Chapter 44: Everyone's An Asshole

Disclaimer: Yep yep… I own nothing…

Annabeth's POV:

"Hey." Percy greeted nervously as he stood awkwardly at the front porch of Thalia's house. I know that he gave me his keys, but I couldn't bring myself to live at his house, not when every single thing remind me of its owner.

"Come in." I mumbled as I put away my books.

Percy nodded and looked around. I could tell the atmosphere was a bit different. There was something off about Percy. "So you wanted to talk about something?"

That's weird…

Usually Percy is the type to be dodging around the topic, but this time he's all business.

"You want anything to drink?" I asked, thinking that we're going to be talking for a while.

"I'm good." He sat down on the couch. Even weirder… ever since the incident, he's been the one that's been trying to get in contact with me, but now… it seems like he's trying to avoid me more like it. I noticed the way he sat, his fingers tapping against his legs and occasionally scratching the back of his head. "Annabeth… before you say anything, I just want to say-"

"I'm sorry." I said suddenly. Well to be honest, I've been trying to practice saying that at least a hundred times before he rang the doorbell.

"I know- wait what?"

"I was being irrational about stuff. All you wanted to do was talk and I sort of closed you off from my life. I should've stayed back and let you explain yourself a bit more before breaking it off."

Percy stared at me like he couldn't believe what I was saying.

"What I'm trying to say is…" I took a deep breath. "Whether or not you are the person who actually killed my mom, it was an accident."

"Annabeth… it's okay you don't have to-"

"Accidents are prone to happen and no one can really do anything about it. I honestly thought it was over between us, but then this happened and that…" I trailed off, not exactly sure where I was going with this. "But clearly it seems like I've forgiven you for a while."

"Annabeth just stop for a bit and let me-"

"No, if I don't say it now, I'll probably never going to have the guts to say it again." I took a deep breath. "I forgive you Percy, and I'm sorry for not realizing it sooner, but I love you."

There I said it. For some reason it felt like a huge burden was taken off my chest, almost as if I've been holding those words for a long time. I knew it was true when I said it and I knew that I meant it too.

Percy looked as if he was about to shoot himself when I said that. He just stared at me, unable to form words. I was expecting a kiss, a hug, or at least an "I love you too Annabeth" but he just stared at me like I said the last thing that he wanted to hear.

"Oh gods… this is so complicated." Percy placed his head in his hands.

I stared at him, "What?"

"I- umm… I like you Annabeth." Percy's eyes were filled with warmth and love, but he quickly looked away. "But I don't think- I'm not-" Percy paused as if trying to find the correct words. I bit my lip knowing that whatever Percy was going to say was not going to be good. "I don't think we actually love each other."

"I'm sorry… what?"

Percy scratched his head, "I uh… like the single life."

"You don't sound so sure." I pointed out, trying to maintain my anger and surprise. I could see that Percy wanted to say something else… and the Seaweed Brain was never good at lying to begin with.

"I am sure."

"Even if you're sure, that's a pretty dumb excuse, even for a Seaweed Brain like you." I retorted.

"What I'm trying to say is, I was only with you because of your mom, not out of love."

My anger flared, 'Calm down Annabeth, this is exactly what he wants.' I said to myself and took a deep breath. "Let's say that is true, then why did you work so hard to convince me that you actually did love me."

This time he stayed quiet. "I… uhh… I like a challenge."

I sighed, "You are a horrible liar."

"I'm not lying-"

I shot him a look, "Percy, I've lived with you for a while, I think I'll know when you're lying."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes, Percy, you are and you know it. I don't know what you are trying to do exactly… you of all people should know how much I hate lying. If anything, I thought you could be a person I trusted and relied on."

Percy hesitated as he gave what I said a thought, "I'm sorry Annabeth, I'm really sorry." I looked at Percy; he looked almost close to tears. "The absolute truth is I can't love you, knowing that I killed your mom. I thought I could push that guilt away, but it's just killing me. Every time I see your face, I'm just reminded at what I did. I killed an innocent person with my driving. I'm just… I can't I'm sorry."

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Percy I told you I forgive you there's nothing-"

"That's the problem, you may have forgiven me, but I'm still killing myself over it. When I found out about your mom's death, I tried to do everything I could to make it up to you. I tried everything, I gave you a place to stay, I tried to spend some time with you… I just never expected to fall in love with you." Percy stood up, "I still feel guilty about everything. Especially after realizing how much you loved your mom. I'm… I'm just sorry Annabeth. I'm not ready for a relationship, to be more specific, I'm not ready for a relationship with you."

Percy turned around to face me. He held up the hand that I was holding on to and pushed my hand away from his. "Maybe we could still be friends, but as for the relationship, I'm not really sure it's something that I could handle."

He turned away from me and started to walk out. "Perseus Jackson, you know… you're really a jerk. He had the nerve to turn around. "You've already lied to me once, are you really going to do it again?"

He didn't answer.

"God dammit! Answer would you Percy! You act like you're the only one with feelings! You act like you really cared about my feelings, but you don't. Because if you did, you would not beg me for forgiveness just a couple days ago and then just when I'm about to forgive you… you decided not to love me anymore. What the hell is that all about?!"

Percy just turned away.

"Yeah just turn the other way and run from everything."

He didn't even budge, instead unlocked the door.

"I was right, you're nothing but a coward. Just because you can't face your own mistake, you run away from them. Percy Jackson, you are a fucking selfish coward!"

He slammed the door closed.

I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry. If he's going to be like that… there's no use wasting any more of my tears on him.

What the hell is wrong with him? First he said that he said he'll leave me alone and he's sorry, next he said that he really love me and it wasn't for some guilt, and now….?

One of my shameful moments… I threw a book at the wall in anger. I don't know how long I sat there… 1 minute? 1 hour? But I just kept replaying what had happened over and over in my head. Let me just say it wasn't making me feel better at all.

Something is definitely wrong. Percy obviously wants to continue our relationship… what is changing his mind?

"I just never expected to fall in love with you." He had said.

That jerk. He's hiding something again.

BUZZ!

I looked down at the couch to see Percy phone receiving a new message.

"Nico?" I wondered aloud.

Okay… I know I shouldn't look through his stuff but-

Perce, where r u? get back here now.
u broke it off with Annabeth right?
I really need u to keep ur words.
I know u want to tell Annabeth that her mother is alive but u can't.
I'm really sorry Perce.
-Nico

I tried to contain my anger. I should've known that Nico was behind this. I knew it was risky but I replied back.

I understand Nico
But are you sure her mother is still alive?
And what's the plan?
-P

I held my breath, my anger at Percy already forgotten, as I waited for a reply.

Her mom is alive… for sure. I thought I told you already.
Anyways, we're leaving at the end of the week so get packing.
Perce, I know I didn't say this before… but the chances of us coming out alive is pretty slim.
Especially if Zeus is not providing any backup and well Thalia is… you know what I mean
Just get back here and we'll talk.
-Nico

I stared at the text in shock and decided not to reply.

I don't know which is more shocking. Finding out my mom is still alive? Or that Percy is going on a life-threatening mission?

Oh yeah Percy lying to me? I don't really think of it as shocking anymore.

"ARGH!" I turned around in surprise to see Thalia storming in as she slammed the door. "Did Percy come yet?!"

"Um…"

I stared at her, I knew that she had a bad temper, but this was the first time I've ever seen her completely mad… and by mad I mean insane.

The door she slammed was thrown off its hinges and by the way her car alarm was going off, I could imagine a similar fate. She walked right in, kicked the metal book shelf by the wall causing a few books to fall off. To finish it off she punched the wall, creating a good sized hole on the thick wall connecting to the kitchen.

"That stupid, inconsiderate, lying, manipulating excuse of a boyfriend!" Thalia grumbled.

I stared at her in confusion, "What?"

"ARGH!" She raised her hand to slam my books.

"WOAH WAIT!" I quickly grabbed my poor books before they could be destroyed. "Go ahead."

The table quickly buckled as soon as her fist made contact.

Let's just say I was glad that I took my books away from her.

In a few minutes after nearly destroying everything in the room Thalia crashed down on the couch and turned on the tv, which oddly hasn't been broken during her rampage.

I tapped my foot, waiting for her explanation.

Noticing my stare on her, Thalia looked up, "What?"

I pointed to the destroyed room, "Explain."

"Releasing my anger." She said matter-of-factly as she directed her attention back to the TV.

"Fine, looking away from the fact that you nearly destroyed all my books, explain this." I threw her Percy's phone.

Thalia caught the phone with eased. First looked at it in surprised but then proceed to look at the context. "That asshole." She mumbled under her breath.

"Who? Percy or Nico?"

Thalia stopped and look at me for a moment before replying. "Both."

"I'm guessing something happened with Nico?"

"Oh yippee! You guessed it right Annie." She said with fake enthusiasm. "We broke up obviously." Thalia said with ease.

"Huh?"

"Geez, do I need to spell out everything for you Annie?" I could tell that she's trying to under my skin with the 'Annie' comments but I was much too angry at a certain Seaweed Brain to do anything about it. "We didn't work out."

"Fine casting both of our relationships aside, explain the text from Nico."

"Geez, can't a girl have a bit of a breathing room before someone starts to mention her ex-boyfriend again?" She sighed and stood up, "You want some ice cream?"

I continued to press her, "I want answers Thalia."

Thalia grumbled a few unpleasant words before taking out a tub of ice cream and turning to face me, "Well… it's pretty obvious what's happening here, what do you want me to do?"

"Well for starters… explain."

"Three words Annie, I don't know."

I scoffed, "If there's anyone who knows nothing, it's me."

Thalia closed the fridge and turned to me with a smirk on her face, "So… now you know how I felt during our high school years huh?"

I glared at her. "Thalia tell me."

"Honestly, I don't know. I got pulled off the case. Whatever he's doing is none of my concerns."

Thalia opened up her laptop on the table and quickly typed in her password. I sat on the opposite side of the table trying to get her attention. "Thalia I need to know."

She slammed her laptop shut after a few second. Thalia gave me a glare worthy of… well worthy of herself. "No Annabeth, you don't need to know, you want to know. Learn the difference. There are some things better kept as secret." I had a feeling there was a double meaning behind Thalia's word but I didn't question it. "Don't mention the case or his name in front of my face ever again. Whatever Percy and Nico decide to do with their lives are none of my concerns." She gave me one last death glare.

There was only one time I remembered receiving this glare from Thalia and that was when I asked about her mom. I might've been curious, but I wasn't about to risk my life to get a pissed off Thalia.

With that said Thalia locked herself inside her room without another word. I'll admit I felt guilty for a second, I wasn't sure what happened between Nico and Thalia but for Thalia to get this serious it must be pretty bad. But that guilt soon washed away when I saw Thalia's laptop, sitting out on the kitchen table.

"Could it…?' I wondered. I stood there for at least fifteen minutes before making my choice.

I cautiously walked over to Thalia's laptop and was about to open it when Thalia suddenly walked out holding a bag. "I'm going to go somewhere, I'll be back tomorrow morning." She said as she saw me standing awkwardly in the kitchen.

"Now?" I asked a bit confused.

"I need to clear my head." She said vaguely before giving me a nod and heading out the door.

After a few minutes I walked over towards the living room window to see that Thalia's car was gone. I tried not to think too much about how she left so quick without any warning when something caught my eye.

I picked up the little object on the ground to find that it was a USB.

Curiosity got the best of me and I opened up Thalia's computer. I cursed under my breath when I saw that it was on the log-in screen that was password protected. I pressed on the little icon labeled "Thalia" and it asked for a password. Without any clue as to what the password could be I pressed the hint button.

Asshole

I glanced at the hint in total confusion. I knew whenever Thalia think of a password she always make sure it's something that only she would understand. Frankly right now, Thalia's live is full of secret, including secrets from me.

'Well asshole is a pretty nice word in Thalia's language.' I thought with a slight smile before remembering something Thalia said to be just now.

'That asshole' Thalia had said.

I gave it a moment thought before entering my guess.

I quickly typed in 'Nico Di Angelo'

To my surprise the window started up and I was met with a bunch of folders. "Damn… Thalia, I didn't know you were so sentimental…" I quietly said to myself as I scrolled around.

Without a moment's hesitation I quickly placed the USB into the port.

I opened the folders in the USB. I may not be secret agent level, but I was smart enough to know that the information on this USB could… well if it falls into the wrong hand, it'll be very bad. Thalia should be glad that I picked it up before she dropped it out on the streets.

I scanned through the folders until my eyes rested upon two words, Athena Chase.

I held my breath as I opened the folder. My eyes scanned over documents after documents and thanks to Thalia's laptop clearance over protected files, I was completely surprised. Well that's an understatement. To be more elaborate, I was completely mind-fucked.

"Photographer my ass Thalia." I mumbled under my breath. She was a crime scene investigator, more adept in the spying profession than the actual investigation itself. In other words, Thalia was an agent and a very active one based on what I have acquired in her records.

I checked her most recent area of access and came upon a few documents regarding about a terrorist group with a leader named Kronos, along with a detailed map leading to the hideout. A sudden alert sounded on the screen.

NDA active

"Nico Di Angelo." I thought aloud as I pressed on the alert. Immediately it pinned point onto a location as another window opened up on the computer. With a shock, I realized that Thalia had hacked into Nico's computer, it was almost as if the whole screen transformed into another screen but someone else was controlling it. In this case Nico.

"There's the entrance." I heard Nico's muffled voice through the laptop speakers.

"Okay, so?" I held my breath as I heard Percy's voice.

"So… after our little mission next week, we're heading straight there." Nico's voice concluded.

"Nico… about Annabeth." Percy began.

I knew it wasn't going to help, but I leaned closer to the screen hoping to hear whatever he was going to say.

"I told you-" Nico's exhausted voice began before Percy interrupted.

"I know, I know, Annabeth isn't worth it. This is way more important than her."

Another silence. I tried not to look so hurt. So Percy really didn't care about me.

"I'm sorry Percy." Nico's voice said with remorse.

This time the both of them turned silent and I knew it was the end of their conversation about me as Nico began explaining to Percy each route and everything about the case.

Whatever Thalia did to her laptop, it was ingenious. For some reason there must be a microphone on Nico's computer, so at the same time, while being able to see what he is doing, I could hear his voice.

After almost a half an hour of Nico's scrolling through files on my screen it blackened until it was back to Thalia's original background with a new file on the desktop.

I knew what they were going to do and I understood my mom's relation to this, thanks to Percy's cluelessness and Nico's thorough explanation.

I stared at Thalia's computer, unsure of what to do.

Percy's POV:

"You know the plan." Nico assured me.

"Yeah yeah, I know." I convinced him.

"Percy, this is not the little leagues."

"Geez… you should know that I never played that much sports." I answered sarcastically.

"I'm just trying to make a point." Nico reached into his back pocket. "This is not the real information, but it's legit enough for LBC to be convinced."

Who's LBC? I don't even know.

"Are you going to tell me who LBC is?"

Nico grinned, "Not yet. You'll find out, trust me." He looked at me again, "So you know what do to?"

"I got it. Play the part of a drug dealer." I said with a smile.

"Percy this is not a joke."

"And you've said that twenty times at least." I grumbled. "I got it Nico."

"You've never been good in academics… I'm just hoping that small brain of yours could remember all the information I gave you." Nico sighed as I tried not to seem so offended.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"No thank needed." Nico replied. "Remember if they recognize you as Percy Jackson, tell that Kronos recruited you, almost like a pawn in the case."

I nodded. "Should I hold onto a gun or something?" I asked.

Nico sighed and fumbled something out of his pocket. "You have a vest, let's just hope that's enough protection for you." But he gave me a gun anyways.

"What about you?" I asked knowing that Nico had given me his bulletproof vest after I had forgotten to put on the spare that he had given me.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Here take this." He handed me a gun and told me to hide it in my jacket. To be frank, I felt like another Nico.

"Anything else I need to know?"

Nico stared at me with full concern, "These guys are dangerous Percy, they-"

"Nico, chill… I'm not that dumb."

Nico nodded in satisfaction but still looked worried. "I'll give you guys a surprise visit as soon as I find his hidden stash." With that said he walked up to the man behind the front desk. "Room 433." Nico said with ease.

"One second." The man reached for the phone and dialed up the number. "Sir there's a visitor here requesting to meet you. Their names…" The man looked at Nico for a second.

"Krios."

"Krios… yes yes…" The man barely looked up as he answered, "Up the elevator, to your left. 4th floor."

Nico nodded and headed towards the elevator, within a few minutes we were standing in front of room 433. For a second I thought he was going to kick the door down, but instead, Nico knocked like a civilized young man. And like the mature man he was, Nico ran away leaving me to deal with the stranger.

I tried to keep my breath calm, I knew the plan. Nico went over this almost a bajillion times already.

I stood there in anticipation, as door opened to reveal a familiar face, let's just say I had a hard time containing my surprise. "Luke? You're-" I stood there trying to grasp everything that Nico told me before.

Luke's shock face was soon morph into a grin. "And you're Percy." He leaned against the doorframe as if he's used to people knocking on his doors, "So what brings you here?"

I looked around the corridor, "LBC." I said before handing him a slip of paper.

Luke narrowed his eye for a second. The good-humored look completely disappeared from his face. A moment later, after reading the note, his figure was suddenly stiff but he grinned as if this was a pleasant surprise. "Percy huh? Who would've thought?" He opened his door a bit wider and motioned me to come in. "Well get in, we have a lot to discuss."

I sat down on one of the couch in the room, trying to take in my surroundings.

Luke sat on the chair opposite from me, "So… you're-"

"Krios." I nodded.

"I guess we could save the introductions then." Luke grinned before offering me a drink.

I accepted the water and sat down, "I'm actually surprised that you're LBC."

"Luke Backbiter Castellan." Luke grinned. "I never thought- you were the last person I would've expected to be Krios. I mean my whole mission was to tail you."

"Kronos sent his people after me, to make it seems less suspicious. Trust me when I say that Kronos knows tactic."

Luke laughed, "So when he told me to attack Annabeth?"

I nodded, hoping that the anger was not evident on my face, "Yep, I drugged her beforehand just to make it seem more believable."

Luke let out a sigh of relief, "Good, when she was unconscious, I thought she was actually down."

I gave him a look, "You care about her?"

Luke gave me a sly look, "She just…" Luke hesitated. "Reminded me of someone I guess." Luke admitted. "I was a bit surprised when she said that she was your sister, but of course we all found that out to be false."

"Sorry about that." I looked around the room to see a gun hidden in the corner. "So you only got close to her because you held an interest in her, or was it on Kronos orders?"

Luke shrugged, "Half and half, Kronos said Annabeth reminded him of someone. But of course the big boss is pretty good at keeping things to himself." Luke hesitated another second before asking. "So are you actually dating her or-"

I shrugged trying not to show anything on my face, "Same as you I guess. It was on Kronos order."

"I didn't know that you were such an asshole." Luke laughed before raising an eyebrow, "Do you like her?"

I nearly laughed 'Oh hell no, I'm madly in love with her. Like is an understatement'. But of course I didn't say that, instead I just settled for a vague answer hoping it sounded genuine. "No of course not. I actually thought she was my sister to begin with, well… and I guess Kronos held some sort of interest in her after finding out that she wasn't my sister."

Luke nodded in acceptance. "I see. So you've been helping out with this task then?" Luke asked, referring to Kronos hidden plan.

I chuckled, "How'd you think we were able to get so much done?"

Luke looked shock. "Gods… what was your job?"

I couldn't help but smiled to myself. I was a pretty good actor.

"Quintus, Nightshade, Golden Fleece and the incident on Mt. St. Helens." I said with a grin, trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about. To be honest, those names meant nothing to me, aside from the name Quintus, but I remember Nico's pep talk to me before we left his house. "They needed someone on the inside, and I was the last person that anyone would suspect."

Luke looked impressed. "So why'd you join up?" Luke asked his face suddenly serious.

"Easy. Revenge. I needed the resources and Kronos was the only one willing to provide it."

Luke looked at me with a new air of appreciation, "Interesting."

"But I'm guessing you're not meeting me to talk about my life." I said with an air of confidence, because I'm running out of things to say… really quick. "Kronos wants information."

"Fine…" Luke said after a while. "But I need my payment."

I played it off, "Information first Luke, you know the drill."

Luke hesitated but took something out. "Here's what I gathered on the agent that has been tailing our plans."

"Only one?" I asked. If I remembered correctly, Nico and Thalia both worked on the case.

"Only one I could find." Luke replied. There was something else in his voice, almost as if he's hiding something.

I nodded and opened the files. Let's just say I wasn't surprised to see Nico face plastered all over the file. "Good. Do you know his name?"

Luke shook his head, "He's are good at concealing everything. Getting this much information wasn't easy." Luke said as he gave me a small floppy disk. "The rest is in here."

I nodded, "Is that it?"

I gave Luke another slip of paper. The one Nico had slipped into my pocket beforehand, "Here's the check."

Luke gave me a grateful look, "I hope we'll get to work together later, you're actually not that bad."

I hoped that my face didn't betray me, "Glad we got that off." I grinned before looking at the check in his hand that I just handed to him, "So what's that for?"

Luke looked alarm, "This?" He held up the check. I nodded. "Oh… umm… I needed funding." Luke admitted.

"For?"

Luke shrugged, "Family stuff I guess."

I decided not to push him, "That's cool, I understand."

"Hey Percy," Luke began. I looked up, his face… was it guilt? "You know about your car accident?"

I studied his face carefully, "Yes…."

Luke looked as if he wanted to say something but apparently changed his mind, "I heard from Kronos that it killed your two friends."

I held my breath, for a moment I didn't know what to say. "I know Kronos was behind it." I deadpanned as soon as I saw Nico's aviator jacket appear from the vent.

Luke looked surprised, but before he could decide on anything Nico pushed the guy in and pinned him to the floor.

I stumbled to grab the files as Nico struggled to keep Luke under control. "Dammit! Stay still!" Nico hissed in frustration.

"What the hell do you want?! Jackson! You had something to do with this didn't you?!" Luke sneered at me, the friendliness and guilt from before was gone.

I looked at Luke, then at Nico, but Nico answered for me, "It'll be smart for you to shut up. There's recording in this room, and everything that was said in here could be used against you. Especially with all these shit we found in your room… it's enough to give you a death sentence."

"Get the hell off me!" Luke continued to struggle but Nico held him in check. "You guys aren't with Kronos!"

"Gee… took you long enough." Nico's voice was filled with sarcasm. "So let's see….LBC." Nico held him in check. "You're wanted for distributing illegal drugs, putting millions of lives in danger, numerous theft, attempted murder, and actual murder."

I looked surprised, "Attempted murder?"

Nico shrugged, "He tried to kill me."

I wasn't surprise to say the least. Nico was probably on thousands of kill list for terrorist groups. "But he obviously didn't succeed. " I noticed since Nico was very much alive. "But you said attempted murder and actual murder..?"

"Percy, your car was rigged… guess who rigged it." Nico managed.

A look of shock went through Luke's face, "Who the hell are you?"

I was face to face with the killer of my friends. The one that caused me to blame myself for years. "Luke shut up." I said directing my anger at him.

"Luke Castellan?" Nico asked, his voice itching with anger.

"Yeah? What is it to you?" Luke scoffed.

Apparently it seems like Nico was more pissed off than me because he took out a gun and aimed it at Luke.

"Nico!" I quickly stopped my friend. "Don't kill him! Are you fucking crazy?!"

Nico just glared at Luke but quickly assured me, "Relax Perce, this is just in case he tries to run." Nico zeroed in on Luke, but his voice didn't convince me, "I wouldn't try escaping, I can shoot your face without looking at you." Nico glared at him. "And I will do it."

Luke looked startled, "What do you want?"

"Information." Nico said through gritted teeth. "You were present during the accident. To be more precise, you were the one who caused it. I want to know where Kronos goons are."

Luke laughed, "And if I don't tell you?"

"Then I'll give the funeral house a call to build your casket." Nico said in full seriousness, venom in every one of his word.

"Nice, I'm getting a proper burial." Luke scoffed.

"And bury you alive."

I gave Nico a look but the guy just shrugged. I didn't notice it before, but the way Nico looked at Luke… it was almost like… he was jealous.

I decided that I must've been imagining things.

"Krios is going to come soon." Luke managed through his constraint position. "You guys are dead."

"Krios is not going to be coming up anytime soon." Nico assured him with a rough push.

Luke looked surprised, but quickly regained his composure and replied with a smirk. "Just like your sister… Bianca Di Angelo."

At his sister's name, Nico was surprised, but that was enough for Luke to make his move. At that moment the situation was suddenly reverse, in just five seconds, Luke managed to grab two guns on the table and pointed it at us. "Anyone move and I'll pull the trigger." Luke warned his eyes glaring at the both of us.

Luke grabbed something out of his pocket and threw it at me before I could do anything. Suddenly I couldn't move, I could feel something pricking on my right arm. "You're paralyzed so unless you want to be shot down, I suggest you don't do anything." Luke directed his attention back to Nico. "You are really gullible. Did you really think I was not expecting an agent to crash this little party?" Luke smirked. "I had information on you Agent Di Angelo and your sister's name did come in handy. Though, you did fool me with Percy here."

"You asshole." Nico glared at him, finally getting over his shock.

"We've been gathering information on you for ages Di Angelo. Especially since I noticed that someone was trailing my activities." Luke grinned. "Let's just say that Kronos would love to have your head as a trophy."

Despite the gun being pointed directly at his face, Nico laughed. "All this for your mom's hospital fees."

Luke's face darkened. "What do you know-"

I tried not to look surprise as Nico exposed Luke's biggest secret, "Your mom's craziness was caused by the agency, but to be more specific, it was your dad's fault. Your dad introduced your mom to the agency and because of that one mistake, she was sent to the mental hospital after a failed mission. After that you hated your dad, you succumbed to stealing famous artworks to pay for the hospital fees rather than asking your dad directly for help. You wanted to steal that famous artwork by Rachel Elizabeth Dare that was hidden in Percy's car, so you rigged his car. Unexpectedly that caused the car accident that killed Pallas and two innocent bystanders. And that is exactly how Kronos recruited you."

When Nico said this, I flinched, two innocent bystanders. All this caused by an art thief.

"He saw that you killed Pallas," Nico continued. "The woman that he's been trying to chase for years, and in that instant, recruited you to be part of his gang. He promised to help your mom and give you your revenge. You resented the agency and to be more correct, you resented my dad's agency."

Luke's eyes turned bloodshot as he realized what Nico was talking about. "You're-"

Nico took out his own gun and pointed it at Luke.

"Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades Pluton. You didn't recognize me because I used my mother's maiden name." Nico grabbed Luke by the collar. "I know you are desperate to have that operation performed on your mom's brain, but did you really think Kronos is going to help you do that? His plan is to remodel the world in his own fantasy. He cares nothing for you or your mom. He gave you check after check, but have you ever noticed that the check is only enough to provide for the medication, but never enough for the operation?"

"You act like you know everything-"

"Your mom, May Castellan, is currently residing in Connecticut under the care of a local mental hospital. She's been in and out of the hospital for almost ten years. Her condition includes hallucination, extreme violence, and occasionally self-harm. Her brain has been damage severely and the only way to save her is going through with this expensive operation that you obviously don't have the money for."

"How the hell-"

"Thalia Grace."

Luke looked up at Nico as he lowered his gun. His face held an unreadable expression as he studied Nico, "Thalia-?"

"Yes." Nico answered coldly still holding his gun in place.

I was trying to understand what was going on. "Wait Luke knows Thalia?"

The two of them ignored me. Luke studied Nico out of pure curiosity, while Nico looked at Luke with extreme distaste.

Luke looked shocked, almost as if he's suddenly realizing something. "She- she's been alive this whole time?"

Nico looked pretty impatient, but he nodded.

"B-but they told me, they said that she was dead!" Luke glared at Nico. "You're lying, you're trying to-"

"I'm not."

"Thalia is dead, those bastards killed her. They forced her, they-"

"She chose to join, no one forced her-"

"You're lying!" Luke yelled in frustration.

"You know I'm not." Nico said with completely confidence. "You have her written down as my partner."

Luke was silent for a second. "That's not Thalia, it's just a coincidence, they told me she was dead. It was all their fault, the agency just throws away their agent like pawns. Thalia is dead-" He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"Really? You had a slight suspicion it was her when you saw the picture didn't you? You only turned in one agent to Kronos, but left Thalia out of your report." Nico insisted with a grim look. "Thalia is part of the agency."

Luke angered returned almost immediately as he raised up his gun, "I'M NOT GOING TO BELIEVE YOU! I'm not going to be like every other agent. I'm not going to be another pawn of the agency just like my mom was."

"Then what? You're going to be a pawn of Kronos gang?" I asked him, hoping that he at least see some sense in this and not fire off the gun. "You saw how your mom was hurt because of all this." I said straining my hand, hoping that the numbness wears off. "Yet, instead of trying to prevent all of this from happening, you became the person responsible for the lives of millions."

Luke zeroed in on me, I could tell that I struck something. "You don't know-"

"Of course, I don't know anything, but at least I understand that causing other misery won't help with your current situation." I answered back with confidence as Luke's gaze began to waver.

"I don't care for anyone else. They could die for all I care." Luke spat.

"Maybe that explains why Thalia didn't want to see you." Nico's voice hardened. "She saw you on the cruise and at Grover's wedding, yet chose not to greet you." Even though Nico said that it was entirely Thalia's decision to not see Luke, I had a feeling that Nico had something to do with it. "It's because she saw the type of person you turned into. Someone who could kill another person without a second thought."

I didn't know what Nico was trying to do. It's obvious that whatever Nico was saying is not really helping with Luke temper. Rather than behaving like a professional on the matter, Nico acted as if he was emotionally blinded by jealousy and hatred.

"Enough of this! You're just trying to distract me!" Luke decided as he held up his gun again. "THALIA IS DEAD AND YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR HER DEATH! YOU AND YOUR DAMN AGENCY!"

"What? Are you going to kill me now?" Nico asked. "You shoot me and I would not hesitate to shoot you." Nico warned, it was like he wasn't afraid of dying.

I didn't know how long Luke's paralyzed poison was supposed to last, but I could feel my fingertips tingling. I looked at the gun on the ground next to me.

I looked up, noticing Luke and Nico both holding the guns at each other faces. I didn't understand Nico, the whole mission was to kill Kronos spy, and Nico assured me he'll do the killing, yet the look on Nico's face… he seems almost hesitant.

"I will shoot you." Luke insisted as he aimed his gun.

'Come on.' I urged myself. My hand was only around a centimeter away from the gun and I could feel the numbness coming off. My index finger wrapped around the gun.

"You're nothing but a pawn of Kronos." Nico spat.

My whole hand was wrapped around the gun.

"Just like how you are with the agency." Luke said through clench teeth, his attention completely on Nico.

I positioned the gun and aimed it at Luke. I wasn't a great shooter like Nico or Thalia, but at least I knew where to aim.

"Thalia was right to leave you." Nico glared at Luke.

"SHUT IT!"

I pulled the trigger.

Luke pulled the trigger.

Nico pulled the trigger.

DUN DUN DUN! Actually I feel like I haven't had one of these endings for a while. It's a bit of a confusing chapter, I had to go back and edit it so many times… but there's probably still mistakes in there. Lots of information in here though :)

I'm going to keep this short and simple cause I still have homework and such, I'll try to update soon, this was only a week apart! YAY! The next update… well you guys are gonna have to wait! Tell me what you guys think of the chapter!

Song: Boomerang- The Summer Set seriously listen to this song, it's pretty good :)

Agent Astro Zombie