Theo and Carrie are my OCs. Everyone else belongs to Rick Riordan.

*pjo*

He was really starting to freak Carrie out. Granted, he was really cute, with curly black hair and green eyes, maybe a little older than her, and he'd saved her from one of the monsters, but now he was scaring her. He had dragged Carrie off the subway and was now hustling her down a residential street, staring all around them like he expected the boogieman to jump out of an alley. Maybe he did, Carrie thought.

She had been in a state of shock up until that point, but she finally came back to the present when he attempted to lead her into an apartment building. Carrie had been content to follow him simply because he seemed to know where he was going and she just couldn't seem to get her mind to go beyond: OH MY GOD IT'S A MONSTER. But now the long engrained stranger = danger lessons from her school took over, and she yanked her hand out of the boy's grip.

He spun to look at her. "We need to get inside. Now. My brother lives here. He can help!" his eyes flitted both ways down the empty sidewalk, and he seemed to practically vibrate with repressed energy. He made a grab for her hand.

Carrie leapt backward to avoid him. "I don't even know your name or anything about you!"

The boy had the good grace to look apologetic. "My name's Theo. I'm like you."

"Like me? What does that mean?" Carrie demanded, not caring that her voice was verging on hysterical. With the night she was having, she figured it was her right.

"You see monsters, things that shouldn't be real, right?" Theo's green eyes were wide and earnest, begging her to at least hear him out. It reminded her of her father's dog begging for scraps. "So do I. My brother and his wife live here. They can explain everything to you."

Carrie dragged her hands through her brown hair, fingers getting caught in snarls. "Okay." She looked at the building. "Your brother can help?"

"Yes." Theo bounded into the lobby of the apartment building and hit the up arrow on the elevator. Carrie trailed behind him uncertainly.

The elevator opened on the tenth floor with a ding, and Theo led the way out and stopped in front of apartment 5. Standing directly in front of the peephole, he rapped loudly on the door.

There was a scuffle behind the door before it opened. A blonde haired woman pushed the door wide as she dragged an ecstatically yipping German shepherd back. "Quiet Duke. Theo? Do you know what time it is?"

Theo shuffled his feet nervously. "Um, very late?" he offered.

The glare that the woman sent him would have terrified lesser men. "It's eleven thirty at night, and if you wake up the baby, you will put him back to sleep."

Looking appropriately chastised, Theo pulled Carrie forward. "Annabeth, this is Carrie. We met on the subway."

Annabeth seemed to take all that in and her gray eyes narrowed slightly as she took a closer look at Carrie. Carrie fought the urge to run screaming in the opposite direction. "You should come in."

Carrie trailed after Theo through the door into the living area of the apartment. Annabeth shut the door and locked it before she released Duke, who practically pounced on Theo; tail wagging furiously as he plastered Theo's face with excited licking.

Theo sputtered and shoved Duke off. "Is Percy here?"

"Yeah."

Carrie twisted in her seat on the couch to look at the man standing in the hallway behind them. He was handsome, with the same curly black hair and green eyes as Theo. He was holding his left arm close to his side, like he was trying to hold his ribs, and he looked exhausted.

The way Theo stared suggested that he'd never considered that his brother could be injured. "What happened to you?"

Percy lowered himself into a recliner. "Bust went bad. Thank the gods for Kevlar; otherwise I'd have some holes in me instead of spectacularly colorful bruises."

"And cracked ribs." Annabeth speared Percy with a glare.

"I'm fine."

Annabeth huffed and dropped into an armchair. "You're sure she's one of us?" Carrie was forcibly reminded of every sci-fi thriller movie she'd ever seen, with the main character finding out that he had some awesome superpower when she heard the question.

Theo nodded. "Yeah. Dracanae were attacking her. On the subway."

Percy's eyebrows went up. "Dracanae? Wow." he looked at Carrie. "You must be important."

Carrie blinked. "I don't care if I'm important. What did you mean, I was one of you?"

Annabeth, Percy, and Theo exchanged meaningful looks. Evidently Annabeth was elected to speak. "We're demigods. So are you."

"Demigod? What-"

"Half human, half god." Theo said, like it should explain everything.

"What, like God, god?" Carrie asked, mind going to her stepmother's Baptist Christian views.

"No." Percy said. "The Greek gods."

"That's… that's insane. They don't exist. I can't…" Carrie was fully aware that she was babbling, but she couldn't seem to stop. Duke whined and shoved his head in her lap, pushing his wet nose into the palm of Carrie's hand.

"They do exist." Annabeth refuted. "My mother's Athena, goddess of wisdom."

Percy gestured between himself and Theo. "Our dad's Poseidon."

Carrie took a deep breath and rubbed Duke's ears, sinking her fingers into his thick fur. "Okay. I'm really hoping that this is a bizarre dream and I'll wake up soon, but that's not going to happen, is it?"

Percy grinned. "My reaction was similar to yours. I found out I was a demigod when I was your age and the Minotaur attacked me." Annabeth stood and disappeared down the hallway that Percy had first came out of.

Carrie stared. "The Minotaur. The Minotaur. As in the Labyrinth."

Percy nodded. "Yes."

"He's killed the Minotaur twice." Theo bragged, clearly hero-worshipping his older brother.

"Twice?" Carrie asked, somehow no longer surprised by the weirdness that had suddenly became her life.

"He was sent to Tartarus and reformed. That's why I had to kill him twice."

"Oh." There really wasn't any other response that Carrie could come up with.

Annabeth reappeared toting two sleeping bags and pillows. She threw one bag and pillow at Theo, handed the others to Carrie. "We can tell you more tomorrow, but right now it's late and we're going to be up early tomorrow."

"You are. I'm banned from the precinct for a week." Percy griped.

"I'll just send Silena and Charlie in to wake you up." Annabeth said, scowling at him.

Percy pushed himself up out of his chair. "Yeah. Alright. You two can crash here; I'll take you to camp tomorrow."

"Thanks man." Theo said.

Percy ruffled Theo's hair. "You're welcome." He looked at Carrie. "Good night, Carrie."

*pjo*

So, if people can guess the kid's godly parent, you get an imaginary award. Just saying.

Thanks for reading!

-CommChatter