I've really been on a roll with these updates lately, guys. Y'all are probably getting tired of me LMAO. I just sat in bed and wrote this while I watched buzzfeed unsolved all day. It was a very pleasant time, gotta be honest. Enjoy!

Fuck pacifism, was Percy's final thought before letting go of Annabeth and decking Chris in the nose.
*****

Chris's head flew back, and he clutched his nose in his hand as he slowly lowered his gaze back to Percy, who was shaking out his hand at his side. Admittedly, it'd been a while since he punched someone that hard.

Chris narrowed his eyes, seeming unsure of what to do with Percy. The latter turned to Annabeth, who was still standing nearby with wide eyes and mouthed, Go.

With a reluctant glance at the scene in front of her, Annabeth ran down the hall. Percy hoped she'd bring back a friend or two instead of just leaving him.

"I'm impressed," Chris said, but his tone sounded anything but impressed, "You gave me trouble for a whole thirty seconds there. New record."

Chris finally pulled his hand from his nose, and Percy proudly noted the blood smeared across his palm and face. Percy knew what was coming next. Chris was very predictable when he was mad, after all.

He threw a fast punch at Percy's face, but the boy managed to barely duck out of the way. While Chris was processing that Percy wasn't going to make this as easy as usual, Percy dropped his bag and took off in a sprint down the hallway. If he could just get to where there were more people...

Percy wasn't the fastest, the fact certainly wasn't surprising to him. However, he thought he'd at least be fast enough to make it around the corner at the other end of the hall. Halfway there, Chris tackled him, and Percy's face did not appreciate the impact that it made with the ground. Chris pressed one knee sharply in between Percy's shoulder blades while his right hand held his head down. The thought of giving up crossed Percy's mind, but he quickly disregarded the idea. Even if he was mostly immobile because of their position, he refused to lay there and accept whatever Chris had planned. He was done being walked all over.

His legs kicked up against Chris's back, an action that very obviously annoyed him. Percy awkwardly tried to reach up to him with his arms, but Chris smacked them away with his free hand.

Removing his hand from Percy's head, Chris leaned in next to his ear. "I hope you feel every second of the fucking pain I'm about to put y—"

Percy abruptly threw the back of his head against Chris's face, effectively hitting his already injured nose again. As he was dazed, Percy wormed his way out of Chris's weakened hold and kicked him in the side of the head. Chris caught his foot in his hand on the way down and yanked, throwing Percy off balance and bringing him back to the floor. Percy rolled out of the way of Chris's next attack before knocking into his eye with his elbow and, in turn, taking control of the situation. With much struggle, he got Chris Rodriguez pinned down underneath him. Neither made another move as their heavy breaths filled the air.

"Jackson, let me go," Chris demanded at a muted volume, "and we can go our separate ways for today."

Percy considered it before realizing how unlikely it was that he would have total control like this again anytime soon. For the day, sure, Chris would stay away. The week after? It'd be back to the same old routine.

Decidedly, Percy shook his head before throwing a hard hook at Chris's jaw. The boy winced at the feeling, seemingly having forgotten what it was like to be in pain. Percy wasn't done, though. He was upset, to say the least. Chris Rodriguez was the reason Percy never felt safe at school, the reason Percy couldn't go anywhere to escape hatred and violence for months on end. He made Percy's life substantially harder, and Percy wasn't even the only person he'd hurt like that. One of Percy's closest friends had been hurt by this boy on multiple occasions. Leo Valdez did nothing to deserve Chris's horrible treatment. Leo was caring and one of the few lights left in the world, which was much more than Percy could say about Chris.

Chris had no respect for other people. He spoke about Piper as if she were a prize he could win, he ignored and discredited Reyna's sexuality, and he treated Annabeth like she was an idiot, even going as far as hitting her for defending Percy. Knowing it bothered Jason, Chris chose to bring up the boy's family and past time after time. He didn't care how these people felt, how Percy's friends felt. Percy supposed it was finally time to return the favor.

His fists rained down on Chris Rodriguez as he ignored the boy's pleas for him to stop. In the back of his mind, Percy genuinely wished he could make himself quit. He didn't like inflicting pain on others, but for some reason, Percy just couldn't. To his horror, he found himself wanting Chris to understand the pain that he'd been causing. He couldn't match the months of torment that he put Percy through, but he could certainly try.

Only moments later, firm arms wrapped around Percy's midsection and pulled him off of Chris. Percy thrashed and was seconds away from shoving the person off him before he heard a familiar voice speak calmly in his ear.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jason spoke gently, keeping a tight grip on Percy.

Percy took a deep breath as he relaxed in Jason's arms. Just his presence could calm Percy down. The green-eyed boy watched as Chris Rodriguez painfully pulled himself up to his feet with no help from Annabeth, who was also standing nearby. Percy could only assume that she had brought Jason to the scene. Chris, bloody and beaten, looked warily at Percy before turning on his heel and trying to walk away. Annabeth held out her hand against his chest to stop him.

"This didn't happen, Rodriguez," she warned.

Chris scoffed bitterly at her. "Yeah, like I'd tell anybody Jackson was the one who did this to me."

That seemed to be good enough for Annabeth, for she finally allowed him to walk down the hallway towards the exit. Meanwhile, Jason gently stroked Percy's hair, keeping one arm around his stomach in case he lashed out again. Annabeth looked towards them, glad that she'd been able to find Jason so quickly. She exchanged glances with Jason, who nodded that it was safe for her to go. He thanked her on behalf of himself and Percy before she left the area with a kind goodbye.

"I'll take you home," Jason was oddly calm as he talked to the other boy, "okay?"

Percy nodded numbly, letting Jason pull them both to their feet. He left Percy's side to go grab the boy's bag where he'd left it down the hall before taking him out to his car. Taking the closest exit in hopes of avoiding any students left wandering the halls, he didn't say anything else to Percy until they were both sitting in the parking lot.

Before lecturing Percy or trying to figure out what happened, Jason asked, "Are you okay?"

Percy stared up at the roof of the car. He wasn't sure what to tell Jason. Physically, Percy was fine except the slight bruise that would probably show up on his cheek in the near future. Mentally, however, Percy was disappointed in himself. He couldn't believe he'd stooped to Chris's level, and he wanted to rewind to that morning and redo the entire day.

"I'm sorry," Percy whispered, miserably closing his eyes and sighing.

Jason placed a soft hand on Percy's thigh. The latter looked down at the hand, letting his eyes travel up his arm and eventually find Jason's face. His expression as quizzical.

Jason offered a small smile. "Actually, I'm proud of you."

Upon seeing Percy furrow his eyebrows, Jason explained, "It was about time somebody stood up to Chris. I'm just glad it was you who got the privilege of punching him."

Percy stared into his eyes for a couple silent moments before chuckling silently at the complete absurdity of the situation. Never did he think he'd find himself sitting in Jason Grace's car, being validated for beating someone up. Percy was concerned Jason would be upset or think that he was unnecessarily angry. He was beyond thankful that wasn't the case.

Satisfied upon seeing Percy's smile, Jason reversed the car out of the parking spot and began driving to Percy's apartment. He chose not to change the position of his hand, steadily driving with his free left hand. The two didn't speak to each other during the drive, but Jason quietly hummed along to the music that filled the space. Percy felt surprisingly at peace considering he'd been in a fist fight less than an hour prior.

They pulled into the parking lot outside the complex, and Jason finally retracted his hand so Percy could unbuckle himself. Before Percy could leave the vehicle and head inside, Jason reached out and gently placed a hand on the side of Percy's face. He felt like he may be acting slightly too touchy, but Percy hadn't said anything about it yet. He'd take the opportunity to be close to the boy while he still had it.

His thumb brushed over Percy's faintly bruised cheek, a wave of déjà vu falling over him as he was reminded of the bruise he'd found days before learning about Gabe. (Aka chapter 23, for those of you confused)

Wordlessly, he smiled at Percy before leaning forward and slotting their lips together. It was a brief kiss since they were technically in public view, but Jason thought Percy would appreciate some affection after the day he'd had. They separated sooner than Percy would've liked, but he grinned and bid Jason goodbye before stepping out of the car and waving as he walked inside.

Jason watched him go, staying in the lot for a few extra moments. He could tell Percy was a little shaken up at what he'd done to Chris. Jason couldn't really blame him, having felt similarly when he'd fought Chris in the locker room weeks ago. Regardless, it was about time somebody taught Chris a lesson. Surely, having someone he'd been tormenting for quite some time being the one who finally fought back was a blow to Chris's ego. Jason just wondered what finally made Percy snap. He decided they could talk about it once Percy's stress about the situation faded.

For now, he could focus on the positive. He had another date with Percy on Friday. He'd just gotten to kiss him a few minutes ago, and he'd probably get to again in the future, unless he managed to completely ruin everything. Percy was too forgiving for his own good, though, so Jason had a feeling he'd be fine.

Unfortunately, he had to go home and teach Piper the math lesson she'd missed earlier that day, but he didn't mind too much, he supposed. As long as he didn't catch whatever she had, he was more than willing to help out. Math was fairly easy for him, anyways.

Finally, Jason left the parking lot and began his drive home.

A very tame ending for y'all. Hope you guys liked the chapter! Looking forward to the next one, personally. See you then!