Chapter Ten

A/N: Hey y'all! Hoping you liked Queen Phantom, I'm slowly but surely branching out on my own...ish :) And(drumroll please) we have a date for the last chapter! This is worst case scenario, everything factored in. Prepare yourselves...Mixed Signals end date is officially set for the 23 of February. This is with updates every two weeks, which might not necessarily happen. Future readers have fun checking my timeline and seeing if I made it! Also: i went back and read chapter one and it sucks. I would re-write it except...I deleted the document for it right after posting the chapter. I was a naive first-time author and will definitely not be making that mistake again. So! Not a great situation but honestly this whole thing is really bad. Like I said, I've got lots of ideas for better fics after this, so we're just gonna finish this for middle-schoolers who can deal with the mistakes. No offense to said middle schoolers. I know some quite nice ones. And! New cover image! I put the full sized one on MS' tumblr, mixed signals official, so check it out if you wanna see Jinx/Luckybug!

Reformer

"And, there you go! It's easy, really, once you've been doing it as long as I have," Sally Jackson says blithely, lifting a tray of candies off of Mr. Blofis' desk. Luke groans and Percy turns around to glare at him. His mom doesn't have a lot of time, so when she's speaking people better damn well listen up.

"This is so boring," Luke mutters. Annabeth twists around in her chair as well and gives him a Look. Luke quiets down, but continues messing around on his phone. Percy grins at her gratefully and she flushes, turning back around with a ramrod straight back.

"Percy, could you take some of these to the nurse? Hestia doesn't get a lot of appreciation, poor thing," Sally says, nothing escaping her sharp eye. Obligingly, Percy gets up, taking the tray from her hands and heading out the door. It swings shut behind him and Tikki floats out, eyeing the candies none too subtly.

"None for you, Tikki," he says jokingly. Tikki puts on her best 'who, me?' look.

"I never asked for any!" she squeaks indignantly. Percy laughs.

"I saw you looking at them like they were a lifeboat and you were on the Titanic," he grins. Tikki crosses her arms defensively.

"That wasn't my fault! Stupid Plagg," she grumbles. Percy raises an eyebrow. He opens his mouth to speak, but loud alarm bells start ringing. Percy sets the candies down on a ledge and runs, heading to the designated area for fire drills, in front of the school. His class joins him shortly, looking worried as this isn't a routine fire drill. Apollo has his arm around Thalia-man, they got together fast- and that new girl, Rachel, is standing next to Annabeth. Rachel and Annabeth. He's not sure what to make of her, but he's certainly interested. She just...slapped him. She doesn't have a reason, that he can think of anyways. He's sort of excellent at pissing people off. It's a talent. He definitely wants to get to know her better. It's not every day you meet someone with flaming red hair who'll slap you within a minute of meeting you. he's caught her stealing glances at him, and he bets that they'll get to know each other better. Annabeth...he's not quite sure how he feels about her. His heart belongs to his lady, of course, but she doesn't love him back, and he needs to respect that. Easier said than done. But maybe, a bit easier than he thinks. He can still feel her soft touch on his forehead, and her not so soft touch on his nose. Being backed into glass, sitting in a pile of pillows, a butterfly kiss on his forehead. Yeah, he might have a slight issue. He can feel a blush rising to his face and tries to beat it down. No. Bad Percy. No Rachel, no Lady Jinx, and especially no Annabeth. He heads over to Rachel and Annabeth, not wanting to disturb Apollo and Thalia, who are talking quietly.

"Hey Percy!" Rachel says brightly. "Pretty wild, huh?" She goes to grab Annabeth's arm. She flinches away and stands a bit further back.

"You think it's a real fire?" Annabeth asks Percy, or at least he thinks she's asking him. She's not meeting his eyes. He shrugs.

"Maybe. Probably just a stupid freshman though." A loud clapping noise echoes and Annabeth jumps, and almost crashes into Percy. He almost falls as well(curse his clumsiness!) but manages to right them both.

"Sorry," she mumbles. A strand of her ponytail is coming loose and he frowns. Her hair looks...different somehow, but he can't place it.

"Attention students!" Mrs. Dodds screeches. She's standing on an overturned box, as if that makes her more important somehow. She clutching the arm of a firefighter, who's fiddling with his hat like he doesn't want to be here. "Goode students! There is no fire, someone set off the fire alarm and called the fire department. Is anyone going to own up? Anyone?" Nobody moves, though Percy notices Luke smirking. Apollo not being around, he turns to his next best friend: Annabeth.

"Bet it was Luke," he murmurs into her ear. She stiffens and leans slightly away from him, but nods.

"Maybe," she breathes. Mrs. Dodds fixes them with a harsh stare. Finally, Luke raises his hand.

"Ah! Mr. Castellan! Anything to say?" she asks. Luke nods.

"I think Triton-Jackson did it," he says. Percy scowls.

"It wasn't me, I was delivering candy to Ms. Hestia," he says, defending himself.

"Besides, Percy would never do that," Apollo adds. Rachel, Thalia, and Annabeth nod along, agreeing. Mrs. Dodds sighs; although she is suspicious of Percy it wouldn't do to accuse someone without proof in front of the Chief. So, if she can't assign the blame to one individual, she'll just give it to all of them. She figueres they've all done something wrong before anyways. High-schoolers.

"Fine! If the culprit is not willing to come forward, I guess everyone will just be punished. Thank you for your time, Chief," she adds, turning to the Chief. He nods, still fumbling with the hat.

"Yeah. No problem, but I really have to be going..." he says. She waves him off and he hurries away. Luke raises a hand again.

"I think my father, the Mayor, would have something to say about that..." he says, making a show of pulling out his phone. She almost stumbles over her words trying to get him out of the punishment. She does not want a visit from the Mayor.

"Of course, of course. Everyone but Mr. Castellan is punished. Get to work!"


Percy wipes his forehead, leaning on a mop. His class was assigned to the main area, and no one is having fun, except for maybe Luke. He's sitting on a bench, playing on his phone.

"God, he's awful," Apollo groans, speaking Percy's thoughts, radio-edit version. Percy nods. Thalia looks up from where she's scrubbing the floor.

"Annie's a freaking model and you don't see her using her status to get out of work," she grumbles. Annabeth, hearing her name perks up from where she's sweeping the floor.

"Yes?" she calls. Rachel, polishing the staircases, snorts.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. Is Luke always like this?" she adds. Percy, Apollo, and Thalia all nod at the same time.

"Yep. We try not to complain too hard around Annie, he was her first friend, but personally I think he wants to be more than a friend, and she could do much better," Thalia says, her protective streak kicking in. Annabeth, having much better hearing than they know due to Plagg, pauses in her task. Is that really why they never talk about Luke? She knows Percy doesn't like him, but she assumed that Thalia and Apollo didn't care one way or another. She should have guessed that Apollo would be loyal to Percy and Thalia would follow. She decides that they need to talk, especially if he does...want to be more than a friend, as they think. She sets down her broom and casually walks to Luke, trying not to draw attention to herself. He looks up when he hears her approaching, at first scowling. His face lights up when her face registers.

"Annie! Sit down, sit down," he says. Annabeth sits gingerly next to him. She hasn't quite forgotten when he tried to kiss her, albeit her as Jinx.

"Luke, you need to be nicer," she says, diving right in. No point in cutting corners. His eyebrow shoot up and he sets down his phone.

"Nicer?" he asks, like she was speaking in a different language. She suppresses the urge to roll her eyes and nods patiently.

"Yes, nicer. No more of this crap, letting the whole school pay for what you did. And don't try to deny it, I know it was you," she says, cutting off whatever he's about to say to defend himself. She's bluffing, but judging by the way he doesn't argue, she got it right. "You have to be kinder. Treat people like you'd treat me."

"What if I just treated you like I treat them?" he asks, with a completely straight face. She's taken back a little-he's always respected her, or at least Annabeth. "I'm just joking! Haha. But, Annie, they're not like you. I can't do that don't you see?" Annabeth sighs. She doesn't like what she's about to do, but it has to be done. She's the only one who has any sort of influence over Luke, and his reign of terror has to end.

"Then we can't be friends. I'm sorry, but this has to happen," she says, avoiding his gaze. She gets up to go back to cleaning and his hand shoots up, grabbing her wrist. She tries to wrestle her wrist out of his grasp but he holds tight.

"Wait! If you become my girlfriend, I'll be lots nicer," he says. Her eyes widen in shock. She can't believe he just said that. She's not going to be-be blackmailed into redeeming him! She shakes her hand loose and glares at him.

"No. No, no, no. Luke, take it from me. Don't try and coerce a girl into dating you. It won't go over well. Luke, you're just a friend and even if I thought you were more than that, I would never accept that offer. Become kinder and I'll come back to you. Until then, don't go anywhere near me." She stalks off, heading towards her broom and sweeping furiously. Across the room, Thalia, Percy, Apollo, and Rachel watch with wide eyes.

"Should I go after her?" Percy asks. Thalia and Apollo trade glances.

"Nah. I'll do it, you stay here," Thalia tells him. Percy still looks uncertain, but lets Thalia approach Annabeth in his place.

"Hey, girl! You good?" Thalia asks her gently. Annabeth stops her angry sweeps and looks at her.

"I just told Luke that we aren't friends until he can get his act together," she says slowly, and almost disbelievingly. Thalia gasps a bit.

"Are you okay?" she asks. Annabeth smiles sarcastically. Her dad's dead, feelings for Luckybug are beginning to creep up, Rachel and Percy seem to be on track to getting together, and she really can't tell anyone. She's just peachy.

"Yeah," Annabeth tells her. "I'll be fine. Good riddance to bad rubbish right?" Thalia laughs and pats her shoulder.

"Right. Hang in there." She goes back to the group, hugging Apollo as they get in range. She never thought she'd fall for him, having a slight crush on Percy for a few weeks. But when he asked her out, nervous and blushing, she said yes, and she hasn't regretted it ever since.

"Annabeth broke up with Luke," she announces. Percy chokes on his own saliva, coughing.

"Excuse me?" he chokes out. "I didn't realize that they were dating?" Thalia snickers at his discomfort.

"No, like, she broke off their friendship. Why? Would you have a problem if they were?" Percy shakes his head quickly.

"No! I mean, she can date whoever she wants…I guess." The slight anger on his face as he says the words makes Thalia suspect that he's lying, and not just to them. "I wouldn't want her to date Luke, though. The guy's an asshole." Apollo snorts.

"Truer words have never been spoken. Let's finish cleaning, and then you can go propose to Annabeth or whatever," he says, laughing a bit. Percy turns red, and Rachel pales a bit.

"I don't like Annabeth like that!" he whisper-shouts. Apollo shrugs.

"Whatever, man."


Luke lounges on his bed, thinking over his latest problem. He didn't want to be especially nice to anyone, but he did want Annabeth. A problem, indeed. He calls to his butler, Hal.

"Hal! I need you!" he says into his special hotline to him. Hal sighs over the phone.

"Coming right up," he says. A few minutes later, a knock sounds on the door.

"Come in," he calls. Hal enters the bedroom, taking a seat on one of his armchair.

"What do you need, sir?" he asks politely.

"Annabeth won't be my friend until I become nicer," he says unhappily. Hal looks taken aback.

"Then…why don't you just be nicer?" he asks, as if the answer is obvious. Luke rolls his eyes.

"Except I don't really want to. I need a way to fake being nice and convince her that I've become better," he says, quite clearly. Hal ponders this. He gets up and leaves the room for a few minutes, leaving Luke alone. He stares around the room, taken aback. "Did he just…leave?" Luke says to himself. Hal comes back in suddenly, closing the door roughly. He pulls out a little stuffed dragon plush and a bracelet. It's not fancy, just a silver band, and he presses them both into Luke's hands. "What do I need these for?" he asks, disgusted. Hal grins.

"The dragon is something to catch your attention, if this does not." He pulls out a small button and presses it. The band buzzes and Luke considers it again, curious. "You'll throw a party. Invite all your classmates. Be nice to them there, and Annabeth will take you back. If you ignore the buzzing, or don't feel it, I can shake the dragon. It's bright orange, so you should notice it. Sound good?" Luke slowly grins.

"Yeah."


Annabeth's phone lights up and she stares at it curiously. The header says it's from Luke, to a whole bunch of people. Come to my party, 7 P.M. My place is all it says. She opens the messaging app and looks at all the recipients. It's the whole class.

Thalia: i didn't give you my number?

Percy: Saem

Percy: *same

Apollo: Same.

Leo: same.

The whole class chimes in, agreeing that he really should not have their numbers. She doesn't add in. Luke was her first contact.

Luke: When you're rich, things work differently. Not that you would know. Coming?

Annabeth sighs. She can see what he's trying to do. A party in exchange for her friendship. It's a small price to pay, and she wants to keep being friends as much as he does.

Annabeth: Yeah

Nico: fine

Persephone: Ok!

The class, one by one, agree to come. She imagines that even though they try to hide it, they're still excited. She stares at her phone with bated breath, waiting for someone to agree to come.

Percy: k

That's all she needs. She tears through her closet, looking for something to wear. Finally, she decides on a nice grey blouse and black jeans with converse. Not too formal, but not too casual. She texts the girls' group chat quickly.

Annabeth: what're u guys wearing?

Thalia: prob just a t-shirt and jeans

Clarisse: same. Maybe my leather jacket. Dunno

Persephone: Pink!

Clarisse: shocker

Annabeth laughs at them and decides to stick with what she's wearing. He didn't give any dress code, so she should be fine.


Percy is currently doing that thing that the main female character does in a generic chick flick. Throwing clothes out of his closet in search of an outfit to wear. His mother sits on his little couch, sipping her tea.

"Why don't you wear that blue shirt I gave you for your birthday?" she suggests. Percy pulls it off its hanger. It's a simple blue button down. "With your tan slacks and sneakers, I think," she adds. He looks at her expectantly and she raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"Can you get out so I can-you know-change?" he asks, a bit annoyed. She laughs.

"Percy, you didn't pop into this world fully clothed. Or being able to wash yourself-"

"Mommmm," he groans. Sally laughs again but gets out. He gets dressed quickly, heading downstairs. Luckily, it's pizza night. He loves pizza night. If Lady Jinx didn't exist, he'd be in love with pizza. He chews quickly, swallowing, and hops into the Prius to pick up Thalia, Apollo, and Rachel. Rachel and Apollo can drive, but Thalia can't, and Apollo's sister prefers that someone else drive him. Rachel's just along for the ride, quite literally. He pulls up to Thalia's house and gets out, slamming the door. He knocks on their door nervously and Piper greets him, holding a burnt dish of chicken. Jason definitely didn't marry her for her cooking. He doesn't know much about Thalia's home life, just what Apollo has told him, but he's gathered that Thalia's mom wasn't great at being a mom, so Jason, her older brother, and Piper took her in.

"Percy! Have you eaten? I made chicken," she says cheerfully, long brown braid swinging over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I ate, thanks," he says politely. Piper opens the door and he sees Rachel, Thalia, and Apollo sprawled out on the couch. Rachel's wearing a nice green top and jeans and Thalia's wearing an off-the shoulder purple shirt, also with jeans.

"Ready to go, guys?" he asks. They all spring up, nodding. Apollo bumps shoulders with him as he heads to the car, Rachel right behind him. Thalia moves to follow him and Jason jumps up from where he's been lounging.

"No alcohol," he says in a warning voice. Thalia rolls her eyes. He grabs her shoulder, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Hey. I mean it."

"Yeah, yeah," she says. She avoids his eyes and Percy guesses that this, too, is bringing up memories of their mother.

"Let's go, Thals," he says cheerfully to break the tense silence hanging in the air. She scowls playfully.

"Don't call me that." H=They head to his car and Thalia slides into shotgun, neither Rachel or Apollo taking it.

"Everyone ready?" he asks. They mumble words of agreement. "Let's get going then."


Luke greets guests at the door. His eyes scan Annabeth's form and she feels the irrational urge to hide away. Instead, she shakes his hand, trying not to resist when he pulls her into a hug.

"Is this being nicer, Annie?" he murmurs into her ear. She draws back.

"We'll see," she answers. She takes a place near the snack table and watches him interact with the class, both acutely aware of the other. He greets Hades without a nseer, Persephone with out a snort. Dance music begins to pour out of the speakers and the teens began to dance a bit, some talking. Nico and Hades seem to be comparing cards, and Silena is giggling about something with Clarisse, or rather at Clarisse. So far, he's doing good.


Luke glances over his shoulder at Hal, who's lurking in the shadows. The silver band has been buzzing for the better half of an hour. When he fought a glare at Percy, when he almost drew away from Nico's handshake. He's getting tired of the evening, and he's ready for it to be over. The party's been going for about an hour, which is plenty long, right? He's gone later, but that's at more important events with more important people. What usually finishes up a party? Cops, passing out, or slow music. He'd rather not have the cops show up or pass out, so slow music is the best option. He snaps his fingers at the DJ. He understands, benefit of hiring a competent one, and changes it to a popular slow song. Here Without You. It's slow, a little sad, and hopeful. Perfect. He goes to ask Annabeth to dance, hopefully also asking her if he's won back her favor yet. He's blocked by Clarisse, who asks him to dance, blushing an ugly red color. He's about to flat out reject her, when the braclet starts buzzing. Sighing, he accepts, swaying her around the room and trying not to dance as she steps on his feet.


Annabeth glances at the couples pairing up around the room. Hades and Persephone, Clarisse and Luke-she did not see that coming- and Apollo and Thalia. She grins as he awkwardly holds her at arm's length, before she smirks at him and places his hands where she wants them, at her back. She's grinning into her drink when Percy comes up behind her. Hastily, she takes a gulp.

"Would you dance with me?" he asks, a tinge red. She halfway swallows and almost chokes, grabbing a napkin and spitting the rest into it.

"Um? Yes? Yes. For sure," she responds awkwardly. Her heart pounding and her face most certainly an unflattering shade of pink, he leads her onto the dance floor, her hand grasped firmly in his bigger one. She stares up at him eyes, wide, as he holds her like Apollo had been handling Thalia, hands stiffly at her waist. Timidly, she puts her hands on his shoulders-omg omg they're kinda broad NO STOP, STOP IT ahhh he's really close like super close Percy close ahhh-and they move in small steps to the beat.

"You look nice," he says after a bit. She blushes more.

"You-you too," she says. They stare over each other's shoulders for a bit. Annabeth sees Thalia in the corner of her eye and already dreads whatever's about to happen. Thalia smiles mischievously and tugs Percy's hands off her waist and onto the small of her back. She practically jerks Annabeth's arms up from his shoulder's to around his neck. Mission accomplished, she winks at them both and spins back to Apollo, drawing him into a dip and kissing him soundly. Annabeth's face heats up even more and she squeaks softly. Having no where to go, on instinct she buries her face in Percy's shoulder.


Percy stiffens in surprise. It was a friendly dance...a dance between friends. No feelings involved. Besides friendly feelings, that is. But she's pressed against his chest and her blonde curls, still in a ponytail, dance across his face as she keeps her face in his shoulder. She looks a bit pink, and he's sure that he's flaming red. But, since this is apparently what they're doing now, he just goes all in. He slumps a bit and pretty much just hugs her. Except this hug is going on for a very long time. Hours? Days? Weeks? He's lost track of time as they sway, moving slowly across the room. He loves Jinx and it's wrong to give Annabeth ideas, but this feels so right.


Annabeth is in heaven. Forget Luckybug, she'd do anything for this boy. Hold up the world, take a knife, walk through hell if she had to. She sighs a bit and hugs him tighter. She doesn't care about who this looks, doesn't care about who may be watching. This could be the perfect time to confess, as he obviously doesn't mind this hug-dance. Must have gotten over the other girl. God, she hopes so. She opens her mouth to finally confess and as she draws her head back to look him in the eye, someone jerks her arm and she stumbles out of his embrace. Percy looks affronted, and she's certainly annoyed.

"May I have this dance?" Luke asks, a patient look covering his face. She looks back to Percy, but he waves her on.

"Ok," she says, still uncertain. Luke grasps her hand and puts his other at her back. They dance a little faster than the other couples, both having been professionally trained, and he begins speaking in low tones.

"Well? Is this enough, Annie? I want to be friends again, surely this is proof of that," he says, an odd tone coming into his voice, one she can't identify. She smiles still, nodding.

"Yes, you've done enough. We're friends again."

"Excellent," he says in a low tone. He unclasps their hands and moves both to where Percy's were, but his grasp isn't gentle like Percy's. He pulls her flush against him and she braces herself, hands against his chest, pushing back.

"Luke, I don't like this style of dancing," she says tersely. He laughs.

"You were doing just fine with Triton-Jackson a few moments ago," he says.

"This is different, you know that," she says through clenched teeth. He shrugs.

"I suppose so." Still, he makes no move to release her and she starts struggling a bit more. But he's strong, keeping up with her enhanced abilities that came with the catsuit and annoying kwami. She feels something buzz against her back, and a man is waving an orange plush like a flag at them, but Luke gives no signs of this affecting him. "You're stupid, Hal, I wasn't gonna listen to you," he calls over his shoulder. The man, Hal, scowls and snaps his fingers at the DJ. The music changes to something more upbeat, but Luke never changes his stance.

"Luke." Her tone has more pleading notes in it but he doesn't soften, doesn't relent. He does something worse. He kisses her. His hands grasp the back of her head and push it into his. His lips push forcefully against hers and this is awful, worse than it was when she was Jinx. She puts every ounce of her strength into squirming out and tears her face away from his, but still she's not escaped his grasp and she's so ready for this hellish five minutes to be over.

"Still think we're just friends?" he breathes, disgusting smirk on his face. She wants to scream but instead smiles flirtatiously.

"If you let me go I'll tell you," she says, simpering and batting her eyelashes. He lets her go, cocky smile on his face. It gets wiped off as she slaps him right where she scratched him as Jinx.

"Never come near me again. We are not friends and we never will be again," she hisses. He moves to grab her arm again and she twists out of his reach. "Go to hell." She turns on her heel and stalks away, swiping angry tears away from her eyes. Blinded, she doesn't realize who she's bumped into until she looks up at him. Percy. Embracing Rachel. They're dancing, and she thinks she apologized. She doesn't quite know. She stumbles into someone else. Thalia. She catches her, looking her over concerned.

"You good?" she asks. Annabeth shakes her head.

"I need to leave," she says numbly. Thalia looks over her shoulder to Percy and Rachel.

"Oh. Yeah, we can go. Let me get Apollo and-"

"SHIT!" Clarisse shrieks. Annabeth and Thalia both snap their heads over to her. Beckendorf is picking up a table, breaking it and brandishing a leg at Clarisse.

"Beckendorf!" Silena shouts, running towards him. "What are you doing?" He doesn't answer her, looking at her with blank eyes. A small orange dragon plush is attached to his leg. Silena stumbles and trips, grabbing Beckendorf's leg as she goes down. Her hands slide down his calf and the dragon plush falls away. It jumps up and begins moving towards the crowd.

"Reformer is going to reform you, naughty children!" it squeaks.

"Get away from the dragon!" Annabeth shouts. The majority of people scream and run out the door. Only Nico, Thalia, Apollo, Beckendorf, and herself are left. "Move it!" she yells. The dragon latches onto Beckendorf again and he roars, slamming a table leg between the door handles. They're trapped. Annabeth, forgetting for a moment that she's not Jinx, launches herself at Beckendorf. He snaps another leg off and points it at her. Ducking, she slams into his leg and throws the dragon off of him. He snaps back, removing the table leg form the doors and throwing them wide open. She runs through them, but they slam shut behind her. Dragon strikes again. Wasting no time ,she runs behind a pillar. Plagg pops out of the blouse's front pocket.

"Man, that was nasty, first you and Percy, then you and Luke. I don't get paid enough-"

"Plagg, claws out!" she shouts. He's sucked into her ring and she quickly transforms into Lady Jinx. Grabbing a staff, she runs out. The door is still barred and she spots a window. Left without a choice, she slams a staff through it. She jumps through, twisting in mid air and extending the staff to the ground before she hits. Using her momentum, she launches herself back up. Grabbing her other staff quickly, she throws it through the window looking into the room everyone is trapped in. Unfortunately, she didn't really think this through. She begins tipping, and she won't make it. She retracts the staff, hoping for a plan to come to mind, as she falls. Something solid slams into her and she looks up grasping it instinctively. Luckybug, struggling to hold her up one-handed but swinging for the open window. They tumble in and Jinx rolls away, springing up and grabbing her staff, attaching it to the back of her suit again. Quickly, she runs to the door and slams her staff down on the table leg blocking it once again. It shatters and she wrenches the doors open. Scanning the room, she takes in everyone's positions. Luckybug is hauling Apollo out of the ball pit and he doesn't see Beckendorf heading right for him with yet another table leg. Well, they do make four of them generally. She practically pounces onto Beckendorf, rolling into the ball pit with them. She's the unlucky black cat so she expects the dragon to mind-control her next. "Get everyone out!" she yells. Luckybug wraps his yoyo around Apollo and Nico, tossing them out of the room roughly. Only Beckendorf is left, and she scrambles to help him get out of the ball pit. She's hauled herself out and is about to get him out too when she stiffens, an unknown voice taking control while she watches as if from a distance.


Luckybug shoves Beckendorf out of the way as Lady Jinx turns on him, dangerous glare in her eyes. He backs into the elevator, about to press the button to take him to the roof when he spots a shock of black hair. Thalia. She's picking herself up from where she's tripped and he jerks his yoyo out, lassoing her and pulling her into the elevator with him. She stumbles against the wall and he punches the button for the roof. The doors start to close and one of Jinx's staff's blocks it from closing. He shoves it away and the doors snap shut. He leans against the roof, breathing heavily.

"At least we're safe here," he grins, looking at Thalia. She snorts.

"Stairs, idiot."

"Crap." The doors open and he pulls Thalia out. They scan the rooftop, waiting, and Jinx finally appears at the top of the stairs.

"Cataclysm!" she yells.

"Lucky charm!" Luckybug counters. He barely catches the object, a fork, before she snarls and runs at him, dark energy coating her fist. He stumbles backwards and watches in horror as Thalia catches Jinx's hand with her own. He expects to see his friend crumple into ash but instead she dodges Jinx's next swipe. "The hell?"

"She got my water cup, not me. Heads up!" He ducks as her staff swings over his head. The familiar black-and-red pattern flashes and he attaches an end of his yoyo to the fork. He throws it and it wraps around a rod of a deck umbrella. He slides underneath Jinx's grasp and ties the other end of his yoyo around the dragon's head.

"Thalia! Spin it!" he shouts. Thalia races to the umbrella and gives it a firm twist. He catches Jinx's hit and grits his teeth as the pressure increases. Suddenly she stumbles off of him, the dragon's head detached from it's body. He yanks the yoyo quickly, snapping the fork as he does, and opens it up, snagging the akuma before it can flutter away. "Gotcha. Bye, bye little butterfly," he says, waving as he releases it across the rooftops of Paris. "Miraculous ladybug!" A man materializes where the bear was but he ignores him, turning to Jinx and helping her up as she looks around, disoriented. She leans on him, grabbing his arm. "Thanks for helping out," he adds, looking over Jinx's shoulder to Thalia, who gives him a thumbs up.

"No problem, LB." He grins at her and looks back down at Jinx.

"You alright?" She doesn't look great, with tear-stains on her cheeks and unusually messy hair, some falling over the shaven part of her head. She nods.

"Yeah. See you next time," she says, not looking at him as she jumps off the roof. He always gets nervous when she does that, forcing himself not to go after her. He knows that she can protect herself and take anyone out who wants to hurt her, himself included, but he still worries. He's never not going to worry. Sighing, he launches himself away, swinging down to the entrance of Le Grand Paris and rushing into the bathroom to de-transform. Quickly he heads out, catching up with Apollo and Rachel as they search for Thalia.


Luke stares darkly at his phone. Annabeth not only didn't take back his friendship, she flat out rejected him as she did. She's so cruel; what girl wouldn't want a guy like him? His cheek still stings as he logs on to his Tumblr account. Childhood best friend just rejected me, he writes, why can't she see that I'm just as good as the other guy? He posts it quickly, browsing through the newest content. His inbox tings and he clicks into it. A message from queenkronos. He opens it cautiously, the username making him hesitate. I can help you, if you let me, real-luke-castellan. I have things beyond your wildest dreams is all it says, and he stares at the screen, contemplating his options. Looking on as Annabeth gets closer to Percy, or going to this stranger and taking back his chance? He decides to respond.

How?

Meet me next Tuesday at Place de Voges.

Ok


A/N: No redemption for Luke! At least not currently. I said pretty much everything up there, so happy Black Friday! Have yourself a bit of Percabeth. Next update should be next week, we're slowly but surely making it. Hang in there. And! The fic after this has been chosen. Look out for Second Chances sometime in March/April, a lukagami fic. I'm excited for it. See you next time, and thanks for reading!