Hello Lovelies! Thank you so very much for following and reading this fic. You all are fantastic! As always, I own nothing but the mistakes are all mine.

Chapter 3 - The Start of Something Good

"A marine biologist, huh?" Annabeth gazed over at him and couldn't help but smile. It was an authentic grin, better than any magazine cover or toothpaste ad. She'd make any guy lose his mind, of that he was certain.

Percy stammered over his words during the impromptu lunch at Thal's. Had he appeared as foolish as he felt? That question settled in the back of his mind, since explaining his career choice seemed as easy as climbing Mount Everest.

"Yeah. It's the only thing I ever really wanted to do." Percy wanted to kick his own ass for giving that lame response. Instead, he leaned down to pick up a shell and dust off the sand. Keeping his hands busy was a sensible idea. She unnerved him, even as they were supposed to be relaxing on the back deck. "Well besides surfing," he added.

"So that's how you met my cousin? Surfing?"

He laughed a bit, a sound that Annabeth wanted to hear frequently. "You could say it was like that. She more or less wants to learn how to, but that freakin' fear of water, shiittt. I think she's better off being the damn groupie she knows she really is."

Annabeth started coughing after sipping some overly sweet tea. "Excuse me," she stated after her coughing subsided. "Did you just call Thalia a 'groupie?"

Percy wanted to say something clever in response, but the ridiculousness of the conversation made him chuckle.

"Can you imagine her reaction?" Annabeth scrunched her nose in the exact manner that Thals would do when she was in a giggly mood. While cracking each other up, they unconsciously moved closer. He reached over after the laughing subsided and tucked one of her stray curls behind her left ear. A light warmth spread over her cheeks.

"Turtles…I mostly work with turtles, to study how we can minimally impact their habitual ecosystems. It's for conservatory practices, more or less, and one day I want to work in a marine protected area. Shit…sorry to dump all that information." Was it possible for him to go five minutes without looking like a total loser? After tossing the shell onto the ground, he reached around to grab his phone from his pocket.

"Actually, it's fascinating and really cool," she responded and knowing that she thought it was interesting gave him a measure of relief. "But the knowledge I have about marine animals would probably fill a thimble. Turtles are cool, but I've never seen one, besides at the zoo." There was an intention in his eyes when he spoke, about his career, that captivated her.

After swiping through some pictures, Percy stopped and showed her a shot of a turtle's face. "This is Mary Shelley. She and her mate have been, uh, for lack of better words, busy. I thought the name would be kinda appropriate."

"How can it not be? It's perfect and adorable!"

Annabeth's eyes also lit up while enthusiasm colored his face and mannerisms. The depth of interest he had drew her into an area she'd hardly thought of before today, and a certain contrast began to take form in her mind.

He was as different from Luke as night was from day. Mature. Intelligent. Compassionate.

How many men did she know that took care of turtles or gave them names?

The biggest concerns on Luke's diminutive brain were either midnight game releases or an increase in his followers count on Twitch.

Percy wanted to make a difference in the world, in his own distinctive manner.

He paused briefly and looked her straight in the eyes. "I-I apologize if this is, um, boring." She shook her head no and the scent of her floral fragrance wrapped itself around him. Percy breathed in deeply.

Pure sweetness.

While taking in the scent his thoughts came to a pause.

They had only known each other for a few hours, yet this was the happiest he'd been in days or possibly weeks.

Genuinely happy.

Not the fleeting type that came with finding the right wave or the satisfaction of a hard day's work.

'Shit, I haven't talked to Thals or Leo or any one else about work like this.'

Was it possible that his nerves were calming? Whatever compelled Percy to open up to her was a puzzle indeed, but talking to her was easy, like a lazy afternoon at the beach.

And how he longed for more time to talk, to get to know all the deets about Miss Chase.

How did she take her coffee? Did she prefer the left or right side of the bed? What would it be like to kiss her slowly in the rain?

'What the hell?'

ADHD hijacked his brain once more, this time with questions he couldn't bring himself to say, except for one.

"Can I ask you something?" The words tumbled out of his mouth.

"Ask me anything, anything at all." She smiled at him, and he swore she was hanging on his last word.

"If I can arrange it," he began with shaking legs, "how would you feel about taking, like, a tour of the center? That's if you have time and you want to." Percy was certain knew she saw how nervous he felt. His pounding heart and the sweat on his forehead were dead giveaways, even in a dimly lit space.

"Considering I'm out of a job right now, I'm pretty sure I have all the time in the world." Annabeth answered his question in a quick manner. "And if you have time for dinner, I might tell you why I'm not employed Mr. Jackson." She lifted her brows before winking.

"Lead the way and I'll follow." Yes, he definitely had time for dinner, especially if it was with her.

-WMHB-

The following morning, Percy roared into the parking garage of the research center. Traffic, as a general rule, infuriated him, and brought out all of the curse words.

Yet here he was grinning.

Besides, running on five hours of sleep was perfectly acceptable in his world. Between the extra grande mocha cappuccino and the burning mental image of Annabeth he carried, he was going to be more than alright.

Speaking of images…

Last night, after putting away dishes, Percy took a pic when she wasn't looking in his direction and stepped into the den, to look into her bag. The glowing twinkle lights around the room brought a glow to her face and hair. Her presence was straight magic. The photo suggested that Annabeth was on the verge of telling her deepest secrets, and how he wanted to know every single one.

Sitting presently in the driver's seat, he studied her photo once again. It was the last on his mind before he fell asleep, and the first that he thought of when the alarm went off that morning.

Nothing in this part of the western hemisphere could sour his mood today, not even his boss, Chiron.

Sure the recent conflict of who would be Percy's new assistant was a sore spot, but a resolution would be found soon enough. As long as he kept working hard, which was the modus operandi, Chiron might leave him alone.

There weren't many people he wanted to work with lately, unless it was Leo, his best friend and partner in crime.

They'd spent agony filled hours grasping the concepts of chemistry and physics, while at college. At least those hours were torture for Percy. Leo, on the other hand, took to the intricacies of science like a duck to water.

Neither of them expected to work in the same research center, but life had its way of working out for the best.

While Percy worked directly in habitat sustainability management, Leo was content working with environmental chemistry analysis. Much like any other morning,

they ran into each other in the elevator.

"'Sup?" he nodded at his friend and took another sip of coffee.

"Dude, I texted you a gazillion times, like midnight-ish. What the fuck happened?" Leo turned to look at him once the doors were closed. He rested his arm on the wall and had that cat-ate-the-canary look in his eyes.

"Just over at Thals' place. Nothing unusual, y'know." Percy shrugged his shoulders in an attempt to play off the conversation.

"Exactly how long were you there?" Then Leo pointed his finger at Percy with a mouth wide open. "Yooooo…no way you and - "

"Aw, fuck no. Fuck no, alright? To the damn nth power, m'kay? I mean, she's a friend. What part of that fucking word don't you understand?" Percy rubbed his eyes in an attempt to remove that disgusting thought. Leo was his best friend, but shit, did he ever come up with some brain rot.

The silver door opened with a whoosh. "The last time I blew your phone up and there wasn't any response, you were with what's her name. So don't think for a fuckin' minute that I forgot about that."

"I know, I know, and please, for God's sake, don't ever mention her name again. The planet can only hold so much pollution and shit." A cold shiver ran up his spine when he thought about the nameless one.

"Ooohhh, yeah, I'm not about to curse either of us and um, yeah, well toxic comes in many forms. We both know that fact."

"Hmmm, toxic, huh? Yeah, well said and text you later," Percy nodded and flipped him off before opening the door to his 'office'.

He was holding tight onto that earlier resolve about nothing spoiling his mood. After letting out a deep breath, he flipped on the light switch. There was a humming noise coming from the makeshift habitat.

In the middle of the room were three oversized 'pools' of water and mud, each connected with a tunnel to the next. Mary Shelley was in the middle of one, slowly making her way to the end. Checking on her, as well as the water temperature, were of utmost importance. Large, heavy duty work gloves were necessary for him to pull her out of the tunnel.

"Hey girl, how are you doing?" he asked before reaching inside. "Time for your morning weigh in Miss Shelley." The compassion he had for this animal was evident in the way he tended to her.

She was a typical Loggerhead turtle, with a reddish brown colored skin. Percy was careful to avoid her two large claws on both front legs. Some of the mud from the bottom of the pool was stuck to her skin, so he brushed it off gently. Special care was mandatory, remembering that, more likely than not, she was pregnant.

The turtle sat still on the digital scale while he wrote down the measurements. His eyebrows came together while reading over the past few entries.

"Something tells me that I think you're going to be a mom soon, and I think an ultrasound would be helpful."
Percy called the imagery department to set up a time.

As soon as he set Mary back into the pool, there was a heavy knock on the door, one with which he was familiar.

"Morning, Mr. Jackson. I need to have a word with you." Chiron's booming voice, in all of its glory, echoed.

'At least I can get this shit over with.'

He walked into the room carrying a bland looking folder with the word 'applicants' scrawled over the tab. With zero flourish, he placed the folder on the counter and dragged over a worn out rolling chair.

"Can we simply agree that you cannot manage this project all on your own?" He scratched at his unkempt beard.

No small talk or chit chat for this man.

Percy reminded himself not to cross his arms, but to do his best impression of a man who was relaxed at work. So he grabbed the closest chair in order to sit across from his supervisor.

"With all due respect, sir, I have been managing rather well on my own, and -"

"Mr. Jackson," Chiron interrupted. "I will give you the benefit of the doubt for the first few weeks that you were fine. Admittedly, the idea for these indoor tidal pools was also beneficial, even if I had my doubts." He flipped through a few pages before stopping on a specific application. "But I am a firm believer in the power of two being greater than one, especially when it comes to funding for research."

'Money. It's always about how much cash you get to shove in your fucking pockets, huh?'

That was the part of his job he despised. Upper management was always looking out for how to get the next grant, which put undue stress on the research staff.

He pressed his lips together in a thin line; righteous indignation seethed in the pit of his stomach.

Percy stood up and pressed his hands against the steel counter. They were at an impasse, but he let some seconds slip by, since all of his anger was getting in the way of logical thinking.

"There has to be another way to solve this…" he made a gesture. "Whatever this situation is, sir."

Chiron did the unexpected by closing the folder. "Let's approach the solution from a different angle, Jackson. It's apparent that we have two different opinions, but I'm willing to be open to a discussion. You've proven yourself in the past before, so why not think it over and get back to me in a few hours?"

Percy was dumbstruck. Who the hell was this and what had they done with his boss?

Chiron reached out a hand to shake on the deal.

"Yes sir, that's doable and I will get back in touch with you in a short time. Thank you, thank you very much sir."

Despite the fact that he was marginally confused, Percy presented a self assured presence.

As soon as Chiron left the room, he checked on the turtle and looked for a wheeled cart to carry her to imaging.

He removed his phone out of his pocket, expecting a reminder about the appointment, but instead, was pleasantly surprised.

'I had a great time last night. Let's talk soon xo A'

She also sent a selfie from the beach. Even with windblown hair and a bare face, Annabeth was stunning.

'Me too. We will talk soon and Mary says hello.' Percy sent her a shot of himself with the turtle in the transportation case.

"Annabeth thinks you're interesting and cool, Miss Shelley." He walked around the cart, making sure that the turtle was secure and comfortable. "Shit, I forgot to ask Chiron about the tour." He dragged his hand through his hair. If he had an assistant like Annabeth, then she could go on to imaging while he handled his supervisor.

'Wait…wait a damn minute.'

An impulsive idea began to form in Percy's mind, one he hoped Chiron would approve.

Thank you so much for reading and I am working on the next chapter. HUGS!