The story's almost finished, hope you all had a great time reading it.
Enjoy this chapter too.
Annabeth was never good with people, but it wasn't because she didn't try, the external reasons for the phenomena was probably more significant than the internal issues.
It wasn't a secret to anyone in jail that she would take anyone that she fancied under her wings, thus, it was also not a secret that Bianca was someone that caught her eyes, so did Piper.
Of all the female in the prison cell, Annabeth was able to rise to the leading position few days after she got in, and was able to secure the position for the ten years that she'd served in cell. Out of every inmates, Bianca and Piper were the only two that had gotten close to her. This sparked up jealousy among some inmates, but no one dared to put their jealousy into actions.
Bianca was her sour point, a wound in her heart that would never heal fully, because she would always blame herself for her death. No matter how many people came by to tell her that it wasn't her fault, she'd always think that she was able to prevent it. After all, she had seen it coming ever since Bianca arrived, it wasn't long after her arrival that she discovered the danger that the newbie might face. She remembered swearing to herself that she would do everything she could to prevent it from happening, but it still happened.
The incident solidified her heart quite literally. She was still that kind and good-hearted person inside, but her appearance had changed completely. The vibe that she sent off to strangers was cold, distant and estranged, making people wanting to avoid her at all costs. She had been quiet while remaining her powerful position for a long time until Piper came. Between Piper and Bianca, her change had attracted the attention of the guards. Her prideful attitude had been the source of attraction initially when she first got in, but it was this change that had triggered the guards to start pursuing her physically. She would disappear and come back some other day, in a different cloth and looking cleaner, but still acting the same. It could only suggest that she wasn't raped, still, she never enjoyed them either.
"Are you okay?" A voice broke her train of thoughts, or more like her intense reflection to her old life in prison.
"Huh? What?" Her eyes snapped up to the speaker.
"I asked, are you okay?" Percy repeated his concerns, that was when she could finally recognize the speaker and remember where she was. Shaking her head, she silently scolded herself, but gave no response to his question. He took her slight shake of head as a dismissal, so he turned away. "Where are we going?" He asked, an obvious question as they were still walking.
"To meet someone."
"But you haven't tell me the other reason that you kept me in the dark for so long." He reminded.
"Uh… Yes." She remembered herself drifting into her memories of Bianca when she brought it up. The memory was so vivid that she thought she had recalled it to him already. "I am fully aware of that." She muttered, trying to hide away her embarrassment for her little miscalculation of the situation, nothing was going as she planned and she wasn't in her best state of mind either.
"Okay… So, who are we meeting?" He ignored her odd behavior, her odd responses and everything odd about her, trying to focus on the mission that they were on.
"Someone you are very familiar with." Was the only sentence she could say before a hand clasped around her mouth from behind her. Her instincts kicked in, she raised a hand to the hand that was on her mouth and lifted the other elbow ready to attack her attacker's weak spot, but she stopped realizing something. The pause was obviously sensed by the attacker, because the man in mask laughed and unclasped her.
"Castellan." She scolded the man in mask, pinning him on the wall behind him.
"Took you long enough." The guy took off his mask lazily, a victorious smirk casted on his face.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and tightened her hold around his neck, her grasp was near choking, his hand was lifted to grab onto her wrist.
"Percy." He mouthed, the lack of air was already making him hard to breath, let alone make a sound.
"What about him?"
He gaped, but nothing was able to come out, all he could do was to point at the frightened figure behind her with one of his hands.
"Oh." Annabeth understood the message immediately. "Shit." She looked down at her feet and reluctantly, released her grasp around his neck.
Percy looked up when he heard her call. He was expecting to see Luke on the ground catching his breath, but instead, he was nowhere to be seen.
As much of an extraordinary actor as his reputation held him, his fear of her could no longer be masked. His face was pale, there was not even a tint of red on his neck. He looked lifeless. To a point that Annabeth preferred him dead rather than in this state of shock.
"Percy." She called and tried to reach out to him, but he took a step back away from her. The rejection slapped her loud across the cheek. She had never felt so vulnerable in front of a man before. Her reaction towards the rejection was brand new to her and it shocked her just as much as her actions shocked him, but at this moment, she couldn't decide which shock was more influential.
"Do you want to leave?" She asked dejectedly, understanding that he might want to leave her.
To her, what had happened was just a phase of play between her and Luke, it was more than common; they started it since they met in high school, it was sort of a tradition between them. It seemed so monstrous and violent in front of others, and she could understand, because she had once seen it recorded on a surveillance camera. Annabeth and Luke had always took it as a hard-core training that they had to endure in order to be a part of a mob gang that would be taking part in the dangerous, risky black market.
Much to her surprise, Percy shook his head, but his eyes still showed the distrust he started to felt towards her.
"Okay." She whispered, unprepared for the answer. "Do you want to meet Nico?" Under different circumstances, she would've kept her information as vague as possible until her victim was at the destination she assigned, but this man in front of her had changed her bit by bit that she didn't even have the ability to cease the change.
"What?" His shock came out as a question. The mention of the name of his manager, best friend and cousin surprised him not just a little bit, but beyond his imagination. "Say that again?" He must've misheard. Never would he thought of Nico, of all people, involved in a highly illegal organization like this.
"Do you want to meet Nico?" Confidence drained from her question as she repeated it, it was unusual for her, but right now, her mind wasn't on her behavior, but on what had happened that led to his behavior. She was self-reflecting.
"Nico?" He still couldn't believe his ears. His eyes narrowed, and she could feel the uncertainty even with her eyes casted away from him. It hurt to know that he no longer trusted her fully. It made her thought of all the stuff that he had told her, everything that he said to her; telling her that he trusted her with his life. She knew he was doubting it now, yet she was helpless.
Annabeth could only nod, she didn't know if her honest confirmation was easing the situation or making it worse.
"Nico?" He repeated, as if she didn't understand his question correctly.
"Yes, Nico. Nico Di'Angelo." She finally looked back up. Expecting an answer from him, she saw a flash of panic across his eyes as they focused on something behind her.
She turned back, following his gaze, she saw a silhouette approaching them from afar. From just the way the person walks, she was able to make out their identity.
"Stay with Nico." Her command came out strong and powerfully, it was sent all the way to him down the narrow hallway. Her voice was determined and full of authority, it wasn't anything like the tone that she had just used with Percy. "And, Luke, I don't want to see you behind me." She added with a glowering glare. The person didn't even look up before he turned his back and walked in the direction that he came from.
"I'm sorry." She apologized, not knowing for whom or why, but feeling the need as a comfort for him. "Please, just say something, Percy." She whispered helplessly, taking an unconscious step closer to him.
Percy's head was still in the direction of where Luke was, she knew he was worried, especially after the rather violent scene earlier. He was silent this whole time, and it was worrying her more than it was concerning him. She didn't know she could be emotionally involved with a person before, but the way he was behaving — knowing that she was the reason for it – was making her nervous and uncomfortable, and somewhat guilty.
"Let's go then." The quiet decision came out with a sigh from him, she almost didn't catch it. It took a while of staring at her to make her realize that he had said that and she didn't imagine it. Nodding silently, she obeyed his decision and led the way to Nico.
On their way there, she sent out a message in Morse to Luke.
You scared him. Arriving.
She tapped, keeping her hand on the far side of him and the transmitter in her hand sending the signal. Listening intently into her earpiece, staying beside him and hiding what she was doing, she knew they were nearing and only hoped that he had gotten the message before they arrived. For some reason, she thought, letting Percy see her sending out signals would be worrying him more than he already was, so she hid it from him, despite being another stupid decision.
"Here."
They were face-to-face with a metallic door that was a quarter of the size of the door that led to her office. It was a normal sized door but, with all the doors that he'd seen so far, a door this small was considered abnormal in HQ.
Annabeth lifted her thumb and was about to place it on the machine when she dropped it. Raising her other arm, she knocked on the door, it was another Morse, but no one would know apart from Luke.
"Why didn't you just enter?" The door opened, revealing two people in the room. Luke, behind the door asking the question and Nico, sitting in a comfortable chair in the well-lit bright room.
"Does it matter?" She said, but her eyes glared at him, sending a different meaning to what she said.
In truth, she couldn't enter with her fingerprint, because she had recently spilled acid on her thumb, it would take her a while to recover. Not wanting to explain more that would lead to the revelation of her darkest secret and also wanting to make sure the people behind the door were aware of her presence, it was best to just knock. Password was another thing. She'd never preferred it, too lazy to change it every so often and too easy to leave a print, she was always a fan of scanners and machines that would recognize her features.
"Percy!" Nico jumped up to hug his friend like they've missed each other's entire life.
"What are you doing here?" Percy asked, pulling away from the hug. His emotions had been tangled and he didn't know what to feel, so he settled with the question that seemed neutral.
"I got kidnapped." He shrugged as if it were no big deal.
"Have you hypnotized him?" Annabeth walked closer to Luke and leaned into his side, whispering in his ear as her eyebrows scrunched up, still observing the reunion of the two friends.
Luke shook his head, but his eyes never left the two either. "Not yet." He murmured his response, his lips barely moving.
"Good." She grunted.
"Why?" This time, he turned to face her, but she couldn't afford taking her eyes off them.
"I'm doing it this time."
"What?" Luke gave her an incredulous look. They had hired two of the world-class hypnotists, paid them a generously amount, just to avoid Annabeth having to risk herself being exposed to random strangers too much.
Annabeth did nothing in regard to his look, she wasn't going to make a comment to it.
"You can't do that, Annabeth."
"I am fully capable of hypnotizing a single male." She hissed through her gritted teeth, she appeared to be offended by his outbreak, but she didn't want to attract attention from the two that were catching up in their own bubble.
"I'm not questioning your skill, I'm worried about your identity. We spend a third of our revenue on the two hypnotists for a reason, Annabeth." He kept his voice low, but the accusing tone that was laced in her name had caught Percy's ears to perk up.
"I'm not fucking stupid." She glared at him fiercely. Percy flinched under her glare, it wasn't even directed at him, but the look in her eyes told him that she was thoroughly offended. His conversation stopped with Nico, and Annabeth just noticed it when she noticed his movement behind Luke. Her eyes moved away from Luke and fixed on Percy's, locking with his. A look that she couldn't decipher held in his eyes, they soon turned into hate and fury when Luke turned to face him.
"Can someone tell me why I'm here?" Nico declared from the side, dissolving the tension instantly. All three eyes casted on him.
Luke and Percy quickly looked at Annabeth who had seen the gesture coming.
"Take a seat Nico." She instructed politely, motioning the chair that he was on when she stepped in.
Nico snarled at her but obeyed. She leaned against the desk that Luke was occupying earlier.
"Tell me, why do you hate me so much?" She asked nicely, ignoring the confused look on Percy's face and the eye roll from Luke.
Nico glanced at the two males and then back at Annabeth, his lips sealed tight.
"Okay. Fine. You can tell me later." She shrugged nonchalantly, still the same patient attitude. "This is not an inquiry session, just so you know, Nico." She informed. "I just want you to explain to your friend here," she gestured to Percy, "why did you go to the police and dug up my parents' suicide case?"
An audible gasp was heard from Percy's direction and a raised eyebrow from Luke, but she paid attention to neither, she kept her eyes fixed on him, Nico.
"You did that?" Percy whispered in disbelieve.
"Is this some kind of set up that you've planned to completely have Percy on your own?" Nico narrowed his eyes at Annabeth, an accusing tone clearly contained in his expression and in his words.
"You tell me." Luke came into her defense, stepping in to the conversation, not liking someone doubting her actions.
"I'm not asking you, Mr Castellan." He held his head high, not even sparing a glance at Luke. "I'm asking you, Miss Chase." He fixed his eyes on her, narrowing it on her gray orbs that were turning darker and cooler.
Annabeth rolled her eyes, not finding the need to reply to Nico's inquiry. It wasn't a question to her, at least, she wouldn't take it as one.
"Answer me." He demanded. Luke furrowed his eyebrows, glaring at the speaker, but Annabeth stopped him before he could intervene.
"Luke." She warned, giving him a look at the same time; he retreated. "Nico, tell me about the version that you know about your sister's death." Annabeth remained calm and apathetic, her tone sounded indifferent yet she was actually very interested in what he was going to say.
Percy's breath hitched, anything related to his deceased sister had always been a sore spot for Nico. He looked at the pale boy and then glanced back at Annabeth's impassive face. Then, his eyes landed briefly on Luke, but got no reaction from him, so his eyes returned to his friend in the end.
"Annabeth, why are you doing this?" He asked, trying to help Nico out of his misery.
"To make me suffer, because she hates me just as much as I hate her!" Nico spat. Percy wasn't the only one taken aback by the outburst, so did Annabeth and Luke, though the latter didn't plaster any emotion on their void face.
"Now that's all I need." Annabeth suppressed a smirk that was surfacing. "You're declaration of your hatred towards me." She elaborated for Percy to understand what she was talking about. "As a matter of fact, Nico, I don't hate you."
"Then why are you making me remember everything?" He glared at her through silent tears that were threatening to pour out.
Annabeth only smiled.
"Say it, Chase." He demanded, shooting up from his seat and stomped towards Annabeth, he would've just threw a punch at her face if it wasn't for Luke's quick decision to pin him back down.
"Good reflex, Castellan." Annabeth mused, complimenting in the most ironic way possible. Luke rolled his eyes, not taking the offense. "Just thought you should know, Nico, your doing is endangering your dear friend over there." She referred back to his question, pointing at Percy when she said 'dear friend', indicating his identity to him.
"What?" Nico's dumbfounded face was nearly laughable, and she would laugh if it wasn't for the presence of her boyfriend. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Luke trying to keep a straight face.
"Athena and Fredrick's mysterious case can be easily solved, but I'm not going to tell you how. You dug it up because you thought you can pin me back in jail again with my parents' sins in relation to that last case. I must say, I'm impressed that you can make the connections, because you've almost put me back." She pushed herself off the counter that she was leaning on, folding her arms in front of her chest, she neared him and started to pace in front of him as she continued to connect the dots for him. "You're smart enough to know that their case will be associated with many others, why didn't you think that it will be associated with Triton's? Or have you simply ignored it because it's too insignificant?" This time, Annabeth allowed that evil smirk to surface, she directed at Nico.
"Maniacs." Nico muttered under his breath when he saw the smirk from her and the smile from Luke.
"Say what?" Luke stepped forward in a menacing tone.
"Luke, let it go." Annabeth chastised him gently, the power so obvious in it. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she pushed him away slowly. "Do you not believe a word I've said?" She asked, feigned surprise.
"How can they be fucking related?" He raised his arms, his face told her that what she suggested was outrageous.
"How? I'll tell you how." She kept her tone intact and calm. She was progressing in a painfully slow speed, it was almost torturing. Her every move and her every speech just seemed to slow the time down. "Here's how?" She started, leaning down to look at him in the eyes. "My parents' killed Triton and had pinned it on Percy," she whispered in his face, "with the same intention, they committed suicide." Then she straightened her back, her eyes still not leaving his skull, waiting for him to look up and to see his reaction. When he finally did, she said in a slightly louder voice. "It's all on Percy." She concluded in a dangerously deep tone, additional effect added with her rough, croaky and hoarse voice. He shivered, the sensation that he was getting from hearing her voice and looking into her eyes wasn't at all pleasant, it was a feeling that he prayed he would never have to deal with again in his life.
"You killed my sister." He stood up from his spot, standing face-to-face with her, bellowing in her face, his saliva splashing on her dampening her cheeks. She stood her ground and made no attempt to step back.
"If that's what you think, then it's what you'll believe."
She shrugged and made her point. There were no emotions on her face and no emotion in her words.
"Did you really do that? Annabeth." Percy's question came from the side, ringing in her brain sounding distanced. For a moment, she thought the voice was just the representation of the other part of her, but the look that he was giving her made her look away from Nico.
"No." She answered, mustering up all her confidence. If she didn't reply in that instant, she might just give out and started to blame herself all over again, then Nico would get ahold of her. "No, I did not."
"You promised me that you'd keep her safe." Nico's fist clenched tighter at his sides, Annabeth was well aware of the action and she knew he may strike at any moment, so she took a step back, keeping a safe distance between them.
"I still remember my vow. I don't deny the fact." She stated calmly.
"I was told not to believe any words said before a 'but'."
"There's no 'but'." She would've made a cruel joke out of that sentence, but the condition just didn't seem right, so she bit back that thought and sticked to the serious factors. "I did make a promise and I did intend to keep it, it's not my fault that I'm not the master of the universe. I don't control everyone, Nico."
"You might as well do." He muttered. "You took her from me."
"I'm sorry." She apologized, trying to sound as sincere as possible, though she didn't know what it was like to feel genuine, because she wasn't feeling anything.
"No, you're not." Nico spat, walking up to her, stepping closer. Sensing something that would be coming out of his mouth in any second, she looked down, trying to think of an escape plan.
"Can you two please give us a moment?" She motioned to Percy and Luke who were staring at her in wide eyes. The request itself wasn't weird, but the way it came out and the circumstances that it came out under was making it appear to be stranger. The two guys walked out of the door and closed it behind.
"You're a psychopath!" He pointed a finger at her the moment the door made a click sound. "I should've said it earlier so your little minion and your boyfriend can also hear it, at least they deserve to know how you manipulated them into your palms, how you've wrapped them around your fingers and how good of an actress you are. You know what?" He paused, catching his breath. "You deserve an Oscar better than anyone in Hollywood. You're by far the best actor I've ever met. That's why I won't blame myself when I trusted my sister's life with you."
He panted after all the yelling, feeling the adrenaline rush.
"I wouldn't call myself a psychopath." She said calmly once he was done shouting. Leaning back on to the counter that she was on earlier, she kept her eyes fixed on him, eyeing his every move with an amused expression. "Although commonly speaking, I am, but professionally, I'm an antisocial personality disorder patient."
"So you knew it." His utter surprise made her want to laugh, and she did, since there was nothing to hide.
"All the time. I discovered it myself from a brain scan, how ironic." She explained, shrugging while she felt panic and fear starting to take over Nico's angry self. "Not everyone with ASPD is a violent villain, Nico." As much as she enjoyed seeing his emotions went in a roller-coaster form, she wanted to get rid of him fast at the same time.
"But you certainly are." His voice was shaking with fear as he tried to use venom to cover it up. It wasn't working.
"Maybe." She shrugged, "and I'm a lot more, but, you'll never know." She smiled meaningfully and wickedly at him.
The next thing he knew was the dynamic change of the room.
Then… He felt sleepy and relaxed...
¢.¢
"So, what do you say, Jackson?" Once Annabeth got rid of Nico with a wiped out memory, she reached to the place that Luke had told her they were in immediately. Of course, after making sure that Nico was escorted out with security safely. "Fight or flight?" She could hear his taunting voice even from her earpiece. Rolling her eyes, she placed her hand on the machine and wait for it to recognize her fingerprint. The door unlocked with a disappearing light, she pushed it open soundlessly, making sure that no one noticed her. For some reason, she wanted to eavesdrop.
"I don't know." He sighed. He picked up the glass that contained what looked to her like whiskey and downed it in one gulp. He must've been really shaken up today, she thought to herself. The thought wasn't as satisfying as she thought it would be.
Maybe, just maybe, she had found a cure for her disease.
"Why don't you let her help you decide?" Luke stared at Annabeth, getting her attention. Percy's back was still faced towards the door, whereas Luke was facing it. She saw him looking past Percy to look at the door, or more precisely, at her.
"Decide what?" She asked the two as Percy turned around in his chair to face her. He looked exhausted and just about to faint if he could just lay down with a pillow under his head.
"Fight or flight." He repeated what Luke had just said.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" For the first time, she feared that she was right. The question came out of her tentatively, her eyes darting from one to another. "What are you two talking about when I'm gone?" She asked, the more time they stalled, the more nervous she would get. The door knob was slipping due to the sweat coming from her palm.
Percy glanced at Luke and then in the general direction of the exit, Luke took the hint as his cue to leave, so he stood up, excusing himself out of courtesy, in spite the fact that no one really cared.
"Do you have faith in me?" Percy asked her once Luke was out of the door with it closed behind him.
She nodded, taking a seat on the chair across him, the place that Luke occupied moments ago.
"Do you have faith in us?"
She repeated the same gesture.
"Are you willing to give me time for you to regain my trust fully?"
Annabeth froze on her spot, it was something that she had dreaded, him not trusting her.
"Annabeth, I want to say that I still trust you, and part of me still do, but you've really scared me through the course of the recent couple of days." He sighed, playing with the empty glass in his hand in front of him.
She stared at him in horror, she knew the answer would be a no, she knew herself well. That was why she didn't want to hurt him intentionally.
"I'm going to be completely honest with you here, Annabeth." He continued. "I will be haunted by your actions."
"Percy," she stopped him from continuing, she couldn't bear it anymore. There she thought she had finally found a cure for her illness, and now she didn't know whether she should be selfish or self-less. "You're looking at me differently now are you? I haven't even tell you the darkest parts of me and you're already not looking at me the same." She whispered, not knowing where all the emotions came from. "But," she looked away, unable to bear the hurt that was showing in his eyes. She wasn't able to finish her sentence.
"Don't, please don't think like that. Stop putting words in my mouth, Annabeth, please, I'm begging you." He pleaded with a desperate voice. "I didn't see you any differently than I've always had."
"I'm a psychopath, Percy." She blurted out, surprising herself with the confession.
Percy was silenced. She thought this might be the end of their relationship, so if she had already told him one, she might as well just tell him everything, because he might be the only person that stood a chance in saving her. It was rare for an ASPD patient to find a suitable therapist, it was even rarer for someone like her to think that they were saved.
"But you told me you weren't." He cocked his head, his eyes clouded with confusion.
"Yes, I told you I'm not a sociopath." This stirred up more confusion in him than the previous declaration.
"You said you've got no personality disorder whatsoever."
"Correct, and that was an impulsive lie. I apologize for it." She bowed her head. "As a psychopath, I've become familiar with masking my identity." She explained, her eyes never leaving his face, watching his reactions closely. When she got no big reactions from him, she continued. "Percy, sociopaths and psychopaths are two very different concepts. They might appear to be similar in multiple ways and to outsiders, but they are in fact, quite different." She said.
"How?" He asked, taking a deep breath and composing himself, awaiting for her answer to his question. He had already made up his mind, and there was very little choices for him to choose from. There she thought she was done explaining and could avoid telling him everything altogether, but his question forced her to go into the medical and scientific explanations that she had been studying and researching all life long.
"First off, they have very different behaviors. Generally, psychopaths are portrayed as villains in movies and shows because they appear to be calmer when they see violence and blood. Their brain structures are different from those that are considered normal, hence their behavioral differences." She watched his eyes go wide at the input of knowledge that he had never heard of. "Not every psychopaths are dangerous, Percy." She concluded, feeling like it was enough for him to understand and not be scared of her. The scientific explanation may be better than describing their actions.
When she quieted down, the room was filled with silence. Percy stared at her with an emotion that she couldn't understand and couldn't decipher. She stared back at him, waiting for his response. She didn't know what to do or what to think, she couldn't even hold his eyes for long.
"I've figured as much." His comment came out of the blue, Annabeth had almost blurted out all of her other secrets, but this confession from him made her chicken out.
She could only gape at him and his emotionless face.
"You knew?"
"I didn't."
Annabeth looked down. She had, after all, failed to mask her natural disposition due to the illness.
"There's more you need to know about me, Percy." She said before she could stop herself.
He looked up. "I'd rather not hear it." The hurt in Annabeth's expression had stung more than a slap across his face, he knew the sentence had came out wrong. "I didn't mean it like that." He tried to justify it frantically. "I just thought," he continued to try to explain, "if it's not something that will bother me, then I don't find it necessary to be informed. I know you don't want to tell me."
"But I do. I do want you to know, I'm just afraid of your reaction."
"My rejection."
"Yes, your rejection." She muttered, correcting herself after him.
"You have already prepared for the worst, Annabeth, and what could be worse than being an ASPD patient? I've accepted you for you, and I will accept whoever you are, because that's you."
"No, Percy, you won't accept me as a masochist." She stopped him immediately as the promising sentence came out of his mouth. She hated to disappoint him, but it was for his own good.
"You're a what?" He choked, it was something that she had somewhat expected to see; it didn't make her feel any better.
"I get off on inflicting pain on myself, not sexually of course. That's why I do experiments on myself." She opened up, and while she was at it, she thought she should just spill the beans. "I also like to see other people getting tortured and suffering in every way possible, but I'm not a sadist, I don't do that to people, I only like to see when others do it to them."
"I get the last part."
"How can you possibly understand…?" She stuttered.
"One of the ASPD symptoms." He stated as a matter of fact. "I do know a little, very little, bit about the illness that you have." He explained. "As to your former predilection, I'll see what we can do with it as time goes on."
Annabeth commented lightly when she realized that Percy had came to an understanding of the situation, at least he was starting to accept reality.
"Takes one to know one, right?"