Once everyone had been gathered and names were introduced, Dean couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. Here he was, talking to a bunch of teens. Godly  teens. Who, he will admit silently to himself, could legitimately kick his ass if they so choose to. He's seen how Percy fights, he wouldn't bet anything that the other demigods could fight as well as Fishboy.

"How's Percy?" A young African American girl, around the age of thirteen with caramel hair and gold eyes, asked. Hazel.

Dean glanced behind him, to make sure that neither Sam nor Percy were coming up. He didn't mention that he was planning on contacting the other demigods and telling them what he and Sam had found out.

Besides, Dean thought to himself. It's not like they're the enemy or anything.

"He's holding up," Dean replied, clearing his throat. "He's sleeping right now."

"But he is getting better, right?" A big Asian kid with a military haircut spoke up next. That was Frank.

Dean nodded. "Sam and I think so, yes."

Truthfully, Percy has been getting better physically. So it's not a complete lie. But mentally? Dean didn't have a damn clue on where to start.

He didn't want to say any of this out loud because the kids looked as if a big weight had been lifted off their shoulders. All except one girl who had curly blonde hair with thunderous grey eyes. Dean had to rack his brain to reach the, admittedly scary, blonde girl's name.

Annabeth. That's what it was.

She seemed to narrow her eyes at him, as if she knew that Dean was hiding something from the rest of the group but she didn't say anything. But in all fairness, she did seem relieved to hear about Percy, so Dean's going to count that as a win.

"So, what's the word?" Jason changed the subject, getting down to business, to which Dean was grateful for.

He told them about what happened between Percy and the gargoyles, which had Annabeth interrupting him and corrected him, saying that they're Scythian Dracaena, also known as dragon women. Then, Dean explained what Percy had told him and Sam, how Lucifer and Michael told said demigod that Tartarus had brought him back for "something big". Even as he was talking about them, Dean couldn't bring himself to say how the two archangels were taking their frustration out on the poor kid, tormenting him every waking moment.

"What are they planning?" A hyper-active Hispanic kid, about fifteen years with curly brown hair and a tool belt strapped around his waist, wondered. Leo.

"More importantly," Annabeth cut in for the first time since she's been introduced. "Why was Percy resurrected freely?"

That caught Dean off guard. "Wait, what?"

"Percy was resurrected freely?" Annabeth repeated herself, crossing her arms over her chest. That confused Dean even more.

"I thought you guys met a demon that killed him?" Dean questioned.

"We did." Jason agreed. "The same demon that killed Percy also brought him back to life." He hesitated briefly, as if remembering the turn of events, before continuing his explanation. "He tried to persuade us into making a deal, but he stopped halfway. It was as if he was listening to something in his head. Then he changed his mind and brought Percy back and he vanished."

A million thoughts swarmed through Dean's brain, none of them good. "You said the demon asked you for a deal?"

"Yeah." Jason nodded, his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.

"And he just randomly stops, listens to the little Jiminy Cricket in his head and bam! Percy's breathing again?" Dean might know who was behind all of this, but he wanted to have all his facts lined up.

"Pretty much, yeah." Jason paused, wondering what Dean was going on about. "Why? What's wrong?"

Dean ran a hand over his hair then brought it down to rub his face. "This is so not good," he muttered under his breath. He glanced up at the group of demigods in the Iris-Message in front of him.

"Okay, listen up," Dean began. "Whenever demons make a deal. The person who made said deal gets ten years before hellhounds come barging through the doors and drag them down into Hell."

"But none of us made a deal with the demon," Hazel said.

Dean nodded. "I know. That's the shady part. No demon can bring a person back from the dead without making a deal. It's impossible."

Unless the demon is higher up on the food chain, Dean silently said to himself.

"So you think that Tartarus somehow told the demon to bring Percy back to life?" Annabeth questioned.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "That's exactly what I think."

Suddenly, as if the day couldn't get any worse, a scream pierced Dean's heart, making his body weigh down in dread.

Percy.

"Dammit," Dean hissed under his breath. "He was finally getting some sleep."

"Dean!"

Dean cursed silently. He'd forgotten about the other demigods.

He turned to face them and saw that they were wearing the same expression, as if they knew who was screaming his heart out.

Jason looked shell-shocked. "What the-?"

"Listen, guys," Dean quickly interrupted. "I-I gotta take care of this-"

"DEAN!" Sam's voice echoed throughout the bunker. Dean knew he had to get to Percy as fast as he could, but he couldn't leave without telling the kid's friends.

"I'll call you later!" Dean shouted over the screaming as he sprinted through the corridor. He later realized that he should've ended the call, but as of right then, that was the least of his concerns.

Dean burst into Percy's room and the scene before him made his heart fill with concern.

Percy was thrashing around on his bed, tears streaming down his cheeks. But what really broke Dean's heart was how broken the kid's eyes looked. The usual bright, mischievous look in his sea-green eyes were now dull and listless. They reminded Dean of a china doll-empty, lonely, and fragile, as if a single misstep would result in having all the broken pieces lying on the floor.

That's how Percy was right now. Broken inside and out.

Dean saw his little brother try to comfort the younger boy, but his attempts were futile. No matter what Sam said, Percy would continue to thrash around, screaming, calling out to the people that he loved. People that he needed at his side right now, but unfortunately weren't there.

Dean rushed to the other side of the demigod, trying to capture his flailing limbs. And also avoiding the kid's tears.

"Percy!" Dean tried to wake the kid, but to no avail. Sam had sprinted out of the room, probably to grab a glass of water. And Percy must've noticed sensed the younger brother leaving, causing him to grow even more agitated.

"Percy!" Dean tried again. "Hey. C'mon, buddy, you gotta wake up. You're going to hurt yourself, kiddo." Even though he felt like losing control of himself as well, Dean managed to make his voice sound calm, like when he and Sam were younger and he tried to calm Sam down whenever he had a nightmare.

Gradually, the screaming and thrashing slowed down, until it was reduced to whimpers of pain. Dean breathed out a sigh of relief. Thank god that was over.

And yet again, Dean wasn't surprised when his luck turned sour.

There was a loud CRACK and Percy was suddenly squeezing his eyes shut, curling up into a ball and started to scream out in pain.

"Aw, shit." Dean lowly said. "Should've knocked on some wood then."

Fortunately, Sam appeared, carrying three water bottles and the first-aid kit. "What the hell happened?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I don't know. He calmed down for, like, five minutes then the next thing I knew, something snapped and Percy was trying to become the next human ball!"

Sam wasted no time in opening a water bottle and pouring it all onto the trembling teen.

Nothing happened.

Sam frowned, cracking open another bottle and dumping its contents onto the teen. Still, nothing happened.

Dean shared a nervous look with his younger brother as he was prepping to open the last bottle, when slowly but surely the water moved across the demigod and to his injuries he received from his little "visit" from Michael and Lucifer. Then his eyes popped open.

For a silent moment, no one dared to breathe a word.

Then, Sam cleared his throat. "Percy?" He made his above slightly above a whisper, so he won't startle the shaken demigod. "Are you okay?"

Percy took a shuddering breath before covering his face with his hands.

Sam and Dean shared a quick glance with each other before bringing their gaze back to Percy when he started to speak.

"They-they're getting worse," Percy admitted so softly, that Dean had to lean close to the kid to hear what he was saying. "The dream, the-the taunting..." he trailed off, leaving Dean and his brother to wonder what else had happened.

Percy uncovered his face and Dean lost another piece of his heart when he saw the kid's broken eyes. The sea-green eyes that were now full of pain and misery. Dean decided right then and there that he never wanted that look shown on Percy's face ever again.

Dean placed a gentle hand on the kid's knee and waited until Percy looked over at him. Once he had the demigod's attention, he gave the younger boy a soft smile. "No matter what you're going through, just remember that Sam and I are here. We'll help you get through this."

Percy gazed at him with a hint of hopefulness once again shining in his eyes. "Promise?" He quietly asked.

Dean chuckled and shook his head in amusement. Just like Sammy. "Promise."

Percy's eyes shifted to a spot somewhere just behind Dean and his eyes widened. Dean turned around and saw the other demigods through the Iris-Message.

Dean closed his eyes. "Crap." He turned his body fully to face the, most likely, furious demigods. "How long-?"

"Long enough," Frank answered, his brown eyes showing concern for his friend.

"Percy?" Hazel carefully asked. "Are you okay?"

Dean glanced back at Percy to see that the kid had hardened the look in his eyes. "I'm fine," the lying demigod replied. Apparently, someone doesn't like to show his weakness in front of his friends, Dean mutely observed. Just like someone he knows.

"What are you guys doing?" Percy cleared his throat, making his voice sound as though he didn't just go through hell ten minutes ago.

None of his friends seemed to like it, but they must've sensed that Percy wasn't in the mood for the spotlight at the moment, so they humored him.

"We were just checking up," Jason replied. "Dean explained to us what's been going on." Percy slightly flinched at that, but if anyone noticed, they didn't let on.

"I just wanted their opinion on the matter," Dean explained to Percy and Sam.as to make amends for not telling them what he was going to do. "See if they had any insights on Tartarus."

"Could've just asked me," Percy mumbled under his breath. Dean shot a quick look at the misty image of the other demigods who were giving him a warning glare in return.

Percy wasn't paying any attention to his friends; he was too busy staring Dean down with his baby seal eyes.

"You were sleeping," Sam jumped in. "Dean didn't want to wake you. You've barely been getting any rest for the past few days. So, Dean decided to ask your friends instead."

Dean gave his brother a grateful look before turning his attention back to the demigods in the mist.

"I just have one question, though," Dean confessed. "When I left to go help Percy, the Iris-Message was still in the hallway. So how-?"

"We followed you," Annabeth interrupted. "We saw you with Percy and..." she trailed off, her gray eyes focused on her boyfriend and vice versa. She took a deep breath. "And that's where we are now."

Dean looked over at the demigod lying on the bed. His eyes might've been dulled at the moment, but Dean saw a hint of light breaking through the darkness when Annabeth spoke.

"Annabeth..." Percy whispered brokenly.

Annabeth gave him a watery smile. "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

"I'm sorry." Percy cleared his throat. "I just-"

"I know," Annabeth said.

Percy's eyes were slowly closing, but he fought them to keep staying up and talking with his girlfriend.

"Go to sleep, Percy," Annabeth insisted.

"We'll be right here," Sam agreed. Percy looked back at his friends.

"Seriously, man," Jason spoke. "Get some sleep. We'll see you soon."

Percy's eyebrows slowly scrunched together. "You're coming here?"

"Well, that's the general idea." Leo's voice suddenly popped up from the side. Dean was wondering where the Latino elf went. "Just so we can have cuddle time."

Dean let out a small chuckle at that and turned around just to see Percy, fast asleep.

"Won't he still have...those dreams?" Frank nervously asked.

Dean shook his head. "As far as we know, after Percy wakes up from the first time around, he'll go back to sleep without any nightmares." He frowned. "Why do you ask?"

The demigods gave each other uneasy looks until Piper spoke up.

"In the weeks leading up to the day he left, Percy would wake up from a nightmare only to go back to sleep and have another one," she explained. "It was as if-"

"They needed something else from him," Sam piped up. He glanced down at the sleeping Percy before bringing his eyes back up to the six demigods. "Well, so far that hasn't happened," he said. "Maybe that's a good thing."

The Iris-Message started to dissolve suddenly. "When are you guys getting here?" Dean quickly asked.

"About a day, at the latest," Annabeth answered, her voice getting fainter. "Tell Percy we'll be there soon and-"

The mist dissolved completely, cutting off whatever Annabeth was going to say. That left Sam and Dean alone in Percy's room, with said demigod softly snoring away.

Dean looked at his little brother, knowing that he was thinking the same thing he was: Someone-something-else was giving ideas to Tartarus. And whoever it was, they want a war. And they want it badly.