If someone had told Ryker that he would be spit onto the banks of the Hudson River, chased by a horde of monsters through New York as he was led to Camp Half Blood with two new demigods and a mortal, be brought back from the brink of death, and eventually not only meet Chiron, but his twin and the rest of the Seven, all before Goode High let out for the afternoon...

He would definitely believe you.

His life was just that weird on a daily basis.

What really got him was the fact that he was sitting in his mother's dining room waiting for her to bring out cookies as his baby half sister struggled to clamber onto the chair next to his.

"Percy!" She whined, giving up and raising her arms for him to lift her, "Percyy!"

Ryker couldn't help but stare, wide-eyed, frozen in his seat, hands clasped tightly on his lap, breath stuck in his throat. He should just do what she wanted him to. Why wasn't he? It's not like he was unable to- she couldn't have weighed more than twenty pounds, after all- but something was stopping him.

He couldn't-

Why-

What was he doing-

"Not Percy, Stella," his mother reminded her, setting a plate of cookies on the table before helping her daughter onto the chair, shaking him out of his stupor, "Ryker."

Stella took her time kneeling on the chair, unable to reach the tabletop otherwise, grinning up at him happily.

Ryker squirmed under the gaze of his little sister, cursing himself.

You defeat acid spitting, fire wielding, knife throwing monsters on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. You can deal with one girl.

"Cookie!" She giggled as he looked back into her wide, innocent eyes, taking one for herself and handing another to him.

Nope. No, he couldn't.

He watched his hand accept it delicately, not quite remembering when his brain gave the order.

"It's blue," he said weakly, having not moved since she had handed it to him.

No Styx, Sherlock, he growled in his head, inwardly kicking himself, They know you can see, despite how completely incompetent you're being.

"Yeah," his mother grinned, taking a seat across from him and leaning her head against her hand, "Kind of an inside joke."

He fidgeted awkwardly, still not knowing what to say. It was all he could do to sit there, slowly and silently finishing his cookie.

"It's good," he offered, kicking himself again.

"It has to be," his mother chuckled, openly beaming under the praise, "How else am I supposed to make sure my sons come back to me?"

Ryker winced at that, unable to conceal it.

"Estelle," his mother murmured, eyes softening as she watched at him, "Why don't you go play in your room for a little?"

The girl tugged on his sleeve, positively glowing as she silently asked him to come with her. "Ryker!" She cheered.

He felt his heart clench painfully at the sound of his name. He turned to her slowly and brought his hand up to pat her on the head, a little dumbfounded.

"Later," he promised, even surprising himself, "Okay?"

"Yay!" She yelled, racing off.

A silence fell over them, leaving Ryker fidgeting. He could tell she wanted him to speak first. She wanted to know that he wasn't so uncomfortable as to shut himself away from her. This is why he needed Milli with him. But at the same time, this is why she hadn't come in the first place.

He couldn't do it.

"I know you have a lot of questions," Sally told him quietly, not even bothering to mask the emotion in her voice, "So ask them. I'll tell you anything."

He'd been waiting for this moment since he was ten years old. He should be brimming with questions. How life has been for her and Percy. What she did for a living, for fun. Even who Stella's father was, because it definitely wasn't Poseidon.

But all he could think about was

"Why?"

She tilted her head, wordlessly urging him to elaborate.

He ducked his head, eyes shadowed under his bangs. "Why did you give me up?"

"Oh, Ryker," Sally said gently, "Never doubt, for even a second, that I wanted to keep you. More than anything I wanted to be able to hear your first words, see your first steps. I wanted to be able to raise you into an amazing young man, like you are now. But I also needed to keep you alive.

"You had only been in my arms for five minutes before the Fates appeared. Your father only got to see the two of you together for one before he was being forced to separate you. We'd known for a while that it would have to happen, but that didn't make it any easier."

She paused, giving him the opportunity to comment. When he didn't, she averted her eyes.

"Two days," Sally said out of nowhere, lacing her fingers together pensively, "That's how long the Fates gave us before it got to be too dangerous. Two days for Poseidon to finalize all of his preparations. Two days for us to be together.

"Letting go of you was easily the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, and I married an abusive, gambling drunk to protect your brother. I was held in the Underworld and I fought in the Battle of Manhattan with a shotgun. But you... if I had to do it again, I can't guarantee that I would. But I would know I'd have to."

"Above everything, above my desire, my happiness, my life, from the moment the two of you were born my first priority had to be my sons. I had to give you the best life I possibly could, whether or not I was a part of it."

Her voice dropped, continuing sadly. "Whether or not I would ever get the chance to be a part of it."

She only knew you for a couple of days, but she loved you enough to give you up.

And if it kept my family, if not safe, then alive and together, I would play the villain a million times over.

They were just words, really. Anyone could have said them. They sounded nice and they were meant to earn his trust and affection and maybe if he were anyone else, she wouldn't have needed to.

Yet they were also emotions. They were seventeen years worth of longing and heartache and love that Ryker could see written plainly on her face.

They were just words, but

We need family. Family is something you can never get enough of.

He wanted to believe them. He wanted so badly to believe them.

So he did.

"I knew that," Ryker murmured, trembling again, not from discomfort anymore, but from happiness, "I knew that, I did, but I- I think I just really needed to hear it."

There was a brief pause, the atmosphere clear and comfortable without the weight of his uncertainty.

"So," Sally smiled, leaning forward, "Anything else?"

"Stella," Ryker burst immediately, entirely more relaxed now and unable to contain himself, "How old is she? Who's her dad?"

"I remarried," Sally told him, sparkling, "To a man named Paul Blofis."

"Right," He recalled, "The English teacher."

"Yeah," she affirmed, "How did you know?"

Ryker waved a hand. "I was at Goode this morning."

His mother raised an eyebrow at him. "Ryker?"

The boy had only known his mother for an hour, and yet she could muster a tone that shot right through his heart and dragged the truth from his throat.

"I went with this son of Apollo to get some demigods."

"And then?"

"Then we blew up the cafeteria."

He blushed, but Sally just laughed. "You really are my son!"

"And Stella's over a year now," Sally mused, "Wow, she's over a year old."

Ryker ducked his head, another, more serious question striking him. "Hey," he started, that awkwardness returning, "Did you know my parents?"

At first he was afraid that she wouldn't understand, since she was his mother, and that he would have to voice it again, but he'd come to realize that Sally was very good at understanding what people needed.

"Kaitlyn and Kyle?" She clarified, "I met them once, when I was still pregnant. I even knew Johnny. We kept in touch a little over the years."

"What did you think of them?"

"They were some of the most wonderful people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, Ryker," she told him seriously, "And I am forever indebted to them."

"Can you... Can you tell me a little more about them?"

Sally tilted her head from side to side a little in thought before humming to herself and deciding.

"She was a firecracker," she mused, a soft smile playing on her lips, "Always ready to smack anything that got in her way with the skill to back it up. He was her rock. He would dive through fire if she was the one leading him. They would have done anything if it was for each other."

She chuckled. "Although I've never seen someone punch their husband out of pure excitement before."

Ryker could feel the emotion welling up in him, memories of his parents rising from where he'd hidden them in his brain.

"They love you very much," Sally continued, "They couldn't have been happier to take you on."

Sally reached across the table cautiously, patting Ryker on the cheek. "They raised a wonderful son."

Ryker choked, his first instinct to jerk away from the contact but his heart refusing to let him. Her touch was soft and gentle but still wary, like he might break if she pressed too tight, but would fall apart if she ever let go.

And he couldn't exactly blame her.

"I should probably get back to Camp," Ryker said quietly after another few seconds of silence, "I'm supposed to meet Ally and Milli for dinner."

"Of course," Sally ceded, rising from her seat to get to the kitchen, "Let me pack you some cookies to go."

She disappeared before he could protest, only to return with a container and a wooden box that drew Ryker's eye, though he didn't comment on it.

He allowed her to lead him to the doorway, slipping on his shoes and turning to face her.

"Thank you for this," he told her earnestly, nodding his head a little, "For... everything. Everything."

She smiled warmly at him, the simplicity of his words doing nothing to take away from his sincerity.

"Of course, Ryker," she said, "And maybe next time I can meet those friends of yours. I'd like to hear all about you, as well."

"Next time," he promised, gesturing toward her apartment, "If it weren't for them I wouldn't even be here." He surprised himself with his rambling, making another hand movement that encompassed himself this time, "Or well, here, erm, at all. I mean-"

He forced himself to stop, reaching up to grip his necklace and refusing to meet his mother's eyes.

Sally reached forward, watching him tense slightly, and quickly redirected her hand to ruffle his hair instead of letting her arms go around him.

"Be well, Ryker," she told him, handing him both boxes, "Take these cookies and share with your brother. Or don't, that's up to you. Although in that case you'll want to make sure to finish them before he sniffs them out. Take this too."

He looked down at the other box, eyes wandering to an insignia at the corner of the cover.

"Elephant," he breathed, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from tearing up again, "Mo-"

He didn't let himself use that word.

"As I said, we kept in touch," she said, "Maybe you'll finally be able to find what you've been looking for."

His eyes snapped up to meet hers, and before he could think he had wrapped her in the hug that he knew she'd refrained from giving her before. If he had been thinking he probably would have been too awkward to actually do it.

"Thank you, M-" he whispered again, steeling himself, "Mother."

He could have cursed his own weakness, could have bemoaned his shameful stutter and indecision, but in that moment he felt too whole to be anything but happy.

Sally squeezed him tighter, pulling away slowly. "Any time."

Ryker smiled, hearing footsteps storming through the house as he opened the door.

"Ryker!" Stella yelled, crashing into his legs, "Bye bye!"

"Sorry," he murmured, crouching down, "We'll play next time."

She didn't seem to remember his promise earlier, but that was probably for the best. Instead she squealed loudly and leapt at him, giggling in his ear.

"Next time!" She repeated excitedly, "Bye bye!"

"Alright, Stella," Ryker said, standing. "See you later, Mother."

She gave him one last hug and waved him off with a soft smile.

"Take care, son."