Consquences of Fatigue
a/n: idk guys I guess I'm crazy unpredictable with my updating schedule.
disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riodran
Annabeth stormed down the aisle, weaving through cubicles in her search for Percy. Luke, having seen her, tried to catch her eye but alas, his efforts were entirely unsuccessful; she continued forward, pausing a split second before the door. Nevertheless, she angrily the small door open and didn't wait to begin her reaming.
Percy's eyes widened for a moment but he easily recovered, his lips curving into a lazy smile as he greeted. "Hello, Ms. Chase,"
"Don't Ms. Chase me, Jackson!" Annabeth demanded, taking several steps towards him, trapping him against the kitchenette counter. "What game are you playing?"
"I haven't the slightest idea what you mean, Ms. Chase," he replied calmly and took a slow sip of his coffee.
"Don't call me that!" Annabeth snapped for no reason particularly. "Why did-"
"What should I call you then?" Percy questioned, tilting his head thoughtfully. "Would Annabeth suffice?" He left his mug on the counter behind him and leaned into her, meeting her fierce eyes with his own.
"Why did you hire-"
"No." He softly shook his head, licking his lips, never breaking eye contact. "Probably not. It has too much of an effect on you." Annabeth scoffed loudly, allowing him to take her mind temporarily off the issue at hand. "Let's not forget the state it left you in yesterday," he whispered, maneuvering her body back so she was the one trapped by their surroundings.
"No!" Annabeth commanded, directing the comment both at herself and Percy. She placed her hands on his chest and shoved back. "Why did you hire Leo, a friend of mine?"
Percy opened his mouth to reply, a slight smirk dancing on his lips, but Annabeth beat him to it.
"Don't try to deny it, Jackson." She pressed her palms against his hard chest, staring him down with her gray eyes that Percy had determined to be entirely intimidating in their nature. "I just saw him downstairs. He told me you hired him, without a college degree, mind you. So I'll repeat, what game are you playing?"
"No game," Percy informed with a smile, his eyes flitting to her hands on his chest. "I simply support young men attempting to finish their education. He's quite the little spitfire."
"If you do anything to him as her eyes bore into him but didn't otherwise show the extent of her effect. "And I will end you, Jackson. You think I'm bad now, imagine what it's like when I'm trying."
"Strong words coming from you, Chase." Percy chuckled, reaching up to grip her wrist, keeping them tight against him. "Wasn't it just last week you agreed to sleep with me? Yet here I stand, un fucked."
"Fuck you, Jackson!" Annabeth seethed. "I didn't agree to anything of the sort."
"My bad." He shrugged non-committedly, keeping an iron grip on her wrists. "You know," he remarked, "I'm surprised you find yourself so enamored by the boy, he has quite a mouth on him. Almost as funny as I am."
"Don't flatter yourself, you're nowhere near funny," Annabeth sneered. "And I'm not enamored with him. Besides, what do you know!"
"I know you well enough," Percy said, his voice dropping slightly. "I know what you like, what you want, what you need." He punctuated the statement by holding her entire body close to his, restricting her movement by keeping her wrists crossed and trapped against his chest.
"You don't know anything, Jackson," Annabeth returned, her voice dripping with disdain. "If you did, you'd stop acting like a complete and utter barbarian."
"You seemed to like me well enough last Sunday."
"Fuck you, Jackson." Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him, wriggling out of his grasp.
"I'm game." He grinned and let go of her hands, allowing the blonde to snatch them back. "You just name the time and the place."
"In your dreams," Annabeth laughed bitterly and rolled her eyes. She strode towards the door and yanked it open. She was about to leave when she turned around to deliver one last retort. As she whipped her head around she was surprised to see a blonde man standing awkwardly in the corner. "Jason?!" she asked, not believing her own eyes.
"Hey," he greeted with a half-hearted smile.
"What the hell?" Annabeth turned towards Percy. "Did you hire him just to spite me?"
"What are you talking about?" Percy questioned, his eyes darting between his friend and his business associate, genuinely confused. "Jason is an old friend. I had no idea you two knew each other. How do you two know each other?"
"Fuck this," Annabeth muttered under her breath, barely registering the high frequency with which obscenities were escaping her in her frustrated state. "I'll see you soon Jason," the blonde used a polite amicable tone when addressing the man. "Tell your friend that I'll be waiting in the conference room to get some real work done before our big meeting." She promptly left, slamming the door shut on her way out.
"That's Annabeth Chase?" Jason breathed, letting out a sharp exhale of disbelief at her exit.
"Yes." Percy leaned back against the counter, picking up his coffee to take a sip. "How do you know her?"
"That's the bossy, hot, hard working screw you've been going on about for days?!" Jason rephrased, unable to wrap his head around the situation that had unfolded before him.
"That's what I just said." Percy's blue-green eyes raked his friend's demeanor, feeling out his reaction. "You haven't answered my question though, how do you know her?"
"She's my girlfriend's roommate," Jason explained softly, taking a seat at the small table in the far corner of the room and rubbing his temples.
"Oh," Percy's eyes flicked to the ceiling, recalling the coincidental circumstances Sunday that must have led up to this moment. "Weird." He took another sip of his hot bitter beverage.
"Percy, you have to stop." Jason raised his icy eyes to meet Percy and show his severity. "I've only spoken with her a few times but there's no way Annabeth is going to sleep with you."
"We'll see," Percy shrugged, restraining a 'she already did' comment.
"No, Percy," Jason shook his head, "you don't understand. She cares about this job."
"So do I," Percy pursed his lips as she watched his friend respond his comment with a grimace.
"No, like she really really cares." Jason sighed at Percy's expression, it was obvious the green eyed man didn't understand. "Piper told me she works herself half to death and that last year her mother blew a lid when she didn't have the heart to screw over some California company."
"Nothing I don't know," Percy lied, taking in the information with a small arch to his brow.
"Her mom is dangerous, dude. She's done some horrible shit. You should stay away. Drop this five-day rule nonsense, finish the project and let her be."
"Again," Percy shrugged, sounding bored despite the heat rushing through his veins, "this is all information I know. Athena is crazy but my father's company, and soon to be my company can't avoid her forever, especially if she's trying to move into our market."
"That doesn't mean you have to sleep with her daughter!" Jason exclaimed exasperated, pulling at his razor short hair. "What are you even gaining? If all you want is a quick fuck there are dozens of other less complicated girls who would love to entertain you."
"Maybe I don't want a quick fuck then," Percy replied, purposefully pushing his friend's buttons. Jason's jaw went slack and his friend felt an obligation to end the charade. "Look, okay. Today is the fifth day. I'm going to finish the day and if she doesn't jump me at the end then I'll really truly give up. Happy?"
"Marginally," Jason grumbled but nodded. He stiffly waved to his friend and exited the small break room, returning to his cubicle in order to focus on his work and hopefully get the current situation off his mind.
Percy took a few deep breaths, running his fingers through his hair before following Jason's actions and leaving the small room behind in search for the attractive blonde. He figured he was going to have to apologize to some extent. It was the last day, after all. He didn't want to compromise all work up until this point.
-00000000000000000000-
"We only have two days until our meeting," Annabeth began explaining from her standing position the minute Percy walked into the room. "Therefore our focus should be primarily on the revised blueprint but we also cannot neglect the-"
"Are you going to ignore what just happened?" Percy questioned in a light-hearted curious tone.
"Yes," Annabeth nodded, her lips pursed, "that was my plan."
"Have you considered that your day might just improve the slightest amount if you were cordial to me?" Percy questioned thoughtfully, taking a seat beside hers.
"I haven't." Annabeth sat back down, next to him. "I always figured you acting at all pleasant was a fantasy I'd never achieve."
"Say what you will, Chase," Percy remarked carefully, picking up one of her pens and getting to work on the blueprint. "But I'm not the one who keeps purposefully antagonizing me."
Annabeth rolled her eyes at the clear lie. "No pens," the blonde snapped and snatched the writing utensil from his fingers, quickly replacing it with a perfectly sharpened pencil.
"Of course," Percy remarked sarcastically. "Gods forbid I use a pen."
"It's a big deal!" Annabeth quipped. "If you don't use a pencil you can't erase the mistakes you will inevitably make."
"I don't make mistakes," Percy grinned, resuming his work. Annabeth left out a sharp exhale that sounded suspiciously like a sneer but otherwise didn't comment. The rest of the day continued as such, the little conversation they shared was riddled with small meaningless arguments that Annabeth inevitably won.
The day slowly came to an end but Annabeth continued to work and Percy, one-upping her, worked as well. He continued to make small comments which she either ignored or easily dismissed.
Percy had just entered his office retrieve a document Annabeth had printed. He growled as he picked up the paper and felt a burning desire to rip it to shreds. She was treating him like her own little pet, ordering him to retrieve her paperwork and do her 'dumb' work. He fell back into the black swivel chair behind his bed and decided he would make her wait. Despite the animosity, he felt towards the blonde, he lingered on Jason's words.
Despite the animosity, he felt towards the blonde, he lingered on Jason's words.
She cares about this job.
Well, of course, she cared, he cared too. He found himself examining the document Annabeth had printed. It was a model.
Like she really really cares.
Percy clenched his jaw at the memory but otherwise restrained from openly displaying his reaction. His fingers gripped the paper a little tighter. It was just a model, a simple model; anyone could do that!
Well, Percy did note several small details that other lesser architects might have forgotten.
She works herself half to death.
This was ridiculous! She had the whole world fooled. She was less a diligent hard worker than she was just a bossy bitch. She presented a hardworking facade while underneath all she ever did was argue. Percy threw down the paper, but then picked it back up the minute it hit the floor. It was like he cared or something.
I do care, he reminded himself. I care about sleeping with her. And so Percy returned to the conference and took a seat next to Annabeth. He felt the fatigue setting into his bones and worried what it might due to his mind.
-00000000000000000000-
Percy peered into the window - it was nearly 10 pm and he'd just come from a rather hostile phone call with his father - and saw her sitting at the head of the long table. Her ankles were crossed, neatly as they had the previous morning, her posture still rigid and her pencil moving at 100 mph. Despite her outside appearance, however, Percy noted the flame in her gray eyes had been extinguished and her face looked tired, her lips slightly downturned.
Percy used his back to open the glass doors, holding two cups of coffee in his hands. She raised her head when he entered the room. Her eyes widened marginally at his entrance but slagged as she recognized the intruder.
"Coffee?" he asked gently, holding out a cup. She narrowed her eyes, the gray darting between the dark haired man and the steaming mug.
"Yes," Annabeth nodded. "Thank you," she added after he handing it to her, feeling the warmth seeping through the ceramics into both of their hands.
"No problem." Percy nodded, bringing his own cup to his lips. "What are you working on?"
"I don't understand how to integrate the outdoor water attractions and the structural elements of the faux volcano while also keeping the slide outside and fulfill Zeus's wishes."
"Well," Percy sat down and gave her a kind smile, "first you need to start calling them water slides, not outdoor water attractions. It makes you sound pretentious."
"Fine." Annabeth rolled her eyes, a small tug to the corner of her lips. Percy smirked, the hot coffee must have just kicked in because it sent his blood rushing. "How do I design four exposed water slides while keeping the current structure sound?"
Percy nodded as he took in the information, examining the grand blueprint below her. He noted the delicate curves of the lines and the several erased lines below the entire design as if it had been revised to perfection.
"It's not possible," he concluded softly with a slight tilt of his head. Annabeth laughed but the sound held no warm humor, only a cool detached demeanor. Percy ran his finger along the man-made volcano. "But it could be if you move this beam ten feet to the left and this one to the right in order to make up for the weight. Then you could wrap one slide around this beam," he indicated with his fingers. "The rest would fall below it, staggering in height but all still beginning at the base."
Annabeth furrowed her brow, staring intently at the paper. "But - " she attempted but finished with a sigh. "The structure is weight is perfectly distributed as it is."
"Apparently it isn't," Percy remarked with a shrug, leaning back in his chair. "The change would allow for an outdoor waterslide. We're going to have to modify the original design, there appears to be no alternative."
"But - " Annabeth bit her lip. She had worked so hard. She thought her design was perfect and it hurt to hear it was anything but. "Fine," she finally agreed, begrudgingly reaching for her big white eraser. She set her head down on the table and watched as she erased her work, leaving only a blank blueprint and eraser shavings behind.
"You should go home," Percy said softly as she began to redraw the design.
"No." Annabeth shook her head, barely glancing up. "I'm not even tired." Percy chuckled to himself. He wasn't sure if it was the exhaustion or the sheer power of exposure but her opposition was suddenly endearing rather than annoying. He frowned through the chuckle as he came to the realization.
He really hoped it was the exhaustion.
Percy watched as she bent back down and resumed elegant arches and beams. She really had a talent for architecture. She seemed to love it too. Why else would she work non-stop? Percy was momentarily jealous, jealous that she was so well suited for her family business, jealous that she would genuinely be content to inherit her mother's industry.
Percy reached for his cup and dipped his eyes, absently observing the movement of the dark liquid. He didn't really need it. He wasn't planning on staying up all night, despite what his pesky secretary had offered him before she left at the end of the work day. Annabeth, on the other hand, had every intention to work into the morning, probably until the sun shone through the wide windows that bordered the conference room and the bird in Central Park started chirping obnoxiously loud.
"Thanks," he blurted out randomly, not quite thinking the declaration through. Fuck. The word sounded strange coming from his lips. Strange but not unpleasant.
She straightened, pausing her work to address him. "What?" the blonde questioned, her furrowed brows knitting together and lining her tired eyes.
"Thanks," Percy repeated, trying to rationalize his prior outburst.
"For what?" she questioned timidly, her droopy eyes blinking slowly.
"For…" Fuck. "For working so hard, for putting up with… this." Fuck.
"I'm just doing my job," Annabeth muttered through a slight smile.
"I-"
"We should really get to work," she interrupted, shifting her attention back to the documents laying before her. "The meeting is two days."
Percy nodded, strands of his jet black hair falling into his eyes. He picked back up the pencil she'd given him and went over the financials, disregarding the blueprint for now. After a while of the dull paperwork, however, his eyes started to flutter shut, his mind leaning dangerously towards sleep. He exerted all his force to keep his eyelids up and his eyes open but the exhaustion persevered. He blinked hard, trying to spring his eyes open and quickly realized he was going to need a better distraction from the tempting warmth of sleep.
"Have you ever seen Zeus's cat?" Annabeth asked him, her voice jerking him out of his daze.
"What?" he clarified, blinking rapidly.
"You look tired, exhausted. I've been there before, many times," she chuckled but it didn't seem to hold any humor. "It helps to have someone keep you company, engage you in a conversation so that you're forced to think on your feet."
"Okay," Percy nodded, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palm. "No," he responded to her earlier query. "I have never seen Zeus's cat."
"A few days ago," she explained, her eyes never leaving her paper, "I have brunch with him. He spoke for ten minutes straight about his Bengal cat, Hercules. He went on and on about the animal, describing him as the, and I quote, 'strongest cat he'd ever seen, stronger than even some tigers.'"
"Sounds like Zeus is delusional" Percy grinned. "Not that that's any grand surprise."
"He showed me pictures," Annabeth continued, her voice growing warmer as she gained confidence. "He proudly informed me he dresses him up as a Greek demigod and walks him in Central Park."
Percy let out a loud bark of laughter at the new information and the sound had Annabeth inadvertently smiling.
"Does he really?" Percy recovered, chuckling through his question.
"Indeed he does." She put down her pencil and allowed her gaze to meet his, feeling less tired by the minute. "He even invited me to join him next week."
"You have to go!" Percy insisted, grinning so wide she thought it might split his cheeks.
"No," Annabeth smiled. "I don't think I want to put myself through that, besides, it would be unethical to see him outside of work." At her words the tone of the room changed, a tense silence filled the room.
"Look - " Percy said finally but was abruptly interrupted when his phone rang. Worried it might be important he reached into his back pocket and retrieved it. The caller ID read Leo. He slid his tongue across the flat front of his teeth, debating whether or not to answer.
"Take it," Annabeth told him, turning back to her work.
"Are you sure?" Percy asked, his finger lingering over the screen.
"Yes," Annabeth maintained and from her tone, it was clear their moment of amicable conversation was over.
Percy quickly pulled the phone to his ear and answered. "Leo, what's up?" He opened the conference room door and exited, turning his back to Annabeth to talk.
"Sorry it's late but I was looking over some of the prior plans and there's this recurring device that seems out of place. I don't know what it is but I think it might be some kind of recording device."
"hat?" Percy hissed into the phone, his eyes widening in alarm.
"I'm not totally sure or anything," Leo filled him in quickly. "I'll send over pictures later this week to make sure you didn't place them there for some other reason and just forget about them. Cool?"
"Yeah," Percy spoke through gritted teeth, his jaw informatively tight. "I guess that's cool."
"Okay boss, catch ya later."
"Bye."
-00000000000000000000-
Inside the conference room, Annabeth had been fighting a losing battle with exhaustion. She tried to keep her eyes on the paper in front of her but found herself having to reread the first sentence eight times because she kept losing her focus.
Working this late, she had expected a rush similar to the prior night to speed her up and give her the energy to push through the last of her work but alas, she had not even encountered a second wind, much less a fourth or fifth one. The coffee she'd been sipping at all day had stopped affected her and now it was solely her mind fighting against the sleep.
Annabeth sighed and rested her head on the table, figuring it couldn't hurt to rest her neck and back muscles. They had to be incredibly tired, after all. So she endured, continuously writing, not taking notice as her handwriting went from neat to messy to illegible and finally settled on nonexistent as she fell into a deep sleep, her head resting on the long conference table.
-00000000000000000000-
Once Percy had finally marginally calmed down, he swung open the door of the conference room and stormed back in, preparing to interrogate Annabeth in regards to these suspicious devices hidden around his building. He had no doubts that Athena had placed them there, to spy on him and his company.
When he entered the room his eyes immediately darted to the disorderly ball of golden curls sitting at the end of the conference table before realizing with an amused arch of his brow that she was sound asleep, her mouth slightly open. Percy shook his head at the sight and approached her sleeping body. He'd never seen her face look so relaxed before, he figured it was rare for anyone at all to see her this way. Without thinking he reached out and brushed a blonde curl out of her eye, lingering unnecessarily long as his fingertips grazed her silken skin. He frowned, slightly mystified when he felt soft tingles slip up his fingers, the feeling dissipating around his wrist.
She let out a moan in her sleep and Percy felt something twitch in his groin at the sound so similar to one he'd witness in very inebriated. The intimacy of his action suddenly hit him and Percy jumped back, snatching his hand away as if burnt.
"Chase," Percy grunted, keeping a safe distance between them, in case any other parts of his body decided to act on their own accord, as his hand obviously had. There was no way he, Percy Jackson, had just caressed a woman's face without any ulterior motive. "Chase!" he repeated, roughly shaking her away with his hand, the obedient one.
"Wha - where - " Annabeth began to question groggily, her eyes darting around the room, trying to put together her surroundings. "Percy?"
The green eyed man felt another lusty twitch just below his navel at the use of his Christian name.
"You fell asleep," Percy told her quickly, his voice coming out huskier than he'd meant it. "It's late. You're going home."
"No," Annabeth frantically shook her head, looking for the pencil that had rolled off the table when she'd fallen asleep. "I'm fine-"
"No," Percy told her firmly. "You're going home."
"But-"
"Chase!" he snapped, hooking his shoe around the leg of her chair and pulling, hard. Her body jerked backward at his movement and she glared in response.
"Fine," she sighed. "Let me just get my things."
"Fine." Percy was silent as she gathered her belongings and desperately attempted to stuff paperwork into her briefcase. "No" he commanded harshly, "leave the documents here."
"But-"
"Stop arguing and just do it," he bit out. She, still dazed by sleep, though she saw something close to concern in the sea green of his eyes and nodded, taking out the paperwork and laying them back on the table.
Percy escorted Annabeth out of the room and out of the building in silence, barely waving to the security guard on the way out. He put her in a cab and sent her home. Then he did the same. His ride home was short, as always. He arrived home and took the elevator up to his penthouse. Once there, he stripped himself of his work clothes and fell onto his bed, hoping, begging, his subconscious not to dwell on his confusing night.
a/n: They're probably like pseudo getting together next chapter. Also, hotel escape will be out soon, I promise. I just already had this
Also, hotel escape will be out soon, I promise. I just already had this one half done.