Alone Again (Percico/Pernico AU)

Chapter 49

Hello, children. How is everybody?

As always, please enjoy the mess of a chapter.

"Trust me, I know."
*****

Nico flopped on the couch once he and Jason returned from Albany. The blonde hung his jacket near the door and turned to Nico.

"If you go again next week, just take my car," Jason told him, "I still think you'll probably wreck it, but I know you cut your visits short when I take you."

"I don't—"

"Yes," Jason cut him off, "you do. Just accept it, please?"

Nico sat up and smiled at him. "Thanks, Jase. Also, you underestimate my driving skills."

"No, I'm pretty sure my beliefs are correct," the taller of the two said.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I passed the test on my first time, and correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall that you did the same."

"Okay, at least—"

Their debate was cut short when Thalia walked through the front door. "Hello, brother dearest and adopted brother dearest. How was Albany?"

Jason looked over at Nico expectantly. The blonde didn't particularly have much to say; the two cities were not too vastly different.

The youngest of the three replied, "I think good? I met the guy he's sharing a room with. Wait, room? Cell?"

"Whatever," Thalia said, sitting next to Nico on the couch, "continue. Who is he?"

"His name's Will," Nico informed them, "but Percy said he'd be out in two weeks."

"What'd he do?" Jason reinserted himself into the conversation.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I don't have the guy's biography. We didn't talk about him all that much since he was, you know, in the same general area."

"Well, I'm glad it went well," Thalia capped off the conversation.

Nico sighed happily. "Me too."

*****

Percy and Will were playing what nearly turned into an endless cycle of rock, papers, scissors before they were interrupted by a woman calling the former's name from the hall. Percy walked over to the door and saw a police officer he'd never seen before (which seemed to happen every time he saw one in Albany) waiting for him.

"There's something we need to discuss, Mr. Jackson," she stated, opening the door and gesturing for Percy to follow her.

Percy stood up warily and glanced over at Will, who just nodded for him to continue. He faced the door and walked out before following the officer down the hallway and through another set of doors. She led him into a small room with a table in the center and three chairs in front of the desk. It reminded him of the several school offices he'd been in throughout the years.

He sat down in the center chair and silently waited for the woman to speak as she took her seat opposite him and began typing something on the computer in front of her.