A/N: Happy Saturday! I hope you guys like today's chapter! I'll be kicking it poolside for the next few hours, so if there's a delay in getting back to you guys, apologies all around.

Fourteen: Sands

The following months went by without much incident. Kronos kept Castellan as his eyes and ears, as he kept a close watch on Percy's progress. And while it slowly grew increasingly difficult to meet their demands for more progress, he found that Kronos was lenient. After all, Percy was meeting with Annabeth a number of times throughout a given week. And they were only growing closer because of that.

However, Percy always kept Kronos' warning in his mind to not get too close to Annabeth. If anything, that was the hard part. It was hard distancing himself just with enough subtlety that she wouldn't grow suspicious. What's more is that he wanted to be close to her. But it was a dangerous dance that he was sharing between the crime lord and the detective.

Give me a time.

Tonight at seven.

Good. And remember: A public place.

Percy set his phone aside after briefly messaging the lawyer. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Papers were strewn about the table, papers that he had been pouring over for the past months. A plan was at long last forming in his head, a plan that would eventually assist him in taking down the crime lord and the lawyer both. It certainly wouldn't be easy, but he knew that it was pertinent, especially in this case, to be prepared for anything.

He collected them from the kitchen table, putting them into a neat pile. There were blueprints, handbooks, phone numbers scribbled onto scraps of paper. It was unruly, but everything that he would need was there. Percy tossed the papers into a folder, before setting it on top of the fridge. He wandered into the living room, stretching his back with a small grunt.

Percy then stepped into the hallway, slipping into his shoes. He grabbed his keys and stepped out onto the porch. The weather had improved over the months. It was warmer, almost summer time. A warm breeze was perpetually drifting through the neighborhood.

As he jogged down the steps, he looked about, and as if on queue, he could see a car park at the end of the path leading up to the house. He approached the car, and hopped into the passenger seat. Percy grinned at Annabeth,

"Hey."

She returned the smile, "Hey, yourself."

As he buckled himself in, he was startled by a voice that came from the back seat,

"Ugh. Please, for my sake, don't start making out."

Percy jumped at the sound of the voice,

"Jesus, Thalia..."

Annabeth switched gears, as she drove farther down the road,

"Sorry," She said, "I forgot to tell you that I'm giving her a lift home."

Thalia leaned forward between the seats,

"Yep. Sorry Percy, but you'll just have to wait on getting into her pants just a little while longer."

Almost instantly, his face flushed red, as Annabeth sighed in exasperation,

"Really, Thalia?"

She snickered with laughter, as Percy avoided eye contact. But, as he dared a glimpse, he saw a small smirk playing on Annabeth's lips. Thalia continued to pretend to gush over the two,

"You two are adorable."

Percy rolled his eyes at this. He had met Annabeth's work partner a handful of times beforehand. Despite this, it hadn't really changed his mind about what he thought about her. She took up every opportunity to embarrass him in front of Annabeth, or vice-versa. In some ways, he almost found her obnoxious in her constant pestering.

"So, where are you two lovebirds going out tonight?"

The pair looked at each other, and Annabeth answered,

"Well, since the weather's nice, we're going to hang out on Long Island."

Thalia snorted, "Who thought of that idea?"

"I did," Percy replied in defense.

"I guess nothing's more romantic than sitting in gritty sand."

Annabeth glanced up, looking at Thalia from the interior rear view mirror,

"I thought it was a perfect idea. Besides, we're not just going to sit around."

Her partner grunted, before reclining in her seat. They all sat in silence, as Percy let out a faint huff directed towards Thalia. He was thoroughly relieved when they reached her apartment and she said nothing more than a simple goodbye before exiting. When she was out of sight, Annabeth looked over, grinning,

"Hey," She greeted again, "Sorry about that."

"Is she always like that?"

Annabeth nodded, "For the most part, yeah."

He sighed, raising his eyebrows,

"How the hell do you deal with that all day?"

"I don't let her antics get to me...Mostly. She goofs off a lot, but when it comes down to it, you can count on her for everything and anything. I trust her with my life."

Percy, after a moment, bobbed his head,

"I guess I could see that."

"It helps when you have to put up with her on a daily basis," She said, peeling away from the sidewalk, "So, do you want to know what I packed?"

"Of course," Percy replied, "I'm starving."

Annabeth grinned, "Let me think...I packed chicken salad, chips, soda. Oh, and I got some of those mini cupcakes they always have at the grocery store."

"Sounds good," He said with a nod, "Thanks for that."

"Hey, no problem," She answered, "It's been a while since we've hung out, hasn't it?"

Percy cracked a smile, "If two days counts as a while, then yeah."

Annabeth furrowed her brow, "Only two days? God, it seems like it's been a lot longer."

"Yeah," He agreed, glancing out the window, "It does."

Percy was about to look away again, until he did a double-take towards the rear view mirror on his door. Of course, in the city's traffic, a car was right behind them. But no matter which way they turned, no matter how far they were gradually getting out of the city, it still followed. Still, it didn't take long for Percy to realize who was following them. Castellan, no doubt.

He did his best to not seem oddly enamored with looking in the rear-view, and tried to keep up with talking to Annabeth. Percy supposed that there was no point in worrying himself with the fact that they were being followed. After all, it was unavoidable. He didn't bother in trying to ward off his pent-up anger towards the situation, however. But like the worry, he knew that his fury would have to wait, as well.

Still, talking with Annabeth but his mind to ease. For the most part, Annabeth was usually the one to speak, being the lively, almost intense character that she was. But even just listening to her talk extensively about whatever was on her mind, whatever was bothering her, served to be, in a way, relaxing to Percy. Just simply listening seemingly washed all his troubles away, despite that relief being only temporary. And, while he wasn't aware of this, it was a source of relaxation for the detective to talk to someone.

Over the months that they had been meeting up, she had opened up extensively to him. She talked about her family, her personal life, past and present. Percy, however, was hesitant in spilling his own personal life. Divulging his past was something he made a point in avoiding. And he was happy, grateful even, that Annabeth never pushed the topic.

When they began to finally make it to the outskirts of the city, Annabeth let out a small sigh. Percy looked over, frowning,

"Something wrong?"

"Oh no," She answered quickly, "Not at all. I guess I'm just...Relishing a little. It's not very often that I'm able to get out of the city. Being away from everything, it seems like time almost comes to a standstill."

He nodded in agreement, "Yeah. I wish I could get out here more often like I used to. I like the city and all, but sometimes it's just too much."

"It is a little maddening...So, did you used to travel out here often?"

"Hmm?" Percy looked up.

"Did you travel out here often? You said you used to come out here often."

Percy swallowed, "I did?"

She grinned, nodding, "You did."

He shifted about in his seat, realizing that he had just trapped himself in a way. Again, he swallowed the knot in his throat,

"Well..." Percy faltered, "Yeah. I used to live out near Montauk, with my dad."

Annabeth huffed at this, as they both shared a sort of disdain towards their fathers. And from the little information he had shared with her about his father, and the lot of information she had shared, they had both grown a sense of disdain towards the other one's father.

"How was that, then?"

Percy cracked a weak smile, "Terrible, of course. I had to live with the bastard full-time in a rotted old double-wide. You know, father and son things."

He managed to get a chuckle from Annabeth from the last comment,

"That does sound terrible. Makes me glad that I at least had some space between my family, something to keep me occupied in San Francisco. There's not much to do on a beach in the middle of nowhere."

Percy shrugged, "Well, there was enough to see on the beach that I kept myself busy."

"Like what? Did you happen across any ancient treasure chests buried beneath the sands?"

"Not treasure chests, but close," He answered with a faint smile.

"Oh?" Annabeth side-eyed him, "What did you find then?"

"Well," He shrugged again, "I found plenty of rusted beer cans."

She snorted with laughter, "Well, if that doesn't beat treasure chests, I don't know what will."

"I guess at the very least I was tidying up the beach."

Annabeth nodded with a faint grin still lingering on her face,

"True, true."

She was quiet for a moment, but eventually spoke up again with a question,

"When did you finally get to move away from him? Your dad, I mean?"

"I was ten," Percy answered with caution, "I woke up one morning, and he was just...Gone. So, I left, went to live with my mom. And after some paperwork, I got to stay with her, instead."

"By the sounds of it, that's the way it should have been in the first place."

He pursed his lips, "Yeah. But my dad could be persuasive, and clean himself up when he needed to. So, for all intents and purposes, he looked like a saint in the court's eyes. The fact that he was the money-maker in the family certainly helped, too."

Annabeth sighed, shaking her head slowly. Percy looked over,

"What is it?"

She shook her head again, "Nothing, it's just...Why would he want to have you so badly when he was just going to turn around and leave like that?"

"He was crazy," Percy answered shortly, "That's all there is to it."

Annabeth quickly spoke up again,

"Hey, I'm sorry...I know you don't like talking about it."

Percy, his nerve somewhat struck, gave another whip of a reply,

"Then why did you bring it up in the first place?"

She readjusted her grip on the steering wheel.

"I-" Annabeth huffed, "How do I put this? I, well...I forget my boundaries sometimes. I don't know if that makes any sense."

When Percy looked at her with a blank expression, she fidgeted in her seat before letting out an airy chuckle,

"I know I bring it up a lot, but, people don't get to have boundaries in police work. When you're investigating a crime, you can't let anything stop you or slow you down. And the criminals you deal with on a daily basis get the right of having boundaries pretty much revoked."

He shook his head, "No. Don't blame yourself for this."

"Why shouldn't I? I know I was prodding too much."

"You're curious about me, I know," Percy mumbled, "It's not that you don't know boundaries, it's that my walls are built too high."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Annabeth look over briefly. Suddenly, the car veered sharply to the right, pulling off of the abandoned road. He looked over, as Annabeth switched the gear into park. She looked over, turning fully in her seat this time,

"Look, Percy," She began, "I know that you don't like talking about the past. Of all people, I can understand that. But...I just hope that you know you can talk to me about things. You can trust me."

He looked away, sighing, "Annabeth..."

"I spill my guts enough to you. The least I can do is offer you the same favor. Besides, I want you to talk to me about things. You...You don't seem to trust me, is all."

"I don't really trust anyone. It's nothing personal."

Her eyes drifted down into her lap, as she spoke in a quiet voice,

"So you don't trust me."

Percy opened and closed his mouth a series of times, but only fragments of things managed to slip out. He stopped, hesitating briefly. Then, he put his hand out, resting it on top of hers,

"Annabeth," He said.

Eventually, she looked up. Percy exhaled quietly,

"I...I know I haven't opened up to you much, and I'm sorry. But there's just some things about me that I'm not ready to tell you. I do trust you, but...I guess these things I'm only just beginning to accept myself. Do you see now?"

After a moment, she nodded,

"Okay..."

He retracted his hand back after a moment, but was still facing her. Percy dared a glance at her, and felt heat creep into his cheeks when he found that she was still looking at him, too. She leaned forward, gently holding onto one side of his face. Annabeth planted a light kiss onto his cheek. When she broke away, she was suppressing a grin,

"Your face is burning up."

Percy let out an exasperated sigh, but couldn't help but laugh himself,

"Sorry, sorry..."

He looked over again, Annabeth still looking on in amusement. Percy looked about, grinning,

"Well? Are we still going to the beach, or are we going to stay parked here all night?"

She nodded, "Of course we're still going. Just one more thing."

Before he could react, she was leaning forward again, grasping the side of his face the same way she had just earlier. Her hand drifted down somewhat until it was resting under his chin. He suppressed a gasp when he felt her lips brush up against his own, staying there for a moment. Percy let his eyes close, relishing in the moment. They were still in their lip-lock, but Percy dared a move of his own.

His hand moved upwards, tucking a strand of hair over her ear. When he was about to retract his hand again, she felt her take hold of it, caressing it. It felt like they had stayed that way forever. But finally, they broke away, almost breathless. Annabeth switched gears, as they drove back onto the road,

"Well, that was..."

She trailed off, as he looked over with a grin,

"What?"

Annabeth looked over, "That was...Interesting. We'll have to do it again sometime."

Percy chuckled, glancing out the window for a moment,

"How about when we get there?"

"Fine by me."

A/N: Apologies for a short chapter. But it was fluffy, so I hope that makes up for it a bit...I hope. Anyways, I'll be back next weekend with chapter fifteen, so I hope to see you guys then.

Signed,
Leaded-Pegasus