This is my first fic here, so, constructive criticisms are appreciated, but please no offensive reviews. Thank you!
-§-§-§-
"Sir, yes sir!"
"You are to leave in 3 days! Be here at exactly 6 o'clock on Monday morning."
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Dismissed."
-§-§-§-
Sometimes, Percy thinks that maybe getting a job as a soldier wasn't such a good idea.
He's serving his country. He's doing his duty, but sometimes, he thinks that maybe he also has a duty to his friends.
To his mom and to Paul.
To Annabeth.
To that little child that's growing inside of her and that's 3 months old.
He has duty to all of them, and this is what that duty is: not dying.
He doesn't want to be like his dad. Poseidon was never there for Percy when he was a little kid, and Percy doesn't want to make the same mistake. He wants to be home before 6 months are over; he wants to go to that one special appointment where he finds out if it's a girl or a boy; he wants to be there holding Annabeth's hand at the hospital, he wants that. But, now, it's going to be Piper and Hazel's job to do that, and he'll never be the good dad that he wants to be. He'll never be there for those he loves.
This is the price, for doing your duty.
-§-§-§-
"And don't forget your bag."
"Annabeth."
"Make sure to eat enough and not get one of those stupid illnesses like scurvy, or whatever it's called."
"Annabeth."
"Also, try and not to you know…"
"Ananabeth…"
"Try not to die, and you know… come back to us…"
"Annabeth… please…"
"Goddammit, Percy just go, and don't… don't…"
"It's ok… I'll come back… I mean I've lived through Tartarus, right? I can do this. I can do this."
And as he folds Annabeth in his arms and holds her as she sobs into his shirt he realizes another price that he has to pay to do his duty.
He also has to break the ones he loves.
-§-§-§-
Fighting in the desert, when there is no moisture in the air, when the closest thing to a water bottle is a muddy oasis, that's when Percy Jackson has lost all energy.
Seriously, could a country get any more dry and hot? But then what did he come here for again? To die? That's the most likely answer. Because, this, this is definitely worse than Tartarus.
No, this is the real Tartarus. This is what humans have created. Killing each other, for no good reason. What was this war even about anyway? Oh right, land. Just land. Yup. Smart cause to start a war.
Sometimes, giving in seems like a good idea.
Or maybe if he just stood up and gave a speech about how stupid humanity is, and how we'll end up killing each other, and everyone will put their guns down and we'll not have a war anymore.
But that's all in the movies; if he did that, he'd probably be killed.
So, he sits here behind this uncomfortable rock, holding his gun his gun to his chest, counting how many bullets he still has, and hoping that he'll survive another day.
Another thing you give up to do your duty.
You give up control over your own life.
-§-§-§-
"Here," Joey throws him an envelope on his bed, then moving onto another person and giving them their mail. (A/N: I have to say I have no idea how this works. Can you send mail to soldiers who are in a war? I don't know. Let's just say you can.)
Percy rips it open, and inside there are some black-and-white pictures of abstract shapes. They kind of look like they were taken by a heat-sensitive camera, or something. He turns them over, not really comprehending what they are, until he sees the back of the last picture.
It's a boy.
-§-§-§-
"Alright soldiers, you were mighty fine in this war, and I want to say I'm proud of every last one of you. Now get back to your families," the general says before waving them off.
This is it, he can get back home, put his degree in Biology to some good use, maybe become a teacher or a firefighter, both good careers for him.
Most of all he can get back to Annabeth, he can get back to his mom, to Paul, to the rest of the seven, he can get back to everyone that he cares about.
The flight seems to take forever, but there isn't much turbulence, so Zeus seems to be in a good mood.
Once off the plane, Percy realizes he hadn't called anyone telling them he's coming home.
"Hey, forgot to give you this, here you go," Joey hands him another envelope.
He rips it open, and his eyes skim over the letters he can't read. He pulls his eyes to the only thing that stands out.
…October 28th… due date…
His eyes immediately flick towards any sign he can see in the airport, searching for the date.
"Please welcome our soldiers home from the war! It's finally over, today on the 28th of October…"
His mind doesn't register anything after that. Everyone is walking in a straight line and people are cheering a waving flags and smiling and people are crying and Percy doesn't care because Annaneth is probably giving birth at this moment, and gods he just needs to jump into a taxi and get to the hospital that they agreed she would have her birth at right now.
And then he's running, and the general is yelling at him, and everyone is staring at him like he's crazy, but…
"MY WIFE'S PROBABLY GIVING BIRTH RIGHT NOW! I HAVE A RIGHT TO RUN TO THE HORPITAL SIR!"
-§-§-§-
"Hello, sir. How may I-"
"Um, I think my wife's giving birth, did an Annabeth Jackson come in, or anything?"
The nurse took this moment to look up at him and saw him, in his rumpled uniform, looking like he ran more than just a couple miles (airport taxis are really expensive!) and probably looking a bit crazy.
She looks warily at him, trying to make sure that he isn't a serial killer, or something.
"Room 360 B, level 4," she sighs, turning to the next person.
There's this huge line at the elevator, so Percy has to take the stairs. Once he reaches level 4, he runs along the corridors, trying to figure out which room is 360 B.
Are all hospitals this complicated?
And then, it's right there. It's right there, in front of him. 360 B is painted clearly on the door and this is it, he's going to be there for his child's birth, he won't be thousands of miles away killing people for some stupid cause. And then he's pushing open the door, and this is it, he's going to se Annabeth and…
Gods, he doesn't know what to say.
Annabeth is crying over some little pink thing in a blue blanket, and there are nurses rushing trying to do whatever they're trying to do, and some of them are asking him who he is, and telling him to please leave, but the little pink thing in the blanket just waved it's hand in the air. The little pink thing in the blanket has blond hair like Annabeth.
And the little pink thing in the blanket is staring straight at Percy.
Annabeth slowly turns her head to look up at Percy, or to see whom the nurses are talking to, and then she cries even harder. She lowers the baby onto her lap, and covers her mouth with one hand, sobbing, and with the other she reaches out to Percy.
The next thing he knows, he's hugging Annabeth, and she's kind of crying her eyes out onto his shirt, and then he's close enough to see the baby's eyes, and they're a beautiful, innocent sea-green color, just like his, and this is what being a father feels like, and just wow.
He bends over to pick him up, and all that matters right now, is Annabeth smiling at him through her tears, and that he's holding his son.
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