A/N: I am so terribly sorry! I know its been quite a some time since I updated but I have a goodreason! Well at least I think it is...anyways, I had the worst writers block (seriously, if it were a man I'd shoot him in the face), I was trying to figure out the timeline so that the story actually makes some sense and then it was my school break and now I'm on holidays in Florida:) (I really hope this works cause I'm updating from my iPad)...so ive been busy, but it's finally done! Yay! I was also trying to make this a fairly long chapter to make up for the lack of updating so I hope it's long enough and maybe it'll be a bit more interesting, who knows:D oh and don't worry about the mention of Percy's necklace I'm going to update my earlier chapters and put in some foreshadowing:D
Disclaimer:well I don't own PJO sadly but once my world domination plan is into effect this will change;)
Nico
'Well that escalated quickly….' I thought to myself as I watched Percy storm out of the room and Annabeth slump to the floor. She had started crying. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. Why did this have to be so complicated? He should have just kept his head in the game and not worried about some girl. She was still sobbing on the floor, her blonde hair falling over her face.
"Job well done I would say." I said as I picked up my gun from the table and checked it over. Annabeth stopped crying and looked at me with a tear stained face.
"What?!"
I clicked the safety on and slid it into my waistband.
"Well I mean generally you don't go around telling people they're broken. Especially if they are already teetering on the edge."
She glared at me and stood up.
"Oh don't you start getting all high and mighty with me now! This is just as much your fault as it is mine."
"How so?"
She took a step forward. "You did nothing to stop him from getting into this damn 'business'!"
I snorted. "Annabeth. There wasn't anything I could have done even if I wanted to. It's the family business. He made his choice and he has to live with that."
She stared at me like I had fallen from the sky or something.
"Are you serious?!" She cried
"Yes. Now, we have to go look for Percy before he gets himself or some innocent bystander killed."
I slipped my coat on and walked out the door. I heard Annabeth scramble to put on her coat and hurry after me.
Percy
Broken. Broken. Broken. Broken. Broken. the word echoed through my mind as I walked down the dark street. Was I broken? I didn't know. I mean sure, I could have told Annabeth about the whole 'family' part of it but it didn't seem like a necessary bit of information. All those things she had said...I guess some of them hit a little too close to home for my liking. But I knew she was right about one thing. I should never have brought her into this mess. She was the reason for so many of my problems. I over complicated things. I sighed. Maybe it was just better if she got caught. Then I wouldn't have to deal with her. But I honestly didn't know what to think about the whole messed up situation. Not yet anyways. And the one thing that was for sure was that Nico was going to come looking for me. And I couldn't have that. I had to go back to headquarters and report back. Tell them I was back in and ready to work whatever case they have available. Then I realized that all I had on me was my gun and a knife. I had left everything else back at the safe-house. That could be a slight problem but nothing I couldn't handle. I checked my watch and saw that it read 2:47am. It was dark out and not many lights were on in the buildings. There was a noise behind me and I whirled around with my gun out. I couldn't see anyone but that didn't mean they weren't there. Nico was so good at hiding it was like he became part of the shadows. Making sure one last time that no one was there I turned around and ran. But It didn't last long. As I rounded the corner I saw a figure come at me from the shadows. He disarmed me and whipped out a knife. I stepped back, narrowly avoiding the blade that caused my beaded necklace to rip and fall to the ground and then I swung my fist at him. I felt the bone break as it connected with his nose. He fell back, nursing his broken nose and two more men appeared. They both had knives as well. The first one swung and I had to duck to avoid getting hit. I swivelled around to find the second blade coming at me and had to sidestep. I turned back to the first man and ducked under his swing again, this time sending an uppercut his way and catching him under the chin. I heard a crack and he fell to the floor unconscious. I just had enough time to jump back as the second man came at me from the side. He swung the blade at me again and this time he got me on my chest. This fuelled my anger and I rushed forward, sweeping his feet out from under him and stepping on his hand, disarming him. Then I pinned him down and punched him in the face until he was unconscious. I stood up and admired my handiwork. Breathing heavily I turned around and began to walk away but I didn't get far. The last thing I remember as the darkness took over was the pain of something heavy hitting the back of my head just before I crumpled to the ground, joining my victims in unconsciousness.
Annabeth
Why? I thought. Why this? Why not just some cheating husband or gambling addicted boyfriend with daddy issues? Why did I have to get mixed up with a mentally unstable super spy/assassin with a dark and dangerous past? Because I have the worst luck ever. On the other hand I still don't know what came over me when I decided to tell Percy he was broken. I'm not usually the kind of person who says stuff like that. I guess bottling up your feelings inside for too long isn't a very good idea. Either way I felt terrible. Just because of all the new stuff I found out about Percy doesn't mean I don't love him anymore. I still want to help him I'm just not accustomed to dealing with these kinds of situations. I will always love Percy...I just hope he feels the same way. Then the pessimistic side of my brain voiced the question I didn't want to answer: would I ever get to find out? I quickly shoved that thought aside and picked up my pace, trying to catch up to Nico as he walked down the side of the road.
"How the hell do you do that?!" I asked Nico as to how he was walking without making a sound.
He gave me a questioning look and I gestured to his feet.
"That. You're walking without making any noise! Its creepy."
He snorted and said 'practice', as if it were as simple as that.
I looked down at the knife Nico had given me. It was about 6 inches long with a black handle and a silver blade. The little voice in the back of my mind wondered how much blood had stained the blade in the past. That was enough to send a shiver down my spine. I still wasn't used to the whole 'killing' aspect of this life and I don't think I was going to anytime soon. As we were walking past an alley, the light of the knife reflected something that was lying on the ground. I stopped to see what it was and my blood ran cold. It was Percy's camp necklace. He always wore the stupid thing even though he had never actually told me why. I bend down and picked it up. The chord was sliced in between two of the beads and there was a crack in the one with the trident in the middle. I jumped as Nico spoke from over my shoulder.
"We have to get out of here" he said, motioning for me to follow him.
"What? Why?"
He looked at me with serious eyes and when he spoke his voice was heavy with emotion.
"They've got him."
Percy
My head felt like someone had taken a baseball bat and bashed me in the head repeatedly. Then kicked me a few times for good measure. My bullet wound was killing me and my chest was throbbing where the knife cut me. I could now feel how big the wound really was. It ran from my left shoulder down to around my stomach. And then the nights evens came flooding back to me. My fight with Annabeth, my fight with the masked men and how it ended with me letting my guard down and forgetting about the first man. I mentally slapped myself and tried to open my eyes only to snap them back shut in pain from the blinding light. Instinctively I went to bring my hands up to my eyes only to find them tied behind my back and I began to become overly aware of my surroundings. I was sitting in a chair with my feet tied to the legs of the chair and my hands tied behind my back. I could feel the gag that had been shoved in my mouth and my ears were met with the rhythmic sound of dripping water. Taking a deep breath in through my nose I tried to open my eyes again; this time with more success. I was in a dark room with metal walls and only one door. Looking up I saw the now dark spotlight that was above me I could smell the mould. My neck was aching from my head sitting on my chest for so long. Sighing, I let out a groan and closed my eyes, waiting for something to happen. Sure enough about an hour later I heard the door open and the footsteps that followed. Knowing what was coming next I braced myself for the punch that swiftly followed the door closing. It landed in my stomach and my knife wound flared with pain. I inadvertently let out a groan of pain and heard a cruel laugh come from across the room. Once the pain died down to a bearable level I opened my eyes. There were two figures in the room. One was standing just off to my right and was clearly the one who had hit me. The other man was standing near the door, enjoying the show. Even though I had no clue who the identity of the man next to me was I knew immediately, even before I heard his voice, who it was. As the man approached me I closed my eyes once again and prepared for the worst.
"Well, how nice to see you again, omega. I hadn't expected to see you so soon but this saves me so much more time and effort. Getting a little rusty I see. Must be the girl, am I right?"
At the mention of Annabeth I tensed and anger boiled inside me. I kept quiet as he continued.
"Anyways, you have made my life quite the challenge to live, I'll give you that. That's quite an accomplishment. But now I'm out….and I'm out for blood." He leaned in beside me and whispered in my ear. "I hope you enjoyed your happiness while it lasted, because that's something you won't have for a very long time."
And with that he stood up and left the room with the other man, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Sally
"Yes, thank you, officer. Let me know if you find anything. Yes, you too. Good-bye."
I hung up the phone and felt Paul's arms wrap around my waist.
"Any news?" he asked
I shook my head and leaned back into his chest. "Nothing….do you-do you think they're ok?"
"Of course. Don't worry Sally. Percy will show up soon. You know he will."
I tried to take his words to heart but it was difficult. It had been almost 3 weeks and I hadn't heard a word from him or Annabeth. Thalia had come looking for Annabeth 2 weeks ago because she wasn't returning her calls. After that we had gone to the police and reported them missing. Even with all of the cops in New York looking for them, they had turned up nothing. It was almost as if they had vanished into thin air.
Nico
For the first time in my life I cursed Percy's knack for disappearing. I knew it wasn't his fault this time but it still annoyed me to no end. And then on top of it all I got stuck with his girlfriend. She was ok at first but honestly; she worried too much. The past week had consisted of me forming a plan on how to get Percy out of there. If I was right, their base was still in the same place it was when Percy got himself caught the first time. I was extremely grateful Percy had decided to tell me where it was. I wanted to leave Annabeth somewhere safe but she wouldn't stop bugging me about it and I finally agreed to take her along. But all in all I just hoped we weren't too late.
Mystery POV
I reveled in his pain. He had caused me so much pain of my own that it felt good to dish some out myself. I smiled as I looked down at his writhing body. Strapped to a table, he was helpless and entirely at my mercy. This was just like it had been the first time I caught him. Of course then, it was for almost entirely different reasons but it made no difference. He had stopped moving and with extreme disappointment I realized he had passed out from the pain. Sighing, I stepped back and put the knife down. There was no point in continuing if he wasn't conscious to feel the pain. I left the room and made my way back to my office through the dark, empty hallways thinking to myself. Tomorrow, I had big plans for Percy.
Annabeth
A week and a half after Percy went missing we put our plan into action. Nico and I had it all worked out from top to bottom. Although if it would actually work was a completely different question. In the beginning, Nico wanted to make me stay behind and be the 'tech'. I managed to convince him otherwise. We were currently crouched in the shadows behind a shady looking building somewhere in_. According to Nico this was where they were keeping him. Two days ago I got him to teach me how to use a gun and he grudgingly obliged.
"Ok. You ready?" He turned to look at me as he checked over his gun. I nodded and he mimicked me before turning around and slipping through the door he had broken into. Going after him, I was engulfed with darkness as we walked down the hall. Momentarily disoriented I dragged my hand on the wall to prevent myself walking into it. As my eyes adjusted to the dark I watched Nico round the corner and disappear from my view. I tried to follow him only to get myself hopelessly lost in the maze of hallways and locked doors. I was probably wandering around for almost 15 minutes when I saw a figure in black whip down the hall in front of me. I seriously hoped it was Nico. Now, if I wasn't so young I'm sure I would have died of a heart attack right then. I rounded the corner and came face to face with the barrel of a gun. Stopping dead my own weapon dropped out of my hand and clattered onto the floor.
"Hello Annabeth."
He sounded so familiar, aside from the english accent, but I couldn't place it to a face. The mystery mans voice was laced with dark humour and something a little scary. My heart froze as the man walked out of the shadows and in that moment I knew exactly where I knew that voice from.
"I was wondering if you would show up."
A/N: Right. So was it good? Who do you think it is? I'd love to hear what you all think before I post the next chapter so review and let me know!:)it henext chapter is in the works, so hopefully it'll be up when I get home!
