Man its too bad that 'Hidden' by lililibird was taken taken down. Thank you all for telling me I appreciate it. Anyways, here's the next chapter. I've really been trying to make them longer to pack more in per chapter, so that's why it takes a bit longer to get a chapter out. Enjoy.


Chapter 45: The Beginning of the End


The door was locked. That was Percy's first indication that something was off. The door to the Captains was always unlocked when the Captain was in. He had agents entering and leaving his office on an almost hourly basis. That grey plated door had seen more traffic than any other on the entire campus. The smooth silver handle was worn from age and the hinges were resistance free from use.

Now, the Captain wasn't out. He couldn't be. Percy knew as well as everyone that when the Captain sent for you, that meant he was going to be in his office at that time regardless of anything. For a fact, Percy could remember a time where the Captain was almost collapsing from pneumonia and still he was at his thick wooden desk beckoning agents in to hand them crisp files and give them a sturdy pat on the shoulder. The fact that Percy was staring at a door that wouldn't open was bizarre. Confused he tried the handle one more time but the slippery little knob only joggled as if taunting him.

Maybe he's sick. Maybe he passed out in there.

Percy figured with a jolt of seriousness. Imagining the aging man sprawled out like a starfish on his floor or slumped against his desk limply.

Rooms soundproof so yelling out to him won't work. Doubt knocking will do much good either.

Just about as soon as he had decided to go around outside and see if he could bash in one of the windows, the door magically opened with a sudden jerk. A tall wiry man looking at him eye to eye with a fierce intensity. His dark hair seeming to be fleeing his forehead slowly, and his nose crooked and bent out of shape. Years of service written in his scars, and slight hobble even though he wasn't a day past fifty.

Instantly Percy stiffened. "Mr. Yavatiko." he instantly recognized the member of the council. His beady eyes always handing out disapproving looks like free samples to what he could really do to you.

"Agent 11." The man stated emotionlessly as he motioned for Percy to enter with one thumbless hand.

Percy was rarely surprised. But at this moment he could feel the tingling feeling of a slight shock as he was met with a pretty daunting sight. It wasn't everyday he walked into a certain place or area and came face to face with the entire head council of S.I.G.H.T. He rarely saw them when he was on campus no less all together.

He couldn't help showing his confusion as he pinched his eyebrows together slightly and scanned each face. All four of the council members standing around the Captain's office stiffly. Attired in their everyday suits while following Percy with their eyes silently. The lights were turned down low enough it seemed overly dramatic but high enough that Percy could see every member clearly. The blinds were also drawn. The Captain never drew the blinds down. He was a man who loved people and took every possibility to greet you, whether that be a smile in the hallway or waving from his large office windows. He loved the sun, and to brighten any grisly days.

"Where's the Captain?" he asked somewhat warily. A bit unnerved by their silent eyes and serious demeanors.

"We'll get to that in a second boy." Miss Smithson briskly stepped forward gestured to the navy blue chair. "For now, have a seat."

Percy complied. A piece of him panicking as every second mounted.

If they've figured out what happened two years ago in San Francisco, I'm screwed.

"Perseus Jackson, it is our understanding that you took on a case in San Francisco two years ago. Correct?" Miss Smithson spoke sharply while taking the heavy set wooden seat behind the oak desk. Her grey hair looking silver in the dim light as she stared at him pointedly.

This is it. Percy deflated internally. I'm being arrested.

"Yes Ma'am." he replied stone faced and mono voiced. Never breaking their grinding eye contact.

"Our sources show that part of your cover group was a girl of the name 'Annabeth Chase'. Do you remember her?" Miss Smithson's face calmly tilted downward as she spoke. Almost as if she knew he would have a reaction.

Percy, however was able to keep his expression neutral. He was lighting up like fireworks inside however. His guts felt like they were on fire, and his heart had sunk so low he could've shaken it out of his shoe.

"Yes Ma'am." Percy answered. A lump in his throat as he talked. Dreading what was to come next. His arrest, trial, and most likely Annabeth's death. His heart plummeted at the thought. Beads of sweat surfacing at the nape of his neck in nervous prickles.

No. This can't be happening.

"She's dangerous." Miss Smithson said distinctly instead. "Annabeth Chase's mother, Athena Chase was tracked down and exterminated almost thirteen years ago. Her crime was delving into a scientific field we had made clear to her should not be tampered with. The foolish woman went ahead and experimented anyways. Her end product was a permanent brain enhancer. Something that should, and shall not exist."

Percy's ears were roaring with blood. His mind swimming with information he already knew. Desperately he tried to decipher what they were trying to get at. What they were trying to do to him.

"How does this connect to Miss Chase?" Percy avoided calling her anything informal. Anything that might betray any pre-existing bond.

"When Agent 21 returned from her assignment, she reported that the child was not there. After a thorough investigation was done, evidence was supplied that she had died from an illness in the jungles where they were hiding." Miss Smithson's eyes were unblinking, and her gaze unwavering. Like everyone else on the council she was a battle worn agent who's focus was as sharp as steel that was shaped into a potent knife.

But for once in this conversation, Percy's thoughts were elsewhere. He wasn't thinking about being arrested or keeping up a chill act. His mind was buzzing with theories and connections. Putting things together that he hadn't thought of before.

Supplied. Percy's brain hooked onto this word. Kneading it through his mind carefully. She didn't say 'found' or 'discovered' she said 'supplied'. As if someone trusted gave them the information.

Miss Smithson only nodded as Percy met her eyes. Watching him as he pieced it together, as she expected.

"Someone in S.I.G.H.T helped the girl escape." Percy breathed. The knowing eyes of his superior confirming his every suspicion.

It explained how Annabeth's memory had been erased using S.I.G.H.T technology on the Siberian Campus. Percy had always assumed that the facility had been broken into for Annabeth's memory to be taken. He never suspected another player in this game. He never suspected that someone else from S.I.G.H.T was out to help Annabeth too.

With a slight jerk from Miss. Smithson's head, another one of the council members stepped forward with a simple jet black screen. Not a fingerprint on its reflective purpose as she flicked it on. The sudden light making Percy squint momentarily.

Then there she was. Her grey eyes soft as ever, her long curls up in a bun, sparkling earrings on and a dab of makeup to accentuate her beauty. Sitting on the other side of a table, a warmly lit fine dining restaurant as her backdrop. She was timidly looking at the camera, a sense of unwillingness in her features as if she didn't want to be there.

Miss Smithson tapped the screen and instantly that image that had already taken Percy's breath away turned into a video.

"Well enough about me." The camera person chuckled charmingly. The camera moving in such a distinct way that Percy sullenly identified it as S.I.G.H.T's hidden glasses cameras. His stomach twisting at how they got this footage.

"Me?" Annabeth asked with a smile.

Fakest smile in the world. Percy grumbled.

"What about me?"

"Well… where do you go to school?" The guy asked. Grin in his voice.

"Oh. I don't go to school." Annabeth looked down bashfully and gently fiddled with her fork. Not continuing with her thought.

"Well do you have a job then?" he persisted. A hot ember glowing in his gut at how pompous this agent sounded.

"Paid architecture apprentice." Annabeth added with the hint of a bored sigh. Twirling the fork once more before setting it down.

"I thought you needed a secondary education to become an architect."

"You do."

"But you just said you weren't in school."

"Because I graduated secondary. I'm done with school."

"So young?"

"Yep." Annabeth's answers lacked her usual spirit and sassiness. Her tone was flat, her eyes not holding contact for more than a few simple seconds. She wasn't herself.

The image stopped and switched dark in a millisecond, leaving a gnawing hole in Percy's gut.

She was on a date. He admitted to himself. Probably a date I forced her to go on.

After a moment's thought Mr. Haymer, a pudgier bald man who resembled nothing more than a thumb, stepped forward authoritatively. His scruffy mustache which strongly resembled whiskers twitched with distaste.

"As you can see the girl is alive and is doing quite well. We've taken the liberty of researching a little more into her, and have come across troubling evidence that she holds within her the concoction her mother created."

They know practically everything. Percy hissed mentally. How have I not been found out yet?

"Lance, let the man in." Mr. Haymer waved over to the ever quiet and intense Mr. Yavatiko.

The door was opened, and Percy felt his breath left him. The Captain stumbled in wearing the trademark white prison wear with his wrists and ankles tightly shackled and clicking loudly. A dreary look on his features as he shot Percy a glance that spoke the world of pain. Two guards on either side of him marching him to his chair.

Captain was the betrayer. Percy realized, trying to keep his figure steady. Trying to appear perfectly calm and perfectly normal.

"So here's how everything went awry." Miss Smithson took the floor again. Standing to moving catlike around the room. Her eyes fixated on the Captain's weary figure.

"After Athena Chase fled to Indonesia she made contact with an old chum from her quaint hometown. On the night Agent 21 reached the coastline, he alerted her of it. She drugged her daughter then injected her serum. He came moments before Agent 21 and picked up the girl, taking her to Siberian Facility 082 before completely wiping her memory. He did more than just that. He wiped her files, he created her death certificate, and he made her disappear much like how we make agents disappear. Isn't that right Stanley?"

Percy had never seen any of the council members show much emotion. They were the council because they had been the best agents. And being the best agents meant being the least in touch with your emotions.

Miss Smithson however had a clear bitterness lacing her words. A smidget of anger and a pinch of disgust, but mostly bitterness as she glared at the Captain with a seething vibe.

"You forgot the part where I begged Athena to come with me." The Captain whispered hoarsely. The weight of the arrest seeming to have weakened him, and yet he still had the fire in him to glare back at Miss Smithson. A part of Percy was rooting for the aging man.

"Athena was a stupidly clever woman. She loved her daughter but she loved her work too. If she had gone with you, we would've found the both of them within a matter of months and she knew it. But had she not put her creation in her daughter then there would be no need to track the girl down."

"I'm glad I won't be part of this." The Captain muttered. "Killing an innocent girl because of a choice she didn't make."

"Track the girl down." Percy repeated in a question before Miss Smithson could react to the Captain's words. His heart thudding violently in his chest at what this would mean for him.

"Yes, that's why you're here Agent 11. Your mission is to track down Miss Annabeth Chase. Eliminate her. You shall be given a small team to assist you, and you have Agent 21 at your disposal."

Eliminate….

"Miss. Please clarify. Is this a task of assassination or retrieval?" Percy's voice was even and his question innocent. It took everything for him not to start shaking.

"Best circumstances is a clean assassination. No leads, and a cause of death. Ideal would be bringing in the target for testing. Worst would be that she slipped away." Miss Smithson's eyes were stone. To her, she wasn't discussing a beautiful young woman who laughed like a happy stream and danced with the gold of the sun in her hair. She was talking about a target. An object. A thing in the way of S.I.G.H.T.

"You toughies. Can't you stay in touch with your moral compass? Don't you see how this is wrong?" The Captain persisted weakly. His eyes as sad as could be.

The council ignored him. His guards ready to drag him out of the room at the wave of a hand.

"Normally one agent can cover a target. In this case however, you are up against an enhanced being. There's no telling what this person can do. You are the perfect candidate for this assignment because of your familiarity with them. This will make it easier to lure them into a false sense of security. With your expertise and skill, not to mention a team backing you we expect this little blip in our records to be taken care of in a matter of days. Am I understood?"

Percy had no choice. He nodded curtly.

"Yes Ma'am."

"You know this is wrong." The Captain had shifted to stare right at him. Boring his eyes into Percy's sides "You can feel that it's wrong-"

"Silence." Mr. Hayden barked from across the room.

A file landed in Percy's hands. Crisp and cold and smelling of the print room.

"Here are the details. Assemble your team by fourteen hundred hours you will leave by fifteen hundred."

Percy's stomach twisted again as he stared at the pale yellow file thick with papers. All of it pertaining to Annabeth. All of it supposed to help him find the best way to kill her, or capture her.

How sickening.

"Question." he couldn't help it.

Miss Smithson nodded pointedly.

"Agent 21's speciality is assassination. She would be more qualified as leader of this team."

It was a why me? Question. It was a silent hint of doubt and a cry from the heavy burden on his shoulders.

"Agent 21 is skilled in this field, but she does not have the basic human skills you possess. A circumstance may arise where you must talk to the target, or lure them to a certain area. Agent 21 does not have that kind of communication skills. She's the huntress, after all."

Percy nodded to Miss Smithson. Wrapping his head around the idea that it was down to this.

Either he betrayed S.I.G.H.T or he killed Annabeth. There was no way around this.

-{:oOo:}-

"Percy!"

Chills waved down Percy's spine as the guy ran up to him. A beaming smile on his face as he waved a paper around dramatically.

"Can you believe this? We're on a team together man! An important one too!" Martin beamed at him excitedly.

Percy kept his focus ahead of him as Martin fell into stride. The hallway suddenly feeling very very long. Other agents and staff passing without giving them a second glance.

"I know." Percy sent him a half smile. "I picked the members."

"Whoa! Legit?" Martin shoulder bumped him. The excitement and thrill in his voice only made Percy hurt more. "That's so cool."

"Yeah. You get to do those kinds of things when you're a two digit Agent."

"Thank you man." Martin spoke a little more seriously. "I'm so honoured that you thought of me to be on the team. I won't let you down! I got your back no matter the trouble!"

With another flashing white smile Martin practically frolicked down the hall. The fistful of papers in his hand made Percy's stomach churn and roll.

Yes, he picked Martin.

He picked what was considered a newbie for the team.

On paper it looked good. Martin was a very promising fresh recruit. The council thought so, Percy thought so.

But Percy also knew that when it came down to it, he could beat the shit out of Martin. He could beat the shit out of Josh. He could beat the shit out of Riley too.

On paper, the team looked strong and wisely chosen. On paper it looked as if they could take Annabeth down with this team. But for Percy, he chose the boys he knew he could take on. He chose his opponents instead of his teammates knowing that he would betray them. It made him sick just thinking about it.

On the bright side, my only trouble will be taking down the Huntress.

-{:oOo:}-

"Forget the design. The overall structure will become unstable in a matter of years if they choose Classy Victorian over Modern Sheek- Why?! Why else Bill. They've chosen a copper iron meld structure which keeps them in the budget but is overall flimsier than a classic iron base. Think of the weight victorian mouldings and marble floorings will do to the building! It'll only be a matter of decades before it's unsaf- What?! No, Bill. No. The whole point of building something, is to build it to last. I won't accept this. Tell the clients that it's Modern Sheek or in the creek. Got it? Okay bye."

Jeez, I'm only an apprentice. Annabeth sighed as she hit the end on her phone. Wondering how she roped herself in a position to be the CEO's mane gal to talk over major company decisions. To anyone else it looked a bit fishy.

Bill's not a bad guy. Annabeth reminded herself as she popped her phone into her purse lightly. The quiet elevator music ebbed itself into the back of her mind as she watched the numbers tick by. He's a bit odd, but isn't every CEO?

The hall to her apartment was quiet, which wasn't unusual. The thick carpet usually softened the sound of footsteps and her neighbors were all older people waiting for family who never visited or death.

With a hum on her lips and a bag of groceries in one hand, Annabeth twiddled with her keys until she came up with the right one. Jutting it into the lock she turned it to here that delightful click and entered into her apartment.

Her apartment. That sounded so good. It felt good too. Finally she had her own place away from Helen, and the boys and her father. She had a separate bank account Helen couldn't feed off of like a leech, and had a stable job so she didn't have to stay of for hours on end with her stupid online business. She was officially completely independant and she loved every second of it.

Casually she kicked her shoes off at the door and continued humming as she wove her way into the small cream kitchen. Dropping the groceries delicately on the counter before sliding off her coat and tossing her keys into the usual turquoise dish with a satisfying clink.

"Fish." she called out with an edge of confusion.

Why didn't she greet me at the door?

"Here Fishie!" She whistled a few times just to add to it. "Fish?"

An impatient bark followed from the living room and Annabeth had to roll her eyes.

If that idiot girl got stuck between the sofa and the wall again, I'm gonna lose it.

"Fish?"

The lights were out. The window blinds drawn. Cracks of light had broken through and sharply illuminated the room in bars like a jail cell. Her grey sofa looked beckoning and she could imagine her evening spent in front of the television wrapped in that fluffy throw and with a cup of steaming hot chocolate place on the brown lacquered coffee table. Snuggling with Fish as she promptly ignored every call she got.

"Fish?" she tried again finding her goofy pet. Sneaking a look in her covered crate only to see half chewed toys and a mess of fluff from where she'd ripped apart her doggie bed a few nights earlier.

Suddenly Fish appeared from behind the sofa. Her golden fur shimmering in the setting sun, her lips peeled upward in what always looked like a happy golden retriever smile and her fanning tail thumping against furniture.

"There you are!" Annabeth beamed. "C'mere!"

Oddly, Fish only barked at her again. Nervously shifting her big paws around as she looked behind the sofa again with her big soft brown eyes.

"Fish?"

Fish paced forward to Annabeth then back to the edge of the sofa. Whimpers coming from her mouth pathetically.

"Did you get one of your toys stuck behind the sofa again." Annabeth sighed as she followed her dog. "Seriously, Fish you gott-"

It wasn't a toy.

A body was slouched against the wall next to the arm of the sofa. Blood sparkling sickly on their abdomen. Blood streaked against the wall. Blood pooling on her hardwood. It was an explosion of crimson, and the smell of iron.

Annabeth muffled a scream with her hand as the body twitched and groaned. The lolled down head reeling painfully upward to look at her with agonizingly green eyes.

"Wise girl-" Percy breathed raggedly.

"Oh my- Oh shit. Percy!" Annabeth fell to his side instantly. Her heart in her throat, a panic welling up inside of her and a shock of cold ran screaming through her veins.

"Beth." Percy tried pushing himself upright but failed. Clenching his jaw and squeezing his eyes shut at the pain.

"No." Annabeth hissed. "No stay there, stay here."

"But Annabeth-"

"No. I'll be right back." Annabeth jumped to her feet. In a blind scramble she raced down the hall and into her bathroom. Yanking open the cupboard with a sharp bang she pushed things off the shallow shelves and let them tumble to the floor and into the sink. Almost at at a point of hyperventilation as her fingers shook.

White box, white box white box. She chanted mentally over and over. So panicked that she couldn't see what was right in front of her nose.

Finally her eyes seemed to focus on the little box. Taunting her as it sat crooked, half hazardling on the ledge. Snatching it up, Annabeth bolted down the hall again. Almost slipped as she rounded the corner sharply.

Percy had managed to drag himself up onto the side of the sofa. His eyes wild as she came running at him.

Gods he was pale. His body straining to hold himself up and his knuckles white as he gripped the arm of the sofa. Part of his midnight hair had been slicked back and plastered to his skull with caking ruddy blood giving him an almost zombie aura.

"Wisegirl." Percy croaked out again. A desperate tone in his voice.

"Hold on, hold on." Annabeth's hands felt numb as she fumbled with the first aid box.

Suddenly a sloppy hand knocked it out of her hands. The little white box of hope skidding across the floor noisily and bashing against the wall.

"Beth." Percy gasped out. His hand locking onto the bottom of her shirt to keep her secured. The serious sound in his voice made her heart jerk.

"You have to go." He continued painfully. His intense eyes locked on hers. His expression fearful and urgent.

Annabeth's heart sank.

"But you're hurt. I can't just-"

"They're coming." Percy choked out. A dribble of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. His hold on her shirt tightening as another wave of pain seemed to wash over him.

He used a few loose ended curses under his breath while he clenched his jaw. Annabeth held onto her own shaky breath as she watched him momentarily writhe and fight against the pain. Horror in her heart at how he was suffering.

"Wise- S.I.G.H.T. They know. They know you're alive. Th-they know who you are. They- they're coming. You have to run." Percy sounded panicked.

That was the second of clarity. The moment Annabeth completely understood everything as she pieced the whole story together in her mind.

Percy was hurt because he defended her.

S.I.G.H.T. was after her.

She was officially being hunted down.

And oddly enough she didn't feel shocked or upset or scared. She felt an odd calm. A sort of serenity as the unknown was made known. She didn't have to worry anymore at being found out. She was found, the problem was on her desk so now she could deal with it. She wasn't stuck in a wondering limbo anymore.

"I'll fight them." She decided as she gently pushed Percy to the floor again. Eager to get to work on his wounds. Hoping desperately that she could save him.

"You can't." Percy shook his head dismally. "She's too strong."

She?

"Who?" Annabeth asked. Ignoring Percy trying to shove her off of him and unzipping his suit.

"She's called The Huntress." He wheezed. "Agent 21. Her real name is rumoured to be- to be Artemis. She's- she has a 100% success in assassination field work. She- she's the one sent- sent to kill your mother. She's coming. I tried to stop her. You have to go."

Annabeth looked over the deep gash in Percy's side. His deep crimson blood splattered across his chest, and his mouth streaming a bit more blood. It didn't look good. He probably had some internal damage. She needed a doctor, not a first aid kit with a few Perry the Platypus bandaids in it. Other then that, her mind was livid with info. Her mother's murderer was after her, Percy was telling her to just leave him dying on the floor of her apartment, and Percy was dying. She was watching him start to crumble in on himself like a sun deprived plant slowly withering away.

"No." Annabeth decided. Tears finally breaking over her eyes and burning down her face. "I'm not just going to leave you."

"Stay, and both of us will die." Percy gritted out. A stab of anger in his voice. A burning will in his eyes. "I didn't betray my friends, or my home just for you to tell me no Wise Girl. You're leaving. Now."

Annabeth's heart clenched. Bile rose to her mouth as she stared at him. Feeling it hard to breath as she gently held out her hands to hold his face. Blood wetly smearing onto her fingers.

"But Perce." she cried heavily. "I can't leave you."

"Well you bloody know I can't come with you either." Percy choked. "I have a bit of strength left. Artemis probably called reinforcements by now. I can distract them. They'll chase a rogue agent before ever going after you."

"But-"

"Go!" Percy insisted. A grimace on his face but a message in his eyes that she couldn't ignore.

Shakily, Annabeth rose to her feet. Her heart in her throat as she stumbled down the hallway and into her room.

Hastily she packed a small duffel of clothes and a few products. Tears streaming, heart aching, and fear pounding. She felt like a mouse feeling around in the dark for traps or a bird flying through a thunderstorm.

Plan. Her mind screamed. I need a plan.

Things seemed to click. Ideas and brainstorms flashed momentarily in her mind's eye before she had a somewhat structured idea on what she needed to do.

Holding her breath, Annabeth brought out her phone and looked at the dark screen for a second. Her reflection wide eyed and pursed face before she vaulted it away and smashed it against her dresser. A dooming cracking noise insured her that it was done for. Then with delicate fingers, Annabeth peeled off the shattered glass screen. The innards of the phone now open for her to dissect.

It only took a matter of moments before Annabeth located and gently unwired the GPS tracker. A small black wired chip no bigger than her fingernail. Hurriedly Annabeth jumbled through her kitchens junk drawer before coming up with a tiny disk like lithium battery and some electrical tape. Carefully, Annabeth put it together. Praying that it would work. Praying that she could accomplish this one thing.

"I'm going." Annabeth stood again in front of Percy. Her eyes watering at the sight of him.

"Go." Percy rasped. "Every second is important."

"Not before saying goodbye." She pursed out. Kneeling beside him quietly.

"Just go." Percy tried shoving her towards the door but Annabeth caught his arm. Sincerity ringing through her eyes as she dipped down to give him one final kiss.

It was bittersweet. It tasted like blood and despair and made Annabeth's heart clench up painfully. She could tell he was feeling the same loss as her by the way her held her cheek. By the way he kissed her back mellowly. Annabeth's hand pressed against the nape of Percy's neck as she deepened the kiss. Her lungs pinching before she pulled away. Eyes leaking again as she looked down at him.

"You're even prettier than when you were two years ago." Percy whispered while pushing a lock of her hair out of her face. His eyes flicking between hers with a deep sense of inner pain.

Annabeth chuckled sadly. "Loss of blood has made you delirious Seaweed Brain." she mumbled.

"I still love you." he added without missing a beat. "Now get out of here."

"Love you too." Annabeth sobbed with a smile. Prying herself away and wiping her eyes hurriedly.

"Bye."

"Bye…"

Then she was outside her apartment again. Fish's leash in her hand. Staring at her door. Then running down the hallway. Standing in the elevator.

Out in the sunshine as the duffle bag knocked against her side. Not noticing that she had accidentally super glued her pointer finger and middle finger together when she made her first move in this chess game against S.I.G.H.T.

-{:oOo:}-

Percy was more than pleased that it took Agent 21 this long to catch up with him. The sun having fully set and the room dark when she smashed the door in. Anger in every movement she made. For a moment all she did was stand there. Trying to let her eyes adjust to the darkness as she stood rigid in the door frame, light spilling into the room.

Percy shouldn't have been proud that she was limping, but he was. The foot injury he had inflicted had probably slowed her down the most.

Without sparing anymore moments, Percy reached over the side of the sofa and flicked on the lights washing everything in a yellow light.

Artemis didn't even flinch. Her eyes locked onto him icily as he sat on the sofa slumped backwards. Her brown hair that had tightly been tied back in a neat braid had strands wildly flying free. The cut on her cheek was crusted with dark hard scabs and her eyes bore fires in them. She had somehow been able to retrieve all her throwing knives that were strapped to her belt, but her shotgun was probably lost for good.

Well at least it better of been, Percy threw it down a sewer for crying out loud.

"No surprise, the girl is gone. Isn't she." Artemis scowled bitterly while crossing her arms. Her eyes scanning over the homely trinkets of the room. The pictures on the wall, the side tables with little sculptures and the shelves of neatly organized books.

"Yep." Percy answered blandly. Holding back a smug look as he watched the Huntress prowl over to a shelf. Her hand reaching forward to brush the binds of each book almost tenderly.

"You know she's not going to get very far." she continued darkly. Her voice calm yet as bold as an empress. Shooting Percy a look out of the corner of her eye.

"You'd be surprised." Percy offered an indifferent shrug. "Annabeth's smart."

"I know." Artemis sighed. "That was the whole reason for tracking her in the first place, wasn't it?"

Percy shrugged again. Hiding the ever burning pain writhing through his body behind a serene look. His heart felt like it was full of splinters of glass, and his vision was starting to go blurry. It was hard to breath. He knew that something was punctured but he couldn't imagine exactly what.

However, he was an agent, he knew how to hide the pain.

He also knew that Artemis was doing the exact same thing. Her leg wasn't as fine as she was letting up to be.

"Is the rest of the team okay?" Percy asked. Finally letting his eyes fall to the floor as he remembered what he did to them. The shock and pain in Martins eyes when he realized what was happening.

"They'll be alright. Won't be in working order for a month or so, but that usually happens in this line of work."

An eerie silence filled the moment. Artemis stealthily moving around to look at pictures and examine little areas of the room as if she were touring an art gallery.

"You know, that's your problem Perseus." she started again. Spinning around to look at him with a thoughtful expression. "You care too much. If you didn't care for the team, you could've killed them and got them out of the way. If you didn't care for that girl, then this whole problem would never of happened."

"Well I'm only human after all." Percy muttered. "Humans care, that's what they do."

"Humans might, but Agents don't." Artemis's eyes resembled that of a wolf. Open, intelligent, sly, powerful and so regal you could've mistaken her for a queen. Her gaze dead serious as she stared Percy down.

"I guess I'm not an Agent then." Percy met her stare with just as much power. "I guess that most of the agents at S.I.G.H.T aren't really agents at all."

Artemis remained silent. Her eyes ever searching around the yellow lit room. Her black clad figure standing painfully out of place in this environment.

"Y'know I'm glad this girl is nothing like her mother." Artemis added like she was simply thinking out loud. "I like a bit of a chase. Athena however, was waiting for me when I came. She wasn't intent on running but she did put up one hell of a fight. While we were fighting we had this back and forth banter on how horrible the world was. I was almost sorry when I killed her. She seemed like an excellent conversationalist."

"That's sick." Percy muttered.

"That's life." Artemis retorted. "She did a crime. She paid for it and she knew it too. She accepted her fate, I kind of find that admirable actually. Accepting death is hard for some."

"Was it hard for you?"

"Nah, I grew up on death. It's easier when you learn about it from a young age."

Another silence seeped it's way in as Percy stared at the ceiling and wished every bit of physical discomfort he was in would just disappear. That the gash in his side would magically sew itself up.

"She went east. She had to go deeper into town." Artemis decided suddenly. "She has a dog, that much is obvious by all this hair on the carpets. She can't run away with this dog so she's going to drop it off at a friends house. Most likely the brunette's house seeing as she's the one in the most photos. If I'm lucky, the girl will still be there."

Artemis made a move towards the door, but Percy jumped to his feet. Pain fleeting from his torso in orchestrated throbs like burning needles tumbling through his limbs. His hand on the cold handle of his gun as he gave the Huntress a warning look.

"You can't be serious." she scoffed. "You know I will kill you if you try and stop me."

"I got the memo the first time you tried to kill me." Percy gritted out. Eyes steadily on her as he waited for the first move to happen.

"She's already got a head start. What are you trying to do?" Artemis sighed like she was frustrated with a toddler. "You're both going to end up dead at this rate.

"Even if I die, and she lives then I've accomplished what I want." Percy growled. The heat exploding from his side made it hard to see. His world was already swimming but he managed to stay on his feet.

"Young Agents are so troublesome." Artemis spat, jumping at Percy.

Her first hit he blocked with a weak hand. The second he was able to grab and use her momentum to try and swing her past him but Artemis was too quick for that. She rolled inwards and nailed her elbow right into his gut.

Sparks flew into Percy's eyes as the pain went wild in a symphony of different shades. Somehow, he managed not to crumble to the ground. Somehow he found the strength and speed to grab the Huntress while she was close to him and throw her to the ground.

But he was disorientated. His gash was reopened, his blood spilling again onto the carpet. He felt his legs give out as the last of his strength seemed to float away like a disgruntled ghost.

If she hit him, or if he just succumbed to his injuries, Percy couldn't tell. All he knew was the the world turned black. A deep silting kind of black that you just float in for eons. A haunting deathlike black.


Last Chapters Trivia: A Bagel

This Chapters Trivia: What school do Thalia, Percy, Annabeth and Grover find Bianca and Nico at?

I think some of you thought the last chapter was the end. As you can see, no it's not the end. Not yet but close. This might just round to an even 50 chapters.