A/N: Here it is! The last part of the Healing of Travis Stoll. Please let me know what you think of it! Thank you to everyone who has read this story and especially to those who reviewed. And to my big brother for helping me along the way. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: It saddens me to say...I don't own Percy Jackson. Excuse me while I go cry in a corner.

Part Six: The Confrontation

For a moment, Travis had forgotten how to breathe. It was as if time had slowed, no matter how clichéd that sounded. Fifteen years later and Katie was still as beautiful as before, perhaps even more so. Her dark brown hair was shorter than Travis remembered it, only just touching her shoulders instead of midway down her back like the last time they had seen each other. Katie's back was to the eldest Stoll and he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved. Seeing the back of her was already sending Travis' mind spinning out of control, and he was worried to even think about what would have happened if she had been facing him.

Katie was wearing a dark singlet that showed her tanned shoulders and her upper back, along with a flowing white skirt that reached just below her knees. She looked so incredibly stunning, it took Travis a minute or two to get a hold of himself.

"Travis," Connor hissed as he elbowed his brother in the ribs, snapping the elder Stoll out of his funk. His older brother was reacting in a way that Connor had expected he would, but even though he was prepared to see his brother star struck, he wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. Growing up, Travis was always the calm, cool and collected guy. He didn't falter whenever he talked to girls and barely batted an eyelash whenever one of the Aphrodite kids would ask him out. Yet, whenever it came to Katie, it was always a different story and this time was definitely no exception.

"What?" he replied in rather plain tone which suggested that he was still partially in his trance.

"Are you going to talk to her or keep gaping like a love-sick fifteen year old boy?" his younger brother asked in a rather amused tone. Although a great deal of Connor was worried about his older brother, there was a small part of him that couldn't help but be slightly entertained by the sight of his obviously stricken brother. He hadn't seen Travis so flustered with a girl ever since Katie had walked out on him.

Hearing Connor's words struck Travis like lightning and he was quick to straighten his posture and snap his mouth shut. There were a million things running through his mind, but he had made a decision then and there. Before he could think about it much further, he strode over towards Katie's direction.

"Hey there Gardner," he greeted once he reached her; thankful that the nervous tone hadn't entered his voice. He was already internally freaking out as is, and he was grateful that it wasn't showing. Katie jumped slightly, startled by the voice she hadn't heard in fifteen years as she whirled around.

"Travis," she breathed, doing her best not to look unnerved by her ex-boyfriend's presence. Travis looked her in the eye for what seemed like forever, although in reality, had only lasted a moment. It ended quickly as Katie coughed awkwardly and the pair broke eye contact, Travis averting his eyes to the ground.

Up close, Katie looked even more beautiful than before. Her emerald colored, almond shaped eyes seemed to grow since the last time they met and her lips fuller than ever before. Her face wasn't as round as it used to be, and her cheekbones seemed higher than Travis remembered. Freckles still dotted her cheeks and nose, more than there used to be. It took Travis all the self control he could muster to not reach over and kiss her.

"How have you been?" Travis asked, feeling slightly awkward as he twiddled his thumbs behind his back, something he did only when he was extremely nervous, which was an extremely rare case in itself. He wouldn't have been lying if he had admitted he had practiced talking to Katie in their bathroom last week. Travis had stood in front of the mirror while Althea was at soccer practice, thinking of casual lines to create conversation and generally did his best to try to not make such a fool out of himself. Yet, here he was, doing exactly what he didn't want to be doing.

Before Katie could open her mouth to answer, someone interrupted their conversation with a loud cough. The elder Stoll looked up to see who it was and was slightly surprised by the person he saw. Jake Mason, former counselor of the Hephaestus was standing behind Katie with his arm firmly and rather protectively around her waist. He hadn't aged much during the years, with the same black wavy mop, tanned skin, dark eyes and well built body.

Once upon a time, Jake and Travis had been the best of friends when they had first started out at Camp Half Blood. They were both all year round campers, so they spent a lot of time together and used to be as close as anything. That soon changed when Jake had dated one of Travis' half-sisters and broke her heart. All of the Hermes kids had held an unspoken grudge towards the son of Hephaestus and they hadn't talked since then. That was a good twenty or so years ago and Travis couldn't help but feel slightly shocked seeing him again.

"You remember Jake, right Travis?" Katie asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence between the trio. Travis could only nod, not trusting himself to speak. Questions were racing through his head at a hundred miles an hour and he was unable to think straight. All he could picture was Jake's arm around Katie's waist. Where his arm was fifteen years ago, where his arm still should be. That surely meant something. They were together obviously, or maybe even worse. The elder Stoll tried not to dwell on the thoughts and focused his attention back to the two people in front of him. Before Travis could say anything, Katie started to speak. "We got married a few years ago."

The words hit Travis harder than any monster had ever struck him in his entire life. It took a moment for him to process the information and when he did, the eldest Stoll felt the need to go find a toilet and vomit. The mere thought that Katie had truly moved on, she had fallen in love with someone else was enough to make Travis want to run away and hide in a hole and never come out. If his reputation wasn't on the line, he would have certainly gone through with the thought.

There was a sickening feeling starting to swell in his chest and he felt his stomach tighten. It was as if he had been repetitively stabbed by a celestial sword in the torso. The son of Hermes felt as if a cold hand of steel had wrapped around his neck and stopped any oxygen from entering his body. No other pain he had ever experienced in his life had ever felt this remotely painful.

"Congratulations," Travis managed to choke a few minutes later after finally finding his voice. He was quick to excuse himself before rushing out of the Big House, unable to stand the sight of Katie with another man any longer.

It was rather suffice to say that Travis' mind was reeling at that point. He stumbled out of the Big House like a drunkard, unaware of the array of voices that were calling for him. His mind was quickly filling with hundreds of questions as he raced into the forest. Travis had no idea where he was going, but somehow managed to find himself at Zeus' fist. Unsure of what to do next, he slumped down against the rock.

We got married a few years ago.

The words kept circling his head like a broken record, each word like another violent stab in the chest. For a moment, Travis was in complete denial. She had to be kidding, right? It was just a joke. She hadn't moved on. It was a nightmare. Yeah, that's exactly what it was. Just a nightmare. He was going to wake up in a few seconds to find that he was back at home, content with his life and not worried about Katie.

But Travis knew that he was kidding himself and that everything that had just happened was one hundred percent true. Katie had truly moved on. Even if he was unwilling to accept it, it didn't mean that it wasn't the truth.

Seeing Katie had obviously bought back feelings that the young man had been trying to bury for the past fifteen years. Oh and he had worked so hard at it too. Travis had thrown away all of the things she had given to him, burnt all the pictures of the pair and even had gone as far as to cleaning the whole apartment as thoroughly as he could, to rid the home of her scent. The only thing that Travis had kept that reminded him of Katie was his daughter.

It had gotten easier to forget about Katie as the years went by. The elder Stoll had started to focus on other things, such as his daughter and his job and his family, namely Connor and his family. Those three things were the most important aspects of Travis' life and he knew that he would have no idea where he would be without them.

Once and awhile, something would come up that would remind Travis of the beautiful daughter of Demeter that he had fallen oh so hard for. Maybe it was her favorite flower that he spotted while driving Althea to soccer practice or going to camp and seeing one of Demeter's children that looked like a carbon copy of Katie. He had taught himself to stop thinking about the girl, as he knew that it would just bring pain and suffering, two things he could happily go without.

So that's exactly what he did. He just stopped thinking about Katie. It was as if he put a mental brick wall up in his mind that immediately barricaded his thoughts of a certain Katie Gardner. Whenever her name was mentioned, which was rather rare, Travis would feel a pang of pain for only a second before it would fade away. He never talked about her as he didn't think there was a need to. Connor never asked, because he knew that the conversation would get nowhere and Malcolm had learnt not to mention it. As for Althea, after six years of constant pestering, she realized that he wasn't going to tell her until he was ready so she had dropped the subject entirely and never thought of her either. Yet, all those years of hard work had slipped away in less than a millisecond when Travis had laid eyes on Katie.

Travis cursed loudly, running a hand through his dark curly hair in absolute frustration. He couldn't remember a time he was this annoyed with himself, apart from the day that Katie had left. Since he was so consumed with his thoughts, he didn't realize that someone had followed him and was standing over him.

"Travis, I think we need to talk," he heard that familiar voice murmur in a soft tone as he felt the soft ground shift slightly as Katie placed herself next to him. Travis hadn't dared to look at the woman who was now sitting next to him and did his best to subtly make enough room between them so they was no chance they could make physical contact.

"Talk about what?" he snapped, much harsher than he had intended. The elder Stoll couldn't help it. He was absolutely frustrated, infuriated and felt betrayed, to say the least.

"Just talk," Katie replied in a casual tone. "How have you been?" For a second, Travis felt a flash of anger strike him. You left me Katie. Fifteen years ago, with a newborn baby that was ours. You completely abandoned me and certainly made no effort to try to contact me or Althea throughout all these years and yet you have the nerve to ask me how I've been! He felt like screaming, but he knew that starting off with bicker would only end even more bitterly. Travis decided to be the bigger person in this case and cleared his throat.

"I've been good," He replied after a moment's thought. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew that they were true. Travis had the most amazing daughter he could have ever imagined who was beautiful, talented, sweet, kind natured and loving, everything he wasn't growing up. He had a younger brother who he loved to bits and vice versa with a sister-in-law that was just like a sister and two nephews he treated like his own sons. Travis had a steady job with good pay, not to mention a friendly and understanding boss who was also a good friend. He had a nice house, a working car and everything he needed. Life was good for him, simply because he had worked hard to make it that way.

"That's good," Katie murmured, sounding as if she was in deep thought. Travis wondered what she had been doing in the past fifteen years, what she had made of her life.

"What about you?" he asked, genuinely interested. It took the daughter of Demeter a second before she replied.

"Yeah, life is good too. I live in Manhattan with Jake and I own a florist place. The exchange was great and I saw Jake at the airport when I got back and we just…connected," Katie's sentence ended slightly awkwardly as she tried to find an appropriate word. Travis did a quick calculation in his head. It had taken Katie only about five years to get over him. The thought stung the elder Stoll like a million bee stings.

"That's, er, good," Travis smiled weakly, trying to hide his discomfort.

"How's our girl?" Katie asked, quick to change the subject. At this, Travis looked up from the ground to look at Katie. It took him a minute to come to the realization that she didn't even know Althea's name.

"My girl," Travis corrected quietly. "Her name is Althea. She turned fifteen this year. She's an amazing girl," he added, half tempted to say 'just like you.' Katie smiled, but it didn't seem fully genuine, rather somewhat sad. When she didn't say anything, Travis took it as a sign to continue. "She likes gardening, just like you. Grew our vegetable garden out the back a few years ago and still manages to maintain it. Like me, she loves pranking. Her and Lysander, Connor's son, are the camp's resident prankers," Travis smiled broadly, quite happy to speak such things about his daughter.

"Just like her father," Katie said, her tone more downcast than before. Travis tried to decipher what that could have meant in his mind, but he was quick to give up. He knew, along with the rest of the entire male population, that there was just no way to even try and figure out what any female was truly thinking. Just as Travis was about to say more, another familiar voice interrupted.

"Dad!" The voice called out about fifty meters away from where Travis and Katie had been seated. Travis was immediately alert by the sound of his daughter's seemingly alarmed tone.

"I'm at Zeus' fist!" He called out, quickly standing up and brushing the dirt off his jeans. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as a recognizable tall, dark curly haired girl had appeared in front of him, in black jean shorts and a faded camp shirt. Althea was bent over, her hands on her knees as she attempted to catch her breath.

"Dad, Chiron and the others have been looking for you. You've been gone for almost three hours," she stated. Travis looked up at the sky, noting that it was a slightly darker shade of blue since he last stared up o the heavens. He hadn't realized how long it had been until Althea had mentioned it.

Althea didn't notice that there was a woman standing behind her father as her eyes were on the ground while she tried to get more oxygen back into her body. When she finally looked up to see her dad's reaction, Althea saw her. As instinct, Althea took a step back from her father and put her hand to her sword that was in her back pocket.

"Is this her?" she asked unable to bring herself to calling the lady her mother. Neither Katie nor Travis said anything, but the silence spoke louder than any words could have ever said. Nobody knew quite what to say and the trio was left in a somewhat awkward silence.

Althea looked at Katie up and down, trying to figure her out in her head. She saw some of the similarities that they shared, such as the same colored eyes and face shape, but that was about it. The young girl had spent so many years of her life creating this perfect picture of her mother in her mind, but nothing could have ever prepared her for the day when she had finally met Katie.

There were so many things she wanted to say, so many questions that hadn't been answered and so much that Althea wanted to know. The younger Stoll wondered exactly what Katie was like. Sure, she was definitely pretty, but she wondered what had attracted her father to such a lady. In her lifetime, Althea had seen many beautiful women attempt to flirt with her father, but he would barely bat an eyelid. What had made Katie so different?

Seeing her own daughter all grown up was enough to send Katie into a whirlwind of differing emotions she could barely cope with. Pride was one of the many things that Katie was feeling. Althea sure looked like a mixture of Travis and herself, something that Katie couldn't help but feel slightly content with. Her daughter was a tall young girl, about 5'8 and her slender arms and petite waist reminding Katie of her own teenage years. The sun-kissed skin that Althea had developed could have only come from many years gardening, a hobby that Katie had always wished she could have taught her baby girl.

Yet there were so many things about Althea that reminded Katie of Travis. The soft, dark curled tendrils that hung down to her mid-waist, framing her face and the mischievous glint that was etched in her eyes were the most prominent.

"Hi there Althea," Katie decided to be the first to break the silence that was eating the three of them up inwardly. Althea said nothing for a moment, but sub-consciously moved closer to her father, although her hand had left the back pocket of her jeans.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked finally, looking up at her dad. All the thoughts of her mother had given Althea a headache and she could barely register what was going on. It was as if she was in a dream, but she knew that it was reality.

"Just having a talk Al," Travis reassured his daughter with a smile. She said nothing for a moment.

"Talking about?" she demanded to know. Althea had spent so many years dreaming of this exact moment, where she would meet her mom. It had gone so differently in her mind. She had envisioned a magical moment where their eyes would meet and Althea instantly knew that she loved her and would run up and give her a massive hug. Katie would've apologized for ever leaving and wanted to let Althea know that she was going to be with her for the rest of her life.

Sadly, reality had taken a much different turn. Here she was, wanting to be anywhere but at Zeus' Fist. Althea felt nothing towards her mother, except hurt and a pinch of anger. But she couldn't help it.

"About you," Katie was the one who answered her question. "You've certainly grown," she commented with a little smile at an attempt to make Althea do the same. Her intention had clearly fallen short when Althea's lips formed a tight line.

"Well that's what tends to happen in fifteen years," She couldn't help but snap. Althea hated being mean to people, she thought that it was something reserved for the snotty Aphrodite girls, but with Katie, she just couldn't help it. The anger and bitterness that she had felt over Katie leaving her was starting to rise up like bile in her throat.

"Althea," Travis hissed, putting a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. Althea was generally a calm and collected person, but when she got angry it made Clarisse look like a Barbie doll. Travis' daughter had only ever fully raged about three times in her entire life and there were not pleasant outcomes for those involved. He was hoping that this event was not going to make it a fourth time.

"Sorry," she mumbled, sounding like she barely meant it. If Katie had heard the exchange between father and daughter, she didn't acknowledge it outwardly.

"Look, I know that I've made a few mistakes, but I want to get to know you more Althea. I want you to stay with Jake and I for a while," Katie stated in a rather plain tone, as if they were merely discussing the weather.

Both Althea and Travis were equally shell-shocked with what Katie had said. Both of them could barely think of what to say. Althea wondered who Jake was, and what he had to do with Katie. She didn't think that it was the best place to ask though.

After a few seconds, Althea had opened her mouth to speak but her father had squeezed her shoulder lightly, glancing down at her. She looked up and noted the 'Let me handle this' look on his face. Althea sighed inwardly, but nodded, allowing her father to speak.

"I don't think that's the smartest idea," Travis said slowly, trying to figure out the right words to say. He hated seeing an angry Althea, but he could barely stand seeing an angry Katie. Not only was it one of the most terrifying experiences of the elder Stoll's life, but he knew that he would feel guilty. And Travis hated feeling guilty.

"Why not? I want a chance Travis," Katie replied. The words she uttered reached Travis' ears and he had to let out a bitter laugh. Suddenly, something had built up inside of him and he scoffed.

"You've had your chances Katie!" he exploded finally. He'd had enough. Part of him couldn't believe he had held on to her for all these years. It was such a waste of time. Loving her for the fifteen years she could care less about him or Althea was so pointless that Travis got angry with himself. He had done nothing but love her for the past twenty years, hoping that she would walk through the door of their house or maybe even attempt to try to contact him, but he got nothing.

Travis was tired of waiting. He was sick of trying to constantly make excuses for Katie. He had waited long enough and he didn't want to wait any longer.

"It has been fifteen years. I have waited for you for that long. I have waited for you to call, Iris Message or do something to contact me! But I got nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have spent so many years hiding the reason you left from Althea, because I didn't want her to get hurt. You left Katie, and you didn't bother to look back. It's too late," he stated in a surprisingly calm tone. He felt Althea stiffen underneath his hand and glanced at her. There were tears forming in her eyes although she was evident that she didn't want to cry. Katie on the other hand, looked gob-smacked. Her mouth hung open slightly and her usually perfect posture had turned into a disappointed slouch.

"Travi-" She tried to cut in, but the elder Stoll was having none of that.

"No Katie. I don't want your excuses, your apologies. You had fifteen years to do that. Althea is my daughter and I'm deciding what is best for her… and you aren't it."

A/N: So there it is. The healing of Travis Stoll. I really liked the Travis I created. So thoughts? A sequel? Enough? More Travis and Katie (Maybe on a happier note?) Althea? Let me know!