*Edited 12/8/13 due to Rules & Guidelines*
Hello people! Happy Thanksgiving! :)
"Manhattan" is a Percabeth AU one-shot/songfic thingy that I made in a couple of days (which is the fastest time it took me to write a fic in, like, ever). For maximum enjoyment/effect (ew I sound so formal) I highly recommend that you listen to the song as you read.
Disclaimer: I do not own the song "Manhattan" by Sara Bareilles or the PJO/HoO franchise. Rights for the characters go to Rick Riordan.
...
Manhattan
...
The rain cascaded down on him, soaking him to the bone.
He tapped his foot on the sidewalk as he allowed his fingers to drum against his leg. A car rushed by, and he backed away to keep from getting sprayed, muttering a complaint under his breath. The dial tone of his phone was ringing in his ear, and he barely saw the "go" signal flash on the crosswalk sign. Percy stepped off of the curb and waded into a group of other fellow pedestrians when he heard someone pick up on the other line.
"Hello?" There was static, but he could make out her voice loud and clear. He briskly emerged from the throng, stepping onto the opposite sidewalk. The neon lights of a bar sign casted a hazy glow overhead, shining in the rain.
Percy glanced back at the crosswalk just in time to see the signal go red. "Hey, Annabeth."
There was a dull noise on the other end before she spoke up. "Percy? Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me. We need to talk."
There was another noise, a crackling sound this time. "Percy, you know that now's not a good time. My phone's supposed to be off."
"Then why is it on?"
He could feel her roll her eyes all the way from the JFK International Airport. "Because you called, duh. Can we not do this now?"
Percy ran up the curb, pulling down the bill of his cap to keep the rain out of his face. He saw a cluster of yellow cabs lazily dozing at the corner, and, determined more than ever, shot forward like a rocket.
"Percy? You still there?"
"Yeah," he said right before flagging down one of the taxis. It slowly pulled out of its spot, heading down along the curb for him. "I should be asking you the same thing."
Percy heard Annabeth scoff on the other line as he climbed into the back seat of the cab. "I'm not gone yet, Seaweed Brain. My flight doesn't leave for another twenty-five minutes, remember? Bad weather."
He closes the cab door before shedding his soaking wet coat. A bolt of lightning flashed outside the taxi window. "I noticed."
The driver turned around, hand on the wheel. "Where to?"
"JFK. Step on it." The cab pulled away from the curb.
They drove for a few minutes, passing pawn shops and Chinese food places and other joints like that. They stopped at a light, and Percy watched as people of all shapes and sizes bustled about the sepia-hued evening.
"Percy?" She was still on the line.
His gaze snapped back to the road ahead. "Yeah?"
"What is it you wanted to talk about?"
He listened to the steady beating of the rain against the hood of the cab, the phone held a few inches away from his ear. After a few nervous seconds between them, Percy swallowed a lump and brought it back.
"Us."
"Us? What about us?"
"Us," Percy managed to say again, and just like that, he's rambling. "The both of us. You and me. I know that we've been having a lot of problems lately, but...why? What even happened between us in the first place? Just last month, we were at the beach together talking about the future, and now you're on a plane to travel halfway across the world. Why? When? What's going on?"
He heard and saw Annabeth sigh from miles and miles away. "I...I'm not really sure. Things just got...complicated. We both decided that things should roll a little differently, I guess."
"Both of us?" he asked accusingly into the phone. The taxi took a sharp turn to the left, and Percy nearly made contact with the window, but then everything was okay. "Last time I checked, you were the decision maker."
"But Percy," she almost plead, "It's an entire city we're talking about. Buildings, parks - entire communities. This is the biggest deal I've ever gotten from anyone. If I turn down this deal - "
"Then we can stay together." he finished for her.
She huffed into the phone. "No. I'd be passing up the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm sorry, but I don't plan on letting that happen. Besides, I'll be back in a year. Why can't you just understand?"
The cab stopped at another light, and Percy was overcome with annoyance.
"Listen," he said into the phone. "I don't understand a lot of things, Annabeth, you know that. But one thing I do get is that I shouldn't let that plane take off with you on it. You're supposed to stay here, with me."
"I wasn't supposed to be here at all, you know. I was supposed to be in California."
"But still."
Through the rain, Percy could see the watery glow of runway lights, and a dark shape slide into a fenced-off area to his right. Judging from the sounds of jet engines and blaring car horns, he knew that they were at their destination.
Percy bit his lip as he tapped the "buy" icon displayed on his phone. He had just bought a ticket to Athens; there was no way he was going to get past the front desk without a ticket. Percy closed the tab, pulled the call back up, and put the phone back to his ear. He really hoped that he hadn't just thrown nine hundred dollars down the drain.
Percy turned to the driver. "Drop me off there, at the front entrance."
The man grunted. The cab inched along with the rest of the traffic until it rested right in front of the main doors of JFK.
He nervously bit his lip, staring at the swarms of people wading through a sea of different colored suitcases as they went in and out of the airport, bustling and hustling about.
The driver's gruff voice brought him back to reality. "Hurry up and get out, will yah?" grunted the driver over his shoulder. "I can't park 'ere for long."
Percy gripped the door handle, unbuckling his seatbelt as he diverted his attention back onto his phone call. "Annabeth, how much more time until you go?"
"Percy, you can't just - "
"How much?"
Annabeth sighed for what must have been the one hundredth time that night. "Nine minutes. Percy, I don't see how- "
"I'm coming."
Percy hopped out of the cab and dashed through the automatic doors, not even bothering to pay.
Percy ran faster than he had ever run before. He passed baggage claims and transit lounges, countless numbers of people and luggage carts before he made it to the landside area and got in line.
The line was slow, but Percy got past in record time, due to his lack of luggage. He ran down a large hall, went down a couple of escalators, and emerged in a terminal filled with large numbers of people. He waded his way across the room, his soaked shoes sloshing across the tile floors.
"What gate were you at?"
"25. If you think you're getting on my plane..."
"I don't 'think'. I am."
"You're a Seaweed Brain."
"You're my Wise Girl."
"You're an idiot. My idiot. Stop making me empty promises."
Percy pressed on, and on, and on. Countless memories of summers with Annabeth at the beach, at camp, at home drove him on, pushing him forward.
He came to a halt. Percy stood in the middle of the departure area, surrounded by different people and sights and smells and sounds. The harsh, fluorescent lights marring his view. He turned to his right, and took in a sharp breath.
Gate 25, flight 492. The plane was still there, and the doors were just sliding closed.
Half a minute later, he was dashing through the small gap between the doors.
"The seatbelt light's on. I have to turn off my phone."
"Just...tell the pilot to wait a minute," Percy mumbled into the phone. It was a stupid request, but he didn't care.
"Percy?"
He almost dropped the phone, he was going so fast.
"Yeah?"
"You're never going to make it." Annabeth sounded like she doubted it herself.
"Hm. We'll see, Chase. We'll see."
"HEY!" He heard an airport security guard call from behind him, but he didn't care. Percy was racing across the tarmac, his footsteps heavy on the metal floors. He heard more footsteps coming from behind.
Ahead of him, the low, loud sound of jet engines pierced the air.
"Percy, hurry."
"I'm trying!"
He reached the doors the very second the plane started pulling away.
Percy reared back, nearly falling into empty space. Cold wind and rain from outside stung his face. The roar of jet engines flooded his thoughts. He fell to his knees, watching the plane go.
He heard Annabeth whisper into the phone as he stared at very flight she was on.
"I told you not to make empty promises, Percy Jackson."
The plane sped off the runway, piercing the starry and sepia sky... ✈
...
Annabeth Chase was unpacking her bags when she heard a knock on the hotel room door.
She didn't know who it could be. She zipped her bag back up, pushed it under the bed, and went to the door.
Annabeth looked through the peephole. Standing on the other side of the door was a maid.
Expecting her to further clean up the room, Annabeth opened the door.
"Hi!" said the woman when she opened the door, all smiles. Her 'hi' sounded like 'h'yah!', which was a thing only the Greeks could do.
The woman was very short and fell a considerable amount of inches under Annabeth's height. She looked down at the older woman, wondering why she was here.
"Um, hi, good morning. Is there something wrong? Are you here to take my towels?"
"No!" said the woman, nodding incredulously (another thing the Greeks did - they gave a sight upward nod for no and a downward nod for yes). "There's a man in the lobby waiting to see you!" She paused, and eyed Annabeth suspiciously.
"You are Annabeth Chase?"
Annabeth was about to nod when she stopped herself, and gave a slight downward nod instead. "Yes, I am. I'll be right down."
She quickly dashed back into the room, grabbed her camera, and ran back out. Her employers said that they would send someone to give her a tour of downtown Athens, and she expected it to be them. Better take her camera to take pictures of things that sparked architectural ideas.
Annabeth followed the lady down the hall, and she was about to head for the elevator when the woman turned left and started descending down a staircase.
"Okay..." she muttered under her breath, and she hesitantly followed.
There were lots of stairs. Lots of stairs. Annabeth was panting by the time they got to the lobby. That's what she deserved after following a little old lady all the way down from the top floor.
Annabeth stumbled out from the stairwell into the lobby, trying to catch her breath. Once she was at her destination, she glanced around the room. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to see (a guy in a business suit, or in the company colors, maybe?).
Suffice to say, she was plenty surprised to see Percy Jackson standing in the corner, smiling over at her.
She stared at him. He stared at her. She realized that her feet were moving towards him when he walked over to her, and the two of them approached each other in the center of the room.
Her eyebrows knit together as he smiled hugely down at her. She touched his face, but her hands didn't go through. He laughed as Annabeth's eyes widened, and she cupped his entire face in her hands. The entire thing was so surreal.
Annabeth's gray eyes searched his green ones. "How- ?"
"I took the next flight," he said smoothly, and her jaw dropped a little.
"But- I saw you- "
"I explained the situation, and they let me out. Let me fly first class, too."
Annabeth blinked. Now she was really befuddled. "What?"
Percy smiled, and leaned down and kissed her on the tip of her nose. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she melted into him. "I guess JFK understands the things we do for love."
... end ...
Thanks for reading! :)