Empathy Link

A/N Ok this one, you get to choose the time it's set:

A) After Percy gets home from the Giant War

B) Days before the Titan war

C) A slightly different reality set after the Titan War where Percy doesn't have the Curse of Achilles.

I know, as author, I should be able to just tell you which to choose, but I couldn't decide which was best. I was going to go with A, but none of these one shots have been that far ahead, and the other two are plausible as well. So remember that I said that A was my first choice while picking, but go ahead and pick your favorite.

The reason I ask you to do this is that I was words away from finishing the story when all of the sudden I thought "S***! He's invulnerable!". But I really didn't want (or know how) to change it then, so I beg of you not to kill me. Look, I even made it extra long to make up for it! Because I love you all!

And don't worry, time lines will all be back to normal in later chapters.

Paul woke with a start when he heard someone stumbling down the hall outside his and Sally's bedroom. It was mostly dark in the room, with only dim street lights and the LCD alarm clock to give light.

He checked the time: 2:23. He frowned. Percy had gone to bed hours ago. He swung his legs off the bed and stood up, grabbing his robe to put on over his pajamas, and walked over to the door.

As he walked into the living room to find the source of the noise, he saw several things strewn across the couch and the floor in front of it. Percy's rarely-used breastplate was on the couch, with a small backpack next to it that appeared to be empty. Next to the bag was a flashlight with the batteries off to the side. On the floor in front of the couch was a mismatched pair of socks, an orange camp t-shirt, and some black gym shorts. Then there was a bottle of Gatorade, a bag of Doritos, and a hastily made sandwich with indiscernible contents. Suddenly a Baggie of what Paul recognized as ambrosia was tossed next to the pile, and Paul looked up to see Percy standing behind the couch. He was jamming the batteries into his flashlight.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," he told Paul without looking away from the batteries. He took them back out and checked the flashlight for positive and negative signs, then flipped the batteries around and tried again. "I was just gonna leave a note." Percy held up a scrap of paper, which said something about leaving and being back soonish.

Paul rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "A note for what? You look like you're going on a trip."

Percy shrugged with one shoulder and dropped the flashlight into the open bag. "I might, might not. I could be back in a few hours, or a few days. Probably just a few hours though."

Paul frowned. "What for?"

Percy didn't look up as he grabbed his clothing and began shoving it into his bag. "Gotta help Grover, he found a demigod in a school nearby, doesn't live far from here. But it looks like the kid's got a couple of Laistrygonians on his tail, and Grover needs help before they make their move."

Paul racked his brain to remember what a Laistrygonian was, but couldn't remember. "A… Laistrygonian?" Percy nodded. "And, those are…?"

"Canadians."

Paul frowned. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"You've never met a Laistrygonian."

Paul paused, and realized something. "Sounds like you've been planning this…"

Percy shook his head. "Nope," he popped the 'p'.

Paul was confused. "I didn't hear him IM. Or call."

"He didn't," Percy said as he put the food in on top of the bag's other contents.

"Are you confusing me on purpose?" Paul asked.

Percy finally looked up at Paul and gave him a grin. "Nah, just being deliberately vague."

Paul noticed his choice of words, and figured Annabeth was having a positive influence on his vocabulary. "Well, can you give me a straight answer?"

Percy zipped up his now full bag and put it on his shoulder and grabbed the breastplate, then put the note explaining his absence on the coffee table in an obvious place. He looked to Paul.

"Grover sent me a message through our empathy link while I was asleep. A lot of the time, empathy link messages are vague, or hard to see, but I got a general message. He wants me to help him get this daughter of Demeter out of the city and to camp. The girl's dad already knows the plan, but Grover is having trouble getting her out of the apartment because there are a couple Laistrygonians looking for her. So I'm gonna help them out."

"Well why are you packing for a trip?"

Percy looked a little exasperated at having to explain everything, probably because he was in a hurry to get out of there. "Last time I helped Grover get kids out of a school, I ended up taking a side trip across the country. Demigods can never assume to know what'll happen. Now I gotta go, I'll probably see you in the morning." Percy started toward the door, and on a whim, Paul stepped in front of him.

"Wait," he told him.

Percy tried hard to hide his look of annoyance, but Paul saw through it. "Paul, I'm sorry, but I have to—"

"I'll drive you."

Percy stopped and looked at his step-dad in confusion. "Paul, this could be dangerous—"

"I'm just asking to drive you. I don't know, I just feel like… I'd like to drive you. You said it wasn't far."

Percy regarded his mom's husband for a moment, thinking. He had heard what Paul had said, about having a feeling, and Percy knew better than to go against a gut instinct. He picked up a pen and walked to his note and hastily wrote 'Paul's coming too'. He looked at Paul and walked to the door again. "Alright. You can drive."

oOoOoOo

The drive was uneventful, with sparse conversation. Percy sat in the passenger's seat, with his eyes closed. Paul could tell he wasn't asleep, so he asked what he was doing.

He kept his eyes closed as he responded. "Checking my empathy link for news. I'm trying to feel for his emotions, but he's better at feeling mine than I am at his. Either I'm doing it wrong, or he's calm right now."

"What exactly is an empathy link?"

Percy was quiet for a minute before he spoke. "It's hard to explain. We're like… connected at the mind. I think it's some kind of nature thing. Grover did it when I was thirteen, and that's how I knew to save him from Polyphemus. But I don't know how well it works, and it's possible that if one of us dies, the other will too."

Paul raised his eyebrows at this. He was used to Percy being annoyingly laid-back when discussing his own death, but he would've thought he would be more concerned about dropping dead at any given moment.

Percy must've guessed what Paul was thinking, because he spoke again. "Don't worry about it Paul, it probably won't happen. A, because I have faith in Grover and his ability to not die. And B, because I'm not even sure that's what'll happen. People keep saying how unreliable and worthless empathy links are, but this one has come through for me several times. Don't go planning my funeral just yet."

Paul gave a small smile that Percy didn't see. "Don't worry, I won't."

They finally arrived at a very expensive looking apartment, and Percy told him to pull into the parking lot behind it. The courtyard behind the building was impressive, with a nice pool and lots of trees. Definitely an expensive apartment complex.

"This is it," he said as he scanned the side of the building. "There," he said, and pointed to one window.

"What?" Paul asked and looked at the numerous windows. They all looked almost identical.

"Third floor, fourth window in. See the window box?"

Paul looked to where he had told him and saw a very impressive flower box on the window sill. It was overflowing with flowers and plants of different colors. It occurred to Paul that the child Percy was here to help was a daughter of Demeter, so it made sense that they would have a cool flower box.

"You figured out where they lived just by looking for impressive plants?" Paul asked, not sure whether to be impressed or worried about Percy's deductive reasoning.

Percy looked at him confusedly, then back to the window. Then he looked back at Paul. "No, I just remember from the dream. But good catch."

Paul was somewhat relieved that that wasn't how Percy was tracking his friend.

Percy looked at his breastplate and backpack with criticism, then decided to leave it in his seat.

"Stay in the car," he told his step-dad, then got out of the car. He was about to close the door when he knelt back down to look at Paul. "And by stay in the car, I mean stay in the car. Not like on TV when someone says stay in the car and they don't, I mean—"

"Percy I get it. I'll stay in the car."

Percy looked at him a second longer, then nodded. He stood straight again, then bent back over.

"Unless the car is about to be squished or something, 'cuz Laistrygonians—"

"Oh, I'm not stupid Percy, just go!" Paul said and pushed Percy's head out of the car.

Paul watched as Percy walked away from the car, but didn't understand why he wasn't headed for the door. He was headed for… oh. The fire escape.

As he made his way up the metal escape, Paul was surprised at his strength. Pulling himself up the ladder until he reached the stairs, he was obviously very strong. He finally got to the correct landing, and Paul sat back in his seat.

After several uneventful minutes, Paul was just beginning to wish he had brought something to entertain himself with when he heard a commotion above him, near the window Percy was headed for. Shortly after the sound started, there was a female shriek and suddenly a large mass fell from the sky and into the pool. It had obviously been a body, but after falling from that height, Paul knew with a certainty the person was dead or unconscious now. He felt the urge to jump out of the car and see if he could help, but suddenly there was fire raining down from above.

"You can't get away that easily, Jackson!" he heard someone bellow.

"Yeah we're not that stupid!" said a second voice. Coming down the now flaming fire escape were two enormous men, both of them easily eight feet tall. They were having trouble getting down the stairs, as they were too tall to stand up straight. As they jeered and threw insults at his step-son, they addressed the pool. With a jolt Paul realized it had been Percy who had fallen from that height, and suddenly felt hopeful that the fall hadn't killed him.

One of the Ogres threw what looked like a steaming cannonball toward the pool, the ball bursting into flames as it left the monster's fingers. It flew quickly toward its target, before it was doused with water only feet from the pool. It fell to the asphalt, harmless. Paul looked to where the water had come from to see Percy standing on the surface of the water, swirls of water surrounding his feet. He looked, for lack of a better term, pissed.

"Look Bone Breaker, we made him angry!" said one of the monsters to his companion, smiling evilly as he jumped the last fifteen feet to the ground. He threw another cannonball at Percy, which was again easily deflected, but the monster was not deterred. He was quickly joined by the other giant.

Percy uncapped Riptide and stepped out of the pool, swinging his sword lazily. Paul was again struck by how scary Percy was in a fight; he always looked completely in control of the situation.

"I'm feeling generous today, so I'll give you three options. First, you can leave and hope I never see you again. Second, you can try and fight me and I'll kill you quickly. Third, you can try and get to my friends in the building, and I'll kill you in a much more painful fashion. I'll give you a moment to discuss this," Percy told them. It was kind of like watching a lion play with its food.

The monster on the right turned to Bone Breaker with his head bowed, "I dunno, I think the first one is best—"

"Earwax, you idiot!" Bone Breaker yelled at his companion. Then he turned back to Percy. "You forgot the fourth option, where we eat you, your half-blood friend, and the satyr. We choose the fourth option."

Percy put his sword behind his back and held it with both hands and paced slowly, looking at the ground and shaking his head. "Nope, that won't work."

Earwax turned and whispered loudly in Bone Breaker's ear, "See boss, I told you, we should've gone for the first—"

"Shut UP Earwax!"

Percy rolled his eyes and brought Riptide around to his front. "Ok, time's up. Now I get to choose for you."

Both heads snapped back toward him at the same time, their wild eyes looking bloodthirsty and their teeth bared. Earwax stepped toward Percy, his last two cannonballs in each hand. "As he said, we choose the fourth one."

He threw both of the steaming balls at Percy, both of them catching fire as they left his hands, and advanced on Percy as he was distracted.

Percy ducked and rolled underneath the flaming cannonballs, coming to stand again in time to slice through the oncoming monster. The giant stumbled toward the pool for a few steps before crumbling to dust. Percy turned to the remaining monster with his sword raised in a defensive position, only to find that he had run in the opposite direction. At first, Paul had thought the remaining giant had fled. But upon further investigation, he saw that he was headed toward the fire escape. Percy chased after him.

Paul had completely forgotten what they were there for. Remembering, he looked up the fire escape for Grover and the demigod. He found them on the second floor landing, trapped due to the surrounding flames. Grover had his arms around the girl to keep her safe, but was obviously panicking at the close proximity of the flames.

Meanwhile, the monster was headed for the ladder. His long legs carried him faster than Percy could run, so he was there in seconds. He jumped and grabbed the ladder, holding on and beginning to climb. A gold flash went through the air, and suddenly a bronze sword was stuck in the building, having cut through the escape ladder like a hot knife through butter. Percy had just thrown the sword, and actually looked a little surprised it had done as he'd hoped. The monster came crashing to the ground butt first, leaving a Laistrygonian-butt-sized crater in the asphalt. The crash was loud, and Paul wondered how much longer it was until the mortals started calling the police.

Unfortunately, this only made the monster angrier. Roaring with anger, he threw his last remaining cannonball at Percy.

Percy, who had been distracted by Grover and the girl, didn't notice the projectile until it was inches away. He moved at the last second, but still the ball clipped his left elbow as he dodged to the right. He stumbled a bit, grimacing, but the damage must not have been that bad.

A few yards away, the giant had solved his problem of being weaponless. He ripped a pipe from the apartment wall, steam billowing from the pipes that were still attached to the building. He swung the pipe around, coming to face Percy with that mad look in his face. He grinned evilly at him, showing his shark-like teeth. As the giant advanced leisurely on him, Percy began looking around wildly for a makeshift weapon. Paul remembered Percy telling him that Riptide would always return to his pocket. He didn't say how long that usually took though.

The monster swung at Percy, and Percy jumped backward and out of the way of the jagged metal. Again and again, the monster swung his pipe at him, but Percy's combat training and ADHD kicked in and kept him moving. Percy kept trying to lure him toward the pool, but the monster knew what he was trying to do. Once they got within a few yards of the pool, the monster grinned menacingly and backed up several steps.

"You're not fooling me, son of Poseidon. We fight on land, so that I can kill you easier."

Percy had to think quickly. Casting his gaze around his surroundings, he saw a pool scoop a few feet to his right. He could use it as a last resort weapon until Riptide decided to make its reappearance. He dove to the right, grabbing the pole and standing up again. He quickly snapped the net off the end and held it offensively as he ran back to fight the monster.

The Laistygonian's weapon was far stronger than his pole, so Percy had to fight carefully. Instead of being able to deflect the giant's strikes with his own weapon, he had to dive out of the way and only fight offensively. And while the monster had little to no swordsmanship, Percy still found it difficult to get around the pipe.

On one lucky swing by the giant, the jagged end of the pipe hit Percy across the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Percy dropped his pole and looked at his chest, where there were crimson blossoms making their way across his torso. Percy looked into his attacker's face in anger and surprise, before the giant swung his pipe again and hit him square in the stomach. Percy flew backwards a few feet before landing hard on his back. The monster made his way toward Percy, who was gasping for air after having the oxygen blown out of him. The Laistrygonian kneeled next to Percy, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Perfect. Now I can have one meal for here, and two well-done meals for later," the monster told him and gestured to the second floor landing where Percy's friends were still trapped by the ever-growing flames. "And I've got new barbecue sauce."

Percy glared up at the monster. Then, Percy's eyes widened slightly and his mouth broke into an evil and knowing smile.

"And I've got a sword."

Without a moment's hesitation, Percy grabbed his pen from his pocket and uncapped Riptide with his right hand and the blade went through the giant's chest. The giant crumbled to dust quickly, and Percy dropped his sword to the side.

Paul took this as his cue to jump from the car, as he'd been itching to do since Percy had clipped his elbow on the cannonball. Actually, at that time he had unbuckled and started to open the door before he had reminded himself his promise to Percy. And of the fact that he'd probably only present another thing for Percy to worry about.

Paul got out of his car in record time and bolted to Percy. He had expected Percy to jump up and put out the growing flames as soon as the monsters were gone, but he hadn't. Paul skidded to a stop next to Percy and knelt.

"The thing never comes when I want it. Always waits 'til the last second," he muttered to himself. Paul hoped he was talking about his sword and not his step-father, but didn't respond to his statement.

"Percy, are you ok? What do I do?"

Percy shook his head and started to sit up. Bad idea, he realized to late, and he fell back to his back closing his eyes. "I'm just gonna nap here," he told Paul.

Paul looked at the wound on Percy's chest and saw that it was a wide gash. Of course he was going to be tired. Blood loss would do that to a person.

Paul shook his head vehemently and grabbed Percy's shoulders. "No Percy, let's—"

"PAUL!" He heard from above him. He looked up to see Grover yelling at him from the balcony. The flames were feet away from being too close to the satyr. "The pool!"

Paul frowned, then understood. He looked from Percy's unconscious form to the pool, which was ten feet away.

"Sorry Percy, this might hurt," he muttered as he put his arms under Percy's shoulder and knees. He slowly picked him up off the ground, using strength Paul knew would not be there if he wasn't running on pure adrenaline. He made his way to the edge of the pool, and realized he had no idea how he was supposed to get him in there. He looked up to Grover.

"Just throw him in! He'll be fine!" he yelled, gesturing with his hands to just toss him. Paul shrugged and did as he was asked. Percy rolled out of his arms and into the deep end of the pool.

Paul stood at the edge of the water for a few seconds, wondering what he should do. He felt a little helpless at the moment. After a few moments of tapping his foot and waiting for Percy to get out and save the day, he decided to help fight the flames. He ran to the building and began unrolling the water hose.

When he had enough, he pulled it away from the building and began spraying at the nearest flames. He felt good about his progress before he looked up.

The flames had grown away from the fire escape and now covered most of the side of the building from the fourth floor down. Mercifully, Grover and the girl were in a patch of unharmed building, but they wouldn't be for long. Suddenly, he realized there were sirens near them, getting closer. Relieved, he lowered his hose.

Paul heard a rumbling coming from where the hose was attached to the building, and looked up. All of the sudden the hose broke away from the faucet, and water streamed down the asphalt. Next he heard the fire hydrant spring a leak before exploding, and before he knew it, there was water all around him. He looked behind him to see Percy standing knee deep in the pool, directing large amounts of water to put out the flames. Paul let himself stand back and be impressed.

He ousted the flames surrounding his friends first, then moved to other places. It didn't take long until the flames were extinguished, leaving a mangled and steaming fire escape dangling from the side of the building. Percy let his small storm die down, dropping his arms to his sides in exhaustion. Paul saw that the injuries on his chest and elbow were nothing but scars now, thanks to the water's healing abilities.

Grover and the girl cautiously made their way down the escape, with Paul and Percy helping them when they got to the ladder that Percy had cut down. The girl seemed to be in shock, as she stared at the burnt building. Then she turned around and faced the three of them.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD JUST HAPPENED?" she shrieked at them. All three men clamped their hands to their ears, the tween able to reach tones that could shatter glass.

The firetruck finally made it's appearance, a few blocks away and headed closer. Percy ushered the girl to the car, waving at Paul and Grover to follow. "We'll explain everything, let's just go before there's a misunderstanding."

"What do you mean?" asked the girl. "We didn't start it, we wouldn't get in trouble with them."

"Mortals aren't always very understanding," Percy told her as he opened her car door for her to get in.

She gave him a funny look. "Mortals?" she asked, before Grover gently but urgently pushed her into the car. Paul, Grover and Percy were all in the car and pulling out of the back entrance in amazing time, before the firetruck had pulled in. The girl quickly got impatient with the lack of answers. "Hello?! Someone tell me what's going on!"

So for the rest of the ride to Long Island, Paul heard for the second time in his life the explanation of Greek gods, monsters, weapons, demigods, and various other things. And once the girl was open to this new idea, which she had been a lot faster than Paul had been, she had been chock full of questions, prompting Paul to learn things he hadn't known before. Like the fact that Medusa's eyes would turn you to stone even after her death, and that Hephaestus had a reality T.V. channel in Olympus, and that Demeter had an obsession with cereal. Actually, he had learned a LOT about Demeter.

By the time they pulled up to Half Blood Hill, the girl was buzzing with energy and Grover and Percy were struggling to catch up with her.

"So I'll get to stay in a cabin filled with my other siblings? How many do I have? How many cabins are there? Are you in charge, Percy? Do you live here too? Where does Grover live? Will I see you guys again?"

As she continued asking questions, Percy leaned over to Grover. "Does she remind you of a certain son of Hades?"

Grover nodded to Percy, then went back to trying to pay attention to the girl as they got out of the car. Percy helped the girl to the top of the hill with Grover, just to make sure there were no last minute attacks, then went back to the car and collapsed into the passenger's seat. Paul wordlessly pulled away and headed back toward the city.

They drove a few miles in silence before Percy spoke. "Thanks."

Paul looked at Percy, then back at the road. "What for?"

"For coming with. Who knows what would've happened if you hadn't put me in the water. And if we hadn't gotten out of there as fast as we did, we would've had some serious lying to do."

Paul nodded. "No problem, Percy."

They drove for quite a ways before Paul spoke again.

"I didn't do that, did I? Ask that many questions, I mean," he asked. Percy shook his head.

"Nah, at least you gave me time to answer your questions."

"Speaking of questions, she asked some good ones," Paul began. Percy groaned, but smiled as Paul asked him the same questions the girl had, but at a much slower rate.

oOoOoOo

The next morning when Paul turned on the news, he smiled and shook his head as he watched them report a 'freak storm, creating damaging winds and lightning to spark the west side of the building'. Mortals were so creative sometimes.

A/N See? Told you it'd be extra long. More than 4,500 words for one chapter!

So I hope you liked it despite the problem I voiced in the first author's note. I tried to keep the Laistrygonians in character, but I couldn't for the life of me find SoM. So the limited information on them I got was from from SoN and the PJO Wiki. And Bone Breaker the Laistrygonian was a little too smart, I think. But I guess this chapter will have to be the one full of inaccuracies. I hope you don't hate me now.

Anyway, please review and tell me if you chose A, B, or C! And don't forget to pass along your characters and/or scenarios!