Annabeth had been waiting for this moment forever. That stupid Percy Jackson was not going to ruin this for her. It didn't matter that he was the son of one of the Big Three. It didn't matter that he was okay once you got to know him. No, what mattered was that he had the chance to mess this up. br/

She huffed just thinking about it. Jackson had better stay out of her way. She was going to prove it to him that you didn't need any powers beside your brain to be good at something.

"Annabeth!" Percy said. "Look at what I just did!"

"Wow, nice job. It's great." She responded dryly, ignoring the look that Grover sent her.

Percy slumped back down into the seat next to her. "You didn't even look." He frowned, looking up front towards Argus. He absently noticed the eye on Argus' neck winking at him.

She nudged him, "No really, it was great." She tried to smile at him but a grimaced appeared instead.

Grover raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" She mouthed back. "I'm trying." And she really was. It was just hard. There were too many things she couldn't say. The closest thing she'd ever had to a real mother had died this past April. It was hard for her to even think about what Jackson- no Percy- was going through. It was times like this that she missed Stiles the most. He'd know exactly what to say to break the weird tension.

"So…" Grover began but was interrupted by the van pulling into the bus station.

Annabeth stood, stretching and grabbed her bags. "Thanks Argus!" She jumped out of the van, not even waiting for the other two.

"And that is why the St. Louis arch is one of the most incredible pieces of- Percy are you even listening to me?"

"Huh?" Percy said, vacantly glancing at her before realizing she was waiting for an answer. "Oh yeah, of course Wise Girl."

She glared at him, "This is why we almost got killed at Aunty M's! Pay attention."

Percy glared right back, "We're in a public place, surrounded by thousands, do you really think we're gonna be attacked right now?"

"Well," Annabeth began, "I think that you're-"

"Alright!" Grover interrupted. "Stop. Can we please just finish this tour and get back to the train station?"

Annabeth and Percy sighed in tandem. They both whipped their heads around to glare at each other once more as Grover rubbed his forehead.

"We just have one more thing to do." Annabeth said, as if nothing had happened. "Ride to the top."

"Great," Percy whispered. "Can't wait to squeeze into that."

"If you don't want to," Annabeth began hotly. "You can stay here."

"And leave you two alone up there? I'll come." He snapped back.

"Guys," Grover tried again. "Can we please…"

They both nodded their heads and stepped into the elevator. Annabeth was stewing. Who did Percy Jackson think he was? She was the brains of this operation. She knew what they were doing. She was the one who had been forced to give up her family.

As the elevator rose to the top, she was stunned by the beauty and ingenuity that Eero Saarinen had used when creating the arch. This was what she wanted. She needed to make her mark.

"This… is actually pretty cool." Percy said before glancing at her sideways. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

Annabeth smiled softly back, "It's okay." Her smile vanished. "Just… pay more attention okay?"

Percy grinned at her. "For you Wise Girl, anything."

"Okay, okay. As nice as this has been, can we go now?" Gover said. "These hooves shouldn't be this high."

"Sure thing, Goat Boy." Percy ruffled his hair. They got in line to go back down but the elevator was too crowded. As Annabeth and Grover were pushed to the back, Percy frowned.

"I'll take the next one down."

"Are you sure?" Annabeth asked, looking like she was willing to fight her way out.

"Yeah!" Percy called back, "It's no big deal."

As the doors slid shut on Percy's face, Annabeth could not help but feel like this was spectacularly bad idea.

"Grover," She hissed. "Why would we leave him up there?"

Grover flicked his eyes to her. "I… don't know. We made a mistake." The doors whooshed open, allowing the carriers to spill out into the Arches' information center. They both remain in the elevator, hoping that the workers wouldn't notice.

"Come on out dears," an older lady said. "They're closing the service down for the day."

"Oh no!" gasped Annabeth, thinking quickly. "I left my giftbag up there!"

The old lady tsked, "That is just too bad. They'll bring it down after everyone has left." She pointed to the security guard station. "It will be there soon."

Grover grabbed Annabeth's arm, "Thanks ma'am. We'll be over there." He dragged Annabeth over. "We left our giftbag?"

"What?" Annabeth said defensively, glancing around. The old lady was still watching them. "I was just trying to help-" As she spoke a boom rocked the space. They both went pale.

"Percy."

They exchanged looks and raced out of the shop. As they left, the old woman rippled and vanished.

The scene that they entered into was one of panic. The top of the arch was smoking, a clear opening in it. As they watched, as shiny stick flew out of the gap, spinning into the murky waters below.

"Riptide," Grover breathed.

Annabeth gasped and grabbed onto his arm, locking their fingers together. Another blast of fire shot out of the breach and with it, a body fell.

Annabeth screamed, echoing the other people watching the scene. Grover's grip on her hand was painful.

She took a deep breath and tried to refocused. Okay. Percy had just fallen, or jumped out of the arch. He would land where?

She tugged on Grover's hand, "We need to go to the riverbank."

"What?" Grover said blankly.

She began moving them throughout the crowd, avoiding police officers and EMT's. "We need to go to the riverbank. He fell into the river."

Grover's hand loosened on hers, "He's not…" He took deep breath and reminded himself, Percy wasn't Thalia. He would succeed with this one.

Annabeth pulled them into an overhang next to the river. "He's okay." I hope, she added in her head. "He fell into the river. Water heals him. He'll be fine."

Grover nodded along with her. "Yeah, he's fine."

His hand squeezed hers before dropping it completely. He scanned the water, looking anxiously for the mop of black hair they expected to see.

Annabeth scanned the water as well, "He's there," She pointed out. "See the shape getting bigger underwater? That's him." Grover ran towards him. Thank the Gods, she thought. That Percy's okay.

The glow of the truck was peaceful, once you got over the smell, Annabeth mused. She supposed that the actual trip hadn't been so bad once she and Percy had made a truce. She hadn't meant to tell him about Fredrick. This trip was doing weird things to her. She missed Stiles.

Her eyes stung and she wiped away a small tear. The last time she had seen Stiles had been at the funeral and it had been unbearable. He had been so broken and small and not-Stiles. She had seen the way John was looking at Stiles, sadness and anger twisted up on his face.

She didn't know who he was madder at, Stiles or the Gods. Annabeth, herself, was pretty angry. Mainly at the adults in her life for consistently being ripped away from her. She supposed that she could be mad at the Gods but what was the point? They didn't know. They didn't care.

She didn't really get why Luke was always so mad at them. It wasn't like they deliberately messed with people's lives. Well, that wasn't true. A lot of the Gods had messed with Percy.

It just wasn't fair! She was supposed to be okay once she got to camp! Stiles was supposed to be safe and okay and Claudia was gonna live to be 100 and John was always going to protect them.

Her breathing grew shallow as she contemplated the fact that she was going to California. Could she… slip away? No, no, she immediately chastised herself. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't put the quest in danger.

Throwing the ball to Cerberus had brought up some memories. She was grateful that neither Grover nor Percy mentioned it as she wiped away her tears. Claudia had taught her and Stiles about the wolves in the woods behind their houses. Once on a full moon, they had sat outside watching them run throughout the woods. Claudia had pointed out the alpha. It was one of the last times that they had been together. Annabeth had run away three weeks later.

As they traipsed throughout the underworld, Annabeth realized that she was grateful to Percy for more than not mentioning the tears. She was so glad that she had come on the quest. Percy was actually kind of great once you got to know him.

"Hey," She slid next to Percy. "I, uh, I just wanted to say that I don't hate you."

Percy shot her a weird look. "Thanks…I think?"

She groaned. "Listen Seaweed Brain-"

Before she could go on, Grover interrupted. "Hey guys? I don't think we're supposed to be here."

Annabeth glanced around, freezing at the sight of the entrance of the pit. Grover's shoes sprouted wings and began dragging him down the slope.

"That's the place from my dream." Percy shouted, running after Grover.

"I know!" Annabeth called back, "But we can't focus on that now."

After they saved Grover and were collapsed on the ground, they shared a glance. Both knew that now was not the time to speak on whatever was in the pit.

Annabeth frowned as she got to her feet. She dusted the ashy black sand from her clothes and began to move. Pulling Grover and Percy to their feet, she led the way towards the Palace of Hades. It wasn't Hades, as she had hoped. She knew what they were potentially up against now. She briefly contemplated telling Percy but dismissed it. He wouldn't get the danger and would probably mouth off to the next authority figure he saw.

She snorted to herself, Stiles and Percy would get along great. They both had the same disdain for authority and sarcastic natures.

Grover nudged her, "Alright over there?"

She nodded, before glancing around the area.

"Welcome," She intoned, "To the Palace of the Dead."

Percy was going to be killed, she thought peeking through her fingers at the terrifying sight of a 12 year-old facing off against the God of War. There was no way that his luck could get him through this.

Grover repeated her thoughts, "There is no way he is this lucky." Percy slammed into the dune, his body making an ominous thud against the sand.

She closed her eyes, "Tell me when this is over!"

Grover grabbed her hand, tugging on it. "Look Annabeth."

She peered through, making out the vague shape of Percy with the ocean to his back and the striking view of Ares looming over him. She slammed her eyes shut again.

"Grover! I said when it's over!"

His voice dropped into a whisper, "No, Annabeth, look. Something's happening."

As she hesitantly opened her eyes, she realized what was going to happen moments before it actually did. With the strength of the ocean at his back, Percy was going to accomplish the miraculous. He was going to wound the War God.

Grover sucked in a breath and she froze as Percy spun through the air, landing a blow on Ares' heel. The two exchanged words, but as Ares moved towards Percy, a creeping sensation of desolation began to prickle down her spine. For a heartbeat, Annabeth was sure this was the end of everything. Percy was going to die, Poseidon would go to war, and the world would be ripped between the Big Three once again.

Instead, the moment lifted, and she unfroze just long enough to shout at Percy to avert his eyes before clenching her eyes shut as well.

She only re-opened them when a body slammed into her.

"Per-cy!" They cried in tandem, falling onto the ground.

As Percy's arms unwound from her shoulders, she sent up a brief prayer to Poseidon. Please, she thought, keep this boy safe.

Going back to Camp Half-Blood without Percy was the hardest part of the entire quest. It was strange to be traveling without him.

"I don't like returning without him." Grover said, as if he had read her mind. "It doesn't feel right."

Annabeth nodded. Percy was someone she had never expected but was grateful for all the same. He almost made her feel as comfortable as Stiles, which was saying something. She felt like she could count on him for anything. It was rare for her to feel that safe with someone.

Grover nudged her gently, "Hey, it'll be okay."

She nodded again. It was, she knew, illogical to care this much about the return of a boy she had only known for three weeks. But those three weeks had shown her just who Percy was. As the sun rose, and Apollo began his ascent, she made a promise to herself. Percy wouldn't ever have to think that she'd abandon him to his fate. Next time he had to go before the God's, she'd go with him and show them just how united Athena and Poseidon could be.