Kelli flipped her hair, ignoring the group, her sights latching onto the one who'd made her life hell.

"Andromeda Jackson," she laughed. "Your mortal friends won't protect you."

"Hey." Tony Stark coughed. "This isn't a party for cheerleaders who break my stuff, sweetheart."

"I'll do more than break your stuff if you don't –"

"Hey, Kelli." Kelli felt her body changed as she faced her nemesis. "Been a while."

"Aw, did you miss me?" Kelli laughed.

"No," the teen said flatly. "Last time I saw you, your essence dissolved."

"The Doors of Death are no longer chained!" Kelli laughed wildly. "Thanatos is free – Tartarus is- Not fair," she choked, as a whip was lodged around her throat. Her hold over the Mist snapped, showing not just clear-sighted mortals but all the mortals what she was.

"And here's a tip for you, empousai. Perfume. Mist!"

Kelli dissolved.

~:~

Meda ran out of the party.

Shit shit SHIT!

There was a café not a few blocks away. She took a deep breath when she reached it, pulling the shroud of the Mist around her.

It was like pulling a tooth – she could do it, but it took a while.

When she grasped it, she snapped her fingers together.

The Mist enveloped New York, changing perception. Clear-sighted mortals would know the difference, certainly, but Meda didn't have time to track down every single clear-sighted mortal.

She entered the café, her Mist-perfume long since worn off, and ordered a cup of hot chocolate.

She sat there, thinking deep thoughts for a while.

Heavy thinking, sis. Want to share?

I love you, bro, but I'm good. She eyed her wrists, and was just about to tell her brother when her concentration was broken.

"Is this seat taken?"

She glanced up and her breath froze. Nothing in her senses told her that this man was inhuman, and yet, she knew by instinct that he wasn't.

"Nope," she said, not getting any danger vibes from him. "If you want to sit, go ahead."

She took out her cell phone. Recent invention through Leo and an old friend, she had also gotten one of these after the war.

Everyone deserved to splurge once in a while! She'd been through Tartarus.

"I'm Meda," she said, looking up to meet his face. He smiled, a nice smile.

"Luke," he said.

~:~

Percy called his sister.

"So, where are you?" Sure, he could ask her through his and her mind-link, but the Avengers standing in his room didn't need to know that.

"Um… At a café. Why?" His sister sounded like she was having a good time.

"Because there are like three Avengers standing in our living room. One of whom is Thor," he said with a look of intense dislike for the Norse god.

The door slammed open, and Annabeth looked like she'd been through Tartarus again, her hair windswept and her eyes narrowed.

"Right, give me a few minutes."

She hung up the phone.

Percy! I just got this guy's number, why'd you have to call –

First of all, I'm psyched you got a date, second of all, Uncle Tony, Thor, and a redhead is here.

"She was on a date," Percy said after a moment. "Why are you in my territory? You know New York is Greek territory."

Thor cleared his throat.

"My brother's death –" he began, but Annabeth silenced him.

"If what my mother just told me is true," she said, sounding pissed, "then the Chains of the Imprisoned wouldn't have allowed Meda to live. There are rules, Thor, rules that made those chains Unbreakable. Meda would have died if Loki had."

Before Annabeth could speak, Meda stomped out from the bathroom, her expression as dark as ever.

"What the fuck," she asked, her voice just as dark as her expression, "made me skip out on a potential date?"

"Loki's alive," Percy informed her.

"I doubt that," she said.

"The Chains –" Annabeth began, only to stop when Meda took out a knife and, with zero expression, stabbed just below her wrist on her arm.

Blood flowed freely.

"Look, I'm just as skeptical as you on whether or not Loki is alive. There is a huge difference between you and me, though." Meda leaned forward, a smirk on her face. "I don't care."

Thor's face turned stony. "And here I thought you were as honourable as a Valkryie."

Meda rolled her eyes. "Look, why are you even here? It's not like you like me all that much, nor I you."

Thor shifted. "You destroyed that monster."

Meda's eyes widened as she looked at the redhead.

She snapped, and Percy felt the echo. "What monster?"

Clouds of confusion hazed over Thor's and the redhead's faces.

"You didn't see a monster. You saw a fight that Ms. Potts' bodyguard broke up." She snapped again.

Percy was unable to keep his jaw from dropping.

~:~

"Who's the guy?" That was, predictably, their mother's first words when Meda kept glancing at her cell phone, trying not to move her bandaged wrist.

Meda choked on her food. "Um… Some guy I met at a café."

Percy smirked. "What's his name?"

Meda, instead of blushing, looked at Annabeth.

"If he wasn't a genuinely nice guy I wouldn't have given him my number," she said after clearing her throat. "His name is Luke."

There was a pause.

"You always fall for the Lukes, huh?" Annabeth smiled ruefully.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you should trust him?"

All eyes turned to Percy, who just raised his hands in defense of his words.

"I don't think it matters," Meda said after a moment. "He's not going to be in town long."

Her phone vibrated.

Despite the fact that everyone was already well-aware it was a Celestial-bronze plated phone, everyone was on high alert.

"Relax, guys. It's just –" She frowned. "Apparently the team of Avengers is heading out to a lake. We're invited?"

She sounded disappointed, and her thumbs flew over the keypad.

"I'd like to go," Annabeth said, surprising everyone. "Maybe we should go."

Meda's phone vibrated, and Meda smiled.

"Okay. You two are set to go."

Percy blinked. "What about you?"

"Well," Meda said, "Ms. Potts isn't going and I'm still her bodyguard."

"What if –" Percy shut up at Meda's look to him. It was a sad, but determined look.

"We may be soul-twins, bro, but we're not the same person. Same soul, different person, remember?" Meda put her hand on her brother's. "Look, you two need some time without worrying about anything but how to be a bit discreet on our godly side of the family. Maybe you can tell Thor off."

Annabeth still looked worried.

"You're still having insomnia," Percy said aloud.

Meda shrugged. "I didn't want to tell you this, but remember when I was in the hospital and Chiron visited me?"

Percy nodded.

"Well… He got me the name of someone who could help with my nightmares and stuff, so I think I'm going to go to her." Meda played with her food for a moment.

Sally was just staring at Meda with astonishment.

"I'm shocked," Sally said, no sarcasm in her voice. "You usually deny that you need help."

"Yeah, well," Meda said, stabbing her plate, "I'm having constant nightmares, I can't sleep, and if a fucking prophecy appears out of nowhere then I'm going to stab someone." She paused. "And I'm scared that if I do that, it might not be a monster."

She stood and snatched up her phone, ignoring the bomb she'd just dropped in the room.