Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 27

The first thing Gabe did was spit out whatever slime he had in his mouth, right at Poseidon's face. On purpose and by the usual shock he was going through. His eyes narrowed at him as he attempted to wipe his mouth. Seeing as his hands were cuffed however, he made do with his shoulder.

It didn't work, and the spit drooled right out of his mouth. Poseidon's hand instantly unraveled back to his side. No one would want to shake hands with a creature like that. He simply just gave a tightlipped smile and sat down on a chair. He lied down for a while, just relaxing, and tried to avoid looking at Gabe's ugly features.

"And who are you?" Gabe sneered, finally coming out of his shock.

"Poseidon," the rich business man replied rather cheerfully, but deep down, he wanted to kill the bastard in front of him. "Perseus Jackson's father."

Silence was the only thing that was held in the room as the name and title came forth. Gabe could only stare at the man in front of him, flabbergasted, as he opened his mouth and closed it like a goldfish blowing bubbles.

"You're going to go to jail," Poseidon continued. "I recorded it all down, and... I know you abused my son."

"Evidence?" Gabe asked rather weakly, as he knew he would lose the battle.

The businessman nodded and then abruptly stood up again. This time, however, his cheerful face morphed into what his feelings really showed: hatred, and disgust.

"So if you ever want to hurt him again," Poseidon spoke with venom. "Then do it in your head, because you're going to be doing it in jail."

And with those words being spoken out loud, Poseidon started turning around and walking towards the direction of the door. Gabe watched the businessman walk away, as if he were expecting the abuser to start saying something in his defense.

"I'll definitely be doing it my head," Gabe said rather loudly, confirming Poseidon's suspicions. "I'll be thinking of getting a knife and-"

"Like I said before," Poseidon interrupted, pausing at the metal door. "Do it in your head. In my opinion, you should be getting the death sentence."

"Your son should be getting the death sentence!" Gabe yelled; spit flying around everywhere as he talked. "He should be-"

The door banged shut as Poseidon finally left the room. Darkness took over the vastness, and the emergency lights came on, only allowing mini rays to radiate from it.

It was only a matter of minutes before the emergency lights went off as well, leaving only Gabe and the vast darkness alone in the room. He glared at no one in particular, all the while trying to get out of the cuffs that were tight against his wrists.

"I'll kill you one day Jackson," Gabe vowed as he continued struggling. "Slowly and painfully. Just you wait..."

In the infirmary, with Annabeth and the three cousins:

"Mr. Jackson..." the nurse looked at her list before nodding and smiling. "You're free to go whenever you want."

"Great," Percy said excitedly, as he stood up immediately. "We'll be leaving right now."

"Yup," Thalia agreed. "Thank you and goodbye."

In the end, it was Annabeth who held the door open for all the cousins and herself. She watched them all leave, except Percy, who stayed behind and waited for her.

"Annabeth," Percy called out from the staircase. "Come on."

The blonde took one last look at the infirmary before letting the door shut. She walked hurriedly down the staircase, catching up with Percy a few seconds later.

"I can still remember you interrogating me when we were at school," Percy spoke, before chuckling as he used the railing of the staircase to walk down. He faltered in his step, and paused. "You were pretty annoying back then."

"I wanted to find out what your secret was," Annabeth retorted.

The second Annabeth said that, Percy continued walking. And for the first time since they had become friends, he doubted her. Their entire friendship in general. Was it all fake? He stole a glance at her, and wondered if he did the right decision- telling her his secret.

Seeing someone glance at her, Annabeth looked at Percy who was staring at her. She stared at his eyes and the two eye colors met- green against grey. She saw doubt in his eyes, and she gave a small smile, wondering if it was the right thing to do.

Apparently not. Is that smile fake? Percy thought as he forced a smile back. He placed his hands in his pockets, and detected an object inside it.

Getting curious, Percy dug deeper and found that the object was a small, square piece of paper: a small photograph. He took it out, and examined the contents. His breath hitched as he saw that the picture was of two people.

It was a picture of him and his mother when they went to their favorite beach: Montauk. He had almost forgotten what she had looked like, along with the beach's appearance. Percy traced her face, absorbing all the information in his memory. All the beatings all endless nights, had made him yearn for his mother, and yet- he nearly forgot her. A paradox.

Here she is now though, Percy thought sadly, as his grimace from before turned into a genuine sad smile. He had completely forgotten that he had a picture right in his jeans' pocket.

The moment was interrupted by an unknowing Annabeth. "What's in the picture?" She asked curiously.

Percy reminded himself that she hated not knowing things, and tried not to get angry. Fake friendship and curiosity rang out in his mind like bells ringing irritably.

"It's nothing," Percy answered, before storing the memory picture back in his pocket.

"Just curious, that's all," Annabeth retorted, knowing that the 'nothing' was in fact something important.

Of course, Percy wouldn't end the conversation there. "You're always curious. When you wanted to find out my secret, you were curious, and just wanted to find it out, no matter how bad it was. No matter how much it hurt to tell you."

Speechless for a few seconds, Annabeth quickly snapped back. "Curiosity is in my nature. I can't help it. And I found out your secret in the end right? We're friends now anyways."

"Curiosity and pride," he added afterwards. "And I bet right now, deep inside, you really want to see that picture don't you?"

Annabeth's eyes widened, but Percy got the wrong idea.

"Well here it is Annabeth!" Percy shouted angrily. "Here's the picture that you always wanted to see!"

Percy started to take the picture out of his pocket and threw it behind him as he stormed down the staircase, not looking back even once.

Picking it up tentatively Annabeth inspected the entire picture. She saw a woman that was older than Percy have her arm wrapped around him. Its his dead mother, she realized. They were both smiling at the camera, and she saw that he actually looked happy for once.

Not those fake smiles he usually gave.

A/N: Really sorry for the late update, I'll try to update faster next time. I know this chapter probably had some OOC people on it, but it was necessary, as you'll see what's happening in the upcoming chapters. Thanks for all the support!

book freakz: You're welcome and thanks!

critic12 (Guest): I'm not really much for fluff, and I don't know how to really add percabeth in this story, but I'll try it at the end. Thanks though.

angelfabeth: I actually kind of forgot that Gabe's actual name was Gabriel, but there's still court.