Love on the Battlefield

If the noise in his headset hadn't been eerie non-existent, Percy wasn't sure he would have even heard the knocking at the apartment door. He wished he hadn't locked the door now, knowing he was going to have to stop playing to answer it. That was only going to result in his untimely death.

"Watch my back, Nico, someone's at the door." Percy dropped the controller onto his seat and powerwalked to the door, headset still attached. The teenage boy's mother, Sally, and step-father, Paul, were out buying paint for the kitchen. It was something that had been talked about a million times and Percy ever wondered if they would actually do it. So it was very much to his surprise when they had told him where they were going. Not that Percy minded. Having the small, New York apartment to himself for a few hours wasn't bad.

"Annabeth?" As Percy swung open the door he found his blonde-haired girlfriend stood before him, hands on hips and eyebrow raised. "Oh, Annabeth...I was wondering when-"

"You forgot, didn't you?" A small blush crept up the teen boys cheeks as Annabeth pushed her way into his apartment. Of course he had forgotten. He forgot everything when he was playing that damn game. "Oh my Gods, Percy, are you ever going to remember anything I say to you?" She wasn't really mad. It was expected of him. But he wasn't to know that.

"I-I-I-I-Umm...Uh-I-"

"You-You-You-What?" Annabeth's eyebrow remained raised as she turned to face her boyfriend, her tone mocking and her expression unbreakable.

"Love you...?" It was a question, not a statement. But the teenage girl just sighed and reached for the headset, pulling it away at the microphone and shouting, "NICO DI ANGELO!" Before letting go and watching the plastic snap back to the side of her boyfriend's head.

Annabeth decided to make herself at home, like she usually did when she visited. Settling herself on the sofa beside the discarded PS3 controller, waiting for Percy to join her. The blonde stared at the screen for a long time, watching the animated army man just stand there while another circled around, shooting at people who got too close. She wondered what all the fuss was about. It didn't seem very exciting from where she was sat, but all the boys at Camp Half-blood and beyond were fascinated by it.

"I don't understand this game."

"Found something you can't wrap your brain around, Wise girl?" Percy teased as he moved back into his previous seat; feet up on the coffee table and controller in hand.

"You wish." Annabeth quickly replied. "I mean I don't understand why you enjoy it so much. I could kick your butt if I wanted to." Her words came out in a snake-like hiss, knowing that letting Percy think he could beat her at anything was not something she planned on doing. Ever.

"Okay." Percy challenged, picking up the second controller from the floor. He and Paul had been having a serious step-father-step-son bonding earlier that morning-something Sally was happy to see-over an intense round of Black Ops. It had been Paul who bought Percy the game console for his 16th birthday. Sally had not approved, but Paul had stated he wanted to get him something nice. The new game everyone had been talking about was just an added bonus.

Annabeth stared down at the controller that Percy had tossed into her lap. Pushing a hair behind her ear, she glanced up at him with questioning eyes. This was not what she had expected. Percy could not honestly want to be beaten by her, could he? But he did. Or at least he wanted her to prove that she was better at Black Ops than he was.

"Come on, we're playing Search and Destroy." 'We' being Percy, Nico and a bunch of boys from the Camp that Annabeth knew were all about to start taking the mick out of her if she didn't act upon the request. No doubt Percy had his headset still on, knowing full-well all the boys could hear their conversation.

"Search and Destroy?" She questioned, watching Percy quitting one game and starting a new one.

"I guess it's sort of like Capture the Flag." That was the best thing he could think of describing it as being. "Two teams of six. One has to protect a patch of land; the other has to plant a bomb on it. Simple stuff." Annabeth couldn't quite figure out the exact connection to capture the flag, but she didn't dwell on the thought too much. Her brothers had been playing the same just the other day. Right before her step-mother had figured out what it was and confiscated it from them. However, Annabeth managed to get a few pointers before that happened.

It took a while, but after 6 rounds-both teams on 3 wins each-Percy started to realize that Annabeth wasn't as bad at this game as he thought she would have been. Of course, it had taken a full 2 and a half minute round for her to understand what every button was for, but she got it eventually. In fact, she found she had a knack for planting bombs. Unfortunately, Nico, who was on Percy's side, had a knack for destroying them before they detonated.

With one round left, Annabeth was determined to not let Percy's team win. Even if it meant promising the Stoll brothers she would single-handedly clean Cabin 11 when she got back to Camp after the summer just so they would buck up their ideas and start playing to win, not just 'prance around like daisies' as Annabeth so kindly put it.

"No, you are not going to win this one." Percy spoke mildly. The couple had really gotten into beating each other in this video game, much like they did in every other thing in life. It was always a competition between the two, and neither liked letting the other one claim a victory.

"Whatever, Seaweed brain." Annabeth smirked, scoping her surrounding area with a sweep of her finger. It had come down to the last two opponents. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Head-to-head. No one else to help either of them, all having lost their lives in battle.

Even Annabeth was having doubts about winning. Percy clearly had some sort of strategy going on. She couldn't let him win the last game, no matter what it took. She refused to let Percy plant his team's bomb and that was final. But knowing he was close, Annabeth did the first thing that came into her mind; she dropped the controller into her lap and grabbed ahold of the collar of Percy's worn out t-shirt, pulling him in for a long and hard kiss.

It tasted sweet and bitter, warm and salty. It didn't usually take this long on their dates for them to kiss. As Rachel Elizabeth Dare had once put it, they were 'at it like rabbits.' It didn't feel strange kissing Percy in the middle of a war or a game. They molded together like a cookie jar and its lid.

"We might have lost this round, but we'll get them next time."

Breaking apart at the sound of the game, Annabeth grinned, "Told you I could kick your butt." But her words were lost as Percy pulled her back to him.

o.O.o

A/N: This is dedicated to ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm. My best friend, beta and plot-giver. She was frustrated and asked for something we all love; PERCABETH FLUFF! So I asked her for a plot and voila! This is what came of it ^^

I imagine this to be set Post-The Last Olympian, during the summer before Percy was kidnapped.

Things to keep in mind.

1) I am aware that Black Ops came out after TLO is set...It's a minor detail, really...

2) Any information about Black Ops comes directly from my almost 15 year old brother. (In exchange for how to play Search and Destroy, I told him how to play Capture the Flag XD) If something is wrong, you have my permission to hang him by his right thumb and left big toe.

3) This is only my second dive into the world of writing Percy Jackson fanfics. My first writing Percabeth. It is not my strong point. Probably never will be. So, please, go easy on that aspect.

4) This is also the first oneshot I have written in 26 weeks that did not have a song, quote or my own personal feelings behind it. Holy crap! I didn't realize it was that long...

5) And lastly, I am no Rick Riordan...

haha, that's me begging for ya'll to not hurt me XD

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X