~ * Chapter Nineteen ~ *

"I'm sorry, Perseus is it?"

The large doctor looked vaguely familiar in the 'hey-I've-probably-seen-you-around-a-thousand-times-before-but-never-stopped-to-chat' sort of way. Percy thought he might work in the same lab as Ethan but at this point he was just a large, geneticist-sized wall between Percy and Annabeth's retreating back.

"Yes, excuse me," Percy said pointedly, trying to duck under his arm.

"Aha, well," the scientist said smoothly, stepping into Percy's path and effectively blocking his way. "I'm sorry Perseus, but you're not allowed back here right now."

"What?" Percy asked, brow furrowed. "Listen, I'm with Annabeth, go ahead and ask her, we—"

"I'm sure," the scientist said smoothly. "But you see, we have an unidentified and potentially dangerous carnivore to analyze. The labs are small enough as it is and the geneticists and veterinarians that will need to tend to and keep the poor infant stabilized will have a hard enough time in the limited space without adding unneeded bodies."

"Oh," Percy said, faltering. "Well, I don't need to be in the lab, just with Annabe—"

"And Ms. Chase is very busy right now," the scientist said kindly, staring down at Percy with wide, disgustingly pitying eyes. "I'm sure your company is very enlightening but Ms. Chase has a lot to deal with at this time. I'm sure she'll get back with you as soon as she's able. Drive safe."

"What? No, I just need to speak—" Percy demanded, offended, but the scientist merely smiled condescendingly down at him before firmly shutting the laboratory doors in his face.

"Hey, I wasn't finished!" Percy objected, raising his fist to pound on the door.

He paused, his hand hovering uncertainly in the air. The lab doors were glass and he could see the stupid, smug scientist walking away without so much as a backwards glance at Percy. What a jerk, Percy thought crossly. He wouldn't get in the way of anything and Annabeth wanted him around! Percy knew she did. She invited him into her office, asked him to do things, wanting him there with the dinosaur . . .

Above his head, thunder rolled.

She would be real busy, Percy conceded dully, letting his hand drop. He would probably just distract her. Besides physically helping with the dinosaur, it wasn't like Percy could do much good. He wasn't a scientist or a paleontologist or hell, even someone like Connor who could get Annabeth the forms and whatnots she needed. It was probably for the best, he thought with a sigh.

Rain began to fall again, little droplets that rolled down the side of his face and off his fingertips. Percy tilted his head up into the rain, letting the water run down his face.

His car was parked where he left it, right next to Ethan's only one parking lot over. Right back where you started off this morning, he thought wryly, even though it felt like way more than twelve hours since he slid inside the lab with the intent to annoy Ethan. The drive back to the paddock was dark. The park was closed down tight thanks to the loose dinosaur and the storm; he didn't see a single soul on his way to the restricted section. As his car idled forward, one hand reaching into his probably ruined jeans to fish out his credentials, the guard at the checkpoint pulled him to complete halt.

"They caught the dinosaur," Percy said dully, leaning back in his chair and tapping his fingers restlessly against the steering wheel.

Beneath the dash, his leg bounced impatiently, the anxiety and adrenaline of the day catching up with him. He didn't want to go back to his trailer. He wanted to be at the lab, with Annabeth and Ethan, or out with Reyna and Clarisse, or . . . or in the paddock with his girls.

"I was there when they caught it, just call Reyna," Percy said through clenched teeth as the guard hemmed and hawed, uncertainly chewing on their lip while eyeing him warily.

"Wait here," they said suspiciously, disappearing into the back of the building.

Percy banged his head against the steering wheel, grumbling under his breath. He was slumped over the wheel, one hand batting the rear view mirror around like a bored cat with yarn and the other tapping out a very inaccurate Morse code cry for help on the dash when the guard returned. He looked up, face half squished and one eye open.

"Can I go now?" He tried not to whine but mostly failed.

"Reyna says it's okay," the guard said, still not looking entirely sure but they dutifully reached over and typed in the code to open the gate.

"Finally," Percy grumbled, straightening himself out and trying to rub the steering wheel marks from his cheek as he started his car.

And because he was a mature adult, he didn't stick his tongue out at the guard as he shifted into drive and finally pulled forward into the restricted section. It's not like I've been here for almost six months or anything, Percy thought bitingly as he drove away. What a crappy way to end the day.

The paddock was dark and silent when he pulled up. Not that it should be otherwise, but Percy's heart already felt heavy pulling in and the sight made it sink somewhere painful and distant. He drummed his fingers on the edge of the steering wheel, lips pursed. He should go back to the trailer, get some sleep. Annabeth might want him in the morning. His legs twitched, bouncing up and down and banging all around the car with their pent up energy. He didn't want to go to bed, his body was too wired, too excited, too restless.

"When does the regular power come back on?" Percy wondered to himself, eyeing the paddock.

He opened the car door, stepping out onto the gravel. The crunch and roll of the little stones under his feet felt damning, like whispers of dark promises and ill tidings in the night. Ugh, he really did watch too much television. Percy shook his head, shutting the door softly least his overactive imagination make something weird out of that next. He started walking, letting his feet carry him closer and closer until he stood outside the paddock gates. He was being stupid; he knew he was being stupid. Thalia would kill him, but he probably didn't even have to worry about her anymore because Annabeth would kill him first.

"Hey girls," Percy called lowly, opening the first set of gates. The beeping sounded lowly in the air, the little flash of green blinking against his hand. Looks like they were back on main power then.

He stepped inside, eyes scanning the bushes and trees. The post-storm breeze ruffled the leaves, a light swish that filled the otherwise silent air. A branch had fallen in the storm, the end splintered and torn as the once proud limb laid limply on the ground. Percy's eyes panned out, waiting. Behind him, the first set of doors slid shut. His eyes fell on the large spruce fifteen yards from the gate, at the little glimmer that was barely visible in the starless night. Percy smiled.

"Hiya Juno."

The raptor didn't reply but the bush shimmered and Percy's grin widened. His sharp eyes watched the perfectly camouflaged predator as her even sharper ones undoubtedly watched him. Percy reached forward, a hand on the second keypad when the shadow he was so intensely focused on suddenly disappeared. Percy started forward, heart like lead, but the dread never managed to fully take hold because a heartbeat later he saw the light.

Percy frowned at the growing beam of light that spread across the grass, more than a bit irritated at the interruption. He tilted his head to the side, pivoting on his heel to glare at the car that careened into view. The car zipped into the paddock parking lot, utterly oblivious to the raptor trainer's ire, the sound of gravel flying reaching Percy even from his place inside the first gate.

Percy's brow furrowed as he watched the car come to a halt, perplexed. It probably wasn't Grover, or Annabeth or Ethan, the latter two being preoccupied with the baby dinosaur. A thrill of abject terror shot through Percy—it couldn't possibly be Thalia, could it? No, she couldn't be there at the exact moment he was about to do something reckless and stupid . . . could she? The car door opened and a very un-Thalia-like shape stepped out.

Relief flooded Percy so heavily he slumped forward, hand over his heart. Whoo, well that was better for his blood pressure.

Maybe.

Percy squinted suspiciously through the gloom as the strange figure, who stared back but was too far away for the raptor trainer to make out any distinguishing features. Still, they looked vaguely familiar, tall and probably male. The guy started walking towards the paddock. Percy just kind of watched him draw closer until the stranger's outline became clearer.

Oh no, Percy thought in shock, frozen in disbelief, it wasn't—

"Perseus," Poseidon Olympian called, his voice deep and disapproving. "What the hell are you doing inside the paddock?"

"Not inside," Percy automatically replied, blinking dumbly as his father came into view. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Poseidon stepped up next to the outer paddock gate, his face now fully visible to his son inside. Percy was the spitting image of the man on the other side of the fence; Poseidon stood a mere half an inch taller than his son, but the dark hair that graced his tan face and the deep green eyes set inside were mirror images of the young man across from him. The main difference could be found in the beard that graced Poseidon's face, dark as his hair and well-trimmed, and the lines around the elder's eyes and mouth, caused by a lifetime of frowns and falsely pleasant smiles.

Percy wasn't impressed, crossing his arms to level his own scowl at the man.

"I came to see my son," was Poseidon's exasperate reply, his voice weary as he heaved a great sigh, as though Percy were the more unreasonable of the pair. "Unless that's a crime now. Get out of the cage Perseus."

A childish 'make me' hung on Percy's tongue but he valiantly bit it back, unwilling to revert to the toddler mentality that tended to emerge at Poseidon's presence. Instead, he huffed and scowled harder, pointedly not leaving the cage.

"Most people call before they spring up on their kids, especially if they, you know, appear out of nowhere in the middle of the night."

"You haven't been answering my calls," Poseidon shortly replied with distaste, scowling in return as he nervously eyed the paddock. "Perseus, for the love of God, could you please just get out of the cage?"

There was a note of desperation in that statement that made Percy purse his lips. Poseidon eyed the cage angrily, like he was thinking about trying to pry the thing open with his bare hands or something. Percy exhaled loudly, letting his displeasure be known, but he reached forward and keyed in the code to open the first gate.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah keep your shirt on, I'm coming out."

"Thank you," Poseidon said, his shoulder visibly relaxing.

He waited silently while the doors open, the light flashing across his face before Percy slipped out. Poseidon gave a relieved sigh.

"Thank you," he repeated, then frowned, the disapproving look back. "You don't still go inside do you?"

"Not as often," Percy said, knowing he was being purposefully difficult and evasive but felt petty enough not to care at the moment.

Poseidon scowled, then sighed heavily once more, rubbing his temple and looking exhausted. Percy felt a stab of sympathy, immediately wanting to reassure his father like the eager little child that just found out his father was alive and wanted to see him. But he viciously shoved the emotion away, remembering the same eager little child's disappointment when his father left time and time again.

Poseidon appeared in the first few pictures in the Jackson family photo album. In Percy's very first baby picture, the boy himself all swaddled up in blue and red-faced in his mother's exhausted arms, Poseidon could be found leaning over the hospital bed, his face filled with wonder. He disappeared around the page dedicated to Percy's first walking escapade. For years, those few meager pictures were all Percy knew about his father, a couple of half faded and overly glossy pictures that his mom kept tucked away under her bed and a few vague promises that his father did in fact love him. She never offered any explanation for Poseidon's absence, only a small, sad smile and distant eyes fixed on something he could never see. Sand dollars liked to find their way to the Jacksons' apartment and without being told, Percy always knew who they were from.

Then, of course, the man himself showed up almost eleven years later. Just like that, out of the blue, with no more explanation than a smile.

The only good thing that came of Poseidon's Houdini act, Percy fiercely thought, was that it came with the introduction of Thalia and Nico, without whom he knew he wouldn't have gotten far.

"I just worry so much about you," Poseidon muttered under his breath, drawing Percy back from his musings.

"Would be the first time," Percy shot back.

"Perseus, please not this again—"

"Oh I'm sorry, maybe I'm remembering the last twenty-five years wrong—"

"You know how much I care, Perseus, don't pretend otherwise—"

"Sure, sure, cared enough to call every other birthday and conveniently forget to tell your family about me until I was twelve—"

"Perseus stop," Poseidon said, looking pained. "Can we just . . . just not tonight? Please. I heard about the accident and I needed to make sure you were alright."

"In one piece," Percy grumbled, holding his fingers up and wiggling them.

"Let me see your arm," Poseidon asked, his voice oddly gentle as he held his hand out.

Percy thought about resisting but apparently that was futile because he was already holding his arm out for his father's inspection. Poseidon may have been no more than a passing figure in Percy's childhood, but some distant part of Percy's brain was still eager to please and be around his father, no matter how hard he tried to squash it.

"That's not too bad," Poseidon muttered, running a careful finger over the row of stitches. "Nothing like the tiger shark."

"Nowhere near as bad," Percy agreed, letting his arm fall to his side when Poseidon released it.

"I hated getting that phone call," Poseidon grumbled under his breath, fingers twitching like he was thinking about reaching out and taking Percy's arm back.

Percy stuck his hands in his pockets, just in case. "Which one? The one where 'hey your son's lost more than half his blood' or that 'hey, now he's gotten torn open by a velociraptor'?"

Poseidon scowled, "Sometimes I think you pull stunts like this to test my blood pressure."

Percy threw his hands into the air, "Why does everybody think I plan for stuff like this to happen? I don't wake up in the morning and set out to get injured."

Poseidon huffed, like Percy was still being unreasonable or something. "Of course not."

There was a pause then.

Poseidon stared over Percy's shoulder at the silent paddock behind them. Percy shifted awkwardly on his feet. Poseidon didn't seem to notice the steadily increasing awkward atmosphere, still staring intensely at the paddock. Percy blew out a silent sigh and took the time to study his father's face. There were more lines on Poseidon's face now, around his eyes and lips and an almost permanent furrow in his brow. He looked utterly exhausted. For as long as Percy could remember, though, Poseidon always rather looked tired.

"Dad, it's like midnight, what are you really doing here?" Percy finally asked, his voice soft in the darkness.

"Making sure you were safe," Poseidon repeated wearily, tilting his head just enough to look at Percy again. "I told you not to take the job, Percy. I know I haven't been the most . . . attentive father but you're my son and . . . Your mother and I just need you to be safe. Couldn't you have just listened to me, just the one time?"

Percy crossed his arms, valiantly resisting his father's open, exhausted face and refusing to feel guilty. "I looked into it and I thought it was reasonably safe. Probably safer than my old job."

"I told you that was a bad idea too," Poseidon grumbled.

Percy ignored that. "Well, obviously you can see that I'm fine and in one piece so—"

"You were going to go into the paddock."

Percy groaned, running a hand over his face. "No, I wasn't—"

"Perseus, I saw you, what if I hadn't pulled up?"

Percy made a face, tilting his head to the side as he thought about it. "I probably wouldn't have gone in. Thalia gets live videos of the paddock and Annabeth'd kill me. I was just," he shrugged here, rocking back and forth on his heels, "lonely and I wanted to see them."

Poseidon looked pained. "Next time call someone if you're feeling lonely."

"Yeah whatever, like any human's company is preferable to my girls," Percy scoffed. Then, looking over his shoulder at the paddock and aiming for a casual voice, asked, "Did you really come all the way down here to make sure I was okay?"

"Yes Percy, of course," Poseidon said.

Percy nodded, still fixedly looking over his shoulder.

"Had to pick up your cousin on my way, though."

Percy paused, frowning.

"Wait, which one?" He demanded, whipping around. Poseidon raised his eyebrow at the stupid question and Percy winced. "Aw, Thalia? She's here, on the island? Oh god, I'm in so much trouble. Shit. Wonder if she's seen the cameras yet."

Poseidon didn't look very sympathetic. "Probably and if not, then she'll find out one way or another."

"Is that a threat?"

Poseidon rolled his eyes. "Go to bed Perseus, it's late."

"Go to bed Perseus," Percy repeated, sputtering. "Excuse you, I'm twenty-five, not five—"

"Would hardly know it sometimes."

"Rude," Percy complained, crossing his arms and that got a smile out of Poseidon. Percy pretended like he didn't care, keeping his sulking face on and pointedly not smiling back.

"Your uncle so kindly let me rent an apartment for the week," Poseidon said fondly. "I'll leave now and let you get some sleep."

"And you'll be back tomorrow?" Percy slowly guessed.

Poseidon's face convulsed a little, "Yes . . . if . . . if that's okay."

That looked painful to say, Percy thought, watching as Poseidon tried to keep a straight face, like it wasn't killing him inside to let Percy chose whether or not he wanted Poseidon around.

"Yeah, okay," Percy relented, not quite heartless enough to say no.

Poseidon's face visibly relaxed, shoulders falling as he smiled. "Good then. I'll see you tomorrow . . . or should I say later on today?"

"Whatever, go to bed," Percy said with a wave of his hand.

"Good night Perseus," Poseidon said softly. He stared at Percy for a heartbeat longer before turning around and slowly, ever so slowly, making his way back to his car.

His slow, measured steps eventually brought him next to the dark car park beside Percy's. He put one hand on the handle and then looked back over at Percy. Not sure what else to do, Percy gave an awkward little wave. Poseidon still didn't move.

"Alright, alright, you've made your point get going," Percy grumbled under his breath, rocking back and forth on his heels.

Poseidon still didn't leave.

"Oh for heaven's—what do you want?" Percy shouted.

"To make sure you're not going back in the paddock!" Poseidon shouted back.

Percy threw his hands up in the air. "Unbelievable," he said to himself. "Unbelievable—fine! Fine, see this? This is me going back to the trailer, are you happy now?"

He shouted the last part as he backpedaled, turning sharply on his heel and stalking towards the trailer.

"Stupid meddling fathers," he grumbled under his breath as Poseidon shouted something indistinguishable at his back.

Percy kicked at the dirt, glaring over his shoulder. Poseidon had climbed into the car now, the headlights shone brightly across the grass and highlighted Percy's way. They flashed at Percy, as if bidding him to hurry up.

"Oh my god," Percy said in disbelief, shaking his head.

A few more feet and he was at his trailer door. Pointedly not looking behind him, Percy stepped inside, slammed the door shut with more force than strictly necessary. Even though the gesture was lost on his father, Percy glared out the tiny trailer window. Perhaps the tattered remains of Poseidon's parental instincts would inform him of Percy's displeased gesture. Percy liked to think he got the message. With the door shut, Poseidon's car finally backed out of the driveway. Percy watched as the taillights were swallowed up by the darkness, head pressed against the cold window.

"Ugh," Percy bemoaned, peeling himself away from the window. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, ready to throw himself on the bed and curl up to sleep for the rest of forever when he realized there was a message flashing across the screen.

It was from Thalia:

Need me to come down?

Percy ran his thumb over the screen for a moment, thinking, before a new message flickered across the screen:

Nvm, be there in 10.

Percy huffed a little, but a smile curved up his face. He sighed, running a hand over his face as he looked around the trailer. He should probably clean up a little before she got there, he mused. One less thing for her to yell at me about, he thought wearily as he leaned down to pick up a discarded part of pants laying on the floor. He was half-heartedly trying to shove his spare pair of shoes under his bed when his trailer door slammed open. Percy wasn't proud to admit he jumped, dropping the shoes in surprise as he twisted around.

Thalia stood in the doorway, hair half wet and pulled back in a sloppy up-do, wearing her usual leather jacket and dark pants, a scowl firmly in place on her face. Her makeup was ruined, dark smudges all over her face.

"Hey Thals," he said tiredly.

"Shut up," Thalia said immediately, kicking the door shut behind her as she waltzed inside. Her face was twisted, angry, worried and tired. She threw her arms out and Percy didn't hesitate to cross the trailer and let her try to break his spine.

The moment Percy woke up, he knew he overslept. He grumbled a little to himself, burrowing his face into his nice cool pillow, pretending like the world didn't exist and he didn't have responsibilities for one more minute. He didn't quite get that. A sharp knock on the door had him moaning and rolling over a second later.

"Somebody better be dead," a rough voice snarled as Percy rolled over. He paused, frowning in confusion, face half squished against his pillow, before the voice clicked: Thalia.

"Why are you still here?" Percy whined, flopping across his bed.

"Because I wanted to sleep on your shitty little trailer couch, it was on my bucket list," came the snide reply, followed a second later by another sharp knock on the door. "For god's sake answer the damn door!"

Percy groaned but dragged himself to his feet. "Why are you always so mean, it should be illegal to be so mean to someone who just woke up—"

"Oh thank god," Grover said, pushing the door open before Percy even reached it.

Percy blinked bleary eyed as his anxious best friend barged inside.

"Hey G-man," he said in only mild confusion.

"I heard there was a dinosaur on the loose last night and that you were there, and that they don't know what it is, but it responded to you and then Thalia was here and I heard Poseidon was—" Grover's eyes bulged out he gasped for breath, grabbing his friend roughly by the shoulder, "oh my god, are you alright?"

"Wow, a lot did go down since I saw you last," Percy said, blinking.

"Cause you suck," Thalia threw in, quite unnecessarily.

"I left you for twelve hours," Grover moaned, briefly letting his head fall on Percy's shoulder before it snapped up again. "Oh, the trouble you get into! But are you okay?"

Percy thought for a moment. "I think so," he said slowly. "I mean, kinda freaky last night but Annabeth's on that so. And yeah Dad showed up out of the blue, but I guess that wasn't too terrible. I mean, not great, but not terrible. It didn't end in screaming or slamming of doors so there's that. No wait, I did slam the door. But it wasn't on his face, so, still a win."

"Good," Grover said, letting his hands drop from Percy's shoulders. "Do you need me to do anything?"

Percy cracked a smile. "Naw," he said, good naturally punching Grover on the shoulder. "But thanks, man."

They shared a comradery smile before Grover frowned. "Wait, did I hear Thalia?"

"Yes," the lump on Percy's couch grumbled. "And if you two idiots don't keep it down I'll kill you."

Grover's eyes widened, forking his thumb to the couch in confusion. Percy gave a little shrug.

"All the better to keep an eye on me I think," he whispered back.

Grover nodded slightly. "Oh good," he said, sounding relieved, hand held over his heart, "it always cuts my anxiety in half when Thalia's watching you."

"Hey!" Percy objected.

"For god's sake, you two aren't going to shut up are you?" Thalia snarled, turning over to glare at them. "Fine!" She threw the blanket she'd been hiding under off (Percy frowned suspiciously at it as it crumbled to the floor . . . he hadn't even known he owed that). "You sure as hell better have coffee or there'll be murder."

"I have coffee," Percy said quickly, panicked as he raced to put a pot on.

Grover pillaged through Percy's fridge, complaining loudly about the lack of nutrient-rich foods and the abundance of sugary, empty calories as Thalia dragged herself off to shower. Percy let Grover threaten to restock the fridge with fruit and vegetables as he munched on his Lucky Charms, Grover unhappily picking the marshmallows out of his own.

"It's like you hate happiness," Percy scoffed, trying to steal the marshmallows, only to have his hand slapped.

"Alright assholes, move over," Thalia grunted, emerging from the shower to shove Percy out of the way as she squeezed in at his not-quite-able-to-comfortably-fit-three-people table. Her hair was dripping wet, creating a little puddle on the floor he just knew she wasn't going to clean up. He scowled, poking her suspiciously in the shoulder.

"Are those yesterday's clothes?"

"Shut up Percy, what do you want me to do, steal yours?"

"Like it'd be the first time you did it. You still haven't returned my Caption America sweatshirt–"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Thalia said breezily, "hey is that Lucky Charms, pass that."

"You two," Grover sighed, sounding pained as Thalia reached across the table to snag the box of Lucky Charms. She frowned as she eyed the pile of discarded marshmallows at Grover's side.

"You gonna eat those?"

"I'll fight you," Percy threatened.

"Bring it, I'll kick your ass."

Breakfast passed in this matter but they all emerged relatively unscathed a half hour later (except Percy's table where Thalia stabbed her fork into when Percy tried to steal some of her marshmallows but he was pretty sure it was unnoticeable).

"You sure you're okay?" Grover asked as they left the trailer, Thalia shrugging on her leather jacket even though it had to be like a hundred degrees out. The price of being edgy, Percy guessed.

Percy shoved his hands into his pocket, shrugging as he tried to casually respond. "Yeah, I guess. He said he's coming back later today."

Percy lifted his face up towards the sun, pretending not to notice Grover and Thalia's scrutiny. Like he was totally cool with his absentee dad showing up out of the blue and not one bad memory away from reverting back to his twelve-year-old self, standing in front of the Olympians for the first time. He firmly shook the memory away, violently shoving it back into the dark reaches of his mind where it belonged. Ugh.

"Well, you've got me right here," Grover said, nudging Percy with his hip.

There was a sarcastic retort on the tip of Percy's tongue, born of self-defense and years of internalizing this kind of shit, but one look at Grover's obviously concerned face had him sighing instead.

"I know G-man, thanks."

"And I don't really need an excuse to kick his ass, just say the word and bam," Thalia said, slapping her hands loudly together for emphasis. Grover jumped at the sharp noise, blushing a second later as both Thalia and Percy laughed.

"I'll let you know if I want to take you up on that," Percy said, grinning crookedly at his cousin. "Thanks," he added, bumping her shoulder with his, his heart swelling a little.

He really was glad she was back. He'd taken the world on by himself for the first twelve years of his life–okay that was a lie, because his mom had been there and nobody was better than his mom, but there were some things she just couldn't get that Thalia could. Anyway, it was nice, sometimes, to remember he wasn't alone anymore, and Thalia's, albeit it unnecessarily violent and pushy, support made his insides mushy and warm in a way he'd never, ever admit out loud. She probably knew anyway, the jerk.

As if sensing his thoughts, Thalia grinned. Then punched him in the shoulder. Hard.

"Thalia!" Percy complained, holding his arm and wedging a startled Grover between the pair because she was far less likely to physically assault him.

"Gotta run back into the park and make sure Annabeth actually slept," Thalia announced, turning on her heels. "Call me when Poseidon shows back up and I'll kick his ass for you. See you losers later!"

"Bye Thalia!" Grover called, grinning.

"You're so mean!" Percy whined over Grover's shoulder.

The pair headed onto the raptor paddock in Thalia's wake, Percy grumbling under his breath and Grover grinning. Unlike last night, all four girls were plainly visible when the paddock came into view. Juno tilted her head to the side as they approached, watching Percy with careful, dark eyes. She prowled right up to the edge of the paddock, squawking a little as she paced. Behind her, Diane growled low in her throat, scratching at the ground. Not so little anymore Ceres gave an unhappy shriek, snorting and shaking her head. Minerva twitched, her tail swishing back and forth as the pack watched their alpha.

"It's like they know you're in a bad mood," Grover said, his low voice filled with wonder.

Percy grinned, albeit it slightly bitterly, as he surveyed the obviously uneasy girls.

"Yeah," he said grimly. "Good girls."

Juno's head perked up at the praise but continued to prowl in obvious agitation.

"Should I run anything today?" Percy wondered aloud as he walked along the side, a hand reached out towards the paddock but not quite touching the dangerous, buzzing fence. "Are they too agitated or would a run get rid of some of it?"

"You know them best," Grover said uncertainly, "your call. Unless you want to call Ethan."

"Naw, he's real busy with that strange dinosaur," Percy said, frowning over at his girls.

Juno prowled as close to the fence as she could without getting shocked, one beady eye fixed on her alpha. Percy let his gaze wander down to her arms, where her sickle claw could be found in its deadly curl. Experimentally, Percy chirped. Her head automatically perked up and somewhere to the left, Ceres chirped back.

"The dinosaur responded to that last night as well," Percy said softly, not sure if the remark was meant for Grover or his pack. "It looked almost just like you."

But how, Percy wondered, disturbed, could a mistake like that happen under Annabeth's careful watch?

"Like a raptor?" Grover asked, sounding too shocked to stutter. Percy glanced over his shoulder at his pale-faced friend.

"Yeah. But I don't get it," Percy said, shaking his head. "That shouldn't be possible, Annabeth'd never allow it. I don't see how anyone could get away with making a couple thousand or hell multimillion dollar dinosaur without somebody else knowing, especially Annabeth."

Grover bayed nervously, "Bla-ah-ah. I don't—I don't know."

"I mean, they can't lay eggs right?" Percy asked, squinting suspiciously at his girls. "They're all girls and I mean, not even mature yet—"

His thoughts were interrupted by the crunching of gravel that signaled the approach of a vehicle. Percy didn't bother turning around, sighing loudly as he examined the raptor across from him.

"Is that Ethan?" Grover asked as he spun around, holding a hand up to shield his eyes.

"No," Percy said wearily, not turning around. He didn't need to, he knew who it was. "It's Poseidon."

Behind the gate, Juno cawed, lowering her head as it swiveled around to inspect the new arrival. A little spark of pride flared in Percy's chest and he murmured, "Good girl."

Now that Percy knew Poseidon was coming, his emotions decided to bounce all over the place. It was one thing to have his father sprung on him, which, you know, on one hand sucked but on the other didn't give him time to think about it. Now he could and he had to viciously squash the rolling emotions inside of him, like pesky little gnats that wouldn't leave him alone. Dammit just go away.

"Percy, Grover," was Poseidon's greeting.

"Dad," Percy tried to say casually, stuffing his hands into his pocket as he peeked over his shoulder. The motion brought the road into view as well and he frowned before Poseidon could ever return the greeting. "Great, now who's this?"

Poseidon's eyebrow rose as he looked behind him, at the slick white car that was winding towards the paddock.

"Is that? Is that Annabeth?" Percy wondered out loud, shooting Grover a confused look.

Sure enough, the blonde haired park manager climbed out of the car a moment later, slamming the door as her eyes took in the paddock.

"Who's Annabeth?" Poseidon asked but Percy ignored him, raising a hand to shield his eyes as he watched Annabeth stalk closer.

"The park manager," Grover responded for him.

"Hey, Annabeth! Everything alright?" Percy called, grinning as she breezed right by his father. He hadn't expected to see her today, or at least, not unless he stormed the lab later that evening.

Annabeth's steel gray eyes flickered briefly over Poseidon before she planted herself firmly at Percy's side.

"Fine," Annabeth said shortly, shifting so she stood half in front of Percy, half at his side. She sort of half blocked his view of Poseidon, who was frowning down at her. Annabeth ignored him. Grover looked uncomfortable.

"What did Ethan say?" Percy asked.

"What?" Annabeth sounded almost distracted, frowning briefly before, "oh, about the dinosaur? He said they'd run some tests. I've been looking into the lab's and the nursery's logs all morning to try and make sense of it all, it's just not adding up."

"You mean you still don't know what it is?" Grover asked, blanching.

Poseidon frowned. "Don't know what, what is?" He demanded, looking from Annabeth to Grover with sharp eyes.

"It's a Jurassic World problem," Annabeth said stiffly and Percy had a brief flashback to his first weeks at the park, when that frosty tone was usually directed at him. The tone didn't seem to escape Grover either, who's eyebrows were steadily raising.

Poseidon's face twitched and he took a step to the side, trying to peer around the park manager to talk to Percy. He never got the chance to even open his mouth when there was the sickening sizzle of the electric fence delivering its high voltage and Juno snarled, a grotesque caw shattering through the air. Grover yelped, jumping back as Percy's head whipped around, staring in disbelief as his beta willingly pushed her snout against the fence. Juno reared back at the electric shock, snorting and shaking her head as she shrieked in anger. By her side, Diane snarled, claws extended as she hissed at Poseidon. Ceres cawed her own displease as Minerva echoed Juno's cry, closing in on the beta's side.

Juno didn't seem all that fazed by the shock, shaking her head only for a couple seconds before continuing to caw at Poseidon. The end of her snout sizzled, the scales peeling back from the electric burn.

"What are you doing? Knock that off," Percy said firmly, alarmed by their sudden behavior.

Juno hissed furiously and, without thinking, Percy hissed right back. Her jaw snapped shut and she eyed him warily. Percy hissed again. Juno was visibly displeased, feathers pressed firmly against her neck and eyes mere slivers in her head. They flickered towards Poseidon, narrow little slits, but Percy hissed in warning once more and she lowered her head, making no more sudden movements.

"What the hell?" Grover whispered, sounding appropriately horrified.

"They've never done that before," Annabeth said, sounding strangely calm considering Juno just attacked the fence. "I think they're picking up on their alpha's mood."

"What?" Percy asked, narrowing his eyes at Juno as she prowled the edge of the paddock with obvious anxiety. "I mean, we've noticed that before but they've never done anything so brash and freaky, she could have really hurt herself, oh god look at her snout."

"Or gotten free," Grover exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Hm," Annabeth said, raising one eyebrow and looking Poseidon dead in the eye. "But you've never been . . . anxious about anything before."

Percy's eyes flickered over to Poseidon, who had wisely stepped away from the paddock and was scowling at the raptors in obvious distrust. Oh. Dammit.

"This isn't normal behavior?" Poseidon demanded, eyes narrowing.

"Nope, they must just not like you," Annabeth said with a baseless smile. "So, for safety, I'm going to have to ask you to stay away from the paddock. Now, if you excuse me, I need to talk to Percy for a moment."

"Um," Percy said as Annabeth grabbed him by the arm, pulling him away from his scowling father. "Promise they've never done that before? Mind waiting by the car, I'll be right—"

He trailed off awkwardly as Annabeth kept pulling him away, stumbling a little as he twisted around to blink down at the park manager. She shot a distrustful look over her shoulder.

"You alright?" She asked when they were a safe distance away from both the paddock and Poseidon.

Percy blinked. There were dark circles under Annabeth's eyes. He wondered if she got any sleep last night or if she stayed up burning the midnight oil, watching video logs and going through files to find out the identity of their mystery dinosaur. Her hair was a mess, pulled back in a sloppy ponytail, hastily tied and in disarray. He as at least ninety percent certain she was wearing the same shirt as yesterday. Yet she was here, eyeing him in concern, taking time out of this hectic day to make sure he was okay because his deadbeat dad suddenly showed up out of the blue.

Percy's chest felt tight and strangely warm and he couldn't stop a goofy smile from twisting up his face. It fell away a moment later as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, I guess so," Percy said. "I mean, nobody's started shouting yet. Did you know Thalia was back?"

"Yes and you're deflecting," Annabeth said, crossing her arms.

"And you couldn't have let me get away with it?" Percy grumbled but sighed. "I'm fine, I'm a big boy."

"Juno seemed to think otherwise."

"I think you're right," he said slowly, "She isn't used to me being so uptight. I mean, I'm sure she can smell my emotions or whatever—"

"Pheromones is the word you're looking for—"

"My phero-whatevers." Percy waved his hand dismissively. "He's not—I'm not—"

He stared at Annabeth. "It's okay."

"Are you sure?" Annabeth asked, her lips twisting down.

Percy shrugged. "Not really? But I mean . . . it's not like he's the devil reincarnated. He is my dad and he always has seemed to have a genuine interest in making sure I'm still breathing."

"That's a glowing endorsement," Annabeth said dryly.

"Us Olympains are known for it," Percy said cheekily with a grin and that got half a smile out of his friend.

"I can make him leave if you want," Annabeth suggested, her face deathly serious.

Percy's heart did something funny, jumping and skipping like Pitys when she saw carrots or Ceres whenever she found a new flower.

"I don't really think that's necessary, but thanks, Annabeth," he said warmly and, without thinking, he stepped forward, one arm winding around her shoulders and the other around her waist.

He instinctively folded around her, burrowing his face in her hair, cheek nuzzling against the top of her head. It wasn't until he was wrinkling his nose, trying not to sneeze as her golden strands of hair tickled his face, that he realized he just hugged Annabeth, and oh god he didn't even warn her or ask for permission, what kind of weirdo was he—

Annabeth brought her arms up and squeezed him back.

"Parents suck sometimes," she whispered, both of her hands resting over the small of his back, one finger drawing odd, soothing little patterns.

"Yeah."

"But they're still our parents."

"Yeah."

"You love him anyway."

"Probably, yeah."

"Seaweed Brain," she murmured and he couldn't help but laugh, just the tiniest bit hysterically.

"Shouldn't you be doing important things like handling the unidentified dinosaur instead of playing therapist to poor pitiful me?" Percy wondered, unwilling to let go and wondering if he'd surpassed the acceptable time length for friendly hugs. He clung on a little tighter.

Annabeth thumped his back. "Not more important, just—"

"I mean in the grand scheme of things—"

"Shut up and hug me, Perseus."

That sounded like a great plan, Annabeth always had the greatest plans, so Percy shut the hell up and let her squeeze him for as long as she liked. What felt like all too soon, she was pulling away and he reluctantly let her.

She cleared her throat, one hand coming up to fuss with her unruly hair as she looked around.

"Well, I need to get back to the office, I have debriefings to do and logs to check over." She focused serious eyes at him. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'll be alright," Percy said, clearing his own throat and bobbing his head. If he said no would he get another hug? Maybe he should say no— "I'll take him away from the girls, maybe we'll go see one of the dinosaur shows in the park. You know, non-life threatening father-son bonding or whatever."

Annabeth's lips twitched as they began their walk towards where Grover and Poseidon stood by the cars. Poseidon had his phone pulled out, back half turned to the pair.

"Don't sound too excited. It's an open offer by the way," Annabeth said, pulling her keys out of her pocket. "If you ever need me to kick anyone out just say the word."

"Anyone ever tell you that you're the best?" Percy asked fondly.

"A time or two," she replied breezily, throwing a grin over her shoulder.

They were close enough now that Percy could see Poseidon furiously whispering on the phone. His father's eyes flickered over as he noticed their approach and his face rippled, seamlessly transitioning from fury to a friendly and open mask in a heartbeat. Percy frowned, narrowing his eyes. Poseidon quickly hung up, just as Annabeth was wishing Grover a good day. The park manager narrowed her eyes at Poseidon as she stalked by him.

"Stop by my office tonight, Percy," she called as she brushed passed Poseidon.

Poseidon let her, taking a neat step to the side to avoid a collision. He watched her go with a vaguely amused expression, turning to Percy with a half a grin.

"She's a pretty one," he said, eyes twinkling.

"She's too young for you," Percy said immediately, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms.

Poseidon glanced at Grover, and to Percy's utter horror and disgust, the pair seemed to share some half-amused, half-exasperate sentiment.

"Of course," Poseidon soothed, holding a hand out to guide Percy forward. Percy tolerated the touch, letting his father steer him towards his car. "Now, why don't we get away from these stupid monsters of yours and go get some lunch. I want to hear about your new job and all the ways you're not endangering yourself."

Percy snorted, "Yeah, okay Dad."

Poseidon faltered, and the half smile that was on his face when Percy peered over his shoulder in confusion was genuine.

"Okay, son," he said, squeezing Percy's shoulder.

A/n "Oh my god, why won't you shut up?" - Me, in horror, as I write this chapter. Some of the stuff that was going to be in this chapter got booted to the next one because we're nearing 8k here and that's ridiculous (my poor beta). Anyway, here's the drama I promised, and the romance, and our still-in-denial and oblivious Percabeth. Anyway, stay tune for more drama, identified carnivorous dinosaurs, Thalia being 'so done', and our favorite idiot maybe being less of an idiot...or at the very least being less oblivious.

Beta'd by rhig122

Big hugs and thanks for all my amazing readers, please tell me what you think and I hope you enjoyed ~ *