A/N: Second chapter of the mid-length AU., hope you really liked the first chapter to click next chapter.

Enjoy.

The following was added to the notepad from his own research:

Athena Parthoens- drug lord, commonly known as 'Mother Minerva'. Deceased.

Fredrick Chase- serial killer, having been on the international wanted list for decades. Deceased.

Percy winced at the history of the two parents of Annabeth Chase as he dug deeper in to their record. He felt sympathy for her for being scapegoated by her own parents. Still determined to know more about this girl, he decided to pay a visit on the next day if there would be no important events on his schedule. Looking at his calendar made by Nico, he crossed out some plans and decided to use that time to pay another visit. This time hoping that he would be able to talk to her.

Nico decided to accompany Percy in to the common cell this time, because the result of leaving him alone last time was a bunch of fangirls. Knowing Percy, fans coming too close to him would make him uncomfortable, especially when the majority were from the female population.

¢.¢

Piper got into prison for multiple reasons, but mostly because her victims pressed charges. The real reason to why Piper and Annabeth were in jail was not known to any inmates, not even the two know about each other's background fully. They vowed to not speak of it, due to multiple reasons.

"I hate my father and I don't know my mother, so shut the fuck up about the theory behind my criminal actions." Piper had always spat at the others who asked about her history.

As a respond to the people who asked about Annabeth's past, she would say. "You wouldn't ask these questions if you knew my parents, but I'm sure you know them, they're quite famous." In the most sarcastic way and with a drastically sardonic smile.

Annabeth was in the cell at the age of eighteen, captured on the next day of her eighteenth birthday, as if the police had planned this arrest since her birth. Piper met her in cell six years later, when she was just a few months over the age of an adult.

Whenever a newbie appeared at the doorway of their cell, the inmates get excited and ask questions about the charges. The reasons given by Piper and Annabeth were coincidentally the same. That was what made them so noble amongst the prisoners and what made them gain popularity amongst the guards; the different demeanors of them from the others. They told them with a sneer.

"They charged me a whole fucking lot. My lawyer fucked me up real bad, they shitted."

Annabeth didn't participate in the bet they made about the new girl, but she had a good feeling about this young woman. From that day on, Annabeth, already in power, took the newbie under her wings and put her faith in the choppy brunette adolescent.

"What are you in for?" Were the first words uttered by Piper when she first got her chance to be alone with Annabeth. That took Annabeth by surprise, because when she first arrived, people were frightened by the powerful aura radiating off her and scared off by her glare from the pair of cold steel gray eyes. No one dared talking to her, let alone question her. Even until this day, only a very countable amount of people had ever spoken to her, even less had the chance to hear her voice.

Caught off guard by the newbie, Annabeth for some reason didn't get angry at her. "What makes you think that I'd tell you." She asked a rhetorical question, sensing that this girl next to her was very inexperienced in jail and naive in life. "Now, tell me, why are you here and not in juvenile prison, huh chick?" She requested for her own entertainment. Piper flinched at her voice and a little bit at her tone, but still offered an answer.

¢.¢

Exactly a week after his first visit, Percy stepped in to the infamous prison once again, this time, with Nico close by. Walking through the exact same door, stepping on the exact same steps, and ascending the same spiral staircase that led to the Warden's office, they ended up in the exact position facing the Warden. This time, Nico forgot to make a call beforehand, their appearance was a surprise to the prison governor.

"Gentlemen," the Warden greeted, "I wasn't expecting a celebrity visit twice week in a roll." He said, displaying his shiny gold teeth with coffee stain on it. The two men nodded their heads as their greetings to the Warden. "What should I offer you two?" He stood up, walked around his table and stopped in front of them, politely asked with a slight bow of head.

"Thank you Warden, but we'd like to proceed straight to the visit part of this procedure, skip the protocol." Nico said, expressing Percy's thoughts. "We might become a regular visitor for the next few months or so." He added. As the spokesman of Percy, Nico was expected to do all the talking while Percy could just stand aside and watch.

"As you wish." The Warden said, using the exact same phrase as last time. Percy secretly wonder if it was how this guy speak to everyone that he needed to pay respect to. "Gentlemen, follow me." He said, leading the way. Walking down the same dark hall as they did last time and they were, like last time, handed to a guard on duty. "This way please." The duty guard gestured in courtesy after been dismissed by his boss.

¢.¢

Annabeth's head snapped up when she heard the familiar voices, but Piper's remained focused on her own business, at least that was what it seemed like.

"Are you fucking someone?" Piper's voice cut through her train of thoughts and shook her out from the staring.

Annabeth stared at Piper with a peaceful emotion, not showing any signs of startled and caught off guard. She didn't say anything nor made any gesture to reply. Her mind was racing to find an answer. Finally, she settled with a grin that contained a lot of information and meaning behind.

Piper might be a deviant girl, she might have committed a lot of crimes, but she was still inexperienced. In jail or in public, Piper was just a child, she didn't understand anything about power and blackmail. Her mouth might be persuasive, but that wouldn't work every time.

"No." Annabeth replied shortly after the smile. "I'm not fucking anyone." She eyed the eighteen year-old girl who had only became an adult for a few months. As a woman, she felt like it was her responsibility to teach Piper about the hidden rules in prison. She knew Piper would be the perfect material, she just had a lot to learn that's all.

"Then why are you staring at him? The watch." Piper asked innocently. She had been only in cell for merely a week, and she had been asking more questions to Annabeth than all of the inmates in total. People, of course, couldn't help but wonder why was this newbie treated differently.

Receiving special treatment from the Crime Lord could mean two things. It could be a warning from the Lord, telling them to adjust their way of acting, or do whatever they needed in order to blend in to the rest of the people that didn't get a special treatment. Or it could result in a punishment that the Lord would creatively think of, made just for them.

The Crime Lord had her natural aura that had kept everyone under a spell, making them obey her with everything. Perhaps it was her parents, but she was one of a talented too. Annabeth's attitude to them were unexplained, and to them, it didn't need any explanation. Again, this time, no one questioned what was with Piper, but they wondered amongst themselves.

"You'll know." Annabeth gave her a smile with many hidden meanings, but Piper had only seemed to get one, the one on the surface, on the very top. "Watch and learn kid." She winked playfully at Piper, making the latter even more confused.

In Annabeth's smile, there weren't only the meaning of 'you'll know that when you're older', but also a sinful thought of how innocent she was and what she would become if she kept spending time with her.

¢.¢

To be completely honest, it had been a long time since Annabeth had a companion, a friend, someone that she could let her guards down with.

Four years ago, when she was only nineteen and had just got in to prison for two years, a girl older than her appeared in the cell. Her names was Bianca D'Angelo, it was a name that she would never forget.

Initially, she treated her like any other inmates. Just gaining power in the cell, Annabeth needed to be forceful in order to maintain her position and her status. She had to establish the foundation in order to make her life easier later on. Since she had to be there for ten whole years and maybe longer.

This newbie wasn't exactly old, but she wasn't young of age either. She was shy and looked very innocent. Her actions further proved the theory that Annabeth came up with the moment she saw her. She was framed and scapegoated, just like her, only with a lighter sentence from a lighter crime. Bianca was asked to share her story a night just a few days after she got in.

"I never did anything, but one day, I was informed that I was under arrest. At first, I don't believe it, I couldn't. I've always been a good girl and followed every law I can follow. My brother's making a great fortune out there as the manager of a celebrity friend. I don't want to ruin his reputation so I asked them if I pleaded guilty, will they skip the trial and keep it from the media. They said yes and guaranteed that my case won't be on the papers." She said, tears trickling down her cheek. Most people in the cell were soft at heart, they were sad to hear about this young innocent woman's misfortune. Some even shed a tear or two. Annabeth stood at the side, listening to it with a look of impassiveness, but even without showing any expression, she still sympathized for her.

So apparently, she did all that just to save her brother's reputation, because as a sibling, once one had a scandal, the other would be dragged in no matter what. Annabeth liked her from the start, and even more after the confession. She had listened to the main parts, and left when she started to answer questions and getting soothed by the others.

It was the first time that Annabeth felt less lonely. Trying to keep her image almighty and high, she restrained herself from any of the entertainment and fun the other inmates were having, she often sat in a corner smoking her cigaret and drown herself in thoughts. From time to time, she would smuggle in some beer and wine for them to party and for herself to enjoy. Whenever there was an opportunity for her to help out with rebuilding or simply an opportunity to get close to the guards, she would jump for it.

A pack or two cigarets were all they need to be convinced and obliged to whatever she wanted. Tolerating all the small actions from her. She knew that the guards were attracted to her one way or another, because of various reasons, and she would use it to her greatest advantage. The payback would be the cigarets and the drinks. She would accompany them in their small celebrations on rooftops occasionally, behind the back of the Warden.

Ending up in prison was unfortunate of Bianca, but she was one of a miserable soul. When Annabeth finally would able to get off her high horse and allow herself to get closer to Bianca, finding herself becoming more admirable everyday because of her friendship with her. However, fate wasn't in the mood to favor either of the two girls.

Bianca died.

Annabeth took a small portion of blame.

It all went like this...

¢.¢

Everything was as it was, nothing had changed since their last visit. However, the lantern at the far corner was on this time, and there were no smoke coming out of it. Apparently the Crime Lord and her second in-command were somewhere else, in their own space.

The guard stood aside to let them enter, he had took his position at their tail after they walked in to the room, just in case the prisoners tried anything. Scanning the room like he did last time, Percy tried to locate the two women in the dark corner from his extremely vague memory. Nico's eyes were darting from Percy to the gawking eyes from the female inmates. Feeling the same sensation building up in him whenever he was in the crowd, under thousands pairs of eyes, nudging Percy with his elbow reminding him of what he was here for, he took a very insignificant step back.

Percy didn't even need to glance at Nico to understand his nudge. He took a step forward and took a better look around the prison, trying to locate the two girls, but without luck.

"Where's Annabeth? Is she here?" He walked up to the girl whom he talked to last time, but he couldn't remember. Nico stood where he was, wanting Percy to deal with that himself. He was only acting like a personal bodyguard.

At the mentioning of the name, everyone turned their attention back to whatever they were doing. None of them even dared to speak, many of kept staring at him with a blank expression, very little continued ogling at him, but was brushed away by him. Percy assumed that Annabeth had given them a hard time since his last visit, because her full name was been called by one of the inmates. However, in truth, Annabeth wasn't the one giving them a hard time, it was only Piper, giving them a warning. They weren't even punished.

Before he could bring out someone and press on the matter, someone stepped out from the side, her voice was utterly familiar. Nothing clicked in his mind though, because from all the people that he had talked to throughout the week, he could easily have remembered something wrong, many sound could sound familiar to him.

"The Crime Lord does not accept visitors." She informed, before showing her face.

Looking up and halting at his place, he saw a young woman with a brunette hair and a very unevenly cut end approaching him confidently, head held high and with her arms in front of her chest protectively.

"You are free to leave or just stand here like idiots." She continued, stopping in front of the two men and eyeing them with a pair of emotionless eyes. Keeping a serious straight face, she leaned casually against the wall showing the door to the hallway where they just came from.

Gesturing to the doorway, suggesting that they could show themselves out because they weren't welcomed here. The two boys had their eyes fixed on them with some kind of expression that she wasn't bothered to understand.

"You're choice." She shrugged after waiting for a while for them to move. Pushing herself off the wall, she sauntered away, disappearing back to the place where she emerged from. A look of mild contempt slipped on to her face as she walked past them, the look was directed more to Percy than to Nico.

One look of the girl's eyes, the jigsaw pieces clicked together in his mind. It was the same woman who had ushered him out last time he wanted to pay a visit to Annabeth.

"Hey, look, we're just trying talk and get some information to help for our new film." Percy tried the nice way at her as she was walking away. Swallowing his pride and letting down his guard, brushing away the look she sent him and her demeanor. All of her acts were something he disliked, but from the stories he had heard about prisons, he knew better to go against them.

"Then please do so. No one's stopping you from talking." The girl whose initials were P.M., said, still with the indifferent look and expression.

"I want to meet with Annabeth." He tried, with the same patient tone. Pressing down his irritation and his anger towards this girl, he kept his face friendly looking and negotiable.

"The Crime Lord doesn't meet with strangers." She turned around and smirked at someone that Percy didn't really caught sight of.

"Who do you think you are to reject a person when you're in cell." Nico butted in.

Clearly unsatisfied with the progression of the situation, Nico cut in and glared at the girl, Piper, who was less than intimidated.

"Just get me that 'Crime Lord' of yours or else I will call the guards to do so for you." Nico meant that as a threat, but clearly he was unaware of the status of the person he was talking to and the person he was requesting.

Piper let out a short merciless laugh. "Suit yourself." She spun and spun her heels and walked back, leaving a scornful look in their short memories.

She was halfway back to where she appeared from, a blonde hair woman with a recently lit cigaret in her mouth approached her. Sending her the smallest smile Percy had ever seen, she stopped in front of the blonde. Giving the men at the door a look, the blonde turned back to the brunette. From the way the brunette was acting, it was clear that she was a powerful one, if not the Crime Lord.

"Annabeth Chase." Nico called out and started to stroll towards the two girls who were engaged in a conversation. The brunette scowled at him and turned to face him fully, the kaleidoscope eyes radiated off annoyance and protectiveness. "Care to step out and have a word?"

"Who are you to demand and interrogate?" The brunette, Piper, took a step forward. "When I say you can leave, you leave. There is no alternatives." She growled threateningly.

"Do you think I'd be afraid of you when all the guards are around and watching this episode unfold?" Nico retorted back at her. Now looking past her, landing his eyes on the blonde that wasn't wearing the uniform like everyone else. "You're a fucking coward Chase. A cripple."

Recognizing this man that was full on insulting her immediately, Annabeth raised her eyes to meet his. She wasn't surprised to see the fear coming off him and the look in his eyes when Piper stood up to him. She was amused by the insults of her and also the way he was acting, it made her wanted to burst out laughing. Something else bothered her and prevented her from showing disrespect towards the men completely. Nico was more than uncomfortable standing in this prison cell where her sister died just a few years ago.

Piper was about to step up and give Nico a day of hell, Annabeth put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. She stepped forward herself.

"I'm talking now, what do you want to know? Nico D'Angelo." Annabeth said, blowing the smoke in his face as she took out the cigaret, pointing the burning head at the man, who looked even more scared by her voice and by the mentioning of his name.

"How do you know my name?" He whispered, swallowing or perhaps gulped down a mouthful of gas mixed with second-hand smoke coming from Annabeth.

"Do you still want me to speak?" Annabeth asked, her voice loud enough for Percy to hear, yet low enough to spare the unwanted attention from the other inmates. He winced at the sound of her voice, Nico cringed, taking a step back. "Excuse them." She motioned to Piper in a smaller voice, making her hoarse, rough, scratchy and broken voice sound closer to normal.

Piper executed what she was told to do and went back to Annabeth.

¢.¢

When Piper was a newcomer, it was Annabeth who had chosen her as the 'second in-command', and it was Piper who had chosen to obey the rules set on her. Piper didn't know why, but she was somehow mesmerized by Annabeth's ability to make people see her logic and dropping theirs. She wanted to learn it from her, knowing that she wasn't going to be in jail for long. However, the more time she had spent with Annabeth, and the more she realized that Annabeth was giving her a special treatment, she started to treat the admiral feeling towards Annabeth as a liking.

Despite Annabeth's choice of friends and her choice of taking someone under her wings sounded selfish and biased, it was purely personal. She wanted to rule, but she also didn't want to be the cruel leader, she just wanted the power and the rights that she wasn't able to get before her eighteenth birthday. Piper had been in jail for almost a year and a half, the equivalent amount of time that she had been under the wings of the head. Still, she knew very little about this Annabeth Chase.

"What happened to your voice?" Piper asked once the two gentlemen were gone. Not that she didn't dare to ask questions, she just didn't want Annabeth to remember the painful times.

"McLean," Annabeth sighed and turned to her, taking the cigaret out of her mouth exasperatedly. "After a year of being close with me, you still don't know me do you?" She asked rhetorically, her voice sounded normal only because it's low and soft.

"I've asked you to not use my last name, for personal reasons that I don't like to explain." Piper protested at the use of her last name. She had dignity, and whoever it was that offended her even after her warning was going to get yelled at, even if it was the guard or the warden.

"And I've asked you the same." Annabeth nodded, appearing to be patient but actually trying to contain her fury. "Since your first day here, I thought I've been more than crystal clear to you that you are not allowed to question me. Is the silent treatment not enough to give you the sign?"

"Then will you tell me something if I tell you my only secret in detail?" Piper negotiated, really wanting to know more about her boss, because till now, Annabeth hadn't tell her anything specific.

"A secret for a secret?" Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow; because as far as to her knowledge, Piper only had one thing that was unclear to her and the others were insignificant, however, as to herself, she had more than one big secret to reveal, if she had to spill her gut.

Piper nodded in confirmation, seeing nothing wrong in this deal making. Hopefulness filled her eyes when she saw Annabeth's head dipped down as she pended on the deal.

"What other secrets do you have? Or is it just about your last name." Annabeth asked, having the feeling that the story behind her last name wouldn't be something as big as her own shits to reveal. She didn't want to lose Piper as a friend, but also didn't want her to get too close, keeping her at arm length was what she wanted.

"My last name and my criminal record." Piper announced shortly.

The gears in Annabeth's mind turned, and she was sure Piper could see it, because her eyes turned calculating. With one intention in mind, that was, to get Piper's so-called secret out without spilling out too much to uncover her facade, she coped with the negotiation and thought of a deal. "How about this, listen to my proposal, you like it deal, you don't no deal."

"Deal breaker?"

"Precisely."

"Okay." Piper agreed light heartedly. In Annabeth's opinion, this girl was still too young and too naive, too easy to be played.

"Now listen." She started, her mind forming a list of ideas and placed them in order. "You tell me about your last name and I feed you something about my voice. You tell me your criminal record, in which I'm sure I already know of, you get a chance to ask a question that I will honestly answer, but maybe not fully."

Listening to her own words made her realize that this deal sounded really unfair and especially towards Piper, but the youngster accepted in a heartbeat.

"Deal." She said, extending her hand.

"You're not going to consider it?" Annabeth asked carefully, not wanting to break the deal but also feeling sorry for the young one to be fooled that easily. Piper shook her head confidently. "Eager for information aren't you chick." Annabeth shook Piper's extended hand and gave her a sly look.

¢.¢

Back in the penthouse of the celebrity, a very shaken assistant and manager followed Percy into the living room.

"Why are you so shaken up?" Percy asked for the fifth time since exiting the cell. This time, different from previous times, was out of concern.

A sob escaped the tough looking boy, making his pale skin paler. He shut his eyes tight, squeezing out the last drop of tear.

"Annabeth." Was all Nico could choke out before he went back to hugging himself tight and closing his eyes. He rocked left and right on the living room couch, constantly letting out a short but audible whimper.

Percy at first just stared at his friend, ignoring the name that came out of his mouth; not knowing what to do. He could only look at him with sympathetic eyes and helplessly watch his friend suffer from a voice haunting him even when he was not asleep. When he sat down and tried to focus on his own stuff, the sniffing and barely audible curses coming from Nico made him drop whatever he was doing.

"What had Annabeth done?" He asked, sitting down next to him on the couch. Recalling the encounter with the Crime Lord in the prison cell, Percy remembered clearly that Nico stepped forward to talk with Piper and Annabeth, only because he thought they were rude to him. He remembered Annabeth opening her mouth, stepping forward to talk to Nico, but he didn't remember anything else from her. He didn't remember her voice nor the sentence that came out of her mouth. He could only remember a trembling Nico coming out of the gate and shaking all the way home. He wasn't a bit frightened, because he had gotten a similar treatment from Piper the first time he was there.

"Her voice, it's haunting me." He chocked out between sniffs. Sitting up and staring in to the blankness in front of him, he said, calming down gradually. "I stepped forward and taunted her because I thought she's being a pussy for not showing her face and do us this small favor, instead of asking her minion to fend off visitors. I thought I succeeded when she stepped forward, motioning the other girl to backoff." He paused, taking a deep breath to prepare for what he was about to say next. Percy only sat there and listened, not making any move to interrupt. "She knew my name." He whispered the part.

Shocked, Percy's jaw dropped, but was soon closed. "She's very influential in prison, she has eyes everywhere. Of course she knew your name." Percy tried to justify her actions by making up a reason for it and, tried to make Nico felt less scared.

"No, that's not the point," he argued, "her voice!" He nearly shouted in frustration. "You heard her." He said, sitting up and leaning towards Percy.

Wanting and expecting to see the same shock that might appear on Percy's face when he recalled the voice, Nico examined his face, squinting through the excess water that swelled up earlier in his eyes. But, all he was getting was the confused face from the celebrity.

"No, I don't remember her talking, let alone her voice." Percy said, shrugging, really couldn't think of it.

After a long while of pause, Nico tried to register what was the feeling in him that was haunting him ever since they left the jail.

"Her voice reminded me of the guy that threatened me to frame my sister," he gasped, finally knowing where his fear came from. "The threat wasn't empty, my sister had been framed." Nico continued, more to himself than to Percy, who was still next to him, unknown of what to do and what had happened. "She died in that same damn prison." He finished, taking a shaky breath, getting up and poured himself a shot of vodka and downed in one gulp.

A/N: I'll try to let you know the process of all of my stories from my profile, but school's been so busy ever since it started, so it's kinda hard to even find time for this. I will try my best to keep my profile page the place for the newest updates about me.

Stay tuned, and review if you think it's worth one~