Finding the Sun

Chapter 6

The meeting with Sally had gone well. Sally had wanted to make sure Aster was doing okay, but mostly wanted to get more of a read on the man Aster was going to live with. Thankfully, she seemed to like Aaron, which Aaron felt strangely relieved by. He gathered that the Jacksons were very important to Aster, so he wanted to make sure he had the family's approval, to hopefully put Aster more at ease.

However, it was upon meeting Mrs. Jackson's son Percy, Aaron remembered why the name felt so familiar. 5 years ago, Percy Jackson had gone on a trip around America, which was essentially a giant man-hunt. His daughter's best friend was a suspected terrorist.

Suspected, Aaron reminded himself, not convicted. If his daughter was so close with him, then she probably wouldn't take it well if the first action he took as her parent was to tell her not to talk to her best friend. He'd have to give him the benefit of the doubt, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to keep a keen eye on him.

Jackson was currently in the middle of asking his daughter whether or not she needed help packing. "Nico, Will and everybody are coming down to send you off," he was saying, and Aaron wondered who 'everybody' was, "Are you sure you don't want us to pack up for you? In case you don't wanna go back to that house again?" Percy asked, referring to the house she had lived in with her foster parents, where she found them beaten to death.

"No, it's okay. I didn't have that much there anyways. And besides, I'm pretty sure it's still a crime scene, right Aaron?" At that, she turned to the man in question.

"Yes, it is. But I agree with Percy, maybe it's best for some members of my team and I to handle it." Both teens stiffened at that, something that didn't go unnoticed by Hotch. He was expecting that Aster, as a foster kid that was bounced around quite a lot, might have some behavioural issues. It was certainly possible that she was used to hiding things, even if they're not things that most kids would think to hide. He hoped with time, Aster would be able to trust him with these things. He also hoped that whatever it is the two didn't want him to know about wasn't dangerous.

In reality, the teens knew that if the team was packing up her stuff, it was likely that they would find some evidence of her demigod life. If she wasn't in the house with them, she wouldn't be able to use the mist to disguise her godly food, weapons, and other demigod memorabilia that might be suspicious to a mortal. Her Camp necklace was innocuous enough, but there are things she'd rather not answer questions about. Not only was she concerned about suspicious things in the house, but also some things on her body. Her honorary SPQR tattoo on her forearm, which some of the Greek demigods who were influential in the war had received, was one of those things. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary for her to have a tattoo, but the marking looked more like a brand than anything, which is much more concerning. The effort to consistently have the mist disguising it would be annoying, since something on her body that she is so used to having there would be a conscious effort to keep hidden, the same for all her many scars. They were too much of a part of her. She supposed she would just have to wear long sleeves.

"I really mean it Aaron. I'll be fine. But I wouldn't mind you coming with? It won't take long." Aster told Aaron, hoping to avoid suspicion. He agreed.

Standing outside the precinct, practically about to jump into Sally's car, it was clear that Aster wanted to get going. Hotch wasn't surprised, it was late, and so much had happened to her today.

"How about we all go get some sleep first. It's late, a lot has happened today. But, if it's okay, I can pick you up tomorrow in the morning? The jet is scheduled to leave at noon." Aaron suggested, but quickly followed it up with, "I want you to know it's okay if you need more time. You don't need to get on the plane tomorrow."