A month after Tartarus, Percy and Annabeth were back at camp. They were forced to sleep in their own cabins despite the silent protests of the rest of the former Argo II's crew. The nightmares were a regular occurrence, and they had a range of intensity. Some nights they could sleep through it without disturbing anyone. Some nights it was terrifying to watch. Tonight was one of those nights.

Malcolm, who had taken over head Athena cabin member in Annabeth's absence and unfit state, and most of the other Athena campers were huddled on one side of the Athena cabin. The screams shook them to their core. The younger ones scrambled to latch onto the older ones, seeking comfort and escape from the terrible sobs emerging from Annabeth. Malcolm knew he had to take control of the situation, but he too was a little frightened right now. He and Annabeth had become pretty close, as demigod siblings go, and seeing her in this state was scary and it took him a moment to think about the logical thing to do. Finally after hearing her screaming Percy's name over and over, he realized what had to be done. He walked briskly towards the side where his siblings were gathered and pulled the one closest to the door of the cabin along to walk with him. It was a young boy name Casper, he was 8 or 9, with shaggy dirty blond hair and grayish-green eyes. The fear shone through, but Malcolm knew he needed to take action quickly.

He knelt so he was eye to eye with the boy and said to him, "Hey Cas? Buddy? I know this is scary, but I promise Annie will be alright. I need you to go on a mission for me alright? Can you run fast as you can to the Poseidon cabin and get Percy? Can you do that for me?"

The little boy looked back with a scared and confused face but nodded profusely, then turned and ran out the door.

Casper ran all the way to the poseidon cabin and knocked frantically on the door. He was greeted by a shirtless boy whose shaggy hair stopped just above his eyes and left the dark bags underneath the green orbs out in the open. He rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, before registering the young boy in front of him.

He knelt and the boy looked him in the eyes, saying, "Annie is screaming for you."

Percy bolted up and ran past the boy, ignoring him as he rushed to get to Annabeth. He ran through the cold night air, not caring about the temperature. Finally he reached the Athena cabin and burst in the door. A couple of Annabeth's sisters looked startled and blushed at his naked torso, but of course he didn't notice that as he surged forward to reach his Wise Girl. He pushed through the small gaggle of Athenians that had gathered around her and sat on the bed next to her. Pulling her close to his chest, he began to whisper in her ear, gradually getting louder when he couldn't hear himself over her horrific screams.

"PERCY!" she repeated, thrashing in his grip, "NO DON'T LEAVE!"

"Shhh, Annabeth please, I'm right here, I promise. I didn't leave you. I won't ever leave you." It always broke his heart when her dreams included him leaving or being taken away, which of course was the case more often than it wasn't. His nightmares almost always included losing her, but that didn't compare to the gilt when she screamed about losing him in her sleep.

"PERCY!" she cried out again. Her siblings flinched around them but remained silent, unsure what, if anything, they could do.

"Annabeth, listen I'm right here, I Love you and I didn't leave you. I wouldn't do that to you. Come on Wise Girl, come back to me. It's not real. Shh, it's not real I promise, I've got you," he said quietly but loudly enough that all the campers of Athena could hear the absolute pain in his voice.

It took multiple rounds of comforting words and gut wrenching screams for Annabeth to release a hiccuped sob and curl further into Percy's chest, muttering his name over and over. He held her close to him as they attempted to settle down. Her siblings began to move back to their beds slowly, watching Percy and Annabeth the whole time. The couple laid down on her twin bed, latched on to each other for dear life. Not a single camper uttered a word about it. There was nothing to be said. Separating them because of camp rules was simply not an option.

Annabeth sobbing quietly into Percy's bare chest listening to his soothing voice in her ear.

"I love you Annabeth. I love you."

Everyone in that room knew that it was true. Nothing would separate the two. They would spend months, even years, learning to cope with the trauma, but they would always have each other. No matter what