Chapter Text
“Mm-HM.” Captain Holt clears his throat as he walks out of his office; the mostly-quiet precinct all shifting their heads to look at him. “I am scheduling shifts for this week and next. I need a few people from each shift to work the days from Christmas to new years. Who here is available to?”
Percy raises his hand- “I can.”
Jake nods. “Me too.”
Captain Holt nods slightly, writing something down on a notepad. “Anyone else?”
“Alas, I cannot. I must bring much joy to Nikolaj. I don’t even know how he’d respond if I wasn’t there with him on Christmas.” Charles says, bringing a hand to his heart as he speaks.
“I will.” Rosa says, barely looking up from her computer.
“Very well. Expect a schedule soon. You finish work today before being off Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in preparation for a full week of shifts.”
“Yes, Rosa! This is gonna be so fun.” Jake holds up a hand for a high-five, which Rosa does not, due to being at least ten feet away, and also not wanting to, high five. Charles, as he walks by, does, of course.
“Working on holidays is fun? You have a weird sense of humor.” Percy says.
“Well, I’m jewish, so it doesn’t really affect me anyways. Even then, Amy always has to work, so one of us brings Mac in, and we just spend a while doing paperwork and playing with him. Nothing ever
really happens on Christmas.”
“Oh. Huh, yeah.”
“What about you?”
“What?”
“You have a wife, right? Er, girlfriend? Not staying with her on Christmas?”
“She..has to work.”
“Really? I thought she was an architect.”
“Yeah, uh, she’s on a trip, and it just got extended, so.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
Percy shrugs. “It’s okay. We usually don’t do too much for Christmas anyway.”
Jake nods, moving back to his paperwork.
“Percy! Are you so excited?”
Percy yawns. “What?”
“Amy and I, well, mostly Amy, made sugar cookies! Do you want one? Here, I’ll grab them, hold Mac. Have you met Mac?”
“...Yes?”
“Well either way, Mac, Percy, Percy, Mac.”
“Pur-py!” Mac holds out his arms towards Percy as Jake hands him over.
Percy sits as he grabs Mac, bouncing him lightly on his knee.
“Did you have a late night last night?” Jake asks, handing Percy a cookie.
“Something like that.”
“Oh, here, wait, I made you a blue one.” Jake pulls out another cookie from the tupperware. It’s a little more questionably frosted than the other- probably because Jake did it, not Amy, but it’s cute.
And blue. Jake and Percy swap the cookies they’re holding, and Percy looks at Jake.
“You are the nicest person I have ever met.”
Jake stares at Percy for a second before shrugging and sitting down. “Thank you. Did you get the forms I sent over yesterday?”
“Oh, yes, I did.” Percy says after swallowing the cookie.
“Perfect.”
“Oh, uh, do you know where Rosa is? She’s not the type to be late.” Percy’d had issues last night with monsters and wanted to know if she had too- though obviously he couldn’t say that to Jake.
“She texted me this morning and asked me to tell Captain Holt she’d be late today. Something about a case and needed to go somewhere in the city.”
Percy nods, looking back at his papers, right as Mac starts crying.
“I can take him back, he doesn’t stop crying very easy.”
“It’s okay, I got it.” Percy holds up Mac, bouncing him up and down lightly, before setting him back down into his lap and rubbing his back.
“I’ve never seen him stop crying with a new person so quickly.”
Percy shrugs.
“You don’t have kids, do you?”
Percy laughs. “No, no. My younger sister was born when I was seventeen, so I would take care of her if my parents were working.”
“Oh yeah, did I meet her at that school? Estelle?”
“Yeah, her.” Percy responds, just as someone walks in.
“Merry Christmas, Percy, hi, babe.” Amy kisses the top of Jake’s head. “Why does Percy have our child? Here, I’ll take him.”
“Percy’s good with kids, apparently. Mac was crying and Percy got him to stop in like, thirty seconds.”
“Huh. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“Did you give him that cookie you made?”
“Yes. He loved it.” Answers Jake.
“Great. Can I bring these ones to my coworkers?”
“Wait, lemme just grab one for Rosa. Do you think Captain Holt wants one?”
“I’ll give him one.”
Jake nods.
Rosa comes into the precinct looking like she just simultaneously got back from war and was told that her spouse died at war.
“Hey, Rosa. You okay? How was your morning?” Jake says.
Percy turns around to see Rosa, and…some guy dressed as Santa Claus. And…a small child- maybe seven or eight. He squints, starting to get up.
“I can handle them myself, Percy.”
“No, Rosa. That’s…” Percy glances around the precinct. “Why don’t I help you interrogate them?”
Rosa blinks. “Right.”
“I can get the kid settled into the children’s area?” Jake suggests.
Percy looks at Rosa, almost for allowance, and she responds. “Sure. I’ll come grab her in a bit.”
The five of them walk off down the hall, Jake and the kid stopping at an earlier room, while the other three continue down to the interrogation rooms.
“Okay, Percy. Who is that?”
“That,” Percy says, “is Grover.”
“That’s Grover?? Jesus. Why is he dressed like Santa Claus?”
“Why are you dressed like Santa Claus?”
“...Nico and I had to infiltrate a Macy’s to rescue the kid- Sydney- from a monster. Daughter of Apollo, we think.”
“Where’s Nico?”
“He shadow traveled away when she showed up. And who…?”
“Rosa. Daughter of Bellona. You’re a satyr, yes? Who’s Nico?”
“Son of Hades.” Percy responds.
The two nod, exchanging the respective greetings-
“Glory to Bellona.” “Homage to Pan.”
“What, no honor for Hades?” A voice says as someone steps out of the corner of the room.
“Gods, Nico!” Percy says, startled. “Honor to Hades.”
“Esteem to Posedi-”
“This is so unnecessary.” Rosa interrupts.
“Nico. Son of Hades.”
“Rosa. Daughter of Bellona.”
“I need to get Sydney to camp before more monsters come for her. Where is she?”
“She’s in the children’s room with our coworker, Jake.” Percy responds. “I’ll go get her.”
“Wait.” Rosa says, just before Percy leaves. “Cover story?”
“You thought something weird was going on with the santa guy and the kid, but turns out it was unrelated. No evidence against santa over there, and I’m the kid’s legal guardian.” Nico responds.
“Jake’ll check records before releasing a child into custody, can you-” Percy starts.
Nico snaps his fingers. “Done. Grover, I’ll meet you outside after I get Sydney.”
“Meet you there. Percy, do you have something I can change into?”
Percy laughs. “Yeah, we can check the lost and found, and if not, I have extra clothes.”
“That was so weird.” Jake says, settling back into his desk.
Percy blinks. Once. Twice. A third time. “What was weird?”
“That... whole thing?”
“What do you mean? It was just a misunderstanding.”
“Oh. Right. But…I just…and that girl kept saying weird stuff.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t even know. Just stuff about, like, big snake people, and like, huge birds with human heads. It was really creepy. I gave her some paper to color, and she just kept drawing them. It was weird.”
“She probably just has a good imagination.”
“Yeah. Right. What happened in that interrogation?”
“Nothing, really. He just explained that the girl was alone, and assumed she’d lost her parents- which she had. He was just talking to her on her break. Apparently Rosa had heard some things about
other people who’d been stalking and kidnapping people with similar techniques, so she was worried that’s what was about to happen.”
Jake nods. “Good to know.”
The days between Christmas and new years felt like a weird dream- they always do.
Percy would go home, eat dinner and fall asleep almost immediately- though he was always waken up in the night. He’d been spending more time than usual fighting monsters, and, alongside that, more time than usual trying to hide it from Jake.
For Jake, he was quite entertained. He knew something was going on with Percy- (though Rosa? Never. She’s always strange and quiet.)
On Saturday, Jake asked Rosa what happened with the santa guy.
“Oh that guy? It was just a misunderstanding. I thought I recognized him as someone on a case I was working on. It wasn’t though. I just brought the kid in, since they were together. In case it was related, you know.”
That…wasn’t what Percy said, Jake noted.
On Sunday, Jake figured out why Percy’d never worn a short-sleeve shirt to work.
The heater in the precinct was broken, and constantly setting itself to temperatures upwards of 85 degrees.
Jake was at Percy’s desk, looking over some paperwork together, when Percy groaned, wiping the sweat off his forehead, and rolling up his long sleeves.
On his right arm was a tattoo, which Jake didn’t know he had. It covered the inside of Percy’s forearm, and looked like a barcode, with a trident and the letters ‘SPQR’.
“I didn’t know you had a tattoo.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
“What does it mean?”
“Nothing.” Percy pulls his sleeve back down, continuing to talk about the papers.
On Monday, someone new came into the precinct. No, not new. Piper. Jake honestly wasn’t sure who she was there for, considering how he’d seen her three times, once there for Percy, once at Rosa’s
apartment, and once there to talk to both of them.
“Hey, Percy, hey, Rosa. Hey…Jake?”
“Yes. Piper?”
“Yes.”
Jake nodded, pretending to turn back to his work, though keeping an ear out for their conversation.
“I thought you said you were getting here earlier, Pipes.” Rosa says, putting an arm around Piper’s waist as she leans over Rosa’s desk.
“I got caught up with some…stuff. I brought those muffins, though.” Piper breaks away from Rosa, grabbing a container out of her totebag.
“Thank you. These are so good.”
Piper smiles. “You’re welcome. Talk later?”
“Talk later.”
Piper leaves, ruffling Percy’s hair as she walks by.
Percy bats her hand away, pulling out his phone.
‘wth rosa’ ‘just stealing all my friends are you’
‘shes my friend too’
‘:(’
‘😏’
“That’s the girl you and Rosa went to college with, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Where did you go to college, anyway?”
“This place in California.”
“What’s it called?”
“It’s pretty small, I don’t think you’d know it.”
“I thought you said it was big. Didn’t Rosa know who you were, but you didn’t know her?”
“It’s called New World University.” Interrupts Rosa.
“Oh. Cool.”
‘you forget the romans have cover stories unlike you greeks’
‘fuck off’
‘:)’
On Tuesday, Jake was bored. Which was surprising, considering his past couple of days of investigating people not in his cases.
“How’s Annabeth doing?”
“What?”
“Is she still on that trip?”
“Yeah, she’s getting back on new years.”
“That feels like a weird time for a work trip.”
Percy shrugged. “Her bosses are…high maintenance? She’s really good at her job, but sometimes gets contracts from…outside businesses, so she’s got a lot going on.”
“Can I see some of her work?” At this point, Jake isn’t even trying to investigate. He’s honestly just so bored of paperwork and mindless cases.
Percy nods, smiling widely. He pulls out his phone, turning it around to show Jake the photos. The first is a photo of Annabeth in front of a huge building. It doesn’t look like it’s in New York, but
somewhere more clean and sunny, and less crowded, and Annabeth looks significantly younger.
“Woah. Did she design all of that?”
“Yeah. She’s the head architect on most of her projects.”
“That’s insane. Can I ask how old she is in that?”
Percy turns the phone back to himself. “I think she was 24 or 25 in that, though the project was started a couple of years earlier.”
“She designed that at 24?”
Percy shrugs. “Yeah.” He turns the phone back to Jake, and this photo is of a huge blueprint, spread all across a table, and Annabeth in the corner doing a peace sign.
“That’s so cool.”
“I have a lot I could show you but we might be here all day.”
“We’ll be here all day anyways.”
Wednesday. Just three days left before Annabeth gets back and Percy can finally rest. He gets through it pretty well, but he’s definitely getting more tired everyday.
“Hey, Percy.”
“Yeah?” he answers, yawning.
“Have you ever been to Alaska?”
“What!?”
“Amy and I are considering making a trip there. It’s really far away, but she wants to visit Mount Mckinley- the tallest in the US.”
Percy laughs, rubbing his eyes. “Yeah, I’ve been. I’m probably, like, wanted there now.”
“Oh-kayyy. Is it fun though? What is there to do other than look at a big mountain?”
“Yeah, I think there’s stuff to do. It’s all just far away, so be prepared for a lot of driving.”
Thursday. Percy is here before Jake, which is unusual. Jake comes every morning with Amy, so he’s usually there pretty early.
“Hey, Percy. You’re here early.”
“Hey, Jake. Annabeth came back early from her trip, so I was actually able to get a good night’s sleep. I figured I should come in and keep working on this paperwork, since it’s going a bit slowly.”
“Percy?”
“Yes?”
Jake inhales, squinting and making eye contact with Percy. “Have you ever considered you might have some sort of reading issue? Like, dyslexia?”
Percy laughs. A lot. He tries to stop and catch his breath a couple of times, but just keeps laughing. Finally, he manages to stop. “I’ve been diagnosed with dyslexia and adhd since I was eight.”
“Oh.”
“I mean,” he chuckles, “there’s no way you would’ve known, I never mentioned it. I kinda forgot; most people in my life have known since I was diagnosed.”
“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t’ve assumed.”
“It’s okay. Really.”
That conversation makes Jake realize maybe he shouldn’t interrupt Percy so much. Or should he? Are frequent breaks helpful? Or is it better when he’s focused for a while?
Jake goes with he shouldn’t bother him. Percy can take a break himself if he needs one.
Speaking of breaks, what sort of vacation did Percy take that now he’s wanted in Alaska?
Jake looks over to Percy. He’s down on his desk, working on papers. Perfect.
Jake opens his computer, pulling up the NYPD filing system.
‘percy jackson’
‘No one by this name in the system. Search all systems?’
Jake frowns, clicking ‘Search all systems’.
‘No one by this name in the system.’
That’s… not possible. No. Not Percy. Perseus. Jake remembered that man from the other day- Percy’s dad- calling him that.
‘perseus jackson’
‘One result found.’ ‘Perseus Jackson’
Jake clicks his name. The page takes a couple seconds to load, which is unusual.
When the page loads, it’s classified into two main sections: information and files.
Jake skims the information section, it’s all stuff he already knew. Name, date of birth, workplace, blah blah.
Jake clicks the ‘files’ page, which brings him to a page full of different files. He clicks the first- employment, he already knows that. Funnily enough, he doesn’t learn anything from the rest of the
documents either. Almost everything is redacted. It’s not that this is that weird, he’s just looking from a detective account, with no open case on him. The thing that Jake pays attention to, however, is the sheer amount of documents. Each one is at least twenty pages long, and there are tens of them. Some documents he can’t even open. Every time he clicks them it just brings him to an ‘Error. Access denied.’ page.
Fine. Using his job won’t work. Next step: google!
Jake opens a new tab, typing in ‘percy jackson’. (he considers saying ‘perseus’, but it doesn’t seem like he goes by that.)
The first couple of results are what he’d expect- social media accounts. He clicks on a couple, but when they all come up as private, he decides that’s fruitless.
Jake scrolls further- a story about his mom’s book, about Annabeth’s architecture, one about him jumping off the St. Louis arch.
Wait. What?
Jake glances down. He’s gotten into different territory.
‘Percy Jackson: man or myth?’
‘The boy who lived - the (probably) true story of Percy Jackson’
‘How did this happen at twelve? - an explanation’
Jake clicks the first link immediately. For a split second, it shows an article from years ago about a boy falling from the St. Louis arch. Then, the page breaks. It reloads itself, and brings him to an ‘404
page not found’ screen.
Jake clicks back, ready to just move to another article. But…they’re all gone. The last article on the page is the one about Annabeth designing a building at 24.
Jake sighs. Maybe his computer is broken. He clicks the one about the book (maybe Amy wants to read it), and, miraculously, it loads.
The book does seem interesting, but that’s not what Jake is looking for. (Though he does write down the title in his notes app.)
Jake looks at his desk. Maybe he should finish his paperwork before doing more research into his coworkers.
Percy, Jake and Rosa all seem pretty upbeat when they come in to work on Friday.
“Happy new year! And thank god it’s Friday.” Jake says, sitting down after grabbing a cup of coffee. “I’m not sure I could handle another day straight of this.”
“Happy new year.” Percy responds immediately. “And, yeah, thank gods. I can’t believe no one else wanted to work these days with us.” He jokes, leaning back in his chair to stretch his back. “Does it
usually go back to normal after new years? Like, normal caseload- and paperwork load.”
“Yeah. Holt likes us to get all our forms done before the new year, so that’s why he doesn’t usually assign cases unless it’s urgent. Either way, there’s never many cases. I’ve worked under different captains and even when they do assign cases, there’s never that many.”
The day goes by quickly, with everyone in a cheerful enough mood to not mope around.
When the clock strikes five, Rosa gets up. “Well, I’ve had enough of y'all for a while. See you Monday.”
“Bye!” Jake and Percy say, almost in unison, as they both start packing up their own things.