We stood once again facing the dark gray building. Taylor walked in without a word and stepped onto the escalator. I glanced to the side to see if Kezi was going to follow. There was a quick scuffle as Easton tried to usher her forward and ended up grabbing her arm and pulling her forward, waving for me to follow.

The escalator ground to a halt when we were nearly to the top. I took it as a bad omen.

I once again couldn't help but worry about what kind of predicament Annabeth might be in. She could be having our baby all alone in some dark corner somewhere- gods only know where. Or maybe her captors were torturing her, trying to get something out of her, trying to kill her and the baby slowly.

I was ripped from my thoughts as Kezi gently took hold of my wrist and pulled me aside. Taylor and Easton were a ways ahead of us arguing with the same blonde from yesterday.

Kezi sat down on a wooden bench with one leg curled under her and motioned for me to sit down too. I obliged and looked down at my fidgeting hands.

Kezi nudged my arm.

"What's wrong?"

I gave her a look that meant it should be obvious what was wrong.

Kezi sighed and turned a little more se she could face me straight on.

"Look, I really only know the gist of what happened: Annabeth is missing and very, very pregnant. That's it. That's all I know," Kezi's eyes flicked between mine. "What happened? Why do you feel so guilty?"

I looked away from her and leaned against the wall behind the bench. I thought about questioning Kezi as to how she knew I felt guilty but quickly dismissed it. I really needed to confess to someone what I'd been feeling these last eight months. I usually talked to Annabeth about everything; I just couldn't bring myself to talk to her about this. I didn't want to freak her out.

I ran my hand through my hair and glanced back to Kezi, who was still watching me expectantly, then to her own swollen belly, then out the window to the young kids splashing in the fountain outside.

"Annabeth never wanted a baby," I started slowly. "She always wanted to be the head architect in her own company, you know?" I glanced once again to the architect beside me, who nodded in understanding. "She said she couldn't run a company and raise a kid at the same time, that she didn't want to try to do both."

Kezi nodded less agreeably this time and shifted uncomfortably.

"What?" I asked her.

Kezi spun the rings on her finger and started to speak to me in such a soft, vulnerable voice I wasn't sure she was the same girl. "Did you ever stop to think about the real reason why Annabeth wouldn't want a baby, why she wouldn't want to risk neglecting one?"

"Neglecting a baby?" I asked, my eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Who said anything about neglecting a baby?"

Kezi looked me dead-on. "You did. You said Annabeth didn't want to trying running a company and raising a baby. Percy, she's afraid she might neglect her child the way her father neglected her."

This thought hit me hard. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. Annabeth's early childhood had been so bad she'd run away when she was seven. Seven. I couldn't blame her for worrying about that.

"Are you speaking from experience?" I asked softly, wanting to know if I could ask for further advice.

Kezi turned and looked out to the fountain, shaking her head.

"I can't really say that our situations were the same, Percy. Her father made her feel unwanted, mine took actions to make me disappear. Even if they were the same, not everyone reacts the same way to—"

"Did you want a baby or not?" I cut her off to make it simpler.

Kezi studied my face for a moment before nodding. "I did. I wanted the chance to do better than my father. To prove that I am better."

I nodded and looked back to my hands.

Kezi nudged my arm again. "What did Annabeth do when she found out?"

I swallowed hard and shook my head.

"I'm not sure what she did; I was at work. When I got home she started yelling and throwing things at me. It took me a while to decipher why she was so mad, but when I did she started accusing me of doing it on purpose. I had to spend the night at Nico's."

Kezi hummed. "Then what happened?"

"I snuck back into the apartment early the next morning. Annabeth had spent the night on the couch crying. When she saw me she started crying again, only this time she wasn't mad and dangerous."

"I take it you'd brought up the idea before it happened?" Kezi's dark emerald eyes studied my face in almost a harsh way.

"That doesn't mean I'd go and trick her." I defended, my voice somewhat raised.

Kezi hushed me. "I never said you would. It's just that finding out you're going to have a baby is a terrifying thing even if you wanted to have one. I don't know how I would've reacted if Easton hadn't been there when I found out."

"Why was Easton there? Where was Athan?" I found every bit of what I knew so far about Kezi mystifying, even creepy. This was just icing on the cake.

Kezi shook her head and laughed. "Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong. Athan had a class. Easton was one of the medics for the basketball team so when I ended up sick during practice, he took me home and pointed out that I was a moron for not realizing sooner."

"Whatever."

Kezi shoved my arm gently and grinned. "Easton is like my best friend/pseudo brother. He was known as the third Blake twin in high school."

I shook my head and laughed.

"Let's go." Easton called from the desk and kissed the blonde on the cheek before leading us over to another lady in a business suit standing by an elevator.

"I will deal with you later, Wanda," The professional called over her shoulder to the flustered blonde.

"Mr. Blake, I am so sorry for the trouble she gave you. We do not stand for that kind of behavior at UPMC. The situation will be assessed and dealt with accordingly." The doors dinged shut as the woman started her speech.

Taylor shook his head and cut her off. "Don't give me that lawyer-y double talk crap. UPMC hasn't been the same since they screwed over Highmark. You're in it for the money. The entire system's forgotten the patient."

The lawyer looked as though she were at a loss for words and turned to face the door with a huff. I'd never heard of a lawyer who didn't know what to say; they were like… Annabeth.

Kezi folded her arms in front of her and moved closer to Easton as Taylor watched the numbers above the door. I swear the elevator had been faster yesterday.

Finally, the doors opened and we were greeted by rows of gray cubicles and filing cabinets.

Immediately after the lawyer took off we all split up in search of Annabeth.

After my search turned up empty, I headed back to the elevator where Kezi was already waiting, having been dealt the smallest are to cover.

"Find anything?" I asked as I approached.

"Not a thing." Kezi shook her head. "You?"

"They have a terrible filing system."

Kezi nodded with a laugh.

We checked all of the other floors occupied by UPMC within a couple of hours. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. That damn escalator was right.

I was fairly sure Taylor and I had switched temperaments while we were in there when Taylor made a comment on how he didn't know why he wanted to work there. Kezi'd shrugged and said something about doctors being different.

When we got back out the door and were about to go down the steps out front, I noticed the ad on a bus going past. I didn't even realize that Taylor had left until Kezi waved her hand in front of my face.

I jumped and took a step back. The bus was long gone.

"What is it?" Easton asked.

"Th- The ad—" I stammered, barely able to speak.

They both spun around.

"What ad?" Kezi asked once she'd turned back to face me.

"On a bus. It's that house. On the waterfall."

"Falling Water?" Kezi questioned me. "What about it?"

I shook my head, wishing I'd paid a little more attention when Annabeth was ranting about the architect she didn't like. "Wasn't that designed by some guy name Fred or something?"

"Frank Lloyd Wright, only the most amazing architect ever," Kezi agreed, looking at me suspiciously. "Why?"

"Annabeth always said she hated him. She thought he was creepy, something about being so smart he was insane- I don't remember. She just always said she didn't want to go to- Falling Water?- because if there was any place a demigod could be hidden without anyone knowing it was there."

Kezi's eyes widened. "You can't be serious. Where would they hide—" She froze and squeezed her eyes shut. "Ah, crap."

When she opened her eyes again, Kezi spun in a tight circle and then took off for the row of boxes with newspapers and informational booklets.

I glanced at Easton to see if he had any idea what was going on. He shrugged and followed Kezi.

Kezi had a pamphlet spread out on top of one of the boxes in front of her. She glanced up and back down quickly when she heard us approach. Her finger tapped on a picture of the building.

"In this general area is an empty space to allow for flooding and slashing so the main part of the building won't suffer from damage. It's about six feet high so that there is a bit more support around the stilts. It's ingenious really."

"Yeah, for hiding fugitives." I snorted.

Kezi let out a breath and literally bit her tongue. "We can definitely head that way tomorrow."

I hit the box and squared off to her. "What's wrong with today?"

Kezi took a step back and just stared at me.

Easton stepped in front of her. "Look, it's an hour away and by the time we get there they'll be closed to visitors. Everything will be fine if you wait until tomorrow."

Kezi blinked and shook her head. "It's probably best if we regroup, anyway."