Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Rick owns all!
oooOOOooo
Charles Beckendorf didn't believe in coincidences. He believed in Fate, and gods. Curses and strings that foretold your life.
So, when he realized for the first time that he had a (major) crush on the new head of Aphrodite cabin, Silena Beauregard, he couldn't help but think that the Fates had a strange sense of humor. First it was the new kid Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. A son of Poseidon and a daughter of Athena? Not a chance.
But, despite them being only 12, forgoing the fact that Beckendorf himself was only 13 going on 14, everybody knew that they would eventually end up together.
And now here he was. A son of Hephaestus crushing on a daughter of Aphrodite.
Like he said, the Fates had a weird sense of humor.
oooOOOooo
Of course even though he had a crush on Silena, it didn't necessarily mean she felt the same way. Beckendorf tried to hide his feelings for a while- and he managed to a degree. He was pretty sure Silena had no idea how he felt.
However, the rest of the camp most certainly did.
"I don't see why you don't just ask her out," Percy said the summer after the incident with Annabeth being kidnapped. He was leaning against a wall in the forge that was almost completely deserted apart from them. "You obviously like her."
Beckendorf sighed as he stuck a glowing piece of metal into a bucket of water. He was going to make some improvements to his bunk in Cabin Nine. "Don't you have canoeing to teach or something?"
Percy snorted. "You have got it bad, haven't you?" He asked rhetorically.
Now Beckendorf looked up to grin. "Just as bad as you with Annabeth?"
Percy's face was already flushed from the heat of the forge but Beckendorf definitely saw it turn even redder. "Annabeth and I are friends-"
"Okay Perce, whatever you say." Beckendorf said amiably. He and Percy Jackson- yes, the famous Percy Jackson who was the only child of Poseidon at the moment and probably going to bear the Great Prophecy- had become friends this past summer. He had never really talked to the kid before but he supposed that since they both had girl troubles they were sort of drawn together.
Besides, he was a cool guy. Beckendorf liked him.
"Gods, why does everybody keep saying that?" Percy asked. "Even my mom thinks there's something going on."
"Percy," Beckendorf looked up at him seriously, wanting to finally make him understand. "You broke almost every rule to leave camp and go on a quest to rescue her. Everybody here saw how crazy her being missing made you. You like her."
Percy stared at him, mouth slightly open, obviously shocked. After Beckendorf raised his eyebrows he frowned at him. "I have to go teach some kids how to canoe," he muttered. "See you around man."
Beckendorf decided to let it go. For now. "See you later."
Percy turned around when he was half way out the forge. "And ask Silena out!"
The few others who were in the forge- Nyssa, Amy, Chris and Evan- all lifted up their heads to watch. Beckendorf, not to be outdone, made sure to yell loud enough so Percy would hear. "When I do you have to ask out Annabeth!"
The stupid Barnacle Brain pretended not to hear. But Beckendorf saw his face- the boy had heard.
oooOOOooo
A year passed and nothing happened. He didn't ask out Silena- but.
But. Silena started to notice him. He wasn't sure why, didn't know what had changed lately, but she started talking to him and watching him when she thought he wasn't looking.
Sure he had gained muscle and grown taller but he didn't see why that would suddenly attract her attention.
Maybe she had noticed that his eyes kept sliding towards her when they should have most definitely been looking at other things- like the flag right in front of his face that he didn't get because Silena caught him. The walk to the jail was short and quiet but when Silena finally deposited him where her team's jail was located she had smiled up at him- a beautiful, breathtaking smile- and had said, "we should do this again sometime."
Luckily their jail was deserted except for a new kid named Clovis- he stayed in the Hermes cabin but his dad was Morpheus, god of sleep. Needless to say he was sleeping on the ground, his pillow under his head.
Beckendorf sat down and waited to be saved.
oooOOOooo
It all changed when, a week or so later, Percy came into the forge once more and announced, for everybody to hear. "Silena likes you."
Beckendorf- to his embarrassment- had dropped his newly made shield on his foot.
"What?" He asked, ignoring the looks they were being given. "How do you know?"
"Trust me," Percy said, very seriously. "She likes you. A lot."
"How do you know?" Beckendorf asked again.
Percy shrugged. "How did you know I like Annabeth? Dude, watch her. She definitely has a thing for you."
Beckendorf ignored the fluttering in his stomach at Percy's words and said instead, "So you're admitting you like Annabeth?"
"I-" Percy flushed, flustered. "No. I was just saying… I think Silena likes you for the same reasons you think I like Annabeth."
The son of Hephaestus raised his eyebrows. "She becomes a babbling idiot whenever I'm around?"
"I do not!" Percy exclaimed before flushing deeper. "Look, I just know she does, alright?"
Charles looked at him closely, taking in his honest expression, and nodded. "Alright."
oooOOOooo
Everything changed during the game of Capture the Flag. First there was the problem of the bronze dragon. He had almost ended up dying because of the automan trying to save it from the huge ants that were called myrmekes.
It had been a sign from Hephaestus, Beckendorf had been absolutely sure. Now, instead of it being a sign, Charles was starting to think it was more like the god had planned everthing out- because as he had almost died from ant venom, who had saved him?
Silena.
Well Percy and Annabeth had been there too. But they weren't important.
Silena had come and braved a killer ant hill swarmed with ants and a haywire dragon just to save him. She had led the charge and ignored the flashy jewelry and expensive metals.
She had thought of him. Of saving him. And something in her eyes when she had seen him, when he had seen her looking beautiful and fierce in her battle armor… it had made all doubts of him liking her, all doubts of her not liking him, flee.
He had asked her to the fourth of July fireworks.
She had said yes.
From there it was a whirlwind.
oooOOOooo
"Are you scared?"
He twirled a strand of her hair around his finger before placing it carefully back to frame her face. "Yes."
She sucked in a breath from where they lay, her head on his stomach, at the top of Half-Blood Hill. Tomorrow was Beckendorf's mission with Percy to go and try to blow up the Princess Andromeda and the couple had just wanted a bit of peace for an hour or so. A chance to get away from it all.
Of course away meant less than a mile, but still. It was nice not having anyone else bothering them. Silena was sick of her siblings- something about her not doing the Aphrodite cabin rite of passage, not important she had told him- and Beckendorf was sick of seeing the looks of pity and worry when people looked at him. He had known full well what he was signing up for when he accepted this task, he knew the risks. He just wished everybody would stop treating him like he was already dead.
She turned over so that her weight was resting on one elbow, one arm resting on his stomach which rose and fell steadily. Her face was earnest and her eyes were searching when she said, "Don't be."
He met her gorgeous brown eyes steadily. "Why not? I could die."
It was blunt and she flinched but Beckendorf had never been good at sugar-coating and beating around the bush.
"You won't," Silena pressed. "You are not going to die."
Beckendorf turned his head to look up, at the sky past Thalia's old tree's branches. "You don't know that."
"I do," she said, suddenly fierce. "You will not die on this mission. You're not getting hurt."
"Silena," he murmured, feeling her hair again. It was soft and smelled like peaches. "You can't charmspeak Kronos into keeping me alive. You can't bargain your way out of this one. This is my mission and it will be dangerous. I could die."
"I'll make sure you don't," she said desperately, her eyes starting to mist. "I-I-"
"How?" Charles asked her.
Silena looked miserable and he regretted being so brutally honest with her. But he hadn't really inherited great social skills from his father- or from his mother in fact.
"Just come back to me." She said, heart hammering as her chest pressed against his. "Please. I can't- I don't think I can live without you. Not for long anyway."
His chest tightened and Beckendorf looked away from her again, staring once more up at Zeus's domain. "If I die," he started, "Your face will be the last one that goes through my mind. And your name will be the last name that passes my lips. That's how much I love you." He stopped her when she opened her mouth. "But, if I die, you will not just give up. You're going to keep fighting, okay? For me."
"I don't want to fight without you," she whispered.
"But you're strong enough that you will." He said, ignoring the feelings her words stirred in his chest. "Besides. I might not die."
He didn't want to die. Gods no, everybody had no idea how much he wanted to live. He wanted to start his own life and stay with Silena and beat Kronos. But this was a mission and it was dangerous. And he had a bad feeling about it- about everything.
But Silena had seemed so worried lately, hadn't been eating and sleeping well. She was acting odd and he didn't want to make it worse by creating false hope only to let her down.
He didn't want to lie to her.
"No you won't." Silena said. "You're going to come back and we're going to beat Luke and Kronos." The vehemence in her voice caused Charles's eyes to shoot to her in surprise but she looked mad suddenly. "After we win you're going to college and I'm going to follow you the next year. We're going to get married and have 3 kids and live together in a nice little house and we are going to be happy."
"Silena…" he whispered, unsure what to say because he wanted that life she talked about so much.
Her eyes met his. "You're not going to die." She said.
He replied with the only thing he could. "Okay."
And then he kissed her- because he didn't want her to read the lie written on his face.
oooOOOooo
Beckendorf didn't believe in coincidences.
He believed in Fate.
Fate brought Silena and him together and, even if he did die, it would bring them together again in their next lives. He was sure of it.
It was that surety that gave him the strength to press the detonator on his watch and blowing up Kronos's ship- that certainty and the image of Silena's face burning brightly at the forefront of his mind.
oooOOOooo
Review?