Chapter Twenty

Annabeth knew the moment she saw Percy walking back into his childhood home she was going to be there. Watching the Attack on Washington had been hard enough before he arrived, but the tidal wave that announced his presence, the thunderstorm of divine proportions—everything that had followed had been terrifyingly awe-inspiring. Grover and Juniper had shown up at her apartment twenty minutes after the footage first started streaming in, hair frazzled and eyes wide, and the trio had watched Percy's arrival together. She had seen Grover mouth 'Holy Hell' to himself at the wave summoned, and she couldn't help but repeat it aloud.

Then the group—the Argonauts, according to the Amazonian—went into the ship. Or egg. Whatever it was, and they didn't emerge for nearly two hours. Percy was not one of the ones to walk out—in fact, they never even saw him leave. It was only an annoyed Praetor who snapped during an interview when the Press Secretary claimed that he had defeated the leader of the attackers that the truth came out—Percy had been the one to win the fight, and had been critically injured in the fight, before being snuck away to heal.

Then it was a week of waiting for news. The Argonauts were surprisingly tight-lipped about Percy, and even while they returned to their homes, apparently no longer working together, they stayed silent on the matter of Percy. It was frustrating, and her increasing anger was only broken by his sudden reappearance in Montauk. She was on a flight that night, somewhat amusingly next to a clearly annoyed Jason Grace of Aquila News.

There was, naturally, a crowd gathered around the new gate outside the Lighthouse, but Annabeth shoved her way to the front, ignoring the indignant cries from onlookers and other news reporters, Jason trailing behind and apologising for her, like she had anything to be sorry for.

"Perseus Jackson, I know you can hear me!" She yelled at the camera, "and if you don't let me in this moment, I swear to God I will shove that trident of yours so far up your—"

A hand clasped over her mouth, and she realised that among the crowd was a bunch of kids wearing shirts with Percy's face on it. Oh. She didn't need to be traumatising them just yet. Maybe when they were older. Luckily, she didn't have to be embarrassed for long, because the gate clicked, slid open just enough for her to slip in while Jason stopped anyone else from following, and then slid closed. She heard people calling out to her to get a comment, but she steadfastly ignored them all as she marched up to the attached house.

The door swung open easily, and she found Percy sitting in the nook that had been Sally's office when she needed to do Lighthouse related paperwork.

"Well you don't look like you had a near death experience," were the first words out of her mouth, to her horror. Percy arched an eyebrow at her after spinning around in his chair. "That's what everyone said happened."

"The damage to my face is gone, but you should see my torso," he said. "There's also the fact that I had a divinely-induced heart attack, and mine's still a bit weak."

It took her a moment to comprehend the words.

"You had a…a heart attack?" She scrutinised him carefully. "Percy, those things can be genetic, your mom—"

"Stop."

One word, not even said forcefully, but she obeyed without any hesitation. When did he become so commanding?

"Annabeth, I am well aware what happened to my mother. It was a physical trauma induced heart attack as a result of my home being attacked by the mercenary your father hired." There was no emotion in Percy's voice, nothing to indicate what he felt about the topic. "But that was a genetic flaw that belonged to my mom, as much as I hate to say it. My body is different from hers, and up until a weak ago, it was believed I couldn't even have a heart attack. People much smarter than you in the topic did all manner of tests."

"…it was something you were worried about," she realised.

"After mom died I…wasn't in a good space," he admitted. "I left because I was hurting, and because…well, my mom asked me to go find my dad. He was dead for a year by the time I arrived, but my brother took me in. After I got comfortable, I asked the physicians to take a look at me. Even by Atlantean standards, I'm exceptionally powerful. They're not sure if it's just…luck, or if the merge of human and Atlantean genetics made me so. It's why I was never sick as a kid, for one thing. But I literally cannot naturally have a heart attack. My body's just too strong."

"Are you…okay, now?"

"I'm healing," he answered, "I won't be back to full strength for a few months, but that still makes me miles above most people. My plan is to lay low until I'm good and ready, and then get back to work."

"Work being…?"

"Well, I've been a little distracted lately, so piracy has picked back up in the Pacific and off the coast of Africa. Some of my new friends promised to keep an eye on the worst of it for me, but it's really my ballpark." He explained, a glimmer in his eye that Annabeth had never seen before. "But you didn't come here to hear me talk about my work. I'm not actually sure why you're here. Last time we talked, I not so vaguely threatened you while my compatriots destroyed all your research." He eyed her suspiciously. "You're not planning to try and kill me, are you? Because much more powerful people have tried and failed."

"You got me," she rolled her eyes, "after making a scene in front of a massive crowd, I'm going to publicly execute you on live television to make a statement to the world about the dangers of friendships with non-humans."

"Well, if it's for a good cause," Percy shrugged. "Why are you really here?"

Annabeth bit her lip as she thought about her answer. Eventually, she decided for the cold hard truth.

"I was worried about you." She admitted. "They said you were hurt, but not where you were, or if you were doing better. I didn't really think this through, either. When I saw you going home, I booked a flight, packed a carry-on bag, and came straight here. No plans beyond that."

"Huh."

"I just admitted that I did the most impulsive thing in my life and all you can say is 'huh'?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Percy said. "It is one of the most impulsive things in your life, so I'm a little off guard. I wasn't expecting to see you, Annabeth. I was kind of hoping not to have to see anyone for a while, at least. But I'm nothing if not nice. Call Helen and tell her you'll be staying with her or ask her for a decent hotel. I'll talk to you properly in…three days. Sound good?"

"Are you kicking me out?"

"Yeah, I am," He nodded, and began crowding her towards the door. "Trust me, it's better this way."

"That makes no sense!" She exclaimed, "how is this 'better?'"

"Annabeth, I'm not going to argue with you," Percy said firmly. "Come back in three days. We can talk then."

"Give me at least one good reason, then." She demanded, crossing her arms.

"I—Neptune's balls, I forgot how stubborn you could be," Percy sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Alright, here's a good reason—while we were talking, one of my associates reached out to me and told me that there's a mercenary team coming to grab me while I'm weak, probably working for the government through multiple levels of cut-outs. They'll be here at some point tonight, and I want you far away."

"What."

"Lots of men with guns coming to steal me," he said slowly. "I'll handle them, but you can't be here. Three days, Annabeth."

"Three days." She confirmed. "If you're not here, I'm storming the White House myself."

"Deal," Percy grinned.

It made her feel a bit better that he wasn't as worried as she was.

XXXXVXXXX

It had been Nico—Ghost—that had reached out to Percy mid conversation with Annabeth, hence his ineloquent 'huh' while talking with her. The news of the strike team was unsurprising and unwelcome, but he'd handle it as he did all other things. Getting Annabeth to leave had been a hassle, but he accomplished that goal as well. After that, it was Jason, who had overheard and offered to help, but Percy managed to talk him down, far easier than it had been with Annabeth.

The rest of the time he spent preparing by moving anything of value into the safe in the master bedroom, taking all the photos off the walls and putting them inside drawers, and otherwise ensuring that only bodies would be broken if they impacted the wall. He hadn't done this the last time, when he was in Chiron's home, but they hadn't exactly had prior warning at the time.

It was nearing midnight when they finally arrived, coming out of the water like idiots. There was only one way up from the ocean-front, unless they planned on scaling the bluff, which he doubted. There were no good handholds, so they would likely come up the winding path. He could just sweep them away with a wave of his hand, but…where was the fun in that?

Instead, he left his door open, all the lights off, and stood in the darkest corner he could find. His eyes, adapted to seeing in the black depths of the deep sea, weren't affected in the slightest. In fact, for Percy, it was harder to see during the day than it was at night, but that was a more recent development, after his years in Atlantis. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Chiron or Artemis, who had grown up underwater.

The first of the mercenaries came in cautiously, night vision goggles over their eyes so they could see. Percy wished he had the actual ability to hide in the shadows like Ghost, but instead, he just moved carefully, knowing where he'd be out of sight, when they'd lose track of him, et cetera. There were seven of them, and they were carrying big guns. Like, Elephant Gun calibre, if he had to bet. There would be no direct contact tonight.

He took out the man who brought up the rear first, waiting until just after he confirmed they were clear, and then yanking him out and flinging him several hundred yards into the ocean. If he was a good swimmer, he'd be fine. Otherwise…well, people drowned all the time. Percy wouldn't lose any sleep over this one.

The others quickly realised something was wrong when their now long-gone teammate stopped responding to their frequent check ins. At that point, it was too late. One turned towards Percy and was shoved backwards so hard he cratered the wall where he hit it, sliding down it and going still. The one right next to him had the sides of his neck squeezed hard enough that he passed out in seconds before Percy let him go. He slid over a counter, ended up between two men, grabbed them by the heads, and knocked them together. Five down, two to go. This was like stealing candy from a rock.

He found them staring at the trident, which was leaning against the wall of his bedroom. One of the men radioed whoever he was reporting to while the other went to secure it.

"HVT still not found, but secondary objective has been located. Securing now."

Percy barely heard the affirmative but decided enough was enough. He swept forward, jabbing his elbow into the first man's head and knocking him out cold before swatting the gun from the second man and grabbing by the throat. Not hard enough that he couldn't breathe, but the mercenary. knew he was screwed.

"The rest of your team has been dealt with," he told him, "not just that guy. I like to think that I'm a generous man, but you broke into my home, after I went through all the effort of securing it from people trying to break in. I guess I didn't think about the waterfront. Silly me. Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't introduce you to my favourite shiver of Great Whites?"

"I'm just a hired gun, man!" The mercenary squeaked. "I'm not worth anything!"

"Not helping your case here, buddy," Percy growled, "who hired you?"

"There were so many layers, we don't even know!" Not surprising, but Percy would milk this. He squeezed just a little. "Please, I'm telling the truth!"

"Sure you are," Percy chuckled. "Your heartbeat is going wild though, so I'd never be able to tell. Let's try a different question. Who do you work for?"

"This was freelance!" The mercenary was struggling in his grasp, feet kicking as they searched for some form of purchase. "One of my old army buddies reached out to me, offered me a stupid amount of money to join him for a strike. We were told you were basically crippled!"

"By who?"

"I don't know! None of our information came from any direct source. It was all encrypted to hell, and we'd never be able to track down the original sender if we tried."

"Who's your buddy? Is he here?"

"His name is Luke Castellan. He's not here." The man finally stopped struggling and just went dead in the body. Still alive though, so he had that going for him. "He put us together."

Percy blinked once, twice, and three times before an idea struck him. He pulled the radio from the man's vest, yanked out the headphone cable, and thumbed the receiver.

"Luke, this is Percy, you there?" He asked. There was several moments of silence before—

"Yeah." Man, it had been years since he had even thought about Luke Castellan. And now he was hiring people to kidnap him and steal his Trident. Was it…was it because of high school?

"Is this because I broke your jaw in high school?" Percy was taking no chances.

"No."

"So you just became an evil bastard because you could?"

"Who said anything about evil, Percy?" Luke replied. There were no background noises he could make out, unfortunately. "This is a paying job. A really well-paying job. And you're non-human anyways, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. You should do me a favour and kill these guys. I don't want to pay them if they've cocked it up this badly."

Oh, he was one of those guys.

"I'll keep it in mind," he said, before crushing the radio in his hand and looking at the merc. "What's your opinion on the whole 'killing you' thing?"

"I'd…prefer that you didn't?" He tried, and Percy had to admire him for that.

"So what happens if I let you go?"

"Well, my old army buddy just told you he'd rather have me dead than paid, so…not go back to him seems like the smart choice." The man said slowly.

"Oh, I like you. What's your name?"

"Chris." The man said. "Chris Rodriguez. I'd shake your hand, but…"

Percy lowered him to the ground and took a step back.

"One of your guys is in the water, pretty far out. Strip these guys of their weapons and armour and carry them back to your boat, and then go somewhere Luke can't find you. Come back in a week, and we'll discuss your future."

"Future?" Chris blinked.

"Consider this to be me hiring you, Mister Rodriguez," Percy grinned, "if you can get your team aboard, I'll pay you more than you've ever been paid in your life."

"You live in a lighthouse."

"I can also see and breathe underwater. Don't you think I would have found some things down there that could make a man rich?" He countered. Chris considered his words and then nodded.

"Alright, not like I have anything better to do. Thanks for not killing me, I guess."

"Don't thank me yet," Percy laughed, "you don't know what I want you do to yet."

He blinked at Percy, then removed his vest and pouches, before doing the same thing with the last man Percy had knocked out, slinging him over his shoulder, and carrying him out of the house. A man of his word, at the very least. Percy didn't help him at all, just watched, and Chris didn't complain that Percy was just watching. A man with common sense as well. He didn't even know what he'd do with a team of mercenaries. He'd figure something out. He always did.

XXXX

The next morning, a squad car pulled up outside his house, and there were two officers waiting outside the gate for him to let them in. He ambled his way down to see what they wanted and nearly tripped over himself.

"No freaking way," he said, staring at the two officers. "How the hell did the police let you two degenerates on the force?"

"Nice to see you too, Percy," Travis Stoll greeted him. "We don't have a record, remember?"

"Damn, you're right," he laughed. "Connor, Travis, what can I do for you?"

"We had a team on security last night, and they thought they saw a group of men enter your house. They decided to let it be, but we thought we'd check in. Need us to help you hide the evidence?" He couldn't tell if they were being genuine or not. He had been friends with the Stolls throughout middle and high school, and they were good friends to have, but helping Percy cover up murder? He didn't think they were that good of friends with him. That was more Grover and Annabeth.

"No one died," he rolled his eyes. "I do have seven ballistic vests and some rifles though. Do you guys want them?"

Connor and Travis exchanged looks before shrugging.

"Sure. Might get us a promotion."

He helped the brothers load the equipment the mercenaries had brought, they exchanged information and the promise to talk more again, and they drove off. Percy made it all the way back to his house before he was met by another unwanted guest. A very, very unwanted guest. Fiery redheads were dangerous enough on their own. When they were Atlanteans, they became even more dangerous.

Artemis hit him with a haymaker that probably would have shattered his jaw if he hadn't rolled with it, and he still ended up biting his tongue hard enough to draw blood.

"Not cool," he spat the blood on the ground. "There'll be no fighting here, Artemis. I won't allow it."

"You won't allow it?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "You do not get to tell me what I can and can't do, Percy!"

"You're right, I can't," he nodded, and she seemed taken aback by his agreement. "But Triton, as your betrothed, can. Do I need to get him involved?"

"Is that what this is about? The engagement? I don't particularly care for it either, but I'm doing my duty."

"Is it that easy for you?" Percy asked her. "To just…see it as doing your duty and damn everything else?"

"What are you talking about?" She demanded. "You acted weird after I told you, and then you nearly got yourself killed, and that stupid Amazonian woman claimed that I was at fault for your reckless nature—"

"She said what? Is that what sparked that fight?"

"So I demand an explanation, Perseus!" She finished as if he hadn't spoken, "what about this has upset you?"

He was hit by a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"You don't know." He said quietly. "Neptune's Beard, Chiron had told me I was as obvious as a whale, so I assumed you knew."

"Knew what, Percy?" She placed her hands on her hips. "What is so profound and important that you'd avoid me as you have? I had to interrogate the Queen-Mother to find out where you'd gone, because Chiron wouldn't tell me! No one would!"

"Artemis, just…for a moment, shut up and let me think," Percy raised a hand.

She didn't know that he…cared for her. Percy barely realised how much he cared for her until she had dropped the bombshell of her engagement on him. Triton obviously didn't know, but he was less at fault than Percy would like to think. If he told her…things would change. He honestly didn't know if she reciprocated, because sometimes it seemed like a yes, and other times, it seemed like she didn't realise that he had been flirting with her. Sometimes he didn't realise he was flirting with her either. Percy…didn't have a lot of experience in the subject. If he told her the truth, things would go badly. For everyone. Even Percy wasn't that selfish, even if he wanted to be. He bit the bullet.

"I was planning on leaving Atlantis," he said. "For good. We were going to finish up in the Pacific, and then you and Chiron were going to return to Atlantis, and I was going to come here. I was surprised by your engagement, is all. I thought we'd have had more time, but we didn't."

Artemis recoiled as if he had slapped her.

"Were you going to tell me?"

This was the part he wasn't looking forward to.

"No." He said quietly. "You didn't need to know."

"Didn't need to—how dare you! After all we've been through, you were just going to discard me like…like—" she trailed off and glared furiously at him. "Very well. I imagine I'll see you at my wedding. Farewell, Prince Perseus."

He tried not to flinch at her words. He only had himself to blame, after all.

"I imagine not, Princess Artemis," he replied. "May your life be a blessed one."

She didn't dignify him with a response, instead leaping back into the water. There'd be a ship nearby that would take her back to Atlantis, and then she was really going to be gone. He wasn't lying anymore.

Percy wasn't going to go back to Atlantis.

End Book One: Go into the Water

MMXX

There we have it! Book One complete, and it only took me like, a day and a half to write this chapter! We had a couple of things happen, most important being the 'end' of Percy and Artemis if you could call it that. They're not in love, because I didn't write them that way, but they had the potential to be. It's not seen because frankly, I didn't write this story very well at first, but Percy and Artemis spent years together in Atlantis, and then about a year together doing superhero stuff. From now on, Percy's going to be the sole Atlantean operating on the surface, and while Book Two will have some scenes in Atlantis, most of the book will deal with the newly founded Argonauts, the changing world in the aftermath of Atlas' invasion, and Percy's recent discovery regarding Luke. I also (re)introduced the Stoll brothers, though calling it a reintroduction is a bit facetious because they were mentioned in about one line in the first chapter. I don't know enough about cops to know if brothers could be partnered up together, but I couldn't resist the irony of having the Stoll brothers be police officers. One of the things I want to write is just how normal the people Percy grew up with are. Annabeth is wicked smaht, because the plot demands it, but Grover works for an environmental group. The Stolls are cops. More will be seen.

As always, feel free to leave a review, or send me a PM! I am now moderating guest reviews because people feel the need to test my patience and ask the one question I explicitly asked to not be asked. Granted, one was a cheeky-breeky boy who asked if I was updating Eternal, which told me that they had not looked at Eternal in a long time because I posted an update regarding that whole situation. Please don't make me slam my head into my desk in frustration, dear readers. I barely have enough brain cells as it is.

Finally, I'm going to work on the Interlude, which is Ch. 21, and then I'm going to turn my focus to Filii Deorum. I'll keep working on Book Two, of course, which now has a name to be revealed at a later time, but the majority of my attention will be on FD. Once that's done, I'll come back to this.

Cheers,

CombatTombat