One would be able to hear a pin drop in the silence that followed Percy's statement. Annabeth was shocked. It was just like what Travis had done arranging for Daniel to come and meet them at the hotel. Again Annabeth didn't think Percy would make such a quick decision for the entire group.

"Look guys. I know it's a hasty decision to make especially when it affects all of us. Trust me. What he said would make any of you say the same thing." Percy said.

Travis sighed and said, "Nothing we say will change this quick appointment, will it?"

"Nope." Percy replied.

"Where are we meeting Jeff?" Conner asked.

"At the restaurant about block down from here. I think we should take the van."

"But if it's only a block down, we could walk easily." Annabeth protested.

"Trust me, Annabeth. We should take the van." He added the second sentence with a significant look at Frank.

Annabeth sighed and the rest of the men went over to the door and waited for Percy to shut down his computer. Percy placed the thin pad back in his bag and came over to the door. He opened it and held it for the rest of them to pass him. As Annabeth was the last one out other than Percy, he followed her.

They all headed to the elevator. Frank hit the button and they waited in silence until the pleasant ding of the elevator told them they could go on. When they were in the elevator, Annabeth tried to turn to Percy to ask him what the suddenness was all about, but he shook his head. Not here, he seemed to be saying. Annabeth accepted that they would be able to speak once in the van.

Her suspicions were correct because once they were all in the van with the doors and windows shut tight and the one-way screen was up between the front and back, Percy turned to Annabeth and asked, "What do you want to know?"

"Why are we rushing to this meeting? How do we even know we're meeting someone that's working with us and not against us?" She immediately asked.

Percy looked like he was thinking about it for a second and then he said, "Technically we don't. We don't know who really is working with us and against us. We are operating partially blind to be honest."

"So we're working in the shadows, yet we're still going to meet this Jeff guy?" Annabeth asked incredulously.

Percy nodded once and said, "Pretty much. I know Jeff though. In this business I don't use the word trust except with the people in this van and Nico. Everyone else that works with us and for us, I would say I trust. At least not them. With some I trust their past, their history. Others, their anger and thirst for revenge. That does not mean I trust them as people, but I trust them as workers."

"You're gambling, Percy." Annabeth said meekly.

Percy nodded again and with a gleam in his eye he said, "That I am. I may be a New Yorker, but I gamble like I'm back in Vegas."

The men laughed and cheered and went to their stations, getting right down to work. Leo, who was up in the driver's seat, started to drive to the restaurant they were supposed to meet Jeff at. He didn't bother taking out the computer Frank had out earlier. Percy gave Annabeth a winning smile and turned to his own monitor.

Annabeth had no choice but to slump into her own swivel chair and turn to her monitor that was asking for her identification like always. She gave it and the subway map came up again. She didn't have anything else to do, so she looked at all the trains and checked their schedules. Once again, she couldn't find anything that wasn't old news already.

Because the ride was about two minutes, Annabeth didn't have to sit in boredom for long. Percy and the other men debated about whether or not they should use disguises when Annabeth didn't have one. They came to the conclusion that they should go as they were as Annabeth would give them away if they did use disguises and then those covers would be blown. With that decision, Travis and Connor led the way out of the back and Frank switched everything off from one of the concealed panels.

Leo led the group into the restaurant and spoke with the host. The host led them to a table in a corner. It was a circular booth against the wall with the table in front of it. Leo also told the host that someone else would be joining them and he was going to wait for him at the entrance.

The rest of the group got settled. "I can start the conversation. I want to know what he needs to tell me."

When Leo came back, the man that Annabeth and Leo had seen earlier on the cameras was following him. Annabeth's jaw dropped. Percy stood and shook his hand. Leo slid into the booth when Percy had stood up.

"Captain Jackson. It is an honor." The man said.

"Thank you Mr. Payne." Percy replied.

Annabeth wondered, briefly as always, why they were speaking so formally to each other. Percy wasn't a captain unless they were talking about the military. He was Chairman to the A2 apparently.

"Please sit, Mr. Payne." Percy requested. "Everyone, this is Jeff Payne. He works for MI6 and is excellent at what he does."

The men all reached across the table to shake Jeff's hand, introducing themselves. Again they all spoke in a formal way. Annabeth wondered if she was supposed to introduce herself to him. Percy solved the problem by subtly placing his hand over hers that were resting in her lap.

Jeff in turn, didn't acknowledge her either. She took slight offense to this. She thought it was because she was a woman. Then she thought more about it. Jeff probably wasn't told that they had found a field strategist and therefore didn't know who she was or why she was sitting with them. Granted he also wasn't making an effort to answer the previous questions so that couldn't be much of a defense.

"I have information for you, Captain." Jeff said.

"Excellent. Well, as much as I look forward to hearing your information, I would like to do it on a full stomach. I'll cover the bill I think." Percy said.

Jeff nodded and agreed with the rest of the men. Their waiter came over and took their order. The waiter actually spoke English allowing less confusion in the ordering process. Percy ordered for both himself and Annabeth. She was a little miffed about that and didn't say a word to anyone throughout the meal.

The men were the complete opposite of Annabeth. While she was silent and irritated, they were joyous and loud. It was like a friend get-together. They easily avoided anything leading back to business conversation.

When everyone had finished eating, they slid out of the booth one by one and walked outside. Percy had left money on the bill that they had received halfway through their meal. Connor led the group out and Percy gently guided Annabeth with a hand on her lower back in the middle of their group. Frank and Travis were behind them with the rest of the group in front of them.

Connor and Leo opened the back doors to van and allowed the rest of the group to pass them in order to enter the vehicle. When the doors closed and Percy had done a quick head count they all let out a sigh of relief.

"I didn't feel overly secure inside that place." Percy said.

"That was obvious." Frank responded dryly.

"Not my fault. Mr. Payne, how did you arrive here?" Percy asked, turning to Jeff.

"I walked." Jeff responded.

"From?"

"Where the cab dropped me off."

"Which was how far away?"

"About two blocks."

Percy closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them, he said to Jeff, "You've got a lot to learn in the field. I'm glad you're a desk agent. It gives us a better vantage point with you at your current position in MI6."

Jeff smiled. "I know I'm not good in the field. I did two years in it and took a nice desk job and have risen through the ranks faster than anyone else in the history of MI6."

Percy smiled in return. All he said was, "You are very proud."

It didn't seem to be the answer Jeff was expecting, but he accepted it nonetheless. He glanced at Annabeth who was sitting in her chair watching the interaction. Percy still hadn't introduced her. She felt that he was waiting for something before he would even acknowledge that she was there. At least in front of Jeff.

Jeff looked at Percy questioningly, but Percy's face remained impassive. He turned to look at the other men, but they were all on their monitors. Leo was at the wheel again and he was pulling out of the restaurant parking area. No one was paying Jeff any attention except for Percy and Annabeth.

"Captain Jackson?" He finally asked.

"Yes, Mr. Payne?" Percy replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, who is this woman?" Jeff asked gesturing to Annabeth.

"She is our field strategist." Percy said. He seemed to be intentionally keeping his answers very short.

"Oh. I didn't know you had found another field strategist."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked sharply.

"Latest intelligence tells me that your old field strategist was unable to cope with the field part and retired to a desk position."

"Who is latest intelligence, Mr. Payne?" Percy's voice had become cold.

"My informant." Jeff answered innocently. He seemed to notice that he had finally gotten Percy angry.

"Who is your informant, Mr. Payne?" Percy asked, his voice getting very soft.

"I don't think you would know of him, so it is hardly your concern who he is." Jeff said.

"Mr. Payne." Percy said quietly. "You know who I am. You know my influence. You know quite a bit about me. I am giving you a chance to make up for all of your previous misdoings. You know that you are lucky to still be alive. You should know that you are only that way because of the A2 keeping certain other parties off your tail.

"I am going to ask you a question and I expect that you will be responsible and answer it completely truthfully without hiding things. If you are responsible, I along with the A2 am reasonable. Who is your informant?" Percy finished in a deadly voice.

Jeff looked like he had started to sweat halfway through Percy's little speech. He just managed to stutter out, "H-his name is T-Theodore Glascone. He g-goes by Ted a lot of the t-time."

"Who does he work for?" Percy had not changed his tone. Annabeth had a sneaking suspicion that Percy really wanted to make Jeff piss his pants. She also didn't think that it would take much longer. Percy looked like he was pulling his wolf stare on Jeff. That along with his cold, soft voice could scare anyone.

"H-he works f-for the United States of America's CIA. H-he serves as t-the d-deputy director, I be-believe."

None of this information seemed to have fazed Percy one bit. Annabeth could see the men behind Jeff were researching Theodore Glascone. They obviously wanted as much information they could get on him. Percy's stare never wavered from Jeff's. He was standing stock still whereas Jeff was shaking. Annabeth was watching. She showed no sign of emotion taking from Percy's expression, she wasn't supposed to.

Annabeth did notice that Leo was taking them somewhere that definitely wasn't the hotel. They would have been done with the drive long before if they were heading to the hotel. Leo was taking them much farther than a block.

"Tell me, Mr. Payne, how Theodore Glascone knew that our last field strategist retired to a desk position?"

"I-I'm not s-sure. I-I've n-never asked." Jeff stuttered out. He was really shaking at that point.

Annabeth noticed a wet spot appearing on his pants. It seemed that Jeff did too because he looked down in mortification. Percy's gaze never wavered from Jeff's face though. He didn't glance down at Jeff's pants to see the wet spot spreading. He just waited for Jeff to raise his face to look at him again.

When Jeff finally did lift his head, Percy's gaze softened. He turned around and opened a panel. He hit a few switches and the familiar walls of the bathroom came up. "You'll find a fresh change of clothes waiting for you inside." Percy said in a clipped voice.

Jeff nodded his head and rushed into the bathroom. The other men turned around. They didn't look as disturbed as Annabeth thought they would. She herself had rarely seen Percy so unhinged. She wondered why it was such a big deal for Jeff to know a little information about their previous field strategist.

"I thought Ted was on our side?" Travis asked.

"I don't know. It makes me wonder why he would have told Jeff any of this though. If I was deputy director of the CIA, I wouldn't be confiding secrets of the A2 to someone of MI6. Even if we didn't exactly hold that secret close to our chests, we didn't exactly get a press release either." Percy said. He sunk into his own chair.

A light on the side of the bathroom turned from red to green two seconds before the door opened and Jeff came out. When he was fully out of the bathroom, Percy stood, went over to the panel, hit the same switches and the bathroom sunk into the floor again.

Annabeth sincerely hoped he wasn't planning on intimidating Jeff again. Jeff was holding his soiled clothing in a plastic bag. He had been wearing a crisp suit when he had come to the restaurant. After emerging from the bathroom, he looked thoroughly disheveled and miserable. His face was burning with embarrassment as well.

Percy took no notice of this. He offered Jeff the seat that they had Daniel in when he was passed out. Jeff sat down gingerly. He seemed to be scared that Percy would want more information, but Percy just took out a small thermos and offered it to Jeff.

"It's tea. It's also got a little cream and sugar in it. To help you calm down." Percy said at a regular volume and with a tone that one might use to calm a scared animal, which was really what Jeff was.

It again surprised Annabeth how little reaction the other men had to Percy's methods. It was as if they were used to them or approved or both. It seemed too harsh for Annabeth's liking. That was strange to her. It used to be Percy who was weak when it came to semi cruel methods of anything. It seemed that at some point during Percy's years of service to both the A2 business and U.S. military they switched those roles.

A/N: Shorter chapter, but definitely got more information out of it. Bringing in another couple OCs as well.

Jessica Jasso - Thanks again for the great feedback. I believe the baby comment is coming in the next chapter.