Leo drove them back to their hotel. The whole time Percy was speaking kindly to Jeff. It seemed to calm him down. It definitely calmed Annabeth down. She never liked it when he lost control. He was a powerful person in many ways. She wasn't fond of the few times that he became unhinged. It frightened her on more than one level.
The feeling apparently was shared by Jeff, but surprisingly not by the rest of the men. She was curious if they knew something about it that she didn't. She didn't dwell on the thought, though. She put it to the back of her mind and focused on what the A2 members were doing at their stations. They were looking at Jeff's profile on the MI6 network!
That struck Annabeth as a bit creepy and stalkerish, but she supposed they did want to know quite a bit about him and that was their way of doing it. Was that really bad? Annabeth had reserved judgment.
When Leo pulled the van into the parking lot at their hotel, Annabeth felt a flush of relief. She wanted a few moments of solitude. She also wanted to have a serious talk with Percy in private.
They all got out of the van. Percy waited until everyone was out then he shut the doors with the help of Leo. Annabeth had gone ahead with Frank and Connor staying close to her. She wondered why they were closer than normal and why Percy's jealous side hadn't kicked in. She had come to expect him to get overprotective quite often, but not this time. It made her curious. He was bringing up the rear with Leo. Jeff was off to the side a bit and none of them made any move to force him to come.
Annabeth supposed they wanted to make him feel comfortable again. She speculated that they wanted to soften him up again before talking about business again. It was a strange strategy if that was what they were actually planning. She didn't feel like giving them any ideas at that point, though, so she didn't mention any of her thoughts at that moment. She thought about telling Percy if they could talk in private after Jeff had left.
She turned her thoughts to what Percy had said. Jeff had previous wrongdoings that he should be trying to make up for. She wondered what he had done. She was very curious if it was him specifically or if he did something to help someone else do something bad. She wondered why Percy made it sound as if the A2 had gone to many lengths to protect him from being punished in some way. Death sounded like it was easily a possible punishment, though. Again Annabeth wondered why Percy wanted to protect someone from others who wanted to bring him to justice?
The answer came to Annabeth as soon as the question reappeared. He wanted or needed information that Jeff had. When Annabeth thought about the A2 business, it was just that. A business. It might be working for overall good, but it still worked like any other business involved in war. It did what it needed to do to be victorious. Sometimes it didn't care who it ran over in the process. Percy had even admitted that many members of the crew were technically mercenaries. He had said they were very loyal, but to Annabeth, a mercenary is still a mercenary no matter how loyal he may seem. It almost sickened her that her husband was the Chairman of that business.
Annabeth had quite a list of mental notes she needed to speak to Percy about. First and foremost would definitely be his methods to get Jeff to talk and speaking to him about her thoughts on his business might not hurt either. She wasn't so sure she wanted to be involved in all that they were doing.
All these thoughts ran through Annabeth's head as they went to the elevators and took one up to their floor. It barely registered when Frank and Travis backed off to normal distance and Percy came over to her again placing his hand on her lower back. He opened their room door and gently pushed her back to get her to go inside.
The rest of their little group went into the room Travis and Connor were staying in right next to Percy and Annabeth. They shut the door behind them and when Percy checked the hallway up and down he too shut the door to his and Annabeth's room.
"You seem a bit out of it." Percy said to her.
Annabeth shrugged and went over to sit on the bed that they hadn't been sleeping on. Percy's eyebrows furrowed. He went over and sat on the opposite bed facing her. She didn't look at him. She wasn't sure how to say everything that was on her mind. She had many questions and many scoldings that she wanted to get to. She also figured that they didn't have much time before Percy would be needed in the next room.
"I guess I am a bit out of it." Annabeth finally said.
Percy nodded waiting for her to go on. When she didn't he prompted her, "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking about your business."
Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise. He clearly wasn't expecting that answer. "Anything in particular?" He asked hesitantly.
"Yes and no. That's not all I'm thinking about. I'm thinking about home."
Percy gained a confused look. He seemed to disregard everything when she mentioned her thinking about home. He slid off the bed and came over to kneel next to Annabeth on the floor.
"What about home?" Percy asked, concerned.
"I guess I miss it." Annabeth said. She willed herself to stay strong a bit longer, but she had not wanted to talk about this subject until the end of their discussion.
Percy nodded thoughtfully. "I always miss home. Whenever I'm away, I miss seeing you all the time and having Leroy around to play with."
"Yes, but this is my first time being away from home when I have an actual family. We've got a son now. He shouldn't go through a part of his life without either parent there for him. We've got Leroy who never obeys anyone, but you. I just want to be back home without having to worry about this stupid crisis!" Annabeth stressed. She couldn't take it. She put her face in her hands and cried. She was a mother and she couldn't stand not being with her child, but she also wanted to be with her husband. It tore her apart that she had to choose between them.
Percy's shoulder kneeling was about the same height as Annabeth's bowed head. He wrapped his arms around her and her head was perfectly even with his shoulder. Her arms came to wrap around Percy's neck and she cried into his shoulder soaking yet another one of his shirts, but he didn't seem to mind.
Percy stroked Annabeth's back and whispered things in her ear. She either couldn't hear what he was saying or it never completely registered in her brain. Either way she didn't really know what he said and she never found out.
When Annabeth had calmed down enough to take in her surroundings, she noticed that Percy had picked her up and sat her in his lap on the floor between the two beds. She pulled her head back and looked up into Percy's face. She searched his expression. It was full of sadness and remorse.
"I know." said Percy.
Annabeth nodded and rested her head on Percy's shoulder again. She was pleasantly surprised to find it crisp and dry again. The benefits he got from being a son of Poseidon were very helpful at times. Annabeth took time to just calm down and let her breathing settle down. Percy continued stroking his hand through her hair and down her back.
"It's always harder the first time. It's probably killing you since we have a child now. I've never met him, but I guess I can feel my heart beating to return home for more than one person now. It's just a very strong connection that seems to have sprouted overnight and I feel as homesick as I did the first time I got sent overseas with the Navy." Percy said quietly in Annabeth's ear.
Annabeth nodded. She could clearly understand what Percy was explaining to her. It seemed to match her personal feeling perfectly. She hadn't even described little Perseus Jr. to Percy and he already had a special connection.
"Percy, I want to tell you about Perseus Jr." Annabeth said without changing her position.
Percy slowly nodded and he said, "I'm ready to hear whatever you want to say."
"His first word was dada." said Annabeth.
Percy pulled back a little with a surprised look on his face. "Really? He's gotten his first word already?"
"He's a legacy of Athena. I won't be surprised to come back and have Mom tell me that they had nice intellectual discussions." Annabeth joked trying to lighten the mood.
It worked because Percy gave a hearty chuckle. "He's not just a legacy of Athena, but a direct son of the most brilliant daughter of Athena that ever lived. Not to mention the coolest son of Poseidon in the past couple centuries."
Annabeth was able to get a sincere laugh out. "Don't go getting a big head now. Not long after he said dada did he point at me and say ma."
Percy said triumphantly, "But he didn't say mama!"
"He has preferences. What can I say?" Annabeth said shrugging.
Another chuckle from Percy. "He's going to be just as picky as his mother."
Annabeth weakly whacked Percy in the chest. Not like that would hurt him based on the underlying muscle he had protecting him there. Percy proved that point by letting out yet another chuckle when her hand connected with his chest.
"Does he act more like you or me?" Percy asked.
Annabeth looked at Percy and saw joy and excitement in his eyes. He was happy to be talking about the child he had created, but had yet to meet. Annabeth said, "I think he acts like you and Mom agrees."
"Why? Is he a troublemaker?"
"In a way. He's more insane than anything else. Very fussy too." Annabeth responded shrugging.
Percy had an incredulous look on his face. "And you think that means he's acting more like me than you?"
"Yep. You'll find out soon enough. He acts like a psycho killer running around the house half the time."
"I am not a psycho killer, nor do I act like one."
"I don't know. When your mom was over playing with Jr. - that's what we've been calling him - she said that he seemed a lot like you were at his age."
"Wait a minute. Running?"
"Well no. Not really. He makes sounds like war cries he might say if he was running and he always acts like he wants to be on the floor. He doesn't like to be held. He gets very fidgety. Mom says that he's trying to seem independent. I've got a little book at home about important dates he's already done something."
"Okay. Hold up. He's already said his first word, but he's not even a year old? Does he even have teeth?"
"Yes actually. Strangely enough, he's already got two teeth and he distinctly said dada and ma."
"When's his birthday?"
"I'll give you hints."
"You're going to make me do math, aren't you?" Percy groaned.
Annabeth smiled into his shoulder then sat up again. "Yes." She answered. "Now listen. From today in the US, he has three days before he turns six months old. You got your call to go to that mission in April last year. He was conceived the night before." Annabeth finished. "Now you figure out his birthday."
"Okay…." Percy said thoughtfully, drawing out the word. "So that would mean nine months after April. So he was born in January?"
"On what day?"
"Uh…." Percy thought about it again. "Three days from today in the US. I believe it is the 24th of July in America so that would make his birthday January 27th this year."
Annabeth's smile stretched across her face, telling Percy that he had gotten it right. She wrapped her arms around Percy's neck and said, "You are correct."
Percy grinned as well and leaned toward her. "I'm very glad for that. I think I'm going to wait to discover all the rest of the details about my son until I get to meet him."
"Good plan. For a son of Poseidon." Annabeth was so close to Percy that she could feel his breath fanning across her face.
"Not all of us can be as smart as you." Percy whispered before he connected their lips.
Two hours later, Annabeth and Percy were knocking on the door next to their own. Having cleaned up, the only tell of their activities that Leo found immediately was the look in their eyes. Not something any of the other men noticed until they looked for it. Annabeth was positive Jeff saw nothing and Leo kept his mouth shut.
Percy asked, "What have we come up with?"
Always down to business when he needs to be Annabeth thought. She admired the trait and could go on about it to quite an extent. She also knew she should be down to business as well and turned her thoughts to the information she already knew about the problems at hand. She herself was interested in how much information Jeff might have that the A2 could benefit from.
"I don't know much. I have been told to give you this." Jeff said as he handed Percy a small Velcro case that could easily fit in his hand.
"What's inside?" Percy questioned. His voice didn't sound suspicious, but Annabeth figured since he didn't immediately open to case, it was a cleverly concealed undertone that did not go unnoticed by Jeff.
"I believe it is a flash drive of sorts." Jeff answered.
Percy nodded accepting the answer. He opened the little case revealing a flash drive snuggled inside. Percy again nodded and grabbed Frank's smaller bag and pulled a regular laptop from it. It was an HP computer with windows operating system. Annabeth, not being a technology genius, didn't know much more information about the computer, especially since Percy hadn't even opened it.
"I think this particular flash drive is a cruzer switch. I'm not sure how much storage it has, but it probably is some good stuff no matter the quantity. I recognize the craftsmanship. Leo? Why don't you take a look at it for a second while I get the computer turned on and we'll be able to see what's on the drive." Percy commanded.
Leo went over to Percy and took the drive. He inspected it quickly then gave it back. He didn't say anything. The rest of the men gathered around the desk where Percy was setting the laptop up and plugging the cord into the outlet that was on the desk.
Annabeth assumed Leo had sent the message of whatever he discovered was so special about the cruzer switch to Percy through the earpieces or something. Annabeth also figured that Percy had gotten it because he deemed the drive safe to put in the computer and immediately started working with the files it contained.
Jeff was searching his pockets for something as they watched Percy work. Annabeth just barely noticed out of the corner of her eye. She didn't know if anyone else noticed though. She had no clue how to deploy her mask without it being visible. That was definitely on the list of things she wanted to learn.
When Jeff seemed to find whatever he was looking for, Annabeth tensed. She didn't know what she was expecting him to pull out. It made her instincts go crazy. When his hand emerged, he was only holding a PDA and she could hear Connor and Frank sigh with obvious relief. She was glad she wasn't the only one to notice or get tense when Jeff was looking for the little device.
He walked over to their group and handed it to Percy. Without taking his eyes from the screen, Percy accepted the PDA and plugged it into the computer one-handed while his other hand worked a code that had popped up. Jeff was watching with the rest of the group. It seemed that he had never really looked at the cruzer switch or the information it had on it. Annabeth wasn't sure why he was so vital to the A2 being successful, but she accepted it until she found a good reason to reject him. After all, he did have a very influential position in MI6.
Annabeth watched as Percy worked with the code and popped another window of PDA information up beside the cruzer switch window. It was starting to make Annabeth think that the computer would get an override, but it kept working like magic. It was nice and a good change from what Annabeth had come to know as reality.
It was Frank who broke the code. Annabeth didn't understand. It was a city in Wales that was part of the code and when he matched it with a city in Northern Ireland, the code gave way. It opened a map. Not a complicated one that the A2 members had been working on for the past few days, but a simple city map. It wasn't what Frank expected, but Annabeth had a sneaking suspicion that Jeff wasn't totally surprised like the rest of the group. She also didn't think he knew exactly what was going to be under the code.
Annabeth thought that once they broke that code, they would be able to access all the files on the flash drive. No such luck. For all ten major files, they had to crack a separate code. Some were much harder than others. They found that under each of the major files, there was more files underneath when it was opened. Thankfully they didn't need codes to open. Occasionally even that layer of files would have files in them. It made Annabeth seriously wonder how much storage space was on the tiny little cruzer switch.
Percy seemed satisfied with the flash drive without opening all the files. He opened each of the main ones (cracking the codes along the way) and scrolled through whatever would be underneath them. Then he would go to the next main file. He never opened anything under the main files except for the one under the first code they had cracked. After that he seemed to get enough information by a glance at the second layer files without opening them.
Annabeth was clueless when it came to what was really on the drive. By the look on Travis's face, he was as well. They did their best not to show it, but the rest of their group did a better job of it. Percy looked at the PDA window. He had to crack one code and when he did he had access to the entire PDA. It was much nicer than the cruzer switch.
A/N: Last chapter you got the grown up military hardened Percy and this time you get to see the ever present softer side to him that is normally covered up in this story.
I update mainly on weekends now because of school being in session for me. I don't really have time to write, edit and upload during the week so I make time on Saturday & Sunday. This weekend I have an extra day though with Labor Day Weekend in the USA.
Jessica Jasso - Hopefully this chapter fulfilled a few curiosities :)