THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Percy would be the first to admit that he had the emotional experience of a teaspoon.

But whenever he dealt with Annabeth, things were…instinctual. There was no thought before any action, no worry about what to do or how to act.

The moment she left the gym with that snake faced boyfriend of hers, Percy knew. He saw it in the stiffness of her movements and the urgency of her voice. Something was going to go horribly, horribly wrong. And even if he could do nothing to stop it, he was going to make sure that he was at least there when it happened.

Percy'd zeroed in on her as soon as he stepped into that classroom. Suddenly, nothing else mattered except the dull grey her stormy eyes had faded to. He'd rushed to in and held her in an awkward hug as she shuddered in uncharacteristic sobs.

And he'd felt horrible about it.

Because even with Annabeth breaking down in his arms, he couldn't help the pinprick of relief that spread through him.

He didn't understand it. She'd just broken up with her boyfriend, what did he have to feel happy about?

"Hey Percy, this is the third time I've lapped you," a familiar voice commented.

"Oh," Percy said, snapping out of his thoughts. Nowadays, he'd been doing a lot of thinking in PE. "Hey, Connor."

"You're doing worse than usual," the track kid informed him as he slowed down his jog. "What's buggin' you?"

"Nothing, really," Percy answered. He didn't want to burden Connor with his problems. Besides, he wasn't quite ready to go telling people he'd been there to see the now infamous Lukabeth breakup. "Wait, where's Travis?"

"Oh that love sick sap?" Connor joked. "Probably playing another prank on Katie."

Percy raised a questioning eyebrow. The Stolls were near inseparable. "Without you?"

Connor shrugged. "An angry Katie is a dangerous Katie."

The two ran in silence after that, Percy starting to lose himself in his thoughts again as their sneakers pounded rhythmically against the track.

"Aww, now you've got the face on," Connor groaned, tossing his head back in a dramatic sigh.

Percy shook his head, clearing away the confusing teenage thoughts and drama. "What?"

"It's a bit more constipated looking than Travis'," Connor started. "But trust me dude, that's the love face."

"The what face?"

"The looooove face," Connor cooed, smirking.

Percy scrunched his eyebrows together and whacked his friend on the arm. "Stop that! I'm just…worried about Annabeth."

"I'm not sure 'worried'," Connor said, forming air quotes around the word. "Would be the word to use."

"Right," Percy grumbled, sharp winter air cutting across his face as he tried to speed up. "And you're an expert in things like this."

Connor smirked and easily kept pace. "I see my reputation precedes me."

o~O~o~O~o

"You have ten minutes, Castellan," Ethan barked, voice crackling over the phone. "Don't waste them."

"I know, don't worry," Luke assured him, ending the call. "I'll be in and out in no time."

The blonde strode purposely through the dreary winter afternoon towards CHB's looming structure. He hadn't planned on ever coming back, but once he'd heard about the plan…well, he couldn't just leave Annabeth there while Mr. Titanus had so much planned for the school today. At least Thalia was safe in Huntington; that was a load off his mind. Now, Luke's only priority was getting Annabeth out of there. She already hated him anyway, so what harm would probable kidnapping do?

Luke stuck his hands into the old CHB hoodie he'd chosen to wear and walked into the deserted halls like he owned the place. He made a B-line to the library, head low and shoulders hunched. It was three pm sharp on a Thursday, her study block, the only time of day he was sure she'd be alone.

And like clockwork, there she was, signature ponytail and all, sitting at a worn out desk by a window.

He crept up behind her, footfalls muffled by the library's threadbare carpet, and saw her tense.

Damnit, Luke thought to himself as he moved to sit across her. She always did know whenever I was around.

"What do you want?" she asked, voice low and calm.

Luke reached over and grabbed a book off the stack she had beside her, watching her posture turn rigid. He pretended to busy himself with it before replying. "I need you to come with me."

"First you dump me, now I have to come with you?"

The even tone of her voice unnerved him. That wasn't what average, lovelorn teenagers sounded like. Then again, Annabeth had never been very average. "The school won't be the safest place to be in a few hours."

"What are you talking about?"

By now, Luke was sure she had something up her sleeve. "It's none of your business, and if you go with me, then it's nothing you need to know."

"Luke, you're making me ditch school and follow you to an undisclosed location," she said as she scribbled down annotations on the book she'd been poring over. "I'm making it my business."

"I didn't tell you about this to keep you safe," Luke started, a drop of frustration seeping in. Why was she digging so deep into this? He didn't have time to play twenty questions with her. "If you stay around here, you won't be."

"So all you care about is saving me? What about everyone else in the school? This'll be dangerous for them too, won't it?"

"Annabeth," he started, trying to keep himself level. He'd begged Headmaster Titanus for these ten minutes and now they were half gone. "You're the only one I could afford to get out. Just…trust me, okay?"

She was silent for a few minutes, her pen scratching noisily as she wrote. "And we can't tell Chiron or Mr. D?"

"If anything drastic happens, it'll just force them to act faster," Luke informed her. "Believe me, plan B's worse than plan A."

He watched her, seeing the gears turn in her head as she weighed the options.

"Fine," she said finally, flipping her book shut and packing up. "I'll go, just let me give this book to the librarian."

"You can't do that. I don't know what you've been scribbling in there."

"Notes," Annabeth answered, holding out the book for him to check. "If people see me just talking through my study block, they'll get suspicious."

Luke flipped through its pages, highlighted words and multicolored post-its flying by. "Shakespeare?"

She nodded, holding her hand out and daring him to keep her book from her.

Two minutes left, Luke sighed and gave in. It wasn't like there was anything incriminating in there.

The two walked towards the circulation desk, Luke hanging back as Annabeth dropped it off without a word to the librarian.

The walk out of the school was quick and quiet, which was just as well. They had less than a minute left.

Annabeth glanced up the street as they stepped onto the sidewalk. "How are we getting to wherever we're going?"

Luke glanced at his watch, worrying. This was all going a bit too well. "Don't worry, we're getting picked up."

And exactly ten minutes past three, a sleek black car pulled over in front of them. Luke stepped forward and held the door open, watching Annabeth hesitate.

"Well," he prompted, his voice full of confidence he didn't feel. "Are you backing out?"

She frowned and got in, waiting until Luke joined her before asking, "Luke, what have you gotten yourself into?"

Luke didn't answer. Instead he looked out the window, watching the lights flicker off in each house they passed. A mass blackout, just as Headmaster Titanus had planned. Nervous guilt fluttered in Luke, because for better or for worse, the plan was starting and Luke was knee-deep in it.