A/N: A small vignette - or, what I imagine one to be - about Percy and Annabeth making the decision to fall into Tartarus, which is probably the greatest cliffhanger so far in the series. Written to the tune of Take My Hand by Simple Plan, which is what I also imagine to be soundtrack to this scene. The italic lines are taken from the conversation between Doctor Strange and Tony Stark in Matt Fraction's award-winning Stark: Disassembled. Characters and the idea of Percy and Annabeth falling belong to Rick Riordan, though this story belongs to me. I swear: Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.
"If you're about to die, is this how you want to feel?"
There were only breaths.
One was short, only seeming to prepare himself, and the other was evened, having accepted the facts already. She looked up at the figure on top of her, holding his hand like a lifeline, and he squeezed back, depending on her for strength. What were seconds felt like hours, and what were moments felt like centuries. Time elapsed, and they were in limbo; hanging over the edge of darkness and light. Their bodies were still, and there were only breaths.
And feebly, vainly, he whispered, "What now?" Because it's been years of being there for each other, even if they weren't in the same place, or even the same state. It seems too hard to take and too unfair, to do so much and leave so little behind for the mourners. With a sudden spark, one thought sizzles in their minds, and they make a quiet oath.
With a strong sense of will and stubbornness so reminiscent of their younger days, he whispers, "Because I'm not leaving you behind. Not again." And he holds her hand tighter. She squeezes back.
"No. No, I hate this."
And with a sharp intake of breath, sharp grey eyes, and sharp words, she said, "Water always finds a way out. Either it takes a new form, or it finds a hole in what keeps it from moving freely. It's clever, really, how it constructs these plans; it's like the water has a sense of mind. No matter what, there is always water. Water always finds a way out. So what now?
"We find out if you're really the Son of Poseidon."
His eyes cleared, as if he somehow understood, and he did. So she looked at him, holding his hand tighter, giving him strength, and nodded. He bit his lip, breathed, and the thought of we're going to make it sizzles through his mind, and he holds to it like a lifeline even though it hurts.
What was a moment felt like a second, and Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase were falling into Tartarus. The thought together sizzles through their minds, and they think they wouldn't want to be anywhere other than here.
"Then fight back."