The Jackson residence was not as grand as I would have expected for a hero of his caliber. With the many quests he's completed, I'd have expected a mansion. But, he lived in a Manhattan apartment, nd as it was a Manhattan apartment, I didn't expect much. But I DID expect a place for flying chariots to land.

I helped Apollo into the apartment, he looked absolutely shocked. His eyes were wide as plates. I can imagine that he was shocked by the drabness, as he would put it. In matter of fact, he probably was thinking about it.

Standing behind the kitchen counter was a woman, Sally Jackson I presume.

She looked to be the sort of women Apollo would flirt with.

If he tried anything, broken ribs or not I was going to punch him.

She stepped out from behind the counter. I quickly realized something important, she was pregnant.

Apollo's eyes about bugged out of of his head. "Ma'am there is something wrong with your midsection!"

Here we go...

"Well I'm seven months pregnant"

I swear if he goes on a rant about this...

"How can you bear it?" He asked. "My mother, Leto, suffered through a long pregnancy, but only because Hera cursed her. Are you cursed?"

Apollo no…

I cleared my throat. "Brother.. She's not cursed.."

"Can we not mention Hera?" Percy asked.

"You poor woman.. A goddess would give birth as soon as she felt like it!" Apollo gaped.

"Apollo.." I murmured, sighing. This is not how you greet someone.

"That would be nice" Sally agreed. Yes. Best to just go with it.

"So, anyway, mom, This is Apollo and Artemis, and their friend Meg." Percy introduced us. "And this is my mom"

Sally Jackson smiled and shook our hands. "Call me Sally."

Her eyes narrowed as she studied Apollo's battered appearance, specifically his swollen nose. "Dear, that looks painful. What happened?"

Apollo recoiled from the question, taking a step back. He choked on his words.

"There were these two thugs, and this was the result." I deadpanned, Sally frowned. She reminded me of my own mother, When was the last time me and Apollo took her out to dinner? 2006?

"I tell you what." Sally patted Apollo's shoulder. I took a half step closer to him. "Percy can help you get bandaged and cleaned up."

"I can?" asked Percy.

Sally gave him the slightest motherly eyebrow raise. "There's a first-aid kit in your bathroom, sweetheart. Apollo can take a shower, then wear your extra clothes. You and Apollo are about the same size."

"That," Percy said, "is truly depressing."

She cupped Meg under the chin, concern in her eyes. She then turned to me, taking note of my filthy clothes. "I have some clothes that might fit you two," Sally said. "Pre-pregnancy clothes, of course. Then we'll get you something to eat."

"I like food," Meg muttered.

I was still hungry from earlier, if not more so now.

Sally laughed. "Well, we have that in common. Percy, you take Apollo. We'll meet you back here in a bit."

I glanced at Apollo, he smiled weakly. He looked exhausted, he should really be resting. Or at least taking a nap. Percy led him away while I followed Sally. In an abbreviated list, I showered, dressed in some of Sally's old clothes, and worried about Apollo. Sally had offered me ambrosia, (I had nearly forgotten that my ribs were broken too, Adrenaline is one hell of a drug kids.) but I refused. I didn't know if I could consume it safely. I didn't want to self combust. After I had changed, I stared at myself in the mirror. I felt more nervous about the future than when I was imprisoned by Atlas a few years back. It was unfair that we were being punished… Suddenly, my memories cleared. I had fought Zeus's sentencing of my brother adamantly for the last few months… He had hidden my brother away from me, Apollo and I couldn't communicate by telepathy or iris messages. I had managed to find him, but Zeus sent us both to earth without a second thought.

If I had been more patient maybe we wouldn't be in this mess.

I took a deep breath. At least fast healing seemed to be among my abilities, my ribs still ached but it was duller than earlier. Hopefully, this meant Apollo was faring better.

Sally had given me a light blue shirt and an older pair of jeans. It wasn't the clothes I was worried about, they were perfectly practical and fit me decently. I was worried about what we did next. Was going to Camp Half-Blood the correct course of action? The last I checked Delphi was still taken by Python. That serpent caused more trouble than he was worth. If our end goal was to defeat him.. That would be bad.

I took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom to face the world.

Sally was preparing food, and Meg was about to enter the bathroom, I let her pass me and went to find my brother. I knocked on Percy's door, "you can come in" I opened the door, expecting to see Apollo sitting on the bed. Instead, Percy was leaning on the wall, and Apollo was dead asleep on his bed. I suppressed a laugh. He looked so tiny asleep like that.

"He practically passed out the moment I looked away. We were talking for a bit, then he asked if he could lay down. The next thing I knew he was asleep."

"He did need sleep.." I said trying not to laugh. "What were you talking about?"

"To sum it up I'll drive you to camp but I'm not getting involved in another prophecy"

"That's… disappointing. But I understand." Percy had served the gods on multiple occurrences, even assisted in my rescue from Atlas. He was in my favor. The only male in my favor for years. I sat on the bed next to Apollo, studying his injuries. The swelling on his nose had gone down, and bruises covered his visible arms. I shuddered, remembering having to watch as Mikey kicked Apollo again and again. I took a shuddering breath. Even asleep he looked terrible. I tore my gaze away from him.

"Are you alright?" Percy asked.

I debated telling him. Eventually, I said to myself a saying mortals use quite frequently. Fuck it. What's the harm in saying what's bothering me? "I.. The thugs in the alley forced to.. to watch them hurt him.. It was.. It was world breaking." I stared at Apollo's nose, remembering just how swollen it had been not even an hour ago. They had stomped down on his face. They had purposefully broken his nose. I fought back tears. "They were going to fight me, but Apollo told me to stand down. I tried to convince me to let him fight but-" I choked up. Staring at Apollo. "They held my head in place and they just kept kicking him. I couldn't look away.." My voice hitches. Tears collected in my eyes, I scrubbed furiously at them. Trying to get them to go away. "They just.. They wouldn't stop… He passed out and I was scared he was dead- I thought.. I…" I couldn't go on. Apollo looked so.. So mortal. So painfully mortal. He could die at any moment. We both could die. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. My hands in my lap. I blinked away my tears.

"Oh. Um. Okay.. wow" Percy looked genuinely concerned.

"I.. I apologize for my outburst.." I looked down at my brother, trying to picture him as he usually appeared as a god. I failed quite spectacularly.

"You don't need to apologize… If I were forced to watch Tyson get hurt like that.. I don't know what I'd do."

We sat in an awkward silence for awhile. "Are you certain you aren't willing to help us?"

"I promised Annabeth I wouldn't die while she was gone, and I want her to come back to find me in one piece. Sorry."

"Alright…" I took another deep breath, then glanced down at my sleeping brother. 'Lets get food and let my brother sleep"