tratie oneshots

{ aftermath }

words: 740

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"Where is he?"

"I'm looking for Travis Stoll, son of Hermes, have you seen him?"

"Miranda! Do you know where he is?"

All the head shakes, the pitying glances, and the simple "no"s were causing Katie's voice to rise in pitch and convey just how desperate she was.

They had won the war, defeated Kronos and the other Titans.

But had they really won?

Silena Beauregard  was gone, Charles Beckendorf was gone, and so many other nameless and faceless demigods that Katie had never even bothered to talk to during the leisurely days of past summers.

True, they hadn't suffered as bad as they could have, but that didn't mean that all the fallen suddenly mattered less. So many people were safe; Katie caught glimpses of Clarisse La Rue helping the wounded get to medics, Connor Stoll pulling food and other rations seemingly out of thin air, and more that her mind was too full to process.

One person was missing, though.

Katie hadn't seen Travis since the battle had begun.

Travis, her first friend, who later became her 'enemy'. She almost laughed out loud at the term. There was no way he was her enemy anymore.

In fact, he'd never truly been her enemy. The pranks he played on her never harmed her, no matter how annoying they were. They had been friends - maybe not the closest of friends - but still friends nonetheless.

What a perfect time to realize that.

It seemed like the Fates were playing a cruel joke on her. They had won the war, she had no place to be upset because one person was missing. One person who she had always claimed to be enemies with.

And yet she kept screaming his name until her throat was hoarse, pleading with any demigod who passed by, letting herself show more vulnerability than ever before.

As desperation seeped into her words, pity filled theirs. They thought he was gone, and she couldn't blame them. The chances did seem slim. But as Travis himself had said, just earlier that week, "A ninety-nine percent chance it'll go wrong still leaves room for me to be the one percent!"

Katie had laughed at him then, calling him an idiot. Now she hung onto those words like they were the last she'd ever hear from him. It was quite possible that they would be.

She stumbled into the lobby of the Empire State Building, waving off Apollo campers who tried to assess her wounds. If Travis hadn't showed up yet, something had to be wrong with him, something much worse than any injuries she'd suffered.

She scanned the campers in the lobby as best she could, but it was hard to discern who was who through all the bandages.

Someone tapped lightly on her shoulder, causing her to spin around, hand drifting to her knife at her belt.

Auburn curls.

Cerulean blue eyes, but they seemed slightly off.

"Hey, Katie, have you seen Travis?"

Connor.

"No. You haven't either?"

Connor shook his head, eyes glimmering with fear, "Not yet."

For a split second, Katie considered the proposition that this could be some elaborate prank, but pushed away the idea. They were dramatic, but not this dramatic.

Someone else walked into the lobby, but Katie paid them no attention.

She was trying to imagine a life with only one Stoll - something that she would've fantasized about in years previous - and could feel a fresh wave of tears approaching.

"Was anyone gonna tell me we won?"

Katie snapped her head around so fast that she thought she might give herself whiplash, but she didn't care in the slightest.

That voice.

His voice.

Without thinking, she sprinted forward, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He hesitated for a second before hugging her back, chuckling slightly, "Finally come to your senses, I see."

She couldn't even bring herself to smack him this time, "Where were you for the past half hour?"

"Were you worried about me, Katie-kat?" that warranted the smack.

"Yes, in fact, I was."

This caught him off guard, but he recovered quickly, "That doesn't sound very enemy-like, Kates."

"Darn, I guess that means we can't be enemies anymore."

"What a shame."

Pulling away from their hug, Katie felt a smile tugging at her lips as she stretched out her hand, "Friends?"

"Friends."

-

okay what even is this piece of cRap-

i was really inspired to write this, but i'm not sure how much i like the end result

anyway, bye!

~~