Disclaimer: I, ADifferentSortOfPerson do not own or have any association with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or movie. I do not own or have any association with the Heroes of Olympus series. I make no profit from this. This is fanwork.
I, ADifferentSortOfPerson, do not own or have any association with any sort of car, SUV, vehicle, or automobile and/or automobile company mentioned in the story. The Suburban SUV belongs to Chevrolet.

Going back to the first fandom that ever got me hooked on fanfiction today. Let's hear it for Percy! Wooo!

Anyways, just a before-hand notice, all the characters are 20-30 years old. Also, this is AU, in which Kronos never tried to take his revenge, Luke doesn't completely hate his dad, and Percy, Thalia, Jason, Nico, Bianca and Hazel never got to their camps. However, Camp Half-Blood exists. Most demigods survive to adulthood and get a decent life in the outside world, and monster attacks are less frequent because they're, well, adults who can defend themselves. Camp Jupiter does not exist, even though there's slight differences between Romans and Greeks over in Camp Half-Blood. And finally, Hazel doesn't have her curse. However, she's still on the wealth side of Pluto's domain, and can sense where valuable gems and such are.

Okay, on with the story!

The thief dives into an alley, feet pounding on the concrete. The bag in his hands was drenched from the storm overhead, but it threw the police off and that's what counted.

"Hey!" someone shouts, and the thief forces himself to run a little faster, cutting another corner. He could hear the sound of water pounding nearby, and the salty scent of the ocean blasts past his nose. Turning towards the beach, he forces his tired legs to run faster.

"Get him!" another voice shouts, this time right behind him. The thief screams, just as a huge wave flies ahead. It's paired with one of the officer behind him. However, the wave seems to miss the thief, and smashes into the officer, just enough to knock him over.

The thief keeps running, feeling a new surge of energy as water laps at his feet.

"This just isn't right," Frank Zhang, head of the Olympic Police Force mutters. "He escaped for the fifth time this week. I mean, in the other states he didn't go out this much."

"I know. You'd think that with camp so close, our chances would be a little better," Piper says, shaking her head. "They know absolutely nothing of him. If he were a demigod, then he should've checked in at camp by this age or he'd be dead. I think we might be on the right track in saying he's a naiad or dryad working with a storm spirit."

"But naiads and dryads are girls," Leo says. "I mean, the Lightning Thief looks like a boy. Also, they tend to be tall. When Will caught him that one time, he said that the Lightning Thief was only-"

"They might be wearing a disguise of some sort that makes them appear shorter," Malcolm interrupts, rubbing his eyes. "Or the storm spirit could be the one who does the running."

"If the storm spirit ran he'd certainly take on the form of a horse," Piper reasons. "He'd be able to go faster."

"Unless if he didn't want to draw attention to the fact that he's a storm spirit," Annabeth says triumphantly. "I think we're onto something here!"

"I just don't think that's right," Leo says, shaking his head. "He's just…"

"Too hot to be a storm spirit? Just face it, Leo. You haven't seen him up-close once, much less have had a conversation with him," Malcolm says, shaking his head. "I mean, your attraction to him is only natural considering the amount of time we've spent on this case. Obsessiveness and determination can be pushed to attraction very easily. But Leo, just accept the fact that he-or she-is probably not a demigod and will, by any means, be punished in some way or the other. It's not healthy or helpful to be infatuated with a criminal you're chasing down."

"Whatever," Leo mutters.

"Hmm, look," Jason says, leaning back in his recliner as he reads the news. "You made it in the paper. 'Lightning Thief Escaped Again'."

"Neat-O. Now the entire state's gonna be on our tracks," Percy mumbles, peacefully sprawled on the floor. "What's the goal tonight, anyways?"

"Heck, I don't know," Bianca, who was stationed on the couch next to him sighs. Her brown eyes stay focused on the TV, which was blaring out news stories. "Just watch and see if you pop up."

"Yeah, shortie, don't get too far ahead of yourself," Thalia adds. "We still need to figure out where we're going to move next."

"I think we should go to California," Jason votes, turning the page in his newspaper. "Nice and far away. It has the ocean, too, and isn't as polluted as NY. We could surf and do fun stuff."

"How 'bout Michigan?" Hazel suggests. "It supposedly has 10,000 lakes."

"My powers are stronger near the sea," Percy says, crossing his arms.

"And California's closer to the Underworld," Nico adds, not looking up from his book. "Bi, Hazel and I could probably find the entrance if we wanted to."

"California it is," Jason declares, tossing the newspaper on the floor. "We pack tonight. Percy, you and I are lifting a van. Thalia, start up the storm while Perce and I get dressed."

Ten minutes later, Percy and Jason are running through a thunderstorm towards the nearest car dealership, occasionally pausing to add some more lightning or have the rain pound a little harder.

"Found a good van!" Jason shouts, and Percy quickly appears behind him, making the storm lighten up around the two of them.

"'Kay! I'll see if I can get it started," Percy says, yanking on the door a few times before going to the back and knocking the window out. He quickly scrambles over the seats and situates himself in the driver's seat, takes out a paper clip, and tries to start the car. The van roars to life on the fourth try, and Percy rolls into the passenger seat before leaning over and unlocking the door for Jason. The son of Zeus hops in next to him and within seconds the two are flying across the parking lot and onto the road.

Neither says a word on the way home, with Jason focused on taking all the unknown detours of the city while Percy worsens the storm.

"Hurry up!" Jason orders once they arrive at their apartment. Percy darts up the stairs, where Thalia, Bianca, Nico and Hazel were waiting with a small pile of boxes.

"Found us a place to stay?" the son of Poseidon asks, grabbing the heaviest package.

"Not yet, but there's a few possibilities," Hazel says, grabbing two smaller boxes and her laptop bag.

"One is literally on the beach," Bianca says as they run out. Hazel stops at the counter in front of the receptionist and hands him fifty dollars.

"We never lived here, we never moved out, you don't know any of us, we were never seen in the area," Nico tells the receptionist. "If you tip anyone off about us, you'd better leave the country." The man looks up at them for a moment.

"House of Jackson? Alright. Have a nice time," he says, obviously used to this sort of situation. The apartment was the center of the slummiest part of town, and not a single inhabitant was innocent. "You'll be cleared from the database."

"Thanks!" Bianca says as they head out. The receptionist waves as he types a few codes in on the computer.

"Get in the back," Percy orders once they're outside, and they shove their few boxes in before scrambling into seats. The back closes and they speed away.

"I think we should get an award for 'fastest movers,'" Jason says after a while.

"And 'most wanted demigods,'" Thalia adds, leaning back. "Oh, and one for 'best thieves.' I swear, Hermes blessed us all when we were born."

"Or he simply can't resist my good looks," Percy jokes, combing his hair back dramatically. "Anyways, we need to move fast. Once we're inland, we're gonna stop so you two can give the car an extra burst of energy."

"Who died and made you boss?" Nico asks, watching out the open back window.

"Well, does anyone disagree?" Percy asks, raising an eyebrow. "No? Good."

Nico sighs and lays down, resting his head in Hazel's lap.

"We're at the ocean," Jason reports, and Percy hops into the passenger seat.

"Keep going straight ahead," the black-haired demigod orders, and a passageway opens up in the water.

"There haven't been any reports of theft," Will says, walking into the conference room. "But this storm isn't natural."

"Maybe it's the work of Jupiter this time," Frank suggests.

"Yeah, maybe. We'll just have to wait the storm out and see if anything happens tomorrow," Will says. "Maybe some story will pop up."

"Or maybe it's a demigod child of the Big Three and Zeus is mad at whichever sibling it is for having a child," Leo suggests.

"Leo, we've been over this before. If there was a demigod child of the Big Three, they'd be dead before they could grow up. Monsters would have them flayed alive before they were three," Annabeth says, shaking her head. "You need to find someone else."

Just then, the phone starts ringing. Piper looks around the room before shrugging and answering.

"Hello, this is the Olympic Police Force, Piper speaking," she says. A frantic voice babbles something on the other end and she nods, a worried expression crossing her face. "This happened how long ago? Are you certain it wasn't stolen earlier and you just didn't notice? Okay. Okay then. We'll be right on it. Thank you. Um, no… but we'll pay the expenses. Missing a window? Probably back? Okay. Yes, yes. Thank you. Bye." She turns to her friends, looking grim. "A dark blue van was stolen half an hour ago, and two hooded figures were spotted driving off with it."

"Two?" Frank asks, raising an eyebrow. "I think our Lightning Thief steals alone."

"I think our Lightning Thief's on the move again," Piper counters. "In the past we never got to know who stole the van, but afterwards the Thief was always gone. I think that it's time we clear out."

Frank nods. "I suppose… And with the Lightning Thief, risks are worth it. Not like we have anything solid, anyways."

"I'll see if I can find any reports of vans driving through cities," Annabeth says, standing up. "Think we can leave by tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Frank says. "If we start packing now, that is."

"Coming up on New York," Percy reports, and the van, in its air bubble, starts to float up towards the surface. "Now, no new storms. They can use them to track us."

"Whatever," Thalia mutters, laying down her seat. Half the group was napping at this point.

"Hazel, you'll be driving next," Percy adds as their vehicle reaches the beach. "Let me know if there are any bodies of water to cross. I'm exhausted."

"As am I," Jason adds, flying across the sand and onto the road. Thankfully it was night and that section of the beach was empty. "Driving through the ocean while maintaining a storm miles away is tiresome."

"You'll have to keep the storm up for another two hours," Hazel says, yawning. She leans out of the way as Percy scrambles to the back. Jason sighs.

"Seriously? As soon as we reach a parking lot, I'm not driving. It's too difficult to run a storm miles away and stay focused on the road at the same time."

"'Kay then," Hazel says, shrugging.

Two Days Later…

"Well, they aren't on Long Island. That we know," Annabeth states, scanning her computer screen. "I'm guessing they're on some state near the ocean, though. They haven't once stayed in a city farther than two miles away from the sea."

"Well, let's see here," Malcolm says, leaning over to see the laptop. "He hasn't stayed in the same state twice, either. He's worked his way all across the east border, so he might be in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi or Alabama."

"Or he might be heading all the way out to California or Washington," Piper says, staring out the window. "Here, there's a toll booth. Frank, ask them if a van had passed through."

"Already on it," Frank says, slowing the car down at the booth. He rolls down his window and fishes for his police license to excuse him from the toll. "Um, anyways," Frank says, pulling it out. "Have you seen a van pass through here? Dark blue, missing a back window?"

The man in the toll booth shrugs. "There was one, the day before yesterday. It was flying down the street a million miles an hour. I'm surprised it even stopped to pay."

Piper and Annabeth high-five in the back.

"Did you happen to see the people inside?" Frank asks.

"Um… a girl with dark skin and golden hair and eyes paid quickly before slamming the accelerator. There were a bunch of people yelling in the back, though," the man says uncertainly. "I know the back window was broken because it was covered in duct tape."

"Did you hear anything about their destination?" Frank asks, shoving his ID back in his wallet.

"Something about California, sir," he says. "Monteray and San Francisco."

"Thank you very much for your help," Frank says. He pulls a five-dollar bill out of his wallet. "It is very appreciated."

"Um… thanks," the man says uncertainly. "Why do you need to know?"

"We think there's a criminal in that car who's wanted all over the east border," Frank says. "He keeps on escaping."

As they start back down the road, Frank grins.

"We've got ourselves a lead!"

The next day…

Percy sighs, dragging himself out of the van.

"I hate travelling. Especially when we can't even stop in a hotel," he mutters, dusting himself off.

"You know the fastest way to get there is to drive all night," Hazel says, nearly face-planting into the concrete as she scrambles out of the van. "Anyways, welcome to the slums of San Francisco. This apartment is the best I could find. Remember our alias."

"Yeah, yeah," Percy says, walking over to the back. There weren't as many boxes to carry in as when they packed, due to the fact that most of them contained all the food and water they needed for their trip. The only time they had ever stopped was for the bathroom, and even then they only gave themselves 5 minutes to get done and get back on the road. He grabs one and heads steps back to the door to the van. "HEY! GET UP YA LAZY MORONS! WE'RE HERE!" he shouts.

His friends all groan, shifting before sitting up.

"Wha?" Nico asks, looking at Percy in confusion.

"We're here," Percy says, tiredly smiling. "Three days and nights of driving and we're here."

"'s about time," Jason yawns, jumping out. "Let's unpack and get to bed. I need some rest."

"What 'bout the car?" Thalia asks, stepping onto the sidewalk.

"We'll take care of it tomorrow," Percy yawns. "I dunno. We can splash some red graffiti paint on it and manipulate the Mist for now."

"Mmkay," the girl says, sleepily grabbing a box. "Is Hazel getting us established?"

"Think so. Let's get the paint on while we wait," Percy suggests, helping an exhausted Bianca out of the van. She and Nico had to spend almost the entire nights driving due to their superior night vision.

The group searches through their boxes until they come up with some cans of red spray paint. It was always used as a quick disguise if they didn't have the strength or time to do anything else, and was never relied on for longer than a day. The group sprays down the tires and paint, along with the side windows and duct-taped back window.

About half an hour after they finish, Hazel comes back out.

"I set up a plan for a month," she says, yawning. "The paperwork's filled out under the name Smith. Let's head up." She grabs two smaller boxes and the group heads up to their room, careful to keep their heads down. It wouldn't help to have anyone able to say they've seen them in the apartment complex.

As soon as they reach their apartment and find the bedroom, they all fall asleep, piled onto the two beds provided.

The next day…

"Well, Monterey hasn't had any reports of a blue van driving through, so they must be in San Francisco," Piper says, rubbing her eyes.

"Or somewhere else entirely," Malcolm adds.

"We're following the lead we have," Frank says. "If there isn't any report of them in San Francisco we'll double check here and if there's still nothing, find a new lead."

"Where are we staying, anyways?" Leo asks.

"Some cheap apartment Piper found," Frank replies gruffly. "We're a little low on money right now."

"Don't worry, I don't think it's that bad," the daughter of Aphrodite says airily. "We can fix it up if need be."

Leo groans and rests his head on the window. "What if it turns out they aren't in San Francisco? Then where do we go?"

"We operate from there for a while," Piper says. "And besides, they said we can back out and leave whenever we want. All the hotels are booked up, so what was I supposed to do?"

Leo sighs. "Whatever, Beauty Queen."

"Well, sounds like they're in the city," Piper says cheerfully as their police van stops in front of the apartment.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Will asks doubtfully. The entire place looked sketchy with dark alleys and the occasional figure running into the apartment.

"Yes," Frank sighs. "Pipes, why in the name of Zeus did you get us a place in the slums?"

"It was cheap," Piper says defensively. "And the Lightning Thief is more likely to be in the slums than in the land of rich people, y'know? He'd fit right in here."

"And his girlfriend," Leo grumbles. The toll booth man's report of the girl in the van was still on his nerves.

"Get over it, Valdez," Will says as the mini police force climbs out of the car. They file into the apartment, sign the papers as quickly as they can and head up to their rooms. Annabeth and Piper head into one and the boys in the other.

Moments later the sound of a stampede rings out, along with some shouts and mutters. The sound of a door swinging open across from them is heard, along with a loud, dignified slam.

"Well then," Frank says once the noise dies out. "We'll have to meet the neighbors later."

Thalia, Jason, Hazel, Nico, Bianca and Percy were in a good mood. Their van was successfully disposed of and they had just gotten a decent meal at a nearby tavern.

"I say we do our first robbery of the city tonight," Bianca proposes. "Just to get started, y'know? Nothing big."

"There was a stash of gold coins in an apartment about a mile away from here," Hazel offers. And thus the robbery is planned. Thalia and Jason start a storm, and Percy heads out.

"Could it be…?" Annabeth asks, looking out at the rain which had started a few minutes ago. The sky was unnaturally dark and lightning was striking surprisingly close to the apartment.

"I think it is," Piper sings. "Will, watch the phone. We think he's here!"

The archer nods and pulls out a cell phone attached to their line. Less than ten minutes later it rings.

"Olympic Police Force, this is Will. Someone broke into your apartment? Gold coins? The window's broken? Okay. We'll be there shortly." He hangs up and rattles off a few street names, and the team is out in a second.

Percy grins as he sprints across the sand, bag of coins on his shoulder. The only thing to complete the familiar scene would be-

"We've got you this time!" a voice shouts from behind.

Yep. Them. How they tracked them here would be a mystery for another day, but for now…

Lightning strikes right behind him and he dives into the ocean, taking full advantage of the distraction. Swimming as fast as he can, he wonders why the police don't give up already. Oh, well. Their loss.

Surfacing a while later, he sees the slums in sight and climbs onto the beach again, completely dry. He takes off into a full sprint down the streets, looking for the complex. As soon as he spots it he puts on some more speed, the rain pounding even harder overhead. Clanging up the fire exit, he grins when he spots the door to his room and yanks it open, just to see the waiting faces of his family.

"Success!" he cheers, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He makes sure it's locked and tosses the bag on the floor. Two couches that had come with the apartment sat facing each other with the rest of the group piled on top of them.

"Any problems?" Hazel asks as Percy takes his ski mask and coat off.

"The police followed us here," he says, and everyone looks up in shock. He raises his hands up innocently. "Hey, hey, calm down. I don't know how they tracked us, but they did. I escaped them easily though, so… yeah. We're fine for now."

"Are you su- What the heck is that?" Nico says, standing up. A group of people had stormed up the stairs and started screaming at each other just outside the door.

"I'm not sure," Percy says, walking over to the peephole in the door. Jason and Thalia follow him, electricity crackling at their fingers. The son of Poseidon gasps after looking out for a moment and turns around, face white.

"What is it?" Jason demands quietly.

"It's… the police," Percy mutters.

"What?" Thalia says, voice rising. "You're kidding. Why are they here?"

"How the heck am I supposed to know?" Percy asks, turning around and peering outside. "Yep. It's them. They're going into the room across from us. I don't think they're investigating; they wouldn't be this loud. But it's them, all right."

"Who is it?" Bianca calls from the other room.

"The police," Jason responds, heading back to the living room. "Apparently they're doing something in the apartment across from us."

"We have to move, then?" Nico says, it being more of a statement than a question.

"Yep," Percy says, still keeping an eye on the peephole.

"Or maybe not," Thalia says, remaining next to Percy. "I mean, we'll see what they're doing here. If they leave and don't come back for, say, two days, then we'll stay for a while longer. If it turns out they live here, then we'll stay, maybe introduce ourselves under our alias, and get close to them."

Percy shakes his head. "That's doomed for disaster."

"Why? It's not the first time we've done something like this," Thalia says.

"I think you two should move your conversation over here," Nico says drily, "so nobody, you know, hears you?"

The duos reluctantly remove them from the door and join the rest of their family.

"You know, I think you're onto something there, Thalia," Hazel says. "They'd never expect to have their enemies as friends."

"They might recognize Percy, though," Jason says. "I mean, they caught him once. They know how short he is."

"There's a lot of short guys out there," Percy says defensively. "I'm not the only 5'8" guy in the world!"

"First off, it's 5'7" and second off, yeah, you're not the only short guy in the world. But I think that going up to them and saying 'Hi! Let's be friends!' would be a little suspicious. We'll just be their odd neighbors who mind their own beeswax," Bianca says. "That'd be even less suspicious, I'd think. If they make the first move to befriend us, then, well, we'll be friendly and such."

"We need a back story, though," Jason points out. "I mean, what're we going to say if they ask? 'Oh, we just happened to come from Long Island. Want some tea?'"

"Well, we can say we came from Florida," Hazel says. "We know that area fairly well. We could get by with that."

"Why'd we move, though?" Thalia asks.

"…Got tired of all the alligators?" Nico suggests. "Wanted a change of scenery? Wanted new jobs? New life? Bad neighbors?"

"Okay. And then for our alias, same as before. We're the Smiths, all of us are cousins, best friends, grew up together, and Percy, you're Henry. I'm Randa. Thalia's Cynthia, Bianca's Carly, Nico's Benny, and Jason's John," Hazel says. "That's all we need, isn't it?"

"Think so," Percy says. "I don't know if it'll work, but whatever. We can run away if need be."

He grabs the bag of coins and heads to the bedroom. "Good night!"

The next morning…

"What's the plan for today?" Piper asks, sipping her coffee.

"I'm not sure. Get to know the area and try to find the Lightning Thief's groups' domain, I guess," Frank says. "Search for the van."

"Yep," Will agrees, sitting down. "Then, if it storms tonight, we're out on the road again."

Jason leads the group down to the elevator. "Have to get going right now if we're going to get to know the city," he says, pushing the "down" button.

Percy yawns. "Why now?" he asks tiredly. "It's five in the morning. Nobody will be up."

"That's the point, Per-Henry," Thalia says, rubbing her eyes. "We can also do a few quick robberies, too. Make a little lightning, you know? Oh, and Bianca, here's fifty bucks. See if you can convince the apartment staff to say we checked in a week or two earlier."

"Whatever," Percy mutters. He sleepily walks out the elevator doors and right into someone before he finally looks up. "Oh, um… excuse me!" he says quickly, jumping back. Standing in front of him is a boy probably a foot taller than him with curly black hair and brown eyes. Percy blinks. It was a member of the police force-the firebug, as Percy and his family not-so-affectionately referred to him. He had almost thwarted their plans multiple times, surrounding Percy in rings of fire and building up walls of flames. He and the archer were probably the deadliest members of the police force, along with the shapeshifter.

"Sorry," the firebug says quickly. "I… um… yeah. Sorry."

You have no idea who you're apologizing to, do you? Percy thinks, amused. If you only knew…

"Come on already!" Jason yells from outside, and Percy quickly heads out the door after his group.

"Jeez, Henry," Thalia says, lightly punching his shoulder. Percy rolls his eyes at the use of the alias.

"Police is nearby, Kelp Head," Hazel whispers to him, referring to the alias. "That's why."

"I know that," Percy says mutters. "I mean, I just ran into the firebug."

Hazel shrugs. "So… where're we going for breakfast?"

"I don't know," Jason says. "Let's just go wait for Bianca to finish up with the apartment staff."

"Hello, Earth to Valdez," Piper says, waving her hand in front of Leo's face. "Valdez, snap out of it."

"Did… did you see…?" Leo asks while rubbing his eyes.

"The boy? Yes. Unless if there was a magical unicorn involved, too," the daughter of Aphrodite says sarcastically. She looks around as if searching for something. "But I'm not seeing a magical unicorn, so… I'm guessing there wasn't one involved."

Leo blinks. "My gosh, he was… beautiful."

Piper whacks the back of his head. "Valdez, he lives here in the slums. That should give you enough of an idea about his life."

"We live in the slums," Leo points out. "Did you catch his name?"

"I think it was Henry," Piper says. "Anyways, we're out here on a mission, remember? Everyone else already left."

"Whatever," Leo mutters. "I say we head over to the Golden Gate Bridge and get some breakfast first."

What they didn't notice was an olive-skinned girl grinning as she handed some cash to the receptionist.

"Hey! Wait up!" Bianca shouts, running towards her group.

"Hey, Bi," Percy says once she catches up to him. "We were just looking for a place for breakfast."

"How 'bout somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge? That's where the firebug is," Bianca says smugly.

"Um… wouldn't we want to generally stay away from the police?" Jason asks. "I mean, unless if they have some magical thing that'll rain money on us?"

"Mm, but the firebug and charmspeaker don't know who we are," Bianca points out. "And the firebug has a tiny bit of a crush on a certain son of a water god~"

"What?" Percy demands, stopping in his tracks. Thalia shoves him to keep walking, while Jason and Nico start laughing.

"And Ms. Charmspeak didn't quite approve of his choice, either," Bianca says, grinning ear-to-ear. "Firebug thinks you're beautiful."

"Oh my gods," Percy mutters, shaking his head. "You must be joking."

"He doesn't know who you are, though," Bianca adds. "But he was in a trance after you ran into him. Charmspeaker snapped him out of it.

Percy's ears turn bright red as Jason does a "congratulatory" pat on the back.

"After all these years, Perce finally gets one!" Nico cheers, high-fiving Bianca.

"So… to the Golden Gate Bridge, then?" Hazel asks. She, thankfully, wasn't laughing, but was grinning like a maniac.

"Um, yeah," Thalia says. "Firebug's pretty, well… fiery, and will more than likely embarrass Percy. Of course we're going!"

"Why?" Percy cries. "Why me?"

"Nobody's answering your prayers," Jason says, steering Percy down another street. "To the Golden Gate Bridge!"

Leo sighs into his coffee as Piper and the cashier "talk" for information. Or, at least that's what it was for Piper. The cashier, on the other hand, was flirting.

"Not many hot guys in vans 'round here, nope," the guy says, leaning over the counter. "A few dark-skinned girls, but not many."

"Any with golden hair?" Piper asks.

"Saw a golden-haired guy you like? Well, I can assure-"

"No, girls," Piper says. "Golden-haired, dark-skinned girls."

The cashier looks disappointed for a second before an idea strikes him. "You're looking for your friend?"

"…Something like that," Piper says.

"You swing that way?"

Piper stares at him in shock for a full minute.

"You're an imbecile," she says at last and storms off to join Leo at the table.

"Caught you red-handed, did 'e?" Leo smirks, taking a bite out of his egg sandwich.

"Shut up Valdez," Piper mumbles as the door rings. The two glance behind them to see a group of six people, all laughing, enter the small café.

"Five black coffees, three hot chocolates, four mocha frappucinos, no wait, five mocha frappucinos, a vanilla light frappucino, and six egg sandwiches," the blond member of the group says. The cashier looks at him oddly for a second.

"Um… you sure you want that much coffee?" he asks.

"If I didn't want it I wouldn't have ordered it," he says, crossing his arms.

"I'd make the coffee," a quieter, darker member of the group says. The cashier nods and quickly gets to work.

Piper scans them, and freezes once she sees the last member of the group-a girl with dark, tannish skin, golden eyes and black hair streaked with gold.

"I think I found-" Piper begins.

"I know, I can't believe he's here," Leo says, eyes wide. Piper looks at him, confused for a moment, before turning back to the group. She notices a short, black-haired boy standing in the midst of them.

"Oh no," she mutters. "Leo, the girl-"

The son of Hephaestus cuts her off. "We should go talk to them."

"Just what I was thinking," Piper mutters, but Leo is already over at the table, talking to the boy from earlier.

Whew! Finished that up. Anyways, Percy Jackson was the first fandom I ever looked at fanfiction for, so... yeah. And with the new Heroes of Olympus series coming out, it was high time I wrote something for it.

Let me know how this went. Are the point-of-view changings a little too fast and confusing? I tried to do it from the general point of view of the thief group, (mainly focusing on Percy, of course,) and then the point of view of the police force, (focusing on Leo.) Did it change too often? I tried to have it show everyone's opinions on all the events, but it may have been changing a little too much. Did it sound weird? A couple spots were a little out of place, I think. Just make sure you let me know what you think. And I'll still be working on my Pokemon stories, so... if you like Pokemon, check those out!

Anyways, updates will be a little slow on all my stories for a few reasons.

1. I have to rewrite "Dreams of Victory"

2. I've got a gazillion other stories to update which I'm scared I'll be stalked and killed if I give up on one for now.

3. There's a lot of crap going on where I live, and I may have to leave/evacuate soon. That will, obviously, have a huge impact on my not-very-stable updating schedule.

So, yeah. Um, if you're interested in being a totally awesome person, then please donate to the Red Cross. Lots of people aren't as lucky as me and lost their homes, and tens of thousands of people had to leave their homes. (Tens of thousands isn't an exaggeration, either. It's seriously about 30 or 40 thousand people who had to evacuate.) Wow, I feel like such an armchair activist right now.

Moving on, please keep in mind that reviews make me that much more ready to write and update. I'll do the best I can, by any means.

(Wow this is a long A/N.)

Byeee for now!

ADifferentSortOfPerson