The Jacksons are Friends | DC & PJO

Aftermath

After leaving Jason's place back to theirs, Nina struggled to formulate words and thoughts after her perception and ideas were far from the truth.

"But I.. we... him, HE, THEM ... I didn't, when?"

"Nina, what happened?" Percy asked, bent slightly, and placed his hands on her face. "Nina, I need you to tell me what happened."

"I-I English. English, Jason, help," that was a start; he looked down at her hands, the English homework that she wanted help with. Her sentences were broken, but it was a start. "Vigilante there, no hurt kids. I still count as a kid. Then debate, not debate. I won?" So, she had a word fight, most likely roasting them.

How could the information about Jason's identity break her thoughts and ability to form words? It normally wouldn't; it was what she insinuated that broke her. 4 months of believing he was in a relationship with the crime lord, that he was gay, only to find out, in the most embarrassingly way, that they were the same people, why was that never an option in her theories about his secrets, she doesn't know. Still, now that she thinks about it, she thinks she's stupid for never connecting the dots. She wasn't nosy in wanting to know, but she was curious.

Percy had experience with her breaking, which meant something she believed to be true was severely wrong. This usually was caused by her, but he had to be certain. The last time something like this had happened was when he told her the story of Luke. She idolized him, believing him to be good. Yeah, the little sister idolized the former enemy of her big brother instead of the hero big brother she has, which is typical. He also wanted her to believe it for as long as possible, and he didn't want her to know the ugly people in this world. She ended up idolizing his earlier and after actions.

"Why did you scream, Nina? Did they hurt you? Did Jason hurt you?"

"No." That was certain. After a second, she screamed at the realization of what Percy was thinking and defended him, "He's nice."

"But he's dangerous," Percy said, regardless of whether he wanted to shape it as a question. He knew the answer—he had known it since their first meeting. He had just given his neighbor a chance because he posed no danger to Nina. But now, that had to be re-evaluated.

"Not really," she said, wanting her brother not to misunderstand. "Yes and no. We're safe, we're fine, we're friends. Dangerous for others, bad people."

"Your English coming back?"

"Almost."

"Good, okay. You were gone for a while. What happened during that time?"

"Insulted their clothes. Atrocities that should never have existed—the old ones, at least."

"I can agree on that with you," Percy chuckled. He looked at his sister and then pulled her into a hug. "It's alright now."

"It's always been alright," Nina told him.

Percy held his sister close, feeling relief and concern wash over him. He knew Nina had a knack for finding herself in unusual situations, but encountering vigilantes in their neighbor's place was a new level of unexpected.

"I'm glad you're okay," Percy murmured, kissing Nina's head. "But I need you to promise me something, okay? Promise me you'll be more careful."

Nina nodded against his chest, her arms wrapping around him tightly. "I promise, Perce."

Percy pulled back slightly to look into his sister's eyes, searching for any lingering signs of distress. "And if anything like this happens again, you tell me, okay? No matter what."

Nina nodded with a solemn expression. "I will, I promise. But can we talk about something else now? My heart can only handle so much drama in one day."

Percy couldn't help but chuckle at his sister's attempt to lighten the mood. "Sure thing, Nina. What do you want to talk about?"