A/N: Just a little something before you read... I wrote this story back in July for a friend's birthday. It is mostly centred on Piper and Jason's relationship. The story is like one long chapter added to the Mark of Athena before the Argo II reached the ancient lands.

And, if you're a TSOTL reader, let me tell you that is still going to be on hold till March. Somehow I just felt like posting this one. Sorry... ^^

SPECIAL

Since she woke up to Coach Hedge humming some tune that sounded like it belonged to Pirates of the Caribbean, Piper had had a very foul feeling in the pit of her stomach. Even after Jason had planted a good-morning kiss on the back of her head post breakfast, the stubborn sensation had refused to leave her alone.

An old Cherokee saying kept playing in Piper's mind like a record tape: If your gut feels bad, you will be sad. She never had understood what those words were supposed to convey, but she figured she was about to experience it.

Her intuitions turned into reality somewhere around midday. The sun was a peaceful ball of brightness in the blue sky marked with cottony clouds, while the Argo II was assail somewhere beyond the middle of the Atlantic, now much closer to the ancient lands. That's when the horizon gave birth to five tiny spots of gold and brown.

"What are those?" Annabeth asked, squinting into the distance, a palm above her brows to shield her vision from the bright sunlight.

"Probably Arion found friends," Leo offered. The guy had a screwdriver in his hand and was busy … well, repairing something.

"No, I haven't called for him," Hazel declared, brown eyes somewhat annoyed. "He's too fast for any other horse; he'd have been on deck nine seconds ago anyway."

"Is something the matter?" Percy's voice was still husky as he came awake. He'd fallen asleep right in the middle of the deck trying to find shapes in the clouds. Go figure.

Annabeth cursed in Ancient Greek as she drew her dagger, "Call the others. We've got trouble."

"Tell me something new," Leo muttered, turning to face the incoming misfortune. "Holy Machines," he said reverently, "how'd they get this close to us? I want the blueprints of those eagles!"

That's when Piper realized what was really coming their way. Five automaton eagles of Imperial Gold glistening murderously – each carrying an armour-clad Roman demigod – were speeding right towards them. They were five demigods with full armour and five metal beasts. And all the Argo II had was seven demigods each with a small weapon, plus a satyr who was practically out of his mind on his best days. But Piper was very quick in yelling, "Jason! Coach! Frank! Trouble!"

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Percy commented with a playful wink; he was already on his feet entirely awake, sword in hand, flanking Annabeth's right side.

Hazel had drawn her spatha by the time Coach Hedge was at the deck yelling abuses at the eagles. Jason appeared like a hero at the mouth of the stairs with his Gladius at the ready, and Piper had to tear her gaze away from him, followed by Frank who just looked confused.

Piper drew Katoptris the same time Leo pulled out a long, intimidatingly thick wrench from his tool belt, and Piper shook her head, exasperated. A guy who could summon fire needed a wrench to fight machine eagles.

"Coach, don't insult them," Leo rebuked half-heartedly. "They're beautiful."

"They're enemies! Attack!" Coach Hedge raised his baseball bat for emphasis.

As Piper watched the enemy fly toward them in perfect formation, she realized that they all too had fallen into a formation of their own. Percy and Jason were shoulder to shoulder, looking like a haphazard pair of solid partners in crime. Annabeth stood on Percy's left her eyes stern and intense, looking deadly calm. Piper had taken Jason's right side, both to support him and for his assistance in battle. Leo was by the control board with Coach Hedge; Frank had turned into a big grizzly bear, with claws so sharp they could've shredded metal in seconds while Hazel had taken a defensive position by the stairwell.

"That's Leo," Jason said, eyes fixed on the leader of the Wicked Eagle Platoon.

"His memory loss keeps coming back," Leo muttered, as he pressed buttons on the control board. "Man, I'm Leo. Your best friend, remember?"

"Valdez, I know that," Jason replied with a deep grimace. "That guy is Leo Sparrow, an old enemy-slash-ally."

"Leo Sparrow, huh?" Percy snickered. "One man zoo; I like that."

"Is that really him?" Hazel asked. "I've heard stories. He challenged Reyna for praetorship and lost against her, right? From what I know, he was driven out of camp."

"Yeah that's the one," Jason confirmed, the flying invaders were some hundred metres away now. "Guys, let's try to talk first. This boy is a son of Mercury and he'd also received a special blessing from Mars."

"Which means he's a difficult enemy," Piper noted. "So we talk first, got it."

"Cupcakes, he is the enemy! Fight! Fire those ballistae!" Coach Hedge yelled, but everyone wisely ignored him.

A minute later, all five automatons landed on the Argo II's deck in perfect coordination. They were all six feet tall, with ruby red eyes and scarily razor-sharp talons. The boy Jason had indicated was tan and scrawny, with a black ponytail sticking out of his helmet. He carried a pilum in his left hand as he boldly stepped forward.

"Long time, Grace," he said in a raspy voice.

"Sparrow," Jason greeted with a nod. "I didn't know you were back."

"That's understandable," Sparrow replied. "I re-joined the legion few nights back, which is after you attacked New Rome in this Graecus miscreation."

"Oh, c'mon, that's a rude thing to say!" Leo protested, his fisted hands burst into flames.

"Why are you here Sparrow?" Jason asked.

"To arrest you of course," the boy replied. "You joined forces with the Greeks, then attacked New Rome and now you're sailing away to the ancient lands. Such treachery deserves severe punishment."

"Says the guy who was forced into exile," Hazel chimed in. "Who sent you?"

Sparrow eyed Hazel contemptuously. "Girl, I'll personally escort you to the best prison we have. And just so you know, I'm here on Octavian's orders."

"Obviously, that douche-bag will never learn," Percy shook his head.

"Surrender quietly. Or we'll have to resort to other means," Sparrow threatened; though his scrawny frame reduced the effect.

"We don't want to fight either," Piper stepped forward, her eyes fixed on Sparrow. She willed her voice to sound convincing because normally the 'talking' part of plans depended on her. "Gaia is waking, I'm sure you're aware of that. We are trying to stop her evil plans, we're the only ones who can do that. And nothing is going to keep us from doing what we must. Go back to New Rome before we have to use other means."

Two of the guys looked at each other nervously and one more stepped toward his eagle. Sparrow too looked like he was seriously considering backing away a step, but of course the worst happened. Coach Hedge yelled.

"I'm going to KILL all of ya!" He shouted his lungs out and charged at the Romans.

An intense battle raged in minutes. Without her too alert ADHD senses, Piper's mind couldn't have registered so many things happening at once. Jason summoned lightning and blasted two eagles at once, but that didn't do much good. The two beasts flew high up and one collided with the mast, shrapnel rained. Blue eyes glowing with ferocious concentration, Jason raised his right hand to summon the winds. "I'll be back," he said to Piper before shooting up like a rocket.

As she was trying to make two of the Romans fight each other, Piper saw that Annabeth was dagger-fighting another Roman warrior, and it was a curly-haired buff girl. Just as Piper watched, the girl ducked from one of Annabeth's swipes and kicked her in the shin.

Annabeth dropped face-first to the wooden surface, her dagger skittering away. Before Piper could even think of charm-speaking the girl, Percy appeared. He gave the girl a strong blow in the chest with the butt of his sword, and sent her flailing toward the ship's edge. Two seconds later, a high wave rose out of the sea and the girl vanished with it. Percy helped Annabeth up, and back to back they took on one of the eagles.

Four more demigods to go, Piper thought as she eyed her targets. "Oh, please! You know he's better than you at everything. This is your only chance to defeat him!" She told one of them. The boy confusedly raised his sword and stepped forward, that's when Piper took to hypnotizing the other one. "He's going to defeat you! Where is your self-esteem? Use those arrows and show him what you've got!"

A few more catcalls later, the two Romans were literally too intent on killing each other so Piper turned her attention to other matters. Hazel was still by the stairwell, trying to keep away an eagle and a Roman at the same time. Once every few minutes a large chunk of some precious metal would pop up and hit the eagle then eventually sink again; there were enough dents on its gold bodice to make it look like an oversized, deformed chick. But from his speed it was clear that the Roman guy was the main problem.

Skipping over to Hazel's side, Piper said to her, "Looks like you need a hand."

"I need a lot more than one hand!" Hazel answered.

While using Katoptris to give Hazel some breather, Piper dared to glance up at the sky. She was disappointed when she didn't spot a shock of blonde hair above, but the same moment she had a plan.

"Let's switch targets," Piper muttered, loud enough for only Hazel to hear.

Once Piper was on her own with the eagle, she felt intimidated and intimidating at the same time, which was somehow a very captivating feeling. She was so engrossed in talking the eagle into flying away, that she didn't notice when an exceptionally large chunk of impure silver hit the Roman guy in the head. She even missed the fantastic way in which he sank to the deck with his tongue lolling out. Finally, with her throat so sore she could hardly whisper anymore, the stubborn eagle spread its deformed wings. But the eagle was so lopsided that it dashed Piper off the deck as it took off.

Piper could only register Hazel's voice shrill with anxiety as it called out her name. Piper had gotten rid of two Romans and an eagle, she'd done her share. She started recollecting all the tips her father had given her when she'd first learnt surfing with him. Just fifty feet from the surface of the sea … forty … and she shut her eyes.

She opened her eyes only when there was a platform of warm, saline winds supporting her and a familiar hand wound loosely around her waist. "Gotcha," Jason smiled.

"Thanks," she murmured with a sigh, her voice not sounding altogether dead. "Where are your eagle friends?"

"Somewhere close to the bottom of the Atlantic, I reckon," Jason looked at the blue that was all under them.

"That's nice to hear." Piper turned her gaze toward their home-ship and considered their situation: Hazel was tying up a Roman dude, Percy and Annabeth had almost finished an eagle, Frank was back in Frank-form trying to stop Coach Hedge from beating up an already mashed eagle. And there, by the console board was Leo fighting Leo. "C'mon Sparky, take me back to the ship, we've still got a sparrow that needs to learn some manners."

"Yes, ma'am," Jason grinned and they sped to the ship.

With a soft thud! Piper and Jason landed in the middle of the deck, exactly where Percy had fallen asleep some half-hour before. Both their gazes simultaneously found Leo, who had a wrench in one hand and the other palm carried red hot flames.

Sparrow raised his pilum and charged. But Leo was ready, he threw his wrench at the scrawny opponent. Unfortunately, that didn't really make much difference; and by this moment everyone was watching the man-to-man fight. Sparrow simply dodged the wrench and had his arms around Leo's neck before Leo could blink.

"You can do this Leo!" Jason yelled. "Kick his butt!"

"Yeah sure, Grace," Sparrow called out in reply, tightening his arm around Leo's neck.

"Man, who's side are you on?!" Leo asked, fingers fighting hard to pull away the bony hands that were about to squash his neck.

"VALDEZ, you've got this!" Percy yelled, and everyone joined him with fervour.

The moment Piper thought Leo was going to judo-flip Sparrow and win the duel, Leo went totally still. His hands grew limp and fell away from his neck, his eyeballs froze. There was silence aboard the deck as the crew watched with horror. A self-satisfied malicious grin on his lips, Sparrow pulled away one hand.

And Leo attacked.

He punched Sparrow's nose really hard and made him fall down on is back. With an interesting, goofy grin on his face, Leo set the edge of Sparrow's shirt on fire. The poor guy was holding his bleeding nose with one hand and patting down the flames with the other.

"We win," Leo declared, hands raised high like a king addressing his people. As his eyes slowly took in the condition of the ship, Leo's mouth dropped open. "Who brought nuclear weapons?"

Piper and Hazel returned from the stables, having tied up Sparrow and another Roman there after knocking them both out. Hazel immediately rushed over to Annabeth who was nursing a cut in Frank's forearm.

Piper found herself moving to the edge of the deck to pick up Katoptris from where she'd dropped it earlier. She just sat down by the railing watching the others work.

Percy had been given a broom by Annabeth and was now sweeping away shrapnel lying around the deck, he even looked enthusiastic about the chore. Coach Hedge had climbed up a ladder to fix the mast; while Jason stood by the bottom telling him how to do it. Leo was concurrently communicating with Festus in their weird Creak-Tongue and pulling out equipment from his tool-belt. Hazel had taken to fussing over Frank's injury; declaring that Frank needed rest, she took him downstairs to his cabin.

Percy finished his task quite hurriedly and dusted off his pants. Piper watched quietly as he tried to pat down his windblown black hair, not with much success. He then sprinted toward where Annabeth and Leo were now engrossed in a highly engineering-oriented conversation, and tapped her on the shoulder.

When she turned around expectantly, Percy smiled his patented goofy grin. "All done," he informed.

Annabeth climbed onto her toes to look over his shoulder at the neat pile of dust and wood splinters. "You're getting speedy," she murmured.

That's when Percy got down to one knee – wedding-proposal style – with a forced straight face, and took both her hands in one of his. Annabeth raised one brow in annoyance and he asked, "Would you care to join me on my dive?"

"No," she replied without even considering his offer for a second.

Leo and Coach Hedge burst out laughing, even Jason cracked a smile. Percy stuck out his tongue at Annabeth before telling her, "You were supposed to say yes."

"Seaweed Brain, after I say 'no' you are supposed to go sulk in a corner, not argue." With a smirk, she shook her head and pulled him to his feet. "Leo needs help here. You go have fun; get me something shiny."

Percy's green eyes lit up, "How about a pearl?"

"Why not," Annabeth replied before kissing him. "Just be sure to get back before sunset."

"Don't worry, Wise Girl." He galloped to the edge of the deck, and waved to them all with his back to the sea. And then he dived backward with a cocky grin.

"Such a show-off that little monster is," Coach Hedge called out, and then returned to the waiting mast.

Smiling to herself, Piper shut her eyes and rested her head against the cool metal of the rails. She wondered vaguely whether Jason would ever be so stupidly romantic. Hardly any later, she noticed the shift in the air as someone settled down beside her, and silently she hoped for it to be Jason.

"Tired?" asked Annabeth's voice.

Piper sighed her eyes still closed; of course Jason was too busy. "Yeah, somewhat, you're not?"

"I won't say that even if I am; Leo needs help." Annabeth replied, going silent for a long moment. "Hey, Piper?"

Piper opened her eyes and raised one brow. "Yes?"

"Is something the matter?" Annabeth was watching her with concern. Had Piper's little disappointment not gone unnoticed?

"No," Piper answered carefully. The fact that Annabeth wasn't helping Leo with the reconstruction of the ship rang an alarm in Piper's mind. "Are you worried about something?"

She sighed. "Percy; he can be frustratingly crazy when allowed to go underwater on his own."

Piper chuckled, "But he's cute."

"Sure," Annabeth joined in laughing. "That was some romantic-stunt, huh?"

"Yeah and you played your part perfectly," Piper smirked. "As a daughter of Aphrodite, I award Percy nine points out of ten for the comic proposal."

"Do me a favour, don't tell him that," Annabeth said. "Otherwise he's going to come up with these annoying offers every hour."

"Okay," Piper agreed laughingly. "When we first met you, with your 'Give me Percy Jackson or Die' attitude, I didn't understand why you were so overtly desperate to find him in one-piece. Now, though, I see just why."

The two girls laughed and eventually fell silent. Annabeth pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them; her stormy grey eyes watching the now vermillion sun thoughtfully. Piper busied herself in wiping Katoptris into shininess with the edge of her shirt.

"You were thinking about Jason when I sat down, weren't you?" Annabeth's voice asked softly.

Piper looked up, momentarily stunned into a gaping-goldfish. Annabeth hadn't even turned to regard her reaction. She truly was too observant, Piper reminded herself, and said, "Yes, I was."

"Piper, don't you think you give him too little credit?"

Piper suddenly felt a weird feeling wash over her, it was somewhere between deep annoyance and fleeting anger. Piper didn't want to be told how to handle her relationship with Jason, she was a daughter of Aphrodite after all. "Percy is always there to look out for you Annabeth; just two hours ago he saved you from dying at the hands of the Roman girl. It's different with Jason, " Piper reasoned.

"And didn't Jason catch you mid-air?" Annabeth countered. That made Piper reconsider her own thoughts. She realized that Annabeth was probably right; she wasn't exactly being fair to Jason.

"That's what I'm trying to say here," Annabeth began. "I'm no Aphrodite kid, but I'm smart enough to know that you shouldn't compare two totally different persons. Olympus knows, Percy was born to be goofy. But Jason's different, and that's why you should look at him using a different microscope; if you know what I mean."

Piper nodded; but the last bit of her strange feeling made her say, "Easy for you to say."

"Piper, let's have a little girl-talk. Will you hear me out without getting the least bit annoyed?" Annabeth asked sincerely. "I think I have a hypothesis that will no doubt make you feel better."

"Wouldn't hurt to try," Piper said in a small voice.

"Okay," Annabeth smiled. "Percy and I have known each other for five years, which is about five times more than how long you've know Jason – considering Hera's sick plans."

"What're you getting at?" Piper asked.

"I'm telling you that it's going take a little longer for you and Jason to get that comfortable around one another," Annabeth explained. When Piper didn't seem much happy with that particular explanation, Annabeth laughed. "Not that convincing, huh?"

"I'm sorry to be so stubborn," Piper sighed. "But I just don't see how Jason and I have any prospect of getting better as a pair. Perhaps, I'm wrong; I really hope I am." Piper paused to chew on her bottom lip. "Jason is too focussed and dedicated to his aims; he's brave and smart and everything but I guess he's just too Roman. Sometimes, I think I'm not worth him."

"That's fine," Annabeth allowed. "Do you know why it's necessary for the Roman and Greek camps to reunite?" She asked.

Piper could not figure out how that was supposed to solve her problems and ease her dissatisfactions, but nonetheless she answered, "So that the Roman and Greek selves of the Gods are not constantly fighting within them?"

"Bingo," Annabeth smiled. "Now tell me, is Aphrodite Greek?"

"Yes she is; Venus is her Roman form."

"And what about Jupiter, Piper?"

"He's the Roman aspect of Zeus." Piper replied, now utter bewilderment evident on her face.

"So," Annabeth said somewhat excitedly. "Let's see, Percy and I are full-proof Greek. Frank and Hazel – they're undiluted Roman. But, you and Jason – a daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Jupiter – are a Greek and Roman couple."

Realization seeped into Piper's mind. She knew exactly what Annabeth meant; she was starting to see her point. Witnessing the almost convinced expressions on Piper, Annabeth continued with a smile, "You guys are a living proof of the fact that Greek and Roman harmony is entirely possible. You are . . . special."

Piper smiled; her eyes – already shining with their usual multi-coloured hue – were fixed on the Roman in question. "You're right, Annabeth. Thanks."

Piper felt like an owl as she lay in her bed wide awake. It was way past her bed-time, but her mind was as jittery as Leo's hands.

After that conversation with Annabeth, Piper had felt very relieved indeed. But some time later it had dawned on her that she'd really been unfair to Jason. She had spent most of her time thinking of what he should have done, not entirely enjoying the little moments they'd spent together.

Piper was racking her mind to find the perfect way to apologize to him, to make it up to him, when she saw a flash of light through the keyhole in the lock of her door. Piper sat up in her bed, pillow in her hand, ready to throw it at the intruder. As she watched the handle turn super-slowly, her right hand reached her bedside table, fingers curving around the handle of Katoptris.

The door opened soundlessly, and startling blue eyes peeped in. The moment Jason's eyes found Piper collided perfectly with the smile that graced his lips. "Look at you, all scared," he murmured as he walked in; shutting the door behind him.

"Jason?" Piper put down the pillow, blinking.

"Hey, did I wake you up?" He asked, settling down on the edge of her bed.

"No, I wasn't asleep." Piper admitted. "What're you doing here? If coach Hedge caught-"

"Shh," Jason interjected, eyes almost secretive as he said, "He won't."

Piper narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean?"

"I've locked the door of his room from outside. Besides, I heard his snoring; I'm sure nothing can wake him unless he wants to." Jason revealed.

"You what?" Piper asked, eyes disbelieving and amused. She couldn't comprehend Jason going against any kind of rules, even if those rules had been set by a crazy satyr. That was so not Jason. "But why would you do that?"

"I couldn't fall asleep, just thought I should see you once." He looked down at his knees. "You've been somewhat uneasy since morning, and I didn't have any good chance to talk about it. Are you alright?"

Piper blushed. Then Annabeth's question pierced through her mind, don't you think you give him too little credit?, making her feel furthermore guilty.

"Yeah, I just had this fowl feeling in my gut that something wrong was going to happen," Piper confessed. "And well, it did when the Romans attacked. You noticed?"

"Of course, I did," Jason grinned. "Are you sure there's nothing else for me to worry about?"

"Yes, I am," Piper answered. She shifted and bent forward to take Jason's left hand in both of hers. "I have something to tell you."

"What?" He wondered, brows furrowed.

She told him Annabeth's legendary hypothesis which proved that they were special; obviously leaving out the parts where Piper had been rude and the reason why Annabeth had to share the theory in the first place.

"She thinks we're special," Piper concluded, an excited smile playing across her pretty face.

His right hand cupping Piper's face, Jason smirked, making the scar on his lip shift in an inviting manner. "Wow," he sighed. "I always knew we were special, though I never considered this angle."

"Neither did I, Lightning Boy, neither did I," Piper whispered before her lips found his.

"Sorry," she said quickly, after pulling apart.

His expression still fairly giddy, Jason wondered, "For what, Piper?"

"I just needed to say that," she half-shrugged.

"Jeez, you're really tired aren't you?" Jason snorted. "Go to sleep, Princess Special."

"What was that?"

"Princess Special," Jason repeated getting to his feet to leave. He winked as he gently eased her back onto the mattress, "See you tomorrow."

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