Chapter 4: My Body is a Cage

Rating: T

Word Count: 2,000+

Summary: Annabeth and Percy grow close as they dig into her father's research. The group is reunited with Nico after several days of his disappearance.

Author's Note: Okay, so this chapter is kind of short but there's a lot of crucial information in it. I promise that the next chapter will be longer and this one probably would've been a little bit longer, but I wanted to get something out as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy it anyways and Merry Christmas!

. . .

Annabeth sat next to Percy in his office, reading through a stack of papers of her father's research. There were several symbols and equations that were hard to decipher and it took them hours to figure out what they meant. She glanced over at her partner in crime who was reading through a separate stack of papers.

She smiled slightly before turning back to her work. Over the past few days, the pair has been holed up in his office for most of the day going over the research. Being in such close proximity for hours on end, Annabeth began to feel comfortable around Percy. He was a lot smarter than she initially thought. It was surprising to see that he didn't need her to spell out everything for him.

He set the papers down and leaned back in the metal seat, running his hands over his face. Annabeth continued to read on, knowing that from time to time Percy needed to take breaks. She could feel his eyes on her as she read but she chose to ignore it. Of course, now she couldn't focus much on her own work because whenever he looked at her, she grew nervous.

Finally, she set down the papers and looked at him, "Did you find anything?"

He shook his head solemnly, sinking farther down into his seat, "I don't get it. They keep trying different things but nothing seems to be working."

"That's why it's called trial and error." She lightly teased, although there was a hint of frustration behind her words. It was agitating to be stuck in a room all day, analyzing research and coming up with nothing. Her father must have gotten somewhere with the research. Knowing her father, he must have found something of value or else he would have gone back to California.

They sat there in silence, pondering why the research was so useless. It was a tricky case, but there should be some type of pattern by now. All the experiments led to dead ends. It didn't make sense to Annabeth; they were a team of elite scientists – they should have found something.

"Alright," Percy sighed, snapping her out of her thoughts, "let's go get some dinner and then we can pick up where we left off."

She nodded, slowly standing up and stretching. Without a word, Percy wrapped her arm around his shoulder and helped her to walk out of the office and into the dining quarters. At first, Annabeth had protested these actions as much as possible because she didn't want to seem weak. But Percy was persistent and she finally caved, letting him help her walk.

"Hey Perce!" Jason called from the other end of the table, waving for the duo to come over. They made their way over to Jason and Piper who were already halfway through their meals. It seemed that Grover was serving some type of meat with what looked like mashed potatoes. Annabeth tried not to think too much about it as she took her seat in between Percy and Thalia.

"So how's the research coming?" Piper asked quietly. The four had agreed to keep the research on the down low for now. They didn't want anyone to be suspicious of their actions and start some sort of uprising.

Percy sighed, running his hands through his disheveled hair. When he didn't respond, Annabeth stated, "We haven't found anything yet. It's just a lot of trial and error right now."

Jason and Piper sighed, disappointed with the lack of results. They all were hoping that the research would be a quick way to the cure but it obviously wouldn't be that easy. Everyone continued to eat in silence as they eavesdropped on some of the conversations from the other end of the table. Mostly they were about what had transpired in the day and some were sharing stories about the past.

"What's been going on around here?" Percy asked, breaking the silence.

"Nothing really, Frank suggested that we need more weaponry and Leo said that we might need some new light bulbs soon." Jason said.

Percy nodded and looked at Piper, "How's the scavenging going?"

She sighed, fidgeting with the utensils, "I haven't found anything of value lately. Finding new weapons and light bulbs seems impossible right now."

"I'm sure you'll be able to find something." Percy encouraged. Piper didn't say anything in response, knowing that he was just being kind.

It was silent again amongst the four as they sat and thought. Lately, it seemed that they were at a dead end. Nothing was progressing and it felt like they were taking steps backwards and not forwards. Annabeth felt annoyed with this thought, wanting nothing more than for this to be over.

"Also," Piper started, gaining everyone's attention, "I saw them again, in town."

She heard Percy take a sharp intake of breath as he leaned back in his seat, "Did they approach you?"

"No, I was hidden. They couldn't see me." She replied.

"Wait, who are we talking about?" Annabeth asked. If there were other people besides themselves, maybe they were looking for a cure as well. And if they had information, then they could possibly put two and two together to get the result they all needed.

"What the hell are they doing here again? I thought we lost them." Jason grunted, not pleased with what Piper had said.

"I don't know, but as long as they know that we are not here we should be fine." Percy said.

"Wait, what is going on here?" Annabeth asked, exasperated with the lack of answers she was receiving.

"It doesn't affect you." Percy said dismissively. She decided not to press on; she could ask him again later when they were alone and people couldn't possibly eavesdrop on them.

Thalia turned to Percy, "Have you noticed that Nico has been gone longer than usual?"

"Uh no, why?" he asked, leaving the other topic behind.

"He's been gone for days. What if he got bitten?" she said, worry evident in her voice.

"I'm sure he's fine, Thalia. Don't worry, Nico is one of toughest guys I know." He said, giving her a reassuring smile. She scowled and turned back to her dinner, not pushing on with the matter.

They sat together for a little while longer, discussing each other's days. Soon, everyone began to disperse back to their stations, leaving the four alone at the table. No words were spoken as they all got up from their places and headed off to their respective jobs. Percy helped Annabeth limp back into his office and sit down in her seat.

Annabeth couldn't bear to keep her questions in any longer, "Who were you talking about earlier?"

Percy sighed, hoping that she would let the subject drop. Knowing her though, it wouldn't be that easy. "It isn't a big deal."

"Don't pull that shit with me, Percy. I know it must be important, otherwise you wouldn't have looked so anxious back at dinner." She spat out, wishing that he would just tell her the truth.

He sighed, "Look, I think it's best if you don't know. They'll be out of our hair soon anyways and everyone will forget that they were here." She stared at him for a long moment, searching his sea green eyes. She could see the worry in his irises and she knew that he was hiding something from her. If she kept pushing, he wasn't going to tell her.

She relented, picking up her stack of papers. She started where she left off, with the third experimentation that they were trying. After a while, she heard Percy pick up his papers and do the same. They sat in silence for a few more hours, occasionally pointing out something interesting in the research to one another. Annabeth held back a yawn and covered her hand with her mouth.

"You should go to bed. We've had a long day and I think we've made some progress." He told her. She looked at him skeptically; they both knew that they had gotten nowhere today.

Slowly, she got up from her seat and instinctively wrapped her arm around his shoulder. They walked towards the door when it suddenly flung open, hitting Annabeth in the face. She grasped her nose tightly, feeling the sting tingling on the left side of her face.

She looked up and saw a boy standing in the doorway. He had dark hair and matching dark clothes. If Annabeth didn't know better, he looked like the psychotic boy from any horror movie that killed everyone. She noticed that he was also staring her down, as if she was some type of rodent.

"Nico," Percy started, stepping aside to let him into his office, "it's good to see you."

He mutely nodded, stepping in and taking the seat opposite of the desk. Percy looked over at Annabeth, realizing that she was still attached to his hip, "Do you still want me to take you back to your room?"

"No, it's fine," she said letting go of her nose. She could feel the bruise coming on already and she knew that it wasn't going to be pretty in the morning. He helped her back into her seat as he sat down adjacent to her.

"I see you've found a new right-hand man. Or should I say woman." Nico said, a smirk playing at his lips. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him; he was not making a good first impression on her.

Percy glanced at her out of the corner of his eye but decided not to say anything, "Where have you been? Thalia's been worried about you. Today, she said that you might have turned."

He laughed, "Really? Does she not know me?" Annabeth cocked her head at this; he looked like he didn't have a care in the world. Like, there wasn't death around every corner, waiting to suffocate you. It unnerved her and as each minute passed, she began to like him less and less.

"Nico, seriously, where did you go? You were gone for almost a week." Percy asked.

"I was just inspecting the area, trying to find any information." He replied.

"Did you find any?" Percy asked eagerly, hope evident in his voice.

Nico shook his head and Percy sighed, disappointed with the answer. It was silent amongst the trio as Annabeth continued to stare Nico down. He was covered in dirt and his hair was messily covering one of his eyes. He smelled of zombie guts and fertilizer and there was a long stain of blood on his shirt. Where did he really go? He obviously wasn't just taking a walk in the park, Annabeth pondered, searching his face for any indication of what he was hiding.

"Could you tell her to stop looking at me? It's making me nervous." He joked, turning his gaze towards her. She narrowed his eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "How did she even get here anyways?"

"I was surviving on my own until Thalia and Piper found me." She answered.

"Ah, so she talks." Nico teased, smirking at her. She glared at him coldly, not liking him one bit. "I'm impressed that you were able to survive on your own for so long. You don't seem like the type to know how to fight."

"Is it because I'm a girl?" she asked coldly.

He chuckled but did not answer. He turned to Percy and said, "Anyways, I thought you should know Luke and his group are back in town. And they look like they're here to stay."

Percy gasped, taken aback by the information. Annabeth turned to look at him, wondering why he was so nervous about Luke or whatever. His grip on his desk tightened, turning his knuckles white and he gritted his teeth. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed at even the mention of Luke's name.

"Did they see you?" he asked stiffly.

"I doubt it." Nico scoffed, leaning back in the metal chair.

It was deadly silent in the office again as Annabeth looked between the two. Nico seemed to be smirking cockily at Percy's obvious discomfort. It made Annabeth wonder whose side he was really on. Why didn't Nico seemed as scared as Percy about the new group in town? If Percy was afraid of them, then they definitely were not a force to be reckoned with.

"I just wanted to let you know that they were here. I'm gonna go back out in a week or two, so I'll look into it when I go. See if they're still hanging around." Percy merely nodded as Nico stood up. "It was good to see you again, Perce. And it was a pleasure meeting you –"

"Annabeth." She said.

"Right, Annabeth." He smiled at her unnervingly before he turned around and exited the premise.

Percy and Annabeth sat in silence for a while, thinking on all that Nico had said. He was an odd one. He seemed so calm all the freaking time and that made Annabeth nervous. It looked like he wasn't afraid of anything, even though the apocalypse had to be the scariest fucking shit she's ever encountered. Of course, Nico looked like the kind of guy who used to live for this kind of stuff.

It also seemed that Percy had a good amount of faith in him. The way he talked about him during dinner made it look like Percy highly respected him. Even now, he took Nico's words to heart and didn't doubt anything he said. Annabeth wondered what he could've possibly done to gain his trust. There was something about him that was off, but if Percy trusted him, then Annabeth would too.