A/N: Gah, this chapter didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, and it feels way too filler, I'm so sorry about that guys! I promise I'll try to include some more action soon! Enjoy!

Chapter 11:

5 August

Jade was buzzing with nervous energy. It had been a week since Percy had offered to let her come home with him, and it had been… a little hectic.

Percy had called him mom - 'Our mom' - with Argus's phone. Demigods don't usually use phones, as it attracts monsters like a huge, blinking, neon beacon, but this counted as an emergency, so Chiron had allowed it. And they were protected by the wards, so there wasn't all that much danger. Percy had offered Jade to say something, too, but she'd chickened out, hiding out in the strawberry fields with Katie instead. The thought of calling Sally - her mom - was somehow scarier than anything else she'd faced.

Unfortunately, the lack of contact only served to make her nerves today even worse.

It was August now, and Percy, Jade and some other campers were waiting for Argus to drive them back to New York. Katie had already left the night before, and Will was only leaving a week later, though he'd come out to wait with her.

Since they all had ADHD, they were all naturally jittery, but Jade was practically bouncing, flitting from one side to the other. Percy was playing a particularly energetic game of hacky sack - with some questionable rules Jade had never heard of before - with some Hermes kids, so Will was left to try and calm Jade down.

"What if she doesn't like me?" Jade asked nervously. She'd been going over different doom scenarios in her head all morning, probably to the annoyance of everyone around her, but so far, Will hadn't complained.

The blond sighed. Maybe he was a little annoyed. "It'll be fine, I'm sure you'll get along splendidly." I was basically a variation of what Percy had been telling her all week, but it did nothing to soothe her nerves.

"How can you be sure? You don't even know her… My mom." It still sounded weird to say that out loud.

She could practically hear Will rolling his eyes. "You're right, I don't, but I know you, and you're fun, so just let it go already."

Jade wrung her hands for a moment, before going back to pacing. "I'm sorry, I know I'm being annoying," she said guiltily.

"It's fine, Jade. You just have to have faith that you'll be okay. At worst, it's going to be awkward for a while, but you'll get over that eventually," Will assured her. He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her to a stop in front of him. "And Percy will be there, so you'll be okay."

Squeezing his hands, she smiled softly at him. "Thanks, Will. You're a good friend."

"Well, this good friend is going to go back to camp, Argus's here. Send me a message later, okay? Percy'll tell you how."

Sure enough, Jade could hear a car pulling up.

"Jade, you're squishing my fingers," Will said, a little tensely.

"Shit, sorry!" Jade quickly let go of his hand and took a step back. "I'm just nervous."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," he replied sarcastically, but there was a smile in his voice, so Jade didn't think he was too annoyed with her.

"I'll message you, I promise," she said. She was going to say something else, but she noticed Percy walking up to them.

"We're up, you ready?" he asked, and Jade marveled at how calm he was.

"See you, Percy, bye, Jade!" Will said, and jogged off down the hill.

Jade wished she could turn on her Sight to watch him go, if only because it distracted her from the van behind her, but her headaches had been getting worse lately, so she didn't want to risk it.

"How are you so calm about this?" Jade asked Percy as she fiddled with her cane.

"It's just mom, I'm excited to see her, but… it's no big deal to me," he said, and she could hear the shrug in his voice. He put a hand on her elbow and started leading them to the van. All her stuff was in Percy's bag, so luckily she didn't have to carry anything around.

"Well, it's a big deal to me," she muttered. "I'm about to meet my birth mom for the first time, and I have no clue how it's going to go."

"Don't worry about it, mom's the best, she likes everyone. She was really excited to see you, too," Percy assured her as he helped her get into the car.

"Everyone keeps telling me that, but it doesn't make it any easier," Jade mumbled under her breath.

It was only a short drive to New York, and most of the other kids got off at the bus station, where either their parents picked them up, or they got a ticket to wherever they lived. Then, Argus dropped off the few demigods living in New York at their homes. Percy and Jade were the second to last to go.

"Thanks for the ride, Argus," Percy said. Argus didn't answer, but Jade wasn't sure that he could. She'd never heard him speak, and he was hard to spot, even with her Sight, despite the fact that the guy had to be steeped in magic.

Percy got out of the car and then grabbed Jade's hand, making sure she didn't trip, probably. It was kind of sad how dependent she'd become on her Sight, even if she only used it for short periods of time. Out here, even if she were to turn her Sight on, she'd see almost complete darkness. It was unsettling, so she decided to keep it shut for now; it couldn't help her navigate anyway.

"It's over here, we're on the fifth floor," Percy said, leading her by the elbow. The apartment complex didn't have an elevator - which probably made it cheaper to rent - so they took the stairs all the way up. Which was probably a good thing, because all the car ride had accomplished was make her nervous energy skyrocket.

They exited the stairwell into a hallway that Jade guessed held other apartments. She could faintly hear the other tenants moving around or watching TV. It made her briefly consider if their mom could actually afford to have another kid there.

"This is us," Percy said as they stopped. There was a jangling sound as he fished his keys out of his pocket.

"Percy, wait," Jade said, reaching out and grabbing his arm. "I don't think I can do this."

"Jade, it's okay," he replied distractedly.

"I can't breathe. I can't do this," she said, taking a step back. She was on the verge of hyperventilating, and she didn't know what to do.

Finally, Percy noticed. "Hey, it's okay, I'm here, you're okay," he said, putting his hands on her arms.

"You don't understand, I can't!"

"What's wrong? I don't get it, it's just mom-"

"I just can't," she said, a little hysterically. Jade had no idea how to explain what was going on to Percy. He didn't understand. "You don't understand, you've never lost-" she cut herself off and turned around, pulling away from her brother.

"Lost…? Is this about your adoptive parents?" he asked softly.

"I… they died. And my aunt and uncle didn't want me. My first foster family… I thought maybe I'd get another chance at having a family," she explained shakily. "And it was okay for a while. But their son hated me, and lied to his parents. They sent me back. The next family couldn't be bothered to feed me or my foster siblings most of the time. And then they got arrested and I had to go away again."

Percy didn't say anything. Jade wasn't sure she'd know what to say if were in his shoes, so she didn't blame him. Maybe now he could finally see what a freak she was; how no one in their right minds would want her around.

"Everyone leaves in the end," she whispered.

/*/

Percy had no idea what to say. He couldn't even imagine feeling the say Jade did now. Smelly Gabe might've been in the running for world's worst stepdad, but he'd always had a more or less stable home. His mom loved him and would do anything for him. Jade… she never had anything like that, not since she was 6 years old.

Before now, he'd never really felt sorry for Jade before. She'd lost her sight, and he knew she'd had it hard, growing up, but she'd always seemed to be taking things in a stride. He'd only really seen her struggle with stuff two or three times. And even then, she'd gotten over it pretty fast. But hearing about her past now… no wonder she adapted so quickly, she'd learned early on that if she didn't… she wouldn't survive.

"Jade-" he started, wanting to assure her that they were family, and family never abandons each other, but he was interrupted by the opening of a door.

"Percy?" his mom said.

Percy turned around to face her. She looked both worried and excited as she looked over his shoulder at Jade's back. "Mom. Uhm. This is Jade," he said, pushing his previous train of thought to the back of his mind. Gently, so as not to startle her, he reached out and turned her around by the shoulder. "Jade, this is Sally, our mom."

Jade's eyes were red, but she wasn't crying. Her expression was guarded, but not angry or sad anymore, so Percy figured she was okay.

Mom gasped and put a hand to her mouth. She did look like she was about to cry.

Percy hoisted his backpack more securely on his back, and took a step towards his mom, pulling her into a hug. "I missed you," he said quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie, of course I missed you," mom said, squeezing him back. As she pulled away, her eyes were drawn back to Jade. "We should go inside. I hope you don't mind, Jade, you're sharing a room with Percy," she said hesitantly, as if she was afraid that any little thing would send Jade running for the hills.

"It's okay, I'm used to it," Jade said quietly. She was so withdrawn, Percy could barely tell what she was thinking. He wondered if she'd been the same every time she'd been introduced to a new foster family.

They all went inside, and Percy showed Jade to their room. He was a little irritated that he'd have to share his room, but it's not like they had much choice, they couldn't afford a three-bedroom apartment in New York.

Mom hovered in the doorway, still unable to keep her eyes off Jade. Percy understood why, of course, but he could also tell it was making Jade uncomfortable.

"What's for dinner?"

Mom smiled. "Always thinking about your stomach, huh?"

"Hey, I'm a growing boy," he replied, grinning.

"No kidding, I'm the one who buys your clothes, remember?" mom teased. And then she turned back to Jade. "I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I figured we'd do breakfast for dinner. There's waffles and pancakes and stuff like that, if that's okay?"

Percy perked up. "Blue ones?" he asked, even though he knew the answer to that.

"Always," mom replied with a grin.

But Jade was frowning again, and Percy realized he probably shouldn't have mentioned the old tradition. "Why blue ones?"

Percy looked at his mom, but she didn't seem like she had any clue as to what to say either. "Uhm. My step-dad… he used to say that there's no such thing as blue food, so it's kind of an inside joke that we try to make all our food blue," he explained.

"Oh," Jade said. "I didn't know you were married," she said to mom.

Mom blushed, and looked guilty. It was probably a good thing Jade couldn't see her. "He's no longer in the picture. He was… he wasn't a good man."

And just like that - despite the somewhat tense atmosphere that had hung around them before - Jade seemed to relax a little. "I know what that's like," she said softly.

For a moment, no one said anything, though it wasn't as awkward as Percy had thought it would be. "I'm… really glad you're home, Jade," mom said, her voice sounding a little choked up. "I never thought… I never thought I'd get the chance to… to see you again."

"Yeah, uhm…" Jade said. "You… you seem nice," she finished lamely. Percy would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't been equally bad at expressing himself most of the time.

"Thank you," mom said softly, and it sounded so sincere, like Jade had actually given her the biggest compliment ever. "I'll let you get settled in. Dinner will be ready whenever you are."

Mom turned and left, closing the door behind her as she left. For a few minutes, Percy and Jade just sat on his bed in companionable silence. Then, Percy started feeling his ADHD kick in and started getting stuff out of his backpack. There wasn't a lot in there; mostly orange Camp Half-Blood shirts and some pants, and Jade's stuff.

"Uhm, mom told me she emptied that dresser, if you want to put some stuff in there," Percy said, starting to point. Then he realized she couldn't see him, and mentally smacked himself. Idiot.

"Sorry, it's on the other side of you mattress, to your left," he explained.

Jade crawled over her bed and easily found the dresser. "Are you using your Sight?" he asked curiously. He tried not to ask too much about it, since he knew she was a bit uncomfortable talking about it, but he kind of wanted to know.

She hesitated. "Uhm, no. It doesn't really help much around here. If I turned it on now, I'd only be able to see you and- and mom," she explained still stumbling slightly over 'mom'.

"Like, through the wall?" he asked, confused.

Jade laughed. "Sort of. It's dimmed. And the more barriers, the less I can see. I can tell there's someone in the apartment next to us," she said, pointing to the wall adjacent to the next-door apartment. "But I can't see further than that. And I can't see what they're doing, they don't have enough magic for that."

Frowning, Percy pulled his legs up onto the bed. "You always seem to 'see' what I'm doing. And what do you mean, 'magic'?"

Jade sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose - probably because of another headache. "You're half God, Percy, and near as I can tell, the stronger your magic, the clearer you are. Our dad's one of the Big Three, so you're clearer than, say, Katie, 'cause she's Demeter's child. I can't even use my Sight when Mr. D's in the room, he's practically blinding."

Percy considered that. He supposed it sounded logical, even though he still didn't really get it.

Meanwhile, Jade had been loading her meager possessions into the cabinet. She seemed more or less at ease now, but whenever mom was around, she seemed to clam up. He just hoped they'd start getting along better soon…

A/N: So, I've been trying to show how awkward and nerve-wracking this whole situation is for Jade, and I hope I at least marginally succeeded. I know Percy seems a little ooc here, because he's not usually this mature and grown up, but I also think he's been settling into a big brother role with Jade over the past month, so when he's not with her, he can be a lot more childish, but when she's around, he feels like he needs to protect her. I hope I managed to convey that a little bit in this chapter.

I honestly have no idea where I'm going with this story in the near future, I basically just know that I want to rewrite the books from Jade's perspective, the way she deals with stuff at camp or at home. I'm making this up as I go, so if there's a particular scene you'd like to see, feel free to ask for it, I'll see if I can work it in.

Please review!