Man Down

Chp 9: Perseus Jackson

Thank you to several people for helping me remember to update lol. Particularly _-PercyJackson-_ and avatalon16

Family Reunion

Percy snarled. "It's my ship, Thalia" he growled her name, but neither Jason nor Thalia were paying attention. They were staring at each other, a million emotions flying across each of their faces. 

Jason broke the silence first.

"T-thalia" he choked out, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. But whether they were tears or joy or sadness, Percy could not tell. "I- I" he stumbled on his words before his eyes grew hard. "I knew you ran away. But I'd have never guessed you'd come running to this criminal. This rat. This- this thief" he spat. "Let me guess, he's your boyfriend now" he scowled. Thalia's eyes seemed to crackle, and Percy knew in that moment there was no doubt about their shared blood.

"He's not my boyfriend, Jason" she growled his name. "And you of all people would know that. And I did run away, same as you. Only when I got caught, I wasn't in a bar or drunk. And I joined Percy's crew." Somehow, she had managed to cross the couple of meters between the door and Jason, and was now looming above him. Percy was forgotten to both of them.

"But why join him? He and his crew are a plauge on Tempus, and you know the threats they pose. Why join him if you knew that?" Jason asked, his eyes locked on hers.

"Freedom, Jason" she said, her nose mere centimeters away from Jason's. "Freedom, away from Tempus, away from the palace, away from rules, and royal duties and  father" she growled the last word. Jason was silent, unable to combat that. She stepped away, and the tension in the room waned. But only slightly.

Percy picked up the conversation. "Thalia, take him to the hold. Put him in the cell with Leo and Frank, and leave him there until I can think of something to do with him" he rubbed his forehead, frustrated. "And don't make a scene. Work out your family issues some other time" Thalia glowered at both men before making a noise of annoyance.

"Fine" she spat, untying her brother from the chair, but keeping his hands bound. "Follow me" she hissed at Jason. "And keep your mouth shut" Jason looked down at his tied hands and nodded, anger radiating off him in waves.

Percy sat down behind his desk and gestured for them to leave, going back to charts and maps. Thalia shot one last stink eye at him before leading Jason out of the captain's quarters.

With a sigh, Percy leant forward, elbows on his table, fingers laced together in thought. Tapping his forfingers against his mouth, he thought over the last days events.

Everything had gone wrong. With the addition of the runaway prince, all of his plans had to change. Percy let out a growl of annoyance and stood up, pacing his cabin, thought and questions flying through his mind.

Could he incorporate the three new captives into his plans? How so? Would it be better to hold Jason ransom? But would Zeus then know they were there and be more alert? What was their next course of action?

He sat back down and propped his feet up on his desk. Thoughts and plans whirled around in his mind, and he knew he was going to have a late night figuring everything out...