Chapter 10

"And no as I literally know nothing about this. I was just told to wait here and that's what I'm doing. Pretty sure they assumed I'd tell you."

"Would you?"

"Depends on what I would get in return. Oh and you'd have to make a good case and convince me to give it to ya."

"You realize I have literally nothing right?"

Luke frowned, "You're making the opposite of a good case."

~~~~

Percy passed out sometime after their dramatic exit.

When he woke up he found himself lying on the floor with a jacket as a pillow. He was in a room which was empty of everything except for Luke who sat frowning at papers on the ground.

"Finally up I see," he commented glancing over at Percy.

Percy nodded slowly as he sat up, "Where is everyone?"

"Out gathering supplies and other things," Luke responded. "It was my turn to be on Percy Watch."

"Right..."

"We found a tracker on you," Luke informed him. "Leo used some techy things to scan you and there is one. But it seems it's in your stomach- meaning it's been there since before we broke you out- so we can't exactly stick it on a car headed elsewhere like we planned. So we are gonna have to improvise and-"

"That's the real reason they aren't here isn't it?" Percy frowned drawing Luke's gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"I have the tracker in me," Percy started looking down at the papers Luke had, a mess of scribbled notes and numbers all of which were barely legible. "Because of that I'm the one they want the most. So if they came for me here they would only find you and not the rest. As since you have the weakest power out of everyone they won't be as concerned if you manage to get away. Right? It doesn't take that many people to grab a few things to eat." Percy looked up into Luke's blue eyes and looked for any sign he was wrong.

Luke's eyes dropped down to his pages which he began to scoop up and organize, "I never said that."

Percy shook his head with a sad smile, "No you didn't, and I will them that if they ask."

"Did any of them ever mention S2 to you? Back there I mean." Luke asked changing the subject.

Percy shook his head, "No, what is it?"

Luke spread out his papers again this time laying them so Percy could see, "That's what I'm trying to figure out. Back when I escaped the facility Thalia and I were in... I found this journal, it's a strange read and certainly hard to read since it's writer seemed to have lost it at some point, and a lot of it had its pages torn out. Either way I had deciphered a good portion of it when they nearly caught up with us and I lost it. But when we were in that record room before we burned it down, I found these. It's the same handwriting and frantic notes, but unlike the rest of the journal which had talked about the tests and bits of the writers life before hand all of these refer to S2. Something about it happening soon, or it already did or I don't know, but I got the S2 part."

Percy frowned at the pages, the mix of the horrid handwriting and his dyslexia working against him, "How can you make anything out? This handwriting is horrible."

Luke chuckled and turned the pages toward himself, "When you stare long enough you can begin to understand, it took me a while to though."

"Does anyone else know about those notes?" Percy asked him.

Luke shook his head, "Thalia knows about the journal but she thought it was a waste of time, and I figured it would be best not to share about these when I was supposed to have burned them."

"And you're telling me because?"

"Because you're right," Luke responded looking looking up and meeting Percy's eye. "They want you the most."

~~~~

As Percy had expected the others didn't show their faces, he and Luke remained alone even after night fall. They both sat around a small fire in the middle of the room which he had learned was an old garage or shack of sorts.

They sat in silence other than the occasional crunching of chips or either of them reaching in the bag to take one.

Percy shifted and winced as he remembered the wound in his leg. He carefully moved to lay on his back his eyes toward the dark roof with its hole which revealed the stars further above.

"Will I ever get to know the details of this use-Percy-as-bait plan before it happens?" Percy asked looking back to Luke.

"I'm pretty sure that's not what they called it," Luke responded, "And no as I literally know nothing about this. I was just told to wait here and that's what I'm doing. Pretty sure they assumed I'd tell you."

"Would you?"

"Depends on what I would get in return. Oh and you'd have to make a good case and convince me to give it to ya."

"You realize I have literally nothing right?"

Luke frowned, "You're making the opposite of a good case."

Percy rolled his eyes and looked back to the broken ceiling.

"So what happened to you exactly?" Luke asked him. "After we were split up?"

"I was shot in the leg and ended up in the hospital," Percy started turning to lay on his side so he could face him. "Then I was broken out of it by two brothers, Travis and Connor by mistake apparently they were looking for someone else. I'm still not exactly sure why they were breaking people out of hospitals and away from the cops but I wasn't going to question when they got me out of there. And then I ended up on a weird road trip with them and their friends to find you guys, well more specifically Leo. They claimed they used to rob banks with him."

Luke took in this information with a slow nod, "Leo never mentioned his group."

Percy shrugged, "They were all pretty weird but nice. The Stolls were-"

"Stolls?" Luke repeated.

"Yeah, uh that was Connor and Travis' last name. We also ended up meeting..." Percy trailed off as he saw Luke's hand clench into a fist. "What? Is something wrong?"

Luke shook his head, "Nothing, I-I was just reminded of something," he stood up quickly. "I'm gonna see if it's possible for someone to switch me. I gotta do something."

Percy didn't get to say another word as Luke quickly and Percy was left alone beside the fire. Silently he wondered what he had done to upset Luke, but the thought was gone when he noticed the papers Luke had left behind. Curiosity drew Percy to reach for them. Once again he couldn't properly read a thing they said, but he attempted anyway.
He wasn't sure how long he had squinted at those pages but after doing so he found he could only make sense of S2 and he was pretty sure that was only because that's what he was looking for. After a few moments he gave up and pushed them aside. "I wonder what S2 stands for," Percy mumbled to himself.

He gave a sigh and pushed himself up into a sitting position, wishing he had some sort of pain medication or at least another person.

It was strange being alone.

He had spent so much of his life alone, before he was broken out of the facility. Now he had barely been gone, but already he realized that he missed the comfort of other people, that he had taken their company for granted.

No, he didn't like to be alone.

Because when you're alone you reflect, and there's no one to distract you from doing so. And perhaps it was because it was the first time had been forced to reflect since he was broken free, that tears stung at the corner of his eyes.

He closed his eyes tight as he shook his head harshly as he tried not to relive his life worth of mistakes. He shook his head again and opened his eyes- but he froze at the sight of red.

The red beam of light was between his eyes, he could tell that much. And he could also tell it came from the crack in the door that Luke must've left open in his hurry to leave- no it came from above, from the hole in ceiling- no it came from both.

Percy didn't move, he barely breathed, but his eyes flickered around continuously as he felt his heart rate increase. He strained his ears, listening for the sounds of the others fighting those who had surrounded him. Something to tell him that they hadn't run off without him... again.

The door to the shed opened and in walked a few people in suits. Percy was pretty sure he hadn't seen them before, but it's not like that meant much.

"Have you enjoyed your playtime?" A woman asked him in a sickly sweet voice. "I see you changed up your look during that time. Well, we are here to pick you up from your play date."

Percy swallowed, "I'll run away again."

"And we'll catch you again," she shrugged. "Because I'd say this was quite beneficial training."

Percy was about to respond when his voice faltered as things clicked in his mind. Why would she call this beneficial training? And why did they put a tracker in me before I escaped?

Percy gave a sharp intake of breath as he looked up to her, "You let me escape... didn't you?"

She gave him a smile, "We figured intense stressors would help you awaken more powers and get stronger. And we were right! We knew the facility was being scouted so we lowered our defenses. It's sad to say the other test subjects haven't had as much growth as you though."

"Why am I the only one with a tracker?" Percy demanded.

"Oh honey, who said you were the only one with a tracker? You're just the only one with a tracker, who matters."

"But why-"

"I've had enough chit chat," she stated suddenly. "Grab him and bring him back. I want to start up tomorrow night."

"Yes ma'am!"

People closed in around him and Percy was powerless to do nothing but let them grab him. He didn't have enough control over his powers to stop them, and the beams of light on his head still weren't exactly comforting. He was hauled to his feet and marched (well limped) toward the door as a man walked up to the woman in charge.

"What about the others ma'am, the seven of them are nearby."

"Leave them," she said with a dismissive wave as Percy was brought outside. "they aren't importan- seven?"

Percy glanced back at her to see her confused as she looked at something on a screen with a frown. "There were five in that facility including him, and then the other two. If you're not counting him in your seven, then who's the other one?"

"Ah, I guess it's my turn to make an appearance then?"