Chapter 3 is here, hooray for updating! Please keep reviewing, thank you to you guys who have already left reviews, you are amazing *throws confetti* Enjoy the chapter!
Stupid Annabeth. Stupid, stupid Annabeth. Why couldn't she have kept her mouth shut about working with Leo Valdez? She'd vowed to keep her hero and normal lives very separate. But of course Inferno didn't get the message and ruined it. Now she blurted to Typhoon about working with him and Typhoon seemed to recognise him too. If he found out her identity- God, she would have to be more careful about what she was saying.
"How is he Chiron?" The Red Woman demanded, showing up with the rest of the heroes not long after Typhoon and Annabeth had taken Leo to Mrs Jackson's infirmary, all demanding answers as if they were his best friend. Maybe it was a shock to them all that he was so easily beaten by an unknown enemy; after the last huge war, anything new was terrifying. The Red Woman had almost smudged her white face paint off worrying so much, and then Annabeth would have known who two of her team were.
"He'll be fine Red, you shouldn't have all come here" Chiron told her, looking around the room at everyone else. The Centurion, a girl who wore an expensive-looking gold helmet and could summon precious jewels was stood beside her patrol partner Shifter, who was currently turning into a range of different animals- it was his nervous tick. Annabeth just paced and thought up battle plans.
"He is part of our team Chiron, we would have come no matter who it was" The Praetor said from her position in the back. She was the quietest, but also the most authoritive, and Annabeth knew she was hiding her truth-seeking powers from the others. No doubt the Praetor would prefer to have the surprise attack if she had to find out something from them; she always was more cautious and paranoid.
"Yeah, even Typhoon is worth a trip now" Blue Spark agreed, and Typhoon sent him a rude gesture across the room.
"You suck Sparky. You're just sour because I made your lightning look like a static shock"
"I don't even have to be a seer to predict the lightning Blue Spark is about to throw to prove Typhoon wrong" The oracle muttered to herself, hovering near Chiron and giving the boys disapproving looks. Blue Spark scowled and Typhoon stuck his tongue out.
"Mature" Annabeth said.
"Thank you, I do try" Typhoon replied.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and wondered whether it was just an overgrown five-year-old inside that suit. She wouldn't be surprised if it was.
"What are we going to do about his revealed identity Chiron? There were at least twenty cell phones that caught his face" Annabeth inquired, playing with the feathers on her arms nervously. Chiron sighed.
"He'll just have to be out in the open, there isn't much we can do. Not even Red's charmspeaking could make the city forget what they saw; the footage will probably be on the news by now"
There were several heavy sighs from various people around the room, Annabeth included. Leo would be hounded constantly now his identity was revealed; the press would find out his name, address, workplace- they would stalk him and pester him for answers about his powers and who the others were. Leo would not have privacy again. And by extension, Annabeth would have to be more careful too; one slip up and her face would be plastered on the front page of a newspaper.
This was why everyone had their alter-ego. They hadn't even told each other in case someone let slip or in Annabeth's case, she didn't trust them. No doubt Shifter and The Centurion would be swapping real names soon, judging by how close they were, but Annabeth just couldn't. The only thing they knew about her was her mom; that's all they would ever know.
"Who was it that attacked him?" Blue Spark asked curiously. Chiron looked grave.
"I don't know Blue. All I know was that he was strong. Exceptionally so. We'll have to be careful from now on; he'll probably try and pick you off one at a time"
Typhoon glanced at Night Owl worriedly, but she stayed focused on Chiron.
"He won't go for us all at once? That's what the last few have tried" She said warily. Chiron smiled grimly.
"Maybe he has realised that you are not your parents and those tactics won't work. Be on your guard, heroes; Inferno thought he was invincible, and he was beaten easily. Don't go on patrol alone"
Annabeth left the infirmary, as Mrs Jackson had said that Leo needed rest, and she was followed out by Typhoon. Everyone else had stayed, waiting to hear more news of Inferno, but Annabeth was tired; her hands were burned from Typhoon's boiling water whip, the hyperactive guy who fixed her computer was a surperhero and someone was out for them. Something about him was familiar, but Annabeth didn't know what it was. It annoyed her when she didn't know.
"Yo, Wise Girl, wait up!" Typhoon called, and Annabeth growled.
"That's not my name" She reminded him.
"Not anymore, yeah I know. You seemed tense in there; was that guy your friend?" He asked, and Annabeth sighed.
"I don't have that many friends. He is just someone I know" She told him evenly, walking down the street in hopes that Typhoon would just leave. She hoped he wouldn't follow her home. She didn't want to have to push him off another building.
"Your other life sounds real lonely, Wise Girl" He said.
"And you sound real stupid since you are still calling me that" She replied.
"Its your first Hero name; you're the only one to change yours"
"Maybe I wanted a change"
"Or maybe you changed it because you didn't want to be that little girl who couldn't save her mom anymore" Typhoon said, and Annabeth stopped walking, mouth agape and blood thundering cold in her veins.
"What did you just say?" She breathed. Typhoon stopped too, standing before her calmly. His eyes were green under his mask; a sea green, like sun on deep water.
"You couldn't save her. You were there, weren't you wise girl?" He asked quietly.
"I don't know what-
"That day. The day that Gaea killed our parents. Sunk them into the ground. You were there, weren't you?" He asked. Annabeth clenched her fists.
"Don't you dare ask me that again. In fact, don't talk to me. If I see you again, you'll be joining your dad" She spat "And my mom, in the ground"
She turned and she took off into the sky, jetting toward the safety of her apartment, trying to tell herself that Typhoon was completely wrong, that he shouldn't have asked her that, even if she was lying to herself. He may be stupid, but he could be pretty perceptive; but how did he know that Annabeth was there when Gaea sunk the first Team of Heroes into the ground? How did he know that she hated being helpless, and changed her name so she didn't have to keep being reminded of Gaea calling her pathetic? How did he know anything about her?
"Annabeth? What's wrong?" Thalia asked, when Annabeth entered through the window. She sighed.
"Nothing Thals, just a long night" She said.
"Yeah, I saw the news. We work with Inferno, huh? Its pretty weird how there's three of us at the same workplace; I'm retired though, so I don't count. But you and Leo, what are the chances?"
"I'm going to bed Thals. Is Luke not here?" She asked. Thalia shook her head.
"He's working late tonight and he said he was going to visit his mom in the hospital. You know he doesn't like anyone going with him for that" She explained, and Annabeth nodded. After knowing Luke for so long, she knew how sensitive he was about his mother. She smiled.
"Yeah, I know. Night Thals"
"Goodnight Annabeth"
Annabeth took off her suit and threw on an old T-shirt before gratefully climbing into bed and pulling the covers over her head, hoping that if she couldn't see the world, it would simply go away.
The world can be pretty damn stubborn when it wanted to be. And annoying.
"Annie, you're gonna be late for work" Thalia called, throwing stuff at her from the door. Annabeth groaned from her bed and cracked an eye open, looking at her alarm and- crap. Why didn't it go off at six as usual?
"If you're wondering what I think you're wondering, that damn thing has been ringing since six in the morning- I almost threw it out of the window" Thalia supplied helpfully. Annabeth heaved herself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, realising that she hadn't even shifted back to her usual state, and the feathers that covered the majority of her head were sticking out in crazy directions. She made her orange owl eyes return to their usual stormy grey, the feathers turn back to curly blonde hair (which was in a similar messy state which wasn't helping her tardiness) and scowled at herself in the mirror.
"First time in three years I'm late, how is that even possible?" She grumbled.
"Stop talking to yourself and hurry up, I was late three times this week!" Thalia yelled through the door, making loud crashing noises as she searched for something (probably her shoes, she was always losing them).
They arrived at the museum much later than Annabeth felt comfortable with, and could hardly get inside due to the mass of reporters congregated outside. Chiron was stood at the entrance, refusing access to them all, and Thalia managed to get through by elbowing and biting. Annabeth realised she wasn't getting inside through politeness, and unleashed her elbows too.
"Girls, go on, get inside; I doubt any of the public are getting in today so you'll just be making sure everything is in order and trying to stop Reyna from ordering that forty foot tall statue of Athena from China" He said, stress evident in his voice as he shooed the countless journalists away. Annabeth winced and he gave her an apologetic look, but she just brushed it off and smiled, following Thalia inside and they looked at each other incredulously.
"Jeez, they already found out where he works?" Thalia said, and Annabeth sighed.
"Yeah, they're good at that. You should go and talk to Luke; he'll be freaked about all this, you know how he is with the hero stuff" She advised. Thalia looked as if something heavy had just been dumped on her shoulders.
"Yeah, I know. Lets just hope he doesn't find out about the rest of us"
Annabeth could only hope, after what happened to Luke and his mom, anyone who had anything to do with heroes was not his friend. She hoped he never found out for Thalia's sake; she was in love with the guy, and she used to be a hero. Annabeth was sure now that Luke was the reason she quit. She wondered if anyone could ever make her feel the same.
"Hey Annabeth, you're late today" Hazel greeted, smiling politely as she approached. Annabeth groaned.
"Please don't remind me" She said. Hazel laughed.
"Its okay, we all do it. Although, you're barely ever late. Long night?"
"Uh, you could say that" Annabeth agreed. Hazel grinned.
"Were you on a date?"
"What? No!"
"You can tell me if you were. Your hair looks pretty wild today, I just assumed-
"You assumed wrong. God, Hazel, no date. I hate dating"
"Aw dammit, I'm out of luck" Another voice said, and Annabeth turned to find Percy wandering over, hair messy and smile wide. He was dressed awfully casual for a museum job, he seems to have caught on quickly that literally nobody wore formal clothing or even followed the dress code (Annabeth remembered Leo's 'Mad hat Mondays' with some horror). She herself always wore sweaters in the winter, comfortable boots and such. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Out of luck?" She asked. He went a little red.
"Slipped out, sorry" He told her.
"Good. Anyway, you already have someone to date, judging by the cell phone number someone wrote on your hand" She replied, and Percy scowled at his now clean palm as if it offended him personally.
"That was Drew wasn't it? She had to practically pin you down to write. Its okay, she got Frank when he first came here too; she'll give up eventually" Hazel smiled, and Percy chuckled.
"It was terrifying, she pounced on me. I'm never going to the top floor again" He said. Annabeth cracked a smile, a little relieved for some reason, although she didn't quite know why.
"Well, I gotta get to work. I'll see you Hazel. I actually have something for you to look at Percy; I've had it in my desk draw for months, I totally forgot about it until this morning" She said, and Hazel left, heading off to her own job. Annabeth and Percy walked the large hallway, the space much bigger now it wasn't filled with visitors.
"What do you have to show me?" He asked "Is it something from the museum?"
"Uh no, its mine actually; well, I- borrowed it" She lied, and Percy smirked.
"Borrowed it as in borrowed it or borrowed it as in 'not going to give it back'?"
"Borrowed it as in borrowed, moron. I want to know If you can get it back to normal" She explained, climbing the floors to her level and emerging on the hallway that led to her space.
"So, you borrowed it to see if I can fix it?" He asked.
"Yes. Its in a complete mess"
Mostly lies, but Annabeth had seen what Percy could do on her way out of the museum, the gleaming weapons that seemed irreparable before now in pristine condition, sat proudly in their display cases. And this weapon was important; this weapon was once her mother's. She wanted it to shine the way it once did when she had it.
"Here it is" Annabeth announced, pulling open a draw and carefully removing a bronze knife. It was badly damaged and coated in grime, the handle worn soft and edges flecked with dried brown blood, but Annabeth was sure that Percy could make it usable.
"Oh my God" He breathed, and Annabeth held her breath.
"What?" She asked.
"This is- Athena's blade. She died with this in her hand" He said. Annabeth gulped.
"You- uh, a fan of the heroes?" She asked nervously. He would question why she had it. He might realise that Annabeth was Night Owl. She had made a mistake.
"You could say that yeah. Night Owl, does she know you have this?" He asked, and he sounded angry. What right did he have to be angry?
Oh God, she hoped he wasn't one of those creepy Night Owl stalkers who picked up some of the feathers she shed and framed them. Please don't be one of those guys.
"Can you fix it or not?" She asked sharply. Percy raised the knife to eye-level and examined it closely, his green eyes scanning all the damaged parts.
"I could improve it a great deal, but its been chipped and cracked and everything. It won't ever be the same as it was" He said.
"Oh. Well, do what you can" She said. He frowned.
"How did you get this? Is this the only thing recovered? The only weapon?"
"Why? Are you a collector?"
Percy looked downcast for a moment, before smiling.
"Just curious. I'll take care of this for you" He promised.
"Thank you. I owe you for this" She told him.
"I'll find something for you to repay me with"
And with that he left, taking Athena's priceless blade with him. Annabeth let out a long, relieved breath and sat at her desk, pulling a book of ancient Greek toward her and promising herself Chinese takeout for dinner if she could finish translating it by closing time. Of course she just managed it, and she and Thalia really enjoyed the meal, but she couldn't stop thinking about her mother's blade and Typhoon being spot on about watching the heroes of Olympus being defeated by Gaea. Hopefully she'd be able to push it out of her mind by tomorrow and stop worrying about it, loosen up a little like everyone and their mothers had been telling her to do.
Hopefully. But no promises.
She and Thalia stayed in watching really bad movies that night ("Jaws is an awesome movie Annabeth, your taste just sucks") and eating everything they could find in the fridge, and Annabeth was glad, because when she woke up the next morning, there was a huge story on the front page of the newspaper that read 'ORACLE IS CAPTURED BY UNKNOWN VILLAIN; CAPTOR DEMANDS A TRADE FOR HER FREEDOM'
And guess who the Villain wanted?
None other than the one and only Night Owl.
Annabeth was flattered, really, but she was not handing herself over to some douchebag who tried bargaining with her team.
"Hey Thals, do you want to come out of retirement to help me whoop some ass?"
"I thought you would never ask. And Annabeth- call me huntress"
Annabeth smiled, and began to think up a plan.