The sound of waves lapping on the shore, his father's outline a mile away with a starter's gun, the creak of leather as his horse shifted underneath him. Seven hundred pounds of pure power surged under him as he kicked the yearling forward at the sound of the gun. That was what he lived for, the feeling of being one with the creature beneath him. The feeling of flying over the sand, racing towards the finish line that he would never be allowed to pass.

'Good timing. Let's pack up.' Poseidon said stiffly to his son.

'Dad, don't worry about me, I'll be okay.' Percy tried to assure his exhausted father. It wasn't his fault he'd gotten call-up papers for the Special Forces division. It was only a year, luckily.

'I have to, son. Annabeth has no-one to look to...and even though she is the daughter of one of the worst people I have ever met, I feel bad that my only son should leave to fight for a bunch of mortals, leaving the one he loves for their greed.' Lord Poseidon was truly nervous for his son's welfare, and he knew what his son's girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, was going through.

'It'll only be for a year.' Percy said doubtfully.

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She forced herself to be emotionless when Lord Poseidon visited her in the middle of Percy's serving time.

'Annabeth...I know I shouldn't be the one to tell you this, Sally should be but I wanted you to know that he's been shot. It's not deadly, but he won't be fighting for another month. He's in Africa at the moment. It's in his shoulder.' Annabeth noted that the Greek god looked more tired than usual, deep purple begs under his once lively green eyes, tha were now a dull green, like that of the ocean on a dreary rainy day. His beard was unkempt and wild, and his face had hard lines etched into them. For the first time, she felt for the Earthshaker. It seemed as if his whole world had crumbled when his one remaining son was sent off to war. Tyson had been killed in an enemy Cyclops attack.

'Thank you, Lord. I'll be sure to send my condolences to Sally.' Annabeth replied grimly.

'Annabeth...I'm sorry...' Poseidon rubbed the back of his neck, something that Percy did when he was awkward.

'Sir?'

'If I ever made you feel as if you were unworthy of Percy...I know how much you love him, and how much he loves you...I know how it felt..with Sally...as if I would give up immortality if I could to be with her and our son...the most important two things in my world...then she moved on to Paul...and he's at war...and it's all my fault...because I messed up...it's what I always do, and I just ruin everything when I do.' Poseidon let a tear streak down his cheek and Annabeth felt a bit of affection for the almighty being, for being invulnerable and hoping against all hope that everything would be okay. He had to watch his children and loved ones waste away to dust while he stayed the same, unmoving and eternal, to suffer forever.

'Thank you, Lord, but I don't particularly care what the gods say about my love life.' Annabeth replied haughtily.

Poseidon chuckled goodnaturedly, 'Oh, you're definitely Athena's kid, good bye, Ms Chase.'

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Percy looked at the destruction caused by the Sudanese bombs. He saw a little street urchin stumbling over the road and a massive Sudanese tank heading straight for her. He knew they didn't stop for the kids, much less the girls, and he saw most of his fellow soldiers look away in disgust as the tank rolled forward menacingly, speeding up to collide with the child.

'Fatima!' One of the other street urchins wailed and the girl froze, her black eyes fixed on the fast approaching vehicle. Percy felt his legs pumping as he sprinted towards the small girl in bloodstained rags. He had been playing basketball with his squad mates and his chest heaved under his off-white beater as he tackled the girl out of the way of the tank as it passed where she had been less than a second earlier. The girl looked at him with wide eyes as he got to his feet, bruised and bloodied and he nodded to her before turning to his astonished squad mates.

'Halt!' A heavily accented voice barked and Percy turned to look at the stern looking Sudanese captain with a handlebar moustache, 'thank you.' The man nodded and Percy followed suit out of respect and the potential enemies turned and returned to their respective camps.

'Yo, Percy, you could have been killed! Why'd you go and do that?' Liam, his commander, shouted angrily.

'Lives do not need to be lost unnecessarily because we are too cowardly to react to their actions! I will not stand by and let innocent children be killed because people might kill me. Yes, I have a life that I cherish, but letting civilians die isn't right. And that child didn't deserve to die, and if she didn't, I gave her a second chance.' Percy replied, looking his superior defiantly in the eye.

'Very well, we moveout in an hour, get ready!'

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She felt her throat choke up slightly at the thought of him returning to her. The late night make out sessions under the lake. The Pegasus rides. His sparkling smile. His twinkling green eyes. His love for his ski boat and blue chocolate chip cookies and letting her beat him at Call of Duty because he knew it made her happy and it made him happy if she was. The tracing of each other's scars and the tender fingers that always brushed so lightly against the skin of her waist and back.

She stood at the entry gate where the international arrivals came in and looked at all the business men who looked completely serious about their clients. She was a college student in a hoodie that said 'Goode Swim team' and 'Jackson' on the back, with redrimmed eyes, short shorts and a back pack with a messy bun and hopeful eyes. A little old lady glanced at her in surprise as she scratched around in her bag, only to curse whn she didn't find what she wanted.

'Flight from Sudan, is arriving in the reception area in five minutes.' The PA blared, making Annabeth jerk upright and bite her nail nervously. He had now gone through two wars. An ancient one and a war against innocent people. Percy wasn't one to support something like that. He was probably seething the whole time.

A tall man in a business suit stepped out and glanced around the room, his eyes settling on her legs before he was hailed by a messenger. Just then, a black haired masterpiece of a soldier stepped out with his hair in an absolute disaster, exactly like Annabeth liked it. She felt her legs stretch out and the nex moment she was wrpped in his arms. The arms that always protected her. The salty sea and musty horse smell. His uniform scratched her skin and his lips were pressed firmly against her neck, muttering sweet nothings to her as she sobbed in relief against his strong chest. His hand stroked her hair lightly and he buried his head into her neck, wrapping his arms around her even tighter. A few people clapped and pointed at the reunited couple.

Annabeth brought her head up to look at her boyfriend. His black hair looked fantastic in its new shorter style, and his green eyes shone with love. Annabeth knew exactly what was going to happen now, and she couldn't wait for it, for the first time in a year, she kissed her love. His body pressed even closer to her and her arms automatically wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling him closer than ever. The whole airport seemed to break out in applause and the two broke apart to look around them to look at the spectator's smiling faces. They didn't say anything for a few minutes, only drank in the new features that graced the other's faces. Percy had received a new scar on his jaw and a bruise had almost faded on his cheek bone.

'I missed you so much.' He said finally breaking the silence and again Annabeth threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly.