Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Scarface, the Godfather, or the Matrix

Chapter 7: Travis and Connor Stoll

"Illegal movies right here!" Travis shouted loudly outside his elementary school. He wore a massive grin on his face and his partner-in-crime mimicked the expression perfectly. He was his brother after all. "Perfect resolution!"

They were outside their school, a huge booth marking its place right in the middle of the entrance. A sign that said 'BOOTLEGGED MOVIES FOR CHEAP PRICES' was right next to the booth. Behind the booth, the two Stoll brothers were making huge wads of cash. And of course, right on top of the booth sign, it stated that their mother had signed it, considering it legal to sell illegal movies.

"I'll have this one!" A high pitched voice exclaimed.

"Two dollars," Connor replied, handing the movie over to the eight year old girl. When she gave him the money, he grinned. "Happy to do business."

"Ah," Travis said, relaxing in his seat. "Life is good. How much money have we made so far?"

The younger Stoll tossed a few bags of money to his brother, who caught it single-handedly. Grinning ear-to-ear, Travis opened up the bag and silently began counting the money while Connor handled the customers.

"Don't you know that selling bootlegged movies are illegal?" An amused voice suddenly asked them.

Along with his brother, Travis looked up from his money counting just incase they had to run from the cops. He stared at the man, who stared back at the two brothers with only amusement.

"Uh..." Connor said, not prepared for a situation like this at all. He looked at his brother for any support.

"Course we do sir!" Travis said politely, but with a grin.

"And you know you can be caught by the cops right?" The mysterious man asked.

"Hey!" Connor defended. "This is just like doing some graffiti!"

"Not really," Travis told his brother. "See little brother, graffiti is usually done secretly, not in public. Usually in the night so the cops can't catch you."

"I know what graffiti is Travis," the younger Stoll replied in aggravation. "We did it before remember?"

"Nearly got caught by the cops too," Travis responded, remembering the moment with a silly little grin that normal nine year olds didn't have.

They seemed to forget the man was there. He stared at the two of them, who were remembering old memories and making new ones.

"Excuse me sir," a small voice told the man. "But if you could move, I'd like to buy a copy of a movie I want..."

"Sorry," the man responded. He smiled kindly. "Just give me a minute okay?"

The small child nodded with a bounce in his step as he waited impatiently to see his favorite movie.

"If I were you-" The man started, leaning in to Connor as if he wanted to tell him a secret.

"That would take extreme plastic surgery, but even then it would be such a hard accomplishment," Connor interrupted.

He just chuckled and continued. "I would change the sign of the booth; cops can read it from far and arrest you."

"I did my research; you have to be at least eighteen or sixteen or... something... And I don't think selling illegal bootlegged movies is that big a crime. Look at the black market!" Travis protested, defending himself with honor.

The man was impressed by Travis' knowledge. "The black market is illegal too."

"Who do you think you are ruining our happy moment?" Connor asked, making a shooing gesture. "Either buy a movie or get out."

The only thing he did was smile, biting his tongue so he wouldn't have any second thoughts about revealing who he was. "Got any good gangster movies?"

The mood seemed to get less tensioned. Travis went back to counting his money.

"So stereotypical," Connor grumbled, but held up a few movies. He suddenly grinned. "I'd either go for Scarface or the Godfather."

"I'll take both of them for a discount," the man offered.

Connor bit his lip, looking at Travis for any help (again.) His big brother nodded. "Two for seven. Best price around."

Handing Connor the cash, the man grabbed the two illegal movies before grinning at them. "Good luck."

And he simply ran off. Connor stared at him weirdly before dealing with the next customer in line.

"Mommy says this is illegal and gave me ten dollars for five movies," the little boy said proudly, showing off the ten dollar bill. "She gave me a list too."

"Your mother seems like a nice lady," Connor commented, trying to start conversation as he rummaged to find the five movies.

"Oh she is!" The boy exclaimed happily. "She just got out of jail too!"

Too much information kid, Connor thought, but smiled toothily as he tried finding the last movie on the list. Now where the heck is that movie? "Nice. Bet she thought you all the tricks to everything right?"

The kid nodded eagerly, excited to have an audience with a person older than him. "Although I dunno why I'm here when I could easily steal some movies..."

"Great minds think alike," Connor said with a wide grin, pulling out the movie from the stack and handing all five movies to the boy, who had already given him the money. "I'm sure I'll see you on the news when you're older!"

"Mommy said the same thing!" The boy replied, and with a wave, he left cheerfully.

"TRAVIS AND CONNOR STOLL!" A booming voice shouted so loud, the two brothers winced. "WHAT THE... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Selling movies... You want a copy of the Matrix? Since you're the principal, we can give it to you for free," Connor offered, keeping his cool. At situations like these, he knew exactly what to do.

"I-I, that's not the point!" The principal stammered, even though he was tempted by the offer.

They were already gone. The two brothers rolled the booth on wheels down the street and were causing quite a bit of noise as they whizzed past houses with grins.

"H-how did t-they," the principal stuttered in disbelief.

"It's quite a common trick sir," a voice said. It was the boy. "The booth was wooden and had a set of roller wheels beneath them. The movies were in boxes so they just grabbed them and ran away. It's quite simple really."

The principal stared at the boy, but he was already leaving in a hurry. A rectangular piece of plastic nailed him in the face. He stepped backwards, grumbling about his eyes as he leaned forwards to pick up the item.

It was a brand new (bootlegged) copy of the Matrix.

In the Stolls residence:

"Did you see his face?" Travis asked, giddy with excitement as they went to the kitchen.

"Yup," Connor replied, popping the p noisily.

"Back so soon?" A female voice interrupted them.

The Stolls looked up and saw their mother staring down at the, with a questioning look.

"Principal caught us," Travis grumbled. "We should've followed the man's advice."

"What man?" Ms. Stoll asked curiously. She looked slightly suspicious. "What did he look like?"

"Uh... He was tall, middle-aged dude, blonde- no salt and pepper hair I guess... Blue eyes and he looked like a jogger; he came with the suit and everything!" Connor said, thinking of the dude's appearance thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, he looks kind of like Travis and me..."

Ms. Stoll looked shocked. She remained her composure and gripped the counter tightly. "Did he say anything?"

"Something about legal issues, and telling us to change the sign because it could attract the cops. He bought two movies as well," Travis answered, nodding his head. "Then he said 'good luck' and ran off."

"What happened to dad?" Connor blurted out without thinking.

"Why do you ask?" Ms. Stoll asked sharply.

"He looked like he could be our dad," Connor answered, fidgeting.

That confirmed her suspicions. Lie, she thought. Until they're old enough to go to camp. Remember. "Your dad... He was a messenger."

It was not what the two brothers were expecting. Travis even managed to pull off a strange face at his mother that made Connor laugh.

"Was?" Travis asked, finally catching the double meaning.

"Was," Ms. Stoll confirmed. Please forgive me, she thought before continuing. "Until he went to jail."

"Jail," Connor echoed. "What did he go to jail for?"

"He was also a thief. Perfect way to be a thief when you're a messenger right? He's really quick, so he got away many times... Mainly due to corruption but partly because of his speed. Just that one time. He got caught and was thrown in jail for stealing things."

"So why can't we visit him?" Travis asked eagerly.

"They claimed he was dangerous and sent him to a prison without giving me the name. I don't know where he is now."

There was a moment of silence. Connor glowered at the floor, while Travis processed the information thoughtfully.

"Filthy pigs," Connor snarled.

"That's what I was thinking," Ms. Stoll agreed weakly. She tried grinning. "So how much money did you earn?"

The mood lightened up. Suddenly, the two grinning 'baboons' were back. Travis handed the money over to his mother.

"Two hundred and fifty two," Travis stated proudly.

"That's awesome," Ms. Stoll complimented. It didn't hurt to act immature sometimes. "First and last time you're doing it though, the directors and the people in the movie need money too."

The Stolls nodded. When their mother started to give the cash back to Travis, he shook his head.

"You need it more than we do," Travis said, refusing the money. "You can use it to pay the bills or something... You have any pizza left in the fridge?"

Ms. Stoll just laughed, but took the money, knowing her son could be stubborn. "Make sure to heat it up."

Travis nodded, and went to grab the leftover pizza. Connor followed along, wondering if he would ever see his father again. A plan was already forming in his head and he suddenly grinned.

"Hey Travis," Connor whispered. "What if we bust dad out of jail? We could go to the FBI and demand for the papers and everything..."

A/N: Happy New Year! I'm (kind of) back from the hiatus. From now on though, I won't be updating that much, only when I have time. I won't abandon/give up/let anyone adopt the story. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, even though it might have some OOCness. Thanks for all the support!