Okay, okay so I love this chapter I really love it- but all I'll say is brace yourself for the next chapter okay guys. Do I have predictions?
Replies:
Thickneck: It's Luke, definitely Luke.
Undeath9087: Hehehehe. Uh, you will see next chapter.
Ryan Fowler: Eh, Percy doesn't want him learning what she is or what she's capable of.
Smith of Swords: He does, and he's gonna need even more very very soon.
Guest: I believe it absorbs their essence.
Guest: They will in time, and you shall see.
Jubby1905: Would in the nose satisfy you?
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: No Camp yet- you'll have to wait and see when Percy will go there.
Guest: Nope, nope it's Luke, he's been searching NY for the girls who stole from him lol.

Percy probably should have just grabbed Piper's hand and bolted- that would have been the smartest thing to do. But she didn't even think, turning around to look- and her gaze landed on a familiar face.

He looked pretty much like Percy remembered. He had that messy blond hair, the scar- but she could see him more clearly now, without the hoodie and in the morning sunlight. And he was handsome too. Percy was pretty sure he was what Sadie, Cleo and Jaz would call a 'major hottie'. But- there was something about the look in his eyes that set Percy on edge. He looked desperate and crazed- which made sense.

Percy certainly wouldn't want to wind up on Kronos' bad side because of a colossal failure like he had.

"Uh, not sure what you're talking about." Percy gave her best winning grin, tilting her head slightly and trying to look innocent- of course the fact that she had the backpack still on her back didn't help.

"Sure you don't." the boy glared at her, "Because there's a lot of people with hair like that."

"Oh, oh so you're making accusations based on my hair color?"

"That's just rude." Piper spoke up, sliding her hand into Percy's, and Percy could feel the tension rolling off the other girl, she was grabbing Percy's hand so they couldn't get split up. "I mean, I'll have you know there's a lot of girls trying to go that exact shade-" she snorted, "At least six in my school who are around our age."

"And the backpack?"

"Oh, this backpack?" Percy asked, quirking an eyebrow, "I found it under a park bench." her mind was racing- and she wasn't stupid- she knew he'd never actually believe it but- the problem was that she didn't want to use magic in front of this guy.

If something went wrong and he escaped it would tip their enemy off, as of the current moment they had a distinct advantage, Kronos likely believed the same as Hades had. And if he didn't know about Egyptian Magicians and gods still lingering they could take him by surprise. Hopefully anyway.

So using magic was a no go. Which meant that Percy couldn't even just summon her sword.

"Really?" the boy looked at her as if she was stupid. Then he shook his head, "Don't try and treat me like I'm stupid kid." he stepped closer, "I know you're the girls who snatched my bag six months ago-"

"It's just a bag dude-"

"I need it back."

"Fine- fine-" Percy held up her hands, he was a lot bigger than both of them. He had to be at least eighteen or so. He was around the same age as Carter- and Percy knew she was slight for her age- not that size was what mattered but still, he had a longer reach and she got the feeling he wasn't like the usual street thugs who she could take out easy.

And she hadn't managed to heal her shoulder up yet. And as good as Piper was... Percy didn't think she'd be able to take this guy on. There was just something about him, he wasn't bulky as such but Percy could see the muscles of his arms. The sort that were earned by years of training.

And there were callouses on his hands- Percy recognised those. She'd started developing them herself- though Jaz had made her up an ointment that worked wondered- her callouses had healed up nicely.

Not that it healed all her scars- but the cover stories for the scars that covered her body had worked well enough so even with her fame and the attention she always got no one thought much about the winding scars up her legs and arms, even when she wore shorts or dresses that showed her legs.

In any case, all of that added together, that meant that he was a threat. And she'd definitely prefer for him to know as little about Piper as possible too.

So instead of just handing the backpack over she shoved it at his face- and she and Piper had split their supplies as soon as the bag was free- it was filled with their food supplies, along with the other backpack. It wouldn't feel empty, that was a good thing.

And the boy stepped back, clearly not expecting her to shove it at him, but he managed to catch the bag, even as Percy dragged Piper around and they took off together, hand in hand.

A glance back over her shoulder made Percy want to laugh hysterically because the boy had practically ripped the bag open and the food supplies had spilled out onto the ground.

And she saw him look up, his expression twisting as he let out a furious yell.

"Run!"

"I am running!

"Run faster!"

"We're not all superheroes who started saving the world and fighting bad guys at nine!"

"Well maybe we should be!"

Percy tightened her grip on Piper's hand.

And she could hear the boy yelling from behind them as they fled.

And Percy could remember how fast he'd been the night they'd stolen the bag from him in the first place. And both her and Piper had been on the road for days, sure they'd slept at times but that didn't mean the sleep was good quality.

And Percy was injured even if she'd had a lot worse over the years. That was going to have a very big impact she was smart enough to know that.

Percy ignored the startled cries as they pushed past a couple walking hand in hand and she dragged Piper around a corner into an alley way- there was a wire fence at the bottom of it and Percy ran towards it quickly, glancing behind them every few seconds.

They reached it quickly and Piper, to give her credit, didn't even falter, letting go of Percy's hand and launching herself at the fence, gripping the holes and hauling herself up quickly. And Percy pushed her up slightly, giving her a boost, and then Piper was at the top, flinging her legs over the other side and dropping down into a crouch- and Percy was impressed by that, Piper really had improved with the training that she'd been doing at Brooklyn House.

And then Percy was scaling the fence- and Piper let out a panicked noise, "Percy! Behind you!"

Percy glanced back, gritting her teeth, and yep, yep there was blond bastard sprinting up the alley toward her with- okay that was a sword, a long straight edged double bladed sword- and it looked strange, like it was made of two metals.

Either way Percy did not want to get sliced up by that thing.

She turned her focus back to the task at hand, climbing up the fence as fast as she could, which wasn't fast enough- because when the guy reached the fence he was still able to grab at her ankle tightly- and Percy cursed colorfully, jerking her left foot, trying to kick herself free.

"Percy!" Piper sounded terrified, "Let me-"

"No!" Percy called quickly, "Don't." no, the situation wasn't desperate enough to reveal Piper's Charmspeak.

She managed to meet Piper's eye- and Piper's expression was tense, and then she was drawing her dagger, darting right up to the fence- which shook with the force as she jabbed the blade between the metal wire and it sliced into the thief's arm.

He cried out in pain, his grip on Percy's ankle loosening slightly, and she managed to yank her ankle free and kick backwards- making him yell in pain again and she took off, scaling the fence in a few quick pulls- and it really, really fucking hurt her shoulder she could admit that much.

Still, she reached the top, swinging her legs over and dropping down into a crouch, straightening up quickly as Piper grabbed at her forearms.

"Keep running?"

"Keep running." because the guy was already gripping the fence and starting to climb- looking even more pissed than he had before, and oh, oh but that was definitely a broken nose with blood dropping down over the top of his lip.

"Where are they?!" he screamed the words, "What did you do?"

"I mean, in our defence I only stole stuff you'd already stole so-" Percy shrugged before they took off once more.

"Where do we go?" Piper was breathless but still able to talk- that was a good sign. "Percy why did you tell me to stop?"

"Because I would rather that guy and Kronos know as little about either of us as is possible." she managed, "We need to try and ditch him and get to Brooklyn House-"

"He's seen your face Percy if he didn't know who you were before he'll know who you are now."

"I don't care, we need to focus on getting the fuck out of here."

So that was what they did.

And Percy might hate the bastard but she could sure as hell give him credit where it was due, he was persistent and he was very fast, even with a stab wound to his shoulder and a bloody nose- which had to be making it awkward to breathe- Percy knew from experience how awkward broken noses were- and they were a bitch to breathe through.

The chase dragged on and on.

And Percy didn't like this- they were running in circles- Percy didn't want to risk luring him back to Brooklyn House so as much as she wanted to leg it across the Williamsburg bridge and home. And she was certain that they could make it there if they had no other choice... but again, she didn't want to give this guy even a hint of anything about her home and the fact that the Egyptians were still up and kicking.

And both she and Piper were starting to tire.

They ducked into yet another alley and Percy's eyes widened.

That had been a mistake, the wall was too high to reasonably climb, not in the time they'd need- and the asshole would have seen them ducking into the alley.

Percy looked around frantically- she had to think quick- and her gaze focused on a drainpipe coming down the wall next to a back door into the alley- it was thick, looked like it was bolted in pretty firmly. And since their only other option would be a dumpster Percy really wasn't going to question it.

She rushed towards it, giving an experimental tug- not a budge, that was good, very very good, "Pipes, quick."

"This is so much worse than gym." Piper groaned, but she didn't hesitate as she started dragging herself up the drain pipe.

It was kind of like climbing rope Percy told herself as she followed Piper up- except the pipe was far more stable than a rope.

Well, unless it pulled away from the wall, then it would be much less stable but Percy didn't want to dwell on that.

When Piper managed to reach the top Percy let go with one hand, boosting Piper up and over the lip of the building onto the roof. And a moment later Percy was hauling herself up, rolling away from the edge as she toppled over the lip onto the concrete roof top landing on her back, closing her eyes and exhaling through her mouth. ."Holy shit." that was Piper, "Did we actually manage to make it up here? Did we get away-"

"Not yet." Percy groaned, pushing herself up onto her elbows and pulling herself onto her knees, crawling towards the edge of the roof- and her shoulder was really hurting at this stage.

She could hear the yelling from below her, and she peered over the edge.

The blond boy was looking around frantically, cursing in Greek, clearly not happy as he tried to figure out where they went.

Percy pulled back slightly as he craned his neck, looking upwards, yanking Piper back with her, heart pounding in her chest. A rooftop chase looked like fun in the movies but Percy knew that the movies were never like real life. And if they weren't careful it could end in a painful fall, unless Percy used magic. Which- well, it was looking more and more likely every second.