Tada! I'm alive! And yes, you guys are the most amazing readers ever, and I literally have no reason for not updating other than writer's block and school starting up again. I've just been super stressed and the last thing on my to-do list has always been this story. I'm so sorry, and I'll try my best to never let this happen again.

I wrote this entire thing this morning, so please excuse all mistakes and tell me how this chapter panned out! I've had some of it floating around for a while and the rest just came as I typed, so please excuse it if you don't like it!

Also, I'm looking for a beta for this story. Anyone interested? I have zero preferences, except that you be online fairly often and hopefully get back to me within 12 hours or so.

Enjoy!

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The storm had only been able to beat on them for a minute before Jason had spotted a small house. It was condemned years ago and abandoned as made apparent by the piece of paper taped to the door. Luckily though, the front porch was big enough for them to just sit on the outside for now. The wind was blowing the rain away from them, so combined with the intact roof, they were practically completely sheltered from the rain.

Jason opened the backpacks to see if anything was damaged while Percy checked the new bag of clothes. Amazingly, the only things even partially wet were the bags and themselves.

"You remember in the beginning when we started these things every week?" Percy said over the rushing wind and pounding rain. Jason's back was pressed against the old wooden door with flakes of white paint sparsely decorating it. Percy sat down beside him.

Jason smiled. "Yes, I especially remember the night we stayed up all night walking because I was worried we'd get caught by someone if we didn't. I don't even think I'd actually thought about who would catch us, I think I was just super paranoid. Like someone was actually going to figure out by our second storm that it was us."

Percy bit into his lip. As far as he could tell, no one had put together that wherever they went, the storms followed. Some news reporters had put it out there as a theory, but no one actually believed it. Partially because no one ever knew their exact location, and also because the storms happened so irregularly that neurologists just pinned it on climate change.

"This probably sounds incredibly stupid, but do you think anyone will ever make the connection?" Jason pulled his knees up to his chest and began picking at a hole along the knee.

Percy shrugged. "I honestly have no clue. But probably not. I mean, besides us, who would connect two teenage runaways with random flash storms?"

Jason laughed lightly. "Yeah, it's pretty insane. We're pretty insane."

Percy smirked. "Pretty much."

###

It was two days after Percy had talked to Mrs. Connelly, and Gabe and Trey's bullying hadn't changed a bit. If anything, it had gotten worse.

Yesterday they had dropped Neil in the trash can, flushed Thomas's glasses and Caleb's comic books down the toilet, and locked Jason in the shed for a few hours.

But they hadn't done anything to Percy yet. It was like they were waiting for the right moment. Which scared and liberated Percy at the same time. He knew it was coming, he just didn't know what it was.

He had just walked in the front door after school when he heard someone scream from the backyard. The sound was different though. It almost sounded like Gabe. But it couldn't be Gabe, Gabe never screamed. No one could beat a scream out of Gabe.

Percy sprinted through the house and was met by almost everyone crowding around the backyard door. He pushed through the crowd and heard somebody crying and someone else whimpering.

The scene that met him was completely unexpected.

Jason was standing over Gabe and Trey, his fists clenched hard enough to make his knuckles and fingers turn white. His nose was bleeding and a bruise was forming along his jaw. His eyes had a cold fierceness Percy had never seen on him before. It was fury.

Gabe's nose was gushing and dried tear tracks littered his face. He was shaking slightly. Percy's mind finally wrapped around what had happened as Trey touched his darkening black eye. Jason had beat them up. He had not only stood up to the fourth grade terrors, but he'd scared them.

"Leave me alone," he hissed at them. "Leave everyone here alone, or I'll come after you again." He unclenched his fists and Percy saw some blood smudges along his fingers. He looked completely different, the malice in his face and voice were the opposite of his usually quiet and calm ways.

Jason wiped his knuckles on his shirt, leaving a bright red smear across the white blue fabric, before he walked back into the house, the crowd parting like the Red Sea.

Jason had beat the bullies. But Mr. Connelly wasn't going to be as happy as everyone else when he found out about it.

Not at all.

###

Annabeth watched from the small coffee shops window lined wall as the storm pounded down.

Leo was making something out of coffee stirrers while Reyna stared at a distant spot somewhere outside. Annabeth wished she could zone out.

The storm had been going for at least half an hour, and showed no signs of lightening up. Which meant that this was not only one of the longer storms these two had caused, but the thickness proved that their powers were getting stronger each time they used them.

Not only were they two of the most powerful demigods in the whole world, they were possibly two of the most out of control demigods out there. Super powerful and zero control over those powers was just a perfect recipe for disaster.

They had to find these two. Not only because they were attracting attention from the normal humans, but because they were only increasing their scent. Using your powers only made your scent stronger.

These two, wherever they were, were monster beacons. And Annabeth worried that if they didn't get to them soon. Something else would.

###

Percy picked at the chipping paint along the deck as they watched the storm swell. He didn't want to voice it, but he was pretty sure it wasn't just gaining power because it could, he was almost positive something was still bothering Jason. Most of his storms died out pretty quickly after he calmed down. It had almost been an hour.

He glanced over at him. Jason was staring out at the rain, his expression making it apparent that his mind was somewhere else completely.

Percy decided that beating around the bush wouldn't help the situation so he just decided to blurt it out. "What was it about?"

"Hmm?" Jason murmured, pulling his eyes from the torrential downpour and looking at Percy.

"What was it about?" Percy restated. He didn't need to specify what it was.

Jason shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a deal. Ridiculously over dramatized." He smiled.

But I didn't return it. "If it wasn't that big of a deal then why hasn't the rain stopped?"

He looked away, his head falling against his knees, his arms pulling his legs tighter against his chest.

Percy wanted to press further, he wanted to inquire more. But he was worried that Jason would shut down. That he would just make something up and never tell him the truth.

Like he did for so long about what Mr. Connelly had done to him after he'd beat up Trey and Gabe so many years ago. They'd been on the runs for years, and Percy had only learned the truth a few months ago.

He wondered if it might've had something to do with the storm, but he wasn't going to ask. He didn't need to bring it up if it wasn't. The last thing Jason needed was even more dark thoughts to pester his mind.

So Percy settled for resting his head on the other boy's shoulder and watching as the rain poured down.

###

So, thoughts, comments, critics? Drop them in the review box and let me know! I'll hopefully be a better person and update sooner, especially since I already know what I'm doing with the next chapter. Prepare for emotional pain!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, you really don't seem to get how much I love you. I'm just an awful person.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

~Ann