A/N: here's really long chpater for you guys. I might not be updating soon because of school, so I figured I'd give you guys something to work with. I have introduced a new character into this story that will help the gang. I also mentioned Hazel. Thanks to all those who did and do review! I hope you guys like it, let me know if you want my new character to stick around or...if he sucks! And please Read&Review!

Percy Jackson sat on the ledge of the warehouse hideout with his arms crossed over his knees. He stared out toward the dark ocean of the San Francisco Bay, which was lit up for its night time activities. Boats and freighters drifted in and out of his view, no doubt dropping off and picking up their respective loads to and from the city. A cool breeze wafted through his hair as his gaze turned toward Berkeley Hills.

Toward Camp Jupiter.

Toward Annabeth.

Toward Reyna, whose kiss he was still confused about.

Toward Hazel, who Frank (and everyone else in Percy's ragtag team) was worried about.

The situation with Hazel was…delicate. After Frank and Tyson had pulled Percy out of the water and dragged him into Leo's highly stylized Mustang Shelby (yep, same one from my other story, The Fire Driver), he had driven the gang to this old warehouse. Then Piper told Percy was told how everyone had escaped when he fell off the cliff.

Apparently, Leo had snapped after the PW guards tried to round them up. He had burst into flames and wielding two hammers, single handedly took out the entire five man squadron of guards that had been called as backup from Octavian. Then he had grabbed Piper, and yelling "Follow me!" led Hazel and Frank into New Rome, where they were pursued by more of the People's Watch. Piper told (in very vivid detail) of how Leo had jumped from roofs and shot flaming nail guns at the guards, all while leading them toward his precious Mustang.

Only two streets away from the garage, however, the PW had surrounded them-until Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary came to their aid. Then, just as Leo was ready to pile everyone in the car, Hazel had stopped.

"Guys, I can't go with you," she said as she paused in front of the car door. Frank almost pushed her in, shocked at her sudden change of heart.

"Whad'ya mean you can't go? What in the hell-" Frank started swearing, but Leo had cut him off.

"Hazel. We have to move-now. I'll give us about two minutes until ol' Octi's asshole pooples watch come busting down the door," Leo said as he gunned the engine. Frank gave her an exasperated look.

"Well you heard what he said! Come on! Let's get out of he-"

"Frank," Hazel interrupted gently, "I need to stay. You guys are going to need someone on the inside to tell you what's going on. And Octavian wouldn't dare touch me because Nico is my brother-and he's terrified of Nico."

"But-"

"Please Frank. I need to make sure Octavian doesn't try to kill Reyna while she's still sick, or worse, start rounding up kids as 'spies'. And I will try to convince the campers that Octavian is just a power hungry tyrant."

"Please Frank."

Frank stared at her with intense passion. He already knew he wouldn't be able to talk her out of it, and, being a son of Ares, he knew that using Hazel as a spy and quiet rebel leader was an infallible plan. He hugged her tightly and kissed her on the head. A single tear slid down from his left eye.

"Be safe," he said, gazing down at her. She reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I will."

Then Frank jumped in the Mustang, and Leo sped away.

Percy stood up and uncapped Riptide again. It was shimmered in the dim industrial lights. He examined the slightly faded scar in the middle of the sword, where Jason's imperial gold had struck his celestial bronze.

His bandaged arm dropped, with his hand still holding the sword, and the eerily bright white bandage provided a stark contrast to the rest of his tan body. Percy grimaced as he thought of his current predicament. This wasn't something that he knew he could win; he wasn't simply slaying giants or Titans, or fighting monsters.

No, this was something different entirely.

This time his enemies were his friends, his blood, and his allies. There was no clear sense of right and wrong here; there were no clear monsters that needed to be slain, no evil head bad guy who could simply be defeated.

Octavian had changed everything.

Well, that is if you didn't count Octavian, he thought. But even if I did manage to defeat him…would it really end there? What would stop him from gathering supporters and doing it all over again? Would I…have to kill him? Would I even be able to kill him?

All of these thoughts only deepened Percy's sense of unease about his current 'rebel' status. Percy had been so worried that he'd actually sent Tyson away.

It wasn't that Tyson wasn't incapable, or not smart enough. He knew that if he explained everything, Tyson would understand. It was Percy's fear of what Octavian would do to Tyson if he caught him. Tyson's hero status had dropped after the Giant War, once the camp had been invaded by Cyclops and other monsters. Only after Percy had cursed, screamed, and finally begged, the Senate decided that Tyson was no threat, and, thankfully, no spy. But Octavian had been careful to keep that resentment of Tyson alive, and he knew that any demigod who supported Octavian would try to-

No, Percy thought as he closed his eyes, I can't even see that happening.

So, against some of the team's better judgment, he'd sent Tyson away with his father, Poseidon, who he knew would keep him safe. At the very least, Poseidon would send him back to Camp Half-Blood by way of Rainbow, Tyson's pet hippocampi.

Behind him, the door to the roof of the warehouse opened. Percy reacted quickly, instinctively raising his sword and turning toward person coming out the door. His green eyes met Piper's startling brown ones-and her dagger, which was pointed at his chest.

Percy smiled and pulled back his sword. "I see you've gotten faster on the draw McLean," he said in mock official voice. Piper smiled radiantly back at him, and, with a twirl of her dagger, sheathed it back at her belt. Percy examined Piper before he spoke again. She was wearing her usual white ski jacket with somewhat tightly (yet very, very attractively) fitting light red t-shirt and blue jeans, which all seemed to fit her well-toned body perfectly. Her face and hands were slightly scuffed up from the fight, and her eyes, which had just turned blue, were clouded with worry. Despite all of this, she was still very beautiful. Her skin, a deep tan, seemed to glow in light of the bay and her hair (which she started to grow out after Jason left her) fell over her soft yet fierce face like a cascading waterfall.

"You ok?" Percy asked as he turned away from, blushing. He started to get irritated with his sudden observance of Piper's beauty. He walked back to the edge of the roof, and her heard Piper's footsteps as she followed him.

"I'm fine," she said quietly. "How about you?"

"Me? Oh I'm fine. Banished from camp, best friend whooped my ass, and my girlfriend left me, but I'm fine," Percy said sarcastically. Then he smiled and looked at her worried face.

"But seriously, I'm fine. Just thinking, is all."

Piper's eyes turned to a striking lighter blue, and then her face contorted into a frown.

"Don't lie to me Percy. There's something wrong…tell me," she said as she scrutinized his face. Percy looked away and sat down on the edge of the warehouse. "I'm fine Piper," he said, taking care to look away from her.

"Percy…" she said forcefully, her voice layered with Charmspeak. Percy swore, and then turned to after he succumbed to her voice. He swore silently again when he noticed how beautiful she looked so close to the ocean.

Percy sighed heavily, and gazed back down at the water. His sword lay in his lap, still uncapped. "Fine then Pipes…I'm afraid." He looked up at Piper to see her face in shock. Her eyes almost screamed, but you're not supposed to be afraid! You're Percy Jackson for goodness sakes!

"Not for me, "Percy said hurriedly when he interpreted her face. "I'm scared for you. For all of you. For everyone at Camp Jupiter. This won't be a…normal fight Piper. I know Octavian and I know he plays dirty-really dirty."

Piper was silent for a moment as she stared across San Francisco Bay. She could see Alcatraz, the notorious prison famous for the criminals it held. Her dad had taken her there once, when he hadn't been filming.

"It's going to be hard Percy," she said quietly, "But it won't be impossible. Don't be afraid for us…we can handle ourselves."

"Please don't be afraid Percy," she said as she met his sea green eyes.

"Cause quite frankly, you're all we've got."

Percy stared at her for a long while. She stared back just fiercely, silently challenging him to tell her she was wrong. He looked down at his sword after what seemed like an eternity. "I don't know if I can win this one Piper," he raised his hand when Piper started to interrupt.

"Know why?"

Piper shook her head.

"I can't kill someone who's not blatantly bad. It's always been my…weakness. I'm no executioner, and I'd hate to have to kill Roman demigods to help them-if that even makes sense. And it's not even like they want help this time. They actually believe Octavian is the right thing for them. They hate me now. How will I be able to-" Percy stopped when Piper's soft hand touched his cheek.

"Percy. Stop. We're going to win this one. Trust that. It could take weeks, or months, or years, but we're gonna win this one," She gazed at him with such ferocity, such confidence, and with such beauty, Percy believed her.

Without really being aware of what he was doing, Percy leaned in to give her a kiss-

Verrrmroomm, verroom! A motorcycle roared to the front of the warehouse.

Percy snapped out his stupor and leaned away from Piper. Piper stared at Percy in shock, and Percy quickly shook it off and got up. "Um, that must be Leo's contact, let's go meet him," he said as he quickly capped Riptide and walked toward the door.

"Ok, I'm right behind you," Piper said as she got up and started to follow him.

"And Seaweed Brain?" she asked. Percy turned around to see her blushing crimson under the night light. Percy was sure he was too, judging by the warm feeling he had in his cheeks.

"Yeah?"

"Keep those hormones in check, got it? Or might just have to stab you," she said as she walked past him, smiling, closing the door abruptly behind her.

Percy ruffled his hair and shook his head. Damn you Aphrodite, he thought as he opened the door, for having a smokin' hot daughter and playing with my emotions.

Percy walked down stairs to see Piper, Leo, and Frank all on edge. Frank had his spear aimed at the door, and Piper had unsheathed Kiparis. Leo, who was surprisingly calm in this situation, had pulled out a nail gun from his tool belt and in the other a rather large hammer. Leo gestured to Percy with a grand wave of his hand.

"We'll open it on your command, O fair leader kelp for brains," he said with a mischievous smile. Percy saw Piper roll her eyes. He caught her eye. She blushed and looked away. Frank was on edge as usual, but he couldn't help but crack a smile at Leo's joke.

Percy uncapped Riptide.

"Let's do it."

Leo opened the door quickly, revealing medium height man in a red and black motorcycle helmet. Behind him, a very fast (and probably very expensive) black and red, sleek foreign motorcycle. His dress only seemed to mirror driving colors: he wore a black jacket with what looked like a red dress shirt underneath, over some dark blue jeans. His hands which he had raised in the air when he saw the weapons pointed at him were also adorned with black gloves.

"Jesus Christ Leo," he said from underneath his helmet, and somehow Percy was able to hear his voice very clearly. It was slightly rough, but with some strong sarcastic undertones in it. "When you said you were callin' in a favor, I didn't expect you would kill me."

"Take off your helmet, please," Piper said from across the room. The guy's hands lowered slightly, as if he were hesitating.

"I can move my hands?"

"Yesss," Leo responded sarcastically.

"Ok…I am taking off the helmet," he said as he reached for the helmet with an exaggerated slowness. Percy couldn't help but smile at this guy. Of course Leo's contact had to be a wiseass just like him.

After a minute of watching the guy slowly turn his helmet round and round, Frank snapped. "Just take it off already!"

"OK! Fine," he said pulling off his helmet. Percy heard Piper gasp, and Frank shrank back just a bit. The man-no-teen's face wasn't abhorrently ugly; it was actually quite handsome. He had bright, light brown eyes that radiated with intelligence and a disturbing lack of sanity, but also seemed weighed down with sorrow. He had a head full of hair that was dark and curly that seemed to be styled in an orderly manner, with only on lone curl falling over his forehead. His smile was huge and mischievously sinister, and his nose had a very slight sneer. His skin was a light hazelnut color-he was probably black and white, if he wasn't mixed with anything else. All in all, a handsome, normal teen.

Except for the scars.

There had to been at least a dozen of them on his face; half of them had faded into his skin color, so they were virtually non existent. However, he had one long scar that ran along side his left cheek. It was still pink, and Percy guessed it was new. There was a small diagonal slash on the cleft on his chin, one that ran from his hairline to tip of his eye, and another that started from the neck and ended at his ear. The scars didn't make him look ugly; they just made him more…sinister and dangerous looking.

"Geez Louise," he said as he put his helmet on the ground, "I'm lookin' at a room full of legends right now." He smiled again, and looked at Leo, who seemed unfazed by his appearance.

"Been awhile since I saved your ass Valdez."

Leo chuckled softly, but still didn't put down his hammer or his nail gun.

"You're right it has been awhile, Adam."

Adam smiled again, "Well…this seems like my type of party. We've got freakin' gorgeous army stoppin' Piper McLean over there, uhh the legendary Fire Drivin' giant killin' Leo Valdez. And Frank Zhang! Frank friggin' Zhang!" He looked past Frank and saw Percy.

"Holy crap. It's Percy Jackson. I'm honored, I really am. I have to shake your hand Percy," Adam took a step forward, and Frank shoved the spear into his face. Adam looked puzzled.

"We still don't know if we can trust you yet," Frank said tersely, and Percy couldn't help but agree. There was something seriously off about this guy. Adam smiled sweetly and said, "You'd better take that spear out of my face before something bad happens to you."

Frank didn't move.

Adam sighed, and then he twitched.

What happened next was so fast the Percy wasn't even able to see it properly.

Adam had pulled a silenced gun and aimed square at Frank Zhang's head.

His other arm had a one and a half foot celestial bronze blade protruding from his jacket sleeve, and its tip hovered an inch away from Leo's neck.

"Now," he said quietly as he thumbed the safety from the side of his gun, "I know what you're thinking Frank. Why would he pull a gun on a guy with a spear at close range? By all means, it's more likely you'll run that spear that our daddy gave you right through my neck."

He pressed the gun closer to Frank's head.

"But then again, you don't know what type of gun this is-which is weird considering children of Ares and Mars have the ability to identify every weapon imaginable, regardless of its use or make. But this…this gun is very special to me. It was built by some very high end weapons dealers who also supply Delta, SEAL, and Green Beret units their weapons. It was my design though."

Adam smiled.

"And you know why it's so special to me? Because it's specifically built to wipe out demigods."

Percy felt the room drop a few degrees.

"It can fire both celestial bronze and lead bullets. Lead can hurt a demigod," he nudged his arm slightly toward the scar on his forehead, "But it won't kill us. That's the god part of demigod. If we have nectar and ambrosia on hand we can survive headshots…trust me I would know."

"Unfortunately for you, this is loaded with celestial bronze bullets."

Frank didn't even flinch. He didn't move his spear either, and Percy never thought he'd seen the baby-faced son of Mars so determined. "Yeah," he said, "But do have the guts to pull the trigger?"

Adam's face faltered for the tiniest of seconds, but Percy saw it. His psychotic smile had fallen into a deep frown that Percy had seen on deeply unhappy people. He hastily donned the smile again.

"You play poker Frank?"

"No. Why?"

"Well do you know the rules: fold, you're out of the game, raise your bet to scare your opponents out, and then check your cards to call your opponent's bluff? Ever heard of that?"

"Yeah."

"So do you call my bluff Frank…or will you fold?"

Frank hesitated, and then said, "I call your bluff."

Adam's hand jerked rapidly, and Piper, Leo, and Percy all screamed "NO!" at the same time. Percy looked away, waiting for the inevitable.

But no gunshot came. Instead all he heard was a shallow click and when he turned around, he saw Adam holding out his gun, handle first, to Frank. With a flip of his arm, Adam retracted his arm blade, and he became a harmless sixteen year old again.

"I'm glad you called my bluff Frank," he said quietly. Then he began to slowly pace around the warehouse, past Leo, Piper, and a totally dumbfounded Frank, who was still holding the gun. He rolled up his jacket sleeves, revealing heavily tattoos forearms. Then he grabbed a chair and sat down, putting his feet on the old poker table.

"I don't kill demigods who have effectively saved the lives and freedoms of over seven billion people time and time again. I definitely don't kill those who are pure of heart either. You're all so innocent…" he said as he gazed at each of them in turn, his eyes finally resting on Percy.

Leo snapped out the shock and asked Adam, "What about the information I asked you about?" Piper and Frank soon followed in their awakenings, and Percy asked the most pressing question.

"Who exactly are you?"

Adam held up and hand and leaned backward. He ran the other through his curly hair, effectively messing it up. "First things first," he said as he yawned loudly, "I'll answer my compadre's question. But you're really not going to like answer…especially you Percy."

Percy nodded and gestured for him to go on.

"Ok. Word on the hypothetical street," his lips twisted slightly at his pun, "is that there are four cap or kill orders out on some A-list demigods." He waved vaguely at the four of them, and pulled out a pack of cards from his jacket pocket. Then he stood up and started to pace again, shuffling the cards as he did so.

"I can guarantee that Octavian has put up a handsome award for you all…and I can only make assumptions as to what bounty hunter demigods would take such a high risk job-and which of you has a mandatory cap or a mandatory kill."

He craned his neck and continued, "Adult demigods from Hermes and Apollo rarely see this side of the law; something drastic has to happen to stop them from becoming normal people. Other than a few well executed and well paid heists, you generally don't hear about them. Children of Mars are natural warriors, and they tend to enlist if they don't want to settle down in New Rome. It's usually good career choice; they still get the same discipline as in new Rome, they still get to whoop ass, and they get paid for it. They usually rise in rank quickly and become some badass black ops outfit that the CIA may call on to take of their shady business. Well most of them do…the others end up…well I'll explain that in a second"

Adam paused mid shuffle, pulling out four cards.

"Then there are the people who will kill you for sport, and the money is almost like a bonus to them. Men who bear the mark of Ares, the god of war. His sons, who can become so violent with age that all they want to do is kill, and monsters just aren't good enough. Sometimes Mars's children join them, if they were kicked out their respective militaries."

"My brothers…" he uttered quietly, looking at the cards he had drawn.

"They will be the ones to take the bounty-their crazy asses will think it's a worthy challenge to take out some the highest caliber demigods in the current mythological world. And I have a pretty clear idea of who is going to be capped and who is going to be killed."

He stepped toward Frank first, and pulled out a jack, handing it him with another crooked smile. "Let's call you a Jack-of-all-trades, Frank. Octavian doesn't want to look like a bad guy just yet, so he'll pay a little extra to who ever can catch you, so he can torture you, break you and force you into compliance. You're also exceptionally skilled in tactics, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind having a general like you on his side. Don't get caught."

Frank inclined his head and took the card, with some newfound respect for Adam. Adam walked over to Leo with a smile.

"Same with you Leo. I don't think he knows you're one of the best drivers in the world, or you're an ass-kicking machine if someone pisses you off. But he doesn't know that you are one the best demigod mechanics this side of the world. That's a useful trait," he handed Leo a Jack.

"Don't get caught."

Then Adam strode over Piper, who was looking at him as if she were going to cut his head off. Adam raised his hands in surrender. Then he tentatively held out a card. Piper snatched it and flipped it over. Her hostile look soon morphed into one of slight confusion.

"Why a queen?" she asked, holding up the card. Adam smiled again, "Why a queen? Because you're one of Percy's greatest weapons-and one Octavian's most powerful potential weapons. Your gift of Charmspeak is far too valuable to waste, so if stuff gets hot when you're with these three, don't expect those bullets to come flying at you."

"And it's not just your Charmspeak: you have a beauty that will instantly attract people to you, and an even more enigmatic personality that makes people like you. This would make you very useful in the Senate if Octavian needed someone to pass laws that they wouldn't like to hear from him. And he's got a huge crush on you to add to all of that."

"Don't get caught, Piper."

Piper nodded, blushing.

Then Adam walked over to Percy, and his smile grew even bigger. "And now for the main course-Percy Jackson! Ladies and gentlemen I give you the underdog outcast from New York, who gave ol' Kronos one of the most legendary ass whippings you've ever seen, and who personally delivered a good old American one-two-punch to Gaea, putting her to sleep and knocking her down for the count!"

He handed Percy his last card. It was an Ace of spades.

Percy held it up, and Adam continued, "Percy Jackson, the ace of spades. Camp Jupiter's last hope from being taken over by Octavian. Reyna and Hazel's last savior, and Octavian's greatest enemy. You are our ace in the hole, Percy. You're our last hope. There will be no capture order for you."

His eyes bore into Percy's.

"Don't die Percy."

Percy nodded solemnly. He had expected as much. But now he needed to know who exactly Adam was-and if he could trust him or not.

"You haven't answered my question, Adam," Percy said as he put the card in his back pocket. "We could use all the help we could get, but we still don't know if we can trust you or not."

Adam sighed, and stepped into the center of the room. He looked at all of the demigods and, putting his hands in his jeans, began to speak. For the first time, Percy could see Adam's arms clearly. They actually weren't covered with tattoos, but with what looked like black slashes and scorched symbols of ancient Greek.

"I guess I'll just tell you all. I mean it's not like I have much of a choice anyway, considering that in a fight with all of you I would lose, and Piper would charmspeak the truth out me anyway."

Percy read one of Adam's arms. It was the Greek equivalent to the word "retribution".

"History doesn't look kindly on guys like me. We've been called cowards and scumbags; we've been blamed for numerous deaths of very important people. And for the most part they're right to blame and slander us."

"Assassins" he spat as he stared at the floor. Piper actually gasped in shock. Then he held out his arms for them to see. On the other, Percy could Latin writings and a few Roman numerals burned into his skin. Frank translated it before Percy could figure it out.

"To the bitter end…? What does that mean?" Frank asked nervously.

Adam smiled sadly, and started to involuntarily rub his arms. "It means what it is. Retribution to the bitter end," he laughed mirthlessly.

"I'm not what you call a conventional assassin. I'm not one of those guys from the movies who rides around on motorcycles and acts like a badass. I didn't come into this…for fun."

Percy started to see Adam's eyes glaze over with tears as he remembered some distant memory. He closed them and a few drops came out. Then he exhaled deeply, and pulling down his sleeves and looking up at all of them, he began again.

"My name is Adam McClark. I'm a Greek demigod, and a son of Ares," he paused for a moment. The room had grown eerily silent as everyone, Percy included, waited for Adam to speak.

"When I was fifteen, I killed someone in cold blood," he said quietly.

The SUV burned behind him. His sword lay a few feet away, but he still had his gun. He picked himself up and walked toward the struggling figure that lay on the ground a few yards away from him.

"That person took someone very special away from me," he said as more tears welled up in his eyes.

Adam coughed up blood and slid the safety off his gun with a short clack! and he limped closer to the struggling figure. The man, who had bright red hair and crazy brown eyes looked at him in shock as Adam leveled his quivering gun at him.

"I should've let it go…but I couldn't…"

"Kid, what are you doing?" Adam didn't respond. He only gazed into the man's eyes with pure anger.

"C'mon kid, you're not gonna pull the trigger! You're a hero! Demigods don't kill their own! They don't even kill people!" Adam's hand stopped shaking.

"This one does."

Then he pulled the trigger and watched as the bullet soared into the man's head. The blood sprayed out all over his chest, and Adam fell to his knees.

Then he put the gun to his head and closed his eyes.

"Don't ask me if I feel any remorse, cause' I don't and I never will," he said quietly.

"Put the gun down! Drop you weapon!" Adam opened his eyes and dropped the gun. A mass of blue uniforms swarmed him a few seconds later.

"So after the gods watched one of their children kill someone, they decided that I needed to be forgotten-permanently. Next thing I know I'm shot as I'm being transported from court. The Mist made all of the humans and demigods alike forget me."

He sniffed, and started pacing again.

"Fast forward about a month. I'm stuck in the fields of Asphodel, drifting aimlessly, but never forgetting what I did and who I was. Hades refused to throw me into Tartarus-he said all of my good deeds outweighed my murder. And he also took into account that the person I murdered was an incredibly evil demigod who'd sent far too many people to the Underworld before their time."

"Sooo, ol' Ares decides that I wasn't punished well enough, and he pulls me out of the Underworld. He forces me to become his "silent warrior" or, assassin. He says if I serve him and his alter ego Mars well, I'll be able to see her again-and die in peace. Until then, I would become an immortal, which means every time I 'die', I just get back up again. I don't go to the Underworld like the rest of you. My sentence is 27 years of servitude," Adam said as she showed them the Roman numerals.

"Four years down," he said, "Twenty-two more to go."

They all stared at Adam in shock. His story was almost too unreal-even for a demigod-to believe. Percy hesitantly asked, "So why do you want to help me? I mean you're supposed to be Ares's assassin, and he hates me for beating him in a swordfight. How do we know you didn't come to set me up or something?"

"Or if you're working for Octavian?" Piper added.

"Or if this is all made up?" Frank asked, gripping his spear again.

"Or if you're a hobo who wandered in here?" Leo said. They all looked at him. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Just trying to contribute guys."

Adam paused as if he were thinking. Then he smiled his crazy crooked smile, and his eyes lit up again, "All very good questions. First I'll answer Percy's."

He raised his arms and walked over to Percy. "You see these grisly burn marks here?"

Percy nodded.

"Well they are from a whip made of celestial bronze dipped in Hydra venom. Since I'm an immortal, threat of death just doesn't cut it to scare me into submission, so Ares had to get creative. You see, I don't always follow orders." He smiled and pointed at one mark at the crook of his arm.

"One of my first missions was to kill Percy Jackson. It was from Ares, commissioned by Zeus. I was given a SGRT-1 sniper rifle and ten bronze bullets. I stalked you for a week, and I saw that you were just a really good kid. So I said, 'why the hell would they wanna kill this guy? He's unlucky but what's up? What'd he do to them?"

Adam scratched his hair and then rolled his neck.

"So I blew up the rifle and flipped Ares the bird when he asked why I didn't rub you out," he said looking at Percy directly in the eyes. "That's when the whippings started. I will never be loyal to Ares alone. Mars, maybe. He's a decent guy. Anytime I take a mission from Mars, it always to go help some rebels in a third world country take it back, or stop a crazed demigod from launching a few nukes to start something, or being a fill-in for security for some type of aid worker or diplomat in some warzone."

"But with Ares, it's nothing like that. I do kill quite a few scumbags for him, but it's mainly because he let them get to powerful. He basically throws some corrupt dictator or businessman or terrorist's file that's usually his son or some other god's spawn, and says 'fix it'. Like I said, I'll always hate that asshole for making me do all of this. I actually laughed when he told me you beat him. So please…don't put in the same boat as him."

Then he turned to Piper, pulling his jacket sleeves back down. "Piper, I spent about four years of my life killing guys like Octavian, and loving it. I'm a natural anarchist, I have a blatant disrespect for authority, and I've always been a rebel without a cause…why the hell would I work for that braying jackass now?"

"K. Now Frank. Dude, these burns and stuff are real, ok. The gun you have in your hand was designed and financed by me. I have quite a few awfully vivid and saddening war stories I can tell you, but I won't because I don't like to relive them, understand?"

Frank nodded and then he tucked his spear back on his back. "Here take this back," he said handing the gun back Adam. Adam pushed it away.

"Keep it. You're going to need it," he said as he looked around all of them. "My current mission from Mars, the Roman god of War, is to help Percy Jackson and his friends retake Camp Jupiter from Octavian at any and all costs. Am I in or not?"

Percy didn't respond immediately.

He could be a very powerful ally, he thought as he looked at Adam, but he could also be a double agent…but he really doesn't seem like he is. Percy looked at Piper, who ha seemed to have read his mind. She nodded at him. Then Percy looked over to Frank, who shrugged his shoulders.

"What's the harm in it?"

Leo nodded, "And last time I met him, he did save my life so…"

"Alright you're in Adam. But I can't promise you any victories in this fight against Octavian. We're currently outnumbered and under armed-and underfed," Percy said, crossing his arms over his growling stomach. Adam only smiled again.

"I've always loved being on the losing side. Fortunately for you, I am actually very well off, since one of the conditions of my contract is for Ares to pay me after every successful job. It's not that much, but I've invested," he pulled out an Apple IPhone, "In a few profitable companies. I can get you weapons, food, hideouts, and money."

Piper nodded, beaming, "We'd be very grateful, Adam."

"There's a lot more that I have to teach you all…and tell you about. But it's getting late, and I'm sure you guys are tired. Grab some Zs, and I'll take first watch."

He reached into his coat and whipped out a folded submachine gun. It clacked into attention, and Adam held at his side idly as he looked at all of them.

"Well! Get on then! I'll be on the roof," he said as he climbed the stairs, "And Leo could you bring my bike in?"

"Sure, whatever dude," Leo said as he opened the door and walked out side. When Adam walked past Percy, he stopped. "Get some sleep Percy. Rest is a weapon." Percy nodded and watched Adam climb the stairs. He reached into his pocket again and felt the card Adam gave him.

Ace of Spades…last hero…

P.S.: What do guys think about Percy and Piper growing into something more? Let me know and please review!