"Um. So. Hi. M-my name is…" She could hardly get the words out. She took a second to run her hands through her new pixie haircut, before closing her eyes and clenching her fists.

"My name is Beryl Grace and I'm an alcoholic." It all came out in one breath.

"Hi Beryl," the crowd echoed back. Beryl opened her eyes and for the first time didn't see judgement or revulsion or contempt staring back at her.

"This is my second meeting and I've been sober for about a week. I started drinking when I got my first big break and some TV producers flew me out to Hollywood. Any stereotype you could probably come up with would probably apply to me. I was young and pretty and I knew it. I got some pretty fun teen beach babe roles and just… got caught up in that life of partying and drinking. Then when I was 21, I met the most…" Beryl's voice broke. The tremor in her hands grew and she pulled her late father's army jacket tighter around her bony shoulders.

"I met this amazing guy at a network event in Rockefeller Center, and we hit it off and he was just so… powerful. Everything about him just screamed power and he found me attractive. Me. Out of all the other women there. I think I may have been just as drunk off of that as anything I had been drinking that night. And we dated for a couple months I think and then…" Beryl covered her face with her hands as she began to weep. Someone handed her some tissue. She didn't see who but whispered a thank you anyway.

"Then I got pregnant and had the most beautiful little girl. But then he left me and so I went back to drinking and flying back and forth between New York and LA. Then I had post-partum and I was just… so awful and bitter to her for so long. The drinking got worse and I started getting fewer roles and life just got so hard. Then my little girl ran away when she was just seven. And I broke completely and just…" Beryl took another breath. The worst part of the story was over now.

"Then he came back. But he was different. He was so angry when he found out she was gone. We said so many things to each other. I love him. But I was so angry with him for leaving. I tried everything I could to make him stay. To just make him stay with me. At first, I thought it had worked. There were moments when it was better than it had ever been. Then I got pregnant again and he was gone. I knew I couldn't repeat my mistakes. I decided to leave everything I knew behind to move here, to New York and start over. I figured I'd get a job and then maybe work my way back by getting a part on Broadway. After I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, I decided to leave the performing life behind and try to be as good a mother to my son as best as I could. That was a few weeks ago. Last week was so rough with Jason crying all the time and looking for a job. I just really wanted a drink and then…I don't know. Something told me to come here. After that first meeting, I finally felt like I had a way back to being who feel like I should be. I know that doesn't make any sense but I'm grateful to all of you for listening."

Beryl sniffled a little and then went to find a seat at the back. No one watched her go. They had all been there before. Sharing your story, the first time is always the hardest. It takes so much out of you and it's not like a Catholic confession. You don't get to tell some guy in suit all your problems and deepest secrets. You don't get forgiveness. All you get is understanding and acceptance. Meetings are hard because you have to learn to forgive yourself over and over again every day. A lot of people don't make it. They let the misery and damnation have them. But Beryl couldn't afford to just give up. Not again. Her son needed her. Her sweet little Jason. Beryl didn't care about paying attention to the other speeches. She only had enough energy right now for her own troubles. So, she pulled her hood over her head, and her knees to her chest to try and stave off the sudden chill of exposure that she felt. She felt a little tired and decided that a quick nap before she had to go home would best since Jason seemed to be a bit of a night owl.

"Hey." A voice to her right snapped her out of the unexpected drowsiness. She pulled her hood back to see a brown-haired woman looking right at her.

"Is this seat taken," the woman asked.

"I-" Beryl coughed to clear the frog in her throat. "No, it's not but I'm not really polite company," Beryl said. The woman gave her a wry grin.

"Oh shoot. And here I thought I had stumbled into the sunshine and rainbow convention," the woman said. Beryl ran a hand through her now short and spikey blond locks.

"Well, I guess if my hair were longer, we'd have the sunshine covered," Beryl said.

The woman laughed and opened her long gray trench coat to reveal a rainbow polo shirt that said O'Shaughnessy's Sweets and Treats. Beryl laughed too.

"Looks like the convention is in town then," Beryl said.

"I guess so," the woman replied. "May I sit?"

"Sure." Beryl lowered her legs back to the ground and pulled her hood back all the way.

"I like your hair cut," the woman said.

"Thanks. It's….new."

"Yeah? Do it yourself?"

"Yeah. I needed a change you know?"

"I do. That was quite the story you told. I'm sorry you had to go through all that." The woman's deep blue eyes made Beryl feel warm with something.

"Thanks. I think you might be the first person I actually believe is being sincere."

"That's because I completely understand what you're going through." Beryl snorted at this.

"What? You also got knocked up by a piece of shit guy who completely destroyed your mental health? Twice?"

"Eh. So maybe our stories aren't exactly similar. My parents died in a plane crash when I was really young. And then I lost my uncle Richie to cancer when I was in my last year of high school. I never finished. Instead, I spent the next year and a half being drunk while working as a maid at some cabins over in Montauk. One night I was getting hammered with the owner's son. He was like 26 and I was 20. Anyway, we got into a fight and he was about to hit me when this guy walks up and tells him to leave."

"So? Why are you telling me this?" Beryl didn't see how this related to her situation at all. Her lover is literally unlike any man she'd ever meet.

"I'm getting there. I promise this is important because I want to ask you something and I feel like you won't say yes unless I've told you my story."

"What do you want to ask me?"

"Can I finish my story?" Beryl rolled her eyes at the request. Then she looked around and saw that people had divided up into smaller groups to talk amongst themselves. She checked her watch.

"Fine but you've got 15 minutes. I need to get back to my son."

"Awesome. I promise it won't take long. So anyway, this guy walks up and tells the owners son to leave and then the strangest thing happens. The owner's son just walks away." Beryl frowned.

"Why is that strange," she asked.

"Because the owner's son was like in a trance. And something was off about the guy. I could see that he was… different."

"Different how?"

"He just seemed… really old sometimes. I used to joke about how old he was because he would never tell me." The woman went a little misty-eyed and Beryl came to a realization.

"You love him."

"Yeah. I do. I eventually got pregnant and had a son. Perseus." Beryl's eyes widened as the revelation hit her like a speeding train.

"Wait. You… wait what? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I know what's like to lose family," the woman said pointing to Beryl's beat up army jacket. Then she touched Beryl's shoulder and continued, "I know what it's like to go into a tail spin. I know what it's like to feel lost and to meet people who change your life. And I know what it's like to have a little boy become your entire universe. You and I are a lot alike Beryl Grace. I want to help you."

Beryl couldn't form words, but she could feel the tears start to run again. She thought she was finished crying.

"It's okay to cry," the woman said. Had she said that out loud?

"I'm sorry," Beryl said wiping her eyes. "I'm just not used to…"

"I know. I know and I want to help. Beryl, I'd like to be your sponsor if that's alright. Will you let me?" Beryl nodded emphatically and hugged the woman tight. They stayed like that for a few moments, Before Beryl realized that it was time for her to go.

"It's time to go, yeah?" the woman handed Beryl another tissue.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Let me give you my number and address. I don't have a cell phone yet but I've got a reliable landline. Call me tomorrow and we'll set something up to start getting to know each other."

"Thanks, I will. What's your name?"

"My name is Sally. Sally Jackson."

A/N: Hey all. So, I've got this idea for a PJO story. It's going be AU. I'm basically going to take the original series and throw it in a blender and see what happens. There's a longer author's note on my profile page.