Short Stories and Oneshots

It Runs in the Family

Thunder crashed outside. Percy rolled his eyes. "What did I say? I wasn't insulting him! I wasn't insulting anyone! It was meant to be an amusing and reassuring statement!"

Sally threw her head back and laughed. "It might have been a coincidence, sweetie. I'm sure he's not listening all the time. Sometimes thunder is just thunder."

"That's what you think," Percy muttered. "Stalker." Thunder boomed outside again, and Percy flung his hands at the window in exasperation. Shaking his head in mild disbelief, Percy continued. "Anyways, my point was, it'll be nice to have a mortal, normal brother."

Sally bumped their shoulders together and smirked. "He lives with a billionaire now. I'm not so sure he'll be normal." She winked at him, and they laughed.

He wasn't laughing when they visited together three weekends later, a week or two before he would go off to camp. Percy raised his eyebrows and whistled, impressed. "Nice place."

Next to him in the taxi, Sally smiled, eyes crinkling at the sides. "It is, isn't it. Ca you believe that as I was leaving, Bruce told me that he could buy us a new place closer to here? And I said no?" Percy could in fact believe that. Mainly because Sally had mentioned it many times since her first visit to the Wayne Manor.

The car took another turn, and the mansion came back into view, causing Percy's nerves to flare again. He started tapping his leg nervously. "Are you sure he'll want to see me? I mean, he's still getting used to you...He won't want some kid coming in on that."

Sally smiled at him. "You're a great brother, Percy. Tyson loves you!"

Percy sighed. "Tyson is the equivalent of a little kid. This guy is my older brother. I haven't even met any of my older brothers at this point."

Patting him lightly on the arm, Sally reassured him. "It'll be fine! Jason was a little standoff-ish at first, but we had a nice, serious talk and it's fine now. He's very understanding now that the hard stuff is out of the way."

"Yeah, okay," Percy said, hand slipping into his pocket to mess with Riptide a little bit. Sally smiled at him again. And then they were at the front doors of the mansion. Standing at the top of the stairs were four people – someone that Percy vaguely recognized as Bruce Wayne, one he recognized as Jason from his mom's picture, another teen he guessed to be Richard Grayson, and someone who looked like a stereotypical butler. Percy tried to stop himself from tensing again. Honestly, this was ridiculous. He'd fought a god when he was only twelve! This shouldn't make him so nervous.

Sally squeezed his hand as they walked towards the door, causing Percy's cheeks to heat in mild embarrassment even as he squeezed her hand back. Bruce Wayne (an actual billionaire!) gave them a small smile. "Sally. And...Perseus Jackson?"

Percy grimaced. "Just Percy, please. No one calls me Perseus."

Bruce's lips twitched. "Of course. Please call me Bruce, then. These are my...sons, Dick and Jason."

He was obviously going to say more, but Percy blurted, "Dick?"

Dick sighed. "It's a traditional nickname for the name Richard. Which is my name."

"That's a weird nickname," Percy said dubiously.

"Percy!" Sally scolded.

Percy put his hands up in an I'm-innocent gesture. "What? I never said that's a bad thing! It's fine to have weird nicknames! Thalia's nickname is Pinecone Face and that's fine!"

Sally sighed in disappointment. "She tried to stab you the last time you called her that."

"Tried being the key word. If she was really upset, she would have succeeded," Percy pointed out. He frowned and rubbed at his arm slightly. "Trust me."