Lives Collide

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.

"Don't forget that the spare keys are with Hettie."

"Yes Percy."

"And the spare key to my apartment is in the kitchen if there is an emergency."

"Yup."

"And since you wanting to eat my food is an emergency, don't forget to replace everything."

"I promise."

"And you have to be here at six to meet the food delivery Saturday."

"I know."

"And remember-."

"Just leave Percy!" Jason finally snapped.

Percy rolled his eyes and tapped the bag at his feet with the top of his sneaker. "I may just be leaving for a weekend but I would really like this place to be standing when I get back."

"And it will but you and Annabeth will miss your flight if stay here annoying me," Jason said and he pointed in the direction of the diner's front door. A taxi was parked outside with Annabeth waiting in it and her luggage in the trunk. Percy picked up his own bag and walked backwards towards the door.

"Alright, alright: but I'm calling to check in later tonight."

"I got it!" Jason called and let out a sigh of relief as Percy went out the door. Leo wandered over to him, a tray in one hand propped up against his side and a sandwich in the other.

"I say, when he calls, we tell him the place got torched just to freak him out."

Jason looked over at his friend and muttered, "You are capable of dark things aren't you?"

Leo took a bite of the sandwich and replied, "Only when I'm hungry."

Percy and Annabeth landed in San Francisco in good time and caught a taxi to get to her dad's street. They passed through the San Francisco streets, the sun shining down but a light breeze coming in from the sea. A few minutes later, they turned into a tree lined road with houses either side. The taxi stopped and they paid; taking out their luggage. Finally, Percy looked up at the house.

It was tall and thin, painted a dark green with the porch painted red. It was built on slope and Percy was pretty sure that walking up all the San Francisco hills would be his work out for the year. "Your dad's got a nice place," Percy said as the taxi drove off.

He was glad to stretch his legs after the flight and the drive from the airport while Annabeth was just happy to be finally getting some family time. "Remind me again why your dad didn't pick us up?"

"He had a class this morning. Plus I didn't mind taking a taxi."

The door to the house opened and a man appeared on the porch. "Dad!" Annabeth called and hurried up the steps to greet him.

Percy grinned at them both; twin smiles on their happy faces. He grabbed both their bags and made his way to the porch where father and daughter were chatting happy. Annabeth saw him when he placed the bags down on the floor and she turned to him. "Dad, this is Percy Jackson."

Frederick Chase held out a hand and Percy shook it firmly. "In case you didn't know I'm trying to intimidate you with my overpowering handshake," he said.

Percy nodded and replied, "It's very threatening sir. What kind of reaction are you looking for?"

"Um, babbling, shaking, and profusely sweating if you don't mind?"

"Not at all; I can cry if you want me to?"

"No; too much."

"A single tear down my cheek?"

"Perfect."

Annabeth looked between them, frowning slightly and she muttered, "You two are so weird..."

Frederick let go of Percy's hand and exclaimed, "Can't a man try to scare his daughter's boyfriend without being judged?"

"Yes, but generally you don't warn them first!"

"Actually I like having a heads up," Percy added and smiled as Frederick put an arm around Annabeth. "Well, I'm really glad you are both here regardless of your disagreeing with my intimidation tactics. Come inside and have some lunch!"

Through the front door was a short narrow hallway that opened up into light kitchen and dining room. Percy had left the bag by the wooden staircase on the right and he gave Annabeth's hand a squeeze as they walked into this main family room.

Mrs. Jane Chase stood at the kitchen island, all brown wood with jade green tiles, and she was furiously arranging the last plates of an extensive meal. Two twin boys sat around the dining table, colouring blank sheets with crayons. Frederick cleared his throat and all three pairs of eyes rose to look at Percy and Annabeth.

Jane smiled widely and whipped her heads on a towel as she walked over to them. "Oh, you are finally here, fantastic!" she exclaimed, stopping beside her husband.

She and Annabeth stared at each other for a moment, the awkwardness of the situation rising until Annabeth finally blurted out, "Thank you for letting us stay here!"

Jane's shoulders relaxed and she replied, "Of course...you will always have a home here."

Annabeth smiled softly and Percy felt like it was the right time to talk. "I'm Percy, your husband's interrogation victim."

Jane grinned at him before saying, "And how did that go?"

"I was terrified."

"Oh good; you've already learned to stretch the truth here!"

Any conversation was halted when two skids were heard and Bobby and Malcolm bounced up in front of them. "Hey Annabeth!" they chorused and clearly hide pieces of papers behind their backs. "Dad says you're our sister."

"But we need to know what kind of sister you are."

"Are you the annoying kind?"

"Will you yell at us?"

"Or will you talk on the phone a lot and scram loudly when you see your friends?"

Annabeth placed her hands on her hips and turned her head slightly with a smile. "I am your sister but I am certainly not the annoying kind. I will not yell at you and I hardly use my phone. And I don't make it a habit of screaming at my friends. I did however bring you some treats as well as a boy who will literally be your punching bag if you want him to."

Percy was smiling at her teasing tone and watched the younger boys' faces light up at her words. At the last sentence, however, he did a double take and mumbled, "Wait what?"

The boys grinned and pulled out the colouring pages that they had been so busy with. Bright drawings of Annabeth brought a smile to all the adult's faces and an ease settled over the house.

The rest of Friday was spent having lunch at the house and getting to know one another all over again. Percy was sure he hadn't seen Annabeth's smile drop for a moment.

In the evening they went out to the Golden Gate Bridge for sightseeing and had dinner in one of Jane's favourite restaurants. She was trying her best to bond with Annabeth, who was trying her best not to freak out. It wasn't that she disliked Jane but Annabeth wasn't used to the caring, listening type of mother figure. Jane had cleaned the guest room for her step daughter to with military precision, so Annabeth could only be grateful for her efforts.

And all four members of her family loved Percy. He was his usual charming self, without actual having any clue that he was being charming. Frederick approved and dropped the interrogation attempts after he tried to make a menacing face over the dinner table and Percy genuinely thought he was chocking. Jane liked him and the twins looked at him like he was some kind of hero. Yet, they didn't like him enough to let him and Annabeth share a room so he slept on the couch, with as many blankets and pillows as Jane could throw at him.

Typically, he slept like a log and Saturday morning shone bright and cheerful. While Jane took the boys to the zoo, Frederick brought Annabeth and Percy on a tour of the university. They saw everything; the departments, the classes, the dorm rooms and every extra-curricular activity that was humanly possible. Percy had checked out the swimming pools while Annabeth's eyes shone at the equipment in the architecture classes. They were mostly silent to each other, however, during the trip. Conversation only flowed like normal after they had joined the other three at the zoo. Frederick had noticed it but decided not to say anything in case it ruined the rest of their trip.

Piper blew the stay piece of her brown hair from her face as looked at the wooden coffee table once again. The thin scratch stared back at her and she placed her hands on her hips as she declared, "It's tiny; he probably won't even notice."

She turned around to see Jason wringing his hands through his hair in panic and Leo, who was clearly hyperventilating. "He will notice! This is Percy we are talking about! He will know that we scratched his table!" Leo exclaimed through his sharp breathing.

Jason covered his face with his hands and moaned, "How did we think that using the furniture as a climbing frame was a good idea?"

Piper snorted and replied, "How you thought that creating an indoor climbing frame was a good idea in the first place is weird in itself."

Jason looked over at Leo, frowning as he accused him. "This is your fault! It was your shoe that scratched it!"

Leo grabbed his own right foot and pointed at his shoe. "It's a shoe! How was I supposed to know that it would scratch wood?!"

Before anyone could reply, there was a crash from down stairs, clearly from diner below them.

All three of them glanced between each other before Jason hurried down the stairs. Leo and Piper were a few steps behind them when they heard him yell.

Piper and Annabeth were flying home the next day but clearly there were promises to return soon. Frederick was hoping that Annabeth would indeed visit more often so, Saturday night, instead of going to bed he went to his study. He sat at his office chair and looking up airplane fares online to calculate how much this was going to cost him and how he could save some dollars. Athena certainly would not be paying for anything and he didn't want Annabeth to have to pay for everything.

The house was silent so when Frederick heard footsteps coming down the stairs, they nearly echoed through the halls. Annabeth appeared in the doorway, in her pyjamas. She smiled at him and walked into the room, whispering, "I needed something to drink; you're up late."

Frederick sat back in his chair, his hands clasped over his stomach. "I was just looking up flights. I am hoping that we can all see more of each other. In fact I think I overheard your brothers plotting to trap Percy in their toy chest so they could keep him around to play "Pirates". I should probably have a conversation with them about not kidnapping people."

Annabeth walked over to the window seat and perched on the edge of it. "Actually we might be seeing a lot of each other. Dad...when I said I have applied to your university, I didn't tell you that I had already been accepted there."

Frederick smiled widely, his chair squeaking as he nearly jumped out of it. Before he could actually vocalise his happiness however, Annabeth blurted out, "I haven't told Percy yet!"

Frederick blinked and replied quickly, "Well, I'm pretty sure he's not going to mind."

Annabeth shrugged and pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. "But what if he doesn't get in? I'm still come here and he'll still want me to go, I know he will, but we'll be separated again."

Frederick wheeled the chair over to his daughter's side and placed a hand on her knee. "I may have only known him since...yesterday but from what I see in Percy, he is a very resourceful young man. I am sure that you two would find a way to be together."

Annabeth smiled at him before teasing, "Aren't you supposed to tell your seventeen year old daughter not to let her life revolve around her boyfriend?"

Frederick laughed but caught himself in case he woke anyone. "First of all, your life does not revolve around him; you said that you were coming to San Francisco anyway. And I think my seventeen year old is the most sensible person I know."

Annabeth smiled, her mind obviously already whirling.

"I think it's time that we both went to bed by now however," Frederick mumbled and Annabeth nodded, patting her father's shoulder before shuffling out the door.

Frederick shut down the computer and it was a few minutes later, when he was checking his files for Monday that he heard another noise from the doorway. Percy was standing there, half asleep.

"Sorry," he says, "I thought I heard someone talking."

Frederick nodded, standing up. "Annabeth was just here. She's headed to bed, completely forgetting that she wanted a drink."

Percy frowned slightly and muttered, "That doesn't sound like her."

"She had something on her mind I think." Frederick wanted to slap a hand over his mouth but that would defiantly look strange. So instead he asked, "How did you like the university?"

Percy ruffled his messed up hair slightly and he replied, "It was great; the swimming pool is amazing! And I am actually really excited to go there!"

Now it was Percy's turn to look like he wanted swallow his own words.

"You sound pretty sure that you've gotten in," Frederick said carefully and Percy sighed.

"I may have, possibly, already been accepted," he said, "But I don't know if Annabeth had been so I don't want to say anything!"

Frederick wanted to laugh again. Both of them were so concerned for each other's feelings that it was stopping them from actually talking. "Well, I think that you should defiantly tell her-like, tomorrow when it's daylight."

Percy grinned and waved a sleepy goodnight as he headed back to the couch. As he climbed between the covers, he knew that Frederick was right. Telling Annabeth was the best thing and even if she didn't get in, they would figure it out. He wasn't going to lose her again.

He was about to drop back into sleep when his phone rang. It was still in his jean's pocket which was at the foot of the couch where he had piled all of his clothes. He scrambled for it before it woke anyone and shook his head when he saw Jason's name flashing on the screen. "This had better be really good," he whispered as he answered the call.

Jason's voice sighed down the phone and he coughed before replying. "Percy, something happened. The diner kind of got set on fire."

Percy rolled his eyes, saying, "Ya, I heard that comment from Leo as I left so that joke is not going to work."

Jason sighed and persisted, "No, Percy. Someone threw a lit bottle threw the window of the diner. Two booths were set on fire."

Percy sat up straight on the couch and suddenly he was wide awake. "Are you ok? Was anyone hurt?" he asked urgently.

"Yes, I'm fine. Leo, Piper and I managed to put the fire out; we boarded up the window too. The cops and the fire department checked everything over. They're looking at security cameras to see who did this but I think you can guess who's behind this."

Percy was pacing the living room now, trying not to throw his phone at the wall. "The Olympians aren't backing off. I can't believe they would got someone to attack the diner."

"What are you going to do about it?"

Percy stilled at Jason's question, listening to his friend cough slightly. Jason might have inhaled some of the smoke; Piper and Leo might have burned their hands on the flames. Who knows what could have happened if they hadn't been able to put it out. Percy let out a deep breath, his free hand clenching and unclenching slightly.

"We're coming back to New York tomorrow. My father and his lawyers should have drawn up the new contract by then."

Jason didn't say anything; he stated silent for a moment. "Percy, what exactly are you going to do besides that?" he asked carefully.

Percy licked his dry lips and answered, "I'm going to give some incentive to sign it."