Percy

Percy's opinion of Sam and Dean improved when they greeted Percy and Annabeth in the morning with a box of donuts. Percy immediately claimed the blueberry jelly donut and went to town on it.

"I've already checked the news in the closest cities," Sam said as they sat down to eat. "No child disappearances or deaths overnight. We were right about being ahead of them."

Annabeth let out a breath. "Thank the gods." She bit into a glazed donut.

Percy bumped her leg under the table, trying to convey his support. She hadn't talked about it, but he knew she hadn't slept well the past two nights. She was still in prime fighting form, but because he knew her so well, he could see the strain in her eyes.

Dean talked while chewing on a powdered donut. "But we need to find the next kid before that Medusa and Muriel—"

"—Euryale," Percy interjected around his own donut.

"—get to them," Dean finished, barely acknowledging Percy's correction.

"Who's the next target?" Sam asked.

Annabeth pulled out her list and smoothed the paper. "Lily Sherman in Sunnyvale."

Sam opened his laptop and spent a few minutes searching. "That's a few hours from here. We can get there by the afternoon. Looks like Lily's fine so far."

"We should talk to Lily's family first," Annabeth said. "They should know something's coming after her."

"If we can stop the Gorgons before they get to her, there's no reason to worry them," Sam said. "In our experience, people don't really react well to this stuff."

Annabeth shook her head. "I don't think you understand. Monsters will come after her eventually. They can smell us, and when we use technology, it's like lighting a beacon. They're drawn to us like moths to a flame. That's the life of a demigod. Lily's just unlucky enough to have a mother with enemies. She needs to start preparing for that."

Percy spotted pity in Sam and Dean's eyes. He didn't want it. He'd made his peace with this life a while ago. Now, he just wanted to help other demigods do the same.

Sam and Dean shared a quick look only Percy's ADHD let him catch, but he didn't know what it meant. He'd woken up with a feeling that today was going to be an interesting day, and their look only strengthened the feeling.

"How?" Dean asked.

Annabeth shifted in her seat and Percy pressed his leg closer to hers. He dropped his hand under the table to let it rest on her thigh and he felt her muscles relax.

"We have communities for demigods," Annabeth said. "It's how we learn who we are and how to protect ourselves."

"Like a school?" Sam asked.

"More like a summer camp," Percy said.

"Where?" Dean asked, his voice gruff.

Annabeth set down her donut, untouched except for that first bite. "Look, we appreciate your willingness to help. But you're not demigods. And to be honest, I don't entirely trust you yet."

Dean frowned. "We—"

"It's fine, we understand," Sam said. "You have your secrets, we have ours. We just want to make sure everyone's safe. Like you do."

"They will be," Percy insisted.

"Good," Sam said.

"So what happens when we get to Sunnyvale? If that Medusa knows we're protecting Lily, won't she just move on to the next kid?" Dean asked.

Annabeth winced. "Yes. Which is why we're going to have to use Lily as bait. I don't like it any more than you do, but if we want to stop Medusa from hurting other kids, then we need to draw her in and stop her."

Sam and Dean exchanged another look. Dean said, "Fine. We'll lay out the plan when we get there. Meet us in the parking lot in twenty minutes. Keep the donuts."

Percy eagerly reached for another donut as Sam and Dean left their room. While he continued eating, Annabeth started packing up their things—not that they had much to pack up.

"What are you thinking?" Percy asked when he saw her staring into space.

"Just a bad feeling," Annabeth sighed. "Sam and Dean don't trust us as much as we don't trust them. Mostly because they want to protect us. But I'm worried they're going to do something that will end up blowing up in their faces."

"Yeah, I've got the same weird feeling," Percy said as he finished packing the last of their things. "But as long we all protect the kids, it'll be okay, right?"

Annabeth was spared from answering by the sound of a car peeling out of the parking lot. A car that sounded a lot like their new colleagues' Impala.

Percy raced to the window just in time to see Sam and Dean disappear down the street. He sighed and answered his own question. "Wrong."

~

Annabeth kicked the tire of Percy's car angrily. "Dammit! They're gonna get themselves—and Lily—killed!"

"It'll be okay," Percy said as he pulled the spare tire out of the trunk. Forget Boy Scouts—a demigod is always prepared. "I mean, I'm gonna make them buy me a new tire when we catch up to them, but we will catch up to them in time to save them and Lily."

Sam and Dean hadn't just ditched Percy and Annabeth high and dry. They'd also broken into Percy's car, stolen their extra Celestial bronze weapons, and slashed one of the car's tires to slow them down. Without even so much as a "We're sorry" note.

And though he was pissed as hell, part of Percy was a little relieved they'd thought to get the right weapons this time. Still, that didn't mean they'd succeed. They were woefully unprepared for Stheno last night. Having the right weapons now wouldn't make them magically successful if they weren't careful. But at least they'd have a chance.

"We need to hurry. Medusa and Euryale could already be there. Lily could already be dead!" Annabeth shouted.

Percy dropped the tire and grabbed Annabeth by the shoulders. "Annie, you gotta calm down." He knew the hated nickname would get her attention, and it worked. "Worrying won't do anything for you right now except hurt you. But if you want to get there faster, then give me a hand with this tire."

Annabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She let it out slowly, and when she opened her eyes, she seemed calmer. "You're right. Let's get to work."

So they did, Percy making a mental note to thank his stepdad Paul for teaching him how to change a tire. They were ready to go in half an hour, but with California traffic, it was difficult to tell how much of a delay they were facing. Percy didn't bother trying to figure it out—he just hopped in the car, asked Annabeth to pull up directions, and slammed the gas.

~

Percy and Annabeth didn't get a chance to meet with Lily's father when they arrived in Sunnyvale. He was already at his daughter's school, where Lily was about to perform in a fourth-grade production of some Charlie Brown skit. The production was taking place in a surprisingly fancy theater—the school was a private K-12 school, so it had money. Behind the theater was a prop house. Through the windows, Percy could see stacks upon stacks of props and set pieces.

The theater was already crawling with people—parents, students, teachers, siblings, and friends. The parking lot was filled to the brim, and they barely found a spot in the back. Right next to a familiar '67 Impala.

Percy grabbed Riptide and a bottle of water. Annabeth readied her dagger, sword, and invisibility cap. They crept toward the back entrance of the theater, and as expected, found Sam and Dean watching in the shadows.

"You owe me a new tire," Percy said.

Sam and Dean spun around with knives raised—the knives they'd stolen from Percy and Annabeth. They lowered their guard when they saw it was just Percy and Annabeth, but they didn't seem any happier.

"You were supposed to take the hint and let us handle this," Dean growled.

Annabeth scoffed, walking right up to Dean. She looked like a child next to him as he towered over her, but she didn't even flinch. She just glared hard enough to make him take a step back.

Gods, that's hot, Percy thought. Then he pushed the thought away and focused on the present.

"Either you're an idiot, or you understand English worse than a toddler. Because clearly, you didn't listen to a thing we told you," Annabeth snapped. "She is my sister. I'm not letting this go until I know she and all my siblings are safe. And we are way more prepared to handle this than you are."

"Kid, we've been killing monsters since before you were born," Dean said.

Annabeth didn't back down. "Not these kind. And we've been saving the world since we were twelve. We've lost friends and family. We've faced things mortals can't even comprehend. This is every day of our lives."

"We've faced Medusa and Euryale before," Percy said. "I killed them both. We know what we're doing."

Sam sighed and stepped toward them. "Look, we get it. You want to protect your people and you're used to this fight. But we've seen too many kids like you get lost in this life. We don't want you to meet that same fate. We're doing this for your own good."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Doing what?"

Before he could think, Oh crap, Sam lunged for Percy. Metal glinted in the faint sunlight. A handcuff slapped around Percy's left wrist and Sam reached for his other wrist.

The sound of a struggle told Percy that Dean was trying the same thing with Annabeth. Now, Percy was mad. First, they almost got Miles killed yesterday. Then, they broke into his car, stole his weapons, and slashed his tire. Now, they were going to try to handcuff them to keep them from protecting one of their own? No way. Not happening.

Percy tried to throw Sam off of him, but he was deceptively strong. He wrestled Percy backward towards the fence, likely with the intent of handcuffing him to it. Percy spotted his water bottle in the dirt a few feet away where he'd dropped it when Sam had grabbed him.

Percy concentrated and reached out. The water obeyed and burst out of the bottle, flying towards Percy. He directed it at Sam, and even though it wasn't a large amount of water, the force was enough to knock him back. Sam slammed into the fence and onto the ground, and Percy kept the water pushing at him to keep him there.

Only then did Percy check on Annabeth's progress. He wasn't surprised to see her in the midst of throwing Dean over her shoulder using her signature judo flip—his own back ached in sympathy when Dean hit the ground. Dean yelped in surprise as Annabeth landed on him and pinned all his limbs down with her own.

"Son of a bitch," Dean grunted. "How the hell did you do that?"

Annabeth smirked. "I've been training to fight monsters since I was seven years old. You think I don't know how to take down someone bigger than me? Everything I fight is bigger than me."

"Look, I'm sorry it's going down this way. We just don't want anyone else to get hurt," Sam said, trying and failing to get up while Percy was still holding him down with the water.

Percy scoffed. "When are you going to get it? This is our life whether we like it or not. We can't escape it. We can only try to survive it."

"We're not letting you do this without us," Annabeth said. She held up her handcuffed wrist. "In fact, I have half a mind to lock you two up and take care of it without you like you tried to do with us."

"You're really starting to get on my nerves," Dean groused.

"Dean," Sam said with a sigh. "They're right. We can't stop them. And we might need them."

"You will need us," Percy griped.

Dean grumbled under his breath but didn't contradict them. Annabeth nodded at Percy, and only then did he release Sam. He stood up with a groan and then stared dumbfounded as Percy brought the water back to himself. With nowhere to store it since he'd exploded his water bottle, he absorbed it into himself to replenish his energy after driving for a few hours. He even took the water that had soaked into Sam's clothes, leaving him completely dry.

"How did you do that?" Sam gaped.

Percy smirked. "Son of Poseidon, remember?"

Dean glared at Percy and Annabeth as all four of them dusted themselves off. Annabeth pulled a hairpin out of her pocket and made quick work of the handcuffs around their wrists, then gave them back to Sam and Dean. Percy stood close to Annabeth, just in case they tried anything again. But he could sense a shift in the air; they still weren't friends, but they were at least allies.

"So. Any movement before we arrived?" Annabeth asked as they settled in to watch the theater.

"No," Sam said, holding his knife at the ready. "We don't even know if Medusa will strike tonight. But she's gotta know we're onto her now. She'll want to move fast."

"Not with us standing here," Percy said. "She'll spot us."

"And smell us," Annabeth added.

"Then what do you suppose we do, genius?" Dean turned to Annabeth.

When Percy looked at Annabeth and saw the light in her eyes, he knew she had a plan. She grinned and held up her invisibility cap. "We've got a few tricks up our sleeves, too."