Okay, so I've been working on this one for like, an unreasonably long amount of time. There are so many things wrong with it plot-wise (what plot?) but I don't really know where else I'd take this. I just saw the cover image on Viria's Tumblr one day and my imagination kinda ran from there. I kinda decided I'd post it when I finished no matter the result, because I thought it was a cool concept. I haven't had a second pair of eyes edit it, so I apologize in advance for any typos or dumb grammar mistakes. Anyway, I haven't seen anything like this on PJO side of the site before, so I hope you guys enjoy. If people like it, I may consider doing a few more.
"Guys," Leo's voice comes over his earpiece. "He'll be in that private room right next to the leftmost set of doors for the kitchen."
Percy folds his menu and checks his watch. It'll be soon, and he needs to make sure this operation goes perfectly. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jason do the same. Then, Jason turns his head slowly, as if looking around the ornate dining hall. Percy knows that Jason is really just finding the door to the private room Leo described, though.
Leo's across the river overlooked by the second-floor restaurant, the setting sun casting a long shadow of his van. He's sat atop it with his legs dangling over the side, playing on a tablet-or that's what passersby would think. In reality, he's watching camera feeds inside the establishment, making sure the team hasn't been detected.
Even from a few tables away, Percy can hear Piper's lighthearted laughter. She's a great actress. The same can't be said for Annabeth, however. She looks downright uncomfortable in her ocean blue dress. Then again, Percy understands the feeling. He's not exactly at home in his tuxedo. He doesn't think he's ever seen Annabeth in a dress. She's beautiful. She even manages to make a messy bun elegant.
"Lighten up a little," he says, as Annabeth plucks her glass of champagne off of the table. "I don't think I've ever seen someone so tense on a vacation to one of the greatest capitals of the world."
"I'm not tense, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth snaps, not fooling Percy for a second. "Plus," She scoffs, "I'd hardly call this one of the greatest capitals in the world." She puts her drink down and glances out over the river, making sure Leo still has his eyes on his tablet.
"Well, you know." Percy closes his menu and puts it aside, taking Annabeth's hand across the table. "What's the saying? When in Rome, say as the Romans say?"
Annabeth sighs and her shoulders relax slightly, giving in to Percy's touch.
"Do as the Romans do." She corrects, rolling her eyes. "But close enough."
"Do you know what you want?" Percy asks, changing the subject.
"Percy, you know we're not here to eat." She grumbles, her own menu on the table next to her, having been cast aside with barely a glance. "Also, I don't know anything about Russian food." She adds sheepishly, in a hushed tone.
Percy gasps in mock surprise, matching Annabeth's volume level. "The great Annabeth Chase doesn't know something?"
"Even if I didn't, shouldn't you be there to back me up?" She retorts, quietly.
"Ah, come on. You always win." Percy pouts.
"I guess it comes with being a Wise Girl, doesn't it?" She teases back, her fingers idly lacing with his.
"You could at least go easy on me."
Annabeth laughs, a crystal clear chime that Percy could listen to all day. "I will never make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."
Percy grins. "Still not used to it. Plus, isn't the constant risk of mission after mission not enough?"
"Don't even joke about that—missions are different." She warns, albeit still slightly playfully.
At that moment, their discreet earpieces crackle to life.
"That was cute and all, but maybe next time mute your mics. Remember when I told you about the button? Anyway, look alive. Actually just blend in, it's showtime. Wow, that's a really freakin' well armored truck." Leo trails off, obviously talking more to himself than the others.
The intel took months to acquire, and it's not even very solid. Normally, they wouldn't operate in such exposing conditions, but Annabeth's plan is the best way to verify the intel and act on it at the same time. A well-guarded government official, essential to the smooth operation of the Russian government. Having dinner in a restaurant in the capital. It seemed too good to be true. Sure, they have to be quiet about it, lest they bring all of the KGB's Moscow resources upon them before they extract, but it's the best chance they have.
"You're lucky that the regular rules don't apply to us, or you could get court martialed for that." Piper mutters, a smirk audible in her voice.
A light blush on her face, Annabeth looks Percy in the eye as she speaks, so as not to draw attention from the tables around her. It won't do to look like she's talking to herself.
"You're such a hypocrite, McLean."
A few tables down, Jason lets loose a laugh at Piper's mock-innocent expression.
Half of the team is composed of orphans. The other half, sent into police jurisdiction when their single parents couldn't handle them any longer. In short, they're misfits; trained from young ages as a half-experiment, half-contingency program. Of course, during the period of peace after the Second World War, nobody could've justified training children to kill. But times have changed. The constant nuclear war began. Morals loosened, and the need for elite operatives rose. Percy remembers his first day of training and winces. Back then, Annabeth put him on his ass faster than he could count to 5.
Percy notices their target striding through the door with an entourage of security as well as diplomats from surrounding countries. He squeezes Annabeth's hand before finally releasing it, picking up his glass of water.
Annabeth's hand feels cold, the sudden lack of Percy's warmth starting to fray her nerves once again. She's always the perfectionist on the team, demanding operations go as smoothly and cleanly as possible. Especially when they're her own plans. It doesn't help that she has to wear a dress, not that the actual dress is the problem. (Percy picked it out for her, and while she'll never admit it, Annabeth thinks Percy might have better taste in dresses than she does) The thing that unsettles her the most is how unprepared the team is in the event of an actual firefight. She hates the thought of getting shot. Moreover, she hates the thought of her teammates—especially Percy—getting shot, which is infinitely more likely, knowing how reckless he can be.
"Huh." Percy mutters, watching the target's group as they walk by their table. "We better make sure we get the right one."
Annabeth's earpiece crackles. "Of course we will, yo! You've got tech wizard Leo Valdez on your side!" She can't help but smile.
"Dude, who even says 'tech wizard' anymore?" Jason retorts. Annabeth notices the look of approval that flashes across Percy's face.
"I do, man. Don't question it. Alright, here comes their orders. Uhh, looks like our head honcho is having some sort of salmon dish?" Leo does his best to read lines on the menu through the cameras he's hacked.
Percy wrinkles his nose. Annabeth knows he's never liked seafood. Maybe she should ask him why at some point. Regardless, this is where the operation really starts. As if on cue, Piper stands up from her table and leaves the dining hall. A few seconds later, Jason moves to one of the kitchen doors and starts banging on it, complaining about some "damn steak." Approximately three seconds after that, Annabeth sees Piper leading two security guards down the street outside the second floor restaurant. Knowing Piper, those two guards will be in the river before they even know they're being fooled.
Jason has kicked up quite the storm—of a distraction, that is. Annabeth stands up from her chair, her heart pounding against her ribs. She gingerly weaves through tables to the second set of kitchen doors. As she pushes them aside, she's relieved to see that most of the kitchen staff is at the other set of doors, trying to placate an angry Jason with promises of a free meal. On the nearest cooktop is a filet of salmon, searing in a well-oiled pan. With it on the other three burners, various meats and vegetables in various states of preparation. The chef is on the other side of the kitchen with his back turned, presumably preparing other ingredients.
Okay… Quickly, Annabeth. Don't spill it now, she thinks, as she unscrews the vial of milky white liquid Percy handed to her just as she left their table. Her hands are a little shaky for comfort, but it's now or—
Oh shit.
A combination of the smooth glass surface of the vial, its small size and Annabeth's shaky fingers causes the vial to slip from her fingers momentarily. Her heart in her throat, Annabeth manages to catch the vial, but not before its contents have splashed over the four dishes being prepared before her.
Shit, shit, shit. Annabeth berates herself, but it's already too late. The liquid has become invisible upon contact with oxygen, and has no doubt already seeped into the food. She turns to leave as quickly as possible, but stops dead in her tracks as she hears a gruff voice behind her.
Annabeth's mind races through possibilities, ways out of the ridiculous situation she's found herself in. And somehow, it picks the most embarrassing one.
Annabeth turns around, slightly cross-eyed. "This isn't the washroom…" She slurs in Russian, doing her absolute best to appear drunk, despite only having actually been so twice in her life.
The chef, who has returned from preparing a sauce, raises an eyebrow. Annabeth has to kick it up a notch. She holds a hand up to her mouth, and pantomimes a gag.
The chef rolls his eyes. "Leave, now. The washroom is in the front foyer." Under his breath, he adds, "women… so weak to vodka."
Annabeth smiles, and turns to the door. She does her best quick-stagger-on-heels to make it back to the table where Percy is still sitting, a serene look on his face as he watches the river outside. Jason is already gone—he must've noticed Annabeth in the kitchen behind all the staff.
He raises an eyebrow, having noticed her strange gait. "You don't walk anything like that when you're drunk."
Annabeth sighs in exasperation. "He's not still watching, is he?"
Percy quickly glances at the door to the kitchen behind her. "Oh, he is. Got a plan, Wise Girl?"
"Yeah, actually. I do." Annabeth smirks, and grabs Percy by the tie.
"Whoa-oah! This was expensive!" He protests, standing from his chair. Giggling openly, Annabeth starts tugging him towards the door, and Percy has no choice but to follow, like he's on a leash.
As they make their way towards the door to the main foyer, Annabeth can still see Percy glancing towards the kitchen door every once in a while. That chef is still watching, suspicious of their every move.
Okay, Annabeth thinks, working up her courage. Fine. With that thought, she pulls Percy in close by the tie, and kisses him deeply, all while they're still stumbling towards the door. She can imagine the collective gasps of the diners and her face burns.
By the time the doors to the dining hall shut behind them, Percy's perfect double Windsor is completely ruined and they're both out of breath.
Percy flashes Annabeth his signature shit-eating grin. "A guy could get used to that."
Annabeth barely contains a fit of laughter, mostly stemming from embarrassment. "You can get used to it all you want when we get home, Seaweed Brain."
Percy blinks—he hadn't been expecting that answer, Annabeth can tell. Maybe she is a little intoxicated? She'd had a glass of champagne before the bulk of the operation, after all. "Uh, you can let go of my tie now," he finally responds.
Their escape blends together, and it's as if Annabeth was just walking down an elaborately carpeted staircase when she arrives with Percy in a sketchy alleyway with a sketchy van.
"Have a nice stroll, guys? You did take your sweet time getting here." Leo waves from where he's leaned up against the van.
"It was super nice. Thanks for asking, Valdez." Percy grins, and gives Leo a fist-bump.
"Alright, slowpokes. Get in." Leo opens the doors in the back of the van, revealing Jason and Piper already waiting inside. They're sat against one wall of the van, so naturally Percy and Annabeth take the other side. Leo shuts the doors, and it's not long until they're on the move.
"Good stuff, Jason. Too bad you didn't get another damn steak," Percy jokes.
"Hey, the first one wasn't bad." Jason shrugs.
"Hold on, you guys actually got food?!"
Annabeth laughs. Percy probably does more thinking with his stomach than his brain.
"Yo, man," Leo calls from the front, "can I get a 'good stuff, Leo'? I had those cams looped so nobody could see Annabeth fumble the Lethe stuff—except me, of course. By the way, Annabeth, don't sweat it. It's an experimental drug—supposed to erase memories. None of those guys were exactly our buddies anyway."
That's a weight off of her shoulders. Now there's no chance of her having innocent blood on her hands, for whatever reason.
"Good stuff, Leo!" Percy congratulates him. "By the way, is there any chance you recorded that?"
"Of course, dude."
"Nice. Show it to me later."
With that, there's a lull in conversation. Percy falls asleep in record time, and Leo gets the crew out of the city.
"So," Piper breaks the silence. "Another successful mission."
"Come on," Jason responds. "When it's us, never expect anything less."
Annabeth can't agree more.