Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson characters. I only own the plot.
AN: If Thalia had seen Percy before, she might have talked to him or most likely avoided him because two powerful demigods in the same place is a disaster waiting to happen. But if she saw Tyson with them, or even if he wandered off on his own she would sure as hell do something about it.
Traditions were important to the boys, and to Sally too if she really thought about it, so Montauk was something that Percy was extremely excited to share with Tyson. They went during the summer between Tyson's kindergarten and first grade year to celebrate them staying at one school the whole time. "The kids at school aren't celebrating, is that because Percy's my brother and Percy always gets in trouble?"
She laughed at their faces in the back seat, giving them a look as they almost started fighting. "Boys." They quieted down and went back to playing as she drove, giving her time to reflect on how much had changed. Sally had friends her age instead of just her neighbors, like Paul who she had gotten to know during playdates and school events with Audrey. She was excited to go to school events instead of dreading them because she knew people there, she had things to share and didn't feel judged for being the mom of that new kid. That's not to say she liked everyone, Valerie was way too strict on her kids and was super rude about her being a single mom. Like her and her girlfriend were perfect parents...
"No one else likes to go to this beach 'cause it's not pretty but I like it and there are pretty ladies in the water that bring me seashells that are really really big and so much better than the ones that other kids bring back!" Pretty ladies in the water, I'm going to kill him if he sent those Oceanids to check in on him. "We can go swimming once we help Mom clean up!"
Which they did. They brought her so many shells and seaweed, she got the most brilliant idea she'd had in a long time...she got petty. She recreated something he had done to try and impress her once when they were dating, which went horribly wrong as she couldn't read it. But he'd be able to read this, very clearly. And Sally didn't think he'd live it down with either Amphitrite or his brothers. Quite the release but I missed the catch, fish breath! She wrote it in the collection of shells they had collected over the course of six years, having a special spot in the cabin to keep them safe that Percy had picked out.
Sally knew when the tide washed up far enough to rearrange them into something unreadable that she had caught his attention. The boys were getting ready for bed but she knew they were sneaking glances out of the windows because of their confusion over her writing. "You really had to do that?" There he was, wearing his cargo shorts and button ups with the sleeves rolled up. "You know I'm not going to..."
She started walking to the cabin determinedly, motioning for the boys to come out and meet her on the deck. She stood with her hands on their shoulders, facing a stunned to silence Poseidon. "These are your boys. This is Percy and this is Tyson. You want to check on them, you visit. You don't send someone to do it for you."
"That's Daddy? Can we go say hi?' Tyson looked nervous but Percy grabbed his hand and marched forward when Sally nodded. "Are you friends with the ocean ladies? Why don't you live with mom like other Daddies? Why did you abandon Tyson?" He went from excited to angry in about five seconds. Seeing him next to Poseidon, she wondered how blind the gods had to be to have missed him.
She watched Poseidon try to phrase an excuse before he sat down in the sand and said, "I'm not like other Dads. I didn't mean to abandon Tyson but I guess I did abandon you." And they talked. And she watched as he explained who he was and who Tyson was. "I'll be back tomorrow so I can show you the water. But I can't always be here so I'm going to need you to remember today. Okay?"
Percy hugged him tightly and Tyson took his other side, the expression on Poseidon's face almost made the fear of Zeus go away. They were just so cute with him. "Okay. I'm glad Mommy made you get your shit together."
"PERCY! Where did you learn that word?" Yes, he was very much his father's son.
Another tradition was going to the park. When they got back from that trip, it was the first thing her kids wanted to do. Those boys had tasted fresh air and they were very clearly itching to get back to freedom. "Come on, come on! I wanna go see the pond!" Percy was dragging his mom towards the water while Tyson was looking at the trees curiously. She should have watched him better.
"Mom, can I go look at the trees?" Sally nodded without looking where he was pointing, trying to keep Percy from jumping in the pond to see if he could breathe here too. His father was going to be the death of her. "I'll stay in sight!"
"Thank you baby!" She had finally convinced Percy that his dad was right when he said he wasn't supposed to use his powers so much when she heard the scream. Screaming when you have children is completely normal, usually it's them being unable to control their excitement and their volume. But this scream made her blood run cold and her limbs work without her conscious direction; she was spun around with Percy behind her and her eyes locking in on where it came from before a second passed.
Right in front of the tree line, Tyson was frozen in fear and complete shock, his eye red and filling with tears. The last time he was this terrified, it was all those years ago when she found him on the streets and Percy was trying to defend him from a shopkeeper with a baseball bat and no kindness. "Mommy?"
The girl in front of him was small, angry and looked so much like her father. And she had a sword pressed against her son's neck, ready to kill. But clearly his size, what he said and the fact that Percy and Sally were human was confusing her enough that she wasn't going to hurt him. Yet.
"Tyson!" Percy surged forward away from his mom's grip, anger swirling in his eyes as the pond started turning and reacting to his emotions. "Step away from my brother." The water started to rise and freeze into a point sharper than one of her kitchen knives.
"Brother?" She was so surprised by not only the water and but the way he acted, her sword dropped enough for Tyson to sprint over to Sally, wrapping his arms tightly around her leg. "Do you know what he is? Do you even know what you're...?" She reeled back from the smack as she was almost completely doused in pond water. "You twerp!" Three children of the big three. What did I do to piss of the fates this time?
"You attacked Tyson! You do not mess with the Jacksons!" Percy wouldn't let his mom pull him back, only wrenching out of her grasp and moving closer to the girl. "Go away." Sally almost stopped her as she seemed to debate it and turn to go, wanting to help her or at least apologize for this but she was gone before Sally could do anything. Besides, Percy collapsed as soon as she was gone, all of the water returning to the pond in its liquid state.
Sally was making dinner when they asked the question she wasn't prepared to answer. "Why did that girl have a sword and try to hurt us with it?" She almost poured boiling water all over herself from sheer shock; but she quickly composed herself and put the pot down in the sink.
The boys were kicking their feet in their chairs while they stared at her, trying to understand but drawing a blank. "You know what your Dad said about Tyson, and what he said about Percy." They both nodded, confused on what this had to do with how their father was a god and Tyson's mom was mean. She kneeled down to look them in the eyes. "Well, she was like Percy. But she has a different Dad who isn't as nice as yours. So she's on her own and she's scared. So when she saw Tyson, she reacted badly."
Tyson nodded like that made sense, he understood what he was and was starting to understand who the gods were, but Percy's eyebrows scrunched in confusion again. "Who's her dad?" Oh gods this is going to be a long conversation. Sally tried to come up with a way to explain everything better, but ended up telling him it was his dad's brother. She watched his eyes go wide before he ran out of the room, shutting his door quietly. When he came back a few minutes later with his game boy, it was his mom's turn to scrunch her eyebrows in confusion. "I used my powers on family. I'm in trouble, right?" Her sweet boys...
