"Be careful with him, he could be dangerous!"

"Ow! He bit me! He bit me!"

"Get his wrists, quick!"

"Someone grab his legs!"

"Stop biting me, for crying out loud!"

"Wait, stop, don't hurt him!"

"Don't hurt him? He kicked me in the balls-"

"Enough," Said the big man, pushing past the crowd of police. He forced Thomas's' head up and stared blankly into his eyes. Thomas had been tied up and gagged, spittle on his lips and blood running down his nose. The big man smirked. "We'll take it from here, gentlemen. You've done you country a great service. Pierce, pick him up and take him to the van."

One police officer stepped forwards shyly, looking rather scared. "Uh, sir? Agent Pierce went back inside the shop."

For a moment, Thomas thought the big man was about to start shouting. Instead, he just sighed loudly, and let go of Thomas's' head to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Then," He said shortly, "I want you to get him."

"Yes, sir, of course, sir." A few police officers moved away and the rest took a step back, leaving Thomas trapped in a circle of police with the big man.

The man smiled at him. "Honestly, you're a long way from home, aren't you?"

Thomas glared and that made the man laugh, as if it were a joke.

"And you've had an interesting little journey, too, haven't you? Shame it's all coming to an end now. Well, I hope it was fun while it last-"

"Hey, Mr Ghost, sir!" A peppy voice interrupted. "Look at this octopus!"

The big man was looking at someone standing behind Thomas and his face expressed a lot of mixed feelings, most being negative. "Mr Pierce," He deadpanned. "Did you seriously go back inside the shop while we were in the middle of chasing a couple of aliens just to pick up a child's' toy?"

"It's not a child's' toy!" Gasped the voice. "It's something you put on the dashboard of the car! I wanna name him Colin!" The big man didn't respond for a long time. "Please can we keep Colin? He needs a home!"

"It's not sentient-"

"He needs a loving family and I shall provide the love and support and he can chase his dreams of becoming the best soccer play in the world!"

"Just pick up the guy we got and take him back to the van."

"Yessir!"

Thomas felt hands grab his shoulders and pull him up to a kneeling position. A man, around his age, with a happy smile waved brightly at him. "Hey! My name's Jack Pierce! I work for Agent Ghost, he's the big guy. I hope you like Michael Jackson, because I've been binge-playing his greatest hits for a week straight!"

The recently kidnapped man just blinked slowly at him. The two stared at each other for about a solid minute.

Then Jack held up a plastic, cartoon octopus with a bobble-head. "His name's Colin."

"Ick'sh nishe to meek him," Thomas tried, his words blocked slightly from his gag.

Oddly enough, Jack seemed to understand him completely. "You're really nice. What's your name?"

"Khomath..."

"Nice to meet you, Thomas! Well, I'm gonna need to get you back to the van now before I get in trouble. So, uh, just gonna need to pick you up, don't freak out..."

Thomas simply shrugged and allowed Jack to swing him over his shoulder, in the fireman's' lift. The skinny man was surprisingly strong and he carried Thomas with ease over to a large, black van that basically screamed, 'Action-movie bad guys'.

"Mister Ghost, sir!" Jack called out.

"What?" Groaned the big man.

"Where do I put him?"

"On the roof." For a moment, Thomas thought he was serious. Jack started carrying him over to a small, silver ladder by the trunk of the van before Agent Ghost yelled out, "I wasn't being serious, you idiot! Put him in the back!"

There was a moment of hesitation but Jack began to carry him to the door of the van, swinging the hostage inside. "Don't forget to put on your seatbelt!" Jack said, seemingly oblivious to the fact Thomas was tied up. The other shut the door and only a second later was it opened again, this time by Agent Ghost.

"I swear, that boy's gonna be the death of me if he keeps this up," He grumbled, forcing Thomas to sit up and snapping he seatbelt over him. Then the door shut again and he moved to sit in the front passenger seat.

Jack sat Colin proudly on the dashboard, ignored the big guy's' orders and pressed play on the radio, letting Michael Jackson's' 'Thriller' blare out into the van. Well, this was going to be an interesting kidnapping story to tell people.

"Fuck!" Jack yelled out suddenly as they pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

"What is it now?" Growled Agent Ghost.

"We never got the water bottles!"

"We'll get them at the next gas station, just keep driving."

.:*:.

Patton carefully moved his way out of the bundle of his sleeping friends. It was the middle of the night, and Talyn had just gotten off watch, leaving it up to Patton to keep everyone safe. After what had happened today, all of their nerves were screaming at the sound of anything unusual.

Zeus's' son walked past the cool interior of the campervan and sat on the step of the door, looking up at the night sky. A wave of hopelessness crashed over him as he stared up at the blank, unmoving universe above him.

Lightening fizzled in his fingertips and he couldn't hold them down. They shot up high, into the sky, conjuring a collection of dark clouds above him. The once-clear sky began to crackle with fierce light, thunder rumbled and rain poured. 

The rain soaked Patton to the bone, his hair now dripping and falling into his face, his clothes now sticking to him wetly. Then, an umbrella opened over him as someone sat down by his right.

"Hey, Virgie," Patton mumbled.

"I can tell you're not in a good mood," His cousin commented.

Patton's' storm grew larger as another bolt of white lightening shot from the god, lighting up the sky. "Oh, boy, how can you tell?" He grumbled grouchily.

Virgil pouted. "Hey, no sarcasm. That's my thing. Stick with the dad jokes, Pat, they suit you more than snarky remarks."

Patton tried not to smile. "Stop trying to make me laugh while I'm being grumpy," He complained. Virgil giggled quietly, handing the umbrella to thin air which held it in place as he hugged Patton. Patton glanced up to the now levitating umbrella. "It must be fun, seeing ghosts."

"A little," Admitted Virgil. "The older guys are more fun, they've accepted their death and are just living the best afterlife they can."

"Is there anyone you miss in Olympus?" Patton asked randomly.

Virgil glanced concernedly at his cousin. "I guess. Why?"

"I miss my mom. And my dad." Patton said simply. "I really want to see them again."

Nodding, Virgil looked away. "I guess I do miss a few people. I wanna see Cerberus again, I miss my mom and dad too. But, most of my friends are dead and you're here with me. I guess I'm actually the least lonely out of everyone," He finished with an almost reminiscent chuckle.

Patton leaned his head heavily on Virgil's' shoulder. "I'm glad we're talking again."

"Me too," Virgil agreed. "Do you want me to stay out here with you?"

"Yeah..."

They sat in silence for a good twenty minutes, then Virgil frowned. "Fuck."

"Language!" Patton gasped instictivley. "What's the matter?"

"We never got those Zeus-forsaken dishwasher tablets!"

"Oh, gods, you're right."

"That's annoying."

"It is."