Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson characters at all.

Piper had been surprised before. One time, for her eighth birthday, her father had decided to go all out and buy her an actual pony. Some people may have called her spoiled at that time, but she really couldn't have been happier. She eventually did have to give away her most prized-possession because Jane had entered her life that year. And Jane never really liked horses.

Another time was when she was thirteen and saw her first murder happen in real life. Someone hadn't been following Jane's orders, and Jane, being the type of person she is, didn't care that their was a child in the room and murdered the man on the spot. From then on, Piper knew Jane was meant to be taken seriously, and that she could do anything to her if she wanted to.

One of the most recent, however, was when Jane actually told her to do her first murder, and on Jason Grace of all people. Piper still didn't fully get why Jane asked her to do that, but she was still surprised by the outburst of it.

None of those, she now realizes as she walks her way down the hallway to the interrogation room, was as surprising as Jason Grace wanting to finally talk to her in person. And she had never felt this nervous before. When she entered the room, Jason didn't even look up once the security guard/her escort was dismissed. He was sitting on a chair, hunched over some paperwork, and writing furiously all over it.

"Hello, Piper," Jason said roughly, finishing up his paperwork and still not looking up. Piper had felt a weird tugging lurch in her stomach once Jason had tapped his pen and finally brought his face to meet hers. She couldn't help but stare at him for a while. He looked exactly the same as almost two months ago when she had surrendered, but he somehow seemed... fatigued. As if he would rather be anywhere than right here. And Piper couldn't help but feel the same.

"Hello," she said tartly, finally finding her voice. "Why have you brought me here?" Piper almost wanted to take it back. It was thoroughly obvious, but Piper just wanted to get to the point without making things more awkward than they already were.

"You already know why," he pointed out. She wanted to roll her eyes so bad. But she couldn't find it in her to do it. It wasn't in her place to get annoyed with him; not when she'd done so much to him.

What the hell had happened to her, since she had been put into jail? Had Piper McLean gone... soft? No, she reprimanded herself. She wouldn't allow herself to dwell on that now. "Well, what else do you want me to tell you?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, and Piper could tell that he wanted to say something to her really bad. Something to do with... things that had nothing to do with the real reason why she was being interrogated. She either may have imagined it, or he may have decided to not bring it up now because he replied, his eyes still narrowed, "There was a reason why you surrendered yourself that day. You could have easily gotten away with it, for the time being. I want to know why you did what you did."

Okay, so that was another surprising thing that happened to her. She was not expecting for him to start taking that approach. But she wasn't going to drop this opportunity. She could now tell him everything, now that he was willing to listen. "I did what I did because I needed someone to know. And I trusted you, Jason. In fact, you were the only one I trusted. But I knew that if I told you, I would have to face the consequences. And since Jane's true identity was revealed, I thought it was the best time to tell you. Especially since...since I was free from her."

Jason's form didn't flicker once. Piper wasn't expecting it to, but she desperately wished he would believe her. Because he didn't seem to care about a word she said. Either that, or he was just as good an actress as she was.

But this time, Piper wasn't lying. This was one of the statements she said to him that was actually truthful. But she knew he wasn't buying it.

Instead of saying anything about Piper's statement, however, he started speaking of something a little bit different. "Where were you, Ms. McLean, when you took off for 'vacation' outside of prison?" She winced at the harshness of his tone and also how he decided to refer to her to her last name. It put a deeper invisible barrier between the two of them, and Piper didn't like it one bit.

But she supposed she deserved it. "I was speaking with a friend. I haven't seen him in a while, and I felt like I needed to clear things up. I had betrayed him in the past, but I desperately needed him to listen to me. It took him awhile, but I think he's forgiven me for my foolish mistakes."

And that was the first time an emotion flickered on his face since she entered the room. His previously straight face had now begun to gentle out a bit, and his light eyebrows pushed against themselves in concern. "But why did you come back?" He asked in a surprisingly soft voice.

And for a second there, Piper could see right through him. She could now see, and really see, the pain she had inflicted upon him. She had really hurt him. And now, Piper realizes that Jason had wanted her to never return. He had wanted for her to escape the prison and Jason would never have to hear of her again. And this literally brought guilt to a whole new level. But as quickly as this reaction came, it was gone, his face hardening once more. And that made it a hundred times more easier for her to reply.

"I had to. I needed to speak with you. But you didn't want to speak with me, so I knew I had to wait. I needed to tell you about what really happened..." and then she tells him. Just as simple as that. Like water, rushing down a waterfall, as fluent and fast as the current itself.

She started from the beginning; about how she had been getting nightmares about herself and others she cared about (her dad) dying due to a childhood problem, and to how Jane took away her father, claiming she wasn't going to hurt him as long as Piper did what she said, and to the note in her jail cell she had gotten that day she had escaped prison (she left out the conversation with Jane because she herself was confused about that)...All the way to meeting Frank and trying to gain his trust that very same day.

"Hello. Is Frank Zhang here today? I need to talk to him about something urgent."

The desk lady's eyebrows furrowed in concern and replied, "And you are, ma'm?"

She opened her mouth to respond what her name was, but then realizing she couldn't, she closed it again, rethinking what she was going to say. "My name is Annabeth, ma'm," she said, "Annabeth Chase. I'm a close friend of his." And that fact was right, because she remembered mentioning Frank around Annabeth and her face lit up in recognition.

Seeing the woman's still confused face, she repeated, "And I need to speak with Frank. Is he here today?"

She bought it. She gave her a smile and nodded her head, "Why, yes, he's here today. I'll bring you straight up to him."

"Thanks." Piper said, following her up to the familiar doors that read 'Manager's Office'.

The woman had pressed an intercom button that was right next to the door before saying, "Mr. Zhang? There is a woman who would like to see you right now. Her name is Annabeth Chase."

After a few seconds later, a man comes back with the response. "Yeah, I know her. You can let her in." The woman outstretches her hand and pushes the door open for Piper. Piper thanks her once more before entering the room alone.

Frank is sitting behind his desk, writing something down on paper and lifts his head up with a smile outstretched on his face. It drops down once he notices that it's not the one that he expects it to be. "...You're not Annabeth. Who are you?" He asked in confusion. It's then that Piper realizes that she was still wearing the disguise and quickly removes it. "You! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in jail for your actions. And not to mention for framing me!" he exclaims, standing up with disbelief, his eyes glittering with realization and hatred.

"Okay, look, I know what this seems to be, but hear me out, alright?"

"What?! You framed me and you expect me to 'here you out'? I could just call the police you know," he said matter-of-factly and he reached for his phone.

"No! Look, I escaped out of jail to talk to you. And no matter what, I am not going to leave here without you at least listening to me!" Seeing that he was still gripping the phone, Piper added, "Remember when you were in jail, and you kept on repeating to Jason that you were innocent? Remember when he refused to listen to you?"

His nose flared a little at that comment, but he replied, "If you're trying to get me to take revenge on him for some reason, I can already tell you it won't work. I have forgiven him."

"And you must forgive me! I know it's a lot to ask, but trust me on this: there's a lot more to this case than I had thought. Than we've all thought. And we need to find out. Jane, my dad's assistant, is up to something. I don't really know what it is yet, but we have to find out. And this affects a lot of people."

"This is your problem, not mine."

"This is all of our problems! For God's sake, have you thought about your family? Have you thought about your wife? We need to put an end to this, so more people won't get hurt!"

There was a deep silence that followed. Finally, Frank loosened his grip on the phone. But once he noticed Piper's relieved face, he said quickly, "I still don't trust you completely, you know."

"I get that."

"And I'll still hand you over to the police if you give me a reason for it."

"I respect that."

And once again, all was quiet. And, grudgingly, Frank finally gave in. "I'm listening."

After Piper was done explaining, Jason had turned away a little, deep in thought. Piper looked at him curiously, but not for long because Jason started to speak. "Wait... so if that's true..." and before she could ask what was going on, he got up from his chair and walked to the door. Then, remembering that Piper was still in the room, he said, "I trust you enough to not leave this room. I'll be back in a second." And he left.

She was still watching the door, herself deep in thought, as she took that in. "I trust you enough to not leave this room..." Granted, it was probably only because she herself had escaped out of jail and returned back, so there wasn't any point of trying to escape again, but Piper couldn't help but feel a little hope when he said that.

It wasn't much, but it had to be a start, right?

But she was soon pulled out of that, when Jason returned, he was carrying a small golden tube with him. "What is that?"

"I was actually hoping that you would know, but..." And then he went to tell his story about how he had found a purse in the bushes and how, when he was talking to Jane, he found the tube in her hands and it turned out to be from the purse itself. Then, when he looked into the bushes, the purse had went missing.

Piper didn't know what to say after he was done talking, but somehow, she sort of did know what he was talking about. She remembered Jane going on and on about some gold jewelry one time when she was eavesdropping on one of her conversations. She didn't know what to think of it at the time, but now she knew.

This gold tube was a very important piece in the mystery. And to start it off, she had to go to where Jane always bought her gold from. She didn't know why Jane was obsessed with buying gold from there, but it had to be important. So her first stop was going to be Omaha, Nebraska where Midas lived. It might not have been the actual source of the problem, but it was definitely worth trying to find out what was.

And after she had told Jason about this, he had seemed relieved, but at the same time... stressed. Piper knew that feeling too well. "Well, then, you can go back to your jail cell now."

"Wait...what?"

"I should be leaving now. I need to find who did this and put a stop to it," he continued on, reaching for his jacket and not even hearing her. "And I'll bring Frank along, too, if he wants. He could help us."

"Wait, no. You need me. I need to come with you guys."

He glanced back at her, but turned away quickly and replied, staring at the door, "you've done enough."

Ignoring the stab in her stomach, "But... you need me," she repeated, "who else knows more information about this guy than I do?"

Jason was still staring at the door for a while before replying softly, "How will I be able to trust you again? How do I know you're not going to do something behind my back..." Like last time... Piper could practically hear the unspoken words echoing in her ears, painfully taunting her.

She sighed inaudibly, knowing that he would never be able to trust her like he used to and it wasn't worth trying to make him now, before replying stubbornly, "Listen, Jason Grace. I swear to God, you need to trust me on this. No one knows this place like I do. I've been here so many times. Only I can really, truly help you. And I wasn't asking for your permission. I was just stating the facts. I am coming, Jason Grace, whether you like it, or not!"

...I've always liked writing a stubborn Piper for some reason. It makes her character seem more... amusing (in a good way, that is!). Anyways, so now we have a new trio! This should be good... And I also started a new multi-chap fanfic (Jasper, again xD), and I could use some input about that, too. It's completely new, so I'm not sure about it. I might not be updating that one as much as I'll be updating this one, but I can try to.

Anyways, thanks so much for your reviews; they mean so much to me! I love y'all!

Till next time,

Penguin