CLIFFHANGER! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I love yet hate cliffhangers.

Anyhoo, this note is going to be extremely short, so love you guys! Review!

Your promised patriotic note: And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free!

Great song, look it up.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from the books. Anything you don't recognize, I do own.

Percy's P.O.V

"I cannot believe we are doing this."

This was spoken by Amanda, who was dressed in black, her hair hidden under a black beanie, looking around furtively. Leo, also dressed in a black outfit, (though he wore a black baseball cap) was standing in front of a door, pickling a lock. There a gold nameplate on the door that read Matthew Jacobs, Child Services.

"You broke into his office?" "Where did you learn to pick a lock?" "Why are you guys all in black?" "Why is she with you?" Leo, still leaning against Percy as they watched the memory, laughed and held up his hands, warding off anymore questions.

"Geez, you guys! Yes, I broke into his office. I learned the lock trick because Teresa used to lock the pantry door as punishment. If I wanted to eat, I was going to have to get creative. We are all in black because it makes us harder to see at night. And Amanda's with me because we are trying to find out her backstory."

"Got it!" Leo exclaimed. "Come on!" He opened the door and slipped inside, Amanda following him. Leo instantly ran over to the filing cabinet that sat beside Mr. Jacobs's desk. He pulled a drawer open, rifled through it for a second, before turning around and presenting Amanda with a file.

(I have no idea if child services files actually work that way, but they do in my story.)

"Here you are, my lady." Leo said with an over-the –top bow. Amanda laughed as she took it from him. Leo turned back to the drawer and began to rifle through it. He paused for a second, his brow furrowed, before he removed another file. A picture paper-clipped to the front of the file showed that this was not Leo's.

The picture was of a blonde girl who looked about Leo's age. She looked strangely familiar. Leo studied the picture and the name above it for a minute before pulling it open and going through it.

"…she did name me! They found me with a note on my clothes saying 'Amanda'! My mother named me… Leo, are you okay?"

Amanda looked at the boy with well-placed concern, because he was staring at the file he held, his eyes wide, hands trembling. His knuckles had gone white from the force of his grip. "Leo?"

'We've gotta go." Leo muttered, still staring at the file. "Amandawehavetogorightnow." The last part was said very quickly as he shoved the file he held down into his jacket. Amanda looked very confused, but stood up and followed him out of the office.

Percy blinked, confused. "What scared you?" he asked him. Leo was sitting up straight again, watching the memory with a huge grin on his face.

"You'll see." Leo grinned.

The next memory was also at night. Leo was running through the streets, his black backpack slung over his shoulders, a red baseball cap tugged low over his curly hair. He was wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans, and was once again reading the file. The memory shifted so that the file was viewed.

(No idea how these are actually set up.)

Name: Brown, Annaliese M. (Anni)

DOB: April 8th, 1999(at this point, both she and Leo are nine, almost ten.)

Current Place of Residence: 444 Nameless St. (great address, huh?)

Foster Parent: Brewer, Teresa A.

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Green

Race: Caucasian

Mother: Brown, Julia G. (deceased)

Father: Unknown

Leo paused, looking up to examine a street sign. Nameless St. it said, and an apartment building right next to it had the brass number 444 arranged on a column.

A wide grin split Leo's face.

He ran into a narrow alley beside the building and looked up. Above his head, there was a light on in a fourth-floor window. And two windows directly beneath the window was a rickety metal fire escape.

There was a gasp of comprehension among the demigods. Percy gripped Leo's shoulder and grinned at him.

The fire escapes ladder was down, and Leo easily scrambled up. Once on the platform, Leo pulled off his backpack, knelt, and rummaged through it for a second before removing what looked like a short metal stick.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Hazel asked.

Leo unfolded the stick, revealing it to be a foldable tent pole with a hook attached with twine to one end. He used this to pull at the bolts holding the bottom half of the ladder, then hooked the top rung of the ladder with the hook once the bolts were loose. Then, with some leverage, he pulled the ladder up onto the platform with him.

Leo grinned over at Hazel. "I'm gonna do that."

The ladder was tall enough that, when Leo rested it against the side of the building, it reached to just beneath the lighted window. Leo scrambled up like a monkey and peered in.

A young girl, blonde hair hanging over half of her face, was sitting curled up on the bed, knees pulled up to her chest, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Her hands were curled into fists around her calves.

Leo studied this sad spectacle (I love alliteration!) for a moment, before he tapped gently on the window.

The girl looked up, revealing a black eye and a long scratch along her cheekbone. She shot a fearful glance at the door, then slid off of the bed and ran on tiptoe to the window. She fiddled with the catch before shoving the lower half of the window open.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she asked in a harsh whisper. Leo grinned at her and placed his hand on the screen.

"I know what it's like living here. I'm here to get you out."

The girl's eyes widened with recognition and relief. "One second."

She ran around the room, grabbing stuff and shoving it into a blue backpack. When this was done, she pulled on a purple jacket and pushed out the screen as Leo scrambled down the ladder and held it for her. She climbed out of the window and down the ladder, pausing to shoot the middle finger towards her window, before she and Leo, carefully reattaching the ladder, climbed down and ran into the night, pausing only for quick introductions.

"I'm Leo."

"Nice to meet you, Leo. I'm Anni."