Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians.

Beach Battle Tactics

Percabeth

Her answer was kind of an immediate 'no.' I guess I'd hoped she'd at least think about it, being the daughter of Athena and all, aren't they suppose to analyze stuff? Pros and cons and that kind of thing? but Annabeth is stubborn like that I guess. Secretly, I think she just does it so that I can't win. She's good at that. Which might make sense; my mom told me once that girls always win, even when it seems like they don't. I thought she was joking, but she wasn't.

"Come on Annabeth, one day at the beach!" I try again. She's reading some book on buildings and even though she's pretending to be completely engrossed in it, I can tell I'm getting to her. She's got that look on her face, like if I don't stop talking she's going to either cave or punch me. I'm hoping she'll just cave.

She dog ears her page and sets down the book, looking at me with her calculative gray eyes. Alright, here it is: moment of truth. I put on my best sucker smile and hope it's enough to bend her to my will. . . but again, this is Annabeth we're talking about.

"If we go to the beach, you're getting complete control. I've seen you around the ocean, and I don't feel like spending the entire night pulling starfish out of my hair Seaweed Brain." She states. I grin, because I know she's making a reference to the last time I dragged her to the beach. We were playing chicken with Nico and Thalia, our other friends, it was boys verses girls and Nico was having trouble pushing Annabeth off of Thalia's shoulders, it was only a small wave but I guess the fish like Annabeth as much as I do because they all swam around her and one starfish got itself stuck to the top of her head and refused to come down. I chuckled but Annabeth glared at me so I stopped.

"I promise not to do anything abnormal to the ocean," I grin "pinky promise." I hold out my pinky and widen my smile. Annabeth thinks for a moment before sighing, she grabs her book and loops her pinky in mine, I pull her up.

"Fine." She mutters, but I can see she's trying not to smile.

.:.:::.:.

Annabeth didn't let me drive, because apparently I'm pretty bad at it, but I'm starting to regret giving up the argument because we picked up some of our friends on the way to the beach, and not that I don't care for them all but right now I'm stuck between my half brother, Tyson's, armpit and my friend Rachel's crazy hair. Plus I've got Grover's hoof in my stomach because Nico and Thalia are hogging the back two seats.

"You planned this. . ." I mutter to Annabeth, she gives me a half smile and turns back to the road.

"Of course not." She states, but I'm not convinced.

When we get to the beach it's empty, because no sensible person comes to the beach in the middle of fall in New York, but being the son of Poseidon I've got no problem changing the temperature of the water. It's just one of those pluses to being a kid of the sea god.

Everyone piles out of the car in one big clump and runs toward the water, except for me and Annabeth. I guess Annabeth already knowns that the minute she walks close enough to the water, I'm going to drag her in. I whistle innocently and stroll forward. She's staring at me with suspicion but decides to follow behind.

"Don't even try it Percy. . ." I grin

"Try what, Wise Girl, afraid to get wet?" She glares, but then her eyes light up like she's got some great plan and before I even have time to think about what I might have been planning to do, she pulls off her over shirt and her shorts and runs to the shore, splashing Nico in the process.

"I've got an idea!" She grins wiggling her toes in the sand; everyone stops to look over at her. I'm still partly shocked and drag my feet to the shore just like everyone else. Once Annabeth is sure she's got our attention she says "Let's play capture the flag, beach style! We can build sand castles and use someone's shirt from each team as the flag on top of it. Boys vs. Girls. And-" She pauses for some type of dramatic effect "The person who catches the flag on either team gets to choose one thing from a person on the other team to do for her." She grins and next to her Nico frowns, wiping of water.

"You mean him." He states, but Thalia glares at him like that's not possible, then turns to Annabeth.

"Let's do it!"

Next to her Rachel nods her head, and grins.

"Wait!" Says Tyson. "Only three girls." He points to the flaw, and I'm glad at least someone is putting a stop to the plan. I don't know why Annabeth would want to play capture the flag, unless she plans on stealing the boy's flag and has a good wish for when she does.

"I'll sit out." Grover states from the sand a little ways a way, he points to his hooves and moves them around a little. "I'm not a very good swimmer anyway, and I don't want to be at the mercy of anyone on this beach." Everyone laughs but me. Why wont anyone argue this! I sigh, because I don't want to be the one too. . . it's embarrassing. Plus, if I think about it hard enough, if I win (you know, the boys) I can get Rachel, Annabeth or Thalia to do anything I want. . . and that sounds pretty good. I smile.

"Alright then, lets do it!"

Immediately the girls huddle together and start planning, and it's only when Nico and Tyson walk over and Nico starts talking that I realize what I've really just gotten us into.

"Great, we're on a team against the daughter of the goddess of war tactics." Nico grumbles.

"Oh-" I mutter stupidly. "right."

.:.:.:::.:.:.

I jump over Annabeth's makeshift fish net and do a roll in the water around one of Thalia's lightning bolt, she's guarding the girls flag, but it doesn't stop the shock from traveling through the water and sending me backwards. I'm pretty sure my hair is sticking up on all ends. Next to me Nico laughs.

"Your hair's singed." He chuckles

"I know" I mutter "I can smell it."

Back at our flag Tyson is on guard duty and Annabeth and Rachel are having about as much trouble as we are, except that our flag is on flat ground and Thalia is standing at the top of a sand castle that looks more like a fortress.

Suddenly, I get an idea. If I can just knock down the sand castle, the flag is pretty much mine. . .

"Not so fast Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth yells from somewhere behind me, I wince and around me the water I didn't know I had already started to control calms for just a second. Annabeth is running toward me, and behind her Rachel is trying to get around Tyson. She might do it, too, but it wont be easy. Nico looks at me and then at Thalia, who's got her bow out now.

"Distract Thalia-" I tell him. "I'm bringing down that castle!" Nico nods, and starts climbing the sand toward Thalia, he wont make it up there, but at least Thalia is shooting at him and not me. Instead, I turn around and sidestep just as Annabeth jumps at me, grinning sheepishly as she does a roll in the water and stands back up, soaking.

I try to make it discreet that while we're fighting I'm slowly bringing the castle down with the small waves, but I know that Annabeth already suspects I'm doing it and is trying to distract me. Not that it's too difficult, I get distracted pretty easily anyways.

"Annabeth, I don't mean to rush you. . . but I kind of need help!" Yells Rachel, we both turn around to see Tyson carrying her over his shoulder and grinning.

Suddenly I fall and Annabeth goes running back to Rachel.

"You kicked me!" I yell, more out of surprise than pain, Annabeth flashes me a grin and I don't have time to notice much else as Nico falls in the water next to me with arrows pinning him to the sand. Above him Thalia grins.

"Gotta do better than that!"

Nico grumbles, and I pull the arrows out of his clothes. I look back to Annabeth and see Tyson caught up in the makeshift fish net I'd avoided earlier, and it hits me that the only reason Annabeth came back was to get the net. . . and that her jumping wasn't at me, but toward the net. I smack my forehead and run into deeper water as more arrows come from Thalia, Nico gets hit again and I see him jump deeper into the water as his swim-trunks get ripped of with one of the arrows. He's bright red.

Above us Thalia is laughing like crazy, by our flag Rachel is sitting on top of Tyson, and Annabeth is about to win.

I make a last ditch effort and feel a familiar tug in my gut. The water around me raises up, and the next thing I know Thalia is next to me in the water. . . and so is the girl's flag. There sand castle is just a mound of sand, and Rachel, Annabeth, Thalia, Nico and Tyson are all completely soaked.

I pick up the flag.

"We win." I state, grinning at Annabeth wickedly, she pouts and turns away. She might be super smart, but you can't beat the sea god's kid when you're at the ocean. . . "-and I know just what to ask of you," I point to Annabeth "but not 'till later."

On the sidelines Grover is laughing, and somewhere deep out in the ocean Nico's head is the only thing that can be seen while Thalia goes to get his normal black pants.

.:.:.:::.:.:.

When we're back at camp it's just me an Annabeth sitting by the beach that's actually on camp, and it's pretty quiet. . . which is weird for us, but still nice.

"So. . ." I start, turning toward her "you still owe me for winning." She frowns, like she hoped I'd forgotten, which if it were anything else, I might have.

"Alright Seaweed Brain. . ." She sighs, "what do you want?"

"A kiss." I grin stupidly, and would be really embarrassed for asking if it hadn't been that this wasn't the first time I'd kissed her, and the first time she actually kissed me. Her face turns red all the way to the tips of her ears, but she nods, and my smile grows.

Just for the record, it was the best kiss I ever had.

My cousin kind of demanded I write a Percabeth story. . . after, of course, she demanded I read at least the first book (but I read all of them, because I didn't see very much romance in the first book and at the risk of sounding lame, I kind of liked the series.) :P

So there; I present to you Percabeth . . . my cousin liked it :'D

Enjoy. ;P