Homecoming

Chapter 6: Something to Hold On To

When Annabeth and Percy had first suggested to Sally and Paul their plans for homeschooling the second semester of their senior year, to say there was hesitation is a gross representation of understatement. The plan was simple. Stay home, take all the classes and study for the exam at the relative safety of the Blofis residence.

The initiation of this plan however was born from multiple components. Neither of the two demigod heroes could feel comfortable within the walls of the school. Constant glances throughout the hallways in search of those who might not be what they appear, anxiety that at any given moment a panic attack would trigger...they just could not feel safe when dealing with so much pain and fear from their pasts while thrown into the sea of bodies of the attendees of their high school. Those growing fears and stresses had begun to effect their ability to live for their future. This of course all came to ahead at the Winter Formal Dance, where Annabeth had killed a disguised monster, proving they would never be safe, and their growing paranoia was preventing them from academic success. Even Annabeth's scores had dropped from As and Bs to Bs and Cs.

The reluctance to this proposal however was given by Sally. Her primary concern for being unwilling to entertain the initial request was that Percy and Annabeth rarely left the house as it was. It was a struggle to get them to venture out for anything other than school, and so by taking away that one requirement to leave the house, to stay as part of the world they lived in, she was deeply fearful that they would simply become shut-ins, locking themselves away and becoming too afraid to experience life. If they fell into the habit of 'turtleing into their shells', as Sally put it, what incentive would they have to ever venture out? Would they ever be comfortable leaving the house, or would they become so paranoid of the world around them, they closed themselves off from everyone.

Evidence of this was already apparent. Neither Percy nor Annabeth had any intentions to returning to Camp Half-Blood and they had all but severed communications with other demigods. There was of course correspondence between the Praetors of New Rome and the pair, but they never spoke of the horrors of the Great Prophesy. Those few conversations were mostly plans of attending university in the fall. Even Chiron had sent communications requesting the pair to come to camp; communications that went unanswered. Their voluntary removal from the demigod world was of course evidence of their deeper emotional scars, but was just further proof of their unwillingness to face the past. While Sally could not put to words her exact concerns regarding the complete severance of their connection to their demigod lives, she fully understood the ramifications of such actions, as if they were denying their past, and thus acting as if the source of their pain had ever existed. Their attempts to avoid their time at camp and their demigod friends bled into her second great concern.

Sally had desperately hoped Percy and Annabeth would get to enjoy their high school experience. As someone who never had the chance to complete high school herself, she so wanted to see these two go to sporting events or prom, take up extra-curricular activities, things that she never had the opportunity to experience. It wasn't that she was being selfish, wanting to live her missed opportunities through her son and his girlfriend, it was that she wanted them to, first and foremost, have no regrets about their senior year in high school, and secondly, to find something to distract them from all the nightmares of their lives. For all of those small moments, she so painfully wanted these two teens to have the chance to just feel normal, to have a normal high school experience.

That of course had been stripped away after the events of the dance. Though the situation was quickly resolved with minimal effort, it only further demonstrated that they would never be normal. No matter how much Sally or Paul, Annabeth and Percy may want it to be, the Fates would simply not allow it. The realization embittered Sally. It was not the proposal of being home schooled that left her frustrated, it was that the world would simply give them no reprieve from the constant fear within their lives. They could never fully heal until they felt safe, but that would never happen in a school environment, and yet that only further incentiveized them to isolate themselves, burrow into each other as if nothing else in the world mattered. It was a cycle of impotent stagnation she could not rationalize how to remedy.

Sally was desperately attempting to rationalize the request. In some part of her mind, she knew fully that this would be the best, at least for the immediate future. And yet, she could not dismiss the fear of how this single choice could potentially impact their futures. It seemed every step they had taken; allowing Annabeth to stay with them, setting up weekly talks for the two teens to speak to either Sally or Paul about their quests, had worked in the interim to begin unburdening their fears...however, Percy and Annabeth had also seemed to regress in terms of socialization. If she allowed this proposal to operate, it would only help alleviate their stresses, but with every step forward they seemed more and more disconnected from the world around them.

"Paul?" Sally broke the silence as Annabeth and Percy sat in silence, as if being judged by the older woman. She hated the uncertainty on their faces, as if reminded of the fear they wore before she had agreed to let Annabeth stay with them.

Hearing his name spoken, Paul looked up from his focus on the dining room table. He had remained deftly silent during this exchange and part of him wondered what, if any right he had to voice his opinion on the matter. He could love Percy no more than if he were his own son, and yet, the role of the 'step'-parent weighed heaviest on him at this moment. Certainly he gave Percy advice, and helped as best he could at guiding the young man, but he nevertheless felt as though the proverbial axe hung over his head, the 'you're not my real parent' defense that, while Percy never utilized it, the prospect still hung in the air.

There was another factor to Paul's hesitation that he was not fully willing to disclose. He had taken his own initiative to watch and monitor the teens while they were at school, and he was significantly aware that his actions may be seen as overstepping those boundaries in his relationship with his step-son. However, all eyes seemed to be turned towards him, and he saw the desperate hope in Percy and Annabeth's eyes, and the silent support from his wife. Hers were the toughest to meet, for she was not asking for his support, but rather his input to help her make a decision, a decision that Paul could not fully accept his place in making.

Despite his hesitation, he had some insight to impart, mostly through the careful observations of Percy and Annabeth's teachers. "I agree with Percy and Annabeth. Honestly, there have been some very near misses at school. Fortunately the story we've given the administration about Percy's abduction and Annabeth's part in his recovery has given us some ground to stand on. That's why the two of you have been called out of class as many times as you have and sent to 'deliver notes' to each others teachers so you can forestall any panic attacks that may be starting."

"Y-you've been spying on us?" Percy asked, his eyes narrowing as though not sure what to do with the information.

"Keeping tabs on you two," Paul corrected, offering a self-depreciating smile. "I wasn't being nosy Percy, just watchful." He was unwilling to admit that he had kept a log of the number of times the two had needed to be called from class to attend the rising panic in their partner. He had the incidents dated, with times listed and the potential events that caused the rising panic in them, such as a substitute teacher or a fight in the hallway. His attention to detail was born more from attempting to correlate a pattern in the hopes of heading off any upcoming risks or triggers that may lead to their potential breakdowns. Despite all of his diligence though, his efforts did not suss out any patterns he could exploit to limit the panic attacks.

The news that the teachers had been keeping their eyes on Annabeth and Percy, watching for any PTSD attacks was not new to Sally, but the fact that they were being pulled from class to help each other was. "How many times has this happened?" She asked, her brow furrowing as though she had been hit between the eyes with the information without any time to prepare herself that it was coming.

Annabeth had opened her mouth to respond, yet Paul replied before she could answer. "Enough," he said simply. The statement, that single word, served two purposes, to inform Sally that Percy and Annabeth were not free of the fear of their nightmares simply because they were in an overcrowded school, if anything the potential for it was worse. And secondly, it took the pressure off the two teens from having to confess how often these attacks occurred. Within that moment, Annabeth flashed an expression of deep gratitude towards Paul while her hand gripped Percy's writst.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, partly angry, yet mostly hurt that this information wasn't not given to her before now.

"What good would it have done?" Paul asked, moving his hand to take hers, grateful beyond words that she did not pull away from his grasp. "Sally," he paused as if trying to figure out the right words as his eyes slid from his wife to look upon the two suffering demigods at the table. "There is already enough guilt in this household for all parties involved. Believe me, I know, I have my own guilt to carry. There are a lot of things I wish I had done sooner to help, but what's done is done, we need to look to do what's best for Percy and Annabeth, and my opinion is homeschooling is the best option right now.

"I've actually already been talking to your teachers about this, about setting up the second semester agenda and assignments. Honestly, I'd been giving some thought about bringing this up over Winter Break if you two hadn't suggested it now." Paul paused to turn his attention back to his wife. "Sally," he waited as her eyes slowly found his. "How many times have you told me we need to do everything we can to help them...right now, I think this is what's needed."

Sally licked her lips before tightening her jaw, her mouth drawing into a thin line as she shifted her gaze from her husband to the tabletop, considering what was being asked and attempting to weigh what would be gained against what could potentially be lost. For several moments the group was quiet while she worked out in her head what she knew needed to be done before a small nod affirmed her commitment to the plan. "Okay, I understand everything that has happened and the need to distance yourself from...well...the point is, you two come first." She responded, her eyes fixing themselves on her son and daughter-to-be.

"But we're going to need to get a few things covered first. Namely, Annabeth, we're going to need to speak to your father. Even if Paul and I are in favor of this plan, we don't have any legal authority to pull you out of school, and even if we did, I wouldn't feel right without Frederick's approval."

"Yeah," Annabeth said, the word slipping from her lips with dreaded hesitation. "I...uh...I mean, yeah, that's fine."

Sally offered a small smile as her eyes softened at the underlining fear of the blonde teenager. Reaching across the table to grip her hand in support. "Don't worry dear, he'll understand."

Annabeth smiled briefly, yet the doubt still lingered in her eyes as though uncertain whether her father would agree to this. She hadn't spoken to him in months, and though he was aware she was residing at the Jackson-Blofis residence, there was so much she had not told him in regards to this list quest and the extend of her psychological trauma.

"There's something else however," Sally said as she continued, tilting her head to study the two teens seated in front of her. "I can appreciate the need to feel safe and secure, but I...I don't want that to become a habit. And what I mean by that," she began, her words tumbling quickly to prevent any confusion of her intention, "Is that we are going to have a family day out at least once a week. Whether that's to the movies, the park or just going out to a nice restaurant, I want to make sure that the two of you feel comfortable in leaving this house, and next fall, when you're in New Rome for college, you won't just stay locked away in your dorm or apartment or whatever arrangements you set up. Deal?"

The arrangement had seemed satisfactory as Percy and Annabeth shared only a brief look before nodding their head in agreement.

–

Later that evening, they had set up an Iris Message to speak to Frederick. While Annabeth would be the focal point of the discussion, Sally and Paul would also be present to assist with any details about the plan to have her spend the last semester being home schooled. Percy however, was left to pace the length of his room and wait for the verdict from Mr. Chase.

When his image filtered into view, he was, as expected, leaning over his desk, muttering to himself while using a compass and protractor to map out battle lines of whatever combat scenario he was researching. He was completely oblivious to the Iris Message that appeared in his room until Annabeth's voice spoke, "Hi dad."

Startled at the sudden intrusion of his thoughts, Frederick swiveled his head from side to side until he caught a glimpse of the glowing rainbow message to his right, just out of his line of sight. Rotating his chair to look at the glimmering image of his daughter that hovered in the air, a soft smile crossed his features. "Hello sweetheart, how are thing? Is everything alright? What about Percy, is he okay?"

Annabeth nearly sobbed in gratitude that her father would ask about him. When Percy had gone missing, she had of course contacted Sally first and spoke in length of her efforts to find him. But when she learned Percy was in California, she had reached out to her father and, despite her best efforts, broke down in angry and terrified tears over the arrogance of the gods to just tear him away from his life, and of course, from her. Her father had listened in quiet silence, promising to keep an eye out and putting out feelers to see if he could help locate this Roman Camp on his end...he understood fully how much his daughter needed Percy, and, while he had made many mistakes when she was younger, he was hopeful to fix that, to build a relationship with her.

"He's fine dad, thank you for asking," Annabeth smiled as she turned her eyes from the message, her hesitance causing her to stall for time as she considered how to pose the question to her father. "But...there is something we really need to talk about."

"Oh?" Her father responded, his eyes growing slightly apprehensive as he hesitantly chewed on his lip. "Should this be something I should be sitting down for?" He asked before realizing he was already seated. Despite the awkward opening question, his eyes shifted downward, as if he could see Annabeth fully, namely her stomach. When his eyes remained stationary, focusing on her stomach, the teen realized what he was looking for and more importantly, what he was implying about the level of intimacy between the two Annabeth and Percy.

"What? Dad, no! I...I can't even believe you would think..."

"Well honey, I'm just asking. I know how much Percy means to you, and the two of you being separated for so long, teenage hormones and all that, plus this recent war, tensions get high..."

"How could you even thing that!" she hissed as she fought the urge to bury her face in her hands. "Dad...Percy and I are only helping each other through a lot emotional stress right now, we're not even thinking about..."

"Oh, good, good," he interrupted, a look of ease dancing across his features as he settled back into his office chair and let out a breath of relief before looking back to his daughter. "So, then to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"No, you can't just brush over that dad...did you honestly thing?...I mean, you jumped to that conclusion pretty quick...is that really what you think? That Percy and I…?"

"Well, not so much," Frederick replied as he scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture at being called out on his assumptions on the intimate nature of his daughter's relationship with Percy. "But...well, one never knows. I know you've been under a great deal of stress of late, and the human mind tends to seeks pleasure to offset emotional distress...it's actually a common practice in a lot of ancient cultures where..."

"DAD, just...stop, please." Annabeth looked absolutely mortified over her father's attempt to brush over the implications that the reason she called was to announce an unplanned pregnancy. Her face had become so bright, the flush in her cheeks making her skin practically glow. Fortunately Sally came to her rescue, placing a gentle hand on her arm and allowing her to slide into view of the Iris Message, "Hello Frederick," she smiled brightly, and the touch of amusement shining in her eyes was not lost on the military scholar.

"Oh, hello Sally, didn't know you were there," he continued hesitantly, embarrassingly understanding the realization that he had not only assumed Annabeth was taking her relationship with Percy to the next level, but also that this impacted Sally's son, and that she had heard the entire exchange. "I don't suppose we can forget this conversation ever happened?"

Despite the amusement Sally found with the situation, she only needed to glance at the horrified look on Annabeth's face to understand the awkwardness of everything she just heard. "What conversation?" she replied, brushing over the clumsy communication between father and daughter. "Anyway, the reason we're reaching out to you is that we have a proposal...uh, I mean a request about this final semester of high school."

"Oh? Well, certainly, what did you have in mind?"

"Right, well, as you know from our conversations over the school year, Annabeth and Percy have been having a lot of issues surrounding their experiences with..."

"Yes, yes, the Second Titan War and this new war with Gaea...unbelievable that our children have gone through so much...what can I do to help?"

Smiling gratefully at Frederick, Sally continued. "Well, its that, the kids have suggested that we allow them to be home schooled for the final semester. Just tonight in fact, they went to a school dance and had to kill a monster...the school environment isn't helping, its just adding stress on top of everything else their dealing with. Paul is fully supportive of this as well, he's here too if you want to talk to him, but...we would need your approval if Annabeth was to stay at home."

Frederick considered the suggestion, his mind viewing it from all possible variables. Additionally, Paul made himself known and offered his recommendation as well as his assurance that Annabeth would not fall behind in her classes.

"Do you really think this is for the best?" Frederick asked, a frown of contemplative consideration painting his features. Not for the first time he wished for the chance to have had a better relationship with his daughter. Despite his mistakes, there was a certain hurt that reflected from his eyes, an understanding that his daughter trusted Sally more than she did him when discussing the trauma and anxieties of her demigod life. What he wouldn't give for a do-over.

For her own part, Sally drew her lips together as she considered her answer. "No Frederick, I don't think this is for the best, but I do believe it's what's needed. After everything, the least we can do is help them focus on getting better, emotionally and mentally. The school environment is just adding more anxiety that, if we eliminate that, they can focus on getting where they need to be."

Frederick drew his hand up to his mouth in a contemplative action as he nodded his head in understanding. "Okay Sally, it's not like she won't get her educational credits with this, and...well...you being there, you know better than I about the stresses she's going through.

"I'll write up a letter and email it tonight to approve homeschooling for spring." As his eyes shifted, he turned his attention to his daughter, "And Annabeth, about Christmas..."

"Oh, I, uh...I was going to stay here for Christmas dad, but was hoping, maybe Spring Break, Percy and I can visit...if that's okay with you Sally."

The older woman smiled and patted Annabeth on the shoulder, "We'll work out the details, don't worry."

The idea of having his daughter over for Spring Break certainly eased Frederick's mood as he was also reminded that going to school in New Rome would give him more than enough opportunity to build that relationship he wanted with Annabeth. "Right," he said as he began looking over his desk while patting his pockets, obviously looking for a pen so that he could write a note to remind himself to write up a letter to have her home schooled, and then a note to remind him to email it to Sally so she could have it put on file at the school. "Anyway, I'll have that letter written up for you and sent out tonight Sally, and I just want to say, Sally, Paul, thank you for looking after my daughter."

Smiling warmly, Sally nodded with heartfelt understanding. "Believe me Frederick, she is an absolute pleasure," the remark came unsolicited as she turned her attention to the blonde before looking back to the Iris Message. "I won't take up any more of your time. We'll talk soon."

"Look forward to it Sally, have a good night."

"You as well," she said, swiping her fingers through the message and watching as if faded to mist. For several moments Sally sat there, rethinking her conversation with Frederick before speaking again. "He didn't know," she said simply, her words drawing Annabeth's attention.

The teen furrowed her brow as she contemplated the older woman's words, yet before she could ask, Sally continued. "He's very smart Annabeth, he recognized the symptoms of PTSD when I first told him about the night terrors you and Percy have been having, but when we talked just now, he only mentioned the emotional trauma of the two wars you two have been in...he never brought up Tartarus."

Whether it was intentional or not, Annabeth felt an overwhelming guilt at her reluctance to confide in her father. It was one of the biggest parts of Percy's life that she envied, having a supportive parental figure who would listen. In her mind, her father simply did not understand the Greek part of her life, believing still that any problems related to her demigod heritage could be willed away if you simply ignored it hard enough. Many times she had even played through the scenario in her head, telling her father that she and Percy had fallen into Tartarus and could almost hear her father reply, 'Oh that's nice dear, hoped you packed a sweater.'

Annabeth however turned to Sally to explain, not because she felt she needed to justify her hesitation, but more to the fact she desperately wanted her approval. "I...I didn't mean to. I mean, it was hard enough telling you what it was like," she said as a shiver slid down her body as the memory revisited itself upon her, "Percy didn't want to talk to you about it at all...there's still things I don't think either of us will ever be able to share. It's just..."

"It's alright," Sally said, placing her hand on Annabeth's wrist to keep her mind from slipping back to memories of the pit. "share what you can when you're ready, okay? It's just, I would have thought you would tell your father, give him a better understanding of everything you're dealing with."

Shrugging as she took the time to fiddle with the hem of the sweatshirt she wore, one of many she had stolen from Percy, she considered the best answer to the statement. "It's not as easy to talk to my dad as it is to talk to you about the demigod side. You've been here all along, helping Percy through it. But for my dad, he spent the first seven years of my life rejecting it and denying everything about who I really was. If I were to bring up falling into Tartarus, he might think it's a Doctor Who reference. He just...doesn't pay attention to anything he can't rationalize with his own mind. See a problem, figure it out, that's how he works. Gods and monsters and prophesies, they don't factor into his tightly formulated equations."

Sally squeezed her hand in a show of gentle support, "I know sometimes it might seem like your father is preoccupied with everything around him rather than who is around him, but I've spoken to him many times and I'm sure he does love you sweetheart."

Annabeth didn't seem so sure as she again shrugged her shoulder before looking at Sally and Paul, "He cares about sure, but love..." she remarked as the mask slowly slid away from her face, revealing an expression of hurt and regret and she, for the briefest of moments, revealed before shaking her thoughts from her head. "Anyway, I'm really glad you were willing to consider the homeschooling for this final semester. I really think this'll help. So thank you so much Sally, Paul..." Annabeth stood and gave them each a hug before announcing she was going to get ready for bed.

Before she left the room however, she stopped and turned back to the couple, "Oh, and uh...I was hoping, you know, that maybe we don't mention to Percy that my dad might have assumed I was pregnant. Just to be clear, he and I have never...I mean, we may have talked about it but we want it to be right and the timing and everything we're dealing with and...oh gods I'm babbling…you know, I'm just going to go to bed and die of embarrassment..." Annabeth stuttered out as she turned and bolted from the room.

As she left, Sally realized how alike Annabeth was to her father, they both let their mouths run away with them when nervous. Wearing an amused smile on her face, she turned to face her husband before the two burst into fits of laughter, an expression that sounded almost like music in the stressful environment they were all dealing with.

–

A/N: So yeah, this was actually a lot tougher to write than I anticipated. Not that it was tough to get everything put down, but that it was another chapter I felt bore too much exposition and was not really fun to write. But, it was necessary and hopefully it was enjoyable to read, mostly because this will set up a lot of other chapters to come, such as the Spring Break in San Francisco which will include a visit to New Rome and some old friends. But we've got some time before then, so, hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter. If you liked it, please drop a review, favorite, whatever. It's nice to know what I'm doing right or wrong.

As always, thank you for reading.