Percy Jackson One-Shots

Writing Prompt: Percy sees Gabe in the Fields of Punishment

"You." The word came out a hiss.

Percy's body moved at its own accord, dodging small pools of lava and skidding against the rocky path where loose stones covered the surface, a small torture for the barefoot mortals that surrounded him.

Some of them tried to reach out to Percy, but his vision had tunneled to the man across the cracked wasteland of the Fields of Punishment.

Hades and Nico were expecting him, but they could wait.

This was more important.

The man's back was turned against Percy when he reached him, but he knew the silhouette well enough that Percy didn't even hesitate when he grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him against a nearby cactus.

Gabe Ugliano cried out in pain as small cactus needles pierced his back. Percy loosened his grip slightly, letting Gabe drop to his knees.

"You..." Liquid fire was coursing through Percy's veins and he couldn't get any words out of his mouth that could properly convey what he was feeling.

"Percy?" Gabe's brown eyes widened slightly as he took in Percy. It had been more than 5 years since he'd seen him. Percy had no idea how Gabe was here, when he should be encased in stone but that wasn't important.

"Yeah. Remember me?" Gabe struggled to his feet, the skin dusty and grey. Somehow he still looked overweight with a beer gut, his clothes in tatters as he took in Percy.

Gabe nodded slowly, eyeing Percy's clenched fists.

"What you gonna do kid? Hit me? 'bout time you grew up."

"I'm not a kid anymore," Percy growled taking a fist of Gabe's remaining shirt. In the years since he'd seen him, Percy had grown well and above Gabe's height, so Percy pulled him up so they were eye to eye.

"You're not worth my time."

"Then what're ya doin 'ere," Gabe drawled. He had the audacity to smile as Percy dropped him again, "You got something to say to me. Let me hear it. You're the most interesting thing to happen."

Gabe stood up again and brushed off himself as if nothing had happened and went back to where Percy had found him. Percy watched for a moment and realised what Gabe's punishment was.

"You're cleaning," he realised dumbfounded.

"Hmm guess you're not as dumb as you were."

Percy narrowed his eyes at him and took another step forward. Gabe laughed as if he were laughing with his poker buddies and held up his hands in surrender.

"The big guy. Said I need to clean the whole field of punishment," Gabe said and held up a grey sponge and a rusted bucket of brown murky water.

Percy was lost for words.

A part of him wanted to smirk. That this was what Gabe deserved.

A small part of him felt a burst of sympathy. Percy looked around the field of punishment, Gabe was one mortal, and there was hectares of wasteland. He swallowed hard and looked back down at Gabe who was on his knees and scrubbing fitfully at the rocky path.

For a moment Percy closed his eyes and was brought back to when Gabe was still in his life.

And he remembered losing the breath in his lungs as Gabe threw him against the wall. He remembered the tender skin of his ribs. He remembered-

Percy's nails bit into his skin and his eyes flew open remembering where he was.

A part of him, a small part that he didn't like thinking about, wanted him to suffer more.

"Why?" It wasn't what he wanted to say, but the surprised look on Gabe's face made Percy realise that perhaps maybe that was the real reason why he had walked through the field of punishment to get to him.

"What do you mean?" Gabe looked genuinely confused. His bald head had beads of sweat running down the side and Gabe wiped it away with a dirty hand, smearing ash and dust particles over his forehead. Percy decidedly did not tell him.

"You put my Mom and I through hell. And I want to know why. We never did anything to you," Percy bit his lip to stop from continuing.

Gabe let out a short laugh.

"You needed discipline. If that's what you're talking out...and now look at you. I helped shape you. You should be thanking me." Gabe gave Percy a smug smile from where he was cleaning and dunked his dirty sponge back into the water.

"THANKING YOU?" Percy exploded. He felt a strong pull in his gut, but he squashed it with a thought.

"You-You hurt me. You hurt my mother. I was a kid. We never did anything wrong. And you hurt us."

"I did what needed to be done," Gabe said and shrugged.

Percy breathed heavily trying to think coherently.

"You're a monster."

"I never claimed I wasn't."

Percy stepped back, struck by the casualty that Gabe said it, and found himself walking away even though he had more to say to him. He just couldn't stomach it anymore.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

Percy startled and turned to the figure of Nico Di Angelo. The son of Hades leaned against a pillar at the entrance of his father's domain, completely at ease despite the chaos of the Underworld.

"It's the Underworld," Percy deadpanned, but he swallowed deeply trying to forget his interaction with Gabe.

"You alright?"

Percy nodded and ran a hand through his hair trying to calm his erratic pulse.

As he walked by him, Nico grabbed Percy's wrist.

"Whoever you just saw Percy, they're here for a reason," Nico said looking deep into Percy's eyes. Percy was taken aback at how grave Nico spoke, the younger demigod looking far older than his physical age.

"Yeah I know, it's just- I want to know why. Why do people do these things?"

Nico shrugged and dropped Percy's wrist to rest his hand on the hilt of his stygian sword. Nico looked out to the field of punishment Percy had walked from.

"Percy, I think it's better that we don't know."