I'm taking a break from Sanity is Optional, I've hit a burnout with that one. In the meantime, I will post chapters for the last rewrite, Tower of Nero Jason's Awake edition, but I am still spacing them out because I'm behind on this one too. I'm stuck on the bit where Apollo dreams and has that chat with Jason at that fish food place. Obviously Jason is very much not-awake in that scene, so I need to figure out a work-around :O
Anyway, enjoy! ^_^
Apollo knocked, shivering and dripping on the welcome mat. Outside, thunder boomed. The door opened and he gave his best smile- nothing remarkable as Lester, but still.
"Hello, Mrs. Jackson! Is Percy home?" For a heartbeat, Sally Jackson remained frozen in the doorway, a smile on her face that had been expecting something better than what she was looking at- flowers, maybe. Her driftwood brown hair had more grey than six months ago. She wore tattered jeans and a loose green blouse, no longer pregnant. That last bit explained the sound of a giggling baby behind her.
"Go away!" With a start, Apollo recognised that voice immediately.
"Hello, Louisa!" He called out tentatively.
"Go away!"
"You can't tell them to go away!" Another start, another recognition. Apollo took a step forward, Sally moving aside for him.
"Jason?" He marvelled. The son of Jupiter raised his hand in greeting, holding onto his cousin's arm firmly. They were sitting on the floor, like children, surrounded by papers and drawings and an array of colouring pens.
Sally looked her unexpected guests over. She sized up their gigantic tattooed mohawked train conductor.
"You poor things." She said, a sympathetic look softening her already kindly features. "Come in and dry off."
"No!" Louisa protested, but Sally had already let them in and Jason still held her arm.
The Jackson living room was as cosy as Apollo remembered, sans the pair of demigods on the floor, one waving her hands in protest and the other trying to keep her still. The smell of baking mozzarella and tomatoes wafted from the kitchen. Jazz played on an old-fashioned turntable- Wynton Marsalis! Apollo recognised it with a smile. Several comfy sofas and chairs were available to plop down on.
Apollo scanned the room for Percy Jackson, only seeing his twin and cousin and a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair, rumpled khakis, oven mitts and a pink dress shirt covered by a bright-yellow apron splattered with tomato sauce. He was bouncing a giggly baby on his hip. The child's yellow onesie pyjamas matched the man's apron so perfectly, they had clearly come as a set.
"There is a man in your apartment." He informed Mrs. Jackson. Where he came from, parents often cooked and/or ate their children or pitched them off of mountains, so forgive him if he was a little wary.
Sally didn't seem fussed, laughing.
"This is my husband, Paul. Excuse me a sec. I'll be right back." She dashed towards the bathroom.
"Hi." Paul smiled at them. "This is Estelle." He gently took the baby's arm and made her wave a small, pudgy hand coated in drool. Apollo waved back, but a triumphant laugh and a flash of movement placed Louisa between them and her baby sister. She looked better than when he had last seen her, not as peaky or as sick as she had been. And he did not doubt for a second that she would toss him out a window, with her mother's back turned. Thankfully, Jason came to his aid, rising and standing next to her, a firm hand on her shoulder.
The cousins both looked tired, dark circles under their eyes. Apollo glanced down at their work on the floor, seeing notes and drawings. He remembered the deal the pair had undertaken, recognising a few godly names on the list and even some godly images.
"Been busy?" He asked.
"Yes." Jason smiled, a weary but content smile. "Lots of gods to get through."
"I'm still chargin' you commission." Louisa retorted haughtily, crossing her arms. Jason rolled his eyes and she glowered at him. "Stupid pointy hat."
"Pontifex."
"That's what I said!"
"You're delusional."
"Fight me." She challenged. Behind them, Paul cleared his throat and they settled, although she did stick her tongue out disapprovingly.
Estelle seemed to find it all amusing. She giggled and drooled, chomping on her father's shoulder. She had wispy hair, like Paul's, the world's first salt-and-pepper baby, and her eyes seemed undecisive on their colour, much like Sally's.
"Hello." Apollo said, unsure if he was addressing Paul, Estelle or whatever was cooking in the kitchen, which smelled delicious. "Er… not to be rude, but we were hoping to- oh, thanks, Mrs. Jackson." Sally had emerged from the bathroom, now busily wrapping their guests in fluffy turquoise towels. "Um, we were hoping to see Percy."
Estelle squealed with delight. She seemed to like the name Percy.
"I'd like to see him too." Sally said. "But he's on his way to the West Coast, with Annabeth. They left a few days ago." She pointed to a framed picture on the nearest end table. In the photo, Percy and Annabeth sat side-by-side in the Jackson family's dented Prius, both of them smiling out of the driver's side window. In the back seat sat Grover Underwood, cross-eyed, tongue stuck out sideways and flashing peace signs for the camera. Annabeth leaned into Percy, her arms wrapped around his neck, like she was about to kiss him or choke him. He was behind the wheel, giving a big thumbs up, as if to say We're outta here! You have fun with your quest or whatever!
"He graduated high school." Meg said, as if witnessing a miracle.
"I know." Sally smiled. "We even had cake." She indicated another picture of her and her son, beaming as they held up a baby blue cake, with darker blue icing that read CONGRATS, PERCY THE GRADUTE. "Lou helped with the icing, didn't you, Lou?" Louisa grumbled, but it explained the missing 'a' in 'graduate'.
"Then," Apollo gulped, "he's not here."
"No." Louisa smirked. "But I am." Jason swatted her arm, gesturing at their workload pointedly. "That was your idea, not mine."
"You promised you'd help." He sighed. She narrowed her eyes up at him, raising one hand to push his glasses up his nose with her forefinger. He didn't seem overly impressed by that, but made no move to correct them so Apollo gleaned this was commonplace for them.
"And you're grounded." Sally reminded her. "By both of your moms."
"Details." Louisa insisted, waving it off.
A stubborn part of Apollo was set to insist that Percy was here somewhere, just waiting to pop out and do the dangerous tasks for him. He didn't expect Louisa to volunteer and looking at Jason… in his mind's eye, Apollo saw the spear sink into the floor where Jason had been standing. How close they had come to losing him on that sinking ship, how narrowly a rescue it had been at Louisa's hands.
There was no way he was asking Jason to help. They were brothers; his time as a mortal had taught him to cherish what family he had, godly or demigodly. Apollo much preferred the idea of Jason sitting in this apartment, pouring over lists of deities and being pestered by his cousin than returning to danger.
A small part of him still shivered at the thought of what was to come, but that was the old Apollo talking, the Apollo he had been last time he was here. The twins and Jason were entitled to their own lives and- oh, the bitter truth!- none of which had anything to do with him.
"I'm… I'm happy for him." Apollo managed, looking to the photograph again. "And Annabeth."
"Enough small talk." Lu interrupted. "We are in grave danger. These mortals cannot help us. We must go."
"Yes, you must." Louisa encouraged, clapping her hands together. "I'll show you out."
"Lou." Sally pinched her ear, tutting. "What did we talk about?" Louisa swore in Latin, waving her mom's hand away.
But Lu- oh, this was confusing- Big Lu was right. If Nero tracked them to this apartment, he wouldn't spare this family just because they weren't demigods.
On the other hand, the Arrow had told him to come here. There had to be a reason. Apollo hoped it had something to do with whatever Paul was cooking.
Sally studied Big Lu. She didn't look offended, more like she was mentally taking the Gaul's measurements and pondering whether she had any clothes large enough to fit her. "Well, you can't leave dripping wet. Lou, could you-?"
"Nope."
"Fine. I'll find you some dry things to wear at least, and some food if you're hungry."
"Yes please." Meg brightened. "I love you." Estelle burst into a fresh peel of giggles, having only just discovered her father's fingers could wriggle. Apparently, this was hilarious.
Sally smiled at her baby, then at Meg.
"I love you too, dear. Percy's friends are always welcome."
"Can't we just keep Meg?" Louisa asked. Sally ignored her. Jason shook his head. "I'm gonna put you through that wall."
"Oh please." Jason scoffed. "You couldn't put me through a sheet of paper right now." Louisa straightened defiantly, shoulders squaring, fists clenched.
"You wanna go?"
"No, you most certainly do not." Sally intervened, waving the pair apart. "Why don't you two go and make yourselves useful? Go and… set the table or something. Find some blankets. Go on, go." The duo obeyed, but that didn't stop them elbowing and nudging each other as they walked off. Sally sighed, rubbing at her face. "It's like dealing with toddlers. Very big, chaotic toddlers." She sighed again, looking to her guests. Her smile returned. "Anyone who needs help is always welcome here. We've been in danger before, and we've come through it. Right, Paul?"
"Yep." He agreed without hesitation. "There's plenty of food. I think Percy had some clothes that will fit, uh.. is it Apollo?" Apollo nodded morosely. He knew all too well Percy's clothes would fit, having left here six months ago in his hand-me-downs.
"Thank you, Paul." He bowed his head. Big Lu grunted.
"I suppose… is that lasagne I smell?"
"The Blofis family recipe." Paul grinned.
"Hm." The Gaul thought about it for a moment. "Guess we could stay for a bit."
"Here, try this." Paul tossed him a faded Percy T-shirt to go with his ratty Percy jeans. Apollo did not complain. The clothes were clean, warm and dry, and after trudging underground across half of Manhattan, his old outfit smelled so bad, it would have to be sealed in a hazardous waste pouch and incinerated.
He sat on Percy's bed, next to Estelle. Louisa was there, sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, loosely holding the baby's ankle. She had apparently commandeered her twin's room while he was away, scattering sketchbooks and art supplies around. Jason, now setting the table, had made himself comfortable in here too, with a blow-up mattress and a pile of blankets. Apollo could tell which cousin slept where- one was a neat and well-organised bed, tidied and perfectly folded. The other was a rumpled mass of bedding, clearly kicked away in the morning and then never straightened throughout the day. And, most annoyingly, the duvet cover and the pillowcase didn't match- the cover was blue and white stripes and the pillowcase was red stamped with black dragon silhouettes.
Estelle squealed, lying on her back and staring in fascination at a blue plastic doughnut trapped in one chubby little hand.
Apollo ran his hand across the faded words on his new T-shirt: AHS Swim Team.
"What does AHS stand for?"
"Apollo Hinders Superiors." Louisa replied without missing a beat.
"Alternative High School." Paul corrected, wrinkling his nose. "It was the only place that would take Percy for just his senior year, after… you know."
"Oh, oh, I know!" Louisa chimed in with a weird amount of enthusiasm, raising her hand like she was in class. "Was it after the gods pulled some more shit to mix the Greeks 'n' the Romans so we could do their dirty work again?" She smiled at Apollo, all sweet and innocent, but he knew what trouble lay under such a smile.
"I'm an English teacher." Paul said, joining them on the bed. He cupped a hand gently over Estelle's wispy hair, getting a drooly smile in response. "At another school. AHS was… not the best. For kids who are struggling, at risk, you want a safe place with good accommodations and excellent support. You want to understand each student as an individual. Alt High was more like a holding pen for everybody who didn't fit into the system. Percy had been through so much… I was worried about him. But he made the best of the situation. He really wanted to get that diploma. I'm proud of him." Estelle cooed in agreement. Paul's eyes wrinkled at the edges and he tapped her nose. "Boop." The baby was stunned for a second. Then she laughed with such glee, Apollo was worried she would choke on her own drool. "Now, if we can only get the other one through high school…" Paul raised an eyebrow at Louisa, who blew a raspberry.
"Fuck the system."
"You are torturing me." Paul sighed, rolling his eyes when Louisa mimicked his words. Apollo stared in amazement at them. Paul seemed like such a caring husband, a loving father and stepfather, clearly seeing the twins as his own too. He was pinching Louisa's cheeks, ignoring her complaints and calling her a grubby brat. Baby Estelle kicked her legs, giggling some more at her sister's predicament. Her good nature and sense of wonder rose to the level of superpowers. If this child grew up to be as perceptive and as charismatic as she appeared to be now, she would rule the world.
Apollo decided not to tell Zeus about her.
"So… Paul?" He ventured. Paul froze mid-torment, turning to look at Apollo. "Aren't you worried about having us here? We might endanger your family." Paul raised an eyebrow.
"I've got two Big Three kids fighting over felt tip pens in my front room." Louisa smacked her stepfather's hands away.
"I wanted the red!" She protested. Paul just hummed, clearly having heard this argument dozens of times. "'N' you!" She rounded on Apollo, clenching her fists. "You so much as chip the paint on the front door 'n' I'll-"
"Grounded." Paul coughed. Louisa blew a raspberry, as long as her breath would allow and shooting Apollo a middle finger for the duration. Paul sighed, the corners of his mouth tightening. "I was at the Battle of Manhattan. I've heard about some of the horrible things Sally went through- fighting the Minotaur, being imprisoned in the Underworld. And Percy's adventures?" He shook his head in respect. "Percy has put himself on the line for us, for his friends, for the world plenty of times. Don't look at me like that," he tweaked Louisa's nose, "you don't tell me anything."
"I can tell you I'm cooler than Percy."
"Uh-huh." Paul said sceptically. Louisa narrowed her eyes at him. Paul smiled at Apollo, a little weary, but still kind. "Can I risk giving you a place to catch your breath, some fresh clothes and a hot meal? Yes. How could I not?" He clamped a hand over Louisa's mouth without even looking round. Apollo chuckled weakly, rubbing his arms.
"You are a good man, Paul Blofis." Paul tilted his head, as if wondering what other kind of man anyone could possibly try to be.
Then he flinched, flinging his hand away.
"Oh, you're disgusting!" He chided, wiping his licked hand on Louisa's sleeve. She was wearing a purple camp shirt, Apollo belatedly noticed, sticking her tongue out.
"You taste like tomatoes." She complained, blowing another raspberry. "Bleh." Paul rolled his eyes and she frowned. "Fight me."
"You're grounded."
"Fight me!" She swatted his arm. Paul stood, picking up the baby.
"We'll leave you to get cleaned up and dressed." He smiled at Apollo, then bounced Estelle on his hip. "Come on, Estelle. Let's go teach that horrible sister of yours what real food tastes like."
"Hotdogs are real food!" Louisa protested, clearly falling into an old argument. She followed them out, so caught up in her stepfather's shenanigans, she didn't even insult Apollo before she left.
Apollo took his time in the shower. He needed a good scrubbing, yes, but mostly he needed to stand with his forehead against the tiles, shaking and weeping until he felt like he could face people again.
What was it about kindness? In his time as Lester Papadopoulos, he had learned to stand up under horrendous verbal abuse and constant life-threatening violence and crazy demigodly cousins and their shenanigans, but the smallest act of generosity would ninja-kick him right in the heart and break him into a blubbering mess of emotions.
Darn you, Paul and Sally, and your cute baby too!
How could he repay them for providing him this temporary refuge? He felt like he owed them the same thing he owed Camps Jupiter and Half-Blood, the Waystation and the Cistern, Piper and Frank and Hazel and Leo and Jason and, yes, Louisa too, although he suspected anything he offered her would wind up somewhere unpleasant.
He owed them everything.
How could he not?
Once he was dressed, he staggered out to the dining area. Everyone was seated around the table. Estelle was sitting on Louisa's lap, chewing her big sister's fingers with her gums. Jason was sitting next to her; perhaps not a wise move, considering their tendencies to bicker, but he was on task as always, holding a sheet of paper with yet more godly names. He expertly ignored every face Louisa made at it.
Meg wore a new pink smock dress and white leggings. If she cherished these as much as the last outfit Sally had given her, she would end up wearing them until they fell off her body in burned-and-shredded rags. Together, with her red high-tops- which had thankfully been well-cleaned- she sported a Valentine's Day colour theme that seemed quite out of character, unless one would consider her sweetheart to be the mountain of garlic bread she was shovelling into her mouth.
Big Lu was dressed in an XXL men's work shirt with ELECTRONICS MEGA MART stitched over the pocket. She wore a fluffy turquoise towel around her waist like a kilt, because- as she told Apollo- the only other trousers large enough to fit her were Sally's maternity trousers. That was a big 'no, thank you'. Lu would just wait for hers to come out of the dryer.
Sally and Paul provided them with heaping plates of salad, lasagne and garlic bread. It wasn't Sally's famous seven-layer dip, but it was a family style feast Apollo hadn't experienced since the Waystation. He wondered how everyone was doing there- Leo, Calypso, Emmie, Jo, little Georgina… at the time, their trials in Indianapolis had felt like a nightmare, but in retrospect, they seemed like happier, simpler times.
Sally sat down, smiling as she surveyed the table. Louisa was making Estelle giggle by manipulating her water, liquid shapes and spheres rolling about the tot for her to grab and splash. Estelle looked mystified each time she could not hold onto the display, but it didn't deter her or her boundless joy.
"Well, this is nice." Sally said, so sincere she surprised Apollo. "We don't have guests often. Now, let's eat, and you can tell us who or what is trying to kill you this time."
"Me." Louisa volunteered.
"You're grounded." Her mother replied. "And I have Jessica's bat if you break the rules."
"She let you have it?" Louisa raised an eyebrow. Sally smirked. "That's not fair. That's really not fair."
"Diddums."