Perseus never expected for this day to come.

The day he was on trial for piracy.

It has been four years since that day in Conttoyor. Things had been going great for Perseus and the pirates. Now that the pirates had a strong force, it has expanded greatly. More of the ships they have plunder end up surrendering and joining Perseus's fleet. With more ships, they now can do their own patrol and keep the Naval forts at all times. With the help of Annabeth and her connections in the other cities they even manage to create their own trade system as well. The Great Inagua that Perseus founded those many years go turned into a thriving place for Pirates and private merchants.

Perseus had kept in contact with Annabeth. Every time he goes to Kingston he makes a point to visit her. They sometimes talk about their trade business, the Nightingales, and other important things but most of the time they would just talk about nothing in important. For Perseus it was a nice break from the unpredictable life as a pirate. He was happy and comfortable around her and he could tell she was too. In the later years it seemed to be every week or so he would make a point to visit Kingston just to spend a day or two with her.

It wasn't unusual for Annabeth to join him on missions that she sometimes send him on. They quickly learned to read each other and that worked well on stealth missions like this one. That night of Perseus's arrest they didn't have to go anywhere as they were searching for someone in Kingston. All they had to do was get in, find the information they wanted, question the man that was being held there, and get out. However Perseus wasn't prepared to be ambushed from behind. The guard sneaked from behind, hit him in the back of the head knocking Perseus unconscious.

The prison was a miserable place. It was dark as only some candle light list up the place. Rats and insects made themselves home in the cells. Even though he couldn't see anyone else he can hear the other prisoners moan in pain or talk to themselves in a crazed dazed. The air was thick with dust and other unnamable smells.

In the beginning of his time, here they tried to integrate him on information about the other pirates and his work but Perseus kept his mouth shut. They eventually just left him alone, possibly in hopes he will go insane. He quickly lost track of the amount of days he spent in this cell.

Every moment he was awake he wonder about Annabeth, Grover, and his crew. He wonder if she was captured as well or if she manage to get away. A few times he listen to the guards talked about a woman prisoners but never was able to tell if they here talking about Annabeth. Perseus wasn't the religious type, never believed in a higher power, but even he did pray to anyone that would listen that she wasn't locked up here also.

He worried about Grover and Blackjack's crew. Did they know he was in prison or did they think he abandon them? Even though his crew was fiercely loyal he didn't expect them to plan a rescue mission. It was impossibly and more likely to get them all killed to do so. They might as well assumed he was already dead because he will be soon enough. Either from a sickness or hanged for his crimes.

"Get up." A guard growled, pulling him up.

Perseus didn't say anything and just looked straight ahead as they lead him though the prison to outside. The sunlight blinded him for a few moments when the door open. Several rows of benches was set up facing towards a table set up on a platform so all can see. The guards marched Perseus past the crowd sitting on the benches and up to the raised platform.

"Perseus Jackson!" The man at the table announced loudly. "Born in England to Paul and Sally Jackson. You have been found guilt for attacking our ships, raiding our warehouses, and destroying our greatest Naval Forts! What do you have to say?"

Perseus held his head high, looking over the crowd. There wasn't a familiar face, not that he expected one. "I did what was right. You Olympus scum take and steal everything from the people you claim to rule over. I claim it back and worked to make this place theirs's again."

"Lier! You are a pirate sum!" someone in the crowd shouted. Several others joined in anger protest.

"Silence! I shall have silence!" The judge slammed a wooden mallet on the table a few times and the crowd went quite again. "Now you have been sentence to death Perseus Jackson! You will rot here until a ship can take you back to where you came. There you will be hanged until you are dead!"

"Perseus Jackson?"

A deep voice woke him from his sleep. Not recognizing that voice from the guards he open his eyes to see an older man with streaks of grey hair standing at his cell door.

"Who's asking?" Perseus said sitting up.

The old man looked around before producing a set of keys, unlocking his door. "I am a friend of Annabeth's."

"Annabeth?" He jumped to his feet and rushed to the open door. "Is she alright? Is she here?"

The old man shook his head. "She did not get arrested that night. She is fine and begged me to rescue you. Now we must hurry."

Silently they ran though the endless halls of the prison. Perseus didn't know how this stranger knew his way through here but didn't ask any more questions. Since it was in the middle of the night, at least that is what Perseus thought, there was only a few guards patrolling the cells. Suddenly he stopped by a cell with a familiar face.

"Leo," he whispered staring sadly at the former pirate. Long ago they had assumed that Leo had sailed away and never thought about him again. Yet here Leo was locked up muttering to himself, unaware of the world around him. "I am sorry you ended up here old friend. I had hope you found peace somewhere you made your own."

He sighed and kept on walking. The stranger stared at him for a moment before following. "Did you know him well?" The man asked.

Perseus shook his head. "Not as well as I would like. I knew his name and of his reputation. Even as a pirate he preferred to keep his life secret from all."

The stranger nodded. Escaping the prison was hard but they manage to do it. The stranger silently took down the guards using the same dart blow pipe that Annabeth used that first night they meet. There was a small wall around the prison but they found a collapsed portion. Nearby was a small row boat waiting for them. Off in the distance was a silhouette of a ship. For a moment Perseus hoped it was the Blackjack but the ship was too small to be his.

"Where are we going?" Perseus asked as they climbed onto the small ship. Behind them the fort's alarm bells ranged out into the night.

"Somewhere safe." A voice behind him said.

Recognizing the voice, he spun around and breathed a sigh of relief. Standing at the wheel of the ship was Annabeth.

"Annabeth! It's good to see you."

"I'm glad you are still alive as well." She said walking up to him. "Come let's get you some fresh cloths and some food. We have a lot to talk about."

He nodded, still amazed that he was broken out of the prison and was here with Annabeth again. On the hardest days he would focused on his memory of her. Her long blond hair, the way he can tell she is thinking by the way her grey eyes would squint together.

She lead them down below. "Go change your cloths and I will get you some food." She said pointing to a nearby area hidden by a hanging cloth. What he really wanted was a nice long swim to wash away the scent of the prison but fresh cloths will do. He changed behind the cloth and walked back out to where Annabeth was. She was sitting at a table with a plate full of bread and cheese along with a bottle of rum. She pushed the stuff over to him and silently watched as he dug in to the food. Even though the food was basic it was the best thing he ate in a long while. During his time in prison, he was lucky to get one meal a day. Sometime he only got food every few days.

"How long was I in there?" He asked taking a break from eating.

"Over 8 months." She told him. "We didn't know if you were still alive or not until your trial happened. Once we saw you we started planning your break out."

"We? I didn't see you there at my trial."

"Your right I wasn't there. But Chiron was. He was the one that broke you out."

He took a long swig of rum before answering. "I take it he is part of your Nightingale group."

"He is our mentor; the closet thing we have to a leader." She explained. "He encourages us to do things on our own. However he is there for when we need advice or training."

"Thank you for rescuing me." He said staring at her. "I didn't think anyone cared enough to risk their lives do so."

Annabeth smiled softly. "You will be surprised how many people care about you. Have you forgotten about your crew on the Blackjack? They attacked every known prison ship in search for you. That is how we knew you had to be here."

They stayed silent for a while just enjoying each other's presents. He finished eating his meal and continued to drink the rum. It has been so long since he last had any he could quickly feel the burning liquid effect his mind. But he didn't care. He was out of prison and Annabeth was here.

"And what about you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

"Do you care about me as well?"

She sighed softly and stared at him. "Of course I do. I thought you knew that."

His heart skipped a beat hearing her say those words. He reached across the table for her hand and she didn't pull away. The feel of her hand under his confirmed that this was real and she was truly sitting in front of him. "I thought about you every moment of every day while I was locked up. Every day I would wake and think: if this was my last day I wanted my last memory to be you. Even now I still wonder if this is just a dream or that I have gone crazy."

"This isn't a dream." She said softly. "I really am here and so are you."