Mask Of Pain

Chapter 36

Tyson's POV

Tyson stood hesitantly in front of a blue door with 003 written on it and he was unsure if he should open it or not. He wasn't quite sure what was holding him back. His hand was hovering over the doorknob. Maybe it was because Tyson was afraid of what he would find inside. He'd never been in his brother's bedroom after all and he wasn't sure if he was ready to see inside, the place he'd been sleeping in for the past five years.

Tyson closed his eyes, inhaled and let out a long breath calming himself. I'm ready, he thought. He opened his eyes and looked down at the doorknob. His hand took hold of it and with a twist, the door opened. Tyson pushed it open wider and looked inside.

Percy's room had a double bed against the wall on the left with blue covers and cushions on it. The floor was covered with black tiles and the walls were different shades of blue. There was a giant screen held against the wall on the right, opposite the double bed and a fish tank on the left with wooden cupboards on either side of his double bed. The windows straight in front of Tyson only showed blackness. There was also a wooden wardrobe under the giant screen.

Tyson walked into the room and looked around imagining his brother here in the room all these years. His gaze landed on the pair of reading glasses that lay on the cupboard.

Tyson took the glasses in his hands and he could feel lots of memories fill his mind. Tyson closed his eyes and let himself be taken over by them.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxFLASHBACKxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

An eight year old Tyson sat behind the kitchen table, bored out of his mind. He was looking at the clock counting the ticks and tocks when he heard the front door open. Tyson's eyes grew wide and a smile spread over his cheeks as he jumped to his feet and ran down the stairs to the entrance.

He saw Percy standing there, lost in thought. He was wearing his usual outfit; cream colored pants and ruined sneakers, a white shirt under a light grey and blue jumper. His raven hair was a mess and his reading glasses sat straightly on his nose.

Tyson jumped over the two last steps and tackled his brother in a bone crushing hug. Percy laughed at Tyson's eagerness to see him.

"Hey there buddy," Percy said holding him at arm's length. "Missed me?" he asked with a smile. Tyson gave him a toothy grin.

"Mom said she won't be back till late," Percy told him. "Where's Smelly Gabe?" Percy asked making Tyson giggle at Percy's nickname for their stepfather.

"He's not here," Tyson said. "He said he was going to come back very late tonight."

"Well then, I guess we have the house for ourselves," Percy said with a grin. "So, what have you been doing since I wasn't here?"

"I've been bored out of my mind!" Tyson exclaimed. "But now that you're here, we can have loooaaaddds of fun!" he said pulling Percy up the stairs. Their laughs echoed through the empty house.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxENDofFLASHBACKxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Tyson smiled as he looked down at the pair of glasses. He looked up over the wardrobe where there was a small mirror. The reflection showed Tyson's appearance. He wore an over-sized grey hoodie and baggy jeans. His brown hair was a mess and his dark brown eyes looked empty. Tyson fitted the glasses on his nose. They fitted Tyson perfectly and he couldn't help, but smile at his reflection.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxTIMELAPSExxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Tyson stood behind one of the high tech tables in the Hologram Room. His hand swiped against the surface of the table as it showed him different weapons and armor that had been developed in the database.

The Hologram Room was a fairly big sized room that was full of people who either stood behind high tech tables much like Tyson did or were behind computer screens. Tyson's table was on the far side where there weren't as many people.

The reason why he was alone behind the table when it could accommodate at least four other people, was that the other people were leaving him alone. Tyson had noticed their pitied looks and he hated it. They were all eighteen years and older, but they all had the same looks.

It had all started when his mother passed away, but it had gotten a lot worse since Percy has been reported missing over a week ago. Now Tyson didn't know where his brother was, but he knew he was out there somewhere. Not like everyone else as they didn't seem to believe that he was still alive. So he knew that they looked at him, as this unlucky child that turned orphan and had no family left.

Tyson sighed and shook those thoughts away. He may have lost his mother, but he wouldn't lose his brother too. He turned his attention back to what he was doing and he swiped his hand across the surface of the table to show a different weapon. He continued swiping until he found something that got his interest.

It was a device that could be attached to the wrist and it could create a holographic shield. Tyson liked the idea and so he checked the details. He was so engrossed in what he was reading, he did not notice Beckendorf approaching him.

"Hey there bro, what are you up to?" he asked. Tyson looked up at the tall muscular guy that stood opposite the table. His dark brown eyes were full of genuine concern. Tyson liked Beckendorf. He was one of the few who didn't pity him and who saw him as an equal. He saw Tyson as a friend.

"Nothing, just thinking on a project," Tyson said looking back down at what he was reading. Tyson could see in the corner of his vision, Beckendorf moving around the table to stand next to him.

"Project? Who's this for?" Beckendorf asked, but Tyson didn't answer. "Percy? You're doing this for Percy, right?"

Tyson felt a strong hand on his shoulder and he looked up to meet Beckendorf's eyes. Tyson cleared his throat. "Yeah."

Beckendorf nodded. "It's a good idea, and quite complicated," he said. "I'll help you if you want."

Tyson looked up at him again. He smiled and Beckendorf did as well. Beckendorf patted Tyson on the head like a big brother which made Tyson think of Percy and it made him more determined to make this 'project'.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxTIMELAPSExxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Tyson found himself in the elevator. He had been working with Beckendorf for more than four hours on the project and Tyson needed a break. So he decided to visit the training room.

The elevator door opened with a ding. He walked out and heard the sound of fists and kicks hitting punching bags. Tyson walked around the huge room to find dozens of agents training, but one person in particular caught his attention.

She was hitting a punching bag with all she had. Her curly blonde hair, held in a ponytail flew around as her body moved. Her whole body twisted as she delivered powerful punches. When her right fist made contact with the punching bag, her left fist made contact just a second later before repeating the process.

She wore a black sports bra and matching colored shorts with black and white sneakers and fingerless black leather gloves to punch the heavy bag in front of her. Her skin was covered in sweat, but she hardly panted as she punched the punching bag. Tyson looked in awe as she continued her bombardment of punches. Tyson thought that the punching bag would come off its chain.

Annabeth seemed to have noticed his presence as she punched the bag before doing a powerful side kick against the bag sending it backwards. Tyson was quite happy he wasn't standing behind that punching bag.

He gulped as Annabeth turned her stormy grey eyes on him. She sighed as she stood back straight from her fighting pose. She proceeded to take off her gloves. "Hey there, Tyson."

"Hey, Annabeth." Tyson kept fidgeting with his hands as he felt nervous which wasn't like him as he never felt nervous around Annabeth. Not like he had any feelings for her. She was extremely beautiful he had to admit; she looked like a typical Californian girl, only with a natural tan. She was tall, fit, and athletic. Her stormy grey eyes that held a distracting look like she was thinking a million things at once. But she was five years older than him. So why am I nervous? He thought.

Annabeth took off her second glove and dropped them in her sport bag she had on the ground. She took out a small bottle of water and opened it. She looked confused at him with those intelligent grey eyes of hers. "Is there a reason you came to see me or..?"

Tyson opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. His mouth felt dry and he didn't know what to say. Annabeth brought the bottle to her lips and took three whole gulps. When she swallowed the last sip, she panted slightly out of breath as she closed the bottle. She put in her sports bag and brought out a towel to wipe the sweat away from her skin.

"I-I just ca-came to see how yo-you were doing," Tyson managed to blurt out getting a curious glance from Annabeth who took the scrunchie off to let her curly blonde hair tumble down her shoulders to frame her beautiful heart shaped face and lilac soft lips. "You know after what happened."

Annabeth smiled at him. "Thanks Tyson, that's very sweet of you," she said taking her phone out of her bag as if to check the time. When she realized that he hadn't moved, she looked back at him. "Is there anything else?"

"No," he blurted out a bit to quickly and he inwardly cursed. There was a reason. He wanted to talk to her about Percy mostly as he knew she cared about him just as much as Tyson did.

"Ookay then," she said looking at him weirdly unsure what to do. Then she cocked her head to the side as if she knew what he was thinking. "There is though. I can see something's troubling you Tyson. Do you want to talk about it?"

Yes, he thought. He tried to speak, but his throat was dry so he just nodded. Tyson's gaze went to the swimming pool several yards away in front of them. Annabeth followed his gaze and smiled at him and she motioned with her head for him to follow her. He did.

The swimming pool was as big as an Olympic sized swimming pool. No one was swimming in it so it was fairly quiet as most of them were on the other side around the boxing ring. Annabeth sat down on the edge and patted with her hand next to her. Tyson made his way wordlessly to her and sat down next to her.

She took off her white sneakers and put them on the side as she put her feet in the water. She looked at him. "So, what's bothering you?"

Tyson sighed. "It's about Percy."

Annabeth didn't say anything. She looked down at the water as her feet moved around making circles. "What about him?"

"Well… how did you two meet?"

Annabeth looked at him surprised as if caught off guard. She opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it and smiled. She sighed. "Well… it's a long story."

So for the next two hours, Tyson and Annabeth talked about the memories they shared with Percy Jackson. It turned out she was easy to talk with. The more they talked about him, the less nervous Tyson was around Annabeth and the happier he got. They laughed together at stupid thing Percy used to do or used to say. They talked about how they learned to speak in sign language. Everything went so well until one particular subject changed the mood.

Tyson maybe shouldn't have said what he said next, but he got caught up in the moment and his tongue just spoke the words before he could think. "You know, Percy has a secret that no one knows about?"

Annabeth cocked her head to the side with an intriguing expression. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Tyson wetted his lips several times with his tongue. Crap! He thought, why did I say that! He sighed as he knew he couldn't hold it anymore. This secret had been eating him alive for a long time and now was his chance to share it to someone. "That Percy was…" he gulped.

Annabeth leaned forward. "What?"

Tyson sighed once more and looked Annabeth in the eyes. I can trust her, he thought. He opened his mouth and closed it again several times before he could muster all his courage and tell her possibly Percy's biggest secret. "Percy was abused by our step father Gabe…"