"Oh, my Gods!" Annabeth screamed, bouncing up and down on the bed she and Percy now shared. She held her laptop on her knees, the screen close to her face, illuminating her features.

"What?"

"I sent that email to my boss a while ago about deserving a better job. He never mentioned it once since then, and I just thought he was saving me the embarrassment, but now he's saying that the company wants to promote me!"

"That's great!"

"I can't believe it!"

"Well, Mrs. Jackson, I formally congratulate you." Percy said, putting on a mock serious face and tipping an imaginary hat.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Jackson." Annabeth replied, nodding her head. The two cracked up laughing, and Percy reached over, kissing Annabeth on the cheek.

"Hmm," She said, closing her laptop and placing it on her bedside table, "Everything just seems so, I don't know, right. It's like I'm just waiting for something bad to happen."

"Hey, come on, now, nothing bad is gonna happen." He said quietly, reaching over and patting her belly, which had just started to pooch out the slightest bit.

"Yeah, you're right. I guess I'm just paranoid." She said, kissing him again and laying down, flipping off the lamp.

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

It was black. Like, really, really black. Annabeth was seated, from what it felt like, at a table. The cold metal bars of the table pressed into her back. Fear struck her. Paranoid, she instinctively reached out and held her belly protectively.

"Hello?" She called into the dark, empty space. But what was that? Was that the sound of someone breathing? Who could be there with her?

"Mother?" She called out, hoping that Athena was just playing another trick. The breathing echoed against the walls, wherever they lay.

Then, suddenly, a light flipped on, bright, luminescent, and pointed directly at her face. Her arm flew up, shielding her eyes from the brightness. The light focused, dimming slightly. Tentatively, she lowered her arm, staring at the face of the person that sat before her, on the other side of the metal table.

The man was tan, maybe even as tan as she was. He had tousled, blond hair, defined muscles that Annabeth could see through his tight, white shirt, and clear, watery blue eyes. Unforgettable eyes. Eyes that sparkled mischievously in the fluorescent lights. A smirk lay below those eyes, above them, arched eyebrows.

"Luke?" Annabeth asked, straightening up.

"The one and only." He answered, grinning.

"What…what in Hades are you doing here?" She demanded, looking around the room. Unlike the dream she had had with her mother, this time she was in a classic interrogation room, complete with standard issue metal chairs and table. Both Annabeth and Luke were dressed in white, cotton shirts and pants. As if they were in some sort of insane asylum.

"What am I doing here?" He echoed, smiling lightly. "Well, that's a good question. Why am I here, Annabeth? After all, this is your dream."

"No mind games her, Castellan. I mean it! Why'd you bring me here?"

"I'll get to that."

"Now."

"Later."

"No, Luke, now!" She screamed, pounding a fist on the table. She had never had a good temper.

"Ah, Annabeth," Luke said, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands at his stomach, "I miss our back and forth."

"Well, that makes one of us."

"Hmm." He grunted, sitting upright again.

"Really, Luke, tell me why you're here. Is Kronos up to something again?"

"Annabeth," Luke said, sitting forward and reaching for her hands, "I'm done with Kronos. Promise. I'm on the right side now, working with our parents to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. Hades, I'm even trying for rebirth! Just sent in my application!"

"Then…why….?"

"Annabeth." He said, pulling his hands away from hers as a grave look crossed his face.

"Luke, you're scaring me." She said, her eyes widening.

"I've come here to warn you."

"Warn me…about what?" She asked, her voice growing tight with fear. Then, slowly, his eyes traced their way down Annabeth's body, reaching her belly. "No." She said.

"Annabeth," He began, his eyes softening.

"No." She replied adamantly as she rose from the table, tracing her way around the room, looking for a door. There wasn't one.

"Listen to me."

"No. Whatever you have to say, Luke, keep it to yourself. Leave me alone."

"You're not making this easy."

"I was happy, Luke. Finally, I was happy." She said quietly, sinking to the linoleum floor and putting her face in her hands.

"I know." He said quietly, kneeling down beside her and rubbing her back soothingly. "I know."

"So, why are you here? To tell me my kid is going to grow up to be the next you?" She asked, tilting her head up and searching his face. "To tell me that my kid is going to destroy the world or get maimed in an accident?"

"I came here," He began, taking a deep breath, "To warn you."

"About my baby?"

"Yes."

"Why—why do I need warning?"

"Athena's not happy with you, Annabeth. Neither is Hera, for that matter."

"Why would she even…?"

"You had a baby out of wedlock, you managed to destroy a relationship, and then somehow unite it in marriage, to name a few. You see, by marrying Percy after all of this, you've got a pissed off Hera on your hands, because marrying someone is basically asking Hera for protection. And she hates your guts."

"So, what? Hera hates me? What's the big deal?"

"Well," Luke said, sinking against the wall next to Annabeth, "Hera's the Goddess of babies, too." Annabeth groaned, tilting her head back against the wall.

"So my kid is doomed to be some delinquent or…or world-destroyer…or hooligan?"

"No, Annabeth." Luke said slowly, his eyes softening in sadness and sympathy.

"You can't possibly mean..." Annabeth said, her eyes widening, her heartbeat becoming rapid.

"I'm so sorry." He said simply, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek lightly. "I really am." Then, with a snap of his fingers, he was gone, leaving Annabeth along in the small, suffocating interrogation room. Slowly, she began to melt, in some freakish, surreal moment. As if she were becoming a Salvador Dali painting. She sank and sank and sank, becoming an even larger puddle of liquid, seeping into the tiles, until, finally, there was nothing left.

Annabeth awoke with a start, feeling whole, feeling solid, unlike the bizarre dream she had just had. No liquidity.

Except that here was liquidity. Between her legs, she could feel something wet, and, for a moment, she began to wonder if she had wet the bed in all her fear.

Tentatively, she brought a hand down to the space between her legs, touching the spot with trembling hands and bringing it up to her face. In the sliver of moonlight, she could see, plain as day, that the dark, thick wetness was not urine, rather, it was blood. Thick, clotted blood.

"Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, Gods, no." She panicked, beginning to hyperventilate. Waves of pain shot through her, worse than any cramp she had ever experienced before. Perhaps even worse than the contractions, given the emotions she was feeling now.

"Percy! Percy, get up! Get up, now!"

"Wha—?" Percy said, groggily, aroused from sleep. He lifted his head, rubbing at his eyes.

"Percy, I…I'm bleeding." She said as another wave of pain overthrew her.

"Did you, like…cut yourself or something?"

"No, you idiot, I'm bleeding!" Annabeth shrieked, touching her other hand to her clammy forehead.

"Oh. OH. Gods, what should we…"

"I….I….um, we—we should…."

"Annabeth? Come on, stay awake. You're gonna be fine!" Annabeth heard Percy say. She couldn't respond to him, though. She was too transfixed with the thin, ghost-like figure standing behind Percy. The figure might as well have been fog. Except for the clear, bright blue eyes. Eyes that bored into her head; her soul.

"Luke?" She asked quietly, dazed, confused. The ghost just shook his head, fizzling out into the air, as Annabeth's head flopped backward, her eyes closing, the blackness surrounding her.

A/N: Sorry, this is a lot to digest. Please don't get too mad at the tragic cliffy. I promised a happy ending, and, by George, I will deliver.

Also, thanks to my buddy Julian, who is most definitely reading this. He gave me the idea to bring back Luke. He's also most definitely going to tease me for saying 'by George'.

Worry not, though, because there WILL be a happy ending, eventually. Thanks for reading, review, because this is the best way for me to know what you think.