Nico

To say they drilled Michael Wilson was an understatement.

"Mr. Wilson," Percy's lawyer started off, noticing how the other lawyer did. "Are you the Neighbor of the Blofis-Jackson household."

"Yes, sir."

"How old are you?"

"28."

"When did you move into your current state of residence?"

"It was... Either the end of July or the start of August of 2000. My first house payment was was August payment."

"Did you live next to Mr. Jackson when you moved in?"

"No, sir."

"When did they move in?"

"Sally moved in on her own in the start of August, 2005." Michael informed them, and that made me think. I wonder why they moved. Maybe they couldn't afford a house after Sally moved so they for an apartment. "Percy joined her later on in the month. They lived alone until Paul moved in in either May or June of 2007. I couldn't give you an exact date, but it fell at the end or that school year."

"And has the household ever disrupted you previous of yesterday's events?"

"No, sir."

"Alright," the lawyer went on as he glanced at the file for a moment. "What was your initial reaction to what you heard?"

Michael shrugged, "I didn't think anything to it."

"Why not?"

"Whenever Annabeth was over, they argued quite a bit." Michael informed us on something nobody knew about. The star couple, an actual mess. "It was never violent to what I heard of, aside playful notion. She often belittled Percy, making fun of his hobbies or lack of knowledge in certain areas."

"Would you call the relationship toxic or abusive towards Mr. Jackson?"

"Without hesitation, yes." He jumped at the chance to admit to that. "Annabeth would make occasional trips with her father here in New York. When she would be with Percy, he wasn't allowed to eat, and what was eaten was thrown up later. Her calling Percy a freak wasn't abnormal. Why, I was never made aware. The closest I got was the fact that his dad is next to never around."

After repeating a few questions, receiving identical answers each time from the first time the question was asked, he was let go. Annabeth was called to the stand next. That's where my nerves hit me.

She was sworn in, and they requested that the evidence be displayed. The video, not the recording.

Percy

When the video started, I could feel the hole in my chest start to pull at my heart. As if I had just finished running a 5K, my breathing was scattered and desperate.

For a solid 3 seconds, I couldn't see a thing. The next thing I saw wasn't... I mean, it was real. It happened, and I remember it as if it was yesterday at times. But it's been years.

We we're at our old apartment, Mom was working late as per usual. Gabe had gone through his 8th beer for that afternoon. A little on edge, I had taken note that it was nearing 9:30, but Gabe had yet to hit me.

It was on days like that when I had hope. Hope for the idea that we'd be a family again. One big happy family, like they had been at a point in time of which was getting harder for Percy to recall.

It was on days like this when I was reminded that being hopeful was useless.

As I had just started to drain the water from the sink after washing dishes, my step-ass walked up from behind. Sliding his hands below my underwear, Gabe placed kisses along the back of my ear and jaw. Being home from break, Gabe hasn't done this in a while to me. But then again, he had done it the day before, I was just too out of it to realise anything that was happened.

I didn't have a reaction. This was normal. As long as I kept my mouth shut and didn't fight back, I'd be okay. Or, better than I'd be had I done either or both of those things. Gabe was stronger than I was. There was no way of me escaping his grip.

I've tried.

Turning us around, Gabe somehow managed to get into the table of our dining room without breaking it. Pulling me over, Gabe first took off my shirt, admiring his work.

"If you're good, you'll get a few more where that came from," my mom's husband teased as the rest of my clothes went. Exposed, I had tried to turn off my emotions. It works, something.

Today wasn't one of those days.

Stroking me, I was frustrated. I'm 12, I'm a boy, and of course the hormones makes this entire thing seem like it could be amazing.

But I'm scared. I haven't eaten and kept my food down in three days, sleeping was w mystery to me, and this is the second time Gabe has decided that he wanted some from me since I got back.

"Oh, yeah," Gabe whispered as blood rushed down below. He knew I didn't actually like it, but he didn't care. "You like that, huh?"

While he was jerking me, Gabe took his pants off to expose something u had seen a hundred times before. I was desensitized to it now. What he did broke me, and I don't think it was possible to worsen it.

Placing his hands behind my head, Gabe guided my mouth down to his dick. It wasn't huge, nothing to gloat over. How much of an ass he was made up for the size.

When I tasted him inside or my mouth is when my terror would often overtake me, and I started to cry. Gabe never did mind. He said it was a natural lube, sort of like spit.

Moving my head back and forth, Gabe began to let out-

I was suddenly shaken, and when I opened my eyes, I was back in the court room. My lawyer looking at me as if he had seen a ghost.

"Mr. Jackson," I heard a man say, and it took me a while to realize it had been the judge. Maybe too long, I don't know. "Are you able to continue the trial?"

I nodded my head, noticing a dull throbbing coming from my arms. Looking down, my arms had been wrapped up, splotches of red threatened to go through the fabric.

"You had an attack," Mom whispered to me, helping fill the hole of my memory that happened when this occurred. "You scratched at your arm until you bled. They've only shown the video. You're going to be able to get through this?"

I nodded my head, assuring my mother that if I could survive what she did, I could work through this. Especially if I didn't have to see that dumb video now.

The case resuming, it was time for Annabeth to be questioned.

Grover

I felt violated and I had no idea as to why I felt that way. It had morning to do with Percy and Annabeth. He felt fine before, a little nervous.

He's literally sitting right in front of me being Sally and the rest of his family is off to the side. The only thing separating us is a small row of pillars that go just up to like my hips. It wasn't much.

Percy started off with just scratching his forearm. And then he wouldn't stop doing that. After that, he wasn't responding. And lastly, he lost control over his body.

Trust me, I had this really weird memory that I don't know when I would've seen it. Percy and Gabe... Gabe was...

He was using Percy as his slave when Sally wasn't home. Including using him as a sex slave.

I'm not dumb, that's what came out of that panic attack. It was a flashback of sorts.

At first I wondered why I didn't know about it, but that's when I recalled a memory of my own.

Percy and I were walking around camp after he had finished training with Luke. Luke was also walking with us, was was normal after Percy's lesson. Kids don't like to train with him, so they train one on one. This hadn't been long after Percy found out Luke was a runaway.

"My mom just couldn't take care of anyone, she can barely handle herself." Luke told Percy, shrugging it off. Percy was thinking about staying here year round. Visit his mom on the holidays. I really wasn't sure where it came from, but I thought it was a cool idea. "So I left. I wasn't about to go to foster care. Hell to the no. Why would you want to stay?"

"Just... I don't know. I just do."

"That's bullshit," I called my best friend out on his claim. "You're a momma's boy. You went on a quest literally to rescue her from Hades."

"Yeah, so?"

"So you're not going to live with her?"

He shrugged.

Luke agreed, "Yeah, she's probably going to miss you."

"I'll visit."

"She's your mom," Luke tried to reason with him that he wouldn't like year around Camp, but he wouldn't listen. "It doesn't make sense."

"Yeah, and so was yours!" Suddenly Percy just freaked out on us about it. "But you ran away! It doesn't have to make sense. Most things don't make sense, Luke. They just are. They just happen."

Luke has always... He gets defensive about the situation with his mom.  And out by the stream, back in the woods. Nobody could hear us.

"My mom was a drug addict!" Luke raised his voice enough to get his point across. He hated talking about it, Percy knew that. He knew better than to bring it up. "She tried to take care of me, but she couldn't! Don't pull that shit on me, Jackson! You know—"

"My step dad told me to go kill myself the last time I saw him!" Percy shouted, and the raw expression that crossed his face broke my heart. He didn't talk about Gabe much. It was obvious didn't get along, had they ever gotten along. But there was never reason. I assumed it had something to do with not having his dad around. I was wrong. "Don't Tell me that I can't imagine your situation, Luke. I've tried to run away! I have tried every fucking away to get out of that house, and every time I'm found. You don't know how good you had it with your mom! I would trade spots with you in a heartbeat. If it means the rape stopped, if it means my mom could be happy with another man, if it means I can get away, I'm staying here. You're not changing my mind."

At the time, it was a small comment among a much larger statement. I didn't even realize he had said that word rape.

He never tried the case, Gabe died that August. Percy never talked about Gabe after that day.

The only reason he went home was because Gabe was gone. He was safe.

That's some depressing shit right there.

No wonder this hit him so close to home.