The Lightning Thief [Book One]

Rat Dogs and Their Mothers.

The four had left "Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium," heading to the nearest city. They had to avoid main roads because a newspaper that was at the diner had Percy as the headlines, so they were certain he was a wanted fugitive, and they were his accomplices. Eventually they reached the city, and with the money they had bought four tickets to ride the monorail. The ride was silent for the most part, with Reagan staring out the window. Annabeth and Grover sat cross from her and Percy. They were all fairly relaxed at the moment despite the quest and everything that had happened in two days, even the tension amongst themselves had dissipated. Reagan clicked her tongue.

"Grover I'm....I'm sorry for snapping at you the day before," Reagan apologized, fingers twisting into a knot as she stared out the window still.

He shook his head, offering a small smile. "Don't be. We've all been under a lot of stress already. I'm actually glad you're here with us."

She smiled, because that meant more to her than she let on. Her shoulders slouched and she stared back out the window, lost in her own thoughts. Then Annabeth said her name to get her attention, and Reagan looked back over at the blonde this time who sat across from her.

"You said you were in the hospital before. What happened?" Annabeth asked, genuinely curious.

Reagan shrugged. "Got hurt. Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you get badly injured?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, and they were all back to normal. Before she could say something witty and intelligent back, the monorail screeched to a slow stop, and they had reached their halfway mark, the monorail coming to a temporary stop in St. Louis. The voice on the intercom stated their destination, saying they had a two hour stop before returning to their trip to Colorado.

Annabeth looked excited all of the sudden. "Oh, can we see the Gateway Arch?"

Reagan gave Percy and Grover a look, but with Annabeth pleading so much, they all eventually caved and made their way to the monument. Annabeth couldn't calm down. She rambled on about everything there was to ramble about when it came to the Gateway Arch. Percy didn't have a clue about any of it, and immediately attached himself to Grover's side since neither of them really understood what the blonde talked about. Leaving Reagan to listen in silence, the two walking side-by-side. Their shoulders touched every once and a while, the small group weaving through the crowds of people before eventually reaching the monument. Annabeth stepped over towards the plaque, actually happily reading all the information it had. Reagan found it all a bit endearing, cute even. They all entered the elevator to take it to the top, and it was a tight squeeze because a rather obese woman with her annoying, yapping Chihuahua was taking up most the space. The whole ride up Annabeth's mouth ran, talking about facts, and how she'd make the elevator floor glass too so that they could look straight down and see how high they were from a different angle. Reagan and Annabeth were crushed closely together, but to be honest, they were all pretty smashed together. Grover's hoof had stepped on her one foot three times already. But all Reagan could focus on was the close proximity the older, unclaimed Demigod had to the shorter blonde girl.

It was distracting, but in a weird good way. The stupid dog started barking again from somewhere behind them, and Reagan was pulled from her thoughts. She looked back at the large woman in the tight denim dress, and tried in the nicest voice possible to speak.

"Can you please control your dog." It sounded more rude than Reagan had intended it to be, and even her face had this blunt, unamused look on it.

"Reagan!" Annabeth whispered in disbelief. "Be a little more polite."

The woman didn't seem offended. "It's okay, hunny. I know my son can be a bit too excited at times."

Reagan's eyes widened, and she leaned her head closer to Annabeth to whisper. "Did she really just call that rat her son?!"

Annabeth nudged her in the ribs with her elbow, sufficiently stopping the conversation completely. The elevator reached the top at last, and Reagan eagerly got off the lift and walked over to the nearest window to look out and enjoy the view. They only had around fifteen minutes to look around and enjoy the time up there. The time went by quickly, with Annabeth continuously talking about different types of ideas she had to improve the Gateway Arch. Soon enough, the guide was calling visitors back to the elevator to take it down so that the next group could take it up. Everyone had crowded back into the elevator, all except for Percy Jackson and the large woman with her annoying rat-dog. Reagan, Annabeth, and Grover looked at their friend with worried expressions. He smiled reassuringly.

"We can all wait together," Grover said.

Percy smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry, guys. I'll take the next one down."

With that, the three rode the elevator all the way back down in stiff silence. While waiting for Percy, Reagan was leaning against a nearby wall, arms crossed and chin against her chest. She was so deep in thought that she almost didn't hear when Annabeth and Grover walked over after they finished with their walk.

"She called that dog her son," Reagan said after a moment once the two neared her enough to hear what she had said.

Grover shrugged. "Maybe she just really loves her dog?"

Reagan shook her head, brows furrowed together. "No something seemed off-"

An explosion rang out from the top of the Gateway Arch. There was silence before panic started. Civilians ran, finding loved one's and people trying to leave. The three kids ran to the elevator, heads tilted backwards as they stared up at the large arch. Sirens filled the air as ambulances and police cars raced to the scene.

"We need to hide," Reagan said, grabbing Annabeth and Grover and pulling them off quickly.

"W-We can't just leave him!" Grover whimpered, pulling against her grasp to no avail.

Reagan rolled her eyes. "We aren't!" she argued. "But we're also wanted by the entire country too. We can't just stand here since we were seen with him at the top."

Annabeth wanted to argue, but didn't. The three hurried off toward the river, stopping on the bank and turning to watch the carnage. People were injured from falling debris, getting carried off in stretchers so that they could be tended to. Was Percy up there when the explosion happened? Long minutes passed, and Reagan wanted to leave. News vans had began to show up, recording and asking questions to anyone willing to answer and be on television. There was a noise behind them, and when they turned to look, they saw Percy crawling out of the river and laying on the dirt. They ran over and hefted him up, and he seemed shaken up.

"Are you okay, Percy?" Grover asked.

Percy nodded. "Yeah."

He looked passed them, and a police officer was showing around a wanted poster with Percy Jackson's face on it. He pulled them along back in the direction of the train station so that they could leave as soon as possible. When the train was moving again and they were all situated, Percy explained to them everything that had happened.

"And they just got away?" Reagan asked with a frown. She was so enthralled by everything that was said that she had leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees, back hunched and shoulders squared together.

Annabeth sat beside her this time, her own eyebrows knitted together worriedly. "That's not good. She could cause problems for us in the future..."

"You just jumped into the river?!" Grover asked with admiration.

Even Reagan looked at Percy with a new kind of respect. She would never be able to do that, even if her father was Poseidon. Percy went on with his story until it was dark, Grover was snoring, and the Demigods laughed softly before all going to bed themselves.