𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐶𝑌 𝑅𝐸𝐼𝐷 thought the worst thing he would have to live through was his mother's death but life deals him a new hand, something he would have never expected, it takes away his father.
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ONCE IN THE THIRD GRADE, PERCY NEWTON-REID SWORE OFF LOVE. Yes, it was a bit dramatic, but no other word could describe him quite the same. He had slipped a note into Jasmine O'Riley's locker, asking her if she wanted to be girlfriend and boyfriend with him, those exact words and it was safe to say she didn't want that because she told the entire class about it and everyone collectively pointed and laughed at him. Well, not literally but that was what it felt like to him in that moment. He didn't cry about it though, he just promised himself he would never love again, typical for a boy at that age and he was going to keep that promise until Elle dropped him off in the Bat Cave and he saw her.
She was sitting on his usual seat, she didn't turn to him when he walked through the door, eyes lost on a computer screen and he ignored her in return, approaching his favorite aunt. "Percy, I didn't know you'd be here." She spined around in her chair, like she could tell it was him. "I need a babysitter." Percy shrugged, giving the woman a hug which she accepts with a smile. "Well, pretty boy, take a seat and you can talk to my lovely assistant. I'm sure you two will be like two peas in a pod in no time."
"Who is that?"
"She's your Uncle Stephen's daughter. Go introduce yourself. Keep busy while I do my work," Penelope waved her hand to tell the boy to go to her and he reluctantly did when he realized she hadn't been ignoring him, she was just listening to music. He tapped her shoulder lightly and she nearly jumped off her seat and out of her skin, clutching a hand to her chest. "Oh my God, you scared the skittles out of me!" He looked at her and then pulled something out of his backpack, "Then I'll give them right back." He handed her the pack of Skittles; he had a bag full of other snacks and he felt in a sharing mood.
"Is that supposed to be a joke?" She went back to her seat, gladly accepting his snack.
"Kind of," He rolled up a seat to sit down next to her, looking over at the screen she had been staring at, he had no idea what she was doing, it was like she was creating her own website or something. "So, you're Uncle Stephen's daughter."
"I prefer Annabeth." He didn't say anything for a few seconds, she found that weird and off putting but didn't say anything either. "You're kidding." Was what he chose to say when he eventually spoke up, making her turn to face him as she opened the pack of Skittles. "I'm not." Her face was hard to read, she was like no one he had ever met before, and it was safe to say he didn't know how to act around her.
"What?" He frowned harder, "I'm not joking, my name is Annabeth." She looked dead serious and Percy knew it had to be some kind of sign from the universe. "Can you guess what my name is?" He stared into her eyes, she did the same in an almost eerie way. "Percy." She answered and his mouth flew open, "How did you know that?" Shock was painted across his face now. "It's on your name tag." That made more sense.
"Oh yeah,"
"Do you have ADHD?" He asked, she didn't look taken back by the question, she too had read all the Percy Jackson books so she kind of understood where he was coming from. "No, do you?"
"I won the Percy Jackson lottery, ADHD and dyslexia. What a hard word to spell, whoever came up with it deserves jail time." A hint of a smile graced her lips, "If it makes you feel better, I am on the spectrum."
"Sick, my dad is on the spectrum." He nodded and she gave him a curt nod, "We should start a club." She then went back to what she had been doing while Percy stared over her shoulder. She was typing something, he didn't know what any of those letters meant, maybe he would have if he paid attention in his computer science classes but he was too busy playing Solitaire.
"Do you have to do that?" She snapped her head over to where he was and he slightly pulled back, apologizing but two minutes later and he was doing the same thing. "Sorry, I'm gonna get us some sodas." He got up, giving her some space when Penelope called him over to her which was easy because they were in the same room after all.
"What's wrong, Romeo?"
"Nothing, the pod is just feeling a little small." He looked over to where Annabeth's fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard, he could never do anything with that much ease. "Well, ask her to go with you, show her around and we have ice cream in the fridge." Penelope was giving him a teasing smile which he didn't like all that much but loved because, well, it's Penelope. "We're not gonna bound on a trip to the kitchen." Penelope gave him that stern look that she rarely gives him, so he does what she says, "Annabeth, wanna walk to the fridge and bound on the way?" His voice was slightly louder when he spoke, garnering the girl's attention and she looked from his smiling face to Penelope's, suddenly feeling the need to say yes to his offer.
"Okay," She was hesitant as she followed him out of the Bat Cave, Percy holding the door open for her. She goes out before he does and he's pretty sure her hair smells like lavender and he's going to pass out. He didn't even know Stephen had a daughter, he feels robbed that they just met one another and when he shuts the door behind him, for the first time in a while, he's not so stressed. Maybe that was why the met today, because he needed a friend.
When they got to the fridge he took out two cans of Pepsi and the tub of ice cream, it was strawberry and vanilla and just small enough for two. "I like vanilla." Annabeth took out the spoons while Percy got the bowls. "I prefer strawberry." So, they split it in half, sat down at the table, eating ice cream and candy and drinking their soda. She was having Skittles and he was dipping his Swedish Fish into his ice cream while she stared at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking.
"You know, I'm actually a carnitarian, it means I don't eat fish." Ever since Percy was a kid and his dad took him to the aquarium for the first time, he refused to eat fish because they were his friends and now Percy and Spencer were the lucky owners of three fish, Pizza, Taco and Nemo, he still couldn't remember who named any of those fish, one day they just had names and he had no idea where they came from.
"I know what a carnitarian is, luckily for you those aren't real fish." Annabeth had her foot on her seat, she was smart, and he could tell. He was still wondering what she was doing in the Bat Cave, he was going to ask when he remembered that he left the fish at home alone but the feeder was there so they would be fine for a while. "I heard about your dad."
"Funny, I haven't heard anything." It bugged him a little that he knows Annabeth probably knows more about what's going on than he does, who knows how long she's been working with Garcia. Maybe he could get some information from her, "But what have you heard?"
"That your dad is in prison." Percy didn't mean to laugh but he couldn't help it. "My dad isn't in prison; he doesn't even jaywalk." Spencer was about as bland as it could get, "According to Garcia and Prentiss, he was framed."
"For jaywalking?" Percy was lost now. Annabeth just shook her head, "Listen, I'm the criminal in the family." He pointed to himself, doing a bit of a jazz hands motion.
"You're not a criminal, unless there's something I don't know." Annabeth gave him her version of a smile, she kind of reminded him of Hotch, just a little bit. "My dad's an FBI agent, of course I have a criminal record." He didn't officially have a criminal record, but the police were there when he almost burnt down Derek's apartment. No one got hurt, no one except the door but it didn't really have feelings and it was good he burned it down, Derek was probably going to kick it down.
"He was framed for murder." Annabeth's serious tone made him go silent, he didn't have anything to say. He opened his mouth and nothing came out, "Are you okay?" Annabeth's eyes went soft, she put her spoon into her bowl, Percy just nodded. "Yeah, I just always thought I would be the first one of us to go to jail for murder."
