Chapter Two
Unwelcome Company

Rachel didn't say anything when Percy wordlessly greeted her at the airport.

She bit her tongue while he lugged his small duffel bag to her car. He wasn't planning on staying for long, she induced.

When Percy blankly looked out the window as she battled the late night traffic, she maintained his silence. He had a lot on his mind, she told herself. She'd give him his space.

But by the time they reached her apartment, Rachel couldn't hold it back anymore. "How was your flight?" she asked. It was the most innocent thing she could think to say in a sea of loaded questions.

"Long."

Rachel took her time fishing the key out of her bag, hoping for an elaboration on his response. Of course, she never got one. Percy wasn't one who liked to talk about stressful situations. In the time she'd known him, Rachel had seen him utilize two coping methods: fix or ignore.

She wondered what he was going to do this time.

"I have a guest bedroom you can stay in as long as you need to," Rachel said quietly. It was an invitation for him to tell her what his plan was.

"Thanks."

Rachel sighed and opened the door for him, suddenly conscious of how chaotic her apartment must look. "You want to talk?" she asked, for lack of a better idea.

"Does it seem like I want to talk?" Percy demanded, a harsh edge to his voice. "I appreciate you letting me stay here, but I really just want to go to sleep."

Rachel pushed back her burning curiosity. "The guest room's just down the hall and to your right," she said.

Percy nodded and wordlessly proceeded down the hallway. There was a noticeable droop to his shoulders, like he was carrying the weight of the world.

And she wasn't sure how she could help him.

Annabeth was calm and collected.

Miss Chase, the blood test showed nothing abnormal, however…

She went to all of her classes like normal and took her finals. She convinced her English teacher to give her a second chance to present her project. When that was done, she went back to her dorm room and began packing her things for winter break.

Things were perfectly fine. Things were normal.

I assure you, Miss Chase, its' perfectly possible.

Zach called her in the afternoon to ask if she wanted to go out for dinner. She agreed, just like she would have any other night. Of course, he didn't ask her where she wanted to go or even what she was in the mood for. Zach always picked.

He picked her up at 5:00 sharp, as always.

Things were like they'd always been. Nothing had changed.

I take it this is unexpected news.

Zach gave her a tight smile when she slid into his car. "You look stressed," he said lightly, almost patronizingly. "I remember what finals were like my freshman year."

Annabeth hadn't told Zach about what had happened yesterday. She'd been hungry and tired, and she'd passed out. It hadn't been anything to worry about. "I had calculus and physics finals today – classes you never took." It was her way of telling him that he had no idea what she was going through.

"I know, Annabeth." The condescension in his tone was undeniable. "But classes only get harder. Today I had a twenty page abnormal psychology final."

That was her cue to ask him how it had gone. She pretended not to notice Zach would tell her anyway – her inquiring about it was nothing more than a formality.

Just like always.

We'll have to have you come back for a few tests.

Annabeth sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Over the course of the day, she'd been bombarded with text after text, all because in a moment of panic she had called the last person on earth she wanted to be put in this situation with.

I flew into Boston last night.

Can I see you?

Please. We need to talk.

Annabeth. I didn't fly across the country so you could ignore me.

That had been the first hour of her day. Needless to say, she hadn't responded to any of his messages. Eventually, he'd get the hint and leave. Nothing was wrong. There was no reason for him to be here.

"-and then there were the case studies we had to do, but…Annabeth, you seem distracted," Zach finished, not even taking his eyes off the road to look at her.

"I am."

An awkward silence hung as Zach waited for her to elaborate. She wasn't going to.

"Is everything fine?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

Annabeth could lie to herself.

The only problem was she'd always been a bit of a skeptic.

Percy was slowly going crazy.

He'd never been one to think things through, but this had to have been his worst mistake so far. He'd decided to fly across the country without even getting an address that he could reach Annabeth at. She wasn't responding to his texts, either.

And it wasn't as if he'd sent, oh, over a hundred.

Rachel had tiptoed around him in the morning, and she hadn't said anything to him since she got back from school. That reminded him of the finals he was missing. He wondered what that was going to do to his already poor grades.

All because he didn't think.

Percy didn't get how it could have happened. He didn't pretend to be an expert on these things, but he hadn't been with Annabeth since the first week of September – right around the time they'd broken up. Shouldn't she have known earlier if…

Gods, he couldn't even think it.

It had been half an hour since Percy had last texted her. Hoping for any kind of response, he sent her another message. Please just tell me what's going on.

"You seem a bit tense," a vaguely familiar voice said.

Percy jerked his head around to find himself face to face with a god. "Hermes," he breathed, taking in the god's disheveled appearance, from the worn jogging suit to the curly hair that seemed to have more gray than the last time Percy had seen him.

"I did knock," Hermes said, a semblance of sheepishness in his tone. "But no one answered, so I just let myself in."

"How did you know I was here?"

"The girl told me. She also asked me to ask you what you'd like for supper."

"No…not here." Percy shook his head and waved his hand in the air. "I mean, on this side of the country."

"All of the gods know you're here." There was a slight twinkle in his eye as he handed Percy a dark blue envelope. It had his name and an unfamiliar address written on it – Rachel's apartment, he deduced. "Your father sent this for you."

"Because it would be such a pain in the ass to just pick up a phone," Percy said under his breath, tossing it onto the stand next to his bed. "I don't mean to sound…disrespectful, but I don't care what he has to say."

"He cares about you, Percy."

"Oh, yeah. How could I forget?" Being so blasé with a god was asking for trouble, but Percy couldn't keep the heavy sarcasm out of his voice. "Do you care about your children, Hermes? Because as I remember, it was your son who-"

"Percy. We've changed."

"No, you haven't."

Percy had made the gods promise there would be no more unclaimed children. There would be a cabin at Camp Half-Blood for every god, no matter how minor. The gods had agreed. They would be good parents – they would care about their children.

Two years later, the summer before his senior year of high school, Percy had gone back to the camp to see how things were.

They were exactly like how they'd been. The gods had forgotten how close they'd been to falling because of their ignorance.

That was when Percy had decided he was going to go to school on the west coast – anything to get away from all of it.

"Your father doesn't know why you've come back."

Percy took a deep breath. "Do you?"

Hermes frowned and stared at the floor. "The girl told Apollo, and he told me." Before Percy could say anything, Hermes cut him off. "Don't be angry with her, Percy. The relationship between Apollo and his oracle is complex."

"Just promise me Poseidon doesn't know."

"I swear to you, Percy, to the best of my knowledge he doesn't."

Percy turned his back on the god. "Then you can leave."

When he was sure Hermes had left, Percy stormed out of his room and down the hall. Rachel was sitting in the living room, a blank canvas spread out in front of her and a tray of paints at her side. "The hibernating bear leaves his cave," she joked, giving him a small smile.

He wasn't in the mood for niceties. "You had to tell Apollo, huh?" he said, getting straight to the point.

Rachel's face fell. "Percy…I…it's…"

"It's my life, Rachel. Stay out of it."

Rachel stood up and marched towards Percy. At full height, she only came up to his chest. However, there was still something intimidating about her. "Okay, let me just pick you up at the airport late at night and welcome you into my home so you can ignore me and keep to yourself."

"It's none of your business!"

"I'm your friend!"

Their eyes locked, a silent battle taking place.

Finally, Percy looked away. "I thought you were." He began heading for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"It's none of your business."

Percy slammed the door and stormed down the stairs. He had no idea where he was going – he didn't even realize that he'd left all of his clothes and toiletries in his duffel bag in Rachel's apartment. Even if it had occurred to him, there was no turning back.

It was late at night, and Percy had all of $50 in his wallet. Rachel didn't exactly live in a dumpy part of town – he'd have to walk for a while if he was going to find a hotel for that price.

Well, he better get started.

That was when he felt a vibrating feeling in his pocket. His phone – his phone! Trying not to get his hopes up, he grabbed it. Annabeth's name on the screen was like a shining beacon of hope.

"Annabeth!" he said, eagerly pressing the phone to his ear.

"Percy, listen closely because I'm only going to say this once. Nothing is wrong. Calling you was a mistake. You need to go back home because-"

Whatever she said next, Percy didn't hear it.

He'd fallen to the ground, unconscious after a hard blow to the head.

The teen behind him smiled, grabbing rope out of his backpack. That had been easy.

Almost too easy.

Notes: DUN DUN DUN..I bet you thought this was just going to be one of those cute fluffy pregnancy stories. Not exactly. In case you haven't noticed, we've got a darker Percy featured in this story. His outlook on life sure has taken a beating. Anyway, reviews are love and great inspiration, but you know that.