So, I saw the Sea of Monsters movie adaptation and, while it was a good movie, the canon compliant me squirmed and screamed to the heavens about how inaccurate it was. And, of course, I saw the name of the director and died laughing. Anyone else think about how ironic it is to have a guy named Thor directing a movie about the Greek pantheon?

Anyways, the usual disclaimer applies and here's the next installment of The Detective.

*pjo*

Maddie and Jake had been living in Central Park for almost two weeks. Whenever some concerned citizen approached them, they had disappeared. They had gotten really good at that, almost depressingly so.

They had to, because of the monsters. But that didn't mean they didn't people watch.

Like this family. It was almost picture perfect. Dad, Mom, two kids, and an energetic German Shepherd. The parents looked like how parents are supposed to look; the father was tall, tan and fit, with curly black hair. A toddler was perched on his shoulders. The mother was tall too, with blonde hair, and was pushing a stroller. The preschooler, a girl, had curly black hair tied back into ponytails, and was laughing hysterically as she attempted to walk the dog. Maddie was fairly sure that the dog was walking her.

There was a low growl behind them, and Maddie leapt to her feet, yanking Jake up away from the park bench and out of sleep as she did so. They both bolted away from the monster, sprinting as fast as they could away.

Jaws closed around her ankle, sending spikes of pain up Maddie's leg, and she went down, hard. Someone screamed, and it took Maddie a moment to realize that it was her. Jake was yelling, throwing things at the monster. Some part of her mind noticed that the thing looked like a demon dog, with glowing red eyes. It was about the size of a small horse; a small, muscle-bound horse. And it wanted to kill her.

Before the demon-dog could do anything else, there was a flash of bronze and it exploded into gold dust particles. Jake rushed to Maddie and hugged her tightly. They both stared up at the man that had saved them.

It was the dad from that perfect little family that Maddie had been watching earlier. He was holding a bronze sword, and was covered in that gold dust that the thing had exploded into.

"Hellhound." The man said, like that explained everything. Maddie saw the mom, kids and the dog standing a ways away, watching everything.

"Who're you?" Jake demanded, pulling Maddie closer.

"My name's Percy. I can help her." The man said, nodding at Maddie. Maddie noticed that the man's hands were empty, when only moments before there had been a three foot long sword in the man's- Percy's- right hand.

Percy pulled a flask from his back pocket and offered it to her. When she didn't immediately take it, he said: "It's nectar. It'll help you heal."

Maddie was acutely aware of her leg, torn and bleeding, and the pain that throbbed in waves, in time with her heart. Ignoring the noise of protest that Jake made, she took the flask and drank.

"Not too much." Percy said, taking the flask back. His green eyes turned serious. "If I help you, do you think you can stand?"

"I've got her." Jake said, pushing past Percy and helping Maddie to her feet. Maddie couldn't help but smile gratefully at him. They'd only known each other for a couple weeks, but with everything they'd been through together, it felt like they'd been together forever.

"Okay." Percy backed away, giving the two of them space. "Are you two hungry? We can get you something to eat."

Maddie could have kissed Percy for that offer. And, from the look Jake was giving him, Maddie guessed that Jake was having similar thoughts. But…

"You could see it? What it really was?" Jake asked, releasing Maddie from his grip, but hovering cautiously, hands out and ready to catch her if she fell again.

"Yeah." A woman's voice said. Jake and Maddie both turned to look at her.

Up close, Maddie saw that the woman had intense gray eyes that looked like storm clouds. Her long blonde hair framed her face. She was beautiful and terrifying in equal measure, Maddie thought. The two-year old that currently had his hands tangled in her hair did nothing to detract from that image.

"Come with us!" The little girl chattered. "My name's Silena. That's my Mommy and my Daddy and my brother Charlie." She stopped to take a breath. "What's yours?"

"Jake." Jake gestured to himself and hooked a thumb at Maddie. "She's Maddie."

Silena bounced in place and tugged on her father's arm as she turned pleading eyes on her mother. "They're coming home with us, right, Mommy?"

"Yes, Silena." Percy said, extracting him arm from her grip and flexing it briefly. The dog capered around him, tail waving eagerly and woofing excitedly before bouncing to Jake and shoving its nose into his chest.

"Duke." The German shepherd sat on its haunches and turned big, brown doggy eyes on Percy, a who, me? expression clear in his expressive eyes.

"I'm Annabeth." The woman said, batting Charlie's hand away from her hair. "We'd explain here, but you'll probably think we're nuts."

*pjo*

Thanks for reading and please, if you have the time, leave a review.

'til next time!

-CommChatter