Renegade

Emily's POV

Getting out of the cab at 26th and 5th was probably the worst part. We asked the cabbie to drop us off on a different side of the street, just to be sure they couldn’t hear us. And by they, I mean our parents. We could see them, sitting with smiles on their faces, cuddling up even though it was nearing the end of June, so there was no cold to snuggle up to get warm from.

In all truthfulness, I didn’t hate my parents, but they annoyed me. I still felt awkward, what with me being Roman and my parents being basically Greek. SO yeah, my dad had been the praetor for a while, but he had also failed on the battlefield, and retired not of his own will.

I could sense that Griff was nervous too. He kept shifting his eyes back and forth, and then, after clearing his throat multiple times, he said,

“So, Emily, I think we need to clear the air real quick.” We stepped out of the cab after he had handed Griff his change, and I responded,

“Definitely.”

“So, I think we need to go together. No ‘we’re separate’ type stuff. We’re partners now, okay?”

I looked at him and smiled, saying, “That’s what they told us in Gibraltar.”

“Yeah,” Griff exhaled nervously, “now, let’s go meet our parents, eh?”

And with that, Griff put his arm around my shoulder and we jaywalked across the street. They were all there. From photos long ago I recognized Griff’s mom Annabeth and dad Percy, and then of course, I saw my mom Piper and my dad Jason. There was one man, however, standing behind everyone, with a black hood on, dark as night. He seemed to be staring straight at us, but I couldn’t see his eyes.

Crow, I thought.

Griff must have seen him too because he stormed over to him, completely disregarding his parents.

“You lied to me, Xavier!” He screamed at the guy. Then, he went even further. He ripped off the guy’s hood to reveal his Uncle’s face, blonde hair, greybeard and sparkling hazel eyes. Xavier seemed to be smirking at Griff, but he stopped looking so rosy when Griff pulled one of his pistols on him.

“Watch it, Griff,” He said in a warning tone. But Griff just cocked the gun and gave Xavier a rosy smile.

“Make me,” He spat, and Xavier did. I felt like getting some popcorn.

Xavier threw his hand out so quick it was hard to follow but Griff just drew his second pistol and cocked it, pressing it to Xavier’s head. Then, Griff dropped his first pistol, drew his mother’s dagger from a sheath near his back pocket and pressed the blade to Xavier’s neck, making him bleed a tiny bit. Xavier winced in pain, but Griff just said,

“I know your moves, old man, but I didn’t think deception, blatant lying, and trying to get me killed were any of them!”

“Griff,” he said carefully, “I had nothing to do with the choice of client—”

“Bull!” Griff responded, and then Percy went into action. The guy walked up behind Griff, who was holding Xavier with his pistol hand by the scruff of his neck, and grabbed the kid, dragging him back as Xavier removed Griff’s weapons.

Griff tried to resist, but it was futile. He just sighed and looked at his dad in the eyes. The look of disappointment in his emerald green eyes made me want to sit down a cry, because life seemed so hopeless in those sea-green beauties.

“Thanks, Dad,” Griff said miserably, “managing to take the fun out of everything, as usual.”

“By not letting you kill your Uncle?” Percy asked.

“You know damn well he’s not my Uncle so stop calling him that!” Griff snapped, “Speaking of which, who in Hades are you, anyways? I want an explanation. Strike that, I deserve an explanation after what I went through.”

“You deserve an explanation?” Xavier asked incredulously, “what exactly have you gone through to merit such an explanation as a reward?”

“What have I gone—” Griff was about to lose his mind from anger, but he took a deep breath, and continued, “Well, if you want the quick version, I witnessed a manticore eat an eight-year-old kid in Gibraltar, fought and killed Mormo and a Leukrokottas in Rome, drove across most of Europe to your client’s stupid meetings, fought Periphetes in Paris, fought and killed the same manticore in London, and then had to drag my sorry ass all the way back to this hellhole of a city to face you, and on the flight, was sexually harassed by an eighteen-year-old dracanae, and you are the one acting like you’ve been traumatized recently. Screw you, you pathetic excuse for a human!”

Xavier laughed, and then replied, “Thank you, Griff, I’ll take your full report to TFG headquarters tomorrow. Now, as for your explanation—”

Griff silenced Xavier with a firm kick to the groin area. Then, he glared at his father with such murderous rage that the mighty Percy Jackson gulped in fear.

“Explanation for this maggot,” Griff spat, pointing at the cringing form of Xavier, lying on the ground, “NOW!”

“Well,” Percy explained nervously, “I kind of beat him up when he worked for a guy named Luke Castellan about eighteen years ago. I told him to get off of the ship he was working on, and to stop being brainwashed by Luke’s false wisdom. That changed him, I guess. He came crawling into Camp two years after you were born, Griff. He’s been a good friend ever since. You need to calm down.”

“I know,” Griff growled, “I just don’t feel like it.”

I couldn’t take all of this anger. Seeing Griff so cold to his parents, I felt so sad. So, I did what my heart told me to. I walked up to my dad, who was standing, facing me, and I hugged him. It had been so long since I had hugged either of my parents, that I think my dad was actually surprised when I did it. My mom hugged me too, and I felt a lot better after that. I realized how much of a little kid I still was, despite working for TFG. I realized how young I still was.

Griff saw me with my parents, and I think part of him hated me for just accepting my parents’ love again, but part of him understood. He looked at his mom first, and muttered,

“I’m…I’m sorry, Mom. I never should have—”

“It’s okay,” Annabeth said, hugging Griff and ruffling his hair, “it’s all fine. Just don’t scare us like that again. We had to send Nico out to find you.”

“That’s one of the last favors I have available, you know,” Percy said, and Griff released his mom and hugged him. Percy kissed the top of his head and pulled him in tight.

“Couldn’t this conversation be continued at Camp?” my mom suggested, and Xavier agreed as he got up, looking appreciatively at Griff, who was just smiling at him. I guess Xavier understood, both from Griff’s rant and from Griff kicking the crap out of him, that he was a changed guy, not someone to mess with.

Now that the tension had cleared, I realized how good it felt to be back in the US. And I had never been to Camp Half-Blood, so this would be an entirely new experience, but at least I had Griff on my side.

Notes

AWW, PARENTAL BONDING

Enjoy!
-Grafon