly toward where she sat, still hidden by garbage and debris.

She flinched, clutching the pipe tighter in her hand and moving as if to try and get farther away from me, try and curl into a smaller ball. However, before she could do anything, I reached out and placed my hand gently on her arm.

"Shhh," I said, "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you." She looked up at me.

I nearly feel backwards as I was greeted with beautiful grey eyes. Soulful, curious, grey eyes.

Grey eyes I'd seen before.

I looked back at Luke as if to ask if he'd seen what I had before turning back to her, "There we go. It's okay. You're safe. Just put down the pipe, okay?"

She looked at me, searching my eyes, searching my intentions, searching my soul. I'd never felt so bare before. I felt as though those piercing grey irises were stripping me down, determining my worth. I felt a shiver move down my spine and I found myself lost in those eyes.

The clang of a pipe against asphalt broke me from my trance. I smiled at her and opened my arms to her. She smiled briefly and looked as if she wanted to come to me, before flinching away.

I whipped my head around to see Luke approaching with his sword still in hand. "Luke, you idiot, drop the sword! You're scaring her!"

He looked suspicious at first, but I glared at him. I saw him flinch at the angry electricity I knew he saw in my eyes.

Finally, he sheathed the sword and, almost instantaneously, I felt the girl beside me relax.

I turned back to her and took her up in my arms. She fell into my chest and immediately started sobbing into my shirt. I brought my hand up, holding her head to me, trying so hard to tell her without words that she was safe in my arms. My fingers ran through knotted and dirty, yet still noticeably blond hair.

After a couple minutes of her crying in my arms, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Luke, "It's not going to be safe here for much longer. We have to get to the safe house. Can you carry her or should I?"

He sounded rushed and his panic struck a sympathetic chord somewhere in the part of my brain that was dedicated to self-preservation, but I knew we couldn't leave the alley just yet. I leaned back from the young girl; just enough to look down into those big, teary grey eyes.

I smiled softly at her, "Hey there, you're alright. No one is going to hurt you." I was rewarded with a small, tentative smile. "My name is Thalia and that guy over there? That's my friend Luke. What's your name?"

She sniffled, "M-my name is Annabeth … Annabeth Chase."

I smiled, "Well hey there, Annabeth. Do you mind if we ask what you're doing in this alley?"

"H-hu-hiding," she choked out.

A chill crept up my spine. I already knew the answer, but I had to ask, "From what?"

She hesitated, clearly unsure as to whether she should answer the question. I pressed, "Annabeth, what are you hiding from?"

She answered. So softly that I couldn't here. "Huh? What was that? I asked again.

"The monsters."

My entire body tensed and I could almost feel as Luke's did the same.

I pulled the girl tighter to my chest as a fresh round of tears started up. I rocked her back and forth, hushing and whispering softly in her ear that everything was going to be okay.

When the crying eased up, she pulled away slightly, "So...so you believe me? About the monsters?"

I smiled sadly, "Yeah. We do. See, Annabeth, we're like you. We can see the monsters too. We run from the monsters just like you do…sometimes we fight them. But we all have something very important in common."

"What's that?" she asked.

"We're all special. Kind of like superheroes, but better. But right now, Annabeth, we have to leave here because there could be monsters near by. Do you want to come with Luke and I?"

"Yeah, can I?" she asked, shyly.

"Of course you can," I smiled. "Now let's go. Oh! But first…Luke, can you give our young lady something a little better than a lead pipe?"

He looked at me like I'd asked him to donate a kidney, but I looked back at him, using my infamous scowl o' doom, and he sighed in defeat.

He took a dagger from his belt and handed it to her. He said some things as I left, not really paying attention, to look for my spear in the garbage pile where I'd tossed it earlier.

Finally I found it and turned back to Luke and Annabeth, "You guys ready to go?"

Luke nodded. Annabeth took a step toward me and took my hand in hers, looking up at me with those big grey eyes. "I'm ready, Thalia. Can we go now? I'm kinda sleepy." And I swear to the gods my heart just about melted.

I would protect this girl. I would keep her safe if it was the last thing I did.

"Okay," I said, "Let's move out."

We trudged. 'Trudge' is really the only verb I can think of that accurately describes how we got back to the shelter that night. Luke and I were both tired from our encounter in the park earlier and even though Annabeth was small for her age, it didn't make her any easier to carry once she got too tired to walk. The whole thing was made even worse by the fact that Luke couldn't take her because every time he tried she would have a fit and start screaming.

After what seemed like a trek to rival the Exodus, we finally made it to the safe house we'd built on the riverbank. I use the word 'house' liberally, here, because it was really more of a hut.

Luke motioned for me to duck behind some brush with Annabeth while he checked the perimeter of the campsite, so I crouched behind a bush that I hoped would be thick enough to hide us if the need arose. I softly pried Annabeth's arms from around my neck and turned her so that I was now cradling her. She stirred a bit, but did not wake. Thank the gods, I thought. A cranky seven year old was definitely not what I needed at that moment.

It was then that I really got to look at her for the first time. She had the soft features that one would expect of a child, but I could tell already that my little one would be a heart breaker one day. Wait...my? Where did that come from?

I swept a strand of dirty blond hair away from her face and behind her ear. I had never seen someone look so thoughtful as they slept. It was as if, even in her dreams, she was trying to solve some terribly hard math problem. My fingers smoothed over her slightly furrowed brow.

It's okay, little angel, I thought, I've got you. I won't let anything hurt you.

A twig snapped behind me and I jumped. I clutched Annabeth tighter to my chest, ready to protect her from …

"Luke?" I choked, my heart still beating in my throat. "For Hades sake, Luke, what the hell do you think you're doing? You scared me!"

"Whatever. It's safe," he said. "Grab the girl and let's get some sleep."

I went to stand, but found myself unable to carry Annabeth any further. I looked to Luke, "Can you please help me with her? She's too heavy."

"What? No! It was your idea to pick up the runt, now you have to deal with it," he said, raising his voice.

I half whispered, half shouted back, "Will you shut up? You're going to wake her up!" I looked down at my - I mean the - sleeping girl to make sure his yelling hadn't disturbed her.

"No! This was your idea and you know what? You never even asked me what I thought! It's just 'Oh look, some dead weight! Let's take her along!' You know what else is dead weight but could actually be useful? Food! We can't even eat her! What good is she to us?"

"Gods, Luke. We couldn't just leave her there! She's just a little girl... And I don't know if you were hearing what I heard, but she's like us! She needs our help…" I looked at him with my sad puppy-dog eyes.

His harsh façade softened a little. I knew I could break him.

"Please, Lukey. Can we keep her? Pleeeeeeaseeee," I pleaded gently. But under the surface I knew that it was more than her needing our help that made me want to protect her. It was something in those grey eyes. Something in the way that her warm body molded into mine as I held her sleeping form made me want to keep her that way forever.

Luke cracked a smile, "Oh, fine. But you're responsible for her! Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, ya big softy. Now help me get her inside so we can get some sleep."

He walked over and took her from me. Immediately, I missed the warmth of her. The emptiness disturbed me only for a moment before I stood, my hand resting on my chest where her head had just been, remembering the weight of it. Luke ducked inside with her and I took a deep breath before following.

We only had two straw mattresses that we had made from grass that grew around the campsite. Luke had laid her on mine. Shit, I thought, I didn't think about that.

Most of the shelters that Luke and I had built up and down the East Coast were built to fit two comfortably. Now that we had a third, most of them would have to be expanded or rebuilt entirely.

For now, though, I reached for one of the blankets Luke and I had gotten from a youth shelter and draped it over Annabeth and myself. I lay on my back, but as my head hit the pillow, Annabeth shifted in her sleep, curling into my warmth.

I stiffened at the contact at first, but relaxed when she nuzzled her way under my arm. Her head rested between my neck and shoulder and her left arm draped over my waist.

I focused on her steady breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

I was running along the river, shin deep in the dregs near the bank. I was running as fast as I could, but the water slowed each stride.

I turned back as I heard a scream. I see Annabeth, on her back, trying to drag herself away from something. I tried to see what it was, but it was obscured by the brush. The only thing I could see was a glint of something metallic in the trees and the terror in those big grey eyes.

She looked toward me, "Thalia!" She screamed my name. She screamed my name and I tried to run towards her, but the more I tried the thicker the water became.

"NOOOOO…"

I woke with a start, covered in sweat. I evened out my breathing before I remembered…

My hands searched for Annabeth next to me.

My hands found her sleeping form in the dark and I said a silent prayer to the gods that she was safe and still deep in Morpheus' embrace.

Zeus' beard that girl can sleep.

I lay back down, wrapping my arm around the waist of my little angel and pulling her to me. I made a mental note to make sure she bathed as soon as possible. And I concentrated on her even breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Sleep.