Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

A/N: Italics are either thoughts or flashbacks. Flashback in this chapter with abuse, so don't read if you don't want to.

Chapter 37

"Shhhhh," Annabeth soothed like she was talking to a small child. "He can't hurt you now. I think he's in holding now. Then after the court case, he's going to go to jail."

Percy's eyes looked like they were glazed and he was shaking all over. He was gripping Annabeth's hand tightly, not letting go. Too afraid to.

"Damn neighbors," Gabe sneered, plopping down on the worn out couch tiredly. "Poking their head where they don't belong. Nosy bastards."

Percy was curled up in the corner, too afraid to speak out in fear of more abuse.

"A LETTER!" Gabe roared in sudden anger. "All because of you punk! Go on, see if your tiny brain can comprehend this shit."

When he got no reply, he grabbed Percy by the neck, nearly strangling him."Oh that's right, you can't even read!"

The sentence was followed with laughing. Percy whimpered as the choke hold increased it's strength. He made a strangling noise at the back of his throat as he was finally released six feet off the ground. Gasping for air, he tried to crawl away (even though he was nine at the time) but Gabe stuck a foot out, kicking him in the face.

"Well let me do you a great favor punk," Gabe stated 'sincerely.' A nasty smile formed on his ugly features as he placed the letter in front of his face. "Dear Mr. Ugliano. We request for you to send your stepson to the hospital immediately. My husband and I have already sent and ambulance your way for medical help. Sincerely, your neighbor."

Gabe roared again, this time nearly ripping his two tiny hairs out of his head. He kicked his stepson in anger.

The big dirty toe hit him in the eye as he yelped, clutching it as tears spilled out, due to the stench and fear. He gasped out in pain again as his stepfather's huge foot collided with his fragile ribcage.

He took a shuddering breath, closing his eyes as if dying in his early age.

"Now look here brat," he said furiously. "I'm gonna lock you up in one of my beer coolers. One of them looks like it could fit you inside. And when they come, you better not make a single sound you hear me?"

Percy nodded silently from the floor, small tears coming out from his eyelids.

"Sissy," Gabe jeered before picking him up reluctantly. He waddled over to one of his huge beer coolers and threw Percy in it, shutting the lid with a huge bang. "Not a single sound."

His sea green eyes started to open, clearly unfocused. He awoke to the concerned face of his street companion. In other words, Annabeth was staring at him worriedly, her grey eyes pained.

A small smile lit up her face once she saw that he had woken up.

"I got us some food," Annabeth told him brightly, showing him two burgers and some fries.

"Thanks," Percy muttered, taking one of the burgers eagerly and biting into it hungrily.

Annabeth did the same; her back slouched against the wall. She looked the same as always with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"This is the second time," Annabeth murmured. Seeing her companion's confused face, she continued. "The second time I've run away from home."

He laughed bitterly, taking another bite and chewing slowly. "At least you could run away these times."

"Why didn't you?" She asked curiously, staring at him.

"I couldn't. I wanted to, but he was too... His eyes were sharp. Even if I tried, he would always catch me, and then abuse me again."

A moment of silence settled in awkwardly.

"How are we going to live like this?" Percy asked.

"We don't live," Annabeth replied roughly. "We survive."

"Of course we do," he nodded distractedly. "I'm tired."

"Aren't we all?"

"And sarcasm prevails."

Within seconds, Annabeth could hear him snoring. A small smile covered her face, and even through all the grime and dirt on her face, her eyes were still shining, although rather dim.

"We'll survive Seaweed Brain," Annabeth whispered before her eyes closed.

With Thalia and Nico:

"How can you be so heartless?!" Thalia screamed at her dad. "He's going to die on the streets!"

"I wonder at your faith Gracia," Dionysus spoke dryly.

"You try surviving on the streets," Thalia told the businessman coldly. "You try living the lowlife, instead of the rich and luxury."

"And what do you know about the 'lowlife' Gracia?" Dionysus quoted, looking as interested as any dude with a new video game.

"Because I lived on the streets for a while okay?!" Thalia shouted angrily. Her voice lowered but the coldness didn't change. "I ran away from 'home' after my mom became a raging alcoholic. Just. Like. You."

His eyes narrowed. "Let me tell you something Gracia, out of all the 'Olympians' I was the only one who started out like you, the son of the most successful businessman on earth. And yes, I can be a raging alcoholic because it's part of my 'domain.' I sincerely thank your mother for buying all of my drinking products-"

"Shut the hell up," Thalia snarled, clenching her fists in furious anger. She tried controlling it.

"That's quite enough Thalia," Zeus snapped, bringing the argument to an end.

By the looks of her electrifying blue eyes, it was obvious that she wasn't going to back down. "You can't order me around like some sort of lap dog. I'm sixteen now; where the hell have you been in the past long years of my life?!"

"Thalia-" Zeus attempted to say something, but failed.

"I've been with my mother for twelve years-"

"And that's a bad thing?"

Thalia's eyes were murderous. "Do you want to know the reason why she became an alcoholic?" Not waiting for a reply, she continued in a harsh whisper. "You."

The other people were staring at them like a tennis match. Back and forth. So far, Thalia was taking the leading side of winning. She didn't take pleasure in it however. There was too much rage filled inside her to be bothered.

"If you don't care to even search for him," a new voice entered. "Then we will. By ourselves."

How intimidating di Angelo, Ares thought. No one cares if you go by yourself. Little punks. He smirked sadistically, cracking his knuckles, but kept silent easily. The black eye that had already formed wasn't pleasant.

"Let's go Thalia," Nico said, tugging at his older cousin's arm.

Thalia glared at her dad, before following her cousin. She was stopped by someone grabbing her hand.

"Talk is easy," Zeus stated. "But who said you were allowed to go? I refuse for you to become one of the 'lowlife' people you speak of. You live the rich and luxury now, why be a homeless person?"

"Who said I was going to become homeless?" Thalia snarled. "If living the rich and luxury means being like you, I'm never going to live this way again."

His face was full of shock, and several gasps could be heard. The two of them backed up slowly as Zeus advanced towards them, his son Ares on the side.

And then they ran for their lives.

A/N: Extremely sorry for the late update, and shortness! Hopefully it wasn't too OOC or boring. Thanks for all the support!

(Also, I have a poll on my profile asking which chaptered story I should put on hiatus since I have lots of things going on and I can't handle everything at once anymore... Even though it is Spring Break. I will be updating every story once more, ('The Return of Perseus Jackson' and 'Unknown' have already been updated) before I will see the results and put something on hiatus.)

karaliza76: Thanks for the advice!

SonOfErebus: Is that a bad or good thing?

teizawesome101 (Guest): It'll come later.