Double Life? Make it Triple

Chapter 5

A/N

I don't have anything to say here, just my answer from the last chapter.

I don't have one in particular, but I liked the whole 'dam' and 'schist' incidents, and I'm only going to say this: go to my profile. There are a bunch of quotes on there.

"Hey, Chase!" Calypso yelled. I raised a hand.

"Hey, Atlas! How's it going at Ogygia?" I asked. Ogygia was her store, which she also lived in. Since she only came to school half the time, she had the shop to make a living. She did all sorts of stuff that I didn't imagine someone of her sort could manage. Then again, everyone thought I was an over achiever when really, well.

"Great. You should stop by sometime. I could fix you up with some decent shampoo, give your hair some extra volume," she said dryly.

"Yeah, I'll take you up on that. Where're Rodriguez and Nakamura? We're meant to be stopping off at the downtown bank in ten minutes," I asked. She jerked a thumb down the street.

"Playing one of their dumb drinking games," she said.

"Don't you play their drinking games?" I questioned. She smirked.

"Ah, yes. But when I play, I go by my rules," she grinned mischievously.

"Well, see ya, Atlas!" I headed for the street where the two numbskulls would be. I spotted them both chugging from shot glasses. Luckily, the bottle with them was still full. It must've been their first shot.

"Yo, bozos! We got bank robbing duty tonight. Funds for some kinda plan Castellan hooked up," I said. They turned to me.

"Oh, right. That. C'mon, Nakamura, let's go," Chris stood up, and followed me. Once we reached the spot, I made sure they knew the plan. I went in. I got the money. They made sure no one caught me. I got out.

"Got it?" I checked. They nodded.

"Well, see you two later. I'm going in." I jumped up onto the Dumpster, and grabbed a hold of the pipes intertwining up the building. I scaled them, until I was standing on the roof. The view from up there was amazing.

"Woah," I breathed. The lights were all sparkling and, in the slight dew was making them hazy. I found the pipe, and unscrewed the lid. Taking a deep breath, I dropped down it, keeping my feet firmly on the side, and my back on the other. At the bottom, I coughed. Jeez. It just had to be a fireplace. Which led right to the safe, so getting covered in soot was worth it.

"Oh yeah," I muttered. "Let's check you out." I twisted the lock, and the safe popped open. After taking half the money (hey, don't want them noticing straight away...), I gently closed the safe, and turned around. And stepped back.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I snapped. He raised his palms in surrender, his eyes dark.

"Well, I was going to rob a bank, but apparently somebody beat me to it," Jackson answered, raising an eyebrow at the money bag in my hands. "Now, if you just wanna hand it over..."

"Heck no! I got here first, so it's mine! Finders keepers, losers weepers. So go weep. Rob another bank," I hissed at him.

"Well, I could go to or that trouble, or I could just take that," he gestured to my bag.

"Lazy, much? Anyway, how did you get down the pipe without getting covered in ash?" I asked. He grinned at me.

"I have my ways. Now, do you want me to smash that pretty face of yours again, or do you want to hand me the bag? Remember, no one can catch me without you getting caught too, sweetheart," he gave me a winning smile. Dang, he was smart. He was right, too. I was trapped. I saw four ways this could go, realistically.

I could hand over the money. Um, no.

I screamed, and pretended he dragged me up here to do the code on the safe. But how would I have known the code? Bad idea.

I could fight him, and get beaten up so badly I couldn't get out of there again. Besides, I'd lose the money.

Or fourth...well, I really didn't want to do it. But if it meant getting out of there safely with the money...

I put the bag behind my back, and took a step closer to him. Note to self: buy mouthwash with stolen money. This is going to mess up my tastebuds for days.

"I really don't want to fight you," I murmured, internally gagging as I stepped closer to him.

"No? Then don't. All you have to do is hand it over," he said, holding out his hand. I placed my free had in it.

"You know what I think?" I asked quietly.

"What?"

"I think you owe me," I stated. He tilted his head.

"And what do I owe you?"

"You don't remember? I think it was...two days ago? By the Dumpster?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember," he smirked. "You wanna finish that off?"

"I dunno. You tell me," I replied.

"You know, I got the impression two days ago you didn't really like me," he pondered. Oh my gods, dude, just stop stalling so I can get out of here! Jeez.

"Have you never heard of there being a thing line between love and hate, Seaweed Brain?" I asked bluntly. He raised his eyebrows.

"Seaweed Brain?" I pointed to the desk by the wall.

"Seaweed crackers. And seaweed cracker brain's too long," I explained. He nodded.

"Right. Are you always this..." he struggled for a word.

"Wise?" I offered.

"Whatever, wise girl. Are you?"

"I dunno, you tell me."

"Will you stop saying that?" he asked.

"I dunno, you tell me."

"Do I really have to shut you up?"

"I dunno, you. Tell. Me."

"You got it," he said, then closed the distance between us, held my wrists against the wall, and bent his head toward mine, all in one smooth motion, and placed his mouth on mine. It was going on...for a while. It wasn't, how to put it...let's just say that maybe I won't be needing that mouthwash. Definitely maybe. His hands were roaming over me. Why do guys do that? Honestly. Grinning, I flipped us around, and got my fist ready. Then I brought the money bag up, and smacked him in the head with it. He dropped to the floor, moaning.

"And that's why you don't try and outsmart a Chase." I turned back to the fireplace. "Oh, and by the way? You seriously need to learn to keep your hands to yourself. Really." I dropped in front of Chris and Ethan, and tossed the bag in their direction.

"Careful, it has germs," I said seriously, before walking away.

"What germs?" Ethan asked.

"Half-Blood germs," I called over my shoulder. Well, that was interesting. I dug around in my pocket for my phone.

Except, it wasn't there. Oh, that sneaky bastard. My phone hand been in my back pocket. I was going to kill him. It had a four letter pin, but I doubted that would stop him from breaking in. The only numbers it had were my mom, Jason, Leo and Piper. And then Pierre had my number, too.

Oh, crap. Pierre. I hoped like hell he wouldn't call me. Not until I got my phone back. But Jackson better not try track down anyone. Oh, no. This was bad.

"Hey, Chase! You got the money?" Luke called. I chucked the bag at him.

"You better have something worthwhile planned, Castellan. You do not want to know what I had to go through to get that. I'm not in a good mood" I snapped. Luke raised his eyebrows.

"I can tell. You look, uh, interesting. What'd you have to do?" he asked. I looked down at myself. My clothes were covered in soot, and my hair was a mess, from what I could tell from fingering it.

"I kissed a Half-Blood," I said in disgust. Luke straightened.

"About that. We'll talk about that later. Our relationship...where do we stand?"

"Wherever you want it to stand," I replied, shrugging.

"Well, I could use a distraction right about now. Whaddaya say?"

"Yeah? Well, I've got Half-Blood germs contaminating me, so it'd be nice to get rid of them," I replied. So I leaned up, and we spent the next five minutes or so in a full-out makeout session. Then Luke seemed to remember something I'd said.

"So, who'd you kiss?" He asked, pulling away.

"Jackson," I answered. His eyes narrowed.

"Chase, out of all the people who you could've-why?" He asked simply.

"It was either that or be beaten up. He stole my phone." Luke looked down.

"Chase, you're getting unreliable. First you lose a fight to a Half-Blood, and you haven't lost since you fought that guy who threatened you. Second, you nearly fail a robbery because of a Half-Blood. And both times, it's been the same Half-Blood. And Jackson, of all people. You're not as sharp as you used to be. You're on two strikes. I don't wanna do this, but if you hit three-"

"I'm unreliable, huh? I was forced into joining you. I've done nothing but obey you. Next time another gang offers me a spot, I might just take it," I snapped back.

"Who offered?"

"Maybe it was Jackson, Luke! Maybe I like him better than you! He treats me better than you, for one!" I retorted. Okay, no he didn't, but Luke didn't know all about the various times he mistreated me. Besides, it was a bluff anyway. Luke stood up.

"Did I force myself on you? Make a fool out of you? Beat you up out of cruelty? No. But if you like him more-"

"That's the thing. I don't like him better. I'll be back later, Castellan. And I expect to be treated right." I stalked out of the alleyway, wondering if maybe Piper was right, and that my thing with Luke wasn't really as great as it had seemed one year ago.

Yay or nay? This chapters question:

If you had to choose between being a dryad, naiad, nymph or satyr, which would you choose?