Breathe With Me (One, Two, Three)

Chapter 24: Voice of Reason

The trip to New York wasn't that long for Percy and he knew that may have been a bad thing. His anger was still just beneath the surface, threatening to bubble over, and he was certain that he was going to do something very stupid.

Did he care?

Not one damn bit.

Zeus was going to pay.

Did he have a plan? Of course he did- or he would once he and Blackjack found a good spot to land that was fairly close to the Empire State Building. He knew that his voice of reason would try to contact him soon, telling him that what he was doing was idiotic and suicidal, so he had to hurry up and get through as much of his not-plan as possible.

"Right there." Percy pointed at a near-empty park, one that was hidden away from prying eyes by a ring of planted trees. "Once we're down, come get me in about thirty minutes. That should be enough time."

'You got it, Boss! Good luck!'

Percy stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around the area as he walked towards the Empire State Building. It had been a while since he was there, years in fact. He hadn't even been back to Camp, not for anything, and May and Annabeth tried so hard to change that. His emotions were wild, ups and downs of anger, happiness, and some deep sadness he didn't like to dwell on. He couldn't go back and face them... But maybe...

He sighed, digging his phone out of his pocket, looking at the lock screen. It was a picture of the entire staff in the diner, Dean and Sam included, and it was only blocked by the messages from his best friend asking if he made it alright and if he had to somehow raise bail money. He sent a quick reply to it, ensuring that he was as vague as possible, before continuing on with what he was doing before. It had been years... Maybe the number changed.

Placing the phone on his ear as he clutched his long-sleeved shirt with his other hand, Percy paced, walking only a few steps forward before turning around. It rang and rang, and-

"Hello?"

That voice, that one word, soothed every hurt he had. Though he had not heard it in years, Percy could still feel how his anger simmered down even when he knew the person didn't know who was on the other side.

"Hello?"

He cleared his throat, rubbing his eyes roughly with one hand when he felt a hot stinging. "Hey, mom..."

There was a soft inhale and the fumble of footsteps, like the woman had to find support next to her or she would fall. "Percy, baby? Is- Percy?"

"I'm, uh, I'm in the area right now and... I have some things to do but I was wondering if I could... Come over?"

"Of course, you don't even have to ask! You can see your sister again, you know she was just a baby the last time you saw her." Sally was rambling a bit, though no one could blame her. It had been so long since she heard her baby boy's voice. "What are you going to do now? I can prepare some lunch for you."

"Uh."

"Perseus Jackson, do not tell me that you're about to do something insanely idiotic! "

Percy stopped walking, looking up at the sky. "Mom, you don't understand! I have to do this."

There was tapping on the other side of the line and he just knew his mother was tapping her finger on some surface. "Then help me understand, Percy."

Like a dam was broken, Percy explained everything that was happening recently in Madison, Wisconsin, including Sam and Dean and the sudden increase of monsters in the area. When he finished talking about Cynthia's issue, on how Zeus took advantage of her after she had a terrible fight with her parents, Sally was quiet for a long moment.