He'd been walking to Montauk when the hurricane made its way to the beach. In a panic, he maybe stole a car and haphazardly drove there. If Percy died, that was it. Not to mention, the kid was, well, stupid, but he was still his friend. When he made it there, Grover was there, knocking on the door of a cabin.

"Grover!" He shouted out over the rain, his voice almost swept away by the wind. "Where's Percy?"

He turned and made a sort of bleating sound, like a goat, and that's when Gaara noticed that his legs were bent backwards. Not just bent backwards, they were covered in fur and at the end of those long furry legs were… hooves?

"What- what are you doing here?" Grover asked, eyes blown wide.

"Looking for Percy, I figured this place wasn't the safest for him," he gestures to the surging ocean.

That's when the door opened and out came a black haired woman, tired around the eyes, but clearly related to Percy. That must be his mom. She said something to Grover, stared back into the darkness of the cabin, and then came out a moment later with Percy in tow.

She jogged over to a car and threw herself in, opening the doors for the others. Gaara had a feeling she hadn't noticed him in the commotion, but he squeezed himself in the middle seat, still sopping wet. When she looked in the rear view mirror, her eyes widened.

"Who the f- who are you?" She exclaimed, barely refraining from cursing.

"I'm a friend of Percy's," he shrugged, buckling himself in.

Percy's mom looked flabbergasted but shook her head, muttered something to herself, and then put the car into drive. They flew across the freeway, their risk of hydroplaning exponential. Beside him, Grover's teeth chattered and Percy held on to the side of the car for dear life, eyes closed and muttering what sounded like a prayer. That's when Percy's mom swore and stepped on the gas, lightning flashing. Gaara noticed her looking in the rear view mirror and turned around to see what she was looking at. At the next flash, he noticed the outline of a monstrous thing headed straight for them, giant horns coming out of its furry head, beady eyes looking straight forward, fur covering its entire body. Oh, shit. Gaara looks, panicked, at Percy's mom, who just focuses on not crashing, and he lets out a shaky breath. They were so dead.

Gaara isn't sure how it happened, but he found himself hanging upside down by his waist, head throbbing. He can hear Percy talking to his mom, the boy crawling over him to get to the passenger side of the car and getting out. The side door opens a few moments later and he pulls him and Grover out. Gaara waves off his concern and gets off the muddy ground, blearily stumbling after Percy and his mom as the two drag Grover's unconscious self towards a giant tree. A quick glance behind him reveals that the creature is still advancing on them, and a few moments later, it's sniffing the car hood. It gives a confused, strangled sound, as if it smelled something it didn't expect, and then let out a scream of pure anger.

"Shit, shit, shit," Gaara mutters under his breath, trying to keep up with the Jacksons.

He falls slightly behind, slipping on some mud and nearly falling. He manages to catch himself at the last moment, hauling himself up and jogging as best his can after them. That's when he senses a presence behind him and turns at the last moment to see as the creature puts its head down and gouges out a part of his leg. He lets out a cry as he falls to his knees, barreling past him and straight at Percy's mom. It picks her up with ease, lifting her in the air by the neck.

Percy screams, "No!"

But then she's gone in a flash of light and the boy is suddenly on top of the creature, riding it like a rodeo horse and snaps off it's horn. It lets out a scream of pain and tosses Percy off, landing with an "oof". He recovers quickly though, getting up and rolling out of the way as the furry beast comes charging, stabbing it right under its ribs. The thing disintegrates into golden dust, and Percy falls to his knees. Meanwhile, Gaara limps over to Grover and hauls him over his shoulder, grabbing Percy and picking him up off the ground.

"Percy, where did she want us to go?" He asks, shaking him.

He doesn't say anything, just points over to a giant house nearly a mile away. Well, this was going to suck.

Gaara drags Grover's body over to the house, supporting a sobbing Percy. His tears, along with the rain, are soaking his shirt, but he's just focused on getting as far away from the border as possible.

"Percy," he says as the younger boy stops and falls to his knees in grief. "We have to keep going."

He doesn't say anything, just curls into a ball. With a grunt, Gaara grabs him and hauls him up, setting Grover down for a moment to put the boy over his shoulder. Stumbling slightly, he knocks on the door. Opening it a few moments later is Mr. Brunner.

"Dear gods, come in child, come in," he ushers him in, taking Grover and Percy from him.

Gaara collapses onto the nearest sofa, sweating. His vision swims from the effort, chest heaving as he attempts to slow his breathing. He can see Mr. Brunner moving around, checking Grover's pulse and beckoning a blonde girl over. She checks Percy's, who's now unconscious, and says something to Mr. Brunner. He waves his hand and then turns to Gaara.

"Gaara, are you hurt anywhere?" He asks, hands hovering over him.

"I- uh," he takes a deep breath, patting his leg where the Minotaur had gouged out part of it.

"Hm," Mr. Brunner lifts up his leg carefully, then orders the blonde to get something. "Quickly, child."

He pushes his jean cuff up and over the cut, taking out antiseptic from his bag and dabbing it over the wound. The redhead winces but keeps it still as he works, eventually wrapping an ace bandage around the wound. That's when the blonde girl returns with a glass of what seems like apple juice. He takes the glass, looks suspiciously at Mr. Brunner, and then takes a sip. It tastes like the sun, bright and tangy, and for a second he pulls back to stare at it.

"What does it taste like?" Mr. Brunner asks, amusement laced through his voice.

"The sun," he says, taking another sip. "Just like-"

"Chiron! Is it true that-" A familiar loud blonde bursts through the door and stares wide eyed at Gaara.

He stands, pulling himself to his full height and limps over to him. Naruto takes a step back but he rushes forward and wraps him in a giant hug.

"You're here," he chokes out, rage filling him. "Wait, you've been here the whole time? Are you fucking kidding me?"