(A/N Bad place to end, I know. But I'm already a day late and I haven't gotten that far yet.)

Carter hadn't been this excited to get on a train in all his memory. His father was much less enthusiastic.

"You remember what I told you?"

"Yes, Dad."

"About Manhattan?"

"Off limits."

"And Brooklyn?"

"Avoid Uncle Amos' house."

"And-"

"Don't talk to strangers. Keep tidy. Don't get into or anywhere near trouble. Yes, Dad."

"I'm allowed to worry about you, Carter."

"I'm eleven. I'll be okay. Besides no one would mess with Percy."

His dad just hummed in reply before straightening Carter's fall coat again.

"Keep that cell phone off unless it's an emergency. You don't want the battery to die."

He sighed and pulled out the phone to turn it off.

With one more hug Carter turned and entered a train car. It would be an hour to the city. He thought it was a good thing he brought his books, but they barely distracted him from wondering why he couldn't stay the night in Brooklyn.

.

She threw her ball up and down, laying on her back with her foot pumping a beat. She was restless and Annabeth's fidgety behavior was not helping. Annabeth never felt comfortable in Cabin 1, but Thalia wanted to avoid people at the moment.

There was this strange phenomenon when summer let out. There was a fraction of the kids at camp as had been during the summer, but they were so much more difficult to escape. Everyone wanted to talk to her all the time. She wasn't trying to be unfriendly, but she could only be the freak who came out of the tree for so long before needing a bit of solitude.

"Yesterday was Thanksgiving." Thalia nearly jumped at Annabeth's random declaration.

"Yeah, so."

"So… Our school is not the only one that should be out."

"And…?"

"We sneak out. Visit Percy. Try to track Grover. I don't know."

Thalia had to sit up and really look at Annabeth. Sweet little Annabeth, nevermind that she was technically older now, was suggesting sneaking out.

"Grover…is on an assignment."

"So, Percy."

"He could be anywhere."
"No, I know where he lives."

"Do you know he's there?"

"Well, no."

"Why do you want to see him so bad?"

"No. Don't start that."

"What?"

"I've already got Drew teasing me about being friends with him, I don't need you to start too."

Thalia cracked up laughing, wondering how deep the nerve she touched was.

"Alright, alright. No boyfriend jokes."

"None."

"Promise. But we still don't know if he's home."

Annabeth frowned before pulling out a drachma and heading out of the cabin. Thalia followed her to the water fountain where she made a rainbow and an offering to spy on Percy.

He wasn't home.

"Well, there goes that idea."

"What is he doing?" Annabeth growled, as if he'd personally offended her.

"Looks like he's going to the aquarium in Brooklyn." Both girls turned to see Beckendorf wiping his greasy hands on a rag.

"Don't see any water," Thaila said pointedly.

"Well, he's a couple blocks away. He's picking up his cousin at the train station and they're heading over from there."

"How do you know that?" Annabeth asked, scandalized.

"I asked," he said with a raised eyebrow. She scuffed the toe of her shoe in the dirt.

"Well, I for one would love to go to the aquarium," Thalia stated loudly. "You coming?"

Beckendorf's smile stretched slowly across his face as Annabeth flushed in embarrassment and nodded curtly.

.

Percy couldn't describe his relief when he saw Carter get off the train. He'd been anxious knowing that his 11 year old cousin would be traveling alone, and assumed Uncle Julius was probably in a much worse state. Any number of mortal problems could have arisen on the ride and an exponentially larger amount of mythological ones could have.

Idly, Percy wondered how he could face up against Egyptian threats. Sure, he'd faced a son of Sobek and backed Amos up when they'd encountered the odd monster on the streets, but what about a real threat. He'd bested Ares, but could he best a magician following the path of the gods?

Carter slammed into him with a hug, causing Percy to break out into laughter.

"Percy! You're so tall! And where did that scar come from? What have you been up to? What's MS-54 like?"

"Carter! Slow down. I know you are a 'must know every fact in the room' kinda person, but slow down."

"Right. Sorry."

"Nah, let's catch up a bit on the walk over."

"Cool!"

They talked while taking the subway down to Neptune and walked the rest of the way. One block was spent by Percy trying to teach Carter how to skateboard. The next block was spent calming Carter down and convincing him that 'no, your dad will not kill you for a hole in your pants.'

"Wait," Carter was pointing at the Coney Island-Stillwell Subway Station signs. "Why didn't we go to the closer one?"

"I like Neptune," Percy answered with a grin and a shrug.

"Okay. Swimmer, god of the sea. I get it."

Percy chuckled, but didn't elaborate.

They were in line and Percy was excited to get inside. He wanted to see if he would understand the animals. And hoped he could make sure they were happy in their exhibit habitats. Carter loved taking in any new information he could come in contact with, much like Wise Girl, so this was the prefect spot for both of them to have a great day.

They paid for their tickets and entered, only for Percy in ancient Greek when he saw a group of four kids hanging around the first exhibit.