Chapter 2:
15th March. 1700 Hours. Montauk Beach – Jackson Cabin.
Annabeth and the Avengers sunk into the bushes surrounding the Montauk Cabin. They were watching the gods walking in and out of the cabin, discussing things in hushed whispers, as if they knew the group was there. After battling her ADHD and losing, Annabeth jumped out of the bush and walked straight toward to cabin with her head held high. "Hello, mother. Percy left me something inside, might I please look for it?" Athena looked at her daughter and nodded. Annabeth opened the creaky door and stepped inside.
Her stormy grey eyes scanned the small room, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Taking a deep breath she shut her eyes and let the memories filled her troubled mind.
"Shut up, Annabeth!" he whined childishly. "You know my dyslexia is worse than yours!" She laughed but nodded.
Her voice was melodic as she laughed and moved to sit beside him, "Fine, fine. What can't you read?" She expected him to show her the phrase he couldn't decipher, but instead he continued staring at the page. As Annabeth scanned her eyes across the page, she noticed one quote was already highlighted "A leader leads by example, not by force." She smiled, taking notice that it was the only highlighted quote on the page. "Seaweed Brain, where did you get this?" He smiled and looked into her stellar orbs.
"My friend gave it to me. Apparently the highlighted ones are things that he thinks refer to me." A friend… she thought. Who's this friend? Why is he giving her boyfriend gifts? How does he know this person? His smile brought her out of the thought created trance. "Calm down, Wise Girl," he said, "He just thought it could help me, that's all. Okay?" Annabeth nodded and looked towards the book once again.
"What's that one?" she said after he flipped quickly through a page to the next.
He turned the page back and read the message aloud, "One mark of a great soldier is that he fight on his own terms or fights not at all. I like that one." He smiled again and Annabeth couldn't help butt smile back to her boyfriend.
"Is this Art of War? Since when did you check this out?"
The hero of Olympus looked to her again and shrugged, "Like I said, my friend gave it to me. He said it would help on my journey – whatever that meant." It was obvious Percy know more than he said, but Annabeth didn't push – she knew he would tell her when he wanted to. She mightn't like him holding in secrets, but since Tartarus she knew that they couldn't tell each other everything in fear of being sent to a mental hospital or – even worse – Chiron and the gods.
"What's wrong, Wise Girl? Why the sudden deep thought?" he asked again. After placing the red covered book onto his lap, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder, savouring every moment as he kissed her temple softly.
-(O)-
She smiled to herself while tears began caressing her cheek. Her eyes scanned the small sitting room. Her eyes scanned the bookshelf where one individual book stood out among the array of other. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, sat on the oak wood bookshelf with no dust surrounding the inconspicuous book. It's normally red cover was covered in ancient greek writings – obvious signs of her boyfriend's ADHD and racing thought bubbles. Her hand skimmed across the bookshelf as the other reached for the red cover. "This must be it…" she muttered to herself.
Looping it into her arm, she slowly walked out of the log cabin. After quickly thanking her mother she walked down the beach to the awaiting Avengers and thunder god. She nodded towards them and walked towards the jet. A subtle click was heard as the jet opened revealing the interior of which Tony and Steve had reconciled for the first time merely a few months beforehand. She sat on the edge while the Avengers watched her subconsciously. Scanning through the pages, the blonde beauty took note of certain sayings being highlighted with the blue highlighter.
The thunder god sat beside her and laughed slightly. "I remember giving this book to him."
Annabeth's head turned around faster than humanly possible and looked towards him. "You gave him this book? You're the one who was telling him it would help?" he nodded grimly.
Thor's blue eyes sparkled with despair while the Avengers watched the conversation carefully. "Yes, I just wish it was more helpful." He lowered his head and a small tear trickled down his cheek.
The daughter of Athena's eye began to go misty. "Hey, point break, you're making her cry again. You okay, squirt?" said the man of iron. Wiping away the tears, Annabeth nodded again.
"A leader leads by example not by force." Annabeth's voice was still heard throughout the jet, despite the fact of it being so quiet. "Even after everything he'd done, Percy still lived by that. How did you know about that book, Thor? It was written by Sun Tzu… Wait?"
Thor nodded and smiled, She really is a 'Wise Girl'. Steve's voice was clear and strong, "We're back at the tower." Everyone nodded and left the jet hastily.
"Look, as much as I hate not knowing who – or what - you really are, tell us what you found?" said Tony, crossing his arms.
Swallowing the pain and agony that filled her throat, she spoke, "This," Annabeth pulled the book from her jumper and showed the team the book. They all watched the young demigoddess carefully as she reopened the book and scanned her eyes across the rather worn pages. After reading roughly seven pages, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't remember! Why can't I remember?" she vented. She placed the book on the dark leather couch and pushed herself off. The suit clad Avengers watched her with sorrow filled eyes – they all knew what it's like to have so much expectation and pain upon their hearts. Tears fell down her cheeks as she let all the pain seep out. The asguardian warrior walked over to the distressed teenager and wrapped arms around her waist and arms.
"Annabeth. Listen, you need to calm down, please. I know you miss him – we all do. But, please, just think. What is so important about this book?"
She nodded and wiped away the tears. Sitting on the couch again with a calm heartbeat, she let her mind wander throughout everything it had seen, heard, understood or anything that was registered in her busy mind. Okay, Seaweed Brain, what did you want me to find? I have the book, all I need is your crazy mind…
-(O)-
28th August. 1200 Hours. Camp Half Blood Beach.
Opening her stormy grey orbs, Annabeth smiled to the goofily adorable idiot above her. His sea green eyes sparkled like stars and, like many others who unwittingly fall into his trap, she couldn't resist the smiled that formed upon her lips. Her head lay rested against Percy's lap and his right hand absentmindedly played with a blonde curl encased in his finger. The beams from the falling sun illuminated his figure – an obvious example of his godly heritage. His bronzed skin shone like all the precious metals in the world that Hazel could call upon, his hair with small water droplets, occasionally falling onto the grinning blonde at his lap.
They lay together on the beach, loving every moment of the other's presence.
"Hey Percy?" Annabeth said, looking towards his green orbs as he, in turn, looked deeply into her own grey eyes. "I know you love that book you've been reading recently… What's your favourite quote?"
The young daughter of Athena had been curious ever since her book hating boyfriend had accidently stated that he was reading the Art of War. Suffice to say, Annabeth didn't think she could ever make a comment of his lack of reading skills now.
Percy looked at her carefully, then up to the sea just a few metres away from them. He paused as he thought. "That's actually really hard, Wise Girl. Um…" The son of Poseidon continued to look at his father's realm in concentration, as though mentally remembering all the words he had previously read in the book. "My favourite would have to be one I read recently… 'A wise warrior avoids the battle.' Maybe I'm more intelligent than we thought, hey Wise Girl?"
Annabeth laughed, enjoying the fact that Percy had put more of a posh-like accent on his last few words. "Maybe, Seaweed Brain. It's a possibility. Not a large one – but still a possibility." He smiled again and lifted his hands underneath her armpits, raising her from her place on the sand and into his lap. She gasped – often forgetting how strong your boyfriend is can cause all sorts of shocks during a relationship. Now sitting on his lap, Annabeth rested her legs to his left, the sides of her feet now against the sand. Percy gently placed his hands of her hips, as though she were a china doll, and pulled her closer to him until her hand lay on his chest, just above his beating heart.
He smiled softly, the dimple on his left cheek becoming visible, and pressed his lips against hers, capturing the gasp of surprise that escaped her mouth. Never would she be used to the sensations of his lips against hers, or his hands branding themselves against her sides.
Pulling away slightly, Percy left his forehead pressed against his blonde beauty. "Maybe." Savouring the rare moment of peace, Annabeth smiled and closed her eyes.
-(O)-
15th March. 1800 Hours. Stark Tower, New York.
Her eyes fluttered open and noticed the several pairs of eyes staring intently. "Well?" asked Tony, rather bluntly.
Looked like great minds think alike, however, the red head actually smacked Tony at the back of the head and spoke, "Crap, Tony. Blunt much?" She laughed slightly and took note of the assassin's flaming hair bouncing around her head, matching perfectly against her light tan that covered her face. A black cat suit clung to her skin, pulling in her perfect figure and complimenting the vibrant red hair and bright blue eyes. Her face softened slightly when she regarded the blonde, evidently, she knew what it was like to lose somebody one loved – even if she was Russian. Annabeth's grey eyes returned to the faded pages in her hand, searching for the page that held her Seaweed Brain's favourite quote.
"Here it is…" she mumbled slightly, her lips barely moving as she spoke. "A wise warrior avoids the battle." Just below the memorable quote stood a small sticky note; faded blue in colour. The messy writing had been scribbled very quickly, she noticed, as the writer had switched between English, Latin and Greek cursive – a characteristic only Percy held. She, however, couldn't talk – she often did the same thing only with English and Greek. Her grey orbs read the message over and over again, taking in everything about the miniscule message.
The others in the deathly silence watched her with careful notion, watching as she re-read the note for however many times, watching as she read in baited breath until the words made themselves clear to her rather confusing mind. Even the two resident geniuses had trouble understanding or even minutely comprehending what her mind was racing to solve. She, herself, didn't even know – all she knew was that there was something to solve. And, as not only his lover but best friend, she would solve this puzzle within an inch of her life – no matter how long it took. Her eyes widened as she finally understood what was running through her boyfriend's mind when creating this very elaborate mystery to discover and solve. "This one, well it's where my least favourite pass time is, basically."
Her mind wandered yet again, relishing in the travel down memory lane that he had ever so kindly decided to send her on. Where in the name of Hades is that? His least favourite thing to do is… Well, he hates being hunted but that's not anywhere to hide these ridiculous clues. What about… PE? He can't be himself there, he's said so himself – he hates pretending to be weak and terrible at sports, but that's nowhere to hide a clue. Wait. How could I have been so stupid? She mentally yelled to herself. How could I have forgotten all those Iris Messages during homework sessions or in tutoring? How could I have forgotten all the whining and pouting childishly that seemed to make me be hundreds of miles away in his arm? How? She pushed herself off the couch yet again and looked to Thor.
"Well, we can't go there for a few days… But I know where we're going."
