Chapter 31

As soon as they had their name, Leo erased any record of their search from the computer, and they told Maxwell that he had nothing to worry about, and there was no mole. He seemed pretty happy about that, but was still sure to ask if the President would be told of his helpfulness. They assured him he would, and left him. Nico met up with the rest of the group as they were on their way out. He had wiped the security footage from the entire day, and deactivated the cameras, so they wouldn't record anything new until they were long gone.

As soon as that was done, and they were clear of the building, Percy and Nico shadow travelled the rest of the group back to Manhattan. They had a name for the guy Frank had met with. Owen Cooper. He was American, Caucasian, 5'10, 190 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, 32 years old. He was mortal. He was an insurance adjuster for some firm in the city. That was about it. Nothing remarkable about him, whatsoever. As boring as could be.

Except for the fact that he had met with one of the deadliest demigods in the word, just a few minutes before that demigod wound up dead.

What the fuck was that about? What did he have to do with any of that? They were about to find out.

Percy and Hazel were standing outside the guy's front door, having just knocked. He lived alone in an apartment in Manhattan. No wife, no kids, no girlfriend. That was good. It made things a lot easier for them. And Percy would hate to make a wife into a widow, or take a kid's dad away.

The others had wanted to come with them, but Percy had said no. They needed to stay away until they were inside, for a few reasons. First, because large crowds drew attention. Second, because the apartment wasn't very large, and Percy was going to need space for what he was planning to do.

Honestly, Percy would have rather gone in completely alone, but it didn't seem fair to make Hazel wait on the sidelines with everyone else. Everyone loved Frank, but Hazel was the one who was married to him. They all understood that she was more invested in the situation. He had just had to fill her in on the plan.

They waited until Cooper was close enough to the door. He had a gun; a pistol, and Percy wanted him as close to the door as possible, when they broke in. Maximum shock, and minimum distance to travel before taking the gun out of the equation. It might not have been strictly necessary, and Percy would have just barged straight in without a care had Hazel not been there, but he wasn't about to risk her safety. They had lost enough of their own.

And then it happened. Cooper got within 10 feet of the front door. Percy judged that as close enough. He could cover 10 feet in no time at all. Certainly too quick for Cooper to draw his weapon, aim, and get a shot off that had a chance in hell of doing any damage to anyone.

Percy nodded to Hazel and took a quick step back. Then he took 2 long, fast strides forward, and slammed his boot into the center of the door as hard as he could. And that was pretty damn hard. The door flew off its hinges and splintered. It flew back far enough that it hit Cooper where he was standing, and sent him stumbling away as his hands flew to his face, and Percy spotted a flash of red. Probably a broken nose.

With the door out of the way, Percy swept into the apartment, going straight for Cooper, who was still completely stunned. He grabbed him by the throat, and forced him on his stomach. He wrenched his hands behind his back, and snatched the gun out of the waistband of his pants, and forced it against the base of his skull.

"DOWN ON THE GROUND! DOWN ON THE GROUND! NOW NOW NOW! GET DOWN! STAY DOWN!"

It was an intimidation tactic used by police all over the world. After a brutal entry, screaming at the top of your voice helped keep the target off balance. It kept them from getting their bearings, and trying to think of something to do. Percy knew it was an effective tactic, but he didn't like using it very often. Screaming like that, made him feel a bit self-conscious. When he got mad for real, he didn't scream like that. He went silent instead. It was a lot scarier for anyone on the receiving end, in most cases. But this wasn't one of them, so some slightly embarrassing screaming was called for.

Now that Cooper was disarmed, and thrown off his game, Percy wrapped his huge hand around the back of Cooper's neck, like a rabbit, and forced him up and across the room, against the wall. Percy spun him around, and pinned him against the wall again. Then he darted back, and shoved a nearby table against Cooper's midsection to keep him in place. He kept his foot pressed against the table to keep the pressure on, and keep Cooper immobile. Cooper's gun, an old Glock chambered for NATO-standard 9mm Parabellum rounds, was trained dead-on between his eyes.

That was when Hazel made her way inside too. Percy had given her his handgun, and she wasn't very familiar with it, but she was following his lead, keeping it aimed right at Cooper's head. She was glaring at the guy with utter hatred. As far as she knew, this was the guy that had killed the love of her life. He couldn't blame her for being furious.

Percy was left with a slight tactical problem. It was pretty minor, but it was still a loose end. Percy had survived over 40 years in a pretty brutal lifestyle, and he hadn't done it by leaving loose ends.

The problem was with the gun he was holding. It was a Glock, which was a fairly reliable brand, but it was an old gun, that hadn't been taken care of particularly well, in all likelihood. Who knew if it even worked? Nothing worse than pulling the trigger on someone, and then not having anything happen. He moved his aim to the right ever so slightly, so that the bullet would hit the wall a few millimeters from Cooper's left ear. And then he pulled the trigger. The gun worked just fine. The round left the chamber at 1500 feet per second, with a deafening roar, and slammed into the wall that cooper was pressed against, exactly 3 millimeters from his left ear.

If not for Jason muting all sound within the apartment, the cops would already be on their way. Knowing someone who could manipulate air currents, was pretty handy.

By that point, Cooper was screaming at the top of his voice. Percy figured that was fair enough. But it also wasn't what they needed. He took out a piece of duct tape that he had prepared beforehand, reached over, and covered Cooper's mouth with it. Then he pressed the muzzle against his temple and spoke very quietly.

"Shut up. Now." he said in a low, threatening tone.

Something in his voice made Cooper listen. Made him realize that things would go a whole lot worse if he didn't. He went quiet, but his eyes only went wider, and started to well up with tears. Percy let him stew for a few moments, and then slowly peeled off the tape.

"W- What do you want?" he sobbed.

"SHUT UP!" Hazel screamed, and punched him in the gut, making Cooper keel over.

"We'll ask the questions here, Cooper," Percy added.

"Ok ok ok. What do you want to know?" he asked desperately.

"Frank Zhang," Percy said, prompting him.

"Never heard of the guy!"

Hazel hit him again, "DON'T LIE!"

"I'M NOT. I'VE NEVER HEARD OF HIM, I SWEAR!"

Hazel reared her arm back to hit him again, but Percy caught her. She reared on him, with a wild look in her eyes that worried him slightly. If she was losing it, this whole thing was going to go sideways pretty quick.

"He's telling the truth," he told her quietly.

"What in HADES are you talking about? We have them on tape!"

"Wha- Hades?" Cooper sobbed, obviously confused.

"Shut it!" Percy snapped before turning back to Hazel.

"Percy, what are you talking about?" she asked again.

"He doesn't know the name," he told her before turning back to Cooper, "The guy you met with 3 nights ago! Really tall, really muscular Asian guy. You met him in a bar."

His eyes went wider. Now he knew who they were talking about.

"Oh."

"Tell us what you know," Percy said roughly.

"WHY DID YOU KILL HIM!?" Hazel demanded beside him.

"Whoa whoa whoa! I didn't kill him, I swear!"

"Then who the hell did?!" Percy snapped back.

"The guy that talked to me!"

Percy and Hazel shared a look.

"What guy?" he demanded.

Cooper took a second to breath.

"About a week ago, this guy found me. Showed me a picture of the guy - Frank, I guess - he told me to meet him at a bar, and tell him I knew something about some woman."

"What woman?"

"Some girl…. Anna-something. Annabelle, maybe!" Percy's blood ran cold.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked sharply.

"YES! That was it. Annabeth. I was supposed to go over to him, and tell him I had information on her murder. We were supposed to meet at that bar, and I was supposed to keep him talking for a while. He told me all kinds of stuff to make it convincing."

"Like what?!"

"He told me to say that she was looking into something. Some conspiracy. He told me to make it real convincing."

Percy took a few seconds to absorb that. He knew it was a lie. But he got the feeling that Cooper wasn't the one doing the lying. He had been fed a bullshit story, and he had relayed the bullshit to Frank. But if someone knew enough about the whole thing to make up something like that, then one thing was clear. The guy that was pulling Cooper's strings was a demigod. No other way for them to know enough about that. There wasn't even a way for anyone to connect Frank to Annabeth, unless they were in on the whole thing.

"Then what?!"

"What do you mean, man?"

"After you fed him the story, what were you supposed to do next?" Percy demanded.

"I was supposed to get him out into that back alley."

"Then what!?" he repeated.

"That's it! I swear, man, I swear! He said he would take it from there! I told him there was something out there he needed to see, and we went outside! I didn't know what he was gonna do, man, I swear! You have to believe me, you have to!"

"What happened when you got outside?" Hazel asked weakly.

Percy turned to look at her. She seemed deflated. Like all her earlier energy had dissipated when she had learned that this wasn't the guy that had actually done it. She suddenly seemed so small. So tired. Her shoulders were slumped forwards, and her eyes looked bloodshot. She wasn't even aiming the gun at Cooper anymore. Her arm was hanging loosely by her side. Percy took over the questioning himself, and decided to mix up his strategy a bit. Instead of the loud, explosive energy he'd been employing up until then, he went back to his preferred method, of quiet, menacing low-tones.

"She asked you a question," Percy grunted.

"He came out of nowhere. I didn't even see him. All of a sudden, he was right behind your man, Frank, and he hit him from behind. He hit him again and again, until he wasn't moving anymore."

"Why did you go along with all this?"

"I- I got gambling debts, man. These loan sharks jumped me in some alley one night, and started beating on me. That guy, he stopped them. I told him what was going on, and he said if I did something for him, he'd take care of them for me."

Then, it seemed Cooper tried to get a bit clever.

"Please man, I got a wife!" he was trying to get their sympathy.

"Don't try that bullshit on us, we looked into you. You're not married, you have no kids, and you live alone."

"I mean… someday!"

"Oh, shut up!"

Percy thought for a second. Maybe Cooper could tell them some more.

"Describe the guy who told you to do it."

"He was a big guy. Real buff. Not as big as your friend, but still a lot bigger than me. He had black hair."

"What color were his eyes?"

"I don't know; I don't remember."

Percy thought for a second, "How did he seem. How did he hold himself."

"What?"

"Was he confident? Was he nervous? Did he seem at-ease? How did he move? Was he lumbering, or did he move gracefully, like an athlete?"

"Um… I guess he seemed pretty confident. Like he was in control of everything. And he seemed… ambitious, guess. I know a lot of guys like that. They're looking to get promoted. And he moved like some kind of dancer, but he was pretty heavy, so his footsteps always left these big thuds."

Percy thought for a few moments on how to deal with the situation at hand. Cooper clearly knew a lot. Too much, maybe. But he had told them all he knew, and he hadn't been the one who killed Frank. He hadn't even known what was going to happen. Did that earn him some leniency? He had still been complicit, after all. But still. He hadn't really done anything.

"Let's go, Hazel," Percy said.

She nodded mutely, and left the apartment. Percy turned to do the same, when Cooper spoke up.

"So… so you're not gonna do anything to me?"

Percy stopped, a few feet from the door.

"Those loan sharks that guy saved you from; what were they going to do to you?"

"I guess… I guess they were gonna break my legs? That's the kind of thing I did for them."

"You… You worked for them before?"

"Yeah. Sometimes they would ask me to do it, you know, to settle my debts."

"Hm. Well, you know what they say," Percy said, as broke off one of the table legs, "What goes around, comes around."

10 minutes later, Percy met up with Hazel and the rest of the group at a nearby cafe.

"What did you guys found out?" Jason asked as soon as they walked through the doors.

They took a seat at a large table as close to the corner as they could get. Percy hated sitting with his back to the rest of the room, so he took a seat where he could see everything in his line of sight. He didn't really need to, since his superhuman senses would alert him to any threat long before his eyes, but it still felt better.

"Wasn't him."

"You're absolutely sure?"

"Positive. But we do have something."

"Like what?"

"A description. Black hair, tall, muscular, confident, graceful, ambitious. Cooper said he seemed confident; at ease. I think it was a demigod."

They all went quiet. Demigods killing other demigods was one thing, but doing it like that? Recruiting someone to distract him, and then beating them to death from behind, was a whole other matter. It was sick, and twisted. And none of them wanted to face the idea that one of their own could pull something like that.

"So, who matches that description?" Piper asked.

Percy sighed and leaned back in his chair, "About 40 sons of Ares/Mars. And that's just the most obvious group."

They all lapsed into thought. Cooper had helped them, sure, but there was still a pretty huge pool of suspects. Percy thought about Estelle, in her apartment, probably drinking the tea Percy had bought for her apartment. Maybe even smoking. He felt weirdly jealous of her. Her job was probably a lot simpler than this. He was dealing with the children of Gods. People who could control magical abilities, and participated in complicated governments, based on Ancient Greece and Rome. At least Estelle had some cast-iron methods of investigation. Motive, means, opportunity.

He blinked. He was an absolute idiot. What the hell had he been thinking? Why had he wasted so much time? The answer was so simple. So painfully, brutally simple. What was wrong with him?

Sure, demigods were the children of Gods, but they were still human. Half, at least. Why had he thought they were impervious to all the plain-vanilla motives of ordinary people? How had Cooper described the guy? Ambitious. Demigods certainly weren't immune to ambition. Octavian had been a perfect example of that.

"Frank was a Praetor," he told the rest of the group.

Jason, Hazel, and Reyna immediately understood what he meant. The others were Greek. They didn't understand the meaning behind the position. Not like the others did.

"Ok, so…?" Thalia asked.

"Praetor of the 12th Legion is an incredibly prestigious position. One worth killing over, without a doubt," Reyna told them.

And that was when they grasped it.

"Reyna, who's replacing Frank as Praetor?" Percy asked her urgently.

"It's up for debate. There's a few different candidates."

"Who's the most likely to win? Whoever did this, wouldn't have bothered if they weren't ready to succeed him."

She though for a second before speaking again, "Stephen Dennis, probably. He's a son of Minreva, though."

"So, blonde and slim?" Piper asked.

Reyna shook her head, "No, he's not thin at all. He's a lot bigger than any of his brothers. Maybe 6'1? And he spends a lot of time in the gym. But he is blonde."

They all went quiet for a few more moments before Percy spoke again, "It would be the easiest thing in the world for him to dye his hair. It would certainly throw off any suspicion. Has there ever been a child of Minerva or Athena that didn't have blonde hair."

"But Cooper said he met this guy out of the blue. It's not like he tracked him down. It was a completely chance meeting out on the street some day," Hazel pointed out.

"What if it wasn't? What if this guy, Dennis, did his homework. He could have selected Cooper ahead of time, dyed his hair so that he couldn't give an accurate description, and followed him."

"But why would he choose Cooper, of all people?"

"Because he knew about Cooper's debts, presumably. Just before we left the apartment, Cooper said he did some leg-breaking work for some local loan sharks on a few occasions. He did it to settle his debts. Why would the loan sharks suddenly break habit, and try to beat the money out of him, instead of letting him work it off? Dennis could have paid a few tough guys 50 bucks to beat on Cooper, and then swooped in and saved the day. If he did this whole thing to get to Frank, then he's easily devious enough to pull it off."

They went quiet again. He saw that they were starting to see his side of things. He was winning them over.

"This all sounds reasonable, but can we prove any of it?" Jason asked him.

Percy sighed, "Probably not. But we can always try to get him to confess."

"How, exactly?"

"Leave that to me."

None of them knew what to say in response to that. They'd spent the last 2 decades doing some pretty serious training, but none of them had ever tortured anyone. Just him. And none of them wanted to acknowledge that fact.

"And if he doesn't confess? I mean, let's be real here, there's a chance we're wrong about this. We could be trying to get the wrong man to confess to something."

"All I need, is one conversation with him. I can figure out if he did it or not, by how he reacts to a few questions," Percy told them.

"Are you sure?" Jason asked.

He sounded worried. And Percy figured that was fair enough. Jason figured if he was wrong, then he would end up torturing a confession out of the wrong guy. It was a scary thought, but Percy was fairly confident that he'd get it right.

He turned to Reyna, "You're a praetor; could you have him meet us at the Via Principalis?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"Good. Iris message him now, and have him meet us in an hour."

"We're doing this now?" Piper asked, shocked.

"The sooner; the better," Hazel answered in his place.

None of them were willing to argue with her. They figured the widow deserved to call the shots.

The group made their way out into a back alley, and shadow travelled to Camp Jupiter. It took some discussion, but eventually Hazel agreed to sit out the meeting with Dennis. It was going to be a conversation that relied on subtlety, and if her earlier conversation with Cooper was any indicator, she wasn't up for it. It was just going to be him and Reyna.

After a few minutes of discussing strategy, Percy and Reyna saw Stephen Dennis walk through the door. He looked exactly like Reyna had described. A big guy, though not when standing next to Percy. Very muscular. Blonde hair.

"Stephen Dennis?" Percy asked, as if he didn't know.

"Yes, sir," he said smartly.

"Please, have a seat," Percy said, gesturing to the seat in front of the desk he and Reyna were sitting at. Rena was in her usual seat, and Percy was in Frank's. It felt horribly wrong, but Percy was ultimately a practical person, and there was no other seat in the room that held as much power in Dennis' eyes.

"You have to understand, what we're about to tell you is top secret. You can't say a word about it to anyone outside these walls," Reyna opened.

It was a fairly basic tactic, as Percy had learned in his interrogation classes. An opening like that, made the subject feel important. It made them feel like they were in on it. And it worked to give them a subliminal feeling of "We're all on the same side here, so lets share information, right?". Overall, under the circumstances, there weren't many better options. He was pretty pleased that Reyna had picked it straight away. They hadn't discussed any of that beforehand. Apparently, after serving as Praetor for so long, she instinctively knew the best way to go about it.

"Of course, Praetor. You have my word."

This guy, Dennis, was pretty good, Percy thought. He seemed legitimately earnest, with an undertone of confusion as to what they were about to tell him. Of course, he knew. Considering the position he held, and the fact that he knew what had happened to Frank, there was no reason for him to think they had called him in for anything else.

And beneath all of that, there was something else. Fear. Fear that they had figured him out. That they had not only identified Frank as the victim, but had then traced the body back to Cooper, and then managed to get a description of Cooper that was useful enough to lead them right to him. Percy saw him running through the scenarios in his head, right in front of them. He kept all of it clear off his face, but the eyes told him everything he needed to know.

He was sure. This was the guy that had orchestrated the hit. He just had to manipulate him into revealing himself enough for Reyna to agree with him. She was still Praetor, and wouldn't take very kindly to him beating the shit out of one of her legionnaires, without good reason.

"There's no easy way for us to tell you this, so we'll just tell you. Praetor Zhang is dead," Percy said, and watched very carefully for Dennis' reaction.

And it was perfect. Truly, flawless. Percy couldn't have done it better, had he been in Dennis' place. There was the perfect amounts of shock, and grief, and confusion, and absolutely no hint of malice or glee. This bastard was good. A son of Minerva, indeed.

"I- How? When? Who?" Dennis stammered out.

Percy clenched his fist under the table, but kept his face completely passive.

"A few nights ago, in New York City. We don't know who did it."

He watched Dennis a bit more. He was starting to slip now. His moment of maximum danger had passed. He was good at lying, but Percy was supernaturally brilliant at it. So, there was no shadow of doubt in his mind, that Percy was telling the truth when he said that they didn't know who was behind it.

He was starting to relax. It was almost imperceptable, but it was definitely there. His posture slackened ever so slightly, the tension in his brow relieved itself a little, and his mouth relaxed it's fixed line a tiny bit.

Would Percy have been able to pick up on any of that without Chaos' first blessing? Unlikely. Which meant it was also unlikely that Reyna had noticed. He was going to have to keep the conversation rolling a little bit longer. But if he was already relaxing, then it wouldn't be long.

"Could it have been one of us?" Dennis asked, acting as though the very notion was unfathomable to him.

"Bad question," Percy thought out of professional interest. If Percy and Reyna hadn't already thought of that, then he would have handed them an idea on a silver platter. Of course, they had, but Dennis didn't know that yet. So he still shouldn't have said it.

"Well, that's why we've asked you to meet us here," Percy replied, "Personally, I doubt this has anything to do with demigod business. It was probably a mortal, based on where and how it was done. Our working theory at the moment, is that it has something to do with Praetor Zhang's mother. From what we've learned, she's involved with a gang, and they might have done this to send her a message."

That was a risk, but a calculated one. There was a good chance that Dennis didn't know anything about Frank's mom. Frank didn't talk about her to just anyone. It wasn't until they knew each other pretty well, that he had told Percy. And he and Dennis probably weren't nearly as close.

Dennis slipped up for a second time. He relaxed a little bit more, and his eyes got a slight gleam to them. A gleam of victory, but a completely coincidental victory. Like the universe had just done him a massive favor. Reyna still wasn't picking up on it.

"That's awful. Mortals can be so savage at times," Dennis said with a degree of legitimate venom.

"Maybe an abusive mortal parent," Percy thought iddly.

It was horribly common among demigods. Sometimes, the mortal parents couldn't deal with their child being a freak, or a troublemaker, so they sought to beat some good behaviour into them. Percy noted the theory about Dennis' father for later. It might come in handy.

"That's true. But even so, as Romans, we have to consider all options, and move accordingly to ensure our security. There's always a possibility, however remote, that this was done by a demigod," Reyna picked up.

"Nice segway," Percy thought, out of professional interest again. "She's good,"

"What does that mean?" Dennis asked.

The perfect practical question. They had danced around it until then, but he was coming as close as he dared, to asking them out-right, why he was there.

"What does this mean, for me?" he was asking them.

"Stephen, I don't think it's much of a secret, but in the event of Praetor Zhang's death, you're the obvious replacement. Your cohort respects you, and you have a good ballance of political and strategic thinking. There's no doubt that you have the makings of an excellent Praetor," Reyna told him.

"You honor me, Praetor," Dennis replied, bowing his head.

"If a demigod is behind this senseless act, then it can only be politically motivated. Praetor Zhang had no enemies, personally. He was beloved by all."

A hint of panic in Dennis' grey eyes. Time to press harder.

"We think, that if this was indeed a demigod, their motive would be for Praetor Zhang's position within the Legion."

More panic.

"We have concluded that you are the obvious replacement."

More panic. Time for the kill.

"So, Praetor Zhang's killer would be more than able to draw the same conclusion."

And there it was. Percy's intention hadn't been to keep him panicking. It was to make him panic more and more, and then to alleviate it. The relief that flooded Dennis' body, was perfectly clear to Percy, and more importantly, to Reyna as well. He could tell that she noticed. Anyone with a keen enough eye, would have. Panic building to dangerous levels, and then releasing all of a sudden, was an incredibly difficult reaction to hide entirely.

Now that Reyna knew, Percy was going to start hitting him where it hurt.

"And for that reason, we felt we needed to give you a warning. Be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Especially of any mortals. There's a possibility that our killer might use one to lure you into a false sense of security."

Instantly, Dennis' guard was up. That was far too specific. Good.

"Is that… is that likely?"

"We think that's how Praetor Zhang was killed."

"What makes you think that?"

"We have footage of him meeting with a mortal in a bar, mere minutes before he was killed."

"Well… Well, surely that would implicate the mortal, right?"

"Not good under pressure," Percy noted. He was coming undone. Which was understandable, he figured. He'd been under a lot of stress ever since orchestrating the whole thing, and now he was hearing that a group of the most fearsome demigods in the world were far closer to him than he had ever wanted them to get.

"It would," Percy started, and then paused for a second, "But we tracked down the mortal."

"You did?" Dennis asked, his voice wavering.

There was absolutely no doubt anymore. He had practically confessed, by that point.

"Yes. A man named Owen Cooper. We had a nice, long conversation with him. It seems he was approached by a man, and recruited into this whole thing. He was just a pawn."

"Oh," Dennis practically gulped.

Percy nodded and carried on, "And based on the description he gave us of the man who approached him, we think it's quite likely that this man was a demigod."

"Really? I thought you said it was a mortal gang?"

"In fact," Percy continued as if he hadn't heard him, "Now that I think about it, you match the description exactly, Mr. Dennis."

"But I'm blonde!" Dennis sputtered before he could stop himself.

Percy smiled a sadistic, horrifying smile at him. He had won. It was a fucking textbook interrogation, as taught by Chaos' instructors. They would have been proud of him. Or at least, as proud as those assholes were capable of being.

"We never said the man in the description wasn't blonde. Tell us, Stephen, how did you know that?" Reyna asked, ice in her voice.

If a person were to open a dictionary, and search for the expression, "Like a deer caught in headlights" they would find an image of Stephen Dennis' face at that exact moment in time. Because now he knew it too. He knew two things. He was right about one, and wrong about the other. He knew that they knew it was him. He was right about that, of course. He also knew that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. He was wrong about that one though.

He wasn't going to see the inside of a cell.

Hazel was going to beat him to death.

Percy swung his massive arm across the table like a club, and hit Dennis on the side of the head with brutal force. The blow was enough to knock him off his chair, and send him crumbling to the floor.

Percy turned to Reyna, "Get Hazel. I'll watch our friend, here."

She nodded, and left. Percy got up, and walked around the table, to sit down where Dennis had been sitting until very recently. Dennis was still on the floor, trying to get his bearings. Percy used his foot to kick him, so that he was facing the ceiling. Then he used the same foot to crush Dennis' ribs, and keep him pinned to the floor. He may have pressed harder than necessary, to keep him immobile. But Frank had been his friend. He wasn't about to go easy on his killer.

A moment later, Hazel swept into the room.

"You're sure?" she asked urgently.

"Positive. He practically confessed. Do you want me to make him say the words, before you get started?"

She just nodded. He could see she was apprehensive about beating a demigod to death, without knowing for sure that he was the guy.

"Listen up, Stephen. Tell us what you did to Frank," Percy said in a deadly serious tone.

The rest of the group made their way inside, and closed the door behind them. Each of them had fire in their eyes. They were glaring at Dennis, with complete and utter loathing.

Dennis grunted from the floor. It was an awful sound. Like stepping on bagpipes.

"Not good enough, Stephen. Use your words."

To allow him to speak, Percy lessened the pressure on his chest.

Dennis gasped, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please! Please don't kill me!"

The situation was dawning on him. He knew that if they had any intention of sending him to prison, they would have done it by then. He was pleading for his life.

"If you confess, then we might consider letting you rot in a cell," Percy lied.

"Alright! It was me! I had that mortal give Zhang information on the Athena girl! I snuck up behind them in the alley! I hit Zhang in the back of the head, with a brick! PLEASE don't kill me!" he sobbed.

"You fucking coward," Percy hissed, "Are you a fucking coward, Dennis? Is that why you hit him from behind?"

"Yes!"

"SAY IT! SAY THE WORDS!"

"I'M A FUCKING COWARD, JUST PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

"I don't think so,"

"But-But you said if I confessed, you wouldn't kill me!" he gasped indignantely.

"I said we'd consider it. It's really up to Hazel. It was her husband you killed, after all. She should make the decision."

Dennis turned to look at Hazel pleadingly. She took a step forward.

"Wait," Reyna interrupted.

Hazel spun on her so quickly, Percy barely even saw her turn.

"This is still my office. Let's do it somewhere else. I don't want to have to clean the blood," Reyna explained.

Hazel nodded.

"My tent, back at camp. Jason can seal off any sound we make. Everyone link up."

They made two groups, and Percy and Nico shadow travelled them back to Percy's tent. Immediately, Percy turned to Hazel.

"How do you want him? Tied to a chair? On the floor? Tied to a wall?"

She thought for a second before replying, "The wall."

Percy found some rope, tied it around Dennis' wrists, and then to a support beam that ran the length of the tent wall. Once he was sure it was secure, he stepped back to let Hazel get to work.

And get to work, she did. She was pretty good at it. She would have sailed through Percy's interrogation classes back in Chaos' realm, just as easily as he had. She took her time, and she did it right. She spent nearly half an hour on him. And by the time she was ready for the killing blow, Dennis was no more than a sobbing wreck.

Percy, and the rest of the group, stood watching. They didn't go anywhere, or do anything, aside from Jason manipulating the air to keep the screams quiet to anyone outside the tent. They weren't sickened or disturbed. Frank had been their friend. As far as they were concerned, his killer was getting what he had coming.

When Hazel was finally ready to end it, she hesitated. For the first time in half an hour, someone aside from Hazel and Dennis spoke.

"Hazel? What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"This… this isn't right," she said quietly.

Percy was vaguely surprised by that. He had assumed she would be all set to kill him. Especially considering the things she had already done. But Percy had said that it was her decision, and he had meant it.

"If that's how you feel, then ok. We can have him locked up."

"No. That's not what I mean. I mean, this is too private. People need to see what happens when someone messes with us. They need to see the consequences of killing one of our own. Reyna, can you have the legion gather on the Field of Mars?"

Reyna nodded.

Half an hour later, the entire 12th Legion was watching, along with most of the non-legionnaires from the city, as Reyna gave her speech.

"A few nights ago, Praetor Zhang was killed in New York City. And worse, he was killed by one of our own, in an effort to usurp his position as Praetor. Centurion Stephen Dennis has confessed to this vile crime, and has been sentenced to death. No demigod, Greek or Roman, should have to fear their own brothers and sisters. Not in a world where we should be united against common threats, such as the monsters, and Giants, that have plagued us all. A crime of such magnitude, shall be dealt with swiftly, and brutally. Senator Lavesque, the floor is yours."

Hazel stepped forward. Dennis was on his knees, bent forward at the waist, hands shackled behind his back. She stepped perpendicular to him, and slowly unsheathed her long Spatha. She held the weapon in both her hands and raised it high over her head before cleaving it down, and decapitating Dennis at the neck, like cutting through butter with a hot knife.

The crowd was completely silent.