Double Life? Make it Triple

Chapter 10

A/N

Hey! So, my elbow hurts like hell and it's been hurting for five hours straight after I banged it, but I really wanted to put up another chapter, so yeah. Hope none of you had heart attacks for me updating two days in a row.

IMPORTANT: CHAPTER SIX NOW HAS AN EXTRA PAGE OR SO FOR THE ENDING. GO CHECK IT OUT!

Enjoy!

I peered around the corner, scanning the park for any signs of my friends. Leo popped his head over my shoulder. Thalia stuck hers over the other.

"You see them?"

I shook my head. "No, not ye-wait! There they are, over by the swings." Leo, Thalia and I were, ahem, totally not spying on Piper and Jason. This morning, Jason had asked Piper if she wanted to go for a walk with him, and Leo had suggested we see if he finally asks her out.

Leo rubbed his hands together. "Okay. So, if we don't think he's gonna make a move, we'll have to intervene. I say we-" I cut him off before he could suggest some crazy plan.

"We can just text him and tell him to hurry it up," I suggested. Leo stared at me blankly, while Thalia was smirking.

"Well, I guess that could work just as well as the fireworks...but it wouldn't look as cool," he added under his breath. I grinned, then turned to face the two lovebirds. Except there wasn't two of them anymore. I elbowed Leo, who craned his neck around the wall we were perched behind. "Woah woah, woah. Who is that?"

A dark-haired girl had joined the conversation, but we still couldn't hear it.

"We need to hear that," Thalia stated, as if reading my mind. I nodded, and pointed to a bush a few metres away from them.

"How about we hide there? But we'll have to crawl over there."

"Done. This is New York, it's not like it's the weirdest thing they've ever seen." We crouched down, and began crawling commando-style towards the bush. I winced when my sleeve caught on a rock, and nearly ripped. Thalia got there first, followed by me. When I got there, I sat up on my knees and stared through the leaves. Leo came up beside me and pulled a few branches apart to give him a better view.

"Oh, Piper, this is Reyna," Jason introduced. "And Reyna, this is Piper." I felt Leo hiss next to me.

"What's he doing? He's gonna screw this up!" I motioned frantically for him to be quiet, but Piper's eyes flicked in our direction anyway. I dropped my head into my palms, and Thalia's eyes rolled.

"Hey, I'm just gonna go to the bathroom. I'll be back," she told the other two, and headed straight in our direction. A Porta Potty was conveniently behind our hiding spot. I cursed quietly.

Piper squatted in front of us, an incredulous expression on her face. "Are you guys kidding me? What gives?" Leo, Thalia and I exchanged a guilty look.

"You see...we wanted to get Jason to ask you out, so we followed you to make sure he did?" Leo's answer came out as more of a question. Piper's glare made him shrink.

"You guys...whatever. Reyna's here, what do I do?" She asked desperately. I couldn't think of an answer, but I noticed Jason and Reyna still talking. I tilted my head to try listen better.

"...you know you could put her in danger, it's not fair to her." That was Reyna.

"I know, but I really like her," Jason was saying in response. Leo, Thalia and Piper were oblivious

"You've just been promoted, Grace. You know what that could do?" I sat bolt upright, which rustled the bush a little more than I would've liked. Both conversations on either side of me ceased. s**t.

"Uh, Annabeth? You okay?" Thalia asked. I shook my head, and saw Jason coming towards us. Oh, boy. I decided not to wait for him to get here and see all of us, so I stood up and walked towards him, making a 'stay there' gesture behind my back.

"Annabeth? What are you-?" I interrupted him before he could finish.

"'Just been promoted', huh?" I asked, my eyes narrowing. "She just called you Grace. So, Girwell was an alias?" The fact was right on the tip of my tongue, but I didn't dare say it. He bit his lip.

"I was meaning to tell you guys, but I didn't want the others to be put in danger, and I didn't want you to hate me," he answered quietly. I felt my glare fade. I understood how confused and trapped he must be feeling. He was practically walking on eggshells by being friends with me, and I admired how he hadn't run away from it all.

I kept my voice lowered so no one else would be able to hear our conversation. "I won't tell anyone. But, two things. Firstly, which one?"

He didn't need me to elaborate. "SPQR. What's the second thing?"

"If your last name's Grace, well, there's a Grace in the Hunters, and I was wondering if you were related?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm an only child. It's not that uncommon a name."

"Alright. Well, I'll leave you to...do whatever you need to do." I coughed. "Ask out Piper."

He scowled at me. "Wait, why are you here in the first place?" I didn't know what to say, because I didn't really want to tell him I'd been spying, so I ran back to Thalia and Leo, and yelled at them over my shoulder.

"Abort mission! I repeat, abort mission! He's onto us!"

Percy's POV

I glanced around, my hand hovering over my knife. I'd gotten myself surrounded by a group of SPQR members, with a few Hunters and Amazons thrown into the mix, because why not? I'd been on a mission for Dionysus (I was starting to believe Kayla about me just doing his dirty work), and I was supposed to meet some other dude under the name of Hermes. But it looked like I'd been sent to my death. Except I wasn't ready to die just yet.

"Jackson, explain to me just why, exactly, you're in Hunter territory," Grace asked me, glaring with her fierce blue eyes. I shrugged, glancing around the circle I was trapped in.

"I mean, it's also SPQR and sss territory, so I was pretty proud of myself for managing to piss off three gangs, all in less than five minutes!" I replied cheerfully, trying to stall as I analysed my surroundings for a possible escape. There wasn't one. I'd stupidly gotten myself caught in a dead-end alley way, so where was I supposed to go?

"Quit being smart, and answer the question," an sss snarled at me. I thought her name was Doris. Doris Veela, or something like that.

"Well, Veela-"

"It's Veal," she snapped, cutting me off. I shot her an annoyed glance.

"Alright then, Veal. Thanks for the compliment. I agree, I am pretty smart," I replied, grinning widely. I was quick to continue when I caught sight of her glare. "But, to answer your question, I'm here to meet up with my girlfriend. Have some quality time together. You probably scared her off."

Grace snorted loudly. "Bullshit. I know for a fact you don't do girlfriends, Jackson. So, what's the real reason? Recruiting? Scouting? Or I might just have to persuade you in...other ways," she added, pulling out a long knife. I prayed to every deity I'd ever heard of for a miracle. I always got myself out of these situations, so why was now any different?

"I say kill him while we have the chance," a tall blonde boy with stringy hair piped up.

Ramirez-Arellano (I normally just called her Arellano, because who can seriously be bothered saying both names? Not me) snapped at him. "Shut up, Octavian. Killing him would get us a large enemy in the Half-Bloods. We've got to be careful about this." I saw a newcomer peer into the alley, who then briskly kept walking. I could've left it, but I was Percy Jackson, of course I wasn't going to waste an opportunity to escape.

"Hey! Blond dude! Where you going?" I called loudly. Half the people around me turned to look, which wasn't enough to give me a chance to escape. Damn it.

The guy looked conflicted, but eventually sighed and walked down the alley. "Is this Jackson?"

I nodded. "That would be me, yeah. So, you've heard about me?" He shot me a vicious glare, and came to a stop two metres away from me.

"Yeah, I have," he said quietly, then glanced over my shoulder. "Arellano?" She gave him a quick nod, which I didn't understand until I got a fist right in my face. I stumbled back, but didn't do anything to try and stop my now bleeding nose, except for wiping some blood off of my mouth. It was a shame, I'd used the wrist with my bandana on it, so it now looked a very appealing shade of red.

"What the f**k was that?" I spat, blood landing on the concrete.

The guy glared at me. "That was for my friend. Don't kill him, she'll want revenge." Well, then. I mean, I wasn't being killed now, but the blonde guy sounded like he was just delaying it. Without warning, he kicked me with enough force to knock me over. I braced myself and landed on my elbow, which was probably one of the dumbest things I've ever done, and even I'll admit that that's saying something. The jolt numbed it for a second, but the pain flooded in right after. I had no alternative but to clutch it in a ball and hope that everyone forgot about this embarrassing scene.

Not likely.

The guy kicked me again (on my elbow, too. Douche) and nodded sharply at Arellano. I lay my head down and tried to even my breathing. I felt like I was going to puke or pass out. Both options sucked. I realized I'd probably broken something, and would therefore have to get a cast, ultimately blowing my cover at school, which would not be good. I'd just have to avoid school til it got better. If I showed up and someone followed me home, they could hurt my mom and Paul and my half-brother Tyson.

I opened my big mouth as the dude walked away. "Not strong enough to fight me unless I'm down, huh? Who are you, anyway? If you're new to this scene, beating a guy up while he's on the ground isn't a very heroic way to begin your career."

He turned back, eyes blazing. "Actually, I'm a praetor of SPQR. Not that you'd know what that meant."

"Ah, a praetor. So, what's your name, hotshot?"

"Name's Grace," he replied roughly. "Now-"

"Wait," Grace, uh, the girl Grace, interrupted. "Jason Grace?" I wondered why she'd just used his first name, because that was a major no-no in our world (unless you didn't care if people knew where you went to school or lived or whatever, but most people do), but then something dawned on me. Several things happened then, in quick succession.

"Hold on, are you Jason Girwell?" I exclaimed in shock. I did not see that coming. His hair looked darker in the shadow, and his eyes were now blue, but I could clearly tell it was him now I was looking. "Why are you hanging out with Carter?"

Jason looked massively confused. "How do you know that?"

Girl Grace was looking seriously conflicted. "You...you're my brother!" Complete silence. No one had been expecting that.

"What do you mean? I'm an only child," he replied.

"Dad always told me Beryl was dead, but...you must be living with her. You tried to eat a stapler when you were two, right? That's how you got that scar by your mouth." I resisted the urge to burst out laughing at that, and instead watched on with interest.

"How...no way. I don't...I don't even know you," Jason muttered. Grace smiled ruefully.

"Oh, you do. But, uh, I'm not going to tell you right here. I think I've already said enough," she said somewhat sheepishly.

I cleared my throat loudly, gaining everybody's attention again. "Excuse me, but if you're going to kill me, could you please get on with it?"

"We are not going to kill you today, Jackson," Zoe Nightshade chimed in. "I am sure that your gang will do that when you fail your mission." Aw, s**t. Where the hell was this Hermes dude, anyway?

"Well, in that case, I'd better be off," I said, standing up and cradling my arm. "Bye now!" Then I hightailed it out of there, not my failed mission barely even crossing my mind.

So that's that. I've decided to answer my reviews in my authors notes (I mean, there's not that many of them, so it's not like it'll take up much space). So:

ionlyreadthebest: I honestly don't view my story as that amazing, but if you think it's worthy of that, then that's seriously cool. I really appreciate the vote of support

Guest: Thanks for the vote of confidence, mate. Glad you're liking it

Macy113456789009 (and yes, I copied and pasted the numbers): I'll keep continuing as long as I get signs that people like it. Thanks for reading my story!

Sally Stevens: I will admit I haven't actually worked out the full plot, and I just write what I think might work (as I do with everything. I'm nothing if not unconventional). So, I can actually answer all your questions without anything being a spoiler, so in order:

I think you know the answer to the first one, but yeah, Jason is a member of SPQR

Hazel is, in fact, in SPQR, and I just noticed I forgot to put like half of chapter six up, so thanks for making me go back to check where I put Hazel in. But yeah, she's in chapter six if you go back and look at it.

And Benvenuti is Chiara, if you've read Trials of Apollo. I've got a few ideas up my sleeve for Silena, but haven't decided on one yet.

So that was chapter 10. Hope you enjoyed it

HV