Disclaimer : I do not own Percy Jackson, or any of the content published from Rick Riordan.

Another trigger chapter. It's not much but it is there. Again proceed with caution.

phantom753 - Thank you so much again!

Come on guys, don't be afraid to review. I really would like to know what you think! Sorry for any typos and issues in the last chapter. I had to add it from my phone, never again on that one as well! Anyway, happy reading!

Chapter 9

Annabeth opened her eyes and for a moment forgot where she was. "You're in the hospital. You're fine now," She repeated to herself several times. She gently shook her head and then tried to sit up. She grimaced as muscles she never realized she had ached from deep within. Annabeth groaned as she pulled herself into a sitting position and then hugged her knees to her chest. She looked down at the soft cast on her left arm and shook her head. As she looked around the room, she noticed a small body tossing on the mini sofa against the far wall of her room.

Suddenly the little body sat up and rubbed its eyes. Instinctively Annabeth opened her arms and waited for the girl to come over. Alexa carefully climbed onto the bed and folded herself into Annabeth. "Are you okay," she whispered to the top of Alexa's head.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Annabeth giggled and hugged the girl tighter. "Probably, but right now I would rather think about anything other than what happened tonight. So again, are you okay?"

Alexa shrugged. "I will be I guess. Mom and dad are going to kill me when they get home but oh well."

"What happened?" Annabeth didn't want to pry but she needed something to keep her mind off the trauma from only hours ago.

"I . . ." Alexa sighed and lifted her head to look at Annabeth. "I punched three girls. One in the nose. I am pretty sure I broke it. The other two I got them where I could." She shrugged again and tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.

"And what caused you to punch three girls?"

"They don't like me. I am better at most things. I don't mean to sound conceited or anything like that. They have been hitting me and scratching me when the counselors weren't looking. They told me if I told they would make life worse." Alexa sighed and let the tears slide down her cheeks. "I got tired of being picked on. I finally told on them and the counselors told me to ignore it and move on. I tried my best but they kept on." Alexa lifted her left sleeve and showed Annabeth the deep purple bruises that covered upper arm. She then carefully turned around and lifted her shirt and showed her the deep angry red gashes on her back. "And that's why I punched them. I had enough," Alexa said as she turned back around to face Annabeth.

"I don't blame you. Always be you Alexa. Don't let anyone bully you or tell you otherwise. You are amazing and you need to remember that." Annabeth leaned over to give her a hug and winced as she stretched her sore muscles too far.

Suddenly the door opened and a nurse walked in followed by Percy and a man who Annabeth could only assume was Percy's father. She sighed and she wasn't sure if she wanted to see Percy just yet but now she had no choice.

Percy walked over to the bed and was going to lift Alexa out of Annabeth's lap when he realized his hands were useless at the moment. He turned around and patted his shoulder a couple of times and Alexa carefully stood and wrapped her arms around his neck. Percy leaned forward and spun so that he could carefully set her on the ground. He crouched down to look her in the eyes. "When the nurse behind me is done with Annabeth, you are going to go with her so that she can get pictures of all of the cuts and bruises. I want you to show her every last one. My dad needs them so that he can keep these parents from pressing charges and suing or whatever it is they said they were going to do."

Alexa just nodded and Percy pushed a strand of her chocolate colored hair out of her face. He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and stood up. He looked over at his dad and then back at Annabeth. He walked quietly over to her and stood next to her as the nurse took her vitals. All he could do was listen as the nurse mumbled to herself and scribbled things down on her chart.

"Okay Ms. Chase, the on call will be in to see you shortly and to finish your cast. Is there any specific color you would like?"

"A light gray is okay with me," Annabeth mumbled and the nurse went back to scribbling on the chart.

"Oh," the nurse said as she started to walk out, "an officer will be in to talk to you shortly as well. As soon as you have been seen by both, I am pretty sure that you are free to leave. Now Miss Blofis, if you will follow me." And with that she and Alexa were out the door and gone.

An awkward silence hung over the room and Percy finally cleared his throat and looked at Annabeth. She tried to avoid his gaze but it was useless.

"Dad, this is Annabeth Chase. Annabeth, this is my father, Poseidon Jackson. If you will let him, he will be your lawyer."

Poseidon moved closer to the bed and nodded to her. "I am pleased to meet you. I wish it were under other circumstances," He said sadly.

All she could do was nod at the man. This was not how she wanted to meet his father. Annabeth studied him closely for a moment and she could instantly see where Percy got a lot of his mannerisms from. He looked like he wanted to say more but instead he ran a hand through his raven hair and sighed, something Percy often did when he was nervous or upset. She looked back at Percy and patted the spot next to her on the bed. She was suddenly glad that Percy was an absolute gentleman and waited for her to always say what she wanted from him.

Percy carefully sat down next to her and tried not to cry. "I am so sorry I couldn't protect you," he croaked out.

Annabeth leaned her head back and sighed. She wasn't in the mood to deal with this. She needed time to process for herself and not help Percy through his guilt of not being there. All she could manage was her good hand on his knee. It wasn't much but he seemed to accept that and placed his bandaged right hand on top of hers.

"The cops are going to come in here and ask you about tonight. They are going to want to know details from the beginning. They will want to know what started this and why no action was taken to stop any of this. I know this isn't the best time Annabeth, but do you want me to be your lawyer?" Poseidon was staring at her sternly but there was something else in his eyes that made her trust him. It was that little spark that she always saw in Percy's eyes.

Annabeth simply nodded and tried to blink back the tears threatening to pour out of the corner of her eyes.

"I am going to assume everything that Percy told me is correct and there is nothing else to add?"

"That really depends on what Percy told you," She replied quietly.

Over the next twenty minutes, Annabeth and Percy filled his father in on the whole story. When finished, Percy looked away from Annabeth and just shook his head. "He will go away for this right dad?"

"As long as Annabeth is able to testify against him, we should have no problem getting him locked up for a long time. You on the other hand . . ." His father trailed off and was suddenly lost in thought.

"What about Percy?" Annabeth looked back and forth between the two men confused as to what they were talking about.

Percy sighed at looked at Annabeth sadly. "I hurt him Annabeth. We don't know how badly yet, but apparently his parents were tossing around pressing charges on me, which is why we need you to follow through with everything the cops decide to charge him with."

Again all Annabeth could do was nod. 'Why does life have to be so damn hard sometimes?' Her thoughts were suddenly running wild and all she wanted was sleep but even something as simple as sleep was taken away from her when an officer and the on call doctor walked into her room at the same time. 'Well, at least I can kill two birds with one stone and get out of here faster,' She thought as she sat up a little more and tried to pull Percy closer to her.

Two hours later the couple, Alexa and Poseidon were headed out of the ER and down to the visitors parking. Annabeth clung to Percy's side and watched as Alexa did the same to Poseidon. When they got to his parked Lexus, Alexa turned back to face Annabeth. "Can I sit in the back with you," she asked just above a whisper.

Annabeth looked at Percy and gently pushed him to the front passenger door. "Yes you can," Annabeth said as she watched the small girl climb into the back seat of the car.

"You sure? I can sit with her . . ." Percy trailed off as Annabeth placed a finger on his lips.

"It's fine Percy. She has had a rough night as well. If I can give her a little bit of the peace that she is seeking, then please let me give it to her."

Percy smiled slightly at her and then leaned forward to kiss her forehead. It took every last ounce of energy she had to not flinch at his touch. It's not that she didn't want him to kiss her, because Lord knows that it seemed that was all she wanted was to be close to Percy, but right now she still had the feeling of Luke on her and it was an unpleasant feeling. She felt dirty and damaged but she would never let Percy know that's how she felt. She didn't want an overwhelming pity party.

Annabeth carefully crawled into the backseat and buckled up. She turned slightly in the seat so that she could cradle Alexa's upper half and she gasped loudly as the girl laid her head down on her abdomen.

"You okay?" Percy and Poseidon both asked at the same time.

"Yeah, just sore and bruised where she put her head," she replied and let out the gulp of air she was holding while the tingling pain ran through her body.

"Sorry," Alexa muttered into her shirt.

Annabeth gently stroked the girl's chocolate hair and hummed softly so that only the two of them would know. After a few minutes she noticed that her shirt was wet. She looked down to see Alexa crying her eyes out silently. Annabeth sighed deeply and tried to imagine what all of this trauma would do to a nine year old and she decided that it was better she not think about it at all right now.

Annabeth opened her eyes a few minutes later to find that they were now parked in front of her building. She wasn't ready to go back in and face the demons lurking behind her door. "Percy, can I say with you?"

Percy turned and looked at her with sadness in his eyes. "Definitely. Do you want me to run up and grab you some stuff to wear or do you want me to just go up there with you?"

"Just throw some stuff in a bag for me please. I have a backpack on the floor just left of the door in my closet."

Percy nodded and looked at his dad, "Watch them for a few please?"

Poseidon nodded and watched as his son ran into the building. He looked back at Annabeth and Alexa and then asked, "Is she asleep? I can't tell from here."

Annabeth moved Alexa's hair and noticed that the tears had stopped and her breathing was slow and relaxed. "I think so."

"She's had a week as bad as your night Annabeth. Don't tell Percy and let her tell you every detail when she is ready, but I could kill those girls for what they have taken from her. Don't treat her any differently than what you would have only knowing what she told you. I only know this because I was reading her file from the nurse on the way to the car."

Annabeth simply nodded. She was in shock and not sure what to say to this news.

"She's a sweet, smart girl when you get around the sassy exterior and while she isn't mine, I love her like she is my own. From what Percy has told me of you, I know that you are the same. The only difference between you two is that you have the mental capacity to deal with the trauma, she unfortunately does not and she is going to need your help Annabeth."

'Oh dear God, please don't put this pressure on me! I DO NOT have the mental capacity to deal with my own rape let alone Alexa's abuse!' Annabeth's thoughts were suddenly crazed and loud in her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to keep more tears from falling. 'God, I need time to process! Quit throwing things at me like this!'

"I am sorry to throw so much at you at one time. You don't deserve that . . . I just think you two might be able to help each other heal if you give it a try."

Annabeth opened her eyes and nodded as the tears began to freely fall, staining her cheeks in a salty river. She looked out the window just in time to see Percy getting off the elevator in the building. Using the back of her good hand she tried to dry her face off. It was a failed attempt as she knew Percy could tell there was a round of fresh tears from her. Thankfully he didn't ask any questions as he helped her out of the car and quickly got her into the front seat of his Jeep.

Poseidon had Alexa out of his car and was buckling the sleeping girl into the back seat when Percy yelled, "Oh great!"

"What?"

"Nothing, just a couple of parking violations," He grumbled as he fell into the driver's seat.

Poseidon stood up straight and shut the back door and walked over to Percy. He took the tickets from his son's hand and started toward his own car. "Consider it part of your birthday present," his dad called over his shoulder.

"Yay, what a wonderful present," Percy said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Hey, I said only part of your present! Now get those girls home and in bed please. I will talk to you tomorrow evening after your mother and Paul get back. Night son."

And with that he was in his car and pulling out of the drop off circle. Percy started the Jeep and sighed and pulled the Jeep out after him. "So much for the best birthday ever," he mumbled to himself as he headed toward his apartment.