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The Wise Detective

Chapter 19: Percy’s amACEing with kids

Notes:

Happy Monday.
I know, Mondays usually suck, but it's the first day back to school for me this year after being homeschooled since December, and either way, maybe this update makes your day a little less sucky. ;-)
Did I ever tell you how much I hate the word passersby? Who the hell decided it would be a good idea to form a plural by throwing an "s" in the middle of the word?!
However... New chapter, not really a long one, but I'm fairly happy with it.
Have fun reading.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

At least once a month, when Jake and Annabeth don’t have any pressing cases, Amy’s squad doesn’t need immediate supervision, Percy’s kids from the Community Center don’t have some kind of crisis and Mac doesn’t spend most of the day fussing, the five of them go out together.

This Saturday finds them in a park in Manhattan, because the playground had recently gotten a new sand box with monkey bars in the form of a pirate ship and Jake insisted that Mac wanted to go there.

Of course Mac, with all the wisdom a barely one-year-old toddler usually possesses, nodded vigorously when his father asked him if he wanted to go to this specific playground in the voice that was usually reserved for “Mommy says ice cream doesn’t count as dinner, but this isn’t dinner, this is dessert”.

Amy, unable to tell her boys no when they teamed up against her and rather unwilling to try in this case one way or the other, had called Annabeth to get some company and was pleasantly surprised when the younger woman told her she and Percy were already on the island, having had some kind of family business in the Empire State Building to attend to.

(Amy didn’t think Annabeth had family in the city, and the Empire State Building isn’t what she considers an ideal meeting spot for family affairs, but Annabeth agreed to meet them at the park, Mac had started fussing and the conversation ended before Amy got a chance to prod.

By the time they arrive at the park, she has all but forgotten this tidbit of information, swallowed by a bunch of other strange facts about the Detective and made unsignificant by the bright May sun.)

Amy and Annabeth are sitting on a bench, the latter happily talking about the American Copper Buildings only a block away and their strangely tilted architecture while the former gladly listens. Their men are meanwhile playing with Mac at the other side of the playground.

(Not on the cool pirate ship, but on the slide with yellow lion heads because that was what Mac immediately ran towards after Jake had lifted him from his stroller.)

The toddler warbles happily, grinning while he walks from one man to the other, squealing in delight when Percy picks him up, throws him in the air, catches him again and deposits him on the top of the slide.

Mac slides down, into Jake’s arms, who picks him up, whirls his son around before setting him on the ground, prompting the circle to begin anew.

A woman approaches the three of them, lead over there by her own toddler, equally intent on using the slide.

Amy can guess at the following conversation between the adults; introductions and Jake claiming Mac as his kid, Percy saying that he’s a family friend, the children’s ages. What most parents talk about on playgrounds.

The woman’s attention soon focusses on Percy, who willingly starts throwing the second toddler in the air after she witnessed him doing it to Mac. The woman is tall, her blonde hair cascading over her shoulders until she flips it onto her back in an obvious attempt of flirtation.

She throws her head back in an affected laugh, places a gentle hand on Percy’s biceps.

And Percy… flirts back?

He smiles brightly, laughs at whatever she’s saying and doesn’t even object to the lingering hand on his sleeve.

Amy frowns.

She looks over at Annabeth, who doesn’t look quite as thunderous as Amy had anticipated. Her jaw is clenched in obvious annoyance, and she lets her sentence trail off, but she’s not storming over to demand that Percy stops flirting with some woman.

“You all right?”, Amy asks her friend.

Annabeth pulls her gaze away from the scene with some difficulties and looks at her friend. “Yeah, sure,” she answers with a tight smile.

“He surely doesn’t mean anything by it,” Amy tries, and Annabeth huffs out half a laugh.

“Of course, he doesn’t,” she says, a bitter taste in her voice. “He doesn’t even notice there is something to be meant.”

Amy makes a curious sound.

Annabeth waves her hand around, her expression softening some. “He is… totally oblivious to people trying to flirt with him or being attracted to him. Just goes over his head.”

“But…” Amy looks at the woman flirting with Percy again. She’s anything but subtle. “How can he miss that?”

“That’s just not how his mind works,” Annabeth ventures.

That’s when Percy looks past the woman and at Annabeth and his face takes on a softness that has been missing before. The woman follows his gaze, eyes landing on Annabeth and Amy. She says something to Percy, who happily indicates to Annabeth. The Detective answers with a small smile and a raised hand.

The woman immediately backs off Percy and makes a gesture towards Annabeth that seems to mean something between “I didn’t know, my bad” and “good catch, kudos to you”. She takes her toddler’s hand and together, they walk over to the swings.

Percy, Jake and Mac make their way over to the bench the women are sitting on.

Jake is laughing when they arrive.

“You can’t be serious,” he exclaims as he hoists Mac on the bench between Annabeth and Amy and sits on the ground in front of them. “Tell him that lady was flirting with him,” he prompts his wife.

Amy nods.

“Can’t be,” Percy insists and looks at his girlfriend for confirmation.

She rolls her eyes at him. “She was. Very clearly.”

Percy’s face goes sheepish. “Sorry?”

Annabeth shrugs. “Not your fault.”

“You’re still got grumpy about it,” Percy observes.

“Not grumpy,” Annabeth mumbles.

Percy squeezes onto the bench next to her. “Didn’t mean to make you jealous,” he tells her quietly.

“I know, Seaweed Brain.”

“She’s not even my type.”

A small laugh. “I know that, too.”

“I really don’t want to interrupt your conversation,” Jake states, interrupting their conversation. “But how is she not your type? Like… blonde, tall, athletic?” He waves his hand in the direction where the woman and her kid are playing at the swings. “If she’s not your type, how is Annabeth? No offence.”

Percy shrugs. “None taken. I just don’t swing that way.”

Jake’s frown deepens. “How is that about which way you swing? It’s not about if you’re straight, or bi, or…”

“Demi,” Percy butts in.

Jake immediately stops his ramblings. “What?”

“I’m demi,” Percy repeats. “…sexual. Demisexual. Not Demi… human or something. Although, funnily enough, I’m also…” He stops mid-sentence to look at his girlfriend. “Where was I going with this?” Annabeth is regarding him with the fondest of smiles. Percy smiles back. “Right… I swing one way and one way only.” He throws an arm over Annabeth’s shoulders and jerks his chin in her direction. “Hers.”

Amy shifts through what little information she knows about the topic. “That’s… on the asexual spectrum, right?” She hands Mac a cucumber slice. “Only being sexually attracted to someone you’ve already formed an emotional connection with?”

Percy grins. “Yeah, you aced that definition.”

“You have no idea how many bad puns I had to suffer from him over the years,” Annabeth states evenly, but her eyes are soft, and she nuzzles her cheek into Percy’s hand resting on her shoulder.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m so good at improvising. I always have an ace up my sleeve,” Percy grins.

Annabeth groans, and punches him lightly in the chest.

--------------------------

“We could take the ferry home,” Percy suggests after they packed their stuff and put Mac in the stroller. There isn’t really any discussion about it since they’re close to the East River already and Mac is fast asleep by the time they reach the docks.

There are few passengers onboard the ferry and most of them crowd onto the upper deck to take advantage of the situation.

Jake, Amy, Annabeth, and Percy take seats towards the stern of the ship, giving them a good view over the other passengers. Mac’s stroller stands between the seats, breaks engaged and sunscreen puled shut.

A handful of teenagers is laughing towards the bow, an older couple regarding them with disdain.

A young woman tries to calm her children. She has a toddler strapped to her front, and a girl of maybe five years running around her, excitedly jumping up and down. She is just a little bit too small to see over the railing and is pestering her mother to pick her up so she can better watch the seagulls flying around the ship.

“Julie, I can’t carry both you and your brother,” the woman huffs, but the girl doesn’t stop.

Finally, the mother heaves a sigh, grabs her daughter by the hips and hoists her up on the railing.

Julie gives a delighted squeal and turns around so her feet dangle over the edge of the ship. Her mother firmly grabs her by the hand. “You have to be careful up here,” she warns.

Julie happily nods and cranes her head to watch the birds.

When they dock in Hunter’s Point, the group of teenagers disembarks the ship, leaving the top deck mostly in silence, with Julie pointing out random things and her mother quietly responding.

The way over to Greenpoint is accompanied by the happy exclamations and the soft cooing of the family at the edge of the ship.

The boat is just preparing to land when everything goes downhill.

Startled by the honking of another ferry, the toddler strapped to Julie’s mother wakes up and starts screaming.

In the breath that it takes for the woman to look from the girl on the railing to the boy in the sling, Julie, trying to follow a seagull’s movement with her eyes, loses her balance and topples over the edge of the ship.

Jake is on his feet in an instant, rushing towards the edge of the ship with the other three at his side. He reaches the edge just in time to see the screaming girl hit the water.

He’s just about to jump after her, when a firm hand grabs his jacket and stops the movement.

Amy and Annabeth have stopped on either side of him. Amy has a hand on the mother’s shoulder, stopping her from doing something rash, like jumping after her daughter with her son still strapped to her body.

Annabeth is doing the same to Jake.

Nobody is holding Jackson back, though.

Percy just rushes past them, doesn’t stop, doesn’t even slow down. He clears the ship’s railing in one clear leap, hurling himself after the girl.

There is a moment where the water almost seems to raise to meet him, then the man is swallowed by the rushing water with a splash.

Jake turns to his partner. “Why did you stop me and not him?”, he asks, gesturing to the point where her boyfriend just vanished.

Annabeth takes a deep breath, lets go of her partner’s jacket, pats his back. “Because Percy is a superb swimmer, and you are not.”

They all turn back to the water, but neither the girl nor the man is anywhere to be seen. Annabeth leans over the railing, searching for the two.

It’s Julie’s mother who spots the girl fist. The pink bows in her hair and the yellow jacket are a bright contrast to the dark water of the rushing river, making her easy to spot.

The current has carried her away from the ship already, and she is rapidly being pulled down-stream, fighting to even stay afloat.

Amy spots Percy a moment later, barely discernible from the water with his black hair and blue hoodie. His head pops up, halfway between the ship and the girl, his arms quickly paddling to close the distance.

The girl is losing her fight to stay at the water’s surface and with a small cry, she goes under.

Her mother cries in anguish, her son in the sling matching her wails.

Percy doesn’t hesitate even a moment and dives after her.

When their heads pop up again, they are already more than half-way to the next pier. It’s hard to see at the distance, and the current is carrying them even further away, but Julie is grabbing onto Percy for dear life.

Annabeth steps around Jake and puts a calming hand on the mother’s shoulder. “He’s got her,” she tells the woman. “Percy is an amazing swimmer; he’ll get her to safety.”

The woman, not willing to avert her eyes from her daughter, pats the blonde’s hand. “You sure?”

The Detective squeezes her shoulder, careful not to upset the toddler in her care even more. “She’s in the best hands imaginable.”

The woman heaves a sob, sinking into the contact.

Percy has both arms slung around Julie, lazily kicking his feet to stay afloat. He looks around, takes in the ferry upstream and the people on the upper deck. He looks downstream, to the next pier the current is already carrying him towards and makes his decision.

Cradling the girl safely in his arms, he turns away from the ship and towards the nearest safety.

“He’s going to come on land over there”, Annabeth observes and gestures towards the pier a good 150 yards downstream. “We should get off this ship.”

That spurs them all into action. Annabeth stays with Julie’s mother, who introduces herself as Marge while Amy and Jake get Mac and his stroller.

They hurry down the stairs to leave the ship before it puts out, clearing the gangway just before it’s disengaged again.

When they step on land, Julie is already climbing the ladder up to the next pier, helped by some passersby. Percy is close behind her, making sure the girl won’t fall back into the water.

Marge stops in her tracks at the sight of her daughter safely on land. They watch her clear the ladder, but then the girl sinks down on the floor in a heap.

“Is she hurt?”, the mother asks frantically.

Annabeth puts two fingers in her mouth and lets out an ear-piercing whistle.

On the next pier, Percy turns towards them.

He straightens up and spreads his arms out diagonally, one up, the other down, so they form a line through his body.

He holds the pose for a moment, then drops it and turns back to the girl next to him.

“They’re all right,” Annabeth says.

Julie’s mother looks uncertainly at her.

“That pose,” Annabeth quickly imitates Percy’s previous stance. “means ‘No, I don’t need help’. They’re fine.”

“You sure?”

Annabeth smiles and puts a calming hand on Petra’s shoulder. “Yeah, I’m sure. Percy works with children a lot and he is an amazing swimmer. If he says your daughter is fine, then there is very little to worry about. She is probably just exhausted and cold.”

She is met with a cautious smile.

“Why don’t we go over there?”, Amy suggests, and they start moving down the pier.

 

When they reach the other pier, Julie’s mother breaks out into a run and scoops the girl up into her arms.

The girl is grinning at her mother, her frame completely drowned in Percy’s overly large hoodie.

Percy is still sitting on the ground, calmly looking up at the approaching group, his short-sleeved shirt displaying his muscled arms. Annabeth offers him a hand and helps him up, but when he moves to hug her, she holds out a blocking hand. “You’re dripping wet,” she complains with a laugh.

“Of course, I’m dripping wet. I just climbed out of the East River. I’d have to possess some kind of magic to be dry.” He gives an overly dramatic gasp. “Are you accusing me of being a witch? Is it because you’re magically attracted to me?” A huge grin is plastered across his face.

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “That doesn’t mean that I have to be all wet, as well,” the Detective declares with a laugh.

“Yes, it does.” Jackson pushes past her deflecting hand and gathers his girlfriend in a tight hug.

She squeals when the wet shirt instantly drenches her clothes. But then, she lets out a laugh, hugs him back and kisses him on the cheek.

“You really are a Seaweed Brain.”

“And you still love me.”

“I know.”

Notes:

I'm kind of trying to write Mac and stuff with him inspired by my niece and stuff my sister does with her. I have no idea how much the activities can be copied onto american families, though...
If anyone tries to tell me that Percy is anything other than demi or pan, I will fight you on it. Plus, having a demisexual demigod is just funny to me :)
I wasted wayyy to much time of today afternoon on finishing this chapter considering I have a test tomorrow and really shoud be studying (converting decimal numbers into binary numbers and other oh-so-interesting topics...)
With me back to school and examens piling up, updates won't get more regularily, sorry.

You might have noticed I actually put in a final number of chapters. There will be 2 more chapters in this fic (already planned but only partially written) and then I will start a new one with all the reveals and stuff that ensues (need to figure out how to start a series, but it can't be too hard).

Maybe leave a comment.
Have a great day, stay safe.