Gods, I love this fic. It's an indulgence, honestly. Every time I'm bored I just work on it. I don't think it will ever feel like a chore to me.

This is one of my favorites... enjoy!

We were in the rec room, having one of our many war meetings. This one I remember particular details about. For one, there was definitely something going on with Travis and Katie. Annabeth smelled like strawberries that day. Silena had gotten Clarisse to wear lip gloss (Clarisse actually looked nice and not her usual Im-about-to-kill-you). Annabeth had cut her nails short, and painted them lime green. It actually rained at camp; only a light drizzle. Annabeth had her long blonde hair in a bun. We lost three campers to Kronos. Annabeth looked like... well you get the idea.

Malcolm had just finished speaking. Since there were so few of us, Chiron had allowed a few extra campers from each cabin instead of just senior counselors. The ping-pong tables were packed, all of us in these leather swivel chairs like we were discussing economics and not where to effectively jab a monster to kill them with one Athena cabin had gone on a monster raid last night and were looking a little tired. Malcolm finished relaying what happened during the attack.

Annabeth was typing on Daedulus's laptop, the gods know what. She hadn't looked up since the meeting began. I tried to peek over her shoulder and snoop at what she was doing until she gave me a death glare so powerful I thought I would shrivel up and die on the spot.

Happy days.

The meeting was nearly over. I was about to head over to sword-fighting when Annabeth... went nuts. Like really crazy.

She shrieked like a wild banshee and started flailing her arms. I might've laughed if it wasn't for the look of pure terror on her face. Before I knew it she was in my lap and still flailing.

"Sp-spuh.. laptop.. jumped.. get.. get.. get!" she started breathing heavily.

I put my hands on her stomach in an attempt to calm her down. She almost elbowed me in the face a few times.

"What is it?"

"There's... a.. spider.. laptop... climbed." I managed to get the gist of what she was saying and sure enough there was a spider on the screen of her laptop. That sucker was huge, it's body the size of a half-dollar coin. The Athena's started backing up and hyperventilating. I swore Malcolm was about to start crying.

Just as I was about to take care of the situation, I saw it. Another one. You know that moment in scary movies, when the camera glances at a room, flashes somewhere else and when it shows the same room again it's like BAM, monster. You stare at space and then something comes up in your peripheral and you focus in on it. All of a sudden what wasn't there is there. Seeing the second spider was just like that. I was even scared for a moment.

It climbed upside-down along a thread of web. You could see it crawl, it's spindly little white legs just pawing at the air while it got lower and lower and I could just feel an itch on my arm...

For a split second, I could see what was so scary about spiders. Those things were just creepy man.

Annabeth saw the thing and slumped off my lap and onto the floor, groaning. At this point, the Athena's were either outside the door peeking in, or crying backed up against the wall. The other campers were torn between amusement, curiosity, and a little fear. The children of Athena were the most composed, serious, and smartest half-bloods at camp. To think a couple of spiders could tear that all down...

I was about to bend down to check that Annabeth was still conscious when she grabbed on the hem of my shorts for dear life and shrieked "Kill... it.. KILL IT!"

Startled, I reached in my pocket for tissues I kept there. I opened them up to fit the palm of my hand. Careful not to damage her laptop, I swiped the first one. The second one was way harder. That white sucker was smart, scurrying almost out of my reach. I managed to crush it, wiping and leaving a trail of grime in it's wake. I slumped back in my chair. Mission accomplished.

Done.

I pulled Annabeth from the ground and back into my arms. She was shaking.

"There were two spiders."

"Yes. Eight legs and everything," I said.

"Sixteen."

"I know."

"Did you get it?" she asked quietly.

"Yup," I said. I showed her the remains of One and Two and she flinched, our heads nearly touching as we studied it. Two's legs were still twitching. She groaned and thumped her head on my shoulder.

"Meeting Adjourned," Chiron said, looking very much his two thousand years. Campers started filtering out, glancing back at me and Annabeth. I didn't care that we were breaking camp rules, being alone and all. Chiron looked like he wanted to say something about her being on my lap but come on, I was comforting here. It wasn't like we were going to do anything.

Soon we were alone. I tightened my hold on her as she breathed on my neck.

The feeling was like when I rescued Bessie. Annabeth was far from damsel in distress (I'm not sure I want her to be one) but it was nice to feel needed every now and then. I may have only been 15 but would you believe it if I told you it was a man thing? Maybe even something bigger. A human thing.

Later, when we had gone out in the rain, she even let me give up my hoodie so she wouldn't get wet. It was well worth the looks and knowing whispers that followed us around our lessons.