Percy brought up the idea of not mentioning it to Foggy at all. Sally shot it down. They'd started talking about living together and getting married, and she wanted her cards on the table. Percy got that.
Watching Foggy pace back and forth, raising and dropping his hands as he struggled with the information, still made Percy incredibly anxious.
"Okay," Foggy said at last, turning toward them. He stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back on the wall, looking frustrated and annoyed. Percy's stomach twisted. "Let's take a look. Was there any other way you could have handled this? You didn't need him anymore, you wanted him gone. What else could you have done?"
"Oh, don't be facetious, Foggy," Sally sighed, tucking some hair behind her ear. "I know I could have divorced him and moved away. I had photos, I could have charged him with abuse. I likely would have even gotten a settlement out of it."
"Why didn't you?" Foggy asked. His tone was pressing, but not loud or harsh despite his strained expression. "You're not a violent person, Sally. I know you aren't."
"No," Sally agreed. She tucked her hair back again. "To be honest, I... think the strain began to addle my sense by the time it was all over. You don't know what it's like. To constantly give in to him because anything less would cost me my son – I let him do awful things to me. I let him do awful things to Percy."
"Hey." Foggy sat down beside her and took her hands, gentle enough to almost, almost make Percy relax again. "I know. I know. I get that. You had to leave him. But why like this? Why kill him?"
"I needed him to be gone," Sally confessed, leaning into him. That was reassuring too. "You know how long divorces can take – they can drag on for years. But Percy was an active demigod now, and I had to be able to devote my attention to him. He needed to focus on camp. Gabriel- Gabriel needed to disappear and never come back."
"So you killed him."
"I don't regret it," Sally said without hesitation. "I let him hurt Percy for eight years. There were bruises, there were tears. Percy was picking fights and acting out because he was too young to understand what he was going through. I'll never forgive Gabriel for what he did to my baby."
Oddly, the tirade made Percy feel a little dizzy. He turned his body away and stared determinedly at the floor, halfway to tuning it out.
Foggy sighed, scrubbing his face with both hands. "I can't even begin to imagine," he admitted. "It shouldn't have come to that. Both of you deserve better."
That made both Jacksons soften up, settling down.
"I don't like this," he added. "I don't agree with it."
"I didn't think you would," Sally agreed. Foggy huffed again and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Fine," he said. "What did you use?"
Sally scrutinized him for a moment, then said, "Medusa's severed head."
Foggy spluttered, which was enough to make Percy smile. "Wh- where did you get Medusa's severed head?"
Sally glanced at Percy, and Percy shrugged, smiling sheepishly and slowly relaxing as the tension faded. "It was kind of Dad's idea," he said. "I ran into Medusa on my first quest. I sent the head to Olympus because I was annoyed about the whole getting-blamed-for-stealing-the-bolt thing, and Dad sent it back when I came home."
"You killed Medusa when you were twelve?"
"As monster fights go, it wasn't that bad," Percy said. "It was just tricky to walk up to her with my back turned. Like playing with inverted controls."
Foggy stared at him. "You do realize you could be hogtied and still beat me up, right?"
Maybe it was inappropriate, but Percy laughed at that. Foggy grinned briefly back, then shook himself, rolled his shoulders, and straightened up.
"Okay, okay... what did you do with the head?" he asked Sally. The return to topic sobered everyone up.
"I took it out to the ocean," Sally said. "Hopefully, either it got swept out or Poseidon took care of it. Either way, I don't think it'll be a problem anymore."
"Does anyone..." Foggy took a deep breath and rubbed his knuckles into his forehead. "Suspect anything?"
Sally understood faster than Percy did, and her voice softened with gratitude. "Eddie might – our old building supervisor. He knew what Gabriel was doing, and he never did approve of it. I don't think he'll say anything."
Percy snorted without meaning to. "He had a weak stomach," he said, voice dripping with uncharacteristic scorn. "He doesn't get brownie points for that."
Sally glanced at him with a look that was first startled, than sad. "He saw?"
"They all saw," Percy said. "Eddie was just the only one that didn't like it."
"Okay, that's haunting," Foggy announced, and then, "Self-defense is out, if there wasn't immediate and serious danger. But I think there's a good argument for diminished responsibility, temporary insanity. We'd want some character witnesses, testimony concerning your relationship with your son, any evidence you still have of the abuse."
"I still have everything," Sally said, pushing her hands into her lap. She wouldn't meet Foggy's eyes. "The photos, a journal I kept to document everything, a few recordings I made of his tirades. What... what are you going to do?"
Foggy blinked at her, then sat up. "Nothing," he said. "I mean, seriously, nothing. I don't like this, but I'll support you, period, end of story, and I'm not gonna leave you high and dry if something happens. Don't worry about that."
Sally kissed him, which Foggy seemed to consider appropriate payment for his declaration of loyalty.
Matt had a lot of good ideas about the defense of New York. He didn't have Percy's easy recall of the tunnels and bridges that led into Manhattan, but he was perfectly content to take Percy at his word and help him draw up plans, just in case.
"It depends on what you're worried might happen," Matt reasoned. "If you're worried about another threat drawing the Avengers away from New York, then Stark and Barton will probably be with them. On the other hand, if you're worried about magical interference, maybe they'll stay."
Percy tapped the desk for a moment and scowled, thinking hard. "Plan for the worst," he decided, and moved around a couple of push pins. "Do you think you could stand with the Ares cabin and listen for groups that need backup?"
"I have a phone," Matt said. "Maybe we can get the Ares counselor one as well, and we won't have to concentrate our heavy hitters in one area. They'll know their cabinmates better anyway."
"Clarisse?" Percy considered that, then nodded. "That could work. Clarisse is a pretty good strategist. I mean, she'd rather be in the action, but she'll do what needs to be done."
"Matt, I thought you were helping Percy with his English homework?"
Foggy appeared in the doorway of Matt's office, frowning at them, and Percy winced, instinctively half-covering the map so Foggy couldn't see it. Matt, on the other hand, seemed only vaguely perturbed.
"We started with that," Matt said. "But Percy was having trouble concentrating. He's been having dreams about the demigods defending Manhattan by themselves, and he's having trouble telling if they're prophetic or nightmares. It's making him nervous."
"And the map?" Foggy sauntered over and leaned down to look, grimacing at the push pins. Percy crossed his arms defensively.
"Contingency plan," Matt answered, though he was starting to shift nervously too. "I thought that deciding what to do in a worst case scenario would reassure him."
"Matt, buddy, there is no way to make a fifteen year old leading the defense of a city into something remotely okay," Foggy said. Then, to Percy, he added, "I think your plan should be 'hide and scream until the Avengers get there.'"
Percy managed a weak laugh and ran his fingers through his hair, unable to look away from the map. "I know it's not what's supposed to happen," he said. "I'm worried about it, that's all."
"Percy, you are experiencing what we old folks call anxiety," Foggy said, earning a more genuine laugh this time. "You don't need to sit here and rake your brain over coals trying to fix problems before they show up. You need a distraction."
"I can't concentrate," Percy admitted. "Homework isn't cutting it, video games aren't working out for me. Movies take too much attention, Youtube doesn't take enough. I just keep going back to worrying."
"I would too, in your place," Foggy said, sitting down beside him. "Sally and Karen should be back with food pretty soon. Why don't you talk to them and see if you can figure something out for this weekend?" Matt and Foggy were finally starting to get regular business, so they couldn't leave in the middle of the day like they used to.
Percy frowned. "Like a trip?"
"Yeah," Foggy said. "I don't know if we can splurge right now, but I bet Sally would be up for something small. A trip to that aquarium you liked, or maybe a beach trip."
Percy's mind went straight to Montauk. It wasn't quite the sanctuary it had been in his childhood, since the rest of Percy's life was no longer a hell he needed refuge from, but it was still his favorite place in the world. "Yeah, okay."
Sally and Karen arrived back soon after Percy finished putting the map away. Percy held his hands out for food and also accepted a napkin when Sally pushed it at him.
"Hey, Mom?" he said, digging into his fried rice with a plastic fork. "Do you think we can go to the beach this weekend?"
Sally started, turning her head to look at him even as she sat by Foggy's desk. "Montauk? Did something happen?"
Percy's cheeks heated, and he scuffed the floor and took a bite to buy himself some time. "It doesn't have to be Montauk," he mumbled. "But, um, I thought it would be nice."
"Montauk?" Karen asked, sitting at her desk to open her food.
"Where I met Percy's father," Sally said, a faint smile curving her mouth. "We usually go once a year, right at the beginning of summer. It's very special to both of us."
"That's so sweet," Karen said.
"He's stressing about his birthday again," Foggy explained to Sally. "I found him and Matt making battle plans earlier."
Sally's gaze immediately returned to Percy. "Sweetie..."
Percy shrugged, not meeting her eyes. "Tony mentioned making plans in case some of the Avengers aren't available when everything happens," he said. "And, um, he was talking to Rhodey, but it got me thinking about it, is all."
"Of course you're worried," Sally soothed. "I think it would be lovely to pay Montauk a visit this weekend. A perfect chance for you to relax for a while. The only question is..." She trailed off, but her head twitched toward Foggy, revealing her worry.
Percy hesitated, understanding immediately that she was giving him the choice – if not for every visit, then at least this one.
When he was young, Montauk's magic had come from the fact that it was the only place where he was with his mother, but away from Gabe. As far as Percy was concerned, that made it the best place in the world. The saltwater, sand, and campfire was a bonus, not the star. It was the golden rule of Montauk: Smelly Gabe was not allowed to come with them.
The question, then, was if Foggy would be allowed there. Did Percy want to invite him, or was Montauk too sacred? Percy tried to fit him into their normal routine. Foggy cleaned up after himself, and he liked microwave popcorn, and he was okay to watch movies with. Sally sat on the beach and watched Percy play in the water about half the time anyway. Everyone liked s'mores. That left...
"Mom tells me about my dad when we're there," Percy said to Foggy. "Would you be cool about that?"
Foggy blinked, looking genuinely surprised. "Sure, of course. He's your dad, I'm sure he's still very important to both of you."
Karen and Matt exchanged a fond, faintly exasperated look, which was a neat trick considering Matt's blindness. Percy smiled at Foggy.
"Would you want to come with us?" he asked.
Foggy started, then lit up in a way that indicated he definitely knew how special that was. "Sure! I mean, absolutely, if neither of you minds. I'd be honored."
