When We Were 'Us'

And There It Is- Percy POV

I dropped Annabeth and Luke off back at camp and asked them to tell Chiron that I was going to see my mom.

To be honest, I was pretty excited. Mom had adopted a little Haitian girl named McKenna, who I hadn't met yet.

I cranked up the radio as I drove down the highway, looking for my exit ramp. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a dark blue van behind me a few cars.

I tried to block it from my mind, there are a lot of blue vans in the world, but it kept nagging at me, reminding me of the van that almost hit me in the parking lot of the assisted living home.

'I always feel like

Somebody's watching me!

And I have no privacy!'

I snorted and changed the radio station, muttering, "me too," under my breath.

Finally spotting my exit, i signaled that I was getting off and turned the steering wheel lightly.

The van did the same in my rearview mirror. I inched my hand into my pocket and gripped Riptide nervously.

Driving through the city, I turned left. When the van followed, I planned on turning left again, three times, to see if it was actually following me.

The van turned right after the first turn and I relaxed.

That is, until four blocks later when the same van reappeared behind me.

I bit my tongue lightly to stop a curse and instead focused on where I was going. Whoever was in that truck could wait.

I finally reached Mom's apartment, taking the last open parking space on the street. The van roared past me and turned into the alley a few feet away. I hurriedly walked inside and started for the elevator.

A couple walked through the door as I was entering the elevator.

"Can you hold that?" The woman called. The man turned back to open the door for an elderly woman.

I held back a sigh and kept the door open until the three of them were inside. The woman pushed the button for the highest floor and the doors closed.

We rode in silence for a few moments and I began to feel like Steve Rogers in that one scene where he's surrounded by bad guys in the elevator. I slipped my hand into my pocket.

"Anyone want to get out?"

I could feel the woman eyeing me up, so it wasn't a surprise when she attacked me first.

The mist around them was thick, but it didn't matter what kind of monsters they were. I drew Riptide, stabbed the elevator camera, and went to work.

In the confined space of the elevator, it wasn't hard to eliminate the two harpies and an earth-born.

All in all, I was glad no one else got onto the elevator until I got off. I left the mess for the maintenance and cleaning crew, even though I felt kind of bad for doing so.

After making sure I had no dust on my clothes, i hesitantly rang the doorbell to my mom's apartment.

A little black girl wild hair barely held back by a bow and big brown eyes answered, looking up at me.

"Who are you?" She asked in accented English. This must be McKenna. Mom had told me she was pretty good at speaking her new language, but she hadn't prepared me for the cute accent.

"I'm Percy." I smiled at her. "Is your mom home?"

"Manman!" She shouted over her shoulder. "There's a weird man here!"

"I'm so sorry about her, she hasn't learned tha-" my mom stopped short when she saw me in the doorway.

"No, I think she described me perfectly, don't you?" I smirked, cocking my head to the side a little.

"Manman? Are you okay?" McKenna tugged at the bottom of Mom's skirt.

"Go find Papa, okay sweetie?" Mom said softly.

"Okay!"McKenna ran off into the apartment, calling, "Papa! Papa, Manman wants you!"

"Percy." Mom stepped forward and pulled me into a hug tighter than the ones Frank gave to crack people's backs for them. "I missed you so much."

"Hi Mom." I hugged her back, resting my chin on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I've been gone for so long."

"Sally, did you need something? Percy!" Paul entered my field of vision, holding McKenna's hand as she tried to pull him along faster.

"Hi Paul." I grinned at him.

"Give me a hug." Paul held his arms out and I hugged him as well.

"Manman, who is that?" McKenna asked.

"Remember how we told you you have a brother?" Mom asked her, crouching down. "This is him."

McKenna looked me up and down, then grinned. "Hi!"

I chuckled. "Hi."

"Manman, can I show him my room?" McKenna asked.

"I think that's a wonderful idea. You two can do that while I get the cookies out of the oven."

"Cookies!" McKenna squealed. Then she turned to me, squinting, and asked accusingly, "do you like Manman's cookies?"

I laughed. "Of course I do."

"Good! Come see my room!" She grabbed my hand and began to drag me down the hall.

[A/N cutes? I thought so]