Work Text:
In the end, he did it all for his mom
.
i.
He never meant for it to go this far. A covered up death here and there, a once-in-a-blue-moon robbery, no big deal. Besides, it was for a good reason. Every slit of his knife, every alarm that went off, he thought of the one person he was avenging.
Sally Jackson was a goddess among women. She didn’t deserve a single misfortune to cross her path, yet it seemed that the deities sent their hardest battles to their strongest soldiers after all. Orphaned at six and pregnant at eighteen left her in an abusive relationship, only to die days after her thirtieth birthday. Her son was only twelve.
And so he sought revenge against the man who killed her. He dedicated his life to finding the man who’d killed her and taken her entire will with him. The man who had treated the most wonderful woman like she was the lowliest scum. The man who’d betrayed her after she’d loved him.
.
Percy was not a patient man. He tapped his foot and checked his watch again. Swirling his wine around the thin-stemmed glass had gotten old nearly ten minutes ago. She should have been here an hour ago. At the age of twenty-eight, he rarely allowed himself to go out, much less on a blind date set up by his friends. Right about now, the regret was beginning to set in.
“Sir, are you waiting on someone? It’s a busy night, and we don’t really have time for stragglers.” The server caught his attention. As he looked up, he noticed a woman slip inside the restaurant and past the others in line. The greeter nearly dropped his book when he caught sight of her, calling over a server to show her to her table. As she walked towards him, she commanded power and respect from the beings around her. She held her head high, never letting her composure slip.
They came to a stop at his table. Percy stood, forcing a smile to his lips. “I’m Percy Jackson. Nice to meet you.” He held out his gloved hand for her to shake. She took his hand and shook lightly.
“Annabeth Chase. I’m so sorry I was late, my Uber driver dropped me off at the wrong place and I had to walk the rest of the way.” She explained. She wore a black evening dress, a deep vee showing off the curves of her breasts.
“It’s alright, Annabeth.” Percy pulled her chair out for her. Something about her was familiar. He felt like he knew this woman, if not personally, than from the media.
“So, Percy,” Annabeth started, taking a sip of her wine. “It’s great to finally meet you. Grover has been talking about you non-stop. It’s appalling that we’ve gone so long without crossing paths.”
“Really? I haven’t talked to him in a few days, not since he left for Jamaica.” Percy attempted to respond, still sidetracked by his thoughts.
“Right,” Annabeth nodded.
After a moment of semi-awkward silence, he cleared his throat. “What do you do for work?”
She turned a light shade of pink as she gazed down into her glass of wine. “I’m a—sorry, I’m chief editor. For the New Yorker.”
“That’s really impressive.” Percy grinned half-heartedly. “I don’t know a whole lot about the publishing business, but that’s an excellent position.”
“Hm…how about you?” Annabeth quickly deflected.
Percy swallowed hard, running through his hobbies, attempting to come up with a realistic job. “I own a chain of photography schools across the country.” It wasn’t a lie, simply a deflection from his true profession.
“What inspired you to open schools like this?” She asked, leaning slightly closer.
“My mother was a bit of a photography nut before she died. It’s my way of honoring her.” Percy mentally smacked himself. He was a few moments into conversation with a beautiful, charismatic woman, and he was already oversharing.
“Interesting,” Annabeth smiled. From what he could infer, it was quite genuine.
Percy nodded, cheeks slightly flushed. He must have been coming down with something to have let his guard down so easily. “What stories do you work on?” He asked, deflecting the conversation away from himself.
The woman across the table bit the inside of her cheek, eyes wide. “Er—mainly political pages. My team is a great one, so I’m lucky that I can pass off a few of the more tedious tasks to them.” She chuckled lightly.
He smiled and nodded contemplatively. “Do you enjoy it? My cousin works for the New Yorker under your supervision and claims you are an excellent boss.”
“Is your cousin Miss Hazel Levesque?” Annabeth asked, wine glass half to her lips. Percy nodded. “She flatters me,” she grinned as she sipped her wine. “Hazel is a lovely woman, you are fortunate to be related to her.”
“She certainly is,” Percy’s eyes brightened at Annabeth’s praise of his cousin; Hazel would be extremely flustered to learn of her compliments.
The rest of the evening carried on similarly. Both adults were tipsy, classy, and flirtatious while maintaining their true secrets. Annabeth had a dusting of a blush on her cheeks as Percy cautiously and not-so-subtly flirted with her. Of all the dates Grover had attempted to set him up on, Percy was incredibly glad that this was the one he’d agreed to.
.
Percy woke up alone. The spot beside him was still warm, and judging by the rumpled black dress on the floor, Annabeth couldn’t have wandered too far. In the half-drunk haze of last night, they’d stumbled to his condo and shed their clothes.
His face flushed scarlet as he remembered the exact events of the prior night. The sensations, the filthy words whispered into the dark, the sharp cries of pleasure muffled by hasty lips. He remembered the way Annabeth’s face contorted in pleasure as she came. He remembered the way she’d whispered every dirty thing she wanted to do to him in his ear from behind. He remembered the frantic rustling of clothes and the swoosh as they fell to the floor.
With a deep groan, Percy sat up, ignoring the pleasant aches in his muscles. He rose from his bed and padded across the cold wooden floor to his closet. He dressed himself in a pair of grey sweatpants and a hoodie. On the way out, he retrieved a spare hanger for Annabeth’s dress.
He tentatively hung it off the hook over his bed with a lack of a better place.
The apartment smelled like rose oil and lemon, which Percy discovered came from a rose and lemon candle lit on the kitchen island.
“Good morning.” Annabeth greeted Percy as she came around the corner from the bathroom. She wore nothing more than a silk button-up, one he recognized from his own closet. This triggered yet another toe-curling memory: the image of his hands smoothing over the soft curve of her ass, squeezing just slightly to make her gasp.
“Good morning.” Percy repeated, stepping closer to the gorgeous woman in his kitchen. He wrapped his arms around her waist, causing the shirt to ruck up just the slightest amount. “I trust you slept well?”
“Very,” she gazed up into his eyes, a spark of last night’s hunger reignited. “I felt quite relaxed after our excursions.”
“Well,” Percy swallowed hard, attempting not to let his arousal show through his expression. “I may be able to help you relax just a few more times, sweetheart. Only if you’re interested, of course.”
Annabeth reached onto the counter and pulled a strawberry from the bowl that sat there. She took a tantalizing bite, allowing the red juices to run down her chin slowly. “I may consent.”
What followed would make Percy blush for days. Things he’d never do normally—however, Annabeth was anything but normal. He took her on the kitchen counter, just a few inches away from the bowl of strawberries. Then on the couch, where she rode him slowly, in sharp contrast to the desperate movements of the previous session. Afterwards, in the large jacuzzi tub where he got her off with both his fingers and his mouth, surrounded by water infused with rose and lemon. Sex with her was addicting, like the strongest drug one could imagine. He never wanted to stop, wanted to stay in her presence for eternity. She had enchanted Percy with her sultry gaze and her lingering fingertips.
Not only was she gorgeous, but she was the most intelligent mind he’d ever encountered. She never failed to have a witty comeback ready when Percy teased her, and she pointed out the most logical and efficient method of problem-solving when prompted. She single-handedly deciphered a budgeting crisis that he’d been attempting to fix for months. He was not ashamed to admit that it turned him on quite a bit.
“You don’t worry about people seeing in your windows?” Annabeth asked as she examined the large floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the easternmost wall.
“Not particularly. It’s far too high up to worry about, and they are tinted from the outside, so if one were to attempt to look inside, they would be fairly unsuccessful.” Percy explained. He was back in his sweats, and Annabeth was in an over-sized tee-shirt with a pair of Hazel’s leggings he’d found in his closet.
“She leaves her shit everywhere, I swear,” Percy had told Annabeth as he handed her the leggings. “It came in handy now, but not so much when I find her trashy romance novels on the coffee table.”
That had sparked an extensive conversation on the pros and cons of trashy romance novels as well as creating a list of tropes from best to worst.
The day wasted away as the two adults lay together on the living room floor, discussing trashy novels and occasionally making out…and getting carried away.
Soon the sunset was visible through the slits in the drawn curtains(which Annabeth had insisted be closed after they witnessed three birds crash into the window mid-sex). Annabeth was snoring lightly on his shoulder, her borrowed leggings discarded once again. Percy reminded himself to buy Hazel a new pair as he checked his phone for the first time all day. When he turned off do-not-disturb, it immediately began to buzz with texts and missed calls from Grover, Hazel, and employees.
“Shit,” he muttered, opening his chat with Grover to see what had made his friend so worked up.
G-Man
G-Man
(8:32 am) How did the date go?
(8:46 am) Hello? Come on I need answers
(9:12 am) Annabeth isnt answering her phone either
(9:13 am) Are you two together
(10:07 am) ok either you hooked up with her last night or you are working again
(10:09 am) which is ittttt
(10:10 am) bish pick up your goddamned phone
(12:25 pm) im coming for you man
(3:59 pm) did you murder her???? Please say you didnt shes my friend
(4:31 pm) alright i give up call me when you can
Percy
Sorry Man (5:43 pm)
Got caught up in stuff (5:43 pm)
The date went great, Annabeth is really nice (5:44 pm)
G-Man
(5:44 pm) shit i hate you
(5:44 pm) i was legitimately worried for you
(5:44 pm) what have you been doing all day???
Percy
I trust you dont need another picture of annabeth (5:45 pm)
G-Man
(5:46 pm) nah ive got plenty shes really photogenic
(5:46 pm) WAIT
(5:46 pm) NO WAY
(5:46 pm) dude youve been with annabeth all day??
Percy
Yeah shes fun to be with (5:48 pm)
Im emotionally fucked (5:48 pm)
This woman has ruined me (5:48 pm)
Shes literally amazing (5:49 pm)
Not just in bed btw (5:49 pm)
We talked about hazels trashy novels all afternoon (5:50 pm)
G-Man
(5:51 pm) It’s been a single day
(5:51 pm) how are you already whipped
Percy
I don’t fucking know (5:51 pm)
Should i be scared (5:51 pm)
G-Man
(5:14 pm) yes
.
Annabeth had slept for at least an hour after he’d stopped talking to Grover over text. As Percy realized that she was out cold, he scooped her up in his arms, careful to keep his hands to himself so as not to disturb her sleep, he lay her gently in his bed and shut the door.
When he recognized that the time was getting late and his stomach began to grumble, he began to rummage through the pantry to find something suitable to prepare for dinner. The last few weeks had found him in dire need of a home-cooked meal, meaning the pantry’s contents were sparse. The most he could find was a bag of rice and a can of peas that had been expired for three years, so he decided to order takeout.
Just after he finished ordering, a colleague called.
“Good evening, Nico.” Percy answered, slightly annoyed that Nico had picked now to call. “What can I do for you?”
Nico jumped straight to the point, blunt as usual. “We’ve got a lead on our suspect, boss.”
“Seriously?” Percy’s eyes widened in surprise. He’d been working with his team to find this man for months, yet they never found any concrete evidence. This, though, was a start. “Did you bring him to headquarters?”
“Yeah, he’s locked up in cell four. Real nice view of the torture chamber from there.” Percy could hear the smug tones of Nico’s voice. The younger man had a kind soul with a wicked taste for revenge.
He forced down his laugh. “Let Travis have a go at him, then send in Will to patch him up. I’ll be in on Monday to talk with him.”
“Why not tonight?” Nico asked suspiciously.
Percy coughed as a blush sprang to his cheeks. He was truly fortunate that Nico couldn’t see him. “I’m a bit occupied this weekend.”
“I’m sure you are,” Nico caught on quickly, a bored drawl to his voice. “Is it that girl your friend set you up with?”
“How’d you guess?”
Percy could practically hear Nico rolling his eyes. “I’m a psychic.”
“I’m sure you are, man.” Percy turned to the doorway where he heard Annabeth approaching. “I’ll see you on Monday. Shoot me a text if he’s being difficult and I’ll come in sooner.” He hung up the phone and walked up to Annabeth, wrapping his arms around the sleepy woman.
“You didn’t have to put me back in bed,” she mumbled into his chest. Her curly hair was frizzy around her head, yet still ethereal. The smooth blonde curls contrasted wonderfully with her honey skin tone. The soft swell of her ass rested just under Percy’s spread palms, however he refrained from sliding his hands further down to let her fully wake up.
“You wouldn’t have been too comfortable on the floor,” Percy reasoned. Not to mention he reveled in the feel of her body nestled between his arms.
Rather than responding, Annabeth smiled and slipped out of his hold. Her hips swayed from left to right as she combed her fingers through her hair. She strode lazily towards the double doors leading to the balcony that was just large enough to hold a small furniture set. “You’re quite the gentleman, Percy.”
“My mother would rise from her grave if she heard otherwise.” Percy stood in place, interested to see her next move.
“She must have raised you well.”
His breath caught in his throat. Speaking of his mother was difficult enough, however, speaking of his childhood was like reliving hell. “She certainly tried.”
Annabeth’s next words were interrupted by the buzzing of the doorbell, followed by a series of fervent knocks.
“That doesn’t sound like the guy from Uber Eats,” Percy raised his eyebrow and made his way to the entryway. Annabeth stayed in the living room, recognizing that this visitor was not here for coffee and cakes.
He glanced through the peep-hole, groaned, and unlatched the door. “I told you I’d be in on Monday, Nico.”
Nico DiAngelo stood in the doorway, panting heavily. Travis Stoll stood behind him, wearing a frustrated scowl. The two men shoved their way into the condo, leaving Percy gaping.
“You can’t just—hey!” Percy chased after them as they strode into his kitchen and began looking through his cupboards. “What the hell are you two doing here?”
“We are making sure you are still alive . You could have told us that you were hooking up with The Queen.” Travis muttered indignantly while shoving a spoonful of peanut butter in his mouth.
With her perfect timing, Annabeth chose right then to waltz into the kitchen. “Trav?” She asked, bewildered.
“Hello, Annabeth.” Travis muttered dryly. “Did Grover know what he was doing when he set you up with him?”
“I assume he did,” Annabeth smiled and took a seat, still as regal as ever despite her half-dressed state.
“Hold the fuck up.” Percy sat hard, biting his inner cheek in frustration. “Somebody tell me what is going on and what you all are talking about. There is no way that Annabeth is The Queen, Hazel works for her. Besides, we’ve had leads on the woman for years; she’s not subtle.”
“Oh, honey.” Annabeth’s laugh was clear as the night sky outside. “For such a smart man, you really are quite slow.”
Percy’s eyes narrowed at her. The woman who’d he had spent the entire day with and even given up parts of his past to had deceived him.
And he was pissed .
“Please, excuse me while I put on something more suitable.” Annabeth nodded at the group of men and sauntered off to the bedroom.
“Alright, I see why you’d sleep with her.” Travis muttered. “She’s got a great set of legs.”
“Travis?” Percy muttered through his hands, which were folded over his mouth in thought. “Shut up before I throw you in cell four.”
Travis paled, just slightly, and kept his mouth shut. While the men were good friends, Percy had always been quite strict on his employees following protocol, and even his close friends were no exception.
“Call Grover and Hazel. Have them here in ten minutes.”
“Yes, boss.” Nico stepped out of the kitchen to make the calls.
Annabeth reappeared in Percy’s line of sight. As much as his fury-clouded mind hated to admit it, she looked just as beautiful in her black number as she had the night before.
“There will be no weapons present tonight,” she said as she sat across from Percy. “I have a few of my comrades on their way, and we can negotiate, now that we've finally found each other.”
“How did you figure out it was me you were looking for?” Percy asked, eyes narrowed even as they swept over her body.
“Grover let it slip when he was telling me about you. He’s an excellent employee, but an awful secret-keeper. I’ll admit, I wasn’t too keen on showing up last night after I learned who you were, but curiosity got the better of me. I did have a good time.” She smiled at the end, genuinely. But how could he even tell anymore? She’d been lying to him the entire time they’d been in one another’s presence. She had known who he was in relation to her and not done a goddamn thing about it.
And he was still falling for her.
“Why do you want my help so badly?” Annabeth asked, drawing his attention away from his thoughts. “I’m practically on the other side of the ‘war’. Who’s to say I won’t turn you in the second you fire your gun?”
“Because I have good reasoning, Annabeth. My executions may not be the greatest, but I have very strong reasoning for the people I go after.”
“And that reasoning would be?” She questioned.
Percy’s lips quirked upward. “You’ll just have to wait until we’re on fair playing ground. It was you who set the rules, if I recall correctly.”
Annabeth nodded slowly. She broke their stare off and turned her attention to the gleaming city below. “I've dedicated my entire adult life to protecting this city from people like you. What can drive a person to do such inhumane acts as The Rook himself?”
The door opened and closed once more. Percy looked up alarmingly as he reached for Travis's gun, but the intruders were only Hazel, Grover, and a man with curly brown hair and a mischievous glint to his eye.
“Good evening, boss,” the brunette said. “You found The Rook?”
“With some help,” Annabeth winked. “Hello, Hazel, dear. Can you bring out the NDA, please?”
Percy's jaw clenched. He took a deep breath, as he refused to explode at Hazel, no matter how frustrated he was.
“Nico, Travis, bring everyone to my office. I'll be back in a few moments.”
The two men nodded, beckoning for the rest to follow them to the office. In addition to needing a few moments to cool down, he refused to present his case to The Queen—Annabeth— whoever , in sweats.
.
After changing into one of his more casual suits, Percy stood outside of his office where his entire career hung in the balance. He almost backed out. He almost gave up and ran out of the apartment.
When Percy Jackson closed his eyes, he saw all of the awful people he's taken down and tortured. He saw each of their pained faces just before they'd died. He saw the silhouette of the man he hated most.
When Percy Jackson closed his eyes, he saw Gabriel Ugliano. He saw the man who had abused his mother, killed her, and gotten away with it .
Then he saw his mother. His beautiful, sweet mother. The woman he'd lost at just twelve years old. Maybe that's what truly broke him and drove him to do this. Maybe it wasn't his love to see justice served. Maybe it wasn't his hatred for people who destroyed the world's beauty. Maybe it was simply his mother and her strength that pushed him in this direction.
Gathering up his confidence—and his will to live—Percy opened the door to the office. Annabeth sat on one side of the desk. The other side’s chair was empty. Hazel and the man whose name he didn’t know flanked Annabeth, while Nico and Travis flanked his own chair. Grover stood off to the side, intent on observing.
He rounded the desk to the table with various whiskey decanters and pulled out two glasses. As he poured the drinks, expressionless, he could feel Annabeth’s gaze hot on his back. Rather, his ass.
“Have the NDAs been signed?” He asked as he turned around.
“All but you,” Annabeth gestured to the file that rested on the table.
Percy set the glass in front of her before taking a seat and signing the agreement, not bothering to read it. He’s read through plenty of these files to get the jist of it.
“So,” he started, taking a sip of his whiskey, “you want to know my motives?” She nodded once. “I’m not going to give you my whole sob-story of a childhood, it gets a bit repetitive. What I will tell you, is that I’m only after one man. Sure, I’ll go for others every now and then if they;ve done something awful enough to catch my attention, but other than them, I only care about seeing one to his justice.”
“What exactly is ‘worthy’ of your attention, Percy?” Annabeth asked slowly.
“Sex offenders, human traffickers, murderers of innocents, people like that.” He shrugged, something he’d quickly learned that she hated. “I’m not truly a bad person, sweetheart. Just a guy who can’t stand the justice system, so he serves it on his own.”
Annabeth clenched her jaw. Nonetheless, he could see her defenses cracking. “While I don’t agree with your ways, I will agree. Now, you still haven’t explained the one man that you are after.”
“His name is Gabriel Ugliano.” He said quietly. Behind Annabeth, Hazel’s eyes widened, but she said nothing. “He killed my mother, and I want him to pay for what he’s done. In the years since I’ve seen him, he’s become an unregistered sex offender on multiple accounts as well as trafficking minors.”
The room was silent for quite a while as Annabeth processed this information. After draining her glass of whiskey, she looked up at Percy. Her eyes were dark, and her lips were pursed in frustration. “Why didn’t you just take the case to the police?” Her words were gentle, and that made Percy melt just a little bit.
He inhaled deeply, then waved Travis and Nico away. “Close the door on your way out, please,” he asked. When it was only him and Annabeth in the room, he met her eyes and sighed. “I’ve known you for just a day, but I’ve known of you for almost a decade. How is it that you are so different from every piece of evidence I’ve picked up?”
“I do what I have to in order to stay on the ‘good’ side of the scale. I have built my entire reputation on being a good person who is seemingly untouchable while also having every move available to her. But that isn’t me, that is simply what I have to do to stay on top. I’m a private detective; one of the best people to help with a case. I’m not in this business the way you are. I completely agree, the people you have spoken of deserve the worst consequences possible, and oftentimes, the justice system does not do their job to the fullest extent.” She explained. She held Percy’s gaze the entire time she spoke, even going as far as to place her hand over his own. “I want to help you. I really do.”
“But you can’t,” Percy finished. She shook her head sadly.
Annabeth stood from her chair and rounded the table, coming to a stop between his legs. “I have never come to care about someone as quickly as I have for you, Percy.”
“I am utterly enchanted by you, sweetheart.” His hands came to rest on her hips.
She kissed him softly, slowly. As she pulled away, she kept her eyes trained on his own. “I am sorry that I lied to you while we were together. Once you got talking—I couldn’t bring myself to tell you.”
“While I appreciate your concern, I understand. I do. Realistically, I would have done the same thing, had our situations been reversed.”
“You wouldn’t help this case if you were me, then?” Annabeth asked. Ever so slowly, so gently, she lowered herself to sit in his lap. Her hands clung to the lapels of his jacket, his secured on her back.
After a moment’s pause, Percy sighed. “While tempted, no. This is—this is something I have to do on my own.” He could hear the muffled voices of the group outside the door, and it only heightened his anxiety. “I’m terrified of him, Annabeth. I have spent years searching for him, and now that I’m so close to having him, I feel like I’m going to pass out anytime I think about him. He tortured my mother and myself, and I want him to suffer for it, but how can I if I seize up when things get too real?”
Annabeth kissed her lover’s temple, then his nose, then his lips. “I can’t help you directly, but know that I’m in your corner. I don’t know your favorite color, your pet peeve, or your night routine, but I do know that you can do this. You can do this and anything else you set your mind to, got it?”
Percy nodded, at a loss for words. He shut his eyes and leaned his head against her shoulder. “They probably think we’re fucking, you know.”
“Want to prove them right?” Annabeth asked, a devilish smirk on her lips.
“Maybe later,” he bit his lip, swallowing hard as he set Annabeth lightly on the floor and stood up. “I need to sort out a few things with Grover and Hazel—although, we could always moan at the wall for good measure.”
“Holy shit—you are such a child ,” she said, despite her laughter.
With a wink, Percy held the door open for Annabeth, stepping out after her to face the group of people waiting for them outside.
“Do we have a verdict?” Nico asked, not looking up from his phone.
“Yeah,” Percy ran his hand through his hair, only disheveling further. “No partnership—nothing official, at least. As for you two,” he turned to Grover and Hazel, his annoyed expression returning. “We’ve got a lot to talk about. Other than that, everything is taken care of.”
Annabeth and the still unnamed curly-headed man made their way to the front door, but not before she stole a few strawberries from the kitchen. As she turned to close the door behind her, she stopped and looked towards Percy. “What do you plan on doing after you catch him?”
Percy grinned, shrugging. “I think I’ll go into photography.”
.
ii.
Cell four was the most dreaded soul of Percy’s warehouse. It had the perfect view of each torture device, as well as the least amount of space. It was kept pristine, with no evidence of the last prisoner to be held in it.
Gabriel Ugliano knew this first hand, as he was the current inhabitant of the cell in question. He’d been in the cell for two days without food or drink. Percy had made sure to put the torture equipment to excelent use—on other’s, of course. He’d quickly learned that the best way to get in one’s head. Put on a good demonstration to make them worry; to make them think that was the worst they had coming, then do something a hundred times worse.
Just like he’d told his lover, Percy had been horrified when he first confronted Gabe. He refused to step foot into the warehouse for the first day-and-a-half. After some gentle convincing from Will and a hard shove from Nico, he’d finally made it inside.
“Good evening,” Percy said quietly, stepping into the light of the dingy lamp. “It’s certainly been a while.”
Gabe looked up at his ex-stepson for a few moments, then began to laugh hoarsely. “You are the one who put me in this cell? Kid, I fuckin’ raised you. What makes you think that you can lock me up?”
It was Percy’s turn to laugh. “You have no idea, Gabriel. You have no idea why I would lock you up? You didn’t raise me, you hit me. You killed my mother . I think that I’ve got a pretty good reason to lock you up. Please, correct me if I’m wrong.”
Gabe sighed heavily. “You ain’t wrong, kid. I did kill her. I should have killed you while I was at it, apparently.”
Percy bit his tongue hard, drawing the taste of copper to his mouth. He turned to Travis, who stood just a few meters away. “Take him to the tank. Don’t let him out.”
“You got it, boss.” Travis nodded curtly, calling on Michael and Nyssa to help him keep Gabe restrained.
Percy watched with blurred vision as three of his employees grappled with the obese man, eventually getting him across the floor to an airtight chamber.
“You will regret this, you son of a bitch!” Gabe yelled violently as he pounded on the glass.
“I don’t think I will,” Percy muttered to himself. He remained stoic as Travis flipped a small switch on the wall, which began the slow trickle of water into the chamber. “Michael, Nyssa, watch him until he goes. Thank you.” He nodded to the both of them in thanks, rushing out of the warehouse with Travis hot on his tail. As soon as the door closed behind him, Percy dropped to his knees, gasping for air. Tears rolled freely down his cheeks. More than anything, he wished that Annabeth had been with him. He wished that his mother would hold him, comfort him, tell him it was all going to be alright.
It was done. He had completed his goal. What now? What was the purpose of his life if it wasn’t to seek revenge?
Well—photography was always an option.
.
He hadn’t lied to Annabeth; he did own quite a few elite photography schools, and he even taught a few classes from time to time, to boost morale. When he took up photography full-time, though, he felt himself grow lighter. Each death he’d framed, each person he’d tortured until they were bloody and bruised eventually slipped from his mind for a few hours.
After setting up well-paying new jobs for his old employees, he decided to focus on the arts for a while before going back into business. While all evidence of his former operations had been destroyed, he still wanted to lay low for a few years, just in case.
He spent more time outdoors. Nature was fascinating. After taking a day to sit in the middle of the woods in a clearing to simply observe, he felt freer than ever. It was like the universe was forgiving him for all of his misdoings—or rather, he was forgiving himself .
It had been nearly three months since he’d last seen Annabeth walk out of his condo. Three months since he’d seen her gorgeous smile or heard her enchanting voice. His hopes of seeing her again had long-since depleted. He didn’t dare ask Grover or Hazel, which would risk both his pride and Annabeth’s business. Percy had been foolish enough not to ask for her phone number, and phone books were no longer common, so he had ultimately no way of reaching her.
In early June, Percy took a trip to Long Island. He rented the same beach house that his mother used to rent for a weekend in the summer on Montauk Beach. He had bought a high-quality under-water camera back in April and had been waiting for the perfect day to test it out in something other than his jacuzzi tub, which brought back heart wrenching memories.
Dressed in swim shorts that were decorated in goldfish, he took a deep breath before plunging into the water. It was still a bit chilly from the colder months, but it was nothing unbearable.
The pictures from the afternoon’s trip turned out quite well, much to Percy’s delight. Schools of fish dazzled his camera roll, as well as various plant species that had looked especially beautiful underwater.
His thick, curly hair was still drying when he stepped out of the house to take a walk down the beach. The cool ocean breeze sent a chill through his bones, and he wished, not for the first time, that Annabeth were here with him, even just for a moment.
The grainy sand slipped through his toes, coating his feet with a thin layer of the yellow substance. Ignoring his discomfort, he basked in the warm summer sun, letting the rays warm his face and exposed chest.
“It’s a lovely view, isn’t it?” A feminine voice cropped up beside him, light as the breeze. Annabeth .
“So lovely,” he agreed, closing his eyes to hold back the tears of relief.
Slowly, their hands came together, clasped tightly, never ready to let go.
.
In the end, sweetheart, it’s just you and me.