Title: What am I getting in to?

Background: Sally told Perci the truth about her father when she was young. The two travelled around America while fighting monsters. Sally knows how to defend herself. After Perci went to camp, Sally settled down and met Paul.

Set: Between 'Titian's Curse' and 'Battle of the Labyrinth'

Summary: Paul wasn't sure what to think about his girlfriend's daughter. Then again, he wasn't sure what to think about his girlfriend either.

Paring: PaulxSally, FemPercyxDionysus

When people ask Paul what he thinks about his girlfriend's daughter he tells them the same thing the whole time:

"She nice. Bit naughty and doesn't like people being stupid. But she's nice, helpful, and just a normal teenage girl."

In reality, Paul wasn't sure what to think. He had been dating Sally (Kind, sweet, always polite, and generally good person Sally) for a few months before he met the young girl. She was going to a girl's boarding school with two friends of hers from camp and had decided to come home for a few days. Oh Paul knew about the young girl. It was the first thing Sally told him about when he asked her out. And Sally talked about her 'little' girl quite a bit.

Paul was sure he would be ready for anything.

He wasn't.

Paul had been invited to dinner with the family, to get to know Perci. He remembered that he was about to knock when he heard loud noises on the other side. At first he thought the mother and daughter pair was arguing, but then he heard weapons. Paul kicked down the door, ready to tackle the intruder when he stopped in his tracks. In the middle of the living room, furniture pushed to the walls, was Sally and who he assumed was Perci, fighting with swords.

"Who the Hades are you?" Perci asked him as she pushed her mother down with her sword. He was about to answer when Sally knock the young girl away and turned to him, smile on her face.

"Paul! You're here early," she said. She wasn't angry, more surprised.

"I didn't know you two sword fight, wait are those real?" he asked when he saw light reflect from the weapon.

"Obviously," Perci said, like she was unimpressed with him.

"Perci," Sally said, warning her. She then gave the young girl her sword and moved to great him. Behind her, he saw the young girl just staring at him with cold eyes. He honestly wanted to run away, but knew this was probably a test. He kissed Sally on the cheek and handed her the cake and flowers.

"Is that strawberry?" Perci asked. Paul relaxed, having remembered that strawberries were the young girl's favourite. It was, after all, the reason he bought the flavour.

"Yes," he smiled at her. Suddenly the cold look disappeared and she left, probably to put away the swords.

"Well come in," Sally said before whispering, "Good job."

Paul felt like puffing out his chest, but knew the battle wasn't over jet.

Sally had already made dinner by the time he arrived and after he helped her set the table, they were ready to eat.

"Where's Perci?" he asked her. The young girl had jet to show her face again. Surprisingly, Sally giggled. She moved closer and told him softly, hiding her mouth like it was a secret.

"She's talking to her boyfriend," the woman said. Paul was surprised. The last thing he heard, the young girl wasn't interesting in dating.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," Sally said, grinning. She looked happy at the news, ecstatic even. He watched as she walked to the girl's room and knocked.

"Perci! We're going to eat now!" she called.

"Coming!" Perci yelled back. Paul expected that they would have to wait several more minute, but it wasn't so. Perci opened the door before Sally even made it back to the kitchen/dining room.

Dinner wasn't a quite affair. The three talked about everything. Perci's school (I don't think I'm going back next year. Annabeth's moving and Talia already left), Sally's book (You'll like it when I'm done, Perci. It's about a female heroin), Paul's hobbies (I did theatre when I was young. Learned a bit about fencing, but nowhere near what you two were doing), and a whole lot of other things.

There were some things they didn't talk about. One of those things was, unsurprisingly, Perci's boyfriend. In fact, Perci completely shut down when asked about him. Paul figured it was typical teenage girl thing, mainly because Sally looked like she was going to start laughing. It was only later that Paul realized that the young girl had been embarrassed.

After dinner, Sally pushed the two into the living room to bond while she did the dishes. At first they just looked at each other. Paul wasn't sure about what to talk ab-

"Do you like my mom?" Perci asked suddenly. Paul looked at her, seeing the serious face.

"Yes, Perci. I like her very much," he told her, figuring this was the 'hurt her and you'll regret it' talk. Paul didn't really expect much out of it.

"Did mom tell you about the last guy?" Perci asked. This made Paul pause. 'Last guy'?

"No," Paul replied carefully.

"He wasn't very nice. He kept treating my mom like dirt. And the day he slapped her…" Perci said and looked Paul right in the eye, "He ended up chained to the bottom of the sea."

Paul felt dread rack through his body. He remembered the news report a few years ago, about a man called Gabe Ugliano found at the bottom of the sea, near port. Doctors suspected he drown after he was tied up. No one had found the person responsible. But now…. Now this young girl pretty much told him she was the one who did it.

"I was six," Perci said, and Paul gulped.

"My mom likes you Paul. And you seem like a good man to me. But I'm warning you right now. Hurt her, and you wouldn't see the next sun rise," Perci said. Paul looked at her, in both shock and horror. But there was something else. Something in her eyes that frightened him to the core.

Insanity.

Paul continued to date Sally. You could probably call him crazy for doing so, but he wouldn't care. Sally was everything he ever wanted. And he was determined to prove to Perci that he was good enough for her mother. And honestly, he was pretty sure he was succeeding.

A month after the visit Perci dropped out of the girl's boarding school and started going to a day school near home. Paul quickly figured out that she didn't as much drop out as she was kicked out. Perci was, after all, in detention four days out of five.

This meant that Perci and Paul interacted much more than they expected to. The girl was extremely cold in the beginning, but after a few weeks, she willingly asked him for help with her English work.

Then an incident occurred. An incident that reminded him just who raised Perci in the first place.

He had come over for Perci's English lesson when he found a small porky man at the kitchen table. The man looked like he was suffering from alcohol withdrawal. He had curly black hair and purple eyes. He wore a tiger print Hawaiian shirt and looked, well, really angry.

"She failed one test," the man said.

"Exactly. She failed. If it was a written test I'll understand, but it wasn't. It was an oral test. She's not going to camp until she raises her grade," Sally told him, not at all afraid of the man.

The man scowled while Paul remembered that some weekends Perci was missing. Did she go to this camp Sally was talking about? And who was this man?

"Um," Paul said, unsure if he should interrupt the two, but it was already too late. The two turned to him, one smiling while the other scowled.

"Paul! Right on time. Perci's not here yet. She said she'll be a while," Sally told him. Paul couldn't help but wonder if she purposely didn't tell him where Perci was.

"That's fine," Paul said before turning to the strange man, "Who's this?"

Sally frowned. Not rudely, more like she wasn't happy with this man, "This is Dionysus, Perci's boyfriend."

The man, Dionysus, puffed his chest out in pride. No, not pride. It had something to do with Perci. Not honour. Worthiness. Like it was his right to be Perci's boyfriend-

Wait. This was Perci's boyfriend?

"You're Perci's boyfriend," Paul asked.

"Yes," the man growled. Paul winced and took a step back.

"Dionysus!" Sally said sharply and the man turned back to her, "My decision is final. Perci is grounded. From Camp, from you, from everything the minute she enters this apartment."

"And if I disagree?"

Paul watch as Sally picked up the large battle axe, which had been leaning against the kitchen counter, with one hand and point it at Dionysus.

"Don't think I wouldn't get Perci's father to help me keep you away," Sally said. Dionysus looked at the axe and then glared again at the woman. Paul blinked and the man was gone.

"Wait! What! Where is he?" Paul asked as he looked around.

"I'm sorry dear," Sally said, her voice soft, "That was Dionysus, the Greek god of wine."

It took Paul a few weeks to get use to the idea of Greek gods. Especially the one (Poseidon) that was Perci's father and the one (Dionysus) that was Perci's boyfriend.

Not that it changed his mind or anything. He was still determined to be in the two women's lives. But now…

When people ask Paul about the relationship between Perci and Sally, He can't help but give only one answer:

"Oh she's defiantly her mother's daughter."