All rights belong to RR.
Percy
It was a week after the end of the war and Percy was finally heading into New York City to go home. He had Iris Messaged his mom the first night back at Camp Half-Blood to let her know he was alive, but as emotional as that was, it wasn't the same as actually being there. This was the first chance he had had to leave camp and he gladly took it. The cleanup was done for now and they had started to plan out repairs, so Percy had asked Chiron if he could leave Camp for the day.
Chiron had agreed readily. He knew that Percy would have just left without permission if he had said no.
Annabeth had come with him. The younger campers had assumed it was because of the temporary rule of not being alone in the outside world, but the rest of the Argonauts knew it was because of the nightmares. Percy grimaced at the thought. Annabeth glanced at him for a moment before squeezing his hand and turning back to the window of the camp van.
"I just wish they would have calmed down after we finished the quest," Percy murmured, his tone heavy with resignation. Annabeth returned her gaze to him.
"Unfortunately, our luck isn't that good," she replied. Percy appreciated that she knew exactly what he was talking about. They seemed to be able to read each other without even looking recently, which had the Aphrodite cabin in fits. Percy chuckled lightly at the thought and rest his head on Annabeth's shoulder.
After what felt like a thousand traffic lights and a flight of stairs later, Percy found himself staring at the door to his mom's apartment. Home, he thought. Finally. He reached into his pocket for his keys...
"Is something the matter?" Annabeth asked him after a moment of him staring at the door with his hand in his pocket. Percy closed his eyes and hit his head on the door.
"I left my keys in my cabin," he muttered, annoyed. Annabeth looked at him blankly for a moment before bursting out laughing. Percy quirked a smile at how the sound echoed in the hallway. He had missed her laughter.
"Seaweed Brain," she sighed while wrapping an arm around him affectionately, "what am I going to do with you?"
"Hopefully everything." Percy didn't realize he said that out loud until he noticed the slight blush on Annabeth's cheeks. His face reddened as well, but he didn't take back the statement. After a few seconds of silence, Annabeth smiled softly.
"I'd like that," she said softly. Percy grinned, pulling his head off the door and giving her a quick kiss. He turned back to the door and frowned.
"Well, should I knock or should we run around to the fire escape like old times?" Annabeth thought for a moment, but before she could respond the door opened. Percy started to look back but didn't even turn all of the way before his mom had tackled him in a hug. He stumbled a bit and grunted at the pressure but hugged her back just as tightly. He knew she was crying by the wetness on his shirt but didn't realize he was as well until he saw the tears rolling off of her hair.
After a moment she pulled away and studied him. Once she saw the tattoo, she frowned. "You leave for eight months and decide to get a tattoo? I thought I raised you better than that." Percy couldn't help it. He burst out laughing at the remark, wiping the last few tears from his eyes.
"I missed you too, mom." She gave him a watery smile and turned to Annabeth, holding out her arms as she did so. Annabeth quickly hugged her as well. It was at this moment that Percy realized he'd missed something important.
"Uh, mom?" Sally released Annabeth and turned to look at him. "Is there something you need to tell me?" She glanced down at her swollen abdomen and blushed.
"I'm pregnant?" she smiled nervously. Percy just stared at her for a moment, his brain trying to catch up with the news. Once it did, a huge grin spread across his face. He beamed at his mom and turned to Annabeth.
"I'm gonna be a big brother!" he exclaimed loudly, picking her up and spinning her around. She giggled and smacked his arm.
"Yes you are, now put me down!" Percy relented and turned back to his mom.
"That's great! Congrats, mom." She smiled at him and turned to go back inside.
"Come on, Percy. We have a lot of catching up to do." Percy nodded in agreement and followed Sally back into the apartment, stopping in the doorway and looking around in wonder.
I can't believe I'm actually back, he thought. Percy took a deep breath, smiling at the lingering scent of fresh baked cookies and fresh ink that always seemed to be present. A quick glance around the hallway and into the living room showed that not much had changed during his absence, a fact he was extremely grateful for. The only difference he saw was a few more pictures on the walls and a prevalence of tissue boxes, which he felt a bit guilty about. Percy turned to Annabeth as she grabbed his hand again and smiled. He felt relaxed for the first time in a long time, and it seemed that she did too, based on the smile she flashed back at him.
As they followed his mom into the kitchen, they heard a crash. With a quick glance at each other, they drew their weapons and rushed to the kitchen to see Sally crossing her arms and glaring at the shattered remains of a bowl and a large puddle of oil. "Everything alright, Mrs. Blowfis?" Annabeth asked cautiously. Sally looked up at them and grimaced guiltily as she saw their weapons drawn.
"Yes, dears, I'm fine. Just clumsy, apparently," she muttered. "And I've told you a thousand times, it's just Sally, Annabeth!" Annabeth quirked an unsure smile and strapped her sword back to her belt, already moving to help clean up the mess. Percy refused to release her hand though, still unsettled and not willing to relinquish contact. Annabeth glanced back at him and her face softened as she stepped back to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"It's fine, Percy. Just a broken dish." Percy took a deep breath and lowered his sword.
"Sorry," he said softly. Annabeth dropped his hand and moved again to go clean up as Percy just waved his hand, the oil leaping through the air into the sink. Percy's mom just stared at him, surprised, while Annabeth continued picking up the broken pieces of the bowl unfazed. Capping Riptide with a wince, Percy sat heavily at the kitchen table. After a moment, Sally moved to sit across from him, reaching for his hand across the table with a concerned look on her face.
After looking at his face for a moment, Sally sighed. "I don't suppose you're ready to tell me why you can suddenly control liquids that aren't water?" Percy clenched his eyes shut as images of Akhlys drowning on her own poisons and tears flashed through his head, fought the rage and the pain and the misery and the desire to lash out in pain and to destroy everything keeping him down in this hellhole and –
"Percy!" He blinked and shook his head as his thoughts cleared. He looked up to see Annabeth above him, looking down in concern, then across the table at his mom who looked at him with a mixture of fear and sorrow. He noticed the sink exploded, the spray of water leaving a film on everything in the room as the last gusts of some wind settled down. "You need to let go of the table, Percy." Annabeth's voice. Percy looked down to see his hands clamped onto the edge of the table, cracks webbing from his grip across the table.
Percy lay his head in his arms and cried.
It took a while before Percy finally felt he had vented enough of his bottled up emotions to be able to hold a conversation again without blowing up more plumbing. After his sobs quieted down he dried everything off and apologized to his mom, who tried her best to look unconcerned with his current state. As awful as he felt about pretty much ruining the good vibes of coming home, he felt a lot lighter now that he had finally gotten his emotions off his chest. He had been fighting past the pain for so long, he was kind of surprised the dam hadn't broken before now.
As he sipped at the hot chocolate his mom had made him at some point during his breakdown, he finally felt at peace. He had made it through two separate wars and Great Prophesies with Annabeth by his side, and while they had been terrible and the scars would probably never completely heal, he thought that maybe the rest of his life could be pretty great.
As his mom came back from the door with Paul in tow, he smiled widely. He was home, he still had his soon-to-be-bigger family, and for the moment, he was safe. What more did he really need?
