So, this is my first fanfic both published and ever. While I have written more since it only felt right to start at the beginning.
I write fanfiction mostly as practice in portrayal and character study for my non-fanfics so any critique on anything from wording to characterization would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to be as harsh or nitpicky as you wish.
I do not own Percy, Piper, or Annabeth.
And now, on to the story. (Takes place sometime after House of Hades on the ArgoII)
Piper was just getting ready for bed, undoing the little feather braids in her hair, when she felt her heart twinge. It was a feeling like fear, but far away, like it belonged in someone else's ribcage. Some deep, emotion-ruled instinct told her not to ignore it. Instead, she followed it. Out of her room, down the hall, one door, two doors… Percy's door?
Piper hesitated. If she went through with this, it would probably end up very awkward. On the other hand, she was a child of Aphrodite. She was supposed to have a good sense of these things, and right now the heart on the other side of that door was hurting enough to throw some pain her way. She knocked.
No one answered. That was no surprise. Percy had gone to bed early because he hadn't been feeling well, and he was already the heaviest sleeper on board.
Well, she wasn't just going to walk in on a sleeping boy, no matter what her feelings said.
She'd just turned away when she heard something from the other side of the door. The sound made her feel like someone was doing a silks routine on her heartstrings.
She knocked again.
"Percy?" He made the sound again, something like a whimper and a gasp.
Piper couldn't take it. She opened the door carefully, only intending to peak in, make sure he was alright. He wasn't.
Percy was twisted in his blankets, shirt sticking to his back, pale and green and definitely crying, his lips wrapping around whispered words.
Piper stepped in, still unsure if she ought to be there. Percy shuddered.
"Please," he moaned, struggling against the shackles of his own sheets. "No… I didn't mean it."
With a deep breath, Piper walked across the room, making sure to leave the door ajar.
"Percy?" she asked, standing next to his bed. Percy coughed. Piper touched his shoulder. "It's Piper. You're alright." Percy gasped for air like his lungs were filled with mud. "Wake up." She shook his shoulder a little. With immense effort, Percy turned to his back, coughing.
Gritting her teeth, Piper grabbed Percy's shoulders and shook him as hard as she could, adding just a touch of charmspeak to her words. "Wake up!"
Finally, he did, gasping and panicked. It took him a minute to actually see her, and even when he did, it was through glassy, misted eyes.
"P-Piper?" She took her hands off him. With a grimace, Percy sat up. "What're you doing in here?" He pulled his knees closer and ducked his head on his hands.
"You were, um, I heard you from outside." She decided to keep her intuitions to herself. "I wanted to make sure you were okay." Percy lifted his head.
"Did I say something stupid?" He wiped away lingering tears and sweat on a light blue sleeve.
"No, not at all." Percy looked her in the eyes, clearly, for the first time. They were green and bloodshot and not entirely believing her. "It wasn't stupid. Promise." He nodded, accepting this and wiping at his face again. He looked away.
"What was it?" Piper bit her lip. Why did he want to know so bad?
"Just the usual nightmare stuff," she said. "'No', 'please', 'I didn't mean it'." Percy's head snapped up at the last one, eyes wide. He looked away quickly, seemingly lost in his own head. Piper debated leaving. She wasn't really supposed to be there in the first place. But when Percy began to cough, she didn't hesitate to perch on his mattress and rub his shoulder, a steady stream of comforting charmspeak coming from her lips until his features smoothed again.
When he finished, Percy moved, not exactly away- though Piper dropped her hand- but so that he was leaning against the wall, elbows on his knees and face in his hands.
"Thanks," he whispered. Piper nodded, still feeling like she was both not supposed to be there, and in exactly the right place.
The silence that followed wasn't exactly awkward, but Piper still felt the need to break it.
"So… what were you dreaming?" She thought he might laugh or crack a joke or tell her to leave. Instead, he just looked at her, biting his lip as if trying to decide whether she was to be trusted or not. "Was it about… you know?"
"Tartarus?" He let out a harsh, disgusted laugh. Piper's heart twinged again, not because the hating look was directed at her, but because she could tell it was for himself. "Its funny," he said bitterly. "It would be so much easier to say that. I go through hell with my girlfriend and then have nightmares about a dead man. Annabeth almost died, so many times, but apparently Smelly Gabe in more important." He laughed again, choking on a sob. Piper could see his eyes swimming even as he ducked his head. His cheeks were splotchy and red from rubbing.
"Who's Smelly Gabe?" Percy leaned his head against the wall again, staring at the ceiling.
"My stepdad. Before Paul, anyway. I didn't know until, oh, a week, before he died but… he hit my mom. Me too, but, I dunno know if she ever found out; he never did anything that couldn't be explained away. She married the guy to protect me." Percy rubbed at a tear that fell down his cheek. He looked nauseous and guilty.
"If he hurt you and your mom, how was he protecting you?" Percy kept talking to the ceiling.
"Grover told me once that he smelled so incredibly human his smell covered mine. Pretty hard, being a big three kid and all." He began to laugh then, stiffly and not totally sane-sounding. Like he couldn't find another response. "I guess he really was smelly." Piper couldn't find it funny.
When Percy stopped laughing his cheeks were wet again.
Piper knew she was good at reading people, and even though Percy sometimes threw her for a loop, she didn't think he exactly wanted her to leave. She pulled herself a little closer, tucking her legs under her in the middle of the bed. He must have felt her move, but he didn't say anything.
"Was your dream… real? Or…" Piper trailed off, not quite knowing how to finish the question.
Percy shook his head.
"I dunno. Probably not. It's… hard, to remember. Most feel made up, but I know they can't be. I wasn't a quiet kid." The statement seemed random to Piper, until she saw Percy fingering a small scar on his jaw. She'd noticed it before, but it had never struck her as odd. He was a demigod, and a powerful one. Scars were inevitable. Only now she thought there might be more behind this one than a random monster attack.
Piper moved to lean next to him against the wall.
"What did he do?" she asked. "In your dream."
Percy watched her out of the corner of his eye. He sucked in a breath like he was going to speak, his tense and guarded look telling her he wanted to say it was nothing. But then he sighed, directing his gaze to his lap, hands clasped behind his neck.
"When we were in Alaska," he began "me, Frank, and Hazel— I fell in this mud. Muskeg, I think Hazel called it. It was really deep and when I fell through… I've never been scared like that. For the first time, I could feel what it would be like to drown." Percy shuddered. "In my dream… I think I was eight— nine, maybe— and Gabe was holding my head under the water in the sink. I'd said something stupid and he was mad at me and my mom wasn't home and," his voice cracked, "and I couldn't breathe."
Piper's chest constricted as she watched Percy cough a few times, then wrap an arm around his knees, pulling them closer and staring at the far wall.
"Maybe it's guilt," he said, a wry smirk twisting his features, absent of any true laughter. "I mean, I've drowned plenty of monsters. I almost suffocated a goddess with her own tears. But I know what it feels like, and… and I still do it." He looked at her again, green eyes fearful. "What kind of monster does that make me?"
At that Piper shook her head.
"You are many things, Percy Jackson," she said, 100% sincere. "You are very powerful and very protective and sometimes that makes you scary as all hades. But that does not make you a monster." Percy nodded slowly and Piper smiled at him. She meant what she said. She'd heard some pretty terrifying stories about Percy Jackson. She'd seen him ruthless, watched him dive into raging sea storms and practically dare gods, giants, and monsters alike to try and kill him. But she'd also seen how tender he with Annabeth, felt his infectious laugh, watched him jump into Tartarus without a second thought.
Percy grimaced then, and turned away, coughing into his fist. Piper's brow creased. She pulled herself closer and set a hand on his shoulder, but there wasn't much she could do, charmspeak or no. He looked ill, and maybe he was. It wouldn't be surprising.
The fit ended and Percy wiped a hand over his face, an unhealthy mix of flushed cheeks on pale skin and dark circles under irritated eyes.
"You look awful," she said. Without thinking, she set the back of her hand on his forehead, then his temple. "Kinda warm too." Percy leaned his head back against the wall when she took her hand away.
"Great," he muttered.
Piper bit her lip. She didn't want to intrude any more than she already had, but she felt she had to ask.
"When was the last time you good night's sleep?"
Percy sighed.
"I don't even remember anymore."
They sat in silence for a time. Percy looked like he was forcing his eyes to stay open.
"I think you should try," Piper blurted out before she lost her nerve. Percy looked at her sharply. She could see his expression closing. He was going to tell her to get out, he'd tolerated her presence because he was recovering from a nightmare and had wanted the company but now she'd crossed the line telling the son of the sea god what to do.
"I don't know."
Piper blinked. She'd expected him to yell or shut down. Instead, his voice came out broken. There were new tears in his eyes. "I know I should, I need to but, I don't want…" He let out an irritated sound and turned away to scrub at his wet cheeks.
"Let me help," Piper said, again before she could reconsider. Percy looked back at her with an uncomfortable, mistrusting kind of gaze. Piper felt herself blush. She raced to repair the damage. "I mean- I just figured- or I thought, you know, it might, er-"
"Okay."
Piper stopped.
"What?" she said dumbly.
"Okay," Percy repeated. "If you think you can keep- er… if you can help me, then okay." The mistrust was gone, and Piper thought it might not have been mistrust at all.
"Alright then." They both stayed put for a moment, not breaking eye contact; then Piper scootched to the edge of the bed and stood. Percy watched her, only moving when Piper looked back at him. He moved slowly, turning and putting his legs back under his blankets, Piper helping him to straighten the massively twisted covers. And then he was looking at her again. Piper felt a fleeting panic flutter up in her chest and throat. She quelled the desire to flee with a deep breath. Percy was her friend and her crewmate. He had gone through literal hell with Annabeth, Piper's best friend, to close the Doors of Death. No one else could have done it. The least Piper could do was help with the aftermath.
She started to talk but her voice faltered. She winced. "Sorry." Percy smiled weakly and grabbed her wrist encouragingly.
"It's alright," he said. "Don't feel weird. Olympus knows this can't get any more embarrassing for either of us." Immediately scenarios in which every mortifying thing possible happened started running through Piper's mind. Percy must have read her expression because he started laughing. "Sorry," he said, "I guess that didn't help much." But it had. Percy was still laughing, really laughing. The sound buoyed Piper above any lingering awkwardness. And when Percy's laugh turned to a cough, Piper pulled him into a sitting position and used her charmspeak for all it was worth; she had permission after all. And when the fit passed she kept talking. She helped Percy lay back; his eyes were drooping, and the tension was leaking from his muscles.
Right before he dropped off completely Percy reached out to grab her wrist again. Piper paused to intercept the clumsy attempt, holding his hand. He squeezed drowsily.
"Thanks, Pipes," he whispered. Piper smiled and rubbed his shoulder.
"Any time, Perc." He shifted sleepily and Piped switched back to charmspeak.
When she'd sent him into the deepest, safest, most restful sleep she could, Piper lent down and kissed his forehead. There was nothing romantic in the gesture; it just felt like the thing to do.
Percy didn't stir.
For a couple of seconds, Piper lingered. She wasn't sure her charmspeak could keep Percy's nightmares away for long and was worried about what might happen if they came back with no one around for him to talk to, but that was silly. He would be fine.
She turned and walked to the hall, turning back just before she left. It felt good, to know that she was the one to put that look on his face: one of pure calm and safety. It would probably harden again when he woke up, when he remembered where they were and what they were doing and everything else that came with it, but for now, there was only peace written on his features.
Piper closed the door quietly behind her, and froze. Annabeth was standing outside, tears brimming her eyes. Piper opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but Annabeth cut her off. Piper squeaked as she was pulled into a crushing hug.
After a stiff pause, she returned the embrace, a little awkwardly. She was thankful Annabeth didn't seem mad, but she was also very confused.
"Thank you," Annabeth said, pulling away and wiping her cheeks.
"Um." Piper shifted her weight with an uncertain chuckle. "You know, most girlfriends get pretty freaked when they see another girl walking out of their boyfriend's bedroom." Annabeth just rolled her eyes, gripping Piper's shoulders.
"Percy wouldn't cheat," she said confidently, still smiling. "Hades, he's so worried about hurting me that sometimes he doesn't tell me about things-" her expression dimmed a little "-like his nightmares. The only person he really opens up to about that stuff is his mom and, well." She shot Piper a small smile. "But he talked to you, Pipes. Thank you for that." Annabeth hugged her once more, then left; disappearing into her own room, leaving Piper standing in the middle of the narrow corridor, a gentle smile resting comfortably on her lips.