Hello folks, the story might seems slowish so far, but I need pillars to build the rest of it, some more action will come. Any constructive criticism is welcome. And as always, I hope you enjoy!

PJO belongs to Rick.

Jackson let the man he'd talked to in charge of them. He was older than his captain, slightly taller, too. He was blond, and had a scar running down the left side of his face.

"What should we call you?" asked Jason at last.

"I'm Luke," replied the man. After a couple of minutes he seemed to soften a bit and added, "Percy won't hurt you, if you behave."

"What will he do with us?" Annabeth inquired.

"To be honest, I don't even know myself what he's planning with you," Luke admitted. "The Cap's a tough cookie to figure out."

"Why did you even take us in?" Annabeth insisted.

Luke stopped in his tracks, "Our captain thought you were planning against him and his vessel, it is fair of him to mistrust you and take you just in case."

"That is not all," Annabeth shook her head. "Was it even Jackson's idea?"

"Captain Jackson," Luke reminded her. "He gives the order, where the idea comes from is none of our concern."

"Cut it," Jason snapped suddenly. "We know my sister's on this ship."

Luke smiled, "So you did recognize her! She'll be glad to hear that."

"So…" Jason shrugged. "May we go and greet her?"

"Nope," the first mate denied Jason's request.

Annabeth was getting tired of this first mate. He had barely given them any information. He admitted having Thalia, sure, but that they already knew. And they knew the captain's first name, which was beyond useless.

She wondered where they'd send them once they finished talking. She had heard that prisoners went to cells where in merchant boats food was stored. She didn't quite like that idea.

After a while, Jackson reentered the room. He wore his hat again, and had an easy smile on his lips.

"I've decided you two can be even more useful than a naval race and a political dispute later on," he declared.

"You want money, too?" Annabeth deadpanned.

"Why yes, but that's not that hard to get," he cheerfully explained. "No, you're useful because of unfinished family business."

"Family? We're no family," Jason wondered. "You kidnapped my sister and now me? What do you want to get from that?"

"For one," Jackson stopped smiling. "I did not kidnap her. She came willingly, because what did she have to lose? A father who didn't care for her, or a drunk mother who she had to look after?"

Low blow, Annabeth thought.

Jason frowned, but kept her calm, "Then what is it you earn from withholding us here?"

"Your father and I aren't on the best of terms," he explained. My unlcle…"

"Stop calling him that! We aren't family!" Annabeth had seldom seen Jason lose his temper, but this seemed to be affecting him a lot more strongly than she'd have guessed.

"You refuse to be my family and yet by blood you are my cousin," Jackson stated.

Jason's face went greenish, "It's impossible."

The captain shook his head, "Is your father an only child?"

Jason stalled for a second before saying with a shaking voice, "His brothers died."

"Did they now? Despicable even for Dear Uncle Zeus," the pirate mocked. "No, your uncles lived, kid. My father passed away last year, true. But he was well alive until then, I tell you. Have you never heard of how your father acquired his throne?"

"His siblings died," Jason muttered. "He was next in line."

Percy Jackson huffed indignantly, "What do they teach you these days... Your father got lucky and got a kingdom, my father got a boat, and Uncle Hades... he's of no importance as of now."

"Got?" Annabeth asked, expectantly. "You're looking for 'inherited'."

"No," the captain corrected. "'Got' is fine for this purpose. My grandfather isn't dead. He's exiled. He was a tyrant and a fool. His sons overthrew him, and in exchange divided what he had."

"That is..." Jason started.

"Hard to wrap your head around," the captain interrupted. "And yet it's true and the quicker you begin to accept it, the easier it'll be."

Jason looked down for a moment before he regained his composure, "Does my sister know?"

"Of course she does," he said. "Like I told you, she came willingly."

"Unlike us," Annabeth remarked. "It was a very nice and touching family reunion but you can catch up with Jason back home."

Jackson chuckled, "I'd almost forgotten about you. No, I won't go back, I rather like the sea, love."

"What will you do with us then?" she insisted. "Throw us in a dungeon to rot."

"As tempting as you're making it seem," he rolled his eyes. "I was with the idea of offering you two a deal."

Annabeth's eyes fixed on his. A deal? That couldn't be good. Nothing nice ever came out of dealing with pirates.

"You can either 'rot in a dungeon', as you so nicely put it," he offered. "Or, you can join my crew under a life oath that no harm or resistance will come to said crew, my ship, or myself."

Annabeth stared. Join his dirty crew of mishaps? That was absolutely out of the question. There was no chance that neither her nor Jason would take that. No chance at all. Or was there?

She threw a glance -making it as unnoticeable as possible- towards her friend. He seemed to be weighting the pros and cons of such an outrageous proposal. Why would he even consider...

Then it hit her, his sister was on that abominable crew. She's forgotten about that little detail. Now, Annabeth wasn't heartless. She knew that it might have been hard to assimilate to Jason that his big sister was under the influence of such people. But there had to be another way of seeing her. And even if she had known Thalia shortly, met her once or twice, and believed her to be a nice girl, her unwise life choices couldn't be the cause of bringing ruin to Annabeth's –nor Jason's- family name.

He threw her a pained stare full of regret and said, "Okay."

Jackson smiled, "Do you accept for the both of you, or just for yourself, little cousin?"

"Both," Annabeth muttered. She was going to regret her decision soon.

Still, she thought. I could always stay long enough to convince Jackson's crew of mutiny against their captain.

"Perfect, then," their new captain exclaimed cheerfully. "I must go back to managing my ship so I'll fetch someone to show you both around."