A/N: Hello! I reread the Kane Chronicles over the weekend and really wanted to write something for them. I was in Geosystems this morning when I got this idea. I started writing in Stats and and finished and typed this in Government. So, there might be errors. I'm still in Government now and plan to post this when I get home. I really like Carter, mostly because he's a lot like me. He's not the brave one, his sister is. But underneath that exterior he really is brave and protective. I like that side of the character and wanted to write something that shows it. So this is what I came up with. I want to write more about Brooklyn House itself, because I don't think that Riordan tells us enough about it. 20-something adolescents with minimal adult supervision, come on, there's miles of story in there. So, I hope you like my little oneshot. -SMILES! CYI

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Kane Chronicles, thunderstorms, Captain Crunch, or anything in Egypt. The idea of the counting comes from the book the Thunder Cake. I do own a little gold looking mummy necklace.

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Felix liked penguins. More than Captain Crunch, which he liked a whole lot. Felix was nine. And being nine, and separated from his parents, Felix really didn't like thunderstorms. So when a thunderstorm reached Brooklyn House a little after midnight, Felix ran to find the closest thing to an adult-type-male-in-charge-person. Carter.

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Carter leaned against the headboard of his bed, staring out the window. All the traveling he had done had taught him to sleep almost anywhere, in any conditions, but thunderstorms had always been the exception. He hadn't been afraid of them since he was little, but he still found that sleep escaped him when thunder rolled in. It was too startling, too jarring.

Carter watched as lightning struck somewhere over Manhattan. He counted in his head, one, two, three, four, five. BOOM! Five miles away, according to the old tale he heard once. A second later panicked knocking sounded on his door. Carter stood, wondering who would be at his door so late at night. He opened the door and Felix, clutching a stuffed penguin and a blanket rushed Carter's legs. Carter felt the boy trembling as he clung to Carter, hiding his face. Carter felt helpless before instinct kicked in. He knelt and put his arms around the boy, who clasped his arms tightly around Carter's neck. Carter asked, "Are you afraid of the thunder?" Felix nodded into the crook of Carter's neck.

"Do you wanna hang out with me until the storm passes?" Again Felix nodded. "Okay then." Carter picked up Felix and walked over to the bed. He leaned back against the headboard as he had before, but this time Felix was pressed against his side, Carter's arm around him.

As Felix sniffed into his side, Carter cast about wildly in his mind for something to make Felix feel better. It had been a long time since Carter had had to do the big brother comfort thing. He thought of an idea and leaned his head toward Felix.

"Hey, wanna know a secret?" Felix lifted his face questioningly. "I don't like thunderstorms either." Felix's eyebrows shot up. "Really?" he whispered. Carter nodded seriously. "I used to be terrified of them when I was little."

Suddenly the room lit up drastically as lightning flashed. Felix gasped and dove back into Carter, hiding his face and covering his ears. Carter tightened his arm around the boy counting aloud "One, two, three-" BOOM! Felix shook.

"Well, you know what that means?" Carter asked. Felix shook his head, not lifting his face. "The rain is three miles away. A little old lady in a market in Russia taught me that trick. As soon as the light flashes, you start counting until you hear the thunder. And that's how many miles away the rain is. Thinking about it, it's odd that the woman said miles instead of kilometers."

"Maybe she was magic," Felix whispered.

"Maybe," Carter agreed.

"What made you stop being afraid of thunderstorms?" Felix asked.

Carter took up his storytelling voice, which was better that you would guess. "Well, I was about your age. My dad and I were on a dig in Egypt, along with a few other Egyptologists. One of them had a daughter my age. She absolutely loved thunderstorms. While the adults were working, the two of us would wander around and try not to get into trouble. One day, as the sun started to set, a thunderstorm came up, blocking the sun. I wanted to go back to the tents and hide, but she dragged me out to watch. We hid beneath a half buried doorway to watch. I was shaking, terrified out of my skin. The wind had picked up, the trees were blowing, the rain had started to fall and then all of a sudden, I saw it."

Felix gasped, "What, what?"

"The sun. It came up right behind a pyramid, with all the dark clouds surrounding it. The sun's rays spread out, breaking up the clouds and sending the thunder running. This pyramid was one of the smaller, shabbier ones, but at this moment in time, it was the most glorious of them all. It was like the sun god Ra himself had come to drive away the storm. From then on, thunderstorms didn't seem so scary."

Felix looked awestruck. "That's amazing." He laid his head back on Carter's shoulder. His eyelids drooped. All at once, rain started pelting the roof. Felix's eyes finally closed and he snuggled closer to Carter. Carter smiled at the boy and leaned his head back against the headboard. As he drifted off to sleep, he thanked the little old lady in Russia, the girl he met in Egypt, and the sun god Ra, for dispersing the storms.

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Sadie was pulled out of sleep by the knock at her door. She groaned and rolled out of bed, moving toward the door. She pulled open the door to reveal Walt standing with a worried look on his face. "I can't find Felix. He's not in his room or anywhere else we've looked." Worried herself, Sadie motioned him into the room while she looked for her dressing gown.

"There was a thunderstorm last night, maybe he got scared," Sadie suggested as she pulled her robe around her. "Let's go ask Carter if he knows anything."

Leaving her room and going next door to Carter's, Sadie knocked on her brother's door. He didn't answer. Sadie and Walt shared a look. Walt reached for the doorknob and turned it. The door opened and Sadie walked through, Walt on her heels. Two feet into the room Sadie stopped dead. There was her brother, laying in the middle of the bed on his back, with little Felix cuddled up next to him clutching a penguin, Felix's head cushioned against Carter's chest. Walt grinned, "I guess we know where Felix went when he got scared." Sadie smiled. "Yeah." She silently led Walt toward the door. "He's a good brother."

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A/N: And that's the end. I hope it's not too random. Review, because it's Valentine's day, and I'm alone. But also because you have something to say about my fic. SMILES!