WARNING: There is an F-bomb in this chapter, along with a lot of other colorful swears. I'm sorry but I felt like I had to stick them in for emphasis and such. Here's when everything starts getting dark and twisty. Get used to it, it's gonna be happening a lot.

EVERYONE'S GOT A BACKSTORY

Gabe Ugliano had an unlucky life. He'd come from a family where all the bad things that you're told not to do, were done. Then one day, after an especially bad night when the booze had run dry, he left, taking the only thing he cared about with him: his little sister Abby. For years the streets had raised them on cold hard reality. But when he was eighteen and she was twelve, his father came to find them. The remnants of a boy yearning for his father's attention rose in Gabe, but no, Dad hadn't come for him.

He had come for Abby; sweet, sensible Abby.

Gabe fought with all he had to keep her with him. But his father was adamant; he needed Abby to pay off some debts. Take me, the teen had pleaded to no avail. Dad needed Abby because she was his daughter, because she was a girl.

Something died in Gabe Ugliano the day he watched his father take his baby sister away. Something that he'd tried nursing with less than legal vices ever since.

If there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that family meant trouble.

And now he was in another one. One that wasn't even his own.

That damn bitch had roped him into it, taken care of him while he was passed out and talked him into marriage. It was only after his non-stop hangover had abated somewhat that Gabe found out; the whore had a kid.

But here was a chance to end it all, his ticket to freedom at last.

So without any ounce of hesitation, Gabe tipped his switchblade knife on his wife and charged. Three lumbering steps in, something thudded heavily against his side, knocking him down. Gabe lashed out with his knife, catching glimpses of a jet black hair and sea green eyes

"RUN!" screamed Percy. Whether it was to his mother or to Annabeth, he didn't know. "I've got him, just RUN!"

Sally yanked Annabeth from where she stood, frozen to the spot, and dragged her through the corridor to the master bedroom. She tossed the blonde in with a hint of borderline hysteria before striding back out, leaving Annabeth alone in the dimly lit room.

It all seemed so wrong. Percy was a dweeb. Percy was bad at English. Percy never color coded notes and always used blue ball pens. Percy was NOT an abused child. That man was NOT related to Percy in any way, and Percy would NOT get hurt fighting him.

Shock and denial ran through Annabeth. She sat there amongst bits of used Kleenex, unmoving except for the slight tremble at her fingers.

Wait.

What was she doing?

That was Percy.

Percy, her bumbling idiot of a tutee who always needed her help.

And she was always there to give it. That was her job after all.

What was stopping her now?

Steeling her resolve, Annabeth calmed herself with a few shallow breaths before pulling herself up onto shaky legs. Surveying her surroundings, stormy grey eyes settled on a work desk on the other side of the room. She took small, unsteady steps towards it. A series of heavy thuds sounded from outside and Annabeth willed her legs to stop wavering.

The desk was somewhere between neat and messy. Sheets of paper lay in haphazard piles across it while a stack of binders rose in a pile off to the left. But these didn't interest Annabeth. She was looking for something specific. Her gaze swept over the office supplies, grazing over half-finished documents and unsealed mail envelopes.

There, she thought as her hands closed around the object she was searching for.

Hastily, she stowed it behind her back and made her way back to the living room. Her footfalls were soundless as she crept through the corridor.

"Fuck this," cried an unfamiliar voice, guttural and slurred. Annabeth froze yet again, yet this time out of caution because a tensed silence had fallen. She was just at the corner, one more step and she would be in full view of the rest of the apartment. "I'm leaving."

Before Annabeth could breathe a sigh of relief, Sally called out. "Gabe no! We...we can work this out."

"Mom! We don't need him!" Percy exclaimed, his voice cracking with frustration. "We don't need the good-for-nothing son of a—"

"PERCY," Sally warned suddenly frantic again.

Annabeth peered around the corner and saw why. The stranger, Gabe she corrected, was struggling to his feet. A dark red line traced from his mouth to his chin, where Percy must have hit him. The blonde went unnoticed as she inched towards the scene, leaving the corridor.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as adrenaline pumped through Annabeth's veins.

Gabe hurled himself forward, clipping Percy as the teen shoved his mother out of the way. The two grappled once again, this time equally unarmed...or so they thought.

Percy couldn't have seen it, but Annabeth did. A small black something slipped into Gabe's hand from his pocket. She recognized it immediately. It was a Swiss army knife, just like the one she'd given her dad for his birthday but so, so, so much worse.

And suddenly, she was behind them, her hand tightening around the scissors she had picked up in the bedroom. The stink of intoxication hit her full force as she plunged her fist into Gabe's shoulder.

He tore away from her and pushed Percy off. A ragged tear ran along the back of his grubby coat, exposing the slightly frayed cloth of an undershirt, spotted crimson where the scissors had scratched skin.

Annabeth stared him down, hand clenched around the scissors so hard her knuckles turned white.

Gabe stared back, eyes flashing with loathing and something else the blonde didn't recognize. His bloody lip moved slightly as he mumbled to himself under his breath.

Then all of a sudden, the fight seemed to drain out of him. He stuffed his Swiss army knife back into a pocket and fished a gleaming gold ring out. Throwing it disdainfully at the floor he growled. "Keep the damn apartment. I hope I never see either of you again."

And just as abruptly as it had started, the whole affair had ended.

Warm hands pried at her stiff fingers. "It's ok Annabeth you can let go."

Annabeth didn't reply as Percy gently took her hand in his.

"Is she going to be alright?" Sally asked as Percy confiscated the scissors.

"I think so," he replied. "Maybe she's in shock..."

"...'m not in shock," Annabeth mumbled, just loud enough to be heard. Looking up, she met sea-green eyes, gazing intently back. A rapidly forming bruise surfaced on his cheek and marred his dishevelled face. She sucked in a sudden breath, and turned to Sally. "We s-should call the police. This is a domestic disturbance."

The blonde felt her tutee tense. His hands tightened around hers. "We can't. If the police came we'd be dead."

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"This building doesn't," Sally paused. She let out a gusty sigh and rubbed at a temple. "Doesn't deal well with the police. The tenants would be in an uproar. And if they find out we called the cops in...Well, eviction would be the least of our problems."

Percy fidgeted when Annabeth made no reply. Sally bit at her lip and looked at a wall clock. "She should get home."

"I'll call Grover," her son said, making his way to his room for his cell phone.

Annabeth clasped her hands together. They were cold and clammy to touch and she found herself wishing Percy would hold them again.

Sally saw her troubled expression and her expression melded into one of deep, sincere apology. "I'm so sorry, dear."

No, she wanted to say. I'm not the victim here.

But the words caught in her throat and stayed there until Grover came to pick her up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Annabeth?" Grover called, nudging her tentatively. "Annabeth you're almost home."

Rousing from fitful sleep, Annabeth looked out the cab window and saw that her friend was right. The familiar houses of her borough blurred by, silhouetted by the fading rays of the twilight sun. The afternoon's surreal events seemed like a nightmare, something that she'd dreamed up on the way home. But the mere fact that she was in the cab with Grover was proof enough that everything had in fact been real.

"Annabeth?" Grover repeated. He picked nervously at his green uniformed coveralls; the CHB emblazoned on was already looking a bit threadbare. "Say something please..."

"Did you know?" she finally choked out. "About Percy I mean."

The custodian didn't answer right away and gave an anxious little bleat. "Yeah."

Accustomed to her old friend's odd nervous tendencies, Annabeth ignored the bleating and set her mouth into a slight frown. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know you were going," he admitted. "You asked Gleeson Hedge for Percy's address so I had no idea."

"Not that!" Annabeth snapped, exasperated. "I mean, why didn't you tell the authorities? They could have done something."

"Sally asked me not to," Grover said in a quiet voice. He looked at her through dense curly bangs and added, "She needed Gabe Ugliano."

"Needed him?" the blonde parroted. Disbelief coated her words as she pressed at the statement. "How on Earth could anyone need that, that, that...ass?"

Grover was a bit taken back at that. Annabeth never swore. "Ugliano is an important name in the...crime syndicates. The Jacksons needed him for protection. As long as Sally held Ugliano's name, they were safe."

"Crime syndicates?" she all but screeched. "What would Mrs. Jackson have to do with crime syndicates?"

"It's not so much because of Sally," Grover mumbled. "It's Percy...his father, his real father I mean, isn't really the most legal man in the city."

And she had wondered why Percy never pulled through with school work...

"Annabeth, Sally's asked me to ask you to keep quiet about this," Grover continued. "She isn't forcing you or anything but they'd be grateful if you did."

"What'll happen to them now?"

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out."

"How?"

"I'll tell the school; they'll contact Peeeercy's dad."

"Wait, they can contact his dad?"

"Yeaaah," Grover bleated.

"Then why can't Percy and his mom talk to the guy?"

"It's personal...," he replied. "And Percy's dad has connections in the school; it's how he got into CHB in the first place."

"Oh, all right then," Annabeth said, finding that she had nothing else to say. Complicated thoughts and feelings rattled around her head for the rest of the ride home. Her hands, though no longer quivering, were still ice cold and sweaty. How long did Percy have to deal with all of this?

"Do you wanna hear something that might cheer you up?" Grover asked. His words were soft and kind, not harsh or patronizing. That was what she liked about him. Good old Grover always there for her whenever life was being a bitch.

"Sure," Annabeth nodded. Maybe he could alleviate the heavy feeling that had settled in her gut.

He gave her a little smile and stated, "The Huntington girls are visiting the school next week."

Happiness flared in her as her mind registered what that meant. Her best friend was coming to visit. That had always been enough to set her in high spirits. But this time, she thought as the delight faded away, this time it just wasn't enough.

Note: No update next week because I'll be at camp...in the middle of October. It's gonna be 100% canoeing FUN.

P.S. Anyone wanna have a guess at what Gabe mumbled to himself before he left?