Percy Jackson was far less impressive than Annabeth had imagined him. For a man like him she expected something that would make him stand out, something that would hint at his cunning and intelligence. The wilted bleeding man slumped in front of her was not at all what she pictured him as.
Annabeth grabbed Percy Jackson's chin and turned his face one way and then the other. He refused to look her in the eye. He was scared, that much was plain to see, but he also had a surprising amount of fury in his eyes. Almost like he blamed her for this whole mess.
She spoke to him for the first time, "This is your fault Mr. Jackson, you should have known the risk that comes with doing what you did." Her hand was still on his face and she felt his teeth grind as he choked down whatever it is he wanted to say.
"Feel free to be blunt with me," She made him look her in the eyes, "I doubt you could dig yourself any deeper."
"Is this what you do? Is this what you enjoy doing?" His eyes tore away from her and bored into the wall, "Taking people and hurting them, manipulating them to get what you want."
"Only the ones who have wronged me Mr. Jackson." The fury in his eyes softened at that. She saw a glimmer of, was that guilt?
"Why now?" He asked as she let go of his face and stepped a few feet back. "You've known about me for a while, so why now?"
Annabeth laughed, "Because you're very hard to pin down, I must admit you impressed even me," the light in her eyes from laughing died as she continued, "but that doesn't excuse the fact that you swindled me out of a couple million dollars."
He winced as she stared him down. Annabeth knew the power her steely grey eyes held and in her line of work they were very useful. She narrowed them as she continued to study the man in front of her. Percy Jackson was lanky and non-threatening. She wished she had met him before the beating because it was hard to see what he looked like normally. The dark hair on his head was matted with sweat and blood. His face was colored with half formed bruises, there was blood trailing from his nose down to his chin, and one eye was already considerably swollen.
Those green eyes watched her as she started to pace before him. "You realize I expect you to return every dollar that you took from me?"
His eyes widened, "You can't be serious, I've already spent some of it, A LOT of it actually."
She turned on him, "This is a generous offer, most people in your position would already be dead." Annabeth was lying, she had never had anyone killed, didn't see the point to it. Dead men couldn't pay off their debts. She shrugged, "But because you're the most interesting case I've dealt with in a while, I'll cut you some slack."
He leaned toward her, eyes pleading, but was stopped short by the ropes connecting his hands to the chair. "Please anything else. Why do you think I took the money in the first place?! I need it."
"If I gave everyone money who said they 'needed' it, well I wouldn't be a very good business woman."
"You're not a business woman!" His voice rose, "You're a mob boss, don't kid yourself."
No one spoke to Annabeth that way. She bristled with more anger than she had felt in a long time. They had been alone, but she spotted Jason enter the room. He glanced at her for confirmation and she nodded.
Jason punched Percy Jackson across the face, flinging blood from his already battered nose. Percy gasped as his head snapped to one side.
Annabeth regretted that she couldn't do it herself, but she had a meeting in a half hour. This outfit was new.
"You have thirty days Mr. Jackson. Don't even considering skipping town, I'll be watching" At that Annabeth nodded again at Jason who was wiping blood from his knuckles. He walked forward and cut Percy's hands free. Percy brought his hands into his lap and rubbed at the raw skin on his wrists.
She expected him to bolt like everyone else, but he continued to sit there. His voice was steady when he spoke, "What now? Like I understood the whole beating me up thing, but honestly I expected much worse," He looked her straight in the eyes, "especially coming from you."
Annabeth was taken back. What was wrong with him? Didn't he have any self preservation? She smiled though, cold and calculating, "Next time we'll be sure to live up to your expectations."
"I was kind of hoping there wouldn't be a next time."
"If you think I'm going to just leave you alone you're very dense Mr. Jackson."
His mouth twitched upward into a half smile, "I get that a lot."
Annabeth forgot that she was supposed to be imposing and frightening and she rolled her eyes. Turning on her heel she made her way out the door. As an afterthought she said over her shoulder, "Grace, show Mr. Jackson here the way out."
A low chuckle could be heard as she entered the hallway. Grace probably enjoyed seeing her this unruffled. It had been awhile since someone had thrown her off her game. She didn't take pride in what she did. She saw her job as just that, a job. It had been a very long time since Annabeth had enjoyed threatening someone. Maybe Percy Jackson would continue to be interesting. After all looks weren't everything.
The ground rushed toward Percy and he landed arms outstretched with a grunt. He ached everywhere. Annabeth Chase's men hadn't left much of him untouched. He eased himself off of the ground and turned to look toward the doorway. The man who could sure pack a punch stared down at Percy before closing the door and throwing the alleyway into shadows.
Percy moved so that he was sitting against the wall and squinted his eyes, waiting for them to adjust. He wasn't ready to stand quite yet. While in that interrogation room, he had masked his fright with anger and cockiness, but now that it was over he felt all shaky. His heart pounded loudly in his chest and he fought to control his breathing. God what was he thinking?! Annabeth Chase was the biggest name in Las Vegas. Grover was right, this whole thing had been an awful idea from the start –
WAIT! Percy sat up straighter. Grover. He had been waiting for Percy, oh no he probably thought he was dead or worse. Hopefully he didn't call his mom, she didn't need to be worrying about him right now. That would just be the icing on top of this crappy cake of a day.
Percy's body groaned and complained as he wobbled to his feet. He looked around. Yep, no idea where he was. There seemed to be brighter lights coming from the direction off to his left so he headed that way. Reaching the end of the alley he stumbled onto a fairly busy street. It was the middle of the night, but people were still out and about. A woman gave him a look and he smiled sheepishly, her eyes gave him the once over and she moved past him quickly. He didn't blame her.
Across the street shined the words "Wisdom's Daughter Hotel & Casino". His eyebrows shot up. He had been across the street this whole time?
Grover's beat up red car sat waiting for him right where they had agreed upon. Percy breathed a sigh of relief; he definitely didn't want to take a cab looking like this. He walked quickly across the street and rapped on the driver's window of the car.
His knock scared Grover who sat up as though electrocuted and looked wildly around, his gaze falling on Percy's face. The scraggly beard dropped low as Grover's mouth hung open. Percy sighed and raised one eyebrow (at least he thinks that's what he did, hard to tell with your face swollen), gesturing for Grover to unlock the car. He watched as Grover shut his mouth and hit the unlock button.
Now finally, Percy was sitting on something comfortable, well as comfortable as a car seat in a twenty-year-old car could be. "You didn't call my mom did you man?" He asked Grover.
"What?" Grover looked confused and upset, "No, I-I've been waiting here for you and I-well hey! What happened to your face?!"
Percy attempted to laugh, but it hurt his ribs. They were probably bruised. "I got caught." He said simply.
"Oh."
"Well hey! I'm alive aren't I? Guess Chase is a bigger softy than we thought."
"It doesn't look like she went soft on you. I could barely tell it was you."
"It's me alright." Percy used his sleeve to wipe some blood from his chin and nose. He pulled the visor mirror out from above and studied his face. Ew. He wouldn't be winning any beauty pageants for a while.
"Should we go to a hospital? I don't-I mean- I have no idea how to fix you up." Grover had directed his gaze to the rest of Percy's body and had probably seen the bruising and rope burns running along his arms.
"No." Percy's voice was firm, "No hospitals. Can't afford it and don't want them alerting the authorities to any suspicious behavior. Because right now this looks pretty suspicious."
Grover still looked unsure, "If you're badly hurt though-"
"Piper will know what to do." Of that Percy was always sure, "I'm sure she's still up anyhow."
"Okay, but if anything's broken, we're going to the hospital."
"Deal."
It was quiet for a while as Grover pulled out his keys and started the car. He pulled out onto the street and drove in the direction of their crummy apartment. Percy finally relaxed, sure he still had death hanging over him, but for now he was safe. He looked at his best friend who hated to drive in cities, who hated driving at all, but who had still agreed to do this for him. "I didn't think you'd still be here Grover," Percy looked at his feet, "I thought once you realized I was gone you would have bolted."
"Never! We said we were in this together," Grover mumbled the next part, "even if this was your stupid idea to begin with." Percy smiled at that, "Plus I-uh-I didn't really notice you were gone."
"Are you kidding? It's been what?" Percy looked at the clock, "Like seven hours?"
"Yeah, but only five since I fell asleep!" Grover burst out, somewhat embarrassed.
Percy couldn't hold back his laugher at that, "OH! Ow ow owowow." He clutched his side and sunk into the seat.
Grover gripped the steering wheel tightly and said, "Oh God are you alright?!"
Percy huffed, "Yeah just try not to make me laugh alright?"
Smiling Grover said, "No promises man. And I'm sorry I fell asleep, I should have been there to back you up."
"I'm glad you weren't. It wouldn't have made it any easier and you would be sporting some of these bruises too if you had."
"….Okay." Grover still looked like he felt a little guilty.
"Welcome home heroes!" Piper beamed in greeting, "I'm sure your loot tonight was more th-HOLY SHIT PERCY WHAT THE HELL!" She rushed to his side as their apartment door closed and gingerly reached for his face.
"'S not much, just a few bruises." Percy walked around her and collapsed on the couch. Was it always this perfectly squishy?
"A few bruises huh?" Piper sat down on the couch next to his sprawled figure, "And I'm the daughter of Aphrodite."
"Could be." Percy lifted his head, "You're certainly pretty enough."
Piper went to swat at him, but held her hand back, thinking better of it. "Flattery won't get you out of an explanation Percy Jackson. Which I want right now and I won't help you until you give me one."
"Alright alright. I was gonna tell you, just like teasing you is all." Percy heard Grover in the kitchen, banging around the pantry. He liked to munch when he was nervous, but he might be hard pressed to find food at this time. It was the end of the month and they had long since used up their respective paychecks. The banging ceased and Grover reappeared with a spoon in one hand and a can of pears in the other. Piper and Percy both looked at him.
"What?! Can't a guy eat canned pears at 4 in the morning without being judged by his roommates?" Grover stuck the first one in his mouth and chewed, fidgeting on the recliner he had sat in.
"Well anyway," Percy said looking back at Piper, "Grover here still hasn't heard the story so I'll just tell you both now." He sat up on the couch to give Piper more room. "The last time we hit up Wisdom's Daughter I apparently wasn't careful enough and they knew what I looked like. So this time they were waiting for me. I must have been sitting at a poker table for-I dunno-two minutes before someone came and asked me to come to the back."
Piper's hand went to her mouth, "You didn't go with him did you?"
"What was I supposed to do Pipes?" He asked, "Start a scene in the middle of a casino? A lot of help all those tourists would have done me."
"All I'm saying is, better to cause a scene than to wind up dead in a gutter somewhere." Piper crossed her arms, "No use in making it easier for those thugs to catch you."
"Yeah, I guess" He paused waiting for Piper to continue to lecture him. When she didn't he continued, "So I was planning on trying to ditch the guy as soon as we left the main floor, but right after we went past all the slot machines two more guys grabbed me, held a cloth over my mouth and next thing I knew I was tied to a chair."
"Did you meet her, Annabeth Chase?" Piper asked.
Percy shook his head, "Not at first, some men came in and threw me around for a while, gave me all of this," He gestured to his entire body, "then left me alone for hours. That's when she came in."
"Was she hot?!" Grover leaned forward a bit, a pear hanging off his spoon.
"Come on Grover," Piper sighed, "Priorities?"
"Uhhhhh," How was Percy supposed to tell them that Annabeth Chase was indeed 'hot'. You aren't exactly supposed to be attracted to mob bosses, especially those that took the time to threaten you personally. Percy wrung his hands together, "Anyway…she told me I have thirty days to pay everything back. Not sure what happens after thirty days, but I don't really wanna find out."
"How are we going to do that?" Piper asked, "We only have a hundred thousand left of the three million and with the complications from surgery-"
"I know! I know that," Percy's head hung low in his hands, "We can't give her back her money, if anything we need more, but if we don't who knows what she'll do."
"I once heard Annabeth Chase cut off a man's hand for grabbing her ass while she was walking on the street." Grover looked terrified, "Imagine what she'll do to us for practically stealing from her."
"Well she doesn't know you guys are involved and I plan to keep it that way." Percy looked at them both, "This is my responsibility, my mess, my everything."
"Regardless, we're still here to help you Percy." Piper grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Yeah anything you need, we're there!" Grover nodded.
"Thanks guys." Percy smiled.
Piper clapped her hands and stood up, "I'm gonna go grab our sad excuse for a first aid kit and try to fix some of" she waved her hand at him vaguely, "this. Then we should all go to bed."