#tuck o'leary | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bthenoise · 4 years

Text

Q&A: Fit For A King’s Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary Talks ‘The Path’ Plus How To Work With Your Favorite Artists On Featured X

Despite everything going on in the world and the limitations presented in the music business, Fit For A King bassist/clean vocalist Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary has remained extremely busy.

Not only has O’Leary released new music with his indie rock side-project Off Road Minivan and recorded a highly anticipated Fit For A King record but the DIY musician has also started a brand new podcast and created a new company called Featured X.

The new business, which launched at the end of July, is your new goto to get some of your favorite musicians featured on your music -- think Fiverr but with all metalcore, post-hardcore, hardcore and deathcore artists.

Talking with Tuck about his new site featuring the likes of Tyler Carter, Shane Told, Spencer Charnas, Brendan Murphy and more, the outgoing entrepreneur said, “Originally, we're like, ‘Okay, we're going to launch and we're going to put out like 13 guys.’ And then 13 guys turned to 30. And then 30 turned to 60. And it was just like, ‘Holy shit. Okay, we're just going to see however many we can get now.’”

He added, “I think with this Friday's drop, we're going to be at around like 100 vocalists because now more people are getting interested in it because they're seeing it which is the exciting part where I just want my friends to get paid. And the reality is, if they can sing two songs a month, pay all their bills and they're good and they can remain artists, that's what's up.”

To learn more about the exciting Featured X as well as Fit For A King’s brand new album The Path, be sure to look below. Afterward, make sure to grab a pre-order before it hits stores September 18th via Solid State Records.

Regardless of all that’s going on in 2020, you’ve still been incredibly busy with a new Off Road Minivan record, new Fit For A King album and now the Featured X platform you just announced. Were all these planned pre-COVID?

Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary: Not all of them and also I actually have a podcast that I just teamed up with Idobi Radio for recently as well. It's called Get Tucked. You can listen to it every Monday at 4pm on Idobi Howl, which is their metal station or on every other platform starting on Wednesdays. Just to throw a little ad there [laughs]. But yeah, the Off Road Minivan record had been done actually for maybe eight months or so before it was released. So that was all pre-planned and ready to go. The Fit For A King record was finished in January. So we were prepared for that and that was supposed to come out on the Parkway Drive tour that we were going to be doing this summer. So that threw a wrench in the works for that. I mean, it was really nice to be home for the Off Road release because I was going to be on tour so it was kind of cool to like, actually get to sit and concentrate and look at the plays and comment on things and really be there for it. Because if I was on tour with Fit, I definitely would have been much busier. But it was a really nice experience getting to do that and luckily having the Fit music -- you know, the two singles we've released and getting to now recently make music videos as of like two weeks ago -- it's been really helpful for us to be able to keep some momentum and our Spotify actually just hit 800,000 monthly listeners today so we're extremely excited. But you know, it's a weird situation to be in because no one necessarily knows how to make the kind of money that people made on tour. And everyone's been really inventive. You know, like the Underoath stream. That was awesome. I watched [them play] Define The Great Line and it was great. So just, we've started to put some things together, we got to film some music videos like two weeks ago or so. But you know, trying to keep as busy as we can.

Totally.

The Featured X platform just came up out of the blue where one of the co-owners is one of my best friends. His name is Jeff. We talk on the phone almost every day just cause we've been friends for 15 years. One morning we're talking and he just like brings up the idea like, “Dude, what if there was this platform and like everyone could just go get their guests features” and it came up because we manage a band called Left To Suffer from Atlanta, Georgia. We were getting together features for their new EP that's going to be coming out and it was just one of those where I was like, “Well, I can call so and so and so and so and we can get these guys on and we'll talk.” And then we're like, “Well, what if there is just a really easy way to streamline this and have everyone get access to these guys?” You know, I can text a guy I've toured with -- Tom Barber [Chelsea Grin] or Ryo from Crystal Lake -- but how long are you gonna wait in their DMS until they respond to you? A long time.

So it was just an easy way where the second he said it, I was like, “This isn't ridiculous. This is feasible. Like, we could do this and we can do this right now.” The hard part was finding someone who can handle the web creation. So we made some posts to try to find a web designer and this guy Adam, he’s from Atlanta and he plays in another band but he also owns a web design company. We pitched the idea to him and he loved it so much that, you know, first he was just working on it and then we gave him a portion of the company as well when we had to do all our paperwork and whatnot. But it just really came together in a matter of like a month and a half. As I'm getting people and building the roster, Adam and his team are building the site and it just kept growing and growing. Originally, we're like, “Okay, we're going to launch and we're going to put out like 13 guys.” And then 13 guys turned to 30. And then 30 turned to 60. And it was just like, “Holy shit. Okay, we're just going to see however many we can get now.” And I mean, I think with this Friday's drop, we're going to be at around like 100 vocalists because now more people are getting interested in it because they're seeing it which is the exciting part where I just want my friends to get paid. And the reality is, if they can sing two songs a month, pay all their bills and they're good and they can remain artists, that's what's up. That's what's important right now. Because none of us can tour, none of us can go make the income we usually can because we gave up all our masters, right? We sign these contracts. When you're on tour, you pay management, you pay booking agents. I'm not saying these things are negative. I'm just saying that they're the reality. I love my booking agent, I love my management, I love my label. I'm all for these things. But the reality is right now, no one's getting shit. You know, because we don't have the income from Spotify and we don't have the income from these kinds of things. So people are being really innovative and they're doing live stream concerts and they're putting together incredible merch packages. But when you put into account how much merch on top of donations to charities has been purchased in the last four months, you've seen how resilient and caring these fans are because they not only bought everyone out of debt, they also donated millions of dollars to good causes. So this was a cool way in our heads to finally connect some people, connect some dots, help our friends who are in a pinch. And I'm not saying that every guy on the site is like broke and needs money but it's helpful. They want to make art, they want to be a part of things. They want to stay artists and the hardest part of this whole thing is sitting in my house for the first time for five months when I've never done that before. So it's been an interesting experience. Sorry for the super rant, Jesus.

It's totally fine! So when you hit up all your friends about Featured X, did they all immediately jump on board thinking it was a great idea?

Yeah, there was like a couple people who couldn't do it for logistical reasons or some guys who were like “I want to see how this” -- and I hate that I keep saying "guys" -- some people who will look at it and be like, “Hey, this isn't for me right now but let's see what it's like in three months.” So what I did first was just hit up the people that I'm closest to which was obviously Kirby [Fit For A King] and Tom Barber and Ryo and Telle [Smith, The Word Alive] and Levi [Benton, Miss May I] and Dave Stephens [We Came As Romans] like, some of these guys that I just thought would be interested in it and would probably back me and help me. Once we got these people involved, it just started becoming so much easier because others were like, “Well, if so and so is doing it, fine, yeah, I'll give it a try.” And a lot of it comes from, you know, we have so many different mindsets that come from these different styles of music, right? And it's definitely created part of the communication between fans and this now where there are fans of like hardcore music and they don't really want their favorite hardcore vocalists to be on a bunch of songs and a ton of features. They just want the vocalist of Kublai Khan doing vocals on an Acacia Strain song because they're friends, right? And I think that's really cool. And that's how it's been for a really long time. But the reality is that when you're a big popular vocalist and this is your job, this is your career, this is what you've been doing, there's nothing wrong with singing on an extra 10 or 20 songs that are awesome. What if you listen to a song and there is this amazing young band and what would really help them to get seen and to get signed and to get traction is to have that [guest] vocalist on their song? And that helps them create momentum and everyone gains something out of this. And you know, people talk about how the friendship aspect is so important to them where they only want to do features with people that they really care about. What if I ended up really caring about your band because I heard your band and I sang on your song? What if I want to help you after that? What if they want to help you after that? Because I've seen that happen. So we're just trying to connect things where right now there may be some issues in the mindset where some people are skeptical maybe of how it will pan out. And we don't know yet. We've had [as of this interview] 14 requests and one fully confirmed. So you know, it's not like we've put out 200 songs in a weekend. I'm very interested to see how it grows and how people take it but it's been overwhelmingly positive for us so far. Fans seem extremely stoked on it. And I'm really happy with how it's going, it's pretty cool. Like for me too, it's just weird to be talking to all my favorite singers [laughs]. I'm a fan first and it's cool to get to have time to speak with a lot of these people, that's a really amazing experience.

With these features, is it the artist's final say on whether or not they want to participate on the song?

Oh yeah, so the way it all works is pretty simple. If you are in a local band and you really want to go and work with Ryan Kirby, you send him your song and your social media links through the website. Ryan logs into the profile that we've given him, he listens to the song, checks out your social media links, takes a minute and thinks about it. Maybe he sends you a message because we have a text bubble there, talks about what you're about, what the song is about, what you want to sing about, why maybe you want Ryan on the song and then if he feels that these things are appropriate for him and this is a good look for him and he wants to sing on that song, all he has to do is hit accept. Upon him hitting accept, you have to pay him. Once you pay him, he has two weeks to perform the vocals and send them back to you. And all of this is done through the site, even the file sharing. So it keeps it really easy and everyone's able to communicate with it and they will see your song, he will listen to your song. And I just use him as an example because he's one of my best friends and he's in my band. So it's really cool because I can listen to these songs as well and we have been as they come in. The first request of all was to Lil Lotus and when the song came in, we're like “Okay, well he's an interesting artist because he does the screamo stuff but he's more prominent of a hip-hop artist, right?” So I was like, “Okay, this'll probably be a hip-hop song.” So we spin it and we're like, “This is a bop! This is good, like, this is a really good song. Holy shit.” And you know, it's just cool to see that work. I want to hear more good music and, like this morning, I woke up and I saw there was a new video by this band called Filth that came out. I think it's just called “Hell.” And the vocalist was so absolutely insane and the band was so good where I just had to hit him up and be like, “Yeah, dude, do you just want to do [Featured X]? Because your band is absolutely bonkers. And I know you may not be the biggest band right now, but if I'm gonna put money on something, I think I might put it on you.” So it's a really cool thing where we're not just trying to have it be a who's who of the scene where if I hear somebody or my partners hear someone and we think they're super talented, we want them to be here too because maybe more people will recognize them from that. If it works, that would be great. I'll make a lot of money off of them, I'll have extremely large pinky rings, Gucci slippers and I will only wear silk, but we'll see. That's the ultimate experience [laughs].

It sounds like this will be pretty fulfilling for you creatively getting to hear all this music.

Oh 100%. Yeah, it's really nice. I mean, I've always tried to stay a fan and a listener first, you know what I mean? I think I absorb a lot of music or at least I try to. And it is really inspiring to see these people and see what others are capable of. And now that there's so many artists and there's so many bands and everyone can get their music out there so easily, it's amazing to see how some stuff circulates based off raw talent. I mean, I love my Off Road stuff. But when I post it, does it get a million views in a day? No, not at all. But then it's cool to see this Filth video that came out today just pop off and people are sending it and it's going around and it's tag after tag on Facebook. And it's like, that's what I want to see is just something that people are excited about. And it is very exciting for us too because when building tours, I want to constantly have a tour that's cool and fun and relevant. And I want to take bands out that other people are excited about. So being on top of young talent, whether it's a band like Filth or Static Dress or like any of these like really cool up-and-coming bands, it's just exciting to always feel like I still have the same feeling I had as a kid [where] I want to love something first, you know? I want to know that band before everybody else knows that band. It's cool and exclusive [laughs]. You know and then you hope for ultimate success for everyone. I don't want them to stay that small band.

So you you spoke a little about the roster and mentioned how you hate referring to everyone as "guys." There are a few women on the roster...

There are only two out of 63 on the site currently [as of this interview].

Are you planning to add more?

Oh yeah, I have quite a few more this week. The thing that people have to keep into account when it comes to, especially with our [scene], when it comes to discussing women and people of color, there aren't a lot. So when I get turned down by one, there's 50 more guys for every Courtney LaPlante. You know, and believe me, I'm trying. I am trying very hard. It's just, one: I don't know everyone. I know who I know and then I branch out from there. And there are only a few girls that sing in metal and core bands. There are only so many LGBTQ people that sing in metal or core bands. There are only so many people of color that sing in metal or core bands. So it's really hard when you do get denied by one or two, and I'm not saying that Courtney turned me down. I was just using her as an example because she's super talented and Spiritbox is crushing life right now. But it's a conversation that I knew was gonna happen. I think the comment was on your guys' Instagram actually where someone pointed it out. And I'm ready for it because I think if they knew me personally, they would understand that I'm not captain of the boys club even though I am a bald, graying little monster of meat. I want it to be as equal of a playing field as it can be. I'm very excited that I have quite a few women that are going to be on the roster added this week. And I'm doing the same thing with females that I am with, you know, someone like the singer of Filth from today where you don't have to necessarily be in the biggest band but I think if you're really really really talented and someone would want to have these things on their song then that's what's most important to me because making really good art is what's most important.

And, you know, it's not just about getting everyone paid because there are some people that are just really good and they're supposed to be there because that's what my gut tells me. And luckily, I get to make those decisions because it's mine [laughs]. But yeah, we have quite a few ladies that are added on this week. And you know, I'm constantly trying to work on that but the other thing that comes with that is, like, okay, so when I talked to Booka from Make Them Suffer, I was like, "Yo, you're my only girl so far. I just want to be upfront with you. Thank you.” And she's like, “Yo, let's get it.” Like, “Cool, I'm into it and I appreciate that.” But you also can't approach people and be like “I really don't have like any girls on my website like can you come and like represent ladies for me?” Because it doesn't bode well either where this is about talent, right? So I want you to know that I want to work with you not because of the way you look, not because of your gender, your sex or however you identify. I want you to know that I want to work with you because I care about your voice and I'm excited about you and I like what you're doing. And I think that other people will want to work with you as well. So it's a really interesting thing to navigate and I think we're doing our best so far that we can. Lacey Sturm if you hear this, I emailed your manager, come do the site please Lacy Sturm.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Featured X (@featuredxdotcom) on Aug 14, 2020 at 11:04am PDT

Do you think setting up Featured X has helped you appreciate someone like Kevin Lyman a little bit more who got grief for years with people saying Warped Tour wasn’t diverse enough?

Oh yeah. I had a conversation about it this week with Lauren from Sharptooth who is going to be on this week's drop. Which I'm extremely excited about because we're friends and one of my close friends from home Peter plays bass in Sharptooth. I love their band. I love Lauren, love everything she stands for. When we were talking on the phone about it, I was like, “Yeah, I kind of feel for Kevin now because I'm seeing it.” And you know, you have to think it just stinks because you want the festival to be the biggest and best it can be so in order for it to be biggest and best it can be, it has to be with the biggest and best bands and then just sometimes there aren't as many girls in bands that are as relevant so they get left behind. Where I thought he always did a pretty good job at evening things out was on the lower stages. But again, it's a challenge. Like, find me female deathcore vocalists. How many are there? Find me female metalcore vocalist. There's not that many. There's like, Courtney and there's this girl from the band Machinist and there's like Emma from Dying Wish but there's not a lot. And believe me, I'm trying. I'm trying to keep it open to suggestions. So what I did was, after we made the [first] drop, I tweeted out, “Hey, I know we're really male heavy. Give me some suggestions, tell me who the ladies are.” And I got great suggestions from it. And I'm talking to people and [now] I have a bunch of great people signed up. So it's just something where I need guidance too. I'm 31. I've been doing this for a long time. I don't know every band on the planet even though I'd like to think that I do. And it's been very helpful so I'm kind of letting the community guide it a little bit as well, where, sure I could really want someone -- in my perfect world, Geoff Rickly from Thursday calls me and he goes, “Hey Tugboat, I'm gonna be on the site” and I'm like, “Okay, Geoff. We're gonna be best friends now.” And then he's like, “Okay, cool.” And then we're best friends. But that's not necessarily everyone else's [top choice]. You know, maybe some of these kids are like, “I really want Ronnie Radke or I want Chris Motionless” or something like that. So we may want different things. So I like suggestions. It helps me stay relevant and to understand what other people want.

Do you plan on opening it up to guitarists if they want to do featured solos?

Yeah, we're gonna have guitars added to it. We're going to do drums as well. But there's going to be two different styles with the drums where, you know, the reality is a lot of it is digital these days. So if you just want to work with someone and help you write the parts, you hire a drummer to write the drum parts. And if you want them to actually perform the drums in a studio, you can pay for that as well. We're going to do guitar solos, we are also going to do full songwriting and production too. There are a lot of people out there who are just vocalists and they want Bobby from Fit For A King to ghostwrite songs for them. So that's going to be an option as well. And, the last thing I think we're going to add are lessons in case anyone wants it but I think Music Mentors is really the place to go for that. I think Music Mentors is a fantastic place if you're trying to get any sort of lesson options, they have incredible people to choose from. It's very similar to what we do and it's owned by a dear friend of mine. So that's not really a place that we're trying to dip into too much but more so staying on the performance end of things.

So it sounds like younger bands really have no excuse not to take advantage of these opportunities and progress their career. Sure it's gonna cost something but the tools are out there.

Absolutely. And when you talk about the cost, one thing to greatly consider with that, because that's one of the things that I do see some comments on, it's like, “How can this guy charge $1,000?” Well, the reason why is because one: You have like four or five people in your band, right? So $200 bucks a piece on anything, really isn't that bad. Two, you say this guy is one of your favorite vocalists of all time. You wouldn't pay $1,000 to work with your favorite vocalist? Because I know I would pay $1,000 to work with Dustin Kensrue or Geoff Rickly. Then on top of that, we're not asking you for publishing, we're not asking you for masters. So that's really not that much money in the grand scheme of things. The fact of the matter is that you get to own it, you get to push your career with it, you get to make content around it and I'm never going to see anything from it for the rest of my life. So I think that it's a pretty fair deal. And a lot of people don't necessarily want that but then you see in hip-hop, DaBaby is like, "Hundred thousand for a fucking feature, bitch!” And I'm like, “Yes! This is amazing!” Hip-hop is so like, encompassing in the community where they all help each other and they boost each other's songs. That's why Drake has made like 500 people famous and it's amazing to see that and we need more of it. Now I don't want to see Ryan Kirby on 500 songs the way Drake is but I do want people to lift each other up and do more collaborative stuff. An example of that is Fit For A King and We Came As Romans. We took “Backbreaker” and “Carry The Weight” and Dave sang on “Backbreaker” and Ryan sang on “Carry The Weight” and it crushed it. We did limited merch but we sold a shit ton of merch and everybody was streaming the songs and they're all happy about it. They really like it. But then when you look at the comments on YouTube, people still go “Who's Ryan Kirby? Who's Dave Stephens?” Holy shit. How is it that all the fans of We Came As Romans don't know who Fit For A King is and how is it that all the fans of Fit For A King don't know who We Came As Romans are? Mind blowing. So it just shows that there needs to be more connectivity. There needs to be people working together more trying to connect these fan bases because obviously we haven't tapped into everybody.

youtube

It sounds like there just needs to be a giant metalcore mixtape where everyone gets a feature and that's how you discover people.

Someone proposed the idea of a GoFundMe [laughs]. Do a GoFundMe, pay all the vocalists on the site. Do like that, um, one Tech N9ne song where there's like a million rappers on. I forget what it's called but they all rap really fast on it. They sound like Fronz. I'm just kidding. They don't sound like Fronz. They sound like rappers but...

So yeah, before we let you go, we should probably discuss the new Fit For A King record.

Oh, of course. Please.

Talking about features, you have Ryo from Crystal Lake, who you guys have been friends with for a while, on a song.

Yeah, [we've been friends for] a couple years now. So in 2017, we're on Warped Tour and there's this girl who comes from Japan and goes to a bunch of tours and flies over here and goes for a few days and then flies back. And she was at the merch table and me and Ryan were talking to her and I was like, “Hey, are you friends with Ryo from Crystal Lake?” and she was like, “Yeah.” And I was like, “Well tell him that I'm pissed because he had Gideon come to Japan and I want to go to Japan. So invite me to Japan.” And she was like, “Okay, I'll tell him” and I was like, “Yeah, okay” because I was just being my sarcastic self. And a couple days later Ryo slid in my DMS and he was like, “Hey, I love Descendants. You guys want to come to Japan?” And I'm like, “Fuck, yeah!” and they invited us to play the 15 year anniversary of Crystal Lake. For a lot of people who don't know, Crystal Lake originally had a bunch of different members except for Udi, the guitar player. So he invites us over and we go and we play this festival and we come back and then we just kept in touch and they were super kind to us and took us around Tokyo and shit. And then we did the August Burns Red tour in the States. It was August Burns Red, us, Miss May I, and them. It was their first tour in the US. So we just kind of stuck by them the whole time and made sure they were good. ... We just bonded. I love the shit out of them. I have a Crystal Lake tattoo. It's a Crystal Lake, Miss May I, Fit For A King Smash Bros tattoo. It's interesting, you meet some people on the road that are extremely special that just hit you where it's like I've been waiting my whole life for you. Ryo's one of those guys. Like I would slaughter a whole room of individuals for him. He's the greatest. They're all incredibly loving, kind, passionate, happy, great people. And it's a blessing to get to know them because they do live so far away and I would have never met them if it wasn't for music. So very, very grateful for those guys. They are just, yeah, we are peas in a pod.

So how special was it to get Ryo on "God Of Fire" which paired with the announce of the new album 'The Path?'

It was the shit. Yeah, it was great because especially when you hear his raw files when they come back, it's pretty impressive. You think he's good live, I mean, when you can actually hear them just super raw it's insane how good his voice is and we couldn't think of anybody else when we heard the song once we got done with it. It was just so necessary. And yeah, he's the best frickin’ dude. We're so lucky to have him and have him involved with the song. It certainly brings a lot of attention to it because it doesn't get much hotter than Crystal Lake right now. I think them, Spiritbox and Polaris are probably the most hot up-and-coming metalcore bands right now and Crystal Lake every time they come back they draw more people, they're selling more merch, more people are interested. It's insane, absolutely bonkers. When you watch them open a show, it doesn't matter that they played first, the show's over. Like you feel like it's just done at that point because Ryo's in the middle of the crowd and there's 200 people holding him up by his ankles and he's doing this epic shit. Everyone's swaying their arms and you're just like, “Yeah, how do I come out on the stage after that?” So yeah, very lucky to have him on the track.

youtube

And as for the track itself, was it important for you guys to come out with a heavy song so there's weren't any doubters thinking “Oh, Fit For A King's changing their sound” or whatever? Like, you wanted to lead with something super heavy.

Well we did “Breaking The Mirror” first. So “Breaking The Mirror” was out and that is definitely way more rock. It's one of the more rock song, there's one other song that's kind of rock-y too but it's way different rock, it doesn't sound like butt metal rock. It sounds different. I say that with love because it's my band and I can describe my music however I want. But um yeah, so we did the “Breaking The Mirror” thing. You know, at first, it started doing really well on Octane. We ended up doing pretty decent on the active rock charts and we're like, “Okay, well, after you give them the soft side, you got to come right back with the heavy side.” And the other thing that's cool about “God Of Fire” is it has some experimental stuff to it. It does have the kind of EDM build in it and it has some electronic elements. And for me, I still have a top heavy banger that's on this record that no one's heard yet. I'm excited.

This is the easily my favorite Fit For A King record. I can say that. I actually, when Dark Skies was made, I didn't listen to it for like two months because I was really sad that I didn't sing that much on it and I have a huge ego. You know, it took me a minute to accept it and be like, [jokingly] “They're not gonna hear me as much, what the fuck.” But then when “Everything Means Nothing” did really well, I was like, “I'd rather hit a home run then get 10 at bats and sometimes hit a single.” So I had to put myself in check there and then bringing in Daniel [Gailey, guitar] helped a lot. Where Daniel and Bob -- you know, Bob is the writing guy -- but Daniel can shred in a way that just the rest of us can't. So having him get in there and being able to add really helps exemplify some of those more metal moments [and] some of those more chaotic moments. He can play in a way that we don't necessarily play. So having him, plus his vocal range is absolutely bonkers. He can do these like Sam Carter [Architects] yells. And then also, his voice matches really well with Kirby when they're in a similar register with the more like, “Price of Agony” style choruses. So overall, adding him to the team just boosted everything.

That’s awesome.

So going into this record, we were happy. We were in a great mood, we wanted to be around each other. We knew what we wanted to write. We didn't want to write some like super depressed record and we weren't depressed. So it was helpful because we just had the best year of our lives. And we were just like ready to make something that's powerful. Something that just makes you fucking stoked, makes you want to get in your car and like slam it into a brick wall. I don't know why that sounds like fun to me at the moment. Maybe it's the life I've been living lately [laughs]. That was a terrible example, I take that back. But regardless, it's fun. I think it's victorious. It's powerful. I think people will enjoy it. So it's been cool getting to drop “God Of Fire” and have everyone take to it the way they did because for me, I've still got that number one heavy banger there. There's other heavy songs too. There's one where I'm like, “Yeah, you guys are gonna like this.”

We could probably talk about The Path a lot longer but just to wrap this up, do you have anything else in store for 2020 or will you just be focusing on Fit For A King and Featured X for the rest of the year?

I think I’m just going to be focused on Featured X and the new Fit record. Keeping up with the podcast on top of that has been really difficult but I’m getting there. I just think, as soon as I can get back out and do Fit stuff and play shows, obviously we’re going to be out there and doing that but right now all of my other free time is dedicated to Featured X. I’ll be honest, I’ve probably worked more now than I ever have in my life. My phone [usage] is at about 10 and a half hours average daily [laughs]. It’s been a bit intense, my fiancée is baring with me and being extremely supportive but it took a lot to get 60 people in a month and I want to be at 500 in six months.

Wow! That’s a pretty lofty goal.

It is. And it sounds insane and I’ve told myself that it’s too insane but I’m going to try and we’ll see what happens. And now that we have the application coming in, if you are a great singer and your band is really good, I want you to apply. And if you don’t get accepted it’s not necessarily because you’re bad. Your band might not be there yet but I am contacting just about everyone. Cause I want to have conversations and transparency throughout all of it as well where there is a time where, you know, you’re a really good singer but your band has only five monthly listeners on Spotify where I gotta be like, “Come back in like six months and maybe we can put you on and help you push a release or something.” But then I get someone who is really, really talented and their band has like 7,000 monthly listeners and I’m like “Well, your band is not huge but you’re really good and your band could be really big and I’d rather have you here first before you’re anywhere else.” And I’m all for that, we’ll find that middle ground, we’ll talk about it, I’ll be honest with you and I’ll only try to help and not hurt anybody. But I want to hear everything and I like hearing these applications and I like checking out these bands. Myself and my business partner are checking all the applications that come through. I do see everything that comes in, so please feel free to communicate with me. Hit me up on Instagram, hit me up on Facebook, Twitter or whatever. I’m pretty good at responding. Holler.

#Fit For A King #Off Road Minivan #Featured X #Ryan Tuck O'Leary #Solid State Records #The Path #Crystal Lake

0 notes

angloie · 3 years

Text

Charms.

(2/?)

> Annabeth would rather not have her ordeal with some of the world's biggest malefactors exposed. Not when her multi-million dollar company could be on the line. But a certain sea green eyed assassin had a little thing out for her-- things consisting of attempting to eventually kill her.

> Assassin! Percy x CEO! Annabeth.

> Warnings: angst + fluff, some violence. Nothing too explicit. Mentions of alcohol.

pt. 1 || pt. 2 || pt. 3 || pt. 4 || pt. 5

a/n - pls this took so long to write-

“A twenty one hour trip.” Percy deadpanns. “And you thought you'd tell me a couple hours in advance?”

“Oh, come on! It isn't that much of a trip! I'm sure you'll be fine.” Apollo laughs over the phone.

Three in the morning. Three in the damn morning, yet here Percy was, chatting with his infufferable boss. That time of morning was much to early for his coffee to settle in, or even let him open his eyes fully- for that matter. Apollo had all the time in the world to tell Percy about the details. And he chose only a mere couple of hours before.

Mrs. O'leary waited at Percy's side along with his luggage. She panted so care-free and happily; he sometimes wondered how she wasn't tired like Percy was.

“I’ve sent you a ride. When you get to the airport, go to terminal-"

Percy cuts the blonde off. “Terminal two. Yeah, yeah, you told me a while ago.”

“Make sure you arrive in one piece!” Apollo could almost be seen grinning by that point. What he would to to slap it off of him. “Don’t forget, I'll be there in New York too.”

“Got it.” Percy tastes iron on his tounge. “See ya.” As he declined, he exhaled deeply. It would take a while for him to be fully awake. His eyes still found themselves drooping every once in a while. Much to his dismay.

Percy tugged on Mrs. O'Leary's leash, nudging her to come along. Luggage, dog, wallet, phone... He checked them off his mental checklist. Once he tucked his passport safely into his pocket, the duo ventured into the long hallway of the building.

“You excited to see Estelle and Paul? Mom?” He laughed at the bounding dog, drool spilling from her lips. “Me too.”

They got to the large elevator, doors sliding open with a curt 'ding!’ The ride down only took a couple of seconds. Glass windows showed the city skyline storeys below; twinkling with a certain calmness. All the fading stars were lighten so dimly Percy had to squint to see them. He scoffed at the horribly basic music choice. Smooth jazz, of course.

Well, Percy thought to himself, I won't be back here for a while. He looked over to the tall building one last time before sighing. Would that really be a bad thing? I mean, he would get to be back in New york. Gods, did he miss the shitty pretzels you could get on the streetside. The honking of cars twenty four seven made him homesick- no matter how weird that sounded.

Speaking of which,

“Yo!”

The car in front of him honked obnoxiously. Too obnoxiously in fact, it made the nearly serene night air turn into a much chotic one. Percy grinned.

“It’s been a while,” He came up to the sleek black vehicle. “Travis.”

“It certainly has.” Travis says coyly. “Now throw your bags in. If I don't arrive on time, Apollo is going to murder me.” He shuddered. “That bastard.”

“You and I both know he wouldn't do that.” Percy opened the trunk and threw his luggage in rather un-gracefully, landing with a loud thump.

“It wouldn't be the first time he would try!” Travis complains as the engine grew louder. Hes brown eyes locked onto Mrs. O'leary glued to the other man's side. He frowned disatstefuly. “You are not getting that creature in here.”

Percy smirked evily.

“Don’t you even dare!”

“Mrs. O'leary isn't some creature!” Percy puts a offended hand to his chest and gasps dramticaly, emmiting a eye-roll from Travis.

“Just don't get slobber all over my seats!” He grumbles at the unsightly vision of the dog entering the back seat. Percy takes the front. Mrs. O'leary is what- maybe half the size of Travis? Maybe even more when the thing stood up.

Travis knew all about Percy's little job. He himslef wasn’t a assasin, but rather something that could go under the term's wing. A con artist. A very good one at that, Percy could even admit. He had replied on him a couple of times to get out of sticky situations. Just maybe he'd owe him his life if it weren't for Travis's annoying behavior.

“A new mission? Already?” The car drove along with deserted highway. Yellow lights above them gleamed at every angle. “You never catch a break, down you.”

“Yeah. Its fine, though, this one's going to be interesting.”

“How so?”

“You know Thalia Grace, Luke Castellan and Annabeth Chase?” Percy looks at him from the side. “Iv’e got a intel mission with them. Gotta get info on Chase and kill her.”

Travi's eyes widen with surprise. “Damn lucky.” He mutters under his breath, staring at the fast-coming road. “I would kill for a mission like that.”

The rest of the ride is calm. That is, if you excluded the constant bickering from the two over the aux and Mrs. O'Leary's barking. The shut fuck up! Travis says at one point, fed up- but that causes Mrs. O'leary to howl louder. It's only when Percy snaps his fingers is when it stops. Sea green eyes sparkle smugly. He nearly crashes the car.

But it's nice, jamming to music without a care in the world. It might make Percy's head pound in a few hours, but hey, it was worth it.

“...And we're here,” He says tiredly. The trip took about thirty minutes, give or take. “Now get out. Please.”

The Sydney Australian ational airport is loud, even if it is the dead of the night. That's expected. People flew in and out of the counrty, no matter the time of day. Or night. Cars honking and

“Rude much?” Percy sighs and opens the door, Mrs. O'leary jumping out of her seat with him. The luggage feels rather heavier now.

“Hey, don’t get yourself killed.” Travis's voice comes from the car just as Percy turns his back. “Alright?”

“Yes, Dad,” Percy says jokingly as he flashes a small smile of familiarity. “And don't make it seem as if I will die. See you around.”

“Yeah. Have a fun trip.” He says before he drives off, waving widely. Percy returns the wave two times more ensuthiasticaly, yelling a 'BYE!’ to the already long gone car.

Percy's going to miss him. A lot.

The airport bustled lively, intercom announcing delays and arrivals here and there. It was easy for Percy to navigate- his identity as an assassin was kept completely secret. Meaning he had no dirt or criminal record on him. To the naked eye, he was simply another civilian trying to get to New york. He was genuinely surprised at the fact. Was he really that good at hiding his alternate identity?

I suppose so, Percy thinks when he passes security with ease. There was nothing in his bag, of course, no weapons or anything illegal. Just the basics. Mostly clothing. How clueless were the airport staff were to just accept his passport? All they did was bat thier eyelashes at him, clueless. In fact, one of them even asked to pet Mrs. O'leary. He let them, of course, why wouldn't he?

The swarm of people move every which way in a frenzy of franticness. Percy just barely managed to get something to eat from the long line of stores. A cafe, gift shop, and candy shop? And one of those air-travel stores you see in almost every airport. Dimly lit sunshine just so happens to peek over the building, small light shining through the huge glass panel windows. The early morning commute has just begun for some. Not him, though.

It's going to be a very long trip.

“Miss Chase, your ride is here.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Annabeth stands up from her seat as she tears her gaze away from the flat screen television. The news is plastered on there, buzzing about the newest Olympian news. Everyone seemed to be talking about the damn thing so much already- she just didn't get it.

Luke is truly insufferable, asking her to do something so risky as to call her over for brunch. At her own company no less.

“Are you alright, Miss Chase? Your face is wrinkling.” Her assistant points out rather cluelessly. She brings a hand up to cover her embarassed face. “I-I’m, sorry! I didn't mean to comment on your appearance!” She stammers, a glowing red blush on her cheeks.

“It’s fine.” Annabeth sighs at her watch. 9:47, it reads. The sun is barely shown, hidden underneath the thick grey clouds. One can only imagine the strom brewing at the moment. “Let’s just go, yeah?”

“Of course.”

The car rolls up at the courtyard curb, driven by some chauffeur. Annabeth leaves that type of things to her assistant; she doesn't have time for small details like those. The two get into the vehicle, Annabeth sitting in the back beside her assistant.

“You have a meeting at 11:30. Conference room B, sixth level.”

“Noted.”

Rides like these have become a routine for Annabeth. Wake up, freshen up, drive to her building. A twenty-five storey building that she's grown accustomed to. It was big, sure, but it was getting so regular. She felt like it needed a change. Of what, Annabeth didn't know yet.

As the white car nears, the tall looming building seems more visible. Water runs from the huge fountain placed right at the front as per usual, the crystalline waters glistening in the dull sunlight.

“You’re recommended to meet back at the office at eleven,” Her assistant speaks up as she clutched her handbag. “No later.”

“Got it. Thanks,” Annabeth waves curtly as she exits the car, engines running. She takes a deep inhale of the city air around her. Not as clear as the countryside, but better than most places. She'll take it.

People greet Annabeth from inside the building as soon as she enters. Marble floors click beneath her every step from her slingback clad feet. A camera clicks and Annabeth winces. Were pictures really necessary? She tugs the hem of her blazer down, eyeing herself consiously; all while keeping a straight face. No time for pictures, for they would only delay her. No time for smiles, for it would be unprofessional.

“Annabeth!” Luke greets from inside the room. The 'room' is a lounge area with an array of food options lined on the white pristine walls. Wide windows overshow the outdoors. "Hey."

It might seem rather impulsive for such a well-known criminal like him to waltz in, with zero disguise. But much like Percy- Luke has no criminal record. No one knows his true identity except for the infamous alias Kronos. His alternate and much more intricate alias. Well, no one other than Annabeth and Thalia.

“Luke.” She greets, sitting down on a seat opposite of the glass table.

“I’ve heard you talked with Thalia the other day.” He starts, picking up a piece of egg with a fork. “You’re still in, right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? You guys would be dead by now if it wasn't for me.” Annabeth takes a sip from her tea. Barley of course- simple yet soothing.

“I dunno. It just seems like you've been a little off lately.” Luke bites down on the egg, “Could be just in my mind.”

“I have a company to run. So I think you can imagine that what I'm doing, willingly, is kind of risky. But yes, I'm still in.” Annabeth says. “What about you? Having doubts of your own, Mr. I'm always sucsessful?”

“No way! I've got this in the bag. As long as I've got you and Thalia, we'll be fine. We've never failed a mission after all.” He laughs.

“Damn straight.”

“Anyways...” Luke tilts his head to the side, eyeing the breakfast sandwhiches. “I’ve got something to pick with the Olympians. It'll be gold if we can pull this off.”

“You mean when, right? We're doing this. It'll all go according to plan.” Annabeth takes a muffin into mouth, chewing the soft texture.

“Of course! But... You do realize that this'll be the biggest heist literally ever? As in, no one's done this before?”

“Weren’t you all optimistic before? Don't go bailing on me, Castellan.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Would you look at that,” Annabeth looks over to the t.v screen on the other side of the room. A deep scowl makes itself onto her already frowning face.

“Four of the Olympians have arrived here, this morning, at John F. Kennedy International Airport. They have yet to appear, but-" The newscaster stops. “Oh, it looks like they're here!”

The three Olympians certainly make a statement from the very way they walk. the big three: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. All brothers and yet they look nothing alike. Zeus seems to be in the bigger position out of the three, his authorative aura could be sensed even from the other side of the screen, his expression meaning no funny buisness. And Apollo- A sunshiney, blonde man weary Ray bans and a blinding smile. Why he was wearing them was beyond Annabeth. A fashion statement perhaps?

Luke stiffens at the sight of them.

“For some of our viewers memories, the Olympians are an group of wealthy buisness owners from around the world. The twelve of them have gathered here for one hell of an auction.” The newscaster exclaims. “Though all of them have yet to band together. Stay tuned for more news on the Olympians and-"

Annabeth shuts the t.v off with a mere click of a button. “Our targets.”

Luke nods. There's a certain dark look in his eyes, one that can mean absolutely no good. “Uh huh.” He stops eating to cscoff and look away.

Its a very limited time, but it provides some relief for both of the two. Thalia would be meeting up with them later in the day. Her reason being caught up in some shitty buisness. They catch up on their lives, after what- months of zero contact? It's truly a breath of fresh air. Even if they were conspiring a plan meant for the eventual downfall of the Olympians.

“Yeah, i’m on my way.” Annabeth says into her phone. A call from her secretary meant her leave. “I’ve got a meeting now. I'll meet you and Thals later.”

“You really are busy these days.” Luke grins. “I’ll be on my way.” He exits the room before Annabeth and into the hall, where people chat only meters away. She shakes her head.

"They're waiting for you in there, Mrs. Chase." Her secretary leads her to a tall mahogany door at the end off the hallway. He bows politely before taking his leave, shoes tapping on the marble floors.

Athchase's partners were two companies that's also specialized in architecture and construction. Good and well-structured, Annabeth could admit, but their CEO's were something else. As in sleazy scumbags.

"We've made it nearly worldwide, but we can do better. If we invest in more land around here," The presenter- a young woman maybe in her thirties, pointed to the board. "I think we'll gain some more and progress."

Annabeth wasn't listening. Call her irresponsible, but how could she when about three creepy old men were staring at you? she could do nothing but curse them internally. Wrinkles stained their faces matching with a horrible residing hairline, grey and stringy. It makes her frown in disgust. No, she's absolutely repulsed. So much that bile rises in her throat.

"Your opinions on this, Miss Chase?"

"Hm?" Annabeth looks up at the board. She had been gripping the pen in her hand like a vice now, knuckles almost white from the action. "That seems like a good plan." She says absent-mindedly.

Annabeth thinks she's about to lose it when one of them grins creepily. They're all adults there, professional adults. They certainly must have trouble acting like one.

The conference room isn't that high up compared to the other floors, it beingthe sixth. It shows a portion of New York before it gets overshadowed by the much larger buildings. Annabeth never fails to get distracted by the view.

"I believe that concludes this meeting." A new presenter snaps his notebook shut with a quick nod if dismissal.

"Hey," Annabeth calls her secretary a few moments after the meeting, "Cut all ties with our sister company."

"Which one?"

"The ones I just had a meeting with."

"M-may I ask why, Miss chase?" Her secretary stutters over the phone.

"For inprofessionalism. I can't work with someone so... immature." She scowls as she enters the elevator. Its empty, fortunately.

"Are you sure? They're our biggest providers. Cutting them off would be impulsive."

"We have other partners, right?" Annabeth now stands in her office, one of the more higher levels than the rest. She stands in front of the windows. "I can always replace them."

"Right away, Miss Chase."

Annabeth wasn't one to be this impulsive, but people like them really put themselves to change her mind. Her office was mere meters away. She would have to make a few changes herself.

Turns out, a twenty one hour trip from Australia to New York can take a major toll on you.

One that's less than refreshing.

Percy was fine during the first few hours or so. Flying first class wasn't too bad. Leather seats and gourmet foods, what more could he ask for? It soon turned out that his stomach did not correspond correctly with that piece of meat: leading Percy to be stomach sick for the rest of the flight. Gods, he didn't even get to enjoy the bar or the chocolate mousse cake.

Mrs. O'Leary was much better. Even through takeoff, she was blissfully asleep. One can't even guess how.

Groaning, Percy walked out of the airport, hand on his stomach for support. Apollo's shrill voice did nothing to tame that.

"Annabeth will be heading to a bar in Manhattan. I hear Luke and Thalia will be there meeting up." He says.

"Okay, how the hell do you know that?"

"I've got connections." Apollo chuckles. "Anyways, I've booked you a hotel near Athchase's headquarters. Theres a little something waiting for you in there. Make sure you wear it to the bar."

"It better not be some sort of Halloween costume," Percy grumbles. "Alright. What time?"

"9 o'clock, sharp. Remember- just listen to their conversation. Get info. The real mission will get started soon." Apollo hangs up on him.

Percy sighs, hailing a cab. He hated this part of missions, the most boring and bland parts. But if the mission were to commence... then that didn't really matter.

If it were up to him, then Percy would rather visit Sally first. If it were up to him, some blue cookies he'd been so homesick for would be amazing.

If it were up to him.

Percy knew that visiting them could potentially put them in danger. That would not be happening not on his watch. He knew they could wait. But could he?

"...Right over here, thanks." Percy says as the cab stops short at the curb, looking up. It almost hurts his neck to do so. The tall hotel certainly stands out, it's modern both exterior and interior makes it all have a very bold sense.

Apparently Apollo had already booked quite beforehand, because the staff comes up to him expectantly. They flash him bright smiles that don't quite reach their eyes, questioning if he's Mr. Perseus. When he says yes, they send another staff member to escort him to his room, handing Percy and card that gives only him entrance to it.

Would room be a appropriate word for it?

Because this wasn't a mere room.

A glass chandelier hangs from the high ceilling; maybe about twenty feet high? Dark hardwood floors are pristine from any specific of dust. There's a kitchen to his left, a living room to his right, and more rooms and hallways. It's not as big as his penthouse, but it's more alike than he'd like to admit.

Percy can't stop Mrs. O'Leary from running full speed into it, loud barks echoing off the walls. He just laughs it off, heading to his own room. It takes about ten minutes of searching, but he finds it. Large and spacious (Percy would rather have it more smaller and homey) interior is the first thing he notices. Next-- the article of clothing on his bed.

A deep blue suit lays on the bed, dress shirt and all that shit. He snarls. Suits just were never Percy's forte. They were stuffy, not to mention hot, and just even more stuffy the longer you wore them. You'd think after wearing them for so long he'd surely get used to it.

He was sure to think that, too.

But here Percy was, standing in the full-length mirror in the huge walk-in closet. The finely tailored suit clung oh-so perfectly to his body, making him almost want to keep it on. Maybe it felt nice, but he was sure he was going to rip it off later in the night.

“Perseus!”

The floor seems to drop beneath him. It can't be. Actually, scratch that, it must certainly can be. Of course.

“Oh, fucking fantastic.” Percy mutters under his breath. “Apollo. What are you doing here?”

“I just happened to arrive today," The man says, flicking his eyes over Percy. He smiles. "Or have you forgotten im an olympian already?"

“Hell no.” Percy walks past him, into the hall. The huge hanging clock on the wall displays 8:36, only about thirty minutes until his pursuit. “I should get going soon. What’re you even doing here?”

“I Can't have my little junior all alone in the big scary new york.” Apollo says. "So why dont I come with you?"

“I used to live in New york? I probably know this place better than you know the back of your hand.” Percy rolls his eyes. “The real reason? A hookup, i’m assuming?”

“Bingo.” He clicks his tounge.

“You disgust me.”

"Im just going to ignore that little remark." Apollo sighs. "Well, what are we waiting for? Miss Chase is waiting."

There's a little hostility hidden in such a simple saying. Maybe Percy was imagining things, but he knew Apollo was a very good actor. In all things- including in both hiding and acting his feelings. He'd just hoped that they weren't directed towards Percy.

"You really go all out, don't you." He notes as he enters the limo. A little cheesy for his taste, but fine nonetheless.

"Only the best for me of course!" Apollo beams. "...And you I guess." Percy rolls his eyes.

"Check your pocket." The blonde says suddenly, streetlights illuminating the car in red, green, and white. "The moon just shines ever so, outshine by the tall buildings.

And so Percy does.

"What's this?" He asks, pulling out what looks like a earpiece.

"I can talk to you through that." Apollo explains, yawning. "Make sure I can hear from you're side when you're with Miss Chase."

"Just make sure you don't moan into it." Percy scoffs as he puts it on. "Testing." He says into the piece, looking at the man only opposite of him. He gives a thumbs up of approval.

"Mm, looks like we're here." Apollo says, putting his sunglasses above his head. Percy wasn't sure why he always insisted to wear them. Maybe he'd recalled him saying it was part of his 'outfit'. Whatever that meant.

The bar isn't very- its not quite-

Pleasant.

More specifically: its an alleyway.

"Are we lost?" Percy groans at the dark void. Was it just him, or did that trashcan just move?

"Just follow." Apollo ushers him over.

As they walk, he explains. "This isn't some ordinary bar. Enterance is very exclusive to select few." He looks over to Percy. "You're lucky! This might be the only chance in your lifetime you'll get to see this."

Apollo stops in front of a large metal door. With a few taps of a button in the built in pad, it clicks open with a green light. And what awaits them?

Stairs. Cold, metal stairs. He shivers.

"Well come on. The night's only getting started!" Apollo grins ear to ear, walking in the hallway. Blue lights are the only visible source of light. Their shadows cast on the tiled floor, and Percy almost wants to make a run for it.

"Apollo." At the end of the hall stands a bouncer. I big burly one. His eyes seem to overlook the two's every move, like he has a hundred eyes. But maybe he does.

"Don't worry, Argus," Said man laughs carelessly. "He's with me."

Argus eyes Percy condescendingly, blue eyes meeting his sea green ones. He nods after a few beats of silence. "Come on in."

Percy sucks in a breath when he opens the door, loud music thumping through the floors. He didn't know what to expect. Maybe a more calmer environment with less people- or less flashing lights?

Not whatever this was.

It was much too crowded for Percy too get a full glimpse, even from his tall line of sight. But what he could make out there were people every which way. Alcohol reeked off from the passing bodies, bumping into his shoulder. At one point Percy had to shove a few of them back, muttering a few curses.

"Apollo?" Percy called out to no one in particular. When he realized that the man was gone, he couldn't help but let a tight frown make itself across his face. "Shit." He looked over to the bar.

A drink seemed good right now.

Sure, his mind traveled across to his intended mission, but surely a drink would loosen things up a tad bit. Get him into his groove.

"This seat taken?" He asked to the woman beside him. Grey eyes looked over at him, scanning his attire.

"No."

Percy smiled. "Thanks." He ushered the bartender over, where she was in the process of pouring a drink.

"One coke, please."

The lady beside him gave him a questioning look. "You don't drink?" A strand of curly blonde hair fell on her face, to which she tucked behind her ear. Gracefully, Percy could notice. The bartender slides the tall glass over, redish-blackish drink glistening with droplets.

"You certainly are curious." He sips his drink, exhaling with a small smile.

"I didn't mean it like that." She was quick to say. She cleared her throat. "S-sorry."

"Dont mention it."

Awkward silence. The lady took a painfully slow sip, the liquid finding itself down her throat. Percy looked away eyeing his own bubbling glass.

"I just don't have some very good experiences with alcohol." Percy says. "Its complicated."

"Oh, don't I know. But its been a while since I had time to unwind. A drink seems really great right now." She laughs lightly.

"I guess this is my time to agree with you," Percy places the glass down. "Speaking of which, do you have a name or something?"

The lady looks away, avoiding eye contact. She fiddles with her fingers. "You don't recognize me?"

"Should I?" He asks uncertainly.

She sighs into her drink. "Annabeth. Annabeth Chase."

oh.

Oh.

His target.

#percabeth fanfic #percabeth oneshot #percy x annabeth #percabeth #percy jackson #percy pjo #percy and grover #percy and annabeth #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #annabeth pjo #annabeth chase #percabeth angst #percabeth fluff #percabetn #percabeth fanfiction

28 notes · View notes

rebeccasravereviews · 4 years

Text

Book Review: The Switch by Beth O'Leary

Book Review: The Switch by Beth O’Leary

Leena is run down and fed up of work. London is no longer the beautiful haven she once found solace in, and her job is threatening to crush her. So when she has a breakdown in a meeting and her boss forces her to take two months paid leave, she has no idea what to do with herself.

Then, there’s Eileen, Leena’s grandmother tucked away in the quiet oasis of rural Yorkshire. Eileen is fine. She has…

View On WordPress

#2020 book #5 star read #arc #Beth O’Leary #book blog #book rec #book review #books #contemporary #fiction #netgalley #reading #the Flatshare #the switch

1 note · View note

echoes-of-the-clockwork · 5 years

Text

Deacon St. John || Ambush

A/n: By the way, I do have a Wattpad where you’ll find these stories, too. I literally just copy these from my drafts and post them here. Hope you all enjoy! Love you all!!! ••••••••••••••••••••

***HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD! PLEASE NOTIFY ME OF ANY ERRORS!!!***

***** Prompt: You and Deacon have been happily married for five years. Even when all hell broke loose, your love for one another remained intact. One day while on a supply run, the two of you are ambushed by a group of marauders. *****

~3rd Person POV~

"So, what's the plan?" (Y/n) questioned, waiting patiently on Deacon's bike as he filled the tank with gas.

"Get in, get out. It's just a normal supply run, (Y/n)," he said, placing the jerrycan down beside the barrels of gasoline.

"Remember what Tucker said the last time we visited the Hot Springs? Y'know, about all the marauder activity recently in Belknap and how all their supply routes were ambushed?"

Deacon took one of his wife's hands in his, entwining their fingers together. "You worry too much."

"You," she used her other hand to poke him on the cheek. "Don't worry enough. Someone's gotta make up for all your carelessness. And who would be a better candidate than the woman you married, huh? Even Boozer is as careless as you sometimes! I can't believe you both are still alive with all the crazy shit you've done in the past two years."

A smirk crept across Deacon's face as he released her hand and mounted the bike. "Pretty sure you're the reason why we're still alive. All that nagging keeps our asses in check."

(Y/n) wrapped her arms around his waist with a scoff. "Why does that sound like and insult and compliment combined?"

"'Cause it is." Deacon revved the engine of his motorcycle, his smile widening. "Better hold on tighter. We're not stopping until we reach Belknap."

"I just hope this place you have in mind hasn't been raided yet," (Y/n) said, tightening her grip on the front of his shirt.

"I hope so, too." Deacon took off down the dirt trail of O'Leary Mountain, leaving the safehouse and Boozer behind.

The beautiful scenery of the mountain was plagued with the occasional dead corpse on the side of the trail and the groans of Freaks echoing through the trees.

Through the dark tunnel connecting Cascade to Belknap, a few Swarmers had chased them as Deacon carefully weaved the motorcycle between the vehicles.

Safely through the tunnel, they passed a NERO checkpoint as they made their way to Marion Forks. (Y/n) looked around and spotted a small glint. Before she could question what it was, they both were knocked off the bike. The motorcycle scraped against the asphalt, creating sparks.

"Get 'em!" A man shouted. Several men and women emerged from the shrubbery aligned on the side of the highway with melee weapons raised in the air.

(Y/n) struggled as she tried to get to her feet and defend herself from the approaching marauders. A little ways down the road, she saw a truck heading straight for them. "Deacon," she called out weakly to her husband.

At the sound of her feeble voice, Deacon managed to get to his feet just as four marauders surrounded him. He whipped out his pistol, killing three of them in a flash. He turned to take out the last man, but a rush of pain in his gut knocked the air out of his lungs. Hunched over in pain and desperately gasping for air, he watched as the rustic truck pulled to a stop in between him and (Y/n).

Four more marauders jumped out of the rickety vehicle. (Y/n) grabbed the knife concealed in her boot and swung it, but one man grabbed her arm and knocked the blade out of her hand. She tried to punch him, but another adversary grabbed her other arm. She struggled against them as they dragged her to the truck while cackling at the top of their lungs. "Let go of me, you bastards!" Swinging her legs, (Y/n) desperately tried to kick them.

"Knock 'er out, Ben!" One of the men restraining her demanded.

A younger man walked over with a wooden bat in his grasp. He didn't hesitate to swing the weapon and knock (Y/n) unconscious. The two men hauled her body into the backseat of the truck with a victorious chant. The remaining marauders hopped into the vehicle, but one had managed to strike Deacon in the spine with a metal pipe before hopping into the bed.

The drifter's entire body ached and he could barely move from the abuse. He managed to lift his head from the ground as the man behind the wheel lowered the window and grinned down at him menacingly. "This is what you fucking get for killing my friends, drifter. You want your girl back? Just try. You'll be dead before you can set foot in our camp. Sayonara, ya bastard!"

Deacon helplessly watched the truck disappear in the same direction it came from. With slightly shaky limbs, he pushed himself off the ground and to his bike. The engine was smoking, but he had just enough scrap to repair it. "You sons of bitches just wait. I'll kill every last one of you," he growled under his breath as he hauled his aching body onto the motorcycle.

Not wasting a single minute, Deacon pursued the marauders. Once leaving Marion Forks, he easily spotted the fresh tire tracks in the dirt and followed as fast as his bike could go. Unfortunately, his pursuit was halted when he spotted a horde making its way down the road. Confused as to why the large group of Swarmers were out during the day, he turned his bike around and searched for a place to hide. He was ill-equipped to take down a horde and had no other choice but to wait until they passed by.

Deacon found some foliage to hide in and parked his bike on the side of the road. He hid in the shrubbery and watched as the horde slowly made its way past him.

It felt like an entire hour crawled by before every last Swarmer passed him and headed further down the road. With an annoyed sigh, Deacon returned to his bike and searched for the tire tracks. However, all traces of the vehicle had been cleansed from the ground by the footprints of the horde. Desperate to save his wife, he searched for anything that could help him track the marauders who took her. Morosely, there was nothing. Gritting his teeth, he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Dammit!"

<————————————<<<<<<<<<<<<<

It had been a few hours since (Y/n) was captured by marauders. She recognized the area as Bear Creek Hot Springs, which wasn't very far from Marion Forks, but it was hidden along the base of the northern mountain range. They had tossed her in a small, makeshift prison beside a house. She had regained consciousness a few minutes ago with a splitting headache and a thick, dried streak of blood down the side of her face where the bat made contact with her skull. Now, she was pacing around in circles like a caged tiger.

None of the marauders had come to check on (Y/n), which made her happy to some extent. By what she could hear from a few women chatting just a few feet from the prison, Deacon was the intended target. Their laughter filled the air before their voices grew distant.

Suddenly, the door to the prison was unlocked and a smirking man stood on the other side as it swung open. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. His eyes raked across her body and a disgusted look appeared on (Y/n)'s face. She backed away from him, glaring sharply. "The hell do you want?"

"Nothing. Just sizing up the goods," he chuckled darkly. When his eyes spotted the diamond ring on her left hand, he guffawed in amusement. "You're married to that bastard? Ha! You're married to a murderer, you know that, sweetheart?"

"First of all," (Y/n) snarled. "Don't you fucking dare call me "sweetheart". And second, he's not a murderer. Last I checked, the only murderers here are you morons. Guess idiots of a feather really do flock together."

"You're the moron for not knowing the definition of murder," he scoffed. "Let me tell you about all the shit that fucking drifter has done."

(Y/n) patted the back of her head as she listened to the marauder insult Deacon. She discovered a hairpin in her (h/c) hair and gripped it between her fingers tightly. She waited for the perfect moment, pretending to listen to the man as he ranted. The second he stepped towards her with his hands resting by his sides, she lunges forward and plunges the hairpin into his eye. He let out a bloodcurdling scream before losing his balance and falling to the ground, curling up into a ball. "Look at the bright side—you can start wearing an eyepatch. Heard they kinda look badass."

(Y/n) stepped over the marauder's body and exited the prison. Fortunately for her, there were no men or women around to hear his painful wails. She snuck around the camp, searching for a way to escape. The dirt muffled her footsteps as she stealthily made her way out of the camp. Knowing exactly where she was, the woman headed back to Marion Forks in hopes to find some shelter from the approaching darkness of the night and a safe place away from Freakers. She even prayed she would reunite with Deacon, but she had no idea her husband was heading in the opposite direction.

<———————————<<<<<<<<<<<

"C'mon, Tuck. Someone must've seen something!" Deacon stalked after the old woman.

"Listen, Deek. I'm sorry for what happened to your wife, but no one knows where these assholes are camping out," Ada replied with a sigh. "You should know by now that people who are captured by marauders never return."

"If you think I'm gonna give up on (Y/n), you're fucking mistaken. She's my wife and I would do everything in my power to protect her. Someone in this damn camp must know something." Deacon left before Ada could respond and asked around the Hot Springs.

After stalking around the camp and asking around, Deacon stumbled upon Alkai. He placed his hands on the counter of the man's stall and leaned forward. "Problems aside, I know you've been on plenty of supply runs. And I know—"

Alkai interrupted the man before he could finish his sentence. "A few drifters arrived a couple days ago and reported spotting an ambush camp at Bear Creek Hot Springs. They said they were going to try and wipe them out, but they have yet to return."

"'Bout damn time someone told me something," Deacon sneered.

"You've got enough ammo to take down an entire camp of marauders?"

"Always do."

Deacon departed from the Hot Springs and headed north to Bear Creek as the moon rose into the sky, taking the place of the sun. It was dangerous at night, but the darkness would provide more cover for him to move through the ambush camp without being spotted.

Arriving at the camp, the drifter was shocked to find it was empty all except for two men. He crept closer to them, listening closely.

"Goddammit, Ben!" The man on the ground shouted as he covered his left eye.

"How the hell am I supposed to get it out?!" Ben yelled back. "Your eye is fucked!"

"No shit, Sherlock," the unnamed man grumbled.

Seeing as either man wasn't armed, Deacon grabbed his handgun and emerged from his hiding spot. He shoved the muzzle of the pistol into the back of Ben's head. "So you're Ben, huh? Heard your buddies shouting your name during the ambush."

Slowly, Ben stood up and stepped aside with his hands in the air. "H-Hey, listen, man. None of that shit was my idea! It was this asshole's plan!"

"I don't give a shit who's plan it was." Deacon pulled the trigger, a single bullet whizzing through the man's skull. "All I care about is killing you bunch of murderers and finding (Y/n)."

Stepping over the corpse, Deacon kneeled beside the man crumpled up on the ground. The object protruding from his eyes caused the drifter to smirk in amusement. "Pretty sure those don't go in your eye."

"Fuck off, drifter. That damn bitch of yours did this to me," he hissed.

"Never thought I would ever see someone use a hairpin as a weapon," Deacon guffawed. "(Y/n)'s just that resourceful."

The marauder on the ground grinned. "That fucking broad is gonna get what's coming to her. The entire camp went after her once they found out what she did."

Deacon's smirk morphed into a fierce glare. He grabbed the tip of the hairpin and tugged harshly, the marauder shrieking loudly form the rush of unbearable pain. "You gonna tell me where they went or am I gonna have to tear this hairpin out of your damn eye first?"

"M-Marion Forks!" The man wailed, his voice raspy from all the yelling.

The drifter released the hairpin and stood up. The man on the ground lifted his body slightly with a painful and confused expression. "You're not gonna shoot me?"

"No." Deacon holstered his firearm, stepping closer to the assailant. "I'm gonna slam that hairpin further into your skull." He stomped his foot directly on the hairpin, pushing it further into the marauder's eye. His shrill cries echoed throughout the camp, but he suddenly fell silent. The drifter didn't bother to check to see if the man was still alive, but he would succumb to his injury soon and perish.

When Deacon arrived in Marion Forks, he spotted the familiar white truck parked by the church. The center of town was crawling with marauders as they searched the buildings. He armed himself with his boot knife and crept around the town, taking down any marauders he could while searching for (Y/n).

"Come on out! We know you're here!" One woman yelled as she searched the gas station alongside a couple of her companions. Deacon circled around around the gas station, avoiding their line of sight and making his way across the street to Hungry Jim's. He jumped through a broken window and landed on the shards of glass. The small noise caused him to freeze and he heard something skittering behind the counter. Gripping his knife tightly, he snuck further into the restaurant, keeping his head low.

Rounding the counter, he spotted droplets of blood leading to the kitchen. Deacon followed the trail out the rear entrance of the restaurant and to a car located in the parking lot. Peering through the foggy window and into the backseat, he saw a figure laying down. Opening the door, he realized it was (Y/n). His heart raced as the sudden click of the door opening startled her and she bolted out the other door thinking he was a marauder. She fell out of the car and on the asphalt, small pebbles digging into her palms.

Deacon swiftly maneuvered to the other side of the vehicle to stop her from running. "Hey, hey, it's me." He squatted down in front of her, obscuring the only escape route she had. He grabbed her wrists in his hands and whispered gently to calm her down. "It's me, sweetheart."

(Y/n) inhaled a shaky breath as she registered Deacon's voice. "Oh, god, Deacon." The moment he released her wrists, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I thought you were one of them."

"You... stabbed a guy in the eye with a hairpin?" He questioned as he held her body flush against his his.

"Uh, yeah." (Y/n) pulled away slightly to meet Deacon's gaze. "A little gruesome, but it gave me the chance I needed to escape."

The sound of approaching footsteps startled the couple. Deacon was the first to act and dragged (Y/n) down to the ground to hide from the marauder. He held her in his arms, taking cover behind the car. They listened to the marauder approach the vehicle, but their footsteps suddenly stopped on the other side. "There's no one fucking here!" The marauder suddenly shouted.

"Keep lookin'! There's no way in hell she could've made it far," a woman yelled back.

The second the man turned and headed back towards the rear entrance of Hungry Jim's, (Y/n) wiggles out of Deacon's arms and pilfers the knife from his boot. She crept after the man and followed him into the kitchen where she rammed the blade into the enemy's back, causing him to scream out as he fell to the floor. He turned his head to look over his shoulder. "You bitch!"

(Y/n) leaned down and yanked the blade from his back with a smirk. "It's a shame I don't have another hairpin. Enjoy bleeding out."

The man screamed as loud as he could, luring all the marauders to the restaurant. The (h/c)-haired woman rushed back to where she left her husband. Deacon was still crouched behind the car, watching the marauders storm into Hungry Jim's. "Let's get the hell outta here," he mumbled to her.

"Lead the way."

<———————————————<<<<<<<<<<<

"You both look like shit," Boozer commented when they arrived back at the safehouse the next morning.

"Nice to see you, too, buddy," (Y/n) snorts with laughter.

"What happened out there? I thought you'd be back before nightfall."

"One word—marauders," Deacon replied. "Bastards ambushed us on the highway. Remind me to return later on this week to kill the rest of 'em."

"Do we have anything for a headache?" The woman inquired, placing a hand against her pulsating head.

"There's some in the watchtower," Boozer responds before turning towards his bike. "I'm heading out to trade with Cope. Maybe we can get our hands on some more fish."

"Alright, Boozeman. Be careful," Deacon said. He looked over his shoulder to ask (Y/n) a question, but he saw she was making her way up the watchtower and followed. At the top, he watched her scrounge around for the medicine.

A dizzy spell caused (Y/n) to lose her footing, but she managed to catch herself before she fell. "Ugh, dammit..." Lowering her hand from her forehead, the blood on her fingertips caused her to grimace. "Why did it have to be a baseball bat?"

Deacon quickly rushed to her aid and caught her before she fell to the floor. He supported her body and guided her towards the small bed they shared. "You need to sit down and relax." He placed her on the bed gently before bending down to examine the wound on her head. Blood trickled down the side of her face, adding to the blood that had dried hours ago. He searched for a clean rag, medicine, and water.

Dabbing the cut along her hairline, he gripped the bottle of pills tightly. The plastic bent in his grasp, the top threatening to pop off from the pressure. "What else did they do?"

(Y/n) couldn't help but smirk at the question she thought he would've asked her hours ago. "And here comes the worrywart." She placed a hand against his cheek once he was done cleaning the wound. Her smirk transformed into a gentle smile. "Besides a bat to the head, nothing." She dropped her hand and patted the space next to her.

Deacon sat beside (Y/n) on the bed and handed over the medicine. "You're out of commission until I say you aren't."

She swallowed the pill with a raised brow. Once the medicine slid down her throat, she spoke. "We've been married for five years, Deek. Haven't you learned anything?"

"Even if you beg me with those damn puppy dog eyes, I'm not changing my mind," he declared.

"I've more control over you than you know. I can change your mind. It's like flipping a coin—easy and simple," (Y/n) grinned.

A smug grin etched across the man's face. "Whatever you say." When Deacon saw she was about to stand up, he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her onto the bed. She gasped in surprise when the world around her spun and when her vision steadied, she was laying beside him. "For now, we're gonna get some rest."

The bed was small, but it provided enough room for them both. (Y/n) rested her head on Deacon's chest, his heartbeat lulling her to sleep. "Didn't realize how tired I was until now."

Deacon combed his fingers through her soft, (h/c) locks. He continued his ministrations, glancing down at her face and watching her blink tiredly. "We're taking the entire day off."

"Agreed," (Y/n) smiled, closing her eyes and welcoming slumber with open arms.

#days gone #days gone x reader #deacon st john x reader #deacon x reader #female reader

74 notes · View notes

takaraphoenix · 6 years

Text

Jercy Week Day 7: Mother

Jason Grace was having a mental melt-down.

"Please stop crying, VJ. Please, kiddo", pleaded Jason. "Please. Daddy's not home and I don't know what to do and I can't call him, he'll immediately return home and I'll be a failure. Please."

He was nervously pacing the apartment, rocking his baby son back and forth. He had no idea what to do. Victor Jackson Grace was barely a year old and he had not been sick yet. Nothing serious, beyond teething or anything. And now that Jason was home alone, their son had to get sick.

"Percy is gonna kill me", whispered Jason, eyebrows knitted. "If something is seriously wrong with you, if you seriously got sick while I was alone with you... He'll be so worried. Please stop crying."

But his son just kept coughing and crying and Jason kept growing more desperate.

/break\

Paul nearly had a heart-attack when Sally's phone went off in the middle of the night, blaring Imagine Dragons' Thunder. Right next to his head. In the middle of the night.

"Thunder, feel the thunder, lighting and the thunder!"

"Sally. Sally, wake up. Our son-in-law is calling", groaned Paul, shaking his wife.

Sally grunted sleepily and reached out for her phone. "Jason? What's wrong?"

"I—I... I don't know what to do, Sally. I don't... VJ won't stop crying and coughing and I don't know what to do and it's the middle of the night and I don't..."

"Jason. Hey. Hey, kid, calm down", whispered Sally gently as she sat up. "Percy left you Mrs. O'Leary, right? Take her and come over. I'll help. It'll be okay."

The call disconnected and Paul sighed heavily. "What's going on?"

"VJ is sick and Jason is having a melt-down", sighed Sally. "Time to get up."

Both of them barely had time to put on their robes and then get out into the living room, where Mrs. O'Leary just exited the shadows. Jason climbed off her back, wearing worn-out sweat-pants and a blue hooded jacket that definitely belonged to Percy. He looked like he hadn't slept in three days.

"Hey, if it isn't my favorite grandson", whispered Sally gently, smiling. "Give him to me."

Carefully did she take the baby from Jason. VJ looked up at her with sea-green eyes, his blonde fluffy hair ruffled. He was rasping badly. Frowning, Sally carried him over to the bathroom.

"Leave him to her. Come, I'll make us coffee", grunted Paul, patting Jason on the shoulder.

"He's sick", muttered Jason, rubbing his face. "He's sick and I'm useless and Percy will-"

"Percy will fuss, like you're fussing, but he's not gonna blame you for your son getting sick", interrupted Paul gently but firmly. "Come on. Coffee, sleep, tomorrow things will look better."

Mrs. O'Leary whined as she got comfortable on the floor in the living room while Paul and Jason went to get coffee. Looking Jason over again, Paul judged that the boy probably hadn't eaten in at least a day either, so he placed the box of left-over pizza from dinner in front of him.

"Eat something", ordered Paul. "You look awful, kid."

Sighing, Jason accepted coffee and pizza at three in the morning. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"Don't be sorry, Jason", chided Paul with a frown, sitting down opposite him. "You're family. Believe me, I freaked out the first time Laura was sick and Sally was out too. She was visiting Percy in New Rome and Laura got a fever and I thought I was going to die. You and me, we're absolutely useless without the Jacksons in our life."

"We are", sighed Jason and took deep gulps from his coffee. "I miss him so much. It's stupid. I mean, it's not the first time we're apart. He's been on plenty of away-games with the team. Even after we had VJ. But... But now that he's sick and... I lose my head so easily over this, because I feel like I can do everything as long as I have Percy at my side. Without him..."

"You're helpless", ended Paul with a fond smile. "I'm the same with Sally. Or rather, without her."

"Dad? Dad, why are you awa—Jason!"

Bare feet patted into the kitchen and then came a squeak. The next moment, Jason's sister-in-law collided with him. Laura Blofis grinned broadly up at him, her brown curls a mess from having just woken up, azure-blue eyes sparkling as she looked at him. It had been fairly easy to wrap her around his little finger; she had barely been a toddler when Percy and Jason had first gotten together as teens, two years after the Giant War. Three years later, Percy and Jason got engaged. It was another year later that the two got married – it was a beautiful beach wedding at Camp Half-Blood, Chiron officiating it, with Leo and Grover as their best men and Laura as the flower-girl.

And a bit over a year after their wedding, Jason and Percy learned that apparently, Jason inherited one of his father's trades – giving birth through a thought. Jason and Percy had been talking a lot about children by then, Jason was twenty-four, Percy was twenty-five. Both of them were working, Jason as a social worker and Percy as a teacher and swim-coach in New Rome. Both were around kids all day, so it felt nearly natural to think about it, about what it would be like to be dads. And then, one morning, they just woke up to this beautiful, perfect little baby-boy laying between them in their bed - with Percy's sea-green eyes and Jason's golden-blonde hair.

"What are you doing here, Jay? Is Percy here too?", asked Laura eagerly.

"No. Perce is on an away-game with his team", grinned Jason, ruffling Laura's hair.

"Is my nephew here?", wanted Laura to know next.

"VJ is with your mom. But he's not feeling well", sighed Jason. "But you can play with Mrs. O'Leary. She's in the living room. Maybe you could bring her some food or water?"

"Oh! Ye—es!", exclaimed Laura excitedly. "I love playing with her."

"Honey, you need to... oh, why am I even trying?", sighed Paul fondly and shook his head. "She is as excitable as her brother, you know. There is no going back to bed for her now..."

"I really hope VJ doesn't take after Percy in that", muttered Jason mortified.

Paul chuckled at that and filled Jason's cup again. "Victor's probably gonna turn out even worse considering he has both your DNAs. Let's just pray he won't manifest his powers too early."

Jason made a high-pitched, terrified sound. The last thing he needed was for their son to make it rain over his bed, or control the electricity in their house, or... who knew what.

"Jason?", whispered Sally gently. "Come."

Stiffly, Jason got up and followed Sally to the bathroom, where everything was very steamy and... VJ was sleeping peacefully in a laundry basket. Staring surprised, Jason turned toward Sally.

"He'll be fine. The steam helps open up the lungs", assured Sally, resting a hand on Jason's shoulder. "I know this is scary. You're still a young dad. But your son is stronger than you think. He'll be fine. And you, young man, you need some sleep too. You look awful."

But before they could leave the bathroom, Jason pulled Sally into a tight hug. "Thank you. T... Thank you, I don't know what I'd be doing without you. Thalia is nearly always gone and... and my mother is... dead and you're... I don't really remember what it was like having a mom, but ever since I got together with Percy, you've been... you've been the mom I never had."

"Oh, of course, sweetie", chuckled Sally gently, wrapping her arms around him in return. "You are my son now. You married Percy, you made him happier than I've ever seen him and you gave me my first grandchild. You are part of this family and I will always be here for you, okay?"

Jason nodded and swallowed his tears before following Sally over to Percy's old bedroom that now mainly served as guest-room and VJ's bedroom when he stayed over for a weekend. Jason pulled out the sleep-couch and just collapsed face first on it, exhausted beyond belief.

"That boy is in over his head", whispered Paul as he stepped up next to Sally.

"I already texted Percy and told him to come to us when the game is won", agreed Sally.

"Laura is eating pizza in the living room", tagged Paul out after a long moment.

"Of course she is", chuckles Sally and shook her head. "You can't say no to her at all. Why don't you go ahead to bed, I'll make sure our daughter goes to bed too, mh?"

"You're a saint and angel, Sally", sighed Paul and kissed his wife.

/break\

Percy frowned doubtfully as he attempted to side-step a sleeping Mrs. O'Leary. He had gotten a cryptic text from his mom last night, but when he found her in the bathroom, everything steamy and VJ nestled against her chest, things made more sense. Sighing, he stepped up to them and kissed the top of her head, reaching out to gently caress his son's cheek.

"Jay panicked?", guessed Percy with a fond look. "I swear, VJ sneezes once, Jay's already getting our coats to bring him to see a doctor. VJ actually being sick..."

"He panicked spectacularly", confirmed Sally fondly. "I calmed him down. And VJ is already better too. Your husband is asleep on the couch in the guest-room. Join him before breakfast? Laura is looking forward to seeing her favorite big brother, you know?"

"You're the best, mom", grinned Percy, kissing her temple. "And you, young man, I hope you didn't stress grandma out too much, mh. Wanna come with me and check on papa?"

Yawning widely, because he had been flying all night to get to his family, Percy took his son from his mother. He smiled faintly when he entered his old bedroom. There was a baby-bed in it, for VJ, and a fold-out couch. Jason was sprawled out on the couch, wearing Percy's hoodie. Holding VJ with one arm, Percy grabbed a blanket with his free hand and then joined his husband on the couch, sneaking in and throwing the blanket over them both. Instantly, Jason started waking up, blinking bleary-eyed.

"Good morning, Mister Grace", whispered Percy with a smile, leaning in to kiss Jason's cheek.

"Morning, Coach Grace", yawned Jason. "How'd the race go?"

"Oh, we won. Which, not a surprise. My kids are the best", grinned Percy broadly.

He snuggled in against his husband, their son tucked between them. For a little while, they talked softly, until exhaustion from last night overcame them and they fell asleep arm in arm. That was how Laura found them two hours later when she wanted to get her big brother to make blueberry pancakes (mom's were great, but Percy made the best blueberry pancakes). And when Sally came to check on them another hour later, Percy had his little sister tucked under one arm, holding VJ in his other arm and with his head resting on Jason's chest, all four deep asleep. Sally smiled at that.

~*~ The End ~*~

Read this here on FFNet & here on AO3

#jercy week #imaginejercy #jercy #jason grace #percy jackson #pjoverse #fanfiction #family fluff #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus

167 notes · View notes

typingtess · 7 years

Photo

NCIS: Los Angeles Season Eight Rewatch: "Battle Scars" The basics: A crooked administrator for the VA is kidnapped by a retired Navy Captain. Written by: Jordana Lewis Jaffe and Andrew Bartels. Jordana Lewis Jaffe wrote or co-wrote “Honor”, “Patriot Acts”, “Dead Body Politic”, “Paper Soldiers”, “Unwritten Rule”, “Big Brother”, “Iron Curtain Rising”, “Exposure”, “Savior Faire”, “Beacon”, “Defectors”, “Exchange Rate”, “Black Market” and “Payback”. Andrew Bartels wrote or co-wrote “Allegiance”, “Zero Days”, “The Grey Man”, “Humbug”, “Fighting Shadows”, “Driving Miss Diaz”, “Angels & Daemons”, “Where There’s Smoke…”, “Glasnost” and “Old Tricks”.

Directed by: James Whitmore, Jr. directed NCIS‘s “Legend” part two which introduced the OSP team before directing “Identity”, “Found”, “Human Traffic”, “Empty Quiver”, “Plan B”, “Familia”, “Lone Wolf”, “Vengeance”, “Recruit” and “History”. As an actor, James Whitmore Jr. appeared in “The Long Riders” with James Remar and directed Remar in an episode of Jericho. He directed John M. Jackson in several JAG episodes (along with an episode of Bones and an episode of Wiseguy).

Guest stars of note: John M. Jackson returns from "Payback" as Retired Admiral AJ Chegwidden, James Remar as Admiral Sterling Bridges, Carl Lumbly as Retired Navy Captain Charles Langston, Adam Harrington as Robert Bryant, Erin Way as Agent Zoe Morris, Guri Weinberg as Yaniv, William O'Leary as Harry Zinetti, Ali Hillis as VA Administrator and Jeryl Prescott as Barbara (VA Patient).

Our heroes: work with three men from Hetty's past.

What important things did we learn about: Callen: Uses math against Sam when it comes to traffic choices. Sam: Offers wise advice to a troubled Eric. Kensi: Sorry she wasn't there for Deeks as much as he was there for her. Deeks: Found a veil for Kensi. Eric: Struggling with his actions in the field. Nell: Switched back to her 2014 shampoo (coconut/mango). Granger: Dying. Hetty: Has OSP working one end of the case and two Admirals working the other. What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen: Remembers Granger fondly. Sam: Little John. Kensi: Wanted Granger to walk her down the aisle. Deeks: Wants a bongo drum for his birthday. Eric: Friar Tuck. Nell: Maid Marion. Granger: Had skills and a dry sense of humor. Hetty: Remaining a little ray of sunshine. Who's down with OTP: Deeks is uncomfortable around the VA hospital. Kensi realizes it and while Deeks talks about her hard times in the hospital, she knows that it was equally tough for him. She always had him to lean on. He spent weeks alone while she was in a coma. Later, Deeks finds a lovely veil that he thinks Kensi could wear at their wedding. Kensi talks about Granger walking her down the aisle. Who's down with BrOTP: Callen and Sam get a look at the future with two older men running circles around them. Any Hanna family mentions: No.

Fashion review: Medium blue button down shirt for Callen with his dark blue jacket. Sam is living in that black henley this season with a black leather jacket. Kensi is going with the layered look today – dark blue long sleeve tee-shirt with a scoop neckline over a light grey long-sleeve tee shirt with a slighting smaller scoop neckline. Medium blue tee-shirt for Deeks. Dark red button-down shirt for Eric over a dark blue tee. Rust red print v-neck dress for Nell. Peacock blue suit with a small white pattern for Hetty that needs more air time. Music: "Bad Habit" by Best Behavior is playing in the teaser.

Any notable cut scene: No. Quote: Sam: "Taking a man's life is a horrible thing, but it was necessary in this case." Eric: "Uh, I-I know that, but I wish that I could forget it ever happened." Sam: "The opposite. You have to acknowledge what you did, process it for what it is-- a job that had to be done. It's not for everyone, and that's okay. That's why whose who can handle it protect those who can't." Eric: "Do you ever struggle with it?" Sam: "At first I did, but, you know, the path became clear." Eric: "Must be nice." Sam: "Listen, Beale, only you can decide which side you're on. Either one is okay, but you can't be both."

Honorable mention:

Callen: "You two were on a walk." Chegwidden: "Well, I wouldn't call it a walk. Walk implies exercise, cardio. It was more a stroll." Bridges: "We like the neighborhood." Sam: "The folks that live around here don't even like this neighborhood." Callen: "And it's a total coincidence that this stroll…" Sam: "3,000 miles away from where you actually live." Callen: "Went right past the home of a man being investigated by NCIS." Chegwidden: "So, we good?" Sam: "Well, we didn't even get to the part where you drew firearms on us." Bridges: "Oh, they were permitted. A. J., I think these jokers forget that the last time you saw them, you saved their hides." Chegwidden: "This is the one whose ex-girlfriend tried to kill Henrietta." Bridges: "Oh, yeah. I see what you mean."

If they kept these characters as wily old men, they'd have worked a lot better than the grown babies that were in the next episode.

Anything else: The Previouslys have Hetty talking to Granger about looking bad and Granger confessing he's sick from Agent Orange, Granger's disappearing act, the reintroduction of Admiral Chegwidden and Eric killing the terrorist in "Gateway".

In LA traffic, a man is panhandling with some financial success but little compassion. He asks a Mercedes driver to roll his window down. With the butt of his gun, the panhandler breaks the Mercedes's driver's side window and pushes the Mercedes driver into the passenger's seat. When the car owner tries to open the passenger door to flee, the panhandler warns if he runs, he'll be shot. People are yelling 'call 911' in the background. After being told by the panhandler to put his seat belt on, the Mercedes driver tries to buy his freedom with the $53.00 in his wallet. The panhandler hits the Mercedes driver in the nose and tells him to put his seat belt on. They race off.

Alone in the firing range, Eric is having a hard time even loading his weapon. Sam arrives asking how long Eric has been in the range. Sam guesses two hours. It's been three. Sam teases that Eric's gun isn't going to fire itself. Eric is not doing well. Sam asks if Eric wants to talk. After a discussion of Nell's shampoo choices, Eric admits he hasn't fired his gun since the undercover assignment at the couple's retreat where he killed a man. Sam understands – taking a man's life, even if it was necessary, is a horrible thing. Eric wants to forget but Sam wants him to do the opposite. Acknowledge the shooting, process it and realize it had to be done. Eric isn't any better after Sam's advice. Sam tells Eric that having to do what Eric did isn't for everyone. Eric asks if Sam ever struggled with killing a person. He did when he started but as his work continued, Sam's path became clearer. Sam can handle the killing so he protects people who can't. Sam tells Eric it is OK to be the protector and it is OK to be the protected but Eric can't be both. Nell knocks on the door. "Duty calls," Eric says. "It always does,” is Sam's reply.

Up on Ops, Sam, Eric and Nell join Callen, Kensi and Deeks. Robert Bryant was the man carjacked by the panhandler. He's a VA Administrator. None of the people at the crime scene could ID the panhandler. Callen is shocked but Deeks isn't. Panhandling and being homeless make people invisible. Other than being African-American, the locals remember nothing. NCIS has been called in because there are concerns that this is the work of an angry vet. Several other agencies are involved in this investigation but the SecNav would "be obliged" if NCIS solves this before the other agencies. Callen and Sam are looking at Bryant's house, Kensi and Deeks are being sent to the VA. Deeks wants to go to the house.

Callen and Sam are arguing the use of math with traffic patterns at they arrive at Bryant's house. Sam is anti-math in this argument. The place is crawling with law enforcement vehicles. Callen and Sam introduce themselves to an FBI Agent who just learned NCIS existed. Agent Zoe Morris is not allowed to let Callen and Sam into the house and is extremely sorry for it. NCIS will have full access to the house once the FBI ends their investigation. Sam wants to share with the FBI but NCIS has nothing to share. Instead, Sam brings up the fact that the FBI owes NCIS for killing "our friend" Under Secretary Duggan. Morris is unmoved.

Callen wants to know what the FBI knows – which is no ransom call and no known enemies for Bryant. "Except the nine million vets trying to get healthcare at the VA," Sam notes. Morris reveals that Bryant is living the good life with 12-fancy suits that run about $7,000. Sam asks how Morris knew the suits were expensive – "I'm looking for a value mate and I do my research."

As Kensi and Deeks walk into the same VA hospital were Kensi was treated, Kensi asks if Deeks is OK. He claims to be fine but he is distracted. She brings up not buttering his muffin that morning and making him listen to the Oprah Podcast as reasons Deeks could be troubled. Deeks loves Oprah. But he also loves Phil Donahue - he’s conflicted.

The reception area at the VA offices is overrun by veterans desperate for help. The administrator behind the desk is doing her best but she's outnumbered and overwhelmed. The panhandler walks in and makes his way to the front desk. He berates the administrator – the men and women waiting for help served their country and deserve the country's thanks. Emptying out a duffle bag filled with money, the man demands all the people in line be seen by a doctor and seen today. Kensi and Deeks walk in as the money hits the front desk. The man leaves just as Kens and Deeks say "federal agents".

Deeks sends Eric a photo of the panhandler/carjacker/money man from the VA hospital's security system. The man left $50,000 behind. Deeks thinks the kidnapping and the money left at the VA are connected. Kensi is speaking to the administrator. She tells Kensi she is not a monster. She's a veteran herself and joined the VA to help. She is following order even though she thinks the people giving the orders are fools.

Asked about Bryant, the VA staffer said Bryant isn’t helping the veterans, he's helping himself. The hospital has to improve wait times for treatment and Bryant tells the VA the hospital is making their goals. They never make their goals – not even close. Asked if Bryant was cooking the books, the VA staffers says Bryant is and is also getting paid bonus. Giving the VA staffer her card, Kensi asks the woman to call if she remembers anything else. She does remember something – Kensi, who was brought to the hospital injured a few months ago. The staffer is happy to see Kensi doing so well. "That's all we want here, to make people better."

Eric has an ID on the "VA Robin Hood" – Charles Langston. Langston is a highly decorated Naval Officer with three tours in Vietnam. When he left the Navy in 1989, he became a package delivery man until 2009. Sam thinks Langston made Bryant withdraw some of his ill-gotten gains and use it for what the VA intended – sick veterans. Eric is going to check Bryant's bank accounts.

Nell arrives with a link to Bryant's Mercedes. It is parked in a Veteran's cemetery. Kensi and Deeks are on their way. Callen and Sam are going to check out Langston's home. Sam thinks he can talk some sense to a fellow Navy man. Eric tells him if that doesn't work, try as Little John since Sam looks like a Little John to Langston's Robin Hood. Sam thanks Friar Tuck Beale before walking past Maid Marion Jones. Nell tells Eric not to mind Sam – she sees Eric as an Alan-a-Dale – the wandering minstrel. Eric likes that – he plays a mean lute. As Nell walks away, Eric notes the smell of coco-mango.

Hetty calls AJ Chegwidden. They have a situation.

Kensi and Deeks approach Bryant's Mercedes with guns drawn. Deeks opens the trunk but it is empty. Deeks isn't so sure Langston would bring Bryant to the cemetery to kill him. Kensi says it is a place to honor and respect veterans. Deeks agrees, saying Bryant is doing just the opposite. Kensi sees "fresh prints." "Of Bel-Air?" Deeks asks. Kensi gives him a look and starts tracking the prints.

Walking, Kensi mentions it was "kinda weird" being back at the VA hospital. Deeks doesn't give much of an answer except to ask if Kensi is OK. Kensi is – as long as she's not a patient, she's fine. She asks Deeks if he is OK – he has a lot of memories of that place. She was in a coma for weeks, he was awake for the whole time. Deeks says he's fine. His memories are mostly a lot of Jell-O and "proposing to a girl in a coma." Kensi tells Deeks he was there for her for the entire time and she couldn't be there for him. Just as things get serious, Bryant starts yelling for help. Kensi and Deeks run to him. He's hanging from his wrists on the flag pole of a mausoleum. Deeks works to free him.

Callen and Sam break into Langston's house. They aren't the first to break in – they place was tossed. There is a noise from behind the house – Sam saw a shed in the back. Callen and Sam make their way to the back of the house to find AJ Chegwidden with Admiral Sterling Bridges. Both men are armed. Callen wants to know what is going on.

In her office, Hetty gets good news from Nell. Bryant has been found but no word on whether Langston is the kidnapper. Asked about Langston, Nell does not have good news for Hetty. She does have interesting news – Callen and Sam found two "familiar faces" at Langston's house. "Oh bugger," is Hetty's reply.

Callen and Sam are questioning a non-cooperative Chegwidden and Bridges. They keep asking how two East Coast men just happened to be in the home of an NCIS person of interest. Chegwidden brings up Joelle trying to kill Hetty and how she was Callen's ex. Bridges looks at Callen and can see that happening.

Bryant is not being cooperative either with the EMTs trying to treat him. Kensi shows Bryant a photo of Langston, who is immediately ID'd as the carjacker. Deeks asks if Bryant ever saw Langston at the VA. Bryant is surprised Langston was a vet. He thought the homeless people saying they were veterans were lying, as are the one with single mom or incurable disease signs. The man is a delight.

Kensi asks again but Bryant can't remember everyone who gets treatment at the hospital. Besides, he believes Langston is just another vet with psychological issues – LA is swarming with them, "Trust me." Kensi is stunned. She asks if Langston wanted money but he didn’t. That surprises Bryant since that's what men like Langston usually want. Deeks is as stunned as Kensi. Kensi calls the conversation "eye-opening" and Deeks like that term.

Kensi whispers to the EMT to repack Bryant's nose, sticking the gauze "real tight in there," While Bryant wants to go home, Agent Morris arrives. She's there to arrest Bryant for the "lost patient records" they found at Bryant's home. As Bryant is taken into custody, Morris introduces herself as "the new face of the FBI" – she's going to be on the recruiting home page and pamphlets. Instead of bring back Special Agent Ambrose when they think they're doing a funny FBI scene, using Agent Morris!

Bridges is angry at Sam who he outranks and who has less hair. Chegwidden is sure Sam didn't mean to insult Sterling. Sam is sure he is. Hetty arrives, unhappy with the bickering and that Bridges has his gun out. Bridges wants Hetty to tell Callen and Sam to stand down, Sam wants Hetty to get "Abbott and Costello" to cooperate. AJ wants Hetty to tell everyone what is going on. Callen and Sam realize Hetty brought Chegwidden and Bridges to LA.

Around the table in the boat shed's main room, Hetty is addressing Deeks, Callen, Sam, Kensi, Bridges and Chegwidden. She explains that after the Vietnam War, Americans were left behind because the US pull-out was done so quickly. Hetty, Chegwidden and Bridges were tasked with getting the Americans back. They were given whatever money needed for cars, fuel, bribes – anything that would bring people home. Langston was part of the crew.

When the mission was over, everyone returned to their lives. A few weeks ago, Langston started acting strangely. Bridges knew it was "the presumptive disease" – Agent Orange. Granger has it, Hetty tells her agents, then Langston. She expects them all to be diagnosed. "Always a ray of sunshine," Chegwidden parrots his line from "Payback". Deeks asks about Langston's end game. Bridges thinks Langston is settling old scores, shaming the government, fighting for the disadvantaged, "bucket-list stuff." Sam asks why Chegwidden and Bridges tossed Langston's house. They swear they didn't.

Kensi wants to go back to Granger – wants to know his involvement in all this. Granger, Hetty explains, was one of those left behind in Vietnam. Callen asks if she's heard from Granger. She hasn't, "yet". Being his own little ray of sunshine, Chegwidden thinks Granger is either dead or will be very soon.

Eric pops up on the screen. Langston shot up a pawn shop. Bridges can't believe it – that's not what Langston would do. Callen thinks Langston has been doing a lot of odd things lately. Hetty begs the team to remember that "Charles Langston is one of us,"

As Callen and Sam walk up to the pawn shop, Chegwidden and Bridges join them. The math argument about traffic comes up and oddly, Sam and Bridges are on the same side. Sam is not happy. In the pawn shop, the owner, Yaniv, goes over what happened. The place is mess. While not ID'ing Langston, Yaniv is angry about the way the place looks and promises he only fired his gun in self-defense. Chegwidden asks why the description given of Langston is so vague. Callen shows the owner the photo of Langston – that's him. Yaniv says he never saw Langston before today. The pawn shop owner's lawyer appears - Harry Zinetti wants to talk to his client.

Outside the pawn shop, Callen and Sam are not happy with the way Chegwidden and Bridges are behaving and the feeling is mutual. Eric calls with news – the traffic cams near the pawn shop show today was Langston's third trip there. Bridges thinks the pawn shop owner is hiding something.

In interrogation, Callen and Sam show Yaniv traffic cam footage of Langston walking in and out of his business. First Zinetti wants to see a warrant that allows Callen and Sam to use the footage. No warrant needed – the traffic cams aren't private. What is private is the pawn shop's security footage to protect Yaniv from Langston. Zinetti wants Callen and Sam to get a warrant. Saying that his client is the victim, Zinetti wants Yaniv released. Sam doesn't think a victim would lie to a federal agent about seeing Langston before. Zanetti reminds Callen and Sam his client isn't in the pawn shop 24-hours a day. Other employees could have seen Langston. Zinetti and Yaniv leave – much to Bridges's annoyance.

In the main room, Chegwidden is on the phone, Bridges is stewing. Callen calls Eric to ask for warrants for the pawn shop and Yaniv's house. Eric already has them – Chegwidden got them. "What can I say, people like me." Eric waves to Chegwidden. They're on for video games this weekend and in a nice bit of continuity, Eric says he has an amazing new recipe for porcini ragout, which was one of Victor's recipes from "From Havana with Love". Callen and Sam are shocked. Sam doesn't want them to talk to anyone. Or touch anything. Bridges wants coffee. Sam will allow that.

With Kensi and Deeks checking out the pawnshop, Callen and Sam say they are going to check out a lead. Chegwidden and Bridges are right behind them. Eric doesn't feel right tracking to retired Admirals, especially ones who helped. Callen thinks the Admirals have been one step ahead of them all day – he wants to see what they're up to. Chegwidden and Bridges drive past Callen and Sam. There is on GPS, however, on Hetty.

Eric and Nell can't find Hetty becasuseshe's left the office. Walking around Langston's home, she finds an old photo on the wall – a young Chegwidden, Granger and Bridges stand around a jeep with Hetty behind the wheel and Langston in the passenger's seat. Hetty and Granger are dressed as civilians, Chegwidden, Bridges and Langston are in uniforms. The photo delights Hetty. She is not happy to see what was behind the photo.

Deeks is playing a bongo drum – he's not half bad – in the pawn shop. Kensi sent security video to Ops – she wants to know what he found. Deeks found he wanted bongos as a gift. He also found something for her. As the groom he's not supposed to weigh in but he saw a lovely veil – "you would look absolutely beautiful wearing it." Kensi tears up . Deeks thinks he just said some idiotic. Kensi tries to blow him off but he pushes. Kensi explains that since she lost her Dad, she was going to ask Granger to walk her down the aisle. Deeks thinks he would have loved that. Kensi walks away.

Eric and Nell have proof Yaniv met Langston the day before the carjacking. Langston pawns something in a bag. Yaniv paid the $50,000 used at the VA. And now whatever that was Langston pawned is worth a lot more.

Callen and Sam follow Chegwidden and Bridges. They are surprised Chegwidden and Bridges are just sitting outside a home. Callen and Sam reminisce about Granger. "Granger was a sly fox," Sam notes. And Sam doesn't think the Admirals can hold a candle to Granger. They don't have Granger's skills and they don't share his dry sense of humor. Bridges's car turns around and drives up to Callen and Sam. Insults are exchanged before Bridges drives off.

Kensi and Deeks pull up to Yaniv's rather opulent home. A man at the home won't let Kensi and Deeks. Deeks has a warrant. And since the house is so big, he's thinking of bringing a dozen agents to wait with him. The man at the door tells Kensi and Deeks to wait outside. They'll wait – but inside. Kensi and Deeks talk about dinner – Kensi wants Deeks to cook. With Kensi making cookies for Christmas, Deeks thought that would be the "catalyst for a new culinary Kensi." Kensi is not cooking unless she's making cookies for dinner. Deeks is excited about a cookie dinner.

Deeks thinks it is taking too long to find Yaniv. Looking around, Kensi and Deeks see an open door off a dining room. The man who let them in the house reluctantly appears in a long hallway – he has a gun and so do the two men behind Kensi and Deeks. They run, ironically, into the home's spacious kitchen. Lots of shooting occurs as Kensi notes Deeks finally has her in the kitchen.

Callen and Sam arrive and hear the shootout. Eric tells them that Kensi and Deeks are pinned down in the kitchen. Kensi adds they are nearly out of ammo. A car pulls up near Sam's – it is Chegwidden and Bridges. Sam tells them to leave but a gunman appears on the balcony opening fire. The four men duck. Chegwidden and Bridges are still armed. They lay down cover as Callen and Sam race to the house. Callen and Sam help Kensi and Deeks out of the kitchen, injuring the man who answered the door and killing the others.

The wounded man goes to the wine cellar. Yaniv and another man are there with a badly beaten Langston. Showing his injury to Yaniv, the wounded man is killed – he'll slow them down. Yaniv wants Langston killed as well – Yaniv has what he needs. Just as Yaniv's henchman is about to kill Langston, Callen arrives and kills the henchman. Yaniv slips out a secret door.

Callen runs after Yaniv with Sam close behind. Kensi tends to Langston while Deeks secures the house. Yaniv's hidden door leaves to a secret road. Yaniv is in the wind.

Chegwidden tells Langston he looks like hell. Langston is far more worried about a missing key. When Kensi and Sam ask about the key, the three men have to show the team what they're talking about.

At a storage trailer, Chegwidden promises to show the team something cool. Inside a trailer, Kensi wants all of it – there is a motorcycle, tools, guns – a mobile spy/crime fighting lair. Langston is upset when he sees a safe is opened. When the men were in Vietnam with Hetty, they had to get creative about rescuing people like Granger. They didn't spend any of the money the government gave them. They’ve spent 40-years wanting to use the money for good. Sam tells them to donate it to charity.

Hetty arrives – it wasn't money they were given to pull off the rescues – it was gold. $1 million in 1978's gold is worth $40 million today. Langston was in charge of the gold and their toys once they returned to the US. He used a gold bar for to get the money for the VA – now Yaniv has it all. Sam wants to know how Yaniv knew about the safe. Hetty found an empty cubby behind the Vietnam photo. Langston wrote down the trailer's location and the safe's combination. Bridges is disappointed – Langston knows better than to write things down. Langston tells them he doesn’t know much anymore. He's losing his memory. He's also suffering from the side effects of Agent Orange. He took the bar to do some good with the time he has left. Hetty tells them they're going to "go get that gold."

What head canon can be formed from here: Hetty's past in Vietnam. Deeks alone with an unresponsive Kensi for days and days. Kensi trying to cook for Deeks. Eric practicing his lute.

Sorry to wet-blanket Granger walking Kensi down the aisle but that never worked for me. Kensi has been a strong, independent person for more than half her life. Granger was a trusted coworker – a man who saved her life several times. So is Sam. So is Callen. Kensi's Mom walking her down the aisle is a stretch for me – Granger more so. Always saw Kensi walking herself down the aisle. Nobody is giving Kensi away - she’s walking down that aisle herself.

Episode number: 21 for season eight. 189 overall.

#NCIS: Los Angeles Rewatch #NCIS: Los Angeles #NCIS: LA #NCIS Los Angeles #ncis la

8 notes · View notes

theaveragedemigod · 7 years

Text

Rings of Fire (Sort of.)

Tagged: @theaveragedemigod, @the-daughter-of-wisdom, @abrimstonecosmos, @god-of-the-seas

Time/Place: After the Chase/Jackson wedding, in Percy and Annabeth’s apartment

Details: Percy and Annabeth are non-traditional to the surprise of no one, Hades doesn’t mind lighting people on fire but is otherwise allergic to most forms of human contact, and Poseidon is on supervisory duty to make sure no one blows anything up. In other words, a fairly average and tame Saturday afternoon. Told via RPNow. No trigger warnings to speak of, we kept this one mostly family-friendly.

RINGS OF FIRE (SORT OF.)

--------

PERCY: It took a little doing, a little planning that was probably more Annabeth's style than his, but he'd finally managed to do the thing. He was still a little shell-shocked that Hades, who barely knew them, had offered to do their wedding ring tattoos in the first place. He figured striking while the iron was hot was a good thing. Plus, the back-pocket dad for support and/or watching didn't hurt anything. At least, not as much as the tattoos would. He remembered when his Praetor mark had shown up, and while he knew Annabeth was tough, he didn't want to force her to subject herself to something like that -- and his ever-growing discomfort with the Gods he didn't know, and even some of the ones he did, had him second-guessing ever opening his big mouth about wanting a tattoo. It was too late to back out, though, so all he could really do is make sure the apartment didn't look like a war zone, and wait his dad and Hades to arrive.

ANNABETH: Annabeth was fairly relaxed about the whole thing, knowing that the pain wouldn't be worse than most things they'd already experienced. She was nervous about Hades doing it, unsure about how the god truly felt towards her and Percy, but Poseidon's presence was making her more at ease with it. Watching Percy fuss with the apartment, she smiled and shook her head. "Relax Perc. The house is straight. It'll be alright. They'll be here soon, just..breathe a bit."

PERCY: He turned and looked at his wife. Wife. Totally still wasn't old. He pointed at himself, raising his eyebrows and pretending offense -- badly. "Who me? I'm totally chill. Just, y'know, doing my daily cleaning." He dropped his hand and leveled a serious glance at her. "Before my uncle comes over to light us on fire. Just your average day as a Jackson, amiright?"

HADES: Briefly, Hades considered simply appearing in the newlyweds' living room. But that one word reminded him that he really didn't want to accidentally walk in on anything newlywed in style. Instead, shadow travel delivered him at their front door and he knocked firmly. His impatience was clear but he tamped it down. After all, he had made the offer. Purely selfishly, but they didn't need to know that. When the door opened, his eyebrow quirked, "Hello, Jacksons."

POSEIDON: He had been running late to his son's home, a customer at the shop holding him up. He practically ran up the steps, smiling at both his brother and son as he ascended the stariway to their apartment. "Hello! Sorry. I'm not late am I? It's good to see you Hades! And you too son."

PERCY: Percy had just given Annabeth a roguish wink, maybe even saucy, when someone knocked on the door. He'd always been just a touch disconcerted with shadow travel, even when Mrs. O'Leary was helping him do it, so he was glad there was a knock instead of another body in their apartment as he'd been considering asking Annabeth about a really fun way to kill some time. Anyway, he'd no sooner than opened the door and his mouth, in that order, before his dad came rushing up, too. "Hello," he said to both men at once, opening the door so everyone could get in. "Thanks for coming. This should be quick, right? Or we can make it that way. I'm sure you guys have plenty of better things to do, so we won't keep you too long."

ANNABETH: Annabeth smirked at the wink, about to suggest they lock the door and do something a bit more fun herself when there was a knock. Sighing a bit, Annabeth stood as the door opened, smiling at Nico's father and then Poseidon. "Hey!" Her gaze lingered on Hades, the young woman letting herself take the god in before she offered him her hand to shake. "Good to finally meet you Hades. I've heard..some about you. Read more. Thanks for offering to do this for us."

HADES: Hades simply inclined his head to his brother, as aloof and distant as people would expect. At the offer of Annabeth's hand, he took it gently. "I'm sure you've heard plenty and little of it flattering," he said bluntly as he walked into the far too tiny apartment. He pulled a face, already ready to be done and out of there. "Who else was going to? Thunderbutt?" He scoffed.

POSEIDON: Poseidon didn't let his brother's distant nature bother him, the god continuing to smile before walking into the apartment as well and taking a place in the corner. "It's good to be here Percy, and I wouldn't be anywhere else." He smiled kindly at them all and leaned on the wall, letting the other three get in introductions.

PERCY: He couldn't help himself. He was an adult, making adult choices and here to do adult things (not that kind) in the apartment he and Annabeth worked to pay for themselves-- but he had to laugh at Hades' name for Zeus. Again. For not the first time and probably not the last. "I don't think I want him to blow me or electrocute me. We talked about having the forge make a branding iron or something, maybe, but... yeah, this is probably better." He glanced at his uncle. "Have you ever done something like this before? Like do I just hand over what she drew for you or...."

ANNABETH: Annabeth shook the god's hand firmly, smiling a bit at his words. "The books maybe not, but the word of mouth hasn't been unflattering." She let go of his hand quickly, figuring Hades and Nico's human contact preferences to be similiar. Shooting Percy an amused look at his laughter, she shrugged. "There were options, but you're likely the most precise. And it really is an honor. There's likely not many that can say they've been tattooed by Hades himself."

HADES: Hades lips twitched at the corner when his nephew laughed at his nickname for Zeus. It didn't make him feel bad for what he'd been up to, but he was a little more amused by him than before. He held his hand out to Percy, "Let me see the design, nephew." It kept him from having to touch anyone else again unless he absolutely had to. It was bad enough to be in such close proximity. His eyes flicked to the blonde before to the design, "None living, that I can think of." He looked at his brother, "Aren't we old for babysitting?"

POSEIDON: Poseidon watched the threesome interact with a smile, pleased to see the slight twitch of his brother's lips. It was nice to see Hades at least somewhat relaxed, and his son as well as Annabeth seemed at ease. At Hades question, the sea god laughed a bit "I don't believe we're ever too old for babysitting brother! Besides, with these two's track-record in dealing with the gods I can understand why they'd want an audience of some sort for this."

PERCY: There was a little bit of alarm at Hades' question. Percy didn't really want it to come down to a we don't trust you sort of thing, even if that's what it was. That made it less likely to all go smoothly or for them to seem appreciative. He should've known his dad would try and probably succeed at deflecting the tension. He handed over what Annabeth had sketched out. "The olive branch on the front and the cheesy initials on the back was the rough idea," he said, swinging his elbow out to lightly bump Annabeth as he teased her. He flicked a glance at his dad. "You'll still talk to me even if I have an Athenian tattoo, right? I mean, you ignore the Roman one, and you like my wife, but I'm still okay with not pissing you off."

HADES: Hades quirked an eyebrow at his brother but said nothing, instead looking at the sketch in his hand. "Simple enough to work for as small as it has to be," he nodded and stepped away. His eyes rolled so hard he wondered that they didn't pop out of his head at the exchange between Poseidon and Percy, mentally patting himself on the back for not gagging out loud. He held the paper back towards the newly married pair and, in his silent way, demanded their attention by coming closer. "Who's going first, then?"

PERCY: It was almost a habit, as Hades subtly moved toward them, that Percy tucked himself between Annabeth and whatever was coming. She could handle herself, she had protected him more than once, and it was probably sexist but... once an accidental leader, always an accidental leader, right? "Me," he said simply. "Tell me what to do -- within reason, obviously. I'm not gonna bark when you say 'chicken' or anything."

HADES: His eyebrow quirked at the move of his nephew to block Annabeth from him. He did visibly roll his eyes this time, "Oh yes, because I live for parlor tricks. Just hold out your damn hand and stay still. This is going to hurt like a bitch, so I hope you're sure about it." He gestured for Percy's hand impatiently.

PERCY: "I just wanted to, y'know, address the possibility. Cover the bases. Close the loopholes. Whatever." Percy smirked a little and then rolled his eyes, giving some parity to the fact that he wouldn't ever give a God carte blanche. "This isn't my first time," he said dully as he held out his left hand. Sure, maybe he hadn't seen the first one coming which might've made it better, but details.

HADES: "Never a bad idea when I'm involved," he shrugged with a smirk before hovering his hand over the offered one. A tiny, precise line of fire flickered over Percy's skin testingly before it began to burn deep enough to suit their needs. Finishing the top, he flipped his nephew's hand to do the bottom. He seemed completely unfazed by the smell that accompanied the heat and simply withdrew his hand when he was done.

PERCY: Even though it wasn't his first time, it was the first time he could see it as it happened. He could feel most of his muscles tense, an effort to keep his body in place as pain caught up to what was being done. It didn't feel great, but it also didn't promote any sort of natural flight response. He was mostly past that kind of thing, and just folded his lips together to keep himself from making any embarrassing noise.

HADES: Hades gestured him towards his father, "Go on, let him look it over so I don't have hovering while I try to get hers done. All it will do is annoy me and that won't end well for anyone." He gestured for Annabeth to come closer to him so he could do the second of the set and get out. "If you want, look at his first so you can know exactly what to expect at the end of this, because it can't be redone."

PERCY: Since he watched with rapt fascination at the marks rising on his skin, he didn't have to verify. He knew it was right, nothing more and nothing less than Annabeth had drawn out. "Thank you," he said simply before he pulled his hand back. He compromised and did some of what he was told -- his specialty. Instead of going to where Poseidon stood watching, he took his place at Annabeth's back before gesturing to his dad. That way, he wasn't hovering, but he wasn't, like, leaving her to fend for herself either. He held his hand out toward his dad and brushed a totally unnecessary kiss over her shoulder so she didn't forget he was there.

ANNABETH: Annabeth watched the whole process with interest, her grey eyes watching as Hades produced his precise flame and pressed into Percy's skin. She was impressed, while also stressed about Percy being in pain. However, he seemed to be handling it well, and it wasn't excessive. Glancing at Poseidon, she smiled when she saw the god watching, but that he was obviously not worried about his brother slipping or hurting Percy too much. She would have touched her husband to reassure him she was there, but she didn't want to accidentally shift him or distract Hades. So she stayed quiet until the process was complete. When it was her turn, she couldn't help but sigh as Percy ignored most of Hades instructions, giving the god an apologetic smile as she traded places with the demigod and gave him her hand. "I don't need to. You clearly know what you're doing."

POSEIDON: Poseidon stayed relaxed in the corner during the duration of the process as he noticed Annabeth glancing his way, but he was watching it all with a sharp eye. He cared for his brother deeply, but knew he had his sneaky ways of letting out his temper and the sea god intended for his son's wedding tattoo not to be a way Hades did so. He was pleased to see his brother's attention to detail, and had to admit he was impressed with Hades work. He stood as Hades sent Percy to him so he could examine the tattoo, smiling a bit as Percy stayed close to his Annabeth. Crossing the room, he took his son's hand and carefully examined the work, nodding easily. "It's well done Hades. You're more artistic than I would have guessed."

HADES: Inclining his head at her words, he put his hand over hers but paused for a moment. Hades looked to his brother, his face set in harder lines that it should have been. "My realm didn't decorate itself. Neither did I have access to people who wished to create my throne or the room it sits in," he reminded him quietly. Quickly, he returned his attention to the work at hand, glancing at Percy over her shoulder with a slight quirk to his eyebrow. It was slightly challenging but he went back to work, repeating the process on Annabeth's slim finger.

POSEIDON: Poseidon met Hades hard gaze, his own slightly hurt for a brief moment before he nodded. "Nor did I believe it was. I'll admit that my failure to consider that was thoughtless. I meant no offense brother, I apologize." He gave the fellow god a slight bow of his head before looking at his son and offering him a soft smile. "It looks good, and is unlikely to get infected or anything as long as you look after it. Do you like it?"

PERCY: It felt a little like they'd stepped into something he didn't want to step into. Hades bitterness was apparent and Percy idly wondered, before his thoughts could flutter to something else, if it was something they had in common. While Percy wasn't the type to stay angry, and Hades had likely been angry for lifetimes, it was still at least a thread. He understood to a slight degree and glanced at his dad to see how he'd respond. He knew his dad wasn't perfect but.... basically, it was just straight uncomfortable for a minute until Poseidon apologized. He nodded in response to his father's question. "Yes. It's one of three things she's drawn that I actually got without the backstory. And Hades did a good job, I'm pretty sure." He glanced to check Hades' progress on Annabeth but it was a curiosity check only and he didn't want to actually be disruptive, so much as he could ever control that.

ANNABETH: Annabeth was silent during the tense moment between gods, knowing it was neither hers nor Percy's place to speak. She did however study the god of the Underworld's face during the interaction, and even afterwards, not even tensing once Hades began burning into her flesh. Once she'd had a moment to compose herself, she spoke quietly. "I'm sorry if having Poseidon is making you addedly uncomfortable....we really are grateful for this Hades. I know it's a rather useless offer, but if you ever decide you need a daughter of Athena for aid, you've only to call. Really, thank you. Your work is beautiful." She gave a pained smile before looking back at her hand, watching him finish with keen interest.

HADES: It was strange, hearing apologies for the way things had been for millennium. It changed nothing, but it made his eyes flick to his brother for a brief moment. His attention quickly was full force on Annabeth, the rest pushed to the periphery at her words. "Poseidon is here to make the two of you more comfortable with my presence, I harbor no delusions over that." Her offer made him pause his words before he inclined his head slightly to her, "Thank you." He finished her tattoo carefully and stepped back when it was complete to allow the other two men to examine it, and her, knowing that was the way this would end.

POSEIDON: Poseidon was pleased to see the way Hades eyes flicked to him for the briefest of moments, glad he didn't see hatred in his gaze before he was distracted by his son. He chuckled a bit before nodding. "He did an excellent job. And it suits you both and your situation as demigods very well. I'll readily admit you two being together has given me some pause and amusement." He smirked a bit remembering how much it irritated Athena before looking at Annabeth once the tattoo was finished, then his brother. "It was good of you to do this Hades."

PERCY: Percy shrugged at Hades' lack of illusion, way more unapologetic than his wife. Plus, it's not like Hades needed the apologies. He knew exactly what was up and, if the roles were reversed, Percy was guessing he would've done something similar -- he would've brought a safety backup. He was distracted from his lack of sorry by his dad. While he wasn't offended, he was still gonna ask. "Hold up, amusement?"

ANNABETH: "Not because it's you specifically Hades. You're a god we don't know yet. I'd have asked him here if it was any of the others too. Gods either take well to us or do their best to ruin our lives, and you're never sure which way they go." Annabeth gave him another tight smile as he finished up, giving him a bow of her head. "No, thank you. And it's the least I can do." When he'd finished, she looked at it herself for a long moment, biting her lip before flashing the god a bright smile. "Thank you!" She had the sudden urge to hug him but quickly realized he'd likely react just as poorly as Nico would and just pushed her hand back towards Percy and Poseidon to stop herself, glancing at the sea god. "Amusement?"

HADES: Hades looked at the scene unfolding between the other three and rolled his eyes. "I will leave the three of you to it," he spoke as he shifted towards the door, completely unwilling to be an outside party to the conversation that was sure to quickly unfold.

POSEIDON: "Amusement. Athena was very disproving of her smartest child being at all connected with me and my offspring. And now you two are wed. I'll admit I get enjoyment from that." He smirked at the twosome before looking to his brother. "Thank you brother. It's fantastic work. I'll drop by to see you in the next day or so."

PERCY: "Well, yeah, we made out in front of the spot where you and she fought in Rome, too, so I guess we can all get some amusement out of it. Maybe except Athena 'cause she seems pretty, um..." he hooked his fingers like they were claws and then had to stop because it didn't feel great.

As the 'man of the house,' Percy knew it was his responsibility to at least open the door for his uncle. He seemed like a guy who didn't like to be around people and, though Percy had tried more than once to encourage Nico to not be like that, he didn't really have the leeway to pressure or tease his uncle. Hades had been thanked graciously, promised had been made, blah-de-blah, so really there wasn't a ton left to say as he opened the door. "Thanks. They look great. We probably couldn't have done it without you. There's a good-sized shadow at the end of the hallway if that's your thing."

HADES: Hades snorted quietly at Percy's motion, mocking Athena, thinking it was incredibly on point, before turning his attention to Poseidon. He inclined his head, "I will see you." He didn't count on it being incredibly soon, and would certainly prefer that it wasn't.

Stepping through the door, he lifted an eyebrow at his nephew, "No, likely not. Enjoy them and all they stand for, nephew." He made his way to the shadow and simply disappeared, leaving all of the homey mushiness behind him.

ANNABETH: AnnaBeth rolled her eyes at both Percy and his father, choosing to ignore their comments about her mother. They weren't close, but Athena was still her mom after all. Looking at Hades, she gave him another smile, still nervous around the god but more comfortable now. He reminded her of Nico, though a bit more relaxed than his son seemed to be sometimes. "Really Hades, we can't thank you enough. Maybe sometime we..." she blushed, realizing she was about to offer social interaction to Hades and his son, who both hated social interaction. "Never mind. But really, I can't thank you enough."

POSEIDON: Poseidon burst into laughter at his som's wprds, loving the description and gleaning some enjoyment from Annabeth's eye roll. He managed to give his brother a nod before he disappeared and looked back at the two children. "That is good to know. The two of you truly are full of surprises."

PERCY: It wasn't even because they were married, he didn't think, but he could feel Annabeth's eyeroll even with his back turned. Between that and his dad laughing, it gave him life. Sort of. He turned around and went to Annabeth's side because, you know, of course he did. He grabbed her hand gently to look it over in more detail. He addressed his dad at the same time. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I can't always tell."

ANNABETH: "You two are ridiculous." AnnaBeth looked affectionately at the two of them, happy with this little family. Everything felt right, even if she did still have a few concerns and worries she wished she didn't. "Obviously it's a good thing. Otherwise we'd be much more boring."

POSEIDON: He laughed again at his sons question, but nodded in agreement with his daughter in law. "It's a good thing. It's made it difficult to protect you at times, but I've always liked that you got into trouble. Meant you were at least a little like me." He gave his son a warm smile before nodding. "Well, I believe it's time I took my leave. I'm sure the two of you would rather be with each other than have me hanging around." The sea god gave them both a playful wink before shifting towards the door.

PERCY: Her tattoos looked just like his -- and the thought came that he should find some sort of gift for Hades -- so he let her go in order to get the door for his dad. "Yeah, I think that's pretty well confirmed at this point, right?" He asked, comfortable in the idea that it was. It wasn't just mystical powers that made him like his dad -- it was his personality, too. He'd been told more than once that he was the child of his father's better nature, and he believed it. He also took it as a high compliment and didn't comment on it very often, which was rare for his smartass mouth. He smiled as he opened the door, though. "We can find things to do when we're alone together, sure, but we don't mind having you either. Thanks for coming, Dad. I appreciate it." He held his hand out for a handshake because that's what grownups did, right? Or would a hug be more appropriate? He didn't know.

POSEIDON: "It is...but I'll admit I like the reminders. There aren't many of my children that turn out like me. Especially ones whose lives I haven't been involved with as much as I'd like." Poseidon smiled at Percy, wishing hed been there long ago for his son. He'd done all he could since they'd been allowed to meet, but he still couldn't help regretting not being able to see him grow. Looking at the offered hand, the sea god decided to ignore it and stepped in close, hugging his son tightly. "Anytime son. I'm glad I could help." He stood there a moment before letting Percy go and stepping out the door. "I'll see you around son. Goodbye Annabeth! I'm sure I'll see you soon as well." Giving them both a bright smile, he then turned and left, leaving them to their day.

ANNABETH: Annabeth stayed back, letting the two men react. It was nice to see them talking, and she couldn't help but watch the two hug. She knew Percy cared for his father, and she was happy to see the god being affectionate with his child. Annabeth wished that would happen more often. She waved back as he left. "Thanks Poseidon! For everything." Before reaching out and taking Percy's hand to tug him back towards her.

PERCY: Between the fond smile, the words, and the hug, he was too stunned to do anything but accept it, and maybe even sink into it for a minute. He'd always been a hugger, personally, so he didn't mind one bit. It was actually kind of nice. For all the times he'd been less than thrilled with the explanations why he was how he was, it was now he was profoundly glad to be a son of Poseidon. His dad's presence was comforting and warm and he was a little sad to see it walk out the door. He was definitely glad there'd be a 'next time.'

Annabeth tugged him away from the gag-worthy moment at the door and he smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "Well, now there's really no going back," he teased, launching into a pun that even he knew was just awful. He smiled, though. because he had no shame. "You're branded with my P."

ANNABETH: "No, there's certainly not. But there wasn't before either. I've always been yours pretty much." Annabeth blushed a little at how ridiculous she sounded before practically choking a the next words out of Percy's mouth. "Branded with your..Percy Jackson what is wrong with you." She laughed, but shook her head at him, disbelieving that that had come out of his mouth.

PERCY: The choking laughter, unchecked and totally unexpected, was kind of what he lived for, and the fact that he'd managed to surprise the woman who knew him so well was like oxygen. He pulled her closer, smiling broadly. "You've got the rest of a mortal lifetime to tackle that list. Besides, I totally meant the letter P like my initial. Why, what did you think I meant?"

ANNABETH: Annabeth easily moved closer to him, chuckling at his words. "That's true. And there's always the afterlife too. I'm sure we'll both be hooked up with Elysium at this point." She smiled back at him, resting her forehead on his and laughing quietly. "Well of course you did. I'v no idea what my dirty little brain could've been thinking of."

PERCY: His hands slid down just a little, not totally groping her ass but pushing the boundary as he was so likely to do. Plus it let him press a little closer to her and he wouldn't say no to that, especially in the privacy of their own crappy little apartment. "I'd hope so. Do you think we could just, like, past go twice and go straight to Isles of the Blest? Or would you settle for Elysium if we were there together?" He asked, genuinely curious. His grin widened. "Oh, I think you do know what your dirty little brain was thinking." He kissed her nose, a stupid and silly little gesture he actually really loved doing whenever he got the chance. "Either way, your dirty thoughts are hot."

ANNABETH: Annabeth chuckled as his hands drifted, the young woman not giving a single word of protest and smiling a bit at the question. "If there is any justice in the world we'll go right for the Isles of the Blest at this point, but I doubt Hades would bend rules like that. I'll settle for wherever we end up, cause either way I just want to be with you." She smirked at his big grin, leaning in a little closer to press a light kiss to his lips. "I've got a lot more than dirty thoughts right now if you want to stop talking about our deaths for a bit and take me to bed Mr.Jackson."

PERCY: He hummed his agreement with her words and his satisfaction at how close she was pressed, then bit his lip and changed their course -- both in the conversation he didn't want to involve more talking and in the direction they were moving. "I do -- Mrs. Jackson."

#( paragraphs. )#( m; annabeth )#( m; dad )#( m; hades )#( para: rings of fire )

3 notes · View notes