Perseus Jackson

Annabeth Chase, he noted, did not look happy at all to see him.

"Looking for me?" Percy echoed as the Agents hard gray eyes bore into him. She was quite as beautiful as he remembered her to be. Tall for a human woman, with long golden blond hair, and the bearing of an athlete. She still bore the marks of the incident, a broken arm in a cast, and her attractive features marked by a few brides and a healing cut.

Of course, he had been vaguely aware that Annabeth Chase had been trying to track him down. Despite Thalia having warned him of as much, he had simply assumed he would never see her again. Not too far-fetched, right? It was a big galaxy after all and he was bound to be sent to the next battlefront or developing crisis soon.

Now here she was, standing right in front of him. There was nothing remotely friendly about the way she was looking at him. That in itself was a surprise because usually when he saved an attractive young woman, they tended to be happy to see him afterward. Clearly, this wasn't going to be one of those occasions.

Not wishing to prolong this interaction he only nodded at them. "It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance on this day but I fear I have a class to teach," he said nodding at the three he had been obliged to tutor. Though he regularly was assigned to such duties, he knew that today it was meant as the Jedi version of being grounded.

"Okay kids," Percy finally said. "Hit the treadmill for half an hour and return with your training weapons."

They grinned at each other, clearly pleased with the prospect of working with lightsabers, and the trio hurried off.

"So, Agent," Percy asked drily. "What can I do for you?"

The blond crossed her arms. "You have been busy over the past few weeks. Aiding in escape, felony escape. Assault on a law enforcement officer, only to mention a few," she began.

Percy cocked his head. "In my defense, it hurt the Sith a lot more than it did us."

"Did it?" Agent Chase asked coldly. "Not that I am not grateful for your timely intervention, but from what I can tell you screwed over both my investigation and the covert operation by the SIS. Now our friends from the Empire managed to escape with hostages and get to keep both their intelligence and experience gained behind our lines."

It was fairly obvious to Percy that Agent Chase did not much care for his efforts over the past few weeks and months. It was a position, he was forced to admit, much of the Jedi council shared. He himself had to concede, that especially during the final phase of his efforts to track down a traitor had gone so spectacularly off the rails. Percy knew there would still be consequences for that.

"May I make a recommendation?" Thalia cut in sharply. "How about we all agree that no one on our side had any ill intentions and things don't get any messier than they have to?"

For a long Annabeth continued to gaze at him with that cold intensity, then she sighed. "How about we make a deal. I won't arrest you on felony charges, and you tell me everything you know about Senator Dare and his involvement with the Sith Empire?"

Thalia gave him a pointed look, and he was sure that if it weren't so obvious she would have kicked his chin. Clearly, she considered this to be the best deal Percy was going to get. "Not here, not now," Percy finally conceded. When the Agent opened her mouth Percy raised his hands. "Peace Agent. I will tell you all I know, but this is hardly the venue for such conversations and I have obligations right now. "

"If I may," Thalia offered. "The Jedi council meets at Midnight, local time. So I suggest we have this conversation before then, considering that the incident at hand is bound to be a major topic. How about we meet in my quarters at nineteen hundred hours? It will afford us the appropriate privacy, and give all parties involved to prepare for what will undoubtedly be a compelling and enlightening conversation."

Clearly caught wrong-footed, Agent Chase rounded on Thalia in incredulity. "Why would I do that?" she demanded.

"Because," Thalia replied calmly. "It is not a conversation that should be had here. There are also things going things at play behind the scenes that neither of you are aware of and before both of you reach an impasse that can't be walked back on I suggest we do this properly."

Annabeth stared at Thalia, clearly considering the matter. Her initial anger seemed to give way to a more contemplative expression. Finally, she sighed again, appearing to reluctantly agree.

"Fine," Annabeth said with a hint of resignation. "We'll meet at your quarters."

Her hard gaze flickered back to Percy. "I expect you to be there," Agent Chase finally announced, letting an unspoken threat hanging in the air, though what the battered and injured woman intended to do against him was anyone's guess. Try to arrest him? If she tried, she probably could, though only because he was inclined to allow it.

Thalia gave him an emploring look. "I will be there," Percy agreed, making a point to meet both women's eyes.

True to his word, that evening he made his way through the Jedi temple to the living quarters after taking a shower after spending much of the day making himself useful in the training and exercise area, offering himself as a sparing partner and coach wherever he could. It was easy to lose your edge on Coruscant, where the war was half a galaxy away, and life was dictated by the ebb and flow of the never resting Ecumenopolis.

Finally, Percy pressed the buzzer of the living quarters his cousins by now semi-permanent accommodations. Just like he, Thalia and much of her enclave, were stuck on Coruscant. The world had a habit of doing that to you. At first one planned on staying only a few days, a few weeks at most. Then before you knew it months were passing as your drive and dedication were slowly stripped away. It was much of what caused the considerable entropy that so dominated the political landscape on Coruscant, much to the frustration of much of the Galaxy outside of the galactic core.

The door slid open and he was met by Thalia. "Annabeth is already here," Thalia greeted him, Percy noting with some interest that apparently the two women were on a first-name basis.

Like most living spaces dominated by Jedi, it was simple to say the very least with very little in the way of private property. Agent Chase was sitting on the windowsill with a mug of hot Chocolate clutched in her hands. Clearly, she had been discharged officially by Will, for now, she was back in a pants suit, blue blouse, her duty belt with her blaster, and an ablative vest. She looked even more weary than she had previously that day.

Before the door closed Thalia had already pressed a second cup into his hands and closed the door behind him. "Behave, and bring nothing but goodwill into this conversation?"

Percy cocked his head. "I am threatening to arrest the other on felony charges?"

"And I'm not the one committing felonies?" the Agent immediately fired back.

"Shut it, both of you," Thalia snapped back. "Or I'll find out if I can still do that Sith lighting thing. Believe it or not, both of you are on the same side."
Of that, Percy had no doubt. Agent Chase had rather impressed him during her little escapade down below. Though now that he thought of it, she might not be too happy about the picture of the two of them that had gone through the media.

"Shut it," Annabeth and Percy replied simultaneously and Thalia grinned appreciatively. "See, that's better. Now drink, it supposedly isn't possible to fight while drinking this stuff according to this diplomat I babysitted a few months ago."

It occurred to him that perhaps she hadn't taken the picture well that was circulating in the media of them.

Her cold eyes still boring into him, she sipped on her drink and Percy followed the existence. It was sweet and slightly bitter. As he decided he liked it Agent Chase muttered something about the lack of caffeine. Percy promptly decided he liked it more.

"Now, can we all be adults?" Thalia asked with a note of exasperation entering her voice. "Annabeth, you are an Investigator working for the Chancellor. Kelp Head, you are supposed to be a Jedi. Can both of you please act like the public would imagine is too."

"I am here, am I not?" Percy offered helpfully, knowing exactly what buttons to push with his cousin to get her old blood pressure up.

"Very well, to business," Agent Chase finally said and lowered her cup.

"So, Mr. Jackson," she said, turning her attention to him. "Let us start at the beginning. How did Senator Dare pop up on your radar exactly?"

Thalia, not having heard that exact part of the tale herself, also perked up.

"During the aftermath of the Yarvin 4 incident Ethan Namakura, this was before he switched sides, took a more forensic look at what remained of Darth Desolous's private vessel. We mannaged to commission a team of forensic experts from the Fonder Academy of Sciences to comb through her wreckage and analyze her DataCore. There we uncovered Accurate Intel on Republic facilities on Yarvin 4 that we managed to track back to Corellia. During this process, Namakura defected, but through the process of elimination, I mannaged to narrow down the pool of leaks to only a handful of people. At this point, I recruited Assets for human intelligence close to this pool of suspects, and Ms. Naminte put Senator Dare when she mannaged to gain access to his cloud and download it. That was also I learned of Darth Atlas and his operation on Coruscant."

"The fucker sold us out on Yarvin 4," Thalia breathed.

"As far as I can tell, yes," Percy confirmed. "Or at least, he accepted a hefty sum of credits in return for this intel. Though I had to break into his offices on Corellia a few months ago to confirm that last detail, bank accounts are not very easy to gain access to, let me tell you that."

"Ignoring all the crimes you've comitted on the way to this, how did you get into his offices on Corellia?" she asked.

"You are going to love this," Percy promised her, fully aware that Annabeth was as Alderaanian as they came. "I had some help from Senator Organa on that one. He provided me with a cover story, the delivery of a diplomatic package."

Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose. "So basically you have been committing crimes left right and center and made the Senator of Alderaan an accessory to the crime. Though not too surprising, my world has always been very warm and chummy with the order. I am sure helping a Jedi out in a sketchy mission for the greater good was right up his alley."

"I was," Percy agreed with a grin. "He already agreed before I was finished explaining my predicament."

"That does not surprise me at all," Annabeth sighed, clearly resigned with her own elected official.

In an effort to show good faith, he pulled a data crystal from a bunch in his belt and held it out between two fingers. At this point, the data crystal represented the evidence Percy had gathered on Senator Dare's involvement with the Sith Empire and his betrayal of the Jedi Knights on Yarvin 4. Annabeth looked at the crystal for a long moment before accepting it. "I'll need to verify the contents and make sure it's not tampered with or fabricated. But if this checks out, Mr Jackson, you have yourself a deal."

"Perfectly understandable, Ma'am," Percy replied, not offended by her caution. "I expected as much. But rest assured, the data crystal contains everything I've gathered so far. It's the truth."

"Mr Jackson," Annabeth said, meeting his gaze. "Forgive me, but your assurances are worth nothing to me."

It was hard not to take offense to that. "Any other capital offenses you wish to inform me of? Any murders perhaps? Arson?"

Percy didn't answer, figuring this was one of those occasions where there wasn't much he could possibly say to improve the situation. It was obvious, that the Agent, had little interest in baking friends.

"It looks like some folks are not meant to become friends," Thalia muttered drily, looking back and forth between the two of them with her arms crossed.

The Agent gave Thalia a long hard look. "I have not come here to make friends.

That certainly set the tone for the rest of their little get-together. It wasn't much of a conversation, more a grueling session where he was subjected to an impressive display of Annabeth Chase's potency as an interrogator. He doubted that even if he wanted to he could spin up some story, the blond would have pulled it apart at the seams. The most impressive part was, she did all that without even writing down notes, though she did record the conversation. Even Thalia, who lived to see him squirm, was unusually quiet.

He was almost relieved when it became time to report to the rest of the Jedi Council, something he had not been looking forward to in the first place. Half an hour after the meeting began, they were admitted to the chamber after spending the ride up wishing he were somewhere else. The moment he stepped out of the elevator he realized the council wasn't alone. Attending also via hologram was the Chancellor, a man he recognized as the Minister for Defense, another he thought was probably the Minister of Interior though he wasn't sure, and a plain-looking dark-haired man.

"Even with all the bone we've thrown the Media, this will not say contained," the Minister for Interior grunted. She was a Botan woman, tall, and covered and fur like all her people. "I have half a dozen Senators demanding explanations."

"Minster Hudsol," Master Artemis Luna mused from her chair in the circle. "That this entire affair has been a disaster is I believe something we can all agree on at this point. What you have failed to present is a good case of why the Jedi Council should lay claim to it."

"Because, Master Jedi, one of your knights is up to the neck to it," the Minster argued.

Artemis's faceful features curled into an innocent smile. "While clearly overenthusiastic, one lone Jedi caught onto this. Ah speaking of the devil, here they are. Ms Chase? Grace? Jackson?"

Percy only nodded in acknowledgment while Annabeth stepped forward uninvited into the sensor field of the holoprojector.

The Chancellor's face lit up when Annabeth entered the conversation. "Ah, Agent Chase. It is good to once again see you back on the job. It looks like you are really earning your hazard pay this month."

"Pleasure to be back, has my formal report made it up the chain of command yet?" Annabeth asked.

"It has Ms Chase," he agreed. "And it has been analyzed and disseminated. So has that of Mr Jackson. According to the Sakaah here, the prosecutors on digging through everything. With the hornets nest you guys kicked up downstairs there is a lot of data to analyze," he said, nodding at the Minster of the Interior. "This could be the biggest

"So we are going to arrest him?" Annabeth asked. Percy could make out the data crystal in her hand. Truth be told, he had only given them his recollection of the events, Ms Chase held the hard data in her hand. But to his surprise, she slipped the crystal back into her pocket.

"Not quite so fast, Ms Chase. You better than most know how hard it is to arrest a sitting Senator," the Chancellor explained.

"So,.." the Agent continued very calmly, though Percy could sense her growing annoyance. "So, you are telling me we have good evidence that Senator Dare is guilty of high treason, and we can't stop him from taking a Starship of the planet?"

"We aren't quite so inept," the Bothan growled. "We have already contacted the High Council on Corellia and they should be issuing an arrest warrant within the hour. All his assets on Corellia will be frozen, and if he sets foot on the planet he will be arrested."

"But he is still an elected official. If the Senate were in session, he could vote today," Agent Chase argued. "We all know here that he will have assets outside of Corellian control."

"We are aware of that," Jedi Master Botho Casin, an aging gray-haired man announced from his throne cut in.

"I have ordered an emergency Senate meeting for tomorrow at noon, there we can strip him of his titles and privileges. Ms Chase, if you so desire you can arrest him yourself. A warrant should be ready for him by then. Becides, putting this at the top of the conversation might take the heat of the clusterfuck we are trying to dig ourselves out here. This could cause a vote of no confidence, and we really don't need an election right now."

Just then the young, dark-haired man stepped forward, looking pail, even as a hologram. "I fear Ms Chase might be on point than we are," he announced cooly and typed something onto his out-of-view terminal. "Forwarding files to you now."

After a long moment, it was Master Artemis Luna who broke the silence. "I see Senator Dare is trying to acquire a short-term transport off the planet. Mr Di'Angelo. Do we have any possible avenue to impede his efforts? The media will have a field day if he slips away."

"No, Ma'am. None that would stand up to scrutiny in front of a court, and that could seriously impede any future trials for treason. That being said, we do not believe our Government undue interfering with members of the legislative branch is a precedent that we should be setting, especially when we haven't filed formal charges."

The Chancellor turned his attention to the council. "For now, can the Jedi perhaps offer an avenue to covertly hinder any premature departures? If we have SIS do it, they will just be subpoenaed to death by Dare's lawyers-"

The Masters looked back and forth between each other and then finally Artemis sighed. "Very well, it is in the greater interest of the Republic that Senator Dare does not evade prosecution. Perseus?"

It took him an embarrassingly long moment to realize that it was him being addressed. "Go, do what you can to stop the Senator from leaving Coruscant. That being said, avoid collateral damage at all costs. Thalia, go with him. That is unless anyone has a better idea?"

"Very well," the Chancellor said. "Ms Chase, observe but sit back on this. We do not want the administration directly involved in the execution of this. For the time being, your team is currently tied up with helping sift through the vast intel recovered from the Imperial base."

Perseus sighed. Getting back to work was the best he could have hoped for and meant he wouldn't be sidelined until the Council could come up with some sort of elaborate punishment for his private little crusade. With any luck, they would decide he was too much trouble to keep on Coruscant and send him back off to the front line where he would have preferred to be anyway. It was what he had spent his entire life preparing for, and a task he had performed continuously for four long years and on and off before that. The one thing he really did not need in his life though, was Agent Chase watching his every move. His style of working tended to be intuitive, and he did not feel like trying to explain his every move was worth either of their time.

So, here you go. Enjoy. Percy and Annabeth are finally spending their very first quality time together.

HJL over and out.