Chapter 35 - SOS
published: Wednesday, 17 June 2020

Annabeth spotted the back of her father's head before he saw her. It was midnight, only a few hours after she'd been informed of their decision to split up.

"Dad?" she voiced nervously, watching as her father turned around from his position on the couch. He'd yielded their bedroom to Helen and was currently residing in the living room while she got the guest room ready.

Her father's eyes brightened when he saw her, and Annabeth felt her heart squeeze painfully at the smile lines that crinkled. "Annabeth," he said, agitation bubbling in his voice. "Um, did you need to talk?"

Annabeth's hands were clasped together tightly as she nodded and slumped into the spot adjacent to him. "I, uh," she said tentatively. "I've made my decision. About who I'm going to live with." Taking a deep breath, Annabeth stared at her hands. "I'm going to stay with Helen."

Her gaze flickered up just to see her father's crestfallen expression.

"Dad, please, don't think this means I love you any less," Annabeth pleaded. "You'll always be my dad, and I love you, but Helen is...I just have to do this."

Her father gave her a sad smile. "It's okay, Annie."

Annabeth felt her eyes prick. She didn't allow anyone to call her 'Annie', but her dad was an exception. It reminded her of all the good times they'd spent together before he started travelling more often.

"Remember when you brought me to that roller skating rink?" Annabeth said abruptly. Her father glanced up with puzzlement etched into his features. "And then, afterwards, we went to see 'Roman Holiday' at this old cinema."

"That was before I met Helen," her father said softly. "You still remember?"  When she nodded in response, he sighed, smoothing over a few strands of grey hair. "Oh, Annabeth, this has all brought it to my attention that I haven't been...the best parental figure in the last few years." He shook his head. "Scratch that — I've been a terrible father. I don't quite know when it happened, but somewhere along the way, I stopped spending time with my daughter, who is so incredible."

Annabeth felt her cheeks warm.

"I hope she knows that I'm so proud of the person she's become." He wrapped an arm around her as Annabeth allowed herself to sink into his side, closing her eyes.

"I'll still get to see you, right?" Annabeth asked hopefully. "Holidays, weekends..."

"Of course," her father chuckled. "I've cleared my calendar for the Thanksgiving weekend. How do you feel about coming to spend it with me?"

Annabeth exhaled slowly. "I," she started. "I feel good about it." She returned the hug, wrapping her arms around him. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too," he whispered, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead.

They sat there until the minute hand on the clock signalled 12.15am. Annabeth reluctantly shifted away. "I have to go tell Helen now."

Her father gave her one last squeeze before she traipsed out, preparing to head to the bedroom. A part of her was sadder than she'd ever been, but the other half of her felt good about this; a refreshing start.

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"So, how're you dealing with everything?" Percy sipped on his coffee, angling his gaze at her expectantly.

Annabeth rubbed at her eyes. "Well, my dad moved out today. So I guess it's official." It had been two weeks since their declaration about the divorce, and things were starting to become a surreal reality.

She was glad she had a good support system; her friends all had pretty difficult family backgrounds too, so she wasn't alone in this. Jason's parents had gone through a nasty divorce, so Annabeth was just glad her parents remained capable of co-parenting.

Amid all the hubbub — Helen was keeping the house and picking up longer shifts at work, while her father was moving to a smaller place— she and Percy had hardly had a second to themselves. Annabeth found herself wondering how someone as perfect as him even existed; he'd actually offered to help out with chores — who did that? 

"What about you?" Annabeth asked. "Don't pretend that there isn't a massive bruise on your right shoulder — which, by the way, I'm still mad about because you didn't tell me about it."

Percy flushed. "Oh, you saw that, huh?"

"At least it isn't a cut," Annabeth tried to stay positive. "I mean, nothing too serious since the ribs incident." Percy winced at the memory.

A clatter caught Annabeth's attention as her gaze sidled over to the man sitting at the next table over. He'd set down a mug of coffee and was sitting down, reading a magazine.

"Percy," Annabeth said, her voice low and urgent. "Don't look now, but I think that man's following us."

His green eyes grew stormy, but Percy adhered and didn't turn around. He released the handle of his cup and grabbed a cookie in an effort to remain nonchalant.

"I saw him on the bus we took from school, but I didn't think anything of it. He's been here as long as we have," she said quietly.

Percy swallowed. "What do we do?"

"Well," Annabeth shrugged. "Usually I act like I'm calling someone on my phone — Helen or my dad — but seeing as I'm with you and he isn't scared off, I'm willing to bet that he isn't the normal creep."

"The way this is so normal to you is scary," Percy whispered.

Annabeth shot him a withering glare.

"Sorry, right, matter at hand, our world is messed up," Percy muttered as he discreetly pulled out his phone. "You think he's one of Mortelli's?"

"It'a not like there's anyone else out to kill us."

"Don't even joke about that," Percy murmured, shuddering at the thought. Annabeth forced herself to drink her tea as Percy tapped away at his phone.

The vibration alerted her to James' quick reply. "He's on the way," Percy whispered. "We're to stall the guy till they get here." He glanced around the coffee shop. "There are too many people here. Do you think he has a gun?"

Annabeth waited until the man averted his gaze. Shooting a surreptitious look at him, she caught a glimpse of the thick jacket he wore. "Can't tell. It's possible. We could draw him out back. They could ambush him."

Percy sent another message through to the detectives. "He said to wait for his signal."

Annabeth felt the tension start to leave her shoulders. "Great," she murmured. "Now all we have to do is act normal."

"Easier said than done," Percy muttered. "We're far from normal even on our good days."

Annabeth had to make a conscious effort to keep her eyes from darting over time the glass doors every five seconds. They kept up small talk that was so ridiculously dull Annabeth couldn't believe that the stalker actually believed them.

She broke off in the middle of a sentence about the lovely weather when Percy glanced at his phone. He nodded stiffly, and Annabeth made a show of getting up and pulling her coat over her shoulders.

"Going to the bathroom," she voiced.

Percy's gaze was piercing as he mouthed, be careful.

She nodded infinitesimally before heading towards the back door. A strange sense of déjà vu rippled down her spine as she remembered the time Percy got hit with a glass bottle and called her down here.

It was unbelievable to think that that had only been a year ago. It felt like an eternity.

Annabeth silently prayed — despite the fact that she hadn't been to Church since her baptism — that she wouldn't get shot. It looked extremely painful in the movies.

She didn't glance back to see if the man was following her, but when she stepped out into the chilly air, the telltale footsteps told her enough.

"Why have you been following me?" Annabeth asked, spinning around once she was sure the door to Walter's had clicked shut behind him. "Who are you?" she demanded.

The man's eyes narrowed at her boldness.

"Please, forgive me for being mad," Annabeth resisted the urge to snap at him. "You kind of interrupted my date."

The man opened his mouth to answer, but the doors slammed open, James and Sabrina bursting into the back alley to apprehend him.

"NYPD, you're under arrest," Sabrina said authoritatively, grabbing the perpetrator's hands and pulling them behind his back.

James quickly disarmed him — the man, in fact, had a small handgun in his coat, by God, they really needed better gun control — and started rattling off the Miranda Rights.

Percy followed the other two uniformed officers who provided back-up. His gaze dived over her, and once he was sure that she was safe, he asked, "Did he say anything?"

Annabeth shook her head.

"He's armed, and connected to Mortelli, so we can take him in for questioning," James informed them. "Once we ID him, we can try get a search warrant for his place." He grinned. "Good job. You just got us a lead."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "Wow, that's some Nancy Drew stuff."

James frowned. "Come on, couldn't you have used someone cooler? John McClane? Serpico?"

Percy wrinkled his nose. "What?"

"You haven't heard of—"

"Okay," Sabrina interrupted, alarmed. "Don't get him started or we'll be here till Christmas." Annabeth watched as she ushered Mortelli's man away, discussing orders with the other officers in hushed tones.

"Right," James' outrage had mostly faded. "I should probably go do my job." He shot the two of them finger guns before he jogged back to his partner.