Chapter 21: Capture the Flag-Finale (Annabeth)

Have you ever walked alone through the woods with a guy you barely know? Maybe. Who's your best friend's emo crush? Probably not. So I'll let you in on something. It was extremely awkward.

"So..." I said, as we trudged through the woods over roots and through shrubs and grass. "Um."

Nico didn't say anything, not even catching on that I was trying to make conversation to make things less awkward. He was behind me and I couldn't even see his face to see what he was thinking. He moved gracefully, not making a sound. The only reason I could tell he was still there was his quiet breathing.

I didn't know much about the guy. He was just somebody that was there, you know? You know of him, but you don't know him.

I looked around me. Where was the other team's flag? I was hoping I was right and the flag was in this direction. It was going to suck if I had to tell Thalia she was right.

"Stoll!" a familiar voice screamed. Nico and I whipped around towards the sound.

"Thalia?" he asked.

I nodded and sighed. Thalia must've been right.

In silent agreement, Nico and I went to find Thalia and Luke. We found them pretty quickly. They were in an... interesting situation. I tried not to laugh. They were suspended from a tree in a net, a tangle of arms and legs with Thalia on top of Luke.

I heard a snort next to me and glanced over to see Nico smirking. I couldn't help it and started laughing.

Thalia glared at us. "It's not funny." She started squirming, resulting in Luke getting kicking in the face.

"Agreed," he muttered, but I could tell he wasn't exactly upset. He had a funny smile on his face. I must of missed something if he was smiling after getting kicked in the face.

Thalia tried to glare at him, but couldn't. "You better just shut up," she hissed at him and turned to me. "Just get me down from here," she begged. "Please!" I definitely missed something if Thalia was desperate enough to say please.

I sighed and turned toward Nico. "Do you have something we can cut them down with?" I looked over at the line of rope keeping the net suspended. We would have to cut it to get them down.

Nico nodded, pulling out a pocket knife, and started sawing at the rope. He didn't get very far through before a shot sounded and blue paint appeared on Luke's butt. "OW!" he whined. Thalia started snickering before somebody shot her in the head.

"That's it! Whoever shot me is going to die!" she yelled.

Blue paint hit the tree next to Nico's head and I whipped my paint ball gun out and shot Connor down out of a tree. Of course it was Connor. He was the only one stupid enough to shoot Thalia in the head.

"We gotta get out of here." I grabbed Nico's arm and started dragging him after me. "There's probably more. They wouldn't leave Connor alone." Shots rang out behind us to prove my point.

Nico and I started running, leaping over things in our way and swerving to avoid getting shot. A bright rectangle of blue appeared in front of me. "Is that...?" Nico started to ask. I grinned at him as an answer and we sped up, nearly flying towards the flag.

As we got closer I noticed the flag was on top of a boulder. It was in a good spot. We had to splash through a shallow stream to get to it, soaking my boots and the hem of my jeans. Percy made the mistake of leaving Silena and Beckendorf in charge of guarding the flag. They were making out against a tree near the flag, completely oblivious to us approaching.

We stopped in front of the boulder. It was completely quiet except for Silena and Beckendorf's scuffling. We must have lost the others. They weren't shooting at us anymore at least. I looked behind me and I couldn't see them.

I turned back to the rock and then looked at Nico. "Give me a lift?"

He nodded and stooped down slightly with his hands together, cheerleader style, creating a step. I put my foot in and grabbed the rock. Nico gave me a hoist up and I pulled myself onto the boulder.

Nico glanced over his shoulder and scanned the trees, muttering something under his breath. I grabbed the flag and leaped down from the boulder, landing a little hard. I was about to cross the stream again to take the flag on our side to win when Nico grabbed my arm. "Wait."

I turned to look at him. "What?"

"It's a trap," he said, simply and motioned towards where Silena and Beckendorf had been moments ago, but weren't now. I glanced around, expecting to see them somewhere nearby. They weren't.

I frowned and handed the flag to Nico. I grabbed my gun so I was ready and spun around. "Percy," I said, knowing he was there before I saw him.

A smile curled his mouth and his eyes sparkled like he was about to laugh. "Annabeth." God he was gorgeous. I couldn't help but smile, too. Pull yourself together, Annabeth! Don't get distracted! "Somehow, I knew you'd be here."

I smirked. "Probably because you were following me." I glanced over his shoulder to see Beckendorf, Silena, Clarisse, Ethan, Frank, Hazel, and surprisingly, Drew, with their guns locked on us.

I swear his smile widened. "All a part of the plan, although Thalia and Luke weren't supposed to get trapped in the net—that was for you—but it still worked out," he said casually.

I nodded. "So what happens now?"

He shrugged. "I shoot you or you tell me where your flag is and I might not shoot you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" My eyes widened. "Percy, you would actually shoot me?" I asked him, pretending to be hurt.

His smile disappeared. "I—I..." He shook his head and the smile reappeared. "Nice try."

I grinned and shrugged. "Worth a try. So you want to know where the flag is?" The rules were that you can't take prisoners after they're shot or get information from them. I could only tell them if they didn't shoot me. Not that I would, but they didn't know that. And I had a plan.

I took the flag back from Nico and started to walk towards my right. Nobody followed me, but the guns did. "Okay, so... you guys won't shoot me if I tell you where it is?"

Drew snorted, but Percy ignored her. "Maybe," he admitted, not giving me a definite answer. His eyes stayed locked on me, trying to figure out what I was up to.

I nodded. "What about Nico? Will you shoot him?"

"Maybe," Percy said again at the same time as Drew said, "Of course not!" She smiled flirtatiously at Nico. I saw him wince slightly out of the corner of my eye. Poor guy.

I nodded slowly, like I was thinking about this. That was when I saw Bianca, Reyna, Will, and Malcolm come into our clearing on the other side of the stream, but luckily they were quiet and nobody else. They saw the other team with their paintball guns pointed at us immediately and then looked at me. I blinked and looked away from them to Percy. "Will you let me keep the flag?" I asked.

Percy raised an eyebrow, probably wondering why I was acting like such an idiot. "No."

I nodded slowly. "Of course." I started winding the flag (a beach towel) around the pole (a branch). "That leaves a only one option then, doesn't it?"

Percy along with everybody else, stared at me confused. "What?"

I grinned, pulling the staff back. "Catch," I said and threw the flag javelin style to Malcolm.

Nobody did anything until he caught it, but then everybody sprang into action. My team started shooting at Percy's and vice versa, his team finally realizing that more of mine than they thought was there.

I waved to Percy and took off after Malcolm as he ran into the trees towards the border. Will were right behind me, somehow shooting over his shoulder, while the others stayed behind. Feet thudded lightly against the ground as somebody chased after us. It sounded like three people.

"This mud is totally ruining my new shoes!" Drew.

"Get back here you little punks!" Clarrise.

"Annabeth, that wasn't fair!" Percy.

"Of course it wasn't!" I yelled back.

Will shot over his shoulder and Drew shrieked. "This is designer!"

I couldn't help it and started laughing. Then somebody—probably Clarrise—shot Malcolm in the back. "Annabeth!" He threw the flag to me before falling to the ground dramatically.

Will continued shooting over his shoulder every couple yards as he followed me. "Are we almost there?"

"Yeah. Just a little further," I called back. Yeah, only about a quarter of a mile. That's not exactly a little further.

He shot over his shoulder again and Clarrise yelled something back, like, "God damn you, punk!" She must have gotten hit.

"Good," Will said, breathing hard, "'cause I'm out of paintballs." Shit.

"Back me up," I said, and started sprinting. God, I was out of breath. It was a good thing I didn't choose track.

There was a couple pops of a paintball gun, one flying over my head. Will cursed under his breath. "I've been hit!" he said, and I saw him drop to the ground when I looked over my shoulder. Why are boys so dramatic? Then again, we are in a play...

I started to slow down when I realized it was just me and Percy. He could shoot me easily since he was behind me. I sped up again. There was no way I was losing to Percy.

"You might as well give up!" Percy called from somewhere behind me. Based on his voice I was guessing he was at least a good 40 yards back.

"Not yet!" I yelled. Or ever, at least I hoped.

I burst into a clearing, looking over my shoulder for Percy. I turned back to see Leo (red faced) and Calypso (eye twitching) arguing, while Lacey and Dakota watched, Lacy looking slightly afraid while Dakota was obviously annoyed. "Oh yeah?" Calypso yelled. "Do you realize what a little-"

"Ahem." I cleared my throat, interrupting the beginning of her rant. They all turned to me, wide eyed, looking surprised to see me. Then, Percy burst into the clearing like a wild man. I immediately locked my gun on him, and he did vice versa as soon as he saw me among our small crowd. Calypso and Dakota followed my lead, while Lacy and Leo trained their guns on me.

"Give me the flag, sweetheart," Percy said, breathing hard. I wasn't the only one exhausted from that run.

"Sweetheart?" Dakota asked, confused.

"Percabeth!" Lacy squeaked. Again with the Percabeth?

Calypso rolled her eyes. Apparently she wasn't a shipper.

Leo winked at me, which I didn't know what to make of.

I shook my head. "No way," I said, answering Percy's question.

"Let's just shoot them," Dakota said.

Leo shifted his gun from me to Dakota. "Don't even try it, Kool-aid boy. I'll shoot your ass before you even lay a finger on the trigger." Leo smiled at him smugly.

Calypso turned her gun on Leo. "Oh, please. You probably don't even know how to shoot a paintball gun."

Leo glared at her and turned his gun on her. "You wanna bet, Callie?"

She rolled her eyes, but she was getting a little nervous. "You wouldn't shoot me."

But he did. Right then and there. Leo grinned, maniacally. "You wanna bet?"

Calypso let out a small shriek. "That's it!" She shot Leo, not once, not twice, not thrice—wait, is that even a word?—but four times. The red paint made him look like a murder victim. Next time we should probably use a different color...

Leo's jaw dropped.

"At a loss for words Repair Boy?" Calypso shot back, a triumphant grin on her face, despite the blue across her abdomen.

"Um," Percy said, as Leo's smile started to turn a little vicious, and we all backed away.

Leo shot Calypso twice, laughing. Calypso glared at him and shot him repeatedly and Leo joined in, red and blue flying back and forth while they laughed like a couple of creeps.

I turned back to Percy and blinked. "So...Bye!" I took off running again, with Percy at my heels, Dakota staggering behind like a drunk—seriously, what was in that Kool-aid?-and Lacey trailing behind calling for us to wait up.

Red paint hit a tree in front of me. "Dakota!"

"Sorry!" he yelled. "I missed."

"Annabeth!" Percy called.

I ignored him. I was almost there. I ran a few more yards before coming into another clearing. Immediately a gun was locked on me. "Surprise," Percy said, an adorable smile coming across his face.

I just gaped at him. "How?"

He shrugged. "Short cut." He grinned and held out a hand. "I'll take that."

My shoulders slumped. I was only a few feet away from the border, and I had to give up the flag now? I could shoot him. Yeah!

Percy shook his head. "Don't even think about it."

How did he—Oh never mind. I looked around but there seemed to be no other option. My only hope was that somebody would ambush Percy on his way back. I held out the flag to him, but had a hard time letting go when he took it. He grinned triumphantly.

I scowled at him. "Don't get a big head."

"Aw, it's okay, Annie," he said smiling like a little kid. I hate that name. "Everybody loses sometimes."

Not me. Never.

I twig snapped behind us. "Hey Percy!" somebody called and I immediately dropped to the ground. It was Austin, the next best shooter after Will, along with five other kids from our team. Percy's eyes widened, and he tried to shield himself but he was too late. About 10 shots went off, and when I looked up he was covered in paint. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the flag, taking off across the border before something else could go wrong.

Everybody from my team cheered when I got across and Percy's team, who was just showing up, groaned.

"In your face!" Dakota yelled at Clarrise as they came out of the woods. She shot him in the chest in response. "Hey! The game's supposed to be over."

Clarrise smiled smugly. "So?"

"Ice cream's on Percy's team!" somebody shouted. "To the parking lot!" With a lot of cheering and groaning, whining and laughing, the crowd headed south to the parking lot. Only Percy and I stayed behind.

He was pouting like a little kid. "Seriously? How did that happen?"

I grinned at him. "Is somebody upset? It's alright, Seaweed Brain. Everybody loses sometimes," I mocked him.

He sighed, then a small devilish grin crossed his face. "You know what, Wise Girl?" He started coming towards me. "I'm so sad, I think I need a hug."

I took in his paint covered body and started backing away. "Oh no."

"Oh yes."

I turned to run away and he grabbed me in his arms from behind. "Percy Jackson!" I yelled.

He smeared some paint on my cheeks below my eyes. "That's my name, don't wear it out, and can I just say, this color looks great on you."

I sighed. "Why do you act like you're five?"

He shook his head. "Not five. Six and a half."

I rolled my eyes, and he gave me a quick kiss and butterflies flew around in my stomach. We had only sort of been together for a day and I was already sure I would always feel that way when he kissed me.

I smiled and for a minute or two, we just stood there, watching the sun start to set, enjoying being in each others arms.

Percy frowned suddenly. "Hey, Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"Isn't the parking lot that way?" He pointed north, the opposite direction than the others had gone.