"The end does not justitify the means. I hope you realize what you’re doing is wrong."

"I knew you will say that. And I know it's wrong but really, this is not a regular day where everything is just sunshine with a little rain on the side. We're in the middle of war. If we don't survive today, then the rest of the world will be damned and all the right things wouldn't matter anymore."

He smiles really widely, feeling glad she is okay. He takes the jeggings, "Oh, by the way, have you seen Sean?" he furrows his brows. "I mean, I haven’t seen him for a while and I didn’t ask about it to anybody since I just remembered a couple stuff a few days back." he licks his lips and waits for an answer.

Jo frezes upon mentioning Sean. The tears cascade from her eyes before she could even stop it as the sheathed dagger in her weapon belt felt cold. "Oh gods, you forgot as well, didn't you? You forgot that..." She was not able to continue because she felt scared again and at the same time, she felt bad for Rhys. Jo was not as close to Sean as Rhys but his death had been painful to her. She just couldn't imagine what the guy would feel.

"You can be scared."

"I know." Jo says while holding back her tears. "But I can't win if I appear scared. According to my favorite quote in the Art of War, one should appear brave when scared, and appear scared when you are feeling brave. Or something like that. I read it in French so I'm not sure what is the exact translation."

"Oh well, I hope it’s still where I left it." She sighs and then she stops when they’re at Mrs. Fields’. 

Holding Harley by her wrist, she stands in the store. "Well, it's close. Do we break in or not?"

Viv shrugs and returns to looking through shirts. “I just don’t know if it’ll be the same, y’know? Since all the running and the screaming and the bus riding went down, the vibes for shoots have been pretty dark.”

"Yeah, well, it's going to be edgy so it's not so bad." She plays along and suprisingly,she finds herself relaxing. "And you know, a dying minotaur at the background will definitely add character to the shoot."

"Oh. I guess you are good now though, since you’re pretty much clothed now."

"Absolutely!" She says with fake enthusiasm. "Here," she hands him a faded blue jeggings. 

He looks at her in a very concerned manner. “It’s fine and I’m glad I’m here to comfort you.” He then shows her his phone. “Oh, I’m just trying to find an outlet.”

Johanna gratefully smiles at him and sighs. "Thank you. Well,I need to go and find a pharmacy. See you around?"

Dahlia pulls away at the same time, nodding. “Her presents at camp. I’ll give it to her when we get back” She nods, blinking up at Jo. “No. I just got done wandering around with Kelsey, I think I’ve got everything I need. What do you need from the pharmacy?”

"Mine too. I hope it is still when we get back. If we..." She shakes off the negativity in her head and just smiles at her. "I just need to get some painkillers and refill my stock for my first-aid kit."

"Actually, no…and I’m a little worried. What if I like, don’t win ‘Prettiest Perp’ in the Port Authority Pageant?” She makes a playful pout while holding a shirt up for Johanna to see.

"Well, there's always the Camp Half-Blood's next top model, I guess." She retorts back, then cringes at how lame her joke is then she just proceeds with putting on a jacket. 

"Why does everyone think it’s suddenly okay to rob stores. We got permission, yes, but do you honestly think they’ll be compensated?"

"Uhm, well, I don't think it's okay really. But the store is already open and I never really had clothes for this kind of weather so yeah, I thought I will save myself from hypothermia."

"Yes."

"Oh, well, I was just changing into more comfortable clothes. I had sunny dress on so... Uhm, well, what are you doing here?"

Viv stops rifling through clothes to look at Johanna. “Nah, man. Just got here.” It’s a lie, but she sticks to it.

"I see." She said with a relief. "Found something you like?" She asked while looking for a jacket to wear.

After saying goodbye to Kelsey, Dahlia placed her stuff down with her makeshift bed with her siblings. Then, against her better judgement, she decided to explore on her own. Her own stress levels had significantly lowered since her trip to the busses, but she was still scared. Every once in a while, her hand would tremble without her knowledge or she would jump at the smallest of sounds. She finds another empty store and ooks inside before discovering Jo. She watches her friend for a minute before Jo sees her. She stays silent, quickly walking over and hugging her friend tightly before nodding.

Sure, the daughter of Ares knew that Dahlia made it safe in the buses and into Port Authority but it didn't stop her from worrying too much about her. Hugging her tioghtly, Jo felt a wave of relief took over her when she finally saw her in the flesh but the worry for her and pretty much for the ones she loves is still surfacing. "I'm so glad to see you."

"I know, Jo. I am too. All of us are." He falls silent and he lets the silence between them be comforting, he also puts an arm around her and he uses his other hand to rub circles on her back to comfort her.

Placing her arms around his waist, Jo just let it all out and cried. As moments passed by, she felt better and as her mind became less clouded, she realized that she might holding him back from whatever he was supposed to do. "Oh gods, sorry." She said as she pulled away with a small laugh. "You probably have somethin' better to do." Wiping her tears dry, she grabbed her weapon belt and strapped it around her hips. "Are you looking for something?" 

He takes the sweater from her. “Thanks.” He notices she’s somehow red. “Why are you red?” he asks her out of curiosity. 

She was looking through the racks of pants when he noticed her being red in which made her even more blush. "It's nothing, Rhys...It's just...It's cold? Oh, look!: She said raising a black denim then frowned. "Ah, nevermind. You will have a hard time moving with this." 

He cups Johanna’s cheeks and make her look at him straight in his eyes. “We were friends. We are still friends. And I’m sorry I was a shitty friend to you. But I’m here now.”

She pressed her lips together as she looked him the eyes and then nodded. "I'm...I'm just really scared okay." Jo admitted before burying her face on his chest and cried.