Percy tripped over his feet when he saw the man sitting by the creek and Cody reached out to steady him, frowning in confusion.

"Dad?" Percy blurted out, eyes wide. Though he had to be too far away to hear him, Poseidon glanced up and smiled at him, lifting one hand in a light wave.

"Huh?" Cody frowned. "It's a weekday. No visitors."

Percy didn't answer, speeding up to beeline for his father. Cody didn't follow, heading for the staff building instead, and Percy forgot about him as soon as he was out of sight. Percy stumbled to a halt and just stared, realizing he had no idea how to react to his father showing up here, and after a minute, Poseidon's smile shifted into something sheepish and equally awkward. He gestured for Percy to sit beside him, and Percy did without looking away.

"I heard your prayer," Poseidon said. Percy flushed, but Poseidon smiled at him. "It was nice to hear from one of my children in such a way. I think I'd very much like to hear from you more often."

Percy blinked a couple of times, dumbfounded, and then beamed, smiling so wide that his cheeks ached. He had to stifle the urge to hug his dad. "I will! Promise."

An awkward silence settled between them, but Percy couldn't stop himself from fidgeting happily, light as air. Finally, Poseidon cleared his throat.

"Madness has been the downfall of many a Greek hero, you know," he said, not looking directly at Percy. Percy's fidgeting became less happy. "In the old days, there was nothing to be done about it. Nearly any hero that did not fall in battle would perish at the hands of their inner demons. I had no idea that mortals had made such advances until I spoke to Apollo this morning."

"I didn't think about it like that." It was oddly comforting to think that Percy was far from the first Greek hero to struggle like this. "So you really didn't know?"

The question slipped out before he could stop it, and he avoided looking at Poseidon.

Poseidon sighed, and when he answered, he somehow sounded sorrowful without seeming disappointed. "You truly do believe I would have let it pass without remark."

Percy shrugged. "I didn't mind. You're a god. I figured you had more important things to worry about."

The white lie tasted bad in his mouth, because he always minded, but he was also a realist. Most of the campers had still never spoken to their divine parents; it was absurd to imagine that Poseidon would care that Percy hated himself.

"I understand why you thought so," Poseidon admitted, surprising Percy. His eyes were fixed on the distance, avoiding direct eye contact. "My family tends to be... to say the least, careless with their children. Hades and I are rather unique in our attachment." He placed a hand on Percy's head, ruffling his hair gently, and when Percy turned to give him a surprised look, Poseidon replied with a small, warm smile. "There is little I can do for you under the ancient laws. But I can make sure you know I love you."

Percy preened, all but glowing under the open affection. "Thanks," he said sincerely.

"I wanted to make sure you knew your prayers were welcome," Poseidon added. "Though I did have some questions as well."

Percy faltered and tried to remember exactly what he'd said. "Um, okay?"

"That man you mentioned," Poseidon said, and though he still appeared calm, the creek started to churn. "Who was he?"

Percy flinched, his breath catching at that question coming from his father's mouth.

"Uh," he said, almost meekly. "Mom- had to marry a really awful guy to keep me safe when I was younger. He covered up my scent, so she kept him around, but he was, uh, violent." He cleared his throat. Poseidon's expression was still eerily calm. "He's dead now. Mom killed him after I went to camp."

Poseidon smiled. "There are many reasons I loved your mother," he said wistfully, and then, "It should please you to know that all such… creatures serve eternity as servants of the Underworld. Cleaning the Fields of Punishment, building roads, that sort of thing. Personally overseen by the Furies. Primarily Megaera, I believe. My brother has little pity for those sorts."

Oh, Gabe was going to hate that.

Percy found himself smiling. He'd been hoping for something more violent, expecting it, but… "Yeah, I like that. Thanks." He hesitated, and then said, "Hey, can I ask you a question?" Poseidon nodded. "Does it bother you that Zeus keeps using me against you?"

Poseidon's expression darkened, and Percy twitched despite himself, though the rush of adrenaline he'd normally expect didn't come.

"Yes," Poseidon said, and before Percy could worry, continued, "It's a most unpleasant habit of my brother's, to use my children against me. He does it to Hades as well." A grim shadow cast over his eyes, and Percy found it comforting. "The prophecy gives these arguments unusual gravitas, it is true, but to be frank, I've still heard each of his complaints a thousand times for a hundred children." He shook his head, then reached over and ruffled Percy's hair again. "Don't let it bother you. He knows I would not tolerate his acting on those threats, and I've been putting up with his antics for longer than Chiron has been teaching heroes."

Percy relaxed, fear he hadn't realized was there unweaving from his spine. It occurred to him that this was hands-down the best conversation with his father that he'd ever had, maybe even including the one after defeating Kronos.

On impulse, he gave in and hugged Poseidon, swift and fleeting, and Poseidon let out a startled laugh and accepted it, letting Percy hug his father for the second time in his life.

"Wait, Cassia-!"

Raine's anxious voice made Percy look up in surprise, and he and Poseidon were apart as soon as they'd come together, both blinking at the two women walking briskly toward them.

"Excuse me, sir," Cassia said politely, a friendly smile on her face despite the uncharacteristic no-nonsense set of her shoulders. "I appreciate you taking an interest in your son's wellbeing, but today is a non-visiting day, and we'd like for him to be able to focus on his mental health."

Raine stopped just a few feet away, wavering more nervously than Percy had seen from her, with apprehensive eyes fixed on Poseidon. Fair enough, he figured.

Poseidon chuckled. "Not to worry," he said breezily, standing up to brush himself off. "I was just on my way out." He glanced down at Percy, softening when their eyes met. "Take care, son. And remember, I will always listen."

Percy beamed, nodding hard even as Poseidon turned to walk away, heading out into the forest instead of towards the main exit. Cassia was giving his back a puzzled frown, and then glanced down at Percy with concern.

"He wasn't bothering you, was he?" she asked. "I haven't seen you with him before."

The protective edge to her voice surprised Percy, and he softened a little even as he answered. "No. I don't get to see him often, so it was really nice." He glanced at Raine and added, "It's okay. I told you, Dad's pretty chill. He won't be mad at Cassia or anything."

Raine gave him a grateful smile and nodded, then closed her eyes, taking a few moments to calm herself. Percy could relate. When she opened her eyes, she looked herself again. "Did the conversation go well?"

"It went great!" Percy said, then flushed, immediately embarrassed by his own enthusiasm. "Um, we were talking about family again today, right? I can tell you about it then."

Raine gave him a warm smile. "Perfect."

"He wanted to make sure I knew he'd heard me," Percy explained to Raine, bouncing his knee with the opposite foot up on the seat with him. He was still smiling. "Um, I finally bit the bullet and prayed to him last night, even though I wasn't sure what to say. Guess I'll be making a habit of it after all."

"I'm glad it went well for you," Raine said warmly. "Did you work through anything while he was here, or were you just happy to see him?"

"A couple of things," Percy said. "He kinda told me some of the same things Mom did, actually – that he was glad I was getting help, and that he loves me and stuff. And we talked about Zeus." He scratched the back of his head, smile softening. "He said that Zeus has always used his kids against him, since he loves them so much, and told me not to worry about it. I... guess it never occurred to me that if it wasn't about me, then it might not be a new thing." He glanced at Raine and added, "Dad talked about it like anyone would about an annoying little brother. It was kinda funny."

"How do you feel about your relationship after seeing him?" Raine asked. "I can see it's put you in a good mood, but did it change the way you think about it?"

Percy considered, smile fading as some of his delight slid away into concentration. "Yeah, definitely. Um... I feel more secure, I guess. It's more real now. Dad's always been a really distant figure in my life, even after I knew who he was, and I kinda assumed I was just as distant to him." He smiled a little. "But now I think he's maybe watching more closely than I realized." Raine's eyes were almost burning with curiosity. "What's up?"

Raine surrendered an embarrassed smile. "I was wondering how it felt to know your father lives on such an immense scale," she admitted. "He's not just powerful, but ancient. At the same time, when I saw you together, you looked almost exactly like him."

It took Percy a minute to piece together what she was trying to say, but then he nodded slowly, actually sitting back to think about it.

"All I wanted when I was a kid was for my dad to come home and take care of me and Mom," he said after a while, glancing down to fidget with the hem of his shirt. Heat rose to his cheeks, but he pushed through. "Mom told me that he was rich and powerful, so he always seemed larger than life in my head, but he was still my dad, you know? And I wanted him to notice me, like, you know, like any other kid whose dad isn't around." He shrugged, embarrassed. "And that's kind of still how I feel. I know he's too important to pay much attention to me, but I want him to anyway."

Raine gave him a grateful smile and returned to topic. "Was there anything else you wanted to discuss around your father?" Percy tapped his feet contemplatively, then shook his head. "Then may we talk about your mother?"

Percy frowned. "What's left to talk about?"

"How has your relationship changed since Gabe's death?" she asked.

"...You know, I don't think I realized 'til now that it had," Percy admitted, then leaned back, loosely crossed his arms, and resigned himself to the conversation. "In the beginning, it felt kind of like we were at Montauk all the time. We could relax around each other, it was really nice." He chewed on his lip for a minute, and then continued, "It's more in the middle now, but a lot closer to Montauk than Gabe."

"What does your relationship look like now?" Raine asked. "How do you communicate, what do you do together?"

Percy tilted his head, mulling it over. "We spend a lot of time cooking together, and we do most of our talking then," he said. It came out wistful; it had been months now since he and his mom had cooked together. "It's... I dunno. We tell each other everything, or if we're not telling each other something, both of us can tell."

"So you're very open with each other," Raine concluded with a smile. "I thought so, from how well you both took to family therapy. Is there anything you have trouble communicating?"

Percy tapped his thigh for a minute, and then decided, "Mom has a really hard time giving me bad news – I think because she's worried about how stressed out I usually am anyway. And I, um." He cleared his throat. "I can't talk about a lot of the worst stuff that happens at camp. Like, everyone that died this summer? I could barely make myself mention them in passing."

"Why do you think that is?" Raine asked.

"I don't want to worry her," Percy admitted, tugging at his shirt. "She likes to think of Camp Half-Blood as a pretty normal summer camp, and I do too, most of the time. But we're demigods, and sometimes we die." He rubbed the hem until it started to fray. "I don't want her to get the wrong idea, or start worrying while I'm there too."

"What steps do you think you can take to bridge this gap?" Raine asked gently. Percy winced.

"I guess I gotta, huh?" he sighed. "I should start with this last summer, I guess. I haven't told her much yet, but I know she's waiting for me to be ready. After that... I can maybe try to be more honest about quests. I usually try to make them sound fun, but I think she knows they're more dangerous than I let on."

"That sounds like a wonderful plan," Raine said. "What happens when there's conflict between you?"

Percy winced.

"It's a pretty rare thing," he said hastily, and then, with reluctance, "But it happens sometimes, I guess. Mostly about housework." He took a careful breath and forged on. "Clutter upsets Mom a lot more than it does me, but like, I have ADHD, I pretty much generate clutter. She doesn't yell at me or anything, she's really nice about it, but it stresses her out and that stresses me out."

"How do you usually handle it?"

Percy squirmed. "It usually builds up until we're both upset enough to break through my executive dysfunction," he admitted. "I'd like to be able to do better, but I don't really know how. It's not like the executive dysfunction is gonna go away."

Raine nodded, slow and thoughtful, and then suggested, "Do you think you and your mother could clean together? It could become a social activity similar to cooking."

Percy brightened. "Yeah, I can try that," he said. It didn't sound fun, Percy didn't like cleaning, but he could do it for his mom.

Raine smiled at him, and then asked, "Have their been any other issues? Particularly, does she ever accidentally trigger you?"

Percy tapped his thigh, frowning. "Not usually," he said. "She makes a point not to talk about money stuff around me if she can help it, and she's never been a big disciplinarian. Uh, there was one time she cleaned my room without asking, and she doesn't go in there without asking me now."

"What happened?"

"I don't even really know," Percy admitted. "I don't know why I got so upset. I just kept touching everything and moving it around and all I could think was that it smelled wrong. I had trouble getting to sleep that night, that's how worked up I was."

"How did you resolve it?"

Percy shrugged. "I came out and asked her not to go into my room anymore, and she saw how upset I was and agreed right away." Raine chuckled. "What?"

"It's very sweet how much you and your mother love each other," she said, looking fond. "It's not every day you come across people so willing to compromise."

Percy flushed and grinned at her. "Yeah. I'm really lucky."

"Your mother is too," Raine said, and without giving Percy time to reply, continued, "How did you handle it when Paul came into the picture?"

Percy shook himself, willing the heat out of his cheeks. "Okay, I think. I didn't like having a stranger around at first, but Mom made sure he wasn't over more than I was comfortable with – um, she talked to both of us at different points and said point-blank that between me and Paul, she'd choose me." A pleased, sheepish smile flickered across his face at the memory. "And she explained to me that it was really important to her for me to be comfortable with her partner, but that that put the pressure on her partner, not on me." He hesitated, and then added, quieter, "After- after Gabe, and, um, all that time I didn't understand why she was staying with him, that really, really meant a lot to me."

"I'm sure it did," Raine agreed softly. "Has there been any conflict between you and Paul?"

"Not a lot," Percy said. "He asked me to set boundaries pretty much right away, and he's stuck by them really well. There was the Greek myth stuff, obviously, because he knew for a good while that me and Mom were keeping secrets, but that smoothed over really well." He considered. "Uh, there's the school stuff, I told you about that, but he really is trying to ease up on that. And..." Percy grimaced. "He really, really doesn't like my temper."

"Can you clarify what you mean by that?" Raine asked.

Percy wrinkled his nose. "I guess... Mom and Paul are both really patient people, and I'm really not. Paul doesn't have any authority over me, Mom set that rule super early, but I think he thinks that they can train the temper out of me."

"Why do you think that?"

"He keeps parroting that anger management stuff at me," Percy said, mood souring a little at the recollection. "Not your stuff, like, the regular count-to-ten, take-a-deep-breath garbage. He starts it as soon as I get annoyed, and most of the time it just makes me angrier. And if he's in a bad mood, he'll repeat stuff back to me until I say it more politely."

"Have you told him how that makes you feel?" Raine asked. Percy shrugged.

"No. It doesn't matter that much. I mean, it's annoying, but it's not like he's hitting me or anything."

"Percy," Raine said gently, "that cannot be your metric for a good relationship. That's incredibly unhealthy."

Percy exhaled, frustrated, but he understood what she meant. "What kinda metric should I be using, then?" he griped more than asked.

"You and Paul seem to have a good relationship," Raine clarified. "But having a good relationship doesn't mean you have to tolerate everything he does. The way he reacts to your temper upsets you, so it would be good for you to talk to him about it."

Percy sighed. "I guess. But I don't know what to say. It's not like he's wrong. My temper can get pretty out of hand."

"Talk to him about the specific habits that frustrate you," Raine suggested, "and tell him why they upset you. For instance, he might stop quoting traditional anger management phrases if he knew that you're well familiar with them, and you know they don't work for you."

Percy considered that for a moment, and then nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess I could do that," he conceded. "And that, uh, that when he makes me say stuff politely, I feel like he doesn't care what I'm actually saying."

"Exactly," Raine said warmly. "I haven't spoken much to Paul, but it seems to me that he cares very much about your feelings. Taking the time to talk about them with him will hopefully help both of you."

"Yeah..." Percy murmured. "Hey, how come we're covering this stuff? It's like, really minor compared to everything else."

"We're getting you oriented," Raine explained. "You had an enormous backlog of trauma and negative thinking to work through, but these are skills that will help you in the present. If you had come in without any existing trauma, this is what we would have started with." She paused, giving Percy room to ask a question, but when he just nodded, she continued, "Have you ever been afraid to leave Paul alone with your mother?"

"Not in over a year," Percy said, oddly wistful. "It did make me anxious for a while, if I thought I'd done something wrong, especially something I thought would piss him off. But I don't think I've ever seen him more than like, annoyed."

"Do they argue?" Raine asked. Percy hesitated.

"...Not in front of me," he said at last. "They've both got too much self-control, I think, and I used to get nervous when they even disagreed. It must have been obvious, 'cause they always dropped the topic pretty fast."

"What if they do argue in front of you?" Raine asked. Percy grimaced, reaching up to rub his arm.

"Uh, I don't get nervous when they disagree anymore," he mumbled, "but if it starts to heat up, one of them always promises to talk about it later. If they didn't, I guess..." He pursed his lips. "I can't see either of them raising their voices, so that wouldn't be an issue. And I'm an opinionated guy, you know? I'd probably try and fix it however I could."

"And if that didn't work?" Raine prompted. Percy scowled.

"...I think I'd panic," he admitted grudgingly. "I like Paul too much to want to hurt him, but that wouldn't leave me with a lot of options. I'd just be getting upset and freaking out and not be able to do anything about it."

"What could you do about that?" Raine asked. Percy sighed.

"Leave, I guess," he admitted. "But it doesn't feel right."

"Of course not," Raine agreed. "You're a natural problem-solver. But it's important to remember that their relationship isn't your responsibility. They'll work it out on their own, and as long as you keep that in mind, you'll hopefully feel secure in leaving."

Percy nodded absently. "Yeah... and Paul isn't going to hurt her. Not in a million years. So... I could leave. Yeah." He was kind of trying to convince himself, but honestly, they probably wouldn't put him in that position in the first place.

Raine smiled at him. "And what do you think could be improved upon?" she asked. "At least one thing for both your mother and for Paul."

"Uh." Percy tipped his head back to think, watching the cloudy sky. "I wanna get used to telling Mom when I'm really anxious about something, even if it means worrying her too. And I think I'd like to spend more time with Paul. Most of our relationship is still filtered through Mom, and I think it'd be cool to, I dunno, go to a basketball game or something."

"That's an excellent plan," Raine said. "Do you know if they're planning on having other children?"

Percy brightened a little. "Yeah! Mom says she wants at least one more, maybe two, and Paul just said he doesn't want any more than three. Uh, three after me."

"How do you feel about that?" Raine asked.

"I'm really happy," Percy said honestly. "I've always kinda wanted a little sibling, and Annabeth thinks I'll make a good big brother. And Mom's always wanted a big family. She'll be thrilled."

Raine gave him a fond smile, which made him duck his head.

"What does being an older brother mean to you?" Raine asked. "What are you hoping to do?"

"Huh." Percy crossed his arms, still more thoughtful than anything. "Mostly I've just been thinking about playing with them – I like kids, you know? I spend a lot of time with the younger campers. And I think I'd like helping take care of them, too – cooking for them, putting them to bed, comforting them when something happens." A little quieter, he said, "Maybe be to them a little of what Mom was to me."

"You want them to look up to you," Raine said. Embarrassed, Percy nodded. "That's perfectly natural. And I think your practice at camp will serve you well with a younger sibling, especially as they get to be a little older."

"Yeah," Percy said softly. Raine glanced at him, sympathy flashing across her expression. They both knew that, optimism or no optimism, he might not live to see a little sibling grow up.

"What are you planning to do as you transition into adulthood?" she asked.

Of course, Raine treated that pink elephant the same as any other.

"Um," Percy said. Raine softened.

"It's important to dream," she explained, "even if you're not sure they'll come true."

Okay. "I think... I'll want to live with Mom for another few years, at least. I mean, the only reason I don't stay at camp year round is because I want to spend time with her." Percy shrugged. "Probably the only thing that would make me move out is if I wanted to live with Annabeth, and even then I'd want to live nearby."

He turned pink as soon as the sentence came out of his mouth, but Raine just nodded.

"Do you see your relationship changing as you get older?" she asked.

Percy frowned. "Not a lot, I think – I mean, I'm already pretty independent for my age, 'cause of the demigod stuff, and Mom trusts me to take care of myself." He shook his head. "I don't know, though. I'll just have to see if anything starts feeling weird."

"That's a valid approach," Raine agreed. "Would you want a family of your own?"

Percy turned wistful in the span of a second, and in the breath before he nodded, he realized that his time here had done exactly what his friends had wanted.