Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own this. At all. Well, technically I do own Sarah, but if Brad Goodchild wants her, then he can have her, because that'll mean he's making series three!

A/N: This story is derived from my drabble series 'Archie's playlist'

Of History and Painful Memories

Atlanta was goofing off with Archie in his room, playing Irish Snap, when she knocked over a box of photographs. She started picking them up, despite Archie's protests, sorting them back into the box, when she found something that she never thought that she would see.

It was a photo of Archie, on a boat. Smiling.

And who's that with him? A girlfriend? She thought, looking at the photo of the raven haired girl in his arms. She was surprised at the flare of anger this thought conjured up.

"Hey Arch, who's this? And what were you doing on a boat?" she asked, thrusting the photo under the purple haired teen's nose.

He snatched the photo, a little more roughly then she had expected, and slammed it down on the table. He grabbed the rest of the photos, placed back in the box, then shoved into his already overflowing closet.

"I don't wanna talk about this Atlanta." He said, sounding oddly distant. "Just leave it okay. It's not something I wanna go into."

"Well, perhaps I should go then. I'm obviously not wanted here." With that, Atlanta stormed out of the room, slamming the door as she went.

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The next day, Atlanta and Theresa were in their room, talking about everything from field hockey to how Theresa's date with Jay had gone, when Atlanta remembered the photograph of Archie, and mentioned it to Theresa.

"Wait. Let me get this straight. We're talking about Archie right?" Theresa said, calmly.

Atlanta nodded slightly.

"And he was on a boat."

Another nod, more vigorous.

"Without clinging to the side or looking for the nearest piece of dry land." Theresa continued.

"Yeah, exactly. And he was with a girl, about his height, maybe taller. Long black hair. They looked very couply. All googly eyes and holding hands. Sound like anyone he's ever mentioned to you? They looked maybe 13, 14 at the time." Atlanta said, very quickly.

"Firstly Atlanta, this is Archie we're talking about. He never talks to me if he can avoid it. Secondly, I don't think in all the time since we started fighting Cronus he has ever mentioned his life before the team to me." Theresa replied, quite amused at Atlanta's obvious jealousy over this girl. Oblivious as she was to Archie's affection, he wasn't exactly tuned in either. "Why don't you ask Odie? Those two confide a lot more then you'd think, being so utterly different and all."

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There was a knock at the door, and Odie, bent over his computer jumped a foot in the air, smacking his head off the wall behind him.

Meanwhile, Atlanta, who was waiting outside to be let in heard the Brains of the team let loose a very loud and long stream of curses, some of which were almost certainly not in English, that she would have never expected him to know. "Odie," she called "Can I come in?" she asked, astonished by the stream of profanity.

"What?" he asked irritably "Oh sure, come in."

Atlanta walked in to find him rubbing an egg sized lump on his head. "Hey Odie, I need to ask you something. Do you know anything about someone, a girl Archie would have known, maybe three, four years ago?"

"Actually, no. Come to think about it, I can't remember a single time that Archie has ever mentioned anything from before the team. I never thought about it before, but well, he never even mentions his family, or where he lived. We talk a lot, but it's always about Atla…" He suddenly stopped talking as he realized who he was with. "I mean, it's always about the present, y'know?"

"So who would know?" Atlanta asked, getting irritated.

"Besides Archie? I don't know. But I do know that he won't appreciate you trying to find this sort of stuff out behind his back. Still, I think of anything, I'll send you a message on your PMR, okay?"

She turned to leave when Odie suddenly piped up. "Does this have anything to do with his dark day?"

"Dark day? What dark day?"

"You know. November 8th. Every year he shuts himself up in his room and doesn't come out, he just sits in there and broods. I tried to get him to talk about it last year. He threatened to use his Hephaestus whip to, and I quote 'tear me a new one.'"

"I don't know Odie. But it might. Thanks for the help."

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Atlanta barged through the door to Archie's room and threw herself on the bed. She fixed him with a stare and said, calmly, "What happened on November 8th Archie?"

He opened his mouth to complain when Atlanta cut him off. "Look, I just think that you should tell me. I mean, we are best friends and all, and I've told you all about my life at home, where I went on holiday, what I was like as a kid, but you give me nothing. Besides one comment about a timber wolf, I nothing about you. Please, just for once, open up to me."

"You don't know what you're asking here." Archie's voice sounded strained, and his eyes had narrowed, as if he was wincing.

"Then enlighten me. Please, Arch." She gave him her best puppy dog eyes. Why can't I do this like Theresa, she thought furiously.

Finally, he relented. "All right. I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to interrupt, or ask questions or act stupid or anything okay. 'Cause this is hard for me to talk about, and I'm not sure I can handle it."

"Okay, I promise." Atlanta replied, sounding far more solemn then she expected.

"When I was growing up, I wasn't always afraid of water. There was a time when I was really into canoeing and stuff. I was actually a really good sailor for my age." He stopped both to pause for breath, and to try and gauge Atlanta's reaction to this news. Finding it inscrutable, he continued.

"Anyway, the sailing club near my house was pretty cool, and I got partnered with a girl. Her name was Sarah."

"That was the girl in the photograph!" Atlanta exclaimed suddenly.

"Yes it was," Archie said with exasperation. "And I said no questions."

"Ah, right. Won't happen again."

"Sarah was… well she was a lot like you. Strong, independent, vicious right hook, you get the idea. So, after about three years, I managed to pluck up the courage to ask her out on a date. She said yes, and for the next six months, we were a couple." He stopped, as if unwilling to go on.

"What happened next Archie?" Atlanta asked in a quiet, soothing tone.

"We got selected for the club's annual regatta. We were going to win the race, then tell our parents about our relationship. Anyway, we were doing fine until about halfway in. One of the other competitors lost control and slammed into us. Sarah hit her head and fell overboard, unconscious. She didn't stand a chance. I dived after, but by the time I got to her, it was too late. She had already drowned. I never told anyone else about our relationship until now. It was too painful. It still is. And it was all my fault." He finished grimly.

"What? Why was it your fault?" Atlanta asked, shocked.

"She wasn't wearing a life jacket. She'd taken it off so it wouldn't get caught in the sail. I should have noticed, and told her to put it back on. And I should have seen the other boat and avoided it. And I should have been a better swimmer so that I could have saved her when she went over board." His voice sounded close to tears now.

"And don't try and tell me that it wasn't my fault, or that Sarah wouldn't have wanted her death on my conscience, or that I have to move on. I've heard it before, and it won't help." Finally he broke down, a single tear escaping from the corner of his eye, and tracing a path along the line of his cheek.

"So that's why you're afraid of water." Atlanta said, both astonished and incredulous at the sight of her friend, the invulnerable descendant of Achilles showing such vulnerability, her brain trying desperately to process this onslaught of information

"Exactly." His voice seemed tiny, almost hollow. "Whenever I'm around water now, I can see her face. I hear her scream as her head hits the side rail, and see the way her body looked in death. And worst of all, I see the people I care about most falling, being taken by the water." Archie collapsed into Atlanta's arms, sobbing into her shoulder.

"Archie, I know I promised I wouldn't ask questions, but I need to know this. When Cronus poisoned the Hesperides tree, you swam to help me. How?"

"Well that should be obvious." He sounded far more in control, and looked her in the eyes, the beginning of a smile tugging at his mouth. "The water made me imagine losing the person I cared about most. But Cronus was about to kill the person I cared about most anyway, so it was kind of a moot point." He suddenly recoiled, as if shocked by what he had said.

Atlanta was shocked too. Unable to form a coherent sentence, she did the only sane thing she could. She grabbed his shoulders, pulled him in, and then kissed him.

Aaaaaaah. AxA fluffiness. I loved writing this fic! You know what else I love? Reading reviews. Lots of reviews. PLEEEEEASSSSSSE!