[Another day, another meeting. This one's more tense than usual especially with the lack of a small bat-child. Percy's right hand is sloppily bandaged up and his jaw is tight as his eyes burn with anger.]

Dr. Lecter knows we know. He's known since Saturday. Hal confirmed with me he's the Deputy, just like Hal confirmed to Dr. Lecter that we were onto him.

[A shaky sigh.] What the fuck do we do now?

[He manages to catch her after the fiasco that is the corpse pile and he jogs up to her with Mrs. O'Leary in his wake, easily falling into step with her and dropping his voice to a lower tone.]

Hey, can I talk to you for a minute? I think most of the town's busy dealing with our corpse pile.

[Percy's never been afraid of the dark, but in the last few months both in Tartarus and in this town, the dark has meant too many dangerous things that've put him on edge. It's startling late when he enters the hotel and he's quiet about it, closing the door while making zero sound and keeping his steps light.

Of course, he doesn't account for anyone else being awake. The sounds from the kitchen alarm him but he narrows his eyes, a hand on Annabeth's dagger at his hip as he steps closer to see what's going on. After everything, he refuses to be caught off-guard.

...and then he notices who it is and he sighs without thinking about it. Of course. Why isn't this a surprise?]

Man, what're you doing? [Will, why are you this way? And what are you doing?]

[It's a few hours after the execution that Percy finds himself wandering back to the hotel. His thoughts are fuzzy and his head's clouded but his feet keep moving. It's what he has to do. The blood from Harry's head has dried on his hands and his clothes from when he tried to wipe off his hands, but that's irrelevant to him. Instead, he enters the hotel and stands in the hall to think of where to go next.

The kitchen? No, found body parts there. The bath house? No, found body parts there, too. His room? It's not somewhere he wants to go now. More than anything, he's realized he doesn't necessarily want to be alone in that space right now...so he turns for the lounge. That seems safe.

It's there he finds Noctis on one of the couches with Sara's sword and his expression twitches into something a little like happiness. It's not, but it's a sign he's better off with Noctis than others. Without a word he slowly enters the room and settles on the couch next to him, curling up a little before resting his forehead on Noctis's shoulder. Hi, friend.]

Remember when weekends used to be fun?

[It took time. Everything took time as it always did. It took time for them to all calm down, it took time to heal physical wounds, it took time to properly remove the evidence of obscene crimes...but in the evening they were able to gather in one place away from everyone else. It hadn't been easy coordinating everything, but it was necessary.

And so here they were. All seven of them.]

...I don't really know where to start. [His voice is tight, but determined.] But we need everybody on the same page. Who wants to go first?

[It was bittersweet, he thinks. Catching a murderer was one thing, but catching the wrong murderer simply because he confessed seemed anticlimatic and sad, but what else could be done?

After the execution and after some time, he finally finds himself heading back to the hotel. If he's at all surprised to see Sara outside, he says nothing, but he does call out a little distance away to alert her to his presence.]

How's your hand?

[It's some time after the investigation that Percy finds himself making rounds and checking on those he hasn't yet. He knows Yuna's in good hands, as is Xion, and that takes some weight off of him. He finds that he's restless though, frustrated that somehow something like this happened again under their noses.

It's why he finds Barnham in the hall holding a towel, and he tilts his head carefully. There's a box in his arms and Mrs. O'Leary's at his feet, barking cheerfully at the man who helped save her.

Percy, on the other hand, seems a little bummed to see Barnham's demeanor.]

Mr. Barnham? [Just a tentative address, just to see how Barnham's really holding up.]

[You know. Before their grave-digging adventures.

So anyway, Thursday sure was something. This whole week sure was something, and Percy's head is spinning and after returning Xion to where Xion needed to be, he'd sat outside of the hotel holding onto Annabeth's letter. The whole thing made his chest hurt, heart sick and broken all over again. And yet, strangely, it motivated him.

It gave him something to think about and it reminded him that he had things to bring up. There were two people in this stupid town that he truly trusted and it wasn't hard to flag either of them down. He suggested that they meet in Natalie's room later that evening (seeing how she currently didn't have a roommate) and went back to his room for some time.

By the time their meeting time arrives, Percy comes back to Natalie's room with a box under his arm and a piece of paper in-hand. He enters the room after knocking, looking up at his two companions. It didn't surprise him that Jason beat him there, seeing how he was taking time to gather things.]

So...before we say anything, can we just agree that pretty much everything is going to stay between us for right now?

[He's on the porch in the later part of the afternoon, staring at the sky as well as he can with Mrs. O'Leary's head on his stomach. It's strange, really, how empty his thoughts seem now that his ideas girl is gone. Annabeth always brought out the best parts in him, the thoughtful, creative pieces.

Then again, he knows it's because he knew he had to be quick to keep them alive.

Now...his hand idly scratches his dog's ears and his eyes are half-closed when he hears footsteps behind him. He rolls his head back enough and spots small feet before looking up into the girl's face. There's a half-smile.]

Where are you heading off to?

[Easygoing. Conversational. Less panicked than waking up with a horse in their room, at least, and it's only for Xion that he shifts to fully sit up.]