Here it is… the moment you've all been waiting for:

!

You'll have to figure it out in the chapter ;)

~GoGreen52

Chapter 30- Cell of Dirt

Previously on Homecoming:

We were about two blocks from my hotel when I heard someone behind me. No one was really out this late here, but it sounded like someone was following us.

I heard Leo struggle next to me, and silence. I was scared to turn around, and see what happened, but… being me I did anyways. Looking on it now, I should've just run away, but I really haven't gotten that part yet.

I turned around to see a knocked out Leo, not dead because his back was moving up and down, and when I looked up, all I saw was a flash of blonde, then-

Darkness.

oOoOoOoOoOo

-Percy POV-

I was wide awake when I heard some footsteps outside the cell. Finally, now I get some food in here!

As the footsteps got closer, I did my best to stand up, even after being beaten by Luke, the traitor, on my legs. It hurt like hell, but I finally got my mind straight and stood up. I had to use the steel bars to keep me up, though.

As soon as I saw who was there, my face turned into a scowl. Luke decided to come down again, but in his arms was definatly not food. It was a person… not just a person, but a woman with blonde hair. From the back she kind of looked like-

No… I can't think that. Annabeth. She was the best person I've ever met, and all I did in the end was push her away. Then Luke killed her. I can't believe I didn't see the signs in the beginning. Luke always looked at her like she was a pet, and he could really care less what happened to her.

Every time I came to my apartment, beaming with joy over Annabeth… he wouldn't care. And now it all fit together-

He was plotting her death from the moment he knew her name.

Annabeth Chase.

My Annabeth… I wish I could apologize to her one last time. But I saw her grave be lowered into the ground. I saw my friends cry their hearts out, over the loss of such a sweet angel.

I regret every last word I spoke to her… they never left my head, and they never will.

I cut her off, "You can't trust me."

"Wai-" Why couldn't I have listened to her?

I cut her off. Again, "If you can't trust me, maybe we shouldn't be dating."

"Per-" Why was I so stupid?

I cut her off again, "I'm out of here." Why did I have to end it all? She'd still be alive if I hadn't

I walked out of the book corner, slamming the door behind him.

A tear swept down my face, and I hastily wiped it away. It was my entire fault that she died, but I couldn't do one single thing about it…

Well, maybe I could…

I glared at look with all I had left, as he walked towards me in my cell. The woman he had with him looked so familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Well, well, well. Waiting for me already? I expected more from you, Percy Jackson. I never thought you would give in so quickly." I growled at Luke's voice. I felt pure hatred towards him.

"I'll never give in to you," I growled, glaring at him. The guy just smiled.

"I think I can change that. I brought a little friend here with me. I thought this might change your thoughts a little bit."

He opened the cell, pushing me back, and threw the woman in. She fell to the ground with a sickening thud. I just kept on glaring at him.

"Do me a favor, Jackson. Make sure she's alive. I need her alive."

And with that, Luke left. His footsteps grew softer and softer as he got father away.

I crawled over to the woman that hasn't moved since he dumped her here. When I got closer, I saw that her hair was blonde and curly, not to mention it was matted with the dirt-turned-mud from the floor. Her back was to me, so I couldn't get a glimpse of her face.

I rolled her over, and as soon as I did, my heart leaped out of my chest.

It was Annabeth.

But that's not possible… I watched her casket be lowered in the ground! I saw the blood on the floor in her apartment! There's no way she could have survived that!

But she did…

I quickly checked for a pulse, to see if Luke didn't harm her too bad, and I got a strong one. She looked so different, yet completely the same. I wonder why people said she was dead- even though she was alive.

Then I remembered that she was 'murdered'. Luke tried to kill Annabeth. If he thought that she was dead, he wouldn't go after her. He wouldn't be scared, try to escape town like he would if he knew she were alive.

They had to fake her death.

It all made sense now. That girl- that I saw in my mother's apartment complex… I'm pretty sure it was Annabeth. She had the same facial complexion, not to mention her eyes were calculating my every move.

I wonder who the people who were with her are. I have so many questions…

Yet I'm still not able to grasp the fact… She's alive.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her close, breathing in that familiar sent of coconut. She's Alive.

It feels like a dream. It feels like this isn't real, and I'm going to wake up to the face of Rachel, the girl I thought I loved.

But now I know it isn't. I know that Annabeth's here, with me, right now. And that we're both alive.

I leaned against the side of the cell, still holding Annabeth to me. I started running my hands through her curls, moving the strands out of her face, when I felt a bump on the back of her head.

Anger started to consume me. I can't believe that lunatic touched my Annabeth.

My anger subsided for a second, as I realized what I just though.

My Annabeth?

I remembered the last words I said to her before I thought she was dead. I broke up with her… and I'm really starting to regret it.

-Jason POV-

I was absolutely pissed off.

First, Luke tried to kill Annabeth, but hurt my Piper instead.

Second, Luke hurt Leo. My best friend.

And lastly, he kidnapped Annabeth. I have a feeling he did the same with Percy Jackson, kidnapping him first. No one has heard from him, Rachel Dare, or that Ethan kid. I have a really bad feeling about this.

I knew that Luke was the one behind this because the jerk left behind a note-

I have the prince, and the princess.

Thought you've outsmarted me, huh?

Better hurry up- the princess is about to take her real last breath.

~L

I want to just put a bullet right through his skull. But that won't help anybody.

"Jason, you have to stop pacing. You're going to burrow a hole in the floor," Piper said, from her position in the bed.

I just glared at the floor.

I heard Leo cough a bit, and I had a feeling that he thought I was mad at him. But to be honest, I wasn't. Well… maybe a little.

"Look Jason… I'm sorry for not being able to protect her-" Leo said, but I cut him off.

"You don't have to be sorry. It was out of your control. I'm sorry for not being able to help you out- and now I guess I'm not really being helpful getting on your butt like this."

Leo smiled at me.

"Alright, alright. Enough of the sorry fest. We have to find Annabeth and Percy- before it's too late," Piper said, taking hold of her IV that's sticking in her arm. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

I could tell she was about to pull it out, but I quickly grabbed her hand before she could. I don't think I could stand hearing her complain about the pain. When Piper complains… she complains.

"You're not going anywhere. Leo, let's go to the precinct. I'd like to see if they got any prints on that note they left behind."

Piper looked at me ridiculously. "Do you expect I stay here, while you two go off and save my friend? I don't think so."

I just shrugged. "Well, you're definatly not going out in the field, so I think its best that you stay here. Besides, you need to heal, Piper."

Piper scoffed, about to say something, but Leo cut her off, "Alright, now we're just wasting time. Jason, let's go, and Piper, just stay."

He dragged me out of the room, hearing Piper yell that she wasn't a dog; that she was going to get her revenge, etc. I'm lucky she likes me enough to not threaten our relationship.

oOoOoOoOoOo

When Leo and I got to the crime lab, I found one of the scientists on the case. Her name is Katie Gardner, and she has been a great asset to a ton of cases.

She took her powder stuff and started brushing it on the note. I held the note with my black glove, always so that no one else's prints would get on it.

I watched as she got a few prints, and she swabbed them, putting them in this one big machine. Leo was catching my drift as he asked, "What's that?"

Katie finished whatever she was doing, I guess it was finding DNA or something, and turned to face us. "I was just finishing up with the fingerprints, when I noticed that there was something on the note… kind of like something that has this dirt essence to it, so naturally, I decided to see what it was."

She pointed to a screen that looked like it was scanning a bunch of things, showing a part of the dirt, and I think it was trying to find a match to that.

"There, is where we try to match it with something in the data base. I've run it for this whole city- where I'm sure this Luke guy is," Katie explained.

"So… what do we do now?" Leo asked, again. I was probably looking like I was mute, but it was just interesting to see the other side of the crime-fighting business.

"Interesting you'd say that. Now, we compare this note to a different note that Luke wrote in the past. Then we compare writing."

We followed Katie around the huge table in the middle of the room, and on the side she pulled up this huge scanner-like-thing.

She took a note that was in an evidence bag, and took the note that I had given her, and scanned both of them. I watched in awe as they both appeared on the huge table, on the screen. I had a thought that it was like that… I felt like I was in a movie or something.

"Now, we match to see if his writing is like his writing." Katie looked at the table screen intently, and took an 'r' and matched it with the other note. I saw that it was from back when he was Percy Jackson's agent, because it was about a new movie that Percy was going to be in.

She did it with a few more letters, and all of them came back as a match.

"Looks like he wrote this note too. Now, legally, you can arrest him of kidnapping too. But I still want to see what was on his fingers… if we match it with a substance here in New York-"

"Then we can pinpoint where he is. Great job, Katie!" I exclaimed, smiling a bit. "Then, we can figure out where Annabeth and Percy are, arrest Luke, and this whole case will be history."

Katie blushed a bit, and the screen thing beeped. We looked over to see that we did get a match.

It was this one dirt that is located in the center of New York, courtesy of the Geologists here. I never thought that researching rocks and such could be a big deal in the history of the planet, until now.

Katie pushed the screen of the matching notes away, and took on the map of the city. I watched again, in awe, as she got us the exact location to where Luke had taken Annabeth and Percy.

Underneath Central Park.

-Annabeth POV-

I was shocked when I woke up. I mean, who wouldn't be shocked to wake up in the arms of an ex who thought you've been dead for a year?

Yeah. That's pretty shocking.

"Annabeth,"Percy whispered. "Thank God you're alright."

I shook my head, trying to get the stars to leave. They wouldn't. "Same with you… I guess I got a lot of explaining to do, huh?"

Percy's face turned grave. "I can't believe I thought you were dead. For a year… I've been lying to myself. Do you know how I treated people?"

"I heard you weren't like yourself. I kind of talked to Grover and Nico about it. So… you and Rachel, huh?"

By now we were leaning on the opposite walls of the cell. I could see the familiar twinkle in his eye, telling me I really didn't lose my favorite person in the world. But I knew enough to not get in too deep. Like last time, he could just end up hurting me.

I won't let that happen again.

"Um… Rachel and I aren't really on speaking terms. She's one of the ones behind this, you know," Percy said, gesturing to the whole cell. It was basically dirt and concrete with steel bars. Looks like Luke really wasn't playing games this time.

I looked at him, smiling sadly. "I guess we're really screwed this time, huh."

Percy looked at me sadly. "I guess so. But I just want to say I'm sorry for what happened a year ago… I overreacted."

I sighed. I knew this was going to happen. "I wasn't able to trust you. So I guess it wasn't just your fault… I have some part in the blame, too."

Percy smiled at me, and for the first time in a long time, it reached his eyes. "I'm sorry that we had to part ways... that now we're not together. I'm also sorry for that."

I looked at him, tears forming in my eyes. "I wish we didn't have to do that, Percy. But we did. And I don't think I could ever handle… us breaking up… ever again," I told him, and a tear fell down my cheek. I thought I was stronger than that… never really crying so much after I left New York.

I remembered how I felt when we broke up- I was numb. I don't want to feel like that ever again. I can't feel like that ever again. But then I thought back to before that. I was so happy; I had the love of my life wrapped around my finger.

But I made the mistake, wearing my heart on my sleeve.

I remembered how I felt about him before I met him, how I absolutely despised him. How I could go days not remembering his name.

But now… a day never passes that I don't have his name running through my head.

The hole in my heart from him… is unfixable.

I heard Percy move closer to me, and he was sitting next to me. I flinched when he put an arm around me, but he still held it there.

"Annabeth… I'll never do that to you, ever again. I could barely handle it myself… and when I heard that you were murdered… it was like a piece of me was ripped out, and I never felt it replaced- until I saw you again."

I closed my eyes, thinking of how cliché this really is. But at the same time, thinking how sweet it really is.

"Percy… I've never gone a day without thinking of you. You know that the words you said to me that night were etched in my brain? I cried myself to sleep. I couldn't live with the thought knowing that I lost my best friend."

Percy sucked in a breath. I knew that he didn't want to hear what I went through, but he had to know. He had to know my side of the story; see why I don't want us to be us again.

"I couldn't deal with the thought knowing that you probably forgot about me. That you didn't even bother going to my funeral because you had more important things to do. I was scared, terrified, of knowing if that were true. I didn't want to open my eyes up to reality- I was scared of it."

Percy's head leaned down onto mine, and I didn't flinch. I wanted him here, I wanted him with me. But I didn't know if I was ready to start a relationship. I don't want to end up like that again. I don't think I could ever live with that.

We sat there in silence for a long time. Percy was holding my hand, tracing circles. I was thinking about the good times I had with him, thinking about our love before.

And my heart instantly warmed.

But I don't think I could ever go back to that, without knowing that we were actually going to be okay.

I heard footsteps coming closer to the cell, and Percy's head snapped up. I looked at him, wondering why he was like that, and I saw him mouth one word-

"Luke."

I was terrified. I knew what he was going to do now. I knew that Percy didn't know, but I sure as heck did.

He was going to kill me- for real this time.

DUNNNN DUNNN DUNNNNNNNNNNN!

Will Annabeth finally decide what's best for her? Percy or her Mind?

Will Jason and Leo get to them in time?

Find out-

Later…

Dun dunn dunnnn!

Sorry… I love doing that!

~GoGreen52