AN: Well you didn't have to wait long for the part two at all, now did you? So this is the conclusion to the last chapter, and the end of the mini-story arc that is retrieving Thalia's spear. Also, it's chapter fifteen, and you know what that means! Or maybe you don't. Well, if you haven't noticed, after every fifth chapter, there is an interlude from the point of view of someone that's not usually part of the story. So yes, I am also posting an interlude today. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 15: Andromeda Returns (The Heist – Part 2)

Malcolm opened his backpack and started pulling things out; a laptop, small earbuds, papers with plans on them, and so on. "So," he said, "here's the newly revised plan. I need to find a way to access their computer system if I'm going to hack security and erase the evidence of your presence there." As he spoke, he booted up the laptop. "Now, this won't be easy. I can't just waltz inside and ask if I can take a look at their computer surveillance system." He pulled out a sheet of paper on which a map from Google Maps had been printed. "As you can see from this map, the main Police Headquarters is huge, taking up this entire plaza. Across the street is-"

"That Rite Aid?" I asked, pointing at a little label that said Rite Aid.

"No," Malcolm said. "I was talking about to the south."

"The Murry Bergtraum High School," Zaria said. "I almost went there, right across from my Dad's office. But it wasn't… Goode enough for me." Thalia and I snickered at her pun, but Malcolm just rolled his eyes.

"Yes, the High School. Obviously the security at a High School isn't going to be anything compared to the Police Plaza." He pulled out a schematic showing a bunch of lines in different colors going across the area of Manhattan we were dealing with. "This is the grid showing linked sewage, power, and cable lines in this part of the City. Now, as I'm sure you're aware, they all run underground. You can't very well have massive bunches of power lines in Manhattan. Now tell me, what do you see?"

I stared at the map blankly, having no clue. Thalia looked just as confused and frustrated. Suddenly, Zaria gasped. "The line providing internet access to the Police Plaza runs right underneath the High School!"

Malcolm smiled. "I'm glad someone got it. Yes. So, here's the plan. I'll infiltrate the High School and find a way to access the power lines. There's probably someplace on campus where I can. Then I'll splice myself into the internet cable and use the Police Plaza's own network to hack their security system. Once that's done, I'll contact you three, using these." He pointed out the earbuds. "Small communication devices. Put one in your ear, and we'll be able to talk. If you wanna talk to someone, just press down on it with your finger and your voice will be broadcast to everyone through these devices." He glanced at Zaria. "Luckily I brought a walkie talkie too, so I can use that, and you can use the earbud I was going to use."

"So when you hack into the security system, you'll contact us," Thalia prompted.

"Yes," Malcolm said. "When I do that, it's your cue to go in. Unfortunately, I couldn't obtain schematics of the interior of the building, but hopefully, when I hack into the security system, I'll be able to get a pretty good idea of where everything is. You two will follow Zaria towards her Dad's office, then, when you get close, ask Zaria where the bathroom is. Zaria, you point in the actual direction of the bathrooms. Thalia, that's your cue to head out."

"Why not both of us?" I asked.

"Because, Seaweed Brain," Malcolm said, apparently having picked up my nickname, "you're of the opposite sex of Thalia, if you hadn't noticed. You can't both go to the bathroom at the same time."

"Oh," I said, as Thalia snickered, "right."

"So," Malcolm continued, "you follow Zaria into her dad's office. You need to stay there for five minutes. At the end of the five minutes, you excuse yourself to check on Thalia. Thalia, you will have been in the bathroom that whole time. When Percy is in position outside of the bathroom door, I'll radio you. You come out, and then I'll point you and Percy in the right direction. Hopefully the locker rooms won't be far. Then it's just a matter of getting a couple of spare uniforms and changing. Once you two are in uniform, it's time to get moving. I would prefer it if you don't speak to anyone, but if you have to, Thalia needs to do the talking."

My eyebrows knitted together. At risk of being called a Seaweed Brain again, I asked, "Why shouldn't I talk?"

"Because your voice is still cracking," Malcolm said shortly.

"It is not!" I said, my voice cracking. My face burned as Thalia and Zaria burst out laughing and Malcolm flashed me a smirk.

"Like I said, your voice is cracking. Let Thalia do the talking. When you get down to the evidence locker is where the issues start. You'll need some form of Police ID to get into that section, probably via scan card. If so, I can hack the system and pick two random officers to enter into the system as having gone into the evidence locker. If not, I'll think of something. Hopefully, Thalia's spear will be easy to find. I mean, how many spears could the NYPD have, anyway? When you do find it, collapse it into Mace Canister form, slip it into your pocket, and leave. Return to the locker room as fast as possible, take off the uniforms and put them back where you found them, then meet Zaria back at her dad's office. Hopefully, if everything goes according to plan, we'll be in and out in under an hour. Then I can go back to Camp and try to forget this whole ridiculous escapade."

"You really thought this out," Thalia said, impressed. "How'd you manage to change your plan to fit Zaria in?"

"It actually made the plan a whole lot easier," Malcolm said. "In the original version, you two snuck into the locker room via the sewer, then left in your stolen cop uniforms. This is much better."

"No kidding," I muttered. "So what exactly will you be doing besides directing us around?"

"Erasing you from the system," he explained. "When Thalia goes into the bathroom, I'll make sure she isn't seen coming out. Same thing with you and Zaria's dad's office. It gets trickier though. I'll need to plant false footage of Thalia returning from the bathroom. If the footage shows you coming from someplace else, or not returning at all, it'll look suspicious. I think I can manage it, though. Also, I'll be keeping an eye on things, such as where you guys are and what's going on with other cops in the area."

"Well this sounds like something from Sly Cooper," Zaria said. Upon seeing our blank looks, she said, "It's a series of video games where you play as this master thief. It's really fun."

"So," Malcolm said. "Is everyone clear on the plan?" We all nodded. Malcolm packed up his back pack, grabbed his computer (which he had apparently booted up for no reason) and said, "Then let's get going."

Thalia, Zaria, and I sat in my car, which was parked at St. Andrews Roman Catholic Church (Malcolm had explained that we couldn't park too close for fear of it looking suspiscious) waiting for the word from Malcolm to move out. I fiddled with my earbud. It was uncomfortable and felt heavy in my ear.

"Stop messing with it," Thalia scolded, interrupting herself as she answered one of Zaria's questions about Camp Half-Blood.

I grumbled but stopped messing with it. The urge to mess with it didn't go away, so I occupied my hands by drumming on the steering wheel.

"Really, Percy?" Thalia snapped.

"You told me to stop messing with the earbud," I said in defence, "and you know that I'm ADHD. I need to do something."

As Thalia started to respond, Malcolm's voice came over the earbud channel. "Okay, I've hacked into the security system. You guys are good to go."

The three of us climbed out of the car and began the walk to the Police Plaza. When we arrived, Zaria smiled at the guy working the entrance gate, and just like that, we were in. "That was way too easy," Malcolm's voice said. "That's the security? I thought she'd at least have to show some kind of ID." We just kept walking, following Zaria towards the doors. "Hey, you three," came Malcolm's voice again, "start talking or laughing or something. Act like friends, you're being totally suspicious."

Thalia pressed her earbud. "How can you tell? You can only hear things when we press these earbuds."

"Yes," he said, "but I can see from the exterior cameras that the three of you aren't talking at all. Now talk!"

"And so," Zaria started as we went into the doors and into the lobby, "Mr. Blowfish told us all that we didn't have to take the test after all."

"That's great," Thalia said. "I wish my teachers were as nice as that."

"Yeah," I said, catching on. "I don't think Mrs. Dodds is human."

"She definitely isn't," Zaria agreed. If only you knew, I thought.

Soon, we were in the office space for the Homicide Unit. "Okay," Malcolm said. "Thalia, you're on. Ask where the bathroom is."

"Hey guys," Thalia said, "I'll catch up with you later. Zaria, can you point me in the direction of the bathroom?"

"Of course, Thals," Zaria said. Thalia's eye twitched in annoyance, and I saw her grind her teeth ever so slightly. I snickered internally. I'd have to remember to use Thals when I wanted to annoy her. Zaria pointed Thalia off towards the bathroom, then led me to her dad's office. She knocked on the door, then, without waiting for a response, opened the door.

The office was nice and brightly lit. The man sitting behind the desk looked about forty, with redish brown hair like Zaria that had streaks of grey in it. He looked up, his blue eyes glancing questioningly at me, before saying, "Hey, sweetie. Who's this?"

"This is my friend, Percy," Zaria said. "He wants to be a police officer someday, so I told him that I could arrange for him to meet you."

He cracked a smile and stood up, coming over to me. He stood a good five inches taller than me, and had lean, well-toned muscles. "Do you now? Nice to meet you Percy. My name is Frank Hill." He held out his hand for me to shake.

I took it, shaking his hand, "It's a pleasure, Mr. Hill."

"Please," he said, "call me Frank."

"Frank then," I said. "Zaria has told me a lot about you."

He laughed, "Oh I'm sure. Hopefully you won't believe all the horror stories she must tell you." He winked, and Zaria cracked a smile. Frank went back towards his desk and sat on the edge of it. "So, do you have any questions for me?"

"Yes sir," I said. "I was wondering, in your opinion, what's the hardest part about being a cop?"

"The hardest part," he mused. "There are a lot of hard parts, kid, but the hardest part of my job is telling a family that someone they love has died. It's necessary, but it's still awful. I have to tell them that their son or daughter or sister or mother or father is dead, and then I have to question them about their dead family member's life."

"Wow," I said. "Yeah, I guess I'd never really thought about it like that before."

"It's tough," he said. "I can only hope to give them closure. Find out why their loved one died, and if they were killed, bring the killer to justice."

I nodded, thoughtfully. Malcolm's voice came over the communication channel. "Time to go get Thalia," he said.

Zaria turned to me, "Percy, Thalia's been gone a while, hasn't she?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "I'll go check on her. Which way are the bathrooms?"

"Down the hall, to the left," Zaria said.

"Thalia?" Frank asked.

"My cousin," I explained briefly. "Sorry, I'll be right back."

I left the office, proceeding to the bathroom. Now was the time for Zaria to tell her father about being a demigod. Hopefully she wouldn't tell him too much about why Thalia and I were there too…

I arrived at the bathroom just as Malcolm was saying, "Okay, Thalia, you're good to go."

Thalia came out of the bathroom, "Hey there Percy," she said. Then, under her breathe, she added, "So far, so good."

"Stop wasting time, you two," Malcolm reprimanded. "Get going. I'll direct you to the locker room, but you've gotta hurry. There are two officers coming your direction."

Thalia and I set off at a somewhat brisk pace, following Malcolm's directions to the locker room. We ducked inside just as two officers were about to round the corner. "That was close," I muttered.

Thalia nodded. "Okay, you two," Malcolm said, "I've lost visual. Obviously they didn't install cameras in the locker room. If you can, just put on your cop uniforms over your regular clothes. That way you don't have to leave them in the locker room, speeding up our get away."

Thalia pressed her finger onto the earbud, "Chill out, Malcolm, you're taking all the fun out of it."

Malcolm began ranting about how invading Police Headquarters, was not, in any way, fun as Thalia and I explored the locker room carefully, trying to find some spare uniforms. Eventually, we found them, and pulled them on over the clothes we were wearing. I pressed my earbud, "Okay, we're in uniform, Malcolm."

"Good," he said, cutting off his rant. "Exit the locker room and turn right."

We did as we were told and followed his directions to the evidence locker. It wasn't really a locker, but more of a small warehouse. There was a chain link fence blocking the main section off from the entry area. Luckily, as Malcolm had predicted, it was swipe card entry.

"Excellent," Malcolm said. "Give me a moment while I find someone to register into the system as having swiped in… got it."

There was a buzzing sound, and a light next to the gate blinked green. Thalia pulled it open, and we walked into the main section of the evidence locker. We wandered the rows of shelves, looking for her spear. As I was about to suggest that we split up, Thalia said, "There! Found it!" She rushed off, and I followed. Sure enough, lying on a shelf, was Thalia's spear, still expanded in full form.

She pulled out her mace canister lid and slapped it on the top, the spear instantly collapsing. "I really wish this thing returned automatically, like Riptide," Thalia commented, but she was smiling widely, glad to be reunited with her spear.

"Yes, that would be convenient, indeed," said a voice. Thalia and I spun around. Standing behind us was a young woman with red hair and purple eyes. She wore full length white robes on which several runes were drawn. It was Andromeda.

"Where did she come from?" Malcolm sputtered.

"Where did you come from?" Thalia repeated. "And who in Hades are you?"

"Oh, I'm sure Percy has told you about me," she said. "The name is Andromeda, daughter of Trivia, or Hecate as you know her. As for where I came from, I've been following you all day, invisible. That's what one of these runes was for. Quick spell access. No need to speak an incantation or use relics, just press the rune, and you can access the spell. For example:" she pressed one of the runes on the sleeve of her robe and a ball of fire appeared in her hand, which she blasted behind her, blowing a massive hole in the wall. Instantly alarms started blaring. Malcolm began cursing, frantically telling Zaria the situation, but I tuned him out and drew Riptide. Thalia pulled out her newly retrieved spear.

Andromeda laughed. "Oh no, I'm not going to fight you. That's not my style. No, I thought I'd leave you some friends to play with." She pressed several runes in quick succession, and out of the ground sprouted an army of Empousa. "Empousa, servants of Trivia, but also servants of her children." Andromeda chuckled. "Kill the girl, but leave Jackson here alive for my sister." She pressed another rune, and suddenly she was gone.

The Empousa charged forward, and Thalia and I swung into combat. It was intense. All of them carried weapons of some kind, and all of them looked pretty angry. I think I recognized one of them as Kelli, but I wasn't sure. Pretty soon, Thalia and I got separated by the horde of Empousa. I swung Riptide in wide arcs, made whild stabs, ducked, rolled, and parried, but Andromeda's army was larger than I'd thought. There always seemed to be more. I was tiring out. I heard Thalia grunting off somewhere to my left as she fought the Empousa too. I realized they were trying to kill her, not me. I waded my way through the enemy in her direction. I caught sight of her. She yelled, and raised her spear up into the air.

"Percy, get down!" I registered Malcolm yelling. I hit the ground as Lightning shot through the hole in the wall, connected with Thalia's spear, and blasted the Empousa to dust in a wide circle around her I stood, and saw that that had done the trick. All the Empousa were done for. I walked over to Thalia, smiling.

"Nice job," I said.

She smirked. "What did you expect?" Then, her face got a look of fear, and she and Malcolm said simultaneously, "Percy, behind you!"

I started to half turn, catching sight of an Empousa that had slipped by without my notice lunging forward with her spear. Before I could react, there was the sound of a gunshot, and the Empousa, a look of surprise on her face, dissolved to dust. I turned. Standing behind us were Zaria and her father, who held a revolver. "Stay away from my daughter's friends," he said.

"Holy crap," I said. "Mr. Hill… Frank… what… how… whoa."

"Celestial Bronze bullets," he explained. "Don't worry, kids, you don't have to explain. I'm mortal, but I can see through the mist. I know all about monsters and Half-Bloods and gods. I knew that Zaria's mother was a goddess. I wish you had told me why you were really here, but I understand why you didn't. Mortals with Sight are rare, and you couldn't just tell me for fear that I would think you were crazy."

He looked sadly at Zaria. "I knew the day would come when you found out who you really were. And I knew that when you did, you would become more noticeable to monsters. I've kept you safe so far with Celestial Bronze bullets, but now that you know the truth, the monsters will come in full force. You need training." The poor guy looked on the verge of tears. He knew, like my mother knew, that Zaria going to Camp Half-Blood would probably mean they wouldn't be seeing each other for a long time.

"I'll miss you Dad," Zaria said, her voice cracking a little, and they shared a big hug. "I promise I'll come back for Christmas."

"Hopefully," I said, "you'll be able to go back to school in the second semester. By then, Thalia and I hope to have taken care of the monster problem there."

Zaria nodded. "Go," Frank said to all of us. "I'll explain that the explosion was caused by a grenade that hadn't been properly disarmed." Zaria hugged her father one last time. Thalia nodded her thanks, and as I passed, we shook hands again.

"Thank you," I said. "You're a really great guy. Zaria is lucky to have you as her father."

"Thank you, Percy," he said. "Zaria told me you saved her life earlier today."

I smiled, nodded to Frank one last time, then followed Thalia and Zaria through the hole in the wall.

"So," Malcolm said over the communication channel, "does someone want to tell me what just happened with Zaria's father?"

I pressed my earbud. "He has Sight and can see through the Mist. Meet us back at the car, we've gotta go."

When we got back to my house, we all just sat around the coffee table eating ice cream in silence. "So," Malcolm said, finally, "I hope you all realize how terrible an idea that was."

"It would've worked fine if not for Andromeda," Thalia said, dismissively.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Next time we steal from Police Headquarters, it'll go off without a hitch." Malcolm's face paled as Thalia, Zaria, and I all laughed. "Kidding," I added. "I promise there won't be a next time."

"Well I don't," said Zaria, causing another round of laughter. This time, even Malcolm joined in. I realized how tense we'd all been during the whole ordeal, and it was nice to finally calm down."

"So," Zaria said, "I see you have a Wii. By any chance, do you have Mario Kart?"

I grinned. "I do. One four way Grand Prix before you and Malcolm go to Camp?"

"You're on," Zaria said. "I call Yoshi."

"Bowser," Thalia said quickly.

"I wanted Bowser," Malcolm pouted. "Well, I guess I'll be-"

"Donkey Kong!" I called out as I started up the Wii.

"Aw, come on," Malcolm said. "He was my second pick." I handed him a Wii remote as the Mario Kart main menu started up. "Fine… I'll be… Rosalina." I shot him a weird look. "What?" he protested. "You guys took my first two picks, and Rosalina is good."

"Whatever you say, Rosalina," Zaria said, snickering.