"You get 20 minutes." The disgruntled nurse told Percy and Poseidon. Percy wished he had been paying attention when the nurse had introduced herself, she was doing them a big favor, but his guilt was erased by his excitement.

"Got it." Poseidon said.

"I'm serious. Percy needs to stay in bed and rest. But truthfully, I don't think that's even possible with him."

"Got it." Percy echoed. The nurse must've seen that everything she was saying was going in one ear and out the other and sighed.

"She's definitely your mother's kid. I've heard she hasn't been too easy on her ward since she found out you got here." She stepped out of the way allowing Poseidon to push past the threshold. "And if you get caught, play dumb."

Poseidon navigated the halls easily, almost like he'd done it before. And he makes quick work of crossing the giant hospital, turning Percy's wheelchair to avoid busy hallways, which he appreciated.

"You know she woke up a couple of days ago, you slept through that. She might still be a little confused, emotional even. And I don't want you to get overly excited either." Percy forgot to nod, and Poseidon poked him in his shoulder.

"Oh yea. Sure. No excitement. No emotions. Just calm." Percy tapped his fingers on the armrests of the wheelchair, hoping to expel some of his energy. He was itching to get out of it. Poseidon must've decided any other warnings were futile, turned them around, and used his back to open the door.

"Poseidon I swear to God if you came back to this room without my son I will-"

"Mom?"

Percy lurched out of the seat, sliding back into his father from the force as he barreled himself toward his mom.

"Oh Percy. God. Percy." He didn't realize he had started crying until he felt his moms hand rubbing his shoulders as they shook. He tried to speak to her, to explain how much h missed her, how scared he'd been, how much he had tried to make her proud. But all that came out was an embarrassing blubber he was glad no one else was around to see.

"I'll just give you two some time for now." he heard Poseidon say in the background. He hoped the guy wouldn't take it personally that he wasn't getting much attention. Sally waited until they heard the door click shit before she tried to make Percy move.

"Percy, Percy baby look at me." He gave himself a couple more seconds burrowed in her side. Her usual smell of various recipes and shampoo was replaced by hospital and antiseptic. But it didn't matter to him. She was his mom and she was finally awake. "Percy?"

It took all his strength to lift his head but he did, rewarded by his mom rubbing his tears away. Like if she stopped touching him he'd disappear.

"Hi baby."

"Hi mom." He was so caught up in all his emotions he wasn't even embarrassed at his voice cracking. "I got in a fight."

"I heard." His mom gave him a once over the best she could with her stiff body. Percy instantly moved to get up, feeling terrible for leaning so much of his weight on her when she obviously wasn't strong enough. She used her strength to hold him still.

"No, I got in two." He was afraid she'd be a little mad, disappointed even. Instead she stared at him with an unreadable expression. "But I won the other one, I swear."

His mom let out a snort and ruffled his hair.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

The next few moments were what Percy had been waiting for. He got to tell his mom everything from how scared he'd been just coming to Delphi to the swim team. He skirted around mentioning Luke as much as he could. There'd be time for that when he still didn't feel his heart pound when he thought of the older boy.

To his surprise his mom had even been a little familiar with some of the stories he told. Which made Percy feel a little bit better about talking so much while she had been asleep.

As excited as he was to see his mom, the strenuous activity of being excited was starting to take its toll. The grogginess from the meds or lack of was starting to come back and the all too familiar bone ache was starting to come back. His mother watched him stifle a yawn and pulled him forward to press a kiss to his forehead.

"I helped my swim team advance in our rankings too." He reached over from where he was curled up on the hospital bed to grab his swim medal, pressing it into his hand until it left an indent. After a couple beats of silence from his mom Percy looked over. Her eyes were wet and she had a weird smile on her face.

"You look good Percy." She said with such finality that for a moment Percy forgot about how beat up he was. "You look happy, you look healthy. Percy, I'm so proud of you."

Had anyone else grabbed and rubbed on his face like his mother did Percy would have been weirded out. But he leaned into the touch despite how uncomfortable the words made him.

"Percy, I'm so sorry. I should have done better by you."

"Mom, it's okay." He tried, but his mother wouldn't hear it.

"No, listen to me. Gabe is gone okay. He's going away, Percy, for a long time." He wanted to interrupt, and ask her how soon it would be since he'd seen the man around a few times. "Percy, I'm going to tell the police everything. And listen to me honey when they come talk to you, you tell them everything too."

The desperation in her voice scared him a little bit. And the fact that she seemed to know about all of the things Percy tried to keep secret. As soon as he'd gotten old enough to notice how Gabe treated his mom Percy had done his best to help her. But his only tactic had been to wear Gabe out when his mother wasn't home, and hide it so she wouldn't notice.

"Do you hear me Percy?" He couldn't help but think about the thrown bottles and the force of a grown man's punches. He thought about all of that being over and living someplace safe, just him and his mom.

"I promise Mom." She let go of his face and he childishly curled up tighter next to her. "So…when are we going home? I get to come back with you now, right?"

The silence that followed made his heart sink.

"Mom?" His mother sighed shakily, and pulled him closer. Percy noticed the clock in the front of the room and how much time haad passed and how little he had left. Too much was happening too, fast and he knew the bad news from his mom would make it worse.

"Percy, it's going to take a while for me to get better."

His heart pounded even harder. Now all he could think was that she was sick. She was sick and dying and the coma was just the beginning. That at the end of the day Smelly Gabe would have really taken the one thing that mattered the most.

"The doctors said it'll be a while before I'll be back at full strength. This is one of my good days, Percy."

"I can help out Mom," Percy said, jolting back up. "I can try and make some money. I won't get into any more trouble-"

"It's not that Percy. It's not you, it never was. But I'm hurt from the car accident. I'll need help from the doctors. That'll take a while."

"No-"

"And your father has offered to pay for it. He said he'd pay for the best of the best so I could get back to you faster Percy."

Her grip on his arm didn't feel like one of a hospital patient in need of extensive physical therapy, but Percy could barely process that as he fought back tears. He was really tired of crying, and he wiped his eyes to try and defend his case again.

"I don't want to go back to Delphi mom." Her grip on his arm got tighter as her voice wavered.

"Percy, I don't want you to go back to the group home. I want you to go somewhere I know you'll be safe. Poseidon is that, he'll take good care of you until I can."

All Percy could think about was how incredibly unfair this was. He'd finally seen his mom, he'd done his best at doing everything asked of him, only to be met with more problems.

"But I don't know him. And I don't want him, I want you." His mom gave him a couple of seconds to collect himself. She, unlike anyone else in Percy's life, had never gotten frustrated at the trouble he'd had with his emotions. He practiced the breathing exercises that had been hammered into his head and focused.

"Percy, you know I only want the best for you. And had I had any say in where you had it would have been with your father. Do you trust me?"

More than anything in the world, Percy thought. His throat was too sore to actually speak, so he nodded as definitely as he could.

Like he'd been listening, and Percy figured he probably had been with the volume he and his mother had kept, Poseidon poked his head in through the door.

"I won't lie, the time was up a while ago." Percy moved quickly to straighten himself out of his mothers hospital bed so his father wouldn't think he was a baby.

"We were just finishing up." Percy said, turning around to place his swim medal back on his moms nightstand. He gave her one last hug and accepted a kiss before forcing himself to be brave and follow Poseidon out the room.

He caught one last look at his mom. The most apparent thing being the relief on her face, and the exhaustion bleeding through.

Percy spent another day and half bored out of his mind in the hospital. If it weren't for the drugs that kept him mildly subdued he was sure he would have found a way to get in some kind of trouble for something. The thrumming in his body had dulled down to a simple throb, and it stayed that way unless he moved too much.

Which made doing things like putting on his shoes very painful. But he grimaced through it so that Poseidon wouldn't have to help him do anything else.

"Ready?" Poseidon leaned on the doorway casually, but Percy could still see the man's nerves, which was easy considering he and Poseidon practically shared a face.

"Yea. I'm just grabbing my stuff." Je reached over for the backpack that someone had dropped off but he could tell Annabeth had packed by the careful method.

"We're stopping by the group home to get the rest of your stuff, then we'll head over to my place. Everyone's excited to finally meet you." Poseidon kept an arm loosely draped over Percy's shoulder to guide them through the busy hallways. The hospital was…a lot. Enough that even if he hadn't been isolated in a room for a couple of days he'd still be overwhelmed.

"How far is your house?"

"Not far. Opposite direction from the city though."

Percy hemmed and hawed and focused on doing the math on how far he'd be from the hospital or if it'd guarantee a new school.

Pulling up to Delphi again for the first time in a minute felt nothing like the first time. There were no faces peeking out of the windows, which reminded him that he hadn't heard any updates on Jason's condition. He'd be sure to ask Thalia when he saw her.

Poseidon took too long to stop the car, so Percy may have jumped out while the car was actively braking, but the anticipation was making him itchy.

It didn't take long for someone, Coach Hedge because Mr. D was also still in the hospital, opened the door, and Percy got a view of the house.

"Welcome back cupcake," Hedge grunted. "Heard you took it like a champ."

"I guess." Before he could react to how awkward he felt, or even Poseidon's grumbling presence behind him he was looking for his friends. "Where's everyone at?" The thundering down the stairs answered his question.

"Dude! Your back! Your back!" Even through his surprise armful of Leo, Percy could spot Piper behind him. "Dude!"

"Dude!"

"Yo, I bet had I been there the three of us would have kicked his ass!" Coach Hedge coughed in the background, but other than that Leo's slip up went uncorrected. Then Leo started moving around, mock swinging like he was actually in the fight. From behind Percy, Poseidon pulled him out of reach of Leo's antics.

"Oh," Leo said, as if just realizing who was behind Percy, "You're not coming back to stay, are you?" It wasn't his fault but Percy still felt bad.

"Nah, I'm just here to get…my stuff." Leo took a step back, the smile melting off his face and his mop of hair covering his eyes.

Poseidon and Coach Hedge engaged in light conversation as Percy moved to his old room. Piper gave him a small smile as he passed her.

His room was a mess. After the fight, Percy had been too unconscious to take in the sight of it. The floor was covered in a sea of fabric. Clothes that Luke had been trying to pack joined by the bedding of both his and Luke's bed. It looked like someone had tried to come in and mop but he could still see some splotches of blood within the room.

He wasn't sure who it belonged to.

First, he emptied his drawers into the duffel bag Poseidon had brought for him. It wasn't like he had much, and considering the clothes he had been knocked out in were nowhere to be found Percy figured he could consider them gone too. This time his clothes were mostly clean, which he also appreciated. He wouldn't have to start chores at Poseidon's right away. His book and ipod were luckily still tucked away in his desk, and under his pillow was his moms sweatshirt. It had long lost her scent but just the knowledge of having something of hers would be enough for him.

Percy had never had as much stuff as Luke, which was apparent at how much stuff was still in the room. Even though all of his drawers were empty, something was still missing.

"Getting ready to leave?" He wasn't surprised to hear Annabeth's voice behind him, he knew she'd make her appearance at some point.

Annabeth stood in the doorway, wringing her hands in a nervous way Percy had never seen from her. He shifted awkwardly.

"Yea, my mom woke up. She said she wants me to go with Poseidon until…whenever."

"Oh, that's cool."

"I guess. The guy seems like a dork if we're being honest."

Another moment passed and Percy did his best to ignore the sound of one of his best friends trying not to cry as he tried to figure out what he was leaving behind.

"Thalia and Jason are gone. Jason never came back, and then a new social worker came with Thalia to get their stuff." A couple of hiccups broke up her sentence, and Percy tried to ignore the burning behind his own eyes.

Everything was happening too fast for him to process. It didn't matter that Luke was going to jail, that he'd found his long lost father, and alone in the room with just him a teary eyed Annabeth, the fact that his mother was awake barely brought him comfort.

"Thalia didn't say where she was going?" He had to figure out what he was leaving. Annabeth took in another shaky breath.

"No. Just-" She couldn't hang on any longer, and cut herself off with a sob. When Percy finally let himself turn around he and Annabeth clashed hard, holding each other as tight as they could.

"I didn't mean for this to happen, Percy. I'm sorry. And I thought-"

"It wasn't your fault."

"But he was different." Annabeth pulled back to look Percy in the eye. "He'd been different and I just didn't want to see it."

"He changed? I thought he was always like that." He knew the joke was good, or at least unexpected, because Annabeth gave him a tear stained laugh which was worth double than the usual side eye she gave him.

"Chiron told me to reach out to my dad after…everything that happened. He said it's the kind of thing parents are supposed to hear about." Annabeth pulled away completely and Percy found himself missing her warmth.

"Did you hear from him?" Annabeth took a moment to respond and Percy held his breath ready to be there if she started crying again.

"He said he wants me to try living with him. We're all getting new social workers because Mrs. Gleeson's in trouble, but I figured since everyone else is going back to their families, I could see if mine wanted me too." She meant it as a joke but Percy knew better. Annabeth just didn't have the same knack for humor like he did.

"Anyone would be dumb to not want you around." She squinted her eyes like she couldn't take him seriously, and they just relaxed in each others' precedence before everything changed for good.

"I was looking to see if I left anything. It feels like I'm forgetting something important."

"I don't know how you found anything in this room. It always looked like this." Percy looked at the mess on the floor.

"Ha ha. Very funny." Without another jab, Annabeth joined him on his empty side of the room and they both shifted through what was left of Percy's side. When she lifted his cover, because he was leaving and refused to make his bed, the unmistakable sound of glass sounded. His mind pulled him back to a few days ago. When his back had been pressed against the bed, with Luke's cold hands wrapped around his neck.

"My globe." He motioned for Annabeth to put her half of the blanket down and shifted through the broken glass.

"Careful." She hissed.

"I know." He mimicked her in a high pitched tone he knew she'd hate but was indeed careful as he looked for something specific. The globe base was cracked, reminding him of the amount of force he'd had to use. Unharmed, in the crevice between the bed and the wall, was the dolphin figure that had been floating inside. Percy remembered spending hours staring at it, ignoring his mom and Gabe fighting or using it as a distraction from his own pain. Annabeth shifted a little closer, probably thinking he was upset by the way he was turning it around.

"...Sorry, Percy. I know that meant a lot to you." He shrugged.

"Wasn't your fault." He shook the remaining shards off, and even blew on it for good measure. He didn't want Annabeth to think he blamed her and he already felt bad for causing so much chaos at school for her to deal with. He passed her the figure.

"Something to remember me by," Percy said, wiggling his eyebrows. She didn't laugh.

"Too much time at the aquarium must've filled your brain with seaweed." Without a smart remark he was glad when someone called his name from downstairs.

"Whatever…whatever Annabeth." She always laughed when he didn't know what to say.

Poseidon was waiting at the door, shifting awkwardly. There wasn't much someone could talk about with Coach Hedge besides sports, and Poseidon didn't look like he cared much about the national leagues or anything. Chiron had joined them by now, and the three adults watched them trail downstairs.

"Is that all you…have?" Poseidon's question was followed by a couple of dirty looks but Percy understood where he was coming from. Even his duffel bag was half empty.

"Yea." As he passed Chiron to stand with Poseidon the older man reached to grasp his hand and Percy let him.

"Mr. Jackson, it's time for us to part ways. I will say I am gratefully sorry for the circumstances you're leaving us with, but you've blossomed well here, and it is to my hope that you will continue to do so elsewhere." Chiron always spoke with too many words that Percy cared to pay attention to, so he figured he'd be better off just nodding.

"Is Mr. D going to be back?" I saw all of the…" The heavy amount of blood that had been all over Luke's shirt flashed in his mind, but Chiron just waved his hand like nothing mattered.

"Ah, Dionysus will be fine. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot, but alas, my second in command was just rendered unconscious. He's taken a few days of leave and he'll be right back here."

"Oh." He was glad the guy wasn't dead but he felt bad that everyone else would still have to deal with his attitude. "Well that's good."

Chiron opened his mouth, probably to give another lengthy dismissal, but Poseidon cut him off with a final question.

"Percy was wondering about his friend that was admitted to the hospital with him." Poseidon squeezed Percy's shoulders, but he was too distracted by the fact that he'd asked about Mr. D before Jason.

"I'm afraid young Jason is no longer in my care, but last I heard, he would recover well if not with a little amnesia. But in due time he should be alright."

"Probably just means he'll forget his glasses on his head more often." Annabeth supplied from where she sat on the stairs.

With no new information, and no new questions, Percy said his final goodbyes. Chiron shook his hand again, Hedge gave him an overenthusiastic high five, and he got another hug from Leo. He knew better to expect anything physical from Piper and even Annabeth with so many eyes around. Instead, he settled on a wave that was dorky enough that he hoped Annabeth would laugh instead of looking as upset as she did.

She laughed, barely.