Percy:

Falling, falling, falling. Percy hadn't fallen this long since he jumped off the St. Louis Arch. He now held both of Annabeth's hands in his and she was squeezing the life out of them. She buried her head in his shirt and they braced themselves for impact.

"I love you," said Percy and Annabeth looked up.

"I love you, too," she said and then they hit ground and tumbled in opposite directions. Percy heard Annabeth cry out and a muffled crack in his tailbone area. He unwillingly took a sharp intake of air and resisted the urge to curse every god he could think of. "Annabeth?" he croaked into the darkness.

"Percy?" Annabeth responded, groaning. Percy attempted to get up and winced loudly. He had badly bruised or possibly broken tailbone.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried. It was obvious that she was getting panicked.

"Coming" he said and crawled towards Annabeth's voice. His hand reached out, feeling for her, and found her face.

"Ouch!" she said.

"What?"

"That was my nose Seaweed Brain! I think it's broken," she said. "Okay," said Percy, "Hold on." He took out Riptide and unsheathed it. In the dim light that the Celestial Bronze gave, he could see Annabeth. Her face was covered in blood and more was flowing steadily out of her nose. She had managed to prop herself up on a crushed car and she was picking cobwebs out of her hair.

"Is anything else broken?" Percy asked. She moved around a little bit and said,

"I don't think s- oh! My hand is broken." Percy looked down at Annabeth's hand. Was it supposed to be at that angle? He didn't think so.

"What about you?" she asked looking him up and down and seeing how gingerly he was kneeling.

"Oh, um, I'm fine. My tailbone's a little busted though," he said, acting like it was no big deal, but really the pain was making him short of breath.

Annabeth frowned and then said, "Remember that thing Grover taught us? Whenever we get into situations like this?" Percy gave a small smile remembering how serious Grover had been about it when it sounded somewhat silly.

"Yeah," he replied, "Wasn't it like 'Step One: Look for immediate threats' or something?" She nodded and they started looking around. There were damaged cars everywhere, like some vehicle graveyard. Then Percy remembered Annabeth's ankle and the reason why they were here.

"Annabeth!" he whispered, suddenly alarmed.

"What?" she said, turning her head around like she expected something to pop out. Percy supposed it was possible. He pointed down to her ankle and, immediately, her spine straightened.

"Cut it off!" she cried, tugging at it.

"Huh?"

"Tartarus! You are so slow sometimes!" she grabbed Riptide and began furiously cutting the web that had dragged them into Tartarus. When she got it off she sighed in relief. She took the silky rope and pulled a little of it towards her.

"What are you doing?" Percy demanded. Arachne was on the other end of that line for Hade's sake!

"Do you know how strong that is?" she asked excitedly, "It could come in handy."

"Annabeth!" he protested.

Her eyes widened and she immediately stopped and cut the other end of the piece.

"We need to go," she said.

"Where?" Percy asked.

"Anywhere but here. Arachne could find us any mo-" That second, Arachne jumped out from behind nearby blue truck. She was one of the most horrible monsters Percy had ever seen, and that was saying something. She had a face of a once-gorgeous woman, but with sharp, black feelers and thin, needle-like teeth. The rest of her body was one of a giant black widow, one of the most venomous spiders in America.

"You thought you could get away, daughter of Athena?" she asked in her scary voice. "If I go down, you go with me." Then Arachne noticed Percy.
"Oh and you brought a friend," she sneered, "A son of Poseidon no doubt. Maybe I'll kill you quickly because your father and I both have rivalries against Athena."

She started to move towards Annabeth, teeth bore.

"No!" shouted Percy and grabbed Riptide. He thrust it into the abdomen of the monster. He drew it out and in between slashes yelled, "I-will-not-let-you-touch-her!" He hit her repeatedly like a piñata until she was nothing but a pile of dust. Annabeth threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her back. They kissed and Percy made Annabeth face him. They were nose-to-nose. "We're going to make it," he assured, "We're a team, remember?"

"Promise?"

"Promise."