She glanced over at the clock for the thousandth time. Another minute had passed since the last time she looked, so the clock now said 12:01 a.m. It had been forty three minutes exactly since her fight with Percy escalated to him leaving the house to go for a drive. She was getting worried.

He'll be fine... He said he would be. Percy never breaks his promises… But, then he never promised... NO!Don't go down that path, Annabeth! He'll be back soon. He has to be!

She looked again. Still 12:01…

She shook her head and took a deep breath to calm herself (to no avail, mind you). To try and pass the time, she let her thoughts wander to better moments.

Percy, Grover, and her playing hackey sack with the apple while waiting for the bus on their first quest (Grover eating the apple we were playing hackey sack with. She thought with a tiny smile).

12:03…

The first time she opened up to Percy, and the conversation they had, or what she could remember of it.

The utter amazement she felt when they saw the lotus casino for the first time, and how she could see that same sense of awe reflected in Percy's green eyes. (The concern in those green eyes when he had to drag me and Grover out of there…) She frowned once more and glanced at the clock.

12:05. It was if the clock was mocking her with its slow passing of time.

Her anger at seeing Percy being bullied the next year at his school, and the resulting satisfaction she felt when she punched the stupid mortal in the nose. ("And you! Lay off my friend!")

The time she and Percy-

A loud clap of thunder startled her out of her reminiscing. She looked out the window. She had managed to bury herself so deep in worry and thought that, until now, she hadn't realized the rain went from a light sprinkle to an outright downpour. She felt that knot of concern tighten.

Come back home, Percy! You've made you're point. You win! I was just afraid! I didn't want to feel that pain twice. I won't go through with it! I promise! Just. Come. Back. Home.

She collapsed into the nearby chair and put her hand on her stomach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flash Back ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The whiteness of the hospital room did nothing to ease her nerves. She looked everywhere but her messy, crimson covered lap. She looked at Percy, then the floor to her left, then the door, then Percy's forever messy black hair… Her gaze finally dropped to her husband's concerned, slightly fearful, green eyes. Percy tried for a smile. It was an attempt to comfort her, however fruitless. She gave a shaky one in return and squeezed his hand.

They were hoping against hope that their suspicions were wrong. For once in her life, she wanted so desperately to be wrong.

The door opened, and the doctor walked in at last. He looked straight into the eyes of the young couple with sadness shining clear in his own. He hated delivering this news... He hated the reactions it caused in the should have been parents…

"I'm so very sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. I'm afraid you've miscarried."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flash forward to 10:47p.m. current day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was laying there on the bed with Percy, her head on his chest, their legs entangled, and their fingers entwined, just cuddling and enjoying the silence. While relaxing to the sound of his breathing, she felt, more than heard, Percy sigh. Silently questioning him, she looked up. He smiled down at her apologetically.

"I need a drink. Sorry, but you'll have to get up, love."

She complained good-naturedly, but sat up. "I'll come with you down to the kitchen. It'll be boring up here all by myself, even if it is just for a few moments."

After Percy had gotten himself a glass of tea, offering to get her one, too, of course, they both sat down at the island in the center of the kitchen.

She decided that this was as good of a time as any to tell him. It had been a little over a year since she had given this sort of news. The first time, she had been so excited, they both had been. But, this time, she was nervous, and dreading it. She knew it would launch the two of them into a fight. That's why she had put it off.

"Percy, I'm pregnant."

He looked at her quickly and slowly set his cup down with a cautious smile.

"Annabeth, that's-"

She jumped in, and cut him off.

"The thing is," She swallowed nervously; "I don't want to keep it."

He froze. "What?"

She looked him in the eyes.

"I want to get an abortion, Percy."

"Annabeth, why would you…" He trailed off.

"I don't want to go through that again, Percy! I read somewhere that once you have a miscarriage, you're likely to have another one. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I don't want to take the chance. I can't!"

The fight continued, and slowly escalated until…

"I'm going for a drive." He snatched the car keys off the one of the hooks near the door.

She didn't know why, but her instincts screamed "NO!" at his words. She made a grab for his hand.

"Please, Percy! Don't!"

"Let go of me, Annabeth. I won't be long."

"Please, please, don't go! Trust me on this!"

"I'll be fine, Annabeth! Let go of my hand."

"Just put back the car keys. Let's go sit down on the couch, calm down, and talk this through."

He spun around to meet her eyes and pulled his hand out of hers. "I'll be back soon."

He all but slammed the door on his way out.

She felt her eyes water. She wiped at them and looked over at the clock.

11:18

The loud wail of sirens pierced her mind, and caused her stomach to clench. She jumped up from her chair and ran back over to the window. The wreck was only a few blocks down!

She grabbed the nearest sweater and ran out the door.

12:19…

The wreck came into view just in time for her to see the paramedics pull a familiar figure out of a familiar car.

No, no, no, no….

The word became a mantra in her head, a beat with which to run to.

Not Percy! Please, no!

She threw herself at the police man trying to hold her back, screaming about how he was her husband and she needed to see him, to reach him. They had been through too much together for it to end like this! Two wars, and Tartarus. Fear, love, pain, and support… She struggled and fought as she watched the medics load him into the ambulance. She watched his heart rate flat-line. She stopped as the medics tried for a third time, and failed, to revive him.

She fell to her knees, guided by the sympathetic police man to the ground, not that she noticed. This couldn't be happening. The goddess of love herself supported their relationship. They were supposed to be together until they both died of old age. He can't die. Not like this. As the paramedics shut the ambulance doors, her eyes wandered over to the shattered glass and crumpled metal that used to be cars. The glass was glistening from a combination of the rain and the fire.

She stopped looking at the wreck, and looked down at the sweater she grabbed on her way out the door.

It was Percy's.

She couldn't help but notice how the rain tasted oddly salty….