"Just knock."
"What if she's not home?"
"I have a key, you know. I do live here."
"..."
"Percy, just knock."
"Fine!" He exclaims, face still screwed up in anxiety. Julie leans against Jason as she watches her brother raise up a fist to their apartment door. His aura is burgundy, flaring out around him in a cloud of nervousness. He freezes for a second, staring at the apartment number like he's making sure he's even in the right place.
Then, he chickens out and drops his hand back to his side.
"Oh my gods, you have literally fought in two wars," Juliette groans impatiently.
Annabeth steps up and slides her hand into Percy's, a much more compassionate expression in place. "If you're not ready, we can go back to camp. You don't have to do this."
"Speak for yourself," Julie grumbles. Jason shoots her a chastising look, and she huffs and looks down with a flush. "Fine, fine. Sorry. Take your time, Perce."
Being bossed around by Jason without Leo making whip sound effects feels strange.
"Okay. Okay, I've got this," Percy mutters, sounding like he's hyping himself up. He smiles tensely at Annabeth, squeezing her hand, and finally raps his knuckles against the door.
Julie shuffles uncomfortably. Her leg is getting tired. Her armpits hurt. Ten flights of stairs on crutches was too much for her. Jason ended up just picking her up and carrying her after she burst into frustrated tears halfway up. At this point, Julie just wants to go inside and drown her sorrows in blue chocolate chip cookies.
Said wonderful, helpful boyfriend wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her to lean more of her weight on him. Shout out to Roman combat training for giving her a man who can carry his six-foot tall girlfriend up an NYC high rise without even getting winded.
The rattle of the chain lock being undone makes all four of them gasp in a breath. The handle lock clicks, and the door swings open.
Watching Sally Jackson see her son again is magical.
It's been eight months. That fact is so clear by the way the woman's face flits from bored annoyance, surprise, confusion, to awe.
Juliette can't blame her for hesitating. Percy looks different now. He's sadder, paler, taller, and sporting a new pale scar from his nose to his ear. The way his face crumbles when he sees his mother, though...That's trademark Percy Jackson.
"Mom," He chokes.
The sound of his voice must be too much. Sally lets out a cry like a wounded animal and lurches forward to wrap her child into her arms. Tears are already pouring down her cheeks to soak into his dark hair. Percy is tall, but not right now. He seems to shrink back down into a child, hiding away his face in Sally's shoulder and exploding into uncontrolled emotion.
"Percy," Sally sobs, hugging him so tight that Julie can see her hands shaking. "My baby. My baby boy."
Julie hasn't heard Percy cry like this since that night on the Argo II. He sounds so small, choking on sounds that were probably meant to be words but got lost along the way in a current of relief and exhaustion.
Jason is tense beside her. She looks up at him and realizes he's holding his breath, watching the reunion of mother and son with a robotic, blank expression.
She can't imagine what watching this must be doing to him. Not after Beryl Grace.
Juliette presses her forehead into Jason's shoulder, planting a gentle kiss on his arm. Slowly, she feels him relax and let out the breath. She clings to him tighter, and he leans his head onto hers.
"Sally?" Paul's voice calls from inside.
The woman doesn't respond, still cradling her child like he's going to fade into thin air. Julie turns her head to watch the man appear in the doorway, looking extremely confused in his "#1 Mom" kitchen apron. He takes in the situation far quicker than Sally did. He's on the hall floor, wrapped around his wife and stepson before he even makes a sound of greeting.
"Oh, thank God," He cries. "Thank God."
Annabeth is sniffling, wiping tears from her cheeks with a smile. Julie is grinning at the scene. Even Jason is starting to manage happiness for the reunited family.
Paul and Sally pull back from the hug eventually, the latter cupping Percy's face and running her thumb along his scar. "Baby, what happened to you?" She asks sadly.
Percy sniffles obscenely loud, wiping his face on the sleeve of his blue sweatshirt. "It's a long story. Can we go inside?"
The mention of 'we' shifts the couple's attention to Juliette, Annabeth, and Jason.
Sally's hand flies to her mouth. Paul turns a sickly green.
That's probably Julie's que. She clears her throat and raises a crutch in greeting. "Hey, guys! Got the worst pedicure of my life last week, let me tell you."
Nobody laughs. Well, except Julie. That's more of a nervous impulse, though.
Sally's eyes are trained on Juliette's leg - lack of leg, that is. Tears are gathering in them once again. "Oh, honey..."
Yeah, okay. Juliette didn't plan this interaction well enough in her head. She has no idea what to say. Her parents are just gaping at her, white as sheets and brimming with horror and pity. She isn't sure what she was expecting, showing up after two months with one leg and a hot blonde boyfriend. Julie guesses she was just hoping they'd focus on the boyfriend.
She panics and defaults to humor, nodding at Jason. "No need to stare at him, guys, you've seen a blonde person before."
That one is funny enough to at least get Percy to snort. He shakes his head at her. "What the Hades is wrong with you, Jules?"
"How much time do you have?"
"You must be Jason," Paul finally says. From the cocktail of grief and anger swimming around the man, that smile on his face is very forced, but Julie truly appreciates the gesture. Her stepdad gets up off the ground and offers Jason his hand.
"Yes, sir," Jason replies, accepting the handshake. "Jason Grace. Son of Jupiter."
"Former praetor of the First Legion, Champion of Juno, member of the Seven, and Hero of Olympus," Julie introduces grandly, batting her eyelashes at him.
Jason turns red and shoots her an agonized glance. Annabeth and Percy snort, and Paul cracks a smile with a shake of his head.
"Very impressive. Although, I don't know what quite a bit of that means," He chuckles. Paul looks around at the four teens and his emotional wife, appearing a bit overwhelmed. "Well, um...I definitely didn't make pasta for six, so...Pizza, anyone?"
"Sounds good to me!" Annabeth chirps, turning to head into the apartment. "We should probably get some coffee brewing too. This is going to be a long conversation."
And, it is.
Between three teenagers with ADHD, a curious English teacher with no mythology background, a mother who bursts into tears with every mention of injury, and an amnesiac who's nervous to be meeting his girlfriend's family, the story from Percy's disappearance all the way to Gaea's defeat (minus the Tartarus bit because Percy shot Juliette a warning glare when they got to the part about Rome) takes four hours and two pots of coffee. By the end of it, Sally and Paul are sitting tensely in the middle of the couch, hands clasped so tightly together that their knuckles are white.
"And, now...It's done?" Sally asks quietly. "She's defeated, right? Is that it?"
Percy and Annabeth exchange a look. Julie hugs her intact leg to her chest, head on Jason's shoulder where they're sat on the living room rug.
"Theoretically," Annabeth answers her. "The Oracle of Delphi isn't reachable right now, but no new prophecy has been spoken so far. Theoretically, we should be done."
Sally nods, but she doesn't look appeased. Paul runs a nervous hand through his salt and pepper hair. "So, what will you do now?" He asks.
Percy shrugs. "I guess, go back to school. If I can even still graduate."
"And, then college," Annabeth smiles. "In New Rome."
Percy looks at her suddenly, eyes sparkling. "Wait, really?"
The blonde gives him a sly grin like they're sharing a secret and shrugs one shoulder. "I told you we'd make that future happen, didn't I? Since when do I not keep my promises?"
Julie isn't sure what Annabeth's referring to, but Percy completely lights up. He laughs, loud and breathless, and shoots up from his place on the couch to collide with her in an enthusiastic kiss. The surprised sound Annabeth makes sends Julie into a fit of giggles. Especially when they pull apart and turn red to see Sally covering her and Paul's eyes with an amused smirk.
"Sorry," Percy mumbles, still grinning but face steaming. "Got excited."
"TMI, Percy," Julie smirks.
"That's not what I meant!"
She cackles when Jason catches the sneaker Percy lobs at her. The older boy huffs in annoyance and pouts.
"What about you two?" Sally asks Julie and Jason.
Juliette pauses in thought. She looks at the boy beside her. He looks back and tilts his head curiously.
"I..." She starts hesitantly. She looks away from Jason. Back at Sally and Paul. "Well, physical therapy, of course. And, I need Cabin 9 to make me a prosthetic so I don't, y'know, get attacked by a monster and die. Then, there's something I have to do, now that I'm home. Someone I have to find."
Her parents exchange a look.
"Do we get any more details than that?" Sally asks. Her voice is teasing, but the sad gleam in her eye means she's genuinely asking.
She doesn't look surprised when Juliette cringes and shrugs. "It's kind of a long story. One I don't feel like getting into."
Annabeth is looking at her knowingly. She avoids her gaze.
"And, what about you, Jason?" Paul pipes up. "Will you go back to California?"
Juliette can feel Jason's eyes on her. She flushes and looks down, pulling at a loose string at the hem of her shorts.
They haven't talked about this yet. On purpose, in Julie's case. She doesn't know what Jason wants to do or where he wants to live. She's been nervous about it, but the last thing she wants is to influence his choice.
He pauses, still looking at her, and then turns back to Julie's stepdad. "There's something I have to find too. I'm not really sure where that'll take me, but it's important."
Huh?
Julie snaps her head back to Jason confusedly. She squints at him, puzzled by the intense set of his face.
Something he has to find?
"An equally vague response," Paul grins. "You guys are perfect for each other."
Percy and Annabeth snort.
"They're nauseating," Percy groans. "You should have seen them on the Argo."
Julie's jaw drops in indignation. "Um, okay? We weren't the ones who got caught spending the night in the stables."
Percy blanches in betrayal. He looks to Sally in horror. "That did not-Well, it did, but we didn't-We were just-" He sputters, panicking. Then he points at Juliette and Jason. "They got caught making out instead of being on watch!"
"LIES! He's lying!"
"I am not!"
"Well, you guys-"
"Can we not?" Annabeth interrupts, lips pursed and cheeks pink. Percy and Julie freeze at her dangerous tone. She gives them a humorless, threatening smile.
"Yes, ma'am." "I'm sorry, ma'am."
Sally laughs, loud and long, and the rest of them have to soften at the pure happiness in the sound. It's been too long since any of them heard it. It's only been a few hours since Percy got back, and yet Sally looks twenty years younger. She gets ahold of herself and wipes the tears from the corners of her eyes, still chuckling and shaking her head.
"Just as long as I'm not a grandmother anytime soon, I don't think any of you have quite earned a grounding," She teases. All four teenagers turn red and shake their heads frantically, and Sally and Paul laugh as they rise off of the couch. "Good. Then, I think I'm going to get a batch of cookies started."
"You're the world's best mother."
"Mhm. You're welcome, kiss-ass."
"I'm just saying, if you want me to, I will."
"Nico, I love you for offering, but I don't think sending skeletons after Travis and Connor is a necessary escalation," Julie sighs, leaning heavily on her friend's forearms as he helps her hop up the steps of the infirmary.
Nico frowns. "Not to attack them, just to follow them around. Or stand outside their windows at night. To scare them," He explains. "If they do it again, I'm going to."
The 'it' in question would be the Stoll brothers pelting Julie with water balloons every time she enters a room they're in. They are taking way too much delight in her new handicap keeping her from being able to dodge projectiles easily. It was kind of funny the first couple times.
But, now it's been three days, and Julie is running out of dry outfits. It's not funny anymore.
Especially considering the last balloon hit her crutch instead and gave her an extremely embarrassing tumble onto the floor of the dining pavilion. Hence, Nico leading her angrily up to see the Apollo kids to get a bandaid over the bleeding gash on her left knee.
"Solace!" Nico shouts, ducking his head into the open door while Julie settles back onto her crutches. "Brought you a patient!"
"Have them pick a bed! I'll be there in a minute!" Will's voice calls back. It sounds muffled. He must be in one of the back offices.
Julie smiles bemusedly as Nico leads her into the building and directly to an empty bed with practiced ease. He moves aside a rolly chair and grabs a little bin of first aid equipment from the shelf beside the cot. Juliette watches him as she hops up to the bed and sits down.
"You sure know your way around here," She notes.
Nico's ears turn pink. He sets the bin down beside her and stuffs his hands in his pockets.
"I stayed here for a bit while you were recovering," He shrugs.
"Oh?"
"Solace made me do 72 hours."
"And you agreed?" Julie asks in surprise.
Nico's ears go from pink to red, and he shrugs again.
Will comes rounding the corner then, looking extremely professional in his flip flops, cargo shorts, and blue scrub shirt. He's got a red pen tucked behind his ear and a clipboard under his arm, seeming tired, but happy, whistling as he walks. He sees Nico and smiles, but then his sunlight dims when he notices Juliette on the cot.
Julie squirms and looks away. She feels annoyance prickle from Will during his approach. It doesn't show through his practiced, fake smile, though.
"Haven't seen you in here for a couple days, Nico," Will chirps.
Julie glances at Nico with raised eyebrows. He avoids her gaze and clears his throat. "I've been busy."
No, he hasn't. He and Julie have been spending the last three days slacking off on camp activities by hiding in Cabin 1, much to Jason's exasperation.
"So, what do we have here?" Will asks. He looks down and spots her bloodied knee. "Are you just tired of having legs?" He asks drily.
She flushes. "It was Connor and Travis this time."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," The healer sighs. He leans over to grab a pair of gloves, and Julie suddenly feels uncomfortable. She sits forward and reaches for the bin of supplies.
"If you want to go check on other patients, I can handle this," She offers with a nervous smile. "I just need a bandaid."
"It's fine," shrugs Will. He motions at the mostly empty room. It's just the group of groaning Ares campers who got trampled playing fetch with Mrs. O'Leary yesterday. "It's been slow this morning. And, you've got pieces of gravel stuck to it. I got it."
Will puts on an extra pair of gloves before starting to clean off her knee. Julie is feeling extremely awkward. The three of them have gone mostly silent, Will in irritated stewing, Julie in discomfort, and Nico in confusion as he looks between the two of them.
After a couple minutes, Will speaks up. "How has the leg been? Any pain?"
Julie knots her hands into the sheets of the cot, taking quite a bit of interest in the ceiling fan in the middle of the room. Hmm, they really should dust up there. "Nothing I can't handle."
"That's not what I asked."
She flinches at his curt tone. Beside her, Nico frowns at Will, apparently torn between annoyance and bewilderment at the head medic's sudden attitude. Trying to return the tone of the conversation to 'casual,' Julie sniffs and shrugs.
"Sometimes. Mostly at night or when it rains."
Will nods, dropping his tweezers to reach for the disinfectant. "Why didn't you come in? I told you to let me know if it's bothering you."
"Oh. Well..." She winces.
How does she respond to that?
'You clearly don't like me, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable'?
'We used to be friends, and now you look at me like something you scraped off your shoe'?
'You're scary'?
"I guess, I just didn't think about it," mumbles Julie.
Will sighs. He hasn't looked at her face once during this conversation. His focus has entirely been on her scraped knee. "Well, since pain meds don't really work on you, I can just give you some nectar to keep. Take a shot every night before bed. And, if you can guess when it's going to rain - which, I guess you probably could, dating Jason Grace - you can premedicate for that too."
Juliette nods quickly. "Okay. Cool. Thank you."
Will nods back, reaching for some kind of antibacterial paste Julie's never seen before. "Nico, can you go get her some nectar? You know where it is."
The son of Hades flushes at the funny glance Juliette sends him. He scowls at her, which just makes her grin smugly, and turns to scurry off towards the supply room.
This situation here is very interesting. She's looking forward to interrogating him later.
"Bend your knee."
Oh, shit. Now, she's alone with Will Solace.
It's weird to remember that the boy in front of Julie is younger than she is. Ever since he became head counselor for the Apollo cabin, he's just seemed so put together. Adult. It's strange remembering that, if he weren't a year around camper, he'd just be starting high school.
Maybe it's the sleep deprivation circles under his eyes.
"Do you guys need any help in here?" She offers suddenly, surprising herself. The cotton swab Will's smearing paste onto her knee with pauses. Words start flooding from Juliette at a frantic pace. "I just mean, if you guys ever needed someone to take a shift here so you can get some rest, I'd be happy to. I do have some experience. I mean, I kept the crew alive for most of that quest. I treated like eight concussions - granted, half of those were just Jason, but-"
"We're good," Will interrupts flatly. "No thanks."
His aura changes with that response, though. It goes from annoyed to...anxious?
Juliette sighs and leans forward to try and catch his eye. "Will."
He just unwraps a large bandaid and starts taking the plastic pieces off. She tries to stay patient with him.
"Can we talk?"
He smooths the bandage onto her knee with surprising softness. "We are talking."
"You know what I mean. About us."
Finally, Will looks up at her, pulling off his gloves and tossing them into the waste basket beside the cot. "What about us?"
She sputters, temper flaring. He raises an eyebrow, and Julie almost kicks herself. She takes a deep breath and tries again.
"I just...I don't know what exactly went wrong between us. I know things got tough when Lee-"
"We're fine, Julie," Will interrupts, standing abruptly. "There's nothing to talk about. We're fine!"
He's smiling at her. It's bright and blinding. He looks a lot like his father when he smiles like that.
Maybe it's the deadness of his eyes.
"I just want to be friends," Julie says softly. "I'm sorry."
Will glances at where Nico is exiting the supply room carrying a paper bag probably full of nectar bottles. The healer seems to debate something, clenching his teeth as he watches Nico scowl at one of the loudest among the groaning Ares kids. Then, the blonde looks back at Juliette and smiles that same fake smile.
"We are friends," He insists.
Nico makes it back to their corner of the infirmary and drops the bag carelessly into Juliette's lap. She scrambles to catch it while he turns to Will. "Kayla is looking for you. She's in the office."
Will groans. "She's probably messing up my filing system again. I'll go find her." He takes a few steps towards the offices and then turns to walk backwards. "Make sure Julie's doing that physical therapy regimen, will you Death Boy?"
"Whatever."
The grumbled response makes Will grin and turn back around to go find his sister. Julie tilts her head in curiosity.
Now, that was a real smile.
She looks at Nico and smirks. "Death Boy?"
The look her friend gives her could probably wilt roses.
"And then, he was all 'Make sure Julie's doing what I said, will you, Death Boy?'" Julie recounts, braiding Lacy's hair as the younger girl kicks her legs, chin in her palms. The rest of the cabin giggles.
"Death Boy?" Drew echoes. She looks up from painting Mitchell's nails neon pink. "And di Angelo didn't skewer him?"
"No! He was like 'yeah, sure, whatever,' and then Will, like, blushed and smiled."
More giggles.
"But, does Nico even swing that way?" Mitchel asks. He leans forward to peer at his nails, but Drew slaps him on the wrist when it jostles her careful painting.
Julie shares a tense glance with Percy. She'd heard about Nico coming out to him almost immediately after her post-coma temper tantrum. Apparently, it had explained quite a lot to Percy, and he'd spent the night chatting her ear off as soon as he realized she already knew. As far as she's heard, though, Percy and Annabeth are the only people Nico has told.
She changes the subject quickly. "Well, we all know Will does. And, he's definitely crushing."
"They'd be cute together," Piper says offhandedly. She's flipping through a fashion magazine, pausing every so often so that the younger kids, Roslyn and Elliot, can highlight things. "The whole 'opposites attract' thing."
"I'm just glad Nico's sticking around," Percy grins at the ceiling. The mud mask the younger kids painted on him half an hour ago is looking close to dry. "I swear, I spent the first couple weeks expecting him to just vanish one day. It's cool having someone to sit with at meals. Me, him, and Jason get to hang out now!"
"I'm proud of him," Julie says softly.
She ties Lacy's braid off and pats the girl on the shoulders. Her younger sister rolls over to hop off the bed and go join Piper with the magazines. Julie scans the room of all of her siblings with a frown.
"Do you guys know why Will hates me?" She asks, blunt.
"You're hateable," Drew shrugs.
Julie scowls at her. "Haha. Seriously, though. We used to be friends, but now he barely even talks to me. Does anyone know what's up?"
Piper and Percy look pretty clueless, but the rest of the Aphrodite kids exchange a look. Julie's eyebrows shoot up.
"You do know, don't you?"
They wince practically in unison.
Julie's jaw drops. "Is it obvious?! Did I do something?!"
"I meannn," Mitchel sighs. "Technically, no."
"Would it count as her doing something?" Lacy asks thoughtfully. Mitchel shrugs.
Drew rolls her eyes. "It's just Solace being emotionally constipated. Who even cares?"
"I care!" Julie exclaims, face desperate. "If you guys know what I did, please tell me so I can fix it."
"Why do you think you did something?" Percy asks. Piper is scowling at him, watching him chip pieces of his facemask onto her covers.
"Would you go wash that off? I don't want your face dirt in my bed," She complains.
Percy sighs dramatically and slips bonelessly to the floor to slink off to the bathroom. "Bossy."
"So, what is it?" Julie asks again.
Drew scoffs and caps the nail polish. She guides Mitchel's hands into the gel setter before turning to frown at Juliette. "Why don't we use our critical thinking skills, hmm? When did he stop talking to you?"
Julie flinches. "When Lee died," She answers softly.
Drew nods. "Right. And, what happened after that?"
"...Michael."
"Right."
Drew looks at her expectantly. Julie just blinks.
"Oh my gods, you are actually slow."
"Just tell me!" Julie exclaims.
Mitchel swaps which hand is in the setter, admiring the dried gel on his fingernails. "Julie, how many times have you ever seen Solace express any kind of emotion other than pure, sunshiney happiness?"
"I don't know - how many stupid, off topic questions are you all going to ask me 'til you get to the point?"
"It's not off-topic," Drew snips. "The guy likes to pretend that everything is fine and dandy. He flits around camp like life is perfect, and he didn't watch half of his cabin get killed right in front of him. He's got pretty much everyone fooled."
"But," Mitchel continues. "Who, in the entire camp, would be absolutely impossible to pretend around because she literally eats people's grief for breakfast?"
"I had pancakes this morning, actually."
"You."
Juliette slumps. Her siblings all look pretty sure of what they're telling her. Even Piper is nodding along like they're probably onto something. It makes her feel sick to her stomach.
"But, what am I supposed to do about that?" She asks.
"Nothing," shrugs Drew. "Let the guy stew if he wants to stew. Why is that your problem?"
Julie looks down. "He's my friend."
"He's really not."
Maybe Julie looks enough like a kicked puppy to earn Drew's mercy. She hops up and heads into the bathroom (probably to make sure Percy isn't flooding it trying to get his mask off), and Piper glides over to sit beside Julie on the bed. She puts a hand on her shoulder and smiles weakly.
"Julie, you don't always have to be liked by everyone. All you can do is be nice to him and hope he comes around. The rest, he needs to work through on his own." She advises.
She's probably right. Julie has gotten herself into enough trouble butting into other people's business. Plus, she really needs to be focusing on learning to get around with her missing leg so that Nyssa will agree to make her a prosthetic.
The faster she can go back to semi-normal, the faster she can find Meg. That's what's important.
"JACKSON!"
"I SNEEZED, I'M SORRY!"
"JULIETTE, GET THIS IDIOT OUT OF MY CABIN!"
Piper and Julie sigh. "What do you think he did?"
"Probably sprayed her with the sink, or something," Julie groans, getting up to go keep Drew from scratching her brother's eyes out.
It's probably time they all went to sleep, anyway. Tomorrow, Julie has some research to do.