A/N: Percy tries to figure out what Annabeth has against Kali, and she and Kali bond over their shared Tragic™ stories while Percy is sleeping. Finals are over, for better or for worse, so updates will hopefully be more scheduled, and have a little more meat to them. I also switched the platform that I write on, so the text might look a little different now. Don't worry, this story is still going to be Percabeth, even though Kali's in the picture now.

As they got to the bus station that they had arrived from, Percy pulled the rest of the group aside to confront the tension that had been brewing between Kali and Annabeth since they left the camp. Annabeth was obviously still upset that Percy had chosen Kali's side instead of hers (her words, not his) and Kali was painfully aware that she wasn't exactly wanted on the quest. Percy had to say something.

"Okay, guys, we have to figure this out before we get on a bus and have to spend hours together in three cramped seats. Annabeth, what is your deal? What do you have against Kali? She literally hasn't done anything to you; you basically just decided that you don't like her. What's up with that?"

Kali looked at the ground, looking pretty uncomfortable. Percy knew that she probably didn't want to be doing this, but he felt that it was going to be necessary if they were going to work together. Annabeth sighed, glaring at Percy. Percy glared back.

"Percy can we talk?"

"I thought that was what I brought you guys here to do?"

"No, like… in private. Without Kali"

Kali nodded, still looking at the ground. "I'll just walk over there and get our tickets. Is it ok if we take a Greyhound to Des Moines and then figure it out from there?"

Annabeth nodded, and Percy looked away from her towards Kali. "Thanks. Here's the credit card. You're the best!"

Kali took the card and walked away, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that they weren't going to tear each other apart as soon as she left. Percy looked back at Annabeth, staring her directly in the eyes to make sure that his words would sink in.

"Kali has done nothing to you. She is one of the sweetest human beings that I have ever met, and the whole way here she did nothing but talk about how grateful and happy she was to be going on this quest with us. As far as I can tell, she hasn't done a single bad thing in her life, even with the crappy thing that she's been dealt. So I'm going to ask you one more time- what the hell do you have against her?"

Annabeth bristled, clearly not expecting to be confronted. "Well, maybe I just think it's impossible to be that sweet and caring! She's hiding something, and that something is going to come back to bite us in the ass!"

"And if that happens, I will take the blame. But as far as I can tell, she just really wants to figure out who her godly parent is! We've had it pretty good- we were claimed almost right away, but she has no idea if her parent is even a god or a goddess, let alone who they are! Give her a goddamn break!"

"No, give me a break! You literally met her like an hour ago- how are you so content to bring a person you barely know on a life threatening quest? I think your judgement is impaired here. You saw a pretty face and you just accepted anything she told you!"

"That is not true. I am not just bringing her on this quest because of her looks! She deserves a chance, and I feel like as a fellow demigod, I should give her that chance!"

"You don't even know if she can protect herself! When you're stuck protecting her every single time that a monster comes along, you will regret letting her come along, and I'll say 'I told you so'!"

"You don't know that she can't protect herself! If she was with the Hunters for a whole month before we meet her, she has to have picked up something! And do you really think that Thalia would accept a completely hopeless fighter? She said that Kali was pretty good when we first saw her!"

"Well, she's been wrong before! She probably just wanted to get Kali off of her hands, and lied so that she could do it!"

"Seriously. You think that Thalia would do that? Kali is not that bad! You need to get off of your high horse and realize that there is literally no reason for you to hate her as much as you do!"

"No reason?! No reason?! I'm telling you now, when she stabs you in the back you will wish that you listened to me. I know that you only invited her on this quest because you think that she's pretty. I'm going to remind you that the Hunters can't have any romantic relations."

"Seriously. You really do think I'm that shallow."

"Yeah. I do."

They lapsed back into silence. Kali started back towards them, but seeing the looks on their faces, she turned back around and sat back down on a bench, next to two arguing men. Percy looked back at Annabeth, whose stormy gray eyes showed a stubbornness that he knew he could never beat.

"Listen. I get that you don't totally trust her yet, and that's okay. But you still have to be civil to her! So please. Just do this one thing for me."

"Fine. I won't be mean to her, but I won't be nice to her either. This is the best you're going to get."

"Okay! Thank you for being nice to a person who has only been nice to you," Percy said sarcastically.

Percy motioned for Kali to come back over, and as she walked back, Annabeth sighed.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered under her breath.

Percy glared at her. "Be nice," he whispered sharply.

Kali joined the group again, and she smiled awkwardly.

"So, did you guys sort some stuff out? I really hope you did, cause it was getting kind of weird, with you guys upset with each other all the time and me just… there. Anyways, I'm talking too much so… are we good?"

Percy smiled at the girl. Her excitement was contagious, and even though she was obviously a bit nervous, it was kind of endearing.

"Yeah, we're good. Right, Annabeth?"

She sighed again, very loudly, and looked up at Kali, pasting a fake smile on her face.

"Yeah, definitely."

"Okay, good! So, I got the tickets, and good news! We're on one of the good buses, and Annabeth, you can have the aisle seat. I know that's a big deal on planes, but it's still nice on buses, right? Anyways, I'm so happy we're cool now. I'm ranting, right? The bus is leaving for Des Moines in 15 minutes, so let's get going!"

She bounced off, with Annabeth trailing behind unhappily. Percy smiled. Things were finally going his way. Well, kinda.

*Annabeth's POV*

Percy fell asleep the second that he sat down in his seat, and although he was totally drooling all over Kali's shoulder, he still looked completely adorable. She kind of wished that she hadn't taken Kali up on her offer, cause then she could be the one who's shoulder Percy was resting on. Kali was smiling her sickeningly sweet smile, and and Annabeth found herself dreading having to spend an entire car ride with her. Maybe she should wake Percy up so that she didn't have to talk to the little impostor. She just knew that Kali was going to make a move on Percy, and even though she was still mad at him, she didn't want Percy dating anyone except for herm. Even his short stint with Rachel Dare was so hard for her to deal with, and he wasn't even that into her.

Kali looked back over at her, and hesitated, obviously trying to work up the courage to ask her something.

"Well, spit it out," Annabeth hissed.

"I was just wondering," Kali faltered. "Do you know why my parent hasn't claimed me yet? I've done everything right- I was patient, I was nice… any god or goddess would be happy to have me as their daughter. Right? I don't know… maybe I did something wrong and I didn't even know it."

Annabeth sighed. First she had to talk to the girl, next she had to comfort her?

"It's not your fault, the gods are just dicks. They usually wait until the worst possible moment to claim you."

"Well then, they should've claimed me years ago then," Kali scoffed under her breath.

Annabeth was intrigued. She kind of wanted to know this girl's backstory, even if it was just for the purpose of determining how Tragic™ her backstory was.

"What do you mean by that? I know that both of your parents left, but I don't really know much about you. What was your life like before you joined the Hunters?"

Kali brightened up, obviously a little excited that Annabeth was showing interest in getting to know her. She probably thought that Annabeth wanted to be friends.

"Are you sure you want to hear about it? It's pretty depressing."

"Why not? At this point, I feel like I've kind of seen it all."

"Okay. The second I was born, I was put up for adoption, and even though I was a pretty popular baby at the orphanage cause of my… unusual hair color, but every couple that tried to adopt me either got divorced or decided that they weren't ready for kids yet. Eventually, the orphanage ran out of room, so I grew up bouncing around the foster care system until I was nine, and a couple adopted me.

Turns out, they didn't even want a kid, they just adopted me so that I would take care of their baby after school while they went out and got drunk, or high, or whatever. Eventually, I figured out that that wasn't right, and not how regular families worked, but I was too attached to my baby sister to leave her. So, I didn't tell anybody what was going on, and raised her all by myself. Even though it was rough, I held on by thinking about the day that I would turn eighteen and be able to get guardianship of my little sister. It was all I had to live for, until a rabid centaur showed at my house and tried to kill me. I realize now that it was probably my demigod stink that attracted him there, and I'm actually kind of surprised that he managed to sniff me out over the smell of the alcohol and weed, which is probably the reason that I stayed safe from monsters for so long. Maybe that centaur just had a really good nose? I don't know. But I grabbed my sister and hid in the closet.

When I finally opened the door, I saw Thalia, who was fighting the centaur. She was losing, and when the centaur went in for the kill blow I stabbed him from behind with a kitchen knife. Obviously, it didn't do anything, but it distracted him just long enough for Thalia to kill him. She then realized that I actually saw the centaur, and not some sort of weird Mist excuse, and told me the deal about Greek gods, me being a demigod, and et cetera. She gave me the choice of joining the Hunters, and I declined. She told me that they were still going to be in town for another week, so if I changed my mind, I knew where to find them. Two days later, my little sister got hit by a car. My adoptive parents' car. Child Services took us away from them, and a day later, I joined the Hunters. I talked about it with her in the hospital, and she said that it was going to be the best option for us. Lady Artemis posed as a woman interested in adopting me, and with a little magic and a little Mist manipulation, she was my guardian, and I was free to go. And so I ended up with the Hunters."

Annabeth leaned back in her chair, a little shocked. She thought that she had a rough childhood, but this was rough with a capital R.

"Jeez, that's… intense."

"Yeah, sort of. So, what was your deal?"

Annabeth was a little surprised by how easily Kali shrugged off her sympathy, but decided it wasn't really her problem.

"Oh, you know, mean stepmom, distant dad, the regular deal," she said.

They lapsed back into silence. Kali stared out the window, watching the world pass by. Eventually, the bus stopped for a break and she got up, presumably heading in to use the bathroom. After ten minutes, she returned, sat down again and started to braid her hair back, sectioning off the unbroken sheet of her hair. As her deft fingers manipulated strands of molten silver, Annabeth watched absentmindedly. She was thinking about what Kali had told her. It seemed impossible to her that Kali could be such a good person despite all that had happened to her. It would be so easy to become bitter and mean, but she held on hope. It was commendable, that was for sure. Maybe Kali wasn't as bad as Annabeth had thought. Just then, as they stopped for the second time, Percy woke up, sleepy eyed and bleary.

"Yo, are we there yet?"