"Percy stop being dramatic," Thalia rolled her eyes, "this is just like that time your favorite character in that book series died. You know, Ned something."
"Ned Stark, and no Thalia, this is much worse," Percy said with a serious look that scared Thalia a little.
"Okay now I have to know, what was in that meat?!" Michael yelled.
"Yeah Percy, why are you acting so weird?"
"No," Percy stood his ground, "I won't tell you. Not because of arrogance or to promote a sense of my own self importance," Percy stood up striking a pose, "I do this because I care for you. None shall carry this burden that I no do. None, I shall be the own who will hold up the weight of this truth, and in doing so I spare thee, my friends."
Thalia grumbled, "drama queen."
"I don't know, I kind of liked it," a new voice said. The table of turned and there standing before them was a red haired girl with dark freckles across her pale skin. She had long curly hair that symbolised her free spirt. The young woman was beautiful, and while she might dress like a tomboy she carried herself with a grace not seen in most grown women.
Percy stared as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, "N-Nancy?"
The girl smiled, "hey Percy, long time no see."
"Yeah, you changed," Percy noted as he walked to her.
"I can say the same to you," Nancy chuckled, "I didn't even recognize you at first."
"Yeah, I kind of grew up," Percy chuckled.
"I'll say," Nancy smiled as she checked out the muscles on Percy's arms, "and in all the right places as well."
Percy blushed, "t-thanks."
"You know it's not nice checking out a boy if you don't know whether he has a girlfriend or not," Thalia spoke as she got up and approached Nancy glaring at the girl.
"Really? And who might you be?" Nancy asked as she tried to stare Thalia down.
"Thalia Grace," the demigoddess replied, "you?"
"Nancy Bobofit," the redhead huffed, "I'm Percy's...... friend."
"Well Nancy, I'm his girlfriend," Thalia smirked causing the redhead to stare with wide eyes.
Nancy turned to Percy, "is this true."
'I am so screwed. Like I have never been more screwed in my entire life than I am right now,' Percy gulped as sweat started to fall down his face, 'I'm so dead.'
Percy gulped, "y-yeah."
"So....this is awkward," Micheal supplied from the sidelines as he and Clarisse watched the two women stare each other down.
"Michael, dude, you are so not helping," Percy grumbled.
Michael shrugged, "who said I wanted to help?"
Percy rolled his eyes but didn't reply. Nancy spoke first, "you know after that day in the fair I figured we were pretty much dating Percy."
"Why because you kissed him?" Thalia asked. Nancy raised an eyebrow at that while the daughter of Zeus smirked, "oh yeah, he told me about that."
Nancy growled as he turned to Percy. Her feature immediately turned soft, "Percy, I thought you....I thought you cared for me."
"I do Nancy, but....but we can't be together, it's...it" target="_blank">s...it's not possible," Percy sighed, his stomach felt like it was kicking him over and over. He was feeling bad, right now he felt like a bigger ass than Tyler, or Argo. Well maybe not Argo....
"I don't understand what you mean!" Nancy snapped, "what do you mean we can't be together?! Am I not pretty enough?!"
"It's not that-"
"Is it because I don't look like her?" She pointed her finger at Thalia, "because if you want I can colour my hair!"
"Nancy it's because we live in different worlds," Percy sighed, "you remember that time in the fair? Remember....remember how that thing tried to eat us?"
"Y-yeah, so? What does that have to do with us not being able to be together?"
"Well, everything. Nancy you can't...you can't do the things I can. You would be in danger constantly."
"And?"
"Nancy you don't understand-"
"I understand I love you Percy Jackson," tears fell down her cheeks, "and I thought you felt the same."
"Nancy-" Percy began but the gild was already gone. Percy wanted to follow but Thalia stopped him. He turned to his girlfriend, "Thalia I know how this looks but she's my friend, she's is owed at the least an explanation."
"I know," Thalia nodded, "but not from you. She hates you right now, let me do it."
"Ah no offence Thalia, but I'm pretty sure she hates you more," Michael said as he and Clarisse munched on a pair of sandwiches Clarisse had bought, in case of an emergency.
"No, she doesn't hate me, she just hates that I'm dating Percy," Thalia said walking towards where Nancy ran off, "let me talk to her, I'll explain it to her Percy, don't worry."
"I'll come with you," Percy said but Thalia pushed him back again, "Thalia she's my friend and my responsibility."
"I know, but you can't help her. Don't hurt others just to satisfy your own guilt Percy. She needs to understand, and right now only I can do that," and without another word Thalia let the group running to catch up with Nancy.
"Damn, your ex is currently going to track down your female mortal best friend," Clarisse chuckled, "I do not want to be in your shoes Jackson."
"And I don't want to be in yours Clarisse, or else I'll have to go through the torment of having to kiss Michael on a regular basis."
"Hey! I'll have you know I'm a great kisser!" Michael yelled.
"Yeah, sure," Percy rolled his eyes.
"Yes I am! Tell him babe," Michael turned to Clarisse.
"I'll admit, he did have a little trouble at first, but with my help and a little experience he's actually pretty good at it," Clarisse stated with a satisfied smile.
"Ha! See!"
Percy shrugged, "whatever, I still don't want to kiss you."
"Okay now you're just begging for it!" Michael jumped up and ran towards Percy, "you're getting a big sloppy kiss Jackson!"
"Hell no!" Percy turned and ran as Michael chased him around the campus.
"Don't deny it Jackson, you're totally gay for me!"
"Fuck off Michael! You can never catch me and you know it!"
"I don't' have to! You'll slow down, because deep down you want this!"
Clarisse sighed as she rubbed her temples. Some days dating Michael was the easiest thing in the world, other days....well those days were the reason junk food was invented.
With Thalia;
The daughter of Zeus quickly found Nancy sitting under a set of stairs as she bawled her eyes out into her shirt sleeve.
"Go away!" Nact yelled out the moment she saw Thalia approach.
"No, we need to talk."
"I don't want to listen to anything you have to say!"
Thalia sighed as she sat down in front of Nancy. The girl ignored her as she went back to weeping.
"I get it," Thalia began, "I understand how you feel."
"What do you know?!" Nancy snapped, "you didn't have to loose him! I did!"
"That's not true," Thalia leaned back as she remembered all the times she thought Percy died. Alaska, Argo, in another world, "I almost lost him so many times over the summer it isn't even funny."
"But he always came back to you didn't he?" Nancy's tears were big, her eyes red, "he came back to you, not to me. You stole him from me!"
"He's not something to steal," Thalia snapped, "and I didn't steal him."
"Yeah you did," Nancy sniffed, "you just blinked those pretty little eyes of yours and he fell for you, you, you whore!"
Thalia wanted to blast Nancy in the face with a bolt of lighting, but she knew how much the girl meant to Percy. She was his first proper friend after all. Thalia reached into her pocket and took out her flip phone, "you know what fine, look at this."
Nancy looked and displayed on the phone was a picture of Thalia standing next to several beautiful girls. Thalia was pretty, but these girls all looked like supermodels that don't need any photoshop.
"This is basically a group of kids in our camp we call the 'Aphrodite' kids," Thalia lied, "they are the prettiest group of people you will ever meet. They are basically the children of Aphrodite."
Nancy glared at Thalia, "yeah? And?"
"And I'm saying Percy spent an entire summer living with these people, we both did. And believe me when I say quite a few of them wouldn't mind being with him. But he didn't go after them, he didn't even look at them. He didn't pick me because I'm pretty, he picked me because.....because he believed in me."
Thalia sighed as she put away the phone, "in truth, I don't know why he picked me. I never questioned, it, I never.....I didn't want to do anything that would make him go away. He's....he's amazing, he's like this, this..."
"The sun," Nancy supplied, "he's like the sun."
Thalia smiled, "yeah....he is. Every time he's with me I just feel so warm, so safe"
"He makes the troubles to go away."
"And he does that all without even realising it," Thalia chuckled, "he just comes in, throws your life on it's head and then leaves with that stupid smile on his face."
Nancy smiled, "yeah....I remember the first time we talked. He literally dragged me out for ice cream, and back then I as such a bitch to him....I don't even know why he cared so much for me. I figured it was because he liked me."
"No, Percy's not like that," Thalia said, "he probably just did it because....well because he's Percy."
Nancy sighed, "yeah....stupid idiot."
Thalia got up, "look I get it, you don't like me and that's fine. I don't like you as well. But Percy...Percy would feel horrible."
"No, he wouldn't," Nancy sniffed, "I'm not important to him."
"No, you are," Thalia replied, "he told me about you. He considers you his first proper friend, the first one he ever felt close to."
"No, that's Grover," Nancy huffed.
Thalia chuckled, "yeah, but Grover wanted to be Percy's friend, he didn't really have to work for it. But you were the first person he ever tired to be friends with, you helped him become a better person Nancy, and if you didn't speak to him anymore Percy would be hurt. And as his girlfriend it's my job to make sure he isn't hurt."
Thalia extended a hand, Nancy looked at it and sighed, "I don't think I stand seeing him with someone other than me."
"I get that, and you don't have to. But I have a feeling you wouldn't want leave him just like that, Percy isn't the kind of person you just walk away from, you would regret it, I know you would."
Nancy looked at the offered hand, "I.....you're right. I...I would regret it."
Nancy took the offered hand as Thalia pulled her up. "He was right you know, you and him wouldn't have worked out. We live in different worlds."
"You keep saying that, but I don't understand what you mean," Nancy huffed.
"It's a long story."
"I have nothing but time."
Thalia smiled, "well why not," the girls walked back to the cafeteria, "tell me Nancy, what do you know about the Greek Gods?"
Friday Night;
After an awkward reunion with Nancy, Percy and her had restarted their friendship. Though now it was a little bit more strained.
The week soon passed before anyone noticed and the next thing he knew Percy had to be in New York in five minutes for his first ever day as a police intern.
If he was anyone else Percy would have been royally screwed, but luckily Percy had super speed and the ability to create an time dilation ID. He had made it to the 12th precinct just in time.
As Percy walked into the police department he looked around observing all that was happening. It was just as he remembered it, everyone was busy, detectives were working on white boards putting up their cases in order to gain the opinion of others.
Percy smiled as he walked around getting a feel of the place. It was very hectic and fast paced, but Percy didn't really care, he was used to this kind of lifestyle. He quickly walked into the break room where most of the cops when to grab a cup of coffee before heading back to their desks.
The room looked pretty ordinary, except for various boards and pamphlets pinned up across the wall. There was a lot to read, mostly just bulletins regarding safety issues or other miscellaneous items. But one board stuck out to Percy beyond anything else.
It was white with a simple graph slowly increasing in a steep curve. The X axis showed the time passed for the graph, while the Y axis showed the amount of crime. It seemed ever since this June crime had risen by a steady rate.
Percy frowned, he remembered hearing about this in the news back in the yacht to Alaska. Back then he and Thalia suspected this wave of crime was due to Kronos being revived, since he was the Titan of evil it would make sense that his presence caused this new wave of terror.
"Yeah, things are bad, but it's nothing we can't handle," a man spoke up behind Percy.
The demigod turned and there standing behind him was an older man that came from Latino descent. He looked tough, judging from the military haircut and the muscles underneath his skin tight shirt Percy wagered he was possibly some kind of veteran. Percy looked at his name;
Javier Esposito, Cop
Lv— 19
Percy was impressed, his level was pretty high for a human.
"You must be Esposito," Percy said with a smile.
The man nodded, "yeah, how did you know?"
"Castle mentioned you," Percy recalled the dinner he had in Castle's place a few night's ago, "he gave me a good enough description of you. How did you know me?"
"I was there when you found those kidnapped siblings," the cop answered, "I helped bring them to the hospital. Nice work by the way, you solved that case in what, an afternoon?"
Percy blushed, "w-well yeah."
"So....Kate tells me you're some kind of genius," Esposito turned to the white board with the crime rate graph written on it, "tell me genius, why do you think crime has suddenly picked up?"
"Well....." 'maybe it's because the Titan of evil has risen up?' Percy wanted to say, but obviously that was off the table, "maybe it's because someone is causing it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well....if it happens every summer then yeah, it's just a coincidence. But it hasn't happened before, right?" Percy turned to Esposito who nodded, "then that means it's not something that happens naturally. So that means someone is causing it, someone from the shadows."
Percy meant Kronos, but he knew Esposito thought he meant a kingpin of crime of something, which was kind of what he was going for.
"Not a bad theory kid," Esposito nodded, "in fact it's the same conclusion many of us here in the present have come to. We even gave this person a nick name."
"What is it?"
"'The Master Hand'."
"Really? 'The Master Hand'?"
"What? No good?"
"No, it's awesome, it's just.....well why would you give him such a cool name?"
"What do you mean?"
