Chapter 2: Redire Ad Patriam

I've been wanting to continue this story for a while but I haven't got the chance with my other stories still on. Again, I'm not a military expert so take everything militaristic I say with a grain of salt. I don't know the family benefits of joining fucking Delta Force but I'm just making it useful to the story.

Chapter 2: Redire Ad Patriam

The hotel Percy and Artemis woke up in wasn't anything special, but a nice double bed was just what the couple needed after nine months of stretchers and bunks. The situation they woke up in helped too, naked and in each others' embrace.

Diana was laying on his chest, tracing her husband's defined abs as her thoughts drifted off. There was something she and Percy had been meaning to sit down and talk about for a while but things were always busy and they never got the chance. "Have you thought any more about the offer?" She asked, her eyes flicking up towards him.

Percy looked down at her and smiled groggily. "Yeah, a bit. I don't know, I mean it's up to you really. We sorta both need to be on board with it and I'm down. Any reasons I should or shouldn't?" He asked, and Diana smirked as she crawled up to bury her head in her lover's neck.

"Hm, let's see..." She said, tracing her finger down his jawline. "We can keep this pay, we can be home almost full time, we can be with the kids, don't have to worry about our lives as much, don't have to sneak around anymore...." She trailed off at the end, smirking sultrily at him. Percy grinned as his wife climbed on top of him. "I think I can get with that." He decided.

It was close to 11 in the morning when they reported back to base, having caught a cab out to the front and walking in after flashing their passes. In the barracks they met some of their squadmates who wolf-whistled. "Looks like someone slept in! Stayed up all night, did ya?" Cpl. Lennox teased, making the revered Perseus and Artemis roll their eyes. "Just cause I'm getting some action, Lennox." Percy mocked, making everyone 'ooh' at the corporal.

Sgt. Hoover clapped Percy on the shoulder. "That's alright, you weren't the last ones. Heracles is MIA, might have to send a team out to extract him from underneath a pile of whores." He joked, making their teammates cackle.

Just then Centaur walked in, already dressed and sharp as usual. "Artemis, Perseus! Lt. Gn. Athena wants to speak with you." He told them, and the two immediately straightened out their posture and appearance as they were summoned to chat with the big boss.

The lieutenant general wished to meet them in the boardroom, so Percy and Artemis headed on over there immediately. Inside was a long table with about twelve chairs, five on each side and one on each end. It was something straight out of a corporate scene, or in the Capitol, not an Israeli military base.

"Spinny chairs? Score!" Percy whooped, running for one of the twelve spinny chairs. He dived on it, immediately doing 720s around the meeting room. Diana rolled her eyes. "Knock it off, this could be serious. What if our tour's over?" She scolded him, and Percy just shrugged. "So we get to go home to our kids? Score!"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "We might be getting a promotion so shut your ass up and let me do the talking." She told him. Percy grinned even further. "Promotion? Sco-ore!" He cheered. Diana merely sighed as she sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the table from him.

The door opened and they immediately stood back up, expecting the lieutenant general to be walking in, only for Orion to stroll into the room confusedly. "Hey, you guys here to meet the LG?" He asked.

Artemis nodded, making Orion sigh and plant himself down in the chair next to her. Percy swiveled to face him, fingertips pressed together like a Bond villain. "Where'd you end up last night? Didn't see you after about round four." He asked, and Diana smirked at him from across the table. "That's because you were face first on the pool table."

Orion laughed slightly. "No, I get easily wasted so I caught a cab to a motel before it was too late. What about you guys?" He asked. Orion immediately regretted it as Percy smirked. "Oh yeah, we caught a hotel too if you catch my drift." He said, oblivious to the fact that this guy had asked his wife out just over 13 hours previous.

Orion cringed. "Lit."

Just then the door was thrown open and they all stood at attention. "Sit down." Athena said quickly, marching into the room and placing herself at the head of the table. Perseus, Artemis and Orion sat back down and looked at the lieutenant general expectantly.

Athena clasped her hands together and looked each one of them in the eye. "I think you all know why I have called you here." She said stiffly, and Percy shrugged. "We get to go home to our families?" He fired a shot in the dark.

Athena pursed her lips with enough curvature that it could be classed as a smile. "Partly. While yes, your tours are almost over, there are some matters we need to discuss first. Namely your membership with the Delta Force and your placement as a new trio within the force. Have you all thought about it? Cpl Hunter, I know there hasn't been much time for you to think about it considering you've been with us only a month and one real mission but I'm afraid we need an answer today." She apologized to Orion.

Diana swiveled to look at Percy and they locked eyes, a mutual understanding between them. She answered for her husband. "Perseus and I have decided to join Delta full time, I guess that means the conditions you told us about?" She asked the lieutenant general.

Athena smiled and opened the folder, pulling out a brief list of the benefits she had jotted down and sliding it to the couple.

-Continued Base Pay, with Basic Allowance for Subsistence, Special Duty Assignment Pay, Deployment Pays, Demo Pays, Jump Pays, Dive Pays, Per Diem and other bonuses tacked on :) Family Separation Pays will generally cease as you need to be away for at least a month and few of your ops will last that long

-You're home three days a week, Friday and weekends. Other four days you spend at least six hours on the nearest base

-No more nine month deployments, all ops will be dealt with as they come. In other words, you stay right there, we'll come to you

-More dangerous work. No more guarding villages and fixing trucks, now it's onto national security threats and averting international crises. I have a feeling that's just what Perseus enjoys

-A lifetime membership with American Outdoor Brands which includes 50% off on all stock and free use of company-owned shooting ranges if you can provide base ID. Again, Perseus will like that one

As the couple read over the benefits they nodded. "Where do I sign?" Percy asked, and Athena held up a hand. "What about you, Orion?"

The corporal stared at the table for a while in contemplation. There were definitely a lot of downsides. He was fresh out of selection, he'd only had two years in the army beforehand, he'd literally asked out one of his potential teammates and then learned that his other teammate was married to the one he asked out, so yes there was plenty of reasons to say no.

But he liked the benefits. Tours were tiring after a few weeks and he liked the idea of being in a normal world for 70% of the time instead of bunkered down or cleaning toilets that his fellow soldiers have shat in. Plus he actually liked his comrades. "I want in but there's a lot of stuff I'd need to sort out. I don't got a house and I don't have the money to get one." He said.

Athena nodded. "Well BAH can help towards getting some property. I'm sure Perseus and Artemis can help you find one to your liking and maybe even house you until you've found a home. As it says on the note BAS pays for your food. Essentially, the military will make sure you're well provided for." She assured him.

Diana looked at her husband at the prospect of housing Orion. He nodded. "If he can't stay with us he can always use one of dad's lodges."

Athena nodded, taking out three sheets. "Good. Well, if you've made your decisions, sign here." She said, and all three looked down at the papers in front of them.

Only a day later, after having said a temporary goodbye to their comrades, the trio were on a flight back home. They'd been shuttled to the Tel Aviv airport, and all the stuff they weren't allowed to put on a plane was going to be shipped back to America with some other stuff the US military was sending home.

Orion was asleep in the aisle seat while Percy and Artemis watched a movie together on the airlines in flight entertainment- specifically Rocky IV. It was during one of the quieter, more boring scenes when Percy looked over at his wife. "How much longer do we got to go?" He asked boredly.

Artemis rolled her eyes and checked her watch. "It's been like two hours, we've still got ten more to go." She told him. Percy sighed and looked out his window, really missing his kids in the moment and wishing he could see them right now. Then he was reminded that they were actually flying over a country right now. "Is this Italy?" He asked.

Artemis shook her head. "No, we get off in Rome for our connected flight. This is Greece." She said. Percy continued to look at the Peloponnese before sighing. "It looks so nice. We should go there." He told her.

Artemis continued to watch her movie. "We went there for our honeymoon, remember?" She told him. Percy turned his head to her. "We should go again then. That was so fun, remember? We can all go as a family, then bring Aph or Apollo so they can watch the kids while we get our romance on, wink wink." He suggested, nudging her.

Artemis smiled at the idea of both a second honeymoon and a vacation with their family. "Maybe. I just want to go home, see our kids and sleep for a week first." She said. Percy finally put his headphones back on and returned to the movie. "Ditto."

In a small Cascadian town Sally Jackson sat on the couch watching a Netflix show while she folded the laundry. Paul had gone out in the SUV to collect the children from school while PJ lay in a cot next to her snoozing gently.

She continued to fold and when she was done she prepared to go send it to all the children's rooms to be put away, but she was stopped when the baby started crying. She sighed and began rocking the cot again, trying to soothe him. "Shh, shh, it's okay. It's okay. Grandpa will be back with your sisters and brother soon." She calmed him down.

Sally was still humming to the now asleep again Percy Jr when the door opened and they could hear multiple little voices rushing down the hallway. "Hi, gramma!" Selena greeted as she rushed through to the kitchen and grabbed a banana off the fruit basket. Selena really liked bananas.

Sally smiled. "Hi kids! How was school?" She asked as the children all left their bags on the rack by the door. "Good. When's summer?" Calix asked tiredly as he flopped down on the couch. Sally just shrugged as Larissa sprinted at the couch and jumped on her twin brother, trying to start something. "Next year, but Thanksgiving's coming up soon. Hey now, if you two are gonna wrestle then do it outside." She told them as the two began choking each other out.

Zoe walked up to her and gave her a look with the large doe eyes she'd inherited from her mother. "Can I has a sandwich, please?" She begged, and Sally just couldn't say no to that. "Okay, no crusts?" She asked, and the girl nodded, grinning and hugging her tight. Larissa popped her head up from down the side of the couch. "Can I have the crusts from hers?" She asked.

So Sally was busy making her granddaughter's sandwich when there was a knock at the door. "Hon, can you get that?" She called out to Paul. She heard her husband get off his armchair and walk to the door, and judging by the rapid pitter patter of footsteps following him it seemed one of her grandkids was going to help answer the door.

Paul opened the door expecting a salesman but was surprised to find his stepson and stepdaughter-in-law standing there. "Hey Paul." Percy greeted, leaning in to hug him briefly. "MOMMY! DADDY!" Selena squealed, launching at her father's legs.

At the sound of their sister screaming, all the other Jackson kids ran for the hallway, and once they set eyes upon their parents they lost it. Percy and Artemis had to push through the crowd of kids around them just to get to the living room where Sally looked in to see what was happening.

She dropped her hand towel in shock when she saw her son and daughter-in-law walk in, Percy holding Selena while Diana tried to pry Zoe off her leg. "Hi mom!" Percy called when he saw her, walking over to her with Larissa and Calix trailing along behind him. Sally reached out and hugged him tight, though careful not to crush Selena in between them.

Diana walked over to the cot with Zoe in tow, reaching in and picking up PJ. When he awoke the baby started to cry, but upon seeing his mother in the flesh for the first time in months he instantly calmed. Artemis cuddled her baby close to her chest and looked over at her mother-in-law. "We wanted to surprise you all so we didn't call ahead."

Percy walked back over to the hallway. "Speaking of surprises." He said, welcoming Orion in. Paul and Sally were very confused at the sudden appearance of this stranger, but thankfully Percy introduced them. "Mom, Paul, this is our squadmate, Kyle Hunter. He's gonna be crashing with us until he gets enough money to afford a house." He said, and Orion awkwardly waved.

Sally the ever lovely host welcomed him in, taking his jacket. "Come in, come in! It's so nice to meet you. I need to call Poseidon, Paul can you go start up the barbecue?" She started getting organized, but she was stopped by Diana. "Woah woah woah, Sally sit down. We need to have a talk." She said.

Sally, thinking something was wrong, frowned and sat on a chair. "What is it?" She asked. Diana looked at Percy and smiled. "Perce and I have an announcement. Since you're close family we can tell you this, but Percy, Kyle and I have just been transferred as an all new team in the US Delta Force. Yeah, that Delta Force." She said, and Sally's eyes widened.

"What?! Like the Green Berets? So that shit you pulled the other night on the news is your new job? But it's so dangerous!" She ranted until Percy stopped her. "Mom. Mom! It's good, Di and I are the best of the best by general consensus. If we couldn't handle it they wouldn't have offered us this position. Plus, there's heaps of benefits." He said.

Neither Paul nor Sally liked the idea of them being some sort of special terrorist fighters instead of a desert patrol group like usual. "What are they?" Paul asked, and Diana walked over to Zoe.

"Well: extra pay, some sort of membership at the gun shop, and best of all...." She trailed off, letting Percy finish. The father knelt down in between the twins, wrapping them and Selena in a hug. "We get to be home forever!" He cheered.

Immediately the kids went ballistic. The girls squealed and hugged their parents while Calix grinned at the idea of his parents actually being home. Sally and Paul's jaws dropped. "Really? You're just home?" She asked in surprise.

Diana shrugged. "Well, kinda. We have to work six hour shifts at the local base monday through thursday but friday and weekends we're home. Occasionally an op might come up and we'll have to go away for a few days but other than that we're pretty much home for good, which means you guys don't have to take care of the kids anymore and can actually get on with your lives." She told them.

"Well where are you guys gonna live? You usually just drift between your father's houses." He reminded them, but Percy already had that covered. "Dad won't mind us taking the lake house. It's big enough for all seven of us and he never uses it except summer." He assured his stepfather.

After more reassuring Sally and Paul that they'd be fine, Sally went to call Poseidon and spread the word that they were having a welcome back barbecue. It was a whole three hours later, near six when their backyard was filled with friends and family.

After catching up with Artemis' parents, her twin brother Apollo, as well as Percy's father, step mother, twin sister and adopted sister, Sally called the couple over to her. She had the kids gather round too as a camera dangled from her neck.

"Okay, let's get an updated family photo. Same positions as last time!" She said, and the Jacksons quickly organized themselves. Percy sat down in the lawnchair and placed Selena on his knee, taking PJ out of Artemis' arm to rest in his own. Diana brought Larissa, Calix and Zoe in front of her and knelt down on one knee, hugging all three tight to her chest.

Sally smiled at the scene and raised her camera. "Say cheese!" She said, and all the kids plus Artemis let out a long and drawn out "Cheeeeeeeeese!" while Percy cheekily yelled. "Penis!"

Sally took the picture just in time before Artemis' head snapped to Percy with a stone cold glare while the twins giggled at the funny word their dad had said.

And now there's a photo in one of Sally's scrapbooks of her grandchildren with their parents all grinning and saying cheese while her son yells penis in the precious family moment.

I'm gonna update Blue Sky Country next, a long chapter but I ain't gonna post it until paige holds up to her promise and updates twice so be on the lookout for that. Sorry for my shitass military knowledge I lowkey just played video games. Shoutout to Plsyes.

Word Count: 3205