Percy was, for the first time in a long time, content. Life was good. He had amazing friends, he had an amazing mom and he had the most amazing girlfriend. Annabeth. The one person he could truly say understood him like no one else. Quite the feat given how much information he kept hidden from her.

He hadn't told her. He hadn't told anyone.

Gabe was gone, this was a fact Percy was well aware of. Gabe could do nothing to harm him. He was safe. But that knowledge did nothing to stop the sheer terror that would consume him ever time he even thought about telling someone. Every time he even thought about telling her.

He had wanted to tell her for a long time. He'd wanted to tell her every day, for months. He had tried a couple times, but it always resulted in him getting flustered and scared and chickening out. He would tell her one day and he was sure that she would understand when he did.

But for now, he was content to simply be with her. To enjoy her company down at the beach. This was a rare opportunity for them. They had nothing they had to do for the day. They could spend their time as they saw fit. And they decided to spend it on the beach, in each others company.

It seemed too good to be true.

Unfortunately, thats usually because it is.

A loud noise interrupted their precious relaxation.

Percy and Annabeth, two highly trained demigods, were moving towards it before they could even process the sound. They sprinted up the hill, past Thalia's tree to find a boy, no older than 12 running towards them, scared for his life. He was being chased by a small group of monsters and he was armed with only a hammer that looked like it had seen better days. He had every right to be terrified.

Of course Percy had Riptide and Annabeth had her dagger, so the monsters didn't pose much of a threat to the two veteran demigods. They ran past the young boy to dispatch of the monsters while he collapsed in exhaustion.

He could do nothing but watch as his saviours demolished the monsters that had been chasing him for so long He was in awe of the skill and precision they demonstrated while cutting down the monsters. But above all else, he was in awe of the calm expressions on their faces. As if this were a regular occurrence !

Percy and Annabeth were finished with the monsters in minutes, there weren't vary many of them after all. They turned around to see the boy lying on the grass, staring up at them with admiration and worship in his eyes. Eyes that looked familiar to Percy now that he thought about it.

Percy examined the boys features and began noticing similarities quite quickly. The boy had jet black hair, sea green eyes and a Mediterranean complexion. He looked a bit small for his age, but that wasn't uncommon of demigods before they came to camp. Many of them has spent a long time on the run from monsters, more concerned with survival than proper nutrition.

It didn't take him long to realise that this boy was his brother. He shared a glance with Annabeth which told him she had arrived at the same conclusion.

He wasn't exactly sure if he knew how he felt about it though. On the one hand he was happy to have a brother, someone he could teach and guide. Someone he could hang out with and talk to. One the other hand, he was less happy that it meant Poseidon had slept with someone else. He knew it would happen eventually, but it still stung slightly.

But at the end of the day, he decided to try and be optimistic about the whole thing.

He looked down at the boy and offered him a hand with a small, reassuring smile on his face.

"I'm Percy and this is Annabeth", he said.

"Don't worry buddy, you're gonna be OK. What's your name ?"

The boy looked at Percy with big eyes, full of adoration. He tentatively reached his small hand into Percy's larger one, and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"My name is Jack, he said softly. "Are you... like me ?"

Percy and Annabeth shared a look and a small smile before turning back to the boy, Jack apparently.

"Yeah kid.", Percy said with a smile. "You could say that. Do you know what this place is ?"

Jack looked around a little, before shaking his head no.

"I was attacked by one of those... those things after school a few days ago.", he said. "I ran away from them and while I was running, a voice in my head started to give me directions. This is where I ended up."

Percy looked at the kid with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, you're safe now.", he said. "I'll explain everything on the way down."

"On the way down where ?"

Percy smiled once again.

"A special place. A home."

A/N I would like to make this story a bit of a slow-burn. I'm going to take a chapter or 2 to show Jack learning the ropes at camp, before getting to the betrayal part. BTW, (I forgot to mention in the last chapter) this story is rated M for swearing and adult themes. There hasn't been any swearing yet but believe me, there will be. And the "adult themes" will he themes of child/domestic abuse and later on there will be some thoughts of suicide (Not in-depth or graphic). If that kind of stuff makes you uncomfortable, you probably shouldn't read on.But anyway, I would greatly appreciate any reviews you guys leave, especially if there is constructive criticism in there. I would ideally like to improve and thats the best way to do so.Stay safe everyone and have a good day