Intrusive Thoughts

                                    

                                          
"Are you alright?" I asked Jason.
Jason, Gwen and I rested near the entrance of the cavern, far away from the others while they packed and cleaned themselves up. Jason sat on a green crystal, Gwen sat crosslegged on the floor in front of him, and I leaned on another large crystal beside him.
Jason fiddled with his armor. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine." 
Gwen and I traded glances. Gwen scooted closer to Jason. "Are you sure?"
Jason pulled at the straps of his armor, as if they were too tight. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you keep asking me?"
"Well," I began. "You were asked a morally grey question and you gave a rational answer to said question."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "Is that bad?"
Gwen played with the small rocks on the ground. "No. It's not. It's the most realistic and logical answer to that kind of question."
"An answer that someone like Annabeth would give." I added.
"But," Gwen continued. "That's not an answer Jason would give."
Jason eyes darted between us while he pulled on his armor straps, hard. He diverted his gaze to the ground. "What? We're you both expecting a speech or something."
Gwen and I nearly gasped when we glanced at each other again. He was deflecting. Another example of non-Jason behavior.
Something was definitely wrong.
Gwen stood up. "Okay, let's stop beating around the bush here. Jason, what's wrong?"
Jason kept his gaze pointed at the ground. "I'm fine."
I pushed off the crystal to stand besides Gwen. "Yeah. Your being uncharacteristically stand off-ish right now."
"How so?" Jason asked, while he re-strapped his armor. 
Gwen lightly knocked on his head. "Jason, c'mon, your being annoying now. Just talk to us."
Jason's hair sparked, zapping Gwen. "Ow!" She exclaimed.
Jason raised his head, his electric blue eyes glowing with anger, but it quickly faded into guilt. "Gwen, I'm sorry...... We need to focus of finishing this quest and ending this war. I'll be with the others."
Jason summoned the winds and shot up into the air towards the others. 
Gwen flicked her hand. "Gods that hurt."
I stared at Jason while he walked aimlessly between the others. Trying to look busy, but not doing much at all. "Something happened while he was away." I said.
"Clearly." Gwen said. "We can try interrogating Percy."
I dug into my pocket and grabbed Jason's..... Our coin. "No, he's right. We need to focus on the mission ahead. We just need to trust him. He's never let us down before."
Gwen's good hand found itself wrapped around her necklace gifted to her from Ben. "Even the best of us can fail, Rey."
********************
"Rebecca, report." Max ordered, his back facing her as he analyzed the war map laid across his table. 
Rebecca swallowed, glancing nervously at the golden sword resting in Max's hand. She readjusted her armor, careful to not let the note she received from the Dakota slip out from beneath it. "The Greeks have arrived in Colorado, having crossed the Kansas border an hour ago. They should arrive by nightfall via the Nature Center."
"Good." Max noted, his eyes still trained on the war map. "Status on the legion?"
"Ready for anything and everything." Rebecca said. "Sentries have just cycled out shifts. Scouts are strewn all across the valley. We've experienced some delays from scouts patrolling around the Trading post to the southwest. There not meeting their reporting deadlines."