Author's note: I miss going to dim sum with friends, ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns everything here and also every single bit of my soul.

Warnings: Post-Tartarus PTSD

Keeping the Lights On

This time

When the lights die

And there's nothing left to say

That's when you'll need me

-"When the Lights Die" by Boyce Avenue

"Thank you for indulging me," Sally said, fidgeting with the sheets draped over her son. Percy grinned back at her, looking quite comfortable.

"I can put myself to bed," he promised.

"I know," Sally said, bending down to kiss his forehead as if he was small. "You haven't been around to be my little boy for months now, I'm overcompensating just a little bit."

"That's okay," Percy said. Of course, he had visited a few times since the War with Gaia had come to a close—Sally had been much more of a mess the day after the last battle when he had shown up at her doorstep, Annabeth in tow. He'd been unshowered and exhausted and there was a cut on his cheek that she hadn't liked the look of at all—but she had never been happier to see him. Tonight was his first day back from a summer at camp, where he'd been busy mending and cementing ties with the Roman camp, helping both demigod worlds rebuild, teaching swordplay, and hopefully relaxing by the canoe lake that he loved so much too.

She and Paul had driven to Camp Half-Blood to pick him up that morning, making dozens of additional stops so that she could indulge her morning sickness and puke out the window. He'd been packed and ready to go, sitting under Thalia's tree and laughing with friends, chugging cans of Coca-Cola. On the drive home they stopped at a chip truck with a great view that they liked, and Percy had wolfed down enough hotdogs for Sally to realize that his appetite has easily doubled during his time in California and gods knew where else he'd been. They'd given him time to unpack before luring out of his room by playing all the Shark Week documentaries that Paul had recorded and saved for him. He'd nearly cried at the smell of New York pizza for supper, which they had eaten plenty of in front of the TV. She had also made him a cake, welcoming him home. Double chocolate with a thick layer of ganache in the middle, of course. It had been a good day, as far as Percy was concerned. It could have used a little more Annabeth to hit all the notes, perhaps some Tyson, but he had seemed happy. He'd even seemed excited at the prospect of back-to-school shopping tomorrow, which was a first for him. Overall, Percy just seemed to want to go back to the boring details of everyday life. It wasn't something that you could say of most sixteen-going-on-seventeen year-olds, but she suspected that Percy had had enough excitement to be over the exhilarating feelings of adventure and surprises.

"Do you have everything that you need?" she asked, pushing Percy's hair out of his face.

"I've got a bed, Mom," Percy said. "Actually, that's also more of a plus than a requirement."

She smiled tightly and kept playing with his hair. It was so thick—she wondered how he'd been getting his hair cut while he was so far from home. She was amused at the mental image of Annabeth hacking at his hair with a pair of scissors. It didn't look too bad, but she'd ask him if he needed a touch-up before school started later.

"Okay," she said. "If you're sure, sweetheart…"

"Yeah," he said, readjusting in bed so that he was snuggling his navy blue duvet. "Thanks Mom."

"Goodnight sweetheart," she said. As she left his bedroom, her hand lingered by the lightswitch. "Do you want this on?"

"The light?" Percy asked. Then he frowned and sat up in bed, still hugging his blankets which made him look so much younger than he was. He looked at her long and hard, frowning. "Do you know?"

Sally felt like a deer in the headlights, without knowing exactly why. She leaned against the doorframe, her cheek resting against the wood as she looked at him.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" Sally asked quietly.

"No," Percy said. "No, I just… how? I thought I would have to tell you..."

"Your father," Sally confessed. "He invited me to have coffee, which is code for when we have to talk about you."

"You guys talk about me?" Percy asked, cocking his head to the side. "Over coffee..? How does—wait, wait, he told you? He had no right…"

"Percy," Sally sighed. "He's your father and I'm your mother. Our arrangement can't exactly be called co-parenting, but we do tag-team to keep tabs on you."

"I…" Percy asked. "Wait, how did I not know this?"

"Does that really matter right now?" Sally said. "Since we're… on this subject."

Percy chewed on his lip and then looked away from her.

"I was going to tell you," he said. "I promise, Mom."

"I know," Sally said. "You always tell me, in your own time and in your own way."

Percy nodded, satisfied that she'd known this.

"I think your father thought I should know sooner rather than later," Sally said. "In case there was something that you needed before you could ask for it."

"I didn't become afraid of the dark, if that's what you're asking," Percy said. He scratched at his face. He needed to shave, as he usually did when he got back from camp. "I just… I rather not deal with it."

"That makes sense," Sally said. Her heart broke all over again, to hear him talking about it. "Do you want this on? Maybe we have a spare lamp somewhere…"

"Malcolm, Annabeth's brother, designed these little solar-powered lanterns that change colour for us," Percy said. "It's still in my camp bag, I was going to… I was going to take it out in a bit."

"Okay," Sally said.

"But if you know about it…" Percy said. "It's in the side pocket of my bag."

Sally nodded and went to pick it up for him. She rummaged through the duffel bag that Percy had set on top of his camp trunk and found the little contraption. She set it on his side table but the light turned on before she touched anything.

"Oh," Percy said. "Yeah, that just means that Annabeth turned hers on. Malcolm made them connected"

"Clever," Sally said. Percy nodded.

"I think it's the first person in Annabeth's family that approves of me," Percy said. "I… I gained brownie points this summer."

"Right," Sally said. "Poseidon… he didn't know all the details but he did say that you fell with Annabeth or that she fell with you."

"Yeah, she…" Percy trailed off and then he shook his head. "I know, I know. You told me to take care of myself and you've done so much to keep me safe, and then I just dropped down into the pits of hell, but I… I couldn't let her go alone, Mom."

"I know," Sally said. She sat at Percy's bedside and gathered him in her arms. "I know, sweetheart, I… I know. I'm not mad. I'm sad that this happened but I'm just so happy that you came back to me."

His arms tightened around her.

"I wanted to come back so badly," Percy said. "I'm so happy to be back but I… I need the lights on now. At least for a little bit."

"Sweetheart, I would turn all of New York's lights on if that's what we needed to do to keep you safe and sound at home," Sally said. She kissed the top of his head and let Percy melt back down and become a little boy, burrowed in her arms, for a little while longer.

Word count: 1292