First fanfic of 2012! Woohoo! Funny enough it's a Jason/Reyna like the first fanfic of 2011. Hmm... Anyways, happy New Year, have a good one, and enjoy this fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HoO, HP, HG or any other cool accronyms like such.

Expect the Unexpected

If you want to survive, there are key tips and tricks to always remember. Depending on who you are, how you roll, and how much Styx you've been in during your time in the mortal world, some of them have become your motto and lifeline. And Reyna was very good at classifying the different mottos.

Stab now, apologise if you're wrong later

That's fine, but those people usually haven't dealt with many gods or authorities when they're out there, and they're mostly all paranoid. Oh, and can anybody say 'child of Mars'?

Flight before Fight

General impression of that motto was cowardice, but Reyna knew better. Some people just couldn't estimate the strength of different monsters, and they rather not find out unless they had to. Maybe they were hurt or disabled in a way, and they couldn't fight straight away. Those people were either very inexperienced, or they'd spent a lot of time in urban areas, where you can't afford to make a huge commotion because there are people and buildings and occasionally national landmarks that you couldn't put in danger.

The Hero

These were the dudes with the egos who wouldn't let them turn their back to a monster if they had it within a fifteen feet radius. There were various frames of mind. "Might as well", "BLOOD!", "what if it killed a half-blood who had no idea?"… But it always ends with the hero pouncing.

Surprise is the only element you need to know

Jump the monster before it jumps you. Simple, right? These guys usually got to camp with a lot of scars and at least one black eye.

Drama Queens

They traveled through areas that monsters liked less, they masked their scents someway, somehow with something completely human, cried and pretended to be mortals, denied being a half-blood, pretended to see things through the mist… Reyna knew several masters. And they weren't any less brave for scheming their way out of it, but Reyna always clucked her tongue because some monsters weren't stupid enough to fall for it, or on the contrary, too stupid to understand a reasoning. Or, you'd get to camp, and you'd have to deal with legionnaires who didn't budge if you broke down and tears and said you weren't a half-blood.

Strategy is better than Strength

These people thought their way through everything. Sometimes they had ways of causing a distraction a hundred feet away. Sometimes they hid and concealed themselves like chameleons. Sometimes they could intimidate a monster into backing down. They could sneak in and out of everything, and they were amazing commanders, with the mind of geniuses and military leaders. The only con was that sometimes they didn't have the experience with the sword.

Whichever way the wind blows

Some people changed their tactics like the wind. Not necessarily in the smartest way, but they were hard to track. Sometimes, to some monsters, it made them hard to recognise. These were the ones who hid behind a bush, looked at the monster, looked at themselves, and decided if they were in a shape to fight the monster. Then they'd do whatever was best. Reyna respected them greatly, because part of military was its mind. She noticed that most of the best fighters fit in this category. They survived long enough to live, but they could work their way in and out of anything.

So what type was she?

Well; Reyna had her own motto, and that came from having her own freak bring-in to the demigod world.

Expect the Unexpected.

That Guinea pig? He will turn into a pirate and he will take you captive The sword there? If you steal it, you'll be good to go; turns out, you can swing it pretty damn well. Your sister? She will pick the Amazons over the place from your dream you know you have to get to. The wolf? Oh, it can so talk. Plus it gives amazing and valuable fighting advice. Your mom? A Roman goddess.

See? Expect the Unexpected, and you'll never be surprised or startled in a fight. Then you can just swing the sword, get it over with, and move on. It deleted one emotion Lupa could kill her for, and got Reyna one step closer to the stone leader figure. It'd gotten her through a pirate ship, two states, through the wolf house, and to Camp Jupiter. Her motto worked fine for her.

He nearly managed to knock her sword out of her hand, but while he reached out as an instinct to catch it, she kicked him in the leg, right above the back of his knees, and he fell. Reyna jumped and with all her weight and strength, plus a sword, and a dagger, she managed to pin him.

"Does this count as a double since you're disarmed and pinned?" She asked him, just because he was Jason and she felt like being cheeky.

"Nope," Jason said. "Especially considering you're neither."

He put his hands down, and pushed up like he was doing push-ups, and threw himself to one side. She was thrown onto the ground, and his shoulder pinned her until he flipped to a better angle, grabbed her wrist, and held them at either side of her.

"Oh, curse you, Grace." She said, lying there and looking at him with playful fight eyes.

She knew she wasn't going to be able to push him off, no matter what she did. Not when he was bigger, stronger (she had to admit it), more experienced in wrestling, and in a good position right now. She couldn't find a flaw in him to use as an expect route.

"If I had a denarius for every time you said that…" Jason said.

"If the gods actually did it for every time I said it…" Reyna said. Suddenly Jason leaned down and kissed her.

It was a quick peck, but it was on the lips, and it was better than any kiss Reyna had ever gotten. She was so surprised she nearly chocked, and she studied him with wide eyes. That hadn't been expected.

Jason had the deer in the headlight look. "Sorry," he said quickly, letting her get up from the Coliseum floor. She brushed off her purple cloak and debated what to say.

She looked up at him. "I didn't expect that."

Jason looked completely toast, and completely uncomfortable, even if Reyna was the only person he was actually legit fully comfortable with.

"But that was nice," she said.

Now it was his turn to get shocked because he was trying to figure out if the world was playing a trick on him or if she was really meaning what she was saying.

Reyna grinned at the surprise on his face, and how it made the crescent moon shaped scar curve at an angle she wasn't used to seeing on his face.

"Expect the Unexpected, Grace." She said.

She heard the sound of armour clanking together, and people marching and she took a step away from him.

"I think the fifth cohort's now got the place," Jason said.

"Yes," Reyna said. They poured in and there were some warm greetings since Jason was there. He knocked on Hazel Levesque's helmet on their way out, and Reyna caught the look on Gwen's face when she looked at them suspiciously. Reyna scowled furthermore, but Gwen wasn't buying it.

She knows, Reyna thought. Gwen was psychic or something, she knew weird things.

At lunch, this was confirmed.

Jason was somewhere with a couple of little kids from the third cohort, Dakota was so hyped up Gwen had ordered him to go do laps (and since he's Dakota and she's Gwen, he listened) and it was just Gwen and Reyna. And Bobby, but Bobby was considered more of a decoration that talks than anything else right now.

"So what exactly happened in the Coliseum before we walked in?" Gwen asked quietly so neighbouring tables (and Bobby) wouldn't hear.

"What usually happens in the Coliseum," Reyna said dryly. "Sparring. Fighting."

"Mmm-hmm," Gwen said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Reyna, you know you're my best. Which is why you should expect me to know that you have a heart, and to be able to read your face. And your face was not the face of someone who'd just been fighting."

Reyna looked at Gwen with daggers to try and have her back down, but that didn't work.

"Rey, I don't want you to freak, I'm only going to ask this once. Did you kiss Jason?" She asked. Reyna was about to protest frantically and okay- how do you know these things?

"No," she said. And it was half-true, but Gwen was staring her down for the other half. "He kissed me." She added so quietly because she was that scared someone would hear her.

Okay. Gwen was cool and her head was always in the present and she had her priorities straight; but fact remained she was a legacy of Cupid. So of course something like this would flare her up because Reyna had never kissed or been kissed, and according to what she'd been pestering Reyna with for a while Jason really likes you and he has for two years and now you like him too -don't you dare deny- so come on, do something, get this somewhere!

But Gwen just leaned back and picked another nacho off her plate.

"I expected that," she said simply.