Percy didn't mean to fall asleep on the couch. Estelle was there for a visit, and Percy was currently the only adult in the house and he liked to think of himself as a responsible adult who didn't fall asleep while watching a movie with his sister. A movie he actually liked, secretly, because princess movies were not a thing that grown men admitted to liking. But hey, he was the son of an ocean god and the princess in question had water powers and he maybe kind of related to grownups trying to hold her back from her quest and a stupid god being annoying, ok? And the songs were decent.

So they were watching a movie. And Percy might have been a bit…busy lately. Sometimes ADHD felt like a superpower because he could zone into the things that really interested him and get stuff done. At the expense of eating and sleeping. Anyway, one moment he had Estelle cuddled at his side and giggling at the stupid chicken and the next he was alone on the couch and the screen was dark and there was no Estelle in sight.

He wasn't too worried; Estelle was old enough to be trusted not to burn down the house or try to eat random small objects. She was eight, not three. So Percy wasn't really anxious but he still pulled himself up to go locate her. He checked the obvious places first; kitchen, bathroom, guest room. No Estelle. The less obvious places came next. And then came the growing panic as he checked the unlikely places, like inside closets, under tables, inside the washing machine. Still no Estelle. His little sister was not in the house.

Percy was right on the edge of full blown panic when he noticed the envelope. It was sitting innocuously on the small table by the front door. Before Percy had fallen asleep, the table had held a small shell a dolphin had gifted to Percy, a golden bracelet worth a decent amount of money, and a granola bar. He'd removed the small square of ambrosia he usually included in his 'steal me' stash since his very mortal sister was visiting and he didn't want accidents. Now, the only thing on the table was one envelope. Percy glanced at it long enough to figure out it was from his dad, and left it in favor of pulling out his phone.

He tried calling Hermes first. It rang once and then went straight to voicemail. There was only one reason that would happen. Hermes had noticed his call and declined it. The only good thing about this was that growing fury was easier to deal with than desperate panic. And oh, was he furious. If Hermes thought Percy had been angry that one time Hermes had eaten his cookies, that was nothing compared to this moment.

If Hermes had actually stolen his sister, Percy was going to…well…probably something that would necessitate shoving ambrosia down the stupid god's throat afterwards.

If Hermes had not stolen his sister…Hermes had better have a very, very good excuse to decline Percy's call or Percy might well disown him over this. Because that would mean his sister might be in very real danger and Hermes had ignored his call for help.

Hermes had better have stolen his sister. Percy needed to know where Estelle was. He called again; this time it just went straight to voicemail. He tried texting Martha.

-Did Hermes steal my sister

-Message not sent

Percy made an inarticulate sound of rage and very nearly smashed his phone against a wall. He was not an impulsive teenager anymore, though. Okay, he could still be impulsive, but in this instance he controlled himself, and instead scrolled through his contacts for someone else who could help. This time, the call went through.

"Cuz! Long time, no see! You turning nocturnal or something?"

"Can you see my sister," Percy demanded in lieu of any kind of greeting.

"Oh…ah…it's actually really hard to see underwater…" Apollo explained, sounding a bit nervous.

"My mortal sister, Estelle," Percy explained through clenched teeth. "Or…you're the protector of children, aren't you? Can you find her? Tell if she's in danger?"

"She isn't outside," Apollo said after a long, tense pause. "I might be able to pinpoint her…if she were praying to me or if she had one of my tokens…"

Percy grit his teeth and said, "Well, what about Hermes? Can you find him?"

"Not find but…oh, I see his car!"

"Ok, what's the address?" Percy asked next, going to grab his car keys and was just locking his front door when Apollo answered.

"I could tell you but you'd take hours to reach them," Apollo answered, "So how about I just…"

There was a blinding flash of light and the squealing sound of a car braking. The next thing Percy knew, Apollo himself was parked on his street.

"I…thanks," Percy said, shoving his phone in his pocket so he could hop into the passenger seat. The car took off with a roar, diving back into the sky with expert ease, no sign of unusual weather below.

"Sooo…" Apollo said as they drove, "Are we recruiting Hermes for help finding your sister or…?"

"I'm pretty sure Hermes stole my sister," Percy explained, clenching his hands into fists. "But yeah, if he didn't…first I'll have a talk with him about answering his phone and then he will help us."

Percy had a while to brood. Sadly, the sun god's ride was not nearly as instantaneous as Hermes' could be and they actually had to traverse the distance. In theory, Apollo could only move from east to west, but in reality he could still land anywhere the sun was visible in the world. Percy had heard Apollo and Hermes argue often enough about who had the better ride. Hermes was faster and could still get around at night…but Apollo could go anywhere, whether there was a road access or not.

It still wasn't more than ten minutes later that the car touched down next to Hermes' delivery van. There was no sign of Hermes or Estelle, or George and Martha for that matter.

"Thanks for the ride," Percy said, hopping out and striding for the nearest building. After a moment, Apollo hopped out too and joined him. Percy didn't say anything and neither did Apollo, though Percy could feel the worried glances the god was throwing in his direction. Percy didn't know if Apollo was there to help him find Estelle…or if he was there to protect Hermes from Percy if need be, and he didn't want to know.

Inside opened on a chaotic barrage of color and music and children's shrieks. The music was too loud and the color scheme on the walls too busy and altogether it felt a bit like being slapped in the face by a wave, slightly painful and completely disorientating.

"What is this place?" Apollo asked, sounding oddly thrilled while Percy stood and tried to acclimate to the new environment.

"It's five dollars to enter," said a bored attendant from a window to the left of a door. "Another five to rent some skates. Six for blades."

Not wanting to take the time to argue, Percy grabbed a ten dollar bill out of his wallet, shoved it at the attendant, then pushed his way inside. Inside was even louder and more chaotic, colored lights swirling about in time to the music. Percy ignored the chaos and scanned the gigantic room for any sign of Hermes or his sister. It turned out to be a roller-skating rink, which would explain the attempt to rent him skates. There was a lot to scan. There was the rink itself, lots of alcoves, an eating area, and an arcade.

"You forgot your rental token," Apollo announced, suddenly at Percy's side and offering him a green disc.

"I wasn't planning on…" Percy started to explain, then "There he is!"

Hermes wasn't on the main rink, but at a small rink behind the first. He hadn't seemed to have noticed Percy or Apollo, his back to them. Percy growled, clutching his still capped pen in his hand. He didn't quite dare draw it; the mist might hide the action, but it tended to replace his real weapon with a more believable weapon and the last thing Percy needed was to cause some kind of panic or, even worse, get himself arrested. Normally, Hermes and Apollo would help stop that from happening, but considering what Percy wanted to do to Hermes right then, they might well allow it just to make their escape.

So Percy charged across the rink, keeping mostly to the side but stepping on the skating floor when he had to, until he was finally close enough to assess what Hermes was up to. With his back to him, Hermes was not the one to finally notice Percy's approach.

"Percy!" shouted Estelle, sounding happy and gleeful, as she made cautious movements in her skates. Almost at once her feet shot out from under her, but Hermes grabbed her before she fully fell to the ground. He had a teetering moment himself; he was also wearing skates and Estelle was not making it easy on him, all her attention now on her brother.

Hermes rightened them at last, then turned and gave Percy a beaming smile. "Percy, my favorite cousin! How was your nap?"

"You…you…" Percy growled, pointing his finger. Hermes had literally lifted Estelle and placed her in front of himself as a living shield, clearly confident Percy wasn't about to attack the two of them.

"Yes?" Hermes asked, utterly innocent, as if he had no idea what might have Percy so steaming mad. Percy growled, and Hermes' expression momentarily faltered into actual fear.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Percy demanded.

"I had a small child to keep watch over," Hermes explained, tone utterly reasonable. "I didn't want my phone to distract me."

"Ok…then why didn't you allow George or Martha to answer me?" Percy demanded next, and for a moment Hermes actually did look guilty.

"Oh…ah…I forgot about that. I figured out how they were helping you track me a couple weeks ago and I…momentarily blocked it?"

"Percy!" Estelle exclaimed, all excited and beaming and completely oblivious to her brother's rage or the way Hermes was still holding her as a human shield. "Hermes is teaching me to skate! Are you going to skate too?"

"Your token?" Apollo offered, coming up behind him. Apollo had apparently already gotten his own pair of skates and was standing in them with the confidence of a long-time skater.

"Fine," said Percy grabbing the token, and both Estelle and Hermes smiled, though likely for different reasons. Estelle was just happy he was joining them. Hermes probably hoped that meant he was forgiven. At least, he thought so, until Percy said, "Apollo, can you stay with my sister a moment while me and Hermes go and pick up my skates? We need to talk."

The smile on Hermes face was traded for a look of pure alarm, even as Estelle happily reached for Apollo's hand. His shield gone, Hermes had a look about him like he was seriously considering running.

"Come on, cousin," Percy said, eyes narrowed, and with exaggerated caution, Hermes skated over to the carpet and together they made for the skate rental line.

"You know, I could just give you a pair of skates," Hermes suggested, voice attempting a tone of humor and lightness. "Perfect fit, even. It's what I did for Estelle."

"Do you know how scared I was," Percy asked, not looking at Hermes at all, "When I woke up and Estelle wasn't in the house? I thought maybe she'd gotten hurt somewhere. Or kidnapped. Or maybe just lost somewhere, out on the streets. A lot can happen to an eight-year-old kid alone."

Hermes didn't answer. Percy still wasn't looking at him. If it weren't for being able to feel his godly presence, Percy wouldn't even have known if the god was listening. Percy soon filled the silence.

"Then I realized you had been by, and I thought…I didn't know what to think. Would my own cousin scare me like this by stealing my sister? I thought he would know better. That he wouldn't want me to be sick with fear and worry. Then I try calling you…all I needed at that point was a reassurance that my sister was safe. And if she wasn't with you, that I'd have someone to help me find her. Only you rejected my call. I had to call Apollo to learn anything. If I hadn't thought to do that…how long would it have been before I knew for sure my sister was safe?"

"I…I didn't mean to scare you," Hermes answered, voice just about as small as Percy had ever heard it. "You were sleeping and…you looked like you needed sleep. You're always telling me about how we need to eat and sleep and…I didn't mean to scare you. I left you a note."

At that, Percy finally turned to look at the god. He was mostly sure that was a lie, a deflection, a way to get out of things and he wasn't sure how he felt. Angry and a bit hollow and…he'd forgive Hermes, of course he would, he always did. Hermes probably hadn't meant any harm. May even have meant to help. But to lie, now…

"There was no note," Percy answered with cold certainty. Hermes winced, looked down at his shoes, glanced at Percy, then down again.

"I'm sorry," he said, forcing his eyes to meet Percy's. Hermes' expression was genuine and sorrowful and guilty. Then Hermes glanced down again and said, towards their feet, "I should have made sure you knew."

"For the god of communication, you really suck at this," Percy pointed out. Then, with a sigh, he bumped his shoulder against Hermes. "Don't do it again."

Hermes looked up, eyes alight with hope as he clearly knew he'd been forgiven and said, "Done! In fact, I swear it on the River Styx, I will never decline your call again." Even over the loud music, they heard the roll of thunder.

"Always so dramatic," Percy said, "I thought drama was Apollo's thing?"

"There's a bit of crossover between us," Hermes said, sounding almost giddy for having been forgiven, and Percy was sure he'd be hopping if his feet weren't currently encased in skates. "I invented the lyre, you know."

"We all know how you lie," Percy agreed, then frowned, and said, "And don't think I didn't notice how you never promised to not kidnap my sister again. Or scare me again. Or stop Martha from sharing your location again."

Hermes just blinked at him, as if confused, and finally said, "The instrument lyre. Not a person who lies, liar." He made no answer at all for all the things he didn't promise, but Percy didn't really expect him to. Accepting his call didn't guarantee Hermes would talk to him either, but at least he'd listen, and if something similar happened Percy was sure he could guilt the god into responding.

"Size?" the person at the rental counter asked as they finally got to the front of the line and Percy handed over his token.

"11," Percy answered.

"He means 12," Hermes corrected.

"What, no, I know my own shoes size," Percy said. "I'm size 11."

The guy behind the counter stared at them. Authoritatively, Hermes leaned over the counter and insisted, "12."

With a bit of a shrug, the man went and fetched some size 12, saying, "Bring them back if they don't fit and I'll get you a different pair."

To Percy's extreme annoyance, the size 12 skates were a perfect fit. Too perfect. Rental skates never fit that perfectly. Percy glared at Hermes, who looked annoyingly smug.

"You're welcome," he said. Percy almost answered with a finger gesture, before remembering all the small children around them and settled for seething in his perfectly comfortable skates.

It was only once they were on that Percy remembered part of the reason he hadn't actually intended to get skates. He had learned many skills in his youth, but neither the Camp nor his boarding schools had thought skating an important skill to learn. Still, he was an agile demigod; it couldn't be that hard, right?

He stood up and it was fine. He was a little higher off the ground than he was used to. The carpet stopped the wheels from turning too freely and he took a hobbling step, feeling like he were trying to walk with bits of concrete glued to the bottom of his feet. He glanced at Hermes. The god was watching him closely, just a hint of a smile in the corner of his lips.

"Where did you learn to skate?" Percy asked, trying to glide on the wheels instead, seeing as that was how skates were meant to be used. It was awkward but he didn't lose his balance or slip.

"Athletics and transportation combined? How could I not?" Hermes asked. At the smaller rink, Apollo was holding Estelle's hand and leading her along. They were doing fine, until another small, unskilled skater swerved right into their path. Estelle went gliding on to the wall while Apollo twisted and then crashed to the ground trying to avoid the small child at his feet.

"Sorry!" said child cried, looking horrified, but Apollo just laughed and helped him up and gave him a gentle boost before carefully hauling himself to his feet. While Hermes was distracted by laughing at his brother, Percy cautiously tried his first step away from the carpet. The unexpected slickness of the freely turning wheels almost sent him tumbling but he grabbed the bar from the wall just in time.

"Don't you know how to skate?" Estelle asked her brother with a doubtful and confused look, as if she thought Percy should be good at everything. Percy grinned down at her.

"Maybe you can give me some pointers?"

Estelle puffed up with all the pride of someone who had been skating for a good half hour, grabbed his hand, and said, "The first thing is to bend your knees…"

"Helps to keep your center of balance low, especially when you're big," Hermes put in, having given off laughing at Apollo to finally notice Percy doing a Bambi on ice impression as he tried to move away from the wall. Surprisingly, Hermes didn't laugh, except perhaps a little with his eyes. Instead, Hermes made a genuine effort to guide Percy in his first time skating. Apollo took over after the third time Percy's larger size sent both Percy and Hermes falling, even if they were laughing as they fell. Apollo was much closer to Percy's size. He was a natural teacher, too, when he wasn't trying to give lectures on obscure festivals or musical theory. Hermes returned to helping Estelle and together the four of them debuted on the bigger rink.

It turned out, being a demigod did help Percy pick up skating fairly quickly. Which is not to say he didn't fall often; even once he got the hang of keeping his balance, he'd then get taken out by someone else's unskilled crash. By the time they left, he was bruised and tired and sore and…and he'd had fun.

Hermes took them home. Apollo remembered he really should be driving the sun after half an hour, and they would have been stranded otherwise. Percy never could work out how Apollo could only take a break for half an hour; surely either it shouldn't matter because somehow the sun still worked and he should be able to leave off as long as he liked…or it should matter greatly and he shouldn't be able to take off at all. He didn't dare ask Apollo about it, though. Apollo might actually explain.

"That was fun!" Estelle said as they arrived home, maybe about the car ride, maybe about the skating, maybe both.

"It was," agreed Percy.

Hermes said nothing, just grinned, and then was gone.

It was over a month later, while looking under the couch for the missing remote, that Percy found a piece of paper.

'Hey P,

I'm stealing your sister. Will return in pristine condition. Enjoy your nap.

H'

Percy looked at the note, said, "Huh," then folded it up and set it aside. Then he pulled out his phone. It rang three times before it connected.

"-ect, Martha, I told you to reject the call..." Hermes' voice was saying. There was a loud noise in the background, as if Hermes were driving at high speeds. Which, he probably was.

"Forget your oath already?" Percy asked, forcing his tone to be stern even though his lips were twitching upwards, and his eyes were smiling and it came off as more teasing than anything. There was a moment's pause on the other end.

"Percy!" Hermes exclaimed, then, "Sorry, I'm a bit behind right now. Just heard the phone and didn't know it was you…is this important?"

"Not really," Percy admitted. "I was just thinking it would be fun to go skating again. With Estelle and you, Apollo, too, I guess. Sometime."

There was a longer pause when all Percy could hear was the sound of wind. Then, "Sure we can…I think I can spare a bit of time this Saturday?"

"I'll check with mom and Paul and see if Estelle is free," Percy agreed.

"…Or we could just collect her?" Hermes suggested.

"For the last time, stop stealing my sister!" Percy answered. There was a long moment of nothing, and then the sounds changed, as Hermes, wherever he was, parked his car.

"Sorry, gotta run. See you Saturday!"

"If we're all free!" Percy tried to say, but Hermes had already hung up the phone.