Here you go, chapter 6! Again thank you for reviewing, it makes my day, and I love reading your guesses and suggestions (I probably will end up including Tyson now you suggested it, so thank you!)so keep on telling me what you think! Enjoy!
The only time that Percy had seen Night Owl really hurt was when Inferno had set that building on fire and she'd been stuck inside. Night Owl had said it was 'part of the plan', but Percy really couldn't shake the feeling that maybe it was an accident. Leo was a new guy when it happened; she was probably covering for him so he wouldn't get into serious trouble.
Still, she'd been able to walk then, she'd been conscious and Percy could carry her to safety; but this was different. Night Owl was in Huntress' lap, poisoned, and only Nico Di Angelo's body was hiding her true identity from view. Huntress was shooting arrows with more accuracy than Percy could ever achieve, whilst simultaneously trying to keep Night Owl talking to her, and Nico had begun creating a barrier between the monsters and them. Percy just carried on with his water fighting, pushing his worry to the back of his mind until it was safe.
"Duck!" Blue Spark cried, and a lightning bolt zipped over Percy's head, striking a storm spirit in the chest. Leo set in on fire.
"Focus Typhoon, Huntress is taking care of your partner" Blue advised, and Percy nodded. He wished he'd brought Riptide with him; but the sword still wasn't up to scratch and he was pretty sure that Chiron would fire him from taking it out of the museum. Fixing it had taken a backseat whilst he was fixing Annabeth's knife, which wasn't too easy either. Percy grumbled whilst he threw a monster up out of a hole in the ceiling on a jet of boiling water.
When the fight was over, everyone turned to Night Owl. Huntress had put a Yankees baseball cap on her head, tucking her hair in so that none of it could be seen, and Nico had given her some sort of balaclava to hide her face.
"We need to get her to the infirmary. She was hit with a knife coated in pit scorpion venom" Huntress explained, and a shudder went through the group. Nico scooped Night Owl up and vanished completely (Percy scolded himself because it was not the time to go all nerdy and impressed) whilst Huntress ran out of the door into the dying sunlight. Percy followed and Inferno and Blue Spark joined him, but before Percy left he saw the knife that Night Owl had been struck with. It was oddly familiar.
"Hang on" He said, and Blue Spark stopped "I know this knife"
"That's- it looks just like the one-
"Athena used. Whoever that guy was he stole it" Percy said, staring at the knife angrily. It was coated in the venom, but the chips and cracks were easily distinguishable. Percy had left it in the basement where he repaired the weapons, he hadn't even realised it was missing; but there it was.
"Who would take that and try and kill her daughter with it?" Blue Spark asked. Percy gritted his teeth.
"Someone with a sick sense of humour. Come on, lets see if we can help"
"Typhoon; let me carry it, you look like you're gonna stab someone" Blue advised, but Percy shook his head.
"I could've stopped it. I'm not letting this knife out of my sight again"
Blue Spark just gave him a strange look, before Percy took off on a stream of water and headed for his Mom's infirmary.
When he barged into the room everyone was there, just as they had been when Inferno had been injured, but Percy knew it was a more sombre atmosphere. Night Owl was one of the longest serving heroes, along with Huntress and Blue Spark. Everyone knew her, and everyone worried.
"What happened?" The Centurion asked, sat with Shifter almost tearily. Percy knew Shifter was trying to hide his worry, because his nose was slightly elongated and his ears had turned pointed.
"Night Owl went to retrieve the Oracle" Praetor explained "Judging by the state she's in, I'm guessing it didn't go well"
"You'd be right. The guy stabbed her with a knife coated in pit Scorpion venom. Athena's knife" Blue Spark explained, and there were noises of outrage around the room. Both Huntress and Red Woman looked as if they were about to say something before thinking better of it.
"That- that- how dare he! When I find him I'm gonna-
"Huntress. Calm down" Red soothed, putting a hand on Huntress' shoulder. She seethed.
"That's my best friend. I'm not gonna be calm until this guy is lying in the dirt with my arrows in his chest" She growled. Percy had forgotten how fierce Huntress was; she retired not long after he decided to work closer with the team, so he didn't really know her that well, all he knew was that she and Night Owl made a terrifying team. She'd retired for the same reason that Grover did; to settle down with someone, keep out of danger for once. Percy wondered how difficult it was to just hang up the mask and drop out. He didn't think he could do it.
"So, where's the Oracle?" Inferno asked "I didn't see her there"
"Because she wasn't there. It was a trick" Nico sighed "That guy still has her"
"I'd love to know who he was" Centurion muttered darkly, and a few rubies rose from the floor around her feet "So I could give him a piece of my mind"
"Guys, chill out. Night Owl will be fine, we'll catch the guy, you'll all see" Leo said, the only one who'd taken off his disguise and was back in regular clothes.
"Shouldn't you be mad?" Percy asked "He attacked you first"
"Dude, I hated all that disguise stuff, he did me a favour. Sure I didn't like him attacking me, but I was only gonna reveal myself anyway. This way I'm not in trouble" He said with a grin. Percy really didn't get Leo sometimes. Like when he was wheeling his trolley down the halls singing 'this girl is on fire' whilst the museum was full of people. He was a strange guy.
The whole room became silent when the door to the room Night Owl was in was opened and Percy's mom stepped out.
"Lighten up heroes, she'll be fine. She just needs to keep up with the ambrosia and rest for a few days. Go and get some rest, make a plan on how to catch the lunatic who did this to her and save Oracle" She said, giving Percy a very knowing smile that made him blush even if he didn't know why.
"Thank God. Give her my love okay? I gotta be up for work tomorrow" Shifter said, rising to his feet. He looked completely human now, no random animal features taking over. Centurion followed him out.
"Can I stay Mrs Jackson?" Huntress asked. She nodded.
"Just you kid, everyone else has to go"
Everyone else looked sulky about it, but did as they were told, as Percy's mom would use her 'mom voice' on them; she literally was the den mother for them, especially the people who's parents were heroes or like Shifter and Centurion who didn't have parents at all. She gave Percy a warm look.
"You too young man, go and tell Grover about what happened; you know he worries about Night Owl too" She said. Percy sighed.
"Can I not-
"No staying here. Night Owl needs rest and right now she's too weak to grow her feathers, and she doesn't want anyone knowing who she is"
"But Huntress-
"Has known for years. Are you going to work tomorrow?" His mom asked, and Percy frowned.
"Yeah, why?" He asked. She smiled.
"No reason. If Annabeth is in, tell her I said hello"
"Mom, she's always in. She doesn't do days off"
And that was true, because everyone who has mentioned Annabeth has mentioned that she hasn't had a day off in three years. Why start now?
"Just tell her, Mrs Jackson says hello. She'll know who I am"
Percy hugged his mom goodbye and she kissed his forehead through the mask, and he wondered how his mom knew Annabeth when she seemed to have no idea who she was when Percy told her about her. Women confused him.
Annabeth was in work that next morning (Ha, Percy was right), but she looked sick. She'd paled and there were purple shadows under her eyes, a green tint to her cheeks and her grey eyes weren't as focused. Percy had gone up to apologise about the knife being stolen and instead strode right up to the desk and grabbed her chin on instinct, tilting her head up to try and see what was wrong with her. From what he knew, Annabeth simply didn't get sick.
"What are you doing?" She asked, and he let go, catching on that maybe grabbing someone's face wasn't the best of ideas especially when said person could probably throw a heavy book at you.
"Sorry- you look…"
"Sick? I am, just a cold. Nothing serious" Annabeth said, and Percy sighed.
"Why don't you have a day off?" He asked curiously. She looked up at him.
"Habit. I'm fine, really" She insisted. Percy leaned on the desk.
"I have something to tell you" He began. Annabeth paused in her organising of papers.
"What? What happened?" She asked.
"The knife you gave me. Someone has taken it. I'm so sorry Annabeth, I had no idea until last night-
"Last Night?" She asked sharply. Percy gulped.
"Uh, I came back late to fix it, but it was gone" He lied, hoping that she'd buy it.
"Oh. Do you know who took it?" She asked quietly. Percy shook his head and felt like he'd let her down.
"No I don't. I can check though, there are cameras down there and Leo has a pad that can show us the footage-
"Yeah, check that. Uh, I need to take my- cold tablets. I'll be right back" Annabeth said hurriedly, and stood shakily, heading to the bathroom. Percy decided he'd find Leo during that time, and wandered the halls, weaving through visitors who were looking at the artwork and weaponry.
"Leo! Hey, Leo!" Percy called, spotting the elf-like features a mile away. Leo turned and grinned.
"Newbie! What can Leo do for you?" He asked.
"I need the security tapes for the basement, you got them?" He asked. Leo reached into his tool belt (why he had a tool belt, Percy didn't know) and pulled out a tablet that should have been too big to fit in there.
"That's a brand new Festus security system, all footage is live-streamed. Tap that button and you can browse through it. Are you trying to catch the employees sneaking into the supply cupboards again? Because I'm sure Hazel and Frank-
"No, nothing like that. I doubt I would want to be scarred with that footage. Thanks Leo, I'll get this back to you in no time" Percy said, and Leo grinned, tipped an invisible hat and set off down the hall, whistling to himself and waving at people who recognised him as Inferno. Percy watched him in bemusement for a moment, before heading back to Annabeth, scrolling through the security footage as he went. He found the camera trained on the basement where he took damaged weapons; most of the footage was just of him working and then that one time when he and Jason had a sparring match with two swords and wore ridiculous hats left over from Leo's Mad Hat Mondays. He skipped through that part; it was highly embarrassing, though he must remember to blackmail Jason with it later.
"Annabeth, I got it!" Percy called, wandering back into the large open space where Annabeth's workplace was, and found Thalia with her. Thalia worked in the research side of things Percy remembered, collecting pieces of ancient monsters and discovering new info on old Greek legends. She was rubbing Annabeth's back and speaking quiet words of comfort.
"Got what?" Thalia asked curiously.
"Security footage from the basement where Athena's knife was stolen from. Percy, have you found the right bit?" Annabeth inquired, and Percy nodded.
"I think so. Yeah, here it is" He said, sitting himself on the desk and holding out the tablet so all of them could see. A dude in a hoodie was sneaking around the weapons, taking each blade out and inspecting it before moving on. Percy cursed himself when he saw how carelessly he'd left the knife on the worktop; he could've stowed it away somewhere and Night Owl wouldn't have been stabbed by her mother's blade.
"Thalia- are you okay?" Annabeth asked quietly. Thalia looked as white as a sheet and was shaking. Percy could tell she recognised the thief.
"It's- It's…I have to go. I'll take this back" She said, snatching the tablet from Percy's hands and practically running out of the door, and Percy looked to Annabeth in confusion.
"What was that all about?" He asked. She was staring at the point where Thalia had vanished into the elevators.
"Whatever it was, it wasn't good news"
Percy had to wonder when anything was around here.