Being surrounded by a monster who he didn't know how to beat and a military helicopter preparing to riddle him with bullets as he was defending two unarmed and untrained demigods, all while one of his arms was rendered practically useless, wasn't exactly how Percy imagined his reunion with Annabeth.

Let's examine how horribly he fucked up to get to that point, shall we?

Percy had met Thalia and Annabeth at the latter's dad's apartment, and now he was alone in the back seat of Thalia's rented car, almost at their destination. A few months back, basically right after all of the summer campers left, their friend Grover had sent a distress call to Chiron at camp, claiming that two powerful demigods were somewhere in the school he'd been near.

See, Grover was currently on a search to find the lost god Pan, but when he felt, or in his case smelled, the demigods, he couldn't just ignore them, but he wanted time to pinpoint who they were and exactly what they were dealing with.

Now, as for why Chiron decided to send three of his most valuable and powerful demigods to go get them, Percy didn't have the faintest idea. Theoretically, they should have been the three least likely candidates for the mission, since their scent would have been powerful enough to attract even more monsters than normal, but he insisted on those three in particular.

"Maybe he knew there was a tough monster that he only trusted you guys to beat?" Riptide offered.

"Maybe…" Percy muttered.

"We're here," Thalia announced as they drove up to a literal medieval castle. It was made of stone and was situated dangerously close to a cliff which overlooked the ocean.

"I'm…not liking the looks of this," Annabeth said.

"Preaching to the choir on that one," Percy agreed. All three of them stepped out to hear the crunch of the snow under their shoes. Speaking of snow, which had been falling basically nonstop all throughout the car ride, there was a packed layer beneath their feet, and even on the roads. Percy was glad that Chiron had rented all-wheel drive for them for this assignment.

Thalia turned to Annabeth. "You have the bag?" she asked. Annabeth held it up; it contained their formal clothes for the dance. Percy grimaced.

"I almost forgot…would've preferred if I forgot."

"Don't whine," Annabeth ordered as the three walked to the front gates. They got pretty much without a cinch, aside from having to explain to the chaperones why they were there; that they were guests of Grover Underwood, for the semi-formal dance. They were led to a set of bathrooms, where they had to change.

Percy could never tie a tie, and this was no exception. He ended up just letting it hang untied around his neck, and walked out. He was wearing a simple pair of dress pants, dress shoes, a white dress shirt, and a black vest. He stood there waiting for a few minutes, waiting for the girls to finish. "Okay, don't be slack-jawed, alright?"

"Dude, when have I ever gotten slack-jawed?" Percy questioned. "…What does that mean again?"

"Just…don't act like an idiot. You're her boyfriend; you gotta be smooth, suave. Basically I'm telling you to act like James Bond."

Percy smirked. "Do you expect me to talk?"

"No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" it went along with the joke.

When the girls came out, Annabeth immediately caught Percy's eye. She had a jet black spaghetti strap short dress with black stockings on, and her makeup was absolutely flawless. She looked incredibly uncomfortable in her high heels, but they were a requirement for girls.

Thalia looked equally uncomfortable, but in her whole aesthetic. She wore a more traditional dress that went down to her ankles, and wore matching black heels. Her makeup hadn't changed from when they arrived, as she always had dark eye shadow and that's basically it.

Annabeth looked at Percy disapprovingly. "What?" he questioned.

"Really?" she wondered, walking up to him and taking both ends of his tie. "You can't tie it?"

"Pft, whatever," he pouted as she tied it for him. "Why do we even have to do this anyway? Can't we just grab them and leave, and kill monsters?"

"Just relax," her response was soft and understanding. "This won't take very long, I promise."

Percy sighed. "I know…just so long as it's with you."

"Agreed," she said, finishing the double Windsor. She leaned in for a kiss, but was interrupted.

"Come on, we've got to go," Thalia called from across the hall. "Grover's waiting."

Annabeth tensed as she heard his name, and Percy couldn't really blame her. That summer, she'd been seeing visions of him in her sleep, with him pleading for help on Polyphemus' island. It turned out to all be a trick planned by Kronos, so they would steal the Fleece so Luke could in turn steal it from them. Needless to say, when she heard that Grover needed help again, she was skeptical. She took a deep breath, but didn't finish her kiss, instead taking Percy's hand and walking with him to the gymnasium.

Once they entered, they all found it incredibly hard to concentrate. The booming music was enough to give Annabeth a headache, but the rapidly changing lights and colors just made her head spin; it was far too much visual and auditory stimuli for any of their ADHD brains to handle. The three stood to one side, waiting for Grover.

The satyr found them almost immediately. "There you guys are!" he exclaimed as he made his way over to them in the crowd. "What took you so long?" he demanded.

"We got held up in the storm a bit," Percy explained. "But we're here, so…what's wrong?"

"Two demigods," Grover claimed. "I don't know their parentage, but they're strong, like really strong, you feel me? I've been doing my best to keep an eye on them, but there's…someone."

"Who?" Thalia questioned.

"A teacher, Dr. Thorn. He won't even let me near them. I have no idea what monster he is, but he doesn't seem to be sure about the demigods either. But today's the last day of the semester, so he probably won't let them leave without confirming it."

"Okay, what does he look like?" Annabeth wondered.

"He has two eye colors; focus on the blue. Other than that, he looks like just about every other guy teacher here."

"Alright…where are the two demigods?" Thalia looked around. Grover pointed to some bleachers, where two people were spotted; a boy and a girl. The girl caught Percy's eye, in that he recognized her; she wore a floppy green cap, but her skin had lightened up since he last saw her by a shade or two. "Their names are-"

"Bianca and Nico di Angelo," Percy finished. All three sets of eyes were on him. "I, uh…I met Bianca a while back."

"What? Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Well, it didn't seem important, and besides, I didn't know they were demigods," Percy claimed.

"When did you meet them?" Annabeth wondered, obviously a bit suspicious.

"It doesn't matter," Thalia interrupted. "Percy, you and Annabeth go get them. Let Grover and I know if anything comes up, alright?" she didn't wait for a answer, just dragged the satyr to the dance floor, and was soon lost in the crowd.

"…Why does she always have to give me orders?"

"Does it matter?" Annabeth questioned. "It's a decent plan."

"But aren't you usually the girl with the plan?"

"Yeah, but I'm more concerned as to when you met this girl," she stared accusingly at her boyfriend.

"Oh that?" Percy was oblivious to her suspicion. "I met her back in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. She was looking for her brother, and I helped out."

"…How'd she get out?"

"I don't know, let's find out," Percy said, taking her hand reassuringly and led her to the two. They stood at the bottom of the bleachers. "Hey there!" Percy greeted, trying to look as chipper as possible.

Bianca did a double take when she saw him, while Nico just looked confused. "Y-you?" she questioned. "What are you doing…how are you...?" she was clearly not confused.

"Excuse me, miss, but," Percy held out a hand, hearing a slow song come on. "Would you give me this dance?" he asked. The truth was that he wanted to dance with Annabeth, but the mission unfortunately took priority, and if they were going to either keep them safe or get them out, they needed to be in as close of proximity as possible.

"I…you…"

"My partner here can take the gentleman as well," Percy offered.

"Cool," the boy said, monotone, hopping down the bleachers, with Annabeth taking him to the dance floor. Percy kept his hand outstretched for Bianca, who hesitantly took it. Percy was sure that he looked like a ghost to her, given how they met.

Percy put a hand on her hip, and the other in her hand, and they started dancing. "Bianca di Angelo, right?" Percy confirmed.

"Right, and you're Percy Jackson, but…" she hesitated. "You look older."

"And you look like you haven't aged a day," Percy agreed. "Do you know what happened?" he wondered, trying to deduce if she knew what she was or not.

"No. I mean, I just saw you last month, so I don't know if it's something you did with your hair or what."

"No, I'm sixteen now," Percy claimed. "Listen, what I'm about to tell you might sound absolutely insane, but-"

"Hey, hold your horses, Percy. The moment you tell her what she is, her scent becomes instantly stronger for monsters. If you're trying to get them out of here safely, you should hold off."

Bianca raised an eyebrow. "What? What are you gonna tell me?"

"I, uh…actually, I really shouldn't yet. Just know that both you and your brother are in danger."

"What kind of danger?" she wondered.

"The bad kind," Percy said vaguely. "We're doing what we can to get you two out, but-"

"You and that blonde girl?"

"Yeah," Percy clarified. "And a couple of others."

He was about to go into more detail, but then a big man in a suit walked up to them. He had two different eye colors, one of them being a vibrant but cold blue color, not unlike Thalia's. "Di Angelo," he called for her.

"Yes, sir?" she responded immediately.

"I need to have a word," he said. "And get your brother as well."

Percy expected her to look worried, or to look to Percy for reassurance, but she played it off surprisingly calmly, considering he just told her that she was in mortal danger. She turned back to him and smiled. "Do you mind if I leave you mid-dance?" she asked sweetly.

"Not at all," Percy played it off just as casually, kissing her hand like in one of those old-fashioned movies, before letting her go off. Within seconds, Annabeth stormed up to him, carrying snacks and a drink from the table which had them set out.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded. She had met Percy at the exit where Dr. Thorn left with the di Angelo's. "You let him walk off with them!"

"Hey, is that a cheese cube?" Percy snatched it from her hand and popped the cheese in his mouth, chewing it, twirling the toothpick it was on in his fingers.

"Percy! Focus!" she demanded.

"I know, I know," Percy said, not thinking much of it. "Hey, you didn't tell Nico that he was a demigod, did you?"

"No, I figured it wouldn't be safe until we were out of this school."

"Good. Now, I figured that if they could play it off well enough, he would just give up, or he would be convinced that they were mortal. That way, if it worked, then we'd be home free."

"And if it doesn't work, then they'll be torn to shreds," Annabeth reminded him. "Percy, this is a stupid plan even by your standards."

"Noted," he said, taking Riptide from his pocket. "Which is why I'm going to tail them, and make sure nothing happens to them."

"You mean we're going to-"

"No, you're going to go get Thalia and Grover and then come back me up," Percy interrupted.

"…You aren't trying to protect me, are you?"

"If I was, you'd kick my ass," he reminded, putting the leftover toothpick from the cheese cube into his mouth, letting it stick out.

"…A fair point," she kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck, Seaweed Brain."

After that, she disappeared into the crowd again. Percy ducked out of the gymnasium when the chaperones weren't looking and readied Riptide, though he didn't draw it yet.

He followed the monster and demigods quite a ways, being sure to stay just out of their line of sight, and saw that they went outside, the back way. "Gross, I have to go outside again," Percy thought dejectedly.

"I don't give a tuppeny fuck about your temperature conundrum, you meat-headed shit sack," Riptide retorted.

"Tuppeny?" Percy wondered as he slipped outside, seeing the shadows of the three moving dangerously close to the cliff. Percy picked up the pace a bit to keep up.

"Hey, that's the quote."

"Yeah, but you already replaced 'moral' with 'temperature', didn't you?"

"…Y'all are bitches…"

Percy ignored the sword's antics and clicked it, having it elongate into its usual form. The sound and the presence of the Celestial Bronze blade made the monster stop, and the di Angelo's along with him. They turned around to see him walking up to them. "Hey!" he called out, twirling the sword. "Those two are under my protection," Percy claimed.

"Is that a sword?" Nico wondered, his eyes sparkling slightly.

"Percy, what's going on?" Bianca demanded.

"Silence, cretins!" Dr. Thorn demanded. Instantly upon seeing Percy, his form had shifted. He still looked vaguely human, but his skin had turned into the same leathery sag that could be seen on the Furies, or the Kindly Ones. There was also something behind him, like a tail. Percy kept a mental note to watch out for it. "I had hoped you would be smart enough not to follow…" he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, you know who I am?"

"You are Perseus Jackson; the Cruel Spider," Dr. Thorn said. "There isn't a monster on Earth or in Tartarus that doesn't despise your name."

"You mean 'know my name'?"

"I know what I said," Dr. Thorn tensed, and soon, these…things shot out from behind him. Percy let his instincts handle things, innately knowing where each projectile was, and slashing them, though he was forced back several feet to give himself time. After realizing that he'd have to fight his way out, Percy shot forward as fast as he could in dress shoes while deflecting more projectiles. Percy just barely made out that these were spikes, and that the tail was flinging them toward him. Once he was in range, and once the volley of spikes was finished, Percy reared back his blade and shot it forward with the intention of shoving it through the monster's thick head, but it was faster than he expected.

Dr. Thorn weaved around Percy's strike and whipped him with his tail, though Percy blocked the strike. He was now standing in front of the di Angelo's, with no more room to back up and give himself space.

"You wanna tell me what monster you are before I rip you into a million pieces?" Percy asked. His voice was low and threatening. He'd almost forgotten the rush he felt when he fought actual monsters. Though after Polyphemus, now it was also tinged with a nice helping of unadulterated fury which almost seared and resonated throughout his body and blade.

"Percy…" Bianca muttered his name quietly, almost disturbed at his intensity. She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head; Percy was a friend, and he was doing this to protect them. She only wished she could do more to help him, and especially to help Nico. The boy probably didn't even fully comprehend out much danger they were in.

Nico hardly ever showed much emotion. It was usually only when he saw something new and exciting, like Percy's sword, that he showed anything resembling interest. Even after years of caring for him, Bianca still had a hard time figuring out what he was thinking; she just tried to smile a lot and hope for the best.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "Ha! You really have no idea what you're up against!" it mocked. "The General has a marvelous plan for you, Cruel Spider! He has a plan for all of you; and soon Olympus shall see its darkest night in a millennia!"

Percy charged forward again, but this time the monster was ready. He shot volley after volley, stopping Percy in his tracks and forcing him back to the di Angelo's. Even he couldn't stop all of Dr. Thorn's spikes, and one went straight for Nico. Bianca reacted much faster than she thought she should have been able to, as she could barely even see the projectiles, but she pushed Nico out of the way just in time. Then she saw another projectile heading straight for her, but it never got to her.

Percy had shot out his hand, the one not holding the sword, and took the hit for her. The spike got lodged into his forearm. Fortunately, he didn't seem to hit any veins or bones, miraculously actually. Still, his entire arm then hung limp to his side. He couldn't feel it except for the immense pain he felt emanating from it.

"Damn…" he muttered, raising his blade. "Knew I should've brought the shield…"

And that wasn't all of the bad news; Percy suddenly felt the wind pick up from behind them, toward the cliff, and then a blinding light shot from behind him. When he turned, he just barely made out the shape of a military helicopter.

"How the hell can they afford this?!" Riptide demanded.

"No clue!" Percy called. Now, he was surrounded on both sides, trying to defending two unarmed and untrained demigods from a monster who he didn't know how to beat and a military helicopter about to riddle them all with bullets, all while one of his arms was totally useless.

This was not exactly how he pictured his reunion with Annabeth.

Thankfully, this is when help came. Suddenly, Dr. Thorn lurched forward as blood shot from a wound on his back. He flailed and swung his tail, eventually hitting something, and soon Annabeth was visible on his back. She had run her dagger through his shoulder, but the hit had dazed her and made her lose her invisibility cap. Percy took his chance. "Time to go!" Percy ran around Dr. Thorn, with the di Angelo's following closely. Percy only then realized that they'd been inches away from a worse fate, as monsters leapt from the helicopter and landed where he and the di Angelo's had been just a second before. Grover met them, immediately removing the spike from Percy's arm and working some rudimentary nature healing magic to ease the poison.

That's when Thalia showed up. She charged onto the front lines, her shield's hideous image driving away the monsters that had just landed and started slashing through them with ease, but she was only killing them as fast as they were coming, and their supply seemed endless.

Annabeth was still hanging onto Dr. Thorn's back. "Jump off!" Percy yelled, but she refused, and just kept stabbing into his back. He staggered around, toward the cliff. "Jump off!" Percy repeated. She realized only too late that she had driven the monster off the edge. Percy caught her eyes just as she fell; they were surprised and terrified, silently pleading for help.

Then he saw her plummet off the side.

Author's Note:

Hiya! Would you look at that; this Percy is apparently way better than canon Percy at sneaking around because the monster didn't detect him so goddamn easily in this one. Hey; Percy was actually somewhat competent in this mission in this version! Cool!

My own frustrations with my favorite entry in the original five books aside, I decided to go relatively close to the book for this particular stretch of the story. Now that the first two books are out of the way, expect the overall plot to get a lot darker and more...I guess cynical would be the right word. Percy won't be as naive or optimistic anymore, not that this version was overly so int he first place, but yeah...just warning you guys.

Anyway, why don't you guys let me know what you think in a review? They're always appreciated.

Oh, and fun fact for the last chapter because I forgot to mention it in the note:

That comment of Annabeth wanting to watch the competition, and Percy's subsequent debunking of that idea, comes from a scrapped idea. Originally, All of the male campers were supposed to perform, and Percy was going to sing "Long Distance Love" by Roomieofficial, and Beckendorf, in exchange for Percy helping him with Silena, was going to get Annabeth on a magical call of some kind to listen to him perform for her.

I scrapped this idea for several reasons, but the main one is that I wanted to save the phrase "I love you" for a special moment between the two ('Hey, I fucking love ya' being the start of every chorus in the song). Those three words would be a bit controversial for a couple who'd only been going out for like three months or whatever, so I ended up going with the version of the chapter that you read, and I think it turned out fine.

I might share more of these what-ifs in the future, if you guys want me to as well; there's another thing to share with me in the reviews!