A/N: To Mum, Happy Mothers' Day! Thanks for always being there. Here's a short fic for Mothers' day, just for you.
Disclaimer: In no way am I Rick Riordan. I don't think Rick would be writing a fic to his mum for Mothers' Day, would he?
Anyway, on with the story!
The brunette woman strolled the crowded streets of Times Square, where the usual tourist mob was pushing and shoving. She was hand in hand with a sandy haired man, obviously her husband.
The woman was walking casually enough, but her eyes, usually so bright, were a dull, washed-out blue, and worry oozed from every pore on her face. Dark bags hung beneath her eyes, wrinkles lining her forehead. Crow's feet were found by the corners of her eyes, showing the woman smiled a lot.
But she wasn't smiling now. In fact, she hadn't smiled in 8 months. Her hero was gone. The world shouldn't have been so cheery. Nothing should have been beautiful. But, of course, the world thought nothing of her lost hero, her precious son.
The tourists were milling around now. Laughter was heard and pointing fingers were raised. A few shocked swears were emanating from the crowd. She glanced around. To her surprise, some of these people were New Yorkers. Hadn't they seen the mega screens before?
Her sandy-haired husband pulled on her arm, trying to get her attention.
"Sally? Sally?"
Her husband, too, was pointing spastically at the mega screen outside Walgreens, his mouth gaping. Well, he was living up to his surname of Blofis. Her son used to accidentally call him Blowfish all the time.
"What is it, Paul?"
"Look up."
Sally shook her fringe out of her eyes and angled her face up. The sight that greeted her eyes was hilarious. Still, only a small, wan smile graced her lips.
There was a video of an elfish looking Latino boy flashing on the screen. The boy had curly brown hair and upturned eyebrows. His mouth was pulled into a hysterical grin, his eyes glinting with crazed mischief. It was the usual face that teachers had pegged as troublemakers almost instantly. The boy was wearing an army vest over an orange shirt, a tool belt completing the look.
The screen pixelated itself and formed back, a caption now flashing across the animated screen. Even Sally couldn't resist cracking a genuine smile at the words. She supposed it was some joke being played.
In capital letters, flashing bright neon red, were the words "ALL YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENTS BELONG TO LEO!", spanned diagonally across the screen.
In the background, a girl's voice yelled, "Leo Valdez! What in the name of the gods do you think you think you're doing?!"
The boy grinned even wider. "Chillax, Beauty Queen! I'm just fooling around."
A door swung open in the backdrop of the screen and a Native American girl with choppy hair braided down one side with an eagle's feather entered the room.
"Repair Boy! What in the name of Olympus are you doing?"
'Leo' just smiled. "Smile, Pipes! You're on candid camera!"
The girl groaned and shielded her face. "You better not be broadcasting that to the whole Manhattan!"
"Oh, but I am. What're you gonna do about it?"
The girl rolled her eyes. And reached forward. All of a sudden, the screen went black, but we could still hear their voices.
"Leo, I am so switching off this camera. Now. Do you know how many monsters you've attracted?"
Sally could imagine the boy pouting. "Piper…" He whined.
"No way. This is going off, now."
Their voices cut off.
Sally sighed. If those two were demigods, and they most probably were, given the way they spoke, she hoped they could fight well. They most definitely had every monster within a ten-mile radius around them heading in their direction now.
Thinking about demigods saddened her and she choked back tears. Honestly, the last she heard about Percy was when Poseidon Iris-Messaged to say that his favourite son had fallen into Tartarus. Her reaction had been justifiably horrendous. But she knew he'd make it back. He had to. Her hero wasn't defeated so easily, especially with his girlfriend by his side. They would defend the other with their lives.
Smiling sadly at the thought, she nudged Paul, and headed home.
Reaching their apartment, she locked the door behind her and sagged into the couch, world-weary. Paul sat beside her, an arm around her shoulder, all the comfort he could give in this time. She wanted Percy back, that was all. No. It wasn't a want. It was a need. She needed to know that her son was safe, needed to see it with her own eyes.
Then, the door burst open.
The first thing that greeted her sight was a pair of shocking stormy gray-silver eyes. Eyes that she'd seen almost every day for eight months, before their owner had left for California.
"Sally!" The girl cried in relief. "I need some ambrosia and nectar here! I would bring the demigods to Camp, but your place was the nearest venue that held a large stock of ambrosia and nectar."
Six demigods behind her tumbled in, one standing just out of line of sight in the corridor, fending off the monsters.
The dark-skinned girl with curly cinnamon hair came in first, wielding what Sally recognised as a spatha, a Roman cavalry sword. Spending time around demigods ensured that you knew your weapons. She glanced up and fixed Sally with gleaming golden eyes. They glinted like gold, with a metallic shine, but they weren't cold like the metal. These orbs held warmth and compassion.
The girl limped over to a chair, her leg bleeding from several deep gashes. Her jeans legs were in shreds. Sally quickly got up and dug into the emergency supply of godly food that they kept in the house. Grabbing a square of ambrosia, she handed it over to the girl.
The girl accepted gratefully. "Thanks, Mrs Jackson. Hazel Levesque, Daughter of Pluto. I'm Roman."
Sally smiled. "Any time, dear."
She turned to another demigod with a bow and quiver slung over his back. He looked distinctly Asian, and had closely-cropped black haired and chubby features. He was pretty heavyset, with brawny arms and a muscled body. He had a cut on his forehead and several burns on his exposed arms. She passed him a canteen of nectar without actually knowing the boy. Being a parent of a demigod tended to equip you for these type of situations.
"Thanks. I'm Frank Zhang, Son of Mars."
She nodded, turning to help the rest of the demigods. The boy dressed all in black, with pale skin and a contrasting shock of black hair and dark eyes raised a hand in greeting, before going back to nursing his broken arm.
Sally rushed over to him. "Nico! What happened?"
She grabbed a square of ambrosia and almost force-fed the 13 year old.
Nico chewed the ambrosia and swallowed. "Better now. Thanks, Sally."
A familiar looking girl with braided chocolate brown hair was supporting an unconscious blonde boy. Annabeth was on the other side of the blonde boy, supporting his weight as well. They laid him on the couch and the girl trickled nectar into his mouth.
Annabeth took a deep breath and faced Sally. "This is Piper Mclean, Daughter of Aphrodite."
Sally scrutinised the girl carefully, taking in her choppy, braided hair and kaleidoscopic it hit her. "I saw you on the mega screen outside Walgreens!"
Piper smiled. "Oh, you saw that? That was Leo, our resident joker and son of Hephaestus."
The last boy – not counting the one standing guard outside-, walked over. His shirt was half-shredded and there were slashes across his chest, but he didn't look like he cared.
"Hey, Mrs Jackson! You saw my awesome hacking skills, I heard?"
Piper whacked his head. "Shut up, Leo! It was because of that that we're in this mess now!"
"Still!" The boy protested.
Leo bowed. "The Awesome Flamin' Valdez, Supreme Commander of the Argo II, at your service!"
Annabeth smiled. "And this is Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus part-time mechanic, part-time fireball, and full-time joker."
The blonde boy on the couch stirred and Sally was met with shocking electric blue eyes. He sat up. "Jason Grace, son of Jupiter." He offered a hand.
Sally took it and smiled. "Nice to meet you."
A familiar voice called in from outside. A voice she would never forget in all her years.
"All clear! They're gone! Either vaporised or turned tail and ran!"
Her eyes teared up. "He's here?"
Annabeth nodded and pushed Sally gently towards the door. "Go on, talk to him."
The first thing she saw was the glowing metre-long Celestial Bronze blade. Then came the mop of unruly, windswept jet-black hair, and the deep, emotional, ever-changing sea-green eyes.
"Percy!"
"Mom!" The boy dropped his sword and pulled her into a tight hug.
Sally pulled away from the hug and looked into the eyes of her son. "Oh, my little boy! Are you alright? That call from Alaska was so not adequate enough, Perseus Jackson! Then your father come and tells me that you've fallen into Tartarus? Oh, Percy…"
"I'm alright, Mom. I'm here. It's okay." Percy hugs her even tighter.
Sally showers kisses over Percy while he explains his adventures to her, obviously trying to water down on the danger, which just makes it sound all the more dangerous.
The others are watching, some, like Piper, tearing up at the mother-son moment, some, like Jason, watching with envy in their eyes. Hazel and Annabeth are looking on at the tender moment, smiling, while Leo and Frank have turned their backs on the scene, their own tears building up behind closed eyelids. Despite their differences, they share an understanding there.
"Percy?" The voice cuts through the tender silence.
Paul has re-entered the room.
"Percy! Thank the gods, it is you!"
He hugs his stepson briefly before backing away, leaving his wife and son to soak in each other's company.
The world seems to blur until it is only the two of them. Mother and son, finally reunited.
A/N: This is for Mother's Day, and to my mum, I love you! Hope you like this!