*Quietly posts last chapter of story after forever and ever* So, I finally finished this, after procrastinating until I died! Sorry it took so long. It's short, too. Short-ish. do you guys think snarky is a word? I think it is, but my spell check disagrees. I'm using it anyway. It means 'with snark', and so far auto correct hasn't yelled at me for 'snark' yet, so hopefully that's a word you can look up. I hope the correct form of the word isn't like 'snarkishly', and I just look stupid.

Ugh, last chapter. This was so fun, though. Too bad... ENJOY!

Jess arrived back at her apartment and saw Percy and Annabeth watching the rest of Clash of the Titans, snuggled up together on the couch. They were also providing a snarky running commentary through the entire movie, about one fact or another that the writers had botched. It was really cute. Jess wanted to have movie time with Sam when he came back, maybe even to celebrate him getting that job.

Her stomach did a weird lurch-jump thing at the thought of Sam. He was coming back tonight, and Brady was coming over at four. Where would Percy and Annabeth go? She couldn't very well just hide them in her closet until Brady got his notes and left. That would be ridiculous! Besides, they were demigods, and she knew better than to expect them not to fidget.

"Hey," she greeted them mildly, setting her stuff down on the coffee table. "So, I guess you guys are leaving tonight?"

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed, her gray gaze shooting to focus on Jess. "And I think what your Mom was freaking out about was just taken care of. Television repairman that turned into something I've never seen before. I'm going to do some research when we get back to camp. I think it was in my reading somewhere, but…"

Jess nodded, understanding the point the Daughter of Athena was conveying. "So, does that mean that you guys are leaving before four?"

Percy shot her a sea green look that almost seemed hurt. "Do you want us to go before four?"

Jess' eyes widened, guilt panting up inside her. "Oh, no! I've had an awesome weekend with you guys. It's just, one of my study partners is coming over for his notes, and I can't very well shove you in a closet. And I don't have anywhere else to put you."

Annabeth shrugged. "I mean, we could take a short walk around town. But I think since the problem is gone, we can just go. And I've got a couple things to do back at camp. I'm afraid for home Malcolm is faring without me, even if it is just for the weekend. I mean, the plans for all the cabins, and the Hecate kids with their weird magic stones…"

"Yeah," Percy seemed to agree. "Plus, Tyson is arriving on Tuesday, so maybe I should clean the cabin a little." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

Annabeth laughed and lightly tapped him on the arm. "You think, Seaweed Brain?" He grinned at her, and they both must have just gotten that couple feeling, like "time for a kiss" because they leaned in together and pecked each other on the lips. Jess nearly giggled at the cuteness.

"Well, it's…" she glanced at the little clock high on the wall, pursing her lips. "Two fifteen, so you guys can probably hang out for another eighty minutes or so."

Percy and Annabeth smiled at each other, and at her. Jess sat down on the couch with them and they watched the last tidbit of Clash of the Titans, all jeering at the movie. With every laughing comment, Jess' heart seemed to lift and sink in equal parts. She would really need to make connections with camp again, maybe in a few years, she and Sam could sign up to take a demigod that didn't have a different home into theirs. After she told Sam, of course.

When the movie finished, they turned off the television and Jess went digging in the back of her closet for a board game she knew was back there. The only thing she could find was a really old, desiccated version of Candy Land, but they had fun anyway. It was funnier too, especially since the spaces were all worn off, so you couldn't really tell what was what, and Jess was pretty sure they were all cheating a little bit.

After a brief stint of Percy celebrating his victory by serenading Annabeth and Jess, and the two blonde women laughing at Percy making it intentionally awful, the eighty minutes were up. Jess was sad to see them go, and told them as much. She also got a giant ziplock bag and dumped all the leftover candy in it for them to enjoy on the way back to Long Island. Then she sent them on their way.

After they'd left, Jess realized she'd left herself with only ten minutes to make it seem like she hadn't hosted two teenagers the entire weekend. It probably wouldn't be enough time, but she was sure going to try.

Jess shoved Candy Land haphazardly back together, trying not to break the already super broken box, and nearly flung it into her closet, shutting he closet door, so it wouldn't look like anything was amiss. She gathered up the candy trash and shoved it into the bottom of the trash bag, along with the popcorn bags, underneath a layer of normal garbage. She rushed over and threw all the movies back into the rental bag, then stashing the bag under their bed. And finally, she grabbed the mini-vac Sam had gotten as a Christmas present last yeah and used it to get any excess popcorn crumbs off the floor.

She was just shutting down the mini-vac after a very hurried cleaning job that barely made it better when there was a knock. This time, on the door, not the window. Normal people entered and exited through the door, not the fire escape. Therefore, after a crazy, but admittedly very enjoyable, weekend, her life was going to settle back into the normal pattern. At least until after college, when she could-and would-get back into contact with camp.

She scrambled to open the door, just as the second knock was coming. The door swung open, and there stood a smiling Brady. He greened cheekily at her when she ushered her in, and they exchanged pleasant greetings. Jess shut the door behind him and followed him to the bedroom that was hers and Sam's.

Brady stood in the center of the room, overlooking the bed, but making no move to look for his notes in Sam's things. Jess frowned, but figured he was probably thinking where Sam would put them, because he didn't want to snoop more than necessary.

"Hey," Brady's voice cut through the awkward silence that had befallen the room, and the air between them. He didn't turn to face her though, and a chill shot up Jess' spine, but it was nothing. "Jess?"

"Yeah," she responded, subconsciously placing herself a little closer to the door for the best exit strategy. Once a demigod, always a demigod.

"You seem like the kind of girl to," Brady shifted, and Jess saw that he was playing with something in his hands. "The kind of girlfriend to make dinner for your boyfriend if he came home late and you were already asleep?"

Jess relaxed. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks for the idea."

"No problem," Brady replied, but he still wasn't moving to look for his notes. "Anything for a friend."

"Yeah," Jess agreed, apprehension bubbling up in her stomach again. This is what she got because of the family weekend and insane mother. Paranoia against her own fiends. She forced herself to relax and move away from the door.

"…Especially," Brady continued on. "When it'll only crush poor little Sammy's heart more when he discovers your twisted form plastered to the ceiling."

Jess' eyes widened in horror, and she took a few steps back, ready to sprint for the emergency celestial bronze knife she kept in the kitchen. Brady tilted his head towards her slightly, and the door slammed shut just as she was about to pass through the opening. Jess felt a scream bubbling up in her throat, but knew that if she was going to survive against whatever this was, she was going to have to focus.

Brady turned the rest of the way, and she saw that what he had been toying with was actually a long kitchen knife, probably one hundred percent mortal metal. Her gaze flit up to Brady's face, to see if there were any irregularities that gave away what he was, and a pang of horror struck through her heart. Because in the place of Brady's normal, human eyes, pools of inky black swirled. Completely black. No white, no iris, no pupil. Just pure black eyes.

"Wh-wha?" Jess stammered, taking another step back. She didn't want to back herself into a corner, but she didn't want to be in slashing distance to whatever was possessing Brady.

Brady, or rather, Brady's body, laughed at her confusion and terror. He twirled the knife in his hands, smirking, and looked up at her, this time with Brady's normal eyes.

"Demon," Brady said, tilting his head and smirking slightly. "Have been for a while now. I was watching your little boyfriend like a hawk, because he's one of Azazel's favorites. But now that Dean's back, well, Sam can get back in the game."

"Game?" Jess asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling. Her mind was running a billion different tasks, trying to come up with a solution, or a way out.

"Yeah," Brady agreed, smiling slightly. "The game. The game of hunting, and demons. Sam's special, you see. Too special to just be a boring, old lawyer." Brady chuckled, and a chill ran up Jess's spine at the sound. "And, you see, Azazel's been waiting for an opportunity to throw him back into the fire. And here it is. All I need to do," he stopped playing with the knife, and pointed the tip towards her heart. "Is kill you."

Jess felt her eyes widen, and suddenly Brady jolted forward, slashing with the knife. Jess' eyes widened and she roller to the side, just under the wide slash. She popped to her feet and got on the other side of Brady, so now he was the one with his back to the wall.

"Of course," Brady continued, twirling around and positioning the knife for a better position to kill her with. "You need to be killed in such a way that Sam will know that it was Azazel, or at least a demon. The same way we killed his mother," Brady laughed again,a terrible sound. "Burning on the ceiling of his childhood nursery!"

Brady lunged forward again, and this time Jess didn't doge, but twisted to the side and grabbed his wrist, lifting her foot and kicking him in the gut with all she had. He stumbled back from the force, and the knife was wrenched from his grip. Jess somehow didn't drop the knife, and twirled it in her hand so that she could now use it as a weapon.

"Yeah?" she asked, pointing the knife towards Brady. "Maybe if you'd paid a little less attention to Sam's secrets, and a little more attention to mine, you would know that I'm a little harder to kill than that." And then she twirled and tossed the knife out of her bedroom window.

Brady stared in surprise as the knife flew through the open window and gravity took effect, sending eh knife out of reach for both of them. "Why-" he began, but then Jess was grabbing his wrist and twisting him so she she could throw him into the wall. His body made an almost satisfying thud as it smacked intuit he wall, and Jess twisted his arm around so it was in a painful position, trapped between his shoulder blades.

Brady started laughing again, and Jess could feel the vibrations from where she stood, holding him against the wall of her and Sam's bedroom. This time the laugh was filled with a feeling that Jess hated from off this monster, like Brady had just been nicely surprised, and was going to enjoy what he had to do next. Jess got a foul taste in her mouth.

"Why'd you throw the knife out the window?" Brady asked, twisting his head to one side so he could stare at her with solid black eyes that looked so out of place on her friend's face.

"Mortal steel doesn't work on monsters like you," Jess hissed, twisting his wrist some more. He didn't even flinch, and she was running out of ideas. Brady suddenly tensed, and then Jess was flying through the air and slamming into the wall opposite of the one she'd just been holding Brady against. She tried to scramble to her feet, but a sudden invisible force pushed her spread eagle against the wall, unable to move her limbs.

Brady was laughing the same happy-surprised laugh. "Mortal steel," he repeated back to her. "Jess! You mentioned rough times with your family, but I would have never imagined that your were a demigod." Brady grinned, but it was all teeth. "Tell me, whose your parent? Whose symbol is going to be on your funeral shroud when they salvage your ashes?"

Jess didn't answer, didn't give him the satisfaction. Brady frowned at her when she didn't speak. 'Not telling?" he asked, pouting. He held his hand out and her body started sliding up the wall, slowly. The knife came back through the window and hit the palm of his hand so he cloud clutch it well, and he grinned evilly at her.

"Guess we'll just have to find out."

And we all know what happens next. *evil laughter* I know. I'm a horrible person. If you want to imagine something different, use your imagination to imagine how Jess escapes, runs to Long Island, and comes up with a whole new identity, leaving Brady to make a fake Jess and burn her on the ceiling so Sam still leaves and stuff. And then sometime later he runs into Jess, whose finally getting used to her new identity, and she finds all about hunting, and Ruby, and stuff. Oh god, I'm getting ideas. Okay, bye! THERE IS NO NEXT TIME!