Chapter 14: Secret Past Revealed
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, Gaia! It's not my fault that Percy Jackson does not want to be your pawn! It's all Rick Riordan's fault!
Annabeth's POV:
After a couple weeks of getting settled into New York, I actually enjoyed the place. At school it was exciting catching up with Piper and actually learning interesting facts about architecture. Added to the fact I have an amazing teacher, after my first talk with Chiron, he welcomed me to talk with him anytime, frankly… he acted almost like a second-father/personal teacher to me, occasionally giving me tips as well as notes.
Believe it or not I've also got comfortable around all the other people at Columbia, one of them is Luke, considering we went out for coffee together occasionally. Our relationship… though… I'm not even sure where it is going… I like him that's for sure… but there are times he acts so distance when he's with his friends, but when we're alone he's always sweet and caring. We go on dates like couples... but then it always ends out as friends' date. Then life with Emily's brother is taking off in a whole different direction, for sure I know Percy annoys the hell out of me, but there are times when he's actually a caring and brotherly guy. Even though he's still mysterious at time and it doesn't help that he's always have this sadness lingering behind his eyes sometimes. Other than that he's just a pain (not really) especially at work. Sadly however, I actually look forward to going to work, considering there's always Percy there to joke around with, even though he still doesn't know I'm his sister.
"Coffee!" He called out again even though I was merely a couple feet away from him. Seriously though… how much coffee does a guy need? He already drank five cups of coffee and it's barely the 3rd hour of work. It's always been like this for at least two months now, I don't get how a guy could drink so much coffee… unless he's deliberately trying to annoy me.
I glared at him, "Can't you get it yourself?" I screamed at him. Thankfully the doors were closed or our co-workers would be wondering why a crazy girl is yelling at their boss.
"As you can see… I'm busy…" He said pointing towards the pile of papers on his desk.
"Well, as you can see… so am I… since someone decided to push a whole load of paper organization on my desk." I glared at him then pointed towards the group of papers on my desk that were getting ready to be filed in.
"Aren't you my assistance?" He asked in that annoyingly cocky voice of his.
"Not your slave I'm not…" I mumbled back.
He must've noticed my sudden bad mood… well of course! Who wouldn't be mad after getting coffee after coffee! "Okay okay, gee, I'm only joking, I'll get the drink myself then." He got up his lazy butt and walked out of the room.
I sat down on my chair and rested my temple hoping for some peace and quiet for once, of course… life is never perfect, for that was when my phone decided to scare the heck out of me.
RING RING!
I grudgingly reached for my phone, "Hello? Annabeth Chase speaking."
"Wow… you actually answer your phone like that… way too freaky woman!" A voice I haven't heard in a long time blared through the phone.
"Emily!" I exclaimed as my face broke into a smile.
"Gee… who else would be calling you under the caller I.D. of Emily," Was her sarcastic reply.
"Another Emily?" I offered with a slight grin on my face. "I miss you, we haven't talked in a while, so what's the occasion?"
"Nah, just trying to buy time and see how my jackass of a brother is treating you," She answered simply.
I thought about how Percy was just plain annoying, but I have to admit, he made a pretty good brother. "Come on Em, he's not that bad… he's just a bit annoying at times."
"And how would you know? You haven't even survived staying with him for three days before you decided to move into the school's dorm and you have been staying there for weeks already and you haven't told me anything!" Emily informed me.
"Then how did-?" I began.
"Facebook stalking woman, get with the times." Emily interrupted me. "Anyways… as I was saying, he's a jackass just like my retarded dad."
"You're quick to judge." I commented.
"Ehh… one of my good qualities," she retorted back, I could almost imagine my friend grinning on the other end. "So what are you doing now? Did I call at a bad time again?"
"I guess not… I'm just at work."
"Work? How'd you get a job so quick? If I remember correctly you were not really big on the job thing…" Emily stated.
"One, it's actually your brother's company I'm working at and two, you didn't remember correctly… it was actually you that was not really big on the job thing." I told her.
"Whatever… not the point," Emily mumbled. "Anything new?"
I looked around to make sure Percy was not around, "I don't know… but your brother… he's cool and everything… but don't you think he's a bit mysterious?" I asked her thinking about what I have overheard yesterday.
"How should I know? I've never met him." Emily replied without a care. I decided to let the subject drop… for now. "Why? Interested in him?" Emily asked with a teasing voice.
"No," I said right away, almost laughing at the idea. "That's just… so wrong… if I was ever interested in your brother… I'd rather go die in a hole. I mean I'm just curious about him… not the interested dirty thing you're thinking of." I told her.
"What dirty thing?" She asked innocently.
"Forget I said anything," I mumbled knowing that she'll probably win the argument. "So tell me… what exactly do you know about your brother?" I asked her hoping to get out some information.
"Woah… stalker much?" She asked with a joking tone in her voice.
"Said the girl who stalks people on Facebook." I shot back.
"Okay… okay… well his name is Perseus Jackson and-" She begin.
"How about something that I don't know…?" I interrupted her.
"Umm… let's see…" She paused as I heard typing in the background.
"Are you searching him up on the internet?" I asked her in disbelief… I mean sure Percy's company is famous but I doubt it'll have personal info about his life since he is not… that famous. "You're not going to find anything besides relating to his work and-"
"How about the fact that he dated a famous artist?" Emily offered.
"Wait what?" I stop my rant to listen clearly.
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare, painter of famous pictures such as 'Oracle of Delphi', 'Battle Of Manhattan', and many more. Her work is currently shown all over the world and she have recently signed a contract with the Louvre Museum. Her artwork is worth almost billions and she's the daughter of Jonathan Ivan Dare and Hailey Christina Dare."
I remember that the first time I came here they were taking about a Ms. Dare… could this be the one? "Wait did you say dated?" I asked emphasizing on the past tense.
"Yep as in almost three years ago." She confirmed. "Apparently they broke up after five years of dating for some unknown reason."
"How exactly do you know this?" I asked her a bit amazed.
"Apparently, he's not just some big egoistic jerk, hiding behind his pathetic family's name-"
"You know… you're part of his so called pathetic family…" I reminded her.
"Yeah…yeah… anyways… he holds a pretty good record for many swimming competition, I'm actually surprised he didn't continue on the path of swimming. In high school, he was offered an invitation into the swimming Olympics, and then made it into the semifinals but some reason he denied going to the championship at the last minute. However, his times were almost impossible, you should've seen how surprised everyone was to see a new comer kicking butts. Though, it did show that he broke many swimming records at his high school. There were even rumors that he was better than Michael Phelps," Emily continued.
I sat there at my desk with my mouth opened wide, I find it hard to see Percy swimming or even be a swimming extraordinaire. "Are you sure what you are giving me is accurate information?" I asked her a bit unsure.
"Unless there's something wrong with Google I'm pretty sure 50 pages of the same thing is enough to prove it." Emily stated sarcastically. "I can't believe this, he's just- woah!"
My ears perked up, "Woah what?"
"How about he was a famous so-called terrorist in the past?" Emily said her voice in fear. "Now I'm not even sure if half of this is true… why isn't he handcuffed inside a prison or something?"
I thought about what Piper had told me about this information being classified, "Could you get more information about this?" I asked.
"Already tried… they won't allow me any access into the files for some reason…" Emily said a bit frustrated. "Well, we know one thing…" Emily trailed off.
"What's that?"
"That my half-bro is one pain in the ass." Emily joked. "And that you are currently working in the same room as a terrorist."
"Come on… you can't actually believe that your brother is a terrorist." I tried to reason with her.
"Explain blowing up buildings and stealing wonderful artifacts." Emily shot back.
"He seems pretty nice to me, maybe there's more to the story." I said reasonably.
"Looks are deceiving," Emily said wisely.
"Don't be judging a book by its cover." I retorted back.
Emily sighed, "Fine… but I still don't know… all the information on here are pretty extreme…"
"Come on… it's probably just a mistake." I said not really believing what I'm saying. "I mean… blowing up buildings, stealing artifacts, and a world-wide famous terrorist… added to the fact that he's a swimming extraordinaire… it's rather hard to believe…"
"Well… how about he also discovered a mutated… possibly a new species?" Emily added.
"New species?"
"Bessie as most people called it. Pretty weird animal if you ask me."
"So you're telling me that the one and only Perseus Jackson was a world-wide famous child terrorist, dated a famous artist, a prodigy swimmer, and now a famous explorer? Are you even sure-"
"How did you know all that?" A voice asked nearly making me jump out of my seat. My phone fell out of my hands as I turned to face a pair of sea-green eyes.
Percy's POV:
I stared at my grey-eyed sister, trying not to sound so mad. "How did you know all that?" I asked again.
She stared at me in shock before picking up her phone and hanging up. "I-I… I was just curious about… erm… you I guess… considering that I've never met you before the last month… and… well… you are always so mysterious…" She trailed off.
I don't even know whether to be suspicious of her of not. I didn't even know how'd she even found out about me being a so-called terrorist as a child. Truth to be honest… I was not a terrorist at all… more like I was RUNNING AWAY from a terrorist and accidentally blew up a few monuments during my run. I've always thought the CIA's already erased my past from the public eye… Then again… they did it for the public safety… if anyone knows what I did during my run… it'll just bring danger to them.
I look around the office outside and closed my office door. "I don't need my own family snooping around my office." I said in an angry-calm voice. "Why can't you just mind your own business instead of looking into my past?" I asked her, my eyes filled with anger as I slammed my fist down on her desk.
"I-I'm sorry," She stuttered.
My sister looked at me as if afraid I might do something bad, I instantly felt guilty. I turned towards my sister and look at her straight into the eyes, "Look… you don't need to be looking around in my past to find out who I am… I can promise you that I'm not a bad guy." I assured her seeing her feared face as she looked at me.
Her face looked troubled a bit and I was tempted to tell her pretty much everything about my past for some reason… I mean she was probably the closest thing I have to a close sibling…considering she's the only sibling I've ever met... However… there's also that fact that she's only been my sister for an official two months… I wasn't so sure I could rely this information on her considering how many pain and death I've caused in my younger years.
All of the sudden my office door opened to reveal Michelle holding a couple papers, "Percy," She called out my name then stopped noticing the tension in the room. "Is this a bad time?"
I released my hand from her desk and look up at my assistance, "No, we're good," I said taking a look at Annabeth.
Michelle nodded, and hesitantly walked towards me, "Well… we got the Stoll brothers to help with the clean-up today, but you might need to go there in case they decide to try any of their new pranks." Michelle added, handing me a couple envelopes. "These are some information on the land that we've just researched and had it checked over."
I nodded trying to keep my emotions in check, "And the architect?" I asked her.
"We're still looking… but there is one… you could meet with him today."Michelle said doubtfully.
I ponder a bit, "I think my schedule is clear today, aside from the cleaning up with the Stolls I can go at any time." I told her.
"Well… he said if you're interested he's going to be at his office any time from three to six in the afternoon." Michelle handed me a card, "His office is near the purchased land."
I studied the card, "Okay, is there anything else?"
"That's all, but you would probably have to get to where the Stolls are right now before they cause more trouble…" Michelle sighed.
I nodded then glance over at Annabeth forgetting for a second that she was there, "You…come with me." I told her and grabbed my keys. I stuffed the card of the architect inside my coat pocket and headed outside towards the elevator with Annabeth following closely behind.
Soon we were just standing awkwardly in the elevator, I sighed, breaking the silence, "I'm sorry for overreacting about this… but you don't need to know about it." I leaned back against the wall of the elevator. 'Because you'll be putting your life at risk.' I added silently in my head.
Annabeth sat there emotionlessly and I wasn't sure if she was either mad or just plain shocked. The elevators doors opened and I dragged my sister out to my car and opened the door for her. Once we were inside the car she finally talked, "I didn't mean to snoop on you… but if I'm hanging around this close to one person especially if that person is my brother… I think I would want to know if he's a wanted terrorist at a young age."
I stayed silent, 'Well she does have a point…' I thought as I took a turn into the next street. In the past two months, I have to admit that we've been getting closer as siblings, but I never really delve with my past when I'm with my sister, it's almost like I actually enjoy hanging out with a friend instead. However, there are things she's curious about me and some things that I'm curious about her. "I can assure you that I'm not a terrorist… or else why would I be running a big company without getting handcuffed or something?" I asked back.
"That's why I was curious," She said half-heartily.
We sat there in a bit of an awkward silence, I remember that we haven't gotten one of these in a while ever since the first week I've gotten to know her… and to be honest I hate these awkward silences. "Look… one of the reason why I was thought of as a terrorist was because of all the bombing, but none of them were because of me… it was just some malfunction in the building and I'm always known for my bad luck…" I said vaguely. Even though this was true… it's not the entire truth.
She studied me, probably knowing I'm not exactly telling her the whole detailed story, "Well, if that's all then what's there to hide," She said plainly, clearly implying that she knows I'm not telling the whole truth.
"Afraid you'll think of me as some bad omen or something?" I offered with a slight smile.
Thankfully, she relaxed as I gave her a smile as if she know things are not as tense anymore. "After all these two months you still haven't gotten to know me that well huh?" She shot back a weak smile. "Well, I don't believe in omen that much, there's no facts behind them and-"
"You only go with the facts," I stated with a smile remembering how much she said that line every time she's at work with me.
She glared at me as I let out a laugh without even knowing why I'm laughing. Maybe it's because I've been so tense the entire week, or maybe I was hoping to relieve the tension between us, "Come on, you have to admit it's pretty funny, that's like your catch phrase or something,"
She glared at me again, "Just like how Mr. Mysterious is your catch phrase?" She shot back.
I bit back my tongue, "Come on Mr. Mysterious? Can you get any lamer than that?" I teased her trying to ease the topic away from my so called 'mysteriousness'.
"Well maybe if you stopped being mysterious I won't call you that."
"I'm not mysterious you know all my basic favorites." I told her.
She crossed her arms, probably knowing that I won't spill anything. "Fine… "She went back out to staring at the window leaving us in a comfortable silence. Nowadays, we rarely get awkward silences, I guess I have to say I've gotten used to these and they are actually comfortable, probably because I'm getting more and more use to her as a sister. There's occasional silence, but I don't find it as tense as it was before, almost as if I'm actually enjoying her presence.
After heading over to a little stop to buy some food and drinks, we arrived to see a crew already cleaning up the place, with two familiar brown haired guys directing the course of work. "Let's lift it up guys," The taller brother hollered. "Come on we're beastly pirates, this is a piece of cake!"
As if on cue, both brothers playfully sang as they worked.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack-"
Annabeth looked at me with an amusing smile as the two brothers sang, "I'm guessing those are the Stolls."
I gave her a look, "Gee… I was wondering when you would say that." I turned towards my friends, "Travis! You guys do know we're not running a theater production here?"
"Aww come on Perce! This just makes it more fun! Plus it makes you look like Cap. Hook while we're the hardworking pirates!" Travis grinned as he placed down the wooden cardboard.
"And I'm the magnificent Peter Pan!" Connor added in as he majestically threw down his bundle letting a gust of dust travel through the air. The brothers went on bickering who is Peter Pan, while I just shook my head wondering how old these guys actually are.
From beside me Annabeth coughed, I turned towards her a bit worried, "You okay? You can stay in the car if you can't stand the dust." I offered as I saw her face turning a bit red.
Letting out one last cough, she quickly waved it off, "I'm fine…" She said stubbornly.
Connor turned his attention towards Annabeth as he let out a little wolf-whistle, "So who's the pretty lady Perce? Got a new woman?" Connor asked giving a wink towards Annabeth who look like she was about to murder Connor.
I glared at the younger brother, "She's my sister," I answered him.
Connor ignored me completely as he took a step towards Annabeth, "Connor Stoll, and you are?"
"Not interested." Annabeth replied.
"I meant your name babe," Connor said with a grin.
Annabeth looked reluctant to answer, "Annabeth, " She answered bluntly.
"So how about we go out sometime? Drinks are on me." Connor flirted as I was ready to punch his guts.
"Back off man," I stepped in between him and Annabeth. "Don't be flirting with my sister Connor." I said seriously, feeling a bit protective of Annabeth.
"Chill man, I'm just joking around," Connor said noticing my serious expression, then turned to Annabeth, "But I'm serious about that offer." Connor winked. "So how about it? I'd hate to see a pretty face like you be dateless." Connor made a grab for Annabeth's hand.
For some reason my protective nature flared as I slapped away Connor's hand, "No flirting with my sister." I repeated myself.
"Man… if I didn't know better I'd think you are her boyfriend, any-who call me when you're free, my phone number is 1-800- HOTSEXY."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "And my number NOTFREE" Annabeth shot back.
"You know… he's not kidding about the HOTSEXY part being his phone number…" I trailed off looking at Annabeth shocked face.
"Maybe cause I am?" Connor added with a smirk.
Travis stepped up, "Hey, Travis Stoll, excuse my brother, he's just mentally retarded when it comes to girls." Travis laughed as his brother punched his arm.
"Hey, I was being nice!" Connor argued. "Girls digs guy who makes the first move man! I've told you many time!" Connor grinned.
"There's such a thing as being too forward." Annabeth voiced as she cracked smile at the Stolls behavior.
"Hey don't go blaming me!" Connor desperately defended himself. "I'm just not good at flirting when I'm on an empty stomach!"
"Oh yeah," I turned towards Connor, "Tell everyone to take a break man, I got some food in the car," I threw him my keys, "Go get it." Connor grinned as he grabbed my key and nudged Travis. I glared at them, "Don't even think about it…"
Travis grinned, "About what?" He caught the keys from Connor and threw it in the air.
"Stealing my stuff like you guys did last time." I replied.
"Technically… there's no evidence it's us Perce, didn't they teach you in preschool to not blame someone and don't go judging a charming person by his looks." Travis replied with a gleam in his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, just know that if I find anything missing… you can say good-bye to your charming face." I replied sarcastically.
The brothers ignored me as they made their way towards my car… robbing it in the process.
"Sorry about them," I nervously scratched my head. "They're just annoying, but the Stolls are pretty harmless." I smiled weakly, 'Unlike me.' I added silently in my head.
Annabeth laughed, "Harmless? You just said they steal stuff."
I shrugged, "Then I guess it depends on your definition of harmless." I look around and threw her a pair of gloves, "Put them on, there's a lot of work to be done." I look at her clothes, they were more of a casual wear, with a nice pair of jeans and a blouse. "You want to get something to cover your clothes so they don't get dirty?" I asked her.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "You're the one with the suit," She remarked, gesturing towards my clothes.
"Okay whatever you say then," I grinned and grabbed my gloves picking up a metal rod to throw it into the piles. After a couple hours of working, I gave the crew back their jobs and scanned an overall report of the land.
"You got the information right?"
My sister held up a folder of paper and placed it in the car. "Okay, the directions to the architectural firm… take a right as you head-"
"Since you're a horrible navigator…" I interrupted as Annabeth shot me a look. "How about I navigate this time and you drive?" I offered.
"You're just lazy…" Annabeth stated as she noticed I was yawning. "Never worked this hard before?" She asked as I stretched my arms that was sore from carrying trash after trash.
"No… more like I didn't get enough sleep yesterday… because someone took a long time to finish their salad." I shot back remembering our dinner with Grover and Juniper to talk about their wedding.
"Don't go blaming me… Grover was rushing you on your best man toast." She shot back. "So who's driving then?" She asked pointing at the wheel.
I sighed, "Well since… you are a horrible driver, I'll do the honors… now if only you would be kind enough to give me the directions."
"Take a right, then the next right again, then past a nearby McDonald and his firm should be around there." Annabeth said quickly.
"Wow… maybe now I won't get into an almost accident." I mumbled sarcastically.
"Considering it's your driving skills… I'm pretty sure we'll be in for a surprise." She shot back as she clipped on her seatbelt.
Well… in case you didn't catch it in the beginning… two months have past ( I just felt like I needed that in there… you know… to speed their relationship up… and don't worry I'll be bringing in Rachel soon enough, because her role is still intact with the story
I apologize for not updating lately… been having family problems… school stuff… and I'm feeling hella depressed… I didn't feel like doing anything except sit and stare at nothing, because I swear… if I talked to anyone… I would go crazy and yell at them. Best thing to do whenever I'm mad… is for everyone to not talk to me … just let me be alone for a while. I'm kinda scared… having some pretty dark thoughts in my head… I'm usually the happy-go-lucky kind of person… so not use to all this shit. Well just needed to get that out… since you guys don't know who I am… it just makes it easier to talk... here's a rather good song…. Thanks for reading don't forget to read and review, I could really use some jokes.
Song: Home – Chris Daughtry
Agent Astro Zombie