I'm sorry for this chapter.

It did not turn out the way I was expecting at all.

But we've got some plot building! Yay!

So... enjoy the chapter, I guess? All OOC-ness is purposeful and is going to be used in further plot structure.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters. I just own what comes out of my mind because I be an interesting child.

IV

Percy

As soon as he got to the neighborhood, Percy knew something was terribly wrong.

They had been walking for roughly fifteen minutes, much longer than it would've taken on a normal day. Percy had Leo draped around his shoulders. The teenager was barely conscious, mumbling things that Percy couldn't make out. His skin was hot, hotter than should be normal, but Percy wasn't sure if that was because of the demigod's fire powers or because he was developing a fever. Either way, it wasn't a good thing. Piper and Frank were helping Jason stumble along, the son of Jupiter protesting he was fine. They had believed him for a moment, but when they had let go of him, he had almost fallen onto his face. Frank had offered to turn into something that could get them there faster, but Percy could see the exhaustion in his friend's face. Hazel was walking behind them in dull silence. Annabeth was at the back, surprisingly unscathed.

They arrived in Percy's neighborhood, about a block from his apartment building. It was dark. Too dark, and too quiet. The buildings were splattered with graffiti and the ground was littered with trash. A cat hissed at the group and disappeared into a dark alley.

"This is your safe haven?" Frank asked in disbelief.

"I..." Percy trailed off. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. He hoisted Leo up higher to get a better grip. "Come on."

He walked up the front steps, cautiously followed by the others. He walked over to the elevator of their apartment building, pressing the button to get service. Nothing happened, except for the shaft creaking ominously. The doors were rusted and pushed partially open.

"Sketchy much?" Piper asked, looking around the deserted lobby.

Percy sighed. "I guess we'll have to take the stairs." He started dragging Leo over, his legs feeling like rubber and a feeling of unease growing rapidly in his stomach.

"Percy, are you sure this is the right place?" Jason asked, lifting tired eyes to Percy's face.

"Yes, I'm positive. Something..." He shook his head. "We'll be okay. Come on."

"Completely," Annabeth put in. Percy smiled at her, grateful for the support. She didn't meet his eyes.

Piper drew her dagger. "I'll go first, then."

They made it up the stairs to Percy's floor. Jason collapsed at the top, sliding down against the wall, breathing heavily. Percy put Leo down. Seeing no signs of danger, Piper sheathed her dagger.

Percy walked towards the door to his apartment, his heart clenching and his stomach twisted in knots. He walked up to the door and put a fist against the wood, leaving it there for a moment before knocking.

"WHO'S THERE?" a voice bellowed inside and Percy's blood turned to ice. Getting no answer, the person inside yelled again. "WHATDAYA WANT?"

Percy backed away from the door on trembling legs. He could feel himself moving much more slowly than he would've liked, his body not obeying, every voice in his head telling him to run and not look back.

Footsteps were coming towards the door, building the panic inside Percy's chest to an unbearable level. He had almost come to his senses and turned to run when the door slammed open, revealing a person Percy had prayed to all the gods he would never see again.

Standing in front of him was Gabe Ugliano.

"YOU!" Gabe roared. He was holding a beer can in one hand and was looking worse than ever. Balding head, greasy skin, overweight and no personal hygiene. "YOU LITTLE PUNK! YOU BLEW UP MY CAR!"

Percy would've laughed at the fact that Gabe was still bitter about that if he hadn't been so confused. "Wha... why are you here?"

"I live here," Gabe snorted. "Or did you forget that I own this place? That I basically own you?" He looked Percy up and down. "Sure, you've grown a couple inches, punk. But I'd know your face if I saw it on the devil himself." Gabe sneered and downed the rest of his beer. He crumpled the can and hurled it towards Percy's head. "You ruined my life, you took Sally away from me!"

"S-she would've left you anyway," Percy said, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

Gabe growled and pulled Percy up by his shirt collar. "Don't talk to me that way, you little brat! Now, we're going to go inside and you're going to spend the rest of the night in your room, thinking about how you can repay me for putting a roof over your head."

"No."

Gabe's eyes narrowed. "What did you say to me?"

"I said no," Percy said, removing himself from Gabe's grasp.

"Listen, kid," Gabe said, reaching inside the door. "I didn't go through hell to have you mouth back to me. Now you're going to obey me or you're going to regret it."

Percy pulled Riptide from his pocket. "Try me."

"Fine then." Gabe hefted a large metal club from behind the door. "Winner takes all." And he swung.

Percy saw it coming, years of training honing his senses. He ducked and the club smashed into the wall. Gabe yelled in outrage and swung it back over his head, getting ready for another strike.

Percy shouted, mostly to alert his friends. If his stepfather was here, who knows what else had gone wrong with the world.

"You worthless-" Gabe seemed to be getting frustrated. While his swings were powerful, they were also slow and clumsy and Percy dodged them easily. "You know why she chose me over you?"

"She didn't choose you!" Percy yelled back. "You're nothing to us!"

"Then why did she marry me?" Gabe asked, lowering his club.

"To protect me," Percy said.

"Really? Because I was going to protect you?" Gabe laughed. "Your own father didn't even want you, punk. Why would I?"

Yeah, well, joke's on you, Percy thought.You ended up protecting someone you hated.

"Well, at least I'm not a dirty, ugly pig," Percy retorted.

Gabe scowled. "That's it, I'm going to pound you into tomorrow, kid. I don't hear any signs of a rescue mission. Just you and me. Looks like your so-called-friends don't even care."

"What?" Percy looked back down the hall. He didn't see any signs of movement, any signs of life. Surely someone would've heard, with all the noise they were making. Surely Annabeth-

WHAM!

The club-or Gabe's fist, or something very hard-connected with the side of Percy's head, sending him to the ground, Riptide flying down the hall and disappearing from sight. Percy's ears were ringing and the world was spinning. He had a feeling that getting hit in the head as many times as he had in the past day was not good.

Gabe laughed and dropped his club, grabbing Percy's arm and yanking him up. "Let's go, punk."

Percy groaned and gathered what remained of his strength, kicking out with his legs and hitting an appropriate target. Gabe howled and dropped him. Percy stood, blinking the stars from his eyes and staggered down the hall. He turned the corner, Gabe yelling obscurities at him.

"YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME, JACKSON! I'LL BE BACK, YOU DIRTY LITTLE-" Percy blocked out the last of Gabe's words as the man swore like there was no tomorrow.

"Percy?" Hazel called as he got nearer to his friends. "What's going on?" She must've seen his face, because her tone grew worried. "Are you alright?"

"We have to get out of here," Percy said, his voice shaking.

Hazel nodded. She helped Leo to stand. Annabeth glanced at Percy with raised eyebrows and then slid an arm underneath Leo's shoulders. Frank and Piper grabbed Jason and hoisted him to his feet. He shoved them off and stumbled over to Percy.

"What happened?" Jason asked, bracing himself against Percy's chest. "You're shaking."

"I'm fine," Percy said, keeping Jason standing. "We just have to go."

Jason studied his face and nodded. "Fine. If you refuse help, then I do too. Let's go." He started walking towards the stairs, bracing himself against the wall and looking so exhaustingly pathetic that Percy sighed.

"Jason!" The son of Zeus turned around. "Can we please leave, and then I'll tell you?"

Jason nodded. "Now get over here, because I really don't think that falling down the stairs is going to look that good in front of Piper."

Percy rolled his eyes as Piper and Frank rushed over and grabbed his arms.

The group made their way out of the building and down the street a little ways before Percy was pretty sure that they were all going to collapse. Hazel and Annabeth dragged Leo into the corner of an alley and they all folded against the walls.

"Now," Jason gasped. "What happened."

"My stepfather," Percy said. "I don't... he just... I'm not sure..." He groaned and place his head between his knees, trying to stop his head from spinning around madly.

"Your stepfather?" Hazel asked.

"He's dead!" Percy looked up at all of them. "He's supposed to be dead and he's not, he's here, in my apartment and my mom isn't and I don't know why or what to do or-" He cut himself off and closed his eyes, resting his head back against the wall.

There was silence for a long while. Then Percy felt someone come sit down beside him.

"Annabeth?" he muttered, leaning his head towards her. "I'm tired."

A hand tensed in the air near his hair. "Percy? It's Piper."

Percy sat up, opening his eyes and looking for Annabeth. She was standing at the end of the alley, back turned.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"It's going to be okay, Percy," Piper said, her voice filling with charmspeak. "It'll be alright. Just... go to sleep now, okay?"

"No," Percy muttered, but even as he said it, his eyelids grew heavy and he felt himself slipping down into blessed darkness.

Like? Dislike? I don't know, tell me!

In other news, I now have a Tumblr account! Check it out for sneak peeks to new chapters, blurbs of one-shots and other updates on my fanfiction stuff! I'm voldemortin on . The username is sort of a joke between friends... if you wanna know the story, review!

Oh, and Lalaland, I've got a special something coming up for you! Keep on the lookout, it should be up in a couple of days!

Review!

All flames belong to Leo!