Chapter Text
Athena sat down at her desk, the clock ticking to noon. She opened her lunch, picking through her salad mindlessly. She used her lunch breaks to let all her stress and anxiety seep out of her.
There was a knock at the door, causing her to tense.
“Come back in an hour!”
There was a second knock. She sighed heavily.
“Come in, then.”
Annabeth opened the door. She shut it behind her and walked over to her mom’s desk.
“Oh Annie, honey, could you please come back later? I’m in between cases and I could really use the alone time.”
Annabeth shook her head.
“I’m sorry mom, we have to talk.”
Athena sighed heavily, but gestured to the seat in front of her. Annabeth sat down, smoothing out her pantsuit. The woman closed the lid over her salad and put it back in her cooler.
She rested her hands in her lap and gave a heavy look to her only daughter.
“If you say so. What is it?”
Annabeth looked down at her hands.
“Annie, what did I tell you about looking people in the eyes? Any conversation worth having is one in the eyes .”
Annabeth coughed lightly and looked up at her mom. They were glistening with tears.
Athena’s heart picked up in pace.
“Annie? What’s wrong?”
“Did you know they were going after Percy and Nico?”
Athena sighed, rubbing her eyes. She hesitated a moment before responding.
“Yes, honey. I’m so sorry they passed, but I promise you it was for the best.”
Annabeth shook her head.
“The assassination attempts failed , mom.”
Athena’s eyes shot open, staring at her daughter with fear.
“What do you mean, failed ? How could they have failed?”
Annabeth laughed a dark laugh.
“They’ve always been resourceful, mom. Always.”
Athena looked down at the documents on her desk, fear filling her chest. How soon would it be before they were stained with her blood?
“They’re not coming for you, mom.”
She looked up, confused.
“How do you know this, Annabeth? Tell me how you know this.”
A small, sad smile crossed her daughter’s face.
“Because they sent me here instead.”
Athena paled. It was bad enough to know she would be dead soon, but this? Killed by her own daughter?
“ Why, Annie? Why did you say yes?”
She smiled again.
“Because I’m not here to kill you. They made it our choice. It’s up to me to decide how to get rid of you.”
A dark look crossed Athena’s face.
“So you decide to walk in here, torture me with this information, and then get rid of me?”
Annabeth shook her head.
“No, mom. Not exactly. I came here to offer you the chance to leave. I called dad.”
Athena’s heart skipped a beat.
“You… did?”
Annabeth nodded, a ghost of a smile on her lips.
“He’s currently moving his stuff around, getting his house in LA set up for you. There’s a moving truck outside that you can take there. You’ll leave immediately, if you so choose. He’s happy to have you back. He forgives you for leaving him. He just wants you home.”
Athena’s eyes watered.
“But… my life is here. You are here, Annie.”
Annabeth nodded, her eyes sad.
“Someone has to keep this city running. I have enough of a reputation, and enough people in the right places, to take over as DA when you resign today. My life is here , mom. You’ll move to LA, maybe get a teaching position at UCLA with dad. You’ll be happy again. I know you aren’t happy here, and so do you.”
Athena nodded, wiping away a tear.
“What if I say no?”
A look of fear crossed Annabeth’s face.
“Please don’t, mom. We have control of OSF. There are several undercover guards outside right now, and if you say no... it won’t be pretty. Please, please say yes. You can be happy again. I might even visit you and dad every few months. We can be happy again.”
Athena nodded. She stood up, walking to the window. She saw the moving van outside. The van with her life in it, ready to take her to Los Angeles, to the love she let get away.
“Annie.”
Annabeth tensed, standing up.
“I love you so, so much baby. And I am so unbelievably proud of you. I… I know you will do great things in this city.”
She turned and hugged her daughter tightly.
Annabeth felt tears run down her cheeks.
“And I absolutely can’t wait for you to come visit your dad and me in LA.”
Annabeth let out a sob, squeezing her mom tightly.
“Don’t let them corrupt you, Annie. Always stay the bright girl I know you are. The last piece of wisdom I have to share with you is this: Never let your guard down around those boys. As bad as Zeus was, they will be worse. So much worse.”
She took a shaky breath, thinking for a moment.
“But, maybe they will also be better in some ways. Maybe they will finally end this Godforsaken war and bring peace to the city.”
Annabeth nodded.
Her mother separated them and she kissed Annabeth’s forehead.
“I love you, honey. Please take care of yourself.”
She gave Annabeth one last, small smile, before turning and opening the door. The undercovered guards nodded at her, one of them gesturing for her to lead.
As the door closed and the clacking of her mother’s heels faded, Annabeth felt emotion explode in her chest, making her hyperventilate. She collapsed to the ground holding herself, sobbing.
…
Demeter stirred the beaker, staring at it intensely. The color change wasn’t happening as quickly as it should, and she wrote a note to try increasing the dosage, temperature, and rate of stirring. As she put her pen back down, she heard a cough behind her.
She whirled around, shock crossing her face.
Miranda.
How?
Demeter coughed.
“Miranda, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
She eyed to her left, where she should be able to see her lab team, but cursed inwardly. They had gone to lunch fifteen minutes ago. She wanted to do one more test before joining them. There was always one more test to do.
“‘Is everything okay?’ That’s… that’s what you have to say for yourself? Is everything okay?! ” Miranda slammed her flattened hand down on a lab bench.
Demeter recoiled.
“I- I, um… Yes. What else would I have to say to you?”
Miranda’s eyes darkened.
“How about, ‘ Sorry for allowing Zeus to try and kill you, daughter! ’ Or maybe, ‘ Gosh, I feel so very very glad that you’re still alive despite the bomb in your apartment! ’ Try starting from there!”
Demeter blushed.
“Miranda, please. I had… I had no idea what Zeus was planning. Not… not specifically, at least.” She thought for a moment, resolving. “That little menace needed to die, darling! I… I had no choice! None at all!”
A fire erupted in Miranda’s chest.
“No choice?! NO CHOICE?! How about the choice of not letting your daughter be blown up! How about the choice of, say, calling me and telling me that I was in fucking danger!”
Demeter had a stern look cross her face.
“Miranda, language!”
Miranda’s mouth opened, hanging slack-jawed.
“Are you serious right now?! Language?! I don’t even know who you are , mom! I. Would. Have. Died! Don’t you care about that in the slightest?!”
Demeter rolled her eyes.
“You’re being a bit overdramatic, darling, really! They would have waited until the boy was in the apartment alone!”
“How does that make any sense?! He was never even there , mom! They blew it up thinking it was just me! ”
Demeter sighed.
“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this. How about you come back when you’re acting a bit more age-appropriate and not screaming at me like a banshee?”
Pure, unfiltered rage and hatred filled Miranda’s heart.
“Fine.”
She pulled out her pistol and shot her mom in the chest. The woman screamed, falling to the ground.
Miranda walked over, stood above her mother, and emptied the clip into her head.
…
Dionysus scratched his oversized and hairy belly, yawning. He stretched in his armchair, popping his back. He settled back down.
He reached over to pour himself another glass, but it was empty. He sighed. He switched the TV off just as a report about a man committing suicide turned on.
He struggled to stand, almost losing his balance. He caught himself and tottered on over to his wine cellar’s door. He opened it, feeling the cool air of the cellar hit his feet. He grumbled as he took it step by step and tried to turn on the lights, but the bulb was out.
“Whatever. Piece of trash.”
He walked up to the wall, grabbing a random bottle. It looked like it would be roulette day, apparently.
He started making his slow progress back upstairs when the door slammed shut. He furrowed his brows. He climbed the stairs and pushed it, but it wouldn’t budge.
He sighed, pressing the intercom button.
“Hastings, I’m in the cellar. Come open the door!”
He waited, but nothing happened.
“Hastings! Get your lazy ass over here and open the Goddamn door! ”
No response.
His face scrunched up. He was considering pounding on the door to try and break it down when the intercom clicked on.
“Thank God. Open the fucking cellar door, Hastings, it closed on me.”
“ No, it didn’t .”
Dionysus paled. He knew that voice.
“Pollux?”
“ I’m here too, dad. ”
“Castor? What the fuck are you two doing up there? This isn’t the time for a prank. Let me out, right now!”
Pollux responded.
“ Can’t do that, dad. ”
Dionysus rolled his eyes.
“Fine, I’ll play your stupid game. Why the fuck not?”
“ Too much cement. ”
Dionysus paled.
“Say that again.”
The intercom was silent.
“I said, say that again, boy! What the fuck did you just say?! ”
It clicked back on.
“ There’s too much cement. It’s blocking the door. I’m afraid we won’t be able to get you out of there for at least, oh, a few months. ”
Dionysus’ eyes widened.
“The fuck are you talking about, boy? Open the Goddamn door! ”
“ Sorry dad. I’m a bit deaf, you’re gonna have to say that again. Might have something to do with you smashing a wine bottle over my head when I was sixteen. ”
Dionysus growled.
“Now’s not the time to fuck around with me, boy. Open. The. Door.”
He waited.
“ No. ”
“The fuck you just say to me?”
A long pause happened.
“ No. ”
A stroke of fear filled the man’s core.
“What happened in the past is done with. Open the door and we can talk about it.”
There was another long pause.
Castor began speaking.
“ What do you think there is to talk about? Do you mean the number of times you were drunk and beat us? The number of times you were drunk and locked us out of the house? Or, maybe, the number of times you were drunk and climbed into bed with us and had us pretend to be mom? ”
Dionysus paled.
“Now, boys… there’s no need to-”
A dark chuckling came on over the intercom.
Pollux again.
“ Oh, there’s a need to. Tell you what. We’ll give you some time to think about what you did. Say… two months. You can stay down there with what you hold most dear to your heart - your Goddamn wine - and choke on it . ”
“No, boys, please! Let’s talk about this face-to-face! You can - you can get revenge! Beat me up too! Smash a bottle over my head, we’ll be even! Just open the door!”
The intercom clicked off.
“Just open the door! Castor! Pollux! Don’t leave me down here! Open the Goddamn door! ” He heard a small squeak come from near his foot and he yelped, jumping.
Castor turned to his brother, stretching.
“Do you think he’ll learn to regret what he did?”
Pollux shook his head.
“You need to have a heart to be able to regret.”
“Soon, he’ll have much less than that. You put the rats down there?”
Pollux grinned darkly.
“Oh, yes. And you put the bottles of our piss in a nice little pile?”
Castor chuckled.
“Should be enough to sustain him for a couple months. Maybe then we can check in again, see how much daddy likes his fancy wine cellar now.”