I'm a bit late the to the Percy Jackson books but I just now got the chance to start reading for fun again and I fell in love with these books. I do not own the characters.

"Percy!" Jake Mason clapped me on the shoulder. "We're getting reports—"

"Later," I said. "Where's Annabeth?"

"The terrace. She's alive, man, but…"

I pushed past him.

There on the terrace, laying on a lounge chair was the reason for my existence (not that anyone but the gods knew that but they had other things to worry about). Yes people suspected but Annabeth and I had tried our best to keep it at just suspicion. But at the moment I could care less if it stayed that way or not.

I push through a group of Annabeth's siblings, immediately kneeling at her side and taking her hand in mine. My other hand is desperate to be placed somewhere else but even through the fever, Annabeth's gaze tells me what she wants.

Not in front of everyone.

I glance over to where Will is taking the bandages off and is examining the wound. I wanted to pass out then and there. There was no more bleeding but the wound was deep and a disgusting shade of green. Even I knew what that meant; Poison.

"Annabeth…" I choke out, trying to keep myself from crying. I can feel her hand give me a comforting squeeze. I focus solely on her and take some relief as I hear Will tell us that it wasn't as bad as it looked and begins healing it.

"Ow, ow, ow," Annabeth groans in pain and squeezes my hand as tight as she can. "This was pretty stupid of me, huh Seaweed brain?"

"Just a little," I tell her, trying to put some humor in it but failing miserably. As she lays still, I place a kiss on the back of her hand, ignoring the warning glare I'm getting from her.

"That should do it," Will announces. "We're going to need some supplies so I'll send some of the Hermes cabin to get them," he explains but I don't even look at him.

"I think they need to be alone," I hear Silena tell everyone. I give them all a nod and one by one they leave the terrace. I do a quick look around to confirm we're alone before going in to kiss Annabeth.

"I love you, you stupid, stupid girl," I say against her lips, feeling the fever in them.

"No more 'Wise Girl' then?" she asks with a laugh and I can't help but laugh sadly with her. She raises her hand and places it on my cheek and I instinctually lean into it. "You know you're cute when you worry."

"Then I must be absolutely gorgeous right now," I answer sarcastically.

I finally let my hand travel to where it had wanted to wander the minute I arrived at her side.

The slight swell of her abdomen.

There's no way anyone else would have noticed it at this point. If I wasn't as familiar as I am with Annabeth I wouldn't have noticed it either. But since the day we found out I have been as attentive as my ADHD has allowed me to be.

"This is all my fault, you shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be fighting right now, not in your condition," I begin to rant.

"We've talked about this Percy, before you left with Niko. We're fighting to save the world right now, a world where our child can be born," she begins to remind him. "You need me to win this war, we both know that. And if we don't win then there won't be a world for our child to be born into."

Her injured arm slowly makes its way to lay gently on top of mine.

"We'll be alright. He'll be alright. He's the grandson of Poseidon and Athena after all."

"You're still set on it being a boy?" I laugh.

"Of course I am."

And we stay like this for a few moments, alone as a little family.

"Why did you take that knife?" I finally ask, breaking the quiet moment we were having.

"You would have done the same," she answers. I know I would have, without a doubt. "Besides I couldn't let the father of my child die now could I?"

But she knew I now bore the curse of Achilles, that I was almost invincible, that I couldn't be killed in battle. Why did she only act when my one weakness was about to be attacked?

"Did you know?" I whisper.

"Know what?" she asks also dropping her voice.

"About my spot? My Achilles spot. The one place where I could be killed," I explain to her.

"I…I suspected you had one, anyone who bares the curse of Achilles has one. I just didn't know where yours was." Suddenly her gaze drifts away and she has a faraway look. "When you were being attacked, I felt a jolt, something inside of me that was telling me you were in danger and that I needed to help you," she turns back to look at him. "Where is it? The spot?"

I gently take her hand and lead it to the small of my back, to the one place that reminded me of my mortality. I felt a surge run through my body and by the look of it so did she.

"Right there. That's my spot."

She softly caresses it and if it was even possible I felt closer to Annabeth at that moment than I had before. I had told her on multiple occasions that she was my life and after discovering her pregnancy she and our child became even more so. Now however she did hold my life in her hand. She is the only one I trust and will ever trust with this secret, with my one vulnerability.

Well not my only one.

"When I went into the river, I felt I was drowning. Achilles had told me I needed to remember something that would ground me to my mortality. My mom, my dad, our friends all passed through my mind but nothing changed, I was still drowning in the river Styx," I see her trying to keep complete focus on what I'm saying, fighting the fever and exhaustion that are wanting to take over. "But then I remembered you and I saw you on a canoe with a little boy in your arms. You pulled me out and told me that I couldn't get rid of you two so easily. That's when I was able to come back."

When I finish I see tears in her eyes and am quick to wipe the ones that manage to fall out. I place my forehead against hers, feeling the fever going down a bit.

"I love you Annabeth Chase. I love you and our child more than anything. You two are my anchors, the things that keep me grounded, that keep me alive. And I'm going to make sure that for as long as I'm alive, I will take care of both of you," I vow to them both.

I seal it with a kiss and gently climb on to the lounge chair and wrap my arms around my world.

"Rest. When you wake up I'll still be here."

"I love you Percy."

"I love you too Annabeth."

I'm pretty sure that I quickly follow her into sleep