Goode is Taken Hostage.

Meet Sam.

It was 3pm the next Saturday when there was a knock at their door. It was just Percy, his mortal parents, Annabeth and the two cousins in his room at the time: the others had had to go back to camp. The family weren't doing anything in particular, just talking as Percy faded in and out od consciousness (he'd been given new meds that morning).

"Come in." Sally called softly, she was sitting in the chair by Percy's head with her laptop (Percy had insisted that he shouldn't 'keep her from working' for any longer.

The soor pushed opem slowly and Samantha, usually so confident, shuffled in.

"Um...hi." She waved awkwardly, Percy was asleep. Sally and Paul smiled at her warmly though.

"Samantha! It's great to see you." They greeted her, "Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, this is Samantha; Percy's best friemd at school. Sam dear, this is Percy's girlfriend and cousins."

The teens all just looked at each other for a minute. Samantha shuffled again before swallowing.

"So...did you guys hear? The Energizer Bunny was arrested and charged with battery?" She asked with a nervouse smile.

There was silence.

Then Nico snorted and they all crumbled. Once they regained their composure somewhat Thalia grinned and walked to wards the girl and clapped her on the shoulder, still chuckling.

"I like you." She declared and they all kept laughing for a minute.

Just like that, they were friends.

"I gotta admit," Nico confessed, "I didn't think there were any decent kids at Percy's school." Samantha looked him dead in the eyes.

"If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong." She declared, and was greeted with more laughs, but then he cleared her throat, "Seriously though, most of them are comlete-" She glanced at her teacher and her best riend's mother, "toads..." She trailed off. Everyone laughed again.

"Oh well," Thalia said, "He's got us and that's all he needs; if he disagrees, we'll just hae to punch him." She said it happily, as if it were the most normal thing in the world and, to them, it was. "So how did you meet Percy?" The cousin asked.

"Just class." Sam shrugged, "We're in the same homeroom ad we both have Paul for english. What about you?" They three teens laughed for a minute and the adults mirked slightly.

"Oh, you know, just camp." They grinned. Sam just sighed as they laughed, she was used to Percy's endless references to the mysterious camp and, even with the new context which had only been recently revealed, she was happy to laugh along with their inside jokes. She'd been freaking out previously about whether or not they'd like her and if she'd fit in, but that worry was noow discarded to the back of her mind as thehy laughed and talked about anything that came to mind and systematically tried to out-sass each other while the adults tried not to roll their eyes in the background.

"No way did that actually happen!" Sam denied the truth of the story even as she grinned.

"Yeah!" Annabeth nodded emphatically, the teen had come out of her shell during the conversation, she wasn't normaly shy or uiet but the circomstances were hard on her. They wree enjoying themselves despite it all though, "Clarisse tries to intmiidate him right off the bat and he ends up drenching her in the toilet where she'd been  intending to soak him!" They laughed heartily for a minute until Samantha's eyes were actually watering and their sides ached.

"That sounds so much like him at school," Sam enthused, "He never lets bullying slide, even if it gets him in trouble! This one time, the idiot jocks were trying to steal this kids lunch money and he goes right up to them, doesn't even say anything, before grabbing one of their ice-creams and soup and, casually as anything, tips it over the ring-leader's head!" She chocked on her own laughter for aminute, " Then, while they're still spluttering and soaking behind him, he turns around and gives the kid his lunch money and the other desert from the jock's tray and just gives it to him! After that he just walks off before they can even say anything, going straight to the supervising teacher and asks when his inevitable detention will be! It was gold!" They all collapsed into laughter again.

Throughout the whole conversation thehy hadnt gone omre than a couple of minutes without someone laughing and none of them would hae changed that, the only thing that wouldve improved it would've been Percy being lucid enough to take part too.

Sam glanced at the time.
"Dam it, it's getting late. My folks want me home in about 15." She looked up again, "I'll see you guys tomorrow? It was awesome meeting you." They grinned at her.

"Definitely." Annabeth affirmed.

"On both parts." Added Thalia.

"Can't wait." Finished Nico. They laughed one last time and Sam left, content in the knowledge that they'd all gained a friend that day.