Uniting As The Ten- Part Two Of The Conclusion To The United Series

Chapter Three

Jason's POV:

There are gunshots coming from the living room. Without any thought or hesitation, I flip my gold coin, catch my sword and rush out of the room. Hundreds of Mogadorians swarm the John Hancock, attacking everyone. I quickly fight them back, killing each Mog that comes near me.

A Mog soldier in front of me is a bit quicker than me, though. He manages to kick me in the stomach, causing me to stumble back. He kicks my legs in and I fall on my hands, my gold sword skittering away from me. The Mog cocks his pistol and aims it at me. I try to back away, but the Mog pulls the trigger before I can do anything.

But the bullet doesn't hit me. Right before the Mog pulls the trigger, another Mog tackles him to the ground. He unsheathes his Mogadorian sword and stabs the Mog that tried to shoot me in the chest. He turns to ash and the Mog who saved me turns around to face me. Ivan. Of course it's Ivan. You have one conversation with his guy and he's already saving you.

"Thanks." I thank him. I stand up and hold my hand out for him. He grabs it and I lift him to his feet. The moment I let go of him, though, he stumbles forward into me. I grab his shoulders and push him back, confused until I see the look of pain on his face.

"What...?" I start and he answers my question without saying anything. He places his hand on his side and stumbles forward again. I lay him down on his back and lift his shirt up to show the bullet in his bleeding side, and I know what he did. He didn't just tackle the Mog, he jumped in front of him to stop the bullet from hitting me. Stupid Mog trying to be a freaking hero.

"Oh gods." I mutter, pressing onto his bleeding side. I look around but don't see John or Marina anywhere. There's no one around to heal him.

Ivan groans in pain and I look down at him. His breathing is short and heavy.

"What the hell did I tell you about trying to not get yourself killed?" Ivan croaks, a stupid smile forming on his face.

"You're the one dying you idiot!" I shout at him frantically, still pressing down on his bullet wound. He winces in pain as I apply more pressure.

"Don't worry, I've been shot before." Ivan says. I sigh and look around again. Still no sign of John or Marina.

"Watch out!" Ivan yells at me, then tackles me to the ground. He shouts in pain and when I look up again, a Mog soldier has a dagger stabbed in Ivan's shoulder. STUPID Mog trying to be FREAKING hero.

My anger fuels and I push the Mog off of Ivan, who automatically falls to the floor. I grab my Imperial gold sword from the ground and stab the Mog with it. He quickly turns to ash and I turn back to Ivan, who's almost unconscious.

Scratch that. He's almost dead. He's barely breathing, and whatever breath he takes it shaky and heavy. He's not moving at all.

Gripping my sword tightly, I grab Ivan and throw him over my shoulder, rushing to a random room. Ivan groans in pain as I place him on the bed in the room, making sure to not dig the dagger deeper into his shoulder.

"Okay, I'll be right back." I tell Ivan before rushing out of the room and searching the whole penthouse until I see John Smith fighting off the Mogs with his diamond edged Loric dagger.

"John!" I exclaim frantically, grabbing his wrist and dragging him to the room. He follows me without question, and I pull him into the room, where Ivan still lays on the bed, breathing shakily and heavily.

John automatically goes up to Ivan, examining his dagger and bullet wounds. Though he's in obvious extreme pain, Ivan flinches whenever John touches his abs or chest when John lifts his shirt to see his bullet wound.

"Sorry." John mutters, then yanks the dagger out of Ivan's shoulder. Ivan whimpers in pain and bites his lip, shutting his eyes tightly. When John's done healing Ivan's stab wound, he lifts up his shirt to heal his bullet wound in his side, causing another flinch from Ivan.

"Thanks." I thank John, but something's off. Ivan's breathing is still shaky and his pale face is tinged green.

"What's wrong with him?" John asks and I rest the back of my hand on Ivan's forehead, pushing his messy black hair back a bit. I pull away automatically, the heat nearly burning me.

"He's burning up." I reply. John hesitates but slowly pushes Ivan back a bit to show his right shoulder, the one that was stabbed. John inhales sharply and I don't bother asking what's wrong. I don't even want to know.

"Poison. The dagger was poisoned." John informs me, laying Ivan down again.

"Can you heal poison?" I ask him, a little frantically.

"I don't know." John answers and now I feel hopeless. I don't want him to die, not yet.

John glances at me and sees the worry on my face. "I'll try." He mutters, placing his hands on Ivan's shoulder again. Ivan winces and I can almost feel him slipping away.

After a few moments, Ivan seems to relax a bit more. The green in his face fades away and his breathing turns normal again. I breathe a sigh of relief and John looks puzzled.

"Since when do you care about Ivan so much?" John asks me and I shrug my shoulders.

"Since a few minutes ago." I reply. John doesn't ask any questions. He just walks out of the room, leaving me with Ivan.

"Aw, you care about me." I hear Ivan call to me, his voice deep and shaky. I turn back to him and he has a small smirk on his face.

"Sure, Ivan." I tell him, sitting on the bed next to him where he lays.

"You're such an idiot, Ivan. Why would you...?" I sigh in exasperation, briefly touching his right shoulder.

Ivan just shrugs. "Because maybe I care about you." Ivan replies, now smiling warmly at me.

"Well maybe you shouldn't." I add in with a teasing voice, gently pressing my hand against his forehead again. Ivan chuckles, but that quickly turns into a hoarse cough. I pull my hand away and gods the heat is horrible.

"You have a fever." I inform him.

"No I don't. I don't feel anything. I'm fine." Ivan replies. I raise an eyebrow at him and step off the bed.

"Okay. Get up on your own, then." I order him, my arms crossed. Ivan shrugs his shoulders and lifts himself off the bed. The moment he's standing on two feet, though, he stumbles forward and falls. I catch him and chuckle, lifting him up and placing him on the bed again.

"Don't touch me you idiot pinecone." Ivan mumbles at me and I raise my eyebrows.

"Pinecone?" I ask. Ivan laughs and starts playing with my blond hair.

He is definitely sick.

-INSIGHT-

The seven demigods were at Camp Half-Blood after the eidolon blew up New Rome but before the final battle with Gaea was near because of the butterfly effect. The Argo ll was nearly destroyed by Mogadorians on their way to Rome and it was so badly damaged that they had to go to Camp Half-Blood to repair it, which is where they met Max.