Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HOO.

"Make a left over here!" Rachel called back to Octavian, who was right behind her. She curved her path and ran until she saw a familiar hidden ledge on the rocky mountainside. After leaping to the ledge, Rachel spun around and held out her hand to Octavian as he jumped. He pushed aside her hand, hanging on the ledge. Octavian pulled himself up, muttering, "I can help myself."
Rachel brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. "Or you can appreciate others' help and thank them for it."

"Did they go over here?" Rachel heard a confused voice ask, right by the turn she and Octavian had just barely made.

Octavian scrambled to his feet and pressed himself against the gray, rock mountain. "Oh, gods. We're trapped. Why did we go here in the first place? Those Stoll boys are going to find us within minutes! You're as ignorant as a mortal!"

"I am a mortal, by the way." Rachel snapped at him. "And do you really think that I would lead us here just to be stuck?"

Octavian opened his mouth to answer, but Rachel interrupted him. "Don't answer." She slowly turned to the mountain side. Turning around was nearly impossible. There wasn't much room on the ledge for two people, so Octavian was nearly half off of the ledge.

Rachel lifted up her hand and found a familiar small crevice. She lift herself up, lodging her foot into another small crevice. Soon she was climbing like at the climbing wall, up and up until she was about fifteen feet up from the ledge.

"Do you think you can do that?" Rachel asked, smirking down at Octavian when she reached the entrance to her hidden cave.

"Oh, please. If a mortal can, I can." Octavian shouted up to her and searched for a crevice to put his hand in. At the amount of his struggling, Rachel knew it was going to be a while. She ran into her cave, pulling open her desk drawers, searching for something to help him.

In the very bottom drawer Rachel found a rope. It was a pretty thick rope, but not very long in length.

"It's good enough," Rachel muttered and ran to the edge of her cave. Octavian was about halfway up. Rachel threw down one end of the rope, it just barely making down to Octavian.

"Hold onto it!" Rachel called, holding tightly to the other end.

"I don't need any help-" Octavian stopped speaking when they both heard a couple of shouts.

"Travis! They're over there!"

Octavian glanced over his shoulder, then back up at Rachel. He grabbed his end of the rope and started climbing at a much faster pace.

Within a minute Octavian threw himself over the edge of the cave and onto the solid (not really) ground. He gasped in short breaths as Rachel stood up.

"Seems like it took you, a Roman, a lot longer to get up here than a Greek mortal." Rachel put her hands on her hips. "Now come on. They can still see your feet hanging over the edge."

Octavian stumbled to his feet and staggered into Rachel's cave. He looked around it with a critical eye. "What is this place?"

"My cave. It's where I live." Rachel said as she tidied her bed and put some drapes over unfinished paintings. "Sorry it's messy. Usually people don't come up here."

"I was forced up here."

"You could've stayed down there if you really wanted to."

Octavian collapsed onto the armchair in Rachel's room. "Do you have any water?"

Rachel grabbed a half full water bottle that was laying on her hastily made bed and threw it to him. "Sorry it's not much. Usually I don't bring food or drinks up here. It attracts mice."

"Why do you live in a cave?" Octavian exclaimed after gulping down the water. "I mean, couldn't they at least build you a cabin?" Octavian snickered.

"Lord Apollo thought it would be best for me. I think you should respect the god, Octavian. After all, isn't that all you Romans do?" Rachel replied.

Octavian's face turned the color of a tomato. "At least I have the blood of a god in me. You're just a lucky mortal."

Rachel couldn't stand it. She stomped up to Octavian, her arm pulled back and her hand in a fist, but before she could swing someone interrupted her. "Rachel, stop torturing the poor guy."

Rachel turned her head and saw Percy Jackson, with his girlfriend Annabeth Chase on his arm. They were standing in the doorway of Rachel's cave.

Rachel lowered her arm and shot a smile at Percy and Annabeth. "Hi, guys! Where have you been lately?" She gestured the couple to come in and they did as she asked.

"Oh, out and about." Percy replied, but Rachel saw the heat rise in both Annabeth and Percy's cheeks. Rachel resisted the urge to smile. She was one of the hardest Percabeth shippers in the entire camp.

"Sure," Rachel dragged out her response, grinning at the blushing couple.

"So, how come Octavian's here?" Percy changed the subject quickly.

Octavian stood up abruptly. "We messed with the Stolls."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You didn't."

"We had to!" Rachel protested. "They totally-"

"Humiliated us!" Octavian finished quickly. "I mean, what we did to them wasn't that bad, but then after they got us back, well..."

"So you're practically having a prank war with the Stoll brothers?" Percy summed up. "Rachel, that's like suicide. You know that."
"Oh, please. I doubt they'd try to kill me. I've been training and I'm immune to celestial bronze," Rachel flashed a grin. "So, what'd you guys need? Just here to talk?"

"We've barely seen you since the war," Annabeth said. "You've been gone a lot."

"Pranking takes a lot of time to plan."

"And you've been doing this with Octavian?" Percy wrinkles his nose in disgust. "The same Octavian that tried to kill us all?"

"Not anymore," Rachel said, trying to drown out Octavian mumbling, "I still want to a little, but..."

Percy smiled half-heartedly, but Rachel could see the scarred pain in his eyes. Both of their eyes. They had a bunch of new scars across their arms and legs. Percy had a huge white scar from under his left eye to his chin. Annabeth had a giant scar under her neck that looked like it must've hurt like Hades.

"We were also wondering if you guys wanted to go to the lake?" Percy added. "I've been itching to swim there, and Annabeth finally agreed, so we've been talking to all the guys and they're all going to meet us there. We were going to originally ask just Rachel, but you can come if you want." Percy struggled to force out his word politely. "We didn't know that you were going to be here."

"Sure!" Rachel exclaimed happily.

"The lake?" Octavian wrinkled his nose. "I think I'll pass."

"No you won't." Rachel told him sternly. "This is a good way to be social."

"Since when are you my mom, Freckles?"

"Since I decided you need to be a little bit more mentally healthy, Scarecrow!"

Octavian glared at Rachel, who glared back, but added a green glow to her eyes. Ever since becoming the oracle, she's been able to more and more every day to control her gift. Having her eyes glow green was a cool way to intimidate people.

Octavian's stare wavered. He lowered his eyes and murmured, "Fine. I'll go."

Rachel turned and smiled at Percy and Annabeth. "Are we going right now?"
"As soon as you can get ready." Annabeth replied with a smile at Rachel. "We'll see you guys later."

Percy and Annabeth turned at the same time and walked down the steps at the side of Rachel's cave.

"Wait, there's stairs?" Octavian nearly shouted. "Why did we have to climb the mountain wall to get up here?"

"The Stoll brothers would've just followed us up the steps." Rachel said simply. "They didn't know where we went to get up here the way we did, so we're safe!"

"Wow, fantastic thinking." Octavian mumbled.

Rachel began rummaging through her bureau, pulling out her swimsuit. Then she pointed at Octavian and said, "You. Scramble. I'm changing."

"And I want to stay around for that." Octavian said sarcastically, standing up from the armchair and marching to the stairs. "See you at the lake, Freckles."

"Alright, Scarecrow." Rachel called back.

As she listened to Octavian's feet pound down on the stairs, she pondered her new...friend. Octavian certainly was a handful, but he was all talk. And when they talked enough at some points during the last week, she could break him down to where he would almost smile at her jokes. It wasn't much, but it was progress. And she wasn't going to stop there. Everyone has a good part to them inside, and Rachel was determined to get Octavian to show his.

Yeah, cheesy ending, I know. I'm just not good at endings, okay? So, tell me what you guys thought! Review all your thoughts! And tell me if I'm getting out of character. And, as always, if you have any, give me suggestions for one-shots. Read and review :)