Scars

It wasn't even Jason who first noticed the scars.

He had just walked in the front door of his apartment when he found himself slammed against the wall. His blue eyes were wide and full of confusion as he stared back at his sister's blue eyes which were full of anger.

"Uh Thalia?" Jason asked slowly. "Mind letting me go?"

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Thalia yelled back.

"Calm down. What did I do?" Jason asked her trying to pry her arms off of him.

"Don't fuck with me Jason!"

"Thalia I don't think this is the best way to go about this," a voice put in.

Jason managed to look past his sister to see Thalia's boyfriend, Luke Castellan, standing there. "Thalia," Luke said stepping forward and putting a hand on her shoulder. "What did I say about trying to be understanding? Let him go and then we talk- without yelling."

Jason had never particularly liked Thalia's live in boyfriend since all he did was eat the food Jason bought, but now Jason was grateful the older boy was there.

Jason looked back to Thalia who after a moment released him. She stepped back and pointed to the couch. Jason raised an eyebrow but nonetheless put his bag down and sat down on the couch. Thalia stood arms crossed while Luke took a seat in the arm chair.

Jason looked between the two for a moment waiting for them to speak. While they both watched him Jason couldn't help but notice the matching scars on their faces looked more prominent.

"Why Jason?" Thalia asked finally. "You know you can talk to us."

"I know that," Jason nodded. "I don't know what's going on here though."

Luke nodded toward Jason's arms. "I-I saw your wrists this morning."

"My wrists?"

"Yeah..."

Jason raised an eyebrow confused and rolled up on his shirt sleevesonly to drop his mouth open. "What the hell?" Upon his inspection he could see small lines- scars on his wrists. "How did these get here?" He wondered aloud rubbing his wrist confused.

"Wait," Thalia said. "You don't know?"

"I don't. I feel like I should know, but I don't."

"Could be your soulmate," Luke commented. "I always thought you'd be forever alone, but whatever."

"He might be if he soulmate keeps this up," Thalia said grabbing Jason's arm to look at it herself. After a moment Luke joined her. Jason too stared at his own arm as he tried to make sense of everything.

"Whoa look," Luke said as a small thin line appeared amongst the others.

Jason watched as the line was etched into his skin and his sucked in breath quickly as a wave of emotion rolled over him. He couldn't tell what they were, anger, sadness and more, but it was gone just as quickly as it came.

Jason's eyes widened and a shivered covered him as he looked up to Luke and Thalia his eyes wide, "What the hell is happening to me?"

~~~~

"It's been three weeks," Piper said staring at the unusually empty bean bag chair in her room. "Three weeks and I still feel weird looking over to see that you, stupid chair, are empty."

There was a short pause before someone sat down in the chair and looked at her. "Better?"

"No. You're not real."

"Ouch Beauty Queen. That stung a little."

"Go away unless you want to bring the real Leo back," she told him quietly.

Leo stood from the beanbag and walked over to where Piper laid on the bed but his feet never once made a sound. He frowned at her. "You shouldn't be doing that."

Piper followed his gaze to her bloodied wrist. "I deserve it. I killed you."

"Well in your defense- since you don't seem intent on defending yourself," Leo started. "I should've never hot wired that car like you asked me to. It certainly wasn't our best idea. But now you can cross stealing a car off your bucket list."

"I'll cross off killing my best friend too," Piper said bitterly.

Leo sat down on the bed and lay next to her but Piper didn't even feel the bed move underneath  what was supposed to be added weight. "Well if you won't think about yourself, think about your soulmate. The poor guy must be very confused right now."

"You know I don't believe in any of that shit," Piper said looking away from him. She couldn't bear to see how translucent he looked.

"I know that," Leo told her now appearing in front of her. "I also know that your vision didn't just go from perfect to horrible in a matter of days naturally. I think your guy wears glasses."

Piper didn't respond and instead reached out to touch his face but Leo shook his head and moved away.

"You need to stop this Piper," Leo told her. "The crash wasn't your fault. That asshole cut us off-"

"We shouldn't have been in the car. We should've never stole it."

"Exactly, we. I'm just as at fault as you are."

"We're both at fault, but only you paid the price," Piper replied tears welling in her eyes. She suddenly sat up and threw her arms out to pull him close. But his wispy form slipped through her fingers and disappeared causing her to cry even harder. She sunk to the ground and pulled her legs to her chest as she sobbed. Her gaze was blurred with tears but even so it once again fell upon to empty bean chair. "Why did it have to be you?"

~~~~

Jason couldn't sleep.

Every time he was about to fall asleep another wave of sadness- no it was more than that. It was a mix of emotions: lonely, furiousness, disgust, and emptiness all rolled into one.

The feeling came again and again.

He wanted nothing more than for all of this to stop so he could sleep. What was his soulmate going through? He wondered vaguely. What could possibly make a person feel like this? Well not actually you like this, Jason was only feeling a portion of his soulmate's emotions. This wasn't even the full strength of what is soulmate was feeling.

Jason stared up at the dark ceiling just as another shiver seized his body. When it subsided he took a deep breath. "I wish I could help," he mumbled to the air.

~~~~

"You don't look so good," Luke commented a few days later when Jason walked in the kitchen.

Jason sat in a chair and placed his head down on table. "I haven't been sleeping," Jason told him reaching forward blindly for the bowl of fruit which usually sat on the table. His hand closed around an apple and he pulled brought to his lips and took a bite.

"Were you up studying again?" Thalia asked him. "It's a Saturday. If your gonna sleep till two in the afternoon don't do it because of school."

"I think it's my soul mate," Jason yawned. "I keep getting hit with random waves of emotions and they tire me out. Usually I end up feeling really sad- no worse than sad. Guilty, and worthless. But then it's gone, but then it's back. It's tiring."

"Yeah I got no advice there," Thalia told him sitting herself on the table. "All emotions I got from Luke were usually hunger related."

"You're not much better," Luke frowned.

Jason quickly gasped and held his body tight as. He felt them once again. His vision swam as felt it. He was worthless, nothing, no one. He felt a sharp spike pain which was gone as quickly as it came. Then when it settled Jason found himself lying on the floor Thalia looking down at him worried.

"Go lay down," Thalia ordered when Jason tried to sit up.

"It's not me!" Jason protested standing.

"But I've gotta work and I'm dragging Luke to find a job," Thalia argued. "I can't watch you so I can't have you collapsing. It's best you lay down."

Jason groaned, but didn't argue and went back to his room. He sat on his bed only to frown realizing he had left his apple.

Jason sighed and his body seized as he felt again. When it subsided he found himself laying on his bed and was suddenly thankful he wasn't standing. He scratched the back of his head trying to figure out what to do when his eyes landed on his reflection, but when he did he only noticed his arm. He arm which scratched his head had more scars than it did before.

"What are you doing?" Jason whispered to himself as he shifted his gaze to stare at it.

"Jason we're leaving! Call if you need something!" Luke called from out the room.

"I won't!"

~~~~

"Piper you need to stop!" Leo shouted from where he stood in front of Piper. "My death isn't your fault!"

"What do you see in the mirror?" Piper asked him.

Leo blinked and turned to face it. "Us. More specifically your bloodied arms. You need-"

"In that mirror I see the face a murder." Piper responded looking to her reflection.

"You're not just a murder," her reflection told her. "You're pathetic too. You can't even just take your life. You just sit here and bitch. Pathetic."

Tears flowed faster down her face as she picked up the razor once more ignoring Leo's shouts of protest.

~~~~

The lines kept coming.

More and more frequent. And Jason couldn't do much more than watch his arms in horror. He bit his tongue hard as his soulmate's emotions hit him full force. His soulmate wanted nothing more to die. The guilt she was going  through too much.

When the feeling subsided, the lines didn't and Jason bit his tongue as he tried to figure out what to do. Suddenly an idea came to mind.

A stupid idea.

A very very very stupid idea. But Jason couldn't think of anything better and his soulmate needed his help now. He hurried up and ran to bathroom searching around for something- anything that could work. Finally he found a pack of razors. He opened the pack and broke open the razor so he was just had access to the metal. He grabbed it and ran back to his room and shut the door tight even though he was the only one home.

He pulled off his shirt and held the razor to his upper arm and took a deep breath.

~~~~

Piper glanced at herself in the mirror.

"I am pathetic," she told her reflection as she stared into it.

"You're not," Leo argued pulling at his fair frustrated, but Piper ignored him.

"I know," it responded with a smirk. "I know."

She looked down at her bleeding arms when a spike of worry covered her. But why was she worried?

She looked back up into the mirror and her eyes widened to see lines appearing on her upper left arm. She hurried looked down and watched her arm as more lines appeared. The sense of worry continued as more and more lines appeared before Piper released the lines formed words: ur not alone.

"You're not alone," Piper read aloud.

She stared at the words perplexed as another rush of worry and pain washed over her.

"I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you so. Soulmates exist," Leo told Piper sitting next to her to watch at the scars on her arms. "He feels what you do," Leo continued nodding to the words. "He feels your pain, and now you feel his worry for you."

"I'm not alone," Piper said quietly after a moment. "I'm not alone," she said again surprised to find a small smile on her face. She looked to Leo who smiled back at her, finally she looked at herself in the mirror. "I'm not alone," she told her reflection.

"I know," it responded.

~~~~

"You could've hurt yourself bad," Thalia said as she helped Jason bandage his arm.

"But now she's not hurting herself," Jason smiled. "And based on the feeling I'm getting, I don't think she will again."

"I think it's cute yet stupid. Like a dark chick flick or a Lifetime movie," Luke put in.

"You watch Lifetime?"

"The TV wouldn't let me change the channel."

"Sure."

"I'm not lying!"

"It's okay babe," Thalia told him. "I'm only judging you slightly."

~~~~

"How was I supposed to know that when I got a tattoo you got one too?... I wasn't thinking about researching it. I just wanted a tattoo, so I got a tattoo!"

"Percy for the last time can you just not put your dirty clothes all over the floor?" Jason asked his roommate years later as he threw a pair of swim trunks at him.

Percy pulled the trunks off his face. "Just text me when you get here," he said to the person over the phone before he hung up and looked to Jason. "I got back late from practice give me a break," he said getting off the couch and headed back to his to his room to put the trunks in the hamper.

"It's not just that," Jason replied shaking his head when Percy returned. "You're a messy person in general. You left the kitchen a mess the other day."

"You should be happy, I made you lasagna! And I cooked therefore you clean."

Jason rolled his eyes. "How did I get stuck with you as a roommate again?"

"Because you would've lost the apartment without my half of the rent," Percy reminded him. "Now I have an off topic thing I've been meaning to ask you."

"What?"

"That's a scar right?"

"Huh?"

"The words on your arm."

"Scar," Jason answered glancing down at his arm. "Why?"

"Oh it's nothing."

"What is it Jackson?"

Percy shrugged and picked up his phone as it buzzed. "I mean I could easily tell you which girl on this planet has the exact same scar as you do, but then again why would I do that for someone who just yells at me after I make him pasta."

Jason's eyes widened. "Tell me!"

"Will you get off my back?"

"No. You need to be cleaner. But please tell me."

Percy shrugged. "I guess you don't wanna know then. Unless you wanna stop being a neat freak..."

Jason groaned. "F- Fine yes, just tell me."

"Her name is Piper," Percy nodded with a smug smile. "I met her through Annabeth. She's pretty cool. Clearly you'd like her."

Jason stared at Percy for a moment. "C-can you introduce us?"

Percy smiled and stood as someone knocked on the door. He went to open it and let the two girls behind it in. Jason watched them confused, one was Percy's girlfriend Annabeth, and the other girl was one he didn't recognize. She had choppy brown hair with a feather in it. But Jason found himself looking into her eyes which seemed to change color behind her black glasses.

"Jason, this is Piper. Piper, Jason," Percy said.

Jason glared at Percy. "Did you plan th-"

"Well Annabeth and I have places to be!" Percy interrupted hurrying out the door and Annabeth followed him out.

Jason looked back to Piper. She gave him a  smile. "Thank you."

"For what?"

Piper had been wearing a sweatshirt which she pulled off and she held out her left arm with the words carved into it. "This. I-I had just lost my best friend at the time-and well, this helped me through a lot. So first off I just wanted to say, thank you. Thank so so much you Jason."

Jason nodded unsure of what to say and they stood in silence for a moment.

"So," Piper started. "Is it your fault that I have glasses?"

"Yeah... is it your fault that I have a small burn on my forehead?"

"My mother insisted I curl my hair and it didn't end well," Piper responded. "But seriously, how do manage to get a scar like that on your lip? People always ask me about it and I can't give them an answer."

Jason grimaced. "When I was little, I... I uh, tried to eat a stapler..."

Piper couldn't hold back a laugh and Jason blushed.

~~~~

Piper sat talking with Jason for hours. Initially she had assumed they'd go out somewhere but simply sitting there with him was more than enough.

After a while she  excused himself to use the bathroom and when she entered the room she saw as someone else appeared in the mirror.

"You're still not alone," Leo told her. "And with him around I doubt you will be again. So you don't need me here. It's been years Piper, it's time to stop blaming yourself, and stop standing in this bathroom. Your soulmate is out there idiot! Go get him!"

"You're the idiot out of the two of us," Piper muttered.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just let me go and go grab him."

Piper turned to Leo and put her arms around him as if she were really touching him. "I'll miss you."

"Please Beauty Queen, you can never get rid of me completely. You're not alone, remember?"

Piper smiled and wiped a away a tear that was coming as his form disappeared. She took a moment to compose herself before she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at her reflection which spoke in unison with her, "I remember."