"i'm a firefighter and you started a fire in your kitchen but you're still flirting with me even though you're not wearing pants and im carrying you down a ladder as you compliment me on my muscles " percabeth

"Oh my Gods, oh my Gods," Annabeth runs about her kitchen, her hands buried deep into her blonde curls. "I can't believe this is happening."

Annabeth would usually consider herself a calm, rational person. She works great under pressure. Hell, most times it makes her better but right now she's crumbling faster than her kitchen goes up in flames.

"Shit," she curses. She grabs one of her dish rags from the sink and starts swatting it at the bright orange flames engulfing her stove.

"Shit, shit, shit." This is exactly what she gets for trying to make something that isn't insta-noodles at three in the morning after a night out in nothing other than tank top and her special I'm-gonna-get-laid-tonight panties. Not that they worked because here Annabeth is, alone in her apartment without a single guy's number and her good hair day wasted. Where were all the cute boys hiding? Because they were for sure not at the club that Piper dragged her to.

Annabeth can hear the sirens getting closer and closer. She thinks that it's pointless to have a full firefighter squad come put out her little kitchen fire, she can totally handle it herself. A couple more swats of her dishtowel and everything should be just-

Her stove explodes in a burst of light and sends her flying back into the wall.

Next thing she knows, she's being cradled against someone's chest, strong arms wrapped around her.

"You alright, miss?" the chest asks- she means the person attached to the chest- no, that still doesn't sound right either. It's definitely a guy though. She likes the sound of his voice. Deep, confident, caring like he's a freaking superhero or something.

"What happened?" she mummers. Annabeth only remembers the bright flash of light then the consuming darkness. She's drenched in sweat and the cool breeze is freezing against her skin. She wiggles deeper into his arms. "'m cold."

"You were thrown back when your stove exploded. I think you hit your head," he says, "I'm bringing you down the ladder now. We'll get you wrapped up in a blanket and checked out in a second- we're almost down."

"M'kay," she breathes. "You must have pretty nice muscles if you can carry me. I wanna feel them. You have to show me sometime," she muses.

The firefighter chuckles, "Are you flirting with me?"

Annabeth snuggles in closer to his chest. "I'm gonna sleep now."

"Miss, I need you to stay awake. Miss-"

. . .

When Annabeth wakes up she has to squint. The harsh light coming from the florescent lights clash with the pounding in her head. She groans and tries to go back to sleep, hoping when she wakes back up she'll be back in her own bed and everything will just have been a terrible dream. It doesn't work so she blinks once, twice and when she opens her eyes, she can see spots.

"Can someone turn those damn things off?" Annabeth whines, "No one with a possible concussion should be subjected to florescent lights."

Someone besides her snorts.

Annabeth shoots up too quickly, causing her to get dizzy. Her eyes focus on a guy sitting in a plastic chair next to her. She hears the heartrate monitor, smells that too clean smell, feels the harsh fabric of a gown rub against her skin. She doesn't remember the last time she was in a hospital. "How did I end up here?"

The guy looks kind of sheepish next to her. "That was me."

That voice, the memories as starting to flood back. "You're the firefighter aren't you?"

"Yup."

"And I told you I liked your muscles."

"Yes, you did."

Annabeth flops back down onto her pile of pillows and throws her arm over her eyes in an attempt to hide herself, "I'm so sorry. I'm usually not that… uh-" Annabeth searches for a word to use.

"Forward? Flirty? Seductive? Stop me when I'm getting close," the firefighter laughs, "It's fine, really. I mean, you weren't wearing any pants when I found you so that really set the mood."

"Oh Gods, I totally forgot about that," Annabeth can feel her cheeks burning. "That just makes this worse," then she realizes something, "Why are you still here? Too question me on what happened?"

She removes her arm and looks at him. It's her first real good look at him. Just like she remembers his shoulders are nice and board. His navy FDNY fits tightly across his chest and biceps, showing off all his toned muscles. His dark hair is a mess, droplets cling on to the ends so he must have just taken a shower and Annabeth just wants to run her hands through it. But his eyes are definitely her favorite. A deep green with a mischievous glint. She wonders fleetingly what they would look like looking up at her from- oh Gods. She's hardcore lusting after the guy who saved her life. This couldn't be happening.

But he's the one that's blushing now. He brings his hand up to rub the back of his neck, "Um, yes and no- I guess."

"How's my apartment? Is everything destroyed?" Annabeth chokes out.

"No, don't worry about that," his hand moves from his neck to cover hers that's closest to him, warmth floods Annabeth as he does. "We got to you just in time and contained the fire before it could spread past the kitchen."

"Oh thank the Gods," Annabeth lets out a sigh of relief, "I barely use anything but the fridge and the microwave anyways."

The firefighter nods, "Yeah and- in relative terms- the good news is that you aren't at fault." Annabeth quirks an eyebrow and he continues, "Something was wrong with you gas line, something that you super should have known about and fixed themselves. It was an accident waiting to happen. Your insurance should cover the repairs of all the damages."

"Fantastic."

"So the good news is you won't have to work overtime to try and cover the costs, you'll be free as a bird…" he trails off.

Annabeth snorts, "As if. When you work at my architecture firm, free as a bird means bed before 2 on weekdays."

"Uh- I guess I should have been more direct then," he says, "I was kinda hoping you were single."

"Why would you want to know if I'm single- oh," Annabeth looks down at where their hands are touching. There's even butterflies in her chest, "Are you," she swallows, "Trying to ask me out?"

"Trying being the operative word, yeah."

Annabeth smiles, "You don't even know my name- I don't know yours. That's kinda weird."

He shrugs, "True but I carried you out of a burning building in just your underwear as you told me you liked my muscles so I think we're past regular introductions."

"I guess that it's only fair that I get to see you in your underwear."

The smirk that gets plastered across his face does something to Annabeth that words just can't explain, yanks at something inside of her.

"Miss, are you flirting with me?"

Annabeth just grins.

(And for the record, Percy's FDNY t-shirt looks even better on her floor. Her I'm-gonna-get-laid panties work after all.)

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