Summary: Apollo has always been unlucky in love. Maybe it comes with the occupation, being the youngest, yet most accomplished trauma surgeon the University of Olympus Medical Center has seen. But then he meets Perseus Jackson, a second-year PhD student with a troubled past, and he begins to think that maybe, just maybe, this time he could finally make it work. AU for obvious reasons
A/N: So here's a new story that's been sitting in my drafts for a long time and I'm posting it now after working on it a little bit more while trying to get over writer's block for another story. As usual, don't like, don't read.
Pairing: Percy Jackson/Apollo
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. All rights go to their respective owners.
Enjoy!
The Scientist
※
Questions of science
Science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me
※
HB Apartments — Apt. 427
Percy grunted as he was shoved unceremoniously off his bed, landing on the floor painfully. "Wha—"
"You're gonna be so late. Didn't you say you had a meeting with your supervisor this morning?" Grover shoved some clothes at him and tossed half of a sandwich onto his stomach. Percy groaned, exhaustion still hitting him hard from the late night he'd pulled. He stretched his limbs and yawned, one arm flopping back onto his bed but it didn't have enough energy to pull him back onto it. Percy reached toward his pillow longingly.
"What meeting..."
Grover tossed his hands in the air. "Supervisor! Thesis! Your academic career!"
"What thesis..."
His roommate squatted in front of him and slapped both hands on Percy's cheeks. "Perseus Jackson. Wake up!"
Percy narrowed his eyes blearily at his watch, the blurry haze of sleep clearing slowly as he blinked. The little black numbers danced into view and he stared at them, uncomprehendingly. Then it hit him and he was wide awake, panic and adrenaline coursing through him. "Jesus Christ!"
"Yes, that's my name, thank you very much."
Percy threw the pants on his lap at his roommate's face and scrambled to his feet, the rest of his clothes and plastic-wrapped food falling to the floor in his haste. He picked up the sandwich with two fingers and scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Grover, somebody already ate half of this."
"Oh whoops, that would be me, my bad." Grover snatched the sandwich away and scratched his head, thinking hard. He waved at the fridge. "There should be some leftover takeout from movie night. I think it was spaghetti?"
"Our last movie night was two weeks ago."
"Oh."
Percy stared at Grover in disbelief, mid-pull of his jeans. "Good gods, man. Stop eating my stuff! Finish off those moldy leftovers instead, you goat, if you're that hungry. You're starving me at this rate."
"I'm sorry!" Grover handed Percy his backpack as an apology.
Percy snatched it while struggling to get his other arm through the sleeve of his sweater.
"Hey, don't forget we're chilling with Annabeth and Thalia tonight at their place." Grover's voice was full of longing as he sighed, "Vegetarian lasagna...the girls sure know how to speak to my heart..."
"Yeah, yeah, I won't forget," Percy shoved his roommate out of the way to look at the full-length mirror. He grimaced and flattened his hands on his black hair, trying to make it at least somewhat presentable. He was unsuccessful, but it was a solid try.
"Oh yeah, don't forget that after your thesis thing you also have that meeting with the lawyer Annabeth suggested."
"Right."
"And don't forget to buy some milk on your way back. It's your turn."
Percy resisted the urge to thump his roommate on the head before turning to dash out of the apartment. Grover could be infuriating, but the guy had been his best friend since freshman year of undergrad and Percy wouldn't trade him for the world.
※
University of Olympus — West Campus
The campus was relatively empty when Percy hopped off the bus. It was a weekend, so he felt relieved that he wouldn't have to fight the crowd for food. The lines were ridiculous, especially for the Starbucks on campus.
He glanced at his watch and hissed through his teeth. Food would have to wait. He had less than five minutes to make it to his supervisor's office.
He sprinted into the medical center and into the elevator in record time. By the time he knocked and tripped his way into the office, the professor didn't even glance up, most likely all too used to stressed students falling into the room, projects in tow.
"Ah, Percy." The man sitting behind the large, mahogany desk cocked an eyebrow at Percy's untidy appearance but from the way his lip twitched in amusement, Percy guessed that he didn't seem to mind all that much.
"Hey, Professor." Percy panted and pulled out a folder from his bag as he approached the bespectacled man. "Sorry I'm late. I've got my new proposal here."
"Ah, excellent." Professor Chiron took the file from him and set it down before him. The man didn't speak a word to him as he began to read the numerous pages of research design Percy had drawn up.
Percy smoothed down his pants and couldn't help the up and down bouncing his leg was insistent on doing. Coming up with a proposal for a research project on aquatic ecology, no matter how much he liked the subject, was absurdly hard. He'd scrapped so many ideas he wasn't even sure who he was anymore. This needed to be perfect. He could still remember the sad and wistful look on his mother's face when he'd told her he wanted to apply to the university's school of marine biology and biological oceanography program. Though she was never anything but encouraging, he couldn't help but have the feeling that this was not the chosen career route she wished for him to take.
Percy looked at his supervisor nervously.
"Well Percy," the professor set down his proposal and peered at him over his glasses. "It looks excellent."
"Er...sorry?" Percy's knee stopped bouncing.
The professor's eyebrow raised in amusement. "Your research plan looks flawless, Percy. I have to say I'm not surprised in the slightest. You show tremendous promise in your chosen field. Though I had my concerns regarding the timeline, given how late you submitted your proposal, I'm confident you can do well with this. Granted, you understand you will have to spend a lot of time in the field given the extent of time you will need to spend conducting trials regarding the echolocation click types in the dolphins' natural habitats."
Percy nodded, rubbing his hands on his knees again. "Yeah, I was planning on spending one or two months hitting up the coast and the ocean after I'd done more extensive research here and at nearby aquariums."
The professor hummed in approval. "Good, good."
There was a brief moment of silence before the professor clapped his hands together and rose from his seat, prompting Percy to rise as well. "Well! I think everything is in order and I wish you the best of luck in your trials."
"Thank you, sir."
When he was finally outside the building, Percy heaved a great sigh of relief and leaned against the wall adjacent to the office's door. He was thankful that this proposal had gone through. Otherwise it would have meant another month of sleepless nights, planning, and the occasional mental breakdown while his roommate chewed on potato chips and watched. One thing finally off his ridiculous schedule. Speaking of his schedule...he spared a glance at his watch and nearly choked on his own saliva.
"Shit."
He took off running. He couldn't miss this meeting. It was his last chance at getting his mother a good divorce lawyer. He'd tried everyone in the state already, and no one seemed to want to help a woman who didn't appear to want to be helped, much less one who didn't have enough money to pay them. He loathed relying on his friends for favors, but Annabeth had insisted that she would foot part of the legal expenses if everything worked out with this woman. She'd also insisted that this woman was the best out there, so here was to hoping.
It took him a few seconds to snatch up a blueberry scone from a snack stand, tossing a couple coins onto the counter, the cashier so flustered by his speed that they didn't even make out a word before he was gone.
And of course, being who he was, he nearly hit an old woman on his warpath towards the building's exit. He barely managed to swerve around her and swiveled his head to call out a, "My bad!"
Before he could apologize to the elderly lady giving him the stink eye, however, he was already crashing into someone else. He mentally cursed his clumsiness. Holding his scone away from him to stabilize it, he was stammering out an apology before he even looked up. Panicked sea green eyes met stunning blue and he was rendered speechless for a moment.
The man he'd collided with was a young and impossibly hot doctor.
He had one hand in the pocket of his white doctor's coat, the other holding on tightly to an iPhone. A small and amused smirk began to form on the doctor's lips and Percy flushed crimson. Even after being plowed into by Percy, the blonde was still standing elegantly, like a frazzled graduate student hadn't almost killed him.
The doctor didn't do a thing but dip his head in a minuscule nod of acknowledgement. Taking that as an acceptance of his apology, Percy darted away, cheeks still red.
Damn his hormones.
He really needed to get out there and rid himself of this useless, pent-up frustration.
※
University of Olympus Medical Center — West Wing
Apollo loved delivering good news. Successful surgeries made crappy days like this one just a little brighter. Though the father of the patient had been so grateful he'd nearly broken Apollo's back in a bone-crushing hug, everything had ended relatively well. And when the 240-pound man made out of pure muscle had broken down into big, fat tears in front of him after the hug, Apollo had personally escorted him to the outside of the patient's room, where her vitals were still under intensive monitoring.
Currently, he was walking towards the little coffee stand in the lobby of the medical center's west wing. It wasn't as popular as the larger coffee shop in the main lobby next to the gift store, but he personally liked it better. The stand had killer nectar cakes and its caffeine always seemed to do the trick for him on a particularly long shift.
Apollo's phone buzzed and he pulled it out of the pocket of his surgical scrubs to glance down at it, but before he could even read the notification, it was nearly knocked out of his hand as someone slammed into him. Hard. Apollo's eyebrows furrowed and he turned, shoulder aching and mouth half-open, about to angrily reprimand whoever was running so carelessly as if to barrel into everything in sight, but instead found himself amused at the sight before him. The person had already turned and was gasping out an apology. He was young, and looked to be quite a mess, black hair disheveled and clothes rumpled. One hand was holding an uneaten blueberry scone and the other held a chaotic mess of papers that seemed to be on the verge of spilling everywhere. It was pretty impressive, the way the kid — obviously, he was a student — hadn't yet fallen apart. Apollo remembered the days when he had that same fresh panic and terror running through him while trying to survive medical school, though he would like to think he conducted himself with much more poise than this.
"I'm really sorry!" The student repeated, though he was already edging away. When Apollo nodded, still not having spoken a word, he whirled around and dashed away. Apollo's gaze couldn't help but flit appreciatively over the kid's back. He could tell that the boy was lean and athletic, despite the complete and utter disregard the student held for fashion.
"Ogling students now are we, sir?"
Apollo spun around and a smirk flitted across his face. "Ah, Asklepios, my favorite delinquent resident."
"Delinquent?" The third-year resident held a hand to his chest. "You flatter me."
Apollo leaned against the counter and ordered a latte, making sure to add in extra espresso shots. Gods knew he needed it today.
"You don't look great." Asklepios nudged a small piece of nectar cake in his direction. "Although your hair looks disgustingly perfect. Seriously, how do you do it? The before and after pictures of you in your surgical cap the staff sneak of you are just stunning. It's a wonder you haven't been picked to be the face of the hospital yet."
Apollo took it gratefully and bit into it, moaning in satisfaction. He ignored the black-haired doctor's ramblings about his hair, far too used to the hospital's obsession with his looks. "Had a trauma to deal with a couple hours ago and no one had paged for an OB/GYN consult by the time I was ready to operate."
Asklepios tsk-ed and sipped his tea dramatically. "That's a dumb rookie mistake. First-years, I assume?"
When Apollo made a noise of agreement, Asklepios snorted. "Man, wouldn't want to be them. Making a mistake in front of you? Not a great way to start their residencies."
Apollo glared at him balefully. "When are you coming back on my rotation? My interns and residents are turning the Emergency Department into a circus. The attendings aren't helping much either, what with this ridiculous management of the students."
The third-year resident scrunched up his nose. "You know general surgery is my intended track."
"It was worth a try." Apollo sighed, but then brought his hand down onto the counter hard, making the other doctor flinch in surprise. "No. You should be working under me. I'm better than all the general surgeons here combined, damn it."
"I don't doubt that," Asklepios laughed. "You're not head trauma surgeon at the tender age of twenty-nine for no reason, you filthy genius. I'm pretty sure you could be the head of neurosurgery if you wanted to. They call on you for more consults than they should, in my opinion. But you've taught me more than anyone else could have and now I must spread my pretty wings and fly. I'm aiming for head general surgeon. Then we can really make this hospital our own...though...your daddy already owns it so I guess it technically already is yours?"
"Oh man. Don't mention my family," Apollo began, pouring cream into his fresh latte. "I'm really not looking forward to the family dinner my mother's insisted on everyone attending."
Asklepios winced as if he could feel and share Apollo's pain. "Things still bad?"
"You kidding?" Apollo snorted, nursing his coffee. "If anything, things are worse. Don't even get me started. We could stay here all day discussing all the twisted shenanigans they're up to. I could compose a poem—"
"Please don't—"
"—about my seventeen million siblings."
"That's a lot of siblings."
"I may have exaggerated."
A black pager on the stand began to buzz and Asklepios jumped off his perch on the stool. "Yikes, that's me. Gotta go. Hey, we should really hang out again. Grab a drink or something. I could probably hook you up! You got dumped again, right?"
The insolent resident seemed far too happy about that. Apollo pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to control the impending headache from the cruel reminder of his unlucky love life, and shook his head. "The last girl you hooked me up with was Cassandra. Do I need to remind you of that disaster—"
"Er...yeah, you're right. I'll see you!" The resident snatched up his pager and grinned sheepishly. "I'll figure something out, I promise. There's someone out there who can deal with your high and mighty surgeon ass. I'll find them."
"You know, insulting the son of the hospital's owner probably isn't the best way to go about furthering your medical career."
Asklepios snorted. "Please. I know you too well for that. You hate that your last name is Olympian. You got to where you are without using any family influence. You're not about to start using it now. Also, you love me. You have never and never will educate a finer doctor than yours truly."
Apollo scoffed. "Get out of here. Go save lives."
"Will do."
With that, the black-haired resident was out of sight, headed towards the east wing.
Apollo took the moment of respite to check the notification he hadn't gotten around to yet.
From: Lil Sis
The she-devil is coming to dinner.
He groaned and tried to drown himself in his cup of coffee.
※
Ataensic Court — Apt. 333
"So...dolphins."
Percy shot Thalia a withering glance but replied, "Yeah. Dolphins. Specifically, about the spatio-temporal comparison of Lagenorhynchus obliquidens echolocation click types."
Annabeth nudged Percy with her foot, though her lips were twitching with amusement. "Don't be rude, Percy. She wasn't a STEM major."
"Hey!" Thalia pointed her nearly finished shish kabob at Annabeth. "No throwing shade at liberal arts."
"I'm not!" Annabeth exclaimed innocently, though the sparkle in her eyes said far from otherwise. "You forget I was a liberal arts major too!"
"Uh-huh, yeah, whatever. You might as well have been a STEM major." The spiky black-haired girl leaned back on the couch and tossed down a shot of vodka. She frowned and craned her neck back to look at the entrance to the kitchen. "Grover! What are you doing?"
The three friends only received a garbled sentence in response. Percy grinned. "He's busy with the lasagna you two made for him. Good thing you made extra. Otherwise we'd be chowing down on stale Doritos by now."
"Yeah, we learned that the hard way." Thalia grumbled.
Annabeth nudged Percy again. "Hey, so how'd it go with Themis? Mom said she's the best there is."
Percy perked up, despite his exhaustion. A wide grin flitted across his face and he nodded gratefully at Annabeth. "She's amazing. She said all she needed was my mother's approval to proceed with the divorce petition."
His smile disappeared slightly as he bit his lip nervously. "It'll be hard, but I think I'll be able to do it. The main problem was getting a good lawyer with the circumstances my mom's dealing with."
"Percy, you know we'd do anything to help you out." Thalia waved a new shish kabob in the air, nearly missing Annabeth's eye by an inch. The strawberry blonde shot Thalia a glare, but she just ignored the look. "I can probably get you the rest of the money you said you wanted to pay yourself. My dad wouldn't even question it. I'm his precious little girl."
"Thanks you guys." His heart swelled with gratitude from his friends' intentions, but he shook his head. "But nothing you can say will make me change my mind. You've done more than enough. I'll pay off the rest and Annabeth, I'll pay you back in time."
Annabeth smiled. "Take however long you need. We've got your back."
Grover stuck his head out through the kitchen doorway and called out, voice muffled, "Yeah Percy, we got yer back! Mmph this is sho good!"
Annoyance coursed through Percy and he threw a small piece of potato at his best friend, who ducked back into the kitchen.
"Then stop eating my stuff!"
A/N: Ahh I know there's not much backstory yet but I'd love for you to let me know what you think about the basic idea! Thanks for reading and please favorite/follow/leave a review if you enjoyed.