December V
Both Nico and Will wore a look of horror on their faces. Annabeth looked between them desperately, wondering who would be the first to snap it of it and do something. She was going into labour and they were staring at her like idiots.
The baby was coming. Now. Early. Very early. What the hell was she going to do?
"What are you even doing here?" Nico demanded, breaking the silence first. "I thought I left you at Camp?"
"Yeah, standing in the middle of the Big House in my pyjamas with no explanation of what the fuck was happening," Annabeth growled. "Which, thanks, by the way. I took the Camp strawberry delivery van and I'm pretty sure I blew through a red light coming here, so if I get a ticket I am sending it to you, Nico."
Nico massaged the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb. "What, and Chiron just let you? That old horse is getting seriously slow. He needs to get out of the wheelchair every now and then."
"Chiron didn't want me to go," Annabeth said. "But he was distracted by a hoard of monsters on the boundaries. I don't think he saw me leave. Now, tell me, what the hell is going on? And if you lie to me, so help me–"
"The prophecy is starting," a Will said. "Which is why you really, really would have been better off at Camp."
Annabeth blinked. The anger disappeared, deflating her like a worn balloon. "Oh," she said.
"Yeah. Big fucking problem," Nico said, shaking his head. "You know Percy is heading there now with every demigod he can find to keep you safe, right? So you've got a bunch of monsters on your tail and all you've got to defend you are some pyjamas, an archer without a bow and someone with a needle and thread sticking out of him. Why didn't you just accept that I was doing the right thing?"
"The eclipse, of course…" Annabeth briefly closed her eyes, the weight of the situation crushing her. Then her eyes snapped open. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded. "I think I deserve to have been told?"
"You're on a no stress bed rest kick!" Nico snapped back. "And Rachel's apartment was oozing with monsters. Something tells me that's not a zen environment."
"We're not getting anywhere sniping at each other," Will said, stepping in between them. "Annabeth, go and get yourself freshened up. Nico, sit down. I need to tie off these stitches."
Annabeth's mouth vanished to a thin line and she glared at Nico but did as Will suggested, heading for the bathroom.
"How could she be so dumb?" Nico said, throwing himself down on the couch and hissing as it tugged at his stitches.
"She's right. After everything, she deserved to know," Will said, turning his attention back to Nico's stomach. "Would it have killed you to have said something to her before you dropped her off?"
"There wasn't time," Nico muttered. "As soon as she was safe I headed back to you."
"Sometimes other people should be higher up your list," Will suggested gently, but he didn't push it in case it reignited the argument from earlier.
Nico grunted, although Will wasn't sure if it was in agreement or disagreement. Again he let it fly, picking up the needle and continuing with his stitches.
"Okay, so her waters have just broken. What are we going to do?"
Nico shrugged. "Make a grateful sacrifice to the god of Scotchgarding?"
Will looked up, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.
"What?" Nico demanded. "Are you telling me the rug isn't Scotchgarded?"
Will smacked Nico upside the head. "Two minutes. It happened two minutes ago. I mean, is that not the very definition of too soon? And who cares about the rug? The baby is coming. The world is ending. Don't you think that's an issue?"
"I like that rug. It's the only good thing that came out of the first and last time I let you drag me to IKEA."
Will rolled his eyes. "You are unbelievable," he said as he tied off the stitches. "There. All done. I guess it's pointless asking you to go easy with them so they don't burst?"
"There is nothing I would like more than to take it easy," Nico said. "And yet..."
"Right," Will said grimly, taking off his gloves. "We need to get Percy back here with everyone else. We can't risk moving Annabeth again with shadow travel now she's in labour. Who knows what would happen. She needs to get to a hospital. She's gone into premature labour. We're just going to have to defend her there."
"Because hospitals are notoriously impenetrable fortresses," Nico muttered. "Ones that no one ever just walks into."
"If you've got a better plan I am all ears," Will said, banging closed the first aid chest. "But I checked my phone earlier and I have zero service. I'm guessing that's something to do with Tartarus. So someone is going to have to go after Percy themselves."
Nico hissed and pulled his own phone out of his pocket, resisting the urge to throw it across the room when it displayed no bars. He cracked enough screens as it was. "Great," he said. "Just great."
By the time Annabeth came out of the bathroom, Will had gone and Nico was standing by the window. His sword was drawn and he was peaking through the blinds. He'd put on another one of his never ending supply of black shirts.
"There are monsters gathering outside," he said. "We need to move now." He glanced back at Annabeth. "Why have you changed into Will's sweatpants?"
"Because I couldn't fit into any of your clothes because you are not a normal sized human being and I have a normal sized human being inside of me!" Annabeth bit out, jabbing both of her index fingers towards her swollen stomach.
"Well. Not for much longer."
"You better get me to a hospital fast for your sake as well as mine because you are going to need more medical attention than me in about three seconds when I jam my foot up your ass. Where's Will?"
"He went to find Percy."
Annabeth stormed across the room and grabbed a fistful off Nico's t-shirt. With her teeth gritted so hard it was making her jaw scream in protest and almost entirely trapping the words in her mouth, she ground out, "You sent the non-shadow travelling medic away to find my husband when I'm just about to give birth?"
Nico reached up to try and loosen her fingers; they were gripping like vices. He gulped, the anger radiating from her in palpable waves, rendering her almost a mirror image of her mother. "Look, Will and I both agreed that given the current situation if there are more monster attacks while you're giving birth I'm better able to protect you than he is until Percy gets here."
Annabeth mulled that over for a while; her fingers gradually relaxed on Nico's shirt. He staggered away from her, rubbing at his neck when the collar of his shirt had bit into him.
"If you're done trying to kill me I need to save your life," Nico said. He paused. "Wait, is this irony? I'm never sure."
"How the hell are we meant to get to the hospital when there's monsters camped out on the doorstep?"
"We're going down to the parking garage," Nico said. "Someone's going to lend us their car."
