Things were not going to plan. Which, as it so happened, was a plan. It just wasn’t her preferred choice. Luckily, she had yet to die from a series of going through with her boyfriend’s particular style of improvisation.

Annabeth cursed when an arrow clipped her side. She fell for cover.

“Annabeth!” Grover cried.

She waved him off. “Keep playing. I’m fine.”

Her friend was obviously apprehensive but obeyed, nonetheless. Annabeth winced as she felt her side. Painful as it was, it was not something to worry about. She pressed on it. The cut would heal quickly.

She reassessed their situation.

There was a horde of monsters and bad guys armed with close to long-range weapons. They were cornered and were using the mortals’ vehicle as cover. Although Annabeth determined that given the chance, the mortals would take the car to get the Hades out of here, she knew it would be bad if they lost their source of cover.

Annabeth slipped the magazine from her gun. Oh, and they were running out of bullets, too. Fast.

There was a shadow of a figure trying to edge around the SUV. Annabeth took aim, and as soon as the dracaena jumped out, Annabeth fired. Right between the eyes. The monster crumpled to the ground, but not without firing their own gun.

There was a pop! And the side mirror shattered. They all ducked their heads to avoid the glass shards.

“This isn’t working,” Clarisse said, brushing pieces of glass off her arm. “What are we doing behind here?”

“It’s a stalemate,” Annabeth said, making sure nothing else was trying to follow the dracaena’s example. “Right now, we are just waiting for something to change.”

“Waiting for Percy, you mean.”

Annabeth shot at a circling harpy but missed. She sighed. “That or we use up all our bullets.”

Clarisse muttered a curse. “This would be easier if we could see them, these tinted windows are useless.”

Annabeth looked at the broken side mirror. ‘It would be easier if we could see them…’

Picking up one of the large pieces of glass, Annabeth rotated it to get a view of the scene.

She noticed one of the mortals was lying on their stomach, trying to spot a potential shot from underneath the car. That was quite smart. Except that the monsters kept getting in his way. Annabeth wondered how many times he had been in a similar situation.

“They’re playing the waiting game, too,” she noted. Annabeth spotted the woman speaking roughly to a group of telkhines who were awkwardly holding assault rifles. “I don’t think the mortals are thrilled with their ride being caught in the crossfire.”

A sudden commotion caused Clarisse to snatch the glass out of Annabeth’s hand. Her affronted complaints of ‘Find your own!’ went ignored.

Grover gulped. “Are they charging?”

“From inside!” A man said.

“Mortalssss!” A dracaena hissed.

That must be Percy and Gibbs’s team! Annabeth pressed against Clarisse’s side to see.

A couple of Harpies had curiously swooped down low, and a couple monsters turned towards their new assailants, exposing their backs.

Clarisse brandished her spear and grinned at Annabeth. Now was the moment they were waiting for.

Clarisse leapt out, spear crackling, and gutted five of the nearest monsters in seconds. Annabeth followed close by.

Dodging bullets and arrows is no fun. But adding on weaponized monsters and dive-bombing harpies is utter Hades.

Annabeth paused to knife a telekhine in the chest and almost had a bullet replace her left eye. She drowned in the sound of pumping blood. She dived down and let loose the last of her shots only to be forced to roll her way to cover lest she be riddled in holes.

Annabeth paused for a second to get her hearing back to normal. A couple breaths later, she realized that she left Clarisse out there. Scrambling up, Annabeth didn’t even pause to think as she exposed herself to the fight.

Clarisse was thankfully not dead but fighting another four monsters.

“You!” She frothed, and it took a moment to realize that the daughter of Ares was talking to her. “Get your butt back under cover!”

Annabeth’s mouth opened to argue back on instinct.

A dot of copper flew towards Clarisse at lightning speed. With a twist of her arm and hands, the spear whirled into a blur. The monster in front of her lost its dog-head, and the dot burrowed into the ground.

Clarisse glanced at Annabeth, her beady eyes dark as coal.

Annabeth went back behind the car and leaned against it.

Clarisse had just blocked a bullet with her spear.

Annabeth slid down. She replayed the scene in her head and groaned as the world tilted. For some reason, that made her woozy.

She rubbed her head and frowned.

Annabeth looked at her hands. Were they always this red?

…

Oh.

-Ζήβα-

This was a mess. It was quite the miracle that they had gotten out of the building without being shot. The back exit was a narrow passage that would have ensured their doom if anyone from the outside had just shot at random. Thankfully, that did not happen as something had taken the enemy’s attention. Or, rather, someone. Clarisse La Rue, and that was her real name, was surrounded by beings that looked to have been assembled by a drunk. They were creatures with flippers for hands and canine muzzles for heads, what could only be described as snake-people, and banshees with bright wings attacking from above. Clarisse was alone amongst them. And she was menacing.

Ziva felt the hair on her arm rise from the thrum of energy as Clarisse spun her spear, spearing a creature. There was a brief, blue spark, and the monster turned to dust. Ziva shivered. What was that?

Percy ran to Clarisse’s aid.

“Took you long enough,” Clarisse told him and shoved him aside. “This is my spot. Find your own.”

“Where’s Annabeth?” Percy asked.

Movement from the black SUV caught Ziva’s eye. “Gibbs,” she called. It was Underwood, and he was dragging a bloody, pale body.

Jackson saw it, too. “Annabeth? Annabeth! No!”

A wild slash sliced three opponents in half. Ziva’s mouth went dry. They were half a meter away from his sword.

He let out a scream, and the earth responded.

Ziva’s ears popped as the air pressure fell, and the wind rose. The ground beneath them shifted, and suddenly there was water everywhere, flooding the place. La Rue jumped on the hood of the SUV, a manic gleam in her eye as she pointed her spear to the water. The tip was on fire. Was she hoping to put it out or some-

Besides her, Tony cursed, and Ziva quickly followed suit. Tony grabbed her, and together they pushed Gibbs and McGee back inside the building.

They barely made it.

La Rue plunged her spear down. Like it was alive, the water surged and crackled. The air filled with smoke and clouds of familiar golden dust. The ground rumbled in the water’s wake.

Ziva stared, and someone gasped. It could have been her. It could have been all of them.

This was devastating power. Most of the horde was gone, the rest scattered, and Ziva realized that if they hadn’t made a run for it, they could have easily been bycatch.

But they weren’t the only ones to have dived inside for cover.

One of the gunmen had joined them. For a moment, nobody moved. Then, Ziva made eye contact.

He made a run for it.

“Got him!” Ziva shouted in warning as she gave chase. She saw the man fumble with a handgun at his hip, and she dived. The gun was flung to the side as they fell to the ground.

Ziva struggled to maintain her place on top and tried to grab his flailing arms while searching for her cuffs. A knee to her shin threw off her balance, and she was easily pushed off. She quickly jumped back up as the man did the same.

Not giving the man the chance, she struck first.

Ziva punched the man in the face. His head jerked back, bloody. Ziva shot another punch, but the man stumbled to the side and grabbed her arm. Ziva twisted around, bringing the arm close, forcing the man’s arm to bend uncomfortably. She kicked behind his knee. The man grunted in pain, but his grip was vicelike. He went in for her head with his other hand. She ducked at the last second. He quickly brought his arm down, and Ziva hissed as his elbow struck deep in her shoulder. Ziva wasted no time in grabbing the bronze knife at her side and thrusting it into the man’s chest. It went straight in. Ziva stared. No, not in. Through.

Suddenly, she doubled over. The air was forced from her lungs as pain exploded in her stomach. She saw the knee coming but wasn’t quick enough. She saw spots shield her vision, and she heard a crack. Ah, that would be her nose. Hands fisted on her shoulders. She cried out when her back slammed against the wall. The hand on her left shoulder left, and, after a beat, she instinctively tilted her head right.

She heard a sickening noise and a loud curse. She twisted and slashed a palm at the jugular, freeing herself. She took a couple of steps back, putting space between them. She swiped her arm over her brow. The man suddenly relaxed and waved at her.

What?

“Watch out!” She was yanked back, pulled by her shirt. She stumbled back but used the momentum to send a whirling kick. Underwood ducked, and her leg flew over his head. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her back, just in time for the beaten-up SUV to plow passed them.

What was it with these people and trying to run her over?

The car swerved to a stop, and the back door opened. Ziva breathed a few choice words under her breath.

The man hopped in and grabbed the rifle that was on his seat. Ziva went to move out of the way and get under nonexistent cover, but Underwood was already on it. He set his reeds to his lips and played a fast jig. Trees sprung into existence from the empty ground. There were a couple pops as the man’s shots hit bark until the engine revved. The beat-up SUV sped away.

Ziva looked at the tree, then at Underwood, then at his shoeless hooves.

“Uh, thanks.”

“D-don’t mention it.”

Ziva nodded. “So, a satyr, huh. Aren’t you supposed to have horns, too?”

Grover flushed and patted down his mass of curly hair.

Ziva just nodded again. Yup, that completed the picture. It was odd but, she felt at ease with how, uh, unsurprised she was. She’ll think about it later. Probably when the shock kicks in. She turned back to the rest of the action. Right. Sounds good.

Gibbs and McGee knelt around Chase. Tony stood by Jackson’s side, wary and watchful. Clarisse stood proudly in a puddle of muddy water, vauntingly staring down the remaining creatures.

“It’s over Botsaris,” Clarisse yelled. “Give it up, and you’ll have an easier trip to Tartarus.”

Botsaris dusted yellow dust off his navy suit and checked his cufflinks before lifting his chin. “You’re right about that. My trips to Tartarus will never be easier. The mother is waking, and soon you’ll be destroying yourselves. My courage will continue to grow stronger. This is not over until I say it’s over.”

“Then decide that now.”

Ziva almost jumped at Gibbs’s voice.

He stared steadily at Botsaris.

“You lost most of your men and are outnumbered. No one else needs to get hurt.”

“Hurt? You mortals have suffered the most at the hands of the gods these demigods pledge their loyalty to. Countless of your lives have perished on their account. Manhattan and San Francisco being the most recent events.”

Manhattan and San Francisco? Ziva thought of any news from those cities. Right. A couple of months ago, there was massive panic all around Manhattan. There were tons of garbles reports and calls and strange accounts, especially surrounding the Empire State Building. It was written off as mass delusions and hysteria brought on by…what did the report say again? Whatever it was, it had obviously covered up the truth.

“We will take care of them,” Gibbs said. “Now, put down your weapons.”

A dog-faced creature by Botsaris’s side snarled low and long. Behind her, Ziva heard rumbling hisses.

Botsaris smirked. “No. We are not finished yet.”

“Ziva, Tony; keep your eyes on him,” Gibbs ordered. “McGee, Underwood; get her to safety. Jackson, La Rue; stay close.”

Whatever was coming was close.

“I’ll handle the back.”

“Yes,” Botsaris nodded, “Good luck with that. Get them, Tommy!”

‘Tommy?’ Who the f-

“RAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!”

Botsaris smiled a hundred-watt smile.

Gibbs’s voice cut through the confusion. “Drop!”

Ziva hit the dirt, and she registered Tony doing the same. Just in time, too. A massive set of jaws snapped and hissed its way right above them so fast and powerful, it felt as there were several of them. Ziva curled up and protected her head as chunks of debris and dirt were kicked into the air.

She scrambled up to her feet once she felt the ground literally tremble with their new enemy’s landing. Again, she felt her chest freeze.

“Great. Large, sharp teeth,” Tony panted. “I can’t get enough of them.”

Ziva forced air into her lungs. The absolute monstrosity was a huge legged serpent with five, extremely hungry and angry looking heads. Indeed, all five have pristine rows of teeth the size of her arm and sharpened to maximum lethality.

Somehow stuck on the middle neck of the beast was a tag with, ‘Hi, I’m Tommy!’

Ziva was thrown back in time. Sandy hair, hazel eyes- no, not hazel. They were slithering and emerald green, like those of the five-headed serpent monster in front of her.

No. There was absolutely no way the boy and this monster was one and the same. ‘Number 39,’ some part of her brain that sounded suspiciously like Gibbs monotoned, ‘There is no such thing as a coincidence.’

Ziva lifted her gun. Plant feet. Stabilize. Steady arm. Aim. Breathe.

“Take it!”

Ziva shot two bullets in one glazed eye. The beast snarled, and ten green orbs shined with loathing.

The monster gurgled.

Clarisse cursed. “Scatter!”

Ziva rolled closer to the wall of the building. One of the heads spat an arc of putrid looking liquid that shot right down the middle of the street. The ground and random rumble began to disintegrate.

Percy brandished his sword in a practiced whirl.

“Clarisse, how do you feel about beating a Hydra with me, again?”

Clarisse flicked something off her spear.

“’With you, again?’ I did all the work last time, barnacle brain.” She looked at Ziva and Tony. “We’ll deal with the Hydra. You deal with Botsaris and friends.”

Ziva and Tony nodded.

The Hydra sprayed another jet of acid, and the four jumped into action.

-Τιμοτηψ-

“Hey!”

Timothy ripped his eyes from the fight.

“Focus,” Gibbs said, as he finished wrapping Lima’s abdomen.

“Sorry.”

“She’s lost consciousness from loss of blood,” Gibbs said. “Lift her feet. Get her out of here. I’ll cover you.”

Grover followed the instructions, and with Tim taking care with Lima’s head, they waited for the signal.

Gibbs watched the fight for just a moment.

“Go, go, go!”

Keeping low, they made their way out of the backstreet. Stray bullets hit the ground around them.

Tim instinctually looked to the fight. Ziva and Tony were leading the firefight with Botsaris and his flippered friends.

Jackson and La Rue were taking on the five heads. The way they moved around each other and anticipated the serpents’ attacks, reacting with such speed, was captivating. They were amazing. But it wasn’t working. Although it seemed like they were avoiding it if they could, the heads kept being cut off. It would have been reassuring if two more didn’t keep replacing them.

Something tugged on Tim’s sleeve.

“Fire,” Lima croaked.

“Lima!” Tim exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

The group quickly made it to the other side of the street, finally getting to a bullet and monster free zone.

“Annabeth!” Underwood scrambled over, digging into his pockets. “You need ambrosia. Now!”

‘Ambrosia?’

Lima-er, Annabeth ignored her partner and focused on Tim.

“They need fire to defeat it.”

Tim remembered a class at the beginning years of college. “To kill the Hydra, they need to burn the heads after cutting them off.”

Annabeth nodded.

Tim looked at the monster’s base. If he could find something in there…

“Boss.”

“What, McGee?”

“It’s a Hydra. We need something to cauterize the flesh. Without it, every time they cut a head off, it’ll keep duplicating. I think I may be able to find something in the Doughnut store, but-“

“You can kill it?” Gibbs interrupted.

“I- I think so.”

“Go.”

Tim left Annabeth to Grover’s care and rushed back into the fast-food joint. Winding up in the kitchen, Tim started opening cabinets at random.

“Fire. Fire. Fire,” Tim repeated.

Oh, God. If he couldn’t kill a monster dog, how was he supposed to kill something that was bigger, stronger, and had a lot more teeth?

He leaned on the counter and buried his head in his hands.

“Okay, Tim. Just calm down. You can do this. You need fire to kill a mythical immortal being that’s trying to eat your friends.”

He searched his pockets and placed a lighter down.

Hmmm, a good start, but…

He stared at it for a moment.

“I’m going to need a bigger fire.”

He turned in a circle and spotted a fire extinguisher. An idea formed. That could work.

He cleared some space. First step: Always have a clean, organized work area. Second. He grabbed the fire extinguisher. Gather all materials needed.

Tim searched the kitchen and found a valve from some sort of pressure cooker, a pressure pump from another machine, paper napkins, tape, a screwdriver, and oil. Bottles and bottles of oil. Tim frowned. But it was all Olive Oil. So, he went to the coffee maker instead and took all the little plastic packs of creamer powder.

Checking off his mental list, Tim moved on to finally working on his project.

He uncapped the fire extinguisher and dumped the contents in a trash bag, coughing when the powder flew in his face. Although washing the excess out with water would have been preferred, Tim couldn’t risk getting the inside of the tank wet. Not when he was using a dry substance.

Next, he needed to puncture the tank to fit the valve.

He laid the tank down on the racks of a conveyor belt and used one of its levers to clamp it down. He brought the screwdriver up, aimed, and struck down.

“Ack!” Tim dropped the screwdriver and hugged his reverberating arm close. He flexed his hand and took a sharp intake of breath. Not good. He looked at the fire extinguisher for any sort of mark. Nothing.

Shoot! What was he supposed to do now? Something on the floor caught his eye.

It looked like… ah. This was one of the teeth that was trying to snap the team in half before Jackson came to the rescue. What was it doing here? But more importantly- Tim glanced back at the screwdriver- would it puncture the red tank?

There was only one way to find out.

Grabbing the tooth, Tim was surprised to find it was lighter than it looked, but it was as sharp as he remembered. Before striking the tank again, Tim had a thought. He grabbed the screwdriver. He should probably hammer the tooth in, instead of destroying his arm as he did before. Holding the tooth steady against the fire extinguisher, Tim brought the screwdriver up and used the handle to slam on the tooth.

Tim struck once and twice. On the third hit, he almost lost hold of the tooth as he suddenly lost resistance.

Tim lifted the tooth and gawked at the hole he had made.

Woah! What the hell was this thing made of? Tim was really glad the hellhound hadn’t wrapped its jaws around anyone. Even bulletproof vests wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Plugging in the valve, Tim started to fill the tank with creamer powder. Once he was done, he would pump the pressure in, attach a napkin to a rod and tape that to the tank.

Hopefully, everyone was still okay out there. Tim cut another batch of coffee powder packs open. If they were, he prayed that his makeshift weapon worked.

-Περσεύς-

“Percy! Stop cutting the heads off!”

“Geez, I’m sorry! If you would stop trying to stab me, maybe that would happen!”

“It’s your own fault! You’re too close to it!”

Percy’s blood boiled. He began to snark back but saw two younger-looking heads coming at him for a Percy-tasting snack. He rolled out of the way from one head and used his sword to deflect the second one coming from behind. Percy felt his sword slice through monster flesh. Shoot. Why was it that every other monster had tough skin, while this one was as susceptible as an army knife through butter?

Percy backed away as the stump started to stitch back together. A ball of flames appeared. With a ‘Fumpf!’, the neck burned and blackened. The other heads hissed at the loss of their brethren and turned to stare at the new attacker.

Agent McGee held a fire extinguisher aloft, and the heads swarmed around him. Every time he moved the tank, they backed away and tried another route.

“Percy! Be useful and keep cutting the heads off!”

Percy resisted the urge of snarling right back at Clarisse’s pug face and focused on hacking away.

It was amazing how much easier it was to handle a Hydra with a flamethrower at their disposal. The Hephaestus cabin probably had a few in their stockpile. Percy should probably look around their workshop, again. The Hydra was soon just a pile of dust.

“A fire extinguisher turned flamethrower,” Tony noted, joining them. “Nice work, McGee.”

“We are not in the clear yet.” Ziva motioned to Botsaris and his small entourage. “Our guns may not be as effective, but they are certainly made for hands and not…whatever they have.”

“Flippers,” Percy supplied helpfully, watching as the monsters fumbled with the rifles they had dropped, “and, uh, snake arms?”

Botsaris rolled his eyes. “Ugh.” He squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Why do I continue to accept green recruits? Fight them, you fools!”

Clarisse stomped her way towards the trembling group of telkhines and dracaenae. She dealt with them so quickly, Percy almost felt bad for them. Clarisse ended with her spear point by Botsaris’s neck.

“You are done, Markos Botsaris.”

“It’s not over while I’m still on this plane, mortal.”

Clarisse sneered. “Such courage for someone who had his comrades take the hits for him.”

Botsaris lifted his chin. “You have seen little of what I have done with my battle-strength and bravery. My courage is of a spirit hardened enough to make my mother proud.”

“Your mother?”

“Alke, the spirit of Courage itself.”

Percy never heard of her, but Clarisse perked up. “Isn’t she displayed on the shield, Aegis?”

Botsaris’s smile disappeared. “Yes, she is. The Gods offended greatly, belittling my mother to a gorgon. Without her, your arrogant father would be nothing more than a whimpering mess.”

Clarisse swung her spear with a yell. The son of Alke ducked and rammed his shoulder into her. Percy drew Riptide up and struck down. Botsaris blocked with a knife and circled Percy close, forcing Percy to step back out of the fight.

For a breath of a second, no one moved.

Botsaris came at them like lightning. Percy felt his instincts take over once again. He dodged and jabbed, but Botsaris was on a completely different level than the run-of-the-mill monsters he kept by his side. Even the Hydra with its acid and multiple, regenerating heads just did not compare to the craftsman of expertise.

Percy was vaguely aware of Clarisse and the two agents fighting beside him. As much as he loved Riptide, going against a skilled knifeman was tricky with a sword. He had a bad feeling about what could have happened if Agents Ziva and DiNozzo weren’t there to fight knife with knife. They were trained federal agents. There was no way Botsaris could win against them.

Tony hit the dirt.

Okay, maybe he could. Percy moved in, but the girls had him covered. Clarisse spun her spear like a staff, locking Botsaris’s arms. Ziva’s fist collided with his face resulting in a solid ‘Crunch!’

Botsaris’s usual perfect face distorted, either by pain or from the physical impact of the punch, Percy couldn’t tell. His face scrunched into something similar to a deformed pumpkin and roared. He slashed at the mortal agent, and in one swift motion, he was disarmed, and Ziva’s celestial knife carved through his chest.

Botsaris’s eyes went wide in shock. “You… mortal... impossible...”

He collapsed to dust in Ziva’s arms.

Ziva stared at the sand. “Where do they go?”

Clarisse went up to help brush her off the monster dust.

“Tartarus,” Percy said, “He’ll be there until he climbs back out.”

“He’ll be back?”

“Monsters don’t really die,” Percy said, “They just respawn.”

“What’s Tartarus like?” Tony asked.

Percy shrugged. “Never been. I hope I never do.”

He looked at McGee. “Annabeth. How is she? Where is she?”

“This way.”

McGee led them away. Annabeth was sitting, propped up on the wall with Grover and Agent Gibbs beside her.

“Annabeth!”

“Hey, Seaweed Brain. Thanks for helping them, McGee.” She tilted her head. “Is that a fire extinguisher?”

McGee lifted his makeshift weapon. “Extinguisher turned producer.”

“Really saved our skins,” Percy said.

“But what about you?” McGee asked. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better, thanks.” Annabeth lifted her bloodstained shirt. “All healed up.”

“But-but you were- “

“They have pretty effective medicines,” Gibbs said.

“Like what?” Tony said. “I see a lot of blood.”

“Ambrosia,” Grover explained. “Food of the gods.”

“’Gods,’” Ziva mumbled, touching her neck.

“’Food,’” Tony mirrored, rubbing his stomach.

“Won’t work for you, though,” Annabeth said, “It will literally burn you up.”

“Good to know…”

“Is the Hydra gone?” Annabeth asked.

“Yeah,” Percy said. “Botsaris and his group of monsters, too.”

“The humans were able to flee.” Ziva was transfixed on how the blade of the celestial bronze knife slipped through her arm like it wasn’t even there. “At least, I assume they were human.”

Annabeth hoisted herself up. “They were part of the Reynosa Cartel.”

“They were here for ‘Rovers,’ but I doubt they’ll be back for business,” Percy said.

“Especially with NCIS involvement,” Annabeth said.

Tony chuckled. “And let’s not forget your involvement, too.”

“The case is closed,” Annabeth said, “I’m sure you got Michael’s killer, didn’t you?”

Gibbs nodded. “We have a lot to talk about, Ms. Annabeth Chase.”