Chapter Text
The last thing Percy expects to find when he comes home to the apartment he and Annabeth share with a few of their friends is Hermes, standing in the kitchen. For a moment, he just blinks, glances at the clock on the oven, then back at the Messenger god. Annabeth is still at university until Friday, and Clarisse and Chris are already at Camp. Technically Nico and Will live here too, but they've been at Camp for the last three months.
"You know, there's this thing called knocking, and waiting to be invited in before you just pop into someone's house," Percy finally says, scowling half-heartedly at Hermes, who just smiles at him.
"You weren't here when I arrived," Hermes replies, like that is the perfect excuse.
Percy just sighs, because truthfully, he's used to it. Ever since Luke's death and Percy ensuring everyone recognized Luke as a hero in the end, Hermes has been overly involved in Percy's life. Just like before when Hermes was constantly pestering Percy to save Luke. Percy isn't exactly sure why Hermes has been so adamant about his gratitude and friendship—and it only got more extreme after Zeus was dethroned—but the look he's giving Percy now makes Percy think he's about to regret being on such friendly terms with the Messenger god.
"Why did you arrive?" Percy asks slowly, watching Hermes' face closely.
There's something heavy in the god's eyes, but Percy isn't sure what it could be—he hasn't heard about any new terrifying prophecies in a while, and things have finally been peaceful. But the look on Hermes' face is a heavy combination of what Percy wants to call fear and hope. Trying to think of what a god could possibly feel both of those emotions about makes Percy's stomach twist nervously.
"I have a favor to ask."
"Yeah, that much is obvious. What is it?"
"Can Luke stay here?"
Percy goes still.
There is no way I heard that correctly, he swears to himself.
Except he knows that if there is one thing Hermes would never joke about, it's Luke. His favorite son, the rebel turned hero that made all the wrong choices but had the right idea, and in the end, made one final, right choice.
Percy has a lot of feelings about Luke, still—he isn't afraid to admit that. But he isn't the only one that still has a lot of feelings. Annabeth still has too many nightmares, and sometimes she can't breathe when she thinks too hard about the day Luke asked her run away with him. Will still barely sleeps—still haunted even so many years later—unless Nico is right next to him. Chris still wakes up screaming, echoes of the Labyrinth's madness haunting him in sleep, even if his mind is clear when he's awake—apparently the Fleece doesn't extend to fixing dreams, and even Dionysus can only help on a dream to dream basis. And Clarisse…Clarisse is one of the worst of them, he knows, because her anger and pain is mixed with guilt. Silena and Manhattan haunt her, and on the bad days, Percy is the only one that can keep her from hurting someone—or herself.
"What?" Percy finally manages to force the word out.
"Can Luke stay here?"
"I'm sorry, it sounded like you just asked if Luke—your son who has been dead for almost seven years now—could stay here?? What does that even mean?" If the words come out a little sharper than Percy means, well, he has a lot of feelings about Luke, and right now, Percy feels more unsteady than he has in a long time.
"My Aunt and Uncle have agreed to allow him a chance to do better…" Hermes explains, and Percy's brows shoot up as his chest tightens uncomfortably. But Percy can tell there's more to it than just that.
"But?" He prompts, his expression shifting from shock to hesitant inquiry. He's not sure he wants to know how Hermes pulled this off, but he does want to know what is making Hermes look at him like that.
"He must remain under supervision by another demigod that can…handle him, if things don't… work out."
Oh.
Percy blinks slowly and takes a long, deep breath as he processes that. Where better to put him than in an apartment with two children of the Big Three—one in particular that has fought him time and time again. Percy lets out his breath and can see just how nervous Hermes is. He can't help but wonder if he was named specifically as Luke's…whatever he's supposed to be. Somehow, that wouldn't surprise him, but he honestly doesn't care to ask.
It's obvious that whatever he decides will determine Luke's fate. He hates having what feels like the fate of the world—someone's world, at least—resting on him again. But standing here in his kitchen with Hermes staring at him with a near-pleading look in his eyes, Percy finds himself thinking about Annabeth, and he knows there's only one thing he can do.
He sighs.
"Clarisse is going to kill him, you do know that, right?"
"You don't leave for Camp until Annabeth gets home," Hermes replies with a shrug, making Percy think the Messenger definitely waited until everyone but Percy was gone for a reason.
"And what about when we do go to camp? He can't stay in your cabin, or any of the others for that matter, and there is no way he'll be able to stay in the Big House, either. I know that technically, I'm in charge of Camp, but the rest of the gods—"
"Are already aware of the situation. Particularly…your father…" Hermes interrupts him and Percy just stares at him.
"How many people did you talk to about this before me? If I am the one who has to be responsible for him, I think you should be talking to me first, not last!" He growls, anger building in his chest as storm clouds darken the sky outside.
Hermes just meets and holds his gaze, though, and Percy feels some of his anger dissipate. This is Luke they're talking about. Of course Hermes did everything he possibly could to ensure this was possible before coming to him.
"So what, Luke gets to sleep in Cabin Three? Everyone is going to lose their minds about this, you know that, right?" Percy says, like he hasn't gotten permission from his dad over the years for some of his other friends to sleep in his cabin when they were having a rough time.
But this is different. This is Luke. If anything, back from the dead should be a Cabin Thirteen thing, but Percy also knows that really, if Luke is anywhere, he wants him close. Besides, he wouldn't do that to Nico and Will.
"Sooo, is that a yes?" Hermes, of course, ignores practically everything else that Percy has said. But Percy isn't surprised, he just sighs. Part of him can't believe what is about to happen, while another part isn't even all that surprised.
"When do I need to have a spare room ready?"
Usually, the spare room is for Thalia when she visits—technically there were two, the other for Estelle when his mom and Paul go out of town, but at this point it's just Estelle's room. Percy isn't looking forward to telling Thalia that she has to give up her room, but she stays in her brother's usually-vacant apartment half the time anyways, so Percy decides not to worry about it for now. The thought of Jason, though, does make Percy wonder if Hermes might have used his resurrection as a point to convince Hades and Hestia to allow this. He can only imagine how that conversation must have gone.
The smile that lights up the Messenger god's face does well to remind Percy just how much Luke was—is—truly loved, and he can't help but manage a small smile in return.
"Great! I'll be right back!"
Percy's smile immediately turns into a frown as Hermes disappears, ignoring his questioning again.
For a minute, he considers calling Annabeth, or Iris-messaging Nico. But he also knows that if he tells Annabeth now, she'll want to come home, and he doesn't want to distract her when finals are this week. If he Iris-messages Nico, there's a good chance he'll be with their other friends at Camp, and Percy isn't sure he wants to deal with everyone's reactions to this over Iris-message. Which leaves—
His thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door, and Percy just stares at the wall for a minute.
"That was fast," he mutters, having a pretty good idea of who it is.
As he makes his way back through the living room towards the door, Percy tries to mentally prepare himself for what—who—is most likely on the other side. Before he opens the door, he pauses to take a deep breath. He can feel the storm that was gathering outside earlier, still rumbling distantly as the rain starts to come down while his heart thunders against his ribcage. Suddenly, he doesn't feel nearly as calm as he did before—though, he's pretty sure that was shock, not calm, so maybe he's actually just finally reacting to what is about to happen.
When he opens the door, Percy feels everything in him go still. He swears that his heart stops too, even though he knows that's impossible. Hermes is standing there, and it's obvious that there was a quiet—and stilted, if Percy has to guess—conversation going on before Percy opened the door. But standing next to Hermes, half turned towards his father with an uneasy, unsure expression on the half of his face Percy can see—whether because he's with his father or because of this entire situation, he doesn't know—is Luke.
Both men look up a second after Percy opens the door, and he watches a myriad of emotions cross Luke's face as he stares. Hermes is grinning, but Percy barely pays any mind to the Messenger. All of his attention is on the younger man that is staring at him with wide eyes.
For a moment, Percy is thrown back to that day, pain and sorrow and anger flooding him as he watches the first friend he made at camp make a choice no one else could. He sees the hurt and the anger and the pleading in those dark eyes, and he remembers the promise he made.
"P-Percy?"
It's Luke's barely audible whisper of his name that pulls him from those memories, and Percy snaps back into focus. He blinks, watching the way Luke turns to look at his father with an expression that Percy thinks is worry. He doesn't know for sure what Luke might be worried about, but he can guess. Swallowing thickly, Percy manages to shake himself out of his stillness, and gives a small nod when Luke glances back at him.
"Hey, Luke," his voice comes out softer than he means it to. "Welcome back."