So… I guess I made it too obvious in the last chapter what was going on, but oh well, who cares? No one, because this chapter is in Percy's POV! Yay! Or at least like 90% of it is… enjoy.

Also, this story probably has about… I'd say 5 or 6 chapters left… I can't say for certain though. But we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for this story, which means that I've started preparing my outline for my next story. But I have other shorter fics that I need to finish first as soon as I am done with this story, and I still need to update my 'missing moments' series. So yeah, it'll be a while before the next long fic comes around, id say.

I do not own most of the characters, nor most of the plot. I merely adapted it.

CHAPTER 26

As soon as the girls got back to their apartment that night, Annabeth stormed into her bedroom, and slammed her door shut behind her. She pulled out her phone, and after scrolling quickly through her contacts, she hit the call button on one.

As she held the phone to her ear, Annabeth's heart beat around inside her chest rapidly. She had to have some answers now.

"Hello?" The person finally answered their phone.

"Claire, I need you to tell me," Annabeth said demandingly.

"Tell you what?"

"Everything, about Luke and why he really came back, and about why Perseus Jackson was at the courthouse with you all."

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Annabeth was afraid that Claire was going to hang up on her, but she eventually heard the sound of the other woman sighing deeply.

"How did you find out?" Claire asked softly.

"How do you think?"

"Drew?"

Annabeth confirmed this, which led to some expletive cursing from Claire that the blonde girl never thought she would hear from Malcolm's wife.

"Okay, fine," Claire finally said, "Since you already know, I'll tell you… but you have to promise not to tell anyone else about this, okay?"

After she had made Annabeth promise to keep the secret, Mrs. Pace began her exposition.

"Mr. Jackson called my husband Friday evening, saying he needed to talk to him," She began. "Do you remember how I was supposed to have lunch with Malcolm on Saturday?"

Annabeth, who was pacing her room in front of her bed, simply replied with, "Mhm."

"Well, turns out… I wasn't having lunch with just Malcolm that day."

…..

Approximately 48 hours before…

Percy stared down at the piece of paper in his hands, as he walked down the sidewalk, briefly glancing up to check the numbers on the dingy apartments. Stray dogs were digging around in a pushed over trash can in one of the sketchy looking alleyways, and the sounds of police sirens could be heard not too far off. After he had double checked that he was on the right street, Percy turned a corner, sounding off the apartment numbers in his head.

417

419

421… got it.

He stood in front of the apartment, a rundown, ancient looking place, with bars on the windows, and undoubtedly a double lock on the door. As he walked up onto the porch, he saw dead plants on either side of the door, and a ratty old mat lay under his feet. Percy took a deep breath, and then knocked on the door warily, before stepping off to the side, so that he could not be seen through the peephole.

No one answered, but he could hear the sounds of floorboards creaking inside the apartment, so he knew someone was home. He knocked again, still hiding off to the side as he did so. This time, the door creaked open after a few seconds, and Percy watched as a woman in her mid-thirties peeked her head out, scanning the porch. When the woman's eyes rested upon Percy, they went wide with astonishment, before she quickly retreated back into the house, trying to close the door behind her. But the raven-haired man was faster, and he pushed his body up against the door, preventing it from being closed fully. The woman fought hard to shut it, but Percy was eventually able to force his way inside the apartment.

"Hello, Kelli," He said, stepping into the abode, and closing the door behind himself.

Kelli was a freaky looking woman, with skin as pale and white as alabaster, hair that was seemingly flaming with how orange it was, and bloodshot eyes. She looked almost vampiric in a lot of ways.

"Mr-Mr. Jackson," Kelli said nervously, "What brings you here?"

Percy feigned a kind smile, "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" The woman replied, her voice sounding seemingly confident, but her body language betrayed her.

"You know who. I know you've been hiding him, Kelli, and I can hear the TV on."

"S-so? I was watching some TV… sue me."

"Since when do you watch basketball?" Percy then pushed past the freaky apartment resident, and walked into what he assumed was the living room.

A pigsty would have been a more apt term for the room. Beer bottles lined the floor, along with all other sorts of trash, and the air smelled like rotten eggs. An old TV provided the only light in the room, save for the minor sun peeking through the window curtains, and on the opposite side of the room was a tattered old couch. And sure enough, on that couch, sat the man Percy was looking for.

"Hello, Perseus."

"Luke," was all Percy said in reply.

The blonde man did little else to acknowledge the visitor, as he casually took another sip of his beer.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Jackson?" He sneered, with his eyes still glued to the TV.

Percy decided to get right to the point.

"You're gonna marry that girl."

Luke chuckled at that, and took yet another sip of his beer.

"Like hell, I am. Give me one good reason why I should."

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because she's pregnant with your child."

"Pfft, so? She doesn't have to keep it, and even if she does, it's not like the kid won't have any support."

He took another swig of his drink, and Percy strode across the room towards the couch, grabbing the beer out of his hand in one swift motion. Luke glared at him, but did not retaliate.

"The kid will need it's real father, and you're going to be exactly that," Percy said sternly, as he set the bottle down on the counter.

Luke stared at him, and his look was somewhat analyzing, quizzical, then suddenly, his lips turned up slightly.

"What is the real reason you're here, Perseus? Surely, you cannot be here simply on behalf of the youngest Chase daughter?"

"It doesn't matter why I'm here, Luke."

That drew a chuckle of the man reclining on the couch again.

"Are you sure it doesn't have something to do with the eldest Chase daughter?"

Percy's eyebrows furrowed, and his lips pursed, which did not go unnoticed by Luke, who smiled deviously, but said nothing.

"I'm here, Luke, because I am not going to let you ruin another family's reputation, or another girl's life."

"Oh yeah?" The blonde man said amusingly, "And why should I do as you say? What reasons, tell me, do I have for marrying that girl?"

Percy was silent for a moment, but he found himself smirking widely.

"Well, for starters, I seem to recall that last time something like this happened, I gave you that scar on your cheek… I would hate to have to mess up the other one."

Luke winced, as his hand subconsciously went up to trace the scar that ran down his left cheek, and he snarled back up at Percy, but said nothing.

"And," Percy continued, "I also know that you are deeply in debt."

Dr. Castellan rose hastily from the couch, his face flushed red with rage.

"You have no idea what you're talking about! You don't know that!"

Percy chuckled to himself, before calmly producing a folded-up piece of paper out of his back pocket, and unfurling it for Luke to see. The man's eyes went wide as he stared at the large letters printed on the paper.

Foreclosure Notice

"Found it tapped to the door of your penthouse," Percy said nonchalantly, "You want to tell me about how they repossessed your car the other day as well?" He watched as Luke stood frozen in his spot, staring at the piece of paper being shown to him. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy could see Kelli watching on from the kitchen, her face set in an astonished expression. "And if that wasn't enough," He continued, "I've also seen your bank statements."

Luke's face was contorted in such a way that he appeared horrified, enraged, and astounded all at the same time.

"How-how did you find out?"

Percy shrugged, "I have friends at the bank who owe me favors."

Luke slumped back down onto the couch, and ran his hands through his short, blonde hair. He said nothing for a couple moments, as he shifted uncomfortable back and forth on the sofa.

"Okay, so what is the point of all this?" he finally asked.

Percy folded back up the foreclosure notice, and stuffed it into his back pocket, before crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're going to marry Drew, and you're going to raise your kid, like a proper man should."

Luke raised his eyebrows, asking silently, and?

"And… I'll pay off your debts… everything. I'll coordinate the ceremony and pay for everything there as well, and… I'll get you a job at another hospital."

Dr. Castellan was silent for a minute, as he considered Percy's offer.

"I want a new car as well," he finally said in a hopeful voice.

Mr. Jackson rolled his eyes, but replied with, "Fine, but you're not getting another corvette."

"And why not?" Luke said defiantly, "It's not like you can't afford it."

"Because I'm not supporting your wasteful spending on a lavish lifestyle… and you're in no position to bargain anyways."

Luke raised his chin at that, "You want me to marry this girl or not?"

"You want me to tell the Chases where you are, and have them come deal with you instead?" Percy replied without hesitation.

That seemed to do the trick, and the man on the couch shook his head, and sighed to himself.

"Fine… I'll marry her."

"Good," Percy remarked, relieved at having won that battle, "Make sure you sell it, because even if the Chases don't believe it, we need everyone else to believe that you came back because you love Drew, and that you had no intention of leaving her for good."

"If you want me to sell it," Luke demanded, "Then it'll cost you."

Percy sighed, as he should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

"What is it?"

"Well, my penthouse has been foreclosed, so I don't have a place to go after we get married… also, I want a honeymoon."

"Fine… Fine! I'll get you a place, an apartment, nothing more. I'll even help with the first few months rent until you get settled into your job. As for the honeymoon…" Percy scratched his head, as he thought silently for a minute. "Maine is nice this time of year."

Luke shook his head, "I was thinking more along the lines of Hawaii, or Cabo."

"Nuh uh," Percy replied sharply, "Best I'll do is a cabin in Colorado; they have good skiing this time of year."

Luke thought about it for a second, before shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll take it."

Percy shook his head at how this guy could literally be bribed into doing anything, even marrying a girl he cares nothing for. He wondered if he was doing the right thing, whether he should be forcing a potentially hazardous marriage, that would be anything but healthy in the long run. His hope was that having the responsibility of a kid would force Luke to straighten up, or at least make him be more considerate. As for Drew, Percy knew that she probably thought that she and Luke were in love, as that was the doctor's MO, making girls think there was something there, when in reality, it was just a game for Luke. Either way, Drew would probably figure out eventually, that her marriage was anything but loving. Percy could only hope that by then, the kid had forced both of the parents to get their crap together.

"What do I need to do?" Luke said, standing up off the couch as he did so.

Percy took the piece of paper out of his back pocket, and pulling a pen out of his shirt, he scribbled something down.

"First thing tomorrow morning, you're going to call this number, and tell them that you want to marry Drew. Ask them to bring her to the courthouse as soon as possible. I'll take care of everything else."

As Percy handed him the piece of paper, Luke stared at the number he had written down.

"Whose number is this?" Luke asked warily.

"Malcolm Pace, Mr. Chase's nephew. Make sure you tell him you don't want anyone else at the ceremony, just yourself, Drew, and him and his wife."

"Why just them? Why can't the whole family come?"

"Just in case."

"In case of what?" Luke's voice was demandingly curious.

"In case you can't sell it," Percy said in a sharp tone. "I know some of the Chase family won't believe it when they hear you decided to 'just come back', but if we can convince most of them, mainly Mrs. Chase, then we stand a much better chance at convincing other people. But that won't happen if they all see you acting indifferent at your own wedding ceremony."

Luke just shrugged, hopefully seeing the sense in this plan, as he continued to stare down at the piece of paper.

"Annabeth won't believe it," He noted, "No matter how good I act."

"You've only got yourself to blame for that," Percy responded, his body straightening at the mention of the girl's name.

Luke smirked deviously, "Actually, I think I have you to blame for that." He turned to stare at the other man, who had a look of confusion and bewilderment on his face.

"It's a shame you had to go and tell her all that stuff about me," The doctor was slowly moving towards Percy in a threatening manner. "Her and I were getting really close you know?" Luke was now standing a few feet in front of Percy, staring back at him with a smug expression, as he almost whispered his next words. "Just a little bit longer, and I would have claimed her too."

Percy, who had been staring back at Luke with a defiant look this entire time, wanted to snap right then and there, and to beat the man in front of him to a pulp again. The thought of the doctor and Annabeth… it was almost as painful as it was when Percy found out about his sister. But he knew that Annabeth was smarter than that, and even if she had originally been deceived by Luke, he knew she wouldn't have been so easy a target as the doctor seems to think she would have been. It was this thought that kept Percy from lashing out immediately, which, not half a year ago, would have definitely been what happened.

People change; Luke was evidence of that in negative way, but luckily for Percy, his own change was for the better.

"Call the number first thing in the morning, Luke," he said, before stepping towards the door.

"She hates you, you know that right?" Luke called out, as Percy opened the door. "She told me herself, that she thinks you're nothing more than an arrogant, conceited prick."

Sea-green eyes turned back to meet blue ones, and all Percy said was, "I'm fully aware of her opinion of me." And then he slammed the door shut behind him.

As Percy made his way down the block, back towards where he parked his car, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, and dialed the very same number he had given to Luke.

The person answered after a few rings.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Pace, this is Perseus- Percy Jackson. I'd like to speak with you about something very important. Do you think you could meet me for lunch tomorrow?"

"Oh… hey Percy, um… yeah, I can meet you for lunch. You mind telling me what this is about though?"

Percy opened his car door, and sat down in the driver's seat, still holding the phone to his ear.

"Trust me, it'll be better if I wait till tomorrow."

"...Okay then."

"Oh, and also," Percy added on, "Can you ask Mrs. Pace to come as well?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll let her know."

"Great, now tell me Malcolm… do you and your wife like burgers?"

…..

"So let me get this straight," Malcolm said between mouthfuls of cheeseburger, "You found Luke, somehow, and bribed him to marry Drew?"

Percy looked up from his burger, which he had almost finished off already as well, and smiled amusingly.

"I prefer to say I convinced him to marry Drew."

Mrs. Pace, or Claire, as she had insisted him on calling her, tilted her head in confusion, before saying, "And you want to take care of everything? As in pay for it all?"

"That is correct," Percy replied, before taking another bite of his burger.

Malcolm shared a look with his wife, before turning back to face the billionaire casually scarfing down a plate of fries now.

"We appreciate the offer, but we cannot let you do that," Mr. Pace said somewhat neutrally.

"You're gonna have to, I'm afraid."

"Please, Mr. Jackson," Claire pleaded, "Let us tell Mr. Chase that you've found him, and then let him pay for everything. He's a wealthy man, and he can cover Luke's debts, I'm sure. And it's not like the ceremony and the marriage license will cost much at all. Or even the rings for that matter."

"Claire and I can help them out as well," Malcolm chimed in.

"First off," the dark-headed man said pleasantly, "Call me Percy, please. Secondly, there's more to it than just Luke's debts and the fees that come with getting married." The couple stared at him with puzzled looks on their faces, and Percy chuckled softly, before continuing, "In order to get him to agree, I also promised to get Luke a job at another hospital, get him an apartment, a new car, and to help with the first few months' rent, and also to pay for his honeymoon to Colorado."

Malcolm and Claire were both staring at Percy with appalled expressions, so he decided to let them process for a moment, while he finished off his fries. Mr. Pace seemed to come around first, though he spoke with a bit lighter of an air.

"Mr. Chase and I can pay for all of that as well, Percy. Please, let us take care of our own family ourselves."

Claire then laid her hand on her husband's shoulder, as if to keep him from getting too demanding.

"We are greatly indebted to you already," she said softly, "You found Luke, and we appreciate your offer, but we insist that you do no more for us."

"I'm sorry," Percy responded cordially, "But I must insist that you let me do this, and that you keep my involvement a secret. I won't let you, nor your family, pay a single cent towards any of Luke's debts or his petty wants."

"But why?" Claire asked, her voice shrill and sounding lost, "Why do you insist on doing this all yourself?"

Percy only gave her half the answer.

"Because it is my fault that Luke was allowed to continue on with his games. I knew what he was really like inside, but because of my pride, I did not make known his true character, nor did I allow those who also knew to speak of it. And for that, I am truly sorry. If others had known just how corrupt he really was, Dr. Castellan would never have gotten the chance to cause as much pain as he has. That is why you must allow for me to handle all of this, and even then, I fear it still will not account for the pain that your family could have suffered."

Throughout his entire speech, Percy spoke with authority and persuasiveness, and it appeared to have worked, as Malcolm and Claire both looked at each, and either one shrugged their shoulders, even though it was still with an air of reluctance. The wife, however, was also staring at him now with a weird expression, like she was suspicious of him, but not in a negative way. Percy found it a bit unsettling.

"Why must your involvement be a secret though?" Malcolm asked.

"Because if people find out, they'll know Luke was forced to come back, and that he doesn't really care about Drew."

"Can we not tell anybody?" Claire asked pleadingly, "Not even Annabe- "

"No," Percy said sharply, "Especially not her."

There was another long silence, before Mr. Pace sighed deeply.

"We are gravely indebted to you, Percy," Malcolm said, "What do you want us to do?"

….

Present time…

"So… Perseus paid for everything?" Annabeth asked incredulously; she had long since quit pacing about her room, and was now sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Yes, Annabeth," Claire responded over the phone, "He insisted on it, and there was no dissuading him. He was at the ceremony as you already know, to make sure Luke followed through on his end, I suppose. He asked us to keep his involvement a secret as well, lest people become suspicious of Luke's true motives."

Annabeth's emotions were all over the place, and she found that she could hardly move from where she sat. Claire chuckled slightly at the silence on her cousin's part, and spoke again with some amusement in her voice.

"If I may, and please don't kill me for saying this, but I think there was more to Percy's motives for bribing Dr. Castellan that he may have let on."

"What do you mean… and did you just call him Percy?"

Claire apparently chose to ignore the second question.

"Well, he didn't say your name at all, but something tells me that it was probably on his mind more often than not, for the time we were with him."

Annabeth found herself stuttering an awful lot now, "I-I… what… that isn't possible. Claire, what are you… what are you getting at?"

"Can I just say, Annabeth, that… I really do like him. Mr. Jackson was just as kind and pleasant as he was that weekend we spent on Long Island. He bought our lunch for us, you know? Though I suppose that means nothing him, what with his status as a billionaire and all. But I can really find no true fault with him, other than his being perhaps a very stubborn person. Which, in your case, might actually be a good thing."

"In my case?" Annabeth asked in a jarring and confused tone.

The other woman chuckled from her end of the line, and she said confidently, "Please don't ban me from Callisto, as I still haven't explored all of the estate yet. And I should like to- "

She didn't get to finish her sentence, as Annabeth hung up the phone, not wanting to be teased by her cousin's wife any longer. The flustered blonde laid her phone down on her nightstand, and then reclined herself down on the bed, as she stared up at the ceiling, focusing on nothing in particular.

I am definitely not getting any sleep tonight, Annabeth thought.

….

Hopefully, those time skips made sense. Thanks for reading!