A/N: Daily Streak!

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you all had a chance to spend it with the people you care for most! 2020... a year to put it nicely but hopefully we can start 2021 on a high note and I hope this chapter helps! Let's hop into Chapter 8!

Chapter VIII: Reborn

Percy's eyes flickered open. The beaches of Olympus had vanished with the waves. The building he'd made his home no longer existed. The people who'd raised him laid dead. And the life he'd rebuild laid in shatters. He was Perseus, the Destroyer, Specimen 081893, and now, he had no mission, now, he had no home.

His eyes shifted numbly in his skull. The room he'd found himself in was dark, though his eyes had no problem with it. From everything he could interpret, he'd landed himself in a hospital room. Even through the thick night, he knew himself to be on the hill that overlooked Hestia's Heart were the hospital rested. Percy's leg twitched and his eyes sharpened, he'd felt a figure to his left.

Rachel laid at his bedside, her forehead rested at the edge of his bed and her curly hair made a halo along the sheets. Percy had hoped his kick wouldn't have awakened her, he'd wanted to simply sneak out and leave, but to his displeasure, Rachel had begun to stir. "Percy?" she groaned softly. Her emerald pools widened and glowed in the dark room, "Percy!" she shouted happily, "You're awake!"

"So, it seems," Percy said weakly. "How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours," Rachel replied softly, "Grover and Juniper went to go get some dinner from the cafeteria downstairs, I told them I'd keep you company until they got here." She shuffled from her chair, and Percy felt tingles in his spine at the way she brushed his hair back. Nobody had ever been so delicate with him before, "Hey, how are you feeling though, seriously? Any pain? I can get the doctor, I-"

Percy shook his head, "I'm fine, Rachel, thank you." He broke from her piercing gaze back into the darkness, "It's getting late, shouldn't you be home? Your parents must be worried about you?"

"My dad's not really the type to care," She said absently, "Never mind, that's not important." Her hand rested on his cheek and tilted Percy back to her, "And I know that you're clearly not fine, because perfectly fine people don't just pass out for no good reason. We already have to raincheck our date, the least you can do is be honest with me."

"I'm fine, Rachel, really," Percy said. "I mean, I get Grover and Juniper, but why did you even come?"

"I felt like it was the right thing to do," Rachel said swiftly. Percy's heart thawed a bit, the words sounded painfully familiar to him. "Plus," She said, as if she believed she needed to continue to justify her action, "Honestly, anywhere is better than home."

Percy eyes softened even more, that was a statement he could relate to all too well. "Sorry," Percy whispered, "That came out colder than I wanted it to. Thank you, you know, for being here." Rachel smiled, "And um, sorry that we couldn't go on our date."

"There's always next time," Rachel said, "Also, I think you can learn a lot about people in the way their friends treat them. Juniper and Grover, they felt so guilty about leaving you even though they needed to eat, if the rescuing kids from fires wasn't enough to convince me you were a good guy, their care spoke volumes."

You're a good guy, Percy scoffed at the words inside. He'd done horrible things, he hardly considered himself even a decent person. Then again, he wasn't made to be a person, he was a tool, and tools were neither good nor bad. The hospital door slid open, and a gentle sob fell from Juniper's lips as she placed the food down and raced to his side. Grover followed suit. Both their eyes had been bloodshot, and Grover looked as if he'd developed four age wrinkles in just a few hours.

Juniper hugged him tightly and Grover spread out the food along the counter, each of them filled with joy at Percy's recovery. The smell of food had forced his stomach to growl something awful, in fact, the food had almost been enough to distract Percy from the matter of Rachel no longer being at his side. The redhead now sat at the exit to his room and waved weakly.

"Where are you going?" Juniper asked.

"It's getting late," Rachel said, "My dad is probably worried sick about me." It was a lie, she'd told Percy as much less than five minutes ago, but the girl had said it so effortlessly, as if it had been something, she'd practiced time and time again.

"Well, um," Grover started, his thumbs twiddled as he spoke, "Thank you, for all your help. If it weren't for you, I don't know how we would have afforded this room and-"

"Don't mention it," She said with a smile that lit up the room, "Just take care of him for me. Don't want him to be able to use this as an excuse for why he'll miss our next date."

Grover and Juniper nodded politely, and as quickly as Rachel had appeared, she'd vanished. Percy sunk deeper into bed and accepted the plate Grover had made for him. Within minutes he'd cleaned three plates worth of food and sat up absently in his bed, his mind adrift.

"She's nice," Juniper said, "Not really what I expected from a girl like her. Normally their such huge bitches, but she well," Juniper smiled, "I'm not going to tell you how to live your life Percy, but I'd call her again if I were you, and I'd try to stay conscious for the next date."

It was a joke, Juniper had never been one to really demand anything of Percy, but nothing had felt funny to Percy. He sat silently, unable to speak. He figured he should say something, anything, but he had no idea what. He had no clue on even where to start. Hi, I'm Perseus, I was created in a lab to be an efficient war machine capable of wiping out threats to the nation, didn't exactly seem like a good starting place. Even if he did say it, Percy knew it wouldn't have mattered, his purpose was finished. He was a tool, and all those meant to wield him now laid dead.

For a split second, Percy had wondered if his new destiny could have been to avenge them. But they'd disposed of him. They'd treated him like dirt and threw him away when he'd lost his worth. He'd miss Chiron, yes, but what did he really care if they were dead. It wasn't odd for soldiers to die in wore, and unlike the men in uniform he served with, part of him felt that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades deserved it. That acceptance had only left him emptier than before though, and Percy felt a single tear stream down his cheek. He was nothing.

"Percy?" Grover asked, "Percy, what's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"I remember everything now, Grover," Percy admitted. Grover's eyes shone with wonder for a second before they dimmed.

"That's a good thing, right? Now all we have to do is report it to the police, or the newspapers, or something and we can get you back in contact with the people who-,"

"There are no people, Grover," Percy said, "And there is no place for me to go back to." For a moment, the thought of finding his mother in New York spoke to him, but even then, what would be the point. She'd never met him, he didn't know what lies Poseidon had told him, and Percy had doubted his life would ever be normal, no, for both their sakes, it was better they stayed apart.

"Percy, I'm confused?" Juniper said, "What do you mean there's nobody waiting for you? That there's no place for you?"

"I don't have a family," Percy relented, "My father was the only parent I'd ever known and he's dead. I was raised by others, all of whom have also died in a freak accident. I ran from even the ideas of shelters and foster homes and lived as a roamer. I never got caught, but I did things I'm not proud of to survive. How I ended up unconscious in New Rome, I'm not sure, that part of my memory hasn't returned, but the point is, I'm not somebody you should be friends with." He sighed, "If I were you," he said faintly, "I'd leave."

It was a barrage of half-truths and omitted details. Both Grover and Juniper had done so much for him, and he didn't have the heart to lie to them. But for them to know everything wouldn't do them much good either. Percy wasn't sure exactly what he'd expected, but it whatever it was, it wasn't what the two did. Juniper grabbed his wrist and Grover shook his head.

"If you were never caught then don't worry about it," Grover said. "I don't know what you did but I know you aren't that person deep down. If you were, you wouldn't have helped me when you lost your memory. You wouldn't have saved those kids. If you were as bad a person as you claim to be, you'd have robbed me blind and ran. But you didn't." Grover's face stiffened, "You're not a bad person, Percy, you're my friend. So what if you don't have a family to return to, you have Juniper and I. That's a good enough start, isn't it?"

Percy's eyes watered at Juniper's smile, "You're one of us Percy. Tomorrow, when you get discharged, we're going to head to the station and I'm certain that Commissioner Chase can help you get your life back on track. We can get you your documentation, even help find you a real job. You can even continue working at the Café until you find something else you like, and we can do what we can together to make your future better than your past."

"Why are you," Percy stuttered on the words in his throat, "Why are you both being so kind to me?"

"You're important to me, Percy," The two said in unison with a smile before Grover stretched out his hand. "Truth be told, none of us have lived the most charming life, but that doesn't mean our lives can't be better moving forward. Whatever the reason is, I'm sure it can't just be by chance you ended up here. You were destined to come to New Rome, Percy. Your purpose is here, man, I can just, I don't know, feel it."

Your purpose is here, the words vibrated through Percy like a current and the faintest smile broke across his lips, "You think so?"

"I know so," Grover said firmly.

The three turned, well, he and Juniper turned, Grover had nearly jumped from his chair in shock at the sound of a pen which tapped against the glass door of Percy's room. It had been a while since he'd seen the doctor in question. Truthfully, Percy had done his best to avoid him, avoid the truth. The truth, he gagged at the notion the words had always reminded him of his father, the truth is the truth, no matter how much we wish to believe otherwise. Percy had always disagreed, the truth was never black and white, it was always grey, it was never more than 'someone's truth'.

"Will," Grover croaked, "Son of a bitch you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I tried to knock," Will said with a shrug, "Not sure what else I could have done. Anyways that's not important." Will brushed past Grover and stood analytically by Percy's side. "You're a difficult man to reach, Mr. Jackson."

"Yeah," Percy said. He scratched the back of his neck slowly, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Will said dismissively, "What's important is that you are in good health at the moment." Will took out a light Percy remembered from his previous concussion examination and followed the steps that earned him a swift nod from Will. "Well, you seem to be in good enough health to discharge except for the abnormality in your blood work."

"What abnormality?" Juniper asked.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, it would be a HIPPA violation for me to-,"

"It's fine, Doctor Solace," Percy said, "Just, tell us what's wrong with my blood."

"It's rather hard to explain, but your rate is astounding," Will said, "Frankly, you could eat four to five times the average for a normal man your size and gain little to no weight. That doesn't even include the oddness in your clotting factor. In simplest terms, you heal remarkably fast, maybe ten times that of the average human. Like I said, I have no explanation for it, it's almost like," Will gathered his confidence, Percy assumed that from his perspective the statement to come seemed rather stupid even though Percy knew it to be true, "It's almost like you're superhuman."

Grover punched him jokingly on the shoulder, "Alright, the Hero of New Rome is superhuman, look at that."

"No, Grover," Will said, "I don't think you fully understand. I'm saying that Mr. Jackson's body here is operating at a level beyond which a normal human can function. He is preforming beyond what a human body should be capable of. Well beyond it, for that matter." A glint of energy flashed in Will's eyes, "Mr. Jackson, you simply must allow this hospital to continue our research. If we can isolate what it is inside you that makes you work the way you do, well, the problems we could solve is limitless. How many diseases could we eliminate, how many cures could stem from it, hell if we could isolate an administer whatever makes your body work the way it does, we could curb obesity in a week."

"I um," Percy muttered, "I don't really feel comfortable with that, Will."

"I uh," Will said the life in his eyes faded and distant, "I see." He sighed, "Sorry, I must have come on too strong huh? Truly, Mr. Jackson, I do wish nothing but good health for you, I just," Will's eyes darkened, "Perhaps you could consider donating your body to science after you die, I'm sure that you could-"

"And that'll be enough of that," Grover butted in. His hand rested on Will's shoulder, "Look Will, I like you, but this medicine thing is really becoming an unhealthy obsession. I think you should try to find a hobby, or date, or just take some time to take care of yourself. Because your social skills, they aren't looking great."

"Sorry, sorry," Will said apologetically, "You're right. I've been working with other doctors every single day; I think I just forget how to have normal conversations sometimes. Especially when someone as interesting as Mr. Jackson appears." Will returned his gaze to Percy and dropped his head, "Sorry if I frightened you, it really wasn't my intention."

"No man," Percy said politely, "It's fine. I get it, sometimes we get carried away. I'll think about donating my body if what you said is true, but let's not go hoping for my death so soon, alright?" Will laughed for a moment as Percy pulled at the cables on his chest, "With that sorted though, how do I get out of here."

"I'll bring the discharge papers," Will said, "We can get you out of here by the next hour, Mr. Jackson. We'll send the bill to the address that Ms. Dare left us upon your admission."

"Ms. Dare?" Percy questioned.

"Percy?" Juniper whispered, "You seriously didn't know? Rachel, the Rachel that was just here, she's Rachel Dare, only one of the wealthiest families in New Rome. They're the only ones that rival the Castellans when it comes to wealth."

Percy stood in awkward silence, "Oh," was all he could muttered before Will scurried from the room to begin the discharge process. Percy glanced down at his arm still coated in smudged marked and chuckled beneath his breath, "That girl certainly is full of surprises."

The discharge had been smooth, something that Percy appreciated deeply. His memories of the 'hospital' on the island hadn't been great and he wanted nothing more than to jump out of the building and run free. Thankfully, he hadn't needed to resort to that, and a nice black car awaited them outside the hospital courtesy of one Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Percy repeated the name in his mind the entire car ride. He'd liked the sound of it and laughed at the realization that her initials had spelt out the color of her hair. When they'd arrived at the apartment, Percy hadn't needed much discussion or persuasion to get him into bed. The second he hit the mattress, Percy had gone out like a light, only to be awoken by the warm rays of sun that brough with it the Eve of the Christmas Holiday.

Juniper and Grover had both rushed him out of the apartment. Apparently, the precinct closed earlier today, and they hadn't wanted to miss their chance at being rid of harboring an 'illegal alien' as Grover had said in jest. They'd been right to do so, and Percy had no sooner toweled off and dressed before he'd been placed in a car on the way to the station.

Despite their efforts, Percy had awoken too late. Though it was only mid-afternoon, the doors to the station were locked. They'd knocked, loud enough to ensure that anyone inside might have heard them, but nobody had approached the door. The three had just settled to return home before, they'd been met by a familiar, Sandy-Haired, Police Commissioner.

"Hello," Commissioner Chase said warmly, "Happy Holidays to you all, I'm afraid we are closed early for the holidays. If you have a crime to report dispatch is open at-," He blinked, "Percy Jackson!" He said firmly, "It is so good to see you again. Sorry I didn't recognize you sooner, my daughter is always telling me I need to look up from my phone when I talk. Normally I'm just swamped with emails and can guess who people are off their shoes but-"

"Oh, look at me ramble," Commissioner Chase said, "My apologies. How can I help you, son? Don't tell me Christmas has come early for this city and you're here to take me up on my offer."

Percy stuttered, given his skill set, he'd been almost embarrassed to say he hadn't quite considered police work, but for as kind as the Commissioner was, the rumors of the city had left him raw to the idea.

Thankfully, Commissioner Chase continued before Percy responded, "Only a joke, I assure you," He said, "Though the offer does still stand. But, assuming that is not the case, how can I help you this afternoon?"

"Sir," Percy said, "I came in here earlier this month to report that I had a case of amnesia. Thankfully, my memory has seemed to return to me, but I am in a bit of a bind."

"Well, that's great news," Commissioner Chase said with a smile, "About the memory bit. Now about this 'bind', is it anything I can help with?"

"We're looking for, well, my identification," Percy said. "See, even though I remember who I am now, I still don't have the any idea how I got here. I also didn't have any documentation on me when I woke up here. I know my social, but I really don't have anything else to go off."

"Then we'll work with what we can," Commissioner Chase said. It was something about the man's attitude that put Percy at ease.

Politely, Commissioner Chase led them into the precinct and after he'd unarmed an unnerving number of alarms, he took a deep breath and encouraged the tree to follow him into his office. His computer screen flashed, and Percy caught of glimpse of a few familiar faces. He'd noticed the boys he'd rescued from the fire instantly, along with Commissioner Chase himself. There was also a blonde girl around Percy's age, Annabeth, was her name, at least, it was what Percy could recall, and finally, to the Commissioner's right was a woman with the most regal yet frightening face Percy had ever seen. Even Reyna paled in comparison to the terror this woman could conjure in her steel grey eyes. Though everyone in the family smiled, the woman's grin was far more muted, as if she'd tried to remain serious and the Commissioner had just managed to wrangle the most modest grin from the woman's cold exterior.

The screen flashed back, and the image vanished behind a screen that had a small white cursor that blinked incessantly. Rapidly though not so fast that Percy's eyes couldn't track, the officer typed in his password: 071293, and Percy stepped back at the avalanche of information that fell upon the screen. A few clicks later and the Commissioner spoke once more, "Alright now, what was that social?"

Percy gave the man the number. For the sake of government security, and as a formality, Percy had been made to register for formal documentation. Not that he'd ever used it, but the number had been ingrained in his mind by Chiron who'd consistently said, "You never know when you may need it." The memory had made Percy's heart ache a bit for the man, but his throat ran dry at the thought of whether Chiron had known of the plan to wipe Percy's memory in the first place.

Percy swiftly gave the name the well-rehearsed and practiced nine-digit number and awaited a response. Though one never came, and concern built in Percy's chest. Had he not remembered the number as clearly as he'd thought. Then, after another pregnant pause, Commissioner Chase spoke, "Fascinating," he muttered, "It does show you have a file, but the file, it's been corrupted. I've read that it happens from time to time, system errors and what not, but in all my years I've never actually seen one."

"So, what happens now?" Percy asked nervously.

"Don't worry so much about that," The officer said. He reached for his phone and smiled, "I've got a guy for this."

Commissioner Chase pressed the number two on his phone and dialed, the phone hadn't rung long before a chirpy voice broke through, "Go for Leo!"

"Valdez!" Commissioner Chase said enthusiastically, "Happy Holidays, I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time, I need some help with a project."

"Shouldn't you be off today?" Leo said, "I mean, didn't you and Athena schedule your holidays so that-"

"I won't be here long," Commissioner Chase said defensively before he relaxed, "Look, Valdez, I called because I need your help uncorrupting a file. You remember, Jackson, the one that saved my sons, he's gotten a breakthrough with his memory issues. I want to help him with his documentation, but his file is in fragments, think you can handle it?"

"On its Boss Man," Leo said. The sound of his rolling chair and clicking rattled through the speaker before he muttered, "Oh, this shouldn't be too bad." Percy had nearly stumbled backwards, his file had been protected by high-level encryption, he'd had just been hoping that the office could make him so new papers, he hadn't really expected them to dig deeper into his file. Still, he didn't quite mind, nothing really incriminating was held in his public file anyway, but to hear a man call the encryption easy, well, it had made Percy more than a fair bit impressed.

Leo clearly wasn't just all talk either, as moments later, a ding rang from Chase's computer and his file appeared. "Huh?" Commissioner Chase said, "A New York boy, my wife's from the city as well. You struck me more as the island type than a New Yorker, but I suppose even my senses can't be right all the time." Percy swallowed at the correctness of the Commissioner's assumption before he cleared his throat, "The image on these documents, they're super pixilate, is there any way we can clear that up, Leo?"

"That is the cleared-up version," Leo muttered more to himself than anyone else, "I don't know how they were uploaded like that, but that's just how they are. I mean, it shouldn't be a big deal, we can always just super impose a picture on it, but that is odd. At least that explains why Reyna couldn't get a hit using facial i.d. At least, kind of."

"A question for another time," Chase said, "I'll let you go now. Enjoy the rest of your day off Valdez."

"Thanks, Boss," He said, "Try to get some rest yourself and get back to your wife and kids. Happy wife, happy life, right?"

The commissioner nodded and hung up the phone before he turned to Percy. "Let's get a picture of you for your updated documents and see if we can't both get out of here before Christmas Eve dinner, shall we?"

Percy nodded and followed the sandy-haired man into a mugshot room. From behind the camera, he pressed a remote and the black bars vanished and left only a clean white background before. Percy gave his best smile just before the camera flashed and within moments, the sound of a running printer was heard in the background. It had taken the Commissioner some time to collect, laminate, and format all the papers, but Percy had been hadn't a folder of all essential documents in record time.

"Now, some of these files aren't exactly in my authority to give you," Commissioner Chase said as he walked the three of them to the door, "But considering the debt I owe you; I ran some overrides to get it to you. Don't go telling anyone about this though, okay son."

"Not a word," Percy, Grover, and Juniper replied together.

Commissioner Chase smiled, "Good, now I still have some time to work on this case. You three go off and have a great holiday. Be safe out there."

"We will, thanks again," Grover and Juniper said, but Percy remained silent. His eyes studied the board that had encapsulated the commissioner in his office. They were images of the fire, and Percy read the arson report which hung on the wall right beside a letter that seemed to have been buried beneath a lockbox that had been filled with threats collected by the Commissioner over time. Though it was neither of those that made Percy freeze in his tracks, it had been the sigil carved into the wood of the house that had given him the slightest semblance of his past before.

He swallowed as he looked at the roughly engraved scythe, Kronos, he hissed in his mind. His fist tightened at the symbol of the organization that had taunted him his entire life, the symbol of everything he was destined to destroy, Your purpose is here, Grover's words at the hospital rang through his head for only a brief moment before Percy tapped the Commissioner's shoulder, "Commissioner, I think I've changed my mind on your offer. I'm not exactly the officer type, but I would like to help, in any way I can."

"Percy?" Grover and Juniper said with deep confusion.

"Well, um," Commissioner Chase muttered, "I'm glad you had a change of heart, and don't get me wrong son, we'd love to have you on the team, if not as an officer, what do you propose?"

"Maybe I could be like a consultant or something," Percy said. "I mean right now I have all this fame and I'm not using it for anything, I might as well use it for good. From what I hear, the NRPD's name has been being dragged through the mud, but maybe if I show up as the 'Hero of New Rome' and get caught in a couple pictures, offer some advice, talk to the press if I need to, maybe I can turn the image of this place around."

Commissioner Chase rubbed his chin, "So like a P.R. guy, not bad, kid, not bad at all. Police departments have hired consultant before, so it wouldn't exactly be an embarrassment, and you're right about New Rome PD needing all the help it can get. Not to mention that your Hero of New Rome status maybe able to get us Mayor Hermes' approval and get you an income, but don't expect anything too grand, I'm not a miracle worker. Also, if this deal does go through, won't carry a gun, you will be no way legal associated with the department, and you will work directly under myself of Detective Arellano, understand?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Percy said with a smile.

"Good," Commissioner Chase said, "I'll bring it up with the mayor and see if we can't have this all sorted out by the end of the holidays. Until then, head on home and enjoy the rest of your holiday, I'm going to try and finish up here so I can do the same myself."

"Thank you, Commissioner," Percy said, "Have a great holiday."

Percy had no sooner stepped outside of the precinct before Grover pressed him, "Why did you do that? I told you the Police Department here is shady."

"I know," Percy said, "But you said it yourself, Grover. I have a reason that I'm here. What if that reason is to help clean up this city, and if I'm going to do that, what better place to start than here?"

"Fine, fine," Grover whispered, "I don't really want to get into it, and I know you're not the type to drop something you put your mind to. Just, don't get too comfortable, alright, and always stay on your guard. I don't trust these people as far as I can throw them."

"Thanks for your concern, Grover," Percy said with a chuckle, "But I'll be fine. You know better than most that I'm capable to taking care of myself."

A/N: Now we're cooking with gas when it comes to this story's progress. If you enjoyed this chapter please be sure to Follow, Favorite, and Review! I love hearing for each of you and your support means the world to me. Until next time, Peace out Peeps!