Unclear Motives

Percy Jackson

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this chapter belong to Rick Riordan. Only the plot belongs to me so please no stealing. Thank you!

NOTE: AU, OOC, no Greek mythology involved, and T rated just to be sure.

One-Shot

Version 1.0

…

I got the call at 10:26PM while I was in the middle of a meeting.

The decrease of marine life in the Hudson and East Rivers of New York got us worried. As a marine biologist, you would love to see every body of water full of aquatic animals, not garbage. The rivers were too polluted now, and the fish were dying. We conducted meetings for the past few days, very late at night meetings, might I add. I'm just so glad that my wife understood why I needed to come home late recently.

At first, I was reluctant to leave her at home up to the very late hours of the night. I usually made it my job to come home to her before nine o'clock, ten at the latest. But with the situation at hand, I got home by midnight nowadays. Most of the time, I'd catch her awake and waiting for me, sometimes she fell asleep on the couch. I started to feel bad that I seemed to be ignoring her, but she made it sure, one night when I came home and she was still awake, that she understood how important the meetings were and how I loved my job. And I love her so much just for that.

I watched the wall clock ticked second by second while our leader, Jason, explained the gradual decrease of every species that could be found on the rivers. My friends and co-workers jotted down anything note-worthy like I did. I was writing down the highest number rate of drop in population when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I had put it on silent so as not to disturb the meeting, but I made sure it would still notify me when I got a call or a text from Annabeth.

Carefully fishing out my phone, I checked the caller ID and saw that it was indeed my wife who was calling me. I leaned back on my chair and clicked the answer button before putting the phone against my ears.

"Annabeth," I said softly. "Honey, it's late. Why are you still awake? I told you not to wait for me any—"

"Mr. Jackson," a voice I don't recognize suddenly answered back. I sat straight up earning me looks from around the table since I was up front. "Mr. Jackson, listen carefully…"

"Who are you?" the basic question, of course. "Where's my wife? What have you done with Annabeth?" I didn't even bother keeping my voice down. There's no point now anyway since my friends were all looking at me already.

"Hold your horses, Mr. Jackson. You're wife is safe, for now. In fact, she's right here beside me." He answered.

"Who are you?" I asked again. Leo Valdez, my friend who was seated beside me wrote down on his notebook before he pushed the pad in front of me. On it were the words 'what's up?' I switched the phone on my other side so I could write back to him. I grabbed my pen and scribbled back, '911 to my house. NOW.' He read while I wrote. Frank Zhang, who was hovering behind us, read the conversation as well, took his phone out and called the hotline.

"Oh, my name is not very important right now. I think what's important is what you'll have to do so I won't have to pull the trigger." That made me stopped breathing.

"Don't." I suddenly blurted out making Leo jump beside me. He was writing again. When he passed me the notebook, he asked what was wrong but I didn't even bother to answer. "Please, don't. What do you want?"

"That's better." The man answered. "First, don't try and call the police. If I see any red and blue lights outside your house, nothing else would matter. I will pull the trigger. Understand?"

With that warning, I stood up and grabbed Frank's hand, the one with the phone. He was in the middle of reciting my address when the phone was dropped on the ground and it split open. Thankfully, the address he gave didn't give much sense yet. I don't want police on my doorstep for now.

"What the Hades do you want from me?" I asked for the third time, annoyance resounded on my voice.

"Well, one, I told you I don't want the police. Now that that seems to be well out of the way, here's number two: you have half an hour, Mr. Jackson, starting right now, 10:30. That gives you until exactly 11PM to get here. When you do, only then will I discuss with you my terms."

"This is New York. Are you crazy? It's at least an hour drive from my office back there, and that's with the lightest traffic…" While talking, I was actually already making my way out of the office. We were just on the fourth floor of the building. It would be too slow for me to take the elevator down. The stairs were right there to the left, and I took them instead. Jason, and the others were quietly hot on my tail.

AN: I am not familiar with NY or any of it's streets and what-not, hence the very vague descriptions of the roads.

"Then I suggest you leave now." The man actually chuckled, as if amused by my panic. "Oh, and don't be late. Or else."

With my heart beating so fast, both from running and the anxiety I was feeling, I jumped the flights of stairs until I reached the lobby and later on, the parking area. My car wasn't parked very far tonight so it made me a step closer to coming home. How I'm going to maneuver around New York traffic to get home in less than thirty minutes, I'm not sure. But if I have to run every red light there was, I know I will.

"Let me talk to Annabeth, please." I said while I opened the door. Jason and Frank slid on the back while Leo took the passenger seat. I didn't have time to argue them out of the car so I just started the engine and headed out to the busy roads. "I want to talk to her."

Driving single-handedly wasn't very easy, but I managed with my little luck. I was an inch away from scratching all the cabs and about a foot away from running into garbage cans on the sidewalk. Once, I almost ran over someone crossing the street. I honked of course, but that didn't help. Sweat began running down my forehead and I wiped it very quickly with my arm, the one with the phone, before listening to the man again. It took him a while to answer. He was thinking.

"Very well. It may as well be the last time you two talked anyway." I heard shifting on the other end. He talked, but I couldn't understand what he said. Then I heard a whimper. Annabeth. She asked if it was me on the phone before I heard her sobbed on the end of the line.

"Percy?" She asked in a soft voice.

"Annabeth!" I almost screamed while I dodged a cone. "Annabeth are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

I heard her cry on the other end and it broke my heart just to have heard that. "No." Then she sniffled. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

"Annabeth, listen to me," but it was proven difficult with her cries. It was so unlike her. Annabeth was strong and the very person who won't give up and break down like this. Something was wrong. "Listen to me, Annabeth. Annabeth!" I tried louder to make her focus. "I'm on my way home. Okay? I'll be there soon. Everything's going to be okay. It will be fine. I promise."

"Percy," She called again and I stopped talking. "I want to tell you something…"

And that was when fear crept to me. I knew how the situation looked like: I had about twenty minutes for a deadline, and my house was still too far away. The chances of me making there was below thirty percent out of one hundred. I knew those odds. But to hear Annabeth pointing things out and trying to say her goodbyes… That was when I felt my heart crack and tears escaped my eyes. I was desperate now.

"No, no, no." I quickly interrupted her. "I'll make it. I promise I'll make it there in time. Okay? Trust me. Please. I love you, too, but trust me, Annabeth. I will be there." My voice broke and Leo placed a hand on my shoulder. I almost forgot that they were with me. They might not understand what was really happening, but they had a clue. And right now, they could see me crying and desperate.

Annabeth let out a sob and I almost heard the smile on her voice when she spoke again. "I know you love me, Seaweed Brain. I love you, too. So much. And I trust you. But you have to understand how complicated and impossible this is."

"It's not impossible, Annabeth. I'll be there, I promise." I told her again.

"I know you'll be here. The question is will I be here when you arrive?" If my heart hadn't broken just yet despite the numerous times I said it did, well, it just did. I didn't even want to start picturing Annabeth gone. It's like saying having the moon in the morning and the sun at night.

"Promise me you'll be there." I told her. "Promise me you'll wait. Please. Promise me."

It was quiet for a while, and I knew that she was thinking. If there was something Annabeth hated, it was broken promises.

"Annabeth," I tried again. "Promise me you'll be there when I get there."

"I—I promise." I heard her say softly. That promise was what I could hold on for now.

I checked the time on my watch to see how long I still have. Less than twenty minutes. I wasn't even halfway yet. I cursed mentally and stepped onto the gas. The car's engine was getting a work out but I promised to give it a tune up as soon as all this shit was over. Right now, I just needed to get home and see Annabeth safe.

"Hey," I heard her say after a while. "I want to tell you something."

"Annabeth,"

"No, listen. You need to hear it. Please. Just in case," she took a deep breath before continuing. "Just in case some promises are broken tonight."

As much as I hated that, I said okay and told her to continue.

"I went out today. A few days ago I set an appointment to see Will Solace. Remember him?" She asked.

Will Solace was our friend in high school. He was a good guy and we still see each other from time to time. Why she'd pay him a visit, I don't know. But I told her I remembered him.

"You know he married a doctor, too, right? Sarah. She's an obstetrician. I went to see her today because I've been feeling a little different lately." Annabeth paused for a while, tried to get a reaction from me. When I said nothing, she continued. "I took a test last week, Percy. It came out positive and I just had to know from a professional and not just from a stick made by humans. She confirmed it."

I didn't say anything. Here I was stuck in traffic in the middle of New York, talking to my wife on the phone about how she wasn't feeling well in the last couple of weeks. How had I not noticed that?

"Confirmed what?" Really, I had a guess. I knew I guessed right but I just needed to hear it from her.

The traffic light ahead turned yellow and then red just when I was about to cross the street. I groaned in annoyance and tapped my fingers on the steering wheel of the car waiting. I hate New York.

"Percy, I'm pregnant. Two months actually this coming week." She told me so lightly as if nothing was wrong in the world when in fact, everything was. "You're going to be a dad, Seaweed Brain."

"I'm going to be a dad." I echoed trying to process it in my mind. My friends who were inside the car with me gasped upon hearing it, but they didn't say anything. Well, Leo did.

"Annie's pregnant?" He asked to no one in particular. He sounded like it was an impossible thought and Frank hit his arm and told him to be quiet.

"Yeah. You're going to be a dad." I heard her cry again and I wanted to do the same. This wasn't how I pictured things would be when Annabeth told me she was pregnant. Maybe she would tell me while we were in a make-out session, or when we're watching a movie in the living room. Maybe when I opened my eyes in the morning, instead of a simple good morning she'd tell me that I was going to be a dad. Not like this. I wanted to be there right now and just hug her so tight. But, no! I was halfway home, with fifteen minutes left on my clock. That was cutting it close if you asked me.

The light was still red and I have no idea how long it would to take. It's been like a minute already. What's taking it so long? Few were crossing on the other line anyway. Why hadn't it changed yet? So, I decided to do the thing Seaweed Brain worthy. I stepped on the gas.

"Percy!" Jason cried from the backseat while holding onto the Leo's headrest. "Percy, that was a red light!"

Then sirens began to wail behind me. Great. Speeding tickets.

"Ugh, you do realize that we have to stop." Frank said, but I paid him no attention.

For the next five minutes, I just crossed any open roads, red light or green light. I didn't care. That earned more police on my tail. I suddenly got an idea.

Annabeth was still on the other line. I still heard her breathe lightly. "Are those police sirens?"

Shit.

"Annabeth!" I called in an attempt to warn her, but I was too late. Instead of a reply, I heard something move on the other line, a loud cry of 'no' and a thud. I was suddenly afraid and I stepped on the gas as hard as I could now, pushing it to almost the limit.

"I thought I told you to keep the police away, Jackson! Do you want your wife dead? And from what I heard, you're child dead as well?" The man asked me with anger in his voice.

"No! Don't. I was caught speeding and I didn't stop. They were chasing me and…"

"Speeding, eh? Eager to get here so fast, aren't you? I suggest you stop and get them off your back now. Or else." It might have been my imagination, but I swore I heard the cock of a gun.

"No. Please. I don't have much time left." I begged.

"That's right, only eight minutes and a half. But if you come here with those cops, she's dead."

"Eight minutes, and I'm just entering the vicinity. Give me an extension and I'll get the cops off my back. Please."

"You're good with negotiations, I'll give you that. But I'll have to refuse. I'm afraid that you'll have to get the officers off you and get here in… oh, seven minutes and counting."

"Where's Annabeth?" I asked.

"Suddenly unsure if you'll make it, huh? You better make it in time. I'd hate to see your efforts wasted. To answer, your question, she's here, all right. One tough girl you got here, Jackson. She's struggling ever since I came here."

I found myself smiling at that. Of course, she struggled. She won't go down without a fight. But that meant stress for the baby. My smile vanished as soon as it appeared.

"Can I talk to her?"

"Six minutes left, Jackson. And I still hear those sirens. You talk to her when those officers are gone."

That made things difficult. I needed the police on my tail so that when I got home, they could get that man out from my house and away from my family. But if they kept on following me this close…

The car could not run any faster after this. I maxed it out. I prayed that I'd managed to get a distance between my chasers and me, far enough not to hear the sirens over the phone, but still close enough for them to see and follow me. Knowing the NYPD, they won't give up on catching wrongdoers. I so happen to speed on the road, three times did I notice a police car follow me, meaning three tickets now, and simply ignored them. That has to be good enough for them to chase me down. I just hoped they don't speed up, too, because I was certainly on my limit now. Thankfully, I already was nearing the house and a little far from the city. At least no cars blocked my way.

"Hmm, I didn't hear you talk, but the sirens are gone. What did you do?" The man was curious.

"I sped up and lost them." I answered.

"Are you sure they're gone, Jackson?"

"Well I can't see them on my rearview mirror anymore." Lie. I see them, far away, but definitely there. I turned my lights to their brightest to make sure they see me.

"Fine. Five and a half minutes now, Jackson. If I see colors out the window, you know what happens." He said. I heard him talk again, but not to me. To Annabeth. She answered back snappishly and I hoped she didn't. The last thing we wanted was an angry man with a gun inside a house with an alone and pregnant woman. Not a very favorable equation.

"Percy!" She cried as soon as she got on the phone again.

"Annabeth, are you okay?"

"Yeah, where are you now?"

Still a good five and a quarter kilometers away from the house.

Not good.

"Almost there. I promise. You'll be fine."

"Don't lie to me, Seaweed Brain."

"I'm not."

She stayed silent for a while and I took the time to look at my watch. 10:56PM. Four minutes left.

"I love you." I heard her say.

I didn't want to answer her. Not for the reason that I don't feel the same way. I love her so much, not enough for words but I was afraid that if I told her I love her, I'd seal our fates. It was like accepting defeat. I'm not giving up so I answered the best way I can.

"I know."

"I need to hear it, Percy. Please." Annabeth said, her voice cracking.

"Annabeth, I'm almost there. Hang on, okay? I'll be there."

"Say it. I need to hear it one more time. Please, Percy. I need to hear you say it." She was practically begging now. I hated hearing her voice this way. It sounded hopeless and defeated. I swore to myself that I'm going to give that guy, whoever he was, a peace of my mind.

"You want to hear it, you wait for me. I'm almost there."

"Percy…"

"Now, now, Mr. Jackson." The man said. "You're running out of time. Three minutes left on your clock."

"Give the damn phone back to my wife!" I yelled at him. "You asshole! Give it back to her!"

"Nope." He answered with a clear tease. "It'll be more fun this way. Three minutes and counting… I'll turn the phone off so you could concentrate on getting here. Okay? Don't be late, Percy Jackson. Oh, and Annabeth says she loves you."

Without even waiting for a reply he actually ended the conversation.

"Don't you dare!" I screamed at the phone. "If you ever…" I didn't even finish the sentence because I quickly dialed Annabeth's number. Nothing. I dialed again to have the same results.

I threw the phone in frustration.

While I was busy trying to contact him, I didn't even notice the police cars catching up behind me. I saw the red and blue flashed and they were on my tail again. This was not good. I was nearing the house now. If that stupid jackass heard the sirens…

No.

He needed something from me. He won't kill Annabeth. He'd probably just hold her hostage, but not kill her. Not until he got what he wanted.

Finally, I saw my house. There were lights on the front porch, a light on the living room, and one on our bedroom. To any outsider, you wouldn't think that something was wrong inside. Smart jerk. He knew if he turned off the lights, the neighbors would be curious. They knew that Annabeth was always home and would always leave the lights on while waiting for me to get home. If they woke up in the middle of the night with the lights off they'd go knocking down the door to ask.

I hit the break as soon as I got in front of the driveway. The tires screeched loudly on the cement and tried to stop the raging metal. The sounds of the sirens were all around me. The surrounding flashed in red and blue indicating that the police were here. They had followed me and they were here. When I got out of the car, I heard someone told me to stop and freeze. Another yelled for me to put my hands on my head. I didn't listen.

As soon as I got out of the car, I ignored the officers and dashed for the front door. Annabeth. I needed to see Annabeth. I needed to punch that man's face and kick him until he was rotting in jail. I needed to…

Then I was on the ground. I found my face flat on the grass with two police officers on my back.

"Sir, you're under arrest for speeding across the city of New York and for ignoring the officers who were chasing after you for the last ten minutes. You have the right to remain silent…"

I didn't bother to listen to them. I just struggled to break free. In the distance I heard my friends telling them to let me go and to listen. They tried to explain. At least Leo did it loudly. I managed to break free from the two officers, crawling my way out and dashing to the front door again. Why did we even make a house this far from the road anyway?

Before I reached the steps, however, another body collided with mine and I found myself down on the ground for the second time. This time, the officer pulled me away. He had a big built for a body and he was strong. He dragged me from the house despite my shouts of protests. They weren't listening to explanations from my friends or me. I saw Jason and Frank on one side, handcuffed for whatever reason. They calmly talked to the officers in front of them. Leo on the other hand was wild. Two police officers pushed him inside the back of the car, handcuffed as well.

"You have to listen to me. My wife is inside the house. She's pregnant. There's someone in there, too. He'd kill her. Please! You have to listen to me! Let me go!" I thrashed around as hard as I could. There was a fighting chance as long as they don't use the Taser on me… or as long as I still got my time.

"You have to let me go!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. For a while, it was the only thing that rang around the area and everyone looked at me, even a few of our neighbors who were clearly woken up from the commotion.

But another sound, way louder than my scream, echoed next.

Gunshot.

I prayed to whoever was up there that it was just a warning shot from an officer who have had enough of my craziness and struggles. But when I looked, even the officers seemed surprised and alert. Some even went for the guns on their belts.

The hold of the officers on me loosened just when I realized everything.

My time was up.

"Annabeth!" I screamed, looked at the house and ran for it.

The front door was unlocked and no one was on the first floor. I raced up the stairs to get to our bedroom. Turning the knob, I made a dash inside looking around. "Annabeth!" I cried out again.

I was sure that the lights were on here earlier, at least from what I saw outside. Now it was pitch black. Dark. The only thing making things visible inside the room were the light from the cars outside and the moon. There was enough light to make the body on the ground visible. It was there, unmoving. I looked at it, frozen solid to where I stood. Someone else was on the ground, on the other end of the room. The figure was seated and had a gun at hand. It pointed to the body. It was fired.

I heard footsteps behind me and I didn't have to turn around to see the police. They looked around the dark room and found the body as well, and the man on the corner with the gun still raised and ready. One of the officers flicked the light switch on and the brightness made me closed my eyes.

At first I didn't want to open them. I didn't want to see the dead body of my wife in front of me just yet, but then I knew that I still needed my eyes to kill that man who did this. I opened them with a newfound anger boiling inside me. I was more than ready to take my step and hurt that asshole that just killed my wife. But I stopped dead in my tracks…

How could you kill someone who was already dead?

I looked around to see Annabeth still seated on the ground with the gun. Her eyes were wide, clearly shocked. Tears were rolling down her face and she was visibly shaking.

Then I looked at the ground. Down at the dead man who had threatened to kill my wife and my unborn child with an unclear motive. Let him rot in hell…

I took a step towards Annabeth. When I was in front of her, I carefully peeled the gun away from her grasps. She wouldn't let go at first, but when I asked her to look at me, she slowly released her grip. The officers were quick enough to snatch the gun away as soon as it was out of her hands.

Annabeth hugged me almost immediately while crying. She didn't stop the tears from flowing now. She simply let it all go. I held her as tightly as I could. I almost lost her today and I couldn't have forgiven myself if I did. I loved her too much. She was the only one that mattered to me, her and that child inside her. My child.

"Percy," she cried my name over and over again and I simply stroked her wild curls.

"I'm here. It's okay. He's gone. Everything will be okay. I love you so much, Annabeth." With that, I kissed her full on the lips. I poured everything in there. All the dread I had been feeling for the last thirty minutes, all the love I ever had for her, everything. I placed my forehead in hers and told her that everything will be okay now, and that I would never, ever, leave her. She simply nodded in understanding.

…

The officers had released my friends of course. They did nothing wrong, after all. The three thickets I got for speeding were revoked when Annabeth and I separately told them the reason why I was in such a hurry. The man was identified as Ares 'Mars' Ultor, a recently escaped convict. He was put to jail in the first place for many disturbing reasons. Why he targeted my family, no one knew, but at least it's all over now.

I took Annabeth to her obstetrician almost every week for her appointment. Our baby was growing healthily and a few months later, she gave birth to Theseus Jackson, or Theo for short. I was more than ready to teach the boy, my son, everything there is to know. But that would have to wait since he's still a baby. Mommy was already too protective of her little boy. She had already warned me not to do this and that in front of him. I just smiled at her.

For now, we were the happy and normal family living in New York City. I continued to work, but always managed to get home before nine o'clock now. I don't want to risk anything ever again. Jason understood me, and he would always let me go. In fact, he lets everyone go by seven thirty already to make sure we all got home early. You see, Jason, Leo, and Frank all got wives, too, and they had been afraid of what happened to me. The point was that we don't stay out late anymore.

Well, that was it. I just told you one heck of a story how one night, while in the middle of a meeting with my friends, I had a phone call from someone who threatened to kill my wife, and my then recently discovered unborn child. You wouldn't think of it as too much, but when you're actually in the situation, you'd forget everything and panic. All you'd want to do was get there.

I'm just glad that I have Annabeth and Theo now.

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Love always,

Greek Wise Girl