#everything for percy. she married gabe to protect him. she made herself a target for the minotaur to let him escape

[maigetheplatypus57]

I've already seen some people explain better why sally standing up to gabe doesn't negate her being a victim of abuse and I'm by no means an expert on abuse or abuse victims but I just felt the need to point out that what could've motivated sally to directly talk back to gabe like that was the fact that Percy was there.

Percy, the kid who she probably hadn't seen in a while because he was a boarding school. The kid who absolutely adores her and looks up to her, which would've motivated her to at least act (in her mind, we already know how strong she is) like the strong parental figure he needs in his life. The kid who has just been expelled and really needed her comfort, something that would've been significantly harder to give with Gabe in the same house. The kid who she's already decided at that point to send to Camp Halfblood for his own safety and wellbeing, and maybe she didn't want some of his last memories of her to be begging and pleading, instead turning it into a negotiation where she had just a little more power and be his cool strong mom (and isn't it bad enough that she had to negotiate just for gabe to not be mad for using a car that was mostly likely paid with her own god damn money?).

We don't know how Gabe and Sally act when Percy isn't home because we're seeing them from Percy's perspective. Hell, Percy only finds out that Gabe is physically abusive towards Sally near the end of the book, which means that Sally's been trying to shield him from that violence as much as possible. Maybe, if everything had gone to plan and Sally had successfully dropped off Percy at camp and returned home, maybe there would have been a worse fight with Gabe when she got back. Maybe she Is a cowering hapless victim when Percy's not there (which I don't necessarily believe but again, not an abuse expert).

But for just one night, Sally had her kid with her. A kid who needed love and reassurance and was in danger from forces he didn't even know about. A kid who she Needed to get out of the house to their cabin as soon as possible to protect him. A kid who she loved and adored, whose safety and wellbeing outweighed everything else, even her own safety. A kid that she would face down the god damn minotaur for.

So fuck man, is it really so hard to believe that she would risk one moment of defiance against her asshole husband for the son she loves?