Hello again! Thanks again to everyone who has been reviewing, it makes me happy!
Annabeth gets off of me and helps me up. I almost fall because my leg hurts, but Annabeth puts her arm under mine, which is across her shoulders. We walk out and see most of my men standing outside my room, ears pressed to the wall. We ignore them and walk into the cafeteria. Annabeth hands me a bottle of nectar, which I take a swig of, and my leg starts to feel better. We eat and there is almost no talk between us, other than, "Pass the salt," "Here," "Thanks," and "You're welcome." We leave and sit in the library, and I can tell Annabeth is itching to get up and to read something, and so I tell her,
"I have to read these reports, so you should grab a book," And she is gone before I finish the sentence. I flip through the reports while she reads a book on architect facts. She starts chattering excitedly, about how
Gustave Eiffel was a daughter of Athena and I kind of zoned out.
She sighs, probably realizing that I'm not listening.
"You know those people at Riddle's place? I keep wondering about them, and if they're okay. I always do that after a mission. Like, once, there was a little girl at the sight of the crime, and I had to go chase the criminal, but I don't know if she's still alive or what. You ever have anything like that?"
*SWITCH POV
I'm just talking to fill the silence, but he nods.
"Yeah," Is all he answers.
"Did you ever stop thinking about it?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I kidnapped her." I suck in a breath, because I can't do anything else.
"At first, it was almost every hour. Then, one day, about a year ago, I was out shopping and I looked across the street, and coming out of the store over there, there she was. She had her gun out, so I knew she was part of some organization. So I only thought about her a couple of times a day. Then, maybe about five months ago, we were researching FACT and they had caught a picture of the boss. She was there, life size and beautiful. I only thought about her once or twice a week, although when I did I was guilty I had forgotten her. Then the dictator case came up, and I had a chance to snatch Mary Ella."
"What?"
He laughs. "Just kidding."
"Oh…" I let out a breath. Just then, the door bangs open and in storms Tony, one of the Jersey people.
"Great news, boss! We got a hit on Mathu! Two actually."
Percy jumps up. "Great! What are we looking at?"
"One mission could be a one person, although the person has to be able to charm a lot of men." His eyes slide over to me, then back to Percy. "The other, about ten men. I was thinking demigods and Jerseys, cause that would work out, including you. And for the other one…"
"I'll do it," I said, before Percy could object.
Percy looks at me worriedly, but I pretend not to see.
"Great!" Tony exclaims.
I hear Percy mutter that it isn't great, but I just pull him along, following Tony. Soon we reach what I assume is the debriefing room. Inside are the Jersey people and the demigods, plus a chubby man with a… Is that a sloth? He appears to be arguing to himself.
"Okay, boss said yes for the missions." Tony announces. There is a lot of cheering.
"Alright, alright, shut up!" Percy says, and sounds stops. He was so commanding.
For the next half-hour, we plan. Transportation, weapons, the works. We separate and by then, it's dinnertime already. All of us excluding the weird man with the sloth sit together.
"Who was that?" I ask Percy.
"Seth, he has the room that you found."
"Blech."
"I know, I know."
We sit in silence as I wait for Percy to say the inevitable.
"Annabeth—"
"I know, Seaweed Brain. You don't want me to go. But I didn't get to be the head of FACT for nothing, you know."
"I know. Hey, do you want to split an ice cream sundae?"
"Sure," I say. He gets one and we take turns scooping up bites. It has a lot of chocolate sauce, chocolate sprinkles, chocolate chips, M&Ms, brownie bits, and chocolate marshmallows on it.
{A/N: Sorry, I'm craving one!}
When we finish, Percy leads me to a room that I haven't been yet.
"It's Saturday, so we are having movie night!" He tells me, obviously very excited.
"How do you fit fifty men…" My words die in my throat as we step into a movie theater. "Wow."
"I know, right? Here, we can sit at the top." We climb the steps and get the best seats in the theater. The movie starts soon and it turns out to be Avengers.
It ends and I decide to go to bed. I say goodnight to Percy and climb into my soft bed.
The next morning, I get up and dress, then get in the elevator. There are only two buttons, one has an A and the other a P. I push the P and the elevator goes up. When I step out, I'm in a room that is slightly bigger than my own. Percy's drooling on the bed, and so I look around before I awake him. I see an ocean-blue album sitting on a bookshelf and my curiosity gets the better of me. I open the album and sit down, hard, because the album is all me.
There are pictures of the two of us, pictures of me, movie ticket stubs, notes, just little stuff we got when we were dating. There's even a receipt for a necklace he bought me. I can't believe he kept this much, and it warms my heart. I flip through it a little, but Percy's stirring, so I put it back where I put it and jump on Percy's bed, making him jump and sit up straight.
"What?"
I laugh at the bewildered expression on his face.
"It's only me. But we are leaving in a little bit, so get dressed, already!"
He gets up and goes into the bathroom to change, so I open the door that would be the door to the library in my rooms, and my breath catches. I'm still in the library, but I'm on a balcony so I can see all of the bookshelves and men. There is a ladder going down, but before I can decide, Percy calls me.
"I knew you'd like that," He says with a grin.
"You were right. It's such a beautiful view!"
We leave and grab a quick breakfast, then we go outside and meet the others. We climb into a SUV and drive off.
An hour later, the SUV stops by a bus stop. I climb out and Percy follows with my bag.
"Remember, you'll get back before us, so don't panic if we aren't there."
"I know, Percy."
"Be careful," He tells me.
"I am always careful," I tell him, and then, before I can lose my nerve, kiss him on the cheek and get on the bus. He waves and I wave back. "Be good," I say softly, then the bus drives away.
*SWITCH POV
I watch the bus drive away, unable to stop my hand from going up to where she kissed me. She's sent my heart into a jumble, because I thought she didn't have feelings for me and had to force my own feelings away. But now, I don't know what to think. I get back into the SUV and Leo drives off, and everyone is smart enough not to say anything.
Almost three hours later, we pull up in front of an abandoned building. We burst in and see a bunch of girls and boys sitting at desks.
"Search the whole place!" I yell to my team. I take of, unconsciously pairing with Jason, as we've done countless times before.
Our search reveals a secret school. There is no man in the building, unless you count the 15-year-old boys, which I don't. We leave depressed after taking pictures of the whole building and Leo scanning every room for secret passages.
We get back in the van and talk about the mislead we had. We are quiet after.
We pull up to the building, eight hours after we left. Annabeth probably arrived at least five hours ago.
"Sir!" One of the door guards rushes up to me.
"Yeah?"
"Miss Annabeth never came back."
Mwahahahahahaha! Cliffhanger, if you didn't realize. I hope you did!
Here's a bad idea: When you're hungry, google images of chocolate sundaes.
Good ideas: Eat a chocolate sundae! And review!
I shall now have some ice cream.