Author's Note: So sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I have excuses that I bet you do not want to hear, but I'm going to tell you anyway! 1. School. You know, homework and crap like that. 2. Sports. I don't get home until like 5 and if I have a game it's more like 6. I'm also in band and have to march every so often which is also time consuming. . Hanging out with friends, living, and not just updating fan fiction 24 7 is how I roll. Hope that's enough to redeem myself and enough self-pitying! Let's get on with the story!

Beta, still so important, people! I really need that beta!

Annabeth POV:

I gently slid my shirt on over my head, trying to make it as painless as possible, but I don't think it work considering the enormous amount of pain I was feeling right now. A bruise spread all the way across my stomach and it was more then just black and blue. It was all the colors of the rainbow and if this weren't a super secret mission I would no doubt get it checked out by a specially trained you-just-got-your-butt-kicked-by-a-gang-and-i-can-help-you-ologist. I had a nice purple black eye on my right and no matter how much cover up I put over it, I couldn't hide it. I looked like death itself because of the little amount of sleep I had and knew that coffee probably wasn't going to work as well as I hope it would. I couldn't stop thinking about the dogs that had beaten me up. Don't get me wrong; I was trying to get beaten up, but only to get information. I thought I would be able to fight back or at least run away once I had gotten what I had been looking for, but that obviously hadn't happened.

At least I had found out valuable information and now knew what I was going to do to bring down this gang. I hurried toward work looking left and right and all around trying to make sure no one was following me. Call me paranoid, but I know you can never be too cautious. I took a deep breath before going into the office door. I knew the office was going to give me crap about the black eye. They always seemed to notice the littlest differences someone made to their appearance or attitude. Just hope I didn't lose my temper before I made it to Mr. Chiron's office. As I speed walked through the building I heard many concerned voices saying things like, "Oh Annabeth, what happened!" "How did you do that?" and "Are you okay!" I also heard not so concerned voices that said things like "Nice Annabeth. Trip over air again?" "Wow. I didn't know you liked losing fights so bad, Annabeth." and " Did your boy friend beat you up again?" That last one almost made me want to punch that guy's lights out, but I kept walking with both my jaw and knuckles clenched.

I opened the office door and it took every inch of self-control I had not to slam it. That would make only a bigger, and much more embarrassing scene for myself. Chiron looked up from his lab top and his eyes went right to my black eye.

"Annabeth, what did you do to your eye," he asked, concern in his eyes. I tried my best not to stray from the truth.

"Recon mission gone wrong, but I did find out some pretty interesting stuff about D.O.G. It turns out D.O.G. isn't an acronym, or at least if it is, it doesn't really matter. The main reason why D.O.G is called that is because each one of their members is named after a dog breed. I ran into a few puppies yesterday and found out all of this from them." I stated, proud at my accomplishment of retrieving information just after one day of learning about this whole big mess.

"Oh," Chiron said, his eyes darkening. "And you decided that having a nice little chat with them would be good?" I nodded, not flinching at his steel glare. He really didn't like me putting myself in danger.

"And it worked perfectly, just according to plan?" Chiron gave me a weird look, but I decided to go on with what I had discovered last night.

" Also, last night an idea came to me. This is a pretty big gang, right?"

"Right"

"And if we just go take out the minor parts of the gang, one at a time, they will just be replaced again, just as quick, right?"

"I suppose" He didn't look like he understood where I was going with this. I tried giving him a few more hints.

"Well, I was thinking, what if we get some field members to go undercover and "join" the gang and find out where the big dogs of this big, bad gang lies. That way we can-" Chiron cut me off.

"No, Annabeth. It's too dangerous! The field members could get easily killed or fatally injured! What if D.O.G. found out? They would be hunted for the rest of their lives! Do you really want that on your conscious, Annabeth?" I thought for a while, trying to find a solution to these very minor problems. Then it hit me.

"Alright, forget the other members. It'll be a solo operation. Just me. I'll go in and I'll-"

"NO ANNABETH!" Chiron's sudden shout made the whole office go quiet. Chiron was usually a pretty chill guy and for him to get this upset was really surprising. Unfortunately, for him, I was just starting to like this new plan, and once I start on something, I can't be stopped.

"Chiron, have any of our other plans worked?"

"No, but-"

"And have we lost countless days losing spies and coming up with plans while D.O.G. has just kept growing and growing?"

"I guess, but"

"And don't we need to stop this gang before it takes over the whole New York City?"

"Yes, but"

"Then but nothing! My plan will get New York out of this bump in the road, and we don't have any time to spare! We need to find a meeting place for D.O.G. and get me recruited before it's too late!" Chiron sighed, looking defeated. He was trying to hide how worried he was, but I saw right through him. My heart softened a little.

"I'm really sorry, Chiron, but I got to do this. It has to be me." He sighed, once again, filling the room with an eerie silence as he tried to make up his mind.

"Your right. I'll get the office to find the nearest D.O.G. meeting place ASAP and get you all suited up for this mission. You have a lot of work ahead of you, Annabeth."

"Thanks Chiron. I promise, I won't let you down."

"Just be careful Annabeth. I don't want you hurt or . . ." he didn't finish the sentence, but I knew what he meant. I left the office and the excitement I thought was sure to fill me when Chiron approved of my plan wasn't there. Only worry about the dangers to come in my mission. I took a deep breath, trying to get the optimist I knew that was inside me to come out. I knew I could do this, and it was much more then that. I had to do this; I was New York's last hope.

Percy POV:

I walked into the apartment, smelling homemade, blue chocolate-chip cookies just out of the oven. I followed the aroma to the kitchen where I saw my mom taking out a fresh batch. I stared hungrily at the cookies, but I wasn't hungry anymore when I looked at my mom's tired face that was now paler then ever. My heart was in my throat as I looked at her shaking hands and her delicate legs that looked like they would brake at any moment. She looked worse and worse everyday. Her disease was taking it out of her and I was trying all I could to make sure she got better, but there was only so much I could do for her. D.O.G. had provided us with this nice apartment, but hadn't given us enough money for my mom's expensive medical procedures, so I had to stop taking her for her normally scheduled check-ups. My mom turned around and looked at me, just seeing that I had arrived. A smile spread across her face and I tried not to wince at how truly, heart-breakingly fragile she looked. She sat down the cookies on the counter and came over to give me a hug.

"Hi, sweetie," she said, her voice sounding more like a croak then anything else.

"Hi mom."

"I made you some cookies, honey." She turned around to start taking the hot cookies off the pan. I looked at the cookies again, and my stomach growled.

"I see that, mom. They look great. Thanks so much." Mom had started humming while putting some cookies on a plate for me and hadn't heard a word I said. I sighed, a whole new sadness and anger washing through me. Anger always followed every emotion I ever had. It's how I cope with what I have to do. The only person who could calm me down was mom. I took a deep breath, bringing my temper down to normal.

"Mom?"

"Hhhmmm?" she said without turning away from my almost completely filled plate.

"How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful! I haven't felt so great since-" She started coughing so hoarsely and fell to the floor, twitching.

"Mom! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She stopped coughing, but she didn't open her eyes. I quickly checked for her pulse. For a couple of long seconds there was nothing, but slowly I felt her heart start thumping again, and I quickly let out a sigh of relief. I gently and easily picked up her frail little body and carried her to her room. I laid her on the bed and tucked her in, hoping she would finally get a nice night of sleep. I looked at her sleeping body for a little bit, listening to her little heartbeat. She was the only thing in this world that I loved, and if I couldn't keep her alive, I was sure I would die myself.

I entered the kitchen and took a cookie off the plate and took a big, warm gooey bite out of it. They were still burning hot from the oven, but I didn't mind it. Physical pain never affected me anymore, and I kind of enjoyed it every now and then. I looked out my window at a police car passing by, siren loud and bright. Couldn't wait to beat up one of those guys tomorrow.

Well more background story for you! I hope you liked it and think when I get more into the story then I will start writing longer chapters, but for now just about 1,500 words pure chapter and I hope that's enough for you! Please review and try to be nice! I hate those crappy reviews that are like UPDATE NOW or saying something like "that chapter really sucked" and not even telling me why it sucked! I like to hear your opinion, but only when it helps me become a better writer! Also remember, I need a beta! Please volunteer!