Percy Jackson X Annabeth Chase becomes Lucas' Misadventures

Jal's Dad

They were in Nebraska now. I could tell, since they had passed the "Welcome To Nebraska" sign in one of the many hours l'd stayed awake. They had stopped and Jal bought McDonalds for them. I ate a handful of fries and dug into my Oreo mcflurry, Mi climbed into the back, so I stopped taking up the three seats and sat properly in one.
"Hey, you're not looking too hot." She said.
"I know, the sugar in this is keeping me going to be honest." I replied and ate another spoon of Mcflurry.
"Finally acting your age," she laughed.
"Who doesn't like a Mcflurry?"
"No one. Why aren't you sleeping?" The burning question.
"I just," I sighed. "I don't want another dream."
"Really acting your age."
"Hey! I told you that in confidence." We were quiet for a second, then we shared a laugh.
"I haven't gotten one of those dreams yet so I'm not sure, but you shouldn't let them effect you like this. Be the first who isn't scared of their dreams and if they become too much, I'm here. All of us are."
"Thanks, that means th-" I wasn't able to finish my sentence as I hit my limit and knocked out.

Luckily, I didn't have a dream that time. I was pathetic, I didn't even stay up for a whole day, on top of that I worried my friends for nothing.
The slick darkness of the night accompanying my dissatisfaction in myself. I realized I was resting my head on something that was actually comfortable, unlike the rest of the car. I turned around to see, who else but Mi, these situations were happening a lot lately. I laid back on her shoulder, sure she wouldn't mind. Everyone else was seemingly asleep besides me and Thanatos.
"Hey," I suddenly heard from Treis. I definitely didn't jump.
"Jeez, do you ever sleep?"
"Only when you aren't, someone should watch for danger," he responded. He had a point, his hunch at the hotel had been right after all.
"Smart," I told him simply. "You should get some sleep then."
"Crazy of you to say that. She stayed there the whole you know, she even did her best not to move much. I like what you two have going on," Tre added. I felt myself blush, fortunately for me Tre couldn't see that.
"Get some sleep," I repeated. I heard him stifle a chuckle.
"Yes sir."
I watched the moon and stars through the window, when I saw a different light go on in the car, Jal's phone screen.
I took my phone from my pocket. I did have one, it was just for emergencies. This was by no means an emergency but it wasn't like monsters would attack them with the literal god of death in the driver seat. I texted him to ask if he was awake. He faced me and I signaled for him to come. He climbed into the middle seat.
"What's up?" He whispered, cautious of waking up the others.
"I've been meaning to ask, how'd you get this Uber?"
"I never told you did I?" He paused seeming to get himself together. "Back in New York, I was in a gang."
Half of me was regretting that I had asked, thinking that I should of left it alone. However, the other half, the half that wanted to know things more than anything was ecstatic. I nodded for him to continue.
"Being in a gang has it's benefits believe it or not. Not that I'm telling you to join a gang or anything. My family has a lot of them to begin with, my mom was poor and I thought maybe I could help out. So, I joined the gang my older brother was in easy, I learned how to make money, fight, kill, the whole nine yards. Every now and then I would slip my mom some money or buy food for when everyone got home. But I'd worried my mom every time I came home bruised or injured. Things started looking up when my mom got a new job, my little brother won't have to do any of the things I did." He stopped and smiled a little.
"My older brother moved and I was getting ready to leave the gang, things went bad on my last hit though. It was night, we finished beating up the other gang and we're leaving when a monster showed up. One of my guys though it was regular acted really weird and pulled a knife on the monster." He sighed reliving the event.
"Next thing I knew, my guy was dead on the floor and I was running, something guided me to the camp."
"Wow that's... crazy, I'm not even sure what to say."
"Well it's not exactly a success story, I wouldn't know what to say either. I had thought maybe my father died in a gang but.." We both gazed at Thanatos, who's eyes were affixed to the road.
"I know what I said at camp, but now I'm glad I met him."
"A little change of heart is good for everyone and I'm glad you felt like you could share that with me."
"I'm just happy you listened to me prattle on."
"It was interesting," I reassured him.
"Really? I'll go back to my seat now don't get too bored." Jal said, climbing back to his passenger seat.
   I watched the road all the way until we reached Cheyenne. I might've been excited if Yellowstone wasn't on the opposite side of the state, they still had a few hours to go.
   "Hey Thanatos, let's pull into the next stop," I said. He looked at me in the rear view mirror and nodded, scanning the green road signs for the next one.
   A moment later they pulled off the road and into a gas station. I woke up Tre and Mi, while Death woke up Jal and the four of us piled out the car.
   "Well you slept like a rock," I told Mi.
   "I guess I was a comfy rock then," she rebutted with a smile. Were... was this flirting?
   "Definitely," I said, also with a smile.
   I realized how windy Wyoming was, a good sign for my hunch.