Dislcaimer: I don't own anything!
Frederick's POV
Frederick Chase was a man with a story.
Most mortals went through life in pretty much the same way. They were raised by their parents, sent to school, graduated with a diploma, went to a University, college or job, found someone to spend the rest of their lives with and raised their own family, starting the cycle all over again.
Frederick was not like most mortals.
His childhood had been ordinary. His parents raised him well and encouraged his learning. From a young age his parents had known he was going to be smart, they always told him.
When he actually went to school it turned out to be true. He was smarter than the kids his age and the kids in the grade above him. He was placed in advanced classes and a special expensive school for what people called 'Gifted Children.'
He had graduated with the highest of grades.
And when he anounced to his family that he wanted to go to college it all went straight to... what was the Greek term for it? Hades. It all went straight to Hades.
His father started getting into bad habits, staying out at nights. Drinking occasionally, gambling more than that. Eventually he lost a large sum of money, around the time of Frederick's graduation.
The money had come out of his college fund. All that had been left was a couple hundred dollars.
Frederick had worked for years to earn enough money to go to Harvard University. He would get his parents to put in into an education fund, along with everything they had saved, and he had been proud to say that by the time he graduated he had enough for the first three years, if not more.
And then his dad had spent it all, lost it because of his addiction.
Frederick had never been able to forgive him. The screaming matches that had gone on in his once happy, full of laughter childhood home were frightening. His mother would cry, his father would be drunk or desperate and pathetic. Frederick had left his home not a week after finding out the truth.
He didn't keep in touch with his parents. Years later, when he was in Harvard, he learned that his father had gone to rehab and counsellors to get clean. To stop his addiction.
Athena had convinced him to send a card in the mail. But that was the only thing he ever sent them. From then on he didn't talk to them much.
After he had moved out he had stayed at a friends place for a couple of months, in the summer. Bobby, his friend, hadn't even complained about the more-often-than-not late rent. Frederick had been very grateful and he had gone out and gotten himself a job- working at a bar, of all places.
On the way to work there was a bookstore. Not a Barnes and Noble store, filled with bright, shiny new books, but an old second hand bookstore squeezed in beside a Starbucks and a teenage girls clothing store called Hot Topic. Hardly noticeable at all, hidden away as it was.
But one day, coming back from working the lunch shift at the bar, he stopped in it. Overwhelmed by the sudden need to go there.
It had been Fate. Frederick had no doubts about it now. He just hadn't known it at the time. At the time, he reflected, despite what he had thought he really hadn't known much.
The moment he had entered that small little bookshop his eyes had been drawn to her.
She had beautiful black hair, so dark it was like a crow's feather. Luscious and falling half way down her back loosely Frederick had immediately had to fight the urge to run his fingers through it. Her skin was tan, but not the fake tan he saw on most girls around here. Dark, skin deep golden brown that came only from years of enjoying sunlight. She wore white jeans and a red top that had thick straps that rested on her shoulders.
He had been drawn to her. Like a moth drawn to light. Even though he had only been able to see her from the back- which definitely wasn't a bad view- he could practically feel the confidence coming from her.
He had always been a sucker for smart girls. Athena had been no different.
Of course at the time she hadn't been Athena. She had just been a normal girl he had walked up to in a bookshop to start a conversation with.
"Excuse me," he said, tapping her shoulder.
She turned immediately and he was struck by the absolutely overwhelming greyness of her eyes. Swirling and deep they made him momentarily speechless and he closed his mouth stupidly.
"Yes?" She asked, amusement and not a hint of surprise evident on her face.
He resisted the ridiculous urge to blush. He was no stranger to girls, he had had the odd girlfriend in high school, his longest relationship lasting seven monts in his junior year, but this girl... this girl made him breathless and stupid all at once.
He wasn't used to that.
"I.." He trailed off, definitely a bit pink now. "Would you like to get some coffee with me?"
Forget books. Here was a gorgeous girl who was obviously smart and very enchanting, standing right in front of him. He could give up spending what little money he had one words.
Instead he could spend it on coffee. With her.
Truth be told he was never sure why she had agreed to coffee with him on that first day. But he remembered every detail with perfect clarity and she had definitely smiled and said yes at his suggestion.
They had gone to the Starbucks next door and he had bouth the coffee before bringing them over to where she was already sitting, waiting for him.
"So," he cleared his throat. "I guess I went about this a little backwards. I'm Frederick." He introduced himself, smiling bashfully.
Her smile was sweet and warm. "Call me Virgo."
"Virgo?" He asked her. "That's quite unusual. Does it mean anything in particular...?"
Virgo's eyes had been knowing, sparkling with intelligence and amusement. "In Latin it means maiden," she told him. "My parents are... old fashioned, you might say."
"Ahh," Frederick could understand having difficult parents. "Well, I like the name."
"Do you?"
"Yes," he nodded. "It's different. And I feel like you are too."
Moments after the words were out of his mouth he wondered if she would take that the wrong way. He had meant it as a compliment but he supposed it could easily be taken as an insult. Just as he was opening his mouth to clarify she had tilted her head to the side and studied him, eyes full of curiosity and satisfaction.
"You are different as well." She said, in the same tone he had.
He smiled at her.
And from there it was a whirlwind. He asked for her number and instead she told him to meet her once again at the bookstore the next day. She would be there most of the day, she told him, so he was just to go in whenever was possible. He did and once again they went for coffee.
It became a routine. He would work, or head to work a few hours early, and they would meet at the bookstore, always at the bookstore. Somehow he found himself opening up to her, telling her things he had never told anybody. He told her how he felt about his father's problem and how much he missed his family. How he hated his dad for taking the possibility of college away from him.
She seemed to understand how important it was for him. She lamented with him and told him it really was sad that he couldn't go to college, as she was sure he would do well. He tried to impress her with his brains anytime he could, as it was the only thing he had to impress her with, and every time she would laugh, eyes glittering, and look so beautiful it made his heart squeeze.
Eventually, almost a month after he had first met her she offered to help pay for his tuition.
"No," he said, sitting across from her stunned. "I- I couldn't take that much money. I would be going to Harvard, which costs a lot-"
"It would be no trouble." Virgo said seriously. "I'd be happy to help."
"No," Frederick shook his head after a second. "Thank you, but no. I really couldn't."
She had pursed her lips at his reply but hadn't pushed him, for which he was grateful, instead she just drank her coffee. He though that would be the end of it.
"A spot opened up for a scholarship," she said a few days later, smacking down some printed papers from the Harvard website on their table. "Apply for it."
"I..." He picked up the papers, reading it quickly. "This says to write an essay on World War II. If I get in I get a free first year, as long as I take an American History class."
Virgo smiled at him. "I think it would be good for you."
"But- But I was going to study to be a doctor," he told her.
She frowned and pursed her lips once more, a sign he was quickly coming to recognize at her being displeased. "It was just a suggestion." She said, almost coldly. "To see if you were really serious about wanting to go to Yale. I'm sure if you don't apply it won't be the end of the world. Somebody else can get the scholarship."
He felt that somehow he had personally insulted her and now he was confused. "I didn't mean that..." He protested, not sure what he did mean. "It's just..."
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I don't really know much about World War II, apart from the basics. I wouldn't know what to write."
Now she smiled. "Well, lucky for you," she said. "You have me to help. And I'm very knowledgable when it comes to history."
oooOOOooo
With Virgo's help he had gotten into Harvard. She was also a studen there- had he mentioned that?- and although they didn't share any classes she seemed to always be around to help him when he needed it. He would never ask but she would always just come to his dorm with textbooks and practice tests and they would study into the late hours of the night, sometimes skipping dinner.
He was still taken with her. He hadn't overlooked the fact that she was gorgeous, and the feelings he got when she came around didn't escape him. He wondered if it was love, what he was feeling, and then he shook his head. That was ridiculous. They were friends. Nothing more.
She helped him ace his exams and by the end of his first year of college he decided that, although he wanted his medical license, if that didn't work out he would teach American History.
She had smiled at him and for a second he had thought maybe he wasn't the only one who felt something more than friendship when they were together.
He had tried once to make a move. Only once. It hadn't ended well.
"I can't study tonight," he said as she came to his dorm once agian. It was never her dorm they went to, only his. But he didn't mind. He made sure it was always clean now, and that was a good thing, right?
"It's the night before your exams!" She had exclaimed. "You should be studying already and drinking coffee until your hands shake."
He smiled but shook his head. "No. I've studied enough the past month. If I read anymore I'll never want to even look at another book again, and believe me, neither of us wants that."
She pursed her lips. "You could fail."
"Virgo," he said with light eyes, gesturing him over to her from where he was laying on the couch in front of the TV. "It will be fine. Some things are more important than studying you know."
He had meant it as a joke but for a second when she heard his words her face looked extremely vulnerable. He wondered if she had hurt his feelings, but her eyes didn't look injured, they were full of realization.
But then she blinked and everything was back to normal.
"What are you watching then?" She asked him, moving to sit at the other end of the sofa, picking up his feet and then placing them back on her lap, resting a hand on them.
He closed his eyes at the touch and found the remote, handing it out to her, letting his head fall back as if he was about to sleep. "You pick."
When he heard sounds coming from the TV he cracked an eye open to see the movie 300 playing.
He raised an eyebrow. "Really? You like this movie?"
She grinned at him, once again with that knowing look in her eyes. "The Spartans really did have amazing battle strategy in this film. Pity it didn't happen that way in real life."
"Maybe it did," he said, closing his eyes once more and hearing Gerard Butler's voice coming from the movie. "How would we know?"
"Yes." He heard her muse. "How would we?"
Next thing he knew he was being woken up by her.
She had moved so that now she was sitting right beside him, a foot away. Her big grey eyes were watching him, swirling with emotion.
"'time is it?" He mumbled, yawning.
"Late." She whispered before clearing her throat. "It's one in the morning."
"What?" His eyes shot open. "Oh Virgo, I'm sorry. You could have left ages ago, you didn't have to stay."
She shook her head, her loose hair- like when he had first seen her- moving as she did. A fond smile played at the corner of her lips. "It's okay." She told him. "I wanted to."
Now take everything into perspective. With her words, and the way they made his stomach clench slightly, and the darkness and the way they were staring into each other's eyes... well you couldn't really blame him for what he did next, could you?
He hadn't had a girlfriend since meeting Virgo. He wasn't sure why, it hadn't been a conscious desicion, all he knew was that he had been focused on studying and school and spending time with her. His friend.
But right there, in his dark dorm that she was definitely not supposed to be in right now, he reached out and cupped her cheek.
He barely saw her eyes widen in suprise- the first time he had seen her caught off guard- before he slowly leaned forward and pressed their lips together.
He felt her tense and then relax, and opened his mouth slightly, moving it naturally, feeling how soft her lips were, and how it seemed like he was the first to ever kiss them.
But then, when he whispered 'Virgo,' against her lips, she tensed once more and immediately wrenched herself away from him, moving backwards until she was standing straight several feet away from him.
He was left sitting there stunned.
"I-," he stuttered. "What's wrong?"
He heard her swallow, even from where he sat, and he wondered why, suddenly, he couldn't see her face.
She was hidden in shadow.
"I'm sorry, Frederick, if I gave you the wrong impression." She said eventually, and he winced at the formal way she said his name. Acting like they hadn't known one another for almost a year. "But I... don't feel that way about you. I wish for us only to be friends."
"Ah." He said, awkwardly. "Of course. I... apologize. I can assure you it won't happen again."
So formal, so detached. He hated it.
"I should go," she said quietly, moving to pick up the books from the table. "Good luck on your exams tomorrow. I'll come by sometime to celebrate."
All he could do was nod dumbly in the darkness, watching as she opened the door and slipped out of his home as if she had never even been there to begin with.
oooOOOooo
The next day he had come home from his exams, exhausted and bone tired. He had flopped down on his bed, limbs splayed, and fallen straight to sleep.
Knocking was what woke him and he stumbled bleary eyed to the door to answer it, checking the time as he went.
8:00 pm. He knew who was on the other side of the door. She had given up knocking ages ago but apparently they were back to their old ways, how they had acted in the days they barely knew each other.
"Hey." He greeted as soon as he opened the door.
Virgo's eyes raked over him, taking in his appearance. "How did it go?" She asked.
It was always school talk with her. As if she was scared to speak of anything else, of anything personal.
He hadn't minded before, but now he resisted the urge to grit his teeth.
"Fine." He replied. At her raised eyebrow he sighed and some of his anger melted. "Good. I think I did well."
She smiled. "Good," she said, moving past him now to enter his dorm. "Have you eaten? I figured we could eat out to celebrate."
And that was that. She ignored the kiss so he did too.
That was that.
oooOOOooo
He got through Harvard, all the while with Virgo's help. They were friends, nothing more, and as far as Frederick knew she never had a single boyfriend.
He didn't date any girls either. Some nights, when he was feeling particularly lonely, he would go to the closest bar and have a few drinks before taking a girl back to his place, but it was always a one time thing. He didn't want any new relationships.
A few years into Harvard he heard that his father was getting clean. It was Virgo who convinced him to send a card proclaiming his well wishes and congragulations.
The letter he was sent in return was thrown into the garbage unopened.
When he graduated it was Virgo's proud and smiling face that greeted his eyes. Their eyes had locked and he had sworn the emotions he saw reflected in hers were deeper than that of a friend.
But after their kiss she had made very obvious signs of keeping certain distance between them. He had never tried to breach that unspoke line, having learned his lesson the first time, but he wanted to. And he was sure that she knew that.
She seemed to be distancing herself from him almost to protect herself, but he didn't completely understand that. He was the one in love with her; she was the one who had made it very clear that all they would ever be was friends. Why would she have to protect herself?
They had gone out to the nearest pub to drink after he was handed his credentials. He had become quite familiar with the place and ordered a scotch on the rocks, for celebrations sake.
He saw a couple of the guys he had made friends with and had congragulated them, accepting their congragulations in turn, but eventually had made his way back to Virgo. Things between them weren't awkward anymore, it had been more than several years since their only kiss and it was far from Frederick's mind that night.
She thanked him for getting her drink- a glass of water, nothing stronger- and played with the full cup between her hands. Turning it on the table.
He smiled at her. "I did it."
She looked up and met his eyes. "You did."
"Thanks to you."
"You're the one who passed the exams."
"You're the reason I got here in the first place," he told her sincerely. "And you're the one who helped me study, day and night. So thank you."
Was that a blush that had appeared on her cheeks? Impossible. Virgo never blushed.
"It was fun," she told him. "I... am glad our friendship lasted as long as it did."
"Was?" He asked her, not missing the past tense. "As long as it did? What are you talking about?"
She pursed her lips, looking down at her cup of water again. "I... need to leave. For good. I won't be able to see you anymore."
"What? Why?" He asked her, reaching out to stop her hands, making her meet his eyes steadily. "Are you moving?"
She bit her lower lip before straightening her shoulders. "It's a family issue." She said. "I should have known better... spending as much time as you as I did."
She wasn't making any sense but she didn't seem to notice or care. Frederick gripped her hand tighter. "Virgo." He said. "What are you talking about? I can never see you again, is that what you're saying?"
She shook her head. "No." She objected. "I'm saying I have to leave. Now. As soon as possible. Tonight will be the last time we see one another for a while."
He shook his head. "I don't understand."
Her eyes softened and this time it was her who reached to grasp his hand. "I know." She said. "I'm sorry for that. Believe me. But my father-"
"Who cares what your father thinks?" He snapped at her, hearing thunder from a sudden storm rumble, even above the loudness of the pub. Virgo looked up at the sky with worry in her eyes but he didn't think anything of it. "You're a grown up now, he can't tell you what to do."
Slowly she pulled her hand away. "I'm sorry Frederick. Please don't be mad at me."
He stared at her, into her eyes, and saw that she meant every word she said. He breathed out.
"I'm not mad at you." He finally said. "I just wish... this wasn't happening."
Whatever this was.
"Let's just have fun tonight," Virgo said. "It will be special. Let's make tonight count."
And they did.
For the first time in his life Frederick got completely trashed. They went from bar to bar, place to place, and he distinctly remembered them dancing on a dancefloor surrounded by other bodies at one point in time. She was lithe and graceful and for a second she glowed with beauty, like a goddess.
He didn't say it because it would have made her uncomfortable, but he definitely thought it.
And when he woke up at 1:22 pm the next day he was once again sprawled out on his bed alone.
He thought that was it. She was gone. Possibly forever.
And he didn't even know why.
But he moved on. He wasn't angry, or regretful, just sad. He missed her. A clean break, he thought, might have been just what he needed.
So, imagine his suprise, when a month or so later after just buying a new house he found a baby girl in a golden cradle sleeping on his doorstep.
Needless to say that eventually he called in sick to work that day.
He hadn't picked up the paper, instead staring at the baby like it had just come from outer space. For all he had known it could have.
Seconds later, as if sensing his presence, the baby- who he was pretty sure was a girl- opened her eyes and gurgled happily, smiling with no teeth.
Those eyes.
He could still remember what it had felt like, seeing them. Like a punch to the gut, making him stumble back a step. To make sure he wasn't imagining things he looked down at the baby girl again.
There they were, swirling grey orbs that were already alight with intelligence. Just like her mothers.
He had only seen one pair of eyes like those.
Virgo.
"Hello, Frederick."
She appeared out of nowhere and he barely had time to get himself under control. He looked at her, looking the same as ever, as breathtaking as ever, and suddenly he cursed her 1,000 times in his head.
"What is this."
It was a question but he didn't say it as one and she pressed her lips together once again, an old habit, an old gesture.
"Our daughter. I call her Anna, but you can choose a different name if you prefer-"
"Virgo." He spoke with anger, with resentment and bewilderment and confusion. "What is this? What's going on?"
She sighed. "This is our daughter, Frederick."
"Impossible. I never- We never..." He trailed off, staring at the smiling babe in shock.
"I know." Her voice was kind and gentle, understanding. Like he remembered. "It's very complicated."
"Explain." He told her.
Her eyes flashed but she held her temper in check. "My name is not Virgo." She finally said, glancing around to see that the street was deserted. "Perhaps if we discuss this inside...?"
He stepped out of the way mutely.
She walked inside without needing to be directed and, after hesitating, Frederick picked up the cradle and brought it with him into the living room to where she was already sitting.
He sat across from her, placing the cradle between them.
"Frederick I am Pallas Athena of Ancient Greece, Goddess of Wisdom, Battle Strategy and more." Her eyes bored into him. "And I fell in love with you."
He was too scared to even laugh in disbelief. "What... are you talking about?"
She cleared her throat. "The Greek myths you know- we are not myths. The Olympians are real. Zeus, Hades, Apollo... they are all real." She looked towards the baby girl. "I am real."
"Is this supposed to be some sort of joke?" He asked her finally, not understanding what was funny about this at all.
Because if it wasn't a joke it meant Virgo had gone completely crazy. And if that wasn't it, it meant- it meant-
"Virgo," he said in realization. "Maiden in Latin. Athena. One of the virgin goddess's."
"Yes." She nodded. "I am she."
"No," he shook his head. "No, that's not possible-"
"It is." Vir- Athena looked at him resolutely. "I am one of the twelve Olympians, a goddess of Ancient Times. And we have a daughter."
"A daughter," he repeated dumbly. "How?"
"She was born the same way I was," Athena said slowly. "You know the story."
Yes he had heard the story about Athena splitting King Zeus's head open, emerging fully formed in battle armor... Oh God.
No. Not God. Gods.
He felt sick. Like he was about to pass out.
"Your father," he said. "The one who made you leave..."
Her face hardened. "Yes." She said. "We immortals are forbidden to spend too long among mortals. Did you never wonder why I never invited you to my dorm in college? It was because I did not have one. I was not a student at Harvard, I went there because you were there. You caught my eye since you graduated high school. I loved how smart you were, and how funny and charming."
"What are you saying?"
"You know what I'm saying."
They sat in silence before he swallowed. "What do I do with her?"
"She is our daughter." Athena said, smiling fondly down at the cradle. "You raise her and eventually you send her to Camp Half-Blood on Long Island Sound. I put the number for it somewhere in her cradle, probably beneath her blanket-"
"Take her back."
Athena froze. "No."
"I don't- I can't raise a child. You know what happened with my parents, I'll probably be just as bad, or worse! Take her back to- to Greece, or Athens or Olympus, wherever it is you came from." Frederick lifted his eyes from the baby to the mother. "I don't want her here."
Athena stood up, eyes suddenly cold. "Demigod children must be raised by their mortal parent." She said. "It is the way of things. You will have to protect her from monster attacks and keep her safe from any enemies. You must raise her to the best of your abilities." Her eyes softened a fraction. "Frederick, I know you can do this. I would not have made her if I didn't."
"Take her away." He pleaded. "Please. I'll ruin her somehow. I'll hurt her."
"I will not."
"Then leave." He told her. "Get out of this house, get away from me. What good have you done? What has my friendship with you brought me? A child I don't know how to care for and the realization that I'm either going crazy or the rest of the world already is."
"I will forgive you for your words because of the shock you are going through," Athena said. "And because I care for you, and our daughter. But heed my words, Frederick, for they are not spoken lightly. Raise our daughter well, keep her safe, and send her to camp when she is ready."
"Please," he plaeded, eyes stinging. "Please, don't..."
But she left and there he was, standing in his living room, alone with his daughter.
ooooOOOooo
Years later he was no longer alone, but Annabeth was gone.
She was only seven years old. Seven years old and she had run away from home.
His fault, he knew it was. He should have made more of an effort to talk to her. To spend time with her.
But every time he looked at her he saw Athena's eyes staring back at him and he didn't know how to cope with that.
He had managed to take care of Annabeth- no longer Anna- for a few years before meeting Karen. An asian woman who was a new nurse in the hospital he worked at, he had been struck by her beauty like he hadn't been struck since Athena. She was gorgeous and smart and kind, full of laughter, and eventually he fell in love with her and they were married.
They had two sons, Bobby and Michael. Frederick had thought they were happy.
He had explained to Karen about the Athena/Annabeth situation and she had not called him crazy. But she had looked at Annabeth differently after that, and he wondered if she was insecure, worrying that she could never be better than Athena.
It was a silly worry, one that was completely untrue. He didn't want Athena anymore. He just wanted them all to be happy.
But Karen treated Annabeth differently because of the knowledge of her parentage. And sometimes late at night, after a certain dangerous monster attack or strange occurence he and Karen would fight, yelling late into the morning about the danger, the risk, and with him asking her what she proposed he do. Annabeth was his daughter, he couldn't throw her out on the streets.
No, he couldn't do that to her. But apparently Annabeth was capable of doing it on her own.
He woke up one day and couldn't find her anywhere.
She was only seven years old.
He did everything he could but deep down he knew he would never be able to find her. She had her mother's brain and his street smarts- she knew how to stay under the radar. He still called the police, posted posters of her face and even went so far as to try the old milk carton trick but it never worked. No one had a clue where she could be.
Finally, exactly one week after she had left, Frederick called Chiron and first asked him if she was there. When the centaur had said no Frederick hand had shook holding the phone as he choked out a strangled, "Well when she gets there can you take care of her for me? Please? Keep a careful eye on her."
The camp activities director had paused, hesitating, and then said yes.
Frederick had hung up after that.
He had no doubts Annabeth would make it. She was resourceful. She had to make it.
Because if she didn't- if she didn't...
But she did.
Chiron called him the same night that Annabeth and a boy named Luke stumbled over the camp boundary, along with a satyr named Grover.
"She's injured, and exhausted, but she'll be alright in a few days." Chiron had told him. "Would you like to speak with her?"
Frederick paused.
"No," he said, squeezing his eyes shut. "Thank you."
Once again he hung up.
Months later he sent her a letter. He apologized for everything and practically begged her to come back, to come home.
She had replied less than a week later, surprising him by agreeing.
Maybe she didn't hate him, he had thought with a small amount of hope. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding...
But she hadn't even made it past Winter Break when she told him she was phoning camp, her real home, and getting out of there.
He watched her go from the doorway, feeling like it was Athena leaving him all over again.
He sent her unanswered letters. He tried calling. Sometimes she would answer the phone. Once in a while she would even write.
But his little girl was growing up without him. He wasn't there to help her, he wasn't there to see it and he definitely wasn't wanted.
Eventually he sent her his Harvard ring, hoping it would mean something to her. Maybe she would remember how much it meant to him...
He never heard a word.
So, imagine his suprise, when in the year she turned 12, right before the end of summer, he got a letter in the mail from her asking if it was maybe alright if she came home.
After that things were better.
Karen wasn't so openly rude to her. To the best of Bobby and Michael's knowledge Annabeth was their big sister, so there was no worries there. In fact, things were better than they had ever been.
It was him that was the problem.
Even now, after he had been heartbroken by her leaving, he found it hard to talk to her and open up. He had opened up to two women in his life, and one of them had walked out on him never to be seen again. Sure she had been a goddess, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
So things were strained and tense. On the outside they were fine, but inside he could feel Annabeth's patience with him growing thin.
But they tried.
Then his sponsor for his history papers moved, and he got the job offer in San Francisco and... once again, things got complicated. Karen had told him to take the job as an American History teacher. "You'll have more free time to spend at home," she had said. "To be with your family."
"There's more monstors in San Francisco." Annabeth had said flatly when he mentioned the job. "I would probably have to stay at camp all year."
So there had been that problem.
That year, the winter after the summer Annabeth's old-never-mentioned-before-friend Thalia was unturned from being a pine tree, Frederick Chase met Percy Jackson.
And here's where we get to the real point of this story.
Percy Jackson.
Annabeth had talked Frederick's ears off for almost 2 years about him before he finally got to meet the guy. Of course the circumstances under which they had met weren't the best- Annabeth was kidnapped, as was the Moon Goddess Artemis and the titan Kronos was rising once again, etc- but he had to admit he had found nothing wrong with the boy.
He had come with Thalia Grace, another one of Annabeth's friends, admittedly one he had heard less about, but still, and a Hunter of Artemis who had been there during World War 1 and had seen the Sopwith Camel planes fly and-
He was getting off topic.
Percy Jackson. Right. Karen had apparently been closer to Annabeth and had been having more conversations with her than Frederick had thought because she seemed to know all about the boy. His quests, his parentage... how Annabeth really felt about him.
Frederick had thought they were just friends, best friends, like Annabeth had said. After his visit... not so much.
Percy had gone on this quest for the sole purpose of finding Frederick's daughter, he could see that right away. The look in his eyes... this wasn't about Artemis for him, not really. To Percy that quest had been about rescuing Annabeth and making sure she was okay.
Frederick had no problem with handing over the keys to his car and letting the demigods go to save his daughter. The look in Percy's eyes had told him that they would do everything they could to succeed, or the son of Poseidon would die trying.
Percy had seemed a little slow, sure, but nice. And loyal. And he definitely cared about Annabeth.
And for Frederick that was good enough.
The next summer Annabeth had come home raging about a mortal girl named Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Percy. Frederick heard her muttering about them both to herself incessantly and with a great deal of annoyance.
As far as he could gather Percy hadn't actually done anything. It was the other girl that was the problem.
He talked to her about it, a little, and it seemed like he changed her mind from stabbing the poor boy in the neck to asking him about the girl and seeing what Percy actually thought of her. Frederick wasn't the best with relationships but he knew what boys were like- sometimes they didn't pick up on certain things. Like when 2 girls were fighting over them.
That next summer was the summer of the battle of Manhatten.
It was such a short battle when you thought about it, as it lasted less than a week, but Frederick had seen Annabeth when she came home.
It may have been a short battle but it had not been without casualties.
Despite the sadness the battle created, there was also a bright side.
"Hey, Dad?" Annabeth had said one night while she sat on the couch reading, looking up suddenly.
He had looked up from the World War II documentary he had been watching along with Karen, each of them looking at Annabeth with interest. "Hmm?"
"I'm dating Percy now," Annabeth said, looking back down to continue reading her book. "I just thought you'd like to know."
Frederick's eyes had widened and Karen had reached over to squeeze the top of his arm. "Oh, Annabeth, that's wonderful," she had said, a knowing look in her eyes. "We're so happy for you!"
His little girl.
With a boy.
Kissing him.
He had met the said boy.
And liked him.
Was that against the unspoken rules of fathers? Maybe. Now that Annabeth was actually dating Percy it made Frederick Chase view him completely differently.
He would have to have a long talk with the boy. About guns. And his plane which could shoot 100 bullets in a minute. About how to treat a lady, especially Annabeth. And what would happen to him if Frederick ever saw the boy break her heart.
But, honestly, he wasn't too worried. He smiled at Annabeth, who was watching him carefully. "That's great," he told her honestly. "You two will be very good together."
And that was that. Annabeth looked back down at her book to continue reading like nothing had happened.
But when her father had looked over at her a few seconds later he saw she was smiling softly to herself.
oooOOOooo
Months later she wasn't smiling.
Well, he amended, she had been when she left for camp that winter break. He remembered her, so eager to get to Camp Half-Blood because Percy would be there and it would be their first time seeing each other in person since camp had ended that summer. So excited she had been, it hurt Frederick to imagine what she must be like now.
He had barely gotten a kiss on the cheek and a quick "Bye, Dad!" before she jumped out of their car to meet the boy standing on top of Half-Blood Hill.
She had looked back and waved when she got to the top, he remembered, a smile so bright on her face he remembered thinking it must have hurt.
He had never seen her look so happy.
And then he got the phone call the next day.
She was absolutely sobbing.
He had never heard Annabeth sob like that since she was a little 4 year old girl who had seen her first spider. Heart-wrenching, guttural sobs full of so many different emotions he couldn't hear them all clearly. Sadness, confusion, heart break, anger, and pain were just a few.
"Annabeth! What is it, what's wrong?" He had been frantic with worry. He was already half reaching for his car keys, ready to drive out there to pick her up.
"It's Percy." Her voice had been so quiet and hoarse, full of pain, cracking from the weight of the words. A chill had gone up his spine and his gut had tightened.
Either Percy had just done what Frederick had warned him not to do and broken Annabeth's heart or he had been badly injured- possibly dead.
Which one was worse?
"What about him?" He had asked in a measured tone.
"He- he's gone!" Annabeth had said after breathing out over the phone shakily. "I don't know- none of us can find him- left his cabin in the middle of the night-."
"Woah, woah, what are you talking about?" Frederick had asked, feeling his gut unclench a little. So the boy hadn't dumped or cheated on his daughter.
"He's missing." Annabeth said. "He's not at camp, he's not at Sally's," (the boys mother, Frederick remembered,) "and we can't think of anywhere else he might be. Chiron's sent out search parties, people have been looking all day and they still haven't found him..."
"Is it- is it something to do with the gods?" Athena, perhaps? Frederick knew the goddess wasn't exactly supportive of their daughter's relationship.
"No." Annabeth said. "At least... I don't think so. We tried to send messages to them, Chiron tried to get in touch, but nobody's responded. Mr. D was asked to go back to Olympus this morning as well, actually."
"That can't be a coincidence." Frederick had said.
"It is strange," Annabeth agreed, still sounding hollow. "If we still haven't heard anything tomorrow Chiron gave me permission to head into New York to try and get an audience with Zeus. But I don't know." She paused, taking another deep breath. "Dad." She said. "I have a really bad feeling."
"He's fine, Annabeth," Frederick spoke, perhaps a bit too harshly. He made sure to soften his tone. "He'll be okay." He promised. "This is all some big misunderstanding, maybe his father had an errand for him to run or something along those lines. The gods do that, don't they? He'll be back with you before you know it."
"Yeah," Annabeth said, sounding like she didn't believe that at all. "Yes, you're right."
"So don't worry," Frederick said even though he knew it was pointless, Annabeth would worry incessantly. "Do you want to wait until break's over, or do you want picked up now?" He asked, trying to change the subject.
"No," Annabeth said right away. "No, I can't just leave. I have to stay here. Until Percy comes back, I'll stay at camp."
"Wha- Annabeth, think about it, that could take-."
"He'll be back soon," Annabeth said resolutely. "Right? So I won't need to wait a long time. In fact, he'll probably be back before break's over anyway."
She sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as him.
"Right," Frederick relented after a long pause, knowing it was what she needed to hear. "He'll be back before you know it. So, just... call me when you're ready to come home, okay?"
"Okay." She had agreed. "Th- thanks Dad."
He understood. "No problem honey," he said quietly. "Keep me posted."
He had heard from her almost a week later, saying that she wouldn't be able to come back home and finish the school year, instead she would be working on a project with the Hephaestus cabin.
They knew where Percy was, she had told him. In a camp full of Roman demigods.
Needless to say that phone call had lasted about an hour.
But eventually he got the facts straight and, albeit with some apprehension, he once again told Annabeth to call him when she could. She called him every two weeks, or around that, and he heard the weariness in her voice. She was steadily losing hope and he wondered once more how his daughter could be so strong. Finally she called him and told him she was going on a quest with some new friends in a flying ship to a camp called Camp Jupiter to find her missing and possibly amnesiac boyfriend.
Just another day in the life of a demigod.
And again Frederick had acted happy, excited even. He told her good luck, and tried to say all the hopeful things he could think of. He encouraged her, saying that it would only be a couple of days at the most until she saw Percy again.
All the while he had been silently praying to the gods and Fates both not to let his daughter die. He wasn't sure he would be able to handle that.
It had been a day later that Frederick had gotten the dream.
At first he had been confused. Very, very confused. Who were all of these people aroudnd him? And where was he in the first place?
He understood when he saw the togas.
From what Annabeth had told him demigods sometimes got dreams like this, predictions, insights into important events or even dreams of the past. But he had never had one himself.
Somehow he knew it was a gift from Athena.
He made sure not to dwell on that for too long. Instead he turned his attention back to the people in front of him.
He tried to speak but when he did nobody paid him any attention so he soon realized they couldn't hear him. When he waved a hand in front of a dopey looking kid's face- why was his mouth stained red? Was that from some sort of alcoholic drink?- he also found that they couldn't see him.
He was here to watch and listen, nothing more. So that was what he did.
Slowly he weaved through the crowd, pushing his way to the front. Was this something currently happening? No, it couldn't have been, or else it would have been dark out. A taste of the future? Or a hint at the past?
He didn't know. He figured Annabeth would be able to shed some light on the subject but he would have to wait until she phoned him. He had been warned multiple times to never call her since neither of them knew what type of situation she might be in at the time.
It was difficult but necessary.
As Frederick took in more of his surroundings he made his way to the front of what was a very packed together crowd. When he got there he saw togas and that was when he knew he was at Camp Jupiter.
Where Percy was.
Where Annabeth was coming to find him.
Frederick looked up to the sky so fast his neck hurt, but he didn't care. There, in the distance, quickly getting bigger and bigger until it was recognizable, was the huge warship Annabeth had talked about. The Argo II.
Annabeth was on that ship.
Frederick looked back at eye level, searching the crowds for Percy's face, but he couldn't find him. Strange.
A sick feeling washed into his stomach as a possibility occured to him. Annabeth had said Jason was pretty sure that Percy was here. They didn't know. Maybe- there was a chance...
Was Percy really here?
The more he looked around the more Frederick's stomach tightened unpleasantly. He couldn't see the son of Poseidon anywhere. Then again, he wasn't searching the entire camp so there was still a chance...
As he had been looking he hadn't noticed the huge ship stop where it was and hover in the air just beside where everyone was gathered on the ground. However, he did notice when a rope ladder fell from it's side.
And he definitely noticed Annabeth when she jumped off of it, quickly followed by a blonde boy, a charming young lady and a latino elf look alike.
The blonde boy must have been Jason Grace, the Roman demigod that had been Percy's... counterpart, you might say, in the role reversal. Holding his hand was Piper... McLean, wasn't it? Daughter of the male model? Or was the father a movie star? Frederick couldn't remember, he didn't keep up with celebrities. And there, beside the couple was Leo Valdez, the son of Hephaestus who had so dutifully been helping Annabeth build the monster ship above them all.
Apparently each of them were good friends, or so he had been told. Annabeth had especially talked fondly of Leo and Piper.
A girl on the opposite side of the quartet pushed her way to the front of the crowd. She had dark brown hair in a side braid, brown eyes and tan skin. She radiated confidence and power and wore a toga like a few of the other campers, along with a purple cloak pinned to her shoulders with golden medallions.
Someone of power here, obviously. Frederick knew a little about Ancient Rome and it's customs but he knew the purple cloak was some sort of show of leadership. And the way the rest of the demigods parted around her like a sea, well... you'd have to be blind not to notice she was someone respected.
Speaking of the demigods... there must have been at least 300, maybe 3 times the amount Camp Half-Blood had. Frederick had never seen so many godlings in one place before.
His eyes, naturally, drifted back to take in his daughter.
She had been worse than he expected.
If you didn't know her he supposed it might not be easy to see, but he noticed the changes in her appearance right away. Usually Frederick sent her to Camp and she came back more tan, muscular and maybe a little taller as well.
That wasn't the case this time.
She was tired, anybody could have seen that. There were bags under her eyes, and although right now her eyes were alight with hope and anticipation as she looked around the crowd, behind it he could see exhaustion, clear as day. She wasn't standing up straight like usual, which meant she was definitely tired. Maybe her muscles ached from working or training. She had been trying to keep herself busy with Percy being gone, Frederick knew that. She was practically running herself into the ground, exhausting herself so much when she was awake that it would take her less than a few seconds to fall asleep.
She didn't want to dream, he knew. Just in case the dreams showed her something she couldn't unsee.
He was worried about it all. The way she acted when she was worried about Percy. It wasn't a normal thing to do, was it? Run yourself into the ground, becoming almost a zombie in your loved one's absence? Was that normal? Sane?
It definitely wasn't healthy.
But Frederick didn't know what to do to stop it. And, hypocrite that he was, he knew there was a very high possibility that if the same thing happened to Karen that had happened to Percy, he wouldn't fare much better than his daughter.
Yet seeing his daughter like this concerned him. He couldn't forbid her to see Percy because, a) it would cause unnecessary pain for everybody, and b) Annabeth may never forgive him and come home again. But the way she relied on him was so different than her usual self. It made him wonder.
He knew his daughter was strong, stronger than most. Even when she was confused and heartbroken like she had been this past year she had still kept her camp's respect. He could see it in Jason, Piper and Leo's body language towards her.
He was watching her closely, so it only made sense that when her eyes shot to look at somebody his gaze followed.
A breath of relief left him. Thanks the gods, it was Percy. He could only imagine what his daughter must be feeling.
This was good. For everybody. He had been worried about the boy as well, mostly for Annabeth's sake, but still. Percy was a big part of most of Camp Half-Blood's campers lives. An even bigger part of Annabeth's, and, by association, Frederick's. It wasn't like he hated the boy, he had beem concerned too.
Percy was also wearing a toga- which look ridiculous on the poor boy- and a purple cloak.
He could have predicted that. Percy was a natural leader, there was no doubt. It wasn't surprising that Camp Jupiter had also seen how fit he was to have the role of a leader.
Frederick wondered what it had been like for him, being surrounded by people who he thought was his enemies. Being the one lone Greek in a camp full of Romans. Scary? Uncomfortable? Or maybe he had fit in easily.
He would have to learn it all from Annabeth later.
Percy looked taller and more fit than the last time Frederick had caught a quick glimpse of him. Leaner, maybe. He wasn't sure.
The boy looked more grown up anyway. Frederick was sure Annabeth would like that, and then immediately regretted thinking the thought. That was one road he did not want to explore at this moment.
Or ever, for that matter.
Speaking of Annabeth...
When Frederick glanced at her he saw she was staring at Percy, eyes roving up and down and back again to take the boy in. It was like her father could see her mentally restraining herself from running to him right that second and causing a scene.
The girl beside Percy, the one in the purple cloak and toga, spoke up, breaking the deafening silence. "Jason Grace, my former colleague." The girl's eyes looked at the blonde boy- Frederick had been right, it was Jason. "I welcome you home. And these, your friends-"
Both their restraints broke. At the same moment, which was interesting. Frederick didn't know whether to feel excited, happy for the couple, or embarassed because that was his daughter running towards her boyfriend in front of hundreds of people. Maybe he should look away, to preserve some sense of modesty. There were certain things he didn't need to see or know about Annabeth's life after all.
But this moment was special, important. Besides, they were in front of a lot of other people. Really, even though they hadn't seen each other for a while, what was the worst they could do? He had seen them kiss before after all.
And he saw it again.
They collided, powerfully, and hugged, gripping one another like they were each other's lifelines. Then they kissed and Frederick stared resolutely at Annabeth's feet until he was sure enough time had passed that was appropriate.
When he looked up Percy was staring at his daughter with a face full of wonder, as if he couldn't believe she was real. Annabeth was looking at him in almost the same way.
"Gods, I never thought-."
Frederick let out a startled laugh as Annabeth grabbed Percy's hand and judo-flipped him right over her shoulder, cutting him off mid-speech to slam him on his back to the ground. That was his Annabeth, the one he remembered from months ago. Not the hopeless, almost broken girl he had just seen minutes ago.
Percy apparently felt something along the same lines.
"Hold, stand down!" Percy's colleague in the purple cloak had shouted, halting the Romans who had taken steps forward at Annabeth's display of violence. Neither Percy or Annabeth spared them a glance.
Annabeth leaned over him to hiss in his ear. "If you ever leave me again, I swear to all gods..."
Frederick wasn't the only one laughing. Percy started and once he started it seemed like he couldn't stop.
You had to know her, Frederick thought, to realize that she would never cause Percy any real harm.
When he stopped laughing Annabeth had relaxed, a sparkle brightening her eyes that hadn't been there moments ago. "Consider me warned," Percy told her. "I missed you too."
Frederick smiled. That was why he approved of their relationship.
And then he woke up, sunlight streaming through his bedroom window.
Karen groaned beside him, stretching. "What's wrong, dear? Bad dream?"
Frederick rolled over to look at her, meeting her sleepy eyes with a smile. "No," he answered her contentedly. "No, in fact it was quite the opposite."
oooOOOooo
IMPORTANT!: This is the second to last chapter of this story. The next chapter will be Percy's and then this story will be finished! I'm going to try my hardest to make sure it gets done before BOO is released. Think I can make it?
I hope you liked this chapter, it took several days for me to write it. I know it's long and there's not as much Percabeth, but I feel like it's still sort of interesting (at least a little), no?
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