Wow, it's been a minute huh? A lot has happened since I last posted, and this chapter has been sat in my drafts for months. But it's here now! Thank you to anyone that held out hope, I know a lot of people considered this abandoned, but my upload schedule doesn't exist, so therefore there's only one of my works on this site that I truly know I won't ever return to. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 5

Percy found himself enjoying the company of the film crew much more than expected. He could tell they were a close-knit group, with some of them having interned together at the studio, while others had known each other in college. It reminded him of his own friends, many of whom worked at the resort and in the aquarium. Maybe he'd have to make introductions.

They peppered him with questions about what they could and couldn't do, if room service was available, if they could head out to Miami on the weekends from here; apparently Chase was a firm believer in the four-and-a-half-day work week. Percy could get behind that.

Eventually, though, they had to move on from the wave pool, and Percy had to play tour guide once more. Gods, he hoped he wasn't coming across like those spoiled kids on MTV. Hey, welcome to my crib, it's kinda small, but this is only our third summer home. Some of them didn't know how good they had it. Neither did he, he supposed, but at least he wasn't actively being a dick about it.

The visit to the other hotel buildings and private pools were relatively tame, and he was beginning to run out of conversation topics. He was saving his aquarium ramblings for tomorrow, when he was scheduled to take them round for the full day. No point in telling when he could be showing.

"So, Percy, your dad said the aquarium conservation idea was all you. That true?" Rachel asked, holding an invisible microphone towards him as one of the Stolls; Connor, he thinks, holds up a small camera.

"Uh, yeah. What're we doing?" It was nice that dad had given him the full credit, but he was slightly put off by the sudden appearance of the camera.

"Oh this? This is our BTS segment. Behind the scenes. Connor and Travis have been rolling since we got here. With your dad's permission, of course."

Percy paled.

"So, the whole thing with the golf cart… and earlier?"

"All on camera." Rachel said, as the brothers grinned. Percy groaned.

"Don't worry bro, we can edit it out in post." Travis said, but the smile he was sporting didn't have Percy fully convinced. He looked towards Annabeth for help, but she just shook her head.

"BTS is their thing, I have no jurisdiction there. Best to just get it over with."

"Thank you, Annabeth." Rachel said sweetly, turning back to Percy. "So, what's the story?"

"Ummm, well I guess it all started when mom and dad met." He began. "They met through the sea, before dad had to step in and join the family business. He surfed a lot, and she worked near the beach. They kept meeting, got to know each other better. Meant plenty of family vacations to the beach when I was little. New York isn't exactly great for surfing."

"You grew up in New York?"

"Yeah. First eleven years of my life. Then we moved down here. I still miss the city, but I wouldn't trade it for the sea and the aquarium."

"So, how does this tie in with conservation?"

"I guess I just got used to the beach, used to swimming in the sea. I forgot that other things lived there. Had a brush with a tiger shark. I remember everyone panicking, swimming for the shore. Whistles being blown. Mom shouting at me to come in. Then I saw the fin, right between me and the shore."

"No way."

"Yeah. But I wasn't scared. It sounds weird, but I just knew it wasn't interested in me. I remember watching it for what felt like hours, and then I paddled for the shore. I saw mom and some lifeguards wading into the shallows. The shark followed me; they're attracted to churning water 'cos they think it's a struggling fish. It got pretty close, nearly close enough to take a bite, and then I heard this bang. Turns out one of the lifeguards had a rifle. Authorised to use it in case of a shark attack back then."

He paused, realising every eye was on him. He hadn't told this story to many people before.

"I remember getting to the shore and turning around, and it was just there. They sink when they stop moving, but it had been moving fast enough that momentum had carried it into the shallows. And its eyes were just so… empty. And I remember thinking 'that shark didn't deserve this, it only wanted to see if I was food'. So, I found out more about them. Started visiting aquariums, going on fishing trips, got as much experience with marine life as I could. I didn't want any other creature to suffer because we didn't understand them."

There was a silence in which Percy realised they had stopped walking. Many of the film crew were looking at him as if in a new light. Annabeth included.

"That. Was. Perfect!" Rachel crowed. "Please tell me you got him standing with his face in the sun. Look at that distant look in your eyes!" She gushed, grabbing the camera from Connor and running back the footage.

"Dude, that was documentary material if I've ever seen it. Wish we'd had Frank and Clarisse on the big cameras."

"Ahaha, thanks, I guess." Percy really didn't know what else to say at that point. He definitely hadn't planned on blurting out his life story or anything. But he hadn't felt uncomfortable or forced as he told it. It was just like talking to his friends. Or staff, as he supposed they were, on a technicality. His hand subconsciously reached for the nape of his neck, running up and down it, ruffling the back of his hair.

"Ok we might need to shoot that story again somewhere else; the lighting was a little off, and we could have done with a better background. Annabeth lemme see what you think of this." Rachel went over to Annabeth, discussing the finer points of a possible re-shoot, while the others congratulated Percy, to his complete bewilderment. He looked at Grover to see a smile on his friend's face.

"Nice job man, proud of you." He said. Percy smiled back.

"Ok, as fascinating as a re-shoot would be, we really need to keep moving. I for one am in need of a shower and a change of clothes before dinner, not to mention a place to sit down and set up all my stuff." Annabeth said, putting the brakes on things. Percy wholeheartedly agreed. A bit of time to freshen up and chill out without the film crew was incredibly called for.

"I'll walk you all back to the main hotel, and then I'll come get you all in time for dinner. Sound good?" He said, to general agreement.

(Line break)

"Well if that was any indication, I don't think we have to worry about our guy being documentary material." Silena said, eyeing Annabeth slyly as they packed into the elevator, which was so incredibly huge that the crew could comfortably fit in together. Industrial grade, if Annabeth had to guess.

"I guess not." Annabeth said, preferring to remain neutral. One starry-eyed sob story wasn't the concrete proof she needed, but it was a good start, and Jackson had definitely seemed genuine. There weren't many people that could act that well, and Perseus Jackson was many things, but an actor he was not.

"I'm excited for these rooms, man." Travis said, stretching out his arms and revealing the dark circles under his pits that Annabeth was sure all of them were sporting. What was it about travel and sweat?

"Dude same. Three-bedroomed apartments? No bunk-bed sharing like we had to in college? An actual bathroom instead of a toilet and a wet corner? Count me the hell in." His brother said.

It did sound pretty good, Annabeth had to admit. She had been worried about the sleeping arrangements at first, but shared apartments were much nicer than the twin-bed rooms they usually shared on projects. Then again, these accommodations weren't coming out of their budget, and they were at one of the most luxurious hotels in the country. They were bound to be better than what the crew were used to.

"You got a plan for splitting up the rooms, boss-lady, or can we run free?" Leo asked, and Annabeth hated the smile on his face. Not that Leo was a creep, but the chaos he and the Stolls could cause if left unsupervised sent shivers down her spine.

"As much as I want to micro-manage the crap out of you, Valdez, I think you've earned a little down-time. Just don't do anything stupid."

"That's like asking a fish not to swim, Annabeth." Rachel chimed in, receiving a watered-down glare from Leo.

"Maybe that means he'll drown." Frank said, ever helpful.

"We can hope." Clarisse added, snorting.

"Why do I always end up the butt of the joke? I call workplace harassment." Leo said, throwing his arms up dramatically.

"Aww, are the little baby's feelings hurt?" Chris teased.

"I'm emotionally scarred for life. I will never recover from these wounds you've dealt me."

"Oh look, this is our floor." Silena said, stopping Leo in his theatrics. They exited the elevator, glad for the fresh air circulating in the corridors. Despite the size of the elevator, the sweaty smell that clung to each of them had been slowly filling it up.

"Ok people, room keys." Annabeth said, holding the three keys up. Or what should have been the keys. Instead, she was holding three baseball trading cards.

"Missing something, Annabeth?" Connor asked, doing an admittedly impressive job with his 'I'm innocent' face.

"Wow, Annie. Didn't take you to be the type to lose things as crucial to the trip as our room keys." Travis added, not even attempting to hide his grin. Gods, Annabeth was going to kill the pair of them.

"Which one of you has them?"

"Why, Annabeth! How could you accuse us of something so heinous?"

Impressive word. Annabeth didn't realise Travis' vocabulary was so expansive. It wouldn't get him off the hook. She held out an expectant hand, as she would when training a dog to drop its ball.

"Hand them over."

"We don't have them."

"Boys. I'm gonna give you to the count of five." Ok maybe they were more toddlers than dogs.

She didn't even reach one. Silena marched forward, brave enough to put her hand in Connor's pocket, and plucked the three keys from his possession.

"You two are such idiots."

"Aww, you just had to ruin our fun, huh?"

"Yes, yes I did." Silena said, smiling sweetly as she handed the keys back to Annabeth, who held onto one, passing another to Frank.

"So, can I trust you not to ruin your apartment?" Annabeth said, and she couldn't help but feeling she was making a mistake.

Leo reacted first, snatching the key out of her hand and making a break for it, scanning each side of the corridor for the room number.

"Run boys, run!" He cackled, joined by the Stolls moments later. The three of them ran the length of the corridor before stopping.

"Ah."

"Wrong way."

"Shit."

It took all of Annabeth's fortitude not to plant her head in her hands as the three came stampeding back, weaving through the stationary crew, looking for all the world like overgrown children. Well, she supposed that's exactly what they were.

"Ok. How are we splitting this?" She said, once the boys had disappeared into the correct room. The numbers didn't quite support the age-old "boys' dorm and girls' dorm", though Annabeth had a sneaking suspicion that one of their members would object to that system anyway.

"I ain't sharing with Dare, that's for sure." Clarisse grumbled, and Annabeth remembered the time they'd been filming a much smaller-scale project near Vegas. Rachel had gone out drinking with the boys, and ended up painting Clarisse's face while everyone else was asleep. Clarisse had not been happy.

"Aww, but you made such a great canvas! And I really wanted to make you a mermaid this time, it's the perfect place for it!"

"You touch me with a paintbrush again and I'll feed you to the fish."

"Ouch."

"Alright, well that takes care of 2 of us, I guess." Annabeth said, desperately trying to remember any other rooming mishaps.

"We'll take Clarisse, you take Rachel." Chris offered, gesturing at himself and Frank. Annabeth nodded, relieved. That solved everything. It also kept Silena out of the way of Chris and Clarisse's business. If the rumours were true, that is.

"Awesome, I'll put a meeting time in the team chat, enjoy your showers." She said, wearily, handing over the room key.

(Line break)

"Wow. They were not kidding when they said 'all expense' huh?" Silena said as they took in the expanse of the apartment.

"This place must cost a fortune." Rachel agreed. Annabeth could tell that for herself, but if even Rachel was saying it then it must be true; it was well known that the girl had had money growing up, but she didn't flaunt it much, especially after her disagreement with her father over her choice of college course.

The apartment was way too big for just the three of them, but with three double bedrooms she supposed it was kitted out for a much larger family.

Floor to ceiling windows covered the entirety of their communal living area and small kitchen, with those fancy blinds that rolled down at the click of a button on a remote that sat atop the counter, complete with an instruction guide for which button controlled which appliance in the room. The view alone was spectacular; Annabeth could see the area they had been sitting in at the wave pool, along with a lazy river that Jackson had neglected to mention. Smaller buildings bordered the expansive field and other pools, adjacent to the wave pool, all gleaming in a pristine white that almost blinded her in the glare of the sun.

Their living area was beautiful, and Annabeth knew just by looking at it that it was expensive. Faux-leather sofas, glass-top table, stylish and tasteful art on the walls. She really hoped these were the more expensive rooms. If not, she'd never be able to afford to stay here.

The kitchen was small, but state of the art. A cooktop and oven, fridge, cupboards. A beautifully carved island separated it from the sofas. Not that it would be used often, she mused; most of the people that would occupy these rooms wouldn't be interested in cooking for themselves. Not with the catered meal-plan that she'd read about.

On closer inspection, everything was vaguely marine-themed. Not to the point where it was obvious and over the top, but enough to remind you where you were. The occasional marine animal, or a wave pattern. Blues and deep greens. She was impressed.

"Bedroom tour!" Silena said, leaving her bags with the neatly stacked pile that had been left in the middle of the room. Wait. That was everyone's stuff. Not just theirs. Dam. She had hoped one of the other rooms would end up being responsible for the baggage pile and therefore the distribution of luggage.

"Oh my gods." Rachel's words shook her out of her thoughts.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Annabeth. You have to come see this."

There was excitement there. Nothing bad then. Thank the gods.

"What is it?" Annabeth said, rounding the corner into the nearest bedroom.

"The bathroom! Look!" The redhead's excitement was palpable as she gestured to Silena, who had opened the bathroom door and promptly begun playing with all of the settings.

"There's a bidet built in!" Silena exclaimed, pressing the button and watching the machine work.

"You… You're both complete children." Annabeth sighed, taking in the utter delight of her two friends.

"You think we're bad, just imagine what the three idiots are doing." Rachel retorted, then paused, tilting her head. "Actually, best not."

The bedrooms were magnificent though, and the en-suite provided in each was nothing short of spectacular. Annabeth had never seen so many controls for a bathroom before.

"Ok, as much as I desperately want to play with all of this and enjoy the next hour in the showers, we need to drop off bags and gear. Come on."

"You're such a buzzkill, Annie."

"For that, you can sit between Clarisse and Leo at dinner, Silena."

"You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I?"

Hope you all enjoyed! As ever, feel free to let me know your thoughts on this; what you enjoy, what you think doesn't work quite as well, your hopes for the story as a whole. It's always nice to hear from readers, and it's something I'm aspiring to do more when I delve into the Fanfic archives. See you next time.