14Frank's day was pretty boring. Working as Camp Jupiter's co-Praeter was pretty boring while his wife was out on maternity leave. If they lived a less dangerous life, Haze probably would have kept working. But as soon as they found out she was pregnant, she was given a leave of absence for the baby's safety. Frank was happy with this, but he missed her. It was a lot less cheerful without Hazel around. They were staying at an apartment In Camp Jupiter so they would always be close, but Frank still went to work during the day.
"Zhang, there's a call for you," Percy called, sticking a phone through the door. As soon as Frank saw the phone, he knew it was something big.
"It's Hazel," Percy added. He was grinning ear to ear.
Frank grabbed the phone from his hand quickly. Hazel was in California visiting Piper, so Frank hoped nothing bad had happened.
"Sweetie! How are yo-,"
"HE'S COMING NOW! HOSPITAL NOW!" Hazel hung up the phone before Frank could even comprehend when she'd said. He dropped the phone.
"Lemme guess, you have to go?"
"We gotta go NOW!" Frank jumped up, pushing the unfinished hard-drive out of the way and grabbing his jacket.
"Already got the keys." Percy swung a keychain around his finger. The keys belonged the a SUV that Camp kept around in case of emergency. Frank wasn't sure Percy even knew how to drive, so he took the keys.
Nobody bothered to ask why the pair tore through the base so quickly. They assumed Percy and Frank were on a quest of some sort. Well, they were. But not for the gods.
"How fast does this car go?" Frank asked.
Percy shrugged. "I don't know, but if you want to make it to the hospital in time I would suggest we do our best to find out."
Frank did as he was told. He sped through the gate to Camp and onto the highway that Percy had nearly died on when he first arrived. There were two problems with this.
One: Frank was a bad driver.
Two: This was a highway, lots of people.
There were red and blue lights behind them before they even hit the main road.
"Think they'll give us a warning?" Frank asked with a nervous smile. Percy rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Yeah, no. Maybe if you had a screaming pregnant woman in the car. But it's just us the two of us in a black SUV. We don't really fit the stereotype. And I'm carrying a gun."
"Why do you have a gun?! That's a mortal weapon, the mist can't cover it!" Frank groaned. He glanced in the mirror at the cop, then back at the road. He took a deep breath and adjusted his grip on the wheel. Percy tightened his seatbelt.
"Why are you doing that?" Frank frowned.
Percy smiled. "Because I know what you're about to do. You do what you have to do."
Frank stared at him, mostly because he didn't trust himself to look back at the cop. He slowly let his eyes wander back the road, then he put the pedal to the floor. He nearly hit three cars in the first mile alone, and that amount doubled with every new siren. By the time they made it to the highway there were over nine police cars behind them and Frank swore he heard a helicopter in the distance.
Since Hazel was visiting Piper, the drive was a lot longer than it was supposed to be. The hospital was supposed to be a few minutes away, and she could always go to the base hospital if she needed. But instead, she was in a hospital in California. Frank took a sharp turn to get into the next lane, which caused a loud pop from somewhere in the SUV. Frank looked down and pressed both his feet down.
"Uh, Percy?"
"What?" Percy spoke dryly. "Please don't tell me we have a problem."
"We have a problem!"
"You've got to be kidding me."
"The brakes aren't working! We have no brakes!"
Percy slowly leaned his head back into the seat and groaned. "Move," he said.
"What?" Frank was beginning to think that Percy might be crazy.
"I've got this, move over!" Percy shoved him. This resulted in Frank having to awkwardly contort himself so Percy could get into the driver's seat. At some point, he transformed himself into a small monkey to get into the backseat.
Percy calmly drove, despite not being able to slow down. He never lifted his foot. Frank saw through the back windows that the tires were beginning to smoke.
"Uh, Percy?"
At this moment, Percy's phone rang. Percy quickly glanced at his phone, then turned on the bluetooth and glared at Frank to stay quiet. They were going to fast for any monster to track them, so Percy answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Perseus Jackson, where are you?" Annabeth's voice was threatening, as it usually was. Percy glanced out the window and swerved to avoid a SWAT van.
"Nothing much, just hanging with Frank."
"Really? Do you and Frank happen to be in Camp Jupiter's van being chased by half of the entire law enforcement in that half of California?"
"What? I don't know what you're talking about. We're at Camp watching one of your silly cop shows," Percy lied.
"Uh, Percy?" Frank prodded. Percy shoved him into the back seat and ignored him.
"Am I on speaker? Why am I on speaker phone. Perc-"
"Nothing's wrong, honey! By the way, the Zhang baby is on the way so you should go to the hospital," Percy said, his voice tight and slightly constricted.
"Why was this not your starter of this conversation?! When you picked up the phone the first thing you should have said is 'Frank and Hazel's baby is coming!' like seriously Percy,"
"Babe, calm down. I've got to go, we have a slight situation-,"
"PERCY, THE WHEEL IS ON FIRE GET OFF THE PHONE!" Frank yelled, losing his patience. The car was engulfed in silence as Percy took his eyes off the road to stare menacingly at Frank.
"WHAT-"
"Got to go! Love you!" Instead of hanging up, Percy grabbed the bluetooth and threw the whole device out the window. "She's going to kill me for that."
Cop cars began to flow in from the other direction. People screamed to get out of the way and everything around them was engulfed in chaos.
"Percy?"
"Frank, I swear to God if we have another problem."
"I'm about to be a father."
Percy's grip loosened on the wheel. He sighed and thought of what he could say to make Frank feel better. He knew what Frank was feeling. He thought back to the baby he'd left with Annabeth this morning. The bouncy, blonde haired, green eyed baby boy that was everything Percy had ever wanted in life.
"It's not that scary," he finally said.
"Really?" Frank smiled.
"Well, no. It is scary. It's terrifying. When you first pick him up you'll feel like you're going to break him. But don't worry, you won't. The baby will cry a lot, but he's ok. He'll scream so much and keep you up all night, but the first time he smiles or laughs when you tickle his stomach will reassure you that it's all worth it. Remember the first time you hold him because it will be the best moment of your life," Percy ranted. He missed his own son a lot by now.
Frank smiled. "I can't wait." He stared out the window and tried not to let Percy know he was about to cry. "Go faster."
The cops were getting closer. Percy decided to ignore this and go for as long as he could. He wasn't going to stop.
A phone rang. It was Frank's this time.
"It's Annabeth."
Percy groaned and smashed his head into the car horn. "Ok. Answer it."
Bracing himself for screams, Frank did as he was told. "Hi, Annabeth."
"Turn left," came the reply
"What?" Percy called, turning his head slightly so Annabeth could hear him over the rush.
"I'm watching the chase from the view of a news helicopter, and don't bother telling me it isn't you. I'd recognize that terrible driving anywhere. Now turn to the exit on your left before you miss it!"
Percy yanked the wheel to the left and turned onto the exit. "Good, now you should be able to take the back road four blocks down on your right to get to the hospital faster. I presume that's where you're going?"
Percy smiled and shook his head, muttering something about his wise girl before admitting, "Yeah. That's where we're going."
"Thought so. I'll meet you there."