𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚 𝕗𝕖𝕞

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Chapter thirty five

(Great news! We can commit arson next week because then I get my grade in music!)

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(Great news! We can commit arson next week because then I get my grade in music!)

**<<*>>**

Piper didn't want to wake Thea, but when they got to the airport she realised she'd have to do some convincing up front.

Air traffic control didn't want to let an unscheduled helicopter land at the Oakland Airport, so Piper got on the radio and used the voice that had been given by her mother.

Then it turned out to be no problem.

Thea was still just half-awake when they landed, and she had to use Leo as support after she'd tried walking and almost collapsed.
Her ankle wasn't looking too good. A little like Piper's had looked after they fell from the dragon the first time.

They unloaded on the tarmac, and everyone looked at Piper.

"What now?" Jason asked her.

The uncomfortableness on her face was obvious, and Thea realised at once.
Piper didn't like to make decisions that would affect others. She was afraid whatever decision would be the wrong one.

"First thing," Piper said. "I - I have to get my dad home. I'm sorry, guys."

Thea tried hard not to show her disappointment. She didn't know why she was feeling so negatively towards Piper leaving them to help her father, but the daughter of Hades couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Oh," Leo said, clearly disappointed as well, but he understood. They all did.
"I mean, absolutely. He needs you right now. We can take it from here."

Piper looked over at Thea, hoping she had a different answer.
For some reason she wanted the girl to insist she went with them and left her dad in the care of someone else, but she quickly realised just what she was thinking and cleared her head.

It didn't matter anyway. The daughter of Hades was looking at her dirty converse and seemed to be doing anything but meeting Piper's gaze.

"Pipes, no." Tristan McLean had been sitting in the helicopter doorway, a blanket around his shoulders.
But he stumbled to his feet and moved towards his daughter. "You have a mission. A quest. I can't-"

"I'll take care of him," said Coach Hedge.

Every demigod in the room stared at him; most in surprise.
Thea figured they hadn't imagined the coach would ever volunteer to stay with them to the end of the quest. That he'd take care of someone instead of fighting.
But Thea knew.
He was a protector, not a fighter (well, he was both, but his title was protector).

"You?" Piper asked.

"I'm a protector," Gleeson said. "That's my job, not fighting."
He sounded a little crestfallen, and Thea realized maybe they shouldn't have recounted how he got knocked unconscious in the last battle.

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