"She's at camp." Percy was being frustratingly standoffish.
"Why didn't she come with you?" Sally loved Annabeth, especially after how helpful she had been before leaving on the Argo. Just the occasional updates on what they were doing at camp, where they thought they would be headed when the time came, and stopping by for meals had helped both Sally and Paul tremendously. And now they were worried for her; she had become a part of their family after all.
Percy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "She said she didn't want to 'intrude.'" He was pouting, actually pouting, and the whole situation was just so absolutely ridiculous that Sally decided to fix it then and there.
"Grab your keys, Paul, we're going to go get her." Both of them looked at her with confused expressions, but her husband got up anyway while she gathered her things together.
"Uh, but Mom," Percy started, clearly still confused by the fact that they were about to drive to camp to get Annabeth. He'd always known his Mom and Paul liked her, but he was surprised by how concerned they were and he couldn't figure out why. "She was really adamant about not coming." Which was weird. Shouldn't that be weird?
Sally didn't have time for him to think it through; they were both so stubborn. "Percy, after everything Annabeth did for us while you were gone, there's no way I'm letting her stay anywhere other than here." She could see him working it over and when her words finally sunk in, his face was so full of guilt. That's not what she wanted to do, she didn't want to make him feel guilty, none of this was his fault.
He was going to apologize, her stubborn, noble son was going to apologize for something that wasn't his fault. Before he could say anything, she pulled him into another embrace. "Don't think for a second that we blame you for anything that happened." She could see Paul waiting for them out of the corner of her eye.
"Now let's go get Annabeth, and you are both going to tell me what happened, and then we'll get whatever you guys want to eat on the way back." There were some other things they would have to work out, like who would sleep where, because her son probably had to grow up a lot in the past months but no way was Sally going to let them sleep in his bed together. Percy just smiled and said okay and the three of them filed out of the apartment.
The drive there was quiet at first, aside from the radio. Paul had thought that it would keep him from imagining what these kids had been through. He wanted to ask questions and he wanted to know what else had happened, but it seemed that Sally wanted to wait to hear the rest until they got Annabeth. They had heard what happened to Percy up until the Argo got to California and he wanted to know what happened to change his step-son. His story so far didn't seem any worse than defeating a Titan army. What was a giant and a few cronies to an entire army, right?
Already he could notice things were different. His demeanor wasn't the same; he was quieter, more reserved, wanting to keep to himself. As they left the city, someone next to them honked and Percy jumped like he was frightened. Even after the battle in New York last year, Percy seemed okay after the first few weeks, and even then he wasn't jumpy. But this time things felt different and Paul couldn't help but wonder if this was post-traumatic stress.
Percy wasn't even seventeen yet and he had seen more horrors than Paul had ever and hopefully would ever know. Sure, he'd engaged in some swordplay last summer, but it's not like he saw what he was really fighting. How do you cope with seeing monsters and nightmares all the time?
Paul kept to himself, but after a while, Sally was talking and telling Percy about what happened to them while he was gone. Despite how absolutely shitty everything had been, she was smiling. She told him how they sat around not doing much aside from hoping for an update from Annabeth because, really, what else could they do? They couldn't go to Camp Half-Blood, they couldn't find their son because of that one goddess Sally couldn't curse out loud without some form of retaliation, and they couldn't live their lives.
"Do you remember a few years ago when you went missing for a couple weeks?" Percy nodded, not really wanting to talk but still listening to his mother with interest. "At first I thought it was going to be just like that and I held on to that hope for a few months, but…" She didn't want to burden him with this; it wasn't something he needed to hear. This was why Paul kept suggesting she go to a therapist, to talk it out.
"I know, mom," Percy said. There it was again, his unfounded guilt. She sighed before continuing.
"Well Annabeth, like I said, was amazing, but she also – this was really hard on all three of us, just make sure you acknowledge that. She just… she worked so hard with her schooling and trying to find you and preparing for this quest you all went on. I don't know how she managed, being so busy. She really helped us," Sally concluded, not really done talking. But they were coming up on the camp boundary now so the rest would have to wait for later.
"Thanks for wanting to get her." He sounded so unbelievably sad as his gaze fixated on the passing scenery. Were there no happy moments? Was there nothing to laugh about? This was Percy, he always found a way to infuse joy into pretty much any situation.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again; that girl is incredibly special. So of course." Paul stopped the prius just off the side of the road and Sally got out of the car with Percy. "Now go get her and help her pack and make sure she has enough for at least a week." She hugged him and he said okay and told her he loved her before waving to Paul and jogging up Half-Blood Hill.
She got back in the car, because they were going to be at least twenty minutes, and Paul was waiting for her with an anxious look on his face. It was one of those "we need to talk about something serious looks" he had given her a lot over the past months, but before he had never actually talked to her about anything. This time was different.
"Sally, I think there's something we need to consider here." Why did he have to sound so serious? "I don't think this is quite the same as last year," he continued, trying to communicate some sort of hidden message with the look on his face.
"Of course it's not the same," she replied. It wasn't, Sally knew that. They would all need time to heal, but she hadn't notice Percy jump at the car horn earlier. Paul wondered how she hadn't come to the same conclusion as him.
"No, I think that Percy has taken away more mental stress than he has in the past. I think he might be dealing with something like post-traumatic stress or depression. Honestly I'm surprised it hasn't happened before considering what he's been through."
"What are you talking about?" she asked with both curiosity and fear.
"So far it's just the little things: he's withdrawn, disengaged. Someone honked at us earlier and he actually jumped in his seat when it happened," he stated.
All of a sudden, Sally was angry, letting out a sound that was a mix between a sigh and a yell. "Why are they doing this to him?!" she exclaimed seemingly to no one in particular and putting her head in her hands. Paul didn't say anything, just put his arm around her. He knew her anger and frustration wasn't directed at him; they'd talked about it enough for him to be confident in that.
When she picked her head up, he could see that she had been crying and mentally kicked himself for not noticing it. "It's not fair," she said and Paul's heart broke again. For her, for them, for Percy and Annabeth and all the people who had had their lives stolen. Sally put her head on his shoulder and he released a few tears. They stayed that way for a long time, or what seemed like it, until they saw Percy and Annabeth walking towards them with hands entwined and what looked like way more than a week's worth of stuff.
A/N: So this took way longer for me to write than I thought. Sorry to all those that were waiting. Definitely extending this to be at least three chapters now.