The Ones Who Take Us Home

The Seven lived there's a city like New Rome in Camp Half Blood. You're all caught up, go nuts.

Piper didn't want to talk about it. All Jason would do, was talk about it. He pushed her too far just as Frank and Hazel walked into the Grace household with their two year old daughter.

"Jason Grace!" Piper shouted from the kitchen.

"Oh, boy." Frank said, "Auntie Piper's upset."

"You have been pushing this subject too far-"

"We haven't talked about anything!"

"Oh shut up!"

Frank put his daughter down so she could run into the living room to play with Reyna and Leo's son.

Hazel waved at the couple who was sitting on the couches in the living room.

"What did he do?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know." Reyna smiled halfheartedly.

"You're infuriating Piper!"

"I'm the infuriating one!?"

"Yes! Why are you freaking out!?"

"Because you've pushed too far this time Jason!" The couple came storming into the main hall where Frank, Hazel, Reyna, and Leo could see them.

Piper had gotten all dressed up for the monthly dinner the Seven always had. Wearing a nice purple dress that looked very much like the silver one Hazel was wearing. Only Percy and Annabeth had yet to show up, with three kids no one could blame them.

"You know why I don't want kids." Piper said sharply.

"No I don't know why, because you've never said anything!"

"Maybe I don't trust you then!" She shouted back.

Jason hesitated, "You mean to say we've been married for four years and you don't trust me?"

"Jason, drop it."

"No, Piper."

"You know what? Fine, I'm leaving then."

"Where will you go?"

"Away from here!" She shouted slamming the door behind her.

"Piper!" Jason shouted as the door closed. He growled lowly, dragging his hand along his face.

"What was that all about?" Reyna asked.

He walked into the living room and sat on the couch, "Hey Hazel, Frank. When'd you get here?"

"About the time you were still in the kitchen." Hazel said.

"Ah." He sighed, "Well. Piper still adamantly refuses to have children or even a discussion about having children."

"Rough." Frank said.

"I just don't get why she won't at least... You know. Talk to me?"

"Well, maybe you've been asking the wrong questions?" Reyna suggested, "I mean from what it sounds like you're very direct with her all the time. Maybe you need to modify your approach?"

Jason sighed, "I don't know what I'm going to do with her."

"Hey, hey, hey." Annabeth smiled entering the house with Percy and three children in tow, "What did we miss?"

"Perfect timing." Leo complimented as the kids streamed into the living room.

"Who's hungry?" Jason smiled slightly, lifting his nephew onto his lap.

Piper didn't know where she was going at first, all she wanted to do was go. When she realized she was leaving Camp she knew where her feet were taking her. She didn't stop, even though she was scared to go forward. She needed to see him. She needed to know, if what he said was still true. After all these years.

Dinner at the Grace household was, as always, an entertaining and fulfilling experience.

It was getting late, as time seems to pass much quicker on this day of the month than at any other time, and Jason was checking the clock every few minutes.

"She's still not back yet." Jason sighed.

"Huh?" Annabeth asked.

"Piper." Jason said, "She's still not back yet. It's been five hours. Where could she even be?"

No one said anything.

"I should go looking for her." He said standing up.

"No Jason, it's too late at night." Hazel grabbed his sleeve.

"Exactly, Hazel. What if she's not okay?"

"Jason." Hazel sighed.

"I should go find her." He said.

Annabeth got up, "Why don't we see if we can Iris her?"

"She won't answer." Jason said.

"She doesn't have to." Reyna told him.

"Let's call her first and then we'll see what happens." Annabeth said calmly.

Jason nodded taking the gang to the pool in the backyard. He and Percy uncovered it before summoning the Goddess, flicking a Drachma into the rippling black pool.

The image was lit up, but only slightly. Wherever she was, the rain was pouring down on her bare shoulders. She looked caught between crying and screaming. She held onto herself tightly, standing alone. All around her was dark and no one was sure why they felt an eerie wind where she stood.

She was scared and upset. Angry with herself even. Why did she have to go and do that. Why did she have to go and see him. Her nightmares were sure to come back now that she'd done this.

She stood waiting for a taxi to take her to her father's apartment. She wouldn't go back to Camp for all the money in the world.

She didn't know then, her biggest secret was about to be revealed to her friends, who were watching her cry in the downpour.

"Stupid." She muttered nonsensically. "You idiot. You shouldn't have gone. What good did it do anyway? Ugh, you would have been better off just going to Lacey's or something. Why'd you have to go see him?"

She sighed and looked up at the clouds, letting rain mix with her tears. She could smell the dirt in the droplets but allowed them to fall carelessly down her face and body anyway.

The taxi drove up faster than expected. She climbed in quickly.

"F-"

"I know where to go ma'am." The driver said with a half smile, "Anywhere but here. As always."

She nodded letting him start their drive.

"Were you visiting someone this evening?" He asked.

"Yes." She answered.

"A friend."

"Oh no." She shook her head, "No."

"Family?"

"No. No." She said taking a deep breath, "It's complicated."

"We've got a long drive ahead of us." He said as they hit immediate traffic. He turned to look at her as traffic was at a stand still completely, "What's on your mind? We might as well talk some. It's not everyday I pick up pretty ladies from a prison without getting at least a brief explanation."

"I'm not a regular to prisons." She smiled a bit, "Have you ever heard of Tristan McLean?"

"Uh, the movie actor guy?"

"Yeah. He's my dad."

"Really now. That's interesting."

She sighed, "That's the preface. Because when I was four he started getting big parts. And he had really started blowing up with the media. I remember one time when I was at my ballet class and he came to pick me up, I was nearly abducted by one of the camera people."

"Ye, ouch!" The driver commented moving very slowly in the New York traffic.

"I know. Well, because of that he hired me a bodyguard who was also kind of a driver, babysitter person to me."

"Alright."

She looked down at her hands, "I was four when it happened the first time."

"Did he hit you?"

"He raped me."

There was no sound, but the windshield wipers whopping against the windows.

"He'd picked me up from my dance class. And everything was fine. When I got home he gave me a snack. At the time I didn't know that he slipped sleeping syrup into my food. I just thought it tasted funny.

"As the drugs started to make me dizzy and tired he laid me down in basement of my home, and he gagged me with a dish towel. I didn't know what was happening, all I knew was that it hurt and that I wanted to scream but could only manage a moan behind the dish towel in my mouth.

"I passed out after, um, that. I woke up sweating and crying two hours later, not sure of what happened or what I was supposed to do. I mean, what's a kid, or anyone really, going to do once something like that has happened to them?" She was crying by then. Scared and upset at the sudden fluidity of her words, how honest they were. How she wanted to say them because she needed to say them to someone.

The driver didn't say anything he kept silent and steady.

"He was forty six. The first time... He um. Yes.

"He did it once a month until I was six. When my dad and I moved across an ocean for a movie he was shooting in Madrid."

"Did you tell someone?"

She scoffed, "I told everyone. Every adult I knew and didn't know. I told them that this man was touching me. That he was hurting me. They said they couldn't see any cuts or bruises. They said, 'kids say the darndest things don't they?' Even my dad told me that he'd never do that. He'd tell me we had just been playing a game."

"No one listened?"

"No."

"Did you tell the authorities?"

"The people I had told, kept saying it was all in my head. You say that enough times to a child and they start believing you."

"But you did tell eventually?"

She cleared her throat, "No."

"No? But the guy's in jail."

"When I was thirteen he um... He went on trial for the rape and molestation of over fifty children. I stepped forward anonymously as his first victim." She gripped her hands tightly, "It's so hard, to think that if someone had listened to me just once. Had they not blown me off as some stupid kid. I could have saved over fifty children from suffering the way I did. It's impossible not to think that way. When the thought surfaces I feel more of a hard hitting rage at myself. I could have done something. I should have done something."

"It wasn't your fault."

"It doesn't feel that way." She shuddered.

"So why'd you visit the scumbag? To show him up, to say 'look at me, you didn't knock me down forever'?"

Piper blinked back more tears, "No." She took a few breaths and then spoke, "When he'd... Well. He said things to me. The normal, 'I'm going to fuck your brains out.' kind of talk. But one time when I had just turned five he said something to this day I haven't forgotten."

She paused to wipe her face, clearing away the tears, "He said, 'Beautiful girl, if you ever have kids. I'm going to find you. No matter where I am. I'm going to find you and I'm going to do this to them.' And I feel like a complete and utter idiot because my husband wants to have a kid so badly and I just can't bring myself to tell him about this. And I can't even let him talk to me about it without me freaking out. Even though the guy's in jail, I'm petrified by the idea of having a baby because he said he'd find me and rape my baby just like he did to me."

The driver quickly realized he's approaching her destination.

"This is me." She said gathering her things.

"You know as well as I do that this isn't your home."

"Excuse me?"

"Your dad's in there. But he didn't believe you."

"Well no, but-"

"He's not your home ma'am. You know it and I know it."

He didn't pull over instead he drove right by.

"So where are you taking me then?"

He chuckled, "Wherever the road leads you."

She knew she was safe, because she knew who he was. She knew where they were going, "So what did you do?"

"Well, you see this is the stupid part."

"The stupid part?"

She nodded, "My husband and I. We got into an argument. As I said he really wants a baby, but this time... I don't know he just really got under my skin and. Well He asked me why I've never told him I don't want kids. I found myself wondering if this guy was even alive.

"So I walked here to find out if he was still, you know living. And he was. My curiosity got the better of me. I went and asked if I could see him. I had to know if he remembered the little girl he'd broken. Because what kind of man rapes a four year old girl and forgets about the utter wreck of herself he left her in?"

She breathed deeply, "When I saw him, he recognized me immediately. When I asked him if he remembered what he said... Well he responded, 'Oh god yes. I never forgot you beautiful. You're the reason I'm in here. I'm here because I was looking for another girl I liked as much as you.'

"But when I asked about what he told me he said, 'Yeah I remember. It's still true. I'll find them, have my way with them. But then I'm going to do something else. I'm going to kill them and take you with me so I'll never lose you again.' And I got so scared I screamed at him calling him horrible and sick. I remembered how people defended him. Defended a rapist saying that a child. A little girl led him on and made him want to do that."

She started sobbing into her hands. Her heart hurting and her hands shaking.

"Those people are wrong. And that man is sick." The driver said, "That husband of yours sounds like he won't let anyone lay a finger on any child you have. It sounds like you won't let him either."

"At that point it wouldn't be my choice. The world is a cruel place."

"That's for damn sure, but listen here." Piper looked up and waited for him to speak, "I've been around for a long time. I've been around long enough to assure you that everyone has their downfall. Everyone gets what's coming to them in the end. Obviously this guy hasn't gotten what's coming to him and maybe he'll die without it happening. But I sure believe that there's a special place for people like him in a dark, endless, painful afterlife.

"I also happen to believe, and listen closely, that you deserve more than that. That you are stronger than he expects. If he does happen to break out of prison and find you, and your husband, and your kid, then he's going to be in a world of regret.

"You're not the scared little girl he probably knew. You've grown and gotten stronger and you know how I know that?"

"How?" She asked with a small tired smile.

"Because you went to that prison today. You didn't have to, you could have kept lying to your husband saying you don't want kids and lived in fear. But you said no. You weren't going to take this sitting down. You went and made yourself seen by a guy who only ever used you. That means you won't back down and you won't take that crap from anyone.

"Your kid is going to be so safe it may hate you until it finds out how brave you were then and right now at this moment. Keep your head high, because you're already higher than him and you're only going up."

"Thank you." She smiled warmly, "I needed that."

"I know you did." The driver said, "Everyone does sometimes."

"Well, in my opinion, you seem to know when the right time is. When people need you."

He shrugged, "I guess." He pulled the car onto the side of the road, "This is you."

She nodded, "This is me. But answer me this, how'd you get so good at this?"

"I take people from place to place. My job is the journey."

"You take us home. Travelers see you as someone who brings them home."

He smiled, "Travelers are always in between places, always looking for their home."

"Well thank you then, for bringing me back home. Hermes."

He gave a mischievous grin, "You're a smart girl."

"I was a traveler in need of help." She returned the smile, "You're the God of travelers. I put two and two together." She leaned forward and hugged the god in the front seat, "Thank you, Hermes."

"You're welcome, Piper." When she pulled back he chuckled, "After all you did help save Olympus."

"Well consider any debt paid." She smiled handing him a few Drachma, "And here for the ride."

"Here." He said handing her something wrapped in cloth, "For the baby. If, you know... Someday."

"Someday." She promised climbing out of the taxi.

"Be careful."

"I will." She waved as the taxi disappeared. With a smile in her heart, replacing the once aching pain. She walked back into Camp slowly and thoughtfully thinking about the journey she'd completed and the one she was about to begin.

As she walked through the streets of homes back to the home of her own, she realized she'd have a lot of explaining to do. It was nearly one in the morning. She'd been gone all evening and she was still wet from the rain that had now thankfully ended.

Her heart sank as she neared her home. The idea of entering her home was all too exhausting for her. Thinking about the yelling and scolding she'd receive. She could imagine the fussing of her husband who would surely assume she'd catch cold the moment she dried off fully.

She stopped in front of the house. She observed its familiar crevices and flaws. One light was on. The light from the kitchen. Where she could imagine Jason pacing up and down the tile floor wondering if she'd even come home. She wondered for a moment if she'd even go home.

She took ginger steps toward the house and found herself attempted to open the front door. She was thankful to find it open, breathing a sigh of relief. She closed it quietly.

She took off her shoes at the door and peeked into the living room where she saw five children were sleeping, some looking more comfortable and spaced out than others. She smiled a bit more at the sleeping figures. So peaceful and innocent unlike she had been at their age. She may have been too young, but these children will never suffer as she had. Regaining the confidence she'd had back in the taxi, she walked slowly into the kitchen.

Around the breakfast table Reyna, Frank, Leo, Percy, and Annabeth sat with drinks in their hands. Hazel was dealing out card, with a slight bit of humor hanging in her expression. Then there was Jason, tie half undone leaning back on the island with a glass of water beside him.

They all stopped whatever they were doing to stare at her.

She stuttered to start speaking, "S-so, I have a lot of explaining to do, I know..."

"No you don't." Percy said, "You don't have to explain anything."

She gave a quizzical glance to her friend.

"We heard it all. Iris message. Lots of rain. A puddle in the taxi. We heard everything." Annabeth explained briefly.

Piper sighed, relieved she didn't have to retell the story again. Relieved they already knew and had time to digest the news. She felt that weight of conversation lift from her heart, "That's a relief." She muttered with a smile.

"Really? You're not mad?" Hazel asked.

"No, I can't be mad. I can't be." She said putting her hands over her heart, "This makes things exponentially easier."

"I guess so." Reyna smiled.

Jason took a step forward, "Piper." He said softly.

"Jason." Piper started, "I am so, sorry-"

He wrapped her in the warmest, most caring hug she'd experienced in a long while. His body, which she could feel had been wracked with worry, suddenly relaxed as he held onto her. She noticed he'd been sweating, crying too from the way his cheeks seemed to stick to the skin on her neck. His lips kissed her neck lightly.

She nestled into him holding onto the cloth of his shirt for her very life. For all that Hermes had given her, he hadn't given her this. The acceptance of her loved ones. The knowledge of the extent their worry had gone. The love that only her husband could fill her up with. The smiles of friends who've missed you. The warmth of someone who loves you being the only thing anchoring you to a moment in time.

The moment opened a barrier which had held tears until this point. The moment she knew that everything would be alright, for real this time. The moment she had her husbands love, adoration, and most of all respect after learning about her painful twisted past. The moment that made her voice waver when she spoke.

"I missed you." She hardly said due to her crying and having nestled herself into Jason's shirt.

"We missed you too Piper. Gods I was so worried." He assured her in a whisper so only they could hear.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, please don't be. You're okay."

"I'm not."

"Then you will be."

"Will I?" She asked desperately.

"Yes." He said assuredly.

"Okay." She chose in that moment to believe him.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He moved his head which made a sound like peeling tape off of something. He kissed her head, as her face was still buried in his chest.

She remembered what Hermes had told her. How travelers are always looking for a home. She had felt that on her walk, when her apprehension grew. She felt like home was so far away. But home was there. Not in the house, not in the kitchen. But in the arms of her husband, the man she'd follow anywhere. The man who didn't know until recently that she was painfully lost in a sea of confusion.

Home is a place where someone belongs.

Home is where love flourishes.

Home is where fear dissipates.

Home is where problems are solved and faced.

Home is where anger flares and passions rise.

Home is where the heart is.

And now Piper could see that all along she had been a traveler wandering the empty streets of life, stumbling around in a feeble attempt to find a place to call her own. Then just like that, in his arms she knew.

"Welcome home." She looked up and kissed him then.

She was home.