The One-Seven

Chapter 22: Rough Waters

It was silent, save for the rumble of the engine as they drove through countryside. Percy took a sip of coffee from his thermos and he frowned, he should have added more creamer, it was a bit too bitter for his taste. He put the thermos back in the cup-holder and adjusted himself in the seat. It was early enough in the morning that the roads were pretty much empty. Driving through New York City had been a breeze, and by the time the sun started rising, they were on the other side of the city.

As soon as he got Meg free, Percy took her back to his apartment for first aid. He called Zatara as he cleaned up her wounds and gave her some first aid. It hadn't taken much to convince Meg to get in the car to get out of town. Kid hadn't said a word since Percy pulled her out of the building, not that he was all that surprised. She had come face to face with the reality that demigods were not invincible. It was a lesson they all had to learn eventually, but some lessons were learned far more painfully than others.

Percy had slipped some sleeping medication into her drink before they left, and by the time they hit the road, the girl was fast asleep in her seat. Leaving Percy to drive peacefully for the past several hours.

"So what, no lecture," And the peace is broken. Percy looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "You really need one?"

She shrank into her seat, and looked out the window, "That's what I thought," Percy said with a nod, "You don't need me to tell you that you've been a fucking idiot."

"No," She softly, "Just figured you'd have some kind of speech. That's what the others will do. Yell at me about being reckless or something,"

Percy snorted, "You're not my responsibility, just a pain in my ass. Haven't slept more than three hours a night for the last week 'cause I've had to try tracking you down."

She frowned, and changed the subject "The others..." She said, "Are they ok?"

"Do you really care?" He asked, but didn't give her a chance to respond, "Yeah they're ok. Blessed by Fortuna maybe, since one of 'em was bleeding out feet from my apartment. But they'll live, they've been back at camp for a few days now."

She flinched, and curled into herself a little, before she frowned, "Wait," She said, looking at him, "They didn't ask you to find me?"

Percy scoffed, "Ask? No. Like I said, I found your friends in the alley by my apartment and got dragged into this mess. Gonna have a long chat with Chiron about keeping you kids out of my city,"

"What does that mean?" She asked,

"Never you mind kid," He said, "Don't talk down to me," She snapped,

"You tried to break into Arkham and manipulate one of the most dangerous people on the planet. I'll talk to you however I damn well please!" Percy snapped back,

Her eyes widened, "It was you!" She said, "You're the one who destroyed my plants!"

"Damn right I did," He said, "Lucky I did too. Better it was me who grabbed you rather than someone else,"

"Lucky?" She shouted, "Because of you, I had to go back out! If you had just left well enough alone, I would never have been ambushed by those monsters,"

"Yes you would have." Percy said with a roll of his eyes, "Those things made you the second you walked into the city. They were just waiting until you were nice and vulnerable. When you ditched your pals, it was a matter of when they jumped you, not if."

"Bullshit!" She said acidly, "It's because of you that-"

Percy cut her off with a caustic laugh, "It's always someone else's fault, never yours right?" He said bitingly, "Can't ever be your fault, you're just always the victim. Can't be held accountable for your own shit because you were provoked right? Gimme a break," He rolled his eyes,