Disclaimer: Nope... Not a man... or over 30. Just a girl, that thinks it's FUN to stay up all night with no sleep!
Author's note: O_O What. The. This is over 5,000 words long. How- possible- not- what?
My LONGEST one-shot ever (and chapter too), WOW.
So... um... Alternate Universe, Luke is a bit out of character, I apologize, this is AU so *shrugs* and I pulled an all nighter for this sooo yeah. Review please! If something doesn't make sense, tell me via review or PM and I'll edit it! ENJOY! *Awkward wave as you slowly cut to story*
The burglar sneakily climbed into the poor, unsuspecting family's house through the window. He had scouted around the house for points of entry, eventually finding three points of access. The first, and the hardest, climb the latter up to the shed beside the house, and then jump from the shed onto the lowest point of the house where he would scale up the house to the chimney and climb down it. The problems with the chimney were obvious, if he slipped during the jump or while he was scaling the house, it could be his one way ticket to a broken arm, leg, back, or worse. Also considering he would have to climb down a chimney, one slip up and he could crash down into a rather hard floor, and the crash might alert the neighbours and then he'd have the cops to deal with.
The second option was to open up the cellar door and scout out an entrance way into the house from there, sometimes houses had secondary entrances like this in case of fire or such things. The burglar knew this; he had been in this business for years. Making underworld connections, looking for black markets to sell his loot to, all in the business he always said. It was a fair job to him, break into a house, steal things, and get out safely. In, steal, out, it's what most people think, and it's true but sometimes there are… complications, like what will happen later today.
Alas, he doesn't know that, they never do. The life of a burglar is thrilling, exciting, and highly dangerous. One wrong move, one fumble, one costly mistake, and you can end up in the hospital with half your body paralysed, life in jail, or worse, dead. What are these "mistakes" you say? Well, think of it this way, perhaps an amateur burglar forgets his getaway car! Then there's also if someone is still inside a house, how to gain access to a home without fatal injury, or having the cops get called on you because you're new to this and too noisy. Honestly, because of said possibilities of death, injury, or jail time, most amateurs stop immediately, only those brave, insane or idiotic enough to keep going ever become professional burglars.
Tonight, we follow one of the more brave, clever, and dangerous burglars. People know him by his nick name, "The shadow" wanted in more than twenty states in the United States of America he slowly works to the top. Some say they've seen the infamous burglar named "The Shadow", none have seen his face but when they see him run they know it is him. If he did not choose to become a professional burglar, or what he tends to like being called- "professional thief" he would be a shoe-in for the Olympics. He has escaped more policemen by land, water, and air than anyone else. Running like the wind, swimming like a fish, even evading capture by stealing a plane and jumping out just as it crashed, he truly is one of the most dangerous thieves' known- though he has never killed a soul.
It's true, most thieves are known to not kill, that would make them murders, not thieves, but even those with morals would succumb to the urge for survival. "The Shadow" is not only known for his thieving skills, but also for his escape skills. Many a times where other professional thieves would have pulled out a pistol, or defended themselves as the police or an angry victim attacked them, The Shadow has always kept calm, cool, collected, and then has managed to pull off amazing escapes unseen and unheard of by anyone before. Some think The Shadow is inhuman, not a man but something else entirely. They are very wrong.
The Shadow is human, his birth name, his real name, is one that not many people would know, he has made his civilian life blend with others, if you talked with him during the day, you wouldn't know he was a highly wanted criminal with millions of dollars to spare. His birth name you ask again? Must you be so persistent? Alright, shall tell you.
The Shadow's real name is Luke Castellan.
Do you know this name? I highly doubt you do. The Shadow is a famous thief, Luke Castellan is an average American who lives in an average house with an average income, or so everyone thinks. If you saw him on the street you would probably think "just someone average, no worry" then forget about him. If you talked, you would forget him. It truly is the perfect alias.
Now we are back to where we are Luke, The Shadow, is breaking into a seemingly empty house. Note the word seemingly. Luke is about to get more than he bargained for…
Why are all these second story windows so damn hard to open from the outside? Luke thought to himself, merely complaining to distract himself from what he was really doing, stealing from a hard working American. He truly did hate his job, though why he still do it? Steal from an innocent, just to make money? He needed the money, but not for whatever selfish reasons you are thinking. Luke had been normal once, just a regular guy, until SHE came along…
Success! He thought in his mind as he opened the window, it slide up and open enough for him to climb in. silently using his skills to enter through the window and stand up without a sound in the room, he slid the window back down making it appear to not have moved at all. Looking down at himself, he double checked enough was good. He was wearing all black clothing to blend into the shadow better, he had a cotton ski mask on so non would see his face, black cotton pants that stretched so he could move, and a black cotton and easy-to-move-in black sweater that was light but protected him from the cold without getting too hot.
Carefully scanning the room he was in, he found it was the master bedroom. Slowly opening up the backpack he had on, he put it down and silently started to work around the room, opening drawers slowly not to make a sound and making sure to put everything he didn't need back into place. After looking through the many drawers and the nightstand that were in the room, he accumulated a fair amount of jewellery, that somehow looked vaguely familiar… he shook it off.
Just focus, get in, take what you need, get out. He thought to him, assuring himself that this is just like every other time. You have to do it Luke, for Thalia. Thalia, oh Thalia. She was his sister, his sick and dying sister. Thalia was like the world to him, the only family he had since their mother had died, and their father had left them years before and had never come back. Luke never liked a lot of people, sure he had charm and he used it when he needed to, but Thalia… she was family to him and he couldn't let her pass like their mother had. After finding out his great thieving ability, he started burglarizing houses for money, sending money anonymously to the research facility that was working on a cure for her
sickness.
They were almost there, they only need a hundred thousand more to complete the research and Thalia would finally be cured. Luke had been working nonstop around the clock plotting the perfect burglaries, mapping out areas, anything to bring him closer to the hundred thousand he needed to save his sister. Yet… this house, he had not expected the feel of it to be familiar. He kept his mind set on his task, but somewhere back in his mind… he knew this house was different from the others.
Once again pushing that feeling to the back of his head, he continued around the room, searching for more jewellery. Minutes later, after finding a hidden hollow panel in the wall and coming up with a load of jewellery, he silently celebrated and moved onto another room. He opened the master bedroom's door slowly and snuck into the hall, not making a sound. Luke looked around the hall, it was a decent looking hall, not grand but perfectly well. Pictures of two kids lined the hall; Luke looked at each picture, not noticing the one with the two kids and their two parents. He looked down at the rug he was on, it was an old rug, a very old… he knew it was antique and worth quite a lot, but how would he carry it out? Better leave it… I don't with rugs anyways.
Luke slowly placed his hand on the doorknob to a room opposite to the master bedroom, his movement were smooth and relaxed as he opened the door and peered in. No one, he mentally let out a small sigh in his head and stepped inside. It was a child's room, presumably one of the two who were seen in the photos. He looked around; this was a little boy's room, about five? He had stormy grey eyes and raven black hair… it reminded him of something…. But what? The entire room was painted sea green; there were model ships- one he recognized as the Titanic, one of the most famous ships in history. The whole room was covered with model ships, and play plastic boats.
Thinking nothing in the room would be valuable; Luke stepped back out into the hallway and quickly stepped into another room beside the last one he was in. Once he stepped inside, he almost gasped. There were tons of posters, blueprints, and models of buildings all over the room, there was a bed that had a plain grey color but beside it a bunch of LEGOs were scattered across the world, some stacked together to make buildings and what eventually looked like to be a LEGO city. Scanning around the room, he found a picture of a little girl around six with blonde hair and sea-green eyes grinning at him holding a scale model of the Empire State building. Luke stared at the picture for what seemed like ages… he had seen a grin like that before.
Flashback
it was three-twenty PM, school had just gotten out and Luke was standing alone waiting for the busses to come. He was new to this school, his mother had to keep transferring him, it was hard but over the years he had gotten used to it. Sighing to himself, Luke looked around for something- anything to take his mind off the boring wait. He tapped his finger against his side, bored out of his mind when a sound of laughter caught his attention.
"Oh c'mon Seaweed brain! Was that really necessary?"
"Yeah it was Wise girl! So what did you want to tell me anyways?"
"The company chose my design for the building! They're going to build it!"
"What?! No way! You aren't THAT lucky!"
"Better believe it, seaweed brain!"
"I'll believe it when I see it!"
"Well it'll take a few months, but drop by that construction site when it's done and you'll see!"
"Fine, but you have to come too."
"Why wouldn't I come? It's my design!"
"…True…" The girl laughed again. Luke walked towards them, having hearing some of their conversation. "Hello?" He said calmly and coolly, like always.
Annabeth and Percy, both fourteen, looked up at the sixteen year old Luke who had just transferred there today. They were both sat down on a bench close together, they had looked so happy with each other if you didn't know them you'd think they were a couple, but nope, just great friends- for now.
"Hey… who're you?" Percy asked, generally curious about whom Luke was.
"I'm Luke, I just transferred here today." He said, adding a charming smile at the end, one that said "I'm not dangerous at all; I won't lure you down some alley and chop you to pieces because I am a nice and caring person."
Percy put his hand out, and Luke shook it. "I'm Percy, this is Annabeth."
"Hello Luke." Annabeth smiled widely at Luke, she shook Luke's hand too when he kept it out for her to shake.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation… something about a design?"
Annabeth grinned that grin, she nodded. "Yes! The design was for this contest…" she continued on grinning while she talked. That grin, that image, was burned permanently into Luke's brain, like a brand.
"That's amazing! Tell me more."
End Flashback
Could it be? The Percy and Annabeth that Luke had become friends with so many years ago, could this be their home? Was this their child? Luke was shocked from the possibility. It can't be… No… Luke still remembered them, they were the first two friends he had in a while, he tried his hardest to stay in the school they went to, but when he finally managed to graduate they fell apart as his mother died, and his sister too became sick. It was around the time he started thieving… because of the mysterious woman. He didn't know her name, but that woman changed his life, she enhanced his already capable abilities a little, making thieving the easiest way to obtain money.
Wanting to find out more, Luke shook out of his trance of staring at the picture and quietly walked back to the door. He slowly opened it and peaked outside of it, he heard the faint murmur of voices coming from downstairs. Gulping to himself, he set off towards the stairs to hear them better. Slowly making his way down the hallway, he started to recollect memories of his time with them and his sister years ago, some pleasant, and others… not so much.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The sound of music blasting in Luke's ears made him smile, he was at an arcade nearby their school that had Dance Dance Revolution, he laughed and watched as Percy stepped up on the dance area and started to dance, failing horribly, but not as much as Luke did. Annabeth wasn't too bad but dancing wasn't her thing either, they each had a turn dancing alone then verse each other as they laughed. Annabeth beat both of them easily, but when Percy and Luke stepped onto the dance area it was an all-out battle to see who would just fail less to beat the other, after the song ended their laughter grew as it turned out a tie was called, they both failed equally at Dance Dance Revolution.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"C'mon, it's easy Luke! All you do is control Pac man and eat the little dots; if you get the big dots then you can eat the ghost's that chase you! If you get hit by a ghost when you can't eat it, you lose a life. It's real simple!" Percy exclaimed as Luke, Annabeth, and him all crowded around an old Pac man game after their Dance Dance Revolution games ended. It was kind of sad to admit, but Luke had never played a game of Pac man before, or even come into an arcade before this. He cautiously grabbed the control and started to play, controlling Pac man around the ghost and gathering the dots like a pro, quickly gaining a high score with Percy and Annabeth cheering him on. Luke grinned widely as he played, it was amazing what he had missed for years, he was a complete natural at arcade games.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Don't you just love the small of the ocean?" Percy said, lying down in the sand of the beach in only his blue swim trunks, staring out into the ocean. Luke knew from the year he had gotten to know Percy, he just LOVES the sea, or water, really anything to do relating to water he knew about. One of Percy's top priorities was to become a marine biologist, though he would have to work hard because he is dyslexic. Luke, Percy, and Annabeth all were dyslexic, Annabeth works hard, reading as many books as she can so she can read better by the time she wants to become an architect. Luke still had a hard time, and had transferred a lot from school to school due to it. It was becoming better, and in a year he would graduate. He didn't want to graduate just yet, being two years older than Percy and Annabeth was hard sometimes, but they had assured him that they would keep in touch.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Congratulations Annabeth! You were sure to win that contest after all your hard work." Luke told Annabeth days after their trip to the beach to look at the ocean. Annabeth had sent in more designs for another contest held by a big company that wanted new ideas to bring teens into their shop, the winner received a thousand dollars and an all expenses paid trip to Orlando Florida curtsey of the company! After finding the contest, all it took was Annabeth and her determination to win and her skill at designing buildings and the contest was as they say, "in the bag". Annabeth was going to be gone for five days, staying at a luxury resort and carefree, Percy and Luke were extremely glad for her, she needed time off and needed to de-stress for once. Annabeth was almost literally bouncing off the walls with excitement, she had never been to Florida before and this was her chance. She gratefully accepted the thousand dollars and the trip in a heartbeat, she and her family would be having a great time while Percy and Luke had five "guy days" to plan.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"
Luke? Do you like Annabeth? I mean more as a friend…" it had been three days since Annabeth had gone, they were missing her greatly and neither had approached the subject of liking Annabeth more than a friend. Thinking about it, Luke was quiet for several moments, his thoughts swirling in his head. He ran a hand through his golden-blonde hair and sighed, Percy turned to look at him and Luke looked at Percy. Luke didn't really want to answer, he was conflicted. He knew that Percy was in love with Annabeth, he had known for a while. Annabeth did not know, though. He finally looked up to the sky and answered with a simple. "I don't know."
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"I don't love Annabeth." Luke said to Percy, it was a week after their talk and Annabeth was back. She was perfectly fine, well… if you have having a broken toe fine. During the week, Luke had finally figured it out. It wasn't romantic feelings that he felt towards Annabeth, it was a family feeling. She was like another little sister to him. It took him hours of thinking, but finally Luke was able to finally say he did not love Annabeth. Percy felt relieved, he did not think that Luke maybe loving Annabeth would upset him, but it quite in fact did. It was a good feeling to finally be able to breathe again, like he was being held underwater until Luke had finally said that he didn't love her.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Annabeth was developing romantic feelings towards Percy. It had been a month or so after Luke confessed to Percy that he found out in fact he did not love Annabeth in a romantic way. Percy and Annabeth had started seeing each other more, without Luke. They all still hung out as usual, but sometimes they would have to cancel with Luke for the night or right after school, yet still they were best friend. Luke began to worry though, in a month's time it would be his time for graduation, he was excited, nervous, and scared all at the same time. Luke knew that he needed to graduate, but he never knew how much of a turn his life would take just after graduation.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Luke Castellan!" The principle of the school yelled, cheers erupted from the crowd. Luke took a deep breath and walked towards the people lined up, he breathed with each step, trying to calm his nerves. When he reached the line of people, he stopped in front of the person who held his diploma; he could not make out their face though they were right in front of him. He looks to the crowd and breathed, he scanned the sea of people and finally spied the people he wanted to see. He saw his sick mother, in a wheelchair with his sister Thalia behind her, both of them waving at him. Beside them were Percy and Annabeth, cheering loudly as he smiled and finally felt calm for the first time today. When he started walking off the stage, his nerves calmed down even more, the diploma part was done, at the end of today he will have officially graduated.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Nice Luke! You're a graduate now!" Percy exclaimed as he and Annabeth came up to Luke, his sister, and his mother after the ceremony. Luke was smiling like a mad man on dollar drink days at McDonalds as he went over and one arm hugged both Percy and Annabeth together, and they hugged back. "Really, congratulations Luke!" Annabeth said, practically beaming at him as he laughed and grinned. Percy smiles back Annabeth and planted a soft, sweet kiss on her cheek. Annabeth grinned and hugged Luke tight, this time using both her arms* you're old now, Luke." He laughed. "Haven't I always been old?" He said as he smiled wide just enjoying the laughter and playfulness. Thalia laughed and tapped Luke's shoulder then hugged him as Annabeth pulled away. "Nice job graduating, not we'll have to downsize that new ego of yours." Everyone laughed, though there wouldn't be much laughter soon.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Luke… Thalia… I'm so sorry that this happened so suddenly…" Nico said, he one of Percy's friends that Percy had introduced to Luke two months ago just after graduation. It was a dreary day for them all, especially Luke and Thalia, their mother had died from her illness and today was her funeral. The rain fell heavily on the day of their mother's death, her friends, Thalia's friends, and Luke's friends all attended, Luke was able to meet new people… though he had wished he met them another way, instead of at the funeral for his late mother. On this day, he had met Thalia and Percy's friends, Jason, Piper, Leo, Grover, Juniper, Katie, Conner, and Travis. Luke found all of them quite pleasant but did not yet to pursue a friendship with any of them. Percy and Annabeth were there, they had been there the entire time, they had seen Luke comforting his sister Thalia as they stood and watched the casket go in the ground. Luke talked with them, he talked with them more than he did the others, but soon he just wanted to be left alone with his sister to grieve.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Two years later. "Luke, I don't… I don't feel well." Luke heard his sister Thalia say as she came into the living room where he had sat down to watch TV in. Luke was frightened now; those were the exact same words their mother had said just before they rushed her to the hospital and found out about her illness. Luke never wanted to do that again, he prayed to the gods that it wasn't the same illness. Luke quickly took action and took her to the hospital, they rushed her into the ER and he was forced to sit in the waiting room until further notice. Waiting there for hours, he was scared on the inside, but he didn't let it show, he never let it show. When a nurse finally came out to get him, she said that Thalia's heart and stopped several times, they had to resurrect her each time she died, she was stable for now but they weren't going to let her go for a while yet. Reaching the room Thalia was in; Luke ran up and hugged her like he had never hugged her before. They embraced for a few minutes before the doctor came in and sprung the bad news.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"I'm sorry… your sister is dying." Was all the doctor said, Luke stared at him, anger, sadness, and frustration weld up inside him, he was about to burst when the doctor informed him of the medical facility that did research and was working towards a cure. She would have years, ten at the most, but Luke could try, oh he could try to save her. The only thing though, how would he?
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"I can help you." A voice rang out of nowhere. Luke was instantly alert and on guard, he looked around but saw no one, confused, he relaxed a bit in his seat on the bench outside of the hospital; he needed fresh air to clear his mind. "You need money to help her." The voice rang again, it was more of a whisper on the wind and Luke stood up and looked around. "Show yourself!" he said, a few seconds later a hooded figure stepped out of the shadows and towards Luke. He gulped and took a step back instinctively; the hooded figure seemed amused at that. "I can help you, Luke Castellan." The figure said, he stay silent, fear rising in him but also bravery. "How?" he simply asked and the hooded figure held out their hand. "I can improve all of your physical abilities and maximize them, for a small price of course…"
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"It's easy Luke, just get in, steal the jewellery, and get out. Simple." Luke said to himself as he looked up at the average looking house he was about to rob, he didn't like that part one bit but a deal was a deal. He needed to steal jewellery that he would sell for money; fifty percent of the profit would go to the hooded woman who revealed herself a woman after he took the deal. His fifty percent he could do with whatever he wanted with, he didn't know what she was doing with her share nor did he want to find out. Luke once again peered up at the house he was about to rob and gulped. "Well here go nothing…" he said as he began to break in.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Here's your share." Luke said as he dropped a bag filled with cash, half of his profits exactly, on the table in his house. Thalia was sleeping upstairs, she had gotten better over the past few months and since he was legally over eighteen after their mother died she was able to stay with him. Their mother had put the house in his name anyways. The mysterious woman picked up the bag, weighed it, then smiled a spine=chilling smile that Luke had gotten used to. "Good, you have cut it exactly even. I will be back again in the coming months." She said and disappeared with the bag of money. Luke sighed heavily and sat down in a chair. He put his hands on his forehead and sat there, resting for but a moment.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Three years. It had been three years since he started this and he wasn't even halfway there. He only had seven years, just seven years to be able to save his sister. He turbo-boosted himself, turning in more money anonymously, he robbed more houses, had more contacts, he did everything he could to make sure his sister survived.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Six years, he was almost here. It had been six years since he had gotten sick, he only had one more year left and he planned to make it count, he was almost there. He could do it; he could do it, couldn't he?
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
he remembered all of those, the memories, there were some he wished to forget, some he wished to cherish, and some he never wished happened. Luke had been through a lot, all he wanted, and still wants is to have his sister cured. Not to relive his past memories.
Alas, he was too curious. Reaching to the end of the hallway, he peered down the stairway and heard a man talking… he sounded familiar, too familiar. The man was telling his children a story, a woman whose voice Luke also found familiar would interrupt and correct a part. The children seemed happy, he leaned against a wall and listened in.
"And the fireworks exploded! The whole entire stadium was illuminated as the fireworks went off. I was only twelve at this time, remember, so I was very excited to see the fireworks from within the stadium…" he kept going, but Luke froze. Percy said he and Annabeth met at a stadium on the fourth of July because both of their parents loved to see the fireworks. He looked around to distract himself, but when he did… he spotted the picture of Annabeth and Percy as teenagers, hanging on the wall. His eyes widen and he completely froze from shock. He was the one who took that picture.
He almost gasped the pure shock of that. So it is them… he thought to himself. He slowly unfroze after the shock wore off; he slowly walked over to the picture and ran a finger down the frame. He closed his eyes and breathed in slowly. He opened them again and found it was real. Like he was in a trance, he moved over to the other picture of them, this one was them older, more recent… they were wearing rings. Weddings rings from the looks of it. I always knew they would be married.He thought to himself, smiling slightly on the inside. Luke, now looking at the situation in a new light, looked at the bag of jewellery he took from here… and walked back to the master bedroom, but careful not to alert them downstairs.
He stealthily walked into the master bedroom and looked at his bag again. Thalia or Annabeth and Percy…? He was conflicted, Thalia was the world to him… yet he did not want to steal from his friends. He put a hand forehead and sighed quietly; making his final decision… he started putting all the jewellery back where he found it, making sure to make it look like exactly as it did before. When finished, he opened the window and let the cold air wash over him. He took one more look back into the master bedroom and then climbed out, closing it behind him.
Meanwhile downstairs…
"Our friend Luke was the one brought us close together in the first place, kids." Percy said and Annabeth smiled.
"Luke was one of the best friends another could have."
"Daddy, finish the story!" their daughter Bell said and Percy laughed.
"Okay, okay. SO where were we…?"
"After the jet ski and the volcano!" exclaimed their son Dan.
"Oh my, yes! And so, after escaping the lava island at age thirteen, we hugged and that's how I met your mother."